Hashem and Bnei Yisrael- Together Forever

"V'natati mishkani b'tochichem, v'lo tigal Nafshi etchem."

(Bechukotai 26:11)

The 2nd half of the pasuk reads: "...and My Soul will not purge Itself of you." Rashi explains this as: "My Spirit will not be disgusted by you." Rabbeinu Ovadiah MiBratenura asks, what is Rashi coming to teach us? Of course Hashem won't be disgusted by us; He promised elsewhere that even when He is angry he will not leave us. Rather the pasuk is speaking to us in human terms. A person might have a friend which he likes and with whom he is on good terms with. However, it can happen that over time he will grow to dislike this friend becasue he is with him so much (I guess they weren't such good friends after all.). Hashem is telling this will never be the case with Him and us. He will never grow tired of us and leave. Rav Henoch Leibowitz tz"l, in his sefer Chiddushei HaLev, further asks; what is this coming to teach us?! Of course Hashem wouldn't do this! As R"O MiBartenura pointed out, this is something wich is part of human nature. This behavior is not shayach at all to G-d! So really he explains, it all has to do with us. People tend to apply their own nature (and faults) to others, or at least fear that others may have them. It is possible he writes, for a person to think that because he or another person might do this act of being disgusted by a friend and leaving them, that perhaps Hashem will do this as well. Of course this is imppossible. G-d is not man. Rather it is in our own human nature that we think these things. Therefore, this pasuk is coming to teach us that Hashem will never do this. No matter what we think, Hashem doesn't want us to forget this. He wants us to know straight out that the ahavah between us will last forever.

ל"ג בעומר- הוד שבהוד

Lag BaOmer is represented by the sfirah of Hod shebi'Hod. R' Gedaliah Schorr tz"l says that Hod is connected to the middah of Yirah. Therefore, as the Chiddushei HaRim says, Lag BaOmer is a symbol of Yirat Hashem. Hod also represents the deeper understanding (of Torah) which creates majesty. I believe there is a deep connection between the Yirat Hashem, especially Yirat Haromemut, and the understanding of the majesty and splendor of Torah. Today as Lag BaOmer is a day of great insight and revelation to the depths of the Torah. R' Shimon bar Yochai completed the Zohar which gave great, Kabbalistic, penetration of Torah knowledge. He was a source of greatness, having been a talmid of the great R' Akiva, the great teacher of Torah she'baal Peh. We should really think about the great depths of wisdom and emesdic yesods which make up our Torah, it is really unbelievable.

Sfirat HaOmer- Time Well Spent

"וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת מיום הביאכם את עומר התנופה שבע שבתות תמימות תהיינה"

(אמור כ"ג:י"א)

The Medrash asks, when are they tmimot? All the time that Bnei Yisrael are doing the will of Hashem.

Rav Zevin writes in sefer LaTorah V'Lamoadim about the impact of doing mitzvot on the time that they are done. Firstly, he writes that nothing in this wolrd is everlasting. Whatever has been created is destined to eb lost. Even the sky and the earth he writes, as it says in Yeshaya (51:6):

"כי שמים כעשן נמלחו והארץ כבגד תבלה"

Nevertheless, everything does at least have some time in this wolrd, however long or short. Except for one thing which never really exists. It doesn't last at all and passes in an instant. Zman, time itslef. This is a bit of a weird sentence, but in the time it takes for even a fraction of time to enter existence, it is already passed and gone. Time cannot be lasting in of itself, rather it is through the actions that we do that give lasting meaning and existence to the point in time at which they were done. All the while that those actions are continued and standing, so too is that moment in time. If a person learns Torah and does mitzvot which are everlasting (even after this world), then so too the time of their action is everlasting! It says in in Sefer Bereishit (24:1) "V"Avraham zaken ba bayamim"- Avraham was old, well into his years. But he is simply old writes R' Zevin. One cannot be "well into his years," the earlier years of one's life are as if they never existed! And the same is written about Dovid HaMelech. Ah, so how do we understand this? Avraham and Dovd HaMelech lived their lives on the path of Hashem. Doing mitzvot and being tzadikkim. Therefore, their previous years of life were everlasting and in existence with them.

