YWN Coffee Room Nightly D’Var Torah

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  • #1124206
    Jax
    Member

    JayMatt19: great peice there!

    #1124207
    Jax
    Member

    mod72: time to clear the board & please keep me for Tuesday tentative(perm)! thank you!

    #1124208
    YW Moderator-72
    Participant

    from the OU website:

    Parshat Acharei Mot

    Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer

    This week’s parshah commences with the prohibition of entry to the Kodesh Ha-Kodoshim (Holy of Holies) without authorization; such sanction is granted exclusively on Yom Kippur and only to the Kohen Gadol. This rule is introduced by the phrase, “And Hashem spoke to Moshe after the death of the two sons of Aharon, when they approached before Hashem and died.” (16:1) Rashi (ibid.) quotes Toras Kohanim which explains that the Torah invokes the demise of Nadav and Avihu in order to strengthen its warning about entry to the Kodesh Ha-Kodoshim, for they died as a result of illegal passage.

    The parshah continues with the details of the Yom Kippur avodah (service) and observances, followed by the issur (prohibition) of slaughtering animals for korbonos outside of the Azarah (Court) of the Beis Ha-Mikdash. Subsequently, the parshah features the issur of consuming blood and the mitzvah of covering blood upon slaughter of livestock and fowl (Kissui Ha-Dam), and it concludes with a lengthy segment concerning Arayos (illicit relations), in which the prohibition of offering to Molech is interwoven.

    Do the various themes of the parshah relate to each other?

    The Torah’s mention of the deaths of Nadav and Avihu is quite perplexing. Although the incident surely reinforces the severity of the issur of unauthorized entry to the Kodesh Ha-Kodoshim, we should perhaps ask why other issurim are not similarly introduced by recalling events which depict the fate of those who violate them. Is some larger message being conveyed by recounting the deaths of Aharon’s sons?

    The Gemara in Sanhedrin provides various interpretations of the precise act committed by Nadav and Avihu. One opinion states that they entered the Mishkan while intoxicated; another explains that they rendered an halachic decision in the presence of Moshe Rabbeinu. According to all, Nadav and Avihu had the best of intentions, and their actions were focused on serving God. However, Aharon’s sons did not confine their motivations to the bounds of halacha; rather, their impulse to act upon their love of Hashem caused them to breach halachic fences.

    This notion is extremely telling, for it forms the basis of Parshas Acharei Mos. The various topics of the parshah revolve around the theme of restricting our avodas Hashem (Divine service) according to specific parameters. Yom Kippur is the quintessential day of restriction. Its Mikdash routine is by far the most difficult and detailed, and the individual’s observance of Yom Kippur is understandably defined by the Torah as “Inuy” – Affliction, for the restrictions upon each person are extremely tight. Yet, Yom Kippur is also the day when we come closest to God. This very closeness engenders restrictions in how we serve and approach Hashem.

    Similarly, the Torah limits sacrificial sacrifice to the Mikdash as a parameter in the manner that God can be served; rather than allowing free, spontaneous sacrificial service wherever one wishes, one is bound to a specific location. The same holds true for the mitzvah of covering blood and the issur of consuming it, as blood is reserved for use on the Mizbayach (Altar) and is therefore off limits to man (see Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim quoted by Ramban on 17:11), and blood represents the nefesh (soul) of another being which is exclusive to God (Ramban ibid.). These ideas all reflect that avodah must be limited to the boundaries set by Hashem.

    The parshah concludes with Arayos (and the issur of Molech). Arayos – representative of the most extreme human passion – are understandably linked with the theme of self-restraint, and as such they appear at the end of the pashah. However, is there any greater connection between Arayos and the balance of Acharei Mos?

    The Torah introduces Arayos with a warning not to behave like the heathens of Canaan (who were morally corrupt – see Rashi on 18:3 from Toras Kohanim). Why is this introduction necessary?

    The haftarah begins by comparing Bnei Yisroel to other nations, insomuch as the Jews, too, were physically redeemed but did not live up to the purpose of their redemption. Thus, they are depicted as no better than the Kushites, Arameans and others, whom God salvaged from physical destruction. (The Navi [prophet] continues with the future re-selection of Bnei Yisroel from among the nations.)

    The haftarah’s comparison of us to other ancient tribes is not just pointed mussar. The words of Amos reveal something at the base of Bnei Yisroel’s uniqueness. Unlike other nations, whose passions are either unbridled and unrelated to their religious codes and societal norms (or – in some cases – immoral acts of passion are themselves religious rituals) – Bnei Yisroel are different, as inherent in their observances are restraint of passion and submission to Hashem. It is for this reason that the Arayos prohibitions are central to the parshah and bear an introduction which contrasts Bnei Yisroel’s desired behavior with that of Canaan, for the Arayos restrictions identify and set us aside as a people, such that our existence on all levels is unique. This concept is an expansion on the uniqueness of our avodah, which comprises the first part of the parshah. It is for this reason that the issur of Molech is placed in the midst of the Arayos. Molech is an abominable act of heathen avodah, and its mention as part of the section of Arayos indicates that immoral, nonrestrictive norms which corrupt avodah also contaminate society as a whole.

    May our service of Hashem be pure and our machaneh (camp) holy.

    #1124209
    Jax
    Member

    72: great peice! & i really enjoy this wonderful thread!

    #1124210
    YW Moderator-72
    Participant

    UPDATED: ok… nobody volunteered, so here is the line-up

    Kapusta – Monday

    jax – Tuesday

    Just Smile – Wednesday

    mdlevine – Thursday

    chofetzchaim -Friday

    the front page has been updated.

    … (everybody is eligible to submit, not just the selection that I listed).

    Thanks

    #1124211
    kapusta
    Participant

    a present for mod 72.

    Achrei Mos

    By: Rabbi Eli Teitelbaum

    In order to understand why it was necessary for the posuk to add the words “after the death of the two children of Aharon,” Rashi gives us a beautiful example in the name of Rabbi Elozer.

    *kapusta*

    #1124212
    Jax
    Member

    kapusta: nice d’var torah! i liked it a lot!

    #1124213
    anonymisss
    Participant

    kapusta, nice DT! Great lesson, thanks!

    mod72, is it possible someone (ahem) was mistakenly left off the list? I think his name starts with ‘m’?

    ~a~

    #1124214
    Jax
    Member

    **D’Var Torah – Parshas Kedoshim*** this week is Parshas Acharai Mos & Kedoshim

    What would you do in the following scene? You are a Dayan-Judge in a Bais Din . A wealthy man and a poor man come before with a dispute involving $1500. That sum is a huge amount of money for the poor man and an insignificant amount for the wealthy man. As you listen to the facts of the case, you realize that the law is on the side of the wealthy man. Do you rule in favor of the wealthy man because that is the correct ruling; or, do you rule in favor of the poor man since he desperately needs the money to live and feed his family, while the wealthy man will barely feel the loss of a thousand dollars, and the wealthy man is obligated to give tzedaka to the poor man any way? You are the judge. The power is in your hand. What is the right thing to do? From a purely humanistic point of view one would seem almost compelled to find for the poor man. The Torah teaches us otherwise. The Torah says that the dayan must render the accurate ruling without any outside considerations, even to the detriment of this poor soul. This doesn’t seem right! You know and I know, but the Torah knows better. If we give false decisions, we will be destroying the truth. Once we lose our perception of the truth, we lose our perception of reality and when that happens we lose everything. With our limited human judgment it may seem greater to help the poor man; but, the Torah is teaching us that maintaining and protecting the truth is the greatest good, even for the poor man who is ruled against in this case.

    have a wonderful day everyone!

    #1124215
    Jax
    Member

    note to all: my DT was posted for tuesday!

    #1124216
    kapusta
    Participant

    Jax, nice!

    have a wonderful day everyone!

    ahhh. the kapusta influence.

    *kapusta*

    #1124217
    Jax
    Member

    kapusta: thank you! funny!

    #1124218
    YW Moderator-72
    Participant

    thanks Jax

    #1124219
    Jax
    Member

    72: glad to be of service!

    #1124220
    anonymisss
    Participant

    Jax, nice DT, thanks!

    mod72, moish?

    ~a~

    #1124221
    Jax
    Member

    anonymisss: thank you! seems like you got an exemption this week!

    #1124222
    Jax
    Member

    72: maybe inform Just Smile of his Wednesday DT?!?

    #1124223
    mdlevine
    Member

    I see that I have been volunteered for Thursday night. I am going to be away until around 9:30/10:00, so it might be a little late.

    #1124224
    Just Smile
    Participant

    Sorry guys – here you go – I’m actually still at work

    The three aveiros that one must give up his life for are giloy arayos, shfichas damim, and avodah zarah. If one comes up to you and says do one of these three aveiros or I will kill you one must give up his life.

    Molech is a form of avodah zarah, because the parent is bringing their child as a sacrifice. It also encompasses the aviera of shfichas damim, because according to some the parent would actually drop the child into the fire. Molech is also the aveira of giloy arayos, because it is a form of wasting seed. Because when you kill your child, you are in affect killing seed that you used to create him.

    Just Smile asked me to edit this and let everyone know that it is not his d’var Torah – so when it says “my father” – it’s not Rabbi/Mr. Smile

    YW Moderator-99

    #1124225
    Jax
    Member

    Just Smile: that was great!

    #1124226
    anonymisss
    Participant

    jax, i posted one recently.

    ~a~

    #1124227
    YW Moderator-72
    Participant

    ok, folks… never too soon to volunteer for next week (hopefully JayMatt19 will be back, he didn’t email me any advance copies).

    If I don’t get volunteers, I will have to assign nights again.

    Jax, you on for Tuesday?

    #1124228
    Jax
    Member

    72: sure thing!

    #1124229
    JayMatt19
    Participant

    Looks like mdlevine is a no go for tonight, so here goes:

    This is being given b’zchus Yosef ben Ita Rivka, Yoel Zev ben Mirel Reesa Chava and Yaakov Yosef ben Raizel, may Hashem immediately send them their yeshua.

    In Shmoneh Esrei, in the tfilla of ????????? we say the words ???? ???????????? ??????. R’ Y. Abramsky asks why this is exclusive here to Refuah, as it is applicable in each of the bakashos in Shmoneh Esrei?

    He replies that it is so very easy to be fooled into thinking that the doctor cured you. Therefore we go out of our way in our tfillos to tell Hashem that we know where the refuah is coming from.

    As the world is in its current economic mess, there are many yidden without the means to support their family. We need to strengthen out Bitachon and apply this message towards parnassa as well. Just like it is not the doctor who provides the cure it also isn’t the working which provides the money.

    May HaKadosh Baruch Hu send every yid their respective yeshua in order to successfully thrive in this difficult time.

    Good Shabbos to All

    Note to Mod-72: Not sure I’ll be able to post Motzei Shabbos. Bli neder I’ll try to e-mail you a dvar torah (before licht) for you to post after Shabbos.

    #1124230
    Jax
    Member

    JayMatt19: welcome back! mdlevine said he’ll post later tonight one! nicely done!

    #1124231
    an open book
    Participant

    welcome back, jaymatt19! & thank you

    #1124232
    kapusta
    Participant

    JayMatt, very nice!

    *kapusta*

    #1124233
    mdlevine
    Member

    JayMatt19 thanks for posting your D’Var Torah.

    This is also being given b’zchus Yosef ben Ita Rivka, Yoel Zev ben Mirel Reesa Chava and Yaakov Yosef ben Raizel, may Hashem immediately send them their yeshua.

