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Devrei Torah Presented Weekly in Loving Memory of Rabbi Leonard S. Cahan Z”L, Rabbi Emerit

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Devrei Torah Presented Weekly in Loving Memory of Rabbi Leonard S. Cahan Z”L, Rabbi Emerit BS”D March 6, 2020 Potomac Torah Study Center Vol. 7 #20, March 6, 2020; Tetzaveh; Purim 5780 NOTE: Devrei Torah presented weekly in Loving Memory of Rabbi Leonard S. Cahan z”l, Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Har Shalom, who started me on my road to learning almost 50 years ago and was our family Rebbe and close friend until his recent untimely death. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Devrei Torah this week sponsored by the Friends of the Beth Sholom LATE MAARIV in appreciation for another winter season with a minyan on time for every service. See you again in November. __________________________________________________________________________________ We always read parashat Tetzaveh the Shabbat of the week including Moshe’s birthday (7 Adar), and Shabbat Zachor always comes on this Shabbat in a non-leap year. During a leap year, we read Tetzaveh the Shabbat after 7 Adar I, but Purim comes during Adar II. Tetzaveh has the distinction of being the only parsha from the beginning of Shemot through all of Bemidbar in which Moshe’s name does not occur. The simple explanation of why Moshe’s name is absent in Tetzaveh is that God’s instructions to Moshe on how to build the Mishkan, which started at 25:1 (Terumah), continue uninterrupted throughout Tetzaveh and do not end until 30:10. Ki Tisa picks up with Hashem speaking (again) to Moshe (30:11), a new conversation, so Moshe’s name appears again at that point. A more poetic explanation for Moshe’s name being absent from Tetzaveh is that God threatened to destroy the people after the sin of Egel Zahav (Golden Calf), and Moshe told God to erase his name from the Torah if He refused to forgive the people (32:32). Although God agreed to forgive the people, He erased Moshe’s name from the parsha that we read during Moshe’s birthday week. (There is a lot more to say on this subject, which my son David discussed during his Bar Mitzvah speech 26 years ago on Shabbat Zachor.) Rather than focus on Tetzaveh, this year I decided to focus more on Purim. In one sense, the Megillah is a satire. The heros, Mordechai and Esther, have Babylonian (not Jewish) names. God’s name is never mentioned; instead the king is the symbol representing a God who has hidden his face from the Jews. The story takes place in Shushan HaBirah – a satire, because the only previous reference to Birah is the Temple in Jerusalem. These satirical features are close to the surface and help provide a humorous tone to the Megillah. According to our tradition, there are 70 layers of depth to the Torah. Many of these layers come through in Megillat Esther and in connections between the Megillah and the Torah. Rabbi David Fohrman introduced many of these connections in his amazing book, The Queen You Thought You Knew. Rabbi Fohrman has extended this analysis in extensive videos at www.alephbeta.org. The wealth of insights that Rabbi Fohrman presents is beyond what I can describe here. One example illustrates his treasures. Many generations before Esther and Mordechai, Yaakov sent Yosef to check on his brothers. The brothers put Yosef in a pit and debated what to do with him. Yehuda, a son from Leah, proposed selling Yosef into slavery. Although traders of the family of Ishmael found and sold Yosef first, the fact is that Yosef ended up being sold into slavery, as Yehuda had proposed. The first place in Tanach were we encounter the term “Yehudim” is late in Kings II, after the split between the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Yehuda), after the death of King Solomon. Dispersion of Israel dates to the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom. Dispersion of Yehuda was later, after the Babylonian conquest and later defeat of the Babylonians by the Persians. The Jews in Persia were predominately from Yehuda, with a much smaller portion from Benyamin. When Esther identified herself to King Achashveirosh as a Jew whom Haman wanted to destroy, the king had Haman killed. However, the king’s decree of death to the Jews was still in force. Esther had to approach the king again. This time she mentioned that she would not have complained if her fellow Jews were to be sold into slavery, but she had to 1 intervene when they were under a decree of death. What is the relevance of being sold into slavery? Esther and Mordechai were from the tribe of Benyamin, a son from Rachel. The vast majority of the Jews in Persia were from the tribe of Yehuda, a son from Leah. By intervening to save the Jews from Yehuda, Esther was redeeming the Jews who centuries earlier had stood aside and permitted her closer relatives (children from Rachel) to be sold into slavery. Esther