The "Big" Rabbi of My Youth: Remembering Rav Binyomin Kamenetsky Zt"l

As we move through life, we meet people we never forget; there are just some people that leave a lasting impression on us. I would bet most of us also know Rabbis, and then we know “big” Rabbis. We encounter a Rabbi that just stands out above the rest; we know his impact is different, and perhaps more global. For me, Rav Binyamin Kamenetsky zt”l fits into both of these groups. The world lost both a Torah giant and a giant person last Friday, with Rav Binyamin’s passing at the age of 93. I remember growing up in Woodmere, one of the Five Towns in the early 1980’s. Rav Binyamin was my “big” Rabbi as a child. He always had a presence that made him stand out among others. But it wasn’t his height (in fact he was a relatively short man) that made him a giant, it was his character and his actions that made him both the builder of the community and someone who was beloved by everyone who he encountered.

I had the zechut to spend over two and a half hours at his levaya last Sunday. The eulogies were so inspiring -- I could have listened the entire day. The following is an assortment of thoughts that I culled from the various speakers:

Rav Binyamin was a man full of simcha. He always had a smile for everyone he encountered. Everyone considered him their own Rabbi. Orthodox, unaffiliated, even non Jews. Politicians, local policeman, nurses… everyone!. He cared about and talked to everyone. Rav Tzvi Kamenetsky recalled a story where he was a fe minutes late to pick up his father for shul in the morning and found that Rav Binyamin had already left the house. Knowing he was elderly and likely did not walk to shul, he went up the block to see what had happened. It turned out that Rav Binyamin was friends with the local sanitation workers and they had given him a ride to shul. Literally everyone he met felt that Rav Binyamim loved them and cared about them. On a personal note, I recall as a young boy how Rav Binyamin would always stop to talk to me, kiss my hand, ask what I was learning in school. It didn’t stop there; he would take out a Chumash and share a short Torah thought on the parsha I was learning. If he did that to me, how many more children and adults must he have done this with as well.

Rav Binyamin’s life was all about  helping people. Helping people find jobs, a shidduch, visiting the sick and elderly. He had a list of widows he would call every Friday, knowing they had no one else. He felt he was their person to connect to each week. In fact, it was some of the people he called each Friday that knew something was wrong last Friday when they didn’t receive their call from him. They soon learned it was because he had passed away. He would carry job resumes in one pocket and shidduch resumes in the other wherever he went; even to his own yeshiva's dinner; always trying to help people get a job. He never stopped. He didn't know what the words לא אוכל "I can't" meant. He kept going. He did not stop. Even after recovering from a serious fall when doctors didn't expect him to recover, he went right back to helping people. He quite literally didn’t know a life that wasn’t all about helping others.

He was once asked, when does someone transition from a “Yunger man” to an “alter yid?” What age is it? He said you can tell by how the person talks. If a person begins to talk about the past, how things used to be or how they were done, that is an alter yid. A Yunger man is always talking about the future and what work there still is to be done. Rav Binyamin was niftar at the age of 93, but he was a Yunger man. He was always working, talking about what still had to be done. Collecting money for Jewish causes, yeshivot, finding jobs and shiduchim for people. He always was looking to the future and the words "I can't " were not in his vocabulary.

Rav Binyamin and his Rebbetzin built the entire Five Towns community. They came there when it was a midbar, a desert and look at it now 60+ years later. It is a community with thousands of Orthodox Jews, many Yeshivot and Day Schools, shuls on every corner, mikvaot and a full array of kosher restaurants. Rav Binyamin was the son of the Gadol Hador, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky. One might of thought he would not want to move to a community that did not have the Jewish infrastructure to build an Orthodox family. Yet, his father guided him to move there and build the community. That is what he did, many times over.

For me, another piece of my childhood is lost. I feel my age as the Rabbi of my youth has now left this world. But for the entire community, we have lost our architect, our builder. May all the merits of his life and the lives of all of the community be a zechut for the entire community to continue on the legacy that he left for us.

Pesach: Why Wasn’t Moshe Mentioned in the Hagaddah?

Why wasn’t Moshe mentioned at all in the Hagaddah?

We find that Moshe’s name was left out of Parshat Tetzaveh, leaving Chaza tol scramble to find reasons to explain why. So much more so, here, in the Hagaddah that retells the story of the Exodus, which Mosh had such a strong hand in, how could his name not be mentioned even once?

Clearly this was no accident. In the paragraph of מתחילה עבדי עבודה זרה היו אבותינו  the Hagaddah quotes the Pesukim from sefer Yehoshua from Chapter 4, pesukim 2-4, but stops and does not quote pasuk 5 which says, ואשלח משה ואת אהרון ואגוף את מצרים. Leaving Moshe out is intentional?

Even later in the Hagaddah when it says ועל הים מה הוא אומר: וירא ישראל את היד...ויאמינו בה׳ ובמשה עבדו, so only Moshe’s name is mentioned, but nothing about what he did or accomplished! Even his name was only mentioned parenthetically to Hashem. Apparently in older versions of the Hagaddah, this pasuk with his name got left out!

The biggest question here is, why go to such lengths to leave Moshe out of the Hagaddah?

