Hello my dear fellow classmates,
Although we missed Chumash today i decided to make up for that and blog. So i have another thing to say about forbidden relationships. We learned that you arent allowed to date your half siblings or step siblings. Upon reading that it brought forth a few questions. But first i would like to know what you think:
1. If there are half siblings who grew up together-did the whole fighting in the backseat of the car and being obnoxious siblings as all are- should they be allowed to get married?
*im assuming most of you will say: NO! they are like brother and sister that would be so GROSS!!
2. if we have half siblings who didnt grow up together because Mommy got sick of Daddy cheating on her and bounced with HER biological daughter when she was 1 leaving her 3 year old "son" behind, is it ok for them to get married?
*now this is a little more tricky because although they do share the same dad and many genes, etc. the two of them didnt really know each other because this young girl never really saw her dad or her half brother and didnt grow up with him AT ALL..hmmmm
3. we have step siblings who grew up together because Mommy and Daddy really loved each other. Now these cuties behaved like most siblings do- they fought, called each other stinky and stupid and perhaps even hit each other sometimes- should they be allowed to get married?
* again this is a little tricky. These two siblings share absolutely no genes, yet they grew up as brother and sister. in addition, if they did get married they would have to live with the fact that their lovely parents are deeply in love as well..hmmmmm
4. you probably know what is coming next. Mommy and Daddy met each other when they both already had one child each after their failed marriages. Yet they found love once more and got married to live happily ever after. Is it ok for Daddy's 20 year old to start dating Mommy's 18 year old?
*They do not share any genes and didnt even know each other before they got married. The only awkward thing would be that they would have to explain that they met and fell in love through their parents' marriage and taht their parents are deeply in love...hmmmm

well, now i would like to know what you guys think about these four cases...

Homosexuality

This week we learned all about forbidden relationships. The Torah explicitly prohibits against homosexuality. This is where I become confused. If the Torah clearly speaks out against homosexuality, then how can people possibly say that they were born that way? It does not seem sensible that G-d, Who prohibits homosexuality, would create a homosexual man. This is why I think this issue is completely due to the person's environment. I think it is not something a person is born with, rather, it is something he develops through time. I think this idea also has to do with free choice. Yes, G-d created man in the image of G-d, but man still has his free choice, and he can use that free choice for the good or bad. For example, a man wasn't born with homosexual thoughts but through time he 'chose' that path. Maybe this portion of Vayikra is trying to remind us to stay on the path of Hashem even if sometimes our nurture/environment is leading us elsewhere. Needless to say this is a very hard challenge!

Kedushat Ha'am

So the introduction of this quite detailed section of sefer vayikra states that a reasoning behind the prohibitions is so that you do not become like the other nations, specifically Canaan and Mitzrayim. We can't follow their behavior and simultaneously follow the laws that Hashem has given us. So here is my question: there is such a variety of dominating characteristics of a society or of a culture. Meaning there are qualities that define a society. I do not think sexual behavior is one of them. Therefore, if Hashem was trying to tell us not to be like a different society or people, why did he choose to elaborate on their sexual practices and not maybe their tendency to steal? Why is sexual behavior so important that it is what makes nations like Canaan and Mitzrayim impure? Obviously it is an important part of a society but is it so important that it had to be the first thing Hashem discusses in regard to Kedusha of the people?

HomoSexuality

This week we learned some prohibitions, and all of them were being addressed to the men. Not to sleep with the same sex, and some other things. I am sure many people were wondering- why weren't the women mentioned in the prohibition of sleeping with the same sex? There is no direct textual prohibition of homosexual acts between women anywhere in the Torah, though I am sure rabbis think it is forbidden. So far, from what we have learned, it seems that women can be with other women. Men can't be with men because they have to fulfill pru rvu. But women don't have to so they can be with one another.
Well, there is a religious community in Israel of gay men and lesbian women who marry each other so they can have kids (woman marries man) and then they both accept that they will be sleeping with the opposite sex (woman 'cheats' with a woman, man with man).
I wanted to know what your thoughts were on this. Do you think this is acceptable? If women are allowed to be with one another, they violate no commandment until they cheat on their husbands! and now, not only are the men sinning by being gay, they are cheating too! Anyways, they supposedly get karet (HARSH!) for being gay... so is it any worse for them?

