Shabbos HaGadol Drasha
Consult your local Orthodox Rabbi for the last time to eat Chametz in your
area. For it varies both by distance from the equator and where you are in the
time zone (Latitude and Longitude). There is an application for the smart phone
called Halachic Times but it can give you the time from sun rise to sunset and
the midday/night time and you can then divide sunrise to midday in half to get
the time from sunrise to stop eating Chametz. This year in my area in Israel
only as Haifa and Beer Sheva are distant enough to change the time by a few
minutes one way or the other. It is for the Modiin-Central Region 9:54 AM and Chametz has
to be burned or destroyed by 11:16 AM.
Some of our worst nightmares occur during Pessach Cleaning and as my
Rabbis taught me “dust is not Chametz”. It is also the deadline season for
filing US Income Tax which adds catastrophe and perhaps disaster together.
This
is the season which is trying on us. My system of keeping if possible Chametz
out of the bedrooms, den and non-dining rooms helps in most cases so if one
fails to spring clean it is no loss and can be done after Pessach. However, the
lady of the house usually likes to go through all places just for the sake of
cleanliness and order. Children’s toys need to be washed or check for Chametz as
they may have had dirty hands from the table or infants biting their favorite
bunny or some other toy in between their cereal. Of course the Chametz on these
toys can be sold for a week and them put to disuse minus of course the
favorites.
From
Gemara Pessachim: "It is not necessary to search all places in which it is
not usual to put leaven," etc. What would the Mishna mean to add by
stating "all places"? The Mishna means to add what was taught by the
Rabbis: "The uppermost or nethermost holes in a house, the roof of an
attic, the roof of a tower, a stable of oxen, a chicken-coop, a straw-shed, and
the cellars where wine or oil is kept need not be searched." R. Simeon ben
Gamaliel said: "A bed, which is placed in a room so that it divides the
room into two parts and is so high that the space underneath it is used, must
be searched."
Last
week I gave the list of Kosher Le Pessach Medicines. Certain things do not need
a special Heckshir such as plain soda or bottled water, bleach, oven-cleaner,
most cleaners and if you checked the OU guide you will find tooth pastes, mouth
wash, soaps and what is written about them. I do not intend to reinvent the
wheel. However, certain foods are forbidden by custom of Ashkenazi while
Sephardim and Yemenite use them. Curry-Saffron is not used by Ashkenazim but if
one has had cancer or a number of members of his/her family have had it, I
recommend it’s use on Pessach as a Sofek Pekuach Nefesh preventative. The
Kitzur Shulchan Aruch mentions Egg Matzo for the elderly although normally
Ashkenazim do not eat it. Those elderly who need to soften up the Matzo have a
choice of eating a “Lafah” type of Iraqi Matzo or softening up in water or
non-Gebruchts in wine.
There
is also the Chumra of the week fools that drive others in their group mad. All
of a sudden this year came out special Kosher Le Pessach fish that are from so
and so pond. Why because they might have been fed bread. Give yourself a break.
Fish eat flies, mosquitos and all sorts of things. The stomach and gut is
always discarded except in small sardines and they get their kashrus from the
organizations. Also let us say that a fish ate a crumb on Thursday before
Pessach. 1) it probably dissolved in the gut, 2) it would have been nullified
by 60 before Pessach. There are also bullies taking over the Kashrus. All the
time that Rav Moshe Feinstein was alive, peanuts, peanut oil and peanut butter
was Kosher for Litvaks and other Ashkenazim. After he passed on all the
Hechsherim disappeared like they were swallowed up with Korach. Regarding
Chumra nonsense it is covered in the Mishnah of Pessachim Chapter 1 Mishna 2 - (And) it need
not be suspected, that a weasel has dragged any leavened bread from (one corner
that had not been searched to one that had); from one house to another or from
one place to another; for if so, the same suspicion might apply to a (possible)
removal from one court to another, or even one city to another, and thus make
the search an endless task. Source for the Mishna and Gemara: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Talmud/pesach1.html
My
personal opinion on Maize or American Corn is that since it did not exist in Europe
and was discovered with the New World it should be kosher like Tapioca and
Quinoa. The only thing that I have against it today is that most of it is
genetically engineered along with tomatoes and some other vegetables. With the
larger amount of autism that we are seeing I just wonder. Also popcorn is hard
and not like a bean. But that is little ole me and I cannot go against a custom
no matter my personal opinion, so until I can convince a Sanhedrin, I will have
to hold this way.
The
Seder Plate and especially the salt water and ground horse radish should be
prepared on Friday a few hours before the Seder. If one has no mouth wash, he
may use this salt water solution to clean his mouth. Have on hand “plain tums”,
“Pepto-Bismol” or equivalents that meet the Kupat Cholim or OU lists. Also one
should have some Kosher Le Pessach Medications ready just in case for adults
and if need be small children.
On
behalf of the Pauli Family Chag Kosher V’ Samayach. The next Blogspot, will be
either Acharei Mos in Israel or combined with Kedoshim.
Parsha Metzora
14:1 And the
LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 2 This shall be the law of the leper in the day
of his cleansing: he shall be brought unto the priest.
