Parashat Shavua

Hemdat Yamim Parashat Matot

Hemdat Yamim Parshat Matot-Masei 26 Tammuz 5762 =========================== 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 rabbi's to take the Israeli Rabbinate's rigorous Yadin Yadin examinations. Eretz Hemdah, with its distinctive blend of Religious Zionist philosophy and scholarship coupled with community service, ensures its graduates emerge with the finest training, the noblest motivations and the strongest connection to Jewish communities worldwide. ============================================================ Man and the Land / Rabbi Macy Gordon Our "double parasha," Matot-Masei, concludes Bamidbar and brings Israel virtually to the end of its forty-year journey through the wilderness. The content of the narrative is primarily historical but contains some last minute cautionary emphasis. In one of these (Bamidbar 35:33-34), Moshe underscores the prohibition and tragedy of murder. Virtually all societies prohibit the act of murder. However, most societies permit, and even mandate, the taking of life within the boundaries of the law, such as in war, self-defense, or as punishment for certain crimes. The warning in our text is not only about murder, but also about the shedding of blood without premeditation, about manslaughter through dereliction, negligence, or, to be more current, drunken driving, Russian roulette or drug trafficking. Judaism is an earth-centered religion. Planting, harvesting, and caring for the earth are implicit in hundreds of commandments, both Biblical and Rabbinic. Human life is part of the harmony and purpose of creation. Even the term for Man in the Torah, Adam, is rooted in the word, "adamah" (the earth). Wanton destruction of a tree is forbidden. The requirement of burial is a return of man to his origins in the earth (see Bereishit 3:19). At the same time, the earth serves man who was created to work it and to safeguard it. When the first man sinned, his punishment was to till the earth by the sweat of his brow but not always to reap its fruit. Sin is not only against G-d, but is also a rupture of the harmonious relationship between man and his environment. When Cain killed his brother, he severed his rootedness in the earth and became a wanderer. Paradise was lost! Sin causes a separation of man not only from G-d, but also from his natural existence. Murder, idolatry and sexual depravity are cardinal sins of the Torah and are classified as tum'ah (acts of defilement). They are, thus, actions not intended for man by his nature and, in turn, pollute the earth. When man sins, the earth suffers. And when Israel sins in its own land, the land expels its people, like the human body that rejects the ingestion of toxic substances by vomiting them out. This graphic analogy is not mine. It is explicitly written in the Torah portion. Yet, there is a Divine comfort in the fact that this Land of Israel, which for millennia was a barren wilderness, is now filled with orchards. The land that consistently refused strange masters for 1800 years, blooms again from the return of its own, whose love of this Holy Land perhaps eclipsed their personal sins. Man is created by G-d to be in harmony with his physical environment. The Jew, further, is bound both religiously and territorially to the Land of Israel. The theme is stressed repeatedly in the religious thinking of modern sages such as Rav Kook in his voluminous writings. Secular Zionists like Brenner and A.D. Gordon caught this theme as in a passing fragrance but, tragically, missed the authentically Jewish, spiritual dimensions. Picturing Bnei Yisrael standing on the east bank of the Jordan, at the end of the Book of Bamidbar, should give us pause to reflect and ponder what this land means to us. ======================================================================== P'ninat Mishpat - Ona'ah (Overpricing or Underpaying) - Introduction There are two halachic ramifications of ona'ah. One is the prohibition to overprice or underpay, and the other is the need to return the money or even the object when appropriate. A fascinating gemara (Bava Metzia 61a) equates both ona'ah and taking interest on a loan (ribbit) to theft, although the gemara also points out distinctions between them. The lenient side of ona'ah is that it is done as part of a relatively normal act of commerce. Since we have been discussing bibliography, we should note that the laws of ribbit are found in Yoreh Deah (which deals with what is permitted and what is forbidden), whereas ona'ah is discussed in Choshen Mishpat (which deals with monetary matters). Questions on this point should be raised to R. Yehudah Hanasi, editor of the Mishna, not to the authors of the Tur and Shulchan Aruch. The fourth perek of Bava Metzia, in dealing with ona'ah, concentrates on return of money, after the fact. In contrast, the fifth perek, in dealing with ribbit, concentrates on what is permitted or forbidden and mentions the return of money, after the fact, only in passing. ============================================================ Moreshet Shaul (from the