Monthly Archive for July, 2010

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