Rav Reuven Margoliyos says Moshe was left out of the Hagaddah to emphasize Hashem’s role in the Exodus. As it says, לא על ידי מלאך...ולא על ידי שליח. The point of the Hagaddah was to come to appreciate every act that Hashem did for us along the way; this is the foundation of Judaism, hence the focus is solely on Hashem himself.

The Chofetz Chaim says something completely opposite. Since we know Moshe was the humblest man to ever live, and every step of the Exodus from Egypt came through his hand, the author of the Hagaddah wanted to downplay Moshe’s involvement to reflect his humility.

The Vilna Gaon adds something that might link both the opinions of Rav Margoliyos and the Chofetz Chaim together. The Hagaddah leave’s Moshe’s name out when quoting the pesukim from Sefer Yehoshua because if it mentioned him once, he would have to be mentioned over and over again. If that were to happen it would appear that the story revolves around Moshe and some of us might erroneously think Moshe did all of these miraculous things by himself, not realizing it was all the hand of Hashem which saved us. This is why the only time the Hagaddah does mention Moshe is where it says ויאמינו בה׳ ובמשה עבד, “they had faith in Hashem and in Moshe, His servant,” emphasizing that everything happened through Hashem and Moshe was only His servant. This also helps us understand why we don’t use the 5th pasuk from Yehoshua that mentioned Moshe -- it mentions him without the word servant.

The message is clear. Pesach, more than any other holiday is about educating our children. It is about instilling in them a love for Hashem and the belief that it was the hand of Hashem that freed us from Egypt. It is for this very reason the Hagaddah goes out of its way not to mention Moshe, with the exception of calling him Hashem’s servant, just one time.

Although we want our children to appreciate Moshe’s greatness, we do not want them erroneously thinking it was he who saved us. We want our children to walk away from seder night believing with all their heart that it was all the hand of Hashem who saved us and continues to do so to this day!

Pesach: Planning For Our Future

There is a story of the Riziner Rebbe, where a Jew fell asleep in the shul and as the Rizener was performing bedikat chometz he got up to Kol Chamira, and the Jew woke and said “oy, they are up to Kol Nidrei and I slept through the seudah hamafseket.” Everyone laughed. The Rizener Rebbe did not laugh, and encouraged his congregants not to laugh as well, as he explained that whatever a Jew can accomplish in the month of Tishrei can be accomplished on Pesach, as the pasuk says ועבדת את העבודה הזאת בחודש הזה. In this chodesh, called “hachodesh haze lachem,” one can accomplish the same growth he can accomplish on  Yom Kippur.

On the outset, we can see a connection between Pesach and Yom Kippur, for on both days we wear a  kittel. Both chagim probe us to aim for growth and teshuva. On Pesach we search for chometz in all cracks and crevices, which is a similar message to how we search ourselves on Yom Kippur. At the same time, the outer avoda is different. On Yom Kippur, the main avoda is by day -- all of the sacrifices are brought during daytime. Whereas on Pesach the main event is at night, at the seder.

Why is this? The avoda of Pesach is to start anew.  החודש הזה לכם – the root of this holiday is chidush, meaning new.  Pesach is about our ability to start over -- a fresh start, if you will.  The sefer Yesod Vaavoda explains 99% of sin is silliness, while only 1% is the yetzer hara, and 99% of teshuva is קבלה לעתיד, acceptance to do better in the future, while only 1% is חרטה, regret. Meaning, the sin is only 1% yetzer hara, so when we exchange life in this world for life in the next world; we trade our eternal life for physical pleasures in this world. The silliness is that a person thinks he is gaining olam hazeh, life in this world,  when in reality he isn’t even getting that. That is the 99% silliness; we get convinced we will obtain the olam haze, but we don’t even get that. What we end up getting is a life devoid of meaning.

Despite living in a world that is so advanced and developed, we sadly find depression rates at an alarmingly high rate. We find TV stars and sports celebrities who seemingly have it alll, but often appear to be living a life of emptiness. Perhaps this is similar to שיבוד, שיעבוד מצרים – shackled or enslaved. This person cannot be a ben chorin, a free man. Just as some people smoke despite knowing it is destroying their body,  we also do things that destroy our soul.  On the Yom Kippur confessional we say,  ולא שוא לנו  “the sin wasn’t even worth it.” This is the 99% silliness. The 1% of the yetzer hara can be helped with the 1% of regret, but the key is the  99% of the silliness. To fix that we need the 99% of קבלה לעתיד, working hard to change ourselves going forward. We need to develop a real thought out plan; one that the Chacham would devise. The plan of someone who is thinking about his future.איזהו חכם הרואה את הנולד. “The wise person is one who foresees the future.”

Perhaps this is the difference between Yom Kippur and Pesach. Yom Kippur is חרטה, regret – uproot the damage of the yezter hara by confessing our sins, and uprooting the damage the yezter did to us by causing us to sin. But on Pesach the avoda is cheirut, the freedom of kabala al ha’atid, chudish, hachodesh hazeh lachem, starting anew. This is the fight against our silliness to sin. This is why Yom Kippur is a daytime chag – a person has to work at night to do teshuvah to merit to do service the next day,  כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם... But Pesach is not about now;  it is about what is going to change in my life, about the future, and it can even be at night. A most important concept at the seder מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח , “we begin with the harder part of our history and work towards the good, end goal of redemption." Yes, we start with the bad, because we realize we have sins, but we start there and make a plan for what will be. We aren’t afraid of the night, of the genut, or the difficult beginning we had.

In one of his popular Shabbat HaGadol Drashot, Rabbi Ephraim Wachsman says that this avoda of newness that Pesach represents, contains three parts:

1. The belief that I can actually do it. Many commentators explain that the evil Rasha that our Haggadah describes is not the complete evil person, but rather one who is despaired that he can ever be better. He thinks he is so lost and there is no point in trying to change. He is called a כופר בעיקר, a denier, because he removes himself from the Jewish people. We have to answer בעבור זה עשה ה' עשה לי,  Hashem took ME out despite that I was on 49th level of impurty. We must believe no matter how far we fell, we can always rise up again.
2. The mindset that we need to do it - we have to recognize that if we do not start anew, our lives might turn to emptiness, devoid of real spiritual fulfillment.
3. How should we do this? We want to start fresh, like on a GPS, we need to recalculate. This is not easy when we are so busy with work. We get so busy with life that we don’t allow ourselves the time to introspect and plan for meaningful change. We need to change our mindset. We only live once and it goes fast. We have to have wisdom to make life meaningful.

Parshat HaChodesh: When Does the Obligation to Recount the Story Begin?

As we approach Shabbat Hachodesh and the arrival of Rosh Chodesh Nissan next Tuesday, I am reminded of a strange paragraph in the Haggadah:

יכול מראש חודש, תלמוד לומר ״ביום ההוא.״ אי ביום ההוא, יכול מבעוד יום. תלמוד לומר ״בעבור זה.״ בעבור זה לא אמרתי אלא בשעה שיש מצה ומרור מונחים לפניך.

“One might think that the obligation to recount the story of the Exodus from Egypt begins from the first day of the month of Nissan. However, the Torah states, “on that day.” “On that day” might be understood to mean while it is still daylight, therefore, the text specifies “it is because of this.” I can say “it is because of this” only at such time when the matzah and marror are in front of you.

I find this challenging to understand -- why would one ever think the obligation to recount the story starts on Rosh Chodesh? From the time we are small children, we are taught that we celebrate Pesach to commemorate the way the Jews left Egypt in haste on the 15th of Nissan, not letting their bread rise and taking it in the form of Matzah. It was the 15th! Why would we think this obligation begins two weeks earlier?

Let’s explore a few approaches to understand this:

1. The Talmud teaches us the concept of שואלין ודורשין; that there is special halacha on Pesach to start preparing to learn the laws of Pesach in advance of the holiday. Due to the complexities of the laws, we need to get a head start. We have the practice to begin studying the laws thirty days beforehand, but the Torah tells us (Shemot 12:2) that Moshe relayed the first commandment in the Torah, of Rosh Chodesh, with Rosh Chodesh Nissan; that he told the Jewish people they should join together to bring the Korban Pesach, and so he prepared them with all the laws of Pesach. So perhaps we might have thought that if we were already preparing, we might already be obligated to tell the story of the Exodus.

2. There are some commentaries that say the redemption actually began on Rosh Chodesh. With that understanding, we can well understand why we might think the obligation to recount the story of the Exodus should begin as well.

3. In a similar fashion, if we take a strict reading of the text, the Torah says (Shemot 13:5) וְעָבַדְתָּ אֶת-הָעֲבֹדָה הַזֹּאת, בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה, in introducing the obligation to keep the holiday of Pesach, the Torah says and you will perform this service “in this month.” Perhaps we have to do it all month, starting on Rosh Chodesh.

4. זכור את יום השבת – זכר ליציאת מצרים – There is a mitzvah to “remember the Shabbat,” with similar language for the daily mitzvah to “remember the Exodus from Egypt.” When it comes to Shabbat we fulfill the mitzvah of Zachor during the week by always thinking about and planning for Shabbat. We refer to weekdays in their relation to Shabbat, היום יום               בשבת, we shop all week for food for Shabbat, etc. If so, perhaps remembering the Exodus also begins before the actual holiday, i.e. from Rosh Chodesh.

We have determined there are some reasons why we might have thought the obligation begins on Rosh Chodesh. It is for that reason the Torah says ״ביום ההוא.״ – the obligation doesn’t begin on Rosh Chodesh, but “on the day.” of the Exodus, or the 15th of Nissan.  But why would we think this obligation begins while it is still daylight on the 14th?

Rabbi Tzvi Sobolovsky suggests that perhaps Pesach is like all other Shabbatot and Yomim Tovim, where you can accept them early, while it is still daylight. But the Haggadah is teaching us that Pesach is different. It is the only holiday we cannot bring in early. We learn from the words בעבור זה that we cannot fulfill the obligation until the matzah and marror are in front of us at night. Pesach is a holiday at night. Consider that most other holidays have their main celebration by day (Shofar, Lulav, Megillah, Seudat Purim and Mishloach Manot, etc.), but Pesach is a night holiday. The redemption was at night, so our obligation is at night. (CLICK HERE for an explanation of why we are obligated to wait until dark to say Kiddush at the Seder, while we do not have to wait on Shabbat.)

In conclusion, it all comes down to the Seder night, as that is when the obligations begin and when we need to be prepared to recount the story of the Exodus from Egypt. Let the consideration of this paragraph in the Haggadah inspire us to get a head start and get prepared for the seder so that we can maximize our family’s experience.

Parshat Ki Tisa and Parshat Parah: What Do They Have in Common?

