Minhag Ashkenaz/Yekke Minyan

Beit Shemesh Ramat Aleph, Next minyan: Jan. 3, 2020, Teves 6 5780, Mincha 4:28 PM

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Minhag Ashkenaz/Yekke Minyan

Minhag Ashkenaz/Yekke Minyan: Beit Shemesh Ramat Aleph, Next minyan: Dec. 6, 2019, Kislev 8, Mincha 4:20 PM. 

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Next minyan: Nov. 1, 2019, Cheshvan 3, Mincha 4:35 PM.

Minhag Ashkenaz/Yekke Minyan: Beit Shemesh Ramat Aleph, Next minyan: Nov. 1, 2019, Cheshvan 3, Mincha 4:35 PM. 

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kenes bene brak, Thursday, 5:30 pm mincha

kenes bene brak, Thursday, 5:30 pm mincha

Where: B'nai Brak, 25 Ben Yaakov St., very near the Coke factory, first stop on bus

Next minyan: Nov. 1, 2019, Cheshvan 3, Mincha 4:55 PM

Next minyan: Nov. 1, 2019, Cheshvan 3, Mincha 4:55 PM

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Next minyan: Oct. 13, 2019, 1st night of Succos, Mincha 5:55 PM

Minhag Ashkenaz/Yekke Minyan

            Beit Shemesh Ramat Aleph

Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019, 1st night of Succos, Mincha 5:55 PM

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German Jews decided they are going to fight for the preservation of the Torah

"HaKodesh Baruch saw we had passed the test of oppression. Despite all the tzaras, despite all the hatred, all the oppression, we remained loyal. There were a few Jews, meshumadim who sold their souls in order to get glory among the gentiles. There were a few. There were so few that they are insignificant. But Klal Yisroel passed the test. Now Hakodesh Baruch Hu said, I see you passed that test [of persecution in Medieval times]. I'm going to try you with another test now. [The test of Esav's embrace.] Let's see how you work out this test. Now, when I said it was a calamity, it doesn't mean that the test was a waste, no. It was a minority that passed this test too. And those that remained loyal, they were a glorious example of the Am HaKodesh. Those that remain to this day. Many went lost, yes it's true. But an example, in Germany where there was so much assimilation, a number of German Jews decided they are going to fight for the preservation of the Torah. And they built up an Orthodox kehilla that was excellent in every detail. They were machmir in everything. In some respects, they were more frum than the Jews in Russia and Poland were. And they had organized kashrus. Strict hashgacha. Not rabbanim who gave heksherim and were paid for it. No. The kehillias gave hashgacha and were very strict in every detail. And so the minority that withstood the test were a glorious fulfillment of the prophecy that the Am Yisroel will continue forever despite any circumstances." 

Rav Avigdor Miller, Recording #855 - "The Kiss of Esav," 11:48

Next Minhag Ashkenaz/Yekke Minyan 6 Elul in Beit Shemesh Ramat Aleph

Sep. 6, 6 Elul, Mincha 6:45 PM, Shoftim

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Minhag Ashkenaz/Yekke Minyan this Friday night in Beit Shemesh Ramat Aleph

Shabbos Chazon, parshas Devarim, 8 Av, Aug. 9, Friday night, Mincha 7:15 PM.

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HaGaon Aviezer Piltz tonight 10 PM at Nachal Nachson 18, RBSA

Chad Gadya

Chad Gadya

An Interpretation

by Rabbi Tzvi Abraham

Chad gadya. Chad gadya. That Abba bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya. Then came a cat and ate the goat, That Abba bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya. Then came a dog and bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Abba bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya. Then came a stick and beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Abba bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya. Then came fire and burnt the stick, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Abba bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya. Then came water and quenched the fire, that burnt the stick, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Abba bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

Then came the ox and drank the water, that quenched the fire, that burnt the stick, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Abba bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya. Then came the shochet and slaughtered the ox, that drank the water, that quenched the fire, that burnt the stick, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Abba bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya. Then came the Angel of Death and killed the butcher, that slaughtered the ox, that drank the water, that quenched the fire, that burnt the stick, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Abba bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya. Then came the Holy One, Blessed be He and slew the Angel of Death, that killed the butcher, that slaughtered the ox, that drank the water, that quenched the fire, that burnt the stick, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Abba bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

Chad Gadya  beckons interpretation.  It’s the concluding song of the Seder and that’s the key.  What do we expect from the final paragraph of an essay, or the conclusion of a  play?  Something that wraps it up and puts in perspective.  That’s what Chad Gadya does. 

