Parshas Emor - Of Mice and Men: Divide and Conquer

Parshas Emor

Of Mice and Men: Divide and Conquer

By: Daniel Listhaus

וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: שׁוֹר אוֹ כֶשֶׂב אוֹ עֵז כִּי יִוָּלֵד וְהָיָה שִׁבְעַת יָמִים תַּחַת אִמּוֹ וּמִיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי וָהָלְאָה יֵרָצֶה לְקָרְבַּן אִשֶּׁה לַהֹ'ו

“Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain under its mother for seven days; and from the eighth day on, it will appease for a fire-offering to Hashem.”

-Emor 22:26-27

The Kli Yakar¹ on this passuk (verse) makes the following observation. The Torah, in discussing the birth of animals, does not use the expression of “when an animal gives birth to a baby”, but rather says, “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born”. We see from here that the Torah defines an animal by its name immediately when its born. As soon as a sheep or a cow gives birth, its product is right away called as such, for it has reached its purpose in life. The purpose of a sheep is to be a sheep. The purpose of a cow is to be a cow. There is no guesswork needed to determine the complexity of any given creature.² As the saying goes, “If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have to at least consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands”.³

However, as the Kli Yakar continues, man is very different. A person is defined by his actions. We are put in this world with a bechira (free choice) as to how we will direct our lives. The directions we choose and actions we ultimately do are what determine the level of perfection we have achieved.

The Kli Yakar is not really teaching us anything that we did not know already, but rather something which is so obvious to us that we often do not think about it. As people, we are born as unshaped, raw beings waiting to be formed into what we are supposed to achieve. Within each and every child that is born, there is an inherent, incredible potential waiting to be unleashed through making the right decisions. The Mesilas Yesharim, based on the teaching of Rebbe Pinchas ben Yair⁴, goes through the various levels a person could achieve – from cautiousness all the way to the highest level of kedusha (Holiness). We literally have the ability to make correct choices and ultimately to persevere and reach the highest levels of the Mesilas Yesharim – becoming as close to Hashem as a malach (angel) while privileged with access to ruach HaKodesh (Holy spirit) and being capable of performing techiyas hameisim (resurrection of the dead).⁵

Nonetheless, it is often hard for us to realize our own potential. We all know that there is much that is expected from us, and that there have been great people in the past who have accomplished tremendous amounts. However, when it comes to us, we often convince ourselves that it is out of our reach or capability. Somehow, we are supposed to understand our potential and try to achieve it; but how do we get ourselves to take the first step and then how do we go about accomplishing what we are here to do?

The Mishna in Pirkei Avos⁶ states, “They used to say three things: Rabbi Eliezer says: 1. Let the honor of your fellow man be as dear to you as your own... 2. Do teshuvah (repent) one day before your death 3. You should warm yourselves opposite the fire of the chachomim (Torah Sages)....”

Is there a connection between these three ideas? Could we perhaps find a common theme throughout these ideas being expressed in this Mishna?

The first teaching was that the honor of your friend should be as dear to you as your own. When hearing this, the first thing that comes to mind is the mitzva of v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha⁷ (you should love your friend as you love yourself). The immediate difficulty with understanding this mitzva is of course the fact that one's love for others seems dependent on one's love towards oneself. Does this mean that someone who is full of himself must treat someone else with the same respect, while a depressed person is expected to make everyone else's life miserable? Certainly not.

Rather, the mitzva of v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha must be a two-part mitzvah. First, one is obligated to realize his own self respect - why he as a person is deserving of honor. Only then could one see that while each person is different from each other with different strengths and weaknesses, there is one common denominator which applies to each and every individual. There is something unique about being a ben-Adam (literally: son of Adam) which merits an inherent kavod (honor) and respect.

This is certainly a difficult idea to pin-point. After all, we know how bad the middah (trait) of gaivah (haughtiness) is and the measures we must take to avoid it at all costs.⁸ Yet, at the same time, the mishna in Sanhedrin⁹ states that there is an obligation for each person to say, “The world was created just for me.” Rashi¹⁰ on this explains that a person must believe that he himself is as important as the entire world.

Besides for the evident contradiction between being warned against having feelings of gaivah and the obligation to believe that I am just as important as the world at large, the mishna also does not make any sense mathematically. For arguments sake, let us assume that there are seven billion people in the world. Leaving everything else aside, if I am to believe that the I am just as important as the sum total of everything else, then mathematically, each person is worth only one-seventh billionth (1/7,000,000,000) of myself. Yet, considering that the person sitting next to me is believing the same thing, that makes me worth only one-seventh billionth. Which one is it? Is the mishna just giving us false encouragement to lead us in the right direction?

Perhaps the mishna is actually teaching us what v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha is all about. Each person has the obligation to recognize his potential – the greatness that one could achieve as an individual. The obligation of reminding myself of my importance is not one which permits me to feel better than everyone else. Rather it is a responsibility to realize the chashivus ha'adom which each individual has. Each person has such exponential and infinite potential that it is impossible to measure his or her importance.

This is the first stage we must understand. We must realize that each of us has incredible potential. And although that potential may not be exactly the same for everyone, there is a certain amount of kavod habriyos and v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha which is due out of respect of each person's capabilities, even if they are currently unrealized. The chashivus ha'adom itself demands a level of recognition in its own merit.

Admittedly, this is one of those things which is “easier said then done”. The fact that we as humans have an incredible potential we could achieve may be something which is obvious and yet still has to be brought to our attention. However, even once we realize this about ourselves, we are immediately confronted with a new difficulty: Perhaps now is too late. We have already spent our lives on x, y, and z when we could have been doing something more productive. If so, it should be impossible to turn back on the right path and first start trying to maximize one's potential. This way of thinking, is of course a tremendous mistake. All it takes is one second. Just one decision is needed to redirect oneself, and suddenly, what was impossible only a moment ago becomes very possible.

The Gemara Kiddushin¹¹ states that if someone tries to be mekadesh (betroth) a woman on condition that he is a tzaddik (righteous person), then even if this individual is known as a complete rasha (wicked person), still we are concerned¹² that perhaps his stipulation worked. After all, just because he was a rasha a second ago, does not necessarily mean that he is a rasha now. Perhaps he changed his direction in one moment and has since decided to be a tzaddik.

There are two fascinating points in this gemara. First, that we are actually concerned that someone who is a known rasha might have actually become a tzaddik overnight just because he chose to make such a stipulation. What happened to the general concept of chazaka which usually allows us to assume that things remain status quo? Second, even if this man really did somehow get struck by lightening and decided to change his ways, does that automatically deem him a tzaddik? At best he should be considered a beinoni (regular person) and we should still not be concerned about his stipulation. What did he do already that was so great that we should suddenly treat him as a tzaddik?

It must be that it is indeed possible to stop and re-decide at any given point to redirect oneself on a path of reaching one's potential in leading a life of maximum yiras shamayim. Not only that, but as long as one makes that decision, even though it may be later in life, there is still a tremendous amount of potential waiting to be uncovered and realized. Teshuva (repentance) could be done at any time. This is the second stage to keep in mind: It is never too late.

Despite the realization of these two stages, there is an additional obstruction which could often impede us from starting to conquering our potential. In other words, some people could realize that there is tremendous potential to strive for, actually decide to go forth with achieving it, but then realize that the task is too great. How could one puny person be expected to learn so much and become so close to Hashem in such a short amount of time? It is literally impossible!

Imagine for a moment that a mouse has gotten a hold of entire bullet salami. Little Micky is so pleased with himself that he discovered where to find such a delicacy, and that he was able to refrain from eating the whole morning just to work up a massive appetite, which he wanted to save for this salami. However, as he takes a look at the meat, which is twice his size, and then looks down at his small mouse-sized plate, he begins to doubt his decisions. How in the world is he going get the salami on his plate? It is way to big! However, there is a simple solution to this problem which Micky will instinctively do. That is to utilize something known as salami tactics.¹³ In other words, when the mouse realizes that the salami is too much to eat fully, it will attack it slice by slice until it has completed it.

This is something which is instinctive for a mouse and seems obvious to us, yet it is still something which, for some reason, humans need to actively think about and realize before implementing. For example, one could look at conquering the world as an impossible task, or one could implement the divide-and-conquer strategy, as Alexander and Napoleon did, and suddenly the feat seems more reasonable. Divide and conquer is a simple battle strategy. We must just learn to keep it at the forefront of our minds so that we could accomplish anything.

These three ideas are vital for one to realize in order to succeed. First one must realize his own potential. Then, one must realize that it is expected of him and that it is in reach. Finally, one must not give up by having the right perspective as to how to conquer as much of one's potential as one could.

The medrash¹⁴ lists three scenarios to better illustrate this idea. The first setting is where there is a dune of dust, and it is your task to move it from one place to another. The foolish person says, “This is hopeless! It is impossible to move this mound.” However, one who is wise says, “I will transport two bucket-fulls today and two tomorrow and eventually it will get done.” The second case is one where there is a loaf of bread dangling from a high ceiling. The foolish person looks at it and says, “It is literally out of my reach. I cannot even reach it when I jump. It is impossible for me to obtain it.” However, one who is wise comes in with a very different perspective and says, “Did someone else not get it up there somehow? It must be possible to get down.” The third scenario is as follows. Imagine you have the job of filling up a swimming pool using only a pail with a hole in it. The foolish person says, “This is dumb. I fill up the buckets but the water just comes out the hole in the bottom. By the time I get to the pool, there is barely anything in the bucket.” Yet, once again, the wise man looks at this from a different angle, “I am being paid for every bucket I bring to the pool. This task will make me rich.”

Perhaps this medrash is addressing exactly the three points discussed above, in reverse order. The last case represents the wise person's realization of his existing potential. The second case represents the idea that one's potential is reachable – Hashem gave it to us, and therefore must be attainable. The first scenario in the medrash represents the idea that the only way to conquer a large task is through dividing it – taking one step at a time.

Perhaps this idea is indeed also the common theme throughout the aforementioned mishna in Pirkei Avos. The first step is that the honor of your friend should be as dear to you as your own. Meaning, one must realize that he himself, and every individual, has tremendous potential and is therefore inherently worthy of kavod.¹⁵ The second step is to repent one day before your death. In other words, as we saw in the Gemara Kiddushin, it is never too late to realize that one's potential is in reach. At any moment, one could redirect himself on the right track; and that moment should be now. No one knows when it will be his last day, so the time to do teshuva is immediately. The third stage is to warm yourself opposite the fire of the talmidei chachomim. As the medrash taught us, the chachomim were not born knowing everything. We must observe that through dividing, taking one step at a time, one could conquer his potential, as the talmidei chachomim have.

The Chofetz Chaim writes in his introduction to Mishna Berura:

ברוך ה' אלקי השמים ואלקי הארץ אשר ברא את הכל בחסדו בששת ימים ולבסוף ברא את האדם

May we all merit to realize the chashivus ha'adom, understand the fact that our potential is in reach, and ultimately conquer our goals by taking one step at a time.

1Vayikra 22:27

2See S'forno in Beraishis 2:19 who says that when Hashem brought the animals before Adam HaRishon to be named. Adam did so and called each animal by the name perfectly fitting with its purpose of being.

3Quote from Douglas Adams – British Author. Earlier forms of the quote end the saying with, “...it must be a duck.”

4Avodah Zarah 20b

5Introduction to Mesilas Yesharim by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzatto (Ramchal)

6Avos 2:15

7Vayikra 19:18

8See Orchos Tzadikkim: Sha'ar HaGaivah

9Sanhedrin 37a (4:5 in the mishnayos)

10Ibid.

11Kiddushin 49b

12See the Rosh (Perek 2 Siman 14) and Karban Nesanel (90) there.

13For those of you who are wondering, it is still called salami tactics even if the case would have been with pastrami.

14Medrash Rabbah: Metzora 19:2

15This first line of the mishna actually fully reads, “Let the honor of your fellow man be as dear to you as your own, and do not be prone to become angry.” At first glance, the end of the line seems completely unrelated. However, in learning our way it comes out good – that the type of kavod one is having for himself and for others, is not one stemming from gaivah (which would allow for you to get angry with others). Rather, it must come from a realization of chashivus ha'adom.

Cover Picture Credit: Edited a compilation of http://www.schoeps.be/images/stories/6/6.12_Salami____l__ail.jpg and  http://media.salon.com/2012/11/shutterstock_57341071.jpg and http://www.warrenphotographic.co.uk/04071-house-mouse

Parshas Acharei-Mos - Mind the Land or Beware of Land Mines

Parshas Acharei-Mos

Mind the Land or Beware of Land Mines

By: Daniel Listhaus

וְלֹא תָקִיא הָאָרֶץ אֶתְכֶם בְּטַמַּאֲכֶם אֹתָהּ כַּאֲשֶׁר קָאָה אֶת הַגּוֹי אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם: כִּי כָּל אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה מִכֹּל הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְנִכְרְתוּ הַנְּפָשׁוֹת הָעֹשׂת מִקֶּרֶב עַמָּם: וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת מִשְׁמַרְתִּי לְבִלְתִּי עֲשׂוֹת מֵחֻקּוֹת הַתּוֹעֵבֹת אֲשֶׁר נַעֲשׂוּ לִפְנֵיכֶם וְלֹא תִטַּמְּאוּ בָּהֶם אֲנִי ה' אֱלֹקיכֶם

Let not the Land vomit you out for having made it impure, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. For if anyone commits any of these abominations, the people doing so will be cut off from among their people. You shall safeguard My charge that these abominable traditions that were done before not be done, and nit make yourselves impure through them; I am Hashem your G-d.

