Tzav 5770

We're told that the asham - guilt offering, and the chatat - sin offering, are presented in the same area as the olah - heavenly ascendant offering. Why is this the way that the place is described? G-d has neither cowardly nor deceptive motives (unlike us humans) and is much more than capable of saying things straight. So why doesn't the line in the Torah simply read - "Slaughter the chatat and the asham, on the northern corner of the mizbeach," rather than describing their locations in relation to the olah?

The Kli Yakar says these korbanot are all offered in the same spot in order to circumvent embarrassment. Someone who brought a korban for a mistake he made (asham, chatat) would probably be experiencing discomfort, even turmoil. The last thing a person needs at this difficult time is to have others seeing him in the sin section and gossiping about him ("look who's bringing a chatat…you'll never believe… I thought he was frum…")

By putting the olah - which is an optional offering that isn't necessarily brought due to sin - and the chatat, and asham together in the same space, the Torah is decreasing the obviousness of why someone is there, thus allowing an individual to remain clean in the eyes of peers. The phrasing of the text makes it clear that these karbanot are placed where they are in order to be sensitive to the needs of the one who brings a korban and to protect him from the insensitivity of others. Phil Chernofsky points out in connection with this idea that one reason for why we daven Shmoneh Esrei quietly is so that no-one hears the confessions and private wounds of his friend. How sensitive to people's feelings G-d is and wishes for us to be.

Rav Shlomo Yosef Zevin observes that while the conception developed above focuses on the perception of others, there is another viewpoint, developed by the Rebbe of Sokotchov which is more concerned with the makriv - one offering the sacrifice himself: The Chachamim say (Vayikra Rabbah 7:3) that the olah comes to atone for inappropriate thoughts. (That the olah comes as a rectification of thought related sins is also made clear from Iyov 1:5, in which Iyov brings olot corresponding to the number of his children, as he wonders if his sons have erred by cursing G-d in their hearts.) The word "tzafon" - Hebrew for north - comes from the shoresh - root "tzfafun," meaning hidden, because this direction is hidden from the sun. The olah, which addresses internal, thought oriented sins, is appropriately brought in the area most associated with the hidden.

KI TISA - Understanding the Cheit HaEigel

"They exchanged their honor for that of a cow eating grass". This is how Dovid HaMelech sums up Cheit HaEigel (Tehilim 106:20). Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that they exchanged His honor, rather than "their honor"? The Ralbag writes that G-d's honor is being referred to, but it is respectfully referenced euphemistically. Rav Nissan Alpert suggests a different approach which explains this reference to their exchanged honor. His approach also answers the question of why Chazal state that Parah Adumah is Kaparah for the Cheit Ha'Eigel. This in turn clarifies why it is appropriate to read Parshat Parah together with Parshat Ki Tissa, andthe story of the cheit ha’eigel.

The Jewish People at the time of the Cheit HaEigel were the Dor Deah - uniquely intelligent and sophisticated people. Thus, constructing the eigel must have been the subject of intense and profound debate . Rabbi Alpert suggests that the argument was as follows: The people who favored making the eigel wanted it to serve as a metaphor of the true nature of man, representing the fact that man is essentially an animal. They said that Moshe had lifted them up from their physical nature, but in his absence it was time to return to being what they really were - no different than a cow, eating to live and living to eat (this is implied by Shmot32:1 in which they refer to Moshe not simply as the one who took them out of Egypt, but as the man who raised them from Egypt - "Moshe, Ha'Ish Asher HE'ELITANU Mei'Eretz Mitzrayim.") Those who opposed the construction of the eigel felt strongly that man is primarily spiritual in nature and that it was therefore wrong to suggest the cow as a symbol of the essence of man. This explains why Dovid described the Cheit HaEigel as the time when Jews exchanged their honor for that of a cow eating grass.

