bbat-B'Sh

Shabbato Parshaat AchareeiShab

Kedo
doshim
No 11571: 6 Iyyar 5775 (25
( April 2015)
OTE: Zomet Institute,
I
Gal-Oren Publisheers and Mizrachi
*** NO
Canadaa, extend theirr condolences to Rabbi Ourry Cherki and his
family on the murder of his son Shalom Yoch
hai in a terrorrist
mily be conso
oled by heaven
n."
attack in Jerusalem. "May the fam
***
Thousands atttend funeral for Jerusalem car-rammiing
(See: T
victim))
The artticle below waas written befo
ore the attack took
t
place.
******
AS SHA
ABBAT APPR
ROACHES
What w
will the Otheer Nations Saay? - by Rabb
bi Oury Cherrki,
Macho
on Meir, Rabbii of Beit Yehu
uda Congregattion, Jerusalem
m
orld in a universsal way. Just as He
G-d leaads all of the nations of the wo
took H
His nation out of slavery into
o freedom, so He brings otther
nations into the light of the world. "You
"
are for me
m like the sonss of
the Kusshim, Bnei Yisrrael that is th
he word of G-d
d. Did I not brring
Yisrael up out of the Land
L
of Egypt, the Pelishtim from Kaftor, and
a
Aram frrom Kir?" [Am
mos 9:7]. Howevver, while the hiistory of the otther
nations comes to an end, the nation
n of Yisrael haas been promised
that eveen if it will be severely
s
punish
hed for its sins it will never ceease
to existt: "However, I will never desttroy the House of Yaacov" [99:8].
This discrimination between Yisraell and the otherr nations is no
ot a
of apathy towarrds the fate of the
t other nation
ns, as can be seeen
result o
from th
he definition off the goal of Avraham,
A
our Patriarch:
P
"And
d all
the fam
milies of the worrld will be blesssed through youu" [Bereishit 122:3].
Just thee opposite th
he eternal charaacter of Bnei Yisrael serves alll of
humaniity in that the nation
n
of Yisraael provides a memory
m
of all the
other ccultures of hum
manity. They continue
c
to exiist for all etern
nity
through
h the impressio
on that they haave left in the collective
c
memory
of Yisraael, the nation of
o eternity.
As an eexample, the liiving remains of
o ancient Egyypt consist of the
mark th
hat this countryy left in formingg the identity of
o Yisrael. And the
nation of Yisrael payys a heavy price for this rolle of adding one
o
fi it up againstt its
elementt after another to its characterr, in order to fill
will until the fulfillm
ment of the Diviine plan of the return to Zion
n, as
e
of this weeek's Hafatarah
h (for Kedosh
him,
is descrribed at the end
accordin
ng to the custom of Ashkenazz) [Amos 9:155].
The Haaftarah that is read
r
by the Sep
phardim explaiins the reason for
the Divvine interest in keeping the pro
omise of the etternal characterr of
the natiion of Yisrael it is "for My name" [Yechezkel 20:9,14]. The
T
dispersiion of Yisrael and
a their exile is a desecratio
on of G-d's nam
me,
and theerefore it is neccessary to redeeem them even
n if they have not
n
improveed their actionss.
The maain criterion forr the advance of
o history is the sanctification
n of
G-d's n
name. In his boo
ok "Da'at U'Teevunot," the Ram
mchal explains that
t
this enttails a combinaation of two tyypes of guidan
nce: To reveal the
unity of G-d, which is
i the main priinciple, and to show the proper
or of justice.
behavio

And thi s leads us to a m

moral question: How can it bee that with resp
pect
most significannt event in all of history, thee redemption, the
to the m
existencce or lack of ggood deeds haas no effect at all? This tensiion
betweenn the inevitabiliity of redemptio
on and arbitraryy choices made by
man is w
what makes it nnecessary for th
he nation of Yissrael to observee all
the mitzzvot in detail, inn order to avoiid creating a disssonance betweeen
the neeed for justice ((which appearss in the coven
nant in the Torah
portion of Bechukotaai) and the vallues of the paath of unification,
orking to gloriify His name, no
which iinsists that G-dd is always wo
what else is haappening. Andd that is why th
he Haftarah en
nds
matter w
with thee adamant dem
mand of the H
Holy One, Blesssed be He: "I am
your G--d. Follow My llaws and mainttain My just acttions and perfo
orm
them, annd sanctify my Shabbat and leet it be a symbo
ol between Me and
a
you, in oorder to know that I am your G-d." [Yechezkkel 20:19-20].
Cherki is the hhead of Brit O
Olam Noahidde World Center,
Rabbi C
Jerusalem
m
T OF VIEW
POINT
We Rem
member, We Bleed, and W
We are not Sillent! - by Rab
bbi
Yisrael Rozen, Dean of the Zomet Institute
"After tthe two sons of Aharon dieed..." [Vayikra 16:1]. "I will be
sanctifieed through my holy ones, and I will be honorred in front of the
entire naation. And Ahaaron was silen
nt." [10:3].
mption Lies in
n Rememberin
ng"
"The SSecret of Redem
The passt two weeks have been filleed with sadnesss and grief. Last
L
week inncluded the Meemorial Day ffor Fallen Sold
diers and for the
t
Victimss of Terrorissm, and the week before that we mark
ked
Holocaaust Rememb
brance Day and its dreaddful times. Yo
om
Haatzm
maut (the Day of Independen
nce) which we celebrated in the
last few
w days is a direcct consequence of the previouus sad days, and
d it
gains itss great strengthh from the meemories. My feeeling is that these
memoriial days are thee high point of our national patriotic feelin
ngs.
They exxpress our stifff-necked natio
onal attitude w
with strength and
a
pride, toogether with oour eternal cryy, "The nation of Yisrael livees!"
This in a way is more vital than the celebrations off Yom Haatzmaut
with its ceremonial chaaracter and its fflags and barbeqques.
I am w
writing this artiicle soon after Holocaust Reemembrance Day,
D
before M
Memorial Day and the Day o
of Independence, and I can still
s
hear in my ears the tallk of Holocaustt survivors who
o live amongst us.
Their horrifying peersonal memo
ories bring out amazemeent,
appreciaation, and wonnder: "How couuld you return tto normal lives, at
least in eexternal appearrance, after the frightening exp
periences that you
y
had?" T
The answer thatt they all gave w
was: the eternity of Yisrael - the
G-d of Yisrael, and thhe nation of Yiisrael. The indivvidual weaved his
or her liife from the pooint of view off the communitty as a whole, and
a
this wass their source of strength and llife.
We Rem
member Togeether

From tthis we can move

m
smoothlyy to the memory of the falllen
soldierss, with added emphasis on the victims of
o terror attaccks.
Murderrous terrorism strikes
s
against us
u without pausse.
For thee last few yearrs a very impressive event has
h taken placee in
Jerusaleem on the eve of Memorial Day,
D called "Wee Remember, we
Sing, aand we Tell."" The entire evvening is a way
w of giving an
embracce to bereaveed families. This
T
event is organized by the
organization "Zochrrim" (We Remember),
R
headed by Dov
D
nowitz (the firstt victim of the First Intifada, now a memberr of
Kalman
the Jeruusalem city cou
uncil), who reccovered from very
v
serious buurns
and deddicated himselff to initiating a national project that enhan
nces
the pridde of bereaved
d families and of us all. Tho
ousands of peo
ople
gather aat the Sultan's Pool, outside the
t walls of Jerusalem, and lissten
breathleess and with teaars in their eyes to words, muusic, and poetryy all
salutingg those who were
w
injured in the battlefiields, both those
wearingg uniforms and in civilian clotthing. The uniqque element of the
eveningg is the tremen
ndous cooperaation between IDF injured and
a
victimss of terrorism
m, between nonreligious, religious, and
a
Chareid
dim (!), betweeen Jews and non-Jews (Drruze, Christian
ns),
betweeen the fallen and
a
incurablee injured oness and those who
w
have m
made remarkab
ble recoveries.
As I wrrite this article I still have strong memories of
o last year's eveent.
This eddition of Shabbaat-B'Shabbato will
w be publisheed after this year's
gatherin
ng, which will have taken plaace in the interrvening week, and
a
which I also hope to attend. To ou
ur great sorrow
w, every year new
n
familiess are added to the legions of
o the bereaved
d, with their own
o
stories of national and
d personal heroism. This year we salute the
t
warriorrs who particiipated in Opeeration Protecttive Edge, tho
ose
who saacrificed them
mselves and were
w
either killed
k
or injurred
while p
performing th
heir duties. We
W also remeember the three
young men who were
w
kidnappeed in Gush Etzion
E
and th
heir
ny people who were stabbed
d in
amazingg families, togeether with man
the citiees and roads th
hroughout the land,
l
in addition
n those who were
w
purpossely run over, killed or maim
med at bus sto
ops, train statio
ons,
and hitcchhiking station
ns.
"He wh
ho avenges the blood will rem
member them" [Tehillim 9:133]
This refers to the Ho
oly One, Blesseed be He, and we follow in His
H
footstep
ps. From the depths
d
of our hearts
h
we cry out
o about the car
attack which cut sh
hort the life of a young maan in his prim
me,
Shalom
m Yochai Cherki, son of ou
ur colleague Raabbi Oury Cherki,
also injuring his closee friend and we wish her a speedy recoveery.
There ccan be no moree eloquent word
ds than the cryy of a father at the
funeral of his son, a martyr
m
becausee he was a Jew
w, whom no otther
creaturee can stand up to.
t (See Bava Batra
B
10b.)
Consollation
After A
Aharon's sons died,
d
we are told
d, "And Aharo
on was silent" as
quoted above. This "siilence" means that
t the one wh
ho experienced the
sufferin
ng was quiet, but
b that those around him arre commanded
d to
consolee him, by tryingg to calm him down and by crying
c
out to G-d:
G
"Enouggh!" As our sagges taught us, "'And Aharon was
w silent' To be
quiet m
means to offerr consolation."" [Avot D'Rebb
be Natan, Chap
pter
5].
A big siin is perpetrated
d for the peoplle themselves an
nd for the famiilies
by thosse who have adopted
a
the "modern" practtice of a foreiign
culturee of mourning,, best described
d by the verse, "He
" sits alone and
a
is silentt" [Eicha 3:28]. This is not the way of Judaism
m, which has beeen

blessed with a numbeer of mitzvot rrelated to conssolation, including

the instrructions to the mourners not to lock the doo
or for people who
w
come too offer consollation. And eveen beyond thiss, sitting alone in
mourninng is a missed opportunity. T
The practice off "shiva" provid
des
an oppoortunity to rem
member the goo
od traits of thee deceased and
d to
praise hhim or her as aan educational or ethical exam
mple, so that "the
living caan take the mattter to heart" [K
Kohellet 7:2].
The miitzva of consollation goes han
nd in hand wiith the mitzva of
of mourning, I will
w
attendinng a funeral. Sinnce I have raiseed the subject o
take notte of an event which has upset me very muuch since a funeeral
which ttook place on the first day of Chol Ham
moed Pesach: The
T
commannd is to "accom
mpany" the deceased and not tto push and cru
ush
other peeople. What w
was the Holy O
One, Blessed be He, trying
g to
hint at in the terrib
ble tragedy off the deaths o
of "two sons of
Aharon
n" who were trrampled to deeath "in their close approac
ch"
to the ccoffin of one oof the Torah giiants of this geeneration, Rab
bbi
Shmuell Halevi Vazn
ner? Only G-d
d has the answ
wers! It is sillyy to
blame tthe police or tthe organizers of the funeraal. Only G-d has
h
answerss, and we at a looss about what to do...
OUR WELLSSPRINGS BUR
RST FORTH
LET YO
"They Approached before G-d and they Dieed" - by Rab
bbi
Torah of Chaabad for Yeshiva
Moshe Shilat, Direcctor of "The T
Studentts"
ngly. It can eveen lead to death
h.
It can b e dangerous to yearn too stron
The desscriptions of thhe two sons off Aharon who died are positiive,
denotingg being close too G-d! In this w
week's portion tthey are describ
bed
as "wheen they approaached before G
G-d" [Vayikra 116:1]. And beffore
this, in the portion off Shemini, "I w
will be sanctifiied through tho
ose
And Rashi quottes a famous M
Midrash: "My dear
d
close too Me" [10:3]. A
brother Aharon, I knew
w that the Tem
mple would be ssanctified throu
ugh
me or you. Now
wI
those cllose to G-d, buut I thought thaat it would be m
see that they were greaater than you orr me."
We do nnot know whatt it means to bee Moshe, and w
we certainly do not
n
know w
what it means tto be greater tthan he was. T
The power of the
yearningg, the desire, annd the strainingg of the soul to reach the Holyy of
Holies iis infinitely greeater than any o
other lust existting in this worrld.
They coould not withsttand the urge, and they burstt into the Holyy of
Holies. They died as a result of clingging. And thereefore Aharon was
w
warned not to enter intto the holiest area whenever h
he felt like it.
The sagges compare thi
his to a sick perrson with high fever, who waants
to lie doown in a cool place in order to lower his fe
fever. But this will
w
not curee him, it will oonly make mattters worse, an
nd it can even kill
him. Whhen there is greeat heat in the h
heart, it is impo
ortant for a persson
to be veery careful and tto restrain himself.
The Ob
bjective is in th
he Element off "Shuv"
The serrvice of G-d iss built up on a basis of "raatzo" and "shuv""
moving forward and rreturning. A fasst run upwardss, turning towards
G-d wiith strong yearrning, that is the net servicce of the Diviine,
followedd by landing and a return to reality, thiss world, and our
o
"animal " souls. The H
Holy One, Blesssed be He, wan
nts us here in this
t
We strain to riise up and "gett a breath of aiir," but we retu
urn
world. W
below aand are able to refine the murrky reality. We must never alllow
ourselvees to get caughht at one of th
he two poles. R
Running back and
a
forth toortures us but itt also gives joy to the soul. Th
hat is why we were
w
welling place forr Him down beelow.
created to make a dw