Also, if it is prohibited for men to be gay why didn't Hashem just not give people a gay inclination?
Oh, and one last thing- is there a psychological factor when it comes to being gay? Does it have to do with nurture, or nature? Are certain people born this way, or are they raised in such a way that makes them gay?

Oh, Brother!

OH, BROTHER: Two Stories about brothers, two different parshas, and two different issues. Lo and behold. Brace yourselves for an overwhelmingly meaningful blog post. Here we go. 

Going in chronological order, I shall start with the brothers Cian and Abel. Who were they, first of all? They were the sons of Adam and Eve. Why am I mentioning these brothers? Well, at first I wasn’t going to, but it is relatable to what we’re learning, so I might as well stick them in. They each had twin sisters, whom they were to marry. Apparently one of them was more beautiful than the other and they fought over her. Whatever the case was, it’s clear that it’s all a bit strange that they married their sisters. I know that this was before the times of the Torah and that there was really no other choice, but this is still kind’ve weird. I mean, I don’t understand why God didn’t make a few families or something so that people wouldn’t have to marry their siblings and direct relatives. A lot of people in the tanach marry their close relatives.

Questions on first topic (you can stop here and answer these questions; that’s totally fine with me)

1.     What is your opinion on this whole matter of the siblings marrying each other?

2.     Can you explain to me why we’re all not crazy if we come from a line of siblings marrying siblings? That’s some messed up stuff.

3.     Random, but why does it never mention anything about the daughters? Sometimes it mentions people’s wives but not the daughters (unless- was there that thing with that place when she got raped? Was that a midrash or was that in the tanach?). What’s up with that? What were they doing then? Does anyone care?

*Yes, I am aware that I did not even tell the epic story of Cian and Abel. If you really care so much, you can google it or post a comment telling us the whole story.

Now here come the boogers brothers we all know and love (and briefly mentioned in class what seems like forever ago).  Yes, I’m talking about Datan and Aviram, Aaron’s sons.  You know, the guys who were so excited to give korbanot but got too carried away and went into the kedosh hakedoshim- a restricted and sacred place- in order to give korbanot. Here are some things you guys can think about:

1.     I get how there has to be boundaries, but  did they really deserve death? I mean, they were really enthusiastic and that’s good, right?

2.     Why such a harsh punishment?

3.     Why didn’t Aaron object much? How could he possibly be satisfied with that? 

Why so harsh?

While reading through the perek, as it discussed forbidden relationships, I understood why they were all forbidden. In today's society most of them are obviously wrong, so nobody would even think about marrying a relative that is forbidden in these examples. However, at the end I was upset by the fact that the punishment is karet. This is obviously one of the stricter rules in the Torah, but why should the punishment be this harsh? Why can't we just bring a korban for it and learn our lesson? I was also curious about why there are so many examples of who you can and can't marry? Couldn't it just say that you cannot marry immediate family members? And why can't a man marry his mother's sister if he is allowed to marry his niece? It's the same idea!

Hello my dear fellow classmates,
so this week we just started learning about Kdushat Haadam and the subject of Arayot. Aviva and i worked very efficiently(shes an excellent partner-she officially made the list of partners i want!) on our packet. I heard Sade Zed and Jamie all choosing different verbs(disgusting, repulsive,nasty,gross,etc) to describe why they thought these kinds of relationships were forbidden. I hope that that was the response for most of us upon imagining the different scenarios. But then i just started wondering about something(this is kind of connected to psychology which is why this post is AWESOME) is our immediate repulsed response due to teh fact that it is actually gross or because our environment has put it in our head that it is wrong and inappropriate to have such relations. Think about it. For example, you were born with a twin brother and you always got along with him. You have that special, unbreakable and inexplicable bond with him that no one lese understands. You can tell him anything without feeling shame and you know taht he is the one person in the worls who completely understands you. He takes care of you and is protective of you and would do almost anything for you. You love him just as much as he loves you. You were born and automatically loved each other but as you grew older your love for each other strengthened. Do you think taht if we lived in a society in which it was completely normal to get married to family members, these twins would have gotten married and lived a happy, functional life? Or would there still be that natural instinct that causes us to want to chunder and rip our intestines off at the very thought of it? But before you answer you must just take a moment-open your mind and imagine that you are not living in this society.

