With our prayers to HKB"H for your health, the health of all of Klal Yisrael,

and for all the good people on Earth, wherever they may be...

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Towards better understanding the timing of KiddushL'vana • Most follow opinions of saying KL after 3 full days following the molad, or 7 days. Also common is the waiting for Motza'ei Shabbat (when feasible and nottoo close to the last op), since then there is usually a large group and also a bettermood and feeling brought on by Shabbat. And, also common is holding off duringTishrei until after Yom Kippur - better mood than Aseret Y'mei T'shuva, largeassembly, an additional mitzva right Yom Kippur. In Sivan, most wait until Motza'eiYom Tov; same reasoning. In Av, most wait until after 9Av - again, mood and crowd.Minhag Yeru. (based on the GR"A) is to take first op (except not Leil Shabbat).

Weekly Inspiration“I ask myself if it is possible that our national rebirth will be only a secular one, ifholiness will remain in exile, lifeless, not renewed by the redemption? Is such athing possible? Definitely not!! All of Israel will return. We all know that our lifeforce is sanctity, and this sanctity will reveal its original power, and eventually allwill realize this.”

HaRav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook zt”l, Ma’amrei HaRiyah, p. 336

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Plus and minus in a negation circle is forthe prohibitions of adding to the Torah ordetracting from it Mitzva to designatecities of refuge - 3 on the east side of theJordan (and 3 on the west side) LUCHOTin the TORAH on the mountain stands forthe repetition of the Aseret HaDibrot andreminds us that the whole Torah was givenby G-d at Sinai, not just the Big Ten Mezuza is one of the mitzvot fromVa'etchanan, from the first parsha of theSH'MA Shabbat candles for SHAMORand ZACHOR. They are contained B'DIBURECHAD, in one speech-bubble Hearingear represents SH'MA, not just the famousone, but the many times the Torahcommands us to listen (and understand -this is an important aspect of SH'MA) Warning lights for Moshe's warnings to usto remain faithful to HaShem and not to beconfused by what we witnessed but cannot

totally comprehend Big number one isfor HaShem Echad, as well as the otherpasuk that emphasizes G-d's Unity, 4:35,...there is none besides Him Thereminder-finger is for the command tonever forget the Sinai experience and topass on the memory to future generations Seder plate for the Chacham's questionand the answer of We were slaves to Par'oin Egypt... both of which are found inVa'etchanan Simchat Torah scene is forthe pasuk ATA HOR-EITA LADA'AT... speaker and an Xed out video monitor: Onthat great day of Revelation at Sinai, weHEARD what was said, but we did NOT SEEany image. Mentioned more than once, andis a reason for Moshe's deep concern andwarnings to the people clock face in theface is for the term PANIM BIFANIM space telescope is for Yeshayahu's wordsat the end of the Haftara: Lift your eyesheavenward and see Who created these... pen is for the 5 PENs in the sedra andanother two U'FENs. Grasshopper.K'CHAGAVIM, like grasshoppers, appearsonly twice in Tanach - in Parshat Shlachand the haftara of Va'etchanan Extendedpinky is for V'ZOT HATORAH... The wordsare from Va'etchanan The palm is for theway Ashkenazim cover their eyes for thefirst pasuk of Sh'ma The three fingersform the letter SHIN and is the wayS'faradim cover their eyes for Sh'ma Towards the upper-right corner, with thehands, is a grain of OAT, representing theT'filin, which are/is an OT which we bindupon our arms Three works of EdgarAllan Poe: The Raven, The Black Cat, andThe Pit and the Pendulum - for the wordPO. not a rare word in the Torah, but its twooccurrences in Va'etchanan are significant.

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Compass directions are numbered in theorder in which they occur in the pasuk. It'sa different order from p'sukim elsewhere building in the lower-right is LEVYERUSHALAYIM - from the haftara Unexplained note on one of the Pix andan Unexplained equation

TTriddles 1380FTP - 1st 6 wordsof D'varim have a gimatriya of 1380. So dothe 4th thru 9th words of the haftara.Un-explained element is a photo of HarChermon, mentioned only 3 times in theTorah, twice in D'varim (and once inVa'etchanan) a.k.a. SNIR, means snow.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetttttttttttttttttttttttttttttccccccccccccccccccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnSSSSSSSSSSSSShhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttt NNNNNNNNNNNNNaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmuuuuuuuuuuuuu45th of 54 sedras; 2nd of 11 in D'varim

Written on 249 lines in a Torah, rank: 7

21 parshiyot; 5 open, 16 closed, 7th (tied with Ki Tavo)

122 p'sukim - rank: 17 (2nd in D'varim)same as Vayak'hel & Ki Tavo - but larger

1878 words; rank: 10th (2nd in D'varim)

7343 letters; rank: 10th (2nd in D'varim)

Va'etchanan's p'sukim are longer thanaverage, hence the jump in rank from17th for p'sukim to 10th for words

12 of 613 mitzvot: 8 pos., 4 prohibitionsand many more that are counted else-where - this is so for several sedras, but

it really shows for Va'etchanan (e.g.Aseret HaDibrot in Yitro has 14 mitzvot,repeated here but not counted here)

[P> X:Y (Z)] and [S> X:Y (Z)] indicate startof a parsha p'tucha or s'tuma. X:Y isPerek:Pasuk of the Parsha's beginning; (Z) is the number of p'sukim in the parsha.

Numbers in [brackets] are the Mitzva- countof Sefer HaChinuch AND Rambam’s SeferHaMitzvot. A=ASEI (positive mitzva); L=LAV(prohibition). X:Y is the perek and pasukfrom which the mitzva comes.

KKKKKooooohhhhheeeeennnnn - First Aliya 11 p'sukim - 3:23-4:4[S> 3:23 (7)] Moshe Rabeinu continueshis farewell words to the People. Hetells them that he had asked G-d torescind His decree banning Moshefrom entry into the Land of Israel.

The Baal Shem Tov commentedthat Moshe, who had learned the entireTorah, Written Word and Oral Law, fromG-d Himself, used the term "You havebegun to show me Your greatness..."The more one learns Torah, the moreone learns about G-d, the more one willrealize that he has just begun tounderstand Who G-d is.

G-d refused this request and forbadeMoshe to ask again. Moshe ascended amountain from where he saw the

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Land. G-d then told him to transfer theleadership to Yehoshua.

[P> 4:1 (24)] He (Moshe) proceeds toreview the laws and statutes (Torahand mitzvot) by which the people arenow to live... in Eretz Yisrael. Neither should the Torah be added tonor detracted from.

[These mitzvot are counted in R'ei.Strange that they are counted thesecond time they occur and not thefirst, which would be expected].

Another warning against idolatryfollows. Then, "And you who cling toG-d are all alive today". (This is one ofmany allusions to T'CHIYAT HAMEI-TIM in the Torah.)

The twin prohibitions of neither addingnor subtracting from the Torah, arementioned in Va'etchanan and again inR'ei (where they are counted among the613). The Vilna Gaon points out that theplural form is used one time and thesingular form is used in the other case.This, he says, alludes to two differentaspects of these prohibitions. It isforbidden to add to or subtract from aparticular mitzva - for example, one maynot take 5 species or 3 species onSukkot for the fulfillment of the mitzvaof "Lulav & Etrog". (If you addsomething to the Arbaa Minim tobeautify then - it's not done - it wouldnot be BAL TOSIF.) Nor may one add orsubtract to the total of the mitzvot. To

treat a Rabbinic mitzva as a Torah law,or vice versa, would be an example ofthe other aspect of these prohibitions.

The spirit of these prohibitions (if notthe actual definitions) would includetreating (or teaching) a CHUMRA as if itwere required, or vice versa (claimingthat something that is prohibited is"only" a chumra or custom, when it is ahalacha). Aside from people whointentionally do this, it is more commonto find people doing it one way or theother inadvertently, either because ofignorance or because of a sincere (butslightly misguided) desire to enhancethe observance of mitzvot. This isespecially important for parents andteachers of young children. Don’t sayASUR if you mean, strictly speaking itisn’t actually forbidden, but it is con-sidered a proper thing to abstain fromdoing such and such. It sounds morecomplicated, but it is more “honest” andtherefore it is the more proper way totransmit Torah to your children andstudents. (Obviously, when a child isvery young, you have to simplifymatters. But don't forget to upgrade thechild's level of understanding as he orshe grows older.)

LLLLLeeeeevvvvviiiii - Second Aliya36 p'sukim - 4:5-40Once again, Moshe emphasizes thatmitzvot are meant to be kept in EretzYisrael. (This not only applies toLand-related mitzvot, but to the entirerange of mitzvot.)

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There is repeated reference in the bookof D'varim, and especially in ParshatVa'etchanan, to Eretz Yisrael being THEreason for our having been taken out ofEgypt, formed into a Nation, and giventhe Torah and mitzvot.

Prolonged exile has taught us that theTorah can be kept, must be kept, nomatter where a Jew finds himself. Thiswas one of the reasons that the Torahwas given at Sinai, prior to entry intothe Land. On the other hand, one shouldnot lose sight of the fact, repeatedoften by Moshe Rabeinu in D'varim, thatG-d has always intended us to observeHis mitzvot IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL.Are there more mitzvot to keep in Israelthan outside? YES. But maybe moresignificantly, every mitzva - even thosethat are performed all over the world,can reach their full potential ONLY inIsrael. This is a message that each of ushas to realize, understand, andinternalize. Then we must spread thismessage to family and friends abroadwho feel that they "have everything weneed to be fully Jewish" in theirrespective religious communitiesaround the world. AND the vitalsignificance of Torah AND Israel to ourlives as Jews must be taught to thoseless committed Jews here in Israel andabroad.

On the other hand, we must not forgetthat Israel today is not the realization ofThe Dream, but rather a step on theroad to the Complete Redemption, the

restoration of Zion and Jerusalem, therebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash, andthe coming of Mashiach. This idea helpsus refocus after the mourning periodthat ends with the 10th of Av, and is anappropriate theme to usher in theperiods of consolation and T'shuva.

We must be careful to preserve andperform the mitzvot because (amongother reasons) it is the mitzvot thatproject Judaism as an intelligentreligion to the nations of the world.This in turn, sanctifies G-d's Name.We must be extremely careful toremember and transmit to ourchildren, the "Sinai Experience".

Moshe Rabeinu describes for the newgeneration the details of Matan Torah.He includes a specific warning againstthe potentially idolatrous thoughtscaused by the combination of themagnificent, tangible universe in whichwe live, and the invisible, intangibleG-d.

A primary cause of idolatry is thenatural human tendency to relate betterto the concrete, visible, tangible ratherthan something abstract and intangible.The Sun is in the sky. It's hot, full ofenergy, gives us light, and sustains lifeas we know it. People found Sun-worship easier to accept than theworship of He Who created the Sun andeverything else, but cannot be seen.True worship of the One G-d was whatAvraham and Sara taught many people.And, as OR LAGOYIM, a light unto thenations, it is what we are supposed to

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teach and show the world.

G-d had taken us out of Egypt in orderto make us His Nation. He got angry atme, says Moshe, and forbade me toenter the Land. Again, Moshe warnsthe People against abandoning thecovenant with G-d after his (Moshe's)passing.

[P> 4:25 (16)] The next portion is readon Tish'a b'Av morning (in addition toShabbat Nachamu)... In spite of themany warnings against idolatry, Mosheprophesies (predicts) that there willcome a time when the People will turnfrom G-d and be exiled from theirLand. It will then come to pass that thePeople will seek out G-d and return toHim. Moshe emphasizes the unique-ness of the People of Israel and theirspecial relationship with G-d andbeseeches the People to remainfaithful to Torah and mitzvot. One canhear a pleading in his voice, as if he isbegging the people not to go in thedirection of his prophecy.

This theme is oft-repeated in the Torah.Do what G-d asks of you. Don’t turnaway from Him. If you remain faithful toHim, wonderful things will happen toand for you. If you turn away from Him,terrible things will happen. You will turnaway from Him; terrible things willhappen; and then you will turn back toHim... We have the ability to skip thebad stuff - LET'S.

SSSSShhhhhllllliiiiissssshhhhhiiiii - Third Aliya9 p'sukim - 4:41-49

[P> 4:41 (9)] Although the cities ofrefuge will not function as such untilconquest and settlement of EretzYisrael, Moshe (with enthusiasm to doG-d's bidding, even though he knowswhat's coming soon thereafter) desig-nates the 3 cities on the East Bank ofthe Jordan - Betzer in the MishorWilderness area for Reuven, Ramot inthe Gil'ad area for Gad, and Golan inthe Bashan area for Menashe.

These (the mitzvot about to bepresented) were taught by Moshe tothe People following the Exodus in thelands on the East Bank of the Jordan.

(Note the detail in the description of thelocation of the people, the repeti- tionof their successes in conquering the"east bank" lands. It seems meant to beencouraging to the people for what liesahead.)

V'zot HaTorah... said when the Torahis lifted, comes from D'varim 4:44. In theSiddur, the words AL PI HASHEM B'YADMOSHE are added. That phrase appearsfour times in Bamidbar, but 9:23 seemsto be the one from which it is taken.(Some say V'zot HaTorah without theadded words in order not to recitepartial p'sukim. And some say the wholepasuk 9:23, which ends with AL PIHASHEM B'YAD MOSHE.

RRRRR'''''VVVVVIIIII'''''IIIII - Fourth Aliya18 p'sukim - 5:1-18[P> 5:1 (5)] Moshe begins the review ofmitzvot with a restatement of the

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Aseret HaDibrot. He emphasizes thatthe Covenant at Sinai was not justbetween G-d and the previous genera-tion, but between G-d and all genera-tions of Jews to come.

The most well-known differencebetween the two presentations of theAseret HaDidrot is the "Shamorv'Zachor" of Shabbat. Generally,"Zachor" is interpreted as referring tothe positive mitzvot and aspects ofShabbat, whereas "Shamor" is acommand to preserve Shabbat by notviolating the prohibitions. The tradi-tional minimum of two candles forShabbat (although one candle satisfiesthe halacha), are said to represent thesetwo facets of Shabbat. It is thisintertwined nature of the positiveaspects of Shabbat and its prohibitionsthat is "responsible" for Kiddush onFriday night being obligatory uponwomen. Rather than treat Kiddush as apure "time-related positive mitzva"which would (probably) mean thatwomen would be exempt (as they arefrom the mitzva of Sukka, for example),we view Kiddush as part of the wholeShabbat package, which means full andequal obligation for men and women.The two sides of Shabbat were com-manded B'DIBUR ECHAD and areinseparable.

On a hashkafa level, we can see theprohibitions of Shabbat as more than a

restrictive list of DON’Ts. Abstentionfrom Melacha can be seen as DayanGrunfeld z"l puts it in The Sabbath -- aslaying G-d’s gifts of creative activity tous at His feet (so to speak) in homage tothe Creator and Master of All. This, on aweekly basis, so that we will not takethese gifts for granted nor assume thatour abilities and talents are self-produced. There is a subtle differencebetween not doing Melacha andabstaining from Melacha. If we under-stand and appreciate the distinction,our Shabbat observance and enjoy-ment can be greatly enhanced. Shabbatis more than just "don't do this; don't dothat!"