Before we fly upwards, we must preepare the "shuv,," the return. This
T
week's T
Torah portion is busy with th
he entry of thee High Priest in
nto
the Holly of Holies on
n Yom Kippur. This is the hiighlight of "ratzzo."
The preeparations, thee purity, and th
he cleanliness include removving
any vesstige of personaal desire, and giving
g
ourselvess over fully to the
Will of G-d, even tho
ough the ratzo will be immediately followed by
which is the most important element. The onlly valid reason for
shuv, w
rising up
uent return below to reality.
p is the subsequ
hes 'before G-d
d' he must preceede
"The truuth is that when one approach
this witth 'you shall pu
urify yourselvess' [Vayikra 16:330] in a clean and
a
pure waay. We must in
nternalize in a practical
p
way that the higher we
rise up the lower will be our fall afteerwards. And raatzo without sh
huv
h." [Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak from
m Lubavitch].
is death
Therefo
ore the High Priest,
P
when he left the Holy of Holies, prayyed
mainly for the physicaal benefits for the
t nation of Yisrael.
Y
He prayyed
f the trees in the fields to giive their yield, and
a
for a yeear of rain and for
that no woman should
d abort the fruiits of her wom
mb. This is because
d be He, wants us
u here, in this world.
the Holly One, Blessed
"
is a Necessity
N
But thee Element of "Ratzo"
m
With alll of the abovve, during the actual time of ratzo, we must
maintain
n the desire to
o run! We shou
uld not be thin
nking all the tiime
about rreturning but rather
r
we musst yearn to risee up with all our
o
might. However, the ratzo must aim
m directly for the Will of G-d,
G
o everything Hee said whetheer to rise up orr to
clingingg to G-d and to
go dow
wn. Even if we
w would preffer to remain with the joy of
tremenddous clinging, we
w still agree, haappily, to remo
ove ourselves from
it and tto return to reaality (shuv). Th
hat is the essence of the storyy of
Rabbi A
Akiva, who en
ntered the "Paardess" peacefuully and left itt in
peace. T
The height of the
t Pardess is not suitable fo
or everybody. Like
L
Aharon
n's sons, the oth
her wise men were
w harmed by the blinding ligght.
But Raabbi Akiva, fro
om the very beginning,
b
entered in peace. He
enteredd with the full knowledge
k
that he would havee to leave, that the
goal of ratzo is to fulffill the Will of G-d, who wan
nts the elementt of
shuv rigght after the rattzo.
And w
when a person returns to reeality, it is perrmitted and evven
desirablle for him to feel in the dep
pths of his heart that "you live
l
against your will." Ourr internal yearn
ning is to leave everything beh
hind
and to enter into the Holy of Holiess, if only G-d would
w
allow uss to
do so. In this way, we
w will always hold
h
our heads high, above the
world, aand we will nott sink down into
o it. We will risse up above it, and
a
then wee will return to it in order to raaise it up togeth
her with us.
M THE TREASURY OF CH
HASSIDIC STO
ORIES
FROM
A Melo
ody in a Suitcaase: Chassidic Souls in a Neew Land - by Zev
Z
Kitzis, Kibbutz Hadaati Yeshiva an
nd Bar Ilan Un
niversity
When I try to imagin
ne the generation of people who
w built up our
o
land, th
he generation off my grandparents and yours, I see in my min
nd's
eye a trrain station, suiitcases, passports, and travelin
ng clothes. It is
i a
generatiion of immigraants. Almost alll of them are young
y
people who
w
are fam
miliar with roadss. They cross over
o
from one world to the next
n
and theey leave where they
t
are, never to return. Theiir travel tickets are
strictly one-way. Theiir hearts are fu
ull of joy, strength, and exallted
ideas: "B
Building up thee land... a national home... thee earth... Hebrew
w."
Howeveer, at the samee time, they aree immigrants who
w have willin
ngly
left beh
hind their birth
hplace. Their hearts
h
will alwaays be filled with
w
yearningg for a melod
dy, a story thaat cannot be trranslated, for the

ndparents, who
o are lost and far
generatiion of their paarents and gran
away, evven if they still exist in the worrld.
The piooneers sang m
many Chassidicc songs. This was not merrely
nostalgiia for their faraaway homes, it played a much
h more important
role it held withinn it a possibiliity of a link b
between different
generatiions. There waas a hope that tthe deep elemeents of the Jew
wish
identity could appear in the new lan
nd too, in thee midst of such
h a
o
foreign scene. It was confirmation that we had rreally reached our
destinattion.
bad
For exaample, here is hhow the situattion was descriibed by a Chab
Chassidd who eventuallly was chosen to be the President of the Sttate
Zalman Robash
hov (Shazar). A
All during his life,
of Israeel Shneiur Z
Shazar w
was involved inn the contrast b
between his lifee as a nonreligio
ous
pioneer and the meloodies of his C
Chassidic soul. "The chain still
s
Yaacov Orland, singing the words
continuees," wrote anotther pioneer, Y
to a Chaassidic tune froom his father's home. And Sh
hazar did the same
thing. T
The Chassidic m
melodies which continued to ffill his soul serv
ved
him as gglue which joinned the past andd the future, sh
howing acceptan
nce
of his neew and unpaveed way of livingg.
Here is how Shazar ddescribed his deeparture from his grandfatherr, a
Chassidd, on his way to Eretz Yisrael:
******

