V'Ahavta L'Reiakha Kamokha

Kedoshim 

Compiled by Aharon Yaakov Greenberg and translated by Rabbi Avi Billet 

Itturei Torah, a sefer that has a collection of Divrei Torah on every parsha, has two pages dedicated to the Mitzvah of V’ahavta l’Rei’akha Kamokha – which is often loosely translated to mean “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The Torah ideas are sourced from a cross between classic commentaries to Chassidish Rebbehs, sometimes with stories attached, sometimes a musser lesson. I don’t know if the book has been translated (I am pretty sure it hasn’t been). 

Here are many of the entries on this verse – my translation (AB).  [If you'd like to see perspectives from more "classic" sources - click here]

 R Moshe Leib Sassover explained how he learned from a non-Jew what it means to love your fellow man. He saw two villagers sitting around, drinking together, till they were quite inebriated. They started kissing one another. One said to the other, “Do you love me?” Of course I do, my friend! “How can you say you love me, when you don’t know what I lack?” 

 R Moshe Leib said, “At that moment I realized that a Jew doesn’t truly love his fellow until he is aware of what his fellow Jew lacks,” and how he can therefore help the other person. 

Rituals of Purification

 Parshat Tazria-Metzora

by Rabbi Avi Billet

There are 4 rituals in the Torah that bear similarities in how they are presented. Three of them are associated with the categories of people mentioned by Baal HaTurim (as will be noted below) – Leviim, Nazir, and Metzora, and the 4th category are Aharon and sons, the Kohanim, at the time they are initially turned from Leviim to Kohanim, as they are consecrated to work in the Mishkan. 

 This chart summarizes (incompletely) the components of those respective rituals and where they appear in the Torah. 

Aharon's Silence

Parshat Shmini 

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

 Immediately after the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, Moshe tells his brother, “This is what God meant when he said ‘I’ll be sanctified with those closest to me and before the nation I’ll be honored,’ and Aharon was silent.” 

 Aharon’s silence in response to all of this is legendary, such that much has been written about it. How we learn from him how to mourn, how to accept tragedy as God’s will.

 But is it really as simple as that? Is Aharon really accepting of the tragedy? Does he have no questions? Is there no anger in his heart? No feeling of “Why my sons, God?” And is his silence in reaction to the tragedy he experienced? Or is it a response to Moshe’s words?

Eliyahu HaNavi and Night Time Salvation

Pesach 5786

A Sermon by Rabbi Avi Billet

Beyond Israel’s now 78 year war with its local enemies, the current military action in Iran is the first time another power has gotten involved on the offensive, advancing shared interests with the Jewish State. In the past some countries have provided weapons to Israel to help Israel fight her own fight. And the Patriot missiles, a not-as-good-as-Iron Dome method of intercepting missiles was used in the 1991 Iraq War. That war, as many surely recall, started after Iraq invaded Kuwait. And while Israel was not involved, Saddam Hussein had threatened that if the US invades, he’d shoot missiles at Israel. Which he did. 

That war put Israel on alert to put bomb shelters in all new construction, including houses and apartment buildings. Some are actually in apartments and are for the use of the family living there, while some are in the basements of buildings and are more communal. 

Put in the Time to Prepare for the Big Day

Parshat Tzav  / Shabbos HaGadol

 by Rabbi Avi Billet 

In the last four verses of the parsha, we see the warning and instruction given to the Kohanim as to where they are supposed to be for the 7 days leading up to the “Yom HaShmini” that will be described in the coming Parsha with chapter 9. 

 Verse 33 - And you shall not leave the entrance of the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the day of the completion of your investiture days, he will inaugurate you for seven days. 

Verse 35 - And you shall stay day and night for seven days at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. You shall observe the Lord's command, so that you will not die, for thus I was commanded. 

I would argue that the message is clear. But is it? Are they stuck at the opening of the Tent of Meeting (Ohel Moed) for 7 days? What if someone needs a break? Or to relieve oneself? 

The Leader and the People

Parshat Vayikra

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Vayikra chapter 4 presents a few scenarios where either an individual or a leader sins or causes others to sin. What is the penalty? Who is responsible? 

ויקרא פרק ד - (ג) אִ֣ם הַכֹּהֵ֧ן הַמָּשִׁ֛יחַ יֶחֱטָ֖א לְאַשְׁמַ֣ת הָעָ֑ם וְהִקְרִ֡יב עַ֣ל חַטָּאתוֹ֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר חָטָ֜א פַּ֣ר בֶּן־בָּקָ֥ר תָּמִ֛ים לַיקֹוָ֖ק לְחַטָּֽאת:

4:3 – “If the anointed Kohen sins, to the blame of the people, he is to bring a sin offering for the sin he perpetrated…”

 This seems pretty straightforward. The man is responsible to bring the offering in question. And while 4:13 introduces a scenario in which all of the people do something wrong, and thus must bring a communal sacrifice, it does not follow that that case is specifically connected to the one in the verse above.

Let us explore three ways of looking at what happened here, causing this breakdown in behavior. 

Even the Accidental Sin 

A. This verse (4:3) is meant to be a warning to the Kohen, of how he is to conduct himself on account of his being in such a position. People look to him, people admire him, people see him as a model of behavior, a leader to emulate on account of his position, his stature, and the role he plays in their lives. Rabbi Yaakov Loiberbaum of Lisa explained the verse to suggest that if he sins, even by accident (בשוגג), this is to the detriment of the congregation and the community, because what they see him doing is seen as being upright, ethical, proper, and allowed. This gives people license, even unwittingly and unwillingly, to do the wrong thing, simply because they saw this behavior or this action perpetrated by the anointed Kohen. 

Why is Kindling Fire Mentioned Exclusively as a Shabbos Prohibition?

Parshat VAYAKHEL - Fekudei

by Rabbi Avi Billet

In opening the parsha with an announcement about Shabbos, Moshe Rabbenu singles out the kindling of fire as something that should not be done on the holy day. Some of the commentaries note that this singling out demonstrates that just as this is forbidden, all of the categories of Melakha (creative labors) are forbidden on Shabbos. 

 This is a classic rabbinic analysis which simplifies a more complex issue, while essentially side-stepping the question of why was this prohibition singled out? 

The Pesikta (and Chizkuni and others) note that the Torah’s indication that you are not to kindle fire “in your dwelling places” excludes the Mikdash, where handling and dealing with fire, for the sake of the sacrificial order, is permitted on Shabbos. (אש תמיד תוקד על המזבח) 

Ramban quotes Rabbi Nosson, in a statement found in the Mechilta, who says that when Moshe gathered the people, the assumption everyone made was that it would be permitted to light a candle and to heat up food, and to make a fire on Shabbos (probably because inherently, fire by itself is not a creative labor), so Moshe needed to single it out. Rabbi Nosson (Ramban explains) says the Torah is not needed to tell us that baking, cooking, and other activities for food preparation are forbidden because we are told that in the context of the Mon (manna), that it would need to be prepared before Shabbos.