Tales for the Shabbos Table

If you look in a Torah scroll you will see that the first word in this week's section ends with a small letter "VAYIKRa" (G-d CALLED).

That's the way it's supposed to be written.

This does not seem to make sense. This small letter changes neither the meaning nor the pronunciation of the word. Why is it small?

Even more, why does the Torah use 'G-d CALLED' here and deviate from the usual term; "G-d SPOKE (VaY'DABER)"?

Also, this week begins the month of Nissan; the month of miracles and we begin and we begin to learn the detailed laws of animal sacrifices.…. Is
there any connection?

Here are two stories that will, with G-d's help, help us understand.

First story: When the second leader of Chabad, the holy 'Mittler' Rebbe, passed away the obvious successor was his son-in-law (and nephew) Rabbi Menachem Mendel (the Tzemach Tzedik). His insight, care, strength of character, complete Torah knowledge, desire to strengthen Judaism and willingness to fight all its enemies made him a candidate not only to be the leader of Chabad but the leader of the entire world! (Hence his name Tzemach Tzedik hinting at the Moshiach whose name will also be 'Tzemach')

But he flatly declined! A large contingent of Chassidim even came to his house to change his mind but still he adamantly refused saying "Who am I to be a leader?"

They answered, "That is exactly why we want you! We need someone who truly does not want to be a leader. THAT is the best sign of a true leader!" (e.g. Moses and King David)

Second story: The Tzemach Tzedik became Rebbe and in the latter years of his life a large group of some twenty Chassidim from the city Tolinesh in Serbia decided to travel to Lubavitch (a three month journey!) to spend Passover with him. They left their city shortly after Chanuka and shortly before Pesach they arrived at their destination.

They assumed that because they come from afar they would certainly be allowed to enter the Rebbe's Seder on the night of Pesach itself. But they were in for a disappointment.

On the night of Pesach they finished their festive meal as quickly as possible and rushed to the Rebbe's home but the Rebbe's secretary would not let them in.

Besides the fact that the Rebbe was weak and it was not his custom to eat the Pesach meal in public his house was simply not big enough to take so many guests. Rather, the secretary suggested, they should go to the home of the Rebbe's son, Rabbi Yehuda Leib, who was also a holy genius and would certainly give them an unforgettable spiritual experience.

With no other choice they went. It was already late by the time they reached Rab Yehuda Leib's house and then they had to wait over an hour while he rested. But finally he received them cordially and told them that because it would soon be morning and he didn't have time to sit with them at length, he would tell them a wondrous story that he just experienced the other day.

They agreed and he began.

"Last year I asked my father for permission to listen in to some of his private audiences and one day he told me to hide in one of the corners of the room and listen.

"The first person that entered was a well built, clean shaven young man of some twenty years old that seemed to be very anxious and afraid of something.

"He told the Rebbe that he was a Cantonist (Jews that had been snatched from their homes at a young age and 'prepared' for service in the Czars army by torture to 'wean' them from Judaism). He, unlike many others, survived and resisted the weaning process but now he decided he'd had enough and he deserted. He was on the run and he needed the Rebbe's blessing so he wouldn't get caught.

"But my father didn't agree. 'No! NO!' he said forcefully. 'You must go back to your battalion as soon as possible and G-d will protect you from all harm. You will merit to have long life and see children and grandchildren learning Torah and doing the Commandments of G-d.'

"The bewildered soldier looked at the my father in disbelief and said, 'But Rabbi, if I go back now … just for leaving these few days I could have my head chopped off. You don't know our commander. He is a very cruel
person, a wicked animal, and a Jew hater at that!'

"'Don't worry!' he assured him with a smile.'It will be all right. Just tell him you went to visit relatives and he will let you off.'

"'The soldier took a few seconds to digest it all but finally nodded his head, said he would do what the Rebbe told him and began to turn to go. But my father stopped him.

"'I have a request for you, please don't refuse. Soon will be the days of Passover, ask permission from your commander to allow you to go for two days to the nearest town to celebrate the holiday with other Jews. Certainly he will agree. But, please do not sleep in the same house that you eat at. Rather, both nights of the holiday go to the Synagogue and sleep there no matter how much your host insists you sleep by him.

"'Afterwards return to your battalion and then on the seventh day of the holiday again plead before your commander to give you a second leave for the last two days of the holiday. Also this time… do not sleep in the house where you eat but rather go to the general guest house.' The soldier agreed, saluted, bowed and left.

"This was almost exactly a year ago" Said the Tzemach Tzedik's son, "and since then I had heard nothing. Then, just a few days ago my father again told me to hide in the corner of his room.

"I waited, suddenly the door opened and who entered? None other than the same soldier! But this time he was full of gratitude and excitement! He apologized for the delay and explained that this was the first opportunity he had since then to get a leave. He told my father what happened.

"He followed the Rebbe's advice, returned to his commander and it was just as the Rebbe had said; when he said that he went to see relatives, he smiled understandingly, slapped him on the shoulder and released him. It was a revealed miracle!

"But that was just the beginning. A few days later; the day before Pesach, he again approached his commander asked for a two day leave to spend the holiday in the town and his request was granted! Another miracle!

"Just hours later the soldier was seated around a richly decorated table with other well dressed Jews in a warm festive home about to begin the Pesach Seder. It was like being in heaven! During the meal tiredness overcame him several times but he made it till the end. Then after the meal was over he remembered what the Rebbe said and dragged himself to the nearby Synagogue to sleep despite the pleading of his host to stay.

"As he entered the Shul a dejected, disheveled fellow of about fifty year of age stood up from the corner where he had been sitting and approached him.

"The man was obviously desperate for someone to talk to and despite the fact that it was obvious that the soldier desperately wanted to lie down, he poured out his sad story.

"His name was Efriam the Tailor. He had been a wealthy man but after his wife tragically passed away over a year ago he made the mistake of marrying a woman some twenty years his junior without really investigating her. After several months of what he thought was a happy marriage, while he was on a business trip, she took all his valuables and ran off with one of his gentile servants leaving him penniless.

"He reported it to the police but there was nothing they could do and when the news of his tragedy spread his creditors began hounding him. They foreclosed all his mortgages and took even the roof over his head. Now he had only this Shul to call home.

"The soldier comforted him as best as he could before he went to sleep on one of the benches and the same scene repeated itself the next night but in more detail; his wife's name was Sherel the servant's was Vashka etc.

"That next evening the soldier returned to his camp and, just as the Rebbe promised, five days later his commander again agreed to give him another two days holiday leave.

"In the meantime the troops had moved and were now encamped near a larger city where the Jewish community had better arrangements for guests; two guest houses, one for men and one for women.

"That night after the holiday meal, the soldier again left his host's house, turned to the men's guest house, was given a bed and went promptly to sleep. But in the middle of the night he was awakened by drunken singing and yelling.

"It seems that bunch of gypsies had somehow gotten in to the guest house and, not noticing him and thinking they were alone, began drinking and carousing. The soldier was about to yell at them to leave but suddenly he heard one of the voices was a woman's! He listened and he heard the names 'Sherel' and 'Vasha'! Somehow the Rebbe knew that they would be there!!

"The soldier snuck out quietly from the room, rushed to the home of the town Rabbi, they both went to the police and that night the thieves were arrested, imprisoned and forced to return almost all of what they had stolen.

"The soldier, as he told the story to my father, became more and more amazed and so did I!" And the visitors from Tolinesh were satisfied.

>From the first story we see the Rebbe's true humility and in the second we see his detailed love for every Jew. And now we can answer our questions.

Rashi explains that the word 'VaYikra' implies a calling in endearment… but only when spelled with the last letter 'Alef'. Without that last Alef (as when G-d called 'VaYikr' to the evil Bilam (Num. 22:4)) it means a cold, perfunctory calling.

