QUESTIONS FOR THE SHABBOS TABLE PARSHAS TZAV, LEVITICUS, 6:1-8:36, LAWS OF PASSOVER, PART II

QUESTIONS FOR THE SHABBOS TABLE

PARSHAS TZAV, LEVITICUS, 6:1-8:36,

SHABBOS HAGADOL

LAWS OF PASSOVER, PART II

The Shabbos before Pesach is called “Shabbos Hagadol”.  Because in Egypt it was the day when we took the sheep that we would be bringing as our קָרְבָּן, offering. . And each of our families tied the sheep to a bedpost, infuriating our Egyptian neighbors.

On that first Shabbat Hagadol, we Jews started on our journey to freedom and liberty; that journey is a continuing one. That was true for them and also for us, The Times They Are A Changin'.

https://youtu.be/e7qQ6_RV4VQ

While ridding the household of all chametz in preparation for the Passover holiday, my thoughts turn to the ultimate source of chametz, namely and without reservation, bread.

In Parshat Tzav, Hashem instructs Moshe that as part of Aaron’s inauguration process he should bring a special grain offering that will be burnt in its entirety on the Altar (6:14).

“On a griddle it shall be made with oil, scalded shall you bring it; a  repeatedly baked meal offering you shall bring it in broken pieces that you will offer it…”

עַל-מַחֲבַת, בַּשֶּׁמֶן תֵּעָשֶׂה--מֻרְבֶּכֶת תְּבִיאֶנָּה; תֻּפִינֵי מִנְחַת פִּתִּים, תַּקְרִיב

I’m thinking, what distinguishes this offering is that it is scalded or boiled before baking.  After very sober serious contemplation, it is my belief that this method of bread preparation, albeit altered by time and geography, has come down to us as part of our esteemed Ashkenazi Jewish heritage.

It is my sincere belief that this bread preparation is what my Yeshivish friends might call the “Ikar” (עִקָר) or essence of who or what we are or have come to be.  What I am referring to is the Bagel.

This ethnic bread preparation first surfaced in Jewish Poland during the 17th century.  Indisputably we are as much the “People of the Bagel” as we are the “People of the Book”.

Bagels for the untutored or if you know, are boiled or steamed before baking. And its circular shape perhaps represents out unending connection to Hashem and that all Jews must be included.  Of course the hole in the middle is a metaphor for our "holiness".

I rest my case.😉

In Parshat Tzav Hashem commands (6:4) regarding the ashes of the olah offering:

 “…and he [the Kohen] shall take out the ashes to a ritually clean place outside the camp”.

וְהוֹצִ֤יא אֶת־הַדֶּ֨שֶׁן֙ אֶל־מִח֣וּץ לַמַּֽחֲנֶ֔ה אֶל־מָק֖וֹם טָהֽוֹר

Before the Kohen performs this mitzvah, he must sort through the ash residue and return any animal part remainder back on to the Altar.  This offering is to be fully consumed by fire.  I assume that outside the camp there were ritually clean and ritually unclean places (for instance a privy).  Even ashes from the altar have a holy status, to be treated with respect and only be deposited in a clean place. Think about the mindset.

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LAWS OF PASSOVER, PART II

The Festival of Passover will shortly be upon us.  It begins Wednesday evening, April 8^th and ends in the evening of Wednesday,15^th of April.

In that regard, I would like to present some of the many Laws of Passover to help you get ready for the big event, the Festival of Our Freedom.  It is not meant to be an exhaustive presentation or for that matter an authoritative presentation, but something for you to talk about at your table and put you on the right track.

BITTER HERBS – MAROR - מָרוֹר

The reason we eat moror, or bitter herbs, is to remind us that there was great bitterness in Egypt.  A person should not fool himself into thinking that he can begin to feel this bitterness unless he is quite knowledgeable of the events that took place.  So you should become knowledgeable.

There is a commandment that on a Passover we are to eat Matzah and bitter herbs.  In my way of thinking, the best way to accomplish this is to eat a leaf of romaine lettuce with a teaspoon of freshly grated horse radish root.

THE TELLING OF THE GOING OUT FROM EGYPT –

The central point of the Seder is the telling of the going out of Egypt, Y’tzias Mitzrayim, The Exodus, יציאת מצרים.  Although the other Passover laws are extremely important, the story of Y’tzias Mitzrayim should be told in great detail.

It is a positive mitzvah from the Torah on the Seder night to tell of the miracles and wonders which our ancestors experienced in Egypt: “And you shall tell your child on that day, saying, "Because of this, the Lord did for me when I went out of Egypt.” 

