בּ״ה
Parshas Emor
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‘. . . these are they, My appointed times: Six days you shall do work, and on the seventh day is a Shabbos of rest, a holy convocation’ (Vayikra 23:2-3)
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Hashem introduces to us that ‘these are My appointed times’ and then immediately after, it talks about. . . Shabbos. This teaches us a wonderful thing: Although the Chagim (holidays) are very great and exciting times, we mustn’t forget about the wonderful gift -- Shabbos, that, by the kindness of Hashem, we get each and every week, ‘a taste of the World to Come’. It too is a holiday in its own right.
(Tal U’Matar)
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‘And [on Shavuos] you shall bring a new Minchah-offering to Hashem.’ (Vayikra 23:16)
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Says the Kli Yakar: This alludes to the day of Matan Torah (the Giving of the Torah), because the Torah needs to be new to a person every day, as if on that day they received it at Har Sinai.
Now, the Torah doesn’t mention that Shavuos is the day the Torah was given. And similarly, it isn’t mentioned explicitly in the Torah that Rosh Hashanah is the Yom HaDin (Day of Judgement). And the reason for both of these is the same: For Matan Torah, Hashem didn’t want to limit it to a specific, known day, because it needs to be to a person like they received it every single day of the year. For, truthfully, Chazal (Eruvin 54b) have said that the Torah is compared to a breast, because every time that a baby nurses from it, they find in it a new taste. So too, the Torah: All who study the Torah find in it a “new taste” every day. Hence, it should be similar to a person as if they received it that day. And by those who study it, every day actually is Matan Torah, so it isn’t proper to limit it’s giving to one specific day, known day.
And therefore, Chazal have said (Sifri) that words of Torah should be new to you and not like something old, which a person is tired of, because truthfully, you find a new thing in it every day. Therefore, the day of Matan Torah is not told to us in the [Written] Torah more than what is alluded to in the bringing of a ‘new Mincha-offering’, to teach that the Torah is like a ‘new Minchah-offering’ every day.
And this is also the reason for the concealing of the Yom HaDin aspect of Rosh Hashanah, so that a person won’t go “in the visions of their heart” and pile up aveiros all year, and think to just fix their actions when it is close to the Day of Hashem, when He sits on His Throne of Judgement. Rather, it should be to a person as if every day Hashem sits on His Throne for Judgement and examines His “book of accounting” -- as, indeed, one opinion in the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 16b) holds, that a person is judged every day -- and through this, every day will be in Teshuva. . .
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Not only are we currently holding in the time period of the Omer, this Parsha also talks about it:
The Chida {HaRav Chaim Yosef Dovid Azulai zt”l} writes in the name of Rabbeinu Efraim zt”l that ועשית חמישים לולאות, ‘And you shall make fifty hooks’ (Shemos 26:10) corresponds to the fifty days of Sefiras HaOmer. Just as fifty hooks connected the sheets of the Mishkan, these fifty days connect us to our Father in Heaven.
(Lechem Min HaShamayim, Terumah 21;
brought in Torah Wellsprings)
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We are told that when Hashem led the Bnei Yisroel out of Egypt, they were on the 49th level of tumah (ritual impurity). And for the span of 49 days -- the time we now count, known as the Omer -- they went up in level every single day, until they were on the plain of Kedusha (holiness) ready to receive the Torah from Hashem (see Zohar Chadash, Yisro).
We can learn a valuable lesson from this: How much can be accomplished -- how high we can go, in just one day. If we would only try, and utilize our time wisely, there are immeasurable improvements we could make, with the Help of Hashem.
This special time, when we are ascending one number in our counting nightly, is a very good time to think about -- and try to take with us -- this wonderful realization.
Hashem has given us the precious gift of time. Who knows how much we can accomplish with it, B’Ezras Hashem. . .
We can learn a valuable lesson from this: How much can be accomplished -- how high we can go, in just one day. If we would only try, and utilize our time wisely, there are immeasurable improvements we could make, with the Help of Hashem.
