Shabbos: Ta’am HaChaim Pinchas 5773

(From the archives)

Shabbos in the Parasha

HaShem loves the Jewish People no Moav umeh anah oso Balaam ben Beor matter how much they have sinned min hashitim ad haGilgal limaan daas tzidkos HaShem, My people, hear, now, Introduction what Balak, king of Moav, schemed, and what Balaam son of Beor answered him, פינחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את חמתי [and all the events] from Shittim to מעל בני ישראל בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם ולא Gilgal - in order to recognize the Pinchas son ,כליתי את בני ישראל בקנאתי righteous acts of HaShem. The Gemara of Elazar son of Aharon the Kohen, explains that this verse teaches us that turned back My wrath from upon the HaShem was informing the Jewish Children of , when he zealously People that if He had become angry avenged My vengeance among them, from the time that the Jewish People so I did not consume the Children of arrived in Shittim until they reached Israel in My vengeance. (Bamidbar Gilgal in Eretz Yisroel, the entire Jewish 25:11) nation would have been destroyed. The At the end of last week’s parasha we Gemara is referring to HaShem’s wrath learned how Balak had facilitated the against the Jewish People for having Moabite women to seduce the Jewish sinned with the Moabite women. This men. HaShem became angry at the Gemara, however, is difficult to Jewish People and they were threatened understand, because the states with annihilation. Pinchas, the grandson explicitly that HaShem did become of Aharon HaKohen, saw that there was angry and almost annihilated the Jewish a need to act and he killed Zimri, the People. In fact, if not for Pinchas’ act of leader of the tribe of Shimon, and Kazbi, heroism, the Jewish People would have the Midianite woman, and through this been destroyed. How, then, could the zealous act he appeased HaShem’s Gemara state that HaShem did not wrath. In the beginning of this week’s become angry at that time? The Netziv parasha HaShem informs Moshe that in his commentary Heemak Davar at the Pinchas will receive HaShem’s covenant end of Parashas Balak and in Harchev of peace. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 105b; Davar at the beginning of Parashas Brachos 7a) presents a perplexing Pinchas offers a solution to this statement regarding this time period in difficulty by stating that there is a the Wilderness. It is said (Micha 6:5) distinction between charon af and ami zichar na mah yaatz Balak melech cheimah, two forms of anger. Thus,

1 although HaShem did not display charon clearly that HaShem has bestowed upon af, He did display cheimah [Both words us His greatest gift, which is the Holy are translated as wrath in English.] The Shabbos. Even during the period of the Netziv’s commentary is difficult to Three Weeks, when the Jewish People comprehend, as the Torah states clearly are in a state of mourning for the loss of that HaShem became angered with the the Bais HaMikdash and for the ongoing Jewish People. Rashi (Bamidbar 23:8 exile, HaShem has not abandoned us. and Sanhedrin 105b s.v. kol osan HaShem loves us more than anything hayamim) indicates that the anger the else in the world, and He will Gemara is referring to is at the time that demonstrate this love for us when He Balaam attempted to curse the Jewish brings us the redemption with the arrival People, but the verse that states “from of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, speedily, in our Shittim until Gilgal” does not reflect this days. explanation. Shabbos in the Zemiros All of Balaam’s attempts to cause HaShem to despise us were in vain Kiddush

G-d ,וַיְב ָֽרֶ ְך א -ֹלהִים אֶת יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ The Gemara is difficult to reconcile with the verses in the Torah and in Micha. blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. Nonetheless, we can glean from the The Medrash (Bereishis Rabbah 11:2) Gemara an important lesson in how states that this verse refers to the manna HaShem views His relationship with His that HaShem provided the Jewish People Chosen Nation. Balaam was attempting with in the Wilderness. HaShem thus to curse the Jewish People, and when blessed the Shabbos with a double HaShem thwarted his efforts, Balaam portion of manna, and sanctified the employed a different tactic. Balaam’s Shabbos by not sending down manna on strategy was to cause the Jewish People Shabbos. One must wonder, however, to sin and thus incur HaShem’s wrath. why this phenomenon, which only lasted HaShem did get angry but He would not for forty years in the Wilderness, is the allow Balaam the satisfaction of seeing definition of the blessing and his actions bear fruit. Thus, the Gemara sanctification of Shabbos. The answer to states that HaShem did not become this question is that while there are many angry during the entire time that Balaam aspects to Shabbos, such as the rest, the sought to destroy the Jewish People. sanctity, and the prohibitions and other The Shabbos connection laws relating to the sanctity of the day, one component of Shabbos that is a We may think that HaShem has left us to beacon of light for all generations is the the elements, and we are under the fact that on Shabbos, one need not work jurisdiction of the forces of nature. to earn a living. While it is true that When Shabbos arrives, however, we see many religions and faiths observe one

