RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Nasso - Naked Betrayal

Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: Any man whose wife shall go astray and commit treachery against him [“u-ma'alah bo ma'al”], and a man could have lain with her carnally, but it was hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she became secluded and could have been defiled ...The man shall bring his wife to the Kohen and he shall bring her offering for her... (Num. 5: 11-13,15)

In Me'ilah 18a we find: "Ma'al" can only mean “change” [i.e., acting differently from what G-d commanded us to do]. Thus it says, “If a woman deviates and commits a “ma'al” against her husband” (Num. 5:12) [i.e., switching mates for a strange man]. It also says (I Chron. 5:25), “They committed a “ma'al” against the G-d of their ancestors and strayed after the gods of the nations of the land” [i.e., they they switched from worshiping G-d to worshiping idols.] A woman who profanes her holiness by turning to harlotry is called a “zonah”, and a married woman who commits adultery is called a “sotah”. Both words convey deviation, altering the role one was commanded to follow (see Torat Kohanim, Vayikra, Parsheta 11).

In actual fact, change and deceit are one. Whoever veers from his role is untrue to it. Change, deceit and “me'ilah” are all one, as well, because “me'ilah” means casting off one's yoke, which is what one does when he wishes to alter his role and lie about his mission in the world. “Me'ilah” means betraying [begidah] one's duty, and “me'ilah” [deceit] and “begidah” [treason] resemble “me'il” and “beged”, two words for clothing. Our clothing symbolizes the Divine yoke and holiness G-d placed on Adam, naked of mitzvot and holiness, as a covering. “Me'ilah” and “Begidah” indicate the removal of this spiritual garb. As Ibn Ezra (Lev. 5:15) writes, “If anyone commit a trespass [“ma'al”]: I.e., he removes his “ma'al”, his covering, from the same root as “me'il”, cloak.” If someone casts off G-d's yoke, he is a “ben beliya'al”, a person without a yoke [“beli ol”]. This expression connotes and evildoer, as we find regarding the apostate city: “Base people [bnei beliya'al] are gone out from the midst of you” (Deut. 13:14). Sifri comments (Re'eh 93), “Persons who broke off G-d's yoke.” Similarly, Sanhedrin 111b teaches, “Bnei beliya'al”: Persons who broke off the yoke of Heaven from their necks.” Yet they are not just “beli ol”, without a yoke, but “beli ya'al”, the serve no benefit [“to'elet] to anyone. Man was created only to accept the yoke of G-d's kingdom, and if he shirks this, then he serves no purpose and is better off dead.

The sin of such a person is “me'ilah”, which connotes “change”. As our sages said (Me'ilah 18a): If anyone commits a trespass [“ma'al”] (Lev. 5 :15): “Ma'al” always refers to some change, as in, If any man's wife go astray and act unfaithfully [“ma'al”] against him” (Num. 5:12), or “They broke faith with the G-d of their fathers and went astray after the gods of the peoples of the land” (I Chronicles 5:25). “Me'ilah" refers to change involving straying from the path, changing one's role, pursuing something foreign. The “mo'el” betrays his duty, the command given him. It is as though the “mo'el” has removed the cloak [“me'il”] that covers him, like the adulterer [“boged”] removing his clothing [“beged”]. Both are naked because they cast off their “me'il”, their “beged” and their “ol”[yoke]. In the Temple, the Torah established a “me'ilah” offering to atone for the person who betrayed the holy objects of G-d, deriving benefit from them as if they were non-holy, and transferring the holy to a non-holy domain. When G-d created the world, He defined and separated His beings and gave them borders and places of their own, domains to which they belong. The word domain [“reshut”] also means “place”, and can also connote a license to be somewhere or do something. A woman is set aside specifically for her husband. When she fornicates, she betrays him and her own domain, because her domain was sanctified and set apart. She received permission to be in her husband's place, and he becomes her domain. She has no license to be with another man who is not her domain. Similarly, the Jewish People were set apart fro G-d. He is their portion and inheritance. When they substitute idolatry or a foreign culture in His place, this constitutes change, straying, betrayal. The general rule is this: man was created to accept unto himself the yoke of Heaven and thereby to transcend his own egotism and fulfill his purpose in the world and the purpose of the world itself. Whoever breaks off his yoke betrays his task and forfeits his domain on this earth, because his presence here, in fact, his very creation, is no longer of benefit. How few, indeed, are the elite! Even so, we were commanded to study and to teach, to preserve and to practice G-d's idea of Jewishness as it was given to us, as we were truly and straightforwardly commanded. We must reject every trace of foreign culture, of falsification and distortion, and accept the yoke of Heaven.

Woman is the symbol of man's love and desire, for there is no love in man's nature greater than his love for woman. Precisely for this reason G-d created man and woman, so they would be bound together with fierce love and desire, ready to sacrifice for each other and to give of themselves to an extent unheard of in any other relationship. They would be willing even to sacrifice their lives for each other, so strong is that love. Being so fiercely bound to another human being is the apex of man's breaking down his selfishness, arrogance and evil impulse. G-d created this bond so that man would understand from it – at least in part – how powerful must be his love for G-d. Thus, if a husband is ever unfaithful to his wife, it constitutes betrayal of the true concept of love and a dreadful lie looming over the marital relationship. G-d decreed that this must be an exclusive relationship founded on mutual trust, a symbol of the prohibition against the dreadful sin of polytheism, worshiping idols as well as G-d (Ex.20:3). At the same time, an evil woman is a symbol of the opposite – idolatry. Whoever falls deeply in love with a woman who incites him to sin, even to heresy and idolatry, brings death unto himself. In his fierce love, he will be ready to do all she asks, even commit terrible sins. Thus, a woman can either symbolize love of G-d, or, Heaven forbid, love of heresy. After all, even heresy involves emotional attraction. As Berachot 12 b teaches: Why was the third paragraph of the Shema (Num. 15:37-41) established to be recited daily? R. Yehuda bar Chaviva said, “Because it contains six elements: 1) the mitzvah of Tzitzit; 2) the Exodus from Egypt; 3) the yoke of mitzvot; and admonitions against 4) heretical belief; 5) immoral sexual thought; and 6) idolatrous thoughts...” Indeed it was learned: “After your heart” (Num 15:39) refers to heresy, and it says (Ps. 14:1), “The fool says in his heart:'There is no G-d'”. Here we have proof that heresy depends on the heart and involves desire and attraction. Hence the woman, symbol of male desire, can either symbolize devotion to G-d or pursuit of heresy. Rashi interprets the verse, “I find more bitter than death the woman” (Eccles. 7:26): “Death is the harshest of ten harsh things created (Bava Batra 10a), and I find 'woman' – i.e. heresy – harsher still.”

Listen then to the truth. Let us savor the bitter fruits of our love affair with the world of gentilized civilization. It is a war for the hearts and souls and minds of the Jews. It is a war between those who wish to be amongst and like the nations, the gentiles, to embrace their culture and ideas and values and abominations; and between those who recognize their uniqueness and chosenness and who embrace the holiness of a separate, distinct, isolated, different people, living apart from all the others, unsullied by the abominations of cultures conceived in impurity and born in profane vanity. The values of Judaism are, in so many areas, and so overwhelmingly, different from those of western-gentilized Hellenism. What is ethical and what is moral and what is merciful and what is just? The answers of Judaism and of Hellenism are far apart. Political equality? Democracy? Tolerance of abomination? Freedom in social, personal affairs? The role of authority? Poles apart are the views of the Jews and the Hebrew-speaking gentiles. Sinai is cast away for Times Square and the purity of the Chosen people is exchanged for the material vomit of Los Angeles. The modesty of holiness is contemptuously abandoned and the nation wallows in the nakedness of gentile culture. “Thou hast built thy lofty place at every head of the way and hast made thy beauty an abomination and hast opened thy feet to everyone that passed by and multiplied thy harlotries.” (Ezekiel 16:24-25) Let us rise and garb ourselves with the cloak of sanctity; wrap ourselves in the regal robes of holiness. Every Jew a sacred child of G-d, the State of Israel the hallowed palace of the King of Kings. Let the Sabbath sing forth in joy from every home and the food that enters the mouth be as pure as the words that leave it. Let values be clean as the fresh mountain air of Zion and let degeneracy and vanity vanish as the morning mist before the warm sun of Jerusalem. Let hatred and violence and evil against brothers be buried beneath the centuries-old memories of common suffering. “I will betroth you unto Me via faith, and you shall know the L-rd” (Hosea 2:22).The “faith” referred to is the knowledge that there truly exists a Creator of the world, and that He is L-rd of hosts, the G-d of history and of truth. Such knowledge, and man's submission to G-d's ways and commandments, is man's purpose, and “this is the doctrine Moses placed before the People of Israel” (Deut. 4:44).

Compiled from “The Jewish Idea" and from "Forty Years" of Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY”D

BENADOR: Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day and time to send some flowers and  take mother to the best restaurant in town. 

But, that's not all. 

Naturally, mother and father are indispensable for the balance and sanity of their children, both with tender loving care can watch over their children future. 

But, it's in Mother's tummy that children live from since  the instant they are conceived, and the reason is obvious.  

After birth, which is done between mother and child, she's the one feeding baby with her own milk.  

Night and day, she's there, worrying about her children. 

When children are sick, fathers may fall asleep, but she cannot do that.  She's always on the watch. 

And, something mothers around the world should always remember is that their children's education is up to them. Thus, any mother can have an influence on the ever changing world, through the education of her children.  

Wishing all mothers in the world that their chores be lightened, and that gratitude to them be filled with everlasting love and respect. 

G-d bless you in the work you do.

RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Behar/Bechukotai - Help!

