Tzipiyah.com

BS”D

The year of my Bat Mitzvah, the calendar worked out perfectly. Yom Yerushalayim coincided with the all-important Canadian national holiday-Queen Victoria day, and being the zionists that we are, there was absolutely no other day we would have preferred to celebrate my Bat Mitzvah. While writing my speech, I looked to this very picture for inspiration and all of the feelings I sought and found in this moment still resonate today. Can you imagine how it must have felt, to have fought and bled for your country, to watch your friends fall, to despair…and at the end of it all, to regain the physical heart and soul of our entire nation? Standing before the Kotel, our holiest site, our brave soldiers returned pride to our people. They gave us hope for the future, they stood in the epicenter of Jewry everywhere, and realised that the sweat, blood and tears of our youth had not been in vain. Jews from all corners of the world once again turned their bodies, three times a day and sent their prayers in the direction of Yerushalayim, OUR holy city, which was truly ours once again. And then these same Jews started following the direction of their prayers and came to Jerusalem for the first time, and fell in love. For every single Jew who has come to Jerusalem, for every Jew who has cried at the Kotel, for every Jew who had a spiritual epiphany, felt their connection to Hashem and their place in our nation, for every Jew, like me, who feels a physical ache in their bodies like part of their insides are missing when they are not in this golden city-we have this moment to thank.

—————————————-

2) Operation Entebbe

(aka Operation Theunderbolt/Thunderball or Entebbe Raid)
On the night of July 3rd, 1976, IDF swooped into the Ugandan Entebbe airport on a mission to rescue the hostages of hijacked Air France flight 139. Under the command of Major General Yekutiel “Kuti” Adam, they landed an hour before midnight, their plane’s cargo bay doors already open. Screaming “Get down!” in both Hebrew and English, they burst into the main hall of the airport building where the hostages were being held and attacked the hijackers (unfortunately, 3 hostages were killed in the crossfire). They completed their assault with hand grenades and shooting, killing all 7 terrorists. Without accruing any fatalities, the commandos calmly loaded the hostages on board, under fire from Ugandan soldiers. Yonatan Netenyahu, Binyamin’s heroic older brother, was the only casualty, most likely killed by an Ugandan sniper. This entire superhuman effort was polished off in under a half hour. Our soldiers managed to save 102 of the 105 hostages, and only around 10 were injured. The beauty of this operation is that not all the people on board were Israelis (other nationalities represented amongst the hostages included Belgians, Danish, French, Greeks, Germans, Italians, Japanese, South Koreans, Spanish, British and Americans). The IDF took a stand for justice and freedom-they did not give in to the demands of the terrorists and release the various detainees imprisoned in Israel, Kenya, France, Switzerland and West Germany as the PLO and German “revolutionary cells(RZ) terrorists asked. They took matters into their own hands and efficiently and effectively put innocent human life above anything else-an ethos to which we still hold true today.

—————————————-

3) Aliyah

This is, obviously, a very wide subject matter to categorize as a “moment” I’m proud of. In our shmona esrei (amida) prayer, we beg Hashem to “Tka b’shofar gadol licherutenu, v’sa nes l’kabetz galuyotenu, v’kabtzenu yachad m’arba kanfot ha’aretz-sound the great shofar for our freedom, raise the banner to gather our exiles and gather us together from the four corners of the earth“** With these word, we beseech Hashem three times a day to return us to the land of our forefathers, the home of our people-Eretz Yisroel. Despite this request, hundreds of thousands have taken this matter into their own hands-Aliyah! Sure, we’ve all said the words (quite recently, in fact!) “Lshana haba b’Yerushalayim-Next year in Jerusalem!” at our seders, but Aliyah has been happening from as early as the 13th century! Pre-zionist Aliyah between the 13th and 19th centuries saw religious persecution across Europe. Expulsion from many countries and the general Messianic fervour of the people both contributed to mass movements of Jews to Israel, establishing religious centers in Hevron, Yerushalayim, Sfat and Tiberia, and generally building up the population of the land. 1882 saw the first wave of biluim from Russia, and marked the start of “Zionist Aliyah”, amassing the country in waves. Aliyah Bet organised by the Mossad Le’aliyah Bet and Irgun illegally brought Holocaust survivors to the refuge they so greatly needed and deserved. None of these olim had it easy and all of the above, who had suffered through difficult lives, unimaginable hardships and a perilous journey to “Palestine” helped establish a land for us to live in today. Aliyah continued with Middle Eastern Jews, Ethiopians, citizens of the Soviet Union and post-Soviet states and these early sabras worked the land and paved the way for the Jews of today. Nowadays, we have unbelievable organizations like Nefesh B’Nefesh (www.nbn.org.il) facilitating the Aliyah of thousands of people. There is no other place in the world where even getting pushed out of the way by someone else who is trying to get to the same place as you on the sidewalk is an actual PLEASURE-who can complain about being surrounded by their brothers and sisters? Being able to walk in a crowd and know you are surrounded by Jews who feel just like you, think like you, act like you and have the same awesome responsibilities as you is an absolute blessing which we could never have experienced, had it not been for Aliyah. (and if, after reading this paragraph, you think that there just might possibly, perhaps, be a secret message here for you to make Aliyah, well…..you’d be right! MAKE ALIYAH!)

