Sin, Choice, Korbanot And Pesach

PORTION FROM BY RAKEL BERENBAUM Contributor, Torah TidbitsPORTION FROM BY RAKEL BERENBAUM Contributor, Torah TidbitsREBBETZIN SHIRA

THE PORTIONTHE PORTION SMILES

Storytelling Sin, Choice, Korbanot and son’s son of how I made a mockery of the Egyptians….”. Rabbi Weinreb in his book, “The Person in the Parasha” points In his book on the weekly portions Harav Yehuda Shaviv points out the difference between Korbanot Nedava – voluntary sacrifices ( the Olah, Mincha, or Shlamim) Tribute to the Trio on the other hand, was a person who stood strong in his values, unbending and resolute in his beliefs. Chazal teach that Chur tried to challenge the Iam currently taking a course on innovation. One of the things we learned is the importance of storytelling. We were told our “pitch” should include the “why” – the personal story behind our creative project. My project is a popup book for kids. Why? I grew up in a house with lots of books, lots of art and a father who out something fascinating that the Belzer Rebbe teaches on the verse. He says that Moshe’s own sons, Gershom and Eliezer, were left behind in Egypt when he went on God’s mission. They “missed out on the show” to say. They didn’t experience all the amazing miracles of the Exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the Reed And Pesach Last week we started the book of Vayikra, which begins with the laws of the korbanot, sacrifice offerings. These laws continue in this week’s portion of Tzav as well. The Rambam writes that all of the korbanot are chukim, laws that and Korbanot Chova –obligatory korbanot ( Chatat, Ole Veyored and Asham). A person brings the obligatory korbanot after he has sinned. Besides the fact that Nedava are given by choice and Chova sacrifices one is commanded to bring, because of the sins the person has committed, Rav Shaviv points out another interesting difference. For optional korbanot, the person who In a deeply powerful scene, Moshe Rabbeinu is found with his hands held high on top of the mountain praying for the people gripped in a raging battle with Amalek below. Ahron and Chur stood on either side of Moshe Rabbeinu holding his hands aloft (Shemot 17;10). Rashi teaches that Chur people when they wanted to build the calf and they subsequently killed him. Chur, a descendent of Yehudah, was a person who was inflexible and strong like a lion. Truly, a combination of both qualities is necessary. In interpersonal relationships it is wise to follow Ahron’s path, to compromise and make peace whenever possible. However, in the was an engineer. Therefore I always loved Sea. The Belzer Rebbe asks why? He says we don’t know the reasons for. He does say brings them has a large choice of animals was the son of Moshe’s sister, Miriam. service of Hashem and reinforcing those kinds of books that combine beau- that God wanted Moshe to model for us that all chukim, it is beneficial to ponder that he may choose from to bring as a What more do we know about Chur? shamayim tiful artwork and humor with amazing what parents must do for their children them, and “whatever one can find a rea- korban. He can bring from Bakar, Zon , What is the symbolism of his joining example and be resolute in his values. paper engineering. I love them even more – tell them the story of the Exodus. The son for – it’s ok to give a reason”. For the Kvasim or Izim - bull, sheep or goats. And with Ahron to support the hands of These two special people joined Moshe now when I am able to read them with my word “you” is singular in the verse – to moment we are unable to bring korbanot if he chooses to bring from the bird family Moshe Rabbeinu? Rabbeinu to activate the merits of these grandchildren and see their eyes light up with excitement. Aren’t the stories in all TED talks what make them so popular, and watched and shared so many times? refer to Moshe. God instructed him to tell the Exodus story to his sons who had not experienced it. Only one generation of Jews experienced the actual redemption from Egypt, but every generation is able to experience it virtually if their parents tell since the Beit Hamikdash has not been rebuilt, and the whole concept of sacrifices might seem very foreign to us, since we have never experienced it. This makes it even more important to learn as much as we can about the detailed actions one must do to bring korbanot, so when we he can choose from Torim (turtle dove) or Bnei Yonah ( young common dove). He can also bring from things that grow – solet ( best grade of wheat meal). He can choose if his offering will be totally consumed ( Olah) or where part of it will be eaten ( Shlamim). Rabbi Roberts in Through the Prism of Torah explains that Ahron and Chur personified contrasting character traits. Ahron was a peacemaker, he constantly looked for ways to create harmony among his people. Indeed, he was approaches as he implored Hashem to have mercy on His people and vanquish Amalek, physically and spiritually. Just this week in the class I’m giving in English on Zoom on memory improvement at Herzog College, I also taught about using the story method for memory improvement. Taking a list that one wants them the story. For the Pesach events we don’t need to invent a story like in the memory technique I taught. The deliverance from Egypt is a well known epic filled with excitement, will be able to, we will be ready. It is also important to study the ideas and practical lessons that we can learn, even today from the concepts behind korbanot. This is especially the case since the Rambam teaches us that “ the world is held up just beThe person who must bring an obligatory korban, because of sin, doesn’t have the same amount of choice as the person who volunteers to bring a korban. He must bring ready to compromise his own values to achieve this goal, as we see in the story of the sin of the golden calf. Chur, For Sale - Gorgeous apartment in Old Katamon In a unique Old Arab style building - Spacious 110sqm, 4 room apartment with Sukah balcony, Shabbat elevator, parking & large separate storage room. lots of character, excellent condition, central A/C Truly one of a kind! 5,280,000nis For Sale –house, 4 rooms, (total about 160m), high standard of to remember, and linking the objects in one’s mind into a creative (meaning silly) cause of the korbanot service”. Hopefully this year we will actually be able to bring emotion and heritage. Each year as we gather around the Seder table, we have renovation, Sukkah porch, 2 full bathrooms + guest bathroom, central a/c, elevator, asking $2,550,000 story, makes it easier to remember the list. the Korban Pesach. an obligation and opportunity to share 68 TORAH TIDBITS / TZAV - PESACH 5781 A verse (10:2) in this week’s portion also 26 the story that has been passed down from TORAH TIDBITS / BESHALACH 5781 talks about telling a story. “So that you generation to generation and make it our

what God says – he is told if he should bring a male or female animal, a par or a Sair, an Ayil or a kisva. He isn’t given choice.

