COUNTDOWN TO THE SHABBATON: 3 Weeks to go! For details and to register Click Here. Space is Limited! This year's rebbeim are: (From left to right)

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1 1 of 9 Parshat Trumah 5769 In This Issue Shabbat at the Homes of Alumni Hachnasat Sifrei Torah at Merkaz HaRav Hamer Banquet HaRav Nebenzahl on Parshat Trumah Staff Dvar Torah by Rav Shai Gerson Alumni Dvar Torah by Judah Blumenthal (5765) SAVE THE DATE! March 21 (Shabbat Parshat Vayakhel- Pekudei) - YNA Shabbaton for recent alumni at DRS. COUNTDOWN TO THE SHABBATON: 3 Weeks to go! For details and to register Click Here. Space is Limited! This year's rebbeim are: (From left to right) HaRav Aharon Bina Shlit"a, Rosh HaYeshiva; HaRav Chizkiyahu Nebenzahl, Rav of the "Old City" of Jerusalem; Rav Yoel Rackovsky, Rav Kenny Hirschhorn, and Rav Ami Merzel. Visitor Log, Mazal Tov's, Tehillim List SPHARDIC MELAVE MALKE: This Motzei Shabbat it will be hosted by Elie and Moey Sutton, 1059 east 7th at 8:00 PM Sharp. Special guest speaker! For more information Mark Nakash. Shabbat at the Homes of Alumni by Yechiel Stern, Yeshiva Gedola of Montreal The students spent this past Shabbat, Parshat Mishpatim, at the homes of alumni living in Eretz Yisrael. They experienced Shabbat in areas such as Zichron Yaakov, Jerusalem, and Ramat Beit Shemesh. Yitzy Kreinberg and I spent Shabbat at the home of Stephen ( ) and Na'amit Leavitt and their two children in Efrat, the windy city south of Jerusalem. During the long winter

2 2 of 9 zman, the change of scenery provided a welcome break. We were given a warm greeting upon our arrival an hour before Shabbat. Following a scrumptious seudah on leil Shabbat, we were joined by our hosts for an oneg Shabbat at Rav Ari Fuld's house. This wonderful experience strengthened my resolve to one day join the ranks of alumni living in Eretz Yisrael. I would like to personally thank the Yeshiva for arranging this Shabbat, and of course the alumni hosts, especially the wives. May today's talmidim be zoche to host tomorrow's talmidim. From the Rosh HaYeshiva Dear alumni living in Israel, On behalf of myself and Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh, I would like to express my gratitude to you and your families for having hosted our students, last Shabbat. I appreciate the mesirut nefesh of your wives who went to such great lengths to make their guests feel comfortable. I have often said that as much as the Yeshiva emphasizes love of Torah, love of Eretz Yisrael and love of Am Yisrael, spending time in a home living with these ideals can leave a more lasting impression than anything we could teach. The students are able to see firsthand what it means to raise a Torah family in Eretz Yisrael. As we enter the month of Adar, I pray that HaKadosh Baruch Hu blesses you and your families with simcha and nachas. Love, Aharon Bina Hachnasat Sifrei Torah at Merkaz HaRav by Yitzy Kreinberg, MTA Who can forget the tragic events of last year, when on the first day of Rosh Chodesh Adar II, the month in which we are commanded to increase our simcha, eight talmidei Yeshiva from Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav were murdered while engrossed in learning Torah? In honor of the first yahrzeit of these holy martyrs, eight Sifrei Torah were donated to the Yeshiva in their memory. Netiv Aryeh joined the festivities of the Hachnassat Sifrei Torah. What a sight! Jewish people from all walks of life and different backgrounds dancing together with a sense of achdus which unfortunately is not as common as it should be. It truly shows that our enemies may try to destroy us, but the Torah unites us and burns fiercely within each of us.

