Parashat Shavua

Hemdat Yamim Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

Hemdat Yamim Parshat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 8 Iyar 5762 ============================================ This edition of Hemdat Yamim is dedicated to the memory of R' Meir ben Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld o.b.m. ============================================ Creative Holiness Our second parasha opens with the instruction to be holy ("kedoshim t'hiyu"), for Hashem is holy (Vayikra 19:2). The disagreement between Rashi, who explains that this refers to refraining from sin, and the Ramban, who understands that it refers to avoiding overindulgence in permitted activities, is well known. Let us, though, examine some possible ramifications of the Ramban's approach. The most obvious question on the Ramban's approach to refrain from certain permitted activities is that if the activities were bad, the Torah should have forbidden them. The contrapositive conclusion is that if the Torah did not forbid them, then they must not be bad. So, why should we refrain from these activities? There are at least two complementary approaches to this issue. Firstly, we should note that when the Torah outright forbids something, it is forbidden across the board, in any quantity, and almost without exception. The Ramban's examples of "naval birshut hatorah" (disgusting with the Torah's permission) include eating meat and drinking wine. These are not only permitted activities, but are generally positive ones when done in the right setting with moderation and should not be forbidden. Of course, moderation and the proper setting are highly subjective concepts, making it impractical to give clear cut, binding guidelines. One must also consider that the Ramban does not deal with one standard level of observance. He refers to extreme overindulgence as naval but also urges the pious to refrain from even moderate levels of these pleasures to be holy. Yet, the Torah was not written to be viable for only particularly pious and/or ascetic people. The other approach is more positive. The Torah's rules and regulations are indeed detailed and uniform. It is not sufficient to generally follow the "spirit of the law" and be "good, upstanding people." We must be disciplined and conform. Yet, concepts such as "kedoshim t'hiyu" give us the opportunity to find proper modes of godly behavior beyond the Torah's specifications in line with our personalities and backgrounds. Sometimes Chazal accepted a higher level of observance on behalf of the entire nation (see Ramban, ad loc.) and sometimes the individual uses his G-d given wisdom to fine-tune the level and mode of Divine service in a manner appropriate for him. "Kedoshim t'hiyu" helps us develop a personal relationship with our Maker. In any relationship, certain basic rules of etiquette must be followed. Yet every significant relationship has certain added, personal factors which make it unique and exciting. This applies even to our relationship with Hashem. ============================================================ P'ninat Mishpat - Tena'ei (Conditions of) Ketuba As we mentioned in the past, even without a written ketuba, Chazal (and in certain cases, the Torah) set standards for monetary arrangements between husband and wife. The two can agree to alternative arrangements in most matters (Even Haezer 69:6), but the halachot are binding when such an agreement was not done in a halachically valid manner. The most basic obligation is actually a mutual one. Chazal envisioned that under normal circumstances, a husband would provide for the financial needs of his wife (including food, clothes, etc.) according to standards appropriate for his and her societal standing. In a case of discrepancy between these standards, the higher standard is used (Ketubot 48a). Correspondingly, the wife was expected to engage in activity, primarily around the house, to keep the household running smoothly and to supply the household with a modest, supplemental income (Ketubot 47b, 59b). A wife can accept this arrangement against her husband's will or decide to cancel it (Even Haezer 69:4) and support herself from her own work without having to share her income or engage in most of the normal, household obligations. Of course, some type of compromise arrangement can and often is arranged. ======================================================= Moreshet Shaul (from the works of Hagaon Harav Shaul Yisraeli zt"l) The Second Sanctification (from Eretz Hemdah I, 3:5) The kedusha shniya (second sanctification) took place during the period when Ezra led a return to Eretz Yisrael from Bavel. They took control of large portions of the Land but left out certain sections (Chagiga 3b). The sanctification wasn't accomplished by conquest, as the Persians maintained control, nor did the Jews divide the Land by tribes, as not all tribes were present. Even without these two requirements of the first sanctification, one opinion in Talmud Yerushalmi (Shvi'it, ch. 6) states that the second sanctification took hold, as learned from the pasuk, "I shall do good for you... beyond (from) your fathers" (Devarim 30:5). The Rambam (Terumot 1:5) states that the sanctification was not based on conquest but on possession (through settlement). The Mabit (Kiryat Sefer, ad loc.) implies