A PESACH STORY WITH A LESSON

There is a kehilla in Bnei Brak founded by the late Rabbi Ungar, known as Chug Chasam Soffer. This was formed after the Second World War, basically, consisting of survivors of the Holocaust, their children and other Jews from Hungary who escaped, especially in 1956, when there was a revolution there.

In 1978, one of the Baale Batim, Reb Yaakov, came to Rabbi Ungar one morning looking very troubled.

“Rebbe, I must speak to you about a dream I have had”.

Reb Yaakov proceeded to tell Rav Ungar the following:-

“I ended up in Auschwitz early in 1944 and was among a group who worked very hard and, therefore, lived rather than being burnt in the ovens. We had to get up at 5.30 in the morning and by 6.30 we were walking ten kilometres to the factory where we worked all day coming back about 6.00 or 7.00 in the evening, knocked out. We were then given our meagre rations for the day, watery soup and a little bread etc.

In the same block occupying the next bunk was a very Holy Jew, Reb Leibl, a בנן של קדושים. A few weeks elapsed and he said to me, “Do you know that Pesach is coming”. I nodded my assent. “Do you know that we have to have matzos on Pesach”. I looked at him in utter surprise. “We must do something about getting some matzos for Pesach”, said R’ Leibl. The very thought of trying to organise matzos for Pesach made me shiver, continued R’ Yaakov.

Nevertheless, everyday, I got this comment and request that I must do something about it.

Whilst I was walking to my work, one day, I noticed that there was some wheat stored in a shed which we passed every day. This gave me the thought that I could possibly obtain some so on the way back one day, I slipped out of line and managed to get a quantity of wheat. I did it once again, and managed to bring it back to our bunk. I then had the problem of how to grind it but with the aid of two stones, very primitively eventually ground the wheat and made flour.

There was still the problem of how to bake the matzos. I took the flour with to the factory I was working in, where there was an oven and eventually located a metal tray which I cleaned and put in the oven and so kashered it. I then mixed the wheat with water and eventually managed to make a few matzos.

You understand, Rebbe, that all this was extremely difficult and dangerous, I was very nervous that I would be caught but, Boruch Hashem, I managed to do this without any of the guards noticing what I was doing. Having managed to make the matzos, and by this time it was almost Pesach. I had to smuggle them back in with me to the barracks. This was much more difficult, because I could not just put things in my pocket as I had the flour, these were whole matzos.

I got to the outside of the concentration camp of Auschwitz and a guard looked me up and down but did not spot that I was clutching three matzos under my thin and torn clothes. I managed to get as far as the entrance to the barracks, at which point another guard did spot the matzos and asked me what they were, when I told him matzos, he gave me a tremendous beating and I went flying, he then stamped on the matzos in bestial anger. After I recovered I noticed that there was still some fragments of matzos lying around and I picked up the broken pieces as fast as possible and made it finally into my bunk.

Unfortunately, all that I had managed to save was enough for one kezias, כזית, I offered it to R’ Leibl, after all it was his idea. He in turn insisted that I had to eat it because I had risked my life time and again until I managed to make the matzos and had even been beaten up on the way back bringing the remains into the block.

Eventually, we compromised, R’ Leibl would eat the matzo on Seder night and I would get the zechus, the merit for the mitzvah.

Came leil Seder and R’ Leibl ate the matzo with great kavonnoh. Of course, you understand that everything had to be done very quietly because there were guards patrolling all the time and that at the slightest hint of anything they would come round and beat up the person, and they could kill the person as well.

We, together, tried to say the haggodah quietly and you can imagine the tears when we started Ho Lachma Anya.

The next morning, at 4.30 or so, R’ Leibl decided he wanted to daven Shacharis before roll call at 5.30 and he started very quietly in order to not attract attention. Unfortunately, when he got to Hallel, he lost himself and started the brocha and by the time he got to the end of the brocha, he said it loud. The guard noticed this, came over and gave him such a beating that a few hours later, he passed away.

I meanwhile, continued the horrible experience of Auschwitz and survived and Boruch Hashem I now have children and grandchildren who go in the Yiddishe way and I am here still to tell the tale.

Last night, I had a dream, I saw R’ Leibl, who came and said to me “I am in a very special place in Gan Eden, but I am short of one mitzvah, the mitzvah of eating that kezias of matzo on the Pesach night before I died, I have not got it because I gave it to you, I am asking you, please give me that zechus, that merit of the mitzvah, that I actually ate the kezias myself.”

I replied, said R’ Yaakov, “A deal is a deal, this is what we agreed”, and he could not persuade me. I went back to sleep and then he came a second time and asked me again.

“Rebbe,” he said to Rav Unger “ what do you say I should do.”

Rabbi Ungar said to him “you know there is a very Holy Rebbe living here in the district, the Alter Machnovker Rebbe, he went through lots of tzorres in Russia until he came out, go and ask him”.

So R’ Yaakov went to the Machnovker Rebbe and told him the whole story. The Rebbe looked at him and said, R’ Leibl is right, that would be the correct thing to do,  , namely to give the zechus, the merit of the mitzvah to R’ Leibl. אס איז יושר.

R’ Yaakov was taken aback. But why Rebbe, he protested, we made a deal. Yes, said the Rebbe, but you are here to tell the tale, you are still making a Seder with your children and grandchildren, you have lots of other mitzvos which you have managed to perform for the last 34 years. It would be very nice of you to give him the zechus of that particular mitzvah. The Rebbe continued, however, you have got to say it, that is tell him that with your full heart you are mochel him the agreement and that you are giving him the zechus of the mitzvah.

