CHANUKAH

The mitzvah which we have to carry out on Chanukah is lighting the Menorah. This, of course, is to commemorate the Nes that took place with the one crucible of oil discovered that only had enough it in to last one day but miraculously lasted eight days.

Our Chochomim when enacting the mitzvah of lighting the Menorah ordained that this should remain alight from after sunset each day for a minimum of half an hour.

The reason quoted for this timing is because going back to the time of the Second Bais Hamikdosh, they did not have any street lights, or electric lights etc., and, therefore, people used to hurry home to try and reach their own dwellings by night after which it was extremely dark and difficult to carry on any activity. The final people the Gemora mentions, who still were scurrying around up to a half an hour after night, were known as the Tarmodiam. As the original enactment was that the Menorah should be placed at the entrance to each house outside, it, therefore, meant that in order to have the פרסומא ניסא, the proclamation of the miracle, this had to be done at a time when people walking by would observe the unusual illumination and, therefore, would be reminded of the miracle of Chanukah.

However, after many persecutions, especially when the Yidden were disbursed to other lands and Rabbi Yosef Karo brings, in the Shulchan Oruch, that at a time of danger one lights indoors. There is still the reminder of the miracle, פרסומא ניסא, for the family and this remains the custom among many in Klal Yisroel to this day.

As the lighting of the Menorah is a remembrance to what took place in the Bais Hamikdosh where the Menorah had to remain lit all night, why should we not, nowadays at least put in sufficient oil that nowadays the lights should continue burning all night or at least for a few hours.

The amount of oil that had to be placed in the Menorah each night had to be sufficient to allow the Menorah in the Bais Hamikdosh to stay alight for the longest nights in the year which are exactly when Chanukah falls. In Eretz Yisroel this is approximately a 14 hour span from nightfall to daybreak. Perhaps one could explain that the half hour is, therefore, is 1/28th of the time allotted in the Bais Hamikdosh. That is, equivalent to the Hebrew כח, which adds up to 28. The implication being that one should always remember not to think כחי ועוצם ידי, my strength enabled me to achieve things. The strength to overcome, enemies, bad influences etc. has to be always with the help of Hashem.

We also find that in the Haftorah read on Chanukah, this ends with the words לא בכח ולא בחיל, meaning that not with strength nor with arms, בחיל, (in a war) is one helped, כי אם ברוחי, but with the help of My Spirit. Therefore, the original enactment that there is a minimum of half an hour for the lights to continue burning is relevant just as much nowadays.

We live in an age where human beings continue to make new inventions and technology develops by leaps and bounds and in order to counteract the attitude of כחי ועוצם ידי, the original תקנה remains to this day.

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PARSHAS וירא

The Gemora in Bovo Mezia asks why was it that the angels immediately agreed to Avrohom when he requested them to stay with him whereas when they reached S’dom and Lot begged them to stay with him overnight, they initially refused. The Gemora’s answer is that from this we can see that one may decline a request made by a person of small stature but not by one who is great.

מכאן שמסרבין לקטן ואין מסרבין לגדול

I would suggest an alternative approach.

If one examines the expressions used by Avrohom and Lot, one sees a great difference. Avrohom when inviting the three people (as he understood at that time they were) stated clearly:-

יקח נא מעט מים ורחצו רגליכם

Let there be taken a little water and you should wash your feet. Remember that travellers walking in the dessert in the scorching sun often had swollen and cut feet.

והשענו תחת העץ

And you shall rest under the tree.

He suggested to them, not only that they should wash their feet, but also rest under a tree, protected from the blazing sun. Avrohom then continued significantly

ואקחה פת לחם וסעדו לבכם

“I will take bread and you can eat to your satisfaction”.

Turning to Lot, when the two angels reached S’dom in the evening and Lot spied them, he asked them to come to his house and continued:-

ולינו ורחצו רגליכם והשכמתם והלכתם לדרככם

Stay overnight, wash your feet, get up early and go on your way. He did not offer them any food or drink. They answered, “No, we will stay in the street”.

Lot did beg them to come to his residence and eventually they agreed. The Torah does say that he made them a meal including matzos.

However, הכנסת אורחים, inviting in guests, must be done in a pleasant way to make the guests feel that they are really welcome. The most important thing is to offer them food, not just imply that you will give them some.

Here we have the key difference between Avrohom’s request to them and that of Lot.

I believe that one can maintain that due to that, the three angels immediately said yes to Avrohom’s request, whereas they initially declined that of Lot.

This is, of course, a lesson to all of us as to how to greet guests and make them feel really wanted.

I recall, that over 50 years ago, when I was in Gateshead Yeshiva as a young bochur, shortly after the war ended, the food we received was very sparse, for example, if I recall correctly, we were each allotted a pot of jam which had to last us three months.

On Shabbos, if we were fortunate, we were occasionally invited out by the local members of the Kollel or Baalabatim for a meal.

I was privileged and lucky to be invited by Rabbi Bezalel Rakow who eventually became the famous Rabbi of the Gateshead Kehilla. He was, at that time, learning in the Kollel and often invited me for a Friday night meal.

I recall vividly that the atmosphere was full of Kedusha and the food was very enjoyable. However, what I recall particularly was that often, after we had all eaten a particular course, he asked his wife to bring me a second helping, despite my protestations. “A Yeshiva bochur does not get much to eat during the week, and you should fill his plate again.” Stated Rabbi Rakow emphatically, but with a smile.

I still remember this extra special הכנסת אורחים which I encountered.

Rabbi Rakow זצ''ל was not only a great Talmud Chacham and Posek, he also was a shining example of middos tovos.

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וידוי מעשרות (Part 2)

The declaration concerning the giving of tithe to the poor and needy

Following on from my Devar Torah concerning the above, I mentioned there that by giving Tzedokah to the poor and needy this will be a great zechus to enable the מידת הדין to be replaced by the מידת הרחמים. This is very good for all the year round, but when we come to Yom Tov and Shabbos, we cannot physically give money which is muktzah.

On Rosh Hashonah, we are told by the Midrash, ויקרא כ''ט
בשעה שישראל נוטלין את שופריהן ותוקעין לפני הקב''ה הוא עומד מכסא הדין ויושב בכסא רחמים

Namely, that by blowing shofar, this causes Hashem to get up from the seat of judgement and sit on the seat of mercy. This, of course, is a similar concept to that mentioned above concerning the giving of Tzedokah.

Why should the blowing of the shofar cause this?

We know that the shofar is a remembrance to the אילו של יצחק, the ram. This was the ram that was spotted by Avrohom Avinu after he had been ordered not to kill Yitzchok.

The zechus of both Avrohom and Yitzchok who each individually negated themselves to follow the command of Hashem at the Akeidah demonstrated their complete acceptance of Malchus Shemayim, Hashem being the King of the whole world. Avrohom prepared bring up Yitzchok as an offering and Yitzchok agreed to this without complaint. It is, of course, the essence of Rosh Hashonah where we accept Hashem as the King. This is analogous to the comments made in respect of giving money to the poor and needy and using the expression השקיפה, namely that with all our flaws, we nevertheless, kept to the commands of Hashem and gave sustenance to the poor and needy. In the same way, on Rosh Hashonah by blowing the shofar, we awaken the zechus of Avrohom and Yitzchok who also overcame their personal feelings and did exactly what Hashem told them to do. This enables the מידת הרחמים to replace the מידת הדין.

However, when Rosh Hashonah falls on Shabbos, as this year, we do not blow shofar on the first day of Yom Tov.

May I suggest that there is less need to blow the shofar on Shabbos. The fact that we keep Shabbos and do not transgress any of the 39 מלאכות is sufficient. This demonstrates that we accept that Hashem is the King of the world. He created the world in six days and ordered us to rest on the seventh day, Shabbos. By doing so, we are once again, מעורר, we awake, the מידת הרחמים in place of the מידת הדין. This is sufficient for Hashem to judge us favourably.

The Gemora tells us that in the Bais Hamikdosh, the Temple, the shofar was blown on Shabbos. In the Temple (which had different rules) many מלאכות were carried out each Shabbos and, therefore, the reason I mentioned above, not to blow the shofar on Shabbos, does not apply there.

Turning, finally, to Yom Kippur, which is the final day in the cycle of מלכות, kingship and atonement for the Bnei Yisroel, we add another dimension. Yom Kippur is a one off. Not only may we not carry out any of the 39 מלאכות, but in addition, we fast. We are completely negating ourselves to Hashem because by not eating and drinking we are showing that we are willing to sacrifice ourselves, so to speak, all for the sake of the King of the universe.

May we all have a כתיבה וחתימה טובה.

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FURTHER REFLECTIONS AFTER VISIT TO MOROCCO AND SPAIN AUGUST 2009

Further to my very interesting trip, I gathered many more historic facts and details than I was aware of prior to the trip.

This included the troubled relationship between the Jews who lived in Morocco and in Spain for hundreds of years and in particular between 1,000 years ago and 500 years ago and namely the period ending in the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.

The historic background of Jewish scholarship was that from the time the Yidden went into Golus after the first Temple was destroyed, that is to Bovel (present day Iraq), the Torah Centre was always there through the times of the Anshei Knesses Hagodolah, Tanoim , Amoroim right the way through to the Geonim. The last of the Geonim was Rav Hai Goan who lived between 939 and 1038. Towards the end of his rule, the Torah centres shifted and many of his talmidim and their talmidim in turn, founded Yeshivas in Spain, North Africa as well as France and Germany.

The Berber Arabs invaded Spain from Morocco and North Africa around 711 and conquered, at least, the Southern part of Spain and on occasion, made even further inroads. Those Berber Arabs were, or became Muslim in faith and depending on which regime was in charge, were either tolerant, or friendly to their Jewish inhabitants, or antagonistic, even attempting to shmad them.

One could perhaps find an analogy nowadays in the difference between the attitudes of the rulers of Iran, intolerance, and those of Morocco, great tolerance to the Yidden.

Likewise the strongly Catholic Christian Spain was ruled by kings and queens who were strongly influenced by Dominican Monks and other clerics. Sometimes they were tolerant and friendly, and on other occasions, they were very intolerant and, eventually in 1492, they forced an historic choice, either convert or be banished. We all know the way they then split into different camps.

There were Jews, led by the Abarbanel, that went into exile, others who became Marranos and secretly adhered to the Jewish religion, and unfortunately, others who did convert.

There were similar problems in France and Germany during the same period, namely that the rulers sometimes were very intolerant and occasionally they were tolerant and friendly, we are well aware of the crusades and the way the mobs led by the clerics rampaged through France and Germany killing thousands of Yidden and there were numerous other massacres and forced exiles during the period.

However, despite all these trials and tribulations, Jewish scholarship flowered and flourished. This was the time of the Rishonim. To mention just a few, in France and Germany, there were Rashi and the Baalei Tosefos. In Spain and Morocco there were the Rif, the Rambam, the Ramban and the Rashba. There was the Rosh who was the leading pupil of the Maharam M’Rottenberg, the last of the Baalei Tosefos. The Rosh, because of persecution, fled from Germany to Spain and became Rabbi in Toledo.

There was, however, a major difference between Spain and Morocco and the Ashkenaz communities. In the latter, the Jews were not allowed to study in university, carry on in professions and were very much curtailed in all their business ventures. Many ended up being money lenders because the Christian religion forbade their adherents to lend on interest. This led to further hostility and disastrous consequences for our Jewish brethren in the Ashkenazi community.

In Spain and Morocco, especially under the Arab rulers, the opposite was true, Jews were even encouraged to study all types of philosophy and science and the greatest among them, including the Rambam and the Ramban were doctors and well aware of philosophy and other such disciplines.

As early as 960 R’ Chisdai ben Shaprut become the first court Jew, physician to the caliph, statesman and patron of Torah.

Around 1000 years ago, lived the very famous Rav Shmuel Hanaggid, who was a great Talmid Chacham (his sefer מבוא התלמוד is printed at the end of Mesechos Brochos in the Vilna Shas) he was also a wealthy man. He became the advisor to the Arab king in Granada, Spain and rebuilt the Alhambra Palace which had been in ruins. Apparently, he even had rooms in the Palace himself for himself and his family so that he should always be available to the king.

This ushered in a golden age, in Spain particularly, and Jewish scholarship and yeshivas flourished.

However, at the same time, there was a large Kairite community who distorted the Torah. This together with the study of Aristotelian philosophy which was all the rage at that time, led to a considerable lessening in observance of Torah and mitzvos among large parts of the community in Spain, in particular.

The Rambam was born in Cordoba, Spain in 1135 and 13 years later because of the persecutions at that time, fled with his father arriving in Fez some years later. He then had to flee on to Eretz Yisroel and finally for the last 37 years of his life, was in Egypt. He passed away in 1204.

We are all aware that he wrote the monumental Mishnah Torah (Yad Hachazokah) in clear precise and brilliant Hebrew. He also wrote a commentary on Mishnyas which was originally in Arabic and translated later to Hebrew.

As far as the Mishnah Torah was concerned, he wrote it, as he states himself, in order to give a concise final ruling about every din in Torah.

He also stated that he wrote his Perish Hamishnyas in order to give the multitude who spoke and wrote in Arabic the opportunity to study Torah and understand it.

He strongly attacked the Karaites.

In addition to all this, in order to try to stem the tide of Aristotelian philosophy to overwhelm Torah true concepts, he wrote his famous Moreh Nebuchim, Guide to the Perplexed. As he points out himself, this is only for people who are perplexed and, at that time, there were many. He tried to reconcile wherever he could the Aristotelian principles with Torah principles but where this was not possible, strongly defended our Torah and mitzvos. He also tried to explain the mitzvos in a rational manner.

His aim was to wean away the intellectuals who had been too much influenced by a non Jewish approach and he was, to some extent, successful.

He was undoubtedly a man of immense stature, we all know the expression

ממשה עד משה לא קם כמשה

From Moshe (Rabbenu) until Moshe (Maimonides), there has never been any other Moshe.

However, he was attacked by other great Rabbis of his period in respect of the Mishnah Torah, because he did not quote his sources and only gave a concise halacha which he felt was the final way to decide. They objected on various grounds including the fact that it was difficult to disagree if he did not quote his sources and give other people an opportunity to examine matters in detail as has always been the way of our great Rabbis all through the ages. (In fact, in his later years, he admits in a letter that this was a fair comment and that if he has time and strength he intends to quote sources for some contentious decisions of his. Unfortunately, he never got round to it being too busy in Egypt as the King’s physician and with Jewish affairs.)

He was also attacked strongly by other great Rabbis in particular in the South of France, known as Provence for his book Moreh Nebuchim. They disagreed with some of his principles and attitudes but even more so with the fact that any sort of compromise should be suggested and the dangers that this might create.

Although other great Rabbis defended him, there were bitter rows and finally a חרם was enacted, about 30 years after the Rambam’s death. The next year, the Rambam’s Moreh Nebuchim was burnt in Paris (right next to the Louvre).

Nine years later, in exactly the same place, 24 cartloads of Talmud manuscripts were burned and this caused not only the loss of numerous manuscripts which no longer therefore exist but the greatness of learning in France began to fade as Torah went eastwards through Germany to Poland etc.

It is a fact that the Rishonim quote the Talmud Yerushalmi on many occasions and we do not have much of the wording in our editions. Furthermore, anybody who has ever attempted to learn Yerushalmi will know that there are obviously missing words and others misspelt because the text does not flow. One has to bear in mind the fact that until Rashi produced his classic commentary on Talmud Bavli, the Talmud Yerushalmi was studied by leading Rabbis even more than Bavli. It was shorter, more concise and in some ways easier to understand.

At that time, well before printing was invented, specialised sofrim had to copy existing manuscripts and there were, therefore, very few and far between, especially with all the exiles and tribulations encountered by our Jewish communities.

Therefore I believe that when the 24 cartloads of Talmud manuscripts were burned in Paris, they included most of the known Yerushalmi manuscripts and we have, therefore, lost forever the clarity of that Talmud.

We were lucky in so far as Talmud Bavli is concerned, that there remained the Munich manuscript (of which I have a photocopy) as well as other lesser manuscripts which survived the trials and tribulations of the Middle Ages.

To return to the events after the burning of the Moreh Nebuchim. The Dominican Monks who saw that Jews themselves had burnt a Jewish book decided that in that case, they could suggest the King of France Louis IX, that Jewish books generally should be destroyed and remember that these were all before the time of printing and, therefore, they were not many precious manuscripts around. 24 cartloads of manuscripts is an awful lot and these were collected from all round France etc.

One of the signatories to the original חרם was Rabbenu Yonah who lived in Spain. He was, however a Talmid of the one of the Baalei Tosefos who were Ashkenazim. They did not have, as mentioned above, the blend of learning Torah studies and other types of knowledge. In fact, in Ashkenaz, study of anything other than Torah was very much frowned upon. It is therefore not surprising that Rabbenu Yonah was also a signatory.

I understand that he wrote Shaarei Teshuvah as a kapporah for what had ensued. He died in Toledo on the way to Eretz Yisroel where he had wanted to go to ask mechilah at the kever of the Rambam as he regretted the חרם and its consequences.

I mentioned earlier on that the Rosh had fled to Spain and he became Rabbi in Toledo around 1300 or so. He was welcomed by the Rashbo who was the Rabbi in Barcelona from where he went onto Toledo. He and his son, R’ Yaakov Baal Haturim, who wrote the Tur, the predecessor to our Shulchan Oruch, succeeded his father in Toledo, shortly after he died, the situation changed rapidly and there was major persecution by the Christian community.

In this context, I visited a beautiful and grand Shul which was erected in the 1300’s and used by the community there perhaps for 40 or 50 years. It was then taken over by the Catholic community and utilised as a Church for the next 600 years. However, the city of Toledo which lives on tourism decided 20 or 30 years ago that they would like to attract more of our Jewish brethren as tourists and therefore persuaded the Church to return this building to them. It is now known as a Sephardi museum. On its restoration there was discovered around the high walls pesukim from Tehillim etc. still engraved going back over 700 years .

Unfortunately, the persecution at that time was so intense that a younger son of the Rosh, who had married the daughter of his brother, the Baal Haturim, and was still alive, was pressured to accept Christianity. The Shem Hagodolim reports that he together with his wife and his mother-in-law, took their own lives rather than be faced with the brutalities of the inquisition which had already commenced 100 years or so before the expulsion in 1492.

There was a blessing in the relocation of the Rosh to Spain.

Unlike the present day world, where we have instant communication, by telephone, fax, etc., at that time, communities and countries were very insular. Therefore, the customs of the Ashkenazi communities of France, Germany and further east became increasingly divergent from those of the Sephardi communities in Spain, and Northern Africa,. Each community had its own gedolim and as new circumstances arose, the halacha was decided according to their understanding. Furthermore, differing customs, more so than halacha, took hold in each community.

The fact that the Rosh, who was brought up in Germany and knew and understood the halachic angle from that point of view to a very high calibre, was then catapulted into a Sephardi community where he encountered many divergent customs enabled him and even more so, his son, who had also been brought up as a young man in Germany, but then lived the rest of his life in Spain, to bring together considerably the divergent strands.

100 or so years later, three great Rabbis commenced making a detailed commentary on the Tur. I know of a tradition that the reason why that of R’ Yosef Caro was chosen was because he was always careful not to denigrate in any way any of the Rabbis’ opinions that he brings in prodigious detail right the way through the four sections of Shulchan Oruch. Because of this his commentary was accepted over the others.

Based on that commentary, he, himself, wrote the Shulchan Oruch as we know it nowadays on which there are now, of course, so many super commentaries right the way up to the Mishnah Berurah.

Rabbi Yosef Caro was born in Spain a few years before the inquisition and fled in 1492. He travelled around a number of countries around the Mediterranean until he finally settled in Tzfas in Eretz Yisroel. He then wrote the Shulchan Oruch as we know it. He, himself, writes that his guiding light in deciding halachic conflicts and who to follow are based on three leading Rabbis, namely the Rif, the Rambam and the Rosh. If two agreed and the other one disagreed, he would follow the majority.

Furthermore, he often brings the exact wording of the Rambam when stating a halacha in Shulchan Oruch.

I would like to suggest that the reason he did this was to try and ensure that we should never have again a bitter type of argument as happened with the Rambam and his opponents hundreds of years before and which led to the dire consequences that I mentioned above. Perhaps if the Moreh Nebuchim had not been burnt and the Dominican Monks would not have had the temerity to therefore burn 24 wagon loads of Jewish books, they would not have then proceeded, albeit many years later, to burn Jewish people alive at the Auto de Fe and otherwise maim them and cause them to go into exile, become Marranos, etc.

I would also suggest that one of the reasons why the famous Mishnah Berurah has become so accepted world wide by Ashkenazim and Sephardim is because Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan likewise is very, very careful when quoting prior Rabbinical sources (even where he disagrees with them) to be respectful at all times.

We all know how important Sholom is. The Mishnayas ends with a statement

לא מצא הקב''ה כלי מחזיק ברכה לישראל אלא השלום

The Shemoneh Esrei ends with the last brocho beseeching Hashem for sholom, the Kaddish ends with a double portion of asking for sholom. Let us all hope and pray and try ourselves to spread sholom in the Jewish world and the world in general. Legitimate disagreements take place, but they can be dealt with in a respectful manner to avoid the terrible happenings similar to those mentioned earlier in this article.

עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו ועל כל ישראל אמן

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וידוי מעשרות

The declaration concerning the giving of tithe to the poor and needy

In Parshas כי תבוא, the Torah instructs us not to forget to give מעשר עני to the לוי, יתום, אלמנה and גר. This took place in the third year and sixth year of the shmittah cycle and had to be physically handed over before the Pesach of the fourth year and of the seventh, shmittah, year.


The Torah then tells is that there was a mitzvah to made a declaration to Hashem that this had been carried out correctly (see chapter כ'ז, verses 12 to 15 for details.)

The final verse commences with a request to Hashem; Because I have carried out all that you commanded me, therefore,

השקיפה ממעון קדשך וברך את עמך את ישראל ואת האדמה וכ''ו.

Look down intently from Your heavenly abode and bless the Bnei Yisroel and the land etc.

Referring back to an incident which took place many years before, when the angels were on the way to destroy S’dom, in Avrohom Avinu’s time, the Torah uses a similar expression, וישקפו. This means looking from above in a very intense manner. Rashi explains there, that whenever the word השקיפה is used it refers to something bad, except in the case of Maaser Sheni, because by giving מתנות עניים this changes מידת הדין to מידת הרחמים, from strict justice to mercy.

Of course, this is an interesting concept and very welcome because by giving the tzedokah to poor people, one can overturn evil decrees and create an atmosphere of mercy in the eyes of Hashem. Nowadays, as well, whilst we do not have the actual mitzvah of giving מעשר עני at specific times from produce, it applies to us on all our earnings and profits. Our Jewish brethren are famed and very praiseworthy for helping poorer members of our community day in day out, all year round.

My particular question in this context is, why did the Torah instruct the person who is making the declaration to use the wordהשקיפה . If the word itself has the connotation of looking down with an attitude of strict justice, why not use a different word that would express a plea for mercy immediately. For example, he could say תראה look, or תשפיע send down in abundance. Why should the word השקיפה be used at all?

I think that one can understand this by considering a particular example. If we look at a shining white tablecloth which has recently been laundered, on a table, it looks beautiful at first glance. If, however, one would take a microscope and start examining the tablecloth in detail, one would find various blemishes including perhaps the weaving not being perfect, there being bits of fluff and small particles of dirt etc. which are not visible to the naked eye.

In the same way when we look at ourselves and fellow Jews, people may appear to be very good. However, we are told כי אדם אין צדיק בארץ אשר יעשה טוב ולא יחטא , There is no righteous person in this world who has done good and never sinned (maybe only במחשבה, in thought, or דיבור, by word, even if not במעשה). If we are all put under the microscope, and of course, Hashem is the one who can do this, our flaws and hidden bits of dirt and rubbish are clearly visible. This, of course, is the absolute truth as far as Hashem is concerned and by looking at things microscopically, this creates מידת הדין judging strictly in a very concentrated manner.

What I am suggesting is, that the wordהשקיפה was used deliberately. The implication is as follows, Please Hashem look at my personality as a whole and all my flaws and, nevertheless, I am doing what You commanded me and giving away part of my hard earned income to the poor and needy as you have instructed. The hardest thing for a person to do is to give away money from their own pocket. There is always the temptation not to. The thought or excuse that one needs more for oneself, or children or family or for a rainy day etc.

Note that in this particular case, especially, the second of the obligatory times by which this had to be given was bang in the middle of shmittah, where people were even under more pressure than usual. The נסיון, the test, was even greater.

Please also note that the Levi is included in the instruction of the Torah. It fact, he is mentioned first וגם נתתיו ללוי. The Levi’im were to act as teachers for the whole of the Bnei Yisroel. There were even cities which were known as Levite cities spread around the country. Not for nothing was the declaration commenced by mentioning the Levi’im. Likewise, nowadays, one has to remember to support Torah institutions particularly in ones home town as well as paying school fees and other such obligations.

What we are saying in effect is, please look at us carefully with all our flaws and, nevertheless, we are going against our natural instincts and giving away money to poor and needy people and for Torah, because You commanded us to do so. We have a general rule that Hashem wants us to emulate His qualities. מה הוא רחום אף אתה רחום, in the same way as He is merciful so you should be merciful.

The word השקיפה is, therefore, used to emphasise this special purpose.

At this time of year, coming up to Rosh Hashonah, when everybody is judged individually and, in particular, at the moment, in the middle of a world recession, our giving away charity, tzedokah, to poor and needy people will be a great zechus to enable the מידת הדין to be turned into מידת הרחמים.

May we all be blessed with a happy and spiritually uplifting New Year with parnosa, nachas and good health.

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TRIP TO MOROCCO AND SPAIN

I have very recently returned from a memorable, uplifting and inspiring trip to Morocco and Spain, together with a group that was led by Rabbi Paysach Krohn.

The tour commenced in Casablanca on Monday 10th August and we visited Rabat, Marrakesh, Meknez, Fez and Quazzane, finally arriving in Tangier on Thursday evening 13th August.

We then transferred from Africa to Spain by ferry and spent Shabbos in Gibraltar. On Sunday 16th August, we travelled onto Granada followed by Cordoba, Madrid and finally Toledo. The tour came to an end on Wednesday 19th August.

There were around 170 people on the trip between the ages of 16 and 80 years of age including numerous organisers and helpers. We stayed at first class hotels every night and were ferried around on air conditioned luxury coaches.

The group represented a mosaic of frum Jewish people worldwide. The trip had been arranged in the United States and people came from the USA from, at least, ten cities and towns. In addition, there were 30 to 40 people from Antwerp. Others came from Toronto in Canada, Melbourne, Australia as well as Eretz Yisroel. There was also an English contingent of 15 people or so, from Stamford Hill, Golders Green, Finchley, Edgware and Manchester.

It was really a very cosmopolitan crowd, there were Sephardim, Ashkenazim, Chassidim, Litvaks and Yehudei Amcho. It included a Rosh Yeshiva from Denver and his wife as well as a Rabbi from Flatbush and his wife. In the main, however, the participants were baalebatim together with their wives who wanted to be on a Yiddish tour, were followers of Rabbi Krohn or had family ancestry in Morocco.

Despite the variety in age outlook and background, it turned out to be like one big family and the achdus was impressive.

We toured on four buses which were named Paysach Rishon, Paysach Sheni, Acharon shel Paysach and Paysach leyosid levoi (which was later changed to Paysach shlishi). Everybody stuck to the buses that they were allotted to for the whole trip.

The tour organisers had years of experience and the herculean efforts put in by them, especially in respect of catering arrangements, were impressive. Most of the food was brought from the United States in crates and there was a varied and plentiful supply.

I think the heat is worth a mention. The temperature often reached 40ºC, 104ºF and that is in the shade. We often walked around in the sun. It actually reached 43º in Marrakesh which is equivalent to virtually 110ºF. Nevertheless, people determinedly toured around and listened to the amazing stories and divrei Torah of Rabbi Paysach Krohn. Rabbi Krohn is not only an accomplished speaker but he is a Baal Mussar with an American twist and has a very emotional personality and lots of Ahavas Yisroel. This makes him into a very powerful and interesting speaker with lots and lots of stories.

We assembled in Casablanca at lunchtime on 10th August and after lunch and an introductory speech by Rabbi Krohn boarded the buses that were going to be our companions for the next few days and headed for Rabat. This is the capital of Morocco and the seat of government and the king resides there. We went to the mausoleum of King Mohamed V who was the monarch during the Second World War and died about 40 years ago. He was considered a great friend of the Jews.

Morocco was a French Protectorate during the Second World War. The King refused to cooperate with the Vichy government during the Second World War who requested Morocco to deport all the Jews. When told by the French authorities who were then in charge in Morocco that they had produced 100,000 yellow stars for Jews to wear, he told them that they had better produce another 50,000 for himself, members of family and entourage etc. He stopped it all in its tracks and, as a tribute, therefore, we visited his mausoleum. It is impressive. He lies there in state together with the King who succeeded him, Hassan II and another son. The King of Morocco is an absolute monarch.

We then proceeded to a Shul which is still used although there may only be around 100 Jewish people living in Rabat nowadays. Rabbi Kohn spoke there and this was the pattern repeated every time. As well as davenning Mincha in the Shul, he spoke about different aspects of Gedolei Yisroel who lived in particular places or had been born or died there. In this particular place, to my surprise I learned that Sale (or Sali) which is just on the other side of the river from Rabat was the birthplace of the famous R’ Chaim ben Attar, the Or Hachaim HaKodosh who lived there for many years. My wife Esther was born in Rabat.

We were told that after King Mohamed V obtained complete independence around 1955, he used to send a message each Yom Kippur to every Shul in the country via the governors wishing the Jews a “Happy Yom Kippur”. One year he indicated that he would like to visit the Shul in Rabat on Yom Kippur and a special chair was prepared for him next to the presiding rabbi. When he turned up to Neilah, he refused to sit there and stood among the congregation for the whole of Neilah with his eyes closed and his hands raised.

We were fortunate to have a Jewish tour guide Rafael ibn Malach who gave us a lot of extra background as a born Moroccan which complemented the historical and other information which Rabbi Krohn had compiled.

Rafi told us that there had been a Jewish presence in Morocco since the churban Bayis Sheni almost 2,000 years ago and maybe earlier.

Rafi confirmed that the current King Mohamed VI grandson of Mohamed V was well disposed to the Jewish community. Morocco had approximately 360,000 Jews in 1948 but the community has now dwindled to under 5,000, with the vast majority in Casablanca. Rafi has made it his life’s work to go round to all the large and small communities where our Jewish brethren lived in order to take photos of the old Shuls etc. and collect artefacts.

He was so successful that he decided that a museum would be the right place to show this all.

When Rafi wanted to open a museum he asked to see the minister in charge of those matters who, at first, refused to countenance a Jewish museum in an Muslim country but Rafi then spoke to the Jewish adviser to the King and was later told that he could open the museum although the government would not contribute any funds.

The Jewish community in Casablanca contributed all the funds to the museum which is very nice indeed. Rafi, understandably, is very proud of his achievement and it is the only Jewish museum in any Arab country.

We returned to Casablanca on Monday evening, visited the museum and then went to the Jewish cultural centre where we enjoyed a good meal. We also heard from Rabbi Sabbag who is the personal secretary to the Chief Rabbi of Morocco and spoke to us in good English. He explained the background of the community which is run on strictly orthodox lines and mentioned that he, himself, had survived an attack with an axe some six years earlier.

In this context, Rafi was very insistent that whenever we left our tour bus, we should not walk around with just cupples on but have some other headgear above it. He was worried that we should not attract undue attention. He kept on mentioning that Israelis and Israel generally were a very sensitive subject and there were people in Morocco who are very unhappy about the state of Israel. This did not apply to Jewish people, but, nevertheless, if somebody turned up with a kippa on his head, they assumed that they were from Israel and, therefore, he strongly advised us not to walk around anywhere without having some other headgear on and we tried to oblige.

Neither I (nor anybody else that I know of, of the 150 plus people who made the trip with Rabbi Paysach Krohn) encountered any anti-Semitism, comments or felt threatened at any time during the 12 day trip.

Tuesday morning, we davenned around 7.40 am and this was proceeded by Daf Hayomi, optional, which was well attended, and then a lavish breakfast was served. Rations were on hand for us to take our own lunches and drinks for each day trip. This was the pattern for each day and generous helpings were available to all.

