PARSHAS VAYIKRA
ISSUE 12 MARCH 24 NISSAN 2
SHAAR HABITACHON WEEK IN REVIEW. MAR 19TH - MAR 24TH
‫שמחה‬
The Mechaber begins this week’s limud by
telling us an important Yesod about Simcha.
A person who is ‫ בוטח‬in Hashem, can always
be happy because he knows that everything
Hashem does is for his best.
A story is told of a certain Chassidishe Rebbe
who was traveling with one of his Chassidim.
At some point over the course of their travels,
they were arrested and placed in a dirty
dungeon underground. They had reached the
lowest of the low. Wanting to make the best of
a difficult situation, the Talmid turned to the
Rebbe and said, “At least we can learn Torah.”
They became immersed in a deep Torah
discussion and quickly forgot about their
troubles. While they were talking, they noticed
a pile of garbage nearby that made it forbidden
to continue learning. They had nothing left to
give them comfort in their terrible situation.
MUSSAR IN TIME
*‫!!א ניסן‬
*Ah!! Rabboisai!! Rosh Chodesh Nissan!!*
A time of renewal, rebirth and rejuvenation!!
Rosh Chodesh Nissan has always been a
day associated with glorious opportunity for
renewal and revitalization:
1. It was on this day that ‫ כלל ישראל‬were
commanded in mitzvos for the first time.
2. It was on this day that ‫ אהרן הכהן‬became the
first ‫כהן גדול‬.
3. And it was on this day that ‫ אדם‬and ‫ חוה‬were
created and placed in ‫גן עדן‬, and were later
forgiven for their sin (on that very same day).
*Wait, WHAAATTT??!???*
“Weren’t ‫ אדם‬and ‫ חוה‬created on Rosh
Hashana, the first day of Tishrei?!?”
Well my friends, despite what you may have
always understood, the answer is a resounding
“*no*”. After a lengthy discussion, the Gemara
“Well”, the Rebbe remarked, “At least we can
be Besimcha.” And they started to dance!
In any situation, no matter how bleak, we can
always be besimcha, because we know that it
was Hashem who put us in that situation.
‫הטוב והנכון לו‬
We can always be sure that Hashem is doing
what is best for us. That is one of the most
important reasons that we can always rely on
him and have ‫ בטחון‬in him.
‫שבע סבות‬
The Chovos Halevavos lists seven reasons
why someone would trust in another human
being. He comes to the conclusion that it
would be impossible to find anyone who would
fit all seven criteria. That means, we could
never fully rely on any human being. Hashem,
however, fits all seven. It is therefore, ‫ ראוי‬that
(‫ )ראש השנה יב‬concludes that the *actual
creation of the world* took place in Nissan, and
not in Tishrei. Allow me to elaborate:
(_Note: in the following Talmudic discussion,
“*The Creation of the World*” refers to the *sixth
day of creation, Friday*, when ‫ אדם‬and ‫ חוה‬were
created, and NOT to the first day of creation.
Thus, the day of the creation of ‫ אדם‬and ‫ חוה‬was
either the First of Tishrei, or the First of Nissan._)
The Gemara (‫ )שם‬tells us that while our calendar
years are reckoned as beginning and ending in
the month of Tishrei, in accordance with the
opinion of ‫ ;רבי אליעזר‬the actual creation of the
world occurred in Nissan, in accordance with
the opinion of ‫ רבי יהושע‬-
*‫ ולתקופה כרבי יהושע״‬,‫*״למבול כרבי אליעזר‬.
Now, if you are wondering why you always
understood that Rosh Hashana was the
anniversary of the creation of the world, you’re
in good company, and for good reason!! The
Gemara (‫ )ראש השנה כז‬asks essentially the same
question:
*‫״כמאן מצלינן האידנא ׳זה היום תחלת מעשיך זכרון ליום‬
‫ כרבי אליעזר דאמר בתשרי נברא העולם״‬,‫*ראשון׳? כמאן‬
we place our trust in Hashem.
‫ובשם השם אקרא‬
Dovid Hamelech writes in Tehillim that in
a situation of ‫כוס ישועות אקרא‬, we call out to
Hashem in praise. That of course, makes
sense. But Dovid Hamelech also writes that in
a situation of ‫ צרה ויגון אמצא‬we also call out to
Hashem in praise. Not only do we call out to
Hashem in praise despite a difficult situation,
but Dovid Hamelech even uses the exact same
words – ‫ – ובשם השם אקרא‬ultimately, there is
no difference between a good situation and a
bad situation. Everything is from Hashem and
everything is for our best.
‫חמש הקדמות‬
We will continue iy”H next week with the five
‫ הקדמות‬a person has to know in order to be
‫ בוטח‬in Hashem.
-
“*In accordance with whose opinion do we
pray today (on Rosh Hashana)* these words:
*’This day is the beginning of your works, a
commemoration of the first day’?*
*It is in accordance with the opinion of Rabi
Eliezer, who said: ‘The world was created in
Tishrei’*”.
Hoo-boy. My friends, this is troubling, to say
the least. We now have one Gemara on Daf
12a concluding that the world was created in
Nissan, in accordance with the opinion of Rabi
Yehoshua; and yet on Daf 27a we are told that
our Rosh Hashana prayers are in accordance
with the opinion of Rabi Eliezer, that the world
was created in Tishrei!?? Well, nuuu, which is
it??! Whose opinion do we actually follow??!?
So the Ba’alei HaTosafos
(‫ ד״ה כמאן מצלינן‬,‫ )שם‬are bothered by this
question. To answer, they bring the following
earth-shattering statement, in the name of
Rabbeinu Tam:
*THE WORLD WAS ACTUALLY CREATED IN
TWO STAGES!!*
*‫ ולא נברא עד ניסן״‬,‫!!*״בתשרי עלה במחשבה לבראות‬
continued on back
*”In Tishrei, Hashem DECIDED to create the
world, but the ACTUAL CREATION only took
place in Nissan”*!!

_(See Rashi on Chumash, on the first ‫פסוק‬

in the Torah, in his third comment, where he
also points out that there were 2 creations;
one in “thought”, and one in “deed”.)_

So, in fact, both are true: Rosh Hashanah

- *‫ *א׳ תשרי‬- is indeed *“The Beginning of
Your Works”*, for that was the day on which
Hashem *DECIDED* to create the world. But
the *ACTUAL CREATION* of the world did
not take place until *‫*א׳ ניסן‬.

(The most vivid and practical illustration that

shows that we follow this understanding,
namely that the world was actually created
in Nissan, and not in Tishrei, is evidenced by
the universal practice of reciting ‫״ברכת החמה״‬
every 28 years on a Wednesday morning, in
the season of Nissan, not Tishrei. The blessing
is recited when ‫ ״_החמה בתקופתה_״‬- “_the
sun returns to the position in the heavens
that it occupied at the time of its original
creation_”. If the world was actually created
in Tishrei, this blessing would be recited on a
Wednesday morning in Tishrei, not Nissan.
Hence, we see clearly that we understand,
even in practice (‫)!הלכה למעשה‬, that the world
was created in Nissan and not in Tishrei.)

*ANYWAYS!!* We see that Rosh Chodesh

Nissan is a very auspicious day indeed. May
Hashem grant all of us the ‫ זכות‬to see the
fulfillment of the other statement of Rabi
Yehoshua:
*,‫ במהרה בימינו‬,*‫ בניסן עתידין ליגאל״‬,‫״בניסן נגאלו‬
‫!!אמן כן יהי רצון‬

*Have A Great Shabbos, and Ah Gutten

Choidesh!!*