—————————————-
And last but not least, my fourth moment would have to be
*drum roll, please*

4) THE COMING OF MOSHIACH

Ok, if you have stuck it out this far (props to you, if so, I’m impressed) you are probably regretting every word of mine that you have read because you’re likely thinking “wow, this girl is clinically insane..doesn’t she know Moshiach isn’t here yet?” Well, you’re right. To my great dismay, Moshiach isn’t here yet. This fourth moment is a little bit optimistic. There is not a day that goes by that I’m not waiting to hear the shofars blowing, and to see the masses of people drop everything and rush out into the streets. I can’t wait to see every single person who didn’t believe me when I talked about Moshiach and go “Haha, told you so!” (juuuust kidding!) Seriously, though, there will be no greater moment in the history of our state, in all the times of our people, than the glorious moment when Hashem decides to turn his face towards us and bring us our geula. This moment in the future justifies and validates absolutely any possible moment of our past that I could have put here- every war we have ever fought, every hostage we have ever saved, every single person who has ever made Aliyah, every governmental decision made, every building built, organisation or movement established, risk taken, life lost. Every baby born and every Jew on any corner of this earth who has turned towards Jerusalem, shed a tear and begged Hashem from the depths of his soul to have mercy and bring us home-each and every single moment in our ENTIRE history has been an effort to bringing us our final geula. So sure, maybe this counts as a “cop out” answer since it’s really every moment that ever has and ever will exist, but there is no other moment that will ever make me more proud. And although I say I couldn’t be happier about our 60th anniversary, I actually could-if we got the chance to celebrate it with Moshiach Tzidkenu!

BS’D
Two Tanaiyim from the second century had a machloket about the months of the year. R’ Eliezer of Beit Shammai held that Tishrei is the pivotal month in the history of the world, while R’ Yehoshua of Beit Hillel believes Nissan is the more dominant month. Both R’ Eliezer and R’ Yehoshua agree that, in one of these two months, the world was created, the flood happened, and Avraham and Yakov were born. Yonatan ben Uziel agrees with R’ Yehoshua, even citing 6 more events that took place in Nissan to further reinforce R’ Yehoshua’s argument:

Looking at the “Nirtzah” section at the seder’s conclusion, we recite “vayihi bechatzi layla“-it happened at midnight. If you are in chutz la’aretz, that means that you state this list of events on the first night. The piyyut itself was written by a mystic in the middle ages. We learn in kabbalah that time is a real and heterogenous concept-different qualities are given to different times, and the moment of midnight on the 15th of Nissan had incredible powers of redemption through the ages. The Torah even refers to Pesach as “leyl shmorim“-the night Hashem has promised to watch over and protect us, as it says in Shmot: “Hu halayla hazeh l’Hashem, shomrim lchol b’nei Yisrael l’dorotam- This was the night or Hashem, a protection for all the Children of Israel for their generations”*(12:42)

Some of these events couldn’t possibly have occurred on the 15th of Nissan, though. R. Shlomo Kuger suggests that perhaps we attest each of these events to midnight is to emphasize that Hashem works through hester (covertness) in order to save us. Other interpretations are of the opinion that, when there are two connected events that obviously occurred over a larger span of time than just midnight (for example, Haman’s letters with the decree to exterminate us is mentioned, along with his hanging-we know this happened over a span of three days, yet the events are related), we can assume it means that the first event was conceived and enacted in a discreet manner-’in the dark of night’ and the redemption itself came to pass on the 15th of Nissan at midnight.

So, returning to R’ Yehoshua and R’ Eliezer’s machloket-what are they really fighting about? The essence of the argument is truly which mida is dominant in Hashem’s governance of the world: rachamim or midat hadin? Tishrei is known for the rule of law (midat hadin), the ultimate justice. Preparing for Tishrei, we do teshuva merah (in awe and fear). Nissan, conversely is synonymous with mercy, which Hashem displayed by redeeming us. The Sfat Emet elaborates on this difference in the months in Lekutim by elucidating on the concept from Mesechet Sota stating that 40 days before a child is born, Hashem proclaims its future traits. So too, in preparation for Tishrei we do teshuva, and in preperation for the month in which Hashem reinforced His unique relationship with us(Nissan), we add ahavah the month before (think about our crazy Adar!), and increase our observance of mitzvot and Torah study (Shkalim 5631).

R. Eliezer is stating, therefore, that although we were redeemed in Nissan from Egypt, the ultimate geula will occur in Tishrei. If midat hadin is the dominant charecteristic Hashem uses to govern the world, then we can only be worthy of geula if we do teshuva. Yitziat Mitzrayim doesn’t follow along this train of thought, however- we were redeemed because we cried out to Hashem and he finally answered our pleas. He saw that, unless He saved us, we would assimilate into the ways of the mitzrim, and therefore chose to redeem us in Nissan-the month of mercy. In a similar vein, R’ Yehuda, interpreting the words “Midleg al heharim-He springs above the mountains” (2:8) from Shir haShirim, states that Hashem only redeemed us by merit of our avot.

