Shabbat Callah Of Bracha Tehilla

              The last Shabbat callah where I gave a dvar torah was for our beloved daughter Esther Dina (Esti) of blessed memory who passed away  three months ago. Of the hundreds who visited us during the shiva to express their condolences many left us with the wish that we would next meet at a happier occasion. Hashem heard their prayer and the day after the 30 day period of mourning our youngest daughter,Bracha Tehilla came with her intended chatan,Yeshurun Eitam to announce that they are planning to get married. The Kabbalist mystics tell us that during the first year after passing the soul of the departed visits this world. I feel Esti's presence here among us and I am sure that she shares our joy on the occasion of the marriage tomorrow Gd willing of Tehilla to Yeshurun.

           This dvar Torah is really a dvar Midrash. The Midrash is the compilation of stories and legends composed by Rabbinic scholars in the third and fourth century to explain what is betwen the lines of the Torah. At that time the land of Israel was ruled by the Romans. The Jewish community was still recovering from the disaster of the Bar Cochba rebellion where over 100,000 Jews were killed and the land almost completely destroyed. At the same time the Romans were going through a period of questioning their pagan religion which would result eventually in the emporer Constantine declaring Christianity as the official religion of Rome, but many were also interested in Judaism.

         The Midrash tells us that the wife of the Roman governor called the "Matrona" invited one of the great Rabbis of the Jerusalem Talmud,R'Yossi ben Chalafta to explain Jewish Theology.She asked him" What is the greatest thing your GD has done in the world?" He answered" Gd created the world and all that is in it."She replied "We believe that the world was not created but always existed and Jupiter rules it together with many lesser gods.But for arguments sake lets say I agree that the world was created in 6 days as you say.What has Gd done in the world since then?" R' Yosi replied " It is only because of the will of Gd that the natural world continues to function.As to what Gd does_ He doesn't interfere in the natural world except in special cases like the miracle of the parting of the Red sea during the Exodus from Egypt. But there is one miracle that he performs every day which is even greater then the miracle of the parting of the red sea,and that is the joining of male and female into one unit. The Matron laughed at this." The mating of male and female is a natural event. Our god Jupiter doesn't bother himself with this but leaves it to one of the lesser gods named Cupid."I myself am sure that I can do a better job at matchmaking than your Gd,and to prove it I will match 50male slaves with 50 female slaves."  Rabbi Yosi replied"You are very wrong if you think that the joining of male and female is a natural event. It is rather a divine gift,but good luck. I will return in a month to see if you succeed.

                The Matron was as good as her word. She gathered100 slaves and told the 50 male slaves to choose the females they were most attracted to. On that day 50 marriages were contracted and the slaves were set free to start their lives as couples. After a week the troubles began. All the men came to the Matron begging her to annul the marriages. "I don't understand" she said, you picked the women yourselves.What happened? They said "After we got what we wanted on the first night we found that we could not live with these women. We would rather be slaves of the Matron than slaves to these women!!

The Matron immediately sent for Rabbi Yosi. She said "You were absolutely right.Mating is not a natural process like it is with animals. It seems that Gd himself must intervene for it to work.But I still dont understand the connection between the miracle of marriage and the parting of the Red Sea    Rabbi Yosi replied "Well you see my lady that when Gd created the first man,Adam, he was created androgenous-that is to say there was both a male and female persona within him. He was created in the image of Gd who himself has both male and female attributes. Only as an afterthought Gd said that it is not good for Man to be alone,I will make a helpmate for him. He then separated the female from the male persona and created woman(this is the parable of "Adam's rib). The miracle of marriage is that these two can come together even though in many ways they are opposites. The separation and conjoining of Man and Woman is a greater miracle than the parting of the Red Sea         The Matron said you are wise and your people are wise.  Now tell me how to become a Jewess

             Forty days before conception a heavenly voice proclaimed "The son of Efraim Eitam is meant for the daughter of David ben Elchanan Tzohar" But we must ask if there is divine intervention in matchmaking,why is it so difficult for Gd who is all powerful and all knowing.And more to the point why doesn't it always work out. Why is divorce permitted and even commanded in some cases.  The answer is that there is something besides the divine imperative in matchmaking.The Talmud states that in general the divine imperative decides, except in three special cases- Longevity,Sustenance and Family. In family matters there is something working besides the divine imperative. In Yiddish this is called "bashert" meaning fated or meant to be. Rav Kook in Orot HaKodesh teaches us that our destiny is not fated but depends on ourselves. This means that every prospective bridegroom must make an effort to find his determined bride.

A boy and girl who grew up together in settlements 5 miles from each other till age 6 in the Golan Heights found each other 20 years later in Jerusalem! If thats not bashert what is?! Gd willing we will witness on sunday the joining of the two halves-Yeshurun ben Efraim ve Illit Eitam with Bracha Tehilla bat David ve Risa Tzohar....MAZAL TOV

                                                  Case for the establishment of Monarchy In Israel
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                                                 It's election time again and the various parties have opened a dirty campaign slinging mud at each other. The level is remarkably shallow concentrating on personal slu rs directed at Bibi and his wife. The same is true of Buji and Tzippy  And when its all over the shuk of parliamentry democracy with its deals and horse trading to form a ruling coalition begins.The messy parliamentry democracy in Israel could use a change.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       WE should look to our sources, our history.Kings ruled over the people and land of Israel for over 400 years from Saul to Tzidkiyahu Then again in the second temple the Hashmonaim established a kingdom for 2oo years.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
                                                          THe ideal would be for melech hamashiach ben David to come and declare the kingdom of G-d,that is what we are all waiting for. But until that happens why not set up a provisional malchut like that of the Hashmoniaim.?The people would elect a King (som tasim aleicha melech).This malchut would turn over its power to the Mashiach we he arrives. A Sanhedrin would also be appointed by gedolei chachamei yisrael to serve as supreme court/legislature.There would be no coalition, only the king and his officers and officials                                                                               at                                                                                                                                                                                                       It is interesting to note that the famed mystic "haCHalban has announced that Mashiach benYosef is likely to be born this year to a family that can trace its roots to to Yehoshua bin Nun. He will come and establish malchut in Israel,defeat our enemies and begin building beit ha Mikdosh.Bimhera beyameinu amen!!!

Light Up he Word

The word "teiva"  means not only Noah''s ark but also means "word". The Baal Shem Tov said tzohar la teiva mean that we must light up the word with prayers and torah learning.Every letter contains worlds of spiritual and divine content and when they come together they create new spiritual worlds. This is the tzohar (light) lateiva (word). Then a person can rejoice in the new  entities that he has created


                                                                                                           Baal Shem Tov, Amud HaTefilla,
                                                                                                            Noach

The Obligation of Living in Israel

                                           Based on shiur given by HRHG Shmuel  Eliyahu

In many passages in the Torah the land of Israel is related to in three ways.

1-The fulfillment of the covenant between Hashem  and the patriarchs..

2-The commandment to obey the mitzvot when you come to possess the land

3-The commandment to conquer the land and settle it

 There is a commandment to conquer the land and to conquer its inhabitants..

Dev.1:5See I have set before you the Land, the Land which was sworn by Hashem to your fathers,....

Baidbar 33:51-And you will disposess all the inhabitants thereof.

On this commandment the RMBN wrote(lacunae to Sefer Ha mitzvot laRMBM 5)

"We are commanded to possess(inherit)  the Land....not to leave it to anyone else or a wasteland as it  is written "possess the Land and settle it for I have given it to you as an inheritance.

The commandment of  conquest and settlement and the promise of the land are one and the  same.While there can be some interpretation of the individual passages, taken together the promise and the commandment are clear.

The obligation of settling the Land of Israel is also clear in Halacha.

The source is the Mishna

which states Ketubot 13-11 "all are brought up(to Israel) and none are taken away and why? Elsewhere the Gemarra states that he who dwells outside of Israeli is as if he 

has no G-d.Both the RIF and the ROSH Write this in the halacha.

The RMBM paskens in Hil. Melachim3,4That one should always live in Eretz Yisrael even in a city of mostly Gentiles.Because he who goes abroad is  likened to an idolater

The ShulchanAruch (Even HaEzer 75-3,4)rules according to the RMBM..The Pitchei Tshuva explains that the RMBN  counted this mitzvah as a positive Torah commandment which according to the Sifri is worth all of the  mitzvot together.RMBM doesn't disagree, but  since the mitzvah is so all encompassing he did  

 notlist it seperately.

Here I rest my case.A simple one really no chiddushim. If Shabbat is important to you or tefillin or tzizit,or any of the mitzvot,then Aliya and living in Israel should be just as important

.

Tzohar Shoah and Geulah

Based on a sicha given by Rav Uri Sherky

How can we begin to understand the national catastrophe perpetrated on our people by the Nazis and their collaborators YmSh ? First of all we must understand that this was not the first Shoah in Jewish history. That took place in Pharo's Egypt where Hebrew children were thrown into the Nile and according to one peirush only20% of the Hebrews left Egypt in the Exodus while 80% were annihilated. Another Shoah was planned and almost carried out by Haman averted only by the mesirut nefesh of Esther and Mordechai and the Jews who defended their communities in Shushan and throughout the Persian Empire

What do we learn from this? Whenever Galut precedes Geulah there is an intermediate time which is the time of Amalek The Ramchal put it this way-During the Galut the divine light comes to Israel through a Tzohar, a narrow aperture or window.In the time of Geula, the gates of redemption are open tolGeulah in the divine light. But in the cusp between Galut and Geulah there is a time when darkness reigns and Amalek rules.

This happened in the Exodus from Egypt before the conquest of Yehoshuah. And again in the time of Haman  between the Babylonian Exile and the return to Zion and the second Temple.

And lastly at the end of Galut Edom and before the Geulah of the State of IsraelsThis perspective might help us understand-But in the end the Shoah is beyond understanding.

God Bless America

We recenly returned from a short trip to the US to visit my parents who live in an assisted living community in Pennsylvania and especially to be with Risa's mother who is housebound and lives alone in her home in the  neighborhood of  Hilcrest  in Queens NY.

As always when I visit the US i am frustrated by seeing the affluent self satisfied .Jewish community which is completely indifferent  to the idea of Aliyah to Israel This community is exemplified by the Young Israel Synagogue of Hillcrest located not far from my Mother-inLaw's home. It is a big Modern Orthodox "shule" that has four active minyanim, three daf yomi shiurim, a young charismatic Rabbi (who gave a nice Pro Israel drasha on Shabbat.In short they seem to have everything. And yet I felt like getting up and shouting Jews WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE??  Can it really be that these religious comitted Jews are content to sit on the sidelines and watch as the divine march of Redemption continues in Eretz Yisrael? (see my post in Hebrew from two years ago "The golden Galut")

Speaking of sidelines, I happened to be in America during "Super Bowl Week" and Super Bowl  Sunday, a festival where the entire country is caught up in the ultimate violent sport-American Football. Ironically before the game a choir made up of children from the school in Conneticut that was the place of the massacre of over twenty children a few weeks ago. They sung GD Bless America. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. An interesting phenomena was that instead of the bawdy halftime show, Yeshiva University put up a special program on You Tube telling us about Yiddishkeit and football. Team play, Rambam praising physical fitness yadda yadda yadda. Really strange.

So GD bless America, far far away from us.

The King in the field-Ellul in the Yeshiva

The month of Ellul, the month before Rosh Hashana is a special time in the Yeshiva. The word Ellul is an acronym for Ani Ledodi Vdodi Li.From Shir Ha SHirim "I am to my beloved and my beloved is to me" relating to the special relationship of the Jewish People to Hashem.The last letter of the four words is yud numerically 10x4=40 denoting the 40 days between rosh chodesh Ellul and Yom Kippur, the same 40 days that Moshe entreated Gd on Mt. Sinai to forgive The sin of the golden calf and give the second tablets of the commandments. Ellul also is connected to the Aramaic root A-L-L which means to come and specifically to come in order too seek out. Onkelos translates spies-allalin.,those who come to seek out the land
Who is coming and what is he seeking?. The Sages tell us that during the year Hashem is like a king in his palace and the commoners must be granted special permission to enter. But in the month of Ellul, before his coronation the king leaves the palace and goes into the fields to meet his subjects This is the time that the King is closest to his people..

Yeshivat Machon Meir is known as the "ba'al teshuva Yeshiva" of the Dati Leumi community . That was true 20 years ago when I first attended the Yeshiva. Most of the 100 or so students were men who came from secular backgrounds and were taking their first steps toward the world of Torah and commandments.Today with over 400 students there avreichim and talmidei chachamim along with Ba'alei Teshuvah.

The personality of Rosh Yeshiva , Rav Dov Bigon, himself a ba'al teshuva, is the leading light of the yeshiva. He has"hadrat panim' a glowing countenance that radiates tremendous charisma and at the same time total humility.Before tefillat Arvit he gives a short "shmuss", a discussion based on the teachings of Rav Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook. HaRav taught that teshuva,  usually translated as repentance,  really means "return" that every Jew has the ability to return to his real self, his pure inner self whose source is divine. This is so no matter how far he has strayed from the path of Torah and mitzvot.

In Ellul when "the King is in the Field" there is an aura of kedusha, of holiness in the Yeshiva. When we can search our souls and ask forgiveness in order to participate in the crowning of the King on Rosh Hashana.
The dovening is very different than what I had gotten used to in my shul in Rechovot. The Rav there was Rav Avraham Rubin a Slonim Chassid. Slonim Chassidut takes dovening very seriously. The Rav used to say to us "Prayer is not a sing-along, it is not entertainment, but communion with the divine that requires total concentration.At Yeshivat Machon Meir the dovening is full of song, much of it influenced by niggunim from the Chassidic courts of  Mozhitz, Vizhnitz and also modern tunes of Shlomo Carlebach,, Avraham Fried and Ben-tzion Shenker. To me there is no contradiction here. Kriat shema and shmoneh esrei are said silently and with great concentration, but songs of praise are sung with joy and exuberance. There is even dancing on Kabbalat Shabbat. This is in line with the synthesis of  the seriousness of the Litvish Yeshiva world together with the unbridled joy of Chassidut that you find in the Yeshivas such as Machon Meir which are identified with Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav Kook and Har HaMor.

It is a great privilege to learn Torah from Rabbanim such as R' Bigon, Doron Katz,Chanoch Ben-Pazi, and Elisha Vishlitzki. May Hashem give me the strength to take advantage of this opportunity to meet the King in the field with his ministers. who show us the way to approach Him and crown him with the crown of Torah.

Let us put Jersalem above our chiefest joy

We have just moved to Yerushalayim,fulfilling a dream we have had for many years. Actually I should say we returned to Jerusalem. It was in this very neighborhood of Kiriat Moshe that Risa and I met forty years ago. We spent the first three years of our marriage in Jerusalem. Those were magical years that we had together before we had children..Our apartment is across the street from Yeshivat Machon Meir where I learned for three years almost twenty years ago.When I entered the Bet Midrash and sat down and opened a Gemarra, it felt as if those interim years fell away and I was at home. The rosh yeshiva,Rav Bigon immediately recognized me and welcomed me back to the yeshiva. I don't know yet if I will be learning full time at Machon Meir, there are other options, but I will probably learn at least one seder there.
The neighborhood has changed very little in the past twenty years except for the fact that it seems that there are more Chardalim (National Charedi) and less DatiimLeumiim (National Religious) and secular. That is fine with me since I consider myself to be closer to Chardali today, particularly the Mamlachti (statist) trend. Yeshivat Mercaz Harav which along with Yeshivat Har HaMor are the flagships of the Chardali (sometimes called "Torani" movement. It is very comfortable to live in a neighborhood where most of the people look like you, and doven in the type of shul that you do.
We hope and pray that Hashem will grant us many years of health to serve Him in his city, Yerushalayim our chiefest joy.

Chadarav II

Chadarav p16


How can I say things to others, if I don't say them to my own soul
How can I disseminate spiritual and material  knowledge
if I dont have the key to the hidden treasures inside me
"Open your gates" I say to my inner sanctums
to my heart and my conscience.


My soul yearns to penetrate  those inner sanctums
In all that I try to raise up from the light of Torah and the world
 I find  the pure roots must come from the depths of the soul itself 
whose light comes from the light of Torah, the glory of the world
If I can come back from Torah to my inner soul then I can add life
to  reenter the rooms of Torah, the rooms of ancient treasures.
Every clear revelation has a tripartite meaning:
for the soul, the Torah and the world.
"Answer the words of my tongue for all your commandments are righteous" (ps.119:172)

"Chadarav-The Innermost Thoughts of Harav Kook

                     Chadarav-Harav Kooks innermost thoughts

About ten years ago Shirat Devorah publishing put out a slim volume called"Chadarav"(His inner sanctums). It is a collection of the personal writings of Rav Ytzchak Hacohen Kook. ZTZL. There had been some controversy over the publication due to th very personal, intimate nature of the material. Finally after the death of Rav Tzvi Yehudah ZTZL, the Rav's son, the family released the manuscripts for publication. The result is an extraordinay work that sheds light on the innermost spiritual life of Harav.

After reading an excellent translation of one of Harav's poems in the Rebbitzin's Husband" blog, I decided to try translating passages of Chadarav in English. The Rav's allusive alliterate poetic style are a challange for the translator. I hope That I can succeed in capturing some of the spirit and flavor of the Hebrew original

The King brought me to his innermost (chamber(Shir HaShirim 1:4)

As the Holy one blessed is he has innermost chambers of his Torah
so do the talmidei chachamim have each one of them innermost chambers of their Torah

I have but to stand
and listen to myself
to hear the secret conversation
that is produced in the innermost sanctums
I will hear and my soul will live

From inside of me, from the fountain I must find the hidden treasure
I am ever connected to the holy anguish of the search for higher perfection
and that cannot be fulfilled.
because that is the eternal yearning whose source  is the thirst for the divine
for which nothing else in the world can quench
only he who seeks this thirst is open more and more
and recognizes more and more
that he himself must become the source of the pleasure
the basis of all spiritual pleasures
the glory of Shaddai

more to come....

In Mitzpeh Ramon "Hakol B'seder"

This year Risa and I were invited to the Passover seder by our oldest son Efi in his home in Mitzpeh Rasmon in the Negev highlands. Now with the new expressway to the south (kvish 6) the trip from Rechovot takes less than two hours, a relatively easy drive on good roads all the way. We rented a car from Avis for the trip. I am glad that we decided not to buy a car and rent whenever we need to. For five days it came to about 650 shekels and we had use of the car for part of chol hamoed too. On Thursday we packed up the car and set off for Mitzpeh Ramon. We contributed the wine, grape juice and hand baked shmurah matzot. These are very special matzot made in the chareidi settlement of Kommemiut not far from Rechovot. They are made from hand stone ground whole wheat which was "watched" from the time of harvest so as not to come into contact with any moisture.The hechsher boasts of "chai chumros" (18 stringencies) including that the wheat was harvested by G-d fearing Jews who said "leshem Yichud" before operating the harvester, the rolling pins  are sanded down every 18 minuets,  the water used for the dough comes from a special closed cistern supervised year round by a special mashgiach etc. etc. The matzot are rolled out super thin by a special group of women(davka !) and baked by men who continuously recite a cycle of Psalms. In any event IMHO these are the best tasting hand baked shmura matzot that I have ever tasted.

We arrived at Efi's house in the early afternoon and everything there was already prepared. The charoset mixed the horseradish ground, the Lettuce rinsed and the food for the meal cooking in the kitchen. Our daughter-in-law Ora is amazing. She is totally organized with each of the five children ( one to ten years old)r washed and dressed for the holiday  the four little girls in new holiday dresses. She went about finishing the last preparations and giving out orders to the children, calm and collected without ever raising her voice. I honestly don't know how she does it. I sat down with our oldest grandson Oz Avraham  and we talked about the halachot of the seder. He also asked me about the siyyum that I had made earlier that morning, traditionally made by firstborn sons to commemorate the miracle of the plague of the firstborn where Hashem passed over the firstborn of Israel and struck down the firstborn of Egypt (see my previous post).  I explained that the Gemarra Yerushalmi gave the laws of moving forbidden objects on Shabbat. I mentioned that in the time of Chazal they had a special press which was used for smoothing out wrinkled clothes and the gemarra dealt with the question of whether or not it was permitted to use or move this press on Shabbat. Oz asked me if moving parts of the press could be compared to opening and closing the door of a house and therefore be permitted. I was amazed that Oz (10 years old) was familiar with the relevant Mishnah and actually asked the same question asked in the classical commentaries.I told him that the commentary Korban Haeidah explained that while it is permitted to open or close a door it is forbidden to dismantle the door or set it on its hinges. In the same way it is forbidden to assemble or dismantle the launderer's press which is bolted to the floor and therefore considered part of the building. Discussing a knotty problem in the gemarra with your grandson-now that is real nachas !!