In order to do fulfill the commandment it is incumbent on each of us to learn what we can about the Exodus.

QUESTIONS FOR THE SHABBOS TABLE PARSHAS ,VAYIKRA, 1:1- 5:26, PART II

QUESTIONS FOR THE SHABBOS TABLE

PARSHAS ,VAYIKRA, 1:1- 5:26, PART II

                                            

 

In the Parsha there is a specific commandment, 2:13, that the grain offering (the Minchah) requires salt. This is followed by a general statement that all sacrifices require salt, hence the custom to have salt at our Shabbos table where table is symbolic of the Altar on which sacrifices were placed.

וְכָל-קָרְבַּן מִנְחָתְךָ, בַּמֶּלַח תִּמְלָח, וְלֹא תַשְׁבִּית מֶלַח בְּרִית אֱלֹהֶיךָ, מֵעַל מִנְחָתֶךָ; עַל כָּל-קָרְבָּנְךָ, תַּקְרִיב מֶלחַ
“And every meal-offering of yours you shall season with salt; neither shall you omit the salt covenant of your God to be lacking from your meal-offerings; with all your offerings you shall offer salt”.

A question: What is the salt covenant?

Offerings must not lack salt. This is a commandment and as such does not need to be understood. (That does not mean that we should not try to understand the commandment.) The commandment is part of a covenant, the “salt covenant”. Apparently the commandment a legally binding agreement that Hashem has imposed upon us. And Hashem’s obligations under the covenant, if any, are not stated.

Another question: What is it about salt that makes it so important to Hashem?

Try these facts to come up with your answer.  Oceans are salty.  They are comprised by about 35% salt.  98% of all the water on our planet is salty.  Lakes, rivers and underground water comprise only 2% of the Earth’s water.  All original life stemmed from sea water.  Layers of salt, “rock salt”, are only the remains of ocean water that has evaporated.

My answer: There is a fundamental connection, evidenced by salt,  between the creation of life and life’s Creator. 

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In Parsha Vayikra we are instructed about the variety of offerings that are to be made to Hashem. The first offering that is discussed is known as the עולה, which is not shared with the public or the priests (except for the hides), but is entirely dedicated to Hashem.

עולה has in its narrow meaning something that is raised up. It is no coincidence that an immigrant Israeli is also referred to as an עולה. Native born Israelis, sabras as they are called, are great in their own right, but the עולה has special meaning to Hashem and for Israel. Be proud. Walk tall.

An עולה (Oleh) who in English-speaker is called an Anglo. An Anglo עולה is commonly depicted by native born Israelis as cowboys whether or not they hail from the USA, as they are often Canadians, Brits, Australians, South African and the like.

A few years ago, Anglo’s living in Nahariya, Israel, dressed as cowboys marched in the city’s Purim parade.  Here’s what we looked like:

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This Wednesday night we celebrate the festival of Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the New Moon, the new month of Nissan.  It is a Babylonian name. In terms of names, Nissan is a relatively new name.  It is not found in the Chumash, and probably was incorporated into our way of thinking when we were exiled to Babylonia in the 6^th century BCE. 

Nissan is found in the Book of Esther at 3:7 -“In the first month, which is the month of Nisan,…”

בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן, הוּא-חֹדֶשׁ נִיסָן

By God’s command at Exodus 12:4, Nissan became the first month of the Hebrew year:  “This month shall be to you the head of the months; to you it shall be the first of the months of the year”.

At 13:4 and 23:15 the month in question is identified as Aviv or Spring time”.  The name Nissan had not come into play yet, and would not for more than several hundred years.

If Aviv or better yet Nissan is the first day of the year as per Hashem’s commandment, how is that reconciled with the first of Tishri (another Babylonian name) being the Jewish New Year?  Well it seems that we have a sacred ecclesiastical calendar that starts at Nissan and a civil calendar that starts at Tishri.  Go figure.
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The Festival of Passover will shortly be upon us.  It begins Wednesday evening, April 8^th and ends in the evening of Wednesday,15^th of April.

In that regard, I would like to present some of the many Laws of Passover to help you get ready for the big event, the Festival of Our Freedom.  It is not meant to be an exhaustive presentation or for that matter an authoritative presentation, but something for you to talk about at your table and put you on the right track.

THE FOUR CUPS

On the first night of Pesach (first two in the diaspora) it is incumbent upon every Jewish man, woman, and educable child to drink four cups of wine in recognition of the four expressions of freedom stated in the Torah in connection with Y’tzias Mitzrayim יציאת מצרים, the going out of Egypt.

The four expressions are found in Exodus 6:6-7:

“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out (V’hotzeiti וְהוֹצֵאתִי) from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you (V’hitzalti וְהִצַּלְתִּי ) from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you (V’go’alti וְגָאַלְתִּי) with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people (V’lakachti וְלָקַחְתִּי ), and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.”

There is actually a fifth expression, that a minority opinion holds requires a fifth cup. Unfortunately I have recently learned that the majority do not hold with this opinion. It is forbidden to drink the fifth cup.

 For many years I had been under the mistaken impression that drinking a fifth cup was tantamount to adding to a Mitzvah, a good thing, a godly thing and in a certain sense being “ultra”. After all, the keynote of Pesach is freedom, and consequently as an expression of freedom the Cup of Elijah has always been, until now, fair game. Live and learn.

QUESTIONS FOR THE SHABBOS TABLE

PARSHAS ,VAYIKRA, 1:1- 5:26
PART I

We start a new Book this week, Vayikra or Leviticus.

At Vayikra 1:2 it says:”When a person from you will sacrifice an offering to the Lord; from animals, from cattle or from the flock you shall sacrifice your offering”.

אָדָם כִּי-יַקְרִיב מִכֶּם קָרְבָּן, לַיהוָה--מִן-הַבְּהֵמָה, מִן-הַבָּקָר וּמִן-הַצֹּאן, תַּקְרִיבוּ, אֶת-קָרְבַּנְכֶם

Offering a sacrifice, in this case an animal, was the means for people at that time to come closer to God.

Rabbi Riskin expands on the term “from you” as meaning what does Hashem want from us?
He concludes that in making sacrifices today, Hashem wants us to give of ourselves, upfront and personal

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This week’s parsha begins with the word Vayikra: א ויקר   On all Torah scrolls the letter א is small…Why?

It was always seen as a symbol of the intense modesty of Moshe. But there is another explanation of the small aleph that Rabbi Berel Wein teaches us:
Hashem is to be seen and heard in the small things in life and not only in the large, great events. Hashem tells Elijah that He is not to be found in the wind, the noise of a quake, the brightness of a burning fire but rather in the still, small voice, in the sound of a whisper and not of a shout.

The still, small voice is most representative of God and his omnipotence. Science has shown us in our time that our physical appearance, if not even our longevity and health, lie in small almost invisible strands that make up our DNA. God calls out with a small aleph to his creatures – to see Him in every aspect of life, no matter how small and insignificant it may appear on its surface.

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The word “offering” or “sacrifice” is Korban or קָרְבָּן. The three letter root is קרב.
A verb having this root is לְהִתְקַרֵב , to come closer. Try squeezing out more meanings for קָרְבָּן.

Juggling the letters of the root yields the following possibilities:
רֵבקַ damn רקב decay ברק lightning בקר beef קַברֵ grave 

קַרֵב interior

Are we not the People of the Book, or what?

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This Wednesday night we celebrate the festival of Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the New Moon, the new month of Nissan.  But when was the moon really new?  And what do we know about its origin?

Among several theories of its origin, the Moon is thought (emphasis on “thought”, not actually known) to have formed about 4.51 billion years ago, not long after the Earth’s creation (4.6 billion years ago). The most widely accepted explanation is that the Moon formed from the debris left over after a giant impact between Earth and a hypothetical Mars-sized body.

I am guessing that when this collision took place there was a great sound and light show.  Quoting an excerpt from the liturgy of Kiddush Levanah, Sanctification of the Moon, קידוש לבנה: 
“May the light of the Moon be like the light of the Sun and like the light of the seven days of creation as it was before it was diminished…”, truly a blast from the past.

Here is what one moon rock looks like:

 This moon rock was collected in 1969 by American Astronauts.  It is a basalt which is an extrusive igneous rock.  Basalt rocks are commonly found in the Golan, not far from home.  The “holes” are vesicles formed by escaping gas while the rock lava was solidifying.

Good Chodesh everyone.

LAWS OF PASSOVER, PART I (UPDATE)

LAWS OF PASSOVER, PART I (UPDATE)
CHOMETZ, SHMURAH MATZAH, FOUR CUPS

The Festival of Passover will shortly be upon us.  It begins Wednesday evening, April 8^th and ends in the evening of Wednesday,15^th of April.

In that regard, I would like to present some of the many Laws of Passover to help you get ready for the big event, the Festival of Our Freedom.  It is not meant to be an exhaustive presentation or for that matter an authoritative presentation, but something for you to talk about at your table and put you on the right track.

