more on time

i am busy studying for my PT license exam so ill only add something to my last blog post. the beginning of time is measured from 5770 years ago. that's the same time the first mitzva was commanded to Adam of "be fruitful and multiply". so even if the earth can be dated back billions of years using science the only true date/time depends on the potential to do deeds.

Time

In parshas Noach we are told that after the flood Noach planted a vineyard and got intoxicated and fell asleep… all this happened in one day. Obviously Hashem created a miracle and time moved faster for Noach and his grapes. How else did the vineyard grow grapes, he press them, and have the juice ferment enough to make him sleepy? This process should have taken months if not years.
R Sikula of Torah Vodaas said in a lecture that when there is a necessary destruction or great loss Hashem helps return the world back to complete state by speeding up the laws of time so that a recovery (hopefully this time a good one) can occur. This means that whatever one does immediately after a loss will have exponential results. The problem in the story of Noach was that he chose the wrong thing to recover with. Wine is potentially good for Friday night Kiddush but it is potentially bad too. Maybe he should have built a yeshiva first…
This concept of time got me thinking. How can we measure time if it doesn’t stay the same? If I would carbon date Noach’s wine how old would it be? You might want to answer time should be measured by man’s perception of it. The problem with that theory is a dream. One can dream a week in a matter of seconds and perceive each moment of it. You also can’t use math based on the solar system e.g. 60 minutes in an hour. 24 hours in a day. 365 days in a year. That’s 525,600 minutes in one revolution of the earth around the sun. The sun was stopped by Moshe and Yehoshua and it didn’t affect the way time works.
The only true measure of time is the way we use our potential of time. For example, if you sit on your couch for an hour time was lost. On the other hand if you sit and learn torah for an hour time is used. Also if you teach 25 people torah for an hour you produced 26 X 60 minutes of productive time in your merit. So a minute should be gauged by the mitzvah that could have been produced. This is especially true when times are turbulent in your life. This is because every minute is worth more to Hashem when we are challenged.
The last question I leave up to you: How many minutes do you plan on living?

Playing Favorites

My favorite Gemara/tractate is Maseches Kiddushin. Probably because it’s the first one I finished. Either way, the last daf (page) is my favorite topic because it discuses career choices that people need to consider. First, it brings down specific examples of jobs that are bad for various reasons. For example, a job that would easily entice a person to steal because they can get away with it, like a donkey or camel rider. The Gemara goes on to say that all jobs no matter what they are, are not the cause of your income. Proof of this idea is that every profession has some poor people and some rich people. Rather, Hashem decides the amount. So you might as well do an “easy and clean” job. The Gemara ends with R’ Nehurai stating “I leave all professions in the world and teach my son only Torah… For it protects man in his youth and in his old age”. He then brings proof from Tanach.

The question is how can he feed his family? We know without a job there is no money. Also, his statement was not supposed to be telling us that money is not important. It was supposed to tell us how learning Torah takes care of us financially better than any profession.

This answer I got from one of my Rabbi’s. He said that if you look closely at the words they say “My son” his son was special. He knew that his son had the potential for greatness and that Hashem will make it possible for his son to do nothing but learn. On the other hand an average person has to make an effort to support his family. But remember, if the amount of money one will make is decided on Rosh Hashana and the effort only needs to be competitive enough to be possible to earn a modest living. The profession one chooses, the time put into the work and the difficulty of the job doesn’t need to be hard.

In short, if you believe in Hashem and the Torah you will be able to do more with less.

sorry yet again

i have been trying to post my lecture video but keep on running into problems. i am getting very busy with school again (i am graduating this May). when i figure out how to post my lecture i will. and after i graduate i will begin writing again.

my shiur

this Sunday evening i will be giving a speech on the 5th commandment. it will be 7:30 pm at Agudas Shalom of 18th av(downstairs). that's 18 ave right off of Coney island ave near the dunkin donuts.

Part 3 of Many

This week I spoke at my Grandfather’s yarzheit dinner. This is what I said:

According to most opinions, the mitzvah of Kibbud Av V’aim after one’s parents pass away is mi’diorraisa. The Zohar says that the obligation of kibbud is even greater after the parent dies. An example of this idea is the issur of cursing a parent that is applied even after death. The punishment for this sin is stoning.
Some things that are customary to do on a yarzheit include saying Kaddish, lighting a ner nishama, and getting an aliyah. Additionally, during the first 12 months after death, if a child says something in the name of his parent, he must preface the sentence with “Avi mori, hareini kaparat mishcavo”. Loosely translated, this means that the child will be the bearer of parent’s punishment. After 12 months, a child can say anything that shows respect like zichrono l’bracha or alaiv hashalom.
One should not quarrel to get an aliyah on the day of a yarzheit. If a positive commandment leads to an altercation, a mourner would be exempt from the mitzvah. The modest kohanim in the beis hamikdash would not take from the holy bread when others wanted it so it wouldn’t lead to a disagreement. If one wants to say kaddish for a relative or friend while his parents are still alive, he must ask permission from his parents. If one’s father is niftar and the mother is makpid that he should not say kaddish because she is still alive, he still says it because the kavod that a wife must have towards her husband applies even after death.

After one’s parent passes away, people feel that donating money and saying kaddish is enough of a tribute to the person’s memory. Once a person dies, he can no longer achieve anything for himself. They are no longer in a world of actions. The only thing that can help them is others doing something for their behalf in this world. The Zohar says that the best thing to do for the sake of a parent is to be chozer b’tshuva, learn Torah, and do mitzvos in their honor. An example of this idea would be saying kaddish. Some people believe that the recitation of kaddish helps the niftar. This, however, is untrue. Rather, kaddish is said to glorify Hashem’s name. That glorification is only due to the niftar, since the child would not necessarily have been glorifying Hashem’s name. Therefore, the reward for glorifying Hashem’s name goes to the one that caused the glorification in the first place. This, of course, is the niftar himself. The highest form of this is to be michadesh torah in their name.
I would like to attempt this now. A diyuk from the gemara states that when a person happens to say something in his father’s name, he should say “Avi mori, hareini kaparat mishcavo.” the gemara uses the lashon of hayah omer/ happens to say. The mchaber, the shulchan orach, uses a similar lashon when he questions if you need to write Avi mori, hareini kaparat mishcavo if you’re quoting your fathers words. As if to say if you happen to be writing or if you happen to be saying then do such and such. We don’t really find anyplace that says you should do anything for the niftar, only suggestions. I believe it’s because we want to show Hashem the concept of Lfnim mishuras hadin. “I did when I wasn’t obligated by the rules so please do for my niftar even if the rules say no.”

Part 2 of Many

The Zohar teaches us that the 10 utterances of creation that Hashem used to create the world correspond to the Ten Commandments. The fifth commandment (respecting your father and mother) corresponds to the fifth utterance “let there be luminaries”. This teaches us that if you respect your parents, your life is lit up in this world and in the world to come. We also see this idea after Yosef dreamt that the stars, moon, and sun bowed to him. When recounting the dream to his father Yaakov, Yaakov asked “Will your brothers, mother, and I bow down to you?” this demonstrates the idea that parents correspond to the sun and moon.