The Haggadah is much more than the story of the Exodus.  It a bird’s eye view of Jewish history, not as a secular historian would see it, but as a sacred historian would see it:  as an unfolding of the spiritual destiny of Klal Yisrael,  from the beginning, when “our Fathers served idols,” to  the end, as we pour a cup for the prophet who will herald the coming of the Moshiach  and  petition (שפוך חמתך) for the manifestation Divine Justice that will mark the transition from the world we know to the world to come, in which all nations will revere Hashem and honor His Chosen People.  Chad Gadya identifies the essential motifs of the religious experience that drives our history.

Chad  Gadya – One kid  goat that Abba bought of two zuzim (Emunah)

The kid goat represents the Jewish People, which Hashem (Abba) acquired by bringing Bnei Yisrael to Mount Sinai and giving them the Two Tablets of the Law (The two zuzim).

Then came a cat and ate the goat (Kefirah)

The kid goat (the Jewish People )  is set apart from the nations by the emunah instilled at Sinai.  The opposite of emunah (revealed faith) is the kefirah of the  rationalist who scoffs at anything that cold reason cannot comprehend or ascertain. That scornful, cold intellect is represented by the “shunra,” the wild cat who hunts by stealth and pounces with cunning, killing the kid without compassion.

Then came a dog and bit the cat (The Longing Heart that finds no Peace in Kefirah)

The Hebrew word for dog is kelev, meaning “like the heart,”  and that’s what the dog represents, here:   the heart, with its longing for love.  The enmity between the dog and the cat is the struggle between the longings of the heart and the cold discipline of the intellect. The dog bites the cat because the longing for love, both human and Divine, is the greatest challenge to the rationalist spirit. For some, Judaism is more a matter of the heart; for others, more a matter of the mind.  The tension between heart and mind has been a driving force in Jewish history  (consider, for example, the rise of Hassidism).

Then came a stick and beat the dog (Torah Disciplines the Heart with Practice  and Images)

The stick disciplines the dog.  The dog is the heart that longs for love. Unless that longing is guided and disciplined by reason informed by emunah (i.e., Torah), that longing for love will turn to things that are hateful.  But how does reason address the heart?  Through images and practice (i.e. halachah).  They are compared, here, to the stick that disciplines the dog. Without that stick,  the heart may entirely reject authority of reason, and descend into the chaos of  whim and irrationalism.

 Then came fire and burnt the stick (When Mystical Passion Chafes at Halachic Restraint) 

The Transcendent  Glory of Hashem is revealed through an interior union  (d’vekus) unmediated by images, for just as Hashem transcends all things, we know Him most perfectly when we move beyond anything that an image can convey. The mystical passion that aspires to that interior union is the fire that burns the stick (the images and practice) that beat the dog (discipline the heart).  When mystical passion “burns the stick,” the communication based on images which reconciles the heart and the mind breaks down, so  the heart, swept up in the religious passion of the spirit, can feel constrained by the discipline of religious practice.  The result is antinomianism:  the rejection of Law and religious authority in favor of religious experience.  That can happen on the highest levels, and analogously, in people who have no real knowledge of Hashem, but reject  religious law and authority because they feel that it just “gets in the way.”   The tension between religious passion and halachic restraint is another dynamic component of Jewish history.

Then came water and quenched the fire (Body and Soul)

Few are fired with desire to know the Transcendent Glory of Hashem, because that fire is so readily  extinguished  by the flow of feelings and natural impulses that carry them away like an untethered raft on rapids. Those feelings and impulses are suggested by the water that that “quenches the fire that burned the stick.”

Then came the ox and drank the water (The Demands of the Body)

The ox is the natural life of every Jew sustained by the inner flow of natural inclinations.  Much as the ox would die without water,  the Jew could not live the human life Hashem created him to have without partaking in the “water” --the flow-- of his natural inclinations.  The ox drinking water represents the man preoccupied with his natural inclinations.

Then came the shochet and slaughtered the ox (Using the Body in the Service of the Soul)

If we are oxen, we are not only oxen, for we have a Divine Soul.  The ox is nourished from below. The Divine Soul is nourished from above.  They tug us in opposite directions. How can we avoid being pulled apart?  The answer lies in the will, and the single most fundamental choice we can make:  the ultimate purpose of whatever we do to feed and care for that ox. 

A person can work with the purpose of living in luxury or he can work for the purpose of supporting his family and giving more charity.  The choice to serve that higher purpose is the spiritual choice of avodas Hashem that yokes the ox to the service of the soul. The shochet personifies that choice, reciting a blessing and fulfilling a mitzvah while slaughtering the ox for flesh to feed the body.  The death of the ox signifies the transfiguration of the physical through everyday  tasks when they are done with a higher purpose, so that the efforts we make to feed the body also feed the soul. That higher purpose is like the fire that transforms animal flesh into the sweet fragrance of sacrifice  that ascends to Hashem from the altar.

