The Ultimate Result

The ultimate purpose of creation is that all of mankind should acknowledge and appreciate that G-d created them (Ramban). The Netziv writes that G-d ordained that recognition of His presence and glory will fill the earth, as it says, "All that I created and made are for My honor" (Yeshayahu 43:7). This is the perfection of the world that will occur when Mashiach comes and history reaches its culmination. As we pray on Rosh Hashanah, "Rule over the entire world in Your glory…and let all who have a breath of life in their nostrils declare that Hashem, the G-d of Yisrael, is King and His kingdom rules over all."

The ten plagues and the Exodus from Egypt brought both the the Jewish people and the Egyptians to the knowledge that there is a G-d who is involved in the world and that He is the G-d of Israel. However, it was imperative that the world know that the very G-d of Israel was also their G-d, and that it was part of the mission of the Jewish people to bring this message to the world. The Exodus from Egypt and all the plagues preceding it showed that G-d was the G-d of the Jewish people – He saw their suffering and intervened to alleviate that suffering. However, it did not show that G-d was also the G-d of the Egyptians. Hence our redemption and recognition of Hashem was not complete until the splitting of the sea (the seventh day of Pesach), which showed that G-d was not only our G-d but the G-d of all the world – even the Egyptians.

When the Telzer Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Avraham Yitzchak Bloch was taken out to be murdered, the Nazi officer taunted him, "Rabbiner, where is your G-d now?" The Rav replied, "He is not only my G-d, but yours, too, and one day the whole world will see and understand that fact."
(Rabbi Zev Leff)

Chol Hamoed Pesach

Shimmy Miller	10:31 AM (4 hours ago)
to me

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Quote of the Week: “We have the choice to focus on what is lost or fight for what is left.”

Miller’s Musings

for חול המועד פסח

All That’s Left

The Yom Tov of Pesach seems to be somewhat synonymous with the word ‘haste’. It seems that almost everything is done in a rush. From the last minute cleaning, the burning of the last remnants of chometz on the morning before and the desperate attempt to consume the afikomen before midnight. Everything is done speedily and this is of course no coincidence. For when the Jewish people finally left Egypt after centuries of servitude it was done in great haste. It was a last ditch attempt to save the Jewish people from plunging into an everlasting descent into impurity from which they would never be able to escape. But why leave it until such a desperate moment? Why court disaster rather than releasing them long before they came so close to plummeting over the cliff’s edge?

The analogy of a seed’s germination, that helps to answer this question, is well-known. It is only when the seed is almost entirely decomposed that the root grows and the process of development begins. Says the Nesivos Sholom, a seed disintegrates until all that remains is its essential life force, from which point it then begins to sprout. It cannot begin anew, until all that it was has perished. Yet if its entirety has vanished, there is nothing left to arise from. So too the Jewish people in Egypt, in order to undergo a rebirth, needed to be at that point where they had lost almost everything, except for that last shred of their soul that remained connected. It was at that imperceptible moment, as they had lost almost everything, but had not yet lost it all, that they needed to be redeemed, with tremendous rapidity, to ensure there was still that potential for renewal. This alacrity was the entire reason our salvation could take place and the reason it takes such a prominent role in these holy days.

Every person has this ember within them. This tiny, last connection, which is their belief in Hashem. It is that spark of a person’s soul, buried deep within, that is its very foundation, rooted in truth and faith. It is for this reason that no matter how low we sink, we have this eternal flame of belief entrenched within us. It is the prayer that we cry out to Hashem when most desperate, “from the depths I have called you Hashem.” It does not just mean the simple interpretation, from the depths of despair and tragedy, but also from the depths of my soul. From that deepest part that is so intrinsically bonded with Hashem. It is from this point that redemption will always begin and it must therefore surely be that part of ourselves that needs closest attention when we need deliverance. This is not just redemption as an individual but also as a people. It will come in the swiftest moment, in the blink of an eye, as redemption must. We must maintain and strengthen our belief in its arrival and Hashem’s presence in our lives, so that it comes for us soon, speedily in our days.

*May Pesach usher in the days of ultimate, everlasting redemption*

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—
Shimmy Miller
Rebbe/Teacher/Counsellor/Tutor| Manchester Mesivta and Private
07531322970 | rabbimiller.mesivta| http://rabbimillersmusings.blogspot.co.uk/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/shimmy-miller/9/934/9a3

Stuck in the Mud

Just before the conclusion of the maggid section of the seder, we said that whoever does not say the following 3 things has not fulfilled his obligation: pesach, matzah and marror. The order is a little strange. We explained the idea behind the pesach is that Hashem saved the Jews during the plague of the firstborn. The matzah reminds us of the speed with which the Jewish people left Egypt and the maror reminds us of the bitterness of the enslavery in Egypt. Therefore the maror should be mentioned before the pesach and matzah as it came first chronologically!

Before the Jewish people experienced the sweetness of freedom, they did not really appreciate the bitterness of their situation. Sometimes a person can be so mired in the mud, that he is not even aware that he is in the mud as he has become so used to his present lifestyle. He only fully comprehends how in the mud he was, once he has been released. (R’ Shlomo Levenstein)

All of us have are own "mud" that we are stuck in, be it bad habits or maybe associates that are not appropriate – yet we are often oblivious to it. Pesach is an opportunity to free ourselves and expose ourselves to the mud that traps us and gives us a chance to watch our steps next time.

Oops. I Forgot To Check The Car!

We know that the night before Pesach we check our homes for chometz and then destroy it the next morning before the time that we are prohibited from owning chometz (unless we have sold it to a gentile). Someone who forgot to check at night must check in the morning.

Chometz is often placed inside a car and therefore a car also needs to be checked for chometz. What happens if a person checked his house at night but forgot to check his car? He needs to check his car in the morning, but he should not say a beracha before checking his car. Why not?

We are obligated to check our pockets and items to ensure that there is no chometz there. However, the main requirement of checking is to check our domain such as our houses, as the verse says "Destroy (loosely translated) chometz from your houses" (Shemos 12:15). Therefore no berachah is made before checking pockets or other items (in a case where he does not have a house to check and did not say a berachah on that checking). Since a car is not considered a house a berechah should not be made. (Chok Yaakov)

Another reason why not to make a beracha on the checking of the car is because he already made a beracha before he checked his house. When he checked at night, he did not destroy the chometz then, he will only destroy it in the morning. As long as he has not destroyed the chometz from the night he is still involved in the checking process because checking without destroying the chometz obviously did not accomplish much – he still owns chometz! So too someone who checked for chometz at night and then bought chometz the next day and did not eat all of it, does not need to make another beracha when he destroys that new chometz. (Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Magen Eleph)

There is a practical difference between these two reasons. What happens if the person only remembers on Chol HaMoed that he did not check his car. According to the second reason he should make a beracha as the original checking process has already been completed. But according to the first reason no beracha should be made as the car is still not considered his house. (Maadanei Yom Tov)

The Transmission – An Awesome Responsibilty

Rav Shlomo Ganzfried, who wrote the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, observes that the Torah’s command requires us to relate it "to our children and our children’s children." If every father has a responsibility to his child, then the children will relate it to their children. Why the necessity to involve the grandfather? He answers that the responsibility to relate the story of the exodus from Egypt to one’s children is to do so with such intensity and feeling that the child will be able and willing to relate it directly to his children. The grandfather is not enjoined to relate it directly to his grandchild, but rather he is enjoined to educate his child in a way that the child will similarly educate his children.

This also explains why the Torah says, "You should tell it into the ears of your children" (Shemos 10:2). It has to enter their ears specifically; it has to be tailor-made to be able to impress them emotionally and intellectually.

The entire Pesach seder is predicated on this filial responsibility to pass over the experience from generation to coming generation. The Ritva explains that the Torah’s presentation of the four sons demonstrates the fact that the purpose of retelling the account of the Exodus is not merely to tell what happened, but rather to impress the child with the foundations of belief. The father must tell it to his child in a manner that will communicate these truths and relate to the individual personality of each child. It should affect him personally, tailor-made to his intellect and his emotional personality.
(Rabbi Zev Leff)

Miller’s Musings – Parshas Metzora

בס”דלעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם and רפואה שלמהאוריה חיים בן חנה יהודית, שרה נעמה בת רבקה עליזהand יהושע יוסף בן מלכה שרה

This week’s Miller’s Musings is sponsored

לעילוי נשמת

מרדכי בן אלכסנדר

(yahrtzeit 12th Nissan)

and in memory of Julie Showman o’h and the tireless work she put in to create beautiful Pesach memories

MILLER’S MUSINGS

פרשת מצורע

Looking Good

The requirement that a Kohen be the one to pronounce a metzora impure, is something that we have spoken of previously. Someone can only be officially designated as having tzora’as, a spiritual skin affliction, when it has been deemed so by the family of Aharon. It is interesting to note that whereas in most instances when a Kohen is an essential element of a process or service, the verse refers to a Kohen or the children of Aharon HaKohen, in this context it specifies that he be brought to “Aharon the Kohen, or to one of his sons.” Why here is Aharon singled out, whereas in other situations it is not the case? What is it about Aharon personally, that makes him a precondition to this procedure?

Aharon HaKohen is perhaps famous for a number of things. But when it comes to his character traits, the one he is best-known for was his desire to create peace and harmony among each of his fellow men. What type of a person would be so focused on such a pursuit and what manner of nature would such a person need to possess? We know that words that come from the heart are far more likely to pierce another person’s defences and enter their heart. So if he needed to encourage another person to forgive and forget and present the one they are in an argument with in a more flattering light, he must have first needed to see that person in this positive way himself. To see everyone, no matter who they are, in that way, required Aharon to only look for the good in other people and meant that his natural disposition was to ignore that which was unfavourable. This was the quality that made a Kohen worthy of diagnosing tzora’as, for only such a person who looks for what is virtuous in other people can be qualified to evaluate their flaws. If your predisposition is to seek out another’s imperfections, you are not suitable to render an objective judgement. It is therefore exactly for this reason that the Torah emphasises Aharon specifically. Aharon perfected this ability and thereby passed it on to his children and descendants after him. Other services could be performed simply by dint of Aharon being their ancestor. But the facility to determine a metzora stemmed from their innate, genetically-inherited, non-judgmental personality, something that originated in Aharon and the gift he passed to them.

Being judgemental is one of those things that everyone else does. We are of course, never judgemental…except we are. The truth is that it is part of our psychological makeup to make assumptions about people based on their appearance and our previous experience. Like all of the multitude of intricate parts of the whole that make up the human condition, this is something that has its positive usages but can also be a cause of great damage. To make assumptions about someone can be incredibly unfair and also harmful to the person we are judgemental of. More often than not the person knows and feels that they are being judged and it can create undue hurt, insecurity and animosity where there needn’t be any. Ultimately none of us has the ability to fairly judge anyone. It is just a simple impossibility without knowing everything about their outer and inner world; something that another can never achieve. We must try to assume only the good, look only for the positive and believe in the essential goodness in all we meet.

*May we see only the good this Shabbos.*

If you would like to sponsor a week of Miller’s Musings l’ilui nishmas someone, for a Refuah Sheleima or to celebrate a Simcha please send a message to millersmusingsrabbi or to 07531332970

—
Shimmy Miller
Rebbe/Teacher/Counsellor/Tutor| Manchester Mesivta and Private
07531322970 | rabbimiller.mesivta| http://rabbimillersmusings.blogspot.co.uk/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/shimmy-miller/9/934/9a3

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Parshas Metzora

The bulk of last week’s parsha as well as the bulk of this week’s parsha deals with the laws of the Metzorah. The Talmud tells us [Eruchin 15b] that one of the causes of this “leprosy-like” impurity was improper speech (Lashon Horah). In Biblical times, when a person spoke Lashon Horah he received a Heavenly warning that he should “watch his mouth”. This warning came in the form of the affliction of Tzoraas. A person so afflicted needed to be brought to the Kohen.

Rav Nissan Alpert comments that when the Torah uses the term ‘Adam’ (as opposed to ‘Ish’) to denote a person, it connotes a degree of importance and prestige. Therefore it seems peculiar that in the parsha of Metzorah, which deals with afflictions brought upon people who speak Lashon Horah, the Torah should begin by using the term ‘Adam’.

Rav Alpert concludes that the measure of a person — in terms of whether or not he is a distinguished person — is not dependent on whether or not he engages in Lashon Horah. A person can even be a distinguished person (“Adam Chashuv”) and yet engage in improper speech. What separates the normal person who gossips from the “Adam Chashuv” who engages in Lashon Horah? The difference is the latter’s desire to change. A person can be a distinguished person, and yet stumble in the sin of Lashon Horah. However, as long as he retains a desire to improve himself in this area — he is still a distinguished person.

It is difficult to stop gossiping. The normal inclination is not to seek improvement or change in this area. “And he shall be brought to Aharon the Kohen” [Vayikra 13:2] means he has to force himself to go to the Kohen to seek remedy for his condition. He does not really want to go. He goes kicking and screaming.

A distinguished person can succumb to Lashon Horah. It happens to the best of us. But that which separates the ‘Adam’ from the ‘Ish’ (the distinguished person from the ordinary person) is that the former does something about it. He forces himself to become better. He forces himself to seek out atonement. He drags himself to the Kohen. “And he shall be brought to Aharon the Kohen.”

(R’ Frand)

A Little Birdy tells me………

This week’s parsha, Metzora, continues the topic discussed in last week’s portion namely the laws and consequences of talking “loshon horah” – slanderous talk and certain other misdeeds. The Torah relates the process needed in order for them to achieve atonement. The atonement process requires the involvement of birds, specifically, doves. Why the birds?

The commentators explain that birds, due to their ability to fly, convey the impression of being somewhat detached from worldly matters. The message that the birds are “chirping” to the “was sinner” is- take a step back, take a look at the world from the lofty heights of a bird where many worldly matters just seem petty and futile. The birds are telling him and us to reassess our values and priorities by seeing the world from his vantage point where slander and misdeeds are clearly, just not worth it.

Listen to what the little birdy has got to say!!

R’ Ezer Pine

Eternal Bond

Pesach is the festival that celebrates our freedom. But over the centuries, the Jewish people have not always been free to do what they like. During the holocaust the Jewish people were confined to say the least! How could they celebrate Pesach?

We say in the beginning of the Hagaddah (avadim hayinu) that had Hashem not taken our ancestors out of Egypt, we and our children would still be enslaved to Pharoah in Egypt. Really? Throughout the world there are basically no slaves anymore – they have been emancipated!

First of all, we don’t know how Hashem runs the world. Maybe slaves would not have been freed. But there is a more fundamental explanation – the exodus from Egypt was not just a redemption from physical bondage, but rather, and more importantly, that the Jewish people became G-d’s people. The Jewish people became a different nation, not like all the gentiles. The Jewish people were no longer enslaved to the way of life and outlooks of the gentiles. A bond with Hashem was created that would last forever. Therefore even in times of tremendous hardships and suffering, such as during the holocaust, the Jewish people could still celebrate this eternal bond with Hashem.

15 April, 2024 07:47

Before doing many mitzvos we say a berachah. If you are the type of person who pays attention, you would have noticed that sometimes we say asher kideshanu b’misvosav ve’tzivanu l‘… for example before we put on tefillin (shel yad) we say l’haniach tefillin. Yet, for other mitzvos we say asher kideshanu b’misvosav ve’tzivanu al … for example before searching for chametz on the night before Pesach we say al bi’ur chametz. What is the rule? When do we say l‘… and when do we say al?

There are many different approaches. One approach (Ran) is that when fulfilling a mitzvah that can be done through a shaliach (agent) we say al, whereas when fulfilling a mitzvah that the person has to do himself and cannot use a shaliach, then we say l’.

This does not seem to work. Chanuka candles can be lit by a shaliach and yet the berachah we make is l‘hadlik ner shel chanuka!

Different answers are suggested. Since it is the norm to light the candles oneself because the mitzvah is dear to us, it is treated like a mitzvah that cannot be done through a shaliach (Rosh). Another solution is that the oil needs to belong to the person who is fulfilling the mitzvah (Mei’iri, but he does not like this answer).