Toronto Torah

Beit Midrash Zichron Dov

Parshat Ki Tavo 18 Elul, 5771/September 17, 2011
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Vol.3 Num. 2

The Blessing of a Stiff Neck

Am k'sheh oref, the Divine description of Jews as a "stiff-necked people", was not originally intended as a compliment. It certainly was not a prescription, either! Rather, it was a statement of Divine frustration, kaviyachol, an epithet used by G-d three times over in the wake of the Golden Calf to justify His decision to separate from the Jewish people: hit, no matter how many ways we are hit, we keep moving forward. A stiff neck has been the story of the Jew from the start. From the wilderness Jew who heard a Divine death sentence and yet marched forward to Canaan, to the Zevulunite who was vassal to the Canaanites and yet rallied to the call of Devorah and Barak, to the Aragonese Jew who was forced to sit through Christian sermons but raised his children to perform mitzvot, and so on through the centuries to our own day, Jewish history has not a trail of tears but a monument to courage. A frustrated Martin Luther wrote, "But the Jews are so hardened that they listen to nothing; though overcome by testimonies they yield not an inch (Table Talk, Hazlet translation). He meant this as an insult, but we wear it as a badge far more native to our identity than the yellow stars and red hats forced upon us by Muslim and Christian governments from the ninth century CE forward. This week we read the tochachah, a warning of horrific punishments which may befall the Jewish nation, should they depart from the service of G-d. Over the centuries, we have had many opportunities to compare our suffering to these Mosaic predictions. Whether the massacre of Jews by Roman forces two thousand years ago, the slaughter by Mohammed's armies at Khaibar in the seventh century, the pillaging of Jewish communities during the Crusades, the

R Mordechai Torczyner
numerous expulsions from European lands in the Middle Ages, the Chmielnicki Massacres of 1648-1649, or the horrors of the Holocaust, we have endured not only the explicit tochachah, but also every inconceivable manifestation of its ultimate curse: "Gd will also bring upon you every ailment and every blow which is not recorded in this scroll of the Torah." As Prime Minister Begin noted to President Carter, in the Holocaust we were not merely decimated, we were tertiated and we suffered such high ratios of destruction multiple times in our history. Nonetheless, G-d designed the Jew with a boldness which cannot be cowed. It is a strength tailored to the demands of the Torah, to the high standards of personal conduct and spiritual achievement set by Avraham and Sarah. It is a brashness which makes us dangerous, but which also makes us capable of great heights. This is the double-edged sword of our stiff neck. As we prepare to approach our Creator on the Day of Judgment, we would do well to look at our own indomitable streak and decide how best to harness that strength. Our brash chutzpah is meant not to sow discord among ourselves and undermine our service of Gd, but to defend against descent and to fuel our rise. Elul is the time to investigate the way we deploy our stiff neck, and correct our course as needed.

"They are a stiff-necked people; leave

me alone and I will rage against them and destroy them (Shemot 32:9-10). "I will not ascend among you, for you are a stiff-necked people and I might consume you en route (Shemot 33:3). "You are a stiff-necked people; in a moment I will ascend among you and destroy you (Shemot 33:5). Nonetheless, the sages of the Talmud saw great value and Divine purpose in our stubborn strength. They described three brazen entities Jews among humanity, dogs among animals, and roosters among birds - and they said of this brazen character, "Had the Jews not received the Torah, no nation could have stood before them." (Beitzah 25b; see also Maharsha there) Brash chutzpah can undermine our internal spiritual life, and in commerce among humanity it brands us as uniquely difficult, but it has been key in our Torah commitment and instrumental in our survival. No matter how hard we are

Parshah Questions

The tochachah appears twice in the Torah, once in Parshat Bechukotai and R Meir Lipschitz once in this week's reading of Ki Tavo. In the former it ends positively, with an What is the problem of not serving Hashem "meirov kol"? (Rashi and Ibn invocation of G-d's covenant with our Ezra to Devarim 28:47) ancestors. The second edition seems to Why does the Torah state that the first fruits must be brought to the Kohen end depressingly differently, though, with a prediction that we will be sold as "asher yihyeh bayamim haheim", "of that day"? (Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra, Seforno, Chizkuni and Malbim to Devarim 26:3, Rashi to Devarim 17:9, and slaves and "ein koneh", "there will be no buyer." However, Rav Betzalel Zolty saw Rosh HaShana 25b) in this ending an upbeat note. He conWho or what is the Torah discussing when it states, "Arami oveid avi"? tended that the clause should be read, (Onkelos, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Chizkuni, Seforno, Ohr HaChaim, "there can be no buyer." A Jew, even Netziv, and Chanukat HaTorah to Devarim 26:5) imprisoned and enslaved, always reFor children: Why was Moshe happy about the complaint of Bnei Yisrael in tains his freedom. (Hillel Goldberg, Trathis weeks parshah? (Rashi to Devarim 29:3) meir.lipschitz@gmail.com dition 38:2) May this ever be so.

