Pesach

One of the highlights of the Haggada is the passage that deals with the four sons. It starts out ברוך המקום ברוך הוא blessed is Hashem blessed is He. Then it goes on to list the four sons. Rav Schwab asks an interesting question ; normally when we refer to Hashem as המקום, the Place, it's at a time of sorrow. It's the word we use when we comfort a mourner or someone who had another great loss. So why at this point of the seder, which is such a joyous time that most of us sing that stanza, do we refer to Hashem as המקום? 

The Navi tells us that the prophetess, Devora, was the wife of Lapidies . The תנא דבי אליהו asks what was the greatness of Devora that she was chosen to lead the Jews. While she was a prophetess, at that time פנחס בן אלעזר was also around to lead the Jews so why was Devora chosen.

Her husband was a very simple man; he wasn't really able to learn so she told him to make wicks to bring to Shilo so that he would illuminate the Mishkan. That way he, too, will merit Olam Habba. He took it to heart and made the best wicks possible. ‎

Hashem said to Devora, "you wanted to ‎make the Mishkan bright & made nice wicks that shine brightly, I will make your light shine in Klal Yisroel. She wasn't the wife of a scholar, rather the wife of a simple person but because of their pure intentions on a simple thing that was done just for the glory of Hashem, she merited to be a leader in Klal Yisroel. 

The sefer Musser Haneviem says that this demonstrates how a person should view himself, that even if one feels he could never be a great Torah scholar, he shouldn't let that delude him into thinking he can't do anything & will never rate.  As we see by the husband of Devora, who was a simple man yet he did one mitzva with absolute sincerity. For that, he merited such greatness which shows that no matter who we are or what we do, as long as our intentions are in the right place in Hashem’s eyes, we rate. 

Rabbi Paysach Krohn explains that in that paragraph, the Haggada repeats ברןך four times, ‎one for each type of child. What the Haggada is telling us, says Rav Schwab, is that sometimes a parent or grandparent might be at the table, look around & think how did my child or grandchild turn out this way. This is not how I wanted my family to look like; so for them it's sad. That's why it opens with המקום ‏. However, the Haggada is telling us by saying Baruch four times, that every child is a blessing & it doesn't matter what they look like; each one is a blessing & each one has the potential for greatness & now together at the seder it's time to make each ones individual light shine through! 

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Metzora

After describing the symptoms of tzaraas and the role of the Kohen in determining the status of the affliction, the Torah goes on to delineate the purification process. זאת תהיה תורת המצרע, this shall be the law of the metzora, והובא אל הכהן, he shall be brought to the Kohen. 

Based on the words תורת המצרע , our sages teach that Torah study has the power to help heal the tzaraas. Explains the Simchas  ‎Aaron, for one who truly  studies Torah catches a small glimpse of Hashem’s infinite greatness & cannot help but be humbled. This person will then refrain from speaking about others for he will no longer view himself as superior to them.

The words והובא אל הכהן , he shall be brought to the Kohen, says the Chafetz Chaim, shows us that the healing of the metzora is not through a doctor, rather it's only through the Kohen. Since tzaraas comes from the sin of lashon hara, the remedy has to come through the one who is supposed to teach us Torah, the Kohen. The only way that the metzora gets healed is if the kohen says טהור, pure, for when the metzora sees that the power of his evil speech which got him into this mess can only be remedied by the kohen pronouncing him pure, he will realize that life & death are in the power of the tongue. 

‎I heard a story from Rabbi David Ashear that exemplifies this concept that life & death are in the power of the tongue. Rabbi Elimelech Biderman told a story about Rabbi Yosef Palech, from Kiryat Harim Levine, who gave a Gemara shiur to a small group every night in Tel Aviv. The participants were extremely committed to the class. However, one night the weather was so bad, Rabbi Palech was the only one who showed up. The Rabbi had been giving this shiur for years, without missing a single night, and he didn't want to start now. He went out to the street in an attempt to find someone to teach. However, nobody was outside. He said, "Please Hashem, help me find someone." He crossed the street and approached an unkempt house that bore a Mezuzah and knocked on the door. A man who was clearly not observant opened the door, exposing the foul-smelling, untidy interior. Nevertheless, the Rabbi politely asked, "I was wondering whether you would be interested in learning Torah with me tonight."

