The following video was produced by a student of Rabbi Brovenders, Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence of the Great Synagogue of Sydney.
“Hitler killed my great-grandfather. But in sharing this video you can keep his memory and his music alive. A thought for Yom HaShoah. In memory of Heinz Lewin. March 1888 – September 1942.”
No CommentsNot long ago we were reading in the parshat Shelach of the fall-out from the report of the 12 spies sent to investigate the Land of Israel. In 14:34 there is a doubling of the phrase “a day for a year” such that the verse reads “Like the number of days that you spied out the Land, forty days, A DAY FOR A YEAR, A DAY FOR A YEAR, shall you bear your iniquities – forty years – and you shall comprehend straying from Me.”
The question I propose is: What is the meaning of this doubling? Why is that phrase there two times? In the past I have learned that when there is a doubling of a word or phrase it is there to teach us something. I do not like to come up with an answer “off the top of my head based on my internal logic,” but prefer to rely on source material. To my surprise, I could not find any one mentioning this doubling. This is after searching through Midrash Rabba, Rashi, Ramban, RaMChaL, the Stone edition commentators, and Toras Menachman. I do not pretend to have a complete library, but something so glaring should have something? Nu? The only answer I could come up with is that it is so obvious, that it need not be discussed by any of our Torah giants.
I consulted with my chavruta partner who is also Ishti, Elisheva. She was able to see an understanding right away. While this is not the type of source material I generally use, at least it is not something off the top of my head. The two identical phrases have two meanings. The first phrase refers to the punishment that HaShem will exact on Bnai Israel. The second phrase refers to the distillation process that HaShem will winnow out those who lack faith.
This fits in with what Rabbi Shlomo Katz has taught in his class on Chasidut. It is not enough just to want to be in the Land of Israel, you have to be ready at the level of Tamid (always). You have to know automatically, Tamid, inside “What is Right.” Bnai’ Israel wanted to be in the Land of Israel. But, they were not at the level of Tamid. Therefore, they were not allowed to enter and it was up to their children to demonstrate Tamid.
Also, we once again see the number 40. In this case the spies spent 40 days spying. Their punishment was 40 years in length. Forty is for the number of days of rain (Noah), the number of days Moshe was receiving the Commandments, the number of lashes the Court meted out, etc., etc. It would seem that an undertaking involving 40 should caution us to pending errors in our ways. Just a thought.
Dear Reader, if you have another interpretation based on source material, I would dearly like to hear it, either through the Comments section or directly via my email address.
1 CommentThere is very little written and much confusion about the Obligation of Women for Tefilla. A Siddur we recently purchased from Artscroll has a section written by Rabbi Hersch Goldwurm entitled “Women’s Obligation to Pray”. There is some confusion in this section concerning whether this obligation is from the Torah or Rabbinic; as well as the extent of this obligation.
Without the Oral Torah we would often not understand what are the true Torah requirements. I decided to do a little research on my own and found that Gemara Tractate Kiddushin (29a) derives from the Scripture that women are exempt from all positive commandments from the Torah whose performance are time-bound. The Shema falls into this category, according to Rashi, since its recital is required at certain times of the day. In Mishna Berachos we are told that women are exempt from reciting the Shema but are obligated in prayer. We are definitely here informed that despite the profound significance of Shema, women nevertheless are exempt.
The Gemara Berachot (20b) states that women “are obligated in prayer, because prayer is essentially a request for Divine mercy, and women have as much a need as men.
Now the big questions are whether this obligation is from the Torah or the Rabbis and what women’s prayers should include. Don’t expect this to be a simple answer please. Rashi states that prayer is a rabbinic obligation, and thus the issue of time is no longer relevant. Ramban also holds this view. According to Rambam and Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 106:1) women’s obligation to pray is from the Torah. Rambam finds this Biblical obligation to pray, based on Exodus 23:25. “You shall worship Hashem, your G-d, and He shall bless your bread and your water, and I will remove illness from your midst.” (Hilchot Tefilla 1:1) Rambam also tells us that in the Torah there were no set times at which one must pray. The times set were of rabbinic origin. To Rambam this makes prayer a non-time-bound obligation, and therefore women are included in it.
There are several opinions regarding the extent of the obligation. According to the Mishna Berura (106:4) women are required to recite the Shemoneh Esrei of Shacharit and Mincha. Women also are obligated to recall the Exodus and recite the Shema twice a day. Some require further prayers. A lenient opinion of Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 106:2) is that women are obligated by the Torah to pray once a day and they may formulate the prayer as they wish. In many places the minhag follows this lenient opinion.
Any thoughts on Women’s Obligation for Tefilla would be appreciated. Feel free to write them in the Webyeshiva blog or contact me directly.
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This article was originally published at http://torahonline.weebly.com http://dwellingplacebelow.blogspot.com
Imagine the world before creation… the Spirit of G-d hovered over the face of the waters. A topsy turvy world flooded with water, the source of life. G-d brings light into the world… and darkness. He separates the waters and the dry land is seen. It is here where creation takes places. Life comes into the world. Even the dry earth is filled with a sense of life – or else it would be non-existent. The plants grow, the animals move, and man speaks.
None will survive without the waters, the very essence of all creation. Inside those waters rest a stillness, a purity of G-dliness. Without these waters, life ends. But the waters have been separated, and it seems we mostly associate them with the fluid that enters our body – that it is only here where life exists. Yet, in truth, we look upon that same fluid as the very element to bring comfort to ourselves, whether it be through taking a bath, a shower, a swim in the pool or in the sea itself.
Not for nothing do these waters bring life to the soul inside the body – and to the body itself as it becomes refreshed and rejuvenated through being in contact with them. It is from them that all life began.
And G-d separated these waters into four main channels – and a river flowed out from Eden. That place of absolute purity, of absolute goodness and kindness, that place of heaven on earth. And through these waters, the rest of the world has some contact with the original waters originating in Eden itself.
When those waters gather of their own accord without any human intervention, into a specific sized vessel inside the ground itself, they become known as a Mikva – a place used for the “purification” of every married Jewish woman once a month. She enters these waters after experiencing a “loss” of life some 12 days before. It is by no means a physical purity which she seeks, nor did she do anything consciously wrong to need these holy waters. Through the mystical process related directly to the concept of conception, and having lost the opportunity (often by no choice of her own) of conceiving a child, a spiritual “impurity” rests upon her. She must remove this through re-entering the womb of life itself. She enters the waters in the ground, covering her naked body completely – not even one hair of her head remains above the water, and then renews herself (through the mystical process of the Mikva) as a baby leaving the womb filled with water around it. But more, she unites with the original water that lies in the Garden of Eden itself.
It is not something to be taken lightly, for every Jewish woman must spend much time and money in being able to fulfill this Mitzva – this commandment. It is a most precious one, that ultimately brings into the world holy Jewish souls. Souls that will enter bodies – to bring goodness and kindness to this world.
No CommentsA Primer on the Washing of the Hands (Netilat Yadayim) – by Larry Cohen
I have recently begun reading a very interesting book recently published in English by Artscroll. It is the first of a five-volume set containing the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch with differing interpretations to and rulings of Mishna Berura and Igros Moshe. Other sources are delved into as well. I had become interested in source material for Halacha through the inspiration provided by Rabbi Fink in his classes on Halacha. Concurrent with this renewed interest I answered Artscroll’s advertisement for this book. While it does go into many other sources for rulings, it will not make me a giant in this subject — perhaps a pigmy? I would recommend this series for as it is in Hebrew, and Hebrew Interpolated with the English as well. Volume 2 is scheduled to come out in July.
Many of us (including myself) have learned hand washing from others (through observation). I have never seen a course offered in this subject or even publically discussed at all. What we learned to do through observation and/or instruction has become routine. I started reading the above referenced book and found it to be an eye opener on this subject. I would like to share with you some of the concepts that were a surprise to me.
While hand washing upon rising in the morning is Rabbinic in nature; there is an allusion to it in Tehillim 26:6-7. “I will wash in cleanliness my hands …” A spirit of impurity leaves your body after awakening — except for your fingers. Washing of the hands (really the fingers) in the prescribed manner without a blessing removes the impurity. However, it is considered proper to wash the hands until the wrist.
Now, what is the proscribed procedure? “One takes the utensil filled with water with his right hand and transfers it to his left hand. He then pours the water first onto his right hand. After this he takes the utensil filled with water with his right hand and pours the water onto his left hand. He should do this (in alternating fashion) three times.”
Where should the water go from the hand washing? One must keep in mind that the water is impure. It should not be used to water animals, wash the floor, wash dishes, or thrown onto an area where people will walk so as they do not become contaminated by the impurity in the water. It should simply be poured down the drain or an open area that is not walked on.
Before washing, one must be careful not to touch an orifice of the body (mouth, nostrils, eyes, eyelids, ears, rectum), or food. If food is touched before washing then the food must be rinsed off three times.
The amount of water used should equal at least a revi’it (between 2.9 and 5.1 oz.), not discolored, be applied through human force (i.e., not from the faucet directly over the hands but from a utensil).
After you clean yourself and have attended to your needs (urination, etc.) you return again to perform the hand washing a second time and with the standard blessing. Some hold that the second washing should be done just prior to when you begin davening.
There are many activities during the day that require hand washing. A few are: arising from a bed, leaving a lavatory, cutting nails or hair, marital relations, scratching the head, etc. The Mishna Berura specifically states “having impurities (ruach ra) on his hands does not prohibit him from praying or studying Torah. Thus, one who does not have water (without which the ruach ra will not be removed), can clean his hands with any material and pray; later, when he obtains water he must wash his hands with water to remove the ruach ra.”
I would be remiss if I did not address Chabad. Undoubtedly some of you noticed that Chabad conducts hand washing differently than described above. To understand how Chabad has changed from the Mishna Berura, one needs to consult the Shulchan HaRav — not a very large book.
There are other important details that I have not included. I hope this short essay sparks the reader’s interest to investigate further.
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