Shabbos: Ta’am HaChaim Shemini 5770

שבת טעם החיים שמיני תש"ע
Shabbos: Ta’am HaChaim Shemini 5770

Keep on praying for the Redemption

Introduction
ויבא משה ואהרן אל אהל מועד ויצאו ויברכו את העם וירא כבוד ה' אל כל העם, Moshe and Aharon came to the Tent of Meeting, and they went out and they blessed the people – and the glory of HaShem appeared to the entire people (Vayikra 9:23)
The Mishkan, the Tabernacle, which will serve as the resting place for the Divine Presence in the Wilderness, is ready to be erected. The entire Jewish People is anxiously waiting for a fire to descend from heaven, and this revelation would reflect the love that HaShem had for them and would also demonstrate that they had earned atonement for the sin of worshipping the Golden Calf. Unfortunately, it appears as if they have waited in vain. The fire has not descended, and they voiced their complaint to Moshe. What could Moshe do that would satisfy their desire to have the Divine Presence in their midst?
“Am I also preventing the Redemption from occurring?”
The Munkatcher Rebbe, Reb Chaim Elazar Shapiro (1872-1937) had finally arrived in Jerusalem for a historic meeting with the renowned Kabbalist, Rabbi Shlomo Eliezer Alfandri, known as the Saba Kadisha, The Holy Elder (1820-1930). For years they had communicated by mail and now a great crowd had gathered to witness the meeting of these two great Torah luminaries. The crowd finally dispersed and only the Rebbe’s attendant, Reb Shalom, remained in the room where the two leaders were to meet. The Rebbe gave his attendant a knowing glance and Reb Shalom left the room. Unable to contain his curiosity, however, Reb Shalom remained listening behind the door, curious as to what would transpire in this fateful encounter. At first Reb Shalom could not hear anything, and he assumed that the language barrier was preventing any communication, as the Rebbe only spoke Yiddish and the great Kabbalist spoke in his native Hebrew. Finally the two settled on Hebrew as the spoken language, and Reb Shalom heard the Rebbe ask in a slow but urgent tone, “tell me, please, when will the Messiah finally arrive to redeem us from this long exile?” The Saba Kadisha replied sadly, “there are those who are preventing the redemption from occurring.” Reb Shalom listened eagerly for further conversation, but he could not hear anything. After a few moments he heard the Rebbe crying and then through the tears, he was able to make out the Rebbe’s muffled cry, “Am I also among those who is preventing the redemption?” The Rebbe’s sincere query pierced Reb Shalom’s heart and penetrates the hearts of Jews the world over. Are we doing enough to bring the redemption?
Moshe prays for the Divine Presence to rest on the Mishkan
Moshe was confronted by the Jewish People’s disappointment that they had not yet merited the Divine Presence to rest on their new edifice. Rashi writes that Aharon was also saddened by the fact that despite having offered all the necessary sacrifices to inaugurate the Tabernacle, the Divine Presence had not yet appeared. Moshe then entered the Mishkan together with Aharon and they prayed that the Divine Presence should rest on the handiwork of the Jewish People. Immediately a fire went forth from before HaShem and consumed upon the Altar the burnt-offerings and the fats; the people saw and rejoiced at the revelation of HaShem’s Presence in their midst.
We must keep praying for the Ultimate Redemption
We are constantly praying for the Redemption, and at times we may wonder if there is something more that we need to do to hasten its arrival. In truth, however, just as Moshe did for the Jewish People in the Wilderness, we must keep praying to HaShem to bring the Redemption. HaShem revealed Himself to the Jewish People then, and He will certainly answer our prayers and bring us the Messiah and the long awaited redemption.
The Shabbos connection
Throughout the week we anticipate the Redemption. On Shabbos, however, we feel that we are so close to redemption, as we recite in the Lecho Dodi prayer, karvah el nafshi gealah, draw near to my soul-redeem it! HaShem should give us the strength to keep praying for redemption, and in the merit of our Shabbos observance, he will surely redeem us, with the arrival of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, speedily, in our days.

Shabbos Stories
“Say it again and again until you understand it!”
The sudden death of Reb Yosef could not have come at a more untimely time - a few days before Passover. A Holocaust survivor, he had rebuilt his life in Canada and left this world a successful businessman, with a wonderful wife, children, and grandchildren. It was difficult, however, for them all to leave their families for the first days of Passover to accompany his body, and thus his widow traveled with her son to bury her husband in Israel. After the funeral the two mourners sat in their apartment in the Shaarei Chesed section of Jerusalem. Passover was fast approaching, and they were planning to spend the Seder at the home of relatives. As they were about to end the brief Shiva period and leave their apartment, a soft knocked interrupted their thoughts. At the door to her apartment stood none other than one of Israel's most revered Torah sages, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach.
"I live nearby," he said, "and I heard that there was a funeral today. I came to offer my condolences."
The sage then heard a brief history of Reb Yosef's difficult, yet remarkably triumphant life.
Then Reb Shlomo Zalman turned to the widow and asked a very strange question. "Did you say the blessing Boruch Dayan HaEmes? Blessed are You, HaShem, the true Judge." (This blessing acknowledges the acceptance of HaShem as the Master Planner of all events acknowledging that all that happens is for the best.) "Why? Yes," answered the elderly lady. "I said it right as the funeral ended. But it is very difficult to understand and accept."
Reb Shlomo Zalman, a man who lived through dire poverty and illness, four wars, and the murder of a relative by Arab terrorists, nodded. "I understand your questions. That blessing is very difficult to understand and to accept. You must, however, say it again and again. As difficult as it may be, believe me, if you repeat it enough you will understand it."
Pesach without any questions
Once, when a student of R' Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik zt"l (the Brisker Rav; died 1959) was leaving Yerushalayim to return to his home in Binei Brak, the Brisker Rav said, "Please tell your father that I wish him a `Chag Sameach.' Also, please give him my wish that the holiday should pass with no shailos [i.e., that no questions should arise regarding whether chametz had found its way into the food or into the pots and pans]."
The Brisker Rav added: "Do not think that this is a small blessing. I remember that when I was a child, my father [R' Chaim Brisker zt"l] once said to my mother after Pesach, `Thank G-d the holiday passed with no shailos.' He spoke then the way a person speaks after successfully undergoing difficult surgery."
The Brisker Rav also added: "A shailah in those days was not like a shailah today. I remember as a child in Volozhin that a question arose in someone's kitchen, and all of his pots and dishes were declared chametz. Today, rabbis are so much more likely to accept a lenient opinion among the poskim / halachic authorities."
Pesach is like winning the lottery
The 19th century chassidic rebbe, R' Yechiel Meir of Gostynin zt"l, barely slept all of Pesach. His family was worried about his health and asked him why he would not sleep. He replied, "If I had won the lottery, would you ask me why I couldn't sleep? Believe me! Every minute of Pesach is like winning the lottery."
What did he mean by this? Why did he feel more fortunate on Pesach than on any other day? The Amshinover Rebbe explained: Our Sages say that chametz represents the yetzer hara. Thus, Pesach is a time that is free of the yetzer hara. Every minute of such a time is priceless. (Otzroseihem Shel Tzadikim)
A right way and a wrong way to read the Hagadah
The mitzvah of Sippur Yetzias Mitzrayim / relating the story of the Exodus requires more than just reading the story. One's recitation of the Haggadah must be from the heart and also must penetrate one's heart, so that the story of the Exodus will serve as the basis for strengthening one's emunah/faith. Indeed, R' Simcha Zissel Ziv zt"l (the "Alter of Kelm"; died 1898) used to observe that the statement in the Haggadah, "The more that one relates about the Exodus, the more praiseworthy it is," also can be translated, "The more that one relates about the Exodus, the more improved he is."
R' Yaakov Levitt zt”l (Bialystok) illustrated with a parable the difference between the right way to tell the story of the Exodus and the wrong way:
A villager once took seriously ill. The doctor was called, and the doctor recognized that the villager's illness was fully curable if treated properly. He wrote out a prescription and he told the villager's wife, "Give your husband this prescription with water three times a day until it is finished, and he will be cured."
The family did as it was told. Every day, the simple village wife tore a small piece off the prescription, dissolved it in water and gave it to her husband to drink. Needless to say, his condition did not improve.
The doctor was called, but he was very perplexed. "I know that this prescription works," he said. "I have prescribed it for this illness before."
"Let me see the prescription," he requested finally. "Perhaps I made a mistake." The villager's wife explained, however, that she could not show him the prescription because she had given it to her husband as instructed.
"Fools," he shouted. "Can a piece of paper cure your husband's illness? It's not the paper that makes the difference, but what's written on the paper that would have cured him."
So it is with the Haggadah. It is not the book of the Haggadah nor simply reading the Haggadah which illuminates one's soul. Rather, one must absorb the contents of the story. (Haggadah Shel Pesach Shaarei Armon p. 150)
Reb Shaul Kagan zt"l
Reb Shaul Kagan, founder of the Kollel of Pittsburgh, was born in Europe. After his family fled to the U.S., his father became Rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Rabbeinu Yaakov Yosef (RJJ). R' Shaul studied there and later enrolled in the fledgling yeshiva in Lakewood under R' Aharon Kotler.
Over 30 years ago, R' Kagan established a kollel (institute for advanced study by married men) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He began with ten men who studied and taught classes (for free) to the community. An appreciation of the Kiddush HaShem that he and his kollel made on the city of Pittsburgh may be gleaned from a comment made once by the non-Jewish, then-Pittsburgh Mayor Richard Caligari, "What those ten men are doing day and night in that study hall on Bartlett Street is giving hope and strength for Russian Jews far across the globe." Asked later why he would make such a comment, the Mayor said, "Rabbi Kagan told me a little bit about the Torah. Then he explained what you rabbis do. Then he took me to the kollel. I saw from the way that he talked about your Torah and by seeing you study that whatever the Torah does, it must impact much farther than Pittsburgh." (Based on Yated Neeman) (www.Torah.org)
Shabbos: Ta’am HaChaim Shemini 5770
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