From the Archives...Parshas Emor Or Mice and Men: Divide and Conquer

Parshas Emor - Of Mice and Men: Divide and Conquer

From the Archives...Parshas Emor - A Meal Unfit for a King

Parshas Emor

A Meal Unfit for a King

By: Daniel Listhaus

“To be an appeasement for you: unblemished.... Any [animal] in which there is a blemish you shall not offer, for it will not be an appeasement for you”

-Emor 22:19-20

The privilege and opportunity that we are given to be able to offer karbanos (animal sacrifices) is tremendous. Each and every karbon has its own power to aid an individual or tzibbur (the public) in seeking mercy, forgiveness, or offering thanks to Hashem. However, there is an underlying question when it comes to karbanos which begs to be asked. Why is it forbidden to bring an offering with a blemish? Take the Karban Olah, for example. This is a sacrifice which gets completely burned in the fire on the mizbe'ach (alter) for only Hashem. Hashem certainly does not eat the karbon. In fact, to think so would be heretical. The Rambam¹ writes that Hashem has no body. Furthermore, we declare this in Ani Ma'amin² and in the prayer of Yigdal³. Even merely ascribing physical characteristics to Hashem, such as Him having a mouth and needing to eat, is forbidden. So why is it that when offering a karbon to the One who created it, has no need for it, will not eat it nor sell it for money, it is forbidden to do so if the animal has a blemish?

Let us now take this idea a step further. Earlier in the parsha, a very similar negative commandment is instructed: “Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to Aharon, saying: Any man of your offspring throughout their generations in whom there will be a blemish – the bread of his G-d he shall not approach to offer.” The Torah then continues, “...he [the blemished kohen] should not come to the paroches (curtain), and he shall not approach the mizbe'ach, for he has a blemish...”⁴ Again, we could ask the same question as before. Hashem created man and even created this specific kohen with the blemish he has! How could Hashem give a stamp of disapproval to something which He Himself created? Is a blemished man somehow second-tiered in the eyes of Hashem?

Regarding the kohen who has a blemish, Rashi⁵ succinctly explains the issue of him being the one doing the service of Hashem. Rashi writes, “It is not proper that he should approach.” Then, Rashi quotes part of a passuk (verse) in Malachi, “it is like [the concept depicted in the verse of] 'Go offer it to your ruler!'. Let us examine this verse in Malachi more closely. The complete passuk reads, “ 'When you present a blind animal for sacrifice is nothing wrong? And when you present a lame or sick [animal] is nothing wrong? Present it, if you please, to your leader! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?' Said Hashem, master of legions.”⁶

This passuk in Malachi is a little difficult to understand. What does our giving something to Hashem have to do with how pleased a human king would be if he were demanding the same thing. Chazal (our sages) have taught us many times how different Hashem is from a human king in terms of expectations, “personality”, and virtually every area – for anything a human could do imperfectly, Hashem could do perfectly. If so, why does Hashem seem to be as particular as a human king in the passuk?

It must be that Rashi is quoting this passuk to teach us the following. Certainly Hashem has no need for our animals at all, let alone the best of them; however, we cannot give to Hashem something which in our own eyes is not appeasing because, in reality, giving something not appeasing by our standards to Hashem shows that we do not really acknowledge the importance and greatness of Hashem, nor the necessary respect due to Him.

The Mesilas Yesharim⁷ writes the following, “...One must beautify one's mitzvos...get a nice pair of tzitzis, nice tefillin, nice sefer Torah, nice lulav, etc.... for it is not enough to do the mitzvah alone, rather one must show respect and beautify it. And one who says, 'Respect [through beautifying and spending extra money on objects] is a materialistic nonsense which exists only to man, but Hashem does not care what the condition or state of beauty something is in; Hashem is above all that and as long as I do the mitzvos with the right intentions, it is enough', is a sinner.” The Mesilas Yesharim continues to explain, “Such a person is called a sinner because Hashem indeed is called 'The G-d of Honor' and we are obligated to give Him this respect even though He certainly does not need it.”

But why is this so? Why is it that Hashem demands of us a respect which He does not need nor get benefit from?

Perhaps the answer to this question is exactly within what the Mesilas Yesharim, the passuk in Malachi, and Rashi are trying to describe. We as humans have a certain “currency” we use when it comes to giving honor to those who deserve respect, which is to present things beautifully and nicely even if it means to spend some extra money or go the extra mile. Sending the handsomest individual with the largest lexicon and most oral capabilities, is what a community would certainly do if it wanted to appease a government, board, or influential group. Similarly, if one was to host an event for a wealthy family, certainly everything would be perfect, and only the best-of-the-best meat and wine would be prepared and served to the royal guests. It is through these methods which we know of to give respect and honor to humans, and therefore we must use these same means when serving and sending messengers to Hashem. If we send a impaired kohen representative or an animal with a blemish to Hashem, when we would not do so to our own leader of flesh-and-blood, then we may fool ourselves into thinking that the reason we are doing so is because we think to ourselves, “Hashem is above all these materialistic things anyway”. However, in reality, the rationalization of this argument is present because it is being powered by a lack of emunah (faith) and bitachon (trust) in Hashem, which causes us to feel that it is not worth spend the extra money or go the extra mile. Offering something to Hashem which would not appease man is the litmus test which illustrates that we do not really care enough to give Hashem the minimum amount of respect we could; for if we did care to give the utmost honor and respect, the only way to do so would be to use the currency we are familiar with and use when offering honor and respect to worthy human leaders.

1Rambam Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 1:8

2Third of the thirteen Ani Ma'amins, commonly known as the thirteen principles of faith.

3Third line of Yigdal, Morning Prayer Service. (The thirteen lines of Yigdal follow the thirteen principles of faith.)

4Vayikra 21:18

5Rashi Vayikra 21:18

6Malachi 1:8

7Mesilas Yesharim, R' Moshe Chaim Lazzato, Chapter 19

Cover Picture Credit: Edited picture from http://www.founditemclothing.com/itgoesto11/i-scream-you-scream-we-all-scream-for-ice-cream-a-gallery-of-5-cool-shirts/

Happy 3rd Birthday Thoughts on the Parsha ! ! !

Believe it or not, Thoughts On The Parsha is now beginning its 4th Cycle  It has been an incredible experience and looking back it is amazing to see how many changes have been made. 

Three years ago Thoughts on the Parsha began with a D'var Torah on Parshas Emor - A Meal Unfit for a King with about 30 readers via email:

From here we moved on to the blog:

Soon after a new tab appeared:

Which was linked to the new Parsha Stumpers Blog:

Then, as the email list grew larger a new format was sent out:

Baruch Hashem though we were able to move past that eye-sore for the new and improved email: 

We graduated past this too with the addition of exciting cover pictures to fit (sometimes :-) ) the D'var Torah's content:

Then, after numerous requests to distribute the D'var Torah via social media, the Thoughts on Parsha Google+ Page was created with a beautiful stream of everything posted from the Dvar Torah Blog, Parsha Stumpers, and more recently: Shaar Hazechira (from Orchos Tzadikim) and Pirkei Avos, complete with pictures and the ability to share and +1 ...... #Awesome!

Okay, So I admit, I have not been able to post the Sha'ar Hazechira and Pirkei Avos as often as I would like, but am trying. 

Now, Baruch Hashem, Thoughts on the Parsha has expanded and directly reaches hundreds and hundreds of  people each week and shared with many many more! There are readers of all ages and across the spectrum of Judaism, from around the world including the United States, Canada, Israel, Russia, Central and South America, England, France, and Australia!

Thank you to all of you who have shared this experience with me. And a special thank you to all of you who share your questions, comments, feedback, suggestions, criticisms, and encouragement. It is extremely appreciated and gives me the chizuk to continue. 

I am looking forward to another year of learning the parshiyos and sharing my thoughts with you.


Thank you again.

Daniel

From the Archives...Parshas Kedoshim

Parshas 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

Parshas Acharei Mos

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

From the Archives....Parshas Tazria

Parshas Tazria - The End is Near: "Game Over" or "Level Cleared"? (2013/5773)

Parshas Tazria - Be Kind Too! You're a Web-Rooted Friend (2012/5772)

Parshas Shemini - Same But Different

Thoughts on The Parsha

Parshas Shemini

Same But Different

By: Daniel Listhaus

וַיִּקְחוּ בְנֵי אַהֲרֹן נָדָב וַאֲבִיהוּא אִישׁ מַחְתָּתוֹ וַיִּתְּנוּ בָהֵן אֵשׁ וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלֶיהָ קְטֹרֶת וַיַּקְרִיבוּ לִפְנֵי ה' אֵשׁ זָרָה אֲשֶׁר לֹא צִוָּה אֹתָם: וַתֵּצֵא אֵשׁ מִלִּפְנֵי ה' וַתֹּאכַל אוֹתָם וַיָּמֻתוּ לִפְנֵי ה'י

“The sons of Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, each took his pan, they put fire in them and placed incense upon it and they brought before Hashem an alien fire that He had not commanded them. A fire came forth from before Hashem and consumed them and they died before Hashem.”

-Shemini 10:1-2

Throughout the Torah we are constantly reminded that there are many levels on which one could perform mitzvos. On a basic level, one could simply be doing mitzvos without realizing he is doing mitzvos; whether that be because he has the wrong intentions or because he has personal reasons to be doing the mitzvos he does. In our parsha we find such an example along with an even higher level of performing mitzvos incorrectly despite doing the right action and having the right intention. 

The Torah¹ warns that the kohanim are not allowed to be intoxicated when they come to do the avodah (work in beis ha'mikdash). Rashi² comments that even if the kohen would perform the avodah correctly while intoxicated, his service would nevertheless be invalid. Indeed, here we have an example where someone could be doing the right thing, but with the wrong intentions, and therefore the avodah becomes unacceptable. There could be two kohanim – one drunk and one not – doing the exact same thing, one copying perfectly what the other is doing, and yet, one's avodah will be valid while the intoxicated one's will not. It is more than the action alone which is meaningful, but also the mindset and intention behind it.

Interestingly, we also find in our parsha an example where not only was the action correct, but the intention was as well, and yet a tragic result demonstrated that there was still an important element missing.

The passuk³ tells us, “The sons of Aharon – Nadav and Avihu – each took a fire-pan and they put fire in them and placed incense upon it; and they brought before Hashem an alien fire that He had not commanded them. A fire came forth from before Hashem and consumed them, and they died before Hashem.” There are several explanations which the meforshim (commentaries) offer as to what they did wrong. Rashi,⁴ in his first explanation, brings from the Gemara⁵ the opinion of Rebbe Eliezer who says that the reason why Nadav and Avihu died was because they rendered a halachik decision in the presence of their teacher, Moshe.

The Maharal⁶ points out that it is not so obvious that Nadav and Avihu did an incorrect thing. They thought that they were supposed to light a fire on the mizbe'ach (alter) despite there already being a fire on it which had descended from shamayim (Heaven). However, because they did not consult with Moshe rabbeinu before doing so, their actions were taken very seriously and they received a very harsh punishment of death from heaven.

Here we have an example of tzadikkim (righteous people) who did not merely do the right thing, but they even did it with correct intentions. They had thought their actions through and everything checked out. They did it only l'shem shamayim (for Heaven's sake). Yet, there was still an essential piece missing: they did not consult with their Rebbe, Moshe.

This concept is quite hard to understand. Nadav and Avihu were the sons of Aharon Ha'kohen and were also righteous in their own right. They were not only doing the proper thing, but even had the right intentions. Why should it matter that they did not consult with Moshe rabbeinu first? According to the opinions that they did the right thing, Moshe would have told them to do the same thing anyway. How could it be that Nadav and Avihu be punished for doing something with the right intentions just for not asking Moshe, if had they asked Moshe there would have been nothing different? They would have done the same exact action with the same righteous intentions? What was so bad about not asking Moshe in this case? They had it all worked out?

We could perhaps learn from the tragic death of Nadav and Avihu that merely doing the right thing, even with completely the right intentions, is still not enough. There must be a basis for it, and that foundation must be from our mesorah (tradition). If it is not part of the accepted mesorah passed down from rebbe to talmid (student), then as good as it seems and as much as it “fits” within the Torah, it still does not belong. Our Torah is defined by our mesorah and the guidelines and rules built into it in terms of how to rule, passed down from Moshe at Har Sinai. Tzadikim such as Nadav and Avihu should have been more conscientious regarding the security of our mesorah especially that early on. Therefore, they were severely punished.

Unfortunately, within Judaism there are many groups which attempt to make various movements. Some find obscure textual references and others offer what they believe are blatant proofs. However, the lesson to keep in mind is that even if their actions would be good and even if they were doing so with absolute pure intentions, there is still the most vital element missing which is that it must fit into our mesorah, and if it does not, then it does not belong. Shlomo ha'melech writes in Koheles,⁷ “Do not be overly righteous, and do not be overly wise; why should you bring desolation upon yourself?” Sometimes we are too smart for our own good. We come up with good reasons and fantastic proofs, but as real as they are and as right as they may be, if they are ruled without asking a rebbe to be absolutely sure that it is part of our mesorah, then it does not belong. It is deemed as an “alien fire” even though it looks perfectly in the right place with the right intentions.

May Hashem help us realize that our success as a nation comes from our adherence to our pure mesorah, and that it is this linkage to our past which guarantees our future.

1Vayikra 10:8

2Vayikra 10:10

3Vayikra 10:1-2

4Rashi Vayikra 10:2

5Eiruvin 63a

6See Gur Aryeh Vayikra 10:2

7Koheles 7:16

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