Dear parents, relatives, and friends: Because this is the eve of Shabbat Hagadol, I would like to devote my “Devar Torah” to the forthcoming festival of Passover. The commandment to read the Hagadah is biblically ordained; it is a mitzvah min ha-Torah that we tell the story of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. Now if this recitation of the Hagadah is, indeed, a biblical mitzvah, then we should be required to recite a blessing before the performance of this commandment, as we do over all commandments. Why, indeed, do we not recite a berakhah prior to the performance of this commandment? Why should the recitation of the Hagadah be different from, for instance, the recitation of Hallel or the Megillah, over which we recite a benediction before we begin? One answer that has been suggested is the principle laid down by the Rashba. The Rashba points out that we ordinarily recite a blessing before those mitzvot bein adam la-Makom, the commandments guiding man's relationship to God; but we do not recite a berakhah over those commandments bein adam le-chaveiro, which relate to the conduct of man towards his fellow man. But are not the ethical and social commandments of the Torah equally as important as the purely religious ones? The answer, says the Rashba, is yes. However, whenever I make a blessing I recite the name of God, and I must therefore be particularly careful that the blessing is a necessary one, that it not be wasted – for then I will have recited the name of the Lord in vain. Now, those commandments which tell me how to act towards God depend only upon myself, and once I have decided to perform the mitzvah then I may recite a blessing because there is no one to stop me from doing the commandment. However, when it comes to those commandments that are bein adam le-chaveiro, my successful performance of the mitzvah depends not only upon myself but upon another intelligent human being, my friend. I therefore cannot make the blessing because I am never sure that the…

As I greet all of you this wonderful day, I think of the words of King David in his תהילים: שיר המעלות לדוד, שמחתי באומרים לי בית ה' נלך. I was so happy when I was told by my parents that my Bat Mitzvah would be celebrated here in ירושלים, the city of the בית ה'. עומדות היו רגלינו בשעריך ירושלים. It is hard to believe that we are actually standing here in this holy city of ירושלים, for the first time in my life. ירושלים הבנויה כעיר שחוברה לה יחדו. We are in the rebuilt ירושלים, the city which makes all Jews friends to each other — even my sisters and I... למען אחי ורעי אדברה נא שלום בך. On behalf of my sisters I thank my Mommy and my Daddy, for giving us the privilege of coming here to Jerusalem to celebrate both my בת מצוה and פורים, and I thank my grandparents and aunts and uncles and all my cousins, for making the trip here with us — and I am happy that so many of our relatives and friends who live here in Israel came to join us.למען בית הי אלקינו אבקשה טוב לךFor the sake of ירושלים and of the בית המקדש I will always be grateful to all of you and pray that only good things befall you now and forever.

Just before the climax of the Purim story, after King Achashverosh orders Haman to dress Mordecai in royal clothes and have him mount the royal horse, Haman returns to his wife Zeresh and his counselors (whom the Megillah sarcastically calls חכמים). He tells them of the reversal of his fortunes and how he now has been ordered to give honor to Mordecai, the man he wanted to execute by hanging. Zeresh and the advisors give him no encouragement at all. Instead, we read:ויאמרו לו חכמיו וזרש אשתו, אם מזרע היהודים מרדכי אשר החילות לנפול לפניו לא תוכל לו כי נפל תפול לפניו. "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the seed of the Jews (by which they meant that he is of Jewish descent), you will not win over him, but you will surely fall before him". Now, that is a very strange thing to say. Didn't they know, from the very beginning, that Mordecai is a Jew? Wasn't that the very reason Haman hated him? Why, then, the word אם, "if" Mordecai is of the children or seed of the Jews? I heard of a wonderful answer that was given by a very great personality — Rabbi Meir Shapira, who was the founder and Rosh Yeshiva of the great ישיבת חכמי לובלין. He was especially important to our family, because in 1925, when he visited the United States and was in New York, my great-great-grandfather, Rabbi Yehoshua Baumol, זכר צדיק לברכה, invited him to be the מסדר קדושין and preside at the wedding ceremony of his oldest daughter and her husband. They were my great-grandparents, Zeide and Bobbe Lammעליהם השלום, whom I loved very much. Rabbi Shapira offered a very interesting and important answer. He pointed to a marvelous story recorded in the גמרא מגילה דף ט"ז עמוד א. The Gemara says: "ויקח המן את הלבוש ואת הסום" — Haman took the royal robes and the horse to Mordecai; אזל אשכחיה דיתבי רבנן קמיה ומחוי להו הלכות קמיצה לרבנן — He went and found Mordecai teachimg his students. He was in the middle of a שעור about how the כהן performs קמיצה, the taking of a fistful of flour for the מנ…

הנושא: הכנסת אורחים והכנסת כלה מסרתי כהקדמה לדרשה שדרשתי לכבוד הבת־מצוה חנה ברכה דוידמן, שבט תשנ״ד, במלון הומווואק. תמיד תמהתי על הביטוי ״הכנסת אורחים״ – מדוע "הכנסה"? מדוע לא "כבוד האורחים" או "טובה לאורחים" וכדומה? נדמה לי כי המקור לביטוי ודאי בתרבות המדבר במזרח התיכון, בה שהו אבותינו. כשהיה אדם גר באוהל במדבר ועברו נוסעים, אז נזקקו להיכנס לאוהל – אם מחמת חום השמש או קור הלילה – והיה על בעל האוהל להכניסם לתוך אהלו.אחר כך, במשוך הדורות ואבותינו גרו בתרבות עירונית או בכפר, שימש הביטוי לרעיון שעל המארח לא רק לספק לאורחים אש״ל אלא להכניסם לתוך משפחתו, לתת להם הרגש של נוחיות כאילו בחיק משפחתם. ולפיכך—"הכנסת אורחים״.ודומה לזה—"הכנסת כלה", כי בימים ההם היה המנהג שהכלה באה לגור עם החתן בביתו ובבית משפחתו, ולפיכך המצוד, ה י תה להכניסה לתוך משפחת באהבה וכוי. (ואחי הרב משה נ״י הוסיף: ואולי לבעל המלון הפירוש הוא — שיש לו הכנסה מן הארוחים...)

Today we conclude Adar I and usher in Adar II. I often wonder: is the principle of כשנכנס אדר מרבין בשמחה one that applies to Adar I, to Adar II, or to both Adars? I believe I found the answer in a passage I just recently encountered in the Sefat Emet. Why, he asks, is Adar a time for simḥah? His answer is that Elul, the month before Tishrei, which begins with Rosh Hashanah and is therefore the last month of the year, is set aside for teshuvah. But if that holds for the rabbinic calendar, it should hold as well for the biblical calendar, according to which Nisan is the first month – haḥodesh hazeh rosh ḥodashim hu lakhem – and the last month before Nisan is Adar. Hence, these two months, Elul and Adar, six months apart from each other, are both months dedicated to teshuvah. What is the difference between them? It is this: Elul is teshuvah mi-yirah, whereas Adar is teshuvah me-ahavah – and this kind of teshuvah is always an occasion of joy. So today is a double day of joy – the beginning of Adar, and the Bar Mitzvah of Bezalel Weinberg. Bezalel, we are all aware of your record as a superb student, as a young man chock full of talent. But you get no special credit for that, for such innate qualities are gifts of HaKadosh Barukh Hu – they are the cumulative consequences of the genes of a bright and competent mother and a brilliant father, of their parents – grandfathers who, each in his own way, have had major impact on all American Jewry – and their parents and grandparents before them, a line which includes some of the true gedolei Yisrael of their generation. But you add something precious of your own: you are also a gentle person, you possess a loving and warm heart; you are a young man of diverse qualities. Let me explain. “Mi zot ha-nishkafah ka-mo shahar, yafah ka-lavanah, barah ka-ḥammah, ayumah ke-nidgalot” – the Zohar comments: “Mi zot – razah de-trein alma’in mitḥabran ke-ḥada.” The Ḥiddushei ha-Rim says: “Mi” represents the hidden (nistar), “zot” the revea…

The last item of the last Mishnah in מסכת אבות, at the end of פרק חמישי, reads as follows: בן הא־הא אומר, לפום צערא אגרא. The Rabbi called Ben Hei-Hei said that “according to the pain is the reward.” This means that in performing a mitzvah, especially the study of Torah, your reward depends upon how much effort and struggle you put into it. If you work hard – so hard that it hurts – you get greater שכר or reward, and if it comes easy, without too much discomfort or suffering, the reward is less. Maybe this is the reason that Moshe tells us in the sidra עקב that Hashem punishes us in the same way that a father punishes his own son: כי כאשר ייסר איש את בנו, ה׳ אלקיך מיסרך – “as a father punishes his son, so does Hashem your God punish you.” When a child is disobedient and the parent disciplines him or her, it is for the child’s good (at least that is what my Dad has been telling me all these years...), and the child later appreciates all the more the reward that comes from leading a good life of Torah and mitzvos. If he were not disciplined, he might still behave well, but not with the same satisfaction. According to Rabbi Saadia Gaon, the principle of our Mishnah holds true for all times and circumstances. Rabbi Saadia Gaon asks, in his אמונות ודעות, why Hashem did not give each of us a completely happy and worry-free life without having to perform the mitzvos and avoid aveiros. He answers that if you don’t work for a thing, you don’t appreciate it. Only if you invest a great deal of effort can you enjoy the reward. So, this is the same idea that we learned in our Mishnah: לפום צערא אגרא. This last Mishnah of אבות ties in with its very beginning, where we are told that Moshe received the Torah from Mt. Sinai and gave it over to Yehoshua and Yehoshua to the Elders, and so forth: משה קבל תורה מסיני ומסרה ליהושע ויהושע לזקנים. Some of the מפרשים say that this whole list refers not to the Written Torah, תורה שבכתב, but to the Oral Torah, תורה שבעל פה, which contains muc…

אנו עומדים על סף חג השבועות, ומעניין הדבר שבפסח אין כל זכר לשמחה, בשבועות יש אזכור אחד בלבד – ושמחת לפני ה׳ אלקיך – ואילו בסוכות יש ג׳ פעמים שהשמחה נזכרה. ואין זה אומר אלא דרשני. ביאור הדבר הזה אנו מוצאים בסוף סדר ראה, בפירוש "דעת זקנים מבעלי התוספות". שם העירו על הנ״ל, וההסבר הוא שפסח הוא זמן זריעה ולא נלקטו התבואות והפרות. על כן, לשמחה מה זו עושה. אבל בשבועות כשנאספה הזיבול הראשון, ביכורי האילנות, יש כבר טעם לשמחה, אבל לא לגמרי, שהלא רוב התבואות ממנו והלאה. אבל כשהגיע כבר חג הסוכות וכל התבואות נאספו ולבות האנשים שמחים עליהם, אז יש שלש מצוות לשמחה.אם כן, העיקר הוא ההתכוננות לקראת העתיד.שתים עשרה שנה הנך מתכוננת לרגע שתגיעי לחיי המצוות, ולכן מותר לנו ואף חייבים אנו לשמוח אתך. את נותנת לנו נחת רוח, וזה מקור שמחתנו. אולם, את צעירה ועוד יש לך כברת דרך ללכת, ואנו בטוחים בך שבע״ה תצליחי בכל ותגיעי לתורה לחופה ולמעשים טובים, ואז שמחתנו תהיה שלחמה־־וכיאות למשפחתך,נשמח פי שלוש...

When I pulpit Rabbi, many years ago, I addressed BM boy, told him: צלם אלקים acc Saadia = Builder. So you too builder. Thn addd: Isaiah – אל תקרי בניך אלא :חז״ל & ,וכל בניו לימודי ה׳, ורב שלום בניך בוניך, my interp: greatst בנץ is לימודי ה׳... That was way back 1972. The kid was – your father, Shalom – and he did both – builder and לימודי ה Use Isaiah f you too: your הפטרה... Our socy – singl-minddnss, narrownss... Specialists/genralists; sciencs/humanties; למרדי קודש/חול; TuM... In leaning: עיון/בקיאות; as if must choose one way, ignore others So: Isaiah says NO! האריכי מיתריך ויתדותיך וחקי. What mean?? – Both yr Dad & Unc Josh like t upstage their fathr – h sedntry, stick-in-mud, Iks creatur comfrts, so thy=cawp'g... TENT: f breadth, stretch ropes; f seerty, strong stakes – both!! Really – your הדרן – going all directions, yet leadg t same goal Also – your names: אריה = א׳ שאג מי לא יירא = powcr; צבי – ארץ צבי = grace, elegance... You have it inhertd – Dad = Power, Mom = Elegance/beauty Terrific combination So, Ari Zvi – y can hv it all....!!

