Rabbi Mansour 2012

Shabbat Morning Class

פרשת מצורע-טהור

This week’s Parashah discusses the laws of someone who contracts צרעת. He is impure and banished from three camps, the camp of Kohanim, Leviim, and Yisraelim. In this Shiur we will delve into the deeper reasons as to why the Metzora must be punished so severely and why he must leave all three camps.

The Connection between ענג שבת and נגע צרעת

We have an obligation to enjoy Shabbat by having three lavish meals. This is part of עונג שבת-enjoying Shabbat. These three meals correspond to our three forefathers Avraham, Yishak, and Yaakob. Friday night’s meal correspond to Yishak, Shabbat lunch correspond to Avraham, and Seudah Shelishit corresponds to Yaakob. The reason it is in this order is because during the week we are "working" with the lower seven Sefirot. It is only on Shabbat that we can access the higher three Sefirot of; Keter, Chochma, and Bina. Friday night, our first meal, represents Bina. Lunch, the second meal represents Chochma, and Seudah Shelishit represents Keter.

Bina is on the left, and the left represents Din-judgment, and Yishak Avinu stands for Gevurah-judgment. This is the reason why the first meal corresponds to Yishak (Gevurah-left side-Bina). Lunch stands for Chochma, and Chochma stands for the right side which is Hesed, and Avraham was associated with Hesed. Therefore Avraham is connected to the afternoon meal. The third meal is Keter which is on top of both, and that corresponds to the combination of Hesed and Gevurah, and this was associated with Yaakob. Therefore Yaakob is connected with the third meal.

If a person fails to enjoy three meals on Shabbat he is not fulfilling ענג שבת. It is written in the holy books, that if one fails to fulfill ענג שבת he rearranges the letters of ענג into the word נגע (afflictions). The Sefer מטה משה explains, that this means a person will suffer at the hands of נגעי בני אדם, people who will make him miserable.

In essence, if a person wants to be spared from the inconveniences and troubles that he is experiencing during the week, he must partake in the three meals of Shabbat and thus properly fulfill ענג שבת. This way he will turn נגע back into ענג, and be spared from his troubles!

The Sefer באר שלמה explains that this is what the Arizal was referring to, in a segment of his holy song אזמר בשבחין that we sing on Friday nights: "נעבד להון כתרין במלין יקירין בשבעין עטורין דעל גבי חמשין" "We will make crowns with our precious words, seventy over fifty".

What is the Arizal referring to when he says precious words, seventy over fifty? The "precious words" refer to us rearranging our words to spell ענג instead of נגע. The Arizal was advising us to put "seventy over fifty". Seventy is the numerical value of the letter ע. Fifty is the numerical value of the letter נ. When we put the ע before the נ we can spell the word ענג (in the word ענג the ע precedes the נ). However when the fifty comes before the seventy (the נ comes before the ע) we can spell the word נגע, in which the ע follows the נ!

The משה מטה says further, that the three meals of Shabbat are connected to the enjoyment of Gan Eden! We see this from a Pasuk in Bereshit (פרק ב פסוק י), that speaks of Gan Eden; "ונחר יוצא מעדן להשקות את הגן"-"a river flows from Eden to water the garden". The key points of the Pasuk that we focus on are עדן, נהר, גן. The first letters of these three words spell ענג, and show us that through the proper enjoyment of ענג שבת- which entails partaking of the three meals- we merit the enjoyment of Gan Eden!

These three meals also enable us to accept the נשמה יתרה (extra soul) that comes down to us on Shabbat. This extra soul has three components just as our "everyday" souls have three components. These are the נפש, רוח, נשמה. These components come down to us in stages. The נפש comes to us during our first meal. The רוח comes to us when we have our Shabbat lunch, and the נשמה comes to us when we eat Seudah Shelishit. The Megaleh Amukot explains that the three meals are connected to the three words עדן-נהר-גן. The last letters of these words are נרנ (עדן נהר גן), and they stand for the נפש רוח נשמה that come to us in stages when we partake of the three Shabbat meals.

This means that if someone decides to "skip a meal", he is actually forfeiting his acceptance of the corresponding element of his Shabbat soul!

Elements that are not Alike Must have a "Bridge" to Connect Them

In many areas of Judaism there are different extremes, and there must be a common link that serves as a sort of bridge between the two. For example, the "bridge" between man and animal is the monkey. The monkey is an animal of course, yet its brain resembles the human brain more closely than any other animal. Thus it serves as a bridge between man and animal.

