5771 פרשת זכור

 This week being the Shabbos before Purim is also known as Parshas Zachor on which we read from the Torah about how the nation of Amalek attacked Bnei Yisroel in the Midbar after the exodus from Egypt and the commandment to remember what Amalek did to us and when we are in Eretz Yisroel and have a king to wipe out the nation of Amalek. This Parsha is always read on the Shabbos before Purim and it is assumed that the reason we do so is that Haman who tried to destroy the Jews in the time of Purim was from Amalek.

 The Siforno gives a different interpretation of the reason behind the Mitzvah to destroy the nation of Amalek which may give us an additional insight into both Shabbos Zachor and Purim.

 The Siforno explains that the commandment to wipe out the nation of Amalek does not only include the members of the nation but also all of their animals. The Siforno explains the reason for this is that we are taking revenge against them for the fact that they were insolent to God when after all the miracles surrounding the exodus and the splitting of the sea they had no problem attacking Bnei Yisroel while all the other nations of the world recognized the power of God and were therefore afraid of going to battle with Bnei Yisroel. The battle we are commanded to fight against Amalek is to defend God’s honor.

 In order to better understand the connection between Parshas Zachor and Purim we should see if we can take a second closer look at some of the ideas that relate to Purim. The Mishnah Berurah when explaining the Halacha that a person should not know the difference between “Arur Haman and Boruch Mordechai” explains what the concepts of Arur Haman and Boruch Mordechai are the following way. Arur Haman relates to the praise we must give God for the downfall of Haman which was a great revenge that God took on the enemies of Bnei Yisroel. Boruch Mordechai, on the other hand, relates to the praise we must give God for the fact that He raised Mordechai Hatzadik to a position of power.

 If we look at that Mishna Berura a little more closely we can see an even greater idea which is that there are two types of Kiddush Hashem that can come about in the world. One of them comes about when God punishes the evildoers who try to harm his nation and through that His power is evident to all. However, what is an even greater Kiddush Hashem is when God raises up to great power a Tzadik who follows in his way.

 With this understanding we can now have a different view of Adar and Purim. One of the things that are expected of us in this time is through our actions to create a Kiddush Hashem.

 If we can create a Kiddush Hashem through our actions then we should merit seeing the miracles of God that will occur with the coming of Mashiach.

פרשת צו 5770

 In this week’s Parsha the Torah continues in its explanations of the different Korbanos that Bnei Yisroel was commanded to bring. The Parsha begins with the commandment that Bnei Yisroel should bring the Korban Olah which was a burnt offering meaning none of the Korban went to the owners or the Kohanim. Furthermore, there is a related requirement that there be three fires on the Mizbayach one of which has no purpose aside from ensuring that there is always a fire lit on the Mizbayach. The Torah when discussing the Mitzvah of the Korban Olah uses the word Tzav which the Torah uses when the Mitzvah requires extra urging. The Torah mostly uses this idea when there is a need for members of Bnei Yisroel to spend money on the Mitzvah that is out of the ordinary.

 The Ohr Hachayim asks what kind of out of the ordinary monetary loss is there by the Korban Olah?

 The Ohr Hachayim explains that the monetary loss relates to the fact that the Torah required Bnei Yisroel to supply wood for the Mizbayach just to keep a fire burning all the time and for no other purpose.

 If we look at this Ohr Hachayim a little more closely we can ask the following question. Why would the fact that the Torah requires Bnei Yisroel to supply wood for the Mizbayach to keep the fire burning bother them more than having to bring two animals a day for the Korban Tamid which was certainly much more expensive then  some wood to keep the fire going?

 The answer can be found in the words of the Ohr Hachayim. When he describes the wood of the fire he describes it as “for nothing”. Bnei Yisroel would have no problem spending money for something they understood its purpose such as the Korbanos. However, just having a fire on the Mizbayach all night which has no inherent function was difficult for them to understand its need and hence the reluctance to spend money on the wood for the fire. This is why the Torah needed to give Bnei Yisroel the extra urging to do the Mitzvah.

 This idea is also applicable in many areas of our lives. Many times we may not understand the purpose behind a Halacha. When we don’t understand something it can lead us to be lax in its observance which can lead us away from Torah and Mitzvos.

However, we must always remember that even if we don’t understand something that relates to the Torah we must realize that our understanding is limited and that all of Torah is perfect. This will help us to ensure that we do all the Mitzvos to the best of our ability even if we don’t always understand the reason behind them.

פרשת צו 5769

 In this week’s Parsha the Torah begins discussing the laws of the Korban Olah which was the only Korban that was fully consumed on the Mizbayach where no one ate from the meat of the Korban. The Torah then continues and explains that there was a special commandment for the kohanim to put on the special clothes they wore when they worked in the Mishkan and clean the ashes off the Mizbayach. The Rabbeinu Bechai learns different Torah ideologies from the different but special laws surrounding the sacrificing of the Korban olah.  

 The Rabbeinu Bechai learns from the fact that the Torah required the Kohanim to wear their special garments even to do what would seem to be a very lowly type of work that no matter what a person is required to do in his service of God it should be done in a way that befits work done for a king. The reason for this is that Bnei Yisroel are considered to be servants of God. In order for there to be a master/servant relationship a person must realize that what he is doing is being done for God’s honor and not for his own. The Torah teaches this point to us by requiring the kohanim who were involved in bringing the most special of all the Korbanos to also do the lowly job of cleaning off the ashes. This will keep the kohanim focused on the fact that both when they are bringing the Korban and when they are cleaning the ashes in their special garments it is all for the same reason: for God’s honor.

 The question that can be asked on this Rabbeinu Bechai is that of all places this situation should be the last one that would bring a person to feel the work he is doing is for his own honor. The fact that the Kohein is the one to do the work in the Mishkan is not based on his spiritual or material achievements rather it relates only to his lineage. Furthermore, it is not only one Kohein that gets to do this particular form of service in the Mishkan, rather it is whoever was on the rotation at that time, so why would the Torah choose this place to teach us the lesson that all service of God must be done only for God’s honor and not our own?

 The answer would seem to be that the natural tendency of a person is always to do actions for their own benefit whether it be for prestige or money or any other benefit. Even in a situation where there isn’t any logical reason to feel that the work being done is an honor to him, the tendency of a person is to think that way. This is why the Torah especially teaches us this idea in this case to show us how strong our natural tendency towards focusing on our own benefit in everything we do is and how important it is to fight it and focus our entire lives on doing things only for God’s honor.

פרשת צו 5767

 There is a very interesting Chazal on this week’s Parsha that can teach us a very interesting lesson.

 The Torah when it describes the “korban olah” says that the Kohein has to remove the ash from the mizbayach.

 On this the Yerushalmi says the following:

 To teach you that there is no greatness in the palace of the king.

 What the Yerushalmi is telling us is that even though a person may be great when it comes to serving God there is no action that is below our status.

If we look at this Yerushalmi a little more closely we can ask the following question:

What are we talking about here? We are talking about the Kohanim who are doing the service in the Beis Hamikdash. The service that they were doing was only allowed to be done by the Kohanim. All this being the case, how could the Kohanim consider anything being done in the mishkan to be beneath them?

The answer is that the natural tendency of a person is to look at the physical action that is requested of them when deciding whether it is something beneath their status or worthy of them to do. People don’t naturally dissect the action before making their decision. This is why the Torah specifically had to warn the Kohanim that nothing in the mishkan is below their status since they are serving God even if the action physically looks to be beneath their status.

In our lives there are many times that things are requested of us that on the surface look to be beneath our status, for example certain acts of chesed. However, we must always realize that when it comes to mitzvos there is nothing beneath our status. We just always remember that these mitzvos were given specifically to us as Bnei Yisroel and they are what make us special.

If we can only look at every mitzvah as something special it will help us to become better in our service of God and we will hopefully merit to have the Beis Hamikdash rebuilt in our days so we can see the Kohanim doing all the work in the Beis Hamikdash once again.