My Graandfather gave
ve me one lastt departing preesent, a precio
ous
gift thaat he shared w
with me in thee last few mom
ments before the
t
wagon started to mov
ove... He said tto me:
"My soon, you know tthe tune of the
he Elderly Reb
bbe very well. Let
L
me telll you what I he
heard as a youn
ung man from the elders of the
t
Chassid
idim in the hou
ouse of the Reb
ebbe about thee unique traitss of
this meelody. It can happen that a person triess to remembeer a
melodyy with which hhe is very fam
miliar, but the ttune as it were
we
ignorres him, and he cannot geet it into his h
head, no mattter
how haard he tries. An
And there are oother irritating
g melodies whi
hich
get stuuck into a pperson's head
d and will noot stop runniing
throughh his mind evven when he iis not interest
sted in them and
a
they giv
ive him no pleeasure at all. B
Both cases aree clear testimo
ony
that thhe melody, noo matter how
w worthy it is in itself, is not
n
linked to the root off the person'ss soul the m
man is one thi
hing
and the
he tune is anotther. Howeverr, it can happe
pen that a tunee is
readilyy available to a man wheneveer he calls for it, and he enjo
oys
it everyy time it com
mes to him. Th
This is a sign that the melo
ody
belongs
gs to him, andd that the rooot of his soull stems from the
t
same so
source as the ro
root of the tunee itself."
Then hhe added, "N
Now, I want yyou to know that we havee a
traditioon that the meelody of the E
Elderly Rebbee stems from the
t
root off the soul of evvery Chassid w
who is a mem
mber of Chabad
d
an, his childrenn, and all of hi
his offspring foor all generatio
ons
the man
to com
me. Any if it evver happens th
that a Chassid
d or the son of
o a
Chassid
id is upright annd wants to reemember this holy melody but
b
cannott find it, while
le he searchess for it in all the paths of his
ry but to no avvail he mustt take this as a sign that his life
l
memory
has takken a confused
ed path, and h
he must look aat his deeds and
a
start too repent. Thee fact that thi
his tune is forg
rgotten from the
t
heart iss not a vain acct, for it is a crriterion to guid
ide our ways. My
M
son, rem
member this..."

Many sstormy days have

h
gone by since then, but
bu I can still see
s
the im
mage of my grandfather
g
standing
s
at high
h
noon off a
summeer day in Tam
mmuz, in thee middle of the
t road, with
h a
blessin
ng of parting coming from
m his lips and
d his damp eyes
ey
shining
g while they remained
r
poiinted towardss the wagon that
th
moved
d further and further awayy, on its way to fulfilling his
w
all the dreams
dr
of his nation and his
dreamss, together with
grandsson. This cleaar and dedicaated image will
w brighten my
m
heart fo
for as long it can
ca continue to
o be a beacon
n of light. And his
wonder
erful message rings
r
true to me
m to this very
ry day. Any tim
me,
whenevver I feel hessitation well up
u during my life and I am
confuse
sed and bewil
ildered, I sudd
ddenly want too remember the
t
melodyy of the Elderr Rebbe and the good and
d beneficial tu
une
immed
diately comes to me. And then
t
my conffusion leaves me
m
and I b
become filled
d with internall faith, as a sig
ign that I am on
the righ
ght path. And I continue on
n my path with
h confidence that
th
all willl be well with me.
m
man, "Otzar Ag
gaddot Chassid
idim," Jerusale
lem, 5728].
[Gutma
******
The graandfather's gift is the greatest of
o all, he teachees his grandson
n to
guard o
over the ancien
nt melody whicch will help hiim guide his way.
w
Only if the tune remaiins, even if it is hidden very cllose to the surfface
as is so well described in the wo
ords of the grrandfather does
Shazar feel that he iss "on the right path." The Chassidic
C
melo
ody,
hassidic tale, heelps to return the hearts of the
together with the Ch
t
with thosee of their ancesstors. As was true
t
descenddants to be in tune
of the p
pioneers, the sccenery in front of our eyes is new
n and differeent.
But thee ancient notess allow them an
nd us to forgee our paths in the
new lan
nd.

Now I w
went to my toyy chest and pullled out every kkind of box thaat I
could fiind. The Duploo (sort of like L
Lego but with larger pieces) was
w
good foor the houses. I decided thaat one piece w
would be a sin
ngle
house, aand here and thhere I put somee pieces on top
p of each other,, to
make ann apartment buuilding. And I aadded some jiggsaw puzzle pieces
here andd there, to makke courtyards an
nd some parks.
put a few of them
Round ppieces from checkers sets beccame people. I p
inside thhe houses, som
me of them weere in the courrtyards, and I left
l
quite a ffew of them onn the streets.
And theen I saw the syynagogue and ddecided that theere must be some
people ppraying there. I counted ten ch
hess pieces, inccluding a big wh
hite
king (thhe chazzan), aand I put them
m in the box that served as a
synagoggue.
My imaagination was juust getting starrted, and I keptt on adding more
here
and moore items. A laarge Lego boarrd became a ggrassy area wh
some chhildren (pieces from Ladders and Ropes) weere playing soccer
(the balll was a marble)). A doll plate became a swim
mming pool where
some peeople were swiimming (small pieces from a jigsaw puzzle). In
the supeermarket (madee out of a box ffrom a game), tthere were piless of
Monopooly money and a stock of item
ms to sell which
h I gathered fro
om
all my oother games.
notice that it was
w
I complletely lost trackk of the time, and I didn't n
getting ddark. Only wheen I saw that tthere were almo
ost no toys leftt in
my toy chest did I taake a short breeak, to stand uup and enjoy my
beautifuul work.

A FAM
MILY NAMED
D "YISRAELII"
City off Dreams - byy Rabbi Yikh
hat Rozen, Dirrector of the Or
Etzion Institute Pu
ublishing Toraah Books of Quality
Q

Now, I said to mysellf, the time hass come to starrt playing! Now
w I
could sttart driving the cars from placce to place, mo
ove people arou
und
so that they could shoop in the superrmarket, or go swimming, orr to
walk around thhe city. I wouuld have the laatecomers rush to
simply w
school, I would let the elderly enjoy sitting on a bencch in the park.

Netaneel's Story

And theen suddenly I hheard Imma's vo

oice. "Natanel! Where are you??"

One daay I didn't havve anybody to play with. My brothers were all
busy wiith other things, and I wasn'tt in the mood to
t visit any of my
friends. So I decided that it was a goo
od opportunityy to play a gamee of
m City."
"Dream

"I am inn my room, Im

mma," I said quiietly, hoping sh
he wasn't going
g to
call me aaway from my game.

t door, hopin
ng nobody wo
ould
I went into my room and I closed the
disturb me.

hy have you duumped your wh

hole
"Nataneel, what is goinng on here? Wh
closet onnto the floor?"

The firsst thing I did was

w to take out a box of my old
d blocks. I had not
n
touchedd them for yearrs. Now I built a huge structurre in the middlee of
the roo
om. This would
d be city hall. Next to it I built a very laarge
synagoggue out of tw
wo big boxes, and on top I arranged seveeral
marker pens in the sh
hape of a Starr of David. Th
hen I made a city
c
square around these two buildings by arranging dominoes arouund
them in
n a circle. I also
o used the dom
minoes to makee a few roads that
t
ran from
m the town squ
uare to the fou
ur walls of my room.
r
Of coursse I
didn't h
have enough do
ominoes for thee job, but I add
ded long piecess of
Lego, w
which are also good
g
for makingg roads.

"What ddo you mean?"" I said. "I didn

n't dump anythiing. Can't you see
that I am
m playing? Acttually, until now
w I was gettingg the room reaady.
And now
w I want to staart playing!"

I enjoyeed my work veery much, and I added more and more streets,
until thee whole room was
w covered wiith a dense netw
work of roads and
a
streets. By now I had to
t walk very caarefully around the room to make
sure thaat I would not move the dom
minoes and the Lego and desttroy
the roadds.

m evaporated in
n an instant.
Imma oopened the doorr, and my dream

Imma s ounded shockeed. "Now?! Do

o you have any idea what time it
is??"
"Actuallly, no. What tim
me is it?"
pper! I called you
y
"It's latee at night! Wee are all in the middle of sup
again annd again, but yyou were so buusy with this ... game ... that you
y
didn't evven hear me!" I could see thatt Imma was gettting angry.
"Okay, I apologize. Buut so what? Do you mean thatt I can't play at all?
So why did I get all off this ready?" A
And I could feeel the tears rolling
my cheeks.
down m

"I am sorry, darlingg, but it's too late now. What

W
can we do?
d
Everyth
hing has to be put
p back in placce, and you havve to eat and go
o to
bed."

This seeems to lend ssupport to thee above questi

tion: Why do we
ourning duringg the time of the
continuee to observe ccustoms of mo
Omer?

She saidd, put everythin

ng back in its pllace!

The So urce of the Cu

ustom

Only th
hen did I see th
he huge mess th
hat I had madee. All the piecess of
the diffferent games were
w
strewn all over the room
m, every piece in a
differen
nt place. The bo
oxes themselvees were part of the buildings, and
a
many of the pieces had
d rolled under the
t beds...

In the liiterature of thee sages there is no mention off mourning during

the timee of the Omer. However, we aare taught in thee Talmud:

Put eveerything back in

n order? What a nightmare thatt would be!!
At leastt Imma and myy good brotherrs volunteered to
t help me, and
d it
took uss only about haalf an hour to put
p everything back in its proper
place.
d
that it was,
w
My beaautiful "Dream City" disappeared like the dream
before I had a chancee to really enjo
oy it and play with
w the differrent
n it. But the tru
uth is that I reaally enjoyed thee time that I sp
pent
areas in
on the p
project! The pllanning, the creeativity, and thee dream whatt an
experien
nce I had!
d you wake up and
a
I guess dreams can bee wonderful eveen if in the end
they aree over...
***** NOW AVAIILABLE: A new
n
book byy Rabbi Yikh
hat
Rozen:: "Adventuress in the Rimo
onim Library.." To order this
t
new bo
ook and "The Yisraeli Fam
mily," in Hebreew, contact: 05463401211.
The stories of the
t "Yisraeli" faamily are based
d on true eventss or
(Note: T
on storiies that could have
h
been true.)
Reactions and suggestiions for stories: yikhat@gmaill.com
ONSA FOR OUR
O
TIMES
RESPO
Custom
ms of Mournin
ng during the Omer in Modern Times - by
Rabbi R
Re'eim Hacoh
hen, Rosh Yesshiva and Chieef Rabbi, Otniiel
E: In view of the behavior of
o Torah schollars in the reccent
(NOTE
election
ns, I feel that it is necessary to
o reprint the responsa which was
w
published a year ago in
n this bulletin. Let
L us hope and
d pray that we will
w
be ablee to increase the peace in
n the world and
a
enhance the
unqualified love.)
Questio
on: Hasn't the time come to revoke
r
the custtoms of mourn
ning
during the time of thee Omer? After all, in principlle these should be
joyous ttimes.
Answerr: In his comm
mentary on thee Torah, the Ramban
R
writes the
followin
ng:
"He couunted out fortyy-nine days, exaactly seven weeeks, and the eigh
hth
day was then sanctifieed, as the eigh
hth day of the holiday (Succo
ot).
And th
he days betweeen them that are counted can
c be comparred
to choll hamoed in
ntermediate dayys between th
he first and eigh
hth
days off the holiday. This is the day of
o the giving off the Torah, wh
hen
owed them Hiss great flame an
nd they heard his words com
ming
G-d sho
from th
he flames. An
nd that is whyy in every placce our sages call
Shavuot by the name 'Atzeret' the end of a holid
day because it
i is
like thee eighth day of Succot which is described heere." [Ramban, on
Vayikraa 23:36].

pairs of studentts, from Gevatt to

"Rabbi Akiva had tweelve thousand p
Antiparuus, and they allll died in one tiime period beccause they did not
n
show reespect for each other, and thee world was desolate." [Yevam
mot
64b].
In reacttion to this evvent, a custom was institutedd not to perform
weddin
ngs between P
Pesach and Sh
havuot. It first appears in the
writingss of the Geonnim, and it iss quoted in th
he TUR and the
Shulchaan Aruch (493). The TUR no
otes that in som
me places theree is
also a cuustom not to taake a haircut. The source forr this is broughtt in
Beit Yoosef: "This waas declared byy Rabbi Y. Evven-Shoshan in
n a
sermon on the first dday of Pesach,, and it is the accepted custo
om
among uus." This custom
m is quoted as halacha in the Shulchan Aruch.
of the Omer is not a time of
In my humble opinioon, the time o
mourninng that can be compared to tthe twelve mon
nths of mourning
for a paarent, but ratheer a time like chol hamoed, with some add
ded
customss related to moourning. This iss not the same as the customss of
mourninng during the Three Weekss (between the seventeenth of
Tammuuz and the ninthh of Av). The ddifference betw
ween the two time
periods is that the raabbis write thaat during the Three Weeks we
should nnot recite the ""Shehecheyanu" b
blessing becausse it is a period
d of
mourninng, while durinng the time of tthe Omer theree is no doubt that
the blesssing can be rrecited, since iit is a time eqquivalent to ch
hol
hamoedd.
The Raange of Appliccation of the C
Custom
As we have seen, thhe basis of th
he mourning iss a custom. The
T
Rambam
m writes that a custom that w
was initiated by tthe main Beit Din
D
(the Sannhedrin) and w
was accepted th
hroughout all of Yisrael can only
be canccelled by anothher Beit Din th
hat is greater iin wisdom and
d in
numberrs than the first one. In our casse the custom w
was not originated
by the SSanhedrin, but the law does have the authoriity of having beeen
disseminnated throughoout the nation. The entire nattion of Yisrael has
h
indeed aaccepted upon itself to obserrve customs off mourning during
the timee of the Omerr, and no existting Beit Din h
has the power to
revoke tthis custom.
Uniquee Days for Peaace
As far aas I can tell, evven if the Tem
mple would exist today we would
not revooke the custom
ms that indicate mourning. In ffact, if this custo
om
would nnot be in effect now, I would rrecommend reinstating it.
The twoo editions of thhe Talmud, the Babylonian an
nd the Yerushalmi,
disagreee about whetheer the Pesach SSacrifice is a p
public or a priv
vate
one. In the Yerushalm
mi Talmud, Hiillel is quoted ssaying that it is a
n Talmud rules that it is a priv
vate
public ssacrifice, while tthe Babylonian
sacrificee (Yoma 51a). F
From an objecttive point of vieew, both opinio
ons
are the true words of tthe living G-d. The Pesach Saacrifice represents
the birtth of the natioon of Yisrael in
n Egypt as parrt of their release
from boondage. It therrefore has the characteristics of both a pub
blic

