START THE DAY THE TORAH WAY 19th January 2014 PARSHAS MISHPATIM

This sedra comes immediately after the עשרת הדברות. It starts of with the, משפטים, civil laws, the laws of natural justice which can be understood logically in contrast to the חקים, statutes which we would never have worked out ourselves.

I should like to pose a couple of questions.

Firstly, there are no fewer than 53 mitzvos, out of the whole 613, in this week’s sedra. If one goes through them, one finds quite a jumble and the Torah seems to jump from one type of law to another on many occasions. Is there any reason for this, or can one discern an underlying pattern.

Secondly, the first mitzvah mentioned is about an עבד עברי, a Jewish person who was sold into slavery to another Jew because he could not pay his debts and the Bais Din gave permission for him to be sold to pay at least part of the debts.

Before I go into a possible explanation for the second point, which I would mention is raised by several rishonim, for instance, the Ramban, Rabbenu Bechai, Abarbanel, I think that it is perhaps to the point to state that there are, in fact, ג''ן mitzvos (53) in the sedra. Perhaps after the Bnei Yisroel had said נעשה ונשמע, we will do and hear, and they were privileged to hear from Hashem, Himself, the ten commandments, they were then taken “for a stroll in the garden” ג''ן, of Torah and mitzvos so that they should get a flavour of them.

In the same way as walking round the garden where there are trees, fruits, vegetables, some sweet smelling, others just beautiful looking, also this sedra, following on immediately from the עשרת הדברות is like going round a large, well tended garden. This might be taken in contrast with say Kew gardens which could be in some way analogous to the whole of the תרי''ג mitzvos.

The commencement of all these mitzvos with עבד עברי needs to be understood. That case did not happen for the 40 years that the Bnei Yisroel were in the midbor and, for that matter, for over 50 years after, as they took many years until they conquered Eretz Yisroel when the din of עבד עברי became relevant only when the laws of shmittah and yoivel began to apply which was only, at least, 54 years after the Torah was given.

Surely it would have been more to the point to start with a case that was relevant immediately, followed by other such matters. For instance, מכה אביו ואמו etc. mentioned later on the Sedra, would be relevant immediately and were likely to be more frequent even, as well. Why did the Torah start with this particular mitzvah?

I think that this can be explained by the analogy of people who, unfortunately, were caught in the Second World War by the Nazis, sent to Auschwitz or other such places. The trauma of these people has remained with them for the rest of their lives.

In this case, the Jews going out of Egypt were virtually all born into slavery and had been mistreated for well over 100 years by the Egyptians. The contrast of the Torah insisting that a Jewish servant sold to another Jew, even if because of his misdeeds, still can only be sold for six years and has to be freed afterwards, is vivid. Not only that, the Gomorra says that by acquiring a Jewish eved, the master is, in a way, acquiring a master for himself. For example, if he only has one cushion he has to give it to the servant to use rather than using it himself.

One can see the tremendous contrast between the way the Egyptians acted and the way we are enjoined to act.

The reason why this is the first mitzvah mentioned, I believe is, because this would make the biggest impression on the Yidden. The change of behaviour that was required of them for the future was enormous.

Remember that the Torah was given just 6 weeks after they finally left Egypt.

One could argue that the rules concerning an eved Canaani, a non Jewish slave, are more analogous to what happened to the Yidden in Egypt.

I think, however, that what Hashem wanted to establish was the principle in the first instance. Yidden have to show respect and love for one another and in broad terms the idea is to improve middos.

Remember that the people inhabiting the world up to the time of Matan Torah became less and less connected to Hashem and more and more selfish looking for self gratification and willing to enslave other people.

Dare I say it, that looking at the world today, we see that over recent years the lack of morals and sensitivities for other people, the senseless killings and enslavement of others etc. has increased in a similar type of manner.

Matan Torah was a clarion call that the Jewish people had to show moral strength and do things differently than had been done until then. By commencing Parshas Mishpatim with the din of עבד עברי the stark contrast between what had been happening previously, to the Yidden themselves in Egypt, was emphasised in no uncertain terms.

The laws concerning an eved Canaani (a non Jewish servant) are indeed mentioned later on in the Sedra. I would only highlight one such case, namely, that if a master knocks out the eye or tooth of a male or female servant they have to let the servant go free.

The Torah, not surprisingly, continues after the case of עבד עברי, with the case of אמה עבריה, a Jewish maidservant sold by her father to a Jewish master. Once again, he could not do what he liked with the girl, she only remained with him for a maximum of six years or until she became 12 years of age if earlier. Furthermore, the Torah tells us that ideally the person who bought her, or his son, should marry the girl. If all this was not carried out properly she had to be allowed to go free when she grew up.

The Torah then continues with a mitzvah very much connected with servitude. A slave in Egypt was treated as a second class individual, if a human being at all. The master could, mistreat, ill-treat and virtually thrash to death somebody he disliked. The Torah, however, continues מכה איש ומת מות יומת, if a person hits another person so hard that he dies, he himself, has to be killed. However, there is a safety mechanism that if he did not do it on purpose, there is a place of refuge known as עיר מקלט. If, however, he did it on purpose, he may not just go to the עיר מקלט, and so avoid punishment, he can be taken from every place in the country and if proved guilty, killed as well.

Whilst the Torah is speaking of unjustified raising a hand to another Jew and the way Yidden are supposed to behave to one another, the Torah goes one stage further and states מכה אביו ואמו, namely that if a person would hit his father or his mother and not kill them, but just wound them, he would also be sentenced to death. Then the Torah carries on, but if somebody steals, kidnaps, another Jew and sells him, once again there is a capital penalty. Even if he curses a father or mother, the death penalty is imposed.

This, of course, is subject to there being the necessary warnings given and witnesses that this, in fact, happened. There are safety checks and balances built in, all the way through the system.

All this is to emphasise the dignity of man and the fact that doing such things is not the way to treat another Jewish person at any time. It is also emphasising that nobody should take the law into his own hands, the Beth Din has to be involved and determine the true facts and the correct penalty.

The Torah then continues with an example of a person hitting another one, wounding him but not fatally. There the attacker has to pay for a doctor and the healing process. The Torah then goes further by stating that even if a Yid has a servant who is not Jewish, he must still not just treat them as the Jews were treated in Egypt, with distain. The Jewish master must be careful not to kill him, otherwise, he himself will be punished.

The Torah continues with all these type of mitzvos in order that one should guard against physical violence against other Yidden, or for that matter other people as well.

All in stark contrast to what happened to the Yidden in Egypt.

Once again, I would emphasise the point that I made earlier on, that I believe that this is why the Torah started off with these type of mitzvos and particularly the case of עבדים, servants, because the Yidden receiving these mitzvos could relate so personally to the situations in which they had themselves be born to, or found themselves for many, many years.

The Torah then turns to animals belonging to a person attacking other people and punishment meted out in such cases. Not only animals but also if a fire is lit, spreads to somebody else’s field, the precise rules are stated and so are also many rules concerning people’s possessions which are given to another person to guard who does not look after them properly. There are detailed rules for different types of shomrim, namely, guardians.

If one continues carefully through the Sedra one gets a flavour of how inter-personal relationships between human beings and others should be carried out and even as far as animals or objects are concerned.

I think that bearing in mind the above remarks, one can discern an underlying pattern in the Sedra. This deals with the first question that I put earlier on.

חז''ל, our Rabbis, tell us that at the time of Matan Torah נתרפאו כל החולים, all those who were ill were healed. For example, people who were blind previously could see, those who were dumb could speak, etc. It appears that Hashem wanted the Yidden to be physically sound and well at the time that they received the Torah.

We also find that when Hashem gave the Torah the impact was so great that פרחה נשמתן, their souls departed from their bodies. The spiritual connection was so great that the souls returned to their spiritual place in heaven and Hashem had to send the neshomos back.

It, therefore, stands to reason, I believe, that before doing so, he cleansed those souls, those neshomos, as well and not only did they have a complete perfect body, they had a complete perfect and unsullied neshomo, soul.

Accordingly, the whole of the Bnei Yisroel were spiritually, as well as physically, in a first class state.

This would make perfect sense as they now had to keep, not seven mitzvos but 613 and their style of life both spiritually and physically would be radically altered with the giving of Torah, which they had accepted wholeheartedly, נעשה ונשמע, we will do and we will hear.

Bearing this in mind, one can envisage the fact that at least some of these neshomos may have already been sent to the world in previous generations and those neshomos may not have been looked after by the individuals in the correct manner and therefore, had become sullied and needed a תיקון, rectification. It would be much easier for the Bnei Yisroel now to effect rectification for the old problems in all the circumstances.

This fits in with the posek, כי תקנה עבד עברי which the Torah starts off at the beginning of Mishpatim. In addition to the simple explanation, namely that we are talking about a Jewish servant who was sold into slavery to another Jew and the explanations I have given, the Zohar Hakodesh gives a completely different and more mystical explanation as follows:-

The Zohar says that this refers to gilgulim. That is somebody who has been previously in the world and the soul, the נשמה, comes back to effect a further תיקון, rectification of something which had not been dealt with at an earlier time, either because of עבערות performed, or a lack of learning Torah or keeping mitzvos etc. and the Zohar embroiders on the theme considerably.

The Yidden at Matan Torah were elevated spiritually in an incredible fashion. They experienced a one off revelation by Hashem which had an effect, immediately and in the long term. The people who had lived before Matan Torah had received neshomos and very often had not carried on their lives in the correct fashion. It would seem very possible to assume that the Yidden after Matan Torah who had, possibly, received neshomos as gilgulim from a previous incarnation would therefore be in a position to be מתקן, to rectify, that which the previous person utilising the same neshomo had spoiled.

