OngShabbos בס"ד SEND IN YOUR ONEG PICTURE S NOW! North Wst London's Wkly Torah and Opinion Shts A Torah publication that nabls local Rabbonim and Avrichim to shar thir insights and Divri Torah on a varity of diffrnt lvls, to provid somthing for vryon. פרשת ויקהל Childrn of Nishmas Yisrol Hndon For Qustions on Divri Torah or articls, to rciv this via mail or for sponsorship opportunitis plas mail 5th March 2016 כ ה אדר א תשע"ו Now in Yrushalayim, Antwrp, Baltimor, Bt Shmsh, Borhamwood, Chil, Cyprus, Edgwar, Elstr, Gibraltar, Hal, Holland, Hong Kong, Ilford, Johannsburg, Las Vgas, London, Los Angls, Manchstr, Mlbourn, Miami, Nw York, Ptach Tikva, Philadlphia, Radltt, Toronto, Vinna, Zurich מוצש ק הדלקת נרות LONDON: 6:38 PM LONDON: 5:31 PM לעילוי נשמת הש"ץ שלמה בן אברהם משה ז"ל לעילוי נשמת חנה בת אלעזר ע"ה K I N D LY SPONSORED פרשת שקלים / שבת מברכין THE GOLD STANDARD Rabbi Jrmy Golkr Had of Kodsh, Hasmonan High School Ovr sixty yar 12 studnts from Hasmonan Girls School rcntly wnt on th school Poland trip. On of th placs thy visitd was th famous yshiva, Chachmi Lublin. Th girls larnd and saw how Rav Mir Shapiro zt l trid to transform th status of yshiva bachurim and limmud hatorah by building a yshiva whr th imposing physical dific would match th towring spiritual standards. Rav Mir Shapiro s ducational philosophy is bautifully xprssd in an ida rlating to this wk s sdra. Th Mchilta (Parshas Yisro, parsha yud) maks an intriguing commnt about th kruvim, th child lik angls standing at ach nd of th aron, that fatur again in this wk s sdra. What would happn if rplacmnt kilim (vssls) wr ndd in th mishkan and gold was not availabl? Could silvr b usd? Or is it gold or nothing? Th Mchilta says that for all th othr kilim in th mishkan, it would b accptabl to mak rplacmnts out of silvr. This is not tru for th kruvim. Th kruvim had to b mad out of gold. Indd, if thy wr fashiond out of silvr, th Mchilta shockingly quats it to making silvr idols! Why? What is so spcial about th kruvim that ncssitats that thy may only b mad out of gold? Rav Mir Shapiro xplains that th kruvim rprsnt chinuch, Th child lik angl sitting on top of th aron ar symbols of youngstrs larning Torah. That is why thy hav to b mad out of gold. Whn it coms to chinuch, thr is no room for good nough. Each lsson has to b outstanding and of th highst quality. Evn silvr is akin to idol worship! This is a powrful ida and srvs as a rsponsibility and bnchmark for thos fortunat nough to b involvd in chinuch, whthr as parnts or mchanchim. Whn it coms to transmitting Torah to th nxt gnration, only a gold standard suffics. t f l s k 2 fw n o i s r v d t n i r p or th From Parshas Vayikra, th Ong will not b availabl in print du to th lack of sponsors and advrtisrs. To continu th print vrsion, advrtis or sponsor a wk for 500. Join th global mailing list by mailing This wks Ong Shabbos Publication is sponsord in mmory of לעילוי נשמת ר' שלום בן שלמה ע ה נפטר ט' אדר תשס"ו Th lat HANS HOFFBAUER z l 9 Adar 5766 For any qustions on Divri Torah plas contact th Editor in Chif, Rabbi Yonasan Roodyn rabbiroodyn@ jwishfuturstrust.com
2 AS G-D COMMANDED MOSHE Rabbi Yakov Habr Torah Wb Th rcurrnt phras in this wk s parasha - ka ashr tziva Hashm s Mosh - is rpatd no lss than ightn tims 1. Th commntaris offr divrs xplanations for this phnomnon ranging from tchnical to halachic to hashkafic. Rav Mir Simcha Hakohn of Dvinsk zt l in his Mshch Chochma xplains that th bigdi khuna dscribd in Pkudi containd sha atnz - wool and linn - and thrfor rquird spcial Divin dispnsation to war thm. Th mishkan, whos construction is mntiond in Vayakhl, by contrast, vn though its curtains also containd sha atnz, but no rgular Torah prohibition was violatd sinc thy wr not worn. Hnc, th Torah indicats that th Jwish popl actd as G-d commandd concrning th bigdi khuna. Concrning th mishkan, this was obvious. Rav Hirsch commnts that th building of th actual mishkan was not considrd complt until it was totally finishd. By contrast, th garmnts of kohanim wr considrd complt as ach on was finishd. Hnc, in our parasha, th abov-mntiond phras appars aftr th formation of ach garmnt indicating its compltion and also concrning th compltion of th construction of th mishkan aftr all of its vssls, walls and curtains wr formd 2. Th Bis HaLvi, Rav Yosf Dov HaLvi Solovitchik zt l, prsnts a pntrating analysis of this rcurring phras in two placs. In parshas Lch Lcha, h xplains this phras to indicat that vn though an individual is highly intllignt and thinks that h knows th rason why Hashm commandd th mitzva, h should prform it not bcaus of his knowldg of th rason but bcaus of th Divin command itslf. Prforming th mitzva bcaus of our undrstanding would not b srving G-d but srving ourslvs by following our undrstanding. A similar duality appars in th Gmara 3. Aftr th Gmara qustions why w blow th shofar on Rosh Hashana, th Gmara challngs th qustion: Why do w blow shofar?! Hashm commandd us to blow! Evn though ta ami hamitzvos ar oftn offrd by Torah scholars as part of Torah study, th mchayv, that which obligats us to do th mitzva is crtainly not th rason, but rathr th Divin command itslf. Whthr on has an insight into a possibl rason or not, h is qually bound by th mitzva bcaus of th Divin commandmnt. In parshas Ki Sisa, h links this concpt to th rlationship btwn th Chit Ha Eigl and th building of th mishkan. On opinion in th Midrash followd by Rashi 4 stats that Hashm commandd Mosh concrning th mishkan only aftr th chit ha gl. Thus, th construction of th mishkan atond for th sin of th goldn calf. Th Bis HaLvi xplains that ach mitzva has normous spiritual, innr dpth and this is crtainly so for th mishkan and mikdash which houss th Divin Prsnc in som mystrious way. On knowldgabl of this dpth of Torah might b tmptd to utilis his knowldg to crat som ntity which will bring down th Divin Prsnc without following any spcific Divin commandmnt. This is what Bni Yisral attmptd to do in forming th gl 5. 1 B r Mosh by R. Mosh Ychil HaLvi of Ozhorov suggsts th Mosh Rabbinu who was willing to giv up his lif for K lal Yisral mritd "chai mntionings of this phras rfrncing his rol as th sh liach of Hashm indicating his trnal lif and lgacy. 2 Shmos 39:42-43 3 Rosh Hashana 16a. 4 Shmos 31:18 5 S Midrash quotd by Ramban (32:1) that thy wr inspird to mak an imag of th gl having witnssd th imag of an ox in th mrkava vision thy xprincd at Har Sinai (s Ychzkl 1:10). Thir grivous rror lay in th fact that only G-d dtrmins what form of worship is appropriat and what kind of structur and vssls would b a corrct form to hous th Shchina. Klal Yisral in constructing th mishkan atond for thir grat sin by not divrging on iota from th Divin command and building it bcaus of G-d's command, not basd on thir insights into its normous spiritual significanc. Crating altrnat forms of worship basd on th prcivd rasons for mitzvos is sinful and can vn lad, as it did in th cas of th gl, to idolatry. Prhaps w can connct all of th approachs givn abov as follows. Divin srvic is itslf a big mystry. How can finit man srv th infinit Crator? As th Midrash 6 tachs, G-d is not affctd by our srvic of Him. Nonthlss, Hashm in His Infinit Wisdom provids for us a mans with which to srv Him and lvat ourslvs through that srvic. Th unifying factor of all of ths approachs is that only G-d can command how His crations should srv and thrby connct to th Infinit On. Whn should on mitzva ovrrid anothr? Only th Torah itslf can dtrmin that. This is Mshch Chochma s taching - th ovrriding of th law of shatnz is only "as G-d commandd Mosh." What if w think w know th rason for a mitzva - shouldn t it b prformd bcaus of that rason? This is what Bis HaLvi tachs: our prformanc of mitzvos is in ordr to follow th Divin command. Th rasons can nhanc but should nvr motivat th mitzva act 7 What if w com up with a nw mod of srvic? This is th scond taching of Bis HaLvi: only G-d can dtrmin th mod of srvic appropriat. But G-d also commandd th chachmi hador to crat safguards to th Torah and vn add Rabbinic mitzvos 8. Th Ran 9 tachs that ths srv as xprssions of ahavas Hashm and yiras Hashm dmonstrating that w do not wish to suffic with just th minimum rquirmnts and also wish to safguard our prcious hritag. Howvr, sinc w cannot choos to srv th Almighty in a way h has not commandd, th chachmi hador must hav normous insight as to what kinds of Rabbinic safguards and Rabbinic mitzvos would "blnd in" with th rst of th Torah and which would b forign intrusions into th Torah systm. Our sags tach us "kol d tikkun rabbanan k in d oraisa tikkun. All Rabbinic nactmnts follow Torah pattrns. To do so proprly rquirs absolut mastry of th Torah far byond that which ordinary Torah scholars possss. Rcnt controvrsis hav ruptd concrning what mods of avodas Hashm ar appropriat and which ar not. Our parsha rsonats again and again with th slogan - ka ashr tziva Hashm s Mosh. Mak sur that vrything is in accordanc with this dirctiv! But how ar w to know Hashm s Will in an ra whn w can no longr ask Mosh Rabbinu to rciv dirct instructions