“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Ki Sisa – Parshas Parah
17 Adar 5783/March 10, 2023
לזכר נשמת נטע יצחק בן אלכסנדר ז"ל
This
Shabbos, 18 Adar, marks the first yahrtzeit of my beloved father-in-law, Mr.
Nathan Mermelstein, נטע יצחק בן אלכסנדר.
There is a tremendous void in our hearts, and we miss him.
I
will iy”H write more about him next week.
May
his neshama have an aliyah in Gan Eden and may we continue to bring him nachas.
SECURITY MATTERS
In a recent article I noted how
interesting it is when El Al security agents ask Jewish customers why they are
flying to Israel, as if they need a reason.
As any El Al customer knows, that
question is actually only one of a slew of questions security asks: “Who is
flying? What is the purpose of your trip? Where will you be staying? How do you
know those people? What are their names? Who packed your bags? Where were your
bags since they were packed? Has anyone given you anything to bring?”
A student told me he was even asked
what his bar mitzvah Parsha was and was asked to recite the first pasuk from
memory.
A friend of mine related that when he
was going back to Eretz Yisroel for a second year in Yeshiva, he felt he was
already a veteran of the El Al system. When the security agent asked him who is
flying and he stepped forward, he looked at her and said “no, no, yes, no, yes,
yes, no.” She stared at him for a moment and then replied stoically, “That’s
not funny.” And then she proceeded to ask him the whole litany of questions he
had just preemptively answered.
A reader noted that it makes him very
upset when El Al security agents asks if anyone gave you anything to take
along!
Many people indeed have something.
(Has a Jew ever come to Eretz Yisroel without bringing things for others?) But,
if the passenger answers in the affirmative, security will follow up with
numerous other questions and will likely order the passenger to unpack before
them or they may rummage through the baggage themselves. This undoubtedly
causes many people to lie.
He added that El Al security personnel
are well aware that most responses are untrue, but they want to see how the
passenger will respond. I haven’t spoken to El Al personnel to understand their
perspective, but I definitely hear the point.
However, I recently gained a new
perspective on the irksome questioning that gives it a different and even
exciting twist. In a sense, the El Al security questioning is preparing us for
Moshiach! Allow me to explain:
Recently, I was listening to a lecture
entitled, “Getting Ready for the Beis HaMikdash”. The lecturer described a
scene in the not-too-distant future with a person excitedly setting out to
visit the Beis Hamikdash.
He arrives at the Temple gates where
he is met by a Levite guard. (Seforno in Parshas Korach writes that it is the
responsibility of the Levite guards to ensure that no one impure enters the
gates of the Beis HaMikdash.)
The Levite greets him and welcomes him
to the Beis Hamikdash, and then asks him if he is ritually pure. The man
replies that he went to the mikvah that morning. The Levite continues, “Since
that time have you made sure to remain pure and not come into contact with
anyone or anything impure?” The man nods confidently.
The Levite then asks him to report on
what he did before arriving at the Temple Mount. The man recounts everything he
did and everywhere he went, and how vigilant he was to remain pure. As an aide
he notes that on the way out of his house, he grabbed a garbage bag and placed
it in the bin outside. The Levite asks him to describe the contents. The man recounts
its contents from memory and mentions that there were disposable plastic cups
in there from the family’s supper two nights earlier. The Levite looks up.
“Didn’t your wife have a baby a week and a half ago?” The man nods. The Levite
says, “One of those cups were used by your wife and she is still ritually
impure from childbirth. Her saliva (tumas rok) generates impurity by
anyone who carries it, and we must assume that some of her saliva remained on
the cup (chazaka). That renders you impure until you go to the mikvah
and then wait for sunset. I am sorry to inform you that you cannot proceed onto
the Temple Mount.”
With that in mind, El Al security
questions are actually preparing us for the spiritual security questions we
will be asked prior to entering the Temple Mount. So now when the El Al
security guard start asking you those vexing questions about your luggage you
can picture yourself standing outside the Beis HaMikdash waiting and hoping to
be allowed entry.
One of the less appreciated components
of Purim is its direct connection to the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash.
One of the first acts Achashveirosh
did upon becoming king was ordering the immediate halting of the already begun
process of rebuilding the Beis HaMikdash. The rebuilding had begun when the
previous King Cyrus proclaimed that the Jews could return to Yerushalayim and
rebuild the Beis HaMikdash.
Being the king of 127 countries,
Achashveirosh was fearful of any challenge to his authority or threats to his
empire, as it could easily trigger more widespread rebellions. He was convinced
that the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash would entail the Jews having
independence in Eretz Yisroel. An independent country right in the center of
his empire could have disastrous consequences. Therefore, Achashveirosh made it
his mission to stop the rebuilding and the return of the Jews to Eretz Yisroel.
It was also the source of his enmity towards the Jewish people.
At the massive party of Achashveirosh,
he wore the Kohein Gadol’s exclusive garments and served wine and food on
goblets taken from the Beis HaMikdash. Part of his sinister, hidden intention
in doing so was to demonstrate to the Jewish attendees that he was their new
Kohain Gadol and his palace was their new Beis HaMikdash. He wanted them to forget
Yerushalayim and become like everyone else, so he could feel more secure about
the cohesion of his empire.
His preoccupation, and practical
obsession, with not allowing the Beis Hamikdash to be rebuilt is clear later in
the Megillah as well. When Esther appears before him uninvited and he has no
idea what she wants, he tells her he will give her up to half the kingdom. The
Gemara explains that “half the kingdom” is a coded reference to that which
halves his kingdom, i.e., Yerushalayim and the rebuilding of the Beis
HaMikdash. It must be realized that at that point Achashveirosh had absolutely
no idea that Esther was Jewish. Yet he emphasized that rebuilding the Beis
HaMikdash wasn’t negotiable.
In various places in the Megillah
there are references and allusions to the Beis HaMikdash. The Gemara record
that the names of the seven ministers of the king hint to different parts of
the avodah performed in the Beis HaMikdash. When Haman arrives to lead
Mordechai through the streets of Shushan he asks Mordechai what he had been
studying. Mordechai replies that they were learning the laws of the Omer
offering which would have been brought in the Beis HaMikdash that day.
Very shortly after the Purim story
occurred, Achashveirosh died and was succeeded by his and Esther’s son
Daryavesh (Darius). Daryavesh allowed the completion of the rebuilding of the
Beis HaMikdash.
At the time of the Purim miracle, we
achieved renewed feelings of national unity, and loving reacceptance of Torah
and its values. It’s no wonder that the Beis HaMikdash was rebuilt shortly
after.
As we again celebrate this joyous and beloved holiday, we
anticipate the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash and the coming of Moshiach.
When that happens, El Al security will
not ask how long we are going for. They will all know that it’s a one-way
ticket. At that point the only security questions we will have to answer are to
the spiritual security personnel at the gates of the Beis HaMikdash.
See you there.
Shabbat Shalom & Good Shabbos,
R’
Dani and Chani Staum