The Weekly Shtikle - Vayeilech / Aseres Yemei Teshuvah

With the onset of the new year, another shemittah year has concluded. Now that the year is over, the mitzvos regarding shemittah, for the most part, cease as well. Prohibitions regarding produce that grew in the shemittah year and maintain shemittah status still apply. The procurement of the post-shemittah esrog, therefore, takes on a different form depending on where you shop. In the absence of a pruzbul, as well, one is forbidden to collect a loan after shemittah has concluded. But these laws ultimately tie back to the actual shemittah year itself. However, there is one mitzvah connected to shemittah that still remains, although it is not in practice today - the mitzvah of hakheil.

Hakheil, as it is discussed in this week's parsha and in the gemara (Sotah 41a,) was indeed a sight to be seen - the entire nation gathered in the Holy Temple as the king read from the Torah. Why, though, was this practice reserved for once every seven years? And why at the end of shemittah?

Malbi"m explains that shemittah is a year of complete devotion to spiritual growth, a year when the farmers and all those whose who work the land turn away from their tiring and distracting service of the land and devote themselves completely to the service of HaShem. It is a time when all are putting their faith in HaShem as He miraculously carries them through the year. This is the time to capitalize on this spiritual peak and bring everyone together for the reading of the Torah in the beis hamikdash before they all return to their fields to go to work once again.

This idea underscores the importance of capitalizing on our spiritual growth to bring ourselves yet another step higher. This is really the lesson of Tishrei of every year. It may be suggested that expecting all Jews to exit their homes and live in a temporary dwelling for a full week might not have been in the realm of possibility, for example, in the middle of the summer. It is only after the spiritual high of Yom Kippur, following the aseres yemei teshuvah, that we are able to devote ourselves to such an extent. So, immediately after Yom Kippur, without leaving a moment to lapse back into our regular routine, we thrust ourselves into the mitzvos of Sukkos.

It is customary to capitalize on the auspiciousness of these days by taking on stringencies that we do not keep the rest of the year, such as pas Yisrael or chaleiv Yisrael. There has been much said about this practice. Why do we do it and whom are we fooling if we know that the day after Yom Kippur we will go back to doing what we've always done?

I once heard an inspiring parable in the name of R' Ahron Lopiansky, Rosh HaYeshivah of the Yeshiva of Greater Washington, which explains what we are trying to accomplish. This is sure to resonate with those who drink coffee, which is approximately everybody. Coffee is often enjoyed hot – but not too hot. Right out of the pot, it usually needs a couple of minutes to cool off before it drops to that perfect drinking temperature. This, of course, begs the question, why not skip the wait? Why not brew the coffee at the desired drinking temperature so it can be enjoyed immediately? Nevertheless, as coffee aficionados will have you know, doing so will produce a drastically sub-standard brew of coffee. (The optimum brewing temperature is approximately 200° F.) Not enough of the flavour will be extracted from the beans and the result will be barely drinkable.

Such is the case with our spiritual levels we wish to maintain throughout the year. If we really want to be able to maintain an ideal "drinking temperature" for the rest of the year, we need to "come in hot." We need to start off on a higher, perhaps unrealistic, level to extract all of the goodness from the aseres yemei teshuvah so that when ultimately simmer down, we are just right.

Have a good Shabbos and a gemar chasimah tov.

Eliezer Bulka

WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Weekly Shtikle: Skipping around the Haftarah of Shabbas Shuvah

Dikdukian: A Happy Ending

Dikdukian: Don't you Worry

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Rosh HaShanah

It is customary to include a number of foods as good omens on the Rosh HaShanah night meal. While there is an extensive list of all sorts of unique foods and their significance as omens, some only include a choice few. The most popular is probably the apple in the honey. The fish head may very well be a close second (although perhaps the word common is more appropriate than "popular.") The eating of the fish head is preceded by a prayer, shenihyeh lerosh velo lezanav, that we should be a head and not a tail. I have long understood this to be a simple metaphor. We want to be a head, which symbolizes being on top, rather than a tail, which symbolizes being on the bottom of things. However, perhaps there is deeper meaning to this prayer.

 

The wording for this prayer surely has its source in parshas Ki Savo, which we recently read. There, in the blessings (28:13), we are assured that when we do HaShem's will, He will place us lerosh velo lezanav, and we will be lemalah, on top, and not lematah, below. The apparent repetition, unless simply poetic, implies that rosh and zanav must mean something other than top and bottom. But Onkelos makes it even more clear. His translation of rosh and zanav is not a head and a tail. He translates that HaShem will makes us strong and not weak.

 

The head contains the skull which protects the most important and fragile part of the body - the brain. The head is an anatomical fortress and is thus the metaphor for strength. The tail, conversely, is possibly the weakest part of an animal's body. Although it does contain bones in most cases, it is certainly the most vulnerable body part. It is therefore the metaphor for weakness.

 

The problem with this understanding is that the fish, which we use to represent this imagery, doesn't actually have a real skull. Instead, it has many small bones. This allows the fish to be more buoyant in water. Perhaps this symbolism speaks of a time when B'nei Yisrael will be so secure that heavy fortification will be unnecessary, a time when the whole world is filled with the recognition of HaShem, the time of Mashiach, may it come speedily in our day.

