----------------------------------------------- Shavuot Vol. IV , No. 31, June 8, 2000 * 6 Sivan, 5760 ----------------------------------------------- "O G-d, make the words of the Torah sweet in our mouths...and may we, and our children, and our children's children, be knowledgeable of Your name and sincere students of Torah" Daily Morning Service This is a blessing which is recited every day of the year. On Shavuos it deserves special attention. Torah knowledge cannot be acquired by the equivalent of a sweepstakes ticket. There are no easy winners. Torah knowledge requires study, effort, persistence, diligence and sacrifice. If we pray that our children and their children be knowledgeable of Torah, the we must do something to bring this about. We must begin with ourselves. Whatever our degree of previous Torah study may be, from the most meager to the most advanced, we must continue our personal pursuit of Torah study if we expect our children to value it. We must plan and choose our children's Torah education very carefully. We must take a deep interest in the support of Torah institutions. We must put our priorities in order. If our children and grandchildren do not see us placing great value on Torah study, they are hardly likely to value it themselves. *** "O merciful Father, have compassion upon us, and give unto our hearts understanding, that we may listen, learn, teach, observe, do and fulfill the words of the Torah" Daily Morning Service The Chafetz Chaim related a parable. A person once asked a very wealthy man for a loan of a substantial sum of money to enable him to go into business. After a great deal of pleading, the rich man consented, and told the borrower to come to his home that evening for the money. All that evening he waited, but the borrower never came. The following day, the man again approached him, again pleading for the loan. "I have already agreed to give you the money, and I waited for you all last night. I will be home again tonight, and you may come for it." But again that night, the borrower did not appear. When the man approached him again the next day, the rich man became angry. "This is foolishness! I have offered you the money and sat there waiting for you to come and get it. If you don't want it, why do you persist in asking for it?" We ask G-d for he capacity to learn and understand Torah. He will gladly give it to us, but we have to show up for it. To ask for it daily and then not show up where Torah is being taught is absurd. *** "The Torah was given accompanied by three things: with fire, with water, and in the wilderness..." Bamidbar Rabbah 1:7 A person is comprised of three primary constituents. These are the guf, the physical component, and the to nonphysical parts - the seichel, the intellectual component and the nefesh, the emotional element. Since the Torah penetrates every fiber of our being, its acceptance must infuse each of these primary elements. The wilderness is, as its name suggests, far from human habitation, a place where a person lives alone with no contact with civilization. This corresponds to the intellect for several reasons (see Shem MiShmuel for details). Fire always symbolizes the ability of man to fill himself with enthusiasm and encourage himself to act. Thus the fire of the soul has the force to fuel the emotions. It is clear, then, that when Chazal say that the Torah was given with fire, this means that it was able to stimulate the emotional capacity of man. Finally, water represents the physical element of man. In the thought system of the Maharal, every object is described in terms of chomer, the raw substance, and tzurah, the form which the material takes to make it useful. For example, wood is chomer, but chair or bookcase is its tzurah. The most striking example of pure, unchanneled chomer is water, which takes the shape of whatever container it fills. It thus has absolutely no tzurah of its own. The human body without the soul's guidance is merely undeveloped chomer and thus is perfectly represented by water. This idea can be used to explain the following gemara: Rabbi Akiva says, "The Torah was given in its entirety at Sinai, repeated at the Tent of Meeting (the Mishkan), and again repeated at the plains of Mo'av." (Chagigah 6b) The original acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai was primarily an intellectual one, as symbolized by Sinai's location in the desert. The Mishkan was a place where a Jew could bring an offering and repent his transgressions. If he had endangered his holy soul with is sin, the animal's soul would be accepted instead of his. This repetition of the Torah at the Mishkan thus represents a soul-felt, emotional acceptance of the law. The Hebrew word for "plains" is aravos, which can also mean "mutual responsibility," that is, ignoring the selfish needs of one's body and harnessing them to the demands of the Torah. Thus the final repetition which took place at the plains of Mo'av, by the waters of the Jordan, corresponds to a physical acceptance of the Torah. We see, then, that the Torah was well designed to pervade every element of man, his substance, emotions, and intellect, and thereby perfect the world, returning it to its original flawless state, as existed before the sin of Adam and Chavah. Alas, man's evil inclination at each of these three stages introduced a corresponding sin. At Sinai, the people indulged in the idolatry of the golden calf, a primarily intellectual sin, incorrectly attributing power to a being other than G-d. At the Mishkan, their sin was that of the spies who succeeded in makng the people despise Eretz Yisrael and fear their future encounters with its indigenous nations. This was not a thought-out reaction, rather one of crude emotions. At the plains of Mo'av, the people committed immoral acts with the women of Mo'av, thus sinning with their bodies. It is interesting of us to note that since these sins occurred at such crucial moments - when the Torah was still new to the people and the nation was highly impressionable - that traces of these sins remained and still remain with us in our collective heritage. Traces of these grave mistakes will remain with Klal Yisrael until the coming of Mashiach. However, we must remember that Shavuos is a day when we reexperience that very first acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai. At that moment, we had within us the ability to become the perfect receptor, oblivious to all but the word of G-d. We may have erred since, with our bodies, our intellects, and even our emotions, but this day affords us the opportunity to retune them to their intended tasks, and to bring ourselves and the world a little closer to its final goal. *** Rabbi Berachyah said, "The tablets were six tefachim (handbreadths) long - in some sense, G-d grasped two tefachim, Moshe grasped two tefachim and two tefachim bridged the gap between them." Shemos Rabbah 28:1 We can subdivide all Mitzvos and, indeed, all human endeavors into three spheres: thought, speech and action. It is interesting to note that each of these three divisions reflect different interactions between man and G-d. Thoughts are not entirely under a person's control; they can pop into the mind when unwanted. It is all too common that while concentrating on a complex problem, inappropriate ideas spring to mind, often causing great frustration. Action, on the other hand, is entirely in the individual's domain. Speech enjoys a sort of in-between status. In this case, there is a partnership between man and G-d. Shlomo HaMelech tells us: "The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the tounge answers from G-d."(Mishlei 16:1) The two tefachim of the tablets which were grasped by G-d, express the power of thought, which is the dimension of man that remains in Divine control. The two tefachim grasped by Moshe Rabbeinu, the representative of Yisrael, symbolize action, which is entirely in man's domain. The space of two tefachim between Moshe and G-d symbolizes speech, the control of which rests between them. The verse states in Mishlei: "Commit your affairs to G-d, and your thoughts will be established." Something very profound is revealed to us here: If we fulfill our potential in our domain of mitzvah performance, G-d will deem us worthy to receive a great gift. If we "commit our affairs to G-d," then He will enable us to rule even our own thought process, relinquishing, as it were, control over even His grasp on the tablets. This has serious ramifications. Everything is dependent on our actions. If someone has trouble curbing his speech, then he can regain some control by tightening up his mitzvah observance. If we find it hard to direct our thoughts, or find ourselves considering inappropriate subjects during our prayers or Torah learning, then Chazal have given us the key to success: greater perfection in our service of G-d. *** POINTS TO PONDER: "And you shall make a proclamation on this very day: there shall be a holy convocation for you." * When commanding us about the Yomim Tovim, the Torah uses the term mkl, for you, when referring to Shavuos. Why? Shavuos marks the day on which the Torah was give. One might have thought that , just as Moshe had to separate himself from all physical matter in order to receive the Torah, so too must we. However, this is not the case, for Torah does not require us to remove ourselves from the world. Quite the contrary; the Torah requires us to sanctify the world's physical qualities by using them for avodas Hashem, thereby perfecting them. The Torah thus teaches that Shavuos is mkl, for you, and Chazal (Pesachim 68b) explain this to mean that on this day worldly enjoyment is not only permitted, but serves as an essential part of the mitzvah of Oneg Yom Tov. * In