בס“ד

Parshiyot Vayikra/HaChodesh 1 Nisan, 5778/March 17, 2018 Vol. 9 Num. 28

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Life On Call Baruch Weintraub I would like to begin this column in an to drop everything, leave your home and them to accident or to nature, one may unusual way, by describing the family, and step forward to the task. If fail to act according to his calling. If circumstances of its writing. I am this happens often and for long Moshe would have thought that the writing it while on a short break from durations of time, it may come at a very Burning Bush was just another desert reserve duty, still in my IDF uniform. high price. An example is the education mirage, or that G-d really wanted the The reason I share that with you is of one’s children. The Torah is mute complete destruction of the people in because, as happens many times, the regarding the fate of Moshe’s two the aftermath of the Golden Calf, that events during the week can shed light children, Gershom and Eliezer, but our would have been a misreading of the on that week’s Torah portion. Sages teach us that one of them became signs and may have concluded in the Specifically, being called for reserve no less than a priest for an idol! (Baba complete failure of the mission. duty caused me to think about the Batra 109a) Could this tragic fate be opening verse of the parshah, which seen in light of Moshe’s complete The life of those “on call”, thus, is the begins, “And He called Moshe”. The dedication to his call for G-d, His Torah life of those who open their eyes for Hebrew word “Vayikra,” “And He and His nation, to a degree which signs; whose ears are ready to catch called,” could be also translated as prevented him from devoting himself to even remote whispers; who have the summoned or beckoned; but what his own children’s education? It is faith to see and the courage to act. does it actually mean, to be called? therefore not accidental that Moshe’s ‘calling’ is introduced in relation to the Moshe was attentive to his calling; are While understanding the obvious sacrifices; being called is accompanied we? differences between my own life and many times by the willingness to pay the parshah – the only thing more the high toll associated with this kind of [email protected] certain to me than the difference life. [For other explanations of how between myself and Moshe Rabbeinu Moshe’s grandson could have served is the difference between my company idolatry, see Bava Batra 110a, Mechilta commander and G-d – I do believe that d’Rabbi Yishmael Yitro (Amalek) 1, and there is something here to be learned Nedarim 81a.] about the experience of being called, the meaning of being summoned. The full implication of being ‘called upon’ includes a further element. The Frequently overlooked, for example, is Hebrew word “Vayikra” is associated the fact that being called does not only with an additional meaning – to read. Our Beit Midrash is planning a affect you when you are on active duty. This additional meaning is embellished Continuing Medical Education No less important is the fact that you by the custom of writing the final letter may be called. You must always keep of “Vayikra” – the aleph – as a small and Continuing Legal Education yourself ready and accessible, in case letter. Without the final aleph, the word trip to Panama for February 2019. the need for you will arise. For Moshe, means “an accident”, “a happenstance”; Hotel, kosher meals, shiurim, tours! the very possibility of being called with the aleph, the meaning becomes We need a minimum number completely changed his life, causing one of reading and deciphering symbols. of interested parties him to separate from his wife, as noted The first requirement in order to be to proceed with planning. by Miriam and justified by G-d. successfully called for reserve duty is to If you are interested, please email (Bamidbar 12:1-8 and Rashi there) read your mail. In more general terms, Dr. Mickey Ostro one must have his ears open to hear the [email protected] The real difficulty, however, begins call. If when the signs come one for more details. when the summons comes. You have misinterprets them, either by ascribing

