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Parashat Pinchas – “Honoring Heaven” – 2009

Pinchas July 10, 2009

“Honoring Heaven”

Has drama taken an upscale since Hollywood came on the scene, or were people always attracted to the stage? The emotionalism one feels after a good “hot” story measures its success. Sometimes fans get confused between the agents of the plot, the actors, in their performance and in their everyday lives as regular people. They believe that maybe they are super heroes. Sometimes the celebrities themselves loose their identities. We have seen this many times, and even in the recent past. They become the image of great distinction and fame, feed on attention based on the illusion of their image. It all becomes “me”, “how do I look now?”, and “if it feels good, do it”. But it is not always a happy end for them.

Our sages tell us that when Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron the High Priest, from the tribe of LEVI, came to spear Zimri, from the tribe of SHIMON, the souls of Nadav and Avihu and Eliyahu the prophet entered him- all whose zealousness worked solely for the honor of heaven. This was no heat of the moment act of insane passion, but stepping out of himself, Pinchas was rectifying a wrong done to the sanctity of the name of G-d. We may see him as a “hot” hit-man, but his sole concern was indeed honoring heaven.

Let’s go back in time to another incident that involved SHIMON and LEVI by the same token of zealousness. They could not bear the disgrace made to their sister, Dina when she was raped by the king of Shechem, Shechem ben Chamor. Before taking action, they realized and understood the atrocity of the act, the abomination that this dreadful blow had brought to Bnei Yisrael. In order to rectify not only what was done to Dina, but to the honor of Yisrael, they took a whack at Shechem based on the fundamental principle of honoring heaven.

Going through time, we see the tribe of Levi was the torah leaders in Egypt. They did not partake in the sin of the golden calf. We see Moshe Rabbeinu striking the Egyptian that hurt a fellow Jew. This is a clear example of knowing and realizing a low, low reality for Am Yisrael and rectifying it. The tribe of Levi was given the work in the Tabernacle and the preisthood. Later in history we are witness to the Chashmonaim from the tribe of Levi, with Mattityahu as their leader. There were plenty of Hellenists living at that time and parts of Am Yisrael had given in to the strange and paganistic culture. This did not faze the Chasmonaim a bit. They knew what was right and re-established the holy vocation in the Temple. This was all in the name of honoring heaven at a time when it was hard to perceive what was right and what was wrong. Hashem gave them miracles and we celebrate this victory every year on Chanukah.

What about Shimon though? Zimri is a prince of his tribe. He is a well known aristocrat. Our sages bring down that Kozbi was none other than the daughter of Balak himself. There’s no way we can judge Shimon favorably on this issue. To enter the holy site and copulate was a fanatical statement – “You can all go fly a kite, if it feels good-do it.” He wanted people to look. Zimri challenged Hashem by making himself G-d. This was not a happy end for him.

When a person feels on fire to make an impression in the world, let him ask first if he is giving free play to his emotions about himself or if what he is doing is simply and exactly honoring heaven.

Dear Readers, Please read Pinchas 2008as well- it explains geographically just actually how close we are to the protagonists of this parsha.

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Parashat Balak – Anti-Semitism – 2009

Balak July 1, 2009

Anti-Semitism is a real phenomenon. What gives it power is the failure of people to identify it. Balak is a powerful leader that seeks to bring Am Yisrael down to it’s knees. Balak knows about Segulat Yisrael yet thinks that if he uses an evil magician to undermine the jewish people, he can over-ride Hashem. This parsha deals specifically with the forces of evil in their fight against righteousness. When it becomes hard to identify what an enemy is really doing, the victim usually gives in to the side of powerlessness. This method of camaflougued anti-Semitism has been used countless times throughout history, including the not so distant past of the 1930’s when the administration leaders, non-jews and jews as well,in the US denied the facts of what Nazi Germany was planning for the Jews of Europe. The world powers of that time, including the “allied countries” too had trouble assessing the situation. People could not fathom that in the boom of industrial revolution and the modernization of the world, an evil so sadistic would eventually succeed. This is how the Germans rose to power. In a war like this, the fine line between reality and illusion is manipulated by the enemy. No-one identified the monster.

The truth to winning such a war is recognizing that there is in fact a war.

Harav Arielle Bar Tzadok wrote in his” war against evil”,”Illusions, fear, and lies severely limit the soldier on the battlefield and could seriously contribute to his defeat, more than his being out-gunned by the other side. There are far too many people, not just soldiers, who do not know how to think properly, to diagnose, to analyze situations within appropriate depth and insight. These people are subjected to one of the many forms of psychic attack. The attack could have either slowly or quickly broken down the rational mind, leaving him/her open to the influence and subject of submission. Independent rational thinking, coupled with one’s own ability to experience spiritual reality personally, makes a person become spiritually and psychically strong. One also must stand on the foundations of faith.”

This is where we begin to identify. Why is it that people closer to Torah values are more aware of what is happening today with modern day “Balaks”? Why are the court jews and all the jews that voted for a President that has the audacity to govern where jews will live ( and according to him- not live)- not blinking? When a person believes in Hashem and the light He wishes to bring into the world through the Jewish people living in their Land, the example of living prophecy coming true, he will certainly see a red light blinking when he hears a world leader calling for the restraint on natural growth in ancient Jewish places like Itamar, Shilo, Chevron and yes, even EAST Jerusalem. It is easy for a person with a real identity, based on faith to see the psychic attack on the horizon. Removing jews from their rightful place, is the most concentrated form of evil you will ever see. It is hard to discern this behind modern day, sweet talking, mesmerizing good talk.

Don’t be fooled.

Hashem is all good. This we know in complete faith. These enemies of ours, they keep coming at us but we have resilience in knowing the secrets of the Torah. Doing good is one thing. It is done through acts of kindness, learning, praying, etc…. But there is something else that is revealed to us in this parsha. It is turning something bad into something good. This is the highest level of worship. Fire and water really can never connect through the normal form of nature. A person in a body, using his senses of seeing, smelling, hearing, touching and tasting and viewing the world through those abilities, swims through life perceiving what he perceives. When in tune with the fine perceptions that being connected with Hashem allots, a constant flame burns on the altar of a person’s soul, the place presumeably hidden, like most of reality. The miracle of being able to see the unseen is the gift given to the believer : Perception.

“How goodly are your tents, Ya’akov and your mishkenot (prayer halls), Yisrael.” The curses intended, when identified, were turned into blessings. So we too, in knowing the foundation of faith is being always able to see the good that comes out of the bad. But first, we have to be able to know that even when it looks bad and we can IDENTIFY it- THEN the tables turn. This can only be done when we have Hashem in us always, and we stand strongly rooted into Him through our souls. All of this appears to be unseen, but you have to be able to look past the “Times, Daily News, BBC, CNN etc…”

Dear Readers,

Every house built in our historical ancient legacy gives empowerment to all of the jewish people and in essence, all of those that hold on to torah values. Our great sages, throughout all the generations lived with faith. Today we have even more. G-d has given us the opportunity to live the prophecy. We have lived to see the bad become good countless times. Those that seek to curse Israel will no doubt sink on the sinking ship of their empires. It is time for jews to make the decision now about where they stand on these extremely pending issues. It really is time to identify the situation and stop sweeping the crumbs under the rug. When we made aliyah 24 years ago, times were good in the US. But the foreshadowing of this day was clearly felt for those of us who psychically had the advantage…

For those of you who can find a way to make a difference for the people that live out on the front line, please see our paypal option. Thank you.

