As we get closer to Pesach I cannot stop thinking of the cleaning process that we go through every year. For many people, it’s not simply Pesach cleaning, but rather the official “spring cleaning” of the year and I am no different than anyone else when it comes to cleaning. I often wonder if everyone else goes through what happens to me when I start to clean out the garage and the office etc. Very few items actually get thrown out as I start to rationalize how I may “need” this God forsaken item sometime in the future. Other things have full of nostalgia and memories that I can’t even remember where and what it was from. Before I know it, instead of throwing out this junk, I find myself neatly putting back some things that I will never ever use again. In addition, even if I get rid of it I probably will never miss it either.
The Kabbalists teach us that Pesach cleaning is symbolic in that we try to cleanse ourselves from sins that we have accumulated over the years. There is so much junk and garbage that we carry with us that we ought to just get rid of it. Unfortunately, we don’t completely throw out that “sin” or bad trait of ours, rather we tuck it back in and never completely get rid of it. I recall one of my Rabbis from Israel writing down certain sins or character flaws on a piece of paper and casting that paper into the fire with the chometz that we bur on Pesach eve.
We should keep in mind that this only applies to negative ideas or sins. For we find in this week’s Torah portion Tzav the unique Mitzva of “Terumas HaDeshen, the removal or literally lifting up of the ashes. After the Olah sacrifice, which was completely consumed on the altar, the ashes were simply not thrown out; rather they are put down next to the Altar. Even though some sacrifices were offered because of a sin, the act of asking and attaining forgiveness in it of itself is a Mitzva. Since the sacrifice is a holy act then even the residue must be treated with great respect. Therefore we have the Kohain remove it and place it down right next to the Mizbeiach. The Ashes may not be able to serve the purpose it once did when it was full of fire but its holiness is still imbued within it. Furthermore, the word Deshen that we translate as ashes still has some smoldering effect and heat does emanate from it. At times the ashes may still be very hot.
There may be good traits that we once had and are no longer doing them. We have simply removed them but we should never throw them out. Even those things we put on the side can still serve us well and be a benefit to others.
As the hours count down to Pesach, let us only throw out the “Real Chometz” that which is completely destructive in nature and rekindle those smoldering ashes from the past. Let us use those ashes to spark us to be that Jew of old that used to do many more Mitzvos and good deeds. The ashes should not only remind us of what we were, but rather of what we can become!
Good Shabbos and a Zeesen Pesach,
Avram Bogopulsky
Many have heard the Hebrew word for love is Ahava. Many Hebrew words have roots, and the root of Ahava is Hav, which means to give. The message is very strong and clear that it is to our loved ones we give and give, and realize that by giving we are also getting in return.
Similarly, as we begin Sefer Vayikra the Book of Leviticus we find a similar and striking comparison to the love notion. The third of the five Books of Moshe is Leviticus or in Hebrew Toras Kohanim for it discusses many of the laws associated with the Priests and primarily discusses the Korbanos, the sacrifices. The second verse of this week’s Torah portion says “Dabair el Bnai Yisrael v’amarta lahem, Adam ki yakriv mikem korban La’Hashem etc”. “Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: When a person from among you will bring an offering to Hashem etc. The root of the word Korban, sacrifice is Karov to get close. When we GIVE a sacrifice to Hashem we are actually trying to get close to God. We are the beneficiaries of that gesture. God does not need out sacrifices, rather we NEED Hashem to accept them so we feel closer to Him. It is interesting to note that the word Mikem (in the verse) which means from among you can be read backwards and forwards as it has three letters of which the first and last are the same. Hinting to the fact that when people give of themselves for the sake of giving and doing so for the sake of Heaven then they are the true benefactors of their offering to Hashem.
In our times the word sacrifice is sometimes interpreted that I am losing out on something. That I have given of myself that I am losing and will not retrieve. (Even in baseball when a person hits a sacrifice fly it does not go against his average as having made an out. Although he does not get any credit either). But in the Torah’s perspective you actually gain by sacrificing to Hashem and for other human beings.
Unfortunately, many people fail to see this in life. Sometimes parents feel that they don’t need to sacrifice to bring up their children and to make concessions on their own comfort levels. Paying more for tuition, getting a tutor, sending the children away for a positive summer experience, sending away for a better kind of education all require SACRIFICE. Hopefully, the results of those sacrifices will be a better product and relationship with those important loved ones.
I have noticed that people are jealous of others, it is a natural feeling that the Torah warns us against. But nevertheless, People are jealous of others but never recognize or appreciate the sacrifice those individuals made in getting them there! Nothing in life comes easy. In Pirkei Avos it says according to the pain will be the gain. We know that by the phrase “No pain, no gain.
Korbanos may be difficult, in sacrificing our lives for others. But when we do, we will hopefully sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor and getting closer and a return for our Sacrifice.
Good Shabbos
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky
This week we read the final two portions of sefer Shmos, the book of Exodus. If we step back for a moment and view Jewish history up until this point. The Jews left Egypt, received the Torah, built the Mishkan/Tabernacle and are now on their way to Eretz Canaan, the land of Israel. Putting aside what we already know, that the Jewish people will wander in the desert for forty years we should be going into the land now. So what is the feeling in the air and what is the buzz in and around the camps?
The very first verse tells us “Vayakhel Moshe es kol adas Bnei Yisrael vayomer aleihem, eileh hadvarim asher tziva Hashem la’asos osam”. Moshe assembled the ENTIRE assembly of the Children of Israel and said to them: “These are the things that Hashem commanded, to do them.” It then goes on to speak about the Mitzva of Shabbos. One can ask: Why does the Torah use the word kol the entire Jewish people instead of just saying Moshe spoke to the assembly? A second question is: What is the significance of gathering to teach the commandment of Shabbos when we have already mentioned it earlier?
The Yalkut Shimoni which is one of the Midrashic explanations says that the gathering was for Moshe to teach the laws of Shabbos to the Jewish people ON Shabbos. Jews should gather in Shul and study halls to listen to their Rabbis teach about Shabbos. The Yalkut goes on to say that this is the source of the custom that Moshe said “Thirty days before a holiday we should ask and explain the laws of the coming festival. Thirty days before Pesach and thirty days before Sukkos learn the laws of that particular holiday.” This message that Moshe sends us is the importance of the Jewish people to continue learning, learning from their Rabbis, and to come learn within a communal setting. One should not just learn at home, or by themselves, but rather with a teacher and among a group.
The first question of why the entire nation was required to be there can be answered by our differences. Within every group, club, committee, religious affiliation and even family there are opinions and differences. At times, the spectrum within the right to the left can be argumentative and downright ugly. In today’s times we find within the circles of Orthodoxy many brands and strands. Whether a person affiliates with the kippah sruga, suede, velvet or even a paper one we find differences among the group itself. Orthodox Rabbis within the same organization will have different philosophies and outlooks on halacha and practice. Moshe Rabbeinu is commanding through the word of G-d that is all fine and acceptable, as long as we see ourselves in the collective Kol, all the entire. We are so fragmented that Moshe instructs us to pull all together. When and where do we find this opportunity to come together, on Shabbos and Yom Tov.
We need to aspire and do what Moshe did in pulling ALL , the ENTIRE Jewish people together regardless of how different we are. Let us have the merit to become a true Kehilas Yisroel and maybe then we can continue on the original plan of going into the land of Israel.
Ah Gut Shabbos, and a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky
One of the worst events in Jewish history was the sin of the golden calf. Moshe Rabbeinu did not come down from Mount Sinai at the time that the Jews had “thought” he was to arrive. Moshe though was precisely on time, but it was the Jewish people who miscalculated. A miscalculation of a few hours led the course of history to be changed. The Midrash teaches us that the events of Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah had brought the Jewish people and the world back to a state of purity and perfection that the world had not known since the Garden of Eden. This state of elevation came crashing down as Moshe smashed the Tablets that he brought down from the mountain.
What was the sin?
The verse in chapter 32:8 states “Saru Mahair Min Haderech asher Tzivisim, Asu Lahem Masecha Vayishtachavu Lo, They have been quick to abandon the way I instructed them to follow, they have made for themselves a molten calf-idol and they bowed down to it”. One interpretation given by Nachal Kedumim says the key to their “success” in sinning was that they were quick and did it fast. If they wanted to rebel and not do a certain Mitzva they might have to wait for the opportunity of that Mitzvah to come along. If they wanted to violate Shabbos they would have to wait until Shabbos comes. The sin that they chose was one of instant gratification, Idolatry. Avodah Zara, foreign worship of a deity can happen anytime and any place and that’s why their downfall was so immediate. This is why they can fall from such great spiritual heights and fall to the depths of despair. The sin of worshipping idols is tantamount to the repudiation of the entire Torah.
We today are living through our own sin of the golden calf. The Jewish people in general and the Orthodox in particular desire instant gratification. Mind you, that we are not speaking in terms of physical gratification but religious gratification. Individuals want that learning and knowledge should come right away after a brief study session. Every sermon the Rabbi gives should be to my exact liking and taste. Parents feel that their children should be educated immediately within the framework of our schools and Shuls without having to be a role model for their children. Sure it’s easy to say “this is no good” or “they are not effective” and “therefore we need to get rid of it or them”. People are looking for the solutions to come to them without working on themselves and their families. Klal Yisroel should have had the patience for Moshe and realize that getting something else was not going to solve their issues.
If we want our society to be better and our children to grow up with better values then it must begin at home with ourselves. If we have certain expectations from people then we must demand that of ourselves first. We can’t just throw it away because it did not meet my expectations, rather one must lead by example for others to learn by. If one person had stood up when Moshe was thought to have been dead and said let us wait and work on ourselves then the world would have been a very different place. If we stand up and lead by example and not criticize everyone and everything else then the world will surely be a different world in the future. Leading us back to the perfection of the world by recognizing the faults within us and fixing ourselves will ultimately bring about a world that resembles the Garden of Eden.
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky