8 Days of Chanuka #4

How could Bnei Yisrael have been yotzei for lighting the menorah with shemen shel nes? Lighting the menorah can only be done with shemen zayit from a tree! R' Chaim Brisker writes that really, the miracle was not in the quantity of the oil, but in the quality. The Maccabim poured in all of the oil on the first day, and rather then new oil miraculously appearing, the same oil was able to last for 8 days, burning up only 1/8 every day. Following this, the nes also occured on the 1st day, resolving the Beit Yosef's kashya.

An apparent message in the words of Reb Chaim is that we should try improve oursleves, not just by increasing the miztvot we do, but the quality of the ones that we already do. That is a real task! As the days of Chanuka come to a close soon, we should not forget how the candles represent not just a physical light to remind us of the nissim Hashme does for us, but a spiritual light which should help light our way through the darkness of this world (maybe i'll write more about that next Chanuka iy"H). B'ezrat Hashem, we should be zoche to keep this flame with us throughout the rest of the year, to light the path when we might be drifting off into the dark.

I hope you enjoyed your Chanuka 5769!

R' Nosson Tzvi Finkel shlit"a Lighting Neirot Chanuka

If you don't know, Rav Nosson Tzvi is the Rosh Yeshiva of Mir. He has Parkinsons and is always shaking terribly. If you have ever heard him speak you know that it's difficult for him to talk. (He doesn't take painkillers because he doesn't want them to affect his memory and cause any of his Torah to be forgotten.) This is real ameilut.

Celebrating the Pach Shemen

The Gemara in Shabbos (21a) teaches, "מאי חנוכה?- What is Chanuka?..." Basically, the Greeks came and took over. They entered the Mikdash, desecrated it, and ruined all the oil. But the Maccabim fought back, and when they entered the Beit Hamikdash they found but one pach shemen with the seal of the Kohen Gadol that had enough oil for one day. Hashem caused a nes and it lasted for another 7. Later on, Chazal established these days to be commemorated for praise and thanks; להודות ולהלל. It would seem from the Gemara that the basis for the establishment of Chanuka was the finding of the oil and its miraculous burning.

It appears odd then, that Chanuka should be based off of this when in על הנסים we commemorate the great victory Hashem granted us over the Greeks and the Mityavnim.

כשעמדה מלכות יון הרשעה על עמך ישראל להשכחם תורתך ולהעבירם מחקי רצונך...מסרת גברים ביד חלשים ורבים ביד מעטים וכו

The evil Greeks tried to destroy our Torah, but Hashem handed over the mighty to the weak and the many to the few. It would seem that we are celebrating the great triumph of Am Yisrael over the enemies. Also, how could the finding of some oil, and even its lasting for 7 days, compare to such a great victory that saved Torah for all future generations?

When Yosef was sold to the caravn which took him down to Mitzraim, the Torah tells us that it was carrying good smelling spices. The Midrash tells us that this is specified since it was not the way of Arabs to be carrying anything other than bad smelling things, such as petroleum and resin. But HaKadosh Boruch Hu was with the tzaddik and provided scaks of bsamim instead of the usual bad smell.

R' Chaim Shmuelevitz tz"l asks (Sichot Mussar, Maamar 16), if Yosef was being taken down to Miztraim, the most unholy place in the world; from ben zkunim shel Yaakov, from his home where Yaakov Avinu taught him all that he had learned from Shem v'Ever; what difference would it have made whether the trip down smelled nice or not. Yosef was forced into a dark situation with no hope of freedom by his own brothers; would it have really affected anything if it smelled good?

At that time Yosef could hvae come to despair. It might have seemed to him that Hashem had turned away from him and that he was lost and forgotten. Hashem sent him this bsamim in an unnatural way to show him that this was not true. Rather, He was going down with him to Mitzraim, hand in hand; as Hashem promised Yaakov: אנכי ארד עמך מצרימה ואנכי אעלך גם עלה. It was meant to be a ray of light in the dark.

This nes was not in the spices themsleves, but in the act through which Hashem told Yosef that he is not being abondoned and that he should have hope. It was meant to be mechazek him that these yisurim were coming from Hashem's love for him. It may have seemed insignificant, but it was in truth a "neshika pratit." Through this we can understand why the finding of teh pach shemen was so significant. It was a "neshika pratit" from HaKadosh Boruch Hu! After all, what shows a father's true affection for his son? When he does something extra to show his love. We know the famous maxhloket between R' Akiva and R' Eliezer in Masechet Succah, whether we sit in a succah in remmebrance of the actual succot that Bnei Yisrael sat in or because of the Ananei HaKavod. It it is becasue of the Ananei HaKavod, why would we celebrate that miracle of the midbar in such a way but not do the same for the other great miracles: the mann and the Be'er Miriam? The mann & the be'er were a source of food and water for Bnei Yisrael, necessary for survival. But the ananim were extra. They leveled out the terrain, they protected against snakes and scorpions... They weren't there to insure survival! Rather they were there to provide extra comfort, as a sign of love from Hashem.

The victory of the Maccabim was certainly a great miracle from Hashem, but it was necessary for survival and for Torah. Hashem promised us that we will never be destroyed! But this didn't show that Hashem still had for us. But through the shemen and the lighting of the Menorah, a nes that was not necessary, that was above and beyond, we saw that Hashem still loved us! There was a light shining in the dark times for us to look to. It was because we were zoche to this He'arat Panim that Chazal established the 8 days of Chanuka l'hodot u'lehallel.

Nosai B'ol Im Chaveiro

Great shiur by Rav Aharon Kahn on Nosei B'ol Im Chaveiro from this past Tuesday. Definitley listen!
CLICK HERE

Yahrzeit- The Alter of Novardok

17 Kislev is the yahrtzeit of R' Yosef Yoizel ben R' Shlomo Zalman Horowitz(1849-1919), the Rosh Yeshiva of the Novardok Yeshiva. He was a talmid of Rav Yisroel Salanater and was famous for the intense fiery mussar style which he employed in his yeshiva. Many yeshivot were set up by his talmidim under his teachings during the difficult times of WWI. Among the talmidim of the Novardoker yeshivot was the Steipler Gaon tz"l.

8 Days of Chanuka #3

We mark the 1st day of Chanuka in remmebrance of the spiritual battle of the Jews. They were unfortunately very preoccupied with the battle against the Greeks. But nissim were done for them and they did not forsake the Torah or mitzvot.

(Divrei Yoel)

The ikar nes on the 1st day was the finding of the pach shemen. And through finding the pach, the Samech Mem (the satan, ס"מ) surrendered. פ"ך has the same gematria as ס"מ, and through the finding of it, the strength of the satan was detsroyed and he was subdued.

(Bnei Yisaschar)

Aish Kodesh on Hastarat Panim

The Piaseczner Rebbe HY"D brings down the Zohar (ח"א נח.) which says that every Jew must realize and believe that everything comes from Hashem, and that He does not do anything without cause. Besides for that, it is also one of the 13 ikarei emunah: "אני מאמין...שהבורא יתברך שמו גומל טוב למי שישמור מצוותיו ויעניש למי שיעבור על מצוותיו." Through this, one can come to chizkut and joy, even during times of suffering. The Baal HaTanya writes (Iggeret HaTshuvah 12) that when a person comes to recognize his aveirot and the flaws of his heart at a time of yissurin, and sees why this punishment has come upon him, then he will not become upset and think these yissurin are bad. He will have bitachon in Hashem, that just like He has punished him, so too He will do good with him. This person will realize that Hashem desires him like a father to a son, and through this he will be mechazek and mesameach himself.

