THOUGHTS REGARDING ASHREI אשרי

The Gemora in Brochos says כל האומר תהלה לדוד ג' פעמים ביום מובטח לו שהוא בן עולם הבא Everybody who says Tehilla L’Dovid (colloquially known as Ashrei) three times a day is assured to be rewarded with a portion in the world to come.I would like to raise various questions.

Firstly, what is so special about this kapital in tehillim that leads to such a great reward.

Secondly, as I mentioned above, it is known colloquially as Ashrei, אשרי because introducing the particular kapital, we say three times אשרי, firstly אשרי יושבי ביתך עוד יהללוך סלה followed by אשרי העם שככה לו אשרי העם שה' אלקיו, Praiseworthy are those who sit in Your House, they will continue to praise You forever. Praiseworthy is the nation that receives good from Hashem, Praiseworthy is the nation that Hashem is their one and only G-d.

Why is there this magnificent introduction, three times quoting Ashrei, אשרי . I could understand why the second two are utilised because in tehillim they appear in the last verse of the kapital before Tehilla L’Dovid and in fact, in the same way, at the end of Tehilla L’Dovid, we find a verse added ואנחנו נברך י-ה etc. Therefore, תהלה לדוד has an introduction and a further verse rounding off this very special praise of Hashem.

Why should אשרי יושבי ביתך be the opening sentence? This appears in Tehillim some sixty chapters earlier on. Furthermore, it is the opening possuk utilised right at the beginning.

I have another question, I would have thought that if one says this three times a day, the reason would be that one utters such praises to Hashem and therefore, connects in a special way and that enables a person to be at one with Hashem at all times of day and night. Accordingly, in the same way as we say our prayers three times a day, Shacharis, Mincha and Maariv, I would have thought that אשרי should have been the introduction to all three, but, in fact, we say אשרי twice in Shacharis, once before Mincha and not at all in Maariv, very strange!!

In order to try and deal with these various points, let us first of all concentrate on the grandeur and richness of the praises of Hashem in this particular kapital, chapter. The words Tehilla L’Dovid of course, mean a Praise to David, namely a series of praises that Dovid Hamelech gave to Hashem and it starts off with a keynote statement.

ארוממך אלקי המלך וכ''ו

I will exalt You, my G-d, the King, and I will bless Your Name forever and ever. (Not only that) Every day I will bless You and I will praise Your Name for ever and ever, (and) how great Hashem is (and) Every generation will do so etc.

If you carry on going through every letter, because each sentence commences with another letter of the Alef Bais, in order, you find extraordinary praises of Hashem in various different ways, but the Kingship of Hashem is not mentioned again after the opening phrase until it is mentioned three times in three verses.

כבוד מלכותך יאמרו, the honour of Your Kingdom they will express.

The next verse ends וכבוד הדר מלכותו, to inform Bnei Odom His mighty deeds and the glorious splendour of His Kingdom.

And the climax of it all is וממשלתך בכל דר ודר מלכותך מלכות כל עולמים, Your Kingdom is a Kingdom over all the worlds and your dominion throughout every generation.

The Mizmor carried on as we know until the famous posek of פותך את ידך ומשביע לכל חי רצון, where we ask Hashem to open His Hand and continue showering us with good things etc.

Going through this posek by posek one begins to get a feel of the tremendous series of praise and exultations made.

However, in order to understand the אשרי introduction, I think we need to go back right to the beginning of Torah.

We are told that all the creation, the בריאה was to enable the first man, Odom Harishon to run the world in a smooth manner. לעבדה ולשמרה. He was the פנימיות, the core reason for the creation of all other items. The sun, the moon, the stars, the lands, the oceans, the animals, the birds, the trees, the plants etc. We are also told that the word בראשית, the first word in Torah is one of the ten מאמרים, utterances with which Hashem created the world. In fact, it was the first one, and therefore, it was the creation of יש מאין, matter from what previously did not exist.

If we look at the word בראשית, the first letter is a ב, the last letter is a ת, in between you have ר א ש י which are the same letters as the word אשרי, that is the פנימיות of בראשית.

We are also told that Odom Harishon should have lived for the whole time that the world was in existence, subject to him not eating the Eitz Hadaas, but he did eat and, therefore, was supposed to die the same day. Hashem mitigated this by stating that 1,000 years was equivalent to one day and, therefore, Odom Harishon was due to live for 1,000 years.

The medrash tells us that Odom Harishon saw that Dovid Hamelech did not have any years and gave him 70 years. Odom Harishon only lived for 930 years, and 70 years were received by Dovid Hamelech.

I suggest that whereas all of us being descendents of Odom Harishon have, in some very, very small manner part of the neshomo, the soul, of Odom Harishon however minute. Dovid Hamelech had the whole neshomo, of Odom Harishon, and his purpose was to be מתקן, to rectify, that which Odom Harishon had spoiled.

If we look at the first posek in the whole of Tehillim, I believe that this is a guide to exactly what Dovid Hamelech was trying to achieve. It reads אשרי האיש אשר לא הלך בעצת רשעים ובדרך חטאים לא עמד ובמושב לצים לא ישב, Praiseworthy is a man who did not follow the advice of wicked people, did not stand in the path of sinners and did not sit with לצים, scorners.

I think that one can say that this alludes to what happened at the time that the forbidden fruit of the Eitz Hadas was eaten, בעצת רשעים refers to the נחש, the serpent who advised Chava to eat and that nothing would happen. After she had eaten, Chava in turn pressed Odom Haroshon to eat, the phrase of ובדרך חטאים לא עמד, refers to the serpent together with Chava. Finally, Odom Harishon, after having eaten, used an expression ואוכל, which the medrash says refers to the fact that he told Hashem I will continue to eat and, that therefore the three became, a מושב לצים. Dovid Hamelech was highlighting that one should not follow such ways but should follow the ways of Torah, enquiring into it day and night. The first word of the whole of Tehillim is, again, אשרי, the פנימיות of the word בראשית, as I mentioned earlier on.

If one looks at the longest of all the kapitalach in tehillim, it starts offתמימי דרך אשרי. אשרי is the first key word, Praiseworthy are the ones whose way is perfect and who walk with the Torah of Hashem.

I suggest that אשרי is used three times before commencing Tehilla L’Dovid to give even more emphasis than usual and it refers back to the word בראשית and the whole concept of Beriyas Haolam, the world having been created by Hashem.

The other two letters in the word בראשית are ב and ת.

I think that the “בית” is represented by the words אשרי יושבי ביתך. The word ביתך alluding to the first ב of בראשית. The first letter of Tehilla L’Dovid is a ת.

We now have the whole package. The אשרי as the exhortation and rectification of what בראשית should be, followed by ביתך being the ב, אשרי again being repeated twice followed by the ת of Tehilla L’Dovid.

Somebody who reads through the mizmor and concentrates and contemplates correctly, is so uplifted and is so connected with Hashem that Chazal can promise that מובטח לו שהוא בן עולם הבא, he will surely become a person who will have עולם הבא.

I would like to add a further thought.

I mentioned that the medrash tells us that Odom Harishon gave 70 years to Dovid Hamelech.

We find another medrash which states that David received his years from Avrohom, Yaakov and Yosef. You will note, not the Ovos as such, Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov but Avrohom, Yaakov and Yosef. I will proceed to explain how this is arrived at.

The medrash says that Avrohom lived for 175 years but he should have lived 180 years, as did Yitzchok and, therefore, ה, five of the years is what he gave to Dovid.

The medrash continues that Yaakov who only lived 147 years should have lived 175 years, like Avrohom. He gave 28 years to Dovid. This together with Avrohom’s 5 years totals 33 years. Finally, Yosef who should have lived as long as his father, Yaakov, namely 147 years, only lived to the age of 110. He gave 37 years to Dovid. All this together totals 70 years.

I find this very strange, firstly, as I mentioned above Yitzchok is not brought into the equation. Secondly, Dovid was already given 70 years by Odom Harishon, why was he given another 70 years and why just by Avrohom, Yaakov and Yosef.

