Torah Tidbits
P'sukei d'Zimra: ASHREI Kindness and Mercy for All
Meaning: translation…Gracious and merciful is Hashem, slow to anger, and great in [bestowing] kindness. Hashem is good to all; His mercies are on all His works.
Theme: An essential concept of the prayer
An Ideal To Emulate
Hashem’s traits of kindness and compassion provide us with an ideal to emulate.
Insight: Deeper meanings…
Kindness and Mercy for All
B'CHUKOTAI Walking the Walk
It is good for the body and good for the soul. It helps one lose weight, provides time for contemplation, is a favorite leisure activity, it can be entertaining - even edifying - and it costs nothing. In fact, there is no down side to it at all. It is the act of walking, or more colloquially, “taking a walk”.
Walking is a universal human activity. It is a means of getting from one place to another, obviously. But it is more than that. It is so much a part of the essence of the human that when the Mishna refers to the human species, it uses the phrase “mehalchei shtayim”, those who walk on two legs. Humans are almost unique in that they walk on two legs so that walking is part of our core identity.
The value of walking was brought home to me once when my physician, who had been preaching the need for exercise to me for years, finally gave up on formal exercise routines and the use of various gadgets and machines for physical fitness, and just prescribed two daily walks, at any pace, each at least twenty minutes in duration.
Effective Amulets
Last week we looked at some unusual medical remedies suggested by the Gemara and saw that they could only be accepted and elevated to the level of medical treatment if they had been checked and found to be effective.
This then leads us to the Talmudic discussion regarding amulets that have often been used for therapeutic purposes.
The Mishna (Shabbat 6:2) states that one cannot go out in place where there is no eruv while carrying an amulet not from an expert. This implies that one is permitted to go outside with an amulet from an expert.
Parsha Points to Ponder
1) The Torah relates that if we follow G-D’s commands then we will experience great success including victory over enemies. This is captured by the image of five people chasing 100 and 100 chasing 10,000 (26:8). Why are the five people successful in chasing 20 times their number while the 100 chase 100 times its number?
Published May 19, 2011CHIZUK-and-IDUD-for-Olim-not-yet-Olim-respectively
Many meaningful interpretations have been presented by the commentators to the statement expressed by Shimon Ben Azai in Pirkei Avot (4;2) “For the reward of a Mitzva is a Mitzva.”
Two often quoted interpretations are expounded by Rabbeinu Ovadia MiBartenura as follows:
1) Heaven assists one who has performed one Mitzva to do another so that he will merit receiving rewards for both of them. (In his own earlier presentation of this concept, Rabbeinu Yona reminds us that the ultimate reward for the first Mitzva as well as for those that follow are in the future life, in Olam Haba).
A-Candle-by-Day
The beauty of logic is that even though we cannot see our goal
Published May 19, 2011Wisdom and Wit
The Chafetz Chayim was being driven by a Jewish wagon driver, who asked him: “Rebbe, I don’t have time to sit and learn. What can I do to earn a place in the World to Come?”
“Why don’t you lend out money to people at no interest?” suggested the Chafetz Chayim. The wagon driver laughed: “Rebbe, I am struggling myself to make ends meet. I don’t have money to lend others.”
Vebbe Rebbe
Question: Are there any sources concerning an obligation to eat food at a brit mila?
Published May 19, 2011FROM A MEASURE OF BARLEY TO 2 LOAVES OF WHEAT [3] by Dr. Meir Tamari
“The mitzva is to count 49 days from Korban HaOmer until the 50th day which is Shavuot, the day of Matan Torah. With this counting we show our great yearning for that distinguished day. Counting shows how much a person yearns for his deliverance and that all his desire is to reach that time, just as a servant eagerly awaits his freedom and counts the time till it comes. That is why we count, ‘so many days have passed out of the total’ and not, ‘so many days remain till that time’
Published May 19, 2011Lesson # 561 Not to possess and/or use dishonest weights and measures
In previous lessons we discussed rules specifying that one may not deceive another person as to discrepancies in price or quality of an object. In the case of discrepancy in price, the remedy depends upon the amount of the discrepancy. In the case of adulteration of the produce, the remedy depends upon the percentage of adulteration. In this lesson the deceit arises from dishonest weights, dishonest measures, and erroneous counting of the cash paid or cash given in change, for example, the buyer giving the seller $12 instead of $11. In Shulhan Aruch there is a chapter entitled “One may not deceive in measures and weights” - The title of the chapter also includes the obligation to appoint officers to supervise measurements and prices.
Published May 19, 2011B'chukotai Stats
B’chukotai stats
33rd sedra of 54;
Last of 10 in Vayikra
Written on 131 lines in a Torah, ranks 47th
5 parshiyot; 3 open, 2 closed
78 p’sukim, ranks 46th (7th in Vayikra)
1013 words, ranks 47th (7th in Vayikra)
3992 letters, ranks 47th (7th in Vayikra)
Connecting the Dots
Sometimes the idea for the Lead Tidbit presents itself in the first moments of pondering what to write about; sometimes it takes a while. Usually, some idea says, “pick me, pick me” - and that’s it. This time there was a fight between Parshat HaShavua and Lag BaOmer, with each side presenting strong arguments for the honors. The result is more than a compromise; it once again comes with the realization that Parshat HaShavua and the Calendar influence each other in our thoughts, and that messages often emerge from paying attention to the weekly sedra and its calendric background.
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