2 day of the week as a rest day, the Zohar to inquire about the payment. Of course, states that only our Holy Shabbos Reb Zalman was astonished. He had provides us with a source of blessing for paid the loan in full on the day it was the entire week. Thus, desisting from due! The Rav could not recall payment work on Shabbos is not just an excuse to and insisted that they go together to Beis be lazy and spend the day in an idle Din (Rabbinical Court). manner. Rather, the opposite is true. On the Holy Shabbos one is exhorted to Word in town spread rapidly, and people engage as much as possible in spiritual began to shun Reb Zalman. His business pursuits, such as praying, studying Torah declined, and his children and wife were and eating and drinking in honor of affronted by their peers. The only Shabbos. When one observes the recourse the Beis Din had was to have Shabbos correctly, he can be assured that Reb Zalman swear that he had repaid the Shabbos will “work” for him too and loan. Rav Shmuel did not want to allow provide him his sustenance during the a Jew to swear falsely on his account and week, akin to the manna that the Jewish decided to forego the procedure by People received in the Wilderness. annulling the loan. This latest event brought even more scorn to the tailor, Shabbos Stories and eventually he felt forced to leave Vilna and establish himself elsewhere. All paid up

Rav Shmuel Shtrashan of Vilna (1819- A year later, Rav Shmuel was analyzing 1885) was a wealthy banker as well as a a section of the Talmud and opened a renowned Torah scholar. In addition to volume he had used sometime in the his commerce, he maintained a free-loan past. He could not believe his eyes when society to provide interest-free loans to he saw a thick envelope with Reb the needy. One time he granted a one- Zalman's return address, containing 300 year loan of 300 rubles to Reb Zalman rubles. Quickly, he ran to find the the tailor and carefully recorded it in his hapless tailor who had been so ledger. One year later, to the date, with besmirched. After unsuccessfully 300 rubles in an envelope, Reb Zalman searching Vilna, he found that the tailor knocked on the door of Rav Shmuel's had moved. Rabbi Shtrashan traveled to study. The Rav was in the midst of a Reb Zalman to beg forgiveness. The deep Talmudic contemplation and hardly tailor, a broken man, explained that there interrupted his studies while tucking the was no way that anyone would believe money away in one of the volumes he the true story. They would just say that had been using. A few weeks later, while the pious scholar had shown mercy on reviewing his ledgers, Rav Shmuel the unscrupulous tailor. Finally, they noticed that Reb Zalman’s loan was decided that the only way to truly atone overdue. He summoned him to his office and give back the tailor his reputation

