Author Topic: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh  (Read 4265 times)

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Offline muman613

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Shalom JTF readers,

This week we are reading the portion called Bechukotai... This parsha is famous for the promise of blessing, but more famous for the litany of curses which Hashem promises will befall us if we do not keep his Torah and it's commandments.

Despite the harsh language at the end of the curses Hashem promises that there is always a way for us to return to him, and that a remnant of the Jewish people will not forsake the covenant made by our forefather Abraham.

Quote
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/2098/jewish/Bechukotai-in-a-Nutshell.htm

G‑d promises that if the people of Israel will keep His commandments, they will enjoy material prosperity and dwell secure in their homeland. But He also delivers a harsh “rebuke,” warning of the exile, persecution and other evils that will befall them if they abandon their covenant with Him.

Nevertheless, “Even when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away; nor will I ever abhor them, to destroy them and to break My covenant with them; for I am the L‑rd their G‑d.”

The Parshah concludes with the rules on how to calculate the values of different types of pledges made to G‑d, and the mitzvah of tithing produce and livestock.

It seems Rabbi Richman has not posted a new video for this weeks portion, so I will post what he uploaded last year...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #1 on: May 15, 2014, 12:51:05 AM »
Rabbi Trugman from BeThereIsrael.com....


You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2014, 01:05:10 AM »
Now for one of Rabbi Trugmans teachers, Rabbi Yitzok Ginsburg of Od Yosef Chai and Gal Einie Institute.


You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2014, 01:17:39 AM »
Now listen to Rabbi Odze discuss topics in this weeks Torah portion:

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #4 on: May 15, 2014, 01:31:55 AM »
Rabbi Chaim Miller from TorahInTen talks about the Chassidic thought on Bechukotai.

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #5 on: May 15, 2014, 01:45:19 AM »
Rabbi Dror Moshe Cassouto of Yeshiva Schut Shel Chesed...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #6 on: May 16, 2014, 01:15:30 AM »
It is kind of late to start watching a Rabbi Mizrachi video on parsha Bechukotai, but then again it's never too late...

The always loquacious Rabbi Mizrachi...
 
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #7 on: May 16, 2014, 02:57:26 AM »
And one more from the great Rabbi Richman. I really appreciate all that the Temple Institute has done, and especially the work of Rabbi Richman. I am now an official 'member' of the Temple Insitute and recommend that others who can afford to do so, should reach out to the institute.

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #8 on: May 16, 2014, 06:49:33 PM »
http://www.naaleh.com/parshat-bechukosai-maintaining-perspective-v6n14

Parshat Bechukosai: Maintaining Perspective
Based on a Naaleh.com class by Mrs. Shira Smiles
 
The Parsha begins with a list of the many blessings we will receive if we keep the Torah. It then says, "I am Hashem who took you out of Egypt who broke the peg of your yoke and led you upright." Chazal note that this also hints to the time of Mashiach and the rebuilding of the beit hamikdash. How do we understand this? The Chasam Sofer quotes the Gemara in Nedarim where Reish Lakish explains what will be in the world to come. Hashem will take the sun out of its cover. The righteous will be healed while the wicked will be burnt by it. The Ein Yaakov explains that the sun symbolizes the light of the Shechina. Those who toiled in Torah and mitzvot will be able to absorb its aura, while the wicked will melt away.
 
There were two breaking of the yokes. The first was when the Jews left Egypt. Hashem broke the yoke from their necks and made Torah and mitzvot pleasurable for them. Likewise, in the time of Mashiach, Hashem will break their yoke and they will bask in the light of the Shechina. The Sefas Emes asks, why did those who were not destined to leave Egypt die during the plague of darkness? He explains that the light of the ohr haganuz (concealed light) was so intense that the wicked were blinded by it. Those who didn't want a connection with Hashem were killed by its overwhelming power.
 
How does one attune oneself to this level of living with Hashem? The Maharal says man is born half animal and half spiritual. There's a continual struggle between these two opposing forces. Learning Torah has the power to cleanse the soul and to make the spirit stronger. Chazal say one's Torah should be fixed and one's work temporary. When a person invests in that where he clearly finds pleasure, it shows his spiritual intention. We say in Shachrit, l'asok b'divrei Torah. Our entire focus should be Torah and mitzvot.
 
We must also work to develop an awareness of Hashem's presence in our life. The Lekach Tov says we can do this by training ourselves to turn to Hashem for all our needs. We tend to do things on automatic pilot. We forget we're talking to Hashem when we pray. The Griz points out that a lack of yirat shamayim indicates a lack of a living relationship with Hashem. We're meant to develop an awareness that when we're fulfilling mitzvot we're creating holiness in this world and when we sin we bring destruction. On Shavuot, we stay up all night. As we commemorate the giving of the Torah, we show Hashem there's nothing greater than spending time with Him.
 
When the community of Telz was invaded by the Nazis, they rounded up the women and children. The five year old nephew of the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Bloch, was holding on to his mother's hand. Suddenly he darted into an empty beit midrash and grabbed a chumash, a siddur, and a pair of tefilin. He quickly ran out with it and rejoined his mother. Someone leaned over and asked, "What are you doing?" He answered, "I'm just a little boy. What mitzvot do I have? I barely know how to read from a siddur. I never had a chance to learn chumash or put on tefilin. I just want to take all these mitzvot up to heaven with me." This is the mindset we need to have. "Ki heim chayeinu," Torah and mitzvot should be our life.
 
Chazal say that the students of Rav Akiva died because they didn't accord sufficient honor to each other. One who has developed a certain trait will be unable to tolerate the opposite trait in his fellow. A person who is generous cannot abide someone who is miserly. It seems working on oneself precludes respect and honor. But in truth if one excels in a specific area it must be that his friend excels in a different area. We often view people egotistically in the context of how they relate to ourselves. But if we step out of that mode and find their unique qualities, we can truly come to respect them.
 
Rav Miller notes that each person heard the voice at Sinai on their level. The Midrash says it was one voice that split into seven voices which became 70 languages. Seven, the number of individuality, was multiplied by ten, the number of collectivity. The number ten indicates the power of individuals to form a single entity. The whole has much more value than the sum of its parts but it needs all the parts. Not only must we develop our own traits, but we must seek out the traits of others and pay them homage. One must constantly keep this dichotomy in mind-"Onochi afer v'afer" I'm nothing. I'm just a part of something larger. But at the same time, "Bishvili nivra h'alom." The world was created for me because without my little part in it, the machine won't function. I have to be the best I can be, take that best, and join with the community. This is what the Midrash says. King David attempted to actualize his own potential, but the time came when his feet led him to the people. He was duty bound to guide them in place of his personal quest and thereby achieve a level of perfection otherwise not possible.
 
This too is our mission. The path begins as a personal one. The zodiac sign of Iyar is a bull. During sefirah, we work hard on individuality. But then we move on to Sivan, when we accept the Torah as one nation bound together. The focus of sefirah is working on seven, the individual. But ultimately we must merge into 70, standing collectively at the foot of Mt. Sinai, "Kish echad b'lev echad," as one man with one heart.
 
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #9 on: May 16, 2014, 07:03:37 PM »
Rabbi Pinchas Winston on the portion:



http://www.torah.org/learning/perceptions/5774/bechukosai.html

Parshas Bechukosai
There Is No Such Thing As Coincidence

And if you treat Me as happenstance, and you do not wish to listen to Me, I will add seven punishments corresponding to your sins. (Vayikra 26:21)

There are two main parshios that deal with the issue of reward and punishment, this week’s parshah and Parashas Ki Savo. Once upon a time they created dread in the hearts of Jews each time they came around because of the harsh reminder that we have to pay, big time, for our sins.

Today these parshios create dread because there are usually a lot “Rashis” to learn when reviewing the weekly parshah. The consequence part doesn’t talk to our generation that much, even to people who religiously keep the mitzvos, with the exception of a few very righteous people. Furthermore, they’re just not as upbeat as the rest of the Torah, so that kind of makes them less appealing to read as well.

The question is, why? The answer is not too far away, but actually in this week’s parshah:

And if you treat Me as happenstance, and you do not wish to listen to Me, I will add seven punishments corresponding to your sins. (Vayikra 26:21)

The Hebrew word for “happenstance” is “kerry,” and usually implies a chance occurrence. For example, Rashi uses a form of the word to distinguish between the prophecy of Moshe Rabbeinu and that of Bilaam:

And He called to Moshe . . . (Vayikra 1:1)

A calling preceded all statements and commandments. It is an expression of love, an expression that the Ministering Angels use, as it says, “One called to the other” (Yeshayahu 6:3). However, to the gentile prophets He revealed Himself with an expression of happenstance and uncleanness, as it says, “God chanced—vayikar—upon Bilaam” (Bamidbar 23:4, 16). (Rashi)

We have said all along that there is no such thing as coincidence. When it comes to history, there is no such thing as “auto pilot.” When it comes to the “random” appearance of history, there is only hester panim, the hiding of God’s face, the withdrawal of the more obvious clues that what is occurring is completely the result of God’s will.

Recently a son of mine took an aptitude test and brought home an example of some of the questions. So, of course, I could not resist but try my hand at some of the questions to see how I would do. Some of them are pictorial, requiring the person to look at previous examples, figure out the pattern, and then determine which picture of four provided examples fits the pattern and completes the final row of diagrams.

The first one was easy, and though I knew that subsequent questions would become increasingly more complicated, I did not expect the next to be so difficult. I’ve already spent over an hour of time trying to resolve it, with no success. I even tried breaking the diagrams down into their most basic components to solve the riddle, which feels a little like cheating and obsession, but as of yet I have not been able to crack the pattern.

A few times it has led me to believe that there is a mistake in the drawing, either intentionally (how sadistic can you get?), or accidentally. This is especially so after seeing which drawing is the correct one, since I wasn’t even able use the “answer” to better understand the “question.” There has to be a mistake.

But then again, this is not the first time this test has been used. Given the amount of times the test has been taken by countless people over the years, it can be assumed that if there was a mistake it would be have been detected by now and corrected. The “ball” was back in my court once again and I had run out of options to “hit” it.

Hester panim works similarly. It’s when God makes things occur in a way that disguises the patterns of history, making events seem random to us. They are anything but random, but not seeing the pattern, even after seeing the “answer,” our minds beg us to believe that a pattern does not exist, that history is random, and that God is not actively involved in the affairs of man.

With respect to the diagram on the test, I was forced after time to rethink my strategy. Once I had felt that I had exhausted all of the most obvious ways to crack the pattern, I started to consider different assumptions about how the puzzle worked. For example, rather than assume that the pattern was in rows from left to right as the others had been, I looked at it vertically, as columns, from top to bottom.

Immediately certain mysteries fell to the wayside. Though they were not enough to solve the problem it certainly seemed as if it was a couple of steps along the path to resolution. It was if a I could hear the author of the test question say, “Now you’re getting somewhere.”

I do not plan to spend any more time on resolving the diagram, as much as I’d like to, unless I need a change of pace from my work. Nevertheless, though I may never earn the satisfaction of having solved such a puzzle, I leave it with a better understanding of how assumptions about anything can blind a person to the message of what he is looking at.

When it comes to puzzles on an aptitude test it might just mean a lower score. However, when it comes to the events of history, the Torah is telling us, it can mean the difference between life and death, and even the way a person might leave this world: peacefully or in the most difficult way possible.

As I was writing this parshah sheet, I received the following from a friend of mine (a random occurrence?):

Every Yom HaAtzmaut, the Rebbe of Sadigur made his way to the Great Synagogue in Tel Aviv. There he would join the other congregants praying Hallel with great joy. After the services, the Rebbe would join the dancing throngs outside in the streets, clasping hands and dancing with enthusiasm and happiness. It was always obvious that the Rebbi of Sadigur felt a special joy on Yom HaAtzmaut. One year, one of his chassidim got up the nerve to have a personal audience with the Rebbe and question him about his Yom HaAtzmaut behavior . . . “In March,1938,” [the Rebbe answered his chassid] “the Nazis, y”s, swallowed up Austria and entered Vienna. Their first move was to accomplish the degradation of the Jews, and as the Rabbi of the Jewish community, they chose me, giving me a big broom and had me sweep the streets of Vienna. As I did that work, I prayed, ‘Master of the Universe, may it be Your will that I merit to take a broom and sweep the streets of Eretz Yisrael.’ Obviously it is not fitting for your Rebbe to be seen in the streets of Tel Aviv sweeping in front of everybody, so on Yom HaAtzmaut I get up at 3 am, take a big broom and with great (happiness) I sweep the streets of my neighborhood. After sweeping in Vienna, the Nazis y”s, shoved a Nazi flag in my hands and made me climb to the top of a tall building and plant their swastika on top of the roof. As I climbed, I turned to the Creator and said, ‘Master of the Universe, may I yet merit to wave the flag of Israel in a high spot in the Land of Israel.’ And so I plant on my roof the flag of Israel on Yom HaAtzmaut, with happiness and (burning enthusiasm), thanking God that He accepted my prayers.’ ” (Alei Tamar, p.69, Shevi’is, Ch. 4, Halachah 7)
The truth is, before this I had not heard of the work “Alei Tamar,” and I have still yet to see this story inside the sefer itself. The story, however, I have heard before, and once from a very reputable source. Even if true, I can only assume that it is a controversial one in many Torah circles.


