tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77913594118071739152024-02-20T11:15:33.431-08:00A Drop of Torahspigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-1392601557043672292011-12-01T05:49:00.001-08:002011-12-01T05:49:42.617-08:00THIS BLOG HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN MOVED TO ADROPOFTORAH.WORDPRESS.COMspigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-69030107828423062612011-11-25T12:00:00.001-08:002011-11-25T12:00:51.456-08:00פרשת תולדוס<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in;"> <div class="MsoTitle" dir="RTL" style="direction: rtl; text-align: right; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">פרשת תולדוס<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>'And Yitzchok said about his wife, "She is my sister"' (*Bereishis 26.7)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> There are two types of love between two people. The first is that which one has for someone from whom he receives some enjoyment or other favor. The love comes because this person is of good character and acts towards him based on that. The love that he has is based on this good character. This is the love that a man normally has for his wife because he has enjoyment from her. In order for there to be this type of love there has to be a secession of this enjoyment, for if it was continual, he would have no enjoyment from it. (As *Chazal say, an enjoyment that is continual is not really enjoyment.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> There is another type of love, which is that of a brother for a sister. He loves her for herself and not because any type of enjoyment she gives him. In this love there is no secession. If she would also have good *midos, he would have enjoyment from these midos also [but they are secondary to his love of her.] From this we see that his love is greater then the enjoyment he has from her since from his love comes his enjoyment [and not vis versa].<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> In the first type of love, however, this is not the case. The enjoyment is greater then the love since the love comes from the enjoyment that she brings him. And this is why Yitzchok said about his wife 'She is my sister', since that was the level his love for her was on. (p. 108 Toras HaMaggid teachings of the *Rebbe Reb Ber, the *Maggid of Mizretch)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Have an Awesome Shabbos<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-58583010237166698142011-11-18T11:00:00.000-08:002011-11-18T13:19:00.910-08:00פרשת חיי שרה<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in;"><div align="right" class="MsoTitle" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">פרשת חיי שרה</span><o:p></o:p></div></div><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ואשאל אתה ואמר בת מי את ותאמר בת בתואל בן נחור אשר ילדה לו מלכה ואשם הנזם על אפה והצמידים על אפה ידיה:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>“And I asked her and said: ‘who is your father?’ and she said, ‘I am the daughter of Bisuel…’ and I placed a bracelet on her hands.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"> In this week’s parsha, Eliezer, Avraham’s faithful servant was sent on a very important mission. He was sent away to find a wife for Avraham’s son, Yitzchak. Before he left on this journey Avraham stressed that when he goes he needs to find a girl from his family, from his father’s house. Eliezer, a little overwhelmed asked Hashem for a sign to help him make the right choice. He asked that Hashem should send a girl that offers him and his camels something to drink from the well. That would be the sign that the girl is the one Hashem chose for Yitchak. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"> No sooner did he say those words Rivka appeared and “passed the test”. Eliezer was so sure that she was the right girl that he gave her the symbolic bracelets that engaged her to Yitzchak. He then asked who she was, and found out that indeed she was from the house of Avraham.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"> When Eliezer went to meet Lavan and Bisuel (her father and brother), something interesting happens. He tells the story almost exactly how it happened, he just mixes a few things up, he changed the order of how it happened. He said, “first I asked her name and then I gave her the bracelets”.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"> Rashi explains that this was because he was afraid that Lavan would never believe it if he said the way it really happened. He would assume that Eliezer was lying. Therefore he changed the order.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"> Well this is really strange, because moments before Eliezer was telling Lavan how God had shortened the way for him in order to get to Charan faster. Obviously Lavan didn’t have a hard time believing in miracles, so why over here was Eliezer afraid. It must have been that Lavan had a problem in the idea of trust itself.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"> We see throughout the next few weeks that Lavan lived a very selfish and untrustworthy life. He believed that since nobody could trust him, that he could not trust anyone. He assumed he was too smart to trust, anyone with a brain would not be stupid enough to trust. Therefore he could never accept that someone would let his guard down and actually trust. Therefore Eliezer was afraid to mention his complete trust in Hashem, he knew Lavan wouldn’t believe him and assume he was lying. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"> This is a very important message for our personal relationships and our relationship with God. Lavan looked at life as always trying to outdo the other person, and making sure that whatever they can do to me I do to them first. He never “believed in people”. Even the nicest actions of a person would be translated into a hidden agenda. When we deal with other people, we need not to think like that. We need to realize that there are good people who are interested just in helping and doing the right thing. We need to know that even though we don’t know why things happen, God knows what he is doing. Simply we need to trust…<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Have an Awesome Shabbos<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Adapted From the Shmuz<o:p></o:p></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-43030891004462169972011-10-12T13:12:00.001-07:002011-10-12T13:12:07.870-07:00סכות<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in;"> <div align="right" class="MsoTitle" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">סכות</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>We just finished the most important part of the Jewish year, Elul. We have now entered </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">זמן שמחתנו</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, the time of happiness. The question is why is </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">סכות</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> such a happy time? We leave the comfort of our houses to go live in a hut, why is that such a </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">שמכה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>We all know that a </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">סוכה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> needs to be a temporary dwelling. When we move into a community and decide that we want to stay and build a life there what is the first thing we do? The first thing that most people do is search for a house to live in so that they can establish themselves in that community. When you buy a house you ROOT yourself into the community. On </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">סכות</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> we are showing that we as a people, no matter where we live are not a people who are rooted in the community that we live, we are rooted in our heritage and in </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">עולם הבא</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. Our real connection is up above. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span>This is also the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">שמכה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> that we have. We are showing that we are not a people who are rooted in the physical world. Yes, we are allowed to have a good life, work hard, make money, etc… But at the end of the day we are a spiritual people, connected to </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and because of this we know that we have limitless potential. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Have an Awesome Chag<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-77116940737959325572011-10-06T12:00:00.001-07:002011-10-06T21:02:05.887-07:00יום כיפור<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in;"><div align="right" class="MsoTitle" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">יום כיפור</span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> On </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">ראש השנה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> we are written and on </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">יום כיפור</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> we are sealed. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">יום כיפור</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is the ULTIMATE TIME of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">תשובה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> for the Jewish people. The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">רמב''ם</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> says it is the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">זמן תשובה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> for every </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">יחיד</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">רבים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> (every single Jew personally as well as the Jews as a whole). He goes further and says that since it is the Jews last chance for </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">תשובה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> we have a </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">חיוב</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> to beg and ask for </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">סליכה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">מחילה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> Why is that? Why is it our </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">חיוב</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> to do </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">תשובה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>? We should be able to decide whether we are sorry for our actions or not! The reason for this </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">חיוב</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is as follows, during the rest of the year it is up to every person to make their own relationship with </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, in their own special and unique way. However, on </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">יום כיפור</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is coming down to us. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> forces us to realize that we are all connected to Him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> Rav Aharon Kutler brings an example; you are sitting down by yourself and notice that there is a man walking towards you with his hand outstretched to shake yours, he is coming to greet you. This isn’t just a regular man however, it is the king! What would you do? Yes you have the ability to ignore him and go about your business, most of us though appreciate the fact that we have our lives and would like to continue living it. If you chose to ignore the king it would be a terrible insult and you would pay for it accordingly. It’s the same thing here. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is coming down TO US and showing us that we have a relationship with Him, whether we like or not, whether we believe it or deny it. The only thing we need to do for forgiveness is say, yes </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">אנחנו חטאנו</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, we have sinned, and acknowledge that fact. Yes we have sinned terribly and we may feel like we don’t deserve it but </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is coming with His hand outstretched to show us that we don’t have to try that hard for us to have this relationship.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Have an Easy and Truly Meaningful Fast<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Yoni Spigelman <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;">With Help From Rav Moshe Beigelman</span></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-62632629140290743022011-09-28T11:51:00.001-07:002011-09-28T11:51:20.543-07:00ראש השנה<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in;"> <div align="right" class="MsoTitle" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">ראש השנה</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span> </span>ראש השנה</span><span>one of the most intense, scariest, and happiest times of the Jewish year. <span> </span>It is during this time of the year where we are all judged, based on the things we have and done over the past year. As we all know if we are found to be a </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">צדיק</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> we are immediately written and sealed in the Book of Life. If we are found to be </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רשאים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> we are immediately written and sealed in the Book of Death. What about those of us who don’t really fit into either of those categories? Not all of us are great sages, and not all of us are evil people. <span> </span>What happens to us? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">גמרא</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> in </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ראש השנה (ד' טז:, ע' ב)</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> says that there is a third book which is left open until </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">יום כיפור</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. This is called the Book of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">בינונים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. When a person is written in </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ספר בינונים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, they have ten days, the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">אשרת ימי תשובה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> to prove to </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> which Book they belong to. The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">גמרא</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> says </span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>"זכו נכתבין לחיים לא זכו נכתבין למיתה"</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span lang="HE"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> </span><span>“If they merit life they are written for life, if they do not merit they are written for death. The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רמב''ם</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> translates the word </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">זכו</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> (Merits) to mean does “</span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">תשובה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>”. What does he mean by this? Wouldn’t it be just as good for the person to do a whole bunch of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מצות</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> in order to tip the scale in his favor?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>The answer to this question is a very meaningful one. What is the definition of a </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">צדיק</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>? Usually when we think of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">צדיקים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> as people with long white beards who sit and learn </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> all day, and we think, I can never be like that… We are being taught something different here. Yes, those people are definitely </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">צדיקים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, but it isn’t just because they sit and learn </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> all day, they are </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">צדיקים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span lang="HE"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> </span><span>because they define themselves as </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">צדיקים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. A </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">צדיק</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is a person who defines himself by doing good in the eyes of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, yes he may do </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">עבירות</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> sometimes, but those are accidents. They don’t make him who he is, therefore he is able to do </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">תשובה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> for the wrong things that he may have done. A real </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is the opposite. It is a person who is completely controlled by his want to do bad. He is so caught up in his evil ways that </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">תשובה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> doesn’t even cross his mind. He doesn’t care. A </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">בינוני</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is the middle ground. He is a person without a specific definition of himself. He does good things, and he does bad things, he doesn’t define himself as anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span></span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">זכו</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> here means that we have the opportunity in the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">אשרת ימי תשובה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span lang="HE"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> </span><span>to do </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">תשובה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and re-define ourselves for the next year. We get to make changes in ourselves, whether for the good or for the bad and make the choice whether we are going to be like </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">צדיקים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> or </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רשאים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>It is my </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ברכה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> that we all choose to make the good choices so that we can all live a happy, healthy, wealthy new year.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Have a </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">כתיבה וכתימא טובה</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-82329744574128409492011-09-22T20:11:00.001-07:002011-09-22T20:11:18.613-07:00פרשת נצבים וילך<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in;"> <div align="right" class="MsoTitle" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">פרשת נצבים וילך<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">...לא אוכל לצאת ולבוא...</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>… I am no longer able to go out and come in…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>This phrase at the beginning of the second portion of this week’s </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> reading is a very strange and interesting one. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">משה רבינו</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, the Jewish leader, tells </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">בני ישראל</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> that he is no longer going to be leading them, and that he will not be bringing them into </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ארץ ישראל</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. He says, “I am no longer ABLE…” The big question here is, what do you mean he was not able? The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מפורשים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span lang="HE"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> </span><span>say that </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> was actually in great health, physically and mentally. He still had the ability to lead! If </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> really wanted to, all he had to do was just walk in! What does he mean he is not ABLE to go in?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span></span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רשי</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> answers that, </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> said this because he was unable to bring himself to go into the land against the will of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> could not bring himself to enter without </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>’s permission, even though he really could have. There is a strange thing that happens to us humans. Have you ever gotten so angry at someone all you wanted to do was slap them in the face? Now imagine that the person you want to hit is your father or mother. As angry as you may get, most of us realize that there is a line that we can’t cross. As much as we may want to hit them, as hurt, angry, or sad they have made us feel, we can’t physically bring ourselves to lift up our hands and hit them (which is a good thing by the way).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span></span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> realized this too. He knew that if he went into </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">א"י</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> it would be a major slap in the face to </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> his Father. For whatever reason </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> decided the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> was not allowed to go in to the land and for that reason </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> physically could not make himself enter. He could not bring himself to “slap his father” in the face like that.