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Volume 28 No. 33 EMOR Daf Hashavua

21 May 2016 • 13 Iyar 5776 Shabbat ends in London at 9.54pm Artscroll p.672 • Hertz p.513 • Soncino p.740 Solutions in The Place of the Priest the Sidrah by Rabbi Yoni Birnbaum, Hadley Wood Jewish Community

The collection of Ancient Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Egyptian funerary texts, col- Hirsch (d. 1888) sees in this a lectively known as the ‘Book powerful demonstration of of the Dead’, dramatically the Jewish perspective on depict the journey of the life and death. In fact, these deceased into the nether- restrictions relate to the world. Written by various very essence of the Jewish Egyptian priests over a period concept of ‘religion’. In the of about a thousand years stirring words of Rabbi (1550 BCE – 50 BCE), these Hirsch: texts consist of a number of “Judaism teaches us how to magic spells intended to Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch live every moment of earthly assist a dead person's journey life as a moment of eternal life in the service through the Duat, or underworld, and into of G-d; how thus to live every moment of the eventual afterlife. a life marked by moral freedom, a life In ancient pagan cultures, religion and of thought and will, creativity and religious matters were often associated with achievement, and also pleasure. The Temple death. Not surprisingly, therefore, the itself was dedicated to this teaching, and it foremost place of the priest in these cultures is the transmission of this key message that was often portrayed as being at the side of is a primary role of the Kohanim, as the those who had passed away, as death and priests and teachers of the people”. dying were seen as a primary focus of their That is why, when death summons a per- belief system. son, the Kohanim have to stand away. Seen in this light, the emphasis in this week’s By doing so, they prevent thoughts of sidrah on the various restrictions regulating death from overpowering the truth that contact between the Jewish priests, the people are morally free and have within Kohanim, and the deceased is particularly themselves the power to live life to the striking. In direct contrast to the priests of full, in which every moment, if utilised Ancient Egypt, the is forbidden to properly, can itself become part of the even be in the same room as a dead body. service of G-d. Lessons of the Rabbi Dr. Moshe Freedman New West End United Synagogue

“And you shall count for yourselves, from the 8th century) the of day after the rest [of ] from the day counting the Omer requires you bring the Omer as a seven each day to be counted at the weeks; they shall be complete. You shall count correct time and in order. In until the day after the seventh week, the deference to this opinion, if fiftieth day, [on which] you shall bring a new one missed a day, the entire meal offering to the Lord” (Vayikra 23:15-16). mitzvah has been lost and one can only proceed to count without the usual This Shabbat is the 28th day of the Omer, blessing (Shulchan Aruch 489:8 and Mishnah meaning that we have now counted 28 days Berurah 489:36-37). Similarly, if even one since Pesach, leading towards the festival of stage of one’s spiritual development is omit- , which commemorates the giving of ted or ignored, the growth of that person the Torah at Mount Sinai over 3,300 years ago. will ultimately be defective. Just as a The significance of counting each day plant requires water, sunlight, carbon from Pesach to Shavuot is beautifully dioxide and nutrients to grow, so too related by Rabbi Shimshon Raphael a person needs the right spiritual Hirsch (d. 1888) in his nourishment. commentary to the Torah. To be physically free without The other key feature of Sefirat spiritual direction is no HaOmer is that it teaches us freedom at all; unbridled the importance of time. Every autonomy merely enslaves moment affords us a myriad each individual to their own of opportunities to mature physical urges and whims. If towards spiritual excellence. Pesach represents the freedom of The 14th century English poet the body, Shavuot represents Geoffrey Chaucer was right when freedom of the soul. If Pesach took he said that “time and tide wait for the Jewish people out of Egypt, no man”. Yet the Torah teaches us that Shavuot took Egypt out of the Jewish while we are fixed in the present, we people. The process that links these two phases have dominion over each moment that will is the counting of the Omer. soon slip away into the past. Our ability to influence our own future and the future of the The lesson of the Omer is therefore twofold. whole of creation is unlimited. Bitul zman – Firstly, to proceed from physical redemption wasting time - is therefore seen as a grave towards spiritual maturity takes time. Growth error. Indeed, Rabbi Shimon Frankfurt (d. 1712) is a gradual process which requires each step comments that: “We worry about losing our to be taken in the right direction and in the money but do not worry about losing our days. right order. According to Rabbi Shimon Kiara Our money does not help us and our days do (known as the Ba’al Halachot Gedolot, not return”. in the The Boer War and The Great War British Military Part 3 by Ben Vos, Community Liaison Manager, Tribe

