Toronto Torah

Beit Midrash Zichron Dov

Parshat Yitro 18 Shevat 5772/February 11, 2012

Vol.3 Num. 20

Sponsored in observance of the first yahrzeit of Breindel bat Yeshayahu zl, mother of Shaya and Robin Berglas, Craig and Esther Guttmann

Kabbalat haTorah: Theory and Practice

When the Torah describes Adam as "created in the image of G-d" (Bereishit 1:27), Targum Yonatan Ben Uziel understands this to refer specifically to mans 613 composite parts. According to our tradition, a man is composed of 248 limbs and 365 sinews, the total of which equals the number of mitzvot included in the Torah (Makkot 23b). F u r t h e r m o r e , Ra v C h a i m V i t a l (16th Century Kabbalist) taught that our bodies require spiritual sustenance in addition to physical nourishment, and the 613 mitzvot are designed precisely to provide spiritual purity for each and every part of our bodies (Shaarei Kedushah 1:1). Performing the six hundred and thirteen mitzvot brings us to spiritual completion, a resemblance of the true image of Hashem. However, this status of spiritual perfection seems impossible for any individual to achieve. As the Meshech Chochmah notes, no person is commanded in all of the mitzvot, so how could a Jew utilize all of the mitzvot towards his personal growth? A Yisrael cannot live the life of a Kohein and the Kohein cannot live the life of a Levi. There are mitzvot which can be done only in certain locations and at certain times. In what sense is each of us expected to fulfill the entire Torah? The Meshech Chochmah suggests that there are two distinct, but nonexclusive, paths which one may choose, and both were represented at the time the Jewish people accepted the Torah. In Parshat Mishpatim, Moshe Rabbeinu approaches the nation with the opportunity to accept Torah and mitzvot and the Jews are applauded for responding, "Naaseh v'nishma - we will do and we will listen." (Shemot 24:7) In Parshat Yitro, though, the response is slightly different. The people declared, "kol asher diber HaShem naaseh we will do e ve r y th i n g th a t G -d has spoken." (Shemot 19:8)

Rabbi Dovid Zirkind

the nephew of R Yishmael once asked R Yishmael: May someone like me, who has learned the entire Torah, study Greek wisdom? R Yishmael cited this verse: 'This Torah scroll shall not be moved from your mouth, and you shall delve in it day and night.' (Joshua 1:8) Go and search for a time which is neither day nor night, and learn Greek wisdom then." (Menachot 99b)

When the Jewish people voiced their commitment to perform the mitzvot, surely they understood that this The Meshech Chochmah explains that automatically entailed studying the Parshat Yitro's "Naaseh" is a national rules of the mitzvot they were commitment, expressed in the plural, committing to perform. Therefore, the "we will do". Understanding that each declaration of "vnishma" must have Jew is responsible for the next, the reflected an additional commitment - a people committed to a unified acceptance willingness to delve further into Torah, of Torah. Together, they were capable of even when study was not necessary for realizing a complete observance of Torah, the practical observance of Jewish so that each Jew would be credited with ritual. Thus, argues the Beit HaLevi, all of the 613 mitzvot. Parshat Naaseh vnishma includes within it an Mishpatim's "Naaseh vnishma", on the aspiration of learning Torah for Torahs other hand, was a commitment to not sake; an understanding that the study only practice Torah, but to study it. In of Torah itself is one of the most making their second pledge, each Jew intimate aspects of our relationship embraced all of the 613 mitzvot - those with Hashem. which he could practice (Naaseh), and This was R Yishmaels response to his those which he would live through a nephew. Whether or not the study of study of their most intricate details Greek wisdom was appropriate, the (Nishma). notion of having completed Torah Employing the Meshech Chochmah's study was surely not. True, Ben Dama, understanding of Nishma as referring to may have understood everything Torah study, the Beit HaLevi explained necessary to live as a Jew in practice, the following Talmudic story: "Ben Dama, but his commitment to Torah study should still have been unwavering.

