Shavous

My wife had to go to Yerushaliyim the other day for a business meeting.  Which means she had to catch a 6 a.m. train to make it there in time, because the direct bus would take too long from all the traffic.

As she's sitting there, around 15 minutes away, somebody cries out to the rest of the car, "does anybody know how to get to the Kotel from the station?"  Of course, a chorus of answers ring out on what he needs to do.  On the side, my wife noticed a woman, not religious-looking, pull out a notebook from her purse and starting to write something on it.  After a half a minute or so, she tears out the paper, goes over to the person who asked the question, handed him the paper, and said, "While you are there, can you please daven for this person?"

Only in Israel.

In the beginning of Pesach, a special offering is brought, called the "Omer," which simply consists of barley.  Seven weeks later, on Shavuos, another special offering is brought.  Also a grain, but now it consists of wheat, baked in the form of bread.  The meaning, is well known.  On Pesach, when we as a nation begin our journey in life, we first bring an offering from barley, which is used to feed animals.  Then, for seven weeks, we build ourselves up, and on Shavuos, when we receive the Torah, we offer wheat, a grain fit for humans.  And with that, most will say the lesson is clear.  We start off as animal-like beings and build ourselves to be human, ready to receive the Torah.

Of course, Rav Shimshon Pinkus, ruins this thought.

The goal is NOT to be human by the time we receive the Torah!  What do we do with these two loaves that are made with wheat?  We offer that as a sacrifice.  On Shavuos we are not attempting to be human, we're attempting to offer that human side of us to a higher purpose, a higher realm, if you will.

One of the biggest spiritual threats that has hit the Jewish people in the past 2000 years has been the Enlightenment.  And what is the Enlightenment?  That we should all be knowledgeable, worldly, involved, enlightened, and most of all, "human," the "highest lifeform possible."

Not only did it cause individuals en masse to leave the Torah, but it even sprang mutations of Judaism, each one claiming the banner of Judaism for themselves.

Many years, my wife worked on a book about the Jews of Syria.  Even a hundred years ago, it was normal for the "working class" to wake up at three or four in the morning, go to shul, sit and learn, daven, sit and learn some more, go to work, come home, learn a little more, go to bed, and repeat.  This was the life of the "working man," starting in one's teenage years!

How about us today?  What's our focus in life?  What gives it meaning?  Is it the Torah?  Or is it the news?  Is it sports?  Is it a social life?

It's very possible to be a fine Jew, doing all the mitzvos in the world, and still be missing that main connection with Hashem!  Because, while we are busy doing mitzvos, our minds are still connected to whatever gives us "life."

My 16-year-old knows a lot of useless information.  That's his job.  He's a teenager.  He could tell you about this car or that car, about this army unit or that.  He knows all sorts of useless information.  And I think, like all fathers think, "Boy, what a waste of time and energy!  Those things have absolutely no value, and yet that's what's important to you?"

And Hashem was nice enough to give us teenage boys in order to understand how Hashem looks at us throughout our lives.

When we have knowledge of what's going on in the world (whether news, sports, cars, etc.), we feel that we're part of it and among the enlightened.  When we have knowledge of only Torah, then we feel a bit … nerdy?  Yet, having knowledge of what's going on in the world, in reality, gives you nothing.  You have no way of changing things with that knowledge, and you only get sucked into it more and more.  If you have a real need for it, like you work in outreach or within the secular world and have to answer questions, fine.  But if not, do you honestly have no need for it?  What does it do for you?  We feel great and plugged in, and Hashem is looking down thinking, "Sigh… teenagers…."

Yet, when your focus in life is the Torah?  You're not only connected to a 3300-year nation, but you are connected to Hashem Himself.

Does it truly matter to me which politician said what? Not really.  And it only causes anguish, pain, and despair.  Does it truly matter to me how to keep Shabbos?  How to daven? How to give tzedakah or do chesed?  Of course it does! It's why I've been put in this world!

Because of this, on Shavuos, we offer up our "humanness," our enlightenment, if you will, and we say to Hashem, "We don't need this.  We need to grow up and move on from it."

It's a very difficult concept to put into play, and since such things have been ingrained into our being from Day One, it takes a lifetime (if that) to fully implement.  But, the point is, we should go into Shavuos understanding that there is something greater than enlightenment, and at least we should have a yearning to go after that greater thing.

A friend of mine here was put in charge of a new small kollel in town.  Because of that, I don't get to see him so much now.  However, on Shabbos, we had a few minutes and I asked him how things are going.  "It's a whole new life!" he said.  He explained that since he's running the show (thankfully not the money side), he needs to know what the kollel is learning before everybody else, and better.  He needs to understand things so well, so that when questions come up, he will have the answers.  On top of knowing what they are learning now, he needs to prepare for the next week.  But that not only includes learning the material, but also preparing the outlines for everybody.  Then comes grading the tests that he has to give.  His entire life is now focused on this and his family.  Nothing more, since he has no extra time to give.  He said, "When somebody is learning in kollel, he can sign out at 7 p.m. and that's that. Not for me!  I go home, help out, eat, and return to my learning until late at night"

I told him that what he's experiencing is something that we should all be experiencing.  But we don't, since we don't have 1) full appreciation for what we are doing, and 2) since we don't have appreciation, we also don't have an external factor to push us (he has his "job").

I should point out that this person is no genius or huge tzaddik.  He's a good solid person with a head on his shoulders, but he's just as "normal" as you and I.