-Acharei Mos 18:28-30

Acharei Mos concludes after having warned against following the ways of the goyim. As Jews we are expected to live an elite life of princes keeping the mitzvos of the King. This necessitates being different in many ways – from staying away from avodah zarrah (idol worship) to not participating in gatherings which represent their values.¹ We are required to keep all the mitzvos whether they be ones that we can comprehend or not. We must keep in mind, however, that the reason why we keep any particular mitzva is not because it makes sense to us but rather simply because Hashem commanded us to do so.

Sandwiched between the negative commandments of Acharei Mos dealing with who one cannot marry to preserve the kedusha of marriage and parshas Kedoshim which lists the fundamental mitzvos of what it means to be a person who is kadosh, is a peculiar passuk (verse). The passuk essentially says to be careful to keep every aspect of the Torah and to make sure not to follow the ways of the goyim or else the land – Eretz Yisroel – will spit us out.

In order to explain this interesting passuk, Rashi² offers the following moshol (parable). Rashi writes that imagine there was a son of a king who was fed something repulsive which his stomach could not tolerate. Certainly he would vomit it out. Similarly, Eretz Yisroel does not keep ovrei aveira (transgressors).

When reading this Rashi, two questions come to mind. First, why does Rashi need to give the moshol of a prince who ate something disgusting, why can't the moshol have been with even a regular person eating something repulsive? Second, Rashi is clearly learning the passuk as pashut p'shat (literally understanding the passuk as it is written). However, how could we understand that a land could not tolerate what is done on it? Why should it care what is occurring on its surface?

The Sifsei Chochomim³ explains that Rashi's choice of the prince in his moshol was in fact deliberate. A regular person who eats something that upsets his stomach or that he is told afterward that what he ate was something gross, can tolerate it to a certain extent. However, a prince who is finicky because he grew up in the house of the king is much less tolerant and when fed something repulsive will vomit it out immediately without a delay. So too, writes that Sifsei Chochomim, is the case with Eretz Yisroel. While goyim are in control of Eretz Yisroel and living there, even though they may be doing disgusting things, and certainly not keeping the mitzvos of the Torah, still Eretz Yisroel is able to tolerate it for a longer period of time than while Jews are in control of Eretz Yisroel and living there. Every Jew is a prince of Hashem and if the individual has not strived to perfect his spiritual digestion system to know what to filter out, then Eretz Yisroel does it for him by spitting him out. This is an idea that should not be foreign to us. Reading through Nach one could clearly see that as soon as the Jews started following the ways of the goyim, the Pelishtim and our other enemies of the time immediately waged war and took control of Eretz Yisroel. Yet, the moment that B'nei Yisroel did teshuva (repentance) and cried to Hashem, a shofet was sent to save them. Miraculous things occurred and impossible battles were won with the yad Hashem (“Hand” of Hashem) again on our side.

Rabbi Yeheda HaLevi, in his work, The Kuzari⁴, answers the Kuzari's question as to how it is possible that Eretz Yisroel be any more special than any other land. He writes that just as one can see in the world that certain places have the ability to cultivate particular plants more successfully than other places, that some areas are more conducive for specific minerals than others, and that some animals flourish in certain regions, so too when it comes to spirituality there is a specific place – Eretz Yisroel – which is conducive to spiritual growth. This is why nevuah could only be achieved in Eretz Yisroel.⁵

Eretz Yisroel is a very special land with tremendous powers. Hashem gave us, the descendents of Avraham avinu, this land with an owners manual called the Torah. When we keep the Torah, Eretz Yisroel protects itself and its inhabitants providing the opportune place for spiritual growth. However, during times when Jews in Eretz Yisroel are going against the Torah, the land cannot tolerate the repulsiveness and spits its people out.

Every nation and country in the world has a malach. Eretz Yisroel and the Jewish people have no malach, but rather Hashem himself is our direct contact. As tremendous as this is, we must realize that it comes with the expectation that we set our spiritual digestive system accordingly with the Torah in a way that we do not do what the Torah warns against and instead involve ourselves in the mitzvos, stick to our mesorah, and listen to da'as Torah which together directs us how to live our daily lives.

Living in Eretz Yisroel is something that many Amoraim and Rishonim dreamed of. Had they been living in our times when Eretz Yisroel is so accessible they would surely be on the next flight over. What we must keep in mind though is that as much as Eretz Yisroel is our land given to us by Hashem Himself and that we are privileged to live there, we have the tremendous responsibility to make sure that we act appropriately. In this way the land will protect itself as it has done in the past; for Hashem is the sole guardian of Eretz Yisroel.

May Hashem help those in Eretz Yisroel who have strayed away from the Torah realize that they can still do teshuva so that we could continue to have the zechus (merit) of living there and be able to take advantage the land's conduciveness to spiritual growth, instead of chas v'shalom, our past repeating itself of the land not able to tolerate us.

1See Rashi Vayikra 18:4

2Vayikra 18:28

3Ibid.

4Kuzari 2:9-24

5Although throughout Torah and Nach there are many examples of nevuah taking place outside Eretz Yisroel, all those nevuos were specifically about Eretz Yisroel or going to Eretz Yisroel.

Photo Credit: Edited picture from http://blogs.dnalc.org/2009/12/07/lighting-up-landmines/

Parshas Acharei Mos – Kedoshim - Caught in a Lie

Parshas Acharei Mos – Kedoshim

Caught in a Lie

By: Daniel Listhaus

לֹא תִּגְנֹבוּ וְלֹא תְכַחֲשׁוּ וְלֹא תְשַׁקְּרוּ אִישׁ בַּעֲמִיתוֹ: וְלֹא תִשָּׁבְעוּ בִשְׁמִי לַשָּׁקֶר וְחִלַּלְתָּ אֶת שֵׁם אֱלֹקיךָ אֲנִי ה'ה

“You shall not steal, and you shall not deny falsely, and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by My Name, thereby desecrating the Name of your G-d – I am Hashem.”

-Kedoshim 19:11-12

The first passuk (verse) of parshas Kedoshim begins, “Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to the entire assembly of B'nei Yisroel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, Hashem your G-d, am Holy.”¹

Rashi² comments that this passuk teaches us that this part of the Torah was said b'hakhel – at a gathering of the entire B'nei Yisroel – because the majority of the essentials of the Torah depend on it.³ There is no doubt that this parsha indeed contains the most basic and fundamental parts of the Torah. After all, the Aseres Hadibros are present throughout the parsha in some way or another– some explicitly and some hinted to. Additionally, the parsha contains the mitzva of v'ahavta l'rayacha ka'mocha (love your fellow as yourself)⁴ which is, as Hillel called it, “zeh klal gadol batorah – this is a tremendous fundamental in the Torah”.⁵

Interestingly, a large part of the mitzvos in this vital list of “kedoshim tehiyu (you shall be Holy)” are mitzvos having to do with being honest and staying away from sheker (falsehood). In the aforementioned passuk, the Torah lists a series of warnings: “You shall not steal, and you shall not deny falsely, and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by My Name, thereby desecrating the Name of your G-d – I am Hashem.” Rashi⁶ comments that this juxtaposed series is no coincidence. In fact, the Torah is teaching us a lesson in human behavior. Rashi writes as follows, “If you have stolen, your end will be to deny falsely; and then your end will be to lie; and then your end will be to swear falsely.”

There are two questions one could ask on this Rashi. First, what is the difference between denying falsely and lying? If one stole something and then denies doing so, that is itself a lie. So according to this succession of aveiros (sins) which Rashi is setting up, how is lying any different from denying falsely?

The second question one could ask on Rashi is that he seems to be taking this whole theory too far. The mishna in Bava Metzia⁷ discusses a case where two people walk into Beis Din (Jewish court), each holding half of a tallis and are each claiming that it is entirely his own. The halacha (law) that the Mishna states is that they split the tallis equally and then each swear that they do not own less than half.⁸ The Gemara⁹ then explains that the sh'vuah (oath) was instituted to address an issue which would arise without it. Imagine if the law would be that whatever two people come into court holding is automatically split in half between them. With such a law in place, what would stop people from approaching others and grabbing a part of whatever they please, dragging them to court, and then getting to keep half of it? In order to stop such a thing from possibly happening, this oath was instituted to essentially scare off dishonest people from taking advantage of the halacha.

We see from this Gemara that swearing falsely in Beis Din was no laughing matter. Taking a sh'vuah in Beis Din was something that even the biggest thief would think twice about. If so, how could our Rashi make such a confident inference from the passuk that one who steals will ultimately end up swearing falsely?

Perhaps we could come to understand the lesson that Rashi is teaching us by first understanding an area of human behavior. There are three phases which a person goes during the process of performing any action: before, during, and after. The “before stage” is when we anticipate what to expect with the experience we are about to undergo. The “during stage” is the stage of the experience itself, while the last stage is the “after stage”, which consists of our memories of the experience we had. These three stages are obvious and known to all, however their relationships with each other are things which are often not payed much attention to.

Imagine for a moment that you have decided to take the day off to go to an amusement park with a couple of friends. You arrive at the park at 10am and spend the day playing different games, going on various rides, and having a terrific time. Finally, at about 3pm, with only one hour left to spend at the park, you and your friends decide to take a break amongst the excitement. So, you sit down together for a late, but wonderful, picnic lunch. After lunch, you decide to go on the new super-duper-upside-down-roller-coaster. This starts off as a great ride until you realize that your lunch is there as well, is not too happy with you at the moment, and will be waiting to take revenge the moment you get off the ride. Then, as you begin to get sicker and sicker, your strong-prescription glasses go flying off without any warning, and will just as much never be seen again as you will not be able to see for the rest of the day. You get off the roller-coaster and are forced to watch your friends go off and continue enjoying themselves as you stay behind for the remaining hour of your time at the amusement park sitting at a bench sick to you stomach, and barely able to see.

There is no doubt that this day will be remembered as one of the worst in your life. However, if you would stop to think about it, that would not be such an accurate analysis. After all, for five out of the six hours spent at the park, you had a great time. Nonetheless, many of those pleasures and fun moments will not be able to be recalled later because the memory of you being sick will kill your memory of experiencing the great time you had. In other words, peoples' experiences are tremendously effected on both sides of the actual event. The attitude which one has when anticipating an experience will have a tremendous impact on the experience itself; however, to even a greater degree, the way we choose to remember an experience, will effect the way we remember it forever.

Our memory has an incredible influence over our experiences. Some times this could be good. As a matter of fact, the Orchos Tzadikkim¹⁰ writes about how great it is to forget and forgive people who have done bad things to you in the past. However, the power of memory is simultaneously extremely dangerous. The reason it is dangerous is because it is easy to manipulate.

The Orchos Tzadikkim¹¹ describes that when someone tells a lie, it generally falls into one of nine categories. One of these categories is when someone hears a story but when he says it over to others, he conveniently leaves some parts out, and adds other parts in to make the story more thrilling. People are wiling to do this even though there is no inherit benefit to be gained by either party. Yet, the Orchos Tzadikkim writes, one who accustoms himself to saying such lies will result in testifying falsely. If one becomes someone who allows sheker to take control of him, and allows his memories to be manipulated, he has breached the geder shel emes – the fence protecting his truths. This leads to actually believing one's own lies; and unless he does something to protect himself, he may easily become someone who testifies falsely about people – not necessarily because he means to do so, but because he is a person who is not careful with emes and therefore such outcomes enter the realm of possibility.

Rashi writes that one who steals will eventually come to deny falsely, then will come to lie, and will ultimately end up swearing falsely. The Maskil L'Dovid¹² writes that the sequence goes as follows. Someone goes ahead and steals an item from someone else. Then, when asked if he took it, he will deny it defensively with a definite “no”. The next part of the time-line is coming up with lies. The thief starts thinking up a whole story about where he was at the time, what he was doing, and who else was there. He throws so many vivid details into his story that he himself starts confusing them with the real details of what happened. This person who is not careful with protecting his memory ultimately becomes worse than just a regular thief. He ends up as a denier and a liar who will get so caught up in his lies to the point that he will start believing it himself. Once he starts believing the lies that come out of his mouth, he will have no problem with swearing falsely. He will believe his own story to the extent that he will not be scared off by swearing – after all, he is swearing the truth.

We must make sure that we take control of our memories and keep them as accurate as we can in accordance with the experience we experienced. A memory is extremely important because it has the potential to recall the facts that we remember experiencing in the past. However, we must keep in mind the manipulative power that our memory is capable of, and be careful not to force information into our memories. Doing so opens up to disaster. Once we let our guard down and allow ourselves to manipulate our own memories, there is no end to the aveiros in sheker it could lead to.

1Vayikra 19:1

2Ibid.

3The Sifsei Chochomim asks: What is Rashi saying? The entire Torah was taught to the entire B'nei Yisroel from Moshe! He answers with two possible answers. Either that this parsha was said even in front of all the women and children (which was not necessarily the case by the entire Torah), or that this parsha was said in front of everyone at the same time as opposed to them learning it from Moshe in groups, as they did for other parts of the Torah.

4Vayikra 19:18

5Rashi Vayikra 19:18 brings this from the Toras Kohanim 19:45. The Sifsei Chochomim here adds that in fact Hillel said, “This mitzva encompasses the entire Torah. The rest is just its explanation.”

6Vayikra 19:11

7Bava Metzia 2a

8Bava Metzia 5b describes exactly why the sh'vuah (oath) must be made in this specific way.

9Bava Metzia 3a

10Sha'ar HaShich'cha

11Sha'ar HaSheker

12Vayikra 19:11-12
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Parshas Tazria-Metzora - The End is Near: “Game Over” or “Level Cleared?”

Parshas Tazria-Metzora

The End is Near:

“Game Over” or “Level Cleared”?

By: Daniel Listhaus

וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר אִשָּׁה כִּי תַזְרִיעַ וְיָלְדָה זָכָר וְטָמְאָה שִׁבְעַת יָמִים כִּימֵי נִדַּת דְּו‍ֹתָהּ תִּטְמָא

“Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, 'Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be impure for a seven-day period, as during the days of her menstruant infirmity shall she be impure.'”

-Tazria 12:1-2

Rashi¹ points out that only now after having discussed many of the details regarding bringing animals as karbanos (offerings) does the Torah teach about the very first halachos (laws) that apply at the beginning of every childbirth. Rashi brings from a medrash² that the reason for this order is because it is structured after the sequence of Beraishis (Creation). Just as the creation of man came after all the cattle, beasts, and fowl, so too the halachos pertinent to man are taught after those of animals.

The question that this leads to, however, as the Sifsei Chachomim³ asks, is why exactly is it that man was created after animals? The Sifsei Chochomim answers based on a gemara. The gemara⁴ itself poses the question as to why man was created last, just hours before Shabbos. The gemara offers four answers. The first answer is in order to remove the possibility of people believing that man helped Hashem create the world. After all, if man was clearly not created until Friday after everything else, then it is impossible that man had anything to do with the creation of the world. The second answer suggested is that man was created last as a constant reminder, especially during times when we may feel haughty, that even the gnat was created before us. The third answer given is that man was created right before Shabbos in order that he be able to involve himself in a mitzva right away. The fourth answer the gemara offers is that man was created last because really the whole world was created for man and this way all of nature would be prepared for us.

Having answered his side question, the Sifsei Chochomim asks on the medrash brought by Rashi that if indeed the Torah was structuring the many halachos of Sefer Vayikra based on the order of Beraishis, then why is it that Parshas Tazria comes before Parshas Metzora? After all, the halachos in Tazria deal with women whereas Metzora deals with laws subject to men. Adom was created before Chava and therefore Parshas Metzora should come before Parshas Tazria in the same way that the Parshiyos dealing with laws of animals come before the halachos dealing with people?

The Sifsei Chochomim offers three answers, however we will focus on the first. The Sifsei Chochomim writes that the reason why the laws of Tazria are in the Torah before those of the Metzora is because it is much more common for a woman to give birth (tazria) than for a man to become a metzora (someone with tzara'as). This answer is simple enough. It is actually fairly common for the Torah to give preference in order to something that is more common. This concept is known as tadir v'she'aino tadir, tadir kodem – for example if one has before him two mitzvos, one of which is objectively done more often than the other, one should do the more regular one first and only afterward do the second. However, the words of the Sifsei Chochomim themselves are worth repeating that the answer as to why Parshas Metzora does not come before Parshas Tazria is because it is more common for a woman to give birth than for a man to become a metzora.

Now-a-days we live in a world where exactly the opposite is true. Rarely does a day go by in the news without a mention of pushing the rights of women to be able to not have children; and when was the last day there was no story in the news of someone killing many people? Stabbings and shootings all over the country (let alone the world) of innocent people are things which we have become accustomed to and no longer even seem to faze young children. I do not intend to take any political sides or try to promote an opinion regarding either side to these topics. Both sides to these areas are certainly debatable in American law, and I have no idea what the subject matter or current debates in halacha are involved. I am sure that by both Torah and secular law, although coming from very different sources, reasons, and viewpoints, there is a lot of gray area as to what degree these things could be taken to from a practical position, a constitutional stand point, and an ethical perspective. However leaving all of that aside, the only thing that I would like to point out is the fact that unarguably these discussions and events do fill the daily news and occupy the minds of many. Regardless of how far one is willing to extend it, there is no question that the universal goals of man – to provide a next generation and ensure peace keeping peace by staying away from lashon harah – are things which the world in general is now willing to play around with more than in the past. Could we really be so sure that indeed now-a-days it is not the case that man becomes a metzora⁵ much more often than a woman gives birth? The metzora side is heavy - people degrade and belittle each other all the time in more and worse ways now than ever before. Simultaneously, the tazria side is light – it is no secret that America's birth rate is speedily decreasing to the point that it is now even an economic concern that a child born in 2015 will possibly be expected to carry twice the economic burden than one born in 1985.

