GOT A LIGHT?

Parashat Tetzaveh

1 Adar 15, 5784 / February 23-24,2024
Torah: Exodus 27:20 – 30:10
Haftarah: Ezekiel 43:10-27

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This d’var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for all who have been wounded in the terrorist attacks and in fighting against the terrorists, as well as innocent non-combatants caught in the crossfire.
 
This d'var torah is offered in memory of all the victims of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah. Y’hi zikhronam liv’rakhah – May their memories be a blessing. And may the memory of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah and all their supporters be forever erased.
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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. On Monday, February 26, we'll be at BT Shabbat 138b, page 201 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 –  "... אמר רב עתידה תורה שתשתכח"  - "Rab said: 'There will a time in the future when the Torah will be forgotten....'”

 
Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at:
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630   
 
A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria:
https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents  
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Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 
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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 
 
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you should read at: 
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com 
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!משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה - With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy! (BT Ta'anit 29a) 

HERE'S A LITTLE PURIM TORAH CONTEST 

As this is a Jewish Leap Year, it raises a question, and the person who gives me whatever I believe to be the best answer will be awarded one slightly used bottle of slivovitz (the decision of the judge and the amount of slivovitz he drinks from the bottle are in his sole discretion and are final): Since we are instructed by our rabbis to be joyful in Adar, and Adar is twice as long this year, does that mean that we have twice as much joy this year than in non-leap years, or, does it mean that on any given day in the months of Adar, we are only half as joyful as we would have been in a non-leap year because our joy must be spread over twice as many days? There is no right or wrong answer! Be (very) creative with proof texts!
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Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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GOT A LIGHT?

“And you shall command the Children of Israel, that they take for you pure olive oil, beaten for the light, that a lamp burn continually (tamid).” Exodus 27:20

What was the purpose of the lamp? For whom was the lamp kept burning? Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani interpreted the verse to mean: “They take for you and not for Me; I do not need the light.” The commentary Torah Temimah, citing Sefer Chinukh, says that the commandment for lighting the menorah was so that the sanctuary would be brightly lit, and that would be for “the glory of Israel”. All of the commandments regarding the sanctuary were for Israel’s glory. Thus, the Torah says, “Take for you” - and not for Me; it is for the glory of Israel.

Ner Tamid - Kesher Israel Synagogue

Although our synagogues today all maintain a Ner Tamid (the only mitzvah associated with the Holy Temple still observed – Rabbi Harold Kushner), which we frequently translate as the “Eternal Lamp”, I have to wonder if that is sufficient glory for Israel. Note that Rashi, citing other verses in the Torah, explains that the Ner Tamid in our verse did not burn continuously; rather, it was lit “regularly”, on a schedule. It did not burn 24/7.  

That being the case, I would suggest that every one of us can establish our own Ner Tamid. You can turn your very own home into a sanctuary by kindling Shabbat and Yom Tov candles on a regular basis. Get a new kind of light in your home - do it for the glory of Israel, and for sanctifying your own life.

Be Happy – It’s Adar! Shabbat Shalom!

HaRav HaGaon HaTzaddik Abba Reuven Ben Menachem Mendel Flom, Sh’lita
Der Heileger Rebbe of Sherman Oaks, Emeritus
Rosh Yeshivah – Chelm
Slivovitz Taste Tester
משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה!
From the beginning of Adar, we increase joy.
BT Ta’anit 29a
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