If your brother becomes impoverished and his means falter in your proximity, you shall strengthen him – proselyte or resident – so that he can live with you. Do not take from him interest and increase; you shall fear your G-d and let your brother live with you. (Lev. 25:35,36)

King Solomon said (Prov. 21:13), “He who stops his ears at the cry of the poor shall also cry himself

but shall not be answered.” Anyone who deserts a person who needs him, will in turn be deserted by G-d. This is what happened to Elimelech: Elimelech was one of the leaders of the nation and sustainers of the generation. Yet when the years of famine arrived, he said: All Israel are gathering around my door, each one with his basket [asking for donations]. He got up and ran away from the Land (Ruth Rabbah 1:4). And he was punished for this by dying – he and both of his sons – in exile. Anyone who forsakes the divine commandment of lovingkindness – G-d will forsake him, measure for measure: Thus says Hashem: You have abandoned Me, and I, too, have abandoned you (2 Chronicles 12:5).

Kindness and kind deeds are a general category that includes many individual mitzvot like charity, marrying off a poor girl, visiting the sick and comforting mourners. Truthfully, the potential for kind deeds is immeasurable. Anything one does for his fellow man, even offering a single kind word, is part of the kindness that builds the world. In other words, every good deed one does for his fellow man is called good because of the kindness it contains, because kindness is the fundamental kernel within all good. Loving one's fellow Jew is a mitzvah of global importance. Love, respect and reverence for our fellow Jew, created in G-d's image and sanctified at Sinai as G-d's elect, is the duty of every single Jew, because he is part of that chosen people. Every Jew must grow spiritually by showing love and respect for his fellow Jew. In that way, he expresses his esteem for someone holy and select, created in G-d's image and chosen at Sinai to be G-d's special treasure. In effect, he gains self-esteem as well. These benefits are secondary to the main benefit accrued: Though such behavior one suppresses the evil impulse and breaks down his ego. This is man's purpose, and doing so exalts and sanctifies him. It says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The moment a person equates someone else – through the love and respect he shows him – with himself, thereby ceasing to view himself as the center of the world, his own ego will begin to grow smaller.

Kindness for one's fellow man, even for someone who is not one's relative and whom one does

not know at all, is the trait that separates man from beast. It is this which elevates man to a level just beneath the angels, and perhaps just above them. Man's ability to give and to sacrifice his property and time for his fellow man is what G-d wished to implement on earth when He created it, and for this he created man.

R. Elazar said (Succah 49b), “Charity is only rewarded according to the kindness it contains, as it says (Hosea 10:12), 'Sow charity for yourselves, reap according to kindness.'” Rashi comments, “The giving is charity. The trouble taken is kindness, for example, bringing the money to the poor person's house, or taking the trouble that it should help him a lot... in short, paying full heed to the poor man's welfare.” How true are Rashi's words! Once more we have clear proof that the purpose of charity and kindness is its influence on the soul of the one offering it.

Make no mistake. Kindness, per se, is not the main purpose of creation or of Torah. Rather, it is the most outstanding, pronounced expression of modesty, self-abnegation, subjugation of the evil impulse and acceptance of G-d's yoke discernible in man. Man, by giving, nullifies his sense of taking. By worrying about his fellow man, he suppresses his selfishness, arrogance and lust. There is nothing great or praiseworthy about the poor person receiving kindness or charity. In taking and benefiting, one performs no mitzvah. The mitzvah is entirely in that the giver gives, that the kind person's mercy wells up and he forgets himself, his property and his selfishness, suppressing his ego and giving of his money or time to someone else. In doing so, he reinforces the humility within. By suppressing his evil impulse and lessening his lust, arrogance and selfishness, he fulfills his task on this earth. For this he was created. It is patently obvious that the main purpose of kind deeds is not that the receiver receive but that the giver give. Regarding tzedaka (“charity”), Chazal said a great thing which holds true regarding all mitzvot between man and his fellow man: The poor man does more for the donor than the donor does for the poor man. For as Ruth said to Naomi, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz” (Ruth 2:19). It does not say “who worked with me,” but “with whom I worked”. She said to her: Many good deeds have I done with him today for the slice that he gave me (Leviticus Rabbah 34:8). True, the simple meaning is that the master receives greater income from G-d than what he gives in charity. But Chazal take this far deeper: the greatness of the mitzvah of tzedaka is not that the poor man receives, but that the giver gives. There is no greatness in a person receiving something material – but great is the person who gives to someone else, thereby relinquishing the benefit that he could have received from his money. Performing this mitzvah affects his soul. He elevates and sanctifies it by removing the selfishness that encrusts it. Therefore Ruth said, Many good deeds have I done with him today. The same applies to any form of kindness that a person performs for his fellow-man: the greatness lies, not in the receiving, but in the active performance of giving. This is the great difference between Torah and socialism: Torah emphasizes the giving, whereas socialism emphasizes the receiving – and receiving only increases the selfishness of the recipient, who will never be satisfied with what he has received. The Jews who distort the Torah are so influenced by the alien culture that they turn kindness and mercy into goals in and of themselves. By such means they elevate them above all the mitzvot, necessarily diminishing the value of all other mitzvot. They also push the concepts of kindness and mercy to foolish and dangerous extremes, while they themselves include wicked enemies of the Jewish People. The real meaning of kindness and truth is that these principles are only part, albeit an exceedingly marked and conspicuous part, of the Torah's main purpose and goal – self-abnegation and suppression of our evil impulse and arrogance. All the mitzvot were given for this purpose, but kindness and mercy are the most direct part to this goal, as I have explained. Such acts express the Torah's essence, breaking down one's ego. The word mercy – “rachamim” in Hebrew – comes from “rechem”, womb. There is no mercy like that of a mother for the child of her womb. There is an inseparable bond between them because the child is part of her body, “flesh of her flesh” (Gen. 2:23). Just so must be a Jew's mercy for his fellow Jew (if that fellow is worthy). It should resemble a mother's mercy for her child.

Compiled by Tzipora Liron-Pinner,  from “The Jewish Idea" and "Peirush Hamaccabee - Shemot" of Rav Meir Kahane, HY”D

lfire.com/beharbechukotai.html/

RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Kedoshim - Forbidden conjugal relations

“Speak to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for holy am I, Hashem, your G-d.” (Lev. 19:2) “ You shall sanctify yourselves and you will be holy, for I am Hashem, your G-d.” (Lev. 20:7)

Twice G-d decreed kedusha (holiness) upon Israel. Why? It is “since I am holy.” In other words, just as G-d is holy, so, too, must we be holy. Our sages made this point in Tanchuma (Kedoshim, 5): “Make yourselves holy”: Why must we do so? G-d caused us to cling to His loins, as it says, “For as the belt clings to the loins of a man” (Jer. 13:11). Therefore, “You must be holy, since I am the L-rd your G-d, and I am holy” (Lev. 19:2). We also learn (Torat Kohanim, Shemini, 12), “Just as I am holy, so are you holy. Just as I am set apart, so you must be set apart.” Here, we find kedusha defined: It means separating oneself from the abominations, impurity and bestiality of the world, and instead clinging to purity and spiritual loftiness, goodness and the yoke of Heaven, intent on ascending and becoming holier. The beast is a prisoner of physical drives and lust. It cannot possibly separate itself from bestiality, for it is entirely bestial and was created to be precisely that in order to show man the behavior from which he must flee.

Breaking down one's passions is Israel's task. That is why kedusha was commanded so many times in the realms of life fraught with lust and desire, namely food and conjugal relations. Regarding conjugal relations, G-d stressed our duty to be holy, when just before the section on sexual sin He said, “You must sanctify yourselves and be holy” (Lev. 20:7). Even though this verse is teaching about separation from idolatry (Torat Kohanim, Kedoshim 10), it still relates to the section that follows as well, that of sexual sin. Thus, our sages expounded (Vayikra Rabbah, 24:6): Why was the section on sexual sin placed right after the section on kedusha? To teach that wherever we find separation from sexual sin, there we find kedusha. This follows the utterance of R.Yehuda ben Pazi who said, “Whoever fences himself off from sexual sin is called kadosh, 'holy'.”