R’ Yaakov nodded, and said “alright Rebbe, if you say so I will do so.”

The Rebbe said to him Do the following. Here you have two keys one is of the Bais Hamedrash (which was adjacent to where the Rebbe lived) and one is of the Aron Hakodesh. It is now the middle of the night, I want you to go into the Bais Hamedrash, turn on a light, open the Aron Hakodesh and say that you are mochel R’ Leibl the zechus, you want him to have it in your stead.

With trembling hands R’ Yaakov took the keys, went into the Bais Hamedrash and when he opened the Aron Hakodesh, the floodgates of the all the tzorres that he been through in Auschwitz opened up and he cried torrents of tears. He managed, with a choking voice, to say to Hashem that he wanted R’ Leibl to have the zechus of that particular mitzvah of having eaten the kezias of matzo that night in Auschwitz.

Finally, he closed the Aron Hakodesh, feeling much better. He locked the door of the Bais Hamedrash, the Shammas was standing there. He gave the keys to the Shammas and said, I know the Rebbe wanted to speak to me after I had opened the Aron Hakodesh but I am feeling much too emotional and drained now. I will come and see him the morning.

That night, R’ Yaakov had another dream, R Leibl came to him and said, “Thank you very much, you do not know how much you have done by having given me the zechus of that kezais of matzo”.

The next morning, R Yaakov went back to the Rebbe and told him everything. The Rebbe smiled and said, you did the right thing.

This is a modern day example of mesirus nefesh. One can also appreciate the zechus that every Yid has for every mitzvo done, especially, if this is done under difficult circumstances.

Read More......

START THE DAY THE TORAH WAY 2nd May 2013

As you are well aware, we are in the period between Pesach and Shavuos, and have been busy counting the Omer over the past few weeks, we are now up to 37 days ל''ז and there is less than two weeks to go until the Yom Tov of Shavuos.

At the time of the Bais Hamikdosh, the sefiras ha’omer was to enable us to ensure that fresh produce, wheat should be brought as a special offering. However, in addition, it was a time for introspection and the build up between the time the Yidden were originally taken out of Egypt at the beginning of Pesach until kabbolas Hatorah, the Torah was given seven weeks later.

Nowadays, we concentrate on improving ones middos, the qualities that we all possess.

Our great Rabbis enacted long ago the learning and saying Pirkei Ovos, best translated as the Ethics of our fathers, each Shabbos on the six weeks between Pesach and Shavuos.

We know that there are very important fundamental principles and deep insights mentioned in Pirkei Ovos in the name of numerous famous Rabbis, mainly the Tannoim, mentioned in detail.

We are now up to the fifth perek which talks more about generalities. It starts off with the fact that Hashem created the world with ten maamoros, ten utterances, and then talks about the ten generations between Odom and Noach and the ten miracles that happened in Mitzraim and eventually the ten nissim that took place regularly in the Bais Hamikdosh etc.

Later on in the perek, namely mishnas י, that’s the tenth mishna to ט''ו, 15, there are five mishnas all starting with four middos, four different qualities. In a person, In his ideas as far as pupils being taught, Giving tzedokah, People going to a Beis Hamedrash and generally sitting before learned Rabbis, the Chochomim.

If one looks at all this these mishanyos in depth, one finds time and again, the stress on the latent difference between various middos, various qualities, to the extent that one mishna states  הולך ועושה חסיד that a person who goes to the Beis Hamedrash and learns is a chosid and if somebody does not go and does not do things the way he ought to, he is a rosha.

After we have had a whole month of learning in Pirkei Ovos, going through various sayings of great Tannoim on an individual level, the Pirkei Ovos carries on with general principles pointing out the good and bad of middos. This is obviously in order to give people the incentive to improve their middos having highlighted what is good and what is bad in general terms.

We are all individuals, we all have different qualities, some better than others which we are born with or acquire during our formative years and even later.

The challenge is to try to improve our middos. I believe that, unfortunately,  what people very often do not do, is think about where they have weaknesses in their middos.

Fifty years ago, unfortunately, many, many people spoke loshen hora. The Manchester Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Segal ז''ל started a campaign and this has been very successful in highlighting the problem and so many people are now learning the Chofetz Chaim’s sefer or something based on it, that there is a great awareness and that particular problem has been tackled considerably. However, there are many other weak links in the chain.

After all, there are 613 mitzvos and numerous of them are bein Odom l’chaveroi, interpersonal relationships. Whether these are in connection with monetary matters or sensitivities between man and his fellow man, and for that matter ladies and their fellow ladies or any combination of the above, and alternatively between man and his Creator are all part of the same totality of middos. The idea is that during the sefiras ha’omer, we should examine our own selves in depth and try to work on our middos. We all have weaknesses.

By the way, it is no excuse to say “everybody does it”, I still recall, when I was a bochur in yeshiva that somebody else was speaking in a derogatory manner about gedolei Yisroel and when I mildly pointed out that to me it seemed wrong to say such things being loshon hora, rechilas or motzei shemra or possibly all of them, the retort was “Oh everybody does that nowadays”.

It really is not an excuse!!

Some people think that by looking at mussar seforim or articles in our Jewish press this can lead to great improvement. Yes it is possible!! The best way of doing so is to inspect oneself or alternatively ask a good friend, an honest friend, a true friend, to give, in a positive way, an opinion of where a particular person’s weaknesses lie. It is those particular weaknesses that need to be addressed. It is the totality of a person that needs to be brought up to standard.

