Rabbi
Doniel Staum, LMSW
Rabbi,
Kehillat New Hempstead
Social
Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch
STAM
TORAH
VAYAKHEL
5771
“NO CARRY-OVER”
February 27, 2010
Changing
Face in Poland
By DAN BILEFSKY
“I still struggle every day to discard my past ideas,” said Pawel,
a 33-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jew and former truck driver, noting with little
irony that he had to stop hating Jews in order to become one. “When I look at
an old picture of myself as a skinhead, I feel ashamed. Every day I try and do
teshuvah,” he said, using the Hebrew word for repentance. “Every minute of
every day. There is a lot to make up for...
Pawel’s metamorphosis from baptized Catholic skinhead to Jew began
in a bleak neighborhood of concrete tower blocks in Warsaw
Even as Pawel embraced the life of a neo-Nazi, he said that he had
pangs that his identity was built on a lie. His churchgoing father seemed
overly fond of quoting the Old Testament. His grandfather hinted about past
family secrets.
Pawel joined the army and married a fellow skinhead at age 18. But
his sense of self changed irrevocably at the age of 22, when his wife, Paulina,
suspecting that she had Jewish roots, went to a genealogical institute and
discovered Pawel’s maternal grandparents on a register of Warsaw Jews, along
with her own grandparents.
When Pawel confronted his parents, he said, they broke down and
told him the truth: his maternal grandmother was Jewish and had survived the war
by being hidden in a monastery by a group of nuns. His paternal grandfather,
also a Jew, had seven brother and sisters, most of whom had perished in the
Holocaust…
Shaken by his own discovery, Pawel said he spent weeks of
cloistered and tortured reflection but was finally overcome by a strong desire
to become Jewish, even Orthodox…“When I asked a rabbi, ‘Why do I feel this
way?’ he replied, ‘The sleeping souls of your ancestors are calling out to
you.’…”
When Moshe gathered the nation to instruct them about
the construction of the Mishkan and its vessels, he prefaced by repeating that
the seventh day is Shabbos. Rashi explains that in doing so Moshe reiterated to
the nation that as important as the Mishkan was, its construction was not an
excuse to violate the Shabbos.
There are thirty-nine primary categories of
forbidden ‘work’ on Shabbos, all of which were performed on a regular basis for
various functions of the Mishkan Service. Perhaps the most intriguing is the
prohibition of hotza’ah, transferring an object from a private domain to
a public domain, or vice-versa.
After
the nation enthusiastically responded to Moshe’s call for donations for the building of the Mishkan, the Torah states[1], “Moshe
commanded that they proclaim throughout the camp, saying, ‘Man and woman shall
not do more work toward the gift of the Sanctuary!’ and the people restrained
from bringing”. The Gemara[2] explains that Moshe was actually informing the nation that they were
not permitted to
carry from their private domains to the public domain on Shabbos.
It is noteworthy that unlike all of the other
categories of forbidden work, the gemara dedicates numerous chapters to lengthy
discussions regarding the prohibition of carrying[3].
Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch explains that the common
theme which underlies all of the categories of prohibitions on Shabbos is that
they all demonstrate mankind’s mastery. The planting process, the creation of
clothing, making a fire, building and destroying, etc. each demonstrates man’s
dominion and supremacy over the physical world.
The prohibition of ‘carrying’ however involves,
not man’s mastery over the physical world, but over the ‘social world’. The
concept of community and social life involves living beyond one’s own personal
confines. In order to further one’s interests he must expand into the public
domain where responsibility is shared. The public domain symbolizes all of
mankind, even those not subject to the laws of Shabbos, while the private
domain symbolizes the ‘privacy’ of Shabbos, exclusive to Klal Yisroel[4].
If other prohibitions demonstrate the subjugation
of our physical mastery to the Will of G-d, then the prohibition of carrying
demonstrates our willingness to subjugate our social life to the dictates of
G-d.
Children often react aversively when they are
instructed by their parents not to have social contact with certain ‘friends’
whom their parents feel exert negative influence on them. On Shabbos, in a
certain sense, we are instructed to sever our social contact with the nations
of the world, so that we can retreat into our ‘private domain’ - the domain of
Shabbos observance. The prohibition of carrying between domains, symbolizes
that on the holy day of Shabbos our focus is exclusive to our people who
comprise our ‘private domain’.
