Bamidbar+-+final+session

See a) Bamidbar 1:1-5 b) Shmot 30:12 c) Shmuel Bet, Chapter 24
 * = **BAMIDBAR - COUNTDOWN TO FREEDOM** =
 * 1) = Why does Hashem count the Jewish people? Why did we need to count ourselves? =
 * 2) = Why are we forbidden to count ourselves? =

תבוא רוח סערה stormy אשר תעקור uproot את עם ישראל מגזעו from its trunk ותוכיח לו //**שברלין **//אינה //**ירושלים **//!' ' זעק מחבר הספר  //**משך חכמה **//, וקולו לא נשמע.
 * = [[image:Meshech_Chochmah,_R._Meir_Simcha_of_Dvinsk.jpg align="left"]]The Meshech Chochmah on 'Bechukotai. " =

= 3. WHAT LACK OF FREEDOM IS THE MESHECH CHOCHMAH PREDICTING? =

= 4. What kind of freedom were we fighting for in these pesukim? = || **שמות פרק ו' **


 *  ו ** לָכֵן אֱמֹר לִבְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֲנִי ה', וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מִתַּחַת סִבְלֹת מִצְרַיִם, וְהִצַּלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם מֵעֲבֹדָתָם; וְגָאַלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בִּזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה, וּבִשְׁפָטִים גְּדֹלִים.
 * ז ** וְלָקַחְתִּי אֶתְכֶם לִי לְעָם, וְהָיִיתִי לָכֶם לֵא-לֹקִים; וִידַעְתֶּם, כִּי אֲנִי ה' אֱ-לֹקֵיכֶם, הַמּוֹצִיא אֶתְכֶם, מִתַּחַת סִבְלוֹת מִצְרָיִם.
 * ח ** וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר נָשָׂאתִי אֶת-יָדִי, לָתֵת אֹתָהּ לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב; וְנָתַתִּי אֹתָהּ לָכֶם מוֹרָשָׁה, אֲנִי ה'.
 * **דברים פרק כו' **


 * ה **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי, וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה, וַיָּגָר שָׁם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט; וַיְהִי-שָׁם, לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל עָצוּם וָרָב.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">ו **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> וַיָּרֵעוּ אֹתָנוּ הַמִּצְרִים, וַיְעַנּוּנוּ; וַיִּתְּנוּ עָלֵינוּ, עֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">ז **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> וַנִּצְעַק, אֶל-ה' אֱלֹקֵי אֲבֹתֵינוּ; וַיִּשְׁמַע ה' אֶת-קֹלֵנוּ, וַיַּרְא אֶת-עָנְיֵנוּ וְאֶת-עֲמָלֵנוּ וְאֶת-לַחֲצֵנוּ.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">ח **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ ה', מִמִּצְרַיִם, בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה, וּבְמֹרָא גָּדֹל--וּבְאֹתוֹת, וּבְמֹפְתִים.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">ט **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> וַיְבִאֵנוּ, אֶל-הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה; וַיִּתֶּן-לָנוּ אֶת-הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת, אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ. ||

5. Which holiday(s) celebrate freedom more than any other? Why? **__“The Penitent” – an excerpt from__** //**__Altneuland__**// **__by Theodor Herzl__** = 6. Why is 'freedom' such a central concept in Judaism? =
 * And so they went through the Seder ceremony – half ritual, half family festival. This most Jewish of all the festivals dates back farther in history than any other civilized usage in modern times. For hundreds and hundreds of years it has been observed without change, while the whole world changed. Nations disappeared from history, others rose. The world grew larger. Undreamed of continents arose from the seas. Unimagined natural forces were harnessed for the pleasure and comfort of man. But this one people remained unchanged, retaining its ancient customs, true to itself, rehearsing the woes of its forbears.Israel, a people of slavery and freedom, still prayed in ancient words to the Eternal its G-d.

**__7. ALL TO READ SKIT TOGETHER:__** **__NARR, DOV, AVRAHAM, SHMUEL, CHAIM, GHETTO PEOPLE (ALL)__** **__“The Last Passover in the Warsaw Ghetto”__** – by Wladyslaw Pawlak (A fictional account based on real characters and opinions expressed several days before the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.) //April 19, 1943// //– the first day in defense of the Warsaw Ghetto.// __**Narr**__: The people in the dugout were not sure whether it was night or day. Only the entry of a handful of men was their signal that the sun had set over the fighting ghetto…. “Distribute the food. There is no point in despairing. We knew what would be the outcome, and we know what our line of action must be.” … Two women brought along a basketful of dried bread, a bag of sugar and jugs with water. As they were distributing the rations, a voice spoke out from one of the corners: __Shmuel Gelber__ “Do you know what day this is?” __Ghetto people:__ The answers came half mockingly, half annoyed at such an irrelevant question: “Monday, the 19th of April.” __Shmuel Gelber__ : “No, no, I don’t mean that. But do you know that today is a holiday?” __Hillel__: “What, is he crazy?” __Chaim__: “A fine sort of holiday this is!” __Dov:__ “We’re dying, and he blabbers about holidays.” __Narr__: And so the comments ran on. __Narr:__ Szmul Gelber, a homely fellow and one of the oldest in the group, rose from his bunk. His usually calm and friendly eyes were shining. He seemed very tall as he towered above them: __Shmuel Gelber:__ “And I am telling you, today is a great holiday. It is Passover, the Seder night.” __Narr__: All the tenseness of his words could not pierce the wall of stubborn indifference. Some tried to calm him with casual remarks: __Abraham:__ __:__ “A holiday? So what?” __Chaim:__ “This is not time for celebrating” __Dov:__ “If it makes you happy, why don’t you conduct a Seder for yourself?” __Chaim:__ “Passover without matzot! What kind of Passover is that?” __Narr__: Gelber seemed to grow in stature. The indifference of those present spurred him on. He seized a piece of black bread, dry as shavings and hard as wood, and called out: __Shmuel Gelber:__ “Verily, I say unto you, this is the bread of affliction such as our forefathers never knew in the land of Egypt.” __Narr__: A deep silence fell upon them all of a sudden. Gelber shrank into himself again and sitting down on an improvised bench, sighed mournfully: __Shmuel Gelber:__ “I haven’t got a Haggadah, and I don’t remember the words. I’ve never been for religion in all my life, but I am longing for the old traditions of our own.” __Narr:__ Now they begged him to conduct the Seder by heart, just as he remembered it, and they would help him in any way that they could. __Gelber__ protested: “There are no matzot, no bitter herbs, no lamb’s bone. There are none of the things that symbolize the clay ofEgypt. How can I conduct the Seder for you?” __Abraham__ Rosze: “We need no bitter herbs. Sufficient bitterness and humiliation have been our lot. Are we not slaves? Are we not orphans who have been forsaken? We need no wine. Let us drink water.” __Dov__: “We need no matzot. As Gelber said, this bread tastes more bitter than the matzot ofEgypt. He has begun, let him proceed.” […] __Chaim__ Sztork interrupted the silence: “I am the youngest. It behooves me to ask the questions: “Why is this night different from all other nights? On all other nights we may either eat leavened or unleavened bread, but on Passover night only unleavened bread … //And why do we have neither leavened nor unleavened bread this night?// On all other nights we may eat any kind of herbs, but on this night only bitter herbs…. //And why do we have neither sweet nor bitter herbs this night?// On all other nights we do not dip even once, but on this night twice…. //And why is it all the same to us this night?// On all other nights we eat either sitting or leaning, but on this night we all lean…. //And why do we neither sit nor lean this night?//” __Gelber__ replied: “Because we were slaves to Pharoah inEgypt. …” __Narr__: And he continued the biblical tale of the Egyptian bondage … They listened in silence, but when he came to enumerate the plagues, they repeated in a chorus: __ALL__ “Blood, Frogs, Lice, Beasts, Blight, Boils, Hail, Locusts, Darkness, Slaying of the First Born.” __Narr :__ As they proceeded, their voices became more vengeful, and they spoke the words in anger. No one was thinking of the ancient past in the valley of the Nile. The oppressor that they faced was a hundredfold worse. He was alive and powerful, and only a few walls and the dusk of spring night separated him from them. And when they finished the plagues, __Gelber__resumed the tale. : __Gelber:__ “And the L-rd has freed us from the bondage of Egypt.” __Chaim:__ “It’s a lie, I’m telling you. G-d has never freed us from bondage, for it has followed us wherever we go. We were slaves by the rivers of Babylon,Spain was one big prison, and so were the ghettos of the Middle Ages.” __ALL__“Woe unto us. We are slaves, and as slaves do we die.” __Abraham__: “Quiet! Fools! He was right who said that today we celebrate a holiday. Passover is a holiday of freedom. Don’t you see that we are free? No longer do we listen to orders. They tell: Come out of your hiding – and we refuse to come out. They lure us with promises, and we answer with gunfire. We have thrown off the bands that they made us wear for our humiliation, and we have turned them into banners. Today is the day of freedom, and that freedom is within us. Do not seek it in a restful and comfortable life, but rather seek it within your own hearts and souls. Do not think of victory and glory, of homes and riches. Remember that thousands of our dear ones died before us, and that we too must perish. We will go down in defeat, but we will die as free men and women….” […] __ALL__: “For the day of our defeat will be the day of our glory.” WHAT FREEDOM DO THEY DESIRE? WHAT HAS CHANGED? WHAT HASN'T?

__ Excerpts from “Sacred and Profane: Kodesh and Chol in World Perspectives” - Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik __ The basic criterion which distinguishes free-man from slave is the kind of relationship that each has with time and its experience. Freedom is identical with rich, colorful, creative time-consciousness. Bondage is identical with passive intuition and reception of an empty, formal time stream. When the Jews were delivered from the Egyptian oppression and Moses took the almost impossible task of metamorphosing a tribe of slaves into a nation of priests, he was told by G-d that the path leading from the holiday of Passover to Shevuot, from initial liberation to consummate freedom, leads through the medium of time. The commandment of Sefira was entrusted to the Jews, the wondrous test of counting forty-nine successive days was put to him. These forty-nine days must be whole. If one day be missed, the act of numeration is invalidated. A slave who is capable of appreciating each day, of grasping its meaning and worth, of weaving every thread of time into a glorious fabric, quantitatively stretching over the period of seven weeks but qualitatively forming the warp and woof of centuries of change is eligible for Torah. He has achieved freedom. = 8. **WHAT MAKES DIFFERENT KINDS OF FREEDOM?** =

** What kind of freedom are we fighting for here? ** media type="youtube" key="wpS8z8pzQgs" height="349" width="425"