Hebrew | Francais

Shabbat Parashat Vayikra 5781

Vayikra | 7 Nisan 5781 | 13/03/2021

Parashat Hashavua: A Soul who Sinned against … Hashem?

The last section of the parasha opens as follows: “Should a soul sin and misappropriate from Hashem (ma’al baHashem) and deny to his friend about a watched item, or by putting money given to him in his own hand, or he stole, or he refused to pay wages due” (Vayikra 5:21). Almost the entire Sefer Vayikra and, especially, this first parasha deals with the service of the kohanim in the Mishkan and beyond it. These activities belong to the mitzvot between man and Hashem. These p’sukim, in contrast, deal with matters between man and his fellow man, and the Torah still calls it a ma’al baHashem. In addition, how does a human being carry out a ma’al of Hashem? We will suggest an explanation based on the simple reading.

Ask the Rabbi: Erev Pesach that Falls on Shabbat

What do you suggest we do on Erev Pesach this year, which is on Shabbat, regarding when and what to eat?

Igrot Hare’aya – Letters of Rav Kook: The Need to Be Connected to our Past

Last time we saw the beginning of Rav Kook’s public rebuke of the editor of the Hashkafa periodical. The latter had written that the Zionists for Zion who accused the Ugandists of turning their back on their pasts were hypocrites because all Jews, except the extreme religious, turned their backs on their past, and he is proud of that.

P'ninat Mishpat: Refund for Bar Mitzva Cancelled Due to Covid – part II

The plaintiffs (=pl) signed with the defendant (=def) in Nov. 2019 to make a bar mitzva party for their son in June 2020, with def providing a hall and food for 200 people. Pl gave a non-refundable 3,000 NIS down payment. In April 2020, during the first Corona lockdown, pl demanded a return of the down payment; def refused. As the time approached, def did not present plans to hold the party, and pl arranged a party in a makeshift location. Two days before the bar mitzva, as restrictions were easing, an employee of def called pl to discuss rescheduling the bar mitzva, which pl was not interested in. Pl claim that since they received no benefit from def and the pandemic was something that precluded everyone from making such parties, they should receive their money back. Additionally, def did not work to arrange a smaller affair outside. Def argues that since he could not have made a party as planned and the money was given before signs of the pandemic existed, the non-refundable down payment need not be returned. He claims that almost all of his customers agreed to reschedule.

Vayikra 5781
Microsoft Word Document

Vayikra 5781

We daven for a complete and speedy refuah for:

Nir Rephael ben Rachel Bracha
Yisrael ben Rivka

Rivka Reena bat Gruna Natna

Arye Yitzchak ben Geula Miriam

Neta bat Malka

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

Yitzchak Zev Tarshansky z"l

Adar 28, 5781

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).