The last mishna in מסכת תענית tells us of a remarkable custom in ancient Israel. אמר רבן שמעון בן גמליאל: לא היו ימים טובים לישראל כחמשה עשר באב כיום הכיפורים, שבהן בנות ירושלים יוצאות בכלי לבן שאולין שלא לבייש את מי שאין לו... ובנות ירושלים יוצאות וחולות בכרמים, ומה היו אומרות? בחור, שא נא עיניך וראה מה אתה בורר לך. אל תתן עיניך בנוי, תן עיניך במשפחה, (משלי ל״א). שקר החן והבל היופי אשה יראת ה׳ היא תתהלל, ואומר תנו לה מפרי ידיה ויהללוה בשערים מעשיה, וכן הוא אומר (שיר גי) צאינה וראינה בנות ציון במלך שלמה בעטרה שעטרה לו אמו ביום חתונתו וביום שמחת לבו ביום חתונתו זו מתן תורה וביום שמחת לבו זה בנין בית המקדש שיבנה במהרה בימינו אמן:R. Simeon b. Gamaliel said: there never were in Israel greater days of joy than the fifteenth of Av and Yom Kippur. On these days the girls of Jerusalem used to walk out in white garments which they borrowed in order not to put to shame any one who had none... They came out and danced in the vineyards, exclaiming at the same time, "Young man, look and see what you choose for yourself. Do not look for beauty but look for someone from a good family; as King Solomon said, "grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears the lord, she shall be praised."The Gemara, at the very end of this מסכת, now expands on this part of the Mishnah:.יפיפיות שבהן מה היו אומרות, תנו עיניכם ליופי, שאין האשה אלא ליופיOur Rabbis taught: The beautiful amongst them called out, Set your eyes on beauty, for the quality most to be prized in woman is beauty.מיוחסות שבהן מה היו אומרות תנו עיניכם למשפחה, לפי שאין האשה אלא לבנים.Those who came from distinguished families called out, Look for a good family, for a woman from a good family will raise a good family.מכוערות שבהם מה היו אומרות קחו מקחכם לשום שמים, ובלבד שתעטרונו בזהובים.Those who were not attractive and did not come from good families, said, Carry us off in the name of Heaven, but on one condition: that you adorn us with jewels of gold.The Gemara now concludes with a brief but beautiful description o…

Halakha 12: This halakha seems strange: why should a poor person, who subsists on charity, be commanded to borrow money or sell his clothing in order to buy oil or candles for Hanukkah? Why should Hanukkah be regarded as so different and so special compared to other mitzvot? The answer implied by the Rambam is that Hanukkah is חביבה היא עד מאוד, very much beloved, and we must be careful in performing the mitzvah because its purpose is to express thanks to Hashem for the נסים He performed for us. What the Rambam may have in mind is, if we read between the lines, that even the poorest of men should exert himself to perform the mitzvah of Hanukkah because he will thereby learn the lesson of hope: just as Hashem performed miracles for כלל ישראל on Hanukkah, so can He do for me as an individual, and I must therefore never give up hope for a better and more secure future. So, even if it is true that אין סומכין על הנס, we must not rely on a miracle, but we can certainly hope for one! And that hope is worth sacrificing for, even to the extent of selling your garment to buy oil for Hanukkah! – Halakha 13: Here again we find emphasis on the miraculous nature of Hanukkah. Given a choice between buying wine for Kiddush or oil for a Hanukkah candle, we must choose the oil for Hanukkah – because of the element of the נס that occasioned the celebration of Hanukkah. Perhaps we can offer an explanation in line of what we said before. The poor man, even if he is a beggar living on the dole, must stretch and buy oil for the Menorah because the miracle of Hanukkah gives him hope in his own personal situation. Similarly, if we have a choice between Kiddush wine and נר חנוכה, we choose the נר חנוכה. We should remember that wine is a sign of joy – p^ אין שמחה אלא – and while Shabbat is a time to be glad that we can make it holy, nevertheless the joy that comes from hope is even greater! Joy from wine is not as effective as joy that comes from hope for a radical change in our fortunes – w…