Back in 1996, Rabbi Finman was asked to speak to the niece of one of his students. After spending many hours answering her questions, the woman gave Rabbi Finman her e-mail address. Rabbi Finman wrote the woman a note and included in it a short insight into that week's Parsha and a short Chasidic story.
Realizing that this was something no one was yet doing,, Rabbi Finman sent the missive to his mailing list of about 30 people. Requests from recipients friends came pouring in. The next week Rabbi Finman sent the e-Parsha to 100 people. Within a year more than 2000 people were receiving it. Today, more than 14,000 receive the e-Parsha weekly and the requests keep coming in.
Emor 5784
Kedoshim 5784
Metzora 5784
Tazriya 5784
Shmini 5784
Emor 5784
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This week's YouParsha Emor - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtM2IvWNI00 The Cohanim
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This week we read the portion of Emor, Leviticus 21 - 24. Many of the laws involving the cohanim, priests, are in this Parsha. A cohen is not allowed to come in contact with a dead body. This includes not being in the same room with a body or attending a funeral, except for a close relative. The reason is because a dead body conveys ritual impurity and would invalidate a cohen, or any one else for that matter, from entering the holy Temple in Jerusalem. We are told that Hashem performs all the commandments he expects us to do (obviously not in the same way). The Talmud declares Hashem to be a Cohen. One would assume that Hashem would be a Cohen Gadol, High Priest, prohibited from attending even the funeral of a close relative. Given this information, how did Hashem bury Moses?
A simple answer is that Moshe, having no one else to bury him, was a mais mitzvah. It is obligatory for anyone, even a high priest to bury an unattended body. Even Hashem as High Priest was obligated to bury Moshe.
Another answer is that Hashem, being omnipotent, can be a cohen and cohen gadol simultaneously. The relationship between Hashem and the Jewish people is compared to brother and sister. It was that aspect of Hashem as regular priest that buried Moshe. Hashem loves the Jewish people so much that he would become ritually impure.
Still another answer is that Hashem relates to the Jewish people in an essential way that supersedes any level of impurity. There is no possibility for the Almighty to contract ritual impurity from dealing with the Jewish people, as essence is above defilement.
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The mikveh in the city of Premishlam (somewhere east of Bayonne) was located on the other side of the mountain from the city. This posed no problem eight months of the year. During the winter, however, the mountain road was ice covered and impassable. People were forced to take the more circuitous route around the mountain, everyone, that is, except the Rebbe, Reb Meir. He would travel over the icy path as though it were a pleasant spring day.
The city of Premishlam also boasted having young ruffian upstarts. These youths were unimpressed with Reb Meir's feat. One day, they decided to prove that Reb Meir was nothing special. They waited for him to go to the mikveh. Following in his footsteps, they too attempted to climb the ice covered mountain. The going was slow and unsure. They fell down many times. At about the half way point, they lost their footing entirely and rolled down to the bottom of the mountain, breaking several bones.
Reb Meir heard what had happened to these delinquents and went to visit them while they were recuperating. One of them asked the Rebbe how was it possible for a man, much older than they to traverse the ice, while they, much stronger than he, could not maintain a footing. The Rebbe replied, "He who is connected above, never falls down."
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The e-Parsha is sponsored:
In honor of the yahr tzeit of Rabbi Yakov Yosef ben Dovid Schick - Nissan 27. May his neshama experience a lichtigen gan eden. Sponsored by his five children and their families in Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney and Bne Brak
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In memory of Chaim Elozar ben Dovber HaLevi Niftar Lag B'Omer 5783
May their families be comforted among all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
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