WHAT A GEMACH IDEA FOR YOUR SHUL OR YESHIVA! We received the following wonderful Gemach notice from Kollel Bnei Torah in Flatbush, to which six Shayne coats were anonymously donated.
Kollel Bnei Torah (blue/grey) Shayne Coat Gemach.
You forgot your coat at home and are in shul during the downpour?
No problem!
Borrow one of our coats from the coat room... just return within 24 hours!
Hakhel Note: Why not bring this Chesed to your Makom Torah or Tefillah?!
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Special Note One: The Gemach concept is indeed an incomparable one. The Chofetz Chaim (in Sefer Shemiras HaLashon, Chasimas HaSefer) provides the following powerful points regarding the establishment of a Gemach:
A. A Gemach that is established by more than one person (such as a loan fund to which many contribute, or the rain coats above which a few people purchase jointly) is a more powerful Mitzvah than a Mitzvah performed by one individual. The source for this, writes the Chofetz Chaim, is actually the Sifra in this week’s Parsha (10:4), in which Chazal teach that one cannot compare one person or party performing a Mitzvah, to many doing so. The Chofetz Chaim continues that it appears ‘pashut’ that Hashem will consider each person’s contribution as if he himself was performing the Chesed of the entire Gemach, since without him the Chesed would not have been possible. See there for further details.
B. A mitzvah for which money is spent is much greater, as the Zohar describes in Parshas Teruma.
C. A Gemach is at work even when one is sleeping or involved in business.
D. One should seek Mitzvos which are ‘Kevua LeDoros’--which can continue beyond one’s lifetime into future generations. If one can accomplish this, continues the Chofetz Chaim then even when ‘he is sitting in Gan Eden’, ‘Yitosef Lo Noam VeOhr Al Nafsho--additional pleasantness and light will be awarded to his soul’ through the Mitzvos taking place through the monies or articles that he had originally provided while in this world.
Take the Chofetz Chaim’s guiding light--and work on establishing a Gemach for your neighborhood, shul or community--with its light to shine upon you for eternity!
Special Note Two: In response to our question to why older people get white hair, we received the following wonderful insight from Rabbi Boruch Leff, which is actually an excerpt from his book Are You Growing? We add that the book is available, at a 40% discount by the following link:
http://image.aish.com.s3.amazonaws.com/Boruch%20Leff/AreYouGrowing.html
“Rav Shalom Schwadron, ztl, the Magid of Yerushalayim would tell the following story. He once visited a nursing home and saw some old men sitting on the bench arguing about something. One said, “It was number 24,” while the other countered, “It was not! It was 25!” Rav Shalom asked them what they were arguing about and why they were so passionate. The men told him that they have nothing to do all day so they decided to sit outside and count the buses that go by. Inevitably, one of them loses count and they begin to argue. “At least it gives us something to live for, something to get excited about, right rabbi?”
Rav Shalom would tell his audience and conclude, “So, the choice is yours. Do you want to be counting and arguing about buses when you are older? Or perhaps you would rather argue with your chavrusa about the Rashi and the Tosafos? The choices you make today will form what you will become, and how you will want to spend your days when you are retired.”
A famous aphorism states, “Watch your thoughts. Thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits, and habits become who you are.”
If we don't create good habits when we are young, if we don't train ourselves to value wisdom when we are youthful and vigorous, if we live unsatisfied, unfulfilled lives, we significantly reduce our chances to make the most of the wisdom of old age. By living meaningfully and wisely now, we will enhance and sharpen our life's purpose as senior citizens.
We all want to get old. The alternative--dying young--is on nobody’s wish list. Let us live productively when young, leading to a wise embracing of the aging process.”
Special Note Three: For a masterful discussion of Lag BaOmer, we refer you to the linked issue of Halachically Speaking. To download Volume 7, Issue 5 (Lag B’Omer), see http://tinyurl.com/3mwnd9x Halachically Speaking archives are available at www.thehalacha.com.
