Community Magazine April 2013

Dedicated inmemory of Latifah bat Esther  M oshe Rabbenu likely did not expect his ascent to the heavens to be so rough. As soon as he reached the mountaintop and entered the cloud where he was to receive the Torah directly from Gd, his life was literally in danger. The angels threatened to kill Moshe, thinking he was a burglar intruding upon their property. And, in truth, he was. From the angels’ perspective, Moshe had come to do the unthinkable: to take the sacred Torah, the dearest, most valuable and most treasured item in existence, away from its rightful owners. The Torah originated in the heavens, they argued, and it belongs in the heavens. What right did this human being, Moshe, have to come and steal the Torah? The angels began hurling balls of fire at poor Moshe in an attempt to send him back down to earth. Moshe appealed to Gd for help, and Gd instructed Moshe to take hold of the Heavenly Throne, where he would be protected from the angels’ assault. But after that, Gd told him, he was on his own. He would have to respond to the angels’ claim and defend his right to take the Torah down to earth. Moshe turned to the angels and asked, “Tell me, what is written in the Torah?” They replied, “Honor your father and your mother.” “Do you have parents?” Moshe asked. After acknowledging that they had no parents, the angels then noted the command against adultery. “Are you married?” Moshe again sarcastically inquired. They cited “Do not steal,” to which Moshe responded, “Do you have businesses? Do you have competitors?” Finally, after a lengthy and fierce struggle, Moshe prevailed. The angels were forced to concede that the Torah belonged not in the heavens, but rather here on earth, with us, imperfect, flawed, limited and deficient human beings. What was this argument all about? How did Moshe convince the angels to let him bring the Torah to Gd’s nation down below? More importantly, what message is this episode meant to teach us about the value and significance of Torah? Those Mysterious Jewish Bookstores As we know, several mourning practices are observed during the first several weeks of sefirat ha’omer , from Pesah through Lag Ba’omer. The Shulhan Aruch records the custom to avoid scheduling weddings during these weeks, and the Zohar adds the custom to refrain from shaving and haircutting. It is also customary not to listen to music during the omer . The reason for these customs is the famous, tragic RABBI ELI J. MANSOUR The Power of Creativity Using our Gd-given powers to re-create ourselves and the world around us… 16 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE