The Hide & Seek of Purim

Who hasn’t played “hide and seek” with a young child. They come to you while you may be cooking supper, reading your emails, or doing your taxes. “Please come find me” they may ask. You nod agreement with your head and they run off to hide. But after twenty minutes the child comes out of their hiding place crying real tears, sobbing, “You didn’t even come to look for me!”
This episode we are all familiar with. I recently read it in Rabbi Steinsaltz’s book “Change & Renewal - The Essence of the Jewish Holidays, Festivals, & Days of Remembrance” with an addition. In the story he tells, the child is the grandson of a Hasidic Master who came crying to his grandfather. He told him that he was playing hide and seek with his friends and when it was his turn to hide none of his friends came to look for him. At hearing the story the Hasid started crying as well saying, “That is exactly what G-d is saying to us - ‘I am hiding and no one comes to search for Me!’”
Someone who hides wants to be found and wants others to search for them. When he tells us that he is hiding he is letting us know that “You might not see me, but I am really here.”
Reading this story gave me a better understanding of the concept of Hester Panim of the “hiding G-d”, Who hides in all things and is found on all sides simultaneously.
If you were to look for G-d’s name in Megilat Esther you would not be able to find it, in any verse of the ten chapters. For that reason some rabbis in the Mishnaic period were skeptical if it should be included in Tanach. The Megila is called Esther (and not Mordechai) - Esther being related to HESTER - hiding. Esther had to hide her identity as well. Megilat Esther teaches us that even though we do not see or perceive G-d, that does not mean that He is not present. Actually, He is all the more present.
This is the uniqueness of the holiday of Purim. It is not like Pesach, Shavuot or Sukkot where we celebrate the revelation of G-d (in redeeming us or giving us the Torah). Rather on Purim, we celebrate Hashem’s existence even though He is hidden. What is invisible may even be higher than what is revealed.
This message of Purim is relevant through all our exiles - GALUT and so much so today when we have our many Hamans out there to destroy us. We must remember that within the darkness and the shadows of people like Ahmadinejad, amidst the persecution, the difficulties and the uncertainty - Hashem is there. This tension and element of surprise is what brings the burst of joy on Purim. We must maintain our faith in miracles that hide within the twists and turns of history that “relief and deliverance will come to the Jews” (Esther 4:14). May that relief come soon. Happy Purim to all. 
IT IS A TRADITION to eat Kreplach on Purim. The dough of the kreplach hides the meat or potato filling inside just as G-d is hidden in this world. Just as some of the filling peeks out from within the wrapping so too Hashem’s presence can be felt if we search for it.

KREPLACH
2 cups ground meat or cooked chicken
1 Tbsp grated onion
1 small carrot - finely grated (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

For dough:
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup warm water

Mix meat or chicken with onion, carrot, and spices.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, eggs, and water; Knead until dough is smooth. Divide into four pieces. Cover pieces that you are not using.
Roll dough out thinly on floured board and cut into squares (3 inch) or circles (about 3 inches in diameter). Place about 1 tsp to 1 Tbsp of filling in the middle of each dough circle or square. Fold the circles into a triangle like you would for hamentaschen or fold the square in half to form a triangle. Seal the edges with a small amount of water.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil; drop in kreplach a few at a time. Cook for about 20 minutes or until kreplach float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon; serve in soup.

FEEDback to (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Parsha Points to Ponder

1) Why does the Torah emphasize that the oil must be FROM THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL (27:21) after it already made clear that the Jewish people were being solicited for this oil (27:20)?
2) Why does G-D instruct Moshe to BRING AHARON CLOSE TO YOU to appoint him and his family as the kohanim (28:1)? Why couldn’t it have simply commanded him to make Aharon’s family kohanim?
3) Why does the Torah say AND AHARON AND ALSO HIS SONS (ET AHARON V’ET BANAV) should be brought to the Mishkan to be washed? Why didn’t it simply say ET AHARON UVANAV, AND AHARON AND HIS SONS, without the extra V’ET?