Hakhel Note: In honor of Lag BaOmer, we provide the following Note which has received a very favorable response in past years:
As we reach the Lag BaOmer milestone, we are faced with a perplexing question: What is really the sudden cause for celebration at this time? After all, from what we know of our past during the Omer period, 24,000 senior scholars--the students of Rebbe Akiva passed away for not properly respecting each other; even Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai, one of the surviving students, eventually passed away on this day; later, the Crusades took their great toll on Ashkenazic Jewry during Sefira; then, the great Posek for Ashkenazim, the Rema passed away on Lag BaOmer, like Rebbe Shimon; and, most recently, much of Hungarian Jewry was hurriedly annihilated during the period from Pesach to Shavuos in 1944--to such an extent that the survivors of Hungarian Jewry who do not know when their relatives or friends were murdered observe the Second Day of Shavuos as their Yahrzeit. So, what is the joy--the songs, the bonfires, the bows and arrows about? Why are weddings allowed, and Tachanun not recited?
Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Shlita (following the lines of the Gra’s Commentary on Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim, 493) teaches we celebrate that in all events, there were those who remained. Indeed, the resemblance in all of the aforementioned tragedies is striking: Rebbe Shimon passed his legacy to his students (it is no coincidence that so many other future generations of Tannaim are buried right around Rebbe Shimon in Meron). Similarly, even after the Crusader massacres killing Rabbeinu Tam and many others in many communities, the Baalei Tosfos flourished for many generations, culminating in the Rosh, and his son, the Tur, as the basis for our Shulchan Aruch; the Rema, rather than being the final word in Halacha for Ashkenazim, became the basis and guide for the scores of future poskim; the remnants of Hungarian Jewry fill the Yeshivas from Bnei Brak to Borough Park.
But it is more than that we are just survivors. It is the fulfillment of the Posuk (Devorim 32:23): “Chitzai Achaleh Bom”--I will finish my arrows in them--which Chazal (Sotah 9A) explain to mean--my arrows will be finished in them, but they will not be finished. Hashem has guided us through events, times, places and tragedies of immense proportions, while the other 70 nations of the world disappeared from far less calamitous events. Perhaps this is the symbol of the bow and arrow on Lag BaOmer--the arrows are done, but we are not. Why is this so--why has our history--our experience in this world been so different than all other nations?
We suggest that the answer to this, too, brings us to this time of year--it is, once again, not coincidental that all of this is happening as we prepare to receive the Torah--for it **IS THE TORAH** that has made our lives so different and so endurable. It is the Torah, created well before the world as we know it was created, that has given us the “supernatural” force for us to thrive and survive. At this special time of year, we should especially demonstrate our recognition of the importance of Torah in our lives and in the lives of K’lal Yisroel.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTION: For the coming two weeks until Shavuos, in whatever you are learning, whether it is a thought on the Parsha, Daf Yomi, or even a Torah email, think about how important Torah study in our lives. It is not academics, nor a body of knowledge, but the one part of our life that permeates and invigorates us--and the bonfire that warms and enlightens us every day of our lives.
Special Note Four: The following is excerpted from Love Your Neighbor by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, Shlita, on this week’s Parsha (p.336): …"and a man shall stumble upon his brother ... " (Vayikra 26:37). Rashi cites the Sifra which explains this verse thus: "One shall stumble through the iniquity of another, for all the people of Israel are responsible for each other." (Sifra; Sanhedrin 27b). The Chofetz Chaim used to relate the following analogy: Mr. Cohen loaned Mr. Green a large sum of money. Mr. Shapiro agreed to guarantee the loan; he would pay Mr. Cohen if Mr. Green will be unable to pay. If Mr. Green were investing his money in a business that was sure to lose money, Mr. Shapiro would definitely do everything in his power to prevent Mr. Green from becoming involved in that business. Mr. Shapiro knows that if Mr. Green wastes his money, the obligation to repay the loan will be his. "The same applies to preventing others from sinning," said the Chofetz Chayim. "If someone has the ability to stop another person from transgressing and fails to do so, he will ultimately be held liable for that offense. Therefore, we must do everything we can to prevent transgressions."
