Vayikra: 5786 - It is the Jewish custom to begin teaching young children the Book of Vayikra, [as the saying goes] "Let the pure ones come and occupy themselves with purity." A hint to this from the small 'aleph' in 'Vayikra'. Rabbi Shimon Sonnenfeld, at the conclusion of…

00:02 Speaker 1 This Shabbos we begin a new book of the Torah, after declaring last week, “Chazak, chazak, venischazek.” We now begin Sefer Vayikra, the book of purity. It has long been the custom of the Jewish people that when children begin learning Torah, they start with Vayikra. The reason given is: let the pure come and occupy themselves with matters of purity. Some say this is also why Vayikra has a small alef: it alludes to the little children, who are pure, with whom we begin learning. Vayikra—we begin with them the book of purity. In the page we studied today, we mentioned Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai many times, and his enactment that the entire day of the omer offering is forbidden. In this week’s parsha, Parshas Vayikra, it says, “When a leader sins.” Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai comments on this: Why does it say “when a leader sins” rather than “if a leader sins”? He says that the word “asher,” meaning “when,” also suggests “ashrei,” meaning “fortunate.” Fortunate is the generation whose leader comes to bring atonement for an inadvertent sin—all the more so when it comes to a deliberate sin. That is Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai’s teaching. We can also connect this to what the Gemara tells us about Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. He lived at the time of the destruction. There is a lengthy account of how he reached Vespasian, how he left Jerusalem while it was under siege and came to Vespasian. The Gemara tells the story at length. Vespasian asked him, “What do you want? Ask me, and I will give it to you.” Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai then faced a dilemma: should he ask for Yavneh and its sages—which is what he actually did, and Vespasian granted it—or ask for Jerusalem? He asked for Yavneh and its sages. Some of the sages disagreed with him and held that he should have asked for Jerusalem. The Gemara asks why he did not, in fact, ask for Jerusalem. It says he thought that if he did, he would receive nothing at all. The Gemara relates in Tractate

02:21 Speaker 1 Berachos that when Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai fell ill, his students came to visit him. They saw him crying and asked, “Our teacher, why are you crying?” He said that if he were being brought to judgment before a king of flesh and blood, who is here today and in the grave tomorrow, and so on, he would cry and be afraid. Now that he was being brought to judgment before the King of Kings, Who is eternal and Whose judgment is eternal, how could he not be afraid? Many ask about his statement, “There are two paths before me, and I do not know which one I am being led down.” Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was a leader and one of the great sages of the Jewish people. Could he really have been unsure which path he was being led down? It says he spent forty years studying and forty years teaching. Could he have had any doubt? There are many answers. One answer the Rebbe gives is that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai never thought about himself. He was so occupied with his mission of studying and teaching Torah that he never thought about what was happening with him, or where he stood. So when the moment came for him to face judgment, he said, “I do not know which path I am being led down,” because he had never thought about where he stood. On the contrary, this shows Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai’s greatness. But there is another explanation connected to this. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai wondered throughout his life whether he had been right to ask for Yavneh and its sages instead of asking for Jerusalem. Perhaps, after all, if he had asked for Jerusalem, he would have received it. He wrestled with that question all his life. So when the time came for him to face judgment, he said, “I do not know which path I am being led

04:28 Speaker 1 down.” Perhaps, after all, I should have asked for Jerusalem.

04:33 Speaker 2 And so he feared that he would be punished, because perhaps he—

04:36 Speaker 1 That is why he said, “I do not know which path I am being led down,” because he thought that perhaps, after all—and this is what we read today in the parsha, “When a leader sins.” It is specifically Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai who says this: fortunate is the generation whose leader comes to bring—because Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai wrestled with that question. Perhaps he really had not acted as he should have, and he needed to bring atonement for it. And so, “I do not know which path I am being led down.”

05:06 Speaker 2 There is no answer to that.

05:07 Speaker 1 May we have a peaceful Shabbos and hear good news.

05:09 Speaker 3 Amen, selah.