from th Almighty? Th answr is containd in th Torah's dirctiv "ki yipali mim cha davar lamishpat...v asisa k chol ashr yorucha 10. Follow th intrprtations and rulings of th Sanhdrin and in subsqunt ras th gdoli chachmi hador 11 who will b givn Divin assistanc to dtrmin which mod blnds in with th Torah and which dos not. May th Nosin HaTorah continu to grant th chachmi hador th wisdom to guid us in following His will and Am Yisral th dsir to loyally follow thir guidanc. This Dvar Torah has bn kindly submittd by TorahWb.org 6 Brishis Rabba 44:1 7 S Rav Y. D. Solovitchik s shiur on th Korach Rbllion availabl at www.bcbm.org. 8 Th important distinction btwn th Sags until th chasimas hatalmud and thos aftr that tim is byond th scop of our limitd words hr. But vn currnt Chachmi HaDor ar chargd to mak limitd takkanos to prsrv th Torah's intgrity. 9 Drashos 7. 10 Dvarim 17:8-10 11 S Sfr hachinuch 495 2 wks lft for th printd vrsion From Parshas Vayikra, th Ong will not b availabl in print du to th lack of sponsors and advrtisrs. To continu th print vrsion, advrtis or sponsor a wk for 500. Join th global mailing list by mailing 1. Whr do w s a hint to all th 39 malachos of Shabbos at th bginning of Parshas Vayakhl?
3 SHEIMOS FAQ S Rabbi Sruli Guttntag Whitfild Community Kolll and Fdration ShailaTxt This Pag is kindly sponsord by th Fdration FEDERATION What is a Shimos Bank usd for? Can I us my rcycling bin? Halacha forbids us from dstroying any itm that has kdusha associatd with it. Ths itms fall into various catgoris first, thos that hav intrinsic kdusha, which includs anything from mzuzos and tfillin, and printd sfarim such as siddurim, chumashim and gmaros. This would also includ any printd paprs (nwspaprs, magazins, parsha shts) that includ th nam of Hashm in full. Sifri Torah constitut a catgory of thir own and nd to b tratd with xtra kdusha and as such should not b placd in th Shimos Bank. (s tabl for furthr dtails) How do I plac itms in th bank? Itms that ar placd in th Shimos Bank should b put into bags bfor insrting in th slot. Plas not that mzuzos and tfillin should b individually wrappd bfor insrting and car should b takn to nsur that th wrapping is watrproof. What is a Shimos Bank not to b usd for? Printd matrial that includs Divri Torah or incidntal mntion of Divri Torah (s tabl for xampls) ar not subjct to th sam halachos as itms with kdusha, but thy may not b tratd with dirct bizayon, i in a mannr that disgracs thm. (s qustion blow for furthr dtails) If my itm should not go to gniza, how do I dispos of it? It should b doubl-wrappd bfor disposing as normal with othr wast. Brokn tzitzis strings would also fall into this catgory. (s tabl for furthr dtails) Th Fdration Bis Din taks th position that rcycling should b avoidd. Th rcycling procss oftn snds papr to factoris which produc tissu papr rolls and thus is considrd to b a dirct bizayon. Who should I contact if I hav qustions or I m not sur? If you hav a qustion as to whthr your itm is shimos or not, you can contact th Fdration s shaila srvic ShailaTxt by snding a mssag to 07860 017 641, for a rspons within four working hours. Do I nd to pay to us this srvic? Th Fdration s Shimos L Gniza Srvic is offrd to th ntir community fr of charg. Howvr, w do apprciat donations that hlp to dfray th cost of transporting th shimos itms for burial. To mak a donation txt SHEM05 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5 to 70070 or visit www. fdration.org.uk It would b grat if thr was a Shimos Bank closr to my hom! Who do I contact to find out mor about stting on up? To find out if it is possibl to st up a Fdration Shimos L Gniza nar you, plas mail info@fdration.org.uk or tlphon 020 8202 2263 ITEM ACTION Sifri Torah Do not plac in Shimos Bank Mzuzos, tfillin, tfillin straps Plac in Shimos Bank individually wrappd. Ensur sald and watrproof Empty tfillin bags and mpty mzuza cass. Sfarim / photocopid sourc shts with Shm Hashm Plac in Shimos Bank in bags Torah contnt in Jwish nwspaprs and magazins (as long as no Shm Hashm) / photocopid sourc shts without Shm Hashm Parsha shts School projcts Wdding invitations with psukim Doubl wrap and dispos of in a rgular bin do not rcycl Jwish music, vido or story DVDs or CDs Dispos of in a rgular bin THIS PAGE IS KINDLY SPONSORED BY THE FEDERATION Shimos Bank locatd at Bis Hamdrash Nishmas Yisrol 4 Brnt Grn, London NW4 2HA A COMMUNITY SERVICE OF THE 2. Why is havara, burning, (35:3) singld out for spcific mntion mor than any of th othr 39 Avos Mlochs of Shabbos?
