Well – Ehud Barak has done it again, he turned the Israeli political system on his head in order to serve the interest of Ehud Barak.
In a recent quote he summarized the priorities of his new party (in order of importance) as follows:
Of course this is Israel, so it reasonable to assume that he is reading the list of priorities from Right to Left….
This Shabbat I was asked to give a short Dvar Torah between Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma’ariv. Here’s a sneak preview of some of the ideas I plan to use….
Shmot 13:19 tells us:
ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו כי השבע השביע את בני ישראל לאמר פקד יפקד אלקים אתכם והעליתם את עצמתי מזה אתכם
Moses took Joseph's remains with him. Joseph had bound the Israelites by an oath: 'God will grant you special providence, and you must then bring my remains out of here with you.'
Why did Moshe, in the middle of the action and excitement surrounding the Exodus, need to stop to take Yosef’s bones, and why does the Passuk only talk about Yosef? Chazal tell us that the remains of all the brothers were brought out from Egypt, why is only Yosef mentioned specifically? What is unique to Yosef that makes him an essential part of the Exodus?
Ibin Ezra gives us a brief history lesson, that it was because of Yosef that they went down to Egypt, and Yosef swore his decedents that they would take his remains with them, an oath which was passed down through the generations until Moshe was able to fulfil the commitment to previous generations.
I think that part of the message that Ibin Ezra is trying to convey is that as we move forward in life it is important to remember who we are and where we come from.
As Bnei Yisrael started this next chapter in their history, it was important that they not abandon the past, rather they carried the past with them in a very physical way.
But what were the attributes of Yosef that we needed to take with us as we left Egypt and entered the Desert?
Firstly we refer to Yosef as “יוסף הצדיק” Yosef The Tzadik. Tradition identifies Yosef with righteousness. The Kli Yakar says that there were 2 Aaronot that we carried with us through the dessert, the Ark of the Covenant (Aaron Habrit) and Yosef’s coffin, and these 2 aronot were equivalent – one carried the Physical Ten Commandments, the other carried Yosef who was a personification of the Ten Commandments. It was that image of complete righteousness that we took with is as an example into the Wilderness.
Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igrot Moshe “ויקח משה”) takes this idea one step further, Yosef represented not only righteousness, but also, in spite of his important position in Egyptian society, remained humble. Moshe realized that if he was going to serve as a leader of the people, he would have to learn this humility from Yosef, which is why Moshe personally took responsibility for carrying Yosef’s bones, instead of delegating the task to someone else.
The Slonimer Rebbe (Rabbi Shalom Noach Barzovsky (1911-2000) in his Netivot Shalom (פרשת בשלח, ויקח משה) says that Yosef not only represents Righteousness, but also Holiness (Based on the Zohar). Moshe realized that the reason that we were leaving Egypt was not only to escape slavery, but to build a Holy nation, and in fact building a Holy nation is a major theme of the rest of the Torah. Moshe wanted to bring this image of Holiness, represented by Yosef with them as an example to emulate as they built a nation.
Finally, the Lubavitcher Rebbe in his Sichot (Volume 26, Page 85) had a different understanding of the essence of Yosef. The “bones” (עצמות) of Yosef represent hiss “Essence” (עצמיותו). What is the Essence of Yosef? We learn it from when he was named (Berashit 30:24)
וַתִּקְרָא אֶת שְׁמוֹ יוֹסֵף לֵאמֹר יֹסֵף ה’ לִי בֵּן אַחֵר.
She named the child Joseph (Yoseph), saying, 'May G-d grant another (yoseph) son to me (“ben acher”).'
The Passuk says that his mother (Rachel) prayed for “Another Son” (בן אחר). In Jewish Tradition “אחר” (Another) has come to represent someone who is removed or far from Jewish tradition – The Tanna Elisha ben Abuya was referred to as “Acher” after he adopted heretical beliefs and removed himself from Klal Yisrael.
The Rebbe points out that Yosef’s name refers to “Ben Acher”, that even though someone can be far removed from the Jewish People, he should still be regarded as “Ben”, a son of our people.
Before the Jewish people could leave Egypt, Moshe had to find the essence of Yosef – the “Ben Acher”, who is removed from the Jewish people, but is still our brother and son.
It is only once we find that person and include him in our journey that the Bnei Yisrael were able to leave Egypt.
When I was kid, I was given a couple of tapes of Megama, a duo made up of Moshe Yes and Shalom Levine.
How I loved those tapes, I played them so many times that I must have driven my family crazy, but I loved the music, even if even back then I found the lyrics a little silly (“What page are we on the prayerbook”, “G-d is Alive and well in Jerusalem”, and "Throw away that Ham”) however I found the Dollar Bill, My Zaidy, and especially "Yosef My Son" very powerful.
