Hertz p.513
Soncino p.740
Shabbat ends in London at 9.31pm
Tomorrow will be Lag B'Omer
| Sidra Lite | |
| The Talmh with, aah? | Rabbi Y Golomb |
| NETILAT YADAYIM - Washing the Hands | Rabbi Daniel Roselaar |
| RABBI YEHUDAH ARYEH LEIB (ALTER)
OF GER |
Rabbi Dr Michael Harris |
| 17th Iyar | Rabbi Yisroel Fine |
| Israel A-Z, Binyamin miTudela |
Simon Goulden |
| Riddle of the Week | Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis & Anthony Kent |
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The Talmh with, aah?
Mark Twain once described education as 'something you must acquire without interference from your schooling.' His experience must have been an unhappy one.
This week's Parsha begins with the instruction to Moses to teach the priests regarding the laws of impurity unique to them. The first verse repeats the word 'say', 'say unto the priests ... and you shall say to them'. Why? Rashi explains that Moses has to say to i.e. teach, the older priests and they have to say to the younger priests. In short, the elders are responsible for teaching the younger ones.
Rashi's source is the Talmud (Yevamot 14a), which points to three occasions when the Torah emphasises that the elders are charged with educating the young. These are the law against eating insects, the prohibition of consuming blood and the laws of impurity mentioned above.
Education is no easy task. No other subject consumes as much time and money and excites the emotions of parents as the education of their children, - ask any headmaster or headmistress! That the Torah chooses to specify this instruction in these three places enlightens us on the extent to which this responsibility must be shouldered.
Insects: There are pupils who are easy to teach and those who are difficult to educate. Then there are those who seem beyond the pail, too uncultured to absorb, too coarse to be refined. The Torah insists that even those who eat insects - an act defined by the Talmud as grossly inhuman - must still be educated. No one is too coarse; no one is beyond hope Difficult it may be, but as G-d never demands something that is beyond our capabilities, it must be possible.
Blood: Educating from scratch is easier to achieve than when a pattern of behaviour has already been established. Trying to change entrenched habits, good or bad, can prove challenging. The Torah says that even in instances when, for example, one wishes to stop the consumption of blood - accepted practice at the time and even popular - where one may be tempted to give up, one is still obliged to educate the young. Eventually, one will be successful.
Impurity: The nature of impurity is that it is unnatural. One cannot detect if a person (or object) is impure or not as there are no outward signs. He or she looks no different before or after becoming impure. This challenges the human rationale and thus acceptance of the Torah's ruling is an act of faith. Some argue that only the rational should be taught while faith is up to the individual. The Torah informs us that education is not solely about imparting information but also about instilling faith, and this too is the responsibility of the elders to teach to the young, to be acquired through schooling - something the Twain never did meet.
In Temple Times, Cohanim were required to eat the Terumah portions that they had received as tithes in a state of ritual purity which, amongst other things, meant that they had to wash their hands prior to eating. In commemoration of this practice, as well as in preparation for the rebuilding of the Temple when the laws of ritual purity will be restored, the Sages required us to wash our hands in a similar fashion before eating bread (since that was the most common form in which Terumah was consumed). Furthermore, such a procedure symbolically sanctifies the forthcoming meal and serves to elevate it from a basic animalistic function to a holy way of sustaining human life.
A cup or beaker should be filled with water which should then be poured over each hand. The correct procedure is to begin by washing the right hand and then to wash the left hand (though left-handers reverse this order). Care should be taken to ensure that the entire hand up till the wrist is washed, and therefore whenever possible plenty of water should be used. Ideally, water should be poured twice over each hand. [It is only when washing in order to remove the ruach ra'ah that is present first thing in the morning or after visiting a cemetery that it is necessary to wash each hand three times.]
Correct practice is to avoid any unnecessary verbal or non-verbal interruption after washing the hands until the hamotzi berachah has been recited and some bread has been eaten. If, however, one does inadvertently speak at this time it is not necessary to re-wash the hands (though some follow the stringent view of the Chazon Ish and do so). Certainly the berachah al netilat yadayim should not be repeated.
RABBI YEHUDAH ARYEH LEIB (ALTER) OF GER (THE "SEFAT EMET")
Rabbi Yehudah, the second Rebbe of the Ger Chassidic dynasty, was born in 1847 and died in 1905. He was the grandson of the "Chiddushei HaRim", (discussed in a previous edition of Daf HaShavua). He was in fact brought up by his grandfather, having been orphaned at the age of one. Rabbi Yehudah is most commonly referred to by the name of his collected writings, Sefat Emet, very profound yet clear reflections which deeply reward careful study. Sefat Emet on the Torah remains especially popular.
When Rabbi Yehudah was nineteen, his grandfather passed away and was succeeded as Rebbe of the Gerer Chassidim by Rabbi Chanoch Henich of Alexander. A short time later, Rabbi Chanoch passed away, and Rabbi Yehudah became the leader of Ger. Under his guidance, Ger became the largest chassidic sect in Poland. Rabbi Yehudah was an advocate of the expansion of the Chassidic community in Israel. His son and successor, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter, known as the Imrei Emet, escaped the Nazis and rebuilt the Gerer dynasty in Israel.
17th Iyar
Today marks the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Yechezkiel Landau, Chief Rabbi of Prague from 1755 until his death in 1793.
Visitors to the Fibichova Street Cemetery in Prague will find two tombstones marking his grave. The simplicity of the headstone, with its minimal inscription, contrasts with the larger footstone erected by the Chevra Kadisha containing fulsome praise of their esteemed Chief Rabbi, and disclaiming responsibility for the size of the headstone, chosen in accordance with the wishes of the deceased.
Known by the name of his sefer, the Noda B'Yehuda, physically tall and imposing, was also of soaring spiritual stature, as the leading halachic authority of his generation.
As Rabbi of Yampola in the Ukraine, he mediated in the amulet controversy between Rabbi Yaacov Emden and Rabbi Yonasan Eibeschutz, and was particularly active in endeavouring to resolve the marital status of agunot.
It was following his appointment as Chief Rabbi of Prague that he reached his peak of leadership and influence. He was staunch in his support of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa during the Seven Years' War, and refused to flee the city during the siege.
His civic and religious obligations as Chief Rabbi notwithstanding, he dispensed halachic rulings worldwide, and still found time to deliver his shiurim in the Yeshiva which he founded. His rulings included validating the famous get of Cleeves, wherein the divorcing husband was temporarily insane, and also castigating hunting as nurturing through this "sport of Nimrod" a cruel and vindictive streak of personality.
Two hundred years after his death hundreds of his descendants gathered at his grave for a memorial service, and the unveiling of his fully restored tombstone, together with those of eight members of his immediate family.
B - Binyamin miTudela
Binyamin miTudela was perhaps the most famous Jewish international traveller of the Middle Ages. He lived in the northern Spanish city of Tudela, whence he set out on his travels in about 1165, although scholars argue about the exact dates. He seems to have travelled via Barcelona and Provence throughout the Mediterranean, spending a particularly long time in Constantinople. He then sailed via Cyprus to the mainland, heading south along the coast via Tyre and Acco into Eretz Yisrael, which was still under the rule of the Crusaders. He travelled throughout the country, giving a detailed account of the Holy Places (which he often called by their French names: Hebron becoming St. Abram de Bron).
Writing detailed insights on Jerusalem and its Jewish community, his descriptions were far more objective than those of non Jewish pilgrims of the time. From Tiberias, Benjamin travelled north to Damascus and thence to Baghdad, where his accounts become historically 'challenging. Whilst he may have travelled to Persia, his descriptions of conditions there appear fanciful. He wrote with some fantastic detail about China, Cochin and Sri Lanka, and there is no way to know whether any of his descriptions were accurate.
He returned to Tudela in 1172/3. His book of travels, translated into English in the 19th century remain a fascinating glimpse of the Jewish world of 800 years ago.
Last week's questions:
1. by David Landau of Hampstead Garden Suburb.
Two boys are born in the same year but the first is born 14 days before the second. 13 years' later, the first boy celebrates his Barmitzvah 14 days after the second boy.
Can you explain why this is so?
Answer:
The two boys were born in the same leap year but
Their barmitzvah year is not a leap year.
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE sent by Jonathan Greenstein of Jerusalem (an internet reader of the Daf).
On which Hebrew calendar date do all communities say Hallel in some years and tachanun on others?
Answer:
3rd Tevet.
This week's question:
1. Which well known Biblical character's Hebrew name is a palindrome son of a palindrome?
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE set by Anthony Kent of Borehamwood.
Which name is given at least once to three different people in the Torah?
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