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Table of contents
1) Perashat Hashavoua - Rabbi Eli Mansour
2) Halakhat Hashavoua (Halakhot related to day to day life) By Hazzan David Azerad
- Zakhor and Shamor - Peniei Halacha
3) Holy Jokes!
4) For KIDS
This Week's Parasha Insight with Rabbi Eli Mansour
Parashat Bo: Constant Growth
Parashat Bo tells us of G-d’s commands to Beneh Yisrael regarding the Korban Pesah – the paschal sacrifice which they offered on the night of the Exodus, before they left Egypt. G-d commanded Moshe to instruct the people to place the blood of the sacrifice on the two sides of the doorposts ("Mezuzot") and on the top of the doorframe ("Mashkof" – 12:7). Interestingly, however, when Moshe relayed these commands to the people, he reversed the sequence, instructing them to place blood on the top of the doorframe and then on the posts. Why did Moshe deviate from G-d’s instructions, and reverse the sequence?
King Shlomo teaches us in Mishleh (3:16), "Orech Yamim Bi’yminah Bi’smolah Osher Ve’chavod" – "Longevity is to the right [of Torah], and to the left is wealth and honor." It has been suggested that the doorposts, which stand to the right and to the left of a person as he walks through, symbolize these blessings of longevity, wealth and honor. Sometimes a person involves himself in Torah for ulterior motives, hoping to earn reward. He commits himself not out of a genuine devotion to the Almighty, but rather to receive the rewards promised for involvement in Torah. The Gemara in Masechet Pesahim (50b) famously teaches that although learning "She’lo Li’shmah" – for insincere motives – is less than ideal, it is nevertheless acceptable. The reason is that once a person begins getting involved in Torah out of self-serving motives, he will, with time, reach the level of "Li’shmah" – learning Torah for sincere, altruistic reasons. Accordingly, G-d instructed Beneh Yisrael to begin with the "doorposts" – the rewards for Torah. Before we can rise to the level of "Li’shmah," where we learn and practice out of a deep-seated and genuine love of G-d, we should first begin with the more modest level of "She’lo Li’shmah," involving ourselves in Torah in order to reap the practical benefits that it offers us.
The question then becomes, why did Moshe reverse the order? Why did he tell the people to start with the "top," with the ideal level of "Li’shmah," and only then to descend to the "doorposts," to the ulterior motives for learning Torah?
The answer is that growth is an ongoing, lifelong process. Every time we rise to a new level of spiritual achievement, we must look further to the next level. The new level we have achieved should, with time, seem to us unsatisfactory, such that we then set our sights upon a more ambitious level. This is indicated by the Gemara’s formulation in Pesahim: "A person should always engage in Torah and Misvot even not for their sake…" The Gemara teaches us that one should always study and practice "She’lo Li’shmah." Once a person reaches a level of "Li’shmah," that level should then seem like "She’lo Li’shmah." The level of sincerity we achieve now should seem to us later as insincere. We must constantly be striving to raise our standards, to grow in our level of sincerity and purity of motives. And thus Moshe told the people that after they reach the "Mashkof," the exalted level of "Li’shmah," they must then descend, so-to-speak, and see themselves back on the level of the "Mezuzot," the level of "She’lo Li’shmah." What seems to us as an admirable spiritual achievement now must seem insufficient as we continue to grow and develop in our religious commitment.
This is one of the vital messages that Beneh Yisrael were taught at this moment, as they were about to leave Egypt and become G-d’s sacred nation. They were told that they need to constantly grow and advance, that no achievement is ever sufficient. Every new level we reach should be celebrated, but we mustn’t stop there. We must continue working to progress and reach ever greater heights, each day of our lives, one modest achievement at a time.
Halachot this week are selected and Translated by Hazzan David Azerad
Zakhor and Shamor - Peniei Halacha
As we have seen above (1:8), two crucial mitzvot form the backbone of Shabbat: Zakhor and Shamor.
Shamor instructs us to refrain from all labor. In this way, we clear space in our soul, which we are commanded to fill with positive content. This positive content is included in Zakhor, which instructs us to remember the holiness of Shabbat and use it to connect with the foundations of our faith. For six days, we are active in the outside world; on Shabbat, we return to our inner world, to our soul, and remind ourselves once again of the fundamentals of faith.
The first fundamental that we recall during kiddush is the creation of the world, and the second is the Exodus from Egypt. Some concede that God created the world but do not believe that, even after creation, He remains responsible for the world's ongoing existence, which He supervises and manages. At the time of the Exodus, God’s divine providence was very clearly revealed in a way that made it clear that God reveals Himself to the world by way of the Jewish people. This is the significance of the second foundational belief that we mention in kiddush.
These two foundational beliefs are mentioned in the Torah’s two versions of the Ten Commandments. In Shemot, we are commanded to remember the creation of the world: “Commemorate the day of Shabbat to sanctify it…. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed Shabbat day and hallowed it” (Shemot 20:8, 11). However, the mitzva is formulated with the word “shamor” in Devarim, and there the Exodus from Egypt is mentioned: “Observe the day of Shabbat to sanctify it…for you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the day of Shabbat” (Devarim 5:12, 15). In truth, there is a connection between Shabbat and the Exodus from Egypt, for they both reveal the divine soul, which brings about our freedom from enslavement – whether to Egypt or to work.
We fulfill the essence of Zakhor when we recite kiddush over wine, thereby sanctifying the whole day, as it is written: “Commemorate the day of Shabbat to sanctify it” (Shemot 20:8) – the entire day should be sanctified and set aside for reviewing foundational beliefs and studying Torah while eating pleasurable meals and sleeping soundly. Even during the week, there is a mitzva to remember Shabbat and sanctify it, meaning it should be honored more than other days. One should prepare for it by making food, laundering, bathing, and cleaning one’s home (See Ramban, Shemot 20:7; above 2:1-6).
Both men and women are obligated in the mitzvot of Shabbat. Although women are generally exempt from time-bound positive commandments, and Zakhor is such a mitzva, women are nevertheless obligated because Zakhor and Shamor were proclaimed together; they are intertwined. Just as women are obligated in the mitzvot derived from Shamor – the negative commandments, so too they are obligated in the mitzvot derived from Zakhor – the positive commandments.
Therefore, men and women are equally obligated in Shabbat mitzvot, and a woman may recite kiddush for a man and exempt him from his obligation. But minors who have not yet reached bat or bar mitzva cannot exempt adults, because even children who are old enough to understand what Shabbat is about are still only obligated rabbinically in kiddush, whereas adults have a Torah obligation (SA 271:2).
Bevirkat Shabbat Shalom Umevorach
David Azerad
3) HOLY JoKeS!!
Selection of funny snippets, loosely related to this weeks parashah or current events, to brighten your day
4) FOR KIDS
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