This Shabbat we read Parshat Ki Tisa with the additional portion from Parshat Chukat, known as Parshat Parah. Although there may be numerous connections between the two parshiyot, here I will explore one that is near and dear to me; one I believe to be a crucial part of our philosophy as Orthodox Jews.

The Parah Adumah (Red Cow) discussed in Parshat Chukat is utilized in a process of purifying a person who became impure through contact with a dead person. In addition to what’s on the surface, Chazal teach us that this cow is brought to rectify the horrible sin of the Golden Calf , which is found in Parshat Ki Tisa. After Moshe goes up to Har Sinai to get the luchot from Hashem, the Jews grow inpatient and ask Aaron to create this calf as some form of intermediary to Hashem. An in-depth look at the commentaries will reveal different understandings of what exactly they did wrong here, but that notwithstanding, how does the Red Cow rectify this sin of the Golden Calf?

The simple understanding is that the sin was done with a baby calf and so the positive act of purification with “its mother” the Red Cow is done to make up for the misdeeds done with her calf. But what exactly does this mean? How are the two connected in a deep way, allowing us to really understand the message?

The Brisker Rav suggests that the sin of the Golden Calf  was that the Jewish people attempted to add to their avodat Hashem, something not suggested by G-d Himself or one of his prophets. Perhaps this was not avodah zara in the sense of bowing down to a foreign idol, but rather it was an attempt to reach G-d out of fear that Moshe wasn’t going to return. But despite some good intentions, they tried to do things differently, and in a way that was not warranted. It is for this reason that Hashem commands us to bring a Red Cow and it is commanded in the verse as זאת חקת התורה, “This is a chok from the Torah.” A chok is a mitzvah that Hashem specifically does not reveal his reasons and logic for. We are asked to do, and we do because Hashem said so. Now we see that to make up for the Golden Calf, where we tried to create or reform our service of Hashem without his permission, we are asked to rectify our wrongdoing by performing a mitzvah we do not understand.

The message here is crucial. As Jews, we are taught that Talmud Torah is of paramount importance. We are supposed to learn and to question, so we can perform the mitzvot better. Yet, there is an important aspect that our commitment to performing mitzvot should never be based on that understanding. We do mitzvot because Hashem asked us to, period! After we accept that, only then we can spend our lives searching and questioning. We have to recognize that a crucial element of our lives as Jews is to do the mitzvot unconditionally, and to not reform them without G-d’s permission or the guidance of our Chachamim. That was the mistake of the Golden Calf, and now we understand why bringing the Red Cow was so important. We  can now also understand and appreciate why these two parshiyot get read together this Shabbat.

Purim: The Final Kabbalat HaTorah

The Ariz”l writes יום כיפורים – כ-פורים, Purim is compared to Yom Kippur the holiest day of the year. Not only that, it seems to be on a higher level, for Yom Kippur is like Purim.

What does this mean? How are we to understand that Purim, a day of costumes, food and wine is holier than the day of Atonement, Yom Kippur?

Rav Dessler explains that Yom Kippur is the day of כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם...לפני ה' תטהרו where Hashem forgives us and we become purified; we achieve a closeness to Hashem, yet this comes out of יראה, fear. On the other hand, it is on Purim where we get close to Hashem out of אהבה ושמחה, love and happiness; out of recognition for the miracles that Hashem did for us and for seeing His constant Hashgacha in all that goes on in the world.  Despite our being in galut and His presence sometimes hidden, הסתר. Closeness achieved out of love and happiness is a much higher level than one derived out of fear.

To explore this a little deeper, let us look at the words of the Vilna Gaon:

"ענין פורים שהוא נגד יוהכ''פ, כי שמונה עשר ימים טובים בשנה, שנים שנים, שבעה שבעה."

“Purim corresponds to Yom Kippur, for there are 18 days of Yom Tov during the year, a pair of twos and a pair of sevens.” What does this refer to? The first set of two refers to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the second set of two refers to Shemini Atzeret and Shavuot. The first set of seven refers to the seven days of Sukkot and the second set of seven refers to the seven days of Pesach.

וכנגדן ח' ימי חנוכה" והנה ח' ימים שאין גומרין את ההלל”

There are eight days where we do not say a full Hallel, the last six days of Pesach, then Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. To make up for those eight days, Chazal instituted a full Hallel on Chanukah.

The Vilna Gaon concludes that since Chanukah has the full Hallel, it does not need the formal obligation of simcha; there is no obligation to eat. To make up for that simcha, we have 6 days of simcha on Pesach, and two days on Rosh Hashanah, where there is an obligation to eat and enjoy the day. Finally, there is Yom Kippur, a day of atonement and refraining from food and drink,  so we actually must refrain from simcha. To make up for that, Chazal instituted Purim, where we are obligated not just to rejoice with food and drink, but to rejoice a lot, go to far lengths to have and create simcha. Where does this simcha come from? As we will see below, after the miracles of Purim occurred, the Jewish people re-accepted the Torah out of a love for Hashem. In fact, as we will see now, the connection between Yom Kippur and Purim rests on the common theme of Kabbalat HaTorah. I will develop this even further:

What connection is there between Yom Kippur and Kabbalat HaTorah?