Particularly for us, living outside of Israel and without a Beit Hamikdash, a plethora of mitzvot are beyond our (Sources are provided for reference) reach. Mitzvot related to korbanot, Does the prohibition against theft belong in the Aseret haDibrot? (Rashi to ritual purity and many other areas of Shemot 20:12) law have been practically removed from Jewish life. As we reflect on Kabbalat How can we say about G-d 'vayanach', that He rested? (Rashi, Mechilta, HaTorah this Shabbat, we should focus Seforno, Ohr HaChaim, Netziv, and Daat Mikra to Shemot 20:10) Why is it significant that there was a 'great and unending sound' when G-d gave on attaining complete acceptance of Torah and mitzvot. May we merit the Torah? (Rashi, Mechilta, Ibn Ezra, Ramban, Rabbeinu Bachaye, Malbim, through our devotion to nishma to the and Netzivs Haameik Davar and Herchev Davar to Shemot 19:19) study of all mitzvot for Torah's sake For children: Why did Yitro choose to join the Jews? (Rashi to Shemot 18:1) that we be given the privilege of fulfilling them in practice, as naaseh, as well. meir.lipschitz@gmail.com dzirkind@torontotorah.com

Parshah Questions

R Meir Lipschitz

The Giving of the Chumash

We often use the term "Torah" to describe general learning, as well as the book also known as Chumash, or Pentateuch. When we speak of the "giving of the Torah" at Mount Sinai, we obviously cannot mean it in the sense of a Sefer Torah, the text of the Chumash in our hands today. Many episodes recorded in our Chumashim do not take place until after the Har Sinai experience, so saying that the Torah we received at Sinai is an "advance copy" is untenable. Chazal agree that Moshe received all of the Torah's teachings at Sinai, but that the text of our Sifrei Torah was formally recorded at the end of Moshe's life, as Moshe instructed the Levites in Devarim 31:26, "Take this Torah scroll and place it to the side of the ark of G-d your Lord's covenant, leaving it there as a witness." However, the Talmud (Gittin 60a) records two opinions concerning the exact process by which our text was formed. Rabbi Yochanan contends that the Torah was handed down scroll by scroll. When Moshe was taught a section of the Torah, he would write it down, later attaching all of the different portions together to form our text. Reish Lakish however, is of the opinion that the various sections taught to Moshe were memorized by him until he wrote them all down before his death, creating our text "from scratch". Although Reish Lakish doesn't believe that the Torah was written in sections, the Talmud clearly demonstrates that some portions of the text were put in writing before the final canonization mentioned at the end of Sefer Devarim.

R Ezra Goldschmiedt

Hitoriri: Jewish Spirituality

Tosafot explain that Reish Lakishs main thrust is not that everything was written at the end of Moshe's life, but that when the Torah text was eventually put together, many new sections were put into writing for the first time. The exact ordering of sections was not completed until then as well. One of the portions that was certainly written before the Torah's canonization was the section from Bereishit through the revelation at Sinai. Shemot 24:7 tells us that Moshe "took the book of the covenant and read it aloud to the people." In addition to the laws taught at Marah (see Shemot 15:25), this book of the covenant, according to Rashi, contained the stories that comprised the narrative from the beginning of Creation until this point in time. Nachmanides disagrees with Rashi concerning the contents of this "book of the covenant". Maintaining that it was written after the revelation at Sinai, Nachmanides believed that the book of the covenant contained the laws at the end of Parshat Yitro as well as the many laws listed in Parshat Mishpatim. In introducing his commentary on Chumash, Ramban states that Moshe learned the Bereishit narrative while alone with G-d upon Har Sinai. He does not connect its writing to any specific point in time, but it seems that Ramban understood that the Creation-to-Exodus narrative was recorded shortly after Moshe's descent from the mountain and the construction of the Mishkan. The discussion concerning how the rest of our text was transmitted is the subject of the dispute in Gittin 60a. egoldschmiedt@torontotorah.com

Smoke and Fire

R Baruch Weintraub
- - . . '' '" , , ... " , , " ' : ' ' ... "... ? , " . " : " ... , , " ", . , , . , , ' .'

