Torah Portion

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Preparing For The New Year By
Cleansing Ourselves Spiritually

day, taharat haMishpachah (family
purity), just to name a few, as well as
mitzvot between us and other Jews
and the rest of mankind.
As we stand in judgment before
God on Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur, many matters for us are deter-
mined: how much we'll earn this year,
who will live and who won't, etc. In
s we approach the Yomim
order to be judged meritoriously, we
Noraim, the Days of Awe,
need to cleanse ourselves and listen to
and the reciting of selichot,
the rebuke that is offered in Ki Tavo.
the weekly Torah portions
Sept. 6 is also Chai Elul, the 18th of
take on a particular significance.
Elul. It is the birthday of two great
As a matter of fact, since the
chasidic luminaries: the Baal
Shabbat after Tisha b'Av, we
Shem Toy and Rav Shneur
began to look toward Rosh
Zalman of Liadi, known as
Hashanah with the seven
the Alter Rebbe. The Baal
weeks d'nechemtah (comfort),
Shem Tov (born 1698) was
which lead right up to Rosh
the founder of Chasidism in
Hashanah.
general, and the Alter Rebbe
These weeks of seven con-
(born in 1745) was the
secutive haftorot (prophetic
founder of Chabad
portions) of God comforting
Chasidism in particular.
the Jewish people are preced-
The contributions of the
ed by the three weeks of
Baal
Shem Toy and the Alter
RABBI DAVID
"doom," when we commem-
Rebbe made a significant,
NEREN BERG
orate the destruction of the
positive impact on world
Specia 1 to the
Temple.
Jewry. They authored
Jewish News
There happen to be 144
Chasidus, which is known as
posokim (verses) of nechamah
Der Penimious D'Torah, the
(comforting) in these
innermost or hidden aspects of the
haftorot, which supercede the 143
Chasidus explains the purpose
Torah.
posokim of rebuke in the entire Torah:
of the creation of the world, the pur-
"Cursed be the one who makes a
pose of man and the Jewish people
graven image, the one who dishonors
specifically.
their parents, the one who moves their
Chasidus talks about revealing
neighbor's borders", etc.
Godliness, as opposed to niglah
The idea of rebuke is not a punish-
dIorab, the revealed aspects of Torah,
ment, but rather a purification and
which explains the do's and don'ts of
cleansing. Just as we clean a receptacle
the Torah, as well as the evolution of
before placing something precious
the Jewish nation.
into it, so to do we spiritually cleanse
With the revelation of Chasidus,
ourselves, to be receptacles to a "new
having a better understanding of God
light, which was never before." This
and how He works was no longer
new light comes to us on Rosh
exclusive to talmudic scholars.
Hashanah.
It is explained in Chasidus that the
This means that now comes the time
number of days from Chai Elul until
to re-examine our deeds and return, do
the end of the Jewish year corresponds
teshuvah (repentance) for the transgres-
to each month of the year. This
sions we made during the year.
affords us yet another opportunity to
This is also why we customarily -
prepare for the coming new year by
have our tefillin and mezzuzot exam-
bettering and cleansing ourselves and
ined by a sofer (scribe) during this
doing teshuvah for the entire year.
month.
It is not merely enough to be a
, "good person," which in of itself
remains open to personal interpreta-
tion. But, in addition, the Torah
defines for us what is good; putting on
Other than expressing gratitude
tefillin every day, keeping Shabbat,
to God for His many blessings,
keeping kosher, davening three times a
what else is accomplished by our
recitation of blessings? In what
David Nerenberg works as a rehabili-
ways
can each of us give bless-
tation counselor and is rabbi of
ings, not just receive them?
Congregation Achdos Yisroel.

Shabbat Ki Tavo:
Deuteronomy
26:1-29:8;
Isaiah 60:1-22.

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