The original Kabbalat HaTorah began with Moshe going up to Har Sinai with the Jews saying נעשה ונשמה; it was a total and unconditional acceptance of the Torah. When Moshe comes down from the mountain he observes the Jews committing the sin of the Golden Calf, where upon he smashes the luchot, necessitating a teshuva process for the Jewish people. After Moshe helped us achieve forgiveness, he came back down on Yom Kippur with the 2nd luchot.That is the simcha of Yom Kippur – it is a day of Kabbalat HaTorah that came about from genuine teshuvah.

Yet there was one significant drawback - the Kabbalat HaTorah on Yom Kippur was out of אונס it was somewhat forced. As we find the Gemara in Shabbat פח says,

ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר – א''ר אבדימי בר חמא בר חסא, מלמד שכפה הקב''ה עליהם הר כגיגית, ואמר להם, אם אתם מקבלים התורה מוטב, ואם לאו שם תהא קבורתכם.

That Hashem lifted the mountain above the heads of klal yisrael and said, “accept the Torah and it will be good for you, if you don’t it this will be your grave.”

How could this have been באונס? Did we not have free choice?

The Maharal explains that we were not a physically forced to accept the Torah, rather we were אנוסים מחמת הכרה, it was total awe. We had reached the level of פנים אל פנים דיבר ה' עמכם, with awe we saw the importance of Torah and that the entire world rests on it. So did we have real choice? Yes, we did choose, but in that position who could have rejected the Torah??

We now have a better understanding of the nature of Kabbalat HaTorah on Yom Kippur. Now, take a step back and ask, didn’t the Jews accept the Torah unconditionally, with נעשה ונשמע? Why did we need this second, more forceful acceptance? Furthermore, we will soon see  there was a third Kabbalat HaTorah on Purim. Why the need for a third?

נעשה ונשמע was a great accomplishment, to take Torah upon yourself unconditionally, but the downside is that just like you accept it upon yourself, you can easily just as easily give it up. That is why Hashem chose to “lift the mountain over us.” There has to be a certain element of it being forced to show that Hashem is in charge and there are consequences to not following Him. Yet that is all out of יראה. It was a Kabbalat HaTorah, but somewhat short lived, as seen with the quick mistake at the sin of the Golden Calf, as many have wondered how could the Jews sin so quickly after receiving the Torah. I believe the answer to be they accepted the Torah out of awe; it was so overwhelming, and so it was short lived. It wasn’t something they could hold onto for the long-term.

The Gemara says, אמר רבא אעפ''כ הדור קבלוה בימי אחשורוש, דכתיב (אסתר ט) קיימו וקיבלו היהודים

“During the times of Achashveirosh the Jews re-accepted the Torah, as it says, קיימו וקיבלו.”

One could ask, the order of the pasuk is incorrect, first it should say they קיבלו and then it should say קיימו? Therefore, Chazal explain, קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר, they accepted that which they had previously accepted. Rashi explains, מאהבת הנס שנעשה להם, meaning  the Torah that was accepted out of אונס at Har Sinai, was not accepted out of love.

Were there no other miracles earlier in history between the time of the 2nd luchot and Purim? Why was it specifically this miracle which caused the Jewish people to re-accept the Torah?

The Gemara in חולין says, אסתר מן התורה מנין? ואנכי הסתר אסתיר, Chazal are teaching us that the times of אסתר  were a time of הסתר פנים – and it was through the hiddenness that Hashem showed his "אנכי", meaning, through His running the world, in what seems to be the simple acts of nature. Yet He tweaked it for the benefit of the Jewish people. Until this point, all the miracles were נסים גלוים, open and undeniable. Those do not have the same long lasting impact on us. As we explained above, it was those miracles that were the drawback to the Kabalat HaTorah on Yom Kippur, with the 2nd luchot. They were too open and undeniable – as we saw, the Jews didn’t know how to handle this and integrate it into their everyday lives – the result was the חטא העגל.

Perhaps now we appreciate what Purim is all about! It is all about our recognizing the hand of Hashem in our lives through the hidden miracles of Purim. From those miracles we see the Hand of Hashem in every act of nature. This should bring us to a closeness and a love for Him. This can bring about the strongest kind of Kabbalat HaTorah. It is for this reason, we needed a third Kabbalat HaTorah, one that through love could last us for all times. This is the simcha we all need to connect to on Purim!

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Links to Other Purim Torah

1. CLICK HERE to read my blog post from last year on Parshat Zachor
2. CLICK HERE to listen to a shiur I gave last year at the YU Midreshet Yom Rishon on this topic. CLICK HERE to view the source sheet.
3. CLICK HERE to listen to a shiur I gave on the Laws of Purim. CLICK HERE to a short synopsis I wrote on the Laws of Purim.

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Parshat Terumah: The Month of Adar: A Time to Be Happy

It often strikes me as odd, that when the month of Adar arrives, we begin to party; we dress up, play music, etc., but we are doing so 14 days before the holiday of Purim begins. You may be familiar with the phrase from our Chachamim  משנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה, “when the month of Adar enters, we increase our level of happiness.” Why does this month have this character? Other months have chagim of simcha and we do not begin to celebrate two weeks in advance?

