Mi'Mizrach Shemesh Kedoshim

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A Fuchs Mizrachi Stark High School Publication

Candle Lighting: 7:59 Havdala: 9:03

Note: The Halachic times listed here are from www.myzmanim.com.

Due to last week’s edition of Kol Hanearim, we will include Divrei Torah from Parashat Acharei Mot as

well. Enjoy!

Motivation for Teshuva By Ian Lorand, 9th Grade

When scanning through Acharei Mos for

a possible topic for this Dvar Torah, I noticed

that in the very first Passuk, Hashem explains the

details of Yom Kippur and the prohibitions of the

הקדשים קדש to Moshe. The Torah also states

specifically that this happened after the death of

Aharon’s two sons. By being mentioned together,

there is most likely a connection between the two

topics.

The Talmud Yerushalmi in Yoma’s take

on their connection is that just as atonement is

brought from Yom Kippur, so is atonement

brought by the death of the righteous (Aharon’s

sons). Meshech Chochmah explains that Yom

Kippur is an auspicious time for atonement

because it is an רצון עת , a time of favor. It’s said

that when righteous people such as Nadav and

Avihu die and their souls ascend to שמים, other

virtuous souls rejoice at their coming. This

joyous feeling in Heaven can help stir a spirit of

atonement or forgiveness within the righteous

soul’s survivors in the physical world.

However, atonement for each of the two

only come through one condition. For Yom

Kippur, one must treat the day with proper

respect and recognize it as holy in order to gain

any atonement. Likewise, anyone who does not

honor the righteous in life do not profit from

their ascent to שמים in death.

Rashi on the other hand, instead of taking

it as a connection between Yom Kippur and the

Kedoshim Friday, April 25, 2014 / ד"תשע ניסן ה"כ

http://www.myzmanim.com/

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deaths of Aharon’s sons, sees the deaths as a

motivation for Aharon to not go into the קדש

because he may die. Rashi then gives us a הקדשים

parable from Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah to better

understand it; a doctor sees his patient and tells

him to not lie down in a cold, damp place.

Another doctor visits him and instructs him to

not lie down in a cold, damp place so that he will

not die like so-and-so. Clearly, the second

doctor’s advice motivated the patient more

effectively than the first. So, the deaths of

Aharon’s sons was a sort of warning to Aharon

of going into the הקדשים קדש without notice.

Humans have commonly defied

authority, thinking they could get away with it.

To better prevent this, society punishes the

criminals to set an example to others of what is

done to those who disobey authority. Nowadays,

we should all strive to heed the warning

successfully without having to have an extreme

example of the consequence.

Meaningful Mitzvot By Ziva Bibbins, 10 th Grade

This week, the Parashah opens up with

Hashem telling Moshe, “Speak unto all the

congregation of the children of Israel, and say

unto them: Ye shall be holy; for I the LORD your

God am holy” (19:2). This command to `be holy'

is the opening of the Parashah because it includes

all the other commandments in the parsha which

follow it.

This mitzvah commands us that when we

do Hashem’s mitzvot they should not be like a

burden or yoke upon us. We should not do a

mitzvah with the desire to finish it as soon as

possible. A person's desire to do mitzvot should

come from the depths of the person’s heart.

It is possible that a person could be very

precise and work very hard to do the mitzvot,

yet one is actually far away from them. Despite

ones hard work and efforts, it might be that the

mitzvot are really a heavy burden upon them,

and one’s heart is really bound to material things

and the affairs of this world. Therefore, the Torah

commands us with this inclusive mitzvah to `be

holy'.

Although all the mitzvot raise and

separate a person from the material, this function

also depends somewhat upon the mentality of

the person who is doing them. Therefore, we are

commanded not to do the mitzvot because of

compulsion. Rather, we should do them as acts

deriving from our inner being, and we should

completely identify with them.

Shabbat Shalom!

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“I am the Lord Your G-d” By Aviva Muskin, 12 th Grade

From a very young age, all Jewish day

school students have been taught in Chumash

class that the Torah never repeats anything for

the sake of repeating it. Every single word of the

Torah is there to teach us something; everything

is there for a reason. However, repetition is a

common occurrence in Parshat Kedoshim, where

the same words appear at the end of nearly each

sentence: “Ani Hashem,” I am your G-d. Why

does the Torah need to stress this to us? Don’t we

already know that Hashem is our G-d?

Following Pesach we are all familiar with who

Hashem is. During these weeks leading up to

Shavout and the giving of the Torah, we also

know who the Law Giver is. He is the one that

took us out of Egypt with a strong hand and an

outstretched arm and gave us the Torah on Har

Sinai. Why is it necessary to repeat this familiar

concept again in the middle of Vayikra?

Instead of a story, this Parashah lists

commandments - many commandments. In fact,

51 of the 613 mitzvot are written in this single

Parashah. Almost every stated commandment

ends with the words “Ani Hashem” or “Ani

Hashem Elokechem.” Why is it necessary to

connect G-d to every commandment?

Rashi (19:31) says that these words are

repeated to remind us that Hashem is judging us

when we follow Him and His mitzvot, or when

we transgress and sin. This means that when it

states “I am Hashem,” it is talking about the G-d

of reward or punishment for fulfilling the

commandments. Hashem will reward those who

fulfill His laws, and punish those who do not.

Rav Ovadia Sforno (19:10) suggests that

these words recognize Hashem as a kind and

truthful G-d, and therefore we should observe

these mitzvot to follow in His ways. This is

helpful to understand why these words are

chosen to be stated with the list of mitzvot, but it

does not answer the question of why these

phrases are repeated.

A Midrash states that the Ten

Commandments, in essence, are listed in

Kedoshim, although not the way they are

presented in Shemot or Devarim. The same types

of commandments are listed in this Parashah.

The two sides of the luchot each have 5 dibrot,

corresponding to mitzvot between man and G-d,

and mitzvot between man and man. Parashat

Kedoshim uses the two phrases “Ani Hashem”

or “Ani Hashem Elokechem” to distinguish

between these two types of mitzvot: “Ani

Hashem” for mitzvot between man and man,

and “Ani Hashem Elokechem” for mitzvot

between man and G-d.

For example, the commandment

forbidding gossiping among others (19:16) is a

mitzvah between man and man, and the words

at the end of that Pasuk are “Ani Hashem.”

However, the commandment of observing

Shabbat (19:3) is a mitzvah between man and G-

d, and the words at the end of that Pasuk are

“Ani Hashem Elokechem.”

The repetition of “Ani Hashem” and “Ani

Hashem Elokechem” are important to

distinguish between the commandments.

Although it may seem obvious of the two types

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of mitzvot in the lists in Shemot or Devarim, it is

not as clear in Parshat Kedoshim. Therefore, the

Torah makes it clear by stating after almost every

commandment that it belongs either on the right

side (interaction between man and man) or left

side (interaction between man and G-d) of the

Luchot.

Achieving Kedusha (Holiness) By Rabbi Binyamin Blau

There is a striking yet puzzling

juxtaposition of ideas at the start of Parashat

Kedoshim. The Parashah opens with the famous

instruction that we should be holy in emulation

of Hakadosh Baruch Hu who Himself is holy.

This is a lofty goal that is both far reaching and a

bit amorphous and is, understandably, the

subject of much discussion among the

commentaries. While the exact Mitzva is open to

interpretation, it is undoubtedly clear that to be

kadosh (holy) requires great dedication and that

it is a noble task worth pursuing.

In light of that fact, let us examine the

mitzvot that are described immediately after the

requirement of "kedoshim tihiyu". The very next

pasuk tells of our obligation to properly respect

our parents, followed by our need to keep the

shabbat and then by the admonition to not

worship idols and false gods. These themes are

central to our belief system and are therefore

appropriate issues to focus on as we begin our

quest for kedusha. It is the ideas that come next

that are perplexing as the Torah then instructs us

not to leave over any parts of a korban (sacrifice),

and it follows that rule by introducing the

concept of pigul - which is the need for a person

to have the correct thoughts when giving an

offering. While these are mitzvot, which by

definition makes them important, they seem

drastically different in nature than the

commandments that precede them. How then

are they connected to our ambitious mission of

achieving holiness?

