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Volume 27 No. 9 VAYESHEV Daf Hashavua

13 December 2014 • 21 Kislev 5775 Shabbat ends in London at 4.46 pm Artscroll p.198 • Hertz p.141 • Soncino p.229 Chanukah commences on Tuesday evening

Journeys with The Book of Yehoshua (Joshua) Chapters 20-21 the Prophets: by Rabbi Dr Moshe Freedman, Northwood United Synagogue Part 9

Summary: G-d commanded Yehoshua to precedes the commandment regarding the designate cities in the Land of Israel as cities of Levite cities. refuge for a person who had killed uninten- tionally but with some element of negligence. Rabbi Shlomo Kluger (d. 1869) explained that This fulfilled the commandment given to Moshe since at each of these encampments G-d in the Book of Bemidbar (35:9-34). Additionally, turned the desolate wilderness into a place fit the tribe of Levi petitioned Yehoshua and Elazar for living, the Jewish people were required to (the High Priest) to fulfil G-d’s earlier promise repay His kindness measure for measure by to designate cities for them. separating an additional 42 cities from their allotted land for the Levites, the In depth: The Torah rules that servants of G-d. the tribe of Levi would not receive a portion of the Land of With respect to the other six Israel because “G-d is their cities, the great Talmudic sage inheritance” and they would and Biblical explicator Yonatan receive the offerings from the ben Uzziel explained that after Temple together with various Aharon died, Amalek attacked tithes (Devarim 18:1-2). How- the Jewish people once again. ever, they would live in six Some Jews fled back towards cities designated as ‘cities of Egypt, retracing their steps at six refuge’, in addition to 42 other encampments. Leaders from the special Levite cities (Bemidbar tribe of Levi chased them and 35:6-8). The Talmud explains fought to bring them back. There that the additional 42 Levite cities also served were casualties on both sides. Although the as cities of refuge (Makkot 13a). survivors returned, the tribe of Levi assessed that their losses were as a result of not The number of additional Levite cities is the mourning for Aharon properly (Targum same as the number of encampments made by Yonatan to Devarim 6:10). While this was not the Jewish people in their 40 year journey from intentional, they were still accountable for this Egypt to the Land of Israel. This is not lack of respect. Similarly, the primary six cities coincidental, as the portion of the Torah of refuge gave sanctuary to those whose hands describing the 42 encampments directly were guilty, but whose hearts were innocent. Is Success Luck? by Rabbi Joseph Kaye University Jewish Chaplaincy, Associate Chaplain for university students on the South Coast

Have you ever been sold by your family or impact the way we will feel been accused of something that you did not and the emotions that we do? Have you ever been to jail for 2 years? will experience. Successful Imagine these scenarios for a second - how people choose their focus would you deal with them? Do you think you wisely. would come out on top? Many of us would crumble after just one of these experiences. We cannot control the environment around us, but we can Yosef went through all of these experiences control our response to whatever is thrown at and each time he conquered the situation and us. The acclaimed psychiatrist triumphed. When he arrived in Viktor Frankl was an Austrian Egypt after being sold by his Jew who experienced the brothers, he became the head horrors of the concentration of Potiphar’s household. In camps. He claimed that his prison for being accused of survival was down to his focus. something he did not do, as He did not focus on his night- an inmate he actually took mare surroundings. Instead, over part of the prison’s he decided to pretend that he responsibilities. Finally, after was back in Germany, lecturing the butler forgot to ask to his students. Viktor could Pharaoh to free him, he still not control the fact that he was became the second in command in one of the in a Nazi death camp, but he could control most powerful countries at that time, Egypt. and choose what his response was going to How did he manage to triumph through every be to the horrific environment that he was challenging experience that he went through? in. He chose not to focus on the negativity surrounding him. As a practicing Life Coach, this is one of my favourite questions – is success luck or are This might be how Yosef not only made it there secret ingredients to succeed? through his challenging experiences but also triumphed and attained tremendous success. Without a doubt, there is no such thing as Seemingly, Yosef decided where he was going success through sheer luck. Perhaps the to place his focus and how he was going to most important secret to success is in the react to his experiences. It is interesting to way that we communicate with ourselves. note that Yosef had a very challenging lot, yet With almost every experience in life, we have the Torah mentions no negativity from him, the free choice to choose where we want to unlike some other key figures in the Torah. place our focus. Do we want to focus on the He could easily have taken the easier route negativity of our experiences and choose to of playing the victim by feeling sorry for become a victim, or do we want to choose himself and drowning himself in misery, but to grow from our experiences and use them as he did not. Instead he made the remarkable feedback to further our goals and ambitions. and difficult choice to become a champion, Where we choose to place our focus will not a victim. Solutions in the Living in the Real World Sidrah Part 3: by Rabbi Yoni Birnbaum, Hadley Wood Jewish Community

