Rabbi Frand on Parshas Emor
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissocher Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah
portion: Tape# 144 - Kohanim in Hospitals. Good Shabbos!
Teaching Fear of Heaven by Example
The verse at the beginning of Emor states "And Hashem said to Moshe
'Say to the Kohanim [Priests], the sons of Aaron, and you shall say
to them: to a [dead] person he shall not become impure among his
people'" [Vayikra 21:1]. The construction of this command is very
strange. It contains an obvious redundancy in the repetition of the
terms 'say to the Kohanim... ...say to them'.
The Talmud [Yevamos 114a] infers from here a special obligation for
Kohanim to ensure that even their young children (who in general
are not obligated in Mitzvah performance) do not become tameh meis
[ritually impure (by virtue of contact with the dead)]. The first
'Say to Kohanim' refers to Kohanim over Bar Mitzvah [adults] and
the second 'say to them' refers to the Kohanim who are minors.
The problem with this is that the drash [homiletic interpretation]
is apparently contradicting the pshuto shel mikrah [simple reading
of the verse]. There is no indication in the verse that we are
speaking about minors. The simple reading is that 'say to them' is
referring back to the original subject -- the (adult) kohanim.
Rav Elyakim Schlesinger, in his sefer [book] Bais Av offers a new
insight into the mechanics of this drasha. In fact, he explains,
the entire verse is referring to the adult Kohanim, but the
implication of the repetition to the adults is for the benefit of
the ketanim [young children].
What does this mean? All of us have thought about the issue of how
to teach our children Yir'as Shomayim (Fear of Heaven). We all know
how to teach children to do mitzvos. When a boy is young we buy
him a pair of Tzitzis. When he gets a little older, we learn
Torah with him and we recite Kiddush with him. This is all
relatively simple. We teach our children to do the acts and they
get into the habit of making brochos [blessings], of davening
[praying], and so forth. But how do we instill Yir'as Shomayim? How
do we instill in a child a real Fear of Heaven, such that, as
appropriate for the child's age, the child should know the severity
of doing a sin and should appreciate what it is to do a mitzvah?
I think that the only way this can be taught is by allowing the
child to see Yir'as Shomayim in the parents. The child will then
get the message that there is something to be afraid of. If the
child sees his father or mother recoil at the mere thought of
eating something non-Kosher; if he sees the trouble his parents
go through to fulfill a mitzvah; and if he sees the joy of
fulfilling a mitzvah -- that is how a child learns Fear of Heaven.
If one is a Yoreh Shomayim himself and he exhibits that fear in
actuality -- that is how it gets passed to the next generation.
Who is my own paradigm for Yir'as Shomayim? Those of us who learned
in Yeshivas Ner Yisrael of Baltimore from the early 1950s until the
early 1970s will think of Rav Dovid Kronglass z"tl, the Mashgiach
Ruchni ["Spiritual Supervisor"] of Ner Yisrael during those years.
Rav Dovid was a man who had a true Fear of Heaven. On the Yomim
Noraim [High Holidays] he looked and talked differently. Rav
Dovid's joy in life was to sit in the Succah -- to just sit there!
He exhibited Yir'as Shomayim. He had a true Fear of Heaven. Those
of us, who were fortunate enough to have known Rav Dovid Kronglass,
at least know what it means to be a Yoreh Shomayim.
Unfortunately, today, these types of Jews are few and far between.
But this is the basic principle -- if doing a sin is a 'big deal'
to a person, it will be a 'big deal' to his child.
There is a famous story about the 'Kehilas Yaakov', the Steipler
Gaon, z"tl. The Steipler once went on a date to meet a girl and
fell asleep on the date. Why did he fall asleep?
The Steipler knew on the day before, that he would need to travel
the entire following day to meet the girl. Therefore, he stayed up
and learned the entire night -- to make up for the future lost
learning time. The Steipler figured that he would sleep on the
train. However, when he boarded the train and looked at the seats,
he was concerned that they might be shaatnez [a mixture of wool and linen
material which we are proscribed from wearing]. As a result of that
remote possibility, the Steipler did not sit on the seat. He
traveled the entire day standing up, after not sleeping the entire
night before. Therefore, when they finished the 'small talk' on the
date, he fell asleep. That is Yir'as Shomayim.
One can preach Fear of Heaven all day long, but a person who
observes such meticulousness in observance of mitzvos is one who
will be truly impressed! [P.S. The girl in question, who desired this
type of Yir'as Shomayim, married him.]
The Torah is telling us to tell the adult Kohanim the severity of
the prohibition of Tumah -- and to repeat it to them! Put the
Fear of G-d in them so that they will become so careful about
this prohibition, that it will make an impression even on their
children!
