SHULWEEK,
Dvar Torah:
The Kohain
Gadol wore a pure gold headplate inscribed with
the words "Kodesh L'Hashem." "Holy to G-d." We
can learn from here that all our thoughts should
be holy and pure.
Changing our
attitudes is easier said than done as the
following true story from the Talmud
illustrates:
Rebbi Yehudah
Hanassi was once walking past a slaughterhouse
when he saw a young calf trying to escape
through a hole in the fence. As the Talmud
recounts, he turned the calf around and set it
back through the fence and covered the hole. He
said to the calf, "Go, for this is your purpose
in the world."
Immediately
thereafter, he was stricken with a terrible
pain. According to some Rabbinic versions he had
a toothache, according to some he had kidney
stones. In either case the pain was so severe
that no woman had pain in childbirth during all
those years because all that pain was being
directed by heaven to Rebbi.
This lasted
for many many years till the following incident.
Rebbi's daughter was cleaning the house and she
saw a mouse. She began to chase after it with a
broom when Rebbi called out to her to stop. "V'rachamav
al cal maasav." "His (G-d's) mercy is on all his
works." (Psalms 145:9)
Immediately
thereafter, Rebbi's intense pain was relieved.
Why didn't
Rebbi just recite that verse years earlier and
avoid all that pain. The answer is that it was
not the mere recitation of the verse but the
feeling behind it. Feelings take a very long
time and a lot of work to change and develop.
Needless to say, Rebbi was never a cruel person.
He was always kind and merciful. The change in
him was not a drastic turn around. It was simply
an improvement of his already good midos
(traits), yet it still took years of work with a
lot of motivation to accomplish. Rabbi Yisroel
Salanter commented that it is easier to master
the entire Talmud than to change one personality
trait.
Dedicated by
the Stehleys.
During an
exam, a police recruit was asked what he would
do if his job required him to arrest his own
mother. His response was, "Call for backup."
-
The
prospective son-in-law was asked by his fiance's
father, "Son, can you support a family?"
"Well, no,
sir," he replied. "I was just planning to
support your daughter. The rest of you have to
fend for yourselves."
-
There were
two guys on a roof, pounding nails. One guy
pounded a nail in, then picked up another. He
was holding the nail upside down. He
unexpectedly threw the nail away. He picked up
another nail, right side up this time, and
pounded this in. He eventually threw so many
upside down nails away, that his friend came
over. "Eh, what you doing? How come you're
throwing away all those nails?" he asked.
"Because they're upside down," the friend
replied. The other guy says, "You Idiot, save
them for the ceiling!"
-
As a drunk
guy staggers out of a bar one evening, a fire
engine races past, siren wailing and lights
flashing. Immediately, the drunk starts chasing
the engine, running as fast as he can until
eventually he collapses, gasping for breath. In
a last act of desperation he shouts after the
fire engine, "If that's the way you want it, you
can keep your stupid ice creams!"
*
Puzzle: The
following words have the same consonents. Only
the vowels are different. Here are their
defintions: 1.More insipid 2.A kitchen appliance
used to puree food 3. An
appliance
that restricts the vision of a horse 4.More
lightly coloured hair 5.To make a stupid mistake
Answer to
last Puzzle: [There are three switches
downstairs. Each corresponds to one of the three
light bulbs in the attic. You can turn the
switches on and off and leave them in any
position. How
would you identify which switch corresponds to
which light bulb, if you are only allowed one
trip upstairs?] Turn on Switch 1 and Switch 2
for a few minutes. Then turn
off Switch 2.
Go upstairs. The light that is on corresponds to
Switch 1. The bulb that is feels warm goes to
Switch 2. The bulb that feels cold goes to
Switch 3.
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Visit
Congregation Kehillas Torah, San Diego, CA
www.kehillastorah.org.
