The Messianic Vort

The Messianic Vort is a 5 minute, weekly teaching on some aspect of of the Torah portion.

"Vort" is a Yiddish word meaning, "word."

“You shall not curse a deaf man, and you shall not place
a stumbling block before the blind; and you shall fear your God—I am Hashem.”
Leviticus 19:14

Sometimes the Torah speaks to us on different levels at the same time. This week's verse is an example of this phenomenon.

The p'shat of the above verse (the simple translation) appears to be prohibiting the literal act of setting a stumbling block in front of a blind person. In my congregation, one of our members is blind. It is a responsibility on our entire community to assist her in any way but to be especially sure that we don't block the paths with clutter when she is moving about and to give her priority of movement wherever she would like to go.

However, many Torah sages, including Rashi and Rambam explain that our verse is also referring to a person who is blind in a non-literal sense. In other words, this is a person without knowledge and is coming to you to seek advice.

In this case, the Torah forbids us to offer advice that would in some way serve our own interests rather than counsel what is best for the person seeking advice. For example, it is forbidden to counsel a person to sell his property if you have an ulterior motive to buy it for yourself. To go further, Rambam adds another dimension; here the Torah forbids a person from causing someone to sin by assisting him in obtaining what he needs in order to transgress, or by telling him that a forbidden behavior is actually permitted.

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Parashah Acharei Mot

"The LORD spoke to Moshe after the death of Aharon's two
sons, when they approached before the LORD, and they
died...With this shall Aharon come into the Sanctuary."
Leviticus 16:1,3

One common technique rabbis use to draw meaning from the Torah is to question why events happen side by side or in close proximity to each other. We find an opportunity for this from the verse above: Why does the Torah juxtapose the death of the sons of Aharon (Aaron ) with the description of the service of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement)?

Rashi, a 12^th century commentator of the Torah and Talmud, explains that the death of Nadav and Avihu are mentioned in order to draw Aharon's attention to the severity of improper entry in the Tabernacle. It is like a sick person who has been told not to eat certain foods. The first doctor only gives his patient the instructions about what not to eat, while the second doctor tells him, “You must avoid these types of food or you will die, as did So-and-so.” The second set of instructions is a clearer, more effective warning than the first.

R' Yehudah Leib Chasman discovers an important lesson from this juxtaposition. Remember, we are talking about Aharon, the High Priest of Israel, the brother of Moshe the great prophet. Was it really necessary for God to use such harsh imagery to get His warning across to Aaron?

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Parashah Metzora

Key Terms
Yeshua- Jesus' Hebrew name meaning, "salvation"
metzora- leper
mikveh- a body of water used for ritual purification and baptisms
kavanah- focus and concentration when performing God's commandments

“A man from whom there is a discharge of semen shall immerse
his entire flesh in the water and remain ritually unfit until
evening.” Leviticus 15:16

The Torah teaches that a ritually unfit person must immerse (baptize) himself in a mikveh (living water from an ocean, lake,
etc.) in order to be purified and allowed to enter the Tabernacle/Temple or to eat sanctified foods such as those sacrificed on the altar. From this passage above, the Sages derive basic laws of immersion (baptism) from the Torah’s requirement that a ritually unfit person immerse ”his entire flesh” (Eruvin 4b). We learn from this phrase that the immersion performed to cleanse a person and make him ritually fit again is invalid even if a tiny part of his body is not totally submerged in the mikveh.

We need a perspective which will help us focus our attention in the proper way in order to gain a practical understanding of this verse. A close look at the opening verses of Genesis will help. “In the beginning of God’s creation of the heavens and the
earth, when the earth was astonishingly empty…and the Divine Presence hovered over the surface of the waters”—shows us
that all subsequent things created came after the first raw material was present: water.

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Parashah Tazria

Key Terms
Yeshua- Jesus' Hebrew name meaning, "salvation"
tzara'at- leprosy
tahor- ritually fit, clean
lashon hara- evil/derogatory speech

"If the leprosy will erupt on the skin, and the leprosy will cover the entire skin of the affliction from his head to his feet...having turned completely white, it is ritually fit."
Leviticus 13:12, 13

When we approach a study of the Bible, we correctly expect to find a practical application, an encouragement here or there, or an answer to life's tough questions. As you can see from the passage above, this will prove challenging in our portion for the week. However, with an extra measure of dedication and with the help of God, we will be rewarded.

