KMTT - the Torah Podcast
KMTT - Parshat HaShavua Emor
KMTT - Parshat HaShavua Parshat Emor, by Rav Jonathan Snowbell
This is KMTT and as we're back in today's Thursday and we have today Shihon Pashata Shavua. The Shih will be given by Rav Johnson Snowbell. Rav Snowbell is from Ishiva Taratsion. He's originally from Canada and I think one can safely guess that this might be the first Canadian tour podcast. So for those of you who are from Canada, you can take pride in a native son. Shih is in Pashata Shavua for Pashata Mo. I will be back after the Shihon as usual with the Halakha Yomit. The Muadim are mentioned in the Torah in many different ways which highlights the importance and centrality of the Muadim on the one hand or as the Gomarn-Sakhim says, "Kolmhevazette mo'adot kilo vedavodazara" and the multifaceted nature of the Muadim on the other hand. In Pashiyotmishpatim and Kitisa, the Muadim are stressed as agricultural holidays. If we look at the Pashiyotm in Pashiyotmishpatim, we will see that the larger and broader context are Pashiyotm regarding the agriculture. If we look at the Sashiyotm in Pashiyotmishpat, we will see that the Sashiyotm in Pashiyotmishpatim is the first time in Pashiyotmishpatim and we will see that the Sashiyotm in Pashiyotmishpatim is the first time in Pashiyotmishpatim and we will see that the Sashiyotm in Pashiyotmishpatim is the first time in Pashiyotmishpatim and we will see that the Sashiyotm in Pashiyotmishpatim is the first time in Pashiyotmishpatim and we will see that the Sashiyotm in Pashiyotmishpatim In the context of the agricultural lifestyle of working the land for six years and abstaining from that on the seventh year of Shemitah and working for six days and resting on the seventh day for the sake of your ox and your donkey who is who are working in your fields. The Shloshit Regalim are first mentioned. Khagamatsot is mentioned as being in the month of Aviv, Aviv referring to the time where the Sill rise ripe. Chevuot is referred to as Khagakatsir and Sukhot is Khagakasif, while the Torah does mention the Aliala Regal aspect as well. It seems that it is connected to the agricultural side, a Thanksgiving festival where crops are brought to the Beitamikdash. Parashat Pinchas, in Safer Bami Bar, clearly stresses the special activity of Corbanot inside the Beitmikdash. We read the Maftir Anyamim Tovim from Pinchas and Filat Musaf on the Shloshit Regalim is taken from it as well. Pinchas however, is the mikdash purely from the perspective of the Khonim and relates very little to Amistrel's activity on the Regalim. Parashat Reh, of course, fills in that niche. Here the Mitzvah of the Aliala Regal is clearly formulated. [speaking in Arabic] Regarding Shloshit, it says, [speaking in Arabic] [speaking in Arabic] And finally, [speaking in Arabic] [speaking in Arabic] [speaking in Arabic] Clearly, on each hug, we are demanded to be the mikdash also summarizes this idea of Aliala Regal. As an aside to our listeners in Khut's law, I would like to point out that the Parashah of Aliala Regal at the end of Parashat Reh is appropriately read on every regal. But this is true only in Khut's law. In Arati Surah, we never read that Parashat Anyamtov. I once heard from my father-in-law that apparently it is more important to remind the Jews dwelling in Khut's law about the Mitzvah of Aliala Regal. [speaking in Arabic] Finally, at the heart of Parashat Amor, our Parashat Shavua is the Mo'adim. We read this Parashat on the first day of Holomo'ed in Israel of Pesach. And we also read it on the first day of Sukkot. Parashat Amor'edim in Amor seems to fuse together some of the different elements that we see in the other Parashiot. On every Mo'ad, it is mentioned with the exception of Shavua'ed, the Musafim, by briefly being alluded to in a statement of Ikraf Temi Shalashim. The agricultural element is also to be noticed. The Corbanha Omer and the Corban Shtehalashim of Shavua'ed rotate around the agricultural calendar and therefore the Torah deemed appropriate to interject Hilchot Pe'avalakot at this junction. Likewise, the Arba Menim mentioned at the end of the Parashat, with regard to Khagasukot, seemed to have a strong agricultural orientation to Sukkot as Khagasif. The element that seems to be in the forefront of Parashat Amor, however, is the element of the unique Mitzvoth of each and every Mo'ed. In this year, we will attempt to tie in the unique Mitzvoth of the Shoshit Regalim to the element that seems to be missing in the Parashat, and that is the element of how Amistrall relates to the Miqdash on the Regalim. It is well known that Rev Solovechik, Zihon Ali Rakha, contrasted our Amidallifne Hashem on Shabbat to our Amidallifne Hashem on Yomtov. Shabbat is a day where we bring Hashem into our homes, while Yomtov is a day that we go into Hashem's house. This of course has its greatest expression in the Mitzvoth of Ali'alarego. On Shabbat, we are not commanded to be O'alarego, we are on Shoshit Regalim, we are. The difference between Shabbat and Yomtov expresses itself also in a halacha that is relevant today. The shuhan aruch in Aurochaim, kafkuf kaftet, writes that Yomtov clothing should be of a higher quality than that of Shabbat clothing. This fits in perfectly with the idea I mentioned. On Shabbat, Hashem Kivyachal is being hosted in our homes, so while we wear good clothing, we are in our homes and there is no need to wear our finest. However, on Yomtov, when we are being hosted in Hashem's house, then we wear our best clothing. In this year, we will take this idea one step further and attempt to show how the unique Mitzvoth of each and every chag, at least of the Shoshit Regalim, express an attempt to elevate our lives and our homes from good Jewish homes to homes that integrate the standards of the Beitamikdash into them. In Parik of Gimmul-Pasukwav of this week's parasha we read, uvachamishas ar yom la chodesh hashem hag ham matzot la shhem, shivat yami matzot tochaelu. The main characteristic of the first of the Regalim is matzot, and of course, next to it, the prohibition of chamets. Typically, when we view the idea of matzot on the 7-day regal, we relate it back to Yitzi at Mitraim. As the Pasukwav in Parashaat bo describes, vio fua tabatsek asher hotsiyomimitraim or wot matzot shiloha mitz. Ky gourishomimitraim veloyachalulit mahmea vegam cedah a la rasulahim. In other words, hag hamatzot, being one of the earliest Mitzvoth, does not relate to anything in the world of Mitzvoth prior to it, because there was not anything before it to relate it to. Therefore, the significance of the matzot is vis-a-vis its historical context. However, halachically, we know that the concept of chamets, the concept of chamets and matzah, do appear in another context. In Vaikra Parake, in the context of the Corban mincha, the Torah states the following. The Hanutere, it bemanna, yohilu aheron uvanav, matzot te aher bemachom kadosh, bahatzar or amoed, yohilua. Lot te aher hamatz, hag hamatzotat yohtamei shai, kodesh kadashimhi, kadashimhi, kadat vegasham. In the Beitamikdash, in the context of Corbanot, throughout the 365 days of the year, chamets was prohibited. The exceptions were, the corbanste halachim un shavuot, which we will touch upon later on in this year, and the ten lobes of chamets brought with the corban toda. Though those lobes were not brought on the mizbeach. Different ideas exist as to the significance and the meaning of the prohibition of chamets. If we take one approach, one that was adopted from our Shaptai rapaport, then the message regarding the sur of chamets in the Beitamikdash is the following. Chamets is the bread which is complete. It has gone through the entire process of leavening, and it is a good piece of bread that can last. And matzot is the bread which was not allowed to be completed. Matzot is therefore incomplete. In our amidalifnehasham, which in the Beitamikdash is most intense and most impossible to shunt aside, we are never allowed to have a sense of completion. There is no completion leafnehasham in our daily lives outside of the Beitamikdash, where the amidalifnehasham is accentuated only at certain key moments, during Tfilah, while learning, perhaps when we do mitzvot. But it is not in the forefront and most times, we are permitted to eat chamets, because what we eat is not directly related to our amidalifnehasham. But in the Beitamikdash, our amidalifneh is constantly and perhaps overwhelmingly entirely elifnehasham. That being the case, with the exception of the two exceptions we mentioned, it is constantly inappropriate to have any sense of completion, and therefore chamets is inappropriate to be brought on amis bech. When we now view chagametsot, not from the vantage point of the first holiday in history, but a holiday that comes at a regular point during the year, and relates to the life patterns that take place during that year, we have a new perspective. On chagametsot, we are commanded to purge our homes of chamets in order to bring something of the lifestyle of the Beitamikdash into our homes. It is important to note that on chagametsot, which will soon be contrasted to sukkot, we are mimicking the Beitamikdash from a prohibitive and active perspective. With the exception of Lelha said there, we do not actively live a lifestyle of mikdash, but we accept upon ourselves the stringencies and prohibitions of the Beitamikdash. What we have seen up until this point is that complementing the mitzvah of going to the mikdash on chagametsot, we are also commanded through the main mitzvah of the chag to raise our lives to the standards in the Beitamikdash. If we skip to chagasukkot, we will see a similar but different orientation. The main mitzvah of chagasukkot is, of course, yeshivaba sukkah. Many of the key elements of sukkot and masechat sukkah relate the sukkah to the Beitamikdash, as I heard in Shurim from our Rosenweig. Firstly, the ushami in the second parak of sukkah, quoted by the toesfoot in the Babali in the second parak, states. May tama de rabbiliyzer ne markan teishvu. Venemar lehalaan ufetach uhelmo edyeishvu yo manvalayla. May ye shivash ne markan lehalaan asaba haleot kiamim. Af ye shivash ne markan na asaba haleot kiamim. The ushami learns from a pasuk regarding the miluim in the mishkan that just as in the miluim, the kohanim lived in the mishkan for seven days, day and night. So, too, we are commanded to live in the sukkah for seven days, day and night. It is apparently appropriate to connect sukkah to the mishkan, otherwise this lemude would not hold water. Secondly, the Babali in the first parak of sukkah, according to the opinion that the sukkot that Benaestrel traveled in a while in the desert were real sukkot, learns that the sukkah of the sukkah must not be mekabel tuma, and must grow from the ground from korban haggiga. Mekish sukkah al-haggiga, mah-haggiga da varshein no mekabel tuma. Vigidullo min ha'aretz, af sukkah da varshein no mekabel tuma, vigidullo min ha'aretz. Once again, if this crucial halahot of sukkah can be derived from korban haggiga, then the world of sukkah and the world of korbanot must be related to each other. Furthermore, while the sukkah seems to be a house, and in a house we may have our dirty pots, and we may go to the bathroom in our house, and we may hang laundry in our house, and therefore all these actions should be permitted in a sukkah. In fact, all these actions are prohibited in the sukkah. The sukkah is not just a place of dwelling, it is a kadosh place of dwelling, in which all these activities are inappropriate, just like in the Beethamikdash. And without exhausting all the examples, one last example. The essential nature of the mitzvah of the shivabah sukkah relates to the mikdash. The mikdash is the physical meeting point between Amistra'l and Khadosh Baruchu, where we sacrifice animals and eat them. And I stress the eating as part of our avodata shim. So too in the sukkah, we take most of our physical activities and transform them into mitzvah that we do lifne ha'shim. Once again, we see that the regal of sukkot not only demands of us to go to the Beethamikdash to visit ha'shim, but it also demands of us to change our lives and living environment to the standards of the Beethamikdash. By, of course, living in the sukkah. On sukkot, differently than ha'kamatsot, we are demanded to adapt our lives not only to the prohibitions of the Beethamikdash, but we are demanded to actively live a lifestyle of mikdash, where all our physical actions are mitzvah in the kadosh environment of the sukkah. Finally, we arrive at shabuot. On shabuot, today, we of course have no mitzvot, and the tikunal shabuot has become the centerpiece of the kad. However, if we once again transport ourselves to the time and place where there was mikdash and reflect on the nature of shabuot, we will see that shabuot too fits into the rubric that we have developed. I'll bite in a unique manner. On shabuot, the only mitzvah of the day can be that the only mitzvah of the day can be performed in the Beethamikdash. In our parashat, the Torah describes. After we count the 7 weeks, we reach the 50th day upon which we bring a new mitzvah. What is the mitzvah? The Torah continues to describe. The mitzvah of the day can be a mitzvah of the day. The mitzvah of the day can be a mitzvah of the day. The mitzvah of the day can be a mitzvah of the day. The mitzvah of the day can be a mitzvah of the day. The mitzvah of the day can be a mitzvah of the day. The mitzvah of the day can be a mitzvah of the day. The mitzvah of the day can be a mitzvah of the day. The mitzvah of the day can be a mitzvah of the day. In contrast to how we fulfill it today, the mitzvah of the day is a unique mitzvah. Though it appears to be a korban musaaf, it is not. There is a different korban musaaf mentioned in Parshat Pinchas for Shavuot. This is the mitzvah of the day. Just like on Sukkot, we sit in the Sukkah and we take our bowmanim. And just like on Pesaf, we do not eat komets. So too on Shavuot, we bring the korban of Shde'alachim. In contrast to Khagamatsot and Khagash of Wot, where through their unique mitzvot, we saw that there was an element of transforming our homes and lives into some element of mikdash. On Shavuot, there is no such transformation of the home. In fact, the only mitzvah that can be performed is in the mikdash. So how in fact does Shavuot fit into what we have been describing? The message of this gap that exists by Shavuot is clear. There are times when we attempt to bring mikdash into our homes. On Khagamatsot, through adopting the prohibitions of the mikdash and on Khagash of Wot, through adopting an active lifestyle of mikdash. However, ultimately, the intensity and levels of dushya that Amisrael achieved in the mikdash cannot truly be achieved in our everyday lives. In relating to the mikdash, the Torah left out one Khag that is kulomikdash, to stress that ultimately there is no real replacement for the mikdash. We can try to bring mikdash into our lives, and at certain times, and in certain ways, we can even be successful. But in no way can that replace the mikdash. Shavuot says to us, in order to truly have the experience of mikdash, we need the mikdash. Aldera Khavuot, I would like to conclude with the following remark. If on Khagamatsot, one could feel ambivalent about the need to do Ali ala regal. Why should I go to the mikdash if I can make my own home into a mikdash? And if on Khagasu kot, one could also feel that same feeling of ambivalence by saying, "Why should I go to the mikdash? I can make my suka into the mikdash." Shavuot, as we have explained, leaves no room for this feeling of ambivalence. Everyone will feel the clear need to go to the mikdash on Ali ala regal to infuse the mikdash into their lives. How appropriate, then, that Hashem's response to this would be, "Davka" on Shavuot to command a corban of Khamats. Hashem, the host par excellence, says to us, "If you recognize the need for mikdash in your lives and all come to me on Shavuot, then you can bring the food from your world into my world." Because, of course, what we are doing is we are taking Khamats, the food that we eat, and we are permitted to eat the whole year, except for Passaf, and we bring it on the mismir, that never accepts Khamats, except for on Shavuot. With this is sealed, the ultimate merger of Amistra with Akkadosh Baruchu. When we bring our food that is prohibited in God's world into the mikdash, onto the mismir, there is no better moment to sense a feeling of completion, where Khamats, the complete food, can find its way, if only for one day a year, into our Ami Dalif Naashhem, even in the mikdash. Shavachalom and Khag Shavuot Sameach. You have been listening to this shield in Pashatah Shavuot of Pashatah Mo, by Harah of Jonathan Snowbell. Today's aloha yomit, skipping towards the end of Shmanessay. The Gomara says that when one finishes Shmanessay, one should take three steps back, and notan shalom, give shalom, to take one's parting from God, that we mean over this mother. The way the post