Shmooze News April 20, 2024
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Wishing you and yours a Chag Kasher V’Sameiach
A Happy Passover!
Shabbos HaGadol; Leaving the Sordid Egyptian Culture Behind
This Shabbos, Shabbos HaGadol, has an interesting connection to Parashas Metzorah. In Parashas Metzorah we learn about the purification procedure of a metzorah (one afflicted with tzaraas). Way back, at the beginning of the story of the Exodus, when Moshe was speaking to Hashem at the burning bush, Hashem showed him several miraculous signs. One of those signs involved Moshe’s hand being struck with tzaraas, and then being healed shortly after (see Shemos 4:6-7). The Midrash says that the messages of this sign to the Jewish people was “just as a metzorah makes others impure, so too the Egyptians made you impure [by influencing you with their idolatrous ways]. But just as the metzorah becomes purified, so too will the Holy One Blessed be He purify the Jewish people” (Shemos Rabbah 3:13).
During our over two centuries of sojourning in Egypt, we picked up some of the negative ways of our host culture. We were influenced by the beliefs of our Egyptian overlords, and we too started practicing idolatry (see Yechezkel 20:8 and Shemos Rabbah 16:2). As a prerequisite to our redemption, though, Hashem told Moshe that it was time not just to leave Egypt behind, but their sordid beliefs and practices as well (Shemos Rabbah 16:3). Among the “powers” worshipped by the Egyptians of that era was the power of the mazalos (the Zodiac), chief of which – in their estimation – was Aries, represented by a ram or sheep. The ancient Egyptians revered the sheep (see Bereishis 46:34 with Daas Zekeinim), and it was the sheep that we were going to slaughter as our korban pesach!
Before we left Egypt, 3336 years ago, we were told, מִֽשְׁכ֗וּ וּקְח֨וּ לָכֶ֥ם צֹ֛אן לְמִשְׁפְּחֹֽתֵיכֶ֖ם וְשַֽׁחֲט֥וּ הַפָּֽסַח, Draw forth and take for yourselves one of the flock … and slaughter the
pesach- offering (Shemos 12:21). Our Sages expound the expression “Draw forth and take for yourselves” as meaning, “Draw forth” your hand away from idolatry, and instead “take for yourselves” the mitzvah of bringing the [paschal] lamb (Mechilta ad loc.). The time had come to leave the impurity of Egypt behind.
As the Torah notes, the sheep was to be taken in preparation for this slaughter, a number of days earlier – on the tenth of Nissan (Shemos 12:3). The date of the exodus from Egypt was the fifteenth of Nissan, which that year fell out on a Thursday (see Shabbos 87b). That means that the tenth of Nissan, that year, was on Shabbos. It was on that Shabbos that we found the fortitude to set aside the lamb for our pesach-offering. It was on that Shabbos that we made a clear break from the idolatrous culture we had known for so long. With a little help from the holy aura of Shabbos, we were able to declare that the mazalos and all of nature are in fact subservient to the One and Only Creator. And on that Shabbos, we fulfilled our first mitzvah! That was indeed “great”! The Shabbos before Pesach was henceforth known as “Shabbos HaGadol” – The Great Shabbos (Chizkuni, Shemos 12:3).
It was great back then and continues to supply us with the fortitude to overcome negativity now as well.
Wishing you all a Good Shabbos and a Chag Kasher V’Sameach!
Rabbi Moskovitz
Shmooze News April 13, 2024
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What Birds Can Teach Us About Relationships
In Temple times, after a woman gave birth, she would bring a set of offerings consisting of one sheep (as an olah offering) and one bird (as a chatas offering). In its description of the bird offering, the Torah notes that the woman has the choice to bringּבֶן־יוֹנָ֥ה אוֹ־תֹ֖ר , a young dove or a turtle dove (Vayikra 12:6). This is not surprising, as these are the only two species of bird from which offerings can be brought. What is surprising, though, is that throughout the Torah, whenever these options of birds are listed, they are listed in the opposite order; with turtledoves (תורים) being listed before young doves (בני היונה). (See, for example, Vayikra 1:14, 5:7, et al.). Why does the Torah break from that pattern here and list the young dove species first, as the preferred offering?
The Baal HaTurim (R’ Yaakov ben R’ Asher 1270-1340) answers that when bird offerings are offered, they are almost always offered in pairs; one for an olah offering and one for a chatas offering. Not so in the case of a woman after birth. She brings only one bird offering (as a chatas, since the olah is brought from sheep, as noted above). Since she brings only one bird, it is preferable for her to bring a young dove, rather than for her to bring a turtledove, for if she were to bring a turtledove, she would leave its partner bereft. Out of sensitivity to the turtledove’s mate, with whom it has a special relationship, the new mother should preferably chose the young dove instead (Baal HaTurim, Vayikra 12:6).
To understand what that means, we need to understand why it is that the Torah’s choice of bird offerings consists of only these two species, adult turtledoves (תורים) and young doves (בני היונה). That is, one may not bring young turtledoves or adult regular doves. Rather he or she may bring only mature turtledoves or immature, young doves. Why? Ramban explains that each one of these options represent a different facet of our ideal relationship with Hashem. When a dove (yonah) is young, it has a special attachment to its nest, more so than any other bird. In fact, when
other young birds see danger approaching, they will abandon their nest. Not so the young dove. It therefore symbolizes a steadfast loyalty to its origin. In turn, it hints to our steadfast loyalty to our Creator, to our Father in Heaven. The mature turtledove (תור, which is a different species than the יונה) expresses a different kind of unique loyalty and fidelity. When a turtledove matures and finds a mate, it is for life. Its commitment is rock-solid, and its devotion is lifelong. It will never seek a different mate. The turtledove therefore symbolizes our attachment to Hashem, and our unwillingness to attach ourselves to any other power, force, or system of belief (Ramban, Vayikra 1:14).
While a pair of turtledove seems to be the preferred bird offering when one brings a pair, in the case of the woman who just gave birth, the young dove is preferred. In deference to the nature of the special relationship between the turtledove and its lifelong partner, the Torah writes that in this one instance – where only one bird will be brought as an offering (rather than the typical pair of birds) – here it is preferable to bring the other species. It is sign of respect to the special affinity these birds have for one another, and a sensitivity to the one that would otherwise be left bereft of its partner.
These respective bird species, one with its affinity for its origin and home, and one with its special attachment to its partner – represent the idealized Jewish People, feeling at home only with our Father in heaven and remaining fiercely loyal to that relationship, no matter which way the winds of change blow.
Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom / Good Shabbos.
Rabbi Moskovitz
SHMOOZE NEWS MARCH 30, 2024
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In this week’s parashah, the Torah speaks about the fire that burned upon the mizbe’ach (the Outer Altar). It says, וְהָאֵ֨שׁ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֤חַ תּֽוּקַד־בּוֹ֙ לֹ֣א תִכְבֶּ֔ה, The fire on the Altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not be extinguished (Vayikra 6:5). In the very next verse, the Torah seemingly repeats this obligation and says, אֵ֗שׁ תָּמִ֛יד תּוּקַ֥ד עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ לֹ֥א תִכְבֶּֽה, A permanent fire shall remain aflame on the Altar; it shall not be extinguished. Why the repetition?
Maharil Diskin (1818-1898, Yerushalayim) suggests that while the first לֹ֣א תִכְבֶּ֔ה, it shall not be extinguished, is a command, the second one is more of a promise. That is, in the first verse the Torah is commanding us not to extinguish the fire of the Altar. In fact, if one extinguishes even one coal from the Altar, even if he did so after taking it off the Altar, he has violated this biblical prohibition (see Yoma 46b; Rambam, Lo Saaseh 81). However, in the second verse, when the Torah states לֹ֥א תִכְבֶּֽה, Maharil Diskin translates it as, it will not be extinguished (i.e., an assurance and promise) rather than it shall not be extinguished (a command). As our Sages teach one of the ten constant miracles in the Beis HaMikdash was the fact that come rain, snow, wind or storm, the fire on the Altar simply did not go out (Avos 5:5). It burned continuously.
There’s a lesson in that fire that withstood all the vicissitudes of time for each of us. There’s a lesson in a fire that keeps on burning no matter what. That lesson is alluded to in another word in the above verse. As noted in the first verse cited above, it says, וְהָאֵ֨שׁ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֤חַ תּֽוּקַד־בּוֹ֙, which we translated above as, the fire on the Altar shall be kept burning on it. But if that is what the verse meant, it should have ended with the word עליו (which actually means “on it”). Why then does it end with the word בּוֹ֙, which literally means in it or in him. Perhaps the Altar’s fire is meant to light up more than just the pyre in the Temple Courtyard. It is meant to burn “in him” – i.e., within the heart of the Kohen, and indeed within the heart of each and every one of us: A fire that keeps on burning (see טללי אורות, p. קיב).
There’s a beautiful and moving tefillah known as “Bil’vavee” (adapted by R’ Yitzchak Hutner from the writings of R’ Elazar Ezkari, Tzfas 16th Century ספר חרדים) which expresses this very sentiment: בִּלְבָבִי מִשְׁכָּן אֶבְנֶה לַהֲדַר כְּבוֹדוֹ, In my heart I will build a Sanctuary dedicated to His Glory, וּלמִּשְׁכָּן מִזְבֵּֽחַ אָשִׂים לְקַרְנֵי הוֹדוֹ, And in that Sanctuary I will place an Altar for the elevation of His splendor. וּלְנֵר תָּמִיד אֶקַּח לִי אֶת אֵשׁ הָעֲקֵידָה, As a continuous flame I will take upon myself the fire that fueled the Akeidah. וּלְקָרְבָּן אַקְרִיב לוֹ אֶת נַפְשִי הַיְחִידָה, and as the korban I will offer to Him my one and only soul.
That passionate fire that burns within, is a fire that will burn forever!
Wishing you all a Good Shabbos / Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Moskovitz