The 'Alef' represents the G-dly soul of each Jew [the first letter of the first word (Anochi) of the Ten Commandments (Which contains the entire Torah)].

But the SMALL Alef implies humility.

This is what endears the Jewish people to G-d. As the Torah says (Deut. 7:7) "You are the smallest of all the nations"

But there must be a Jewish leader in every generation (like Moses in our weekly portion and the Rebbe in our stories) that teaches the Jews this lesson.

True Jewish leaders are living examples of humility and their entire job is to teach the world humility: Namely that G-d miraculously creates us constantly from nothing and we must be grateful that we can repay Him by doing His commandments.

Even if it means bringing an animal (i.e. the selfish animal in each of us) to a place it doesn't seem to belong (the Holy Temple) to transform and unite it to its creator.

This is the secret of the sacrifices; 'KORBON' stems from the word "KOROV": to come close.

When all these 'animals' are united with the Creator then the .. the small 'Alef' of each Jew will also unite with all the others as ONE (alef) and the truth will be revealed; that G-d, the Torah and the Jewish people are one.

This is the message of the month of Nissan, the month of Miracles (Nisim) and the month of Redemption. Just as Moshe miraculously led us from Egypt so will Moshiach lead us from the terrible exile we are in now.

He will strengthen Jewish identity, brotherly love and closeness to HaShem and His Torah. Just as the Rebbes of Chabad have been doing for almost 300 years.

May we see the complete redemption this Nissan with …. Moshiach NOW!!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad, Israel

Tales for the Shabbos Table

This week's section begins the complicated and mysterious laws of the
Temple sacrifices.

For example: in the end of this week's section we find the laws regarding the 'Chatat' and the 'Asham' sacrifices.

The 'Chatat' is brought when one becomes certain that he did a sin accidentally. (Sacrifices only atoned only for sins done in ignorance - i.e. he didn't know it was forbidden - and had to be accompanied by true regret and confession to G-d.).

While the 'Asham' is brought when one is uncertain that he did a sin (i.e. discovers that the piece of meat he ate might have been non-kosher).

The interesting thing is that the Talmud (Z'vachim 48a) tells us that the Uncertainty sacrifice was more expensive than the Certainty one. The former must be worth at least TWO 'Dankas' while the latter could be worth as little as ONE!

At first this seems strange. Why should the price of a SURE sin offering be less than that of an UNSURE one? It could be he did nothing wrong at all?

Also what connection does this have with Parshat Zachor (a special Maftir we read this Shabbos about the arch anti-Semite 'Amalek'). And what does it all mean to us today.

To understand all this, here are two stories that I heard from Rabbi Mendel Futerfass,

Rabbi Mendel spent several years in a Siberian labor camp because of his Jewish outreach activities. And although his life was constantly in danger from cold, hunger disease, anti-Semitic prisoners and guards, nevertheless he often said that those were the best years of his life. He had to force himself every second to find reasons to be happy.

Now, in Siberia the winter nights are long and often the prisoners passed the time telling stories. Here are two.

The first story Rab Mendel heard from a Cossack.

It seems that Stalin eventually imprisoned everyone that he thought might possibly oppose him. And soon all the Cossacks, because of their previous loyalty to the Czar, soon found themselves in Siberia.

One Cossack told a funny story. Once he had been assigned to ride a long distance on horseback for some important mission.

It so happened that one afternoon while riding he felt very tired. So he got off his horse and lay down to sleep under a tree near a brook with his horse standing guard over him.

After a half hour he woke, threw some cold water on his face from the river, again mounted his trusty steed and resumed his journey. But as he was riding through a small village he noticed a terrible smell. Agh, it was so strong! 'Probably there is a tannery here' he thought to himself as he sped through the place as fast as possible.

As he left with the fresh wind in his face it seemed that the smell went away. But then after a minute it returned even stronger than before.

"Maybe there was a plague and they threw their dead carcasses outside of the village" he thought. So he spurred his horse even harder and soon the smell was far behind them.

Or so he thought. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, the stench returned as he was riding through a plowed field.

'Hmm, probably the farmers just spread manure' he thought to himself and he galloped faster and faster.

But when he returned to a main road and the smell was still there, as strong as ever, he began to have doubts. He stopped his horse, looked in all directions and twirled his mustache immersed in deep thought.

Suddenly he felt something in his mustache. He took his hand from his mustache gave a look and began to smile. It seems that when he lay down to sleep some of his horse's excrement got caught there!

"I was trying to run from myself!!" And he broke out in hearty laughter slapping his knee and then Rav Mendel on the back.

And that is why a 'doubtful' offering was more. According to the Baal Shem Tov when one suspects that he has committed a sin it's sort of a 'holy' doubt; it is a sign that hidden in the soul there is a fault that must be corrected.

But because we have a tendency to ignore our faults (like the Cossack ran from himself) therefore a doubtful sin requires more attention and the sacrifice costs more.

But there is another type of doubt that is destructive:

One of Rav Mendel's fellow prisoners was a hard core atheistic Jew. Before the revolution he had been a very active 'Bundist' (Jewish socialist). Then he became an avid Communist and eventually a high Party official.

But suddenly he found himself arrested, tried, convicted and condemned to twenty years of 'correction' in Siberia on 'suspicion of
counterrevolutionary activities'.

To say the least, he became bitterly disappointed in Communism. But as much as Rav Mendel tried to get him to become even vaguely interested in Judaism he flatly refused.

Maybe he would consider Zionism, but Judaism NEVER! He didn't believe any of it.

And one night he told the following story.

'"When I was a teen I was a fervent Bundist. Our philosophy was based on politics, work and good deeds. So every day after a few hours of studies in our meeting place we would walk to a nearby factory and work until sunset.

"Our group of twenty or with an older 'member' as leader, was assigned to a mill working with huge machines that ground wheat into flour.

One day on our way to work we passed a group of young Chassidim walking on the other side of the street dressed in black Chassidic garb with long 'paiot' (earlocks) waiving in the wind. And none other than the Rudziner Rebbe himself was leading them.

To us, these people with their ancient Jewish beliefs and customs were despicable; a remnant from some old museum.

"Aha!!" shouted our leader, "Look at the little horses led by the big horse!" And we all burst into hearty contemptuous laughter. I mean, we were all Jews ourselves, but we hated Judaism so much that if we weren't in a hurry to the factory we would have torn them apart.

But their Rebbe just waited silently until we finished, gave a strange look at our leader and said. "Ahh, I see that you want a strange death! (Misa M'shina).

Our leader turned to us and mockingly repeated the words "Misa M'shina" upon which we broke into gales of laughter and began picking up stones and throwing them at those odious creatures.

We arrived at the factory in good spirits, turned on the machines and our leader, still smiling from his encounter with the Chassidim, again yelled out 'Misa M'shina'! But as he turned to see if anyone was laughing the corner of his coat got caught in the mill and in an instant he was being drawn toward the grinding stones.

He tried to get out of his coat but the machine was pulling too quickly. Someone else rushed and hit the stop button but the momentum of the huge stones was too great and before our eyes he was slowly pulled into the grinder and pulverized; a real 'Misa M'shuna'.

You think it took away any of our doubts about Judaism? No way!!! We just shrugged our shoulders, cleaned up the mess, ran some water through the mill and went back to work.

We saw a miracle and it had absolutely no effect on anyone. That's how much we doubted G-d. But now, to tell you the truth, I'm having my doubts about all of it; Bundism, Communism it's all the same lies.

This is a totally different type of doubt and it's called 'Amelek' (the numerical value of 'Suffik' which means 'DOUBT'). It doubts the reality of G-d, His Torah and His People.

And it's only antidote is to REMEMBER.

