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Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
The white clothes of the girls connect to the white clothes that the Kohen Gadol wore when he entered the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. He must wear white and not the regular "gold clothes" not only to not arouse reminders of the Golden Calf. Rather, there is also a need for humility when encountering the Divine Presence in that most holy place. The idea of the white clothes not embarrassing those who do not have applies to the Kohen Gadol, who is lacking when compared to the Holy One, Blessed Be He. He would not impress Hashem by wearing the most expensive clothing.
Brides wear white as they involve themselves in the building of "a complete and eternal structure" on a personal level. Representing the nation, the Kohen Gadol enters the inner sanctum in white almost like a kalla entering a yichud room. This great affection found expression in the cherubim, which "embraced each other" when relations between Hashem and His nation were going well. The mishna we cited does its part in describing the historical events that highlight the connection between Israel and Hashem in terms of wedding days.
Every Jewish wedding has an element of building a personal mini-Mikdash between the two hearts. But the comparison to the Beit Hamikdash hints that this relationship must also be based on humility and minimizing the centrality of one’s ego. The male-female relationship must also be based on sanctity and purity, modeled on the entry into the Holy of Holies. Chazal knew that with all the involvement in sanctity that we have on Yom Kippur, one must not ignore the strong human tendencies toward illicit relationships, which is a major topic from the Torah reading. If man’s relationship with a woman is based on yetzer (physical desire), the connection with the yotzer (Creator) is compromised.
Today’s media presents relationships as something that is divorced from striving for a proper lifestyle, and the pursuit of gold is advanced before the pursuit of whiteness. May we remember the message of Yom Kippur, when white replaces gold and people look for the proper things for the proper reasons when they look to build a complete and eternal structure.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part II
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
Parashat Hashavua Happiness for the Right Reasons
[With painful longing, we share these divrei Torah from our co-Rosh Kollel for close to 40 years, Harav Moshe Ehrenreich zt”l.]