I mentioned the Chofetz Chaim before, and, of course, his classic sefer on shemiras haloshen helped hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of our brethren to improve themselves and continues to do so. The Chofetz Chaim, himself, was not only a great scholar and educator, he understood human psychology. I was told by one of his grandchildren, who I had the privilege to receive in my house years ago, that the Chofetz Chaim authored numerous seforim but only ones which he felt that the need for them was important and where there was a gap that needed to be filled. For example, he wrote a sefer specifically for Jewish soldiers in the Russian army and all the problems they had, what they could do and regarding which matters they had to absolutely stand firm and not give in. There were many other seforim of a similar nature written by him.

I believe a story that I heard regarding the Chofetz Chaim sums up what I am trying to emphasise today.

When the Chofetz Chaim was elderly, over 85 years of age, he came to Vilna unannounced and called for the Rosh Hakohol, the Jewish president of Vilna, who, of course, immediately came to see the Chofetz Chaim. The Chofetz Chaim told him, I want to make a major speech, a drosha, in the biggest Shul in the whole of Vilna tomorrow night. The president nodded. “But, however,” said the Chofetz Chaim, “I actually want to make two droshos, one night after the other,” The president was taken aback.

The Chofetz Chaim continued, I would like you to arrange that the first night, the only people allowed in are the baalabatim, that is the people who work for their living and do no study full time or act as Rabbis, Roshei Yeshiva, etc. You, as the president, will know everybody and will know who to let in. The next night, I want to reverse the situation, you only let in the Rabbis, the Roshei Yeshiva, the people learning in Yeshiva or Kollel, the melamdim, the Jewish teachers but not the baalabatim.

The Rosh Hakohol went about organising matters and the next evening, he stood at the door of the biggest Shul and carefully ensured that the only people allowed in were the baalabatim, the ordinary lay people. If a Rov or a Rosh yeshiva, or for that matter anybody sitting and learning full time (or most of the time) tried to gain admission, he firmly stopped him. “This is not for you” he said. “I have had instructions by the Chofetz Chaim himself” Finally, he closed the doors and went in to the listen with everybody else.

The Chofetz Chaim spoke for a full hour, even though he was old and weak. He extolled the fact that the baalabatim of Vilna were very good Jews, who kept Yiddishkeit and tried their best. “However,” he continued, “you all work very hard and find it difficult to make parnoso as I am aware, but you must really try and set aside sometime every day, preferably in the morning and in the evening, to learn some Torah. If you can’t learn something difficult like Gemora or Mishnayos, learn Ein Yaakov. Learn Kitzer Shulchan Oruch, learn Chumash Rashi. Learns something, please. Every Jew must learn some Torah to be connected with Torah.”

And then he turned to Tefilla. He said to them “I am sure that you all daven, but does everybody go to daven with a minyan everyday, I know it is difficult especially for Mincha in the middle of the day, but you must realise how great the mitzvah is davenning with a minyan. Not only that, one has to think about what one is davenning and not have the mind preoccupied with business or other matters, and of course, not to speak or interrupt in the middle of davening.” Then he proceeded to tzedokah. “I know that many of you have difficulties in parnoso, but nevertheless, there always is somebody worse off and it is a mitzvah to help other people, giving something to tzedokoh.”

By the time the Chofetz Chaim was finished his drosha an hour later, he was very tired.

The next night, the Rabbonim, the Roshei Yeshiva, yeshiva bochurim, people who learnt in the Kollel as well the melamdim, all crowded in to listen to the Chofetz Chaim, once again the president stood at the door and did not let in any baalabatim, any laymen at all.

However, when he closed the doors, he, himself, being curious as to what the Chofetz Chaim would say, went inside rather than staying outside. He heard a different type of drosha. The Chofetz Chaim started off by praising all these marvellous people who dedicated themselves to learning and disseminating Torah, day and night and mentioned that Vilna was known as the Yerushalayim de Lita, just like Yerushalayim of old, where there were so many Talmidei Chochomim as well as erliche baalabatim.

But the Chofetz Chaim continued, you have also to consider other matters, is there possibly, an almona or yesomim, a widow or orphans living near you, who perhaps have not got what to eat or need some spiritual uplift by being invited for a Shabbos meal etc. Don’t think that because you are learning all day that you have no responsibility when it comes to other mitzvos, maasim tovim, doing good deeds.” And he went on by enumerating various ways that Talmidei Chochomim could help other people, including, of course, learning with laymen who perhaps were comparatively speaking amei Ha’eretz (that means ignoramuses) when it came to learning.

And so the Chofetz Chaim continued with this theme until an hour later, completely exhausted, he finished his drosha.

The president, accompanied the Chofetz Chaim home and then asked the Chofetz Chaim the following “Rebbe, I must confess my sin. Although I heard your drosha the first night, when it came to shutting the doors the second night, I slipped inside the Shul. I see how tired you are, how you are physically and mentally exhausted, why could you not have given one big drosha, one night, for say and hour and a quarter and have mentioned all the points, that you went through during the two different droshas.”

The Chofetz Chaim replied with a smile, “You do not, perhaps, understand human psychology, if I would have done what you suggested, and would have talked about learning, namely, that one has to learn Torah whoever one is, every Jew has the mitzvah, what would have happened is that laymen, the ignorant baalabatim, who work very hard would have said, he does not mean me, he is talking about the Talmidei Chochomim, the people who sit and learn 8 and 10 hours a day. The Talmidei Chochomim would have thought, yes, of course, the Chofetz Chaim is right and they would learn an extra hour or two because of it.”

The same would have happened regarding Tefilla, the klei kodesh would have taken longer over their davenning and tried to increase their kavannah and the baalabatim would think to themselves, it is not for us.

