Back in 1996, Rabbi Finman was asked to speak to the niece of one of his students. After spending many hours answering her questions, the woman gave Rabbi Finman her e-mail address. Rabbi Finman wrote the woman a note and included in it a short insight into that week's Parsha and a short Chasidic story.
Realizing that this was something no one was yet doing,, Rabbi Finman sent the missive to his mailing list of about 30 people. Requests from recipients friends came pouring in. The next week Rabbi Finman sent the e-Parsha to 100 people. Within a year more than 2000 people were receiving it. Today, more than 14,000 receive the e-Parsha weekly and the requests keep coming in.
Ki Tetsei 5785
Shoftim 5785
Re'eh 5785
Eikev 5785
Vaeschanon 5785
Ki Tetsei 5785
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YouParsha Ki Teitstei https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMyJEuv51mk
The Workers’ Wages
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This week's Parsha is Ki Tetze, Deuteronomy 21:10 - 25 19. One of the nearly 100 mitzvahs discussed in the Parsha is the mitzvah of Maika, building a parapet around a flat roof. The Torah states that when you build a new house, surround the roof with a maika so that the fallen one does not fall from your roof. Rashi explains the words fallen one to mean that it was predetermined that that this person should fall. Do not be the Shlamazel from whose roof they fall. Merit goes to the meritorious, guilt lies with the guilty.
The commentaries ask the question as to why the verse distinguishes a new house. If one were to buy a house with a flat roof, they would be required to build a parapet. Chasidus explains that the new house refers to the body and this physical world. The fallen one refers to the G'dly soul that has fallen from the highest of heights to the lowest of pits (from a complete and total unity with the essence of Hashem to this physical world into a physical body that is nothing more than a glorified mud pie. (75% water 25% minerals = mud)). The soul was put into this world to make it a house, a permanent dwelling for the Almighty. The Almighty created this world because He desired a dwelling in this world. This is accomplished not by removing oneself from the world, but by utilizing all matters in the world for holiness. There is one caveat. We should not be inundated by the physical. We should control it, not it control us. To accomplish this we must first build a maika, a fence. That fence is the attitude that the physical world is of secondary importance. Our main focus is the spiritual.
The purpose of a fence is twofold. It keeps out that which must be kept out and keeps in that which must be kept in. A Jew is constantly connected to Hashem. No matter what a Jew does, even to the point of denying their Judaism, G-d forbid, the Almighty maintains an essential connection with them. By building a "fence" around ourselves, we contain that allotted G'dliness within us. It, the G'dliness, is not allowed to "fall" into the realm of the physical coarseness.
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Reb Yisroel of Ruzhin once told the following parable before the blowing of the shofar one Rosh Hoshana. A villager once came to town for Rosh Hoshana. Being uneducated, the young man had no idea what was happening in the synagogue. What bothered him most was that he could not understand why everyone was crying. Sensing his lack of nutrition that day, he concluded that people must be as hungry as himself and he too began to weep. After the silent devotion, the young man could not understand why people suddenly stopped crying. He rationalized that people had put very tough meat into the stew that was left for after services. The longer the meat cooked, the easier it would be to eat and there was therefore, no reason to cry. Before the blowing of the shofar, people again began cry. He then surmised that even though the food would be better the longer it cooked, he was losing all of his strength and would be too exhausted if he did not get something to eat soon. He, then, also resumed his crying.
Chasidim have explained this parable to refer to the Jews in exile. We were living in exile and the Almighty rebuilt the Temple, but it was destroyed so long ago that we feel we are too weak to continue this exile.
On a simpler level. Let's all get ready for Rosh Hoshana so that we don't cry because we're hungry for lunch.
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