This special time, when we are ascending one number in our counting nightly, is a very good time to think about -- and try to take with us -- this wonderful realization.
Hashem has given us the precious gift of time. Who knows how much we can accomplish with it, B’Ezras Hashem. . .
(Tal U’Matar)
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|~Maaseh~| A religious Jew was traveling to Eretz Yisroel, and found himself seated in the airplane next to a secular Jew who spoke bitterly about the Holocaust. He spoke about how his parents, wife and children were all murdered, and he concluded that there could not possibly be a G-d if this is what happened to the world. The religious Jew tried to change his companion’s perception of the Holocaust, but to no avail. After landing in Israel, they each went their separate ways.
The religious Jew was in Israel for the High Holidays. On Yom Kippur, during the short recess after Shacharis, he took a walk around the block of the shul. As he was walking, he noticed an obviously secular Jew walking on the other side of the street, carrying several packages. It pained him to see someone desecrate Yom Kippur. And then he suddenly recognized the person as his flight companion.
He went across the street and greeted the non-religious Jew. “We are about to say Yizkor (the prayer recited in memory of the deceased on certain occasions) in shul,” he explained. “Won’t you do this much for the departed souls of your dear parents, wife and children? Won’t you come inside and say Yizkor in their memory?”
At first the non-religious Jew refused to hear of it, but it wasn’t long before he conceded. As he entered the shul, the friendly gabbai welcomed him warmly and patiently helped him through the Yizkor prayer. He asked for the exact Hebrew names of the man’s martyred father, mother and wife. Then he asked him for the names of his children. Crying openly, the man said the name of his eldest son. The gabbai paled and asked him to repeat the name. The man repeated the name once more. The gabbai exclaimed: “That’s my full Hebrew name!”
The shul erupted in pandemonium. It turned out that the gabbai was a young child during the Holocaust. He managed to escape deportation and hid out in the woods until he finally reached a safe haven. After the Holocaust, he came to Eretz Yisroel, thinking that he is the only surviving member of his family. After asking a few more questions, it became clear that the middle-aged secular Jew was none other than the gabbai’s father.
After witnessing the open Hand of Divine Providence, the father turned around completely and became fully religious. He now firmly believed that there is a G-d Who plans everything that transpires, although His Face is sometimes painfully hidden.
The religious Jew was in Israel for the High Holidays. On Yom Kippur, during the short recess after Shacharis, he took a walk around the block of the shul. As he was walking, he noticed an obviously secular Jew walking on the other side of the street, carrying several packages. It pained him to see someone desecrate Yom Kippur. And then he suddenly recognized the person as his flight companion.
He went across the street and greeted the non-religious Jew. “We are about to say Yizkor (the prayer recited in memory of the deceased on certain occasions) in shul,” he explained. “Won’t you do this much for the departed souls of your dear parents, wife and children? Won’t you come inside and say Yizkor in their memory?”
At first the non-religious Jew refused to hear of it, but it wasn’t long before he conceded. As he entered the shul, the friendly gabbai welcomed him warmly and patiently helped him through the Yizkor prayer. He asked for the exact Hebrew names of the man’s martyred father, mother and wife. Then he asked him for the names of his children. Crying openly, the man said the name of his eldest son. The gabbai paled and asked him to repeat the name. The man repeated the name once more. The gabbai exclaimed: “That’s my full Hebrew name!”
The shul erupted in pandemonium. It turned out that the gabbai was a young child during the Holocaust. He managed to escape deportation and hid out in the woods until he finally reached a safe haven. After the Holocaust, he came to Eretz Yisroel, thinking that he is the only surviving member of his family. After asking a few more questions, it became clear that the middle-aged secular Jew was none other than the gabbai’s father.
After witnessing the open Hand of Divine Providence, the father turned around completely and became fully religious. He now firmly believed that there is a G-d Who plans everything that transpires, although His Face is sometimes painfully hidden.
(Nikolsburg.org)
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Gut and meaningful Shabbos to all!
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