EIKEV – World Cup Soccer

Published on July 29, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

About two weeks have passed since two-thirds of the world’s sports population watched the World Cup Soccer competition. I guess the entire country of Spain watched the world cup; I, for one, fell into the “other one third” who did not watch even one minute of a game. Even though I do not particularly enjoy watching soccer, I do understand and appreciate the style, technique and grace that go into the sport. Besides using your head (which is a good thing for everything we do) the main play of the sport is using your feet. One can kick the ball with their toes, side of the foot, and the back heel.

There are twenty six* bones in the human foot, some in the front, others in the back and some underneath. Some are large and others are small, but they all need to be healthy in order to kick a soccer ball. Each part of the foot affects the ball in terms of direction, speed and accuracy. Depending on what you want to do, whether it’s to pass, shoot, or run with the ball, one has to use a different part of the foot.

This week’s Parsha is Eikev. Rashi explains this to be a reference to the heel of a foot.
Eikev – “on the heel of”, i.e. in consequence of listening to the Mitzvos of the Torah. I would like to offer a few interesting interpretations of the word Eikev used here in relationship to Hashem.

1) The word Eikev is seen as an allusion to Mitzvos that are associated with the heel or foot walking to the study hall or the Shul to pray or to learn. Other Mitzvos associated with the foot are, walking to visit the sick, escorting the dead to their final resting place, travelling to console mourners, etc.
2) It teaches us that the reward one reaps in this world for observance of Mitzvos is very small and of little value as is the heel of man. The major portion of reward is saved for the world to come.
3) A third and perhaps the most well known explanation of the word Eikev is: Heel of the foot alluding to the Mitzvos that are trodden upon and treated lightly.

The last reason is telling us; do not step on those commandments that we feel are not important or have little value. Rather, treat each and all Mitzvos in a special beautiful way by upholding and cherishing them. Regardless of whether we agree with that Mitzvah or not we must still perform the Mitzvah to the greatest of our ability. We, for sure, must stay away from mocking Mitzvos and the Torah. Don’t kick the Torah like a soccer ball with any part of our foot, especially the heel which literally steps and treads upon things.

A certain Rabbi named Horav Swift interprets the verse as a lesson to parents. Children follow the heel, or in the footsteps of their parents. They see and sense their parents’ commitment and take it to heart. Our greatest error is to underestimate our children’s perceptions. On many occasions, we express the hope that children will follow in their parent’s footsteps. We hope that it is an appropriate blessing.

Now that we are warned about the potential greatness and danger of the foot, we can all prepare for the coming of Moshiach. If not we will see you in Brazil in 2014.

Ah Gut Shabbos
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky

* Some people know the significance of the number 26 in Jewish lore and what it equals to. Thinking about the foot, the lowest part of our body, should humble us before God.

VA’ESCHANAN – Membership: Fees vs. Benefits

Published on July 23, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

As my family and I pass the anniversary of our arrival here at Beth Jacob, I am reminded of one eerie question. After learning in Yeshiva and preparing to become a pulpit Rabbi, I was asked a question that completely threw me off course. I thought that I was well prepared, at least, for the most basic questions. The Semicha ordination covered laws of family purity, Shabbos, laws of Kosher, festivals, mourning, and all other life cycle events. We were trained for the most difficult situations and to figure out what the proper and appropriate decision would be through analytical derivation.

I was caught off guard when asked a basic fundamental question that, in Yeshiva, we really took for granted and did not really ever expect to receive. A person asked me and said: “Rabbi, what do I get for my membership?” Such a profound question floored me and I was totally flustered. This, they surely did not teach us in rabbinical school! Where does one find or even begin to look for the answer to such a question?

So the obvious address was Rabbi Wein, my Rosh HaYeshiva. After all, it was he who trained us for the Rabbinate; he should surely have the answer. After mustering up the courage to ask such a question of, what do people of a Shul get for their membership, he replied without blinking an eye or taking a breath. He said “membership to a Shul entitles you to a place to daven, to pray.” A synagogue/Shul is not the Jewish community center where we have swimming, social events, basketball, and everything secular and nothing religious. To the contrary, a Synagogue is a place of spirituality where we connect emotionally and spiritually to God. We may have some benefits of the social element at times such as during Kiddush and shalosh seudos. We also cater with activities and programs for the young and old, but that is not the main objective of a Shul. A Shul is a place to daven and pray that connects us with our creator.

There are more than fifteen Hebrew words that describe prayer. One of them is from the beginning of our parsha. The name of our Parsha this week is Va’Eschanan. The parsha begins chapter 3 verse 23: “Va’Eschanan El Hashem . . .” – and Moshe implored God to let him enter into Eretz Yisrael. A derivation of the word Va’Eschanan is chinoon, which comes from the word free. The sages tell us that Moshe was asking for a Matnas Chinam, a free gift, something that is above and beyond what he deserved. There is a storehouse waiting for us to pick up the “free gifts” and in order to receive them all we need to do is ask.

Moshe Rabbeinu is teaching us what membership entitles us to. We gather together in a Beit HaKnesset, to daven and ask Hashem for those precious things that we need, even if we don’t deserve them. One would ask, “If we don’t deserve them then why would God give it to us?” The answer lies in the word VaEschanan, whose numerical value equals five-hundred fifteen, which are the number of times that Moshe recited this prayer in order to go into Israel. Hashem told Moshe to stop and not ask even one more time, otherwise He would have to give in to Moshe and grant his request. We therefore see that our Tefillos will be answered by asking repeatedly over and over again. And even if we do not deserve that which we ask for, God should grant us our request.

Let us realize what a synagogue IS and what it IS NOT, by looking forward to come to Shul to daven and pray; not only to socialize and have a fun time.

Ah Gut Shabbos
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky

DEVARIM – CHIRP, CHIRP, CHIRP

Published on July 15, 2010 in Rabbi's Message and Uncategorized. Closed

As many of you know I am the proud father of two birds. For many years these feathered friends took care of themselves. All I would do is make sure they had food, water and enough air space for them to spread their wings. About six months ago one of the older birds passed away. I always felt the need for having two birds so they could have each other because most of the day the house was empty. Therefore, I purchased a new young whitish parakeet named Spunky to keep DoeDoe company. A few weeks ago we noticed this white scaly stuff growing on his feet and beak and the beak became a little disfigured.  After consulting with the greatest veterinarians on google we found out the bird has mites. If this condition is not treated it could lead to the demise of the bird.

I was able to treat the bird by giving him a warm bath every morning and soothing his feet with Vaseline. Within a few days his feet were back to normal but during the illness he lost two nails and they will hopefully grow back. The bigger issue was the beak. The mites have gotten onto the beak as well and therefore Spunky had stopped trimming and filing his beak. (Remarkably, birds and most animals take care of themselves). Since he wasn’t filing it down it kept growing like our nails do. One major problem was that birds use their beaks to climb and swoop up their food and in combined action with their lower beak, crack the seeds and grab the food with their tongue and discard the shells. I now have to wait and see if he can still eat despite the beak being overgrown and out of shape. If he cannot eat, then the question will be do we take the bird for some expensive treatment or just let it be. Finally, the sound of his chirping is altered due to the over growth of his beak.

I now began to realize the importance of how perfect Hashem makes something and how easy it is to mess it up. We are also blessed with our own type of beaks and that is our mouth. This week’s Torah portion begins with “Eileh HaDevarim asher Deeber Moshe…” These are the words that Moshe spoke. The coincidence of the birds mouth problem and Moshe “speaking” to the Jewish people and reminding them of all their sins that they committed in the desert by not mentioning the sins themselves but rather the places they occurred. Moshe wanted to be careful not to speak in such a harsh way and embarrass the people, and therefore chose a more delicate method of rebuke. Parshas Devorim is almost always read the Shabbos before Tisha B’Av the ninth day of Av. We are all aware that the second temple was destroyed because of sinas chinam, unwarranted hatred amongst the Jews. Sinas chinam is fueled by lashon hara, evil speech.

Unfortunately, we don’t realize that as we speak negatively against our fellow Jew, our beaks start to become deformed. Our mouth piece starts to lose its original beauty and shape. We need to constantly trim and refine our lips, tongue and even clean our teeth in order that only nice things about others are said. If we don’t take care of it and work on it then we forget about how it is even supposed to look and what its function ought to be.

When the Torah says about Moshe Rabbeinu “These are the Words that Moshe spoke” it is not only directed to the context of his rebuke, but also to the actual WORDS. These words are a reflection of the entire Torah, the words of the Torah must be spoken in a special holy manner.

Remember when we speak what it can do to our mouths and face. If we speak evil then the parasites affix themselves to our mouths and face and disfigure it and it forces us to continually speak evil. We must rather clean it, sharpen it and keep it healthy so that only Lashon Tov, good speech is formed and not Lashon Hara. Of all the days of the year to take care of our beaks, oops I meant our mouths it should be during these nine days and hopefully our words will be able to build the temple one brick at a time and be able to rejoice in the building of the third Temple speedily in our day.

Ah Gut Shabbos
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky
www.bethjacobsandiego.org

Matos/Massei – Summer Travel & AAA

Published on July 14, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

This past Fourth of July, travel was up seventeen percent from last year nationwide. San Diego is especially known for its tourism and travel, as people are always coming and going. The summer has its own special category of travel, even my own children took off this past week. As I was saying goodbye to my son in law, I told him that he can “call” once in a while….if he wants to. At that, my son in law told over a famous short story about a student who went on a vacation and asked his Rebbi (teacher) if there was anything he wanted from the place he was going to?

The Rebbi told the student that he wanted a cigar from that city. The student found that strange because the Rebbi didn’t smoke, nevertheless he said of course he would bring it back. Sure enough on the way back home the student remembered that he had forgotten to buy the cigar in that city, so he bought it closer to home. When he went to see his Rebbi he confessed and told the Rebbi what had happened and asked hopefully that it was ok. At that point the Rebbi said, “I really didn’t need a cigar from that city, but rather I wanted you to remember me, remember your Rebbi, even when you are on vacation and traveling”.
The last two portions of Bamidbar are read this week, the second one being Massei. Parshas Massei relates the forty two places the Jewish people traveled to during the forty years in the desert. Imagine the generation that was just going from one place to another in order to wait out the forty year sentence that the Jews would wander in the desert. They knew that their generation (those from 20-60 years of age) would not enter Israel and no one else would enter until they all died out. I am sure they would be thinking about the sin and the cause of their being denied entrance into Eretz Canaan. Many years to contemplate and maybe even repent and do Teshuva . Even without thinking of their sin, we know that the Jewish people sat and learned Torah for the years they traveled in the Midbar, the desert. With the open miracles around them the constant thought of Hashem’s presence was always there and on their minds. We too, as we go on our vacations and travels should also keep on thinking about Hashem. Whether it comes through Davening with a minyan, keeping up with a chavrusa by phone, keeping the standards of Kosher that we are accustomed to at home, anything that will keep us focused about our Judaism will help.
This same idea is a lesson for the full length of our lives. Our life is a state of travel from the time we are born until we die. We are only passing through this world as it is only a temporary place. We recall the famous story of the saintly Chofetz Chaim whose house was bare. When asked where all his furnishings were he replied: “Just as a person traveling only takes a few possessions with him, so too I am only passing through this world so I merely need a few things to get by”. Throughout our lives we need to have constant reminders to take Hashem with us wherever we go. There are times through this journey of life that we think we are on our own and we don’t need God. This attitude will veer us off the road and will end up lost in life. As we travel this summer, become a member of the AAA, the Almighty’s Always Around.
Ah Gut Shabbos
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky

PINCHAS – PASSION

Published on July 5, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

A few days ago, I had a meeting with a group of individuals who have taken upon themselves to build a certain religious ritual complex. Due to sensitivity and privacy, I can’t mention it by name. At this time, it does not fulfill the requirements of Halacha nor Hashkafa (proper outlook) according to mainstream Orthodox Judaism. As we spoke of the parameters of the project, I tried explaining to them why Orthodox Judaism and I would take issue with it and thereby not be able to participate. Nevertheless, I could not begin to convince them and, to the contrary, their passion only grew stronger.

In today’s world, there are many misguided “spiritually” charged people. They feel a need to “feel” spiritual because they have this pull or an urge to it. Therefore they turn to organizations such as the “kabbala center’ or the healing center where they feel spiritually charged and closer to God. Most of these movements are here one day and gone the next. People like them because it comes without any responsibility or the commitment to undertake the observance of the Torah. So as long as they “feel “spiritual it’s enough.

Even if their path was correct and kosher, (which it is not) they do not make that connection to follow the Mitzvos of the Torah. These movements attack Orthodoxy by claiming that we are not spiritual, rather we are concerned mainly with the mechanics. If one would only realize how false that statement is. We believe in meditation and practically do it three times a day during our davening. Every Mitzvah that we perform, we are spiritually uplifting our souls to a higher level. But for some reason, they did not hear my point as they CONTINUED to be PASSIONATE about the way THEY see the path to spirituality. Unfortunately, millions of dollars will be spent and wasted on a pursuit of spiritual happiness in a very wrong sense. In this week’s Parsha, Parshas Pinchas we pick up the story from last week.

At the conclusion of last week’’s Torah portion, we read about the act of Zimri and the response of Pinchas. The episode is described as follows:
And a man from the Children of Israel brought a Midianite woman in front of his brethren, in sight of Moses and the entire community, and they engaged in sexual intercourse in front of the Tent of Meeting. Pinchas, the son of Elazar, son of Aaron the Kohen, saw them. He arose from the community and took his spear with him. He approached the man of Israel by the tent and he pierced them both by the tent. The plague in Israel was stopped. (Numbers 25:6-8)

While the story was told last week, in Balak, certain elements about the episode are held in abeyance until this week’’s Torah portion, Parshat Pinchas. Named for the protagonist of this episode, it informs us of the lineage of the perpetrators of the deed:
The name of the man of Israel who was killed, together with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Saluah, a prince from the tribe of Shimon. And the name of the Midianite woman killed was Kozbi, the daughter of Tzur, the head of the nation of Midian. (Numbers 25:14-15)

The Targum (Yonatan, Yerushalmi) identifies Tzur with none other than Balak himself! His hatred was so profound that he was willing to prostitute his own daughter for the chance to corrupt the Jews in the process. Pinchas, upon viewing this scene, acts in what the Torah describes as a “fanatical” rage, and kills them both in order to put an end to the desecration. The act of Pinchas is the archetypical fanatical act; others in the future who acted in a similar manner have been associated with Pinchas. Most notably Eliyahu Hanavi, Elijah the Prophet, is identified by the Sages as Pinchas himself, if not literally, then at least in the mystical sense, whereby the two would be said to share a common soul. (See Targum Yonatan, Shmot 6:18.)

In a sense, Zimri is no less a fanatic than Pinchas; they reflect different sides, very different directions. The fanaticism of Pinchas, and of Zimri, should come as no surprise, as it has an antecedent in Genesis, in another act of fanaticism and revenge. Fanaticism and passion are often linked together. One of the ways to defeat the misguided passions and fanatics is for us, the defenders of Hashem’s honor and the purity of Torah to be as passionate about Torah and Mitzvos as the other groups are in their goals. Rambam, in his Mishna Torah Laws of Shmita and Yovel 13:12 writes, “Not only the tribe of Levi, rather any man of the entire world whose spirit moves him, and causes him to separate and stand in front of God to serve Him and worship Him, in order to know God, and walks along a straight path as God has made him, and he rejects the numerous calculations which occupy most men, this person becomes sanctified — [he becomes] a Holy of Holies, and God will be his lot, his portion forever and ever …”

Any Jew can become the “Holy of Holies.” What is needed is single-minded dedication to God, as was manifested by Pinchas. His love of God required his extreme response. The fanatical behavior of Zimri, which was followed by his tribe of Shimon, had to be stopped and was stopped by the passion that Pinchas displayed.

We, now more than ever before, need to become passionate for the cause of Torah from Heaven and defending the traditions of the Torah and our great heritage.