“Conversely, when I made mention of not forgetting the almonos and the yesomim, and looking after such people, the Talmidei Chochomim reaction would have been, he is not talking about us, we learn all day long, we will leave it to the baalabatim.”

“So,” continued the Chofetz Chaim, “the net result would have been that the Rabbis would have learned more whereas the baalabatim would have concentrated on chesed, but I wanted them to understand that each one of them has to be well rounded.”

I think this sums up the point that I am trying to make.

On a practical level, every generation has its own nisyonos, its own tests. In our generation, one of them is the mobile phone. I believe that approximately 90% of the population has at least one such instrument and uses it frequently. However, some people unfortunately, overuse it. It is, of course, vital in special circumstances and very often useful in other circumstances.

However, I believe that it is very often overused to the extent that some people cannot turn it off but must have it open at all times, except, of course, for Shabbos and Yom Tov.

We all know that there are emergencies where a mobile phone is a great asset and can be very instrumental in saving lives etc.

I have, however, found, unfortunately too often, when trying to daven that somebody’s mobile goes off in the middle of davening which not only disturbs the whole atmosphere but is also against the whole culture of davenning and becoming close to Hashem.

I have even, on odd occasions, to my amazement noticed people taking out a mobile whilst davening Shemoneh Esrah. When I remonstrated with a particular individual regarding this, he was taken aback, he genuinely did not remember that he had done so, because it had become such an ingrained habit to forever look at whatever message buzzed, even on vibrator.

On a more mundane note, when people are talking together and the mobile rings it often takes precedence over conversations being held face to face and I wonder whether that is correct.

The only time that I can say that I wish that myself and my wife had a mobile each is when we are at a Simcha and try to contact one another to arrange when to go home.

It certainly has good uses. It just needs training and thought about how to utilise it in the best possible way without it taking over a person’s life and, on occasion, actually transgressing a halocho.

Similar remarks could be made about other modern inventions, but I leave it everybody to reflect on what I am saying in their own specific circumstances.

Looking at the sedra we have just read, Emor, one of the parshas starts off

וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת מיום הביאכם את עמר התנופה שבע שבתןת תמימת תהיימה

You should count from after Shabbos (meaning after the first day Pesach) seven complete weeks.

I have asked numerous people how you spell the word temimos, is it spelt תמימות in Torah or תמימת and most people have plumped for the full word, תמימות and even added that it should be מלא, complete, full, because in fact it is not just 49 days, we are talking about 50 days, if anything over full.

Surprisingly enough, the word is spelt in Torah without the ו, it is spelt תמימת. If you look carefully at this word, you will see that it is a palindrome, it spells the same backwards and forwards. I believe that the remez here is that one should improve ones middos so that they are the same backwards and forwards.

To give you a practical example, if one considers a diamond which has been taken out of the earth, it has to cut and cut again until it forms a perfect shape. If you look at the perfectly cut diamond, every angle that you look at, shines beautifully and that is what תמימת is about, one has to improve ones middos so that they should shine whichever side you look at the personality of each individual.

I would only add that I, like most people, am still working very hard on this, it is not an easy job, but Rabbi Tarphon says in Pirkei Ovos

לא עליך המלאכה לגמור ולא אתנבן חויין להבטל ממנה

A person is not expected to be able to complete his works, but because of that is not allowed to say, I won’t try at all. Let’s all try our best.

Read More......

START THE DAY THE TORAH WAY 23rd August 2013

This week’s sedra, Parshas כו תבוא, commences with the mitzvah of ביכורים, namely at the time there was a Bais Hamikdosh, the farmers were to bring from their first fruits growing each season, offerings to the Bais Hamikdosh. This is, in fact, only in respect of the seven special fruits mentioned earlier in Devorim including, wheat, barley, figs, grapes, pomegranates, olives and dates. A whole ceremony took place at the Bais Hamikdosh and the person concerned, made a lengthy statement as is enumerated in the first parsha of the sedra.

The Torah then proceeds to laws concerning תרומה and מעשרות, tithes that had to be given each year. When the crops were harvested, the Kohen had to be given his part, the תרומה which could, in fact, consist of just one kernel of wheat. However, the Rabbonim instituted a larger amount, 1/50th being the normal share. A generous person would give 1/40th and a less generous person 1/60th of the total crop. It basically was, therefore, 2% of the crop or thereabouts.

The Levi then received 10% of what was left, in other words 9.8% of the originally crop.

A further 9% was also set aside. This is called מעשר, a 1/10th, because it is 10% of the 90% left after giving the Kohen and the Levi their portions.

It depended on which year of the seven year cycle called shmittah as to what precisely happened. In the shmittah year, all the tithes were suspended, the produce of the fields became הפקר, this meant that the Levi’im and poor people, and for that matter anybody else, were able to take as much as they liked of the crops growing.

In the 1st and 2nd year of the cycle and again on the 4th and 5th year, the second מעשר called מעשר שני had to be brought to Yerushalayim and eaten there, whereas on the 3rd year and the 6th year of the cycle the second 9% had to be given to poor people. This was known asעני  מעשר . The Torah then continues with the rule that if one has not given the מעשרות  to the Levi and had not taken the מעשר שני to Yerushalayim during the first two years, he was given until the end of the third year, in fact up to Pesach on the 4th year and again up to Pesach on the year of Shemittah, to rectify matters. At the time he made a special declaration to the effect that he had given מעשר שני andעני  מעשר , and had kept all the mitzvas to do with the תרומה and מעשרות in a correct and exemplary fashion.

