A Short Tribute

Our Sages, of blessed memory, instruct us to begin with the Book of Leviticus [Vayikra], specifically, in teaching schoolchildren, so that the issue of humility should be learned first, for it is required for Torah study. A person lacking humility, even if they are a great Torah scholar, is not beloved by the Almighty. That is why there is a small aleph in the word Vayikra: so that pupils may ask why, and teachers can explain, as above, concerning our Master Moses' humility, and that the notion reach the child's mind. This is a fundamental principle in Torah.

“To the holy public, to every community and every ethnic group, I turn to you with an agitated and shocked heart, to focus on the unfortunate incident that occurred these past days, which began with ‘brotherly hatred’, and concluded with bloodshed – and continues to shock and horrify the heart. In a similar occurrence, our Holy Temple was destroyed - our glory and exile from our Land should not happen twice. This was the claim of the evil Haman, when he said – ‘there is one People’ – that has now reverted to being scattered and fragmented. Against this, Queen Esther said to Mordechai – ‘Go gather all the Jews’ - let them unite and let all the tribes become One People. And with that, the evil decree was annulled. I turn now to the holy public: Remove all causes of separation, remove the dividing barriers, and banish unfounded hatred from within you. Let us respect one another, let us be level-headed with each other, let us insist upon the morality of man and let us protect the sanctity of life”.