In 1899, there were just 82 enlisted Jews in to England”. The first Jewish officer had by that the British Army, although the first Jewish time already died: on 14th September 1914, chaplain to HM Forces, the Reverend Francis Lieutenant Ronald Quixano-Henriques (2nd Cohen, reckoned that represented 25% of the West Surreys) "just raised his head and true number. The Boer War (1899-1902), by shoulders and said 'Advance' when he was one estimate, actually involved 3,000 British shot through the centre of the forehead". and colonial Jewish soldiers taking around 180 fatalities. The first of five Jewish Victoria Cross winners in the Great War was Lieutenant Frank de Pass The Jewish Chronicle supplied exhaustive (1887-1914), who served with an Indian Army details of Jewish promotions, casualties, war regiment. The young subaltern performed a funds raised and feats of Jewish heroic assault and rescue on 24th valour in the first war in which November 1914. He was shot dead British Jews had served in notable the following day. numbers. Special mention was made of Walter Karri-Davies of the Captain Robert Gee’s (1876-1960, Imperial Light Horse, who, the 2nd Bn., Royal Fusiliers) VC Australian press reported, refused though, stands out not only for what would have been the first the scale of his achievement – he Jewish Victoria Cross. freed himself and his brigade staff after capture – but also its bloodily The Boer War set the scene for the Lt Ronald Quixano-Henriques effective method. He killed his Great War (1914-18). From its captor with his spiked stick, and despatched a aristocratic leaders to the masses, British machine-gun crew of eight soon afterwards. Jewry made a concerted and uncritical patriotic show of support, backed by action. Out of the sacrifice a changing spirit began to The Spectator rated the Jewish casualty rate emerge. British Jewry went to war as Britons, above that of the British population at large. but several small units gave shape to Zionist Perhaps 55,000 of around 300,000 Jews aspirations. Seeing action and taking in Britain in 1914 served as regulars, casualties respectively at Gallipoli and in volunteers and as conscripts. These included Palestine, thousands of foreign and many thousands of immigrants, including Russian British Jews fought in the Zion Mule Corps Jews who preferred fighting for the King than and notably in the Royal Fusiliers. Alongside the Tsar. Fusiliers drawn from "Public Schools", "Stockbrokers" and "Bankers", the 38th to The Rothschilds recruited from their City office 42nd battalions are marked simply as “Jewish” for the Oxford & Buckinghamshire Light on the Fusiliers' memorial at Holborn. Yet the Infantry; the Jewish Chronicle hung a banner possibility of Zionist aspirations being outside their offices with a slogan taken from contributed to by Jews fighting in Jewish a 1914 editorial: “England has been all she can units, did not go unremarked upon in the be to Jews, and Jews must be all they can be Jewish press. Insights into Ezra’s Efforts Jewish History by Rebbetzen Ilana Epstein, Cockfosters & N Southgate United Part 34 Synagogue; Head of Project Development US Living & Learning

Ezra came back to Jerusalem and found that “to contrast”. To understand the centrality the Temple (Beit Hamikdash), though rebuilt, of the Temple to the Jerusalemite economy, lacked spirituality. It had ceased to be the let us compare it, “Le’Havdil ”, to a town with beacon that the Jews, now in the Diaspora, a large steel mill. If the steel mill was looked towards. Full of energy, Ezra set about to close down, all the other industries in reinvigorating its lacklustre services. that town would also slow down and perhaps the town itself may close down as The Kohanim were put on a schedule people search for employment elsewhere. and started bringing the offerings properly. Even the baker and the butcher, who did not Ezra used the gold that Darius had given work at the steel mill, may have to leave. him to decorate the Temple During the 25 years from the time further. He located the that Cyrus issued his decree that the Jews ashes of the Red Heifer could return to Judea and build a new and used them to purify , until Ezra came and that which had remained set its spiritual course, the various ritually impure. He also re- stops and starts in the established the agricultural construction meant that the and financial Shemitta prosperity of the city itself and Yovel (Jubilee) cycles. was always in question. Though Ezra had set the people Therefore an entire generation had grown on the right spiritual path, their financial up in extreme poverty, their finan- suffering continued. Jerusalem was a city cial situation entirely dependent on the whose industry was the Temple. The citizens whims of their overlords in Persia. of Jerusalem either worked directly in the The Temple that Ezra found sat in the Temple or worked indirectly to support centre of a burnt-out town, where the those who visited and worked in this people eked out their existence above the spiritual home. remains of the Jerusalem that had been burnt down by Nebuchadnezzar. There is a phrase often used when making comparisons between everyday life and It would take another 13 years and another spiritual life. In order to retain a determined leader to fully set the town differentiation between the two, we use the financially to rights – the prophet term “Le’Havdil”, meaning “to distinguish” or Nechemiah, who we shall discuss next week.

United Synagogue Daf Hashavua Produced by the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue, together with US Living & Learning Editor: Rabbi Chaim Gross Editor in Chief: Rabbi Baruch Davis Available also via email US website www.theus.org.uk ©United Synagogue To sponsor Daf Hashavua please contact Richard Marcus on 020 8343 5685, or [email protected] If you have any comments or questions regarding Daf Hashavua please email [email protected]