3 was for the scholar to take Reb Zalman's R' Yeshaya Bardaky zt”l son as his son-in-law. The shocked town Died 18 Cheshvan 5623 / 1862 of Vilna rejoiced at the divine union that R' Bardaky was a son-in-law (in his helped re-establish a reputation. second marriage) of R' Yisrael of (www.parsha.net) Shklov, who refers to his son-in-law as, "an important man and a talmid Pinchas and Pinchas chacham, the sharp and erudite rabbi who is more G-d-fearing than most . . ." R' Pinchas Shapiro of Koretz zt"l (1726- R' Bardaky was born in Pinsk and taught 1791; student of the Baal Shem Tov and Torah there, but he decided to settle in early chassidic rebbe) lived in terrible Eretz Yisrael after his first wife died. poverty. His house was shabby and it looked ready to fall at any moment. When the ship carrying R' Bardaky, his son, Shmuel Akiva, and his daughter, Once, R' Pinchas' chassidim in another neared the port of Akko, it was wrecked, town invited him to spend with and all the passengers were thrown into them. In honor of the occasion, they the sea. R' Bardaky, however, was a bought him a new suit and prepared a powerful swimmer, and, with his two beautiful apartment in which he would children on his back, he swam ashore. stay. Upon reaching Yerushalayim, R' On Friday night, R' Pinchas was in high Bardaky was appointed head of the spirits. He said: "Here, where I am a guest, they feed me on silver platters like Ashkenazic community. He also was a wealthy man, whereas at home, the appointed vice-consul of the Austrian poverty reaches every corner of my Empire as a result of the following house. I assume that my chassidim incident: The Austrian Emperor took ill learned to treat me this way from the and sent a message to Yerushalayim that Torah itself." R' Bardaky, who was known as a holy man, should pray for the Emperor at the He explained: "Parashas Pinchas contains a description of the sacrifices Kotel hamaaravi. Until that time, R' for all of the holidays, yet this parashah's Bardaky had never visited the Kotel regular place (its 'home') is during the because he was afraid that when he depressing Three Weeks. On the other touched the wall he might inadvertently hand, when this parasha comes as a put his finger into a deep crevice in the guest, it is Yom Tov (i.e., on each of the wall, thus inadvertently trespassing on holidays, we read the day's sacrifices from Parashas Pinchas as a maftir). the Temple grounds in a state of ritual impurity. However, to fulfill the "Similarly, I, Pinchas, make my home in Emperor's request, R' Bardaky did pray depressing surroundings, but when I at the Kotel, and the Emperor was cured. come as a guest, it becomes a Yom Tov." (Quoted in Otzros Tzaddikei A pauper once visited R' Bardaky, who Ugeonei HaDoros p. 489) was in charge of distributing stipends,

4 and asked for an advance on the Jewish organization, the Dallas Area following month's payment. R' Bardaky Torah Association (DATA), the responded that regrettably he had no “community ,” sponsored a money to distribute at that moment. The onetime lunch-n-learn at his law firm. It pauper became agitated, and when R' was delivered by a big-name visiting Bardaky continued to demur, the pauper rabbi. Ken attended the event and slapped him. "Wait here," R' Bardaky enjoyed it, but didn’t feel particularly said in response, and he ran out of his changed by it. house. Returning a while later with money that he had just collected, R' The event put the Broodos on DATA’s Bardaky apologized to the pauper: "I'm mailing list, and six months later they sorry, I did not realize how great your need was." received an invitation to a DATA seminar on the upcoming holiday of The entry in Yerushalayim's Chevrah . The Broodos acknowledged that Kadisha journal recording R' Bardaky's they knew very little about their Judaism death states: "Zion will cry bitterly over and were very curious to learn more, so the destruction which G-d has wrought they decided to attend the event. in Zion, how the ark of G-d was taken . . . the famous rabbi and gaon whose name At the event, DATA rabbis spoke about went from one end of the world to the various topics of Purim. One topic, the other." (Source: Gedolei HaDoros p. 638 Hidden Mask of Nature, piqued their (www.Torah.org) curiosity. The speaker, Rabbi Aryeh Feigenbaum, surprised them by pointing What Not To Do At The Shabbat out that HaShem’s name is never Table mentioned in the Megillah but His hand is apparent throughout the whole story. The Broodo family of Dallas, Texas is now a well-established Orthodox family. “Only when you look back do you see They’re leaders and role models in their HaShem’s hand in it. Even when I say it community. However, one event during now I get chills. I had never heard their first Shabbat experience almost something of that depth about the Torah. derailed their teshuva journey. If it was It was an interesting phenomenon to not for the quick thinking of their hosts, me,” Ken said. their lives might have been very different today. Ken was fascinated by the presentation and impressed by Rabbi Feigenbaum. Ken and Beth Broodo were both raised Ken stayed afterwards to drill him with a in non-Orthodox Jewish homes. Ken is a slew of other questions. lawyer, and several years ago a local