To reap any fruit from this week's portion, we need to clarify two key terms: tzara'at translated as "leprosy," and tahor which Daniel Lancaster from First Fruits of Zion renders as "ritually fit." Biblical leprosy is not the same disease as modern day leprosy. In fact, rabbinic opinion regards biblical leprosy as a supernatural even that God sent to punish man for certain deeds; especially lashon hara (evil speech). We find both Yeshua (Jesus) and Paul ratify this understanding throughout the Apostolic Writings (New Testament). The second term, tahor, or "ritually fit" describes a person who is in a physical state that is fit to enter the Tabernacle/Temple and participate in its services and eat the sacrifices performed on the altar. Our Torah portion this week informs us that someone who was diagnosed with tzara'at by a priest was not tahor, i.e. a leper could not participate in the services of the Tabernacle/Temple and he had to be isolated outside the camp (Lev. 13:46). If others approached him he had to warn them by shouting, "Unclean! Unclean!"

The verses above, however, present us with a puzzling paradox.

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Parashah Sh'mini

The Love and Fear of God

“The sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, each took his fire-pan, they put fire in them and placed incense upon it; and they brought before the LORD an alien fire that He had not commanded them. A fire came forth from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.” Leviticus Chapter 10:1, 2

Maybe you’ve heard the phrase describing someone as being “on fire for the Lord.” This week’s Torah portion comes to teach us that this is not always a positive thing.

There are many opinions in the rabbinical commentaries regarding the exact nature of Nadav and Avihu’s sin. However, the one thing they all have in common is that Nadav and Avihu failed to come close to God with a balance between two emotions upon which all service of God is based—yirat Hashem (fear or awe of God) and ahavat Hashem (love of God).

If you think about it, refraining from sin is a result of the fear and awe of the Almighty, while performing the commandments of God is a result of our love for our Father who gives us life. We must learn to keep these two feelings in balance; otherwise, one whose feeling of fear overpowers the feeling of love for God and may squelch his enthusiasm and fervor for doing God’s commandments. Likewise, one whose feeling of love is greater than his awe will lack the proper reverence that is required when coming close to God in His service. Torat Kohanim writes: “When they [Nadav and Avihu] saw the fire from Heaven, they were filled with joy, and were moved to add love upon love.” Even though their actions were motivated by such intense love, that feeling of love was disproportionate to their fear of God.

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May your week be filled with His shalom!

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Parashah Tzav

Yeshua Cares for the Smallest Yud

"The priest shall don his fitted linen tunic, and he shall don linen pants on his flesh;

he shall separate the ash of what the fire consumed of the elevation-offering on the Altar,

and place it next to the Altar. He shall remove his garments and don other garments,

and he shall remove the ash to the outside of the camp, to a pure place.” Leviticus 6

Have you ever tried to scrape clean a dirty BBQ grill, or worse yet, a greasy, grimy oven? No one looks forward to this menial task and yet, in our parashah this week, there is a commandment to the priests to do just that—every day! You might think that their attitudes were poor considering what a “lowly” task this was. In truth, this commandment was seen as an honor because it was a chance to serve God and get closer to Him. The Mishnah reports: “Originally whosoever desired to remove [the ashes from] the altar did so. If they were many, they would run and mount the ramp [of the altar], and he that came first within four cubits obtained the privilege.” Yoma22a

We Must Repent

One of the lessons of the mitzvah (commandment) of removing the ash from the Altar is that a servant of Hashem must feel obligated to do every one of the commandments, no matter how unimportant it seems. Surely all of us are guilty of going our own way and deciding that some of the Torah commandments "are not for us" or seem to be of little importance. We pick and choose how God's Word relates to our lives rather than living according to the entire council of God's commandments.

The Torah and the writings of the Apostles clearly indicate that sin is not living the commandments of God. When we give into the Evil Inclination to sin in this way, we need to repent. One who falls into sin and does not repent immediately is likely to become used to doing that particular transgression. Once the sin is repeated, it will no longer seem to him to be a prohibited activity, and may even become a habit, and he will come to violate it without a second thought.

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