Hertz p.248
Soncino p.377
Shabbat ends in London at 5.38pm
| Sidra Lite | |
| On the Seder, Reclining, Hadrian and Gateshead | Rabbi Isaac Bernstein z"l |
| Lechem Mishneh | Rabbi Daniel Roselaar |
| Rabbi Ya'akov Ba'al Haturim | Rabbi Dr Michael Harris |
| 8th of Shevat | Rabbi Yisroel Fine |
| The Holy City's HGS? - Rehavia | Simon Goulden |
| Riddle of the Week | Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis & Dr Martin Whitefield |
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Our Sidra describes in great detail how Israel emerged from slavery to freedom. That moment of deliverance is described by our Torah as be'etzem hayom hazeh, 'on that very day', at noon. And yet, as we know, the celebration of our freedom is not on the day of Pesach but on the previous night - at which time we were still slaves in Egypt. The final plague - the slaying of the first born - had as yet not occurred. How can the Seder Service celebrate freedom when at the original Seder Service we were still slaves?
We can answer the above by defining freedom according to Jewish tradition. The difference between a slave and a free man is not in his physical situation, but rather in attitude. A slave is a person who is reconciled with his lot, who does not dare to hope that all will someday change. A free man is one, who despite circumstances, still has the confidence and optimism that darkness will change to light.
If this is indeed the true definition of freedom i.e. the ability to hope, then that original Seder Service was the classic example of freedom. G-d instructed Israel, "And so you shall eat it, with loins girded, shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand" i.e. ready to set out on a journey (Sforno). For the first time since their enslavement in Egypt, even though as yet not released from oppression, they ate their meal with confidence and hope that they would leave the misery of Egypt behind. It was this hope that made them free.
It is worthy of note that Israel celebrates its freedom by reclining. In truth, this mode of behaviour has nothing to do with Jews - it is the way Roman aristocracy behaved. Why was this introduced into our Seder Service? It was introduced at the time when Israel was dominated by Rome. Many Jews despaired. It was then that the Rabbis introduced reclining to remind Israel - we will triumph and Rome will vanish. The contemporary historian would have laughed - but history has validated our confidence.
It seems appropriate to quote, in this context, from a book "Under Strange Skies" by an American-Jewish author, Harry Simonhoff, where he describes a visit to Gateshead Yeshiva.
"In this English Volozhin, slight young men sit on hard benches, swaying over tomes of the Talmud, the Midrash, the Tosafists. Here is a genuine old-world yeshiva taking root in English soil. I left the school in a taxi - The taxi stopped and the driver said, "Sir, this is the Roman Wall". I got out to inspect the ruins of the wall which Hadrian built between Newcastle and Carlisle. It suddenly occurred to me that this was the Hadrian who crushed Bar Kochba and had Akiba flayed alive for teaching Judaism, which was forbidden by imperial decree. The Romans are gone forever. Hadrian's proud wall is a series of broken mounds. But nearby, the English yeshiva bochurim [students] are keeping alive the ethos of Gamliel and Akiba".
Two challot (lechem mishneh) must be on the table for each of the first two Shabbat meals (the requirements of Seudah Shelishit will be addressed in a future issue). The Talmud (Shabbat 117b) derives this from the verse "It happened on the Friday that they collected a double portion of food" (Shemot 16:22), which describes how the Israelites gathered manna in the desert. According to some authorities this is a Biblical requirement, whilst according to others it is Rabbinic in origin and the verse cited is only to be regarded as an endorsement of the rule.
Different traditions exist regarding the manner in which the challot should be cut. The Shulchan Aruch rules that just one loaf need be cut (the bottom loaf on Friday evening and the top loaf at all other Shabbat and Yomtov meals), whilst the Rashba and Vilna Gaon rule that both loaves should be cut and distributed.
Chassidic and Kabbalistic traditions follow the practise of the Ari and require twelve challot for hamotzi at Shabbat meals, as a reminder of the twelve shewbread that were placed on the shulchan in the Temple each Shabbat. Within these traditions there are different customs concerning how the challot should be arranged and how many should be eaten at each meal.
Though preferable, it is not essential that both challot be presently edible. Thus a frozen challah may be taken out of the freezer and used for the mitzvah of lechem mishneh. If, for whatever reason, a person does not have two whole challot he should nonetheless make hamotzi using just one loaf, or even a slice of bread (though, if possible, two slices should be used to resemble the lechem mishneh).
Rabbi Ya'akov Ba'al Haturim
Rabbi Ya'akov was born in Germany in approximately 1275 and died in Toledo, Spain, around 1340.
Rabbi Ya'akov, third son of one of the greatest Rabbis of the Middle Ages, the "Rosh" (Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel), wrote a celebrated Torah commentary, influenced by the work of his father, Nachmanides and Rashbam (for brief biographies of the latter two commentators, see previous articles in this series). Part of the commentary is based on gematria and Masoretic interpretations and is usually printed in Chumashim under the title "Ba'al HaTurim".
Rabbi Ya'akov's most outstanding contribution to Torah literature, however, lay in the field of Halacha. His Arba'ah Turim ("Four Rows") remains massively influential until this day - inter alia, parts of it are studied for Rabbinic ordination. It was the Arba'ah Turim which first classified Jewish law under the four headings
* Orach Chaim,* Yoreh De'ah* Even HaEzer and* Choshen Mishpat
which were later adopted by the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) and myriad other halachic works down to our own era. Rabbi Ya'akov is usually referred to as "The Tur", after his magnum opus.
When his father, the Rosh, fled from Germany with his family in 1303, Rabbi Ya'akov initially lived with his brother, Rabbi Yechiel, in Barcelona, subsequently moving to Toledo, where his father was Rabbi. Rabbi Ya'akov served on the Beth Din of Toledo.
8th Shevat
"There by the rivers of Babylon we hanged our harps on the willows and wept at the remembrance of Zion." (Psalm 137) It was on this day, corresponding to 27th January l969 that fresh tears mingled with the old, as the Jews of Iraq grieved for their nine innocent brothers publicly hanged in Baghdad's so-called 'Liberation Square', falsely accused of spying for Israel.
In July 1968 the Ba'ath Party seized power in Iraq, headed by Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr, who became president, and his henchman Saddam Hussein. It was the beginning of a reign of terror that over the next few years would see tens of Jews summarily executed. Hundreds of other Jews disappeared without trace.
In London, the day after the hangings, with lurid photographs in the press, there was a mass protest demonstration outside the Iraqi Embassy of over five thousand people.
At a memorial service in Lauderdale Road, to mark the 30th anniversary of the atrocity, Percy Gourgey quoted the widow of Fuad Gubbay, one of the martyrs: "The day of the hangings was a national celebration. Dancers were brought from far and wide to dance under the gallows."
As even now, those responsible for their deaths have been taken into custody, we echo the words of the Av Horachamim prayer:" They were beloved and pleasant in their lives, and in death they were not parted. May our G-d avenge the blood of His servants which has been shed".
The Holy City's HGS? - Rehavia
Perhaps one of the most surprising 'hidden gems' in Jerusalem, to British minds at least, its very own Hampstead Garden Suburb - Rehavia!
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, a movement grew up in Britain, which combined socialist housing ideas with town planning. We can see examples today in Letchworth Garden City (the first) Welwyn Garden City and, within London, Hampstead Garden Suburb. The early socialist Zionist settlers in Jerusalem tried to emulate it - in their own way - by building a suburb where education and political organisation would be pre-eminent.
If you walk up Rechov Keren Kayemet, itself an indication of the JNF ideals of the founding fathers and mothers, you will see the Hebrew Gymnasia, which relocated from its original site in the Bucharan Quarter to this dominating position in 1929. The planners wanted no building to be higher than the school, but also wanted it to 'anchor' one end of the suburb, with the Jewish Agency building, the Sochnut, at the other end. Synagogues were apparently not the highest priority in Rehavia at the time.
The leafy streets and lanes of Rehavia, on land bought from a hard-up Greek Orthodox Patriarchy, contain buildings redolent with the early history of Zionism and the State of Israel. One of the first buildings in Rehavia, on Kuzari Lane, was the home of the late President of the State of Israel, Yitzchak Ben-Zvi, a scholar of note. In time, his home became the Yad Ben-Zvi Institute for the Study of the History of Eretz Yizrael.
A walk in Rehavia will reveal delightful surprises at almost every turn.
Last week's questions:
1) In today's Sidra of Vaera we have the longest word in the Torah. It has 10 letters.What is it?
Answer:
Shemot 7:28 UVMeShAROSECho
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE set by Reb Bunya Lax of Finchley.
There is one mitzva of the Torah which you perform by not intending to perform it. In fact, if you intend to do it, it is not a mitzva. What is it?
Answer:
Shichecha
i.e. when reaping the harvest of the field, if you have forgotten a sheaf you may not go back to fetch it - it must be left for the needy. (See Devarim 24:19)
This week's question:
1. What connection is there between a funeral and a Siyum to celebrate the conclusion of the study of a Tractate of Talmud?
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE set by Dr Martin Whitefield of Finchley.
Where is there a reference to the Rambam in the Torah in mnemonic form? What is the connection between the Rambam and this text? [the answer is in Revii of today's Sidra of Bo].
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