There are various levels of tum'ah . The lowest level of ritual impurity, the avi avot hatumah, is a dead human being. The reason why the human corpse ranks lower than anything, including the carcass of an animal, is that a man's only real value rests in his soul. A dead cow can be utilized in many ways, but a dead man serves no real physical value. The Para Aduma comes to purify the lowest form of impurity - acquired through contact with a dead human being, and acceptance of these laws is reflective of an understanding that man's essence is his soul. This is why Chazal tell us that the Para Aduma is kapara for the Cheit HaEigel, the biggest mistake the Jewish People ever made. This is why we read Parshat Parah along with Parshat Ki Tissa.

May G-d help us all to remember - in the most painless way possible - that our essence is our souls.

Freilechin Purim

7:05 AM - Minyan (the one I've chosen) is at 8:15. I just received a message from an old friend from ninth grade. I switched schools for tenth and the next time I saw him was in YU. It was about five years but in adolescent years that's about a million. We spotted each other and we marvelled over the passing of time. He was in the Morg. elevator I was on the outside and as the door closed, through the crack He said, as I recall, "See you in the old age home!"
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Friday night I had two students over. I am more comfortable with the term students than former students, even though when I say students it confuses people. I was so happy that one of them who's not often around here for Shabbos emailed me and asked if he could come. I made chicken soup, they brought mandel bread, but my favorite part of the meal was the conversation.
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Each of these students amaze me. One was my student for Gemorah in two different grades and was a stand out. He remembers things I taught, extra credit questions and asides that I forgot! The other was valedictorian and his graduation speech was about his hero, the Sridei Eish...
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10:50 AM Recently returned from minyan.There was an announcement mad that money was being collected to be be given todayto poor people in NYC. It stood in contrst to the usual, which is Yerushalayim.
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Last night and today I used the Artscroll Esther, which holds the distinction of being the first Artscroll book to come out. I didn't know about it when it first appeared but was made aware of the Ruth commentary when it was published a few months later. I recall Shep Rosen excitedly showing it around like a treasured jewel on Shavuos night at the all night learning.
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3:39 PM Soon seudah. In the vein of my mentor Mr. Rogers' sincere sentiment that if it's mentionable it's manageable I share with you that action is hard for me. There are four kabbalistic spheres, and the "lowest" is asiyah - action. To quote my student, "Sometimes when it says the lowest it means the highest." Yes. The world of action is the one we live in. When I was an adolecent and on a crusade to find out why Gemorah is the focus of learning I collected many answers. One Rebbe told me that Gemorah is very in this world, you get your hands dirty when you learn it, it reminds us of the world we're meant to connect with.Purim is an action focused holiday. You have to plan a seudah, prepare mischloach manot, read a megillah twice. It's very community oriented, very much about putting your money where your mouth is and truly doing not simply saying. For me, Purim is hard.

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I should be on my way to a communal seudah. Slowly, slowly, said the sloth. Soup made? Check. Matzah balls? Check. Cutlery and paper goods? Check. Wine and soda? Check. Sorbet? Uh oh. Another action to do. Two students that want me to stop by their seudah on the way to mine? Don't think it's gonna happen. Tisch in Brooklyn after seudah, via ride that needs arranging? Maybe. Prep for school tomorrow? Not now. Clean up from Shabbos? Not now.kh

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4:01 PM - People ask how I write so much. The thing is I hold back. If I could I would write much more, now and always.

