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Dear
Naaleh
Friend,
In honor of Lag Ba'Omer, we have featured Rebbetzin Tziorah Heller's class Lag Ba'omer from the Naaleh series Greatest of Gifts: Sefirat Haomer and Shavuot. In this Torah shiur, Rebbetzin Heller discusses the essence of Lag Ba'omer; why it occurs when it does, the death of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's students, and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai himself. Click
on the image below to view the class now:
This week's
Torat Imecha Newsletter on
Parshat Behar/Bechukosais available now below.
Click here for the printer friendly version, to share at your Shabbat table.
Be sure to visit the homepage as well, for many more inspiring Torah classes!
Don't forget to check out
Mrs Shoshie Nissenbaum's series of daily inspirational classes: Make It Count! Sefirat Haomer!
Shabbat Shalom!
-Ashley Klapper and the Naaleh Crew
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Kohelet Perek 9: The Fate of the Righteous and the Wicked - Part I
Based on a Naaleh.com series by Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen
This world presents us with many illusions. On an external level we can be deceived into thinking that the lives of the
tzadikim
and the
reshaim
are the same. Shlomo Hamelech says in Kohelet, "The righteous and the wise along with their actions are in the hands of
Elokim
."
Elokim
equals the numerical value of
hateva
(nature), and it is the name of Hashem used to describe how He runs the world through the forces of nature. When Hashem conceals His presence in nature, it is a manifestation of
midat hadin
(the attribute of justice).
Nature and justice seem to be opposite forces. Rain will fall equally on the wicked and the righteous. Nature has limitations. If the sun would advance a bit closer to earth, it could destroy everything. If it would rain every day of the year, the world could not function. Nature's limitations are defined by Hashem, who knows precisely what each entity of creation needs for its continued existence.
Midat hadin
is exact. Hashem gives in direct response to what humans are capable of receiving.
From a secular perspective, however, justice is very different. A secular person might say that everyone should be treated the same. On a human level, we have no way of evaluating situations individually. Only Hashem can match the good that He gives to the specific recipient. This deepens the conundrum posed earlier. If what happens to the
tzadikim
and their students is direct and focused, why doesn't it always look as if they are beloved by Hashem? But, in fact, to them this is all clear.
Shlomo Hamelech addresses the seeming randomness and lack of justice in the world. "There's one set of coincidences that happen to the righteous and to the wicked, to the pure and impure person, to the one who offers sacrifices and to the one who doesn't, to the person who swears righteously and to the one who do so randomly." But in truth, they only
seem
to have the same fate.
Rashi brings several examples. He compares Noach, who the Torah calls a
tzadik,
to Pharaoh Nechai. During the time of the first Beit Hamikdash the prophets warned th
e Jews repeatedly that if they would not repent they would lose Eretz Yisrael. But instead of repenting, they claimed they could maintain their presence in the land through the power of physical force. They made a political alliance with Pharaoh Nechai. At first he kept to the agreement and helped the Jews repel the Babylonians. But then he betrayed them. Both of these men, Noach the
tzadik
and Pharaoh Nechai the
rasha,
walked with a limp.
The Torah calls Moshe
tov
. It refers to Aharon as
tahor
. The spies, who wouldn't go into the land because they lacked trust in Hashem, were called
tamei
(blocked). Neither the spies nor Moshe and Aharon merited to enter Eretz Yisrael,.
King Yoshiyahu did everything to elevate physicality to spirituality. In contrast, Achav did everything to destroy any divine consciousness among the Jewish people. Both died young at the hand of their enemies.
David laid the foundations of the Beit Hamikdash, and many years later Nevuchadnezzer destroyed it. They both ruled for forty years.
Nevuchadnezzer made oaths to Hashem and then rebelled against Him. Shimshon swore truthfully. Both died blind.
On the outside, all these people's fates appear the same. But can living a life qualitatively like Achav possibly resemble the life of Yoshiyahu? Could destruction, selfishness, egotism, and lust possibly bring people a feeling of connection and authentic achievement that comes from living righteously? Ultimately, in order to bring forth from people their maximum potential, Hashem creates the illusion that the fate of the
tzadikim
and the
reshaim
are the same. But in fact a person can either die full or empty.