Parsha Points to Ponder by Rabbi Dov Lipman
Rabbi Lipman is an educator, author, and community activist in Bet Shemesh and also serves as Director of Anglos for Am Shalem. [FACEBOOK: “Anglos for Am Shalem”] http://www.rabbilipman.com

Ponder the questions first, then see below

Suggested answers

1) The Ohr HaChayim explains that this is the source for the halacha that even if an individual wants to donate the oil, it must first be donated to the Jewish people as a whole and then the Jewish people present it to the Mishkan because it is viewed as a public sacrifice.
2) The Netziv answers that these words came to emphasize that the role of Torah learning and teaching which Moshe represented is more significant than the role of Temple service which Aharon and his sons would represent. Thus, Aharon and his sons would come CLOSE to Moshe but would not reach the level of importance of what Moshe represented.
3) The Meshech Chochma teaches that this demonstrates the sensitivity of the Torah to matters of privacy. This WASHING refers to going into the mikva which is inappropriate for a father and son to experience at the same time. So, it places space between Aharon and his sons with the extra word V’ET to indicate that they will do this washing separately.

Lesson # 582 Persons Ineligible to Participate in a Sale

The Challenge Of Money: Man is always liable for damages he causes [2]  by Dr. Meir Tamari
If environmental resources, space, light air, water etc., were unlimited, then there would seem to be no conflict between the activities of one person or group and the property or personal rights of others. Environmental problems arise since there is a limitation of resources, so that when a person performs an economic act, it may affect the welfare or property of others, thus producing a conflict of interests. Given the scarcity of environmental resources, the utility or benefit that one person derives from his economic acts is at the expense of a loss, material or otherwise, of property or person of others.
Baba Kama (1:1), based on the verses in the Torah (Sh’mot 21:28-36) presents the following four major categories under which halakha discusses such damages: the ox representing damages caused by living creatures through grazing or walking; digging a pit, representing damages caused by stationary, inanimate objects; and fire representing damaged magnified or spread by natural causes.
People are always liable for the damage that they themselves cause. This is true even where the damage was caused in areas that did not belong to them. For example, liability for damage caused by a parked stationary vehicle is considered a halakhic pit dug in a public thoroughfare, even though the road does not belong to the one causing the damage.
The same liability exists for damage caused by objects propelled by natural causes such as wind or water. Obviously such forces are not subject to ownership by the individual and therefore they should not be responsible for the loss involved. Nevertheless, the Mishna placed liability on an individual who set an object in motion [sparks from an anvil, chips from the felling of wood] even though the final damage was spread by natural causes. In a modern context this would seem to apply to the pollution of the atmosphere or water through industrial wastes.
Perhaps the major Jewish perspectives on damages that make it so different from tort law are the concepts of ‘baal taschit’ and of voluntary relinquishing of legally valid rights:
The morality of not causing damage flows ultimately from the Jewish concept that all wealth comes from G-d and that Man is only a custodian and guardian of his economic assets. This is clearly brought out in the concept of ‘baal taschit’ according to which a man is not permitted to vandalize or destroy even his own property. Such destruction is actually an act of rebellion against G-d; “he who tears his clothing, breaks his utensils or scatters his money in anger, should be in your eyes as if he had served idols” (Shabbat 105b). The most outstanding example of baal taschit is the Torah’s injunction against destroying fruit trees, since the example given there are trees owned by the enemy during a time of war. The dictates of military strategy surely would overrule this morality, yet even in such cases the Torah forbids this destruction of the products and creations whereby G-d provides sustenance to mankind. Chazal extended this injunction to include all useful items; the inefficient use of fuel would be a modern form of baal taschit. This is also relevant in the case of ownerless property as we may see from the story of Chizkiyahu who, anticipating the siege of Yerusalayim closed the spring of the Gichon, thereby incurring the displeasure of the rabbis (Pesachin 56a).
Morality demands that the property rights of the injured party and the halakhic injunctions against causing damages should be limited in those cases where the complaint of the injured party rests on an unwillingness to help one’s fellow man. It may well be that the foregoing of a certain legal right may cause only slight inconvenience whereas the gain to the other party is really very great. “One should not spill his well water as long as there are those who need it” (Baba Kama 14b). The water legally belongs to the well owner who is entitled to conserve it, however, by invoking his property right he is preventing others from enjoying it; whereas by accepting payment, they could benefit while he would suffer no real loss. “One has a benefit while the other suffers no loss” is the converse of midat s’dom; therefore it should guide us to doing favors to others with our wealth.
“Giving charity is an obligation for Jews whereas the voluntary waiver of legal property rights is the intrinsically Jewish basis for righteous acts” (S. R. Hirsch).

Aliya-by-Aliya Sedra Summary

[P> X:Y (Z)] and [S> X:Y (Z)] indicate start of a parsha p’tucha or s’tuma. X:Y is Perek:Pasuk of the beginning of the parsha; (Z) is the number of p’sukim in the parsha.
Numbers in [square brackets] are the Mitzva-count of Sefer HaChinuch AND Rambam’s Sefer HaMitzvot. A=ASEI (positive mitzva); L=LAV (prohibition). X:Y is the perek and pasuk from which the mitzva comes.

T'tzaveh Stats

20th of 54 sedras;
8th of 11 in Sh’mot
Written on 179.2 lines in a Torah, rank: 33rd
10 Parshiot; 2 open, 8 closed
101 p’sukim - ranks 35th (8th in Sh’mot)
1412 words - ranks 35th (8th in Sh’mot)
5430 letters - ranks 32nd (7th in Sh’mot)

Remembering in Tandem

ZACHOR ET YOM HASHABBAT L’KAD’SHO. Remember the Shabbat day and sanctify it.
ZACHOR EIT ASHER ASA L’CHA AMALEIK… Remember what Amalek did to us (on our way out of Egypt)...
The former is a special, good remembering that is called for, one that leads to our sancification of the Shabbat. The latter is a bad memory which is to lead to the destruction of Amalek.
Is there a connection between the two? Is there a lesson to be learned?
Parshat Zachor is read on a Shabbat. But so are the other special parshiyot. But if you think about it, Sh’kalim and HaChodesh are really tied to Rosh Chodesh - Adar and Nissan, respectively. We could say that their being read on Shabbat was in practical consideration of the larger number of Jew who go to shul on Shabbat. Zachor, of course, is linked to Purim with its main villain being an Amalekite. But it also has a strong connection to Shabbat. (We’ll reserve judgment on Para.)
The connection between Zachor and Shabbat only begins with the word ZACHOR. It continues to the end of Parshat B’shalach where we find the account of the first attack and battle with Amalek.
That attack and battle took place in Refidim. The Torah makes a point of the location. Right before the parsha of Amalek (not the one we read this Shabbat, but the one we read on Purim morning - the last nine p’sukim of B’shalach), we find that the people have traveled from Midbar Sin where they had received the MN (manna) for the first time. That miraculous food from heaven was accompanied by the people’s introduction to Shabbat. They did not yet have all the laws of Shabbat, but they had at least one: They were told that the MN would not fall on Shabbat and that they were not to go out to collect the MN which would not fall.
The Torah testifies that there were people from the nation who went out to collect MN on Shabbat, and they didn’t find any.
This, writes the S’fat Emet (a.k.a. S’fas Emes) is the first occurrence of Chilul Shabbat (desecration of the Shabbat) in the history of the Jewish People. That, he says, made the people vulnerable to attack by Amalek.
And conversely, continues the S’fat Emet (quoted in Maayana shel Torah), Shmirat Shabbat gives us the power to fight against Amalek and our protection from the Amaleks of the world.
In Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer we find the following “conversation” between Bnei Yisrael and Moshe Rabeinu. The people said to Moshe, one verse says to remember Shabbat and another verse says to remember Amalek. How do we handle these two opposite kinds of ZACHOR? Moshe answered that one is like a cup of superior, sweet wine and the other is like a cup of sour wine. The one helps you deal with the other.
Let us add to the above that it was not only Shabbat that was desecrated during the MN episode - the people complained in a nasty way for food, and they disregarded instructions not to leave over any from day to day. Then, when they arrived at Refidim, they further complained of thirst, and questioned why G-d took them out of Egypt to kill them by thirst.
All this preceded the Torah account of Amalek’s attack. We, the Jewish People, in Eretz Yisrael and wherever else we are, are vulnerable to those who seek to destroy us, when we forsake the Torah and abandon the Mitzvot. Our greatest protection and weapon is Torah and Mitzvot and our greatest protector is HaShem. His promise to Shlomo HaMelech is to all of us: If you follow My decrees… then I will dwell among Bnei Yisrael and never forsake My people Israel.

Word of the Month

A weekly feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby better fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem…

It all works together

Why does the Torah tell us that the Mishkan, the Sanctuary, is to be “one” (Sh’mot 26:6)?
Ibn Ezra gives a philosophical answer. Just as the Mishkan needs every one of its sections and parts or else it will be deficient, so is God’s world “one.” Every one of the Divine creations, so lovingly and carefully listed at the beginning of the Book of B’reishit, is an indispensable feature of the whole.
If the world had birds but not bees, if it had men but not mountains, plants but not people, the overall structure of Creation would be defective. For the universe to function properly, everything has to be there and to work in mutual co-operation.
An example of how the total structure must work in harmony is found in one of the most common of daily b’rachot, the blessing said after going to the toilet. It praises God who made the intricate human body with such care that “it is revealed and known before the Throne of Your glory” that if one orifice is closed when it should be open, or vice-versa, the human being would be unable to function and he/she would be “unable to stand before God.”
There is an important academic analysis of this b’racha (which seems to date from at least as early as the Mishnaic period) written by the great legal scholar, Professor David Daube, who points out that “nothing like it seems to exist in any other religion” -  He argues that making normal bodily functions part of the pattern of the Jewish way of thinking illustrates a conception of spirituality that exalts both the this- worldly and the other-worldly.

MicroUlpan

Mazal Adar Dagim… Fishes of the world sub-divide into two types, the most common by far being Osteichthyes or bony fish, in Hebrew called…D’GEI GEREM

Divrei Menachem

This week’s parsha describes the preparations for the building of the Mishkan, wherein the Almighty Him- self would reside, as it is written: “And let them make for me a Sanctuary that I may dwell among them” (Sh’mot 25:8). Needless to say, our rabbis ask how could Hashem, who is infinite, request from Bnei Yisrael to create a physical domain that would, by definition, have to contain a finite element?
Yes, our general understanding is that the Shechina descended into the Mishkan. We do indeed tend to think of the Mishkan as the closest point of encounter with the Divine in the wilderness and, indeed, wherever the Mishkan traveled.
However, a careful reading of the above verse leads us to understand that the Mishkan was not just a tangible creation; it was to develop into a metaphysical fixture of Jewish existence (R. Moshe Kasinetz). For Hashem does not say that He will dwell in it [the Mishkan] but rather, that He will live among us [the Jewish people].
Thus the Mishkan is a spiritual framework, an endowment whereby each of us can fuse the physical and the spiritual. It means that each of us has the potential to create this Sanctuary within ourselves. If we could but give willingly and with our hearts, to paraphrase the Torah text, who knows to what heights we could reach!

Shabbat Shalom, Menachem Persoff

Towards Better Davening and Torah Reading

NA vs. Tense-flip

v’tzi-pi-TA oto zahav tahor… v’ya-tzak-TA lo… (Sh’mot 25:11,12)

And you shall overlay it (the Aron) with pure gold… and cast for it (rings for the carrying rods).
Accented syllable is in UPPERCASE. tzi-PI-ta and ya-TZAK-ta are the “reg- ular” pronunciations of these to verbs in past tense, second person, singular.  When a tense-flipping VAV is pre- fixed to either, the accent goes to the last syllable: v’tzi-pi-TA, v’ya-tzak-TA. However, followed by the single syl- lable LO, the accent of v’ya-tzak-TA recedes back to the earlier syllable (NA=Nasog Achor). This clash of NA and the tense-flipping VAV sometimes goes one way and sometimes the other. The deciding factor is the Tradition we have on how to accent the words of the Torah.

TTriddles

Last issue’s (Sh’mot) TTriddles:
Slim pickings, this week - as the expression goes.
[1] The bush contained a miracle
The bush is HAS’NEH, as in the bush that was burning but not being consumed. The word HAS’NEH in Hebrew has a SAMACH and a NUN in it, between the two flanking HEIs. Switching the letters around we find NEIS (miracle) in the bush - which it actually contained.
[2] most common long ending
Last issue’s (Mishpatim) TTriddles:
[1] Kaddish, switch, +197
On Shabbat Parshat Mishpatim which is also Parshat Sh’kalim, when we finish reading the weekly sedra in the first Torah, the BK (Baal Korei or Baal K’ri’a - both terms are used; the former is more common, the latter is technically more correct) says (Chatzi) Kaddish, the Torah’s are switched, and in the second Torah we read a portion that is 197 p’sukim later than where we ended Mishpatim. These 197 p’sukim are all of T’ruma (96) and all of T’tzaveh (101).
Additional Four-Parshiyot “trivia:” The Parshat Zachor reading is always way ahead of the weekly sedra. So is the Maftir for Para, though not as way ahead as Zachor’s. Parshat HaChodesh is always earlier in the Torah than its companion sedra. Sh’kalim is ahead of Parshat HaShavua in 12-month years and behind in 13-month years. Sh’kalim’s reading is always the closest to the weekly sedra compared with the other three special Parshiyot.
[2] Wise men in our time study Mishpatim
Wise men are CHACHAMIM, the numeric value of which is 8+20+40+10+40 = 118. In our time is B’YAMEINU, the gimatriya of which is 2+10+40+10+50+6 = 118. Parshat Mishpatim has 118 p’sukim.
[3] The AV BEIT DIN is in charge of Mishpatim
More gimatriya - this time to the name of the sedra, not the number of p’sukim contained therein. AV BEIT DIN = 1+2 + 2+10+400 + 4+10+50 = 479. MISHPATIM = 40+300+80+9+ 10+40 = 479. Of course, the choice of AV BEIT DIN, among many words and phrases with a gimatriya of 479, was appropriate to its meaning. The head of the court should be in charge of Laws and Statutes, etc.
[4] ha ha ha ha ha (but not so funny)
This is an old “target” of a TTriddle, although we try for different ways to formulate the actual TTriddle. There are five sedras of the Torah’s 54, whose common names truncate the prefixed HEI, meaning THE. V’EILEH HAMISHPATIM, the HA is dropped in the common naming of the sedra. So too for (HA)SH’MINI, (HA-) M’TZORA, (HA)MATOT, and (HA-) D’VARIM. These TTriddles that repeat on that theme are meant to call to our attention the sedra’s whose names are unfairly shortened.
[5] There are 6. Who’s missing?
Towards the end of Mishpatim, we have Sh’mot 23:23 - For my Angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Emori, and the Chiti, and the P’rizi, and the K’naani, the Chivi, and the Y’vusi; and I will cut them off. In D’varim (7:1 to be specific), we have. “When HaShem your God shall bring you into the land which you are entering to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Chiti, and the Girgashi, and the Emori, and the K’naani, and the P’rizi, and the Chivi, and the Y’vusi, seven nations greater and mightier than you;” In Yehoshua we have the list of the seven nations twice. In Mishpatim, there are 6 nations listed - GIRGASHI is missing. Rashi in two places in Parshat Ki Tisa cites the midrash in Vayikra Rabba, in explaining why only 6 nations are mentioned - namely, that the Girgashi fled Eretz Yisrael before they were encountered by B’nei Yisrael, rather than fighting, as the other nations did. Several other commentaries discuss the variety of listings of the nations in Eretz Yisrael - their order and which names are occasionally missing.
[6] HaShem, an angel, Eliezer, Eisav, Yaakov, Moshe
HINEI ANOCHI (and V’HINEI ANOCHI) occurs 36 times in Tanach, 15 of those times are in the Chumash. Those who said it in the Torah are HaShem, the angel that was sent to block Bil’am’s way, Eliezer servant of Avraham, Eisav, Yaakov Avinu, and Moshe Rabeinu. May we be privileged to see the fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi - HINEI ANOCHI SHOLEI’ACH LACHEM ET ELIYAHU HANAVI… speedily in our time.
[7] Is Uziel the Av Beit Din from p.18? (see [3] above)
The name UZIEL is the “official” SIMAN for the number of p’sukim in Mishpatim. Its gimatriya is 70+7+10+ 1+30 = 118.
[8] MazalPic
We’ve used something similar in the past. In the MazalPic are the baseball caps of the Chicago Cubs and the Cinncinati Reds. Both caps bear a C. Behind the caps is the Greek letter and mathematical symbol PI - giving us PI-Cs or PISCES, the Fish, HADAGIM - the mazal of Adar.
###
Rabbi Atik z"l used to ask…
For MISHPATIM: The EVED IVRI and the ALMANA are subjects of some of the mitzvot in the sedra. Who elsewhere is referred to as an EVED IVRI and who as an ALMANA?
Taken from a new book: Rabbi Atik’s Torah Teasers by Rabbi Moshe Erlbaum
The answers are TAMAR, whom Yehuda refers to as an ALMANA of Eir and Onan; and YOSEF is referred to as an HA-EVED HA-IVRI by Potifar’s wife.