3 3 of 9 Hamer Banquet YNA is known for the many incentive programs it offers as motivation for the students to grow. One such incentive is the "Hamer Project." (From: "Ki Heim Chayenu") The program is based on a concept discussed in many mussar sefarim stressing the fact that self-awareness is a more effective tool than guilt in improving many aspects of a person's life. Students who participated in this six week program kept track of the time they devoted daily to their Torah learning. In addition to motivating them to increase their learning, it provided them with an awareness of which hours of the day they were more productive and which less so. They now have the opportunity to take stock and make necessary changes designed at improving their time-management. It has not been uncommon to see immediate results. All participants were invited to the fourth annual Hamer banquet this past Monday. Prizes included sefarim, watches, and a private meeting with R' David Abuchazira in Nahariya which was won by the top learner, Matan Shoshani (North Shore Hebrew Academy). Rav Nebenzahl on Parshat Terumah HaRav Nebenzahl asks that his Divrei Torah are not read during Tefillah or the Rabbi's sermon TZEDAKA AND SIMCHA PARSHAT TRUMAH TAKE FOR ME A DONATION "Hashem spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to the Children of Israel and let them take for Me a donation" (Shmot 25:1-2). The language of the pasuk is puzzling. Why does the Torah use the word "take" regarding donation as opposed to "give" which seems more fitting? Why does the Torah refer to the people's donating to the Mishkan as taking, should it not be called giving? The commentaries offer several approaches to this puzzling question: Perhaps Hashem was telling Moshe to speak to those entrusted with the collections (i.e. the gabbai tzdaka) such as Bezalel and Oholiov - they should take donations from the nation. This explanation would interpret the words "speak to the Children of Israel" as referring not to the entire nation but rather to a small subset of it. Another explanation is that we cannot speak of giving to Hashem - we can only give

4 4 of 9 what we have received (taken) from Him. When David HaMelech collected donations for the construction of the Beit HaMikdash he said: "For everything is from You, and from Your hand have we given to You" (Divrei Hayamim I 29:14). The Gemara relates: "there was an episode involving King Munbaz, in which he depleted his treasuries and the treasuries of his forebears to feed the poor during years of famine. His brothers and his father's family banded together against him and said to him in protest: 'your fathers hoarded and added to the fortune of their forefathers and you are liberally expending them!' Munbaz replied: my fathers hoarded wealth below but by giving charity I have hoarded above... My fathers hoarded their wealth in an insecure place but I have hoarded my wealth in a secure place... My fathers hoarded for others to use but I have hoarded for myself..." (Baba Batra 11a). Munbaz is saying that when he gives he is actually taking for himself - the merits of giving will always remain with us, when we keep the money for ourselves, however, who knows how long we will manage to hold on to it for. GIVING TZEDAKA The Rambam asserts that a person will not become poor from giving charity. Chazal, however, limited the amount a person may spend on tzdaka and other mitzvoth to one-fifth of his assets. Although Hashem can easily return much more than a fifth to us, Chazal placed a limitation because Hashem does not always wish to demonstrate such open miracles. A person is obligated to expend all his assets to avoid violating a negative prohibition, but when it comes to positive mitzvoth the expenditures are limited to twenty percent of his income. For example, he must spend whatever he has to avoid eating non-kosher meat. However, if he finds himself in the beginning of the month of Tishrei and he realizes he has to purchase a shofar, lulav, etrog, materials for a sukkah, not to mention that he does not own a pair of tzitzit or tefillin, he may there is a limitation to the amount he may spend, the rest he can put off until his next paycheck. It would seem that he should purchase the time-dependent mitzvoth now and defer the purchase of tefillin to the next month. The Gemara writes that when it comes to hiddur mitzvah (beautifying a mitzvah), one may add an additional third over and above the basic cost. This means that if a kosher etrog were to cost twenty shekels then he may spend up to thirty shekels (note: the calculation of one-third is referred to as milbar an "outer third" meaning one-third of the sum total of thirty may be the hiddur, as opposed to milgav (an "inner third") which would be one third of the basic twenty shekels). TZEDAKAH - TO PERFECT OUR OWN CHARACTER The Rambam proposes that if a person has one hundred perutahs to give to the needy, he should give one perutah one hundred times rather than one lump sum of one hundred perutahs. The reason is that giving tzdaka serves to defeat a person's yetzer hara, and it's better to win one hundred victories than only one. I believe that this principle does not apply in all cases. At times, for example, the receiver may need a large sum of money to help cover the costs of an operation in the United States. In this case, if we are in a position to help then a lump sum is clearly preferable. What we learn from the Rambam is that the purpose of giving is not so much to help the poor as to improve our own character. The Gemara records an exchange which took place between Tornus Rufus and R' Akiva: Tornus Rufus asked: "If your G-d is a lover of the poor, for what reason does He not sustain them? R' Akiva said to him, 'in order that through our giving them, we may be saved from the judgment of Gehinom'" (Baba Batra 10a). There is no shortage of ways in which Hashem can provide for the poor, He wishes however to provide us with the opportunity to inherit a place in the Next World. Tornus Rufus' argument was that if Hashem made a particular person poor then we have