works of Hagaon Harav Shaul Yisraeli zt"l) The Approach to the Study of Homiletic Sections in Chazal (from Perakim B'Machshevet Yisrael, p. 305) The fundamental assumption of all classical treatments of aggadot Chazal (homiletic sections of the Talmud and Midrashim) is that they deserve and require deep study, just as the halachic sections do. Intensive study is necessary to be able to learn the correct philosophical and ethical lessons and in order to remove the criticism of the light-headed and the non-believers, who dismiss the significance of these sections. Just as Chazal's halachic works are built on solid foundations of logic, so too, it is impossible for it to be any different with aggada. Just as in halacha, questions, comparisons and intellectual dissection at times reveal that the true understanding differs from the superficial one, so is it by aggada. There are times that the words are but a parable or are expressions which serve as the covering for ideas which our Rabbis decided to hide and pass on in the form they did. Certainly, in order to decide which passages are literal and which are figurative, and, if so, what the hidden message is, much care and contemplation are required. In these matters, as well, we must use our classical authorities throughout the centuries as a guide to come to an authentic understanding. In these matters, as well as in halachic ones, there are, at times, significant disagreements, which display different conceptions. We find a major machloket between the Rambam and Ramban on the concepts of the Garden of Eden and Gehenom (Purgatory). We also have a dispute between the Rambam and Ra'avad about the time of Mashiach. These machlokot are very much related to the general question as to how literal or figurative aggadic sources tend to be. What is unanimous, though, is that none of Chazal's aggadot is frivolous and that their "riddles" are very much a part of the Torah, in which, profound truths can be found with proper study. ============================================================ Ask the Rabbi Question: Is it permitted to make a bar-mitzva during the Nine Days (before Tisha B'Av )? Answer: The meal held in honor of a bar-mitzva is considered a seudat mitzva (a meal which it is a mitzva to partake in) (Yam Shel Shalom, Bava Kama, ch. 7, siman 37). His main source is Kiddushin 31a, in reference to a statement by the blind amora, Rav Yosef. Rav Yosef said that if he would be convinced that the blind are obligated in mitzvot, he would make a seuda for his colleagues, because one who is commanded in mitzvot receives more reward for their fulfillment. If a celebration is in place just for finding out that one has always been obligated, all the more so is it appropriate when the obligations begin, when one becomes a bar-mitzva. Other sources in Chazal include Bereishit Rabba 53:10. This is certainly so when the party is held on the Jewish birthday itself (assuming the boy is sufficiently physically developed, which we are not required to check). The Magen Avraham (225:4) rules that even a bar-mitzva that is not on the birthday can be considered a seudat mitzva if the bar-mitzva boy publicly says diveri Torah. The apparent logic is that those present are reminded that this boy is indeed involved in the study of Torah, as he is now commanded, and they feel the cause for celebration. It is permitted to partake of meat and wine at a seudat mitzva even during the week of Tisha B'Av (Rama, Orach Chaim 551:5), and this ruling should apply to a bar-mitzva as well (Yad Ephraim, ad loc.) Some want to learn from the Shulchan Aruch's silence on the matter that he does not allow meat at a seudat mitzva during the week of Tisha B'Av (see Kaf Hachaim, OC 551:33). However, most poskim are lenient in the matter even for Sephardim. Even a delayed bar-mitzva with divrei Torah may be done during the Nine Days, but it should not be delayed for that purpose (Yad Ephraim, ibid; Kaf Hachaim. Ibid:158 ) During the first part of the Nine Days, one may invite whomever they would normally invite to the seuda, but people who just happen to be around may not take part in the meat and wine. During the week of Tisha B'Av, one should invite only reasonably close relatives and a small group of friends (Rama, ibid; Taz, ad loc.: 12); Mishna Berura, ad loc: 77). Some suggest serving fish and thereby removing the complication this situation raises. Others are lenient with the guest list even on the week of Tisha B'Av (Maharam, quoted in Taz, ibid; Yalkut Yosef pg. 568; see Aruch Hashulchan 551:30), and there is room to rely upon those opinions. Participants at permitted bar-mitzva celebrations at this time may sing, but neither live nor recorded music should be played. Receiving an aliya to the Torah and the accompanying ceremonies in shul on Shabbat are not problematic (see Igrot Moshe, Orach Chayim IV, 112.1) This response is based on a teshuva in Bemareh Habazak III, 61. ********************************************* 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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