PROHIBITION OF CHOMETZ

On Passover, which begins on Wednesday evening the 8th of April to the 16^th of April, not only are forbidden to eat Chometz, but we must have removed any and all Chometz from our possession by the morning preceding the Festival.

The prohibition of Chometz on Pesach is an absolute one.  Not only are we forbidden from eating Chometz, we are even forbidden to feed Chometz to our pets.

What is the basis for the prohibition? Because it says so (Exodus 12:15):

“Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; moreover on the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whosoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel”.

First things first: What is Chometz?

When either wheat, barley, rye, spelt or oats have come in contact with or even slightly combines with water, you get Chometz.  We are ordered to remove and/or destroy all traces of Chometz from our possession.

How do we get rid of Chometz?

There is a three step procedure:

1. Sell your Chometz to a non-Jew.

2. Search and destroy: Search on the evening before and destroy by burning on the following morning.

3. On the morning before Passover, declare any possible remaining Chometz to be nullified.

All prohibitions regarding Chometz apply to all the days of Pesach. The Torah prohibits any use of Chometz on Pesach, whether it is eaten, sold or even given away.  Chometz may only be destroyed.

After Passover You have to be careful.  It is forbidden to partake of or purchase Chometz from a Jew who did not sell his Chometz before Passover.  It is a fair question to ask someone if they had sold their Chometz.

* I was always under the erroneous impression that those of us who went to hotels for Passover were in part doing this to get out from under the preparatory laws of Passover.  And if truth be told, I was a little jealous.  But get this from the Rambam, Chapter 2:19 –

A person who sets out to sea or one who leaves in a caravan within thirty days [of Pesach] is obligated to search [for chametz].

 [If he leaves] before thirty days [prior to Pesach], he is not obligated to search. However, if he intends to return before Pesach, he must search before departing, lest he [be delayed and] return Pesach eve at nightfall, when he will have no opportunity to destroy [the chametz]. However, if he does not intend to return, he does not have to search.

COMMENTARY:

Any chametz which he knows about must be removed from his possession (Magen Avraham, Orach Chayim 436:1).

The search is made at night by candlelight before he departs (Magen Avraham). However, no blessing is recited (Shulchan Aruch).

Thirty days before Pesach, we begin "asking and explaining the laws of the holiday."  From that time onward, concern is shown for all the Pesach laws (Pesachim 6a).

SHMURAH MATZAH

Passover is called, Chag Hamatzot – the Holiday of Matzot,  חג המצות .

At Exodus 12:17 the Chumash says:

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת-הַמַּצּוֹת, כִּי בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה, הוֹצֵאתִי אֶת-צִבְאוֹתֵיכֶם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם

“And you shall guard the matzot, for on this day I took your divisions out of the land of Egypt…”

The need for Shmurah Matzah comes from וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת-הַמַּצּוֹת , “And you shall guard the matzot”.

Why guard the Matzah?

A grain may become Chometz any time after reaping if it has come into contact with water. Therefore from the get-go it must be carefully guarded.  Although we eat matzah all during Pesach, you are only legally obligated to eat matzah on the first night of Pesach in Israel and the first two nights in the diaspora. Of course this does not mean that Chometz may be eaten.h

Personally, I like Shmurah Matzah, the look, the taste, and from a subjective point of view I feel “special” when I am eating it.  Maybe for that reason I have always purchased more than I need; it’s similar to prolonging Shabbos.

THE FOUR CUPS

On the first night of Pesach (first two in the diaspora) it is incumbent upon every Jewish man, woman, and educable child to drink four cups of wine in recognition of the four expressions of freedom stated in the Torah in connection with Y’tzias Mitzrayim יציאת מצרים, the going out of Egypt.

The four expressions are found in Exodus 6:6-7:

“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out (V’hotzeiti  וְהוֹצֵאתִי) from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you (V’hitzalti  וְהִצַּלְתִּי ) from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you (V’go’alti  וְגָאַלְתִּי) with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people (V’lakachti  וְלָקַחְתִּי ), and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.”

There is actually a fifth expression, that a minority opinion holds requires a fifth cup.  Unfortunately I have recently learned that the majority do not hold with this opinion.  It is forbidden to drink the fifth cup.  For many years I had been under the mistaken impression that drinking a fifth cup was tantamount to adding to a Mitzvah, a good thing, a godly thing and in a certain sense being “ultra”.  Afterall, the keynote of Pesach is freedom, and consequently as an expression of freedom the Cup of Elijah has always been, until now, fair game.   Live and learn.