Perhaps the Torah is telling us two critical

messages by juxtaposing these seemingly smaller

in scope Mitzvot with those of a grander stature:

The first point is that the details matter. There is

a proper manner to offer a korban and therefore

sections may not be left over - a seemingly minor

concern in light of the amazing phenomenon that

Hashem is accepting my physical offering - if one

wishes to achieve kedusha. Holiness is not

merely a glorious concept; it has real

ramifications in the way that one acts and

therefore even minor details gain greater

significance. The second lesson is that we must

be internally consistent. As critical as our deeds

are, we must align our feelings and thoughts

with our actions to really become holy.

Ultimately we need to balance our

observance of Mitzvot that reflect core ideals

with those that are detail oriented if we wish to

emulate our creator and achieve sanctity and

kedusha.

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Shabbat Table Discussion Questions: By Avi Hartstone, 10 th Grade

Acharei Mot:

1. Why are the destinies of the goats of Yom Kippur decided through a lottery? (16:7)

2. Why must the Azazel goat be led so far away? (16:22)

3. Why must the Kohanim involved in the Yom Kippur Avodah go to the Mikvah? How did they become

impure? (16:24)

4. Why is Yom Kippur called a Shabbat? How are they similar? (16:31)

5. Why are the laws of Gilui Arayot (Illicit Sexual Relations) placed right after halachot about the Mishkan?

(18:1-23)

Kedoshim:

1. Why is the order of the Aseret HaDibrot changed in the beginning of the Parashah to: Honor your parents,

Shabbat and then the prohibition against polytheism? (19:1-4)

2. What is the difference between when it says “I am Hashem” and “I am Hashem your God?”

3. Why is the Issur of revenge and holding grudges juxtaposed to Lashon Hara? (19:16-18)

4. What is God trying to teach us with His ban on cross-breeding? (19:19)

5. Why is there an abridged version of kashrut at the end of the Parashah? (20; 25)

Email us at [email protected] with your answers or submit them on our website, fmsdvartorah.weebly.com, and you could be featured in

next week's edition!

Answers to Parashat Metzora questions:

Q2: Why must one shave his hair in order to become pure? (14:9)

A: Because shaving ones hair symbolizes a new start to life and the metzora after becoming pure

gets a new start to life. (Yosef Coleman, 11th Grade)

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Q4: Why does the Torah have to repeat the entire purification process for the poor person? (14:21- 32)

A: The torah repeats the process of the poor mans offering in order to not embaress the poor man for

having less means. (Yosef Coleman, 11th Grade)

Brought to you by:

Staff:

Editors in Chief- Ari Bar-Shain and Zev Karasik

Associate Editors- Eli Meyers, Etan Soclof, and Yosef

Coleman

Faculty Consultant-Rav Rick Schindelheim

Distribution Manager-Rivka Coleman

Faculty Manager-Yael Blau

Head Writers-Avi Hartstone and Zak Fleischman

Student Writers: o Alan Soclof

o Ami Shamir

o Amital Haas

o Aviva Muskin

o Ben Jaffe

o Bentzion Goldman

o Ian Lorand

o Ilan Senders

o Jenna Fox

o Jennifer Brenis

o Joey Frank

o Joey Senders

o Lizzy Soclof

o Michael Brenis

o Miriam Pincus

o Mordechai Blau

o Sarah Pincus

o Seth Weiss

o Sonny Kugelman

o Talya Engelhart

o Yonah Bar-Shain

o Yonaton Shiller

o Zach Zlatin

o Ziva Bibbins

שבת שלום!Please be sure to check out our new website: fmsdvartorah.weebly.com!

Mi'Mizrach Shemesh Kedoshim

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Transcript of Mi'Mizrach Shemesh Kedoshim