Parashat Shavua

Hemdat Yamim Parashat Bmidbar 5763

Our special, annual Yom Yerushalayim celebration will take place this Thurs., 27 Iyar (29/05) between 11:00 AM-3:00 PM at Nof Yerushalayim in Bayit V’gan. The event has become a major event, bringing together important public figures, the extended Eretz Hemdah family and hundreds of those who wish to rejoice with Yerushalayim. For details and reservations, contact our office at (02) 537-1485. Eretz Hemdah ================================ Hemdat Yamim Parshat Bamidbar 29 Iyar 5763 ******************************************************************** This edition of Hemdat Yamim is dedicated to the memory of R' Meir ben Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld o.b.m. ************************************************************************************************************************ Eretz Hemdah is the premier institution for training young rabbis to take the Israeli Rabbinate's rigorous Yadin Yadin examinations. Eretz Hemdah, with its distinctive blend of Religious Zionist philosophy and scholarship combined with community service, ensures that its graduates emerge with the finest training, the noblest motivations resulting in an exceptionally strong connection to Jewish communities worldwide. ************************************************************************************************************************ The Desert- A Good Place or a Bad One? Harav Moshe Ehrenreich The sefer we are now starting has several names. R. Chanina B. Gamliel (Sota 36a) refers to it as Sefer Hapekudim (The Book of Countings). Rashi (ad loc.) calls it Sefer Vay'daber, based on its first word. And, of course, it is generally referred to as Sefer Bamidbar. The first name is related to important events that transpired within the book (two censuses) and the second is largely technical. Is the name "Bamidbar" (in the desert) taken from one of the first words of the sefer or does it explain that the fact that the events discussed took place in the desert had an effect on the development of Am Yisrael. Indeed, the Ramban and Abarbanel, in their introductions to Bamidbar, talk, respectively, of "the commandments they received when they were located in the desert" and "the book tells of how the nation was led while in the desert." So let us deal briefly with the nature of the desert and how Hashem and Bnei Yisrael related to it. Bnei Yisrael complained: "Why did you bring us to this bad place?" (Bamidbar 20:5). The Torah describes it as: "the vast and fearful desert of snake, serpent, and scorpion and thirst without water" (Devarim 8:15). In Ha'azinu, it is referred to as "desolation, a howling wilderness" (Devarim 32:10). On the other hand, the desert is the place that Hashem chose to give the Torah, and not by chance. Midrash Tanchuma (Bamidbar 2) relates: "Hashem said: 'This desert is better than all of the countries. Here I will build a guesthouse.'" While the Torah was given to be implemented in its highest form in Eretz Yisrael, it needed to be given specifically in the midbar, by those who ate the miraculous food (man). Being in the situation of clear, total reliance on Hashem to provide sustenance created a constant connection between the nation and their Maker and the resulting fear of Heaven needed to receive the Torah. Hashem asked Bnei Yisrael: "Have I been like a desert for Yisrael or a land of great darkness?" (Yirmiya 2:31). Chazal explained that Hashem was stressing how different their experience in the midbar was from what they could have expected. They could have expected a stressful stay, but they were able to feel like kings in a palace (Bamidbar Rabba 1:2). The desert is indeed, objectively, a bad place. But for them, it turned into a "guesthouse of Hashem." " 'Who is this who is going up (olah) from the desert'- its elevation is from the desert; its removal is from the desert; its death is from the desert" (Shir Hashirim Rabba 8:2). The word olah can be translated as going up or being removed from. The decree, "in this desert they will cease and there they will die" (Bamidbar 14:35), refers to the weeding out of the generation of the midbar and the bad practices which they brought with them from Egypt. However, the "presents" which that group received, including the Torah, the spiritual kingdom created, and the mishkan which was founded in the desert and developed into the Beit Hamikdash, were eternal gifts for all subsequent generations. *************************************************************************************************************************** P'ninat Mishpat - Maintaining a Worker Whose Job has been Phased Out (condensed from Piskei Din Rabbani'im vol. III, pp. 91-96) Case: A worker (plaintiff = pl) worked as a cleaner in a religious school for 12 years. Over time, the school was placed under the umbrella of the Chinuch Atzmai school system (defendant = def). The worker's salary was then paid by the locality through a special budget arrangement. Still later, the locality assumed full responsibility for cleaning services at the school, but it refused to hire pl because of his age. Despite the fact that another worker was doing the cleaning, pl continued