Aside from that, yissurin are a form of hastarat Panim. Therefore, when a person can see through them and realize the Yad Hashem in everything, that everything is His righteousness and truth, he removes the hastarah! And when a person removes this hastarah and reveals Hashem, it is a chesed and a hitgalut Or Panav Yitbarach. But how can yissurin be hastarat Panim? It says in Tehillim (91:15) "עמו אנכי בצרה"! Kivyachol Hashem suffers with us! Rather, it is when the sufferer himself is not mekabel yissurin with submission and reckons them unjust, that the hastarat Panim is created, chas v’shalom. The person creates the hastarah! It is like he is turning away from this notion that Hashem suffers with him.

(Aish Kodesh Re'eh 5701)

Yahrtzeit of Reb Baruch Ber Leibowitz tz"l

The 5th of Kislev is the yahrtzeit of Reb Baruch Ber Leibowit tz"l (1870-1940). He was a great talmid chacham and a main student of Reb Chaim Brisker. Reb Boruch Ber headed the Kaminetzer yeshiva for many years. He wrote the sefer Birkat Shmuel which is highly regarded by yeshivas. He was very great and had tremendous anavah:

Reb Boruch ber once came to America to raise money for his yeshiva. When he was introduced to the crowd of people he would speak to, he was given a nice introduction with a few compliments to befit Reb Boruch Ber. His face immidiately began turning all sorts of colors and he stood up objecting! Afterwards, when some fish was brought out, the ba'al habayit went over to Reb Baruch Ber and suggested that perhpas he shouldn't eat the fish because it might not be so good. However, he ate it anyway. Later that night, the ba'al habayit found Reb Baruch Ber sick. He said to him, I tried to warn you about the fish Rebbe! To this Reb Baruch Ber replied that he was not sick from the fish, he was sick from all the compliments he recieved earlier.

8 Days of Chanuka #2

The actual finding of the pach shemen among the "sea of tumah," and that it was in a hidden place that was not made unholy by the Greeks as well was a miracle. So the finding of the oil on the 1st day was itslef a separate miracle from the candles lasting 8 days which we commemorate.

(HaEshkol)

The 1st day was established to be commemorated because there was a victory of the Prushim over the Tziddukim & Mit'yavnim on that day. And since the miracle was with the oil, Chazal established to light candles for the 1st day as well.

(Sfarim)

8 Days of Chanuka #1

The Beit Yosef has a famous kashya: We celebrate 8 days of Chanuka in remembranc eof the 8 days the Menorah remained lit. Yet the miracle was only for 7 days; there was enough oil for the 1st day as the Gemara in Shabbos (21b) tells us. So why do we celebrate the 1st day as well? The Sefer Yemei Shmonah brings down 500 teirutzim to this question, so hopefully I'll post a few by the time Chanuka gets here.

The Beit Yosef himslef offers 3 explanations:

1. The people at that time divided up the oil that they had into 8 portions. Every night they put in one portion and they saw that it lasted until the following day. So they saw that every night, even the 1st night, was a miracle.
2. On the 1st night they poured in all the oil but the jug miraculously remained full, so even on the 1st night they recognized the miracle.
3. On the 1st night they poured in all the oil, and saw the following day that the candles remined full of oil. And so it was every night.

(Yemei Shmonah p.19- Mahut HaKushya)

Mumbai: A Wake Up Call

Today, Rosh Chodesh Kislev, we were forced to hear the sad news of the murder of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka Holtzberg as well as the other victims HY"D of the terrorist attack in Mumbai. Being friends with a bocher who is from Mumbai and learns in my yeshiva during the year, this does hurt me and affect me a bit deeper. He knew the Holtzbergs and Chabad provides the frum Indian families with Jewish necessities as he has told me.

Less than a year ago, on Rosh Chodesh Adar, a terrorist emptied rounds and rounds of bullets in Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav Kook, killing 8 of the bochurim learning there HY"D. Now on Rosh Chodesh Kislev, our enemies have attacked us again and killed Jews are maintained a Jewish House of Torah and Mitzvot in a place where such things are scarce. Adar and Kislev contain within them two of the most joyous holidays of the when we celebrated victory over our enemies because we cried out and turned to Hashem; Purim and Chanuka. We learn that Rosh Chodesh contains within it the essence of the month to come. These are both months of joy and celebration. Now the beginnings of both are marked with bloodshed and tears.

WAKE UP! This is what Hashem is crying out to us! We know have 2 rallying calls to return to HaKadosh Boruch Hu! How much longer will we keep ourselves in this galut? How much longer will we ignore the plight of our neshamot? At a time when we should be preparing for the simcha of Purim when Hashem saved us from Haman and annihilation we will always remeber the 8 kedoshim who were murdered. Now, at a time when we should be preparing for an occasion of simcha, learning Hilchot Chanuka and getting ready to publicize the nes which occured, we must mourn a loss and realize that we must do something. We had one wake up call already? We didn't respond. We know have a 2nd. Are we going to need a 3rd chas v'shalom? All Jews are one body. If a limb is infected or damaged, we can't ignore it, it affects the whole body. The source of the problem must be fixed. The cure is right in front of us, we just need to take it. We will soon recall the cry of Matityahu Kohen Gadol to the Jewish People "Mi L'Hashem Alei!" We should be hearing this in our minds now as well.

Inyanei Gittin- Notes from Shiur: ואם יש עליו עוררין

סוגיית טענינן דמזוייף

The Mishnah on דף ב. ends off saying that if people come to be me’ar’er against the get, claiming that it is forged, you should be me’kayem it with the signatures.

/תוס' ד"ה ואם יש עליו עוררין/

If one has a get and no one has to come to be me’ar’er, it is valid and the woman can remarry with it. We don’t tay’nah that it is mezuyaf because the Rabanan established this to be lenient for an agunah (a woman in chains). However, by mammon we do tay’nah mezuyaf for yetomim and lekuchot because otherwise, “Lo shavkat chayaei l’chol be’riah”- someone can take advantage of them by forging shtar, and getting “edim” to sign it. There would be no defense for this otherwise. The Maharam Shif explains that this rule is applied to all sharot, even if “Lo shivkat chayei” doesn’t apply (לא פלוג).

"ומיהו מזה אין להוכיח"- The Maharam explains, from “Lo shivkat chayei” we cannot bring a proof that we do tay’nah mezuyaf. It’s not even a common thing (דבר לא שכיח הוא), and we don’t tay’nah uncommon things for yetomim. Rather, we can tay’nah paru’ah (it was already paid)!

What is the nafka minah whether we tay’nah mazuyaf or paru’ah? The Maharam says that there could be a case where paru’ah wouldn’t work. If a lo’ve dies b’toch zmano, meaning before the deadline for paying back the loan, then we have a chazakah that he wouldn’t have paid it back then so we can’t tay’nah paru’ah. Also, if a lo’ve travels to medinat hayam and remains abroad until after the deadline for the loan. The Maharam Shif says that paru’ah is more common (מצוי טפי), so it works better.

The Pnei Yehoshua has a kashya on the Maharam’s nafka minah. What would stop a person from forging a shtar which says that the lo’ve died b’toch zmano?