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Parashat Korach – “Ma-aseh avot siman lebanim” 2009

Korach June 18, 2009

Every story in the Torah tells us something about then and how it applies to now. This is called “Ma-aseh avot siman lebanim”= what happens in the lives of our forefathers serves as a lesson and warning to us, their children, now. In the previous parsha, we learn of the tribal leaders that brought the children of Israel out of Egypt but who suffered from erroneous vision pertaining to the Land of Israel and not trusting Hashem in his promise about this. This parsha focuses also on harmful vision, when the Torah authority of Moshe Rabbeinu was challenged. The revolt, led by Korach Datan and Aviram was ultimately answered by Hashem’s response when the earth opened up and swallowed the rebels. They blackballed Moshe Rabbeinu’s superiority in delegating the sacred spheres of the work of the High Priests. This attitude stemmed from pure arrogance, as they wanted the prestige and position in direct contradiction to humble Moshe who acted solely as the agent of Hashem.

Subverting the Divinely ordained authority of our Sages and Rabbis is a theme that has unfortunately repeated itself all through-out time. This is done in a number of ways, changing the context of a law in order to have an easier lifestyle, misinterpreting Hashem’s will because of the lack of fear of heaven, and assimilating. Today it is difficult for us to really see Divine intervention as it was in the days that the ground opened up its mouth and swallowed the arrogant. Today it is a harder test because your vision has to be so acute just to see the hints of what happens in your life and feel the Divine Providence guiding it. You may even be a lone fish swimming upstream.

Following G-d’s law is a privilege, but as we choose to follow it, we can’t choose to change it. True, there are 70 faces to the torah. Don’t let this confuse you. There may be many spices to it- but the Torah itself is one. If even a person who calls himself a torah authority does something intrinsically against the torah, like condoning the surrendering of parts of the Holy Land under the “lie” of peacemaking with murderous enemies, this is a perversion of the Torah! If someone calls himself a Rabbi, yet overlooks halacha like the laws of kashrut or spiritual impurities, he is no Rabbi, but someone looking for a position of power and prestige, like the people that bought priesthood in the days the 2nd temple stood in a blasphemous act of haughtiness and self pride- nothing to do with what Hashem wanted from them.

These last 2 parshiyot clearly tell us that we have to listen to Hashem and what he wants. If we can internalize into our hearts our specific reason for coming into the world, into our specific course of life, then maybe we would understand a little more what Hashem wants specifically from us in this place at this time. This is what we learn from these parashot. It doesn’t say anywhere in the torah to wear a garment made just of techeylet, but the commandment is to explicitly wear it on the fringes of the tzitzit any deviation from this path is going against the word of G-D. It doesn’t say a Levi has the job of a Cohen, nor can a Yisrael go into the chamber of chambers. Every person, born into this world has a path they have to choose, yes- but Hashem has put them into their life to do their specific job. May we make our choices from the authority Hashem’s torah!

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Parashat Shelach – The Spies – 2009

Shlach June 11, 2009

Israel is a place that is difficult to describe. It depends on the eyes of one’s mind: if they are open or closed. The portrayal that the spies gave was not based on figments of their imaginations, but visualization based on the tunnel vision these spiritual people had when they beheld a seemingly physical land. They were afraid of its physicality. They gaped at the giants (who chazal tell us had no shadows), beheld the disproportional huge fruits, and wondered at the funeral processions that went on endlessly. Spectating the strong people that dwelled there, they perceived the carnal nature of their existence and shuddered thinking that something was certainly wrong.

The spies were the chiefs of the tribes of Israel. Their commentary, through the mouth of supremacy, is what shaped the subjective opinions of all of Am Yisrael. These leaders preferred to remain in the desert, the portraiture of spiritualism, and learn Torah. They were later held accountable for their complaint. “Why has the Lord brought us to this Land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should be prey? Would it not be better to return to Mitzrayim?” Their prejudice was a class prejudice that placed them above the glass ceiling looking down with a bird’s eye view, which in fact was a worm’s eye view.

Not knowing that “Na-aseh Ve’nishma”- we will do and we will listen, applies equally to the goal of self sacrifice, for the ultimate purpose of Hashem’s will, that the torah was a blueprint for the intended life in the Land of Israel. Instead of the children entering the land, knowing it, loving it, tilling it’s soil, building homes, and sanctifying it- the spies refused to actualize G-d’s name by letting them in. They became terrified at the very thought of leaving the manna, the clouds of glory, the pillar of fire, the miracles. They had difficulty leaving this comfort, where they nursed spirituality all day long. An important Torah brought down by Harav Chaim Hacohen (Hachalban) focuses on the complaint about the worry for the children’s safety and welfare. The image we see of a young child eating is one of him crumbling most of his food while only a little enters his mouth and is digested. The spies feared that the new generation of children would not have the liberty to eat “spiritual food” all day, but rather be occupied with the meddlesome business of task after task, crumbling their torah time away.

Only, the Land of Israel is not like any other land in the world. It is so alive that even it’s inanimate features look you in the face and tell you a story. The intuition you feel there is so great that if you are afraid of it, it can wear a shroud. It can look like any beach and bar tourist attraction. It can have nastiness. It can seem indifferent to the sacrilegious acts against it. That is the test. On closer inspection, it is the place Hashem chose to reveal judgment in mercy, the accused- innocent. To turn a blind eye to the hidden reality of the Land of Israel is to sin the sin of the spies.

The job of the child is to preempt, to construct for the next generations to follow. Ephraim were the first to leave Egypt. Maybe that’s why the picture on their banner is one of a child. May the parents of Jewish children all over the world let their children do the holy job of plowing the fields of the Land, the Land that all of humanity gleans the light of Hashem and His HOLY torah. May we see continued growth and many many more children thriving on the ancient hills and valleys of the Land that Hashem promised before time to the Jewish people.

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Parashat Emor – The Power of Speech – 2009

Emor May 8, 2009

If I write Emor and Omer (in English) it’s pretty much the same word, only scrambled. The fact is, Emor is always read during the Omer and they actually are interconnected. All through the Omer we count aloud, we say which day it is until the ultimate day of Matan Torah on Shavuot. We then received the eseret hadibrot, dibrot from the word- daber- to speak, to say. It was the day Hashem actually spoke to Am Yisrael on Har Sinai. Emor, vayomer, ve’amarta, all words from this parsha, deal with speaking and saying. Hashem tells Moshe to say to Am Yisrael about Shabbat and the chagim. He tells Moshe how to instruct the Kohanim. As a leader, although humbled by a lisp, (he was also very humble) Moshe had the direct job of transferring Hashem’s will into words that become actions done by all the components that make up the Jewish nation.

Oonkelooss brings down that a man has the ability to speak in order to do good, to do chesed, to make the world a better place. This puts him above the animal who also likes to eat, sleep, find a comfortable place to live, etc. How is this good done, by good speech. A person can make it or break it depending on what he says. What he says really begins with what he thinks. That’s when Rabbi Akiva comes into the picture. Rabbi Akiva says, “Love your neighbor as yourself and judge him favorably”. This was a hard lesson for his talmidim, because during the Omer at that time, 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva perished because they could not implement that into their torah studies. So, the Omer became a time of mourning for Am Yisrael, a time of being more reflective about how to perceive your neighbor, your spouse, your best friend, your parent. Even if you see a person that looks wicked and bad, a sinner, a differentiation must be made between his sins and the sinner himself, who has a pure soul.” Hevey Dan Lecol adam lekaf zechut” means that you really don’t know an inkling about all the good a person does because you see him in narrow vision. Thinking right about someone is the rectification for a broken down world. Saying the right thing is the foundation of our lives, if it’s between ben adam lamakome or ben adam le’chavero. Even if you find yourself in a bad place, if you can connect to the holy letters of the torah and think of good things to say, the atmosphere can be transformed and you can have chizuk. We know in previous generations the davening that was done in Bolshevist and Hellenist settings was able to keep the spark of holiness aflame even in those dark times.

I can tell you from my own experience at holy places that have been desecrated, like Kever Yosef and the sons of Aaharon HaKohen, that while standing in piles of dung and seeing only garbage rotting on the holy graves, the words of our holy prayers seemed to ignite such a spiraling fire of eish kodesh, that the Kiddush Hashem in the chilul Hashem stood out even more than in a regular setting.

Perhaps the theme of today’s day and age is speaking. It’s done through emails, faxes, blackberries, cell phones; we are basically talking all day. We can talk in a conference meeting on the phone all together at once too. This means that the power of Malchut has reached the point in which we can tell the world exactly who we are, what we are, where we are- NOW in the Land of Israel FOREVER TO ETERNITY. People, you need to use your speech, you need to be heard at this most critical time. The highest form of speech is of course, prayer- that is helpful too!

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Parashag Shemini – A shining Light 2009

Shemini April 18, 2009

A candle can be fed or extinguished by the wind, depending on how it blows. If it blows too hard, the flame separates from the wick, therefore it blows out. If the steady air feeds, it waxes at an even pace. A person has a soul, which is considered a flame. Here too, it could go in both directions. A person giving in to despair and sadness can “put out” his own flame. He can also burn and blaze about something so passionately, even out of the realm of his capacity to contain his zeal. That’s when the candle burns out too- only it burns down too quickly until there is nothing left. A middle road, a moderate flickering should always be the norm in a person’s life. If he can maintain a constant light despite the ups and downs, the passions and disappointments he faces, his candle will always burn. This is very important guided imagery that Rabbi Nachman of Breslov brought down to us over 200 years ago.

He connects this Torah to what happened in this parsha, Shemini, with the sons of Aaron the High Priest, Nadav and Avihu. They had such a burning desire that it actually burned them alive. They had not internalized that containing a passion, even for G-d, is really what G-d wants. Our Rabbis say that Nadav and Avihu did not marry because they felt that without the hassle of everyday home life, a wife, children, etc. they would be able to serve Hashem better without distractions. They invented a new way in which they thought in their perception of worship would be more practical. They wanted to be closer to G-d and they overstepped the boundary.

We have ideas all the time about how to be close to G-d. The truth is we live in this world of asiyah. We don’t live in heaven but we live on earth. And for that very reason Hashem gave the Torah to the world. The Torah is everlasting and has in it everything we need to know about how to be, what to do and when and where we should be. We don’t have to offer any strange fires or put on airs. In order to spread the light, each soul’s candle shines out. When all the little candles are gathered together (in Achdut) a very great light shines forth. At this time of Omer, when we remember the students of Rabbi Akiva that died because of the lack of unity, it is time to focus more on coming together.

Dear Readers, This past Shabbat my husband and daughter and I had the privilege of taking a nature walk down the path that leads to the not so far away resting place of the sons of Aaron the High Priest, Itamar and Elazar. Of all the people in the world reading about these sacred ancestors, here we were, facing the place where they were laid to rest. If EVER anyone ever tells you that these holy places belong to another people, please know – it is our legacy! Today the graves are surrounded by those that throw trash and refuse unto the holy sites. There is no uproar in the Jewish community about this. This is perplexing and very troubling. The same fate, if not worse is at the Tomb of Joseph. Joseph, who gathered the brothers together to become Shechem echad- the righteous example of the unifying force, and the world prefers to be silent. Remember, these places are the backbone of our identities. They can never be erased, like the words on the Torah scroll we read every Shabbat. Itamar is the name of our great grandparents. If the President of the U.S. should make the mistake to say it belongs to someone else, please inform him otherwise!

Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

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Pesach – Malchut(Kingship) 2009

Pesach April 2, 2009

The Talmud refers to Nissan as the month of liberation. “In Nissan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt and in Nissan we will be redeemed.” (Rosh Hashanah 11a) The result of this emancipation is expressed by the meaning behind the word “Peh-sach” – talking mouth. The central mitzvah of this month of Nissan takes place on the seder night when we actively tell of the Exodus. We read from the Haggadah – the book that talks and tells. If Rosh Hashanah has us listening to the shofar, Sukkot sitting in the sukkah, Chanukah looking at the candles, Purim drinking wine and making merry; then Pesach has us speaking and telling about our redemption. (I’m not talking about all the stuff we have to do to make the house kosher before Pesach!).

In Kabbalah, the sphere of Kingship (Malchut), the ultimate sphere that receives the lights of all the other spheres, is represented by the mouth. On the seder night we sit like kings, reclined on pillows and we are free to tell all. A person not able to verbalize and convey his feelings is likened to a person in exile, a slave. Shackles lock over his ability to “say what he thinks”. If a person is in a healthy state of mind and feels his independence, integrity and lives his goals, he can describe reality as he sees it, not worrying about someone else mastering over him. It goes without saying that we know from the recent past about Jewish people living under the “Iron Curtain” and the locks they had to put on their mouths. The Jewish community in Venezuela and Sweden aren’t in a much better situation today. But even those who feel like they are “living in a free land” conform to the culture of their time and place and voluntarily become slaves to that culture subconsciously being careful to blend in, keep quiet and not stand out. Being in exile for so many years has taken away the confidence we feel when we speak about -YES all of Israel, YES keeping the Torah, YES to working the Land. When we say, “Yes!” to these things, the words of the prophet comes to mind: “My spirit that is with you, and My word that I have placed in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, or the mouths of your children or children’s children. Now and forever.” (Isaiah 59:21)

Together, our dear readers and ourselves say “Yes” to a stronger Israel. We appreciate your great support over the years for the community of Itamar. Your actions demonstrate clearly your love for Eretz Yisrael. YOU HAVE MADE A STATEMENT! I want to take this opportunity to wish all of our readers a very happy and healthy Pesach. May Hashem bless you all with much bounty and good health. We extend always an open invitation to you to come and visit. Just give us a call.

All the best, Shabbat Shalom and Happy Pesach Leah Goldsmith

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Purim Pesach – Redemption 2009

Purim – Pesach March 13, 2009

The thirty days that exist between Purim and Pesach bring with them an association of different ideas. For some people, it is the budding of the trees, the sweet earth becoming warm with beautiful spring. For others it’s time to start taking action in readying the home for Pesach. The feeling of coming out of the seclusion winter brings with it also can be described by many people too, a kind of redemption. If Purim has us preparing slowly towards it, Pesach brings with it a sense of immediacy, like we’re leaving Egypt RIGHT NOW! The overrunning mood of this time is making a personal appearance(whether in costume or not) in the new start of 1) the natural process of redemption and later 2) the spiritual and physical rescue that happened to our forefathers through miracles and it’s affect upon us today as we recall the coming out of Egypt.

1) The redemptive process starts first with actions we take and is confined to the natural order of the world. How does it happen? By good people doing good things, like Mordechai and Ester. By the acts of chesed and lovingkindness that we do on Purim by sending manot and giving charity, the opening is made here on earth to receive the Divine light. This process of regeneration in essence paved the road to the rebuilding of the 2nd Temple. Purim is the holiday of Joy. Our Rabbis say that being happy always is the greatest of mitzvoth. The joy we feel here despite what we are faced against, in knowing that Hashem is all good and wants only good is what creates the opening for Divine Light. This is when we can overcome the klippah (husk) of Amalek.

2) Pesach is the first of the 3 festivals but preparations for it are made on Purim. When the opening is made by our actions, Hashem Himelf pulls the opening wider and showers miracles upon us. This is Pesach. The days leading up to Pesach are the transition days from our actions, mainly prayer and good deeds, to witnessing real miracles. Last week I was at a wedding. Under the chuppah it is standard practice to put ashes on the head of the groom in memory of the Temple that has been destroyed for 2,000 years. This particular groom has the ashes of the Tomb of Joseph, Kfar Darom ( a settlement from Gush Katif ) and the Temple Mount placed on his head. Recent and distant tragedies that befell these most holy places. Our relationship with Hashem on Pesach is like a bride standing under the canopy with her groom. It is the union of Israel with God himself. We acknowledge the pain of the past but every new home being built by every new couple forming new generations is the redemption itself. We pray that the Tomb of Joseph in Shechem is restored, as well as all of the communities of Gush Katif and our Temple in Jerusalem will stand everlasting.

3) We pray for the final redemption to take place when “God will be king over all the world, on that day, God will be one and His Name one” (Zecharia 14:9). Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith

Shabbat Shalom Leah Goldsmith

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Purim – Aday Lo Yada – 2009

Purim – Aday Lo Yada March 6, 2009

Purim comes out of a box we keep stored way up in the tip top of our closet.

Every year when it is dripping wet outside and a bright green in the valley, cold and windy but warm inside our home, our kids (who have grown to be my size) pull the magical box down and begin the ritual of the month of Adar. They parade through the house singing and dancing, happy with new additions stuck into this box. There are costumes of Sadaam Hussein, Bin Laden and other Hamans of the recent past that have not even hid their desire to destroy us. We have other costumes of Queen Ester, witches, Tinker Bell, Spider Man, a Hannah Montana wig and plenty of masks, veils and other disguises too. From the bottom of the box there are relics from the early days of Itamar, wreaths of fake flowers that we used to adorn the head of our then pet, Lolita the donkey. She led the Purim procession through the little row of houses.

There is a Purim that especially stands out in my memory; the day we pulled off the masking tape from the windows and came out of the sealed rooms. It was the year of Operation Desert Storm when Sadam’s missiles flew directly over our heads and exploded in Israel’s coastline cities. As whole buildings were demolished, people walked out without a scratch. It was a low that became a high. When you come to think of it, there are always missiles falling on Israel in different places. All the more so, it seems that there are endless miracles. Our enemies keep coming at us each time wearing different masks. Amalek is always rearing its head. As we prepare our costumes for this year, Iran is reaching the capacity of producing 50,000 centrifuges. Tachliss this means that right now Persia threatens to wipe Israel off the face off the earth. Luckily, we manage to overcome crisis when zero hour hits. Nevertheless, time is running out as Iran’s nuclear capacity perfects itself. True, Purim is a time that the imagination runs wild but don’t let anyone tell you this is all in your mind…

King Achashverosh had a wild imagination himself. He thought that it was over for Am Yisrael (who were exiled into the idolatrous kingdoms of Babylon and Persia just short of seventy years before his reign) They ate forbidden food, worshipped idols, and intermarried, descending to a disreputable low point. This is when Achashverosh made a great feast for all of his subjects using the holy vessels of the Temple as his silver service in a totally sacrilegious act. Many Jews participated in this banquet. Mordechai stood firm and did not give any gesture of respect to Haman, the evil advisor to the King. Ester, incognito, playacted with this wicked man who planned to kill her and all of her people. She eventually unmasked her real identity to the King and overturned the decree. Her bravado is followed by Am Yisrael demonstrating gevurah in driving out and killing their enemies. Shortly after this episode a very significant turn in events that reshaped history happened when Ezra and Nechemia returned to Israel with a small contingency and built the 2nd Temple. There were many more obstacles to overcome, (there was no Nefesh B’nefesh then or AACI ) but they learned from Mordechai and Ester’s examples that “When there’s a will there’s a way”.

Purim is the holiday that focuses on the display of different kinds of people with different identities. While we live in a generation that emulates celebrities, we look to our biblical celebrities and try and learn from their stories year after year. That’s what Purim is all about. Sometimes when someone does not totally reveal himself/herself at first there is a reason for this. This is what we learn from Ester. Also in the story of Yosef Hatzaddik, it took quite a few chapters in that saga until he let his brothers finally know who he really was. Rachel and Leah’s identities were also disguised. (Not to mention the ugly duckling!) Sometimes, even Hashem is not mentioned in a story full of miracles like in Megillat Ester. There is a covering over of reality itself like the clouds of glory that covered over Am Yisrael in the desert. Wearing a costume and disguising oneself is part of the mitzvah of Purim. Maybe it is exactly at this time that we ask ourselves, “Who am I. What am I?” (I sure had an identity crisis last year as a friend and I dressed up as a camel. I was the 2 back legs).

In Masechet Sanhedrin (Daf tzaddik zayin, A) it is revealed that in the final days of the redemption, our reality will be in such a state of topsy – turviness that what is up will be perceived to be down and vise versa. Today we experience this in all realms: The weather is bizarre with the unusual effects of El Ninjo- flooding in deserts, dryness in usually wet places. The stock market is erratic as well as the global economic situation. The world media disguises real circumstances causing millions of people to be brainwashed and ignorant. “This overall divergence,” the gemara says, “will completely cover over the truth.” What’s up is down and what’s down is up, like “adey lo yada!”

The happiness we feel on Purim should surpass any level of rejoicing we experience throughout the year. It is our red letter day as we delight in knowing that as we dance and clap our hands in joy we are abating the harshest of decrees against us. The happiness we feel that we know in complete faith that what goes down must come up, what is hidden will eventually be revealed, and this is the greatest mitzvah of all!

Happy Purim, Shabbat Shalom Leah Goldsmith

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Fear of G-D – Rashi on Genesis

Fear of HaShem – Genesis February 13, 2009

Rashi in his commentary on the book of Genesis brings down on the first verse of the Torah, the words of Rav Yitzchak – “Why did the Torah begin with the story of creation instead of beginning with the first commandment we received as the Jewish nation – the Mitzvah of declaring the new moon (Rosh Chodesh). If we look deeper into the teachings of Rav Yitzchak he was asking – why does the Torah invest the entire book of Genesis and the beginning of the second book of Shmot discussing our forefathers and the birth of the Jewish nation? Isn’t the most important goal receiving the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Torah? Why must we learn all the stories of our forefathers and the birth of our nation first? The answer lies in one verse in the book of Psams 111:10 “The fear of Hashem is the beginning of wisdom” The first and foremost step in receiving the Torah is the fear of G-D! The Talmud in the Tractate of Shabbat brings down on page 31b the following parable” Rabba Bar Rav Hunah says any man that has Torah and does not have the fear of Hashem is likened to a treasurer that was given the keys of the inner chamber but not the outer chamber- How is he going to get in? Rabbi Yani declared how unfortunate this man is that made a gate to a house but the house he never built! Rav Yehudah says that G-D did not create the world only for us to fear him. As it says in Ecclesiastics 3:14 “God has done it, that men should fear before him.”

If we look deeply into the words of these Rabbis we see that the purpose of creation was for us to fear G-D. The study of Torah is supposed to be a means to bring us to this highest goal of fearing Hashem. The first book of the Torah which accounts the stories of our forefathers brings us close to Hashem by teaching us to have faith and fear G-d by their lofty examples in dealing with all the tests placed before them. Only after this are we ready to receive the Torah.

Today we live in a world of intellectualism. Just like people enjoy a good meal and to have fun they enjoy a nice Daf Yomi or any other intellectual experience. We must never forget that the major goal in learning Torah is to bring us and the world to a higher spiritual level of fearing G-D. The intellectual experience, challenges and enjoyment of learning are not the goal of our study. Obviously it is fantastic that one enjoys studying the word of Hashem and takes pleasure in the intellectual experience since this will enhance his incentive to study more Torah – but let us remember why we are studying! The Torah that was given thousands of years ago, way before any secular code of etiquette, is the backbone of the entire world; it is our job to raise this banner and bring light unto the nations.

Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Moshe Golsmith, Itamar