To remember that we are Jews, we came from the essence of G-d (we are called His 'sons') and that our job is to bring Moshiach (though learning Torah and doing the commandments) and transform the world into a 'Holy Temple' filled with the awareness of the Creator.

That is why only Moses (and the unique leader; the 'Moses', present in every generation – who I believe is the Lubavitcher Rebbe in this one) can defeat Amelek; because he 'reminds' us of all these things.

An example is the teachings of Chassidut (called Torat HaMoshiach – the teaching of Moshiach); the ideas that remind us of our true identity and
defeat all destructive 'doubts'.

This is the message of this Shabbos, Parshat Zachor (Remember) when we read a special Maftir telling us to destroy Amalek – 'Suffik' the arch enemy of the Jews. As the Rambam writes that this will be the job of Moshiach.

May this Shabbat bring the end of all doubts and the revelation of …..

Moshiach NOW!!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad, Israel

Tales for the Shabbos Table

This week's section begins the third and central book of the Five Books of Moses. While the first two were mainly filled with stories, here we have only commandments.

Some Chassidim say that this is G-d's way of telling us that the only way to properly fulfill the commandments is by first learning stories about Tzadikim.

For instance, in this week's section we have a mysterious phrase describing the sacrifices;

"A pleasing smell to G-d". (1:9)

Rashi explains that G-d is saying that HE gets PLEASURE when His Will is done.

What does this mean? G-d is supposed to be infinite and certainly lacks nothing. How can we give Him pleasure? How can He get anything from us?

To understand this here is a story:

The small room was crowded but no one spoke. Only the difficult breathing of the old man on the bed broke the almost serene silence. Old Shlomo was dying. Several Rabbis of the Holy Society were standing around him silently reading Psalms, and behind them stood his family, but it was only a matter of minutes now.

For those of you that don't know, the "Holy Society" means the funeral staff. Traditionally in Judaism this task was (and still is) reserved for only the holiest and most spiritual of Jews, and here they were none other than the holy Tzadik Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Braditchev and nine of his pupils.

Suddenly the Rabbi broke the silence and leaning toward the dying man spoke forcefully..

"Rav Shlomo! Rav Shlomo! Why are you sad?"

Everyone had noticed that tears were streaming down Shlomo's cheeks but no one made much of it.

"You should be happy!" continued the Rabbi, "Everyone has to die sometime. You've lived a long fruitful life. Here, just look at your beautiful family! So why are you so sad? Why are you crying?"

"No no, not because of that!" the old man whispered. "Thank G-d, Thank G-d I'm not complaining. G-d forbid. It's just that, well...the Torah and the commandments...I never really cared. I always had other things on my mind. Who knows if I'll go to Heaven? Who knows? And even if I do, I'm pretty sure that it's not going to be very bright for me there." The
tears kept running down his cheeks.

"Ahhh! That's your problem?" exclaimed Rav Levi Yitzchak. "How would you like my Heaven?"

"Ehhh!?" exclaimed the old man with all the surprise he could muster up.

"That's right, how would you like my Olom Ha Ba (world to come)?" repeated the rabbi.

"Ehhh?" Said Shlomo as his eyes widened and he raised his head slightly. "Ca..can you do that? Is such a thing possible? Are.. are you serious?"

"Certainly!" said the Tzadik as he turned to one of his pupils and asked him to bring a pen and a piece of paper. In just minutes he was dictating; "write, 'I Levi Yitzchak ben (son of) Sarah do hereby give my entire place in Heaven to Shlomo ben ehh.' what is your mother's name?" Ahh yes! Shlomo ben Yenta, right?" Old Shlomo shook his head in astonished agreement as the Rabbi told his pupils to sign the deed. .

A warm smile of gratitude spread over his face as he took the precious document from the rabbi. If he had any energy left in his drained-out body he would have begun dancing. He gave one last loving glance at his benefactor, another at his family as though to say everything was all right, said the final "Shma Yisroel" prayer, closed his eyes and blissfully passed on to his now significantly increased heavenly reward.

Later that day, after the funeral, his pupils asked their master if he could explain. What type of merit did old Shlomo have that he deserved such a gift? Perhaps he did some unique deed or special mitzvah? It must have really been something unique, after all Rabbi Levi Yitzchak's afterlife was no small gift!!

"Maybe" answered the Tzadik, "But I don't know what it was."

"You don't know?" blurted out one of his pupils in disbelief, "Then why did you give him your entire heaven?!!"

"Well" answered Rav Levi Yitzchak "It's simple. I just reasoned that G-d loves the Jewish people. So to make a Jew happy, even for a few moments, was worth my entire world-to-come. That's why I gave it to him."

Of course this is a very strange idea. A great tzadik like the Rabbi of Braditchev certainly had a very clear idea of the infinite pleasures awaiting him in the afterlife. But he gladly lost it all in order to make... G-d happy ! But really he wasn't the first to do so. The first was Abraham the founder of Judaism. He was willing to sacrifice his only son because he knew it would please G-d.

In other words, this phenomenon is the foundation of the Jewish people. And it makes sense as well. The essence of Judaism is that G-d and His Torah (and the Jewish people) are alive.

NOT that G-d just created the world 5000 plus years ago, gave the Torah 3000 plus years ago and since then occasionally gets involved. But rather, that He creates EVERYTHING (including the spiritual worlds) CONSTANTLY. And His inner true reason for doing so is the Torah.

In other words, G-d has a living personality (the mystics call it His ten "spherot"), the deepest aspect of it is HIS pleasure, and ONLY the Jews (and those attached to them through the seven Noahide commandments) can connect to it.

That is why the Torah cannot be fulfilled properly without first reading the stories of the forefathers and Moses. Because without these stories we can think that G-d is far far away, and that the Torah is only for US and for OUR pleasure.

We can miss the real point...that everything we do should be in order to give pleasure to our creator.

With this we can also understand why, according to one version, the Baal Shem Tov was born because of such a deed.

Some three hundred years ago in the Ukraine there lived a hidden Tzadik called Rabbi Eliezer. This man was so righteous that he was frequently visited by Elijah the prophet (who left this world some 2500 years earlier). One day the prophet came to Rab Eliezer and announced that he was willing to reveal ANY secrets he so desired, including the date of the arrival of Moshiach. This, to a great mystic like him, was the greatest of all presents. His only desire in life was to increase knowledge in order to serve G-d more completely, and this was like a dream come true.

"There is only one condition, however" added Elijah. "You must tell me what you did on your thirteenth birthday.

"Don't worry, I guarantee it will not detract from you portion in heaven. You should know that whatever it was you did made a very great stir in even the highest spiritual worlds but it is not known what it was. Now I have been given permission to reveal all secrets to you if you tell me, and I will reveal it to no one."

But Rabbi Eliezer, without even thinking refused. "I'm sorry" he apologized, what I did was between me and G-d, I want no rewards."

Because of this he was denied the knowledge he so desired, but instead it was decreed that he would have a son that would teach the world how to do what he did; think, speak and act only in order to please the Creator.

And that is why we pray (in the Musaf prayers), for Moshiach to build the third Temple so we can again offer the sacrifices and REALLY do G-d's will.

Not to say that the sacrifices in the first two Temples weren't G-d's will, but rather that then the JEWS didn't sacrifice them with the proper attitude; ONLY to give G-d pleasure.

But now we are praying that due to the teachings of the Baal Shem and his followers, especially the Chabad Rebbes (who called their teachings "Torat HaMoshiach"), we will merit to serve G-d with joy and complete surrender in the Third Temple with..

Moshiach NOW!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad Israel

Torah Online Site: http://www.ohrtmimim.org/torah

Tales for the Shabbos Table

About 25 years ago after I graduated University I began to get interested in Judaism. Naturally the first book I undertook reading was the Five Books of Moses. Genesis and Exodus were pretty interesting. But then I turned the page to Leviticus (this week’s section) and saw page after page of animal sacrifices!

“Wow,” I remember thinking to myself “This is really crazy stuff!! What has this got to do with Judaism?!”. Why would G-d take them out of Egypt and tell them to build a Holy Tabernacle….for this?!!” And even if once upon a time they actually did these bloody rituals, it’s obviously obsolete today!
Don’t any of those Orthodox Rabbis know this?

It all made no sense.

At that point realized that I had no idea what Judaism is.

Later I learned that ‘The Zohar’ (mystical book) writes in detail about the sacrifices and calls them “The secret of secrets which touch on the mystery of ‘The Ain Sof” (another name for G-d).

But there is much of the Korbonot (Sacrifices) that we can understand and even internalize.

The previous Lubavitch Rebbe explains in the last essay of his life “Bati
LaGani”, that the Hebrew word for animal sacrifice, ‘Korban’ also implies ‘coming close’. Although it is impossible to see or understand G-d, it is a commandment to come as close as possible. The sacrifices in the Holy Temple were the ultimate way of coming close. Here are a few of the many reasons.

Firstly: Sacrifices are above understanding and they were the main service in the Holy Temple. Implying that a Jew’s connection to G-d is above all logic.

Secondly: There are many Midrashim (including the Zohar) and laws, which put great intellectual depth and meaning into the sacrifices and the Temple.
This brings one’s mind to be completely involved in the service of G-d.

Thirdly: Everyone has animal drives and instincts, much like the animals
sacrificed on the altar, which must be transformed and involved completely in Judaism. The sacrifices give inspiration and energy to do so with fire (enthusiasm), blood (desire), and soul (devotion). This is the foundation for prayer today and the involvement of emotion in Judaism.

Fourthly: Sacrifices use, and thereby give importance to, the most mundane of physical creations for the service of the Creator, therefore completely involving action.

In other words, the Sacrifices involve one’s whole being and personality; Will, Intellect, Emotions, and Body in the service of G-d; Complete involvement.

Here is a story to illustrate:

A Russian peasant once said to his friend “You know Ivan, I have been thinking, it is really very stupid for us to pay taxes to the Czar.”

“Why is that?” asked Ivan.

“Because do you know where all our Rubles come from? Well I’ll tell you where, the Czar himself has them printed in his palace, that’s where.”

“So what?” asked Ivan.

“So what!? I’ll tell you so what! So why doesn’t he just keep all the rubles he needs in the first place, and we’ll keep ours!”

“Ahhh Igor you are very stupid” replied Ivan “That’s the whole point! The Czar doesn’t want his ruble…he wants YOU and YOUR ruble!”

Similarly: Once a very great and famous Lithuanian Torah Scholar came to a center of Torah learning to find a potential match for his daughter. He invited all of the eligible young scholars in the town to the main synagogue that evening, and posed a difficult Talmudic question for them, announcing that whoever answered the question to his satisfaction would win his daughter’s hand in marriage.

The young men struggled to understand the question and even came up with tens of answers, but none of them was even close. After two hours the great man dismissed the disappointed congregation and retired to his room to pack his bags for his early departure the next day.

The next morning just as he had just entered the carriage to leave, one of the young men present in the crowd the night before, came running toward the carriage shouting for him to wait. The wise man ordered the driver to stop and the young man looked in the window.

“What is the answer?” the young man asked. “Pardon me?” replied the wise man. “Please excuse me” repeated the young man,” but I stayed up most of the night and I can’t seem to figure out the answer to your question, please tell me what the answer is.” “Ah!” replied the Scholar, “You are the one that I want as a son-in-law!”

The Scholar knew the answer, what he was looking for was complete
involvement.

What we are waiting impatiently for is the building of the Third Holy Temple by the Moshiach when the Sacrifices will again resume and all mankind will be completely involved in the true service of the Creator.

Moshiach NOW!!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad Israel

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