2) Halakhat Hashavoua (Halakhot related to day to day life) By Hazzan David Azerad -
Preserving Customs vs. Strengthening the Community -- Peninei Halacha
3) Holy Jokes!
4) For KIDS
This Week's Parasha Insight with Rabbi Eli Mansour
Parashat Korah: An Argument for the Sake of Heaven
A famous Mishna in Pirkeh Abot distinguishes between two different kinds of "Mahloket" (arguments): a Mahloket which is waged "for the sake of Heaven," and one which is waged "not for the sake of Heaven." As an example of the former, the Mishna points to the arguments between the schools of Hillel and Shammai. These two schools debated numerous different matters of Halacha, and the Mishna affirms that these arguments were waged "for the sake of Heaven." As an example of the other kind of Mahloket, the Mishna mentions the Mahloket instigated by Korah and his followers against Moshe and Aharon.
How can we determine which arguments are waged sincerely, for the sake of Heaven, and which are waged insincerely, like Korah’s fight against Moshe Rabbenu? Is there a tell-tale sign of one or the other?
The Gemara relates that although the school of Shammai and the schools of Hillel disagreed on many different subjects, nevertheless, once the Halacha was decided, the students got along. In fact, the Gemara relates, although these two schools disagreed on matters relevant to personal status with respect to marriage, the students nevertheless married each into each other’s families. When the argument ended, they were friendly, respectful and peaceful. This phenomenon can be seen even today in Torah study halls throughout the world. When one enters the room, he sees study partners arguing vociferously with one another. Each student valiantly defends his position, insisting that his reading of the text, or his understanding of the topic, is the correct one. I even remember one time when an elderly member of the community, who did not have a yeshiva background, came into the yeshiva where I was studying and scolded us for fighting. He gave us a lecture about how hatred destroyed the Bet Ha’mikdash, and how we needed to be nice to one another. We explained to him that we were arguing over words of Torah, but did not hate each other at all. And the proof is that when the students close their books and finish their studies, they are the best of friends. They help each other in every way, and enjoy close, meaningful camaraderie. The arguments in the study hall are "Le’shem Shamayim," sincerely for the sake of Hashem, and not out of personal animus. And so when the study session ends, so does the arguing, and the close, genuine bonds of friendship are expressed.
This was not the case with Korah’s fight against Moshe. His fight, of course, failed, resulting in terrible tragedy, but had he succeeded, Heaven forbid, and defeated Moshe, the fighting would not have ended. After all, he and his cohorts were united by only one common cause: to defeat Moshe. Other than that, they were enemies. They each vied for power and prestige, driven by their own egotistical motives. And so had they defeated Moshe, they would have continued fighting – among themselves. This is indicated by the Mishna, which says that the example of an argument that is "not for the sake of Heaven" is "the argument of Korah and his following." The Mishna speaks of not Korah’s argument against Moshe, but rather of Korah’s argument with his own people. This argument, which would have erupted if Korah had defeated Moshe, proves that this argument was not waged out of sincere motives. When a sincerely motivated argument ends, peace prevails. When an insincerely motivated argument ends, the fighting continues.
This is the difference between a legitimate argument and an illegitimate argument. A person cannot claim to be sincerely motivated if he is constantly waging battles and always finds himself embroiled in one conflict or another. One can be said to be engaged in a truly sincere argument only if he is otherwise peaceful and amicable, and is not, like Korah, always fighting to push his personal agenda. This is the tell-tale sign of a "Mahloket Le’shem Shamayim."
Halachot this week are selected and Translated by Hazzan David Azerad
Preserving Customs vs. Strengthening the Community -- Peninei Halacha
In addition to maintaining the nusaĥ of prayer, preservation of customs entails upholding traditional pronunciation schemes. Each community – Yemenites, Sephardim, and Ashkenazim – pronounces the prayers according to its particular scheme. Indeed, each ethnic community should ideally continue to pray with its traditional chants (see Rema 619:1). Of course, it is permitted to introduce new melodies, but the upshot of this ruling is that the main part of the prayer should preserve the traditional tune that has been sanctified throughout generations. For that reason, one must ideally pray in a synagogue that uses one's ancestral nusaĥ (Peninei Halakha: Prayer, ch. 6 n. 5).
Judaism contains a great variety of different customs. The Sephardic nusaĥ itself breaks down into numerous different sets of customs. Concerning matters of halakha, the key differences are between those who follow Shulĥan Arukh and those who follow Ben Ish Ĥai. Moreover, North Africans have their distinct nusaĥ that is quite similar to the Lebanese, Syrian, and Iraqi rites in terms of halakha and liturgical text, but differs greatly in terms of the traditional chants and tunes. Even among North Africans, there are differences in melody. To Moroccans, Algerians sound dissonant, and vice versa. To Libyans, both Algerians and Moroccans sound off. To perfectly preserve customs, there would need to be special synagogues for Libyans, Tunisians, Algerians, and Moroccans in addition to those for Lebanese, Iraqi, Syrian, Farsi, Turkish, and Caucasian Jews.
Ashkenazim also have a variety of customs. The main difference is between Ĥasidim and other Ashkenazim, but there are other significant differences in pronunciation and melody between Western Europeans and Lithuanians. Regarding pronunciation, there are at least four variants from Eastern Europe: those of Greater Hungary, Greater Lithuania, Galicia, and Poland. Ĥasidic sects each have distinct customs and melodies. Among Yemenites, there are two main liturgical rites: Baladi and Shami.
If meticulous preservation of customs will lead to the breakup of the community, it is preferable to forgo the preservation of customs. In general, when a community is unified, coordinates Torah study for men, women, and children, and engages in communal acts of kindness and care, it connects all its members to Torah and mitzvot. In contrast, when a community is weak, its members lose heart, and this adversely affects the children.
Therefore, even though ideally it is best for everyone to follow ancestral custom, if doing so requires the establishment of dozens of small synagogues that can barely gather a minyan and cannot sustain Torah classes, then members of communities with similar customs should unite to form a stronger community. For example, all people from North Africa should pray together, and if that is not sufficient, then all who pray in the Sephardic nusaĥ should pray together.
It is therefore necessary that each locale weigh all the values of preserving customs against the value of a strong, solid community. When enough families from one ethnic community live in one place and can establish a large synagogue while preserving their traditions, all the better. But when the numbers are insufficient, it is best that they join a similar ethnic community to form a strong congregation. If the consolidation of similar ethnic communities will not suffice to form a strong community, it is best that the members of all communities – Sephardim, Ashkenazim, and Yemenites – form a single congregation. Sometimes it is necessary to instruct the ĥazan and lead the prayers according to his ancestral nusaĥ so that each ethnic community is given space. This must be considered with appropriate gravitas, and the local rabbi must render such decisions together with the congregation’s leaders (see Peninei Halakha: Prayer 6:9).
Additionally, even though ideally everyone should preserve their customs and melodies, there is a positive element in the merging of the Diaspora communities. Since one does not choose a place to live based on ethnic community, similar liturgical rites tend to consolidate. Today, most Ashkenazim practice that way; people with different traditions pray together.
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
Click on the image to open the youtube video
LIFECYCLE EVENTS
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2) Halakhat Hashavoua (Halakhot related to day to day life) By Hazzan David Azerad -
The Establishment of Torah Reading -Peninei Halacha
3) Holy Jokes!
4) For KIDS
This Week's Parasha Insight with Rabbi Eli Mansour
Parashat Shelach: We See What We Want to See
When the scouts returned from Eretz Yisrael and reported about their findings, they told the nation that the land is "Eretz Ochelet Yoshebeha" – "a land that consumes its inhabitants" (13:32). The Gemara explains that everywhere the spies went, they saw funerals. People were dying throughout the time the spies spent in the land, and they therefore concluded that Eretz Yisrael must be a dangerous, deadly place that kills its inhabitants. In truth, however, as the Gemara relates, G-d saw to it that people would die during the scouts’ sojourn so that the inhabitants would be preoccupied with burying and mourning their loved ones and would thus not notice the foreigners. The large number of funerals was actually a sign of G-d’s kindness, yet the scouts interpreted it as a sign of His disdain for His people, that He was bringing them to a "land that consumes its inhabitants."