5 5 of 9 no right to go against that, this is obviously not true. Hashem is our father and we are His children. If a child suffers, the father is happy when someone cares for him and gives him food. When we know someone is ill we must help him in any way possible, whether by praying for him or helping with his physical needs. At times Hashem makes a person ill in order to afford us the opportunity to fulfill the Mitzvah of healing him. The Torah gives us two mitzvoth: perika - helping remove a load from a donkey, and teina - helping placing the load on the donkey. The Gemara teaches us that if there are two donkeys, one of which belongs to a friend of yours who requires help unloading it while at the same time your enemy needs help loading his donkey, it is better to help the enemy. One could have thought that we should first help the donkey that needs unloading because of tzaar baalei chaim. Why should the donkey suffer because you like his master more than you love the other donkey's master? From this ruling it becomes apparent that what is behind the mitzvah is not helping the donkey, but rather defeating the yetzer hara. HISHTADLUT VS. BITACHON The Messilat Yesharim (chapter 1) states: "all that happens in this world, whether for good or for bad are tests for man - poverty on the one side, wealth on the other... serenity on the one side, suffering on the other, we find ourselves in this constant tug of war". Man's faith is tested from all directions - wealth has its trials as does poverty, peace and serenity are great tests as is suffering. In my opinion the greatest internal battle a person has is where to draw the line between hishtadlut and bitachon. A person experiences this conflict with each and every step he takes. On the one hand we must have bitachon, while on the other hand so long as we lack a prophet to guide us we have no right to proclaim: "I believe in Hashem, we will win even without an army". This is the constant struggle we live with - how much hishtadlut we must do and how much to rely on bitachon. This applies not only to the nation as a whole at times of war, but it is a conflict each and every individual faces constantly. If we are approached by a needy person we must feel that he is totally dependent on us, if we do not help him, then G-d forbid he will die of starvation. We must therefore provide him with "whatever he is lacking in him" (Devarim 15:8), even if that entails a horse to ride on and a servant to go before him (see Rashi ibid.), in our terms this might mean buying him the best car and apartment available. On the other hand, even as we help the poor person we must understand that any assistance we provide for him comes from Hashem. The adage "All of a person's income is fixed from Rosh Hashana" (Beitza 16a) applies to the poor as well as to ourselves. The poor man does not gain nor does the giver lose by acts of charity. If we do not help him, Hashem will find some other means with which to assist him - on the one hand everything comes from Hashem, on the other hand everything is dependent on us. This is the tug of war we find ourselves in our entire lives. There is a special mitzvah connected to helping the poor, that: "you shall give him and let your heart not feel bad when you give him" (Devarim 14:10). A person should be happy to have the opportunity to give. Giving without joy shows that your priorities are with money rather than mitzvoth. This shows a lack of emunah, for a person with true emunah knows that giving more to the poor does not mean that you will be left with less for yourself. The Rambam, as we mentioned maintains that a person will not become poor from giving tzdaka. SERVING HASHEM BESIMCHA Serving Hashem should always be besimcha. In Parshat Bechukotai as well as in Parshat Ki Tavo the Torah records the terrible calamities that may befall the Jewish people should they not follow the dictates of the Torah. What brings about these terrible

6 6 of 9 punishments? "Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, amid gladness and goodness of heart, when everything was abundant" (Devarim 28:47). The punishment is not directed at those who did not serve Hashem, it might even be speaking of people who meticulously observe all the mitzvoth. Yet you served Hashem, but as one possessed by a demon, not amid gladness and goodness of heart, it is for this that these tochachot come about. Why? Because if you do not observe Mitvzot in gladness then it means that you do not appreciate their true value at all! You think you are doing Hashem a favor by taking a Lulav or sitting in the Sukkah - you do not realize that these mitzvoth were given to you for your own benefit! "For it is your life and the length of your days" (Devarim 30:20). Not demonstrating joy at fulfillment of mitzvoth has other serious repercussions. If you do not observe mitzvoth with joy, you are giving your children the message that keeping mitzvoth is not so positive, that the mitzvoth are some sort of burden placed upon us by Moshe Rabenu or someone. As a result of this, the child will come to look down on the mitzvoth and take their fulfillment lightheartedly and will not be careful to observe all the mitzvoth. By the time this attitude trickles down to the grandchild he already sees no purpose at all in keeping mitzvoth. If the elders see no value in them, why should I keep them? On the other hand, when the children see our joy at fulfilling mitzvoth, they view a Mitzvah as a positive experience. Taking a Lulav, eating in the Sukkah, davening, learning makes me happy. When a child sees this, he too will wish to keep mitzvoth as will the grandchild - because they see the immense joy such acts bring to the father and grandfather. Every day in Uva LeZion we say "Hashem, G-d of our forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yisrael, preserve this forever to be the product of the thoughts of the hearts of Your people, and set their hearts towards You" (Divrei HaYamim I 29:18). These words were said by David HaMelech after he praised Klal Yisrael for their generosity in donating towards the Beit HaMikdash: "I know also my G-d, that You examine the heart and desire integrity. I have offered all these donations in the uprightness of my heart, and now I see Your people, who are present here, to offer donations to You with gladness" (ibid. 17). David HaMelech was praying to Hashem: "preserve this forever" - always remember that we donated to the Beit HaMikdash out of gladness. We see the importance of giving and doing all mitzvoth besimcha. MISHENICHNAS ADAR MARBIN BESIMCHA We are about to enter the month of Adar, which is characterized by simcha - mishenichnas Adar marbin besimcha. The fact is that we should always serve Hashem out of simcha, even on Tisha B'Av we say the pasuk: "ivdu et Hashem besimcha" (in Mizmor LeTodah), but the period beginning with Rosh Chodesh Adar especially evokes simcha. What is simcha? It does not mean being wild, it does not mean eating and drinking all day. On Purim itself we do have a mitzvah to eat and drink but the rest of the month should be characterized by simcha in Avodat Hashem. On Tisha B'Av learning Torah is forbidden because it brings us joy, it therefore stands to reason that during Adar when we are marbin besimcha we should increase our Torah learning. The Rambam writes about the importance of having a festive seudah in honor of Purim. He adds, however, that it is better to spend more on mishloach manot because this creates an atmosphere of love between neighbors. What should be emphasized even more that that is matanot laevyonim - gifts to the poor, because Hashem wants us to give to others. Perhaps we can find an allusion to this idea from the Megillah itself. The pasuk states: "al ken karu layamim haele purim al shem hapur" "Therefore they called these days Purim from the word 'pur' - a lottery" (Esther 9:26). If we were to substitute "pur" with its English spelling "poor" ("al shem ha'poor'") then the pasuk would read that the days were called Purim because of the mitzvah to give to the poor!

7 7 of 9 A principle part of serving Hashem with joy is bringing joy to others. We must make sure that the poor among us not only have enough for Purim but for Pesach and the rest of the year as well. This is what brings true simcha to Hashem. View D'var Torah Archives for Parshat Terumah Staff Dvar Torah by Rav Shai Gerson OF PURE HEART The Ramban in his introduction to Sefer Shmot describes the book of Shmot as the Sefer HaGeula - the Book of the Redemption, explaining that Bnei Yisrael were considered redeemed when they returned to the level of the forefathers who were the chariots. Only upon attaining this level could they truly be considered redeemed. The redemption process began at Maamad Har Sinai and was finalized with the construction of the Mishkan. The Ramban's commentary on our parsha is consistent with his general approach that construction of the Mishkan was an independent mitzvah and was not atonement for the chet haegel - a view espoused by some of the other commentaries. The sequence of events recorded in the Torah is therefore precisely in the chronology in which they happened. Our parsha which describes the construction of the Mishkan, follows parshiot Yitro and Mishpatim because it is the next step following Maamad Har Sinai. Our parsha begins with Hashem commanding Moshe to solicit donations to defer the costs of the construction of the Mishkan. The Torah stresses that the donations must be given binedivut lev - with generosity of heart. What does it mean that the donations must be with a feeling of generosity? The Sabba M'Kelm wonders how we could even think that they would not give generously after all the great miracles they witnessed. Did they not at least wish to express gratitude to Hashem? Furthermore, the Mishkan was intended to be housing for the Divine Presence, would anyone even hesitate to donate to such a cause? R' Simcha Zisel suggests the following based on the writings of the Chovot HaLevavot. When a person does a mitzvah or any positive act, his intention may be purely lishma, but at times along with the sincere and good intentions are intertwined other goals (e.g. honor, feeling good about yourself). The intent behind donating to the Mishkan is to emulate the ways of Hashem Whose only wish is to give - no other goals and nothing incidental to be gained outside of giving. In short, we are speaking here of a giving without looking to receive anything in return, in the manner in which Hashem created the world. Donations should be purely for the sake of giving. Keeping in mind what we opened with in the name of the Ramban, we can now explain that to become chariots of the Shchina requires emulating His ways by giving purely for the sake of giving expecting nothing in return. R' Shimon Shkop in his introduction to Shaarei Yosher cites a Midrash which states that we must be Kadosh like Hashem. The Midrash then asks: "how can man possibly reach Hashem's level of kedusha?" What was the Midrash thinking when it even suggested that we should reach Hashem's level of holiness, clearly there is no chance of this. R' Shimon explains that kedusha in the midrash means designation - to commit yourself to an external purpose - in other words to give without expecting anything in return. The