The Achronim have a kashya on Tosfot; how can you say that we tay’nah paru’ah, it’s not common when there is a case of "שטרך בידי מאי בעי"?
According to the Chatam Sofer, beit din can only claim something when there is a ta’anah, and there is a chiluk between whether there is no tay’nah and whether there is an inhibited tay’nah. By mezuyaf there is no tay’nah. By paru’ah there is a ta’anah, but it is blocked. The etzem ma’aseh of paying back a loan b’toch zmano is not common. But the ta’anah that it was paid back afterwards is a real ta’anah; it is simply blocked by the fact that the shtar is on the malveh’s hands.
Rav Shmuel Rizovsky (Reb Chaim & Reb Shimon Shkop) says that from "שטרך בידי", it seems that the shtar is a ra’ayah. But it’s not a proof of the metziut. It is a halachah which tell us that while paru’ah is common, it’s blocked by שטרך בידי. This leaves us with the problem that we can’t ta’anah paru’ah against שטרך בידי מאי בעי. Tosfot continues, that even if we don’t tay’nah mezuyaf, we tay’nah paru’ah because of “migo.” Since the father could have said that the shtar is mezuyaf but didn’t, we believe him that it is paru’ah. The Gemara in Bava Batra דפ' ע.-ע:)) says that by a shtar kis, the malveh can come and swear that he loaned money and claim money from yetomim. In this case he takes half of the money. The other half of the money that went into an investment he can’t take, since we tay’nah that it is paru’ah. The father would have been believed to say that he repaid it with the migo of ne’ensu, that it was lost or destroyed (פרוע במגו דנאנסו).

But we can still prove that we tay’nah mezuyaf, for if not so, any person could forge a shtar mecher or matanah and try to use it in order to claim money from yetomim or lekuchot. In such a case we could not tay’nah paru’ah.

Furthermore, from Bava Batra דף קעד: we see that we ta’ynah mezuyaf:
Rav Hunah says that if a schiv me’rah is makdish his property and says, “I have money that belongs to ploni,” we believe him. There is a chazaka that people don’t make a joke of hekdesh. Rav and Shmuel say that if the person says “t’nu,” “give him the money,” then the children must pay the man. But if he doesn’t say “t’nu” they don’t pay. When the schiv me’rah says that he has someone else’s money, he is modeh that there is a shtar. “T’nu” acts as a kiyum ha’get, whereas not saying it allows us to tay’nah that it is mezuyaf. If we didn’t, then the malveh would be able to take money from the yetomim. We don’t tay’nah paru’ah because Rav says that if the lo’ve is modeh to the shtarit doesn’t need kiyum (מודה בשטר שכתבו אין צריך קיום).

There is an apparent stira in Tosfot. Earlier, Tosfot stated that we don’t necessarily need ta’yninan mezuyaf because we can tay’nah paru’ah. This last step in Tosfot (Rav explaining why the Gemara in Bava Batra has to be talking about mezuyaf and not paru’ah) says that without mezuyaf, there is no paru’ah? There are two ways to ask a question based on this stira:
The Maharam explains that if the first step is true and we do have paru’ah even without mezuyaf. The later statement is not true and it must be that we don’t hold like Rav.
The Maharsha says the opposite. The second statement is true and that we have a kashya on the first one.

[Rebbe Akiva Eger asks an additional question on the second proof from Bava Batra.]

The Gemara in Bava Metzia דף יג. says, if we find a shtar with no lean (שטר שאין בו אחריות), the Rabbanan says not to return it to the malveh and R’ Meir says we do return it. Shmuel established that when one who is not actually chayav is modeh to the shtar, R’ Meir says to return just so he can have it; it’s useless. But according to the Rabbanan, why would we not return it? Why should we be choshesh? If the shtar is mekuyam, then the din is with him. If not then what loss is there if we give it back? Rather, we are choshesh that perhaps he will take the shtar and use it when the lo’ve isn’t there and we can’t tay’nah mezuyaf. But this can’t be! We could still tay’nah paru’ah!
The Gemara in Bava Batra דף קנד: says, according to R’ Meir if he is modeh to the shtar, it still needs kiyum. And the father would have been believed to say paru’ah because of a migo d’mezuyaf. So the yetomim can make a migo based on what the father would have said. So even if beit din doesn’t tay’nah mezuyaf, they do tay’nah paru’ah migo d’mezuyaf.

So how do we resolve the kashya on the Rabbanan? Tosfot says that the case is actually when the malveh drops the shtar (איתרע בנפילתו). Also, only when the shtar falls and the lo’ve is tay’nah mezuyaf! If he is to’en after the malveh picks it up, then it doesn’t do anything.

Tosfot says that only when the lo’ve is to’en mezuyaf before the malveh is mekayem does the din of itrah (איתרע) apply; but if the malveh was mekayem before the lo’ve was to’en mezuyaf, then ichzak kasher and he can collect.
Rav Shmuel Rizovsky writes that the reason the tay’ninan mezuyaf of beit din doesn’t work is because they are only to’en she’ma mezuyaf, and only the tay’nat bari mezuyaf of the lo’ve works against the kiyum of the malveh.

Rav Shmuel then asks why it is only huchzak kasher; that means that it is still itrah. If so, why does the shtar still work?

He gives two tei’rutzim:
First, the Brisker Rav says that midin shtar, there is no issue of itrah, and it is a perfectly good shtar. The problem is one of Hashavat Aveida since you need to be totally sure that the shtar is really his to give it back. The fact that it is itrah brings in a safek. Therefore, you would give it back if he was mekayem it (before tay’nat mezuyaf shel lo’ve) because then it would be huchzak shelo. But if the finder returned it, mistama he could be goveh (nafka minah with Rav Shmuel Rizovsky).
Rav Shmuel then writes his own opinion that the din of shtar which protects it against ir’ur is only applicable when the shtar is biyad hato’en. But without that, it isn’t self protecting. If so, here where it isn’t huchzak shelo, and therefore not self protecting, it can’t stand up against the ir’ur halo’ve (therefore, even if he got it back still not huchzak shelo, so it’s still pasul).

Inyanei Gittin- Notes from Shiur: לפי שאין בקיאיו לשמה

The Gemara on דף ב. begins by asking, why does a shaliach need to say b’fanai nichtav u’b’fanai nechtam? According to Rabbah, it is because the bnei medinat hayam are not beki’in when it comes to writing a get lishmah. According to Rava it is because there won’t be edim to be mekayem the get.

/רש"י ד"ה לפי שאין בקיאין לשמה/

Rashi explains that bnei medinat hayam are not bnei Torah and don’t know the halacha of writing a get lishmah. Therefore a shaliach must say b’fanai nichtav u’b’fanai nechtam, and then we ask him if the get was written lishmah (שיילינן), to which he responds “yes”.

Why does the get need to be written lishmah and not lishmo? Ibn Ezra explains that when the pasuk says “lah” it’s a drashah for the woman. “Ve’chatav” teaches that it should be lishmah for the husband as well. But the ikar drashah is for lishmah.

We brought down 7 questions on this Rashi:

1. We do we only care about lishmah?
2. Why does Rashi say that the bnei medinat hayam as not bnei Torah because of this?
3. If a shaliach says b’fanai nichtav, don’t we know that he is referring to the get being lishmah?
4. If we ask him about the get (שיילינן), why is b’fanai nichtav necessary?
5. Is there שיילינן according to Rava?
6. Why do we not say b’fanai nichtav lishmah? And why do we care about this word if we ask whether it was written lishmah right after?
7. What does Rashi get this concept of שיילינן from?

/תוס' ד"ה לפי שאין בקיאין לשמה (א)/

Tosfot asks an obvious question on Rabbah’s shita: why is lishmah different than the other halachot of a get which can pasul it[1] that it should be singled out for this?

The implied answer in Tosfot is that perhaps the issue of lishmah is more common. However, they say that one should not say that there is a common problem of people using a get with the same name on it, or that a sofer who writes tofsei gittin will just fill in the names. And this applies to all of the halachot of gittin.

The Gemara on דף ט. teaches that gittin are similar to shichru’rei avadim in three ways:

1.In regards to מוליך ומביא; one must say b’fanai nichtav (Rashi).

2.An עד כותי is kasher to use.

3.If the get/shtar shichrur is made by a beit din of ovdei kochavim or signed by ovdei kochavim it is pasul.

What about lishmah? Both of these have to be written lishmah as well! It fits according to Rabbah because he includes it in מוליך ומביא, which is saying b’fanai nichtav, since Rabbah holds that we say this because of lishmah (Rashi). However, it remains a kashya on Rava[2]. Furthermore, according to both there is the problem of mechubar[3]. But Rabbah specifically teaches lishmah and not mechubar in saying b’fanai nichtav![4] So therefore we see that lishmah is the only problem according to Rabbah, and not that everything is a problem included in b’fanai nichtav just that lishmah is more common.

Rabbeinu Tam explains that those they are beki’in in hilchot gittin, but they don’t hold by the drashah of lishmah from "וכתב לה". When it says they are not beki’in, it means they are not choshesh to the drashah of lishmah. And later when the Gemara says that they learned it, it means that they accepted this drashah.

Then, Tosfot asks two questions on Rashi’s shita of "שיילינן". First of all it doesn’t seem to come up anywhere else; where does he get it from? Furthermore, it this were so, the Gemara should have said that a nafka minah between would be whether or not to apply to שיילינן.[5]

This Tosfot has two halves; the first half on the issue of why “lishmah” is singled out, and the second half on שיילינן. Why does Tosfot put these together instead of making a new דיבור המתחיל?

The Maharsha[6] explains that in the havah aminah of Tosfot, bnei medinat hayam are not beki’in in all the halachot and you wouldn’t be able to say that they are all included in b’fanai nichtav. Therefore we would have to hold like Rashi and say that they are included in שיילינן. However, once we have the maskana of Rabbeinu Tam we can explain it differently since the kashya is only on “lishmah”.

The Maharam Shif[7] essentially says like the Maharsha. He adds a clearer explanation of the maskanah according to Rabbeinu Tam, clarifying that since we are left with only a chashash on lishmah, there is no need for שיילינן. And it is clear that when the shaliach says b’fanai nichtav he is referring to lishmah.

The Tosfot HaRosh[8] brings down the opinion of the Riva which is that Rabbah doesn’t necessarily mean specifically lishmah, but also includes all the halachot of gittin. He brings a ra’aya from the Yerushalmi, that R’ Yehoshua ben Levi explains the Mishnah as being "לפי שאין בקיאין בדקדוקי גיטין". When a shaliach says b’fanai nichtav he is including all of the halachot of gittin. What it should have said is “b’fanai nichtav u’b’fanai nechtam k’mishpato (כמשפטו).” It only says lishmah here because it is more commonly an issue. Also, when the Gemara brings down Rava’s kashya on Rabbah as to why we don’t say b’fanai nechtav lishmah according to his shita, is not necessarily only worded in regards to lishmah because that is how Rabbah says it.

However, this conflicts with Tosfot’s maskana of Rabbeinu Tam! But rather, it makes more sense to say like the Riva’s shita that sofrei gittin hold by halachot and are either beki’in or not, rather than to say that they hold by this drashah or not. And that which the Gemara asks, "והא איכא מחובר" is because they were not beki’in in the other halachot but they were beki’in in regards to mechubar.

The Pnei Yehoshua[9] writes that according to Rashi, the ikar takana of b’fanai nichtav is that the shaliach should be at the writing and signing of the get. Therfore, we ask him about it, because when we can clarify the matter, there is no reason to rely on rov beki’in. Even those who say otherwise by shchita would agree due to the seriousness of arayot, as we have found that the chachamim are sometimes choshesh to the מיעוטא מן המיעוטא. It seems that for this reason we have the minhag to ask the sofer, ba’al, and edim about everything.

It seems from his words that saying b’fanai nichtav is only a hachanah for שיילינן. Asking about the get is the real ikar takana. Saying b’fanai nichtav is not a halacha, but a way of making a witness for the writing and signing of the get. It is also apparent from his words that שיילינן is not a din in gittin but a halacha for beit din.

The Rashba[10] has a kashya. The Gemara on דף ג. teaches that Rabbah is afraid that if a shaliach would be required to say “b’fanai nichtav u’b’fanai nechtam lishmah”, it might be too many words and he could forget to say something, thereby changing that which the chachamim established to be said; "יהוי משנה ממטבע שטבעו חכמים בגיטין". And this fits with the one who says to say plain b’fanai nichtav because “lishmah” is included. But according to the opinion that the shaliach is supposed to say “lishmah”, even if he forgets to say it, why can’t it be fixed through שיילינן?

The Maharam Shif[11] provides an answer to this kashya. Once it has been established to say “lishmah” not doing so changes the nature of the statement of b’fanai nichtav. If so, שיילינן can’t fix it because it is not going on the same thing.

So apparently, שיילינן cannot fix b’fanai nichtav lishmah if “lishmah” was forgotten. But for b’fanai nichtav stam, שיילינן only further defines it to tell us that it is lishmah.

The Ran[12] also explains that really b’fanai nichtav should really be said with a “lishmah,” but we are afraid that perhaps the shaliach might leave it out. And since everyone normally says it and this guy didn’t say it, it would seem from his words that he is saying the get is not lishmah. Furthermore, “דהוה משנה ממטבע שטבעו חכמים”.

So in the end, once a shaliach speaks, he cant make a new testimony. B’fanai nechtav is a din in the get and it ends once the shaliach says it, whether he includes “lishmah” or not. The shlichut itself is finished according to the Gra. And שיילינן is a din in beit din according to most Rishonim. It can only fix b’fanai nechtav stam, which doesn’t say if the get is lishmah or not, by defining and explaining it. But Rashi’s shita is that שיילינן is a din in the get.

---

[1] "כגון מחובר, ושינה שמו ושמה, ונכתב ביום ונחתם בלילה"

[2] Rava holds "משום שאין עדים מצויין לקיימו".

[3] We learn that this applies to these both from the gzeirat hakatuv of "לה, לה" (Rashi).

[4] דף ט:

[5] Since Rava isn’t choshesh for lishmah, he wouldn’t require asking whether the get was written lishmah.

[6] בד"ה לפי שאין בקיאין וכו' והא דפירש הקונטרוס...

[7] בתוס' בד"ה לפי שאין בקיאין וכו' אלא לרבא קשה...והא דפירש הקונטרס כו' ואור"י כו'

[8] ד"ה לפי שאין בקיאין לשמה

[9] ד"ה רש"י לפי שאין בקיאין לשמה וכו' וממילא שיילינן ליה (ב)

[10] ד"ה גמ' מ"ט אמר רבה לפי שאין בקיאין לשמה

[11] בתוס' בד"ה לפי שאין בקיאין וכו'...ולפירש"י

[12] ד"ה גמ' לפי שאין בקיאין לשמה...אלא הכי קאמר

מה...אלא הכי קאמר

The Chiddushei HaRim on Chayei Sarah

ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים שני חיי שרה:
חיי שרה כ"ג:א

“Sarah’s lifetime was one hundred years, and twenty years, and seven years; the years of Sarah’s life.”

The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 138:3) relates; R’ Akiva was once giving shiur and the tzibbur began to doze off. He wanted to wake them up so he said a piece of Torat Remez. It was the norm do to this in order to arouse people back to the learning since people like to learn remazim since they are easy to understand without hard thinking (Etz Yosef). So he said; why did Ester merit ruling over 127 medinot? See that she was a descendent of Sarah who lived for 127 years, and therefore she ruled over 127 medinot.

How was this supposed to arouse the people in R’ Akiva’s shiur? The Chiddushei HaRim explains; we see from this that Sarah lived for 127 years and in that zchut Ester ruled over 127 medinot. This means that in the zchut of one year, there was a future medinah for Ester. If this is so, then perhaps for every week there was a city. And for every hour there was a village; all of which amounted to number in the thousands. If so, when a person lets himself doze off, from his Torah and avodah, he might be losing all of this in the thousands as well! Upon hearing this R’ Akiva’s talmidim woke up.

Thoughts from Vayera: Hachnasat Orchim

A gut voch! As we just read this past Shabbos, Avraham Avinu was a paradigm for chesed and the great mitzvah of hachnasat orchim. B'ezrat Hashem Yitbarach we should try to emulate this middah in the ways of Avraham Avinu. Chazal even tell us that if one does not have the middah of chesed he should be wary because he may not actually come from the line of Avraham.

וַיִּשָּׂא עֵינָיו, וַיַּרְא, וְהִנֵּה שְׁלֹשָׁה אֲנָשִׁים, נִצָּבִים עָלָיו; וַיַּרְא, וַיָּרָץ לִקְרָאתָם מִפֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל, וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ אָרְצָה

"And Avraham raised his eyes, and he saw, and there three men standing upon him. And he saw, and he ran to greet them from the entrance of the tent, and he bowed to the ground."

Why is there a double usage of the word "va'yar", and he saw? Did Avraham Avinu not see something the first time? What was different the second time he "saw"? Rashi explains thats first Avraham saw the men standing there. Then again he "saw," meaning he realized that they were standing at a distance so as not to trouble him. Upon realizing this he immediatley got up and ran to them. I learned from Rav Moshe Taragin, that similarly the 2nd "va'yar" is not refering to a physical sight. Avraham Avinu looked up and saw men standing there. But he didnt just see them as men standing there. He realized that this meant he had a mitzvah to do. He envisioned that he had to now hurry to do hachnasat orchim. He didn't just see what was before him, but visualized what it meant and what he had to do with it. He was immediatelt mezarez to do this great mitzvah as quickly as possible and ran over to them.

The Medrash (according to R' Levi) says that when the 3 mal'achim came to Avraham Avinu they appeared not only as men, but specifically in the forms of a bread seller, a sailor, and an Arab. The Torah Temimah points out that there seems to be no allusion to any of these in the psukim. He gives his own explanation based on the psukim to resolve this. First, Avraham says to the the greatest of the mal'achim, "Please my lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, pass not from your servant." According to the first interpretation offered by Rashi based on the Gemara in Shvuot, this request is addresed towards the guests as opposed to Hashem. However, the wording which Avraham used, תַעֲבֹר, shows that he appeared to be a sailor. How so? This is implied from the fact that עבר is commonly used by crossing water: "va'yavru b'toch hayam", "va'yavor et haYarden". Secondly, when Avraham offers them water to wash their feet, Rashi comments that he thought them to be Arabs who worshipped the dust of their feet and he didn't want them bring their avodah zarah. Thirdly, Avraham says וְאֶקְחָה פַת-לֶחֶם, "I will fetch (take) a piece of bread." Instead of v'ekcha it should have said v'eten, "I will give." But Avraham saw that one of them was a bread merchant and we learn from here that he was actually offering to buy bread from him if he had any.

It is so amazing to see the great extent to which we should perform this mitzvah. Avraham Avinu paid attention not just to the fact that he had guests whom he could serve but what type of people they were and he acted accordingly! He didn't just see people before him, he envisioned and realized beyond that how he needed to act. This shouldn't be taken lightly at all. The Gemara (Bava Metzia 66b) says: Tana d'bei Rabbi Yishmael- As a reward for three things [that Avraham did, Bnei Yisrael were] zoche to three things. Avraham brought his guests cream and milk; Hashem gave Bnei Yisrael the mann. Avraham stood over them as they sat under the tree eating (עומד עלהים); Hashem gave Bnei Yisrael the Ananai HaKavod (עמוד הענן). Avraham gave them water; Hashem gave Bnei Yisrael the Be'er Miriam.

Avraham Avinu was simply careful to do the mitzvah of Hachnasat Orchim properly to the best of his ability and in merit of this HaKadosh Boruch gave reward to an entire nation of children.

The Gemara (Shabbos 127a) says that Hachnasat Orchim is greater than receiving the Divine Prescence. "גדולה הכנסת אורחים מהקבלת פני שכינה". The Baal Shem Tov zy"a taught that even though this mitzvah can lead to bittul Torah or the speaking of lashon hara, or anything of that sort, nonetheless Hachnasat Orchim is greater.
(Toldot Yaakov Yosef)

Yahrtzeit of Rabbeinu Shlomo ben Naftali

Today, 16 Cheshvan, is the yahrzeit of the hailege Reb Shlomo Carlebach (January 14, 1925 - October 20, 1994) zy"a. Many would say that Reb Shlomo was one of the greatest tzaddikim of our time and perhaps the most influential Jewish musician. His ahavat yisrael and chesed was unsurpassable. When he died, he left nothing for his family since whenever he received a paycheck, he gave it away. He was so kind in greeting people with a hug and a smile, no matter who they were, where they cam from, what they looked like, how they smelled, how dirty they were... Reb Shlomo's captivating and inspirational stories as well as his unforgettable and entrancing melodies remain unforgettable to this day. "The holiest of the holy, the deepest of the deep. The sweetest of the sweet" The most amazing stories of Reb Shlomo, the beauty of his music, and the Torah connected to both, simply can't be typed up here in a single post (at least not by me).

If you don't know about Reb Shlomo please do yourslef a favor and look for his biography and his music.

(I was zoche to be at Reb Shlomo's gravesite and take some pictures myself, except the one on the right here which a friend took on my camera)

Vayerah: The Ahavah of Avraham Avinu

The medrash (Bereishit Rabbah 56:4) says that when Avraham Avinu was going to do the Akeida, the Satan came to him to dissuade him. He kept calling him crazy for going to kill his own son whom he had waited so long for. Avraham kept ignoring his antagonizing remarks, intent on doing Hashem’s will. The Yetzer HaRa then discouragingly asked, “If you are tested anymore, will you be able to withstand it?”

A person needs to familiarize himself with the tactics of the Yetzer HaRa so that he can defend himself against it. Rav Henoch Leibowitz tz”l teaches (Chiddushei HaLev Vayerah) that we learn from this medrash, that one of those tactics is that the Yetzer HaRa is to make a person give up. He will tell a person that he will never amount to the level a tzaddik gamur, and therefore should not bother to do any mitzvot. This is what the Yetzer said to Avraham; that he would not be able to do anymore difficult tests, and therefore should not bother with even doing the Akeida. This is certainly a discouraging thought that affects many people.