Tetzaveh, Purim, Death, Life

9:00 PM - It's Purim night and here I am at the keyboard. I have my pride, so I'm writing here and not my (slightly) more public blog. This aveilus thing is confusing. the books don't talk about it, this whole keeping away from celebrations even on Shabbos. I was told that a seudah is fine, any amount of anything. But what about tonight? I live right by Y.U, one of the biggest and best chagigas around, and yet...
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I'm going to keep returning to parsha and Purim, so it's not totally random that I'm posting here. But it will be broader than just the parsha ma'am. It'll be kind of like some of my posts from the end of the summer of '08 and the surrounding times.
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I feel like a kill joy when I say kaddish. No one wants to hear it. I pick my minyans in part based on acoustics. The new YU Beis Medrash has not worked well for me in terms of acoustics and big crowds in the past as far as kaddish goes. So I went to a smaller minyan in the Rubin Shul. There I was, getting in the last word while every one wanted to eat, drink, and be merry and be done with davening.
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Before megillah reading the gabbai announced that if you don't hear a word from the reader you should say it aloud yourself. He said you are halachically permitted to read up to half of the megillah yourself from a book. You shouldn't read it all along with the ba'al korei, Gabbai said, because then you're reading it all not from a klaf and not yotzei and also annoying people around you. He also warned that sometimes you can't make out all the names of Haman's sons and should read them yourself if that's the case (the ba'al korei took umbrage to to this).
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The obligation about hearing the megillah always left me wondering, now more-so. What does it mean to hear something. We use the word "hear" as synonymous with understand - as in, "Do you hear what I'm sayin' man?" But they are not necessarily always synonymous. You can hear something with your ears and not understand what's being said, just as you can sometimes not get the words coming out of someone's mouth and yet understand what they are trying to convey.
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The nurse at mom's bedside told that hearing is the last thing to go but that understanding is gone way earlier. They were sure that mom could hear but not understand, and I took their word on that even as I doubted it. In those kind of intense death threatening at your door moments there's an acute need to trust people - sometimes despite your own inclination. I wonder. This is what came to mind this year as I thought my usual thoughts about the reading.
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I was also tuned in to timing. How long did the story take? It seems to me that it takes at least ten years. I folded over the pages that stated dates, also pages with lines that resonated.
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11:27 PM I stopped by the YU chagigah. I got there around 9:30 and things were just starting up. It's unclear to me what I can do. My main rebbe/mentor says that anything goes on Purim and that on Shabbos also for the most part. The rabbis I know in the halachik YU community have this thing from Rav Soloveichik about simchas merei'us. Based on that I was told tonight that I could stay on watch but dancing was the one thing it would be better not to do. The rabbi that answered was very kind and other oriented. He gave me a hug and wished me happy times (not in exactly those words). I tried to ask an elder rebbe first but couldn't get to it as he was going on about he's never been before been at the chagigah before it started and it's not like people had to eat after fasting so it's hard to understand how an it be that things aren't underway yet and...
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I can't find my Jewish Week right now. It might be under the couch. As I was dozing last night I read this week's dvar Torah, something I've been doing with added interest since I've published my divrei Torah in that paper. I feel a camaraderie with the other writers, also a curiosity - who else is writing what. This week's writer raised the issue of the paradox of being commanded to destroy the memory of Amalek and also in the same breath being commanded to never forget them. Also raised was the fact that Haman's descendants learned Torah in Bnei Brak.
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I forgot to include in my Tetzaveh piece the idea that a message of the parsha seems to be that even, or perhaps especially, clothing is a major part of avodat Hashem. Also, Rabbi Twerski turns his Tetzaveh thoughts to azut - arrogance, and so does Rabbi Baruch Simon, each coming at it from a different angle....
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12:01 AM Wow!!! I am moved. The young rabbi that I spoke to earlier at the chagigah just called me to see how I'm doing! He said that I should keep in mind that the restrictions of the 12 months are a fulfilment of kibbud eim - honoring my mother. He said it was good to see me and that I'm a very special person. It was real, not perfunctory feeling. He was in no rush to go. Gestures like that restore my sometimes wobbly faith in humanity.
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It reminds me of a story I heard from Rabbi Ben Tzion Twersky. His son was in a serious car accident and was in the hospital. He was surrounded by student friends. One of them was a sensitive and talented violin player who played for him, while other offered conversation and company. When the room became filled with students the boy's mother stepped out and sat in the hall outside the room. A few minutes later her cell phone rang. It was the mother of the violin player. He was worried that she felt lonely and could use some company herself and so he asked his mother to give her a call.
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I feel like I could write forever. We all pass time in different ways. I think thoughtful, introspective writing, shared with thoughtful introspective people is a better way to invest time than ways of passing time that I can think of. I thank G-d for this writing. I thank G-d for everything.
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Good night and G-d bless

he wrote, thinking about Mom

On Motzai Shabbos

When it was also Purim

And she was completely dead

Tetzaveh - Guest Post - Where's Moshe?

