Parsha-D'vrei Torah

deedee

Thu, Mar 24 2005, 2:22 am

ok I cant find my other thread so I'm starting a new one. I couldnt figure out where to put it so can this thread also include shabbos?

Quote:

Parshas Tzav:
- It is offering that ascends upon the pyre of the Altar (Leviticus 6:2)
The location of the Altar is very exactly defined, and is never to be changed... It is a tradition that the place where David and Solomon built the Altar on the threshing floor of Arona, is the very place where Abraham built an altar and bound Isaac upon it; this is where Noah built [an altar] when he came out from the ark; this is where Cain and Abel brought their offerings; this is where Adam the First Man offered a korban when he was created--and it is from [the earth of] this place that he was created. Thus the Sages have said: Man was formed from the place of his atonement. (Maimonides)

- And the fire upon the Altar shall be kept burning in it... and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning (Leviticus 6:5)
Although a fire descended from heaven upon the Altar, it is a mitzvah to add to it a humanly produced fire. (Talmud, Eruvin 63a)
This is a rule that applies to all areas of life: the gifts of life are bestowed upon us from Above, yet it is G-d's desire that we add to them the product of our own initiative. (The Chassidic Masters)

deedee

Fri, Apr 01 2005, 2:09 am

Parshas Shemini:

-And it came to pass on the eighth day (Leviticus 9:1)
The number seven represents the cycle of creation; the number eight represents the "circumference"--that which lies beyond the perimeter of time and space. This is why the Divine Presence came to dwell in the Israelite camp on the eighth day. This is also alluded to in the saying of our sages (Talmud, Erchin 13b) that "The lyre of Moshiach has eight strings." (Keli Yakar; Shaloh)

-Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer, and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and offered strange fire before G-d, which He commanded them not. And a fire went out from G-d, and consumed them, and they died before G-d. (Leviticus 10:1-2)
They approached the Supernal Light out of their great love of the Holy, and thereby died. Thus they died by "divine kiss" such as experienced by the perfectly righteous; it is only that the righteous die when the divine kiss approaches them, while they died by their approaching it... Although they sensed their own demise, this did not prevent them from drawing near to G-d in attachment, delight, delectability, fellowship, love, kiss and sweetness, to the point that their souls ceased from them. (Ohr HaChaim)

-These are the animals which you may eat... (Leviticus 11:2)
The birds and many of the mammals forbidden by the Torah are predators, while the permitted animals are not. We are commanded not to eat those animals possessive of a cruel nature, so that we should not absorb these qualities into ourselves. (Nachmanindes)

deedee

Fri, Apr 08 2005, 2:12 am

Parshas Tazria

- On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised (12:3)
Isaac and Ishmael were engaged in a controvery. Said Ishmael to Isaac: "I am more beloved to G-d than you, since I was circumcised at the age of thirteen, but you were circumcised as a baby and could not refuse." Isaac retorted: "All that you gave up to G-d was three drops of blood. But lo, I am now thirty-seven years old, yet if G-d desired of me that I be slaughtered, I would not refuse." (Midrash Rabbah)

Jewishness is not a matter of historical conscious, outlook, ethics, or even behavior; it is a state of being. This is the deeper significance of the debate between Ishmael and Isaac. When the Jew is circumcised on the eighth day of life, he is completely unaware of the significance of what has occurred. But this "non-experience" is precisely what circumcision means. With circumcision the Jew says: I define my relationship with G-d not by what I think, feel or do, but by the fact of my Jewishness--a fact which equally applies to an infant of eight days and a sage of eighty years. (The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

- Evil talk kills three people: the speaker, the listener, and the one who is spoken of. (Talmud, Erachin 15a)
The speaker obviously commits a grave sin by speaking negatively of his fellow. The listener, too, is a partner to this evil. But why is the one who is spoken of affected by their deed? Are his negative traits worsened by the fact that they are spoken of?

Indeed they are. A person may possess an evil trait or tendency, but his quintessential goodness, intrinsic to every soul, strives to control it, conquer it, and ultimately eradicate its negative expressions and redirect it as a positive force. But when this evil is spoken of, it is made that much more manifest and real. By speaking negatively of the person's trait or deed, the evil-speakers are, in effect, defining it as such; with their words, they grant substance and validity to its negative potential.

But the same applies in the reverse: speaking favorably of another, accentuating his or her positive side, will aid him to realize himself in the manner that you have defined him. (The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

deedee

Thu, Apr 14 2005, 4:58 pm

Quote:

Parshas Metzorah
Cedar wood... and hyssop (14:4)
Because he has exalted himself like a cedar... he should humble himself like a grass. (Midrash Tanchuma)

If the point is that he should show humility, why does he bring both a cedar and hyssop? But the true meaning of humility is not to broken and bowed, but to be humble even as one stands straight and tall. (The Chassidic Masters)

A person should have two pockets in his coat. One should contain the Talmudic saying (Sanhedrin 37a), "A person is commanded to maintain: For my sake was the world created." In the second pocket he should keep the verse (Genesis 18:17), "I am but dust and ashes." (Rabbi Bunim of Peshischa)