OUR BEIT MIDRASH ROSH BEIT MIDRASH RABBI MORDECHAI TORCZYNER

SGAN ROSH BEIT MIDRASH RABBI JONATHAN ZIRING

AVREICHIM ADAM FRIEDMANN, YARON PEREZ

CHAVERIM NADAV GASNER, COREY KAMEN, JAY KARON, BJ KOROBKIN, YEHUDA LEVI, COBY LYONS, ZACK MINCER, RONI PEREZ, JOSH PHILLIP, AARON ROSENFELD, MORDECHAI ROTH, DANIEL SAFRAN, EYTAN WEISZ, URIEL WEISZ, BARUCH WISE, ELI Find our upcoming shiurim on-line at WOODROW www.torontotorah.com WOMEN’S BEIT MIDRASH MRS. ORA ZIRING, MRS. ELLIEZRA PEREZ CHAVEROT NOA BORDAN, MINDY CHAPMAN, SOFIA FREUDENSTEIN, LEORA KARON, We are grateful to ARIELLA SNOWBELL, MIRIAM RIVKA WEISS Continental Press 905-660-0311 והורשתם את הארץ וישבתם בה )במדבר לג( Marking the State of ’s 70th Year! Israeli Landmarks: Tel Hai Yaron Perez In 1893, Baron Rothschild acquired a control over Syria; this led to war statue of a roaring lion, meant to large area of land in the Northern Galil. between Syria and . represent the might of the soldiers. The Most of it became the moshav of nearby town of Kiryat Shemonah Metulla; some years later, the untilled Tel Hai sought and received a small (“village of the eight”) is named for these land of Kfar Talha was given to a group group of fighters to help defend it fighters, and Zeev Jabotinsky dedicated of pioneer farmers. With the Ottoman during this war; the soldiers were led his Revisionist Zionist youth movement retreat from Israel in 1918, this area by Joseph Trumpeldor. On March 1 “Brit Yosef Trumpeldor (the covenant of was established as Kibbutz Tel Hai. The (11 Adar), 1920, a large group of Yosef Trumpeldor)”, a.k.a. Betar. kibbutz was constructed as a fortress, armed Bedouins, led by Kamal Affendi, with a central yard in the middle. came to Tel Hai to look for French By the end of 1920, control of the area soldiers who might be hiding in the was transferred to the British. This led The Sykes-Picot Agreement between area. During their search, they decided to the formation of “The Galilee France and the United Kingdom led the to confiscate the weapons of the Panhandle”, a north-south area under British to cede the area to the French Jewish defenders; during the ensuing British control, jutting into what is now after World War I, but the local Arabs standoff a shot was discharged, and a Lebanon, which passed into the State of did not accept French rule. They fought battle began. The Arabs were defeated, Israel in 1948. it, and they also attacked the local but five Jewish defenders were killed. Jewish communities – Kfar Giladi, Trumpeldor himself was critically Today, Tel Hai hosts a museum Metulla, Hamra and Tel Hai. In 1919, wounded, and they retreated to Kfar chronicling the settlement of the area Chaim Weizmann, President of the Giladi. Dr. George Gerry, who attended and reconstruction of the original Zionist Organization, signed an his bedside, testified that Trumpeldor’s layout of Tel Hai. Every 11th of Adar, a agreement with King Faisal I of Syria; final words were, “No matter; it is good national ceremony remembering the this exchanged recognition of the to die for our land.” defenders of Tel Hai is held. Balfour Declaration for support for the establishment of Syria on land that is The cemetery between Tel Hai and Kfar [email protected] now Jordan and Lebanon. However, the Giladi includes graves of eight fighters participants in the 1920 San Remo – six who fell in this battle, and two Conference decided to grant the French from earlier attacks. There is also a