Following is Rambam at the end of Hilchot Issurei Biah (22:18-20): No prohibition throughout the Torah is as hard for most of the people to part with as are sexual immorality and fornication. Our sages say that at the moment that Israel were commanded regarding sexual morality, they wept and they accepted this mitzvah with resentment and weeping, as it says, “[Moses heard the people] weeping over their families (Num. 11:10), i.e. regarding family-related matters. Our sages said that a person's soul lusts and craves theft and sexual sin, and we do not find a community in any age that lacks people who breach the laws of sexual morality and forbidden cohabitation. Our sages further said, “Most succumb to theft, a minority succumb to sexual sin, and all use speech that verges on forbidden gossip.” Therefore, it is appropriate for one to suppress his evil impulse in this matter and to accustom himself to exceeding kedusha, pure thought and an appropriate outlook in order to be saved from them.
[In modern times,] the clearest and most painful example of the agonizing contradiction between liberal-democratic-western thinking and Judaism, the one that has led to the most violent and hideous hate and wildly irrational defamation, is surely the clear and ringing Jewish ban on intermarriage and sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews, a thing that has become the centerpiece of the hysterical attack by the Hellenist Jews on “Kahanism”. There is no doubt that certain marriages are forbidden, such as Jew to non-Jew, incestuous unions, kohen to divorcee, mamzer to non-mamzer. We shall not play games. These are forbidden marriages and no rabbi will perform them. And so there is a cry: Civil marriage! Or a more elegant one: Civil marriage for those who are barred from religious marriage. I shall add only a word or two here about those whose real aim is not civil marriage but also civil divorce, something that would increase the number of mamzerim disastrously. Civil marriage is but a first step leading to civil divorce, which will truly split the nation into two camps, with one refusing to marry into the other. If this is what we truly want it is ours for the asking. But for those who are sincerely troubled by the refusal on the part of the rabbinate to marry certain couples, let us examine those disabled couples. It is true that under no circumstances whatever does halacha recognize an incestuous marriage, and there may indeed be some who will insist that a civil law should be created to allow marriage between mother and son or brother and sister on the grounds that the law should not limit any conduct so long as that conduct does not harm others. It may be true that there will be those who will – as in certain western countries – insist on recognizing the marriage of two homosexual males or females. For these, halacha has no answer; its ban is clear and absolute and one hopes that the proponents of civil marriage in these cases will be accorded the contempt they deserve. Then there is the question of intermarriage. True, there is absolutely no sanction, a priori or a posteriori, for intermarriage under halacha. A Jew is forbidden to marry a non-Jew; his marriage will not be performed by a rabbi [the violation of halacha by reform clergy is irrelevant, this goes for all other forbidden marriages as well]; it will not be recognized under any circumstances. There are, indeed, more than a few among the nihilists in our ranks who oppose this. They would open the doors to the disaster that Jews fought so successfully through two millenia of Exile and to which they succumb so disastrously in the “free” western world. The destruction of the Jew can be accomplished in the furnaces of Auschwitz; it can also come about through intermarriage that destroys the Jewish identity of the couple and its offspring.
But there are other bans. Consider the ban on marriage between kohen and divorcee or mamzer and non-mamzer or a number of other bans mentioned in the Torah. The rabbinate will refuse tor marry these. Is it the not “fair” to allow them to utilize civil marriage? Before replying, let us understand something that is basic to Judaism. What is “right” and what is not “right” for the Jew has never been a subjective thing, to be judged by man on the basis of his own cultural imperative. It has certainly never been something to be measured by transient, temporary standards. The Jews are an eternal people with eternal values, and eternity is not subject to the passing modes and fashions of ideology. The Jews are a divine people with divine values, and these infinite truths are not to be passed upon or rejected by finite and human animals.

The greatness and sole strength of halacha lies in its divinity, otherwise why cling to it? And that strength is decimated and the pillar upon which it stands is eliminated when it must give way before a generation that cries “unfair”. What law is “fair” to all people and what society does not demand a few sacrifice so that society may continue to exist? And one day, the one who was touched by “unfairness” will understand that it was not really so. It is not by the standards of finite “fairness” that the Jewish people and halacha abide. Let the law pierce the mountain, but the law must prevail. Or we, as a people, will not prevail. But there is more. Those who cry for civil marriage say that this is the only solution. Is that really true? Is it a solution? And if that solution is considered a solution, then is there not a far better way, one that does not question the absolute supremacy and authority of halacha? What will happen, if a civil marriage law is passed in Israel? Will the rabbinate recognize it? Will the religious community recognize it? The answer is negative in both cases. But that does not matter, is the retort. We are not interested in whether the rabbinate or the religious Jew recognizes it. We want it to be recognized officially by the state. So, this is what apparently really troubles the proponents of civil marriage. That under present law, the state will not marry one non-halachically. Is this the problem? For this, there is no need for civil marriage; to solve this problem, there is no need at all to introduce the non-Jewish concept of civil marriage, a thing that threatens to be only the first step toward civil divorce that would catastrophically divide the nation. Halacha itself gives a way out. For while, a priori, no rabbi will perform a marriage banned by halacha, all marriages that are forbidden marriages - except those involving gentiles and incest – are recognized as marriages by the Torah a posteriori even though the couples disobeyed the injunction against them. Let us consider the case of a kohen and a divorcee or a mamzer and a non-mamzer. Faced with the refusal of a rabbi to marry them what would happen if, in the presence of two proper witnesses, the man betrothed the woman unto him? Such a marriage is a binding one, calling for a divorce to dissolve it, and although the two have sinned and disobeyed the Torah, the marriage is valid. Certainly the religious stigma remains, but would that stigma be any less under civil marriage? And in any case, do the opponents of halacha really care? Assuming that they are sincere in their avowals that their sole purpose is to allow the couple to be married and have their marriage recognized by the state, there is no need to introduce civil marriage. The state can insist that the marriage be recorded as a legal one, reading “married – in a priori violation of Torah law”. The additional wording should in no way bother those who are not interested in Torah law and who have achieved all that they say they wanted – a recognized state marriage.

