ISSUE # 228 | PARSHAS CHUKAS FRIDAY JUNE 18TH, 2021 | 9 TAMUZ, 5781 MY FIRST COMPLIMENT MASTER OF THE BODY Adapted from Touched by a Story by Rabbi Spero, with the permission of By Rabbi Moshe Pogrow the copyright holders, Artscroll/Mesorah Publications, Ltd. (Artscroll) Based on the commentary of Rabbi Shamshon Raphael Hirsch zt"l on Chumash, with permission from Itzik came from a broken family and hung out on the the publisher. Let us consider the laws of parah adumah and tumas meis, and the ideas streets. When he came to shul on Shabbos, everyone they express. The Torah classifies the mitzvah ofparah adumah as a chatas. invited him to sit with them, but life took a toll. Itzik It is a chok, and a fundamental institution of tumah and tumas meis. Since fell behind at school. Rebbeim offered to learn with the Torah refers to parah adumah as chatas, it is clearly directing us to the him, but he preferred the pizza store. A week before sphere of morality, and that is where we should seek the meaning of the laws school started, his eighth-grade called in a favor rebbi of tumah and taharah in general, and of parah adumah in particular. and convinced a high school three hours away to take him. If Elul did not go well, he would be sent home. The Torah has already established ideas regarding the laws of tumah and taharah. Moral freedom—so we assert—is the first condition for the One day everything changed. Itzik suddenly became sanctification of life which the Torah obligates us to strive for. This truth is an outstanding young talmid chacham. For years, he threatened by the sight of the human corpse, for in it the superficial observer did not come home; he had nothing to come back to. perceives nature’s ultimate power. If man succumbs to death; if the corpse Then he got married, and sheva brachos was hosted lying before us, overwhelmed by the forces of nature, represents all that man in his hometown. As he sat with his new wife, several is, then man is no different from any other living thing. guests finally asked: how had he gone so quickly from If all this were so, then physical “must”s leave no room for moral “thou a wild boy to a young man about to finish Shas b’iyun? continued on reverse side Itzik stood up to speak. “When I came to high school, I thought I would be kicked out,” he said. “Then one night, after doodling in class, I left the paper in my Gemara. Later, I realized I had some phone numbers BARECH ALEINU: on it, so I went back to the beis midrash to get it. As I CHANGING THE DECISION closed the Gemara, I saw my rebbi with a big smile on his face. ‘Wow!’ he said, ‘I'm so proud that you stayed in the beis midrash to learn extra.’ Before I could The Gemara in Beitza 16a tells us that our livelihood is decided correct him, he was onto the next person. by Hashem between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. So why pray for parnassah three times a day? Our chachamim instituted “It felt good, my first school-related compliment. the tefillah, there must be potential for change, but how? The The next day, I tried to pay attention in shiur. The answer lies in the same Gemara: The more one extends himself rebbi publicly acknowledged my efforts; he said I was in kavod Shabbos and supporting Torah, the more he will earn. on a ‘hot streak.’ A few days later, I was mechaven to He will not merely make back his expenses, but Hashem will a Tosafos. The other boys noticed. Next zman I had increase His generosity and give him much more. Though our livelihood for the year has been decided, we ask Hashem to great chavrusos. I never looked back.” increase it in the merit of our spending on Shabbos and Torah. The amazing power of one sincere compliment! Adapted from Rav Schwab on Prayer From our readers... The lessons are profound and the stories well written; they keep my children riveted. - Mordechai P. L'zecher nishmas R' Yechezkel Shraga ben R' Yehuda • To sponsor a week, email [email protected] To receive this newsletter in your inbox each week, send an email to [email protected] NO TOLERANCE FOR TRADITION shalt.” Moral freedom is an illusion, G-d’s law by Rabbi Dovid Sapirman, Dean, Ani Maamin Foundation is inconceivable, and any demand to dedicate one’s existence to purity rests on baseless “In 1827, a group of about two hundred Jews who had remained faithful to suppositions. tradition, sought permission to renovate, at their own expense, two abandoned But the laws of taharah negate this. These laws and dilapidated synagogues. Their request was denied. Similarly, permission confront the illusion of physical servitude with to renovate the old mikvah was refused, and women who wished to immerse a