MISC section - contents:
1. Vebbe Rebbe
2. Rite & Reason (see Purim section)
3. Hasidic Wisdom
4. Words of Wisdom; Words of Wit
5. Candle by Day
6. Torah from Nature
7. Chizuk V'Idud
8. Hebrew Word
9. 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 community in 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 Can I give matanot la'evyonim before Purim when it will be given to the poor on Purim? I'm not even sure if, when it will be given out in Israel, it will Purim day for us.
A Firstly, it is always good to give matanot la'evyonim (=M.L.) both locally and from chutz la'aretz to Israel. In addition to removing possible halachic quandaries, it encourages increased tzedaka, which is very much in the spirit of Purim (see Mishna Berura 694:3).

There is much discussion whether the main factor in mishloach manot and M.L. is the giving or the receiving, and there are several ramifications. The consensus seems to be that receiving is the more important element. In fact, the Magen Avraham (694:1) understands the Ba'al Hama'or that the reason not to give M.L. before Purim is for fear they will finish the food received before Purim. Therefore, many have the practice to give M.L. before Purim to be distributed on Purim (see B'mareh Habazak II, p. 39).

However, that practice can be justified in different ways, with significant differences between them. It may be sufficient that the needy receive or possess the present on Purim (implication of Magen Avraham, ibid.; see Pri Megadim, ad loc.). But it may be that when the M.L. collector gives the M.L. on Purim that he acts as an agent for the givers. It is, thus, as if they themselves gave on Purim (Aruch Hashulchan, OC 694:2). One difference between the approaches is if M.L. can be sent before Purim with a non-Jewish courier. It may arrive on Purim, but in the absence of a halachic agent, it was given too early (see Mikraei Kodesh (R. Frank) 45.2). Another difference could be the matter of time zone differences. If one needs to give (himself or by an agent) on Purim, then the agent would need to give it when it is the right time by the donors. (It is not clear whether b'di’eved one can fulfill the mitzva of M.L. on Purim night, when it is morning in Israel (see Mikraei Kodesh ibid. .3)). When Purim day begins in California, it is near its end in Tel Aviv, making the system logistically challenging. (Many distributors give most of the M.L. early and some late in the day). Another interesting issue involves money collected outside Yerushalayim to be given the next day, on the Holy City's Purim. Logic mandates that if it was given on the donor's Purim to be distributed on the recipient's Purim, then one fulfills the mitzva whether you stress giving or receiving (see letters of Rabbis Weiss and Halberstam in Y'mei Hapurim p. 197).

Ask the Rabbi Q&A is part of Hemdat Yamim, the weekly parsha sheet published by Eretz Hemdah. You can read this section or the entire Hemdat Yamim at www.ou.org or www.eretzhemdah.org. And/or you can receive Hemdat Yamim by email weekly, by sending an email to eretzhem@netvision.net.il with the message: Join Hemdatya –Please leave the subject blank. Ask the Vebbe Rebbe is partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel

Hasidic Wisdom from the book by Simcha Raz (Elkins/Elkins)
One who does not fear lightning and thunder is either completely righteous or completely wicked.
— Rabbi Moshe of Razvadov

So-and-so does not labor to seek a livelihood.
He says that he has great trust in G-d, but in truth, he is merely lazy.
— Rabbi Yitzchak Meir of Ger

No one ever tires of silence.
— Rabbi Avraham Yaakov of Sadigora

ArtScroll Series • Mesorah Publications Ltd.
WORDS OF WISDOM WORDS OF WIT by Shmuel Himelstein
The Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, starving, beaten, threatened with death at any moment, found it exceptionally difficult to observe the festival day of Purim. R’ Klonymos of Pischena, a chassidic rebbe, told them, “The Zohar states that Yom Kippurim - Yom Kippur - must be a day ‘like Purim’. Thus, just as on Yom Kippur one must fast whether he wants to or not, on Purim one must rejoice whether he wants to or not - even if the devil himself surrounds us.”