We travelled to Marrakesh, approximately 150 miles south of Casablanca. This is a walled city as were most of the places visited by us. We arrived at there at around 1.30 pm but did not stop in the town. We went on straight through it to the Atlas mountains which are about 30 miles southeast of Marrakesh and visited the tomb of R’ Shlomo ben Hence. This R’ Shlomo was a great Tzaddik but the ruler of the district was very anti the Jews. R’ Shlomo told him that he should not persecute the Jews and he retorted “You can’t tell me what to do but I am getting test you.” He put R’ Shlomo in a dry pit for three days. He was then taken out of this pit alive after having been found there with lots of snakes around him who apparently gave him to eat and drink during those three days. In Arabic Hence means a snake. This therefore alludes to the great miracle which took place. Fervent tehillim and prayers were made by all our group.

We then met the last Jew in the Atlas Mountains and he remained even though his family, including his wife, had emigrated to Israel. He said that R’ Shlomo had appeared to him in a dream and told him that he was not supposed to go yet. At one point, he even went down to Marrakesh after pleadings by his wife and family with a view to him emigrating to Israel but fell in a coma for three days. When he came out of the coma he reiterated that R’ Shlomo had told him that he may not go. People got brochos from this old Yid who must be in his middle 80’s.

We then went to visit a Berber village and went into a house on a steep hill which had been owned by Yidden. It was extremely interesting to see how there was “rooms” on the lower ground floor level, one for the donkey, another for the cow and a third one for the chickens. When you went upstairs people lived there and there was even a Succah which was kosher but with all the various kulus outlined in the first perek of mishniyas Succah. It really was an eye opener.

We then travelled back to Marrakesh arriving around, I think, 5.00 p.m. It was still very hot around 43ºC equals 108ºF. We went to the Shul, which we were told was over 500 years old. I sensed a special kedusha there. It appeared to have been founded at the time of the expulsion of the Yidden from Spain. A member of the community (only about 140 are left, I believe, in Marrakesh) told us that they had a tradition that the Bais Yosef, Rabbi Yosef Caro, who fled from Spain after the expulsion, came to visit the Rav who founded the Shul over 500 years ago. Once again Rabbi Krohn was in good form speaking about the particular community etc. We davenned Mincha and then, later on, proceeded to the large town square where we saw snake charmers, acrobats etc. and then had a surprise ride on horses with buggies to a beautiful hotel where we had another sumptuous meal all under the השגחה of the Casablanca Beis Din. The road in which this hotel is situated was a dream and the hotel itself was something special, I haven’t seen anything in London, or in Europe, quite as impressive.

The houses etc. are generally in a reddish pink which reflects the mountains from which the stones and the earth are quarried. Breathtaking, boiling hot, but very enjoyable.

We returned to Casablanca at about 2.00 am. We were up early the next morning Wednesday at about 7.00am for davenning and packed up. Our main cases were taken immediately onto Tangier where we were going to get the ferry on Thursday evening and we took just enough hand luggage for the one night’s stay in Fez.

We proceeded to Meknez from Casablanca leaving around 10.30 am arriving at Meknez at about 1.00 pm. The countryside is very pretty. We went to a beautiful Talmud Torah overlooking the Beis Olam and once again were greeted by one old Yid who gave us brochos and mishabereichs etc. Rabbi Krohn spoke as usual, this time about Rabbi Boruch Toledano (who is the grandfather of Mrs C Hertz of Stamford Hill). He was the Chief Rabbi there. He had such authority that if any Yid kept his shop open on Shabbos, he reported them to the police and the police closed the shop and fined the person concerned.

I found a Kitzur Shulchan Oruch written by him and he was obviously a great Talmud Chacham as well. Rabbi Paysach Krohn mentioned that he had heard this Rabbi Boruch Toledano speaking at the Knessei Gedola in Yerushalayim about 40 years ago. He was a very tall distinguished gentleman with a long white beard and he was crying because he was talking about the state of the youngsters from Morocco who had lost a lot of their Yiddishkeit because of the Alliance and when they went to the state of Israel further inroads were, unfortunately, made.

From my Yeshiva days I knew a number of the Toledano family, learning in Gateshead with two of them. One has unfortunately passed on but the other is a Rosh Yeshiva in Beer Yaakov. I believe, his name is Rabbi Nissim Toledano. Rabbi Pinchas Toledano of the London Sephardi community is another scion of this family of Rabbis who fled from Toledo in Spain 500 years ago.

Meknez was known as the Yerushalayim of Morocco and we were in the Talmud Torah where reputedly thousands of children had been learning.. It was an impressive building.

We then proceeded later in the day to Fez. We visited the Jewish Quarter, the Mellah. The Rambam lived there after he had fled from Spain. We had with us on the trip a friend of mine, Mr Danan of Stamford Hill, who I did not realise had a grandfather and great grandfather who were the Rabbis in Fez and the next morning, in fact, we went to visit their kevorim as well as that of Sulika, a girl of 18 who refused to marry a sultan’s son. She was actually killed al Kiddush Hashem, because of it, about 200 years ago, I understand. The ladies in particular davenned hard and with great emotion at this juncture. We prayed at another kever of R’ Yaakov ben Attar apparently a relative of the Ohr Hachaim Hakodesh and there are numerous other tzaddikim there and in various other parts of Morocco. This was all in the blazing sun in the middle of the day. (40ºC equals 104ºF in the shade)

One of the places we went to was a Shul built by a private family in Fez. When we came into this relatively small building, I looked around and was struck by the fact that there were stairs going down at the side of the Aron Hakodesh. I went down to investigate and came across a kosher Mikvah with water in it.

When I came up and questioned Rafi about the matter, he explained that this building had become disused. When he was on his travels investigating numerous such disused Shuls etc. he came into this building and was struck by the fact that between the Aron Hakodesh and the Bimah towards the front of the Shul, there was a pipe which was hanging down from the ceiling going straight to the floor. Eventually he discovered that this was, in fact, the source of the Mikvah, being fed by rainwater which was allowed to flow straight down the pipe into the Mikvah below the floor of the Shul. Very ingenious. It does rain in Fez for quite a few months in the winter.

On Thursday morning, Shacharis was at 7.00 am after the Daf Hayomi. It was early as we were going to tour around Fez properly. We went round the souk (market consisting of small alleys etc.) in groups with, we were told, protection and led by various people including Rafi and other guides. We had to be careful as we walked along where the donkeys and other vendors would decide to come the other way. We were just squashed into the sides and were warned by shouts of Balak which apparently meant beware oncoming traffic!! It was very interesting but we did not have time to buy things. We were, however, pretty tired after two hours going round in the various alleys in the heat.

The Jewish Quarter was adjacent to a Royal Palace affording some protection to the residents by the authorities.

At around 11.00 am we got into our air conditioned buses and proceeded to the highlight of the trip for those who were looking for yeshous. We went to visit the kever of R’ Amram ibn Diwan which is much further north lying in the Rif Mountains north of a small town called Quezzane.

I can only describe the reputation of this Tzaddik as being similar to that of R’ Elimelech of Lizhensk. In the same way as there is a pilgrimage to R’ Elimelech on his yahrzeit, there is a pilgrimage each year to R’ Amram, I believe on Lag B’Omer. In this context, I heard an interesting story, namely that, one year on Lag B’Omer an Arab couple were spotted offering sheep to be schechted by the Jewish people who had gathered at the kever. On enquiry it was learned that they had been married for many years and had had no children. Somebody had suggested that they should pray at the kever of R’ Amram ibn Diwan and the very next year they had a child. Since the, they stated, they came each year to contribute lambs in honour of R’ Amram.

We finally reached Quezzane around 2.00 pm and listened to an emotional speech by Rabbi Krohn, davenned Mincha, and spent some considerable time, saying tehillim and lighting candles as well as leaving kvitllach on the kever.

May all our tefillos be answered.

We then proceeded to Tangier which is at the northern most tip of Morocco where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean.

We were supposed to go on a fast ferry at 10.00 pm but this finally took off at 11.20 arrived at 12 midnight Moroccan time. This, however, was 1.00 am Spanish time and we arrived at Algericas and then had to transfer over again to Gibraltar.

After delays with customs etc. we finally arrived at our hotel in Gibraltar around 3.30 am.

The organisers worked hard to ensure that our passage through three countries, namely Morocco, Spain, and into Gibraltar went without any major problems.

Friday was a comparatively quiet day, although people who had not visited Gibraltar before went up the rock to see the sights and the monkeys.

I think that everybody felt exhausted by that Friday and we needed a day or two to recover.

Davenning took place on Erev Shabbos around 8.10 pm and the shkiah was around 9.00 pm. The Gibraltar community is frum, they have a Rabbi Chasid there who has been the rabbi for 20 years and is a Talmid Chochum and very likeable personality. They also have a kollel and a Jewish school as well as kosher shops and a restaurant. There are numerous baalebatim who are leading lights in the general Gibraltarian community. We were addressed on Friday night by Mr Solomon Levy (brother of Rabbi Abraham Levy of the Sephardi community in London) who had just retired as Mayor of Gibraltar.

After davenning on Friday night, we went off to the Catholic!! Centre where we ate all the meals on Shabbos. The atmosphere was very enjoyable, zemiros being sung, divrei Torah being said, especially by Rabbi Krohn of course, and we finally got to bed at around 11.30, I believe.

The next morning, Shacharis was at 9.00 am and the davenning was at a leisurely speed, Shacharis ended at about 10.45 and the whole davenning at around 12 noon. Rabbi Krohn then made a powerful speech regarding the importance of tefillah and mentioned how beautiful the davenning was that morning where pesukei dezimra was said or perhaps better chanted in unison by the members of the congregation, together word for word. His whole drosha was a gem.

One story he told was about a gentleman who travelled from the USA to Eretz Yisroel. He arrived in Jerusalem at 2.30am in the morning having not yet davenned Maariv. He was always careful to daven every tefilla b’tzibbur.

He went to Zichron Moshe looking for a minyan but only found one other person who had not davenned.

After waiting to 3.00am or so, he decided that he had better do something drastic.

He telephoned a minicab service and asked for eight Jewish drivers to come to Zichron Moshe. He was told that they only had five available and asked them to send those. He then telephoned a second firm and asked for three Jewish cab drivers.

By 3.30 am eight taxis rolled up expecting to have to take people home from a simcha. He met them and told each one to put his meter on and he would pay for the time until they finished Maariv, of course, by now, he had ten Yidden together, although in a couple of cases he had to search for a head covering for the mini cab drivers.

Maariv was davenned with fervour. When it finished he went to the first can driver and asked him how much he owed, the answer came “Nothing!! I have never davenned a Maariv like this in my life.”

He then turned to another can driver not religious and asked him how much he owed. “I haven’t been in a Shul since Yom Kippur” was the answer. “If anything, I owe you money and I have determined that I will, in future, remember to daven.”

In short none of the drivers wished to take any money in the circumstances. He, of course, had achieved his object of tefilla b’tzibbur.

After our communal meal, complete with zemiros and divrie Torah, not only by Rabbi Krohn but also one of the participants, Rabbi Krohn stood up again and announced that two participants who had been in Yeshiva together over 50 years earlier had now been reunited (and had not seen each over the 50 years) due to the fact that one of them had been the gentleman who spoke. The other one, happened to be sitting next to me, and suddenly said “I know him, I went to Yeshiva with him.” They had a long conversation together. It then turned out that there were two ladies who had not seen each other for over 40 years and met on the trip.

