Parashat Shemini

Parasha Thoughts

By Rabbi Shemuel Akhamzadeh

אַל־תְּשַׁקְּצוּ֙ אֶת־נַפְשֹׁ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם בְּכָל־הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ הַשֹּׁרֵ֑ץ וְלֹ֤א תִֽטַּמְּאוּ֙ בָּהֶ֔ם וְנִטְמֵתֶ֖ם בָּֽם׃
You shall not draw abomination upon yourselves through anything that swarms; you shall not make yourselves unclean therewith and thus become unclean.(Leviticus 11:43)
תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל עבירה מטמטמת לבו של אדם שנאמר (ויקרא יא, מג) ולא תטמאו בהם ונטמתם בם אל תקרי ונטמאתם אלא ונטמטם

In the school of Rabbi Yishmael it was taught: Sin stupefies the heart of a person who commits it, as it is stated: “And do not impurify yourselves with them, so that you should not be thereby impurified” Do not read that term as: “And be impurified [venitmetem]”; rather, read it as: And your hearts will be stupefied [venitamtem].

There is a moving story regarding an old and highly educated Jewish professor who was also deeply religious. The old man came to Rav Chaim Kanievsky and complained that although he was known to be highly intelligent and had many degrees in various subjects, he was never able to master even one Daf of Gemara-even with much effort.

Harav … who happened to hear this complaint recounted a similar case that was brought to Rav Akiva Ager. A certain young boy completely lost interest in learning in Cheder seemingly overnight and his parents brought him to Rav Akiva Aiger. The Rav told the parents this was due to consumption of food which was not Kosher, and after looking into the matter, it was truly verified.

After hearing the story, the old man recalled that during his younger years he had desired a certain non-kosher food and was unable to control himself and as he remembered that was the point when his challenges with learning Gemara had started.

 

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