Miller's Musings Parshas Metzora and Shabbos Hagodol: High Holy Day

This week’s Miller’s Musings is sponsored:

לרפואת יהושע חיים בן חסיה

דבס''

Greatness is a term that is perhaps thrown around a little too easily these days. But there is only one Shabbos that is called Great, and that is this week’s Shabbos, the one before Pesach. The grounds for being given such a notable name is due to the great miracle that occurred when the Jewish people took a lamb for the Pesach offering. Despite the sheep being a deity in the minds of the Egyptians, no massacre or attack took place for such a blatant affront to what they deemed sacred. The question I would like to address is why this auspicious day was set on the Shabbos each year, rather than on the tenth of Nissan when the miracle happened, whatever day that might fall on? This is the case for most days of commemoration, so why the difference her?                                                             

In truth to fully answer this question is beyond the scope of this Musing. But to begin to understand the concept, we must first try to comprehend the full extent of the significance of Shabbos. Shabbos is not just a holy day like other Yomim Tovim. It is a day of sanctity that originates and was established in the days of creation. All other Yomim Tovim in fact draw their holiness from Shabbos, the root of all hallowed days, and it contains within it the sanctity of all those festivals. This is a profound and rather esoteric idea, but the Ohr Gedalyohu tells us that only through the power of the Shabbos preceding the Yom Tov, can we fully embrace and utilise the spiritual potency of the Yom Tov itself. The fact that the Jewish people took the Korban Pesach on the Shabbos was therefore no coincidence. It was only because of that Shabbos the miracle could occur, so that they were then able to experience the holiness of the day of Pesach and bring the offering on this day. This is why Shabbos is always the day of remembrance. Without it, it could simply never have been.

I think that as one grows older, Shabbos becomes more and more appreciated. But what we perhaps do not appreciate is just how singular a day Shabbos in fact is. Reflecting on what we have been saying, we should come to a realisation that Shabbos is far from being just a ‘day off’, but is a day of limitless potential, containing connections to G-dliness that no other day can equal. How we spend that day is therefore of course pivotal and must be something that is considered. It is of course a time for family and nurturing our relationships and this may well include relaxation and leisure. How we spend those times though, must still be viewed through the prism of what Shabbos is. Are we talking about business, other people in a negative way, or subjects not in keeping with the holiness of the day? Are our activities enabling or inhibiting the power that Shabbos conveys? Such a gift as Shabbos must be truly valued. To not do so would be ungrateful, but worse than that, a tragic waste.

*May this Shabbos be one we will be sincerely proud of* 

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

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Miller's Musings Parshas Tazria: All Burnt Up

This week's Miller's Musings is sponsored 

by David and Dalia Mechlowitz wishing everyone a beautiful Shabbos

                                                                            דבס'' 

MILLER’S MUSINGS

 תזריעפרשת 

All Burnt Up

The concept of impurity requires some understanding.  It is not as many understand it a sign of some sort of defilement or something untoward. But, put briefly, it is in essence a void where there was once holiness. The process by which a woman became pure after birth, is one that requires both a burnt offering and a sin offering.  The Torah puts them in that order, but, as Rashi tells us, although the Kohen read the relevant portions of the Torah in that sequence, the sin offering was actually brought first.  The obvious question here would be why the Kohen did not read in the same order in which they were offered up on the altar?  

                                                             

Every offering that was brought in the Beis Hamikdosh was offered as a means to achieving a particular goal.  But each one also represented a part of our general Torah observance.  The Nachalas Eliezer tells us that the burnt offering that was consumed in its entirety by the altar’s flames, signified the end goal of our task in this world, when we have managed to devote all that we are to His will. The sin offering denoted an earlier part of the process to reach our purpose, where we work on detaching ourselves from our negative acts.  That done, we must then focus on ensuring we are also actively doing that which is right.  The order in which the korbanos were brought reflected this progression.  But lest one become too lackadaisical and think that merely divorcing ourselves from sin is enough, the Kohanim reminded us by their reciting of the burnt offering passage first, what our ultimate objective must be, to give our entirety to Hashem in all we do.

Imagine starting a business or institution.  What is the first question that must be asked?  Surely, before one can go any further, the initial focus must be on what we are trying to achieve.  Once this has been determined everything else is a consequence of this and every decision and function is judged on how it contributes to the overall goal.  If the prime objective is to make money, everything that the company does must be in order to produce this result.  Our purpose here is to connect with Hashem in all we do and in that way become attached to the only true good. When you consider that this is our entire purpose in being created and our sole objective of being here, it makes complete sense that we evaluate our lives accordingly.  This is of course a process, but it is only logical that every aspect of our lives be examined for how we can use it to bring Hashem’s presence into it.  We must work, we must eat, we must have leisure time, but there are always ways to elevate those times in some small way to create G-dliness in what we do.  We owe it to ourselves to do so.  It is the whole point of being here after all.

*May our Shabbos be spent in ways entirely for Hashem*   

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

Please feel free to print out and distribute in your shul 

If you would like to sponsor a week of Miller’s Musings l’ilui nishmas someone, for a Refuah Sheleima or to celebrate a Simcha please send a message to millersmusingsrabbi@gmail.com or to 07531332970