What is the bridge between the Shabbat and Weekdays? It is תוספת שבת, when we extend the time of Shabbat- by accepting it early - we take from weekday time and transform it into Shabbat time. This period of time that we consider Shabbat, yet it’s not technically part of Shabbat, serves as a connector between Shabbat and Chol.

The Bnei Yisasschar quotes from מהר''פ מקערץ who explains, that the bridge between the written Torah and the Oral Torah are the words that are "קרי וכתיב", words that are written one way but our tradition tells us to pronounce them a different way. These words contain elements of both the written and oral Torah, since they are part of the written Torah yet we rely on oral tradition to pronounce them.

The great leaders of the Jews are the ones who can serve as a bridge between the different types of people, and unite everyone to serve Hashem together.

What is the bridge between the giant gap that divides us, and our Almighty creator הקדוש ברוך הוא??

It is the holy Torah. The Torah was given by Hashem, and it is interpreted by the Rabbis in this world. The Torah (comprised of the oral and written), serves to connect us with Hashem. This is why it says: "קודשא בריך הוא, ישראל, ואורייתא חד הוא"-"Hashem, the Torah, and the Jews are one". The Torah creates the link between us and Hashem, and keeps us all bound together. The stronger we are connected to the Torah, the tighter we are bound with Hashem!

This connection is hinted in the letter ו'. The letter ו' is called "ו' המחובר"("the connecting ו'"), this is because the letter ו' connects idea’s in the Torah. On a deeper level the ו' is called a "connector", because the ו' has three different ways to be spelled out and they are; וו', ואו, ויו.

The numerical value of ו-ו is 12. 12 stand for the 12 tribes, and thus refer to the Jewish people.

ו-או equals 13. This is the same numerical value as the word אחד (one), and it refers to Hashem who is one.

ו-יו equals 22. This refers to the 22 letters of the א-ב with which the Torah is written. With this we see that the letter ו' stands for the link between Hashem, the Torah, and the Jews, and it is therefore called the "connecting Vav".

This is alluded to by the Arizal in his song אזמר בשבחין, when he writes "בווין תתקטר". "We will be bound with Vav’s", he was alluding to the connection between Hashem, the Torah, and the Jews that is represented by the letter ו'!

The link between Hashem, the Torah, and the Jews is also exemplified by the three meals of Shabbat.

The טור writes (או''ח ס' רצב) that there are three major Shabatot. Two have already occurred and the third has yet to occur (as of time of this print).

The first one is the first Shabbat of creation. The original day when Hashem rested is one of the three major Shabbat’s.

The second was the Shabbat when the Jews accepted the Torah (there is a מחלוקת if it was the sixth or seventh of Sivan but all agree it was on a Shabbat).

The third Shabbat will be the Shabbat of משיח, when it will be יום שכלו שבת, one long Shabbat.

The ב''ח explains that these three Shabbat’s correspond to the three meals that we eat on Shabbat. Friday night represents the Shabbat of creation. Shabbat day represents the Shabbat of Matan Torah, and Shabbat afternoon represents the Shabbat of Mashiach.

This is seen from the Tefilot of Shabbat. If we analyze the Amidahs we find that Friday night stands for the original Shabbat of creation as it mentions, "ויכלו השמים והארץ" (the heaven and earth were complete), and we say "זכר למעשה בראשית" ("a remembrance of the creation).

In Shabbat day’s Amidah we say "ישמח משה במתנת חלקו"(Moshe rejoices with the gift of his portion). משה stands for the Torah, the "gift of his portion" was the Torah of course. It also says "בעמדו לפנך על הר סיני"(when he stood before you at Mt. Sinai).

The Minha Amidah says "אתה אחד ושמך אחד"-"you are one and your name is one". This refers to the future, as we say in Aleinu Leshabeah "ביום ההוא יהיה ה' אחד ושמו אחד"-"on that day (in the time of Mashiach) Hashem will be one and his name will be one". The Minha Amidah is written in future tense ("Avraham will rejoice….the Jews will have rest").

We see from here that the three meals that follow the three Tefilot are corresponding to the three Shabbat’s of the world. The Tefilot are only a lead up to the meals!! (This is why for example we are careful to pray Minha before we eat Seudah Shelishit, because the Minha is the lead up to the Seudah Shelishit meal!).

The three Shabbats (the Shabbats of creation, Matan Torah, and Mashiach), stand for what we mentioned earlier; Hashem, the Torah, and the Jews.

The Shabbat of creation stands for Hashem (since it occurred upon the completion of Hashem’s creation).