I would like to suggest that while Odom Harishon gave Dovid the actual physical years with which to effect some rectification, תיקין, the spiritual help to enable him to do so, was provided by Avrohom, Yaakov and Yosef.

I mentioned that Avrohom gave 5 years, ה שנים . The Gemora tells us that the letter ה represents somebody who was sitting on top of the roof of the letter, ה, and falls down, spiritually speaking. He has an opportunity to return to his previous high level by climbing on the little leg on the left hand side of the ה, in short, a Baal Teshuva. We find Avrohom Avinu was the first person who developed this derech as it says את הנפש אשר עשו בחרן, the people he influenced to believe in Hashem whilst he was in Choron. (You will also note that the middle word of that phrase is אשר being the first three letters after the ב of בראשית.) In fact, the first posek after Sheni in Bereishis is about the creation of the world and the word בהבראם, the ה of that word significantly is written in a small letter and the Gemora explains that this world is created with a ה (whereas the world to come will be with a י). Furthermore, the letters בהבראם are the same as אברהם who was originally called אברם without a ה but Hashem changed his name to include the ה. I believe that this is all part of the same spiritual input, in this case contributed by Avrohom to Dovid Hamelech.

This was followed by Yaakov giving 28 years to Dovid. We find that the Gemora says that שופריא דיעקב מאין שופריא דאדם, that Yaakov’s beauty was similar to Odom Harishon, this alludes to a spiritual beauty and Yaakov had reached the high level of Odom before he sinned. 28 is כח, Yaakov contributed this koach of spirituality to Dovid.

Finally, Yosef was the first ruler of a whole nation, in Egypt. He contributed that particular aspect to Dovid Hamelech, running mundane affairs of state whilst remaining a Tzaddik.

From the כוחות of the three, Avrohom, Yaakov and Yosef, Dovid was spiritually enabled to rectify the neshomo of Odom Harishon, to utilise the 70 years he had been given originally by Odom Harishon in the correct manner and also to help uplift the whole בריאה.

Why not Yitzchok? Because he represented דין, strict justice and in this particular case the work of Dovid Hamelech was to try and rectify with חסד, kindness and תפארת and יסוד, the qualities of Avrohom, Yaakov and Yosef, and to avoid strict justice.

One final point is that I originally asked why don’t we say Ashrei, אשרי, for Shacharis, Mincha and Maariv, I believe that the answer is simply that Odom Harishon when he saw at the end of the sixth day of creation that it was getting dark, did Teshuva and finally Hashem accepted it after Shabbos itself intervened on Odom Harishon’s behalf. Because of that we start Maariv, which is said at dusk, with the introduction of והוא רחום יכפר עון, namely, that Hashem who is compassionate should wipe away all the sins. Accordingly, the third אשרי recited each day is placed towards the end of Shacharis to reiterate the Praise of Hashem before going out to face the outside world.

The Sefer of Tehillim is a testimony to the greatness of Dovid Hamelech, the trials and tribulations that he encountered and overcame and Dovid Hamelech serves as a shining example of how Yidden should conduct themselves. It is a source of inspiration and hope and we all say Tehillim seeking help and salvation. Dovid Hamelech was given 70 years by Odom Harishon and certainly in his days rectified to some extent the problems caused by Odom Harishon. He has also afforded us the opportunity to continue this rectification so that we should be rewarded with a portion of Olam Haboh and that Moshiach should come speedily במהרה בימינו אמן.

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Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk

The famous holy Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk, the נועם אלימלך, was renowned for his piety. It is related that on Friday afternoon, the non Jewish workers in his household begged forgiveness from one another if they had fallen out and virtually did teshuva. Furthermore, they were not able to physically carry out any מלאכות of the 39 מלאכות which are ossur on Shabbos. So great was the keddusha in the household.

Based on the understanding that I have projected, namely that Shabbos Beraishis remained in the original pristine condition of holiness and that this continues to have a direct effect on every Shabbos that is kept by Yidden since Matan Torah which was also given on Shabbos, on the basis of the Yidden keeping it properly, we could perhaps understand the events that took place in the household of the נועם אלימלך.

He achieved such a high level of tzidkus that not only did he reach the level of a tzaddik who is on the level, the מדרגה of Shabbos all week but this atmosphere spread to his whole household. This had the effect precisely at the time of Mincha Erev Shabbos where it is a time of hagboras hadinim normally, that is, a surge of strict judgements in the world. In order to counteract that, people working for him had to ask forgiveness from one another and do teshuva, as Odom Harishon did. In addition, the holiness of the time of Shabbos spread backwards into Friday afternoon.

Not for nothing, was Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk known as the Rebbe of all the Rebbes of Poland, Galicia, etc. who followed in the path of the Ball Shem-Tov and his successor, Reb Dov Ber of Mezeritch of whom the נועם אלימלך was one of greatest talmidim.

זכותם יגן עלינו ועל כל ישראל אמן

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ברשות מרנן ורבנן ורבותי

Based on Dvrei Torah given at dinner in honour of 30th Anniversary of the Yeshivas Lev Simcha Gur, London

The Gemora in Shabbos פ'ו says
דכולי עלמא בשבת ניתנה תורה,

All agree that the Torah was given on Shabbos.

The Gemora carries on for one and a half blatt to try to reconcile all the dates but is insistent that the Torah must have been given on Shabbos. I wonder why this is so important?

I would like to suggest the following:-

If we go back to מעשה בראשית Hashem created the world and obviously it was a perfect world. The high point was on the sixth day when Hashem created Odom Harishon, בצלמו, בצלם האלקים ברא אותו.

The Gemora in Sanhedrin ל'ח tells us that each hour of the sixth day of מעשה בראשית Hashem created Odom Harishon and then various things happened.

At six o’clock in the morning הוצבר עפרה, the earth utilised to create Odom Harishon was gathered together from the four corners of the world. An hour later, נעשה גולם it was made into a shape. By the fourth hour, נזרקה בו נשמה, a soul had been added to the body. In the fifth hour, העמידו על רגליו Odom Harishon was able to stand on his two feet. The Gemora carries on stating what happened each hour of the day. During the ninth hour, that is 2pm to 3pm in the afternoon, נצטווה, Odom Harishon was commanded not to eat from the עץ הדעת. In the tenth hour, סרח, he disobeyed this commandment and ate. In the eleventh hour he was judged and then finally he was exiled from Gan Eden in the twelfth hour, after 5pm. Before Shabbos came in, Odom Harishon did Teshuva and this was accepted by Hashem just before Shabbos commenced.

If we think about the whole situation, when Odom Harishon ate the עץ הדעת he spoiled all the creation up to that date but as he did teshuva a few hours later, this stopped the problem from continuing.

Accordingly, the Shabbos of מעשה בראשית was not spoiled, it was perfect, not נתקלקל, notנפגם .

The mekubolim tell us that the next time that there was עולם התקון was at the time of Matan Torah. At that time the Bnei Yisroel camped around Mount Sinai כאיש אחד בלב אחד, in complete harmony.

Based on what I have said regarding Shabbos Beraishis, we can begin to understand why it was so important that the Torah should be given specifically on Shabbos which had not been נפגם.

With this we can also explain something else which appears difficult to understand. The Zohar, which some people say before Mincha on Shabbos, states that when the zman of mincha comes דינים קשין מתערין בעולם, it is a time of הגברות הדינים. A surge of strict judgements in the world.

However, the Zohar continues that on Shabbos the time of mincha is רעוא דרעוין, the time of the greatest goodwill and holiness, rotzon, the opposite of דינים.

I think that one can understand this concept with that which I have just suggested. Namely, that because theחטא of Odom Harishon took place in the middle of Friday afternoon, therefore, that is a time of הגברות הדינים each week at Mincha time. In the same way as that caused a קילקול right back to the first day of מעשה בראשית, therefore the דינים are מתגבר every weekday accordingly. However, as Shabbos was not affected, therefore, the opposite is true. The longer Shabbos continues the greater the kedusha and therefore, the time of mincha is the time of the greatest rotzon, the opposite of דינים.

With this, we can also understand why the same Zohar quotes Reb Shimon ben Yochai as saying that the three guests we invite for each of the three סעודות is in the order of Yitzchok, Friday night, Avrohom Shabbos morning and Yaakov at Shalos seudos.

One can understand that Avrohom should be the primary guest on Shabbos morning, because Avrohom תיקן תפילת שחרית, enacted morning prayers. Why should not Yitzchok be invited at the time of mincha? After all, ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה לפנות ערב, he went out to daven in the afternoon. It was in fact the koach of Yitzchok, who had מידת גבורה, which enabled him to fight against the דינים, דינים קשין מתערין בעולם. Why do we invite Yitzchok on Friday night and why is it that Yaakov, who was מתקן מעריב, should be the main guest for Shalos seudos?

I think we can understand it with another maamer chazal, namely שופריה של יעקב מאין שופריה דאדם הראשון, the beauty of Yaakov was similar to that of Odom Harishon. This means that he had reached a spiritual level comparable with Odom Harishon קודם החטא. Therefore, it is only fitting that he should be the special guest at the time of the utmost kedusha on Shabbos, the day that was not spoiled.

I had the honour and pleasure to make a siyum on mesechtas Eruvin Yerushalmi at the 30th anniversary dinner of the Yeshivas Lev Simcha Gur, London.

The last mishna of Eruvin commences as follows:-
שרץ שנמצא במקדש כהן מוציאו בהמיינו שלא לשהות את הטומאה דברי ר' יוחנן בן ברוקה, ר' יהודה אומר בצבת של עץ שלא להרבות את הטומאה

To explain. If something which is tomei is found in the holiest part of the Bais Hamikdosh it must be removed as quickly as possible. The mishna discusses a case where a שרץ, a dead, טמא, namely unclean, creature was found on Shabbos. The problem on Shabbos is that the Bais Hamikdosh was considered a רשות היחיד, a private domain. Whereas Yerushalayim had the status of a כרמלית (that is neither a private nor a public domain, something in between). Nevertheless, the Rabbis enacted a decree that one may not carry from a רשות היחיד to a כרמלית (or for that matter from a כרמלית to a רשות הרבים, a public domain either) or vice versa.

However, because we have a general rule אין שבות במקדש, namely that such Rabbinical decrees do not apply in the Bais Hamikdosh, a Kohen may take out the offending creature, the dead שרץ.

The first tanna says that this has to be done as quickly as possible and the Kohen may use his sash, gartel, to pick up the creature without actually touching it with his hands, and so transport the שרץ out of the holy enclosure. The sash becomes טמא but not the Kohen. R’ Yehuda disagrees and says a wooden tongs must be used because that instrument would not attract tumah to itself. Even though this may take longer until a tongs is discovered and utilised, nevertheless this is the way forward according to Rabbi Yehuda.

The expression used by R’ Yehuda is צבת של עץ a tongs made of wood.

The mishnah then continues with the exact definition of where this extremely holy part of the Bais Hamikdosh is and where, if somebody would deliberately bring tumah into it, that would attract the punishment of כרת, early death or having no offspring etc, virtually equivalent to excommunication. In any event, the most holy parts of the Bais Hamikdosh, the haichol and as far out as the מזבח, the altar, are included and according to Rabbi Akiva, up to and including the Ezras Yisroel.

However, when taking out this שרץ not only had it to be removed from that part of the Bais Hamikdosh, but is also had to be taken out of the whole of the הר הבית, the Temple Mount, because that was also part of the Bais Hamikdosh. Even though the law of כרת did not apply, there was still a prohibition to allowing tumah in that area.

If a שרץ was discovered in the הר הבית (not the holiest area) on Shabbos, a receptacle had to be used to cover it over for the rest of Shabbos and it was then to be removed as quickly as possible afterwards.

The Gemora right at the end of the mesechta poses a question as follows.

The Kohen is proceeding out of the holiest section with the dead שרץ and is in the less holy section of the הר הבית when he spies a second dead שרץ. Is he allowed to pick this one up as well and continue on his way out of the הר הבית?. This will be on the basis of the שבות of טילטול, the Rabbinical decree against carrying, already having been overridden in the Bais Hamikdosh and, therefore, it would follow that it is possible that it should here again be overridden by the same Kohen just picking up the other שרץ, or may he not do so?

If he may not, the שרץ on the less holy section of the Har Habayis has to be covered over and only carried out after Shabbos.

The Gemora, then, seemingly at random, quotes a Tosefta as follows:-

הוא היה אומר, צבת בצבת עבד, צבתא קדמייתא מה הוות, ביריה הוות

The tongs, so Rabbi Yehoshua in the Tosefta states, were made from a previous set of tongs and so go backwards until, as he says, the original, was one that was made by Hashem, Himself. This is in accordance with a mishnah in Pirkei Ovos that just before Shabbos came in at the end of the sixth day of Maasei Bereishis, Hashem created 10 different objects “And some people say that the tongs were also created”.

The final words of the whole mesechta are that ר' חנינא asked ר' מנא. What do you say about the particular law? His retort was “in the same way as from one tongs came other tongs, משביתה אחת למדו כמה שביתות from one שבות, decree of the Rabbis, come other ones.” The commentators explain that this means that the Kohen would be allowed to pick up the second שרץ because he already was doing exactly the same, namely disregarding the שבות of טילטול, of carrying in respect of the first שרץ. With that the mesechta finishes.

I have difficulty with this line of reasoning. What has the creation of a tongs from another tongs got to do with allowing a shevus because the same shevus was allowed in different circumstances.

May I suggest that there is also a remez, a hint in the final words of the mesechta to the whole subject of שבת בראשית discussed above.

What is Mesachtas Eruvin about?

Yidden living in separate houses, all in one courtyard are allowed to make an עירוב חצירות to enable them to act as one person, כאיש אחד בלב אחד, in complete harmony and may carry therein on Shabbos. This echoes the time when the Bnei Yisroel arrived at Har Sinai and accepted the Torah on שבת, כאיש אחד בלב אחד.

I suggest that the שביתה referred to in the final words of the mesechta refers also to the resting of the first Shabbos, Shabbos Beraishis וישבות ביום השביעי. The holiness of that shevisa can create a similar holiness on later Shabbosos משביתה אחת למדו כמה שביתות, as long as Yidden keep the Shabbosos as they should. It is also an echo of the Torah having been given on Shabbos (another שביתה) דכולי עלמא בשבת ניתנה תורה.

It is revealing that the comparison is made to the tongs which were created just before Shabbos Beraishis after Odom Harishon had done teshuva. Furthermore, the removal of the dead שרץ from the Bais Hamikdosh, the holiest place on earth, echoes the holiness of Shabbos in time. In the same way as Shabbos Beraishis was not נפגם, so the קדושה of the Bais Hamikdosh was not allowed to be נפגם.

The Bais Hamikdosh was comparable to Eruvin. In it, all Yidden became as one כאיש אחד בלב אחד, לאבינו שבשמים.

Turning to another part of the Zohar, that is read by some people on Friday night and in certain siddurim is printed with the zemiros on Friday night. The Zohar questions the use of the words ויברך אלקים את יום השביעי, that Hashem blessed the seventh day. The Zohar’s question is, if the מן, the manna, did not come down on Shabbos during the 40 years the Jews were in the wilderness, what was the brocho? The Zohar answers that all the brochos that come during the whole week are dependent on Shabbos.

I believe that this can also be explained with the principles I have outlined above. Originally, each day of the six days of creation would have produced its own brochos, week in, week out for later generations, based on the particular things created on that day. However, due to the fact that Odom Harishon, who was supposed to orchestrate the perfect creation, spoiled it by eating the עץ הדעת, he therefore, caused a problem קילקול, going backwards over the whole six days. This caused a מחיצה, an obstruction, which stops the שפע descending to our mundane world.

However, because Shabbos is in its original pristine condition, and was not affected, all the השפעות, the abundance of holiness and goodness, therefore come down as a brocho on the seventh day, that is Shabbos and especially at the time of Mincha on Shabbos, a time of special goodwill and holiness.

