ד“בס Issue 534 - Beha’alotcha

שבת מציון

6 Sivan, June 6th ,5774 2014

Moshe didn’t know which capital punishment he deserved

until G-d came and told him. The blasphemer - Moshe didn’t

know what to do with the man who “blessed” G-d until G-d

ordered that he shall be stoned. Pinchas and the act of Zimri -

even though Moshe taught that “he who defiles an Aramaic

women, fanatics will hurt him”, the Halachah was lost to

Moshe and he didn’t know how to respond. The daughters of

Tzlofchad - when Moshe asked to hear G-d’s word on the mat-

ter of inheritance by a daughter. The request by the sons of

Gad, Reuven and half of the tribe of Menashe to reside on

the eastern bank of the Jordan River rather than reside on

the western bank of the river. is there a connection between

these incidents? There definitely is. There is one common de-

nominator that appears in all of these incidents, and it

is Yosef. Not Yosef the man but Yosef the idea, the concept he

represents - the nationality of Am Yisrael. Now we will reveal

how the idea of the idea of nationhood appears in every one of

the incidents: Intercalation of the month is an expression of

the nation’s power to decide on Halachic matters.The Meno-

rah expresses the unity of the Israeli nation as its made from

“one piece”. The Half Shekel points to unity and being re-

sponsible for every man and friend. The wood chopper, who

was Tzlofchad from the tribe of Menashe which represents

Yosef, and also it was his daughters who asked to inherit

land in Israel as an integral part of the nation. The blas-

phemer is from the tribe of Dan, who is the son of Bilhah,

who was given to Yaakov by Rachel before the birth of Yosef.

Thus Dan is connected to the origins of Yosef in relation to

the tribes. In other words, there are matters in the Torah

that were intentionally not conveyed to Moshe, who repre-

sents Torah and Religion, since Moshe did not have any rele-

vance to them. These are topics that are relevant to the na-

tion as a nation. Similarly, we find Yehoshua, who is from

Shevet Efraim, son of Yosef. He is the one who brings the Is-

raelites into the land of Israel and he bequeaths the land to

the people. Only a descendant of Yosef can utilize the power

of a nation as whole, as expressed by a military conquest.

Sadly throughout history we have had clashes between these

two forces:

*) the power of the nation - nationality.

*) the power of the Torah - holiness.

Famously, the schism reached a peak in the times of the

kings, in the days of Shlomo and Yerovam, when the king-

dom split into two separate kingdoms.Rav Kook zt”l, in his

eulogy for Binyamin Zev Herzl z”l, wrote that Herzl was a

spark from the power of Mashiach of Shevet Yosef, Since

Herzl sparked a national Zionist revolution.

Today we stand before a great chal-

lenge - how to build the upper, spiritual

level that will synthesize with the na-

tional base built by the Zionist move-

ment. “We can surely go up for we can

indeed overcome it."

In the desert a group of people approached Moshe with a

question: they were unable to celebrate Pesach on time,

and wanted to know if there was any way they can cele-

brate it on another date? At first Moshe didn’t know how to

respond to this request, until G-d taught him the concept

of “Pesach Sheni” (Second Passover). Why is it that on

Pesach we have a second chance to commemorate the day?

If we were unable to do so on time due to impurity or being

too far away from the Temple, aren’t we exempt? Moreover,

we know that “if a person has the intention to do the Mitz-

vah, but wasn’t able and fulfil it, it is considered as if he

fulfilled it”(Kidushin 40A). If that’s true, then why is it

necessary to have an alternative date for Pesach? Interest-

ingly, all our holidays relate somehow to Pesach. We even

mention it on Shabbat in Kiddush - “a memorial of the

exodus from Egypt”. This is due to the fact that the exodus

from Egypt is what defined us as a special nation, even

before the event where we accepted the Torah. our national

definition is different from other nations. other nations

are built up of individuals who were bound together

around a religious, historical or even geographical idea. On

the other hand, the Israeli nation is built by the nation as a

whole, and not by individuals. Only as a nation as a whole

were we given the additional stature of the Torah. This is

why it was so important for each and every member of

Bnei Yisrael to celebrate Pesach and fulfill its mitzvot; be-

cause that was our first stage in the process of defining our

Jewish nationality.We still must ask how did Moshe not

know the Halachah of Pesach Sheni? “We are to believe

that Moshe was the chief of all other prophets before and

after him”. That is what the Rambam states in his 13 Prin-

ciples of Faith. Moshe went up to Mount Sinai and received

the Torah from G-d himself throughout 40 days and 40

nights. We believe that “this Torah shall never be re-

placed”, for we believe that there is no change within G-d.

If this is true, we must say that G-d purposely did not re-

veal this detail to Moshe, not just here but in all instances

where Moshe did not know the Halachah. First, lets start

by finding all the places where Moshe didn’t know the Ha-

lachah and needed help from G-d: Yosef’s coffin - Moshe

didn’t know where Yosef’s coffin was, and how he can raise

it, until he asked Serach the daughter of Asher and she

informed him. intercalation of the month - it was difficult

for Moshe to understand how the moon should look during

its renewal, then G-d showed him the appearance of the

new moon and said “this you’ll see and bless”. The Half

Shekel (Machatzit Hashekel) - G-d showed Moshe some

sort of a coin of fire and said “This they shall give, everyone

who goes through the counting”. The construction of the

Menorah - Moshe was not able to produce the Menorah

from one single piece of gold. G-d instructed him to take

the gold and throw it into the fire and the Menorah

emerged, miraculously complete. The wood chopper -

Shabbat Times

Jerusa-

lem

Mem

Begin 19:07 7:53

End 20:25 8:56

Things that even Moshe didn’t know…

Rabbi Meir Maimon - Rosh Kollel, Memphis.

Congratulation to Ori Gelman on his 1st driving license!! It’s about time...

ד“בס - Behaalotcha Page 2

was this your first time overseas or in the US? Yes

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your english

prior to shlichut? 5

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your english

after shlichut? 8

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your hebrew

after shlichut? 10 as always (;

what was your highlight from your year in memphis? Every day was a

highlight Itself

favorite english word? Awesomeness

what will you miss most about memphis?

The kids, the people

what will you take home from this year? The smiles, the sense of com-

munity, the knowledge I can change something - Starting from school

level of someone to his feeling for the rest of the day and more...

any embarrassing stories from your time here? please don’t. I have too

many - A/C, car, talking English in Hebrew classes ,running\yelling in

the hallways too many times, etc etc...

where do you see yourself in 10 years? Either the president of The

United States, or Batman.

who from the gang will be the first to marry? Ori - he’s the oldest and it

needs to be someone, so..

was this your first time overseas or in the US?

Yes

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your english

prior to shlichut? 9

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your english

after shlichut? 9.5

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your hebrew after shlichut? 9

what was your highlight from your year in memphis? Getting to know

everybody, working with AMAZING people and making new friends!

what will you miss most about memphis? The community, the sense of

belonging, the chance to make a difference and the endless love to-

ward us and Israel.

what will you take home from this year? I wish I could take everyone

back with me to Israel!

any embarrassing stories from your time here? OMGOSH! To many!

From forgetting names to talking too loud in the hallways in school or

in the lobby of shul. From getting lost on the way to places and arriv-

ing just a bit too late to trying to figure out family connections..

where do you see yourself in 10 years? In a big conference room ith

floor to ceiling windows overlooking the ocean, running my own com-

pany, while my PA brings me my coffee, or maybe a Mossad secret

agent.

who from the gang will be the first to marry? Ortal

was this your first time overseas or in the US?

yes

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your english

prior to shlichut? before i came i thought it was

7.5 but it actually was 5..

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your english

after shlichut? 8

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your hebrew after shlichut? 10,

and will always be.. ;)

what was your highlight from your year in memphis?

to rediscover how people are so nice and really care for us.

favorite english word?

what will you miss most about memphis? Accomplishment

The children’s smile, and having sunday off!

what will you take home from this year?

I wish i can take the whole community with me, so I’ll wait for the

day that you’ll make Aa

any embarrassing stories from your time here? ohhh ya, too many. if

I will start I won’t ever finish… The worst is that people suspect that

I speak Spanish- even giving me forms to fill out in Spanish and

coming up to me in the stores and start speaking to me in Spanish,

and I have NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE SAYING!!!

where do you see yourself in 10 years? In Israel!!

who from the gang will be the first to marry? Gila Urison

Ortal Sasy

Maayan Malka Gila Urison

Stav Cohen

was this your first time overseas or in the US? Yes

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your english prior

to shlichut? 4

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your english after

shlichut? 6

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your hebrew after

shlichut? 10 (Thanks to all Hebrew classes)

what was your highlight from your year in memphis?

To works as one unit of shlichim.

favorite english word? Great!

what will you miss most about memphis?

To the amazing and rare community life and the great people

what will you take home from this year?

After the fact that I’ll hide Ricki Krupp in my suitcase, the notion that no

matter how good life is here, the no place like Israel.

any embarrassing stories from your time here? There’s so many, lets just

say that in our first week here, I pulled out of the parking spot and went

into steve sims’ car.

where do you see yourself in 10 years?

In Israel, having fun, working and enjoying family life.

who from the gang will be the first to marry? Maayan. don’t believe any-

one who says differently!

Bs”d Beha’alotcha Page 3

was this your first time overseas or in the

US? yes

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your eng-

lish prior to shlichut?6

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your eng-

lish after shlichut? 7.5

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your hebrew after shlichut?

10

what was your highlight from your year in memphis? every

single day was so special for me an satisfied

favorite english word? upside down (because it’s so direct

instead of :Hafuch??)

what will you miss most about memphis? Chavruta with

Akiva Sommer Bentzi kampf&Ahron Knobel

what will you take home from this year? I learned a lot about

Human Relations, so this is what I will take, ah, also a new

classical guitar that i bought

any embarrassing stories from your time here?

the last one was..In the middle of a shiuor that

Rabbi Miamon delivered on Shavuos I came in

and took his notes...for some reason i thought it

was the sources sheets..

where do you see yourself in 10 years? Nor-

mally learning&working wife&kids בעז”ה

who from the gang will be the first to marry?

Me..because...

was this your first time overseas or in the US?

Nope, lost count!

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your english

prior to shlichut?

I was raised by my parents to be modest so I’ll

say 15!

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your english after shlichut? 10

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your hebrew after shlichut?If

you ask me 10, if you ask Yehuda he’ll say 7.5

what was your highlight from your year in memphis?

Yom kippur in the Jewish Home and Yom Ha’atzmaut

favorite english word? Eretz Yisroel

what will you miss most about memphis?

The strong and tight community, knowing that no matter what

happens somebody will help you

what will you take home from this year?

I would like to take Rabbi Whitlin, but i think that’s easier said

then done

any embarrassing stories from your time here?

where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Hopefully not living with my parents

who from the gang will be the first to marry?

Stav (because she’s the youngest)

Yehuda Katzav Ori Gelman

was this your first time overseas or in the US? yes

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your english prior

to shlichut? 4

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your english after

shlichut? 8

on a scale from 1 to 10, how was your hebrew after

shlichut? lets just say that i started counting in english when i was exer-

cising in the JCC

what was your highlight from your year in memphis? I guess Yom Kippur

in the Jewish Home, Purim and the Yom`s.

favorite english word? superfluous (Thanks to Yonatan cooper that taught

me a new word every day)

what will you miss most about memphis?

i learned from scratch the term “community” and how much Jewish life is

affected first and foremost by the power and bond there is between friends

what will you take home from this year?

one more full suitcase then i came with

any embarrassing stories from your time here? in the Tu Bishvat Seder in

Shechter i told the kids to eat a pig when i was really trying to make them

eat the fig

where do you see yourself in 10 years? Somewhere in the Middle East

who from the gang will be the first to marry?me, cause i’m the best look-

ing in the gang

Tzvi Luboshitz

It’s so strange how time flies, cause it feels like just yester-

day we arrived here in Memphis not knowing anyone, who’s who,

and who’s related to who (since y’all are related)

now, ten months later before we leave we want to take a moment and

thank you: firstly, we want to thank the man,who without him we

probably would not be here, David Cooper. Thank you for all your

support and care. we also would like to thank our parents here in

Memphis, Rabbi Meir and Daphna Maimon, thank you for giving a

sense of family, support delicious desserts. we feel bad for the people

who’ll marry us, cause they're gonna have two sets of in-laws.

thank you Rabbi Perl and all the school staff, for giving us the free-

dom to all the crazy activities we decided to do, and giving us the

time to do it. thank you to all the congregations: Baron Hirsch,

Young Israel and ASBEE for keeping the doors open for us for any

activity we wanted to make. also thank you to all the families that

hosted us. you truly showed us what southern hospitality is all about,

and for introducing us to the buffet system. we’ll for sure bring it

back with us to Israel if you think we forgot the students of the Acad-

emy and Shechter, you’ve never been more wrong. thank you for

your patient in understanding what was coming out of our mouths,

for teaching english, and for all your smiles.

whenever you’re in Israel, you’re welcome to our house!

this isn’t the end, it’s only the beginning!

Love

Stav Cohen, Maayan Malka, Ortal Sasy, Gila Urison, Ori Gelman,

Yehuda Katzav and Tzvi Luboshitz

Dear Friends and Family,

ד“בס - Beha’alotcha Page 4

All roads lead home

Thank y’all

EDITOR-IN-CHIF

Rabbi Meir Maimon

MANAGING EDITORS

Yehuda Katzav & Ori Gelman

Hope you enjoyed!