STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
BEHAR-BECHUKOSAI 5778
“CREATING
INSPIRATION”
Yossi Klein Halevi, author of Like
Dreamers[1],
related:
“When I was writing the book, which I worked
on for eleven years, I had several questions for which I searched for answers. The
first question was about what the paratroopers did when the city was
recaptured.
“Everyone heard the incredible announcement
by Motta Gur that “Har habayit b’yadienu”[2]. It
was not just a military report, but a historical claim. Yet, shortly afterwards
the soldiers were frantically searching for the way to get down to the Kotel
Hama’aravi. How was it possible that the paratroopers of the 55th
brigade left Har Habayit to go to the Wall?
To us today it’s passé, but if we think back
to that moment, how could they leave the place of the Mikdash itself to go to
the remaining outer wall? A brigade is composed of roughly two thousand men. 20
% of the brigade were religious Zionists. They understood the holiness of the
Temple Mount. Why would they want to pray by the Kotel rather than at the place
of the Temple?
“I asked this question to Chanan Porat[3]. He
replied, “I don’t have an answer. But we knew of the Wall. That was the place of
Jewish prayer for hundreds of years, and we just wanted to touch the Wall.” But
he couldn’t give me a clearer response.
“I remember as a fourteen-year-old boy going
to the Wall soon after the war ended, and not even looking up. I felt so
entranced just to stand in the presence of the wall.
“In retrospect, my feeling is that the
soldiers wanted to be in the place where Jews had prayed for centuries for that
moment to occur. Har habayit, korbanot, avodah, were unfortunately too abstract
for them. In 1967, they wanted to have a physical connection with the collective
two-thousand-years of prayer throughout the exile. At that moment, the Jews wanted
to honor two thousand years of longing.
“I believe the reason why we connect so much
to the picture is because it captures paratroopers at the greatest moment of
victory, being transformed into pilgrims with a look of humility and surrender,
rather than hubris and victory.
“I believe that was why they went down from
Har Habayit to the kotel. At the moment of their greatest victory, they were
overwhelmed with gratitude and humility toward all those who had prayed and
longed for that moment.
“That’s what that moment is about – not Motta
Gur stating “Har Habayit b’yadeinu”, as much as it is about the
paratroopers rushing down to the Wall to connect with generations of prayers
and yearning.
It seems like a complete enigma. How is it
possible that Har Sinai, the place where the most seminal event in world history
took place, today possesses absolutely no sanctity? This is contrast with Har
Habayis which retains its holiness until today.
This question also touches on another
question people often ask: why doesn’t G-d inspire me?
At the conclusion of Chumash Vayikra, two of the
laws the Torah discusses are bechor and ma’aser. A first-born
animal is consecrated to G-d from birth. “A firstborn of animals, however, which—as a firstborn—is Hashem’s,
cannot be consecrated by anybody; whether ox or sheep, it is Hashem’s.”[4]
The laws of ma’aser beheimah, tithing animals, was
performed in a unique manner. “All tithes of the herd or flock—of all that
passes under the shepherd’s staff, every tenth one—shall be holy to Hashem.”[5]
Rashi
explains how the tenth animal would be tithed: “When he (the farmer) is about
to tithe them (the cattle), he passes them through a door one after the other,
and the tenth he strikes with a rod smeared with red dye, so that it should
afterwards be recognized as being one of the tithes. That is what he does to
the young sheep and calves of each separate year.”[6]
There
is a fundamental difference between the sanctity of the bechor and the sanctity
of the ma’aser. The bechor is sanctified automatically, its holiness is innate
from birth. The ma’aser however, is separated and designated for holiness by
the farmer’s actions.
The
final law mentioned in Chaumash Vayikra[7] is
that once an animal is sanctified as ma’aser beheimah, it’s holiness cannot be
exchanged, even for a more robust and fitting animal. If one tries to do so,
both the originally sanctified animal, as well as the animal he wants to
transfer the holiness to, are sanctified.
Following
that halacha, the Chumash concludes: “These are the commandments that Hashem
commanded Moshe for the B’nei Yisroel on Har Sinai.”[8]
Chumash
Vayikra ends with the concept of generating holiness through one’s efforts,
emphasizing that such holiness is permanent, and cannot be exchanged.
The covert
message is that permanent holiness is the result of one’s efforts. If one wants
to be a holy person he cannot wait for inspiration to hit, or for ‘holy
moments’ to occur. Rather, he must create them.
Har
Sinai was analogous to the wedding hall where our marriage to Hashem, as it
were, transpired. It was an incredible event, but what’s important is not where
it happened, but what happened. After a couple gets married, the
location of where they tied the knot is no longer relevant, beyond the
pictures. What’s important is that the knot remains securely tied, their
devotion and pledge to each other endures.
Before
a wedding, the florist sets up the flowers, the photographer sets up the lighting
and equipment, the band arranges the music, and the caterer prepares and
organizes the meal. The groom and bride need to only show up.[9]
Afterwards, everyone takes their equipment, and the groom and bride head home. All
the details involved in the wedding were ultimately arranged for them and have no
effect upon their marriage.
However,
once they move into a home and live there for several years, and raise children
there, if they decide to move, it will be harder to leave. Memories developed
lovingly over time, with shared emotional experiences are not easily erased.
There
are many homes of famous personalities that are preserved. One can visit the
home of FDR in Hyde Park, NY, Thomas Jefferson in Monticello, Virginia, or Abe
Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, to name a few. Long after the person is gone,
his mark is left upon the place where they lived.
It was
Hashem who brought the holiness and incredible revelation upon Har Sinai. The
nation had to do nothing more than to show up, witness it, and accept it[10].
Therefore, when the event ended, the holiness departed as well.
The
Bais Hamikdash however, was the place where we created holiness through our
efforts and service. Therefore, that holiness is eternal, even two thousand
years after the physical structure has been destroyed.
We
indeed celebrate Sinai, but the event, not the place. We celebrate it by living
its message and legacy, every time we study Torah, and strive to live by its
standards.
After
the wedding ends, what’s important is that the groom and bride remain committed
to each other. After Sinai, our commitment to Torah is what remains paramount,
and that is what we celebrate on Shavuos. True greatness comes from the
holiness we generate, far more than temporal holiness that is effortlessly
pre-arranged.
“Every tenth one—shall be holy to Hashem”
“These
are the commandments that Hashem commanded… on Har Sinai.”
Rabbi Dani Staum,
LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New
Hempstead
Rebbe/Guidance
Counselor – Heichal HaTorah
Principal – Ohr
Naftoli- New Windsor
[1]
“The story of the Israeli Paratroopers who reunited Jerusalem and divided a
nation”
[2] “The Temple
Mount is in our hands”; Gur made the announcement on June 7, 1967, during the 6
Day War, when Yerushalayim was recaptured from the Jordanians, who had maintained
control of the city since 1948.
[3] who was part of that brigade and later
became the Head of the Knesset Lobby for the Temple Mount
[4] Vayikra 27:26
[5] Vayikra 27:32
[7] Which follows
the aforementioned law of tithing animals
[8] Vayikra 27:34
[10]
That was their way of “signing the check”
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