and a prrivate sacrifice, just as it is truee that every perrson is unique and
a
at the same time alsso shares man
ny traits with all other peop
ple.
Therefo
ore, every indivvidual person is required to briing a sacrifice, but
b
he musst do so as paart of an orgaanized group, which
w
is a "tin
ny"
represen
ntation of an entire family. On Shavuot, the sacrifices that are
broughtt are "Public Shelamim
S
Sacriifices." A Shelaamim is usuallly a
private sacrifice, and it is considereed "Kodashim Kalim"
K
a "ligght"
m is brought byy a
sacrificee. This is the only case wheen a Shelamim
commuunity (which in
n this case is considered
c
the equivalent of an
individuual person). Beccause of the ch
haracter of the community,
c
in this
t
case thee Shelamim Saccrifice is raised up to the higheer spiritual levell of
"Kodsheii Kodashim" th
he holiest type of
o sacrifice.
The lin
nk between thee unity of the community an
nd the holidayy of
Shavuot is connected to the giving of the Torah, which could only
o
take plaace through a feeling of unityy. As the Midrrash says, "All the
people were the same, as with a singgle heart" [Mecchilta, Yitro, 1),, or
hi wrote, "As on
ne man, with one heart." The Zohar writes that
t
as Rash
the Shechina can only be revealed in a place of perfeection.
The Im
mportance of th
he Custom of Mourning in Modern Timees
The traagic deaths of Rabbi Akiva'ss students betw
ween Pesach and
a
Shavuot were due to the
t fact that theey damaged thee trait of unity and
a
d that is why this
t
did nott show proper respect for eaach other. And
event o
occurred specifi
fically at a timee which is meaant to be used for
preparaation for the fifftieth day, the day of greatestt unity among the
People. According to
o Avot D'Rebb
be Natan (25) and the Talm
mud
m
of the "Ten
"
Martyrs" among the rab
bbis
(Sanheddrin 68a), the murder
(with R
Rabbi Akiva as their
t
leader) waas a punishmen
nt for the bann
ning
of Rabb
bi Eliezer.
To our great sorrow, today there is a very great need
d to repair the lack
of unityy among the different
d
group
ps who study Torah
T
and in the
various Batei Midrash. The sin of Raabbi Akiva's stuudents is a currrent
threat ttoday, when th
he Torah scholaars do not worrk to increase the
peace aand harmony between
b
differeent groups. To
o our sorrow, the
world o
of the Torah, with
w its great divversity, must usse the opportun
nity
of thesee days to repeent. The custom
ms of mournin
ng are not just an
expressiion of sorrow for past events, they are an attempt
a
to mouurn
for todaay's Torah worrld, where the people still do not show proper
respect for each other..
We endd with the word
ds of the Talmu
ud and the hopee that we can learn
to be likke the wise men
n of Eretz Yisraael:
ne Noam pleaasantness an
nd I
"'And I took two sticcks, I called on
called th
he other Chovliim controverssy.' [Zecharia 11:7]. Noam reffers
to the scholars in Ereetz Yisrael, wh
ho are pleasantt to each otherr in
halachaa. Chovlim are the
t scholars of Babylon, who fight
f
each otherr in
halachaa." [Sanhedrin 24a].
2
Reem_hacohen
n@gmail.com
e-mail: R
URE AND TH
HE TORAH PO
ORTION
NATU
Boxwo
ood - by Dr. Moshe Raan
nan, Herzog College
C
and the
t
Jerusallem College fo
or Women
haron place tw
wo lots on the goats
g
one lott for G-d and the
"Let Ah
other lo
ot for Azazel" [V
Vayikra 16:8].
The Mishna describes the process of choosing lots in greater detail:

"He wennt to the east oof the Sanctuarry, north of thee Altar, his deputy
on his rright and the hhead of a priesstly family on his left, to where
there w
were two goats waiting. And tthere was a bo
ox there with two
t
lots madde of boxwoodd. Later Ben G
Gamla made theem from gold, for
which hhe was given praaise." [Yoma 3::5].
Talmud we are taught that oth
her types of wo
ood could also be
In the T
used. "T
The lots can bee made of anytthing. Shouldn'tt this be obvious?
We migght not think soo, as appears in
n a Baraita: Sincce we see that the
Tzitz, w
which has the nname of G-d o
on it, must be m
made of gold, we
might tthink that this is also true o
of the lots. But when the veerse
repeats the word 'lotss' twice, it addds other materiials, such as ollive
wood from nutss, and 'eshkeroa' (boxwood)." [Y
Yoma 37a].
wood, w
we will try to ddetermine the eexact definition of
In this aarticle below w
eshkerooa and see whyy it was the prreferred materiaal for making the
lots.
Two Sp
pecies of the SSame Genus
Boxwoood (Buxus) is a genus which includes aboutt seventy different
species of trees and buushes. There arre two species w
which grow in our
o
hich
area. Thhe long-leaf booxwood (Buxuxx longifolia) is a large tree wh
grows inn the mountainns of Lebanon,, the mountain
ns of Amanah, the
mountaiins of Antakkya, and north
hern Anatolia.. The Europeean
boxwoood (Buxus semppervirens) is an
n evergreen bussh which growss in
the Ponntic Mountains in Asia minorr, in northern Greece and Itaaly,
and in w
western Europee.
Y. Felixx feels that thee name eshkero
oa which appeaars in our sources
refers m
mainly to the evergreen boxxwood, perhap
ps because some
remainss of this wood hhave been foun
nd in vessels wh
hich were broug
ght
from abbroad. Others ddisagree and feeel that the maiin species was the
long-leaaf boxwood, whhich is common
n in areas closee to Eretz Yisraael,
and nott the evergreen, which does no
ot grow in the N
Near East.
n Art
Uses in
The slow
w growth of thhe boxwood leaads to the deveelopment of wo
ood
that is hhomogeneous, dense, and haard (evidently tthe hardest wo
ood
that groows in Europe)). In ancient tim
mes, these species were in grreat
demandd for making vvessels, furniturre, and etchings. They were also
a
desirablle because of th
their fine grain and their lightt color. The trees
were noot good for connstruction because they were n
not tall enough
h to
make loong beams, and they are only aabout 15-20 cm
m in diameter.
Pliny wrrote as follows:: "Among the ttrees the buxus is first becausee of
its woood which is sm
mooth, hard, and of a ligh
ht hue." Theree is
archeoloogical evidencee for the use off boxwood forr making furniture
in the " burnt room" inn area G of thee City of Davidd. Under a pilee of
rubble tthere were, amoong other remaains, broken pieeces of wood that
were paart of the back of a chair thatt was decoratedd with patterns of
palm leeaves. Since thee boxwood didd not grow in
n the land, it was
w
assumedd that the chairr was importedd from Syria, w
which showed that
the ownners were verry wealthy. To
oday boxwood is still used for
artworkk, especially for sculpture and carving, similarr to the way ivory
is used. It is also used iin the manufacture of musicall instruments.
Lightin
ng a Fire
At first the lots in the Temple were m
made from boxxwood becausee of
its beautty and because it was a prestiggious material. Later, Ben Gam
mla
donatedd lots made of gold, which w
were even moree prestigious. The
T

