Sunday, March 27, 2022

New Series! Meseches Kalla Rabbasi, part 1

Meseches Kalla Rabbasi
is one of the מסכתות קטנות usually printed at the end of the volume of מסכת עבודה זרה in the standard שסי"ן.

We are beginning this לימוד on the last day of שבעה for Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky זצ"ל and will be using his ביאור, which is similar in style to his ביאור on תלמוד ירושלמי.

It is noteworthy that כלה רבתי is comprised not just of ברייתות, but also of גמרות.

Friday, March 25, 2022

Rischa D'Araisa Season 4 Episode 25: "MeInyan LaInyan" Forty Fun Minutes of Gedolim, Ketanjiim, Kinyanim, and a call for Michtavim

 

Rischa D'Araisa Season 4 Episode 25:

"MeInyan LaInyan"
Forty Fun Minutes of
Gedolim, Ketanjiim, Kinyanim,
and a call for Michtavim

Next Erev Shabbos, Erev Rosh Chodesh Nissan, "From the Mailbag" Episode

 


Next Erev Shabbos Parashas HaChodesh,
Erev Rosh Chodesh Nissan
is the Rischa D'Araisa Season Finale

We are soliciting questions on anything and everything,
topics you would like us to discuss,
suggestions and feedback across the spectrum, for our 

"From the Mailbag"
Episode

Please comment here,
or email myself at ygbechhofer@gmail.com,
or my partner HoRav Reb Avrohom at ravkiv@gmail.com

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Latest Article, Book Review in Jewish Action: Ask Rabbi Jack

Ask Rabbi Jack - Jewish Action


REVIEWS
Ask Rabbi Jack
REVIEWED BY RABBI YOSEF GAVRIEL BECHHOFER





By Rabbi Jack Abramowitz
Kodesh Press
New York, 2020
296 pages

“The yeshivah curriculum . . . focuses mainly on textual skills and select topics. For good pedagogical and sociological reasons, much of the Torah remains outside the standard curriculum, waiting for the motivated student to find and study it. Too many people never take that initiative.”

—From Rabbi Gil Student’s Foreword to Ask Rabbi Jack

We could devote this entire essay (and more) to the few words from Rabbi Gil Student’s Foreword to Ask Rabbi Jack. I believe they are true and insightful. But for our purposes here, they serve more importantly to contextualize the importance of Ask Rabbi Jack for the readership of Jewish Action. Such books are often classified as part of the kiruv genre, presenting the profundity of Torah-true Judaism to outsiders while addressing their misconceptions of Orthodoxy. That endorsements on the book’s back cover are from Rabbi Steven Burg of Aish HaTorah and Allison Josephs of Jew in the City, two organizations known for their outstanding kiruv, just serves to reinforce that classification.

But such a classification would only be partially true. As Rabbi Student notes, even those of us (perhaps especially those of us) who have had a decent and comprehensive Orthodox Jewish education have often come away with little understanding of the actual breadth and depth of Torah thought.1 Kiruv is of paramount importance to us, and the precept of da mah shetashiv—know how to respond [to a disbeliever]—2 is one of utmost importance. But as many sources note, a primary purpose of this precept is that we should know how to respond to the disbeliever within every one of us.

Of course, there is a rich literature of books dealing with such issues that falls beyond the scope of the standard yeshivah curriculum. One might, for example, read through the six volumes of Strive for Truth, the translation of Rabbi Eliyahu E. Dessler zt”l’s Michtav Me’Eliyahu, and acquire vast knowledge of such areas of Jewish thought. Inevitably, however, some contemporary readers will have a hard time relating to the material and style of that and similar works. From this standpoint, Rabbi Jack’s book speaks to this generation in a very effective fashion.3

A salient example is his treatment of the issue of secular music. Rabbi Jack displays a sensitivity to his audience—who he assumes grew up, like himself, with this music in its ears—and a perspective grounded in that sensitivity that is much more nuanced and accepting than one would find in works intended for other audiences. Similarly, you won’t find many other sefarim that would use Princess Diana and Nancy Reagan as examples of how to combine modesty with attractiveness. Yet these are figures whose mode of dress would be immediately recognized by many (if not most) of this magazine’s reading audience.

Rabbi Jack’s analyses are as comprehensive as one could wish or expect, allowing for the necessary brevity in a work that covers such a broad array of topics. Nevertheless, it would have been useful and conducive to further exploration if more comprehensive sources and references were included. For example, in a succinct review of Orthodox attitudes toward Zionism, there is not a single reference, even when the author quotes the gemara in Ketubot (111a), about the Three Oaths—a core point of contention in any such analysis. Such sources and references are not always lacking. In a discussion of when one should be stringent and when one may be lenient in matters of halachah, Rabbi Jack provides ample sources. Perhaps in the next edition the author can add references and sources to the articles in which they are lacking.

There is but one more critique of this fine work worth mentioning. The cover selected by the publisher does not adequately convey the high quality of the book’s contents; one does not associate a cover with a caricature of the author with high-caliber analysis of profound issues. This is truly a case of “Do not judge a book by its cover!”

I found many of the articles full of information and insight. The essay on anti-Semitism offers a comprehensive overview of the four manners in which the controversial statement of Rabbi Shimon, “Halachah b’yadua she’Esav sonei l’Yaakov” (“It is a well-known law that Esav hates Yaakov”) is interpreted. Rabbi Jack’s assessment of the authenticity of the Zohar is another masterful analysis. (Full disclosure: Rabbi Jack bases much of what he writes on what he learned from my esteemed brother, Rabbi Yochanan Meir Bechhofer, “who is far more well versed in the Zohar than you, I or the person who compiled that list of proofs [that the Zohar couldn’t have been written by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai].”)

In the article on tzeniut (modesty), Rabbi Jack notes that the oft-cited assertion that “What Torah does for men, tznius (sic) does for women,” lacks any known support in Tanach or Chazal, or in the Iggeret HaGra (the letter that the Vilna Gaon sent to his wife when he was on his way to attempt to reach Eretz Yisrael). As recently as this past Tishah B’Av, I myself heard a well-known and admired talmid chacham cite the assertion and attribute it to the Vilna Gaon’s letter. Since the time my daughter came home from school and related this assertion and the alleged source (the Gaon’s letter), I have gone through the Iggeret several times. It does not say anything of the kind there (although Rabbi Jack tries to be melamed zechut—find some merit in the assertion—through a very dubious inference). He does go on to note that tzeniut is a very important trait, one of the “Big Three” in Michah 6:8, “. . . what G-d asks of you, only that you act justly, love mercy and walk humbly (hatznei’a lechet) with your G-d.” In its source in Michah, however, “tzeniyus is not just a ‘women’s mitzvah’ and it’s not just about what we wear. Tzeniyus is for everyone, and it’s ultimately about how we act.”

There are a few issues in which I find myself quibbling with Rabbi Jack. A relatively minor one is the question of whether the tribe of Shimon was one of the Ten Tribes who comprised the Northern Kingdom of Israel that broke off from the Southern Kingdom of Judea during the reign of Shlomo Hamelech’s son Rechavam. Rabbi Jack contends that the tribe of Shimon did break away. I doubt that was the case, as the portion of the tribe of Shimon was not a distinct area—it was part and parcel of the portion of the tribe of Yehudah. I believe that the Ten Tribes include Levi,4 as there were Levi’im in both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.

A more significant point is that of organ donation. Rabbi Jack writes that he is “a big fan of the Halachic Organ Donor Society” (HODS). Yet in the same paragraph, he notes that his “HODS card has the box checked for irreversible cessation of heartbeat (which is the more stringent position) [in terms of defining the donor as dead for the purpose of harvesting organs].” The position taken by the author is not HODS’ preferred position (which is to use “brain stem death” as the definition of death), yet someone reading that Rabbi Jack is a big fan of HODS might assume that its standard is just fine and that Rabbi Jack’s stringency is just a personal one. This is actually a very complex and delicate halachic issue with much controversy surrounding the lenient position. More elaboration and detail would have been helpful.

By and large, this work is extraordinary in its scope, impressive in its depth and, perhaps most importantly, a pleasure to read. As they say—“highly recommended.”

Notes:

1. For a more elaborate discussion of this issue, I refer the reader to my review of Facing Current Challenges by Rabbi Dr. Yehudah (Leo) Levi, zt”l, which appeared in the fall 2003 issue of Jewish Action (https://jewishaction.com/books/reviews/facing-current-challenges-essays-judaism/).

2. Avot 2:14.

3. This should not come as a surprise, considering his long-term association with the OU and with its youth movement, NCSY, the premier organization dedicated to inspiring and empowering Jewish teens.

4. Reuven, Levi, Naftali, Yissaschar, Asher, Dan, Zevulun, Gad, Ephraim and Menashe.

Rabbi Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer is a rav and dayan in Monsey, New York. He recently published the fourth edition of The Contemporary Eruv: Eruvin in Modern Metropolitan Areas (New York, 2020). He is a frequent contributor to these pages.

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Simple Ge'onus from Reb Chaim zt"l: Palindromes


h/t my cousin Aharon Robbins.

And my friend Rabbi Avraham Bukspan added another such manifestation of simple ge'onus in a comment that I am adding here to the post (slightly edited):

Reb Chaim also said  there is a remez that if you forgive others, Hashem will forgive you in פרשת ויחי פרק נ פסוק י״ז, where the brothers say to Yosef:
אנא שא נא (please forgive). 
Those words are a palindrome.

