MHA-FYOS Dean's Blog

In the beginning of Masechet Avodah Zara, the gemara discusses the end of days and concludes the discussion with a presentation of two totally different attitudes towards the  mitzvah  of  sukkah : In times to come, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will take a scroll of the Law in His embrace and proclaim, “Let him who has occupied himself with this, come and take his reward.” All of the nations will crowd together in confusion. The Holy One, Blessed be He, will then say to them, “Do not come before Me in confusion, but let each nation come in with its scribes.” The Kingdom of Edom (or Rome) will enter first before Him. The Holy One, Blessed be He, will then say to them, “With what have you occupied yourselves?” They will reply, “O Lord of the Universe, we have established many market-places, we have erected many baths, we have accumulated much gold and silver, and all this we did only for the sake of Israel, that they might [have leisure] for occupying themselves wit...

This week, we read parashat  VaYelech. Parashat VaYelech records some of the final words that Moshe conveyed to the Jewish People prior to his demise. At the end of these comments, Hashem shares a prophecy with Moshe in the presence of his successor, Yehoshua. Hashem said, “Behold, you will lie with your fathers, and this nation will rise up and stray after the gods of the foreigners of the Land, in the midst of which the nation is entering. And the nation will leave Me and annul My covenant that I have sealed with it. My anger will flare against the nation on that day and I will leave them; and I will conceal My face from them and they will become prey and many evils and distresses will encounter it. (The nation) will say on that day, ‘It is not because my G-d is not in my midst that these evils have come upon me?’ But I will surely have concealed My face on that day because of all the evil that it did, for it had turned to gods of others.” Rabbi Ovadiah Seforno discusses th...

This week’s parasha , Nitzavim, describes Moshe’s inducting b'nei Yisrael into a covenant with Hashem. Moshe Rabbenu begins, “You, all, are standing ( nitzavim ) here today before the Lord your God. Your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in the midst of thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water.” In the course of developing a very interesting theory about the uniqueness of this covenant, Ohr HaChayyim asks two questions on the text of Moshe Rabbenu’s announcement. First, when describing b'nei Yisrael standing in front of Hashem, why does Moshe use the word, nitzavim , as opposed to the more common word, omdim ? Second, why does Moshe enumerate each segment of the Jewish People – heads, tribes, elders, officers, etc.? Ohr HaChayyim begins by defining the word nitzavim more precisely. He explains that the word means standing in the sense of an ...

This week’s  parasha , Ki Tavo, describes the blessings and curses that Hashem will visit upon  b'nei Yisrael  in response to our adherence to or disobedience of the  mitzvot . One blessing that the Torah assures us of is, “Hashem will command the blessing with you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand into; and He will bless you in the land which Hashem your God is giving you.” In essence, Hashem promises that we will be blessed when we keep the Torah. While the Torah assures us that we will be blessed, it does not tell us the mechanism through which we will receive the blessing. A fascinating article recently published in the  Chicago Tribune  helps shed light on one of the many ways in which Hashem blesses us for keeping one very important mitzva – tzedakah or charity. “ Generosity May Be a ‘Magic Pill’ for Happiness and Longevity ” describes recent studies that demonstra...

In this week’s parasha , Ki Tetze, the Torah outlines the mitzvah of  shiluach haken  – sending away the mother bird before taking its chicks or eggs from the nest. The Torah writes, “When you will happen upon a bird’s nest on the way in any tree or on the ground – with chicks or eggs – and the mother is sitting on the chicks or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the children. Surely send away the mother and the children you can take for yourself – in order that it will be good for you and (that) you will lengthen your days.”  (Devarim 22:6-7) While the Torah does outline the reward for keeping this  mitzvah , it does not provide its reason. Ramban – Nachmanides – suggests two possible objectives of this  mitzvah . His first explanation is that the  mitzvah  promotes sensitivity. Cruelty is a harmful character trait that should be discouraged even when animals are the target. Therefore, we are prohibited from t...

This week’s  parasha , Parashat Shoftim, opens with the  mitzvah  to appoint judges and officers upon the entry of the Jewish People into the Land of Israel. The Torah instructs us to institute courts of varying sizes in different locales. In Yerushalayim, we are to appoint a Sanhedrin – a court of seventy judges and a head of the court – the  av beit din . In big cities, we are to appoint courts of twenty-three judges; in smaller cities, courts of three. The author of the Sefer HaChinuch discusses the root or benefit of this commandment. He explains that these courts, and the officers who support the courts, help acclimate the people to follow the law by instilling a fear of punishment or consequences. Building on this foundation of being accustomed to do that which is good, the people will “teach their natures to do justice and righteousness out of love and out of recognition of the true path”. In other words, promoting society to keep the law is a two-step pr...

Parashat Re’eh continues Moshe Rabbenu’s final message to the Jewish People. In this section, Moshe discusses the mitzvot of  bal tosif  and  bal tigra  – to not add or subtract from the mitzvot of the Torah. Our sages teach us that the Torah is comprised of  taryag  – there are 613 mitzvot in the Torah. Rashi explains that an individual Jew is not permitted to add a new part to a mitzvah – for example, taking five species on Sukkot instead of four. Furthermore, an individual Jew is not permitted to subtract from a mitzvah – for example, taking three species on Sukkot instead of four. The GR”A, Rabbenu Eliyahu Mi’Vilna, explains further that a Jewish Court is not permitted to add a new mitzvah or subtract one of the 613 mitzvot . Rabbenu Ovadiah Seforno gives some context to   these two commandments. Concerning the prohibition of adding to the Torah, he explains that this  mitzvah  is designed to prevent a person fr...