פרשת קדושים

Dvar Torah

Love yourself

(ויקרא יט:יח) לֹא־תִקֹּם וְלֹא־תִטֹּר אֶת־בְּנֵי עַמֶּךָ וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ אֲנִי ה':

“Do not take revenge and do not bear a grudge against the members of your nation; love your neighbor as yourself, I am Hashem.” (19:18)

The Talmud in Shabbat (31a) tells us the well-known story of Hillel and a gentile.  Once, a gentile (non-Jew) approached the famous Hillel and asked him to teach the whole Torah while he stood on one foot.  Hillel answered him with the following statement: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. This is the entire Torah; the rest is commentary (explanation) – go and study it.”

The obvious question on this story is that there are 613 commandments, of which each one is so complex and intricate.  How could this be the “whole Torah”? 

If we look closely at the entire Pasuk, we will see that there are three parts; 

1– Do not take revenge…  

2– Love your neighbor like yourself, and 

3– I am Hashem.  

The message of this Pasuk is the foundation and most important part of the Torah.  The Pasuk starts by telling us not to find fault with others.  Everyone has faults within themselves, yet we still love ourselves.  The same is with others, look past their faults as you do your own.

The third part of the Pasuk explains how to treat one's self.  Treat yourself as Hashem wants you to be treated.  And since we are all made in the image of Hashem, we need to respect ourselves and others.

We see from here how important it is to respect both ourselves and even more, our friends and family.

 Shabbat Shalom!!!

Parsha Questions

1) Explain the מצוה of  קדושים תהיו. (ויקרא יט:א-ב ועד עיין ברש"י וברמב"ן)

2) What is the  מצוה of  איש אמו ואביו תיראו? (ויקרא יט:ג עד עיין ברש"י)

3) What is the connection between איש אמו ואביו תיראו and ואת־שבתתי תשמרו (and you shall guard my שבת)? (ויקרא יט:ג עד עיין ברש"י)

4) What is פגוג? (ויקרא יט:ז)

5) May a person, if he does not worship an idol, make it for others? (ויקרא יט:ד)

6) Explain each of the following: (ויקרא יט:ט-י)

לקט:

שחך:

פאה:

6) May one take something from his friend without his knowledge, just to tease him?

(ויקרא יט:יא)

7) What is the מצוה of לֹא־תִשְׂנָא אֶת־אָחִיךָ בִּלְבָבֶךָ הוֹכֵחַ תּוֹכִיחַ אֶת־עֲמִיתֶךָ? (ויקרא יט:יז)

8) Which מצוה did ר' עקיבא call כלל גדול בתורה? (ויקרא יט:יח)

9) After planting a new fruit tree, how long must one wait until eating from its fruits?

(ויקרא יט:כג-כה)

10) What do we see from the words וּמִקְדָּשִׁי תִּירָאוּ אֲנִי ה'? (רש"י ויקרא יט:ל)

11) מן התורה, why is SO important to be nice to stranger, converts, and outsiders?

(ויקרא יט:לג-לד)

12) The תורה forbade the use of a אוֹב אוֹ יִדְּעֹנִי (witch and sorcerer). Why is it so bad to ask for help from a אוֹב אוֹ יִדְּעֹנִי? (ויקרא יט:כג-כה)

TORAH TRIVIA!

Super Stumper Question:

This a question to ask others and discuss the answers.

Answer to last week’s question:

The only Bracha that can ONLY be said on a Wednesday is Birkat Hachama said every 28 years.

Question of the week:

What Mitzvah can only be done while sitting down?

 FOOD Section!

Can you guess what this recipe connects to this week’s Parsha?

Friendship Bread Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ingredients

·      1 cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter

·      1 cup butter softened

·      1½ cups sugar

·      2 eggs

·      1 teaspoon cinnamon

·      1 teaspoon baking soda

·      2 teaspoons cream of tartar

·      4 cups flour

·      ¼ teaspoon salt

·      ¼ cup sugar (for rolling)

·      ⅓ cup cinnamon for rolling

Instructions

1.    Preheat oven to 375° F (190° C).

2.    In a large mixing bowl, add in wet ingredients.

3.    Mix in rest of ingredients except the ¼ cup sugar and ⅓ cinnamon.

4.    In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon.

5.    Shape dough into 1-inch balls.

6.    Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture.

7.    Place balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.

8.    Bake 10 minutes.

9.    Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

10. ENJOY!

Recipe Notes

The dough will be sticky but rolls really well into balls. If you want a crunchy cookie, bake an additional 3-5 minutes.

From Deborah Gillespie: "I substituted pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon in the recipe. It was wonderful and I plan on doing it again."