Then came the Angel of Death and killed the shochet (Sin and its Consequences)

But the  consecration of everyday tasks is not unobstructed.    Adam was made to live forever.  He died because he sinned. Just as we still die, we still sin, and the impulse to sin which Adam’s sin implanted makes it hard to lift our hearts to a higher purpose.  And so we are torn between an ox that forages the  fields and a soul that forages the Heavens. Will it always be like that?  Are we condemned to live forever frustrated in our avodah by the leaven of sin and an ox that bellows for the pleasures of his greens?   

Then came the Holy One, Blessed be He and slew the Angel of Death (Hope and Redemption)

No! The sin of man brought death to a creature that was made to live forever.  Hashem won’t allow that sin to  nullify His purpose of creating an immortal being that dwells in a temporal world. Someday He will restore the creature He made in His Image and  debased himself with sin to his  original dignity.  And then, the descendants of Adam  will live forever, their soul suffused like Adam’s in the Garden by an Eternal Light that penetrates through his soul to his body and nourishes it from above, so that the tick- tock of time in the natural world no longer measures the length of his days.

Minhag Ashkenaz/Yekke yeshiva

New Minhag Ashkenaz/Yekke yeshiva starting in Eretz Yisroel. It's called Yeshivas Frankfurt. For information call 052-763-4512 or write to info@yeshivasfrankfurt.org

kenes bene brak, 3rd day of chol moed, tuesday 6:30 pm mincha

April 23, 2019; 18 Nisan 6:30 PM Mincha

Where: B'nai Brak, 25 Ben Yaakov St., very near the Coke factory, first stop on bus

Parshas Pikudei – Mishkan times: its Completion and Construction

Parshas Pikudei – Mishkan times:  its Completion and Construction

Tzvi Abraham

M’soret Askenaz goes back a very long time, and going back to the  12^th century, we find a mystical movement that is truly our own:  Chassidut Ashkenaz, which consolidates the ancient mystical tradition of Chazel. 

That tradition has been preserved in the writings of two Gedolei Yisrael:  R’ Yehudah Hachassid (best known as the author of Sefer Chassidim), and R’ Elazar Hagadol of Worms  (“the Rokeach) his  illustrious  talmid.  R’ Elazar was a prolific writer of  siphrei halachah, kabbalah and commentaries, including a multi-volume commentary on the Torah. 

In his commentary on this week’s parsha, R’ Elazar points out (citing the psikta  Rabbasi ) that although the Mishkan was set up on the first of Nissan, the work of creating its many parts was completed on the 25th of Kislev.   Indeed, the gematria of the words ותכל כל עבודת המשכן is the same as  בעשרים וחמישה בכסליו נגמר --  one of  the Rokeach’s many astounding gematrias.

The gematria suggests that  the completion of the parts of the Mishkan (as opposed to its construction) on the first day of Chanukah was not by chance or for any accidental reason: for Hashem created the world “looking into the Torah.” 

הסתכל באורייתא וברא עלמא[i]

When the work of the Mishkan would be completed was also part of the Master Plan.

Why did Hashem ordain that it be completed just then?  Why did Moshe delay setting it up until Nissan even though the people were complaining to him, saying:   “Why the delay?  Is there a problem with it?”[ii] 

The midrash (cited by the Rokeach) explains that Hashem delayed setting up the Mishkan until Nissan so that the joy of the Mishkan would be celebrated in the month of Yitzchak’s birth.   What about  the month of Kislev?  Did it lose out entirely?  No.  there would be another chanukas habayis, and it would take place in Kislev.

הסתכל באורייתא וברא עלמא (Hashem looked into the Torah and created the world).   As above, so below.  This principle applies to everything Hashem created.  For, for example, the Rokeach tells us,[iii]  when a person is born, an angel  with his face is created in Heaven.   The next level down from the heavenly sphere, the domain of angels, is the planetary sphere, and there the newborn also appears, for his nature is configured by the arrangement of the  planets .

Since the timing of the construction of the  Mishkan is in the Torah, the same principle applies:  “as above so below”  and we would expect some indication of it in the heavenly and planetary spheres. And, indeed, he tells us that while Moses was setting up the Mishkan below, the Angels were setting up a Mishkan above.[iv] As above, so below.

Where do we see a suggestion of the timing of the construction of the Mishkan in the planetary sphere?

In the fact that the Mishkan was constructed in the sign of Aries, the zodiacal sign of  Chodesh Nissan. “It was the reason that the fire of the Shekhinah descended onto the Mishkan.” [v]

“It was the reason…,”  the Rokeach tells us.  What was the reason?  That the sign of Aries is identified with fire? (Each of the 12 signs of the Zodidac is associated with one of the four elements: fire, earth, air or water.) But it’s not the only fire sign.  Sagittarius, the sign of Kislev, is also a fire sign.  So is Leo. But Aries is the sign ruled by a planet, Mars,  that is itself identified with fire: the Rokeach tells[vi] us in his Commentary on Sefer Yetzira that Mars is   Dovid Hemelech and the spirit of the Moshiach.  The fire of Mars is the fire of King David’s devotion to Hashem and the fire of the spirit of Moshiach.

