Meorei Hamizrach - Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon "The Rambam"

Our Great Sephardic Rabbis by: Ike Sultan

Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (also known by his acronym the Rambam) was born in Cordoba, Spain in 1135 and died in Egypt in 1204. One of the greatest Torah scholars of all time; he was a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Morocco and Egypt during the Middle Ages. He was the preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher. One of the central tenets of Rambam's philosophy is that it is impossible for the truths arrived at by human intellect (including philosophy) to contradict those revealed by God. Although many of his ideas met with the opposition of his contemporaries, Rambam was embraced by later Jewish thinkers. The fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah today retains canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law.

Story:

Although as a child the Rambam was unusually talented, he lacked the motivation to study. His father was very upset by this behavior, and one day, in his frustration, sternly rebuked him. Moshe was deeply affected by his father's words. He fled from his home to the beis medrash, where he entreated Hashem to open his heart and to grant him the wisdom to study Torah. Then, on his own initiative, he approached the Ri Miga'ash and asked to be admitted to his yeshiva in Alisona. The Ri Miga'ash recognized Moshe's extraordinary talents, and accorded him special attention, predicting that Moshe ben Maimon was destined for greatness.

Divar Torah from Rabbi Guy Dvir - Parashat Nasso

Wealth, Wisdom, and above all Peace

Dear friends,
In this week’s Parasha, Ha’Shem commands Moses to instruct the Cohanim to bless the Jewish people with three important blessings. If you visit a Sephardic synagogue during the week or on Shabbat you will hear the Cohanim recite these three blessings as they face the audience. The blessings go as follows: “May Ha’Shem bless you and safe guard you. May Ha’Shem illuminate His countenance for you and be gracious to you. May Ha’Shem lift His countenance to you and establish peace for you”. (Bamidbar / Numbers 6, 25) According to our Sages, the three blessings correspond to three types of good that people seek in life. The first blessing is for material wealth, the second for wisdom, and the third for peace. Although each blessing is important on its own, the third blessing for peace is “what makes it or breaks it”. One may have prosperity, health, food, and drink, but if there is no peace it is all worthless. Therefore, the blessings are sealed with the gift of peace. As the sages taught in the very last words of the Mishana: R’ Shimon ben Chalafta said, The Holy One, Blessed is He, could not find a container that would hold Israel’s blessings as well as peace, as it says (Psalms 29:11), Ha’Shem will give might to His nation, Ha’Shem will bless His nation with peace.

A Life lesson

Peace is not simply the absence of war. It is a harmony between conflicting forces. Within man, it is a proper balance between the needs of the body and his higher duty to the soul. When people devote most of their energies, thoughts and time towards gaining material prosperity they often times neglect their soul. This creates an imbalance that results in a lack of inner and outer peace. It could manifest itself in having problems in marriage or in the family, as well as becoming depressed or suicidal. The only way to achieve inner peace is by balancing out the spiritual with the material. Watching movies, basketball games, or going out to bars is not going to do the trick. There has to be a meaningful spiritual experience to satisfy the soul and it always revolves around Torah learning. That is why the second blessing is for Torah wisdom, since it is the only way to attain the spiritual “nutrition” for which the soul yearns. Finding the right balance between the body and the soul, together, with Ha’Shem’s blessing will ultimately result in finding true peace. Only then will a person’s life become full and complete. Shabbat Shalom.

Divar Torah from Rabbi Guy Dvir - Shavuot 5769

Naaseh Ve’Nishma

There is a famous question regarding the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people. Traditionally we were taught that the manner in which Jews accepted the Torah on Mount Sinai was completely willful, as the Torah states, "We shall do then we shall hear" (Exodus 23, 8). The Jews declared their utmost commitment to do and obey whatever God would command, even before the commandments were issued. This declaration has remained for all time the anthem of Israel's faith in God, and devotion to His word. By virtue of this total devotion, Jews were likened to angels, for they too, are totally submissive to God. On the other hand, the Rabbi's have taught in the Gemera Shabbat 86a something quite different; "They stood at the foot of the mountain, Rav Avdimi bar Chama bar Chasa said: this teaches that the holy one, Blessed is He, covered them with the mountain as though it were an upturned dome, and said to them, "If you accept the Torah fine, but if not, your burial will be there!" Based on this teaching it seems that the Jews were coerced into accepting the Torah against their will. The Jews were given two options; either accept the Torah or this is your end. How does this reconcile with the famous act of "We shall do then we shall hear"? What happened to the selfless devotion which the Jews were highly praised for? At first glance it looks like these two teachings totally contradict one another, however the Midrash Tanhuma resolves the apparent contradiction by saying that both opinions are true. The Jews did in fact accept the Torah whole hearted when they declared "Naaseh Ve’Nishma" (we shall do then we shall hear). But when it came to accepting the oral Torah however, the Jews were not so eager to commit. Rather, God had to coerce them into accepting it by use of force. In fact, it was only on Purim that the Jews happily accepted the Oral Torah. The obvious question then is why were the Jews interested in accepting the written Torah but at the same time were unwilling to receive the oral Torah? What is the difference between the two Torot. The answer to this question lies in understanding the nature and essence of the oral Torah. Expressed in the Musar books is the idea that the foundation of the oral Torah is the toil and effort of Torah study. The oral Torah requires one's utmost devotion and dedication to the studying and remembering the vast amount of knowledge that is contained in it. Without the study of the oral Torah, the written Torah is meaningless, since the understanding of each and every law is essentially oral. Hence, the survival and growth of the written Torah depends solely on the hard toil and extreme self sacrifice in studying the oral Torah. It is precisely for this reason that God created oral Torah, since He wanted the Jews to earn the Torah by means of hard toil. God didn't just give us the Torah as a book of laws that we put on the bookshelf for display, He wanted to make the Torah something that could be acquired only through hard toil and extreme self sacrifice. It is this level of extreme self sacrifice which the Jews were reluctant to accept during Shavuot. The Jews were very comfortable with the idea of accepting the written Torah, since all it is essentially is a book of laws. However, the idea of being responsible to uphold the oral Torah was another story, since that would require a much stronger commitment. God therefore had to impose the Oral Torah on them in order for them to accept it.

Divar Torah from Rabbi Guy Dvir - Parashat Bamidbar

A Free Invesment

Dear Friends,In a bad economy such as the current one, it is good to know that there are still some great investments for the future. In fact, there is one investment that is guaranteed to yield a high profit even if the entire market fails. This stock costs absolutely nothing. We Jews like these types of investments, low risk and high return. This is why we Jews accepted the Torah, since it was absolutely free. This week we begin the fourth book called Sefer Bamidbar. The Midrash asks an interesting question. Why did God choose to give the Torah in a dessert of all places? There could have been many better alternatives than to give the Torah in such a desolate area. The Midrsah answers that by Giving the Torah in the dessert, God wanted to teach the Jews an eternal lesson about the nature of Torah. Just as the dessert is a completely public domain which is free for anyone who wishes to dwell in it, so too the Torah is available to anyone who wishes to acquire it. The Hazon Ish wrote that the more something is a necessary element for survival God makes it more available. For example, oxygen is something we can't live without for more than a few seconds. God therefore made oxygen so abundant that we have an unlimited supply of it for free. And don't forget water which is also an essential element for survival. It too is relatively easy to obtain due to its huge supply. In contrast, Gold and diamonds are rare commodities which humans don't need for basic survival. This makes their cost very high compared to other things. Following this line of reasoning, Torah is made available for anyone seeking it, since it is a vital element for spiritual life. A person may have a lot of money or other types of assets, but without Torah life is empty and void of any meaning. For this reason God chose the dessert as the ideal place for the giving of the Torah. The Jew should always remember that Torah belongs to him no less than it belongs to the Rabbis; however, it is incumbent on the Jew to pursue the Torah and not wait for it to come to him. Shabbat Shalom.

Divar Torah from Rabbi Guy Dvir - Parashat Behar - Bechukotai

An Important Lesson in Emunah

Dear Friends, In this week's parashat Behar, the Torah commands us to observe the mitsvah of Shemitta (Sabbatical year) in the land of Israel. The commandment of the Sabbatical Year is a requirement not to cultivate or work the land for an entire year every seventh year. The Shemitta to the land of Israel is likened to the Shabbat for the Jewish people. In both cases there is an element of testimony to God's creation of the universe in six days and His resting on the seventh. In observing the commandment of the Shemitta, the Jew displays his unrelenting belief that everything is in God's hands. The Torah however recognizes that people may wonder about where the food will come from. As stated in the Torah; "If you will say; what will we eat in the seventh year? - Behold we will not sow and not gather in our crops!" God's response is; "I will ordain my blessing for you in the sixth year and it will yield a crop sufficient for the three-year period" (Leviticus 25). The Torah promises a special blessing to those who observe this difficult mitsvah. Here is a real story, taken from a letter written by Rav Mendelson of Moshav-Komemiut, which illustrates the blessing of those who observe the Shemitta. "After the shemita year of 1953, we had no wheat to plant, since we were unwilling to plant those which grew during the seventh year. We were barely able to obtain wheat from the sixth year, but these ones were rotten and unfit to plant in the ground. We nevertheless used the wheat from the six year and trusted that God will help us. The neighboring settlements ridiculed us for using the spoiled wheat, and warned us that we would incur a huge loss. During that year no rain fell in the beginning of the winter. As a result, those who plowed the land at the end of the seventh year and planted immediately afterwards ended up damaging their seeds in the dry land. However, we didn't plow during the seventh year but only did so during the following winter after the seventh year. Amazingly just as we finished plowing the rain started to fall. We were miraculously successful in producing a big amount of crop that year with the rotten wheat, while our neighbors ended up not producing anything". The mitsvah of Shemitta is designed to teach us an important lesson in emunah. Sometimes doing what is contrary to one's own "success" is necessary in order to get close to God. Sometimes going beyond the natural order is what is required to show true belief in God. Only when a person is able abandon the natural path and put themselves in God's hand can they be considered true believers. This is what the Torah expects from every Jew, to show in action the belief that our lives and success is ultimately only in God's hands.

Shabbat Shalom

Meorei Hamizrach - Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul

Our Great Sephardic Rabbis by: Ike Sultan

Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul (1924 -1998) was one of the leading Sephardic Torah scholars, a halakhic authority of his day, and the rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem for the last 15 years of his life. Rabbi Ben Zion was born in Jerusalem and was the eldest boy in a family of sixteen children. Despite their poverty, his parents were committed to raising a family of Torah scholars. At the age of 11, Ben Zion entered Porat Yosef, the and his classmates included the future Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. Rabbi Ben Zion was responsible for a religious revival among Sephardic Jews with his founding of "Maayan Hachinuch HaTorani", a network of Torah schools for Sephardic children in Israel, and was widely known for his ability to give blessings that were fulfilled.

Story 1: Rabbi Ben Zion gave advice on family matters and his approach was innovative and invigorating. A father whose son had left yeshiva told Rabbi Ben Zion, "My son's a good-for-nothing. He not only roams the streets, but he has even asked me to buy him a motorcycle." "Then buy him one!" replied Rabbi Ben Zion. Though surprised by Rabbi Ben Zion's advice, the father decided to follow through and bought his son a motorcycle. When the young man saw that his father was reaching out to him, he reacted in kind and eventually returned to yeshiva.

Story 2: A newcomer to Torah once feared that the mitzvos would be too
burdensome for him. Rabbi Ben Zion encouraged him, saying: "There's no reason to feel pressured. Every morning, volunteer to serve Hashem. Don't obligate yourself, but volunteer. Volunteer to put on tefillin. It's not so hard. Here, let me show you how. Volunteer to pray, adding on more and more prayers each day. It's a privilege to serve as a volunteer in Hashem's corps."

Meorei Hamizrach - Rav Yisrael Abuchatzeira

Our Great Sephardic Rabbis by: Ike Sultan

Rav Yisrael Abuchatzeira, the great Moroccan tzaddik, was commonly known as the Baba Sali, or "Praying Father," because of his ability to work miracles with his prayers. His potential for greatness was recognized by his father, who encouraged him in his studies and, realizing that his son would be given the ability to have his blessings fulfilled, instilled in him the characteristic of Shemirat HaLashon, guarding one’s speech to an exceptional degree, as well as Shemirat HaEynayim, ("guarding one’s eyes"), to avoid witnessing unholy behavior. Rabbi Israel was married at the age of sixteen to Precha Amsalem, who served as a worthy soul-mate throughout their long marriage. Rabbi Israel was one of the leaders of the Aliyah of Moroccan Jewry to Israel, which saw the transfer of nearly the entire population of that community to the Holy Land. Baba Sali settled in Netivot, adjacent to the Yeshivat HaNegev. Because of his great influence, the Negev began to blossom spiritually, and thousands of Jews returned to their religious roots in Torah Judaism. Although he regularly gave many lectures in Torah and kabbala, he did not permit his students to write them down because he wanted his scholarship to remain unknown.The influence of this great Tzadik ("righteous person") extended far beyond Netivot, the Moroccan Jewish community and Israel and he became a cherished leader of the Jewish community, worldwide.

The young man arrived at Rav Yisrael's home in Netivot in a wheelchair. He told Rav Yisrael his story: "I was injured by a bullet in my back during the Yom Kippur War. Although I underwent a series of operations, I am still a cripple and can't stand up. One of my legs is so bad that the doctors want to amputate it. A friend suggested that I visit the Rav, who is supposed to work wonders with his prayers. At first I refused. But in my despair, I decided to give it a try.""Do you put on tefillin every day?" Rav Yisrael asked."No.""Do you keep Shabbos?""No.""If such is the case, " Rav Yisrael replied, "you should be thankful that only one leg is in such a serious condition. We believe that Hashem gives us healthy limbs so that we may serve Him. Those who don't keep the mitzvos should regard their healthy limbs as gifts." At that, the young man burst into tears. Rav Yisrael looked him the eye and asked, "If I bless you that you will be able to stand, will you begin to observe the mitzvos?" "Yes," the young man eagerly replied. "Then give me your hand, and may you have a refua sheleima." After the young man kissed Rav Yisrael's hand, Rebbetzin Abuchatzeira toldhim to try and stand up. To his surprise, he was able to stand up immediately, and even take a number of steps without assistance.