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Machshavot HaRav: Reflections from Rabbi Waxman

 

Half a Year Later and Prepping for the Seder

 

For over 2 decades, at countless rallies for Soviet Jewry, we shouted “Let my people go.” (By the way, that is a phrase taken from Exodus 9:1, the prelude to the 5th plague.) Now, it appears that this phrase is resurfacing, albeit emended: instead of “Bring them home now”, the chant is “Let them go.” The emphasis is now on the duty of Hamas to release the hostages.

 

It is sobering to read that Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh was taken captive on that fateful day in October, has been named to Time’s list of 100 most influential people. Having heard her speak—and God only knows where she finds the inner strength to continue to speak out on behalf of her son and the other hostages--, one can but be impressed by her passionate eloquence. In truth she stands for all of the relatives of the hostages who continue to advocate for their return.

 

6+ months into this crisis, there are several changes to our seders that have been proposed. A few suggest taking a tip from the Soviet Jewry era Matzah of Hope and adding a 4th matzah. Others have suggested, removing one matzah, and effectively having only 1 ½ matzahs on the table for most of the seder: that this year we are a broken people. (In fact, having only 2 matzahs initially was the tradition of several rabbinic scholars, including the Vilna Gaon.) More agreement is on having an empty place, with a picture of one of the hostages occupying the seat or place setting.

 

There are a wide variety of additions to be found online.  Kveller.com offers 7 ways to address October 7th at the seder. The 2nd suggestion: “During what feels like an especially bitter time, adding extra maror, bitter herbs to your seder plate can give room for that grief. Other additions to your seder plate might feel especially resonant include an olive or olive oil as a symbol of the olive branch—a hope for peace.” Other sources include: the Hartman Institute which has 20 pages of additions; Bayit, a progressive incubator, with its own set of challenging responses to the on-going war in Gaza; and Joel Chasnoff and Benji Lovitt have a 2-sided supplement, which includes the very powerful prayer, Acheinu¸ a prayer for the release of hostages. (Among the many renditions, there is a video of Rabbi Buchdahl and Cantor Mutlu of the Central Synagogue singing the song. Type Central Synagogue and Acheinu and you will find the video. Well worth the 3 minutes.)

 

May we be blessed with meaningful and joyful sedarim.

Shabbat shalom and Chag kasher v’sameach.

 

Here is the link for our Friday evening service at 8 p.m.:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83736031460

Meeting ID: 837 3603 1460

Saturday morning in the sanctuary at 10 a.m.

On Tuesday morning the 23rd, the first day of Passover, we will be holding a service in the sanctuary at 10 a.m. The following Tuesday, the last day of Passover, we will also have a service, and include Yizkor.

 

P.S. If you wish to sell your chametz, please send me an email by Sunday night and I will see to it that it is properly sold. As for Ma’ot Chitim, (literally, wheat money), the mitzvah of funding those in need of food, a check made out to the Smithtown Emergency Food Pantry would be a fine way to fulfill one’s obligation. They are located at 90 Edgewater Avenue, Smithtown, 11787. Alternately, one can got masbia.org, and contribute to an organization that aids Jews and others in New York City who require food assistance.

 

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Payrush LaParshahah: A Comment on the Weekly Torah Portion

 

The portion of Metsorah (Leviticus 14:1-32) is read this Saturday, April 20th. It is also Shabbat HaGadol (the Great Sabbath), which is the Shabbat preceding Passover. No special maftir, but a special haftorah.

 

14:1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, (2) This shall be the ritual for a leper at the time that he is to be purified. When it has been reported to the priest, (3) the priest shall go outside the camp. If the priest sees that leper has been healed of his scaly affection, (4) the priest shall order two live pure birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff, and hyssop to be brought for him who is to be purified. (5) The priest shall order one of the birds slaughtered over fresh water in an earthen vessel, (6) And he shall take the live bird, along with the cedar wood, the crimson stuff, and the hyssop, and dip them together with the live bird in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh, (7) He shall then sprinkle it seven times on him who is to e purified of the eruption and purify him; and he shall set the live bird free in the open country.

 

14:4 cedar wood, crimson stuff, and hyssop. The purpose for bringing the hyssop is not already brought by Rashi, that it is to humble [oneself] as hyssop. But this measure of humility is only good in mundane matters, and hence he brought also the cedar, to hint at supernatural matters. He should raise himself as a lion , in order to determine how much he requires of his elevated status he requires for the worship of God, and how much of his lowliness for everyday matters. He brought the crimson stuff, which is like thread of the tongue of a scale, in order that it will not go to either side, more than is necessary, as a thread of hair. (Meir Aynay Yesharim in the name of the Holy One of Apt [Opatow], cited in Rabbi Samuel Alter, L’kutei Bosar L’kutei [in modern Hebrew: L’kutay Batar L’kutay]. Rabbi Meyer [Meir] Schwartzman was the author of Meir Aynay Yesharim [Enlightening the Eyes of the Righteous—cleverly using his first name as part of the title], a 5-volume commentary on the Torah. He was born in 1901, in Zagorow, then in Polish Russia, now in Poland. He was a Gerer Hassid who received rabbinic ordination, but also a doctorate in literature. He and his family fled Poland prior to the outbreak of World War II and settled in Winnipeg. There he joined Agudas Yisrael, the ultra-orthodox organization, and served as the rabbi of Bais Yehudah, as well as the chief rabbi of Winnipeg. In addition to his commentary, he was the author of several books on Chasidic history, literature, and culture. He died in 1969 and is buried on the Mount of Olives. The Holy One of Apt was Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel, born in 1749, and a disciple of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, a 3rd generation Hassidic master. Rabbi Avraham grew up in Galicia and was a scion of rabbinic family. In 1786 he became the rabbi of Kolbuszowa [now in southeastern Poland] and there he became acquainted with Hasidism and began to function as a rebbe. In 1800 he moved to Apt/Opatow and became known as the Apter Rebbe, a title that he carried even after he moved to Jassy in 1809 and later to Mezibezh in 1814. His leadership was widely respected. For example, in 1823 he called for a public fast in response to plans of the Russian authorities to limit Jewish leasing of land, along with plans to expel them from some villages. He died in 1825. His teachings were collected and published many years after his death: Torat Emet [Torah of Truth] was published in 1854, and Ohayv Yisrael [Lover of Israel] was first issued in 1863. A collection of his letters was finally published in 1999 with the title of Igrot Ha-Ohayv Yisrael [Letters of a Lover of Israel]. His descendants formed various dynasties and the Kopitshinits dynasty is still active today in Jerusalem. His most famous descendant was the theologian, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.)

 

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The Torah reading for the first day of Passover (April 23rd) is Exodus 12:21-51. The maftir reading is Numbers 28:16-25.

 

12:37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. (38) Moreover, a mixed multitude went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.

 

12:38 Moreover, a mixed multitude went up with them. They say these were Egyptians who mingled with them in order to convert when they saw the power of the miracles that God had performed for them [the Israelites], and they are the riffraff mentioned in another place (Numbers 11:4). In my humble opinion that if these people were stirred to convert there is no reason why they should have gone with them, for it was said of Israel that they weren’t leaving permanently, but they were returning immediately [the request had been to go and worship Israel’s God at a site 3 day journey—Exodus 8:21 ff.] and it is not possible that gentiles would mix with them as they [the Israelites] celebrated their festival to their God, as up until this day they had not feared God and had not attached themselves to Israel nor had they been circumcised, as the text states , “but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it” [Exodus 12:48—the Paschal sacrifice]. And we have found in Nehemiah (13:3) “they separated all the alien admixture from Israel”: the meaning is that they were mixed through marriage. If so, it appears to me that this mixed multitude were those who had earlier mixed with them; that they were Egyptians who had married Israelite women and Egyptian women who had married Israelite men, and they were the mixed multitude… (Rabbi Samuel David Luzzatto, Payrush Ahl Chameshah Chumshay Torah. Rabbi Luzzatto, often known by his acronym, Shadal, was born in 1800, in Trieste, then a part of Austria. A child prodigy, by the age of 11 he undertook writing Hebrew grammar in Italian, translated into Hebrew the life of Aesop, and wrote a commentary on sections of the Torah. Not long afterwards, he stirred controversy when in a pamphlet entitled Vikkuach al HaKabbalah [An Argument Against the Kabbalah] he argued that since the Zohar referred to vowels and accents, which didn’t exist in rabbinic times, the Zohar could not have been composed in the age of Talmud, rather it must date from a later time. [Such is now the consensus of modern scholarship.] He was also an accomplished poet, composing 37 poems by the end of 1815, which are a part of his Kinnor Na’im [Pleasant Harp]. For a time, he earned a living by serving as a tutor and writing for the Hebrew journal Bikkuray HaIttim. In 1829, he was appointed professor at the rabbinical college of Padua. Occasionally, Luzzatto challenged traditional views of the Hebrew text: for example, he proposed a number of emendations of the Biblical text and argued that the Ecclesiastes was not the product of King Solomon, rather that it was the fruit of a later author. However, he defended the unity of Isaiah—most scholars believe that chapters 40 and following are from another source, post-exile--: he contended that to divide the book was to deny the possibility of prophetic predictions of distant events. He also was a critic of philosophy and therefore while praising Maimonides for his code of Jewish law, attacked him for being a follower of Aristotelian philosophy. During his lifetime Luzzatto was in correspondence with many of the leading Jewish scholars of the day, writing in Italian, Hebrew, German, and French—many of his letters survived and some of them were published as Iggarot Shadal [The Letters of Shadal] in 1882. He contributed widely to the Hebrew and Jewish periodicals of his time. In his addition to his commentary on the Torah—which was first published posthumously in 1871 in Padua--, during his lifetime, he published, among other works, a commentary in Hebrew, with an Italian translation, on Isaiah; issued a historical and critical introduction to the High Holyday prayer book; and edited the religious poems of Judah HaLevi. Several other volumes appeared after he died, including Perushay Shada [The Commentaries of Shadal] in 1876 which contained commentary on Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Proverbs and Job. Additionally, he produced a number of works in Italian including Calendario Ebraico and Grammatica della Lingua Ebraica as well as an Italian translation of the Torah along with the Haftorot. He died in Padua on Yom Kippur—September 30, 1865.)

 

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Questions for Metsorah 5784 (Leviticus 14:1-32)

 

1.What are the first acts of purification for one who has been healed of “leprosy?” Where else is hyssop mentioned? What did the priest sprinkle: fresh water or blood?

2. What happened to the “leper” after this first stage of purification? Did he have to shave his body hair or only his facial and head hair? Wouldn’t it have been obvious for an extended time that he had been a “leper?” 

3. What sacrifices was the purified “leper” required to bring? How much oil was a log? How much did these sacrifices cost?

4. Did the purified leper get to eat any of his sacrifices?

5. On what parts of his body was the purified “leper” daubed with blood? The purification ceremony was similar to what other ritual?

6. If one was of lesser means, what sacrifices were brought by the healed “leper?” Did the priests check income tax returns to determine who was poor?

7. Beyond the different sacrifices, were there other differences between the ritual for a poor man and one who could afford the three lambs?

 

Questions for the Haftorah (Malachi 3:4-24)

 

  1. When did Malachi preach? Was this his real name?
  2.  Of what sins did he accuse Israel?
  3. What verse belongs in the high Holiday liturgy?
  4. In what ways was Israel accused of defrauding God?
  5. What did God promise if tithes were faithfully donated? Which verse is an echo of the 10 plagues?
  6. What was the Scroll/Book of Remembrance mentioned by the prophet? Was it like the book mentioned in the High Holy Day liturgy?
  7. What will be the fate of those who revered God?
  8. Does the term Torat Moshe (the Teaching of Moses) appear anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible?
  9. Which came first: this haftorah or the role of Elijah at the seder?
  1. Why is Malachi the last book of the Old Testament?

 

Questions for the First Day of Passover 5784 (Exodus 12:21-51)

 

1. Who was the Destroyer? Was he/it the same as the “Angel of Death” in Chad Gadya?

2. What ritual was to be observed for all time? Was it dependent upon being in the land of Israel?

3. Why was 12:27 separated from 12:26 in the Haggadah?

4. Why were the first born of the cattle included in the 10th plague?

5. Did Pharaoh know that the Israelites were leaving for good, or only going to worship their god somewhere away from the heart of Egypt?

6. Given that the first paschal lambs were to be eaten with matzah, what is the function of telling us in 12:34 that the people took their unleavened dough with them? Shouldn’t it have risen by the time they had a chance to bake it, especially since it was wrapped up? (Isn’t that what proofing is? — a nod to The Great British Baking Show.)

7. Who constituted the mixed multitude? What additional biblical text could Luzzatto have cited to strengthen his argument that they were the Egyptian spouses of Israelites?

8. They had time to “borrow” jewels and clothing but no time to take provisions?

9. 430 years of slavery: counting from when? What biblical texts suggest that the period of slavery was much shorter?

10. Who was eligible to eat the paschal lamb? Who was not permitted? Per the biblical injunctions, would a Muslim be allowed to partake? Do any of these categories still apply for our seders?

 

Questions for the Haftorah (Joshua 3:5-7. 5:2-15, 6:1-27)

 

  1. What was the function of the Ark of the Covenant?
  2. Why did they use flint knives and not copper/bronze or silver instruments? (After all, this was the Bronze Age!) 
  3. How old was the oldest male who required circumcision?
  4. On what side of the Jordan was Gilgal?
  5. What is missing from the description of the first Passover with Joshua in charge? How long after Moses’ death was that Passover?
  6. How is Joshua’s encounter with the captain of the Lord’s host similar to Moses’ encounter at the burning bush? How was it different? Did it give him street cred?

 

Thu, April 25 2024 17 Nisan 5784