to come to work to clean. Def said that they would temporarily pay pl from a special charitable fund and try to help him find a job. After time, the fund ran out and no job was found. Def told pl that they would be able to continue paying him, but pl continued anyway. Pl now demands back pay and to continue to be employed. Ruling: In general, an employer can end the employment of a worker at the end of a period of employment. When the period is not stipulated, it normally depends on the wording of the financial arrangement. If his salary is quoted by the month, every month is a new period. However, ample warning must be given to the worker to seek new employment and in a place where it is customary not to replace a worker without specific justification, that standard is binding (based on Chazon Ish, Bava Kama 23:1). Another factor is the fact that the work was done for a public institution. Appointees to public positions of authority or distinction are not supposed to be replaced without due cause (see Rambam, Klei Hamikdash 4:21 and more). There is a minority opinion that even a simple public servant cannot be replaced as long as he is fulfilling his job satisfactorily, because of the higher standards of social justice expected of the public (Even Haezel, Sechirut 10:7). However, even if we would accept the claims mentioned against def, they are not relevant in this case. That is because def never employed pl, whose salary was paid originally by the specific school and for many years by the locality. In fact, it was the locality, not def, who stopped his employment. The fact that def agreed to use temporary funds to extend pl's employment does not obligate them further. Likewise, def is not obligated to pay for the work done after the funding stopped, because they told pl they were not going to pay for any further services. There is a machloket about a case where one provides useful services for another after being warned he will not be paid, whether the recipient has to pay according to the benefit he received. However, in our case, there was no benefit, as the locality had already employed someone to perform the same services on the school's behalf. However, there is halachic precedent to require the public to go beyond the letter of the law in providing for poor workers who were under their auspices (see Shut Mayim Chayim OC 6). Therefore, we require def to pay 40% of the worker's salary for a year from the time payments ceased and to help him find another job. *************************************************************************************************************************** Moreshet Shaul (from the works of Hagaon Harav Shaul Yisraeli zt"l) The Ethics of the Torah (condensed from Perakim B'machshevet Yisrael, pg. 337) Ethics are the measuring rod for determining what is good and what is bad. It is accepted among human thought that the measuring stick of ethics emanates from the inclinations of man's heart, which we are in the practice of calling, his conscience. According to the Torah, one sets standards based on the way of Hashem, as it is revealed in the thirteen Divine Attributes [see Shemot 34:6-7]. This way of Hashem set out the ethical course of our patriarchs even before the Torah was given. It also is the foundation stone of all of the mitzvot of the Torah, whose general approach can be summed up in the command, "to go in all His ways" (Devarim 10:22), which Chazal explain as clinging to His Attributes. This being the case, we can learn three things: 1) The values are set and immutable [as are Hashem's Attributes]. 2) They are not to be explained as accommodating human frailties and tendencies. 3) They are not based on inclinations but on absolute justice and truth. The relationship in these attributes, between the attributes of mercy and those of punishment, teaches us that the "the world was built on kindness (chesed)." Even the attributes of judgment are there only to preserve the foundation of the world, so that it is not be swallowed up by giving in to forces of evil, which threaten to take it over. On one plane, a judicial system's job is to protect society from wrong. Similarly, the mitzvot of the Torah regulate the individual and enable him to take control over his inclinations. When one is overly forgiving to the wicked and to evil, it really means that he is giving a free hand to their empowerment, which in turn uproots the foundation of kindness upon which the world is built. The demand upon man to resemble Him is a major one. It does not suffice with the accepted level of justice, that "what is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours." If that were all Hashem wanted, He would not have needed to make the world, as everything is His in any case. Rather, the mitzva to love one's counterpart includes not putting limits on the love. "What is yours is yours, and what is mine is yours" should be the relationship between man and man, and this is learned from the need to follow Hashem's Attributes. When one fails in that regard, he is negating the way he was created to be, as one who was created in the Divine Image. The purpose of giving is for its own sake, for this is a natural outcome