I did not bring this story to proclaim Yom HaAtzmaut a national holiday for all Jews. That takes authority, halachic authority. I included this story because it illustrates how situations can affect a person’s assumptions about life, and therefore their perceptions. “There are no atheists in a foxhole,” and no doubt a lot of State-of-Israel-dissenters would quickly change their tune as well if life in the Diaspora turned bitter and they needed a place to run and hide.

The story itself reminded me of a similar story I heard, this one about the Klausenberger Rebbe who after being liberated from the camps would not make a blessing over a simple glass of water before immersing himself in a mikvah. Forced in the camps to drink all kinds of things other than clean water to survive, the Rebbe gained an appreciation of something so basic as a glass of water, and the simple blessing one makes over it before drinking.

I heard recently in the name of a Torah giant of yesteryear (I believe Rav Ya’akov Kamenetsky, zt”l) the following warning: “Be careful when putting on your first pair of tzitzis, because they are the ones which you will wear the rest of your life.” Obviously he was not referring to actual tzitzis since the average religious Jew will purchase and wear many pairs throughout his lifetime. He used tzitzis as a metaphor to refer to our assumptions about life and how we apply them.

Rabbi Kamenetsky, zt”l was warning us that no matter how brilliant we become as a result of all our learning, all of it will be filtered through assumptions about life and history that we gained while young. That’s just the way the human mind works, which is why it is so important to get it right the first time. There are a lot of very bright and learned people out there with certain assumptions that are blinding them to certain historical facts and events, many of which I have included in a book called, “Drowning In Pshat.”

Thus, as much as such people believe in Divine Providence and that everything is from God, when it comes to certain key issues, like Eretz Yisroel and its connection to the redemption process, they act as if the miracles of the last six decades were random occurrences. They are unable to see the hand of God in all that has occurred because they have difficulty seeing how such miracles could have occurred and for whom they have occurred.

This is very dangerous. As mentioned last week, Rav Dessler warned about having to answer to such a “kerry” attitude on the Day of Judgment. As history has shown countless times we often have to answer to such an approach to Jewish history in this world as well. The last thing we want, the parshah tells us, is for God to slip deeper into a “kerry” mode because then the situation will only get worse before it gets better.



On Behar-Bechukosai






You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #10 on: May 16, 2014, 08:14:30 PM »
Rabbi Bentzion Shafier and his short Shmuz on the parsha.


You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline Israel Chai

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #11 on: May 21, 2014, 11:42:21 PM »
Rabbi Mizrachi posted a lecture that might have relevance to our little earlier drama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vdQLJu1kiCw
The fear of the L-rd is the beginning of knowledge

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #12 on: May 22, 2014, 01:01:35 AM »
LKZ,

I know you have the smarts to edit the URL so that the forum inlines the video...

You must remove the section 'feature=player_embedded&' from the URL and voila!


You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline Israel Chai

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #13 on: May 22, 2014, 01:27:51 AM »
LKZ,

I know you have the smarts to edit the URL so that the forum inlines the video...

You must remove the section 'feature=player_embedded&' from the URL and voila!



It was on purpose, the page is lagging hard. My computer is not a summer computer.
The fear of the L-rd is the beginning of knowledge

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Bechukotai : Hashems Rebuke is Harsh
« Reply #14 on: May 22, 2014, 02:13:07 AM »
Sorry...

I suppose I am spoiled with this i7 CPU and 32G memory system.
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14