One Hundred Words on the Parshah
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One Hundred Words on the Parshah
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Parshas Tazria opens discussing tzaraas, which usually comes from speaking lashon hara. The end of Parshas Shmini talks about forbidden foods. Rav Pam explains the juxtaposition as follows: Not only is it important to be careful about what we put into our mouths, but it is also important to be careful about what comes out of our mouths.
This insight is particularly relevant during the current coronavirus outbreak, in which most of the transferring of germs takes place by way of the mouth. Out of one person’s mouth and into the other person’s mouth, hence the importance of wearing face masks.
The רמבם teaches that on ראש השנה, a city that is majority good will be granted a good year, while a city that is majority bad is slated for destruction. He uses the city of סדום as an example. The question arises. סדום would have been saved if there were 50 צדיקים living there. In fact,ה' was even willing to save the city if they found 10 צדיקים. Certainly, not a majority!
It is possible that ה' would have saved סדום if there were 10 צדיקים living there only in conjunction with the תפילות of אברהם אבינו. Under normal circumstances, the minority would not have been able to save the city. However, אברהם‘s תפילות accentuated the good and would have allowed the city to be saved.
The lesson for us is that תפילות are capable of accentuating our good deeds and overcoming our bad deeds.
“Your cloths should be white at all times, and you should always have oil on your head” (Koheles 9:8)
R’ Akiva Eiger Zt’L explains that people always want to keep their white clothes clean; however, someone who always has oil on his head, has a difficult time doing this. A similar concept is expressed by Chazal. They said, “Break the barrel, but do not lose the wine.” Both tasks seem so daunting as to seem oxymoronic, but somehow they are doable. The take away is that often people have to balance various forces or situations witch seem contradictory. But we can do it anyway!
“אז ישיר” is written in the future tense since this שירה includes all the שירות that כלל ישראל will sing in the future on upcoming miracles. חז"ל mention that by קריאת ים סוף, even the עוברות (embryos) were saying שירה in the womb. Just as an ,עובר who is not fully developed, said שירה, so too, the future generations of כלל ישראל that were not yet developed, sang שירה at קריאת ים סוף; meaning that their שירה was included in אז ישיר.
Additionally, at קריאת ים סוף, Hashem gave נבואה to the Yidden. Normally, it would take a tremendous amount of preparation to reach the high level to be worthy of נבואה. But Hashem gave it to the Yidden. This necessitated a special creation, comparable to the creation of the world which was done יש מעין. Why? Hashem was catapulting כלל ישראל onto a level they did not reach in order to prepare them for מתן תורה. In the same manner, the שירה was catapulted onto a level to incorporate all future שירות.
May we have the ultimate song of the future with the coming of משיח, which will have נפלאות double of what we had when we leftמצרים .
The text of the הגדה that the Rambam wrote (which the Yemenites still use today) begins with מגיד. Right before הא לכמא עניא, he writes the words “בבהלו יצאנו ממצרים”, we left Egypt in confusion. The תרגום in his translation of “כי בחפזון יצאתם ממצרים” likewise, translates these words to mean we left מצרים in a state of confusion.
R’ Yisroel Neuman, ראש ישיבה of BMG in a שמווס right before Yeshiva closed down, mentioned that בהלה, confusion, is part of the תוכחה, the curses in the תורה which will be fulfilled if Jews do not behave properly. He pointed out that we are currently suffering tremendous בהלה from the coronavirus and all the related situations.
May פסח herald the exiting of our generation’s בהלה.
The Torah introduces the laws of Pesach Sheini (Bamidbar 9:6-14) through an incident involving a group of men who, due to tumas meis, were unable to participate in the first korban Pesach given in the midbar. These men approached Moshe with a complaint, essentially arguing that it was unfair that, for reasons beyond their control, they should lose out on the opportunity to perform the korban Pesach.
The Sifrei comments that this complaint teaches us that these men wereבני אדם כשרים וחרדים על המצות – “kosher men who were serious about mitzvos”. How so?
The gemara tells us that earlier generations were criticized for utilizing halachic loopholes to avoid the obligation to give maser on their crops, but later generations were praised for not doing so. Similarly, these men who complained about their lost opportunity to perform the mitzvah of korban Pesach are also to be commended for showing the proper value for a mitzvah.
The lesson for us that we should strive to be able to do mitzvos, not to get out of them.
I remember hearing from Rav Uren Reich, 27 years ago, saying over in the name of Rav Elya Brudny as follows:
Haman wanted to kill Mordechai because he didn’t bow down to him. But why did Haman want to kill all of klall Yisrael – who did bow down to him?
The answer is that Haman understood that Mordechai was the real Yid. While others did bow, they were bound to act like Mordechai. He was their representative and was doing what they should have and would have been doing. Mordechai is called Mordechai Hayehudi because he was the real Yid. כי הגידו לו את עם מרדכי– “For they informed him (Haman) of Mordechai’s nationality” (Esther 3:6) – Haman understood that Mordechai’s refusal to bow was the result of his Jewish nationality and he therefore wanted to kill the whole nation.
I feel that this vort is appropriate for Rav Brudny. He is emerging in an an amazing leadership role for American Jewry. ורצוי לרב אחיו – “And he found favor before most of his brethren” (Esther 10:3). Rav Brudny’s recent activism has earned strong support from R’ Chaim Kanievski and most gedolei hador.
“Anyone who comes to the King’s court without being called is guaranteed to be killed, unless the King stretches out his golden scepter. And I haven’t been called in 30 days” (מגילת אסתר פרק ד' פסוק י"א)
This can be compared to the קדש קדשים in the בית המקדש. Only once a year could the כהן גדול go in. The red string that turns white can be compared to the scepter being outstretched. “The King” can refer to ה', and the court, the בית המקדש. “All the מדינות know” can refer to יהודה and גליל and other sections (מדינות).
The Chofetz Chaim famously promoted the study of the korbanos, and taught that this study would protect a person from tzaros (troubles). The gemara tells us that when Haman came to take Mordechai on the king’s horse, he found him teaching the laws of kemitza (the handful of flour) which is part of the korban mincha. Haman said, “Your handful of flour overcame my 10,000 silver pieces (which Haman had offered the king for the right to kill the Jews).”
In this weeks parsha the medrash says that while bringing a korban a person should the relevant pesukim and learn about the korban. There is a minhag to recite the Seder Amiras Korban Pesach (printed in most siddurim and hagados), which includes various relevant verses and describes the full procedure of the korban Pesach, on erev Pesach after Mincha, at the time when the actual korban Pesach was brought when the Beis HaMikdash was still standing.
May it be a merit for all of us at this trying time.
At a speech that Rav Pam gave at a dinner for his Israeli Educational Network, Shuvu, he cited a pasuk in this week’s haftara. The navi says, פנו דרך ה' – “Clear the way for Hashem” – so that He can come back to His land and His people. There is no greater obstacle to Hashem returning His shechina than the secular education in Israel. It is producing students who are ignorant and even hateful towards religion. Our task is to clear the way for Hashem by removing the children from harmful education and placing them in Torah schools.
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