The Torah then finishes the Parsha with a request by the person concerned (the verse before shlishi) השקיפה ממעון קדשך מן השמים וברך את עמך את ישראל . Rashi comments (in Bereishis talking about the angels looking over Sedom before the desolation that was to be wreaked on it, וישקיפו). Rashi states that whenever that expression השקפה is used it always refers to a bad happening except in the case of giving מעשר עני, money to poor people גדול מתנות עניים שהופך מידת הרוגז לרחמים to give gifts to poor people is so great that it converts anger to mercy. By giving the Levi, the Ger, the orphan, the widow, all the poor people their portions, we are in a position to ask Hashem to bless Bnei Yisroel and the Land of Eretz Yisroel in order that it should flow with milk and honey.

That was the position with regard to the times of the Bais Hamikdosh. How about nowadays, do we have to give 10%, מעשר עני, or not? Does this only apply to somebody who has agricultural fields on which crops grow? Please remember that at the time of the Bais Hamikdosh, as far as the Torah was concerned, the three crops from which מעשר had to be given were five types of dogon, wheat, barley etc. wine and oil. But the Rabbonim instituted giving all foods that grew from the ground. Where do we stand nowadays?

There is a mitzvah to give what is called מעשר כספים, a tenth of monies earned or received each year. There are, however, differences of opinion as to whether this is Min HaTorah based on having on having to give מעשר עני in Eretz Yisroel at the time of the Bais Hamikdosh. This is Tosefos’ position.

However, a number of other authorities only consider this as a Rabbinic obligation, מדרבן.

There are numerous other authorities, פוסקים, who say that giving maaser kesofin is not related to the mitzvah of taking from one’s produce. It is a quantification of the obligation to give tzedokoh.

For example, the Rambam says that 10% is the average amount of tzedokoh to give. Giving less is not proper and giving more is very praiseworthy. There is also a maamar chazal המבזבז על יבזבז יותר מחומש, somebody giving considerably should not exceed 20%. There are even those who say that it is only a custom to given 10% but most of the poskim do not agree with this.

In any event, it has certainly become an established rule nowadays that one does given 10% not only from net earnings but also capital gains in any one year.

For further detailed examination of this, I would refer you to an article in last week’s Jewish Tribune by Rabbi Pfeffer on page 23.

The reason for us giving the first 10% to the Kohanim and the Levi’im was that they were the spiritual leaders of Klal Yisroel. Whereas the Kohanim in their service in the Bais Hamikdosh had the privilege of eating from the korbonos, the sacrifices as well as the lechem haponim throughout the year, the Levi’im lived in 48 cities scattered through the country and they would the teachers of Torah and spiritual leaders in their particular district. Therefore, basically half of what was set aside each year went to them. A further מעשר in fact 9% of the original crops then went to either being eaten in Yerushalayim by the farmer or members of his family but in years 3 and 6, the money was specifically set aside for looking after poor people.

It is relevant to point out that at the time of the Bais Hamikdosh, 10% of the value of each crop went to Kohanim and Levi’im and that on a seven year cycle, one year all the terumas and maasros were suspended. As far as the other years were concerned, for four out of six the law of מעשר שני applied which meant that the person or a member of his family, going to Yerushalayim eating the produce or equivalent spending money there.  It is only on 3rd and 6th years that the money was given to specifically poor people, which is a very small proportion in total value over the whole shmittah period, something like 15% of the total allocated terumus maasar rishon, מעשר שני and מעשר עני. Nevertheless, the Torah tells us that special request that Hashem should look favourably upon us and the explanation which Rashi brings, which I mentioned right at the beginning is specifically giving מתנות עניים, gifts to poor people.

I think that this reinforces the idea that whereas one has to look after the spiritual leaders and one’s own spiritual growth, it is the giving away of hard earned money to poor people, that is looked upon by Hashem with such favour.

Let us just try to understand why giving these tithes to support Torah and Talmidei Chochomim and the needy and poor is so important. We know that HaKodesh Boruch Hu created the world we live in and that one of the purposes is be להטיב לברואיו “good to his creations” . We also are aware that Chazal tell us היסתכל באורייתא וברא עלמא, G-d looked into Torah and created the world. Therefore, Hashem is more than happy when his creations learn Torah and learn from Torah how to behave by keeping the mitzvas and benefit from one another by learning Torah and teaching Torah. They also benefit one another by helping one another, especially poor people and they understand that Hashem has given them the money, the food etc. in order to be able to distribute some further. By passing this on, to people who are poor and deserving, we are emulating Hashem.

By the act of giving the various tithes, we cause a chain effect which is spreads upwards to all the worlds, not only the world that we live in but right the way up to the highest levels. By doing this, it triggers Hashem, therefore, granting more bounty, more food, more good things coming down from the high level to ourselves and note that the request by the person making the declaration was  השקיפה ממעון קדשך, מעון  is referred to in the Gemora Chagiga 13b, as being among the seven heavens, in fact the third going down or fifth going up, whichever way you look at it. This idea is enumerated in detail in what is called the תקוני זהר. Furthermore the תקוני זהר tells us that the same is with Torah, not just the learning of Torah but teaching others and passing on Torah has the same effect, in a spiritual way, as I just mentioned above.

Now we all understand that Torah has lots of different levels and to aspire to reach what is called Torah Lishmo, Torah for its own sake and Torah L’Amito, Torah with absolute truth is very difficult but one has to try ones best, everybody according to their own level.

However, in respect of helping other less fortunate people, מתנת עניים, the main thing is the actual giving, and therefore, even the comparatively ignorant farmer could request Hashem to look benevolently on us

The same applies nowadays in that people who are fortunate enough to have parnoso and give tzedoko or help in other ways with Chesed one to the other, can have a very beneficial effect without having to go into the details of kavono, the reasons for it.

