Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Tazria - Metzora
concept of Niddah. When a woman begins to
menstruate & cannot conceive, she enters the
Niddah state and separates from her husband for a
period of 7 days (biblically, that is;
the Rabbis tacked on 5 more days for a total of 12 days).
These 7 days connect to the 7 days of mourning.
In both cases, death is present: actual death for
the mourner; potential death for the woman who
did not conceive. When we confront death, we
temporarily move away from pleasure – such as
relations with our spouse - in order to
contemplate life, loss, G-d & our role in the universe.
Both the state of mourning (aveilut) & that of
niddah are what the Torah calls Tumah: a
progression away from life - real or possible -
and a somber reaction to demise. Man is meant to
create - just as G-d is the ultimate Creator - &
when life is destroyed, rather than created, we mourn.
Yet after the obligatory mourning period comes
renewal, hope & joy. The waters of the Mikva
purify us; water is the ultimate symbol & source
of growth & new life. The very fact that we
grapple with loss inspires us to appreciate life
even more, & pursue it with greater zeal.
7 days can also connect to 7 weeks. The 7 weeks
from Pesach to Shavuot represent a progression
from the death, degradation & impurity of
Egyptian slavery to the life & pleasure of the
Torah, which is always symbolized by water - mayim chaim - Torat chaim.
The trauma of war confronts us on a daily basis.
Like aveilut, this must give us pause as we ask
the deepest questions: Why do we suffer? For what
cause do we die & more importantly, for what
cause do we live? What can I create & build that
will be a pure & lasting source of life?
The most potent tumah/impurity is that of a
corpse, in Hebrew a chalal, or empty space. That
which once held a precious soul/neshama, & is now
empty of that neshama, is supremely impure.
Challal is also connected to the word chillul -
desecration, as in chillul Hashem, the profaning
of G-d’s name. A person - or a nation! – that
lacks a neshama sullies G-d’s name. Whenever Jews
die at the hands of an enemy that, too, is a
chillul Hashem. We must all stand in awe of our
holy, pure soldiers, for they guard us from death
& bring us life. They are, literally, a Kiddush
Hashem & it is to them that we should raise our
glasses & drink l’Chayim. Let us honor them by
keeping them in mind each time we make Kiddush, &
by this simple act remember these brave men &
women who are truly the "Kiddush of Hashem."
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