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>This is a huge message that we should all keep in mind as we enter </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ראש השנה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">יום כיפור</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. We need to learn from the strength of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">משה רבינו</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. There are so many times in our lives where we are tempted to go against the word of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and sin. We need to always remember that whenever we do this, it is a slap in the face of our creator. He created us to do good, and we are deliberately going the other way to do wrong by Him. When this happens, and these temptations come we need to say no, we need to lower that hand from His face and turn the other way.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Have Awesome Shabbos<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-72907149574964429342011-09-15T16:48:00.001-07:002011-09-15T16:48:40.623-07:00פרשת כי תבוא<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: accent1; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in;"> <div align="right" class="MsoTitle" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">פרשת כי תבוא</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ולקחת מראשית כל-פרי...</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>That you shall take the first of every fruit…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>The first </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> that is talked about in this week’s </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ביקורים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> (the bringing of the first fruits to the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">כהן</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> as a tax to </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>). </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רשי</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> points out that when a Jew brings the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ביקורים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, the need to do it </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">בשמחה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. We need to be happy when we are giving away the first of out fruits.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>Now, this is an interesting idea. Not only do we need to give our hard work away but we need to be happy about it. It seems kind of strange. Why do we NEED to be happy? Another question is, why is this </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> of being </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">בשמחה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> during one of the scariest parts of the Jewish year? This is the time of year where the Jewish people as a whole and each individual is judged and written in either the Book of Life or the Book of Death. This period should be (and hopefully is) full of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">תשובה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and fear. So why is there a </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> talking about being happy?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>I believe that these two questions are connected. We need to realize that whenever we are judged by </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, it is His ULTIMATE KINDNESS.</span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> created us, we are His servants. When a slave does something wrong the master doesn’t need to forgive him, he can punish him any way he wants. However when the master does forgive, and doesn’t punish the slave, that slave is eternally grateful. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is our master, not only that, He is the only master who knows everything that we do, everything we think, even everything we may do in the future. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> could easily say, “well he is behaving badly, you know what, his time is up”, and guess what… Game over, that’s it. However, He doesn’t do this. Not only does He not do that, but </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> doesn’t even judge us with everything He knows about us. He judges only with what the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מלחים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> bring against us. I would say that is pretty kind. Therefore as afraid as we are during this period we are also very happy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>There is a similar situation when it comes to </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ביקורים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> controls our farming. He could very easily watch us do all of our hard work and toil away for nothing. We may pour our blood sweat and tears into our farms, and not grow any produce. However, </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> doesn’t do this. The only way we CAN bring </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ביקורים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is if our produce grows. When it grows, we are </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">בשמחה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> because we know that at least this year we have a way of making our money, and we have food to survive on. What do we have to pay for that? Basically nothing, all we need to do is bring the first fruits to the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">כהן</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>.<span> </span>We need to and even choose to do this because it is the small price that we need to pay for our success.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span></span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">אי''ה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> all of us will be able to be successful in our lives and be able to happily pay our small debt to </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> no matter what we do.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Have an Amazing Shabbos<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-1092871157820544542011-09-09T10:52:00.000-07:002011-09-09T10:52:10.424-07:00פרשת כי תצה<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span>In this week’s </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> we are introduced to the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">שלוח הקן</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, sending away the mother bird.<span> </span>This is </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> of shooing away the mother bird before taking away the eggs from the nest. What is the reason behind this </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>? Why do we need to send the mother away? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span>The answer to this question is a </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מחלוקת</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> between </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רמב"ם</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רמב"ן</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רמב"ם</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> says, the reason for this </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is because, just like humans animals have feelings towards their children. Within every animal there is a certain amount of love that they have for their offspring. Therefore in order to not cause pain and suffering to the mother bird we send her away so that she does not have to see the eggs being taken. The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רמב"ן</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> gives a different answer. He says that it is all about psychology, if you are cruel to animals it may lead you to become cruel in regards to human beings.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span>We see this example very often (at least on CSI) by serial killers. What is one of the first questions they ask about the killer? They ask about his childhood. Did he ever have a traumatic experience etc… They also ask whether he ever used to experiment on animals and kill them. They ask this because they are trying to understand his psychology. When you hurt an animal it is only a step away from hurting humans.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span>The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רמב''ן</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is telling us that this </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is for our wellbeing. It is for our protection. It is protecting us from </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ח''ו</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> becoming desensitized to </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>’s creatures, and rationalizing the bad treatment of them. There is more than just that however. What the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רמב''ן</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is really saying is even more than becoming desensitized, this </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is making us “sensitized” to all of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>’s creations. Just like with the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מצות</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">צדקה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">חסד</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, we are not doing it because we want to. We don’t give </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">צדקה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> because we feel bad for the poor guy. We aren’t doing </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">חסד</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> because we like the person we are doing it for. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is actually teaching us to act in His image. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is the ultimate definition of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רחמנות</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, in all of these </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מצות</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> we are being trained to be a person of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">רחם</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> doesn’t need our help to take care of His children. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span>This is why we do the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">שלוח הקן</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, when we learn how to treat even some of the smallest of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>’s creatures with compassion, we will learn how to become a person of mercy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Have an Awesome Shabbos<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>With Help From- Rav Moshe Beigelman and Rav Shaya Greenberg<o:p></o:p></span></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-30658350699190738042011-09-05T14:27:00.001-07:002011-09-05T14:27:55.939-07:00פרשת שופטים<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span>In this week’s </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> tells us about the command </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> gave to </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">בני''י</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> of choosing a king over the nation. In </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">פסוק טו</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> it says </span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span>"שום תשים עליך מלך..."