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LESSONS IN HASHKAFA & HALACHA FROM THE PARSHA In memory of R’ Shmuel Shmelka ben HaRav Moshe Kizelnik z”l
A group of men came to Moshe complaining that they felt left out because they weren't able to bring
the korban Pesach asking with the rest of klal Yisroel because they were tamei and in order to be part of the
korban Pesach, one had to be ritually pure. The gemara tells us that the reason they were unable to purify
themselves before the fourteenth of Nisan was because they were busy transporting the remains of Yosef,
through the desert. From a cursory reading of the pesukim it seems that they complained about losing out
on the mitzvah. If this is the case, then when they complained, ‘lama ni’gara’ (why should we be less), they
meant why should they lose the mitzvah. Yet the medrash tells a different version of their complaint: They
felt excluded from the rest of the nation. This would seem to indicate that they were more concerned about
their overall status as perceived by others than about the actual mitzvah. This is quite difficult, especially
since we are talking about the people who carried Yosef’s coffin, something that Moshe Rabeinu is praised
for having done as they left Mitzrayim the year before.
Dayan Y. Y. Fisher suggests the following approach: When Avraham Avinu expressed concern over
what merits his children would have when they would no longer be able to offer korbanos, Hashem told him
that learning their parhsios and halachos is sufficient. This applies not only to korbanos, but to all mitzvos as
well. There are some mitzvos that for a myriad of reasons, we cannot do, but learning about them connects
us to the essence of that mitzvah. This group knew this and they understood that since they were
preoccupied with the bones of Yosef, they would have to relegate themselves on connecting with korban
Pesach via the Talmud Torah connected with it. Their complaint however was that they felt excluded from
the rest of their brethren. Perhaps they understood, as the Maharal explains, that korban Pesach
represents a unified Jewish people and their inability to participate excluded them from being part of the
nation. This was something that could not be achieve by studying its laws alone. The importance of being
connected to the rest of the Jewish people was so vital to them, that they saw themselves as lacking, for
this reason alone. This is an incredible statement. The loss of the mitzvah didn’t bother them, and although
they understood that their Torah study made up for part of it, it wasn’t quite the same. What bothered them?
Exclusion from the community.
There’s a tremendous lesson here: Very often, we focus on our own growth; the Torah we learn, the
mitzvos we do, and the tefilos we daven. These are important, no doubt. Yet there’s something even greater
about connecting the rest of k’lal Yisroel, even in a small way. We should bear the lesson of Pesach sheni in
mind and find a way to have a small part in something very big. The zechus of being part of a tzibur cannot
be underestimated.
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Once again, there is a discrepancy
between the parsha read in Eretz
Yisroel and the one read in the rest
of the world. This is due to the fact
that the eighth day of Pesach (for
bnei chutz la’aretz) is an “ordinary”
Shabbos in Eretz Yisroel. Unlike last
year however, this will continue
until parshas Maasei, just before
Tisha b’Av. This is largely due to
the order of the haftarah’s read
during the three weeks. Until that
time, we will be publishing two
separate editions, every week. There
may be variances between the Eretz
Yisroel edition and the Chutz
La’aretz edition, so please read the
right one. (For example, the haftarah
of Acharei Mos in chutz la’aretz and
of Kedoshim in Eretz Yisroel is
Machar Chodesh….)
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Torah! Much thanks to all those
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After the 70 zekeinim finished , Eldad and
Meidad continued prophesying and in an attempt to
defend his Moshe’s honor, Yehoshua suggested their
imprisonment. Chazal tell us that in doing so,
Yehoshua violated the prohibition of issuing a
halachic ruling in the presence of his rebbe. The
gemara tells us that even ruling in matters as simple
as the pareve status of an egg is included in this
prohibition. Accordingly, what should one do if he is
asked by a recent ba’al teshuva what beracha to
make on a cup of cola, for example, while your rebbe
is in the room? At what point can one pasken for
himself without asking about every little detail?
Many rishonim (see Meiri for example) rule that
one may not pasken for himself until he attains the
level of a “talmid chaver” (an elevated status of a
student who is somewhat of a colleague), at which
point, the gemara rules, he can issue rulings for
others as well. Many rishonim (Tosfos, Ritva, Mahri
Veil) differentiate between deciding a halacha while
learning the sugya, which is permitted, and paskening
in a real “live” halachic query, which is prohibited.
(See however, Toras Chaim that takes a stricter
approach and only permits one to issue any rulings if
he is far away from his rebbe, AND does so only
‘once in a while’.)
Others, take a much more liberal approach and
in fact encourage students to argue with their
rabbeim. (See the Be’er Sheva who understands the
gemara’s criticism of one who argues with his rebbe
to refer to general issues and not Torah or halacha.)
PASKENING FOR ONESELF & FOR OTHERS
From the desk of
the Rosh Kollel...
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This, argues the Rosh, is the way of Torah - to search
out the truth. As proof, he notes that Rashi was the
greatest of teachers and the baalei haTosfos, many of
who were his own grandchildren, argued with him. Any
talmid, writes the Mahari Bruna, can develop into a
talmid chaver, as this was way of Torah since the times
of the mishna. The Maharashdam furthers this point by
noting that R’ Yochanan saved Reish Lakish from his life
as a gangster and taught him Torah. The latter later
went on to argue with R’ Yochanan throughout the
gemara. It is also worth noting that although the
Maharashal was vehemently against accepting any
personal stringencies in matter of halacha (for reasons
of arrogance) maintained that one who has sufficient
proof is entitled and encourages to disagree with his
rebbe.
Despite the great prohibition of issuing halachic
rulings, many poskim (Maharashdam, Birkei Yosef)
maintain that once halacha was codified in Shulchan
Aruch, one may, and should pasken whenever a
question arises. The Shach asserts that the rulings of
the Mechaber and Rema were Divinely inspired, and
many poskim (Shvus Yaakov, Be’er Moshe, Pnei
Yehoshua) had the custom of checking Shulchan Aruch
each time they issued a ruling. Although the Marasha
(Sotah 22a) cautions against ‘just following Shulchan
Aruch’ without understanding the reasons behind it, this
is possibly because he predated the Taz and Shach who
serve this purpose (K’sav Sofer). One who had a full
understanding of the sugya and the words of Shulchan
Aruch may rely on them as a starting point to issue
halachic rulings.
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“ADDING PROPHET TO YOUR LIFE”
Summing up the lessons
of the weekly haftarah
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28 AV 5779
(Aug 29 2019)
HACHNASAS
SEFER TORAH
DIVREI HA’NAVI - ADDING PROPHET TO YOUR LIFE
The Navi addresses Yehoshua, the Kohein Gadol, and instructs him to remove his soiled garments
and change into fresh clothes. Then, he will become “one who walks among those who stand”. Chazal
understand this to be a metaphor that since Yehoshua’s sons had married women who were not fit for
kohanim to marry, he was being held back. Based on the simple understanding of the pesukim, it seems
that this prophecy was related as Yehoshua was about to become kohein gadol, or perhaps at some
later point while serving as such. Indeed, many of the meforshim seem to go with this approach.
However, the Zohar, as well as the Abarbanel and a few other meforshim explain that this entire
prophecy was said after Yehoshua passed on from this world, and he was taken to task for not having
adequately protested to his sons’ marriages. The Chasam Sofer and the Gra explain that although once
a person has left this world he can no longer do mitzvos, he can still gain much merits through the
positive actions of his children and talmidim. Their Torah and mitzvos can enable his neshama to
continue growing and climbing higher and higher.
This ties heavily to the end of our parsha, which was the transmission of Torah leadership from
Moshe to Yehoshua and beyond. The unbroken chain of our mesorah doesn’t just enable us to be
linked to a greater source, but also serves as a channel for our mitzvos to impact on the neshama of our
great teachers.
This is somewhat like the menorah at the beginning of our parsha. The Menorah shone throughout
the day, when its light was clearly not needed. This however, was only in the physical realm. The light of
the Menorah cast its spiritual radiance on the entire world. In a similar way, every mitzvah we do may
look physically insignificant, but it can bring merit to generations which have passed on from this
physical world in a very significant way that none of us can see.
There’s one more thing, though. When Eldad and Meidad remained prophesying in the camp,
Yehoshua came running to Moshe in protest. He screamed out “get rid of them” and thereby violated
the prohibition of issuing a halachic decision in the presence of one’s rebbe. For this, Chazal tell us that
Yehoshua was punished with not having any sons. Simply, understood, the problem with paskening in
front of one’s rebbe is that it compromises the honor due to him. So here was Yehoshua, fighting to
defend Moshe’s honor, and he himself violated it in doing so. How wary we must be of this. In the words
of the navi (also this week’s haftarah) ‘the Satan stands to our right (waiting) to attack’.
True, there is a continuous deterioration from one generation to the next, as Chazal tell us that we
must always aim for our actions to come close to those of our fathers, the Oznayim la ’Torah decries
today’s generations who have distanced themselves by light years. Hakadosh Boruch Hu only expects
us to do what we can given our individual circumstances and the generation which we were born into,
yet we must remain vigil that our actions shine nachas and merit on the neshamos of our progenitors
and Torah teachers.
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