March 2008 Archives

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Parshat Tazria: Closeness to Hashem ©

Lee's Parsha Journal

This parsha study is dedicated to the loving memory of Sue Elder, may she rest in peace and her memory be for good.

Perek 12, passuk 8 states: 

But if she cannot afford a sheep, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young doves, one for an      elevation-offering and one for a sin-offering; and the Kohen shall provide atonement for her and she    shall become purified. The Stone Edition The Chumash, ArtScroll Series; Rabbi Nosson Scherman/Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, General Editors (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, Ltd., Third Edition) p 609.

The commentary offered by the Stone Chumash on the phrase one for an elevation-offering is as follows:

Although the service of the sin-offering is performed first, the Torah Mentions the elevation-offering first, because it symbolizes the goal of the entire service: to achieve closeness to [G-d] and become dedicated to Him. Ibid.

The goal of the entire service is to achieve closeness to G-d. Our offerings also have the goal of achieving closeness to Hashem. What are our offerings? Repentance is one. A friend pointed out that davening (prayer) is an offering. Meditation is another. When I see a beautiful sight in nature, sometimes an offering of gratitude wells up from within my heart and I feel a certain closeness to Hashem. There are moments in prayer and meditation that I experience a closeness to Hashem. Baruch Hashem. I am so grateful for those moments! 

Do you ever experience a kind of closeness to G-d? Would you share it with us?

A side note, you may have noticed that I bracketed  [-] Hashem's Name in the above quote. That's because the Stone Chumash, like other siddurim and seforim, spell out the Name of G-d because the author and publisher have the expectation that the publication will be a permanent part of a library, not something the purchaser would ever throw away; something to be passed on, not destroyed.

Thank you for reading my thoughts. I hope you will join the discussion with questions and/or comments.

Blessings & peace to you,

Lee

          By Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk

This study is dedicated in the loving memory of Mr. Samuel and Mrs. Miriam Deckelman Goodman, may they rest in peace.

There are three words that tell us of the Great Holiness of the Minchah Offering. 

awhi µrvid...q; vdoq yKi   .......   hj;n"MihæAta, Wjq]

In Vayikra {Leviticus} 6.9,10 Ha Torah Teaches there are three offerings that are Most Holy. They are:

The Meal Offering - Vayikra 2.3

The Sin Offering - Vayikra 6.18

The Guilt Offering - Vayikra 7.1

The Meal Offering is a ˆB;r"q; Karbon which is translated sacrifice.  So even though there is no blood shed with a Meal Karbon {Sacrifice} Ha Torah Does not separate the Meal Karbon from that of the Sin or Guilt.  Notice Vayikra 1.2

Each are described as This is the Law of...the Meal Offering, the Sin Offering and the Guilt Offering.  Other offerings are also described with these words.  However only the Meal Offering, the Sin Offering and the Guilt Offering are described as Most Holy!! This is very significant.  The Meal Offering has the same status as the Sin Offering and as the Guilt Offering.  In other words the Meal Offering is like a Sin-Offering. - Rashi

What is the intent when bring an offering?  Intent is everything!

If there was there was no repentance of the heart the offering in and of its self will not bring about forgiveness. Zevachim 7b  Proverbs 21.27 says, The offering of the wicked is an abomination...

The offering is a Gift to G-d brought after receiving repentance.

Blessings and Peace,

Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk

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Naomi Leah's Parsha Journal

Hello Friends,

This study blog is created in the loving memory of Mr. Arnold Student Litman, my beloved father; Mr. George Belk, my beloved father-in-law, and Mrs. Ethel Channah Sakash Belk, my beloved mother-in-law, may they rest in peace and may their memories be for good!

Welcome to my corner! I thought I would join the blogosphere by sharing something about my Parsha studies, what I am learning and thoughts on what I am learning. I hope you will join in by sharing your thoughts on the same verse or verses I am referencing. This way we could study Ha Torah together informally. I hope to hear from you on this blog! Happy studying in Ha Torah!

Parshat Tzav: The Awesome Power of Repentance

This week's study is in the loving memory of Gershon Yitzchok Belk and Don Yaakov Belk, my beloved brothers-in-law, may they rest in peace and may their memories be for good! 

Let's start with this week's Parsha, Tzav. Verse 6.2 is about the [Law] of the elevation-offering. (This translation is quoted from The Stone Edition The Chumash, ArtScroll Series; Rabbi Nosson Scherman/Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, General Editors (Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, Ltd., Third Edition) p 569. Part of the The Stone Edition The Chumash (also referred to as The Stone Chumash for short) commentary is as follows:

On this verse, the Midrash comments that if a person repents, it is regarded as if he had gone up to Jerusalem, rebuilt the Temple and the Altar, and brought on it all the offerings of the Torah (Vayikra Rabbah 7:2). Every Jew should be a human temple. If he is holy, his personal temple is holy; if he sins, he contaminates it. When someone repents, therefore, it is as if he rebuilds himself and recreates a temple within himself.

Isn't this powerful? Our Sages in the Midrash impart to us the power of true repentance, powerful enough to be regarded as first going to Yerushalayim, then rebuilding the Temple and rebuilding the Altar and then bringing not one or two offerings but all the offerings of Ha Torah! What a beautiful meditation, self as a human temple, and true repentance having the power to rebuild the self and recreate the temple within. This speaks of the Renewing Radiance of Ha Torah and the precious gift of repentance that Hashem Gave us all. 

Thank you for reading and sharing my learning and thoughts. 

Blessings & peace,

Naomi Leah

Hi!

If you have a question regarding B'nei Yisroel {the Children of Israel}, Ha Torah {Genesis, Exodus,  Leviticus, Numbers or Deuteronomy} or Jewish Obsevances please write it here.  Either click on the comment link under the title to the right or scroll down to the bottom where it says, Leave comment here. Click on comment.  Ask your question.

Blessings and peace,

Dr. Akiva Gamliel 

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hw:hylæ hj;n"mi ˆBær"q; byrIq]tæAyKi vp,n<w" 

Parshat Vayikra Vayikra

        By Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk

Our study is in the loving memory of the Horvat Mishpacha that died in the Holocaust.  May they rest in peace.

I am again drawn to the words {And when a soul draws near with a meal offering to Hashem}, Vayikra 2.1

(Leviticus). when studying Parshat Vayikra Vayikra.

byrIq]tæ  Tah-Kih-Reet to draw near [with an offering...]

712 = b2 y10 r200 q100 t400

tv,by"  Yihv-Sheht [the earth /sin] dried up / Yih-Ba-Sheht his shame [left]

712 = t400 v300 b2 y10

Notice the third word of the Original Text. The Tav is in black.  The Kuf, Reish, Yod and Bet are in blue. Even though the Letter Tav is part of the word Tah-Kih-Reet in HaTorah the Letter Tav is added.  The Tav is normally not part of the word. Why?  The Letter Tav is the last letter in the word twOa Oht means sign. Frequently throughout Ha Torah the Letter Tav is added to the beginning of a word to draw our attention to the fact that we should stop.  Pay attention!  Mine here!  Examine here!  This is one of many purposes for the Tav being added to a word.  Another reason is to change the Gematria of a word. Normally Kih-Reet would be the Gematria 312 but because the Tav is added the Gematria changes to 712.  

In Bereisheit 8.7 (Genesis) we notice the first word in Ha Torah with the Gematria of 712. Yihv-Sheht which means to dry up. Ha Torah Tells us Noach sent the raven out of the Tava {Ark} in search of dry land.  The raven returned to the Tava because he could not find any dry land.  There is a similarity between Tah-Kih-Reet (to draw near) and Yihv-Sheht (to dry up). The similarity depends upon the intent of the first Letter of Yihv-Sheht. If we were to isolate the Letter Yud the root word would be Ba-Sheht meaning shame. The meaning would then represent his shame in reference to the raven's shame.  Then the meaning of HaTorah in Bereisheit 8.7 would be, He sent out the raven and it went out, going to and fro until the water [removed] his shame.  Now we know the raven experienced shame because the raven was one of three who copulated on the Tava.[1]  The three were Chawm, the dog and the raven.  In addition we know that water represents Ha Torah.  This being the situation the meaning of HaTorah in Bereisheit 8.7 would be, He sent out the raven and it went out, going to and fro until [Ha Torah removed] his shame.  Remember Ha Torah Has the power to restore the soul.  So the connection I see is that the Letter Tav is at the front of Tah-Kih-Reet standing like a door open to teshuva {repentance}.  The Tav is at the end of Yihv-Sheht which we are now translating as Yih-Ba-Sheht meaning his shame. When Ha Torah Works in the life of a sinner it's like his shame leaves through the back door.  Now if one were to choose not to agree with this mystical interpretation that is fine.  One could still say that the water / Ha Torah which washed away the sinners of the first world was absorbed into the earth.  In other words, the end result is the same.  Sin was dried up. The point is that the one who draws near to the altar with a meal offering for their sins has the comfort of knowing his shame is absorbed in the fire offering. His sin is dried up.  The raven was looking for a place of shelter from the judgment brought upon the world due to sin (dry land). Drawing near the Meez-Bayach {altar} with a meal offering for sin brings about that shelter.

byrIq]tæ  Tah-Kih-Reet to draw near [with an offering...]

712 = b2 y10 r200 q100 t400

tv,by"  Yihv-Sheht [the earth /sin] dried up / Yih-Ba-Sheht his shame [left]

712 = t400 v300 b2 y10

When Ha Torah uses the word  vp,n≤ Neh-Fehsh one should remember the At Bash is bwOf Tov which means good, agreeable.  From earth the soul of the poor, the destitute draws near the altar. Our Sages teach that the significance of bringing a meal offering is like offering one's own soul.  

There is a ladder that stretches from earth to Ha Shemayim (the Heavens). We call this At Bash. It's a transformation of letters from earth to Heaven and from Heaven to earth. On earth it is the soul of the poor, the destitute. However, as one climbs each rung of the ladder toward HaShemayim (the Heavens), the word changes from Nefesh to Tov. It's like saying this is good, this is agreeable. What is good? What is agreeable? The meal offering.  The word Tov is a blessing from the Creator like dew descending upon the soul of the one who brings the meal offering.  the offering from the Heavenly ladder that extends to earth the Neh-Fesh (the soul) that draws near the altar with a meal offering it is good!

vpn Neh-Fehsh {Soul} - AT BASH - v = b  p = w  n = f  bwf Tov {Good Agreeable}

Authors note: To any Christians who might be reading this discussion I was surprised to notice the KJV translators used the word meat instead of meal for hj;n"mi .  I believe this was a deliberate misrepresentation of the Truth.  It would be worthwhile to investigate why they did this?  NIV and other Christian translations got it right.  I also noticed that Strong's Concordance does not give a reference number for this word.   Hum!  I wonder why?

[1] Rabbi Moshe Weissman, The Midrash Says (Brooklyn, New York:  Benei Yakov Publications 1980), p. 97

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     By Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk

Bereisheit 27 Yitzchok Could Not See... Can any of us see?

Our study is in the loving memory of the Horvat Mishpacha that died in the Holocaust.  May they rest in peace.

Ha Torah begins Bereisheit {Genesis} Chapter 27 with a statement.  And it happened Yitzchok became an elder.  His eyesight faded and he could not see...  Yitzchok was the holy child who at the age of 37 willingly lay on the Mizbayach {altar} offering himself as a sacrifice.  Now 86 years later, at the age of 123 Ha Torah States, Yitzchok is an elder.  His physical eyesight faded.  It also impacted his Spiritual insight. 

Ha Torah Informs us in Bereisheit 24 that Avraham, Yitzchok's father, became an elder at the age of 137. Ha Torah Tells us the Creator Had Blessed Avraham in all things.  His eyes were not faded.  Avraham would live another 38 years.  He would father at least nine more children through Keturah, {Bereisheit 25.2}.

Neither we nor our father nor our grandfather will live to the age of Avraham {175} or Yitzchok {180}.  We are not on their level of righteousness.  We do not experience their visions.  We do not have the closeness to the Creator that they had.  We are not elders in the sense they were elders.  We are generations away from Har Sinai.  Our lives are cluttered with interferences that impede our Spirituality.  How many hours did Avraham and Yitzchok spend on the internet?  What about notebooks, ipods, satellite radio, DVDs, TV, cell phones, phones, faxes, etc.?  How do these things impact our Spirituality?  There are so many distractions that take us away from focusing on Spirituality.

In light of these points we should consider what the length and depth of our Spiritual vision is.  What are our limitations?  What can we do about all these devices that are part of world communication?

Our father Yitzchok did not have these distractions yet his eyes faded.  Why did his eyes fade?  Our Sages say it was from the incense offered to idols by his daughters-in-law, Yehudit and Bawsmat, Eisov's wives.[1] This teaches us an important lesson. Yitzchok and Rivkah lived so close to Eisov and his idolatrous wives that the incense caused him to lose his vision. It also clouded his Spiritual vision.   How do we know this?  Why else would he call for his evil son Eisov to bless him?  Why would he bless a son who murdered, committed rape and adultery and married idolatrous women?  We learn a similar lesson from another great Tzaddik, Lot.  He lived among the Sedomites. Why?  He was a cattle baron.  He felt that his cattle would flourish in the plush land of Sedom.  That may have been true but he was too close to evil!  It impacted him. His vision was impacted!  This is the point.  Day in and day out being too close to anything that interferes with our Spirituality can harm our vision and the lives of those we love.

Evil impacted Noach!  Evil impacted Lot.  Evil impacted Yitzchok.  Do we feel we can withstand such great evil?  I do not think so!  So for us to have clarity of vision and keen focus, the real issue is identifying evil and keeping it at the greatest distance away from us that we can.

[1] Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz and Rabbi Nosson Scherman, The Artscroll Tanach Series - Bereishis Vol. I(a) (Brooklyn, New York: Mesorah Publications, Ltd. 3rd Impression, 1989), p 1114

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