It is interesting to note that the sefer HaChinuch in his explanation of the mitzvah of מעשר שני states that by at least one member of each family coming to Yerushalayim with the produce and spending in Yerushalayim, as the Torah says, this has a spiritual effect on the person concerned because he sees the holiness of the Bais Hamikdosh, of the people who live in Yerushalayim, he will then, himself, wish to emulate them and in due course when he returns home, will pass on this to the rest of his family, friends and neighbours and, therefore, it will have a very beneficial effect.

When we are coming towards to Rosh Hashonah, and we are in Elul, each of us looks for extra merits, zechusim, and we can do no better than learn from this sedra these major lessons of how we should behave towards our fellow beings which will, in turn, bring brochos for all the Bnei Yisroel in addition to trying to uplift our spiritual level.

The word מעשר comes from the word עשר, meaning ten. And מעשר therefore means that one is taking a tenth. I find it interesting that in case of מעשר שני and מעשר עני, even though technically one is only taking 9% of the original crop it is still referred to as מעשר , 1/10th. We find that Hashem created the world with ten utterances, עשרה מאמרות. The לוחות had on then עשרת הדיברות, ten commandments. The mekobolim go further and state that when Hashem created the world from the very highest levels down to our level there are what is known as ten ספירות.

May I suggest that we are enjoined to give 1/10th being a complete attachment to one of the ten mentioned above on the basis that then means that we are on the correct bandwagon and this triggers a favourable response by Hashem even if He would otherwise look on us in an unfavourable way השקיפה.

May we all have a כתיבה וחתימה טובה and as the Yerushalmis say the word גפן refers to gizint, parnoso and nachas.

Read More......

START THE DAY THE TORAH WAY 24th November 2013

I suffered from back pains which have increased over the past two years and despite having check-ups with hospitals, MRI scans etc, nothing seemed to help. I was informed by a leading physician that I had nothing life threatening to worry about, but nevertheless, I was disturbed every night when sleeping, as I was woken up by pains that literally woke me up in the middle of the night.

A few months ago, having been recommended by my doctor, I had a course of treatment by an alternative practitioner (his name is Andre Moncreif-Ressouw Telephone 07448 425125).

After a few months treatment, which consisted, in the main, of pressing on the nerves all over by body, we finally stumbled on the answer. He stated early on that he felt that what was causing the problem was that the thoracic system, which is in the chest and controls that part and towards the back, was blocked. Ducts which should have drained away were not being drained away. He worked on this and was convinced that he was getting there, but, nevertheless, I kept on telling him that it was not clearing at night but during the day I felt better.

I have always requested him, when I lie down on his couch, that the head rest should be raised and that my head should not be lying flat, and he complied.

Very recently, it dawned on him that he ought to ask how I lay down at night. When I confirmed that I used two cushions, he suggested that this might be causing the problem in that I was pressing my chest between my head and my tummy and this was stopping the draining action which was necessary. I, therefore, stopped using one of the cushions and almost, by magic over the past few weeks, I have virtually no pain at night and certainly do not get woken up by it. I am, of course, grateful to Hashem for having sent Andre to me and for him to having done this, as well as having improved my general well being. (The reason why I used two cushions was that I found that my head would go round at night on occasion and it helped if my head was that much higher up than the rest of my body.)

He has discussed with me the interplay between nerves which are situated, for example, in the foot, nevertheless have a direct effect on the head. When twisting one of my toes, he told me that this would help the balance in my ear to be improved.

By working on those nerves and various others situated much nearer my head, he managed to reduce the giddiness and the sensation of my head going round. He explained to me that the nerve which then sends the message from the toe to the ear was one of the fastest in the body and, furthermore, mentioned that the reason why it was situated in the toe was that if a person is walking and the ground is uneven, he is therefore likely to go off balance suddenly and this needs to be corrected. The correction takes place in the ear where the balance of a person is situated. Therefore, there has to be a very quick response from the foot to the ear.

Likewise he mentioned other such pressure points which have an effect, not only in their vicinity but sometimes in a completely different part of the body. Having learnt much about biology through his ministrations and discussions with him, I got thinking about how Hashem created Odom Harishon and matters flowed from there.

We know that Hashem created Odom Harishon with 248 limbs and 365 sinews. There are also 248 positive commandments מצות עשה and also 365 negative commandments לא תעשה.

Furthermore, we are told that every limb has an affinity with a particular positive mitzvah and every sinew with a negative mitzvah.

With this, we can perhaps begin to understand why there are certain mitzvos which are known as prime mitzvos for example, Shabbos, Kashrus, Teharos Hamishpocho, etc. These are comparable to the parts of the body which if not functioning can bring instant death, for example, the brain, the heart, the lungs, the backbone, the liver etc. In the same light, learning Torah appears to be directly connected to the neshomo of every Yid, the חלק אלקי ממעל.

We know that certain mitzvos cannot be performed by everybody, for example, there are mitzvos of the Kohanim, the Levi’im, Dayanim and Yisroelim which are exclusively in their own domains. At the time that there was a Bais Hamikdosh, all the Kohanim there performing the עבודה, the service carried out each day there. There were also the Levi’im who assisted, opened gates, singing songs etc. There were even Yidden who were in attendance. There was also the great Sanhedrin which sat in proximity to the Bais Hamikdosh as the final Bais Din in the Land. Furthermore, three times a year, every male had to attend and once in seven years at the time of Hakhel everybody had to attend the Bais Hamikdosh including the small children. Therefore, all Klal Yisroel had an uplift which centred on the Bais Hamikdosh but spread outwards.