613 Mitzvot: #131 Which is Better: Clean or Dirty?

R Mordechai Torczyner
The daily avodah (service) in the Beit haMikdash revolves around the mizbeiach, and between the two daily korbanot, the Shabbat and Yom Tov korbanot, and all of the personal obligatory and voluntary offerings, the mizbeiach could be overwhelmed by ash. Therefore, the kohanim are instructed to clean off the ash each morning, preserving the beauty of the m i z b e i a ch . S i m i l a r l y, we a r e instructed to clean our chanukiah during Chanukah, lest its beauty be diminished by oil, wax or soot. (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 673:3)

, , . , Our desire for clean and attractive . mitzvot is not absolute, despite this
mitzvah of removing the ash. On Yom Tov the kohanim deliberately allow the ash to remain, forming a large pile in the middle of the mizbeiach in order to emphasize the beauty of the gathered Jewish nations commitment to HaShem. Perhaps this is a reason why many Jews place their hoshanot on the aron kodesh at the end of Succot, a practice which is halachically questionable because of the sanctity of the aron kodesh and the purpose of the hoshanot. (See Dvar Meshulam Orach Chaim 1:260; HaMaor 54:6; Leket She'eilot haMetzuyyot of R' Chaim Kanaievsky 4:3.)

, " , . , , , ' .' , , , . , , , .

Visit us at www.torontotorah.com

Biography: Rabbi Yisrael Isserlein

Torah in Translation

R Mordechai Torczyner

HaAretz

Timing the Purim Seudah

Rabbi Yisrael Isserlein Terumat haDeshen110
Translated by R Mordechai Torczyner
Question: In many places, individuals and even Torah scholars conduct the bulk of their Purim meal at night, going to shul and davening minchah but not maariv, then returning home and beginning their meal by day and continuing into the night, such that most of the meal is at night. Is there logic behind this custom, or not? Answer: It appears to me that one should find some reason and support for this custom. I have found a responsum which says, "I have heard from R' Toviah in the name of Riva that when youths take food from each other, even without permission, for the joy of Purim, from the time the megilah is read until the night of the Purim feast - two nights and one day - there is no issue of surreptitious or overt theft. They should not be summoned to court and there is no concern, so long as they do not overstep the practices established by the town councillors." It is clear that the second night is legitimately part of the Purim feast. The question remains for Riva himself, for the second night is the 15th of Adar, and how could one fulfill the meal of the 14th on the 15th?... Apparently, the reason is that the reading of the megilah on the morning of the 14th takes time, and then one is busy sending portions and giving gifts to the indigent, and there is no time to eat a meal with joy and pleasure. Therefore, our predecessors established part of the meal in the evening, starting it during the day before maariv so as to fulfill the mitzvah of the feast during the day, which is the essential time. One then continues during the time he has available, enjoying the meal until night and at night, and the whole is one meal. We have found a similar practice of nullifying a mitzvah meal for the sake of other mitzvot in Tosafot Chullin 83a, which asks why the mishnah there did not include a meal for the first day of Succot among the four occasions when people regularly eat large meals. He explained that it is because people are busy with the mitzvot of Succah and Lulav on the day before Yom Tov, and so they did not prepare big meals for the first day of Succot. Although I have justified this custom, still, my mentors customarily eat the essential meal in the morning, as do I, and it appears that this is the practice in the Rhineland.

Rabbi Yisrael Isserlein was born into a scholarly family in Marburg an Drau, now Slovenia, in 1390. (Some contend he was born in Regensburg.) He was educated by his mother's brother in Germany until the latter was killed in the "Vienna Gezeirah" pogroms of 1421. He fled the pogroms to Italy, ultimately returning home to become Rabbi in Brunn, then Marburg, and eventually Neustadt until he died in 1460. R' Isserlein was the leading light for thousands of Jews during a period of pogroms and martyrdom. He was a popular orator, and he prescribed paths of repentance for Jews who had left Torah and desired to return. He corresponded with the leaders of Ashkenazi Jewry of his day, and was treated with the greatest respect. R' Isserlein and his wife Schoendlein had four sons, as well as a daughter who died as a child. Schoendlein was also scholarly, and known for specific pious practices; she is also reported (Leket Yosher 20) to have answered a halachic question on her husband's behalf. Expert in both halachah and kabbalah, and reported (by Chida) to have engaged in "practical kabbalah", R' Isserlein was an ascetic who devoted all of his energies to piety and the study of Torah. R' Isserlein is considered one of the last great Ashkenazi authorities of the pre-Shulchan Aruch era, one of the establishers of Ashkenazi custom for centuries to come. His work was a major influence on R' Moshe Isserles, author of the Ashkenazi component included in Shulchan Aruch. R' Isserlein signed his letters, "The smallest and youngest in Israel". The greatest written legacy of R' Isserlein is his "Terumat haDeshen" collection of 354 responsa, which are models of brevity and clarity. The Shach (Yoreh Deah 196:20) wrote that R' Isserlein created the questions himself as a means of educating the public in halachic matters, but others disagree. R' Isserlein also wrote Hagahot Shaarei Dura and a commentary on Rashi on Chumash. A student of his wrote "Leket Yosher", collecting additional responsa from R' Isserlein as well as his customs and anecdotes about him; some have challenged its authenticity, but the major halachic authorities of our day accept its legitimacy. torczyner@torontotorah.com

