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Women in Judaism, mitzvos, and counting Sefira

Tosfos explain that Sefiras Ha’Omer is a rabbinical law, in memory of the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. The reason this is so is that the pasuk says: וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת תְּמִימֹת תִּהְיֶינָה – And you shall count for yourselves, from the morrow of the rest day, from the day you bring the omer as a wave offering seven weeks; they shall be complete. (23:15) – that is to say that we start counting from when the Korban Omer is brought.

The Rambam disagrees, and says it is a commandment directly from the Torah to count today. Looking at the above pasuk, it seems difficult to suggest this – so how can we say there is a mitzva today to count the Sefira?

R’ Yaakov Minkus explains that there are two reasons for counting Sefira.

Tosfos say that the Sefira marks the beginning of the harvest cycle. Pesach marks the beginning, and is called ראש הקציר – the head of the harvest. It was marked through the Korban Omer, and allowed the consumption of new grain within the Beis HaMikdash. Shavuos marks the end, and is called חג הקציר – the celebration of the harvest. It was marked through the Shtei HaLechem, which allowed the consumption of all new produce, everywhere.

The Sefira is the process of enabling produce. We return the first of the harvest, the beginning, to Hashem. The Korban Omer exists to show our fealty and identity with Hashem. The Sefira results from this.

The Rambam explains that the pasuk’s instruction is to count מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת עֹמֶר – from the day, that is to say, not from the Korban. So what is it we are counting from today then?

The Sefer HaChinuch teaches that counting Sefira takes us to Har Sinai. It is easy to lose track, and think of Pesach as a standalone day where we celebrate our liberation – it is not so. Pesach was the sole means by which we could get to Shavuos and Har Sinai.

Shavuos, and as a result, Har Sinai, are annual occurrences. They occur without the Korban Omer – this is how it can still be a mitzva to count Sefira. We count מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת – from after Pesach, not the Korban itself.

When a person makes a bracha, they say אשר קדשנו במצותיו, וצונו. Women have the first part, the אשר קדשנו במצותיו, but not the second, וצונו. Har Sinai gave us the Torah and it’s 613 commandments in a general sense. The women accepted the Torah in a general sense too. Although women are exempt from many mitzvos, which is to say they don’t have to, it does not mean they cannot grow from their performance –this is קדשנו. A non-Jew who performs a mitzva does not have either part of the bracha, and cannot grow from the performance of a mitzva.

This is the difference between Pesach and Shavuos. Pesach is full of mitzvos, instructions. The Korban Pesach, circumcision, the Seder we do nowadays. In performing Hashem’s instructions, we became His people, subjugated to Him. This is all וצונו. However, Sinai is Torah. This gave mitzvos a קדשנו – which women are also subject to. Sefira connects the אשר קדשנו במצותיו to the וצונו.

But the Sefira is not “just” to connect Pesach to Shavuos, the mitzvos to the Torah; but also, the other way around, Shavuos to Pesach. The first of the Ten Commandments is אָנֹכִי ה’ אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים – (to know that) “I am the Lord, your God, Who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage”. How can the first (or any) commandment be faith?

The first command specifies that Hashem took us out of Egypt. Egpyt and faith are inextricably linked. We were not liberated from Egypt at all – we were transferred. In the same way we recognised that Hashem had taken us out of Egypt, that same Hashem was giving us the Torah, based on a belief in Him. Sinai’s eternity is based on having been taken out of Egypt, and in this way Sefira links Shavuos and Pesach, both backwards and forwards.

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I’ve got to break free

With korbanos, the sacrifices, there is a concept within certain categories of korban called olah v’yored – where the animal offered will vary, dependent on the person’s status. For example, Parshas Tazria deals with a woman who gives birth – olah v’yored applies, and as such, a woman from a wealthy family offers a חטאת and עולה of sheep, and a woman from a poor family offers a חטאת and עולה of doves.

But what if a poor person decides to save up, and instead of bringing the doves, he chooses to offer a wealthy man’s offering of sheep/cows? In other words; are people confined to their social status?

