Naaleh.com is a
FREE Torah Website-
We rely entirely on YOUR generous donations!
|
|
Start the Career of your dreams!
Become a
Graphic Designer,
Web Designer or
Computer Programmer.
|
|
Shop at Amazon while supporting Naaleh Torah Online!
|
Student Testimonial
"
I am happy to have found your website and to have the ability to learn"
-Anonymous
Send in your comments to
[email protected] and they might appear it an upcoming newsletter!
|
|
|
|
| |
Dear Naaleh Friend,
This week we have featured a class by Mrs. Shira Smiles from the Naaleh series,
Elul, Rosh Hashana, and Yom Kippur: Days of Closeness and Awe. In the Torah shiur,
Elul: Room for Reflection, Mrs. Smiles speaks about the pasuk pertaining to the Ir Miklat, which states, "...and I will appoint a place to which you can escape," and explains how the pasuk reflects the month of Elul. To view the class now click on the image below:
This week's Torat Imecha Parsha Newsletter on Parshat
Ki Teitzei is now available below. Click here for the printer friendly version. Be sure to visit the homepage as well, for lots more inspiring Torah classes!
Shabbat Shalom!
-Ashley Klapper and the Naaleh Crew
|
|
Dedicated in memory of Rachel Leah bat R' Chaim Tzvi
Torat Imecha- Women's Torah
|
Preparing for Shemoneh Esrai: G-d as Creator
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rabbi Hershel Reichman
The morning
Shemonei Esrei
prayer is prefaced by three introductory blessings. The first blessing is
Yotzer Hameorot
followed by
Ahava Rabba
and
Ga'ol Yisrael
. The blessing of
Yotzer
Hameorot
depicts the awesome wonder of the Creator and His magnificent creation, specifically the sun, the source of life. As the first morning light peeks through the clouds, it evokes feelings of profound gratitude for the beauty of Hashem's world. The sun causes vegetation to grow and the water in the ocean to evaporate so that it forms into clouds which then comes down as rain. As we enunciate the words of the blessing we express our thanks and praise to Hashem, the Creator of the world for the sun's lights and for all of the wonders of creation. We echo the praises of the angels in heaven. Although they are beyond the physical world, they too affirm that Hashem is the source of their existence. We say that Hashem is
kadosh
, holy and beyond praise. We further acclaim His name, "
Baruch kavod Hashem mimkomo
." Hashem's glory is all pervading.
The blessing of
Yotzer Hame'orot
inspires us with renewed faith and is an important prelude to
Shemonei Esrei
. When we speak about Hashem's wondrous creation we get a sense of His awesome greatness and that we can rely upon him for all of our needs. If the Creator is so powerful and exalted and is the source of so much light and goodness, surely He will respond to all our deepest prayers.
|
Honorable Mentchen 2- Reliable Emissaries
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rabbi Hanoch Teller
The concept of
kiddush Hashem
(sanctifying the name of Hashem) is rooted in the idea that the Jewish people are the ambassadors of the Almighty. What we do is representative of Hashem. If we act in a good mannered, benevolent, and kind way we sanctify His name. If we act in a stingy, selfish, uncouth way it reflects poorly on Him.
Nowadays most Jewish young people spend a year or two of study in Israel after high school. Years ago, when I was growing up this wasn't as accepted. I very much wanted to go to Israel but my parents couldn't afford the ticket. A cousin told me to go to Greenwich Village where you could get a ticket for very cheap. So I went down there and got a ticket to Brussels with plans to continue on to Tel Aviv. We left Thursday night. My plan was that after arriving in Brussels I would get a connecting flight to Vienna, stay at my relative's house for
Shabbat,
and then they'd be so eager to get rid of me, they'd pay my flight to Israel.
My seatmate was a priest on his way to a missionary conference in Brussels. We were already air bound when he laced into me and said, "We are the religion of love and you are the religion of hate." So I got into a heated argument with him. Then the stewardess marched two young boys up to the front of the plane. Their father, an American army officer stationed in Germany, had suffered a heart attack. I overheard the stewardesses discussing the situation. The plane was scheduled to make an emergency landing in New Foundland. But the mother said she could not get off with her husband because she had no money to get back to Germany. Being raised in a yeshiva environment I spontaneously took down my bag, took out some money, walked down the aisle and told the stewardess, "Would you give this money to the poor family to carry on their trip back home." Almost immediately people began pulling money out from everywhere and contributing to the cause. A respectable sum soon piled up and was duly handed over to the poor woman.
After the emergency landing which caused a considerable delay, I had this vision of being stuck in Brussels airport over Shabbat. I was not a happy camper. The captain came out and saw my disenchantment. Considering the good deed I had initiated, I had become somewhat of a celebrity on the plane. I told him my story. He took me into the cockpit, and radioed headquarters to hold the next plane departing to Vienna. When we landed, I raced on to the plane and made it to my relatives for Shabbat. Afterwards I thought that perhaps the favorable outcome of this story happened because of the
kiddush Hashem
. To us
tzedakah
is so natural. To the people on the plane, it was a novel experience.
The Tosefta teaches that defrauding or stealing from a non-Jew is a more heinous offense than stealing from a Jew as it dishonors the name of Hashem. The Gemara quotes Abaye who taught the verse in Devarim, "You shall love the name of Hashem." Our mission, as Abaya used to say, is to make Hashem's name beloved to others. Every Jew, particularly if he is a scholar, must act in a way that people see that being committed to Hashem's teachings makes one a better person. The Rambam writes that this includes paying one's debts promptly, not embarrassing others, and not making a spectacle of oneself. The Gemara says that if a Torah scholar acts dishonestly people may say about him, "Woe upon the person who studies Torah. See how perverse his deeds are, how ugly are his ways." This disgraces the honor of Hashem.
Rav Aryeh Levin once caught two boys in the middle of a fistfight in front of the Eitz Chaim Yeshiva. He pulled the boys into his office and started reading from the Gemara Yoma which discusses
chilul
and
kiddush Hashem
. Rav Aryeh began to cry and the boys wept with him. They realized that religious boys coming to blows with each other in public had been a great
chilul Hashem
.
|
The Judgment of Rosh Hashana Preparing for the Amida
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rebbetzin Leah Kohn
Hashem began creating the world on the 25
th
of Elul. The sixth day of creation was on Rosh Hashana, the anniversary of the creation of man. Anniversaries are a time to take stock of the year gone by and to make resolutions for the coming year. Hashem created the world for a purpose and that which needs to be accomplished is divided into segments. Each year we are meant to complete another segment. No year is exactly like the other. That is why a year is called
shana
which comes from the root word
shinui
(change). The judgment of Rosh Hashana is what will be the accomplishments on a national level and on a personal level. On Rosh Hashana every person is charged with the mission of completing another piece of the segment necessary to bring the world to its purpose.
When we assign a new project to someone, we look at his past performance and how equipped he is for the next stage. If we want to understand Rosh Hashana, we have to look at the purpose of creation. The Ramban in Parshas Bo writes, "Fulfilling the
mitzvot
will bring us to fulfill the purpose of creation which is to know Hashem, believe in Him, and thank him for creating us."
We can understand this Ramban on a deeper level by examining chapter 148 in Tehilim. There are three parts to this chapter. The first segment speaks about praising Hashem from the heavens. The second segments speaks about praising Him from earth, and finally the third segment praises the Jewish people. The Malbim notes that the first segment lists the four basic elements that the world was created from. He notes that, "Mountains and hills..." refer to the end of one category and the beginning of another. The verse continues to describe the different categories that praise Hashem, "fruit and cedar trees, animals, kings, nations and judges... This order reminds us of the order of creation which began from the lowest level of life -inanimate matter and moved up to vegetation, animals, and humans. Why are they required to thank Hashem? "Because His name alone is exalted." Alone indicates that there is possibility to exalt other things. Humans have free choice. For some people, money is the most exalted thing. For others it may be knowledge or physical desires. So we are told, although you can choose to follow other things, make Hashem most exalted. The Malbim explains, the chapter is basically explaining to us creation and its purpose as it is explained by the Ramban.
The world was created in a way that physicality hides Hashem. Before creation one couldn't help but recognize Him. But as the world came into being, every stage of creation added more physicality and concealed His presence more, to the extent that one can see creation and fail to see Him in the picture. The psalm is a description of creation going from most spiritual to most physical. If one sees Hashem in a way that the highest spiritual beings see Him, one cannot help but feel joy and gratitude for the opportunity of being His creation. Then one will surely praise Him. The Malbim describes creation as a circle. Hashem is at the top. He began to create starting at the highest point. The lower He went the more physicality there was and the less one could see Hashem till He came to the bottom, the world as we see it, with maximum physicality. Man can choose to live without seeing Hashem at all. But He's not entirely hidden to the extent that one can't reveal Him. It's up to us what we will choose to see. The more spiritually developed a person is, the more he has the capacity to recognize Hashem. The more physical he is, the less he will see Hashem.
A relationship is more meaningful if you invest in it. Hashem hides Himself in order to give us the opportunity to reveal Him. If we had no choice there would be no pleasure. If all a person saw in his life was diamonds and he was given more diamonds he wouldn't appreciate it. But if he's given a pile of rocks with a diamond hidden at the bottom, he will value the diamond that much more when he finds it. We are given free choice to go after any power we want. But if we make the effort and invest and find Hashem and see Him as the only one to be exalted, it is a lot more precious and meaningful. Only humans can make the choice of seeing Hashem and bringing the world to its purpose.
The Alshich points out that in the first paragraph of the psalm it says, "Praise Hashem," after each category while the second paragraph only mentions praise at the beginning. Every celestial being is an entity on its own and praises Hashem in its own way. But on earth, when man praises Hashem, all of creation praises him too. That which hides Hashem has the potential to help us discover Him. A person can use science to hide or reveal Hashem. There's cause and effect in the inanimate world. We can predict exactly when the sun will rise in a thousand years from today using the laws of nature. Yet we've all seen more than once in our life a beautiful sunrise or sunset and exclaimed in awe, "
Mah rabu
masecha Hashem
." How wondrous are your creations.
Einstein wrote a letter to a friend that the fact that he did not accept what he himself knew, that there was a beginning to this world, was the blunder of his life. We can look at a beautiful tree or flower and understand its profundity based on science. Or we can choose to see its variety, perfection, and unbelievable structure as the hand of Hashem. David Hamelech says, you man should praise Hashem because it's you who is supposed to take all of creation from its lowest level and bring it up to Hashem
Shlomo Hamelech tells us in Shir Hashirim, "
Ad shehamelech b'misibo
," (Till we are sitting comfortably together with the king.) Rashi in Vayikra writes that the ultimate goal of man is to walk serenely with Hashem in Gan Eden as Adam did before the sin. This chapter in Tehilim tells us how to reach this level. Man's purpose is to take everything in creation and elevate it for Hashem. One way to do this is by just looking at creation and seeing that He is the only one that can be exalted. The Ramban adds another way. Every
mitzvah
bonds us to Hashem. We don't just connect ourselves with the
mitzvah
but whatever we use for the
mitzvah
whether it's an inanimate thing like the walls of a
sukkah
, or growing things like the four species, or animals used to enhance a
Shabbat
or holiday meal, can be uplifted for Hashem.
|
|
| |
|