Either way, it gives us a glimpse into what it means to be "above Human" and fully immersing  ourselves in Torah and mitzvos.

With that, I wish you all a wonderful Shabbos and a meaningful Shavuos!

I saw a very interesting piece by Rav Reuven Leuchter, which is appropriate for Shavous.  However, and unfortunately, for brevity's sake, I need to be very selective on what I write.

The Gemara (Menachos 29b) writes: "Why was this world created with the letter 'hei'?  Because a hei resembles a pavilion [it is open at the bottom], in order that anyone who wants to leave, can leave.  And what is the reason that the leg of the hei is suspended (there is a space on the top)? So that if he returns in teshuva, they can bring him back through that upper opening.  But let them bring him back through the same, lower opening?  This will not happen … If one comes to purify himself, he is given assistance from Above.  But if one comes to defile himself, an opening is provided for him."

This is a very deep Gemara, however, as mentioned, we'll stick to the subject.  First of all, we see that a person does not leave the world of Torah by force.  Nor does he come back by force.  He has a choice and where his will leads him, he will go.

Secondly, we see that when a person decides to do teshuva, he could not come back from the opening he left (on the bottom), rather, he enters from the top.  Perhaps we can discuss this in more detail in a few months.  But, in the meantime, we see that a person needs to return through a higher realm than when he left.  Interesting, no?  So, how exactly does one do that?

We hear advice, that if somebody wants to do teshuva, the first thing he needs to do is learn Torah.  We hear this from giants such as the Vilna Gaon and Rav Yisroel Salanter.  So, even before attempting to fix the behaviour, we're told, "go learn!"

To understand this, we turn to the Nefesh HaChaim.  In section 1, chapters 17-19, he explains that there are three levels to the soul:

The highest is called the Neshama, which is associated with thought.  For a person living on this level, his life is determined by abstract thought and concepts.  It's a high level that most of us don't attain.

The middle is called the Ruach, which relates to speech.  For somebody who mainly operates on this level, to him words have meaning and significance.  For him learning Torah and Tefillah (both speech) are central to his life.

The lowest is called the Nefesh, which relates to action.  This is where most of us tend to live.  Our lives are based on our actions.  Yes, there is thought and speech involved, but they all lead us to action, whether for good or bad.

Therefore, if we cannot return via the same route we left, we must return from a higher position.  Therefore, if we commit an aveira with our actions, and defile our Nefesh, we cannot correct it via actions.  We need to correct it via our Ruach.  By working on our higher level of Ruach, we can change the lower level of Nefesh.

So, let's take a businessman, for example. He has a bad habit of "accidentally" stealing money from his clients.  One would think that he should take some action to make sure he doesn't steal, for example, give his clients' money to somebody else to watch over.  That might keep him from stealing THAT money, but it will NOT uproot the underlying issue!  Rather, says Rav Salanter, let him start learning the halachos of business, not on a superficial level, but on a deeper level.  Let him "learn from the beginning," from the psukim in the Torah, to the Gemara, to the commentaries, to the halachic works such as the Tur, Beis Yosef, Shulchan Aruch.  Let his entire learning life be focused on that.  When he learns these halachos in depth, every day, they will become a part of him to the point he will be forced not to treat them lightly.  Anybody who has learned halacha in depth can testify to this phenomenon.

By working on this higher level, one's Ruach is changed, and his Nefesh will be forced to follow.

This is applicable to men and women equally.  By learning Torah in depth, our higher Ruach will make a correction in our lower Neshama, which will change our behaviour.

This is why we celebrate Shavuos.  On Shavuos we were/are given the ultimate "game-changer" in life.  We don't need psychological tricks from self-help books or online speakers.  Perhaps they can help keep our behavior in check in the short run, but in the end, the Yetzer Horah will renew his attack and reconquer.  But, by using Torah, we can affect not just our behaviour, but our inner motivations as well.

Have a wonderful Shavous & Shabbos!

The baby doesn't seem to believe in the concept of 'sleep'.

I woke up around 2:30am this morning to see the baby, in bed, awake, climbing all over my wife, in bed, fast asleep.

We're too old for this....

In the beginning of parshas Beshalach, immediately after the Jewish nation left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, they were led to a place call Marah.  There, they were given a small number of mitzvos to do.  The Torah itself does not elaborate on how many mitzvos or which mitzvos.  However, the Ramban writes that these mitzvos were given (specifically before the giving of the Torah), in order to see if they would accept the Torah (and it's mitzvos) with simcha.

It's a bit strange, since many believe that these mitzvos were given to us in order to train us to be obedient to the Torah, like soldiers to their officers.  Yet, the Ramban says that this is not true.  It's in order that we should do the mitzvos out of love and happiness.

I recently heard a talk given by Rav Reuven Leuchter on this subject.  He explains that there are two ways to connect to Hashem: one via obedience and one via simcha.  We don't have a choice whether or not we want to keep mitzvos, but we DO have a choice on HOW to do the mitzvos  Therefore, we have obedience on the lower end, and simcha on the higher end.

Rav Yisroel Salant said that a person serves Hashem with simcha only when he uses his personal strengths in His service.  However, when a person does not have a personal strength regarding a certain mitzvah, his simcha can come from obedience, by knowing that even though he does not have a connection with that particular mitzvah, he is still doing the mitzvah to the best of his abilities.

