Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parashat summary followed by a Dvar Torah on Shavuot;

” Parsha in a Nutshell ”

Parshat Bamidbar, is primarily involved with the census taken of the Jewish people in the second month of their second year in the desert. After listing the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel, the Torah presents the totals of men between the ages of twenty and sixty for each tribe, the overall count being 603,550. The encampment structure is then described, with the tribe of Levi in the middle, safeguarding the Tabernacle and surrounded by the twelve tribes of Israel, each in their own designated area. The appointment of the tribe of Levi as the spiritual leaders of the Jewish people is presented, and their own census is taken, apart from the rest of Israel.

The Parsha concludes with the instructions given to the family of Kehat, the second son of Levi, for their role in dealing with the most sacred parts of the Mishkan.

“ Dvar Torah “

Out of all the three Pilgrimage festivals (Shalosh Regalim) marked on the Jewish calendar, Chag Hashavuot seems to be the least exciting one of them all. It lacks in fun activities, when compared to other two Festivals, Pessach and Sukkot. There are no huts to build, no family gathering for the seders, no endless glasses of wine and above all, no “dayeynu”! Instead, we get an all night study session, which is a challenge for most of us to stay up and learn, and a dairy meal – not very enticing in this age of lactose intolerance and weight watching.

But on the other hand, the theme for Shavuot seems to be the most important one of them all. On Pesach, we celebrate our liberation and on Sukkot, we commemorate our

forty years of living in the desert under G-d’s protection. However on Shavuot, we celebrate the receiving of the Torah which should be the most important one of them all, since it was only then when we saw G-d’s revelation and we officially became his Chosen People. So, when it comes to celebrate Shavuot, not only it should not lack in activities, but on the contrary, it should be the most exciting festival on the Jewish calendar!

So, to make up for the lack of fun on Shavuot, it’s customary to read the book of Ruth which is my favorite books in the entire Tanach! In short, the story of Ruth which should touch everyone’s heart is as follows:

The book of Ruth opens with the account of the migration of a wealthy man named Elimelech, along with his wife Naomi and their two sons, from the land of Israel to the immoral society of Moav. Elimelech was leaving the Holy Land to escape the pressures of the poverty-stricken Jewish people who were constantly asking him for handouts. Soon after their arrival, Elimelech dies and the two sons marry royal Moavite princesses — one named Orpah and the other named Ruth. After a short period time, the two sons also died. Having lost both her husband and her sons, the righteous Naomi decides to return to her homeland and bids farewell to her daughters-in-law. Orpah, at first refusing to abandon her mother-in-law, decides to stay in Moav. Ruth, on the other hand, cleaves to her faith and ascends to Israel with Naomi, willing to encounter the harsh poverty which awaited them, stating the famous quote to her mother-in-law, “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people are my people, and your G-d is my G-d; where you die, I will die and be buried”.

Poor and hungry, Ruth gathers bundles of wheat that have been dropped by the reapers in the vast fields of Boaz, a prominent Jewish judge who was also a relative of Naomi’s late husband, and feeds her mother in law. Eventually, Boaz takes notice of Ruth’s righteousness and asks her for her hand in marriage. Their great-grandson is King David, which was one of the greatest kings Israel ever had.

So, you may ask yourself, what is the connection between the Book of Ruth and Shavuot? Well, a few different answers are given. One is that Shavuot is also known as the Harvest Festival. The book of Ruth gives us a picture of the harvest, and how the poor was treated in the harvest season with sympathy and love. Another reason is that Ruth was the ancestor of King David who was born and passed away on Shavuot. But the ultimate connection is found in Ruth’s famous quote to Naomi, ” Your people are my people, and your G-d is my G-d “. Ruth who was just a convert, was willing to follow her mother-in-law’s uncertain destiny just because of her strong faith in Hashem. So too, when the Benei Israel were in the desert, uncertain of their future and destiny, accepted the Torah on Shavuot, wholeheartedly, and proved that they do truly believe in G-d. They too said the famous quote “Naasei Ve Nishma”, we shall observe and then we shall listen!

