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TAKING RESPONSIBILITY - WHY AVIHU WAS PUNISHEDRabbi Moshe KormornickAuthor of Short Vort

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OnegShabbosNorth West London's Weekly Torah and Opinion Sheets

A Torah publication that enables local Rabbonim and Avreichim to share their insights and Divrei Torah on a variety of different levels, to provide something for everyone.

פרשת אחרי-מות7th May 2016 כ”ט ניסן תשע"ו

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אחרי מות שני בני אהרןAfter the death of the two

sons of Aharon (16:1)The Gemara relates that Nadav and Avihu were

punished because they were once walking behind Moshe and Aharon when Nadav turned to his brother, Avihu and said “When will these two old people die so that me and you will lead the generation?”1

One can therefore gain some understanding why Nadav was punished. But why was Avihu, who said nothing, also punished - the Gemara does not show that he agreed with Nadav nor that he encouraged Nadav in any way?

One answer could be that even though Avihu may not have said anything to encourage Nadav’s words, he should not have stood idly by as he heard them being said – he should have offered gentle rebuke or at least showed disapproval of what Nadav said. He should have stood up for what he knew was right.2

The importance of standing up for what is right is emphatically demonstrated in the Rambam’s monumental work, Yad HaChazaka. The Rambam describes Avraham’s rise to fame throughout the world and relates how Avraham would travel from city to city calling out in a loud voice, telling everyone about Hashem; this way, he gained tens of thousands of followers. On the Rambam’s description, the Kesef Mishna answers the question posed by the Ra’avad

– how could it be that Shem and Ever did not protest against the idolatry that surrounded them - why was it was left to Avraham? The Kesef Mishna answers that from here we see that Avraham was indeed considered greater than Shem and Ever, because, whereas Shem

1 Sanhedrin (52a)2 For, if Avihu was equally to blame, what do we learn from the Gemora

specifying Nadav as the one who said these words; the Gemora could have merely written “and they said”, which would put both to blame even though it would be obvious that only one of them actually said these words?

and Ever taught those who came to them, Avraham

went out and taught others how to have a relationship

with Hashem.3 We see from here that even though

Shem and Ever were studying Torah every moment

of the day, Avraham was ‘considered greater’ since

he stood up, went out, and did what was necessary to

build Hashem’s army.

With this lesson in mind, Rav Noach Weinberg zt’’l,

Rosh Yeshiva of Aish HaTorah would always challenge

his students to be active in ‘fixing the world’ and taking

responsibility for its care4. He would list modern day

problems in the world – disease, poverty, genocide etc.

and then ask his students “What are you doing about

these problems?” Inevitably a student would respond

“What can I do, I’m just one person and the problem

is too big?” Rav Noach would then smile at his

students and ask the class, “If the Al-mighty, Creator

of this Universe, would help you, could you solve these

problems?” Rav Noach was telling his students not

to concern themselves with the magnitude of the task

ahead of them because they have the ultimate resource

willing to help – Hashem – all they need to do is ‘do the

right thing’ and Hashem would do the rest.

These words were echoed by Rav Nosson Tzvi

Finkel zt’’l, the late Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir when

he admitted “I have no idea where I’m going with all of

this – the additional buildings, the learning incentives,

bringing more and more groups into the Yeshiva. But

Hashem told me to go – so I’m going.”5

3 Hilchos Avodas Kochavim 1:34 Rav Noach would learn that the words of the Gemora which says that

everyone is obliged to say “The world was created for me” (Sanhedrin, 37a) means to say ‘The world was created for me... to look after’

5 “Rav Nosson Tvi” P.117 (Artscroll)

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“And the goat upon which the lot ‘For Azazel’ came up, shall be placed while still alive, before Hashem, to provide atonement through it and to send it away to Azazel, into the desert.” Vayikra 16:10

The Seir L’Azazel or scapegoat is one of the most perplexing mitzvos in the Torah. Two identical looking goats are brought to the Mikdash on Yom Kippur. The Kohen Gadol conducts a lottery by putting his hands into an urn which contained two lots. One read l’Hashem – for G-d, the other l’Azazel– for Azazel. The goat which received the lot l’Hashem was immediately taken and slaughtered as a sin offering while the remaining goat was subsequently led into the desert and thrown from a high rocky place to its death.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that the two goats represent the choices each person has every day of their lives to do either good or bad. When a person chooses the moral path, they may lose out in some physical way. For example, tzedaka means I give some of my money for someone else’s needs. Choosing to eat only kosher food restricts my choice restaurant or caterer.

Somebody who refrains from giving tzedaka or eats wherever they like, may initially feel like they have succeeded in retaining their money or afforded themselves greater freedom. Yet this is like the second goat, designated for Azazel but as yet unaware of its fate. While it may still be alive and relieved that it was not offered to Hashem, its gain is short lived and ultimately for nothing.

Rabbi Hirsch explains the word Azazel to be a contraction of az azel – strength departs. To avoid it we must try to direct our energies and resources to holier quests which are a guaranteed investment for the future.

Moving a Sefer TorahQuestion: Our family are going away for Shabbos and will have a Minyan. Can we take a sefer Torah with us even though we’ll only lein from it twice?

Answer: The Shulchan Aruch (OC 135:14; 584:3) writes that one mustn’t take a sefer Torah to prison so that one can hear leining even on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur unless it’s for an important individual. The Mishna Berura (135:46) explains that this wouldn’t be kavod for the sefer Torah. Nonetheless, the Mishna Berura writes that thishalacha specifically applies to an individual. One can take a sefer Torah to a prison or hospital if there is a minyan there. The Kaf Hachaim (OC 135:74) quotes the Zohar who takes a strict stance on this halacha though writes that if a minyan accompany thesefer Torah, then it may be moved.

The Rema (OC 135:14) writes that one who transports a sefer Torah should prepare a place for it in advance. The Kaf Hachaim (OC 135:83) and Mishna Berura (135:49) write that it is sufficient to prepare a suitable place that day. R’ Moshe Sternbuch (Teshuvos Vehanhagos

1:694) stresses that ideally it should be kept in an aron hakodesh rather than on a table. Likewise, R’ Ovadia Yosef (Yabia Omer 9 OC 15:3) writes that while R’ Yaakov Emden (Mor Uketziah 135) disapproved of taking a sefer Torah into shiva houses, that was only because children run around. If they are looked after respectfully in an aron hakodesh, however, then it is permitted.

The Aruch Hashulchan (OC 135:32) writes that the minhag is to ensure that the sefer Torah is leined from on at least three occasions. Yet, many poskim question the mekor of this minhag (See Yabia Omer 9 OC 15:5)

R’ Ephraim Greenblatt (Rivevos Ephraim 5:219) writes that while he heard from R’ Moshe Feinstein that there is no mekor for this minhag, it is commendable, and one shouldn’t move sifrei Torah around when possible (See Tzitz Eliezer 17:12).

In conclusion, while many poskim allow taking a sefer Torah away for a private minyan,it should be stored in an aron hakodesh and treated respectfully.

??livingwithmitzvos.comQ

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NFADING MEMORIES & EVERLASTING OPTIMISMRabbi Raphy GarsonRabbi Ohr Yisrael Federation Synagogue, Elstree & Director of the Hertfordshire Learning Experience

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Following the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, this week’s parsha begins with Hashem’s warning against unauthorised entry ‘into the Kodesh’. Aharon’s response to the deaths of his sons in Parshas Shemini was “Vayidom Aharon” – silence, there were no words! Indeed, that expression of silence was echoed in the aftermath of the war. No words existed within the lexicon of mankind that could present the enormity of the tragedy that happened. Aharon responds with silence yet in this weeks sedra he keeps on going, performing the avoda exactly as he was required to do by Hashem. Aharon’s response of being silent, retaining our dignity and composure, yet moving forward provided Klal Yisrael with a model, a template of sorts, of how to respond to tragedy.

A few weeks ago I was privileged to co-lead our 10th community trip to Poland together with JRoots and its director Tzvi Sperber, a man who has dedicated his life to inspiring and educating the Jewish World on hundreds of journeys to Poland. Poland boasts over 800 years of Jewish history full of spiritual, cultural and economic achievements. A place where pre-war over 3.5 million Jews lived. That changed forever on September 1st 1939. A day when Jewish culture, the yeshivos, communities and the chein (beauty) of Jewish life went up in smoke in all the death factories. It became a country with biggest Jewish graveyard in the world. All that could be heard was a deafening silence and with the recent passing of many survivors this silent becomes all the more profound.

Recently, Jules Schelvis, the last Dutch survivor of the Nazi death camp at Sobibor, died at the age of 95. Some 250,000 people, mostly Jews, were in 1942 and 1943 murdered at Sobibor. After the war, Schelvis began documenting what had occurred at the camp, which had far fewer surviving witnesses than other camps. He published a book, “Inside the Gates”, which described life in the camps. He founded the Sobibor Foundation in 1999, dedicated to remembrance of the camp’s victims and survivors. Once asked why he devoted years of his life to enshrining the memory of the Holocaust, he said: “I did it for everyone who was murdered there. First of all for my wife and the family and everyone else.”

Perhaps even more poignant was the recent death of 93-year-old Holocaust survivor Samuel Willenberg. It marked the passing of the last link to the notorious death camp of Treblinka, a camp which murdered over 900,000 of our brothers and sisters. Treblinka was also the place where so many of my wife’s family perished. His death also symbolises a new world, as historians and educators prepare for a world without survivors and the challenge of maintaining the memory of the Nazi genocide without the aid of those who witnessed it.

Early afternoon Treblinka was eerily quiet as our group of 60 made its way around the camp. I remembered the words of Samuel: “The world cannot forget Treblinka. I live two lives, one is here and now and the other is what happened there.” Samuel was a 20-year-old Polish Jew from Warsaw and one of a number of prisoners who, on August 2 1943, stole weapons, set fire to the camp and fled into the surrounding woods. Few got away. Willenberg was shot in the leg as he

scrambled over bodies by the barbed wire. “I ran straight ahead, alone. I wasn’t afraid of being alone,” he recalled. “The important thing was to escape.” His blond Aryan looks helped him while he was on the run and he subsequently made it to Warsaw.

I shared with the group the ingenious insight of Chief Rabbi Lau. A friend of his called Yankeleh survived Auschwitz. This man moved to California and became a self-made millionaire. However, he lived a life of sadness. Daily he would come home to the most wonderful cooked dinner. As he would place the food near his mouth, an image of his daughter Mirreleh would appear. This 12-year-old girl in the Lodz ghetto is stretching

her hand out to her father begging “Tatteh a piece of bread”, before she dies of starvation in her father’s arms. When this happens he pushes away the food and cannot eat it. This happens every day.

Rav Lau suggested that is perhaps why we have two supposed commands to remember our enemies – Zachor and Lo Sishkach. The question is obvious - surely if you remember you don’t forget and if you don’t forget you remember?

He explained Zachor is an order - it is the duty of remembrance itself. Lo Sishkach is not an order, but a prophecy. You will not be able to forget. Either neo-Nazis will remind you, or memories will haunt you until your final days.

So who will remember when the last survivor passes away? We Jewish People are optimists, like Aharon HaKohen we continue. To be a Jew is to know that the world has not yet reached its divinely-ordained end. Hashem has a plan for us and eventually it will be fulfilled. Through all the horrors of history and the Holocaust of the past century we have never lost hope in the prophetic promise of the coming of Moshiach.”

As Rav Bleich once said: Optimism turns our lives from pain to hope, from difficulties to challenges, from troubles to confidence in better times – in short, the key to a sanctified and meaningful life.Our journey was enriched with the hero survivor that is Leslie Kleinman. A man that lost worlds, yet lives with optimism and continues to smile and light up the world.

By hearing the testimonies, we became charged with being the next generations of survivors. Such journeys and worldwide commemorations are ways to ensure we become a generation who will pass on the stories and testimonies of those who lived through the Shoah, fulfilling the Torah’s command of Zachor & Lo Sishkach!

Please could you ensure that there are ample sheets left in shuls for Shabbos before taking one home -as there have been few left in shuls.

This newsletter contains Divrei Torah and may contain Sheimos - please dispose of accordingly.

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Rabbi Avi WiesenfeldRosh Kollel, Yerushalayim and Rav at Kav Halachah Beis Horaah H

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Follow Rabbi Wiesenfeld’s shiurim on torahanytime.com

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Sefiras Ha’omer – Common Halachos

The Torah commands us to count seven complete weeks starting from the night the omer (measure of barley) was brought, as it states in the Torah

and you shall count for yourselves“ – "...וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת שבע שבתות"following the Shabbos seven weeks”. This is the mitzvah known as Sefiras Ha’omer. Unfortunately, we no longer have the Beis Hamikdosh, nevertheless, there is still a requirement to count the omer, even though no korbon is offered. Most poskim rule that the obligation nowadays to count is a mitzvah miderabonon.1

Q. Who Is obligated to count?

A. Every adult male is obligated to count. Women, however, are exempt from this mitzvah as it is dependent on time. Many write that women have accepted upon themselves to count, similar to shaking a lulav and esrog, but they are not required to do so.2 Boys under the age of bar Mitzvah (but over the age of chinuch) count with a beracha.

Q. If one forgot to count one day of the sefira, may he continue counting?

A. The Torah commanded us to count “seven complete weeks”, so the question is if one misses one of the days in the countings, is there a mitzvah to continue counting since he is missing a day in the count. This is subject to a major dispute amongst the poskim. Some render the entire count as one complete entity, and one long mitzvah, therefore, forgetting to count one day interrupts the entire sequence and no further counting is possible. Others, however, hold that each day is a separate mitzvah, and one days counting has no bearings on counting on other days. The halacha follows the second opinion, meaning, that if one forgets one complete day, he must continue to count, nevertheless, no beracha is said on any following days, in deference to the first opinion.3 However, the Mishnah Berurah recommends one hears the beracha from someone else.

Q. What if one is unsure as to whether or not he missed the previous days count?

A. He may continue counting with a beracha.4 If one forgot to count one night, he should count during the following day without a berachah, and may continue counting all following evenings with a beracha.

Q. Is one allowed to count before davening maariv?

A. Maariv should always be before one counts the sefira. This is due to a number of reasons: a) since it is more frequent, it comes first5, b) in earlier generations it was customary to daven maariv before nightfall, so that with the conclusion of maariv night began6. However, it is permitted to count once it is night, even if one hasn’t yet davened maariv.

Q. What is forbidden to be done once the time for counting sefira has arrived?

A. Once the time for counting (nightfall) arrives, one may not perform certain activities that are of the concern that one may become so involved

1 See Mishnah Berurah 489:14, Graz, Chayei Adam, Kaf Hachayim.2 Mishnah Berurah quoting the Magan Avraham.3 Shulchan Aruch 498:8.4 Shulchan Aruch 489:8, Mishna Berurah.5 Be’er Halacha “Acher” quoting the Chok Yaakov.6 Be’er Halacha “Acher” quoting the Yaavitz. See Igros Moshe 4:99:1.

that he may forget to fulfil the mitzvah.7 Therefore, one may not:

 Begin a meal until he counts (but a snack is permitted).

 One may not take a haircut.

 One may not bath/shower.

This halacha applies even if he had already davened maariv. Even if one began one of the above activities, many poskim hold that he is required to stop and count the sefira before continuing. If pone started eating before the time of counting arrives, he may finish his meal and then count.8

Q. If one was asked in an e-mail or text as to what is the correct number to count that night, and he responds by writing the correct number, may he count that night with a beracha?

A. A widely known halacha in regards to the sefira is being careful not to answer someone who askes which night it is tonight with “Today is the xx night”. The reason for this is that once he has said those words, it is considered as if he counted, and he may no longer count with a beracha. If one only responds with the number, without “Today”, he may still count that day with a beracha. What is less known is that the above halacha may even apply if one doesn’t actually say what night it is, but rather types it on a screen, which according to some poskim has the equivalent of speaking. In fact I remember someone calling me one year after Shevuos with this question. He had sent out a group e-mail to many people every night of the omer to remind them to count, and had sent it out at the beginning of the night, before he himself had even counted, his question was if he fulfilled the mitzvah this year! The final conclusion in this matter is that it isn’t clear if writing has the same halacha as speaking in regards to counting the omer, therefore, one shouldn’t write the number of the night before he himself has actually counted.9

Although the mitzvah is simply to ‘count’ every night up until Shevuos, we must realise that there is a deeper meaning to all the counting. When one is excited for something, he counts up to that event, a chosson and kallah wait excitedly for their big day, a workman eagerly awaits his well-deserved vacation, children wait for their birthday. Whatever the reason, when we are excited for something, we count the days until its arrival. Klal Yisroel have a big day coming up. It’s the day we received the Torah and became different than every other nation of the world. Each day shows the build-up of excitement, but it also shows that kabbolos HaTorah doesn’t just arrive, it requires work beforehand to prepare. Let’s us use these days to try and get closer to Hashem and His Torah so that when the big day arrives, we are fully prepared.

7 Ramo 489:4’ Mishnah Berurah 24, Kaf Hachayim 66.8 Ramo, Mishnah Berurah 26.9 See Sharei Teshuva 5 and Shulchan Aruch Siman 47:3.

1. On Yom Kippur in the morning the reading comes from the beginning of Parshas Acharei-Mos. The end of the parsha is read on Yom Kippur at Mincha.2. They represent the two identical pathways that start off the same and how one branches to the good and ends up connected to the Kodesh Hakodoshim while the other goes to the bad and ends up killed thrown down a mountain. This is the bechira, free choice, given to a person which pathway he takes.

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