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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Chukat
Para Aduma! The ritual of the Red Heifer is so
mystifying that even the wise King Solomon was
stumped. Particularly puzzling is the fact that
the Kohen who administers this elaborate rite -
which helps to make others Tahor, spiritually
pure – will himself become tamei, spiritually
impure, at least until evening. Why is this?
Far be it from me to try to understand what
Shlomo haMelech could not. But – one lesson
clearly emerges from this Mitzva: If you want to
purify someone else, you had better be prepared
to endure some "tuma" yourself.
Wow, what a message for our times!
How often do we encounter so-called "righteous"
people who refuse to "dirty their hands" by
associating with those whom they deem less
learned, less observant, less pure than they are?
Barricaded either socially or spiritually, they
shield themselves from the masses, fearing that
they will be "contaminated" by others if they get
too close. Alas, they just don't get it.
I suggest that the Red Cow's enigma helps to
explain the strange behavior exhibited in the
last two Sedrot. In Shlach, the Meraglim - Spies
reject Hashem's promise & spurn Eretz Yisrael.
How could such noble people, who had seen
G-d in all His glory, do this? I suggest it is
because these people had lived a 100% pristine
spiritual existence: they were fed Manna from
heaven; protected by Divine clouds; taught by
Moshe himself, treated to a daily dose of
miracles. And now, they should get their hands
filthy by engaging in politics, commerce,
military service & the everyday trappings of national life? No way!
Korach, for his part, suffered from the very same
type of paranoia. He could not bear to think of
himself as anything but the leader. "After all,"
he proudly boasts, "look at the high-class stock
I come from! I am royalty! Should I be treated
like some common commoner?! The cheek of it all!" Oy, what a tzadik!
To be a Jewish leader & purify the nation, one
has to be prepared to go, literally, into the
trenches with "amcha," as Avraham, Moshe & Rabbi
Akiva did, & as Moshiach will do. The tragic
approach of so many "so-called "leaders" in high
places who look down (both literally &
figuratively) upon others & say, "Come up here,
to me!" will never succeed. They need to climb
down from their ivory towers & pull the people up to them.
Yes, it does indeed takes guts to get down &
dirty, but then, Geula-Redemption is not for COW-ards.
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.
Jewish Laws and Thoughts Shul “etiquette:” can we honor Hashem while respecting our fellow congregants?
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: Eretz Yisrael in Halacha and in Sanctity – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 137
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.]