In the same way, the bodies of all the B’nai Yisroel received direct or indirect affinity with the mitzvos by this. Let us take an example of a negative mitzvah at the time of the Bais Hamikdosh. We are told לא תטע לך אשרה כל עץ אצל מזבח ה' אלקיך אשר תעשה לך, you may not plant a tree as idol worship next to the altar of Hashem which you make for yourselves.

The very fact that at the Bais Hamikdosh the Kohanim were assisted by the Levi’im and possibly by the Sanhedrin ensured that nobody planted any trees near the mizbeach. This was a mitzvah which concerned every Jew wherever he was, but was physically dealt with there, by the experts on the spot.

How do we deal with the mitzvos which concern particular sections of Klal Yisroel nowadays, I believe that there are two ways. Firstly, our חז''ל instituted בתי כנסיות and בתי מדרשות. Houses of Congregation, namely Shuls, and Houses of Learning. These are known as בתי מקדש מעט, smaller versions of the Bais Hamikdosh. Of course, they are not of the standard of holiness and do not have the mitzvos performed in the Bais Hamikdosh but, nevertheless, people attending a Shul or a Bais Hamedrash, a Yeshiva or a Seminary, or for that matter a cheder or a girls’ school, by joining in the tefillos and/or learning about mitzvos tap into the same sources of Kedusha as those that emanated from the Bais Hamikdosh.

We are told by our חז''ל that Avrohom Avinu was shown future generations and he was told that there would be a Bais Hamikdosh. He was pleased to see that there would, therefore, be a place where his descendents would be able to be elevated in holiness and also receive atonement for any sins. He was then shown the Bais Hamikdosh being destroyed and was upset, but Hashem told him ונשלמה פרים שפתינו, by davening with kavonnah one can also achieve the same purposes.

We are also told כל העוסק במצות עולה כאלו היקריב עולה, somebody who busies himself with learning about the mitzvah of bringing a sacrifice known as an Olah, one which was completely burnt on the mizbeach, is equivalent to somebody actually bringing the sacrifice at the time of the Bais Hamikdosh and the same goes for other mitzvos.

Coming back to the connection that I made earlier on with Odom Harishon having 248 limbs which are connected with the 248 positive mitzvos and the 365 sinews connected to the 365 negative mitzvos, we are enabled to have our bodies spiritually uplifted and spiritually connected with Hashem. Not only by keeping the actual mitzvos that we are able to perform nowadays but also by davening and learning, we can also have a connection with the ones that unfortunately we are not able to perform because there is no Bais Hamikdosh or alternatively, the ones which belong to specialised situations.

Let us take another example, this time of a specialised situation. The Torah tells us כי תבנה בית חדש ועשית מעקה לגגך, if you build a new house, you need to put a fence around the roof. What happens if somebody never built himself a house or has a house with a sloping roof and no flat roof at all etc.. By learning about the mitzvah one achieves an affinity with the mitzvah as well.

Sometimes the Torah itself gives us a clue as to cause and effect. We are told ולא תקח שוחד כי השוחד יעור עיני חכמים, one may not take bribery because this will cloud the judgement of wise people etc. I have read stories of such happenings where the person taking bribes became blind which is really the literal translation of יעור עיני חכמים. By taking a bribe and “turning a blind eye” this can actually lead to physical blindness.

Maybe we could take a further example from the third Parsha of Shema, ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם למען תזכרו  etc. You should not explore after your heart (for forbidden pleasures) or after your eyes (for impermissible images) in order than one should remember to keep a spiritual balance and, therefore, keep all the mitzvos and be Holy Jews. One can see nowadays, the interplay between degenerate images which can found very easily on the internet etc. and which has the exact opposite effect of us keeping mitzvos and being Holy.

I mentioned earlier on that there were prime mitzvos which I thought were comparable to parts of the body which are impossible to keep alive without. I started off with Shabbos as the mitzvah and the brain as an example of a very important part of the body. I think that one can take this a little further, that, in fact, the Shabbos is comparable to the head, and the brain in particular. Shabbos is the most important part, the Head of the week. As far as Shabbos is concerned, it has two mitzvos, זכור את יום השבת and also שמור. These practically are the mitzvos asei, the positive command to Remember Shabbos and the negative to Guard against not performing one of the 39 מלאכות, the works which one may not carry out on Shabbos. I believe that one can compare this with the brain which produces positive things for a person to do and also controls the negative side.

There are, of course, certain mitzvos that we do not understand and they are called חוקים, statutes, for example, shaatnes, namely, that one may not wear wool and linen together. May I suggest that similarly, there are organs in the body which we do not understand the function of, for example, the appendix.

To sum up, the more we personally can perform the mitzvos which are available to us nowadays, as well as davenning and learning about them, and supporting people who are studying and davenning with kavonnah, the more we will be spiritually at one with all the mitzvos of Torah, all the 613 mitzvos and, therefore, have a strong and growing affinity with Hashem.

Somebody who is not capable of learning can create a partnership similar to that the two tribes יששכר and זבולון participated in. Namely, that זבולון was the merchant who earned money and contracted to keep יששכר who sat and learned Torah. That is a very high level of affinity and there are examples of people, even nowadays who do so.