After
being out of the three camps, the Cohain comes to check up on him if he is
still afflicted or cured. The procedure follows:
This
shall be the law of the person afflicted with tzara’ath…: This teaches [us]
that [one afflicted with tzara’ath] is not [pronounced] clean at night. —
[Torath Kohanim 14:3, Meg. 21a]
3 And the
priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold,
if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper;
Outside
the camp: [I.e.,] outside the three camps, [namely, a) the camp of the
Shechinah , in which the sanctuary is situated, b) the Levite camp, and c) the
camp of Israel, where the ordinary Israelites encamped], where he was sent
during the time of his “definite” uncleanness. (See 13:46.)
The
Cohain in this case is acting like a skin doctor.
4 then shall
the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two living clean
birds, and cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.
Live
[birds]: Heb., חַיּוֹת, excluding [birds]
that have a fatal disease or injury. — [See Chul. 140a] Clean [birds]:
Excluding an unclean bird, [i.e., forbidden to be eaten] (see Chul. 140a). [Why
are birds required for this cleansing rite?] Because lesions of tzara’ath come
as a result of derogatory speech, which is done by chattering. Therefore, for
his cleansing, this person is required to bring birds, which twitter constantly
with chirping sounds. — [Arachin 16b] A cedar stick: Because lesions of
tzara’ath come because of haughtiness [symbolized by the tall cedar]. —
[Arachin 16a] A strip of crimson [wool], and hyssop: What is the remedy that he
may be healed [of his tzara’ath]? He must humble himself from his haughtiness,
just as [symbolized by] the תּוֹלַעַת
[lit., “a worm,” which infested the berries from which the crimson dye was
extracted to color wool], and the [lowly] hyssop. — [Tanchuma 3] Cedar stick:
Heb. וְעֵץ אֶרֶז, a stick of cedar
wood. — [Torath Kohanim 13:12] A strip of crimson [wool]: Heb. וּשְׁנִי תוֹלַעַת, a tongue-like strip of wool dyed crimson.
— [Torath Kohanim 14:13]
These
are his Korbanos and equipment that he needs.
5 And the
priest shall command to kill = slaughter one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water.
Over
spring water: He places [i.e., pours] it into the vessel first, in order that
the blood of the bird should be recognizable in it. And how much [water is
necessary]? A revi’ith [a quarter of a log]. — [Torath Kohanim 14:21; Sotah
16b]
In
Hebrew it is called Mayim Chaim or living waters compared to normal Mikvah
waters. This could be a river, constant spring or bubbling out of the ground
like at the Banias in northern Israel.
6 As for the
living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar-wood, and the scarlet, and the
hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that
was killed/slaughter or Melecha over the
running water.
[As
for] the live bird, he shall take it: [Scripture separates the taking of the
bird from that of the other items.] This teaches [us] that he does not bind it
with them, but separates it, by itself. The cedar stick and the hyssop,
however, are bound together with the tongue-like strip of crimson wool, as the
matter is stated, “and then the cedar stick, the strip of crimson [wool], and
the hyssop,” i.e., one [act of] taking for the three of them. [I.e., the cedar
stick and the hyssop are bound together with one end of the tongue of crimson
wool, and the loose end is dipped into the blood together with them (Torath
Kohanim 14:21). Now, one might think that since it [the bird] is not included
in the binding, it is not to be included in the dipping [in the blood].
Therefore, Scripture says here, “and, along with the live bird, he shall dip
them,” thereby, re-including the bird for the dipping. — [Torath Kohanim 14:24]
7 And he shall
sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and
shall pronounce him clean, and shall let go the living bird into the open
field. 8 And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off
all his hair, and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean; and after that
he may come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days.
The
shaving off of his hair, beard and eyebrows will make him look funny and he
will disassociate himself with people for talking Lashon HaRa due to his own
embarrassment.
9 And it shall
be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his
beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off; and he shall wash
his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and he shall be clean. 10 And
on the eighth day he shall take two he-lambs without blemish, and one ewe-lamb
of the first year without blemish, and three tenth parts of an ephah of fine
flour for a meal-offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil.
Taking
pigeons is one thing for they are relatively inexpensive but an ewe and a ram
are an expense.
11 And the
priest that cleans him shall set the man that is to be cleansed, and those
things, before the LORD, at the door of the tent of meeting. 12 And the priest
shall take one of the he-lambs, and offer him for a guilt-offering, and the log
of oil, and wave them for a wave-offering before the LORD. 13 And he shall kill
the he-lamb in the place where they kill the sin-offering and the
burnt-offering, in the place of the sanctuary; for as the sin-offering is the
priest's, so is the guilt-offering; it is most holy. 14 And the priest shall
take of the blood of the guilt-offering, and the priest shall put it upon the
tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his
right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. 15 And the priest shall
take of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. 16 And
the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and
shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD. 17 And
of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of
the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right
hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the
guilt-offering.
Always
the right thumb and right toe and elsewhere we see the right ear of Eved Evri
(Hebrew Servant).
18 And the rest of the oil that
is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be
cleansed; and the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD. 19 And the priest shall offer the sin-offering, and make atonement
for him that is to be cleansed because of his uncleanness; and afterward he
shall kill the burnt-offering. 20 And the priest shall offer the burnt-offering
and the meal-offering upon the altar; and the priest shall make atonement for
him, and he shall be clean.