 

May HaShem continue to give us strength, making us like a head and not a tail, and may you all have a shanah tovah umsukah and a kesivah vachasima tovah.

 

Have a good Yom Tov.

 

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: Remember us for the Good

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The Weekly Shtikle - Ki Savo

The main focus of this week's parsha is the tochacha, the admonition. Many commentaries deal at length with the similarities between the warnings, the threats and the curses of the tochacha in Ki Savo and those found in Bechukosai. Ramban devotes much attention to the illustration of his theory that the first tochacha in Bechukosai corresponds to the destruction of the first beis hamikdash and the tochacha in Ki Savo corresponds to that of the second. 

 

Ramban makes a startling comment based on a pasuk in this week's tochacha (28:36): "And HaShem will bring you and your king whom you have raised above you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known." The sages offer a number of examples of characters and events that were, in their own way, catalysts that led to the destruction of the second beis hamikdash and our exile from Eretz Yisrael. Ramban suggests here that it was the travelling of King Agrippas to Rome to sign treaties that was the (or at least a) cause of our exile there. He adds that the pasuk hints to Agrippas by referring to the king "whom you have raised above you" and not the the king "who ruled over you," a reference to the illegitimate appointment of Agrippas as king as discussed in the gemara (Sotah 41a). Agrippas' cordial approach to our enemies encouraged our destruction and condemned us to exile at the hands of the Romans.

 

We have certainly seen in our time numerous futile attempts to establish treaties with those sworn to destroy us with quite drastic results. Ramban's lesson from this week's parsha has been clearly overlooked. Certainly, not all treaties are ill-advised. On occasion, throughout our history, they have been relied upon sparingly with close, sagely guidance. We must learn that these events are not mere political milestones that may be easily glanced over but rather, they are pivotal moments in our history with the potential to shape our future. 

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
Al Pi Cheshbon: Balancing the Shevatim at Har Gerizim and Har Eival
Dikdukian: Tough Day at the Office

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The Weekly Shtikle - Ki Seitzei

In this week's parsha, (23:5), we are told that an Amonite and Moabite are not allowed to come bikhal HaShem, that a convert from Amon or Moav may not marry into B'nei Yisrael. The reasons given are because they did not come forth with bread and water as we passed their land and for their hiring of Bilam to curse us. The question that is asked by many of the commentaries is that in 2:29, and particularly with the explanation of Rashi, it seems that Edom and Moav both provided B'nei Yisrael with bread and water, albeit with a price. Also, we do not see in the pesukim anywhere that Amon had anything to do with the hiring of Bilam. There is much discussion amongst the commentaries concerning this question. I will focus on the answer of the Sma"g. He simply interprets the pasuk as giving one reason for each nation. The Amonites are forbidden to marry into our nation because they did not come forth with bread and water. The Moabites are forbidden for their involvement in the hiring of Bilam.

The problem with this interpretation, however, is that in the gemara (Yevamos 76b) we learn that women are excluded from this prohibition. We learn this because the reason of not having come forth with bread and water would not apply to women whose nature is not to come forth in that manner. It seems from there that this reason applies to both Amon and Moav, for the very subject of that gemara is David HaMelech's legitimacy based on Rus having been a Moabite convert. The only possible explanation for the Sma"g is that just like it is not the nature of women to go out and greet a nation with bread and water, it is not their nature to go out and hire hitmen. The difficulty with this, of course, is that such a reasoning is not mentioned in the gemara itself. Nevertheless, Rashb"a in Yevamos interprets the gemara in accordance with the Sma"g.

Another interesting nuance in the pasuk is that the language used in the failure to bring bread and water is "asher lo kidmu eschem." B'nei Yisrael are referred to in plural. But in the hiring of Bilam it states "va'asher sachar alecha," referring to B'nei Yisrael in singular. I believe that the explanation for this is that when Bilam was to curse B'nei Yisrael, it was to be done on the entire nation at once. Therefore, the nation is referred to in singular form. However, from the aforementioned gemara in Yevamos it seems that it was expected of the Amonites to come forth with the men giving food to the men, and the women to the women. Since they were expected to come and give individual attention to separate groups of B'nei Yisrael, they are referred to in the plural.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

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The Weekly Shtikle - Shofetim

Towards the end of the parsha we are taught more about accidental killers and the laws pertaining to them. The pesukim (19:8-10) then proceed to explain how more cities will be added in the future when mashiach comes. The pesukim then proceed to deal with the laws pertaining to the sonei, the accidental killer with a predisposed hatred towards his victim. The hatred compels us to consider that there was some ill intent that caused this incident to occur and thus, the regular laws of an accidental killer do not apply. It would seem that these laws are directly pertinent to the rest of the laws of the accidental killer. Why then does the Torah interrupt with the tangential reference to the additional cities in the times of mashiach instead of going directly into the laws of the sonei?

Understanding what life will be like following the ultimate redemption is certainly no simple matter. However, it does seem that in the times of mashiach - may he come speedily in our day - it would still be possible for someone to kill accidentally.  After all, we will certainly add those extra cities. Nevertheless, it should be inconceivable that one Jew would hate his fellow Jew. Therefore, the laws of the sonei will become obsolete. For this reason, the Torah placed the law of the sonei after the reference to the times of mashiach to denote that the extra cities are relevant only to all of the laws mentioned until this point. But the laws of the sonei, written after, will not apply.

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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