We can see how important it is that we, not only, are careful about not doing any מלאכות, forbidden works, on Shabbos but also that we positively uplift the Shabbos with our tefilos, zemiros and learning without any mundane matters, דברי חול intruding.

Five hundred years ago the mekubolim of Tzfas led by the ארי ז''ל, Rabbi Moshe Cordevero and Rabbi Moshe Alshich instituted the reciting of לכו נרננה as an introduction to Shabbos. Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz composed לכה דודי which is now sung by Yidden worldwide, this is all said and sung at the time that Odom Harishon did teshuva immediately before Shabbos and it was accepted. It is an ideal time for us all to do teshuva reflecting on the previous week and praising Hashem for giving us Shabbos in a pristine condition.

The higher the level of our Shabbos the more rotzon, goodwill, we can bring down from the higher spheres.

We are told that tzaddikim have the בחינה of Shabbos all week, therefore they are able to bring down the abundance of goodness with their tefilos including parnoso, refuas and yeshuas.

We are also told that Shabbos is מאין עולם הבא, comparable to the world to come. We begin to understand that in the same way as Shabbos is completely holy and has always been so, this is what we have to look forward to, we hope in the not too distant future.

במהרה בימינו אמן

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SHAVUOS

Shavuos, unlike Pesach and Succos, does not have any specific mitzvah that has to be performed by all Jews wherever they live.

On Pesach we have various mitzvos including eating matzah and morror, discussing in detail the יציאת מצרים, the going of Egypt by reading the Haggadah and also the fact that we are not allowed to eat or even possess any chometz. On Succos we have the mitzvah of sitting in a Succah, utilising the ד' מינים, the lulav, esrog etc. On Shavuos, there is no specific mitzvah.

We can understand this readily because Shavuos celebrates the giving of the whole of Torah and not any specific individual item.

However, in the Bais Hamikdosh, we find that on Pesach there was the special sacrifice of the korban Pesach and on Succos there was the ניסוך המים, the ceremony of specially drawing water and then pouring it out on the mizbeach. We also find that on Shavuos there was a special mitzvah, namely the שתי הלחם, the two loaves of bread that were especially brought as a sacrifice.

I quote the various verses in Emor as follows:-

והקרבתם מנחה חדשה לה' ממשבותכם תבאו לחם תנופה שתים שני עשרונים סלת תהיינה חמץ תאפנה ביכורים לה'

You should bring a new flour offering to Hashem. From your dwelling places you should bring bread to be waved, two loaves, of two esroinim fine flour to be baked as chometz, a first offering to Hashem.

The Torah then continues

והקרבתם על הלחם שבעת כבשים בני שנה ופר בן בקר אילים שנים וכו'

And you should bring sacrifices together with the bread consisting of seven lambs in their first year, a bull and two rams.

I think that we need to delve a little into the matter and resolve the following questions.

1) What has the bringing of the שתי הלחם, two loaves, to do with the receiving of the Torah?

2) Nowhere else do we find that a communal sacrifice should be the לחם, the loaves and together with that, to have to bring other sacrifices of animals. It is always the other way around, namely, that the sacrifices are the animals and with that is brought an offering made from flour.

3) Generally speaking, the Torah specifies the animals to be brought in this order, פר, איל and then כבשים namely, a bull, a ram and then lambs, namely, from the strongest to the weakest. In this case, the order is inverted starting with lambs.

4) Why does the Torah specify the word, ממשבותכם, that this offering has to be brought from the places in which “you dwell”.

5) What was the necessity to carry out תנופה, to wave the שתי הלחם, the loaves, together with two lambs.

6) Why where the loaves specified to be of fine wheat flour?

7) Finally and the most unusual of all, was that the Torah commanded that it should be baked as חמץ, leavened bread. There is no other sacrifice which was brought where all the bread was to be baked as chometz. Generally it had to be matzah.

In order to try to understand all this, I would like to quote the statement which has been made by great Rabbis and mekobolim generations ago, namely that at the night of Pesach the Bnei Yisroel received loftyואורות שפע, spiritual illuminations and attained heights way above their low spiritual level. The next day they had returned to their original level which was very low and had to work on themselves each day as if climbing up a ladder for seven weeks until Shavuos.

To emphasise that they were starting to climb up by themselves, on the 16th day of Nissan, there is a special mitzvah of bringing a sacrifice of the Omer, this is an offering specifically of barley, which normally is eaten by animals rather than people and is to highlight the idea of having to start at a low level and then gradually go upwards over a period. At the time the Jews went out of Egypt, seven weeks later they actually said נעשה ונשמע, “we will do and we will hear that which Hashem commands us”. They accepted the Torah hearing the Ten Commandments, the עשרת הדברות from Hakodesh Boruch Hu, Himself.

Therefore, one might think that on Shavuos, because this was a completely spiritual experience, we should, each year, concentrate completely only on the spiritual side and not on the physical side. However, this is not so. The Torah was given to human beings who have both a נשמה, a soul, which comes from a very high spiritual level, together with a body. This is unlike the angels. You may recall the Gemora where the angels took objection to Moshe Rabbenu receiving the Torah and when he was told by Hashem to answer their objections, he asked them “do you have food and drink, to partake of” etc. Many of the 613 mitzvos are directly connected with our physical selves.

Nevertheless, one might consider that the physical side is only an addendum to the spiritual side of Shavuos.

In order to highlight the fact that this was not so, Hakodesh Boruch Hu commanded that on Shavuos specifically, the main sacrifice was to be two loaves of bread which had to be made of the finest flour and had to be leavened, made of חמץ. The implication is that the best type of גשמיות, the physical, should be utilised in the service of Hashem. Furthermore, there was a special command to pick up these two loaves each with a lamb and wave them, תנופה, so that people could see them. This was elevating it even further.

Turning to the reason for the lambs being mentioned before the other animals, this again is to impress on us that we start from the lower levels and ascend to the higher levels, from the weakest to the strongest.

The Land of Israel was divided up into small plots and most people worked their own land. In order to emphasise that everybody in their little patch producing wheat and other crops, had a connection with the Holiness of the Beis Hamikdosh, the Torah says ממושבותיכם תביאו, you should bring from your own dwelling places. The whole emphasise was to inculcate the idea in people’s minds that from the level of producing food one can achieve holiness and be near to Hashem.

חז''ל tell us, הכל מודים דבעצרת בעינן נמי לכם
All the Rabbis agree that on Shavuos one has to enjoy the Yom Tov in a physical as well as a spiritual manner.

Turning to parshas ראה the Torah tells us in respect of the Chag of Shavuos as follows:-
ושמחת לפני ה' אלקיך אתה ובנך ובתך ועבדך ואמתך והלוי אשר בשעריך והגר והיתום והאלמנה אשר בקרבך
And you should rejoice before Hashem, your G-d, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is in your gates, the stranger, the orphan and the widow among you.

The Torah is stating that everybody should come to the Bais Hamikdosh on Shavuos.

The Torah later in the parsha confirms that three times a year all males should come to the Bais Hamikdosh. In respect of שבועות there is a one off and specific commandment, namely that everybody should come to the Bais Hamikdosh. With that which I have explained above, as to the necessity for all to appreciate that the גשמיות be elevated and the שתי הלחם be brought as the main korban on Shavuos, and that they should actually see this being enacted, one can understand the necessity for everybody attending the Bais Hamikdosh.

I believe that this explanation covers the various points that I raised at the beginning.

However, in order to perhaps give a little deeper insight into what, no doubt, has much deeper reasons, as well as those I have suggested, let us just consider the actual size of these loaves.

We are told that they were seven טפחים long by four טפחים wide and a height of 4 אצבעות. This multiplied together is seven times four times four, which equals 112. This is also the gemmatria, the total numeric value of הוי' אלקים and furthermore, also of הוי' אדנ'י and אהיה, various emanations of Hashem. One begins to see some of the depth and spiritual affinity of a loaf of bread with the kedusha of the Bais Hamikdosh.