the middle of the description of the festivals, sandwiched in between Shavuos and Rosh Hashannah, the Torah places the verse: When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not remove completely the corners of your field as you reap and you shall not gather the gleanings of your harvest; for the poor and the proselyte shall you leave them; I am Hashem, your G-d (23:22). Why? The Torah had a reason for placing the commandment to leave a portion of the harvest for the poor people immediately after the commandment to keep the festival which celebrates the giving of the Torah. The Torah wants to stress to us that one cannot receive the Torah, which is called the Torah of Kindness, without accepting upon himself the obligation to attend to the needs of the poor. *** HALACHA: Selected Halachos of Yom Tov and Eruv Tavshiliin 1. When Yom Tov falls on Shabbos, we begin the evening kiddush just as we do every Friday night. However, in the bracha, we mention both Shabbos and Yom Tov. If one mistakenly recited the text of the regular Shabbos Kidddush instead of the Yom Tov text, he must repeat the entire Kidddush. This is true even if he concluded his erroneous Kidddush with the proper closing bracha. Similarly, if one said the Yom Tov text but omitted the reference to Shabbos, he must repeat the entire Kidddush even if he mentioned Shabbos in the concluding bracha. If the Yom Tov text was said properly and Shabbos was also mentioned, but in the concluding bracha either Shabbos or Yom Tov was omitted, the Kiddush need not be repeated. 2. On Shabbos, it is forbidden not only to create something new, but even to cause the creation of a new entity. Thus, one may not place frozen liquids near a flame (or other hot area) on Shabbos, because doing so causes them to melt and results in the creation of a new entity. On Yom Tov, however, this prohibition does not apply in regard to the preparation of food items for that day's use. Therefore, the following apply. A. Defrosting Liquids - it is permitted to defrost frozen liquids on Yom Tov by putting them next to a hot oven. Similarly, it is permitted to use margarine or butter for frying, even though they are melted and converted into a liquid in the process. B. Making Ice Cubes or Frozen Ices - It is permitted to make ice cubes or frozen ices on Yom Tov according to all opinions. 3. If someone remembered after sunset of Erev Yom Tov that he did not make an eruv tavshilin, he can make it during the period of bein hashemashos (twilight) and recite the bracha. If one remembered after leaving for shul that he did not make an eruv, he can telephone home and ask one of his household members to make the eruv. If this is not possible, he should return home and make the eruv, but only if he can do so without missing the opportunity to daven Mincha with the congregation. If returning home will cause him to miss the congregation's Mincha, he should go to the house of someone who lives near the shul and make an eruv there. This will enable him and his family to cook in his own home, even though the eruv is elsewhere. [An eruv is valid only if it is in one's home or is accessible. Here, it is valid because it can be brought home on Yom Tov.] If even this is not possible, one can establish the eruv while in shul by saying the following text: "The bread and cooked food that I will take when I return home should from this moment be designated for and eruv tavshilin." In this instance, one does not recite the bracha or the formula. Upon returning home, one sets aside a portion of cooked food and a loaf of bread as his eruv. 4.When Yom Tov falls on Thursday and Friday, the eruv tavshilin must be established on Wednesday, which is Erev Yom Tov. However, if one forgot to do so, one can make the eruv on Thursday, the first day of Yom Tov, by employing a special procedure. The person designates the food for his eruv and stipulates: "If today is actually Yom Tov, tomorrow (Friday) is a weekday and no eruv is needed to permit Shabbos preparation; and if today is in reality a weekday, this eruv shall be effective." He may then cook on Friday for the upcoming Shabbos. The preceding suggestion cannot be employed on Rosh Hashanah, since the two days of Rosh Hashanah are considered one long period of holiness. *** This week's issue is sponsored by Debra F. Fink, D.M.D M.S.P.C. Adult and Child Orthodontics 314-984-9900 *** Torah Bits are distributed to all of the St. Louis area Orthodox shuls. To sponsor Torah Bits or place an announcement, please contact The Kollel office Rates sponsorship: $50 per issue. announcements: $5 for individuals $10 for organizations *** Torah Bits is compiled by Rabbi Nitsun under the direction of the Rosh Kollel, Rabbi Greenblatt. Torah Bits have Torah content, please treat it respectfully. (and yes, you may take it home with you). 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