4 SHABBOS Rabbi Yhonasan Gfn Rabbi for Ktr HaTorah Th Parsha bgins with an xhortation to obsrv Shabbos: For six days work will b don and th svnth day shall b holy for you, a day of complt rst for Hashm, whovr dos work on it shall b put to dath. 1 Th commntaris ask that th wording of th Torah in this passuk nds xplanation; it should hav said, for six days you will do work in th activ sns, rathr than saying that work will b don in th passiv form 2. Thy xplain that th Torah is taching us about th attitud a prson should hav that will nabl him to hav th fortitud to rfrain from doing mlacha (prohibitd activity) on Shabbos: Throughout th wk a prson is rquird to work in ordr to arn his livlihood, h cannot sit back and xpct G-d to provid for him if h puts in no ffort. H is rquird to put in hishtadlus bcaus of th dcr that Hashm placd upon mankind aftr th sin of Adam HaRishon. Howvr, in truth, all his hishtadlus (ffort) is not th rason for his succss, rathr Hashm is its sol Sourc. On Shabbos, Hashm commands us to rfrain from crativ activity to acknowldg this and that all th work w do in th wk is only part of th gziras hishtadlus (dcr to work). Howvr, if on coms to bliv that his physical fforts ar in fact th caus of his livlihood thn h will find it vry difficult to rfrain from working on Shabbos; h thinks that th mor h works th mor h will arn and thrfor it is logical for him to work on Shabbos as wll as th rst of th wk. In rspons to this rronous attitud, th Torah tlls us that on should viw th work that h dos in a passiv sns - that in truth h dos not do th work, rathr that it is don for him. Hashm, so to spak, dos th work and provids for ach prson s livlihood. If on rcogniss this thn h will find it far asir to rfrain from working on Shabbos bcaus h raliss that in truth his work is not th caus of his livlihood 3. It sms that this lsson is not limitd to avoiding th 39 mlachos that ar forbiddn by th Torah. Thr is a Rabbinical prohibition of spaking about mlacha that on plans to do in th rst of th wk 4. Doing so also shows a lvl of lack of apprciation of th lsson of Shabbos that Hashm provids on s livlihood. Morovr, whilst 1 Shmos, 35:2. 2 S Shmos 20:9 whr th Torah says, you will work and Shmos, 31:15 whr it says, work will b don. 3 S Tallli Oros, Parshas Vayakhl, p.279; Darchi Mussar, Parshas Vayakhl, p.136-7. 4 Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, 307:1. An xcption to this is whn th mlacha involvs a Mitzva of som kind (S Mishna Brurah, sk.,1 for dtails of this htr). it is tchnically prmissibl to think about mlacha on Shabbos, it is nonthlss praisworthy to avoid such thoughts compltly 5. Such a lvl rflcts a tru apprciation of how Shabbos is a rflction on th fact that Hashm runs th world, and that on s own thoughts of mlacha ar of no bnfit. This ida is brought out in th Gmara in Shabbos: Th Gmara tlls of a rightous man who saw that thr was a hol in th fnc of his fild on Shabbos. H thought about fixing it aftr Shabbos, and thn rmmbrd that it was Shabbos and flt guilty about thinking about mlacho on Shabbos. As a show of rgrt h thn dcidd nvr to fix that fnc and as a rward a miracl occurrd and a tzlaf tr grw from which h was abl to support himslf and his family 6. Thr ar two difficultis with this Gmara: Firstly, why did h rfrain from vr fixing th fnc - what was th bnfit of doing so and how could it rctify his initial mistak? Scondly, what was th significanc of th rward h rcivd, how was that a masur for masur rspons to his dcision nvr to build th fnc? It sms that w can answr ths problms through th principl w ar discussing. Whn this rightous man saw th fnc, h thought about fixing it, momntarily forgtting th lsson of Shabbos, that Hashm is th Sourc of on s livlihood and that man s fforts ar worthlss without Hashm s hlp. In ordr to rctify this rror h dcidd to nvr fix th fnc to dmonstrat that h did indd rcogniz that his own fforts wr not th caus of his livlihood. As a rward for this attitud, Hashm showd him masur for masur that h was corrct, and providd him with a nw sourc of incom, th tzlaf tr without any input from th man himslf! This provd that Hashm can provid a prson with his livlihood rgardlss of his hishtadlus. Throughout th wk it is vry difficult to s through th illusion that man s hishtadlus is not th tru caus of his livlihood, and that Hashm is th sol Providr. Shabbos provids man with th opportunity to s clarly that all his hishtadlus is ultimatly unncssary 7. On Shabbos whilst th rst of th world continus striving to arn thir living through ffort, obsrvant Jws rst from such activity, rcognizing that Hashm runs th world without nding man s input. As w hav sn, this attitud dos not only xprss itslf through avoidanc of mlacha, it vn xtnds to rfraining from spaking about mlacha. Th highst lvl is to vn avoid thinking about mlacha that nds to b don. All ths prohibitions ar supposd to instill in us th ralization that all our accomplishmnts throughout th wk only com about bcaus Hashm so dsirs. May w all mrit to obsrv Shabbos fr of action, spch and thought about mlacha. 