Special Note Five: We continue our Erev Shabbos--Halachos of Shabbos series:
A. We would like to remind our readers of a suggestion that we provided a while ago. That is, on every Erev Shabbos to Daven to Hashem that you will not be Mechalel Shabbos in any manner, including BeShogeg and BeOness.
B. For those who inquired, the Sefer Shemiras Shabbos KeHilchasa (12:16) writes that one is allowed to leave the strainer at the bottom of his sink on Shabbos, and there is no problem of Borer, because everything is really p’soles that is going into the sink--it is only that one does not want the larger pieces of p’soles to clog up the drain upon entering. Borer is separating Ochel from p’soles--and not p’soles from p’soles.
C. Every Wednesday HaRav Yisroel Dov Webster, Shlita, noted Posek , Dayan Shaarei Mishpat, and author of The Halachos of Pregnancy and Childbirth, gives a Hakhel Shiur to women in Boro Park attended by approximately 100-125 woman. This past winter he gave a series of Shiurim on Hilchos Bishul, and at the end of the series the women were given a bechina of 100 questions. The following is a portion of them, BE”H bli neder we will post more of the questions and answers in the coming weeks . If anyone has any further follow-up questions regarding the answers, he should contact his own Rav for there may be another opinion, or contact Rabbi Webster at 718-259-2063.
Questions 1-15 were covered last week. We now continue with questions 16-20. One reader commented that relating to last week’s questions, we should have provided the Tenaim of Chazara. We leave this for each individual’s review.
16. Before I went to sleep I took the cover off the cholent to check it. Am I permitted to re-cover it?
Only if it is completely cooked. Hagoan Harav Moshe Feinstein ZT”L held that one should not recover the pot while it is area A of the blech(over the fire). Other poskim are of the opinion that it is permissible to recover the pot as long as the food is completely cooked.
17. Why with respect to a solid food do we say בישול אחר בישול אין, while regarding a liquid we say בישול אחר בישול יש?
Because in a solid, the food is changed from a raw state to a cooked state. However, in liquids, the purpose of the cooking process is not to change the quality of the food as with a solid, but simply to heat up the liquid--so one will be able to drink the liquid while it is hot. Therefore, when the liquid cools off, it is considered as if one is cooking it again for the first time.
18. If a liquid is cooked to yad soledes bo, is one allowed to put it into a place where it will become boiled?
There is a dispute among the Poskim, according to HaRav Moshe Feinstein ZT”L it is permissible, the Eglai Tal and others held that it is prohibited .
19. Since we are of the opinion that בישול אחר בישול אין in a solid, is one permitted to place it on the blech on Shabbos?
No, due to the prohibition of chazarah.
20. Is one permitted to take boiled chicken and reheat it on top of a cholent pot?
Yes
Special Note Six: In this week’s Parsha, we learn in the Tochacha that much punishment comes from our failure to observe the Shemitta. Rabbi Refoel Shain, Shlita, asks a pointed question: The Shemitta year applies to people who work the earth. What about all of the businessmen? Don’t they continue to do business the entire Shemitta year? If so, how do they glean the lessons of Kedusha and Emunah so inherent in Shemitta’s observance? Fascinatingly, he explains that because Shabbos occurs once every seven days, every day of his Shabbos observance will add up to an entire Shemitta year after seven years. The land, however, continues to ‘work on Shabbos’, as plants and trees continue to grow, and so the Shemitta year is needed to ‘catch-up.’ Furthermore, the fiftieth year of Yovel can be understood as comparable to the aggregate of 50 years of seven days of Yom Tov (two days of Pesach, one day of Shavuos, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkos, and Shemini Atzeres) that the businessman observes every year, which the land does not, so that over the 50 years through Yovel--one has observed a year of Yamim Tovim--which the land has not. Accordingly, in the Yovel, the land has its turn!
We as ‘businessmen’ who are not working on the land of Eretz Yisroel should learn to appreciate the power and potency of each day of Shabbos and Yom Tov--our personalized portion of a Shemitta year--and inhale its Kedusha and Emunah to take us through…until the next Shabbos or Yom Tov!
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Hakhel MIS
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Important Numbers
