Kapparah in the death of a Tzaddik

by Rabbi Elchanan Lewis


Question: How can the death of a Tzaddik become a Kapparah [atonement]?

Answer: The Tzadik is not a personal individual that has an impact only on himself, he is a public figure who impacts on all those around him; the loss of a Tzadik is therefore a public loss, not an individual or family one. The Tzadikim are here not for themselves, rather for others - that is how they live their lives and that is how they also die; Just as the death serves as atonement to the deceased himself, so the departure of a Tzadik does to his community.

Torah Codes and Moshiach

Rabbi Glazerson shows how the discovery of the Torah Codes plays a major role before Moshiach: A code which validates the de-coders. ["Bible Code in the Secret of Kabbalah" - video]

Journeys

Written by Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

"These are the journeys of the Children of Israel" [Masei 33:1]

אֵלֶּה מַסְעֵי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל

This verse alludes to the four exiles that the Jewish nation would endure:

אֵלֶּה - Eileh - Edom [Rome]

מַסְעֵי - Masei - Madai and Paras [Medes and Persia]

בְנֵי - Bnei - Bavel [Babylonia]

יִשְׂרָאֵל - Yisrael - Yavan [Greece]

Why, asks Rashi, was it necessary to enumerate all of the different journeys?

To answer this question, Rashi quotes the words of the Midrash Tanchuma: "This can be compared to the case of a king whose son was ill and he took him to a distant place to cure him. Once they started back, his father began to enumerate all the stages [of their journey] saying to [his son]: "Here we slept. Here we felt cold. Here you had a headache, etc."

What is the nimshal [the application] of this parable? asked the Imrei Emes [R' Avraham Mordechai of Gur]. Is the Torah merely telling us that the Jews rested or cooled themselves in these places? Isn't it obvious that they had to do these things? What, then, is the Midrash coming to teach us by listing the places where they slept or felt cold?

These verses and Chazal's parable, answered the Rebbe, have deep meaning and contain hidden admonishments.

"Here we slept" - this is an allusion to the time of the Giving of the Torah. For on that monumental morning when the Torah was to be given, the Jewish nation overslept.

"Here we felt cold" - this alludes to when Amalek "cooled down" the Jewish nation's enthusiasm for serving Hashem, as the verse states "That he happened [karcha, "made you cold"] upon you on the way" [Devarim 25:18]

"Here you had a headache [chashasta es roshecha]" - this is an allusion to the sin of the Golden Calf, when the Jewish people had uncertainties [chashashos] regarding the whereabouts of their leader [rosh] Moshe Rabbeinu.

This is why, concluded the Rebbe, the Torah specified each journey, in order that the Jewish nation should remember what transpired at each place and repent wholeheartedly.

Tisha B'Av, Exile and Anti-Semitism

A new video from Rabbi Pinchas Winston:

There is a reason why Tisha B'Av falls out on the same day of the week as Pesach does, and it has everything to do with why the Jewish people are still in exile, and anti-Semitism is increasing.

Obama's Temptation

The Last Laugh

Mann tracht und Gott lacht   -    Men plan and God laughs.

As a result of Yaakov's having taken the blessings, Eisav hated him with an unquenchable hatred that sought revenge. He devised a plan whereby he could dominate the world.

Eisav thought:

Kayin killed his brother Hevel before his father Adam died. That was his mistake. After Hevel was removed, Adam had another son Shais. Therefore I will do better, I will make sure that both my father and my brother are dead.

Pharoah thought:

Eisav waited until Yitzchak died before attempting to kill his brother. Did he not realize that his brother would meanwhile have children? I will be smarter, I will drown all newborn boys in the river.

Haman thought:

Pharoah didn't realize that the girls would marry and bear children. He should have wiped out the girls as well as the boys. I will be the one to wipe out all of them.

At the end of days, Gog and Mogog will say:

Didn't Haman know that they have a Protector in Heaven? We will first overcome their Protector and then destroy them.

But Hashem answers them all: "I have many messengers to frustrate your plans". Then Hashem will go out to wage war against the nations, and on that day Hashem will be the sole King of the Earth.

Source:  The Midrash Says

Returning to Dust

The Talmud [Shabbat 152b] relates the following discussion regarding the body's return to dust after leaving this world:

"There were grave-diggers who dug in the earth belonging to Rav Nachman and were rebuked by Rav Achai bar Yashia (whose grave the diggers disturbed). They came and said to Rav Nachman: "We were rebuked by a dead man".

Rav Nachman went there and asked him: "Who are you, master?"

He responded: "I am Achai bar Yashia".

"Has not Rav Mari said that "In the future, the bodies of the righteous will return unto dust?" said Rabbi Nachman (and why therefore is your body preserved?).

"Who is Mari? I know him not" said the dead one.

Rav Nachman replied "But it is said that when the dust will return to the earth as it was..."

The dead one responded "He who read with you Kohelet did not, however, read with you Mishlei, where it is written "But jealousy is the rottenness of the bones" which means that only he who has jealousy in his heart, his bones shall rot after death."

Then Rav Nachman tried to feel the dead body's substance and he found it to be real. Rav Nachman then said to him: "Let the master arise and go to his home." The dead one responded saying "You show that you have not even read the Prophets, for it is written "And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and when I cause you to come out of your graves, O my people."

"But" said Rav Nachman, "it is written "For dust you are, and unto dust shall you return".

Then Rav Achai explained to him, saying "This is meant for one moment before the final resurrection of the dead (that all dead, including tzadikim, will return to dust).

The Rif says that since the last verse mentioned was told to Adam Harishon, it applies to everybody, whether they are tzadikim or not, for everyone is a descendent of Adam. The Maharsha explains that the return of every body to dust is necessary, so every body will be recreated from nothing at the time of resurrection, comparable to the original creation of man.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe's Commentary: Why is it so important to return to dust and to be recreated at the time of resurrection?

Creation, and the soul's descent into the body, were both intended for the purpose of elevating the body and the vital soul, and through them the entire world. Moreover, this objective is reached primarily through the mitzvot involving action, inasmuch as these mitzvot are performed by the body. The body hosts and serves the neshama. The soul, being so spiritual, needs the body to perform mitzvot in a physical form. [See Tanya Ch 37]

When the neshama leaves the body, the dead person cannot do anymore mitzvot since all the mitzvot are associated with something material. Hence, in Heaven the souls can study Torah in a spiritual form but cannot perform any of its commandments [Berachot 17a]. The body then serves no more purpose so it disintegrates.

A similar idea can be understood from the analogy found in Rashi [Devarim 10:7] between the breaking of the tablets (of the Ten Commandments) and the death of tzaddikim. The Ten commandments were engraved in stone by Hashem. When Moshe came down from Mt Sinai and saw the golden calf that the Jews had made, the letters flew away [see Pesachim 87b] and the stones became too heavy for Moshe to carry. Consequently, they fell from his hands and broke. The letters are comparable to the soul and the stone to the body which hosts it. When the letters flew away, the stones served no more purpose, hence they shattered.

The life of a tzaddik is not a physical one but rather a spiritual one [Tanya Igeret Hakkodesh Ch 27]. His body is as holy as his neshama. He elevates and sanctifies his body and all the physical world around him. Even after his neshama leaves this earth, his body remains holy, so it remains intact. [Eliyahu Hanavi elevated his body to the point that it was comparable to the sanctity of his soul. Therefore, he was not buried but he ascended to the sky. The gematria of Eliyahu is 52, equal to the value of the Hebrew word "beheima" which means animal. He sanctified the animalistic part of his being (ie his body) to transform it into Eliyahu - G-dliness]

Why then is it necessary for Tzaddikim to return to dust even for a moment before resurrection?

The Admur Hazaken explains this through a parable [Torah Ohr]. In order to pick up a house, it must be lifted from the bottom. If the house is picked up from the top, only the top will be lifted and the bottom part will remain below.

Every creature is composed of four basic elements, namely fire, water, air and dust [see Tanya end of Ch 1]. By returning to dust, the tzadik elevates the lost sparks of holiness found in the lowest of these elements, completing the elevation of all parts of his being. [The Baal Shem Tov said that he could have ascended to heaven like Eliyahu HaNavi did, but he wanted to return to dust so he could elevate the other basic components of his being]

Nevertheless, there is a way to avoid the need to return to dust, even for a moment. We say in our prayers [Liturgy, end of the Shemonei Esrei prayer] "My soul should be as (humble as) dust for all". By annulling ourselves with humility towards others, we are fulfilling the verse of "and you shall return to dust" in a spiritual manner. Then when Moshiach comes during our lifetime, we will be able to live an eternal life without a moment of interruption.

Source: Written by the students of Seminary Bais Menachem Montreal, Canada and based on the Sichos of 20 Av 5735 Ch. 3 Acharei-Kedoshim 5724 Ch. and Maamar Ze Yitnu 5748

Tikkun for Amy

Amy Winehouse lived a tragic life, which ended suddenly last week.  Her funeral was held yesterday, after which her body was taken to the Golders Green Crematorium and cremated.

According to Jewish law, a person is only held accountable for his/her actions when they are done willingly, and with full cognizance of their implications. I doubt that Amy had much input into her lack of a proper Jewish burial - a spokesman for the family said "Cremation is part of the family's tradition"

"Shiva - the Jewish ceremony of bereavement - will be observed for two days starting at 5pm today at the Schinder Hall at Southgate Progressive Synagogue."  

Southgate Progressive Synagogue should be totally ashamed of themselves for allowing this family to go ahead with the cremation of their daughter.     

Here are the reasons why Jews are not cremated.  May the learning of this topic be a tikkun for Amy's soul:

Jewish law ("Halachah") is unequivocal that the dead must be buried in the earth.

As a deterrent measure, cremated remains are not interred in a Jewish cemetery. Furthermore, we are told that many of the traditional laws of mourning are not observed after the passing of an individual whose body was cremated. Kaddish, however, is recited for such individuals, and it is certainly appropriate to give charity and do mitzvot in memory of their souls.

Responsibility for the deceased's proper burial lies with the next of kin. While ordinarily Jewish law requires the deceased's children to go to great lengths to respect the departed's wishes, if someone requests to be cremated or buried in a manner which is not in accordance with Jewish tradition, we nevertheless provide him/her with a Jewish burial. It is believed that since the soul has now arrived to the World of Truth it surely sees the value of a proper Jewish burial, and thus administering a traditional Jewish burial is actually granting what the person truly wishes at the moment. Furthermore, if anyone, all the more so your father and mother, asks you to damage or hurt their body, you are not allowed to do so. For our bodies do not belong to us, they belong to G-d.

Learn more at: Why Does Jewish Law Forbid Cremation