Shabbat Rosh Chodesh
Hertz p.638
Soncino p.879
Shabbat ends in London at 10.27pm
| Sidra Lite | |
| Sidra Insights | Rabbi Dr Jeffrey M Cohen |
| The Mohel | Rabbi Daniel Roselaar |
| Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch | Rabbi Dr Michael Harris |
| Israel A - Z, H - Herzog | Simon Goulden |
| Riddle of the Week | Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis |
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We read this morning the episode describing the rebellion of Korach against the leadership of Moses. In spite of all the miracles that had been performed by G-d through Moses, Korach disseminated the philosophy that Moses and Aaron were not essential to the Divine plan.
We can well imagine what he told the masses, "Who appointed Moses as leader over us? Not us. Not G-d. Remember how he just appeared, out of the blue, in Egypt, to assume leadership of the nation, and how he appointed his own brother to be priest. What nepotism! The truth is that anyone can assume leadership of Israel because we are, as a nation, a Kingdom of Priests - a description of us used by G-d Himself! So, vote for me, and I'll show you real leadership, I'll solve all your problems and take you speedily into the Promised Land."
The Midrash, latching upon the connection between this week's sidra and the portion dealing with tzitzit at the end of last week's sidra, elucidates Korach's position by positing a halachic debate between Korach and Moses. Basing himself on the verse Venatnu al tzitzit hakanaf p'til, t'chelet, "They shall place on the corner fringes of their robes a thread of blue," Korach asks Moses whether a tallit made up entirely of blue wool still requires a thread of blue to be attached to its corners. When Moses answered that it does, Korach mocked his logic. Again, Korach posed the question about the mezuzah, which contains a couple of Biblical portions from the Shema inside it. "What," asked Korach," if you have a house that is chock-a-block full of holy books and Bibles which contain the Shema over and over again. Does that house still require a mezuzah?" Again, Korach laughed in derision when Moses replied in the affirmative.
This Midrash is conveying here the precise psychological state of Korach's mind. For him, the house full of holy books or the garment entirely of ritualistic blue wool could not possibly require an additional holy symbol. Hence a community like Israel, invested with holiness by proximity with G-d himself, could not possibly need a pair of holy leaders to run its affairs.
But Korach was wrong. A house full of books still requires a mezuzah. The library represents only potential knowledge. It has the potential to instil learning and creativity, but will only do so if the books are taken out, read and used as a conduit for intellectual and spiritual growth. The mezuzah being driven into the doorpost symbolises the affixing of the potential knowledge, contained in the holy book, into the minds and emotions of the readers and the transmutation of potential into actual knowledge. Similarly, the robe made entirely of blue wool remains an ordinary robe until a distinctive symbolic thread of tzitzit is attached to transform it into a religious garment, a veritable priestly vestment.
And this was the essence of Moses' rebuttal of Korach, namely that potentiality, whether in the sphere of holiness or leadership, still requires to be nurtured under expert supervision. Without that, it will atrophy and die. And it was Moses and Aaron who had been selected for just such a task, while Korach had been overlooked. Indeed, the very names of the respective protagonists in this clash reflect their opposing approach.
Moshe means "one who draws out [the potential of his people];" Aharon means "enlightener," from the word uhr or ohr. Moses and Aaron were committed, from birth, towards augmenting the spirituality of the nation.
Korach, on the other hand, is from the noun keire'ach, meaning "baldness." He was committed to frustrating the growth and development of the nation.
Korach's notion, that holiness is intrinsic, and does not require to be worked at, sacrificed for, and nurtured by expert guides, is quite fallacious. It certainly does not thrive on concession, compromise or neglect.
THE MOHEL
Essentially a brit milah should be performed by the baby's father since he is the person who is commanded to fulfil the mitzvah. However, since most people are not qualified to carry out a circumcision, the halachic principle that a person's agent is as effective as himself is applied and a mohel is appointed by the father. In order to best effect this appointment the father should pass the knife to the mohel and stand nearby whilst the procedure is taking place.
If a baby's father is not available to arrange the brit the local Beth Din and town elders must ensure that the child is duly circumcised. If for whatever reason this does not happen then the person must make his own arrangements to be circumcised when he becomes a bar mitzvah.
A person who functions as a mohel should be a religious and G-d-fearing Jew, and the Shulchan Aruch notes that one should try to appoint the most pious and learned mohel available. The early halachic authorities were divided about whether a woman is permitted to be a mohel. According to some, only people with an uncircumcised foreskin cannot circumcise others, and accordingly a woman may be a mohel (Rambam). But according to others only people who are obliged to be circumcised themselves may circumcise others, and thus a woman cannot be a mohel Tosafot). Universal practice is in accordance with the latter view.
RABBI SHIMSHON RAPHAEL HIRSCH
Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch was born in Hamburg in 1808 and died in 1888. The father of the "Torah im Derech Eretz" approach which combines Torah scholarship with secular study and which has proved so influential in the shaping of contemporary modern Orthodoxy, R. Hirsch rebuilt Orthodox Jewish life in nineteenth-century Germany and played a particularly crucial role in the community of Frankfurt, of which he became Rabbi.
Prior to his Rabbinate in Frankfurt, R. Hirsch succeeded R. Nathan Marcus Adler as Rabbi of Oldenburg, Moravia, in 1830.
His best-known works are his classic Commentary on the Torah in German (now translated into Hebrew and English), the Nineteen Letters and Horeb.
H - Herzog
Yitzhak Ha Levi Herzog (1889-1959) was born in Lomza, Poland, emigrating with his parents to Leeds, where his father became a Rabbi.
Yitzhak was educated by his father, who did not want to entrust his son to a yeshiva, much less a school. Herzog studied in England and France and travelled throughout Great Britain with Rabbi Jacob David Werner (the "Ridvaz"), a great Talmudic scholar, who proclaimed him to be one of the world's outstanding Talmudists. At the same time he studied oriental languages at the Sorbonne in Paris and classics and mathematics at the University of London, where he received his doctorate for identifying the shellfish that provided the "techelet" for the tallit in ancient Israel.
In 1916, Herzog received his first appointment as Rabbi of Belfast, then Rabbi in Dublin in 1919 and, in 1921, he became Chief Rabbi of Ireland, where he stayed until 1936, when he was invited to become Chief Rabbi of Palestine. It was at Herzog's initiative that the Hechal Shlomo, the Chief Rabbinate, was erected in Jerusalem. Repeatedly warning the leadership of the European Jewry about the impending Nazi danger, in 1940 he gained permission from the Soviet leadership for teachers and students of Lithuanian and Polish Yeshivot to cross the eastern border of the USSR.
In his publication of Rabbinical decrees, he sought to reconcile modern life with halachic demands and after Independence, he was one of the major halachic authorities who endorsed the reading of Hallel on Yom Ha'atzmaut
Last week's questions:
1. Fill in the missing item in this sequence:
Succot, ---------, Pesach, Shavuot, Tisha BeAv.
Answer:
Purim. These are the five occasions on which the five Megillas are read.
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE
Which one of the 613 mitzvot must be performed on "wings"?(The answer is in today's Sidra.)
Answer:
In the third paragraph of the Shema, we are commanded to place tzitzit Al Kanfei Begadim which literally means "upon the wings of their garments" and which we understand to refer to the corners of garments.
This week's question:
1. Which personality in today's Sidra of Korach am I?
My father can be put in a gun and please don't turn me off (use Sephardi pronunciation).
2) EXTRA CHALLENGE
The Sidrot of Korach and Chukat are connected in a special way.
The only other sidrot to have such a connection are Haazinu and Vezot Haberacha.
What is the connection?
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