Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh Newsletter Tetzave/Zachor 1 of 7 In This Issue HAMER TIME 5772 Parshat Tetzave-Zachor WRAP-UP Summer KollelDetails Send Shalach Manot In Israel HaRav Nebenzahl on Parshat Tetzave "The Ultimate Kedusha" Staff Dvar Torah By Rav Chaim Rosenblatt "Zachor, Amalek, and Atheism" Netiv HaChinuch - For Parents and Teachers "Leshem Shamayim"" Petuchei Chotam on Parshat To register click here. Zachor Dedications, Visitors, Mazal T ov' s, T ehilim List Join Our List Links yna.edu Ask Rav Nebenzahl Suggestion Box Alumni Update Form Rabbanit Malke Bina´s Parsha Glimpse THE ANNUAL YNA ALUMNI SHABBATON IN WOODMERE WILL BE MARCH 23-24 PARSHAT VAYIKRA AT DRS. The Rabbanim attending will be HaRav Contact Us Aharon Bina, Rav Yaakov Darmoni, Rav Amos Luban, Rav Yoel Rackovsky, and Rav Will it snow? Zvi Ron. ~~~~~ The Forecast calls for See Rav Ron's PURIM TORAH and Shabbaton Message snow in Jerusalem tonight. Another false- alarm? The Kotel during a past snowstorm Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh Newsletter Tetzave/Zachor 2 of 7 Shabbat Schedule "In" Shabbat 5:02 PM Candlelighting 5:20 PM Mincha in Beit Midrash followed by Kabbalat Shabbat at Porat Yosef 5:25 AM Vatikin 8:30 AM Second Shachrit 4:30 PM Mincha HAMER TIME 5772 WRAP-UP The Hamer Banquet marking the culmination of six weeks of intensive learning took place this last week. Over 40 students participated in the program requiring them to learn a minimum of 45 hours per week. Each participant kept a detailed log charting how they made use of their time throughout the days and throughout the weeks. In addition to the mitzvah of Talmud Torah, this gave them valuable insights into how they use their time and taught them time-management skills which they could make use of for the rest of their lives. A supporter of the Yeshiva who wishes to remain anonymous donated two watches which were awarded in a raffle to Ari Zucker (Kushner) and Shimmy Nabozny (Rambam Baltimore, MD), with two prizes of a 1000 shekel gift certificate each towards sefarim being awarded to Yoni Pollock (DRS) and Ben Yehoshua (North Shore Hebrew Academy). The top matmidim logging the most hours were Adam Edelstein (SAR) and Chananya Dauber (Skokie), and they will have the privilege of having a private meeting with Rebbe David Abuchatzeira. SUMMER KOLLEL AT YNA YNA Summer-Kollel dates have been set! June 17 - July 15, 2012 ~ 27 Sivan - 25 Tammuz 5772 HaRav Chizkiyahu Nebenzahl, shlit"a, Chief Rabbi of the Old City of Yerushalyim, together with Rav Chaim Eisenstein, Maggid Shiur at Netiv Aryeh and RIETS Israel Kollel will help you take your learning to higher levels. Recharge from College in the atmosphere of the Old City. Come and continue your Yeshiva experience with a summer of learning at an unbeatable location, overlooking the Kotel. Program includes guest lecturers, visits to Gedolim, exciting Shabbatonim & Tiyulim across Israel. Other YNA Rebbeim will be giving shiurim and chugim. Modern dorms with A/C and catered-style food, however space is limited. For more information or to obtain an application form, please contact Rav Chaim Eisenstein - (+972) (0)507 410 217 or email [email protected] or call 516-829-3120. Send Shalach Manot in Israel If you want to send Shalach manot to someone in Israel, here are two suggestions. (For informational purposes only- they are not affiliated with the Yeshiva.) Gili's Goodies and Purim-Paks HaRav Nebenzahl on Parshat Tetzave Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh Newsletter Tetzave/Zachor 3 of 7 HaRav Nebenzahl asks that his Divrei Torah are not read during Tefillah or the Rabbi's sermon. Parshas Tetvave/Zachor 5772 TORAH - THE ULTIMATE KEDUSHA This week's parsha describes the garments worn by the Kohanim while serving in the Mishkan and in the Beis HaMikdash. One of the garments worn by the Kohen Gadol was the tzitz - worn on the head of the Kohen Gadol with the inscription Kodesh LaHashem. The Kodesh LaHashem, sanctified to Hashem, is referring to the Kohen Gadol - though the tzitz certainly had kedusha it testified to the sanctity of the Kohen Gadol. Similarly, the Netziv comments on the concluding pasuk of our parsha: "Aharon will cleans its horns once a year, from the blood of the sin-offering of the atonements, once a year shall he cleans it for your generations; it is holy of holies to Hashem" that "holy of holies" refers not to the mizbeach but to Aharon HaKohen - this too is a sign of the sanctity of the Kohen Gadol. Rashi writes that Aharon HaKohen did not wear the bigdei kehuna for his own kavod, but for the kavod of Hashem. Similarly, when the Kohanim would partake from the sacrificial portions allotted to them, their eating was an