HaMizrachi | Weekend on Inspiration 5782

UK SPECIAL EDITION WEEKEND OF INSPIRATION

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1902

120 YEARS OF RELIGIOUS ZIONISM

WITH GRATEFUL THANKS TO THE FOUNDING SPONSORS OF HAMIZRACHI THE LAMM FAMILY OF MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

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INSPIRATION 12 -16 MAY 2022

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MIZRACHI’S WEEKEND OF

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PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

A Message from Rabbi Doron Perez Executive Chairman, World Mizrachi Est.

1902

120 YEARS OF RELIGIOUS ZIONISM

www.mizrachi.org www.mizrachi.tv office@mizrachi.org +972 (0)2 620 9000 PRESIDENT

Mr. Kurt Rothschild CO-PRESIDENT

Rabbi Yechiel Wasserman CHAIRMAN

Mr. Harvey Blitz CEO & EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

Rabbi Doron Perez DEPUTY CEO

Rabbi Danny Mirvis E D U C AT I O N A L D I R E C TO R S

Rabbi Reuven Taragin Rabbanit Shani Taragin

World Mizrachi is the global Religious Zionist movement, spreading Torat Eretz Yisrael across the world and strengthening the bond between the State of Israel and Jewish communities around the world.

Based in Jerusalem and with branches across the globe, Mizrachi – an acronym for merkaz ruchani (spiritual center) – was founded in 1902 by Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines, and is led today by Rabbi Doron Perez. Mizrachi’s role was then and remains with vigor today, to be a proactive partner and to take personal responsibility in contributing to the collective destiny of Klal Yisrael through a commitment to Torah, the Land of Israel and the People of Israel.

www.mizrachi.org.uk uk@mizrachi.org 020 8004 1948

On behalf of all us at World Mizrachi, we wish all involved in the Mizrachi UK Weekend of Inspiration, much success for this remarkable event.

A big yishar koach to my friend and colleague, Rabbi Andrew Shaw, CEO of Mizrachi UK, and his team, together with Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr Steven Blumgart, and the Board for their wonderful work in taking Mizrachi to great heights in the UK in general and in particular for this incredible event.

It is also a distinct privilege that SHABBAT UK is a partner in this initiative adding wonderful additional elements of prestige and reach to the Weekend of Inspiration. Yishar Koach to Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, for his sterling leadership and community building in general and for the partnership of the Office of the Chief Rabbi for this event in particular. We are most appreciative that amongst his many responsibilities and roles, the Chief Rabbi also fulfills the role of President of Mizrachi UK. Bringing so many world-class speakers to close to seventy different communities across the UK is a huge undertaking and a great achievement on so many levels. May the Torah shared over this weekend deeply enhance our connection to Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael and Torat Yisrael - our connection of and appreciation for being part of the Jewish People, having the miraculous State of Israel and the zechut of the Divinely-infused mission of Torat Yisrael .

We are grateful that many of our World Mizrachi professional staff are participating in this program – Rav Danny Mirvis, Deputy CEO, Rav Reuven and Rabbanit Shani Taragin our Educational Directors and myself.

This publication is based on World Mizrachi's recent initiative of HaMizrachi Parsha Weekly which is now distributed globally and a big yishar koach to Rabbi Reuven Taragin and the HaMizrachi Parsha Weekly Team for this recent addition to our educational offering.

Please see details below in order to subscribe.

Shabbat Shalom and hatzlacha rabba!

To subscribe to our weekly newsletter which includes the HaMizrachi Parsha Weekly, please email uk@mizrachi.org

INSIDE

Sivan Rahav Meir & Yedidya Meir

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Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis

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Rabbi Hershel Schachter shlit”a

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Rabbi Andrew Shaw

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Rabbi Danny Mirvis

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Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon

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Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein

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Rabbi Doron Perez

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Rabbi Shalom Rosner

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Rabbi Reuven Taragin

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Michal Horowitz

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Rabbanit Shani Taragin

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Rabbi Menachem Leibtag

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Rabbi Moshe Weinberger

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PRESIDENT

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis CHAIR OF TRUSTEES

Steven Blumgart CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Rabbi Andrew Shaw BOARD

Michelle Bauernfreund Matti Fruhman Andrew Harris Grant Kurland Sean Melnick David Morris To dedicate an issue of HaMizrachi Parasha Weekly in memory of a loved one or in celebration of a simcha, or for other HaMizrachi enquiries, please email hamizrachiweekly@mizrachi.org

To sign up to receive HaMizrachi Parasha Weekly to your email or WhatsApp, visit mizrachi.org/hamizrachiweekly

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l

EDITOR PARSHA WEEKLY

Rabbi Reuven Taragin |

A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R

Esther Shafier

A S S O C I AT E E D I TO R S

Ari Levine Josh Maurer Yaakov Panitch Ian Schwartz

C R E AT I V E D I R E C TO R

Leah Rubin

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TORAT MIZRACHI PRESIDENT, MIZRACHI UK

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

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Do Your Pets keep Shabbat?

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis

I

Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth President, Mizrachi UK

find it remarkable how many people insist that their pets do, on some level, genuinely understand when it is Shabbat. In fact, our Sages, in the Psikta Rabbah, tell us that Rabbi Yochanan once sold his ox to a nonJewish farmer and after a while, the farmer returned with a complaint: “The ox which you sold me, it refuses to work on Saturdays!”

The Torah makes it clear that Shabbat goes well beyond the realm of human endeavour. In Parashat Mishpatim, when setting out the mitzvah to keep Shabbat, we are told (Shemot 23:12): “Uvayom hashvii tishbot,” – “And on the seventh day you must have a sabbath,” – “Lema’an yanuach shorcha vechamorecha,” – “in order that your ox and your donkey should rest.”

This verse is an unusual formulation.

Surely the Torah should simply have said, “every seventh day you, your ox and your donkey should rest”? Why is it presented in this fashion?

The Rebbe of Gur offers a most beautiful explanation, which highlights for us the deep impact of our Shabbat observance.

He said, ‘uvayom hashvii tishbot’ should be understood to mean that every

seventh day we should have an authentic Shabbat experience, which does not only include keeping the letter of the law. In addition, our Shabbat must embody the spirit of the day. If we achieve this, we will have a transformative impact on our surroundings. If our day is filled with spiritually uplifting experiences, even our animals will know that this is a special day!

If our Shabbat observance can potentially have a powerful impact on our animals, how much more so can it impact positively on our children and our wider group of family and friends.

This teaching is of enormous contemporary significance, particularly at a time when there is so much in the modern world competing for our attention. If on Shabbat we turn away from ‘vochadik’ or weekday activities, and focus instead on ‘Shabbosdik’ activities, it can have a deep impact on our own lives and the lives of all those around us. As the prophet Isaiah (58:13) declared, “Vekarata

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l’Shabbat oneg” – “You will discover that the Sabbath is a day of true delight.”

If our Shabbat observance can potentially have a powerful impact on our animals, how much more so can it impact positively on our children and our wider group of family and friends.

Dedicating twenty five hours of our week to our family, our community and to spirituality, we send a message to all those around us about what is truly important in our lives. This is the essence of ShabbatUK, and in a broader sense, it is also the purpose of Mizrachi UK’s Weekend of Inspiration. This is why it is such a blessing that this year, these two events are being combined for maximum impact. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Rabbi Andrew Shaw and his team for all their outstanding endeavours and for their commitment to the sacred task of demonstrating why we describe Shabbat in our zemirot as “me’ein olam haba” – a taste of Heaven on earth.

I wish you all a very special ShabbatUK Shalom!

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PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

TORAT MIZRACHI CHIEF EXECUTIVE, MIZRACHI UK

The Weekend of Inspiration Rabbi Andrew Shaw

WILL BE IN HGS AND KINLOSS FOR SHABBAT

Chief Executive, Mizrachi UK

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t began in 2016, the vision of Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence of Kinloss. To create a day, during the three weeks between Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim where his community would learn from the best in the Religious Zionist world. With a mixture of local and international speakers (on skype) the idea of the Day of Inspiration was born.

In 2017 Mizrachi UK were asked to help to grow the concept and we created the Weekend of Inspiration and made sure all international speakers were live. In that year we brought over thirteen speakers and supported twenty-one communities in London and Manchester. The actual Day of Inspiration attracted over 400 people at Kinloss.

2018 saw an expansion of the idea as more and more communities asked to be included. Seventeen speakers visited thirty-one communities and Leeds were added to cities that we impacted. The Day of Inspiration grew to over 500 people.

By 2019 and our growth in Manchester led to the development of two separate Days of Inspiration in Kinloss, London and Stenecourt, Manchester as well as launches across the UK on Thursday night. Speakers travelled between the two venues on the Sunday and close to

1000 people attended in either London or Manchester. That year we brought our biggest contingent thus far from Israel – twenty-six outstanding educators who inspired forty-two communities across London, Leeds and Manchester.

We were fully underway planning 2020 when the pandemic struck. A decision was made in both 2020 and 2021 not to run the Day of Inspiration online, it was felt that the power of the weekend was almost impossible to replicate and that we would wait until we could return to in person learning.

So here we are 2022 and our biggest and most ambitious Weekend of Inspiration ever attempted. Part of the reason for the expansion is the fact that this Shabbat is also Shabbat UK. The Chief Rabbi encouraged us to bring even more speakers to enhance even more communities for Shabbat UK. We took his challenge to heart.

This year we have brought over 32 speakers, our Mizrachi Fellows as well as seven outstanding female educators, part of World Mizrachi’s advanced leadership programme. They have been joined by our shlichim. Together they will be speaking in almost seventy

Day of Inspiration, 2019

Day of Inspiration, 2019

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communities across five different cities – London, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Birmingham – it is a remarkable achievement.

As well as our launches on Thursday night, we will for the first time be running a Yom Iyun on Friday morning in five secondary schools for over 2500 students. We also will be holding a special Rabbinic Conference for all Rabbis and Rebbetzins on Monday morning with HaRav Hershel Schachter at Mizrachi HQ. The Day of Inspiration has now expanded to three locations – Kinloss, Stenecourt and now South Hampstead – a central London venue to hopefully attract even more people to the day of learning. With 67 shiurim, 13 Keynotes, 61 hours, 37 educators it is a day not to be missed.

Inside this special Weekend of Inspiration/ Shabbat UK edition – you will find the full schedules of all three locations on Sunday.

I very much hope you are inspired by the Mizrachi educators over Shabbat and I hope to see you on Sunday!

It will be a day to remember!

Shabbat Shalom

TORAT MIZRACHI RAV RIMON

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

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Halachic Q&A Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon

Head, Mizrachi Rabbinic Council | Founder and Chairman, Sulamot

Question: Is one allowed to stand for the siren on Yom Hazikaron? This seems to be a custom taken from goyim, does this constitute chukat hagoyim (prohibition of following the practices of non-Jews)?