The Aseret HaDibrot in Yitro contains 14of the 613 mitzvot. (The 2ndcommandment has four prohibitionsrelated to idolatry, the 4th has twomitzvot related to Shabbat, and oneeach from the other 8.) The first 9commandments in Va'etchanan con-tain the same 13 mitzvot as theircounterparts in Yitro. Those mitzvot arecounted from Yitro. The 10th is wordeddifferently here and is countedseparately (in addition to "Thou shaltnot covet") as the prohibition of "lustand unhealthy desire" [416, L266 5:18].Although the first part of the tenthcommandment uses the term V'LOTACHMOD (covet), the second partintroduces a new term which dealsexclusively with thoughts and feelings;

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its counterpart in Yitro involves actingon those feelings. V'LO TIT'AVEH in away, completes a set of prohibitions,that starts with obviously sinful acts -murder, stealing, etc. to a feeling in theheart (LO TACHMOD) which can, andoften does, lead to acts which are"milder", but nonetheless "problem-atic". For example, if a person is jealousof a friend's cellphone - the iPhone 20+,and comments about it often enough,the friend might just feel uncom-fortable enough to give it to the jealousfriend. Nothing wrong, per se, incomplimenting someone's phone, but inthis case it is part of the prohibition ofLO TACHMOD. And V'LO TIT'AVEH is thefeelings even without anything elsehappening as a result of the envy.

The Aseret HaDibrot lay out in thefollowing manner:

[S>5:6 (5)] Anochi and Lo Yih-yeh,which we consider the first two“dibrot” are contained within a singleparsha s’tuma. [S>5:11 (1)] Theprohibition against taking G-d’s namein vain (vain oaths) is its own parshas’tuma. [S> 5:12 (4)] The Shabbatcommandment is its own parshas’tuma. Shabbat's commandment is aP'tucha in Yitro. [S> 5:16 (1)] Honoringparents is a s’tuma. [S> 5:17 (¼)] Do notmurder, [S> 5:17 (¼)] And do notcommit adultery, [S> 5:17 (¼)] And donot steal (kidnap), [S> 5:17 (¼)] And donot bear false witness. These fourdibrot are each a separate parshas’tuma, all in the same pasuk! [S> 5:18(½)] And do not covet another man’s

wife and [S>5:18 (½)] and do not lustafter anything that another personpossesses are each a s’tuma, from thesame pasuk, and counting as a single(the 10th) dibra (or dibur) [416, L2665:18].

CCCCChhhhhaaaaammmmmiiiiissssshhhhhiiiii - 5th Aliya15 p'sukim - 5:19-6:3[S> 5:19 (15)] Moshe next reminds thePeople that those who were present atMatan Torah were afraid to continuehearing G-d's Voice and agreed tolisten to the words of a true prophetspeaking in G-d's Name in lieu ofdirect communication. (Actually, takea look at the pasuk right before theAseret HaDibrot and you'll see thatMoshe Rabeinu was saying the samething "right up front".)

This episode is crucial to ourunderstanding of the Chain of Traditionand the method of transmission of theOral Law. It made not only MosheRabeinu vital to our hearing andunderstanding of G-d's Word, but so toothe Moshe Rabeinus of everygeneration. This is so for prophets,during the period of prophecy, and bythe Sages throughout the generations.

Moshe emphasizes that G-d agreed tothe People's request.

And yet again, Moshe links observanceof mitzvot with the only properenvironment for Jewish life - EretzYisrael. (This idea is actually expressedin THREE different ways in the final

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p'sukim of this Aliya.)

SSSSShhhhhiiiiissssshhhhhiiiii - Sixth Aliya 22 p'sukim - 6:4-25[P> 6:4 (6)] The first portion of thisAliya is the first parsha of SH’MA."...HaShem is One." This statement ofJewish faith is also considered themitzva to believe in the unity anduniqueness of G-d [417, A2 6:4].

Note that G-d's unity is also part of themitzva to believe in Him [25, A1 Sh'mot20:2], but warrants its own mitzva toemphasize this essential element ofbelief, in contrast to many otherreligions.

"Love" G-d with your entire being [418,A3 6:5]. (Many mitzvot, Jewish prac-tices and the attitude with which we domitzvot are all considered manifesta-tions of Love of G-d.) We must studyand teach Torah [419, A11 6:7] (forpractical purposes AND purely for thesake of learning). We are to recite theSh'ma twice daily [420, A10 6:7], wearT'filin on the arm [421, A13 6:8] andfront-center on the head [422, A126:8], and put a Mezuza on ourdoorposts [423, A15 6:9].

The mitzva of learning andteaching Torah can be fulfilled withone's head, one's intellect. Tell someonea Dvar Torah and you both have fulfilledV'SHINANTAM L'VA- NECHA. But, tellthat same Dvar Torah in an animatedway that shows love of Torah and thatignites the emotion of the listener, so

that he not only adds to his knowledgeof Torah, but his excitement andenthusiasm for Torah and Mitzvot hasincreased, then you have fulfilled anadditional mitzva, V'AHAVTA ETHASHEM ELOKECHA, to love G-d withall your heart (based on SeferHaChareidim).

We can generalize this aspect ofAHAVAT HASHEM to include all mitzvot.Shabbat, for example. Someone can gothrough all the motions and not violatethe Shabbat; but do it with love and thatfulfills V’AHAVTA, in addition toShabbat.

[S> 6:10 (6)] Now, another warning.You’ll go into Eretz Yisrael, have bighomes filled with all good things, thatyou did not work for... Still rememberthat G-d took you out of Egypt... don’tturn away from Him...

It is said that a wealthy person has aharder time with faith in G-d than a poorperson. A poor person tends to turn toG-d, to complain, but also to express hisfaith that his lot will improve. Thewealthy tend to pat themselves on theback and take credit for that which heshould be thanking G-d. Generalizations,of course, but something to think about,nonetheless.

[S> 6:16 (40)] Do not test G-d... (as youdid repeatedly in the Midbar). Under-stood as the prohibition of overlychallenging a true prophet anddemanding signs from him (beyondwhat is reasonable to determine his

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claim as a true prophet) [424,L64 6:16].Keep the mitzvot... be straight withG-d... so that things will be good foryou in Eretz Yisrael... (there it is again!)

[S> 6:20 (6)] When your child will askyou tomorrow... tell him “we wereslaves to Par’o in Egypt and G-d tookus out... and He com- manded us... andit will do us good to listen...

SSSSShhhhh'''''VII Seventh Aliya11 p'sukim - 7:1-11[S>7:1 (11)] Finally, Moshe tells thePeople that the nations in Eretz Yisraelwhom we will encounter are mightierthan Israel. But G-d will give them overinto Israel's hands. We are required todestroy the "Seven Nations" [425, A1877:2], not to show mercy to idolaters inthe Land [426, L50 7:2], and certainlynot to intermarry with them [427, L527:3] or any other non-Jews.

Regardless of how secure one is in one'sbelief, intermarriage and other closecontact with other cultures will have anadverse effect upon the Jew and on theJewish People. In addition to theTorah-prohibition of intermar- riage,there are many Rabbinic prohibitionsgeared to restrict social contact withnon-Jews.

We must destroy the idolatry in theLand. We must always keep in mindthe basis upon which G-d has built Hisrelationship with us.

It is because of G-d's love for us andHis promises to our ancestors that He

has taken us out of Egypt.

Know that G-d is trustworthy to keepHis promises and reward those whoproperly follow His ways, as well aspunish those who do not. The sedraends with a 'command' to keep theTorah.

The final 3 p'sukim of the sedra arereread for the Maftir.

HHHHHaaaaaffffftttttaaaaarrrrraaaaa 26 p'sukimYeshayahu 40:1-26First of the 7 Haftarot of Consola-tion, (all of which come fromYeshayahu). Yeshayahu as a prophetof destruction and Divine punishmentfor faithlessness, can be seen in ch.1which was the haftara last Shabbat,and in subsequent chapters through39. With our haftara this week, ch. 40,we see another side of the prophet.G-d commands the prophets (throughYeshayahu) to bring the message ofcomfort and the end of Babyloniancaptivity. How appropriate a choice forthe post-9Av haftara.

PROBING the PROPHETS Rabbi Neil (Nachman) Winkler

The three weeks of mourning havepassed, the nine days of more intensegrief are over, and, as a result, ourhaftarot change the theme fromcondemnation and warning to theseven haftarot “d’nechemta”, of

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consolation. And, indeed, we needthe solace and comfort that thewords of the nevi’im offer us. Surely,therefore, if we, two-thousand yearsafter the tragedy, thirst for somemessage of hope, certainly thegeneration of the churban, the peoplewho suffered through thedestruction of the Batei Mikdash andthe painful exiles, yearned for aconsoling message of hope evenmore than we. How fitting, then, arethe opening words of this fortiethperek in Sefer Yeshayahu, “Nachamu,nachamu, ami”, words that Hashemissues to the prophets, urging themto comfort His people after thetragedy. Additionally, these words(and, of course, the perek itself) openup a new section of Sefer Yeshayahuwhich, until now, included hisprophecies of warning. In the firstpart of his book, the navi told theJudean population that thepunishment just meted out to theirbrothers in the North would befallthem as well, unless they changedtheir ways. It was not a section filledwith warming messages of comfortbut of cautionary counsel to changetheir ways.

Curiously, however, after opening Hismessage with these words of hopeand comfort, the prophet apparentlyshifts focus and opens anoft-repeated theme of the propheticera, that of comparing G-d with Man,

comparing the Immortal to themortal, the Infinite to the finite andthe Limitless to the limited. Thistheme is often used to warn thenation against idolatry, impressingthe people with the foolishness ofworshipping man-made gods andcopying the pagan worship. Giventhat, we would be correct inwondering why Yeshayahu would findthis message to be a comforting orconsoling one. It certainly is animportant message to leave with thepeople…. but why now?? Why at thisterribly difficult time?? And why is itTHE primary message of this reading,continuing for fifteen of thetwenty-six verses in the haftarah?

The answer can be found somepsukim later. The promise ofredemption was not simply aguarantee that Israel would return toher land after the exile but that thereturn would be a miraculous one.The navi describes the great wondersthat would accompany the geula andcharges the people to publiclyproclaim the arrival of the redeemer.“Hashem Elokim b’chazak yavo”, G-dwill arrive with great strength and Hispower will rule. In fact, the finalchapters of Sefer Yeshayahu arereplete with the descriptions of thegreat wonders that all the world willsee when the redemption arrives.

Now, would we not imagine that apeople just exiled from her land, a

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nation that witnessed the BetMikdash of her G-d destroyed, thatsaw her cities in ruin and thousandsof her children slaughtered - thatsuch a generation would almost scoffat the prophet’s prediction of greatmiracles and wonders from a G-d thathad just been ‘defeated” by anotherpower??

Yeshayahu imagined that too.

And so, he fills his prophetic messagewith imagery of what Hashem doesthat is unequaled in the universe. Thecomparison of G-d’s power to thoseof false entities was not used here asan argument against idolatry -although it could be. Rather it is usedas comforting words to convincesuffering people that the promises ofwonders and miracles are NOTunbelievable but are, given themarvels He performs every day andthe wonders He is capable of, quitebelievable.

And this was one of the goals thatYeshayahu hoped to accomplish forfuture generations: to see that theynot simply believe in the geula butthey would confidently trust that theseemingly impossible and unrealisticare, for G-d, possible and realistic.

Only a nation that carries with themin their collective memories thewords of her prophets can march totheir deaths singing “Ani Ma’amin”,and watch from heaven as their

beliefs are proven true, seeing theirchildren and grandchildren return tolive in, and build up, the land in whichYeshayahu delivered the divinemessage.

Probing the Prophets, weekly insights into theHaftara, is written by Rabbi Nachman (Neil) Winkler,author of Bringing the Prophets to Life (Gefen Publ.)

AnsweringUnanswered PrayersDid you ever really pray forsomething you wanted? I mean, reallyfervently, desperately, pray hard forsomething that was vitally importantto you?

If you did, and I think we all pray thisway at moments of urgency, youviolated an anonymous piece ofwisdom:

“Be careful what you pray for,because you just might get it.”

I have not been able to determinewho said that. But I know clearlywhat he meant. In my own life, I havehad more than one occasion to lookback at answered prayers, whichachieved what turned out to be verytrivial objectives. And I have certainly

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been disappointed in prayer, only tolearn that in the long run, I was muchbetter off without the benefits ofwhatever I prayed for so earnestly.

We think we know what is good forus, we think we know what we need,but we really don't. Often, we aremuch the better for having certainprayers rebuffed, and we frequentlydiscover that the things we thoughtwere important are not important atall.

In the Torah portion that we read thisweek, Parshat Va’etchanan, Mosheconfides to us how he powerfullybeseeched the Almighty, beggingHim to reverse His decision tofrustrate Moshes' greatest dream,that he be permitted to enter thePromised Land. Moshe uses asynonym for prayer, chanan, whichconnotes imploring, pleading for theundeserved favor, matnat chinam.

But Moshe is denied his dream. Hispetition is torn up in his face. His isthe archetypal unanswered prayer.

Joel Cohen, in his book Moses, aMemoir, puts these poignant words inthe mouth of Moshe:

“I lowered my knees and begged Himonce again. I could muster no tearsthis time... I needed badly to reachand walk about the land He promisedto Abraham for us, so long ago... My

work is incomplete. My prophecy hasachieved no reality for me in mylifetime... There will be no future forme. My staff, the instrumentality ofmiracles against His enemies, ispowerless against His will.”

Beautifully put, by the author of abook I recommend to you all.

What are we to learn from the storyof the unanswered prayer of thehumblest, but greatest, of men?Many things, in my opinion.

We learn that the gates of prayer arenot always open. In the words of theMidrash, they are sometimes openbut sometimes closed. And we arenot to rely upon them exclusively.Rather, we are to do our own part toachieve our objectives in mundaneways.

Judaism insists upon a balancebetween faith in the divine and theexercise of practical human effort. Itacknowledges that while there mustbe "bitachon", trust in the Lord, theremust also be "hishtadlut,"old-fashioned hard work on our part.As the rabbis have it, never rely uponmiracles.

We can never allow prayer to becomea substitute for doing all we can do.We must not simply expect theAlmighty to achieve Jewishsovereignty for us, but must do our

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parts politically and militarily. Wecannot expect manna from heaven,but we must earn our livelihoods bydint of the sweat of our brow. Andwhen we are ill, yes, we must pray,but we must also diligently seek outcompetent medical assistance.

There are other lessons, to be sure,to be learned from the unansweredprayer of Moshe. His grave remains asecret, so that it will not become ashrine and that he not be idolized orheaven forbid, deified. For anotherimportant lesson about prayer fromthe Jewish perspective is that wepray to the One Above only, and notto saints and holy men, be they aliveor be they dead. Cemeteries are notsynagogues.

By not granting Moshe his request,the Master of the Universe was ineffect telling him that he did all thathe could, and that no more isexpected of him. Humans areexpected to do all they can, and notnecessarily to accomplish everything.

“It is not necessary for you tocomplete the task, but neither areyou exempt from doing all that youcan."

Moshe is being told, "You did all youcould, even if you did not achieve allof your personal ambitions.” Nohuman is complete, no man is

perfect.

And then there is a final lesson, onethat we learn from the very fact thatMoshe persisted in his prayer,although he knew well that hisrequest would be spurned. Hemodeled the importance of hope,even in the face of impossible odds.

Jewish history contains a long list ofMoshe-like figures, whose vision wasto enter the Holy Land. They includemen like the Gaon Elijah of Vilna, wholonged to spend the last years of hislife in Eretz Yisrael. And closer to ourtime, the great sage Yisrael MeirKagan, the Chofetz Chaim, prayedand carefully planned to live out hislife in Israel.

