Metzora

I hope everybody had a nice Pesach.  I completely reformatted the Seder this year, expecting it to be more “streamlined.”  It turned out to be so good (nap the kids before), that we ended later than any other year.  We took some local trips around the north, following my number one rule of Pesach in Israel.  LEAVE EARLY!  Israelis don’t know how to.  So, if you leave the house by 9 a.m., you can have a great time on an empty bus, with no traffic, and get back by 3 or 4 p.m. to relax for the rest of the day.  Important tip to remember, folks.

Please continue to daven for Dovid ben Liba Sorah who is still in a difficult fight against cancer

“Why did G-d create man last, after all the other creations? Two reasons are offered. First, because man is the ultimate reason for Creation.  Therefore, everything else was created beforehand to be ready to serve him.  Second, to prevent him from arrogance.  He should know that even a flea was created before him” (Sanhedrin 38a; Ein Yaakov).

It’s been a while since we’ve learned anything Breslov, so why not now?

Rav Nachman m’Breslov notes that last week’s parsha dealt with which animals are considered kosher and which are not; while this week’s parsha deals with tzaraas (leprosy), and how they can determine and rid themselves of it.  This week’s parsha also deals with the mitzvah of bris milah.  So, what’s the connection between them all?

He answers (Kikutei Halachos V, 181a) that in the Torah, the laws pertaining to man, milah and tzaraas, come after the laws pertaining to animals.  And in conjunction with the Ein Yaakov above, we learn if man merits, he is circumcised and becomes an exalted person by guarding the covenant.  But if he is haughty, he will be lowered and smitten with leprosy.

The world is full of animals.  Some have four legs and some have two.  Each person has the choice on whether he wants to be a “descendant of a monkey” and no greater than that, or to live on a higher realm.

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

Around nine years ago, I was involved in an incident that I never told you about.  I was in Yerushaliyim, when three terrorists pulled out semi-automatic weapons and were about to open fire on a bus full of women & children.  Naturally, I sprang into action.  I quickly disarmed the closest terrorist with a quick snap of his neck.  Using his weapon, I was able to dispatch the other two with a Chuck Norris-style hip shot, ripping my shirt off in the process showing off my well-toned torso and bulging muscles.  However, before the third one was hit, he was able to get a lucky shot, which hit me in the lower abdomen.  I was quickly rushed to Bikor Cholim Hospital, where an emergency surgery was performed to save my life.

Well, it was either that or a Hernia operation; I forgot exactly how I got there.

The important part is what happened after the surgery.  I was stuck in the hospital for 24 hours.  No visitors, no family (my wife claimed that our son had a 104 F temperature. Good excuse), just me, all alone.  Oh right! There was an exception to this rule: Every few hours, the nurses shift would change and I would be visited by a group of women, many of whom were frum, and they would come over, and throw open my blanket to see where the gun wound/hernia operation was performed.  Did I mention that it was my lower abdomen?  Like...very lower?  Needless to say, it was a very embarrassing situation that I had to relive every few hours.

A frum doctor asked the “Ztitz Eliezer” if he was allowed to bring students from bed to bed to see all the patients and go over each patient's profile with them.  He was worried that this was a breach of confidence between the patient and doctor.

The Ztitz Eliezer answered that it was completely acceptable to have this practice, for two reasons.  One, it is the accepted “custom” for doctors to be trailed by students, so they can learn.  Everybody going to a hospital is aware of that and accepts it as part of being a patient.  And secondly, even though they are students, they still might ask some questions or suggestions that can actually help the doctor improve the patient’s situation.

The doctor had a second question, what of the practice of gathering students around the sick person and showing them the area of the operation or of the sickness?  In many cases, they are in places of the body which most people try not to reveal in public, and by doing so, the doctor is embarrassing the patient greatly.

With this, the Ztitz Eliezer brings in a pasuk from this week’s parsha regarding the tzaraas: “To show (the Cohen) on the day of its impurity and the day of its purity, this is the law of the tzaraas” (Vayikra 14: 57).

