Divrei Mav

There is a passuk (passage) in this week’s Parsha that says, “V’Lifnai Aiver Lo Sitain Mich’shol” which is translated into, “And you shall not place a stumbling block before the blind.” The simple p’shat (understanding) to this passuk is “do not harm the blind in any manner” which means if he is blind in vision or in understanding. According to Rashi, one should be careful not to give harmful advise (to a fellow Jew). Another Mitzvah this week is “V‘ohavtah L‘reiachoh Komocha“. Hashem, in His incredible love for each and every Yid (Jew) made a mitzvah in His Torah to love each and every Jew like one loves himself. This is called, “V‘ohavtah L‘reiachoh Komocha“. This mitzvah applies to every Jew. Rabbi Mordechai Katz asks, Is this advice practical? Can one love his neighbor like himself or is that too much to expect from man? He answers indeed, one can and should reach such a level even if it means going through a step-by-step process. This mitzvah is very precious and important. The

Ahron was given perspicuous instructions on how to do his avodah (service) in the Mishkan (tabernacle), to show him and the future Kohanim (priests) how to avoid making the same mistake that Nadav and Avihu did. Their alien Korban (sacrifice) brought them to their catastrophic downfall. Since the incident with Nadav and Avihu there have been those who haven’t quite gotten the message. These people felt that it was necessary to add in or change a law here and there in the Torah, making it more “convenient” for themselves and possibly others. Like driving to shul (temple) on Shabbos was a change that was made and having no mechitzah (dividers) to separate the men from the women. All of these changes might have been because of good and seemingly harmless intentions, but in truth, all they are really doing is the same thing that Nadav and Avihu did on that fateful day when they brought a perfectly good Korban in a manner not prescribed by Hashem. There is a great Mushul (parable) that Ra

Last week we learned about the simple version of tzaraas that comes as a skin blemish mainly for speaking Lashon Hara. This week we are going to expound on the affliction of tzaraas and its impact on the B’nai Yisroel (Jews). Midway into the Parsha there is a passuk (passage) that says “And I (Hashem) will place a tzaraas affliction upon a house…” If the tzaraas spreads onto one’s house one should do like he would if he himself were afflicted. He should go to a Kohain for confirmation. Once confirmed, the Kohain would quarantine his house. If one’s house was afflicted with tzaraas this meant that Lashon Hara had become the way of the entire family. There were 3 avairos that were deserving of tzaraas; 1) haughtiness, 2) evil gossip, 3) an envious eye. The Kli Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim ben Ahron) tells us that just like there are 3 sins that caused tzaraas, there are three remedies. 1) He must shave off all of the hair on his head because he wanted to be at the head. 2) He must shav

This week’s Parsha is called, Parshas Tazria. When a person would speak Lashon Hara, (words that may diminish the status of another Jew), Hashem punished him with something called Tzra’as. Tzra’as started off as a white skin blemish and could eventually cover one’s entire body depending on the seriousness of the matter. Lashon Hara is considered one of the worse sins in the Torah. Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagen HaCohen zt”l (a.k.a. The Chafetz Chaim) says the reason why we lost the second Bais HaMikdash (Holy Temple) was because of two grave mistakes; Lashon Hara and Sinas Chinim (baseless hatred). The Chafetz Chaim once compared a person that speaks Lashon Hara to a person that committed every sin in the Torah. My Rebbe explained that one who speaks Lashon Hara defiles his mouth the same mouth he will eventually use to petition HaKadosh Borchu (the Holy One Blessed is He) and as a result, his prayers are not heard. Furthermore, all of the mitzvos he did in the past are cancelled. All t