The Weekly Shtikle - Acharei Mos

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

At the beginning of this week's parsha, Moshe is instructed to relay to Aharon the process necessary for entering the kodesh hakadashim on Yom Kippur. (According to GR"A's understanding, Aharon himself could do this any day of the year.) This instruction was given, as noted in the pasuk (16:1,) following the death of Aharon's two sons. Rashi notes that the correlation to this tragic event was not merely a temporal one. He explains, by means of a familiar medical parable, that the message behind this passage was to be diligent with this process so as not to meet the same fate as Nadav and Avihu did when they were not as careful.

In this specific instance, Moshe Rabbeinu is directed to relate these laws to "Aharon achicha," your brother. This is certainly not the only time Aharon is referred to in this manner. Nevertheless, it is deemed unusual enough to be addressed by numerous commentaries. One approach, suggested by Kli Yekar and Malbim, based on a midrash, is that this procedure was not necessary for Moshe himself. One might have thought that since Aharon was his "brother" in prophecy, that he would also be permitted to enter at will. Despite his elevated status, however, he was still required to follow this process.

Building on this idea, Panim Yafos suggests further that Moshe Rabbeinu would have been reluctant to relay this warning to Aharon, similar to how he did not want to accept his initial charge to lead the nation out of respect for his older brother. He did not want Aharon to be insulted that he did not have the same access as himself. To this, HaShem indicates that he is also his brother in humility and will accept these requirements wholeheartedly.

I would like to suggest another possible approach. The very first time we see the term "Aharon achicha" is when HaShem assures Moshe (Shemos 4:14) that his brother will come to meet him and be genuinely overjoyed at his younger brother's stature. Aharon had a special knack for empathy and ability to participate in the joy – or the pain – of another. In this instance, Moshe is being asked to return the favour. As explained above, this instruction was potentially very painful in nature as it pertained directly to the death of Aharon's sons. Moshe is therefore called upon to express brotherly love and approach this specific command with extra sensitivity and care.

Have a good Shabbos and chodesh tov.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: A Revealing Note
Dikdukian: Stand up, goat!
Dikdukian: Mitum'os: Watch that plural

Dikdukian: Qualification of the AHOY rule

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The Weekly Shtikle - Shevi'i shel Pesach

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

 

It is only fitting that I quote from my father's haggadah this year. There are surely many themes and lessons to be gleaned from the story of yetzias Mitzrayim, as well as many aspects and nuances to be analyzed. In his commentary to the famous Dayeinu portion of the haggadah, my father explains how the poem covers the gamut of these various aspects. But there is one that flies under the radar, one that I have not seen discussed elsewhere. It is examined a bit more closely earlier on in the exposition which declares HaShem's carrying out of the final plague by Himself. This theme is perhaps not so overt in the earlier stages of our exodus but is given more focus in the passage we read on the 7^th day of Pesach.

As is often the case, nothing is more effective than quoting from the source:

Finally, God's expressed intent of alone taking care of the exodus in all its detail was intended to prevent the Israelites from taking matters into their own hands and inflicting their own brand of justified revenge on the Egyptians. The people were undoubtedly justified for wanting to get back at those who afflicted and oppressed them and who murdered their husbands and children.

But the expression of violence, however justified, has its price, a heavy price. Those who resort to violence become tainted and adversely affected by the exercise of violence. It creeps into and attacks the humaneness of the individual. Even more so can it affect the collective psyche of a people who resort to mob violence.

God was concerned with the physical and spiritual welfare of the Israelites. The people, who were soon to affirm their allegiance to God and their adherence to God's word, the Torah, had to be a peace loving, caring, understanding people, certainly not a belligerent lot with warlike premonitions. Hence, God effectively told the people to leave the revenge to God, so that the people could better train their thoughts on their collective spiritual development.

It is interesting to note that this is perhaps the only time in our history we merited this level of exclusively-Divine deliverance. Even the great miracles of the conquest of Eretz Yisrael, the defeat of the Amaleikim following Haman's demise and the great triumph over the Syrian Greeks in the story of Chanukah necessitated an element of human involvement in violent activity. (There were, perhaps, some smaller-scale exceptions such as the overnight demise of Sancheirev's army as he lay siege to Yerushalayim in Melachim II 19.35.)

But this did not end with makas bechoros. When B'nei Yisrael are faced with the attacking Egyptian army at Yam Suf, the midrash, as exposed by Targum Yonasan (14:13), tells of four different factions, each with their own approach to the predicament. One of them was to take on the Egyptians and engage them in battle. To this, Moshe responds in the very next pasuk, "HaShem will do battle for you!" Moshe is clearly conveying this very lesson to the nation. However noble the cause, even with the most altruistic intentions, human warfare is not part of the blueprint of this deliverance. It must be HaShem – and HaShem alone – who delivers us from Paroah and his army.

(This also ties in nicely with a theme we discussed a number of years ago regarding how the prohibition of leaven relates to Pesach.)

Have a chag samei'ach and good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
Al Pi Cheshbon: Omer Counting in Different Bases

Dikdukian: Exceptions Ahoy!

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The Weekly Shtikle - Leil Seder

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

 

For a collection of previous seder night shtikles, please check out my archive of past Seder shtikles.

Over the past couple of months, I was tasked with reciting a couple of kapitlach of Tehillim for a sick relative. One of them was kapitel 78 which is a rather lengthy chapter contrasting the great benevolent miracles of HaShem while we were in Mitzrayim and the years that followed with our unfortunate, incessant tendency to rebel. One section (78:43-51) details the plagues that were brought upon the Egyptians. There is one particular pasuk (78:49) which will be familiar as it is expounded upon in the haggadah by Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva to magnify the plagues four-fold and five-fold, respectively.