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Rebbetzin's Perspective IV
Class 4
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller
Question:
I'm looking for practical advice on how to implement regular Torah learning in my busy life as a wife and mother of young children. I heard the Rebbetzin mention once that she has a large family. How does she find time to learn so much, particularly Maharal, which requires tremendous focus? I was fortunate to have a Bais Yaakov and seminary education, but now I feel frustrated that I'm not able to continue learning on an advanced level. I do read extensively and listen to many
shiurim
, but I'd like a plan for high-level textual learning.
Answer:
I'll share with you my plan. Wait till your kids grow up. When my children were very young I did not learn Maharal. I did always have something stimulating to study or read at the table. To me eating without a book is very difficult, almost painful. But
iyun
- serious, focused, learning was impossible during my children's growing up years. It wasn't what I could do or was supposed to do at the time.
You have to set priorities in life. When your children are young, it isn't the time for extensive learning. However, I have noticed that people make time for what they enjoy. My social friends always had phone time. My adventurous friends had hike time and my fashionable friends had shopping time. I always had some learning time and I tried to be selective of what I studied.
I'll share one of the bizarre incidents that happened when my kids were young. A candle fell off the table on Shabbat. Although smoke began to pour out of windows of the house, the fire was still contained on the table and hadn't spread. My neighbor opened the door and saw me sitting with a Mishna Berura trying to figure out whether I should color the water in some way before pouring it on the white tablecloth or not. She wasn't impressed to say the least. In retrospect I don't think I did anything wrong. The fire was small and contained. But it did show a certain lack of perspective. So keep your priorities straight. Learning is for becoming. Child-rearing is about being. Your children are your eternity. Now is the time to focus on them. When they grow up you can then think about implementing a more serious learning path.
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Sefirat Haomer Vort: Rabbi Akiva's Students
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Mrs. Shira Smiles
The 49 day period between Pesach and Shavuot marks the death of the 12,000 pairs of students of Rabbi Akiva. The Rabbis say they died, "
Mipnei shelo nahagu kavod zeh ba'zeh
." They did not honor one another. Clearly the students of Rabbi Akiva were on a level of greatness far beyond our ken. How can we understand that they didn't treat each other with proper respect?
When the
gemara
refers to the death of the students it never says 24,000 men perished. It always uses the expression 12,000 pairs, because this in fact was the problem. When they learned in pairs, they only chose as their study partner someone who they felt was on par with their intellectual and spiritual level. It was such a small nuance that perhaps Rabbi Akiva himself was not even aware of it. But deep within them, what was driving them was the feeling that I can only work with someone who's on par with me. Hashem understood their great level and what was expected of them. In His infinite wisdom, because of this defect He took their lives. Pirkei Avot says, "
Eizahu chacham ha'lomed mikol adam.
Who is the wise one? One who has the ability, interest, and drive to learn from every person." Every individual, even the smallest child, contains a world of wisdom. Our lives should be growth oriented so that when we meet a person we should instinctively ask ourselves, "What can I learn from the way he behaves, thinks, and acts? What aspects of his personality do I want to integrate into mine?"
May we merit to utilize the time period between Pesach and Shavuot to grow and ultimately to become more sensitive people in our interpersonal relationships and in our relationship with Hashem.
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Sefirat Haomer: Make it Count #16
Based on Naaleh.com shiur by Mrs. Shoshie Nissenbaum
The
middah
of day 16 of
sefirat haomer
is
gevurah sheb'tiferet
.
Gevurah sheb'tiferet
means carefully guarding the truth, while attributing all glory to Hashem.
Gevurah sheb'tiferet
gives us the strength to be precise and to stand up for truth in the face of strong adversity. It demands absolute dedication to truth, especially in relation to studying Torah.
The Gemara in Bava Batra quotes Rav Dimi who was a rosh yeshiva in Pumbedita, "Be careful how you teach children, because if a mistake gets implanted in their minds, it is difficult to uproot it." This is a warning to all of us. When we teach a Torah thought we must be as exact as possible. We must be sure that we're giving over Torat emet and that we don't misrepresent what we are teaching in any way. Rashi says children should be taught as much knowledge as possible. But one must be very cautious, because there were teachers who were not careful about teaching their students in the proper way and they gave over wrong impressions of the Torah.
Our avodah is to try to be as precise as possible, not only when imparting Torah, but even in our every- day speech with people. There should be no exaggeration, no overemphasizing details which can distort the true picture. We must become guardians of the truthso that ourwords always ring true.
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Class 25: Lag BaOmer
Mrs. Shira Smiles |
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The Makings of Mashiach
Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller |
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Lag Ba'omer
Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller |
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