5 OC 306:8 6 Shabbos, 150b, as xplaind by th Taz, Simun 307:14, in th scond xplanation which h writs is th ikar pshat. 7 As was pointd out arlir this dos not man that on nd not do any physical hishtadlus - aftr Adam HaRishon s sin, thr is a dcr that man must work by th swat of his brow. 2 wks lft for th printd vrsion From Parshas Vayikra, th Ong will not b availabl in print du to th lack of sponsors and advrtisrs. To continu th print vrsion, advrtis or sponsor a wk for 500. Join th global mailing list by mailing 3. Why was th punishmnt for th Nsiyim s lack of zalousnss in bringing donations to th mishkan sn in thir nam bing writtn missing th lttr yud? (Rashi 35:27)
5 A GOOD NAME IS BETTER THAN GOOD OIL Rabbi Yissochor Frand Magid Shiur, Yshivas Nr Yisrol, Baltimor Thr is an intrsting mdrash on th pasuk S G-d has calld by nam Btzall son of Uri son of Chur of th trib of Yhudah [Shmos 35:30]. Th mdrash rfrncs th pasuk in Kohls A good nam is bttr than good oil [Kohls 7:1]. Th mdrash laborats that th scnt of good oil may prcd th oil by a mil or two at most, vn if th oil has a vry powrful aroma. Howvr, a good nam can prcd a prson vn across continnts. Th mdrash thn asks how far a prson must rmov himslf from contact with th prohibition of shatnz [th forbiddn mixtur of wool and linn]. Th mdrash answrs that vn if a prson is waring 99 layrs of clothing and non of thm ar shatnz, h still may not war a garmnt containing shatnz as th on hundrdth layr of clothing. What is th connction btwn distancing onslf from shatnz and th pasuk that says, A good nam is bttr than good oil? Rav Nissan Alprt zt l givs th following intrprtation of this mdrash (in his sfr Limudi Nissan): Evry tim th Torah introducs Btzall, it uss th following uniqu xprssion: Look, I v calld him by this nam... Why dos th Torah giv Btzall such an introduction? Th mdrash xplains that th rason why Btzall mritd to b th mastr buildr of th Mishkan was not bcaus h had mastr architctural talnts or spcial artistic ability. Btzall s uniqunss was that h -- for som rason -- mritd having a good nam. Th mdrash thn mphasizs how wondrful it is to hav a good rputation (shm tov). G-d, in choosing somon to construct his dwlling plac on arth (th mishkan), did not want to b associatd with anyon who had anything lss than an impccabl rputation. How dos on obtain a good rputation? Th mdrash answrs this qustion by introducing th mattr of shatnz. Th mdrash is taching that th way a prson acquirs a good nam is not by mrly avoiding vil or sin, but by avoiding vn th slightst hint of improprity. It is not sufficint to mrly play it by th book. A prson must distanc himslf to th ultimat xtnt from anything that vn smacks of improprity. Shatnz is a pculiar prohibition, in that th two substancs involvd (wool and linn) ar compltly prmittd whn takn individually. Only a combination of th two is prohibitd. Th Torah is taching us that a prson mrits a good nam by staying away from shatnz. Avoiding shatnz rprsnts staying away from anything that has vn a minut mixtur of somthing impropr. Thos popl in our communitis who hav achivd a good nam ar popl who ar abov rproach. Thy hav rmovd thmslvs from any taint of scandal or improprity. Impccabl rputations ar not achivd by playing it on th dg or bnding th ruls. W all know that crtain popl s handshaks ar mor rliabl than othr popl s signd contracts. Th rason why is bcaus th first group of popl stay away from forbiddn mixturs. Thy stay away from th slightst hint of non- Koshr businss practics. Ultimatly, this is what pays off for thm in th long run. Whn G-d builds a mishkan, H dos not want it built by a prson rgarding whom popl may hav suspicions. H wants a Btzall -- a prson abov rproach, who posssss a good nam, which is suprior to good oil. 2 wks lft for th printd vrsion From Parshas Vayikra, th Ong will not b availabl in print du to th lack of sponsors and advrtisrs. To continu th print vrsion, advrtis or sponsor a wk for 500. Join th global mailing list by mailing 4. What do w larn from parshas vayakhl rgarding whn th mishkon was built?