 

Monday, March 14, 2022

Toras Purim 5782, Part 5: מקרים


We mentioned that Eliezer uses the same language as is used to describe what Amalek did.

But the Targum is different for these two instances of mikreh.

In the case of Eliezer it is:

זמין כען קדמי יומא

But in the case of Amalek it is:

די ערעך בארחא 

Eliezer ask Hashem to destine a wife for Yitzchak. That mikreh is an hazmanah - because to Eliezer there are no coincidences, only Yad Hashem.

Amalek, on the other hand, is out to exploit random occurrence - to usurp the place of Am Yisroel. Which is, of course, the idea of Haman's lottery, a random destiny.

However, in the Megillah both Mordechai's and Haman's mikrim are described:

ית כל די ערעיה

The difference there, as I noted in the name of the Rebbitzen, is between ויגד (by Mordechai, rendered as וחוי) and ויספר (by Haman, rendered as ואשתעי).

מלבי"ם <באור הענין> על תהילים פרק יט פסוק ב 

 ויש הבדל בין ספור להגדה - שהמגיד יגיד דבר חדש הנוגע לחברו, וזה מגיד הרקיע - שמודיע בכל עת מעשי ידי ה' המתחדש בבריאה לצורך ישוב בני אדם, אבל ספורי השמים הם מדבר עבר שה' ברא הכל בששת ימי המעשה, שזה כמספר דבר שכבר היה לעולמים שאינו נוגע לנו בהוה

A slight variation. The targum of משכו is נגידו. A Naggid is a leader. Haggadah implies purposeful, directed, active telling. Sippur is a neutral, undirected recounting of events. Thus, the term Maggid is given to an orator who with his story is exhorting and directing his audience.

If something happens to Haman, it happened. That is all. No lesson to be learned, no direction to take. If something happens to Mordechai, it is instructive, it provides direction and demands action.

Hence, the ultimate haggadah in Tanach (Micha 6:8)

הגיד לך אדם מה טוב ומה ה' דורש ממך כי אם עשות משפט ואהבת חסד והצנע לכת עם אלקיך

New Series! Rashi's Principles part 1


A continuation of the series on Mavo HaTalmud, the Klallim of Rashi

The Mavo HaTalmud of Rabbi Shmuel HaNaggid with the Kitzur Klallim and other commentaries has a section on the Kllalim of Rashi.

The Mavo is printed in the back of the Vilna Bavli Berachos and can also be found at

Toras Purim 5782 - Of Iggeres, Pnuel, Mikreh and more! The Video

Sunday, March 13, 2022

Toras Purim 5782, Part 4: אגרת and פנואל: Expansions and Elaborations, part 2


See our previous post at

First, let's note that Mordechai was descended from at least one of the people named Penuel, the one from Shevet Binyamin:

תרגום יונתן על אסתר פרק ז פסוק ו 
לְמָרְדְכַי צַדִיקָא אֲחוֹי דְאַבָּא בַּר יָאִיר בַּר שִׁמְעִי בַּר שְׁמִידָע בַּר בַּעֲנָה בַּר אֵלָה בַּר מִיכָה בַּר מְפִיבוֹשֶׁת בַּר יְהוֹנָתָן בַּר שָׁאוּל מַלְכָּא בַּר קִישׁ בַּר אֲבִיאֵל בַּר צְרוֹר בַּר בְּכוֹרַת בַּר אֲפִיָה בַּר שְׁחָרִים בַּר עֻזִיָה בַּר שָׂשׂוֹן בַּר מִיכָאֵל בַּר אֱלִיאֵל בַּר עַמִיהוּד בַּר שְׁפַטְיָה בַּר פְּנוּאֵל בַּר פֵיתַח בַּר מְלוֹךְ בַּר יְרוּבַּעַל בַּר יְרוּחָם בַּר חֲנַנְיָא בַּר זַבְדִי בַּר אֶלְפָעַל בַּר שִׁמְרִי בַּר זְבַדְיָה בַּר רְמוּת בַּר חֲשׁוּם בַּר שְׁחוֹרָא בַּר עֻזָא בַּר גּוּזָא בַּר גֵרָא בַּר בִּנְיָמִין בַּר יַעֲקֹב בַּר יִצְחָק בַּר אַבְרָהָם 

As you can see from the Mefarshim on the pesukim of Peniel-Penuel, the difference is that at first Yaakov Avinu thought only he could have such an experience of encountering divinity (פני- first person yachid). But then the Torah says that ultimately all humanity will come to such an experience (פנו - second or third person rabbim). Which is what we daven for in עלינו when we say להפנות אליך כל רשעי ארץ.

But all this was while Yaakov was still limping - before he came healed to Shechem. So there would be a time when before the ultimate geulah when ורבים מעמי הארץ מתיהדים.

תלמוד בבלי מסכת מגילה דף יא/א 
רבי יוחנן פתח לה פתחא להא פרשתא מהכא זכר חסדו ואמונתו לבית ישראל ראו כל אפסי ארץ את ישועת אלהינו אימתי ראו כל אפסי ארץ את ישועת אלהינו בימי מרדכי ואסתר 

How did even the afsei aretz see the hand of  Hashem? By the Iggeros!

רש"י על מגילה דף יא/א 
אימתי ראו כל אפסי ארץ את ישועת אלהינו בימי מרדכי - שהדבר נגלה לכל האומות, שהלכו אגרות בכל העולם

ספר צדקת הצדיק - אות רנו 
ושמעתי דמגילה לשון התגלות כי אז נתגלה כי דרך הטבע גם כן הוא הנהגת השם יתברך כי אז היה ישועה בדרך הטבע ונגלה לכל דהוא מפעלות השם יתברך. וזה ראיית כל אפסי ארץ. וישועה בדרך הטבע היינו צניעות והלבשה ולא בנס מגולה. ומכל מקום זהו באמת התגלות יותר גם לאפסי ארץ דהכרה שגם דרך הטבע הוא מהשם יתברך הוא הכרה מגולה יותר

How do we merit this salvation. As we have noted, אגרת הפרים is in gimatriya  939. The 939th pasuk in the Torah is:

ספר בראשית פרק ל"ב פסוק י"א 
קָטֹנְתִּי מִכֹּל הַחֲסָדִים וּמִכָּל הָאֱמֶת אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ אֶת עַבְדֶּךָ כִּי בְמַקְלִי עָבַרְתִּי אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה וְעַתָּה הָיִיתִי לִשְׁנֵי מַחֲנוֹת

Reb Tzadok explains that this is the difference between Yaakov and Esav, between Haman and Am Yisroel. Arrogance vs. humility.

ספר מחשבות חרוץ - אות ו
והענין דהוא ידע דאי אפשר לעולם בלא ישראל היינו צדיקים עובדי ה' יתברך דעליהם העולם עומד וכמו שאמרו (חגיגה י"ב ע"ב) על עמוד אחד העולם עומד וצדיק שמו. אלא שכבר אמרו ז"ל (תנחומא וירא ה') גלוי לפניו דעתידין אומות העולם לתרגם התורה ולומר אנו ישראל וכו', ועשו ביחוד יש לו כח זה דפשיטות טלפיים וממנו עמלק עוד יותר שהוא הראשית דגוים וממנו המן שהוא כל התמצית דעמלק שלא קם מתנגד לישראל לגמרי כמוהו, ובו שורש כח דמיון זה בהיותו זה לעומת זה נגד יעקב בחר לו יה הוא חושב על עצמו שבו בחר ה' וכמו שאמר (אסתר ו', ו') למי יחפוץ המלך לעשות יקר וגו' והמלך סתם הוא מלך מלכי המלכים, וחשב דהוא היותר נבחר אצל ה' יתברך מכל העולם כולו, רק שבאמת הוא מלא זוהמא וטומאה וכל מחשבותיו לגרמיה ושבחירת ה' יתברך הוא רק לעשות יקר וגדולה, מה שאין כן בני ישראל כל מה שמוסיף להם גדולה מקטינין עצמן כמו שאמרו ז"ל (חולין פ"ט.) וכל חפצם בבחירת ה' יתברך בהם היינו לקרבם לעבודתו יתברך

וזהו עיקר הבחירה בבני ישראל שכל שהוא גדול יותר ומשיג יותר הוא מכיר יותר שפל ערכו ומקטין עצמו יותר, כי יודע שכל השתדלותו אינו כלום ורק מה' יתברך חננו הכל בחסד חינם, וכמו שאמר יעקב אבינו ע"ה ראש אומתינו (בראשית ל"ב, י') קטונתי מכל החסדים וגו' ומשה רבינו ע"ה אמר (דברים ג', כ"ג) ואתחנן שביקש מתנת חינם, אבל אומות העולם חושבים שמשתדלים ומה שהוא משיג איזה דבר ושלימות הוא מצד השתדלותו ואין קץ לגמול המגיע לו על זה, וחושבים שבחירת ה' יתברך הוא מצד השתדלות ושגם הם יכולים להשתדל ואז הם ישראל

