Birthday Celebrations

This past week I celebrated my 27th birthday and for the occasion I researched some of the halachic and hashkafic literature on the issue of birthday celebrations, which I presented at the "Teshuva of the Week" shiur, which takes place at KINS every Wednesday night after Mincha-Maariv. Below is a sampling of some of the material I presented from different rabbinic sources, which support birthday celebrations.

The late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, strongly advocated for observant Jews to celebrate their birthdays. Rabbi Avraham Binyamin Sofer, the Ktav Sofer, son of the Chatam Sofer, was known to make a siyum on a tractate of Gemara every year on his birthday, which he details in one of his responsa (Responsa Ktav Sofer Yoreh Deah 1:148). In the biography of the Ktav Sofer, Ohel Leah, written by his Rabbi Sofer's son, the following story is recalled:

בעת ההיא בר”ח אדר יום הולדת אבינו זצ”ל בהיותו בפעסט ציוה למשמשו שלא יניח אדם לבוא לפניו כל היום, והיה רגיל מימי נעוריו לסיים על יום זה איזה מסכתא, וכל הבאים חזרו בלא מלאת מבוקשם, ובא רב גדול אחד מתלמידיו ומקורב למשפחתינו וביקש ליכנס והגידו לו את אשר ציוה רבו והיה הדבר לפלא בעיניו ובע”כ נכנס והשתומם על המראה כי מצא את רבו גועה בבכי, ושאלו רבינו למה אתה בוכה, ויאמר דע תלמידי חביבי היום הזה הוא יום אשר בו נולדתי והרי אני בן נ”ד שנים וד”ן אני את עצמי ויאמרו המושלים בואו חשבון הנפש במה עסקתי כל אותן השנים הללו אשר נצבי עלי כמו נ”ד, במה בליתי עיתותי היקרים, ומצאתים בלא תכלית הרבה, אין בי לא תורה ולא חכמה ולא צדקות, ולמא לא אבכה על בילוי ימי אשר אינם חוזרים, ויש לי לבכות מאין הפוגות, וכשמוע התלמיד את דברי רבו בכם גם הוא, כי אם בארזים נפלה שלהבת אשר כל ימיו לא עסק רק בתורה עבודה גמ”ח במדה גדולה כ”כ ובכל זאת בוכה ודואג על שנותיו, מה יענו אזובי הקיר אשר באמת בילו שנותם בבהלה, והלך לחוץ וסיפר הדבר להעומדים שם. מזה נראה גודל הענוה ומיעוט ערכו בעיניו.

On Rosh Chodesh Adar, the birthday of our father of blessed memory, when he was in Pest, he ordered his aid to not allow anyone to come in and see him on that day. He was accustomed ever since he was young to finish a masechta on that date. All who came on that particular day left without having their requests fulfilled. One great rabbi, who was one of his students and close to our family came and he requested to be allowed to enter and he was told what his rabbi had ordered and he was astonished; he forced his way in to see him and he was taken aback by what he saw for he found his rebbe sobbing. He He asked: Our rabbi why are you crying? And he said, you should know my precious student, today is the day in which I was born and behold I am 54 years olds (nun-daled, when reversed it spells the word dan, meaning judge) and I am judging myself, what I have I have done all of these years, how much have I wasted my precious time, and have not accomplished anything meaningful - I have no Torah, no wisdom and no righteousness - and why should I not cry on my wasted days which will never return? I should cry much more. And when the student heard the words of his rabbi he also began to cry. If a flame has engulfed the cedars, who all his days was only involved in Torah, avodah and chesed in such a large way and yet he still cries and worries about his years, what will the common people who have actually wasted their years be able to answer? And he went outside and told the story to those who were standing there. From here the great modesty and humility is evident.

The lesson to be learned from this moving story about the Ktav Sofer is that while birthdays are a time for a celebration they should also be a time for introspection - we should offer thanks to Hashem for having received the gift of life, while at the same time reflecting upon the ways we have used and can better use this most precious gift.

"Be Holy": Is it a Realistic Goal?

A special thank you to Mr. Jordan Pollack for being the first KINS Member to contribute to our new relaunched blog with this fascinating dvar Torah, which speaks of the challenges of living a life of kedusha and seeks to understand what G-d seeks from us when He commands us to "be holy." Yashar Koach!

By: Jordan Pollack

Parashat Kedoshim begins with an exhortation, which at a first glance, is making an impossible request.

קדשים תהיו כי קדוש אני ה' אלקיכם

You shall be holy because I, G-d, your G-d am holy.

It is difficult to understand how mere mortals can be requested to become holy because G-d is holy. This problem was stated simply by Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg in his sefer Iyun Tefila:{1}

כי איך ישוער לגוש עפר להתדמות ולהשתוות אל עצם קדושתו שהוא נעלה לאין חקר ומרומם לבלי שיעור.

How can a clod of earth (Man) compare to the Essence of Holiness which can not be understood nor can be measured?

Rabbi David Tzvi Hoffman, the Rector of the Rabbiner-Seminar in Berlin until his death in 1921, in his commentary to ספר ויקרא explains further:

בכל ספר ויקרא מלת קדוש כשהוא מוסבה אל ה', כתובה מלאה, כלומר בוא"ו, ואילו כשם תואר לבן אדם כתובה תמיד חסר וא"ו...כדי ללמדינו, שבעצם רק ה' הוא הקדוש המוחלט...ואילו בן- אדם יכול להשיג את הקדושה רק באופן יחסי

In the entire Sefer VaYikra the word Kadosh, when referring to G-d is written Maleh, meaning with the letter Vav, however when it is used as an adjective for man it is written Chasser, without the Vav…to teach us that only G-d is the absolute Holy One…whereas man is only able to attain holiness in a relative manner. {2}

It is extremely difficult to dismiss the significance of this mitzvah, especially since it is repeated four additional times in Vayikra in basically the same form (11:44, 11:45, 20:7, 20:26),

והתקדשתם והייתם קדשים כי קדוש אני

והייתם קדשים כי קדוש אני

והתקדשתם והייתם קדשים כי אני ה' אלקיכם

והייתם לי קדשים כי קדוש אני ה'

One can easily conclude that we are commanded to strive to reach the highest level of personal perfection. In fact this is how Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal) in his famous Musar work, Mesilat Yesharim seems to have understood this mitzvah. Basing himself on the famous Baraita of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair (Avoda Zara, 20b) he describes in detail nine steps to reach the ultimate level of Kedusha. The steps are listed in the very much over-simplified table below.

With all due respect to Ramchal, my difficulty with his approach is that it seems that it is intended for only those unique individuals with the temperament to control all their desires. Most people would have a difficult time following his program for character perfection. On the other hand, we should expect that the Mitzvot are commandments which an average person can perform, not just highly motivated individuals. Another difficulty with Ramchal is that his step-by step program is predicated on the view that Kedusha is the highest rung of the ladder. However, his version of the Baraita of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair is the only one which lists kedusha as the highest rung. In the following table other versions of the same Baraita show that Kedusha may be only a middle rung in the ladder – not that attaining that level is easy – but certainly more within average human reach.

In contrast to Ramchal’s approach that Kedusha is the pinnacle of character perfection, Chazal seem to define קדשים תהיו as פרושים תהיו - Be separate {3}! Rashi seems to understand this command in the context of the adjacent commandments. “Separate from sexual immorality”{4} or “This means a separation from idolatry.”{5} Rashi appears to limit being holy to not violating major negative commandments. Ramban prefers defining holiness as refraining from overindulging in permissible actions. Both explain holiness in a negative sense of not doing certain actions. While there is much positive to say about someone who can control his negative impulses, do we today necessarily consider that person holy? We can also ask, how does separating ourselves from actions which G-d is not associated with, like idolatry or sex or eating, fulfill the second part of the sentence “because I am holy?”

To explain this further, consider the Rabbi of Nemirov, in the fictional tale by Y.L. Peretz, “If Not Higher.” The rabbi, who is patterned after the hassidic rabbi Moshe Leib of Sassov, disappears every Friday morning of Selichot and an untrusting Litvak follows him only to discover that the rabbi, dressed as a Russian peasant goes into the woods and cuts wood for a sick, Jewish woman and lights a stove fire in her broken down shack as he recites selichot. It would seem that the rabbi would not qualify according to Chazal’s definition of פרושים היו, as being holy. Yet the Litvak in the story adds when people say that the rabbi ascends to heaven for selichot, “If not higher.” He implicitly understands that the rabbi is very holy. Is this common understanding of holiness a mistake?

One example from the Navi Yeshayahu should demonstrate that kedusha cannot only be defined by the performance of negative precepts. In the Haftora for Yom Kippur (57:14 – 58:14) Yeshayahu introduces Hashem as “The high and lofty One, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place.” What follows seems to be a description of who is holy and who is not. In other words, the reason for introducing Hashem as holy is to compare Him to the Jews of Yeshayahu’s day.

They seek me daily and wish to know my ways…

They did not forsake by righteous laws

They delight to draw near unto G-d.

The people the prophet is addressing are shomrei mitzvot. However, they ask:

Why have we fasted if You do not answer us?

Why have we afflicted ourselves if You ignore us?

G-d answers them:

On your fast day you pursued business and exact your payments…

Is this the type of fast that I have chosen?

...Is it just to spread sackcloth and ashes under oneself?

Will you call this a fast, a day of acceptance to G-d?

Is not this the fast I have chosen?

To loosen the chains of wickedness…

To let the oppressed go free?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

To bring the homeless into your house?

When you see the naked should you not clothe him

And from your own flesh you should not hide yourself?

Then your light shall break forth like the morning…

And when you call G-d will answer.

Observing negative commandments, like not eating on a fast day, is meaningless if their observance doesn’t result in having feelings for the needy and acting on those feelings by helping. The navi, by introducing Hashem in this section as Kadosh, emphasizes that a person who does have feelings for the needy, and by inference performs other positive commandments, is considered to be Kadosh just like Hashem Himself. Such a person is emulating G-d Who “supports the fallen, heals the sick, and frees those who are bound.{6}”

A different approach is taken by Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Berlin, in his HaEmeik Davar at the end of our Parsha (20:26). He points out that there is a difference between kedusha and havdala. Both mean separation, but havdala is separation for personal or logical reasons. A person may be disgusted by eating insects so he abstains from them. Kedusha is separation for no other reason than G-d commanded us, there is no logical reason to avoid those actions. The goal is that all of one’s actions should be leShem shamayim, even when you naturally would avoid an action it must be done because G-d commanded it be done {7}. “Be holy” should then be understood as “Make sure all your actions should be leShem shamayim. Make sure your motives are pure.”

A similar approach, but from a different angle, is taken by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. At the end of Parashat Shimini he describes in great detail the laws of purity. He then comments:

…we can form some idea of the spiritual and ennobling influence (the laws of purity) could wield on the nation…and each individual member of it… The consecration of the morally free nature of human beings was spread over everything which the hand touches or does. All work and craftsmanship then stands in service of this calling of Man to be morally free and near to G-d. The chisel and the needle, the weaving-stool and the kitchen utensils all work with an eye to the laws of morality which from the Heights of Moriah send the spirit of holiness into the ordinary life of the people. The lowest workman or workwoman feel themselves spiritually elevated by the consciousness which brought into their work…all commonness and brutality, self-depreciation and degeneration vanish and everything stand erect to create a People of God {9}.

According to Hirsch, the laws of Tumea and Tahara have the ability to elevate each person, and indeed each object, into the service of G-d. This elevation of everyone and everything in the service of G-d is holiness. Our Chazal, even after the destruction of the temple, attempted to retain the laws of Tumea and Tahara by eating their חולין, non-consecrated, food על טהרת הקדש- by adhering to the laws of Tahara that would apply to eating the sacrifices. Today we retain one practice of our chachamin in this area and that is Netilat Yadaim. The Gemara states:

And you shall make yourselves holy – refers to washing hands before the meal; And you shall be holy – refers to washing after the meal {10}.

We attempt to remind ourselves that all our actions are to be leShem shamayim. We must elevate even common, mundane activities. Some people have the practice of raising their hands and saying {11} שאו ידיכם קדש - Raise your hands in holiness - when they wash their hands to remind themselves that they are dedicating their hands in the service of G-d for all their activities.

In conclusion, while the commandment of קדשים תהיו may at the surface appear to be an impossible goal to reach there are various approaches to making this commandment a very realistic goal and perhaps primary objective in our daily lives.