It is written in the Sifrei Kodesh that Sfirat HaOmer, is really alluding to the years of a man's life. When we are commanded, "Tmimot Ti'hiyena," what Hashem is telling us is that we should not let the time that we have in our lives go to waste. The years of our life should remain with us always, whole and everlasting, like with Avraham Avinu and Dovid HaMelech. As the Medrash teaches, when are the days of Sfirat HaOmer (the years of one's life) tmimot, whole and complete? When Bnei Yisrael fulfill the ratzon of Hashem and do mitzvot so that the days and years of our lives remain with us forever.

It is a bit hard to really understand the concept of this with time and whatnot, but the basic message is clear and important- to be mekadesh hazman with Torah & Mitzvot.

Learning Humility from Har Sinai

The 1st mishnah in Pirkei Avot says, משה קבל תורה מסיני. But why is it stated this way? The mishnah should have said at Sinai, not from Sinai; or even from Hashem. The following answer is from the sefer Toldot Yaakov Yosef: When Hashem commanded Moshe to take Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzraim, he tried to turn away from it and basically said, "who am I to do this?" However, by Matan Torah, we find no such struggle from Moshe.

Moshe saw that there were many other great mountains. But Hashem chose Har Sinai, the smallest mountain, upon which to give the Torah. From there Moshe realized that Hashem wanted to give the Torah sepcifically through the lowest and the smallest. Therefore, Moshe did not turn away from the responsibility of giving over the Torah since he viewed himslef as the lowliest and that is why Hashem chose him for the job. That is why the mishnah is worded the way it is; since Moshe got the strength to take on the job of recieving and giving over the Torah from Har Sinai upon seeing that Hashem chose it, the lowliest mountain.

"Kedoshim Tihyu"- What does it mean to be kadosh?

In Parshat Kedoshim, we are commanded to be kadosh, holy. But what does "kadosh" really mean? What exactly are we being commanded to do?

Rashi says that "kedoshim tih'yu" means to be separated from sin; he specificaly says the sin of "arayot." Ramban writes that this commandment is a general statement going back on the previous parshah which specified different things that are forbidden to us; arayot, lashon harah... When the Torah tells us to be kadosh, it means prishut even from that which is allowed. Technically, one can be a "naval b'reshut haTorah." As long as one drinks kosher wine and eats kosher meat, he can drink all the alchohol he wants and be a glutton. By being kadosh in this way, by limiting yourself from even that which is permitted, you then better cling to Hashem and be closer to Him. Sforno explains that we need to be careful from overindulging in all these worldly things in order to attempt to be more like Hashem. We are, after all, created B'Tzelem Elokim.

Rav Shimon Shkop writes in the hakdama to his sefer, Shaarei Yosher, a different meaning of kedushah and what it means to be "kadosh" as commanded in Parshat Kedoshim. Hashem created us b'tzelem Elokim, with the same structure as His, kivyachol. Hashem also created everything in order to do good for it. It is His will that we follow in that path to be good to others. Hashem puts life into us so that we can make ourselves kadosh by using all our physical and spiritual strength to do good for the many people that there are; according to our own ability. This is the idea of "Kedoshim tih'yu", writes Rav Shkop. This mitzvah inludes within it the very root of our purpose. All our actions and work should holy, in that they are for the good of entire group of Bnei Yisrael. When a person really strives to do this, to have all his actions intended towards to the good of the larger froup of Bnei Yisrael, then even those things which he does for himslef, to keep his body healthy is part of this mitzvah, becasue through this he can continue to do more good for others. But when a person takes in worldy pleasures excessively, that is against the spirit of kedushah because he is acting only for his own good and not for the good of others: and there is no purpose for that. Just like Hashem created everything, and every moment he uphold the world all He does is kodesh in that they are for the good of all creation, so too everything we do should be holy and intended towards the good of other people, not just ourselves. After all, the mesdrash says that you might have thought you could reach the highest level of kedushah like Hashem, kivyachol, were it not for the 2nd part of the pasuk- "ki Kadosh Ani Hashem." Whatever kedushah is, it must be something which pertains to both Hashem and us. Prishut has no relevance to Hashem, so how could I have thought that one can reach the level of Hashem in that way? Rather it is in the sense of sleflessness and doing good for others that we emulate Hashem.

(see Shaarei Yosher for more details)