Vayakhel Pkudei 5786 | Rav Shlomo Friedman

Show Notes

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── Shiur Outline ──
(0:00) Introduction: Mishkan, Bigdei Kehuna and the Choshen Mishpat
(1:35) Gemara on Kohen Gadol's Responsibility and Shared Compassion
(4:38) Rav Shlomo Zalman's Yahrzeit: A Model of Sensitivity
(6:31) Hair-Covering Case: Rav Shlomo Zalman's Empathetic Approach
(8:06) Call to Shared Sensitivity for All Jews Today

AI-Generated Summary (AI can be inaccurate. Check important information):

1. Heart of the leader — Aharon HaKohen merited the Choshen Mishpat on his heart because his heart was filled with genuine joy for his brother's success.
2. Leader's spiritual responsibility — The Kohen Gadol is held accountable for the tragedies of his generation because he was expected to daven for the entire nation.
3. Sensitivity as leadership — Wearing the names of the Shevatim (tribes) taught the Kohen Gadol to carry both the pain and joy of every Jew in his neshama.
4. Rav Shlomo Zalman's empathy — The yahrzeit of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach reminds us that greatness in Torah is inseparable from extreme sensitivity to the feelings of others.
5. Halacha with understanding — True psak halacha involves acknowledging the difficulty of a mitzvah, as seen in how Rav Shlomo Zalman inspired someone to cover their hair through empathy.
6. Shared national destiny — Especially during times of sakana (danger), our individual growth in avodas Hashem should be dedicated to the protection of all of Eretz Yisrael.

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שלום Shalom from כרם ביבנה Kerem Be-Yavne. In this week's תורה Torah reading, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu continues to show His love for the Jewish people by discussing the construction of the משכן Mishkan at length, the משכן Mishkan itself and the בגדי כהונה Bigdei Kehuna. I'd like to focus on one aspect of the משכן Mishkan on the בגדי כהונה Bigdei Kehuna, particularly on the חושן משפט Choshen Mishpat that אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen wore. רש\"י Rashi points out in ספר שמות Sefer Shemos, in פרשת שמות Parshas Shemos, רש\"י Rashi points out that that which אהרן Aharon was זוכה zoche to the חושן משפט על לבו Choshen Mishpat al libo is based on that which the תורה Torah tells us, וראך ושמח בלבו ve-ra-acha ve-samach be-libo. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu tells משה רבנו Moshe Rabbeinu that when אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen finds out about the fact that משה רבנו Moshe Rabbeinu was appointed to the position of leadership, then אהרן Aharon, rather than being jealous, and he had all the reasons in the world to be jealous, he was older, he was already a נביא navi as רש\"י Rashi indicates, and he was already a leader of the Jewish people in Egypt, nevertheless, אהרן Aharon was not jealous and he was happy for משה רבנו Moshe Rabbeinu. So בזכות וראך ושמח בלבו bizchut ve-ra-acha ve-samach be-libo, אהרן Aharon was זוכה zoche for the חושן משפט על לבו Choshen Mishpat al libo. What's the connection between the וראך ושמח בלבו ve-ra-acha ve-samach be-libo on the one hand and the חושן משפט על לבו Choshen Mishpat al libo on the other? So I thought that one might explain that חז\"ל Chazal, which רש\"י Rashi is quoting, in the following fashion: the גמרא Gemara in מסכת מכות דף י\"א Masechet Makkot daf yud aleph tells us that the הלכה halacha is, as we know, that when the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol would die, then those people that killed בשוגג bishogeg would leave the עיר מקלט Ir Miklat. And the גמרא Gemara, the משנה Mishna relates that the mothers of the כהנים גדולים Kohanim Gedolim would provide food to the individuals, the רוצחים בשוגג rotzchim bishogeg in the עיר מקלט Ir Miklat, so as to encourage those רוצחים בשוגג rotzchim bishogeg that they should not דאווען daven for the death of their son, shouldn't דאווען daven for the death of the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol. And the גמרא Gemara there indicates that in a certain sense, the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol had some responsibility for that which there were individuals that killed בשוגג bishogeg. Why was it his responsibility? What did he do? So the גמרא Gemara says that the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol was meant to דאווען daven for his generation. Along similar lines, the גמרא Gemara relates that רבי יהושע בן לוי Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi generally speaking had a גילוי אליהו הנביא Giluy Eliyahu HaNavi, but nevertheless, when there was some individual that was devoured by a lion within somewhat of a proximity to where רבי יהושע בן לוי Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi lived, then for a number of days אליהו הנביא Eliyahu HaNavi didn't appear to רבי יהושע בן לוי Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi. The implication being that רבי יהושע בן לוי Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi bore some responsibility for that tragedy of the fellow being killed by a lion because apparently he was meant to דאווען daven for the welfare of all those around him. So we see, the גמרא Gemara indicates that the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol's job, when he wore the חושן משפט Choshen Mishpat, when it says that he had the names of the שבטים Shevatim on his breastplate, that's not simply the act of having those names on his heart. Rather, he was meant to have a heart for the Jewish people. He was meant to have a feeling, a sensitivity for the Jewish people. He was meant to bear and share the pain and the joy of the Jewish people. אהרן Aharon, who was happy at the גדולה gedula of משה רבנו Moshe Rabbeinu, he was an individual that was able to share and bear the joy of others and certainly also the pain of others. אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen's נשמה neshama was a very great נשמה neshama, a נשמה neshama that had sensitivity not only for himself but also for others as well. Such an individual was fit to wear the חושן משפט על לבו Choshen Mishpat al libo, to bear and share the pain and the joy, the feelings, all the issues of the rest of the Jewish people on his heart. This week was the יארצייט yahrzeit of רב שלמה זלמן אויערבאך Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. Of course, being able to share the feelings, being able to be sensitive for the feelings of the Jewish people, that's something which is characteristic of all גדולי ישראל Gedolei Yisrael. But since this week was the יארצייט yahrzeit of רב שלמה זלמן Rav Shlomo Zalman, so maybe we'll mention A couple of brief anecdotes which indicated his great sensitivity. Towards the end of his life when he was somewhat sick, at some point he felt too weak to go to סליחות Slichos, even ערב ראש השנה Erev Rosh Hashanah. But nevertheless, he did make the effort. There were individuals that he would visit on a regular basis to strengthen them, individuals that didn't have family and would go and he would strengthen them on ערב ראש השנה Erev Rosh Hashanah. And even that year he went to visit them, even though it involved a great amount of effort, climbing four flights of steps, which certainly wasn't easy for him. And when asked why he did have the strength to visit those individuals even though he didn't have the strength to go to סליחות Slichos, his response was that to go to סליחות Slichos, that's between me and God and הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows what sorry shape I'm in. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows that for me it would be very difficult. But when it comes to visiting those individuals, they wouldn't necessarily know why I'm not visiting them. They wouldn't be able to perhaps fully appreciate that I'm not visiting them because of my medical condition. They would feel bad for all of ראש השנה Rosh Hashanah that they're missing out on my visit. So I saw my responsibility to visit them despite my situation. Another anecdote that's related with respect to רב שלמה זלמן Rav Shlomo Zalman that shows his sensitivity and his feelings for others is once a couple that was חוזר בתשובה chozer bitshuva and one issue that they had is that the woman was not willing or she felt that she just couldn't bring herself to cover her hair. And she felt that perhaps it's something which she didn't need to do. The husband felt otherwise. They decided they would go and ask רב שלמה זלמן Rav Shlomo Zalman. So the woman goes, she asks רב שלמה זלמן Rav Shlomo Zalman, she comes back. Her husband says, right? He told you you have to cover your hair? The woman says, nope, didn't say that. So what do you mean? He told you that you don't have to cover your hair? Didn't say that either. So what did he say? So the woman says, well, he didn't issue a פסק psak. He told me, it's very difficult. I understand that for a woman who's not used to it, to cover hair is just so difficult, just so hard, it's part of her identity, such a difficult thing to do. That's all he said. A couple of weeks later, the woman started covering her hair. Of course, the point is רב שלמה זלמן Rav Shlomo Zalman, he indicated that he felt for the woman. He understood it's very difficult. And when the woman realized that the פסק הלכה psak halacha wasn't issued without a sensitivity, without the realization of the difficulty of that הלכה halacha, she was able to accept it. Certainly now in our times, the need for sensitivity for the rest of the Jewish people is so great. When we go into the מקלט miklat when the siren sounds and throughout the day, but especially at those times, we should be דאווענען davening. There are Jews in סכנה sakana, if it's not here, somewhere else in ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. We should דאווען daven and realize that our מצוות mitzvos, our תורה Torah learning, our growth in עבודת השם avodas Hashem is something that's important not only for us, but also for the rest of the Jewish people as well. שבת שלום Shabbat Shalom.