</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, “place upon yourself a king…”. The next </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">פסוק</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> warns that the king should not take too many of the worldly things; horses, wives, silver, etc… <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>The Da’as Zikainim comes and explains that the reason that each one of these specific excesses is mentioned is because we want to be careful that the king will not even have the chance to become arrogant. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>This Da’as Zikainim is difficult to understand. The Jewish people were OBLIGATED to treat the king with great honor. In order for a king to be effective in leading his nation, he needs to be respected and honored. It doesn’t matter what your status in the nation is, from peasant to the richest man, from simpleton to the biggest Talmud Chacham, EVERYONE needed to treat the king, well, like a king. They needed to bow down to the full extent when he was near; whenever they entered his chambers they needed to stand for the entire duration of their meeting. The king wasn’t even allowed to stand up for anyone in public. If someone disobeys they king’s wishes, even if he asks them to leave the room, the king could have them killed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>However, our king, the Jewish king is expected to be a humble person, and to remain humble. The Torah does not worry about him becoming arrogant because of all the situations I stated before. So, why is the Torah afraid that here, when it comes to wealth he will become arrogant. It seems to be saying that honor; the king is able to handle, but wealth? Forget it. Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>One possible answer comes from the understanding of the human being. When someone is honored because of a position they hold above someone it is natural for them to feel different and above others.<span> </span>When someone feels that they are above the rest of the world they may begin to feel self-important, and may forget that everything they have is from </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. However, all of that is something that man can fight by working on themselves. They can work on being humble and realizing that the only reason they have all that is honor is because </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>Wealth on the other hand is very different.<span> </span>Wealth brings a person to a much more dangerous sense of himself. It gives the person a sense of independence that he doesn’t need anyone else anymore. My wife, she didn’t do anything for me, I don’t need her. I don’t need my children; all they want is my money. I don’t even need </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, I have enough money to do whatever I want.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>This seems to answer the question of the Da’as Zikainim. Because of the sense of independence is a natural outgrowth of wealth and power, the Torah warns a king of Israel not to amass to much of it. However great of a man he is, however he is able to keep his ego in check when it comes to honor, with wealth it is different. Even a man as great as the king of Israel is, wealth can destroy him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>This is a great lesson to all of us. Whether we are considered wealthy or not, we are blessed with living in the 21<sup>st</sup> century. We have wealth nowadays that cannot even compare with the wealthiest people in previous generations. We need to remember that everything we have comes from </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, and that </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> has a reason for giving us what we have. WE COULD NOT DO IT WITHOUT HIM. We need to be humble and remember where we come from.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Have an Amazing Shabbos<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Adapted From: The Shmuz on The Parsha- Rav Ben Tzion Shafier </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-68200075307854888582011-09-05T14:25:00.001-07:002011-09-05T14:25:49.738-07:00פרשת מטות<br />
<div style="border-bottom: solid #4F81BD 1.0pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in 0in 4.0pt 0in;"> <div align="right" class="MsoTitle" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 23.5pt; mso-ansi-font-size: 26.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HE;">פרשת מטות</span><o:p></o:p></div></div><div class="Standard"><span> </span>In this week's Parsha the Children of Reuven and of Gad wanted to stay in the land outside of Eretz Yisroel. The reason for this was because the land that was outside was better for them to feed their cattle on. They approached Moshe and said “pens for our flock shall we build here for our flocks and for our small children”. A few pasukim later Moshe agrees to let them live there and says to them “The land will be for your small children and for your cattle”. Rashi says that when the children of Reuven and Gad originally came to Moshe to ask about the land they were wrong about the order.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="Standard"><span> </span>This looks pretty bad on their part. Can it be that they cared more about the money than they did of their children?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="Standard"><span> </span>Honestly I don’t believe that. Let's try to look at this in a positive way. The parents who went to talk to Moshe were not just worried about the money. Of course they care about their families, but in order to be able to take care of them, they needed to be able to make the money for them. However, over here, that was a mistake. They wanted this land in order to set up a living for themselves so that they could provide for their families.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="Standard">By Moshe flipping around the order, he was telling them “even though you may have your priorities correct, right now, you need to be more concerned for your family. You need to build up the land for your families first and then, when you are finished with that, you can set up your business.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="Standard"><span> </span>We should all keep this in mind during this period of the three weeks. As much as we need to work in order to make money and provide for our families. We also need to work on caring for our families as a nation. Hopefully with our work we will be able to bring the geula soon!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="Standard"><br />
</div><div class="Standard">Have an Amazing Shabbos<o:p></o:p></div><div class="Standard">Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-40337316097881719242011-09-05T14:24:00.000-07:002011-09-05T14:24:01.418-07:00פרשת פינחס<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE">בס''ד<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE">והיתה לו ולזרעו אחריו ברית כהנת עולם...</span><span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>And it shall be onto him, his children, and to his grandchildren a covenant of an everlasting priesthood…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>In this week’s Parsha, Pinchas kills Zimri and Cuspi. When he did this a vicious plague that was wiping out Bnai Yisroel was halted and things went back to normal. One of the rewards of Pinchas’s actions led to his receiving the Kahuna. The question is, why did Pinchas need to “earn” the Kahuna? Wasn’t he the son of Elazar HaKohen? And the grandson of Aharon HaKohen! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>Rashi answers, that the reason is because by the time Aharon was given the kahuna, Pinchas was already born, therefore, he was not included in it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>There is another answer I would like to suggest. Aharon was one of the biggest tzadikkim the world has ever known. He was also the world’s biggest Rodef Shalom. He would do anything to keep the peace. Unfortunately, this personality of wanting to keep peace caused him to make a mistake. During the time of the Egel Hazahav, the nation came and asked him if they could do it. His answer was, “If I say yes, they will kill me, but if I say no I may be able to make peace with them and make sure that they don’t do it”. Unfortunately they listened to him, and they did the sin. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>This was not the way Pinchas thought. Pinchas knew that sometimes in order to get to peace, there needs to be war. Look at what happened in World War Two, the American’s didn’t want to join because they wanted to “keep the peace”. However, the peace didn’t come until they helped to defeat the Nazi’s. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span><span> </span>By killing Zimri and Cuspi, Pinchas was able to stop the plague, and quell Hashem’s anger towards the Jews. He knew that sometimes it is appropriate to fight to defend the name of Hashem.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Have a Great Shabbos<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span>Adapted from: Rabbi Shimon Schwabb and Moshe Hammelman <span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-61149313009092100292011-07-08T01:44:00.000-07:002011-07-08T01:44:07.319-07:00פרשת בלק<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">וירא פינחס בן אלעזר בן אהרון הכהן ויקם מתוך העדה ויקח רמח בידו<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">פינחס</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> the son of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">אלעזר</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span>, son of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">אהרון הכהן</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> saw, and he stood up from amid the assembly and took a spear in his hand…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At the end of this week’s </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span>, the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">בני ישראל</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> (once again) sin towards </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> by taking for themselves the daughters of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">מואב</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> (which eventually brought them to idolatry). This problem reached its pinnacle when </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">זמרי</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span>, the head of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">שבט שמאון</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span>, took for himself a </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">מואבי</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> princess, brought her into the camp, and began to have relations with her in public. This was s Jewish leader! People looked up to him! This could have, and almost did DESTROY THE JEWS!! </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span>, angered by this, sent a plague that was going to kill the nation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">פינחס</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span>, seeing what was happening, ran to </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> to ask what he could do. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">רש''י</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> says over here, that </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">פינחס</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> came to </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span lang="HE" style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;">and said “you were the one who told me that there is a </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">הלכה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> that if there is a person having relations with a non-Jew, another person who is jealous (angry) in the name of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> can go and kill him. [WARNING SPOILER ALERT] As we all know from next week’s </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span>, the answer </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> gave was “yes”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What does this mean!? Ok so first of all, this Dvar Torah is in NO WAY promoting going out and killing people who intermarry. I’m not some crazy guy preaching mass homicide. This whole idea is really hard to understand. However, we do need to know that, in our times, we have NO IDEA what it really means to be on level of holiness and care for </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> that </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">פינחס</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> was on. We can’t fully understand what it really means to be “jealous” for the sake of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span>. But I would like to see if we can get an idea of what it means.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In order to try to figure this out I would like to make a comparison. Parents. Parents may be the best example of this kind of jealousy or anger. How? Here is an example: a child comes home from school one day, he is crying, and has a black eye because the bully beat him up. To make it worse he got pushed into a locker and everyone was laughing at him. How does this child feel? He feels sad, depressed, his self-esteem is shot. Basically the child is just hurt. So the parent of this child gets angry, and in a way jealous. Parents care about their children and are very closely connected to them. When something happens to the child, the parent feels it. The parents become jealous of the time when that child was happy. It is not the type of jealousy that we think of. This parent isn’t trying to take anything away from anyone, they just want so badly for their child to be happy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> was watching His nation destroy itself. He was angry, sad, and hurt by what they were doing. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">פינחס</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> understood this. All that </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">פינחס</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> wanted was for </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> to be happy and treated with the respect that He deserves. The Jews were destroying that relationship with </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span>. It was like </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">פינחס</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> watching the children of the nation that he loved all leave the Derech. So, </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">פינחס</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> got jealous. Jealous about the time when they were happy with all that </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> did for them. Therefore, in order to save the nation </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">פינחס</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> was allowed to kill </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">זמרי</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span> and in turn stop the plague from killing everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Have a Great Shabbos<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-language: HE;">With Help From: Rav Moshe Beigelman<a href="" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-84333817525099650152011-06-30T17:32:00.000-07:002011-06-30T17:33:58.845-07:00פרשת חקת<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">וידבר ה' אל-משה ואל-אהרון לאמר. זאת חקת התורה...</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> spoke to </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">אהרון</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> saying. This is the statute of the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>…<o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> At the beginning of this week’s </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, we are told about the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">פרה אדומה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> (Red Cow). The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">פרה אדומה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is a </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> that is done by the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">כהנים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> when they need to make someone who has touched a dead body and is </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">טמא</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> (impure), </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">טהור</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> (pure) again. The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> consists of burning the cow and then sprinkling the ashes on the person in need. The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">פסוק</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> that introduces this </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">חוק</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> (unexplained law) says </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">זאת חקת התורה...</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> (This is the statute of the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>…).</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Why is it written this way? It seems like the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">פסוק</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is saying that this is the only </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">חוק</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> in the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. However we know that there are more! What’s going on?!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">רש''י</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> explains that the reason for the way it is phrased is, because the other nations of the world are going to bother </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">בנ''י </span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by saying, “what is this commandment?” And “where does it come from?” Therefore, the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">פסוק</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> wrote </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">חקת</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, which implies that “it is a decree from before Me (</span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>)”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To the Jewish people, </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is the ultimate father. When our fathers tell us to something, we (should) do it. We trust our fathers! We understand that when they tell us to do, or not to do something that they are really looking out for our good.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>According to </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">רש''י</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, the same thing is happening here. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> our ultimate Father, is telling us, it doesn’t matter what the other nations say or do. You are My are my children, I love you, and you know that everything I do is for your best. So what that you don’t understand what this specific </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is about?! You just need to know that I am looking out for you.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is really a very important message for us. There <u>are</u> going to be times where bad things are going to happen to us (sorry to say but that’s just a fact). We are going to get hurt, we are going to feel sad, and there are going to be times where we may feel that there is no way we can handle what’s going on in our lives. There is one thing we ALWAYS need to remember, our Father in Heaven IS LOOKING OUT FOR US. He knows us, and he hears us. We just need to talk to Him and ask Him for His help. We need to know that </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is and always will be on our side, there is no challenge that He gives us we can’t overcome. He is always taking care of His children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Have an Great Shabbos</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Yoni Spigelman</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">With Help from: Rav Moshe Beigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-15967968125250587832011-06-23T16:17:00.001-07:002011-06-23T16:17:28.904-07:00פרשת קרחויקח קרח בן יצהר בן קהת בן לוי ודתן ואבירם בני אליאב ואון בן פלת בני ראובן<br />
Korach the son of Yizhar, son of Kahas, son of Levi, separated himself with Dasan and Aviram, the sons of Eliav and Ohn son of Peles, the offspring of Reuven.<br />
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This weeks פרשה starts with the rebellion of קרח and his attempt to "overthrow" משה as the Jewish leader. In order to do this קרח gathered a group of 250 men (of stature) to help "stump" משה and prove that he really did not have help from ה׳.<br />
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רשי explains that the reason behind קרח's rebellion was jealousy. קרח felt cheated out of the position of נסי of his שבט because משה appointed his cousin, אליצפן בן עוזיאל, to the position (like ה׳ commanded him to). However קרח didn't believe that ה׳ told him to do this and thought that משה was just picking favorites. Therefore he set out to cause משה to be disproved. <br />
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To show everyone that he was right about משה, Korach gathered the 250 men and gave each of then a טלית made completely out of תכלת. They proceeded to משה רבינו and asked "If someone has a garment made completely of תכלת, is he obligated to put ציצית on it? Of course משה quickly answered "he is obligated". קרח responded by saying "a garment that is made completely of wool requires only one strand of תכלת, and yet you say that a garment made completely of תכלת needs additional תכלת? Impossible!!". קרח and his followers laughed and started their rebellion.<br />
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The מדרש states that the קרח's strategy was to ask משה a question that he would not be able to answer. From his "stumping" of משה רבינו, he would prove that there was no way that he was getting his answers from ה׳. Now, the difficulty (with רשי) is that it doesn't seem that קרח's question was really such a powerful question. I mean, the rule is, ANY four cornered garment needs to have ציצית (with a string of תכלת). So it really doesn't seem like the type of question that you would start a revolt off of. <br />
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If קרח really wanted to stump משה רבינו he could have asked a much harder question. What was so unthinkable about the answer of the תכלת that caused קרח and his 250 followers to laugh and try to start a revolution? <br />
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To this, I have a two part answer. The first, is the power of jealousy and how it overtook קרח. <br />
