Date: Fri, 2 Jun 1995 01:27:14 +0100 From: Virtual Bet Midrash_Project Subject: SICHOT SUMMARIES To: Har Etzion Torah Account Date: Fri, 2 Jun 1995 01:27:14 +0100 From: Virtual Bet Midrash_Project Subject: SICHOT SUMMARIES To: Har Etzion Torah Account [Due to several requests, the shiur on matza to chometz sent out originally before Pesach is being resent after the Sicha summary, as it deals with the "Shtei Ha'Lechem".] Summary of the Sicha Delivered by HaRav Amital S'hlita Parshat Bamidbar - 5755 Prepared by Darren Fish This week's parsha opens Sefer Bamidbar with the counting of Benei Yisrael. On the one hand, one could interpret counting the nation negatively, with everyone being a number and the individual losing his identity. But the Jewish view is different. It is davka this counting which shows that every person is special, with a particular place in the structure of Benei Yisrael. The counting of the Am gave every person an opportunity to present himself in front of Moshe Rabeinu - to present himself as an individual and not as another number. We see later that Am Yisrael camped "ish 'al machanehu ve'ish 'al diglo" (1:52) - every tribe with its own flag. The degel symbolizes the specialness of each tribe and its capability to serve Hashem in its own different way. The purpose of the counting is to make us realize that every Jew is important and that every Jew serves according to his nature, "ve'ish al diglo." The Gra says that bizman hanevi'im people would go to the navi to find out what their own way of serving God was - their strong points and their special connection. Today we have no nevi'im, but every person has a certain amount of ruach hakodesh to know his special direction in avodat Hashem. The Gra notes that we cannot totally trust this inclination as it is not always accurate. However, it is up to us to accept others who, within the framework of Torah, have different de'ot than ours, and to realize that every Jew has to find his special derekh of avodat Hashem - the derekh which is suitable to him and his nature. --------- FROM MATZA TO CHAMETZ based on a class by R. Yoel Bin-Nun summarized by Shalom Holtz Matzah by its very nature is lechem oni, bread of poverty. A poor person does not have the time nor the proper utensils necessary to bake chametz. The Israelites are commanded to eat matzot and maror, together with the korban Pesach, in order to remember the poverty and slavery they experienced in Egypt. Just as the matzah has symbolized the Israelites' plight in Egypt, chametz would be an appropriate symbol of their newly-obtained freedom and prosperity, for chametz is the food of the wealthy. It would seem appropriate, then, that with the redemption from Egypt would come a commandment to eat chametz. However, the instructions for the days which commemorate the period immediately following the exodus command exactly the opposite: not only a ban on chametz, but also a commandment to eat matzah. "Throughout the seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten; no leavened bread shall be found with you, and no leaven shall be found in your territory." (Shemot 13:7). What, then, is behind issur chametz and mitzvat akhilat matzah? Chametz and matzah in these commandments serve as symbols based on their physical characteristics. The key difference between chametz and matzah lies in how sophisticated the wheat has become through production. Chametz is wheat in its most complex form. It is the goal of the wheat grower and the final stage to which the wheat-growing process can be taken. Matzah, on the other hand, is bread in its most basic form, at the beginning of the bread-baking process. The purpose of matzah during the seven days of Pesach is to represent the beginning of a process. After the night of the korban Pesach, the Israelites are not fully redeemed. Matzah, bread at the beginning of its production, serves as a reminder that the exodus is just the beginning of a journey. The process which begins at the exodus culminates in two other major events: the giving of the Torah and the entrance into the land of Canaan. The mitzvah of bikkurim, the offering of the first-grown fruits, commemorates both of these events in Am Yisrael's history. The holiday marking the beginning of the harvest of the wheat crop, Shavuot, falls out on the same date as the giving of the Torah, the sixth of Sivan. A major component of the ceremony of the offering of the bikkurim, which commemorates the arrival in the Holy Land, is mikra bikkurim, the recitation of Devarim 26:5-10. These verses constitute a declaration of thanks for a successful crop grown in the land of Israel. It is within the mitzvah of bikkurim, which commemorates both conclusions of the redemption process, that a positive commandment regarding chametz is given. The meal-offering brought with the bikkurim, known as minchat shetei halechem, is an offering of two loaves of leavened bread. This sacrifice of chametz on Shavuot represents the completion of the process begun on Pesach, which was symbolized by the matzot. The Maggid section of the Haggadah is composed, in part, of the recitation of the midrashic interpretation of mikra bikkurim. However, the reading is limited to the first verses, which focus on the history of Am Yisrael: "My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number. He became there a great, mighty, and populous nation. The Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard labor. And we cried out to Hashem, the God of our fathers, and God heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression. And God took us out of Egypt with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror and with wonders." (Devarim 26:5-8) The last verses, which contain the expressions of thanks: "And He brought us to this place, and He gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the first fruit of the land which You, God, have given me." (ibid., 9-10) are not recited on the night of the Seder. The selection of this section of the Torah for Maggid is a reminder of the nature of the Seder night and of Pesach in general. Pesach commemorates the beginning of the process of redemption whose conclusion is symbolized by the bikkurim. On Pesach we remember that the exodus was only a beginning, and to do this we eat matzah. Similarly, we recite only those verses within mikra bikkurim which pertain to the process of redemption. We leave out the verses pertaining to the final arrival in Eretz Yisrael as a reminder that on Pesach, at least, the process has just begun.