Answer: When we follow a practice done by non-Jews that is not promiscuous, connected to avodah zarah, nor done out of a hope to emulate the non-Jews, then the practice is permissible (Rema YD 178:7). Therefore, this minhag we have is certainly permissible. Standing for the siren on Yom Hazikaron is a beautiful minhag that unites Am Yisrael around those who have sacrificed their lives for kiddush Hashem, and honors the memory of those who have been killed and fallen in battle.

There may even be a hint in the Torah for the value of a moment of silence. When Aharon’s sons died, Aharon responded with silence - “Yayidom Aharon'' (Vayikra 1:3). Sometimes, the most fitting way to mourn and remorse over loss is through silence and accepting G-d's sentence. We do not understand God’s judgment. We do not understand why some of the best young people have died in wars, and all the more so, we do not understand why millions of Jews were killed in the holocaust. Standing in silence is not a lack of words, but rather, it expresses our acceptances of God’s will, our connection to those who have passed, our unity as a nation, and our trust in Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Who is the source of our strength during moments of bereavement and difficulties.

Question: Can one who makes early Shabbos daven both mincha and maariv after plag hamincha?

Answer: The Mishnah in Brachot (26a) presents a machloket between Rebbe Yehuda and the Chachamim regarding the latest time on can daven mincha.

Rebbe Yehuda holds that mincha can be said until plag hamincha, and the Chachamim say until nightfall. The Gemara points out that each opinion allows maariv to be said in the time period following the period for mincha.

Therefore, according to Rebbe Yehuda, maariv can be said after plag hamimcha, and according to the Chachamim, after nightfall. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 233:1) paskins that we one must choose one opinion and stick with it. We pasken like the timing of the Chachamim and daven mincha until nightfall and maariv after nightfall.

One exception to this rule is on Shabbat, where the Shulchan Aruch (OC 267:2) says that maariv can be said as early as plag hamincha. The Bahag and the Shulchan Aruch Harav explain that because there is a mitzvah to bring in Shabbat early, we can follow Rebbe Yehuda’s opinion on Friday night and daven maariv after plag hamincha.

There are a few other reasons as well brought down to explain why this is allowed.

While there are poskim who do not permit this, the generally accepted custom is that we do bring in Shabbat early, and the Mishnah Berurah and Magen Avraham both allow for it.

Nevertheless, one should not poskin like both Rebbe Yehuda and the Chachamim on the same day. Therefore, if maariv is being said as early as plag hamincha (like Rebbe Yehuda), one must be sure to daven mincha before plag hamincha (Mishnah Berurah).

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B’shat had’chak (in a dire situation), if somebody davens mincha after plag hamincha and pushing off maariv will infringe on his oneg shabbat or shalom bayit, then he is permitted to daven maariv immediately after (Mishne Halachot). Additionally, if there is a concern that waiting for Maariv will cause the minyan to disperse, maariv can be said immediately (Mishnah Berurah).

Question: Can one shave on Friday in honor of Shabbat during sefirat ha’omer?

Answer: Seemingly, all of the practices of mourning during sefirat ha’omer apply on Friday as well. Therefore one should not be able to get a haircut or shave even in honor of Shabbat. However, my rebbe and teacher Rav Aharon Lichtestein zt’l provided many reasons that this should be permissible, and even thought that this may be required. Most poskim do not allow for this, but there are many legitimate reasons for one to, and if one wants to shave on Erev Shabbat during sefirah, he may do so if his intent is to honor Shabbat. Somebody who lives in a place where shaving is likely to cause disrespect or a more lax approach towards halacha should not practice this way.

 Translated from Hebrew and abbreviated

by Yaakov Panitch.

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PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

TORAT MIZRACHI EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

Iyar and Israel Hadrian and the Loss of Hope Rabbi Doron Perez

WILL BE IN SOUTH HAMPSTEAD FOR SHABBAT

Executive Chairman, World Mizrachi

I

yar is a month like no other. It is the only month where the religious experience today is the opposite of what it was designated to be in Biblical times.

Iyar in the Torah was designated as a month of total anticipation and elation as we count up to the receiving of the Torah. Indeed, it is the only month in the Jewish calendar where we are called upon to count every single day – each one a significant step of growing excitement as we prepare to re-experience our rendezvous with Divine revelation. This is how the Sefer HaChinuch explains the reason for this unique period of counting.1 Yet, Jewish experience in the 2nd century changed all this and it is now primarily a time of pain, tragedy and mourning.

The sudden and tragic death of the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva which happened predominantly in the month of Iyar, sharply altered the religious and emotional experience of this month.2 So much so that the mourning period is commonly known as the 'Sephira Period' – literally meaning the time of counting.

How ironic it is that the word Sephira – referring to the counting of exciting anticipation is now the very word used to refer to the mourning period!3

This is quite something. The mourning of Iyar must be distinguished from the mourning of the month of Av. Ever since the terrible sin of the spies and tragic aftermath which took place on the 9th of Av, this day and month became destined already in Biblical times for travails and tragedy. Not so Iyar - it was destined for exhilarating anticipation until the tragic death of all of Rabbi Akiva’s myriads of students. Why did this particular tragedy, as opposed to so many other tragic

massacres, evoke a time of collective mourning for future generations?

What was it about these events that transformed times of spiritual greatness and exhilarating anticipation into times of national mourning?

Historic context is critical to understanding the dual tragedy of the death of Rabbi Akiva’s students and its remarkably damaging impact on Jewish destiny.

Undoubtedly, the death of such a large quantity and quality of Talmudic scholars, indeed all the students of the greatest rabbi of the generation, effectively resulted in the decimation of Torah learning in Judea4 – an enormous tragedy in and of itself. But there is a twist in the plot. Although the Talmud mentions that they died of a disease called ‫אסכרה‬, perhaps diphtheria, Rav Shreira Gaon (Igrot Rav Shreira Gaon, Levine Edition pg. 13) maintains that the death of Rabbi Akiva's students was a result of a ‫ שמד‬- a religious war. This adds a new and pivotal dimension- it means that they died during the Bar Kochba rebellion as this was the only religious war at that time. Additionally, Rabbi Akiva was famously Bar Kochba’s greatest Rabbinic supporter. 5 Not sickness alone, therefore, caused this destruction but rather their death at the hands of the Romans.

Understanding the depth of the tragic failure of the Bar Kochba rebellion is crucial to understanding the depth of the loss and mourning that ensued.

The fall of Beitar and the vanquishing of the rebellion by Emperor Hadrian’s forces is one of the greatest tragedies of Jewish history. Not only does the Mishna (Ta’anit 4:6) state that this tragedy is one of the five reasons we mourn on Tisha

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b’Av, but the Rambam (Yad, Laws of Fasts 4:3) goes as far as to say that this loss was as tragic as the day of the destruction of the Temple itself.

Why is this the case?

Because of both the unparalleled loss in human terms as well as the devastating impact of these events on the national psyche.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes6 that in terms of human loss the Bar Kochba rebellion was the most tragic of all. He cites that, according to Roman historian Dio, “... very few Jews were saved, 50 forts were destroyed, 985 settlements and 580,000 Jews died in the fighting, along with countless numbers from starvation, fire and sword and nearly the entire land of Judea was laid waste” (Roman History 69:14). More died here than in the Churban of Yerushalyim 65 years before.

There is an additional element to this loss which in makes this destruction perhaps even more devastating than the Churban.

Many often erroneously believe that the majority of Jews were exiled in 70 CE in the aftermath of the Churban. This is not true. While many were killed and exiled and Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed, the vast majority of Jews remained in Judea where they thrived.

Hundreds of towns and communities continued to thrive as per Dio’s testimony above, and the Torah world grew with the Sanhedrin moving to Yavneh and the flourishing of Torah learning - Judea’s economical and spiritual life were thriving. As horrific as the Churban was, all hope was not lost. Wasn’t it the Babylonian Exile that lasted a relatively brief 70-year period before Jerusalem had been rebuilt? Perhaps this Roman Churban would also be short-lived and

TORAT MIZRACHI EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

we would return to rebuild Jerusalem.

Indeed this was exactly Bar Kochba’s stated aim of his rebellion and it seems Rabbi Akiva’s logic for supporting it. Bar Kochba began his rebellion in the year 132, sixty-two years after the destruction in order to galvanize the people to rebuild Yerushalayim and the Temple before the 70 years were up. It was, however, not to be.

With the horrific fall of Beitar and the end of the rebellion, a new period in history was ushered in. Judea was laid waste and the national infrastructure was destroyed. Hope for imminent return was lost. It became clear to everyone that this was no longer a partial and temporary Exile but one of many centuries and perhaps millennia. There would be no imminent redemption - no rebuilding of Yerushalayim, no consecrating a Temple and no reestablishment of sovereignty in Eretz Yisrael. Not for a very long time.

In short, the decimation of the Torah world and the concurrent loss of hope of any national and spiritual redemption transpiring in Iyar altered the religious experience of the month. The great month of spiritual exhilaration was turned into a darker time of mourning for the destruction of the Torah world

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

and the loss of hope of the return to Jerusalem.

Is it not quite remarkable how in the modern era, the month of Iyar has begun to be redeemed! Not only Lag BaOmer which takes place on the 18th of Iyar but also two new modern miracles days of exhilaration. The 5th of Iyar has become the day of the miraculous establishment of the State of Israel and the beginning of a sovereign return to Eretz Yisrael.

Amazingly, Israel in the month of Iyar has restored hope - ‫ תקוה‬- once again, bringing redemption just when the Exile seemed at its most hopeless in the horrifying darkness of Nazi Europe.

If that wasn’t enough, 19 years later on the 28th of Iyar, the ancient city of Yerushalayim and our holiest site were liberated and much devastation was rebuilt. Incredibly, the miraculous State of Israel, with the Grace of G-d, is slowly but surely restoring Iyar to her former glory - on the 5th and 28th along with the 18th - perhaps a harbinger of times to come where Iyar will return to her designated grandeur and every day will be days of Redemption. Not days of mourning of ‘Sephira’ but rather days of Sephirat Ha’Omer - anticipating with exhilaration the wheat offerings in

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the Temple and the collective national acceptance of our treasured Torah.

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Sefer HaChinuch, Parashat Emor, Mitzvah 306. In the literal reading of the pesukim (Vayikra 23:15-16 ) the Sephirat HaOmer, as it name implies, is counting from the time of the waving of an Omer amount of barley brought on the 2nd night for a period of 49 days, 7 complete weeks, until the offering of a new wheat offering on Shavuot. Our Sages have famously linked Shavuot to Matan Torah and hence the counting of the Omer is one of anticipation for this monumental time.