Sometime later, I was talking to a gentleman from Passaic, New Jersey, and when I spotted that he had an English accent, it turned out that he was born in Leadale Road, London N16. He was one of the first six pupils at the Yesodey Hatorah school in 1943. It’s a small world!!

After Shabbos afternoon shloff, there was a talk on behalf of the Chofetz Chaim Institute in New York which disseminates Yiddishkeit. This was followed by Rabbi Krohn once again and subsequently our group davenned Mincha in one of the four Shuls followed by Shalosh Seudos and then to Maariv at around 10.00 pm.

I actually attended Shaarei Shomayim a very sweet and smaller Shul where, together with a Rabbi Winter of New York (a Talmid of Rabbi J B Soleveichik) we shared divrei Torah with the baalabatim there.

It was interesting to see the main tefillos of the Sephardim are virtually the same as ours, but that additional tefillos and bakoshos are said by them which we do not say and vice-versa.

Nevertheless, the davenning was very uplifting and the atmosphere was one of Kedushas Shabbos. We were all made very welcome by the local community.

On Sunday morning, once again, we had to get up early as davenning was 7.00am. We were trying to leave by 9.00am. However, I must state that the timetable was in keeping with Stamford Hill, being Jewish Mean Time, one or two hours later than the official time for leaving any town was the norm in the whole journey. Two or three hours later than scheduled was the time when we finally arrived at our destination in the evening. This is not surprising due to the logistics of keeping everybody happy on four buses including frequents stops for use of the conveniences etc.

We finally left Gibraltar at around 10.30am and travelled for many hours through the Costa del Sol, past Malaga and this looked very beautiful from the motorway which itself passed through scenic country with many tunnels. It was very mountainous in parts.

We arrived at Granada in the early afternoon. We immediately made for the Alhambra Palace which is on a mountain overlooking the city of Granada.

We were informed that there had been a Palace there some 1200 years ago which had fallen into ruin but that when R’ Shmuel Hanaggid became the advisor to the Arab King around 1000 years ago, he rebuilt the palace which is beautiful and has extraordinary beautiful gardens as well. There are many fountains, pools and running water which add to the beauty.

We were told that R’ Shmuel Hanaggid was a man of such influence with the king that he actually lived in the palace enclaves with his family and from the time that he became so influential, the Jewish community, especially in Granada entered into a golden age. At the time the Arabs from Morocco rules southern Spain of which Granada is part being in Andalucía. The situation continued for many hundreds of years until Granada was finally retaken by the Catholic, Christian north who swept the Arabs out of Spain and Granada was the last fortress that they had. This, in turn, led to 1492 and the Spanish expulsion. Ironically, that decree was signed in the throne room of the Alhambra Palace which had been built by R’ Shmuel Hanaggid for the king some 500 years earlier.

We, of course, 520 years later, were a Jewish religious tour group in the very same place.

It highlighted the ups and downs of Jewish history, the trials and tribulations in an unforgettable manner. Rabbi Nissel (our extra tour guide for Spain) told us there that people who wished to make petitions to the king were often kept waiting two or three days and then were allowed in only late in the afternoon. The way the throne was situated with sunlight coming in behind from the windows meant that the petitioner could not really see the king but the king could see everybody as they came in. All this was to add to the atmosphere of reverence and awe that was demanded of all the petitioners and subjects of that particular king.

We wandered around the palace for perhaps three or four hours and by this time, our legs were quite used to walking around for hours on end and we knew that we had to drink large quantities to ensure that we did not become dehydrated. We then had a bonus in that we got back into the coaches and drove down the hill and lo and behold our hotel for the night was the Macia Real de la Alhambra within about a mile of the actual Palace. We then ate in the hotel and managed to retire to our beds early for a change, perhaps 11.00 pm.

On Monday morning, once again we had to be up early as we were heading for Cordoba, this was birthplace of the Rambam and we had heard much about him as he had fled from the city when he was a boy, wandered around Spain with his father R’ Maimon and family for about ten years and finally ending up in Fez for about 5 years and he wrote his Peirush Hamishnays whilst on the way, finishing it, I believe, either in Eretz Yisroel where he stayed for 2 years after fleeing again from Fez or possibly when he arrived in Egypt, where he lived the rest of the life for about 37 years, where he wrote the famous Mishneh Torah, Yad Hachazokeh

When we finally reached Cordoba (and it is a long drive from Granada, especially with four coaches who can only go at a certain speed) we were pleased be able to descend from the coaches. Meanwhile, the countryside was breath-taking, there were lots of hills and valleys, a tremendous amount of olive plantations. Altogether very pretty. The temperature was around 40ºC equals 104ºF.

We proceeded to the house which is alleged to be where the Rambam lived and afterwards went round the narrow streets with a tour guide, finally reaching a Shul (this was unfortunately was locked we were told it was never open on a Monday). We could not get in. We were, however, informed that this Shul was, in fact, many, many hundreds years old but was really only like a Shteible about 15 m² say 16 foot by 10 foot, not really a large room.

We have to always remember that the Catholic Church when taking over the country in 1492 obliterated most of the Shuls or converted them to churches. This one, because it was hidden behind the house only came to light recently when a wall became weak and the Shul itself was revealed.

We then got back in our coaches and proceeded from Cordoba to Madrid, which took, I think, about 5 hours arriving quite late, maybe 9.30 at night.

North of Cordoba the terrain became even more mountainous and all of a sudden we were going along almost like Swiss roads, and hairpin bends. We went through three successive tunnels and suddenly we were out on the other side of the mountain range and it was much flatter. We had reached Castile which is a large district in the middle of Spain.

I can now understand how it was that the southern part of Spain from which we had come, from Gibraltar all the way through Granada to Cordoba was under Arab control for many centuries even though the north part of Spain was Christian, Catholic. Those mountains in the middle must have been very difficult to scale and easy to defend.

The countryside from then onwards was much flatter although there were hills and mountains from time to time. The scenery was pretty but scorched by the blazing sun.

We finally reached Madrid late in the evening and were taken to the Westin Palace hotel. Whereas the other hotels we had stayed in were 5 star this was 5star plus plus, magnificent opulent, luxurious, the adjectives roll off the tongue and actually do apply.

We stayed there for our final two nights before returning on Wednesday to our respective destinations.

All the while, at every convenient spot, Rabbi Paysach Krohn spoke, both in Shuls, Palaces, etc. as well as usually speaking every evening at our supper which took place anytime between 9.00 pm and 12 midnight. He really is an excellent speaker with lots of knowledge and depth. He researched the historic angle and other matters thoroughly and he speaks with wit enthusiasm, is full of emotion and peppers his dvirei Torah (which are either incredible, amazing or beautiful depending on the phrase he chooses to use) with stories. Furthermore, he developed personal relationships and started new ones with numerous people on the trip. Because there were 4 coaches, we did not always have the privilege of hearing him whilst the coach was travelling. We did see some videos of him as well from time to time. I do wonder whether that if there would have just been one or two coaches that was travelling, it would not have been too much. It was perhaps a blessing in disguise, that we were given time to assimilate numerous facts and stories whilst admiring the countryside and also getting to know other people on our coach.

On Tuesday morning there was a tour arranged for Madrid including the Royal Palace there, we opted out, very simply because we woke up very late, not surprising as we went to bed at about 1.00 in the morning.

As in other places, the management, that is Eli Slomovits and Miriam Schreiber, in particular had arranged for us to have a separate dining room where we could also daven and, therefore our group was catered for separately each day when we stayed at the various hotels.

The centre of Spain is virtually as hot as Marrakesh in southern Morocco.

I don’t know exactly how hot it was in Madrid but I think that it must have been around 40º.

On Tuesday afternoon at around 4.00 pm we once again got into our coaches and I began to understand what the 42 journeys, when the Yidden went round the midbar after the Mattan Torah must have been like!!

We reached Toledo which is a small town approximately 70 miles southwest of Madrid around 5.00 pm.

After our coaches managed to find somewhere to park, we then started on an extraordinary tour. Firstly, in order to reach the old walled city, we went up a series of six escalators which meant that we did not have to walk up the very steep mountain.

We then came out towards the old town and each group was allotted a tour guide. They told us all about the history of the city and we heard a lot about the convents and the churches there as well unfortunately. Basically the city now lives on tourism but they did know a little about the Jewish history. This was amplified to us by Rabbi Krohn and also Rabbi Nissel who were both very informative.

Although it was late in the afternoon the temperature was still 41º approximately 107ºF I believe. That is, of course, in the shade, and we were walking around quite a lot in the sun. We eventually were taken to a large building which had been turned into a museum of Sephardi Jewish interest. Basically, we were told that this was a Shul built around 750 years ago and that the Rosh, the Rabbenu Osher who had fled from Germany was welcomed with open arms by the Rashba in Barcelona. The Rosh then journeyed on to Toledo where he became the official Rabbi and it was believed that this was the Shul that he davenned in. I believe his son, the Tur, followed him.

The Shul apparently only functioned as such for about 30 to 40 years towards the end of the 1300’s and then it was taken over by the Catholics. We also learned another fact that although the inquisition started officially in the whole of Spain in 1492, for a hundred years prior to that, in many parts of Spain, including Toledo, the Jews had been very much oppressed and there had been forced conversions etc. This Shul had been taken over by the Catholic Church and used as a church and it was only, I believe, about 20 years ago that it was taken over by the government who wanted to increase tourism and pointed out that there were many other churches in town and there was no need to keep them all. When the whole place was renovated it was discovered that various pesukim which had been engraved on the walls high up were still in existence under the plaster or whatever had been used to cover them. We managed to read round the whole four walls right at the top of the ceiling פ''ד chapter 84 of tehillim and further down there was again a whole series of less easily read pesukim round the four walls followed by a third layer. All of these much higher than anybody could reach.

We are talking here about a Shul with dimensions approximately 30 metres long, say 100 foot by 20 metres wide, say 70 foot. The height was at least 35 metres, say 120 foot. An amazing creation going back over 750 years.

As it had been restored the place leading to the Aron Hakodesh was clearly visible and very beautiful and at the sides once again there were pesukim of Ashrei going up the wall from the bottom and coming down the other side on both sides of the Aron Hakodesh. There was also a large plaque which blessing for the king Pedro and this really gives the date of the building of the Shul. We were told that he was called Pedro the cruel, nevertheless, there was a beautiful blessing in his honour. (I was reminded of a machzor I have which goes back to the blessing of the King after Shacharis on Shabbos in honour of the Tsar of Russia, Nikolai Nikolevitch.)

There was also a ladies gallery high up and were told that when the Catholic Church took it over, the bishops used it as their living quarters.

Before going in, I noticed that the windows were high up and this was obviously to ensure that no mob could break in through windows. The door was on the side. There was also at ground floor level a little arch of stones and I surmised that that was originally an entrance to a mikvah which would have been below the building.

We recited chapter 84 of tehillim with Rabbi Krohn and it was really very moving. Please read through the words the psalm and you will, I believe, understand why it was engraved on the walls. When one comes across this type of preserved writing, one wonders what might have been completely obliterated and, therefore, we cannot have the privilege of understanding much of the depth and beauty and thought that went into building these beautiful Shuls of which the Sephardim, in particular, are famous.

Further down the road, we went past another building which, unfortunately is still used as a Catholic church although it has on it SYNAGOGA because it was also originally a Shul. I ventured into the courtyard and walked around a little but did not actually enter into the building. Ironically, at the side of the word synagogue it states that it is Santa Maria something or other and I was reminded of the fact that Satmar Chassidus also is based on the words Saint Mary.

We kept on coming across people who said that they had Jewish blood in them. For instance, on the plane coming back, we sat together with a young man, who stated that his grandfather was Jewish and this seemed to be a pattern repeated often in Spain.

In this context, one of the people in our group told her story.

She was born in Brazil into a Catholic family. As a teenager she expressed a desire to study religion. Her grandfather then called her in to his private room and took her into a secret room, took out Jewish artefacts and told her that she should know that the family was Jewish and Marrano.

She became a religious Jew but had to undergo Geirus in case somewhere in the 500 years there might have been a break in the Jewish family life. We heard a number of stories of how the Marrano women ensured that they should always continue the Jewish traditions and this was passed on generation after generation.

She is now married with five children and works in Aish Hatorah as well as voluntarily working for the Bostoner Rebbe’s Ezer U’Refuah organisation in Boston which has a worldwide reputation.

The old town of Toledo is as originally built, perhaps 800 or 900 years ago and there is a flowing river just under the Jewish quarter adjacent to those synagogues I mentioned and the views are breath-taking and one can see the old walls and imagine how our Jewish Brethren lived 700 or 800 years ago in this very place.

Once we had crossed over a bridge, and met our busses Mincha was davenned. I wonder when the last time there was a minyan of about 60 people in Toledo davenning together. We then proceeded back to Madrid arriving at around 9.00 pm. We had a grand finale meal with Rabbi Krohn, of course, talking, thanking all the staff and we eventually retired to bed. We all said our farewells to our newly found friends as well as old acquaintances and wished each other a כתיבה וחתימה טובה.

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נדרים

The sedra of מטות commences with a set of laws concerning נדרים, vows or promises made. Some of these are straight forward, namely that should a man make a promise to Hashem or swears to obligate something on himself, he should not profane his words and must keep to the נדר or שבוע.

The same goes for a woman over the age of 12 and unmarried, or alternatively who is a widow or divorced.

Those laws can be understood logically and appear to be straightforward.

The interesting laws in the rest of the parsha concern the other cases, namely where a girl between the ages of 11 and 12 makes a נדר. Where an engaged girl makes a נדר and finally, where a married woman makes a נדר.

There are detailed laws whereby basically the father or the husband, or in the case of an engaged girl, both together, have the opportunity to annul the נדר in certain cases and with a certain time limit as enumerated in the parsha. The final verse reads as follows אלה החקים אשר צוה ה' את משה בין איש לאשתי בין אב לבתו בנעריה בית אביה.

The Torah clearly considers that these laws are chukim, statutes, things that we would not have understood from our own logical processes.

In order to understand the parsha properly, one should study it carefully at least with Rashi but the purpose of this article is to highlight certain phrases or laws which may seem, at least, strange, but which I believe have a connection with a previous event and therefore, can be better understood and appreciated.

In order to deal with this, I will try to enumerate and highlight certain wordings and laws.

I mentioned that the parsha is called מטות. In fact, this is the only time in Torah that there is a phrase stating that Moshe spoke אל ראשי המטות, to the heads of the tribes. Why was this particular phrase used and why were these laws given to the heads of the tribes?

From the wording in the whole parsha, there appears to be no hint that in addition to a father or husband being able to annul a vow, there is also what is known as a התרת חכם namely that a great scholar can also annul a vow. Furthermore, he can make it annulled retrospectively, that is from the time it was uttered and not like a father or husband from the time they find out, onwards. They cannot cause it to be annulled retrospectively.

Although the Torah states the case of a girl between the ages of 11 and 12, firstly, it then continues regarding an engaged woman and only then turns to the case of a husband and wife. Right at the end of the parsha, the emphasis in on בין איש לאשתו between a husband and wife as if this it the most important case.

The Torah uses an expression as follows:-
ואם ביום שמע אישה יניא אותה והפר את נדרה
And if on the day that the husband hears he, יניא, restrains her, והפר and he annuls her vow.

Rashi asks what does the word יניא mean and then says it means annulling. If that is so, why are both expressions יניא and והפר necessary?

There is another verse which reads as follows:-
כל נדר וכל שבעת אסר לענת נפש אישה יקימנו ואישה יפרנו
Every promise and every oath which, לענת נפש, her husband can confirm and her husband can annul. I have seen the expression, לענת נפש, translated as personal affliction or alternatively, vitiating ones life. Rabbi Shimson Rafoel Hirsch explains that vows which would entail neglect of care for one’s health, curtailment of one’s joy in life, would embitter one’s existence or stunt one’s feelings are all included. So are vows which affect the conjugal relations between husband and wife. All this the husband has the power to annul, but not any other vows. Why is this?

Finally, the expression מיום אל יום, from a day to the next day, is used by the Torah. We have a tradition, הלכה למשה מסיני, from Moshe Rabbenu that this means that the husband, only has the right to annul any such נדר or שבוע during the actual day that he hears it. For example, if he hears on a Monday evening after night falls, he will have up to Tuesday evening before nightfall to annul the נדר. (Subject to a proviso that if, however, during that period, he has already indicated that he agrees with it, he cannot then annul it).

If he hears about a נדר shortly before sunset, on the Tuesday, he still only has until nightfall on the same Tuesday evening, possibly only a half an hour, to annul it. He does not have 24 hours from the time that he hears it, but just during the actual day, which for Jewish purposes, is from nightfall until the next evening at nightfall.

Furthermore, as you may have realised, he does not have to annul it on the day that the נדר was made, but the first day that he hears about it is the relevant day for these laws.

I think one can see that there are some very unusual points I have made and, in fact, there are more in the parsha.

Let me make a suggestion as to what the underlying rationale might be, based on what happened during the first day that man was created.

We all know the story of אדם and חוה being placed in Gan Eden and being told that they could eat every fruit except one tree עץ הדעת טוב ורע, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They were further told that on the day they ate from this tree they would die.

Nevertheless, the נחש, the snake, spoke to חוה regarding the matter and Rashi tells us that she told him that she and her husband were not allowed to eat or touch the tree. The snake pushed חוה into the tree and nothing happened. She did not die. She then ate and compounded the sin by persuading her husband אדם to eat.

Because of that the whole perfection of creation was spoiled. The words spoken by חוה without due consideration led to the chain of events for which we are still paying. It is also in our hands to try to rectify, to some extent, the damage caused.

It would also have helped considerably if she had not persuaded her husband and he would have not eaten from the fruit.

אדם הראשון compounded the sin by, when being questioned by Hashem said,
האשה אשר נתת עמדי הוא נתנה לי מן העץ ואכל,
The woman you gave to me gave me the fruit and I ate it. He blamed his wife for the problem instead of accepting that the problem was his.

The ספרים הקדושים state that we should attempt, by our actions, to try to rectify the problems caused by the fact that אדם and חוה ate from the עץ הדעת.

Let us now proceed to deal with the points I raised and maybe we can appreciate better the unusual points and laws.

As a general rule, men tend to make decisions with logic whereas ladies tend to rely on their emotions more. In fact, the Torah tells us that חוה saw
כי טוב העץ למאכל וכי תאוה הוא לעינים ונחמד העץ להשכיל
She perceived that the tree was good for eating and that it was a delight to the eye and that the tree was desirable for understanding. She, therefore, ate the fruit and then gave it to her husband to eat as well.

חוה was swayed by her emotions rather than thinking logically that they had been commanded that they may not eat from the fruit.

In the same way one can suggest that ladies are more likely to make a נדר when faced with strong emotions or a crisis (in their eyes) at that moment.

When this concerns only themselves and is a matter of very little consequence, for example, to vow that she will never wear a dress colour blue again, this is acceptable. However, when she makes a vow which affects her relationship with her husband or can lead to major consequences in some other way, there has to be a mechanism whereby this can be stopped and annulled.

Similarly in respect of girls who are reaching the age of puberty where they are beginning to assert their own personality there is the danger of them making irrational נדרים ruled by their emotions.

At that stage, the father figure is the one to have the opportunity of step in with calmness and logic.

The other major period covered is when a girl becomes engaged, אירוסין, and makes a נדר. In that case, both her father and future husband have to intervene jointly in the matter. The engaged girl is likely to be in a more emotional state than at other times. Here, however, it is not sufficient for her father to step in but also the future husband as this may affect him during their life together.

Let us now proceed to try to deal with the wordings and laws that I highlighted. Bearing in mind my remarks above, we begin to understand why it is that a father or husband has the ability to annul נדרים made. In the same way as חוה let her emotions at that moment rule her head regarding a most important matter, with dire consequences, the Torah is trying to forestall a similar situation.

Therefore, the power of the husband or father only applies where a factor of לענת נפש which I went into in detail earlier on, and quoted Rabbi Shimson Rafoel Hirsch (please see above) applies. Furthermore, a husband must use logic and common sense. By using a double expression יניא, restraining and והפר annulling, the Torah is emphasising that he should act as a restraining influence altogether as well as annulling this particular נדר. In effect, by stopping it once, this will, hopefully lead to such situations not happening again. It is also, to a small degree, a rectification, תיקון, for the original sin of אדם and חוה.

One could even, perhaps, suggest that the words לענת נפש also include the fact that by אדם and חוה having eaten from the עץ הדעת, this caused affliction, לענת, for all the future souls, נפש, namely all their offspring.

The reason why it has to be annulled on the same actual day, even if it is only a short while before and not as one would otherwise understand as a 24 hour period (which is the maximum) is because of the sequence of events at the time of the sixth day of creation when אדם and חוה were actually created.

The Gemorra in Sanhedrin tells us that by 11.00am that day, אדם הראשון stood on his feet, by 1 o’clock in the afternoon, he was already presented with חוה as his wife. By 3 o’clock in the afternoon, they were commanded not to eat from the עץ הדעת. By 4 o’clock they had already eaten, by 5 o’clock Hashem had decided their fate and just before evening came they were sent out of Gan Eden.

We are also told that as it was beginning to get dark, אדם thought that it was the end as far as he was concerned because he had been told that on the day that he would eat from the fruit he would die. Indeed, it may have been so, but Shabbos, which was imminently coming in, pleaded with Hashem to accept אדם’s repentance, his תשובה and as Dovid Hamelech says in tehillim כי אלף שנה בעיניך כיום,
A thousand days in G-d’s eyes is like one day. Hashem commuted the sentence and allowed אדם and חוה to live up to 1,000 years.

However, all this took place during the same day and was decided by nightfall.

