Rabbi's Blog

Dear All, I would like to share an inspiring word of Torah with you from this week's Torah portion. Hopefully it will connect the time and tradition of our Torah to today's challenging events in our daily lives. I will try to connect with you on a weekly basis. If you do not want to receive this in an e mail form you can always find it on our Shul website at www.bjsd.org. Wishing you and your family a Shabbat Shalom Avram Bogopulsky, Rabbi of Beth Jacob Congregation. PARSHAS YISRO The image of Moshe Rabbeinu coming down Har Sinai with the luchos is forever embedded in our minds from our youth. Two tablets side by side each containing five of the dibros (statements). The right side representing mitzvos bein Adom La'Chaveiro (commandments between man and God) and the left side mitzvos bein Adom LaChaveiro (commandments between man and his fellow man). One would think that the relationship between man and Hashem is more important or weighs heavier than the existence between man and his friend. But to the contrary, we see from the words of the Rambam in Hilchos Teshuva that we cannot approach Hashem for forgiveness unless we have settled all outstanding matters between ourselves. Chazal are replete with the importance of our middos between each other, Hashem ca tolerate us being disobedient but cannot stand for the injustices perpetrated against mankind. It is for this reason that in this week's parsha, prior to the giving of the Torah the Jewish people responded to Hashem's offer of the Torah with the words Naaseh V'Nishma. In Shmos 19:8 the verse states "Vayaanu kal ha'Am yachdav VaYomru kol asher diber Hashem Naaseh And all the people answered together and said, "All that God has spoken we will do" The Chidushei Harim remarks that each individual Jew should have responded e'eseh -"I will do" instead of Na'aseh. The Gerrer Rebbe says that when the Jews heard about the Torah and realized its beauty and importance, each individual took upon himself not only to observe it, but also to be responsible for all other Jews doing so. Each one responded in the plural "Na'Aseh" meaning "I will do, and also see to it that other Jews will do. As it says in the Gemara Shavuos 39a Kal Yisroel Areivin Ze Lazeh "Each Jew is a guarantor for his fellow". A second interpretation of why it says Na'Aseh is given by Reb Meir Simcha of Dvinsk in his classic commentary the Meshech Chochma. He says that no one Jew can fulfill ALL of the mitzvos of the Torah by themselves. Since there are certain mitzvos that are designated for Kohanim, others for Leviim, the King, the Kohen Gadol, to those who owned fields or a house. Each and every Jew has to fulfill his/her Mitzva and that's what makes us a complete nation. Furthermore, learning about that mitzva can fulfill any mitzva that we cannot do today. Therefore, when everyone responded together that we would do whatever Hashem says, that's what binds us all as a nation. Only when the Jewish people do things collectively, and compliment each other by filling in for each other can we respond together. Otherwise we are just individuals without the force of a wholesome people. We are living through difficult and turbulent times. From earthquakes and natural disasters to young Jewish boys being incarcerated in a Japanese prison. A young Jewish boy being harassed by the authorities (after landing) over his wearing Tefillin on a recent plane ride, to economic hardships all around us we need to focus on our Middos amongst ourselves. Hopefully the message of the two Luchos side by side will remind us of our ultimate responsibilities and bring a salvation to Klal Yisroel and the world we live in.