In order to understand this, we need to go back to the original full statement as written in the Talmud. The Talmud in Ta’anit 29a states, כשם שמשנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה, כך משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה, “Just as when the month of Av arrives, we reduce our level of happiness, so too, when the month of Adar arrives, we increase our happiness.” What does this  mean, exactly, “כשם” or “Just as?” There is  a connection between the month of Av and Adar. What is that connection and how can that help us understand why in one month we increase our happiness, while in the other we decrease it? The Meiri, one of our Early Rishonim explains that just as we bless and thank Hashem over the good He bestows upon us, so too, we should thank him for the bad. After all, we do not comprehend His master plan and have to trust that whatever He does is in our best interest.  So perhaps that connects the months;  just as we thank Hashem in the happy month of Adar as we celebrate our redemption on Purim, so too -  as we enter the month of Av and prepare for mourning the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash - we should reduce our level of happiness.

There is one big difficulty with this resolution. Rav Eliyahu Chaim Cohen in his sefer Otzrot HaTorah on Purim asks that if the Meiri is correct, then the Talmud should have reversed the statement and said, “Just as we increase the happiness in Adar we decrease it in Av.” But the Talmud says it in the reverse? To further strengthen this question, Rav Cohen says that if we look at the Talmud in Brachot 54a we find the idea of כשם שמברכין על הטובה כך מברכין על הרעה, “just as we bless Hashem for the good we must bless Him for the bad.” So, as we thank Hashem for all the good he does, even when a loved one passes away, we must make the bracha of Dayan Ha’emet and bless Hashem. We see in this context that the כשם makes sense, but if our statement of the Talmud about the increase of simcha in Adar meant what the Meiri suggests, should it not have been stated in the reverse?

Therefore, Rav Cohen, suggests a different understanding of  כשם שמשנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה, כך משנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה - just as in the month of Av, the mourning does not begin on the 9th of Av, but rather we have the “nine days.”  These days give us an additional time period leading up to the 9th of Av, where we begin the mourning and reduce our level of simcha, just as when Adar comes, we don’t wait to celebrate on Purim, but we begin on Rosh Chodesh. The message is this:  our happiness is an important feeling and we cannot simply turn it on and off to extreme degrees overnight. We need time to build it up in Adar so we can celebrate appropriately on Purim,  and in Av we must decrease it over nine days so we can mourn appropriately on the 9th of Av.

There is one other important message that emanates from this discussion. I remember hearing Rabbi Paysach Krohn state the most important message of this Gemara is that whether it is Adar or Av, we are still obligated to be happy. The Gemara is telling us that in Adar we increase our level of happiness and in Av we decrease it, but we must always maintain a level of happiness. We see that happiness is a key ingredient in serving Hashem properly in the month of Adar, Av and throughout the year. Let us all merit only good things for our friends, family and all of klal Yisrael, so that it is  less of a challenge for us to appreciate the happiness we are meant to feel in Adar, and come to celebrate Purim in the best ways possible.

Parshat Beshalach: Why Did Hashem Bother Splitting the Sea?

Parshat Beshalach is known as Parshat Shira, the parsha with the special song the Jewish people sang after experiencing the splitting of the sea. This comes off the heels of two parshiyot where we watched the hand of G-d destroy Egypt with the ten Makot. One might now wonder, what was the point or the need for the splitting of the sea?

After the ten makot were complete, we were ready to leave Egypt; Hashem even gave us mitzvot to mark the beginning of the redemption. He gave us the mitzvah of  Brit Milah and Korban Pesach. He even gave us the mitzvah of tefillin, specifically as a zecher lyetzias mitzraim, a remembrance of leaving Egypt.  Then Beshalach comes and we are going out with another miracle: the splitting of the sea. Why did we need it?

Rav Moshe Feinstein writes that the exodus was not complete until the splitting of the sea; somehow this was the completeness of yetziat mitzrayim. Similarly, from the Pesach Seder we are familiar with the four languages of redemption, one being וגאלתי, which Rabbeinu Bachya says refers to the splitting of the sea. Again we see the splitting of the sea as the end of the redemption. But we were already free? The slavery was over? Why did we need this?

Perhaps we can suggest the Egyptians were still alive and might chase us, so Hashem decided he needed one last way to kill them. But that can’t be the reason;  the only reason they chased us was because Hashem hardened Pharaoh's heart so he would chase after us. Moreover, even if the reason for the splitting of the sea is to destroy the Egyptians, so why not just kill them in Egypt? Why didn’t Hashem kill them as part of the last plague, the plague of the first born? Or better yet, perform a huge, miracle in Egypt and have them all sink into the earth?

Why does it have to happen at the sea?

Rabbi Avi Feiner suggests  we see from Chazal that the splitting of the sea had a uniqueness that brought those who witnessed it to sing a shira. Even the lowly maid servant saw a revelation of Hashem’s shechina that was not seen  by all the other plagues.  The Talmud in Shabbat (132) quotes the opinion of Abba Shaul who explains the pasuk from this week’s parsha ואנוהו - we learned that we must emulate Hashem and act in his ways of mercy and kindness. But again, what did they see at the splitting of the sea that was so special for us to learn this lesson.

To make this question even stronger, what does the first pasuk in the shira tell us about how miraculous Hashem was? סוס ורכבו רמה בים, “the horse with its rider, he threw into the sea.”

That is so miraculous? More than the ten plagues?

Rashi says the miracle was they were tied together and defied the laws of gravity. Normally, if you were on horse and went in the water you would fall off; the  miracle here was they didn’t, for they stuck together and Hashem shook them up and down from the top of the water to the bottom and back.

But still, was this so much more impressive than the makot?

Rav Yochanan Zweig in his sefer Shirat Hayam says we are not talking about the awesomeness of the miracle, rather the uniqueness is that here we saw Hashem’s involvement like never before. In previous plagues, Hashem manipulated things to show He was in control of the creatures of the world; the supreme omnipotent playing with forces of nature, yet you don’t see Him, as it is all done behind the scenes.

By the splitting of the sea, Hashem is changing the laws of nature by combining the horse and its rider. So what is keeping them together? It wasn’t nature keeping them together. It is as if Hashem is holding them together and taking them to the bottom and then to the top, shaking them up and down. Who is taking them up and down? It is Hashem Himself! The water couldn’t do that. There were no fish or alligators swimming here and keeping the horse and rider together! There were no acts of nature keeping them together! It was Hashem Himself!

The miracle of the splitting of the sea is Hashem saying to the Jewish people, “I am here, come watch so you can see Me like never before.” This was the special gilui shechinah! It was only through this new level of the relationship,  back united with Hashem, close to him never like ever before, where the Jews could be considered fully redeemed!

Parshat Bo: Avoiding Systems Failure

As a Rabbi, I sometimes get the question, “Are some mitzvot more important than others?” I believe this week’s parsha can help us shed light on the notion that while there may be different rewards and punishments for certain mitzvot, they all require our complete attention.

The Torah describes the prohibition of eating chometz on Pesach by saying :,כי כל אכל מחמצת ונכרתה הנפש ההיא מעדת ישראל

“For anyone who eats chometz - that soul shall be cut off from the Jewish nation” (12:19).

Kareth is a punishment where a person is cut off, their spiritual being is cut from the Jewish people. This harsh punishment, although only applied for certain sins such as: eating on Yom Kippur, certain violations of Shabbat, not providing a son with a Brit Milah, etc. must be teaching us that these aveirot are so awful they do something to our entire being. Let’s dig a little deeper to understand this.

Rav Shlomo Wolbe zt”l explains that just as our physical existence is dependent on certain conditions such as food, drink and sleep, similarly the mitzvot are our spiritual conditions of life. If someone were to fail to observe the mitzvah of Sukkah, Shofar, Tefilin, etc., it is not just a lost opportunity to connect to Hashem, but also that person has literally deprived himself the integral ingredients which allow his spiritual side to live and grow. Each mitzvah can be compared to a different spiritual body part, and the lack of a certain part is a handicap that inhibits our proper existence.

The aveirot that are punishable by Kareth are so vital that one who doesn’t do it has caused a systems failure. He has not provided for his spiritual body and in its present state it can no longer survive - he is literally cut off from the Jewish people. So while doing other “smaller” aveirot might cause a slower more gradual harm to our spiritual souls, the Kareth sins cause an automatic systems failure.

Many of us have predispositions to certain mitzvot. Some love learning Torah, some love observing Shabbat or the chagim, while others enjoy performing acts of chesed. Although the mitzvot are critical and without them we cannot survive, the other mitzvot are just as necessary and must be performed to maintain a healthy spiritual life. Similarly when it comes to aveirot; although some are more critical and can cause systems failure when violated, it is important to avoid all aveirot to maintain a proper spiritual well-being.

Parshat Va'era: Why was Pharaoh Punished?

While sitting at our Pesach Seder reading through the story of the ten plagues, we confront a difficult question: Why was Pharaoh punished for not letting the Jews go? After all, we find by numerous plagues that Hashem hardened the heart of Pharaoh, effectively removing his free will. So then why was he punished?

The Ramban suggests a novel idea; Pharaoh’s initial acts of killing Jewish babies was so bad that his ability to do teshuvah was removed. Without the ability to do teshuvah, he was judged and punished on his initial acts of killing the babies and in actuality he was NOT punished for anything he did after Hashem hardened his heart.

What does this mean? He was punished for his original actions?

Rabbi Andi Yudin, a dear friend of mine, recently told me this: it is quoted in the name of Rav Yisrael Salanter that when it comes to mizvot, we know there is a principle of לפום צערא עגרא. The more effort you put into a mitzvah, the more reward you shall receive. When you do a mitzvah that seems simple or easy, you are rewarded as if you did a challenging mitzvah. For example, at first davening every day with a minyan may seem challenging, but one who commits himself to it will get used to it, eventually it becoming second nature. Rav Yisroel Salanter states that you still get rewarded as if it was still hard for you to perform. Essentially, you earned the fact that it has become easy by doing it over and over.

The same is true about aveirot. In the beginning it is not so challenging to overcome a sin and correct your ways. But, as you get used to performing aveirot it becomes harder to stop doing them. So how does Hashem view us and choose to punish us? Since at the beginning it was easier to stop, I am punished for things as it were in the beginning, since I could have stopped them from reoccurring.

For Pharaoh, included in his end game was his beginning game. Since he committed terrible aveirot in the beginning, he was punished for his original aveirot; he could not be punished for his later actions which were done without free will.

There is a powerful message for all of us here. Some mitzvot are harder for us than others. The effort you make in the beginning allows you to continue to be rewarded later on, even if it gets easier to do that mitzvah. So Lefum Tzara Agra goes both ways. Pharaoh was punished at the end for what his actions were in the beginning, when he should have stopped, but he was not punished for his later actions after Hashem removed his free will.

Let us all remember that unlike Pharaoh, we have free will to choose good and to keep the Torah and Mitzvot. We will be rewarded for our efforts, even after mitzvot become easier to perform!

Parshat Shemot: Does It Really Matter Where We Live?

Sefer Shemot begins repeating the names of בני ישראל and then says יוסף היה במצרים, “Yosef was in Egypt.” We all just finished sefer Beraishit last week -, it’s been a while that Yosef was in Egypt already, so why does the Torah feel the need to again tell us he was there?

I use the context of the Avot and their personal struggles to reflect upon some different hashkafot existing in Orthodoxy today. It goes without saying that our Avot were on a high spiritual level we cannot fathom, but yet the Torah describes their struggles for us to learn from. Avraham struggled with two competing sons, specifically with Yishmael and who he would become. Yitzchak dealt with the rift between Eisov and Yaakov and they each struggled with that relationship, regardless of what Yitzchak fully understood was going on. Yaakov dealt with 12 sons, 10 of which had a real struggle with Yosef. Regardless of how we understand their justification for selling Yosef, they had to deal with a father who expressed more love for one sibling. Despite all of this, everyone after Avraham was raised in a Jewish environment, in some sense a sheltered shtetl in an attempt to infuse only Torah philosophies. In fact, the Torah says this almost explicitly when it describes Yaakov having heard Yosef is alive. He sends Yehudah ahead to Egypt to settle in the city of Goshen, where they could be in their own environment, away from the impurity of Egypt proper. The bottom line?  Avot seemed to prefer a sheltered community to a more mixed or diverse one.

Yosef, although he grew up in a sheltered environment, after being sold and sent to Egypt, spent most of his years in a land of impurity. And yet, he grew into the gadol that the king of Egpyt relied on to run the country, he withstood the temptation of the wife of Potifar, and essentially lived in Egyptian society without compromising on his avodat Hashem at all. Perhaps that is why the Torah emphasises where Yosef lived. In Egypt, where the sides were stacked against him, unable to live a true Torah Torah lifestyle,  he rose to the occasion and did not let that waiver from what he knew to be true and right at all. Moreover, he produced אפרים ומנשה, who seemed to have a much more peaceful relationship than their uncles, great-uncles and great-great-uncles. Isn’t it interesting, that this was the case despite them being the first to grow up in a totally non-Jewish environment? Perhaps this is why the tradition for thousands of years has been that on Friday night we bless our sons that they should be like אפרים ומנשה, not only to live a peaceful life, but to be strong in your conviction to Torah and Mitzvot, regardless of what the world around you is promoting and endorsing.

We live in a Jewish world that continues to polarize. Unfortunately, the intermarriage rate continues to rise and the non-orthodox world continues to dwindle; in some cities a little faster, in others a little slower, but the numbers are declining consistently. In the Orthodox world, the right wing charedi community continues to grow at strong levels; this world seems to promote more of the “fully” sheltered environment with a complete focus on Torah and mitzvot and not much of an emphasis on contributing to the  world around us, to general education and professionalism. Even in the once called Modern Orthodox community, its own polarization is occurring - more and more people who want to call themselves modern orthodox, but in practice seem to be more ‘modern’ than they are orthodox. For many this term and community has turned more into a social structure for a community, than a description of philosophy towards Torah and mitzvot.

It would seem to me that if we looked to Yosef for chinuch advice, much of the Jewish world would not be following his modale. I suppose the Chareidi approach has its value, but more so if they really live in seclusion, without interacting with the general world. But if they are to live and make a living in the world at large, there may be a few areas that need improvement in their approach. If we look to the non-Orthodox world that is devoid of complete commitment to Torah and Mitzvot, perhaps we can understand why their numbers are dwindling and why their youth are less interested. If we look at the “Modern” or “Centrist” Orthodox community, I believe we need to look at  the Orthodoxy as being equally as important as the Modern. The original philosophy of Rav Soloveitchik and Rav Hirsch, although different, both understood the need of the modern Jew to live and interact in the world around them. They understood the need and value that general education has to allow us to become professionals and to deepen our appreciation for Hashem’s world. They understood that our reality was like אפרים ומנשה; that we would grow up in a secular world and despite the growth of Torah learning, increased number of shuls and Jewish Day Schools, there is a balance that has to be struck to live truly both modern and orthodox.

I do not espouse to have the answers to all of the Jewish communities challenges, but when it comes to this issue, I think back to a shiur I heard over twenty years ago on a cassette (for those of you who remember what those are) from Rabbi Mordechai Gifter, the Rosh Yeshiva of Telz Cleveland. Despite being from a more chareidi Yeshiva, Rav Gifter’s upbringing allowed him to understand the full gamut of the Jewish world;  he suggested that we stop using descriptors to Orthodox, and he prefered that we all aspire to be “Torah Jews.” He understood there are going to be philosophical differences in the Jewish spectrum, but the most important thing is are we Torah Jews. Is the Torah the main motivator in how live our lives? Is the Torah the main decider of how we practice and how we act? Perhaps this was the strength of Yosef and why the Torah emphasises in this week’s parsha that he was in Egypt. Despite being in Egypt, he was a Torah Jew and he was always sure to make Torah the motivator behind everything he did.