The Steipler Gaon (Rav Yaakov Kanievsky, 1899-1985), in Birkat Peretz, observed that people see what they want to see. Two people can witness the exact same event, or look upon the exact same sight, and see two entirely different things. Our vision is affected by our mindset and attitude. The scouts embarked on their mission with an interest in dissuading the people from entering the land, realizing that they would likely lose their leadership positions once the nation entered Eretz Yisrael. And thus when they saw the funerals in Canaan, they saw an "Eretz Ochelet Yoshebeha." They did not see G-d’s Providence protecting them, but rather a dangerous land that should not be inhabited.
The Gemara in Masechet Gittin (45a) tells the story of a Rabbi named Rav Ilish, who was once imprisoned. One day a raven flew by and began chirping. Rav Ilish turned to his cellmate, who understood the language of birds, and asked what the bird meant. The man said that the bird was exclaiming, "Ilish escape, Ilish escape," indicating that the time had come for the Rabbi to make his escape from the jail. Rav Ilish felt that ravens were not trustworthy, and so he refused to escape until a dove came and began chirping. The man interpreted the dove’s chirping, too, as bidding Rav Ilish to escape, and so he fled. Rabbi Akiva Eger (1761-1837) cites a source claiming that Rav Ilish himself understood the language of birds, and he notes that this claim seems very difficult to accept in light of the Gemara’s account. If Rav Ilish understood the language of birds, then why did he have to ask his cellmate to interpret the raven and dove’s chirping? Didn't he understand the meaning of the chirping himself?
Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz (1901-1978) answered this question by suggesting that Rav Ilish indeed understood birds’ language, but in this instance he did not trust his interpretation. He obviously wanted to flee prison, and was thus naturally inclined to interpret the birds’ chirping as advising him to do so. Rav Ilish realized that people hear what they want to hear, and he was thus prone to deceiving himself by interpreting the chirping to mean that he should escape.
This is the one of the lessons we can learn from the story of the spies. We often approach matters with a jaundiced eye, with a predisposed mindset that does not allow us to understand things correctly. In order to properly understand the world around us, we need to recognize ourselves and our natural instincts, and try to view things from a true, objective perspective.
Halachot this week are selected and Translated by Hazzan David Azerad
The Torah Scroll -Peninei Halacha
The Torah must be read from a kosher scroll. This means that it must be a Torah scroll written for the sake of Heaven, with ink on parchment, just as the first Torah scroll was written by Moshe Rabbeinu, according to the direct word of Hashem. Even a congregation that sets aside time for Torah study must assemble at least every three days to read from the original Torah scroll, just like the Torah which Hashem gave to Moshe on Mount Sinai. If there is no minyan present, the mitzvah of reading the Torah cannot be fulfilled, since it is a matter of sanctity requiring ten Jews.
If the Torah scroll is missing even one letter, it is invalid and cannot be used to perform the mitzvah of Torah reading. This halachah emphasizes the extraordinary quality of the Torah. Its entirety is one complete Divine idea expressed by all of its narratives, mitzvot, teachings, and letters together. If even one letter is lacking, a flaw exists in the absolute completeness of the Divine Torah.
According to several Rishonim, it is permissible, b’dieved, to read from an invalid Torah scroll (Rambam’s responsa to the sages of Narvona; Mordechai). Still, in practice, the opinion of the majority of poskim is that the mitzvah of Torah reading can only be fulfilled with a kosher Torah scroll, and that is the halachah (Rashba, Rosh, and Rambam in his halachot; Shulchan Aruch 143:3).
If, in the middle of the reading, a faulty letter is discovered which renders the Torah scroll invalid, a different Torah scroll is taken out and the reader proceeds from where he stopped in the first. We do not continue reading from the first Torah since, according to most poskim, it is forbidden to read from an invalid scroll. On the other hand, we do not require the congregation to repeat the beginning of the Torah portion, since b’dieved we rely on the poskim who maintain that the obligation of Torah reading can even be fulfilled with an invalid Torah scroll.
If a defect is found in one of the letters, and there is doubt as to whether or not it invalidates the Torah scroll, the reading is continued from that Torah. There are two reasons to act leniently in such a case. First, the Torah scroll may be kosher. Second, even if the Torah does possess something which renders it invalid, we have already learned that there are opinions which maintain that b’dieved it is permitted to read from an invalid Torah scroll. Still, the Torah must be repaired promptly after the reading.
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
Click on the image to open the youtube video
LIFECYCLE EVENTS
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