The Weekly Shtikle - Vayakheil

The Weekly Shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas my father, Reuven Pinchas ben Chaim Yaakov, a"h.

Much of what we read about this week is repetition of designs and dimensions that we have already read about in Terumah and Tezaveh. However, what is fresh and new is the recounting of our nation's generous nature as each person gave in their own way to help put everything together. As the story begins to be told we are introduced to two distinct types of donors. The pasuk (35:21) speaks of one who nesa'o libo as well as nadvah rucho. These seem like similar terms but certainly there must be a distinction and a reason why both are mentioned.

Or HaChayim explains that nedivas ruach is the act of giving generously within one's means. However, nesius leiv, literally the raising of one's heart, is the inspiration to push the limits and donate beyond what one would normally be inclined to give. His heart has lifted him to perceive himself in a higher bracket such that he is inspired to give more as if it were within his means. This higher level is mentioned first in the pasuk and assigned the word ish to show its special grandeur. However, he notes, this is not to say that the second level is to be regarded as lacking. There are levels even lower – those who give but not willingly and of course, those who don't give at all. The Torah is testifying that there were only these two types of givers. Each and every person donated - at the very least - within their means and wholeheartedly, even if they didn't push their limits.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: Ve'asa Vetzalel

Dikdukian: Kikar Zahav

Dikdukian: The Lord and the Rings

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

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The Weekly Shtikle - Ki Sisa

The Weekly Shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas my father, Reuven Pinchas ben Chaim Yaakov, a"h.

I would like to once again quote an intriguing piece from my father, a"h, on this week's parsha. It is a rather lengthy piece so I will link it and attach it, rather than write it out. It was published in Jewish Bible Quarterly in 2009. The title, The Golden Calves: What Happened? should speak for itself.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: Kol Annnos

Dikdukian: Yeiaseh vs.Taaseh by Ephraim Stulberg

Dikdukian: No More Drinking

Dikdukian: Minimizing Sin

Dikdukian: Whys and Wherefores

Dikdukian: Need to Bring this Up

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

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Tetzaveh

The Weekly Shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas my father, Reuven Pinchas ben Chaim Yaakov, a"h.

A very special Weekly Shtikle mazal tov to my nephew Yaakov Yosef Shonek and his wife Miriam on the recent birth of their son whose bris was this week. The baby is named Reuven Pinchas after my father, a"h, the baby's great grandfather. Mazal Tov to the extended Shonek and Bulka mishpachos.

 

Much of this week's parsha deals with the vestments that the kohein gadol and regular kohein wore when they performed the service. Although their wardrobe seems to be discussed in its entirety, there is no mention of any tzitzis. (It may be argued that tefillin is not mentioned either but it is clear that they did wear tefillin.) It isn't completely clear which of the vestments actually had four corners. According to Rambam, it seems that at least the me'il, worn by the kohein gadol, had four corners. Why then is there no mention of the kohein gadol putting tzitzis on the me'il?

 

The gemara (Arachin 3b) mentions a number of mitzvos that apply equally to kohanim, levi'im and yisraeilim and discusses them in depth. One such mitzvah is tzitzis. The gemara, as it does in the other instances as well, questions that it is obvious that everyone is obligated in the mitzvah of tzitzis. Why would one even have thought that a kohein or levi would be excluded? The gemara answers based on the juxtaposition of the mitzvos of sha'ateneiz and tzitzis (Devarim 22:11-12). The vestments of the kohanim are exempt from the prohibition of sha'atneiz, the combination of wool and linen, as the linen belt is placed tightly over the woolen tunic. One might have thought that since they are exempt from sha'atneiz, they are exempt from tzitzis as well. The gemara, therefore, needs to confirm that they are not, for they are only exempt from sha'atneiz while they are performing the service in their garments but not otherwise. Beis Yitzchak comments on this gemara that it seems that nevertheless, since the kohanim are, in fact, exempt from sha'atneiz while they are performing the service, they are also exempt from tzitzis while they are performing the service. This would explain why tzitzis were not placed on the me'il.

 

Minchas Chinuch (mitzvah 99, siman 4) discusses this issue and rejects the notion that the exemption from tzitzis has to do with being worn while performing the service. Rather, he contends that the reason why tzitzis were not placed on the me'il is because we are taught in the gemara (Chulin 136a) that there is only an obligation of tzitzis on a garment that belongs to you. A borrowed garment, for instance, is not obligated to have tzitzis. The vestments of the kohein gadol were hekdeish, consecrated, and did not belong to the kohein gadol himself. Therefore, he was not obligated to put tzitzis on them.

 

Have a good Shabbos.

 

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: Dikdukian Posts on Megillas Esther

Dikdukian: Ner Tamid

Dikdukian: Of Plurals and Singulars

Dikdukian: The Lord and the Rings

Dikdukian: Tarshsih veShoham

Dikdukian: Sham and Shamah

 

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

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Terumah

I apologize for being MIA for the last couple of weeks. I have a couple of dedications to catch up on:

 

Last Tuesday, 23 Shevat, was the first yahrtzeit of our dear Oma Jakobovits. This concludes our full year of shtikle dedications le'iluy nishmasah, Chaya Sara bas Zecharia Chaim, a"h.

 

This past Sunday, 28 Shevat, marked the 9^th yahrtzeit of my wife's grandfather, R' Yitzchak Yeres. The shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmaso, Yitzchak Chaim ben Moshe Yosef.

 

Yesterday, 2 Adar, marked the 16^th yahrtzeit of my Zadie, Rabbi Yaakov Bulka. The shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmaso, Chaim Yaakov ben Yitzchak, z"l.

 

The Weekly Shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmas my father, Reuven Pinchas ben Chaim Yaakov, a"h.

 

The story goes that R' Chaim of Volozhin had trouble understanding a certain passage of Zohar and appeared before his rebbe, R' Eliyahu of Vilna (GR"A) and asked him to explain it to him. The GR"A then proceeded to give him the following peshat on a pasuk in this week's parsha. The pasuk (25:11) tells us that the ark be made of wood and be coated inside and out - "mibayis umichutz" - with gold. Rashi explains from the Yerushalmi in Shekalim that Bezalel constructed three boxes - two of gold and one of wood. He put the wooden box inside the larger gold one and then the smaller gold one inside the wood one and then coated the top of it. If such was the order, asks the GR"A, then why does the pasuk say "mibayis umichutz?" The order should be reversed and it should say "michutz umibayis" because the Ark was coated first on the outside and then on the inside. He answers that "mibayis umichutz" is not referring to the wood but rather to the gold. This is to say that the larger golden ark coated the wood "with its inside" and the smaller golden ark coated the wood "with its outside." So, instead of the pasuk telling us to coat the wood on its inside and its outside, it is in fact saying to coat the wood with the inside of the gold and with the outside of the gold.

 

And why did the Torah go out of its way to explain this process in such a strange manner? The GR"A explained that it was to express the following symbolism. (This is where it gets deep.) The wood refers to man as the pasuk says (Devarim 20:19) "ki haAdam eitz hasadeh" and the two coatings of gold refer to the two portions of Torah that must envelop man, the nigleh, the revealed portions, and the nistar, the hidden. Torah is compared to gold in Tehillim (19:11) "hanechemadim mizahav." The Torah is telling us that as far as the nigleh, represented by the outer coating of gold, is concerned, one has the ability to reach the deepest depths of this portion of Torah. This is demonstrated by the fact that it is the inside of the gold that coats the wood. But as for the nistar, symbolized by the inner gold, one may only reach the surface and may not be able to reach the full depth of the nistar, as it is only the outside of this layer of gold that coats the wood. Following this explanation, the GR"A refused to explain that particular passage in Zohar to R' Chaim.

 

One issue with the above: In the passage from Yerushalmi referenced by Rashi the order is actually the other way around that the inner layer of gold was first placed in the wooden box and then they were placed in the larger layer of gold. According to this, the order of the pasuk is fine the way it is. It seems Rashi might actually be quoting a midrash which had a different accounting of the events. In Yoma 72b Rashi explains this process in the same way he does here.

 

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Al Pi Cheshbon: Amudei HeChatzeir
Dikdukian: Venahapoch hu

Dikdukian: Watch out for that kamatz

Dikdukian: Kikar Zahav

Dikdukian: The Lord and the Rings 

 

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

 

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