[Don’t forget to see the Halacha
Encounters below!]
“And Moshe
said to the Bnei Yisroel, “See, Hashem has designated by name,
Betzalel, son of Uri, son of Chur, of the tribe of Yehuda.
And He has filled him with Divine spirit, with wisdom, with
understanding, with knowledge and with every craft. And to
devise plans to work with gold, with silver and with copper…”
When
the great Torah giant, Rav Chaim Volozhiner Z”L started his
Yeshiva, he appointed solicitors who would visit various villages
and collect funds for the Yeshiva on a yearly basis. After
a number of years, one of these collectors requested permission
from Rav Chaim to take money from the Yeshiva funds in order
to purchase a private horse and wagon as well as an elegant
suit of clothing. He explained to Rav Chaim that these items
would impress the donors, thus increasing the size of their
donations. Rav Chaim agreed to this and permitted him to use
some of the funds to purchase the items. That year, when the
collector came around, one of the villagers, a generous donator
in the past, refused to give as much as a penny. When Rav Chaim
heard about this he was quite disturbed and he decided to pay
the villager a visit. When Rav Chaim came, the villager received
him warmly and explained, “I was always happy to help support
the Yeshiva with my donations, but to buy a horse and a wagon
as well as fine clothes, for this I do not want to give!” Rav
Chaim asked the man to bring a Chumash and open it to Parshas
Vayakhel to the Pesukim mentioned above. He asked the villager, “The
pasuk tells us that Betzalel possessed in him Divine spirit
which the Gemarah (Berachos 55a) explains to mean that he knew
the proper joining of the letters through which Hashem created
heaven and earth. Isn’t it then demeaning to say that he also
knew how to devise plans to work with gold, with silver and
with copper, which are jobs of a simple craftsman?” Rav Chaim
answered this with another question. “The Mishkan contained
within it various sections, some of which were more holy than
others; the most holy of these being the Kodesh HaKodoshim-Holy
of Holies. Now, wouldn’t every Jew want his donation to be
used for the construction of the Holy of Holies itself rather
than for any other area of the Mishkan? This of course would
be an impossibility, as an entire Mishkan was needed. How then
did Betzalel decide whose donation should go where? “For this
reason,” said Rav Chaim, “Hashem chose Betzalel who possessed
Divine spirit, for the job. When a person would bring a donation
for the Mishkan, Betzalel would be able to tell how pure the
intentions of the donor were and he would place the donation
in the Mishkan accordingly. If Betzalel saw that the person
was giving only for the sake of Hashem, that donation would
be used for the Holy of Holies. But if he saw through his Divine
spirit that the person’s intentions were not completely pure
and included honor or personal gain, then the donation would
be used for a part of the Mishkan that had a lesser degree
of holiness. This is what the pasuk is telling us. Betzalel
was filled with Divine spirit, which enabled him to see the
purity of each person’s intentions; thus he knew how to work
with each person’s gold, silver and copper and to place it
accordingly in the Mishkan. The same applies to you,” concluded
Rav Chaim. “If you give your donation to the yeshiva with pure
intentions, you can be sure that your money will go directly
to support the students who are sitting and learning in the
Yeshiva. Other donations which might be given with mixed intentions
might be used for less holy necessities such as the horse and
wagon.”
Perhaps
we can take this a step further with what Rav Chaim Volozhiner
himself writes, (Nefesh Hachaim 1:4) as well as other commentaries,
about the pasuk (Shemos 25:8) “V’asu Li Mikdash v’shachanti
b’sochom”-And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary and I will
dwell in them.” The pasuk does not say “v’shachanti b’socho”-and
I will dwell in it, but rather “v’shachanti b’sochom”-and I
will dwell in them. This implies that the Will of Hashem regarding
the building of the Mishkan is to rest His Shechina inside
every Jew. Hence, the Mishkan and all its components are only
a portrait model for a Jew, whom with his own Mitzvos and good
deeds creates inside himself a dwelling place for the Shechina.
Now a person might wonder, “To which part of the Mishkan am
I compared and how much of the Shechina’s presence is within
me?” The answer to that is that it all depends on the purity
and intentions of his actions, which are his “donation” to
his Mishkan. If his Mitzvos and deeds are done with pure intentions,
solely for the honor of Hashem, then he will, with his actions,
have created inside himself a Kodesh HaKodoshim-Holy of Holies.
If however, other intentions are mixed into his deeds, such
as honor or personal gain, then the Shechina will rest in him
to a lesser degree as it did in the other areas of the Mishkan.
May
we all merit to serve Hashem with pure intent so that we merit
the fullest degree of His Shechina in our midst!
Rabbi
Lederer is a Rebbe in Yishavas Tiferes Tzvi and learns in the
Mechanchim Night Kollel.
Halacha Encounters
Brushing Teeth on Shabbos
Rabbi Yisroel Langer
Q - Is it permissible for one to brush his teeth on Shabbos?
A
- There are several issues that come up with regards to brushing
one’s teeth on Shabbos.
Toothpaste
One of the 39 Melochos prohibited on Shabbos is Memacheik (scraping).
We learn this from the Mishkan where animal hides were scraped
down to make them smooth. The Gemorah (Shabbos 75b) learns
from here that any “smoothing” of non-food items is prohibited
on Shabbos. One example mentioned in the Gemorah is the spreading
of a salve or ointment onto a cloth that will be applied to
one’s body. The use of a bar of soap on Shabbos is forbidden
for this reason.1 Hagaon Rav Moshe Feinstein2 zt”l even
questions whether one could use liquid soap on Shabbos. Since
it has a thick texture perhaps it is not considered to be a
liquid and is subject to the violation of Memareiach (smoothing – a toldah of
Memacheik). When one brushes his teeth with toothpaste, the
toothpaste gets smeared upon his teeth. Therefore most Poskim,
amongst them Hagaon R’ Moshe Feinstein3 zt”l rule
that it is strictly forbidden to use toothpaste on Shabbos
and if one does so he has violated the Melacha of “smoothing”.
Putting
Water on the Toothbrush
On Shabbos it is prohibited by Torah law to squeeze out a
cloth from liquids contained within it. This is only true if
the liquid was absorbed by the material. Therefore if liquid
gets caught in hair on Shabbos it should be permitted to squeeze
them out since the liquid doesn’t get absorbed by the individual
hairs. However, due to its close resemblance to actual squeezing,
Chazal forbade even this form of squeezing. Based on this,
the Poskim4 say that although the nylon bristles
of a toothbrush do not absorb water, since the bristles are
close together that the water gets caught between them one
should refrain from using a wet toothbrush on Shabbos.
After one finishes brushing (with his dry toothbrush) he may
not rinse the toothbrush with water, since this rinsing is
done to prepare it for the next brushing which is after Shabbos.5
Additional
Requirements
It is forbidden to make oneself bleed on Shabbos. Therefore
if one’s gums bleed when he brushes his teeth, he may not brush
his teeth at all on Shabbos, even though he has no intention
to make himself bleed since it will most likely happen it is
considered a Psik Raishai and is forbidden.6
Even if all these requirements are met: 1) his gums don’t
bleed, 2) he is not using toothpaste, 3) the toothbrush is
dry, some require that he have a special toothbrush set aside
just for Shabbos. The reason for this is since brushing one’s
teeth during the week is ordinarily done via a Melacha (smoothing
or squeezing) to use that same toothbrush on Shabbos would
be classified as “Uvda D’Chol” and prohibited. Therefore, these
Poskim require a toothbrush set aside for Shabbos only.7 Others
do not require a separate toothbrush for Shabbos as long as
there are no remnants of toothpaste left on the brush.8
Some say that even if one fulfills all these requirements
it is still better to avoid brushing teeth on Shabbos.9
Flossing is permitted provided that 1) you don’t cut the floss
2) it’s not usual for your gums to bleed.
______________________________
9 Shmiras Shabbos Kihilchasa (14:34)
Rabbi
Langer learns full time in the Kollel and is a frequesnt
contributor to Halacha Encounters.
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