בס''ד

 Bsd Parashat Va'era

The BZ Page

Brrr… It's the coldest week I can remember since we came to Eretz Israel! Three of our students are away, but the remaining ones came to study in spite of the impossible weather. Rabbi Reichman (remember?) even got out of his sickbed and came to teach us Mishnayos- Way to go!

In spite of the weather, I feel very warm at heart, with the engagement of Meir Friedman-Hallower and Miriam Richter from Eretz Israel, and the marriage of Shalom Benaim and Clara Benamor from Gibraltar.  Besimantov and Mazal Tov to them and to their families. May you all see a lot of Nachat and- unlike the weather- have a very sunny future together!

A good Shabbat/Shabbos to you all,

@kiva

   Kings and Wars

        Introducing- …the Jewntile!

To those of you who believe that any given person in this world falls either in the status of a Jew - who has to keep all of Torah and mitzvot, or a Gentile that only has to keep seven; to all of you who thought that no Goy is allowed to keep Shabbos/Shabbat (as the Talmud clearly states…), we have big news: We are proud to present the "Jewntile"- Not Jewish, but definitely not a regular goy.

He (or she) is called a "ger toshav" ("a resident convert"). He is welcome to live in Eretz Israel amongst the Jews, and has rights other goyim don't, such as being supported by the Jewish community. [He's the first one to get –for free- the non-kosher meat that a Jew would possess (e.g. in case of shechita that didn't go right)].

What does one have to do in order to become a ger toshav?

He simply has to keep the seven laws of Noah.

  What's so special about that? Isn't every goy obligated to keep the seven laws?

Every goy definitely is, and if he is living under our control we have to ensure that he does. Yet, as the Rambam explains, the Ger Toshav is a person that actively accepted upon himself in front of a Jewish Bet Din to fulfill these Mitzvot, in a way that's similar to conversion. [According to some opinions he undergoes Brit milah as well.] As opposed to a regular goy that adheres to the 7 Noahide laws out of his or her own rational understanding, feeling that that's the "humane thing to do", and has not committed him/herself to keep these laws on a definite basis, the "Jewntile" consciously accepts that Hashem, our God, commanded him to keep them (through Moshe) and for that basic reason, he/she is fully committed to fulfilling them.

Moreover, if he is interested in keeping more than the basic seven laws, he can commit himself to more Mitzvot at the time of his "conversion", and can even accept upon himself Shmirat Shabbat- something that a regular goy is forbidden to do. A "Ger Toshav" can come to Bet din and decide upon any number of Mitzvot from the minimum seven up to a maximum of 612, and from that point on is obliged to keep them. A "Jewntile" cannot accept all 613 Mitzvot- because if he did, he'd simply be a… Jew! 

   Hmm… The next-door gentile neighbour sounds interested!

He or she will have to wait until Mashiach comes, because at the moment we do not accept any Ger Toshav, Sorry…!

(Sources: Rambam's laws of Kings and wars, End of chapter 8,Avodah Zara 64B, Ritva on Makkos 9A, Pesachim 21B,Mishna Brura 304/ 3 and Biur Halacha there, Ridbaz on Yerushalmy at the beginning of eighth chapter of Yevamos)

  This 

     Week's

  A "Thank You" Name-

You probably expected it to be the ten plagues, but instead we have a list of ten eminent names. If you're about to have a baby boy, consider one of these:

1.       Yered

2.       Chever

3.       Yekutiel [or Yekusiel]

4.       Avigdor

5.       Avi Socho

6.       Avi Zano'ach

7.       Tuviah

8.       Shmaya

9.       Levy

10.    Moshe

Ten names-one person. Moshe. Each and every name here represents a different aspect of Moshe's personality. (Shmaya, for example, means that Hashem listened to his prayer).

   Why, out of all these names, does the Torah only address him as "Moshe" - the name given to him by an Egyptian princess?

 This is to emphasize that there's no limit to Hakarat HaTov (gratitude). This concept appears time and again in our Chumash. The exile began following Pharaoh's ingratitude towards Yosef after the ingenious way in which he helped save Egypt in its time of need. His daughter, a righteous person, saved Moshe and raised him in the palace. In order to show gratitude to her noble act, Hashem will never call Moshe by any other name other than the one she bestowed on him. In this week's parasha Moshe does not strike the Nile, (in the first two plagues) as the Nile provided him shelter when he was a baby. Nor does he hit the earth (in the plague of lice), as the earth had hidden the dead body of the wicked Egyptian he had killed. We see here that even inanimate objects have to be shown gratitude. 

(Source: VaYikra Rabbah 1; 3, Sh'mot Rabbah 1:26, Sefer 'Kol Yaakov')

The Page is Dedicated Leiluy Nishmas Eliezer ben Zvi, ZL

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