Beit Midrash

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  • Parashat Hashavua
קטגוריה משנית
  • Torah Portion and Tanach
  • Ki Tavo
To dedicate this lesson
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In this week’s haftara we are comforted by a famous pasuk: "Your nation are all righteous (kulam tzaddikim), forever they will inherit the Land" (Yeshaya 60:21). In what context is the navi making this far-reaching claim? Is this is about the rosy future, is it a condition for the redemption, or is it an unconditional appraisal of the situation? If the latter is correct, then the question is obvious: are we really all righteous people?!
The mishna (end of Sanhedrin) explains this pasuk in regard to the World to Come, citing it as the source for the statement: "All of Israel has a portion in the World to Come." Even if some of the populace does not fully and properly keep the laws of the Torah, after they pay the price for their shortcomings, they will reach the World to Come, on some level, due to Divine Mercy. This is also the way the Rambam (Teshuva 3:5) explains the pasuk.
The gemara (Sanhedrin 98a) cites the pasuk as an indication of a very different idea. Mashiach will come only in a generation that is all virtuous or all liable, with our pasuk providing the support for the former possibility. In other words, if we will be all virtuous, then we will get that which we are awaiting.
The gemara in Pesachim (53b) cites the pasuk in a totally different context, as support for the idea that when there is a halachic disagreement, we say that both sides (even the one we reject) are righteous. (This is an important point in halachic pluralism, as is reiterated in the Biur Halacha, 143).
The midrash (Psikta Zutrata, Bereishit 27) takes the pasuk in a counter-intuitive direction. When Yaakov came disguised as Eisav, Yitzchak smelled his clothes (begadav) and blessed him. The midrash explains that begadav actually refers to bogdav (his traitors), and thus our pasuk says that even the wicked within Israel are considered righteous (and thus deserve blessing). This approach, again, seems to contain a self-contradiction, as the wicked are not righteous. The Zohar says that keeping brit mila, which was always widely done, makes one righteous. Bereishit Rabbati says that all Jews receive this distinction as members of the nation that accepted the Torah at Sinai. Rav Tzaddok Hakohen says that it refers to the idea that all Jews, even if they are lacking in some areas, are righteous in at least some mitzvot. All three of these approaches found a way to reconcile the statement with apparently different facts on the ground, and each explains that righteousness in this context is not as far-reaching as we might expect.
The Noam Elimelech has a very different approach to "kulam tzaddikim." Every individual sins, which makes it difficult for him to be considered perfectly righteous. However, if he is attached to kulam (to the nation as a whole) then he can tap into what is right in the nation, which the pasuk tells us is considered perfectly righteous. Individuals can be lacking; the collective cannot.
Let us always focus on connecting ourselves to the collective in Israel and remember, as the days of mercy and forgiveness approach, that in order to be successful on Yom Kippur, it is crucial to be willing to pray with sinners.
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Lessons
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    3 min
    The Month of Elul

    If Not Now: The Power Of Prayer

    Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed | 17 Elul 5784
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    Prayer

    ?How we should dress for Prayer

    Chapter five-part two

    Chapter five-part two

    Rabbi Eliezer Melamed | 5775
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    Chukat

    The Death of a Tzaddik

    Rabbi Chanan Morrison | 5770
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    Parashat Hashavua

    Shemitta and Yovel as the Basis for the Whole Torah

    from Si’ach Shaul, pp. 350-1

    from Si’ach Shaul, pp. 350-1

    Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli zt"l | 5770
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    The Haggadah

    Can We Offer Korban Pesach Without the Beis HaMikdash?

    History of the argument if we can bring a Korban Pesach without the Beit Hamikdash? Explanations of both sides.

    Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | 5770
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    Vayigash

    It’s About Time - The Bracha of Shehechiyanu

    The laws of Birkat Shehechiyanu, which comes first Shehechiyanu or the blessing on the food? reciting the Shehechiyanu on house renovations and on similar fruits, reciting the Shehechiyanu on a Mitzva, the first time lighting candles.

    Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | 5770
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    Naso

    The Mitzvah of “Duchening” - Birchas Kohanim

    The basic Halachot of Duchening, taking off shoes and washing hands, Why Is This Mitzvah Called Duchening? The connection between Duchening and dreams...

    Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | 5769
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    Redemption - Geula

    When Moshiach Comes

    A summary of the different Brachot we will bless when the Moshiach will walk through the door.

    Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | Iyar 5768
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    Various Subjects

    The Laws Relating to Converts

    The laws relating to Jewish converts are most astounding. Despite the criticism directed at the Jewish people on the grounds that Judaism is racist, the Torah teaches us that any non-Jew who earnestly seeks to join the Jewish people may do so.

    Rabbi Eliezer Melamed
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    Foundations of Faith

    50. One Hundred Blessings

    The Sages ruled that a Jew must pronounce at least one hundred blessings each day. Ostensibly, this obligation is a burden and a nuisance. However, a more penetrating view teaches us that such blessings actually give a person pleasure and enjoyment.

    Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed | 5762
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    Observations on Torah Study

    The Laws of Torah Study

    part 1

    Why is Torah study the most important commandment in the Torah? How does one fulfill this Mitzvah? Just how much Torah must one know? Rabbi Eliezer Melamed addresses these and other questions in his distinctly clear style.

    Rabbi Eliezer Melamed | 5761
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    Pathways in Personality Development

    8. Self Actualization and Freedom from Indulgence

    A Jew should see himself as part of God's own "special-unit" with special tasks which are full of challenge and bring satisfaction.

    Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed | Tishrey 5762
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