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…

TTriddles

TTRIDDLES…
are Torah Tidbits-style riddles on Parshat HaShavua (sometimes on the calendar). They are found in the hard-copy of TT scattered throughout, usually at the bottom of different columns. In the electronic versions of TT, they are found all together at the end of the ParshaPix-TTriddles section. The best solution set submitted each week (there isn’t always a best) wins a double prize a CD from Noam Productions and/or a gift (game, puzzle, book, etc.) from Big Deal

Parsha Pix -

Kohen Gadol. The whole first section of the sedra deals with the sanctity of the kohanim in general, and the Kohen Gadol in particular. The term HAKOHEIN HAGADOL occurs 21 times in Tanach, with its first use in Parshat Emor and three further times in the book of Bamidbar. The other 17 times are scattered in Tanach.

The name of the sedra

V’ISHA GRUSHA MEI’ISHA LO YI’KACHU…
... and a woman divorced from her husband… Classic example of the significance of sounding the MAPIK HEI. ISHA = woman. ISHAHHH = her husband. Without aspirating the HEI with the dot, the meaning changes.
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Divrei Menachem

Parshat Emor opens with an injunc- tion addressed to Moshe who is to address the Kohanim, as follows: “Say (EMOR) to the Kohanim, the sons of Aharon, and tell (V’AMARTA) them - ‘Each of you shall not contaminate himself [through contact with] a person among his people.”
Instead of the more frequent and harsher form of speech “DABER”, the repeated use of the softer “EMOR” - to say or to tell - indicates that there is a very special message that goes beyond the superficial text. Our rabbis initially understand that the sanctified Kohanim, the teachers of the people, who lived in the tradition of being “lovers of peace and pursuers of peace”, should desist from becoming contaminated by a dead body, the highest form of Tum’a. The kohanim were to maintain the highest standards of purity and integrity.

tidbits

Torah T’mima (the other TT) explains why ZICHRON T’RU’A (alluding to Shabbat - RH) occurs before YOM T’RU’A in Parshat Pinchas. The Gemara says that the first Pesach was a Thursday. It follows based on our calendar, that the first RH was Shabbat, hence ZICHRON T’RU’A comes first.
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Our Sages say that he who eats and drinks on Erev Yom Kippur and fasts on YK, it is as if he fasted on both days. Says the Admor of Gur, that explains Vidui at Mincha of Erev Yom Kippur.

If I were a rich man...

Sometimes Hebrew verbs are followed by lecha or lachem, “for yourself” or “for yourselves” -  This form, called the ethical dative, gives a verb a reflexive sense, as in lech-lecha, “get thee out.”
Two ethical datives come in this week’s sedra. One relates to Sukkot: ULKACHTEM LACHEM, “take for yourselves the fruit of a goodly tree (Vayikra 23:40). The second refers to the Omer: USFARTEM LACHEM, “count for yourselves seven complete weeks) (23:15)

MicroUlpan

Ballpoint pen - EIT KADURI

Reflections on Yom HaAtzmaut

A major difference between a slave people and a free people is that a free people has not only the ability but also the duty to defend itself. This is a theme that runs throughout the Torah and indeed the entire Bible.
In the story of the Exodus, the struggle to free the Israelites, is conducted entirely by G-D through miracles that are presented by His spokesmen, Moshe and Aharon. The people of Israel do not rise up and do not fight for their freedom. This is true even at the Sea of Reeds, the climax of redemption, when they are specifically told:

Torah from Nature

Komodo Dragon

At 10 feet long, it is the largest living lizard… largest land animal capable of parthenogenesis… in 2006 two komodos in the UK (zoos) gave birth despite having no access to a male, by a process called ‘selfing’. Females have 2 different sex chromosomes: Z for male and W for female. Each of her ZW eggs has a second mini-egg attached to it,

From the Writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaKohen Kook by Rabbi Chanan Morrison

God told Moshe, “Speak to the kohanim, the descendants of Aharon. Let no [kohen] defile himself [by contact] with a dead soul among his people. (Vayikra 21:1)
Why are kohanim not allowed to come in contact with a dead body? Why does the Torah refer to the dead person as a “dead soul?” After all, it is the body that dies, not the soul!
The Parable of Twin Brothers

Building the King's House and Garden

Vayikra 23:22 - And when you harvest the harvest of your land, do not finish the corner of your field, and do not glean the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the stranger - I am Hashem your God.
Rashi: This commandment is repeated here to obligate the transgressor twice. Rabbi Avdimi said in Rabbi Yosef’s name: Why is it fitting to place this commandment in the midst of the holidays, Pesach and Shavuot on one side and Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur on the other? It is to teach you that one who properly gives leket, shikcha and pe’ah is considered to have built the Holy Temple and offered his sacrifices in its midst.