 וזהו הכסף שאמר לשקול דהיינו השתדלות דבכל מאודך, אבל באמת אמרו על זה במדרש (שיר השירים רבה ח', ד') אם יתן איש את כל הון ביתו באהבה שאוהב הקב"ה את ישראל בוז וגו' היינו דישראל שאוהבים את ה' יתברך בכל מאודם אינו בשביל שיאהבם כלל רק שהם בעצם יש להם שייכות ודיבוק לה' יתברך, והם אוהבים אותו בלא סיבה ותועלת עצמם, וכן הוא אוהבם גם כשאין שוה והנאה מגיע לו כלל, אבל אומות העולם כל השתדלותם הוא בשביל האהבה שיאהבם, ודבר זה אינו כלום וכמו שאמרו (ראש השנה ד' ע"ב) דבאומות העולם נקרא אפילו רשע על זה ובישראל נקרא צדיק גמור, לפי שאפילו מתכוין על מנת לקבל פרס אין זה עיקר כוונתו רק טפל וגם אם לא יתנו לו שום פרס יהנה מזה עצמו שעשה רצון ה' יתברך

which is no doubt why the Ba'al HaTurim comments on the next pasuk:

הצלני נא מיד - ר"ת המן. רמז להמן שיצא להכות אם על בנים כדכתיב (אסתר ג, יג) טף ונשים







 




Toras Purim 5782, Part 3: אגרת and פנואל: Expansions and Elaborations, part 1

See our previous post at

http://rygb.blogspot.com/2022/03/toras-purim-5782-part-2-some-good-short.html

Why is the Megillah called an Iggeres?

The Bnei Yisaschar says because it has no explicit Shem Hashem.

ספר בני יששכר - מאמרי חדשי כסלו טבת - מאמר ד 
ובזה תתבונן מה שארז"ל נקרא ספר ונקרא אגרת [מגילה יט.], דהנה תתבונן במגילה זו אין נזכר בה שם הנכבד הוי"ה ב"ה, כי על ידי שם הוי"ה הן המה הנסים נגלים כי הוא המהווה כל הויות ומשדדם כרצונו, מה שאין כן נסים הנעשים בהלבשת הטבע הן המה מעשי אלקינו הוא אלקים הפועל ישועות בקרב הארץ, היינו בתוך הארציים הטבעיים, אלהי"ם בגימטריא הטב"ע, והנה להיות שהנס הזה לא היה בשידוד המערכה לא נזכר בה השם הנכבד, אך אעפי"כ כיון שכל באי עולם הכירו וידעו כי יד י"י עשתה זאת, נרמז בה שמות הוי"ה בראשי תיבות וסופי תיבות כנודע, על כן נקרא ספר מצד בחינת שם הוי"ה הוא שם הנכתב בספר, ונקרא אגרת הניתן לקריאה מפאת שם הנקרא

The Sfas Emes says because the Megillah has two aspects, תורה שבכתב (ספר) and תורה שבע"פ (אגרת).

ספר שפת אמת - שמות - לפורים - שנת [תרס"ג] 
 לפי שעמלק עמד על הדרך לבטל בנ"י מקבלת התורה. כמ"ש אשר קרך בדרך. כדאיתא בגמ' תורה נקראת דרך. הדרך אשר ילכו בה. לכן עתה אחר מפלת המן נעשה דרך חדש אל התורה. והוא בחי' תורה שבע"פ. כמ"ש במ"א כי מגילת אסתר היא התחלה לתורה שבע"פ. כמ"ש סוף הנסים שנתנו לכתוב. ונקראת ספר ונקראת אגרת. שכלול מן תורה שבכתב ותורה שבע"פ. ולכן נחלקו בה אי מטמא את הידים כו'. ומן אז ולהלן התחיל סדר תורה שבע"פ. [וזה ג"כ ליהודים היתה אורה בעצמותם בחי' תורה שבע"פ כמ"ש אשר נטע בתוכינו דייקא]

Elsewhere he elaborates on this:

ספר שפת אמת - שמות - לפורים - שנת [תרל"ח] 
מה שתקנו משתה ושמחה משלוח מנות ומתנות כו'. כי הנה ענין מגילה הזאת היא שורש ומפתח בנין בית שני. והנה ביהמ"ק ראשון הי' ענין תורה שבכתב. לכן אמרו חכמים שנחרב ע"י ע"ז ג"ע ש"ד כו'. אבל ביהמ"ק שני היה ענין תורה שבע"פ לכן אמרו שנחרב ע"י שנאת חנם. ומגילה זאת היא ענין חיבור תורה שבכתב ותורה שבע"פ. לכן נקראת ספר ונקראת אגרת. וענין תורה שבע"פ הוא באמת כללות המדות טובות שנטבעו בלבות בני ישראל בנפשותיהם. שהיא נמשכת משורש דביקות בני ישראל למעלה. ולכן ע"י אהבת בנ"י והתאחדם אין שום חסרון. כי בכלל נמצא שלימות בכל הענינים כמ"ש ממנו פנה ממנו יתד כו'. והימים האלה מסוגלים לזאת ההתאחדות כמ"ש נקהלו כו'. ועל ידי הקיבוץ שכתיב כנוס כו' כל היהודים גברו נגד עמלק. כי בהכלל אין לו כח כמ"ש הנחשלים אחריך כו'. שיצאו מן הכלל. כמ"ש ברפידים שהוא הריסות החיבור. לכן אמרו בגמ' הדר קבלוה בימי אחשורוש. דבמד' תנחומא פ' נח פי' מ"ש מודעא רבה לאורייתא והלא הקדימו נעשה לנשמע ומפרש דקאי על תורה שבעל פה שקשה לקיימה ביותר ע"ש. נמצא דבימי אחשורוש קיבלו ברצון גם התורה שבע"פ כמ"ש

The first Mikdash was the bechinah of Torah she'b'Ksav, and therefore it was destroyed on account of revealed sins. The second Mikdash was the bechinah of Torah she'b'al Peh, and therefore it was destroyed on account of a concealed sin. He adds a remarkable chiddush, that Torah she'b'al Peh is comprised of the middos tovos of Am Yisroel, which themselves are a product of the achdus that Haman denied (as Amalek exploited at Refidim), and which were firmly established by ההתאחדות כמ"ש נקהלו כו'. ועל ידי הקיבוץ שכתיב כנוס כו' כל היהודים.

Rav Hutner (Pachad Yitzchak to Purim, Kovetz Reshimos 22) suggests that the episode of Purim was a transfer point between the persecutions of Bayis Rishon, which were the "normal" wars of nation vs. nation, and the persecutions of Bayis Sheni, which were attempts to eradicate Judaism, Haman was interested in undermining both, of course. We may add that the Bayis Rishon persecutions were also on the revealed - the Jewish nation, while the Bayis Sheni persecutions were on the concealed - Judaism.

A book is public. A letter is private. But, on the other hand, the minhag is פושטה כאגרת - to "spread" the Meggilah like a letter. (see the elaboration at https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/303030?lang=bi)?!

It must be that throughout the year, the bechinah of penimiyus of Torah she'b'al Peh, with its correlated achdus and middos tovos are בהצנע לכת. But on Purim, just as the penimiyus is supposed to be revealed by ad d'lo yada (see just about every sefer written by Reb Tzadok for explanations at length!), it is also revealed as an "open letter."

The name itself - Megillas Esther - is both revealing (Megillah from gilui) and concealing (Esther from hester). Even Chazal wanted to keep the Megillah an Iggeres. Esther had to demand from them kisvuni l'doros. And they still had to find a source in Tanach to fulfill her demand. The chiddush is not the hester, the nes nistar, the Iggeres and the element of Torah she'b'al Peh. The chiddush is the gillui, the pirsuma nissa, the Sefer and the element of Torah she'b'Ksav.

We will come back to Iggeres. Later. Remember, it is 604. The 604th pasuk in the Torah is:

ספר בראשית פרק כד פסוק י"ב 

וַיֹּאמַר ה' אֱלֹקי אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם הַקְרֵה נָא לְפָנַי הַיּוֹם וַעֲשֵׂה חֶסֶד עִם אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם

Note the word that appears for the first time in the Torah in this pasuk that is echoed in a different form, but in what is apparently the same meaning (which is very problematic!), in its last appearance in the Torah, in Parashas Zachor...

 ספר דברים פרק כ"ה פסוקים י"ז-י"ח

 זָכוֹר אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לְךָ עֲמָלֵק בַּדֶּרֶךְ בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר קָרְךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ

And, אם נשכיל נבין, how to deal with its appearance (which is also very problematic!), in its two appearances in the Megillah:

In Perek 4, Pasuk 7:

וַיַּגֶּד לוֹ מָרְדֳּכַי אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר קָרָהוּ וְאֵת פָּרָשַׁת הַכֶּסֶף אֲשֶׁר אָמַר הָמָן לִשְׁקוֹל עַל גִּנְזֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ בַּיְּהוּדִיים לְאַבְּדָם

and in Perek 6, Pasuk 13:

וַיְסַפֵּר הָמָן לְזֶרֶשׁ אִשְׁתּוֹ וּלְכָל אֹהֲבָיו אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר קָרָהוּ וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ חֲכָמָיו וְזֶרֶשׁ אִשְׁתּוֹ אִם מִזֶּרַע הַיְּהוּדִים מָרְדֳּכַי אֲשֶׁר הַחִלּוֹתָ לִנְפֹּל לְפָנָיו לֹא תוּכַל לוֹ כִּי נָפוֹל תִּפּוֹל לְפָנָיו

Especially problematic according to the Gra there!