"It Makes No Sense"
At the end of the parsha we study the famous incident of the
blasphemer. The sin of 'giduf' (blasphemy) is euphemistically
called 'one who blesses G-d'. It really refers to the opposite
action, but we don't even want to say those words.
The Toras Kohanim is bothered by the language "And there went out
the son of a Jewish woman, and he was the son of an Egyptian man..."
[24:10]. The Toras Kohanim asks, "From where did he go out?" and
cites the opinion of Rabbi Berachya "he went out from the
immediately preceding portion of the Torah".
The blasphemer was disturbed by the previous parsha (that of the
Lechem HaPanim [the "Showbreads"]). The Lechem HaPanim was put on
the Table in the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, every Shabbos and was
removed the subsequent Shabbos (when new loaves replaced the old
ones) and was eaten by the Kohanim. The blasphemer had a 'problem'
with this. He argued that a King should be served with warm, fresh,
bread -- not week-old stale bread. "What kind of stupid law is this?",
he argued. "This doesn't make any sense!"
"This doesn't make any sense!" was the beginning of the end. The
end was he cursed G-d. Obviously the Medrash is trying to instruct
us, to teach us something. What does it mean "he had difficulty
dealing with the parsha of Lechem HaPanim, until he came to curse G-d"?
Rav Zalman Sorotzkin, zt"l, points out an interesting fact. What would
have happened if this fellow would have waited a week? He would have
seen a miracle. The bread was not hard and stale, but retained its
freshness for an entire week. He would have had no questions; he would
not have -- Heaven forbid -- cursed G-d; and he would not have been put
to death. His problem was a question on G-d's Actions and Behavior,
something that with the passage of time he would eventually have
understood. But he had no patience to wait. He had to know now, and
if it did not make sense to him now, then the whole religion was
not worthwhile -- and he cursed G-d.
There are a lot of times in life when we don't understand G-d's
conduct. We don't understand sickness; we don't understand why the
righteous suffer; we don't understand things like Jewish history;
we don't understand the Holocaust. We don't understand! It makes
no sense to us. But the main thing to remember is 'to us'. G-d, we
believe, has His Master Plan. Unfortunately, time and space limit
us. In the grand scheme of things, with the passage of time,
sometimes, things begin to make sense.
This is the lesson of the blasphemer and the Lechem HaPanim. His
inability to accept and his lack of understanding led him to a
terrible death. Had he had the faith to accept and to wait -- to
question but to conclude "I don't know why, but G-d must have
His ways" -- had he even waited one week's time, his entire life
would have been different.
Sometimes only with the passage of time do things 'make sense'.
Sometimes it is a week, sometimes years, sometimes centuries -- but
in the final analysis we believe that G-d is True and Righteous and
"All of the Rock's Actions are Pure, for all His Paths are Just"
[Devorim 32:4].
Glossary
Kohain (Kohanim) -- Priest(s)
tameh (meis) -- ritually impure (by virtue of contact with the dead)
ketanim -- under Bar Mitzvah (singular, katan)
drash -- homiletic interpretation
peshuto shel mikra -- simple reading of the verse
Tzitzis -- fringes placed on a four-cornered garment
shatnez -- mixture of wool and linen material which we are
proscribed from wearing
Lechem HaPanim -- Bread of Surfaces, specially shaped loaves placed
weekly on the Table in the Tabernacle and Temple,
represented the Bread of the Almighty
Sources and Personalities
Rav Elyakim Schlesinger -- Author of Sefer Bais Av, Rosh Yeshiva in
London.
Rav Dovid Kronglas -- (1910-1973), Mashgiach of Yeshivas Ner Israel
in Baltimore; disciple of Rav Yeruchem
Levovitz (1874-1936), Mashgiach of Mir
Yeshiva in Europe, spent the war years with
the Mir Yeshiva in Shanghai, China.
Steipler Gaon -- Rav Yaakov Yisroel Kaniefsky (1899-1985); author
of Chidushei Torah called Kehillas Yaakov on
numerous tractates; Bnei Brak.
Toras Kohanim -- Tanaitic halachic midrash to Vayikra, also known
as Sifra.
Rav Zalman Sorotzkin -- (1881-1966) "Lutzker Rav" (Lithuania),
subsequently emigrated to Israel. Authored
Oznaim L'Torah Chumash commentary
(published in English as Insights in the
Torah).
This week's write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissochar Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah
portion (#144). The corresponding halachic portion for this tape is:
Kohanim in Hospitals. The other halachic portions for Emor from
the Commuter Chavrusah Series are:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection
of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
and is available through your local Hebrew book store or from
Project Genesis, 1-410-654-1799.