Ironically, they, like Moshe, had theirdreams frustrated by the Hand ofProvidence. Like Moshe, they wereready to try almost anything torealize their ambitions. And likeMoshe, who was told that he wouldnot enter the land but his discipleYehoshua would. Various leaders ofJewish history, however reluctantly,took comfort in the fact that theirdisciples realized their dream in theirstead.

This is possibly the most importantlesson of all. When our prayers gounanswered for ourselves, they mayyet be answered for our children and

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grandchildren.

Unanswered prayers are mysteri-ously answered, in inscrutable andunpredictable ways.

The Infinite GameThe popular author and TED lecturerSimon Sinek recently published abook entitled The Infinite Game.Based on the distinction firstarticulated by James P. Carse, it isabout the difference between twotypes of enterprise. One, a finitegame, has a starting and endingpoint. It obeys rules, recognisesboundaries, and has winners andlosers. Most sports are like this. So,often, is politics: there arecampaigns, elections, rules andregulations, successful and defeatedcandidates. Businesses can be runthis way, when they focus onquarterly profits, share price, marketshare and the like.

But there are also infinite games.These have no starting point orfinishing line, no clear winners andlosers, no agreed rules or boundaries.Art is like this. So are music andliterature. Beethoven didn’t win.

Bach didn’t lose. Great artists changethe rules. That is what Beethoven,Schoenberg and Stravinsky did; sotoo did Van Gogh, Cézanne andPicasso. Politics can be like this whenit rises above opinion polls and setsits vision on larger issues of justice,equality and the moral health ofsociety. Education is a finite gamewhen it focuses on exam results andqualifications, or it can be an infinitegame when it is about breadth anddepth of understanding and charac-ter development.

Finite games are played to win.Infinite games are played for theirown sake. Finite games are usuallyperformed in front of an audience ofsome kind. Infinite games areparticipative. We engage in thembecause we are changed by them.Van Gogh did not need to sellpaintings to regard art as worthwhile.Beethoven was not seekingpopularity when he wrote his latesonatas and quartets. James Joycewas not aiming at a bestseller whenhe wrote Ulysses.

Infinite games are not a means to anend: winning the championship,beating the market, victory in anelection. Instead they are whatpsychologists call autotelic, that is,they contain their purpose withinthemselves. We do them because the

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activity is inherently creative,demanding, uplifting and ennobling.

It should be clear by now that theseare not simply two types of game.They are two different ways ofplaying a game. If, in any country atany time, politics is treated as a finitegame in which all that matters arepopularity ratings and electionresults, then it quickly becomessuperficial, trivial, uninspiring. Thequality of leadership declines. Thepublic becomes cynical anddisillusioned. Trust is eroded and thesocial bond becomes frayed. Whenpolitics is lifted by a sense of historyand destiny on the part its leaders,when it becomes not the pursuit ofpower but a form of service-to-others and social responsibility, whenit is driven by high ideals and ethicalaspiration, then leadership becomesstatesmanship and politics itself anoble calling.

This is not to denigrate finite games.We need them, because in manyspheres of life we need rules,boundaries and time limits. But wemust also have space for infinitegames because they are among thehighest expressions of the humanspirit.

These reflections are prompted bytwo verses in today’s parsha:

Be sure to keep the commandments,decrees, and laws that the Lord yourGod has enjoined upon you. Do whatis right and good in the sight of theLord… (Deut. 6:17-18)

The problem here is that the firstverse seems to cover all 613 of theTorah’s mitzvot. They arecommandments, decrees or laws.Why then does the Torah add, “Dowhat is right and good in the sight ofthe Lord”? Surely doing what is rightand good is no more and no less thankeeping God’s commands, decreesand laws. Are these not two ways ofsaying the same thing?

However, as the Talmud explains:“And you shall do that which is rightand good in the eyes of the Lord”means that one should not performan action that is not right and good,even if he is legally entitled to do so.This is the basis of an important lawin Judaism, dina debar metzra, “thelaw of the adjoining property.” Whena landowner comes to sell a tract ofland, the owner of the adjacent landhas the right to buy it. If it is sold tosomeone else, the buyer must returnthe land to the neighbour who thenreimburses them for the price theypaid for it.

This law is not about land ownershipas such. In general, a landowner has

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the right to sell to whomever theychoose. It is about doing “the rightand the good” – what peoplesometimes call menschlichkeit. Tothe neighbour, the purchase of theland is an immense good. They canexpand without dissipating theirlandholdings in different locations.To the outsider, losing this purchaseis not a significant loss because theycan acquire other fields elsewhere.The law of bar metzra departs fromthe usual principles of law in order toachieve a moral end: helping one’sneighbour.

Rashi, basing himself on thisTalmudic passage , says that doingthe right and good in the eyes of theLord means “compromise, actingbeyond the strict demands of thelaw.” Ramban agrees with this butgoes on to make a fascinating andfundamental point:

And the intention of this is that fromthe beginning God said to keep God'scommandments, testimonies, andlaws as God has commanded them.And now, it says: even regardingwhat God did not command, payattention to do what is good and rightin God's eyes, because God lovesgoodness and righteousness. This isimportant because it is impossible tomention in the Torah all the details ofpeople’s behaviour with neighbours

and friends, or business conduct orlocal ordinances. The Torah mentionsmany such laws, such as: "Do notgossip", "You shall not takevengeance or bear a grudge", "Youshall not stand idly by the blood ofyour neighbour", “You shall not insultthe deaf", "You shall rise before theaged", and so on. Now it statesgenerally that one should do what isgood and right regarding everything,including compromise and actingbeyond the strict demands of the law.

Ramban seems to be concurring withRashi, but actually he is making asomewhat different point. Rashi issaying: keep the law and go beyondit. Ramban is saying that there aresome things that cannot be specifiedby law: “because it is impossible tomention in the Torah all the details ofpeople’s behaviour.” The Torah givesus specific examples: don’t gossip,don’t take revenge and so on. But therest depends on the situation, thecircumstances, and the person orpeople you are dealing with.

In the terms we encountered at thebeginning of this essay: not all theTorah is a finite game. Much of it is.There are rules, commands, decreesand laws. There is the halachah.There are boundaries: milk, meat,public domain, private domain. Thereare beginnings and endings: the

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earliest time to say the morningShema and the latest time. There aresuccesses and defeats: either onedoes or doesn’t complete thecounting of the Omer. All of this isfinite even though it is dedicated tothe One-who-is-Infinite.

Ramban’s point however (made alsoby the Maggid Mishneh) is that thereare significant areas of the moral lifethat cannot be reduced to rules. Thatis because rules deal in generalities,and human lives are particular. Weare all different. So is every situationin which we find ourselves. Goodpeople know when to speak, when tobe silent, when to praise, when tochallenge. They hear the unspokenword, sense the concealed pain,focus on the other person rather thanon themselves, and are guided by adeeply internalised moral sense thatleads them instinctively away fromanything less than the right and thegood. The “right and the good in thesight of the Lord” is about the part ofthe moral life that is an infinite game.

There is a fine account of such aperson in Psalm 15: “One whose walkis blameless, who does what isrighteous, who speaks the truth fromtheir heart… who does no wrong to aneighbour, and casts no slur onothers;… who keeps an oath evenwhen it hurts, and does not change

their mind… Whoever does thesethings will never be shaken.”

I believe that we make a fundamentalerror when we think that all we needto know and keep are the rulesgoverning interactions bein adamle-chavero, between us and ourfellows. The rules are essential butalso incomplete. We need to developa conscience that does not permit usto wrong, harm or hurt someone evenif the rules permit us to do so. Themoral life is an infinite game whichcannot be reduced to rules. We needto learn and internalise a sense of“the right and the good.”

OU ISRAEL KASHRUT KOLUMN

Tevel: Benefit and SaleTevel refers to produce and grainwhich has not had terumot andmaasrot separated from it. Our Sageswere extremely stringent regardingits use and therefore added variousother prohibitions in addition to theTorah prohibition of consumption.Rabbinic prohibitions include notfeeding tevel to one’s animal(Rambam Maaser 13:15) and not givingtevel to a non-Jew for consumption,even though the non-Jew has noobligation regarding this mitzvah(Tosfot Eruvin 17:B). In addition, it isprohibited to fulfill any mitzvah using

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tevel, such as using an etrog for thefour species or eating matzah onPesach from which terumot andmaasrot were not taken (seeKedushat Haaretz 4:17 and RambamChametz Umatzah 6:6).

What is the law regarding the sale oftevel? The Mishna (earliest Talmudicliterature) in Demai (5:8) states:

"…one may not sell non-tithedproduce except in the case ofnecessity."

Based on the Mishna, the sale of tevelis prohibited other than in a case ofnecessity. The Talmud Yerushalmi(Demai 5:7) explains that a situationof “necessity” refers to the case ofsomeone who has a mixture of mostlytithed and some non-tithed produce.In such a situation, it is impossible todistinguish between the non-tithedproduce and the tithed. Due to thetevel found in the mixture, one is stillobligated to separate terumot andmaasrot. However, one unknowinglymay separate from the produce thatwas previously tithed, leaving theissue of tevel unresolved. Due to thiscomplex situation, our Sages allowedfor the sale of (other) tevel to theperson with the problematic mixturein order to enable him to clearlyseparate terumot and maasrot,thereby permitting the use of theentire quantity of produce. (This is

accomplished by joining the boughttevel with the problematic mixture tomake them one entity, and thenseparate terumot and maasrot fromthe bought-tevel produce.)

Aside from the specific exceptionabove, the sale of tevel is prohibited.Moreover, if tevel is sold to a buyerwho will definitely not separateterumot and maasrot, the seller isdirectly causing the buyer to sin (seeKedushat Haretz 4:22). A practicalapplication is regarding a kashrutcertification for a supermarket thatplans to sell certain tevel products.Certification should not be given tosuch an establishment. According tolater authorities (Chazon Ish Demai6:10 Derech Emuna, Maaser 66), evenif the seller were to inform potentialpurchasers that the produce beingsold is tevel, the sale would still beprohibited. Halachic authorities go asfar as to say that even giving tevel asa gift and informing the receiver thatthe fruit is tevel is prohibited (seeShulchan Aruch YD 331:117 andKedushat Haaretz 4:26) .

There are two different reasons givenagainst the sale of tevel. Accordingto some opinions (Tosfot Yom TovDemai 5:8, Torat Ha'aretz 2:36), thebasis for this ruling is out of concernthat the buyer will in fact not taketerumot and maasrot. Even in a case

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where there is no such concern, ourSages did not differentiate betweenvarious situations, but rather, theymade a blanket decree. According toother halachic authorities (ChalatLechem 2:21), the prohibition ofselling tevel is because of the seller’swrongdoing. A farmer who growsproduce has an obligation to separatetithes as determined by the Torah.However, if the farmer sells hisnon-tithed produce, he hasundermined the Torah obligation ofterumot and maasrot. When thebuyer takes ownership of the tevel, itbecomes his obligation to separateterumot and maasrot, but only on arabbinic level. Thus, by selling tevel,the farmer has negated the Torahobligation that was only his to fulfill(see Baba Metzia 88:B).

Is there also a prohibition to buytevel? According to the ChalatLechem, by purchasing tevel, thebuyer is enabling the seller to castaway his Torah obligation ofseparating terumot and maasrot.

However, if the prohibition of sellingtevel is because of the potential sinof the buyer who will not separatetithes, then based on this logic, abuyer who does separate terumotand maasrot should be permitted topurchase tevel.

Rav Chaim Kanievsky (Derech Emuna,

p.236) writes and brings proof thatthe prohibition is only on the seller,not the buyer. He seems to concludethat one is allowed to buy tevel. RavDov Lior also rules that there is noprohibition to buy tevel, based onmany sources from Talmudic timeswhich show that one may purchasefrom a person who is known not toseparate terumot and maasrot (seealso Mevo Leterumot Umaasrot 11:13).

According to these poskim one isallowed to purchase from a marketthat is known to sell tevel. However,perhaps one should still refrain inorder to avoid supportingestablishments that sell non-tithedproduce. The issue should bediscussed with one’s local orthodoxrabbi.

In conclusion, the sale of tevel isprohibited. However, the purchase oftevel is permissible as long as it canbe ensured that the buyer will indeedseparate terumot and maasrot.

Rabbi Ezra Friedman, DirectorThe Gustave & Carol Jacobs Centerfor Kashrut Education

OU Israel Kashrut, Rabbinic Field Representative

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VEBBE REBBE - Ask the Rabbi

Rabbi Daniel Mann

Touching Torah ScrollsQuestion: I know that people arecareful not to touch the parchment ofa sefer Torah. Does this apply toother scrolls, like haftara scrolls andMegillat Esther?

Answer: The gemara cites R.Parnach’s statement in two places:“Whoever holds a sefer Torah naked(i.e., with an uncovered hand(according to almost all)) will beburied … without the mitzva [he wasinvolved in].” In Megilla (32a) it is afree-standing statement in a sugyaabout the rules of layning and gelila.In Shabbat (14a-b) it comes up in thecontext of a Rabbinical decree totreat several objects, including “abook” as tameh, so that if they touchteruma, they make it tameh anddisqualified. The gemara explainsthat people used to keep teruma andholy scrolls together because bothare holy, but this attracted mice,which nibble on the scrolls, so theyenacted that such scrolls disqualifythe teruma. The gemara also explainsthat hands before netilat yadayim aremetameh teruma because they areoften dirty. The gemara alsomentions such a decree on handsthat touched a sefer, since this

violated R. Parnach’s idea, andTosafot (ad loc.) posits that this istrue even if one did netilat yadayimsoon before touching the sefer. Thegemara discusses why there was aneed for two different decreesregarding hands.

There are different approaches inthe Rishonim (see Rambam, She’arAvot Hatumah 9:5 & Sefer Torah 10:6;Mordechai, cited by the Beit Yosef,Orach Chayim 147) as to whether,nowadays (when we don’t eatteruma), the issue of touching a seferTorah is still connected to tumah,proximity to teruma, or dirtiness ofthe hands. (The analysis is toocomplicated for this forum – see theAruch Hashulchan’s, OC 147:1-7overview). If it is an independentmatter, the problem is that touchingdirectly reflects insufficient honorfor the sefer Torah (Levush, OC 147:1).The different approaches can impacton the question of whether it appliesonly to a sefer Torah or to all holyscrolls, which also create tumah andaffect teruma. It also can impact thequestion of whether netilat yadayimbefore touching the scrolls helps. If itis related to needing clean or nottameh hands (see Shabbat ibid.), thennetilat yadayim should help as it doesfor hands that need to touch teruma(Aruch Hashulchan ibid. 2).

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As far as halacha is concerned, theShulchan Aruch (OC 147:1) mentionsthe prohibition to touch only inregard to a sefer Torah, but even ifone did netilat yadayim. However, theRama (ad loc.) cites and prefers theopinion that it applies to all ofTanach, if it is written with the basics(letter formation, parchment, ink) ofa sefer Torah (Mishna Berura 147:3).The Rama compromises, in that hepermits handling when the tworeasons to be lenient are present, i.e.,it is not a sefer Torah and one didnetilat yadayim. (The Bi’ur Halachaexplains this as being because thereare two reasons for leniency, not thatthe two leniencies remove all doubt).In an interesting application, R. AkivaEiger (I:58) forbids kissing a mezuzascroll when passing by if it is not in amezuza case.

