Spiritual Communities
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בס“ד Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pekudei/Parah 23 Adar, 5778/March 10, 2018 Vol. 9 Num. 27 לע“נ נחום אליעזר בן יוסף הכהן ז“ל This issue is sponsored by Miriam and Moishe Kesten in memory of Larry Roth, who was so dedicated to Torah MiTzion Spiritual Communities - in Time and Space Rabbi Jonathan Ziring The Mishkan, the place where G-d until he could be clothed with the task that could be executed efficiently, would communicate with man, simplest raiment! He had to shear, humanity could grow. epitomizes the notion of “holiness in bleach, beat the wool, dye it, spin it, space.” Shabbat, the seventh day weave it, wash it, and sew it Perhaps, the Torah wanted to stress which has been sanctified by G-d to together, and only after all this was that not only is community necessary to commemorate the creation of the he clothed; whereas I get up in the create our physical world, but it is world, is the paradigm of “holiness in morning and find all my clothes equally needed for spiritual greatness. time.” The Torah juxtaposes the laws prepared for me. (Tosefta, Berachot The Mishkan caused G-d to dwell of Shabbat with the building of the 6:2, and Talmud Bavli Berachot 58a among the Jewish people specifically Mishkan twice, in Shemot 31 and 35. translation from here: http:// because it was built by pooling the From this adjacency, which hints at bit.ly/2CWFyrm) unique contributions, both monetary the connection between the Tabernacle and human, of the entire nation. The in time and space, our Sages derive Rabbi Medan notes that the acts listed Torah emphasizes how each person who many laws of Shabbat, including the are identical to the many of the had a skill would use it to sew and build categories of work prohibited on melachot, categories of action prohibited the Mishkan; it thus became the Shabbat (position of Rabbi Chanina on Shabbat. (Mishnah Shabbat 7:2) unification of the hearts and souls of bar Chama on Shabbat 49b), the way Based on this, Rabbi Medan contends the Jews who had invested so much in which those actions must be that on Shabbat, the laws are meant to into it. performed (the principle of melechet prohibit providing basic human needs. machshevet, as discussed in Chagigah Thus, he argues that this model is It is striking that Ben Zoma rules that 10a-b), and the rule that the distinct from that which derives the the blessing “that all these people were construction of the Mishkan was not to categories of prohibited work from the created to serve me” was said be performed on Shabbat (Rashi, Mishkan (see above link). specifically when seeing a multitude on Shemot 35:2, citing Midrash). the Temple Mount. It is there that we However, perhaps this passage provides remember that no man or woman is an However, the Talmud suggests other insight into both Shabbat and the island, even when forging our sources for the laws of Shabbat which Mishkan. Ben Zoma highlights that food connection to G-d. On Shabbat the capture other models. Rabbi Yaakov and clothes are generally not created by message is the same - we rest from our Medan points to a suggestive passage individuals, but communities. When a collaborative efforts to develop society, in the Tosefta. While discussing single person is responsible for planting so that together we can build our blessings that are said upon various and processing the raw materials for spiritual world. sights, the Tosefta writes as follows: everything he needs, he can get nothing Ben Zoma, when he saw a large done. It is collaboration that has [email protected] body of people on the Temple allowed human beings to build societies Mount, said: “Blessed is He who and civilizations. It is for this reason created these people to serve me.” that the technological advances of the How hard the first man, Adam, industrial revolution, that sped up the Our Beit Midrash is planning a must have labored before he could production of food and goods through Continuing Medical Education and eat a bit of bread! He had to plow assembly lines and the like, allowed Continuing Legal Education and sow and weed and hoe and unprecedented population explosions, trip to Panama for February 2019. reap and thresh, winnow and sift, not to mention an increase in the Hotel, kosher meals, shiurim, tours! grind, sift again, knead, moisten quality and length of life. As goods could If you are interested, please email and bake, and only after all this be created and transported faster, Dr. Mickey Ostro eat his bread; whereas I get up in streamlining work such that each [email protected] the morning and find the bread all person was responsible for an exact for more details. ready for me. What