At the start of this week’s parshah, the Torah informs us of the rules and regulations involved in setting up a proper judicial system. The first verse of the portion writes: “Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities…” [Deuteronomy: 16:18] Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi, 1040 - 1105, famed as the author of the first comprehensive commentary on the Torah) distinguishes between “Judges” and “Officers“. “Judges” are the ones who perform the proper judgements and decide the various outcomes in court. “Officers” are the ones who enforce the law (even if physical force is necessary), ensuring that the guilty litigant fulfills the judgement that has been declared upon him. (more…)
This week’s parshah basically consists of an array of commandments. The parshah starts off with negative commandments; divine commands concerning actions we must stay away from. The bulk of these commandments relate primarily to idolatry, and to staying away from forbidden foods. The next half of the parshah then deals with positive commandments; divine commands concerning actions we must cling to in order to serve God. These include tithes, the sabbatical year etc. (more…)
Among the many deep facets of this week’s parshah, there’s an idea that is worth noting. In the Talmud (a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history) we find a discussion concerning Rosh Hashannah. An opinion in the Talmud states that Rosh Hashannah is designated as the new year for judgement; meaning, that at the beginning of the year (on Rosh Hashannah) heavenly judgement is already issued regarding what will occur in the (upcoming) year’s end. The Talmud brings a verse from the Torah to solidify its statement:
“…from the beginning of the year until the end of the year.” [Deutoronomy: 11: 12]
At the beginning of this week’s parshah, Moshe recounts before the Jewish nation how he begged Hashem (God) to allow him to enter the land of Israel (previously, God decreed that Moshe was forbidden from entering, and Moshe was trying to rescind the decree). The following verse describes how Hashem answered him:
“…Do not continue to speak to Me further about this matter. Ascend to the top of the cliff…and see [the entire land of Israel] with your eyes, for you shall not cross this Jordan [river, to enter the land]” [Deuteronomy: 3: 26-27]
If you think about it, Hashem’s reply was rather taunting. Let’s use an example to bring forth our problem: Let’s say you were fasting for a day. Your friend, who wasn’t fasting, surely knew how badly you were thirsting for food. How would you react were he to hold up a piece of pie in your face and say “Hey buddy, I know you can’t eat this right now, but I’ll let you look at it for a while”? This would certainly force your mouth to salivate and increase your desire for food greatly, and the hardest part is that you wouldn’t even be able to satisfy that craving! There couldn’t be anything more annoying and irritating than that!
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As we are quickly approaching Tisha B’av, one of the saddest days in Jewish history, I sit and reflect on current events and within the past couple years it is not difficult to be distressed. As we know on Tisha B’av we are mourning the destruction of both the holy temples and pray for our speedy redemption from exile. It is said that every generation that Moshiach hasn’t come it is as if the temple is being destroyed again. This is a very interesting statement and we can ask why this is the case. We understand that it is a great tragedy but is it that bad that it is as if we in our generation are destroying the temple? To try to explain this idea., we need to go back into history before the second temple was destroyed. The Gemara describes the story of Kamsa and Bar Kamsa and they explain that this was the cause of the destruction of the second temple. It is explained that there was a man named Kamsa who had a party and by accident an invitation was sent to Bar Kamsa, who was a man that Kamsa despised. When Bar Kamsa came to the party and even offered to pay towards his meal he was refused and Kamsa had him thrown out of his house. In his fury at the situation and that the rabbis who were there did not get involved to pacify the situation, he decided to get back at the rabbis by speaking slander against them to the Caesar. He told the emperor Caesar that the jews have rebelled against him and if he would give a Korban to the temple, he should see if they would accept it. In the meantime Bar Kamsa made a blemish on the animal and since a blemished animal could not be offered up as a korban, Caesar’s Korban was refused. As a result of this incident the temple was eventually destroyed.
Now, another question comes to mind, why is this specific incident mentioned as the reason for the destruction of the temple? As we know, the reason for the destruction of the second temple was because of sinat chinam(baseless hatred). During this time the jewish people had baseless hatred for their fellow jew and the story which rightly describes this time is the story of Kamsa and Bar Kamsa. The fact that it and no other story of baseless hatred was recorded in the Gemara shows just how destructive baseless hatred can be and even though all this time there was baseless hatred going on, it wasn’t until this incident that it became so severe and it caused the temple to be destroyed.
Though this story occurred over two thousand years ago, the fact that our generation has not yet been freed from this long exile, shows us that baseless hatred still occurs in our time and until we fix it we will continue to remain in exile. We only need to think a few years back to the expulsion from Gush Katif. I am still in shock how it even took place and how jews all over the world remained silent as their brothers and sisters were forced out of their homes. I was in Israel before the expulsion occurred that summer and I remember that when I came back from Israel, though there were some who made an effort to support the people in Gush Katif there was not an overwhelming majority who were against it. I am not here to judge or attack anyone, but I just think that it is a shame that there was not enough support to help a fellow jew. It also surprised me how such few soldier’s stood in protest against the expulsion. I understand that they needed to follow the orders of the government, but I still think that if there was more protest within Israel and out of Israel, that many families today would not be jobless and struggling to find housing. It is also upsetting that now, years later our fellow jew’s are once again threatened to be thrown out of their homes. It is no coincidence that this similar issue is being discussed during this time and I think a reason could be that we are being tested , will we this time stand up for our brothers and sisters or will we continue to make the same mistakes. I pray that we should not experience another Tisha B’av and instead we should merit to see the redemption very soon. Amen!