that conquest and division by tribe were not necessary at this period, because Bnei Yisrael needed only to reactivate the original kedusha, not create a new one. According to this approach, the simpler sanctification during Ezra's time applied only to the areas where conquest had already been carried out according to the required procedure. Thus, Syria, which was first settled during the Second Commonwealth, had kedusha only on a rabbinic level. Rav Chaim of Brisk has been quoted as saying that this approach can be inferred from the aforementioned pasuk that sanctification depends on "from your fathers," that it was preceded by a historic, full sanctification. The Kesef Mishneh (Shmittah 4:28) implies that kedusha without conquest applied only to those areas within the boundaries of Parashat Masei, which we were instructed to capture, not to additional lands whose sanctity during the First Commonwealth stemmed from "wherever your feet shall tread shall be yours" (Devarim 11:24). It seems that even conquest at the time of the Second Commonwealth was not sufficient to sanctify the additional areas until Eretz Yisrael proper was fully controlled, which did not occur at that time. According to one opinion (Yerushalmi, ibid.), the aforementioned pasuk, "shall do good for you..." refers to Eretz Yisrael's expansion in Messianic times. Accordingly, the obligation of ma'asrot (tithes) during the Second Commonwealth was only rabbinic. The Rambam agrees to this conclusion for a different reason, claiming that the obligation required representation of the entire Jewish People in Eretz Yisrael in addition to sanctity of the Land. In contrast, Tosafot claims that all agree that the ma'asrot were from the Torah at this period and argue only in regard to the era after the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. ========================================================== Ask the Rabbi Question: If one is supposed to fast on a certain day and mistakenly eats, does he need to continue his fast or does it not pay since he anyway didn't fast? Answer: We should first understand the conceptual basis of fast days, explore distinctions between different fast days and then answer your question. One element of fasting highlighted in your question is the mitzva of going a day without eating. When this is the only element of a fast day, we indeed do say that once one has eaten, there is nothing more to lose. (Please note that eating, in this context, means eating a c'zayit within k'dei achilat pras (roughly, one sitting) which is a full violation of the fast. Even though it is forbidden to eat any amount on a fast day, one who just takes a small taste and/or spits out the food has not fully broken the fast and must certainly continue (Mishna Berura 568:5)). If one makes a vow to fast a day but does not incorporate the date of the fast in his vow, then there is no purpose to continue, as this day will not count toward fulfilling his vow in any case. Similarly, some explain the idea that a firstborn who partakes in the celebration of a siyum on Erev Pesach may eat the whole day, based on the assumption that ta'anit bechorot was accepted with only the aforementioned dimension (Eretz Hatzvi, cited in Minchat Yitzchak VIII, 45). A second element of some fast days is the prohibition to eat. On Yom Kippur, there is certainly a prohibition to eat, above and beyond the mitzvah to fast (Pesachim 36a provides one of many applications of this idea). Thus, just as one who violates Shabbat may not continue doing so, so too, one who ate on Yom Kippur may not continue eating. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 568:1) rules that whenever the day one fasts has a specific significance, one who eats cannot decide to switch the date after failing to fast the whole day, since fasting on a future day does not replace the need to fast on this day. He applies this logic to the four principal, rabbinic fast days, one who fasts on a yahrzeit, and one who specifies even an arbitrary day in his vow to fast. The same logic applies when one takes part in the fast of "Behab," "Yom Kippur Katan," or any, even optional, public fast which is set for a given day. Whether one is required to fast another day to make up for not successfully fasting on the appointed day is a somewhat complicated question, beyond the scope of this response. You can start your research with the Rama 568:1 and the Biur Halacha, ad loc. ================================================================ Eretz Hemdah is the premier institution for training young Rabbi's to take the Israeli Rabbinate's rigorous Yadin Yadin examinations. Eretz Hemdah, with its distinctive blend of Religious Zionist philosophy and scholarship coupled with community service, ensures its graduates emerge with the finest training, the noblest motivations and the strongest connection to Jewish communities worldwide. Harav Shaul Israeli zt"l Founder and President Deans: Harav Yosef Carmel Harav Moshe Ehrenreich ERETZ HEMDAH 5 Ha-Mem Gimmel St. P.O.B 36236 Jerusalem 91360 Tel/Fax: 972-2-5371485 Email: eretzhem@netvision.net.il web-site: www.eretzhemdah.org American Friends of Eretz Hemdah Institutions c/o Olympian 8 South Michigan Ave. Suite 605 Chicago, IL 60603 USA Our Taxpayer ID#: 36-4265359

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