wood w
was in demand and it was therrefore valuable,, such that objeects
made frrom it were con
nsidered speciaal. An example of the great vaalue
of this ttype of wood caan be found in the Talmud:

******

od-letting, a flaame
"Shmueel said: If a peerson feels colld after a bloo
should be lit for him,, even in the season
s
of Tammuz. For Shm
muel
nsive chair, and
d for Rav Yehuuda they burned a
they buurned an expen
table." [[Shabbat 129a]..

ly how to writte this - a terrrible tragedy has

h
I am nnot sure exactly
happeneed to us. My w
wife Shlomit h
had a heart attaack at the end of
Rosh H
Hashanah, in thhe middle of F
Friday night. Affter she remain
ned
unconsccious for severaal days, she wass declared deadd. She was only 29
years oldd.

An expensive chair' Therre was no wo

ood
Rashi ccomments: "'A
availablle for a fire on the day of the blood
d-letting, and he
commaanded them to break
b
a chair to
o get wood for the
t fire. 'A tablee'
It was a kind of cedar tree, and Rabeiinu Halevi says it was 'buis'."

Shlomitt did not have aany chronic sickkness, or anythiing like that. Alll at
once, ass Rosh Hashannah ended, wee were the victtims of a terriible
decree tthat we do nott understand. SShlomit left beh
hind our childrren,
twins wh
who were half a year old.

Accordiing to the Talm

mud, there is a danger of suuffering from cold
c
after blood-letting, and to counteract this one is peermitted to ligh
ht a
mmer. As a wayy of showing how
h
fire on Shabbat, even during the sum
ht a fire, the Talmud
T
tells uss that for Shm
muel
importaant it is to ligh
furniturre made of exp
pensive wood was
w broken ap
part for this neeed.
Rashi w
writes that the table
t
was madee of "cedar" an
nd quotes Rabeeinu
Halevi that it was buiis, which is the word for bo
oxwood in anciient
o contradiction
n between the two
t
French.. It is possible that there is no
explanaations, since esshkeroa appearrs as one of th
he ten species of
cedar in
n the list given by
b Rav (Bava Batra
B
80b).

A few w
weeks ago Shloomit's family an
nd I started a veery special project
in her m
memory. This is a short andd interesting sttudy sheet on the
subject oof Pirkei Avot which will be ssent out through
h e-mail.

nting Fraud
Preven
The Rittva notes how strong
s
the boxw
wood is: "'[Thee verse] adds otther
materialls, such as olivee wood, wood from nuts, and
d boxwood' This
T
is not a restrictive list, it means thaat everything can
c be used, evven
wood. A
And the rabbiss have said thatt this is the besst way to perfo
orm
the mitzzva, because it is
i strong and beautiful." [Yom
ma 37a].
These ttypes of wood are also listed as species from which one can
c
make a ruler used for smoothing out
o the materiaal at the top of
o a
contain
ner used for measuring,
m
to make
m
sure thaat the measuree is
accuratee at the time of a sale. "The rabbis have taught: The ruuler
should not be made off pumpkin since this is light orr of metal because
i made of olivve wood, wood
d from nuts, from
it is heaavy. Rather it is
sycamore, and from eshberoa." [Bavva Batra 89b]. As
A opposed to the
here the physiccal properties of
o the wood are
a not importaant,
lots, wh
aside frrom the beautyy of the wood
d, the ruler muust be made from
wood th
hat is hard and
d stable. And boxwood
b
is ind
deed excellent for
these sp
pecific qualities.
One in
nteresting use of the boxw
wood was to make
m
combs for
removin
ng lice. Two combs
c
from th
he first centurry C.E. that were
w
surely uused for this purpose were found in thee Qumran Cavves.
Evidenttly the hard wo
ood was emineently suitable for
f making com
mbs
with fin
ne teeth that cou
uld be used to treat
t
a tangled mass
m of hair.
See thee items on thee Daf Yomi portal
p
(www.daaf-yomi.com/teevaraanan) for more detaiils - do a search
h for "pishta tarrbutit" cultivaated
flax.
(To reggularly receive articles
a
about plants
p
and anim
mals linked to the
Daf Yo
omi, write e-maiil to: raananmoshe1@gmail.co
om)
Y AND SECUL
LAR
HOLY
Pirkei A
Avot in Memo
ory of Shlomit - by Rabbi Amichai
A
Gord
din,
Yeshivat Har Etzion
n
The folllowing is quoteed from a letter which I received.

The ide a started as an initiative of stuudy with the paarticipation of the

n a very short time many oth
her
family aand Shlomit's ffriends. Within
people joined in and began to disttribute the souurce sheet wideely.
we prepare the ssheets every w
week anyway, wee have decided
d to
Since w
send it tto anybody whho is interested in this project.. With G-d's heelp,
we havee grown tremenndously, and to
oday more thaan 6,000 copies of
the com
mmentary are seent out every weeek.
udy
People from many diifferent groupss have signed uup for this stu
nd old). Manyy of those who
w
(religiouus, nonreligiouus, young, an
subscribbed did not knoow Shlomit or the family, but they want to taake
part in this project. T
This is very fittting for Shlom
mit. She was very
v
other people aand in being wellw
successfful in joining ttogether with o
liked byy people from ddifferent backgrrounds than herr own.
******
The lettter by Uriel touuched my heart very deeply. I w
was curious, an
nd I
took a loook at the sampple materials w
which he sent. T
The commentaryy is
diversifiied, short, andd accurate, andd it is accompanied by pictu
ures
from naature (taken duuring outings b
by Shlomit and Ariel), which are
relevantt to the source iin the Mishna.
The genneral framewoork of the studdy consists of a picture thatt is
connectted to the Mishhna, a short exp
planation of th
he simple meaning
of the ttext, and an ideea for further study in depth
h. To find the site
s
where thhe material apppears or to sign
n up for the maiil, once a week (in
Hebrew
w), do a Googlee search for thee term "Pirkei A
Avot Shlomit" (or
click herre).
******
mentary on the second Mishnaa of Pirkei Avott:
Here is a sample comm
Shimonn the Righteouus was from the last of thee Anshei Knessset
Hagedoolah. He used to say, the wo
orld stands on
n three things: on
Torah, oon holy service, and on kind ddeeds.
The threee main elemennts for which m
man was createdd in the world are:
a
the studdy of Torah, tthe mitzvot beetween man an
nd G-d (the holy
h
service),, and mitzvot bbetween man an
nd man (kind deeds).
a
Shimonn the Righteouss, who was a student of Ezrra the Scribe and
who seerved as the H
High Priest fo
or forty yearss, led the Jew
wish
communnity in Eretz Y
Yisrael during teempestuous tim
mes. As a resultt of

the con
nquest of the laand by Alexand
der the Great, the
t governmentt in
the landd was no longeer an independ
dent Jewish auth
hority, and stro
ong
influencces of Greek cu
ulture began to
o be felt in the land. In additiion,
at that ttime, the era of the end of th
he Anshei Knessset Hagedola, the
phenom
menon of proph
hecy within Yisrael came to an
n end.
n found himselff living between
n two worlds the old world
d of
Shimon
the Tem
mple and proph
hecy and the new
w world based on the wisdom
m of
Greece.. He tries to traansfer the foundations of the old
o world into the
framew
work of the new
w world. In reacction to the thrree major chan
nges
in the w
world the end
d of prophecy,, a governmentt that is no lon
nger
autonom
mous, and the advent
a
of the Greek
G
culture and Greek wisdom
he insists that theree are three strong foundationss. As is written
n in
d "stands" on three elementts it stands and
a
the Misshna, the world
remainss stable!
mmentary of Rabbi
R
Shimshon
n Rafael Hirsh on
Let us llook at the com
this Mishna. He explaains that Torah
h refers to the knowledge of the
m of G-d and the Will of G-d.
G
Service of
o G-d means to
wisdom
perform
m the Will of G-d.
G And kind deeds means to do good for otther
people. It is easy to see how Toraah and servicee of G-d help to
fluence of the wisdom
w
and the culture of Greeece
counterract the bad infl
and hellp to protect us
u from the lo
oss of propheccy. But why does
Shimon
n also mention kind
k deeds in th
his context?
The answer is that th
he three elemen
nts that Shimo
on brings must be
mpasses all of a human life. Th
hey
viewed as a single entiity which encom
orld of a humaan being. With
h Torah a persson
fashion the entire wo
s sets his ow
wn outlook on the
realizess his own pottential, he or she
path off truth. With ho
oly service, a peerson establish
hes a relationsh
hip
G And kind deeds accompllish
to heavven and fulfillss the Will of G-d.
the sam
me goal for conttact with otherr people.
Rabbi SShimshon Raffael Hirsh add
ds more on th
he subject of the
importaance of kind deeeds: "Without kindness a perrson lacks the first
f
and mo
ost important symbol of the
t
image of G-d. Instead of
mimickking G-d and providing
p
support and blessin
ngs for the wo
orld
around him, one who is not involved
d in good deedss hardens his heeart
and is eegotistic."
******
uch for what yo
ou have done.
To my ddear Ariel: Thaank you very mu

Perhapss we can underrstand the meaaning of the sttory based on the

way it iis framed. Yeraavam wants to
o offer a sacrifi
fice, to "feed" the
altar in Beit El. The M
Man of G-d waarns him that a sacrifice to G-d
G
Man of G-d fro
om
can onlly be brought in Jerusalem. When the M
Yehuda eats in Beit El,, it is the equivaalent of offerin
ng a sacrifice to Gm. The end of tthe chapter is tthat "Yeravam did
d outsidde of Jerusalem
not retuurn from his evvil way," and th
he historic oppo
ortunity to chan
nge
the evennts was missed..
A lion is a symbol oof Yehuda ("Y
Yehuda is a lion cub" [Bereisshit
i a
49:9]), tthe donkey reppresents Basha, King of Yisraeel ("Yissachar is
donkey of burdens" [449:14]. The Maan of G-d is a ssymbol of faith
h in
n the Kingdom of
G-d. Att this point in ttime, "faith" haas died even in
Yehuda . The Kingdom
m of Yisrael staands off to onee side, and faith
h is
G
buried ddeep in the groound. However, the grave off the Man of G-d
will be rediscovered inn the time of Y
Yoshiyahu (Meelachim II 23:1
17),
will take place tthen.
and a reenewal of faith w
LE OF THE W
WEEK
RIDDL
by Yoavv Shelosberg, Director of "Q
Quiz and Experience"
Achareii-Kedoshim
Both arre equal with rrespect to wasshing clothing
g and bathing,
For sufffering and lab
bor,
And ffor laws givven without any explan
nation and an
abomin
nation.
What arre these two?
Answer s for last week,, Tazriya-Metzo
ora. The riddle was: We are five
f
consecu
utive words in
n Hebrew wh
hich appear sixx times in sev
ven
verses.
The phrrase is, "Let him
m wash himselff in water, and h
he will be become
pure byy the evening.." This appearrs six times in
n Chapter 15 of
Vayikra:: verses 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11. ((It does not app
pear in verse 9.))
******
u have a bar/b
bat mitzva com
ming up? Are yyou looking fo
or a
Do you
special quiz?
To ordeer: www.hidon
nim.com
e-mail: iinfo@hidonim..com

mments: benkod
desh@gmail.com
m
For reacctions and com
THE T
TABLE OF TH
HE KINGS
The Lion, the Donkeey, and the Maan of G-d - by Bar-on Dasbeerg
In each
h article in thiss series we deaal with some aspect
a
of a sin
ngle
chapterr of the book off Melachim.
(Melacchim I 13)
nvolving the diivision of the nation into two
t
Of all the stories in
Kingdo
oms, one appeaars to be very strange: this iss the story of the
Man off G-d from Yeehuda, who com
mes to admoniish Yeravam. The
T
man off G-d is not allo
owed to eat in Beit El. A prop
phet from Beitt El
him into eating,, and therefore the Man of G-d
G is punished
d by
tricks h
being kkilled by a lion
n, while his do
onkey stands nearby
n
unharm
med.
What does all this meaan?

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