Thursday, 9th Adar 5783/March 2, 2023
Parshas Teruma
Chamishi
- Sacrificing the second ram Shlamim offering: You shall bring the second ram and have Aaron and his sons lean on its head. It is then to be slaughtered. Take from its blood and place it on the edge of the right ear and right thumb of the hand and toe of Aaron and his sons. The remainder of the blood is to be poured around the altar.
- Anointing the Kohanim with the oil and blood: You are to take the blood that was on the altar, and the anointing oil [Shemen Hamishcha], and sprinkle it on Aaron and his sons and their clothing, and they are to be sanctified.
- Offering the parts of the second ram: You are to take the fat, and the tail and all the fat that covers the intestines and the diaphragm of the liver and the two kidneys, and the right thigh. Also, take one of each of the breads from the basket. Place it all together on the palm of Aaron and his sons and waive them before Hashem. Then take the foods off the palm of their hands and offer them before G-d. Moshe is to take the breast of the ram and waive it before Hashem and it will remain a present to Moshe from Hashem.
- The portion of the Kohanim in the Karbanos: The breast and right thigh of the ram, as well as of all Karbanos, are to be given to the Kohanim for all generations.
- Wearing the priestly garments for inauguration: The Kohen is to wear the priestly garments for seven days as part of his inauguration [as the high priest].
- Cooking and eating the meat of the 2nd ram: The meat of the ram is to be cooked in a holy place. The meat, as well as the bread in the basket, is to be eaten by Aaron and his sons and through doing so they will become inaugurated. A non-Kohen may not eat from it. Any meat and bread that is leftover past the morning, is to be burnt in a fire.
- The number of times to perform the above procedure: The above procedure is to be done daily for seven days.
- Cleansing the altar: The altar is to be cleansed and atoned by having the Chatas bull offering [described earlier] sacrificed on it for seven days. Doing so will make the altar holy, and anything that touches it will contract holiness.
Chapter 32: Ahavas Yisrael-How to love every Jew
1. Achieving true love of a fellow Jew through fulfilling the directives of the previous chapters:
· Through fulfilling the above exercises found in chapters 30 and 31, in which one contemplates and experiences the lowliness and contempt of the body, and in contrast one experiences the joy of the soul, one can come to a true love of his fellow Jew. A love for every single Jew whether young or old.
· Focusing on the G-dly soul of every Jew: This can be accomplished by likewise contemplating how every single Jew contains a holy soul, of which we do not know its level and who contains a higher soul than another. Now, even though the body an animal soul of the other Jew may be lowly and putrid, nonetheless, we focus on the greatness of his G-dly soul and not the lowliness of the animal soul, just as one uses the same approach regarding himself, as explained in the previous chapters.
· Focusing that all souls are equal in their root: One should not be challenged against experiencing love of a fellow Jew due to a feeling of arrogance that possibly his soul is higher than his friend soul, as a site for the fact that perhaps the opposite is true, in truth all souls are equal in their root above, and they all come from one father.
· We are all brothers: According to the above, that we all come from the same root and have one father, who is the one G-d, it is understood that we are really all brothers, and it is only our bodies that are different.
2. Lack of love for a fellow Jew is a result of making the body the priority of one’s focus:
· Those who do not live according to the philosophies brought in the previous chapters and make their bodies their focus, it is not possible for them to come to a true love of their fellow Jew, and if they do experience such a love it will be due to external factors.
3. Love of a fellow Jew is the entire Torah:
· The statement of Hillel: Based on the above, we can understand the statement of Hillel the Elder who stated that the mitzvot to love a fellow Jew is the entire Torah and the remainder of the Torah is simply its commentary. On the outset, this seems like a most wondrous and puzzling statement as what connection is there between all the other 613 commands and this one command?
· Achieving true love of a fellow Jew fulfills the entire purpose of the Torah: Rather, the intent of Hillel is that through going through with the exercise to bring one to have true love a fellow Jew one fulfills the entire purpose of all the other commands of the Torah. You see, the entire root and purpose of the Torah is to elevate the soul over the body, and draw down godly light into the general souls of Israel in order to unite them with G-d. This cannot be achieved when there is discord between people as G-d does not reside in a blemished area, as can be seen from the wording of the common blessing in which we ask G-d to bless us all as one, [as the oneness draws down the blessing].
Rambam, Hilchos Eidus
Chapter 4: conditions for joining together the testimony of two witnesses
Halacha 1: Witnessing the event together and testifying together by capital punishment cases:
- Witnessing the transgression together: Witnesses of a transgression that involves capital punishment must witness the transgression together.
- For example, if each witness saw the event from a different window, then they do not join each other in their testimony unless they were in view of each other from the two windows, or were both in view of the transgressor at the time that they both warned him simultaneously.
- This law likewise applies regarding if there were two witnesses by each window, in which case if they were not within each other’s view then they are considered two separate sets of witnesses regarding the laws of Eidim Zomimim.
- Testifying together: Witnesses of a transgression that involves capital punishment must testify before the court in each other’s presence.
- With the same tribunal: Witnesses of a transgression that involves capital punishment must testify to the transgression before the same tribunal of the court.
- The above is not required by a monetary case.
Halacha 2: The law by monetary cases
- In monetary cases, the testimony of two witnesses can join each other even if they were not in view of each other at the time of the eye witnessing of the event. Thus, if both witnesses testify to a having seen a loan transaction, or to having heard an admission from the borrower, then the testimony is valid even if the event that each witness is testifying to happened on different days.
Halacha 3: Eyewitness of loan joining testimony of admission
- An eyewitness to a loan can join together with the testimony of one who says that the borrower admitted to the loan in front of him.
Halacha 4: Hearing the testimony of the witnesses on two different days
- It is permitted for the court to hear the testimony of each witness on a different day in monetary cases.
Halacha 5: Joining an eyewitness with a witness signature
- An eyewitness to a loan can join together with a signed witness to a document.
Halacha 6: Testifying in two different courts
- It is permitted for one court to hear the testimony of one witness and another court to hear the testimony of another witness in monetary cases.
- In such a case, the two courts have to join together to process the claim.
Halacha 7: The requirement for both witnesses to testify on the entire event of liability
- Although by monetary cases we permit the testimonies of the two witnesses to join each other, nonetheless, they both must testify to the event in its entirety. If each witness only testifies to part of the event, then the testimonies do not join.
- Example by Chazakah of real estate: For example, if there is one witness per year of Chazakah that a certain individual benefited from the proceeds of a field, we do not join their testimony.
- Example by establishing that an individual is Bar Mitzvah: If each witness testifies to a single pubic hair of the defendant, we do not join their testimony to establish that the individual was an adult at the time of the sin. Furthermore, even if there are two witnesses for each hair, for a total of four witnesses, we do not join their testimony until there are two witnesses who saw two hairs.
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