Thursday, April 14, 2016

PARSHAS METZORA/SHABBOS HAGADOL 5776



“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Metzora/Hagadol
7 Nissan 5776/ April 15, 2016

The newfound unwritten law that has evolved in recent years is that shalach manos delivered on Purim must have a theme. The theme must directly connect between the costumes worn and the contents of the shalach manos given.
In fulfillment of that ‘obligation’, this year the Staum family had an equestrian theme. We donned our equestrian/horse jockey gear about two weeks before Purim and were photographed by a professional photographer. [The pictures are taken as a chesed in exchange for a check for tzedakah.] The photographer subsequently emailed the picture to Chani, who then forwarded it to a neighbor who superimposed us onto a background of a farm setting complete with a barn and horses. [Ironically, on Purim day itself, for various reasons, no member of the Staum family wore the jockey costume. We hold like those authorities who rule that as long as it is clear that you have a theme you fulfill your ‘theme obligation’, even if you don’t actually dress accordingly on Purim. Other authorities disagree. Please note that the purpose of this forum is not to issue any halachic rulings. Speak to your Rabbi.]
When we received the finished picture, Chani excitedly showed it to our children. Not familiar with the concept of superimposing a picture, our five year old daughter Chayala looked at it and said, “I don’t remember being there!”
On Seder night we have an obligation to view ourselves as if we went out of Egypt.
Although the redemption happened over three thousand years ago, it has different meaning in every generation. The year after the miracle of Purim the Jews in Persia had a different appreciation of the exodus than the Jews in Babylonia did. In Rome 71 C.E. (the year after the second Bais Hamikdash was destroyed) it had different meaning than it did for the Jews in Spain 1493, and in Siberia or Auschwitz it had different meaning than it does for us in America and Eretz Yisroel today.
On a more personal level, we ourselves relate to the concept of exodus and personal liberation differently throughout the stages of our own lives.
The story does not change, but we do, and therefore we never stop telling the story and learning its lessons.
Because the exodus from Egypt is what enabled us to become the Chosen People, it is not just a one time, historical event, but something that has an effect on us forever. That was the night we realized our uniqueness, and every generation connects and recognizes that uniqueness in a different manner. 
Every day at the end of Shema we state the verse “I am Hashem, your G-d, that took you out of the land of Egypt to be for you for a G-d. I am Hashem, your G-d.”
Rav Schwab zt’l explains that the words “I am Hashem, your G-d” are stated twice because they refer to two different manifestations of G-d’s connection with us. At times G-d’s Presence is clear and we can easily recognize the divine Hand guiding and protecting us. But throughout most of history G-d’s presence is harder to discern. In the words of Dovid Hamelech (Tehillim 91) “He, the most High, dwells in secret; in the shadow does G-d (Shakkai) dwell.”
In some generations we can easily see ourselves as if we were freed from Egypt. But more often than not in exile we have had to superimpose ourselves. We have had to remind ourselves that the exodus was an eternal event and granted us eternal freedom. Since that fateful event, despite endless physical pain and persecution, the Jewish spirit has never again been able to be vanquished.

Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos,

            R’ Dani and Chani Staum        

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

PARSHAS TAZRIA/HACHODESH 5776


“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Tazria/Hachodesh
Shabbos Rosh Chodesh Nissan
29 Adar II 5776/ April 8, 2016

As readers of this column are aware, a few weeks ago my son Shalom and I had the great fortune to spend a week and a half in Eretz Yisroel in honor of his bar mitzvah. During that time we had the great zechus to meet some of the foremost Torah leaders of our time.
My cousin, R’ Izak Cohn, is a talmid of Rav Meir Soloveitchik zt’l, the great Rosh Yeshiva and son of the Brsiker Rav, who was niftar this week at the age of 86. [I purposely wrote that he “is a talmid” and not “was a talmid”, because the impression and influence of a rebbe continues to inspire his students long after he is gone.]
On Shabbos mornings, a small group would come to Rav Meir’s apartment in Yerushalayim for Kerias HaTorah and Mussaf. Anyone who desired could join but there was very limited space. Izak informed me about where I needed to be and when, and on Shabbos morning, together with my brother Yaakov and Shalom we joined the exclusive assemblage at Rav Meir’s minyan.
It was tight, stuffy, and somewhat uncomfortable, with some twenty people squished around the dining room table. It was a small room lined from floor to ceiling with a combination of new and old sefarim. It was humbling to stand in the presence of a man who is not only the son of the venerable Brisker Rav, but a giant in Torah in his own right.
Throughout Kerias HaTorah, the aged Rosh Yeshiva stood with absolute focus in the chumash before him (he sat briefly between aliyos). He read along with the every word that was read. The ba’al korei was seasoned and meticulous, and in any other shul his reading would have been deemed perfect. But on a few occasions Rav Meir corrected him for slight mistakes of trop and dikduk (grammar).
The Soloveitchik family is renowned for their incredible and impeccable precision and attention to detail in regards to halacha. I was given the honor of performing hagbahah (raising the Torah for all to see). I must admit that I was sweating profusely. I was concerned that I might not perform it according to every nuance of halacha, in the presence of a man whose life was dedicated to the optimal and ultimate fulfillment of it.
I tried to analyze every move Rav Meir made, knowing that it was all based on halacha and mesora (tradition), even in regards to a ‘run-of-the-mill Shabbos morning’.
We all have things that ‘make us tick’ and ‘get us going’. Rav Meir Soloveitchik zt’l was motivated by the complete and perfect fulfillment of Torah obligations and halachic expectations. That’s what excited him and mattered most in his life, with all else a very distant second.
Such people are few and far between and his passing this week creates a tremendous void. I am ever grateful to have had the zechus to spend a few minutes with him, and to glimpse a man who lived in complete immersion in Torah and Avodas Hashem. It was a tremendous opportunity and experience and a memory that I hope Shalom will continue to appreciate in years to come.     

Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos,

            R’ Dani and Chani Staum