This also could apply to later generations through the ages.

Let me tell you a story concerning gilgulim.

The leading talmid, the pupil of the Baal Shem Tov, R’ Ber of Meztritch, once asked the Baal Shem Tov, How does this work?, What does it all mean?

The Baal Shem Tov told him to go out of the little village that they were in, into a particular wood and find a tree with a spring flowing out, just adjacent to that tree. He said, stay there during the day and leave at 6 o’clock in the evening and come back. R’ Ber went to the forest and eventually located the spring. He then positioned himself unobtrusively so that he could what might happen, without being observed himself.

Some short while afterwards, a nobleman on a horse came riding by and spotted the spring. He dismounted and went over to the water and took a drink. He also gave his horse something to drink. Meanwhile, his pouch slipped out and he did not notice. He remounted and rode off.

A little while later, another person, nowhere near as noble, rode by on his horse and spotted the same spring. He also dismounted and went to drink, he spotted the pouch and saw that it had considerable monies in it and took it. He remounted and rode off.

Sometime later, a beggar walking with a stick emerged in the forest and spied the same spring. He went over, had a drink and as he was tired laid down and fell off to sleep. Very shortly afterwards the original nobleman rode back looking for his pouch. Of course, it was nowhere to be seen. When he spied this old man he woke him up and berated him. Give me back my pouch with all my money. The beggar denied any knowledge of the money and, for that, he was beaten thoroughly whilst protesting his innocence. Eventually the nobleman rode off in a huff.

When R’ Ber looked at his watch, he realised that it was 6 o’clock. He came back to the Baal Shem Tov who asked him to detail what he had seen. R’ Ber told the whole story and asked the Baal Shem Tov for an explanation.

The Baal Shem Tov told him the following. In a previous gilgul, that is many years earlier, a man, let us call him Reuven, loaned another man, let us call him Shimon, money. When it was time for Shimon to repay the money, he denied any knowledge of owing the money at all, and we are talking about a large sum of money.

Eventually, Reuven realised that he was getting nowhere with Shimon so he took him to the Dayan, to the Beth Din. The Dayan prevaricated and eventually Shimon got off the hook and just did not repay. The Baal Shem Tov then said to R; Ber “You were witnessing the sequel of that story. The nobleman, who lost the money, was Shimon, (Shimon’s soul) the other man who found the pouch was Reuven, in a previous gilgul, and he, in fact, now got back the money that way. The poor man you saw, the beggar, was the Dayan and he was punished for not having dealt with the matter correctly.

Sometimes in this world, it appears to us that things happen which are not fair and this is even to people we know personally. There is always a good explanation or reason for it, it is just that very often we don’t understand it.

Our job is to try and not get into the same state of not doing things properly. When we come up to heaven, after 120 years, to answer for our deeds, or misdeeds, we should not be sent down again for another instalment in this world.

Of course, teshuva, that is repentance, always helps but in the case of monetary matters, this also has to be coupled with actually doing something about any losses which one causes to other people, if, of course, one is really responsible.

Looking through the Sedra right the way through to Chamishi and Shishi, one realises that there is a thread running through the Sedra, namely that one has to be very careful of what is called בין אדם לחברו, personal relationships between one man and another.

After the Yidden received the Aseres Hadibros and had the one off experience of Hashem speaking to them, they might have been forgiven for having their heads in the clouds and being very worried aboutלמקום   בין אדםmitzvos which are between a man and his Creator. Mishpatim comes to emphasise that the two, בין אדם לחברו and בין אדם למקום are equally important.

Read More......

AN APPRECIATION OF THE BAIS YISROEL OF GUR

As many people may know, today, ב אדר, is the yahrzeit of the Gerrer Rebbe known as the Bais Yisroel. He became Rebbe three years after the end of the Second World War which we now refer to as the Holocaust. He was Rebbe for almost 30 years.

I am going to attempt, today, to give an appreciation of his rebuilding virtually from the ashes, not only the Chasidus of Gur and Polish Jewry in toto, but he also having a tremendous effect on the whole of Charedi Jewry. I will also attempt to outline a small flavour of his personality from my perspective.

I believe that the first thing I ought to do is to commence with the final Dvar Torah from his Sefer that was published after his petireh containing Torahs he pronounced from Shabbos to Shabbos during those years.

כאן נתבשרו שעתידין לחטוא, אבל משה רבינו לא נתרצה בזה ופעל שיהי׳ הישועה ע״י השי״ת לא ע״י מלאך וכן נתמלא בקשתו, לכן השמחה בזה למי שחטא יוכל לשוב בתשובה ולהתקרב להשי״ת וזה בשורה טובה לכל בני ישראל.

The Torah tells us towards the end of Parshas Mishpotim that Hashem told Moshe that he was going to send a malach to guard the Jews. Rashi explains that this was, in fact, an indication to Moshe that the Yidden were going to sin. What the Rebbe says is that Moshe Rabbenu was not happy with this and he managed to persuade Hashem, as it says in the Sedra Ki Sisa, that Hashem himself and not a malach should always lead us. Therefore, the simcha embodied therein is that even somebody who sins can do teshuva, become near to Hashem Yisboruch and he concludes, this is a בשורה טובה, good tidings for all the Bnei Yisroel.

This was one of his major projects, namely, to impress on everybody that whatever they had done in the past, they could do teshuva and improve and Hashem would accept it and they could draw near to Hashem Yisboruch.



To just give some historical background, Reb Yisroel of Gur was born to his father, the previous Rebbe of Gur, who is now known by his sefer as the Imrei Emess, approximately 115 years ago. His famous grandfather, the Sfas Emess, was the Rebbe at the time and he had the privilege of knowing his grandfather until he was approximately 10 years of age and imbibed a considerable amount from the Sfas Emess.

When his father, the Imrei Emess, took over as Rebbe before the First World War, he redefined the Chasidus of Gur in various ways. For instance, he instructed his followers to daven strictly according to the times of tefillah, that is Shacharis early in the morning, Mincha before Shkia etc. He also instituted an hour learning Friday night before the tefillah of Maariv and again after Shacharis before the leyning on Shabbos morning.

He concentrated considerably on the youth. He could see how the various isms that were then around, communism, socialism, bundism, Zionism etc. were unfortunately tearing away the youth from Yiddishkeit and, he, therefore, was mekarev the youth in particular.

In addition, he was a Manhig Yisroel, a leader who was instrumental in the formation and success of Agudas Yisroel.

He was also staunchly in favour of Eretz Yisroel and decided that he wanted to go and live in Yerushalyim which he visited on a number of occasions between the two world wars.

A few years before the holocaust, he decided that he wanted to move to Eretz Yisroel permanently but his Chasidim pleaded with him and he acceded to their request to stay in Gur in Poland.

He was reputed to have 100,000 Chasidim. Certainly he had the greatest number of Chasidim of any Chasidus of that time or any other time before or after.

All this was brought to an abrupt halt in the Second War World. He, together with the Bais Yisroel and other members of their family, made a miraculous escape by train from Poland to Trieste in Italy and then by ship to Eretz Yisroel, but the Imrei Emess was a broken man and he eventually passed away on Shavuos תש'ח, that is 1948 a month after the formation of the State of Israel.

Of the multitude of Gerrer Chasidim, before the war, there were only a pitiful number who remained alive worldwide. I think one could say that if there were 1,000 Gerrer Chasidim, I mean Chasidim in the full sense of the world, alive and functioning immediately after the war ended, that is, if anything, an overestimate.

The Bais Yisroel had, before the war, already commenced helping his father, particularly in directing the activities of the young Gerrer Chasidim, the unmarried men and newly married all over Poland. The Bais Yisroel himself lived in Warsaw but he did travel here and there and he discreetly, at his father’s request, assisted considerably in attracting and retaining the youth in the derech of Gerrer Chasidus.

Nevertheless, it was a surprise to many people when his father left the mantle of leadership to the Bais Yisroel, who had preferred to always be in the background.

The Bais Yisroel when appointed Rebbe was faced with the churban, the Holocaust, with thousands of broken neshomos, not only in Eretz Yisroel, also in Europe, in America and worldwide. People who had fled after the horrors and atrocities of the Second World War, who did not have parnosso and the majority were certainly not concentrating on their Yiddishkeit. The Bais Yisroel set about changing all this in his own unique manner, despite living in a state which frowned on Chareidim.

I was friendly with a gentleman called R’ Dovid Perkovitch who was brought up with the Bais Yisroel before the war in Poland but had emigrated to Yerushalyim before the war. R’ Dovid was not a Gerrer Chosid, but was friendly with the Bais Yisroel, nevertheless. He told me that a few weeks after the Bais Yisroel was appointed, he decided that he would go and wish him Mazel Tov. So he turned up in Gur. The Rebbe discussed with him how vibrant Yiddishkeit had been in Warsaw, in Gur and in Poland generally before the war and then opened a door from his room to the Bais Hamedrash and said, “Look at what my father has left me”. He looked around the Bais Hamedrash where there were a few old Yidden with beards, a few bochurim who were learning in the Yeshivas Sfas Emess and there was a whole generation missing in the middle.

Despite this, the Bais Yisroel energetically and with his own charisma dedicated himself, day and night, and I mean day and night, to building up Torah with a Chasidishe Bren as had been the norm in Poland, once again. When I say day and night, he reputedly did not sleep more than two or three hours a night and whenever one saw him awake, he was always fully awake and not half asleep despite the lack of any lengthy sleeping hours.

He commenced again with the youngsters and was mekarev anybody who was attracted to him. It did not matter to him whether bochurim were from families of Gerrer Chasidim, of Polish Chasidus or for that matter of any Chasidus. Anybody who wanted to experience the holy and dynamic personality of the Bais Yisroel, he took under his wing. He gradually built up first the Yeshivas Sfas Emess, then a Yeshiva in Tel Aviv, the Chidushei Harim, and gradually the numbers increased from 10’s to 100’s to 1,000’s of followers.

He lost his own wife, children and his one grandchild all in the war but he put all that to one side and concentrated on rebuilding Torah and Chasidus anew.

By the time he passed away almost 30 years after having been the leader of the Chasidus, he had built up Gur into a vibrant, growing community. He had also worked strenuously to steer Agudas Yisroel forward and helped countless other Rabbonim and Roshei Yeshiva build up their own communities and organisations.

I heard, that the Ponevezher Rov who built the famous Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, was stuck for money when about to build the Yeshiva and it was the Gerrer Rebbe to whom he turned and who gave him a substantial sum which enabled the project to go forward. In fact, the Ponevezher Rov when he had any major questions asked the Gerrer Rebbe and relied on his advice. Numerous other gedolim had similar stories to tell. He was a Rebbe for the whole of Klal Yisroel.

The Bais Yisroel did not, of course, forget or ignore, the older generation of Chasidim and the broken Yidden who had gone through the holocaust, many of them losing their affinity with Chasidus and Yiddishkeit. He comforted them all and brought many back to the fold. Through that, he managed to influence their children and grandchildren. He used to exclaim “Breng mere de kinder”, bring me the children.

The Bais Yisroel was a Godol בתורה עבודה וגמילות חסדים. In pure learning he was an illui, a genius. In avodah his tefillah and דקדוקי המצות were exemplary. His gemilus chasodim, namely to help people not only in a spiritual way but actually giving them money, clothes etc. was outstanding. He was known in Yerushalyim for the way he visited famous tzaddikim and hidden tzaddikim, what we term ל'ו tzaddikim, whom he managed to locate and visited at odd times of the day and especially the night, (as well as sick people) leaving behind money, food clothes etc.

He, of course, saw people who came for advice and with kvittlach. Normally the door was open for such visits twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon. People of all types and descriptions turned up, not only Chasidim and Bnei Torah, as we would term them nowadays, יהודי עמך, whether they were Ashkenazim or Sephardim all found a listening ear and a compassionate heart. He gave brochos and aitzes (advice). What we would describe today as mofsim, were quite commonplace, but I want to stress that in addition to all this he was a חכם, a wise and clever person who understood the ways of the world and he, therefore, could deal with not only individuals but organisations, politics, etc. and deal with all matters with incredible speed as well as acumen and common sense.

He really had an extraordinary mixture of so many middos tovos in addition to a magnetic personality and charisma which he used to the utmost to benefit Klal Yisroel. He had in him the sharpness associated with Kotzk and the ahavas Yisroel epitomised by Vorka.

He did build up his own Chasidus and mould it into vibrant Yiddishkeit akin to that which had existed before the war in Poland, but he also understood and supported other organisations which differed in detail. He was just interested in building up more and more Yiddishkeit in Eretz Yisroel and throughout the world. He took everybody according to his particular level and cleaned out that person’s neshomo and indicated the way forward for each individual in his own way. However, he did have guide lines which he concentrated on and these included the following. He was insistent that in his Bais Hamedrash in Yerushalyim nobody, and I mean nobody, talked at all during davenning. And I mean during davening, from the time it started to the time it finished with no exceptions even where one may normally speak say, for instance, during the korbonos right at the beginning of davening. If he caught anybody talking, woe betide. He also had a genius for knowing that somebody was talking.

I myself witnessed the following incident. The Bais Yisroel used to daven next to the Baal Tefillah right at the Mizrach vant of the Bais Hamedrash, he did not have a chair (at least not until the last five years, subsequent to a serious operation) but stood the whole of davening like a general with his troops. There was then a gap where nobody davened around him being sort of a half circle, say ten foot away from him. After that, there were the bochurim and yingeleit who made a wall round him which could be at times four or five rows deep, further back there were other people davening as well. One Shabbos morning as Azehu Makomom was being said, the Bais Yisroel suddenly looked fixedly at a spot where these young men were congregated like a wall and because he was looking so fixedly the wall split like magic and there was an empty path and one could see right to the back of the Bais Hamedrash. I noticed that two people had come into the Bais Hamedrash, obviously talking and were standing right near the back door and they had not quite finished their conversation. After a few seconds, one of the two noticed that the Bais Yisroel was looking in their direction fixedly, he realised what had happened and stopped talking. The other one had not noticed and therefore carried on until he suddenly realised that something was happening and also caught the eye of the Bais Yisroel. The two of them, to put it mildly, were so embarrassed that they almost slunk out of the Bais Hamedrash.

How on earth the Bais Yisroel could have sensed that these two were talking when he could not have seen it in a physical way? It must have been a purely spiritual, pnemiasdike sensation that made him look there and stop the conversation. This was not the only time it happened, I have heard of many such incidents. The fact is that he was very, very strong on this point. He was reputed to have said that the reason why the churban of the Second World War took place in the Ashkenazi communities, whereas, relatively speaking, the Sephardim of North Africa etc. were not touched, is because the Sephardim gave great kovad, honour and dignity to their Shuls and the way they davenned and learned therein.

I think that this is a lesson for everybody nowadays as well.

This was one point that he was very strong on.

Another point that was his speciality was that bochurim, especially in Sfas Emess, the Gerrer Yeshiva in Yerushalyim should get up what was called “fartugs”, before daybreak.

In the first years that he was Rebbe this meant getting up at say 6.00 in the morning to learn for an hour before davening at 7.30 after having gone to Mikvah etc. By the time 25 years had gone by we are talking about getting up at 3.30 or 4.00 in the morning.

In order to encourage this, he used to invite these youngsters into his private rooms at any time between 4.00 and 6.00 in the morning for tea, a vort of Torah and an occasional discussion etc. This worked wonders in getting people up and learning at that early time of the morning. It made these people feel that they had a special affinity to the Bais Yisroel.

He was insistent on Kedushah, pure holiness.

He was forever pushing people to reach a higher level of kedushah and taharah. Not looking out of their Dalet Amos, not reading secular newspapers or books etc.

One of his most famous methods of building up Yiddishkeit and warmth was the tischen on Friday night and Shabbos Shalosh Seudas. There were a few privileged people, maybe 30 or 40 who actually sat round the table by invitation. To get an invitation to sit at the tisch, this had to be issued by the Rebbe himself, often via the gabbai, and naturally members of his family were among those who frequently had tisch. As far as the Chasidim were concerned, it was, of course, a great privilege and honour to be able to sit at the tisch or even stand inside, what was virtually a reinforced area.

Especially in his earlier years and on Friday night, the Bais Yisroel used to come into the Bais Hamedrash before a tisch and there were hundreds of people standing around. He would walk between the rows of people and throw out a remark or tell somebody he should go into the tisch and it was an amazing sight which I find difficult to describe in words.

Immediately adjacent to the tisch the bochurim and yingeleit formed a solid phalanx standing four or five and sometime even six or seven rows deep, behind which were the baalebatim. The Rebbe did not stop working the whole of the tisch. If he was not giving out shirayim, he was passing messages to people, there was zemiros being sung and l’chaims being called out. Something was going on all the time and the atmosphere was electric.

His divrei Torah, which were given at that time and are printed in the sefer Bais Yisroel are replete with words of Chasidus, Yiras Shomoyim and especially mussar as to how one should behave and strive to grasp the holiness of the particular Shabbos or Yom Tov, with a view to the spiritual uplift continuing.

I don’t think that I mentioned that he had what was equivalent to a computer in his brain. He remembered everything and anything, whether it was Torah or whether it was things that happened and concerned individual persons. I will just give you one example that happened to me. I mentioned earlier on that there were opening hours when one could visit the Bais Yisroel, usually twice a day for half an hour to an hour or so. During that period, many people went in and out and he dealt with them very quickly indeed.

Because when one asked him something he answered so quickly, it was difficult to ask more than a few questions. This was because it was difficult to assimilate all the answers and go away remembering everything clearly. Therefore, one had to come in a second or third time. In addition, the Rebbe was always in a hurry because he knew that other people were waiting outside.

This was especially true over the period from Selichos through Tishrei.

At the time of this story I am going to mention, very few people went to Eretz Yisroel, air travel was still in its infancy, most people still travelled by ship. Therefore, when I went over, I was asked by numerous people to take with kvittlach or ask for berochos, questions etc. I went before Rosh Hashona and came back after Succos. What happened was that I went in once, twice, three times or more and got through a considerable amount of the enquiries for other people as well as something for myself.

I then realised that Succos had ended and I was going back home a couple of days later. I decided that I had better do something different to ensure that I would remember to ask all the outstanding questions. Therefore, I jotted down points on a piece of paper so that if I got stuck I would be able to refer to them.

Lo and behold, I went in the day before I was going back and the first question the Rebbe asked me was how long was I staying, and I told him that I was in fact, travelling the next day. I then proceeded to ask him a couple of things and he answered me in his normal quick manner. At that stage, I decided that I had better refer to my list and therefore, fumbled in my top pocket near my lapel and took out my list. The Rebbe asked what I was doing. I told him what was happening, namely that every time I came in, as soon as I went out of the door, I realised that I had forgotten to ask something. I, therefore, decided that I had better write down a list to make sure that I remembered to mention everything, especially as I was going abroad.

The Rebbe approved and I went through my list and he then asked him, “have you got anything else”, I said no and he wished me l’chaim u’l’sholom and that was the last time that I saw him for a year or two.

A few years later, I was also in Eretz Yisroel for Rosh Hashona until after Succos and I went in after Succos for a final visit to him. Once again I had not exhausted my list of questions and had decided to write a list to make sure that I would not forget anything.

