Torah Teasers
Parshas Terumah
1. Hashem commanded Moshe Rabbeinu to build a Mishkan and take generous donations from Bnei Yisrael. Moshe was perplexed: If all the Heavens and the earth are not large enough for Hashem, how can a Mishkan of thirty amos be Hashem’s dwelling? Ans… Rav Naftoli Tzvi of Ropshitz explains that the donations were only accepted from those who “Yidvenu Libo” gave it with a generous heart. This meant that when the person brought his limited pieces of gold or silver, his heart yearned to give even more. To express his infinite love of Hashem he wanted to give Hashem all the gold and silver in the world and then some. Unlike the wallet, the mind has no limit. The Ropshitzer explains that Hashem indeed did not put his Shechina solely into a small physical structure. When Bnei Yisrael built the Mikdash with their infinite love, Hashem rested His infinite Shechina in this infinite love. This is why the pasuk says, “V’Shachanti BiSocham; I will dwell in them,”– in the heart of each and every person that shows boundless love.
2. Rashi (Truma 25:5) says that the Tachash was a Chaya, a wild animal, that only existed in the Midbar at the time of the building of the Mishkan. The Sridei Aish, Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg asks that this seems to contradict to the Gemara in Shabbos (28b) that asks if the Tachash was a Biheima or Chaya and does not resolve it. Ans… He answers that Hashem created every creature with an innate ability to carry out its intended purpose. Biheimos, domesticated animals, serve mankind and are obedient and humble servants. They provide milk and meat, wool, and work for man. Wild animal are created as messengers of punishment and serve only their creator. They do not subdue themselves to the wishes of man. The Gemara in Shabbos has a dilemma. The Tachash which was a one-time phenomenon meant to provide beautiful colored hide to the Mishkan could not have been a Biheima since it doesn’t serve man. Nor can it be a Chaya because all the animal used in the Mishkan needed to possess the quality of modesty, as the Medrash says, “All Korbanos come from animals that serve as prey and not as predators.” Rashi, says that Rav Weinberg, is telling us that even if the Tachash was a wild animal, it still had a place in the Mishkan. Why? Because it was only in existence for a short time to provide its hide for the Mishkan. Even if it had the makings of a Chaya, it will never get a chance to act as such and can be used in the Mishkan.
3. Atzei Shttim were used in abundance in the Mishkan for the perimeter structure and the walls. Where did Bnei Yisrael find these huge trees from the midbar? The Medrash Tanchuma tells us that Yaakov planted them in Mitzrayim and commanded Bnei Yisrael to take them on their way out of Mitzrayim. The Ibn Ezra asks, how could they take these large beams out of Mitzrayim after claiming they were only going for three days? Ans… Rav Eliezer Ashkenazi in Maasei Hashem says that the Ibn Ezra’s question is not a question. “On the contrary,” he says that first of all, the Mitzrim knew that they were going to serve Hashem in the desert. How were they supposed to protect themselves from the hot sun without any overhead structure? Furthermore, they needed to build a site to stage this worship. Lastly, if they were leaving forever, surely they were going to a place that had building materials and they would not need to bring their own from Mitzrayim.
4. Why does the Parsha of Truma follow the parshiyos of Yisro and Mishpatim? Ans… Rav Zalman Sorotzkin, in Oznayim LaTorah, offers the following pshat on why the Parsha of Truma follows the parshiyos of Yisro and Mishpatim. When the Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim they were told to “borrow” the riches of their Mitzri neighbors. Later on it became clear that they were never intending to repay this “loan”. At Har Sinai, Hashem told them, “Lo Signov,” and then in Mishpatim they learned some of the finer details about dealing with other people’s money. The ehrlicher Jews among them started to get worried about the money of questionable kashrus that they had in their possession from the Mitzrim. They thought that maybe this was a subtle hint from Hashem that they ought to go back and return the money. Hashem therefore tells them in the beginning of the parsha, “ViYikchu Li Truma. If you think the money you have is not kosher, then come give it to me. Use it for My home, the Mishkan, that is rooted in honesty, since it is legitimately yours. If it is kosher enough for Me to use, it is certainly kosher enough for you to use, and there is no need to return it to Mitzrayim.”
5. Gold was one of the featured materials used in building the Miskan. “The reason,” says the Medrash Tanchuma, “is because the Mishkan was a kapara for the Chait HaEigel which was made of gold.” “Ki A’aleh Arucha Lach U’MiMakasayich Erpa’ech” (Yirmiyahu 30:17); Hashem stitches together a cure from the illness itself.” Why is this? Aand what difference does it make where the cure comes from? Ans… Rav Shimon Schwab (Mayan Bais HaShoeva) explains that the Ramban says that Bnei Yisrael made the Eigel purely L’Shem Shamayim. They wanted to bring Hashra’as HaShechina in the absence of Moshe Rabbeinu. The reason why they used gold is because of its purity to show their pure intentions.
6. Chazal tell us that the Atzei Shittim for the Mishkan came from trees planted by Yaakov in Mitzrayim specifically for this purpose, and he commanded them to use it for the Mishkan. Why did Yaakov need to do this, was there no other way Bnei Yisrael could have found wood for the Mishkan just like they managed to acquire all the other materials? Ans… Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky answers that Yaakov was afraid that Bnei Yisrael, after years of oppression, would have lost hope over the geula and would not suvive the galus. Although there was a verbal promise of the Geula, Yaakov wanted something tangible. He wanted Bnei Yisrael to see a physical reminder before their eyes on a constant basis. This is why he planted trees that stand for many years, to show that they, too, would survive and one day leave Mitzrayim and build a Mishkan.