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Following the seminar, the Broodos homemade challah before, and he found began attending other classes sponsored it to be absolutely delicious. by DATA. Ken began studying one-on- one with Rabbi Feigenbaum each week. After finishing his first piece, Ken He and his wife began seeing the truth craved a second slice. The challah was and beauty of Judaism and began to sitting in a metal wire basket in the realize that this was the spirituality they middle of the table, amidst all sorts of were craving in their lives. However dishes and just on the other side of Mrs. they were somewhat intimidated by the Feigenbaum’s beautiful silver Shabbat observances and cautious about jumping candlesticks. Ken tried asking other into anything too religious. people to pass him the bowl, but he couldn’t get anyone’s attention. So he Rabbi Feigenbaum had given them an decided to lean across the table and pick open invitation to come to on up the challah bowl himself. a Friday night and to his home for Shabbat dinner. The Broodos were The challah basket was lined with a intrigued by the opportunity to learn napkin. As he carried the basket over the more and to get closer to the items on the table, Ken lifted it over the Feigenbaums. They were uncertain Shabbat candles, and within a second, it about what the experience would be like, caught fire and turned into a giant bowl but were excited about the opportunity. of flaming challah! One Friday night they decided to take him up on it. Ken dropped the burning basket onto the table and was about to douse it with his As soon as they entered the glass of water, when the rabbi leaned Feigenbaum’s house, the Broodos were over the table and said ‘Stop!’ Rabbi made comfortable by their hosts’ warm Feigenbaum picked up the basket, welcome, the beauty of their Shabbat carried it to the front porch and let it table and the obvious love and holiness burn out. that filled the home. Ken felt extremely embarrassed that he “It was my first Shabbat dinner. I was had set the Feigenbaum’s challah on fire. very taken by the whole scene – the He was ready to leave the meal at the white tablecloth, the silver Kiddush cup, first opportunity and never come back the candles, the singing and the Divrei again. But when Ken and his wife finally Torah,” Ken said. did put on their coats to leave, without missing a beat, Mrs. Feigenbaum Ken especially loved Mrs. Feigenbaum’s responded in a way that immediately homemade Challah. He had never eaten turned around his negative feelings.

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“Stop worrying about it,” she said to the story about the Shabbat night that he Ken. “The next time you want toast for set the rabbi’s challah on fire. Shabbat, just let me know in advance!” (http://michaelgros.com/category/stories -of-kiruv/) Mrs. Feigenbaum’s quip put a smile back on Ken’s face and helped the Where are you from? Broodos stay on their path of growth towards Jewish observance. I once knew a baal teshuva whose name was Shlomo Zalman Satanofsky zt"l and he told me the following story. When he “When Mrs. Feigenbaum said that, we was becoming frum, still rather early on, all laughed. I realized that no one judged he was traveling one Erev Shabbos and me for making such a ridiculous got stuck in Williamsburg. He knew at mistake. Then I felt accepted” Ken that point in his life that he could not drive on Shabbos so he quickly parked explained. “When you’re not frum and the car and found a place to stay. The you’re around people that are, the one next day, he came to one of the Satmar thing you feel sure of is that you are shuls (in a green suit and purple tie) and being judged and not accepted.” began to daven. He happened to look up and saw three little chassidishe kids, The burning challah episode was a with curly payos, looking at him very intently. critical point in the Broodos’ life. If their hosts had handled it in any other way, "Where are you from?" they might have never come back. Instead they returned for many more "I'm from a place called Los Angeles. Have you ever heard of Los Angeles?" meals in the Feigenbaum home and grew extremely close to the family. They One of the kids looks up at him and says began attending additional classes and "We only know three places: started coming to the community Williamsburg, Monroe, and Mitzrayim." frequently for Shabbat. (www.kiruv.com)

The Broodos eventually moved into the neighborhood. Several years later, the new local Orthodox synagogue was founded in their living room, and they remain extremely involved to this day. They also now frequently host newcomers to the community. And for anyone who seems uncomfortable by being in an Orthodox home for Shabbat,

Ken eases their worries by telling them

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Shabbos in Halacha

The Melacha of Borer

Where is the application of Borer?

When we use the term ‘sorting,’ we refer to a mixture of different components. Regarding food, a mixture can be comprised of ochel, i.e. food and psoles, waste material, or two different types of food. An example is if a food item is mixed in with waste material, such as dirt, pits, bones, and shells, then separating the foreign component from the food is deemed to be Borer. Subsequently, sifting or straining foods to remove what one does not want is forbidden under the melacha of borer. One is also forbidden to remove the waste material by hand.

Shabbos: Ta’am HaChaim Pinchas 5773

Have a wonderful Shabbos

Prepared by Rabbi Binyomin Adler.

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