Since the standard assumption isthat touching is a matter ofdisrespect, context plays a role.Ashkenazim attach atzei chayim tothe sefer Torah to facilitate rollingthe klaf without touching (seeSha’arei Teshuva 691:3), butSephardim usually use an attachedscarf to roll by hand, and many allowtouching after netilat yadayim whena lot of rolling is needed (YalkutYosef, OC 147:1). Sofrim touch theklaf directly when writing and even

when handling, for various reasons, acompleted sefer Torah klaf. There is amachloket whether it is better tohave or not have atzei Chayim fornavi scrolls, and this is connected(likely in both directions) to whetherone rolls with his hands (see Dirshu147:6). The Sha’arei Teshuva (ibid.)writes that the minhag is not to haveatzei chayim and not to be carefulabout touching a Megillat Estherbecause it is called an iggeret ratherthan a sefer. He says it is a nice butuncommonly followed chumra to donetilat yadayim before handling it.

Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider

Glatt YosherThe fundamental principles ofJudaism - love and fear of God, theTen Commandments and theobligation to study Torah - are alladdressed in Parshat Va'etchanan.This being the case, how then do weunderstand a verse which followsthese directives:

“You shall do that which is right(yashar) and good (tov) in the eyes ofthe Lord” (Devarim 6:18).

We are confronted with a simplequery: In what way does “right andgood” differ from all thecommandments previously stated.

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The great Torah teacher NechamaLeibowitz a”h posed the question thisway: “Surely one who fulfils all thepositive and negative command-ments in the Torah ipso facto fulfillsthe admonition to do what is ‘rightand good in the eyes of the Lord!’”What new obligation then does thisadmonition imply? (Studies inDevarim, p. 58).

Both Rashi and Ramban share arelated approach. Rashi says thatthere are times that we are to goabove the letter of law; ‘doing theright and the good’ prods us todisclose and exercise the deepermeaning of the law. Additionally,posits the Ramban, there are manyscenarios in which the Torah or evenhalachah does not directly address anissue, therefore it is here that oneapplies the spirit and essence of thelaw. Often in everyday life there arecases to which no direct or explicitmitzvah in the Torah applies.

K'DOSHIM TIHYU, “You shall be holy”(Vayikra 19:2). It is well known thatthe Ramban makes the case that it isquite possible to observe the letter ofthe law of the Torah and yet be farfrom living a good and holy way oflife. One can sin by overindulging ineating and drinking or in sexualrelations, to cite two examples.

The Ramban thus shows how it is

possible for a man to keep to theletter of the Torah and yet violate itsspirit. This then is the implication ofthe two directives “You shall be holy”and “You shall do that which is rightand good.” The importance ofYashrut is that it is not only a positivecharacter trait, but the definingattribute for one who wants to act inaccordance with the will of God.

This all encompassing perspectiveregarding the notion of yashrut wascaptured beautifully by Rav AvrahamYizchak HaKohen Kook zt’l based onthe verse from Tehillim:

OR ZARU'A... “Light is sown for therighteous (tzaddik), and joy for theupright (yashar) of heart.” (Psalms97:11)

We generally assume that the termtzaddik describes a person whoattains the highest place in religiousdevotion and yet the verse suggeststhat the yashar attains an evenhigher level. The Talmud (Taanit 15a)confirms that this verse teaches thatthe yashar is more elevated. Whothen is the tzaddik and who is theyashar? Rav Kook answers that thetzaddik is identified as one whoovercomes his inclinations andsubdues his yetzer hara to do God’swill. The yashar, on the other hand,aligns his will with God’s will. Theyashar does not feel tension. He

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cleaves to God. His inner worldharmonizes with the will of theDivine. (Siddur Olat Re’iyah Vol. 2, 17)

The Netziv, Rabbi Naftali Zvi YehudaBerlin (1816-1893) who headed thefamed yeshiva of Volozhin,spotlighted precisely this point in hisintroduction to Sefer Bereshit: Aperson could be a tzaddik and achassid immersed in Torah and stillnot be yashar. Yashar means dealingwith others in a straight honest waywith mercy and compassion. Theforefathers, he argues, wereyesharim, this being their highestaccolade. They always treatedothers, even idolaters, and those ofdifferent habits, respectfully andlovingly, and were concerned withtheir welfare. They acknowledgedthat, after all, every human beingconstitutes a part of the Almighty’screation.

Noteworthy in this context is aparallel lesson the Netziv coveys inhis introduction to the final book ofthe Torah. Once again he emphasizesthat the purpose of Torah and thebook of Devarim in particular is toprovide the guidelines and inspirationneeded for a Jew to achieve yashrut.

Perhaps the Netziv bases his thesison a Talmudic passage which asks,”Which book of the Torah is entitledSefer Hayashar?” The answer is

debated; one opinion claims it is thebook of Bereshit, based on the factthat it contains the story of the‘Yesharim’: Avraham, Yitzchak andYaakov. The second opinion claimsthat it must be the last book of theTorah, Devarim, where the verse,“You shall do that which is right(yashar) and good” is found (TalmudAvodah Zara 25b).

Possibly, these two positions are notat odds. Rather, both booksarticulate a unified ideal: the pursuitof yashrut. Moreover, the fact thatthis theme animates the opening andclosing of the Torah suggests thatthe books in the center, whichcontain the abundance of mitzvot,are meant to offer multiple pathwaysto achieving this esteemed goal.

Rabbi Isaac Breuer (1882-1980) wasthe illustrious rabbi of the GermanJewish community in WashingtonHeights, New York. He was famed forhis Torah learning as well as for hisethical teachings. He argued that it isnot enough for a Jew to beconcerned that he eats glatt kosherbut he is to be as stringent to live bythe standards of ‘glatt yosher.’ Heexplains that the word ‘kosher’ isstrongly connected to ‘yashar’ or‘yosher’, upright. The Torah not onlydemands that we keep kosher, it alsoinsists that we need to aspire to treat

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others with respect. This means thatJews must practice justice andrighteousness and avoid even thefaintest trace of dishonesty in theirbusiness dealings and personal lives.As much as one strives for excellencein observance of the rituals, likebeing glatt kosher, we should be asuncompromising when it comes toour ethical and interpersonalmatters; this is what it means to be‘glatt yosher.’ (‘Rav Breuer, His Lifeand Legacy’ p.238)

Defining what constitutes a life ofyashrut includes a very wide range ofethical and noble conduct. Considerthe following three examples found inthe Torah and Talmud that helpconcretize for us this lofty notion:

Rabbi Yeshaya Shapiro zt”l, belovedlyknown as the Admor HaChalutz (d.1942) was a brother of the famedRebbe of Piaseczna. The Admorheroically made aliyah in 1920 beforethe onset of the Holocaust andremarkably became an importantleader and thinker in the ReligiousZionist world. In his writings headdressed the issue of the injunction“to do that which is just and good.”Like others he explains that “we mustpenetrate deeper in order to arrive atthe ultimate aim of the Torahrulings.” (Quoted by NechamaLeibowitz, Parshat Ve’etchanan).

The Rebbe proudly added that nowthat we as a people are returning tothe Land of Israel we have theopportunity to see the way of yashrutobserved more fully and we canendeavor to design a society thatadheres to these lofty standards. “Inthe Diaspora, many of our people didnot pay close attention to thesewarnings because of our bitter exile,but now we must renew our vigilancein Eretz Yisrael, where we desire tocreate a new life for our people.”(“Netiva” published 1929, as quotedon the Mizrachi World Movementwebsite)

A) The Admor cites the followingTalmudic case as a model: When onerightfully seizes the property for adebt that has not been paid, the lawstates that one no longer, by law,needs to return the property to theowner. However, Jewish law, inaccordance with the principle “to dothat which is just and good” says thatif the individual who was unable topay the credit now brings the moneyto pay his debt, the land should nowbe returned to the original owner.(Bava Metzia 16b)

Noteworthy in this example is thatthe principle “to do that which is justand good” is actually integrated intothe very fabric of the halacha. RebbeYeshaya Shapiro taught that this

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halacha demonstrates that not onlyis the Torah concerned with helping afellow person and animal but alsoaspires to “eradicate potential evilfrom the soul of man.” In this case,when the person now returns longafter to pay back his debt, it would bemerciless to refuse the funds andhold on to the property which was soprecious and important to theoriginal owner. (See Rambam, LovehU’Malveh 22:16)

B) The middah of yashrut is essentialin the following case as well. TheTorah states, “If you see yourenemy’s donkey struggling under itsload... help him, even many times(Shemot 23:5). The purpose of thismitzvah is to cultivate the trait ofcompassion within us. It is verysurprising that the pasuk presentsthe case of ‘your enemy’s donkey’.Indeed, this is the point. The Talmudtells us that if we have theopportunity to assist either a friendof an enemy in such a case, we mustassist the enemy first in order toovercome our natural inclinations(Bava Metzia 32b). The great BaalMussar, Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler,emphasized that by choosing toassist the enemy, the bystander“wages war” against his naturalimpulse to feel hatred towards him(Michtav MeEliyahu, KuntresHachesed Chap. 4).

C) Nechama Leibowitz, in her analysisof this subject on ParshatVa'etchanan, cites a third examplewhere yashrut plays a central role inbusiness practices. The Talmud saysthat one who is selling his land isobligated to give his neighbor whohas an adjoining field the firstopportunity to make the purchase.Why, one may ask, does the seller nothave the right to sell it to anyone hepleases? Is there any verse in theTorah that demands this practice?The answer is yes: “You shall do thatwhich is just and good.” The Sagessaid that since the payment theowner receives is the same, it is onlyright and good that the adjacent landowner be able to purchase a fieldclose to home that will be helpful tohim.

All three cases advance the conceptof “doing that which is just andgood”. The Torah wants us to takethe high road, which makes us betterand more noble people.

Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l(1933-2015), one of the greatTalmudic minds of the twenty-firstcentury, wrote about an incident thatencapsulates in many ways thenotion of yashrut and its place in ourreligious practice.

“I was once walking with my family in

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the Beit Yisrael neighborhood, whereR. Isser Zalman Meltzer used to live.For the most part, it consists ofnarrow alleys. We came to a corner,and found a merchant stuck therewith his car. The question came up asto how to help him; it was a clear caseof perika u-te’ina (helping one load orunload his burden). There were someyoungsters there from theneighborhood, who judging by theirlooks were probably ten or elevenyears old. They saw that thismerchant was not wearing a kippa. Sothey began a whole pilpul, based onthe gemara in Pesachim (113b), aboutwhether they should help him or not.They said, "If he walks aboutbareheaded, presumably he doesn’tseparate terumot u-ma’asrot, so he issuspect of eating and selling untithedproduce….” I wrote RabbiSoloveitchik a letter at that time, andtold him of the incident. I ended withthe comment, "Children of the agefrom our camp would not have knownthe gemara, but they would havehelped him." My feeling then was:Why, Ribbon Shel Olam, must this beour choice? Can’t we find childrenwho would have helped him and stillknow the gemara? Do we have tochoose? I hope not; I believe not. Ifforced to choose, however, I wouldhave no doubts where my loyaltieslie: I prefer that they know less

gemara but help him. (Rabbi AharonLichtenstein, By His Light, p. 249)

This remains a memorable conclusionfor this Torah giant. His life wasdedicated to the beit midrash andJewish learning, yet, he always feltthat moral responsibility, yashrut, isthe underlying principle that mustabsolutely animate and guide ourperspective and behavior.

One of the earliests conceptualiza-tions of this mitzvah was offered byRabbi Yehuda Hanasi, who codifiedthe Mishnah, known as ‘Rebbe’, therabbi par excellence. He asks, “Whichis the course of yashrut, that aperson should choose for himself?’He answers: “A way of life whichreflects glory on the Almighty - andbrings honor to him from all thosewho surround him” (Pirkei Avot 2:1).

THE NEW OLD PATHRabbi Benji LevyCEO of Mosaic United

Sometimes Less is MoreDespite the fact that God hasinformed him that he will not be theone to bring the Jewish People home,Moshe continues to teach themTorah ahead of their entry into theLand of Israel. Amidst his preamble tothe Ten Commandments, Moshe

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states: ‘You shall not add onto thematter that I command you andneither shall you detract from it’(D;varim 4:2).

Two laws are included in thisstatement. The first is the prohibitionagainst adding in any way to thecommandments of the Torah. Thismeans that it is forbidden, forexample, to extend the festival ofSukkot by an extra day, to put a fifthset of strings on one’s tzitzit or toadd an extra compartment insideone’s tefillin box. The second law isthe prohibition against detracting inany way from the commandments ofthe Torah.

Both of these elements areperplexing. The first seems to besomewhat counterintuitive, whereasthe second seems obvious. A desireto add to the commandments maystem from a person’s alacritytowards religious life and depth ofconnection to the Creator. Whywould such a seemingly praiseworthyact be prohibited? And regarding thesecond proscription, given that theTorah states on many occasions thatits laws are eternal, it isinconceivable that it would bepermitted to detract from itscommandments in any way. So, whatis the meaning behind this verse?

Sforno explains that the second

element is indeed necessary, in orderto prevent people from wronglyassuming that there arecommandments that apply only incertain situations or to particularpeople. This was the case with KingSolomon, who believed that contraryto the Torah’s explicit command,many wives and many horses wouldnot cause him to go astray (BT,Tractate Sanhedrin 21b). Thistendency to believe that sometimeswe are beyond the scope of a lawoccurs in our day-to-day lives. Howmany of us have driven slightly abovethe speed limit on a quiet desertedroad, ‘safe’ in the knowledge that it isnot really dangerous since we are incontrol? Even King Solomon, thewisest man to ever lived (Melachim I5:10), was not immune to the pitfall ofassumed immunity when he knew thereasoning behind the commandment.Sforno explains that the verseteaches that there are no exceptions,and no one is ‘above the law’.

An explanation of the prohibitionagainst adding to the Torah’scommands may be understood byway of an analogy that my fatheroften recounts. A great architectdesigns an exquisite structure. Hehands the plan to his foreman, who inturn instructs the labourers as to itsimplementation. Amidst construc-tion, one of the labourers decides

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that if he increases the height of acertain fence slightly, the beautifulstructure will be better protected.What results, to the dismay of theoriginal architect, is that the wall nowconceals some of the edifice’stremendous beauty. The architectmay consider every minor detail andintend, ‘to know what I was walling inor walling out, and to whom I was liketo give offence’ (Robert Frost,Mending the Wall), but without thisknowledge, by adding a little to theoriginal design, the labourerdetracted from the beauty.

Rabbenu Bachya explains that oneshould be careful not to presume thatone’s addition is the will of God, ‘forthe perfect Torah does not needaddition or detraction, and whoeveradds, [really] detracts.’ The Talmudderives this idea from an episode atthe beginning of the Book of B’reishit(BT, Tractate Sanhedrin 29a). Soonafter man is created, God permitsfree reign over the Garden of Eden,with one exception, ‘from the tree ofknowledge of good and evil, do noteat from it’ (B’reishit 2:17). In thefirst-ever addition to a divinecommandment, Chava relays to thesnake, ‘God said do not eat and donot touch’ (3:3). Rashi notes that herbeing more stringent than God’scommand was what led to man’sultimate downfall.

The rabbis, like an architect’sforeman, are entrusted with thedelicate methods of safeguarding thecommandments, and a person canindeed choose to take upon oneself aspecific stringency, within rabbinicguidelines. Nevertheless, there areindividuals who press to universalisepersonal stringencies, thus hinderingan appreciation of the true essenceof the beautiful Torah that they seekto preserve. Through erectingsupplementary ‘fences’ from within,they fence off much of what theTorah has to offer. Earlier on, Moshestates explicitly that extrafortification and walls are a sign ofweakness, as they reflect a lack ofintrinsic strength and assurance(Rashi on Bamidbar 13:18). And here,Moshe warns the original Torah‘labourers’, prior to their entry intothe land, not to append anything tothe perfect blueprint.

Stay in touch with @RabbiBenji andlearn more at www.RabbiBenji.com

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Avoiding Destructionby Doing GoodAs Tisha B’Av passed us by, we nodoubt reflected on the reasons forthe destruction of the BeitHamikdash and the consequent exile.Several reasons have beenexplicated, especially with regard toBayit Sheni, the Second Temple.

Ari Zivotovsky reminds us that thereasons expounded by the rabbis arescattered throughout rabbinicliterature, referring to the FirstTemple, sometimes to the Second,and also to the destruction ofYerushalayim. Moreover, it is notalways clear whether a specific sinwas attributed to the destruction,per se, or whether the particularwrongdoing was the “last straw” thatsealed the fate of the Beit Hamikdashand the people.

The cardinal sins, worthy of such apunishment, are the prominent trio–idol worship, prohibited sexualrelations, and bloodshed – while theneglect of the sabbatical year hasalso been cited as a cause of exile(Mishnah Avot, 5:8-9). The Tosefta

(Menachot) refers to the three formermisdeeds as sufficient cause for thedownfall of the First Temple and addsthat the Second Temple wasdestroyed because of love of moneyand hate of one’s neighbor. Two othersources describe this “hate” as“Sinat Chinam,” unnecessary hatred(Yerushalmi: Yoma 1:1 and Bavli:Yoma 9a-b, among others), bestdescribed by the famous incidentinvolving Kamtza and Bar Kamtza.

Notably, Tosafot suggests thatJerusalem was (also) destroyedbecause judges ruled by the strictletter of the law, rather than rulingbeyond the letter of the law. Otherreasons played out in the Talmudinclude: Desecration of the Shabbat,neglect of reciting Shema, andneglect of school children (Shabbat119b). Several other sources cite theneglect of Torah study and even theneglect of uttering the BerachahBirkat Hatorah.

Rambam combines two novel reasonsfor the destruction, namely, the sin ofidolatry (reading astrology) and thenatural consequence of not studyingself-defense. The Netziv citesexcessive “righteousness,” that is,“righteous” individuals who treatothers who do not exactly conform totheir beliefs as heretics (apikorsim) –a form of Sinat Chinam. So too, the

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Chofetz Chaim views Sinat Chinam asthe starting point for the destruction;the consequent Lashon Hara (gossip)that followed was the direct cause ofthe destruction.

Today, in our uncertain times, wecould pick and choose from all thesecauses. And as we reflect on hardtimes, we might want to concentrateon one or more of these. At least wemight internalize what is written inthis week’s Parsha: “And you shall dowhat is right and good in the sight ofHashem” (Devarim 6:18).

Rabbi Shalom Rosner

Transmitting the MesoraBut beware and watch yourself verywell, lest you forget the things thatyour eyes saw, and lest these thingsdepart from your heart, all the daysof your life; and you shall make themknown to your children and to yourchildren's children. The day you stoodbefore Hashem your God at Horeb….(Devarim 4:9-10)

Based on the proximity of these twopesukim, Rav Yehoshua ben Levi says(Kiddushin 30a):

Whoever teaches his grandson Torah,it is as if he had received the Torah atHar Sinai, as it states: “And you shallmake them known to your children

and to your children's children,”adjacent to, “the day you stoodbefore Hashem your God at Horeb.”

Rav Yosef Soloveitchik (M’penineHaRav) notes that R. Yehoshua benLevi emphasizes the significance ofteaching a “grandson.” If the Gemarawanted us to assume that thisstatement related to a son as well, itwould have used the terminology of“grandson as well”. Yet, there is nosuch inference! Apparently, there issomething unique about transmittingTorah to a grandchild.

Rav Soloveitchik distinguishesbetween two concepts: teachingTorah and transmitting Torah. Withrespect to one's children there is aprimary obligation to teach themTorah. With respect to a grandchild,however, this obligation is secondary,as it is to spread Torah in general.Anyone who teaches another Torah isviewed as if he is his child (See RashiBamidbar 3:1). Rav Yehoshua isinforming us that Har Sinai wasn’tonly about limud haTorah, it wasabout the transmission of Torah.“Moshe kibel Torah MiSinai,umesarah l'Yehoshua” (Avot 1:1).There was a kabblalah – a receipt ofthe Torah – and a mesirah – atransmission to every generation.Perhaps there is a greater mesirashaTorah when it skips a generation to

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a grandchild. When I teach my son, Iam ensuring the transmission ofTorah to the next generation, butthere is no assurance that it will befurther transmitted. When I teach mygrandson Torah, I am ensuring thetransmission of Torah to yet a secondgeneration. That sort of transmissionis what strengthens the future of ourpeople and connects us to our sourceat Har Sinai.

In Reflections of the Rav, RavSoloveitchik writes:

Grandfathers and grandchildren,though members of differentgenerations, are part of onefraternity – the Mesorah community(those who preserve the integrity ofthe transmitted tradition)… As thechild is born, he is absorbed into theMesorah community. He willhopefully, speak our language, studyour texts, share our solemnities,dream our dreams, and adopt ourideals.

We are referred to as Bnei Yisrael orBeit Yaakov. Why are we notidentified as Bnei Avraham orYitzhak? What was unique aboutYaakov was his direct connectionwith his grandchildren. Nowhere inTanach do we witness any directinteraction between Avraham and hisgrandson Yaakov, or between Yitzhakand his grandchildren. Yaakov,

however, directly blesses hisgrandchildren, the sons of Yosef,Efraim and Menashe. Yaacovovercomes a generation gap and isable to transmit the mesora to asecond generation. Yaakov was thefirst to underscore that Torahtranscends time. That is why hemerited to have his name attached toall future generations.

Especially during this challengingtime when our children are lacking anorganized framework, as camps andsummer programs are closed, wemust make time to learn with ourchildren. In addition, we shouldtransmit our love and appreciation ofthe Torah. Set a personal example byportraying to our children how we setaside time to study Torah daily, underall circumstances. It is our duty toensure that the love and appreciationof Torah permeates throughoutfuture generations.

May we merit the propertransmission of Torah to our childrenand grandchildren and fulfil thestatement in Kohelet (4:12): thethreefold cord (three generations)will not easily be disconnected (fromTorah).

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Simchat ShmuelRabbi Sam Shor

Parshat Va'etchanan, of course,contains within it the AserethaDibrot. The first of the AseretHaDibrot instructs each of us:

Anochi HaShem Elokecha AsherHotzeiticha M'Eretz Mitzrayim, M'BetAvadaim - I am Hashem your God,who took you forth from the Land ofEgypt and the House of Servitude...

Many of our meforshim have askedwhy is it that HaKadosh Baruch Huchose to emphasize and describeHimself as the one who has redeemedthe Jewish People from Egyptianservitude, and not as the Creator ofall existence? Why specifically is theredemption from slavery in Egypt,the aspect of Hashem's hashgachawhich is emphasized in the openingverse of the Aseret HaDibrot?

Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, zy'a,explains that Hakadosh Baruch Huchooses to emphasize that thebestowance of the Torah HaKedoshato Am Yisrael is taking placespecifically after they have beenredeemed from Egypt. Hashem choseto reiterate that had Am Yisrael beenoffered the Torah while still enslavedin Egypt, their acceptance of theTorah might have been from a senseof feeling compelled to do so, that

perhaps their departure from Egyptwas somehow pre-conditioned upontheir acceptance of the Torah. Bybestowing the Torah now, after ourdeparture from Egypt, and byemphasizing this fact in the first ofthe Aseret HaDibrot, Hashemintended to empower Am Yisrael toaccept the Torah with love, as a signof the love that Hashem feels towardAm Yisrael, and that we in turn feeltoward HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

Hashem first took us forth fromEgypt, explains Reb Levi Yitzchak, sothat we could leave behind thementality of the House of Servitude,in order to receive the Torah as a signof the loving dynamic between theRibono Shel Olam and the JewishPeople. It is precisely thisfundamental idea, explains theKedushat Levi, that is introducedhere in the first of the AseretHaDibrot, to serve as an eternalreminder that indeed Hashem hasgiven Am Yisrael the gift of the TorahHaKedosha, like a parent lovinglybestows gifts to each of theirchildren.

Yehi Ratzon, may each of usinternalize this beautiful messageencrypted in the first of the AseretHaDibrot.

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Towards Meaningful Tefillaby Zemira OzarowskiBirchot HaShacharAfter starting off our davening withthanking Hashem for our Neshamot(Modeh Ani, Elokai Neshama) and ourbodies (Asher Yatzar) and thenfocusing ourselves properly for theday ahead (Birchot HaTorah), it isnow time for Birchot HaShachar.

Birchot HaShachar is a series of 16brachot in which we praise and thankHashem for many of the basicworkings of the world – for giving usclothing, sight, strength, freedom,and much more. The Mishna Beruraexplains that the reason why we saythese brachot is because of thefamous statement in Gemara Brachot35a that one is not permitted tobenefit from this world without firstmaking a bracha. Just as this is truefor every food we eat, it is also truefor every pleasure we have in thisworld. We need to stop andappreciate what Hashem has given uson a daily basis.

The Gemara in Brachot tells us thatas one prepares for the upcomingday, he should make a bracha everystep along the way – when you openyour eyes, make the brachaPOKEI'ACH IVRIM (He opens the eyesof the blind), when you get dressed,make the bracha MALBISH ARUMIM

(He dresses the naked). This helps usto really visualize all of the blessingHashem has put into our lives and toappreciate it. Nowadays, we say thewhole list all at once as part of ourset Tefilla but the idea is the same, totake note of all we are blessed with.

In this article, we will focus on thefirst three brachot.

... ASHER NATAN LASECHVI VINAL'HAVCHIN BEIT YOM UVEIN LAYLA.

We praise and thank Hashem forgiving the SECHVI the ability todistinguish between day and night.SECHVI means both rooster andheart. As we listen to the“cockadoodledoo” of the rooster,announcing the new day to all, we arereminded that we too (like therooster) were granted a specialability to distinguish. From a youngage, we are able to differentiatebetween good and evil, safe anddangerous, hot and cold. This innatecapability is something we all take forgranted but it is vital in our dailyfunctioning. The specific ability todifferentiate between day and nightand to be able to measure time,creates a life of meaning. When daysbegin to blur, and time is of nomeaning (which some of us perhapshave experienced during this coronatime period), life becomes lessmeaningful and consequential. Wethank Hashem for giving us time,

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allowing us to wake up each morningwith new goals and ambitions, and totune into the uniqueness of each day.

...SHELO ASANI GOY.

We thank Hashem for having createdus as Jews. The Midrash relates thatMoshe Rabbeinu was so overcomewith emotion at Matan Torah, as hereceived the Torah and mitzvot, thathe cried out with this bracha(Midrash Abachir). When we makethis bracha, we need to take amoment to focus on how lucky we areto have been granted this amazinggift of belonging to Klal Yisrael, ofrecognizing and serving HaKadoshBaruch Hu, and of being able to learnHis Torah and keep the mitzvot. Trypicturing for a minute what our liveswould be like if we did not have theTorah guiding it. If one really takes amoment to think about this, he will beso overcome with happiness that hisheart will be on fire! (Y'SODV'SHORESH HAAVODA)

... SHELO ASANI AVED.

We thank Hashem for having createdus as free people. Rabbi EphraimOshry (who compiled Halachic shailotduring the Holocaust in his bookMIMAAMAKIM, was asked thefollowing question – how can wecontinue to say the bracha of SHELOASANI AVED when we are beingenslaved in the most brutal of ways?!

He answers, based on theAvudraham, that the bracha must berecited even if one is in fact a slave.The bracha is referring not tophysical freedom but to spiritualfreedom. We may be physicallyenslaved, but we can still continue toserve Hashem, and even if that abilityis taken away from us by ouroppressors, we know that this statusis only temporary. We are given theB'CHIRA CHOFSHIT, free choice, tocontinue to serve Him in our hearts. Itis important for us to remember, thatno matter what difficult circum-stances we go through, we alwayshave the inner freedom to choosehow we react, how we behave, andhow we feel.

... SHELO ASANI ISHA. (men)

... SHE-ASANI KIRTZONO. (women)

Men thank Hashem for having giventhem the ability to focus on theirAvodat Hashem, to be able to spendhours studying Torah and to bedevoted to all of the Mitzvot, withoutsome of the “distractions” that weregranted to women, and to betherefore fully obligated in all of theMitzvot. This bracha should be areminder every day to commitoneself to this special responsibilityand privilege.

Women here proclaim that they werecreated as Hashem willed. Hashem

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created man and woman together asone being and then separated theminto two separate beings, withseparate roles and entities. (BneiYissaschar). This was Hashem’s willand we thank Him for giving us thisspecial role, which charges us tobalance raising a family with ourAvodat Hashem.

Next week, we will iyH continue withour analysis of Birchot HaShachar.

Rebbetzin Shira Smiles

Shemirat Shabbat“Shamor vezachor b'dibur echad”.These two expressions said in onebreath, direct us to experience theholiness of Shabbat in the mostexalted way. Shamor relates to thepositive mitzvot associated withkeeping Shabbat, zachor relates tothe negative ones.

From a halachic perspective theinterconnectedness of the two iswhat obligates women in the positivemitzvot of Shabbat, albeit they aretime-bound. Hence, women areobligated in kiddush, eating lechemmishneh and three seudot onShabbat.

Shamor is guarding Shabbat;ensuring that one does nottransgress any laws specific toShabbat entails tremendous effort.

The Chafetz Chayim in hisintroduction to the laws of Shabbatstates emphatically that one whodoes not learn the laws of Shabbatwill inadvertently come to transgressmultiple laws each week. Tostrengthen Shemirat Shabbat manypeople have a custom to learn atleast two Shabbat laws at eachShabbat meal; this creates asensitivity to and awareness of thecomplexity and intricacies of HilchotShabbat.

The Netivot Shalom likens Shabbat tothe experience of entering a king’spalace. When a person is in his ownhome, he has the right to touch, lookand move things around without asecond thought. However, when oneis in someone else’s home, he mustrespect the implicit boundaries andrules of that home. If the rule of thehome is to take off one’s shoes uponentering so as not to dirty the carpet,one must follow suit. If a personwere to spend Shabbat in the homeof a great person, she wouldobviously be careful to display theproper behavior and speechthroughout Shabbat as well. OnShabbat it is as if we enter theKingdom of Hashem. Our demeanor,speech and conduct must reflect thisspecial reality. Shamor therefore, isnot seen as limiting us as what wecannot do, rather it gives us the

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parameters of what is acceptable insuch a holy environment.

Rav Matitayhu Salamon in MatnatChayim notes that shamor is relatedto the idea of anticipation, as in“veaviv shamar et hadavar”(Bereishit 37;11). One should feel asense of anticipation and excitementfor Shabbat the entire week, inparticular on Friday. This translatesinto the special preparation that wedo as we shop, cook and preparingthe house. It also entailsintrospection and setting the properattitude to appreciate the magnitudethat the gift of Shabbat presents us.Indeed, we begin Kiddush on Fridaynight with the words “Yom hashishi”;Shabbat takes on its fullness onlywith our preparation on “yomhashishi”. To the extent weanticipate and desire, we canappreciate and experience.

Rabbi Judah Mischel

BeyondRav Moshe Feinstein zt’l, RoshYeshiva of Mesivta TiferetYerushalayim on the Lower East Sideof Manhattan, was the Poseik haDor,the leading Halachic authority of thegeneration. He was adored for hiscompassion, sensitivity and midostovos, and respected for his

unmatched genius and hasmada,constant engagement in TalmudTorah.

Once, when he was no longer a youngman, Reb Moshe made the long tripto the West Coast to fundraise forthe Yeshivah. Upon arriving in LosAngeles, he spent the entire rest ofthe day on his feet going frommeeting to meeting. The organizerswere shocked when after such anexhausting day, he proposed thatthey then go visit an elderly rav wholived some distance away.

One of those accompanying RebMoshe sought to protect the agingGadol’s strength: “Rebbi, you've hadsuch a long and demanding day,would you not prefer to rest for thenight or take some time to learn?”Reb Moshe replied with absoluteclarity, “The Torah commands us tolove the Ribbono Shel Olam with allour heart and soul, u’vecholmeodecha, ‘with all our possessions’,specifically our wealth. For mostpeople, ‘wealth’ refers to theirmaterial belongings. I don’t havemuch money, and for me, my Torahlearning time is what is most valuableand precious to me… and I amprepared to sacrifice that to fulfilanother mitzvah."

~ Our sedra contains the Shema, thecore declaration of our Emunah, our

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daily affirmation of the Oneness ofHashem: “V’Ahavta, and you shalllove Hashem your God, with all yourheart and with all your soul, anduvchol me’odecha, with all yourmeans.” (Devarim 6:5)

Rashi says, ‘The meaning of uvcholm’odecha is “and with all yourpossessions”. However, there arepeople whose possessions are moreprecious to them than their ownbodies; therefore the pasuk says,“and with me’odecha, all yourmeans”’.

Ramban interprets the wordme’odecha to mean “much”. That isto say, we are obliged to love andserve Hashem with whatever is mostprecious to us.

~ Moshe Rabbeinu had dedicated hisadult life to fulfilling Hashem’s will inthe service of Bnei Yisrael. From theperiod of slavery in Egypt to thetransmission of Torah, to the years ofwandering in the Desert, Moshe wasthe Ro’eh Ne’eman, the FaithfulShepherd, leading Hashem’s flock. Inour sedra Moshe expresses hisgreatest desire; he davens and pleadswith G-d to allow him entry to EretzYisrael with the People to whom hewas so dedicated. Moshe Rabbeinudoesn’t let up, beseeching Hashem515 times to be granted the privilegeof coming into the Land.

Rav Yaakov Bender shlit’a, a mastereducator and Rosh Yeshiva ofDarchei Torah in Far Rockaway,refers to a beautiful teaching of theBa’al haTurim regarding the way ourleader mentions his merits in anattempt to awaken Divine compas-sion. Of all the great accomplish-ments Moshe Rabbeinu might havementioned in his davening — of all thepowerful moments between MosheRabbeinu and Am Yisrael from YamSuf to Har Sinai, including his leadingthe Jews out of Egypt, enduringcriticism and rebellion in thewilderness, sacrificing his home lifefor the sake of the Nation — whatdoes Moshe mention? He begs G-d toremember that Chizakti es Yisrael,ulai yeracheim alai, “I have givenchizuk, strength, to the JewishPeople; perhaps Hashem, you canthus have mercy on me….”

Moshe’s ability to give chizuk was hisme’odecha, his most preciouspossession.

~ Following the period of mourningand reflection on our losses, thereading of Parshas Va’eschanan, andShabbos Nachamu itself, is anopportune time for us to considerwhat currency we value most, what ismost important in our lives. For RebMoshe, zt’l, Talmud Torah was hisgreatest pleasure and asset. The

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chessed of visiting and giving chizukto the elderly rav, another Jew, washis fulfilment of “love Hashem withall your means.”

May we be prepared to go beyondourselves and be ready to elevate allof our inner resources andpossessions to be mechazeik esYisrael, to strengthen ourselves andeach other — and may Hashemcontinue to show mercy andcompassion to us all.

Getting to the PointContrapuntal music in movies is quitecool. That’s when the action and themusic portray opposite moods. It canbe very effective to get the viewermore deeply involved emotionally inthe film’s action or concept, likehearing the soothing ballad We’llMeet Again while A-bombs aredropping at the end of Dr.Strangelove (1964), or the Marinessinging M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E asthey march into battle in Full MetalJacket (1987). There’s a famous versein this week’s Torah reading whichpresent us with a similarly jarringfeeling.

Here’s the beginning of that verse:When you have children andgrandchildren, and have beenestablished in the land for a long time(Devarim 4:25). Sounds nice,pleasant, even delightful. The Jewsare having families and settlingblissfully into the land. Even the word‘for a long time’ (NOSHANTEM)reminds us of the term for ‘wellpreserved produce’ (NOSHAN) in theblessings of parshat B’chukotai. Butthe continuation jars us from theidyll: then you will act destructively(HISHCHATEM, perhaps ‘corrupt’ or‘decadent’) and fashion an idol, animage of something, which is evil inthe eyes of the Lord, your God, Whomyou will anger.

This very disturbing verse is also veryfamous, because it is the beginningof the reading for the Ninth of Av.This is unique. Of all the special Torahreadings on our calendar, only TishaB’Av has a passage which appears inthat same week’s parsha. So, itbehooves us to analyze this quote tohelp us understand this week’sspecial event and our parsha.

There are, the Ramban points out,two basic approaches to the quote. Itis either a prediction of what willcome. This makes sense becausethere is no conditional ‘if’ like in theTOCHACHOT (curses). Or it could be

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a warning. This outcome will come topass if your descendants stray. Thewarning aspect is predicated on theJews turning from God after a longperiod of quiet.

The Ramban supports the predictionviewpoint based upon a Gematria.The word NESHANTEM has thenumerical value 852, which is thenumber of years from entering theland until the destruction of the FirstHoly Temple minus 2, according tothe Talmud (Gittin 88a).

Reb Moshe Alshich (1508-1593) seesmore anomalies in our verse, andasks the following additionalquestions: Why does the versespecify two generations, why does itgo from singular (TOLID) to plural(NESHANTEM), and isn’t sculpting animage itself an act of HASHCHATA(decadent, destructive behavior)?

He suggests that we started with thesingular because it refers to thegeneration (DOR) which survived thedesert and entered Eretz Yisrael.That group will have children. TheAlshich further posits that the twogenerations in the verse representsthe two periods of loyalty to Goddescribed in the book of Shoftim,namely the period of Yehoshua andthe era of the Elders whom hepersonally inspired.

Rav Alshich’s question about the useof HASHCHATA is explained byinforming us that this term is usuallyassociated with ZIMA, sins ofpromiscuity. It was this reprehensiblebehavior which led to idolatry, andthen the dissolution of society. Thisis a powerful description of thedemise of the first Jewish state.

Then there’s the Kli Yakar (1550-1619),whose second explanation trulyresonates with me. ‘If you canimagine that you strongly possessthe land over a long period of time,then you can think that yourpossession of the land is absolute,and, therefore, who could possiblytake it from us?’ In other words,we’ve got it, and who’s going to evictus? Now, we see clearly the problem:Complacency!

To fully understand the position ofthe Kli Yakar, look at the last verse inthe section: Keep His statutes andHis commandments, which Icommand you this day, that it may bewell with you and your children afteryou, and that you may prolong yourdays upon the earth which the Lordyour God gives you all of the days(KOL HAYAMIM, verse 40). See thatlast phrase? It can mean ‘forever’ or‘on a daily basis’. The Kli Yakar iswarning us to heed the lattertranslation.

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We love living in Eretz Yisrael, butwoe to those who take this Divineboon for granted. Periodically, I hearpeople question the continuedobservance of Tisha B’av in ourproto-Redeemed State. The Kli Yakaris addressing them. The commemora-tion of this tragic date is as critical asever. It’s just with a slightly differenttheme: Appreciate this gift from ourGod, the alternative is toohorrendous to contemplate!

PIRKEI AVOTSUMMER SERIESThere is a long standing custom thatduring the summer Shabbatot one learnsthe weekly chapter of Pirkei Avot. Eachweek Torah Tidbits will feature a prominentpersonality who will share insights andinspiration from the weekly Perek. Enjoy!

Rebbetzin Pearl BorowOU Israel Faculty

Perek Dalet, chapter 4, of Pirkei Avot,in particular the first four mishnayot,presents a primer for building a holysociety, a Kehila kedosha. The mainpoint of these mishnayot is that akehila kedosha begins with thedevelopment of individuals who arekedoshim.

How can we do this?

An answer to this question is given in

the first Mishna. Set up clear goals.Most people toil and strive forwisdom, wealth, power and honor.Ben Zoma teaches that this is correctbehavior, but we must understandthese goals correctly.

Who is wise? He who learns fromevery man. That is, a person whokeeps an open mind at all times.

Who is wealthy? He who rejoices inwhat he has. Note: Not one whoaccepts what he has, but actuallyrejoices in it.

Who is powerful, and who is trulyhonorable? The truly strong man is hewho conquers his yetzer hara, andthe honorable one is he who honorshis fellow man. Ben Zoma’s guidelinesplace the individual on a proper path.

But this is not quite enough. As Jews,we have been given guidelines in theform of mitzvot, commandments,both positive and negative, that keepour feet firmly on that proper path.So, in Mishna two of this perek, BenAzzai advises: Run to do what mayseem to be a minor mitzva, and fleefrom transgression. He is following adistinguished model here, DavidHamelech himself, who states inTehillim, 119:32, “derech mishpatechaarutz”, I will run on the path of Yourmitzvot. Remember, says Ben Azzai, amitzva is something HKBH Himself

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bids us to do, or desist from doing.What can be of greater benefit to usthan to hurry to fulfill the Divine will.

Ben Azzai adds more advice, inMishna gimmel, “Al tehi baz lecholadam”, do not belittle, or reject anyman, or any object. This may beunderstood as an enhancement ofBen Zoma’s question and answer,“Who is deserving of honor? He whohonors his fellow man”. We add here– one must honor no matter who thatperson happens to be. This is amitzva in the Torah, Vayikra, 19:17. Ifyou see your enemy’s donkey fallenunder its burden, do not pass him by,but rather help him to unload it. TheGemara Pesachim asks, who is thisenemy? The answer, one who hasrejected the Torah. Yet HKBHcommands us to help him. You see,we may accomplish two things: byhelping him with his problem, theoverloaded donkey, we are showinghim the values by which the man offaith lives. Hopefully, it may bring himback to Torah as well.

Another very important piece ofadvice follows in Mishna four. RavLevitas of Yavneh says, “meod meodhevai shfal ruach”, a person mustalways be very very humble. If aperson is indeed humble, he will beable to achieve all theabove-mentioned positive qualities.

Rav Levitas was actually called “manof Yavneh” because he embodied theprinciple of humility which wasstrongly emphasized at that greatacademy of learning.

The letters of the word, “meod”,mem, alef, dalet begin the names ofMoshe, Avraham and David. Thesethree giants of our history embodiedthe characteristic of humility, and wehave a subliminal message here. Ifyou really want to follow the advicegiven in these four mishnayot ofPerek Dalet in Pirke Avot, it is helpfulto study the actions andaccomplishments of our heroes inTaNaCh. Emulating a strong rolemodel is one of the best ways to learnbehavior that leads to kedusha.

OzTORAHRabbi Raymond Apple

Can Anyone Tell YouNot to Covet?It's all very well to say, "Don't covet",but how can anyone - even God -order it?

There's only a problem if we considerthe Decalogue to be ten legislativecommands, but the truth is that theDecalogue is not law but a set ofprinciples (the Torah calls the

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Decalogue Aseret HaD'varim, "TenWords" or "Ten Statements") meantto govern our relationships with Godand each other.

Ibn Ezra says that the reference tocoveting has to be understoodlogically.

A peasant can be jealous of the goodfortune of a second peasant becausethey both have the same opportunityof working hard and being successful.A peasant will, however, not bejealous of someone who marries theking's daughter because he knowsthat royal marriages are generally notpossible for the peasantry.

Coveting is a rule about recognisingthe differences between people.

If the peasant does not marry theprincess no-one will think badly ofhim, but if the same peasant is lazyand does not work towardsprosperity people will bedisappointed.

In religious life everyone has thesame opportunity of reaching out toGod. No human being can be God, butall can look towards Him and if theydon't, they have wasted theiropportunities.

Machon PuahRabbi Gideon Weitzman

A “New” Theory of DiseaseLast time we examined the argumentbetween Rabbi David ben Shlomo IbnAvi Zimra, the Radbaz, who lived inTzfat in the 16th century, and hiscontemporary Rabbi Moshe Isserlis,the Rema, who lived in Krakow. TheRadbaz was of the opinion that aperson cannot endanger themselvesto save another person. The Remadisagreed and wrote that a landlordcannot block a tenant who has adisease from living in his quarters.

A reader, Rabbi Meir Salasnik, myRabbi and boss when I worked in theBushey United Synagogue, in London,wrote to me and presented afascinating explanation. He notedthat the Radbaz died in a plague thatkilled many in the Tzfat community,including the famous Rabbi YitzchakLuria, the Ari. However, the Ari wasonly 39 years old when he died, whilethe Radbaz lived a long life. Some sayhe was 94 years old, while othersclaim that he was 110.

At the same time as the Rema andthe Radbaz, an Italian scientistpresented a new theory of howdisease was spread. GirolamoFracastoro became a professor inPadua University at the incrediblyyoung age of 19. In 1546 he proposedthat epidemic diseases are caused bytransferable tiny particles or ‘spores'that could transmit infection bydirect or indirect contact, or even

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without contact over long distances.

This novel approach to epidemiology,or the spread of disease inpopulations, stood in directopposition to the accepted opinion ofGalen. The famous Roman physicianand philosopher, Aelius Galenus, orGalen, proposed the miasma theory,or the miasmatic theory. Thissuggested that diseases, such ascholera, chlamydia, or the BlackDeath, were caused by a miasma,Greek for pollution, a noxious form of"bad air", also known as night air. Thetheory held that epidemics werecaused by miasma, emanating fromrotting organic matter.

Fracastoro took issue with this andclaimed that there was no bad air butspores that spread disease. Whilethis was suggested during thelifetime of the Rema and the Radbaz,it is possible that they did not knowof this new theory and still held bythe previous miasmatic theory. Assuch it makes sense that the Remadid not allow a landlord to eject a sicktenant. He did not recognize thedanger of contagion from the illoccupant. Can we propose that if theRema did know of the ‘spores’ theory,he would have agreed with theRadbaz? We cannot say with anycertainty but it is an interestingsuggestion.

More on this next week.

The Daily Portion- Sivan Rahav Meir

Managing Our AccountFor what great nation has God sonear to it, like the Lord our God is atall times, that we call upon Him?(Devarim 4:7)

Rabbi Yehuda Amital, the founder ofYeshivat Har Etzion, wrote aboutprayer: “Every person has been givena great merit – God allows us to pray.The human race would be different, itwould be sadder and more desolate,were it not for this great merit givento man.”

Throughout the Book of D’varim,Moshe repeatedly exhorts us to turnto God, to connect to Him by praying,begging, and speaking. Rabbi Amitalused to tell the following story inconnection with prayer:

I heard this from the director of asenior citizens’ home in Miami. Manyof the residents’ children live faraway in places such as New York,Washington, and Chicago. Thedirector categorizes the children intothree groups. The first is the childrenwho mail a check to their parentsevery month, sometimes, but notalways, adding a personal note. Thus,the parent knows that his childremembers him every month. The

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second group is the children who mailthe check directly to the office.Although the check isn’t sent directlyto the parent, at least the child showsthat he still remembers him. The thirdgroup pay by standing order. Thebank clerk sends the check and thechild does not even know if his parentis alive or not. Everything worksautomatically.

