Torah Down Under

 The passuk says in this week’s sedrah (31:16): וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל מֹשֶׁה הִנְּךָ שֹׁכֵב עִם אֲבֹתֶיךָ וְקָם הָעָם הַזֶּה וְזָנָה אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהֵי נֵכַר הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר הוּא בָא שָׁמָּה בְּקִרְבּוֹ וַעֲזָבַנִי וְהֵפֵר אֶת בְּרִיתִי אֲשֶׁר כָּרַתִּי אִתּוֹ. וְחָרָה אַפִּי בוֹ בַיּוֹם הַהוּא וַעֲזַבְתִּים וְהִסְתַּרְתִּי פָנַי מֵהֶם וְהָיָה לֶאֱכֹל וּמְצָאֻהוּ רָעוֹת רַבּוֹת וְצָרוֹת וְאָמַר בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא הֲלֹא עַל כִּי אֵין אֱלֹקַי בְּקִרְבִּי מְצָאוּנִי הָרָעוֹת הָאֵלֶּה. וְאָנֹכִי הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר פָּנַי בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא עַל כָּל הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה כִּי פָנָה אֶל אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים “And Hashem said to Moshe, ‘Behold you will lie with your fathers and this people will arise and they will stray after the gods of the people of the land which it comes to and they will desert me and they will annul my covenant. And my anger will flare against them on that day and I will abandon them and I will hide my face from them and they will be eaten and great and oppressive evil will find t...

The pesukim at the beginning of this week’s sedrah explain that there is a mitzvah to read pesukim to thank Hashem when we bring bikkurim : וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ לִפְנֵי ה' אֱלֹךֶיךָ אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה... וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ ה' מִמִּצְרַיִם... וַיְבִאֵנוּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה ...וְעַתָּה הִנֵּה הֵבֵאתִי אֶת רֵאשִׁית פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נָתַתָּה לִּי ה' “And you shall answer and you should say before Hashem, ‘Lavan tried to destroy Yaakov and he went down to Mitzrayim... and Hashem brought us out of Mitzrayim... and He brought us to this place... and now behold I have brought the first  of the fruits of the land that you have given to me, Hashem.’” The Turei Even in Megillah (20b) says that according to the Rif, these pesukim can only be read by day. However, the Turei Even asks on the Rif from a mishnah in the first perek of Bikkurim (1:5) that says: האפוטרופוס והשליח והעבד והאשה וטומטום ואנדרוגינוס, מביאין ולא קורין, שאינן יכולין לומר אשר ...

The passuk says in this week’s sedrah (Devarim 25:17): זָכוֹר אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לְךָ עֲמָלֵק בַּדֶּרֶךְ בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Mitzraim.” Rashi on this passuk explains: "זכור את אשר עשה לך" - אם שקרת במדות ובמשקלות, הוי דואג מגרוי האויב “[The parsha of Amalek follows the parsha that prohibits using false weights to tell you that] if you were dishonest with measurements then you will fear the attack of the enemy.”           Why is being attacked by Amalek an appropriate onesh for being dishonest with weights and measures? When we thank Hashem in the Haggadah for giving us the Torah, we thank Hashem using the name ‘ הַמָּקוֹם ’: בָּרוּךְ הַמָּקוֹם, בָּרוּךְ הוּא. בָּרוּךְ שֶׁנָּתַן תּוֹרָה לְעַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל, בָּרוּךְ הוּא “Blessed in the Holy One, blessed is He. Blessed is he who gave the Torah to his people Yisrael, blessed is He.” The Bereishis Rabbah (68:9) ex...

The passuk says in this week’s sedrah (Devarim 17:15): שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ בּוֹ מִקֶּרֶב אַחֶיךָ “You shall surely place over yourself a king whom Hashem will choose from amongst your brothers.” The gemara in Kesuvos (17a) explains: שום תשים עליך מלך שתהא אימתו עליך “’You shall surely place a king over you,’ [this means] that his fear will be over you.” If someone rebels against the king he is put to death, the Rambam in Hilchos Melachim (3:8) explains that he is killed by the sword: כל המורד במלך ישראל יש למלך רשות להרגו .. וכן כל המבזה את המלך או המחרפו יש למלך רשות להרגו כשמעי בן גרא ואין למלך רשות להרוג אלא בסייף בלבד “If someone rebels against a Jewish King then the king is allowed to kill him ... and also if someone insults the king or curses him the king may kill him as with Shimi ben Geira, however the king may only execute by the sword.” Tosafos in Sanhedrin (36a, d”h Rabbah bar bar Channa) says that that alth...