The Zionist Idea: The Proto-Zionists Adam Friedmann

The “Proto-Zionists” were a group of thinkers and activists making life unbearable for many in the area. At the who wrote about and attempted to organize resettlement in same time, the emancipation of much of Europe had given the during the early part of the 19th century. Jews political freedoms that they had never before Notable members of this group include Rabbi Yehudah enjoyed. Jewish businessmen like Moses Montefiore and Alkalai, Moses Hess, and, perhaps most influential, Rabbi the Rothschild brothers wielded new Jewish wealth and Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer. The group did not have a definitive political clout. The spirit of nationalism which was manifesto, though Rabbi Kalischer’s work Drishat Tzion was sweeping Europe also stood to allow the notion of a an influential work for many in the group. There were, Jewish state to seem reasonable to European however, some philosophical and sociological stances which governments. As a result of these factors, the Proto- can be seen as definitive of Proto-: Zionists felt it was the right time to wok towards establishing a strictly Jewish state in the ancestral Jewish • The Redemption and return to Israel must be initiated by homeland. The secular Zionist movement, led by Theodor man, not G-d. The exact formulation of this view differed Herzl, would be motivated by many of these same factors. among the Proto-Zionist thinkers. Rabbi Alkalai, for example, argued that only an initial stage of redemption, Initially, the Proto-Zionist movement failed. In the case of associated with Mashiach ben Yosef, was to be driven by Rabbi Kalischer’s efforts in particular, the religious and man. The rest, associated with Mashiach ben David, would talmudic tone of his arguments did not resonate with an come from G-d. Differing with this, Rabbi Kalischer held increasingly secular Western European Jewry. On the other that the notion that G-d would redeem us at all while we hand, his unconventional interpretations failed to find are passive is totally incorrect. purchase among traditonal Eastern European Jews, who were wary of anything that sounded like Enlightenment • We must make every effort to resettle Israel and fulfill the thinking. mitzvot hateluyot ba’aretz – the commandments which can only be observed in that land. Rabbi Kalischer took this Nevertheless, the Proto-Zionists left behind a long-term view to an extreme, arguing that once enough Jews live in legacy. Their work paved the way for the secular Zionist Israel we ought to reinstitute the service of sacrifices, even movement which arose in the late 19th century and without a third Beit HaMikdash. succeeded in establishing a state, and the theological positions of the Proto-Zionists also formed the basis of • The socio-political situation in Europe during the early 19th contemporary Religious Zionist ideology. century was the perfect moment to launch a bid for a Jewish settlement in Israel. This was based on several [email protected] factors. Antisemitism in Eastern Europe was on the rise,

2 Visit us at www.torontotorah.com & www.facebook.com/torontotorah Torah and Translation Biography Lawyers in a Beit Din? Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, Teshuvot v’Hanhagot 3:446 Rabbi Netanel Javasky Translated by Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner Born in in 1926 and orphaned at By law, a plaintiff may assign his claims מן הדין יכול התובע למסור טענותיו לאחר, a young age, Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch to another party, since the assignment מכיון שבהרשאה נעשה האחר כבעלים גופא spent his formative years learning in makes the other party like the actual וא “ א לומר לו ” לאו בעל דברים דידי את, “ yeshivot in both England and Eretz litigant, and the [defendant] cannot say, אכן הנתבע אינו יכול למנות אדם אחר Yisrael. For many years, he was a rabbi “You have no claim against me.” But a לנציגו, כמבואר בשו “ ע חו “ מ קכ “ ד, שלא in Johannesburg, , where he defendant cannot appoint a representa- שייך אצלו להקנות, שלנתבע אין מה delivered acclaimed Torah lectures on tive (Choshen Mishpat 124), for there is להקנות... ועוד שהתובע יכול לדרוש business ethics. His renown grew while no assignment, as there is nothing for a there, and he returned to to -defendant to assign… Further, the plain שהבע “ ד עצמו צריך לבוא לב “ ד, מכיון join the Beit Din of the Eidah tiff may demand that the defendant come שבפניו לא יעיז להכחיש... והנה נהגו היום haChareidit, where he served as the Av to court personally, since he would not be שגם הנתבע שולח נציג עו “ ד )טוען רבני( Beit Din. ...so bold as to contradict him to his face מטעמו. ונראה הטעם דהואיל והיום אין

The practice today is that the defendant דנין דין תורה ממש, רק עיקר הפסק הוא A proud descendant of the Gr”a [the also sends a lawyer as representative בגדר פשרה הנראית לדיינים כצדק ויושר, , Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna], he -rabbinic advocate) in his place. It ap) ע “ כ אין מדקדקים בזה בכל דקדוקי compiled what is considered the pears that this is because today we do משפט... authoritative book on his ancestor’s not actually judge per Torah law, but practices and rulings, “Hilchot haGr”a rather the verdict itself is a compromise uMinhagav.” Additionally, he has written which appears just and right to the judg- many other works; he is most renowned es, therefore they are not careful with all for Moadim uZmanim, a set of books of the details of judgment… discussing the Jewish holidays. His book It also appears that if one side has an עוד נראה שאם יש לצד אחד טוען רבני of responsa, Teshuvot uMinhagim, is also excellent and expensive rabbinic advocate מעולה שעולה הון רב, ולשני אין אמצעים .widely quoted ,and the other lacks any similar means כמוהו, יש לחשוש שבזה נסתמים טענותיו, there is concern that this might block his וכעין הא דאיתא בשבועות )לא א( ” מנין Though an anti-Zionist, Rabbi Sternbuch claims, like Shevuot 31a, “How do we לשנים שבאו לבית דין אחד לבוש believes that there is a mitzvah of moving -know that if two come to court, one wear סמרטוטין ואחד לבוש איצטלית בת מאה to the Land of Israel. He is known to ing rags and the other wearing a 100- מנה שאומרים לו לבוש כמותו או הלבישהו quote his father that it is better to live in ,maneh shirt, we tell him, ‘Wear like him כמותך ת “ ל מדבר שקר תרחק ע “ ש, וכ “ ש the Diaspora and dream of the Land or dress him like you’? ‘Distance yourself בנדון דידן, ראוי לומר למי שיש לו עו “ ד than to live in the Land and dream of the Diaspora. from falsehood.’” Certainly in our case it מעולה ויקר, תן לו לאחר כמותך או תופיע would be appropriate to say to someone כמוהו. ואמנם לא נהגו כן מפני שאצלנו [email protected] who has an excellent, expensive lawyer, Give the other one what you have, or“ הדין בגדר פשרה, והדיינים לא מרגישים present as he does.” In truth, people do שבזה סותם טענות השני, ולכן רגילים שלא not do this because our adjudication is למנוע, אבל אם רואה הב “ ד שצד השני actually mediation, and the judges do not מסתתמין טענותיו מול העו “ ד המחוכם, sense that this [imbalance] would block ראוי לדיינים להשתיקו לעו“ד, ולדרוש שגם the other party’s claims, and so they do לצד השני יהיה טוען כעין טוען שלו... not prevent this. But if the court were to ותמהני שאין נזהרין כן, ועשיר שוכר לעצמו This is see that the arguments of the other side עורך דין מובהק או טוען רבני, והשני צריך the final issue of ,were blocked opposite the clever lawyer להסתפק בדברי עצמו או טוען רבני שאינו Toronto Torah it would be appropriate for the court to מומחה כ “ כ )שמשלמים לו פחות( הגורם silence the lawyer and to demand that שמסתתמין טענותיו, ולע “ ד ראוי למנוע before Pesach the other side also have an advocate like הדבר.  his advocate… And I am surprised that Watch for our they are not careful with this, and wealthy parties hire great lawyers or rab- Seder Companion binic advocates for themselves, and the next week! other must make do with his own words or with a less expert rabbinic advocate  (who is paid less), causing his claims to Look for us again be blocked. In my humble opinion this should be prevented with . There are courts in which even if there is ויש בתי דינים שנוהגים שאפילו יש טוען Parshat Sh’mini a rabbinic advocate, they first interrogate רבני, דורשים קודם לחקור הצדדין לבד, the parties alone, and only afterward do they hear the rabbinic advocate and he ורק אח “ כ לשמוע את הטוען רבני וניתן לו .can provide a basis for the position לבסס הדברים, ובזה עכ “ פ הצדדין שוין Thus, at least, the sides are equal at the בהתחלת הדיון. start of the litigation.

