Bamidbar 5783

 B"H


Once a Habad shaliah in Casablanca sent a letter to the Lubavitcher Rebbe zsl asking what he should do about the fact that Jews in Morocco used etrogim on Sukkot which were not in accordance with Shulhan Arukh haRav. The Rebbe responded that Jews in Morocco had a strong tradition built by estimable hakhamim on which to rely, and Habad should not dare interfere. 

In this week's sidra we see Am Yisrael divided into tribes, and each tribe carries it's own flag and has it's own leaders. However, this is done during the lifetime of Moshe Rabbenu. In this instance there is a clear Gadol haDor; this is Moshe Rabbenu who even hears Torah directly from G-d. However, G-d still sees it as appropriate for the tribes to have their own leaders apart from Moshe. This has a profound lesson for us. 

Today there are numerous nosahim. There is Nosah Ashkenaz, Nosah Sefard, Nosah Edot haMizrah, Nosah Livorno, Nosah Romani, Nosah Temani, etc. Furthermore, there are different variations of each of these. Each of these also has it's own subculture surrounding the nosah, whether that is Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi, Toshavi, Temani, Hasidic, etc. as well as all the variations of each of these. It can be perplexing to look at this and decide where the clear din can be found. However, we are given clarification in this week's sidra that diversity among Am Yisrael is the way G-d intentionally designed us. 

Once Rav Meir Simha haKohen ah moved from Lithuania to Poland and finally to Latvia in the city of Dvinsk. There he taught Torah until his petira. He was one of the leading rabbanim among Litvish Jews at the time, and in Dvinsk he authored his Or Sameah commentaries on Mishneh Torah and Gemara. However, not all of the Jews in Dvinsk were Litvish. Hasidic Jews led by the Rogatchover Rebbe ah also lived in Dvinsk. The Rogatchover Rebbe also wrote commentaries on Mishneh Torah, conveyed hatarat hora on rabbanim including the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and was a significant halakhic authority. However, Rav Meir Simha haKohen and the Rogatchover Rebbe embraced each other as partners to promote the study of Mishneh Torah and focus on making Torah respected. 

In like manner today we from all backgrounds in Judaism have an obligation to stand side-by-side with each other and promote Torah. We use different nosahim. We dress differently. Apart from Lashon Kodesh and Aramaic we speak different languages. We have different cursive scripts for Lashon Kodesh. Despite the fact that Torah directs all of our lives we live differently. However, we were created to do so, and we were created to learn together and make Torah great, just as Am Yisrael, all twelve tribes, were instructed to learn Torah from Moshe Rabbenu and Yehoshua bin Nun and to fight alongside each other. Like Am Yisrael in Parashat Bamidbar we all stand in different places, have different leaders, and have different flags. However, just as it was in the formation of Am Yisrael in Parashat Bamidbar, or different places are still centrally focused on the Mishkan.

Shabbat Shalom uMevorakh. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Clarifications on the Rambamist Mesora

B"H There is a great deal of misinformation on the Maimonidean shita and its current status.  For this reason some clarifications are in order.  IYH this will help readers have a clear understanding of the direction Maimonidean Judaism has taken to the modern day and to have appropriate discernment in assessing Maimonidean spaces in the sphere of Jewish thought.  To be sure there is a constant Maimonidean mesora, and it does actually exist in the real world and not only online or in WhatsApp.  However, to get a better understanding of this we must first clarify what continuity is for the sake of understanding a mesora. Masekhet Avot describes the basic premise of mesora.  Moshe Rabbenu received the Torah at Har Sinai.  He taught Torah to Yehoshua bin Nun among others.  Yehoshua bin Nun taught the Shofetim who taught the Prophets who taught Anshe Keneset haGedola who taught the Tannaim who taught the Amoraim who taught the Savoraim who taught the Geonim...
Read more

Parashat Vayetse 5785

 The past few weeks have been quite a lot for Am Yisrael, and this week we saw some escalation in that. Arsonists targeted synagogues in Australia, and some Jews from Melbourne have suffered serious injuries while praying in a synagogue that arsonists attacked. This was preceded earlier in the week by a statement from Amnesty accusing the Israeli army of genocide and even explicitly stating they amended the definition of genocide because of the importance of bringing this accusation against the Israeli army for a defensive war in which the army is working to recover captives. It is important to make a clarification that despite the rhetorical description of Israel, which is a representation of the legal right of return for the Indigenous Jewish population of Erets Yisrael, Israel is not halakhically a "Jewish state," and a Jewish state governed according to Torah by the Sanhedrin and Malkhut David will not exist until we merit geula, may it be soon in our time. However, Israe...
Read more

Holding by Bet Shammai

BSD Hakham Shalom Buzaglo brings in Mikdash Melekh a tradition from Arizal that after geula we will hold by the humrot of Bet Shammai four hasidim. His explanation for this is kabbalistic and beyond what is relevant to explain here. There is also a sugya in Masekhet Eruvin which states one who holds exclusively by Bet Shammai or exclusively by Bet Hillel may do so, though the established halakha is usually according to Bet Hillel; the Gemara then explains this would apply to any subsequent mahaloket leShem Shamayim, such as the mahaloket between the Tosafists and the Kairouan tradition. Nevertheless, in Masekhet Berakhot the Gemara states one who holds by Bet Shammai is hayav mita. It seems we are left to square this circle, but the Mishna in this sugya along with Mikdash Melekh offer an explanation.  In the Mishna, R Tarfon explains that he held by Bet Shammai to lie down for Keriyat Shema of Arvit, and by doing so he was in danger from being attacked by robbers. The Tannaim told ...
Read more