Archive for the ‘R’ Moshe Feinstein’ Category

Flattering to deceive

The pasuk tell us:

 וְלֹא תַחֲנִיפוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם בָּהּ כִּי הַדָּם הוּא יַחֲנִיף אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְלָאָרֶץ לֹא יְכֻפַּר לַדָּם אֲשֶׁר שֻׁפַּךְ בָּהּ כִּי אִם בְּדַם שֹׁפְכוֹ – And you shall not deceive the land in which you live, for the blood corrupts the land, and the blood which is shed in the land cannot be atoned for except through the blood of the one who shed it. (35:34)

The word חניפה means flattery/deception/corruption/obfuscation. The expression seems highly odd in the context of the land.

R’ Moshe Feinstein draws a major distinction between the conventional wisdom of the world, and Jewish law. The world worries about peace and rights – if someone disturbs peace or rights, since the goal is peace, the person destroying it is therefore a target, as they are destroying the world as they see it. Countless wars are fought, with countless dead, because one nation has a claim to repairing and saving the world, or some other ideal.

For Jews, the Torah tells us “Do not murder.” – regardless of who – one may not kill another human being. Even someone who destroys the world is still taken care of by this.

What results from this is that someone who murders or wages war to ostensibly “save the world”, is יַחֲנִיף אֶת הָאָרֶץ – wherein the land takes precedence over a man. He is being murdered for the sake of preservation of the land, for peace!

The Torah tells us that the land is always secondary to the person – all land is worthless if the people on it aren’t upstanding individuals. חניפה is the disconnect between reality and an ideal – we must always know that we have to be real with ourselves, always trying to improve. This is what the pasuk means when it says וְלֹא תַחֲנִיפוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם בָּהּ.

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False start

Looking at the 15 steps of the Seder, ורחץ- “and we wash our hands” – is out of step with the rest. It is seemingly linked to the previous step of Kadesh. But this results in a further problem – the order is wrong! Shouldn’t we cleanse ourselves of the negative, symbolised by washing our hands, before sanctifying ourselves with positive, through kiddush?

We can ask the same question about Matza and Maror, shouldn’t we get the negative (slavery) out of the way before commemorating the positive?

R’ Moshe Feinstein answers that sometimes we are in so deep that we can’t cleanse ourselves of the negativity. We have to jumpstart the process of growth by diving in and doing positive acts despite the fact we still have negative baggage. Then we build up the spiritual strength to be able to cleanse ourselves of and be rid of that baggage – which is exactly what happened in Egypt.

There is a Chassidic analogy of a man with dirty boots in a muddy field. He must walk to the end of the field before he can clean his boots.

This is an exceptionally deep משל, but on a basic level, what it means is that when we have a problem that we can’t avoid (dirty boots), we must change the situation we are in (leaving the field). Once we have changed and grown, when we find ourselves with “muddy boots” we will no longer be in the “muddy field”. We can even take this analogy further – people can look around at the world (muddy field) and wonder how they can have faith when there is so much evil (mud) in the world. The answer is that the muddy field isn’t the problem – your boots are!

The reason we start the Seder in this way is to show us that we just need to take the initiative – Kaddish – and then ורחץ – we will be cleansed!

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Inherent Similarities

This week’s Parsha begins by detailing the garments that the Kohen Gadol would wear when serving in the the Beis HaMikdash.

וְיִרְכְּסוּ אֶת הַחֹשֶׁן מִטַּבְּעֹתָיו אֶל טַבְּעֹת הָאֵפֹד בִּפְתִיל תְּכֵלֶת לִהְיוֹת עַל חֵשֶׁב הָאֵפוֹד וְלֹא יִזַּח הַחֹשֶׁן מֵעַל הָאֵפוֹד - And they shall fasten the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the apron with a blue cord, so that it may be upon the band of the apron, and the breastplate will not move off the apron. (28:28)

Why is the Torah particular that there should be no separation between the choshen and the eiphod?

There is a Gemara in Erchin 16a that explains how each of the garments that the Kohen Gadol wore would atone for a different sin. The eiphod atoned for idol worship, while the breast-place atoned for dishonesty in monetary matters (judicial and business).

R’ Moshe Feinstein (biography here) answers our question with a very sharp piece of mussar. He explains that someone who worships idols does not believe that Hashem controls the world. This is obvious. But he adds something surprising – that someone who is prepared to distort monetary matters is guilty of the same crime! How is this so? Distortion and dishonesty regarding monetary matters shows that a person thinks that he has the ability to add to a person’s wealth, and more than that, he truly believes no-one knows, or otherwise he would never do such a thing. He thinks that through his illegitimate behaviour he can control financial affairs, but what he fails to realise is that this is not in his power. Only Hashem can influence and control the financial status of a person.

R’ Moshe Feinstein explains that the root of both sins is the same – a belief that Hashem lacks control over the world. Therefore, since they are inherently similar, the Torah specifies that they are inseperable.

Courtesy of R’ Kirsch from the JLE – thanks!

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ראש חודש ניסן

This Weeks Parsha

Israel: Bechukosai

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