Libi BaMizrach

The odds are very high that there will not be any sermons delivered in shuls this coming Shabbat.  However, if sermons were to be delivered, the odds are even higher that they would center around the quarantine that is imposed on a Metzora, the central topic of this week’s double sedra . Given the unusual immediacy that this topic has for us, perhaps it would be instructive to think about what they might mean for us in the world of social distancing.  I will follow the masterful treatment of Rav Samson R Hirsch, who provides a compelling discussion of what Tzara’at , and all forms of Tumaah (spiritual defilement). As you may have noticed, I did not translate Tzara’at as Leprosy, because, as Rav Hirsch conclusively proves from the details of the halachot; it has NOTHING to do with that awful contagious disease. To cite one example, a person who is a metzora on their entire body from head to toe is tahor and NOT subject to quarantine, which makes no sense at all if the purp...

What an unusual Pesach! As I wrote on Erev Pesach , although there was much about the impending Pesach that was negative, there was much room for hope as well.  Unfortunately, despite the hopes of many, it does not look like Mashiach will arrive before the end of Yom Tov. And yet more people passed away, and more were reported sick, although we are told that the curve is flattening.  I was once again disappointed by our leadership – with PM Netanyahu, President Rivlin (and gadfly Liberman who was hypocritically true to form) all violating the rules against having family that they enforced on everyone else. But Pesach was undoubtedly much better than in Bergen Belsen.  And while we did not have a Chol HaMoed Tiyul, just going to the meadow near our home in Lavon was glorious.  And there were many online activities and chances to be together, from Shiurim to concerts, museum tours, and virtual hikes, and best of all family Zoomzitzes!   And...

The last time that I would normally be sitting down to write is Erev Pesach afternoon – usually the busiest day of the year.  So, I will keep it brief, but I've got to get this out. Baruch Hashem, the news in Eretz Yisroel is terrible, but not awful.  There are at this moment 72 deaths so far in the Holy Land, and many are sick.  But compared to what is going on in the communities that I lived in for a long time in America, … what can one say?  I just got off the phone with my sister, whose brother in law passed this morning.  His wife is in the ICU and does not yet know רח"ל.  The funeral of the Novominsker Rebbe this morning, three friends last week, including a husband and wife to whom I was very close.  I have several very sick relatives, I could go on, but those in America know of the carnage far better than me. Yet, tonight we are to celebrate ליל שימורים, the Night of Special Protection, when Hashem watched over us like no other time, while ...