    The Shulchan Aruch says:

    ?? ???? ???? ????? ???? ??”? ???? ?????.

    ??? ??, ??? ????, ????? ???? ?????, ??????? ??!

    It is forbidden to engage in frivolous conversation during the reader’s repitition of the prayer.

    And if one does talk, he is a transgressor, and his sin is too great to bear, and we must rebuke him!

    (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 124:7)

    ______________________________

    There is a posuk in the Torah where similar language is used

    ????? ??? ?? ?’ ???? ???? ?????

    And Cayin said to HaShem My sin is too great to bear

    (Bereishis 4:13)

    ______________________________

    Perhaps this is why the Shulchan Aruch states that the sin of talking in Shul is a sin too great to bear when the Torah uses that language for murder.

    Something to think about.

    #1124234
    Jax
    Member

    mdlevine: wow that was great! thanx for posting it!

    #1124235
    kapusta
    Participant

    mdlevine, amen, excellent!

    *kapusta*

    #1124236
    Bais Yaakov maydel
    Participant

    short and to the point thanks mdl

    #1124237
    anonymisss
    Participant

    wow, so many in one night! Thanks

    ~a~

    #1124238
    YW Moderator-72
    Participant

    Bais Yaakov maydel,

    what night next week are you posting a D’Var Torah?

    #1124239
    Bais Yaakov maydel
    Participant

    …i can do tuesday night iyH

    #1124240
    kapusta
    Participant

    tuesday seems like a big night. any particular reason? should I get on line?

    *kapusta*

    #1124241
    Jax
    Member

    BYM: tuesday is my permanent night! would you like to take a different night! great to have you back btw!

    #1124243
    Bais Yaakov maydel
    Participant

    so we have permanent nights now huh?

    lol i really havent been here in a while…

    ok is thursday good for e/o? I put you down for Thursday. YW Moderator-72

    thanks Jax i feel great being here again too!

    #1124244
    Jax
    Member

    Bais Yaakov maydel: just i have a permanent night these days actually! the other permanents are gone-ok there are others too mod! thursdays great!

    what about JayMatt19 and M’Shabbos (along with most other nights) and ChofetzChaim on E’Shabbos. YW Moderator-72

    #1124245
    Bais Yaakov maydel
    Participant

    great thanks mod.

    ok then thursday it is.

    my comeback dvar Torah 🙂

    #1124246
    anonymisss
    Participant

    wow, can’t wait, bym!

    ~a~

    #1124247
    chofetzchaim
    Member

    #1124248
    YW Moderator-72
    Participant

    this is the 6th of now 6 submissions via email from JayMatt19 while he may not have access to post.

    ????? ???? ????: ???, ???-?

    Why the need to say here ???, ???-??

    Two Pshatim (Seen in the Mayana Shel Torah)

    1. It is easy to love your friend, but the mitzva is ????? ???? ????,

    love the person WHO IS LIKE YOU. If you are a plumber, it would be

    natural for you to consider another plumber as a rival, therefore the

    Torah tells us ????? ???? ????, love the Jew who is like you ???,

    ???-?, I Hashem give Parnassa to both of you, you are not competing

    against each other.

    2. ????? ????, The way you treat your friend, ???? ???, ???-?, in that

    manner, I, Hashem, will treat you. Hashem is using this passuk to show

    us Midda K’negged Midda

    #1124249
    YW Moderator-72
    Participant

    who is on for tonight? we need a volunteer.

    #1124250
    Jax
    Member

    chofetz chaim: great peice! shakoyach!

    jaymatt: superb as always!

    #1124251
    kapusta
    Participant

    JayMatt, (and 72) very good!

    *kapusta*

    #1124252

    Nobody is listed, so I’ll post something so that nobody needs to be volunteered.

    Rabbi Yissocher Frand

    There Is Capital Punishment, But Only After We Learn To Appreciate Human Life

    The end of Parshas Emor contains the parsha of the Blasphemer (Megadef). The son of an Egyptian father and a Jewish mother got into a fight and uttered a blasphemy against the Name of Almighty. The people did not know what to do with such a person. His case was brought before Moshe. In the meantime, the blasphemer was placed under guard. At this point, Hashem taught Moshe that the punishment for blasphemy is stoning (s’kila) by the entire congregation. [Vayikra 24:10-16].

    In order for the narrative to continue smoothly, at this point it should say, “Moshe spoke to the children of Israel and they brought the blasphemer outside the camp and they all stoned him. And the children of Israel did as Moshe commanded.” [Vayikra 24:23]

    The Torah does indeed teach this, but only after a six verse tangent that seems to interrupt the narration of the blasphemer. The “tangent” reads as follows:

    “And a man — if he strikes mortally any human life, he shall be put to death. And a man who strikes mortally an animal life shall make restitution, a life for a life. And if a man inflicts a wound in his fellow, as he did, so shall be done to him: A break for a break, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; just as he will have inflicted a wound on a person, so shall be inflicted upon him. One who strikes an animal shall make restitution, and one who strikes a person shall be put to death. There shall be one law for you, it shall be for convert and native alike, for I, Hashem, am your G-d.” [Vayikra 24:17-22]

    How are we to understand this strange interruption in the narrative? Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, explained that this section marks the first time in Jewish history that capital punishment was being carried out. This was a very significant event.

    Taking a life is not a small matter. We do not execute the blasphemer because life is cheap. The Almighty wanted to emphasize to people that they were about to kill another human being. “But you should know that killing another human being under other circumstances (when it is not because he is being executed by the Court for committing a capital offense) is a terrible thing. Under normal circumstances, one who kills another person shall himself be put to death. Not only that, but if a person even wounds his fellow man then he deserves to pay with an ‘eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’.”

    We know that this expression is not to be interpreted literally. Rabbinic exegesis teaches that this means that one has to pay the value of an eye or the value of a tooth. But there is a very interesting Rashbam in Parshas Mishpatim. The Rashbam asks, why is the Almighty making life difficult for us? If the Torah wanted to teach that one is obligated to make monetary restitution for such cases, why didn’t it say so explicitly? Why do we need to hear, up until today, that the Torah is barbaric because it demands “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”?

    The Rashbam explains by emphasizing there is a difference between peshuto shel mikra [the literal meaning of a text] and Rabbinic exegesis. Even though we practice halacha according to Rabbinic exegesis, we do not disregard “peshuto shel mikra” entirely. The literal meaning teaches important lessons. There is a message in peshuto shel mikra. The message in this case is that technically speaking, this is what should happen to a person: if he knocks out someone’s eye, he should have his own eye put out. So severe a sin is it to damage another person that it really should require ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’.

    Were it not for the fact that there was an Oral Law (to temper the literal meaning), Hashem could never have recorded the Written Law in this fashion. People would be misled. Given the fact however that we do have an Oral Law, the literal meaning of the verse gives us another dimension of understanding in terms of what the law should morall y really be.

    Once the Torah has clearly spelled out the important lesson of the value of life and the value of property in this “tangent”, then and only then can it proceed to conclude the narrative. Once the children of Israel have integrated the teaching of the importance of human life and property into their personalities, then and only then, were they allowed to go out and proceed with an execution of the blasphemer, the first execution in Jewish history.

    #1124253
    Jax
    Member

    39: great one! thanx for sharing!

    #1124254
    YW Moderator-72
    Participant

    ames, how about you posting a DT? Monday and Wednesday are open – which night do you want?

    #1124255
    aussieboy
    Participant

    Where do you all get these divrei torah from?

    #1124256
    YW Moderator-72
    Participant

    thanks

Viewing 50 posts - 851 through 900 (of 1,890 total)
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