The Talmud, Masechet Yevamot (62b) states that the death of Rabbi Akiva’s students took place ‘‫’בין פסח לעצרת‬, between Pesach and Shavuot - the significant majority of this period from the 16th of Nissan till the 6th of Sivan being the entire month of Iyar.

According to all mourning customs, everyone mourns for the first 17 days of Iyar till Lag Ba’Omer, with many particularly outside of Israel mourning for the entire month.

Talmud Yevamot (62b) states that after their death ‘the world was spiritually barren.’

Rambam, Yad, Laws of Kings 11:3.

Commentary to Koren Yom Kippur Machzor, pages 930-935.

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PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

TORAT MIZRACHI EDUCATIONAL DIRECTORS

PIRKEI AVOT

Scan here to join Rabbi Taragin’s daily Divrei Torah WhatsApp group

If Not I Rabbi Reuven Taragin

WILL BE IN HENDON FOR SHABBAT

Educational Director, World Mizrachi

.)‫יד‬:‫ ִמי ִלי (אבות א‬,‫ ִאם ֵאין ֲאנִ י ִלי‬,‫אֹומר‬ ֵ ‫הּוא (הלל) ָהיָ ה‬

It’s On Me

T

hough many help us throughout our lives, in the end, we are responsible for ourselves. Others will not, cannot, and are not meant to be responsible in our place.

It is convenient for us to believe that our success hinges on forces and conditions beyond our control. One might get such an impression from the Gemara (Berachot 33b) which asserts that “everything is in the hands of heaven, except for fear of heaven.” The Rambam1 dispels this mistaken impression by explaining that our personal growth is part of the Yirat Shamayim category, which is in our hands.

Though Hashem sets the circumstances in the world around us, how we respond and develop ourselves is up to us.2 Though other people can help us, our growth does not depend on them. The Seforno sees this as the message of the pasuk (Devarim 30:11) which describes Torah and teshuva as “not above you or beyond your reach.” The Seforno explains the pasuk to mean that we do not need neviim (above us) or wise men in faraway lands (beyond us) in order to grow. Even though both offer important guidance, we have all that we really need within ourselves and our own reach; growth is in our hands, and we cannot offload it to anyone else.

The support we receive from others is also limited to the time we spend with them.

Rabbeinu Yonah reminds us that making good decisions and consistent, continuous (even when we are alone) growth hinges on what we internalize, not on who our friends and neighbors are. We must take full responsibility for ourselves.

Ultimately, no one else will take responsibility for us in our place. We learn this idea from Elazar Ben Durdaya (Avodah Zarah 17a). After deciding to do teshuva from his initial sinful lifestyle, he asked the mountains and hills, the sky and earth, and the sun, moon and stars to help him.

After they responded that they needed to focus on themselves, he realized that “ain hadavar talui ella bi — he had only himself to rely upon.”

After he cried himself to death while curled up in repentance in the fetal position, a bat kol announced that Rebbe Elazar ben Durdaya merited entry into Olam Haba. Rebbe Yehudah Hanasi responded by reflecting upon how( as opposed to the many who spend their entire lives earning entry into the next world), some do so in one moment — the moment they take full responsibility for themselves and their growth. Not only did his momentous realization earn Rebbe Elazar his portion in the World to Come, it also earned him the title “Rebbe.” He taught us all the great significance of accepting responsibility for ourselves.

The Kotzker Rebbe taught that: “If I am I because you are you, and you are you because I am I — then I am not I and you are not you. But if I am I because I am I, and you are you because you are you — then I am I and you are you.” Each of us is meant to be our own unique person playing our own unique role. Though we ought to learn from and be inspired by others, we need to take responsibility for forging our singular identity and (through this) realizing our unique potential.

May this mishnah inspire us to take full responsibility for ourselves and (through this) realize the mission that Hashem created us to accomplish!

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Our Unique Importance Chassidut3 understands our mishnah as teaching an additional message. It is important that we take responsibility for ourselves because each one of us is independently significant. Hashem created each person differently because He intends a unique mission for each.4 If we rely only upon others to inspire our growth, inevitably our identity will come to reflect their identity (and not our own true selves) and we will miss the role we are meant to play.

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Shu”t HaRambam 436. See also his commentary to our mishnah and his Shu”t 182 where he explains that we should not use the term “melamed Torah l’amo Yisrael” in Birkot HaTorah, as Torah learning is in our hands.

Rav Chaim Volozhin (in his commentary on this mishnah) distinguishes between Torah and financial earnings. As opposed to financial earnings, where Hashem decides how much to grant us, the amount of our Torah learning and growth depends on the amount we invest. This is why Rashi and the Bartenurah understand that the mishnah relates to things like Torah learning.

Sefat Emet (Korach 5647) in the name of the Chiddushei Harim.

This idea is based on the Gemara’s statement (Sanhedrin 37a) that Hashem’s greatness expresses itself in His ability to create billions of people who all look different. The Gemara explains that this awareness should lead a person to exclaim that “the world was created for me.”

 Transcribed by Yedidyah Rosenswasser.

TORAT MIZRACHI EDUCATIONAL DIRECTORS

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

PARSHA WEEKLY

HAFTARAH - PARSHANUT ON THE PARSHA

Emor: Rise-Up to Redemption Rabbanit Shani Taragin

T

WILL BE IN HENDON FOR SHABBAT

Educational Director, World Mizrachi

his week’s haftarah reading (Yechezkel 44:15-31) is unique in that it consists of only seventeen verses, as opposed to the minimal twenty-one pesukim, equivalent to the minimum number of verses required for the Torah reading on Shabbat (three verses in each of the seven aliyot - Rambam Tefila 12:13, Shulkhan Arukh O.C. 284:1). This “abridged” selection underscores the omission of the previous section which speaks of Am Yisrael’s involvement in avodah zarah, specifically from the tribe of Levi. This week’s parasha, Parshat Emor, highlights the sacred role of the kohanim in the Mikdash, and therefore, it would have been inappropriate to read the first pesukim of the prophecy which mention the rejection of priests from serving in the Mikdash.

In the parasha, the laws governing the priests and the sacrifices appear in the context of preserving the sanctity of the kohanim within the framework of the Mikdash. The haftara introduces an inspiring parshanut – the same laws are part of the vision of redemption!

Yechezkel, living in Babylonia bereft of the Mikdash, and himself a kohen who

cannot fulfill his priestly duties, grants particular importance to the laws of kohanim, confident that they will be restored. A detailed look at the halakhot presented by Yechezkel, however, reveals several differences between the laws in the Torah and their corresponding guidelines in the prophecy: "Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav, that man named Chanina Ben Chizkiya is to be remembered favorably. For were it not for him Sefer Yechezkel would have had to been buried, since his words contradicted the words of the Torah.

What did he do… He sat in an attic and expounded it" (Menachot 45b).

In addition to contradictions, Yechezkel’s prophecy also introduces a charge to the kohanim that they must serve as halakhic decisors: "They shall declare to my people what is sacred and what is profane, and inform them what is clean and what is unclean. In lawsuits, too, it is they who shall act as judges; they shall decide them in accordance with My rules" (44:23-24). Yechezkel further notes that the kohanim are responsible for maintaining observance of Shabbat and Yamim Tovim: "They shall preserve My teachings and My laws regarding all My

9

fixed occasions; and they shall maintain the sanctity of My Shabbatot, " another connection between the parasha and haftara as Parshat Emor speaks of the mitzvot relating to Shabbat and festivals.

Yechezkel also dismisses the notion one may infer from the parasha that a kohen’s designation and status are absolute. On the contrary, Yechezkel teaches that they may be removed from service in the Mikdash and may be “promoted” as well. This parshanut is significant in assuring that kohanim stand trial for their devotion and wariness in serving Hashem, and are not absolved of corruption. The RaDaK suggests that the various discrepancies between the parasha and the haftarah do not imply that halacha will change; rather, there will be a spiritual elevation of the kohanim and they will be judged on a higher, more demanding “standard”. The haftarah thereby assures us that as we learn of the sanctity of the kohanim in the parashah, we remember that our hope is not to reinstate the past, but to aspire for redemption, rebuilding and rising in the future!

PARSHA WEEKLY

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

PARSHAT HASHAVUA CHIEF RABBIS

Sanctifying the Name Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l

I

n recent years we have often felt plagued by reports of Israeli and Jewish leaders whose immoral actions had been exposed. A President guilty of sexual abuse. A Prime Minister indicted on charges of corruption and bribery. Rabbis in several countries accused of financial impropriety, sexual harassment and child abuse. That such things happen testifies to a profound malaise in contemporary Jewish life.

More is at stake than simply morality.

Morality is universal. Bribery, corruption, and the misuse of power are wrong, and wrong equally, whoever is guilty of them. When, though, the guilty are leaders, something more is involved - the principles introduced in our parsha of Kiddush Hashem and Chillul Hashem: “Do not profane My holy Name, that I may be sanctified in the midst of the Israelites. I am the Lord, who makes you holy...” (Lev. 22:32) The concepts of Kiddush and Chillul Hashem have a history. Though they are timeless and eternal, their unfolding occurred through the course of time. In our parsha, according to Ibn Ezra, the verse has a narrow and localised sense.

The chapter in which it occurs has been speaking about the special duties of the priesthood and the extreme care they must take in serving G-d within the Sanctuary. All of Israel is holy, but the Priests are a holy elite within the nation. It was their task to preserve the purity and glory of the Sanctuary as G-d’s symbolic home in the midst of the nation. So the commands are a special charge to the Priests to take exemplary care as guardians of the holy.

Another dimension was disclosed by the Prophets, who used the phrase

Chillul Hashem to describe immoral conduct that brings dishonour to G-d’s law as a code of justice and compassion.

Amos speaks of people who “trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground, and deny justice to the oppressed… and so profane My Holy Name.” (See Amos 2:7) Jeremiah invokes Chillul Hashem to describe those who circumvent the law by emancipating their slaves only to recapture and re-enslave them (Jer. 34:16). Malachi, last of the Prophets, says of the corrupt Priests of his day: “From where the sun rises to where it sets, My Name is honoured among the nations… but you profane it.” (Mal. 1:11-12) The Sages suggested that Abraham was referring to the same idea when he challenged G-d on His plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if this meant punishing the righteous as well as the wicked: 1

“Far be it from You [chalilah lecha] to do such a thing.”