The world has become completely upside-down. The species of mankind has so deeply deteriorated that those still represent what an “adom” is are extremely far and extremely few between. Those who are immersed in Torah study and work on their middos and connection to Hashem represent the last remnant of Adom.

Last weekend, William Kieren, a 79 year old man, was tragically killed in car accident on the highway. This accident was one like no other – Kieren was killed but his car did not have even the slightest scratch in it. As a matter of fact, his car was not even hit. No one was drunk, no one was on the phone while driving, and the car that killed him was completely in control. How did he die? William was driving along the dark Wyoming highway and noticed an injured rabbit in the middle of the road. So, he left his car on the side and walked to the center lane where the rabbit was and started to pick it up to save it from its imminent danger. Ironically, while doing so, he himself was hit by a car, whose driver could not make Kieren out in the dark. Kieren was sadly killed and although it was not mentioned, it could be assumed that the unlucky rabbit was as well.

This story is a sad one indeed and for many it is still fresh in their minds. When reading this article, though, it is hard not to wonder what in the world he was thinking for getting out of his car in the middle of a highway to save the rabbit? Maybe he thought he would see any oncoming cars and be able to move out of the way in time, or perhaps there was some other rationale. There is no argument, however, that it was at best a case of safeik sakanas nefashos (a situation of a possible loss of human life). As a Torah Jew, there is very little demanded from one in a circumstance of possible loss of human life, and saving an injured animal is certainly not on that privileged list. Again, there is no humor in a nice 79 year old man dying no matter how it happened, but the fact that someone with so much life experience could make such a miscalculation is scary. Surely this comes from the double edged sword of two forces pulling at modern society. One is the force of the importance of animal rights and the other is the devaluation of human life. These perspectives are so predominant in our times that it has become seemingly normal.

On September 24, 2011 a 21 year old man by the name of C.J. Wickersham was a victim of a bull-shark attack. The good news is that he lived to tell the tale, something many with a shared experience do not. The bad news is that he lost a couple of body parts and is obviously not the same person physically or mentally that he was before. However, despite this man's traumatizing encounter, PETA thought it to be the opportune time to remind everyone to have the proper view of life. As Ashley Byrne, a PETA director, said, “We are glad that Mr. Wickersham is going to be okay, but we do hope that this painful and frightening experience makes him think about the pain and fear that he is causing to fish – and other fishermen are causing to fish.”

The atmosphere modern society advocates of the devaluation of human life, is expressing itself in the types of debates that are being argued, the daily violence, and depression at early ages. Man was created last because the world was created for him. Granted there is a commandment not to destroy the world Hashem created for us⁶ and that we are warned against tza'ar ba'alei chaim (paining creatures)⁷, but equally is the charge for us to remain an Adom and utilize the world and its resources productively – for the use of man – even if there be a cost to the animals involved.⁸ Yes, fish do need to be taken out of their habitat and killed for people to eat, but that is their purpose. The 'ethical perspectives' of our times are completely contrary to what was established as the baseline expectations of all mankind from the time of Beraishis.⁹

May Hashem help us and the world at large realize how we are failing greatly in our role as adom. The world is completely upside-down and there is no doubt that the end is near. However let us make an effort to at least think about this and help change so that we do not have to end the world with a “game over” as reshaim who are not even holding on the level of basic Adom, but rather with a “level completed” as tzaddikim who recognize what it means to be an Adom and are therefore able to do teshuva.

1Vayikra 12:1

2Vayikra Rabbah 14:1

3Vayikra 12:1

4Sanhedrin 38a

5Obviously there are no metzoras now because we no longer have tzara'as and there is no Beis Hamikdash with a Kohen to declare it to be tamei or tahor. However, conceptually, the idea that people are constantly doing things that would be the cause of tzara'as and becoming a metzora is a very real one.

6Devarim 20:19

7See Gemara Bava Metzia 32a-33a which discusses whether this is a law from the Torah itself or a Rabbinic decree. Additionally see Gemara Berachos 40a which states that it is forbidden for a person to feed himself before his animals

8Beraishis 1:26-30; See also Gemara Shabbos 129

9See Beraishis 9:1-7
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