The Rebbe asked me when I was going and I said the next day and I asked him one or two things. Before I could continue, he asked me “have you got anything written down”, to which I smiled and took out of my pocket the piece of paper which I then went through in detail.

I am just trying to explain the computer in his head. Remember it was about five years after the first incident and he had seen thousands of people meanwhile but he knew that Yosef Sugarwhite is a person who comes in with a piece of paper on which he writes down a list just to make sure that he does not forget anything. This was, of course, on the final occasion before going back home.

Occasionally, the Bais Yisroel travelled to meet other Gedolei Yisroel about important matters which he felt were best discussed face to face. These trips usually took place at night, so that the whole matter was kept secret. He very, very rarely spoke on the telephone and, therefore, either dealt with matters himself in the above mentioned manner or had numerous sheluchim, people who worked on his behalf in respect of numerous individual matters and for that matter national and international matters, politics etc.

I heard the following story from the driver of the car concerned. I must explain that the Bais Yisroel did not use public transport or taxi drivers but utilised the services of his wide circle in Jerusalem. At that time, 40 or 50 years ago, the gentleman who told me the story was his driver, especially for these late night episodes.

He received a phone call around 4.00 in the morning. “Can you please come round with your car”. He tumbled out of bed and got to the Rebbe’s residence a few minutes later. Drive out of town, he was told. At that time, there was only one way out of town, down the main road to Motza which then goes past Mevasseret Tzion and out towards the airport and Natanya, where, in fact, the Rebbe was heading. He wanted to have a private conversation with the Klausenberger Rebbe who had arrived to take up residence in Natanya and they were going to discuss sensitive issues concerning chinuch etc.

The car drove down the winding hill, much like a Swiss mountain road, which leads down from Yerushalyim and reached Motza which is in the valley before turning up again a steep hill towards Mevasseret Tzion. It was just after daybreak. As they rounded the bend at Motza and commenced their ascent, the driver noticed a car which had broken down with its driver was under the bonnet. The Rebbe also noticed and told the driver to pull in at the side of the road. By the time he did this they were 30 or 40 yards on. The Rebbe told the driver to stay with the car, he took off his hat, left it in the car and walked down to the broken down vehicle. The Rebbe’s driver watched with curiosity as he saw a conversation was taking place between the Rebbe and the person under the bonnet. He then saw that tools were being passed by the Rebbe to that person, handed back and other tools replacing the first ones. After a few minutes, the Rebbe said something to the gentleman concerned, got a reply and then turned around and walked back very quickly to the vehicle which was waiting for him 30 or 40 yards up the road, got in and said “Drive off”. Meanwhile, the Rebbe’s driver looked around and saw that the person under the bonnet had by this time appeared and was looking round for his guardian angel. The Rebbe, in fact, had helped him solve his problem and once he was satisfied that the car was in working order returned to the vehicle waiting for him.

The Bais Yisroel remarked with satisfaction in his voice, “it is marvellous to carry out, a gemilus chesed, a kind deed, for a fellow Jew especially without the person knowing who carried out that good deed”. This was one of thousands of incidents where he helped people in all types of ways and in many cases, the recipients of the kindness never knew that the Rebbe was behind it or even involved in the acts of kindness.

As the Chasidus grew, the Rebbe appointed leading young men to assist him in his chinuch activities but nevertheless, everything was under his direct and strict control.

Monies flowed through his hands in large sums. Although, he refused as a general rule to take any money with a kvittel, nevertheless, certain people did manage to get him to agree to accept money (I among them) and there were projects such as building new Yeshivas etc. where substantial monies were involved.

The Rebbe was extremely careful with all monetary matters and had his own books of account which he kept scrupulously.

He was known for his stringency in kashrus for all things that he ate or drank and during the week, other than Shabbos and Yom Tov, he did not eat a lot. He also fasted on numerous occasions.

All this was done without any publicity or fanfare. People who were not involved in actual incidents had little or no awareness of the manifold activities carried out and the extreme kedusha and sensitivity that the Rebbe put into all projects and private matters.

Although the Rebbe did not leave any direct descendents as they all perished during the Second World War, I think that the most fitting tribute to him was given by his brother, and successor, the Lev Simcha. The first Shabbos that the Lev Simcha made a tisch some months after the passing of the Bais Yisroel was on parshas מסעי. The sedra starts אלה מסעי בני ישראל , these are the journeys of the Bnei Yisroel. He looked at the assembled crowd of thousands and remarked “we are all “Bnei Yisroel”, namely the generations that had been created by the Bais Yisroel, who were standing there. One can understand the חז''ל who tell us כל המלמד בן חבירו תורה כאילו ילדו whoever teaches another Jew’s child Torah, it is as if he himself gave birth to him. The Bais Yisroel gave birth to whole generation which has now been followed by a further two generations since and is still growing, very much in his זכות.

זכותו יגן עלינו ועל כל ישראל אמן

Read More......

עשרת הדברות

The Yom Tov of שבועות has just gone by. The focal point of that Yom Tov is that in the year 2448 after the creation of this world, Hashem gave the ten commandments, the עשרת דברות to the Bnei Yisroel. These were not given, as all the other mitzvos, via Moshe Rabbenu but Hashem Himself, בכבודו ובעצמו, spoke directly to the whole of the Jewish people.

Why were these particular ten commandments given directly by Hashem?

One can easily understand the first one which commences אנכי ה' אלקיך, I am Hashem who created the whole world, who enables the whole world to continue and took you all out of Egypt (just six or seven weeks prior to the giving of the עשרת דברות).

Likewise, one can understand the second commandment לא יהיה לך אלהים אחרים על פני, you should have no other gods, no idol worshipping of any type, as the Torah carries on in detail. Because idol worship is a negation of true belief, namely that Hashem created the world and continues to run it and supervise it completely himself.

When we come to the third of the ten commandments, namely, לא תשא את שם ה' לשוא, you should not take Hashem’s name in vain, I am a little puzzled as to why this should be included in the ten top priorities which had to be given by Hashem himself.

Turning to number 4, which is to remember and keep Shabbos, one could again understand the importance of this mitzvah on the basis that Hashem created the world in six days and on the seventh day, Shabbos, rested. This is fundamental to our faith.

Turning to the fifth mitzvah, to honour ones father and mother. This also seems a little strange as to have such high priority.

Number 6 is לא תרצח, one may not kill. That everybody will understand is a major, important fundamental. Likewise לא תנאף, one should not commit adultery or have any other illicit relations. One can understand the importance of placing it in the ten commandments.

Turning to number 8, לא תגנוב, one should not steal or kidnap, again this is a very important fundamental point.

Let us, however, consider number 9, לא תענה ברעך עד שקר. You shall not bear false testimony. What is the vital importance of this particular mitzvah, what makes it so necessary to be included in the ten commandments?

Why, for example, is not the mitzvah of Talmud Torah, the learning of Torah included in the ten commandments, or the laws of טומאה and טהרה, purity and impurity etc. mentioned in the ten commandments in place of the ones at number 3 and number 9 particularly as mentioned, earlier on.

Number 10, לא תחמד, one should not covet another person’s property, wife etc. this is once again, I believe a fundamental we can all understand.

I should perhaps at this point mention that for a detailed and all encompassing overview of the עשרת דברות, one should study the Maharal’s sefer, תפארת ישראל, which is a masterpiece of Jewish thought in a philosophical manner.

In order to try to understand the reason why the particular ten commandments were given as the עשרת דברות by Hashem himself, I believe that it will be illuminating to quote the Chidushei Horim who states that the עשר מכות, the ten plagues, took away the קליפות, the shells which had over the generations covered the original עשרה מאמרות, the ten utterances with which the world was created.

Over the generations, the original Holy Utterances had become encrusted and covered over to the extent that people no longer realised and knew about the original creation and that Hashem had created the whole world.

This lack of knowledge is highlighted as we read that when Moshe Rabbenu came to Pharoh and told him that Hashem had said that he should let the Bnei Yisroel leave Egypt, Pharoh’s retort was מי ה', who is the “person” you are referring to as Hashem.

He soon learned and after having been afflicted by numerous plagues, stated, ה' הצדיק ואני ועמי הרשעים, Hashem is the righteous one and I and my people are sinners.

The ten plagues revealed to the Egyptians and the whole world, that there was a supernatural power, Hashem, who created the world and controlled and ran it all as He saw fit (and continues to do so). This took away the קליפות which had formed.

Less than two months after the final plague, מכת בכורות, the Jewish people stood at Mount Sinai and heard from Hashem the עשרת דברות, the ten commandments.

The Chidushei Horim says that these commandments uttered by Hashem brought the world back to the original pristine state as at the creation of the world and were a תיקון, a rectification of the whole state of the world.

Incidentally, that is the reason why at that time, all people who had been ill were healed, everything came back into an original pristine state.

Based on this statement of the Chidushei Horim, I think we can understand better the reason why the particular ten commandments were given.

The first one, אנכי ה' אלקיך, is obviously bound up with the fundamental belief that Hashem created the whole world and runs it as he sees fit. The last great example of it was the fact that Hashem had just taken the Bnei Yisroel out of Egypt, a land which had an iron curtain and in which they had been enslaved.

In connection with the second of the עשרת דברות, namely not to serve idols in any way, it is instructive to read the Rambam at the beginning of הלכות עובדה זרה at length. I recommend you to read the first chapter in detail. In short, he says that in the third generation, that of אנוש, people began to question whether Hashem, who they all knew had created the world, really was looking after everybody individually as there were too many, “small” people and it was suggested that Hashem had created intermediaries such as the sun, the moon, the stars etc. to control day to day life. This developed into false prophets who suggested that those intermediaries should be served as well and this was the beginning of idol worship.