However, there are two glaring anomalies. First, not all of the 10 plagues are even mentioned. Second, the ones that are mentioned are not mentioned in chronological order. The sequence is dam, arov, tzefardei'a, arbeh, barad, makas bechoros. As for the missing plagues, Ibn Ezra suggests they were omitted since there was no physical harm done to humans. Although dam and arbeh would fall into that category as well, he suggests that since those plagues gravely affected the supply chain of food and water, they also merited mention. Defining which plagues do and do not fit this structure is certainly up for discussion. The sequence does not seem to bother most commentaries.

I discovered (thanks to Sefaria) a very fascinating approach from Alshich in his sefer Romemos Kel. He posits that the purpose of this passage is to teach us the intricate wonders of Divine retribution. When a mortal human is angered to the point where he feels the need to take revenge, he will be consumed by his rage and cause the maximum damage within his power, without the ability to hold back. HaShem, however, carried out the makkos with more specific intentions to reveal His greatness. Therefore, some of the plagues were minimized to some degree so that subsequent plagues could "finish the job." The frogs caused great harm and in truth, were capable of just as much devastation as the wild beasts. They invaded the stomachs of the Mitzrim but yet, did not cause further internal damage.

The hail, as well, was potentially much more devastating. Yet, strangely, the plague's warning allowed some to escape its wrath to some degree and there was plenty of vegetation which emerged unscathed – only to be consumed by the locusts. The first and last plagues are mentioned as the bookends but the other four are the embodiment of the lesson being taught. They are specifically listed out of order to focus on this point – the arov was necessary, even after the frogs and the same with locusts following the hail.

Have a good Shabbos and a chag kasher ve'sameiach!

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: Shiras HaLevi'im

Dikdukian: Hagieinu vs Yagieinu

Dikdukian: Chad Gadya

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The Weekly Shtikle - Shabbas HaGadol

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

 

Unlike the other four special shabbasos leading up to Pesach, Shabbas HaGadol has no special maftir reading. Rather, there is only a special haftarah. The haftarah comes from the very end of Trei Asar, essentially the very end of the Navi portion of Tanach. It is difficult to find a direct connection between the haftarah and the theme of the day. The clearest correlation is the reference to the ultimate redemption and the sending of Eliyah(u) HaNavi as it relates to the great redemption of Pesach. But what of the rest of the haftarah?

 

There is a section of the haftarah that does bear a remote, yet interesting connection to Shabbos HaGadol. HaShem chastises B'nei Yisrael for their failure to properly fulfill the mitzvos of ma'aser and terumah. HaShem then makes a promise, (Malachi 3:10) "and challenge me with this (terumah and ma'aser), if I will not open for you the windows of the Heavens and bestow upon you never-ending blessing." Usually, we are expected to do mitzvos unconditionally and not to expect any specific reward in return. However, here we are told that we may in fact "test" HaShem with the mitzvos of terumah and ma'aser, that we will receive subsequent reward.

 

Although this is quite unique, there is another instance of immediate and direct reward in the Torah. Our answer to both the rasha and the eino yodei'a lish'ol reference the pasuk, (Shemos 13:8) "Ba'avur zeh asah HaShem li betzeisi miMitzrayim," in the merit of this, the mitzvah of korban Pesach, HaShem led us out of Mitzrayim. Indeed, we rebuke the rasha by asserting that his contemptuous attitude toward the korban Pesach would have excluded him from the redemption.

 

Perhaps this may be another interpretation of the term Shabbos HaGadol, referring not only to the great redemption, but to the great promise that the proper execution of the mitzvah of korban Pesach will lead to the exodus, a comparable promise to that found in this week's special haftarah.

 

Have a good Shabbos.

Sorry, forgot last week to wish everyone a chodesh tov and… the obligatory:

Mishenichnas Adar Marbim beSimchah! (see Rashi, bottom of Taanis 29a)

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: שבת הגדול

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The Weekly Shtikle - Tazria

This Sunday, 2 Nissan, marks the 16^th yahrtzeit of my Bubbie. This week's shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmasah, Yehudis bas Reuven Pinchas.

 

This coming Tuesday, 4 Nissan, marks the 4^th yahrtzeit of my wife's grandmother, Rebbetzin Faigie Frankel. The shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmasah, Leah Feiga bas Aharon Tzvi.

 

We often strive to find connections between different episodes within the same parsha. It is perhaps less common to find connections from one parsha to the next. There are a number of approaches that point to this parsha as a transition from the discussion of tum'ah related to animals to that of humans.

 

The topic that takes up most of parshas Tazria (although it is not the initial topic) is the illness of tzara'as. Traditionally, (as per Arachin 15b) tzara'as afflicted someone who spoke lashon hara as it did Miriam at the end of parshas Beha'alosecha.

 

R' Moshe Shternbuch in Ta'am Voda'as, in the name of R' Yisrael Salanter, writes that the end of the previous parsha we are taught of the animals that are not to be eaten and the tum'ah that results when we do. While it seems that very many people are careful about what they put into their mouths, they are seemingly far less careful of what comes out. The juxtaposition of these two topics is meant to show that just as putting the wrong things in our mouths results in serious tum'ah, the same grievous consequences result when we allow the wrong things to come out.

 

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: White Hair

Dikdukian: Meaining of "kibus" by Eliyahu Levin

Dikdukian: Various Dikduk Observations by Eliyahu Levin

 

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