Today the seventh of Av is the Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Jerry Robbins. I hereby post a recent email:
This is a special week. I am going, with G-d's help, to finish Meseches Ksubos that was learned in the memory of the late [not to shul, he was in fact quite punctual] great Rabbi Jerry Robbins, 'R' Yaakov Shlomo ben Dov Ber' who passed away two years ago before tishba b'av at the age of 93. Rabbi Robbins had a storied lifetime. He was born in California and received his semicha from the Hebrew Theological College [in Skokie] in 1942. He then served as a chaplain in the United States army. The last 15 years or so of his life he lived in Israel where he served as the Rabbi of the Shmuel Meir Synagouge at Kikar Safra where I was often the baal tfilla and annoyed the heck out of him with my singing. I often managed to daven loud enough that people could have thought that I was the chazan even when I wasn't. He liked that even less. We were chavrusas and it was amazing to see how quick and supple of mind this elderly man was until just about the end. It was inspiring to see the geshmak he got out of learning Torah. He is missed by many. He was never zoche to get married and have children so it is a special mitzva to learn Torah and do mitzvos in his memory. If you would like to take upon yourself a limmud in his memory please tell me.
I will have a "virtual siyum" in this email which also connects to the parsha. Please feel free to have a festive meal and join me. Sort of lonely having nobody at my siyyum so I send the email to millions and we all join together. When you are connected in the heart, geography doesn't separate between you.
In Parshas Massei it says והורשתם את הארץ וישבתם בה כי לכם נתתי את הארץ לרשת אותה - לג נג You should banish the residents of the land and settle it for I gave you the land to inherit it. This is a clear Torah command to capture and live in Israel. There is a mitzva to live in Israel but there is an additional mitzva to love Israel. We see this from the gemara at the end of Ksubos that relates that Rebbe Acha would kiss the stones of Akko. The gemara goes on to relate that Rebbe Chiya would roll around in the dust of Eretz Yisrael as it says [in tehillim] כי רצו עבדיך את אבניה ואת עפרה יחננו - Because Your servants desire your stones and its dust found favor in their eyes. Beautiful. "Ooooooood loooooooo aaaaavdaaaaaa tiiikkvateeeeeiiinuuuuu". But wait. There is the strangest Rashi on this gemara. He doesn't explain anything. He just copies the pasuk כי רצו עבדיך את אבניה ואת עפרה יחננו. That's it. Now Rashi's job is not to copy but to explain. We already saw the pasuk in the gemara. So odd. But it's the holy Rashi so he must be teaching us something....
Explained Mori Vi-rabi the Tolna Rebbe Shlita what he heard from the Gerrer Rebbe, the Beis Yisrael: The gemara explained Rebbe Chiya's behavior from the passuk and writes שנאמר - as it says. Rashi omits the שנאמר. Meaning, Rebbe Chiya didn't artificially roll around in the dust of Eretz Yisrael because there is a pasuk to that effect. He did so because he lived the pasuk. One cannot compare loving someone because the pasuk says to do so, with loving somebody naturally. Rebbe Chiya loved Eretz Yisrael so much he didn't need the pasuk to tell him to roll around in it's dust.
Wonder of wonders.
.[Maybe Ksubos concludes with discussions about the importance of Israel because the theme of the masechta is building a home and marriage and the only true home is in Israel, to the extent that one spouse may force the other to make Aliya].
The pasuk tell us ואהבת לרעך כמוך - meaning that just as you don't love yourself because there is a pasuk that tell you to but naturally, so you should love your friend. An important message for this period when we remember the Beis Hamikdash which was destroyed because of sinas chinam.
Hadran Alach Meseches Ksubos Vi-hadrach Alahn. Bar Pappa, Bar Pappa, Pappa Pappa and more Pappa!! I love drinking Li-chaims at a [wedding] Bar and I love my Pappa! Bar Pappa!!! Now a lot of aramiac which most mesayimim mumble and make numerous mistakes. So I won't even try. MAZEL TOOOOVVV!! May we all be zoche to finish many masechtas together [our skype yeshiva is quite active Baruch Hashem so it doesn't matter where you are], ללמוד וללמד לשמור ולעשות - now a virtual rikkud.
אשרי מי שגדל בתורה ועמלו בתורה ועושהההההה נחת רווווחח נחחחחחת רווווווווח ליווווווצרווווווו
