Rabbi Frand on Parshas Tzav
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissocher Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah
portion. Good Shabbos!
One May Learn A Spiritual Lesson (Even) From Taking Out the Garbage
This week's Parsha contains the mitzvah of offering the Korban Olah
[Burnt Offering]. The pasuk [verse] there tells us that Aharon and
his children are given the tremendous responsibility of the Service
of the Temple. The first task that Aharon and his children are
instructed to perform is the mitzvah of Terumas HaDeshen -- the
removal of the ashes that were consumed by the previous night's fire
on top of the altar.
The Chovos Halevovos -- one of the classic books on ethics and
mussar in Judaism -- says that the rationale behind this is that the
Torah is particularly careful that people not let things go to their
heads, lest they become ba'ale ga'avah and haughty. It would be only
natural for Aharon to think that he is someone special. He is one of
the select few who merits performing the Temple Service!
Nevertheless, the Torah instructs him that the first thing he must
do, every morning, is take out the ashes! The function of this job,
according to the Chovos Halevovos is to lower the self-image of the
Kohanim, and remove haughtiness from their hearts.
A number of years ago, it occurred to me that the last thing I do on
Erev Yom Kippur, is take out the garbage. Erev Yom Kippur is a very
symbolic time: We ask forgiveness from those we might have offended.
We have the Seudah Hamafsekes [meal of termination (of eating),
prior to the fast]. We bless our children. And then, we go to shul
[synagogue]. The last thing that I do before I go to shul is to take
out the garbage. It struck me that this, too, is very symbolic. This
is what we all try to do on Yom Kippur. We all try to remove the
garbage from our lives.
We walk to shul on Erev Yom Kippur with the Kittel under our arm and
we think we are going into another world. But even at moments of
great spiritual elevation, we have to remember, we always have to
take out the garbage. We are humans, we eat as humans, and we have
garbage as humans. If we remember this concept, we will not let
other thoughts go to our heads, which could mislead us to believe
that we are better than we really are.
The Torah Is Concerned With the Pride of the Poor
The Torah is also very meticulous regarding the pride of the Oni (poor
person) -- the less fortunate. On one hand, the Torah is worried, lest
Aharon the Kohen Gadol become haughty. On the other hand, the Torah is
also worried that the impoverished individual should not become
despondent and emotionally broken.
There is an interesting Gemara (passage of the Talmud) in Bava Kama.
The Gemara says that when the Jews would bring the first fruits
(bikkurim) to Jerusalem, to give to the Kohanim, the rich would bring
their bikkurim in gold and silver baskets. The poor people, however,
who came with their meager crops, could not afford gold baskets. They
would bring their fruits in baskets that were made out of reeds.
The Gemara says that the Kohanim returned the gold and silver
baskets to the wealthy people but kept the reed baskets from the
poor people. The Gemara says this is an application of the old rule
that (loosely translated from the Aramaic) the rich get richer and
the poor get poorer. How ironic! The rich fellow gets his basket
back, but the poor person who can ill afford it, does not get his
basket back!
Rav Aharon Backs explains that the reason is as follows. The rich
have orchards full of fruit and bring large quantities of fruit to
give to the Kohen. The poor have a meager crop and probably have a
very small quantity of bikkurim to offer. By keeping the fruit in
the basket, at least the bikkurim look a little more substantial.
The Torah says that we should let the Kohen keep the basket and let
the Oni suffer the financial loss, in order to at least keep his
pride intact. This is an example of how far the Torah is willing to
go to avoid shaming a person!
A person, who wanted to raise money for Hachnasas Kallah (bridal
expenses), for another Jew, in the recipient's own home town, once
came to me with a question. His question was as follows: If he told
people for whom he was soliciting, there is no doubt he could raise
a lot of money, because that person was a known and well-respected
individual. If he would make an anonymous appeal for Hachnasas
Kallah, however, then he could not expect to raise very much --
because such appeals occur several times each week. The question was
if he should he mention the name and raise more money or keep it
anonymous and raise less money.