Footnotes

{1} Quoted in Peninei HaKetav VehaKabbala, Hillel Cooperman, p 368. Jerusalem, 1990

{2} 11:45

{3} ספרא קדושים פרשה א ד"ה וידבר יקוק

{4} 19:2

{5} 20:7

{6} Shemoneh Esrei

{7} See also Rashi

{8} The Pentateuch, Vol. III (part 1), translated by Isaac Levy. p. 318, London, 1962

{9} ברכות נג:

{10} Tehillim 134:2

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself: The Analogy of the Netziv

By: Rabbi Daniel Kroll


This week's parsha contains the famous command, ואהבת לרעך כמוך - and you shall love your fellow as yourself. Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (1816-1893), the Netziv, explains in his commentary to the Torah, Ha'Emek Davar, that this commandment must be seen in light of the other commandments it is grouped together with in a single verse. The Torah states (Vayikra 19:18),

לא תקם ולא תטר את בני עמך ואהבת לרעך כמוך אני יקוק

You shall not take revenge and you shall not bear a grudge against members of your people; you shall love your fellow as yourself - I am Hashem

Basing his comments on a passage from the Talmud Yerushalmi, the Netziv writes

הנקמה בחברו דומה לאדם שמחתך בשר ולא נזהר היד שאוחז בסכין והיכה בסכינו על ידו השנית, אם תעלה על הדעת לחזור ולהכות את היד החותך ולנקום בה? כך 'ואהבת לרעך כמוך' אחר 'לא תקום', שאף על גב שחיי עצמו וטובתו קודם לשל חברו, מכל מקום הרי הוא כמו האדם בעצמו, שאף על גב שאין ראוי לאיזה אבר להכות אבר השני, מכל מקום אם כבר היכה, אין לנקום מהאבר המכה, כך אין לנקום מחברו אחר שכבר הזיק אותך, והרי הוא כמוך, שכל ישראל נפש אחת.

Taking revenge from a friend is similar to a person who, while cutting meat, was not careful with the hand that was holding the knife and he struck his other hand with the knife. Would that person ever entertain the thought to go ahead and strike the hand which was cutting and take revenge on it? So too, "Love your fellow as yourself" comes after "Do not take revenge", because even though one's own life and well being comes before that of his friend, nevertheless he (the friend) is like the person himself; for even though it is not fitting for one limb to strike another limb (on the same body), nevertheless if one of the limbs went ahead and struck, the other limb should not take revenge; so too one should not take revenge from one's fellow after he has already caused him damage, for behold he is like him, for all Jews are one soul.

The Netziv writes that if a person fulfills the mitzvah of ואהבת לרעך כמוך properly they will view taking revenge on a fellow Jew as counterintuitive; if a person sincerely views a fellow Jews as כמוך, like himself, any revenge taken would, in reality, be a self-inflicted wound. If we all heed the words of the Netziv, a person would not only see revenge as irrational, but would never need to entertain such illogical thoughts, because no Jew would ever cause harm to a fellow Jew whom he truly loves as himself, in the first place, for we are all one soul.

The Halachic Considerations of Postponing Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut

On the 5th of Iyar in the 5708, corresponding to May 14, 1948 the State of Israel was born as it declared its independence. For years Israel celebrated its independence with Yom Haatzmaut on the 5th of Iyar and Yom Hazikaron, a day to remember all of the soldiers who perished in order to maintain an independent state, was observed the day before on the 4th of Iyar.

Traditionally Yom Hazikaron is commemorated with a national tekes, or ceremony, in which many government ministers participate; the tekes takes place on the night of the 4th of Iyar.

In 2004 the 4th of Iyar fell out on a Sunday, meaning that the tekes would take place on Saturday night. Due to the need for increased security as a result of the Second Intifada, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate became concerned that the Sabbath would undoubtedly be desecrated. As a result they petitioned the government to postpone the observance of Yom Hazikaron until Sunday night (the 5th of Iyar) and the celebration of Yom Haatzmaut to Monday night (the 6th of Iyar). The government granted the wish of the Chief Rabbinate and a law was passed in the Knesset which states:

• If the 5th of Iyar falls out on Shabbat, Yom Haatzmaut will be celebrated on 3 Iyar of that year (Thursday).
• If the 5th of Iyar falls out on Friday, Yom Haatzmaut will be celebrated on 4 Iyar of that year (Thursday).
• If the 5th of Iyar falls out on Monday (like this year), Yom Haatzmaut will be celebrated on 6 Iyar of that year (Tuesday).

The Chief Rabbinate, under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, issued the following halachic rulings pertaining to the status of Yom Haatzmaut when celebrated on the 6th of Iyar and the character of the the 5th of Iyar, which is normally reserved for the celebration of Yom Haatzmaut, but in years like this year, is a day in which we commemorate the somber day of mourning for Israel's fallen, Yom Hazikaron:

• This year (2004, and all other years in which Yom Haatzmaut is observed on 6 Iyar and Yom Hazikaron on 5 Iyar), it would be inappropriate to recite Hallel and other festive prayers [on Yom Hazikaron] at a time when all of Israel is united, together with the bereaved families, with the memories of their sons who fell on the battlefields of Israel.
• However, when Yom Hazikaron is observed on 5 Iyar, Tachanun should not be recited because this is the date on which Yom Haatzmaut falls in every other year. And even if someone wished to disagree, the Kaf Hachayim has already written in the names of many poskim, that when there exists a doubt as to whether or not Tachanun should be recited, it is better not to recite it, since saying Tachanun is a reshut, (non-obligatory), and if you do not recite there is nothing lost.

For the full text of this fascinating eight page responsa, please CLICK HERE

In Memory of Rabbi Dr. Moses Mescheloff z"l

This past Sunday, 4 Iyar, we commemorated the second yahrtzeit of our rabbi emeritus, Rabbi Moses Mescheloff z"l. Please enjoy the following dvar Torah written by the rabbi's son, Rabbi David Mescheloff on the occasion of the yahrtzeit.

May G-d grant that this seudah shelishit and this d’var Torah contribute to the elevation of the neshamah – the eternal soul - of my beloved father and teacher, Rabbi Dr. Moses Mescheloff, of blessed memory. His second yahrzeit will begin this evening, 4 Iyyar. He served G-d and G-d’s Torah and G-d’s people, for over 75 years. He served KINS for over fifty years! I urge you all to read about my father, of blessed memory, and his remarkable life, on Wikipedia. A link to the article appears on the KINS web site.
It is customary to study Mishnah to honor the memory of a Jewish soul. The principal reason for this is that Torah study is the most sacred spiritual activity we Jews know; thus Torah study is the highest honor one can give to a spirit. Also, since the departed soul can no longer engage in Torah study as it did in its lifetime, we honor it by filling the vacuum created by its departure from our world. An ancillary reason is that the four Hebrew letters of the word Mishnah, when rearranged, spell the Hebrew word neshamah, soul. I have been privileged to receive the one-volume edition of Mishnah and commentaries that my father, of blessed memory, carried with him everywhere. He never wasted a minute. When he found himself having to wait somewhere, he always had his Mishnah, or a chumash, a gemara, or a Rambam, from which to study more Torah. “Learn something new every day” was his motto, and he lived it to the fullest.
Since today is Shabbat, and since my father’s yahrzeit begins only tonight, we will not study Mishnah together. Instead, we will study our Jewish concept of neshamah, the human soul. My father, of blessed memory, in his divrei Torah, would teach some source material of substance, and relate it to the event at hand and to the weekly Torah portion. I will try to do that, as well.
This afternoon at minchah we read (Vayikra 16:1),

וידבר ה' אל משה אחרי מות שני בני אהרון בקרבתם לפני ה' וימותו
And G-d spoke to Moshe after the death of Aharon’s two sons, [Nadav and Avihu], as they came near to G-d, and died…

This is a paraphrase of something we read last Shabbat. After Nadav and Avihu died, Moshe told Aharon what G-d had said to him earlier, that Moshe realized now referred to Nadav and Avihu: "בקרובי אקדש" – “I will be sanctified by those who are near to me.”
These are horrifying verses. Aharon’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, died as they came near to G-d. But doesn’t G-d want us to be near to Him? Don’t we say in Ashrei קרוב ה' לכל קוראיו – “G-d is near to all who call Him”? Is death the price for such nearness?
At first thought, it would seem that, indeed, that is the case. The second, third and fourth principles of our faith, as enumerated by Rambam, declare that G-d is absolutely transcendental. The second principle states that G-d is one, single, indivisible, simple unique unity; thus He does not occupy space. The third principle states that G-d is not matter or energy. The fourth principle states that G-d is not within the dimension of time. Thus G-d is not imaginable, in the only terms in which we perceive anything: space-time-matter-energy. To come near to G-d must mean, then, to leave this universe, to die.
Indeed, the children of Israel who stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah wanted to live, and so they maintained a distance from G-d. The Torah reports that “They said to Moshe, ‘You speak with us, so that we may hear, and may G-d not speak with us, lest we die!’ … and the people stood some distance away” (Shemot 20, 16-18).
Thus we have four questions:

1. Does closeness to G-d require death?
   
2. What does G-d want?
   
3. What do we want?
   
4. How did Aharon’s two sons die?

Let me first answer, and then explain:

1. No, closeness to G-d does not require death.
2. G-d wants us to live.
   
3. Most people want to live.
   
4. Nadav and Avihu wanted to die.
   

Let me explain these answers one by one. If G-d is transcendental – that is, if He is not in our universe of space-time-matter-energy, then how could a human being be close to him and yet remain in this universe? The answer lies in understanding the nature of the neshamah. The gemara in Berakhot (10a) notes that David HaMelekh said, five times in Tehillim

,ברכי נפשי את ה' - “May my soul bless G-d” –(103:1, 2, 22, and 104:1, 35). This five-fold repetition corresponds, says the gemara, to five correspondences between the neshamah and G-d:

הוא מלא כל העולם - אף נשמה מלאה את כל הגוף;
מה הקדוש ברוך הוא רואה ואינו נראה - אף נשמה רואה ואינה נראית;
מה הקדוש ברוך הוא זן את כל העולם כלו - אף נשמה זנה את כל הגוף;
מה הקדוש ברוך הוא טהור - אף נשמה טהורה;
מה הקדוש ברוך הוא יושב בחדרי חדרים - אף נשמה יושבת בחדרי חדרים

יבא מי שיש בו חמשה דברים הללו וישבח למי שיש בו חמשה דברים הללו
Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, fills the entire universe, so does the soul fill the entire body;
Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, sees but cannot be seen, so does the soul see but cannot be seen;
Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, provides existence to the entire universe, so does the soul vitalize the entire body;
Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is pure, so is the soul pure;
Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, resides in the innermost recesses, so does the soul reside in the innermost places;
May the soul, which has these five qualities, praise G-d, Who has these five qualities.

Our own human souls, our own consciousnesses, whose activities and existence we sense intuitively, are sometimes metaphorically called “a spark of the divine”, “G-d’s candle”, and “a part of G-d above”. Like G-d in relation to the universe, our invisible souls use our senses to see what is going on in the world. Our souls fill our entire bodies, infuse them with life, are pure and unspoiled by the pollutions of this material world, and reside hidden deeply within. As we say each morning, א-לוהי, נשמה שנתת בי טהורה היא. “My G-d, the neshamah you placed within me is pure!”
The mind-body problem, trying to understand how a pure, spiritual soul remains linked to a material, physical body, is a true paradox. Our sages recognized the phenomenon as nothing short of miraculous – we say this every time we say the berakha “asher yatzar”, that concludes “רופא כל בשר ומפליא לעשות” – we bless G-d “Who heals all flesh and does wonders”. It is the linking of soul and body that we find wondrous!
Yet the fact of our having a soul, a spirit, a non-material consciousness, a neshamah, is intuitively true. We feel it every time we say “I”. Our awareness of this truth about ourselves is one of the ways we are able to know with certainty that our transcendental G-d exists, and that, while He is not of time-space-matter-energy, nevertheless, the entire universe of time-space-matter-energy is infused with the divine presence. G-d and we can be infinitely close in this world, because each human being has a G-d-like transcendental neshamah. קדוש, קדוש, קדוש ה' צ-באות, but מלא כל הארץ כבודו. G-d is infinitely holy – separate from this world – but the world is full of G-dliness.
G-d wants us to live. G-d told us so, in the Torah:ובחרת בחיים (דברים ל, יט) - Choose life! The prophet repeated, speaking in G-d’s name: כי לא אחפוץ במות המת (יחזקאל יח, לב). - “I don’t even want the dead to die.” G-d addressed His kohanim with the same instruction: דבר אל אהרן אחיך, ואל יבא בכל עת אל הקודש ... ולא ימות (ויקרא טז ב) – “Speak to your brother, Aharon, that he not enter the sanctuary at every opportunity … so that he may not die.”
Paradoxically, the way to closeness to G-d requires acknowledging that we are not G-d, that G-d and we have separate identities, and that if we want to be close to G-d then we are called on to do what G-d wants. As we read last Shabbat, זה הדבר אשר ציווה ה' תעשו, וירא אליכם כבוד ה'. This is what G-d commanded that you do, so that G-d’s glory will appear to you. In order that we serve G-d - and not ourselves - we must serve G-d in the way that G-d commanded, the way that He expressed as His will. That is the way we will merit experiencing the presence of G-d’s glory. It will not do to attempt to force our will on G-d, worshipping Him as we want to. This was one fundamental error of Nadav and Avihu: they brought a fire G-d had not commanded.
But their mistake was even more fundamental. They wanted pure spiritual existence, closeness to G-d that is not possible for a living human being, in a human body. They were ready to die to achieve the closeness they wanted, even if they had to force that on G-d. As it says in Shir haShirim, "כי עזה כמות אהבה" (שיר השירים ח, ו) Love can be powerful to death. And so they burned the k’toret. That is the mixture of incense, whose fragrance is the most spiritual of all our forms of divine worship. R. Chaim ibn ‘Atar, the holy author of the Torah commentary OhrHaChaim wrote: “Aharon’s sons approached G-d’s lofty light, in sacred love … [with the intense longing for pure spirituality aroused by the k’toret,] their souls loathed their material flesh and burst out of their bodies, to be close to G-d.” The gemara in Shabbat (113b) describes their deaths as שריפת נשמה וגוף קיים – the neshamah was consumed, while the bodies remained.
This was what they wanted. But G-d wants us to live. G-d wants us to take no shortcuts to His closeness. G-d wants us to face the daily challenges that this material world presents to our spiritual souls. G-d wants us to work day after day, deed after deed, thought after thought, to uplift the material world and ourselves within it, to infuse it with spiritual meaning and with G-dliness.
My father and teacher, of blessed memory, devoted his entire life to this endeavor, and to helping thousands of others live this way. May his memory be eternally for a blessing, and may G-d grant that we continue in his path, living holy, Torah lives, close to G-d. Amen.

