Newsletter Parshas Tzav in memory of the 8 bochurim of Mercaz Harav zt"l

B"H

Q & A on the Parsha

Pasuk: And the Cohen shall don his fitted linen tunic...and he shall remove the ashes(Shmos 6:3)
Question: What is the significance of the mitzva of removing the ashes from the altar?
Answer: When a person sins, he must offer a korban and also do teshuva. He regrets his past and resolves to be better in the future. According to Halocha(Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 228:4) it is forbidden to remind a penitent of his past. The Torah alludes to this with the mitzva of the removal of the ashes. After the karban has been sacrificed on the alter, only the ashes are left. Removing, the ashes teaches us that a person can start over with a clean slate, with no trace remaining of sin
Pasuk: And the flesh of the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace-offering; on the day of his offering it shall be eaten(Shmos 7:15)
Question: Ussually an offering of lesser sanctity(kadashim kallim) such as the karban shelamim-peace offering-may be eaten for two days and one night; Why is the karban toda-thanksgiving peace offering-limited to one day and the succeding night?
Answer: A thanksgiving peace-offering is brought in recognition of a miracle that was done by Hashem on behalf of the individual. Miracles happen daily and continuously, as we say in the Amidah "and for the miracles which are with us daily," Limiting the time when the karban toda may be eaten teaches that each day one should see and appreciate the new miracles Hashem constantly performs on his behalf.
Pasuk: And Aharon and his sons did all the things which G-d commanded through Moshe(Shmos 8:36)
Question: Rashi writes "This declares their praise that they did not turn to the right or to the left" What kind of praise is this for such distinguished spiritual luminaries, that they fulfilled the will of Hashem?
Answer: Often when a person is asked to be a shliach tzibur or to deliever a Torah thought, he humbly shakes his head, expressing a sense of unworthiness. By moving his head to the left and to the right, he is in effect sying "who am I to perform such a prominant task?"
The praise of Aharon and his sons was that when they received a command, they immediately set out to do it without moving their heads "to the right and to the left", demonstrating pseudo-humility and expecting to be prevailed upon a second time.

Chassidic Thought for the Week:

Regard yourself as nothing, as the Gemara (Sotah 21b) interprets the verse "Wisdom shall be found from 'nothing.'" (Job 28:12).This means that you are to regard yourself as if you are not in this world, thus "what is there to gain from people esteeming you?"

Halachos of the Week: Laws of Rosh Chodesh

On Rosh Chodesh it is permitted to perform melacha(work) and women who have a custom not to perform any work is a good minhag(custom)

Laws of fasting on Rosh Chodesh:
1: Its forbidden to fast on Rosh Chodesh
2: We don't decree a fast on the community on Rosh Chodesh Chanuk and Purim and if it was decreed to fast a certain amount of days we start them before Rosh Chodesh.
3: If an individual took upon themself to fast a certain amount of days and Rosh Chodesh came up or if he took upon himself to fast on Rosh Chodesh, if he accepted the fast in the language of taking upon yourself the fast he doesn't need a hatara(permission), but if he accpeted it in the language of "Harai alai" which is the language of promises he needs a hatars chocham(permission from a Rabbi not to fast)

General:
* Its a mitzva to increae your meal on Rosh Chodesh(festive meal)
* We mention yaale v'yavo in bentching and if one forgot we don't remind him. If he remembered before he started the brocha of "hatov v'maitiv" he says boruch shenosan(shenatan) roshei chodashim l'amo yisroel l'zikaron.

If you would like to receive this newsletter via email please send us an email at projectachdus08@gmail.com

Project Achdus

B"H

As we are all aware on Thursday night, 6 March 2008, a tragic event took place. 8 yeshiva bochurim were murdered in Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav; known as the heart of Religious Zionism. This attack has had a personal effect on me, as I lost a friend there that night, and i have decided to initiate a project in memory of the 8 bochurim, a project that encompasses everything that they were hoping to work towards. In order to preserve their memory, a few friends and I have developed a plan of building a Beis Medrash. A place where people could gather at all hours of the night to discuss Torah and learn. A place where people can come together and learn about their heritage from many aspects and angles.

The location for this Beis Medrash is in Uganda. The community there are converting Orthodox and we have been doing work with them for some time now with the permission and guidance from major Rabbonim. (We have built a poultry farm and now working on a well and Mikva) We chose them because they have a thirst for Torah and learning, but sadly they don't have access to the books, learning materials and resources that they need to quench this thirst. They also associate strongly with the Mercaz HaRav and being a Religious Zionist and they seek to approach Torah from every angle. They want to learn from everything and grow in the Torah knowledge and also in their Avodas Hashem.

This project is called "Project Achdus" as it aims to unite Jews around the world and our target is to be completed by June 2008. At times like these we don't need to sit back and blame others; we need to unite and to do something positive. We know that when the Jewish nation unites, nothing can stand in our way. We are asking for the Jewish organisations on campus/youth groups/shuls and any Jewish organisation to ask their members for a donation of just $1 (or 1 pound if in England) each, sort of like machtzis hashekel. This action will accomplish a few things.

Firstly, achdus as it will be uniting Jews of all walks of life regardless of religious affiliation and observance
Secondly, it will be causing Jews to do an extra mitzva in memory of the 8 bochurim
Thirdly, it will help us to build the Beis Medrash and thereby allow a community of 150 to learn the Torah they so desperately seek and allow the memory of the 8 bochurim and what they stood for to live on.

I encourage you to join us with this project and to help us to help others. If you have any questions or comments (always welcome), please feel free to drop me an email and I will reply as soon as possible. The list of people joining this project is growing! Check out our blog: www.projectachdus.blogspot.com

Yasher Koach and hoping to hear from you soon:)


--
Alon Asefovitz
Project Achdus Head