But what does the descent of the Divine fire that consumed the flesh on the altar have to do with a fiery planet or a  fiery zodiacal  sign?  

There are two other fire signs:  Sagittarius and Leo, but the planet that activates the fire of Sagittarius,  Jupiter, is moderate by nature, and, besides that, Sagittarius moves directly into the cold and dark of winter which begins with the sign of Capricorn, ruled by the coldest of the planets, Saturn.

Leo is a summer sign that is ruled by the Sun, which is moderately and generally benignly hot.  The heat and radiance of the Sun is the vitality of created being which expresses itself with the gentleness that brings forth grains, fruits and flowers. Not Mars.  Mars is the  heat of redemption and revelation, a fire that heats the spirit, not the flesh:  the sword of David and the passion of his Psalms.  It doesn’t nourish:  it transfigures.  The Sun brings forth new life from the ground, Ma’adim bestows new Light from above with a fire that burns through the boundaries that keep men in darkness and separate this world from the worlds above. 

The sign of Sagittarius, which correlates with the month of Kislev, and is a fire sign, is ruled by Jupiter . Rokeach identifies Jupiter  with Aharon Hakohen. That would seem to make Sagittarius  the perfect time to set up the Mishkan and for the Shekhinah to descend as a fire from above onto the altar.  But the chanukas habayis that would later happen in Keslev would be initiated from below by the Kohanim.  The Kohen’s task is to reconcile Bnei Yisrael with Hashem and, in that way, help them return to Him.  But the chanukas habayis of Moshe--the construction of the Mishkan--was initiated from above, and denotes the moment of G-d descending to dwell among Bnei Yisrael.   The chanukas habayis of the Maccabiim was a moment of teshuvah.  The chanukas habayis of Moshe was a moment of geula.  That’s why it had to happen in the sign of Aries (Nissan) under the planet of Ma’adim, the planetary analogue to the Moshiach and to Dovid Hamelech and the month of geula.

Hashem ordained at the very dawn of creation, indeed, even  before: as part of his plan of creation, that the spring sign of Aries would rule the time when the Divine Fire of His Transcendent Being would break through the barriers that separate Heaven and earth and his Shekhinah would dwell among us.  While the gentle heat of the Sun’s fire banishes the cold and darkness of winter,  the fire of Mars would burn through the barriers that separate men from the world above and redeem them from the darkness of their hearts.

The Rokeach also gives us another reason why the construction of the Mishkan was delayed until Nissan:  Hashem wanted us to rejoice in the construction of the Mishkan at the same time that Avraham and Sarah rejoiced in the birth of Yitzchak.

The midrash explains that Yitzchak’s blindness goes back to the Akeidah.  Acording to Bereishis Rabbah (ס"ה) Yitzchak grew blind because he had gazed upon the Shekchinah.  According to Rashi he was blinded by the tears of angels that fell into his eyes while lying on the altar.  That, too, suggests that he was blinded by what he saw:  his eyes received something from the eyes of angels, so that his vision participated in theirs.

Yitzchak’s birth was like the construction of the Mishkan, because it created the location where, later, on the altar of the Akeida, a fire – a great vision and holy light—would descend into him as he beheld the Schekhinah, or as the   angels  opened his eyes with their tears .   Just as the avodah of the Miluim was the spiritual preparation for the descent of the  fire of the Shekhinah onto the altar, the Akedah was the spiritual preparation for the descent of the Shekhinah as a spiritual fire that would later cause Yitzchak to go blind on account of what he saw. 

In the Sefer Habahir[vii] we learn that compared to the Light above,  the Light of this world is like darkness. Perhaps that’s why Yitzchak became blind:   as he became older and withdraw from the concerns of this world, he focused his attention on the Light above, and entered the vision he received unrestrained by worldly responsibilities.  And for those who see that Light, the light below is like darkness.  He  lost the sight of his eyes because vision depends on seeing a light in the light of this world. To him, that light was darkness.

---

[i] זוהר תרומה ח"ב קסא, א)) דכד ברא קוב"ה עלמא אסתכל בה באורייתא וברא עלמא

[ii] פירוש הרוקח על ספר שמות מ:א

[iii]ספר חכמת הנפש, הוצאת זכרון אהרון, ירושלים דף ס"ה

[iv] פירוש הרוקח על ספר שמות מ:יח

[v] פירוש הרוקח על ספר שמות מ:יז

[vi] פירוש הרוקח על ספר יצירה, הוצאת זכרון אהרון, ירושלים,  דף נא

[vii] ראה פירוש אור הבהיר על ספר הבהיר פרק א'