avodah - it brought atonement to fellow Jews. The Kohen, therefore, did not eat for himself but rather because Hashem commanded him to. This idea is not limited to Kohanim, for the Mishna writes: "vechol maasecha yihyu leShem Shamayim" "let all your deeds be for the sake of Heaven" (Avos 2:17). The Rambam rules that one who has violated a Torah prohibition which is punishable by death, for example he violated the Shabbos, is not believed to testify against himself. If there were no witnesses and he appeared in Beis Din, his testimony calling for his death would not be accepted. The Radbaz asks the following question: if the halacha regarding monetary cases is: hodaas baal din keme-ah eidim dami "the admission of a litigant is equivalent to the testimony of one hundred witnesses (Kiddushin 65b), why do we not apply the same ruling with regard to capital cases? The Radbaz explains that we are servants of Hashem. The Torah therefore writes that we should not sell ourselves into slavery (the Gemara derives this from the pasuk in Parshas Behar (Vayikra 25:55) "avadai hem" - they are servants to Me and not servants to other servants - see Baba Metzia 10a). At first glance, it is not clear to me how this solves the problem - if we are servants of Hashem then everything we have belongs to Him, after all "ma shekana eved kana rabo" "whatever the slave acquires belongs to the Master (Pesachim 88b). If so, then we should not be believed for testimony against ourselves regarding our possessions just as we are not believed to incriminate ourselves. I believe we can answer as follows: all objects belong to Hashem, regardless of whether it is in my pocket or in the next person's pocket. I am therefore not testifying any more on something of Hashem's whether it belongs to me or to another person. We find in Chazal that during the days of Achashverosh, the people issued a moda'a rabba l'Oraysa "a notification regarding the acceptance of the Torah", that with regard to Matan Torah: "kafa aleiehm har kegigis ve-amar lahem: 'im atem mekablim hatorah mutav, veim lav sham tehei kevurashchem'" "Hashem covered them with the mountain as though it were an upturned vat and said to them: 'if you accept the Torah, fine, but if not, your burial will be there'" (Shabbos 88a) - they accepted the Torah under coercion and duress and they are therefore not bound to keep the Torah. If the Jewish people do not see themselves as servants of Hashem then it is permissible to sell them as slaves to Haman. However, Rava adds: "nevertheless, they accepted the Torah again in the days of Achashverosh" (ibid.), at which point the Jewish people would not become slaves of Haman and Charvona came suggested hanging Haman. Chazal liken the relationship between Hashem and Knesses Yisrael as between a chosson and kallah - with the Jewish nation being the kallah. Klal Yisrael is therefore mekudeshes to Hashem. Regarding Kiddushin, Chazal teach us that the woman is forbidden to anyone else as if she were hekdesh (see Kiddushin 2b). We see from here that not only are the Kohanim sanctified, but every Jew is holy as the pasuk states: "you will be to Me a kingdom of ministers and a holy nation" (Shemos 19:6). Eretz Yisrael is holy and within Eretz Yisrael we have Yerushalayim which is more sanctified, and within Yerushalayim lies the Beis HaMikdash which also contains the Kodesh Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh Newsletter Tetzave/Zachor 4 of 7 Kodoshim - the Holy of Holies. By the same token, the entire Jewish nation is holy and within the Jewish nation there are Kohanim who are more sanctified, and among the Kohanim is the Kohen Gadol who is even holier. There is, however, someone who is even holier than the Kohen Gadol and that is the Talmid Chacham. We find in Chazal that a mamzer who is a Talmid Chacham takes precedence over a Kohen Gadol who is an am ha'aretz (see Horayos 13a). The ultimate kedusha is associated with cleaving to the Torah, there is no greater kedusha in the world. The Torah is the wisdom of Hashem Himself so there is therefore nothing holier than the Torah. The Talmid Chacham who has Torah is therefore holier than the Kohen Gadol. The Beis HaMikdash is holy, the Kodesh HaKodoshim is holy - why? They are holy because they contain the luchos - the Torah written by Moshe Rabenu. We see that sanctity of the Beis HaMikdash is derived from its housing the Torah. The Torah is the holiest thing in the world - the first Beis HaMikdash housed the luchos while the second one's sanctity was derived from being the place where the luchos were kept in the first Beis HaMikdash. We find in the Rambam that when Moshiach arrives, all of Neviim and Kesuvim will become nullified with one exception - Megillas Esther.