However, what the Yetzer HaRa says doesn’t make so much sense. Even if Avraham Avinu had done just the Akeida and not been able to do any greater tests after, he would still be a great tzaddik, even if he wasn’t a tzaddik gamur. What is the Yetzer HaRa’s logic in telling Avraham that since he won’t be a tzaddik gamur for doing the greater, harder tests, he should not even attempt to be a regular tzaddik by doing the Akeida? We know that inside every person is the desire to attain shleimut, completeness. If one doesn’t reach this he can become very upset and perhaps even stray from his Avodat Hashem in despair. [We know that despair, ye’ush, is the lowest negative middah and is associated with Amalek.] The Yetzer Hara’s intent in his words to Avraham was to put despair in Avraham that he would not be able to accomplish anything past the Akeida and therefore he would not reach the great level he yearned towards. From this feeling of incompleteness and failure to reach the ultimate goal, Avraham would lose hope and give up doing the Akeida, even though he had reached such a high level. This logic of the Yetzer Hara is strong and he felt this would be effective even against Avraham Avinu. Even his love for Yitzchak didn’t stop him from doing the Akeida, so he could only be dissuaded by something more powerful. But Avraham Avinu was so rooted in his Avodat Hashem; he was unwavering in bending to His will! The Yezter HaRa was not able to have any hold over him.

The Gemara (Yerushalmi Taanit Perek 2 Halacha 4) says in that when Hashem told Avraham to carry out the Akeida he said to Him, “Master of the World, You know that when You said bring him [Yitzchak] up as an olah, I had what to respond. Before You told me that through Yitzchak I would have children, and now You tell me to bring him as a korban. But I conquered my Yetzer HaRa to do Your will…” If one were to just think about this for a moment he would realize that this doesn’t seem right for Avraham Avinu to say HaKadosh Baruch Hu. After all, the ways of Hashem are truthful and just. The Torah Temimah writes, that perhaps we can resolve this based on the Gemara in Shabbos (55b) which says that a good thing was never said by Hashem that was then changed to bad. The Rambam writes that if a navi has a prophecy that good will turn to bad, “shinuy m’tovah l’ra’ah,” he need not heed it. Furthermore, it is asur to listen to a navi who proclaims such a prophecy for it is not a the way of Hashem to do such a thing. Perhaps this was what Avraham Avinu meant. L’halacha, he didn’t have to listen to the ruach hanevuah which told him to take Yitzchak; nor did Yitzchak have to listen to his father. After Hashem’s first promise to Avraham of his posterity, the instruction to do the Akeida was a change from good to bad. But despite this Avraham Avinu said he conquered his own will, “elah she’kavashti ritzoni.” His love of doing the mitzvot Hashem was so great that doing the Akeida was not in his eyes tovah l’raah, rather it was tovah l’tovah! It was all good to him because of his great Ahavat Hashem! He conquered whatever there was inside of him that said this was bad.

We should strive to emulate Avraham Avinu and overcome our Yetzer HaRa. Sometimes his tactics are clever and strong, but we must always keep Hashem before us and overcome him. Sometimes things may seem too hard for us to do, and sometimes things may be presented in a way where it seems like we don’t even have to do them (this happens a lot). However, we must try to internalize the same Ahavat Hashem which Avraham Avinu had so that we can succeed in our Avodat Hashem and bring ourselves even closer to Hakadosh Boruch Hu.

Yahrtzeiten

There are two yahrtzheits I would like to mention (of course there are others of note during these days as well):

On 8 Cheshvan, 3 days ago, was the yahrzeit of Reb Nachumke Kaplan of Horodnah tz"l. He was born in 5572 (1812) and was niftar in 5640 (1879). He was a great tzaddik and talmid chochom. He learned in various yeshivot including the famed Volozhin yeshivah. Reb Nachumke had incredible humility and did not accept any rabbinic post even though it was offered to him. He was a great baal chesed, collecting and distributing tzedakah. Even though he burried most of his 17 children, he remained steadfast in his avodat Hashem. The holy Chofetz Chaim considred Reb Nachumke to be his rebbe. The Chofetz Chaim tells of Reb Nachumke that he once saw him in shul when he thought he was alone. Reb Nachumke went over to the boxes reserved for sheimot and took out a sefer kabbalah. He sat down and began to learn while the Chofetz Chaim watched in hiding. He then saw a fire surround him and watched his rebbe learn, shaking the whole time. When he returned the sefer, the fire left. The Chofetz Chaim kept a picture of Reb Nachumke with him so that he could show it to his children and tell them, "this is what a tzaddik looks like."

Today, 11 Cheshvan is the yahrtzeit of Rachel Imeinu. There is not enough room here to write about the holy tzaddeket. The chesed of Rachel is so incredible and inspiring, as well as her yirat shamayim. She cried over her children to Hashem, and becasue of her tfillah He will bring the geulah. Her children have continued to visit her gravesite for thousands of years. We hold the site to be dear to us and even though the area presented itselfto be dangerous at times we have not stoppped from praying at the site of our Ima. In fact, we have only strengthened the defenses around the kever and we probably send more people to daven there ever year than there has ever been.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Teshuvah

The Rambam writes (Hilchot Teshuvah 1:2) that the se’ir hamistale’ach, the goat which is sent off the cliff on Yom Kippur, is mechaper on all aveirot, both the lighter ones and the more stringent ones, whether by accident or on purpose, whether known to a person or not; all is atoned for through this se’ir. However, this is only when a person does teshuvah, if not, then the se’ir hamishtale’ach is mechaper on kalot, lighter aveirot. So from this which the Rambam writes that come Yom Kippur, a person has atonement for his aveirot kalot, meaning the mitzvot aseh and lo ta’aseh which do not carry the death penalty or karet, even without teshuvah. However, this seemingly contradicts the Gemara in Masechet Shvu’ot (12b) which says that if you do not do teshuvah, the se’ir hamishtale’ach does not atone for mitzvot aseh and lo ta’aseh. Without teshuvah, the se’ir is referred by the Torah as "זבח רשעים תועבה"- an abominable korban of reshaim. Rav Moshe Shternbach shlit”a writes (Moadim U’Zmanim siman 57) that in the sefer Chibur HaTeshuvah, by the Meiri, it says that when we say that the se’ir hamishtale’ach atones for kalot, even without teshuvah, it means when we have not been aroused to do teshuvah gemurah, but have still done a minor form of teshuvah. This requires some further explanation as this doesn’t seem to be the simple meaning of the Rambam who seems to say that you don’t need to do any teshuvah.

According to what the Rambam writes at the beginning of Hilchot Teshuvah, a main action of teshuvah seems is ודוי, confession of the sin. He even counts this as a mitzvat aseh. He also writes that the main part of teshuvah is to accept not to do that aveirah any more. One has not fulfilled the mitzvah of teshuvah without this component of severing himself from his aveirot. And seems clear, writes Rav Shternbach, if one has complete remorse for his actions his is no longer a rasha, for once he feels it within himself to turn away from his aveirot, he is no longer in a state of rebellion against Hashem. However, even with that he has not fulfilled the mitzvah of teshuvah. So this must be what the Meiri meant; on Yom Kippur, our aveirot kalot are atoned for if we have this partial teshuvah; charatah- regret. If a person really looks at himself and does a little (preferably a lot) cheshbon nefesh, he will find that his thoughts will be that he wants to leave his aveirot and return to HaKadosh Boruch Hu. However, it is extremely difficult for a person to take the next step and officially accept upon himself to abstain from sin. So this must be what the Rambam meant; not that a person didn’t do teshuvah, but that he didn’t do proper teshuvah. One must fulfill the entire mitzvah and complete every aspect of it to do teshuvah gemurah.

If this is true, that our ultimate kaparah does not rest on Yom Kippur or the se’ir hamishtale’ach, but rather on each and every one of us, then certainly we must always have this in mind as our actions may determine the ultimate outcome of whether we can merit atonement. We should not just go into davening on Rosh HaShanah, during the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah, and on Yom Kippur thinking that this time slot of intense prayer will accomplish all of our teshuvah, klapping “al chet” to erase all of our sins. We need to do it b’emet b’lev shalem u’b’kavanah. Doing teshuvah should not and cannot just be confined to such a short time! We need to live with a sense of teshuvah constantly within us. We should have an awareness incorporated into everything we do; it can’t end when we walk out of davening and selichot.

As we said above, the Rambam counts ודוי as one of the 613 mitzvot. R’ Moshe Tzuriel asks (Otzrot HaMussar: Shaar HaTeshuvah maamar 1), why doesn’t the Rambam count “teshuvah” as a mitzvah? Why only one component of it, what about the rest of the whole teshuvah process? R’ Tzuriel suggests his own answer that teshuvah itself is an all inclusive mitzvah, like “Kedoshim Tih’yu.” The Rambam doesn’t count inclusive mitzvot such as these. Teshuvah includes all of the mitzvot we do, all of the Torah we learn, and they way we live by them. It’s not just meant for the few hours we spend in shul on Yom Kippur! He also brings down a different answer from the Maharal (Netivot Olam). The midrash (Yalkut Shimoni Tehillim) says that the three sifrei Tanach were asked what a sinner’s punishment is. K’tuvim answered, “he will continue to chase evil.” Neviim said, “he will die”. Torah “he will bring a korban and do atonement.” But Hashem said even better; “he will do teshuvah and thereby atone for himself!” The Gemara says that seven things were created before the world and one of them is teshuvah. The Maharal writes that teshuvah is such a great and amazing thing. It’s like pressing a restart button; a person is going back to the way he was before his sin and he is returning to Hashem! He writes that this is something above this world. That is why only Hashem could have advised us to do teshuvah, it is so great that kivyachol it was beyond the advice of the Torah which only tells us to bring a korban. It was beyond the scope of Tanach, rather it had to come from the Torah Sheba’al Peh which was not always written but came straight from an oral chain that originated from Hashem Himself.

It says in Hoshea: "שובה ישראל עד ה' אלקיך כי כשלת בעונך"- Return, Yisrael, to Hashem your G-d for you have stumbled in your inquity. Chazal say (Yoma 86a) on this that teshuvah is so great that it reaches all the way to the kisei hakavod. Rav Chaim Shmuelevitv tz”l writes that we see from here, that teshuvah brings one all the way to the kisei hakavod, that it also elevates one to a higher level than he could have reached with all his strength even if he had always been a tzaddik! As Chazal say, the place where those who do teshuvah stand, even tzaddikim gemurim do not stand! It says in the Gemara (Menachot 29b), if one comes to purify himself, he receives Divine assistance. Rav Shmuelevitz explains that this means that one who comes to purify himself from his impurities and the aveirot which he has done will receive Divine assistance. Therefore, the matter is clear; if a person does teshuvah, he can bring himself closer to Hashem than even a tzaddik gamur as he is being helped directly by Hashem Himself! May we be zoche this Yom Kippur to do a teshuvah gemurah, properly, b’lev shalem, while making sure that we maintain ourselves throughout the rest of the year as well. And may we raise our neshamot back to Hashem with siyata dishmaya.

י' ימי תשובה- Part 2

As, mentioned in Part I, the Rama says that during these days, which are nearing their end, we need to be mefashpesh in what we have done to do teshuvah and return to the Rebono Shel Olam. We need to look into our very own neshamot and find any impurity and remove it so that we may reach our ultimate kaparah. In a similar idea, the Rambam writes (הלכות תשובה פ"ב) that when doing teshuvah we must find our sins and remove them from ourselves, and then we can reach the next step of charatah, to regret what we have done. This is like the mashal of one with a sheretz in his hand who goes to the mikvah. He must remove the sheretz from himself or else the mikvah will not purify him! However, once a person removes this hindrance, he can then go on to bring himself to a higher level of kedushah.

During the Aseret Y’mei Teshuvah we say in davening שיר המעלות ממעמקים קראתיך ה'. The Baal HaTanya teaches that מעמקים, “from the depths,” means more like “making a depth.” And from there will “I call out to You, Hashem.” The plain meaning of the pasuk would be that a person calls out to Hashem from the depths of his afflictions (Metzudat Dovid). However, the deeper meaning seems to be that calling out "ממעמקים" is actually a level in Avodat Hashem. A person must wear himself out until he can call to Hashem from the depths of his soul. This is certainly no easy feat, but it must be our goal and we should try as best as we can to cry out in repentance from the depths of our souls.

י' ימי תשובה- Part 1

It is mefurash in the Shulchan Aruch (603) that during the עשרת ימי תשובה, we must be extra careful. Extra careful to refrain from during aveirot! Extra careful to do mitzvot! R’ Yosef Cairo writes that we should refrain from eating Pat Paltar, or Pat Akum; the bread of non-Jews. These days are so filled with the aura of din u’mishpat that we must be so cautious in our actions, mamesh even with the bits of food that enter our body! We need to be cautios to avoid even the slightest contamination in these days, both physically and spiritually. The type of bread we eat is not even a whole public ordeal. Nor is it even an aveirah to eat Pat Akum in the first place. Also, at the end of the day it is a private thing and only Hashem and you know whether you were careful to eat Pat Yisrael or not. It is seemingly so insignificant. But during the עשרת ימי תשובה, aside from working on ourselves in other aspects, we must pay attention to those things which are just between us and Hashem and which might be seemingly insignificant. We must fix those things which we tend to overlook and which are actually very important. The true extent of our Yirat Shamayim over eth way we live may depend on this, and we must therefore be extra careful now, even with the bread we eat.

As the Rama (ibid) writes, during the עי"ת, every person should thoroughly search his deeds and to repent for them now. And how careful we have to be, he writes, that we must do more teshuvah for a possible aveirah more so than for an aveirah which we know we did! After all, a person will tend to regret more that which he knows he did and neglect that which he only might have done. We have this din by a asham taluy, a guilt offering. An asham taluy must be more expensive than a chatat, a sin offering. These days are so intrinsically filled with awe and Yirat Shamayim if we would only realize it! If we would only internalize this, how high would our neshamot reach come Yom Kippur!

We say on Rosh Hashanah and again on Yom Kippur: ונתנה תוקף לקדושת היום כי הוא נורא ואיום. How holy, awesome, and fearsome are these days! We now lie in between these two days, between the writing of our judgment and its being sealed. This is our chance to change it all for the better. I heard from one of my rebbeim that one reason why we say המלך הקדוש now is because a melech can override any decree. He controls the law, and therefore we are saying that Hashem can override any preexisting decree for bad. Rav Yehonatan Ivshitz tz”l writes that on each day of the week between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, we can atone for that day of week from the past year. We still have a chance; these days should not be taken lightly.

Rav Gershon Yankelowitz shlit”a, one of the senior Roshei Yeshiva of YU, learned in the Mir Yeshiva in Europe and Shanghai. He said by how by Elul, the whole Yeshiva was so elevated, the atmosphere was incredible. During this time you can reach greater spiritual heights and one must do any mitzvah which comes to him. The mashgiach taught that is even a chilul Hashem to pass over a mitzvah during this time! Kal v’chomer now that we are even closer to the final judgment during the עי"ת.

In light of everything we have said so far, this is also time when people usually take on temporary chumras, such as Pat Yisrael specified by the Shulchan Aruch, and Chalav Yisrael. These should not be viewed as externals for the sake of externals. As it says in Mesilat Yesharim, there is always a flame burning within a person, but sometimes he needs to make himself do acts which are simply external in order to bring that flame out. This is not impossible. We can arouse ourselves and come to do proper teshuvah if we would only take these few steps forward. Chazal teach us that if one comes to do teshuvah Hashem will help him! But how does it help to take on an extra chumra or minhag for ten days? Isn’t it just temporary? We must say that a person can grow; perhaps he will maintain he new chumra or perhaps it can “recharge” him for when he goes back to his rest-of-the-year lifestyle. Rav Dessler writes that people are stubborn. We are doing this to show that although we do one thing during the rest of the year, we can now break a habit. We now have a chance to show HaKadosh Boruch Hu and ourselves that we are capable of more and can be better ovdei Hashem.

Here’s an interesting story of teshuvah that I read:

Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchov once went over to a certain rasha and asked him “Is it possible that I might be jealous of you?” The man amazedly replied, “what could the Rebbe be jealous of me for?” Rav Levi Yitzchak replied, “Chazal have taught us (Yoma 86b) that ‘if one does teshuvah out of love for Hashem, his intentional aveirot will become merits for him.’ See now, if a great baal aveirah like you would do teshuvah wholeheartedly, and have all of his aveirot turned to zchuyot, how many mitzvot you would have! Without a doubt you would have more mitzvot and zchuyot than me!” The Rebbe then took hold of the man’s garment and entreated him until the rasha resolved in his heart to do complete teshuvah.

Internalize the Message of the Yamim Noraim

As I was saying slichot this morning, a question bogged me. During the slichah "אדון בשפטך" I realized that we were basically asking Hashem not to judge us harshly becasue we are nothing and full of sin. אדון בשפטך אנוש רמה תזכר ברגז חנות רחם- "Master of the World, when you judge man who is but a worm, in Your mercy remember to be have mercy upon us!..."

זדון בחבו הלא און בקרבו. עוון מלא ופשע רב. חשבון ודין למלך מלכי המלכים! סופו לתן בבוא חליפתו

Is not man full of aveirot!?They are not hidden! How can we go before HaKadosh B"H, the Melech Malchei HaMelachim and give him our cheshbon nefesh for all of the terrible things we have done agaisnt him?! And yet, everyone must give their cheshbon before Hashem once his end comes. Our own evils will testify against us; even the walls of our houses will testify against us! This slichah should fill us with such a pachad for our judgement, its words are so powerful. Yet, is it possible that we just skim through these words? Even if we do read and understand these words, how many of us will take them and internalize them? As we go through the Yom HaDin, do we have these things in mind. And just as important, as we go on through the rest of the year will we have these things in mind? Will these words just pass by in our minds for a few minutes or will they leave an imprinted message that we should evaluate the way we act to see if we can improve our shmirat Torah u'mitzvot? Will our Yirat Shamayim be affected in any way?

It says in Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh about emunah that there are 3 broad levels: Chachma, Bina, and Da'at. Chachma and Bina are basically in one category of emunah that we beleive and accept the Hashem exists and created/s the world. But the level of Da'at, understanding, is when we take this belief, this knowledge, and incorporate it into the way we think and act. This has to be our goal during these times; to take the emunah that Hashem is really the Master of the World and that He presides over every creation and is judging us now. We need to ingrain this into our minds so that the teshuvah and intense davening we do now should not be temporary! It should stay with us throughout the year.

Parshat Ki Tavo

Here is a parsha shiur from my Rebbe. It's not word for word, but you get the same message.

וְכָתַבְתָּ עַל הָאֲבָנִים אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת בַּאֵר הֵיטֵב: -כי תבא כז:ח

“And you shall write on these stones all the words of the Torah, well clarified.” Rashi explains (ד"ה באר היטב) that "באר היטב" means that the Torah should be written into the 70 languages of the world. As the Siftei Chachamim elaborate, this is in order that everyone should be able to understand the Torah. This is an extraordinary יסוד. Torah is for everyone! It is not just for the Rabbanim to learn, it is for all of Bnei Yisrael to take for themselves! Nothing is closed to us is we seek it. There is no mitzvah that is above us, only for “the rabbis.” If something is an explicitly stated halacha then it applies to all of us, not just our Rebbeim. For example, it is the halacha that may only do נפילת אפיים on his arm if it is covered. If one is wearing a short sleeved shirt then how can he can go to davening if he knows full well that what he ends up doing will conflict with this halacha? One cannot say to himself, “this halacha is not for a regular guy like me, it’s just for that other guy who wears a jacket and hat to worry about.”

Rav Chanoch Teller remarked how the Gemara is a universal vessel for learning. All Jews have learned from it and contributed to it, spanning across many countries and times: The Geonim, the Rif, Rashi, the Baalei HaTosfot, the Ran, the Rosh, the Maharsha, and many more. But why is there blank space around the sides of our Gemaras? That space is for us, for our חידושים and פירושים. It is for us Jews who live today and have just as much a part in Torah as they did.

לֹא בַשָּׁמַיִם הִוא לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲלֶה לָּנוּ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ וְנַעֲשֶׂנָּה: וְלֹא מֵעֵבֶר לַיָּם הִוא לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲבָר לָנוּ אֶל עֵבֶר הַיָּם וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ וְנַעֲשֶׂנָּה: כִּי קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ לַעֲשֹׂתוֹ: -נצבים ל:יב-יד

The Torah and the mitzvot are not beyond our reach. Hashem Himself assures us of that in these פסוקים. Rashi says (ד"ה כי קרוב אליך) that the תורה שבכתב and the תורה שבכל פה we given to us. What is the commentary coming to tell us? The Siftei Chachamim explain as follows: Even though we can have the תורה שבכתב right in front of us, it can be very difficult to and understand. Therefore, the Torah was given in these two forms so that through learning the תורה שבע"פ, understanding the Torah will be very near to us-"מתוך תורה שבע"פ הבנת התורה קרובה מאד". If we would only learn it and strive for it, it is not above us in the Heavens!

Today, this שבע"פ תורה emanates from our Rebbeim who we learn so much Torah from and the guys who sit and learn in the בית מדרש. If we would only try to attach ourselves to them a bit more their Torah would flow into us! Ibn Ezra writes (ד"ה בפיך ובלבבך) that עיקר part of all the mitzvot is that a person put his heart into them. Some mitzvot we say with our mouths in order to strengthen the heart. Others we do with an action to remind ourselves to remember them with our mouths. This teaches us that when we do mitzvot, it inspires us to be better בני תורה and שומרי מצוות. How can we motivate ourselves to learn? By learning! Just open up the Gemara and toil away at it and this will lead you the rest of the way. The beginning is for a person to take the first step himself. Today, there is so much at our fingertips; almost any sefer we want is attainable, english sfarim, yeshivas where we can learn and much more. We can attain the heights of Torah and mitzvot if we would we reach for it. It is not for other types of Jews nor is it out ever out of our reach.