The Weekly Shtikle - Ki Seitzei

This week's shtikle comes with a special Mazal Tov to my nephew, Yisroel Meir Shonek of Far Rockaway, NY on his engagement to Miriam Teitelbaum, also of Far Rockaway.

    One of the many topics covered in this week's parsha is that of marriage and divorce. The term used for the divorce document is "geit." The first Tosafos in maseches Gittin teaches us that being that the gematria of get is 12, it is the custom to make all gittin 12 lines long. The question asked in the name of the GR"A (although it is not so clear that it was his question) is why did Chaza"l decide to use specifically this word which has no meaning elsewhere? Why did they not choose any other combination of letters which adds up to 12? He gives a fascinating answer. The letters "gimmel" and "tes" are never found next to each other in all of Tana"ch, to symbolize how, with a get, a couple has become separated.

    What is even more fascinating is the question that R' Chaim Kunyevsky asks on this. Why use "gimmel" and "tes" to convey this idea? "Gimmel"-"kuf", "zayin"-"tes", "zayin"-"tzadi" and "samech"-"tzadi" are also never found next to each other in all of Tana"ch!! He gives to answers, although they are not nearly as entertaining as the question. First, none of those combinations add up to 12. And second, "gimmel"-"tes" is the first combination encountered when starting from the beginning of the Aleph-Bais.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Shiluach HaKein Game

Weekly Shtkle: Zachor in the Middle
Daily Leaf: Different Levels of Ervah
Dikdukian: Shiluah Ha...

Dikdukian: Shva vs Kamatz by R' Ari Storch

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The Weekly Shtikle - Shofetim

This week's parsha discusses a wide range of topics. Among them are the unique laws of Eidim Zomemim, the false, plotting witnesses who are given the exact punishment they planned to cause to the defendant. The manner in which they are refuted must be very specific as well as the timing of their disproof. The Mishnah (Makkos 5b) teaches that the refutation must come after the defendant had been sentenced but before the sentence was carried out in order for these laws to take effect. This is the famous conundrum of Eidim Zomemim, that the false witnesses are punished accordingly only if they ultimately fail but not if they succeed. The Mishnah learns this law in cases of capital punishment from the pasuk (19:19) "And you shall do to him as he plotted to do to his brother." The fact that the Torah refers to the defendant as his brother indicates that he is still alive. If he has already been given the death penalty, this pasuk does not apply.

Similarly, the gemara (Sanhedrin 10a) learns from the pasuk (25:3) "And your brother shall be flogged before your eyes" that the punishment of lashes must not result in death for after the lashes, he must remain your brother.

Many commentaries question this understanding of the word "ach," brother. After all, the pasuk (Vayikra 21:2) teaches us that a regular Kohein may become tamei for the purpose of the burial of an immediate family member. There, the word "ach" is clearly referring to someone who is no longer alive. How can the aforementioned sources assume "ach" to be a living person?

Rasha"sh on the gemara in Sanhedrin offers an interpretation. The Torah uses the word "ach" in two different contexts. Sometimes it used to refer to an actual brother with a familial relationship. In this case, the relationship is not broken by death and thus, he remains a brother even after passing on. However, when the Torah uses the word "ach" to refer to a fellow Jew, the rationale is that he is your brother in mitzvos. He shares the same obligations as you. When he dies, he is absolved of his obligation to perform mitzvos and this brotherly relationship is severed. Therefore, the gemara justifiably extrapolates from the usage of "ach" that we are referring to someone who is still alive.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Weekly Shtikle: Additional Symbolism of the Shofar

Dikdukian: Two of a Kind

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The Weekly Shtikle - Re'eih

I am proud to introduce a new installment in the Weekly Shtikle Blog Family. I have attempted to keep up with the new cycle of Daf Yomi and along with it, publish a blog of my thoughts on the daily daf. I wanted to give it a little while to make sure I stick with it and now I am ready to unveil ... The Daily Leaf. Please check it out, read, enjoy, subscribe and comment.

 

    This week's parsha presents the contradiction of the following two pesukim. First we are told (15:4) that with the proper fulfillment of the laws of shemitah as they pertain to loans "there will not be any needy among you." In the very same perek we are told (pasuk 11) "For the needy shall never cease from within the land." Rashi explains homiletically from the Midrash (Sifrei Piska 114) that when we are performing HaShem's will, the needy will be among others and not among us. But when we are not performing HaShem's will, there will be needy among us.

    On a more simple level, however, perhaps the contradiction may be reconciled as follows: The first pasuk is indeed giving us an assurance that with the proper performance of the laws of shemitah, poverty will be wiped out from the community. The second pasuk, however, is stated regarding the mitzvah of tzedakah. It is not a prediction of the future. Rather, the Torah is giving us a reason why charity is always necessary. You should never say "someone else will take care of him, he'll make it somehow." The Torah is teaching us a lesson that the poor will never cease to be on their own. In order to tackle poverty, you must take the initiative and give tzedakah and never rely on someone else to do the job.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

AstroTorah: Even the Sages Had Difficulty Pronouncing "Ch" by R' Ari Storch

Daily Leaf: All of your Days

Note: I do not plan to list all Daily Leaf posts here. There will too many (hopefully.) I will, however, post those which pertain to the parsha, what I call on Daily Leaf a "פרשה Bonus."

Please visit the new portal for all Shtikle-related sites, www.weeklyshtikle.com

The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com

The Weekly Shtikle - Eikev

In this week's parsha, we find the second paragraph of keriyas shema. Once again, (11:18) the mitzvos of tefillin and mezuzah are mentioned. Rashi, on the words "vesamtem es devarai eileh," makes a rather startling comment. "Even after you are exiled, still be excellent in mitzvos. Put on tefillin and make mezuzos so that they are not new to you when you return to Eretz Yisroel." The implication is that tefillin and mezuzah are mitzvos that are not biblical obligations outside of Eretz Yisrael but are only performed so as not to be forgotten. However, the gemara (Kiddushin 36b) clearly states that all mitzvos that are not based on the land are practiced both in Eretz Yisrael and outside.

The GR"A raises this question and gives an answer in the name of Masa'as Moshe. He posits that the words in Rashi "hanichu tefillin vasu mezuzos" are a mistake. The original text of Rashi had an abbreviation "heh-tuv, v'ayin-mem" which really stood for "hafrishu terumah v'isru ma'aser." Terumah and ma'aser are mitzvos which are land-based and apply only in Eretz Yisrael but were practiced while B'nei Yisroel were in exile as well, in order that they not be forgotten. Somewhere along the line, a printer made the error of thinking that Rashi's abbreviation stood for "hanichu tefillin vasu mezuzos." (I'm not sure what the relevance would be to this pasuk, based on this approach.)

Ramba"n, however, says that this Midrash is actually hinting to a deep secret which he has once referred to. The Maor chumash cites Vayikra 18:25 as the cross-reference of the Ramba"n. Gur Aryeh here explains based on Ramba"n's commentary in Parshas Toledos on why the forefathers kept the mitzvos only in Eretz Yisrael, that the actual reason why the Torah commanded us to keep the mitzvos outside of Eretz Yisroel as the gemara teaches us, is because of the reason Rashi gives here. In other words, it is true that we have a full-fledged requirement to keep all of the mitzvos even outside of Eretz Yisrael. However, the ultimate reasoning behind it is to ensure that when we return to the Land where these mitzvos were meant to be performed, they are not forgotten. (I suggest, for a clearer understanding of the issue, reading inside the Gur Aryeh and the aforementioned Ramba"ns.)

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
Dikdukian: To Make a Misnaged Cringe

Dikdukian: Those Bad Egyptians

AstroTorah: All we are is Dust in the Sky by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: Showering in Dust by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: The Gemara's Aliens or Other's Ignorance? by R' Ari Storch

Please visit the new portal for all Shtikle-related sites, www.weeklyshtikle.com

The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com

The Weekly Shtikle - Vaeschanan

Today, 15 Av, is the yahrtzeit of my Opa, Mr. George Jakobovits, z"l. This week's shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmaso, Tovia Yehuda ben Yoel.

Reflections on the Siyum HaShas

I was not able to attend the main event in New Jersey this past Wednesday evening but I was in attendance at the Toronto venue which featured most of the New Jersey program along with some local flavour. I thought there ought to be a way to connect this event to this week's parsha and there was a simple thought that came to me during this special celebration.

I'm sure most of you have, at some point, received one of those emails  with a long list of impressive accomplishments from Jewish individuals over the years - Nobel Prizes, significant inventions, medical discoveries, etc. The general gist of these messages is usually to highlight Jews' contribution to society and by extension, justify our continued existence. Indeed, we are taught in the gemara (Shabbos 75a) that it is incumbent upon a Torah Jew to engross in astronomical calculations. The pasuk that is brought in support of this assertion is from this week's parsha (4:6) "and you shall observe and do for this your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the nations." Our proficiency in these matters makes a unique impression upon the nations around us. (It is for this reason that this pasuk adorns the logo of the AstroTorah blog.)

Following the siyum , as the crowd in Toronto was dancing in the aisles of the Sony Centre simultaneously with the tremendous crowd in New Jersey and probably thousands more across the world, it occurred to me that Jewish mastery of worldly matters, not to be downplayed, may indeed be what makes the nations appreciate us. But what really makes us great is that to which the nations simply cannot relate. To link up hundreds of communities around the world for a night of inspiration in celebration of the completion of Shas and to rejoice together in song and dance is something I could not possibly fathom trying to explain to a Gentile. And yet, during that very moment, being a Jew had never felt more special.

Have a good Shabbos and a hearty Mazal Tov to all those who completed shas!

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: You were shown
AstroTorah: A Midsummer Night's Learning by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: 15 Av is the Wrong Date? by R' Ari Storch

Al Pi Cheshbon: Moshe's Pleas

Al Pi Cheshbon: Gemtrias off by 1

Please visit the new portal for all Shtikle-related sites, www.weeklyshtikle.com

The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com