In order to bring the world back to its original state and keep is so, therefore, Hashem commanded us not to serve idols in any shape or form so as not to fall into the same trap once again. (Unfortunately, a few weeks later, there took place the story of the Golden Calf which again spoiled things.)

Coming to the third of the ten commandments, לא תשא את שם ה' לשוא, one should use the name of Hashem in vain, or in connection with a lie. We find that at the time of אנוש the Torah tells us אז הוחל לקרא בשם ה'. Rashi explains that at the time, people began to use Hashem’s name as חולין, in a degenerate and profane, not holy, way and Rabbi Shimshon Rafoel Hirsch goes into detail regarding this and that familiarity began to breed “contempt”.

In order to ensure that this did not happen again, and due יראת הכבוד, honour in awe, be given to Hashem, the mitzvah became the third one in the עשרת דברות. It is also note worthy to mention that אנוש was the third generation being the son of שת who was the son of Odom Harishon.

Turning to the fourth mitzvah, that of Shabbos, we know that Odom Harishon was created on the sixth day and the Gemora goes into detail as to how each hour a different happening took place. Finally, by Friday afternoon, Odom Harishon together with Chava were placed in Gan Eden and were told not to eat from the עץ הדעת, the tree of knowledge. Unfortunately by the middle of the afternoon they had eaten from this and Hashem then questioned them and they were ejected from the Garden of Eden.

Although Odom Harishon did teshuva, Hashem had stated that on the day he ate from the עץ הדעת he would die and as the sun went down before Shabbos, Odom Harishon thought that he was going to be taken from this world. And indeed this might have happened but as the medrash tells us, the day of Shabbos itself intervened and pleaded to Hashem to not spoil the seven days of the creation of the world, and in particular the Shabbos. Hashem relented on the basis that כי אלף שנה בעיניך כיום, a thousand years is in the eyes of Hashem are like one day and on that basis Odom Harishon was allowed to live for 1,000 years. (Incidentally, Odom Harishon, so the midrash also tells us, gave away 70 years of his life to Dovid Hamelech who he saw was supposed to die at birth, and, as we all know, Dovid Hamelech’s Yarhzeit is on Shavuos.)

Accordingly, Shabbos was fundamental in keeping the world going as we know it and the Bnei Yisroel, of course, descended from Odom Harishon and so have to keep Shabbos which enabled Odom Harishon to remain alive.

The fifth commandment is כבד את אביך ואת אמך, to honour one’s father and mother.

There are always people, especially youngsters, who tend to blame anything that goes wrong or any insufficiencies in themselves onto their parents. This has been going on from time immemorial.

In the context of the creation of the world, the first time that children could have had this grouse at their parents was with Odom and Chava who had broken the one rule made for them, namely, not to eat from the עץ הדעת.

Nevertheless, Hashem enjoins us to honour our parents, because, after all, Odom Harishon was created by Hashem himself and every generation that goes by is not only a link to Odom Harishon but one further down the chain. Therefore, we have to look up to our parents and honour them. (This is, of course, in contradistinction to those who mistakenly who think we are descended from apes and, therefore, in their eyes, the further one goes away on the chain the more intelligent?, sophisticated?, refined? becomes the human race, and, therefore, why respect parents who are that one link closer to apes? It shows where misguided thinking can lead!!)

The sixth commandment was לא תרצח. You may not kill. This has an immediate affinity with the first killing of all time, when קין, Cain, killed הבל, Abel. This contributed considerably to the degeneration of the world and therefore, this mitzvah is included in the ten commandments to try and stop it happening in the future.

The next commandment is לא תנאף. One may not commit adultery or be party to any other illicit relationship. This is directly connected with Rashi’s statement that the נחש, the snake, נתאוה, desired, חוה, Eve. The snake was the first to attempt to commit adultery, look at the problems that he then caused.

The next commandment is לא תגנוב, one may not steal or kidnap.

If one looks at the whole story of how Odom and Chava ate from the עץ הדעת and then hid themselves in Gan Eden, they “stole” by stealing the food, eating it and then hiding. We are enjoined not to do anything at all on those lines.

We now come to number 9, namely לא תענה ברעך עד שקר. One may not bear false witness.

I think that the way the snake put it to Chava, namely, that nothing would happen if she ate from the forbidden fruit, was tantamount to bearing false witness as to what would happen. The snake knew full well that she and her husband would die but said “You will not die” and I believe that that is why it is included in the ten commandments, namely, to try to stop future generations from falling into the same trap.

The tenth and final commandment, לא תחמד, you should not covet other people’s property, and wife etc. is once again bound up with the eating of the forbidden fruit. The Torah states clearly that Chava saw, כי תאוה היא לעינים ונחמד העץ להשכילthat the fruit looked delightful and she coveted the fruit and thought that it would give her this extra benefit, pleasure and perception. Unfortunately, it did the exact opposite and it is a lesson for all generations not to covet that which belongs to another individual.

I believe that I have demonstrated the connection which each of the עשרת דברות has to the original story of מעשה בראשית, and in that context, a reason for each of the ten commandments having been uttered by Hashem Himself.

Read More......

The Mishkon – Veyakhel - Pekudei

The commandment to build a Mishkon – Tabernacle and the detailed instructions pertaining thereto cover almost two sedras, namely Terumah and Tetzaveh. It is again briefly mentioned in the next sedra Ki Sisa and the way it was carried out in practice is gone into again in great length in the next two sedras Vayakhel and Pekudei. We find many important dinim – laws, which are mentioned very briefly, sometimes are even only deduced from an extra word or a letter. We know that the Torah does not repeat itself unnecessarily and here we have over 300 pesukim – verses with many obvious repetitions.

Rabbenu Bachaya, one of the leading medieval commentators, states at the beginning of Veyakhel that the Mishkon is mentioned five times, which emphasises the point I have been making, and this begs the question why was it necessary to go over this again and again and in such detail on so many occasions.

In order to understand this at least partially, let us consider in detail the Kodesh Kodoshim, the Holy of Holies that was the repository of the Oron – Ark containing the Luchos, the Ten Commandments.

The instructions as to how to build the Mishkon are precise and the internal measurements, within the walls, of the Kodesh Kodoshim are ten amos – cubits long by ten amos wide by ten amos high, namely a perfect cube, ten by ten by ten.

Inside, the Ark was ten tefochim – handbreadths high and on that were the Keruvim Cherubs on which Rashi comments that with their hands held up they also were ten handbreadths high. Inside the Ark were the ten commandments.

Furthermore, the Buddim, the staves, which held the Oron, were themselves each ten amos long.

We can see from this that there was a particular emphasis on ten in respect of all these measurements in the Holy of Holies.

It goes even further as the Gemora tells us מקום הארון אינו מן המדה, the Oron miraculously did not take up any physical space, meaning, of course, that the ten by ten by ten remained a perfect cube without losing any space internally.

To add one further facet, one person was allowed to enter once a year, namely the Kohen Godol, high priest, and this was on the tenth day of the seventh month. Ten is obviously a salient factor in the whole series of instructions.

I believe that the key to this can be found in a Mishna at the beginning of the fifth chapter of Pirkei Ovos – Ethics of our Fathers that states בעשרה מאמרות נברא העולם Hashem created the world with ten utterances. The Mishna continues “but He could have created it with one, why did He make ten utterances? To punish evildoers who destroy the world, which was created with ten utterances and to give reward to the righteous who rectify the world that was created with ten utterances”. However, the question is obvious, why not twenty or thirty utterances and one could have even more reward. It appears that ten was the blueprint with which the world was created and that is the way Hashem wanted it to be. We also find that the ארי ז"ל, Rabbi Yitzchok Luria goes into great detail concerning ten Sefiros – levels by which the creation of the world descended to our lowly world in which we live, again the emphasis on ten.

We, therefore, see that when the world was created and obviously, as the creation of Hashem, it was a perfect world, ten was a key element. Unfortunately Adam and Eve ate from the עץ הדעת, the fruit that was forbidden to them, and this caused degeneration, which gathered pace over the next ten generations. The Mabul, flood, took place and Noach was left with his children but once again there was further degeneration until ten generations later, Avrohom Ovinu began the improvement and rectification of the world.

This was continued by his son Yitzchok and grandson Yaakov, but they still did not achieve a full recovery. That only occurred when the children of Israel said “Naasei Ve’Nishma” “We will do and hear” and received the Torah, the ten commandments. At that time, we are told, the world returned to the level of Adam before the sin.

The holy presence of Hashem, the Shechina, dwelled within each Jew. Unfortunately, the episode of the golden calf spoiled this.

Hashem then decreed that a place had to be built according to His specifications where the Shechina, his presence, would dwell and from which place He would speak to Moshe Rabbenu. It was in this Holy of Holies from between the Keruvim mentioned above, that the Torah clearly states there had to be perfection of ten namely, ten by ten by ten.

I mentioned above that there were ten generations until Noach, ten again until Avrohom and remarkably enough there were ten generations from then onwards to Betzalel the architect of the Mishkon. It was indeed extraordinary that this young boy, just bar-mitzvah should be the person to whom was entrusted the building of the Mishkon and the Torah goes so far as to say, in the case of the Oron, ויעש בצלאל, Betzalel himself built it and our Rabbis tell us that in his name one finds an allusion to his greatness, in that יודע היה בצלאל לצרף בהן אותיות שנבראו בהם שמים וארץ Betzalel knew how to combine the letters, with which were created heaven and earth. The Mishkon was not just a physical edifice, it was a power house of spirituality from which emanated the Shechina in the same way as this had permeated the whole world at creation.