G-d, and the people of G-d, must be associated with justice. Failure to do so constitutes a Chillul Hashem.

their actions… I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. And wherever they went among the nations they profaned My holy Name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave His land.’ (Ez. 36:17-20) Exile was a desecration of G-d’s Name because the fact that He had punished His people by letting them be conquered was interpreted by the other nations as showing that G-d was unable to protect them. This recalls Moses’ prayer after the Golden Calf: “Why, O Lord, unleash Your anger against Your people, whom You brought out of Egypt with such vast power and mighty force? Why should the Egyptians be able to say that You brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and purge them from the face of the earth? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from bringing disaster to Your people.” (Ex 32:11-12)

A third dimension appears in the book of Ezekiel. The Jewish people, or at least a significant part of it, had been forced into exile in Babylon. The nation had suffered defeat. The Temple lay in ruins. For the exiles this was a human tragedy. They had lost their home, freedom, and independence. It was also a spiritual tragedy: “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”2 But Ezekiel saw it as a tragedy for G-d as well:

This is part of the Divine pathos.

Having chosen to identify His Name with the people of Israel, G-d is, as it were, caught between the demands of justice on the one hand, and public perception on the other. What looks like retribution to the Israelites looks like weakness to the world. In the eyes of the nations, for whom national G-ds were identified with power, the exile of Israel could not but be interpreted as the powerlessness of Israel’s G-d.

That, says Ezekiel, is a Chillul Hashem, a desecration of G-d’s Name.

Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and

A fourth sense became clear in the late Second Temple period. Israel had returned to its land and rebuilt the

10

PARSHAT HASHAVUA CHIEF RABBIS

Temple, but they came under attack first from the Seleucid Greeks in the reign of Antiochus IV, then from the Romans, both of whom attempted to outlaw Jewish practice. For the first time martyrdom became a significant feature in Jewish life. The question arose: under what circumstances were Jews to sacrifice their lives rather than transgress Jewish law?

The Sages understood the verse “You shall keep My decrees and laws which a person shall keep and live by them” (Lev. 18:5) to imply “and not die by them.”3 Saving life takes precedence over most of the commands. But there are three exceptions: the prohibitions against murder, forbidden sexual relations, and idolatry, where the Sages ruled that it was necessary to die rather than transgress. They also said that “at a time of persecution” one should resist at the cost of death even a demand “to change one’s shoelaces,” that is, performing any act that could be construed as going over to the enemy, betraying and demoralising those who remained true to the faith. It was at this time that the phrase Kiddush Hashem was used to mean the willingness to die as a martyr.

One of the most poignant of all collective responses on the part of the Jewish people was to categorise all the victims of the Holocaust as “those who died al kiddush Hashem,” that is, for the sake of sanctifying G-d’s Name.

This was not a foregone conclusion.

Martyrdom in the past meant choosing to die for the sake of G-d. One of the demonic aspects of the Nazi genocide was that Jews were not given the choice. By calling them, in retrospect, martyrs, Jews gave the victims the dignity in death of which they were so brutally robbed in life.4 There is a fifth dimension. This is how Maimonides sums it up: There are other deeds which are also included in the desecration of G-d's Name. When a person of great Torah stature, renowned for his piety, does

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

deeds which, although they are not transgressions, cause people to speak disparagingly of him, this is also a desecration of G-d's Name…

All this depends on the stature of the Sage…5 People looked up to as role-models must act as role-models. Piety in relation to G-d must be accompanied by exemplary behaviour in relation to one’s fellow humans. When people associate religiosity with integrity, decency, humility, and compassion, G-d’s Name is sanctified. When they come to associate it with contempt for others and for the law, the result is a desecration of G-d’s Name.

Common to all five dimensions of meaning is the radical idea, central to Jewish self-definition, that G-d has risked His reputation in the world, His Name,” by choosing to associate it with a single and singular people. G-d is the G-d of all humanity. But G-d has chosen Israel to be His “witnesses,” His ambassadors, to the world. When we fail in this role, it is as if G-d’s standing in the eyes of the world has been damaged.

For almost two thousand years the Jewish people was without a home, a land, civil rights, security, and the ability to shape its destiny and fate. It was cast in the role of what Max Weber called “a pariah people.” By definition a pariah cannot be a positive role model.

That is when Kiddush Hashem took on its tragic dimension as the willingness to die for one’s faith. That is no longer the case. Today, for the first time in history, Jews have both sovereignty and independence in Israel, and freedom and equality elsewhere. Kiddush Hashem must therefore be restored to its positive sense of exemplary decency in the moral life.

That is what led the Hittites to call Abraham “a prince of G-d in our midst.”

It is what leads Israel to be admired when it engages in international rescue and relief. The concepts of kiddush and Chillul Hashem forge an indissoluble

11

PARSHA WEEKLY

connection between the holy and the good. Lose that and we betray our mission as “a holy nation.”

The conviction that being a Jew involves the pursuit of justice and the practice of compassion is what led our ancestors to stay loyal to Judaism despite all the pressures to abandon it.

It would be the ultimate tragedy if we lost that connection now, at the very moment that we are able to face the world on equal terms.

Long ago we were called on to show the world that religion and morality go hand in hand. Never was that more needed than in an age riven by religiously-motivated violence in some countries, rampant secularity in others. To be a Jew is to be dedicated to the proposition that loving G-d means loving His image, humankind. There is no greater challenge, nor, in the twenty-first century, is there a more urgent one.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

•

Can you find other examples in the Tanach of Kiddush Hashem and Chillul Hashem?

•

Is it more important for our leaders to focus on Kiddush Hashem, or does every Jewish person have equal responsibility?

•

Do you see this as an important focus in your own life?

1.

2.

Bereishit Rabbah 49:9.

Psalm 137:4.

3.

Yoma 85b.

4.

There was a precedent. In the Av ha-Rachamim prayer (See the Authorised Daily Prayer Book, p. 426), composed after the massacre of Jews during the Crusades, the victims were described as those “who sacrificed their lives al kedushat Hashem.” Though some of the victims went to their deaths voluntarily, not all of them did.

5.

Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 5:11.

MIZRACHI UK’S DAY OF

INSPIRATION

MORNING SESSION

Shacharit & Breakfast- 08:00 ‘Conversion & Jewish Identity’ - plenary with Rabbanit Shani Taragin & Rav Shlomo Brody, Chaired by Rav Benji Levy- 09:00 Rav Doron Perez - 09:45 Julius Caesar, Israel and the celebration of Hope Session 1 - 10:35 Rav David Milston Earth, Wind and Fire – Moshe Rabbeinu and Eliyahu Hanavi

Rav Hershel Schachter Sefirat Ha’Omer

Rav Ari Zivotofsky Bechirah Chofshit (Free Will) and Modern Neuroscience

Rav Eliyahu Silverman Returning to our homeland- are we still dreaming?

Session 2 - 11:20 Rav Hershel Schachter Shmitta in our Generation

Hillel Fuld A Modern Light unto Rav David Milston the Nations: How Israeli Yaakov and Eisav and the four innovation is changing sons the world across the Board

Mrs Karen Hochhauser This is Not the Life I Ordered: How to manage setbacks and increase happiness Rav Dr. Benji Levy Backward Mapping Your Life

Sivan Rahav Meir in conversation with a Special Guest - 12:05 Lunch - 12:45 Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis - 13:30

THIS SUNDAY @ KINLOSS AFTERNOON SESSION Session 3 - 14:20 Rav Menachem Leibtag Rav Reuven Taragin Is our ‘Siddur’ a ‘Prayer Book’ or Modern Orthodoxy at a an ‘Organiser’?Crossroads (Part 1) The Biblical roots of Are We More or Less? how and why we pray Rav Shlomo Brody Organ Donation in Israel and the UK - A call for action

Rav Danny Mirvis Developments in the Kashrut of Whiskey

Rav Benji Levy Journeys, Destinations and the Omer

Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel Od Lo Avda Tikvateinu

Session 4 - 15:10 Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel Rabbanit Pesha Fischer Dr. Tova Ganzel On sovereignty and Halacha Insights into ‘Shivat Tzion’Women in Leadership The return to Zion from ancient Positions times to the Modern Israel Rav Aviad Tabory Rav Shlomo Kimche Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom Rav Jesse Horn Reishit Tzmichat Yerushalayim (nowadays)Tashlumin: Creatively Using Geulateinu halachic challenges and the Brisker Approach to Solve dilemmas Difficult Textual Problems

Session 5 - 16:00 Rav Jesse Horn Recreation of the World Different Approaches to the Post-Flood World

Rav Moshe Taragin How did Rabbi Sacks restore our ‘lost voice’?

Sivan Rahav Meir The most inspiring stories covered this year in Israel and abroad

Rav Jeremy Gimpel Rav Danny Mirvis Do you believe in Jewish Rav Yedidya Meir Rav Kook and Football Matches Destiny?

Medinat in the Modern World on Shabbat (B’Ivrit)

THIS SUNDAY

AFTERNOON SESSION Session 6 - 16:45

Rav Reuven Taragin Modern Orthodoxy at a Crossroads (Part 2) How We Learn From the World Around Us Rabbanit Pesha Fischer Using imagination in learning Torah: the derech of the Piaseczner Rebbe

Nitsana Darshan Laitner The Battle to Defend Jerusalem

Rav Moshe Taragin Snapshots of Past Redemptions and Visions of Future Geulah

Rav Anthony Manning Rav Johnny Solomon To Ask or Not to ask?

Modern Orthodox interiority: Dealing with Difficult Men, Women, and our unspoken Questions in Hashkafa spiritual crisis

Session 7 - 17:30 Rav Aviad Tabory 20 years for Operation Defensive Shield: a personal story & raising halachic dilemmas Rav Reuven Taragin Religious Zionism at a Crossroads- Understanding the Hyphen

Rav Shlomo Brody Rav Dov Ber Cohen Should We Pray for The The most lmportant thing I ever Terminally Ill to Die? learnt. (might just be yours too) Perspectives on Quality of Life in Halacha Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel A Hebrew miracle

Rav Moshe Taragin Where did Anti-Semitism come from? Is there anything we can do about it?

Rabbanit Shani Taragin - 18:15 Jerusalem of Gold: Crowns and Commitments Mincha & Dinner - 19:00

@ KINLOSS

EVENING SESSION

Nitsana Darshan Laitner - 20:00 Going on the offense against Israel’s enemies Session 8 - 21:00

Rabbanit Tehila Gimpel Who are you? Megillat Ruth and the Biblical path to self discovery

Rav Jeremy Gimpel The Struggle is The Way - The Ancient Jewish Philosophy That Turns Adversity to Advantage

Rabbanit Shani Taragin Rachel and Devorah: Mothers of the Land of Milk and Honey

Steven Gar Counter- Terrorism; Fighting the enemy from within

Session 9 - 21:45 Rav Menachem Leibtag Remembering the Exodus:‘twice a day’ or ‘once a year’?

