MISC section - contents:
1. Vebbe Rebbe
2. Words of Wisdom; Words of Wit
3. Candle by Day
4. Chizuk and Idud
5. Torah from Nature
6. Beit HaMikdash Previews
7. From the desk of the director

From the virtual desk of the OU VEBBE REBBE 
The Orthodox Union – via its website – fields questions of all types in areas of kashrut, Jewish law and values. Some of them are answered by Eretz Hemdah, the Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, founded by HaRav Shaul Yisraeli, zt"l to prepare rabbanim and dayanim to serve the National Religious communityin Israel and abroad. Ask the Rabbi is a joint venture of the OU, Yerushalayim Network, Eretz Hemdah... and the Israel Center. The following is a Q&A from Eretz Hemdah... 

Q May one cut own a fruit tree which is more bother than it is of value?

A The Torah forbids cutting down fruit trees (Devarim 20:19). This is the most formal and strict application of the concept not to be destructive and wasteful, and only for cutting down a fruit tree does one receive malkot (flogging) (Rambam, Melachim 6:8). Because the prohibition of cutting is not absolute but applies to destructive activity (ibid.), the gemara and poskim bring examples where it is permitted to cut down fruit trees.
The gemara (Bava Kama 91b-92a) grants permission in the following cases: [1] The tree no longer produces a kav (a small amount) of fruit. (One cannot take steps to cause the tree to deteriorate - Rambam, ibid.). [2] The tree is worth more for wood than for fruit (see Rashi, ad loc.). [3] One tree is damaging a more valuable tree in a significant way (see Tosafot). [4] The tree is damaging someone else's property (Bava Batra 26a).
The question is how broadly to apply these rules. We cannot properly deal with all the different possible cases or bring all the opinions and will need to suffice with some main issues. The Rosh (Bava Kama 8:15) learns from the above that one may cut down a tree if he needs to use its location, and the Taz (YD 116:6) allows it in order to build a home on the spot. Most poskim understand that it applies to expanding a home, at least when the addition is significant and objectively more valuable than the tree (see Chayim Sha'al I, 22; Yabia Omer V, 12). The gemara tells of the son of an amora who died because he cut down a fruit tree prematurely, and R. Yehuda Hachasid also warned about it. Therefore, because of the potential severity of the matter, some prefer that the work be done by a non-Jew (ibid.) or that an effort be made to uproot the tree with earth and replant it (Chatam Sofer, YD 102).

Questions sometimes arise in regard to cutting off branches. The gemara (Tamid 21b) forbids using wood from fruit trees to burn on the altar, but for a different reason. The Mishne Lamelech (Isurei Mizbeiach 7:3) says that our prohibition doesn't apply, because one may cut branches if he leaves the tree. The Be'er Sheva (cited, ibid.) says it could have been permitted in order to fulfill a mitzva (as it is not a destructive act). Either way, it would be permitted to cut branches to use as schach (Yechave Da'at V, 46). One should keep in mind that pruning is anyway healthy for trees (Har Tzvi, OC 101), but, of course, not all cutting is healthy pruning.
Many practical cases combine a variety of factors (lenient or strict) and should be considered by a rav on an individual basis.

ArtScroll Series • Mesorah Publications Ltd. 

WORDS OF WISDOM WORDS OF WIT by Shmuel Himelstein 

A man complained to R’ Barch of Kosov that whatever business schemes he dreamed up invariably failed, and he was unable to support his family.
“My son”, said R’ Baruch, “you misunderstand. Nowhere in the Torah does HaShem promise success for the schemes that a person dreams up. The Torah does, however, promise that HaShem will send blessing ‘upon all the work of your hands’. It is your task in life to work, not to scheme. If you work diligently, you will see a blessing from the work of your hands”.

R’ Meir Simcha of Dvinsk explained: “Just as the firstborn receives a double inheritance because it is he who made his father into a father, so too, did the Jewish people which made HaShem into our Father when we chose Him and accepted Him.”

In worrying about what the future will bring, we lose what the present is bringing. 
From A Candle by Day by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein

CHIZUK and IDUD (for the Oleh & not-yet-Oleh respectively)

The first of Avraham's ten great tests is G-d's command in Bereshit 12: "LEKH LEKHA / Go from your land, your birthplace, from your father's house, to the land ASHER AR-EKA / that I will show you." 

Avraham is being asked to surrender his entire past. He does not hesitate; he follows the call of G-d.

Many years later, Avraham is faced with the tenth and last of his NISYONOT. In almost the same cadences, in chapter 22, Avraham hears: "Take your son, your only son, Yitzhak, whom you love, and go (note that phrase, LEKH LEKHA, again!) to the land of Moriah, and offer him up as a burnt offering on one of the hills that I will tell you of" (note that phrase, ASHER OMAR EYLECHA, similar to ASHER AREKA).

Here G-d demands of Avraham that he surrender not only his past, but his future. Once Yitzhak is gone, then the entire future of Avraham all disappears forever. But for Avraham, the prince of faith, G-d's wish is his command. And thus he sets out to one of the hills that G-d will show him - which turns out to be future site of the Beit Hamikdash in Jerusalem.
Both the first and the last trial are focused on the Land. For it is in the Land that our past wanderings in the Diaspora comes to an end, and it is in the Land that our future redemption is assured.

Something as precious as G-d's land is not easily inherited without some trial and some pain. This is why Rashi assures us that the unusual phrase, LEKH LEKHA, means: "for your own benefit and for your own good".
Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, Jerusalem
TORAH THOUGHTS as contributed by Aloh Naaleh members for publication in the Orthodox Union's 'Torah Insights', a weekly Torah publication on Parshat Ha'Shavuah

MA RABU MA'ASECHA HASHEM KULAM B'CHOCHMA ASITA MAL'A HA'ARETZ KINYANECHA • Did you know?
The giant anteater eats over 10,000,000 ants or termites a year.
No two giraffes have the same pattern of spots and no two zebras have the same pattern of stripes.
Whales and dolphins sleep one side of their brains at a time - while one side is asleep the other keeps watch for danger.
There is a vine in Madagascar that is pollinated exclusively by lemurs. (usual job of insects & birds)
Chimpanzees can go bald as they age.
A female kangaroo can produce 2 different kinds of milk at the same time when she is suckling youngsters of different ages.
Anteaters are the only mammals to have no teeth.
Hippopotamuses produce a special reddish oil from modified sweat glands that acts like a sun-cream to stop them from getting sunburned.
Some shrews have such fast metabolisms that they need to eat up to 1.3 times their own weight in food everyday.
The smallest mammal in the world is Kitli's Hog-nosed Bat of Thailand, being only 2.9-3.3cm long and weighing a mere 1.7-2g.

Korbanot - An Introduction - From the Very Beginning to the Beit Hamikdash (Part I) by Catriel Sugarman

The first Korbanot specifically mentioned the Torah were brought by Kay'in and Hevel, the children of Adam Harishon. The expression used in the Torah for sacrifice in that context is MINCHA i.e. gift or possibly tribute (Bereishit 4:3). In the Torah, the term MINCHA signifies a gift which is presented before one who is more powerful. Later in the Torah we find Ya'akov enjoining his sons to bring some of the exotica of Canaan as a MINCHA to the powerful Viceroy of Egypt (ibid. 43:11) and the ten brothers in Egypt actually prepare the MINCHA (ibid, 24)

A MINCHA can be offered to an autocrat as a bribe. A man trembling before the autocrat understands that the despot has the power to take everything. The supplicant calculates that by ceremoniously offering a certain percentage, he will be able to keep the rest. The MINCHA is reduced to a pathetic attempt to "buy off" a greedy tyrant. Kay'in did what he thought he had to do; he brought as an offering some "of the fruit of the ground" but he was not as particular to what he brought. He wanted to "buy off the Almighty." It was strictly a business deal.

But a MINCHA can also be offered in a different spirit. It can be offered as a sign of recognition and gracious acceptance of Supreme Authority. The supplicant appreciates that everything he possesses actually belongs to his superior. By bringing his MINCHA, the supplicant demonstrates his realization of that truth. The MINCHA becomes a means of showing respect and honor. Hevel, in contradistinction to the indifference shown by his brother, was careful to choose "firstlings and of the best thereof" for sacrifice. He understood that "To the L-rd is the earth and all within." Hevel understood that "his" property was actually G-d's property. "G-d turned to Hevel and his offering but to Kay'in and his offering He did not turn” (ibid: 4). Hevel teaches us that the KAVANA - the attitude - of the Ba'al Hakorban is crucial.

Noach witnessed total destruction. Sur- veying the rubble of a destroyed world, Noach realized that his very life was in the hands of the Almighty. He understood very well that he, his family and "those (animals) who were with him in the Ark" had survived only by the grace of Heaven. If the MINCHA symbolizes that man's material possessions belong to G-d, the OLAH - the burnt offering - symbolizes that man's very life is dependent on G-d. "Then Noach built an Altar to G-d and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered OLOT - burnt offerings or "elevation offerings" - on the Altar. And G-d smelled the pleasing aroma..."(ibid. 8:20,21). Later we find that G-d blessed Noach and his sons. 

Thousands of years later, recalling the history of the site of the Mizbe'ach in the Beit Hamikdash, the Rambam wrote:
"It is a well known tradition that the place where David and Shlomo built the Altar (of the Beit Hamikdash) in the threshing-floor of Ornan is the place where Avraham built the Altar and bound Yitzchak. It is the place where Noach built an altar when he went forth from the ark. It is the place where Kay'in and Hevel sacrificed, and it is the place where Adam offered a Korban when he was created and from that very place he was created. Our sages said, 'From that place where he was created, there he will obtain forgiveness of his sin' (Hilchot Beit Habechirah 2:2).

G-d commanded Avraham to offer his beloved son Yitzchak as a sacrifice in the land of Moriah. But where was Eretz Hamoriah? The Midrash tells us that, after traveling three days, Avraham and Yitzchak saw a mountain in the distance and upon the mountain was a pillar of fire reaching from the heavens to the earth and a heavy cloud in which the Shechinah was visible. Then they knew that they had found Eretz Hamoriah - the Divinely appointed place of sacrifice and the site of the future Beit Hamikdash. 
Fortunately Akedat-Yitzchak was "only" a Divinely ordained test of faith and Avraham did not have submit to the ordeal of sacrificing his son. This was the last of the "ten trials" mentioned in Pirkei Avot; Avraham had passed his test with flying colors. G-d said, “Now I know that you are a G-d fearing man, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (ibid. 22:12). Then Avraham "raised his eyes" and providentially "saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns" and "he offered it as an offering instead of his son" (ibid. 22:13). Thus Avraham teaches us that the sacrifice of an animal symbolizes obedience to G-d's command. 

When, hundreds of years later at Har Sinai, the People of Israel were commanded to construct the Mishkan - the spiritual center where regular Korbanot were to be offered - the entire concept of Korban took on a new meaning. The Korbanot, especially the two Temidin offered daily, became symbols of the visible presence of the Shechinah. We see this, because after delineating the Halachot of the Tamid, the Torah adds: 
"You shall offer …for a satisfying aroma, a fire-offering to G-d; as an Olat Tamid, a continual 'elevation offering' for your generations, before the entrance of the Ohel Mo'ed - the Tent of Meeting - before G-d, where I will set My meeting to speak to you there. I shall set My meeting there with the Children of Israel, and it shall be sanctified with My glory. I shall sanctify the Ohel Mo'ed and the Mizbe'ach; and Aharon and his sons shall I sanctify to minister to Me. I shall rest My Presence among the Children of Israel, and I shall be their G-d” (Shemot 29: 41 -45).
After Shlomo Hamelech dedicated the first Beit Hamikdash, "The L-rd appeared to Shlomo at night and said, 'I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself for a House of Sacrifice... For now I have chosen and hallowed this House, that My name may be there forever…"(II Devrei Hayamim 7:11,16).
Now therefore arise O lord, into Your resting-place (the Beit Hamikdash). You and the ark of Your strength, Let Your Kohanim O L-rd G-d be clothed with salvation. And let Thy righteous ones rejoice in good…(ibid. 41)
Catriel Sugarman gives illustrated lectures on the Beit Hamikdash and related topics. He can be reached at (02) 652-7531 or by email: acatriel@netvision.net.il. Catriel is in the process of writing a book entitled:
The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrim's Perspective: A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service.

From the Desk of the Director 
In the opening line of Lech Lecha, we meet the first of Avraham's many trials. He is to wrench himself from all that is dear to him for an unknown destination. Thus begins a new kind of relationship between Man and G-d and a new era in which, "all the families of the earth will bless themselves by you [Avraham]."

The nations were to be blessed through Avraham, but certainly not because of his kind disposition or his generosity of spirit. It seems that the nations were to recognize the significance of his noble responses to the heavenly tests thrust upon him. For these trials forced Avraham to choose between G-d's will and his own reason. They were clearly acts of supreme faith.

Rambam notes that since Hashem knows how every person will respond in any situation, these trials were clearly meant to display to the world how a great man obeys G-d (Moreh Nevuchim 3:24). When Avram demonstrates faithful obedience under extreme circum- stances, his behavior becomes the signal to the rest of humanity.

For Ramban, it is clear that Avraham will persevere. The trials, however, are for the good of the person being tested. We have free choice and we need to find the strength and wisdom to choose correctly. Then, when we have translated our potential to action; we have made ourselves all the greater spiritually. Our actions speak louder than words. May they also serve to elevate those around us. 

Shabbat Shalom, Menachem Persoff, Director, Israel Center

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