Gilad Shalit / Prayer

Since we've been talking about Korbanot which today is prayer I was wondering about something when we had the discussion on Gilad Shalit.

Someone mentioned that we should be happy with the deal, and accept it since it is what people prayed for, for so many years (that Shalit should be returned to us) therefore we must thank God and be happy with the results.

What do you think about this statement?

If we would have lived in the times of the Beit Hamikdash, do you think we would bring a korban for this result? Why? Which one?

Out of Order?

In our last class, Mrs. Perl briefly gave us an idea of what we were learning next, now that we have (finally) finished our discussion on korbanot. Perakim 9-17 discuss the Mishkan/Beit Hamikdash. The first topic is the dedication of the Mishkan. Bnei Yisrael brought korbanot for 7 days and on the eighth it was dedicated. This was crucial for Bnei Yisrael because it was a time for them to reconnect and reignite their relationship with Hashem. The Mishkan served as a physical center for Bnei Yisrael to reach out to Hashem.
Now-here is my question...
Shouldn't this come BEFORE the discussion of the korbanot?! It just makes more sense. Sefer Vayikra should start with the dedication of the Mishkan and then discuss korbanot, sacrifices which one brings to the mishkan. Also, in the discussion of korbanot in the first 8 perakim of Sefer Vayikra, parts, areas, and vessels of the Beit Hamikdash are mentioned. Therefore, it would make more sense to introduce what the mishkan is and have it dedicated before explaining the process of how the korban is brought. To further strengthen this argument, I will refer back to Rabbi Leibtag's article on Parshat Vayikra. He says that in Sefer Shemot, the torah explains how to build the mishkan and Sefer Vayikra explains how to use the mishkan. If Sefer Shemot discusses how to build the mishkan and concludes with the story of its assembly, doesn't it make more sense for the dedication of the mishkan to come right after and therefore begin Sefer Vayikra.

Pirkei Avot

 Well, seeing as how everyone blogged about what I would have blogged about and there's not really anything new going on, I had no choice but to open up Pirkei Avot and pick a random quote and have fun with it. 

Pirkei Avot Perek 2 Passuk 9 says: "Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai received the tradition from Hillel and Shammai. He used to say: If you have studied much Torah, do not take credit for yourself, because that is what you were created to do." 

I have a few questions for you guys to come up with lovely answers to:

1. Why do we never give ourselves credit? I feel like we're always bringing ourselves down and we're never good enough. When would we ever be satisfactory?

2. Why is the whole purpose of life to study Torah? What was the purpose of life before they got the Torah? There was none?  

3. If you don't study Torah a lot, do you not fulfill your purpose in life? We were actually created to study Torah?

Yom Kippur & Korbanot

So as I was sitting/standing in shul during Yom Kippur, I came across something in our prayers that looked familiar. The Vidui, confession, part of the shemonah esrai on Yom Kippur, concludes with listing many korbanot that we should be bringing because of our sins. I was very excited because I recognized the korbanot and understood why we would be bringing them if we had a Beit Hamikdash today.