We must never forget the כח דרבים, a minyan who can recite numerous דברים שבקדושה, for example leyning a Sefer Torah and the shechinah dwells among them. Therefore, davenning with a minyan is very important

Many of the 613 mitzvos are בין אדם לחבירו, mitzvos between one person and another. They are directly connected with מידות טובות, good qualities that every person is supposed to work on. Let us just quote a few:-

The Torah states ואהבת לרעך כמוך, love a fellow Jew as you love yourself. Not only רעך a fellow Jew who keeps mitzvos but also ואהבתם את הגר

The Torah also commands us, לא תעשק שכיר עני ואביון מאחיך או מגרך אשר בארצך בשעריך. In short, if somebody hires a worker whether he is Jewish or a Ger, and he has to pay him that day, the Torah quite clearly states that this is a mitzvah asei, namely that you have to pay him before sundown for work that is carried out the previous night or pay him before the next sunrise for work which was carried out during the day.

I recall a story, I believe, regarding Rav Eliashiv who was unfortunately on the way to a leviya for one of his close relatives, I don’t remember whether  his wife or his daughter, and he stopped on the way looked for money and gave it to somebody with instructions to pay a worker. Even in such circumstances, when one would understand it if the money was not paid by the due time, he was careful to do so.

There are, of course, numerous other positive mitzvos which are connected with middos tovos.

Among the negative mitzvos we are enjoined not to transgress, we find לא תגזול and  לא תגנוב

The difference between them is that גזל means robbing somebody in public and people can see and know about it, whereas לא תגנוב means that this is carried out in private without anybody knowing.

In addition to these two mitzvos which are general rules, the Torah goes into detail on occasion, for example, לא יהיה לך בכיסך אבן ואבן גדולה וקטנה לא יהיה לך בכיסך אפיה ואיפה גדולה וקטנה אבן שלמה וצדק יהיה לך איפה שלמה וצדק יהיה לך. The Torah tells us that one may not have weights and measures which are deliberately faulty, they must be 100% accurate. The Torah carries on, interestingly למען יארכו ימיך in order that your days should be lengthened. We see that here, the Torah actually gives a special brocho to people who keep this mitzvah properly.

The Chofetz Chaim when he lived in Radin was busy with Torah and mitzvos but his wife had a small grocery shop open, so that they should have some parnoso. There was another Yid in the small townlet of Radin who had a similar shop but as people got to know of the צדקות, the righteousness, of the Chofetz Chaim, they started buying more and more from his wife rather than the other shop keeper. The Chofetz Chaim decided that this was not acceptable and his wife only kept the shop open for half a day each day. This still did not help very much and the Chofetz Chaim was worried about the loss and aggravation he might have caused another Yid. In addition, the Chofetz Chaim was very worried about weights and measures. He always insisted that their scales should be checked very often and that, if anything, extra should be given rather than the exact weight.

Finally, after some years, by which time he was publishing his own seforim and selling them himself and, therefore, had a certain amount of income from this other source, he decided that his shop, run loyally by his wife, should close down. Even them, once he decided to close it, he had a well dug in the town which everybody was entitled to use free of charge. This was just in case he had, by accident, overcharged or given underweight unknowingly.

We know that the Chofetz Chaim lived to a very ripe old age, in his 90’s למען יארכו ימיך.

I am also reminded of a story that happened to me many, many years ago, where I had a client who was considering whether to use a tax scheme which was then very popular. This would have saved him a considerable amount of money. Eventually, he came back to me and said that he would not go ahead with the scheme because “he wanted to sleep peacefully at night”. By ensuring that one has the right scales being used, people can achieve lengthier lives because they can sleep peacefully at night.

We are all aware of how the Chofetz Chaim publicised and emphasised the strictures against loshen hora and rechilus, which, of course, are written in Torah. These include לא תלך רכיל בעמך and also there is a mitzvah of מדבר שקר תרחק, to actually distance oneself from any untruths. This is the only time in the Torah that there is a mitzvah where the Torah, itself, enjoins us to distance ourselves from something wrong תרחק!!

We all know how difficult these mitzvos are to keep, how nasty situations are created by idle gossip and statements made which often are half truths.

Performing the above mitzvos, even when it is difficult, enables us to improve and perfect our middos.

The sedras we have been reading over the past few weeks have basically all been about Yaakov Avinu and his children. Yaakov is known as the בחיר האבות, the chosen one, the special one of the Avos. We are further told that whereas Avrohom served Hashem with chesed, kindness, Yitzchok with gevura, stressing the fear of Hashem, Yaakov Avinu employed a mixture of the two and therefore, came to שלימות, a complete oneness with Hashem. חז''ל tell usהראשון    שופרה של יעקב מאין שופרה של אדם the beauty, meaning the spiritual level of Yaakov Avinu reached that of Odom Harishon, before he ate from the etz hadaas.

We can also understand a further מאמר חז''ל, a saying of our chochomim, namely that the Avos kept the Torah before it was ever given. They had achieved such a level of oneness with Hashem that all their 248 limbs and all their 365 sinews did what Hashem wanted them to do, namely, His will, even before the individual mitzvos were given to us at Har Sinai. They elevated their whole physical being to a very high level.

We might be forgiven for thinking to ourselves, how can we, individually, reach such a high level. We are approaching Chanukah and we all know the miracle that took place with the menorah, the oil that should have only lasted one day, or maybe less, lasted for eight days. This was because the B’nei Yisroel at the time showed such a מסירת נפש such extraordinary bravery and dedication to do what Hashem wanted and not turn aside from the ways of Torah and because of that they merited supernatural help.

We, ourselves, can also achieve much more than we think if we dedicate ourselves to keep the mitzvos available to us nowadays, properly. To learn Torah, support Torah daven with kavonnah and, of course, improve our middos.

All this will help to tone our bodies up and B’Ezras Hashem, keep us healthy, physically as well as spiritually.

Read More......