Emor 5782 – An Exercise Program to “Boost” Your Shabbos
לכבוד שמחת הנישואין של יוסף חיים בן דינה ומלכה בת רחל מרים ובהתחלת בנין בית נעמן בישראל
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Shiur presented in 5781
לכבוד שמחת הנישואין של יוסף חיים בן דינה ומלכה בת רחל מרים ובהתחלת בנין בית נעמן בישראל
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Shiur presented in 5781
Sponsored Anonymously Visit YTATorah.org Shiur presented in 5781
The month of Elul is a month for introspection and becoming aware of what one’s challenges are in this world. Do you know what our biggest challenge is? The biggest challenge that everybody has in this world is the same one. I share the same challenge as all of you. We both share a common enemy, and that enemy’s name is yeitzer hara or as the chassidim say yaitzer hurah or as the Sefardim say yeitzer ha-rah. But whatever the name is, however you pronounce it, it’s all the same thing, it’s the same enemy.
Parshas Shemini is broken up into two sugyos. Sugya number one is about the miluim. The parshah begins by relating what took place on the eighth day of the miluim, the inauguration of the Mishkan. You know when that was? Rosh Chodesh Nisan. There are actually a number of parshiyos in the Torah that discuss what transpired on Rosh Chodesh Nisan. More events transpired on Rosh Chodesh Nisan than any other day of the year. I’m not saying the biggest events but more things transpired on Rosh Chodesh Nisan than happened on any other day. Our parshah discusses the inauguration aspect of the Mishkan.
In this week’s parshah, the Torah tells us how the meraglim returned from their tour in Eretz Yisrael and brought back a bad report. Initially, they were very diplomatic; they didn’t say it openly. What they did, was they hinted to it. They spoke about the strength of the great nation that was in Eretz Yisrael. They compared their strength to that of Klal Yisrael. But anybody who could add one plus one would have asked themselves, “What chance do we have against such odds?” In this way, the meraglim created a feeling that it was a helpless matzav.
The Torah allots two parshiyos, Tazria and Metzora, to discuss nega’im, tzaraas. Chazal tell us that one of the main reasons nega’im and tzaraas come is for lashon hara. You have to understand, if the Torah makes such a fuss and elaborates to such a degree over the onshim of lashon hara, it behooves us to contemplate once in a while about the seriousness of nega’im and lashon hara. Therefore, Moshe warned Am Yisrael, when he said to them, ‘This shall be the law for a metsora – the law of the one that gives out a bad name.
In the beginning of Parshas Vayeitzei, the Torah tells us about Yaakov Avinu. The Medrash Rabbah (68:2) comments on the first pasuk, ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע, as follows. The medrash says that Yaakov Avinu began saying some Tehillim. You know which Tehillim he said? The Tehillim that he said was שיר למעלות אשא עיני אל ההרים, I lift up my eyes to the harim (Tehillim 121:1).