To say that there are no problems that halacha cannot solve to the satisfaction of the secular public would be to lie. But halacha, unlike politicians, did not come into being to cater to the public but rather to raise it, uplift it, and sanctify it. At the same time, however, let us never forget that we came here to the Land of Israel to build a Jewish, not a western country. It is Jewish values that are true, not western values (or eastern, for that matter). What is right and true is not to be determined by liberalism or democracy or progressive circles. For the inhabitants of the land who are before you committed all these abominations, and the land became contaminated. Let not the land vomit you out for having contaminated it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. (Lev. 18:27-28)


Compiled from “The Jewish Idea”, "Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews" and "Our Challenge" of Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY”D

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Insights from Rabbi Meir Kahane's 'Peirush HaMaccabee': Parashat Metzora

The Kohen shall command; and for the person being purified there shall be taken two live, clean birds; cedar wood, crimson thread, and hyssop. (Lev. 14:4)

The Kohen has to take two birds, and slaughter one of them such that its blood drips into an earthenware vessel with flowing water, and dip cedar-wood, hyssop, crimson thread, and the other bird into the flowing water which is mixed with the blood of the slaughtered bird. He then sprinkles this over the metzora (“leper”) or the house seven times, after which the live bird is set free. Now the whole subject of the metzora carries tremendous morals: the Talmud says: These afflictions come because of seven things: lashon ha-ra’, blood-shed, swearing false oaths, sexual immorality, arrogance, robbery, and stinginess (Arakhin 16a).

A person who sinned by committing robbery and being stingy is condemned to sitting alone outside of the camp, thereby losing money because he is unable to work; and sometimes, his house becomes afflicted and has to be destroyed. And if he shed blood, he is reminded of this sin by having the bird’s blood sprinkled over him; he is afflicted with bodily suffering as a punishment for having afflicted bodily suffering on someone else. As a punishment for pursuing sexual immorality he becomes physically repulsive, such that no woman will want him. As a punishment for having spoken lashon ha-ra’ and thereby causing division among people, he is now divided from everyone else and dwells alone.

It goes further: he guarded his tongue neither from lashon ha-ra’ nor from swearing falsely; so the Talmud says, What makes the metzora unique, that the Torah commands him to bring two birds to purify himself? – G-d said: His actions were the actions of a chatterer, therefore the Torah enjoins him to bring [birds which are] chatterers as a sacrifice (Arakhin 16b). And for his sin of arrogance he brings the wood of the cedar tree, one of the tallest and proudest of all trees, together with hyssop, one the smallest of all plants, on which the Midrash explains: Why is the metzora cleansed with the tallest of the tall and the lowliest of the lowly?... – Because he is afflicted with tzara’at for having aggrandised himself like a cedar tree; so when he humbles himself like a hyssop, he is cured (Pesikta Rabbati, Parah 14, 60b). The sinner thereby purifies his sin which was as red as the crimson thread and makes it as white as snow. It seems to me that his arrogance is the source of all his sins, and all the other sins are a result of it, as I shall show immediately.

These two birds represent important concepts. The Torah commands him to bring two birds, live and pure (Leviticus 14:4), which the Midrash expounds upon: Rabbi Yosé the Galilean says: Specifically a bird which lives outside of town. And which bird is this? – A swallow (Sifra, Metzora 5:14). And the Sifra further says: The birds must be live, and not slaughtered; pure, and neither impure…nor non-kosher (ibid. 1:12). The swallow, whose Hebrew name is צִפּוֹר הַדְּרוֹר, tzippor ha-dror (literally “bird of freedom”) which must be a clean fowl, serves to symbolise the person: every person is born pure, clean of all sin, unblemished; like the swallow, the tzippor ha-dror, the bird of freedom, free to go in any direction he desires, free to choose good or evil. If he does good, he will live and receive his just reward; and if he does evil, he will be punished. And the way to achieve the good is through humility and modesty, whereas arrogance and callousness lead to denying G-d and shaking off His yoke. And this being the case, it is good for a person to be modest and humble and quiet, not to raise his voice and his head – because what is he? – Dust and ashes, decay and maggots! And what are we?! (Exodus 16:7). G-d will punish anyone who transgresses His commandments, thereby transforming his pure and beautiful and wondrous soul into something ugly. And since it is impossible to see the ugliness of a soul, G-d afflicts him with tzara’at, making him physically ugly for all to see, symbolising the ugliness of his soul (and sometimes, G-d afflicts only his garments or his house, for him to see his soul reflected therein). And he – this man who wanted to aggrandise himself above all others – is then forced to humble himself, to dwell in solitude, this man – who wanted only bodily pleasures – suffers bodily afflictions. Thus he takes two birds; one of them he slaughters, and the other one he sets free. Two birds, symbolising his free choice – good or evil.

The Abravanel comments there: The purpose here is to indicate that both the birds were previously alive – and at G-d’s command and word one of them died. Such it is with humans: one can fall sick and die, while another one remains alive. Everything depends upon G-d’s decree. And this is why He commanded [the Kohen] to slaughter the bird into earthenware vessels, alluding to the human who is as an earthenware vessel, fashioned by the hands of the Potter, blessed be He… And the bird is slaughtered over flowing water in the vessel to symbolise the Torah…because the bird who was slaughtered died because of the Torah which was not kept properly… And the Torah says that in the end “he shall send out the live bird free over the field” (Leviticus 14:7) – that is to say, to roam free in its natural habitat – symbolising that the purified person returns to the camp, there to roam free as and when he pleases, no longer to be confined. And I would add to this final detail that what this means is that he is hereby given a new opportunity for free will – if he will only learn his lesson.


Source: "Peirush HaMaccabee" on Shemot, Chapter 2, English translation by Daniel Pinner


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RABBI MEIR KAHANE: Parashat Tazria/Metzora – Blemish and Perfection

“On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” (Lev. 12:3)

G-d bound the Land to the great mitzvah of milah (circumcision) by an everlasting covenant and equated milah, a mitzvah carried out right on the body, with Eretz Yisrael, which a Jew must be right inside: “I will sustain My covenant between Me and between you and your descendants after you throughout their generations, an eternal covenant. I will be a G-d to you and to your offspring after you. To you and your offspring I will give the land where you are now living as a foreigner. The whole Land of Canaan shall be your eternal heritage, and I will be a G-d to your descendants.” G-d then said to Abraham, “As far as you are concerned, you must keep My covenant – you and your offspring throughout their generations. This is My covenant between Me, and between you and your offspring, that you must keep. You must circumcise every male.” (Gen. 17:7-10)

Following is Bereshit Rabbah, 46:9: R. Yuden says, There are five [conditions here]: If your offspring receive My Divinity, I shall be your G-d and patron, and if not, I will not be your G-d and patron. If they enter the Land they shall receive My Divinity, and if not, they shall not receive My Divinity. If they perform milah, they shall enter the Land... If they accept the Shabbat, they shall enter the Land... Here, G-d decreed the connection between the Land and mitzvot. Only if Israel enter the Land do they receive G-d as their L-rd and Master. Outside the Land, they live under the nations and their harmful cultural influence. This involves Chilul Hashem, because when we live among the nations, under their rule, the nations' gods and culture enjoy superiority. Moreover, the Torah is adulterated by alien, non-Jewish ideas. G-d's becoming Israel's Master is also conditional on their accepting milah, a fundamental mitzvah, whose linkage to a Jew's actual body makes it an inseparable part of him. As our sages said of King David (Menachot 43b): Israel are beloved in that G-d surrounded them with mitzvot: tefillin on their heads and arms, tzitzit on their garments and mezuzot on their doors... When King David entered the bath house and saw himself standing naked, he said, “Woe to me that I stand naked without mitzvot.” Once he recalled the milah on his flesh, he calmed down. G-d wished the Jew to be surrounded with mitzvot every single moment of his life, so that he would always be holy and complete. He, therefore, established a mitzvah for his body to be an essential part of the person himself. That way, he would always be accompanied by a mitzvah. Likewise, G-d wished Israel to dwell always within a mitzvah. He, therefore, established the mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisrael. Thus, G-d tied the mitzvah of milah to Eretz Yisrael, and together, they were the first brit, or covenant, that G-d forged between Himself and Abraham, father of the nation.

G-d feared leaving the Jew free of mitzvot even a single moment. Not only would that leave him without holiness, but he would be exposed to the influence of the nations and the alien culture. G-d, therefore, affixed milah upon the Jew's flesh so that he would always be accompanied by a mitzvah. Milah is a mitzvah which enters a Jew's body, and Eretz Yisrael is a mitzvah into which a Jew enters. Why were both necessary? So that Israel would always be set apart from the nations, and so they would thereby safeguard their holiness completely and properly. For that reason, Israel could not enter the Land until they were circumcised, because milah and Eretz Yisrael are linked to each other through their keeping the Jew separate.

G-d ordained that Jews must perform circumcision, and in practice there are two types, one applying to the foreskin, the other to the heart. Of the first it says, “Ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin” (Gen. 17:11), and of the second, “Circumcise the foreskin of your heart” (Deut. 10:16). Circumcision serves to soften man's pride, his physical and psychological strength, the arrogance of, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth” (Deut. 8:17). Circumcision serves to complete the Jew. As long as he is uncircumcised, he is flawed, as though missing part of his body. This holds a great moral lesson. When a Jew gives up something of himself, that is precisely when he becomes perfect and complete. Before Abraham's circumcision, G-d said to him, “Walk before Me and you shall be perfect” (Gen. 17:1). Our sages comment (Nedarim 31b), “Great is circumcision, for with all the mitzvot Abraham performed, he was not called 'perfect' until he was circumcised.” Rashi comments, “As long as your foreskin is in place, you are flawed.” And Nedarim 31b further teaches, “Great is circumcision, for if not for it, G-d would not have created the world: “Thus says the L-rd: 'If not for My covenant [brit] day and night, I would not have set Heaven and Earth in motion' (Jeremiah 33:25)”. The reason circumcision is related to in this way is clear. It is G-d's mark that man has subjugated his body and his energies to Him. It is also clear that everything said regarding circumcision of the foreskin applies to circumcision of the heart. Both act to weaken man's arrogance and lust, suppress his passions and subjugate him to the service of G-d.