of the way man was created. Also in regard to mitzvot between man and Hashem, everything is directed toward one goal, to reveal the true form of man. Just as the goal of justice is to allow for a world of kindness, so is the content of kindness that of justice, as the source of both is Divine Truth, not human inclinations. It is wrong to view justice as if it is on a lower rung on the "ladder of values" than kindness is. It is also wrong to see the two attributes as belonging to two different ladders. Rather, they both belong to the same imperative of Divine Ethics, described by the Rabbis as "so did G-d want" or "so decreed His Wisdom." Ask the Rabbi Question: I am in charge of a teenage group at a religious camp. Every year that group goes on a five-day camping trip far from camp. Past experience tells us that this is an important experience for them beyond the good times, and the atmosphere enables us to make real educational gains. We are unable to bring along a sefer Torah and will not be near any shuls. (There will be regular minyanim.) May we go on the trip, knowing that we will miss kriat hatorah (Torah reading)? Answer: We will deal with both halachic and educational issues, starting with the former. The institution to read the Torah, both on Shabbat and during the week, is an ancient and beloved one initiated by Moshe (Bava Kama 82a). Yet, there are ample sources in halacha that one can travel in such a situation that he will be unable to hear kriat hatorah. There is discussion as to the circumstances under which one is allowed to go on a boat or in a caravan through the desert in such a way that will compromise one's ability to properly keep Shabbat (see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 248:1,4). It discusses cases where the trip is halachically deemed as optional, not a mitzva. Yet, the poskim do not raise the issue that he will be missing kriat hatorah (it is implausible that they assumed that a sefer Torah was being brought along). See the discussion about travelling for non-mitzva purposes in a way that makes one miss a minyan (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 90:16-17 and Mishna Berura, ad loc.). There is one way in which missing kriat hatorah may be more lenient than other mitzvot. The mishna (Megilla 23b) lists kriat hatora among the things which require a minyan, but omits megilla reading. The Ramban (Milchamot to Megilla 3a of the Rif) explains by making the following distinction. All of the things mentioned in that mishna are obligations of only the tzibbur (community), as opposed to the reading of the megilla, which is an obligation of the individual, as well. If this is the case (which is certainly not unanimous- see Yabia Omer IV, YD 31), then it is not critical for an individual who was forced to miss kriat hatorah to find a later minyan to make it up (see examples in Yalkut Yosef II, pg.23, 27). The question is, though, how to define a tzibbur. If your minyan of campers is a tzibbur, then the full weight of the obligation is on the group. (It might still be permitted if the need is great enough, as cited above, but the question is still pertinent.) Yabia Omer (ibid.) cites stories of talmidei chachamim who had minyanim in their homes without a sefer Torah, and understands that it was sufficient that the tzibbur in the set shuls in town had kriat hatorah. In your case, this requirement could be met by the rest of the camp, which remains behind. However, it appears logical that when the group begins to daven, they become a tzibbur, but one which lacks the means to carry out the obligation. It does not seem that this situation should be able to prevent them from leaving camp before the day's obligation to read the Torah begins. One should, though, explore a variety of options (including time consuming ones that cost money) in order to make kriat hatorah a possibility, for educational reasons, even beyond halachic requirements. If you can get to a place with a sefer Torah only at Mincha time, this is a halachic possibility (Mishna Berura 135:1), especially for Ashkenazim (see Yabia Omer IV, OC 17). Besides technical concerns, it is problematic to have a sefer Torah travel with the group (see Shulchan Aruch, OC 135:14). The educational message of making the extra effort not to miss kriat hatorah can have a positive impact on your campers. Even if you are unable to arrange it, it is educational to let them know how hard you tried and perhaps discuss the issue with them. For teenagers, most of whom are not from backgrounds where they make it to shul every morning, a conversation in which you express how hard it was for you to miss kriat hatorah even once is likely to be more effective than docking them from night activity for oversleeping. Harav Shaul Israeli zt"l Founder and President Deans: Harav Yosef Carmel Harav Moshe Ehrenreich ERETZ HEMDAH 5 Ha-Mem Gimmel St. P.O.B 36236 Jerusalem 91360 Tel/Fax: 972-2-5371485 Email: eretzhem@netvision.net.il web-site: www.eretzhemdah.org American Friends of Eretz Hemdah Institutions c/o Olympian 8 South Michigan Ave. Suite 605 Chicago, IL 60603 USA Our Taxpayer ID#: 36-4265359

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