Why Don't We Read Eichah From Klaf?

טעמי המנהגים ומקורי הדינים סי' תרל"ט

טעם שלא נהגו באיכה כמו במגילה לכתוב אותה על קלף וספר בפנ"ע כדין כל הספרים שצריכים לצאת בהם ידי חובתם בציבור ולא דמי לשה"ש ורות וקהלת, דשאני הם שאין רגילין לקרותם בש"ץ אלא כל יחיד ויחיד קוראה בפנ"ע, משא"כ באיכה שצריכים לקרות ע"י הש"ץ להוציא הקהל, ולמה קורין אותה מתוך החומשין הנדפסין ולא נכתבה כהלכות ספרים. ואפשר שנהגו כן מפני שלא הי'ה מצוי להם, מפני שהסופרים לא נהגו לכותבם, משום שאנו מחכים ומצפים בכל יום שיהפך לנו (א) יום זה לששון ולשמחה ולמועד (ב). ואם היו כותבים מגילת איכה, הי'ה נראה כמתיאשים מן הגאולה ח"ו, משא"כ בגאולת פורים, כי ימי הפורים לא יהיו בטלים, ולפיכך ע"י הדחק נהגו לקרות איכה מתוך החומשין. (לבוש סי' תקנ"ט סע' א')

(א)    יום זה לששון ולשמחה. בסדור יעב"ץ כתב דבזמן בית שני היו אוכלין ושותין ושמחין בט"ב עצמו, ויום זה הי'ה להם ליו"ט, לפי שבזמן שלום כל הד' תעניות הם יו"ט, ע"ש. ובזה מבואר המדרש פליאה מובא בספר אוהב ישראל, לא הי'ה יום מועד לישראל כיום שנחרב ביה"מ ע"כ, כי יום זה הי'ה להם יו"ט, וע"ש מה שכתב בזה.

(ב)     בספר אמרי צדיקים ח"ש כתב בשם הרב הצדיק הקדוש מוה"ר לוי יצחק מבארדיטשוב זצוק"ל וז"ל. הנה מגילה זו היא א' מחמשת מגולות הקדושות. ולכאורה לעתיד לבוא בב"א יעשו על המגילה זו שהחיינו. ואיך יקראו המגילה הזאת בנחת בט"ב. וכתב שיקראו את המגילה בזה הלשון, "איכה", עד עכשיו היתה ישיבתה "בדד העיר", ועכשיו "רבתי עם שרתי במדינות". "היתה למס" פי' ועכשיו נותנים כל האומות מס לישראל. "בכו תבכה בלילה ודמעתה על לחי'ה עד היום. ועכשיו "אין לה מנחם", היינו המדה של "אין" מנחם לה. ונקראת כל המגילה בדרך זה בתענוג גדול מה שאין הפה יכול לדבר. ומשום הכי יהי'ה שייך ג"כ הברכה של שהחיינו. על אופן זה תהי'ה כל המגילה, ונזכה בב"א.

Devarim: Fear no one but The One

There a most fundamental mitzvah in Parshas Devarim, which serves as an integral base for any effective court system. In the parshah, Moshe Rabbeinu is speaking to Bnei Yisrael, and at a certain point of the monologue he begins discussing the subject of judges. The Torah says (Devarim 1:16-17):

וָאֲצַוֶּה אֶת-שֹׁפְטֵיכֶם בָּעֵת הַהִוא לֵאמֹר  שָׁמֹעַ בֵּין-אֲחֵיכֶם וּשְׁפַטְתֶּם צֶדֶק בֵּין-אִישׁ וּבֵין-אָחִיו וּבֵין גֵּרוֹ.  לֹא-תַכִּירוּ פָנִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּט כַּקָּטֹן כַּגָּדֹל תִּשְׁמָעוּן לֹא תָגוּרוּ מִפְּנֵי-אִישׁ כִּי הַמִּשְׁפָּט לֵאלֹהִים הוּא וְהַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר יִקְשֶׁה מִכֶּם תַּקְרִבוּן אֵלַי וּשְׁמַעְתִּיו.

Moshe decreed that the judges of Bnei Yisrael judge with righteousness. They may not show favor to either side of the case over there no matter what. Wealth and poverty have no place in the deciding factors of who is correct in a halachic dispute.

לא תגורו מפני איש- Rashi explains: Fear no man. Having learned in yeshivah for a while, the title “Dayan” bears some weight in my mind. Such a man, who represents Torah before whatevr litigants may come before him, must fear no one other than the Ribbono Shel Olam whom he represents. He may not let any political, social, financial, etc, factor influence his pesak. Why?

כי המשפט לאלקים הוא- Mishpat in Hashem’s. The Law that a dayan represents is not his own, it is Hashem’s. A Dayan does not create halachah, he represents the corpus of Torah Law and citrates how it is applied in different cases. If you pervert it, justice will be carried out by the Supreme Judge.. As Rashi explains, if you unlawfully take money from someone who is really entitled to it, Hashem will cause you to give it back to him somehow.

This week is Shabbos Chazon, named after the haftorah, “Chazon Yeshayahu.” The haftorah ends with the pasuk “ציון במשפט תפדה”. Tzion will be redeemd through Mishpat. What is MIshpat? The concept of an underlying, unifying truth to everything. And what is the source of this truth? HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the Ultimate Judge. Our job is to recognize this and employ this recognition into our lives. This is why there is a specific mitzvah that a judge, a representative of Hashem and arbitrator of the Truth must fear no one but Hashem, and have no inclination towards anything but applying the truth of Torah. And if not, then the truth will prevail, for Hashem is the True Judge.    


I just thought of mentioning a comment of the author of the Avnei Neizer on the Gemara in Berachos 10a. The Gemara there lists five similarities between Hashem and our neshamos:
1. Just as Hashem fills the world, so too the neshamah fills the body.
2. Just as Hashem sees but is not seen, so too the neshamah sees but is not seen.
3. Just as Hashem feeds the whole world, so too the neshamah feeds the body.
4. Just as Hashem is tahor, so too the neshamah is tehorah.
5. Just as Hashem resides in an inner chamber, so too the neshamah resides in an inner chamber.

The Avnei Neizer points out that these comparisons are brought down in the Tikkunei Zohar 17 with one difference. Instead of what the Gemara says for #4, there it says that just as Hashem judges the world, so to the neshamah judges the body. But he writes that this not a contradiction. It’s all one idea. A judge must be tahor, pure, and not bow to any external influence. Halachah is and must be implemented as objective truth.

Man and the Elements

The Degel Machaneh Efraim writes an interesting explanation of the first pasuk in the Torah in the beginning of his sefer. Generally, we read “בראשית ברא אלקים את השמים וכו'” to mean that in the beginning, Hashem (“Elokim”) created the Heavens and the Earth. But peshat is really as follows: In the beginning, Hashem created the concept we know as “Elokim.” Elokim is the way Hashem is perceived as the Overseer of the natural world. In fact, אלקים has the same gematria as הטבע.

Now, another important point to note is that Targum Yonasan explains that Hashem created the world “בחכמתא”, with wisdom. That is to say that Hashem created the טבע with חכמה. “מה רבו מעשיך ה' כולם בחכמה עשית”. Now, we strive to emulate Hashem. This means that we can create a new טבע. How? With חכמה. What is חכמה? Torah. “עדות ה' נאמנה מחכימת פתי”. So with Torah we can change the nature of the world around us. For example, if someone is naturally an angry person, through Torah he can change his middos to be better. He can create a new טבע for himself.

(See Yismach Yisrael from the Alexander Rebbe on Mattos.)

This reminded me of the Imrei Elimelech on Balak. The Torah says, “לא איש א-ל ויכזב ובן אדם ויתנחם ההוא אמר ולא יעשה ודבר ולא יקימנה”. Reb Elimech brings down from the heilege Kozhnitzer in Avodas Yisrael on “עושה שלום במרומיו”. Even though Michael and Gavriel, who represent chesed and gevurah repectively, are seemingly polar opposites, and so too the four elements (fire, water, wind, and earth) even though they combat with each other, when they look at their source, the Ribbono Shel Olam, they all become nothing before Him. Through this, shalom is brought between these opposing forces.

There exists in man the power of the four elements. Now, when man recognizes the source of all existence is Hashem, then he brings all opposing forces together in a united state of self-annulment before the Borei Olam. So what does the pasuk quoted above mean? “איש” is the same gematria as “אמר"ע” (אש, מים, רוח, עפר). So, “לא איש”, when we get rid of the idea of “איש” and are mevatel ourselves entirely before Hashem, and reveal the Kevod Hashem by uniting the multiple components of our beings in nothing before Hashem, then we are left with “א-ל”, the Divine Revelation that is a by-product of this.   

Rebbe Nachman: אעירה שחר

This is also something I looked up for a chabura. I just summed up one of the points here, there is much more if you look it up inside. 

תהלים פרק נז

(ח) נָכוֹן לִבִּי אֱלֹהִים נָכוֹן לִבִּי אָשִׁירָה וַאֲזַמֵּרָה:

(ט) עוּרָה כְבוֹדִי עוּרָה הַנֵּבֶל וְכִנּוֹר אָעִירָה שָּׁחַר:

(י) אוֹדְךָ בָעַמִּים אֲדֹנָי אֲזַמֶּרְךָ בַּל אֻמִּים:

רש"י תהלים פרק נז

(ח) נכון לבי אלהים נכון לבי - נאמן עמך במדת הדין ונאמן עמך במדת הרחמים:

(ט) עורה כבודי - ולא אישן עד שלש שעות בכבודי כשאר מלכים:

עורה הנבל וכנור - העירה אותי אתה הנבל וכנור התלוי על מטתי פתוח לצד הצפון וכיון שמגיע חצות לילה רוח צפונית מנשבת בו ודוד עומד ועוסק בתורה:

אעירה שחר - אני מעורר את השחר ואין השחר מעוררני:

First of all, this last line bolded in Rashi comes up in the beginning of Shulchan Aruch. It's a very important lesson in Avodas Hashem. But based on the pasuk itself of "עורה כבודי", Rebbe Nachman says in Likutei Halachos (1:1:4)  that one has to “wake up” from his “sleep” in Avodas Hashem, and realize his good points, even if he has done much bad. One can't let himslef be bogged down by past misdeeds, thereby allowing himself to fall into a spiritual slumber. A person has to arouse himself, and raise himself up into the “light” (shachar).

Rav Kook on Modeh Ani

         

ffThis is my own loose translation/paraphrase from Olas Re'iah, Rav Kook's commentary on the siddur, for a chabura that I gave to some campers. Like much of Rav Kook's writings on things like this, a literal translation sounds a bit funky, and it was not my intent that any deeper idea be explained in the translation, only from the discussion to follow its reading. Nor was it my intent to make any mistakes should you find any. But I thought it might be interesting anyway so here it is (not on the whole thing, only the beginning and end):

    

What are we saying in Modeh Ani? 

o   When man arises in the morning, and he first encounters the light of life, there is a supernal joy in the Heavenly secrets of existence, which is expressed in the “hoda’a” of Modeh Ani. The word “modeh” itself can be understood in two ways. It can be seen as related to the word “todah”, which comes from a feeling of hakaras hatov. Alternatively, it can be understood in the sense of “hisvadus ve’hoda’a,” admittance, being modeh al ha’emes.

o   The Divine Life Light that man finds within himself, which fill him with a feeling of gratitude to Hashem, is the means by which man find himself. For the truth of the matter is, when man sees himself within the created universe, what is he worth? With this realization, one would lose all sense of self! However, with this “Divine Life Light,” man can come to see himself and his own worth in this world. And it is upon this self-realization upon encountering the Divine within and around him that man can say “ani.”

o   The first light of holiness is the purest, and this comes to a person when he prepares his soul to receive this light immediately upon awaking and encountering Life for the first time that day. When one does this, the Divine will be clearly before him in all of life. And so, out of a great love and connection that is felt to Hashem, from this sense of being before him always, one says “lefanecha.”

·         

 "Rabbah Emunasecha": Hashem’s emunah in us

Emunah Elokis is what decrees what role each force in the world has to play and that they do it in all earnest. The light of this Divine Faith shines on the different things in this world in giving to them a special purpose, which in effect acts to fix. These jobs break down the doer’s original form to produce a more wondrous being. 

Curtains On A Chelonian

I think this is interesting. What can we learn from this?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/science/death-of-lonesome-george-the-tortoise-gives-extinction-a-face.html?ref=earth

The Missing Chapter of Torah

Last night I heard something great from Rav Yitzchok Cohen שליט״א, one of the roshei yeshiva in YU. We know that Mesilas Yesharim is based on a statement of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair in Avodah Zarah which takes up only a few lines:

מכאן אמר רבי פינחס בן יאיר: ''תורה מביאה לידי זהירות, זהירות מביאה לידי זריזות, זריזות מביאה לידי נקיות, נקיות מביאה לידי פרישות, פרישות מביאה לידי טהרה, טהרה מביאה לידי חסידות, חסידות מביאה לידי ענוה, ענוה מביאה לידי יראת חטא, יראת חטא מביאה לידי קדושה, קדושה מביאה לידי רוח הקדש, רוח הקדש מביאה לידי תחית המתים

So the question is, if Torah is the first step in this list of middos which comprise the chapters of Mesilas Yesharim, why doesn't it have it's own chapter?

So the truth is that Torah cannot be contained in its own chapter. It's all encompassing. It is in all the other middos. It had to be in all that we do.

A Chukas Story: הקב״ה זאקט ניין

I heard this story this past Shabbos from a heilege rebbe.

Reb Leibele Eiger was once in Kotzk, if I recall correctly, for Yom Kippur. He was told it would be amazing, so he went. At a certain point of davening on the day of Yom Kippur the chassidim said that they were going to break for kiddush. Poor Reb Leibele thought this was all a bad joke. But when he saw the chassidim rearranging the table and bringing out the shot glasses he was mamash beside himself. He exclaimed that Yom Kippur is a fast day, Shulchan Aruch says it's assur to eat or drink! But they simply replied that the kiddush would a real mechayeh, he'll see for himself.

Reb Leibele started quoted a list of sources for the prohibition of breaking the fast in desperation to stop the insanity. He would through Gemaras, rishonim, achronim, etc. But it was all to no avail. He even thought to himself, these chassidim are kabbalistic, and tried quoting the Zohar and other holy sfarim. But the chassidim just kept going with their kiddush preparations. Finally, at the last moment when they brought the shotglasses up to their lips, in desperation Reb Leibele cried out "Hakadosh Baruch Hu zukt nein!" Hakadosh Baruch Hu said no!

The chassidim put down their glasses and said to Reb Leibele, now you get it. It's not that the Gemara or Shulchan Aruch said no, mamash not. We have to realize that it's only ever because the Ribbono Shel Olam said either yes or no!