We begin the see the reason for the detailed instructions and repetition in this one area, the most Holy in the Mishkon and it can be projected to many other areas of the Mishkon as well, each having is own focus.

One further interesting point is that the word Eser in Hebrew עשר, when spelt out fully as a total numerical value עין שין ריש adds up to 1,000 (עין equals 130, שין equals 360 and ריש equals 510).

One thousand is ten times ten times ten!! Furthermore, the middle letter each time is Yud namely ten times ten times ten.

The word for a thousand in Hebrew is Elef, which we are told refers to אלופו של עולם The Chief, the ultimate power of the world.

The Mishkon was taken down and put up again repeatedly during the 39 years from its building whilst the children of Israel went round the wilderness, in fact 42 times in total. This was to signify that whenever Jews would go into the wilderness, exile, they could rebuild and recreate the holiness that the Shechina, Hashem’s presence should dwell among them. Furthermore, Rabbenu Bachaya states at the beginning of Bereishis that the first 42 letters represent one of the holy names of Hashem namely that consisting of 42 letters. This is exactly equivalent to the 42 journeys echoing the mirror image of the creation of the world.

The Gemora statesכל ביה עשרה שכינתא שריא the Shechina dwells in every house of ten Jews, but why just ten? Bearing in mind the remarks above, it becomes fairly obvious. The blueprint of the world was with ten and the recreation of this in a small and focused way was in the Holy of Holies, with the emphasis on ten. Therefore, even when we no longer have a Tabernacle or a Temple, wherever Jews get together and build a Bais Haknesses – synagogue, Bais Hamidrash – place of learning etc and pray and learn there, the Shechina dwells there. We understand now why every דבר שבקדושה, Holy Act requires ten, which we call a minyon, when one can say Kaddish, Kedushah, read out of a Sefer Torah etc.

We also begin to appreciate how important it is to behave in such places with the necessary dignity and reverence and to Daven with Kavonnah – devotion and concentration.

The highlight of Tefilla B’Tzibbur – praying with a minyan, is the קדושה. The first sentence recited by participants comes from the vision of the prophet Isaiah who beheld Hashem sitting on a throne and the angels were saying קדוש קדוש קדוש ה' צבאות מלא כל הארץ כבודו, Holy, Holy, Holy is Hashem. The word קדוש means a number of related things, Holy, Sanctified, Separated, all of which are implied by using this expression. The actual word in Hebrew is spelt Kuf Dalet Vov Shin, קדוש and the two middle letters Dalet (4) and Vov (6) add up to ten. The word is repeated three times.

May I suggest that this refers to the three dimensions of the קודש קדשים – Holy of Holies in the Mishkon which, down on earth, represent the Holiest abode and the connection between our physical world and the spiritual world above. Our Rabbis tell us בית המקדש של מטה מכוון כנגד בית המקדש של מעלה, the Temple in this world is apposite to the Temple up above.

To sum up, the Mishkon was the spiritual power house from which the Jewish Nation then and in all future generations until the coming of Moshiach would derive Holiness, strength, inspiration, comfort and much more. The detailed instructions and repetition was to emphasise its importance and to enable us to appreciate at least some of its depth and to bring us nearer to the Shechina in every generation wherever we are in the world.



Let us perhaps dwell on a few points other than this, which also have a significance connected with ten. I mentioned earlier about Abraham being the first who began to rectify the world and he, himself, was given ten tests by Hashem. This was not by chance, he had to overcome all the evil influences on all the ten levels culminating in the Akeida, the bringing of his special son Yitzchok onto the altar and at that moment both he and his son reached an unbelievably high level of holiness and subservience to Hashem and this was passed on to later generations and still stand us in good stead to this very day.

When Bnei Yisroel who had been enslaved for over a hundred years in Egypt were to be saved, Hashem sent ten Makkos – plagues through Moshe and Aharon in order to break down the shells of uncleaniness which had been covering the קדושה – Holiness, culminating in the Makkos Bechoros at which point the King of Egypt, Paroh, agreed to let them go. It was on the tenth day of Nissan that they set aside the Korban Pesach, the Paschal lamb, which led directly to their deliverance.

Turning to Moshe, during the seven days of the consecration of the Mishkon and particularly on the eighth day in which he inducted Aharon into his role as Kohen Godol, Moshe had to bring korbonos on the mizbeach - altar, which was ten amos high (according to one of the Rabbis whose opinion we follow. According to the other Rabbi the slope leading up to the altar was ten amos long) and the Gemora tells us that Moshe Rabbenu unlike most people who on average are three cubits high, was in fact ten amos – cubits tall.

Not for nothing did Moshe Rabbenu when blessing the Bnei Yisroel at the beginning of Devorim say יוסף ה' עליכם ככם אלף פעמים ויברך אתכם May Hashem, the G-d of your forefathers add to you a thousand times, (ten by ten by ten).

We also find numerous other references to ten referring to holiness. The tenth animal born in a flock each year became “holy” and we also had to take tithes – ma’aser of food and give them to the tribe of Levi which was the tribe of Moshe and Aharon as enumerated in Torah. (In fact, the commentators state that commencing from the youngest son, Benjamin – Joseph upwards, the tenth son of Yaakov was Levi and that is why he and his tribe were set aside as the holy ones.)

There are four levels of physical objects in this world, דומם, צומח, חי, מדבר - namely, Inanimate objects e.g. stone, metal etc., Items which grow from the ground e.g. plants trees etc., Animate objects e.g. animals, birds etc. and finally animate objects with speech, namely human beings.

As mentioned earlier, the internal measurements within the Kodesh Kodeshim are ten amos. The ground underneath was an inanimate object, דומם . The walls were made of wood, צומח. The covering was from the wool and skins of animals,חי , and the Kohen Godol, מדבר, performed the avodah.

At the level of items which grow צומח, we were commanded to take maaser, a tithe, (one tenth) from three objects, דגן, תירוש, יצהר - grain, wine and oil. At the next level, animate objects, we were also told to take maaser, a tithe each year, from three types of animal, בקר, כבשים, עזים - cattle, sheep and goats. All this had to be carried out by the representatives of the highest level, the human being.

The Kohen Godol, the high priest went into the Holy of Holies on the 10th day of the New Year and the Holy of Holies represents the spiritual state but at the same time he stood on the earth the lowest level, an inanimate object. However, at the next two levels, farmers growing produce in the Holy Land of Israel had to also symbolically take a tithe from three objects each year. At the next level up cattle owners had to take a tithe from animals bred in the Holy Land from three types of animal. These last two levels reinforce and blend with the holiness emanating from the Holy of Holies which itself is ten by ten by ten as mentioned previously. Furthermore, one could surmise that the emphasis on three objects is to elevate the world in general which at the lowest level is known as עולם העשיה - the physical world we live in, עולם היצירה - the world of formation of objects and above that עולם הבריאה - the world of original creation.

Would it be too fanciful to suggest that each one of the objects from which we are enjoined to take a tithe represents one of these worlds בקר , cattle, representing the strongest and most physical part of the world, namely עשיה. עיזים, goats representing the יצירה, and כבשים, lambs representing the gentlest and, therefore, the most elevated level בריאה, the world of creation.

In the same wayדגן , grain would represent the עולם העשיה, יצהר, oil symbolised by fire, where the flame goes upwards towards the upper world represents עולם היצירה (note the similarity ofיצהר and יצירה) and finally תירוש, wine, represents בריאה the world of creation. (The Gemora states נכנס יין יצא סוד, there is an affinity of wine to the hidden world of creation.)

Ten in Loshen Hakodesh is represented by the letter yud, י, as we all know our forefathers’ names are significant but the first one Abraham was given his name Avrom by his father Terach and, therefore, can be discounted as we all appreciate. However, Yitzchok יצחק was the name that Hashem instructed Abraham to give his son. Yaakov, יעקב was also named by Hashem as Rashi states. Three sons of Yaakov had names commencing with yud. Yosef, יוסף the special son of Yaakov, Yehuda, יהודה from whom the kingship of Dovid emanated and Yissochar, יששכר known as the font of Torah. Of course, the name of essence of Hashem starts with the letter yud, יהו-ה. The first letter of all these paramount names all start with the letter yud which has the numeric value of ten. Furthermore, when one writes out yud in full, יוד, the final two letters again add up to 10 so we once again have ten plus ten.


We also find that when Solomon built the Temple he added, with Ruach Hakodesh, ten menorahs, candelabras in addition to the one from the original Mishkon.

There is a series of mishnas in the first chapter of Keilim which commence as follows
עשר קדושות הן, there are ten degrees of holiness, Eretz Yisroel – the Land of Israel is holier than all other lands etc. and the tenth one being the most holy of all, you guessed it, was the Kodesh Hakodoshim, the Holy of Holies.



Let us jump forward to a different age, to the famous story of Purim with which we are all familiar.

Let us pose just two questions, firstly why is it that the Gemora asks המן מן התורה מנין where is Homon mentioned in Torah and the Gemora answers from the verse after Adam had eaten the forbidden fruit, המן העץ אשר צויתיך – אכלת Hamin Hoeitz (the letters ה מ ן are the same as the name Homon, even though they are pronounced differently) Did you eat from the Tree that I commanded you not to? Why is it so important to find an allusion to Homon in the Torah? The same Gemora questions where do we find Mordechai and Esther and that we can understand because they were the heroes of the Megillah, but why Homon?

Secondly, the Gemora says that Homon has 208 children yet we find that a great play is made of killing of his ten sons in Shushan (and that is why we have a Shushan Purim, which is also kept in Jerusalem to this day).

