Hasidic Wisdom, from the book by Simcha Raz (Elkins/Elkins) My father used to say to me that in addition to the four sections of the code of behavior, the Shulchan Aruch, there is also a fifth section that teaches one how to behave with others. Beasts fill up their bellies. Humans must fill up their heads. REASON In the description of the Creation, the Torah uses the word B'RACHA on three consecutive days: On the fifth day regarding the creation of fish (B'reishit 1:22), on the sixth day regarding the creation of man (1:28), and on the seventh day regarding Shabbat (2:3). Hence, we eat fish on Shabbat to receive the triple blessing stated in "Ma'aseh B'reishis". REASON Eating fish recalls the feast of Livyatan which will be eaten when Mashiach comes - "the day which will be a complete and perfect Shabbat". We ASK for rain in the Barech Aleinu bracha of the weekday Amida with the words V'tein Tal U'matar LiVracha, from Maariv of the 7th of Cheshvan (abroad it's from December 4th or 5th) until Mincha of Erev Pesach. One who errs and does not say MHU"H, but does say Morid HaTal, does not invalidate the Amida and does not repeat it. (If one forgets MHU"H and also does not say Morid HaTal, must start the Amida over again. The "fatal flaw" is not referring to G-d as being involved in the weather.) If one errs and asks for rain before the 7th of Cheshvan... on the one hand, it is not yet time for Tal U'Matar, and the Amida must be repeated. On the other hand, it is actually already the rainy season and the appropriate time to ask for rain, but we "postpone" the starting time for the request out of consideration for the last Jews who are returning home after spending Sukkot in Eretz Yisrael. This is an anachronism that is preserved in practice for its "message"; a petition for rain at this time should not render the Amida invalid. The halachic conclusion is that one should repeat the Amida if he said Tal U'Matar before 7 Cheshvan (but after Sukkot - during the "summer season", repeating the Amida would be required) with a "conditional kavana" - if this Amida is required, here it is. But if it is not really required, let this Amida be a voluntary prayer (T'filat N'dava). The issue of visitors to Israel and especially one-year students (many of whom do not stay a full year, wherein lies an additional complication), as to whether they should ask for rain on Israel's schedule or that of Chutz LaAretz - is a complex issue with differing opinions. Each person in this situation should ask his or her own Rav for a p'sak. For this review, we leave this point untreated. We MIGHT include the different opinions in a follow-up piece next week, IY"H. Bottom line: Rain is serious business. And prayer is serious business. Our power of prayer can move mountains. And it can bring rain, as well. We desperately need a winter filled with beneficial rain, and we beseech the MHU"H to bless us in many ways Nonetheless, those who take this rule of halacha seriously, begin their Kiddush at the beginning of the pasuk in question (B'reishit 1:31): Vayar Elokim Et Kol Asher Asa V'Hinei Tov M'od... This is usually said in an undertone, and some do not take the cup in hand until VA'Y'HI EREV. A possible justification for the common practice of beginning with VA'Y'HI EREV can be found in Masechet Sofrim 21:7 where it states that VA'Y'HI EREV VA'Y'HI VOKER YOM HASHISHI is in fact, its own pasuk. (Look through the first chapter of B'reishit and you will find that some of the days' VA'Y'HI EREV... are their own p'sukim and others are the conclusion of a longer pasuk.) On another note... some say the words YOM HASHISHI VA'Y'CHULU HASHAMAYIM together as a four-word phrase, by pausing slightly before and after it. The initial letters of these four words spell out G-d's name. Particularly in this age, when truth and terror are pitted endlessly against each other, it seems propitious to revisit the story. It is especially prudent to re-examine how the forces of evil and deception gradually erode our moral and mental sensibilities. The passuk states explicitly, “Of the Tree of Knowledge… you shall not eat.” The snake, however, epitomizing depravity, first plants doubt and derision: “Af ki amar Elokim” – ‘[And] what if G-d said?’ Chava’s immediate response is distorted and magnified: Suddenly the fruit is in “the middle of the garden”; suddenly, “you shall not touch it!” And later the punishment is vacuous and attenuated: Chava argues that you will not “surely die” if you eat the fruit; rather, it is forbidden, “lest you die.” The serpent finally undermines the source of the command by questioning Hashem’s motives for the prohibition: “For G-d knows that on the day you eat [that fruit] ... you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Now, finally and swiftly, Chava succumbs: She “took the fruit, and ate, and also gave to her husband, and he ate.” So, let us take heed, lest we too find ourselves hiding in the Garden of Eden trying to silence the voice of our conscience. [The B'reishit Homepage]
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