Call our office at: 416-783-6960 3 The 613 Mitzvot: #3 - The Sciatic Neurovascular Bundle Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner The third biblical mitzvah (Bereishit 32:33) is the could not defeat him, so our own enemies may be able to instruction that descendants of Yaakov may not eat the gid wound us, but they will never be able to destroy us. hanasheh (sciatic neurovascular bundle) of certain animals. This memorializes Yaakov’s battle against his brother, Esav; The prohibition against eating gid hanasheh is odd, as it is not a being representing Esav fought with Yaakov, and truly food; it has no taste. (Chullin 89b; Mishneh Torah, succeeded in wounding Yaakov in that part of the body. Hilchot Maachalot Asurot 4:18, 15:17). Logically, then, one who ate gid hanasheh from a neveilah (an animal which did The Rambam (Peirush haMishnayot, Chullin 7:6) noted that not undergo kosher shechitah) should be liable for gid although this mitzvah pre-dated the presentation of the hanasheh, but not for neveilah. However, Rambam (Mishneh Torah at Sinai, it binds all generations of Jews only because Torah ibid. 8:6) says that one would indeed be liable for the prohibition was reiterated in the Torah we received at neveilah as well. Some explain that this is because the Torah Sinai. The same applies to all pre-Sinai mitzvot, such as treats it as food (Or Sameach), or because the act of eating it circumcision. puts the gid hanasheh into the category of food. (Minchat Chinuch 281:7) As the Sefer haChinuch explained, this mitzvah reminds us that just as Esav’s representative wounded Yaakov but [email protected] Weekly Highlights: Mar. 17 — Mar. 23 / 1 Nisan — 7 Nisan Many of our classes are starting Pesach Break, but opportunities remain! Time Speaker Topic Location Special Notes

Mar. 16-17 Rosh Chodesh Nisan שבת After Hashkamah Adam Friedmann Parshah Analysis Clanton Park Before minchah R’ Jonathan Ziring Daf Yomi BAYT Rabbi’s Classroom After minchah R’ Mordechai Torczyner Gemara Avodah Zarah BAYT Simcha Suite Sun. Mar. 18 8:45 AM R’ Jonathan Ziring Responsa BAYT Hebrew 8:45 AM R’ Josh Gutenberg Contemporary Halachah BAYT Not this week Tue. Mar. 20 1:30 PM R’ Mordechai Torczyner Nechemiah, Chapter 8 Shaarei Shomayim 7:30 PM R’ Mordechai Torczyner Yehoshua 129 Theodore Pl. Wed. Mar. 21 2:30 PM R’ Jonathan Ziring Exploring Bamidbar 32 Timberlane Ave. For Women 8:00 PM Adam Friedmann Why do we do that? Shaarei Tefillah Shaarei Shomayim Not this week הפרשה ואני PM Yaron Perez 8:00 Thu. Mar. 22 Special session on 1:30 PM R’ Mordechai Torczyner 49 Michael Ct. For women The Fri. Mar. 23 10:30 AM R’ Mordechai Torczyner Melachot of Yeshivat Or Chaim Advanced For University Men, at Yeshivat Or Chaim 10:00 AM Sunday, Rabbi Aaron Greenberg, Gemara Beitzah 11:00 AM Sunday, Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner, Contemporary Halachah: Pitfalls in Practicing Law 8:30 AM Monday, Rabbi Jonathan Ziring, Nefesh haChaim 8:30 AM Friday, Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner, The Book of Yeshayah

For University Women, at Ulpanat Orot 9:30-11:30 AM Monday, Mrs. Elliezra Perez, From Rachel Imeinu to Racheli Frenkel, not this week 9:30-11:30 AM Tuesday, Mrs. Ora Ziring, Shabbat 9:30-11:30 AM Wednesday, Mrs. Ora Ziring, Contemporary Halachah 9:30-11:30 AM Thursday, Mrs. Elliezra Perez, Parshah in the Eyes of Chassidut, not this week

Our Beit Midrash is in session through Monday March 26, and we resume on Wednesday April 11. !חג כשר ושמח