Parshiyot Tazria/Metzora 5769: Ta’amei and Tahara on National Level
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In learning about the laws of tzara’as, we find posukim which are a pelah, a wonderment.
Torah relates in our Parsha;
“If the tzara’as will erupt on the skin, and … will cover the entire skin of the afflicted from his head to his feet, wherever the eyes of the Kohen can see — the Kohen shall look, and behold! — the affliction has covered his entire flesh, then he shall declare the affliction to be pure; having turned completely white, it is pure. On the day healthy skin appears …, it (the affliction) shall be contaminated.” (Sefer Vayikra, Perek 13, posukim 12 – 14)
Israel’s Imperatives: Confident Leadership, Cohesion of National Purpose
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The Jerusalem Post’s David Horovitz has written a commentary noting that Israel faces security challenges requiring confident leadership and cohesion of national purpose:
Home Truths About Gaza, by David Horovitz (Jerusalem Post)
Excerpts:
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Are we losing the capacity to distinguish between what we know from our own experiences to be true or credible and what others would have the world believe about us?
…Esther Wachsman, whose son Nachshon was kidnapped by Hamas in 1994 and killed in a Palestinian village not far from Jerusalem as the IDF tried to come to his rescue, describes poignantly how the family came to choose his name.
The family’s third son, he was born at Pessah time in 1975, and they decided to name him in honor of Nachshon the son of Aminadav, the man who had the guts to trust God and test the waters, the man who leapt into the Red Sea confident that his people would be able to cross, the man who showed the children of Israel the path to their destiny.
Wednesday-Friday War News: 2 Gaza Rockets and IDF Retaliation; IDF Nabs 6 Terrorists, Attempted Terrorist Infiltration of Beit Hagai Foiled, Molotovs and Stonings at Kalkilya, Azoun, Karnei Shomron, Lower Galilee
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Gaza: Palestinian Gunmen Launch Rocket into Israel; No Casualties
Kassam Hits Eshkol Region [Wednesday Night]; None Hurt
IDF Troops Arrest Five Palestinian [Terrorists] Fugitives
Terrorist Killed in Jewish Town [Beit Hagai] Near Hevron, by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (Israel National News)
Related report: Samarian Firebomb Attack
Recent Chol HaMo’ed War News: Egypt Hits Hamas, Hezbollah in Sinai, Gaza for Own Defense Reasons, Gaza Boat Loaded with Explosives Blows Up; Bedouin Smuggler to Hamas Indicted, 13 Terrorists Nabbed, Stonings and Harrassment in Old City, Hevron, Ramle, Arabs Stone Rabbi Sternbuch’s Car — Rabbi Unharmed
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Commentary:
Is Egypt “On the job”, or do her recent actions against Hamas and Hezbollah constitute one-time validation? How many tunnels continue operation under Egypt’s nose?
Is it possible that these recent actions reflect nothing more than Egypt acting against Hezbollah out of concern for her own national security regarding threat posed by Iran and Hezbollah and their alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood and possible strategic strikes by Iranian agents against Egypt’s economic lifeline? (MB)
Parsha Shemini 5769 — Gauging the Sincerity of a Jew’s Service
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We learn in Parsha Tzav that for seven days, Moshe taught Aaron HaKohen and his sons the laws of their Avodah in the Mishkan. (You might say that they were given OJT from Shemayim.)
Our Parsha Shemini begins by relating that on the eighth day, Aaron and his sons commenced their Avodah HaKodosh. And it is interesting and ironic that our parsha is the other side of the term; “Tzav-Shemonah” which is the document or order issued by the Israel Defense Forces calling reservists to active duty in event of war.
Monday, Tuesday War News: Hamas Seeks ‘Mega Tunnels’ to Bring Rockets to Hit Tel Aviv; 24 Terrorists Nabbed in 2 Days, Firebombs and Rock Attacks — Jewish Driver Injured, Terror Infiltration Foiled Near Elon Moreh, Explosives, Weapons Seized in Umm el-Fahm
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Hamas Needs Smuggling ‘Mega Tunnels’ [to Smuggle in Larger Rockets], by Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Excerpt:
“Rockets that Hamas would like to get its hands on include the long-range Iranian-made Fajr, which has a range of 70 km. and could reach as far as the outskirts of Tel Aviv. Unlike the Grad-model Katyusha, which is 2 meters long, the Fajr is close to 10 m. and is not easy to assemble if smuggled into Gaza in components.”
IDF Arrests 19 Terror Suspects in Judea and Samaria [in the Jenin, Shechem and Hevron Areas]
Friday, Shabbos, Sunday War News: IDF Foils Bomb Plot at Gaza Border, Kill Female Terrorist Who Shot at Negev Base; IDF Nabs 5 Terrorists, Arabs Toss Molotov at Jewish Car Near Shechem
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IDF Kills Terrorists Who Planted Bomb at Gaza Border
Border Police Shoot Dead 16 Year Old Female Bedouin Terrorist [Who Fired at Them at Negev Base], by Gil Ronen (Israel National News)
IDF Captures Terror Suspect Near Shechem
Soldiers Arrest Four Wanted Terrorists [in Ramallah Area]
Palestinians Throw Molotov Cocktail at Israeli Car[Near Shechem]; No Wounded
The Korban Pesach: Hashem’s Modern-Day Tests of Emunah?
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Rabbi Chaim Zev Malinowitz has repeatedly urged our Kehilla to internalize the Yetziyat Mitzriyim — the B’nai Ysrael’s leaving Mitzriyim, to internalize, to feel, to make part of our very being and our daily lives that “I am a Jew who left Egyptian enslavement.”
In giving much thought to our leaving Mitzriyim, it seems that integral to the Yetziyat Mitzriyim is that the Jews took the Korban Pesach — Egyptian lambs, an Egyptian deity, tied it to the bedpost overnight, slaughtered it, took its blood and applied it to their doorposts and devoured it on the night before they left Mitzriyim.
Dayenu 5769: The Korban Pesach; Its Modern-Day Sequels?
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This year will mark fourteen years, and my eleventh Pesach in Eretz Yisrael, in which I have emailed, as it has become tradition with me from prior to my Aliyah, the rendition of Dayenu quoted from the book “Dear Brothers.” In each year, Dayenu holds a unique perspective, unlike the perspective of any previous year.
And so, the lessons of Dayenu are vital now, just as they were in the first year that I emailed this vort out or, for that matter, as vital as they were when it was quoted in Segal’s compilation of the book in its copyright year 1988.