redeemed an ancient grievance among the Jews. Our tradition teaches us that at some time in the future, Jews will no longer celebrate (or observe) most of the holidays the way we do now. The one exception is Purim, a holiday in which all Jews came together to reaffirm the mitzvot and work together to preserve all Jews against a common enemy. To appreciate how the Megillah connects with key elements from the Torah, read more examples from Rabbi Fohrman. Learn why Esther and Mordechai may be the most remarkable Jews in our history, because their story provides a tikkun for many of the sins of our ancestors going back to Gan Eden. My beloved Rebbe, Rabbi Leonard Cahan, z”l, left us on Rosh Hodesh Shevat. With Rosh Hodesh Adar, we enter the final month of the year, the month in which we increase our happiness. After Purim, we look ahead to Nisan, the first of the months for Jews, and the beginning of our freedom (Pesach). This year, with the threat of coronavirus, we look forward to spring and summer, with the hope that the disease will fade down (as most viruses do in periods of heat and high humidity). Shabbat Shalom and Frelicht Purim. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Please daven for a Refuah Shlemah for Nossan ben Pessel, Mordechai ben Chaya, Baruch Yitzhak ben Perl, David Leib HaKohen ben Sheina Reizel, Zev ben Sara Chaya, Uzi Yehuda ben Mirda Behla, HaRav Dovid Meir ben Chaya Tzippa; Eliav Yerachmiel ben Sara Dina, Amoz ben Tziviah, Reuven ben Masha, Moshe David ben Hannah, Meir ben Sara, Yitzhok Tzvi ben Yehudit Miriam, Yaakov Naphtali ben Michal Leah, Zissel Bat Mazal, Chana Bracha bas Rochel Leah, Elisheva Chaya bas Leah, Leah Fruma bat Musa Devorah, Hinda Behla bat Chaya Leah, Beyla bat Sara, Nechama bas Tikva Rachel, Miriam Chava bat Yachid, Ruth bat Sarah, and Tova bat Narges, all of whom greatly need our prayers. _____________________________________________________________________________ Hannah & Alan _____________________________________________________________________________ Medical Issue: Using Hand Sanitizer on Shabbat by Rabbi Mordechai Rhine © 2020 Question: Dear Rabbi, Am I allowed to use hand sanitizer on Shabbos? Answer: Yes you may! There are a number of considerations that make it a really great question! One consideration is that we don't usually smooth gel-like substances on Shabbos. That is why we don't use gel soap on Shabbos, and instead add water so that it is not so thick. Similarly, we do not use regular toothpaste on Shabbos. And when we need to apply creams on Shabbos, we do so by dabbing it on and not smoothing it in. At first glance it would seem that "smoothing" hand sanitizer on Shabbos, should be a Halachic concern. In actuality, although hand sanitizer seems to be a gel when it is the bottle, once it is sqeezed out, it presents as a liquid, and there is no concern of rubbing it on your hands on Shabbos. Other issues, such as "killing" germs, are not Halachic concerns, as the prohibition against killing refers to organisms that can be seen through regular sight. Wishing everyone a healthy, safe, and enjoyable Shabbos! 2 _____________________________________________________________________________ Drasha: Purim: Hear Conditioning by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky © 1996 [Please remember Mordechai ben Chaya for a Mishebarach!] Whoever misses the Divine hand that touched the Purim story is not looking. And if he claims that he heard the Megilah, he probably was not listening. Imagine, the Prime Minister draws lots and decides to annihilate the entire Jewish nation. Within 24 hours he has approval from the ruler of the not-so-free-world, King Achashveirosh. Within days, the plot is foiled, the Prime Minister is hanged and his prime target is promoted to replace him! Pretty political. Pretty miraculous. And definitely divine. Yet Hashem’s name is not mentioned once in the Megilah. Why? Of course, the Megilah is replete with allusions. There are acronyms that spell the name of Hashem, and our sages explain that every time the word “King” is mentioned in the Megilah, it has a divine reference. But, still, why does the last book of the Prophets, a Divinely inspired Megilah, have only veiled references to Heavenly intervention? It was a sweltering August day when the Greenberg brothers entered the posh Dearborn, Michigan offices of the notoriously anti-Semitic car-maker, Henry Ford. “Mr. Ford,” announced Hyman Greenberg, the eldest of the three, “we have a remarkable invention that will revolutionize the automobile industry. ” Ford looked skeptical, but their threats to offer it to the competition kept his interest piqued. “We would like to demonstrate it to you in person.” After a little cajoling, they brought Mr. Ford outside and asked him to enter a black Edsel that was parked in front of the building. Norman Greenberg, the middle brother, opened the door of the car.
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