Thank you for the opportunity to share a little with you all. The book of mishlei is one of the three books in tenach that Shloma Hamelech (wisest of the wise) wrote for us.

Who, given the opportunity to learn skills which are vital to us, would not jump at the chance to be under the wing of a master craftsman, lapping up every nuance, every subtlety that he may suggest. Yet, when it comes to the most sublime of all character refinement and improvement through the ultimate hand book (the torah), we sometimes ignore that chance – a free and uplifting chance at that, because it removes us from our comfort zone too much.

Basically, mishlei in a nutshell is about the two sides of man, he who follows the concepts of torah – the tzadik, and he who doesn't – the rosha. Shloma Hamelech shows logically, how it just makes so much sense to follow the former path, rather than the latter. He points out a beautiful picture of all the advantages of following an upright life, and its converse – the pain of being a slave t one's own desires. Thus, it becomes clear, that mishlei is not just a safer written by someone who liked learning, telling us to do the same. Neither is it a collection of famous truisms and known sayings ('spare the rod and spoil the child' and those of that ilk). It is infinitely greater than that.

He relates the importance of following a torah pathway through every facet of life. He uses nature ('The tree of life' perek 3), the animal kingdom (the command to the lazy person to learn from the industrious ant, who needs no taskmaster over it to ensure it does the job), even human relationships ( see perek 7, where he goes to great lengths in describing the seemingly real lure of the 'foreign woman'. Yet when reality sets in, one realises that, following that which was just a transitory pleasure can ruin one. Note that eventually we reach one of the climaxes of the safer right near the end, where there is a description of the flip – side to this the ashes chial!)

There really is so much to write, so much to share, but let this serve as just an introduction to a safer that one could spend years on and not get bored. Indeed, a small group of us have been doing just that in a pre-shacharis sader each week.

I hope you enjoy mishlei and i am happy to field questions on it and pretend to know the answers...

Rabbi L.

5 Menachem Av 5768 – Parshas Devarim 6 August 2008

Trei Asar Series - Amos

Fortunately, over the last year I studied the Book of Amos relatively in depth as one of the set texts for my Biblical Hebrew A-level. This has not only speeded up my learning of the daily perek recently but has also given me a deeper insight into some of Amos’ prophecies. In truth, my studying of Amos for Biblical Hebrew was more focused on the linguistic and imagery aspects of the text and less-so on the religious messages emanating out of the nevuos. But fear not, as I am not going to bore you with a ramble about Amos’ use of the ‘lite motif’ or how the political situation of the time affected the economic conditions. Rather, I wish to share with you some of my thoughts from these perokim in view with that which I feel, that the purpose of these sheets is to try and extract from the Navi something relevant and meaningful to us. Therefore, please don’t expect an academic analysis of the Book as all I can offer are a few snippets of inspiration that lie within the Godly words of our Nach.

Although only a small sefer of nine chapters, Amos is considered one of our greatest prophets and according to Chazal he is also one of the eight greatest human beings to have ever walked the earth. Sefer Amos is surprisingly well known, even amongst those who do not study Nach This prophecy is structured as a pattern where Hashem addresses nation by nation with the infamous rebuke of, “For the three sins of [name of nation] I can forgive but for the fourth sin I cannot forgive.” The first six recitals of this reproach are only a prelude to the two main ones which come in chapter 2 and are directed at Yehuda and Yisrael. Amos, like Yeshaya his talmid, is a universal prophet and is God’s messenger to the nations of the world as well as to the Jews. However, his primary objective is to bring God’s chosen people, the Jews, to repent from their evil ways and therefore even though he prophesises to the other nations, this is also part of his message to the Jews themselves. (and yes unfortunately that are still many of those around), mainly because of his first prophecy of chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2.

There is discussion amongst the meforshim about exactly what the three forgivable sins are. Metzudos Dovid explains that they are the three cardinal sins and that the fourth sin is only to rubber stamp the already impending punishment. Whereas Rashi and Radak are of the opinion that God is willing to forgive the first three sins, whatever they may be, due to His compassionate ways however the fourth sin is one step too far for Him to let off lightly. Saying this, what I really wish to explore is the exact nature of this ‘fourth sin’ that each time it merits such severe calamities to befall its perpetrator. The answer to this, I think, is the word אכזריות.

All eight peoples spoken about here committed different sins (with perhaps the exception of Azza and Tzur) but all invoke the same explosive reaction from Hashem. This is because, even though in practicality their sins differ, what lies at the root of all these sins is the same. Hashem This evil trait which lies at the root of all these sins is אכזריות. It is the unreserved cruelty in which man displays his inhumane capability to destroy in the most gruesome ways. In a world full of diversity, where each race struggles to overcome their competitors; conflict, war and even cruelty is understandable. But אכזריות is when man goes beyond this and brutally inflicts horrors to rob another person of their basic human dignity. This, Hashem cannot allow to go unpunished as it is a direct threat to the very existence of His world. is not looking at the externalities of these sins but rather what He is punishing them so severely for is what caused them all to sin.

If we take a look at the ‘fourth sin’ of each nation, it is blatantly obvious how it oversteps the label of cruelty and enters into the far more sinister realm of אכזריות. To ‘plough’ fellow men like one ploughs a field using instruments with metal spikes is not cruelty, its אכזריות. To hunt down and capture the few remaining escapees of a terrible exile is not cruelty, its אכזריות. To split open the wombs of pregnant women just to gain a meagre bit of land is not cruelty, its אכזריות. To burn to dust the bones of Royalty is not cruelty, its אכזריות. In all these cases, it’s the supposed elevation of man which has been utterly debased and replaced by the mostly lowly of animalistic behaviour. Therefore even though Hashem is willing to forgive time after time, even the worst of sins, but when it comes to אכזריות, in any form it may be, Hashem has no choice but to blot it out and hence, “But for the fourth, I cannot forgive.”

With possuk 6 of perek 2 starts the haftora for Parshas Vayeishev. It is chosen due to the tenuous link between the brothers selling Yosef and a hint to this in the possuk in Amos. After rebuking all the other nations the Navi finally turns to Yisrael and proclaims that the ‘fourth sin’ of Yisrael for which Hashem cannot forgive is “for the selling of a righteous person for silver and a poor man for a pair of shoes.” Chazal explain that the poor man is Yosef and that the brothers sold him for the small sum of two silver pieces each – enough to buy a pair of shoes. But where is the אכזריות in selling a person for the small value of a pair of shoes? What is so bad about this sin that Hashem deems it the one step too far for which He cannot forgive? Furthermore, the brothers’ sin of selling Yosef, which this possuk is in some way referring to, had major repercussions throughout Jewish history. The ten spies, whose sin caused us this everlasting galus, correspond to the ten brothers who sold Yosef. The climax of these repercussions was the terrible deaths of the legendary עשר הרוגי מלכות who were tortured to death in part, as an atonement for the ten brothers who sold Yosef. What was in their selling of Yosef for ‘a pair of shoes’ that such tragedies befell Klal Yisrael because of it?

Shoes represent the exalted status of man over the rest of the entire creation. The shoes on our feet separate us from the ground and raise us up above the earthliness of everything else. The Kuzari famously explains that there are four levels within creation and in a pyramid fashion each ascending level is greater than the one it rests on. The first and most basic level in creation are the inanimate objects, דומם, like stones and earth. The next level up is צומח, the most basic of life forms such as vegetation and trees which grow on top of the inanimate ground. Above that is the level of the animal kingdom, חיה, which sustains itself by consuming the vegetation. The fourth and loftiest level of creation is man himself who puts the lowest point of his body, his foot, into a shoe made from the leather hide of an animal. By wearing shoes we show that we are the pinnacle of creation and that all else is only there to service us.

But on the flip side, that is also why when Moshe is confronted by Hashem at the burning bush he is immediately commanded to remove his shoes as the possuk says, “של נאליך מעל רגליך”. This is because when man comes in front Hashem, his Maker, he can no longer boast his exaltedness over the rest of creation and therefore is required to remove his shoes, to show his true lowliness in the face of God. This also why in the Beis HaMikdash the Kohanim went around bare foot, as in the House of God there is no place for us to demonstrate our greatness. Similarly, at any time when the prominence of the human being is lost we remove our leather shoes. The אבל who is mourning the death of his close family member removes his shoes during shiva to show the loss of an exalted human life and to make him aware of his vulnerability. On Tisha B’Av as well, we remove our leather shoes to show that however great the human being is, we still are not immortal, we still can befall tragedy. On Yom Kippur when we enumerate all our shortcomings and beg for our lives in front of the Master of the Universe we remove our shoes to demonstrate our fallibility.

Our shoes represent our human dignity, our special status. Our shoes tell the story of our exaltedness. Now we can understand why the fourth sin of Yehuda falls under the category of אכזריות. Why the brothers’ sin of selling Yosef for ‘a pair of shoes’ is the catalyst for so much of our suffering. What it means, “For the selling of... a poor man for a pair shoes” is to rob another person of their humanity, to deny them of their basic right to their human exaltedness. This is first class אכזריות and is no different in essence to the unreserved cruelty of the other nations’ ‘fourth sin’. Yehuda may be Hashem’s chosen child, but like the other children when he thwarts the very bedrock of human existence by eradicating the human race’s predominance over the rest of creation, he too must be punished. When the brothers sold Yosef for a pair of shoes they were revealing a desperate lack of appreciation of man’s royalty and dignity and therefore merited the most severe of punishments for this אכזריות.

For many people the most moving experience when visiting the concentration camps is seeing the mountains of shoes. Whether it be the 80,000 shoes in Majdanek or the infamous mass of shoes in Auschwitz, it is hard not to be moved to tears. But why is it that the shoes more than anything else affect us so emotionally? The answer is because when you see these shoes, which represent human dignity and the human exaltedness, they are a testimony to how the Nazis robbed us of that. They represent the אכזריות of the Nazis who totally disregarded the dignity of man, who overstepped any marker of acceptable human behaviour. These shoes tell us the story of what man is capable of doing and more importantly what there is to lose when man loses his humanity.

We find ourselves learning Amos in a difficult time of the year and when we remove our shoes this Motzei Shabbos we can remember the possuk we learned last Wednesday. But it is not all despair, as Chazal tell us that on Tisha B’Av itself the Moshiach will be born and as we move into learning Ovadiah, the message of our impending redemption is clear. May this day of tragedy be transformed into a day of simcha like the finishing words of Amos, “And I will return the remnant of my people Yisrael... They will be firmly settled on their land and they will never again be displaced from their land that I have given to them, says Hashem your God.”

Shmuli

25 Tammuz 5768 – Parshas Massei 28 July 2008

Trei Asar Series - Yoel

In this Sefer, Yoel prophesies about a devastating plague of 4 different types of locusts. With this alarming prophecy, he hopes to persuade the nation to do teshuva. Rabbi Berel Wein suggests that the messages from these 4 chapters can be applied to our lives today.

In the time of Yoel, the people were aware of the reasons for the plague. The prophet warns them of the failure in national behavior and they were thus able to correct their ways and return to Hashem. Yoel explains to them the way in which they should repent and describes what will happen when they follow his pleas. The commentators bring out some valuable ideas from the words he uses:

וקרעו לבבכם ואל בגדיכם – Tear your hearts and not your garments (2: 13)

Mezudat David explains this verse to mean that it is the heart that should be ripped, not one’s external clothes. Rashi comments that the important thing to do is to ’rip one’s heart’; Hashem does not really concern Himself with one who just rips their clothes.

Teshuva has to be complete and genuine. If someone shows remorse on the outside but does not really internalize the message, then they cannot be accepted by Hashem as having truly repented. In this section Hashem wants the nation to turn away from the falsehood mentioned in Hoshea, and repent sincerely.

In 2:20 the Radak interprets Yoel’s description בדרך הדרוש-(not in simple meaning of the words). The Radak compares the leaving of the locusts to the leaving of the yetzer hara when the Jews will heed Yoel’s petition and return to Hashem:

ואת הצפוני ארחיק מעליכם

This is understood by Chazal to be the yetzer hara – the evil inclination which is hidden (tzafoon) in a person’s heart. It will be thrown far away. (Radak)

והדחתיו אל ארץ צייה – And I will banish it (the locust) to an arid and desolate land

Hashem will banish the evil inclination to a place from where it won’t be able to influence people negatively. (Radak)

Thus, the book of Yoel ends on a positive note – the people have a chance to do teshuva, Hashem will accept them if they are genuine and the plague of locusts will cease.

Nowadays however, we do not know the true reason for natural disasters. We do not have a prophet telling us that a disaster is arriving and that if we repent in a certain way then Hashem will stop it. When a plague of locusts attacked Egypt in 2004, the most they could do was to spray them with poison without understanding the actual cause. As Jews, we do not believe in random events, even ones which are seemingly natural. Although the reasons for things are not clear to us today, we should at least take on the message from Yoel about national and personal improvement in faith and behaviour. As mentioned above, ‘it is no use tearing our clothes; we should tear our hearts instead.’ When these ‘natural disasters’ occur, rather than looking shocked and then forgetting about it, perhaps we could think more about Who sent this event and why.

Our country, Israel, is always open to ‘natural disasters.’ It is susceptible to earthquakes and is often in danger of a lack of water as illustrated by the Kinneret line at the moment. It is also vulnerable to sandstorms, and as seen from 2004, to swarms of locusts. This situation can serve as a reminder for us of Who is in control and the weaknesses of humans before Him. All the technology and inventions of the 21^st century cannot overcome the natural forces that Hashem has implanted in this world. These events are therefore a humbling reminder of our place in this world and the necessary faith we should have. We may not have the clarity and prophets of Yoel’s time, but we still have a responsibility to listen to the messages and correct our ways.

As I move on to Sem, I would like to thank the organisers of this programme for all their efforts, and I am sure that this learning has and will continue to enable all of us to gain a deeper understanding of the Jews’ lives at during the times of Nach and to have a greater clarity towards our connection with Hashem.

By Naomi Ebert

22 Tammuz 5768 – Parshas Mattos 24 July 2008

Trei Asar Series - Hoshea

As consistent with other parts of Navi, the Book of Hoshea opens by telling us the time period in which the prophet lived. In our case we are told, that Hoshea prophesised during the reigns of Uzzia, Yosam, Achaz and Yechizkiya who were all Kings of Yehuda which was during the period when Yerovom ben Yoash was King over the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Hence, we know that Hoshea was a contemporary of the prophets Amos, Yeshaya and Michah, who all prophesised at some point during these Kings’ reigns. Like his fellow Nevi’im, Hoshea’s message is one of rebuke and condemnation for the way the Jewish people have strayed from the path of Hashem However, he is not a social reformer like Amos, nor is his prophecies laced with comforting images about The Time To Come as are Yeshaya’s. Rather his fourteen short, jammed packed chapters of nevous deal heavily with the unstinting love Hashem has for us, His people, despite our betrayal. and put their faith and energy into other gods.

As we race quickly through large chunks on Nach, we are not afforded the chance to delve deeply into the richness of each chapter and verse, to enjoy the linguistic beauty and individuality of each prophet but what we must strive to do, is to glean the overarching message and theme of the Book. I cannot boast to have a deep understanding of the Book that we have just been learning, but what shouted out to me in nearly every perek is this one underlying theme. It is the message that even though we strayed far away from G-d and sinned terribly, specifically by the worship of idolatry, Hashem could not bring Himself to detach us from Him but rather brings us back to Him, even closer than before. Many of the chapters take on the form where the chapter begins by Hashem detailing our betrayal to Him and just as it seems like we could be no more distant and unwanted to Him, the chapter invariably ends with Hashem’s unwavering commitment to us.

Hoshea’s portrayal of this relationship between G-d and Jew takes on a more intimate and loving form than many of the other prophets. We have already learnt in Yechezkel the long, beautiful and poetic chapters which describe the love and affection Hashem has for us and how in our redemption from Egypt He took us as His young wife. The intensity of this relationship is again revealed here in Hoshea, exemplified by the famous possuk at the end of chapter 2 which says, “And I have betrothed you to me forever.” Here Hashem is telling us how personally and seriously He is affected by our sin and depravity. But at the same time, His unstinting love which causes Him to ‘feel’ this way, is what also drives Him to “overcome this bitter disappointment” and still bring us back to Him, closer than before. Whereas before, as Yechezkel describes to us, we are His betrothed, now we are His ETERNAL betrothed, never to be forsaken again.

These words from the possuk 21 of chapter 2, ”וארשתיך לי לעולם” are the words we say every weekday morning as we wrap the teffilin straps around our finger. The strap of the teffilin is the like the engagement ring and every day we in affect rekindle the eternal bond between us and Hashem as we show that we are His betrothed. Just like the incredible love and deep affection a groom has for his bride on the day of marriage, so too is the love and commitment Hashem has for us, His people, every day and forever.

Moving on to the main part of this piece on Hoshea and what I really wanted to share with you. In perek 10 which we learnt on Sunday, there is a very interesting possuk which I feel has much to be elaborated on. As discussed before, this possuk 12 is already nearing the end of chapter 10 and therefore deals with the more positive aspect of the prophecy in which Hashem is expressing, through the Navi, His favouritism for us. The possuk reads as follows, “זרעו לכם לצדקה קצרו לפי חסד נירו לכם ניר ועת לדרוש את ה' עד יבוא ויורה צדק לכם” literally translated as, “Plant for yourselves in righteousness, harvest in accordance of kindness, plough for yourselves. And it is a time to seek Hashem until He comes and sends charity for you.”

Rashi explains on the words “נירו לכם ניר” that what the possuk is telling us is that first and fore mostly in our lives we need to ‘plough out the weeds’ i.e. overcome our יצר הרע, and the way to achieve this is by learning Torah, as the possuk carries on by saying “ ועת לדרוש את ה'”. This is the same idea as we say in Tehillim 34, “סור מרע ועשה טוב” that in order to live on that higher spiritual plane and to do what’s good in the world we must firstly remove the evil and badness that dwells inside of us. But this is something easier said than done. We all know too well how potent and convincing the evil is, so therefore Hashem granted us the tool with which to combat it. This is as the Gemoro in Kiddushin tells us that every single day our יצר הרע strengthens itself and if it were not for Hashem’s help we could never overcome it. This tool He granted us is Torah, as the Gemoro there quotes, “I created the הרע יצר” says Hashem “and I created Torah as the antidote to it!”

Rashi gives an alternate explanation to this possuk which is similar to his interpretation of a possuk in Yirimiya 4 which also uses this expression of “נירו לכם ניר”. Rashi explains here that the possuk is telling us to do kind deeds, as it says “זרעו לכם לצדקה”, before the trouble comes, just like one ploughs the field before he does anything else to it - “נירו לכם ניר”. Then using this merit, it is legitimate for him to beseech Hashem, “לדרוש את ה'”, and hopefully He will hear the cry and bring the salvation, as the possuk ends “ויורה צדק לכם” – “and He will bring charity upon you”. I think the idea being brought out here is that Hashem is not simply a panic button that only when tragedy strikes do we turn to Him, but rather we can only expect His help when we’re in a long term relationship with Him. Only when our track record is one where we are ‘sowing the seeds of kindness’ can we then expect Hashem to jump in to save us from our troubles.

Metzudos Dovid makes a couple of powerful remarks on this possuk where he explains that the first half of possuk is telling us what we must do so that we merit to receive the reward that the end of the possuk tells us of when it says, “ויורה צדק לכם” – “and He will bring charity upon you”. Metzudos Dovid explains that the non literal phrase “נירו לכם ניר” is telling us that we must uproot all foreign ideologies and philosophies from our mindset, in a similar way that the farmer uproots the weeds in the field when he does the ploughing. If the farmer would leave the weeds in the field they would harm the crops, similarly if we let non-Torah ideologies and philosophies occupy our minds we are harming our capability for true greatness. Another pre-requisite for the blessings that the possuk ends with, says the Metzudos Dovid, is the “ ועת לדרוש את ה'” that the possuk mentions. The Metzudos Dovid picks up on the word עת – time, and stresses the point that our learning and davening, i.e. the times we “seek out Hashem”, have to be something fixed and concrete and not be a case of when we can fit it in or get round to it. It’s the idea of being קובעה עתים לתורה and of fixing a time and place where we daven each day as the Gemoro in Berochos which extols the virtue of having a fixed מקום for Tefilla.

As said before, this possuk is a fully loaded one and the Radak adds another dimension to these same words which we have been discussing. By focusing on the choice of words the Navi uses, the Radak in his typical style brings out a beautiful idea. In the first phrase of the possuk, when it describes us sowing the seeds, it uses the word צדקה however when it talks about harvesting which Hashem gives us, it uses the word חסד. The Radak quotes the Chazal which tells us that “גדולה גמילות חסדים יותר מן צדקה” that acts of Kindness i.e. חסד are greater than צדקה. What the possuk is telling us is that when we do good, the reward we will receive will far surpass that which we strictly deserve. Interestingly the Rabbeinu Yona in Avos 1:2 explains this teaching of Chazal of why חסד is greater than צדקה. Furthermore the Radak brings out the idea of not resting on ones laurels from the continuation of the verse. After telling us that if we sow in righteousness we will reap in kindness the possuk then says, “plough for yourselves a ploughing”. Surly if we have just harvested what is the need to plough again? Says the Radak that the message is, that even though we have done well we cannot afford to stop, but rather need to continue to sow the seeds of righteousness.

We have discussed many ideas already and there is much here to keep our minds busy but I would still like to share with you one more thing. As you all know, but unfortunately weren’t all able to attend, we had a siyyum a few weeks ago to celebrate completing Nevi’im and nearly a year of this awesome learning programme. At the siyyum I told over a story that I had heard only a week earlier when standing in Majdanek concentration camp in Poland. For me, as someone learning my way through Nach, this story took on particular potency and I am sure that it will also add a certain emotional level to your future learning of Nach, as it has done for me. If you don’t mind, I am going to quote you basically what I said.

“I spent last week on a whirlwind trip around Poland and my mind is totally occupied by thoughts on these experiences at the moment. Last Thursday afternoon we were at Majdanek concentration camp in Poland. In truth it is insulting to call it a concentration camp or even a death camp because Majdanek was affectively a torture camp in which thousands of Jews were treated in the most brutal and cruel ways of which our innocent imaginations can hardly comprehend. As we stood in a barracks which is now filled with over 80,000 shoes of men, women and children, young and old, rich and poor; our guide Reb Tzvi Sperber recounted a story from that camp which really hit home with me specially because of our Daily Nach programme. There were two young men, boys really, who managed to smuggle into the camp a Tanach. Smuggling was a crime punishable by death of course however the Cappo /Sondercommando of these two boys’ barracks saw their devotion to the Tanach and let them keep it. In most cases, if you were going to have the dare to smuggle something into the camps you would at least try to bring in something that might save your life. Perhaps a piece of bread so you wouldn’t die of starvation, maybe a warm coat so you wouldn’t freeze to death in winter or even simply some water to save you from dehydration. But for these two kedoshim it was the words of Nach that would keep them alive. After an exhausting day of work with beatings and the like, these two boys would come back at night to their bed of wooden planks and start to learn from their Tanach by the light of the moon. You know what, they were there doing Daily Nach before us. There in the depths of hell, they learnt the same perokim of Nach as we do and hoped to find within it the hope end encouragement that would keep them going to live another day. I can’t stop thinking and wondering, what pesukim would they have learn to give them strength? What perokim did they find interesting and exciting? Maybe it was the possuk we learnt in Yeshaya, “ובאו האובדים מארץ אשור והנדחים מארץ מצרים והשתחוו לה' בהדרת קודש מירושלם....” They hoped and longed that they would be the remnant and remainder that the Navi is talking about here, who would return to Yerushalayim. It doesn’t really matter what exactly they were learning but it is the fact that in the throws of death these two holy boys were determined to show the Nazis that ‘you may be able to crush our bodies but you will never ever be able to crush our souls.’ This surely must give us the strength and the merit to be able to learn the same pages of Torah in more peaceful and comfortable conditions.”

As I expected, writing this piece has been of greater benefit to me than it will be to you the reader but either way I hoped that you have enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments I would be very interested to hear them.

Wishing you Mazel Tov on completing this mini sefer and a good shabbos!

Shmuli

shmulisagal@gmail.com

Rabbi Farhi's shiur

Hey everyone
For anyone who missed rabbi Farhi's shiur on 11/07/08 here it is, its very good

Here is the link to her the shiur online
http://ia311320.us.archive.org/0/items/RabbiFarhisSpeech/MIC-2008-07-09_23h04m31s.wav
Here is the link to download it
http://rapidshare.com/files/128925971/MIC-2008-07-09_23h04m31s.wav.html

12 Sivan 5768 – Parshas Shelach Lecha 15 June 2008

Yechezkel Perokim 39 – 48

Ok that it is, the last full week of Yechezkel over. I know that we have a few more days till we finish the whole book but please let me bring everything to a close, as my contract for writing ends at the end of Yechezkel. After that it is to the boardroom to see if I get the ‘finger’, ‘cos it might be “Rickman your fired”…

So the whole Sefer in my understanding takes us on a journey, a journey of understanding the Holiness of Hashem and how the world of Holiness affects everything else. The start is of the Holy Throne of Hashem and the angels that surround that. The distance that man feels when reading this is so great, why do we not see this great vision? Why aren’t we able to live a life of pure service to Hashem in such a way? Why do we get stuck on this earth, the trials and tribulations of day-to-day life?

Then life goes from bad to worst. The Navi is shown destruction after destruction. Not just death and punishment. We move from the Temple being made into a place of idol worship, the people of God betraying their God in the House of God. Mixed in with these visions, we keep meeting the angels. Feeling even more now the distance that it’s not just that we don’t see and experience the same as them in the service of Hashem, but we are actively moving away from the service.

So once the House is no longer a place of the revelation of Hashem and the people are no longer servants, the land is introduced and takes part in the separation process.

Then we read about the destruction, the climax of the bad times when the enemy is walking in with a VIP pass and nothing is able to stop them.

Then, slowly slowly do we see the end coming closer, however it is not the end that we might have thought. The Jewish people are not wiped off the face of the earth (God forbid). The people do face more wars but this is part of the love of Hashem. It is necessary to sort the people out for the people to turn back to Hashem. They must return and reunite with the Lord.

And then the light, the bright light that blinds and in contrast nothing seems relevant. Next we receive the news that there will be another Temple and that the people will return and live again like the servants that we so really want to be. The image is so vivid and so real. That to hear the words being read, one can almost walk through that very Temple, see the gates and see the courtyard. Then, not just is the Temple rebuilt, the people are brought back and life is blown back into our bones. The excitement is hard to control you want to put down the Navi and go and see it, but sadly we are still far from the end vision.

But now, how to give the final goodbye for the moment to this Navi? We are told the name of the great city that the revelation is present, the place were the Priests are offering sacrifices, the place the Levites sing their songs and the place the Israelite go to see. That city is called “Hashem is There”. This my friends is the end of the circle, the story is brought full circle. The message that we are being shown is that we have the chance, the honour of serving Hashem in the great way that the angels do and in truth we at times have a better chance than the angels. The angels don’t move, they stand on one level but we grow and can get closer! So we must always remember this, that when we read about the depths that we reached, that however low we went, allows us to go even higher. We can rebuild any connection any sin can be wiped out. The message that I have walked away is that Hashem is always there for us and that the love is always there and that we must never never give up and called it a day, we must always strive to be closer in any way we can.

Thank you and have a great shabbos.

By Natan Rickman

3 Sivan 5768 – Parshas Naso 6 June 2008

Yechezkel Perokim 32 – 38

So this week was Yom Yerushalayim, which was for me a very enjoyable time seeing the hundreds and thousands of people come and celebrate, so therefore I feel that I am somewhat forced to discuss some ideas on the topic.

It is very interesting to look at the Torah thoughts from 1967, to see what the Rabbi’s were talking about after the miracle of the Six Day War. There was one particular discussion that was written up in the Tradition journal, which is very interesting if anyone ever gets a chance to read it. There is a discussions of what we should do now that we have the Har HaBayis, should be re-build the Beis HaMikdash to bring Karbanos and should we still fast on the 9th of Av (some did not for the first year). The theme of the discussion was; that we are at the start of very historical event and the end of history should be around the corner. However, sadly as we have seen that the end has taken a little longer than some thought and perhaps we just were not ready. However, what is clear is that the return home has allowed the process of the rebuilding of the Jewish people, both spiritually and physically. We are still far, but let us not forget how far we have come in just 60 of a state and 41 years of Jerusalem. Each day is another step closer.

The Navi in chapter 36 verse 24, spelt out the return, long ago and again to understand what Hashem has planned for us, it can sometimes be found in the Navi. The Navi, explains, that Hashem will gather everyone in from around the world in order to bring us home. The first stage is that we need to recognise that the place we are being taken to is really our home, the final destination. Then, promises Hashem, that He will make us pure, that the process of being close to Hashem is to allow Hashem to come close to us. To allow ourselves to be in contact and focused on being better people and then, we can become those better people.

Once we have become clean again, then we are able to have our “new heart and new spirit”. The new heart is to replace the stone one that we have been told that we have now. Again the Navi We understand, that there needs to be redemption and an end, but what is harder to think about is the state that we are in at the moment. Specifically that we look around and that things look so good but we have to really appreciate, that this is not the true Will of Hashem. That a perfect world, following the Will of Hashem, would be different and we could live differently. Therefore, we need this new heart and sprit so that we will walk around seeing the world in a different way. is giving us a strong wake up call.

Once we have been cleansed and updated, then we are ready to become the servant again. If one can imagine that we would be without the stains of our childhood and that we would be living on the level that we recognise that nature is just another toy that is totally dependant and can be changed according to the Will of Hashem.

It is living on a level were what we do, is successful and we never lose. But there is one sole rule, to listen and obey the Word. This is the world, which Adam was created into. Just Imagine!!!

The valley of the dry bones; the famous image and story. The Navi sees a lifeless heap of bones, and pile of used potential, of what was. The Navi is challenged by Hashem almost to offer a prophecy to these bones. What we then learn, is one lesson that should not be forgotten. We will not get into the discussion about the nevuah itself but just the opening message. That the NaviHashem has control over everything, as we see it happens and that they do come back to life. Never, just see a valley of bones in life, everything should be an opportunity and the question is do you see the opportunity of just a valley of dry bones?? sees the bones and confirms that the Will of

By Natan Rickman

25 Iyar 5768 – Parshas Bamidbar 30 May 2008

Yechezkel Perokim 25 – 31

Hi, this week I have decided to take a different look on things as we read over this weeks chapters we learn that the destruction is coming and how is going to be done.

A question that I have be thinking about all week is, the person who is coming to destroy the temple what type of person would he be. He is clearly a messenger of Hashem and what he is doing needs to be, therefore perhaps he has lost free will, in a similar way to what happened in Egypt? Or perhaps the person has complete free will and is just simply an evil person. What type of personality would he be? Is he strong or weak? I think that these questions help us understand who these people are.

So if we take a number of different quotes from Chazal about who Nebuchanezter was, perhaps things might be slightly clearer and we can try to understand why he was chosen to destroy the House of God, and leave the Jewish people destroyed and desolate.

Chazal offer a number of different comments, I have only chosen a few and I am aware that some contradict at first glance. These are quotes which interested me and helped me to understand a little more about Nebuchanezter.

The man that truly ruled the whole known world of the time, he was, "haughty and a short person, during his travel he would be greeted by people, who would comment and snicker to each other, 'what a short person who rules the complete world.’” Please be clear that I have nothing against short people, some of my best friends are short people! Anyway, to try and get a visual picture of this man, perhaps picture him like Napoleon who was also short. Nebuchanezter was not this six-foot well built man, he was short and was had a peasant up bringing. He was neither from a noble household, nor brought up educated; he was a fighter, a man who came from nowhere, just like Haman.

We are also told that he would serve the sun as a god, a thought that seems so strange. But a man who has conquered the whole world and travels throughout his kingdom has nothing that remains constant in his world, can only relate to the sun, but even that disappears.

Just to focus on this for a brief moment. When we travel a Jews there are two main thoughts that we are worried about; where will we daven and where will we eat (not sure what order)? To travel to another city or country, the travelling can be a lonely time. I was alone travelling to my sister who lives in Melbourne and on the flight from London which takes about 24 hours, I had to daven Shachris. The intense feeling of being lonely on a plane of some 400 plus people but yet I found comfort when I put my tefilin on and davened. This really made an imprint on me and I think that it is the real feeling of being a Jew that no matter were we are or when it is we can turn to Hashem and feel that closeness. This feeling ensures that we never need to turn to the sun claiming that it is the only thing we can always turn to no matter where we are in the world.

However, one of the most interesting quotes from Chazal about Nebuchanezter is that "while Nebuchanezter was alive no laughed." Now I am not sure if this quote is meant to be taken for real that during the life span of Nebuchanezter, no laughed. Or perhaps it is describing a state of the peoples mind.

The obvious place to look for a description of laughter is with Avraham and Sarah when they are told in Lech L'cha that they are to have a child. The laughter of Avraham is one of uncontrollable happiness while Sarah is slightly cynical of the proposal. To laugh is to express ones inner most feeling and thoughts, any sound that is made which is not in a specific language is the deepest sound of all. The shofar is the sound of a crying baby; it does not matter from where or when in history but the sound remain constant. The same by laughter, to express ones inner most feeling of excitement, breaks all boundaries. So, to say that in the times of Nebuchanezter it was not allowed to express this feeling or perhaps it was not a feeling that one wanted to express opens a window to the assumption that those people did not feel the ability to feel the inner happiness to see the wider picture.

To draw these thoughts together, we must know the enemy and understand where they come from and what they do to the world. I am sure, but can’t prove it, that there must be a link between the effect that the enemy has on the Jewish people/the world and what aspect of Teshuva that the Jewish people need to do. Any ideas please let me know.

So now we have a better understanding of this rashah, we can feel more the build up to the destruction. Please let me know your thoughts. I am interested.

Have a great shabbos,

By Natan Rickman

18 Iyar 5768, Lag B’omer – Parshas Bechukosi 23 May 2008

Yechezkel Perokim 18 – 24

Well, I am back in the most holy City of Jerusalem. Thank you to those who came last week and allowed be to talk, I hope that you might have come away from that with a feeling of having learnt something. I was so excited to see young girls and boys getting together to learn Torah, in a very kodosh way. To see the faces of those who might read the d’var torah also helps me. So a very big THANK YOU and you should all know again that you are all very HOLY PEOPLE.

Let’s go………. There is a method of disciplining that is used in the classroom, where a teacher has three types of students. The first are those who always listen, the second are those who will listen once they have seen the types of punishment that the teacher gives out and then there are also those who even after seeing the punishments that they might encounter if they misbehave, still misbehave.

The Navi in chapter 21 is shown a vision of trees that are consumed by fire and which can not be extinguished. One tree is dry and is ready to be fire wood while the other is fresh and alive. Chazal explain that this is symbolism and that the dry trees are like those with no Torah and no drive towards Hashem and that the fresh trees are those who are full of Torah. Everyone will be punished and destroyed. What is interesting is that of the symbolism of a tree. Of course it seems the obvious option in that it lends itself to a strong image of the contrast between wood that naturally burns easily to that which does not. But perhaps the Navi specifically talks about trees and not wood, because trees understand that going against the Will of Hashem bring punishment.

During the creation of the world each item that is created is given the order by the ‘word’ of Hashem. If one looks at the creation of the trees, chapter one verse eleven, the command was “Let the earth sprout … fruit trees yielding fruit each of its kinds.” And the next verse says, “And trees yielding fruit.” What the ground did to the trees was not what it was directed to do. The command was that the tree itself i.e. the bark, should taste like the fruit of the tree and the whole thing would smell like the fruit. However, what came out of the ground was a type of trees that was have today, bark with smell and only the fruit is edible. Rashi on the possuk says that the ground was punished with Adam after his sin and that the ground grew thorns and weeds.

So we see that it is the tree that understands that to transgress the command of Hashem means punishment. So too here the Navi wants the people to understand that to transgress the Word of Hashem will mean that there will be punishment, however it seems that we never learn. We cannot be like the trees that were able only once to transgress the Will of Hashem.

Chapter 24!!! A story that we all know and cry over almost everyday. The feeling is almost the same as after hearing about the passing of a close friend or mentor. The build up over the last few weeks, all the prophecies about what might happen and how it will be. Jerusalem full of the greatest people of the time where everyone has come hoping that there they will find rest and a safe place from the destruction. But in truth nothing that can be done and Jerusalem will be destroyed with the people being killed and exile will become the new life for the Jewish people.

As we read on, the Navi himself breaks down at the vision and can no longer continue as he has seen what no man should see, the future destruction of what he loves; the people of Israel, the land of Israel and the House of God. But the Navi is not given time to sit and mourn, Hashem tells him that he should be silent and no longer cry. The Navi walks away with the message that it is too late, nothing can be done.

One can almost hear the Navi shouting from the pages in pain. The feeling of wanting to place an arm around the Navi and tell him, that yes this is painful but the people have great potential. But perhaps that is why the Navi is crying, knowing what could have been and seeing what in reality is.

What I have gained from this episode and what we have read has almost made clear the long exile that we are in now. Hashem does not punish us for no reason, we are not left ‘alone’ for no reason. Hashem told the Navi what might happen if we continue in those evil ways. So somehow over the last 2000 years, even without the Navi telling us what is wrong we should have looked and realised what the Navi was telling us. This is our guide book. We need to take these lessons and follow what Hashem want us to do.

So have a great Shabbos and enjoy, carry on with the learning. Again, I offered to those who find themselves in Israel and need a place to eat/sleep or jus chill please give me a call, everyone is always welcome, 054 345 3356.

All the best,

Natan

11 Iyar 5768 – Parshas Behar 16 May 2008

Yechezkel Perokim 10 – 17

Hello, this is my first time writing while I am in London, it is a bit shorter this week, sorry. If I saw you around it was great but if not sorry and maybe next time. I was thinking all week on what to write, I feel that the topic is one to think about. Again it is just my ideas so let me know what you think.......

In Chapter 13 of the Navi there is a strong command from Hashem about the evils and the dangers of the Navi Sheker, that the Navi Sheker does neither represent Hashem, nor His Torah. This idea of a Navi Sheker and the nature and need for there to be a special La’av in the Torah that commands against such a thing is puzzling. Why is being a Navi Sheker any worst than lying? What’s really wrong with it?

OK, I understand that to lie in the name of Hashem is clearly not a good idea, but there is a deeper point that needs to be understood. I am sure that you have dealt with this idea of what a Navi is etc. but let us go back to the Rambam, who really explains why Moshe was the man. So the Rambam explains what the job specs where to be a Navi, for those who have not learned Yesoday HaTorah chapters 7 and 8, it’s a good idea. There is a lot there that really explains what type of person the Navi was.

The Navi is the one who brings the word of Hashem to the people, which at times is good and some times is bad. Now the benefit of a Navi system as apposed to nowadays, is that today no one is really too sure of what’s wrong with the Jewish people. We all have ideas of what it could be but no one is exactly sure. So the Navi is able to tell everyone what Hashem is saying. Put in that way it really does sound like the Navi is the best way forward.

The Navi needs to be able to step away from what the people want to hear and tell them what they need to hear. So the Navi Sheker is the same as the idol worshiper. As explained last week, that when one can remove Hashem from the centre of his existence and put mankind there instead he will inevitably tell people what they want to hear as apposed to what they need to hear. Even though this ‘Navi’ calls out in the name of Hashem, there is no need to believe that this is the truth.

Throughout Jewish history people have always come up and wanted to tell the people what to do, to reveal their Nevuos, to tell over their personal revelations. But at times it has been to turn against the Torah and against the Will of Hashem.

The way that our Navi explains the Navi Sheker as the fox, reminded me of the Gemara at the end of Makkos. There is a story of Rabbi Akiva and his friends walking post-chorban and seeing a fox run through the destroyed Temple. Rabbi Akiva laughs while everyone else cries. This idea, of a fox running through a chorban is that the fox is looking for his scrapes of food and resembles the weak that remain. There is no vision for the future. No building. Just look after number one.

We have had our fair share of Navi Sheker over the last 2000 years, and even nowadays this Navi Sheker is still around, but is shouting out a different call. At the times when the Jewish people are down and need to be strengthened, the question that is asked is who is in the centre?

One of my Rabbis put this idea in a very real way by asking, why would the people go against the true Navi? And follow this Navi Sheker? He explained that, what would there be if a true Navi told us today that it was the Will of Hashem (God Forbid) to give away Jerusalem. Who would have the strength to listen and follow? No one at any time wants to hear that they need to give in. So when looking at this Navi Sheker, it is a really question of faith where one really needs to look into oneself and see what does Hashem demand. The Navi Sheker is the one who makes it all sound like easy work, the Navi Hashem makes demands on the people and shows them what they need to do.

Have a great Shabbos.

Natan

4 Iyar 5768 – Parshas Emor 9 May 2008

Yechezkel Perokim 3 – 9

Well I did not hear from anyone last week so I guess that you all enjoyed it, if not I am sorry and please let know, I even changed my email address to gmail!

Anyway, down to business, things got much worst this week and we have really seen some scary visions being prophesied, whilst having the knowledge that they did come true and sadly some times not only once in our history.

I felt that the climax of the nevuah and what sheds light on what is happening, is chapter eight. Until now we have heard what might happen and how it is going to happen, then almost out of no where, Hashem lets us know what the story in the Temple is. We must not forget that the Temple was not just our spiritual life and the place that we saw the revelation of Hashem, but it also was the one thing that united the Jewish people. Having just spent Yom Ha’atzmaut in Israel, the notion of needing a central place where the nation can turn to and feel pride in, is certainly lacking. So we read that by some means the Navi is being brought to the Temple in Heaven. Now there are a number of points that must be clarified before we continue.

Why is the process of taking him to the Temple so strange? What’s the need to grab him by his payos? Being a payos wearer I can testify that it’s certainly painful and what is this Temple in Heaven? Is it a vision for the future?

Ok, about the payos, Hashem needs to bring the Navi to the Beis HaMikdash NOW. He needs to be shown what is going on, what the people are doing. Therefore, the time did not call for niceties but rather it called for action. We will see soon what was so bad that such urgency was required.

The Beis HaMikdash in shomayim is explained by a number of different sources. The idea is larger than we can fully discover here but it is a good time to explain a little. The world that we see around us i.e. the physical world, the trees, the sun, the moon and even our bodies are all reflections. To explain this point let us take the example of staring at the mirror for a very long time or having a picture taken next to a mirror. It can sometimes be hard to discern what the real image is and what the reflection is. Even when you are convinced that what you are seeing is the real thing, it is merely a reflection.

The same is true at some level here, because for everything in the physical world there is the source of that object in the heavens, in its most complete form possible. Therefore what we see in this world is only a reflection from the real ‘object’. So what Hashem is showing the Navi here is the true Beis HaMikdash. There is a comment by Chazal, that when the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed it was of course a tragic event, but the ultimate tragedy was that the Beis HaMikdash only had that potential to be destroyed because the Beis HaMikdash in Heaven had already been destroy by the Jewish people. So what Hashem is doing here, is showing the Navi who and why is really leading the armies to burn down the House of Hashem.

What the Navi sees at first sight seems to be a rejection of Hashem and pure idol worship. But with a better reading of the verses, one gets to really understand what was going on here.

The history of idol worship is kindly related to us by the Rambam. The story is that people felt the need for a focus for their prayers and chose something from nature to look at in order to help them with this. As I am sure you guessed, it slowly moved away from the item being a point of focus to it becoming an idol and a god in itself. So idol worship is bad and Hashem does not like it, but destroy the Temple? Not sure, but here goes my theory.

If you look at the text the wording should sound like something else you might have read. Ok... it is Noah and the flood. Hashem tells Noah that the world has become full with “Chamas” and then Hashem goes and destroys the world saving Noah with his family and some animals. But here Hashem is going to destroy the Temple because of this “Chamas”. What is the “Chamas”? What is the connection between these two stories?

In essence the deeper problem of what the Navi was seeing was that the order of the Temple had broken down. Each group had certain areas where they were situated and other areas where they were not allowed into. Hashem had prescribed for it to be based on the structure of Mattan Torah. For the woman, they were only meant to go up to a certain point and no further. But here within this vision, the women are in the azarah itself. This was is too far! Now you might be thinking ok, too far forward, too much to the left, big deal!! Well yes it is. The need for order, structure and a system of how the revelation of Hashem is revealed to the world is so important and so critical that in its absence Hashem needed to destroy the Temple for it. There was no manoeuvring space in order that this problem be solved, the only solution was the ‘final solution’ for the Temple.

By rejecting real service for their own service and by violating Hashem’s order with their own they were sending out a message that goes far deeper than that of simply turning away from Hashem. What they were doing was to place man at the centre of the equation, to say that now it is man who decides how a god will reveal itself and whom can perform the service.

This is when the Temple needs to be destroyed, and so to by Noah. In that time it was mankind who decided what was moral, what was theft. There was no longer a system based on the Will of God but rather it was the will of man.

Another place in the Torah that this word comes up is when Yaakov gives his sons a bracha. He tells Reuven and Shimon that they are sons of “Chamas”, since they went out and became the judge, jury and executioner of the Sodomites concerning the episode with Dina. It might have been rightful revenge, but Yaakov tells them that we don’t live like that, we have rules etc.

Now for us, we follow the Torah and try and live a life of meaning. But the question that is a bit harder to answer is who is in the centre of our lives? Can we say that we place Hashem at the centre? Or rather is it a life that when it is easy, we fulfil what we need to do. Can we push ourselves when we don’t understand or don’t want to do?

We must help ourselves walk away from the destruction with positively answering these questions. What really is the centre of my life? Whose will am I really fulfilling?

By Natan Rickman