“The difference between Yom Kippur and Purim,” said R’ Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, is that on Yom Kippur we afflict our bodies by fasting, while on Purim we afflict our souls by drinking until one does not know the difference between ‘Blessed be Mordechai’ and ‘Cursed be Haman.’ Can there be any greater affliction than losing one’s power of discernment?”

Students of the Novarodok yeshiva led by R’ Yozl Horowitz, put on a Purim play one year, in which students portrayed Mordechai ana Haman. Later, R’ Yozl remarked, “It’s much easier to play the part of Haman, because each of us has within himself something of Haman’s conceit. To play the part of Mordechai, however, is much more difficult.

An inferiority complex, if it must exist, should be the result not of a comparison between oneself and others, but between what one is and what he should be. From A Candle by Day by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein

MA RABU MA'ASECHA HASHEM KULAM B'CHOCHMA ASITA MAL'A HA'ARETZ KINYANECHA
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
Certain frogs can be frozen solid then thawed, and continue living.
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
Armadillos are the only animal besides humans that can get leprosy.
With any of these pieces of trivia, think of the ramifications of the facts to human life.
That’s the point.

CHIZUK and IDUD (for the Oleh & not-yet-Oleh respectively)
Sefer Vayikra is saturated with Mitzvot haT’luyot baAretz (com- mandments dependent on Eretz Yisrael), from laws dealing with sacrifices, the Temple, and Kohanim, through those concerning the Land itself, such as Sh’mita and Yovel. Unfortunately, as pointed out in our Yom Tov liturgy, "Because of our sins we have been exiled from our Land," the Temple has been destroyed, and we cannot perform many of those Mitzvot today. In fact, Ramban (D'varim 11:18) states that a reason why any Mitzvot are "practiced" in exile is "so that they not seem novel when you return" to Eretz Yisrael. This underscores the centrality of our Land to fulfilling the commandments.

Our Sages tell us that "the All-Merciful One desires the heart". This means that whether we can afford - or are other- wise able - to do more, or less, the important thing is that we intend it for the sake of heaven (B’rachot 5b). This is seen clearly from the fact that a Korban Olah (burnt-offering; Vayikra 1) could be, for example, a bull, a goat, or a dove, depending on one's means.
As Purim approaches, we are reminded of the Jew's precariousness, especially in the Diaspora. The antidote, the Megila tells us (Esther 9:27), is that the Jews "re-accepted" the Torah in the days of Achashverosh (Shabbat 88a). In other words, they rededicated them- selves to it. Whether in the Diaspora, or here in Eretz Yisrael, let us do the same today. And in this merit may Hashem find us worthy of "bringing us up in gladness to our Land … where we will offer the sacrifices" in the rebuilt Holy Temple, and properly perform all the other Mitzvot, speedily in our days! - Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Iskowitz, 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

According to the Academiya L’LashonHaIvrit...the Hebrew word for placemat is MA-TZA-IT.

From the Desk of the Director
Parshat Vayikra not only opens a new Book; it introduces us to a new world. Suddenly, we are thrust into the realm of sacrifices, a sphere that sometimes seems innocuous in today's heady, troubled world. Yet, the rabbis compared our table to the altar, bringing us back to this ancient reality.

Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Eleazar both said: "When the Temple stood, the altar expiated man. Now that the Temple does not exist, man's table expiates him" (Menahot 97a). How can this be so?

Look at your Shabbat table and what do you see? You see Challot, candles and wine. These three items represent Dagan, Tirosh and Yitzhar - grain, young wine and oil [used before candles] - the 3 representative crops of Eretz Yisrael. They, in turn, symbol- ize the 7 Species of the Land. These crops needed special combinations of wind, sun and rain to achieve a successful harvest during the change- able period of the Omer in the spring.
These are the crops that we recall daily in the Shema and in our tefillin and mezuzot. If we keep Hashem's commandments, rain will come on time and we will know that Hashem is Master of Nature and Provider of all sustenance. And as we sing at our Shabbat table we will recollect that the Shabbat offering of fine flour mingled with oil and wine (cf. Musaf) similarly links us to our Land, our G-d, and our tradition.