When a person had tzaraas, he needed to go to the Cohen, who was an expert in it, to determine whether he was pure or impure.  “This is the law of the tzaraas” teaches us that ONLY the tzaraas may be shown to the Cohen, not other places of the body, lest the person becomes embarrassed.  Therefore, when the doctor wishes to show a group of students personal places on the body of the patient, he needs to ask permission to do so first, since it is forbidden to embarrass the patient in such a way.

It’s an interesting piece of halakha that most people doctors and patients don’t really think about, but it shows us the importance of being careful not to embarrass people, even in medical situations.

I heard a great story yesterday.

Somebody I know used to live in Kiryiat Arbah (aka Hebron), and his neighbor was one of those people who always brought different people home after Shabbos davening for the meal. It was known that if you didn’t have any plans, he would be happy to host you for a meal.

So, one Shabbos morning he brings home this “Na-Nacher” (an interesting ‘hippy’ group that calls themselves Breslov… basically, it’s a result of taking a hippy, adding light drugs, no Torah learning, and lots of Breslov belief mixed into one…they’re quite common here…long story on why they are called “Na-Nachers” or “Nachmanim” in Hebrew. They do and say whatever they want, because… well, that’s what hippies do. Needless to say, they are not taken seriously here and are a interesting form of entertainment, as we shall soon see).

Anyhow, after eating the meal, the Na-Nacher moves over to the couch and promptly falls asleep. A few hours go by and they realize that they need to go to shul to daven. So they wake up the Na-Nacher and he goes to shul with them… only to return for ANOTHER meal. After THAT meal, he goes to daven maariv with them, only to return for havdalah. Finally, after havdalah, he asks the host, “Before I leave, can I make a phone call?” So they hand him the phone, he dials a number, and they hear a woman shrieking on the other end.

“WHERE ARE YOU??? I’VE BEEN WAITING ALL SHABBOS FOR YOU TO COME HOME AND MAKE KIDDUSH FOR US!”

He coolly responds, “Amarti b’chatuna shelanu… ani eved Hashem, lo eved shelach” (“I told you when we got married, that I’m Hashem’s servant, not yours”)

And the best part is, he honestly believed that going to somebody else’s house and eating and sleeping all day, without telling his wife, is being a “servant of Hashem”.

It’s great!!

Even better? It ties in perfectly with this week's dvar Torah.

In this week’s parsha, the Torah goes into detail about the Metzorah, somebody afflicted by a spiritual/physical kind of leprosy called Tzaraas. It is generally accepted that one of the main causes of Tzaraas is loshon horah. After one is afflicted, one needs to do tshuvah and is required to go through a purification process which entails bringing a bird as a korban.

Rav Moshe Aharon Stern adds an extra dimension to this issue. He says, “A person cannot live like a free bird. The metzora who worried only about himself and lived like a free bird, chirping and saying what he pleased, eventually has to ‘slaughter the living bird’ to become pure and before that he sits by himself and thinks how low his actions brought him. Then he accepts the yoke of communal living with the obligations this entails.”

One of the ways a person can learn to control his speech and thought is through a healthy outlook of living as part of a community, and living together in peace with one’s spouse. When you realize that you are not the center of the universe, but rather you are part of something bigger (and you are constantly aware of that), then other people will begin to take a more important role in your life, and their happiness will begin to become more of a priority over yours. By constantly looking out for other people’s needs, you can remove the "self-important smug" that was previously controlling your life, and causing you to speak ill of others.

Have a great Shabbos!

Okay, you may all be jealous…

I got a car.

Granted, it’s only for three weeks, it’s literally being held up in some areas with scotch tape, and the brakes squeak a bit, but it works!

Living in the North without a car is certainly doable, but a lot more trouble than in Yerushaliyim, ESPECIALLY before and during Pesach. So, when I heard that a friend is leaving the country for Pesach, I asked him if he would mind renting his car to me. So, I have it for three weeks at the rate of 1 Shekel per kilometer.