What kind of relationship do we wantto have with God? The Torah asks usto keep a near and personalrelationship and not to sign on astanding order.

NCSY ISRAEL

Shlomo RaymanBeit Shemesh Chapter Director

Connecting To His OnenessGoing through high school in Israel,we are expected to learn a lot ofTorah. We take many Torah Bagruyot,have chavrutot in our free time, andengage in peulot on NCSY IsraelShabbatonim. We spend hours of ourlives delving into all the different anddiverse outlooks in Judaism. One ofthe few things that everyone seemsto agree on is that learning Torah is avery crucial part. Why is learningTorah so important?

A profound answer lies within a

special-well known text from thisweek's parsha. SH'MA YISRAEL...“Hear oh Israel, Hashem is our God,Hashem is one.” This isn’t just astatement championing monotheismover polytheism, but is also declaringour belief in the philosophicalconcept of the singularity of God.God is One that cannot be split, thatis incomparable and unlike any othersingle thing in existence, which are allmade up of smaller particles. God istruly one, He is infinite, andultimately out of our ability to reallycomprehend.

The very next pasuk statesV'AHAVTA... We must love this singleGod with all of our heart and soul.Isn't it fascinating that this pasukfollows the declaration of ‘Hashemechad’? Shouldn’t it come in adifferent context? Perhaps aftertelling us that Hashem is our fatheror that he took us out of Egypt? Howin the world are we supposed to lovethis ‘Hashem echad’, an abstractphilosophical concept that one can’teven really define?

The midrash (Sifri D'varim 6)suggests that the very next pesukimanswer this question.

“All of which I am commanding youtoday should be on your heart. Andyou should teach it to your childrenand speak it in your households, while

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you travel, in the mornings andevenings...”

God gave us a way to peer into his“soul”. Through learning andinternalizing God’s Torah we have achance to understand just a bit aboutHim. We can start to comprehend theways He sees and relates to theworld, how He defines good and bad.This understanding leads toconnection, and through thisconnection we can ultimately cometo love this philosophical concept wecall God.

By Teens, for Teens

Ami Slifkin - 12th GradeBeit Shemesh Chapter President

Preparing For The TestAt the very beginning of this week'sParsha, Moshe recounts the storywhen he prayed to Hashem to let himenter Israel. Interestingly, whileexplaining why Hashem said no,Moshe blames Bnei Yisrael in a waythat throws them under the bus.“And Hashem became angry at mebecause of you and he did not listento me.” This isn’t a normalcharacteristic of Moshe Rabbeinu.Why is he blaming them? It wasMoshe’s sin, and even if they had apart in it, is it really appropriate to

place the blame on others? Shouldn’the be encouraging them as they areabout to enter into Eretz Yisrael?

Perhaps we can suggest that wemust translate L'MAANCHEMliterally; that it means “for yoursake”. Moshe was actually telling thepeople that Hashem didn’t let him infor Bnei Yisrael’s benefit.

To understand this we can use ananalogy, a teacher only helps youbefore the test, but the actual testneeds to be done alone. A trueteacher prepares his students withthe skills to pass the test. That is whyMoshe couldn’t join Bnei Yisraelentering the land. It was their time toshine and prove to God that they canpass the test of entering EretzYisrael.

I also want to take this opportunity tothank NCSY for the great times andgiving me the skills to make it on myown in the world - and pass my owntests!

Medina & HalachaRabbi Shimshon HaKohen Nadel

Can We Cancel Tisha B'Av?The Four Fasts in Light of the Miracleof the Modern State of Israel

Following the miraculous return of theJewish People to their ancestral

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homeland, and in the wake of themiraculous birth of the State of Israeland dramatic reclamation of Jerusalemand the Temple Mt., a number ofauthorities discussed and debated therelevance of Tisha B'Av, along with theother fasts instituted by our sages tomourn the destruction of the HolyTemple and Jerusalem.

While the notion of nullifying Tisha B'Avalong with the other fasts may soundshocking, this question was first asked2,500 years ago!

As the Temple in Jerusalem was beingrebuilt, the Jews of Babylonia sent amessage to the Kohanim and theProphets in the Land of Israel, askingthem to inquire of Hashem, "Should Iweep in the Fifth Month [Av], abstaining[from pleasures] as I have been doingfor many years?" (Zechariah 7:3).

Zechariah answers that the Four Fastswill one day be transformed intofestivals: "Thus said Hashem, Master ofLegions: The Fast of the Fourth, theFast of the Fifth, the Fast of theSeventh, and the Fast of the Tenth, shallbecome occasions of joy and gladness,happy festivals for the House of Judah;[Only] love truth and peace!" (Zechariah8:19).

But the intent of this prophecy isunclear. When exactly will these days becelebrated as days of "joy andgladness"?

The Talmud (Rosh HaShanah 18b) notes

that the prophet refers to these days asboth "fasts" and days of "joy andgladness." Rav Chana bar Bizna in thename of Rav Shimon Chasida explains,"At a time when there is peace, they willbe for joy and gladness. But when thereis no peace, [they will remain days of]fasting." According to Rav Papa, "At atime when there is peace, they will befor joy and gladness, but when there is adecree from the government[persecuting the Jewish People], [theywill remain days of] fasting. If there isneither a governmental decree norpeace - if they want to they may fast, ifthey do not want to they do not fast."The Talmud continues and explains thatTisha B'Av, however, has a differentstatus than the other fasts, as a numberof "tragic events were repeated on it."

But just how is "peace" defined?

The Rashba explains that 'peace' meansa time when the Jewish People havesovereignty over their land. With Jewishsovereignty over the State of Israeltoday - and in the absence of anygovernmental decree persecuting theJewish People - we would meet theTalmud's criteria of transforming ourfasts as festivals, according to theRashba. However, according to mostauthorities - including Rashi, Tosafot,Rabbenu Chananel, Ramban, Ritva, andthe Tashbetz - a 'time of peace' impliesthat the Holy Temple is standing.Without the Holy Temple, there is no'peace.' But even without 'peace,' in theabsence of a 'decree' against the Jewish

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People, the 17th of Tammuz, TzomGedaliah, and the 10th of Tevet would beoptional today. As the Talmud states, "ifthey want to they may fast, if they donot want to they do not fast."

The position of the Rambam requiresanalysis. At the end of Hilchot Ta'aniot(5:19), the Rambam records theprophecy of Zechariah and writes: "Allof these fasts will be nullified in thefuture in the days of Moshiach, and notjust that but in the future they will befestivals and days of joy and gladness,as it says, 'The Fast of the Fourth, theFast of the Fifth, the Fast of theSeventh, and the Fast of the Tenth shallbecome occasions of joy and gladness,happy festivals for the House of Judah;[Only] love truth and peace!'"

But curiously, in his Commentary to theMishnah (Rosh Hashanah 1:3), theRambam records that during the SecondTemple Period, the Fast of Tisha B'Avwas observed, while the other fastsdays were optional (But see Tashbetz2:271, who disagrees that they fasted,and assumes this is an error in theRambam).

While it is difficult to understand howaccording to the Rambam these fastswere observed while the SecondTemple was standing, it would appearthat the Rambam believed that 'peace'had not yet been achieved, even with aTemple. One explanation could be theGreek and Roman occupation. Anotherpossible explanation, the spiritual state

of the Second Temple, which was just ashadow of the First. Yet anotherexplanation, the spiritual state of theJewish People themselves during theSecond Temple. As the Maharsha (RoshHaShanah 18b) explains, the prophecy of"joy and gladness" is predicated on"truth and peace," as that is how theverse concludes. In the absence of"truth and peace," the Maharsha writes,even in the presence of a Holy Temple,we revert back to fasting. As is known,the Second Temple period was one ofcorruption, strife, and baseless hatred,which could explain why according tothe Rambam the fasts were observed.Rav Moshe Soloveitchik explained thatthis is why the Rambam himself includesthe end of the verse, "[Only] love truthand peace," indicating that in theabsence of truth and peace - even with aHoly Temple standing - Tisha B'Av andthe other fasts are very much relevant(See the OU's Mesorah, vol. 15, p. 47).

It would appear that the observance ofthese fast days is subject to thechanging reality.

Historically, a number of Ge'onim andRishonim ruled that as the period theylived in was neither one of 'peace' nor'decree' against the Jewish Nation, the'Three Minor Fasts' are optional (SeeGinzei Kedem, Vol. 3, p. 43; RabbeinuChananel, Rashbah, Ritva, and Ran toRosh HaShanah 18b).

The Talmud (Megillah 5b) relates thatRebbe, Rav Yehudah HaNassi, "bathed

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on the market day in Tzippori on the 17thof Tammuz and sought to abolish TishaB'Av, but they [the sages] did not agreewith him." The Talmud continues andexplains that Rebbe was only interestedin abolishing Tisha B'Av which fell onShabbat, arguing that "once it ispostponed, let it be postponed[altogether]." But Rav Yaakov Emdenand the Vilna Ga'on explain Rebbe'sbehavior in light of the period in whichhe lived. While the Second Temple hadbeen destroyed, and the Romansoccupied the Land of Israel, Rebbi livedduring a period of relative peace andprosperity, expressed by hisrelationship with Antoninus (SeeAvodah Zarah 10a). Tosafot, however,points out that while Rebbe may havebathed on the 17th of Tammuz, he didnot eat, as these fasts were alreadyaccepted by the Jewish People and nolonger subjective.

In fact, many Ge'onim and Rishonimruled that once the Jewish People haveaccepted the Three Fasts uponthemselves, the fasts becomeobligatory (See Sha'arei Teshuvah, 77;Shibolei HaLeket, Seder Ta'anit 278; Tur,Orach Chayim 550. See also Tashbetz2:271). According to the Ramban, thefasts are indeed obligatory today, "allthe more so in these generations wherebecause of our many sins there is'decree' and no 'peace'" (Torat HaAdam,Inyan Aveilut Yeshanah).

The Rambam (Hilchot Ta'aniot 5:1)writes that "There are days when all of

Israel fasts..." and "All of Israel observesthese days by fasting..." (Ibid., 5:5). TheMaggid Mishnah (ad Loc.) commentsthat this implies that today the fasts areobligatory. The Shulchan Aruch toorules: "We are obligated to fast on TishaB'Av, the 17th of Tammuz, the 3rd ofTishrei [Tzom Gedaliah], and the 10th ofTevet because of tragic events thathappened on them" (Orach Chayim549:1), and "Everyone is obligated tofast on these four fasts and it isforbidden to make a breach in thefence" (Orach Chayim 550:1).

But if the reality should changedramatically, would these fasts still beobligatory?

Even before the founding of the State ofIsrael, there was a sense that thenascent Jewish settlement was witnessto the beginning of the process ofRedemption. For some, the veryappointment of Sir Herbert Samuel asHigh Commissioner of pre-StatePalestine was a sign that redemptionwas imminent. After all, Samuel was thefirst Jew to govern the Land of Israel in2,000 years. Some even accorded himstatus similar to the King of Israel! (See,for example, Chidushei HaRav ChaimHirschensohn, vol. 2, Letters, no. 27).

In a letter written by Rav AvrahamYitzchak HaKohen Kook, dated 19Tammuz 5680 (July 1, 1920), Rav Kookrecognized that the appointment ofHerbert Samuel is "an auspicious signfor the House of Israel and its revival,"

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but continued and wrote: "However, asto the fast days, I think that untilHashem will establish our destroyedTemple before our eyes, on top of thehigh mountain as a glory in the eyes ofall the nations, it is impossible for us tocancel them" (Igrot HaRe'iyah vol. 4, p.67; Mo'adei HaRe'iyah, p. 544; TiferetYa'akov, p. 5).

For Rav Kook, along with manyauthorities, the Holy Temple inJerusalem is a sine qua non for turningour fasts into feasts.

Following the miraculous birth of theState of Israel, rabbis and scholarswould discuss and debate if Israel'sIndependence makes the Four Fastsirrelevant. Even the Jewishcommunities of Istanbul and Algiersinquired of Israel's Chief Rabbinatewhether to fast on Tisha B'Av. ChiefRabbi Yitzchak HaLevi Herzogresponded in a telegram stating veryclearly: "The fast of Tisha B'Av, which isfounded in the destruction of the HolyTemple, is not nullified. Not it nor theother fasts" (See Techumin, Vol. 18, p.488).

But in the wake of the dramatic eventsof June 1967, the question wouldsurface once again.

Addressing the new reality of a unifiedJerusalem, Rav Chaim David HaLevi,who served as Chief Rabbi of RishonL'Tzion and later Tel Aviv, wrote thatwhile we have merited the "'firstflowering of Redemption' with national

independence, is it not clear that it isnot the final Redemption until we meritthe coming of the Moshiach and thebuilding of the Temple?"

He continued, "Now, when we haveconquered the Temple Mt. through amilitary victory, and neverthelessHalacha prohibits us from entering intothe holy place and performing the theholy service there, and all the more soas we see that there remain 'foxes thattrespass upon it,' what is the reason toeven think of nullifying the fast [of TishaB'Av]...?" (Aseh Lecha Rav 1:13).

Rav Tzvi Yehudah HaKohen Kook alsofelt that, "we cannot touch the fastscommanded by the prophets." Hecontinued, "while we find ourselves inthe historic process of the Redemptionof Israel... One must understand that thefasts today are a continuation of theroot of the pain of the past over thedestruction of the Temple, and thesethings pain us until this very day"(Sichot HaRav Tzvi Yehudah, YomYerushalayim 5728).

Rav Ya'akov Ariel ruled that in order tomake any changes "there is a need foran authoritative Beit Din over AmYisrael and true peace. And according tothe current situation it appears thattoday we have neither." He continuesthat while we have achievedsovereignty, the current securitysituation - as well as the spiritual stateof the State of Israel - make itimpossible to exempt us from these

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fasts (B'Ohalah Shel Torah 2:74).

In a lecture given in 1968 (adapted byRav Yair Kahn, translated by DavidStrauss, and available on Yeshivah HarEtzion's website), Rav Yosef Dov HaLeviSoloveitchik grappled with the questionof Tisha B'Av in light of the State ofIsrael:

"Does Yom Ha-Atzmaut answer thequestion of 'eikha'? Only fools can thinkso, arrogant fools, and there are manyfools of that sort. Can a Jewishgovernment or military success beconsidered a substitute for all thesuffering and killing of the years ofIsrael's exile? It is forbidden to say thatthis is the recompense for six millionJews who were slaughtered. This is anexpression of cruelty and a total lack ofsensitivity. Does the rejoicing of the SixDay War answer all the questions thatarose in the period that preceded it? Arewe not as puzzled and confused as wehad been before it? Did this triumphlessen our sorrow and calm our spirits?Did it resolve our problems and doubts?Is it not incumbent upon us to repeat, asdid Yirmeyahu, the question of 'eikha'?As long as God's will is as obscure as itwas during the dark night of the hidingof His face, as long as historical eventshave not been clarified from acomprehensive and true perspective, aslong as the world mocks us because ofour faith in a merciful and gracious God,as long as the mystery of "eikha" hasnot found a solution – it is forbidden toabandon Tisha Be-Av. As long as a Jew

asks "eikha," one must continue to faston Tisha Be-Av. Only after we succeedin deciphering the mystery of "eikha"will we be able to abandon the fast ofthe fifth month."