We are commanded to circumcise the hard shell that prevents man from feeling mercy, kindness and justice, for only these can bring him to humility, refinement and accepting G-d's yoke. This idea is alluded to by, “The L-rd has sought Him a man after His own heart” (I Samuel 13:14), i.e. a man with a heart like G-d's. The person who denies G-d's nature and decrees and rejects the yoke of Heaven will say, “It is my own life and my own body.” This fool does not understand that every sin he commits corrupts his soul and will ultimately lead him to hurt others through his false views. Through worshiping himself and pampering his physical cravings and desires, he will necessarily arrive at a situation in which his selfishness and arrogance dominate him, until he is enslaved to his body and his lusts. [For him, this week's Parasha points out that asides from the mitzvah of circumcision, applying to heart and foreskin, there is also another way to achieve the humbling of the heart: suffering of the body, as seen in the example of the leper].

Solomon said: Why is this leper purified by the highest of the high and the lowest of the low – by cedar wood and hyssop? To teach that if a person elevates himself like a cedar tree, he is stricken with leprosy; and when he humbles himself like hyssop, he is healed by hyssop (Yalkut Shimoni, Vayikra 559). Whoever suffers learns how weak and lowly he is. His arrogance and selfishness are erased, because he must lift his eyes to Heaven for salvation. Achieving humility and ridding oneself of evil conceit are one's very mission on this earth, and by such means one is spiritually magnified and exalted. Moreover, only through one's own suffering can one understand the suffering of others and learn empathy for the sick and the needy. The more severe and painful a person's suffering, the more his own arrogance is broken down. G-d decreed that Moses must take blood from the milu'im ram and place it on the right ear lobes, right thumbs and right big toes of Aaron and his sons [during their inauguration for service in the Tabernacle]. HaMidrash HaGadol (Lev. 8:24) asks, “Did Aaron and his sons need blood on their thumbs and toes? Rather it was done to teach them how to purify lepers.” The leper, as well, had blood placed on these same spots. Yet, why precisely here during the milu'im did G-d establish this lesson? The answer is that, also regarding the leper, we find the importance of lowliness, which is a condition for trusting in G-d. After all, leprosy struck in response to ten sins (Vayikra Rabbah 17:3), or eleven (Bamidbar Rabbah 7:5), and among them were arrogance and Chilul Hashem. Because Aaron was not humble enough to act with complete trust in G-d and self-sacrifice, and to blot out the Chilul Hashem [regarding the sin of the golden calf], G-d rendered him as if smitten with leprosy for his arrogance and the Chilul Hashem. I said previously that the world's having been created in Hebrew (Bereishit Rabbah 31:8) means that Hebrew did not emerge by itself via a historic process like other languages. Rather, it was “ready-made”, “created” by G-d alone. Thus, every word holds secrets and allusions, and Hebrew words are tied to one another by moral themes. Take note that mum (hebr.: blemish), and tamim (hebr.: perfect) come from the same root. Even so, they are opposites, as is G-d's way with the Hebrew language. This teaches that whoever is imperfect, spiritually blemished, will be smitten with a physical blemish. In this regard, G-d hinted to Aaron: because you were not perfect, you need the milu'im. Moreover, you must conduct yourself like the leper who has been smitten physically for not behaving with spiritual perfection. Mum and tamim are separated only by sin. In circumcision, mum becomes tamim through the removal of the foreskin.

Israel, by circumcising themselves physically and spiritually, will merit to destroy the nations. Yalkut Shimoni (Tehillim 875, on Ps. 118:10-12) comments, “Three times it says 'they swarm around me', corresponding to the three times Gog and Magog are destined to attack Jerusalem.” Three times Gog and his men will attack Jerusalem, yet all three times, “I shall destroy them [“amilam” – hinting at milah, circumcision].” This will happen by virtue of our circumcising body and heart.

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BENADOR: Holocaust: Jews are no victims

B"H

Between today and tomorrow, throughout the world takes place the Yom Hashoah Holocaust Remembrance Day.

And the world will remember Jews as victims. 

However, on this day, it is my pray to G-d that true Jews may reinforce their faith, their Emunah in G-d.  

May all of us Jews, who feel Jews to the last drop of our blood and the tiniest bone of our bodies, with our soul which belongs to Him, be one with G-d, and grow more and better in His Love and in His Light. 

As G-d's Chosen Children, we must follow His Law, the Law of the Torah.  

As G-d's Chosen Children, if we are with Him, we can never be victims.  

We may die defending His Word and His Teachings, but as History shows, our enemies come and go.  We remain. 

So, on this Holocaust remembrance day, I pray Jews see all the miracles that He Gives us day after day and that we so take for granted. 

Only then, we can face, inspired by the Divine Strength and Fortitude received from Him, and be victorious over our enemies.

A necessary victory for us, G-d's Children, and for the world -for which our role is Tikkun Olam, help transform the world for the better. 

King David said in Psalm 97 "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart."

G-d bless ♡