Parshas Achrei Mos
NISAN, 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,
Rav Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer (1815–1871), was the son of the Chasam Sofer and was known by the name of his sefer, Ksav Sofer. He was one of the leading rabbis of Hungarian Jewry in the second half of the nineteenth century and was the rosh hayeshiva of the renowned Pressburg Yeshiva.
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The pasuk in this week’s parsha states:
אֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַ֧י תַּֽעֲשׂ֛וּ וְאֶת־חֻקֹּתַ֥י תִּשְׁמְר֖וּ לָלֶ֣כֶת בָּהֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י ה' אֱלֹֽקיכֶֽם
(יח:ד)
“You shall fulfill My ordinances and observe My statutes, to follow them. I am the L-rd, your G-d”
Many sefarim note that only angels can remain in one spiritual level. However humans are always either progressing or regressing in their spiritual status in Torah and yiras Shamayim.
This concept is suggested in the passuk -ללכת בהם״”. We must decide if we are going to elevate ourselves through the mitzvos, and if not, we are spiritually descending.
The כתב סופר explains that the mishnah in Maseches Sotah eludes to this.
The Mishnah states: דור שבן דוד בא,נערים פני זקנים ילבינו,זקנים יעמדו מפני הנערים. The generation that will precede Moshiach, will comprise of youngsters embarrassing their elders, and the elders standing before the youngsters.
Meaning, because the youngsters will treat their elders in a diminishing manner, this will prevent the elders from elevating themselves to higher spiritual levels. This is because their growth is being impeded by their treatment from these youngsters, as we need strength to growand this is impossible in such an environment. If they are ‘standing’ before the youngsters, they can’t move upward!
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