לע”נ בן ציון בן אהרן משפחת היימן Dedicated by Joshua and Melissa Close in honor of their chavrusos at the Kollel In honor of all the editors, especially Rabbi Zions, Rabbi Freeman, Rabbi Erlanger and Rabbi Jakubowicz Ari Aragon and family לכבוד חברי הכולל החשובים מחברי ומלקטי החידו”ת בספר זו מאת אליעזר קראוס ומשפחתו In honor of all the lomdei Torah of the Denver Kollel Chaim and Rivky Sher Scroll K Vaad Hakashrus of Denver לע”נ ישראל יעקב בן שאול יצחק In memory of our dear friend Yisrael Yaakov ben Shaul Yitzchak In honor of Rabbi Freeman and his dedicated work on behalf of this sefer, the Kollel and the Denver Jewish Community The Robbins Family מתוך רגשי הכרת הטוב והערצה לידידי היקרים, ראשי וחברי הכולל מאז הוסדה ולתומכי הכולל במשך כל השנים. חילכם לאורייתא יחיאל ארלנגר ומשפחתו לע”נ אלישבע מרים ע”ה בת ר’ מרדכי יהודה נ”י משפחת אמזל Jewell Dental Care, PLLC Steven A. Castillo DOS 6565 W. Jewell Ave. Suite #9 Lakewood, CO 80232 303-922-1103 Providing Comprehensive Dental Care and Assistance With Snoring in Mild and Moderate Sleep Apnea לע”נ יטל בת אלעזר אליהו הכהן ע”ה Mrs. Lucy Prenzlau In honor of Rabbi Freeman and Rabbi Zions for their tireless dedication on behalf of this publication שמואל הלפרין ומשפחתו In honor of the esteemed Roshei Kollel Rav Shachne Sommers and Rav Aron Yehuda Schwab Yaakov and Chaya Meyer Sefer Al Hahar Hazeh 1 We are excited to present to you Al Hahar Hazeh, a collection of Torah thoughts from Kollel members of the past twenty years. The sefer you are about to begin studying is the result of countless hours of work by numerous individuals who gave of their time, talents and energies to put their Torah thoughts into writing. You will find a wide variety of divrei Torah from Kollel members of the past twenty years. Yet this sefer is much more than just a collection of Torah thoughts from a group of Torah scholars who brought Torah to Denver. This work is, in fact, a taste, albeit a small one, of the results of twenty years of work. Twenty years of Kollel yungerleit bending over their gemaras, brows furrowed, minds working feverishly as they unwind the intricacies of a lengthy Talmudic discussion; twenty years of Torah scholars holding animated, even heated discussions and arguments over a complex halachic subject. Twenty years of inculcating Torah into their bones and the bones of their chavrusas, individuals who came from all over Denver and from all types of backgrounds to discover their ancient yet modern heritage. Twenty years of creating an environment and culture where Torah is not just a nice pastime to engage in on occasion, but a way of life. Yasher koach to all those who contributed to this work, one that will create a Kiddush Hashem and continue the Kollel’s mission of spreading Torah to Denver Jewry. Special mention must be made of Rabbi Chaim Yeshia Freeman and Rabbi Yaakov Zions, who undertook to make this sefer a reality from start to finish. Their dedication and commitment to all the details of publication, from contacting would-be authors to editing, from securing dedications to printing the sefer, are worthy of great admiration. May Hashem bless them with success in their future endeavors of spreading Torah to their fellow Jews. Rabbi Shachne Sommers Rabbi Aron Yehuda Schwab Rosh Kollel/Dean Rosh Kollel/Dean 2 Denver Community Kollel A Shabbos with the Chofetz Chaim Rav Shimon Schwab…………...3 My Father’s Kittel Rabbi Myer J. Schwab ....................................... 13 Individual and Community-The Essence of the Jewish People Rabbi Shachne Sommers ..................................................................... 16 Discovering or Knowing Rabbi Aron Yehuda Schwab ...................... 20 Klal Yisrael and the Moon Rabbi Moshe Heyman .......................... 24 Baruch Shomer Havtachaso Rabbi Avraham Abrams ..................... 29 Chased out of Mitzrayim! What does that have to do with baking the dough into Matzoh? Rabbi Yehuda Amsel ................... 31 Exile and Redemption Rabbi Ari Aragon …………...……….36 Tefillin on Chol Hamoed Rabbi Chaim Yeshia Freeman ................... 40 Chinuch through Modeling Rabbi Dovid Gertz ............................. 44 Climbing Har Sinai In Our Times Rabbi Shmuel Halpern ............. 46 Invested Interest Rabbi Ari Jakubowicz ...................................... 51 Surrendered Will Rabbi Yossi Kaplan ............................................. 54 Understanding the Life Altering Event of Yetzias Mitzrayim Rabbi Avraham David Karnowsky ........................................................ 56 The Haggadah – A Chinuch in D’varim Peshutim Rabbi Levi Lebovits ........................................................................... 62 Miraculous Nature Rabbi Mordechai Mandel ............................. 62 A Taste of Freedom Rabbi Yosef Melamed ..................................... 67 Self Realization Rabbi Eli Mozes .................................................... 