Rav Shaviv explains – that sin ends up by limiting ones choices. We see this with the first sin in history, that of Adam. Before the sin, man could eat from all the fruits in the garden. Well, all except one. It is true that he was instructed not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and bad. But he still had the choice whether to listen to the rule given by God or not to. Once Adam sinned, and chose not to listen to God, he no longer had that choice. He could no longer eat anything he wanted from the Garden of Eden, because he was banished from Paradise, so he would not be able to eat from the tree of life. His choices became limited. This similarity between Adam having choices removed from him by sinning, and the sinner losing choices in what animals he can bring as a korban is hinted at by the wording in a verse in the beginning of our portion connected to the korbanot “ Adam ki Yakriv mikem Korban L’Hashem”. The verse doesn’t use the word Ish which would be more expected, but rather the word Adam (Vayikra Raba 2:7).

But this limit in choice does not have to be permanent. The whole purpose of the Chatat and Asham, the sin offerings, are to return the person to balance, and return his choice. But the korbanot don’t act like a magic wand – abra cadabra- for the sinner who brings a korban, to have his sins wiped away. The sinner must also make the choice to bring himself close to God ( Lkarev et azmo) when he brings the animal “close”. He must do Teshuva and repent, as it says in verse 5:5 in last weeks portion and as the Rambam states in the first Halacha of Hilchot Teshuva. The sinner must repent and say a verbal Vidui – and confess his sin alongside his korban.

This Pesach, when we celebrate becoming a nation of free men, of people with choices, we pray that we will again be able to; bring sacrifices in the Temple, grow closer to God and make the correct choices.

RECIPE

On Pesach even those who do eat gebrochts probably eat more potatoes than usual. So I thought this is a good time to share my husband’s special recipe for potatoes. He makes it during the year, not just for Pesach. Whenever he does make it, it is always finished (no matter how much he makes) and all those sitting at the table wish there was more. The secret to this recipe is in using an equal amount of onions to the amount of potatoes. Wishing everyone a chag kasher v’sameach.

POTATOES AND ONIONS

5 Potatoes, sliced 5 Onions Tablespoon Oil Half a cup of water Salt to taste The trick is to use as many onions as potatoes. Saute onions. Add sliced potatoes and mix in with the onions. Add a bit of water and cover. Cook on a low flame till potatoes are softened and golden.

BY TEENS NCSY ISRAEL

A Message from NCSY Israel’s Regional Directors

Rabbi Michael Kahn & Rabbi Yosef Ginsberg

What is the overall theme of the Haggadah? If we look closely at the word “Haggadah”, there is much more than meets the eye. The word “הדגה” has the numerical value of 17. This number is significant because it is not only the same numerical value of “בוט” which means good, but it also represents the age of Yosef when he was sold and brought down into Egypt. Out of all the possible words one would have thought to associate a brother being sold into slavery by his fellow brethren, “good” would probably not be one of them. What

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Arab house, 4 rooms, (total about 160m), high standard of renovation, Sukkah porch, 2 full bathrooms + guest bathroom, central a/c, elevator, parking, small machsan, asking 2,550,000 dollars is the connection to Yosef’s sale to Egypt and the word בוט? Rabbi Benjamin Blech comments in his Haggadah “Redemption, Then and Now” that the numerical allusion is to remind us of the terrible act that started the story which we are about to engage in on Seder night. We need to remember that the tragedy of Yosef’s sale at the age of seventeen led to the miracle of our redemption and the Revelation at Sinai. No matter how blind any event may appear at the time, the dark of night is always followed by the dawn.

Just over a year ago marked the time when NCSY Israel had to unfortunately close its doors to in-person programming due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The inspirational Shabbatonim, the personal meaningful discussions, and high energy mega events all came to a pause. What would be with NCSY Israel? How does a social group for teens continue to be impactful and relevant when it cannot operate the way it had for the past five years? As difficult and challenging as it might have been, we somehow found a way to not only continue and survive but thrive. Events shifted to a virtual model at first with creative and engaging programming, allowing teens to connect with one another from all over the country, and for some events, around the world. With the initiation of our chapter programming last

year, we were set up to ultimately move to local in-person programming when the situation improved, and we are now returning to our unparalleled mega events surrounding Pesach.

What is the overall theme of the Haggadah? The Mishnah in Pesachim 10:4 tells us that when we tell over the story of leaving Egypt we must begin with shame and end with praise. We begin by detailing the hard and bitter times and then conclude in praise. One year ago, we tasted the bitterness of this pandemic. Our system was shocked and we were forced to rethink and recreate ourselves. We are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and we are celebrating the sweetness as we come out of this transformative time.

When we look back at this past year we will only have one word to describe it and that word is “בוט”. We are thankful to Hashem for the challenges we faced as it brought out the best in our region from our staff to our teens. We look forward to the new world NCSY Israel will be greeting as we continue to inspire the Jewish future in Israel.

Chag Sameach!

NCSY Israel is the premier organization in Israel, dedicated to connect, inspire, empower, and help teen olim with "Klita" to the Land of Israel by encouraging passionate Judaism through Torah and Tradition. Find out more at israel.ncsy.org

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