Parshas Korach
TAMUZ, 5779
Interpreting Artifacts
As in the gift of Manna, so it is in the memory of artifacts
After the exodus from Egypt, Hashem gifted the Jews with manna, ’heavenly bread’, to consume during their travels in the wilderness.
Hashem furthermore commanded Moshe:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר משֶׁ֗ה זֶ֤ה הַדָּבָר֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוָּ֣ה הֹ' מְלֹ֤א הָעֹ֨מֶר֙ מִמֶּ֔נּוּ לְמִשְׁמֶ֖רֶת לְדֹרֹֽתֵיכֶ֑ם לְמַ֣עַן יִרְא֣וּ אֶת־הַלֶּ֗חֶם אֲשֶׁ֨ר הֶֽאֱכַ֤לְתִּי אֶתְכֶם֙ בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר בְּהֽוֹצִיאִ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם
“Moses said, This is the thing that the Lord commanded: Let one omerful of it be preserved for your generations, in order that they see the bread that I fed you in the desert when I took you out of the land of Egypt.”
Like the saved Manna, the Torah is providing us with a template to preserve the meaning of the Holocaust artifact.
***********************************************D’VAR TORAH
Dear Friend,
Aish Kodesh was written by Rabbi Klonimos Kalman Shapira, the Piaseczna Rebbe, during the darkest years of the Warsaw Ghetto. Despite his own personal tragedies, Rabbi Shapira continued to be a bastion of faith and inspiration for his fellow Jews as the Nazi persecution ravaged the Ghetto population
~~~~~~~~~~~
The Gemara (Taanis 7a) quotes Rebbe Chanina who says that although he learned much from his teachers and colleagues, he learned the most from his students. By extension, we can say that when we learn Torah, there is a greater revelation in Heaven, where the ultimate Teacher of Torah resides.
This applies to every aspect of learning. When a child learns the alef beis for the first time, this newness creates a hischadshus, a new revelation in Heaven as well. Even when we study something that we have already learned, if we find a chiddush in that same topic, there is a hischadshus in Heaven.
Now, we have a responsibility to learn from everything, even our suffering. Just as we must learn the Torah, which comes from Hashem, we must learn from any form of punishment, which also comes from Him. What is the lesson to be learned affliction? It is to strengthen our emunah – even in the face of suffering, we do not give up our trust and hope in Him.
From this type of learning, there is a greater revelation in Heaven as well. It therefore creates an opportunity for our tefilos to be answered, so that He will send His salvation to allow us to learn in peace and prosperity.
To schedule a school visit or to donate artifacts,
contact Amud Aish at: 718-759-6200 or info@amudaish.org