6 VIEWS FROM HISTORY Rabbi Aubry Hrsh Snior lcturr & Europan Hritag tour guid : JLE HISTORY הב ח Rabbi Yol Sirks In common with many Gdolim of th tim, littl is known about his prsonal lif byond that which is mntiond in his tshuvos, and although his yahrzit is known to b on th 20 th Adar, th yar itslf is somwhat of a mystry. His kvr has two (almost idntical) Matzvos, nithr bing th original. Th nwst - which was mad in th 1950s - givs th yar as 1640, whras th on mad in th 18 th cntury rcords it as 1641 and sinc his last tshuva was writtn in 1638, th qustion rmains unrsolvd. Th matzva also lists th 8 towns in which h was Rov, including Blz, Brisk & last of all Krakow, whr h livd from 1619 until his ptirah. H was born in Lublin in 1561, at a tim whn Poland & Lithuania had unitd, which thrby cratd th largst Jwish community in xistnc. Sfarim wr bing printd thr for th first tim, particularly in Krakow and Lublin, and both towns took on a mor important rol aftr 1553, whn Pop Julius III bannd any printing of Shas in Italy. This accounts for th Bach s fforts in writing th Hagaos HaBach, which dals with rrors in th txt of th Gmora, Rashi and Tosfos. Many of ths mistaks occurrd bcaus th copyists and printrs wr unlarnd or vn non-jwish. His rsarch was mad somwhat asir by th fact that h possssd a larg library of both sforim and manuscripts, which was quit unusual at th tim. Th 16 th cntury was also th ra whn kabbala bgan to b taught mor publicly. Th Bach was a strong dfndr of kabbala (quoting th Zohar frquntly and calling it th mkor hatorah), nvrthlss h mad it clar in situations whr kabbala and halacha conflict, that Halacha was th final word. אין לנו לנהוג על דרך הקבלה כל שהוא נגד מסקנת התלמוד H wrot a pirush on Rabbi Mosh Cordrvro s kabbalistic sfr Pards Rimonim and on on mgillas rus, but h is bst known for two othr works. Th first bing his tshuvos - most of which wr writtn during his yars in Krakow, whr h achivd a masur of mnucha that had ludd him in his othr rabbinats which wr first printd many yars aftr h did: th Shu t Bach Yshonos in th 1690s and th Shu t Bach Chadoshos almost 150 yars latr. His scond wll known sfr is his nots on all 4 chalakim of th Tur, which ar printd alongsid th Tur itslf. It was calld Bayis Chadash and is rfrrd to by th acronym Bach.?שנת תא or שנת ת Thr ar also a numbr of spcific halachic dcisions that h is famous for. His lnincy with rgards to chadash, th nw grain that has bn harvstd bfor psach. H pasknd that all grain in Chutz L Artz grown by a non-jw was not subjct to th rstrictions of chadash, was opposd by many poskim, including his son-in-law th Taz, as wll as th Shach, th Shulchan Aruch & th Mgini Shlomo. Th Bach stood firm howvr, and wrot that anyon who wantd to b machmir in this ara, should do so for thmslvs only. H also changd th mthod of mchiras chamtz. Whras Jws had bn slling chamtz in th tims of th Rishonim, it had rquird th rmoval of all chomtz from th prson s rsidnc. Changing circumstancs in Poland שרוב) mad this almost impossibl, sinc Jws ran inns across th kingdom (משא ומתן ביין שרף וא א למוכרם לגוי מחוץ לבית H thrfor allowd th room in which th chamtz was locatd, to b sold to a non-jw, a dcision which both th Taz and th Magn Avraham agrd with, and which is familiar to us today. Possibly th gratst chang in psak Halacha though, was th cration of th Shulchan Aruch in 1569, and although many gdolim wr advocats for it, it had vocal critics such as th Maharashal and th Lvush. Th Bach himslf wrot that on would not b allowd to paskn Halacha basd purly א א לפסוק מהשו ע, ומי שלא רגיל בלימוד) on knowldg of th Shulchan Aruch and this cam to th for in on of his longst (הגמ א א לו להורות הוראה נכונה tshuvos, whn h argus against th chazzan of his shul in Krakow, who was not proficint in Gmara, yt would paskn nonthlss. Mor than 20,000 Torah vidos & ovr 400 diffrnt spakrs torahanytim.com www.mastrtorah.com Rav Mir Pogrow has a most ambitious goal: to nabl th avrag layman, to larn and conqur th ENTIRE Torah Tanach, Mishna, Gmara, and Rambam! As inconcivabl as this sounds, h has alrady sn incrdibl succss with hundrds of studnts around th world. Thousands of Mishnayos. Hundrds of Blatt Gmara. Sound too amazing to b tru? 5. Rashi (38:8) brings that Mosh initially did not want to accpt th mirrors for th kiyor from th womn. Why thn did h accpt othr donations from th womn without any rsrvations (35:21)?