The following story gives a glimpse of the greatness of Rav Avrohom Grodzinsky and gives new meaning to the obligation to feel for another Jew. One time when Rav Avrohom was in Warsaw he went to visit some relatives. All during the visit he kept asking what the time was. At one point after they told him the time he got up and started dancing. His hosts asked him what he was doing, but he was oblivious to his surroundings as he danced with great fervor. After finishing dancing he sat back down again as if nothing happened.

When his relatives asked him what this odd behavior was all about he explained that one of the talmidim was getting married in Slabodka that night. He really wanted the Mashgiach to be there. “While unfortunately I was unable to be there for his simcha”, said Rav Avrohom, “there is no reason that I could not share in his simcha.”

Rav Avrohom Grodzinsky Hy”d was the Mashgiach of the Slabodka Yeshiva. He was the sole leader of the Yeshiva present at the outbreak of the Holocaust, as the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Isaac Sher was abroad at the time. Years earlier, the Yeshiva had split into two with the establishment of Slabodka in Eretz Yisroel and while Rav Avrohom was actually sent with the initial group, he was recalled to Slabodka to hold up the Yeshiva when the Alter himself traveled to Eretz Yisroel.

Rav Avrohom was the spiritual leader in the Kovno Ghetto, which was situated in the suburb of Slabodka. He dispensed chizuk and emuna to the broken hearted remnants of the Yeshiva and the rest of the Kovno/Slabodka community during those bleak days. Rav Shloime Volbe and Rav Chaim Kreiswirth were married to his daughters. Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky was his brother-in-law. (Gedolei HaDoros)
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It was a cold snowy night in Manchester which made walking outside very difficult. The aging Manchester Rosh Yeshiva Rav Yehuda Zev Segal was outside on his way home when a car pulled up to drive him.

The driver told the Rosh Yeshiva that his wife had just given birth to a baby girl. The Rosh Yeshiva wished him a Mazal Tov and asked him how the mother and baby were doing. He said that they were both Boruch Hashem doing very well.

When the car stopped the Rosh Yeshiva got out into the snow covered street and started dancing with the father in the most unpleasant and unsafe conditions. The father asked the Rosh Yeshiva why he was endangering himself and dancing on the slippery street. The Rosh Yeshiva answered that whenever he hears that a mother and child are healthy after childbirth he is so consumed with Simcha and Shevach for Hashem that he needs to dance. And dance he did! (Heard from the baby’s brother)
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Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin, the Rov of Yerushalayim, was moving to a new apartment and had a number of moving men carrying his belongings to his new home. During the move, Rav Yehoshua Leib followed one of the movers who was carrying two stuffed boxes, one on top of the other. Rav Yehoshua Leib not only followed him out of the apartment, but he walked alongside him the entire way from the old apartment to the new one. All the while he kept warning him not to switch the order of the boxes and to make sure that after he rests and loads up again, he doesn’t put the bottom box on top.

After hearing these instructions incessantly during the walk, the moving man finally lost his patience and asked Rav Yehoshua Leib, “What are you so tense about? What difference does it make which box is on top?”

