A Review... and New. Nu?

Preface or: “Notes and Comments”,
or: regarding last week’s Discussion-

Item- [or 2...or...] (regarding “Amen”): kEl melekh ne’eman (G-d, Faithful King) The first letters of these three words (in Hebrew, of course) - spell the word: Amen. These three words appear in the (traditional) siddur just before the Shema [and should not be said in a minyan!]. The reason being to bring the number of words in the Shema to a total of 248, to symbolize the positive mitzvot (see below) & the 248 parts of the human body; thereby showing the worshiper that he is dedicating his entire body to G-d and to His Service. The Prayer Leader accomplishes this by saying aloud: “Ad*nai Elokeihem... emet.”

Now the word “Amen” - besides being almost totally and universally accepted - originated in the Torah as a response of affirmation (Deuteronomy - Sh’mot 27: 16-26). Accent is on the second syllable, as in: ahMEN or awMEN. This in simply and “endorsement” of the words just heard and an affirmation of his belief in the veracity o the words spoken.

This then prepares us for the “Rules” of saying “Amen”, namely: One does not respond “Amen” to a blessing that one makes himself! But, of course, as in all things relating to Hebrew and the Jews, there is an exception in the Birkat HaMazon where “Amen” is a link and a part of the blessing’s conclusion.

The apparent reason for not saying “Amen” when you have, yourself, has made to blessing is that you are, of course affirming what you yourself has just said which - if nothing else - is redundant and un-necessary. Also, in polite society, it would be pure hubris to tell your friends something that you had done and then say, in effect, “Yup, I sure did that well!” In addition we are (naturally) prohibited from making an ‘un-necessary‘ brachot.

The question, last week, was asked concerning who and when one says “Amen” during the reading of Kaddish; and the answer is.... well not entirely.... “In such prayers as Kaddish, Mi Shebeirakh, El Malei Rekhamim, & the Blessing of the Month, “Amen” is often said by the one reciting it, not as a response but as an instruction to the listeners, as in: v’imru Amen - which means “...and say; Amen.” So, we assume from this that not only the Prayer Leader, but also those ‘saying Kaddish’ are also instructing the rest of the minyanaires with “...and say: “Amen”.

“Amen” may not be said to a blessing heard electronically (e.g. Radio, TV, Internet, iPod, etc. et. al.).

Mitzvot

There are 613 mitzvot. This number is significant: it is the numeric value of the word Torah [hrvt](Tav = 400, Vav = 6, Resh = 200, Heh = 5), plus 2 for the two mitzvot whose existence precedes the Torah: I am the L-rd, your G-d and You shall have no other gods before Me. There is also complete agreement that these 613 mitzvot can be broken down into 248 positive mitzvot (one for each bone and organ of the male body) and 365 negative mitzvot (one for each day of the solar year).

Many of these 613 mitzvot cannot be observed at this time for various reasons. For example, a large portion of the laws relate to sacrifices and offerings, which can only be made in the Temple, and the Temple does not exist today. Some of the laws relate to the theocratic state of Israel, its king, its supreme court, and its system of justice, and cannot be observed because the theocratic state of Israel does not exist today. In addition, some laws do not apply to all people or places. Agricultural laws only apply within the state of Israel, and certain laws only apply to Kohanim or Levites. The modern scholar Rabbi Israel Meir of Radin, commonly known as the Chafetz Chayim, has identified 77 positive mitzvot and 194 negative mitzvot which can be observed outside of Israel today. ___from: Judaism 101


This week’s Parshat, Terumah (which has two positive and one negative Mitzvot) [Take for Me and offering (25:2), or as Solomon HaMelach says- Take my rebuke, and not money] has this to say about the Torah Ark and Torah Scholars.
They shall make an ark of cedar wood (25:10) which explained as being in the third person plural (in Hebrew) because everyone is enjoined to build an ark for the Torah, or: everyone should learn Torah (because we all have a part in it). An additional reason is put forth by R‘ Bechaye [doesn’t someone always have another comment (or note) to make? That’s what Talmud is all about...] is that it shows that everyone must support Torah learning and if a person is not capable of learning, himself, he should support others and make it possible that they are able to learn.

But why does the Torah command that the Ark be made first and the other furnishing only afterwards attended to? That; to teach (that) a person should begin his day with regular learning of Torah and only after to proceed to his parnassah - or work.
Now that we have spent some time in Torah study we can ask the question; “What are the three Mitzvot mentioned in this sidrah? The Sefer haHinnuch has provided us with that answer as it outlines each and every Mitzvah and exactly where it occurs in Torah. Mitzvah number 95 is the precept of building the Holy Temple and is is to build a House for the sake of the L*rd, meaning that we will have a place to offer our sacrifices to Him there and that this will be the focus of the pilgrimages and the gatherings each year: “And let them make Me a sanctuary...” This includes not only the Temple but the vessels and artifacts needed for the Divine service. The menorah, the table, the altar, the Ark, and everything else necessary. Positive mitzvah.

Number 96 - a Negative mitzvah - is not to remove the staves of the Ark from it. Or not to remove the poles, which are used to carry the Ark, from the rings in which they are place. “In the rings of the ark shall the poles be; they shall not be taken form it”.

And, finally in this Sidrah, we find number 97, which states, the positive command of; The Precept of arranging the showbread and the frankincense. Or to place the bread continually in the Sanctuary, before the L*rd as stated: And you shall set on the table the showbread, before Me, always.

And these three mitzvot are among those that Rabbi Israel Meir of Radin, the Chafetz Chayim, has identified for us as being three of the many mitzvot that cannot be observed by us now, in this time and place. But, what can we learn from these? Even if we cannot perform these mitzvot, how are we do understand what it means, and why it is important that, for example, that we are not to remove the poles, or staves, from the rings in which they are inserted? Is HaShem showing an example of Obsessive Compulsive Behavior? If so is that something good? Should we be following His ‘behavior’ or simply follow His dictates? And why not? Is this not like a commandment not to mix milk and meat? or mix wool & linen (shatnez). Nu? Do you accept that some mitzvot are to a performed in spite of the fact that you don’t understand the meaning for them being a commandment? WHAAT? There is a logic that is beyond my comprehension? That’s not logical! But wait... I’m not G-d... I’m not even a doctor!

My simple question to you is: What are we to learn from these three mitzvot?

Two positive. One negative.

Shalom all y’all