Monday, Tammuz 5, 5782 / July 4, 2022
B"H
Monday, Tammuz 5, 5782 / July 4, 2022
This week’s Parsha (in the Diaspora), Chukat, begins with the mitzvah of "Parah Adumah" - "Red Heifer". The ashes of a red heifer mixed with water, were used to purify those who came into contact with a dead body so they can enter into the Holy Temple.
Death symbolizes the very opposite of holiness and G-dliness, which is called "life". One who came in contact with a dead person became spiritually contaminated and had to go through the process of "purification." Through the process of Parah Adumah and immersing in a mikvah, a person was transformed from a state of spiritual impurity to a state of spiritual purity.
Since the time of Moshe, nine red heifers have been used for spiritual cleansing. Since the destruction of the Temple, the process of Parah Adumah was stopped. Moshiach will use the tenth "Parah Adumah" to purify the people of Israel.
The Torah calls this mitzvah, "Chukat HaTorah." It is one of the many mitzvot in the Torah that have no logical or apparent reason, which is why this category of mitzvot is called Chukah. This mitzvah is considered illogical due to the following paradox; while the spiritually impure person becomes pure through the process of Parah Adumah, the Kohen (Priest) who handles the ashes becomes impure.
The irrationality of this mitzvah teaches us that to make the leap from impurity to spirituality, one has to commit to G-d’s mitzvot beyond the limitations of one's logic.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that Parah Adumah teaches us the extent a Jew must commit to help another one spiritually. One must make personal sacrifices to help a fellow Jew come closer to G-d.
Our sages say that even when it seems that we are making a sacrifice to benefit someone else, in the long run, it is we who benefit from it too. The following story illustrates how helping others helps us.
Two peddlers were walking from village to village to sell their wares. One cold winter day it began snowing heavily and walking became treacherous. After many hours, one of them was so overcome by the cold and exhaustion, that he fell to the ground.
The partner, also shivering from cold, realized that his friend would freeze to death if left alone. He immediately went to work on his friend, massaging him, moving his hands, feet and limbs, so they wouldn't freeze. He worked for many hours, even though he too was freezing from the cold. Finally, a coach drove by, picked them up and brought them to the city where they were attended by a doctor.
The one who massaged his friend boasted that he saved his friend's life. However, the doctor said to him, "True you saved his life, but he saved your life too... for had you not massaged him and used your hands and feet to help him, you too, would have suffered from frostbite.." Helping others benefits us.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY
Tuesday, Sivan 29, 5782 / June 28, 2022
B"H
Tuesday, Sivan 29, 5782 / June 28, 2022
In the past few Parshiot, the Torah describes many of the episodes in which the Jewish people complained and rebelled against Moshe, which in essence means they rebelled against G-d. For example, we just read how they complained about the manna – their heavenly food that came each day. They also complained about going into Israel, after hearing the negative report from the 10 spies. In this week’s Parsha, Korach, we read about another rebellion against Moshe and Aaron, this time by Korach and his 250 men.
Even though the events in the Torah took place over three thousand years ago, they contain a lesson for us today. “Torah” comes from the word “teaching.” What lesson can we find in all these negative stories?
The Jewish people of that generation had seen great miracles; The Ten plagues, The Exodus, The Splitting of The Sea, The Pillar of Cloud and Fire which accompanied them in the desert, The Manna, a heavenly food which came from heaven each day and The Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai etc., one miracle greater than the other. How can we understand the fact that they lacked trust in G-d?
The answer is that because they saw miracles continuously, they mistakenly viewed them as nature. As a result, they took these things for granted and stopped appreciating the wonderful miraculous blessings that G-d provided for them daily. They stopped seeing G-d’s hand in everything and complained about trivial things.
The lesson for us is that we, too, must realize and appreciate our daily miracles!It is essential that we realize them as such and not take them for granted. If we only took the time to think how many breaths we inhale and exhale each day, how many steps we take every day and how many words we speak each day, etc. etc., we would appreciate the magnitude of our daily blessings. They’re all miracles.
Our appreciation of all these wonderful blessings would alleviate our feelings of anxiety and stress in our day to day life.
A mother was once walking along the seashore with her son, when a huge wave carried him out to sea. The mother began praying, “Please G-d, give me back my child!” Shortly afterwards a huge wave deposited her child unharmed at her feet. The mother embraced the child, “Thank you G-d!. Thank you! I will be forever grateful to you!”
Then she looked at her child again, looked up to heaven and said sternly, “And what about his hat?”
Every morning we recite a number of blessings thanking G-d for giving us so many wonderful things in life. These blessings are found in the beginning of the Siddur (daily prayer book). Reciting these blessings each day, reminds us not to take things for granted, thus making our day a more meaningful day.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY
Monday, Sivan 28, 5782 / June 27, 2022
B"H
Monday, Sivan 28, 5782 / June 27, 2022
This Shabbat (in the Diaspora) we read Parshat Korach. In Pirkei Avot we will recite the fourth chapter. Wednesday and Thursday will be Rosh Chodesh of the New Hebrew month, Tammuz.