Yes my friends, the Festival of Shavuot and the book of Ruth carry the same message with them. They both teach us to have faith in Hashem and never give up hope. On Shavuot, we remind ourselves about our commitments to Hashem and our everlasting love for him, just like the commitments of a bride and a groom under a Chupah. We also read the book of Ruth to remind us that even at the darkest point in our lives we should never give up hope. Life without hope is meaningless, and hope can only be achieved through faith. On Shavuot, we might lack in physical activities, but in spirituality we are having a blast! We should know that G-d never abandons his children and as long as we keep his commandments, his protection and his blessings will be bestowed upon us!

Shavuot is like a honeymoon in which G-d and his people, imagined as bridegroom and bride, are alone together, completing their union in love. In a love relationship, trust is the key factor to its success. G-d believes in us —— all we need to do is to have faith in him too!

Shabbat Shalom & Chag Sameach;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parashiot summaries, followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parashiot in a Nutshell ”

On the Mount Sinai, G-d tells Moshe the laws of the sabbatical year: every seventh year, all work on the land should cease, and its produce becomes free for the taking for all, man and beast.

Seven sabbatical cycles are followed by a fiftieth year — the jubilee year, on which work on the land ceases, all servants are set free, and all ancestral estates in the Holy Land that have been sold revert to their original owners. Additional laws governing the sale of lands and the prohibitions against fraud and lending money for interest are also given.

G-d promises that if the people of Israel will keep His commandments, they will enjoy material prosperity and dwell secure in their homeland. But He also delivers a harsh “rebuke” warning of the exile, persecution and other evils that will befall them if they abandon their covenant with Him. Nevertheless, “Even when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away; nor will I ever destroy them and to break My covenant with them; for I am the L-rd their G-d.”

The Parshah concludes with the rules on how to calculate the value of different types of pledges made to G-d.

“ Dvar Torah “

In the first two Parashiot that we read this week, Behar, the main topic of discussion is about the laws of “Shemitah”- the Sabbatical year for the land of Israel. All agricultural work in the Land of Israel must come to a stop during every seventh year cycle. The laws of Shemitah requires the land to be at complete rest for the entire seventh year. It means that on the seventh year there should not be any planting of seeds, plowing, pruning or harvesting. Additionally, any fruits which grow of their own accord are deemed ownerless and may be picked by anyone.

If you really think about it, this is a very difficult mitzvah to observe, especially in the old days, when the majority of the people were either farmers or shepherds. Not only you were unable to plant in order to feed your own family, but cutting off your livelihood completely for an entire year, can be very worrisome and challenging.

However, Hashem gives his assurance for those who keep the laws of Shemitah. The Torah says: ” The land will give its fruit [in the preceding years] and you will be satisfied; you will dwell securely upon it”. After such a powerful promise, the Torah then brings up a hypothetical question raised by the people, namely, “What will we eat in the seventh year — behold! we will not sow and we will not gather our crops!”. And then Hashem reassures the people by saying: ” I will ordain My blessing for you in the sixth year and [the land] will yield a crop sufficient for three-year period “. This means that the sixth year will give sufficient crops until the end of the eight year, since anything planted in the eight year, will only produce its crops in the ninth year.

Although, it’s great to have such a guarantee by the G-d Almighty himself, but the Chachamim are bothered by the way the assurance is given. After the Torah tells them that ” The land will give its fruit and you will be satisfied”, why should there be a doubt in people’s mind to ask ” What will we eat in the seventh year?” Why does Hashem need to promise again that the sixth year will produce three times a regular year?? Shouldn’t the first assurance be sufficient??

Rabbi Yissachar Frand gives the following beautiful explanation to the above question. In order to answer the question, first we need to see why did Hashem give us the mitzvah of “Shemitah”. He says, the reason that Hashem has given us this mitzvah is not because the land needs to rest. Land does not need to rest! This is apparent from observing the lands outside Israel. The non-Jews work their fields year after year after year, without a break, and they still produce good quality crops and fruits! Do you think that the vineyards in California or France produce less quality grapes than the ones in Israel? Accordingly, Rabbi Frand says that the whole purpose of Shemitah is for the farmers to take a break from their routine lives and come to realize that it’s not because of their hard labor that the land produces so much crops, but rather, it’s because of G-d’s will. Hashem can still feed the farmer even if he doesn’t do any work! The seventh year is the time for the farmers to take their minds out of the physical world and engage themselves in spirituality. It’s the time to remind themselves that their livelihood comes from the Heaven above, and not from the strength of their arms, nor from the intelligence of their brain!

Accordingly, Rabbi Frand concludes that the mitzvah of Shemitah is a test! It’s a test of faith! Those who are true believers are satisfied with Hashem’s first assurance; that ” the land will produce its fruit and you will be satisfied “. They fully trust in Hashem that he will provide, and they are satisfied with whatever Hashem provides for them! But those who lack in faith, they want to see a physical miracle. That’s why Hashem gives a second assurance for those people, that ” in the sixth year you will yield three times the regular crops! Since these people don’t have a strong faith, Hashem doesn’t want them to enter the seventh year being worried! He shows them the miracle beforehand! Hashem can tolerate people who lack in faith, since even these people are blessed to get crops for the seventh year. But G-d forbid, for those non-believers who don’t keep the Shemitah laws at all, the Torah says that they will eventually be thrown out of their lands!

Yes my friends, all of our sustenance comes from the Heaven above. No matter how smart we are or how mighty is our physical strength, our livelihood is fully dependent on G-d’s will! And to realize that, we need to take sometime off from our routine lives and spend it with the Almighty. Although the laws of Shemitah does not apply to many of us anymore, but we still have the Shabbat. Accordingly, our sages use the same reasoning to explain Shabbat. The reason that Hashem has given us Shabbat is not because we need a day of rest, but rather, once a week we need to stop working and come to realize that whatever we’ve achieved in the previous week is not because of our hard work and our intelligence, but it’s because of Hashem’s generosity and blessings, and He’s the one who provides our livelihood! It’s a day we should spend with the Almighty, go to Shul, pray and be thankful to him!

So my friends, remember that Hashem will provide and all we need to do is to have faith in him. He’ll stand up to his task, if we’ll stand up to ours!!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear Friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell ”

This week’s Parsha begins with the special laws dedicated to the Kohanim, the Kohen Gadol (“High Priest”), and the Temple service. A Kohen may not become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, unless it’s a close relative. A Kohen may not marry a divorcee, nor a harlot; and a Kohen Gadol can only marry a virgin. A Kohen with a physical deformity cannot serve in the Holy Temple, nor can a deformed animal be brought as an offering.

A newborn calf, lamb, or kid must be left with its mother for seven days before being eligible for an offering; one may not slaughter an animal and its offspring on the same day.

The Torah then discusses the festivals throughout the year: (Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shemini Atzeret); followed by two constant mitzvot maintained in the Mishkan: the lighting of the menorah every day and the displaying of the “show-bread” every week.

The parsha concludes with the horrible incident of a man who cursed G-d’s name (blasphemy) and was subsequently punished with the death penalty at Hashem’s command.

“Dvar Torah “

In this week’s Parsha, in the middle of the detailing the Jewish Holidays of the calendar year, the Torah gives us the following commandment: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not remove completely the corners of your field as you reap and you shall not gather the gleanings of your harvest; for the poor and the proselyte shall you leave them; I am Hashem Your G-d.” Basically, we are commanded to leave over certain parts of our harvest to the needy and the stranger in our midst. A Jew must leave a corner of his field for the poor. Likewise, if he forgets to pick up certain parts of the harvest, these too become “Gifts for the Poor”.

Rashi explains the phrase “For the poor and the strangers you shall leave them….”, means that you should leave the crops for the poor and they will pick it up themselves; you may not assist them with their gatherings.

Once again, Rashi’s explanation sounds strange to me. It needs clarification. Why can’t we help the poor with his gathering?! If we are suppose to have compassion for the poor, why not go all the way and give him a helping hand too?! I’m sure if you would take a poll whether or not it would be preferable for a field owner to help the poor people collect their gifts from his field or make them do it themselves, the overwhelming response would have been that the field owner should be a nice guy and lend a sickle or offer a helping hand to the poor who came to his field. But strangely enough, Rashi says that the Torah rules to the contrary. The commandment says: “Leave it for them.”…… Do not be a nice guy. Do not help them! The pasuk concludes with the words “I am Hashem your G-d”. Rashi says that the intent is a promise: “If you leave them alone and allow them to pick it up themselves, I am the L-rd who will give you your reward.”

Once again, Rabbi Yissachar Frand gives a beautiful explanation to the words of Rashi. When the poor person comes to the field and the owner comes to greet him and says: “Let me help you collect your stuff”, or alternatively, when the owner rushes to cut down the stalks for the poor person and hands it to him, the owner is in effect telling the poor person, “Listen here, I AM giving you a present.” But the Torah is telling us otherwise! The leftover crops are NOT gifts from the landowner. They BELONG to the poor person! If the owner participates in the collection, he is acting like the OWNER of those items. When the owner gives a gift, he expects the poor person to be grateful to him and appreciate his generosity. But the Torah says, NO! Leave it for the poor and the strangers. The Torah’s message to the land owner is: “You are not the owner of that portion of the field. The portion of the crop that falls or gets forgotten from the outset belongs to the poor!” The way to convey that is for the land owner to take no part in the distribution of these items. Let the poor collect it themselves — it is after all their property in the first place! Only when the landowner comes to realize that it’s not him who is helping the poor, but it’s Hashem our G-d, only then he’ll be qualified to be rewarded by the L-rd!

Yes my friends, when Hashem has been good to us and we’ve been blessed with extra funds to give to charity, we should not think of our charitable donations in terms of “I am giving MY money to you.” G-d made me the steward over this money. It is as if I am the trustee of a foundation. When the trustee of a foundation gives out the money, it is not his money. It belongs to the foundation. He is merely a trustee, charged with guaranteeing that the funds are distributed. Similarly, when we give out money to charity, we are not giving out the money from our own pocket — it comes from G-d’s table!

That’s why the ultimate form of charity is to give money to the poor, without him knowing where the money came from! Because the poor person should not be grateful to the donor, but to the G-d Almighty himself!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin

Dear friends;

I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parashiot summary, followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parashiot in a Nutshell ”

G-d warns against unauthorized entry “into the holy.” Only one person, the Kohen Gadol (“high priest”), may, but once a year, on Yom Kippur, enter the innermost chamber in the Sanctuary to offer the sacred ketoret to G-d.

Another feature of the Day of Atonement service is the casting of lots over two goats to determine which should be offered to G-d and which should be dispatched to carry off the sins of Israel to the wilderness.

The Torah warns against bringing sacrifices anywhere but in the Holy Temple, forbids the consumption of blood, and details the laws prohibiting incest and other deviant sexual relations.

The Parshah of Kedoshim begins with the statement: “You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your G-d, am holy” followed by dozens of mitzvot (commandments) through which the Jew sanctifies him or herself and relates to the holiness of G-d. These include: the prohibition against idolatry, the mitzvah of charity, Shabbat, sexual morality, honesty in business, honor and awe of one’s parents, prohibition against taking revenge and holding a grudge against another Jew; and also the ultimate principle of Torah is mentioned, which is:

— Love your fellow as yourself.

