"When a person from among you will bring an offering to Hashem." (Vayikra 1:2)

We begin the book of Vayikra which discusses the laws of the korbanot, offerings to Hashem, brought upon the altar of the Mishkan. To our sorrow, we do not have the Mishkan or the Bet Hamikdash in Jerusalem. We must use our ability to pray in order to gain forgiveness for our sins, and to beg Hashem for our benefits. Listen to a true story and gain a new insight.

Many of us have attended religious weddings and we have witnessed many customs. In America, it is not so common to see and hear a badchan perform. A badchan is someone who tells funny stories to make the bride and groom, as well as the guests, laugh. Once a badchan was asked to perform at a certain wedding in Jerusalem. Upon hearing that Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zs"l would be attending this wedding, he refused. He said he was in too much awe of the Gadol Hador to feel comfortable entertaining the wedding guests in front of the Rav. His friends assured him that the Rabbi usually leaves early and never stays until the end. He dances with the hatan and leaves. Thus reassured, the badchan agreed.

To his great dismay, Rabbi Auerbach, for some reason, stayed until the end. The badchan now had to tell his story with the Rabbi there. "There was once a man who had a daughter that limped and he was worried over how he would find her a shidduch (match). Fortunately, he was very wealthy and he offered a huge dowry. However, there was still no interest. The man went to his Rosh Yeshivah for advice. The Rabbi suggested that maybe he should consider a young man who also had a disability. The father said he would. "Would you accept a boy who has a bad stutter?" The father said yes. The Rabbi told him about one of his students and set up the shidduch. A few nights later the boy came to the door and rang the rich man's bell. The father answered the door and the boy began, "Sh-sh-sh-sh…" on and on, until he finally got the word shalom out. The next day the father called the Rabbi and said he wasn't interested. The Rabbi asked why; after all he had agreed to the stutter. Why did he change his mind? The father answered, "I am not rejecting him because he stutters. I'm rejecting him because he is not smart. If he knew how long it would take him to say the word shalom, why didn't he start saying it ten minutes before he rang the bell?"

The following day the badchan heard that Rabbi Auerbach said it was worth it to stay until the end of the wedding just to hear that funny story. While we ordinary people just laugh at the story, a great Rabbi hears things differently. He said it was a wonderful musar lesson to him because it made him think of how we approach Hashem, the King of kings.

We know how important it is that we "make a good impression" because we hope to have our prayers answered, but we don't use our heads and realize that we'd better prepare carefully before we ring "Hashem's bell," and approach Him with our prayers. We stand there and stutter, utterly inept, not having prepared ourselves properly before trying to speak. Shabbat Shalom. Rabbi Reuven Semah

"If a soul will bring a sacrifice" (Vayikra 2:1)

When a person brings a regular sacrifice, the Torah uses the word adam, a man, but when a poor person brings a sacrifice then the word used is nefesh, soul. The Rabbis tell us this means that G-d considers this poor man who struggled so hard to bring a sacrifice as if he brought his very soul to Hashem.

This lesson is not limited only to donating to charity. Rather, anyone who is limited in any field and nevertheless tries his hardest to do something in the service of G-d, even though the actual accomplishment may be modest, Hashem considers the effort as if the person brought his whole self close to G-d.

This should be encouraging to all of us in all our endeavors. If we don't pray so well or read Hebrew fluently and we still try our best, it means that much more to Hashem. If we can't grasp all the subject matter of a class and we still try our best to attend, it's as if we brought our vnab (soul) to our Creator. This should inspire us onward to improve and expand our involvement in studying, praying and community work since it is so precious in the eyes of Hashem. Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Shmuel Choueka

"He shall repay its principal and add its fifth." (Vayikra 5:24)

Why is one who uses sacred property or swears falsely to his fellow regarding money matters required to pay a fifth in addition to the principal?

Our Sages highly praise the giving of sedakah, and advise setting aside as much as twenty percent (one fifth) of one's earnings for it (Ketubot 67b). Sedakah can be given either to the Bet Hamikdash (communal causes) or to individuals. The person who derives benefit from property set aside for the Sanctuary, or who endeavors to take money from his friend has acted contrary to the directive of our Sages to give away one-fifth to holy purposes or needy individuals. Therefore, as a punishment, he not only returns the principal, but also adds one-fifth. (Vedbarta Bam)

Time flies when you're having fun.

This may be a shopworn, trite saying, but experience shows that it is true.

One particularly hectic day, I had to run an errand at the bookstore. Pressed for time, I felt very fortunate to immediately find a parking spot in front of a car dealership directly across the street from where I was going. As I rushed by the showroom, I noticed a salesman pacing back and forth inside, eyeing his wristwatch.

I ran into the bookstore, picked up the item I needed, and raced back to the car. As I approached it, I saw the same salesman again, but now he was outside, pacing in front of the dealership like a caged lion. He just couldn't wait for the time to pass so he could leave work and do whatever it was he did in his free time.

I had an hour and a half before I needed to leave for my next commitment. I drove to the yeshivah, sat down in the bet Midrash, and began to study a difficult piece of Talmud, hoping to clarify a point of halachah. It seemed as if only minutes had passed when I realized it was time to go. How I wished the time had not gone by so quickly! How I wanted the clock to stop for a little while so that I could learn a bit longer!

The way you look at the gift of time depends on how you use it. If you want to accomplish - to improve yourself spiritually, or even to build a temporal entity - you find that the asset of time has no price tag. You become involved in the project, and it always seems that the amount of work exceeds the time available. On the other hand, people who don't understand the value of time can't wait for it to pass.

When the clock seems frozen, consider it a signal to evaluate how you are spending your time. If time seems to be moving too slowly, you are probably wasting it on an endeavor of limited value. Switch to something more valuable, and watch the time fly. (One Minute With Yourself - Rabbi Raymond Beyda)

A quick tip to boost the power of your prayer. Hazal tell us (Masechet Baba Kama Daf 92A) that Hashem loves the tefilot of one Jew for another so much that anyone who prays on behalf of a fellow Jew with similar needs will have his prayer answered first. A special service has now begun to provide people with names of others who find themselves in a similar predicament. You can call with complete anonymity and get the name of someone to pray for and give the name of someone that needs our prayers. The name of the service is Kol Hamitpalel. Categories include: Marriage; Income; Health; To have children etc.

Call to 646-279-8712 or email kol18@attglobal.net (Privacy of email limited by the email address)

Please pass this message along. Tizku L'misvot.

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