Parshat Korach begins with the story of the rebellion of Korach against Moshe and Aaron. Korach was a member of the tribe of Levi, and a cousin of Moshe and Aaron. Being jealous of Moshe's and Aaron's positions of leadership, he gathered 250 people, most of them his neighbors from the tribe of Reuben, and together they rebelled against Moshe and Aaron.
Korach claimed, "The entire congregation is holy and among them is G-d; Why then do you exalt yourselves above the congregation of G-d?" Moshe warned Korach that his uprising was not against him and Aaron but against G-d, Who appointed them to their positions.
When Korach didn't repent, Moshe told everyone to distance themselves from Korach and his people. The Torah tells us, "And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up and their households." Korach and the leaders of the revolt disappeared into the ground.
Our sages say that Korach was one of the wealthiest people. So why did he rebel against Moshe and Aaron? Because of jealousy! He was jealous of their leadership positions to which G-d appointed them. Korach used his wealth to gain power and argue to against Moshe and Aaron.
In the fourth chapter of Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Elazar HaKapor says: “Envy, lust and seeking honor drive a person from the world!” Korach’s envy and desire for honor, drove him, literally, out of this world…
King Solomon in Proverbs says, “Envy brings a rotting of the bones.” A person who is envious and jealous of others will always be frustrated and irritated. Happiness is a result of being satisfied and thankful for whatever we have. One needs to acknowledge and recognize the positive and good we have rather than being envious of the things we don’t have.
In the very beginning of the Torah, in Genesis we read about the disastrous effect of jealousy. Cain killed his brother, Abel, as a result of deep jealousy, when Abel’s sacrifice was accepted, while his was not.
The sages give the following parable to what envy can lead: Satan once told an envious person, “Ask me anything and you will be granted, but know that whatever you get, I will give your neighbor double!” Begrudging his neighbor, the double portion, he couldn’t bring himself to ask for anything good because his neighbor would then get double. When pressed on by Satan to make a request, he finally said, “Make me blind on one eye, so that my neighbor will be blind on both…”
Our sages say that jealousy which results in positive achievements is good. For example, jealousy of scholars, or of people who are very pious, which results in greater scholastic achievement or performing more good deeds, is a good quality.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY
Friday, Sivan 25, 5782 / June 24, 2022
B"H
Friday, Sivan 25, 5782 / June 24, 2022
This Shabbat we read Parshat Shlach which tells the story of the spies which Moshe and the Jewish people sent to scout the Holy Land. Instead of a good report, they brought back a negative one. The people then refused to go to the Promised Land and as a result, that generation didn’t go into Israel.
Q. One of the things the spies said, "And we were in our own eyes as grasshoppers and so we were in their eyes." What lesson can we derive from this?
A. Our rabbis explain that how a person thinks of themselves in their own eyes, so they are perceived by others. Had the spies been positive and confident in their mission, remembering that they were sent by Moshe, they would have been proud of their mission. But with their negative attitude ("we were in our own eyes as grasshoppers") they projected the same image about themselves to the inhabitants of the land and, they too, viewed them as grasshoppers - small and meaningless creatures.
When we do a mitzvah, performing our G-dly mission in this world, it is important to feel proud and positive about it. This feeling will then be projected and transmitted to others and they too will be affected and influenced to do the same.
The third chapter of Pirkei Avot, which will be recited this Shabbat, begins, 'Reflect upon three things and you will not come to sin: Know from where you came and to where you are going and before Whom you are destined to give an accounting... before the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.'"
Our sages give the following parable which illustrates the point. A fox once passed by a beautiful garden, filled with row after row of delicious fruits and vegetables. The food looked so tempting, the fox wanted to eat it all. But there was a problem. A fence surrounded the garden. The fox went around the entire fence many times. Finally, he found a hole but it was too small to fit through. The fox was not about to give up so easily. "Where there's a will, there's a way!" he thought.
He decided to fast until he would be skinny enough to fit through the small opening. For three straight days, the wily fox fasted. Finally, he was able to fit through the hole.
Once inside the garden, he ate to his heart's content. When he finally could eat no more, it was time to leave. But try as he might, he couldn't. He was too fat to go back through the hole! So he had to fast another three days until he could squeeze through again.
When he finally made it outside the fence, he looked back and exclaimed. "Garden, Garden, how beautiful you are. But what good is your beauty when the way I went in, is the way I went out!”
We come into this world with no material assets and leave this world without any of the physical and material things we amassed during our lifetime. The only assets we take with us in the end are the mitzvot, good deeds and spiritual accomplishments we accumulated in this world.
SHABBAT SHALOM
Montreal candle lighting time: 8:29 / Shabbat ends: 9:46
|
Torah Fax is published daily (except Shabbat & Sunday) so you can learn something new every day |