By Kovi Fleischmann

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When looking through Parshat Tetzaveh, one will notice the astonishing fact that it is the only parsha since the time of Moshe's birth that Moshe’s name is not mentioned even once. Among the reasons suggested is that of the Baal Haturim who says that when Moshe was praying on behalf of the Jewish people after the Cheit Ha’egel he said “And now if You would but forgive their sin! – but if not, erase me now from your book that you have written” (Shemot 32:32). Although Hashem did forgive the Jews for their sin, the words of a Tzadik, at least in some fashion, will always come true. Thus, in this one parsha Moshe’s name is erased. Why, however, was this the Parsha chosen as the one in which Moshe’s name was to be omitted?

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The Vilna Gaon explains that since Moshe was to die on the 7th day of Adar, which almost always falls out during the week of Parshat Tetzaveh, Hashem left out his name here as an allusion to this fact. Why did the Chachomim who set up the parshiot wish to for the parsha in which Moshe’s name is omitted to coincide with the time that he died?

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Rav Zalman Sorotzkin, in his Oznayim LaTorah, explains that it was done to emphasize the fundamental principle in Judaism that we do not treat the leaders of our nation as central factors in our belief and service of Hashem. Our holidays do not revolve around the birth or death of our great leaders, as is often found in other religions. We do not idolize Moshe nor do we atone for our sins through him. Although we know that Moshe was the faithful appointee of Hashem and the greatest navi who ever lived, our emunah is only in Hashem and our service is to Him alone as our master and creator. The Torah leaves out Moshe’s name specifically in this parsha to remind us of this fact.

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Perhaps there is another reason why this, the parsha about the bigdei kehunah, is the one that Moshe is, seemingly, unconnected to. The kohanim, and more specifically the Kohein Gadol, are the spokesmen for the Jewish People. As we know, Aharon was the one who spoke on behalf of his brother Moshe throughout their time in Mitzrayim. The job of the kohein is to reveal the glory - the tif'eret - of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It says that the qualifications for the Kohein Gadol are that he must be wise, rich, and handsome. It seems quite strange that he must he be handsome; why is this the case? The answer is that he is the ambassador of the malchut of Hashem, and he must be like a magnet to all the people around him to cling to. Moshe Rabeinu was the opposite of the Kohein Gadol. Nowhere does it say that he was handsome, in fact it is implied from the Tiferet Yisrael (who quotes an unknown medrash), that Moshe had the appearance of an ugly man. Nowhere do we find chitzoniut - externals focussed upon in regard to Moshe, but we do an emphasis on this in regard to the kohanim and their clothes - the bigdei kehunah - in particular.

Moshe, who was the ultimate expression of revealing the shechinah - divine aura of Hashem constantly, had no need for these externals. When this idea is taken even further, one can find its connection to why the parsha chosen to be absent of Moshe’s name is the parshah read before Purim. In older editions of the Rambam’s introduction to his magnum opus the Mishneh Torah, Mordechai ias a balshan – a linguist, an expert in languages. Proof to this is the fact that he was able to understand the language of Bigtan and Teresh in their plot to kill King Achashverosh. A parallel medrash calls Mordichai by the name Petachya, one who can find hidden meaning in things.

The message of Purim, expressed through the amazing story of Megilat Esther, is about seeing Hashem where he seems the least apparent. It is about realizing that Hashem is the Master Puppeteer pulling all the strings behind the scenes and that He always, although we may not see it, has the solution set in place even before the problem arises. The essence of who Mordechai was, was the ability to reveal Hashem even when it seemed like Hashem was hiding his face from us. Moshe was on such an unbelievably high level that he was not relevant to this aspect of Mordechai and Purim. Moshe was a walking, talking revelation of Hashem, and even spoke to him face to face. He was the leader of the nation in the time in history that had many open miracles; nothing about his relationship with Hashem was hidden. Since Moshe was the epitome
of openness with Hashem, perhaps it is appropriate for Tetzaveh, the one before Purim, to be the only parsha from Moshe's birth till the end of the Torah, , in which Moshe’s name is hidden.

Va'Eira - Guest Post By Kovi Fleischmann

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Be All That You Can Be

When the Torah speaks of the tasks of Moshe and Aharon the pasuk first states Aharon’s name before Moshe’s, and then in the next pasuk states Moshe’s name first and then Aharon's. Rashi explains that sometimes the Torah mentions Moshe first and sometimes mentions Aharon first to teach that the two of them are equal.

The Brisker Rav sharpens Rashi's point by noting the context in which each name was stated first. When saying that Hashem spoke to the two of them, which was Moshe’s domain (as he was the only one who spoke face to face to Hashem), Aharon’s name is stated first. When saying that they spoke to Pharaoh, Aharon’s domain (as he was the one who spoke to Pharaoh and not Moshe), Moshe’s name is mentioned first. The fact that each one gets precedent in the area which was not his strength proves that they are equal.

How could it be that Moshe and Aharon were equal? Granted, Aharon was a tremendous tzaddik and the first Kohen Gadol, but how could he be compared to the master of all nevi'im, the man who spoke to Hashem face to face and went to shamayim to receive the Torah? Surely, Moshe Rabeinu is on a level of his own!

Rav Moshe Feinstein, in his Darash Moshe, explains that success is not measured by accomplishments, but rather by the person’s success in fulfilling the tasks that Hashem equipped him for in this world. Every person is given a unique ability and a specific tafkid -mission that he is set out to accomplish. Some are given tremendous abilities and expected to achieve a great deal, while others are given lesser abilities and have correspondingly smaller tasks. Every person’s responsibility, however, is identical, to use the skills he has to the fullest.

It is true that Aharon was not Moshe, but he was not supposed to be, as he was not given the gifts and tasks that Moshe was endowed with. He was, however, extremely successful in utilizing his G-d given abilities to accomplish the tasks set for him in the world, just as Moshe was. In this way, he was exactly equal to Moshe. Furthermore, any person who utilizes his abilities in this world is also as great as Aharon and Moshe.

The Gemrara (Bava Basra 10b) relates that Yosef the son of R’ Yehoshua was very ill and his soul left his body, and then returned. His father asked him, "What did you see in your glimpse of the next world?" He replied “Olam hafuch raetei…” - "I saw an upside-down world where great ones were below and low ones we above." His father responded “Olam barur raeta,”- "You saw a world of clarity, for this is the truth."

The simple level of learning this Gemara is that R' Yosef saw a world in which the kings and powerful people were at a low level. He was surprised at their lack of status in the next world so his father explained that these lofty positions have little standing in the next world. Rav Moshe is unsatisfied with this interpretation. Surely, he asks; R' Yosef knew that the power in this world is meaningless in the next world! Why then, would he describe the situation he saw as upside down?

Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that R' Yosef, in fact, saw great, learned people in positions of lesser prominence than more simple Jews, and it was this that he could not understand. His father explained to him that these simple Jews were given much honor, and were deserving of this honor because they were people who used their G-d given abilities to achieve the portions that Hashem set out for them. They fulfilled their missions.

The learned sages, continued R’ Yehoshua, had certainly accomplished a great deal, but they could have accomplished even more. They left a greater percentage of their potential unfulfilled, and were subsequently given a lesser status in the next world. This is the way of Hashem’s judgment. Not everyone is set out to be the Gadol Hador, but if one figures out what his unique abilities are and use them to the fullest to complete his tafkid, he will be zocheh to a prominent place in Olam Habah.

Shmot - May This Learning of Torah Be In The Merit Of My Mother, Freida Mariam Bat Binyamin Maneleh of Blessed Memory

Guest Post By My Student Miles Bronstein

Parshat Shemot contains some of the most renowned stories of the Torah such as Moshe and the burning bush, and the start of the Passover story.

I have chosen a seemingly minuscule point that relates to life in school and to all other aspects of life. In Shemot 1:7 the Torah says “The Children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly and became strong- and the land became filled with them.” The midrash tells a story in relation to this pasuk from which we can learn a great deal.

