Ki Tetzie 5768

Ki Tetzie 5768
Based on a Likutie Sichos of the lubavither rebbe

In this weeks parsha we have a very interesting analysis of mitzvos and their rewards. The verse says (chapter 22.7) that if u find a mother bird sitting on here nest send away the mother bird and the chicks and eggs take for yourself. You must first send away the mother before you take the children. The Torah continues by promising long life for fulfilling the matzos. Rashi comments on this and says that
“If a easy mitzvah that has no loss you get reward certainly for a mitzvah that entail difficulty and loss you will be rewarded”. Which this also means that one mitzvah will bring another in its wake together with it reward. This is implied by the very next verse were g-d will give us a house as reward for doing the mitzvah of send the mother bird away which will bring the mitzvah of making a fence on the roof of your house.
However the Talmud (chulin 152.1) presents a difficulty to rashi’s statement for though sending away the mother bird does not entail a large loss however it does entail a loss; that of an “issur” - the loss of having to send away the mother and the worth of not being able to keep her. Hence though it is a very small loss however it is a momentary loss. Why then does rashi and the verse choose this mitzvah to show how even a mitzvah that has no monetary loss will bring reward to learn that certainly other mitzvahs that do entail a loss will bring a reward?
Some explain this difficulty by differentiating between “future profit” and “loss of funds”. Having to send away the mother bird from a nest you found and was never yours is not considered a loss. A loss is losing something that you possessed and now do not have. Yet even this answer which explains that the Talmud speaks of “future Profit” while rahsi is speaking of “ loss of funds”. Yet In practical terms should have we not better searched for an example of mitzvahs we have that does not have even a loss of potential profit?
To understand this we need to see what are the obstacles that must be overcome to do mitzvah that make some difficult and others not. There are in general two hindrances to the performance of mitzvah’s a) monetary cost b) physical difficulty.
For example an easy mitzvah that cost no money is the reading of the shema however it does entail physical difficulty as in example you wish to sleep ad yet you must read the shema first. While building a fence on your roof cost money as well.
The sending away of the mother bird is the only mitzvah lacks both of these difficulties. The bases of this is as the rebbe explains is due to the nature of the mother bird forever returning after it being sent away. Hence after the person sent it away even only once and it returns before he ad a chance to take the children he is still is permitted to take the birds and the mother so he has lost nothing. This only applies to the simple text of the Chumash, for according to halacha ad Talmud you cannot take the mother but must keep sending her away until you have first taken the eggs and then if the mother returns you may take her.
While the difficulty of doing the mitzvah itself is according to the simple text is only necessary when you wish to take the eggs however if you do not need the eggs and chicks you have no obligation to perform this mitzvah. Hence there is no physical exertion necessary here. You do the mitzvah only when you wish and you loose nothing for you keep the mother bird as well.
Incidentally this teaches us an interesting thing. There is a discussion amongst the chachomim with regard to the concept of rewards for mitzvah if they are specific to the mitzvah done or they are random rewards that g-d gives for having preformed a mitzvah. . Even more when we say one mitzvah brings another does it mean any mitzvah will follow or a mitzvah in its kind will follow.
Here we see that rashi learns how each mitzvah brings a specific reward that relates to that mitzvah in particular and the mitzvah that will follow in it wake is similar as well.
For the mitzvah immediately following the sending away of the mother bird is the building of a fence in order to protect some one from falling. This is similar to sending away the mother bird, which is to have compassion on the mother (ramban) and send her away before taking her eggs.
This parsha is read many times in the month of Elul and hints to the process of how we need to prepare for the New Year, which is tshuva. The mitzvah of sending the bird is only when you find one not when you prepare your own nest and raise them. This is similar to an awaking from a above which g-d sends us in this month of king of the field to arouse us to tshuva whether we worked to preparing ourselves or not. It comes easy with out effort. However this must then bring tshuva through our own effort. Which is the spiritual idea behind the mitzvah of when you build a house you must make a fence. To making your own awaking from below which entails effort and preparedness. Through these two steps we are ready and receive from g-d a good blessing for the New Year. Amen

shoftim 5768

Shoftim 5768


This week’s torah portion discusses various laws that are important in the Jewish community to establish law and order. It begins with the law to appoint judges and policeman to decide and then enforce the laws. Later in chapter 18 verse 20 it discuss the laws with regard to prophecy, specifically those of a false prophet whose punishment is through the judicial system of the Sanhedrin whereby he is put to death.
What has he done that makes him a false prophet ad how do you know he is such? Explains the Talmud in Sanhedrin (89.1) When he does one of these acts, a) he prophecies a prophecy that is not his though, it might be true b) he makes up a false prophecy i.e. a lie c) he prophecies the name of an idol.
The Talmud then says for example, chanania ben ezer who did two of the above (see Jeremiah 28.2). He used the prophecy of yirmia as a base for one of his own. This was the sin of saying a prophecy though true but one that was not said to him. And the second sin was saying a falsehood: that g-d will break and remove that yoke of Babylon from the Jews and return the vessels looted from Jerusalem within two years. What is g-d’s response to this false prophet? g-d sent yirima to tell chanaia that he would die before the year is up. Which indeed happened he died in the 29th of tishrie of that year. The last day in the Jewish calendar.
The Marsha explains that though he should have been put to death by the Sanhedrin as the bible command i.e. that he be killed in this case it was not done. The Marsha says it was either because the Sanhedrin could not enforce the law for chanani had to many powerful friends or the Sanhedrin was not operational at that time. Hence the heavens killed him but were acting on behalf of the Sanhedrin.
However the lubavicther rebbe makes an amazing observation here that when heavens act on behalf of the Sanhedrin they must follow the rules of Sanhedrin. Hence in this case chanania ben ezer he would have not been put to death only after two years, the time limit he set for his prophecy, for only then would it be clear that he is a false prophet when he words do not come true. Though “heaven knows” before two years are up, that yirmea is the true prophet yet the torah clearly says that only if the words of the prophet do not come true then he is judged as a false prophet. Hence heaven must wait.
Using this argument and as well the teaching of the alter rebbe in Tanya (egeret ha’tshuva perek 4) who uses chanania as an example of one who is punished with “death by heavens “ and not as one who died by heaven acting on behalf of the Sanhedrin. The Rebbe concludes that indeed according to the simple text he was killed by heaven acting on its own to punish him for saying and going against the prophecy of yermia.
It seems the simple reason why g-d did this was because the prophecy of yirmea and the prophecy of chanania conflicted with each other. It was not a case of identifying whether one is really a prophet but that the false prophet was negating the prophecy of the real one from being heard. Indeed If the Sanhedrin or heaven would wait two more years, during that time conflicting messages would be heard by the people and the people would never repent on time for they would not know whose prophesy was right, thus he needed to be removed immediately.
On contemporary level we learn from here on how to achieve harmony and cohesiveness in a community. Whether in a synagogue or a community, challenging the current rabbi or lay leadership due to thinking as “they are good but not good enough- we can do better”. Finding fault with non-issues in order only to destroy and cause strife in the community by saying this is not allowed or this is allowed when a rav is present, is prohibited. A synagogue has only one rabbi and he need not be like Moses, in order to be followed and obeyed. He need only be sufficient for that community. Though there might be better rabbis and issues that can be improved or corrected never the less during the time the leadership exist he must be followed.
The same with the lay leadership in a synagogue the time and place to be heard is not during services or after services when the schedule is being announced. There s a time a place for suggestions and protests to be heard.
I once heard an example from an old senior rav explaining this with an analogy of a king and a prophet in the first temple era. The navi-prophet spoke the word of g-d the melech-king was to obey the prophet and help him implement his message from g-d. When the king does not like the prophet’s message and disobeys him. Even more so he gets himself his own prophet, a “ yes man”. This leads to the destruction of the temple.
The same in a synagogue, the rav is the prophet and the president is the melech.
When a president in a synagogue listens to the rav and works with him then there is cohesiveness in the synagogue, however in the case he does not or plays power struggles and the like, the synagogue is faced with the challenge of functioning and certainly cannot grow and succeed. Even worse is when you have two prophets-two rabbi’s in a synagogue; one who has been appointed rabbi by the community the other a rabbi in his own eyes who has appointed himself to the position of being the "true” rabbi. He has made it his job to discredit all halachic decisions and all views and opinions of the real rabbi I community issues.

The torah approach is clear “dabar achud ldor”- there is one spokesman for each generation-synagogue for torah regardless if he is like "Shmuel bdoro” like Samuel the prophet or like Yiftach bdoro-yiftach the shofet- warrior in his generation; position of leadership.

