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48 Steps To Torah

The 15th of the 48 ways to acquiring Torah is Bmiut Schorah. This means to minimize business. One must understand this does not require you to spend all your time in learning and earn no parnasah (income); however some do choose to do this and are not wrong either. This Kinyan simply teaches us that you must not get obsessed with business as it will consume you and lead you to forget the real purpose in life. Of course you need to work to put food on the table. But too much business will wipe you out. Be aware of your yearning for money, and seek to control it. If you can leave the office one hour early to spend more time with your family, then you are making a conscious decision about priorities. We are also taught by this Kinyan to be efficient in everything that we do. In a business, if a worker takes five steps to create something rather than two, that will make the business less efficient. Multiply that by all the workers for every product they make every minute and it comes out to a huge loss. So too, in our lives we must be efficient to prevent loss. Even simple things such as designating a place to keep your clothes overnight rather than frantically searching for them in the morning make a difference. This may

sound childish and meaningless but in life every second counts. If you were in the middle of a big business deal you would be efficient by filing all important papers in an orderly system so you will be able to find them if need be. So too in life we must be efficient so we can make use of every second. This Kinyan also happens to teach us a third thing- understanding that you dont always reap rewards instantly but rather sacrifices and risks will need to be made first. It is like someone turning up to their first day of university saying when do I get paid? everyone will look at him like he is mad and he will reply I came to university to get a degree and make lots of money. What this fool doesnt understand is that in order to make the money he must put in a few years at university where no money is made in order to reap the full rewards afterwards. In order to succeed in business you need to take risks. This idea can be applied in real life. In order to acquire wisdom and joy (whereas money only offers joy) you must learn torah as much as possible. Yes, you wont get paid on the spot but slowly, overtime, he will come to gain the most that he can in life.

THE HASMONEAN HIGH SCHOOL WEEKLY SEDRA SHEET


19th January 2013

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In this weeks Sedro we read a famous Posuk: Hara (evil inclination) is always encouraging us to This month shall be unto you, the first of the forget the future and enjoy the now, but our months. In these pesukim we learn the mitzvoh higher neshamos want us to strive to grow. of Rosh chodesh. This is what the mitzvah of rosh chodesh is all Rashi, on the first Posuk in the Chumash, quotes about. This was the first mitzvah that was given Rabi Yitzchak. Why, he asks, was it necessary to to us as bnei chorin, free people. Finally our time start the Torah with a long drawn out narrative? was our own and we were able to invest in HaSurly, it is more sensible to begin the Torah from shem. Furthermore, this is what the mitzvah this Posuk, the Posuk of Rosh Chodesh? itself is about. Hashem has given us the ability to determine what dates the yomim tovim Why does Rabi Yitzchak choose this particular (festivals) fall on, to show him that we are willing Mitzvah as the most sensible place for the beginto look ahead into the future and invest with ning of the Torah? Surely there were many imHim all the way. portant Mitzvos, such as Bris Milah and Gid Hanosheh, which were given before, and many One manifestation of this foresight should be given after! how we spend our spare time. How often are we sitting in a bus stop for 5 minutes with nothing to Although there are many straightforward ando, thereby allowing our precious time to go to swers, the following answer provides us with a waste? Time is the most temporary thing. We poignant insight into a yesod (foundation) for cannot stop it or slow it down, once a moment is life. passed we can never live it again. After 120 years After 120, one of the questions we are asked is all we will have to show for our lives is the torah Did you fix times for Torah? Why does the we have learnt and the Mitzvos we have done. question focus on setting times? Why arent May we all be zoche to live as true Bnei Torah, to we just asked if we learned as much as we plan into the future and see what is really going could? The Maharal points out that the ability to to be worth our while in the end. "set times is what distinguishes us from animals, and our animalistic instincts. Our Yetzer Gut Shabbos

Yartzheit Story

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This Monday, 10th Shevat, will be the 63rd Yartzheit of Rav Yosef yiddishkeit until the last drop of blood, after which he alloYitzchak Schneerson ZTL, the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe. cated each student a province of Russia which would be their turf to spread yiddishkeit, establish shuls and shiurim, and At the time Rav Yosef Yitzchak became Rebbe, the Bolsheviks organise chinuch and chadorim for children. (communists) had just seized power of Russia, and they were fierce at stopping counter-revolutionaries. They were deter- Not only was the Rebbe willing to die al Kiddush Hashem, but mined to try to kill off Yiddishkeit. With every shul, yeshiva and he was even arrested and sentenced to death. However, his cheder being shut down across the country, together with the sentence was miraculously altered to exile, and following this iron curtain trapping those within the soviet union, the he continued his operations from Warsaw, Poland, where he yidden found themselves in a very difficult and dreaded posi- remained until the Nazis started their bombardment on the tion. city. Despite the horrifying GPU (Bolshevik secret police) hunting down Rabbis and other community leaders, the Rebbe was working very hard at running his underground organisation of chasiddim, whom he would dispatch across Russia, with the purpose of spreading yiddishkeit. Everywhere his students went, they would get to work at creating secret chadorim, mikvaos, and shuls, in order to hold up the resistance and keep Judaism alive. His students, the Tmimim, inspired with a passion and total dedication to Yiddishkeit, knew that if they would be caught, they faced a long term of hard labour in the freezing and primitive Siberia, or even death. Nonetheless, they continued their holy work, going on with mesiras nefesh to save yiddishkeit. When one would be captured or killed al Kiddush Hashem, another would be ready to take their place. Hundreds of rabbonim, melamdim, schochtim and mohelim were dispatched, through the instruction of their Rebbe, who would coordinate and direct the entire secret operation. On one particular day in 1924, during the height of the communist regime, the Rebbe summoned nine of his top tmimim to a secret meeting in Moscow. With them all present, he told them he wished to bind them all by an oath, that they will fight for With a near escape, he made his way to the shores of the USA, which was at that time, a country quite barren of Yiddishkeit. Due to external pressures , outward religious expression, such as a beard or tzitzis, were rare sights indeed. Upon arrival in New York, two of his chassidim met with him, and so as to avoid disappointment, advised him not to start up the activities in which Lubavitch had engaged in up until then, claiming America will never be like Europe where Yiddishkeit had formerly flourished. The Rebbe wrote that upon hearing such comments, "boiling tears flowed from my eyes", and undeterred, the next day he established a Yeshiva, declaring loudly to Jewry that "America is no different. The Rebbe got straight to work, and was very active in establishing the spark of Jewish Orthodoxy across the country. He set-up mikvaos, Jewish day schools and many other institutions vital to sustain an Orthodox Jewish community. The Rebbe Rayatzs yartzheit is Yud Shvat which is Sunday night and Monday of this coming week. Despite his passing on this day, his son-inlaw Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson Ztl took leadership of the chassidus on this day the following year after his passing.

Hachodesh hazeh lochem rosh chodoshim. (Shemos meet (hence Ohel Moed refers to the Mishkan). Thus 12:2) Rosh Chodesh is a time set between G-d and man for man to come to G-d. This word mutual must be emThis month is for you, the head of the months. phasised; G-d sets the rough period in the month for the Of all the Mitzvos in the Torah almost none are as re- new moon, but it is up to us to set the exact date; the vealing of perhaps the most basic philosophical concepts moon once again finding the suns rays is only a metain Judaism as that of Hachodesh hazeh lochem - Rosh phor for us finding G-d. The difference is that we must choose to find Him. Also note that the months are a not Chodesh. a series of identical months, but every month is At first sight the idea of celebrating the arrival of the chodesh - new, and distinct, and it is for us to decide new moon seems to be not dissimilar to pagan cultures how we will make further progress over the month. who would worship nature and the continuity of the universe - that nothing can change, or ever has, but Indeed it is this concept which sets us apart from all rather is locked in a never-ending cycle. However, after other religions. For in Judaism we believe that we as thinking about this idea, this fallacy reveals the deepest humans and as Klal Yisroel are in partnership with G-d of flaws. Just looking at the laws of Rosh Chodesh re- on many levels; from stewardship of the earth veals why. Even if the moon was seen on the 30th of the (Vhaaretz nosan livnei odom) to bringing the universe month, if the sighting was not verified before nightfall, to its ultimate state of perfection. It is this bond bethe new month starts on the 31st. Indeed the Gemara in tween man and G-d that Kidush Hachodesh is emphasisRosh Hashana 20a states that Rosh Chodesh was often ing here; Torah lo bashomayim hi (the Torah is not in held off for a day for the convenience of the people. the Heavens) -in this case very literally the halachah is Most revealingly, even if all Klal Yisroel had seen the not set by heaven but is rather decided by us. To other new moon, the month did not start until the Beis Din religions this is what most galls them; say there is an decided to start the month. Thus it seems clear from all infinite G-d if you want, even say that He created the this that Kidush Hachodesh is not in any way a verifica- universe, but dont say you can change the world. tion that the new moon appeared or a celebration of the Hachodesh hazeh lochem. Kiddush Hachodesh is for us. new moon but is rather in some way deeply reliant on It is our month, for us to us to decide to use to grow the time the people decide this celebration should be. ever closer to Hashem, and to bring the universe ever The solution to all this lies in the word moed. Rosh closer to perfection. It is the ultimate gift, and we cannot Chodesh is also considered a moed, and upon it the date waste it. of all other moadim are fixed. The word moed comes Based on an essay by Rav Shimshon Rephoel Hirsch from the word meaning meeting and refers to a mutuShemos 12:2. ally agreed location in time or space for 2 parties to

Gematria:
The Bnei Yisrael travelled from Ramses to Succos.(12:37) The verse tells us that the redemption took place at the end of 430 years. The numerical value of is 430. At the end of 430 years, they left Mitzrayim and travelled to Succos. The numerical value of is 480. It was only 480 years after the Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim that King Shlomo began to build the Beis HaMikdash to establish a permanent home for the Divine Presence in the nations midst. Before that, the Bnei Yisrael could not be seen as being truly settled in the land. Thus, our verse tells us that in leaving Mitzrayim the Bnei Yisrael were taking the first steps to go from the 430 year period of exile to ,the 480 years of quasi settled status that marked the first era of living in Eretz Yisrael.

Riddle:
Triplets are born, all within 2 hours of each other. They are all healthy, yet the bris milos take place over 3 different days. Why?
Last weeks riddle:

A group of people found a seemingly kosher Sefer Torah. They wished to know whether it was written by a certified scribe. The Noda BYehuda told them "Minhag Yisrael Halacha Hi" (a custom of the Jewish people is law). What did he mean? ?
Answer:

The custom is that prominet members of the community write the last few letters in the scroll. If this is the case, meant the Nodeh B'Yehuda, then it has been written for a Jewish community and is Kosher. Hence, Minhag Yisroel, if this custom has been kept, then, halacha hi, it is a valid sefer torah.

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