The passuk says in this week’s sedrah (perek 16, passuk 3): לֹא תֹאכַל עָלָיו חָמֵץ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים תֹּאכַל עָלָיו מַצּוֹת לֶחֶם עֹנִי כִּי בְחִפָּזוֹן יָצָאתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לְמַעַן תִּזְכֹּר אֶת יוֹם צֵאתְךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ “You shall not eat chametz together with the korban pesach , for 7 days you should eat with it matzah , the bread of affliction because you came out of Mitzraim in haste. [Do this] in order that you should remember the day that you came out of Mitzraim all the days of your life.” The Gevilei Eish says that we find that there are three differences between the geulah from Mitzrayim and the geulah from our current galus : 1         1) Regarding the geulah from Mitzrayim, the passuk says “ וַחֲמֻשִׁים עָלוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם ”, on which Rashi explains, “ אחד מחמשה יצאו וד' חלקים מתו בשלשת ימי אפילה ”, “Only 1/5 th of the benei yisrael came out of Mitzrayim and 4/5 th died in the thre...

The Medrash Rabbah says at the beginning of this week’s sedrah: הלכה, אדם מישראל שיש לו מנורה שעשויה פרקים פרקים, מהו לטלטלה בשבת? כך שנו חכמים, המרכיב קני מנורה בשבת חייב חטאת. ומשום מה מחייב? אמר רבי אבהו, בשם רבי יוחנן: המרכיב את המנורה בשבת כאדם שבונה בשבת, ומי שהוא בונה בשבת חייב. “A halachah was asked; Can you move a menorah which is made of parts that you have to put together, on Shabbos (i.e. is the menorah muktzeh )? We have learnt; if you join together the rods of a menorah on Shabbos then you are chayav a korban chatas . [And since putting the menorah together is assur mideoraisah , you may not move it in case you dismantle it and put it together again.] Why is he chayav ? Rebbi Avahu said in the name of Rebbi Yochanan, if you join together the parts of a menorah on Shabbos then you are chayav because of boneh (i.e. when the menorah is dismantled it is not considered to be a kli so when you join the parts it is considered as if you have built the menorah.)...

The passuk says in parshas Va'eschanan ( דברים ד', כ"ט ): וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּם מִשָּׁם אֶת ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ וּמָצָאתָ כִּי תִדְרְשֶׁנּוּ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשֶׁךָ “And you will seek from there Hashem your g-d and you will find Him when you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” The Meshech Chachmah asks; Why does the passuk start in the plural, “ וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּם ” – “and you (plural) shall seek”, and finish in the singular; “ וּמָצָאתָ ” – “and you (singular) will find”. The Meshech Chachmah also asks; the gemara says in Berachos 58a that every Jew has their own way of understanding things: תנו רבנן הרואה אוכלוסי ישראל אומר: ברוך חכם הרזים. שאין דעתם דומה זה לזה, ואין פרצופיהן דומים זה לזה. The rabbis have taught, if someone sees a multitude (600,000 or more) of Jewish people he should make a berachah - "blessed is the Wise One who knows secrets." Because their minds are not similar to each other and their faces (which  re...

The passuk says in parshas shelech lechah (13:3): וַיִּשְׁלַח אֹתָם מֹשֶׁה מִמִּדְבַּר פָּארָן עַל פִּי ה' כֻּלָּם אֲנָשִׁים רָאשֵׁי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הֵמָּה Moshe sent them from Midbar Paran according to the instruction of Hashem, they were all men – they were the leaders of the benei yisrael . Rashi explains: "כלם אנשים" - כל אנשים שבמקרא לשון חשיבות ואותה שעה כשרים היו They were all men – Wherever it says the term ‘ anashim ’ in the passuk it is an expression of importance; this is used here because at that time they were tzadikim . The passuk later on in the parsha (13:26) says: וַיֵּלְכוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן וְאֶל כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל מִדְבַּר פָּארָן קָדֵשָׁה וַיָּשִׁיבוּ אוֹתָם דָּבָר... They went and they came to Moshe and to Aharon and to all of the people to Midbar Paran to Kadesh and they returned a report to them... Rashi explains: "וילכו ויבואו" - (סוטה לד) מהו וילכו להקיש הליכתן לביאתן מה ביאתן בעצה ...

The gemara says in Tamid (26a) that cohanim and leviim are obligated to keep guard in the beis hamikdash both by day and also by night. The gemara says that we learn this from the passuk in Bamidbar that says (במדבר ג, לח) : וְהַחֹנִים לִפְנֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן קֵדְמָה לִפְנֵי אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד מִזְרָחָה מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו שֹׁמְרִים מִשְׁמֶרֶת הַמִּקְדָּשׁ לְמִשְׁמֶרֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל Those who camped in front of the mishkan to the east, before the Ohel Moed eastward, were Moshe and Aharon and his sons. They who watched the holy watch on behalf of the benei yisrael. Moshe was a levi and Aharon and his sons were cohanim, so we see that leviim and cohanim have to guard the mishkan and the beis hamikdash. The Raavad (Tamid 28a) asks: היכי ילפינן ממשה ואהרון דכהנים ולויים בעי, הלא משה כהן גדול הוה כדאיתא בזבחים פרק טבול יום? י"ל אפילו למ"ד התם כהן גדול הוה מכל מקום לענין מראה נגעים לא היה כהן How can we learn from the fact that the passuk says “ מֹשֶׁה וְאַה...