- re-examining the Passover Haggadah

Rabbanit Tehila Gimpel Why do Jews love the Blues?On the Spiritual Significance of the Israeli Flag Rav Gideon Weitzman Who is my mummy? - Defining Motherhood in the Case of Surrogacy

Rav Shlomo Kimche Ethics of war in the Torah and in IDF Today

Maariv - 22:30

BOOK AT WWW.MIZRACHI.ORG.UK/DOI

THIS SUNDAY @ SOUTH HAMPSTEAD

TORAT MIZRACHI RAV RIMON

Doors Open - 13:30 KEYNOTE 1 - 14:00 Sivan Rahav Meir The most inspiring stories covered this year in Israel and abroad Break-out session - 15:00 Nitsana Darshan Laitner Going on the offense against Israel’s enemies

Rav Dov Ber Cohen The most important thing I ever learnt. (might just be yours too)

Steve Gar - 16:00 Counter- Terrorism; Fighting the enemy from within

BOOK AT WWW.MIZRACHI.ORG.UK/DOI

THIS SUNDAY @ STENECOURT @STENECOURT Shacharit & Breakfast- 08:45 Rav Anthony Manning- 10:00 Medinat Yisrael- Redemption, Confusion & Mashiach ben Yosef Session 1 - 10:40 Rav Aviad Tabory Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim (nowadays)halachic challenges and dilemmas

Rav Johnny Solomon Modern Orthodox interiority: Men, Women, and the unspoken spiritual crisis facing our community

Session 2 - 11:20 Rabbanit Rivka Weitzman The generations of PeretzFrom Judah to Ruth to David

Rav Anthony Manning To ask or not to ask? Dealing with difficult questions in Hashkafa

Steve Gar - 12:05 Counter- Terrorism; Fighting the enemy from within Lunch - 12:45 Rav Gideon Weitzman - 13:30 Between Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim Session 3 - 14:20 Rav Gideon Weitzman Who is my mummy? - Defining Motherhood in the Case of Surrogacy

Rabbanit Laura Silbermann Rabbi Meir and Elisha Ben Avuyah; Believing in a non believer

Rav Ari Silbermann Shir Hama’alot and the Dynamics of Revolution

R’ Josh Harris A look beyond Halacha: What God really wants from us

THIS SUNDAY @ STENECOURT

Session 4 - 15:10 Rabbanit Rivka Weitzman Life behind the blank wall- My Experience With a Dementia Patient

Rav Shalom Hammer Truths my Daughter Taught Me

Rav Elad Eshel What Sefer Vayikra is really about

Rav Ari Zivotofsky Mesorah, ingathering of the exiles, and the kashrut of exotic birds

Rav Hershel Schachter - 16:00 Various Aspects of Eretz Yisrael Session 5 - 16:45 Rav Hershel Schachter Halacha of the Dateline

Rav Doron Perez The unparalleled miracle of Kibbutz Galuyot

Rabbanit Laura Silbermann A quest built on kindness; Contemplating Ruth & Avraham

Session 6 - 17:30 Rav Ari Zivotofsky Jews of Africa: Past, present, and future- a firsthand account

Rav Greg Bank The Tale of a Two Headed Man

Rav Shalom Hammer Like Dreamers: When a Jewish Dream Becomes a Reality

Rav Doron Perez - 18:15 Augustus Caesar, Israel and a celebration of Happiness Mincha - 19:00

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TORAT MIZRACHI SHLICHIM

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

PARSHA WEEKLY

We Do Not Run the World Sivan Rahav Meir and Yedidya Meir

WILL BE IN HIGHGATE, HGS AND KINLOSS FOR SHABBAT

World Mizrachi Scholars-in-Residence

H

ow is it possible to be happy in the midst of uncertainty?

The Torah portion of the week, parashat Emor, describes many festivals, among them the festival of Sukkot, and it is especially during that festival which is nothing but a celebration of wandering and impermanence that a command to be happy and joyful appears: "And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God... You shall sit in booths for seven days."

Our uncertainty during the forty years of wandering in the desert was much greater than it is in the time of corona.

We lived without a permanent home, were being tossed about everywhere with no end in sight, with enemies every step of the way and, despite this, there was joy during the journey. These were forty years described by the prophet Jeremiah in the following famous words: "I remember you for the lovingkindness of your youth, for the love of your betrothal, for your following Me in the desert, in a land not sown." We walked into the unknown

,‫ כשמישהו יושב מולך ומחזיק מכשיר ביד‬.‫אחרים‬ ...‫אתה יודע שהוא בעצם לא לגמרי איתך‬ ,‫מצוות ספירת העומר שאנחנו סופרים בימים אלה‬ ‫ רגע‬.‫ מציעה כיוון מעניין‬,‫ושמופיעה בפרשת השבוע‬ ‫ אנחנו עוצרים‬,‫לפני שמבצעים את הספירה היומית‬ ‫ 'הנני מוכן ומזומן לקיים מצוות עשה‬:‫ואומרים‬ ‫ אבל‬,‫ זה לוקח רק כמה שניות‬.'‫של ספירת העומר‬ ‫ מזמנים‬.‫ משקיטים‬.‫ מתכוננים‬.‫אנחנו מתמקדים‬ .‫ כי הוא לא יחזור עוד לעולם‬,‫את עצמנו לרגע הזה‬ :‫אנחנו עושים את הדבר הכי פשוט והכי מופלא שיש‬ .‫ לגמרי‬,‫פשוט נוכחים‬ ‫אם רק נרצה נוכל לקחת את המתנה הזו אל‬ ,‫ אל המפגש הזוגי שלנו‬:‫המחוזות האחרים בחיינו‬ ‫ הנני‬.‫ לעצמנו‬,‫ לתפילה‬,‫לסיפור לילד לפני השינה‬ ."‫ רק כאן‬.‫ הנני כאן‬.‫מוכן ומזומן‬

but with a smile, love and devotion.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has a penetrating thought regarding this experience: "Faith is not certainty; faith is the courage to live with uncertainty." The parasha brings us a yearly reminder: we do not run the world. Once, in the desert, we acknowledged this, when our plight was fragile and fraught with danger. No, it's not solid walls around us that give us joy and it's possible to be happy living in a flimsy sukkah. The main thing is the content and meaning we create as we wander along the way. ◼◼◼ Time management is a matter of vital importance, even holiness. We read about time management in this week's Torah portion as it includes the mitzvah of counting the Omer. Between the festivals of Pesach and Shavuot, we mark each day by declaring how many "days of the Omer" (eventually reaching 49 days) have been counted.

Our commentators explain that whoever wishes to receive the Torah on the festival

‫ לא הקירות היציבים הם שנותנים‬.‫שברירי ומשברי‬ ‫ העיקר‬,‫ אפשר לחיות גם בסוכה רעועה‬.‫לנו שמחה‬ .‫הוא התוכן והמשמעות שאנחנו יוצרים בדרך‬ ◼◼◼ ‫ "לפני‬:‫את הקטע הבא שלח לי הלילה הרב יוני לביא‬ ?‫ להיות או לא להיות‬:‫ שנה שאל שייקספיר‬400-‫כ‬ :‫העידן המודרני נתן תשובה מפתיעה לשאלה הזו‬ ‫ רבים מאיתנו בוחרים‬.‫להיות ולא להיות גם יחד‬ ‫ הם כל הזמן‬.‫ גם כשהם כאן‬,‫לא להיות נוכחים‬ ‫ האנשים‬,‫ לא הטלפונים‬.‫ הם על רטט‬.‫זמינים לכולם‬ ‫ לא נמצאים באף‬,‫ כשנמצאים בכל מקום‬.‫עצמם‬ ‫ אנחנו מתרוצצים בג'אגלינג אינסופי בין‬.‫מקום‬ ‫ ומתעקשים לעשות הכול‬,‫המוני משימות במקביל‬ ‫ בעולם שכזה כל מפגש אנושי מתקיים‬.‫בו זמנית‬ ‫ רק עד שתיכנס ההודעה או יישמע‬,‫על זמן שאול‬ ‫הצלצול הבא ותשומת הלב תוסט מיידית אל מחוזות‬

19

of Shavuot, whoever desires to stand at the foot of Mount Sinai -- must learn to appreciate time. Part of our preparation for receiving the Torah involves learning how to value time by paying attention to how much time is wasted and how much is utilized to the fullest -- how much time is invested in what is truly important to us and in what we planned to do, as opposed to being swept up and distracted

by Internet feeds and social media posts that cause us to regret where the time has gone. The Lubavitcher Rebbe summarized the mitzvah of counting the Omer with a penetrating thought that reminds us that time is a most precious gift: "Hours of the day need to be carefully counted and accounted for, and then the days will be properly accounted for as well.

When a day has passed, we need to know what was done with it, and what more we need to do in the future."

May we enjoy success in managing your time.

?‫איך אפשר לשמוח כשאנחנו חווים אי ודאות‬ ,‫ מתארת חגים רבים‬,"‫ פרשת "אמור‬,‫פרשת השבוע‬ ‫ בחג שכולו ארעיות‬,‫ ודווקא בו‬,‫ביניהם חג הסוכות‬ ‫ "ו ְּש ַׂמ ְח ֶּתם ִל ְפנֵ י‬:‫ מופיעה הבקשה לשמוח‬,‫ונדודים‬ ."‫ ַ ּב ֻּס ֹּכת ֵּת ְׁשב ּו ִׁש ְב ַעת יָ ִמים‬...‫יכם‬ ֶ ‫ה' ֱאל ֵֹה‬ ‫אי הוודאות שלנו בתקופת המדבר הייתה גדולה מאי‬ ,‫ חיינו בלי בית קבוע‬.‫ בימי הקורונה‬,‫הוודאות כיום‬ ,‫ עם אויבים לאורך הדרך‬,‫עם טלטולים בלתי פוסקים‬ 40 ‫ אלה היו‬.‫ובכל זאת – הייתה במסע הזה שמחה‬ ‫שנה שמתוארות על ידי הנביא ירמיהו במילים‬ ‫ "זָ ַכ ְר ִּתי ָל ְך ֶח ֶסד נְ עו ַּריִ ְך ַא ֲה ַבת ְ ּכל ּול ָֹתיִ ְך‬:‫המפורסמות‬ ‫ הולכים אל‬."‫ֶל ְכ ֵּת ְך ַא ֲח ַרי ַ ּב ִּמ ְד ָ ּבר ְ ּב ֶא ֶרץ ל ֹא זְ רו ָּעה‬ .‫ אהבה ומסירות‬,‫ אבל עם חיוך‬,‫נודע‬-‫הלא‬ :‫הרב פרופ' יונתן זקס כתב על כך משפט נוקב‬ ‫ אמונה היא האומץ לחיות עם‬,‫אמונה איננה ודאות‬ ‫ אנחנו‬:‫ הפרשה מציעה תזכורת שנתית‬.‫אי ודאות‬ ‫ במצב‬,‫ כבר היינו פעם ככה‬.‫לא מנהלים את העולם‬

PARSHA WEEKLY

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

PARSHAT HASHAVUA SENIOR ROSHEI YESHIVA

Tum'as Kohanim Rabbi Hershel Schachter

WILL BE IN HENDON FOR SHABBAT

Rosh Yeshivah, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University

T

here is a fundamental machlokes between the Rambam and the Ra’avad (Hilchos Nezirus 5:16) regarding the passuk, “To a [dead] person he [a Kohen] shall not become impure among his people” (Vayikra 21:1).

According to the Rambam, if a Kohen were to touch a corpse multiple times on the same day and he was warned to abstain from this activity each time, he would receive malkos for each infraction.

The Ra’avad disagrees and maintains that just as there is no additional violation if the Kohen touches a second mes at the same time he is touching one mes, there is no additional culpability for each of the subsequent times he comes into contact with a mes on the same day; he is only liable to one set of malkos.

The simple understanding of the rationale behind this machlokes is that it relates to how to define the issur of tum’as Kohanim.

Is it, as the passuk implies, an issur to avoid becoming tamei from a mes, or is it an issur to avoid coming in contact with a corpse?

According to the Ra’avad, since the Kohen’s subsequent contact with the mes did not cause any additional tum’ah, there is no additional violation. However, according to the Rambam’s definition of the issur, although there is no change in the Kohen’s tum’ah status due to the subsequent contact, since each contact is an act of coming in contact with a mes, there is a separate violation upon each contact.

Maseches Semachos (4:21) states that any tum’ah that would not lead to a violation of one’s neder of nezirus and cause him to have to restart his period of nezirus does not impose an issur of forbidden contact on a Kohen. The implication of this statement seems to be that the impurity of tum’as mes is not the significant factor in the Kohen’s issur. Rather, contact with the actual dead body is what is prohibited to the Kohen.

It is possible to contract tum’as mes without actually coming into contact with a dead body itself. One such example is the rule – “the sword (or any similar utensil that became tamei through contact with a mes) attains [a degree of tum’ah] equivalent to

that of the mes itself” (Nazir 53b). Rabbeinu Tam and Rabbeinu Chaim Kohen (Tosfos, Nazir 54b, s.v. ta shema) argue regarding whether the Kohen is prohibited from coming into contact with such a utensil.

In this case, the level of tum’ah that the Kohen contracts is identical to that of one who came in contact with the mes itself, but the Kohen has not actually come near any mes.

Another situation, discussed by the Beis Yosef (Yoreh De’ah 371:1) as an exclusion based on the above statement in Maseches Semachos, involves the rule of – “the tum’ah will ultimately exit,” whereby tum’ah spreads through the exit through which the mes will eventually be removed, even if the exit door is presently closed (Mishnah Oholos 3:6). The Kohen in that doorway will contract tum’as mes without actually coming into contact with the dead body, since the unopened exit door serves as a partition between the mes and the Kohen.

The Shach (Yoreh De’ah 371:1) cites a comment of the Roke’ach regarding the entry of a Kohen’s pregnant wife into a room in which a mes is present. If the fetus inside her is male, there should be an issur for an adult to actively cause this Kohen to become tamei. [There is no issur of contact with a dead body upon female Kohanos.] We derive this from the passuk at the beginning of the parsha – “Say to the Kohanim, the sons of Aharon, and you shall say to them, ‘To a [dead] person he shall not become impure among his people’“ (Vayikra 21:1). The redundant use of the word “say” enjoins the adults with regard to the minors (114a Yevamos).

The Roke’ach rules leniently in this case on the basis of it being considered a ‫ספק‬ ‫( ספיקא‬double doubt). First, we are unsure whether the pregnancy will go to term with a live baby or whether the woman will miscarry. Second, even if a baby will be born, it may be a female. [If the doubts in the case of the ‫ ספק ספיקא‬are easily discernible, or if one knows that the Kohen’s wife is pregnant with a male fetus, the leniency of the Roke’ach should not apply.] The Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 343:2) questions this Roke’ach because the

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Gemara in Chullin (71a) teaches that a tahor object that is completely “swallowed up” does not acquire tum’ah from other objects. Thus, even without the logic of the ‫ספק ספיקא‬, there should be no issur in the case of a fetus, which is totally concealed within its mother!

Both Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky zt”l (Teshuvos Achiezer 3:65:5-6) and Rav Elchonon Wasserman Hy”d (Kovetz Shiurim 2:41) offer the following resolution to the question of the Magen Avraham (brought in Teshuvos Lev Aryeh 2:8).

Apparently, the Roke’ach is of the opinion that the issur of tum’as Kohanim applies even if the Kohen does not actually contract any tum’ah.

The nature of the issur is that the Kohen is not permitted to be in contact with a dead body, even if, due to a legal technicality, no tum’ah was contracted. This situation is exactly the opposite of the two cases mentioned above, in which the Kohen was permitted (according to the strict din) to come into contact with the ‫חרב‬ ‫ הרי הוא כחלל‬and to be unconcerned about the situationof ‫סוף טומאה לצאת‬. In those cases, the kohen will contract tum’ah, but because he is not coming into contact with a dead body, it is permissible.

A Chacham in recent times suggested an original leniency, allowing Kohanim in medical school to come into contact with cadavers. A Kohen would be allowed to come into contact with a dead body if he is already holding a metal utensil that has previously contracted tum’ah due to ‫חרב‬ ‫הרי הוא כחלל‬.This contact is permissible, as he is not adding any tum’ah over and above the tum’ah he had already contracted.

However, according to the above analysis, this heter is untenable. According to the Rambam and Roke’ach, a Kohen is prohibited from nearing a mes, even if he is doing so in a way in which he will not become tamei at all. The only time a Kohen is permitted to come in contact with a mes is when he is at the same time already in contact with another actual mes.  From ‘Rav Schachter on the Parsha’.

PARSHAT HASHAVUA DEPUTY CEO

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

PARSHA WEEKLY

For the Shabbat Table Rabbi Danny Mirvis

WILL BE IN KINLOSS AND HGS FOR SHABBAT

Deputy CEO, World Mizrachi Rabbi at Ohel Moshe Synagogue, Herzliya Pituach

“A

nd you shall not profane My holy Name and I shall be sanctified (v'nikdashti) amongst the Children of Israel, I am Hashem who makes you holy" (Vayikra 22:32).

In this week's Parsha, we come across the prohibition against making a Chillul Hashem (profaning Hashem's Name) and the positive commandment to make a Kiddush Hashem (sanctifying Hashem's Name).

The ultimate form of Kiddush Hashem is to give up one's life for their faith, under certain circumstances. However, though the ultimate Kiddush Hashem comes through death, we are also required to make a Kiddush Hashem in our everyday lives.

Rambam (Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 5:11) comments that there are some things

which, "even though they are not transgressions, this is still a Chillul Hashem".

Making a Kiddush Hashem is not only about strict performance of the commandments, but behaving in a manner which creates a positive impression of Hashem and His people.

The wording of this commandment is very unusual. One would expect the commandment to make a Kiddush Hashem to be worded, "And you shall sanctify Me" or, "And you shall sanctify My holy Name". Why are we commanded in the passive form, "v'nikdashti" – "And I shall be sanctified"?

The passive nature of the commandment highlights its true extent. The potential for Kiddush and Chillul Hashem is not only while we are involved in the performance of Mitzvot. Nor is it limited to the times where we take an active

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decision to make a Kiddush Hashem.

The greatest potential for Kiddush and Chillul Hashem is passive, when we have no idea we are being watched, when we least expect it. We can see from the way we pay attention to the actions of others that it is often when they do not intend to make an impression that the greatest impression is made. The same is true of the way others look at us.

Kiddush and Chillul Hashem are therefore achieved, not only through planned actions but through the way we speak, the way we relate to others, the way we walk around and through the endless list of seemingly minor ways we conduct our everyday lives.

Apart from being prepared to die "al Kiddush Hashem", we must remember to live "al Kiddush Hashem" as well.

PARSHA WEEKLY

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

PARSHAT HASHAVUA CHIEF RABBIS

On Being a Kiddush Hashem Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein Chief Rabbi of South Africa

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arashat Emor formulates this calling as a specific mitzvah: “…do not desecrate My holy name. And I shall be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel. I am Hashem who sanctifies you.” (Vayikra 22:33) This is known as the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem – sanctifying G-d’s name.

We live in a world of confusion and spiritual darkness. The light of truth is hidden, G-d’s presence concealed. In this murky existence, how do we promote G-d’s name and G-d’s Torah in the world?

One way is by what we say. Proclaiming G-d’s greatness in a public forum – through communal prayer, for example. Indeed, our prayer services are structured in such a way as to facilitate this. We have the Kedusha, the special prayer recited loudly and responsively in the repetition of the Amidah, evoking the exalted dialogue of the angels and their praise of the Creator of the universe.

possible. The verse in Proverbs says: “For the mitzvah is a lamp and the Torah is light.” The Gemara in Sotah says this world can be compared to a dark forest.

As we walk through it, we are confronted with obstacles and confusion, our every step fraught with danger and uncertainty.

But, it is the light of Torah that illuminates the path. And we have a responsibility to spread that light.

The mitzvah of kiddush Hashem goes beyond what we say. Even more important is what we do, how we behave. We don’t just believe in G-d, or preach G-d, we live His values and principles. The Gemara (Yoma 86a) puts it succinctly: “Make the name of Heaven beloved through you.” In other words, we are called on to bring the people we encounter to an appreciation of, and ultimately, a closeness to, G-d, through our living example.

It’s important to note that our responsibility to declare the presence of G-d in the world begins with our families.

Every Friday night when we say Kiddush, we proclaim loudly and publicly that G-d created the world and that He took us out of Egypt and He gave us His Torah as a guide to life. Similarly, each of the festivals is a testimony to G-d’s miracles throughout history: Pesach is about the miracles of the Exodus; Shavuot is about the miraculous revelation at Mount Sinai; and Sukkot is about the miracles that sustained us in the desert.

The Gemara goes on to explain what this means – a person who is associated with Torah living, displays unimpeachable integrity in his dealings with others, and speaks gently to everyone at all times.

Says the Gemara, when we behave in ways that inspire others, we fulfil the verse: “Through you, I will be glorified.”

The Gemara adds a remarkable caveat regarding a person who is learned in Torah but does not behave with integrity and does not speak gently to people: such a person brings G-d’s reputation into disrepute. From this Gemara, it emerges that the most powerful way to promote the name of G-d in the world is through the example of our own behaviour.

We also spread a positive message about Hashem and His Torah through our words of teaching Torah. The Rambam explains the mitzvah of learning Torah extends to teaching Torah. As the Mishna in Pirkei Avot says, there is an obligation to “establish many students”. The Tiferet Yisrael, in his commentary on that Mishna, says this applies not only to “professional” teachers and rabbis, but to every Jew. We are all called on to spread the light of Torah to as many people as

This idea places a solemn responsibility on all of us. And it makes us partners with our Creator in a very real sense. Any partnership is defined by two parties working together to serve a common interest, a common set of objectives. G-d wants to spread truth and light in the world, and calls on us to be His partners in this endeavour. We carry out this sacred charge by being living examples of the goodness and the decency and the uprightness and the inspiration that

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accompanies a Torah life, thereby ensuring people have a favourable impression of G-d and His Torah.

The Rambam, based on the Talmud, says the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem is fulfilled when a person is placed in a situation where they have to give up their life for the sake of G-d. We know there is the sacrosanct Torah principle of pikuach nefesh, which means in order to save a life virtually all of the commandments are set aside. But there are exceptions. If one of the three “cardinal” sins – idolatry, murder and sexual immorality – is involved, then a person must give up their life rather than transgress them. And, actually, during a period in which the Jewish people and the Jewish way of life is under systemised attack, it is a great mitzvah to give one’s life for the cause, even under other circumstances. In fact, this is the ultimate expression of kiddush Hashem; a brave declaration of total dedication, love and trust, a visceral demonstration that there is nothing more important than living in accordance with G-d’s values and with our ultimate purpose in life.

In every respect, the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem is deeply transformational. It transforms us into people who look to promote truth and values and goodness in the world, who embrace responsibility for spreading light and the love of G-d in the world. And, by cultivating a consciousness for how we are perceived by others, we learn to moderate our behaviour and ensure our conduct always meets the highest ethical standards. It transforms us into people who are conscious and aware of how we are perceived by others.

This involves empathy to understand how others perceive us and to realise that every action we perform is being judged, and not only are we being judged but Hashem and His Torah are being judged. Of course, living with an awareness of what our priorities are in life, and being prepared to sacrifice for our highest values, also changes us in profound ways.

PARSHAT HASHAVUA

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

PARSHA WEEKLY

One Step At a Time Rabbi Shalom Rosner Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh

T

he opening pasuk in the Parsha states: “Emor Emor el hakohanim bnei aharon v’amarta aleyhem”. Rashi explains that the double use of the terms “emor” and “v’amarta” is to admonish the adult Kohanim to be responsible for the minor Kohanim – to properly educate them to refrain from coming into contact with an impure element.

The Lubabitzer Rebbe extends this directive to apply not just to Kohanim, but rather as a warning to all parents of the importance of educating their children. We are not speaking of the basic necessity to educate our children as this would not first appear in the middle of Sefer Vakira. Rather, this instruction appearing in Emor is hinting at a more advanced approach to education. This is highlighted by another important concept that appears later in our parsha – the counting of the Omer, which always intersects with the reading of Parshat Emor. Just as we count the 49 consecutive days of the omer, so too are we to educate our children that they are to progressively advance to higher levels of spiritual achievement step by step on a daily basis.

When advancing in spirituality as in other aspects, one must be careful not to seek shortcuts, but to progress one step

at a time. As the Imre Shefer posits, first focus on the basics (613 commandments) and only thereafter to take upon oneself additional restrictions or limitations.

When advancing in spirituality as in other aspects, one must be careful not to seek shortcuts, but to progress one step at a time.

Rabbi Mordekhai Eliyahu, al pi derush, derives an important lesson relating to spiritual growth from the mitzvah of requiring one to construct a guardrail around his roof. When people are inspired, they often seek to reach for the stars. It is natural to strive to be the best at everything we do. However, when it comes to enhancing our spirituality, we need to establish realistic goals and to take them step by step. If a person tries to jump too high too quickly, he is likely to fall. We have to establish a fence around the roof, or the target we set for ourselves, so that it is within our reach. Be careful not to set goals that are unrealistic and unattainable. A goal that is slightly beyond a person’s reach may be within his grasp, and one should

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constantly seek to grow and improve. Yet trying to take upon oneself too much too quickly is doomed for failure.

The Gemara recounts that Mar Ukva states that he is not as great as his father, who waited twenty-four hours between eating meat and milk (Hullin 105a). If Mar Ukva felt that this was such a pious act, why did he not adopt it as well?

Perhaps Mar Ukva felt that there were many other characteristics that he had to improve that were more significant than expanding the waiting period between eating meat and milk. He knew that spiritual growth must occur gradually.

Someone who is having difficulty with speaking lashon hara and proper kavana during davening should probably not take upon himself tikkun hatzot – to wake up in the middle of the night to mourn the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. Each humra that we accept upon ourselves must fit our level of observance.

As we count each day of the Omer, let us contemplate how we can enhance our spirituality and our middot – doing so gradually, one step at a time so that such conduct becomes embedded within us and a strong foundation is established upon which one can further enhance growth.

PARSHA WEEKLY

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

PARSHAT HASHAVUA

Lachem Michal Horowitz

Judaic Studies Teacher

I

n this week’s parsha, Parshas Emor, we learn of the mo’adim (appointed festival times) by which the Jewish calendar is marked. And Hashem spoke to Moshe saying: speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: Hashem’s appointed festivals which you shall designate as callings of holiness – these are My appointed festivals (Vayikra 23:1-2).

The Torah first commands us regarding Shabbos (v.3) and Rosh Chodesh/Kiddush Ha’Chodesh (v.4 with Rashi), and then moves through our entire calendar year, beginning with Pesach, moving to the Omer offering and the counting of the Omer, the chag of Shavuos, then Rosh Hashanah, Yom Ha’Kippurim, and Succos.

On the significance of the Mo’adim, appointed times during the year when we meet (keviyachol) with the RS”O, Rabbi S. R. Hirsch beautifully and movingly writes, “The Jewish festivals and New Moons are not fixed by astronomic factors; the day does not become sanctified automatically as a festival of New Moon with the arrival of its proper time according to the astronomical calculation. Rather, we designate times for the festivals and New Moons, and we sanctify them as mo’adim on which Israel meets with G-d, only that this designation is made on the basis of astronomical calculations and in accordance with the course of the sun and moon.

“By virtue of this principle, our New Moons and our spring, summer and fall festivals are divested of any resemblance to pagan cults of sun or moon worship, which stem from the deification of nature; and the times set aside for the meetings between G-d and Israel are elevated from the bondage relationship of servant and master to the loving relationship of parent and child. The meetings times are set by mutual choice, and are meant to satisfy mutual feelings of love and yearning…

“The fruits of our soil and of our trees do not ripen, and our granaries are not filled, by the grace of the sun. Rather, G-d, in His sovereignty, judges us with righteousness and kindness; and if we have kept His Torah which rests in His Sanctuary,

He will flower our fields in the spring, ripen our fruits in the summer, and fill our barns in the fall. We must subordinate all our moral and social conduct to His rule; we must let the light and fire of the Torah awaken, develop and fashion our actions, even as the seeds of plant and fruit awaken, develop and take shape beneath the light and fire of the law He has given to nature. In other words, only if we effect a moral flowering, development and maturation within ourselves, will G-d flower our fields, ripen our fruit, and fill our barns with His plenty” (The Hirsch Chumash, Feldheim, Vayikra, p. 773, 775).

As we journey through these weeks of Sefiras Ha’Omer, anticipating with great excitement Chag Ha’Shavuos - the time of the giving of our Torah - the “moral flowering, development and maturation within ourselves” must occur as a prerequisite for the receiving of the Torah. Our nation moved up forty-nine rungs of the spiritual ladder, from the impurity of Egypt to the purity of Har Sinai, so that they would merit the Revelation at Sinai and the giving of the Torah.

We too, every year during these seven weeks, must undergo a similar spiritually transformative journey. ‫ע ֶֹמר‬-‫ ֶאת‬,‫יא ֶכם‬ ֲ ‫ ִמ ּיוֹ ם ֲה ִב‬,‫ ִמ ָּמ ֳח ַרת ַה ּׁ ַש ָ ּבת‬,‫ו ְּס ַפ ְר ֶּתם ָל ֶכם‬ – ‫ ְּת ִמימֹת ִּת ְהיֶ ינָ ה‬,‫ ׁ ֶש ַבע ׁ ַש ָ ּבתוֹ ת‬:‫ַה ְּתנו ָּפה‬ and you shall count for yourselves - from the morrow of the rest day, from the day when you bring the omer of the waving - seven weeks, they shall be complete (Vayikra 23:15). And so, we count these seven complete weeks, hoping that as we count time, we make our time count.

R’ Shalom Rosner quotes the Ksav Sofer (R. Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer, 1815– 1871) who “teaches us an important lesson from one word that appears in the pasuk introducing the mitzvah of Sefiras Ha’Omer: ‫ ִמ ָּמ ֳח ַרת ַה ּׁ ַש ָ ּבת‬,‫ ו ְּס ַפ ְר ֶּתם ָל ֶכם‬- can be translated as: And you shall count yourselves (lachem), from the morrow of the rest day.

“The word ‘lachem’ appears infrequently with respect to mitzvot, and when it does, it plays an important function. The Ksav

24

Sofer suggests that the word ‘lachem’ here, used in context of Sefiras Ha’Omer, highlights that the commandment is not just a perfunctory, quantitative counting, but rather that the goal of counting is qualitative.

“When Hashem commanded Avraham to depart to Eretz Canaan, He said: ‫ל ָך‬-ְ ‫ל ְך‬,ֶ lech licha, go for yourself (Bereishis 12:1). Rashi comments: ‫ל ֲהנָ ָא ְת ָך ו ְּלטוֹ ָב ְת ָך‬,ַ for your own benefit and for your own good.

“Similarly, counting the Omer is for our own benefit, and for our own good. It is an opportunity to grow in an area of our choice.

One should utilize this period between Pesach and the holiday of the giving of the Torah to improve oneself spiritually. It is as though we ourselves are climbing the mountain, trying to reach the peak before forty-nine days are up, so that we are prepared to receive the Torah on Shavuos… It is up to us to make our sefira meaningful and truly make Sefiras Ha’Omer count!”

(Shalom Rav, v.2, p.117-118).

To give meaning to these weeks of Sefiras Ha’Omer, and to bask in the joy of the mo’adim, we must ensure that every day counts. R’ Zvi Hirsch Broide of Kelm (18651913) used to say: “It is not time that passes by man, but rather it is man that passes through time” (Great Jewish Wisdom, p.133).

Let us learn these lessons well, as we value and cherish each day, for the past is no longer here, the future is not yet, and the present passes in the blink of an eye.

PARSHAT HASHAVUA

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

PARSHA WEEKLY

The Double Nature of the Chagim in Parshat Emor Rabbi Menachem Leibtag

WILL BE IN EDGWARE FOR SHABBAT

Tanach Study Center | Yeshivat Har Etzion

P

arshat Emor, like Pinchas, presents the chagim in order of their LUNAR dates (month/day). Nevertheless, Emor is different. When introducing the special mitzvah to be performed in the Mikdash on each of the SHALOSH R'GALIM, the agricultural season (i.e. the SOLAR date) is mentioned as well: CHAG HA'MATZOT Omer: "When you enter the Land... and YOU HARVEST the fields, you must bring the "omer" the FIRST HARVEST to the Kohen (23:10); SHAVUOT Shtei Ha'lechem: SEVEN WEEKS LATER - "and you shall bring a NEW flour offering..." (23:16); SUCCOT Arba Minim: "On the 15th day of the 7th month WHEN YOU GATHER THE PRODUCE OF THE LAND... and you shall take on the first day a 'hadar' fruit..." (23:39).

Why must the structure of Emor be so complicated? Why doesn't the Torah employ one standard set of dates? Why are the agricultural mitzvot presented independently?

A special agricultural-related mitzvah for each of the shalosh r'galim is detailed: Chag ha'Matzot: The Korban Ha'Omer - from the first BARLEY harvest. Shavuot: The Korban Shtei Ha'lechem, from the first WHEAT harvest. Succot: Taking the 'Arba Minim', the four species.

These mitzvot relate directly to the agricultural season in Eretz Yisrael in which these holidays fall. In the spring, barley is the first grain crop to become ripe. During the next seven weeks, the wheat crop ripens and is harvested. As this is the only time of the year when wheat grows in Eretz Yisrael, these seven weeks are indeed a critical time, for the grain which is consumed during the entire year is harvested during this short time period. The 'arba minim' which are brought to the Mikdash on Succot, also relate to the agricultural importance of the fruit harvest ("pri eytz hadar v'kapot tmarim") at this time of the year, and the need for water in the forthcoming rainy season ("arvei nachal").

It is specifically when the Torah relates to these agricultural mitzvot that these holidays are referred to as SHABBATONIM. The reason is quite simple. Shabbat relates

to the days of the week, and thus, to a natural cycle caused by the sun. So too, the agricultural seasons of the year. They also relate to the natural cycle of the sun (the 365-day cycle of the earth revolving around the sun that causes the seasons). As these holidays are celebrated during the most critical times of the agricultural year, the Torah commands us to gather at this time of the year in the Bet HaMikdash and offer special korbanot from our harvest. Instead of relating these phenomena of nature to a pantheon of G-ds, as the Canaanim did, we must recognize that it is G-d's hand behind nature and we must thank Him for our harvest.

Even though the agricultural calendar provides sufficient reason to celebrate these holidays, the Torah finds HISTORICAL significance as well in these seasonal holidays: The spring commemorates our redemption from Egypt. The grain harvest coincides with the time of Matan Torah.

During the fruit harvest, we recall our supernatural existence in the desert under the "annanei kavod" (clouds of G-d's glory) in the desert. Just as the Torah employs the 'solar' date of the chagim in relation to the agricultural mitzvot, the Torah employs the lunar date of these chagim in relation to their historical significance. For example, when describing Chag Ha'Matzot which commemorates the historical event of Yetziat Mitzraim, the lunar date of the 15th day of the first month is used (23:6).

Similarly, when the Torah refers to Succot as a Mikra Kodesh, it employs solely the lunar date and emphasizes the mitzvah of sitting in the succah, in commemoration of our dwelling in succot during our journey through the desert (see 23:34-35,43).

Specifically, the lunar calendar contains historical significance, for we count the months in commemoration of our Exodus from Egypt, the most momentous event in our national history. This is reflected in the very first mitzvah given to the Jewish nation in Sefer Shmot: "ha'chodesh ha'zeh lachem ROSH CHODASHIM..." This month (in which you are leaving Egypt) will be for you the FIRST month... (see Shmot 12:1-3).

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From the repeated emphasis in Chumash that we celebrate our redemption from Egypt in the early spring, it would appear that it was not incidental that the Exodus took place at that time. Rather, G-d desired that our national birth take place at the same time of year when the growth cycle of nature recommences. One could suggest that the celebration of our national redemption specifically in the spring emphasizes its proper meaning.

Despite its importance, our freedom attained at Yetziyat Mitzraim should be understood as only the INITIAL stage of our national spiritual 'growth', just as the spring marks only the initial stage in the growth process of nature! Just as the blossoming of nature in the spring leads to the grain harvest in the early summer and the fruit harvest in the late summer, so too our national freedom must lead to the achievement of higher goals in our national history. Thus, counting seven weeks from chag ha'matzot until chag ha'shavuot (sfirat ha'omer) emphasizes that Shavuot (commemorating the Giving of the Torah) should be considered the culmination of the process that began at Yetziat Mitzrayim, just as the grain harvest is the culmination of its growth process that began in the spring. By combining the two calendars, the Torah teaches us that during the critical times of the agricultural year we not only thank Hashem for His providence over nature but we also thank Him for His providence over our history. This is an extremely important concept, that not only is Hashem the Force behind nature, but He also guides the history of nations.

In a polytheistic society, these various attributes were divided among many G-ds.

In an atheistic society, man fails to see G-d in either. According to Chumash, man must recognize G-d's providence in all realms of his daily life; by recognizing His hand in the unfolding of our national history, and through perceiving His greatness in the creation of nature.

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PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

INSPIRATION

Dying to Live Rabbi Moshe Weinberger

Congregation Aish Kodesh, Woodmere

T

he Rav Kalonymus Kalman Halevi Epstein asks how the mitzvah to sanctify G-d’s name applies to us on a daily basis. We know that the Torah is eternal and speaks to every person, everywhere, at all times. He asks, “Is not the mitzvah of Shma constant?

If so, when the Jewish people lived on their land, when no other nation ruled over them and there was no one to force them to violate their covenant, how did they fulfill the mitzvah to give up their lives?”

As children, we were taught that the mitzvah to sanctify G-d’s name primarily meant keeping our shirts tucked in and not misbehaving in front of non-Jewish people. But the mitzvah of sanctifying Hashem’s name in the world is so central to Yiddishkeit that it must mean more than that.

After the Baal Hatanya, zy’a, was released from prison, he stopped in the town of Prohbitsch, where he was visited by a tzadekes who was the widow of Rav Shalom Prohbitscher.

She brought her two sons, ten-yearold Avraham and seven-year-old Srulik. Both boys would grow up to be tzadikim, but the younger son, Srulik, would one day be known as Rav Yisroel of Ruzhin, zy’a. Referring to the two boys, the Baal Hatanya would later say that “I saw two bright torches in Prohbitsch.”

When the widow of the Prohbitscher brought her two sons for a blessing from the Baal Hatanya, little Srulik asked, “I do not understand. When we say ‘Shma Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad,’ we accept upon

ourselves the yoke of Heaven to the extent that we are willing to give up our lives for G-d; to be annihilated and completely abdicate our own existence for Hashem. Yet our very next words are ‘Veahavta es Hashem Elokecha, And you shall love Hashem your G-d…’

One does not feel more alive than when he feels love. How can we be asked to completely nullify our own existence in one breath, and then affirm our own feeling of existence with the emotion of love in the next?”

The Baal Hatanya’s answer to Srulik’s question was very deep and he later wrote a long teaching to answer it. But we can take a simple approach to this very deep question. As it is explained in the fourteenth chapter of Tanya, every Jew has the inherent capacity to give up his life for G-d’s sake. Even those who were never religious and never knew what it meant to live for Hashem have the ability to die for Him rather than allow themselves to be separated from Him. That ability to give up everything for G-d is the foundation of Veahavta, our ability to live every moment of our lives for the sake of our love for G-d. Because of our love for G-d, we are willing to sentence our material desires to death dozens of times every single day.

That is what the Maor Vashemesh means when it says, “This is included in the Jewish people’s intentions when they say ‘Shma Yisroel” when they have illicit desires… Everything that happens to a person is a test from Hashem: Can he pass this test because he is a servant of G-d? It is therefore proper to think when saying Shma Yisroel: If Hashem

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tests me to see whether I am able to accept His service upon myself, then I am ready to accept His Divinity with great love and to remain attached to the Supernal Light.”

We, therefore, see that Shma Yisroel contains our acceptance of the yoke of Heaven and the willingness to give up our lives for G-d, as well as the commitment to dedicate each day to the love of G-d. But these two aspects are not contradictory. Living for G-d each day means giving up those things our external selves consider to be “life” for Him. When the alarm goes off in the morning, our animal soul tells us that staying in bed just a little while longer is “life.” Yet because of our love for G-d we give up that “life” for Him. When we’re sitting in front of the Gemara and the animal soul tells us we must take another 15-minute bathroom break in order to stay alive, we sacrifice our lives and dive back into the pages which connect us to eternal life even though it feels like we will drown without the distractions of temporal life. That is why the Gemara (Brachos 63b) says, “The Torah is only established with one who kills himself for it.” The animal soul inside tells us we must look at every image our hearts desire displayed in our electronic devices or at every attractive form we encounter in the street. Yet because we love G-d, we turn away from that illusory “life” and toward the Source of eternal life.

Sanctifying G-d’s name is not limited to those hopefully rare instances when we are called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice. Rather, through

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the combination of Shma Yisroel and Veahavta, it is something we can do in any place and at any time. That is why, in the context of the Shma Yisroel we say before Pesukei Dezimra, “A person should always be G-d fearing in private and in public.” We do not need a Nazi or an Inquisitor threatening us with a knife to sanctify G-d’s name. By allowing our bodily desires to die even when our animal souls tell us we need to fulfill them to “live,” we sanctify Hashem’s name every day by dying dozens of times because of our love for G-d.

PARSHAT EMOR 5782 • 2022

Living for G-d is more difficult than giving up one’s life for G-d in many ways. The Ohr Hachaim writes (on Bamidbar 23:10), “I have seen wicked people who told me explicitly that if they knew they could do teshuva and would immediately die, they would do it. But they know they cannot maintain their teshuva for a long time.” It is easier to die once for G-d than to do so multiple times a day when one still feels that truly “living” means giving in to his desires.

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But those who have made those daily sacrifices know that nothing makes a person feel more alive than surrendering one’s illicit bodily desires to G-d. It is scary to give up the indulgencies which initially feel are synonymous with life, but when we do so because of a feeling of Veahavta, our love of G-d, that is when we are truly alive. May we all merit to give up the indulgencies which superficially feel like life with the security and knowledge that doing so will connect us with the true Source of light, vitality, and life.

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