Thoughts from Israel on Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut

By Rabbi Leonard Matanky

Dear Friends:

Last week, I wrote to you from Poland where, together with 10,000 other Jews from around the world, I participated in the March of the Living. As always it was a somber and a difficult trip - as I led a group of 60 teenagers through what was once thecenter of Jewish life, and now is reduced to memorials, ruins and ashes.

But today, I write to you from Yerushalayim, still on the March of the Living, but now privileged to celebrate our Jewish present and future.

We arrived a few days ago, and, if European air traffic clears up, I should be back for Shabbat. But even if not, this has been a wonderful trip, filled with a sense of joy and “achdut”. And no where was this more evident than last night, on the eve of Yom HaZikaron - Israel’s memorial day for the 22,684 soldiers killed in the line of duty and 1,750 civilian victims of terror.

We spent the evening in the city of Raanana, arriving before sunset and participating in the city-wide ceremony for fallen soldiers. The theme of the program was “teachers telling stories” - stories of their students who had fallen in battle. And those teachers did a magnificent job - from the mayor of Raanana who was a former high school principal, to a physics teacher and a music teacher.

Listening to these educators, I could only think about the many rabbinic comments that equate a teacher to a parent - and I could only admire how close these teachers have stayed to the families of their former students.

Afterwards, we went to “Ohel Ari” - the magnificent synagogue and community center that former Chicagoans, Rabbi Stewart and Susie Weiss built in memory of their son, Ari, z”l. Ari was killed in Shechem eight years ago, and since then the Weisses have dedicated much their energies to keeping Ari’s memory alive. The community center they created was only recently dedicated and it is magnificent; not only as a structure, but as an organization, with lectures, classes, a kollel and of course minyanim. At Ohel Ari, Susie shared Ari’s story with our students - and she was great - eloquent, powerful, funny and poignant. I am so glad she agreed to speak - because the kids, and I gained so much.

In a few hours, Yom HaAtzmaut will begin. And while I truly look forward to lifting of the veil of mourning and beginning to celebrate, I can’t help but thinking that one of the most powerful messages of this trip was Yom HaZikaron; a message of bravery, of sacrifice and of peoplehood; the message of an entire country coming together not only to mourn, but to support one another as they continue to create the miracle of the State of Israel!

May the memories of all those who gave their lives defending this sacred land be for a blessing.