B"H
Tuesday, Iyar 16, 5782 (31st day of the Omer)/ May 17, 2022
This week’s Torah reading in the Diaspora is Parshat B’har. (In Israel Parshat Bechukotei will be read). Parshat B’har begins with the mitzvah of Shemitah – The Sabbatical year.
The Parsha begins, “G-d spoke to Moshe at Mount Sinai, saying, ‘When you come to the land that I am giving you, the Land should rest a Shabbat to G-d. Six years you may sow your field and for six years you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce. But the seventh year the land shall have a complete rest - a Shabbat to G-d.’”
During the Shemitah year, the owner of the field, and everyone else were equal. Everyone had the same rights to the produce of that year. The poor and needy can help themselves to whatever is in the field.
Q. What lesson does the mitzvah of Shemitah teach us?
A. The Shemitah year teaches us to better understand and appreciate the needs of the poorwho don't have their own fields and must continuously rely on the mercy and generosity of others.
During the Shemitah year, when everyone is equal, the wealthier people who own fields would have a better feeling and understanding of what the poor go through all other years. This gives them a better understanding of the mitzvah of Tzedakah and the importance of helping those in need.
On an extremely cold night, the town Rabbi was collecting money to buy firewood for the poor. He went to the home of the wealthiest man in town and knocked on his door. The rich man opened the door and seeing the Rabbi standing there in the freezing weather, invited him into the house. But the Rabbi didn't enter. Instead, he called the owner outside and started discussing with him about communal matters.
The rich man, who wasn’t dressed properly for the outside, soon became very cold and began shivering. Yet the Rabbi kept on talking and ignored his repeated requests to continue their conversation inside.
Finally, the Rabbi told him the purpose of his visit, "I need money for firewood so that the poor people can stay warm in their homes in this freezing weather."
"I will give you as much as you need!" answered the rich man. "But please come into the house. I'm freezing and you must be too!" The Rabbi agreed and followed the rich man into the house.
After the rich man made his generous contribution, he asked the rabbi, "Why didn't you come in when I first invited you in?"
The Rabbi smiled and said, "I wanted you to feel the suffering of the poor and the urgency of this request. The longer we stood outside and the more you felt the cold, the more understanding you became!" It is the same with the Sabbatical year. It gives the wealthy a better feeling for the poor.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY
Thursday, Iyar 18, 5782 (33rd day of the Omer)/ May 19, 2022
Today, the eighteenth day in Iyar, is Lag B’Omer - the day in which two special events occurred about 2,000 years ago.
1) A plague, which took the lives of Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students, stopped on this day.
2) It is the day of passing of the Talmudic sage and mystic, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Rashbi). He is buried, together with his son, Rabbi Elazar, in Miron, Israel. Tens of thousands come every year on this day to visit, pray, sing and dance at Rabbi Shimon’s burial site. Rabbi Shimon told his disciples that the day when he returns his soul to his maker should be a very joyous day. Unfortunately, last year 45 people perished due to a stampede at the gravesite. May their souls rest in peace.
Q. Why the name Lag B’Omer?
A. Between Pesach and Shavuot (next upcoming holiday) we count the Omer for a total of 49 days. “Lag” is a combination of two Hebrew letters, Lamed & Gimel which spell Lag. Each Hebrew letter has a numerical value; Lamed is, 30; Gimel is 3. Together they add up to 33. Lag B’Omer means the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer.
Q. Why are bonfires lit at Rabbi Shimon’s gravesite and throughout Israel in his honor on this day?
A. The Zohar says that on the day Rabbi Shimon passed away, a great light of endless joy filled the day because of the Torah secrets he revealed to his students. The sun did not set until Rabbi Shimon had revealed all that he was allowed to. As soon as he was done, the sun set and he passed away. A fire, miraculously surrounded the house, preventing anyone, but his closest students from approaching. This is the basis for the custom of lighting bonfires on Lag B'Omer.
Q. What are some of the teachings of these two sages, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon?
A. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai gives the following parable to explain how we are all responsible for each other. A boat filled with people was sailing on the open seas, when one of the passengers took a sharp tool and began to bore a hole under his seat.
"What are you doing? Stop!" The other people on the boat shouted hysterically. The man replied, "What business is it of yours? I paid for my seat. I’m boring a hole under my seat!"
The other passengers replied, "Fool! Don't you realize that by boring a hole under your seat, you will flood the boat and we all will drown?! Similarly, every act we do affects not only us but the entire world!"
One of Rabbi Akiva’s famous teachings, “Love your fellow as yourself is the basis for the entire Torah and mitzvot.” It is not just another mitzvah, but the foundation of everything.” May their memories on this special day be a blessing to us all. Amen.
HAVE A HAPPY, HEALTHY, SUCCESSFUL AND WONDERFUL DAY
B"H
Friday, Iyar 19, 5782 (34th day of the Omer)/ May 20, 2022
Yesterday was Lag B’Omer. On this day a plague which took the lives of 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva’s students, stopped. Rabbi Akiva was one of the Ten Martyrs who were murdered by the Romans for teaching Torah.
The Talmud tells that before Moses passed away he asked G-d to show him the leaders of the Jewish nation throughout the future generations. G-d granted his request and when he saw Rabbi Akiva’s greatness in Torah, Moshe felt humbled in comparison to him.
Until the age of forty, Akiva was a simple shepherd and ignorant of Torah. Then, with his wife Rachel’s encouragement and support, he began studying Torah and eventually became the greatest Talmudic sage of his time.
Rabbi Akiva’s story is a reminder that it is never too late or too old to begin studying Torah.
One of Rabbi Akiva’s famous sayings was, “Whatever G-d does, is for the good!”
There are many stories about Rabbi Akiva throughout the Talmud and Midrash. The following story is one of the classical stories of Rabbi Akiva with a very profound lesson to each of us.
Once Rabbi Akiva was traveling and toward evening decided to go into town and sleep over at the local inn. But the people of the town were wicked and didn’t allow him into the inn.
Instead of being upset, Rabbi Akiva said, “Whatever G-d does, is for the good.” So he went out to the field and slept there.
Rabbi Akiva had with him his donkey to ride on, a rooster to wake him in the morning and a candle which he used in order to study Torah.
During the night, a lion devoured the donkey & a cat ate the rooster. Rabbi Akiva said, “Whatever G-d does, is for the good.”
Later during the night, bandits attacked the city and took all the people prisoner. In the morning Rabbi Akiva and his students realized what a great miracle happened to them and how their lives were spared thanks to the fact that they were not allowed to sleep in that city. Had the donkey or the rooster made noise or if the candle had been lit, they would have been discovered and would have been killed. Rabbi Akiva said to his students, “Always remember, whatever G-d does, is for the good!”
Rabbi Akiva always gave credit to his wife for his Torah knowledge. He used to tell his students, “Know that all my knowledge and all of your knowledge is because of her.”
SHABBAT SHALOM
Montreal candle lighting time: 8:06 / Shabbat ends: 9:19
B"H
Tuesday, Iyar 23, 5782 (38th day of the Omer)/ May 24, 2022
This Shabbat we will recite the fifth chapter of Pirkei Avot. In the beginning of the chapter our sages tell us that the world and everything within it were created by the Ten Divine Sayings recorded in the beginning of the Torah – in Book of Genesis.
Also, the number of Commandments on the Two Tablets which G-d gave to Moshe at Mount Sinai were, Ten. The Ten Commandments conform to the Ten Sayings with which G-d created the world. Through the observance of the Ten Commandments, which include all the commandments, we sustain the world.
The Talmudic sage Rabbi Chanania ben Akashia said, "The Holy One blessed be He wished to confer merit upon Israel, therefore He gave them Torah and mitzvot in abundance." Thus, all the mitzvot of the Torah were given for our benefit in order to "confer merit" upon Israel.
The Midrash states that the Torah was the "blueprint" by which G-d created the world. Just as the architect builds according to a pre-written plan, so too, G-d looked into the Torah and created the entire universe accordingly.
Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, compiler of Pirkei Avot cautions us, "Be as careful in the performance of a seemingly minor mitzvah as of a major one, for you do not know the reward given for the mitzvot." Being the "blueprint" of creation, each mitzvah is very significant.
Rabbi Yaakov, the Magid of Dubna, explains this with a wonderful parable. An architect visited another country and saw a most beautiful palace. He decided to build the same palace for his king. He found the plan of the palace and copied it in great detail on a small piece of paper.
When he came back home, he asked someone to make an enlarged but accurate copy of his blueprint. The person worked diligently and when he was finished, he proudly showed the architect his drawing, expecting a handsome reward. But when the architect carefully studied the copy, he shouted, "You missed one dot which was in the original. Why did you leave out the dot?"
The man, not understanding why the architect was so upset, replied, "It was only a small dot, I didn't think it was that important."
The architect replied, "The blueprint that you copied was drawn at a greatly reduced scale. The small dot represents one of the pillars which support the entire upper floor of the palace. If this pillar is not in place, the whole building will collapse! It may look like a dot, but it is essential to support the entire structure!" The same, says the Magid, is with the mitzvot. What we think is a "minor mitzvah" may be the very pillar which has a major effect on the upkeep of the entire universe!
Just try sending an e-mail without the little dot in the address… Some mitzvot may seem to us as minor, but like the seemingly minor dot, they can make a major difference!
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
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