Hebrew | Francais

Shabbat Parashat Kedoshim 5774

Kedoshim | 26 Nissan 5774 | 26/04/2014

Parashat Hashavua: Holy and Separate

“You shall be holy” (Vayikra 19:2) – you shall separate yourselves (Sifra, Kedoshim 1). Sanctity requires separation; it does not come from nature itself. This goal is the essence of Judaism. Our aspiration to reach the greatest heights does not include an outlook of ignoring reality and does not cover up that which exists. Rather, we are to try to “uproot the weeds” that are damaging before the time comes to “plant the saplings of blessing.”

Ask the Rabbi: Counting Sefira with a Beracha When One Expects to Miss a Day

I rarely succeed in counting all 49 days of sefirat ha’omer. Considering that I seem to always discontinue making a beracha at some point, should I refrain from making one from the outset?

Ein Ayah: Proudly Not Cosmopolitan

How would they bring the bikurim (first fruit) to Yerushalayim? All of the towns in a ma’amad region (where pious people would come together in a rotation to say special prayers and be the representatives of the populace of the country in relation to the service in the Temple) would go to the town of the ma’amad and sleep in the town square and not enter houses. To those who woke up early, the appointed person would say: “Let us rise and go up to Zion, to the house of Hashem, our G-d.”

P'ninat Mishpat: A Donation That “Destroys” a Shul

It is difficult to dismiss the will based on the assumption that it is forbidden to uproot things from a shul, since it is not clear that this applies to removing movable objects and because not everyone is aware of the halacha that it is forbidden to do so. Regarding the assumption that his foremost interest was the future of his own shul, if it could be preserved, that is not necessarily correct. It is possible that Reuven thought that it is a bigger mitzva or a better memorial for him (considering he died without children) to leave his shul furniture in the main shul.

Hemdat Yamim

is endowed by

Les & Ethel Sutker

of Chicago, Illinois
in loving memory of
Max and Mary Sutker
and

Louis and Lillian Klein, z”l

Hemdat Yamim

is dedicated

to the memory of:

R' Meir
ben

Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld

o.b.m

Rabbi Yosef Mordechai Simcha

ben Bina Stern o.b.m

who passed away

21 Adar I, 5774

R' Yaakov ben Abraham & Aisha

and

Chana bat Yaish & Simcha

Sebbag, z"l

A weekly divrei Torah leaflet: A Glimpse at the Parasha, Ask the Rabbi, From the writings of Harav Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook, zt”l, Pninat Mishpat (Jewish Monetary Law).