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And
from the ground
his nourishment would come easy;
Pleasing
to the sight makes
him happy and broadens his heart to prepare him for the abundance of knowledge
he is about to receive, as it is said "like a musician plays and the
spirit of God is over him";
Tree
of knowledge
differentiates between good and bad. And this is why we say to know a woman and
to pay attention to the needs of others and it says, "A brother to
hardship," and "to know a woman."
Good
and bad we
have the choice to choose good even thought it may be harmful or choose bad
even if it is beneficial and suffer the consequences.
And
from the ground the lord god caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the
sight
The
difference between good and pleasing is that good is said about physical
pleasures and pleasing is said about spiritual pleasures like attaining endearment
and honor. Six days of the week man pursues making a living. Shabbat is a day
of pleasure of eating and drinking, as we are commanded, and it is also holy
eating, like partaking of the sacrifices. "Pleasure" is better than "good"
because the numerical value of pleasure (
(HaGaon Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna, ibid)
Midrash on the
death of moses
Tamar Biala
And the boy grew... Pharaoh would hug and kiss
him and the child would put Pharoah's crown on his
head... and
And she called him Moses. From this we learn the
reward of righteous doers. Even though he had many names, he was only called by
the name given to him by Batya, daughter of Pharaoh,
and even God did not call him by any other name. (Shmot
Rabbah {Vilna} part
As the Israelites were about to enter the land,
Satan came before God and told him: I fear that Moses may take your crown and
in the future take your kingdom. Jethro, who sat
under the throne of honor said, what do you want from
my in-law? He did not ask for a kingdom, nor did he ask for honor, as God had
already said to him,"... erase me from the record which you have written."
(Exodus 32:
32)
And God was silent.
Jethro saw that Satan's words
were still hanging in the air and said to them: Test him. Bring him to the
God took Moses and brought him to the summit of
And Moses stood and observed and the land was
like one big platter. He gazed into it until he saw it face to face and it
seemed to alternate from gold to embers. And Moses knew the Israelites that he
took out of
And he stood and gazed and the platter went
round and round and his heart weakened.
He remembered the words of Jethro,
his father-in-law, "Trust in the Lord and do good,
abide in the land and remain loyal." (Psalms 37:3)
He extended his hand. Satan jumped from his
place. God came and grabbed his hand and pulled him away.
Satan was silent and Jethro
trembled.
God took Moses' hand and kissed it with his
lips, until he returned his soul, as it is written, "So Moses servant of
the Lord died there in the
From this we learn of the rewards of a man of
faith. In spite of the fact that Moses had many detractors, who said he was arrogant
towards God and arrogant towards man, God did not heed them but followed Moses'
heart and trusted him until he clung to him in end.
Hence a man leaves his
father and mother and clings to his wife, so that they become one flesh.
(Genesis
2:24)
"Hence a man leaves his father and mother"
is said only about the man. What about the woman? Does she also leave her
mother and father when she goes to cling to her man?
Disagreement between the House of Bruriah and the House of Mother Peace
The House of Bruriah
say: In the teachings of Bruriah it is said, "Hence
a man and a woman leave..." implying that they both leave their parents
and are free and ready to establish a new household. However, the Torah speaks
in the language of mankind, meaning males.
Another interpretation: It does not say a woman
leaves her mother and father, because her husband is like a father to her. As
her father absolved her of her vows, so her husband absolves her of her vows,
and she will always be under his authority.
And the Early Righteous Women of the Bet Midrash added that when she marries her husband, not only
does she separate from her parents but also from her God, as we learn, "The
reason women are exempt from time - bound mitzvot is
because a woman is enslaved to her husband's needs. If she was obliged to fulfill
time-bound mitzvot, it could possibly happen that her
husband may require her for his needs. Therefore, if she fulfills her creator's
mitzvot and not her husband's, she is conflicted
between fulfilling God's mitzvot and her husband's
commands. That is why God exempted her from his mitzvot
so that there would be peace with her husband.
The house of Mother Peace says: It is not
necessary to say "A woman leaves..." to create a new household. To
the contrary, only one who is tied to his parents will know how to create a
relationship between his partner and his children. A new household - part of an
existing household - one does not negate the other.
Another opinion: Specifically for the woman it
does not say "leave" her mother and father. The first woman, mother
of all life, had a link between strength and vitality that is the basis of all
things. The same power that connects all living beings created her from a rib
and she knew that to be part of and to be dependent on are not flaws, but the
way of the world. And she taught this great secret to Adam who called out "This
one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." (Genesis 2:23)
And the Early Righteous Women of the Bet Midrash added that only in a marriage where they have a
home with a mother and father, does a woman have freedom and free will as we
learn:
When a woman is in her
husband's home and her husband slaughters an animal for her and her father also
slaughters an animal for her - she should go to her husband's home. If she is
in her father's house and her father slaughters an animal for her and her
husband also slaughters an animal for her - she should eat wherever she like.
(Mishna Pesahim 8:
Moreover, leaving ones parents saddens the soul,
as we have seen with Ruth who did not want to separate from Naomi... But Ruth
replied, "Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you."(Ruth
(Sources: The Torah speaks in the language of
mankind - See Rivka Lubitz,
V'el Isheich Teshukateich, p.30 in
Darshuni-Women's Midrash,
p.30 and Sefer Abudraham)
A Woman
in her Husband's house –Mishnah, Pesahim
8:
Editor's
note: As is customary on Simchat Torah, we link the
conclusion of the Torah with its beginning. Therefore, we are publishing two
original Midrashim that were written by Tamar Biala.
Tamar
Biala is editor of Darshuni-Midrashei
Nashim published by Yediot
Sefarim, together with Nehama
Wiengarten-Mintz.
"...And the Lord showed him the whole land:
And the Lord showed him the whole land:
This vision was a
miraculous thing, since it is not naturally possible to view all of the
(Rabbi
S. R. Reggio ad loc)
You shall not cross there... You shall not enter there
That is to say, it is not that you are unworthy of gaining
the
(The NeTziV Mi'Velozhin's Ha'Amek Davar on Devarim
32:52)
"He dwells securely... between his shoulders
he dwells
Traditional commentary,
part p'shat, part mythical "droosh",
applies these words to the Temple service on the Temple mount which lies in the
inheritance of the tribe of Binyamin; and if the Temple is the residence of God's
glory, then He dwells between his shoulders. But this raises a question: "He surrounds him
all day". All
day? What day? The reference is not to a 24 hour period, a revolution of
the earth around its axis; a day of The Holy One, Blessed Be He, is eternity.
This means that the dwelling place of God is eternal. But we see that it was
not eternal; the
(From "Notes on the Weekly Parsha", Y. Leibowitz, pp.
By the sweat
of your brow shall you eat bread until you return to the soil, for from it you
were taken. For you are
dust, and to dust shall you return.
(Genesis 3:
All the pain of a life of sadness is expressed in the word
"bread" (lechem).
Food is also called "prey" (teref), because it is torn
from nature; it is also called "bread", because it is achieved in a
social conflict, everyone fighting everyone. (Trans. Note - The Hebrew
root l'h'm' means both bread and
fighting). Were Man able to devote himself
to spiritual activity, and not only to his daily bread, Man would not fight
Man, and the concept of possessions would not carry so much weight. However,
Man's life is dependent upon the piece of bread, he obtains it only through
"pain"; therefore,
once he has torn food from nature, he struggles against others to protect his
possession. And there are those who fight before the tearing - lest another
attain nature's resource.
(Rabbi S. R. Hirsch ad loc)
Acknowledgement
for the completion of the
With this issue, we come
to the end of the
Israeli society has
undergone many things during these years, and if we felt then that despite the
many newsletters that are distributed in synagogues, there was a place for
another newsletter, one that would echo the unique voice of Religious - Zionism,
that emphasizes the values of peace, justice and respect for all who are
created in God's image, I think, that even more so today, in the light of extreme
nationalism, with worrisome manifestations of racism and xenophobia, these
phenomena are no longer marginal . We should continue to make our voice heard
loud and clear that the living Torah "whose ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths lead to peace," a Torah that respects all men created in
God's image, of which it has been written:" For your wisdom and knowledge
are before all the nations."
We have endeavored over
the years to make our voice heard through quotes from our sages and commentaries
that express these values clearly.
We have also been
blessed with a cadre of writers who have offered a unique reading of the weekly
parsha, and Midrash and
commentaries, as well.
I would like to thank all
those who have been partners in this project from the bottom of my heart:
As mentioned, all the
writers who have contributed to this newsletter and made it what it is;
Pinchas Leiser, Editor
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