Once Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi was giving a lecture and noticed that his students had stopped paying attention to him and were even dozing off. To recapture their attention he said that a woman in Egypt bore six hundred thousand children in just one birth. As soon as he said this one of his students (Rabbi Yishmial) inquired how that could have been possible. Rabbi Yehudah answered that he was referring to Yocheved who was said to be equivalent to six hundred thousand children.

Why did Rabbi Yehudah use this story to recapture the students’ concentration? To answer the question we must realize that Rabbi Yehudah was born fifty years after the destruction of the second Temple and was the leader of the fourth generation after the obliteration. At this time the Roman government demoralized the Jews, resulting in a loss of faith in G-d and a loss of hope in redemption.

Rabbi Yehudah realized that the reason that his students - and the larger community - had lost attention to his lecture and what it represented was because they were feeling that there might not be redemption and they would stay in exile forever. They had lost hope in Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi’s Torah and more-so they lost hope in moshiach.

Rabbi Yehudah mentions how Yocheved gave birth to Moshe who would eventually bring six hundred thousand children of Israel out of Egypt. Rabbi Yehudah uses this anecdote to give hope to the Jewish people and to send the message to always believe. Just like in class a student might not feel the need to take notes or pay attention, or simply drift off, you still should not give up. In order to prevail you cannot let go of hope, confidence or belief. Just because you missed fifteen minutes of class you can shoot back instantly and learn something.

Moshe and the redemption he heralded appeared in the blink of an eye to save the Jewish People at a time when they had almost given up. . Similarly, if you don’t do so well on a test you should not give up or lose self confidence, you should keep trying. The Jewish People still believe in G-d and await His redemption despite the Holocaust, destruction of the Temples, Israeli conflict, and financial crises.

If it was not for the Jewish People’s perseverance and even more-so their belief in G- d we would not be here today as the oldest living nation. This lesson was conveyed by way of a seemingly ludicrous statement of Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi. He gained his students’ attention and then inspired them and filled them with faith and hope. Our teacher’s also use humor and dramatic effects to get us to listen, learn, and live inspired lives. I hope you take to heart my points and utilize them in your daily life! Shabbat Shalom!

Miketz - Guest Post By My Student Alex Finkelstein

In Parshat Miketz Yosef is appointed ruler of the land after he interprets Pharaohs dream. When Yosef is appointed ruler he becomes very powerful and we see the famous encounter with him and his brothers. Parshat Miketz tells the story of Yaakov’s children traveling to Mitzrayim to buy food. Yosef, at the time, is the ruler of the land and gives his own brothers a hard time. He forces them to return home and bring their brother Binyamin. When the brothers come to Yosef for food, they do not recognize him but he recognizes them. Strangely, Yosef gives his own brothers a hard time.

rrrrrrrrrWhy would Yosef give his own brothers a hard time and not give them food right when he sees them? We saw in Parshat Vayeshev that Yosef's brothers treated him awfully and eventually sold him. A simple explanation for Yosef’s behavior is that now that it’s the brothers that need a favor from Yosef, he gives them a hard time and makes them suffer for what they did to him, even accusing them of being spies.

A deeper explanation is that Yosef is trying to change his brothers and give them an opportunity to do teshuva. He is trying to change his relationship with his brothers and improve it. When Yosef sends his brothers back to Canaan to get Binyamin, it is to see if they are sincere in regard to their brother. It turns out they are sincere, as they go back and get Binyamin. Yosef’s plan works. His brothers become better people through teshuva.

The Beis Halevi comments on a puzzling medrash. Yosef asks his brothers if his father is still alive. The medrash says we learn from this pasuk how difficult it will be on the Day of Judgment; when Hashem judges us and rebukes us we will not be able to answer him. What does Yosef asking his brothers if Yaakov is still alive have to do with Hashem judging us? The answer, explains the Beis Halevi, is that Yosef wanted to remind his brothers of the horrible things they did to him. This is why he asked them, “Is my father alive?” What he was really saying was, “After all that you have done to me, all the hardships you put my father and me through, can Yaakov still be alive?!” Yosef got his brothers to realize their wrongdoings on their own. The same is true when Hashem judges us. He won’t need to say anything to us; the truth will become clear on its own. When Hashem reveals himself to on the Yom HaDin, we will realize how far we are from the truth and that is the most difficult form of rebuke.

We learn a very important lesson from this story of how Yosef related to his brothers. Yosef had a chance to even the score by taking revenge against his brothers and he chose not to. Instead Yosef helped his brothers do teshuvah and he repaired their relationship. Often we have disagreements with friends. Then we have opportunities to hurt the friends we had issues with. We need to think carefully and do the right thing. We should help our friends correct their mistakes and look to return to a good relationship with our peers.

Breishit - Is Time On Our Side?

For more of my thoughts on Breishit see here for an essay about the eating from the tree of knowledge. Click here for notes on the last time I taught this parsha.

This following piece is an essay that I worked very hard on , hopefully to publish in a book one day. This is the first time it is being published anywhere. Feedback is appreciated, including - but not limited to - typos, etc.

In the beginning
G-d must have created time
Thus, “the beginning”

Introduction : Using Time To Increase Space

Once, a man got to ask G-d any question he wanted. The man opened with – “G-d, what’s a million years to you?” And G-d replied, “A million dollars to me is one second.” The man then asked, “G-d, what’s a million dollars to you?” And G-d replied, “A million dollars to me is one penny.” So the man asked G-d, “G-d, can you spare a penny?” And G-d replied, “Sure I can, in just one second.”

To us, time and money are everything. We run through time trying to get more money and more things worth money. It is important to remember that time and money are figments created for us. For G-d time and space (represented by money, which buys us things that exist within space) do not exist.

Rabbi A.J. Heschel (The Sabbath, Farrar Straus and Giroux, New York 1951) explains that we try to grab and gather things because we feel intimidated by the passing of time. In the end we are left feeling unfulfilled and embarrassed, knowing that the point of time is not merely to accumulate things. He writes: “It is impossible for man to shirk the problem of time. The more we think the more we realize: we can not conquer time through space. We only master time I time.” Shabbos is a day when we no longer treat time as the enemy but recognize time as special in and of itself. The ultimate goal is for the approach of Shabbos to spill over into the week, so that on a daily basis we see time as a thing itself.


Space

What came first the chicken or the egg? According to the Ramban the answer is neither, rather there was something that preceded both. The Ramban writes that before G-d created anything He created a giant mass from which everything else was created – Something From Nothing – Yesh Mei’Ayin. From that original mass, known as Chomer Hiyuli, every -thing else was created.(Peirush Ramban Al HaTorah, Chavel Hebrew edition pg. 12)

The Rabbis state (Breishit Rabah 68:10, Rashi on Shemot 33:21) that G-d is called HaMakom because “He is the place of the world, and the world is not his place.” After Moshe asks G-d, in 33:13, “show me your honor,” G-d shows him a cleft on a mountainside and says, “Behold there is a place by me. Rashi cites the Tanchuma, which explains that G-d does not say that he is in this place, but refers to it with this seemingly awkward phrasing, because of the following idea:Space is a creation of G-d, secondary to G-d. The Ohr HaChayim in his commentary on Bamidbar 1:1, cites this Medrash and applies it to his explanation of the word BaMidbar – in the desert.

Time

Pardes Yosef points out that while time is clearly something that was created for the sake of people, its creation is not overtly mentioned. He explains that the word “Breishit”, which means “in the beginning of G-d's creations,” implies the creation of time, because without time things could not be called earlier or later.

Dovid HaMelech – King David states that the average life of a man is seventy years (Tehillim 90:10). Chazal break down the years of a person’s life in Pirkei Avot and say what the purpose is for each stage of life. The Maggid of Dubno cites these and other examples in his development of the parallels between time and space. Just like a physical body is comprised of a myriad of intricate pieces that contribute their part towards completion, so too time is a measured entity made of up of specific details. Just as our bodies need to be developed and do not get fit if we don’t maintain them, time is also potential that needs to be worked on and refined. Segments of time do not automatically fill up with their tasks unless a person struggles to make it so. (Sefer HaMidot - Book of Traits Chapter 12,the Maggid of Dubno)


In the time of the Talmud, Ptolemy gathered 72 Torah scholars and sequestered them in separate rooms with the command to translate the Torah into Greek (Megilla 9a). A miracle occurred that they all made the same judgement calls in making changes from literal text to translation in order to avoid insults, misunderstandings, and repercussions. One of the changes they implemented concerned the order of the first three words of the Torah. As Pardes Yosef sees it, they reordered the words to read Elokim Bara Breishit – G-d created in the beginning to convey that G-d created time.