At that time, I asked the Rosh Yeshiva, (Rav Yaakov Ruderman z"tl).
The Rosh Yeshiva, without thinking a minute or batting an eyelash,
said, "It should be anonymous, because a person's honor is worth a
great deal."
That is the lesson of the baskets. A person's self-respect is worth
a lot. It is even worth losing money over. Money can always be
replaced, but a person's honor and pride are much harder to replace.
Double Entendre In the Word "Hoda'ah"
Among the sacrifices mentioned in this week's parsha is the
Thanksgiving Offering. The Medrash tells us that in the future all
the sacrifices will be nullified, except the Thanksgiving Offering -
- for there is always need to give thanks.
Rav Hutner z"tl, makes a very interesting point. "Todah" (thanks)
comes from the word "Hoda'ah", meaning giving thanks. However, the
word "Hoda'ah" also means to admit (as in the expression Hoda'as
ba'al din k'meah edim dami).
Rav Hutner says that it is no coincidence that the word for thanking
and the word for admitting are one and the same. In order for a
person to give thanks, he has to be able to admit that he needed
help. The first step in being grateful to someone for doing
something for you is the admission that you needed help and that you
are not all powerful. Therefore the Hebrew word for thanks and for
admission is the same.
How do we know whether the word "Hoda'ah" means admission or thanks?
Rav Hutner says that we need to look at the preposition that comes
after the word. The word "Hoda'ah" -- meaning admission -- is always
followed by the Hebrew preposition '"sheh..." (that). The word
"Hoda'ah" -- meaning thanks -- is always followed by the Hebrew word
"al ..." (for).
In davening [prayers] we have a Blessing of Modim, called the
Blessing of "Hoda'ah". How does it read? "Modim anachnu lach
sheh..." This indicates, that the first thing we have to do is not
thank G-d, but admit to G-d that we are dependent on Him. Once we
come to that understanding, then we can come to the end of the
blessing where we say "Nodeh lecha... ...al..." -- We thank You
for... Birkas HaHoda'ah is thus a two-stage blessing. It is a
Hoda'ah of admission at the beginning which climaxes with a Hoda'ah
of thanking at the end.
We Can't Appoint an Agent to Say 'Thank-You'
I recently saw a beautiful insight in the Avudraham. When the Chazan
says Modim, the congregation recites a prayer known as "The Rabbis'
Modim". Why is that? The Avudraham says that for all blessings in
the Shmoneh Esrei we can have an agent. For 'Heal Us', for 'Bless Us
with a Good Year', and so forth we can have a messenger -- the
Shliach Tzibbur can say the blessing for us. However, there is one
thing that no else one can say for us. We must say it for ourselves.
That one thing is "Thank You". Hoda'ah has to come from ourselves.
No one can be our agent to say 'Thank You'.
Glossary
Kittel -- white robe worn by married men on Yom Kippur (by some on
Rosh Hashana as well)
Oni -- poor person
Hoda'as ba'al din k'meah edim dami-- An admission of a litigant is
like one hundred witnesses
Shliach Tzibbur -- the agent of the congregation (chazzan)
Chovos Halevovos -- Duties of the Heart; authored by Rav Bachye Ibn
Paquda in 11th century Spain. Originally written
in Arabic and translated into Hebrew by Rav
Judah ibn Tibbon in 12th century.
Rav Yitzchok Hutner -- (1907-1980) Rosh Yeshiva of Mesifta Chaim
Berlin in New York.
Avudraham -- classic work written in 1450 by R. Dovid ben Yosef
(1420-1494) on laws and commentary on prayers. Author
was student of Ba'al HaTurim (Rav Yaakov ben Asher) and
was a rabbi in Seville.
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. The following are some of the halachic portions on Pesach
topics:
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.