Rav Yehoshua Leib answered, in complete humility, that the top box contained his father’s writings and the bottom box held his own personal writings in it. “It is not proper that even for a short while my father’s writings should be on bottom and mine on top.”

“Bodily harm through intoxication is not a mitzvah on Purim, and driving under the influence of alcohol is illegal, leads to impaired judgment, and chasve’shalom, a possible catastrophe.” Rabbi Judah Isaacs, director of the OU Department of Community Engagement, on the hazards of drinking and driving on Purim.

“One who does not sit and learn [Torah] must enter the IDF.” MK (Yahadut Hatorah) Meir Porush, in an address before representatives of the Presidents Conference of Major Jewish Organizations in Yerushalayim, speaking about the “share the burden” issue.

“Any judicial inquiry as to whether defendant misrepresented that its Hebrew National products are “100% kosher” (when Triangle K, an undisputedly religious entity, certified them as such) would necessarily intrude upon rabbinical religious autonomy.” U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank in St. Paul federal court ruling that he does not have jurisdiction over a dispute whether Hebrew National hotdogs were kosher “according to the most stringent Orthodox Jewish standards” by including a Star K symbol on its packaging.

“He’s trying to embarrass people in the Jewish community and make money [while] dressed like the people he has insulted.” Williamsburg community leader Isaac Abraham, describing convicted anti-Semitic designer, John Galliano, who displayed his hatred for the Jewish community as he took to the streets of Manhattan dressed like a Chasid.

Talk the Talk — Walk the Walk

One dark night outside a small town, a fire started inside the local chemical plant and in a blink it exploded into flames. The alarm went out to the fire departments from miles around.
When the volunteer fire fighters appeared on the scene, the chemical company president rushed to the fire chief and said, “All of our secret formulas are in the vault in the center of the plant. They must be saved. I will give $50,000 to the fire department that brings them out intact. But the roaring flames held the firefighters off. Soon more fire departments had to be called in as the situation became desperate. As the firemen arrived, the president shouted out that the offer was now $100,000 to the fire department who could bring out the company’s secret files. From the distance, a lone siren was heard as another fire truck came into sight. It was the nearby Jewish rural township volunteer fire company composed entirely of fire menschen over the age of 65. To everyone’s amazement, the little run-down fire engine operated by this Jewish Fire Department passed all the newer sleek engines parked outside the plant…..and drove straight into the middle of the inferno. Outside, the other firemen watched as the Jewish old timers jumped off and began to fight the fire with a performance and effort never seen before. Within a short time, the Jewish old timers had extinguished the fire and saved the secret formulas. The grateful chemical company president joyfully announced that for such a superhuman feat he was upping the reward to $200,000, and walked over to personally thank each of the brave, though elderly, Jewish fire fighters. The local TV news reporters rushed in after capturing the event on film asking, “What are you going to do with all that money?”
“Vell,” said Abe Hertzfeld, the 70-year-old fire chief, “the foist thing ve’re going to do is fix the brakes on that feshtunkena truck!”

MONA LISA’S JEWISH MOTHER:
“This you call a smile…after all the money your father and I spent on you?”

≈ The Geula — What to Expect ≈
The US and the Great War coming…
There is an interesting link between America and the “north”. The Kabbalists reveal that the two world religions, Christianity and Islam, are each linked to opposite directions. Christianity is represented by the “North” or the “left” when facing East. Islam is connected to the “South” or the right side. Incidentally, that is why, the Christians celebrate Sunday which is to the “left” of the Jewish Shabbat. And the Moslems celebrate Friday, which corresponds to the “right” side.
Thus, when the Navi Daniel reveals that “at the time of the End, the king of the south will engage the forces of the north” (Daniel 11:40), he is prophesizing that America, a predominantly Christian nation will be drawn into military confrontation with Islamic countries (Afghanistan, Iraq etc.).
There is also another aspect to America’s “northern connection”.
We can safely assume that Hashem brought the U.S.A. to Iraq to rid the world of the final incarnation of the evil Nebuchadnezzar. But now that the Americans are stationed in Iraq, they are quite literally “North” of Jerusalem even according to the common designation of “north”. (Interestingly, the US is stationed in the northern part of Iraq. Southern Iraq which is east of Jerusalem is occupied by the British and the Poles.)
It is fascinating that the United States, whom Hashem has designated as the final nation to confront Israel at the End of Days, has now occupied the very same region as ancient Babylon, the very first nation to confront and conquer the Jewish state 2,427 years ago! Another interesting observation is that Mogog has the Gematria (numeric value) of 52 [40+3+6+3]. The number 52 corresponds to the 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Indeed, the U.S. has other inhabited territories: Guam (166,000), U.S. Virgin Islands (109,000), the Northern Mariana Islands (78,000), and American Samoa (58,000). However, none of these areas contain a population anywhere near that of any of the other states.
In contrast, Puerto Rico’s population of almost 4,000,000 is larger than more than half of the states in America. The District of Columbia’s population of around 600,000 is about the same as Wyoming, North Dakota, Alaska and Vermont.
In addition, both Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have strong and organized movements who are pushing for statehood, whereas, with the others it is a non-issue.
It is therefore very possible that in the spiritual realms, where the Naviim experience their visions, the U.S. is represented by 52 distinct spiritual forces, even though from a technical and legal point of view down on Earth, 2 of the 52 are not actually “states”.
It is also possible that in the not-so-distant future, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia will indeed be granted statehood. Although this may take a decade or two, in the spiritual worlds where things move very rapidly, it seems as if this is occurring at around the same time as the wars of GogUmogog.
Now that we know which country is “Magog”, we also know who the Navi is referring to by “Gog”. The president of the United States, at the time of this war is the “Gog” of Ezekiel.
It is interesting to note that throughout Naviim, leaders of nations are “kings”. Here the Navi titles the leader of Magog as a “Nasi,” which is best translated as an elected president. The prophet knew that we would be dealing with a democratic country and an elected leader.
The Navi calls Gog the president of Magog, and also the leader Meshekh and Tuval. Many suggestions have been offered as to the exact identity of these two countries. Some suggest that Meshekh and Tuval be translated literally. Meshekh means “to pull” or “draw” and Tuval means “the world.” The leader of Magog is also the World leader, the one who pulls and draws the entire world to the direction he chooses.
Our current President may be “Gog”! Im Kol Zeh Achakeh Lo B’Chol Yom SheYavo!
Halacha Trivia ­ A Bracha Upon Seeing A Brilliant… Am Ha’Aretz
The Shulchan Aruch (OC 224:6) paskens that when you see a “Chachmei Yisroel” you make a Bracha “SheChalak MiChochmosoi Lirei’av” – He gave a portion of His wisdom to those who fear him. When seeing a Chochom who is not Jewish, you make the Bracha “SheNasan MiChochmosoi L’Basar V’Dam” – He gave from His wisdom to flesh and blood.
Rav Aharon Yehuda HaLevi Grossman was asked (V’Darashta V’Chakarta 3:27) what happens if you see a Jew who has reached the level of “Chochom”, but only in worldly matters and not in Torah, do you make the Bracha “SheNasan MiChochmosoi L’Basar V’Dam” On one hand, he is walking model of Hashem’s wisdom, which deserves a bracha to Hashem. On the other hand, maybe this bracha only applies to a non-Jew since the gemara specifically says if you see a wise man from the “Umos HaOlam”.
Although he leaves this question unresolved, he writes that he heard (although he never saw this himself) that Rav Yitzchok Hutner wrote that if we were to see Albert Einstein, we would not make the bracha, since it is an embarrassment for a Jew to be wise in worldly matters but not in Torah knowledge.
This Week in History….
1 Adar: Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1164), and the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Shabsai HaKohen Katz (1622-1663), author of a classic commentary on the Code of Jewish Law (Shulchan Aruch).
2 Adar: In 1942, Hitler y”s devised a plan for a “Museum of Judaism”, to remember the dead Jewish religion, culture and people.
3 Adar: In 350 BCE, the building of the second Beis Hamikdosh was completed in Yerushalayim, as recorded in Sefer Ezra.
4 Adar: In 1349, during the Black Plague, the newly chosen Town Council of Strasbourg, gave orders to arrest all the Jews in the city so that they could be put to death.
5 Adar: In 1986, Natan Sharansky, one of the most famous former Soviet refusniks, is allowed to go to Israel.

This week’s Torah is B’Zchus: The NMB Kollel and their new home.
Distributed by the Chevre Marbitz Torah D’NMB

Created By Rov Allen Sherman
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