When we take time for granted, we take life for granted. Rabbi Noach Weinberg notes that we would all be shocked if we saw someone sitting on a speeding bus throwing dollar bills out the window into the wind. But when we see people making inadequate use of time this is a tragedy too.

Once an American was vacationing on an exotic island. He saw a local man sitting and fishing. He spoke to the fellow and learned that the man happily lived on the island and got by by fishing and eating the fish he caught. The American explained to him that he could get better equipment and catch more fish. So he does. And he sells the extra fish and makes more money. Then the American advises him to buy a boat. So he does. And he makes more money. In time he buys several giant boats and then opens a store and eventually a franchise. The company goes public and the old fisherman is on the board of trustees of several major banks. Finally he retires. His friend asks him, “what are you going to do with your time now?” The fisherman says that he’s looking forward to sitting on the shore and catching fish.


We often run through time accumulating things that we think we need. In the end what we need is health and happiness and closeness to G-d. It behooves us to think well about what we expend energy acquiring as we journey through our one, only, brief trip on this planet.

May our reading about the creation of time and space remind us to cherish every second of life on this earth with which we are blessed.

He'ezinu: Opening Line

This poetic parsha begins with the words:
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"He'ezinu hashamayim va'adabeirah,

vetishmah ha'aretz imrei fi -

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Pay attention heaven

And I will speak

And the earth will hear

The sayings of my mouth

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Rav Dovid Feinstein noticed that regarding shamayim two strong words are used, while two gentle ones are employed for aretz. The heavens are told to listen attentively (he'ezinu) as Moshe addressed them in a strong way (adaberah). The earth is described as hearing (vatishmah) his softly spoken words (imrei fi).

Since the heavens are spiritual in nature, Rav Dovid explains, they are cooperative to commands and can be spoken to bluntly, but in order to remember what they were told they must be cautioned to listen carefully. The earth is physical and must be delicately tilted toward obedience. However, after being gently pulled in, the ground hears and is convinced, therefore no strong admonition to hear or remember is required.

Perhaps this metaphor of heaven and earth and the variant ways they are spoken to and listen alludes to man. People are made up of two parts. What truly makes us human is the piece of us that is different from animals. Our physical side needs to be lured into paying attention to spiritual matters. On the other hand, our souls are quick to respond to the word of G-d. We must remember that although these two aspects coexist inside us, our true selves are our souls.

The analogy the Magid of Dubno used to explain this idea involves a deaf man and a lame man who were close friends. The deaf man carried the lame man on his shoulders, and the crippled man directed and protected the deaf man as they walked. Once they passed a concert hall and the lame man wanted to stop and enjoy the symphony, but the deaf man couldn't hear the music. The lame man quickly handed down a bottle of whiskey to his friend. And as the lame man stopped to take a drink the deaf man was able to stand and listen to the music. Similarly, our bodies are earthy and slow to hear the spiritual, so we get their attention with the physical and bring them along for the spiritual ride.

Alan Morinis wrote a book called Climbing the Ladder of Jacob. It's a book about mussar as a guide to spiritual growth. It's fascinating to read this book and be reminded that mussar doesn't mean being told off. Mussar is a system for self refinement. One line that struck me from the book was the assertion that we don't have souls, we are souls. I knew this, maybe we all do. But how I need to be reminded!

May we all be blessed to appreciate and purify our souls, and to serve G-d with our souls and our bodies, to hear His message and to always grow.

Gemar Chatima Tovah

Good Shabbos

Rabbi Neil Fleischmann