Unfortunately, nowadays, we do not have the Bais Hamikdosh, but, nevertheless, we eat special foods on Shavuos. The minhag is to eat cheesecake and milky foods followed later by a meat meal. This is an echo of the שתי הלחם the loaves that the Torah commanded to be brought first and the lambs are mentioned afterwards.

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Lag B'Omer

As we all know Lag B’Omer is a minor Yom Tov. It is also two thirds of the way between Pesach and Shavuos which, of course, commemorate the Yetzias Mitzrayim when our forefathers were redeemed from the land of Egypt, followed by the giving of the Torah on Shavuos. I would like to start today by going back to events that took place during Nissan when the Yidden were on the brink of going out of Egypt. They were told at the beginning of the month that every male head of a family should set aside from 10th of the month a שה, a lamb and four days later this should be shechted and it should then be eaten on the night of 15th Nissan by all members of that family and group, in each individual house, as set out clearly in the Torah.

What happened was that over 100,000 male Jews took these lambs, tied them to the bedposts on 10th Nissan and then on 14th day of Nissan the animals were shechted. On the 13th day of Nissan the male Jewish men and boys of all ages had a bris mila. On 15th Nissan in the evening, the blood of the animals were put round the door posts and the people inside the Jewish houses ate the korban Pesach. At midnight there was the מכות בכורות, the final of the ten plagues, when all the first born in Egypt (other than Jewish ones and Pharaoh of course) died. After that, during the rest of the night and until the morning the Egyptians entreated the Jews to leave but they only left during the day having hastily put together some belongings and not even having been able to bake bread for the journey.

I am going to quote to you a small piece of the של''ה הקדוש the famous work of Reb Yeshia Horowitz who lived approximately 400 years ago. In his classic work, he goes into detail regarding Pesach and among it there is the following statement.

מצה זו שאנו אוכלין, שלא הספיק בצקם של אבותינו להחמיץ, כבר בארתי זה בכמה מקומות שהענין החפזון היה הצלה גדולה לישראל אשר נשתקעו בקליפות במ''ט פנים טמא ואלו לא הוציא הקב''ה ברגע זו ממש אז היו נשקעים לגמרי יורדין ולא יעלו ח''ו

Free translation:

The reason for eating Matzo (as quoted by Rabban Gamliel in the Haggadah) was because the Jews did not have enough time to bake their bread when being sent out (of Egypt). On this the של''ה הקדוש comments “I have already explained a number of times that the reason for the haste of the Jews going out was a great salvation for them, as they had become sunk into 49 depths of tumah (spiritual uncleaniness). If Hakodesh Boruch Hu would not have taken them out ברגע זו ממש, at that precise moment, they would have become Chas V’Sholom completely submerged into tumah from which they would not have been able to ascend.

This statement is also attributed to the אר''י ז''ל R’ Yitzchok Luria, but I find it difficult to comprehend. I mentioned, already, the mitzvos that the Bnei Yisroel had carried out between the 10th and 15th Nissan and surely rather than them sinking into the lowest level of tumah, they should have, if anything, had been gradually coming out from the 49th back to say 48th or 47th or even further back out of those depths, because they had set aside the korban Pesach, made bris mila, shechted the korban, eaten it, all as had been instructed by Hashem. How can it be that on the morning of 15th Nissan after all this happened, they would be in danger of, as a people, being completely submerged into the depths of tumah?

I have asked numerous people whether they have ever come across to question and have at long last discovered via my son-in-law Moshe Ingber in Los Angeles, that a friend of his, who I know personally very well, Rabbi Adlerstein told him that the Nesivos Sholom does have an answer which I believe is as follows:-

We find that Pharaoh and his hordes were so eager to get rid of the Bnei Yisroel that they accompanied them as they started leaving Egypt. This, the Nesivos Sholom suggests caused the Bnei Yisroel to come to גאוה, haughtiness and because of this, although they had a few mitzvos under their belt, they spiritually sank back again and were in danger of reaching the 50th level.

I must say that I have not seen this myself and, therefore, I am only quoting what I have heard, and I find it somewhat difficult to accept that they were in danger of sinking out of sight. After all, they did carry out numerous mitzvos and as the Novi says לכתך אחרי במדבר בארץ לא זרועה, the Jewish people followed Hashem out into the wilderness, which was a great זכות, merit for them. It might be true that they felt jubilant at going out, but, nevertheless, they were doing the right thing.

I would like to venture a different approach. Many of you know holocaust survivors or indeed may even be children or grandchildren of holocaust survivors. We have all come across numerous, almost unbelievable stories of how people kept going for years under insufferable conditions and treatment. Very often what kept them going was quite remarkable, they often clutched at straws to keep some semblance of life and hope on the horizon. I would just like to quote two particular incidents that I, myself was witness to.

Some 50 years ago, I was in the Gerrer Beis Hamedrash in Yerushalayim, I think it was on Succos and the very famous composer Reb Yaakov Talmid was still alive and conducting the Gerrer choir. After davenning finished a few people gathered round him to compliment him and thank him for the new original tunes for which he was famous. As we were standing there, an unremarkable middle aged person with no beard, bekeshe etc. came over to the group and suddenly started jumping up and down singing a tune and looking at Reb Yaakov Talmid. He stopped, waiting for a reaction and got none, he then did this again, by which time we were all watching. Reb Yaakov Talmid, who had a dry sense of humour, gently enquired of the person whether “Can I call you a doctor?”. The indignant reply was forthcoming very quickly “Reb Yankel do you not remember this tune, you sang it on Rosh Hashonah 1939 and it kept me going for five years through all my trials and tribulations.

Reb Yaakov, realising that this person had been offended, gently replied that the gentleman must understand that as he was charged with producing 7 to 10 new melodies each year, he, Reb Yaakov, tried his best to forget old tunes, and this mollified the person concerned.

You understand what I mean about clutching at straws. The very fact that he sang the tune, reminded him of the glorious past and gave him the will to battle for survival.

My own machetainista, my daughter’s mother-in-law, told me that when she unfortunately was also in one of the camps, she did her utmost to always wash negel vasser at great cost to herself and her health because she could, of course, have drunk the water. As she explained to me, “I felt that I could not face my father after meeting him again following the war if I had not religiously washed negel vasser every day.”

I am not belittling the importance of using negel vasser but in such circumstances, if you would ask any Rov, I think that you would find that the answer would be that she should rather drink any water that she had. Incidentally, she never was reunited with her father who unfortunately was killed in the war.

Let us turn now to the situation of the Yidden in Egypt. 210 years before these events took place, Yaakov and his family, 70 people in total, came down to Egypt. 100 years later, they had been fruitful and multiplied so much that the king was afraid that they would take over the country and they were gradually enslaved. For the final 86 years, there was a very harsh regime of enslavement. Yaakov Avinu had died 17 years after they arrived and we are talking now of 193 years having gone by since then.

חז''ל tell us that the Bnei Yisroel were redeemed שלא שינו שמם לשונם ומלבושם, because they did not change their names, their language or their mode of dress.

I think that you would agree that these were not very outstanding features if, as we are also told, הללו עובדי עבודה זרה והללו, both the Egyptians and the Jews practised idol worship.

It was true that they had a splendid past, great ancestors, Avrohom, Yitzchok. Yaakov but by now the link with them was very tenuous, they clutched at straws to have some affinity with their holy ancestors. Then, all of a sudden, out of the blue, comes Moshe Rabbenu. He says that he has been sent to take them out of Egypt and performs a number of miracles and after nine plagues tells them that there is going to be a tenth one and after that they are going to free. They believed, because they wanted to believe. They wanted to have some hope and light at the end of the tunnel. And so it proved to be. Nevertheless, we are told that at the time of the plague of חושך, four fifths of all the Jewish people died at that time because they had become completely assimilated.

I would like to tell you a story.

24 years ago, when Russia was still a communist state and there was an Iron Curtain, I had the privilege to go to Russia to help the Refuseniks. I was very much involved with the then leader of the group, Chaim Briskman. The atmosphere in Moscow at that time was one of fear, it was almost tangible. One day, whilst I was walking along with him, to go to a flat to meet other people to give a shuir and chizuk, I saw two policemen coming towards us and I said to Chaim, “It looks as if I will now be sent back to England”. His reply was “I don’t think so, if they wanted you they would come up from behind and tap you on the shoulder.” And in fact, they walked right past us. He then told me that he had been in that very flat we were going to, together with two other young men, one Friday evening, and they had davenned Mincha and Kabbolos Shabbos together and had sung Lecha Dodi. They were learning Chumash with, I think, Ramban, when all of a sudden there was some loud knocking on the door. A neighbour had reported them for being hooligans who had caused an uproar and were making public prayers, all against the rules of Russia at that time.

The door was eventually broken down and they were taken away to the infamous Leverchenko prison and were sent to separate cells. Chaim, himself, ended up in a cell with three other inmates, one was six foot six and a murderer, another was a psychopath and the third one I cannot remember. Chaim told me that once he got into that cell and the others introduced themselves, they told him that they had a regime in order that they should retain some sanity as well as physical capabilities. They ran round this tiny cell one after the other, say 50 times and then had a rest and then carried on and he was told that he would have to join in with them, which he did.

Because Chaim was considered a very valuable prisoner and the authorities were trying to find out who else was in his group, he was treated with a little less severity than the others and after a couple of days, the governor interviewed him for the third time and indicated that he was minded to release him. Chaim was sent back to his cell but then decided not to follow the others round their little run. He knew that at any moment he was due to be released and, therefore, he did not need to clutch at straws.

I suggest that the same thing happened to the Yidden after the מכות בכורות. They could see the light at the end of the tunnel and therefore, psychologically they did not need to clutch any more at straws. They were “free men”.

You might ask me that they had, after all, performed a number of mitzvos. What about those? Well, one has to again bear in mind the context of where they were living. They were in Mitzraim, Egypt, which was known to be the country with the greatest number of sorcerers, idol worshipers and other such practices.

These sorcerers were also not without their powers because they copied the changes of rods to snakes, water to blood and even as far as frogs were concerned, they were able to use magical powers.

The whole atmosphere in the country was one of illusions, make believe, a lack of solidity. It is true that there had been one plague after another brought on the Egyptians but although the Yidden were told to set aside the korban Pesach and had done so, they were willing to do almost anything to get out of that horrible country and terrible slavery, therefore, they performed a number of mitzvos, but with a feeling of “let’s try this”, rather than out of solid faith.

The time they came to solid faith was when they surrounded har Sinai and Hashem gave them the Aseres Hadibros, the Ten Commandments.

Even then there were considerable ups and downs, the golden calf, the meraglim, the story of Korach etc. but over a period of 40 years the Bnei Yisroel were molded into a Holy people keeping Torah and mitzvos in a genuine and solid manner day after day.

Over the next 440 years they settled down in Eretz Yisroel and the Mishkon was the spiritual focal point. Then King Solomon built the first Bais Hamikdosh in Yerushayalim and this stood for 410 years. It was the focal point for all Jews and they were supposed to go to Yerushalayim three times a year.

During all this period there were considerable ups and downs and the ten tribes were taken into exile etc.

Nevertheless, there was one focal point from which unadulterated kedusha flowed.

When the first Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed and the Yidden were taken into exile, we find that over the next 70 years they assimilated rapidly and needed the miracle of Purim, almost at the end of that period, to pull them together somewhat, followed by the building of the second Bais Hamikdosh. Although this was not of the same calibre as the first Bais Hamikdosh, it remained the focal point for the next 420 years until it was also destroyed.

Subsequent to that, the position for the Yidden who remained in Eretz Yisroel was extremely difficult. There were still numerous Yidden who lived in Bovel, the equivalent to today’s Iraq etc. and now in addition, many Jews were taken as slaves by the Romans and taken to Italy and sent to numerous parts of the Roman Empire, or they alternatively fled to North Africa, Spain etc.

The people who were left in Eretz Yisroel had to fight for their existence but were still considered the spiritual leaders of Klal Yisroel. Some 60 years after the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh, there was the Bar Kochba revolt backed by Rabbi Akiva and for three years they were successful but eventually they were crushed by the Romans. Not only was Rabbi Akiva, himself, tortured and killed 12,000 or 24,000 or his talmidim died and, in fact, this is a reason for the mourning period covering 33 days of the Omer.

I would venture to suggest that Rabbi Akiva talmidim were killed during that uprising and the enigmatic comment of חז''ל that they died because שלא נהגו כבוד זה בזה, they did not honour one another sufficiently was meant to imply that they did not have enough merit to be saved from the terrible wrath of the Romans.

If we consider Klal Yisroel at that time, who were scattered over the then known world, whose base in Eretz Yisroel with the great Rabbi Akiva as a leader having been decimated, the spiritual vacuum was awesome.

The question was, how does one deal with the situation. I think that a Gemora would give us the three possible points of view. The Gemora relates that three great Tanoim, all of them pupils of Rabbi Akiva, namely Reb Yehudah, Reb Yose and Reb Shimon were discussing the Roman conquest of Eretz Yisroel. Reb Yehudah pointed out that they had built bridges and roads and had constructed things, positively. Reb Yose kept quiet. Reb Shimon stated “All they have done to construct the roads etc. was for their own use” not for our good.

Their remarks got back to the Roman authorities, who as a consequence appointed Reb Yehudah as Chief Rabbi. They instructed that Reb Yose be sent into exile, and ordered the execution of Reb Shimon. We then, of course, have the famous story of him running away and hiding in a cave for 12 years where he was given the special secrets of Torah included in the Zohar Hakodesh.

Let us just consider the three comments of these Rabbis. Reb Yehudah decided that the best thing to do would be to work with the authorities in order that they should not make life even more difficult and that, hopefully, there would be some gradual relaxation of the their iron grip and a change in their attitude to the Jewish people.

Reb Yose just put his head below the parapet and decided to lay low in the hope that the storm would abate.

Reb Shimon confronted the harsh and unpalatable truths. He nevertheless, adhered to his position, and because of this, he had to flee however he did receive a great spiritual reward by doing so.

This was taking the solidity in faith which had been first encountered at Har Sinai to a very high level. Real מסירת נפש, mesirus nefesh.

We celebrate each year Lag B’Omer in connection with Reb Shimon Bar Yochai and I believe that the points I have made as to why he is such an inspiring figure were relevant at the time of his life and are just as relevant nowadays.

We have to remain steadfast in confronting both spiritual and physical dangers. Our reward will be great as was that of Reb Shimon Bar Yorchai. By doing so, we can look forward to the coming of Moshiach במהרה בימינו אמן.

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Pesach Sheini and Lag Bo'Omer

The Gemora in Shabbos :לג states that Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yose and Rabbi Shimon were sitting together one day discussing the Roman occupation of the Land of Israel.

To put this into perspective, this must have been some 70 or 80 years after the destruction of the second Bais Hamikdosh. Originally, when the Romans surrounded Jerusalem and Reb Yochanon Ben Zakkai managed to escape and appeared before Vespasian who became the emperor he asked for Yavneh and its scholars to be saved. This was granted.

At the time, the Romans did not believe that the Rabbis were any threat to them and allowed Jewish scholarship to continue, albeit curtailed.

About 60 years later, at the time of the Bar Kochba revolt, Rabbi Akiva supported the revolt and unfortunately after three years or so, the Romans crushed it and wreaked revenge. This time, they did not spare the rabbis and Torah scholars and many died including 24,000 pupils of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva taught five new star pupils, three of whom were Rabbi Yehuda Ben Iloui, Rabbi Yose, and Rabbi Shimon Ben Yochai.

We have all heard of the greatest of Reb Shimon Ben Yochai but few people know that the Gemora says that Reb Yehuda (Ben Iloui) was a Chosid. The Gemora relates that whenever a story is quoted מעשה בחסד אחד, one of the two possibilities of whom we are talking about is this very Reb Yehuda, Ben Iloui, who was obviously a very pious tanna.

Returning to the fact that these Rabbis were sitting together and discussing the effect of the Roman occupation, the Gemora states as follows:-

Reb Yehuda said “How nice are the deeds of the Romans. They constructed marketplaces, bridges and public baths.” Reb Yose said nothing.

Reb Shimon Bar Yochai objected and said “All they constructed is for their own benefit.” (For example, bridges in order that they should be able to impose taxes.)

This got back to the Roman authorities who issued a proclamation, “Reb Yehuda, who spoke well of us, should be the Chief Rabbi. Reb Yose should be sent into exile”. And Reb Shimon was sentenced to death.

It was subsequent to this that Reb Shimon fled and went into a cave for 12 years with his son Reb Elozor. This is all quoted in the continuation of the same Gemora.

As we know the Zohar Hakodosh and many secrets in Torah were revealed to Reb Shimon at that time.

I believe that if we look at the political situation then, the three Rabbis were really discussing how to tackle the situation. Reb Yehuda’s attitude was to look for the silver lining, to cooperate with the authorities in the hope that they would gradually tone down their brutality and allow more normal religious Jewish life to be lived.

Reb Yose put his head down under the parapet as if to say, less said, the better.

However Reb Shimon went to the heart of the matter and did not brook any compromise.

These are three basic attitudes which continue to this very day.

Reb Shimon had to run away but received the great reward of having secrets in Torah revealed to him which had not been revealed previously.

We find in the Zohar quoted a story that happened during those twelve years that Reb Shimon went missing. The Rabbis were sitting together and discussing the difficult situation, during the course of the discussion, the following point was made. Twice in the Torah we have a תוכחה, where we are told vividly of all the troubles that will be vented on the Jewish people if they do not keep Torah properly. One of the Rabbis pointed out that it seems obvious that the first one, in Bechukosi, refers to the first Bais Hamikdosh and the time immediately afterwards when the Jews were sent into exile. The second תוכחה in Ki Sovo refers to the second Bais Hamikdosh and the troubles subsequent. He then pointed out that in the first one, which is shorter, there are certain words of comfort, for example, וזכרתי את בריתי יעקב, I will remember My covenant with Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Where, he asked, are there any words of comfort in the second תוכחה, things look very black indeed.

Reb Yehuda who was listening to this conversation sighed and said, I wish Reb Shimon was here, he would no doubt be able to help us regarding this.

They decided that they would write down the gist of the question and somehow try to get it to Reb Shimon. A bird flew by, picked up the written note and took it to the cave where Reb Shimon was hiding. When Reb Shimon read the note, he cried. Eliyahu Hanovi came and asked him why he was crying and he showed him the note. Eliyohu then told him that he should look carefully at the words of the second תוכחה to discover a silver lining in various places. For example, he was told, the worst thing that is mentioned is as follows:-

גם כל חלי ומכה אשר לא כתוב', יעלם ה' עליך

after having reckoned out all the terrible things that are mentioned, the Torah then says, All other illnesses and plagues which are not written, Hashem will bring on you. What could be worse than that!!

Eliyahu Hanovi then explained to Reb Shimon that the word יעלם, which is normally translated as “bring on to you”, can also mean “hide from you”. This was the hidden meaning and was meant as a silver lining.

Reb Shimon then wrote this down. A bird came and took the note back to the Rabbis who felt relieved.

I think that it is noteworthy that it was to Reb Shimon that this interpretation was revealed. He was, after all, the person who had taken the hard line. I think he was being told here that one has to look for a silver lining and work within the framework of practicality as far as the general populace was concerned, even though he and other individuals might adhere to the absolute truth without any compromises.

Lag B’Omer is the one day in the year that we celebrate the greatness of Reb Shimon Bar Yochai.

A few days before this, we have Pesach Sheini.

Once in Torah we have a mitzvah where a second opportunity to fulfil it, is granted. Normally speaking, every mitzvah has its time and place, for example, Yom Kippur is on 10th day of Tishrei. If somebody is ill or for some reason cannot fast that day, there is no provision that, say, on 10th day of Cheshvan, they should fast instead. However, as far as Pesach is concerned, we have a parsha in Torah telling us precisely that. When there were Yidden who were tomei in the midbar, they came to Moshe Rabbenu and said that they could not bring the korban Pesach, he informed them that there would be a possibility of them performing the mitzvah a month later.

We find in the case of Pesach Sheini, an argument between Reb Yehuda and the chachomim (I assume including Reb Shimon) as to what happens if not only a person is tomei on 14th Nissan but if he is then tomei on 14th day of Iyyar. The other rabbis say that he cannot bring the Pesach Sheini. However, Reb Yehuda maintains that he can. I would venture to suggest that this is same idea as that mentioned above. Namely, that in extreme circumstances one has to find a compromise, utilise the facts on the ground, even if this is not the ideal way of doing things.

I believe that this fits in with the Gemora in Brochos :לה, where Reb Shimon Ben Yochai asks, if, as was in the agrarian society, people are busy all the time, ploughing, sowing, reaping, threshing, winnowing etc. what time will they have to learn Torah and he answers, learn Torah and the works will be done by others on your behalf. There is a dissenting opinion, Reb Yishmael who says that one should carry out the necessary works of ploughing, sowing etc and in between one should study Torah. The Gemora concludes, Many people tried to emulate Reb Shimon but they did not succeed. That was an ideal for special individuals but not for the general populace.

To sum up, there are always people in Klal Yisroel who devote their whole lives to learning Torah and keeping it to the last detail in accordance with all the authorities however stringent.

For the general populace, the norm is to learn Torah as well as work and to keep the dinnim of Torah according to the decisions of the majority as laid out in the Shulchan Oruch. Of course, that must be done without compromise.

Just to illustrate this point and to make it absolutely clear, let us take the argument as to exactly how large is a רביעית, a quarter of a log. This is important as far as making Kiddush is concerned and especially for the four cups of wine that we drink on Seder night. The majority opinion is around 3.5 fluid ounces, but there are other leading authorities who say that it is considerably larger, in excess of 5 fluid ounces. The halacha follows the majority, namely that the smaller measure is sufficient. However people who wish to be more stringent have the right to utilise a larger volume for themselves.

When Moshiach comes, we will know the correct measurement and we will not need compromises or stringencies.

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START THE DAY THE TORAH WAY

This week’s sedra וארא gives details of seven מכות, plagues, of the ten plagues which ה' brought on Pharaoh and Egypt, after which the Yidden went out of Egypt. The meforshim point out that the first three מכות were carried out by Aharon and not by Moshe or ה' as the others were. One has to understand why this was so.

There is a cryptic vort of the Chiddushei Harim in which he states that the ten מכות took away the קליפות, the shells, which had grown up and surrounded the עשרה מאמרות, the ten utterances with which ה' had created the world. He then adds that in order to bring the world back to the level as at the creation of the world, בריאת העולם, ה' then gave the עשרת הדיברות, the ten commandments.

I think one can understand this with a moshal.

Somebody was presented with a beautiful pot with which to cook, a lovely shiny pot in first class condition. He sought to treasure it, but what happens if he did not do so. Whenever the pot was used and the food cooked was spilt over the side, it was not cleaned properly and this happened on a few occasions. Then because it did not look so nice, it was not used anymore and gradually grime, soot, dust even mould, all attached itself to this pot, and one could not be able to see the beauty, one could hardly be able to see the shape of it at all. The pot was put away and left until it became full of mould and even more than that (because the water is hard, like in London) it even had scales like barnacles attached to it. It turned out to be in very, very poor shape.

This carried on for a long time and the pot just got left in an attic until one day, somebody turned up who liked antiques and said that he would like to buy some things and he was shown various items. He could not find anything that interested him until he finally spotted this bedraggled looking shape which had been a beautiful pot and he said “Ahh, I like that” and they all laughed at him. To show them how wrong they were, he started scrubbing and scouring and using soap and a sharp knife and acid and alkaline, and all types of abrasives, eventually he scraped off all the soot and the grime, the dust, the mould and the barnacles, until the pot was cleaned of all its dirt and everything sticking to it and the original surface was revealed.

I think that this is a good way of understanding what happened when ה' created the world. It was a perfect world, a beautiful world. Because people did not adhere to the correct path and started serving idols, in the fourth generation already after Odom Harishon, the world gradually degenerated in many ways. It reached the stage that when Moshe and Aharon came to Pharaoh and said ה' has sent us to tell you to let the Bnei Yisroel out of Egypt, his reply was Who is ה' that I should listen to Him? He did not even know what they were talking about. The whole concept of בריאת העולם, the world being created by ה', had become hidden and lost under layers of scales, filth, mould, grime, soot, dust etc.

When ה' sent the ten plagues, each one took off another layer of scales, mould, dirt etc. which had got stuck to the original beautiful pot. Eventually, everybody accepted that ה' created the world and controlled the world. The Bnei Yisroel then left Egypt.

In order to finally give the extra polish that was needed to restore the pot to the same beauty, shining beauty, into its original pristine state, ה' then uttered the עשרת הדיברות. This took place seven weeks after the last plague , the killing of the first born.

In addition to the ten מכות being connected to the ten utterances, the עשרה מאמרות, with which the world was created, we are told by the mekubolim that the ten plagues also have an affinity with the ten sefiros, ספירות. These are the descending circles with which ה' when He created the world, sent down the קדושה and the אור, the holiness and the light, until it reached our lowly world.

Perhaps another moshal here would be appropriate so that we should appreciate, at least to some extent, these esoteric concepts. We all know that electricity comes from power stations, the intensity of the power of the electricity at that place is very great. It then is sent out on a grid to electricity stations and then onto sub stations until eventually, after going through various other hoops, it reaches electricity sockets in our houses. Basically, the power and the light has been filtered down gradually so that when it reaches the sockets it is at an appropriate level for us to be able to utilise, without it harming us.

Could you imagine, if there was a power station which was the source of all the electricity in the world, how powerful it would need to be?

With that, perhaps, we can begin to understand the concept of sefiros coming down from a very high spiritual level and if you can imagine this, winding round in ten descending circles until they finally reach our low mundane world.

We can also understand that if some foreign substances got into the works, that is the grid bringing the electricity from source to sockets, it would need thorough cleaning out all the way along.

Based on that, we can, perhaps better understand the statement of the mekubolim who tell us that this rectification, tikkun, of the עשר ספירות which had become “clogged up” especially by the טומאת מצרים, the decadence and lack of holiness in Egypt, was carried out in the last year before the Jews left Egypt, by way of the עשר מכות. Furthermore we are told that ה' commenced the clean out from the bottom level, the last one, upwards as if we were going from the electricity sockets back up the chain.

I believe that it would be helpful to explain further in a little depth the concept of עשר ספירות. This is represented by ten levels known as
כתר the crown
חכמה wisdom
בינה understanding
חסד kindness epitomised by אברהם אבינו Abraham
גבורה strength epitomised by יצחק אבינו Isaac
תפארת splendour epitomised by יעקב אבינו Jacob
נצח triumph epitomised by משה Moses
הוד beauty epitomised by אהרן Aaron
יסוד foundation epitomised by יוסף Joseph
And finally,
מלכות kingship epitomised by דוד David

Now let us consider how each individual ספירה, starting from the bottom upwards, that is from מלכות, kingship, has a connection with the actual מכה that was brought onto the Egyptians.

The first one was דם, Blood. This plague dented the Malchus of Pharaoh, the kingdom of Egypt, because in front of eyes of Pharaoh and all his servants all the water suddenly turned to blood. You will, no doubt, recall that Pharaoh made out that he was creator of the River Nile and this plague rather destroyed his claim.

The next one was צפרדע, the plague of Frogs. You will remember that it says that the frogs came into the rooms and even into people’s beds. The מידות יסוד is known as the middo of יוסף הצדיק. This hints at that what is being emphasised at the moment in the weeks of Shovavim, שובבים, namely שמירת היסוד.

The next level up is הוד. This is connected was the plague of כינים, Lice, which got into people’s hair etc. Aharon is the epitome of הוד. He wore special clothes, and in particular his headgear, his special hat, and the Holy ציץ. All this represented הוד.

You may remember that I asked earlier on why it was that Aharon was the one that actually carried out the first three מכות. This could well be understood based on my above remarks, namely that from the מכה of הוד which is represented by Aharon and further down, the final two makkos יסוד and מלכות, he, Aharon had the spiritual strength to carry out those מכות specifically, but not the other ones which were above his level.

Perhaps this could be compared to somebody cleaning out part of say an engine which had been badly soiled. This can be done by a person who has had ordinary tools and experience. For more detailed and precise cleaning, one needs to have a greater expertise.

Let us proceed. The next מכה, ערוב, Wild Animals, is comparable to נצח. This is the netzochon of משה, Moshe’s triumph. Moshe Rabbenu said, at the time of announcing that the plague of wild animals would be brought, “ושמתי פדות בין עמי ובין עמך” “I will make a distinction between my people and your people”. That is the Egyptians. That is precisely what happened, as he said it would, the next day. It was a great נצחון, triumph for Moshe.

The next plague that was bought down on the Egyptians was דבר, Pestilence on the animals. This was to rectify the middo of תפארת, which was Yaakov Avinu’s middo, splendour. Yaakov Avinu, as we know, worked for 20 years with the animals of Lovon and דבר was brought on animals. Perhaps to explain a little deeper, it would be sensible to say that in order to rectify and bring out the middo of תפארת, one had to bring a plague on the low “animal spirit” which had taken over during all the years.

Let us continue. The next middo is known as גבורה, strength. This is personified by יצחק. The שחין, Boils, the next plague, was once again bought on all the livestock, Yitzchok as we know worked very hard with his livestock. As the Torah tells us, the wells which Avrohom Avinu had dug had been filled in by the Pelishtim and Yitzchok dug them again and dug new ones also. On a spiritual level, one can understand that we are talking about pure unadulterated Holiness recreated.

The next מכה, the last one in this sedra, was ברד, Hail. Once again it was brought on animals as well as people. The Torah says הירא את דבר ה', הניס את עבדיו ואת מקנהו אל הבתים, Whoever who feared Hashem, chased his servants and his livestock into houses. You will all recall the story of the עקידה where the ram took the place of Yitzchok. Avrohom Avinu, despite his middos of chesed, was complimented by Hashem with the words עתה ידעתי כי ירא אלקים אתה. Now I know that you have fear of Hashem. Once again, this was to recreate חסד, kindness being utilised in the right way, namely tempered with יראת ה', fear of G-d.

The last three makkos are mentioned in next week’s sedra Parshas בא. Once again working from the bottom upwards, we have firstly בינה, Understanding, and this is in contrast to the plague of ארבה, Locusts, which covered the whole of Egypt. After that plague the servants of Pharaoh said to him, How long will this behaviour (of not letting the Jews go) be a snare for us, let the Jews go. Pharaoh concurred, because he called Moshe and Aharon back to the Palace and said to them go and serve Hashem, your G-d. They, the Egyptians, understood, they had the בינה that there was Hashem who ran the world. The concept of בינה was revealed. This was despite the fact that they still did not want to accept fully that all the Jewish people including the wives and children etc. should be allowed to go.

After that there was the makkos חושך, Darkness. This is in contrast to חכמה, wisdom. There is a verse in koheles which says יתרון לחכמה מן הסכלות כיתרון האור מן החושך wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.

Finally the last plague, makkos bechores, מכת בכורות, is connected with the highest level כתר, the Crown. At that time the crown of Pharaoh was completely humbled. He ran around in the middle of the night looking for Moshe and Aharon. His first born died. His kingship was virtually in ruins and the מלכות שמים, the Kingship of Hashem was revealed to all.

Let us all look forward to the time of Moshiach, when once again the מלכות שמים will be revealed to all nations and Kedusha, spiritual holiness will be the norm in the whole world.

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