7 MY WEEKLY HALACHIC QUESTION Rabbi Avi Wisnfld Rosh Kolll, Yrushalayim and Rav at Kav Halachah Bis Horaah HALACHAH KASHRUS STORIES [Part 1] Follow Rabbi Wisnfld s shiurim on torahanytim.com 1 Evr sinc th Nr Torah yshivah movd to a nw location, Mr. Stin, who usd to work thr as a chf, has bn unmployd. On day, his two sons discussd how to hlp thir fathr find a job. W v prtty much trid all th Jwish institutions, and non of thm ar looking for a chf, said Moishy. Prhaps w could apply to a non- Jwish rstaurant or hotl. I m sur with Daddy s xprinc, thy d hir him. That may b a problm, said Yossi slowly. What if h d hav to cook mat and milk togthr, for xampl? Oh, h wouldn t tast th food, of cours, rplid Moishy. H surly knows th rcips by now. And anyway, I guss thr d b non-jwish chfs around who could tast th dishs for him if ncssary. Yossi wasn t convincd. I don t know, h said. I rmmbr onc larning that you mustn t hat up a mal for a non-jwish maid in your hous if it contains mat and dairy. That s probably bcaus you it might mak your own dishs unkoshr, said Moishy. But you know what? Lt s chck with Daddy. Think about th wording of th passuk in th Torah which tachs us th halachah of mat and dairy, was Daddy s rply. That ll giv you th answr. What is Daddy rfrring to? ANSWER Th Torah tlls us in thr placs that on may not cook (a young animal s) mat in (its mothr s) milk. Evn if you do not tast it, but ar mrly cooking or warming up food for non-jws, it is forbiddn. Thus, Daddy mustn t work in a rstaurant whr h d b rquird to cook mat and milk togthr, and on may not warm up a mat and milk dish for a non-jwish maid, vn if you us th maid s utnsils and thr is no kashrus risk to your own pots. 2 Mrs. Parlstin wasn t at hom to grt hr sons whn thy rturnd from chdr. Sh lft thm a not saying sh d gon to th doctor and thr was a flishig mal in th fridg, which thy could warm up. Shauli agrly poppd a plat of matballs and spaghtti into th microwav, but Mnachm wasn t vry hungry and dcidd h d just hlp himslf to a plat of cornflaks and milk. Thy sat round th kitchn tabl, about to bgin thir mal, whn Shauli suddnly ralizd it might b a problm. You r ating dairy food, but I m ating flishig, h said to Mnachm. I don t think w r allowd to at at th sam tabl. A discussion aros. Mnachm wondrd why it would b a problm. I don t fl lik ating mat right now, in any cas, so thr s no way I d b tmptd to tast som of your food. And you r allrgic to milk and only drink soy milk, so you would dfinitly not at som of my food. Why shouldn t w b abl to at at th sam tabl? It sounds logical, but I hav a snaking suspicion w r still not allowd to at togthr at th sam tabl. You go and at in th dining room for now, and lt s chck th halachah latr, suggstd Shauli. Latr, Shauli pickd up th nw sfr his fathr had purchasd rcntly, Kashrus in th Kitchn, Q & A. I wasn t ntirly right, Shauli concludd. Th way w wr ating togthr wasn t prmissibl, but at th sam tim, it was unncssary for you to go into a diffrnt room. W could still hav atn togthr at th sam tabl if w d hav takn crtain masurs. What masurs did th two brothrs hav to tak in ordr to b abl to at togthr at th sam tabl? And dos th fact that thy both wouldn t hav bn tmptd to touch ach othr s foods mak th halachah diffrnt in any way? ANSWER Chazal prohibitd having mat and dairy on on tabl, lst thy b atn togthr. If th two popl do not know ach othr, this prohibition dosn t apply, for thy will not tak food from ach othr. Howvr, two family mmbrs or acquaintancs may only at mat and dairy at th sam tabl if thy plac a hkr btwn thm. A hkr is a sign somthing noticabl placd on th tabl that dosn t usually blong thr, and it rminds th two not to at from ach thr. A hkr could also b two diffrnt tablcloths or placmats, if on dosn t normally at that way. It maks no diffrnc if th popl ar convincd thy will not tast ach othr s foods bcaus thy ar allrgic to th food or do not lik it tc. It is still not prmissibl to hav maty and dairy food on th sam tabl without a hkr, unlss th tabl is vry big, and th two popl ar sitting byond ach othr s rach. 2 wks lft for th printd vrsion From Parshas Vayikra, th Ong will not b availabl in print du to th lack of sponsors and advrtisrs. To continu th print vrsion, advrtis or sponsor a wk for 500. Join th global mailing list by mailing 6. Why is th ordr changd whn th mishkan was actually built undr th guidanc of Btzall first th mishkan and thn kilim, and whn Mosh was told to build th mishkan- first th kilim and thn th mishkan?