The halacha according to all is that if a wealthy man were to bring a poor man’s offering of doves, he has definitely not fulfilled his obligation. So the, olah v’yored applies to the animals, and it applies to the supplicant if he attempts to downgrade his responsibility. So the question becomes: can a person upgrade their responsibility?

The Sefer Hachinuch says that a poor person who upgrades his sacrifice from the birds to the cows has not fulfilled his obligation. The Rambam disputes this, and says that he has.

What is the basis of the dispute?

There is a story told about R’ Meir Schapira, at a gathering of all the pre-war Gedolim. He presented this very question, and asked how the Sefer HaChinuch could suggest he hadn’t fulfilled his obligation, possibly contradicting various Gemaras.

Present at the gathering, was the Imrei Emes, the Gerrer Rebbe. He simply muttered, “there is a missing korban”. Those gathered were puzzled what the Rebbe had meant. Among his attending disciples was R’ Menachem Zemba of Warsaw, a renowned genius, who took the floor. “Let us analyse where the Sefer HaChinuch says his halacha. There are 6 applications of the concept of olah v’yored:”

1. A ritually impure person who enters the area of the Beis haMikdash

2. A ritually impure person who eats kodshim (produce set aside for kohanim)

4. A person who falsely swears he did not witness an event, thereby avoiding needing to testify

5. A woman who gives birth

6. A person stricken with tzara’as (a metzora)

“5+6 are different. The wealthy person brings one animal, as does the poor person. Not so in 1-4, delineated in Parshas Vayikra, wherein the wealthy person only bring the חטאת , and no עולה , thereby only needing one animal. The Gemara that the Sefer HaChinuch seemed to go against, that a poor person who brings a rich mans offering has indeed fulfilled his obligation, was regarding 5+6, where there were two animals, brought by both the rich and poor.”

“However, in Parshas Vayikra, where the pasuk discusses cases 1-4, it is insufficient for a poor person to bring a wealthy man’s offering – he’s missing an animal!”

“The Ibn Ezra discusses the possible causes for the discrepancy in how many animals a person would bring, based on his social standing.”

“1. A poor man would by definition be unhappy with his standing in life, and he would bear a grudge against Heaven for his misfortune. This necessitates an additional animal.”

“2. A wealthy person’s offering has a large enough portion to burn on the Mizbeach by itself, a cow is a very large animal. Not so with a bird, with a woefully small portion to burn. It is disrespectful to offer such a miniscule portion, and this necessitates a whole new animal to satisfice the demands of the Mizbeach.”

The genius continued; “So the Sefer HaChinuch would agree with the first possibility. It doesn’t help for a poor person, who must bring the second to atone for his grudge against Heaven, to bring one animal. He has not addressed this feeling within, and as the Rebbe said, there is a korban missing.”

However, the Rambam would hold with the second option, that the second animal is not brought because of the person, but rather, by the nature of the animal being offered. If he were to bring a cow, there would be no need for a second animal, and he would indeed have fulfilled his responsibility!

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Of Cups and Highlights

At Kadesh – we drink the first of the four cups of wine. Each of the four cups of wine symbolizes the four highlights of the seder at which we drink one of the cups: the first at Kadesh, the second at Maggid, the third at Barech and the fourth at Hallel.

The ability of a kiddush is to draw a distinction between that evening and other evenings. The way we do this is through remembering Yetzias Mitzrayim – the Exodus. We do this through a passing mention of “זכר ליציאת מצרים“- in memory of Yetzias Mitzrayim. The reason we do this is because Yetzias Mitzrayim is the שרש – the root – of being Hashem’s people. The Sefer Hachinuch goes so far as to say that most mitzvos do have a direct link to Yetzias Mitzrayim.

The function of any kiddush is to express service, allegiance and fealty to Hashem. This is true of kiddush on every Shabbos and all Yomim Tovim. This is the first cup of wine that we drink.

The second is drunk at Maggid. Maggid’s place in the Seder is to perform the mitzva of סיפור יציאת מצרים – the in depth discussion of the events of Yetzias Mitzrayim - rather than the זכר of Kadesh. The function of the mitzva of סיפור יציאת מצרים is to recreate and relive the events, rather than to remember. The wording of the halacha is “כל דור ודור חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאלו הוא יצא עתה” -

To fulfill the mitzva of סיפור , there are three requirements. The first is the most basic – the engagement that occurs in question and answer form. This engagement constitutes a dialogue that differentiates it from the monologue of a זכר . This is the educational aspect of סיפור .

The second requirement of סיפור is for the Seder to envision Yetzias Mitzrayim. This is achieved through the story telling aspect of Maggid. As with any story, it begins with a problem and ends with a solution.

The final, most demanding requirement of סיפור is the טעמי הצמוות – the rationale behind the mitzvos of the Seder must be explained and understood.

R’ Chaim Brisker says that these requirements distinguish the mitzva of סיפור from the regular mitzva of זכר . The mitzva of סיפור constitutes a key highlight of the Seder, and this is why the second cup of wine is drunk at the end of Maggid.

The third cup is consumed at the conclusion of Birchas Hamazon, Barech. The function of the bracha is to give thanks to Hashem for what we have eaten – so the bracha goes back on all the אכילות מצוה – the Matza, Marror as well as the meal. The instructions to perform these mitzvos created the circumstances through which we could leave Egypt – the Jews had to eat the Korban Pesach the night the Egyptian firstborns died. The bracha of Birchas Hamazon is the conclusion of all the mitzvos of the evening, and as such, is as much key highlight as the mitzvos themselves were, and the reason we drink the third cup of wine at this point.

The fourth cup is drunk at the conclusion of Hallel. Hallel is a shira, a song of praise and gratitude for all the kindness Hashem has done for us, which is what the whole Seder was about.

Wine is chashuv – it is prestigious and indicates prominence. It is with wine that we mark the prominent events of the Seder, and as we have now seen, the junctures at which we drink encompass the entire evening.

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All about appreciation

As heard from R Yakov Minkus

5. And you shall call out and say before the Lord, your God, “An Aramean [sought to] destroy my forefather, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there with a small number of people, and there, he became a great, mighty, and numerous nation.		ה. וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה וַיָּגָר שָׁם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט וַיְהִי שָׁם לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל עָצוּם וָרָב:
6. And the Egyptians treated us cruelly and afflicted us, and they imposed hard labor upon us.		ו. וַיָּרֵעוּ אֹתָנוּ הַמִּצְרִים וַיְעַנּוּנוּ וַיִּתְּנוּ עָלֵינוּ עֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה:
7. So we cried out to the Lord, God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.		ז. וַנִּצְעַק אֶל יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵינוּ וַיִּשְׁמַע יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֶת קֹלֵנוּ וַיַּרְא אֶת עָנְיֵנוּ וְאֶת עֲמָלֵנוּ וְאֶת לַחֲצֵנוּ:
8. And the Lord brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, with great awe, and with signs and wonders.		ח. וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ יְ־הֹוָ־ה מִמִּצְרַיִם בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבְמֹרָא גָּדֹל וּבְאֹתוֹת וּבְמֹפְתִים:

In the Haggada on Seder night, when we say the above pesukim in the second half of maggid, we are reviewing the תורה from the point where the Jews were going out of Egypt.

The question is: Why do we not review the actual events in their place in the parshas of Shemos, Va’eira, Bo and Bshalach i.e. in chronological order? This portion over here is:
a) Out of place, as this parsha reviews the commandments to bring bikurim, and
b) Not in any way linked to the rest of the story of יציאת מצריים.
However, it is a focal point, so why is it considered more important than the story in its proper place?

The Sefer HaChinuch explains that the whole avoda of יציאת מצריים is not just telling the story of יציאת מצריים for its own sake, but rather to tell the story with a Hakoras Hatov angle which the פרשיות of Shemos etc do not have.

The מצוה of Bikkurim is based on a gratitude for having Eretz Yisrael, which in turn is part of the gratitude for having been taken out of Egypt. So, in reality, this particular portion about יציאת מצריים fits very well in this פרשה – it is about Hakoras Hatov! This is the answer to our two questions as to why the psukim in the Haggada are from this פרשה of Bikkurim and the proof that Sefer HaChinuch is right.

But, now we ask, what is proper Hakoras Hatov?
There are 4 prescribed events for which we are instructed to make a point of thanks – formerly as a קרבן תודעה (literally as Thanksgiving) but today as ברכת הגומל. These 4 events are:
1. recovery from illness,
2. release from jail,
3. travelling overseas, and
4. travelling through a desert.

The ‘root mitzvah’, the קרבן תודעה, had a special particular Halacha that along with the animal offering, one had to bring 40 loaves of bread. Because they are included in the קרבן , these loaves are equally subject to the laws of Noser, whereby Korbanos left overnight must be destroyed. Unlike many other קרבנות only little portions are removed for the מזבח, Kohanim etc.

How does one eat most of an animal with 40 loaves of bread and avoid Noser?! The answer is simple. One would invite many guests to join the celebration! The whole idea of being Makir Tov is to publicise it and the קרבן פסח is identical – an entire roast animal that is to be consumed after a full meal, in a tiny amount of time, before midnight. Therefore, in order to avoid noser problems you must invite many Seder guests to tell them about יציאת מצריים!

Furthermore the קרבן פסח is a National קרבן תודעה for all four reasons above!
1. We were in bondage and released (Egypt),
2. We went through the sea,
3. We went through the desert, and (as the Midrash in Parshas Yisro says)
4. When the Jews heard Hashem’s Voice, they were cured from all ailments!

In addition, the קרבן פסח is just like the קרבן תודעה, in that the matza is a part of the Korban itself – the Afikoman is intended as Matza and קרבן פסח. Meseches Bikkurim says that when someone brought a single pomegranate as Bikkurim, every street he went along had to shutdown and accompany him to the Beis Hamikdash as part of the publicity. This is just more proof that these psukim are very apt as Pesach is innately affiliated to Hakoras Hatov.

Now, after talking extensively about Hakaras Hatov, how do we go about thanking hashem?
The final pasuk in Parshas Bikkurim וְשָׂמַחְתָּ בְכָל הַטּוֹב אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לְךָ יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וּלְבֵיתֶךָ – you should rejoice in all Hashem does for you – not just one blanket ‘thank you’, but thank Him for each thing individually! We would do well to bear this in mind and itemise each thing for which we ought to thank Hashem on this Rosh Hashana

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No one can steal your spiritual spotlight

After the story of Korach, God commanded Moshe to take all the pans that were used to bring the incense and use them as a cover for the altar. The Torah finishes off with a statement: ‘velo yihye kekorach veadosoi’ (and you should not be like Korach and his congregation). Rashi learns that this should be a reminder to us not to be involved in a machloikes (argument). However, other Rishonim say it’s a lav (a negative commandment in the Torah) that commands us not to have conflict amongst klal yisroel. The Yereim mentions this mitzva in the category of ra lamokom veaino ra labriyos, which means it’s evil to God, but not to mankind. We know however, that machloikes is definitely under the criteria of animosity between man and his friend, so how can we reconcile these two, seemingly opposing ideas?

The Chinuch brings down that a levi that does the avoida (work) of a kohen in the Beis Hamikdash is chayav misah (deserves to be punished by death). The Sefer HaChinuch adds that if a kohen does the avoida of a levi, which is of a lower sanctity then a priests work, the kohen is punishable by death. Moreover, if a levi who’s been designated to guard the gates leaves his post and starts doing the singing which is also part of a levi’s services, he is also punished by death since this wasn’t his designated service.
(more…)

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Archive for the ‘Sefer Hachinuch’ Category

Women in Judaism, mitzvos, and counting Sefira

I’ve got to break free

Of Cups and Highlights

All about appreciation

No one can steal your spiritual spotlight

This Week’s Parsha

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