Thursday, May 9, 2024

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Kedoshim

Although R' Frand did not deliver his live shiur this evening, R' Frand did post a pre-recorded Parsha vort on OU Torah which I have summarized here. This week's vort can be found at https://outorah.org/p/193220 and I have attempted to reproduce the vort to the best of my ability in this post.  Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to the maggid shiur.

R' Frand began by noting that one of the most famous mitzvos in the Torah appears in this week's Parsha (Vayikra 19:18) -  וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ לְרֵֽעֲךָ֖ כָּמ֑וֹךָ. R' Frand quoted the Ramban who explains that this pasuk is an exaggeration, because its impossible to demand from someone to love their neighbor as themselves. He quotes R' Akiva who says that this is a "Klal Gadol B'Torah" but also notes that R' Akiva states in Bava Metzia that if two people are traveling in the desert and one has enough water and the other does not, he drinks the water and does not give it to the other person.

R' Frand said that while a person could love their spouse or children like himself, it is just not possible to love an unrelated person in that fashion.

Rather, the Ramban explains that you should want your friend to have it as well as you have it. And this can be difficult, you may be OK that your friend is as wealthy as you, but not that they have as nice a family or as much nachas from their children.

The Ramban explains that the reason for this is jealousy and this needs to be eliminated from your heart. Because if you see that someone has something that you don't, it eats at you.

R' Frand quoted a Gemara in Shabbos 31 where a person came to Shammai and asked to be converted while standing on one foot and Shammai did not take this kindly. He then came to Hillel and made the same request. Hillel responded - don't do to another what you don't want done to you - this is the Torah and the rest is commentary.

But this mitzva only is between man and his fellow man - what does this have to do with sitting in a Sukkah or eating Matza?

R' Frand suggested that the Ramban quoted above can be a way to understand how this is the one Mitzva and the rest is commentary. If someone accepts that what they have - car, spouse, children is what Hashem wants them to have, then they can combat jealousy because he believes that Hashem is intimately involved in what happens to me. Its all about Emunah - and that is all of the Mitzvos between man and man and the Mitzvos between man and Hashem.

If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!

No comments: