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D'Var Torah - Parshas Kedoshim - 5762

"And you shall love your neighbor like yourself..." (Lev. 19:18) If you put yourself in other's positions, and think of how you would like to be treated if you were in that situation, it can elevate you to remarkable acts of Chesed (Loving Kindness) as the following true story, told to me by Rifca Goldberg of Safed Candles in Israel (http://www.safedcandles.com) illustrates:

Last night a friend called me to tell me an amazing story that just happened. It was Wednesday. That night was the Seder. The Israeli government had just called up 30,000 men from the reserves in response to the current terrorist threat. Two soldiers were standing in the Meah Sharim area and two women that live there were passing by and overheard the soldiers saying how incredibly hungry they were. The situation being what it is and the haste of gathering so many men...the army hadn't gotten enough food together to satisfy them. These two women went straight to the local religious radio station and on the air, it requested that people donate food for the soldiers. Mothers of dozens of children, who had been cooking for days, donated ALL of their food exclaiming that they could cook more on Yontif. Trucks were brought in to Meah Sharim from the army and there was enough food for over a thousand soldiers! And this was all done in TWO HOURS!! This is a true story that happened less than three weeks ago. There's no people like Am Ysrael!

Dedicated in loving memory of Moshe ben Simcha, by his brother Dr. Al Salganick.

D'Var Torah - Parshas Kedoshim - 5761
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman

What would you do in the following scene? You are a Dayan (Judge) in a Bais Din (Jewish Court of Law). A wealthy man and a poor man come before with a dispute involving $1500. That sum is a huge amount of money for the poor man and an insignificant amount for the wealthy man. As you listen to the facts of the case, you realize that the law is on the side of the wealthy man. Do you rule in favor of the wealthy man because that is the correct ruling; or, do you rule in favor of the poor man since he desperately needs the money to live and feed his family, while the wealthy man will barely feel the loss of a thousand dollars, and the wealthy man is obligated to give tzedaka (charity) to the poor man any way? You are the judge. The power is in your hand. What is the right thing to do? From a purely humanistic point of view one would seem almost compelled to find for the poor man. The Torah teaches us otherwise. The Torah says that the dayan must render the accurate ruling without any outside considerations, even to the detriment of this poor soul. This doesn't seem right! You know and I know, but the Torah knows better. If we give false decisions, we will be destroying the truth. Once we lose our perception of the truth, we lose our perception of reality and when that happens we lose everything. With our limited human judgement it may seem greater to help the poor man; but, the Torah is teaching us that maintaining and protecting the truth is the greatest good, even for the poor man who is ruled against in this case.

DVAR TORAH: Kedoshim

“Holy shall you be for I am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2) We are a people of unparalleled holiness and purity as the following true story illustrates:

In 1945, the Jews who were now liberated from the camps began the challenging process of getting their lives back together. There were many physical challenges. They couldn’t go back to their original homes. Where were they to go? What were they to do once they got there?

There were many emotional challenges. Many had lost their families. They had been exposed to inhuman inconceivable experiences. They were emotionally shattered and drained.

A group of young men who had survived the holocaust met the renown Vizhnitzer Rebbe. The Rebbe went out of his way to comfort and console the countless Jews who had lost their families, friends, and possessions as the result of the horrible war.

With great sincerity and heartache, the Jewish men told the Rebbe that they felt guilty for having eaten non-kosher food throughout their time in the camps. "Perhaps we should have been stronger," said one of the young men with remorse. "Perhaps we could have survived without eating the food from their kitchens. What should we do to repent for our sins?"

The Rebbe was touched by their sincerity. He was quiet for a few moments and then he began to cry. He took the hand of one of the young men and clasped it warmly in his own hands. "The only reason you and your friends ate the treif (non-kosher) food was so that you should survive, is that not so?" The young man nodded yes.

"Surely the reason you felt you had to eat the food was because of the commandment "And you shall live by them [the commandments] (Leviticus 18:5)," said the Rebbe. Again the young man nodded. (The Torah commands us to violate all but three types of mitzvahs in order to save a life.)

"The Germans did not give anyone a morsel of food more than what they needed for survival," said the Rebbe. "Thus in fulfilling the commandment [of saving your lives], you fulfilled it to the exact specifications required in Halachah (Jewish Law). In Heaven you will be rewarded in full measure for your observance of this sacred mitzvah."

"I only wish," cried the Rebbe, "that the eating and drinking that I do for the purposes of a mitzvah (such as eating matzoh on Pesach, or challah on Shabbos) should be as perfect and as holy as your eating was!" (The foregoing true story is documented in the Maggid Series by Rabbi Paysach Krohn)

Dedicated by Yehudah Manosh in honor of his wife Jennifer.

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