Parashat Shavua

Hemdat Yamim col hamoed Pesach 5763

Hemdat Yamim Parshat Chol Hamoed Pesach 17 Nisan 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 Spiritual Fragrance of Milah Harav Moshe Ehrenreich In some communities, there is a custom to make a beracha on smelling hadasim when a child is brought into the brit of Avraham Avinu. We can find a possible source and reason for this custom, based on a pasuk recited both at a brit milah and during the seder of Pesach. "I passed over you and saw you wallowing in your blood, and I said to you: 'in your blood, you shall live'; and I said to you: 'in your blood, you shall live'"(Yechezkel 16:6). Chazal tell us that this double mention of living by blood refers to the blood of brit milah and korban pesach. The Midrash (Shemot Rabba 19:5) gives the following account. Hashem was looking for merits to enable Bnei Yisrael's redemption. He had Moshe command them to do brit milah but many refused. Hashem told Moshe to make a korban pesach and had a wind from Gan Eden blow so that all of Bnei Yisrael smelled it. Enticed by the smell, they came to Moshe and asked to partake, but he told them that they first needed to be circumcised, as halacha requires for one to partake in korban pesach. They did the milah, and its blood mingled with that of the korban. Hashem took each one of them, kissed him and blessed him, as hinted in the aforementioned pasuk. We need to consider what connection exists between the smell of the korban and the mitzva of the milah. The sin of eitz hada'at, caused a deterioration in mankind's physical powers. Speech was blemished when Chava added to Hashem's command, saying that she could not even touch the tree (Bereishit 3:3). Hearing was affected by her listening to the snake. Sight was harmed by seeing that "the tree was good for eating..." (ibid.:6). Ability to act was harmed when Chava ate the fruit and gave to Adam. Only smell, with its special quality, was spared and maintained its spiritual level. Rav Charlop (on the Haggada) explains that when Hashem wanted to liberate Bnei Yisrael from the darkness of Egypt, He used the unblemished sense of smell to return the nation to its spiritual level. Smell was appropriate to bring them to desire the korban pesach, agree to the brit, and reach the level of attachment to Hashem that prompted Him to kiss each one. We can now understand the custom of smelling at a brit. It reminds us how smell was instrumental in Bnei Yisrael's embrace of the mitzva at that crucial stage in the nation's emergence. The special spiritual quality of smell may help explain why there is no beracha after partaking in it. Physical enjoyment comes to a clear end, and requires a beracha at that point. But spiritual enrichment lingers on and never comes to an end. "In Nisan they were liberated and are destined to be liberated." We hope that Mashiach, whose special attribute is to sense matters as if by smell (Yeshaya 11:30- see Ibn Ezra), will soon appear. ============================================ P'ninat Mishpat- Ownership of Chametz on Pesach- Part II We saw last time that as chametz becomes asur b'hana'ah (forbidden to receive benefit from), it leaves the possession of its owner. At that point, he cannot sell it or nullify it. The Rambam (Chametz U'matza 1:3) states that although possession of chametz on Pesach is a lav (negative commandment), one does not normally receive malkot (flogging) for violating it. This is because it is a lav she'ein bo ma'aseh (a prohibition which one violates without activity). Therefore, he says, if one buys the chametz on Pesach, then the action of buying makes him deserving of malkot. A question that comes to mind is, how can chametz be bought on Pesach if one is not able to affect ownership changes on objects that are asur b'hana'ah? Several possible scenarios and approaches arise from the various discussions in the Minchat Chinuch (mitzva #11). 1. Buying from a non-Jew- although a Jew is not, as "owner," empowered enough to transfer chametz on Pesach, chametz is not forbidden to a non-Jew, so he can sell it. In order for a Jew to be able to acquire it, it only needs to have the potential to be a permitted item (based on Ran in Avoda Zara). Since, at the time of the transaction, the chametz is owned by a non-Jew, it has the potential to stay that way and be permitted even for a Jew after Pesach. 2. Taking chametz which was previously not owned- based on the aforementioned Ran, the Jew is able to acquire the chametz, although, subsequently, he will not be able to sell it. Receiving it from a Jew through a physical act of kinyan- Some kinyanim (acts of acquisition) are acts that don't involve the object physically but demonstrate and create levels of agreement by the parties to transfer the ownership. These do not work when the "owner" loses his authority. However, if the "owner" allows the "acquirer" to physically bring the chametz into his possession, then the acquirer will receive enough possession to enable him to violate the prohibition of chametz ownership. (According to the Rivta (Sukka 34b) one is capable of owning an object which is asur b'hana'ah. All that he is missing is the control or possession (birshuto) which enables him to sell it to others). =============================================== Moreshet Shaul (from the works of Hagaon Harav Shaul Yisraeli zt"l) Serve Hashem with Both of Your Inclinations (condensed from Drashot L'y'mei Hapesach, pg. 104-106) The prohibition against chametz on Pesach is among the most severe and strict in the Torah. What is its internal connection to our liberation from Egypt? "It is known to You that it is our desire to do Your will. So what deters it? The yeast in the dough and the subjugation of the gentile kingdoms" (Berachot 17a). What does the yeast in the dough represent as a deterrent to proper Divine Service? The obligation to serve Hashem needs to be done "bishnei l'vavecha"- with both of your inclinations (Berachot 54a). In other words, even our yetzer hara should be involved in our Divine service. Serving Hashem with our yetzer hatov and yetzer hara seem to be mutually exclusive, but they both have sources in the Torah. On one hand, we are told that we are Hashem's servants. We must make ourselves totally servile to His will. Indeed, Moshe reached his great status by being the most humble man on the face of the earth. On the other hand, we see that it is a praise to be described as "He raised his heart (a phrase that usually refers to the haughty) in the ways of Hashem" (Divrei Hayamim II, 17:6). One needs this trait to stand up to those who scoff at the righteous and take on those who strive to promote evil. When the Torah warns to avoid the abominations of the nations of the world, it uses the example of the Egyptians and C'na'anites (see Vayikra 18:3 and Rashi, ad loc.). Let us investigate the source of the lowliness of these nations. C'na'an was cursed as a slave of slaves (Bereishit 9:25). As a slave, he reached abominations by his lowliness and animalistic tendencies. Without a normal family life and a striving for respectful behavior, he is undeterred by embarrassment, which might keep another from degrading himself by such behavior. On the other hand, the Torah is replete with references to the haughtiness of Egypt (see Yeshaya 30:7 and Yechezkel 29:3). The greatest technological advancements of ancient times took place in Egypt. On the other hand, they used their station among the nations to subjugate others. In our days, we see nations using their advances in the sciences for creating societies where the interest is to enable their citizens to concentrate on fulfilling their animalistic tendencies. What is the message for Bnei Yisrael? On one hand, in order to be fit to accept the Torah, we need to follow the lead of Har Sinai and have true humility. We have to be willing to be "servants of Hashem, not of Paroh." That requires, on one hand, the willingness to be subservient, but, on the other hand, the self-esteem to reject the attempt of other cultures to swallow us up. The Torah told us to stay away on Pesach from chametz. Chametz represents the self-inflation connected with haughtiness. We were not liberated so that we would consider ourselves too great to have any master. We should embrace a Divine master, just not a human one. On the other hand, we learned that subjugation to the nations of the world holds us back from serving Hashem properly. This is not only physical subjugation, but refers to our difficulty in asserting our cultural and spiritual autonomy. The gemara says that destruction befell us because we did not make the blessing before learning the Torah (Bava Metzia 85a). What does it say in that blessing? "He chose us from among the nations." If we do not remember that we are and must be special and unique, we cannot reach our spiritual destiny. ============================================= Ask the Rabbi Question: I know that a lot of things that are forbidden on Yom Tov are permitted on Chol Hamoed. Are all rabbinic prohibitions like muktzeh and amirah l'nachri (requesting a non-Jew to do the work) permitted on Chol Hamoed? Answer: There isn't an across-the-board distinction on Chol Hamoed between Torah and rabbinic prohibitions. In general, there are three approaches among the Rishonim as to the basis for the limitations on work on Chol Hamoed. Some say it is from the Torah, but has more areas of leniency than Yom Tov does. Some hold it is totally rabbinic. And the third, fascinating approach is that the Torah decreed that some areas of melacha would be forbidden, but left it up to Chazal to determine what would be forbidden and what would be permitted. (See a summary in the Beit Yosef in the beginning of Orach Chayim 530.) Although there are significant differences between the laws of Chol Hamoed and those of Yom Tov, they are more related to the category of a melacha, its nature, and its purpose than they are related to the source and severity of the laws. The general approach of Chazal was to distinguish between activity which is related to enhancing the festive spirit of the moed and that which occupies a person with other, tiresome activity (see Moed Katan 2b). However, it was up to Chazal to determine how to apply that general principle. As we are bound to follow the guidelines Chazal set out for us, one must search the sources to see what is permitted and what is forbidden. If one goes through the sugyot of Chol Hamoed one will not find explicit references to the classic laws of muktzeh. (The concept of muktzeh l'mitzvato does come up.) The poskim (see Tosafot, Shabbat 22a; Darkei Moshe, OC 544:2; Shemirat Shabbat K'hilchata 68:26) claim that, indeed, it was never included in the prohibitions of Chol Hamoed. In contrast, the rabbinic prohibition not to ask a non-Jew to do work that is forbidden for a Jew applies throughout the Torah (see Bava Metzia 90) and extends to Chol Hamoed, as well (Moed Katan 12a; Shulchan Aruch, OC 543:1). This can be because of fear that the Jew will come to do the work himself (see Chol Hamoed K'hilchata 2:(245)) or because involvement through a proxy is also often not conducive to the spirit of the day (Aruch Hashulchan 543:1). This prohibition applies whether one holds that melacha on Chol Hamoed is forbidden from the Torah or is rabbinic. There are some areas of leniency regarding amirah l'nachri on Chol Hamoed as opposed to on Shabbat and Yom Tov. The most pertinent is that when the work is done for a mitzva that will be needed on Chol Hamoed, then the non-Jew can do the work (Magen Avraham 543:1). (When there is a mitzva need it is often permitted for a Jew to do the work himself (Shulchan Aruch OC 545:3). However, there are situations when it is not permitted for a Jew, and the more inclusive leniency of using a non-Jew is needed.) The Magen Avraham explains that since there is an opinion that permits a non-Jew to do melacha on a Jew's behalf in the case of a mitzva even on Shabbat, one can be lenient on Chol Hamoed. The Levushei S'rad (ad loc.) understands that this is on the assumption that the entire prohibition on work on Chol Hamoed is rabbinic, but it is generally assumed that one can rely on the Magen Avraham even if one accepts the opinion that melacha is from the Torah (Shemirat Shabbat K'hilchata 68:(144)). ================================================= 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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