based on a likutie sichos of the lubavicther rebbe devarim volume 9

re'eh 5768

In chapter 12 verses 2-3 of this weeks parsha it discusses the commandment to destroy and all that is associated with idols.  The idol itself, their altars, platforms, and places they are served and even their names they are called.   The verse states; from all the places were the nations performed idol worship, upon high mountains, hills, and under every lush tree….you should demolish, their alters, smash their gods, and spoil the names from that place".  Rashi comments on the words "to spoil their names" and quotes the Talmud in avoda zarah that this is done not y changing the name alone but by give it a name that mocks the power of the idol i.e. a idol that is called " the house of high place" should be changed to the "house of pits and low places". An idol called " the eye of all" should be changed to " the eye of the thorn".   When learning about this commandment to destroy all idols one might ask in today's terms that it is not tolerant of other beliefs. The torah should be concerned with the Jewish people believing and serving g-d but not about the forms of beliefs and services of other nations.   Also the commandment to uproot the idol's name not by giving a new name alone but by mocking it seems petty.    Indeed we need to explain what exactly is the prohibition of idol worship. Chassidus explains there are actually three levels of mediation that should be thought when one contemplates the unity of g-d. 1) "Ain komohu-there is none like g-d . 2) Moshel bkol-he rules all.  3) Efes bilodo-there is none other then he.   The first meditation dwells on g-d being unique and no other beings compare to him. Though other powers and existence might exist, none can compare to him.   The second and higher meditation is not only he is above all other entity but also that all other powers and entities get their power from him. They are all only "k'garzan byad ha'chotzev-like a hatchet in the hand of the cutter" with no independent powers. Hence even the nations of the word who are allowed to believe in  "shituf"; that g-d created partners in creation to aid him in creation (rambam), must know that these "partners" get their power from g-d alone.    The third meditation is that nothing at all exist other then him. Hashem hu hkol vhakol hu hashem-He is all and all is he! (Bal Shem tov)   To say that g-d is g-d but another g-d exist equal to him.  Limits him to be g-d only where his power reaches but where the other g-d exist he is not a g-d. Indeed this even challenges his true power even where his power and  g-dlines reach. More so to say that g-d is the most powerful g-d but lesser g-d's exist that he has power over also challenges his existence as it limits him to share existence- albeit lesser ones- with him. For being g-d is not only about power but also about existence itself ad where all beings come from. The true definition of g-d can only entail a being that is all powerful, unlimited, in time, place and power and even in existence itself. No other being can exist other then he. All that exist must come into existence through him and even depend upon him to continue t exist by being recreated by g-d all the time.   Hence though not politically correct the coming of the moshiach speedily in our times will mean the abolishment of all religions. There will be no other divine teachings other then the torah and there will be no prophet greater then Moses. All Jews will follow the 613 commandments and all the nations of the world will follow the 7 laws of Noah, which are found in the torah. For there can be only one g-d who gave one torah to a united world in one truth.   This also explains why when renaming the idol it was insufficient to only rename it but actually necessitates a new name that mocked it. The idol worships whole objective was to show the potency of their idols. Thus they would choose a place to build their idols that enhanced their ability in the people's eyes. A high mountain or hilltop to show that they where all-powerful. By a lush tree to show on their fruitfulness and ability. In addition they would name it with names that matched the place which they where built. An idol built upon a high mountain would be called " the house of high places" etc.  Or the "house that sees all". The Jews needed to not only changed the name but to show that the opposite was true. Not only was the idol not  " a house of high places" but also the opposite it is a " house of pits" not only is it not " a house that sees all" but also it is a " thorn in the eye". The point was to show that idol worship was not only ineffective but actually caused harm. Instead of being a house that saw all it was a thorn in the eye that blinded the person who worship it.   I believe there is here a very simple yet profound lesson in this. In our age of mans belief in himself to choose even to his own detriment, one is tempted to choose one owns way no matter what. A person can say, "Fine it is true that the way of torah is the best way but who says it is the only way".  I will choose my own path it might not be the best way but still it is my life and I can live it as I choose". Hence here the torah is explaining to us that it is not a question of choosing a better way or another way. Any other way other then the torah will not only not work, but also will g-d forbid only cause harm.  To understand that we can,t make believe that all is fine when we g-d forbid do not choose the torah way because " though it is not the torah way but I will follow the world's way" and will still succeed is untrue.  Any way other then the torah way is harmful and will not succeed not only as a religion but even in world matters as well.

a lev nishbar-a broken heart

a broken heart:

some people's heart are broken because,
they did not get to eat more of the rich dish they desired.

others are broken because they did not win enough money,
in the bingo, lotto or roulette they had played.

another heart is broken because they did not get enough honor, recognition,
love or success they think they deserve.

be of broken heart but is your heart broken because you cannot walk or is it because you can not run?

some peoples hearts are broken because they wish to be closer to g-d and have a heart that delves within to see if it has fulfilled its requirements to man and g-d.

while other hearts are broken because the sugar-cream of life has not been given to them on a silver platter in their view of self entitlement they think is rightfully theirs.

a life of self pity they lead, broken from not being able to differentiate between the physical indulgence they crave and a heart empty from the sigh of life that makes one rise above one self.

be of broken heart-but choose wisely what your heart will be broken about, so that your able able to build on the ruins of your heart and make it flow true and not trample upon the heart of another that beats so fleetingly in search of a life to share with another.