Homon, as we know, erected a tree 50 amos high on which to hang Mordechai but Homon himself was hanged from the top of it. Ten months later his ten sons were hanged from the same tree as the Targum Sheini explains in detail on the Megillah. Rashi on the Megillah quotes a Seder Olam that these ten sons wrote letters of hatred as mentioned in Ezra and that this was at the beginning of King Ahashverous’s reign. What were these letters of hatred? To stop the Jews who had already gone up to Jerusalem at the time of Koresh to start building the Beis Hamikdosh and obviously their intention was that the Shechina should not dwell again on the Temple and in particular in the Kodesh Kodoshim, the holy of holies. Therefore, their punishment was that all ten should die and be strung up below their father Homon who had tried to defile the fifty gates of understanding חמישים שערי בינה. We now can understand why the Gemora quotes the allusion to Homon in Torah from that tree which had caused the original lowering of holiness and therefore a partial rectification of the whole matter was the hanging of Homon and his sons in this particular manner.

The Megillah continues קימו וקיבלו היהודים the Jews confirmed and undertook upon themselves and later generations etc. and the Gemora says they accepted again the ten commandments with the same enthusiasm as the Bnei Yisroel had accepted them at the time the Torah was given.



On Rosh Hashonah each year, the whole world is judged. We all pray to Hashem that we should be written in סיפרן של צדיקים, the book of the righteous. The focal point of the prayers of Rosh Hashonah is the Mussaf with three special brochos מלכיות, זכרונות, שופרות, the first proclaiming the kingdom of Hashem, the second that we should be remembered for good and this is through the sound of the shofar. Each one of these three brochos has to have ten pesukim – verses, specifically relating to the three particular points. This is dealt with in detail in the Gemora Rosh Hashonah where a connection with the עשרה מאמרות with which the world was created and the עשרת הדברות, the Ten Commandments, is made. The connection with the three measurements of the Kodesh Kodoshim, Holy of Holies, ten by ten by ten, is obvious.

Furthermore, the custom is that in the evening prayer on Rosh Hashonah after Shemonah Esra, chapter 24 of Tehillim לדוד מזמור is recited which speaks about the kingdom of Hashem. It is also significant that this also consists of ten verses. We are plugging in to the Kedusha - holiness at the same time as we are praying for a spiritual and physical good year.


The mitzvah of Sukkah is the only one which envelopes a person from top to toe and the holiness is all around us when we are inside the Sukkah. We are enjoined to go out of our houses and live for a week in temporary booths. Here again, we find some important connections with the Holy of Holies. Whereas in the case of Sukkah generally, we find numerous easings of the normal laws for, example, two walls plus the third of just a handbreadth, a tefach, is enough to make a Sukkah. We also find that the walls themselves need not be complete from the top to the bottom (technically known as Gud Asik and Gud Achis) and many other such lenient rulings including דופן עקומה, “a bent wall”.

However, what we do find, is that the first Mishna in Sukkah says that as long as the height of the Sukkah is a minimum of ten tefachim, handbreadths (less than 1 metre in height) this is sufficient for a minimum height. It is significant that it must have ten tefachim and the Gemora in Sukkah learns this from the height of the Oren and Kaporas, the Ark of Testimony in the Kodesh Kodoshim. If anybody has tried to live in a Sukkah with such a minimal height, one can understand that this is an extreme leniency, but quite obviously the minimum level was that which we find in the Holy of Holies namely ten tefachim.

At the other end of the scale the maximum height of a Sukkah, one would have thought, would be ten amos, the same as the height of the Kodesh Kodoshim. However, the leniency here is that it is double, namely 20 amos and perhaps this is to incorporate the length of the Kodesh Kodoshim, itself ten amos, so 20 amos was chosen as a precise measurement to reinforce the connection with the Holiest place. (From around 20 amos upwards a person’s eye does not travel and therefore, it would not register that it is, in fact, a Sukkah with schach above that level.)

A portion of the holiness therefore, transfers from the Kodesh Kodoshim to each and every Sukkah and envelopes every Jewish person thereon.

Let us turn to one other aspect of Jewish Law and, that is, that a person male or female, can promise to pay over their worth or that of any other male or female from a month upwards, and there is a fixed scale, this is known as Arachin.

However, if a person saysדמי עלי , my worth I promise to give, or דמי פלוני עלי , the worth of another specific person I promise to give (for the upkeep of the Mishkon or Bais Hamikdosh) then one has to make an accurate calculation of the worth of the person being valued.

The way this was done was to take ten people including one Kohen and they had to come to an assessment as clearly stated in the first Mishna of Mesachtas Sanhedrin. Based on the premises above mentioned, one can understand that ten Jews together, enables the Shechinah to dwell on them and with the presence of one of them being a Kohen this enables them to come to a true valuation which otherwise would be very difficult to reach.

The Gemorah in ,בבא קמא פ''ב to פ recounts at length that יהושע enacted ten rules when he conquered Eretz Yisroel. In later generations, עזרא made a further ten enactments. Finally, there were ten special rules applied to Yerushalyim. All this was to assist in the settlement of Eretz Yisroel and keeping the whole land holy. Once again we find the emphasis in each case on ten.

We can now appreciate how the concept of עשר, TEN permeates Jewish Holiness in practice and law and has a strong connection with the קודש קדשים, Holy of Holies in the Mishkon and indeed with בריאת העולם, the Creation of our World.

Read More......

SEDRA MISHPATIM PARSHAS SHEKALIM 5759

You will all, no doubt, know that this week in addition to reading Parshas Mishpatim, we also have a separate extra Parsha, the first of the four special Parshos, namely Parshas שקלים. We read the beginning of Parshas Ki Sisso, which deals with the whole matter.

Why do we read Parshas שקלים at this time of the year?

The Mishnah at the beginning of Maseches Shekalim commences באחד באדר משמיעין על השקלים, that on Rosh Chodesh Adar there was a special proclamation every year that people should contribute a half a shekel each of silver.

What was this meant for? Well, whilst there was a Bais Hamikdosh, there were, in addition to the korbonos, the various sacrifices which people brought individually, also קרבנות ציבור, communal sacrifices. They had to be paid for from somewhere and it was the money that was collected each year, these payments of half a shekel which added up to a large sum and were utilised for korbonos Tzibbur. These were not just for the korbonos which had to be brought every day and especially the special ones on Shabbos and Yom Tov as we are told in various places in Torah, especially parshos אמר and פינחס. There were times when the Mizbaech, the altar, was not busy because there were very few individuals who were bringing their private korbonos. In order that the Mizbaech should not be underutilised, korbonos Tzibbur were brought and these came from the communal money chest.

There was a once a year fundraising effort and the New Year commenced each time as at ראש חדש ניסן. In order to ensure that the funds were in place, a proclamation was, therefore, made a month earlier, namely אדר ראש חדש . The money then gradually came in over the next month.

As a commemoration of that on אדר ראש חדש if it falls on Shabbos, or the Shabbos proceeding אדר ראש חדש we read the special Parsha, Parshas שקלים.

Just to complete the picture please note that prior to the erection of the Mishkan, as a once off, there was also a מחצית השקל contribution given. This was utilised at that time for the silver needed to coat the אדנים, the sockets in which were placed the קרשים, the wooden fence which surrounded the Mishkan. A very small quantity being used for the hooks at the top of the wooden planks, the קרשים.

The מפרשים, the commentators, wax lyrical about the fact that everybody gave a מחצית השקל, the same amount and they explain that every Jew is basically of equal worth. Every male over the age of 20 whether he was rich, middle class or poor had to give this fixed contribution. Not only is every Yid basically equal, in addition, nobody is complete (has שלמות) without joining in with somebody else and with the community, the whole ציבור. That is the reason for giving a half a shekel rather than a whole shekel each.

If one looks carefully at the Parsha, one finds that we are enjoined to give מחצית השקל בשקל הקודש, a half a shekel of the holy shekel. The Torah tells us that the שקל הקודש was double the normal shekel. In that case, why were we not told to give a shekel each of the ordinary shekalim? The answer is two fold, firstly, as I mentioned above that everybody should understand the significance of a half a shekel, that one has to complete it with at least another half with some other person. Secondly, that the money given should be holy, קדש.

We find that our Chazal tell us נתקשה משה במחצית השקל הראה לו הקב''ה מטבע של אש. When Moshe Rabbenu was told by Hashem of this particular mitzvah, he had difficulty comprehending it. Hashem showed him a coin of fire.

Fire has got many qualities in it. Fire can light up the dark, fire can heat up as well, these are both positive qualities, however, fire also has a negative quality in that it can burn. Remember what it did in Australia, near Melbourne, very recently. Nearly 200 people were killed in the bush fires and thousands of properties destroyed. Hashem showed Moshe that money has to be handled very carefully, just as fire has to be, it has to be given to good causes, but it also has to earned in an honest way and always used in a good way. I am sure that some of you will remember an old tune which starts off “Money is the root of all evil”. It may be so, but it is also the root of a lot of good. It just depends how one earns it and how one utilises it. Here we are talking about utilising it for the common good for the greatest mitzvah, of keeping the Temple service going.

Unfortunately, nowadays, we do not have a Bais Hamikdosh, may it speedily be rebuilt, but nevertheless, we do have institutions such as this very בית המדרש that we are in at the moment and including Jewish Day schools, Talmud Torahs, Yeshivas, girls’ seminaries, kollelim etc. where holiness, the beauty, the enthusiasm for learning about our religion and keeping it, is nurtured and carried out daily. This is in addition to the תפילות ותשבחות, the prayers and praises offered to Hashem. All this is, of course, in some small way a continuation of what took place in our Holy Temple many years ago, and it is what keeps our nation going as a Holy Jewish nation.

Once a year everybody had to join in communally and do their bit. Of course, if somebody could afford more and wished to bring his own sacrifice, marvellous. In the same way nowadays, people may wish to give large sums of money to these good causes, Torah and Chesed and not just studying the Torah but also carrying our kind deeds, for example, Hatzolo who are today making their annual appeal for funds. We are all aware how they help to save lives, as well as dealing with other injuries and medical problems.

The thought might cross some people’s minds that this is not a time to spend money on charity, or at least to cut down, but in Parshas Shekalim, we have a word which shows otherwise. The word is ונתנו which means, you shall give. The Baal Haturim points out that this word is a palindrome, it is spelt exactly the same way whether you start at the beginning or you start at the end and work backwards, and he explains that this is an allusion to the fact that the more one gives the more Hashem gives back. The prophet מלאכי tells us בחנוני נא בזאת test me in this sphere of giving charity and carries on והרקותי לכם ברכה עד בלי די I will pour blessings on you without any stopping or interference.

From personal experience, I can tell you that it works.

The word שקל when spelt out in full as follows,שין = 360 קוף = 186 and למד = 74 totals 620. This is exactly the same as the word כתר namely a crown, these shekelim given are like jewels together in the crown (metaphorically speaking, of course) of הקב''ה. Furthermore, they also add together to the 613 mitzvos plus the 7 which the Rabbis enacted, again equally 620.

The last Mishnah in the whole of Mishnayos, contains the following
עתיד הקב''ה להנחיל לכל צדיק וצדיק ש''י עולמות

Namely that a Tzaddik will, when Moshiach comes, receive 310 worlds. I think you may have noticed that if the word שקל equals 620 a מחצית השקל equals 310. That is the power of giving מחצית השקל. Furthermore, mention is made of צדיק וצדיק, two righteous people, in other words two people each giving a half a shekel, together they make a whole and this is analogous to them creating a crown, a כתר, for the Rabbonu Shel Olam and also they will be the people who will keep the 620 mitzvos as mentioned above.

It is interesting to note, as I mentioned in detail above, that the monies which were gathered together in order to bring communal sacrifices during the whole year in the Bais Hamikdosh were allotted year by year. The changeover date for the New Year was 1st day of Nissan, Rosh Chodesh Nissan, and, therefore, a month earlier there was a proclamation that these shekalim should be gathered together and brought to Yerushalayim into the coffers of the Bais Hamikdosh. That is why we now read Parshas Shekalim on Rosh Chodesh Adar, or the Shabbos immediately prior to it. The question one can ask is, Why is that the changeover time, why not make the changeover date Rosh Hashonah, which is more appropriately the New Year, and therefore, why was the beginning of Nissan chosen?

The Gemorah at the beginning of שקלים states that this was because the Mishkan was consecrated on the first day of Nissan in the second year that the Bnei Yisroel were in the Midbor. The first shekalim given were utilised in the making of the Mishkan in connection with the אדנים as mentioned earlier on.

May I suggest that an additional reason to commence from Nissan could be that because the first ever sacrifice, קרבן ציבור, brought by the Bnei Yisroel was the קרבן פסח the details of which were commanded by Hashem on Rosh Chodesh Nissan. Therefore, it was originally enacted that the changeover point for bringing the monies to bring these קרבנות ציבור each year in the Bais Hamikdosh should likewise be Rosh Chodesh Nissan. Even nowadays, where, unfortunately, we have not got a Bais Hamikdosh, because we are so busy in Ellul doing teshuva, getting ready for Rosh Hashonah, therefore, the month of Adar is a very good time to remind ourselves of our communal responsibilities.

In addition to the rules that I mentioned above, there was a further הלכה which is learnt from this parsha. Whenever the Bnei Yisroel had to be counted, they were not allowed to be counted with a head count but everybody had to give an equal sum of half a shekel and that way the total number of Yidden could be ascertained. This was, in fact, the idea of איש כופר נפשו, each person bringing an atonement for himself. When this was not followed, for example, once at the time of Dovid Hamelech, there were tragic consequences.

On Musaf in Parshas Shekalim there are special extra prayers known as יצרות said by Ashkenazi communities. These are said at the end of each brocho of Shemonai Esra. The final paragraph in each case starts as follows.

אור פניך עלינו אדון נסה, ושקל אשא בבית נכון ונשא this is translated as, We beseech You, our Master to once again shine the light of your countenance upon us (that is by bringing Moshiach) and I will then bring a shekel in the third Bais Hamikdosh to be built.

I have seen the question being asked as to why does it not say a half a shekel as we are taught to take in Parshas שקלים. The simple answer is of course that it fits perfectly with the rhyme by saying just the words ושקל אשא, meaning the basic idea of giving shekalim, but that, of course, is a very simple answer. What occurs to me, on a somewhat deeper level, is that, as I mentioned before, namely that the shekel hakodesh was worth double an ordinary shekel and the Torah tells us to take מחצית השקל בשקל הקודש, when one could has easily taken an ordinary shekel של חול, not Kodesh and the effect would have been the same but as mentioned, the Torah wants us to take shekel hakodesh, a holy shekel because money has to be very carefully utilised and very honestly earned it has to be from things which are holy. However, when Moshiach comes and the third Bais Hamikdosh is built, the koach of the yetzer horah will be diminished, if not completely extinguished, and at that time we should be able to contribute a shekel even of חול and bring it in the Bais Hamikdosh without any problems.

I have seen quoted by the Pnei Menachem in the name of Rebbe Bunem of Peshischa that a maggid from Germany suggested that הראה לו הקב''ה מטבע של אש. Hashem showed Moshe Rabbenu a coin of fire, which means that he showed him that one should give money for good causes, Torah, tzedokah v’chesed with his התלהבות with a bren, with warmth.

Many of you will be aware that when giving a צדיק a kvittel one also includes some money as a פדיון, the idea being that the צדיק can then pray to Hashem on behalf of the individual. If asked what he has to do with the matter, he can explain that he has received a benefit from the individual and has become a sort of a partner with him, so to speak.

How much more is this true if one contributes to Torah and Chesed which benefits the whole community the ציבור and this is analogous to giving the מחצית השקל.

In Parshas פקודי, the Torah reckons out all the gold, silver and copper that was utilised from the contributions given by the Bnei Yisroel.

The gold amounted to 29 ככר, and 730 shekalim in shikle hakodesh. The silver was 100 ככר 1,775 shekalim stated by the Torah to be the מחצית השקל which we are speaking about today and those מחצית השקל which were utilised at the time of the Mishkon were used for silver to surround אדנים the sockets in which were placed the wood which surrounded the Miskhan, as I mentioned above. That amounted to100 ככר. The 1,775 remaining shekalim were used for the hooks at the top of the wooden planks. The Torah then tells us that the copper contributed amounted to 70 ככר, 2,400 shekalim.

If you add together the gold and the copper which was given as an unsolicited contribution by whoever fancied giving it, the two together total 100 ככר and 130 shekalim; less than the silver donated, which amounted to 100 ככר and 1,775 shekalim.

I think that there is a fundamental lesson to be learned from this. The small contributions of Klal Yisroel, just a half a shekel each person, added up together to more than all the other contributions given by people who gave spontaneously out of their own pocket whatever they fancied. Remember that the Bnei Yisroel at that time had lots of gold, silver and copper, they had taken the wealth of Egypt with them and they did not have to spend money buying anything, they were provided with manna, מן, with the water from the Be’er shel Miriam and they could give as much as they wanted. Nevertheless, the koach of tzibbur, of the ordinary man, rich, poor or middle class giving half a shekel for all the 603,550 males of 20 years and over, added up in weight to more than the others. The contributions in silver outweighed all the gold and the copper together. Every little bit counts.

The Zohar Hakodesh tells us that one should not count Jews and therefore, the מחצית השקל was utilised when a head count or census was needed. Incidentally, in the same way nowadays, when for example, we wish to count to see if we have a minyan, the custom is that one does not count the people, 1,2, 3 but utilises the posek הושיעה את עמך etc which has 10 words in it and not for nothing is that פסוק utilised, because the translation is “Save Your people” etc.

We are also told by the Zohar elsewhere that gold being of a reddish tint, represents דינים, whereas כסף, silver being of a whitish colour represents חסד. We begin to understand why the מחצית השקל had to be given from silver. Furthermore, this also explains why the אדנים, the sockets, were covered in silver as a sign of chesed and rachamim for כלל ישראל.

Shabbos is the focal day of our week. We all feel different on Shabbos, more uplifted, I would like to share with you an explanation of the first words of the Parshas Shekalim which starts as follows כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל and this can be translated, “When you will lift up the heads of the Jewish People” that is to increase the affinity to the spiritual side of our religion. The Chidushei Harim, the first Gerrer Rebbe, comments as follows:- If you take the word ראש and go to the next letters in the אלף בית (because you are uplifting) that is you are going to the next letter, in consequence, a ר is followed by a ש, an א is followed by a ב and a ש is followed by a ת, and that spells outשבת and he explains, this is an allusion to the fact that שבת uplifts our spiritual dimension and our affinity to our Torah and religion.

We all know that we are living in extraordinary times. There is a credit crunch, there is a new president in America there have been new elections in the State of Israel, there is Hamas and other such movements rearing their ugly heads. The financial position of many of our brethren, especially the orthodox community in the Holy Land, is very difficult indeed. It is the call of the hour for us to redouble our efforts to give צדקה to Torah institutions and individuals and to encourage others to also contribute as well as to ensure that we, ourselves, connect and uplift ourselves with our adherence to our religion by keeping שבת and all the other mitzvos in the correct manner and studying our holy Torah. This will, no doubt, help considerably in bringing the Moshiach quickly, במהרה בימינו אמן.

Read More......