The challenges of retaining high ethical and felt that his resistance was weakening. moral standards when operating in the The temptation he was faced with (which in wider world can be significant. Away from a his particular context was the illicit secure home environment, it can sometimes advances of Potiphar’s wife [see Bereishit feel as if a lowering of standards is 39:11]) threatened to overcome him. necessary in order to succeed in the rat-race At that moment, relates the Talmud, the of life. That famous first line from Rudyard visage of his father Ya’akov appeared to Kipling’s poem ‘If’ seems particularly apt: “If Yosef in the window. This instantly re- you can keep your head when all about you minded him of who he was, the education … are losing theirs and blaming it on you…” he had received and the responsibility he carried to behave appropriately at all From a Jewish perspective, this is exactly times. In this way he resisted the what is demanded of us – temptation to lower his never to let our standards moral standards. slip and always to maintain the same level of integrity - ‘KEEP The concept of the whatever those around us YOUR ‘image of his father are doing. appearing in the win- dow’ can be understood Our Talmudic sages saw in on many levels. Taken in the early stages of Yosef’s HEAD’ a metaphorical sense, life in Egypt - recounted in it was perhaps the this week’s sidrah - particular strategies visualisation in his own mind of his father’s which can greatly assist in this difficult yet features at this critical moment that had vital task. Yosef was the first member of the the desired effect. We can learn a power- emerging Jewish nation to be forcibly ful lesson in the general importance of placed in an alien environment, lacking the developing strategies to deal with spiritual and emotional support of his situations that test our ethical standards, family. Yet, as a result of his success in as well as the particularly effective one resisting the temptation to act highlighted in this passage. Reminding inappropriately, he is regarded as the oneself of one’s ancestry, or of educators quintessential example of someone who who have had a significant impact in refuses to succumb to temptation. Despite shaping our moral standards, can be a the negative influences surrounding him, powerful tool when faced with challenges Yosef remained resolutely committed to the to them. It is through engaging strategies moral standards he had been brought up such as these that we will hopefully with. How did he achieve this? be able to always ‘keep our heads’ – According to one view in the Talmud regardless of the environment that we find (Sotah 36b) at a particular stage, Yosef ourselves in. An in-Depth The Gid Hanasheh Part 1 look at Kashrut by Rabbi Yehuda Spitz, KLBD In parashat Vayishlach, Ya’akov had an epic of his claim were enormous. If it was battle with Esav’s guardian angel, in which he deemed accurate, all of world Jewry would was injured in his hip-socket. The Jewish have been eating non-kosher meat from nation was then given a commandment not to time immemorial! eat the Gid Hanasheh, the sciatic nerve, of any Rabbi Eibeshutz wrote that he showed this animal. Additionally, there is a Rabbinic man the error of his ways. The sinew prohibition against eating the outer sinew which this porger was referring to is found of the animal’s thigh tendon. The Sefer exclusively in male animals, and could HaChinuch (written 13th century) writes that therefore not possibly be the correct one. this mitzvah serves as a constant reminder Rabbi Eibeshutz quoted the halachic work that eventually we will be redeemed Sefer Mitzvot HaGadol (written from the protracted exile that by Rabbi Moshe of Coucy Esav represents. in the 13th century) that To fulfil this mitzvah properly, ‘the prohibition of Gid one must remove every last Hanasheh applies to both trace of the relevant nerves, as males and females’. With well as the fat covering the these words, he averted sciatic nerve. This act is called nikkur, potential communal disaster. (literally porging, also referred to in Yiddish He concluded his passage reiterating the as treibbering) and it takes an expert to do importance and necessity of a porger’s it properly. proficiency and expertise. One of the most outstanding experts in the However, the problem with this story’s laws of nikkur was Rabbi Yonatan Eibeshutz conclusion is that this quotation does not (d. 1764), one of the greatest Torah scholars of actually appear in the Sefer Mitzvot HaGadol! his period and famed author of 89(!) works. The Sefer Mitzvot HaGadol was referring to In his commentary to the laws of Gid people, not animals! In other words, he was Hanasheh, Rabbi Eibeshutz recorded a ruling that women were obligated to keep fascinating historical incident, which this prohibition as well as men. posthumously sparked a halachic controversy. Is it possible that the great Rabbi Eibeshutz Rabbi Eibeshutz related that an expert porger could have made such a simple mistake? came to Prague, claiming that the sinew that Did he perhaps show this travelling treibberer Jews had been removing from their animals something else to mollify his claims? for centuries was the wrong one! This Scholars over the years have searched for a treibberer alleged that a different sinew was proper solution to this problem, which we the true Gid Hanasheh. The ramifications will continue to explore next week…

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