That
is fore a normal individual. Otherwise a person who cannot afford much:
21 And if he be
poor, and his means suffice not, then he shall take one he-lamb for a
guilt-offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one tenth part of an
ephah of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal-offering, and a log of oil;
The
Torah is against one living above his means and therefore gives one the way to
LIVE BY THE TORAH and not go into debit or default from the Tuma.
33
And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying: 34 When ye
are come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I
put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession; 35 then he that owns the house shall come and tell the priest,
saying: 'There seems to me to be as it were a plague in the house.' 36
And the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go in
to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean; and
afterward the priest shall go in to see the house. 37 And he
shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the
house with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, and the appearance thereof be
lower than the wall; …
From
the physical and not spiritual Lashon HaRa and jealousy reason this could be
mold from poor ventilation and humidity. The contents of the house are removed before
it is to be declared Tamay. In my opinion, the house being locked up will not
remove the mold so this is what will happen:
38 then the
priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the
house seven days. 39 And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall
look; and, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house;
On
the other hand if the day is dry that he has the priest come and the house is
aired by people going in and out with the removal of the contents, then perhaps
the plague will not spread if closed up.
40 then the
priest shall command that they take out the stones in which the plague is, and
cast them into an unclean place without the city. … 43 And if the plague come
again, and break out in the house, after that the stones have been taken out,
and after the house hath been scraped, and after it is plastered; 44 then the
priest shall come in and look; and, behold, if the plague be spread in the
house, it is a malignant leprosy in the house: it is unclean. 45 And he shall
break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the
mortar of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an
unclean place.
Rebuilding
the house without proper ventilation or continuing in Lashon HaRa will lead to
its destruction.
46 Moreover he
that goes into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean
until the even. 47 And he that lies in the house shall wash his clothes; and he
that eats in the house shall wash his clothes. 48 And if the priest shall come
in, and look, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the
house was plastered; then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because
the plague is healed.
Then
the atonement is made:
49 And he shall
take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar-wood, and scarlet, and hyssop
15:1 And the
LORD spoke unto Moses and to Aaron, saying: 2 Speak unto the children of
Israel, and say unto them: When any man hath an issue out of his flesh, his
issue is unclean. 3 And this shall be his uncleanness in his issue: whether his
flesh run with his issue, or his flesh be stopped from his issue, it is his
uncleanness. 4 Every bed whereon he that hath the issue lies shall be unclean;
and everything whereon he sits shall be unclean. …16 And if the flow of seed goes
out from a man, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean
until the even. 17 And every garment, and every skin, whereon is the flow of
seed, shall be washed with water, and be unclean until the even. 18 The woman
also with whom a man shall lie carnally, they shall both bathe themselves in
water, and be unclean until the even. 19 And if a woman have an issue, and her
issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be in her impurity seven days; and
whosoever touches her shall be unclean until the even. … 25 And if a woman have
an issue of her blood many days not in the time of her impurity, or if she have
an issue beyond the time of her impurity; all the days of the issue of her
uncleanness she shall be as in the days of her impurity: she is unclean.
A
man or woman can have Gonorrhea and he has fluxes of seed and she bleeds and
continues not like a period. This too is considered a bad Tuma and stronger
than most. It only requires a normal Mikvah and not a well-spring of “living
water”.
26 Every bed
whereon she lieth all the days of her issue shall be unto her as the bed of her
impurity; and every thing whereon she sitteth shall be unclean, as the
uncleanness of her impurity. 27 And whosoever toucheth those things shall be
unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean
until the even. 28 But if she be cleansed of her issue, then she shall number
to herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. 29 And on the eighth
day she shall take unto her two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, and bring
them unto the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting. 30 And the priest
shall offer the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering; and
the priest shall make atonement for her before the LORD for the issue of her
uncleanness. 31 Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their
uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile My
tabernacle that is in the midst of them. 32 This is the law of him that hath an
issue, and of him from whom the flow of seed goeth out, so that he is unclean
thereby; 33 and of her that is sick with her impurity, and of them that have an
issue, whether it be a man, or a woman; and of him that lies with her that is
unclean.
Since
Gonorrhea is a disease caused by the Trichinosis Parasite, this time it is a
sickness and once cured the Korban purifies the individuals.
It is almost 50 years since my original story of a
premonition dream coming true that sparked my questions into becoming Frum.
This quest of another Rabbi sent by Miriam Esther of Boston is interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxgS7C5l5hI
The Soviet Campaign to Eliminate Passover
By Dr. Henry Abramson http://www.aish.com/print/?contentID=375365731§ion=/jw/s
They were successful in more ways than they knew for at
work Pessach 5734 or 5 I had a colleague named Sonya from the USSR. She brought
in bread on Pessach. I asked her why she did not eat wheat Matzos and she said
because a person needs bread daily to survive. I tried to convince her that
Matzos were like crackers etc. I felt that she believed the propaganda that had
been fed her just like some children that were broken outside of Israel like
former Reform me believed all sorts of anti-religious nonsense.