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Here is an example, a person is sitting in their living room in a comfortable house; with a nice tv, great wife, nice car, anything a person can want. All of a sudden a commercial for the newest product comes on the tv screen. Of course what does the ad say, "if you don't have a (insert product name here) you can't be happy...". You know what happens, that person goes outside and all he can see are; people using that product, billboards advertising it, commercials showing people more using it, etc... And what begins to happen is, that person starts to become more and more jealous of everyone else who has it. The commercial ends up proving itself right, he can't mentally be happy until he has it. No matter how many friends tell him it is a waste of money, or time, he NEEDS it and nothing will stop him from getting it.<br />
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In the case of קרח the product was the position of the נסי. As soon as he realized that he didn't have it, he started looking around at all the other נסיאם and all the power, respect, and קדושה that went along with the job and he became jealous. Therefore when he went to משה for the answer to the ציצית question, he wasn't really looking for the answer he would do anything to overthrow משה and gain the power he craved. Therefore the answer didn't matter. <br />
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The second part of the answer has to with mob mentality. Take for example, the recent Canadian riots. What was the real reason for these riots? Seemingly nothing, sorry to all the Canadians out there but losing a hockey game is not a good reason for riots. Now, do you think that as soon as the team lost, the entire city just got up and started rioting? No, granted people may have been really mad about their team losing, but it wasn't until people started to see other people breaking things, burning things, and beating people up did it click "well if they are doing it, it must be ok!" even though in the back of their minds they knew it wasn't. Very often if you ask people who took part in riots or any violent or stupid act their response will be "yeah I know it was dumb, but I just got caught up in it". This is how the 250 scholars got caught up in the rebellion and laughed at משה. When they heard קרח's complaints against משה they began to realize that they wanted and needed that power. They, like the people who get caught in the moment in riots, were swept up into a frenzy about how they too felt cheated by משה רבינו.<br />
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Have a Great Shabbos<br />
Yoni Spigelman<br />
With Help From: The Shmuz on the Parsha- Rav Ben-Tzion Shafier spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-51948603429392354392011-06-16T20:43:00.001-07:002011-06-17T11:07:50.672-07:00פרשת שלךפרשת שלך<br />
...ויקרא משה להושע בן-נון יהושע<br />
...and Moshe called Hoshea Ben-Nun Yehoshua<br />
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This week's פרשה speaks about the sending of the מרגלם into ארץ ישראל and how they spied out the land for the rest of the Jews. There is an interesting question based on the פסוק above. Why is it that משה רבינו changed יהושע's name? What is the significance? רש׳׳י answers that משה changed his name because he wanted to protect יהושע from the influence of the others, therefore he added ה׳'s name to the beginning of הושא's name. Ok, but then why didn't משה daven for the rest of the men? Why was יהושע the only one? He could have at least, davened for כלב בן יפנה! <br />
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The מהר׳׳ל answers that the reason משה didn't daven for anyone else, was because יהושע was the main תלמיד of משב רבינו. If יהושע came back with a negative report of the land, like the others did, it would have made משה look like a liar, and that would not have gone over too well.<br />
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Ok, so the first thing that comes to my mind after hearing that answer is... WHAT?! משה רבינו, our leader, the man who talked to ה׳ on a regular basis; the same משה who led us out of מצרים, was worried about his image?! I REALLY have a hard time with that answer!! We need to clear this up!<br />
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Let's think about it for a minute. First of all there is absolutely no chance that משה was doing it for his own personal gain. The Jews were coming out of a monumental time period. They had just received the תורה. The man who brought the תורה down from הר סיני was none other than משה. To the Jewish people, משה רבינו was the symbol of the תורה, therefore he was symbol of ה׳. The reason משה davened for יהושע and added part of ה׳'s name was because he knew that if יהושע would have come back and been like the other מרגלם, the people would have started to look badly upon the תורה and ה׳. <br />
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Now we still wonder why he didn't daven for the other spies. In this world there is only one thing that is not from שמים, that is ׳יראת שמים׳. There is no point in davening for someone to do the right thing or to make the right choices, because EVERYONE has free will. We can choose how we want to act and live. At the end of the day it is up to each individual person to choose if they are going to right or wrong. We choose whether we act according to the תורה or not. Even if משה would have davened for everyone else it would have not changed THEIR minds, only they could do that.<br />
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Have a Great Shabbos<br />
Yoni Spigelman<br />
With Help From: Rav Moshe Beigelman<br />
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spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-88525734590572061182011-06-10T12:44:00.000-07:002011-06-10T12:44:33.414-07:00פרשת בהעלותך<div style="direction: rtl; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">פרשת בהעלותך</div><div style="direction: rtl; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: right;">ויהי בנסך הערנו ויאמר משה קומה ה׳ ויפוצו איבך וינסו משנאיך מפניך</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">When the Holy Ark would travel, משה would say, "Arise ה׳ and let Your foes be scattered. Let those who hate You flee from before You."</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">In this פסוק, Moshe Rabbeinu states, anyone who hates the Jews hates ה׳.</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Rashi is bothered by this comparison, and asks, why is משה calling the enemies of Jews enemies of God? Can't it be that they really just are enemies of the Jewish people? רשי answers that anyone who hates ישראל hates ה׳. It seems that רשי is saying that the root of anti-Semitism is <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307734476_0" style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">hatred of God</span>.</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">This whole concept seems a little hard to grasp. Take a look through history. It seems that there are many nations who have hated the Jews but did not hate God. We see even today that there are nations who may believe in the "same God" but want to see all Jews destroyed.</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">One commonly used reason for anti-Semitism is... Jealousy. "The Jews have all the money", "The Jews own all the banks", "The Jews run Hollywood"... Sound familiar? Throughout history the Jews have been very "well off" in their financial situations, regardless of what country they were in. It was always the Jews who became close advisers to the kings, always the Jews who were making the biggest strides in science, media, etc... The Jewish people have had an extraordinary influence on human progress. Interestingly, from 1901-1990 over 22% of Nobel Prize winners WORLDWIDE have been Jewish, and Jews don't even make up a quarter of the world's population.</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">This by itself would seem to be a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307734476_1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: initial; cursor: pointer; line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">logical reason</span> for anti-Semitism. However there are even more!</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Another cause is called the "Scapegoat Theory". In the past, in order to gain power or to distract people from their own suffering, a monarch would look to place the blame somewhere. Who better than the eternally despised Jews! By arousing the masses into Jew-hatred a person would easily be able to gain the power he needed.</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Another theory for anti-Semitism is, "we killed their their God". This is a great reason to hate someone, I mean, that doesn't sound to friendly to me.</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Finally there is the "chosen nation theory". This theory is one that is quoted the most often. We make no secret of the fact that we are ה׳'s chosen people. As clearly written in the תורה, the Jewish people have the most unique role amongst all the other nations. Our "job" is to serve as a light and a guide to the other nations. </div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The truth is, there really is NO ANSWER FOR WHY PEOPLE HATE THE JEWS. This is what רשי is teaching us. Anti-Semitism can't be explained because it makes no sense!</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The pattern that emerges is that there really IS NO logical reason for anti-Semitism until you focus on the real cause- the Jew represents ה׳. WE ARE ה׳'S PEOPLE. When a Gentile looks at a Jew, he sees ה׳! And he may not always like what he sees!</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">This concept carries a huge lesson for us. We may forget our own holiness and the destiny that comes with being a Jew. The Gentiles however will always be there to remind us that we ARE different, and our role is unique. As is quoted from Rav <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307734476_2" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(54, 99, 136); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 2px; cursor: pointer; line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">Chaim Volozhin</span>, "if the Jew doesn't make קידוש, the goy will make הבדלה".</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">If we recognize our greatness and live up to our title of the chosen people, we are then exalted, revered, and respected. When we fail to recognize our unique destiny and absorb the cultures of the times, then we are sent reminder after reminder of our role amongst the nations- ה׳'s chosen people.</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" /></div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Yoni Spigelman</div><div style="direction: ltr; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Adapted From: The Shmuz on the Parsha- Rav Ben Tzion Shafier</div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-70634021525282196412011-06-07T08:14:00.000-07:002011-06-07T15:39:46.082-07:00שבואת<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> We have finally arrived at one of the most important </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">חגים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> of the year! That is the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">חג</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">שבואת</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. On this day we received the greatest “gift” (</span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">מתנה טובה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>) that we EVER have and will receive! This gift is the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That being said, there is one question that has been bothering me about this. The question is; why is the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> called (or considered) a gift? Wouldn’t it be better it was considered a payment or a “perk” for all of the work that it took us (Jews) to get to the highest level of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">קדושה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Here is an example of what I mean. A guy works in sales for a company. Being that he is a salesman he needs to drive around all day from prospective client to prospective client, day in and day out. Would his company make him drive his personal car for this? No, they would give him the company car. Now is this considered to be a gift? Again, no, it comes with the job, its part of the deal. So to here by the receiving of the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">בני''י</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> worked very hard to build themselves up to that 49<sup>th</sup> level of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">קדושה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. All of their hard work in </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">מצרים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and all the work they have done so far in the desert was building them up to receive the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. They “deserved" the bonus or “company car”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There is an answer that I would like to suggest. There really is no amount of work a person can do that would ever earn them the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> really is something that </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> granted to His nation. The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is even more than just a gift. The Jewish people could not, and would not exist if we did not have the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. The real gift that we get is unlike ANY other nation; WE have the opportunity and the ability to live a <b>REAL</b> life of meaning and growth. We have the ability to gain real fulfillment and purpose in this world!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There is a common reality in American society called the “midlife crisis”. A midlife crisis is when one day a guy, usually in his late 30’s or 40’s wakes up and realizes, “whoa where has all the time gone? I really have not done anything with my life!!”. So what does he do? He starts going golfing, buys a sports car, drinks more with his buddies, yeah… he’s living the life man!! The truth is, usually he is still not satisfied. It is all so meaningless.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In TRUE Judaism, you won’t find this emptiness. We are always working on ourselves trying more and more to connect with </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. If you are constantly working on and bettering yourself, the truth is, you don’t have time to find that emptiness.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is my </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">ברכה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> that we all have the strength to keep working on ourselves as Jews and as people so that we may one day is able to feel that we really have lived our lives to the fullest! And become the best we could be!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Have a Great Yom Tov<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-36699443001694433362011-06-05T15:24:00.000-07:002011-06-05T17:18:47.592-07:00פרשת נשא דבר אל בני ישראל ואמרת אלהם איש איש...<br />
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Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, any man...<br />
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This week's פרשה speaks about the sin of סוטה. A סוטה is a woman who is suspected of being "disloyal" to her husband, was then brought to בית דין, where they tell her to drink a special formula of water; made of many different items including the שם ה׳. If she survives the drink then she is free to go, if she is guilty however she dies from the drink.<br />
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<div>The פסוק above is the פסוק that talks about סוטה. However the פסוק is phrased strangely. It looks like there was an extra word added, it says איש twice. רשי asks why it is phrased this way? What is with the extra word? His answer is that it is because it is not that she is desecrating her earthly husband, she is also destroying her relationship with her "heavenly" husband. When a person gets married they are not only marrying their husbands, they are forming a new type of relationship with ה׳. <br />
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Here is another question to think about. What about when someone does another אבירה, like stealing from your friend, or anything like that. Doesn't that destroy their relationship with ה׳? (question of Rav Moshe Beigelman). <br />
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I believe there is a deep answer to this question. Any other אבירה that a person may do is a desacration of ה׳ but not in the same way. When you act out against your fellow man you are desecrating ה׳ because He doesn't want you to hurt your fellows. However by our case it is as if you are pushing ה׳ out of this world and out of your life. The action of זנות (the relations) is the complete opposite of קדושה, and if a person immerses themselves in this type of activity they are showing a complete lack of belief in ה׳ and don't care that they are pushing Him away. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Have a Great Shabbos</div><div>Yoni Spigelman</div><div><br />
</div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-42602972177710046672011-06-05T15:20:00.001-07:002011-06-05T17:11:44.253-07:00פרשת במדבר<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE">משפחת בני קהת יתנו על ירך המשכן תימנה</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The families of the Children of <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">קהת</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> would encamp on the side of the <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">משכן</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, to the south.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The idea I would like to bring out in this week’s <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">דבר תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is the idea of neighbors and friends, and how they affect us. In <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">רשי</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> based on <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">פסוק כט</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> says that <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">יששכר</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">זבולון</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> became great scholars in <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> because they lived in tents neighboring <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">אהרון</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and his sons. It also says that 250 men followed the ways of <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">קורח</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> (in his rebellion), followed him because they were his neighbors (based on a <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">מדרש</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> It seems that the <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">מדרש</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> here is attributing both the success in <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> of <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">יששכר</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">זבולון</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and the destruction of <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">קורח</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>’s followers to the influence of their neighbors.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> I believe that this brings out a BIG idea here, unfortunately/fortunately we see this all too often in modern society. Take a look around you and tell me what you see. Well I’ll tell you at least what I see (being that I live in Miami). When we go outside we see everybody out there has to be driving the fancy cars, with the fancy clothes, the expensive watches, and all of that kind of stuff. Why do people do these things? The answer is because that is what we are surrounded by in modern western society. Almost everyone is so worried about what their friends are going to think that they make decisions based on that. The same could be same for teens and starting to smoke and do drugs, they do it because the want to be cool and be able to be “down” with everyone else.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> However there is also a positive side to this. When we see people who work hard (whether it is in school or in <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> learning), we begin to say “hey I want to try to be like this guy, or those people. We want to show that we can fit in with these people too. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Why is this? Why do we always need to prove ourselves? The answer seems to be, because human beings are SOCIAL BEINGS and are influenced by people around them. People need friendships, communities; we need to <u>identify</u> ourselves with a group. Our friends and neighbors affect our values, the way we view ourselves and our roles in all we do. However this can be dangerous as well as helpful…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Because 250 men who rebelled lived in <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">קורח</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>’s vicinity, it became their community and who they identified with them. It created their social environment. The people were so inspired by <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">קורח</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> that they allowed themselves to be led to destruction. However the people who lived near <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">אהרון</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> were affected by their influence. The group formed ideas and a way of life based on the <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> values given over by both of these <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> giants. It affected <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">יששכר</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">זבולון</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> for generations.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Chazal are teaching us that the destruction of one group and greatness of the other was because of…. Peer pressure. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The men who followed <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">קורח</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> were not stupid. We see that they were all great people who were singled out at the beginning of the <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, yet they were influenced to rebel against <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. So to the men from <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">יששכר</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">זבולון</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> were smart people, yet they too were influenced by others and became great <span dir="RTL" lang="HE">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> leaders. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> All of this shows us that we need to be very careful with the people who we surround ourselves with, because they can literally make us or break us.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Have a Great Shabbos</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Adapted From- The Shmuz on The Parsha- Rabbi Benzion Shafier<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-41959271285242956742011-06-05T15:17:00.001-07:002011-06-05T15:17:38.326-07:00פרשת בחקתי<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;">If you will do my decrees and, observe my commandments and perform them…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This week’s </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> starts off by telling us that if we follow (go) in </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>’s ways we will be </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">זוכה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> to all the rewards in the upcoming </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">פסוקים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">רשי</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> translates the phrases </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">בחקתי תלכו</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> as meaning </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">אמילים בתורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, people who toil in </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. Why are we describing studying </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> as studying the laws of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">חוקים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>? </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">חוקים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> are not well known and have lots of hidden meanings, shouldn’t we be describing </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> by the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">מצות</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> that we are able to understand? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One answer to the questions above may be because we can work our entire lives studying the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and trying to figure out all the intricacies and secrets that are hidden and NEVER come close to understanding it fully.</span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span> <span lang="HE"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To clear this up I want to bring a “modern” example. Take ourselves. We live in this world, go to school, and do all the things that we do in our daily lives without even really thinking about it. To be honest most of us take these for granted. We ASSUME that when we wake up in the morning we are going to have breakfast in our cabinets. We ASSUME that when we go to school, we are going to have competent teachers (for the most part). There are all these things in our lives that we have gotten used to having. Let me ask you a question, where do all of these things come from? In short the answer is, we REALLY have no idea. We have no idea what it takes to make the cars that we drive, the roads that we drive on, even the food that we eat. But if we learn how to do some of these things, we take on planting a garden, we learn mechanics, we start to become more able to understand the things around us and how they run.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This, I believe is similar to what the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">פסוק</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> and the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">רשי</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> are saying. In order to get the rewards that are in store for us we need to work to understand the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. We as Jewish people are never stagnant, we are either growing towards </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> or falling away. As long as we are working on finding these treasures we will be </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">זוכה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> to live the lives that we were promised.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Have a Great Shabbos</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-86491695649507728312011-06-05T14:58:00.000-07:002011-06-05T15:19:02.216-07:00פרשת בהר<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;">This week’s </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> speaks about the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">מצוה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> of observing the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">שמיטה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> (sabbatical) year. The </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">שמיטה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> year is according to the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">תורה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, every seventh year Jewish farmers need to halt production on their fields and vineyards and leave it bare for one year.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;">Just imagine, your boss comes up to you and tells you that he has noticed you are the hardest and most reliable worker in the company and he has chosen you to head up the company’s newest department. Obviously you would be ecstatic (as you should be, this position is giving you a giant pay raise and you have the ability to create it the way you want it). So you come to your first day of work and you begin to create it. You have to work really hard, work the long hours, and give up your free time in order to get it off the ground. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;">Fast forward a few years and you are doing great. Business is going extremely well, you are raking in the money and you are doing great work and putting out incredible products.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;">One day, your boss (the CEO) comes over to you at the annual meeting and says “I have decided that I want to test your loyalty to me and the rest of the company so I want you to shut down your branch for the next year, I mean I want it COMPLETELY CLOSED.” I don’t know about you, but I would not be too thrilled about it, but he is the boss so, what can you do.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;">A year later you come back to the office and find out that since you shut down business a year ago, not only is demand off the charts, but your boss gives you a raise for the sole reason of you trusting him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;">This is exactly what happens to the Jews during </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">שמיטה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> tells us that we need to stop production on our fields and let them lay barren the whole year. Now why would a God want us to do this? One answer that I can think of is that, </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is not doing it for himself. He knows that if we work the land year in and year out like the goyim that somewhere down the line we are going to forget that he is the “CEO” and the land is NOT really ours and that everything is a gift from God. Without </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> we would have nothing, therefore </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> gives us this ability to remind ourselves every seven that he is the ultimate owner of everything and if we “follow his lead”, we will be successful whether it be in farming or in any aspect of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;">Have a Great Shabbos</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Rounded MT Bold', sans-serif;">Yoni Spigelman<o:p></o:p></span></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7791359411807173915.post-87613886590595382562011-06-05T14:56:00.000-07:002011-06-05T14:56:10.356-07:00פרשת אמור<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">... אמר אל הכהנים...<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>… Say to the Kohanim…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Throughout the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">תורה </span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">we (the readers) see </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> talks to the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">משה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> who in turn relays the message to the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">בני ישראל</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, however in this week’s </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">לשון</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> that He uses is a little strange. Instead of saying </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">דבר</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, which is that way that </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> usually speaks to us, He says </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">אמר</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. What is the reason for this? It seems that </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> is speaking to the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">כהנים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> in a “softer” tone than usual. WHAT IS THE DEAL?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To answer this I will bring a “modern” example that we may see in our everyday lives. Take a career like construction (or any job for that matter). On One side we have the older more experienced workers. These are the guys who have been on the job for a few years; they have been around the block a few times and really know what they are expected to do. On the other side we have the new guys (the “Fresh Meat”). These kids arrive on the job-site with their brand new tools that have never been used, their new construction belts and most of the time DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE IN FOR. When the boss shows up he the more he goes to both groups and tells them what to do. The older guys listen to their specific job and are on their way. The new boys however have to be told “this is what I need you to do, at this specific time, with this tool, in this way” he needs to “impose his will” and maybe be a little harsher with them, because he needs to make sure that they are ready to not slack off and take responsibility for their work.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now, you may ask, how am I going to connect this fine little example to this week’s </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">פרשה</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>? Well, it goes a little something like this. We see that the </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">כהנים</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> are very similar to the older construction workers. They are on a much higher level than the rest of </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">בני''י</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>, and they already have accepted the many “regular” </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">מצות</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. Therefore </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">ה'</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span> doesn’t have to worry about all the specifics of the other </span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: HE; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold";">מצות</span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span>. That is why He is able to speak to them in that “softer” manner here.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Have a Great Shabbos</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial Rounded MT Bold","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-language: HE;">Yoni Spigelman</span></div>spigelmanjhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14728362471576158789noreply@blogger.com0