guarantee of moral freedom. Throughout were forced to use facilities in nearby towns. Eventually, the community board our lives, whenever we are threatened with ordered the old mikvah to be sealed up completely. In 1838...the board decided reminders of bondage to physical forces, the that any Jew who put on tefillin was ineligible to serve as a board member.” Law reminds us of taharah and its freedom. No wonder the Reform movement took hold in Germany. The traditional Jews Here, tumah and taharah laws proclaim and lay put up a good fight, but there was no other school. There was nomikvah . You down the truth before the eyes of klal Yisrael: couldn’t teach Torah, even in private. Defection was all but inevitable. man can clear himself of sin, and can remain For a number of generations, there was a group in Frankfurt called the Tzitzis free of it. Such is the meaning of this chatas, Society, which met in members’ homes on Shabbos morning to study Tanach this symbolic clearing of sin performed outside and parsha. This group, with close to 100 participants, was outlawed by order the Sanctuary. The sin offerings brought inside of the police commissioner. In 1842, at the instigation of the community board, symbolize a vow to remain faithful from now traditional teaching of Tanach was made illegal by police authorities. on. This chatas, on the other hand, publicly Emanuel Schwartzchild, later the head of the Orthodox kehillah, described proclaims that it is possible to be free of sin, the situation in his youth. “At the age of 15, I was the only one my age who still that man is capable of controlling himself in the put on tefillin. If anyone still lived a religious life, he was regarded as one who face of temptation, that man has willpower. clings to inherited superstitions and ancient prejudices. Old people might be In proclaiming man’s freedom, parah adumah excused, but the younger ones were looked upon as either fools or hypocrites. recognizes that he is subject to physical force. It It had to be experienced to be believed, the weight of contempt expressed in does not teach man to close his eyes and ignore the look of scorn that greeted an avowance of adherence to religious service.” nature's reality. Rather, it shows man as a Anything that needed to be discarded in order to blend in with mainstream contrasting whole. He is mortal, yet eternal; he Germany was cast aside, including the longing to return to Yerushalayim and is fettered, yet free; he is endowed with physical the Beis Hamikdash—“Berlin is Jerusalem” was a common slogan. Traditional power along with moral power. By placing him, garb was discarded, tefillin were no longer used, Shabbos and kashrus ignored. with his dual nature, before G-d, this chatas Reform temples were built to imitate German Protestant churches, complete elevates transient man to the eternal sphere of with organs and rabbinical uniforms similar to those worn by Protestant G-d. ministers. Some temples even moved services from Shabbos to Sunday. The parah adumah tells us: Do not be misled The old Judaism was viewed as a hindrance to assimilation; reformers by the sight of corpses and death. Become free. denigrated it in every way they could. Intermarriage was not frowned upon, Become immortal, not despite but along with but was even encouraged. Torah learning was outlawed, chadarim abolished, all those aspects of your existence that are mikvaos closed, hospitals no longer providing kosher meals—all to find favor in physically limited. Be the master of your moral the eyes of non-Jewish Germans, to be accepted into society. body. In the midst of tumah, preserve your To be continued... taharah. What sounds do hyenas make? The spotted hyena is the largest, strongest, and most vocal species of the four types of hyenas. Hyenas are known for their humanlike laughter, but it is only the spotted hyena that emits these sounds. Spotted hyenas live together in large groups called clans of up to 100 members. They hunt NO LAUGHING MATTER in large groups, too—they are intelligent and work well as a team. Often one hyena approaches a herd of animals, making them scatter in different directions, while the others target a weak or old animal from the herd and hunt it down. In a group, these fearless predators will hunt even mighty buffalo or rhinoceroses. They will protect their kill from any predator, even lions and leopards. Adapted from Exploring the Wild World of Animals & Birds (Israel Bookshop Publications) To receive this newsletter in your inbox each week, send an email to [email protected] CREATED BY THE ANI MAAMIN FOUNDATION • Reinforcing the basics • Increasing passion • Deepening commitment.