The Torah reading of Parah (Numbers 19) is added to the weekly reading. Parah details the laws of the "Red Heifer" and the process by which a person rendered ritually impure by contact with a dead body was purified.
(When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, every Jew had to be in a state of ritual purity in time for the bringing of the Passover offering in the Temple. Today, though we're unable to fulfill the Temple-related rituals in practice, we fulfill them spiritually by studying their laws in the Torah. Thus, we study and read the section of Parah in preparation for the upcoming festival of Passover.)
The clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean person... and he shall be clean at evening... [But] he that sprinkles the water of sprinkling... shall be unclean (19:19-21)
All who are involved in the preparation of the Heifer from beginning to the end, become impure, but the Heifer itself purifies the impure! But G‑d says: I have made a chok, decreed a decree, and you may not transgress My decrees.
(Midrash Tanchuma)
The fact that the ashes of the Heifer "purify the contaminated and contaminate the pure" carries an important lesson to us in our daily lives: If your fellow has been infected by impurity and corruption, do not hesitate to get involved and do everything within your power to rehabilitate him. If you are concerned that you may became tainted by your contact with him, remember that the Torah commands the Kohen to purify his fellow Jew, even though his own level of purity will be diminished in the process.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
INVITATION – WEEKLY WOMEN'S ZOOM SHIUR
You are invited to join our interactive women's study group exploring foundations of Judaism.
This week, we will be exploring *'Insights into Pesach- Part 1'*
When: Sunday 31st of March 2024
Time: 6pm-7pm
Speaker: Zipporah Oliver O.A.M.
In memory of Mrs Raizl Cylich OBM
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89208468031?pwd=bEFaMm5Ia2N0YWtPSnc0QXpIT3lpQT09
Please join on Zoom: Meeting ID: 892 0846 8031
Passcode: 613770
Enquiries: 0438-345-770
I look forward to seeing you then!
Warmest regards,
Zipporah.
BS'DMAZAL TOVOn the engagment ofChayala Lipsker(Miami)TO Nochie WolfDovi & Leah Wolf Rabbi Zalman & Chani Lipsker Mazal tov to the Grandparents Don & Debbie Wolf Etty Refson Rivkah Shur Rabbi Sholom Ber & Chani Lipskar |
This being the Shabbat before Purim, on which we celebrate the foiling of Haman the Amalekite's plot to destroy the Jewish people, the weekly Parshah is supplemented with the Zachor reading (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) in which we are commanded to remember the evil of Amalek and to eradicate it from the face of the earth.
"Parshat Zachor" is the second of four special readings added during or immediately before the month of Adar (the other three being "Shekalim", "Parah" and "Hachodesh")
Links:
The Zachor Reading with commentary
More on Who Was Amalek?
The festival of Purim begins at nightfall tonight, and the Megillah (Book of Esther) is read for the first time this evening.
Since the first Megillah reading takes place after Shabbat ends, one should be careful not to travel to the synagogue to hear the reading prior to the end of Shabbat (click here for times), or before saying the special prayer: Blessed Is the One Who Separates Between Holy and Mundane. If one owns his own Megillah scroll, it should be brought to the synagogue prior to Shabbat (since one may not prepare on Shabbat for after Shabbat).
See entries for tomorrow, Adar 14. (In Jerusalem and other ancient walled cities, the festival is observed beginning tomorrow night--see entries for Adar 15.)
NOTE: The "Fast of Esther", usually observed on this date, is moved back this year to the previous Thursday, because of the sanctity of Shabbat (see entry for Adar 11)
Remember what Amalek did to you on the road, on your way out of Egypt. That he encountered you on the way (Deuteronomy 25:17-18)
[The Hebrew word karcha, "encountered you," also translates "cooled you off". Thus the Midrash says:]
What is the incident (of Amalek) comparable to? To a boiling tub of water which no creature was able to enter. Along came one evil-doer and jumped into it. Although he was burned, he cooled it for the others.
So, too, when Israel came out of Egypt, and G‑d rent the sea before them and drowned the Egyptians within it, the fear of them fell upon all the nations. But when Amalek came and challenged them, although he received his due from them, he cooled the awe of them for the nations of the world.
(Midrash Tanchuma)
Amalek is thus the essence of chutzpa, of completely irrational challenge to truth. There are challenges to the truth that are based on rational argument. There are evasions that arise from subjective motives and desires. But then there is "Amalek," who neutralizes the most compelling evidence and chills the most inspiring experience with nothing more than his cynicism and audacity.
There is only one way to defeat Amalek: to remember. Because his challenge is not rational, it cannot be rationally refuted; because it immune to feeling, it cannot be repelled by a rousing of emotion. To counteract Amalek's poison, one must call forth the souls reserves of supra-rational faith, instilled within it when it was first formed as a spark of the divine essence—a faith which, when remembered, can meet his every moral challenge.
(The Chassidic Masters)
Vayikra in-depth...
Please click here for a Halacha Guide relevant to Taanis Esther, Shabbos Parshas Zachor and Purim.
Thanks to Rabbi Lesches of Young Yeshivah for compiling and sharing this with us.