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Parshah Answers
What is the problem of not serving HaShem meirov kol?

R Meir Lipschitz
practical statement which teaches that we only have a responsibility to bring the first fruit in the days when we can give them to the Kohen Gadol. Seforno claims that even if the Kohen of the day is not as great a s o th e r s , h e mus t b e addressed respectfully since he is the "landlord" of that place, the Beit HaMikdash. Chizkuni understands this phrase in a manner similar to the Ramban; he suggests that it means that we may not wait with our produce until it is the week of our preferred Kohen, but rather they must be brought right away and given to the Kohen of that day.

Rashi says that the sin was that even when they had an abundance of good, the people nonetheless did not serve Hashem properly. Ibn Ezra reads it to mean that the people were distracted from their service of Hashem due to their many desires.

Why does the Torah state that the first fruits must be brought to the Kohen "of that day?"

Rashi is perplexed by the apparently superfluous nature of this statement, and asks rhetorically, "To whom else would the fruit be brought? A Kohen of a different generation?" He therefore explains that the fruit must be brought to the Kohen of the day even though he may not be as great as his predecessors. All you have is the Kohen of your generation, as he is. [See also Rashis comment in 17:9 about the judges of Israel.] Ramban claims that this means that the first fruits must be given to the Kohen whose weekly shift it is, and that we may not bring along another Kohen with us, in order to give the fruit to him. Ibn Ezra sees this as a

Who or what is the Torah discussing when it states, Arami oveid avi?

Onkelos reads the phrase to mean "Lavan, the Aramean, sought to destroy my father (Yaakov)." Rashi sees in the phrase the kindness that Hashem showed to the Jewish people, when He saved Yaakov from Lavan who sought to destroy us before we even came to exist. Ibn Ezra believes the phrase refers to Yaakov himself, and his poor, or destroyed, state when he was living in .

613 Mitzvot: Mitzvah 104 The Golden Mizbeiach

R Mordechai Torczyner
There are two mizbichot (altars) in the Beit haMikdash. A large mizbeiach stands in an outer room called the azarah, and a smaller, go ld en mi zb ei ac h (mi z b ac h hazahav) stands in the heichal, an inner room. The latter mizbeiach is actually made of wood and coated with gold. The main use of the mizbach hazahav is for daily burning of ketoret (see last week's column). The site of this mizbeiach is sacred, such that ketoret is burned there even without a mizbeiach (Zevachim 59a). Mitzvah 104 instructs kohanim to use the mizbach hazahav only for the ketoret, the avodah (service) on Yom Kippur and the avodah of communal sin offerings. Any other use, however well-intentioned, would be considered trespassing and misuse of the Beit haMikdash. torczyner@torontotorah.com

Rashbam offers a third possibility, reading the phrase in reference to Avraham who was originally an , and who was exiled from there. Chizkuni reads the phrase as Ibn Ezra does, but also notes the need to rearrange the words due to the grammatical difficulty presented by his reading. Seforno also believes that the phrase refers to Yaakov, but not to his poor nature. It refers to the fact that since Aram was not his home, he was not able to father generations that were fit to inherit the land of Israel while living in Aram. Ohr HaChaim presents a novel approach, suggesting that Arami refers to the yetzer hara , evil inclination, who is a trickster (the Hebrew for trickster is ,which uses the same letters as .) He suggests two possibilities as to "avi ", "my father", the target of the evil inclinations efforts: Adam, who was tricked and whose exalted status was destroyed by the yetzer hara in the form of the snake, or our own G-dly spirit, which can be called the father of the body. Chanukat HaTorah posits that the phrase refers to the language of the Arameans Aramaic its introduction into the Torah (Bereishit 31:47), and the result of that event in Yaakovs life.

For children: Why was Moshe happy about the complaint of the Bnei Yisrael in this weeks Parsha? Rashi explains that after Moshe gave, or entrusted, the Torah to the Leviim, the rest of the people complained that this was unfair. Moshe was happy to see that the people loved the Torah, and wanted it as well. meir.lipschitz@gmail.com

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Biography: Rav Ephraim Greenblatt

R Ezra Goldschmiedt

Hitoriri: Jewish Spirituality

Torah in Translation
Missing Minchah for Business
Rivivot Ephraim 1:166 (R Greenblatt)

I was asked by a certain individual: He worked in trade all day, selling his wares. At the time to pray minchah, when he saw that it was getting late, he was speaking with a major buyer and was unable to stop, lest he lose money. [After finishing his conversation he realized that] he had forgotten entirely that he had not prayed minchah. He wants to know what he should do in such a Hardly speaking a word of English, he situation. lived with his grandfather, himself a It would seem that this is explained in respected rav, in New York's Lower Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 108:8), East Side. There, he found a modest where it states that monetary losses are position in the rabbinate while also considered an unavoidable circumstance learning under Rav Moshe Feinstein. [oneis], and therefore he may pray Maariv Rav Moshe took Rav Greenblatt under twice. [The ability to make up for a his wing like a son, and eventually approached him with the charge to missed tefillah only exists for tefillot strengthen the Jewish community in missed by accident, and not those missed Memphis, Tennessee. Rav Greenblatt on purpose or due to gross negligence.] went there and found himself Concerning a loss of profit, it would seem overwhelmed the large Jewish that the ruling should be the same; it community had all of two shomer should not be limited to situations of shabbat Jews. Returning to New York financial loss. This is seen from Chayei dejected, Rav Greenblatt told Rav Adam, cited in Mishneh Berurah, Moshe that Memphis was an ir concerning the matter of selling one's hanidachat beyond his ability to wares. develop, to which Rav Moshe responded that he knew exactly what he was However, the question here [is somewhat getting Rav Greenblatt into. This was a different as] he had time throughout the place starving for Torah and growth. afternoon to pray, he didn't pray, and when the time came he was busy. That With words of encouragement from Rav being the case, he is like someone who Moshe, Rav Greenblatt returned to experienced an u n a v o i d a b l e Memphis, where he served as a rav for circumstance on the last day [a term 58 years. During that time, he turned taken from the laws of conditional sales]. Memphis into a thriving Jewish Concerning such a case, the law for community; he was responsible for the prayer is debatable, for he had time until religious revival of thousands of nowobservant Jews. Continuing his growth that point. in learning, Rav Greenblatt went on to Seemingly, this is alluded to in the words become one of North America's greatest of Magen Avraham (108:11) [who says talmidei chachomim. A visitor to that forgetting is equivalent to oneis], as Memphis once asked Rav Greenblatt explained by Machatzit HaShekel. It the million-dollar question: "You could seems that since he had much time to have been a gadol in Bnei Brak, why pray, and he did not pray, this does not are you here in Memphis?" Rav render him negligent. At the last Greenblatt responded, "Memphis moments he was involved with financial produces gedolim!" loss therefore, he has the status of The author of the 7-volume responsa oneis and he may pray maariv twice. Rivevot Ephraim, Rav Greenblatt
currently lives in Israel, where, he still As a result of this, I advised that teaches and guides many students. henceforth he pray at mincha gedolah [the earliest time one may pray minchah] so that if he were to become involved in Our HaAretz feature returns trade afterward, he would have no need beginning with our to worry. Nonetheless, one who forgot as Yom Kippur edition, G-d-willing a result of trade would pray maariv twice

Rav Ephraim Greenblatt was born in Jerusalem c. 1930. He displayed potential to become one of the gedolei Torah of Israel at a young age, learning in the Mirrer Yeshiva and then Yeshivat HaDarom under the likes of Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz, Rabbi Eliezer Man Schach and Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer. His time in Israel however, was cut short at the young age of 18 due to the financial needs of his parents and nine younger siblings, he journeyed to America to earn a salary with which to support them.

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Schedule for the Week of September 17, 18 Elul

Shabbat, September 17 After Musaf LAUNCH AT MARLEE SHUL (Teaching Torah to non-Jews, R Baruch Weintraub) 6:15 PM Yair Manas, Masechet Succah, Mizrachi Bayit After Minchah R Dovid Zirkind, Seudah Shlishit, Marlee After Minchah R Mordechai Torczyner, Masechet Avodah Zarah: The Trial of R Chanina ben Tradyon, BAYT Sunday, September 18 9:15 AM Hillel Horovitz, Parshah IssuesHebrew, Zichron Yisrael Monday, September 19 8:00PM R Mordechai Torczyner, Medical Halachah with CME: Pills in Halachah (see flyer) Shaarei Shomayim Tuesday, September 20 1:30 PM R Mordechai Torczyner, Chaggai 2, at Shaarei Shomayim, with Mekorot 8:00PM R Mordechai Torczyner, Practical Halachah for the Kitchen III, 15 Tinti Place, Thornhill, women Wednesday, September 21 12:30 PM R Mordechai Torczyner, Medical Ethics at York: Autopsy and Cremation 8:00 PM LAUNCH AT BAYT (Practical Ideas for a Fresh Start, R Ezra Goldschmiedt; You dont need to be a tzaddik, R Mordechai Torczyner) 8:00 PM R Baruch Weintraub, Hilchot Teshuvah: Is there a mitzvah to repent?, Shomrai Shabbos, men Thursday, September 22 10 AM-1 PMWomens Beit Midrash at Ulpana, Open to all Community Women 8:00 PM R Baruch Weintraub, From Terach to Today: Sugyot in Avodah Zarah, Clanton Park 8:00 PM LAUNCH AT KST (The Rebellion of Jonah, R Mordechai Torczyner) Friday, September 23 8:00 AM R Dovid Zirkind, Friday Parshah Preview, Village Shul

Pre-Selichot September 24: Shaarei Shomayim, Kehilat Shaarei Torah, Thornhill Community Shul

We would like to thank koshertube.com for filming our shiurim!

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