can understand this is that when one takes three steps back, the Gomara says that those three steps should be taken bikriyah ahat while bowing, and then when saying the pashuk, a sashshalom bimor marv, to the left, who ye a sashshalom alayno, to the right, I'll call you Swell to bow forward vimul ami. The bikriyah saif already points out that most people do this in a manner that doesn't seem to be what the Gomara says. That is, that when they begin to say a sashshalom wimor marv, they take three steps back. But the Gomara says explicitly, one should take three steps back, and then the akhah can notan shalom is smallo. Afterwards, he gives peace, he gives shalom to his left, and therefore the bikriyah saif says, and almost all postkum kotis lalaha, that one should take the three steps back bikriyah while bowing forward without saying anything. After you get to the end of the three steps, you left God's presence, then you say goodbye, you say sashshalom, by turning to the left, a sashshalom alayno, turning to the right, who ye a sashshalom, and bowing in front of yourself, bowing in front, of akhoyis lal vimor marv. So again, there is, it's kind of a minute, even today, the bikriyah saif says it was a minute, and his time, and it's still, I think, the kind of minute, it's partial human nature that you begin to meet the sashshalom. The proper way to do it is to take three steps back without saying anything while bowing forward, and then when you get to the end, turn to the left, turn to the right, and bowing again in front of oneself. There is some question about the imu amain in the end. You are davening by yourself to feel a ba'lakhash silently. The imu amain and the saif amain, who you saying that to? There was some postkin who the khasen would say imu amain, but a private person should be saif amain, sashshalom alayno, who ye a sashshalom alayno, bakoyis lal amain. But the main egg in all this he doing is to saif amu amain, and the explanation given, and then quoted by the postkin, is to actually say imu amain to the angels who are accompanying you. Now, there's one place thing where I says with two angels accompany a person everywhere. I don't think we normally talk to them though. I think here the idea is that if we were in the presence of God, when saying sashshalom, because to be that is defined as being, all may live near manner, standing in God's presence, if you were in God's presence, when you sash when I say, we take the three steps backwards, you are leaving God's presence. So I think the angels accompany you. And therefore you say imu amain to them, because you're leaving God's presence, the angels which were the angels of God, so you say to them, let us all say imain to the blessing of peace, a sashshalom alayno, bakoyis lal amain. It's a very, very beautiful idea. Literally how to understand the angels accompanying man is a different question, but nonetheless part of the leaving God's presence at the end of sashshalom, the way it works out, we say imu amain is we take the angels with us. You might think the angels stay now, they come with us, and if we say imu amain to them. The minag quoted by the rama is that after one finishes that, there's another section, keep adding things sashshalom alayno. We say ji yi yi yi yi yi yi wa latsang, shi yi wa ne baitamikdash vimhair vimhair vimhair amain. Since fidla is avodasha balayv, it's God's service in the heart, and it's parallel, taking the place and extending avodasha bamikdash, the real presence of God was in the mikdash, so having davened and not been in the mikdash, we feel a certain lacking, something missing. And if for the last thing we say is, you should restore the baitamikdash and the real avodas. That was in the mikdash, and then we will actually serve you properly, fully, the way we were supposed to, and bimhair vimhair vimhair vimhair vimhair vimhair vimhair vimhair amain. That's it for today. Tomorrow we're back with the Arab Shabbat program. It's the first Arab Shabbat program since the Pesach break. This has been Ezubek. Wishing you all to be cut, a torah, nizion, or mezion. You've been listening to KMTT broadcast by mishivata, nizion. I'm here and I want you to listen to it. Kim yizion, tezeitorah, uddavaha sham, miyurushalayim. [BLANK_AUDIO]