B"H

Monday, Adar 17, 5781 / March 1, 2021

From Purim to Pesach (Passover) is exactly four weeks. The first Pesach Seder will be celebrated Saturday night, March 27. Between now and Pesach we will, G-d willing, discuss many interesting concepts of Pesach.   

This week’s Parsha, Ki Tisa, relates the story of the Golden Calf.  The Torah tells us, "And the people saw that Moshe delayed coming down from the mountain, so the people gathered around Aaron and they said to him, 'rise up and make for us gods that shall go before us; for as for Moshe, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'"

Aaron knew that Moshe would soon descend from the mountain; so to delay them, he said, "Go and bring the golden rings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons and your daughters, and bring to me."  But the people brought the gold faster than Aaron imagined.

Q. Why did Aaron offer to accommodate the people, which resulted in the greatest sin in Jewish history?

A. According to the Midrash, Aaron realized that if the people built an idol on their own, they would complete it quickly. Therefore, he took charge of the project, trying to postpone it until Moshe returned.  But when Aaron took the gold and threw it into the fire, he couldn’t imagine that out would come a Golden Calf. This event took place only 40 days after receiving the Torah, while Moshe was still on Mount Sinai.

When Moshe came down the mountain carrying the Two Tablets, and seeing the Golden Calf and the people dancing in front of it, he immediately threw down the Tablets and broke them. This sin was so grave that G-d wanted to destroy the entire Jewish nation, but Moshe pleaded with G-d for mercy. 

After breaking the Tablets, Moshe prayed for forty days.  He went up Mount Sinai again where he stayed another forty days and returned with the second set of Tablets. The day he came down the mountain with the second Tablets and G-d's forgiveness, was Yom Kippur.  Thus, Yom Kippur became an everlasting day for forgiveness and atonement. It teaches us the power of repentance.

In the beginning of this Parsha we read about G-d’s commandment that the people give a half-Shekel toward the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), which was to atone for the sin of the Golden Calf. Later in this Parsha, we read about the actual sin of the Golden Calf.

Q.Why did the Torah change the order of events and tell us about the building of the Mishkan and the half- shekel to atone for the sin of the Golden Calf, before telling us the actual sin of the Golden Calf?

A.    Our sages tell us that G-d prepares the remedy before the plague and the cure before the sickness.  The Torah tells us about the building of the Mishkan and about the giving of the half Shekel before the sin of the Golden Calf to teach us this lesson, that before the sin, G-d already prepared the cure.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY

B"H

Tuesday, Adar 18, 5781 / March 2, 2021

In this week's Parsha, Ki Tisa, we read about one of the gravest sins committed by the Jewish people - the sin of the Golden Calf. It took place at the end of the forty days when Moshe was still on Mount Sinai to receive the Two Tablets. At this point they gave up on Moshe coming back.   

The Torah tells us, "And the people saw that Moshe delayed coming down from the mountain, so the people gathered around Aaron and they said to him, 'rise up and make for us gods that shall go before us; for as for Moshe, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'" 

Q.   Why did they think that Moshe would not come back?

A.  When Moshe went up Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, he told them that he would return on the 40th day. The day Moshe went up was not to be included. The people, however, began their count from that day. According to their count, Moshe didn’t return on the 40th day.   

Q.  Aaron took the gold which was brought to him and threw it in fire and out came the Golden Calf. Why did a calf emerge from the fire?

A.  Before Joseph died, he commanded that his bones be taken out of Egypt, at the time of the Exodus, and be buried in Israel. After Joseph died, Pharaoh had Joseph's coffin placed in the Nile River.  Pharaoh thought that, without Joseph’s remains, the Jewish people would not be able to leave Egypt. 

When the time for the Exodus came, Moshe went to the Nile and put in a plate with the inscription, "Come up ox," because in Jacob's blessings, Joseph is likened to an ox.  Immediately, Joseph's casket rose to the surface and was taken out with them when they left Egypt. Someone got hold of this plate and threw it into the fire. Thus, a Golden Calf emerged.

Q.Parshat Ki Tisa has 139 verses. Yet, in the Shabbat Torah reading the Kohen and Levi (first two Aliyot) take up 92 verses! The remaining five Aliyot together contain only 47 verses!  Why is the majority of the Parsha read for the Kohen and Levi?

A.  From all the twelve Tribes, the only one that did not worship the Golden Calf was the Tribe of Levi. Not even one person of the tribe of Levi (which includes the Kohen too) sinned.

For this reason our sages divided the Parsha this way, so that the entire story of the Golden Calf will be read for the Kohen and Levi, whose ancestors were not involved in the sin of the Golden Calf.  Calling up anyone else for the reading of this tragic episode in our history would be embarrassing for them, for it would be a reminder of the terrible sin of their ancestors. Thus, the entire story is read for the Kohen and Levi.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY

B"H

Thursday, Adar 20, 5781 / March 4, 2021

In the beginning of this week's Parsha, Ki Tisa, G-d tells Moshe that when counting the Jewish people, in order to know their amount, each one should contribute a "half Shekel."  By counting the amount they contributed, Moshe would have the exact count of the Jewish people. 

Q.  Why did G-d command that they be counted through donating a half Shekel and not by counting the people?

A.  According to Jewish tradition it is forbidden to count Jews directly.  When King David once counted his soldiers directly, a plague broke out and many died.  Thus, Jews are careful to be counted in a non-direct way. For example, in synagogue, when we want to know if there are ten Jews in attendance for a Minyan (quorum), we use the following verse of Psalms: “Hoshia-et-amecha-uvarech-et-nachlatecha-uraim-vnasaim-ad-haolam.” The verse has ten words in it. By assigning a word to each person, we know the number of people present.

Rabbi Yitschak Elchanan Spector, Rabbi of Kovno, was once collecting charity for the poor to provide food and wood for heating. He came to the home of one of the wealthy people in his community, who was also a Torah scholar.  Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan told him the reason for his coming and asked for his contribution.  The wealthy man gave a small donation.  When the rabbi remarked how small the sum was compared to what he could afford to give, the wealthy man replied, "As you know I spend much of my time studying Torah.  This is my contribution to our community.  Let other wealthy people, who don't study Torah, help fulfill this community mitzvah."

The rabbi, showing his disappointment, replied, "Your answer reminds me of the following story; During the Russian-Japanese war, Russian citizens were called on to contribute a minimum of ten rubles to the war chest. 

Officers of the Czar came to collect money from the citizens of one of the villages. Everyone gathered in the town hall and the officers told them how important it was to take part and contribute a minimum of ten rubles.  One after the other the peasants announced their contributions of ten rubles.  One poor peasant, however, got up and announced that he is giving 100 rubles!  Everyone was shocked.

"How can you manage to give such a large sum?" he was asked. 

The peasant explained, "A while ago I was brought before a judge and fined ten rubles.  When I told the judge that I didn't have the money, he sentenced me to a month in jail. Now, I figured if a month in jail is worth 10 rubles, then 10 months in jail should be worth 100 rubles!  I'm ready to sit 10 months in jail which should count as my contribution of 100 rubles to the Russian army!"  Upon hearing this everyone in the room burst out laughing.

"The same is with you", concluded Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan.  "Your studying Torah will help the poor of our city like that peasant's sitting in jail will help the Russian army!   True, studying Torah is very important, but it will not make one needy person less hungry or warmer during the winter.  One cannot excuse himself from giving charity by opening a Bible. One must open his pockets and give!"

"This is also the lesson from our Parsha," continued the rabbi.  "When it came to count the Jewish people G-d told them to give a half-Shekel coin, to teach them that in order to be counted one must give and contribute!"

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY