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Shabbat Parashat Vayetzei| 5765

Vayeitzei | | 01/01/2004

An Angel (of a Person?)

Even among tzadikim, Yaakov had an exceptional amount of exposure to malachim. Our parasha starts with the dream of a ladder full of angels and ends with an encounter with malachim. In his old age, Yaakov composed our beloved blessing of children, centered around the angel who looked after him (“Hamalach hago’el oti …”- Bereishit 48:16).

P’ninat Mishpat

Case: A woman sued her husband for support, as part of divorce proceedings. Some time later, she asked the court to close the file, because they were in the midst of reconciliation. Beit din originallyagreed to close the file after an additional thirty days of inactivity (which already passed) but subsequently refused to do so. The wife appealed their refusal to the Supreme Rabbinical Court. The husband wants to continue and clear his name in the court where the file was opened and claims that she wants to sue with the same claims in a different court system. The wife claims that there were flaws in the way the file was handled, and so she has the right to switch. The wife’s lawyer cites provision 18 of the Law of the Courts that a plaintiff can close a file before the court begins dealing with the matter. The husband’s side cites regulation 70/1 that is intended to prevent someone from opening a file in one court and then switching to another if he feels that things are not going his way.

Moreshet Shaul

Several years have past, and the desired inspiration has yet to appear. To the contrary, a wave of breaking from a healthy, social lifestyle has developed over the last decade [this itself was written a decade ago]. Self-gratification is the slogan that has increasingly conquered the younger generations in Europe and America and has made an imprint on those societies as a whole, and it has reached the gateways of Eretz Yisrael, as well. The pioneer spirit and the value of a modest, simple, and natural life, which are more compatible with a Jewish outlook on life, have waned.

Ask the Rabbi

Question: When disbursing the funds I give as ma’aser kesafim (the laudable practice of giving 10% of one’s net earnings to tzedaka), I am torn between giving smaller amounts to all who send requests and giving larger donations to fewer institutions.

This edition of

Hemdat Yamim is dedicated to the memory of

R’ Meir ben Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld o.b.m.

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).

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