“Red Haggadahs” were published in
the 1920s with the explicit goal of replacing belief in God with faith in
Communist Russia.
One of the most unusual episodes in
the long history of anti-Semitic persecution is the Soviet anti-Jewish campaign
of the 1920s. Utilizing formerly Jewish converts to the new secular messianism
known as Communism, under the leadership of a former Rabbi, Shimon Dimanshteyn,
the Soviets embarked on a bizarre yet creative program of anti-Jewish
propaganda.
Some of this was expressed in
traditional media, such as the Jewish version of the Russian-language magazine Bezbozhnik
(literally, “The Godless”), published in Yiddish under the appropriately
Talmudic title Der Apikoyres (“The Heretic”). Communist youth were
enlisted to organize lavishly catered Yom Kippur dances and stage anti-Jewish
plays. Recognizing the powerful hold that religion had on Soviet Jews, the Jewish
Section of the Communist Party (Yevsektsiia) also attempted to co-opt
the population by capturing and transforming Jewish traditions and texts,
including the Passover Haggadah.
Called “Red Haggadahs,” several were published in the 1920s with the explicit
goal of replacing belief in God with faith in the Soviet Union, and they have
been the subject of recently published studies by Dr. Anna Shternsis of the
University of Toronto.
The traditional text, read at Seder
tables for generation after generation, reads “We were slaves to Pharaoh in
Egypt, but Hashem our God took us out with a strong hand and an outstretched
arm. If the Holy One, Blessed be He, did not take our ancestors out of Egypt,
then we, our children, and our children’s children would remain slaves to
Pharaoh in Egypt.”
The officially atheistic Soviet Union
could not tolerate such a passage, so the text of a Red Haggadah read instead:
“We were slaves to capitalism until October (Soviet shorthand for the Communist
Revolution of 1917) led us out of the land of exploitation with a strong hand.
Were it not for October, we and our children would still be slaves.” Instead of
God’s destruction of Egyptian army, the Soviet Haggadah describes success of
the Red Army; instead of washing hands for ritual purity, the Communist text
eliminates “rabbinical laws and customs, Yeshivot and schools that becloud and
enslave the people.”
At the Seder's conclusion, Jews
famously proclaim “This year we are here – next year in Jerusalem!” Following
the Red Haggadah, participants at the Seder are urged to pronounce, “This year,
we have revolution in this land – next year we will have a world revolution!”
By 1930, the notoriously antisemitic
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin lost patience with the quixotic and typically
unsuccessful propaganda efforts of the Yevsektsiia. Under his influence,
the attacks on Jews and Judaism grew far more vicious and deadly, and
celebrating even Sovietized Passover Seders became dangerous, entering a phase
of persecution that is unfortunately familiar to students of Jewish history.
The Red Haggadahs of the 1920s,
however, testify to an unusual period when overt government discrimination was
milder. In her research Dr. Shternsis transcribed the childhood memories of
Samuil Gil, who recalled how the Komsomol (Communist Youth) movement organized
distribution of forbidden hametz on the first day of Passover: “We
were given the task of going to Jewish homes and throwing a piece [of bread]
into the window of ten different houses. The one who was fastest would receive
a prize. We enjoyed the game very much, especially when the old, angry women
ran out of their houses and ran after us screaming ‘apikorsim![heretics]'
We felt like heroes of the Revolution and were very proud. In the evening,
though, we would all go home and celebrate the traditional Seder with
all the necessary rituals.”
Gil’s experience, specific to the
unusual conditions of 1920s Ukraine, is also illustrative of the eternal
pattern of Jewish history: “In every generation, someone rises to destroy us –
but the Holy One rescues us from their hands.” Just as this truism is affirmed,
so too may the conclusion of the Haggadah
become our collective reality – next year in Jerusalem!
Rebbetzin vs. the Rabbi by Rabbi Yerachmiel Tilles http://ascentofsafed.com/cgi-bin/ascent.cgi?Name=959-31
The
following story happened a week or so before Pesach. But first some background.
Little
by little, Lubavitch refugees from Russia left the DP camps in Poland. Many of
them, including my parents, arrived in Paris, poor and bereft of everything.
The Joint [JDC] continued to help out and rented some buildings for them to
live in. These were buildings that had formerly served as hotels. I
[Shneur-Zalman Chanin] was born in the Hotel Prima.
About
two years later my parents moved to the Hotel Moderne. There I grew up and
spent my childhood. As far as I recall, the hotel had four stories plus a
ground floor. On the ground floor and the three lower floors lived about thirty
families. On the fourth floor was a shul.
Our
family was assigned two rooms, one on the second floor for my parents and me,
and one additional small room on the third floor for my sisters. Our room
served as a living room, dining room, and all-around room during the day. At
night, it was a bedroom. I remember that there was a wooden table in the center
with four chairs around it. There was no other furniture, but I think there
were some crates that served as cupboards and that contained everything we
owned.
After
supper we would take the folding beds out from under the table, spread covers
and pillows that were kept somewhere in the room, and prepare the room for
sleeping. We were five people, my parents, two older sisters, and me, but we
had only four beds I think those were the beds my family got from the Joint as
soon as they came to Paris and I wasn't born yet. (If we would have gotten
another bed from the Joint, for me, there would have been no room to put it!)