At this point, you’re probably all wondering how any of this is even remotely relevant, but it’s like a conversation with me: sure, it may take a while but I promise to (eventually) get to the point! Here’s the bottom line: maintaining the opinion that mercy is the dominant trait, R’ Yehoshua is saying that, in the same manner that we were redeemed from mitzrayim in Nissan, so too will the ultimate geula occur! Even if b’nei yisrael aren’t worthy of redemption, Hashem will, nonetheless, free us (not that that’s a “get out of doing teshuva free” card:P). Therefore, Pesach is not just a time to celebrate our redemption in the past-it is a time to anticipating our redemption in the future and, according to R’ Yehoshua, the night of our final geula. May we be zoche to see it, bimhera biyamenu-THIS YEAR!!

~~~~~~~~LESHANA HABA, BIYERUSHALAYIM~~~~~~~~

*translation from the Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash

BS’D

This week’s parsha is set in the eight and final day of the mishkan’s dedication, a time where b’nei yisrael’s happiness and excitement over the completion of their tasks was at its climax. We also see the listing of all the halachas concerning kashrut and korbanot, as well as the laws of tumah (impurity). After all their hard work, this mishkan was finally ready to function, and Aharon was prepared to finally take on the role of cohen gadol that Moshe had been temporarily performing. Juxtaposed against this festive atmosphere, is the story of Nadav and Avihu, two of Aharon’s four sons. At the beginning of perek yud, we see Nadav and Avihu that Nadav and Avihu

The Tanach never tells us what Nadav and Avihu’s actual sin is. What did they do that was so wrong that Hashem sent a heavenly fire down to smite them? In Vayikra rabba, Rashi states the commonly known explanation that Nadav and Avihu gave their korban while inebriated. This opinion is most likely based on the fact that, right after this tragedy occurred, Hashem decrees to Aharon that he should “drink no wine or other intoxicant, you or your sons, when you enter the tent of meeting, that you not die”* (10:9). Due to this edict’s close proximity to the incident, we can assume that there is a link between the two. The second possibility, as suggested in Eruvin is that Nadav and Avihu made their own halachic decision before Moshe, their teacher. As the Rambam states in Mishna Torah, (Hilchot Talmud Torah) “it is forbidden to determine halacha in front of one’s teacher. If one were to do such a thing, he would be liable to capital punishment”.

The gemara explains that, although a heavenly fire would come down from the heavens onto the mizbeach Nadav and Avihu decided to light a fire themselves. However, according to the Rambam, “even though fire descended from heaven, it was a mitzvah to add human fire” (Temidim u’Mishpatim 2:1) So if they had, in fact, been doing a mitzvah, why would Hashem have punished them so severely?

The job of the cohanim is to pursue shalom, to show am yisrael how Hashem’s world fits together, and to understand the intricate ways of the world. A cohen needs to understand his place in the world’s order. Nadav and Avihu forfeited their right to this place when they entered the mishkan in an inebriated state- “wine gladdens the heart” (Tehillim 104:15), and because of it, one follows his emotions and not his intellect, as it normally should be. They were not fully aware of the correct order of things, and because of this, were liable this seemingly severe punishment. As we see in Sefer Shmuel, Hashem cursed the house of the cohen Eli for honouring his sons more than Hashem Himself. Just as Eli was punished for not following the proper order of his responsibilities and remembering his place in the order of the world, Nadav and Avihu had to be punished, as well. When they decided to create their own halacha without Moshe, they again forgot the proper order of things in the way of the world, despite the fact that the halacha to which they arrived was correct.

From this incident, Rav Kook states we should “seek to find the correct balance in all things to achieve peace and divine harmony” ( Sparks of Light: Essays on the Weekly Portions Based on the Philosophy of Rav Kook) . Later on in this parsha, among the halachot of the “sheretz hashoretz” (things that swarm upon the earth), it is written:

“You shall not draw abomination upon yourselves…and thus become unclean. For I, the L-rd am your G-d , you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am holy”* (11:43-44)

On this pasuk, Chazal comment that, if one were to contaminate themselves a bit, it will become a lot. If one contaminates himself in this world, he contaminates himself in the next. Contaminating oneself from below results in being contaminated from above…and the opposite to all of the above is true for purifying oneself, as well. The Chofetz Chaim illustrates this point with an example that, if one were to speak loshon hora, all the words he speaks with that same mouth are, as a result, contaminated. Even if he were to speak words of torah, to daven, to learn, each of these holy words that leave his tainted lips are brought down in merit because of the loshon hora that had passed through them just before. The zohar ellaborates that this effect is due to the koach tumah (the power of impurity) manifesting itself on each word, exponentially decreasing the level of holiness of every word the man would say. In this same way, Hashem wishes to uplift us with kedusha. Overcoming our yetzer hara, working on our avodat Hashem and fulfilling His will, brings down the spirit of sanctity on our souls. This little bit of kedusha then becomes an even greater amount.

Keeping this idea in mind, we see that we each have an incredible untapped power right at our fingertips. Each time we overcome our yetzer hara a little bit, the effect is like that of throwing a stone into a calm pool of water- the ripples from the small impact stretch out further and further, reaching corners beyond the realm of the original impact itself. As the Rambam discusses in chapter 6 of the Shemoneh Prakim, our sages state that “a person who has an inclination to sin and desires to do so is on a higher and more complete level than one who has no desire for them and does not feel discomfort in spurning them”. We each have the inclination to do things we are instructed not to by Hashem, and overcoming this desire is often the hardest part of living religious life in a secular world. We need to remember our place in this world, and our job to bring kedusha down on this earth. By overcoming our yetzer, we ensure that we don’t fall into the same trap as Nadav and Avihu and set off the “domino effect” of bringing holiness into this world, and our geula even closer…and by merit of these acts, may we be zoche to see it, speedily in our days!

