A Quick Torah Thought

It is hard to find the energy to write today, the somber mood that has gripped the nation. With the rabbi absent from shul this morning, I approached two different people asking them to speak; both declined (I spoke in the end), but shortly after declining, one came up to me and said, "Shouldn't we say tehillim?"  "For what?" I asked.  "Didn't you see what happened in Meron?" to which I answered, "No. Were people burnt, was there a terrorist attack?" "44 dead, many more injured."  Only then, did I ask around in shul, and within seconds I heard that tens of people had been crushed to death. A stampede one said, scaffolding fell, said another. With all the details still opaque, all we could do was pray, say tehillim, and hope that no more succumbed to their wounds.  On a national level, this is a tragedy we have not known in thank God, many years. And yet, unfortunately, there really seems to be no easy solution for preventing sta...

 I looked for an apt translation this week for Vayikra Verse 19:16, and I found Artscroll's to be most pertinent and in keeping with Rashi's interpretration. לֹא־תֵלֵ֤ךְ רָכִיל֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ לֹ֥א תַעֲמֹ֖ד עַל־דַּ֣ם רֵעֶ֑ךָ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֽה׃ Artscroll writes: "You shall not be a gossipmonger among your people, you shall not stand aside while your fellow's blood is shed - I am Hashem." Rashi, in his linguistic hat, writes that rachil in Hebrew refers to a traveling merchant, and likewise, one who slanders, travels from one place to another to hawk his wares.  I would like, on a personal note, to share that I was shaken by the dreadful news this past week that Yehuda Meshi-Zahav had attempted to take his life. Founder of the Zaka Search and Rescue Organization, which has undoubtedly saved a myriad number of lives, he became the target of unimaginable opprobrium, after he had been accused of sexually molesting a vast range of parties, including youth. In the face of tha...

 When reading the Torah portion this morning, I was borrowed by the following. Tzaraat, or leprosy in the common vernacular, is associated primarily in Jewish thought with lashon ha'rah, or slander. Yet, that notwithstanding, with all the intricate details of the different forms of leprosy in this week's double portion, no mention of such is made. There are numerous types of leprosy, the Torah relates, with different shades, patterns, depths, compositions. The different forms cover different areas of the body, and bring in tow different healing measures to both alleviate and gauge the actual nature of the specific type of leprosy. And yet, when push comes to shove, no insight is shared by the Torah into the actual reason behind the multifarious types of leprosy, and the reason for their manifestation.  I posed the above question to a friend, and hevruta, with whom I learn daf yomi, R' Michael Weisberg, and he shared the following. "It would seem that in a certain sense...

Many reasons are given for the tragic death of Nadav and Avihu, spanning the Talmud, the Medrash, and the early commentators.  They range from them not having been married and having been inebriated to having chosen the wrong fire for the incense offering, and having had the umbrage to rule on a legal matter in the presence of Moshe Rabbeinu.  There is one point, oft-overlooked, though, that only struck me now - and that is, that Hashem places no blame on Aharon for the misdeeds of his son. I think that that's a salient, and even poignant message, and all the more so in the modern era.  The sons of even the greatest scholars have gone astray and left the path of Judaism. My father likes to quote the saying, "a parent is only as happy as his unhappiest child." With that said, though, despite the human tragedy implicit in the demise of one's sons, physically or spiritually, vis a vis Aharon, it would seem, that the untimely death of Nadav and Avihu only brought him clos...