In our RIETS homiletics course, Rabbi Penner mentioned that this is a great week to prepare a drasha. With 79 mitzvot in this week\u2019s double parsha, including foundational social mitzvot such as honoring and fearing parents, giving charity, and the golden rule of v\u2019ahavta lreicha kamocha, Rabbis throughout the world likely had a well-deserved easy week following Tazria-Metzora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the abundance of material, I would like to focus on a prohibition in our parsha which is so heinous that it\u2019s hard to fathom that any human in history could even consider committing such a crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The gemara in the seventh perek of Sanhedrin explains the way in which this idol was worshipped: [They would] light a fire and increase it, and he would take some of his children and hand them over to those who took care of serving this idol, and he would pass him over the fire from one side to the other. (There is a discussion in the rishonim whether this refers to actual child sacrifice, or if the child is merely singed.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The gemara proceeds to state a puzzling halacha about this prohibition:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mizaro, v\u2019lo kol zaro- one is liable only for giving some of his children to Molech, but not all his children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How do we make sense of this limitation? Surely sacrificing all of one\u2019s children is worse than sacrificing some of one\u2019s children!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rashba and Smag explain that the Torah\u2019s consequences for a crime are not merely to punish the perpetrator, but to provide kapara, an atonement. However, at some point one sins too much that he can no longer receive atonement. This is what we find here: mizaro, vlo kol zaro- once one has offered all his children to molech, he loses the possibility of a reparative punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Chassam Sofer suggests that the reason for the exemption from punishment is the absence of a copycat effect. The Torah\u2019s punitive measures serve not only to punish, but to dampen the sin\u2019s effect on the morals of society. Here, when a person sacrifices ALL his children, there\u2019s no longer a concern that others will emulate him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We all agree to the horrors of child sacrifice, but the Chassam Sofer\u2019s insight can be understood more expansively. When we see how others act, we feel comfortable emulating them. This is human nature. When we see people speaking lashon hara, talking during davening, acting unethically, we subconsciously and sometimes consciously consider following their lead. Fortunately, we all have that instinct that the Chassam Sofer is referring to here, where we see or hear about something so malicious, that we can\u2019t even relate nor be influenced by the sin committed. Unfortunately, we often don\u2019t draw the line soon enough and succumb to copying other\u2019s \u201csmall\u201d sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where do we draw this line on the positive side? When we hear stories of great rabbis who fasted for weeks at a time or who live saintly lives of perfect harmony with everyone they encounter, we don\u2019t often relate. Just as we don\u2019t feel a spark to emulate those who sin so heinously, we aren\u2019t able to motivate ourselves to follow the lead of such holy tzaddikim. But we must learn from those around us. If we can normalize talking during davening or even speaking lashon hara because of those around us, let\u2019s search for positive influences too, and normalize such behavior. Every shul has the first arrivers on time for the beginning of davening. Why can\u2019t I join that group? The people who join the shiur or learn bchavruta before\/after davening, the chessed volunteers, those who greet guests and wish them a good morning and a good Shabbos. If we search for this influence, we can create an environment and a community where we normalize the three pillars Chazal teach us that the world stands on: Torah, Avodah, and Gemmilut Chassadim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In our RIETS homiletics course, Rabbi Penner mentioned that this is a great week to prepare a drasha. With 79 mitzvot in this week\u2019s double parsha, including foundational social mitzvot such as honoring and fearing parents, giving charity, and the golden rule of v\u2019ahavta lreicha kamocha, Rabbis throughout the world likely had a well-deserved easy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,47,10,38],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/remoteshul.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/remoteshul.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/remoteshul.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remoteshul.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remoteshul.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/remoteshul.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":336,"href":"https:\/\/remoteshul.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335\/revisions\/336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/remoteshul.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remoteshul.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remoteshul.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u05d0\u05b4\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1 \u05d0\u05b4\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1 \u05de\u05b4\u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05e0\u05b5\u05d9 \u05d9\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c2\u05e8\u05b8\u05d0\u05b5\u05dc \u2026\u05d0\u05b2\u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05e8 \u05d9\u05b4\u05ea\u05b5\u05bc\u05df \u05de\u05b4\u05d6\u05b7\u05bc\u05e8\u05b0\u05e2\u05d5\u05b9 \u05dc\u05b7\u05de\u05b9\u05bc\u05dc\u05b6\u05da\u05b0, \u05de\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea \u05d9\u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b8\u05ea;<\/td> 2<\/strong> Moreover, thou shalt say to the children of Israel: Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.<\/td><\/tr> <\/td> <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n