Thursday, April 19, 2007

Ed Hagal Hazeh

1rst Maamar in this unbelievable sefer from Yaakov Moshe Hillel, Rosh Yeshiva of Chevrat Ahavat Shalom. It describes:
- the penimi'is of the first half of sefira,
- the gravity of the loss of R Akiva's students,
-the maylah of Rebbe Akiva's Torah
- the maylah of the five new students of Rebbe Akiva.
-What actually happened on Lag B'omer
-The custom of visiting the Tziyun of Rebbe Shimon on Lag B'omer

http://mysefer.com/product.asp?P_ID=2619&strPageHistory=search&strKeywords=ed%20hagal%20hazeh&numPageStartPosition=1&strSearchCriteria=exact&PT_ID=all

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Likutei Halachos Shomrim/pikadon 4:5

Sefiras Haomer teaches us that all of our days are numbered. We are enjoined never to give up on a day and decide that today it is not good to serve Hashem, nor should we think that a day which we had to deal with things of this world is a lost day either.

Emunas Itecha Shemini 5664

What was the machlokes between Aharon and Moshe?
After the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, Aharon was an onen. We know that the psak that even though an Onen doesn't eat Korbanos, however, korbanos for the miluim were eaten. Aharon held that the Seir of Rosh Chodesh was burned because it was a korban for doros.
Moshe believed that the Seir was supposed to be eaten. Why? Moshe believed that with the construction of the mishkan, the world's repair was complete and this was the last seir to be brought as there was no more chet to be nischaper, therefore this was a unique korban only for the miluim.
After Pesach, we hoped that this would be the nisan that we would be zocheh to be nigal, this would be the final tikun. However, this was not the case.
The entire parsha deals with reminding us that there will be a geulah and a final tikun, even if it doesn't always look like it. This ultimate tikun, is irrepressible, and even would a person fall deep into the tumah, we will be saved.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Pachad Yitzchak Shavuos 38

When R Akiva was imprisoned, R Shimon ben Yochai came and asked to learn from R Akiva. R Akiva refused. R Shimon threatened to have his father report R Akiva to the authorities. R Akiva said (a famous statement) more than the calf wants to nurse the cow wants to feed it. R Shimon said, so is the calf in in danger? Rashi and the Rashbam say this means, so what is it to you.
Rav Hutner asks, R Akiva was already in jail, so what was R Shimon threatenning? Where do we ever see a punishment of death for learning? Rav Hutner says answers that personal learning is one thing, but in case where the masores is going to be lost, that is something entirely different. We know that R Akiva was in prison because he gathered masses together to learn. So why would this be any different. R Akiva believed it was necessary that he teach the masses, lest torah be forgotten, but to teach a single pupil it was not worth endangering R shimon's life. R Shimon said that this is learning which would be forgotten otherwise, and what's it to you as it is my choice to be moser nefesh for to keep the change of the mesores

Pachad Yitzchak Shavous 37

Rav Hutner explains that there is a unique essence of the bris of the aseres hadibros, which requires that we know specifically that it is a bris, and it is nogea to schar v'onesh