toil Adam had OUR BEIT MIDRASH ROSH BEIT MIDRASH ABBI ORDECHAI ORCZYNER R M T SGAN ROSH BEIT MIDRASH RABBI JONATHAN ZIRING AVREICHIM DAM RIEDMANN ARON EREZ A F , Y P CHAVERIM NADAV GASNER, COREY KAMEN, JAY KARON, BJ KOROBKIN, YEHUDA Find our upcoming shiurim on-line at LEVI, COBY LYONS, ZACK MINCER, RONI PEREZ, JOSH PHILLIP, AARON ROSENFELD, www.torontotorah.com MORDECHAI ROTH, DANIEL SAFRAN, EYTAN WEISZ, URIEL WEISZ, BARUCH WISE, ELI WOODROW We are grateful to WOMEN’S BEIT MIDRASH MRS. ORA ZIRING, MRS. ELLIEZRA PEREZ Continental Press 905-660-0311 והורשתם את הארץ וישבתם בה )במדבר לג( Marking the State of Israel’s 70th Year! Israeli Landmarks: Har haZeitim (The Mount of Olives) Rabbi Baruch Weintraub Ramban sent a letter to his son from who became impure by coming in The list of Rabbis buried there is Jerusalem, circa 1267. There he depicts contact with a dead body (Mishnah, amazing and spans the generations– the sad sight he saw there, “What can I Middot 4:2). As it was of utmost Ramban, Bartenura, Rabbi Yehudah say regarding the land? There are many importance that all those involved with HeChasid, the Or Chaim HaKadosh, forsaken places, and the desecration is the burning should be pure, a large Rabbi Kook, and Rabbi Goren. Other great. The general rule is - the more space was cleaned beneath the site, to significant figures are buried there as sacred the place, the greater its ensure that no one was buried there. well, such as the writer Shai Agnon, the devastation, and Jerusalem is the most This ensured that the kohen poet Uri Tz’vi Grinberg, and politicians desolate of all.” aboveground would not become including Menachem Begin and impure from anything that might have Zevulun Hammer. This was clearly seen at Har HaZeitim. been hidden in the depths of the This mountain, second in height only to ground. Today, many tours of the mountain are Har HaTzofim (Mount Scopus), stands promoted by the City of David to the east of the Temple Mount. It When Titus besieged Jerusalem, he Foundation. As we all hope for the played a key role in worship – on it were used the high mountain as a realization of the prophecies about the shops selling supplies needed for command post, building a fortress for mountain - that it will split into two, sacrifices, and the birds which lived on the tenth legion. Thus, the place which with water spouting from within it were used for the various bird was used to enable and enrich the (Zechariah 14) - we shall continue sacrifices. (Talmud Yerushalmi, Taanit worship in the Beit HaMikdash, visiting the place that tradition tells us 4:5) Most importantly, from a certain became its source of destruction. will be the first place for our ancestors location on the mountain one could see to rise and join us in accepting the directly through the Temple gates, up to In the years after the destruction, a Mashiach. the curtain of the Kodesh HaKodashim. strange phenomenon occurred: the It was on that spot that the parah mountain which was the source of [email protected] adumah (red heifer) was burned, so that purification became one the most its ashes could be used to purify people important cemeteries in Jerusalem. The Zionist Idea: Between Snow and Fire: Rabbi Maimon’s War Yaron Perez Rabbi Yehudah Leib Fishman Maimon was born in Serbia in formation, and after the founding of the state he worked to 1875. A child prodigy, he was a close student of Rabbi enshrine religious principles in law during his service as Yechiel Michel Epstein (author of Aruch haShulchan) and Minister of Religion and member of Knesset. He fought to received ordination from him. As a youth he was attracted to establish the place of Jewish jurisprudence in family law, the Zionist movement and was among the founders of the the legal status of rabbinical courts, and more. Mizrachi. At the age of 30 he was appointed Rabbi of Ungheni, Romania, and in 1913 he moved to Israel, where he Rabbi Maimon saw a significant role for rhetoric and led the Mizrachi. symbolism, as well. He sought to include the Name of G-d in the Declaration of Independence; when the committee opted In Rabbi Maimon’s view, chareidim see Judaism as religion, for “The Rock of Israel”, Rabbi Maimon prefaced his and chilonim see Judaism as a nationality. The role of the signature with “with the help of G-d”. When David Ben- Mizrachi is to find the appropriate balance to join religion Gurion completed reading the declaration aloud, Rabbi and state. Thus, he told both sides, “The plan to separate Maimon recited the Shehechiyanu blessing. Rabbi Maimon religion and state is not your own; it is a non-Jewish plan of also promoted inclusion of Hallel in the prayers of Yom their own creation… A strategy of dividing religion from state ha’Atzmaut.