Rabbi Hirsch explains that this is why the Torah relates
dual roles that Shabbos plays. In the first set of Luchos, the Torah states
that Shabbos commemorates the creation of heaven and earth, while in the second
set of Luchos it states that Shabbos commemorates the exodus from Egypt
Creation symbolizes G-d’s mastery over the entire
universe. The fact that we refrain from thirty-eight forbidden labors
demonstrates our faith in that truth. The exodus from Egypt Egypt
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan notes that by not carrying we
also relinquish our ownership over everything in the world. One of the chief
signs of ownership is that one is able to take his possessions wherever he
pleases. On Shabbos, when one leaves his home, he may take nothing with him
except for the clothes on his back. Shabbos observance symbolizes that the
world belongs to G-d, as well as everything contained in His world.
There is therefore tremendous significance that
lies behind the prohibition of carrying on Shabbos. That is why there is much
discussion devoted to its laws and understanding. When we refrain from carrying
on Shabbos we are connecting ourselves to an exclusive ‘private domain’, the
domain of the Chosen People.
The prohibition of carrying is not just another of
the thirty-nine forbidden labors, for it represents an additional symbolism of
Shabbos. The other thirty-eight symbolize the holiness of Shabbos, but this
final one symbolizes that the holiness of Shabbos is endemic only to the Holy
Nation.
Although on Shabbos we do not demonstrate mastery
over the physical world, on Shabbos we demonstrate how the entire physical
world is all a conduit with which to serve G-d. By retreating from our daily
pursuits of furthering creation, we have the ability to focus on elevating what
we already possess. In so doing we remind ourselves that this is essentially
our mission all week long – to use all we possess to serve G-d
The special reading of Parshas Shekalim
begins with the command that every Jew donate a half-shekel coin to the
Mishkan: “This shall be given by everyone who passes through the counting… a
half shekel from the holy shekel coin… as gift to Hashem.[5]”
Rashi quotes the Medrash that G-d showed Moshe the appearance of a coin made
from fire weighing a half shekel and instructed him “This is what they shall
give.”
The Medrash itself mentions that Moshe
had difficulty envisioning the half-shekel until G-d showed him a heavenly
vision of a “coin of fire”. Why was it so difficult for Moshe to envision the
appearance of this half-shekel coin and how did seeing a coin of fire help?
The Chiddushei Harim[6] related
that he was once in a shul in Germany
Rabbi Elimelech Biderman shlita adds[7] that this
is why the Torah instructs that each Jew give a half-shekel, and not a whole
shekel. G-d does not need our donations. What G-d does desire is our desire!
G-d values our yearning to connect with Him and to participate in His Service
in any manner possible. Therefore, G-d instructs us to give a mere half-shekel,
a relatively insignificant sum, to show that it’s not the quantity that
matters, as much as the inner desire with which it’s given.
At first Moshe could not comprehend
how giving physical coins could serve as atonement. Surely G-d could not be
bribed with money! But once Moshe saw the ‘coin of fire’ he understood that it
wasn’t the money that afforded atonement, but the heart with which it was
given.
Rabbi Biderman adds that according to
what we have said, in regards to this mitzvah there is hardly any difference
between the days when we had a Bais Hamikdash to now when we are in exile. Just
as then the chief component of the giving was the ‘internal donation’ of heart
and soul, so too today. In fact, it’s very possible that we can connect to this
mitzvah even more than they could when there was a Bias Hamikdash. Today that
we are unable to donate anything to the Temple
On Shabbos we allow the inner yearning of our
soul to express itself as we elevate all of the physical world into a Shabbos
utopia. That serves as a chizuk and training for the rest of the week when we
are engaged in the world of commerce and the challenge of earning a livelihood.
The mitzvah of donating a half-shekel
reminds us that whatever we donate to others is valued by Hashem, not simply
the dollar amount, but the magnitude of love with which it is given.
“The people restrained from bringing”
“The sleeping souls of your
ancestors are calling out to you”
[3] Tractate Shabbos has many chapters,
aside from Tractate Eruvin which is entirely dedicated to the laws of carrying
on Shabbos.
[4] Gemara compares a non-Jew who
observes Shabbos to a peasant who interrupts the kings private meal with his
governess. Such a brazen act warrants the death penalty.
[5] Shemos
30:13-14
[6] Rav Yitzchak Meir Altar, the first
Gerrer Rebbe; Yahrtzeit is 23 Adar (1866)
[7] Be’er HaChaim – Yimei HaPurim
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