With that, Rav Leuchter continued.  Shavous is called "the time of our wedding," the wedding between Hashem and the Jewish people.  If so, the period preceding it, from Pesach until Shavous, is the time where the "couple" goes on dates to get to know each other.

When a person is looking for a spouse, they are not looking for somebody who is a mirror to them.  Nobody wants to marry themselves.  They generally are looking for somebody who they enjoy being with, whose personality they enjoy and whose outlook in life they agree with.  Yet, every couple has certain issues where they disagree or don't see eye-to-eye.  And that's fine.  The key to keeping such a relationship moving forward is not to fight with each other on those issues, but rather to learn to live with each other even WITH such divergent views or feelings.  When a couple realizes the differences between them and each side works on themselves to take into consideration the other side (even though they might not understand it fully), they will eventually grow with mutual respect for each other.

Our relationship with Hashem is the same way, each individual in their own way.  There are certain mitzvos that a person can connect to, for whatever reason.  Yet, there are certain mitzvos that are more difficult.  A vegetarian, might find it hard to understand the concept of offerings in the Beis HaMikdash, for example.

From Pesach until Shavous, we look into the Torah and we look into ourselves and we determine which mitzvos we have a connection to, and which ones we don't.  With the mitzvos we connect to, we should continue with that and grow with it.  Those mitzvos that are being done with simcha are creating a relationship with Hashem.

And those that we don't have a person connection to, well, we still have to do them.  We still have to connect to Hashem via obedience.  However, in many cases, there are ways to "upgrade" our relationship with such mitzvos.  For some, it's learning about the mitzvah in depth, trying to understand it properly.  For others, one can "personalize" the mitzvah to have more simcha in it.

One such example that came to my mind is Shabbos.  Especially in the summer, when it's much longer and hotter.  Some people find Shabbos to be hard to keep during such times, especially if one has bored children at home.  A person can "sweeten" the mitzvah by buying special treats for the middle of the day.  One can buy books that the entire family enjoys listening to, when one of the parents reads it.  Special games, etc. By making a personal connection and having simcha in the mitzvah, one's connection to Hashem also grows.

Another way one can grow from obedience to simcha is by knowing that you are doing the will of your partner and making THEM happy, even if you know it's at your "expense."  Take me, for example.  As a healthy male, I have a natural hatred for going to IKEA.  My wife, a healthy female, has a natural desire to actually LIVE there.  Now, of course, I try my best not to go.  However, for her birthday, I gave her the gift of a trip to IKEA.  I took half a day off, borrowed a car, took her, let her off her leash, and paid for everything at the end.  Was she happy?  Of course!  Was I happy?  Well … I wasn't happy that I was THERE, however, I WAS happy that she was happy.  Perhaps it also atoned for some sins or something. But the point is, even though the trip to IKEA is something I personally do not connect to, I had happiness in the fact that my wife was happy.

While the idea of a "Happy Hashem" is a bit harder to think of than a happy spouse, the idea remains true.  Sometimes, our happiness can simply be knowing that we overcame our Yetzer Horah and successful did the will of Hashem.

Each individual has their own natural connection to different aspects of the Torah. Some with Shabbos, some with chessed, some with tzedakah, some with davening, etc. Those special points are what creates a personal relationship with Hashem.  There are others which a person does not have such a strong connection to.  Of course, he has to do it, but for many mitzvos, one can use different tools, to help them have simcha in those as well.

The key to any successful long-term relationship is simcha and love between two partners.  Those partners don't necessarily have to see everything in the same way, nor should they.  However, when each side works hard to help please the other, and they themselves eventually have happiness in their partners happiness, then the relationship will continue to grow exponentially.

Have a wonderful Shabbos/Shavous!

Last week, I received a call from a good friend of mine.  Usually, we don’t speak, since we are men, and our wives speak to each other quite often, so we don’t have to.  On occasion, when one of us has had a…disagreement…with a spouse, we call the other to confirm that we were right and not the spouse.  This time, it was different.  As I picked up the phone he said, “I just had the BEST conversation with my wife!”

Every summer, he brings his family of eight (or is it nine?) kids up north and stays with us for a few days.  And it just happens that it always ends up being on their anniversary.  This year, when they were discussing which week to come up, his wife mentions that this year it’s their 19^th anniversary, which means, that it will be both the Hebrew and English on the same day, so perhaps they should do something special.  He responds, “That’s great!  Maybe I’ll ask Michael to download some old Wrestlemanias, and we can snuggle on the couch and watch it together!”

She said, rather sarcastically, “Oh…well…something special like that, maybe we should save for the big twentieth!”  He turned to her and replied, “I wasn’t talking about YOU and I….”

So, he's looking for a place to stay for a while…

The Moshgiach of my yeshiva asked a question on one of the famous gemaras regarding Shavuos.  The Gemara in Pesachim says that Rav Yosef would ask that a fancy meal should be made in honor of Shavuos, saying, “If it were not for this day, I would be one of many ‘Yosefs’ in the marketplace." The Moshgiach didn’t understand this so well.  Every Jew received the Torah on Shavuos!  What makes Rav Yosef better than every other “Yosef” in the marketplace?  And if you want to say that he became greater and smarter because of the Torah, we know that there are plenty of secular Jews and non-Jews that became great and were very smart.  So, what exactly is Rav Yosef trying to say?

We see a story (Kings II 5:7) of Naaman, a non-Jewish king, who was afflicted with a terrible skin condition.  One of his servants gives him the idea to travel to Elisha, the Jewish prophet at the time.  So, Naaman gathers his entourage and travels to Elisha for a cure.  Not only did Elisha not come out and greet him, but he simply sent a messenger who tells him to bathe seven times in the Jordan river to become healthy again.  Naaman, upset about this treatment, has a small temper tantrum saying, “Behold, I said to myself that he would surely come out to me, and stand and call the Name of Hashem, his G-d, and wave his hand over the diseased area…”  In short, Naaman was upset that Elisha didn’t do some Indian Dance, wave his hands up and down, and yell, “Out Ye Demons!” seven times.

So, the Moshgiach asks: What type of idiot is this guy?  Here you have a non-Jewish king, coming to a Jewish prophet asking for help.  What does he know about Hashem?  What does he know how Jewish prophets work?  Why is he willing to ignore what Elisha says, just because of what he EXPECTED?

This is what Rav Yosef was saying about Shavuos, says the Moshgiach.

If it were not for the Torah that Rav Yosef learned, he would have been like Naaman, he would have THOUGHT that Hashem works like this or that, and would have been like any other Joe in the marketplace.  But, because Rav Yosef learned so much, he realized how little he really knew.

I’ve seen this many times, unfortunately, when you have a person who learned in yeshiva up until high school.  At that point, he goes off to work, learns a little here and there, and thinks, “I learned for many years, I know all that I need to know!”  Or some guy who, instead of learning, wastes his time with the news (Jewish and non-Jewish) and blogs his brains out about what he “knows” that Hashem really wants from the Jewish world.

When a person makes the Torah his life, whether he’s working or learning, he realizes, “there are MANY things here that I am missing and I need to know."  But when a person thinks he knows “enough” and minimizes his learning for other things, he walks around thinking, “I know enough to know what’s going on”…well, is he really any different from Naaman?

Rav Brevda, when he was a teenager, had teachers who came from Europe.  Needless to say, there was some tension between the European teachers and the American students.  Once, he was berated by one of his teachers: “Do you know the difference between you and me?  When I was your age, when we learned Gemara, we learned ‘This is what Rabba says, and this is what Abaya says’ and we would bang our heads trying to figure it out.  And do you know how you Americans learn?  ‘This is what Rabba says, this is what Abaya says, and this is what I, Shloimie, says!’”

This is the difference between Rav Yosef and every other Yosef in the market place.   The person who believes that he has learned “enough” and has a grasp on the Torah, that person is simply another Yosef.  However, the person who truly understands that no matter how much he has learned already, he has a lot more to learn, and HE MAKES IT HIS MISSION IN LIFE TO FILL THAT VOID, THAT is Rav Yosef.  That person truly understands the greatness of Shavuos and the greatness of personal Torah learning.

With that, I wish you a wonderful Shabbos and a meaningful Shavuos!

I was thinking how great it would be to buy a hallucinogenic tree frog for my wife.  I think every mother should have one.  Of course, that raises interesting halachic questions such as, “are secretions from a frog kosher?”  Naturally, I have a rav who enjoys these questions, so I called him up (with a list of normal questions as well) and asked him. He explained that throughout the Gemara we see different secretions from non-kosher animals being used in medicines .  In fact, he remembers a certain chocolate from when he was a child that was under OU, and was very shiny.  And, as we know, chocolate isn’t shiny.  It turns out that they were using wasp honey.  It seems that that Rav Moshe Feinstein ruled that secretions from non-kosher animals, that were clear, had no taste, and not food (I think those were all the requirements), could be used.  My rav added that of course, there are those that disagreed with him, but that’s how he held.  Interesting, no?

Now, where can I get one of those fellows?

There’s a medresh where a couple who were married for 10 years came to Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai.  Their problem?  They did not have any children and they didn’t know what to do.  In the end, Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai told them to get divorced.  He has a mitzvah to have children, and if things aren’t working after ten years, they should marry somebody else.  However, he said, just as you started off your marriage with simcha, you should end it as well, by making a festive meal.  With a heavy heart, the couple decided to follow his advice.

At the meal, the husband had a bit too much to drink and told his soon-to-be-former wife, “Because of my love for you, I want you to take the most precious item in this house and bring it to your house to remember me by."  Shortly after, he fell unconscious. 

The woman turned to her servants and had them bring her husband's bed (along with the husband) to her father’s house.

The next day, the husband woke up, looked around, and asked, “Why am I here?”  She replied, “You told me to take that which was most precious to me, and so I did!”

Realizing that their relationship was not going to be so easy to break, they both returned to Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai and explained why they could not go through with the divorce.  Rebbe Shimon then gave them a brocha that they should have children soon, and needless to say, they were holding a baby in their arms a year later.

Rav Yaakov Leonard asks, if he was going to give them a brocha, why didn’t he simply give it to them when they first came to him, why only after they realized that they could not separate from each other?  He answers that because the desire that they had for each other was not “realized," and had to be “brought out."  Only then, when they truly realized that the relationship that they had, could simply not be broken with a divorce, were they capable of receiving such a brocha.

That is why there is a famous custom to stay up throughout the night of Shavuos and learn Torah.  While one can certainly get a good night’s sleep and learn even more the next day, the point of this custom is to show one’s desire for learning.  “How can I sleep when I can learn!” When that desire is expressed, then that person becomes a “bigger vessel” to receive the brocha of Torah learning.  THAT is the main part of Shavuos.  And that is also why the one mitzvah that is specific to Shavuos is to make a good meal.  It’s not a day that we celebrate the receiving of the Torah, it is a day that we show our love and appreciation for having received it.

I hope everybody has a wonderful Shabbos and a meaningful Shavuos!

I don’t know if this craze is in the U.S. or not, but over here, tattoos seem to be the "in" thing. It seems that everybody is getting them. Just this week, I saw a very overweight man in his later thirties (clearly a computer programmer), with one leg covered with tattoos and an arm with a name tattooed across.

Personally, I think tattoos are one of the most shortsighted things a person can do because, like it or not, you’re going to get old and fat, and that tattoo is not going to look so good.

I can understand a Marine Recon sniper getting one. When he’s old and gray, his grandson will ask him why he has a skull on his arm, and he can proudly tell over how he used to kill bad guys for a living; to which his grandson will think he’s great. But this computer guy? What’s he going to say? “Well . . . I used to play Marine Recon Sniper on my computer against other people on their computers . . .” It just doesn’t come out the same.

Okay, on to Torah!
The Gemara discusses our obligations during Shabbos and the different holidays. For all of these days, there is an argument if they should be spent “fully for Hashem” or “fully for ourselves.” “Fully for Hashem,” meaning that we should spend our entire day in learning and davening, or “fully for ourselves,” meaning that we should spend our entire day having festive meals. For each of these days, they conclude it should be “half and half,” and for each of these days, the Gemara brings separate proofs for this conclusion.

There is one exception to this: Shavuos. Concerning Shavuos, there is no side to argue “fully for Hashem.” In fact, Shavuos is a bit strange. As we know, there is a custom to stay up all night learning Torah. But this is a CUSTOM. The halacha is that we should make festive meals. That means making a nice cheesecake for Shavuos is bigger than learning Torah all night.

Interesting, no?

Shavuos is the “Rosh HaShanah” for our Torah learning. After all, it is the day we receive the Torah. Our year's worth of learning is dependent a lot on Shavuos. So why does it seem that cheesecake is more important than staying up all night learning?

It’s known that if you walk up to any Star Trek fan, they can name, quote, and describe everything from any episode or movie without a problem. A person, who, G-d forbid, is suffering from a disease will know everything about that disease and all possible treatments, without having to review it. Baseball fans can rattle of stats . . . there’s no end.

Why is this? Because for each of these people, that “something” is very important and dear to them. And when something is important, you don’t need to review it so many times before it’s etched in your memory.

Torah is no different in this regard. If it’s something that’s important to us and something that we dedicate our lives to, then it will seep in and become part of us. However, if it’s a mere obligation for us to do every day so we can move on to “more important (and fun) things,” then it won’t leave it’s mark.

On Shavuos, when we re-accept the Torah, it’s very important to do so with simcha. Meat and wine help bring a person to that Simcha. Shavuos is the time of accepting for the future. So by accepting it with happiness, we will more likely have greater success in the long run to acquire it.

I wish you all a wonderful Shabbos and a Shavuos filled with Simcha!

Michael Winner

I learn in the “central kollel”, which is housed in the “central shul” of the city. Inside, there are really two kollels, one focuses on Halacha (law) and one focuses on Gemara (Talmud). For those in the “Halacha kollel”, they take subjects, Shabbos, Kashrus, etc… and after learning all the halachos in depth concerning that subject (could take a few years, depending on the subject), they take the Rabbanut tests to get smicha (which is not so simple). I, on the other hand, belong to the “Gemara kollel”. It’s the standard yeshivah learning, take a mesechta (tractate), use the mornings to learn in depth and the afternoons to cover ground, and finish it.

This past week, we made a siyum (completion) on Bava Basra. It took the kollel a year and a half to complete (I learned over time to make up what I missed before moving here). A nice event was held for the occasion and the community was invited to participate. What made it nicer was the Rosh Kollel had everybody write at least one “dvar torah” concerning anything they wanted in Bava Basra, and he took them, edited them, and published them into books. It was very professionally done and it was nice to see everybody’s name and their dvar torah (I could not due to brain and time constraints… plus it’s in Hebrew… I’ll try next time around).

Rav Pavarsky, the Rosh Yeshiva from Ponevezh in Bnei Brak came and spoke, which was a nice surprise. Also, the rav of the city, who’s responsible for nearly every ounce of Torah here, spoke. He said something very interesting. He recently got his hands on a book published by the Ministry of Education, ten years ago. In it, there was a glossary for all the terms that are used within the ministry. He saw the word “yeshivah” and it was defined as “A place dedicated for people to learn Torah which is run independently. It was expected to die out a long time ago, but for some reason they keep getting bigger”. He saw this with his own eyes, in an official Ministry of Education book! Very interesting, yet not suprising. We all got a chuckle from their disappointment.

Baruch Hashem, we just started learning Shabbos, and hopefully we’ll make another siyum in a year and a half.

Okay, on to Torah!
I saw a very nice mix of dvrei Torah from “K’Motzei Shlal Rav” on Shavous this week. I felt like combining two of them together and then taking credit myself.

There’s a famous question concerning the dating of Shavous, which is the 6th of Sivan.

The Gemara says it’s a debate concerning what date the giving of the Torah is on. Rebbi Yossi believes that it was on the 7th of Sivan and the Rabbis believe it was on the 6th of Sivan. Just to make it more complicated…

During the times of the Beis HaMikdash, the number of days in the month was determined by when the new moon was witnessed. Some months could be 29 days long and some months could be 30 days long (today, the calendar is set). Shavous, is the only holiday in the Torah which does not have a set day written. All we know is to count 49 days after the first day of Pesach, and then you will have Shavous. Being that you have two “end of the months” within that time frame, during the times of the Beis HaMikdash, it was possible to have Shavous fall out on the f 5th, 6th, or 7th of Sivan. We have the Gemara which gives the 6th and the 7th credibility, but how can we celebrate Shavous on the 5th and say z’man mattan Toraseinu (the time of the giving of our Torah)? There are no opinions that support the 5th of Sivan was the day the Torah was given!

The answer is that Shavous is not a set time in the Jewish calendar according to the Torah. It is solely dependent of our counting the omer. When our count is done, Shavous begins. This is unlike any other holiday. Rosh Hashanah is the first of Tishrei, Sukkos in the 15th of Tishrei, Pesach is the 15th of Nissan, etc… yet, the giving of the Torah is different. Why?

As we know, during the time between Pesach and Shavous, we left Egypt and prepared ourselves to receive the Torah at Sinai. So too today, we use this same time for preparing to receive the Torah on Shavous. And this is why Shavous is different. The giving and receiving of the Torah is not automatic, which happens on a particular time in the calendar, it’s solely dependent on the preparation time before hand. Once that time is complete, Shavous begins. The being said, how much Torah we wish to receive, is dependent on how much we want it and how much we are PREPARED to receive it. THAT is the key to a successful Shavous! It’s not just another time on the calendar. It’s dependent on how much we want and prepare for it!

May we all have an enjoyable and successful Shavous!

When my Rosh Yeshiva came to yeshiva here in the early 1950s, his mother asked him to meet a woman who will be in Bnei Brak on a certain day. This woman was a vice president of some zionist organization. When they met, she asked him, "Tell me... on your lunch break, do you go to a kibbutz to help pick oranges?"

"Sorry, but there are no kibbutzim around Bnei Brak"

"What about during your vacation, do you go and help pick oranges then?"

"No."

"Does anybody from your yeshiva go?"

"I don't believe so"

"Parasites!!! All of you are parasites! All you do is take and take and don't give anything back to the State!"

At that time, he was only seventeen and didn't know how to answer. He’s a little bit older and he would be more than happy to respond to her.

The Gemara in Sanhedrin 99b asks for the definition of an apikorus (somebody whose belief is not in line with Torah). Rav Yosef said that an apikorus is somebody who asks, "What do these people sitting in learning all day do? They do things for themselves, but they accomplish nothing for anybody else”. Abaya disagrees and says this definition does not fit an apikorus. It's far worse. This person is a Kofer (a denier of the basic tenants of Judaism). Why? Because they are denying a fundamental belief of the Torah, as it's says in Sefer Yirmiya (Jeremiah) 33:25, "Thus said Hashem: If not for my Covenant (the Torah), day and night, heavens and earth, would not be…”

We see clearly now how Hashem views those learning and fulfilling Torah. While a majority of people think that those who learn Torah are mere parasites of society, Hashem is telling us that it’s the opposite, that it is THEY who are keeping the world going. And if you don’t like this idea? The Torah considers you as if you are denying a fundamental belief of Judaism.

My Rosh Yeshiva said that normally the Moshgiach of Chevron was a soft spoken person. In 1967, right before the war broke out; two boys in yeshiva approached him and asked if they should be volunteer ambulance drivers. That evening, he gave the entire yeshiva a fire and brimstone talk. "It's bad enough that most people don't appreciate the power of Torah... but when those who LEARN it all day don't???"

The real power behind the Jewish people is the Torah. When you learn it, you become a generator in this world. When you stop learning it, you no longer generate. What he wanted to point out, is that if those boys left learning, they would be filling those ambulances themselves. By staying and learning, they would be giving power to the rest of the nation, and that in turn would lead to minimize casualties. The military’s might depends solely on the Torah that is being learned and acted upon.

My Rosh Yeshiva heard from the Ponevecher Rav, that whenever he heard that the government was thinking about drafting boys from yeshiva into the army, he took this as a sign that those very same yeshiva boys did not appreciate the power of their learning.

Today is no different. Over the past few weeks, government officials and the media have been harping against those learning Torah more than usual. The headline in Haaretz this past week was Tzippi Livni calling for Labour to join her against the Ultra Orthodox. Because, somehow, we are responsible for the lack of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. That argument, of course, is like the world blaming Israel for global warming.

Two weeks ago, the mayor of Tel Aviv attacked the Ultra Orthodox for not giving proper education to their children and not allowing the government to impose its 'core curriculum' in Ultra Orthodox schools. This is rather ironic, since Israeli education has ranked extremely poor compared to most first and second world countries in the world. That, coupled with the fact that in post high school tests, Ultra Orthodox students have consistently scored higher than their secular counterparts.

But why is there this growing attack on people who are trying to base their lives on Torah? It’s simple. Because we ourselves don't understand nor appreciate the power of Torah.

On Shavous, we ask Hashem to help us over the next year with our learning and understanding of Torah. We should ask him to help us not only in order to know what He wants from us, but also in order to become a generator of life and peace in this world. The more we learn properly, the more we generate it. The more we act according to the principles of the Torah, the more security we bring to the nation.

With this, I wish us all an amazing Shavous and a year where we can appreciate the power of Torah, and that we should truly be the generators of the world.

This week a small 'rift' between Eretz Yisroel and the rest of the world begins. Being that Shavous begins Thursday night, Shavous in Eretz Yisroel finishes Shabbos night, since we only keep one day. Meaning we go straight from Shavous into a regular Shabbos with a regular Torah reading. Those outside of Eretz Yisroel on the other hand keep two days of Shavous, meaning this Shabbos is Shabbos/Shavous with a special Shavous Torah reading. So this Shabbos, we will be reading from Parshas Nasso while everyone else will be reading a special Shavous parsha. Next week, we will be reading Ba'ahalosha while everybody else will be reading Nasso. We'll continue this dance for a little bit and finally meet up sometime later in the summer. Being that practically everybody on this list lives outside of Eretz Yisroel, we'll follow that schedule. So, this week you'll receive this Shavous dvar torah and next week, you'll receive one for Nasso. So, on to Torah!

Like every holiday on the Jewish calendar, we don't merely commemorate Shavous, but we re-live it. As we say during davening, it is "the time of the giving of our Torah". We're not merely saying "Yeah! We received the Torah today!" as if it were the Fourth of July, but rather we are re-accepting it just as our ancestors did 3300 years ago at Sinai.

The question could be asked: How, on our low level, can we possibly accept the Torah as our fathers and mothers did so long ago. Then, they stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai and saw open miracles. The revelation was unparalleled in history. While, we on the other hand, are so far away from that level. How can we accept Torah as they did?

Thankfully, we have Rav Eliyahu Dessler to answer our questions.

As we know, the two sets of luchos (tablets) given to Moshe were quite different from one another. The first set was "from G-d". They were "made in heaven", if you will, and represented the spiritual level of the Jewish nation at that particular time. After the Golden Calf Incident, and the subsequent destruction of the luchos by Moshe, Hashem gave us a second set. However, Hashem told Moshe that HE himself had to make them. Just as the new luchos were made of earthly material, so too was their new spiritual level.

What was the difference between the two? The Gemara (Avodah Zorah 5a) tells us that had we remained strong, instead of giving in to the Golden Calf episode, we would have been worthy to receive the Torah on the appropriate level: that of the first set. With that, we would have been completely free of the power of evil and even of death itself. However, since we did give in, we received the Torah on a substandard level and have a constant uphill battle to learn and keep the Torah. Quite a bit of difference.

What happened to the remaining pieces of the first set? They were place in the Aron (Ark) along with the new set. Asks, Rav Dessler, if the first luchos represented a now impossible spiritual level to attain, what is the point of keeping them together with the second luchos in the Aron?

The lesson says Rav Dessler, is that a person should always set his goals for the top. He should always ask of himself, "When will my deeds resemble the deeds of my forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov?"

Or as the old saying goes: "Aim for the stars... the worst that happens is that you land on the Moon"

When Hashem told Moshe to make the second luchos He told him to make them "like the first" (Shemos 34:1). But still, how can both levels be comparable.

We must realize that although we will not be seeing and hearing thunder and lightening this Shavous, we still have a way of achieving some degree of that original level.

When we are determined to accept Torah fully and to put our full effort into living a life of Torah and mitzvos, then we are comparable to the previous generation and the first luchos. Perhaps we cannot reach their actual spiritual level, but we can attain the level of desire that they originally had.

With that I wish you all a meaningful Shavous!

Thankfully all the new additions to the site are going as foreseen. There is now an option on the site to automatically email or make a 'printer-friendly' copy of any dvar torah that has been written since the inception of this site. Also, the new HTML format will now automatically add links to previous dvrei torah for each week. The dictionary will be slowly updated as time goes by. Thank you very much for all those who have been in contact with me concerning this. And of course, if anybody has any other suggestions, please feel free to email me. Okay, on to Torah!

The festival of Shavous, which begins this year on Sunday night, is the day we re-live the giving of the Torah; for it was on this day, thousands of years ago, that the Jewish people received the Torah. Being so, I thought it would be appropriate to visit a Midrash that deals with this subject.

"Rabbi Berachya said, 'The tablets were six tefachim (3.5 inches per tefach - 21 inches total) long - in some sense, G-d grasped two tefachim, Moshe grasped two tefachim, and two tefachim bridged the gap between them" (Shemos Rabbah 28:1)

The above Midrash is rather cryptic. Thankfully, the Shem MiShmuel has an interesting interpretation which we can learn some important lessons.

According to the Shem MiShmuel, we can divide all mitzvos into three groupings: thought, speech, and action. Mitzvos in the 'thought' category include: believing in Hashem, loving your neighbor, not being jealous of another person’s property, and the like. Other mitzvos are in the sphere of speech, such as not speaking loshon horah, recalling the exodus from Egypt, not lying, etc... Most other mitzvos are within the realm of action, such as putting on tefillin, taking a lulav, keeping Shabbos, eating kosher, etc...

Each of these divisions is on three different levels. Thoughts are not entirely under a person’s control. No matter how much he tries, he cannot always stop them. A great example would be Ray from the film, Ghostbusters, who accidentally brought the State Puffed Marshmallowman to destroy New York City. Gozor told the Ghostbusters that their thoughts would bring upon the destruction of the world. No matter how much they tried, they couldn't clear their heads, hence a giant marshmallowman was sent down from the evil spirit world to destroy our world.... I can't believe I remember this stuff... But the point is the same nonetheless!!! We cannot always control our thoughts.

Action is on the other side. We can control our actions, despite what modern society would like us to believe. We have the ability to do certain mitzvos and certain aveiros, according to our needs or desires.

Speech is right in the middle. As Shlomo HaMelech wrote, "The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the tongue answers from G-d" (Mishei 16:1). Rashi follows up with, "He arranges his counsel and his words in his heart, but when he comes to answer, G-d makes him stumble over his words, or, if he merits it, He prepares a good reply for him"

We have all been in situations where we meant to say one thing, and something completely different comes out. So we see that speech can sometimes be under our control and sometimes under Hashem’s.

From here, we can better understand the Midrash. The two tefachim that Hashem was holding represents the power of thought. The two tefachim that Moshe was holding represents the power of action. The two tefachim in the middle represent the power of speech, which is in-between.

We see from Rashi's comment, that if man is worthy, Hashem will give him control over his speech. That being, if a person's actions are up to par, Hashem will give him this new power. Continuing, Shlomo HaMelech writes, "Commit your affairs to G-d, and your thoughts will be established" (Mishlei 16:3).

From here we see that our actions can not only give us the power of speech, but also the power of thought! We see an amazing concept at play here: Everything is dependent on our actions! If we find it hard to control our speech or then we need to work on our actions and mitzvah observance. Even harder is that of thought. This, at first, is within Hashem's control, but by working on the perfection of our actions and speech, He will even grant us control of this aspect.

When Hashem offered the Torah to the Jewish people, they replied, "All that G-d has said, we will do and hear" (Shemos 24:7)

We will do. 'Do' came before 'hear', because they understood that action was the key to success! Does it ever annoy you that you go to pray and you cannot focus? Or how about you inability to 'say what you mean'? We all have these problems. But by 'committing our affairs to G-d' and directing the powers that He gave us for His service, He will certainly give us control over the rest of these powers. On that note, have a great Shabbos and a meaningful Shavous!!

Over the past week or so, I've been fighting an ongoing battle against some form of a cold and/or biological weapon. Been going and on off. My father, surprisingly, told me to see the doctor. I say 'surprisingly', because, as my father SHOULD know, men do NOT visit doctors. That is a Woman thing. Certainly not men. At most, we'll go to our mechanic and see what he thinks. Me? I go to Joe the Barber. But since I don't have an appointment for a bit, I guess I have to fight it out. I do highly recommend Tylenol Night if you have a good 12 hours to sleep it off. Unfortunately, I don't. Missed my chavrusa, minyan, and came a little late to work. It's been 15 hours since I took those two pills, and I'm still feeling the effects. So, if I don't make any sense, or if I actually DO make sense for once, now you know why....boy, those pink elephants on my monitor are funny...




"You shall count for yourselves
From the day after the Shabbos;
There shall be seven complete Shabbos;
Until the day after the seventh Shabbos
You shall count -
Fifty days" (Vayikra 23:15-16)

Twice, in the Torah we are commanded to make a counting. The counting of the Omer, from between Pesach and Shavous, as just mentioned, is one time. And the second time, is the seven days that a person must wait in order to become spiritual clean, after being afflicted by tzaaras.

The exodus from Egypt was the Jewish people leaving a country of moral and spiritual degradation and beginning to live under the laws set out by Hashem Himself. It took the Jewish people forty-nine days from the time they left Egypt to arrive at Mt. Sinai and receive the Torah. These forty-nine days are seven weeks. Each week is a cycle unto itself. Like somebody who was afflicted by tzaaras and must wait one week to become pure, the Jewish people at this time, must go through seven of those cycles in order to cleanse themselves to receive the Torah. This cleanliness will have no affect on a person, unless he or she works on themselves during this period. That is why the Torah states, "You shall count for yourselves". The counting shall be for YOUR good.

Rav Dessler rights an interesting piece concerning the counting of the Omer, which we are just about to finish this Thursday night. From the Oral Law we know that 'Shabbos' in the second line, really refers to Pesach. If taken literally, like the Sadducees did, one would have to start the counting of the Omer on a Sunday, since it IS the day after Shabbos. But the halacha is known (see the Gemara in Menachos) that 'Shabbos' here means Pesach. Hence, every second night of Pesach we begin counting the Omer.

The question is clear. Why does the Torah state 'Shabbos' when it really means 'Pesach'? Why didn't it clearly say, "From the day after Pesach"?

Rav Dessler suggests that the Torah is hinting an idea. The meaning of the word, 'Shabbos', or 'Shabbat' if you're like my father, is "cessation". It generally means "cessation of work". The day we left Egypt, being Pesach, was a cessation in of itself. Like mentioned above, we were suddenly pulled out of Egypt, and brought to Hashem. We were cutting off our ties to Egyptian society, and we were beginning anew. That is why Pesach here is referred to as 'Shabbos', and why the seven weeks are referred to as 'Shabbos'. Pesach, along with each new week, is a cessation of the spiritual 'filth' that we have collected over the year. By cutting our connection with such filth, will we be able to properly receive the Torah again on Shavous. Have a great Shabbos and Yom Tov!