8 8 of 9 Midrash at first thought that we can attain the level of pure giving, but concludes that man is incapable of giving purely lishma. According to the Sabba M'Kelm, however, this is precisely the level which Bnei Yisrael were expected to have attained when donating to the Mishkan. In his introduction to Sefer Shmot, he writes that the Beha"g referred to Sefer Shmot as the Second Book - the completion of the creation. We can learn from here that just as when Hashem created the world He gave without expecting anything in return, Bnei Yisrael reached this level at the construction of the Mishkan - the completion of the creation. (See Midrash Rabba for a further analysis regarding the completion of the creation. It states there that whatever Hashem created in the Upper Worlds, He created something parallel in the lower worlds). Alumni Dvar Torah by Judah Blumenthal (5765) TAKE IT SLOW In this week's parsha the Torah outlines the details of how to build a Mishkan. Ramban and Rashi famously debate the reason for the construction of the Mishkan. Is the mishkan a result of the chet haegel and thus a b'dieved idea, as Rashi claims? Or, is the Mishkan a lechatchila idea to be a 'meeting place' between the Jews and Hashem, as the Ramban claims? What is motivating Rashi's position to interpret the construction of the Mishkan as a remedy for the sin of the golden calf? What specifically about the Mishkan would fix that which was broken at Har Sinai? Allow me to suggest the following. Let us examine the state of the Jews at Har Sinai. The Torah records that there was "thunder and lightning" (19:16), and that Har Sinai was "all in smoke for the Lord had come down upon it in fire" (19:18). In the next verse (19:19) Hashem instructs Moshe to warn the Jews not to climb the mountain. These verses give us an insight into the intense fervor and excitement that the Jews are experiencing at this time. Unfortunately this experience proves to be too overwhelming for the Jews. They fail to harness this spiritual energy into the proper actions. Later in the Parshat Ki Tissa the Torah describes the disaster of chet haegel that followed this. In this description the Torah uses the very specific word of 'boshesh' which connotes a woeful impatience on behalf of the Jews with Moses' prolonged stay on Har Sinai. Eventually the Jews cast off their golden rings and Aaron makes the Golden Calf. The whole episode happens in the length of six verses. In fact, Hashem describes the Jews as having been "quick to turn aside from the way that I enjoined upon them" (32:8). Thus the Jews stood at Har Sinai in the midst of an uproar of spiritually energy being infused into their veins. Yet this energy was not transformed into the proper physical deeds. The Jews quickly jumped to sin in making the golden calf and were punished severely. With this understanding we can appreciate the message of the Parsht Trumah in outlining every small detail of the Mikdash. The intention of this is to remind us that feelings of spiritual energy and transformation come hand in hand with a great potential for danger. To truly grow in avodat hashem one must harness these amazing experiences and use them carefully and responsibly to refine our everyday lives. If you're interested in writing a Dvar Torah for this newsletter, please contact alumnitorah@yna.edu Visitor Log, Mazal Tov's, Tehillim List

9 9 of 9 Announcements from the Yeshiva Mazal Tov The Yeshiva would like to wish a Mazal Tov to: Daniel(5762) and Gillian Greenbaum on the birth of a baby girl, Lailie Sarah. David (5763) and Rachel Krup on the birth of a baby boy. Visitors: The following people have visited/learned in the Yeshiva: David Ouaknine (5768) Tehillim List The following members of our extended YNA family need our tefilot: Toiby Yehudit bat Tama Gaisa Yitzchak ben Shayna Ita Zev Eliezer ben Chaya Shayndel Rueven ben Tova Chaya Fruma bat Eeta Moshe Zanvel ben Breindel Sima Rivkah bat Eidel Leah bat Eidel Chaim Shmuel Moshe ben Golda Aryeh Rephael ben Sarah Chaya Sarah bat Fanya Luna Yitzchak ben Tova Fraida Rachel bat Sarah Milcha Lea bat Bracha Miriam Rivka bat Adina Leah Perla bat Miriam Rachel bat Sarah Dina Sarah bat Shaindel Mira Tali bat D'vorah Bina Tobah Pessal bat Esther Nachum Tzvi ben Ratza Lottie Adina bat Claudia Orly Bat Yaerah Avraham ben Sarah Send Us Your Announcements Please, if you have any smachot or chas v'shalom, less happy occasions, let our office know so we can keep everybody updated. Are you visiting Israel? - let us know! We'd love to host you for a shabbat meal, davening, a shiur and would love for you to stop by. Shabbat Shalom,