73 Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim for Women Rabbi Zev Chaim Pruzansky . 77 There’s No Time Like the Present Rabbi Shlomo Rosenberg ......... 79 The Rambam’s Understanding of the Mitzva of Maggid Rabbi Yehoshua Schwartz ................................................................... 83 The Wicked Son Rabbi Akiva Stern ................................................ 85 History and Halacha of Burial on Yom Tov Rabbi Yaakov Zions 88 Sefer Al Hahar Hazeh 3 A Shabbos with the Chofetz Chaim Rabbi Shimon Schwab1 Only One Concern? We live in times of terrible crises, political and spiritual. In spite of temporary lulls, Klal Yisroel has hardly any dependable friends in the entire world. Think of the yishuv in Eretz Yisroel, which is surrounded by hostile nations, whose lack of unity is all that prevents them from destroying the Jewish nation; think of the millions of Jews in Russia whose last spark of Yiddishkeit has been all but extinguished, held captive by a regime that refuses to let them out; think of all the other Jews in all the other lands, threatened by physical intimidation or spiritual annihilation. And think of the Jews in America, where one can learn Torah without disturbance, and the colossal spiritual crisis we are experiencing in this land of unfettered freedom. Here we are - a thousand people, gathered together to address the problems facing Klal Yisroel and to speak of the Chofetz Chaim who left this world over fifty years ago. Shivering in a spiritual freeze, groping in the darkness of our time - do we have nothing else on our minds but the Chofetz Chaim? This brings to mind the humble Jew standing outside on a cold winter night to be Mekadesh levana, blessing the new moon, ...May it be Your will" .יהי רצון למלאות פגימת הלבנה saying a tefilla to fill the flaws of the moon." Does he have no other worries, nothing else to pray for? This Jew, who has no source of livelihood, is shivering on a dark night, and his only request to God is that He restore the moon to its original fullness! And, indeed, he 1 Reprinted from Selected Writings 4 Denver Community Kollel need have no other worries, because when God does fill this flaw, it will be the time of Moshiach when the light of the moon will be like that of the sun ... and then, all of his problems will be resolved. We too may do well to concern ourselves with the Chofetz Chaim. Would we members of the Jewish world be worthy of it, we would again be privileged to have a Chofetz Chaim in our midst, fulfilling in our days the tefilla, "Restore our judges as before" - meaning one great tzaddik and gaon whom the whole world, not only segments of it, recognizes for his greatness! Under his leadership, all of our problems would indeed be resolved. The Insatiable Hunger The widespread interest in the Chofetz Chaim that prevails in our community is undoubtedly an expression of the spiritual thirst that distinguishes us as a people (Sanhedrin 76b). A Jew can never be satiated with the spiritual creations of mankind, but remains thirsty for genuine fear of God and for fulfillment of His mitzvos. Some of us may not be aware of the nature of the thirst that plagues us, for we have a husk around our soul. But under the husk my soul thirsts – צמאה נפשי לאלקים throbs a yearning that proclaims for God. Thus a thousand Jews come together to hear about the Chofetz Chaim who passed away more than fifty years ago because of a hunger that can never be stilled. Not A Legacy of "Hanhagos" What can we learn from the Chofetz Chaim? I once had the privilege to visit the Chofetz Chaim in Radin, and from there I went directly to Vilna where I met Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski. He asked me, "What do you say about the Chofetz Chaim?" Sefer Al Hahar Hazeh 5 I was astounded at his question: 'What have I to say about the Chofetz Chaim? It's not for me to comment about the tzaddik hador - the outstanding saint of our times!" Reb Chaim Ozer sighed, "Indeed, he is outstanding as a tzaddik, but he is an even greater gaon than he is a tzaddik, which you did not recognize." As an example of the Chofetz Chaim's printed as part ,ביאור הלכה gaonus, Reb Chaim Ozer pointed to the of the Mishnah Berurah, which he said has no equal in the last hundred years. Thus the Chofetz Chaim was both the tzaddik hador and the gaon hador. But his tzidkus was of a different generation. His hanhagos, his daily practices, do not constitute a message for this generation. We can marvel at them and be inspired by the greatness they represent, but they are beyond us: In his humility, he did not wear rabbinical garb. He wore a cap like a simple Jew; on Shabbos when he spoke to the crowd, his cap covered his eyes so you could not see them. The austerity in his home was so severe that he did not have chairs in his house, only benches. This is not our legacy.