1) It's a good sign when Bloomberg is willing to run a piece entitled "Lockdown Critics May Have Some Valid Points." I applaud the writer for at least being willing to consider arguments that the mainstream media have shut out and that most of our community leadership chooses to ignore.
2) When the kohen gadol does avodah on Y"K, he goes to mikveh before and after changing from the bigdei zahav to bigdei lavan and then again before and after changing back from bigdei lavan to bigdei zahav. Chasam Sofer asks: the k"g needs to go to mikveh before putting on bigdei lavan because it is a step up in kedusha -- these are the garments worn to enter kodesh kodashim -- but why does he need to go to mikveh when he changes back to the bigdei zahav which are just used for ordinary avodah?
Chasam Sofer answers that after doing avodah in the bigdei lavan, after having an experience of intense kedusha, even ordinary tasks take on a new light and must be done with greater intensity and kedusha. Switching back to bigdei zahav is not a step down, but needs to be a step up as well.
Like I've said from Day #1, when we eventually do leave the bunker, we need to return to our daily routine, to our bigdei zahav, with greater energy, focus, and kedusha, not return to things as they were before. We need to grow from the experience and take a step up.
3) U'mi'zaracha lo titein l'ha'avir laMolech v'chilalta es shem Hashem Elokecha... Seforno and Ramban explain that since korbanos to Hashem consist only of animals, if a person offers to Molech something even more precious, namely his children, it is a chilul Hashem, as it shows that he places more importance in Molech than in HKB"H.
This is a lesson in life -- where you put your kochos and energy, what you are willing to sacrifice for, shows what you value most. If a person spends 30 minutes davening lifelessly through a blatt from an English gemara but then spends 3 hours arguing passionately on facebook or twitter about all kinds of shtuyos, what does that say about which he values more? He's putting Molech first, and that's the chilul Hashem. And it's not just a matter of the time invested. It's also a matter of attitude. One person might spend 12 hours a day at work and have only a small window to learn because his dream and ambition is to make it to the top of the corporate ladder, while another person might spend the same 12 hours at work and have a small window to learn because he needs to pay tuition bills, a mortgage etc., but that small window of learning time is his whole chiyus, it's his "ki heim chayeinu." The first person can't stop talking about what new project will lead to his next promotion; the second person can't stop talking about R' Akiva Eiger's kashe on a Tosfos. What's keva and what's aray? What's the ikar and what's the tafeil? What are you passionate about and what is just something you do because you have to? Daveing, learning, chessed are not just items on a checklist that we have to do each day, but they have to be the #1 priority, they have to be things we are invested in more than anything else that takes up our time and energy.
-- "1)" & "2)"
ReplyDeleteactually, the k"g goes into legitimate "Lockdown" for the 7 days prior to Y"K, then leaves his "bunker" for a day of costume changes. bunkers then, not equal to the kodesh kodashim, but a preparation for it, when one had best dress zahav for the corporation, and then, if only briefly, lavan for the beis midrash [+ "3)"] {make everyday a Y"K! (though with food and drink and patent leather shoes...)}
-- "3)"
can't "korbanos" that "consist only of animals" make "a chilul Hashem"? if, for example, one offers a lamb la's'irim* (17:7)? why then does the Torah mention chilul with regard to Molech at 18:21 (es-shem), and even more at 20:3 (es-shem kadshi)?
because by involvement of children, His anointed ones, 116:22 (divrei ha'yamim I, on Shabbos 119b), the damage becomes far-reaching: 7 pesukim later, at 116:29, families of peoples are called to glorify G-d's Name. if children of the chosen people are being passed to a priest of Molech [as to a swimming instructor], can the families of all the earth in their turn answer that call?
*which "shows that he places more importance in [a demon]...than in HKB"H"