For Rav Soloveitchik, Tisha B'Av is theday when we mourn all of the calamitiesand tragedies throughout JewishHistory. The day itself - along withMegillat Eichah - charges us withmaking sense of our national suffering.Until we understand the root of oursuffering, Tisha B'Av is still veryrelevant according to Rav Soloveitchik.

In the Prayer for the Welfare of theState, we describe the State of Israel asthe "first flowering of Redemption." Werecognize that it is not yet Redemption,but the beginning of an ongoing processthat is unfolding before our very eyes.We recognize how far we have come,but how far we still are. Indeed, Rav TzviYehudah HaKohen Kook believed that"One may fast and mourn for thedestruction of the Temple and the Exile,and at the same time see and recognizethe light of salvation that shines forth inour day" (Sichot HaRav Tzvi Yehudah,Yom Yerushalayim 5728).

May we merit to "recognize the light ofsalvation that shines forth in our day",but also mourn properly, and see thefulfilment of the promise of our Sages:“All who mourn for Jerusalem will meritto witness her in her joy” (Ta’anit 30b).And may we merit to finally observeTisha B'Av as a festival, instead of a fast.

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Rabbi Yerachmiel Roness

As we read through Sefer Devorim,we listen-in to Moshe Rabbeinu'smonologue as he reviews majorepisodes in our national history andsummarizes many different Mitzvot.As we follow Moshe's words certainverses vividly stand out. One suchverse appears in this week's Parashaas we hear the familiar words of aPasuk that most every Jew knows byheart from the earliest stages of life.As Rabbi S.R. Hirsch points out it isboth the first verse we choose toteach young children as they begin tospeak, as well as the last verse weexpect an elderly person to utterupon leaving this world in order tomeet their Maker.

Sh'ma YisraelHashem ElokeinuHashem Echad!

Continuing up until this day, RavHirsch adds, even when if a Jew hasseparated himself entirely from therest of our people, and lives anisolated existence ['Biddud' is theword he uses…] - the Shema wouldremain on his lips!

What is so special about these short

words? The Vilna Gaon writes in his'Aderet Eliyahu' that this single verseencapsulates all of the tencommandments. This suggestion mayoffer an opening, or a partialexplanation, as to the uniqueness ofthis verse. However, I would like toexplore the issue through the prismprovided by the words of the Sifri(Devarim Piska 31) which zeroes in onone word: 'Yisrael' - Shema Yisrael.

The Sifri wishes to answer thefollowing question: Why do we notsay 'Shema Avraham', or 'ShemaYitzchak'? - If we wish to defineourselves through our lineage, andmention the anscestral linkconnecting us to our forefathers, whydo we not mention the otherPatriarchs? The Midrash answers bynoting that our nation includes eachand every one of Yaakov's children:"By what merit are all of Yaakov'schildren included when we say"Daber el Bnei Yisrael"?

For as opposed to Avraham who waspainfully forced to remove Yishmaelfrom his home, and Yitzchak whocounted Eisav amongst his progeny,Yaakov merited to have all hischildren surround his bed in unison.

The Sifri writes that throughoutYaakov's life this was a questionwhich deeply troubled him. Yaakovhad seen the Pesolet (-waste) which

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had emanated from his fathers andfeared that the same might happento him. He was constantly on guard,and perpetually worried by theprospect that wastrels mightemanate from him. [The Cambridgedictionary defines a 'wastrel' assomeone who does nothing positivewith their life. A person whosquanders their own abilities and theopportunities offered to them].

In Bereishit 28:20 Yaakov begins hisneder saying: "If Hashem is with meand guards me on my way…". The Sifrinotes that Yaakov surely did notquestion Hashem's presence (-"ifHashem is with me"), nor did hedoubt the divine Hashgacha in hislife. What Yaakov meant by hiswords, was to acknowledge therecurring doubt he felt regarding hischildrens' future. Yaakov was askingthat the Almighty's name shouldalways permeate his being("She'yachul She'mo Aly"), so that allhis offspring, from beginning to end,will never produce wastrels."

This was Yaakov Avinu's main wishand his primary dream. BeforeYaakov passed away he assembled allof his children and pointedly quizzedthem regarding their theologicalposition: Did they harbor anynegative feelings towards G-d?Would they remain steadfast to thepath he had raised them to follow? To

this they answered "Shema Yisrael",meaning that he, Yaakov their father(Yisrael) should listen: "Just as youbelieve in one G-d, so do we (yourchildren) believe in Hashem Elokeinu,Hashem Echad", (Rashi, Bereishit49:1). The midrash tells us that uponhearing his children say "ShemaYisrael", Yaakov thanked G-d, anduttered praise that no 'pesolet' hademanated from him, saying thewords: "Baruch Shem KevodMalchuto L'olam Va'ed", (YalkutShimoni, Bereishit 833).

From here we can clearly see, that inaddition to saying Shema on theirown, as a person nears the end oftheir journey upon this world, theyhave a deep-seated desire to heartheir own children excitedly, andearnestly, recite the "Shema". Theywish to hear their children declaretheir own loyalty and fealty to ourtradition. When this wish is fulfilled, aperson can leave this world adding ahopeful postscript to the words ofthe Shema. Like Yaakov Avinu, theymay supplement the words of theShema with a final declarationexpressing feelings of comfort andrelief: "Baruch Shem Kevod MalchutoL'olam Va'ed".

Every parent shares Yaakov Avinu'sdesire to see Nachas from theirchildren, and fears the tragicprospect of witnessing Pesolet (a

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wastrel) emanating from them. Itshould be patently obvious that thereis no simple and easy path which canguarantee and fully ensure thisoutcome (otherwise Yaakov wouldnot have feared this prospect somuch…). Some steps, though, seemlike they are a wise and prudentinvestment yielding positive gainswith little risk. By extracting one'soffspring from the Galut whereintermarriage rate is over 50%, andbringing them to the Land of Israelwhere intermarriage is negligent, andthe prevailing culture itself onesteeped in Jewish identity andtradition.

So come on Aliya, acquire yourYerusha in the Land, and help toguarantee that your spiritual Yrushawill be continued by your children forposterity!

Torah VeHa'aretz InstituteRabbi Moshe Bloom

Orlah and Bay LaurelQuestion: I'm growing bay laurel inmy garden and want to use the bayleaves as spices. Do I need to firstwait three years?

Answer: Bay laurel, Laurus nobilis,is an aromatic perennial evergreenthat grows as a bush or tree and isused as an herb and for ornamental

purposes. Laurel wreaths expressedvictory and glory in antiquity. Itsdried leaves are called bay leaves andthe essential oil produced from itsleaves is used for medicinal purposes.The Gemara (Gittin 69b) refers tothese leaves as atrafa de'arah,mentioned as an antidote tointestinal worms when steeped inwine.

In the past we wrote about treeswhose leaves, and not fruit, are eatenand discussed the dispute aboutwhether they are considered fruittrees (and thus subject to orlah laws).We cited Rabbi Yaakov Ariel's opinionthat it is proper to be stringent.

In Israel, however, bay leaves aregenerally not eaten; they are used asherbs and removed before eating. Forthis reason, Rabbi Dov Lior (HaTorahVeHa'aretz V, 5760) rules with regardto lemon verbena and rose petalsthat these plants are not consideredfruit trees and are thus exempt fromorlah; bay laurel is similar to lemonverbena. Note that Rabbi MordechaiEliahu is stringent about perennialsused as herbs and maintains that oneshould wait for three years.

Even if a particular individual eatsbay leaves, this does not change itsbasic definition; we follow themajority practice (even the leaf-eaterneed not wait for three years). Should

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it one day become generally acceptedto eat bay leaves, orlah laws wouldapply.

In conclusion: Bay leaves are notsubject to orlah laws and can be usedimmediately.

See also Chapter 1 of Orlah for theBackyard (translated from HilchotHa'aretz), available on our website:https://www.toraland.org.il/en/beit-midrash/halachic-guides/hilchot-haaretz/hilchot-orlah/orlah-chapter-1-general-laws-of-orlah/

From the school of the Ramchal- Jacob Solomon

Hear O Israel. The Lord is our G-d.The Lord is One!

You shall love the Lord your G-d withall your heart, with all your soul, andwith all your might (6:4-5).

Love is an emotion. It is not a choice.It happens. All those who havepersonally experienced love knowexactly how it electrifies andgalvanizes.

Yet here, the Torah appears to askfor a feeling of emotion rather thanan act of service: “You shall love theLord your G-d with all your heart, allyour soul, and all your might”.

The oft-quoted explanation is the onegiven by the Talmud (Berachot 62a):“You must love G-d, even if He takesyour life”. As the Alshich elaborates,if facing martyrdom, it should not bethe attitude of being a victim ofmurder, but attaining the ultimatespiritual height of surrendering one’svery soul and being to the Creator.The Talmud exemplifies with thestory of Rabbi Akiva. Whilst beingtortured to death by the Romans, heexplained to his incredulousdisciples: “All my life I prayed that Iwould be able to maintain my love ofG-d even if it cost me my life. Nowthat I am succeeding in doing so,should I not be happy?”

The Ramchal (Da’at Tvunot 2:3)brings a profound insight that alsosees loving G-d as, more generally, aconsequence of the imperfections,evil, and unpleasantness that exist inthe world. These negative forces,situations, and societies are notseparate entities to G-d’s oneness,but part of G-d’s oneness, part of Hisscheme of things. G-d’s being Onemeans that nothing exists outside Hisscope. Thus, the Ramchal explains,G-d created the world with its eviland its imperfections so that we caninteract with it and become HisPartners by working on addressingthe evils that exist and improving

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things. In short, G-d bringsimperfections to the world for whichHe gives humanity the potential towork on positively influencing,person by person, community bycommunity, generation by genera-tion. It is that work that makes uspartners with G-d. And by workingtogether with G-d, we become closerto Him (and to each other). LovingG-d is thus a consequence of comingclose to Him. Loving G-d is a naturalconsequence of interaction with G-d,and engagement with His Interests.

Indeed, the Anshei Knesset Hagedoladeclared that the world stands onthree things: Torah, Avodah, andGmilut Chasadim, acts of kindness.According to this explanation, we cansuggest that it is the Torah valuesthat give the directions forimprovement as well connecting withG-d. The Avodah extends to all workthat seeks to improve the world, at alldifferent levels. And the GmilutChasadim means that it should bedone happily, willingly, and withgenerosity of spirit and the welfare ofthe other in mind.

LOVE YOUR FELLOW AS YOURSELF[2]

- Dr. Meir TamariPerhaps the most appealing andattractive aspect of Judaism is the

possibility of observance by theaverage man or woman. Of coursethere is the rarefied and elevatingobservance by the learned andrighteous but there is also value andspirituality in the hurried andseemingly irrelevant fulfillment bythe ignorant and irreverent. One doesnot have to be at the level of a Mosheor Levi Yitschak Berdichever torealize the sanctification in theobservance of mitzvoth by them.Chassidism is replete with true orperhaps imaginary such stories, butany visit to an average Shabbatmincha will support this. However,the interest free loan as adherenceand fulfillment of ahavta le reiacha iscommon to all the centuries andthroughout Eretz Yisrael but equallyin all the countries of galut. Knowingfull well the cost of capital and thebenefits of its alternative uses,Judaism permitted payment for theiruse, as moral. Jews nevertheless,gave up part of those legal andpermitted benefits so that therecipient could use them as capitalfor his own business and commerce,often in competition with the donors.It should be obvious that this couldnot be extended to the whole humanrace and had to be limited to Jewssimilar to a family, where lender wasalso sometimes borrower and viceversa. Rambam codifies this as thehighest form of charity, primarilyperhaps because the recipient and

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the lender both do not regard this asfree handouts but as a businessventure.

At the outset it should be clear to allof us that, money matters, especiallybanking and investment, has alwaysdepended to a great extent on thecharacter and moral standing of bothparties. The lender has to have goodqualities like concern for the materialneeds of others, the ability to savesome of his income rather thaninstant consumption and anexperienced business career whichenabled him to accumulate the sumsnecessary to lend. This is borne outby the fact that in most societies thebankers grew out of a successfulmercantile career or from religiousgroups who had the faith and themoral ability to postpone someconsumption and save. The borrowertoo has to have an ethical education,one that will be careful in the use ofthe borrowed funds and ensurerepayment. These qualities are amainstay of those societies likeorthodox Jewish communities inwhich interest free loans have alwaysbeen part of a culture and a faith.

It is not only credit, banking andinvestment which depend to a greatextent equally on the character andmoral standing of the various partiesinvolved. These characteristics areessential in all avenues of economicactivity and distinguish them frombrigandage and robbery. They

confirm safety of economic assets,mutual assistance and theirtransmission over the generations.Their absence condemns societies toeconomic stagnation and even topoverty. Perhaps the mostoutstanding and most singularaspect of Jewish life in a galut devoidof the foundations of politicalfreedom and geographical borders, isthis involvement in all aspects ofeconomic life. It has been argued thatJudaism's communal and nationalcharacter and institutions built as itwere a substitute for this freedomand these borders. One of the mostintriguing questions of economichistory is this involvement of astateless nation, politicallypowerless, lacking tenure in anycountry, in all the aspects of variousnational economies and internationaltrade. Some scholars have attemptedto draw analogies from otherminority and stateless groups butthese groups have failed to persevereover long periods or simply haveassimilated into the host society.

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Menachem Av AgendaVery difficult writing at the beginning ofthe Nine Days about post-Tish'a b'Avissues, which will hit the stands before 9AV with most people not seeing it untilafter.

Keep in mind (one of) the custom to callthe month Av until after noon of the10th and then call it Menachem Av -hence, the title of this piece.

The period of Aveilut HaChurban haspassed (or is about to pass) into themode of Nechama. We said Nacheim atmincha of Tish'a b'Av and we are soon to'celebrate' Shabbat Nachamu. ThisShabbat we read the first of sevenhaftarot of Nechama.

What does that really mean? Are wedone thinking about Churban BeitHaMikdash? No, we are not. Mourningthe Destruction does not end until theBeit HaMikdash is rebuilt andeverything that goes with it is in place.So what does it mean that the Aveiluttransits into Nechama?

There is a psychological benefit tohaving a fixed period of the year tomourn the Churban. But noon on the10th of Av is not just 'now we're done'. Itis time now - if you haven't done it muchduring the Three Weeks and Nine Days -to ponder the future.

And that future includes the BeitHaMikdash, the loss of which we have

mourned for almost 2000 years.

Mourning is kind of hollow if there is noreal longing for and anticipating of theGeula and everything that comes with it.

This is no easy task. We have beenwithout the Beit HaMikdash for so longand we have been very successful inbuilding Jewish communities aroundthe world and in Israel - without it as areality, only as a picture on the wall, andrepeated prayers - that some of us don'treally mean.

Do you want the Beit HaMikdash,Korbanot, Sanhedrin, punishments...korbanot to come back? You know thatyou should. We all pray for it everysingle day. But do you really want it?

That's the Menachem Av Agenda. Weneed to work on it.

Helpful hint (maybe): For the lasthundred years or so, our homes havebeen lit by electric lights. They providelight far better than gas or oil lamps. Yetwe still light Shabbat candles. Prima-tive? No. Real hands on, direct lighting.

Keep doing mitzvot, davening, etc. butBeit HaMikdash - accept no substitutes.

JONATHAN POLLARD 10,956+1724* daysimprisoned • www.jonathanpollard.org

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