The man opened his eyes wide and tearfully shouted, "Who brought you here? Come in!" The man began to cry, telling the Rabbi his life story. "After the war, I was a lone holocaust survivor. I wanted nothing more to do with Judaism or Hashem. My life has been one long chain of misery. I have nothing in this world. No wife. No family. No money. Nothing."

He then pointed to the ceiling where a rope was dangling. "Tonight, I was ready to put an end to my misery. Before I took this drastic step, I cried out, 'God in heaven, if You are here with me and You really want me, show me that You need me and I will come back to You.' Since the day I moved into this house, no one has ever knocked on my door. Just moments ago, when I finished my prayer, you came. Yes, I want to come learn with you tonight, Rabbi. Please guide me back to Hashem."

A man on the verge of suicide, a rabbi looking for someone to teach, both offering a a prayer to Hashem. The man opened his mouth, talked to Hashem & Hashem sent the rabbi to offer a kind word that would save his life. We never know what our words can do’ how far reaching a simple word can be. Let's take the lesson of the metzora & make sure to use our words wisely so that the power of our tongue is used to bring life!

Tazria

While last week the parsha dealt with the purity & impurity of the animals, our parsha begins with the laws of purity & impurity that come about from childbirth. אשה כי תזריע, when a woman conceives she becomes impure for a certain amount of time depending whether she had a boy or a girl. The rabbis tell us that the same way man was created after the animals, the laws of man's purity & impurity are given after the animals. One might ask why was man created after the animals, for if man were to sin, we are to tell him יתוש קדמך even the יתוש was created before you. 

Now, why the יתוש? Even more problematic is that it was only after Adam sinned, that Hashem cursed the ground with the words, ארורה האדמה בעבורך , which Chazal tell us meant ‎that the ground will bring up cursed things such as flies, fleas & mosquitos and gnats.  If that is true, then the creation of the יתוש came after the creation of man, so how are we telling the sinner that the יתוש came before him?

The sefer בן יהוידע explains that Chazal are trying to teach us something. The gemara tells us that everything was created for a purpose and then gives a few examples, one of them being that He created the יתוש because of the snake.  Rashi explains that if one were to get a snake bite, the remedy would be to crush up the  יתוש & put that on the wound which would heal it. Now, Hashem made it that a snake bite would get healed by the יתוש so that a person should realize that it was the snake that caused the יתוש to be created, for it was the sin of Adam that caused the earth to bring up all the accursed things.  

With this we can answer our questions. All the destruction a person does because of his sin, has its start with what the snake did to Adam & Chava. The righteous people who uphold the Torah heal this initial blemish that came from the first snake by turning the bad into good. 

This means that the sinner isn't helping cure the initial sin, but is rather furthering it. Therefore, the יתוש is considered to come before man,  for the good of the world, for it heals the snake bite, while the sinner makes it worse. That's why we say the יתוש came before man. 

What is so unique about the יתוש that it's the creature that is supposed to teach us a lesson about sin?

The gemara tells us something very unique about the יתוש.  It takes nourishment into its body but does not expel anything which is unlike all other living beings that take in & then separate & keep the good & expel the bad. In essence, then, it's whole being is refuse. 

On the other hand, the Tzaddik, who totally elevates himself over the animal, & more than that rids himself of any animal behavior, is totally removed from that behavior. 

There's a story told about ‎Rebbi Yehuda Ben Attar that, in his city in Morroco, there was an evil ruler who, during his rule of over fifty years, always made trouble for the Jews. Once, he levied a tax on them for which there was no possibility of payment, for he had taxed every last dollar they had. Since they couldn't come up with the money, the ruler’s guards took the rabbi & put him in jail until the people could come up with the money. 

When the deadline came & the people still didn't have the money, this wicked ruler ruled that they would throw the rabbi into the lion’s den. ‎They starved the lions for days before they put the rabbi in the den & expected to hear the lions tearing him apart. Imagine their surprise when they saw the rabbi sitting next to the lions with the lions not touching him. Day & night he sat there & came to no harm. 

When a person is totally pure with no animal spirit in him, then the animals have no power over him. 

Man's whole purpose in this world is to separate the good from the bad, to purify ourselves & remove any of the animal that's in us, to refine ourselves to be complete. When we sin, however, we are reminded of the יתוש who can't separate the bad from the good so that his whole essence is bad. We, on the other hand, have the ability to do that, to separate the good from the bad therefore when one sins we remind him of the יתוש to get the message accross that we must  remove the bad & purify our essence‎!

Shimini

After the death of the two sons of Aaron, Hashem tells Aaron the laws of doing the Avodah and the results of doing it while intoxicated. The Ben Ish Chai asks, why does the posuk say לאמר when Aaron wasn't commanded to repeat this law to anyone & also why does the next posuk say, להבדיל בין הקדש ובין החל to separate between the holy & mundane. What does that have to do with the posuk before about not drinking when you go into the Bais Hamikdash? 

He explains the reason why the Kohanim can't go ‎into the Bais Hamikdash while intoxicated. He quotes the sefer, Ohel Yaakov, that says that the Mikdash had the power to fill a person's heart with happiness; when one walked into the Bais Hamikdash he was filled with joy. Wine on the other hand was created to console a person & numb the pain he has. Therefore, a person who comes into the Bais Hamikdash has no need for wine for he's filled with a natural joy & feels no pain. 

‎The Ben Ish Chai continues with another reason why the Kohanim can't drink wine. Since wine causes physical pleasure which wears off once the effect of the wine wears off, all the pleasure is gone & the person goes back to being upset at whatever was bothering him before. The Beis Hamikdash, however, filled a person who is doing the Avodah in the Beis Hamikdash with a spirit of purity & holiness; where there is holiness ‎there is joy. Therefore, one can't combine the physical pleasure that's fleeting to the spiritual pleasure that's everlasting. 

The Midrash relates a story of a person who was a drunk. When he didn't have money to purchase wine, he would sell some of his belongings to get wine. His sons saw what was going on & wanted to help him realize what he was doing & where he was going to end up if this continued. The next time he got drunk, they picked him up off the floor, brought him to the graveyard & left him there, drunk & passed out. They thought that when he wakes up & sees where he is, he will come to his senses & change his lifestyle. 

As he was lying there in the graveyard, some wine merchants were walking by. When they heard sounds coming from the graveyard, they became frightened, dropped their barrels of wine & ran. When the drunk woke up, he couldn't believe his eyes, for right in front of him was a barrel of wine for which he didn’t even have to move. He could just turn the spigot & drink right out of the barrel still lying down. Here is a person who wanted to forget about life; the second he would start to sober up, he had to drink again, for the pleasure of the wine only lasts so long. 

However, the Torah is telling us how great the pleasure of a Mitzva should be and why there is no reason for the kohanim to drink in the Beis Hamikdash. As is alluded to in the pesukim, when the Torah is trying to explain to Aaron why he can't drink wine in the Beis Hamikdash, it says לאמר which can be split up‎ to read לא - מר not bitter, as if to say you are not a bitter person that needs to drink to forget your pain. You serve in the Beis Hamikdash, so you will be in a constant state of happiness. ‎Therefore, there is no need to drink.

The Torah also gives us an additional reason why one can't drink while doing the avodah. Because the Kohen has to be able to differentiate between physical pleasures that have no substance & spiritual pleasures that are everlasting. This concept also explains the link between the two pesukim. The kohanim are the teachers of the generation; they have to be able to show us what true joy is supposed to be like. Therefore, the posuk states, ‎‎ להבדיל בין הקדש ובין החל to ‎separate between the holy & mundane, to recognize which pleasures are only temporary & which pleasures will last throughout eternity so that we can try to emulate the kohanim & strive to reach the ultimate joy, the spiritual high of a mitzva!

     

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