8 THE ARBAH PARSHIOS Boruch Kahan Author of riddl of th wk This wk is th first wk of th arbah parshios. Many popl hav a problm rmmbring th corrct ordr in which thy occur, so this was somthing I was taught, basd on an old nursry rhym many yars ago that you may find usful. I will giv you a Shkl or half a Shkl (Shkalim) if you can Rmmbr (Zachor) that th Cow (Parah) jumpd ovr th Moon (Hachodsh) On a mor srious not, two common qustions aris whn this tim of yar coms around. Firstly, what is th significanc in th ordr of th parshios, and mor importantly, why wr Chazal institut that thy should davka fall in ths months of Adar/Purim and Nissan/Pr Psach tim? What is th hiddn significanc of this timing? Rabbi Mordchai Millr zt l xplaind th following; Th Mishnah in pirki avos tlls us that hakinoh v hataavah v hakovod motziin s ha adam min ha olam. Ths ar thr bad charactr traits that caus a prson to b xplld from this world, and ar thrfor middos that a prson should work on radicating. Thy ar kinah Jalousy, taavah Lustfulnss and kavod th pursuit of Honour. Rabbi Millr xplaind that th first thr of th arbah parshios ar lind in ordr for us to warn us against ths bad middos. Shkalim - th whol ssnc of giving a half shkl is to show that as far as Hashm is concrnd thr is no diffrnc btwn th rich or poor, vryon had to donat a half a Shkl to building th mishkan rgardlss of what thy could afford. This would thrfor countract any flings of jalousy as vryon was considrd an qual. Zachor - w rmmbr how Hashm punishd and dstroyd Amalk, and Haman in th Purim story, th nation that rprsnts th antithsis of vrything that is good. Thr wr no gratr baali taavah and followrs of thir ytzr hara than Amalk, so w rmmbr th importanc of not following thir corrupt and dcadnt ways. Parah - w lin in this parsha that two of th things that ar brought ar tz rz and izov. Th mforshim xplain that anyon who thought h was as tall and haughty as an rz, a mighty cdar tr, is brought down to arth and is considrd as lowly as th izov, th hyssop which vn whn fully matur is not vry tall. Again an important lsson is taught to work on on s midda of kavod to nvr think on is gratr than on actually is. Prhaps onc w hav undrstood th mssag of th first thr parshios, and in a way hav workd on our sur mi rah, putting our bad middos to on sid, w can prpar our asi tov of doing mitzvos and larning Torah. This is rprsntd by parshas hachodsh. Rashi tlls us on th first pasuk in Brishis that this pasuk of Hachodsh hazh lachm is rally whr th Torah should hav startd, and in fact th Mchiltah, th pirush of all th halochos and droshos that ar larnt from psukim in sfr shmos starts xactly from hr. Furthrmor, Bni Yisrol wr born, and bcam th nation of Hashm, th am hanivchar, during Nissan aftr ytzias mitzrayim and th bginning of this procss was on Rosh Chodsh Nissan. As th maamar Chazal tlls us in th Gmara in Rosh Hashana BNissan nigolu UbNissan asidin ligal. In Nissan w wr rdmd and in Nissan in th futur w shall b rdmd onc again. This thn is th mssag of th arba parshios, whn w har parshas hachodsh this yar may w b zochh that this should b th nd of our golus, and that in this forthcoming month of Nissan Hashm rdm us m avdus l chirus. ANSWERS 1 Th Baal Haturim (35:1) brings that it is sn from th words Eilh Hadvarim. Th word dvarim mans things, th minimum bing two. Th addition Hi maks thr. Th word ilh is th gmatria of 36 making a total of 39. It thn gos on to discuss about Shabbos. 2 This is bcaus havora, burning, dos not sm lik so much of a mlacha. Th Sforno says that burning sms to b a kilkul, dstructiv. Howvr, sinc it is usd in most mlachos thrfor it is forbiddn. 3 Prhaps th ida is that bcaus thy wr haughty by saying that th popl should first donat and thy would thn supply any shortfall, thrfor th lttr yud, th smallst lttr that rprsnts humility, was missing from thir nam. 4 Th Vilna Gaon (Shir Hashirim, 1:4) brings that Mosh cam down from th mountain on Yom Kippur, th 10 th of Tishri. Thn h gathrd thm (Vayakhl, 35:1) and told thm about th mishkan on th 11 th of Tishri. Thn th popl brought donations for th nxt two days (36:3) and thn on th 14 th of Tishri th craftsmn wighd and countd th donations and thn th actual building of th mishkan startd on th 15 th of Tishri. 5 Th Ramban (38:18) answrs that th othr donations from th womn would b mixd togthr and annulld with th donations from th mn. Howvr, th mirrors wr only givn by th womn and thrfor wr qurid. 6 Btzall was looking at things from a practical worldly viwpoint. First you nd to build th building that will hous th vssls. Mosh was looking at it from th spiritual viwpoint and kdusha. First to com wr th innr vssls and only thn th xtrior building. (S Gmara Brachos 55a) 2 wks lft for th printd vrsion From Parshas Vayikra, th Ong will not b availabl in print du to th lack of sponsors and advrtisrs. To continu th print vrsion, advrtis or sponsor a wk for 500. Join th global mailing list by mailing Plas could you nsur that thr ar ampl shts lft in shuls for Shabbos bfor taking on hom -as thr hav bn fw lft in shuls. This nwslttr contains Divri Torah and may contain Shimos - plas dispos of accordingly.