By tradition, young children begin their Jewish education by studying the Book of Vayikra (Leviticus). We might have thought that Bereisheit (Genesis) would be more fitting as an introduction to Torah, but our rabbis comment, ?Let the souls which are young and pure study the laws of purity.?
In our sedra (reading), there is a large section devoted to the offerings brought for unintentional sins. That is, if a person accidentally eats something non-kosher, or violates a Shabbat ordinance he wasn't even aware existed. He must bring a korban (sacrifice) as atonement. Two things strike me as strange about this law. First, why should an act committed without intent or forethought be called a "sin?" A mistake, yes, but a sin? Secondly, why does the pasuk (verse) say, ?When a soul shall unintentionally violate a mitzvah,? as opposed to the usual phraseology, ?When a man shall sin?? After all, isn't the body the culprit here, not the soul?
Yet, here we see a deep insight into Hashem's (G-d?s) world. ?The soul I have given you is pure,? G-d says, a phrase we recite each morning. If one carefully guards his soul, keeping it far from any negative influence, then it will not even be capable of sinning. It will ?run? from the slightest hint of impurity, recoil instinctively from sin. Thus, if we do sin, it is an indication that there is a p'gam, a defect, in the makeup of our spirituality.
I vividly recall being at a national NCSY convention, with hundreds of kids, when a fight broke out between two boys. The sainted Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, zt"l, who was the spiritual mentor of NCSY, tried to break up the fight and was pushed to the ground. A hush fell over the entire convention. Rabbi Baruch Taub, NCSY National Director, tearfully delivered a stunning musar (ethics) speech: ?If such a thing could happen here,? he said, ?it is a clear sign that all of us are spiritually deficient. For if we were at the appropriate level, our neshamot (souls) would never tolerate such an act.? Though I had been standing far away and did not even see the altercation, I knew deep down that he was right. I was - we all were - liable for the spiritual atmosphere in the room.
Dear friends: If we are suffering today, it is clearly because we are not doing the utmost to perfect our souls and come closer to Hashem, the source of all blessing. For where our souls lead, there our bodies must surely follow.
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Rabbi Weiss is Director of the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra?anana.
In our sedra (reading), there is a large section devoted to the offerings brought for unintentional sins. That is, if a person accidentally eats something non-kosher, or violates a Shabbat ordinance he wasn't even aware existed. He must bring a korban (sacrifice) as atonement. Two things strike me as strange about this law. First, why should an act committed without intent or forethought be called a "sin?" A mistake, yes, but a sin? Secondly, why does the pasuk (verse) say, ?When a soul shall unintentionally violate a mitzvah,? as opposed to the usual phraseology, ?When a man shall sin?? After all, isn't the body the culprit here, not the soul?
Yet, here we see a deep insight into Hashem's (G-d?s) world. ?The soul I have given you is pure,? G-d says, a phrase we recite each morning. If one carefully guards his soul, keeping it far from any negative influence, then it will not even be capable of sinning. It will ?run? from the slightest hint of impurity, recoil instinctively from sin. Thus, if we do sin, it is an indication that there is a p'gam, a defect, in the makeup of our spirituality.
I vividly recall being at a national NCSY convention, with hundreds of kids, when a fight broke out between two boys. The sainted Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, zt"l, who was the spiritual mentor of NCSY, tried to break up the fight and was pushed to the ground. A hush fell over the entire convention. Rabbi Baruch Taub, NCSY National Director, tearfully delivered a stunning musar (ethics) speech: ?If such a thing could happen here,? he said, ?it is a clear sign that all of us are spiritually deficient. For if we were at the appropriate level, our neshamot (souls) would never tolerate such an act.? Though I had been standing far away and did not even see the altercation, I knew deep down that he was right. I was - we all were - liable for the spiritual atmosphere in the room.
Dear friends: If we are suffering today, it is clearly because we are not doing the utmost to perfect our souls and come closer to Hashem, the source of all blessing. For where our souls lead, there our bodies must surely follow.
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Rabbi Weiss is Director of the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra?anana.