About ten families lived on our floor but there were only two bathrooms. Can you picture the shouting that went on every morning and the banging on the bathroom doors?
About ten families lived on our floor but there were only two bathrooms. Can you picture the shouting that went on every morning and the banging on the bathroom doors?
The
kitchen was shared by all the families on the floor. On every floor a small
room was designated as the kitchen. It had two or three gas burners, each one
having one or two fires underneath. Every housewife had to measure, mix and
prepare food in a pot in her room and then shlep the pot to the kitchen
to put it on the fire. Each burner served several neighbors and there was a
schedule of who cooked when. But there was always a line in front of the
kitchen of women waiting impatiently to prepare food for their families.
Although
we all lived together in harmony and were devoted heart and soul to one
another, when the older people waited for a cup of tea and babies needed their
hot cereal, and the burner was occupied, there was no lack of disputes.
As
for hot water for washing, that was unheard of. Once a week we went to the
municipal bathhouse where there were separate hours for men and women. The rest
of the week we washed our hands and face in cold water. When I look back, it is
hard to understand how we lived under those conditions.
*
* *
In
5717 (1957), after my sisters went to the United States and married and my
father began supporting himself and earned a bit, we were able to leave the
"hotel" and move to our own apartment. It was a five star apartment
relative to the times. We had our own bathroom and even had hot water from the
faucet. My father rented it from the chasidic rav, Rabbi Shneur-Zalman
Schneersohn, who lived in the same house.
I
have very pleasant memories of this period of time. I remember the spiritual
wealth of those days. I remember some of the stories that R' Zalman Schneersohn
told me and the chasidic melodies that he taught me when I came home. I was the
only child there at that time, and he loved having me around. With my father's
encouragement, I observed and learned from his ways.
Rav
Schneersohn was a Jew of self-sacrifice. The other person was more important to
him than himself and he fully complied with the Chassidic aphorism, "mine
is yours" [and, of course, "yours is yours" - see Pirkei Avot
ch.5 --yt]
He
himself was destitute, but whoever asked him for help, got it. To all
appearances he conducted himself expansively and on Shabbat he had many guests
at his table. His apartment was considered an exclusive one and he had a very
valuable library which gave people the feeling that they were in the home of a
wealthy man.
He
gave lessons in heavily-accented French to scientists, doctors and students,
and knew people in high positions in all fields. However, despite his good
connections, he had no money. When someone asked him for a loan and he did not
have the money, he would borrow it from others in order to lend it.
It
was in the days leading up to Pesach. Yeshiva had ended and I was home.
Late at night, about ten or eleven o'clock, I heard R' Zalman Schneersohn call
me, "Zalminka, where are you?"
I
left our apartment and went to his magnificent office. Right away he said to
me, "My child, please ask your father to come here."
I
went to call my father. My father treated the Rav with great respect, both
because he was a rav but mainly because he was from the Schneersohn
family. He went to his office immediately. My father wasn't surprised by the
request and the lateness of the hour. He thought R. Schneersohn wanted to
borrow money for Pesach expenses, but I sensed that, this time, the request was
different.
I
remained in our apartment but, as any normal child, I was curious to know why
the rav had called for my father at this late hour. After a few minutes
I could not restrain myself and went on tiptoes from our apartment toward the
Schneersohn apartment. I lay on the floor with my ear near the crack at the
threshold.
My
mother realized I had left the apartment and figured out where I had gone. She
waited a few minutes and when I did not return she went to look for me and
caught me snooping. She took me right back to bed, though not before
"giving it" to me. My father remained in the office a long time and
by the time he came back I was already asleep.
Although
I was very curious about why R. Schneersohn had called my father, it did not
occur to me to ask because I was terrified that my mother had told my father
about my mischief. If I mentioned one word about that night, I would "get
it" again. So I kept quiet. I was ten years old at the time and, typical
of children, I forgot about the matter.
* * *
* * *
Quite
a few years later, when we were living in New York, and R' Schneersohn had also
moved to New York, my father would visit him often.I nearly always went along
with him. One time, on our way back from one of those visits, while extolling
the rav, my father told me what happened that night in Paris, in R'
Schneersohn's office, behind the closed door.
My
father had entered the office and found not only R. Schneersohn but also his
wife, Rebbetzin Sarah. She began by saying, "Reb Chaikel, I want to take
my husband to a din Torah (rabbinical court), and I want to ask you to
be the judge for us and declare who is right."
My
father tried getting out of it by saying he wasn't a rav, and certainly
not an authority in Torah law, so how should he know how to rule? But the rebbetzin
said, "I know you will rule better than any other rabbinical judge or
rabbi. Both of us, my husband and I, rely on you and commit to doing as you
say."
Having
no choice, my father agreed. The Schneersohns made a binding exchange as is
customary, and the rebbetzin--the plaintiff--began:
"It
is a few days before Pesach and we have nothing for the festival--no matza,
no wine, no meat, no fish. We don't even have pieces of bread for the B'dikat
(Search for) Chametz. If I had ten pieces of bread, I would sit down
right now and eat them with a cup of tea!
"Today
I asked my husband for money for the holiday and he told me that he had
nothing. I began to shout: 'Gevald! With my own eyes I saw, a few days
ago, someone giving you an envelope full of dollars. What did you do with the
money?'
"R'
Chaikel, do you know what he told me? He calmly said, 'I gave the money as tzedaka,
to those who need money for Pesach.'
"'What
about us? Aren't we needy?' I asked. 'You want to give tzedaka? Fine,
but leave a little bit for the household expenses for the upcoming Yom
Tov!'"
My
father heard her out and thought she was right, but he had to listen to the
other side. How would the Rav justify himself? What could he say?
R'
Schneersohn began to speak:
"There
is a wealthy Jew by the name of Chaim who needed to arrange a heter Meia
rabbanim (a clause in Jewish Law to enable a man to marry a second wife
despite the thousand-year-old prohibition of Rabbeinu Gershom, in the instance
where the first wife has gone mad and cannot accept a gett (bill of
divorce). According to Jewish Law, it is necessary for at least one hundred
rabbis to sign their consent in order to rescind the enactment) and he came to
me for my help.
"After
exchanging letters with a hundred rabbis, which took tremendous effort because
of the slowness of the mail, until they wrote a letter and until they sent it,
and until it reached its destination and until a response was received and the
process was started over with another rabbi, a lot of time went by. On Rosh
Chodesh Nissan [two weeks before Seder night], I finally arranged the gett.
Mr. Chaim, was very appreciative of the work that I put into this and he gave
me $5000 in appreciation of my efforts, in addition to my expenses.
"While
the dollars were still warming my heart and my pocket, a Lubavitcher chasid
came to me whose name I cannot disclose, and he told me that he has a large
family with no bread to eat and no clothes to wear, and there is no money for
for the festival. He told me he makes great efforts so that people will not
know of his situation, so people assume he still has income. But now, before
Pesach, he had no choice but to ask for help.
He
burst into tears and asked me to have pity on him and help get him on his feet
before it was too late.
"So Reb Chaikel, what could I do? Tell me what you would have done in my place? I thought, since becoming a rav, such a sum has never come into my possession. Was it not for a situation like this that I received it? Wasn't this a sign from Above showing me clearly that I had to get this man on his feet?
"So Reb Chaikel, what could I do? Tell me what you would have done in my place? I thought, since becoming a rav, such a sum has never come into my possession. Was it not for a situation like this that I received it? Wasn't this a sign from Above showing me clearly that I had to get this man on his feet?
"I
took out the money and immediately, before I could change my mind, I gave him
all the money along with the envelope. It did not occur to me to take any of
the money for myself.
"If
you will ask, how will we manage for Pesach? Hashem will help. In the worst
case, I assume that when Chaikel downstairs will loudly say kol dichfin
['All that are hungry let them enter and eat'-from the Hagaddah for Passover
night], we will join him for the Seder and he surely won't chase us out."
My
father told me that when he heard this story, he was struck silent. On the one
hand, my father admired the rav's action but, on the other hand, the rebbetzin
was right.
After
some thought, he decided as follows:
"I,
Chaikel, agree to give the rebbetzin the money she needs for the Yom Tov
expenses, so that will satisfy her. However, I am giving it on condition that I
am a partner in the mitzvah the rav fulfilled. I ask that the rav
split his mitzva of 'azov taazov imo' ("Help your fellow-Jew
in need") and Maos Chittim ('Wheat money'-i.e. money for matzah and
other Passover needs) with me."
R'
Schneersohn and my father made another binding exchange to ratify the new deal,
and all parties were satisfied: the rebbetzin, because she had what she
needed for Pesach; the rav, because he fulfilled the mitzvah and
without any grievances on the part of his wife; and my father, because he got a
share of this lofty good deed.
When
my father told me the story, my admiration for my father went up sevenfold for
his cleverness and the creative solution he proposed.
Source:
Excerpted and adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from Beis Moshiach #923 (English).
Photo Credit: Hadassa Carlebach (posted on //kevarim.com)
Biographical
note:
Rabbi Shneur-Zalman Schneersohn (1898 - Wed. July 2, 1980 - Tammuz 18 5740) was a second cousin of the 7th Lubavitcher Rebbe, having a close relationship with him in Paris when they both lived there after 1936, even hosting the Rebbe's mother in his house for three months. He held the post of Chief Rabbi of the Association of Orthodox Jewry of France, and was well-known and highly respected for his work in saving more than one hundred children after the German occupation of Vichy France. In 1950, when the 6th Rebbe passed away, a small percentage of the chasidim considered him a fitting successor. Eventually settling in Brooklyn, he founded and headed for many years the Shevet Yehuda Institute of Technology, which offered a training program in computer science for yeshiva students, one of the first such programs ever. He is buried directly behind the Lubavitcher Rebbes' ohel, alongside the Tomashpol Rebbe, in the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens.
Rabbi Shneur-Zalman Schneersohn (1898 - Wed. July 2, 1980 - Tammuz 18 5740) was a second cousin of the 7th Lubavitcher Rebbe, having a close relationship with him in Paris when they both lived there after 1936, even hosting the Rebbe's mother in his house for three months. He held the post of Chief Rabbi of the Association of Orthodox Jewry of France, and was well-known and highly respected for his work in saving more than one hundred children after the German occupation of Vichy France. In 1950, when the 6th Rebbe passed away, a small percentage of the chasidim considered him a fitting successor. Eventually settling in Brooklyn, he founded and headed for many years the Shevet Yehuda Institute of Technology, which offered a training program in computer science for yeshiva students, one of the first such programs ever. He is buried directly behind the Lubavitcher Rebbes' ohel, alongside the Tomashpol Rebbe, in the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens.
I
have not forgotten the stories from WWII that I promised but I have been swamped
with work.
If
you cannot get to your local Orthodox Rabbi before Erev Pessach then use this
form and sell your Chametz. (preferably no later than Thursday) https://chabadorg.clhosting.org/holidays/passover/sell_chometz.htm
Long before
Corning and Pyrex, came a major glass manufacturing center on the scene: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4790167,00.html
From David: Israeli
Judges sued in US Court on Human Rights Abuse of American Children abducted to
Israel by mothers from Jewish Fathers: http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-fathers-sue-judges-over-custody-rulings-in-us-courts/
Another Israeli
Politician goes on trial: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/210606#.Vwo4MqR96M8
A Frum family
gets a quick conversion after a mistaken conversion and marriage in the 1960’s http://crownheights.info/jewish-news/484394/frum-family-of-50-discovers-they-are-not-jewish/
Cute Pessach
Video and song: http://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/watch-the-adelebieber-passover-video-breaking-the-internet/
Inyanay
Diyoma
After 6th
bombing suspect arrested in Europe, US sends B-52’s to the Middle-East:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/04/09/us-air-force-deploys-b-52-bombers-in-middle-east-to-combat-islamic-state.html?intcmp=hpbt2
Dr. Martin
Sherman debates an Arab on Islam and terrorism: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=15753
Although I am
not the fondest person of Arab usurpers living in Eretz Yisrael, many members
of the hospital staffs in Israel are Arabs. Starting with the cleaning staff,
orderlies who move beds or stretchers, doctors and nurses including the one
deal with one of the cancer patients on my prayer list. As we saw on TV Achmed
stabbed the young boy and Dr. Achmed saved his life. This editorial from Ben
Dror has its place. Although hospitals do try to put Yiddish, Russian, Hebrew
and Arabic speakers in the same room when they give birth it does not always
work out. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4789139,00.html
Runaway Arabs
youths caught in major terror plot. http://www.israelnational
news.com/News/News.aspx/210597#.VwoUxo9OI5s
They planned a
chemical and explosive attack: www.debka.com/article/25356/Major-Palestinian-terror-attack-with-chemicals-averted
Cruz tries to woo
Republican Jews: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/210600 I am waiting a
reply from Yael (Ivanika) Trump Kushner on this as she is working for Donald J.
Trump for Pres.
Sanders against
Jews run Wall Street: http://www.jpost.com/US-Elections/Bernie-Sanders-answer-to-heckler-who-accused-Jews-of-running-Wall-Street-450755
From Monika: Only
a Jew could have a heart this big: http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/billionaire-pledges-275-million-for-free-mental-health-care-for-veterans-families-1.403394
They gave him
the Trump Campaign Manager treatment but no case just remember somebody who let
out higher than Top Secret Info on her private server has yet to be arrested.
HMMM! http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/210608#.Vwopz6R96M8
A major grass
roots and central party revolt against Netanyahu because of the soldier in
Chevron: http://debka.com/article/25357/Ya%E2%80%99alon%E2%80%99s-rebuke-of-Hebron-soldier-sparks-a-bid-to-topple-Netanyahu
Shia and Sunni
dispute continues to boil over: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-News/Iran-accuses-Saudi-Arabia-of-training-terrorists-to-carry-out-terror-attacks-against-it-450763
From Sheldon
big money for ISIS selling antiquities: http://www.aol.com/article/2016/04/06/isis-makes-nearly-200-million-a-year-from-antiquities/21339555/
Investigation
against Col dropped: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/210618#.VwpKpKR96M8
You murdered,
you inherited and the UK is paying your expenses: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3520852/You-pay-two-Palestinian-terrorists-left-Britain-woman-dead-killed-friend-9-000-year-reward.html
Turks and the Radical Jihadists from
Dr. Harry.
The ceasefire in Syria is a joke. Turkish
military units continue to mass along the border, and militants are pouring
across the border to attack targets in northern Syria. The Prime Minister of
Turkey is now openly admitting that his government is supporting the militants
that are trying to overthrow the Syrian government, and the Turkish government
has also made it abundantly clear that they have no plans to stop shelling the
Kurds on the other side of the border. So despite the “ceasefire”, the truth is
that the threat of World War 3 breaking out in the Middle East is greater than
ever.
At times it is difficult to see the dividing line between the Turkish military and the radical jihadists that are hopping back and forth across the border with the full support of the Turkish government. Over the weekend, militants from Turkey that crossed over into northern Syria were supported by artillery fire from the Turkish military as they attacked a key Kurdish town…Ra
At times it is difficult to see the dividing line between the Turkish military and the radical jihadists that are hopping back and forth across the border with the full support of the Turkish government. Over the weekend, militants from Turkey that crossed over into northern Syria were supported by artillery fire from the Turkish military as they attacked a key Kurdish town…Ra
In the Raqqa province, a group of some 100 fighters crossed into Syria from Turkey. The group later joined forces with other militants and attacked the Kurdish town of Tell Abyad.
The 250-strong group was supported by artillery fire from the Turkish territory, a fact that Russia said the US should explain. The Kurdish YPG militia fended off the attack, the report said.
This is an act of war, and yet the Obama administration does not seem to mind.
If Turkey will not even honor the ceasefire, what hope is there that anything will be able to stop them from acting so aggressively?
Not
mainstream media but quietly. Iraqi Shiite Diplomat visits Arab sites in
Yerushalayim guest of the Foreign Ministry: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4789531,00.html
Monday, I
picked up my wife's paper the headlines were about the number of people killed
on the roads yesterday. Although the statistics are better than almost 2 a day
as in previous years still 84 worlds of Jews, Arabs, Druze were snuffed out.
Most of the deadly accidents occur on Shabbos and in the poorer roads in the
north or the south of the country but that is statistics not for those who lost
somebody close or someone they knew.
Under the new
Egyptian-Saudi agreement requires an amendment to the Israeli-Egyptian peace
agreement as Saudis want control of island in the straights of Tiran: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/210672#.VwtVgKR96M8
Obama will be
the first Pro-PLO terror president: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/210668#.VwteT6R96M8
From Bishop
Gabrielle Crofts a pro-Israel speech down under: https://vid.me/IYO/speech-by-bishop-gabrielle-crofts-at-pro-israel
Rabbis
receive all sorts of information. I received this from Central America: I just
learned that the NAACP is teaming up with the Black Lives Matter “activists.”
Leftist billionaire George Soros is paying these two groups to create chaos and
bedlam aimed at conservatives.
Their plan is to strike in Washington, D.C. later this month with massive waves of protests and civil disobedience. Then, they’re planning to go after the Republican Convention in Cleveland. When politics descends into anarchy, the future of America is at risk!
Their plan is to strike in Washington, D.C. later this month with massive waves of protests and civil disobedience. Then, they’re planning to go after the Republican Convention in Cleveland. When politics descends into anarchy, the future of America is at risk!
US and perhaps
Israel are Cyber-bombing ISIS: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/210799#.Vw2rxY9OI5s
This also comes from my various sources on the internet
who prefer to remain anonymous: On Monday the former Chair of Britain’s Equality and Human Rights
Commission made a
surprising admission. Trevor Phillips, the man who first popularized the term “Islamophobia,” confessed that he “got
almost everything wrong” about
Muslim immigrants in Britain. They aren’t assimilating at all, and are in fact
creating “nations within nations.”
But these migrants aren’t just carving out their own cultural
enclaves in suburban and urban parts of the UK. They’re also forming their own
nations within the
prison system. Muslim extremists have taken over an entire block of Gartree
Prison in Leicestershire. They have effectively turned it into a no-go zone for
other prisoners, who are terrified of being housed in the unit, and for very
good reasons.
Non-Muslim prisoners who are sent to the block are threatened with
violence if they don’t convert. They’ve even been banned from showering naked
or putting up lurid posters of women on their cell walls. That’s because the
Muslim gangs in this block rule their turf with Sharia law, which they use to
regulate other prisoners and sort out disagreements.
This
is the security travel warning from Israel: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4790793,00.html
ISIS shoots
down “protected” Russian Helicopter: http://debka.com/article/25361/Russian-aircraft-shot-down-despite-%E2%80%98President-S%E2%80%99-system
Uganda Jews
obtain recognition for Aliyah: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/210782#.Vw4KkzB96M8
Three dangerous
times coming up with Arabs. As attacks slow down on the horizon is our
holidays, independence day and Ramadan. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4791282,00.html
They wanted to
target also a Tel Aviv bound plane. http://www.jpost.com/International/Brussels-airport-suspect-Terrorists-also-planned-to-attack-travelers-flying-to-Tel-Aviv-451220
Kassam landed
near Nahal Oz and two attacks thwarted one in Chevron and the other in
Yerushalayim see article for weapons: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4791790,00.html
Hamas patrols
Gaza border against ISIS: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/210924#.VxBYgY9OI5s
Sanders
suspends his BDS loving Jewish Outreach coordinator after she F-bombs
Netanyahu: http://www.jpost.com/US-Elections/Sanders-suspends-his-campaigns-Jewish-outreach-liason-after-her-vulgar-attack-on-Netanyahu-451306
Alex Fishman
Ed-Op no need to panic over the Iranian S-300 missiles: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4790666,00.html
Self-cannibalization
of Europe Ed-Op Dr. Martin Sherman: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Into-the-fray-The-self-cannibalization-of-Europe-revisited-451281?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork
Have
a wonderful Shabbos an easy Pessach cleaning and search for Chametz. Enjoy your
Seder as you are free. Relax and a wonderful time Chol HaMoed on outings with
the family,
Rachamim
Pauli