Hint: The Rebbitzen pointed out the difference in verbs: ויגד vs. ויספר...

Let us now, however, turn to another נקודה נפלאה.

The Megillah has 167 pesukim. In some editions, at the end of the Megillah, it gives that total and a siman (the gimatriya of that total:
פנואל
as in Bereishis Perek 32:
(כה) וַיִּוָּתֵר יַעֲקֹב לְבַדּוֹ וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ עַד עֲלוֹת הַשָּׁחַר:
 (כו) וַיַּרְא כִּי לֹא יָכֹל לוֹ וַיִּגַּע בְּכַף יְרֵכוֹ וַתֵּקַע כַּף יֶרֶךְ יַעֲקֹב בְּהֵאָבְקוֹ עִמּוֹ:
 (כז) וַיֹּאמֶר שַׁלְּחֵנִי כִּי עָלָה הַשָּׁחַר וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא אֲשַׁלֵּחֲךָ כִּי אִם בֵּרַכְתָּנִי:
 (כח) וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו מַה שְּׁמֶךָ וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב:
 (כט) וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא יַעֲקֹב יֵאָמֵר עוֹד שִׁמְךָ כִּי אִם יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי שָׂרִיתָ עִם אֱלֹהִים וְעִם אֲנָשִׁים וַתּוּכָל:
 (ל) וַיִּשְׁאַל יַעֲקֹב וַיֹּאמֶר הַגִּידָה נָּא שְׁמֶךָ וַיֹּאמֶר לָמָּה זֶּה תִּשְׁאַל לִשְׁמִי וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתוֹ שָׁם:
 (לא) וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם פְּנִיאֵל כִּי רָאִיתִי אֱלֹהִים פָּנִים אֶל פָּנִים וַתִּנָּצֵל נַפְשִׁי:
 (לב) וַיִּזְרַח לוֹ הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ כַּאֲשֶׁר עָבַר אֶת פְּנוּאֵל וְהוּא צֹלֵעַ עַל יְרֵכוֹ:

Before getting into the depth of this connection, it should be noted that there are two people name Penuel in Tanach, both in Divrei HaYamim Aleph, 4:4 and 8:25. One is from Shevet Yehudah, and the other from Shevet Binyamin...

One more nekudah for now. פנואל in gimatriya is:

הוי"ה אלהינ-ו הוי"ה אחד




Friday, March 11, 2022

Toras Purim 5782 Part 2: Some Good, Short Remazim


1.

שקל in gimatriya is 430. The 430th pasuk in the Torah is:

ספר בראשית פרק יח 

(ה) וְאֶקְחָה פַת לֶחֶם וְסַעֲדוּ לִבְּכֶם אַחַר תַּעֲבֹרוּ כִּי עַל כֵּן עֲבַרְתֶּם עַל עַבְדְּכֶם וַיֹּאמְרוּ כֵּן תַּעֲשֶׂה כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ

from which Chazal learn: 

תלמוד בבלי מסכת בבא מציעא דף פז/א 

כתיב ואקחה פת לחם וכתיב ואל הבקר רץ אברהם אמר רבי אלעזר מכאן שצדיקים אומרים מעט ועושים הרבה

Half of שקל is 215. The 215th pasuk is:

ספר בראשית פרק ט 

(ט) וַאֲנִי הִנְנִי מֵקִים אֶת בְּרִיתִי אִתְּכֶם וְאֶת זַרְעֲכֶם אַחֲרֵיכֶם


2. 

אגרת הפורים in gimatriya is 945. I haven't yet checked the 945th pasuk in the Torah. But...

it is, in gimatriya:*

הטוב שמך ולך נאה להודות

and אגרת itself is 604. I haven't checked the 604th pasuk yet either, But...

the 604th mitzvah in the Sefer HaChinuch is:

מצוה להכרית זרעו של עמלק


*However, in the Megillah it is written חסר... 

939. If you are a Zionist you will be happy to know that this is,

ה אייר התש"ח

😊

but that's not the only gimatriya. It is also:

כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה

and

ידעו אותי למקטנם ועד גדולם

(ירמיהו ל"א ל"ג)

Rischa D'Araisa Season 4 Episode 22: Packing a Dirshu Siyum Suitcase: A Report from the Ground Floor of the Towering Torah Program

 


Rischa D'Araisa Season 4 Episode 22:

Packing a Dirshu Siyum Suitcase: 
A Report from the Ground Floor of the Towering Torah Program

Tuesday, March 01, 2022

On Ukraine, antisemitism, and choosing sides | Shani Bechhofer | The Blogs

And, from the Rebbitzen. Eloquent and definitive...

On Ukraine, antisemitism, and choosing sides | Shani Bechhofer | The Blogs

On Ukraine, antisemitism, and choosing sides

Shani Bechhofer

Featured Post

There is no moral ambiguity in Russia's unprovoked military aggression. It is evil, and Ukraine's history of antisemitism is simply not the issue right now

US embassy, branch office, in Tel Aviv, lit with the colors of the Ukrainian flag. (Wikimedia Commons)

Some have expressed their deep discomfort about valorizing the people of Ukraine in this war, given the long history and remaining embers of Ukrainian antisemitism. These emotions have been particularly well articulated in several columns written by emigres from Ukraine. They are understandable.

I do not understand or accept, however, the theological, philosophical, or political wavering. To that hand-wringing I respond: Let me make this easier for you.

This is not about Ukraine per se, it is about Putin’s naked aggression. It is about the injustice of “might makes right,” a belief that Hitler championed overtly. It is about exposing the lies of the bully rather than passively emboldening him and others like him.

Ukraine is certainly imperfect. It has not yet fully freed itself of that endemic corruption that flourished under Soviet rule and under Putin’s kleptocratic regime and the overlord he installed. It has not cleansed itself of bigotries or fully confronted the very dark sides of its long history. But it is a sovereign state with a democratically elected government. Putin has concocted against that government accusations with no factual basis as a pretext to create the veneer of a justification for his indefensible attack. In truth, there is neither Ukrainian belligerence nor a threat against which Russia needs to defend itself to justify this war.

People of good will stand with Ukraine against Russia today. We praise its people, because they have made this decision of their own volition – that if Ukraine falls, it will not be as yet another domino bringing others down with them, but on their own terms, resisting in their own voice, without cowardice or complicity. We praise them because, having chosen the path of democracy and liberty, they are utterly unwilling to abandon it, to scurry back to the protection of Mother Russia’s smothering embrace and participate in rebuilding a repressive empire. We remember that ruthless Russian empire, whether Czarist or Communist, and we know that it must not be reconstituted under the leadership of a KGB-trained dictator. We cheer on the Ukrainians who are fighting against that dictator, thus exposing to the world his calculated lies, his amorality, his army’s tactics and weaknesses, his expansionist ambitions, and possibly his eroding rational judgment.

Here I quote from the clear words of the representative of Albania to the United Nations, spoken at the Security Council meeting on the night of February 23, 2022 before Russia’s invasion:

Every development of the last 48 hours confirms to us and to the world that Russian worries have nothing to do with its security; that its anxieties are not linked to NATO enlargement; that this issue is not a confrontation between Russia and the West.

This is a confrontation between Russia and international law, the UN charter that it deliberately has chosen to ignore; a confrontation between a hegemonistic vision and the rules-based world order.

It’s not about Russia’s concern; it’s about Russia’s appetite.

The Ukrainians are facing another aggression just because they dare to exist, because they have chosen to be independent, because they have opted for democracy. This is a dark hour not only for Ukraine but for the entire international community as we witness with trepidation the progression of a pure act of aggression, carefully planned and cold-bloodedly being executed.

At this most critical moment, we stand firm for their right to be free and to choose who they want to be.

There is no moral ambiguity in this situation. We no longer live in a world in which one nation may simply gobble up its weaker neighbor, thankfully. Russia’s unprovoked military aggression and territorial ambitions are bringing fear, suffering, and death to millions. This is not genius, it is not savvy, it is not deserving of any sort of respect. This is evil and if unchecked, this sort of lawlessness threatens to make the world a far more dangerous place for everyone.

How long can you hover over both banks of the river? Choose a side and please don’t waffle (publicly). Nobody is asking you to declare Ukraine to be the bastion of all virtue. What this moment does demand is clarity about right and wrong. Root for the people who want to live in peace. Root against the ruthless dictator who sent his soldiers to kill them, quash any opposition, and install his puppet to govern them against their will. If “rooting” is not your thing, try this: Refrain from justifying the aggression of a bully because you think the bully might favor you, or because the bully’s friends donated a lot of money to your cause, or because the victim’s grandparents were bad, or because the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Don’t be distracted by arguments about politics or about who should have done what, if these blur your vision. Let us cultivate in our hearts compassion for human beings who are terrified, uprooted, and in danger. Let’s cultivate in our souls rejection of injustice, aggression, and bullying.

About the Author

Dr. Shani Bechhofer is an independent Jewish education consultant and researcher in Monsey, NY. In addition to working with schools on strategic leadership, training and coaching principals, evaluating agency and foundation programs, and researching the Bais Yaakov movement, she is a local community advocate for good government and intercultural dialogue in Ramapo, NY.