It was with great sorrow that I heard that Moshe Yess, the star of Megama returned his soul to it’s Maker last Motzei Shabbat.
Interesting that this week another big name in Jewish Music also passed away. Of course I am referring to Debbie Friedman. I don’t know if Moshe ever met Debbie in this world, but I’d love to see their expression if the meet for the first time at an audition for the Heavenly Choir.
Debbie Friedman has been described as the Shlomo Charlebach of the Reform movement. When I worked with NFTY’s Summer Program in Israel, all the kids with a Reform background were very familiar with her music, both as liturgy and as campfire music. one of her most popular tunes was “Lechi Lach”, which was a feminine version of “lech lecha”. The corruption of a Hebrew Possuk made no sense to me, but the kids loved it.
Only later when I found out that in addition to being a driving force behind the modern-musical style of Reform services, she was also a radical feminist and a Lesbian, did the concept of re-writing a passuk in the feminine make sense (and drove me even more crazy).
So this week, the Jewish world lost 2 influential singers, although singers with radically different world views. Both were very well known, although I wonder how many people were familiar with both of them.
May their memory be blessed.
A wise man once said that is you are late for Shacharit, the first thing to get sacrificed are the korbanot.
Unfortunately the reality is that relatively few people take the few minutes that it takes to read the Korbanot each morning. Many people skip them all together even if they are not late for shul. As we started Missechet Zvachim in Daf yomi, I heard Rabbi Lau point out that people should realize that the siddur does not start on page 20, and to include the Korbanot in your daily Tfilla would not be a big imposition.
That said, it is very seldom that I am in shul with Tfilin on early enough to read through all the Korbanot, I do however try to read at least the first Mishna so that I start each day with some Torah Shba’al peh.
In spite of this. as we started Perek איזהו מקומן in Daf Yomi, I realized how painfully unfamiliar this perek was to me (and everyone else in the shiur).
The Maggid Shiur had a great suggestion as to how we could become more familiar with this Perek – given that (almost) no one seems to be able to spend 2 minutes reading the entire Perek each morning, how about a single mishna each day – but instead of the first mishna every day, divide the 8 mishnayot over the week – each day read a different Mishna, and the final 2 on Shabbat. That way you can review the entire perek each week, and hopefully over time the perek will seem less unfamiliar.
A great idea, so far I am almost one week into it – we’ll see if I manage to keep it up.
(BTW – Yisha Koa’ch to the The Rebbetzin's Husband on starting a new Daf Yomi shiur. Next time I'm in Toronto I'll try to check it out – בלי נדר)
I’m posting this article without additional commentary from me, make of it what you will…
Source: AZCetntral.com
Inmate seeking kosher meals cites Festivus belief
Associated Press
SANTA ANA, Calif. - An inmate in California who disliked salami was able to receive kosher meals after his attorney cited the "Seinfeld" holiday Festivus as his religious belief.
The Orange County Register reported Monday that 38-year-old convicted drug dealer Malcolm Alarmo King asked for kosher meals at the Theo Lacy jail to maintain his physique.
Orange County sheriff's officials reserve such meals for inmates with religious needs, so a judge demanded a religious reason for King to get the meals.
His defense attorney, Fred Thiagarajah, cited his client's devotion to Festivus - the holiday celebrated on the hit TV show with an aluminum pole and the airing of grievances.
Sheriff's spokesman Ryan Burris says King got salami-free meals for two months before the county got the order thrown out in court.
By now I’m sure everyone has heard of the latest Tfilin bomber in what seems to be a growing trend, this time on the Inter-Island Ferry in new Zealand.
I have a friend who used to work on the Inter-Islander before moving to Israel and becoming a Breslover (see picture). I suppose that it’s a shame that he no longer works there, looks like he could have provided some much needed cultural training.
And a quick word of advice – anyone who is travelling and needs to lay Tfilin in a strange place such as an airport, airplane, boat or train (and I’ve davened with Tfilin in all those places in the past), you may want to do yourself a favour and before you daven look around for a security officer or employee, explain to them that you need to pray, and ask them if there is an out-of-the way location where you could pray in private without causing any alarm or disturbing others. No guarantee that you still wont find yourself involved in the next Tfilin-scare, but at least you can claim that it wasn’t your fault.
Other bloggers feel obligated to post their favourite Chanukah Songs (I’m looking at you On The Contrary and Dov Bear), but they all seem to have missed the ultimate stupid Chanukah Song.
I’m not normally a fan of Chabad Web Sites, but I love The Itche Kadoozy Show. So without further ado, I present you with Jono’s Dreidle Song.
Happy Chanukah Everyone