While, I honestly would not want a car on a day-to-day basis (people don’t understand what they’re missing when they have to walk everywhere), I’m excited about having one now. We need to go shopping for Pesach near Haifa and the only way to do that is via car. Plus, on Pesach itself, we’re planning to go to the zoo and the new IKEA (kids love visiting and playing at IKEA) just north of Haifa, and this will make it much easier and quicker to travel than via bus. So happy are us.

Okay, on to Torah!
Shortly after Sukkos, the only Breslov chossid in our kollel invited me to join him and a small group of people to start a weekly Malave Malka (a meal after Shabbos to escort the Shabbos Queen away). While I usually work after Shabbos, my wife and I decided it would be proper to take away time from it to attend. While it’s not an obligation, it is a mitzvah to have one, and it’s considered an important one at that. Basically, we have four regulars with four 75-percent regulars who come together for an hour and a quarter. This chossid brings hot challah and soup and others bring dips and drinks. We have the standard after-Shabbos zemiros (songs), he gives a lesson from Sichos HaRan (one of the big Breslov books), and we send Shabbos off in a proper manner. At first it started in a location which wasn’t very pleasant, so I volunteered my home to be our new base of operations. As a “thank-you” this Purim, I received a set of Chumashim with “Lekutei Halachos” (Breslov commentary in Jewish law). It’s a really nice set with beautiful print, so I’m happy to be able to write something short from it.

“This will be the law (Toras) of the Metzorah” (Vayikra 14:2)

The Metzorah was somebody who became ritually impure to a very high degree, usually for speaking loshon horah, and usually after ignoring several warnings. “Toras” is usually translated as “the laws of,” however, if you read it literally, the pasuk is speaking of the “Torah of the Metzorah”.

The Lekutei Halachos speaks a bit at length about the lesson here. To simplify, the Torah goes with you no matter how spiritually low you go. If even the Metzorah, who cannot even live with the rest of the community due to the severity of his impurities, can have Torah, than anybody can. The Torah will “follow you down” to the deepest depths and will help purify and light you up. It is only via the power of osek Torah (delving in Torah), says the Lekutei Halachos, that one can lift himself from any spiritual depths.

This is why the Gemara describes the Torah as something that cannot become impure. It has the power of taking the impure and making it pure.

We also see that the Torah has the power of taking even curses and turning them into brachos. Bilaam, who tried several times to curse the Jewish nation, was forced, instead, to bless them. He cried out, “How good are your tents, Yaakov!” What are these tents? The kollels and yeshivos where Torah is learned. “They stretch out like streams, like gardens by the river…” Just as water (via washing our hands or going to the mikvah, depending on the level of impurity) takes the impure and makes it pure, so too does the in-depth study of Torah. This Torah raises the person from his impurities and makes him pure once again.

From here we see the power of learning Torah properly! In Israel, many outreach groups take the approach of “Get a person inside a beis medresh or yeshiva, just to learn a little bit every week, and he will take off from there,” and you see the success that this approach has brought. Many, MANY secular Israelis have changed their lives around just by sitting and learning a little every day or at least a few times a week. The Torah that they continue to learn, takes their impurities and not only cleanses them, but makes them shine.

Have a great Shabbos!

Michael Winner

This week’s parsha finishes up the topic of tzarras, as we described last week.

As we all know of course, tzarras could be found on one’s body, clothing, or property.

Rashi maintains that the tzarras found on the body and clothing were signs that the person needs to do teshuvah for certain sins, while tzarras found on the house is different. He maintains that the tzarras on the house occurred when the Jews entered Eretz Yisroel and settled in the homes built by the Amorites, who hid their valuables in the walls. Being afflicted with tzarras, the walls would have to be dismantled, and the valuables would be revealed.

The Ramban disagrees with Rashi on the subject of the property getting tzarras. He maintains that the house is no different than the body or the property; if a person commits certain sins, the tzarras will show up in any of the three places. Both agree that tzarras on the house was dependent on our entering Eretz Yisroel.

The Ramban explains that once we find our place in Eretz Yisroel and become settled and calm, we will be able to work on our connection with Hashem. Only after that point, He will be able to send us tzarras as a sign of spiritual danger, because only when we are calm and focused, would we be able to recognize the sign.

When we are settled, we are better able to focus our energies in serving Hashem, while when we are agitated and worried, we are unable to. When we are frazzled with worry of the physical world, we cannot connect to Torah and Hashem, since we are focusing all our negative energy into such worries. However, when we maintain proper calmness, faith and trust in Hashem, even during trying times, can we maintain and improve our relationship with Hashem.

Have a great Shabbos!

My daughter had a friend over the other day. Being that he’s a four year old boy and she’s a three year old girl, they stuck with the basics. He wore an old tie and hat that I gave my daughter to play with and she put on her sheitel and purses (yes, plural). They had a stroller with a bunny in it and “took the bus”, “went to America”, “took the bus”, and everything else adults tend to do with their lives. At one point, my daughter is on her “cell phone” “talking to somebody” as they were walking in the kitchen. Her “husband” frustrated at her nonstop talking, blurts out: WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO??? WILL YOU STOP TALKING!!!

Welcome to marriage friend… welcome to marriage.
“And the Cohen shall command to take for him who is to be purified two birds alive and pure” (Vayikra 14:4)

As we know, a person received tzoraas, a physical manifestation on the skin, when he spoke loshon horah. If it’s not taken care of, via tshuvah, the manifestation grows more and more, rendering him spiritually unclean, until his local Cohen can ‘clean him up’.

Rav Yeruchem Levovitz noted that the root of the problem is that people continuously talk and talk without giving any thought into what he is saying. Just as birds make noise, so too did these afflicted people ‘make noise’. A person needs to think before speaking. Before uttering a sentence, a person should ask himself, “What is the purpose of what I am about to say? What will it accomplish? What effects will it have?” Once we get into the habit of thinking before speaking, we will be less likely to hurt others with our words.

Rabbi Zelig Pliskin relates that Rav Avraham Hoffman was a close friend of Rav Ben Tzion Yadler. Together they would discuss ways they could work on self-improvement, especially regarding their speech at home. Rav Avraham Hoffman would say that when a husband comes home and asks his wife, “What is there to eat?” or “What did you cook today?” his question is superfluous. Why do you need to ask this question? Whatever has been prepared is what you will soon see. These types of questions can easily lead to anger and quarrels.

With that, I wish you all an amazing Rosh Chodesh Shabbos!

This Shabbos marks my second anniversary for two things:

1) Making a career change from working full-time to learning full-time
2) Moving to Israel

Since then life has only improved for me, thank G-d. So, in honour of this anniversary, I present you with a dvar torah on Eretz Yisroel and the key to keeping it. It’s a tad long, because of some of the quotes, but I believe I made it easy to read and understand.
“’When you come into the Land of Canaan, I will place the plague of tzoraas in a house of the land of your possession…’ (Vayikra 14:34). This lesson is indicated by what is written, ‘Surely G-d is good to Yisroel, even to such as are pure of heart’ (Tehillim 73:1). … the verse declares, ‘To such as are pure of heart’, being that whose heart is attached to divine precepts” – Vayikra Rabba 17:1

After the nation entered Eretz Yisroel, due to certain sins, tzoraas (a spiritual infection), was inflicted upon some of their homes. Being forced to remove the walls of their newly acquired homes, they found the goods that the Canaanites hid within the walls shortly before they fled.

Rav Mordechai Rogov asks what do the laws of tzoraas have to do with the discussion of somebody being pure of heart as mentioned in the above Midrash?

For this, we need to look into the end of the Gemara in Makkos (24a-b):

“Rabbi Akiva was walking with four of his colleagues at the outskirts of Jerusalem. As they approached Har HaTzofim (overlooking the Old City), they tore their garments. As the sight of the [ruins] of the Temple Mount came into view, they saw a fox prowling through what used to be the Holy of Holies. While they began to cry, Rabbi Akiva began to laugh.

