MISC section - contents: Q: On Mondays and Thursdays, we often give the third Aliya to someone who has to say Birkat HaGomel (a blessing of thanks to Hashem for extricating someone from a dangerous situation, including plane travel over- seas). Should he make the beracha before or after Kaddish? A: This answer is based on a Q&A in our sefer,
Bemareh Habazak, vol. V, 6. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (69:5) says that if the chazan at Mincha stopped between the end of Ashrei and Kaddish to put on a tallit, he should say a few p’sukim before Kaddish. This is because Kaddish relates to the p’sukim of Ashrei and putting on the tallit is too much of a break. Following this approach, one would assume that HaGomel is also too much of a break between Kri’at HaTorah and Kaddish. We can counter this indication in a few ways. There are other breaks that are not deemed problematic. After Kri’at HaTorah of Mincha on Shabbat, we do not immediately recite Kaddish, so that Kaddish can be recited directly before Shemoneh Esrei. That Kaddish, though, also relates to the Kri’at HaTorah. The Magen Avraham (292:2) explains that hagba/gelila and reciting “yehalelu” are not considered a break. However, one cannot bring a firm proof from there because he explains that the “break” is considered a long ending of Kri’at HaTorah. One can claim that, in contrast, HaGomel is unrelated to Kri’at HaTorah and constitutes a halachic break. On the other hand, many, including the Mishna Berura (54:12) say that putting on Tallit or tefillin is not a long enough break to require repeating p’sukim before Kaddish. Since he stresses the break’s brevity, not its status as an extension of the matter at hand, HaGomel should not be considered a break either. Furthermore, “normal interruptions” do not count as halachic breaks between Kaddish and the preceding passages to which it applies. For this reason, we can say Kaddish Titkabel, which relates to Shemoneh Esrei, despite the breaks for Hallel, Kri’at HaTorah, etc. in between (T'rumat HaDeshen 13; Mishna B'rura 123:18). One can argue that since HaGomel is normally said at the conclusion of one’s Aliya, it is, at least informally, part of the Kri’at HaTorah process and not a halachic break (see Kaf Hachayim, OC 123:27 regarding a Mi- sheberach). One can counter that Kaddish Titkabel is different because it was originally intended to be long after Shemoneh Esrei. In contrast, the Kaddish after Kri’at HaTorah can and perhaps should be directly after the end of the last Aliya. However, the concept that normal procedure does not interrupt is probably still pertinent. Another difference is that the Ba’al Korei, who usually recites the Kaddish, is not the one who is reciting HaGomel. The Mishna B'rura (ibid.) urged the chazan not to talk between Shemoneh Esrei and Kaddish Titkabel to avoid an unwarranted break. However, we do not find that the rest of the congregation has the same restriction. Similarly, what the oleh does should not be so important. One can counter that the whole congregation responds to HaGomel, and the public interruption is more problematic than an individual’s talking before Kaddish Titkabel. However, the fact that the Ba’al Korei does not recite HaGomel seems significant, at least if he does not respond. After comparing our case to halachic parallels and making distinctions, we conclude as follows. All things being equal, it may be preferable for the third oleh to wait until after Kaddish to recite HaGomel. After all, there is no halachic requirement to connect HaGomel to an Aliya; indeed, one who says HaGomel does not need an Aliya. However, if he wants to recite it before Kaddish, we do not have sufficient grounds to stop him from doing so. Ask the Rabbi Q&A is part of Hemdat Yamim, the
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Rebbe is partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel Rashi says that the parsha is "closed" because 1) after Yaakov died, the eyes and hearts of the Jews were closed due to the misery of slavery which began then; and 2) the information that Yaakov had wanted to give his children before he died was closed to him, i.e., Hashem kept it from him. As to why the slavery began now, the Kli Yakar (R. Shlomo Efraim of Luntchitz) suggests that the answer is the connection between the two parshiot. At the end of Vayigash it says (46:27): "And Israel dwelled in the land of Goshen and they took possessions there and multiplied exceedingly." The Kli Yakar notes that instead of the original plan to sojourn in Goshen temporarily, the Jews became so comfortable there that they "settled," "took possessions" (i.e., bought land) and even "multiplied exceedingly" (i.e., put down roots by establishing families, which you only do when you plan to be in a place for a while). Thus, Israel's enslavement was God's way of saying "Obviously, life in Goshen has become so cozy that you don't care about going back to the land I gave you. Therefore, I will begin a period of slavery and hardship just to remind you that you should never feel too comfortable outside the land of Israel." Regarding Rashi's second explanation that the
parsha is closed because certain information was held back from Yaakov, the
Rabbis say that the information that Yaakov wanted to reveal to his children
was when the Moshiach would come. That information may have been "closed" to
Yaakov because it was not the most important thing for him to be telling his
children before he died. Maybe the message Yaakov should have left with them
was "Don't dwell in Egypt or take possession of the land or multiply
exceedingly there. Always feel uncomfortable outside the land of Israel,
knowing that you are not truly at home." Once, before Rabbi Yaakov had written his
explanation on the Torah, Rabbi Eliyahu asked him: "Why don't you arrange
all your various speeches and comments according to the different chapters
of the Torah and publish them?" "Once there was a rich man who married off his son. He invited all his relatives and friends to the party. The poor of the city were also invited. Now, what was the difference between the rich and the poor people at the party? The rich sat down and ate each course in its proper order: fish, followed by soup, then meat, and finally dessert. The poor, however, not knowing what would be next, grabbed whatever they could and ate as fast as they could: some dessert, a mouthful of bread, a cup of wine, a piece of meat." "The great Torah sages who know the Torah well are
able to interpret the Torah in its sequence. I however, who am so poor in
Torah knowledge, grab whatever I can to speak about: a quotation from the
prophets, a verse from the Torah, and so on, without any specific order." The Talmud (Ketubot 111b), on the other hand,
understands this verse as a lesson to us for our day to day lives in the
present. Rabbi Yochanan explains the verse as follows "his teeth white with
milk" LAVAN SHINAYIM can be read in (Hebrew) "When one shows his/her teeth
(in a smile) to others, it is better than giving them milk to drink M'CHALAV. Many of us make it through a hard day just because of a kind word or cheerful nod from someone who shows that they care. Rambam in his explanation to Perek Chelek says that receiving recognition is one of mans greatest needs. This can be met by an earnest smile from someone else. Some people might think, I don't have money I
can't give anything to anyone else. They don't realize that the biggest
thing they could do for the people around them is to be nice and friendly.
This way they show others that they care for and respect them. Smiling is
really so easy and yet sometimes so difficult. Let's hope the verse in this
weeks parsha will remind us to make an effort to smile at our fellow human
beings and make the world around us a better place. Pointedly, the ailing Ya'akov relates to his grandchildren Ephraim and Menashe as his own, "like Reuven and Shimon" (B'reishit 48:5). But as Ya'akov is about to give the blessing to the boys - and the content of the bracha indeed relates to them - the text annunciates that, "He blessed Yosef…" (ibid, 48:15). Rambam, citing the Shelah, explains that by Yaakov blessing the children that they be associated with him and his ancestors Avraham and Yitzchak, he was by inference also blessing Yosef, the boys' father. For what better blessing can there be for Jewish parents and grandparents than that their children and grandchildren be steeped in the values of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov? It is encouraging to think that, like Ya'akov, we have a guardian angel that redeems us from all evil. Now we can but pray that the latter part of Yaakov's blessing to Ephraim and Menashe be actualized in our times, so that our children too will, "proliferate abundantly like fish within the Land." Shabbat Shalom, Menachem Persoff [The Parshat Vai-chi Homepage]
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