The Shabbat of Matan Torah obviously stands for the Torah.

The Shabbat of Mashiach stands for the Jewish people, the time when the Jewish people will finally have rest from all those who oppress us.

We see from here that the three meals serve as this vital connection between Hashem, the Torah, and the Jews.

Each meal stands for one of the three, and by not partaking in one of the meals we sever the connection between the three, and thereby lose our connection with Hashem ח''ו!!

We also see this association between the three meals (and the connection between Hashem, Torah, and Jews) found in what was mentioned earlier regarding the meals of Shabbat and its connection with Gan Eden.

We quoted the Pasuk of "ונהר יוצא מערן" and said that the three words of עדן נהר גן stand for ענג שבת and the three meals. The Torat Moshe explains that עדן stands for Hashem. This is because עדן is like the word; להתעדן-"to enjoy" and Hashem gets pleasure and enjoyment from our performance of his will. As we say when we are about to do a Misvah; "לעשות נחת רוח ליוצרנו"-"to give pleasure to our creator".

נהר-river, refers to Torah, as we know; "אין מים אלא תורה"- Torah is compared to Torah that nourishes everything.

גן-garden is a reference to the Jews as it says in שיר השירים; "דודי ירד לגנו"-"my beloved (Hashem) comes down to the garden" (to see his people).

We find that עדן, נהר, גן (ענג) refer to Hashem, the Torah, and the Jews, and shows us how ענג שבת serves to keep us bound with the Torah and Hashem, and enables us to exist as G-d fearing Jews!

How imperative is it that we properly enjoy Shabbat and partake of all three meals on Shabbat Kodesh?! By having all three meals we:

A) Connect with the Avot Avraham, Yishak, and Yaakob.

B) Connect with the upper three Sefirot that are "off limits" during the week.

C) Receive the three elements of our extra soul - the נפש רוח נשמה.

D) Enjoy the benefits of Gan Eden.

E) Turn the word נגע into ענג thereby eliminating the problems that would otherwise attack us during the week.

F) Commemorate the three major Shabbat’s of our history.

G) Strengthen the connection between Hashem, the Torah, and ourselves and stay connected to our creator!

How precious is our religion! We are commanded to enjoy ourselves on Shabbat!

The Mesorah Receives a נגע צרעת as a Result of Severing this Connection

While we know that a Mesorah receives his צרעת as a result of Lashon Hara, this is only a symptom that underlies the overall damage that is done by the Mesorah.

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai said, that if he were at Matan Torah he would have requested that man should be given two mouths, one for Torah and one for mundane matters.

After a little while he retracted, saying: "if we have a hard time controlling one mouth imagine how hard it would be to control two"! It would likely only cause more damage!

We see from here how we need to try our best to keep our mouth pure, and how technically speaking, a mouth that speaks evil, Lashon Hara, and improper speech cannot also be used to speak words of prayer and Torah! Hashem says (Tehilim Perek 50) "ולרשע אמר אלקים מה לך לספר חקי ותשא בריתי עלי פיך"-"to the wicked one Hashem says; what right have you to declare my statutes or to take my covenant in your mouth"!

If we are using our mouth for negative speech, how can we then use it to serve Hashem!

When a Mesorah uses his mouth to speak Lashon Hara, and slander he actually wreaks much greater destruction than he realizes! He profanes his mouth thereby making it unable to be used for the Torah. Without the Torah we have no connection to Hashem as mentioned, the Mesorah now finds himself disconnected from the Torah, Hashem, and the Jews!

He transgressed the word of Hashem, he invalidates his mouth from the Torah, and he causes division between himself and fellow Jews by speaking negatively about them!

This explains why he is banished from all three camps. The camp of Kohanim is also known as Machane Shechina, the camp of Hashem. The camp of Leviim represents the camp of Torah (Moshe Rabeinu represents the Torah, and he was a Levi). The camp of the Yisraelim represents the Jewish people in general.

We banish the Mesorah from the three camps Kohanim, Leviim, and Yisraelim, which stand for Hashem, the Torah, and the Jews, because the Mesorah- through his evil speech- severed his connection to Hashem, the Torah, and the Jews and became afflicted with נגע צרעת. This is because he severed the connection that is represented by ענג שבת- עדן נהר גן)- Hashem, the Torah, and the Jews), and he instead turned it into נגע צרעת.

May we enjoy the Shabbat and partake of the three meals properly and Beezrat Hashem we will merit the future Shabbat of Mashiach speedily and in our days Amen!