Ah Gut Shabbos
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky

BALAK – Communication

Published on June 25, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

The communication business is a multi-billion dollar industry. Yet with all the technical know-how, phones, and satellite systems we still have a problem in talking and understanding each other. Weather it is parents to children, husbands to wives, neighbors and friends, allies and enemies, we still have trouble in communicating our thoughts and intentions to one another.
In this week’s Parsha, Parshas Balak, God opens up the mouth of the donkey to speak to Bilaam. The verse states in Chapter 22 verse 28 “Vayiftach Hashem es Pi HaAsone, VaTomer L’Bilaam Meh Asisi L’Cha Ki Hikisani Zeh Shalosh Regalim” “And Hashem opened the donkey’s mouth and it said to Bilaam, “What have I done to you, that you beat me these three times?” All of the commentators go to great lengths to explain the incident of the talking donkey. One of the most common answers given is in order to show the strength and might of the Almighty. God decides to change the nature of His creations, so much so until He opens up the mouth of the donkey to speak. This is an act of superiority in showing Bilaam and his followers that the entire world is run by God. Hashem does this in order to prevent Bilaam from cursing the Jews.
There are two questions I would like to pose. One, why did Hashem have to discourage Bilaam from cursing the Jews? The Jewish people are a blessed people that should not be affected by the curse of anyone especially from a wicked man like Bilaam. Second, why did Hashem use a talking donkey as a messenger to Bilaam?
I believe the answer to both questions is the uniqueness of human speech. The first question of why Hashem even had to say anything to Bilaam is because Hashem cannot stand to have negative words flow into His world without being countered. More than that, Hashem felt that the words of curse will end up being words of blessing. As to the second question of why the mouth of a donkey? True Hashem could have used any method of communication to Bilaam, but rather than using an angel or some other sign, Hashem chooses the mouth of a lowly animal to teach us a lesson that even if a lowly animal like a donkey can speak properly, how much more so a human being, who is created in the image of God, must learn to speak properly. In Bereishis, Hashem clearly defines and separates Adam Harishon from the rest of creation with the ability of human speech. Talking is not just making noise with our mouths, but rather a holy act in imitating Hashem. Hashem is giving us the lesson of the importance and beauty that the power of speech brings to the world.
When people fight with each other, there might be many things being said, but nothing is being communicated from one to the other. If families are raising their voices on top of each other, there’s a lot of noise, but zero communication. When nations are shooting at each other, the words of diplomacy are being shut out. The world is truly lacking in the ability to communicate ideas and reason from one side to another. If we would be able to communicate properly, then all of the attempted curses will turn into blessings and we will not only act as a lowly human being, but rather emulate and live in the image of Hashem.

Ah Gut Shabbos,
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky

Weekly Torah Message: CHUKAS – Behind The Scenes

Published on June 18, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

One of the most important lessons in life is to remember that we are not just watching the game of life but rather we are the actors themselves! How often it is do we think that everything bad that happens in life is “for the other guy” but not me. We somehow remove ourselves from the fact that we are also finite within this world.
I was thinking the other day that I work and get paid for me doing the job. But has it ever occurred to someone, that maybe someone is paying your employer just to give you a job and really they are paying your salary? Who knows, maybe it’s all a set-up in order to make me “think” that it is my hard work and effort that got me the job and that I continue to get paid.
Imagine, one day the sustenance and support stops, and only then do we realize that it was coming from someplace else and it really wasn’t “me” who was really making it happen.
We know that for the years that the Jews wandered in the desert, they were provided three things in the merit of three Tzadikim. It was because of Moshe that we had the manna, Aharon brought the Ananei Hakavod/The clouds of glory and Miriam brought forth water from her well. In this week’s Parsha, Parshas Chukas, both Miriam and then Aharon die, as a result the well dried up and the clouds disappeared. There is a question as to why the Jewish people did not cry and eulogize Miriam when she died? The Sefer Simchas Higayon answers that in reality the well stopped giving forth water BECAUSE the Jews did not mourn properly for Miriam. But it started to give water again in the merit of Aharon and Moshe. Unfortunately, because the water resumed after a short while, the Jewish people did not feel the impact of where and from whom the water source was from. I am sure that after so many years, the Jews took it for granted, and forgot in whose merit they benefited from all those years. In fact they may have thought it was in their own merits that they enjoyed the manna, water and protection of the clouds. Then again when Aharon died, the clouds disappeared for only a short while, and resumed in the merit of Moshe Rabbeinu. It was only until Aharon, Miriam and Moshe died did they remember that it was in the merits of those righteous individuals and not themselves that we enjoyed the Manna, Clouds and water. All of a sudden, reality is brought forth and opened up before their eyes.
It is only so clear when the source, the hand that was giving is no longer, that we realize someone behind the scenes is pulling the strings.
Our problem is that we tend to forget that EVERYTHING we have is coming from another source and it is not MY doing but rather from Hashem. We go through life thinking that it is we who are doing everything and even when the true source is sometimes cut off, a new source of merit replaces it. Hashem provides us with everything, for reasons that only He knows. At times we deserve it on our own, and other times because of others. Let us never forget the place that Bracha/Blessing comes from.
We are not in control but rather we are being controlled. There are things happening behind the scenes, and our objective is to remember that Hashem/God is pulling ALL the strings.

Ah Gut Shabbos
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky

Weekly Torah Message: KORACH – Build To Last

Published on June 10, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

Shlomo Hamelech writes in Mishlei ” chachmas Isha Bansa Beisa”. It’s the wisdom of the woman that builds the home. We see this illustrated in the most obvious way in this weeks parsha, Korach. The Gemara in Sanhedrin relates to us the conversations that two couples had. The first was Korach and his wife and the second Owne ben Peles and his wife. Korach’s wife instigated the rebellion of Korach against Moshe. She claimed Moshe was guilty of nepotism in not only appointing himself king, but his brother Aharon to be the Kohen Gadol the High Priest who would receive gifts from the nation. Furthermore he appointed Aaron’s sons to be the deputy Kohein. Korach himself a Levi of higher stature and greater wealth was egged on by his wife to challenge Moshe. Korach who was probably one of the wealthiest men at the time would eventually lose it all and be swallowed up in the ground. The other conversation between Owne Ben Peles and his wife went as follows. “What difference does it make weather you follow Moshe or Korach, in either case you are only going to be the student not the master. Urging her husband and eventually convincing him to remove himself from Korach and his followers and to remain loyal to Moshe. She did this in a remarkable act of putting her shame at risk by acting in a manner that would be castigated by others. Thereby Korach’s followers would want to kick out Owne for being married to such an immodest woman. Owne who slept through this scene ended up being saved physically in this world and spiritually in the world to come.
Recently, someone asked me the obvious question, “how do I know when to listen to my wife and when not to”? I think that in our day in age we have a clearer picture of right and wrong and not such a great challenge as in the case of Owne. The over simplified answer is if your wife tells you to go to the casino then don’t listen but if she tells you to go Daven or learn in Shul then you should run there. There are a few scenarios that are obvious and we (men) should take heed from the individuals who actually build the home.
As the old cliché goes “it takes two to tango”. The wives and women in our lives who are the builders of the home must feel that responsibility that rests with them. Children will usually follow their greatest role models, their parents. Mothers and fathers must realize that their sons and daughters are looking to them for positive behavior. This isn’t always successful, there are other outside factors that we need to contend with. At least let’s do what we CAN control, and that is we the parents and the environment of our homes.
Let us not be swallowed up by society, but rather stand up as Moshe & Aharon did against Korach and his 250 followers.

If I may add a Bracha/Blessing to this week’s Dvar Torah.
A Bracha to a young woman who started to build her new home with her new husband. They should take the words of Shlomo Hamelech of “Chochmas Isha Bansa Beisa” and the words of Shlomo’ father David Hamelech that the wife is the Akeres Habyis/ the mainstay of the Jewish home and fulfill them to build a Bayis Neeman B’Yisroel. To Yehudis (nee Bogopulsky) and Yaacov Kaplan on their wedding this past week, you should follow the words of Dovid and Shlomo Hamelech as you build your personal kingdoms, may you be Zocheh to build a Bayis Neeman B’Yisroel. Mazal Tov

Ah Gut Shabbos
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky

Weekly Torah Message: Sh’lach– 2C or not 2B CEEN

Published on June 3, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

I had an eye opening experience as I travelled to New York last week for a wedding. Heading out on the Jet Blue red eye I realized I did not have headphones for the flight. Those who are familiar with Jet Blue know they sell headphones for two dollars that are in a bin at the gate. It works on the honor system and all I had was a five dollar bill. I asked the attendant at the gate for change and she said “oh don’t worry just take a head set “not making me pay for them. As I was holding my five dollar bill in my hand I went to take out my “free set “. At that moment I felt dozens of eyes staring at me perhaps thinking that I was stealing the headphones, as they were unaware of the attendant’s permission. (I was also unsure of weather or not the attendant had the authority to let people take, maybe yes maybe not). At this point I put the headphones back in the bin and actually waited for someone else to purchase a set and with their two dollars, made some change and deposited my five dollar bill. (It actually ended up costing me three dollars for this ordeal) I went over to the attendant an explained the concern I had of the “way it would look” and therefore did not take her up on her offer but nevertheless, thanked her.

The second experience I had was waiting for my luggage back in San Diego after a grueling thirty-six hour turn-around venture to New York for a wedding. After retrieving messages on the phone and returning a phone call or two I approached the carousel to get a better view of the luggage popping out onto the belt. With my phone glued to one ear, I heard from my other ear a woman talking out loud and saying “how rude some people are by just cutting in front of others”, whereby she moved a bit further down. I did not push or shove anyone, or do anything more or less than other people do when they try to retrieve their luggage from a carousel. Nevertheless, in her mind I did something wrong and therefore it was a clear Chillul Hashem on my part! I immediately hung up and walked over to the woman and I apologized and said she was absolutely correct and I was sorry. She was extremely satisfied that I apologized and more so surprised that I made the effort to do so.

The Meraglim/spies were sent out to check out the land of Israel. What was the source of their sin? The commentaries challenge and ask “how was it that such men of great stature sinned and caused an entire nation to sin”? The underlying reason was a lack of emunah/faith in God. They had heard about the giants living in the land and the huge fruits that its trees produced. They questioned their own level of spirituality and determined that they were not worthy of the miracles that would be necessary in order to conquer the land. Yehoshua and Kalev responded to them by saying that in previous situation in the dessert we also did not deserve to be successful and victorious against our enemies. Hashem nevertheless found reason to give the Jews the benefit and gave them salvation despite the fact they may not have deserved it. This time they argued will be no different. Going into Eretz Canaan, Hashem will create the miracles necessary to defeat the giants and capture Israel.

Both the ten spies and the other two, Yehoshua and Kalev both saw the same identical situation but came out with different results. Yehoshua and Kalev chose to view the promise that Hashem made to our forefathers and this conquering of Israel was to take place now. While the ten spies chose to see the situation as we are not deserving of Hashem’s kindness and mercy because we are not Tzadikim, which is a pre-requisite to enter and conquer the land.

Same situation but with two vantage points can change history. How do we see a situation and how are we seen in a situation. We are to look upon every scenario in a favorable way for the Jewish people and not in a denigrating fashion as the world views us. We do not have to look further than this past week’s events in the waters off the Gaza shore. We see a Flotilla and must act in a certain way to defend ourselves and the rest of the world chooses to see it completely different in their eyes. A Jew’s responsibility is to view a situation and not only act appropriately in our eyes but also through the eyes of the world.
A Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky

Check out Beth Jacob’s Online Chinese Auction at www.chineseauctiononline.org/bjsd

Weekly Torah Message: Parshas B’Haaloscha “Omissions and Additions”

Published on May 25, 2010 in Uncategorized. Closed

The Torah is replete with words that are Chaseir or Malei. A word that is Chaseir is a word that seems to be missing a letter while a word that is malei is written with all its letter’s intact. Generally speaking there are two letters in the Hebrew language, the Yud and the Vav, that can be added to a word but yet seem to be expendable as well, meaning that the word will read the same way with or without these letters. We are all aware that there are no extra words or any extra letters in the Torah. Therefore if a word has the vav and could be read without it, there must be a reason that it is there or not. There are hundreds of examples of this throughout Tanach. The question then arises as to why sometimes the very same word is written full, Malei or Chaseir, missing. Even more challenging are the situations when a word is mentioned twice within a passuk and one time it is written one way and the second time the other way.

In the opening passuk in this week’s parsha B’Haaloscha it says “Dabair el Aharon V’Amarta Aleihem, B’Haaloscha es HaNeir`s (without a Vav) el Mul Pnei HaMenorah Yairu Shivas HaNeiros (with a Vav). *RABBI YISRAEL BE’ERI KOLODNER in his commentary Zahav B’Miluasam on Chumash explains the Chaseir/Malei phenomena in Tanach. The Vav in a word is a sign of completeness and wholesomeness, and its absence connotes that it is lacking in something. In our case of the candles, the word Neiros is first written without a vav because the candles at that point are not set into the candelabra. Rather they were taken outside and lit and are therefore considered incomplete. They can only be complete when they are lit in the holders of the Menorah itself. The Ohr Hachaim HaKadosh explains that when the candles were taken down to be cleaned and then lifted back up to be arranged again in the Menorah the word Neiros is without vav. The Neiros/candles are only a part of what their potential is supposed to be. The second time the word Neiros/candles are mentioned in the passuk is when they have been lit and are IN the Menorah. The candles together with the Candelabra is now Shaleim, it is now complete, so the word Neiros is full with the vav. If one was to analyze each time the word is used you can decipher whether or not it is being used in its full or partial form.
There are times when a person is preparing something to be baked. Even if all the ingredients are mixed together but it’s not yet been in the oven it is not ready to be eaten. So too when it comes to learning and doing of Mitzvos. There are times when we prepare to do a Mitzva but we never finish it off. We go out erev Sukkos and purchase a lulav and esrog and all its trimmings, but when it comes to the last component of actually doing the Mitzva we sometimes fall short. There is a certain excitement in getting ready and preparing for the Mitzva but we sometimes slack off when it comes to finishing. If we only buy the lulav, or clean the chanukiah, practice blowing the Shofar but don’t use it properly at the right time in the right place then we are lacking in the vav of that mitzva. We in our every day lives get bogged down with all the prep and hype of an event, or a mitzva, and never fully appreciate or complete the task at hand. One of the major benefits in completing something is the accompanying feeling of peace and tranquility that comes as a result of our finishing. We find this in that city in Israel known as Yerushalayim, or Ir Shalem and it is the city of peace. Let us all share in the enthusiasm to prepare the mitzvos and have the wherewithal to complete them and bring forth light of the full Neiros (with a vav) that we shall merit to light once again in the Bayis Shlishi B’Meheira V’Yameinu, Amen.
Ah Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky

Remember to support Beth Jacob Congregation by participating in our on-line chinese auction. Please click here http://www.chineseauctiononline.org/index.php?PARTNER=bjsd

***Rabbi Yisrael Be’eri Kolodner was born in 1911 in Drohitchin. His father, known as “R. Shmuel Getzel’s” was from a wonderful family in Antopolia. His mother, Sarah, who died when he was only seven years old, was the daughter of an important Drohitchin businessman, R. Getzel Kaplan, who was the father of two rabbis: Rabbi Shmuel Yisrael Kaplan, the rabbi of Kolna (near Lomza), and Rabbi Avraham Yehuda Kaplan, the rabbinical judge of Yanovo.

R. Shmuel strove to maintain the tradition of the family, and provided his son Yisrael with a sound religious education under the teachers in town. At 17, young Israel was sent to study elsewhere. He spent three years in the Novardok yeshiva, Beit Yosef, in Pinsk (headed by R. Moshe Reiz); six months in the Novardok yeshiva in Byalistock under R. Avraham Yaffen; ten years in the Kamenitz yeshiva, Knesset Beit-Yitzchak, under Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibovitz and his son-in-law, R. Reuven Grozovsky.

After receiving ordination from Rabbi Baruch Ber and Rabbi Weinstein (who headed Yeshiva Beit Yosef in Pinsk), Rabbi Kolodner moved to Palestine in 1933, where he spent several years studying in the Hevron Yeshiva in Jerusalem. In 1938, R. Yisrael became the son-in-law of the famous Jerusalem rabbi and kabbalist, R. Yaakov Moshe Charlap, and with the help of his wife, Chana Dina, R. Yisrael was able to devote himself to his studies under his father-in-law.

In 1943, R. Yisrael was appointed a rabbi in the old colony of Nes Ziona, where he excelled in various areas. He taught Talmud to elderly men and was concerned with the education of children; he founded a charity fund for residents of the colony, and created a charity fund for visitors. He also assisted new immigrants to find places to live.

In 1940 he published his first book, Mishnat Rishonim (Part 1), which was well received by the press in Palestine. The second part of his book is to be published shortly. Another book, Higyonei Kedem is still in manuscript form, and he is working on a fourth book on part of the Shulchan Aruch. R. Yisrael also writes Torah articles in various publications in Israel.