Ask any grown up what the scariest part of being an adult is, and I bet you they’d answer it’s the responsibility. I can easily tell you that’s what’s scaring me most about getting older, and it all flies by so fast that it’s not until you hold your future in your hands that you realise it ever fell there in the first place. Making choices and decisions are the unfortunate consequence of growing up and recognising the gravity of seemingly minute decisions can be terrifying. It’s all so much easier when we’re younger, our parents hold our hands and tell us where to go, where to live, what to do, make our meals, wash our clothes…..and we happily skip off to play on the swings while our parents balance the checkbook. In every decision that we make, the alternate option is lost, and there is no way for us to see how it would have played out and whether we did, in fact, make the right decision-and it’s hard living with that kind of uncertainty.

At the moment, I am feeling the decision making pressure in copious amounts. It seems like an easy enough thing to do, right? Make one simple choice, it shouldn’t be that hard! But from where I’m standing, I realise that one basic decision has the power to alter my entire future. If anyone’s ever seen the movie The Butterfly Effect, you know what I’m talking about. The smallest things can change our lives forever, without us realising its possible ramifications in the moment. As Kundera (author of one of my favourite books ever) said: “”There is no means of testing which decision is better, because there is no basis for comparison. We live everything as it comes, without warning, like an actor going on cold. And what can life be worth if the first rehearsal for life is life itself?” Life is nothing more than a series of moments, little cliffs we jump off of every day without thinking.

In high school, we learnt in business studies class that in any situation, there is an opportunity cost-the loss incurred by choosing one option over the next best alternative. We make hundreds of choices each day, and therefore incur equal opportunity costs. Waking up at 8 in the morning means we lose out on sleeping in till 8:30. Eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast means we miss out on the chance to have some eggs. Driving to work means we miss out on taking the bus. In each situation, there isn’t even a way of knowing what you have lost.

Ultimately, though, this is the way of life. It’s all about trust in Hashem. We need to be able to take that blind leap every second of every day and know that Hashem is our safety net-there’s no need to look down. No matter which decision we make, He has it all planned out, and everything will work out for the best. That’s the beauty of Judaism-we have free will, yet everything is already decided in shamayim. We often question how this can be possible..my Rabbi once laid out the issue in this way: it’s kind of like a scientist running a mouse through a maze with cheese waiting for him at the end. Knowing the behaviours of the mouse, the scientist can predict the exact course the mouse will run to reach his goal. Despite this knowledge, at each corner the mouse makes the decision for himself, with no intervention from the scientist. He runs according to plan, yet made all the decisions by himself.

Keeping in mind that life is short, we need to recognise the power of each decision we make, and ensure that we do not leave that power untapped. Not all opportunity costs are as inconsequential as the eggs we miss out on when we eat cereal for breakfast. Other decisions, like learning torah vs. facebooking or sleeping in vs. volunteering at an old folk’s home have far greater ramifications. These small day to day choices shape the person we are and become, without us even knowing it. They build up our schar in olam haba. They change the people around us, and can affect them for years, even if you don’t see it’s impact right away.

The gemara brings down a story in mesechet brachot about the Tana Shmuel. His father was a very pious, careful man, to whom many members of the community would leave their money to in the event that they should pass away and leave behind young children who could not be responsible for it, until they reached a certain age. He was so cautious with this money that when he himself passed away, even Shmuel did not know where it was hidden. It got to the point where, for his lack of knowledge, he was being accused of having stolen the money for himself. Shmuel went to his father’s grave to ask where on earth the money could have been kept and, while there, encounters the “ghost” of his friend Levi who had passed away some time ago. He asked Levi what he could possibly be doing still on this earth- Levi had been a learned man, a careful follower of mitzvot and , on top of that, a rosh yeshiva!Levi then explained that for seven years, he had skipped a shiur every day by Rav Afas. For this, he was accountable for two grave aveyrot: firstly, every day Rav Afas noted his absence, and was hurt. Secondly, as Rav Chaim of Volozhin says in Shar Daled of Nefesh HaChayim says: one word of torah is greater than all the mitzvot. Therefore, by skipping the class when he had an opportunity to learn, Levi was bitul torah!

From this, we learn the grave power of each decision we make, the way each moment can shape and alter our lives. Despite all his good deeds, Levi would not be allowed to enter gan eden for seven years (one year for each in which he skipped Rav Afas’ class). In each moment, each interaction, we have two choices. We can choose to put in a little extra effort, or take the easy way out. We can think of another’s feelings, or we can be selfish. No matter what we ultimately choose, we need to be careful that the opportunity cost is not the option that could have bought us a brick in the road of the world to come.