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

27 Nissan 5768 – Parshas Kedoshim 2 May 2008

Yechezkel Perokim 1 & 2

After agreeing to try and write something that might be one interesting and two intelligent, I then sat down and started to read over the first chapter of the Navi. Well the start is very famous and I knew what to expect, however then came chapter two. Anyway soon I was on my way and these are my thoughts on what I learnt. Please feel free to argue, debate and disagree on anything that I have written, because only through debate do we become wise.

So the opening chapter is a complete description of the "Ma'aseh Ma'merkava" (M.M) the Godly throne and those that surround it. We will not be discussing the deeper workings of the description and not a list of what each of the angels do etc, for two very good reasons. The first that Chazal placed a ban on learning these topics in large groups and two I can’t!

But what is important to note that this is the only place in the Tanach that such a detailed picture takes places. In truth if we were to ask, is this really the best place for such a description why is it mentioned here? Was Yechezkal the only one ever to see such a revelation?

I would guess that this type of revelation describing the throne of Glory which increases the awe and majesty in our eye’s, could have been placed in any of the following well know stories:

1. The creation of the world- some place in the first chapter of Torah would have been a nice introduction.

2. When God reveals himself to Avraham in the beginning of Lech Lechah.

3. When God visited Avraham after the Bris Milah.

4. Mattan Torah.

To list just the first four that came to my mind; I am sure that we could extend the list much longer. So what is really going on here? The gemara in Chagiga 13b, gives us an insight that answers both questions and raises another interesting point. The gemara wants to rate the different prophets and let us know that this prophecy was not unique to Yechezkal, but rather Yeshaya also saw the M.M and there is also a well known mechiltah that claims that by the Yam Suff, even a simple maid servant had a clearer revelation of Hashem than Yechezkal did! So why does Yechezkal draw for us this great picture where other prophets did not think that it was relevant?

Ok let’s go……. The gemara answers that in relation to the two prophet Yechezkel is like a villager, lets say some one from a small farming village that has never seen a large city and only knows his own village whereas Yeshaya is a city dweller, someone who lives in the centre of town. Let’s explain it a little bit clearer.

If you remember wondering around the old city in Jerusalem there are two very distinct types of people, those that rush through the narrow streets and are focused on the final destination. Then there are also those who are walking around in a daze trying to take in two thousand years of history and while they turn there head left and right and take more photos, they have almost forgotten their final destination. When they might ever get there it is almost irrelevant for them, since the simple experience of the old city is enough for them. This is the same with our prophet here. Agreed that others saw what he saw, and agreed another place in the Tanach might have added something. But it needed a prophet who saw the revelation as a "villager'' and not as a "city dweller". We needed to be reminded at that point in history of the ultimate glory of Hashem.

So too within our lives, we at times are running too much. We run from school to home, from home to friends and then to a hundred other places. Never, do we stop and look around and see what is going on around us -

We don’t see the beauty and grace of the world and the Torah. We need to take notice and see how a real person full of the sense that Hashem loves everyone, how they stand and talk, even before the Torah flows from their mouth.

There is a Gemara Yerushalmi, were different Amoraymin are explaining why they were able to become Torah giants. The discussion sounds so strange but I think that what we discussed above helps us to understand. So one turns to the other, and explains that he only he became great in Torah because he saw the arm of a great man when he was young, and that great man saw the face of another great man. The simple glance at another’s face should be enough. The Navi is shouting to us, take in what is around you allow your surroundings to prepare you for spiritual life.

Can anyone imagine what it must have felt to come to the Beis HaMikdash on the Regel? To see all the Jewish people gather together. To strengthen this point we know that the Torah commands men woman and children to come to Hakel, a service where the prince in Israel, reads from the Torah. The question is asked, men come to learn but why do woman need to come? The answer given there is that they come to see the awesome sight of so many Jews gathering together in service of God. There is so much value to being able to take in the positive messages form our surroundings. This is what the Navi wants us to understand.

From the second chapter in the Navi and onwards, when Hashem addresses Yecezkal He calls him Ben Adam. Now I am not sure if you realized that this is not very nice! He does have a name and he is a loyal servant so what is going on? One final question, Rashi and the Radak explain that this is a term of disgrace and that here the Navi is being told that you might have seen the M.M but still remember that you are just man. Nice, it sounds great that Hashem is reminding the Navi of humility but that could have been it. However one needs to look at what term Hashem uses to call him; Adam but not enosh or ish. The Zohar teaches that Hashem calls man by four names, gever, enosh, ish and adam and that adam is the greatest of them all.

Wait a second, what going on now? If Hashem wants to give Yechezkel a slice if humble pie, why not call him ensoh or ish? If you need to lower someone, do it fully? But here is the real beauty of the situation. The Navi has seen the M.M and now the Navi is in a dangerous position as he needs to keep his feet on the ground. So Hashem offers him a message that in one word expresses two different ideas that work together. The first is that Hashem reminds the Navi that he is just man and therefore is limited to the limitations of man, however at the same time he is also adam the highest level that mankind can reach. There is another medrash chazal, where the name adam the letter stand for Adam, David and Moshiach. The title adam is the expanse of the human existence the idea that encompasses all of mankind.

To conclude the Navi, is again showing us the lesson that takes a life-time to try and master. That on the one side we have this potential to reach the greatest heights that mankind can reach and on the other side, we need to understand that we are still mankind and no angels.

Have a great week and please email me with comments, ncdrickman@hotmail.com

By R’ Natan Rickman

This is the link to daniel rowes shiur that he gave when we finished jeremiah its really good enjoy
http://www.archive.org/download/2008-04-28RabbiRowesShiurOnJeremiahYechezkel/2008-04-28RabbiRowesShiurOnJeremiahYechezkel.wav

anyone who wants to download it for there MP3 players or similar

you can use this link its a bit of a cefufel to get through though http://rapidshare.com/files/111565477/2008-04-28_rabbi_rowe_s_shiur_on_jeremiah___yechezkel.wav.html

(If you are listening to it off the internet you may need to refresh it)

Rosh Chodesh Adar Sheini 5768 – Parshas Pekuday / Shekalim 7 March 2008

Yeshaya Perokim 53 – 66 (officially)

Hi everybody –

I would like to apologize for not having written last week’s installment. I was in London, and was not in my regular ‘groove’. But thankfully, now all is groovy.

By the beginning of next week, we are finishing Yeshaya – but probably not really finishing, but just starting Yirmiyahu (to which I believe, Rav Amram, is going to contribute the weekly thoughts…). The idea of having some kind of written thought to accompany our own study is really very important. We all have our own individualized way of interpreting, and storing anything we come across – and we could all learn Tanach/Torah on our own, and have many different understandings of what we learn. The objective of a chabura, is to unify our learning’s, that we are involved in a dialogue, that we understand the Tanach from different (especially Chazal’s) perspectives – rather than live in our own small world of our own minds. This is called growth; Challenging the way each of us looks at anything (a text, life, hashkafa, etc.)

This idea reminds me of an insight of Reb Chaim MiVolozhin to the Mishna in Pirkei Avos: (3:2) –

משנה מסכת אבות פרק ג משנה ב

שנים שיושבין ויש ביניהם דברי תורה שכינה ביניהם שנאמר (מלאכי ג') אז נדברו יראי ה' איש אל רעהו ויקשב ה' וישמע ויכתב ספר זכרון לפניו ליראי ה' ולחושבי שמו

“When two people sit, and discuss divrei torah, the Shechinah rests between them, as it says ‘Az NidBeru…’”

Reb Chaim asks; Why are we using a pasuk that uses the term ‘Az NidBeru’ – let us find a pasuk which says ‘Az diBru’. The word ‘NidBeru’, is, as some of you might know, a reflexive verb (I, on the other hand – don’t really know my hifils from nifals – don’t appreciate the question to its true extent) – but the difference between ‘NidBeru’ and ‘DiBru’, is that the former means “were spoken to” while the latter is translated as “spoke”.

Masterfully, and penetratingly (if there is such a word), R’ Chaim explains that the mishna is teaching us an important prerequisite for the Shechina to be present when we learn: - we must strive to understand our chavrusa (or the other members of the chabura, or really anyone who tells us any ‘dvar torah’…) – we must ‘be spoken to’ rather than ‘speak’, we must have a dialogue rather than two monologues.

Our chabura achieves this to an extent – when we listen to understand our friends (particularly in Torah) – we challenge our own views and can change, while at the same time, allowing the Shechina to take part in our dialogue…..

I had mentioned that I wanted to focus a little on Christianity and its views, especially with regard to how they try to read prophecies of their “messiah” (herewith to be implied by the letter ‘J’) into our Tanach. The very fact that they feel the need to find sources in our Tanach for their religion is quite telling. The validity of the Torah and Nevi’im was unquestioned 2000 years ago – and for any claim of any religion to have any credibility – it had to come from the Tanach. (We shall discuss soon why that is important.)

I was once on a date (with my wife-to-be) in Trafalgar Square (more pigeons than Jews there) – when we were confronted by a missionary lady. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t very bright, and all she could muster at the end was “I’ll pray for you Sam”. This interaction led me to the conclusion that more has to be done in the community to counteract missionary work. Every one of us should have a basic understanding of the major flaws in Christian thought – this is not a novel idea, many Rishonim had debates with Christians, and every Rishon who discussed the Ikkarim (Principles of Faith) necessarily had to touch on these thoughts. (Our day is no different – over the last 30 years, more than 300,000 Jewish neshamos have been lost to Christianity, through Jews for J, and other less conspicuously sounding names….)

My objective here is not to give a full rundown of the many problems, (which there are many – for instance hundreds of misunderstood pesukim quoted and misquoted in the ‘new testament’ – and the fact that there are 2700 versions of the new testament – and the fact that many new testament accounts of the events that took place during J’s life, conflict with other accounts…. So much so, that to someone who actually looks up the quotes, and takes the new testament seriously, soon understands that it is fragments of misunderstood parts of Tanach, placed together in such a way that it seems like the authors are not very intelligent, or at least, assumed that no-one would ever read the books – as was the case, that many of the masses were illiterate.)

(Many of these thoughts are from tapes by my previous Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Ya’acov Weinberg of Ner Yisrael in Baltimore – as well as ‘Permission to Receive’ by Lawrence Keleman – ‘Beyond Reasonable Doubt’ by Rabbi Shmuel Waldman – and some other books….)

Here are some questions to ask someone who approaches you:

1) WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE ‘J’ WHEN HE SAYS THAT HE HAD A VISION?

2) HOW CAN ‘J’ BE FROM THE DAVIDIC DYNASTY IF HE IS ‘SON OF G-D’? (obvious, right?)

3) HOW DO YOU ACCOUNT FOR THE FACT THAT THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH 7:14 USES THE TERM “ALAMAH” (“YOUNG GIRL”) AS OPPOSE TO “BESULAH” (“VIRGIN”)? (I was looking around in a second hand bookshop in Cambridge, looking at the Religion and Philosophy section, when I met a PHD student in ‘Christian studies’ – I asked him how the Christian intellectuals defend this particular problem of Alamah and Besulah – he told me that they don’t resolve the issue, and that this was ‘indeed a deep problem in Christological predictions of the Old Testament’ but that ultimately they have to resort to ‘faith’ in the face of all adversary…. Basically, there is no answer. See the appendix at the end of ‘Permission to Receive’.)

4) HOW CAN THE NEW TESTAMENT REJECT THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE TORAH, WHEN THE TORAH CLEARLY STATES (ON A FEW DOZEN OCCASIONS – SHEMOS 12:14, 17, 28:43, VAYIKRA 3:17, 7:36, 10:9, 16:29, 31, 34, 23:14, 21, 31, 41, 24:3, BAMIDBAR 15:15, 18:23 and DEVARIM 4:2, 13:1) THAT THIS TORAH IS ETERNAL AND IMMUTABLE? (Surely the entire Christian claim is based on the Old Testament – in which case, it can’t pick and chose which parts to focus on, and which to ignore – the Torah states that the Torah is unchanged-able.)

[When Lawrence Keleman wrote to the Vatican – and all this is recorded in the appendix at the end of ‘Permission to Receive’ – the response of the Vatican was “we should not underestimate the adverse pedagogical impact on the understanding of divine son-ship if the virginal conception is denied” (P.209)… or more simply put; “if people out there actually read Yeshaya 7:14 and realized that we have been pulling the wool over everybody’s eyes – and that there is no such thing as ‘Virgin birth’ – people will stop believing that J is the son of G-d.”]

The first question is really the most important one (the rest simply ridicule), and is in fact the way in which the Torah (Devarim 4:33) describes the difference between ‘us’ and ‘them’:

דברים פרק ד פסוק לג

השמע עם קול אלהים מדבר מתוך האש כאשר שמעת אתה ויחי:

“Has a nation ever heard G-d speak to them from the midst of the fire as you did, and you lived.”

(See pages 58-60 in “Beyond A Reasonable Doubt” – as well as the Rambam in Chapter 8 of Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, right at the beginning of the “Mishneh Torah” – I don’t want to go into it in detail, because I want to present the general argument, rather than try to be careful in translating a piece of Rambam…)

An old joke is told of an old Rabbi who died, without telling his community which of his three sons was to take over the town’s Shul. Each son claimed to be the heir to the throne. The eldest son felt that it was his right as the eldest. The second felt that he was most beloved by the community and as a result, he was the right one to take over. The third felt that he was the biggest Talmid Chacham, and as a result, he should be the one to lead the community.

This scenario stretched for months, and turned unto a feud between differing factions of the community, some sided with the first, some with the second, and obviously, some with the third.

One day the third son comes into Shul, bangs on the Bimah and says, “Tomorrow at noon we will decide who is to be the rightful heir – I have something important to tell you all.” The next day, every man, woman and child crushed into the Shul to hear what the youngest son had to say: He got up and said; “Don’t worry my friends; my father came to me in a dream and revealed to me that I, the third son, is to take over the Shul, as I am the greatest scholar.” Everyone started cheering, until someone in the back row shouted, “If your father has the ability to come to people in their dreams – he should have come to US in OUR dreams, and told US that you are to be our next leader. As it stands why should we believe you…”

Dear J, and dear Mohammed, if Hashem wanted us to believe us that you are His prophet, why did He not come to us, and tell us this? Why did He only come to you in your dream? Why should we believe that you are telling us the truth?

Only Moshe Rabbeinu has been pointed to in front of our own eyes to be the Prophet of Hashem. Unless we have another Matan Torah, we do not believe anyone who comes in the name of G-d and changes the Torah. Never before Matan Torah, and never again after Matan Torah, has there EVER BEEN A CLAIM that Hashem came to a mass (3 million) of people and spoke to them, and pointed to an individual to be His spokesperson.

רמב"ם הלכות יסודי התורה פרק ח הלכה א

ובמה האמינו בו במעמד הר סיני שעינינו ראו ולא זר ואזנינו שמעו ולא אחר האש והקולות והלפידים והוא נגש אל הערפל והקול מדבר אליו ואנו שומעים משה משה לך אמור להן כך וכך, וכן הוא אומר פנים בפנים דבר ה' עמכם, ונאמר לא את אבותינו כרת ה' את הברית הזאת, ומנין שמעמד הר סיני לבדו היא הראיה לנבואתו שהיא אמת שאין בו דופי שנאמר הנה אנכי בא אליך בעב הענן בעבור ישמע העם בדברי עמך וגם בך יאמינו לעולם

This is the very short version of my thoughts on Christianity.

One of the claims of Christian’s, is that Yeshaya chapters 52-53, which describes the ‘suffering servant’ is a reference to ‘J’ on the cross…

This is very obviously foolish. All I need to do to disprove this is to show how the other references to the ‘servant’ are not J, and I have shown its falsehood.

THE FOLLOWING IS A QUOTATION FROM: http://www.geocities.com/logic_faith/prophecies_files/suffering_servant.htm

The theme of Isaiah is jubilation, a song of celebration at the imminent end of the Babylonian Captivity. It is in this setting that we find the Song of the Servant, chapter fifty-three. (In fact, chapter 53 is actually the fourth of a quartet of "servant songs". The others are 42:1-9, 49:1-6 and 50:4-9). Who, then, was this servant of whom deutero-Isaiah speaks? It is evident that the word is used in two different ways. First, it is used by deutero-Isaiah to apply to himself, as the servant of God (49:5). The word is used overwhelmingly, however, by the author to refer to the nation Israel itself.

Isaiah 41:8-9 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.

Isaiah 44:1 Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen...Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant...

Isaiah 44:21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.

Isaiah 49:3 ...Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

It should be abundantly clear, then, that the servant is the nation Israel. When we combine these two facts, the fact that the theme of second Isaiah is the restoration of Israel after Exile, and the fact that the servant is the nation Israel itself, we then find that the meaning of the Song of the Servant, in chapter 53, becomes clear.

Why Isaiah chose to use the third person is not immediately obvious. Some have suggested that the Song is written from the perspective of the gentile nations. This is certainly the case in 52:15 (the fourth Song of the Servant actually starts at 52:13). Here, the nations are said to be astonished at the restoration of Israel. Another interpretation is that deutero-Isaiah is speaking of the generation that went into Exile so many years ago as "him", and the generation that is now returning to Israel as "us". In this sense, the author casts the former generation in the role of a sin-offering (53:10), who were punished for the sins of the nation (53:5-6) so that the later generation could be forgiven and restored (53:11).

Actually the Christian interpretation does not even fit the context of Isaiah 52-54, and further is not supported by some statements in the Song itself. For example, verse 10 states that the Servant will live a long life, and have many children. It should be fairly obvious that Jesus died at a young age, and never had any children. Christian apologists often claim that this verse is symbolic, that it refers to Jesus' resurrection, and the establishment of the Christian Church. It has not been explained why we are required to take the rest of Isaiah 53 literally, but this one verse as allegorical.

Doing this cut-and-paste just saves me a lot of time, and lets me go to bed tonight before 1am, rather than finding all the references to “Avdi Ya’acov” – ‘my servant Ya’acov’ (from which evolved the song that many sing on Motzai Shabbos: ‘Al Tira Avdi Ya’acov’.

Well Folks – that is all for now – I still hope to write ‘this week’s chapters piece’ before Shabbos – lots of great stuff to write about, but it might just come through a little too late. I hope it doesn’t.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this. Please understand that this only scratches the surface of what is a very complex, delicate and important topic. Keep the flag flying.

Love from Yerushalayim – “Ki Mitzion Tezei Torah, Udvar Hashem MiYerushalayim” (Yeshaya 2:3)

By R’ Shmuel Kimche

shmuelkimche@hotmail.com