” Dvar Torah ”

Parashat Kedoshim, the second Parsha of this week’s double Parashiot, begins with the words: Hashem spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel and say to them, “Kedoshim tihyu ki kadosh ani Hashem Elokeychem” — “You shall be holy, for I, Hashem your G-d, am holy”! The question that immediately comes to mind is, what exactly does it mean to be “Holy”?! The Oxford dictionary defines holiness as being “an act of  dedication or devotion to serve G-d”! To other religions, Christianity in particular, the ultimate holiness is achieved, when you entirely dedicate your life to G-d. According to them, to achieve the highest level of sanctity, one should lock himself up in a monastery on the top of a mountain and serve G-d the entire day. One should not get married and be indulged in sexual activities. But this is not what the Torah means by being “holy”. So, what does it mean to be holy according to jewish religion?!

Well, there are many different interpretations according our sages.  Even among our early commentators there has been disagreements about the exact meaning of the phrase “You shall be holy”. Rashi, for example, interprets the mitzvah as one of self-control. He says that you can become holy if you can refrain from engaging in forbidden sins, mainly, forbidden relationships. The word “Kadosh” literally means, “separate”. Thus, the meaning of “You shall be Kedoshim” is “You shall be separated – from forbidden relationships.”

Ramban on the other hand, disagrees with Rashi, which is not so unusual. He says that “You shall be holy” is not just about having self-control over forbidden sins. Rather “to be holy” means to have self-control over activities which are permissible to you too. For example, we are allowed to eat, but to be holy, we should not be a glutton. We should put a limit on what we can eat and how much we should eat. We are allowed to drink wine, but to be holy, we need to drink to moderation. We are allowed to have relationship with our wives, but we should not do it voraciously. Holiness can be achieved by restraining oneself somewhat from even those physical pleasures that the Torah permits.

But the beauty of our religion is that, there is no definite right or wrong answer to Torah’s questions. We would just continue to read the commentaries until we find the one which sooths our heart the most. Accordingly, I came across an interpretation given by “Chatam Sofer”, one of the leading Orthodox Rabbis of European Jewry in the first half of the nineteenth century, which really touched my heart. He says that the answer to how to be holy is given in the pasuk itself. The Pasuk says: “You shall be holy, because I, Hashem your G-d, am holy”. So, in order to reach the ultimate level of holiness, we have to act like G-d. But, we don’t know much about G-d’s characteristics, except his 13 attributes of mercy mentioned in the Torah which says: “G-d is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in kindness and truth…” So in order to reach the highest level of holiness, we have to be compassionate towards our fellow Jew and act kindly towards him, just like Hashem is toward us! That’s why the rest of the Parsha is mainly about how to act compassionately towards your fellow Jew. It talks about how we should care and respect our parents. It talks about not to take advantage of the “blindness,” handicaps and mistakes of others. It talks about our obligation to give to the poor. It talks about not to take revenge and not to hold a grudge. And above all, to love your fellow Jew like yourself.

Yes my friends, according to Chatam Sofer, “holiness” is not measured by the level of your observance, but rather, it’s measured by the level of your compassion towards your fellow human beings! That’s why, in order to be a holy Jew, we can not isolate ourselves like the monks and live on top of a mountain. To be holy, G-d wants us to live in the midst of our people in order to show that we do care about them. In order to be holy, one must get married and one must raise children, and one must belong to a community. One must show that he cares about his family, his parents, his community and his fellow Jew. Nobody can reach the ultimate level of holiness all by himself. You can not separate yourself from the rest of your people and think you can become a very holy person. Ultimate holiness is achieved when you can show that you care about others, and you can get along with everyone else. And thats what holiness is all about: “Love, respect and compassion towards your fellow Jew….”

Unlike the gentiles, where they search for holiness by looking at the relationship between man and G-d, we find holiness by looking at the relationship between man and man. So, make sure that you have respect for everyone. You’ll never know……. anyone can be a very “holy” person!

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin