Friday, March 18, 2016

Parshas Vayikra - Why Accidents Happen - I'm Coming - Other Exciting News



From an email...
Shalloommm Swweeeeeetest friends!!!

A huuuuuge mazelll tooov to R' Chanan and Atara Aschendorf on the birth of their daughter Esther Bracha!!! This is an UNBELIEVABLE simcha!! May they have limitless nachas from her and many more healthy happy children to come!! A special mazel to the Pollocks and Aschendorfs on the new granddaughter/niece/ cousin etc. etc.!!

A huuuuuuge mazel toov to my beloved friend Yonah Stromer on his engaement to Yael Gruen!! May they merit to build a home filled with simcha, Torah chesed and everything good!!! A special mazel tov to the special Stromer and Gruen families on this great simcha.

Since this is the month of simcha may I bless all of my sweet friends that you merit to have your own simchas in addition to taking part in the smachos of others!

I have my own simcha - the new sefer Nagila Vi-nismicha! I attached a digital copy [it is part Hebrew part English] as a SPECIAL bonus to my beloved friends. The dedications appear at the beginning of the Hebrew part of the sefer. I hope I didn't leave anybody out. If I did - my lawyer will meet your lawyer and we will work things out....

Those who would like the sefer in hard copy - I AM COMING TO THE U.S. AFTER PURIM IMY"H - until Pesach, and hope to bring some sefarim with me. The purpose of my trip is to raise funds for a HUUUUUGE mitvza. If I don't raise the money CHAS VI-SHALOM then there will be no money and the mitzva will be in big trouble - CHAS VI-SHALOM again!! That is why I am coming. While there - I am happy to give shiurim [as on my previous sojourns] so if you are interested in organizing one, it would be a great kavod to deliver it.


Those who would like to have the zchus of being a partner in this mitzva may donate directly to me in Israel or when I am in the U.S., to my N.Y. based contact, or on-line. For more information you may contact me. Thank you and TIZKU LI-MITZVOS BELOVED FRIENDS!!!

This dvar Torah is dedicated to the refuah shleima of Naomi bas [Hatzadakes Hagedola] Tova and Eliyana Rina Bas Elazar Yaakov. 

And a shidduch and limitless success for my best and most beloved friend - Moshe Yehuda ben Pesha Dina!

And for R' Aharon Yisrael ben Moshe Mordechai - ה' ימלא כל משאלות לבו לטובה!!

Also to the salvation of HaRav HaGaon Rav Mordechai Gimpel ben Chaya Avigail who donated 600 kilo of matza to families in need as a zchus for himself that those who are trying to destroy him don't succeed. 

In Parshas Vayikra we read about a korban that a person brings when he sins by accident - bi-shogeg. The question is - why should he bring a korban? He had no bad intentions?? Cut him some slack!!

The answer - but first a story....

A woman and a man are involved in a car accident. Both of their cars are totally demolished but amazingly neither of them are hurt.

After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says, "Wow, look at our cars! There's nothing left but fortunately we are unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and then marry and live together in peace for the rest of our days."

The man replied, "I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God!"

The woman takes a bottle of wine from her car and puts the cap back on. She continued, "And look at this, here's another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune."

Then she hands the bottle to the man. The man nods his head in agreement, opens it and takes a few swigs from the bottle and then hands it back to the woman. She shook her head and hands it back to the man.

The man asks, "Aren't you having any?"

The woman replies, "No. I think I'll just wait for the police..."

The Torah is teaching us a very important lesson. When we sin, it does not come out of a vacuum. There is something in our subconscious that caused us to sin. We are not totally free of the guilt associated with the sin because deep in our psyche we are not convinced that this sin is so terrible. Accidents don't just happen. There are deeper reasons. [Rav Charlap ztz"l]

This might explain the nusach of our vidui - על חטא שחטאנו לפניך באונס וברצון. We ask Hashem to forgive us for sins committed both on purpose and completely by accident. When a person sins באונס it is less their fault than even a shogeg and yet there is a need for confession and a request for Divine grace. Why is that? אונס רחמנא פטריה exclaims the gemara. No punishment is mandated for cases of אונס!! Indeed that is true. But after all is said and done there is some subconscious connection to this sin that made it possible. 

For example - sometimes we just "forget" to do a mitzva. OK, we are only human. But do we forget to get dressed after a shower??? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! We have to dig deep and see from where the indiscretion emerged. 

Purim teaches us the same lesson. We drink עד דלא ידע - until we have no more intellectual acuity. Why? The answer is that we want to show ourselves that on a דעת totally conscious level, we sometimes sin. But on a "supra conscious" level, we are pure as can be. That is what merits us a redemption from all of the Haman's of history even when our deeds are not up to par. 

May we all have a delicious Shabbos and an uplifting Purim and CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU WHEN I GET TO THE STATES!


Good Shabbos-Good Shabbos!!!!


Bi-ahava rabba,


Me