Ilaniya-Sejera
Hillel Horovitz

. . ' . ' "", -, . 1890 ' . 8890 " - 10 " ( , ,JC A .)Jewish Colonization Association " . - 1180 , . . - , , . , - . . ' . . , . ' " - " , . 1180 - ' . 8980 , . -155 ( ), , , - , " .)'" (

hhorovitz@torontotorah.com

Visit us at www.torontotorah.com

Schedule for February 11-17 / 18 - 24 Shevat

Shabbat February 11THORNHILL SHABBATON Friday night dinner Jew vs. Jew: How do we respond to religious disagreements? Thornhill Community Shul After hashkamah, R Baruch Weintraub, Minchat Chinuch: Honouring ones parents, BAYT Derashah R Dovid Zirkind, TCS R Mordechai Torczyner, BAYT Hillel Horovitz, NCSY Minyan, BAYT R Ezra Goldschmiedt, Family Minyan, BAYT Shabbat afternoon 4:10 PM R Baruch Weintraub, Shiur bIvrit, BAYT 4:25 PM R Mordechai Torczyner, Daf, BAYT 4:30 PM, Hillel Horovitz, Thought Police, Ayin lTzion Seudah shlishit Yair Manas, Ateres Mordechai Hillel Horovitz, Ayin lTzion R Baruch Weintraub, BAYT Seudah Shlishit R Mordechai Torczyner, BAYT West Wing R Ezra Goldschmiedt, TCS R Dovid Zirkind, Westmount Sunday, February 12 9:15 AM Hillel Horovitz, Parshah, Hebrew, Zichron Yisroel 11:50 AM R Baruch Weintraub, Hilchot Melachim, Or Chaim After maariv R Baruch Weintraub, Halachic issues in Israel, Hebrew, Clanton Park, men Monday, February 13 8:00 PM PANELSEE FLYER ABOVE 8:30 PM Hillel Horovitz, Siddur: In-Depth, Clanton Park, men Tuesday, February 14 1:30 PM R Mordechai Torczyner, Zecharyah: The End of Tishah bAv, Mekorot, Shaarei Shomayim 7:15 PM R Ezra Goldschmiedt, Ramban on the Parshah, BAYT 8:00 PM Mrs. Elyssa Goldschmiedt, Malbim on Chumash, TCS, women 8:00 PM Yair Manas: Minchat Chinuch, Clanton Park Wednesday, February 15 10:00 AM R Mordechai Torczyner, Dramas of Jewish History: Expulsion, BEBY, with Melton 8:00 PM Mrs. Elyssa Goldschmiedt, Listen to Her Voice Week 1, 37 Fraserwood Apt 4, women 8:00 PM R Dovid Zirkind, Gemara Beitzah, Shaarei Shomayim 8:00 PM Mrs. Michal Horovitz, The Queens of Israel, Womens Beit Midrash, Bnai Torah 8:00 PM R Mordechai Torczyner, Three Queens 3: The Original Jezebel, Westmount 8:30 PM R Baruch Weintraub, Rambam: Hilchot Melachim, The Kings obligation to respect his subjects, Shomrai Shabbos, men Thursday, February 16 9:15 AM R Mordechai Torczyner, Living with G-d: R Yehudah haChasid, Week 2 of 3, 36 Theodore, Thornhill, women, free babysitting 8:00 PM R Mordechai Torczyner, Icons of Spanish Jewry Week 2 of 4, MNJCC Friday, February 17 8:00 AM R Dovid Zirkind, Friday Parshah Preview, Village Shul

We would like to thank koshertube.com for filming our shiurim!

Visit us at www.torontotorah.com