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Shabbat Parashat Tetzaveh 5781

Tetzaveh | 15 Adar 5781 | 27/02/2021

Parashat Hashavua: The Seeds of Unification

Megillat Esther (2:5) calls Mordechai a “Judean man” and “son of Yair son of Shimi son of Kish, a Benjaminite.” The gemara (Megilla 12b) is bothered by the apparent contradiction; one of its answers is that while he was genealogically from Binyamin, the people of Yehuda would argue that they deserve the credit for him because, as a descendent of Shimi, had David Hamelech killed Shimi ben Geira, Mordechai would not have been born.

Ask the Rabbi: Purim Meshulash

Could you please review some of the rules and rationale of the practices of Purim Meshulash (Triple Purim) in Yerushalayim? [This is a re-edited repeat from 15 years ago.]

Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: Dealing with Unauthorized Marriage

I have heard a rumor that recently a man was found, whose name is Ch. H., who married a woman from Kishinev, whom he claims is a widow. This woman has come from a great distance with the claim of being a widow, and as such requires certification by a beit din. Heaven forbid, Heaven forbid, that the world should run as without any sense of order, whereby whoever wants to get involved in such serious matters (allowing a formerly married woman to remarry without proving that she is now single) can come forward and do so.

P'ninat Mishpat: Operating a Preschool in a Private Building – part I

The plaintiffs (=pl) are residents in an apartment building in which their neighbor (=def) operates a preschool program (gan) for two-year olds. Pl complain that this causes noise and disturbances in the building, including making the use of elevators unfeasible at times. Beit din had ruled that the gan could continue for three reasons: 1. The present use of the apartment for a small group of children is within ordinary use approved by municipal standards (up to 10 children in Jerusalem). 2. Even if it were out of the ordinary, special consideration is given to Torah schools, and this applies to ganim as well (it is at least a matter of mitzva). 3. The Chatam Sofer says that necessary business that cannot be run in commercial areas can operate in residential ones; since there are not enough public accommodations for ganim in Jerusalem, residents cannot prevent their neighbor from running a small gan. The appeal questions these reasons as follows: 1. According to Israeli law, it is forbidden to have any business in a residential building without a special permit, and the municipality’s turning a blind eye does not change that. In this case, also, neighbors have complained for years, and def has not acted to minimize damage. Also in the past, she exceeded 10 children and it is hard to check if she is now exceeding it. 2. The institution of R. Yehoshua ben Gamla applies only from the age of six, and certainly not under three, and it anyway cannot overrule a local law. 3. The Chatam Sofer applies only when there are no alternatives. In this neighborhood, there are quite a few public buildings, and, in any case, ganim are usually on the ground floor where they are less disruptive.

Tetzaveh 5781
Microsoft Word Document

Tetzaveh 5781
Acrobat PDF Format

Guidelines for Hearing the Megillah for People in Quarantine
Acrobat PDF Format

Link for reading along with kosher Megilat Esther scroll
Acrobat PDF Format

The Halachic Obligation to Take Coronavirus Vaccination - updated

We daven for a complete and speedy refuah for:

Nir Rephael ben Rachel Bracha
Yisrael ben Rivka

Rivka Reena bat Gruna Natna

Meira bat Esther

Together with all cholei Yisrael

Hemdat Yamim is dedicated

to the memory of:

Those who fell in wars

for our homeland

Eretz Hemdah's beloved friends

and Members of

Eretz Hemdah's Amutah

Rav Shlomo Merzel z”l
Iyar 10, 5771

Rav Reuven Aberman z"l

Tishrei 9 ,5776

Mr. Shmuel & Esther Shemesh z"l

Sivan 17 / Av 20

Mr. Moshe Wasserzug z"l

Tishrei 20 ,5781

R' Eliyahu Carmel z"l

Rav Carmel's father

Iyar 8 ,5776

Mrs. Sara Wengrowsky

bat R’ Moshe Zev a”h.

Tamuz 10 ,5774

Rav Asher & Susan Wasserteil z"l
Kislev 9 / Elul 5780

R' Meir ben

Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld z"l

Mrs. Sara Brachfeld z"l

Tevet 16 ,5780

R' Yaakov ben Abraham & Aisha

and

Chana bat Yaish & Simcha

Sebbag, z"l

Rav Yisrael Rozen z"l
Cheshvan 13, 5778

Rav Benzion Grossman z"l
Tamuz 23, 5777

Rav Moshe Zvi (Milton)

Polin z"l

Tamuz 19, 5778

R' Abraham Klein z"l

Iyar 18 ,5779

Mrs. Gita Klein z"l

Av 4

Gershon (George)

ben

Chayim HaCohen Kaplan z"l

Adar II 6

Rabbi Yosef Mordechai Simcha

ben Bina Stern z"l

21 Adar I, 5774

Yehudah ben Naftali Hertz

Cohen (Kamofsky) z"l

12 Adar II

Noah Rivka bat Malka Bracha & Moshe z"l

Hemdat Yamim
is endowed by Les & Ethel Sutker
of Chicago, Illinois
in loving memory of
Max and Mary Sutker

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).