Therefore, in the same way, the rectification for אדם not having stopped חוה from eating or at least, not eaten himself and also putting the blame on חוה all took place in the period up to nightfall on that very same day.

Because of this the maximum time that can be allowed for annulling a נדר is up to nightfall on that same day.

Let us turn now to the hidden law, namely that there is התרת חכם, a great scholar can annul a vow and furthermore, he can annul it retrospectively unlike a father or a husband.

May I suggest that the חכם represents the Rebbonu Shel Olam, Hashem Himself, who is היה הוה ויהיה, was, is and will be, and He is above time. He, therefore, has the ultimate power to do things retrospectively unlike human beings who can only act from now onwards. That is the reason why a father or husband can only annul the vow from the moment that he says מופר, it is annulled. We now see why their annulment of the vow does not take retrospective effect.

Finally, returning to the first question that I posed, namely as to why does it say that Moshe spoke אל ראשי המטות to the heads of the tribes. Perhaps one could find a רמז here that the ראשי המטות are אדם and חוה who were the first two human beings and therefore the heads of all the tribes of the world for that matter.

Moshe was implying that by adhering to the laws, חוקים, of נדרים, we would assist in the rectification of the two original ראשי המטות.

The gemmatria of the three words אל ראשי המטות adds up to 1,002. Bearing in mind the remarks that I made about Hashem granting אדם a thousand years life and that אדם and חוה were the two human beings that this all concerned, we have 1,000 + 2 = 1,002 and that adds up to the words אל ראשי המטות as a רמז to the whole picture and a clue to the חוקים of נדרים having an affinity with אדם and חוה.

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קטרת - INCENSE

The story of Korach and his confederates and their rebellion against Moshe and Aharon is well known. The result of it was that Korach, Doson and Aviram and all their families, children as well as grown ups, were buried alive. In addition, there were 250 people who were נשיאי עדה קראי מועד אנשי שם, princes of the community, called to all important meetings, well known people. These men had been instructed by Moshe to (together with Korach) take fire pans and bring קטרת, incense with the idea of proving who should really be the person who brings this offering which until then had always been brought by Aharon (or his two sons).

These 250 people were, in fact, burnt alive. The Torah then tells us that Moshe commanded Elozor the son of Aharon to take the fire pans on which the incense had been placed and hammer them out round the מזבח as a sign of what had happened and a remembrance for the Jewish people that nobody other than Aharon or his children should bring קטרת and they should not be like Korach and his congregation. ולא יהיה כקרח וכעדתו.

The very next day the whole of the Bnei Yisroel gathered up against Moshe and Aharon accusing them of having killed, אתם המיתם את עם ה', Hashem was very angry and threatened to kill them all. Moshe then commanded Aharon to take a fire pan, place fire on it and then put the קטרת thereon, run out into the congregation who was standing near the אהל מועד, the tent of assembly, in order to stop the נגף, the plague which had commenced among the people. The Torah continues that Aharon did so and he stood between the living and the dead and stopped the plague. This was after 14,700 people had died in that short time.

Before trying to understand the details of this incident, I believe that greater focus on and understand of the mitzvah of bringing קטרת is important. The Torah tells us that there was a small, golden, altar, which was placed in the היכל adjacent to the קודש קדשים, the Holy of Holies. Twice daily, morning and afternoon, incense, קטרת, had to be brought by a Kohen on behalf of the whole Bnei Yisroel. We are told in כי תשא how to create this special incense and the Gemora goes into great detail of the eleven ingredients, four of them being of substantial weight, others of smaller amounts but all having to blend together. The Torah tells us ושחקת ממנה הדק, you should grind them together finely.

Interestingly, not all of these ingredients produced sweet smelling aromas. Some were sickly, some sharp and one, the חלבנה, galbanum, had an unpleasant smell. Nevertheless, we were commanded to mix all these ingredients together and then present them as the קטרת.

Not only did this have to be brought twice every day in the year, but on Yom Kippur, the Kohen Godol brought a special offering of קטרת into the קודש קדשים, the Holy of Holies. This was the apex of all the procedures of atonement which took place on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

What was so special about the קטרת and its obvious beneficial effect for the whole of the Jewish people? It represented creating a special aroma which went up in clouds of smoke and was to enable Hashem to look more favourably on the Jewish People. It consisted of all this variety of ingredients producing different aromas and smells because it, in total, was representing all the types in the Jewish People. Rashi, in fact, comments in כי תשא, ל-לה, that the inclusion of the חלבנה was to teach us that when the Jewish people prayed for help they should not refrain from including even פושעי ישראל, the deliberate sinners. Rashi continues שיהיו נמנין עמנו, that they should be counted (included) with us. The message is clear that the קטרת represents an all inclusive set of aromas. Furthermore, ten is the number which is considered a Holy number of Jews. A מנין must have a minimum of ten people. Here we have eleven ingredients, because the eleventh one, the חלבנה is included together with ten others, representing righteous people etc.

We now begin to understand why it was that Korach plus the 250 men, wanted to bring the קטרת. It was the highest and most elevated sacrifice, almost spiritual in nature. It was much less tangible than the animal offerings which were brought each day.

We learn in the sedra שמיני that on the day of the consecration of the Mishkon, when the whole of the Bnei Yisroel were on a high, two sons of Aharon, namely נדב and אביהו took אש זרה, strange fire, that is not fire from the altar (and which they had not been commanded to bring) and tried to bring קטרת from their own free will. Unfortunately, they were immediately punished and died. Furthermore, the mitzvah of קטרת was to be performed either, as I mentioned earlier on, on the golden inner altar, or once a year in the Holy of Holies between the staves in front of the Oron. Never was it brought as an offering outside the Mishkon or the Bais Hamikdosh.

Yet we find that in the sedra Korach, Moshe commanded Aharon to, at all haste, take a fire pan and put fire in it and then place the קטרת on top and run out of the Mishkon and go between the crowd of demonstrating Jews. We are told that Aharon protested; Do you not remember what happened to my two sons, do you want me to also be taken from this world by bringing the קטרת outside the Holy place, the אהל מועד? Moshe was adamant and stated, Run fast and deal with it and, of course, he was right. This stopped the plague continuing.

The Gemora in Shabbos פ''ח tells us that when Moshe Rabbenu went up in heaven to receive the Torah in all its detail, the angels protested to Hashem and asked what is a human being doing among us more spiritual beings. Hashem told Moshe to answer them. He was, at first, afraid, but Hashem told him to hold onto the כסא הכבוד and answer them. He said רבונו של עולם, Master of the world, the Torah you are giving, does it not say in it, “I am Hashem who took you out from Egypt”. Did the angels go down to Egypt, were they enslaved by Pharoh?

“You shall not serve any idols”. Do the angels live among nations that serve idols? “You should remember Shabbos to keep it Holy”. Do the angels work that they have to rest of Shabbos?

“Honour your father and mother”. Do they have parents? Etc etc.

Immediately the angels accepted his arguments and each one gave him a present. The Gemora then says that the מלאך המות, the angel of death, taught him the secret of קטרת, namely that it would atone for sins of the Bnei Yisroel.

Normally speaking, by the Kohen bringing twice daily the incense, the קטרת, this would atone for the sins of individuals of the Bnei Yisroel. Once a year there had to be a complete cleansing and that was when the Kohen Godol went into the קודש קדשים with the קטרת.

However, when the Bnei Yisroel staged a demonstration after the death of Korach and his followers as mentioned above, it says וילנו כל עדת בני ישראל and all the congregation rose up in protest against Moshe and Aharon. When it was a case of them all doing the wrong thing, קטרת had to be brought as a special antidote on a once off basis.

Furthermore, as the מלאך המות was going through the ranks of the people standing there, it was necessary to take the קטרת out to him.

If we look carefully at the wording in Torah, we find at that יז- יא Moshe said to Aharon קח את המחתה, take the fire pan, ותן עליה אש, and put on it fire,המזבח מעל, from the altar, ושים קטרת, and place carefully on it the incense, והולך מהרה, and go quickly, אל העדה, to the congregation, וכפר עליהם, and atone on them. Yet if we go to the next verse, it says that Aharon rushed into the crowd ויתן את הקטרת, and put, or alternatively, he gave the קטרת. It does not say וישם as Moshe told him to do, but ויתן. Why the change in expression? May I suggest that what Aharon did was to go to the malach, the angel and present him with the קטרת saying, in effect, you, yourself, told Moshe that this would stop plagues breaking out and here I present it to you, stop your work. The result was ותעצר המגפה, the plague ceased.

I have not seen this thought as to why the change in expression is used in any of the classic meforshim.

One other aspect of קטרת is mentioned by Rashi at the time of the consecration of the Mishkon and that is that on each of the twelve days from the beginning of Nissan in the second year of going out of Egypt, one of the leaders of each tribe, brought certain sacrifices etc. On the second day, Rashi goes into detail as to the רמזים, the allusions and hints behind the particular sacrifices and even the vessels which were used and given as presents. In Bamidbar ז-כ, verse 20, the Torah states כף אחת עשרה זהב מלאה קטרת, Rashi comments that the word קטרת equals 613 if you substitute ד for the ק. This is according to a rule known as א-ת ב-ש ג-ר ד-ק, that the last letter of the alef bais, ת, can be used to replace the first one, א, and so on.

What is striking and very unusual here is that we are not taking about taking a word or even part of a word, say two or three letters and inverting them, we are talking about taking just the first letter and inverting it, replacing a ק by a ד and the rest stays as previously. (Frankly, if I would suggest such a thing, I think I would be laughed out of court but Rashi was made with רוח הקדוש and is not to be laughed at.)

An example of א-ת ב-ש ג-ר ד-ק is in the sedra בלק where the angel had chastised Bilaam who hit his donkey three times and the expression used is כי ירט הדרך. The word ירט only appears once in the whole of Torah. The commentators give different explanations as to its meaning, either turning aside or hastening etc. However, the medrash says that using א-ת ב-ש ג-ר ד-ק the word, in fact, is equal to מגן, shielding. The way was shielded, meaning that the donkey could not, therefore, proceed. An alternative explanation is that because this was an angel of mercy, מלאך של רחמים , he was trying to shield Bilaam from problems in not letting him proceed. The word ירט being analogous to מגן is an example of this rule of א-ת ב-ש ג-ר ד-ק. (Interestingly, also because of this unusual use of word, the gemora in Shabbos ק''ה suggests that this is a נוטריקון, abbreviation, namely יראה ראתה נטתה, she feared (the donkey, that is), she saw, and she turned aside. One begins to see the depths that there are in Torah, the various רמזים which one can find under the surface!!)

The word קטרת by replacing the ק with the ד then becomes ד = 4, ט = 9, ר = 200, ת = 400, namely 613 in total. It seems to imply that this mitzvah of the קטרת is equal to all the mitzvos or, alternatively, elevates all the mitzvos in Torah. Why should we just invert one letter and not the other three?

May I suggest that it might have something to do with the fact that the קטרת consists of eleven ingredients some of them, as mentioned above, sweet, others sharp and one in particular, unpleasant. The inverting of one letter is as if we are enclosing all the ingredients into one package closed from both sides, namely to enable the cloud of aroma to ascend and find favour with Hashem. This enables the whole package to be offered together and so have the desired effect. It would also explain why each of the leaders of the tribes brought the same thing day by day because, once again, in respect of each tribe, of the children of Israel, there were different types of people included.

When Hashem created the world all the letter commencing with the ת came to request that they should be the letter to commence the beginning of Torah and Hashem rejected them back to the ב for one reason or another. The ב is the first letter of בראשית because it is also the first letter of ברכה, blessing. ק was rejected because it is the first letter of קללה, curse. Maybe, here as well, in order that the קטרת should have the desired effect, the ק had to be replaced with a different letter, in this case, namely a ד.

I mentioned earlier on that Rashi suggests replacing the ק by a ד, I also mentioned earlier on that the Torah says ושחקת ממנה הדק, you shall grind (the קטרת) finely. The root of the word הדק is דק, thin or fine. I think that one can find this use of דק as a further allusion to the replacement of the ק by a ד as mentioned by Rashi because together they lead to this refinement.

At the end of reciting פרקי אבות, every Shabbos afternoon we say,
רבי חנניא בן עקשיא אומר, רצה הקדוש ברוך הוא לזכות את ישראל לפיכך הרבה להם תורה ומצות

And the seforim Hakodoshim translate this as follows:-

Hashem wanted, לזכות, to refine the Bnei Yisroel and therefore he increased the Torah and the mitzvos, namely that we have 613 mitzvos and this leads to refinement followed by more refinement. This is represented in particular by the קטרת which had to be refined. We also find that before Yom Kippur, it had to be especially refined again. It has to be דקה מן הדקה again the emphasis on the two letters ד and ק. All this is a רמז to the power of קטרת to intercede on behalf of the Bnei Yisroel.

If one looks carefully at the ברייתא known as פיטום הקטרת, one finds that the eleven ingredients and their weights are mentioned in detail. This is recited by Ashkenazim at the end of Mussaf on Shabbos and by the Sefardim and Chasidim every day at the beginning of davening after the קרבנות and also at the end of davening before עלינו. The first four ingredients are צרי, stacte, צפורן, onycha, חלבנה, galbanum and לבונה, frankincense each of which had to be prepared with a weight of 70 מנה. The other seven ingredients were of much smaller weight reaching less than 100 מנה in total between them. 4 times 70 equals 280 which is רף equals פר. The kabbalists tell us that there are פר דינים, 280 aspects of strict law. The קטרת was brought in order to counteract the דינים and, therefore, it is no coincidence, I believe, that the four largest and most important elements themselves equalled 280, פר. I mentioned earlier on that one of the four is in fact very sweet smelling, the לבונה, and one is very unpleasant, namely the חלבנה. We see the necessity to counteract the strict din, application of law, with a mixture of all the different elements which one finds in plants and also on a different level in society in general.

חז''ל tell us that since the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh, by us saying our prayers with kavonna ונשלמה פרים שפתינו, our lips can be the substitute for the sacrifices. By reciting the פיטום הקטרת with kavonna, we can invoke the special aroma which will enable Hashem to look more favourably on us and treat us as his special people. אמן

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KORACH קרח

The rebellion by Korach, קרח, and his followers is famous and the happenings are a salutary lesson for all future generations. When one looks carefully at the terminology used in Torah, this often gives us clues as to depth of politics and machinations involved.

There are a number of obvious questions in respect of the words and expressions used at the beginning of the sedra and I will enumerate a number.

1) The sedra starts ויקח קרח בן יצהר בן קהת בן לוי And Korach took (he was) son of Yitzhar, the grandson of Kehos, the great grand son of Levi.

2) The Torah then continues ודתן ואבירם בני אליאב And Doson and Aviram, the children of Eliav ואון בן פלת בני ראובן And Oin the son of Peles, all of those came from the tribe of Reuvain.

The points to note are that it does not say ויקחו and they took, but he took ויקח. Who, obviously meaning the first person, namely Korach. Why does the Torah not say ויקחו, they took?

3) Why in the case of Korach does it give his complete genealogy back to Levi whereas Doson and Aviram it does not give the intervening one generation, that is Eliav was the son of פלוא who in turn was the son of Reuvain.

4) The next verse commences ויקמו and they gathered up against Moshe, not he but they all.

5) There were 250 followers of this rebellion and Rashi quotes that most of them came from the tribe of Reuvain. Why just from that tribe?

6) We find that when Moshe replied, the verse states as follows, וידבר אל קרח ואל כל עדתו, he spoke to Korach and all his followers. The word דיבור means speaking in a harsh way, whereas later on the Torah says ויאמר משה אל קרח, and Moshe said to Korach and אמירה is a much softer expression of speaking to. Here, Moshe was speaking specifically to Korach.

7) Later on the Torah tells us that Moshe sent to Doson and Aviram that they should come, why did have to send for them, where had they gone?

8) When Moshe told the whole of the Bnei Yisroel to go away from where the rebels were encamped, the Torah tells us that they should go from they encampment of Korach, Doson and Aviram, however, it then says that Moshe went to Doson and Aviram. Where was Korach?

9) Why, during the whole of this parsha, (when we all know that the earth opened up and the rebels were swallowed up alive under the ground) does it not mention that the children of Korach did not die. This is mentioned later on in the sedra of Pinchas.

Furthermore, you will, perhaps, remember that right at the beginning I mentioned that in the first verse there was ואון בן פלת, Oin the son of Peles, who does not figure anymore. The Medrash tells us that he was saved because he had a good wife. When she heard that he had joined the rebellion, she said to him “What good is it going to do to you. if Moshe wins, you will have been in the wrong, if Korach proves right, you will still not be the leader of the rebellion and, therefore, why do you need this trouble?”

His rejoinder was “I have given my word that I will join in the rebellion, which is due to take place in the morning.” His wife, who was very clever, said, leave it to me. When morning came, she would not let him go out of the tent that they lived in but stood near the entrance combing her hair. As soon as the representatives of Korach turned up to collect her husband, they saw what she was doing and they ran away and that way she saved her husband, who did not join in the rebellion.

Let us return to the questions that I asked.

Rashi uses a very unusual expression about Korach, קרח שפקח היה, Korach, who was very clever. Why, in that case, did he make this major mistake which led to his downfall. Rashi explains that he saw future generations including people who would be singing accompaniments with the Kohanim who were bringing sacrifices, also the famous prophet Samuel who was one of his descendents and they were all great and holy people. He, therefore, reasoned that he could not lose the fight with Moshe. Rashi ends by saying that Korach’s children, at the last moment, repented. They did תשובה.

We must put this in perspective, Korach was not only a Novi, a prophet because he could see what was going to happen in the future, what he saw, actually took place, he did have these very great and holy descendents!! He was an elderly gentleman, according to the medrash at least 130 years of age, and also he was very rich because the Gemora tells us that Yosef in Egypt amassed enormous treasures, Korach discovered one third of them and took them with him. He must have been a very rich man indeed. He had everything going for him, so why was it that he decided to rebel against Moshe Rabbenu.

The answer is that he was already jealous of the fact that Moshe was the leader and Aharon was the Kohen Godol whereas he had nothing. However, Moshe and Aharon were sons of the oldest son of Kehos, namely Amram. What tipped him over was the fact that his younger cousin אליצפן בן עוזיאל, Elitzaphen ben Uziel, born to the fourth son of Kehos, was given the job of being the head of the whole of the Bnei Kehos, the ones who carried the ארון, the Ark with the Luchos and dealt with the holiest parts of the Mishkan.

He, Korach, was a son of the second son of Kehos and, therefore, felt that he should have been given the job. That jealousy caused him to rebel.

He then looked round for supporters and found then readily among the tribe of Reuvain. Remember that Reuvain was the first born son of Yaakov Avinu. He was supposed to have both crowns of Kahuna and Malchus, to be the Kohen Godol and also to be the king but lost them both. As long as the Bnei Yisroel were in Egypt, this was not so important, they were too busy working as slaves but when they came out of Egypt, the tribe of Reuvain realised their great loss. The Kohanim came from the tribe of Levi and the tribe of Reuvain had lost that honour. When the Mishkon was consecrated Hashem commanded that Yehuda should bring the sacrifices on the first day and Reuvain did not get to bring its korbonos until the fourth day. They felt demoted and hurt. Therefore, they were easy prey for Korach to influence and to join his bandwagon.

Coming back to my original questions, we now understand the terminology used, better. The first word in the sedra, ויקח, and he took, refers to Korach because he was the instigator of the whole matter and it then gives his detailed genealogy, his yichus, because it was that particular point which was hurting him and caused him to be jealous.

On the other hand, Doson and Aviram and Oin son of Peles were all Bnei Reuvain, the children of the tribe of Reuvain and that is the reason why they are just mentioned without going through all their genealogy. It was because they were members of that particular tribe that they got involved.

In any event, we know that Doson and Aviram were trouble makers going back a long time, Rashi states at the time when Moshe was still in Egypt and killed the Egyptian who had been ill treating a Jewish person that the next day he saw two Jews fighting. He remonstrated with them and they threatened to report him to the authorities. They were, indeed, Doson and Aviram. They had been thorns in Moshe’s side for many a year.

Therefore, when it came to the actual uprising, the word ויקמו, they stood up to rebel, applies to all of them but for different motives.

When Moshe went to speak to all of them it uses a harsh expression because we are talking about the Adass Korach, the followers of Korach and really the argument had nothing to do with them, the main protagonist was Korach himself.

When Moshe turned to Korach to talk to him, he tried using a soft expression as King Solomon states, מענה רך משיב חמה, a soft expression turns aside wrath. However, unfortunately this did not help.

Doson and Aviram who were seasoned trouble makers did not take any notice and left the presence of Moshe. They even refused to come back and that is why Moshe had to try and call to them. This is another lesson in behaviour for us to note namely, that Moshe Rabbenu went out of his way to try to make peace but they refused to take notice.

However, let us return to Korach, himself. As mentioned before, he was a very clever man and being clever, he had gone at night, to gather together 250 people to try and carry out a coup, however, when Doson and Aviram came brazenly forth and remonstrated with Moshe, he was nowhere to be seen. This is a typical politician’s attitude, that he kept out of sight to see what was going to happen. This did not really help him because of the fact that the earth split open and as R’ Yehuda in the Gemora states, even if some of the trouble makers were not on the spot the ground inclined and they slide into the hole that had miraculously appeared.

As you can see, there was lot more going on than just appears on the surface!! We can learn numerous lessons from the behaviour of the individuals concerned and of the consequences.

Finally, the reason why no mention is made of the children of Korach who, at the last moment repented and did not die, was because a person should never rely on doing wrong believing that he can repent later on. As far as the fact that Oin ben Peles was saved by his wife, once again, one should not rely on something without thinking it through carefully and not rely on miracles.

I think we all are aware of what has happened in the past few months in the UK, for example, and that politics is a very shady and even dirty game and should be avoided like the plague. (or swine flu?) It is unfortunately likely to bury people alive eventually.

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