“When they asked him to explain his surprising reaction, Rabbi Akiva pointed out the prophecy of Yishayahu (8:2) regarding Jerusalem, ‘And I took to myself faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the Priest, and Zechariah the son of Yeverechiah’. Rabbi Akiva pointed out that Uriah and Zechariah had lived in two completely different eras, and that their being called to testify together had to be understood. The answer was, he explained, that Uriah had foretold of the utter destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. Zechariah, on the other hand, had told of the ultimate rebuilding and consolation of Jerusalem.

“Rabbi Akiva concluded, ‘Until I had seen the fulfillment of the utterly disastrous words of Uriah, I was concerned whether the words of Zechariah would be fulfilled (literally: sustained). Now that I see the fox prowling about, and the complete ruination of the Beis HaMikdash has become true, now I can assume that the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beis HaMikdash will occur’. His colleague responded and said, ‘Akiva, you have comforted us, Akiva you have comforted us’”

Now, we’ll go to where the Torah discusses tshuvah (repentance) and the return to the Land of Israel:

“And it shall come to pass, when all these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where Hashem your G-d has driven you. And you shall return to Hashem your G-d, and shall obey His voice… And Hashem your G-d will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers… And you shall return and obey the voice of Hashem, and do all His commandments which I command you this day” (Devarim 30:1-8)

In the Torah, this section mentions that the Jews will first do tshuvah (v. 2), and as a result, they will be returned to their land. Later, in verse 8, we find the Jews doing tshuvah again! Why is tshuvah being done twice?

The Rambam (Hilchos Tshuvah 2:1) writes that a person has completely done tshuvah when he does tshuvah over a sin, and then when that sin comes his way a second time, he turns away from it. The Ksav Sofer explains that when the Jews are in exile and do tshuvah, they will be returned to their land. But, and this is important, being in Israel DOES NOT MEAN THAT IT’S OVER! Even when we are back, we have to complete the tshuvah process by not straying from Hashem! That’s why it talks of tshuvah twice in Devarim, once before we return to Eretz Yisroel and once AFTER.

Rabbi Akiva knew that the prophecy of Zechariah would eventually come about. His question was will it be sustained? Rabbi Akiva knew that we would eventually return to Eretz Yisroel, but would we continue our process of tshuvah in the Land as well? Or will we fail and lose Eretz Yisroel. When he saw the prophecy of Uriah being fulfilled to the minutest detail, he then knew that the prophecy of Zechariah would be fulfilled in every detail as well, and we would be able to live securely in the Land.

Now, back to our parsha and Midrash.

The Midrash speaks of the time that we first entered Eretz Yisroel, “… the land which I give to you”. We must NEVER forget that the land was given to us by Hashem, and NOT through “our own might”. Unfortunately, this belief crept into the minds of the Jewish people shortly after arriving in the Land of Canaan. The land grew because THEY worked it… wars were won, because THEY fought it…

The parsha details that the tzoraas was to hit “to whom the house WAS HIS”. He fell into the trap thinking, “This is MINE”, when in reality it came from and can be taken away by Hashem whenever He pleases.

When the Midrash says, “To such as are pure of heart…” it is speaking of those who attribute their misfortunes on their own behaviour. Hashem sent this tzoraas to those ‘pure of heart’ who will look into themselves and correct their ways. When they rectify their mindset and realize that it was Hashem that gave them Eretz Yisroel and a home in it, they will then go to their local Cohen who would instruct him on how to do proper tshuvah.

As part of the process of ridding the house of tzoraas, one had to tear down the afflicted wall. As a reward for doing proper tshuvah, that person found the goods that the homes previous owner left, and he was able to remain in his home in the land.

Had the person not been a man of “pure heart”, then perhaps Hashem would not have even bothered to send the tzoraas and continue to allow him to live with his incorrect outlook, amassing sin after sin. In the end of course, he would not have received such riches and he would have ended his 120 years of life with a record of spiritual debt.

Rav Eliyahu Dessler in his work Michtav M’Eliyahu (Vol. III p. 179) bemoans the fact that we have been given back Eretz Yisroel to rule over, yet we have done little in the way of tshuvah. In fact, the forces of Amalek, he writes, currently rule the land, extolling the fact that “THEY fought for the land… THEY built the land, etc…”

The Gemara (Kesubos 111a) writes, “Whoever lives in Israel lives without sin”

The Pnei Yehoshua writes on this, “It would appear that this is true only if the person lives there solely to fulfill the commandment of settling the land of Israel which is a holy place, and in order to be protected from sin by the merit of Israel that he shouldn’t come to sin. If he meets these conditions, then even if he occasionally sins – even intentionally – there is no doubt that he will repent because he lives in such a holy place.

“In contrast, someone who only lives in Israel on a transient basis or because he was born there, or because it is a nice place to live, and surely one who despises the holiness of Israel – the Torah is not describing. In fact, historically, when our ancestors greatly sinned – they were exiled from Eretz Yisroel and the Temple was destroyed…”

We have been given an historical opportunity, unfortunately, if we do not follow up with “our end of the deal”, by doing tshuvah WITH Eretz Yisroel in our possession, we might, G-d forbid, end up losing her again. The ONLY key to keeping Eretz Yisroel is through proper tshuvah. THAT is the merit that allows us to stay here.

Have a great Shabbos!

Today, while looking at the AP photos on what's going on in the world, I ran into an interesting picture. Naturally, it was an anti-Iraqi-Liberation protest being held in New York. Now, I've been waiting for these protests to appear to see what 'arguments' they would bring with them this time. Let's just ignore the irony on how they are condemning the US while the Iraqi people are praising the US. But, one of the big signs being carried was 'Solidarity with the Women of Iraq'. Now, maybe I'm missing some small pieces of information, but... I thought Saddam and sons, ESPECIALLY his sons, were not exactly known for the kindnesses they bestowed on women throughout the country. Let's just say, they weren't 'pro-choice'. If somebody can explain the logic, please email me. And then I realized how insulting this sign was. What about 'Solidarity with the Men of Iraq'? Why about the poor men suffering from the cruel US invaders? Are you saying that women need solidarity more than men, because women are weaker??? Sexists...

Okay, enough of my ranting...on to Torah.

This week's parsha touches upon an interesting event that was to occur once the Jews entered Israel. Once we began conquering the land, the houses that we took over were to be plagued by tzaaras, which we discussed last week. The Midrash continues and says that when the Jews would be forced to tear open the walls which had the tzaaras on them, they found all sorts of treasure, hence helping them in invest and join the evil corporate world, drive SUVs, smoke cigars, and other fun things rich people do. Where did these riches come from? The previous home owners who hid their riches before running off, hoping to return to their homes once they defeated the Jewish infidels.

So, here's the question. As we learned last week, tzaaras was a plague that attacked a person for several sins he committed, chief among them was loshon horah (evil speech). Why is it that a person would end up being enriched by doing a sin? The only reason these people became wealthy was because they tore down the walls, and the only reason they tore down the walls, is because it had tzaaras, and the only reason it had tzaaras, was because they sinned. Does this make any sense?

Rav Pam offers and interesting answer. It states in the Talmud that several factors are determined in a person's life at the time of conception. One of them is their financial status in life. If we are destined to be rich, then we will be rich. The question is: how do we get this richness. Well, some people might get it through pure "luck", like winning the lottery. Some might get it through business deals. Some might get it by conducting themselves with improper business ethics. How a person gets his wealth is determined by how you live your life. Not everybody who entered Israel found tzaaras in their homes. Only those who spoke loshon horah. By having to break down the walls in full view of the public, they were publicly humiliated for the sins that they did. Hashem followed through with His promise. That individual became rich. But look at the cost he had to pay. An interesting lesson to all of us. Have a great Shabbos!