In the evening we sat down to the Seder led by Efi. Efi is a Rav and educational counselor in the Mitzpeh Ramon high school Yeshiva, and he masterfully led the seder giving everyone especially  the children a chance to participate. To explain why the Haggadah enumerates the particulars of all the plagues and miracles he made up a parable.A king sent his favorite son on a long journey. the prince sat in the carriage and was unaware of what was happening outside. The king sent his special guard to protect the prince. A gang of rebels tried to attack the carriage but the guard chased them away.The guard also protected them from wild animals and made sure that the carriage stayed on the right course. When the carriage arrived at the royal palace the guard brought a step ladder so that the prince could climb down. The prince said to the king that he wanted to thank the guard for helping him get down from the carriage. The king said to him that he should first thank the guard for saving him from the many dangers of the journey. In the same way we must thank Hashem for each and every one of the signs and miracles he performed for us in the Exodus from Egypt and the sojourn in the desert. During this story the children hung on every word, with total concentration.

Another chiddush was that after the "Dayyenu" hymn which enumerates fifteen stages of the deliverance from Egypt  saying that each stage in and of itself would have been enough for us to give praise to Hashem,Efi asked each of us to say our own personal "dayyenu". When it was my turn I said that if Hashem had only shown me the way of teshuva-dayyenu. If He had only brought me out of the diaspora to the land of Israel-dayyenu. If He  had only given me my beloved wife-dayyenu. If He had only given us our six precious children-dayyenu. If He had only granted us our twelve grandchildren-dayyenu. How much more so that I must give thanks for all of these and many other things that Hashem has granted me. Dayyenu vedayyenu

Fast of the Firstborn-Siyyum Masechet Shabbat Yerushalmi

It seems that we Jews cannot celebrate a holiday without mourning or fasting first. Before Purim there is Ta'anit Esther. Before Sukkot there is Yom Kippur and before the modern yom tov of Israeli independence day there is memorial day..Last week the day before Pesach was ta'anit  Bechorot-the fast of the first born, commemorating that terrible night in Egypt when Hashem passed over the first born of Israel and struck down the first born of Egypt. It is customary for all first born and fathers of first born sons to participate in the festive meal in honor of the completion of a tractate of the Talmud and therefore be exempt from the fast.

This year I made a siyyum on the completion of  massechet Shabbat of thr Talmud Yerushalmi.. The siyyum was also in honor of the yahrtzeit of my father-in-law, Abe (Avraham ben Efraim) Rich Alav haShalom who passed away on Erev Pesach twelve years ago..

On page 91B the last Mishna in the Yerushalmi Shabbat deals with the laws of moving forbidden objects on Shabbat. We learned that is  forbidden to arrange the straw on a mattress . Straw is muktzeh (a forbidden object) since in general there is no use for it on Shabbat. It is permitted however to lie down on the straw and move it with your body. This is tiltul muktzeh keliachar yad ie moving a forbidden object indirectly. Also if the straw can be used as fodder, or if there was a pillow on it before Shabbat it is not considered  muktzeh.
We also learned that a householder's press ( used for smoothing wrinkled clothing) may be dismantled on Shabbat but it is forbidden to dismantle a professional launderer's press. Rabbi Yehudah says that in any case if the press was loosened before Shabbat it is permitted to remove the clothes.

The Gemarra Yerushalmi says that the law of the Mishna is only relevant where the straw was never used before for a mattress, but if it had been used before it is considered to be part of the mattress and is permitted. R' Ya'akov bar Iddi said that earlier authorities asked if the straw could be moved using the elbows. R' Yannai, one of the foremost Amoraim of the Yerushalmi., said it is forbiddento do so, and added a curse upon all who are lenient  in this ruling saying "May his house fall upon all who rule leniently in this case."  R" Chiyya said that one must differentiate between the rich and the poor since straw is the only mattress that the poor man has while the rich can afford soft feather beds and pillows.
In another case chachamim agreed with R'Meir that the lids of cisterns can be untied or cut open on Yom Tov but not on Shabbat. But there is a kushia-In principle the laws pertaining to building or taking things apart do not apply to recepticles.(binyan vestira be kelim)  The answer is that cisterns are dug out or built into the ground therefore the laws  of building and demolition apply.Similarly the launderer's press was a built in contraption and therefore cannot be dismantled. R' Yossi added that there is also a question of  tiltul machmat chesron kis  that is since the launderer's press is an expensive piece of machinery it is forbidden to move it or touch it on Shabbat.

הדרן עלך פרק תולין וסליקא לה מסכת שבת

Forty Years Together-Bashert

Exactly forty years ago 12 Nissan we stood on the roof of a building  overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem. We stood under a chuppa that was my tallit and I said "harei at mekudeshet li", you are consecrated to me with this ring according to the law of Moshe and Israel..

So much has happened in those four decades. Twenty years of raising six children and  settlement building in the Golan Heights. Then moving to Rechovot where I dedicated myself to learning Torah while Risa continued  taking care of the home and supporting the family.

There is a Yiddish expression-"bashert" which roughly translated means "destined". It is often used to express the idea that this couple wasw "meant for each other". That is how I always felt it was with Risa and myself.. We have been together from the first time we met on a Shabbat afternoon in Ellul. It was clear to me from the very beginning that this was bashert. As Chazal said, "Forty days before conception a heavenly voice proclaims'The daughter of so and so is meant for the son of so and so.In this case the daughter of Avraham Ben Efraim for the son of Elchanan ben David.

Baruch Dayan Haemet

This week was the yohrtzeit of the Fogel family of Itamar in the Shomron, mother and four young children who were brutally murdered by Arab terrorists one year ago. I have always said that the greatest test of faith is when we are confronted with the death of an innocent child. The vast numbers of the Holocaust can be understood perhaps in a historical context. Perhaps the Jews of diaspora Europe were doomed to be devoured by the German Amalek. Perhaps there was  hester panim. But how do we understand the murder of a baby in his crib in the very heartland of Eretz Yisrael?

This year we witnessed a number of  perplexing tragedies including the murder of the heavenly mystic Baba Elazar in Beersheva and the death of Rav Ehud Barzilai of Mitzpeh Ramon who died at a young age of brain cancer. After hearing of these tragedies I said to myself, automatically, "baruch dayan haemet" blessed be the true judge. The truth is of course that I can see no justice in these events. .While I believe that nothing in this world is arbitrary, I cannot fathom the justice in these tragedies

I spoke about this with one of  my Rebbes and he told me to concentrate on the idea that the tribulations of this world are only transitory. When we hear about the death of a child we mourn because we have no idea of the purpose for which his soul was brought into this world and even less the reason that soul was taken from this world.

Next shabbat is parashat Parah which deals in the purification from tumat mavet,  the impurity of death. Harav Kook` wrote that the point of this parasha is to understand that death is the ultimate illusion and that life as imbodied by the divine soul is everlasting.

                                           Baruch Dayan Haemet

Hadran Masechet Bikkurim an Seder Zera'im of the Talmud Yerushalmi

Dedicated to Bat-Sheva bat Chana Bluma and Rephael ben Miryam may Hashem grant them perfect health

With the help of Hashem Yishtabach Shemo, I have finished learning masechet (tractate) Bikkurim, the last tractate in Seder (order) Zera'im of the Jerusalem Talmud. From the beginning of the first tractate, Brachot till the end of Bikkurim there are 11 tractates, almost 400 folio pages which took me almost two years to learn. At first I learned a page a day. When that proved to be impossible, I set aside an hour and a half each day for learning the Yerushalmi. I owe a great debt to Rav Chaim Shpitz, my Rosh Kollel and chevruta for much of this learning, for helping me with his great erudition and especially for his moral support. I also wish to thank Rav Yechiel Halevi Barlev for his commentary "yedid Nefesh" without which I would have been lost in the forest of differing and often contradictory girsaot(textual versions).Also to the Schottenstein team for their exhaustive commentary on several of the tractates.

Seder Zra'im begins with the tractate Berachot-blessings. This seems to have nothing to do with the general subject of the seder-zera'im(seeds) which has to do with the laws pertaining to agriculture and the use of the land in the Land of Israel. Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Nassi began Seder Zra'im with Berachot to emphasize that we can only partake of the produce of the land after we say the approppriate blessing to acknowledge Hashem as the source of all sustenance  He began with the blessings of kriat shema, proclaiming the One-ness of Hashem before we even consider partaking of his bounty. And also to say that it is not "kochi ve'otzem yadi" (human strength and striving) which brought us this great bounty.

Berachot begins with the Kohanim- "When do we recite kriat shema? From the time the kohanim enter(the Temple) to eat the teruma"  And the seder ends with the laws of how bikkurim (first fruits) were allocated to the Kohanim. Says the Yerushalmi-" Chachamim say that they (the bikkurim) are given to the leading members of the Watch and are then distributed among them as are all kodeshim (Holy offerings)

The Gemarra ends with a discussion of the usage of bikkurim and compares it with the usages that can be made of a Torah Scroll. "We have learned- it is said in the name of RaSHBaG " One can sell a Torah scroll in order to marry a woman, and to learn Torah, how much more so to sustain ones life!" Here he disputes the Bavli where RaSHBag says the opposite-that one cannot sell a Torah scroll for living expenses, It seems that the Yerushalmi is saying if you don't have enough to live how can you marry or learn Torah ?? (my peirush)

"We also learned-One who sells a sefer torah that belonged to his father will never see a blessing from the transaction, but of one who keeps a sefer Torah in his home it is said (Tehillim 112) " Treasure and wealth is his home and his righteousness will last forever."

הדרן עליך מסכת ביקורים וסדרא דזרעים ברחמיו מרובא וסייעתא דשמיא טובא אמן

Postscript to R"M Eilon

I was wrong. In the end the public prosecutor handed down an indictment against RMEilon. He refused to consider a plea bargain which would have resulted in a sentence with no jail time. He refused because he would not plead guilty to a crime he did not commit.

Last week R' Motti came out with his version of the events. (Can be seen on YouTube) He admits that he hugged those two young men, but not for any sexual satisfaction. Having been on the(receiving end of R'Motti's embrace while it was very emotional, had absolutely no sexual overtones. Rav Motti's style is very physical, something like R'Shlomo CarlebachZL(from whom I also got a hug) .who also would embrace women, again without sexual intent. Rav Motti ;accuses forum Takkana of using half truths and outright lies, and of inciting the accusors to submit a complaint to the authorities 5 years(!) after the events took place. He also related that R'Mordechai Eliyahu ZYA when he read the report of Forum Takkanah he tore it into shreds and told R'Motti that he should ignore it and continue teaching. Rav Eilyahu asked to address the forum but they refused (!!!) By the end of RMottis speech the tears were rolling down my cheeks.

What was the role of R' Aharon Lichtenstein in this travesty? It is reported that he is sorry that he ever got invoved.But it is too late. When R' Mottis innocence is clear to all R'Lichtenstein should be the first come forward in sackcloth and ashes and get down on his knees to beg forgiveness from Rav Mordechai Eilon

The Tzohar Of Rav Mordechai Eilon

"עת צרה  היא ליעקב וממנה יושע"

איכה באה הישוע מתוך הצרה? אותיות  צרה  הם גם אותיות  רצה ו צהר  הצדיק מתוך רצון טהור לעשות רצון השם יכול להפוך חשכת  צרה לאור הצהר

 נועם אלימלך

"It is a time of trouble for Ya'akov and from (within) it  he will be saved"

 How does salvation come from within the trouble? The letters of the word for trouble צרה are also the letters for the words for will-רצה and  tzohar (the light in Noah's ark)  צהר

From the pure will to do the will of Hashem  a righteous person can  transform the darkness of misfortune  to the light of the tzohar.

Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhansk-Noam Elimelech  

This Shabbat is parashat Noach which is the parasha in which the word "tzohar" appears. I am always on the lookout for a new interpretation of tzohar (I already know of at least ten). My daughter was at the sheva brachot  celebration of the marriage of the son of Rav Mordechai Eilon last year on shabbat parashat Noach. She brought home a pamphlet with the dvar torah that the Rav gave which included a new (for me) interpretation of tzohar based on the Noam Elimelech quoted above.

First a few words about R'Mordechai Eilon. I consider him to be one of my Rebbes, one of the three or four Rabbis who most influenced me spiritually. When I was learning in Yeshiva in Yerushalayim I would go every week to hear the shiur he gave in the Yeshurun synagogue.Hundreds would come to this shiur. People would be standing in the aisles and three deep in the back. I would go a half an hour early to get a seat in the front.When Rav Motti (as he liked to be called) came in and took his place at the lectern you could feel the electricity in the air. Then Rav Motti would begin speaking in his deep mellifluous baritone and continue for an hour and a half without notes. His shiurim were a tapestry of pshat plus insights from baalai mussar and chassidut.I have never in my life seen or heard anyone with anywhere near the charsma of Rav Mordechai Eilon. In the quote from Noam Elimelech Rav Motti asks how can one be saved in a time of trouble. He knows whereof he speaks. Several years ago he was accused of "inappropriate behavior" involving two of his students. A self appointed "forum" of rabbanim and other leading personalities of the National Religious sector led by R' Aharon Lichtenstein summoned him for a hearing. Although he denied the charges he agreed to go into "galut" to the settlement of Migdal near the Kinneret. He agreed to this  to protect his accusers  so their names would not be  made public. His talmidim refused to accept this gezeira and flocked to Migdal to hear their Rebbe's Torah. Last year the Forum made the case public and Rav Motti came back to giving shiurim in Jerusalem and elsewhere. His shiurim now lean more toward pnimiut haTorah with Kabbalistic overtones and references to the Chassidic masters formost the Tanya of  Admor  Schneur Zalman of Lyadi founder of the Chabad movement. In the meantime he has had a hearing by the public prosecutor who has decided there is no case for an indictment.

This background explains why R' Eilon brought the peirush of the Noam Elimelech. From within his own troubles he found the strength to focus his will on disseminating Torah and through the confluence of  his will with the will of Hashem he became the tzohar la teivah, to bring the inner light of the Torah to Am Yisrael

Siyyum Masaechet Challah Talmud Yerushalmi

                                                     This siyyum is dedicated to my dear sister Batsheva bat Chana Bluma   

                                   and her husband  Raphael ben Miryam may Hashem grant them perfect health

With the help of Hashem yitbarach I recently finished the study of another masechet of the Talmud Yerushalmi, masechet Challah. The general subject of the masechet is the mitzvah of hafrashat challah, taking a certain amount of the dough that is made from the five grains (wheat, oats barley spelt and rye) as an offering it to the Cohanim. According to the law of the Torah this is a mitzvah only in Eretz Yisrael but Chazal extended it to chutz laaretz with some differences in the observance of the mitzvah

The last Mishnsh in the masechet deals with  the laws of taking challah in chutz laaretz and goes on to compare it to the mitzvah of  bikkurim (first fruits) and asks if there is a case where bikkurim can be brought from chutz laaretz.. The gemarra learns the halacha from a case that came before the sages. A certain Jew named Ariston brought bikkurim from Apamia ( a region of Syria) and the sages accepted it. This requires an explanation since the basic law of the Torah is that bikkurim are only brought from Eretz Yisrael. We learned in the Mishna (48A) He who buys land in Syria is as if he bought land close to Jerusalem.That is to say that  Syria which was conquered by King David even though it is not part of the inheritance of the tribes promised by Hashem in the Torah, has some of the holiness of Eretz Yisrael and Chazal decided that it is permissable (although not obligatory) to bring bikkurim from those regions of Syria which were conquered by King David. The Bavli (Gittin 8A) says that it is permissable even to ask a non Jew to write a deed on Shabbat for the purchase of land in Syria. The Yerushalmi extends this to the bringing of bikkurim from Syria. The question remains why bikkurim is different than Truma which  definitely cannot be brought from chutz laaretz including Syria. This is difficult since in most respects bikkurim is similar to truma. The Yerushalmi explains that the difference is that bikkurim is the sole responsibility of he who brings it. He has the responsibility of bringing the bikkurim to the Kohen in the Temple, whereas truma is left on the threshing floor and the Kohen is himself responsible for taking it. If it were permissible to bring truma from Syria than the kohanim would be tempted to leave Eretz Yisrael and go to Syria to take the truma, and Syria even though it has some of the holiness of Eretz Yisrael it also has tumat eretz ha amim. There is no such problem with bikkurim since it must be brought to the Temple and the Kohen does not go out to get it.

There is another difference between truma and bikkurim. Truma is an obligation that must be given to the Kohen. Bikkurim on the other hand is more an expression of thanksgiving to Hashem for giving us the blessing of sustenence. I would learn a kal vachomer from bikkurim to limud Torah. If we express thanksgiving to Hashem tor granting us earthly blessings  how much more so must we thank Hashem for giving us the opportunity of learning his holy Torah, every masechet, perek and pasuk.

                                          Hadran alach masechet Challah 

Duchenen- The Priestly Blessing

And  Hashem spoke unto Moshe saying:"Speak unto Aharon and his sons saying:

Thus shall you bless the children of Israel , say unto them

May Hashem bless you and keep you

May  Hashem make his face shine upon  you and be gracious unto you

May Hashem lift up his countenance unto you and  grant you peace

So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel and I will bless them"

                                                                                     Num6:22-27

In Parashat Naso, after the laws of the Nazir, the Torah brings the commandment of Birkat Cohanim-the priestly blessing. This is called "duchanen" in Yiddish after the word duchan (originally a hebrew word) which means the platform from which the Cohanim blessed the people in the temple.

I havealways felt that the duchenen holds a special place in the synagogue service. It is said that the Shechina (the appearence of G-d in this world) emanates from the hands of the Cohanim when they bless the people. This is the only ceremony from the Temple that we continue to perform in the synagogue. Just as the Cohanim in the Temple ascended the duchan to bless the people, today they get up in front of the congregation, remove their shoes ( as was required in the Temple), put their talitot over their heads and raise their hands in a special configuration. I always get a spiritual high when they intone the same tripartite blessing that was said in the Temple 2,000 years ago.

One of the privilages of living in Eretz Yisrael is that we have birkat Cohanim every day. In the galut birkat Cohanim is done only during musaf of the holidays. Why is this so? According to the RAMBAM and Sefer Ha-Chinuch, birkat Cohanim is one of the 613 laws of the Torah, and must be said every day.
Rav Tzvi Yehudah Kook ZTZL said that the essence of the blessing is "simcha"(joy or gladness). The Jews in galut lack simcha because of all the troubles and tribulations of living among the Goyim. Only on the holidays is there an atmosphere of joy and gladness as we are commanded "vesamachta bechagecha" (be joyful on your festival) Only then can the Cohanim bless the people. The REMA and the Mishna Brura paskened that in the galut ducchanen is done only on the festivals and yom Kippur.

Harav A.I. Kook ZTZL said:" From the source of exalted unity the divine sovereignty of the commandment (of  birkat Cohanim) is revealed in His world as a blessing of love, chesed and rachamim" Only in Eretz Yisrael in the time of the ingathering of the exiles, can that exalted unity be found. This is part of the beginning of  our redemption, may Hashem fulfill it speedily and in our days.

Bar Yochai

Thirty nine years ago like this year Lag B'omer was motzai shabbat.Where was I on that shabbat? Thats right I was in Meron for the Hilulla of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
I wasn't yet 21 years old and just married a couple of months. Risa and I decided along with two other couples to make the trip from Yerushalayim to Meron for Lag B'Omer. No one had a car. We packed everything we needed for 3 days and got on an Egged bus for the North. We arrived at Meron on Friday, set up our tents and got ready for Shabbat together with the hundeds already on Mt Meron near the Holy site where Rashbi is buried.

I will never forget that Shabbat. I dovened with the Sfinka Chassidim. At the end of Kabbalat Shabbat everyone got up to dance. About fifty men, hands linked at the waist and the small of the back formed a circle. Slowly at first we began the dance, a shuffle really. We were singing "pizmon Bar Yochai" Invoking the name of the Holy Tanna "Bar Yochai, nimshachta oshrecha, shemen sasson mechaveirecha"  "Bar Yochai you are annointed in gladness" Singing the refrain over and over, stamping one step back and two steps forward. This continued for more than half an hour, but I lost track of time and place. The strangest thing was here I was dressed in a short sleeved white shirt and kippa seruga in the middle of a throng of black coated chassidim wearing fur shtrrimels, but no one looked at me as if I didn't belong. It was as if we weren't in Israel 1972 but were connected to something above and beyond the present. It wasn't hard to imagine that there were Jews who almost 2,000 years before had come to this mountain in the Gallil to bury their Rebbe, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.