Under the Sun - Parshat Vayikra

2 Nissan, 5783

March 24, 2023

Parshat Vayikra

Norouz Mobarak! (No, that’s not a typo.)

It is in fact the new year’s greeting in Persian. Just as the Persians celebrate their new year, which begins in the spring, so too the Jewish people start a new year in the month of Nissan.

In Masechet Rosh Hashanah we learn: בְּאֶחָד בְּנִיסָן – רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לַמְּלָכִים וְלָרְגָלִים. The counting of the years, according to the Torah, begins in Nissan, as does the counting of the years of the kings of Israel. According to tradition, Sefer Vayikra, which we begin this Shabbat, was also told to Moshe in the beginning of Nissan.

Right at the beginning of this week’s parsha we start asking questions (perhaps this is good preparation for the Pesach Seder?).

וַיִּקְרָא אֶל משֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֵלָיו מֵאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד לֵאמֹר

And he called - and he spoke...

The wording in this pasuk is seemingly redundant. What is the difference between וַיִּקְרָא and וַיְדַבֵּר?

Upcoming Events:

March 26 - Sunday Morning Tefillah in the Kohelet Yeshiva Beit Midrash at 9:00 AM

March 29 - HS Chesed Trip Day

April 3-14 - Pesach Break, No School

April 17 - School Resumes

April 18 - Yom HaShoah

See what else is coming up at Kohelet Yeshiva here.

Visit Our Website

Click Here to View Our 2023-2024 Preliminary Calendar

Support Kohelet Here

The phrase ״וידבר ה׳ אל משה״ (And God spoke to Moshe) appears 175 times in the Torah, thereby making it one of the most common phrases in the Torah. Yet, the word "Vayikra" in the opening pasuk of this week's parsha comes to teach us a very important lesson.

Sefer Vayikra is known as תורת כהנים (Torah of the Priests), as it deals with matters pertaining to the Beit Hamikdash, korbanot (sacrifices), and the laws and work of the kohanim, the priests. The kohanim were a special and important part of B’nei Yisrael, as they were chosen to be God's servants in the temple.

The avodah in the temple required meticulous mental and physical preparation and a very high spiritual level on the part of the kohanim. The priests were not even permitted to enter the Beit Hamikdash at just any time or to simply go anywhere they pleased within the confines of the temple. They needed to maintain the purity of their service, their work had to be done very precisely, and every action they took needed to be thought through.

And at this moment, before God begins to explain these very significant laws relating to the priests and their service, He calls to Moshe: Come, approach me and be close to me so that we can have a personal conversation together.

Chazal explain this episode by saying ״אין קריאה אלא לשון של חיבה״ (The calling is an expression of affection).

And in fact, God tells us that despite the important need to be holy and to live in a state of holiness while paying attention to countless details in our direct encounters with Him, the purpose of being holy is to form a deep connection with Him, and that is what causes both God and us to be happy. Come close to me, He says, I am interested in you, you are special to me.

Of course, being close to God requires extra effort and caution in maintaining a proper attitude, but it is the life of holiness and the ways of the Torah that make us happy and fill us with a true sense of joy and affection.

Let us all have a happy new year, one in which we aspire to be closer to God in holiness, purity, and joy.

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Shiran Shamay

Kohelet Yeshiva 23rd Annual Gala

Click Here to Purchase Tickets and Submit an Ad

Coming Up:

Click Here to Order Tickets to the PTSO End of Year Event at the Phillies Game

High School Happenings

News from Kohelet Yeshiva

This past Sunday and Monday, we hosted the second annual KoHack event, the only North American Yeshiva High School Coding Hackathon, where 12 teams comprised of 44 students from 6 schools competed to address a problem using creative coding and design skills through the creation of an app.

Teams from KYHS, Berman Hebrew Academy (MD), Fasman Yeshiva High School (IL), Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School (NJ), Maimonides School (MA), and Torah Academy of Bergen County (NJ) participated in the two-day event, which was organized and facilitated by Kohelet Yeshiva.

Our 4/5 students took their Science Fair to the next level by actively involving our younger students in the fun and learning. Our 4th graders presented their science projects to the 1st and 2nd graders, while our 5th graders presented their projects to the 3rd graders. In addition, our 4th graders joined with our 2nd graders and our 5th graders teamed up with our 3rd graders for a special STEM activity, in which they built a car out of recycled materials and tried to see which car would go down the ramp the farthest. Finally, our 4th and 5th graders made a video for the younger students that helped introduce the experiments they would see at the Science Fair.

Dr. Watts’ Tikvah class this week featured the annual “Meeting of the Minds,” where philosophers from across time come together to discuss important ethical and moral questions. The discussion, which was all about the ethics and morals of Artificial Intelligence, was moderated by Maimonides, with Confucius, Aristotle, Jeremy Bentham, Immanuel Kant, and Albert Einstein weighing in with their thoughts. It was an outstanding discussion!

Updates from the Kohelet Beit Midrash

Parnas HaYom

Sponsor a day or a week of learning at Kohelet Yeshiva. Contact Nachi Troodler at ntroodler@koheletyeshiva.org for details or click here to sign up.

Kohelet Yeshiva | www.koheletyeshiva.org | 223 North Highland Ave, Merion Station, PA 19066