STAM TORAH
PARSHAS ACHAREI MOS-KEDOSHIM
PESACH SHENI/LAG BA’OMER 5778
“ETERNAL HOPE”[1]
In 1944 Binyamin Wertzberger, a sixteen-year-old Hungarian Jew,
was sent to a Concentration Camp where he was forced to drag heavy train tracks
with his bare thin hands. His entire family, including a brother and two
sisters perished during the war.
On one occasion, when he was waiting in line to receive his pitiful
food rations, a Nazi asked him if he had any dreams of making it to his
Jerusalem? Wertzberger remained silent.
The Nazi taunted him - "Maybe your ashes will merit to get
there through the chimneys of the concentration camp."
Wertzberger was beaten, humiliated, starved and forced to work in
the most difficult circumstances, but he never forgot the Nazi's words.
Following the Death March, he as one of the few who arrived at the
Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria. On May 5, 1945, the camp was liberated
by the US army.
After a long journey, he made it to Israel where he married and
raised a family. His children learned in yeshivos and lead a life of Torah and
Mitzvos.
When he retired, he went to the offices of the Western Wall
Heritage Foundation[2], and offered to work for them.
At first they were hesitant, but he insisted that he would do anything they
wanted.
He was given the job of cleaning the stones of the Kosel. He wakes
up at 5 AM every day to do so.
In his words: "When I stand near the holy stones, I feel like
I'm taking revenge on that Nazi officer. This is my Jewish revenge."[3]
The ‘minor holidays’, Pesach Sheni and Lag Ba’omer, are four days apart.
Although the significance of these days are very different, there is an equal
message that both impart, which is particularly vital to our generation.
In the year 2449 from creation, the second year following the exodus from
Egypt, the Jewish Nation in the desert, was instructed by Hashem to offer the
Korbon Pesach on the fourteenth of Nissan.
There was a group of people who were ritually impure and therefore
forbidden/exempt from offering the Korbon Pesach. They were unhappy with their
exemption and complained to Moshe that they too wanted the opportunity to offer
the unique Korbon. Hashem replied by instructing Moshe about the concept of
Pesach Sheni, the second Pesach. Those who were impure or distant, and therefore
unable to bring the Korbon Pesach on the fourteenth of Nissan, could do so one
month later, on the fourteenth of Iyar.
We live in a generation which struggles with feelings of meaningless,
despair, and giving-up. Part of the challenge of living in a blessed affluent
society, if the struggle to feel that there is meaning in our actions and the
lives we lead.
The false persona displayed on social media of perfect happy lives, leads
people to think that there is something wrong with them for having a more
mundane and less extravagant life. Why doesn’t my vacation/spouse/house/children/job/life
look like my friend’s/neighbor’s/sister-in-law’s life appears on his/her
Facebook page? Although it is altogether superficial, it leads to great
discontent and inner turmoil.
Regarding religiosity too, people feel that if they cannot reach the
greatest levels quickly, or if they struggle constantly in certain religious
areas, or have fallen into sinful behaviors, they are damaged goods. They feel
they are beyond rectification and that G-d views them disdainfully. It’s easier
to just give up and stop struggling.
The powerful message of Pesach Sheni is that of second chances. In the middle
of its discussion of the laws and procedures of the Yom kippur service
performed by the Kohain Gadol, the Torah states: “And he will atone for the
Sanctuary from the impurity of the B’nai Yisroel and from their transgressions,
all of their sins, and so he shall do for the Tent of the Meeting, השכן
אתם בתוך טומאותם - who resides with them in the midst of their impurity.”[4] Rashi[5]
explains that the pasuk is teaching us that the Shechina resides with Klal
Yisroel even when we are impure.
Hashem doesn’t seek or desire perfection; but the yearning to grow and to
maintain the struggle for growth.
Rabbi Yaakov Meir Schechter shlita explains[6] that
every generation has a "צו השעה" a
directive for its time, a particular divine mission incumbent upon it to
grapple with. He explains that our generation’s challenge is to overcome
feelings of worthlessness and despair.
Rav Shechcter quotes Rav Yehuda Horowitz of D’zikov who noted that after
World War One, there was a noticeable and palpable decline in simchas
hachaim – satisfaction and happiness for life, that seemed to settle on the
world. People no longer appreciated or attached value to their own efforts and
spiritual accomplishments.
Therefore, it has become our mission to challenge those notions, and to
help people recognize their own value and greatness. Our mission is to offer
chizuk – to first strengthen ourselves, so that we can strengthen others.
Especially in times of confusion and spiritual struggle, it is incumbent upon
us to recognize our greatness and how beloved we are in the eyes of Hashem, even
in our darkest moments. It is only with that perspective that we will be able
to forge on, and never give up on our efforts to constantly grow.
That is part of the reason the Torah taught by Rav Nachman of Breslov seems
to resonate so much in our time. Rav Nachman’s constant message was about the
inner greatness and holiness within every Jew.[7] That
concept is so desperately sought out and needed to be heard, because so many
feel their lives and their davening and mitzvos are meaningless and devoid of
higher purpose.
Lag Ba’omer has a deep connection with the esoteric parts of the Torah. On
the day of his departure from the world, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai revealed to
his students a collection of secrets of kabbalah.
Kabbalah discerns hidden holiness, not apparent at face value. It sees
beyond the surface and ascribes meaning and ‘divine energy’ to everything in
existence.[8]
The fires of Lag Ba’omer symbolize the eternal light of hope, even in the
darkest and most bleak of times – physical and spiritual. It was Rav Shimon Bar
Yochai who promised that the Torah will never be forgotten from the Jewish
people[9].
The Torah commands, “Kedoshim tihiyu – You shall be holy”[10].
Those two words contain the mantra of a Jew – to strive for holiness and to
lead a life beyond the mundane.
Parshas Achrei Mos begins with a discussion of the service of Yom Kippur,
and how the Kohain Gadol achieved atonement for the nation for all its sins. It
is not a coincidence, that the commandment of Kedoshim follows the Yom Kippur
avodah, or that Parsha Acharei Mos and Kedoshim are read together during
non-leap years. Being holy is not ‘all or nothing’. If one sins and acts in an
unholy manner, he has not perpetually destroyed himself. Following the
repentance process of Yom Kippur, one can attain holiness, often achieving greater
levels than he had before his falling and failing.
This is clearly seen from Aharon Hakohain who reached his greatest levels as
the Kohain Gadol after he had unwittingly led the nation to commit one of its
most egregious sins – that of the Golden Calf. It was after that devastating
failure, which caused Aharon himself to feel that he was no longer worthy for
the position, that he became the symbol of the divine Service for perpetuity.
Rav Nachman taught[11] אם
אתה מאמין שאפשר לקלקל, תאמין שאפשר לתקן – if you believe that you are able
to distort, then you must belief that you are able to rectify.”
That is what we ‘taste’ in the matzah we
customarily eat on Pesach Sheni, and that is what is reflected in the fires we
celebrate on Lag Ba’omer: The inner inextinguishable light that continues to
shine despite the thickest darkness.
“You shall be holy”
“Who resides
with them in the midst of their impurity”
Rabbi Dani Staum, LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance Counselor – Heichal HaTorah
Principal – Ohr Naftoli- New Windsor
[1] Based on the lecture given at
Kehillat New Hempstead, Shabbos Kodesh parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim 5772
[2] the
organization that maintains and upkeeps the plaza in front of the Kosel
[4]
Vayikra 16:16
[5]
Quoting Yoma 57a and the Sifra
[6]
Kuntrus Tzav Hasha’a
[7]
True understanding of Rav Nachman’s writings requires time, effort, and
understanding of many lofty concepts. Many only learn his ideas on a more
superficial level. Still, the most important component is to feel that sense of
chizuk in a proper and healthy framework.
[8]
This is why studying kabbalah without the proper holy framework is dangerous
and strongly censured by the Sages. One must be proficient in all areas of the
‘revealed Torah’ before he can begin to comprehend the esoteric portions of the
Torah without distorting and convoluting its deep messages.
[9]
Shabbos 138b
[10]
Vayikra 19:2
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