Seeing the korbanot in the davening was the perfect conclusion to this assignment. I realized the significance of these korbanot and how they actually directly related to people's lives. They weren't just a barbaric, weird aspect of Judaism, as we may view them today; instead they were a vital part of Judaism. Specifically on Yom Kippur, they were life and death matters. Yom Kippur had special korbanot and practices that were only done on this one day out of the entire calendar. For example, the kohen gadol takes a goat and pushes it off a cliff. This seems weird but it really was extremely important and somewhat determined the lives of everyone. When the kohen gadol entered the Kodesh Hakedoshim, the entire nation waited anxiously to see if he would come out. They waited to see if the string would turn red or white, symbolizing whether or not Hashem forgave them. These practices were not just procedures that affected the kohen gadol; they affected the entire nation and whether or not they would live or die.

Although it's hard for us to understand, the korbanot really did have significance. I do not think that tefilla is an equal substitute for korbanot because when we daven, we don't really see the results of our prayers. With korbanot, people really could see Hashem's response. Korbanot were clearly much more effective and showed that people back then were really much closer to Hashem. I think that by applying the korbanot to things that we can relate to today, such as Yom Kippur, we can try to have a deeper understanding of this practice that we sometimes see as barbaric, foreign, and strange.

Time to Reflect

Today in class we discussed the korban Asham and its significance. After Sharon and Jamie's lovely presentation, we went over it one more time, and I realized exactly how important korbanot were. Yes, all of the korbanot nedava were very special and meaningful. They help us connect with Hashem because we feel that we have missed out on a mitzvah or want to do something special to give back. However, when we discussed the korban Asham I thought about what an affect it must have had on the lives of the Jews at the time. Some of you argued that we cannot really compare ourselves to the Jews of that time, which is true to a certain extent, nevertheless, we are still Jews and must be careful about what we do. As Yom Kippur approaches, I feel that this is perfect to think about. Think about how much greater and holier we were as a nation when we were able to bring korbanot. Think about EVERY single time you might have violated a law in the Torah. It is pretty scary to imagine how many korbanot I would have to bring to the Beit Hamikdash. When the people back then brought a korban for doing a sin, it was meant to help them reflect on what they did so that they could be more careful for the future. It is far more difficult in our days to focus on every little thing we do, but since it is about to be Yom Kippur it seems to be a perfect time to reflect on what sins we have done throughout the past year in order to change and become better and also to be more CAREFUL for the upcoming year.

Why do we need both Zav and Vayikra, why not just do Zayikra?

We have been presenting our Korbanot in class, and I came to the conclusion that Vayikra talks about the Korban, less in detail and more adressed to the people, while Zav is more detailed and talks about the procedure when bringing the Korban and is adressed to the Kohen mostly.

My question is: Why is there a need to repeat everything and make two seperate books adressed to different groups of people, why not just make one book and have all the information it it? Wouldn't that be easier?

Please help me out so I can fall alseep again at night, it is really troubling me!

Davening Dilemma, Korban Conundrum

I was wondering: what do you think is better? Davening or korbanot? We have been discussing korbanot for a while now and I was just wondering:

1) What do you think the advantages are of davening over korbanot? Korbanot over davening?

2) Which do you think creates a bigger connection with G-d?

3) Do you think that davening is meaningful if scripted?

4) Which do you think would be easier to do? Is it easier to daven and feel sorry about our actions and truly repent, or give true thanks, or would bringing a korban? Not thinking about how primitive it seems.

I personally think that davening covers a lot more than korbanot, and you can actually communicate your own thoughts. What about you guys!?

Hello my dear fellow classmates.
This week we have learned about almost all the Korbanot types, different Meforshim about them and their differences in Sefer Vayikra and Tzav. I had a few questions that i was wondering about and i was hoping that perhaps some of you might be able to answer me.
*why are there so many different categories for which we must or can bring a Korban?
*who decided these different types of categories/ kinds of Korbanot?
*what kind of Korban do you feel is missing?
*why are these Korbanot repeated in 2 separate Parashot? What is the point of that?
*since Korbanot dont directly relate to our lives today(since we obviously dont bring Korbanot.. unless you re weird..) what do you think we can learn from Korbanot?
*can you think of any other commandment taht doesnt relate to us directly today since we dont so it anymore?

you dont have to answer all of these questions.. i just anted to get you thinking and hear your opinion on certain questions