This week’s e-mail shiur is dedicated to the soul of Esther Shlisser, who was an integral part of Midreshet Harova’s Seminar Yerushalayim, as well as a close and respected friend of the Midrasha. Esther left this world this past Sunday. All of us on the staff of Midreshet Harova, and the hundreds of our students who met her through our programming, will truly miss her.
(Note: Since this e-mail contains “eulogy-type” sentiments, and since we do
not eulogize someone on Shabbos, please read this before Shabbos so that you may
then read it on Shabbos without any problems.)
This e-mail is dedicated to one of the holiest and most sensitive souls that I
have ever met–Chaya Esther Malka Bas Yehuda, known in this world as
Esther Shlisser. If you were lucky, you had the opportunity to take a tour
with Esther Shlisser and be overwhelmingly impressed with her encyclopedic
knowledge regarding everything to do with the Beit HaMikdash, and at the same
time, be emotionally awakened at her genuine tears regarding its destruction.
If you were really lucky, you caught the almost-imperceptible, gleam in her eye
that told you that even when she sometimes seemed to speak harshly in her
fiery/passionate way, that she was really just playing with you and seeing how
far you would let her go. But if you were really, really, lucky, you had an
incredibly special soul like hers davening for you at the holiest places in the
world. Rebbetzin Feige Kahana summed it up best, in one of the most profound
understatements I have ever heard, when she said “We lost a good one”.
This week, we read three parshiot: two of them–Vayakhel and Pekudei–as part
of the weekly order of parshiot, and a third as another special parsha
for Maftir, called Parshat HaChodesh (Shemot 12:1-20). Parshiot Vayakhel and
Pekudei put the commands regarding the building of the Mishkan (which we
read about in Parshiot Terumah and Tetzaveh) into effect. The Torah
sums it all up by saying (38:21) “These are the accountings of the Mishkan, the
Mishkan of testimony”. Rashi quotes the Midrash Tanchuma which says that we
can read the word “Mishkan” with slightly different vowels as “Mashkon–
collateral”. Based on this, the Midrash says that the Beit HaMikdash (Temple)
acts as collateral for the debt of the Jewish people. As to what the debt is,
the Midrash says that it is our sins which create a debt that can only be
repaid via Teshuvah (repentance). Hashem gives us the Beit HaMikdash as
collateral that we will pay our debt, and if we don’t pay off the debt, He
takes the Beit HaMikdash away.
But the commentary “Toldos Adam” notes that in Parshat Mishpatim (Shemot 22:24-
27) the laws of lending money state that one may not take as collateral
something which is crucial to the debtor’s ability to repay his debt. For
example, one may not take a blacksmith’s hammer as collateral since he needs it
to earn money to repay his debt. Based on this, the Toldos Adam asks “how
could Hashem take the Beit Hamikdash as collateral for our sins, when we need
it to repay our debt, via the sacrifices we bring there for atonement?” The
Toldos Adam answers his own question by quoting the rest of the pasuk in
Mishpatim which says “When he calls out to Me, I will listen because I give
freely”. In other words, if the debtor cries out to Hashem because he needs
whatever was taken as collateral, Hashem will have mercy on him and give
him back the collateral. Says the Toldos Adam “Hashem would do the same
for the Jewish nation–i.e. He would give back to us the Temple which He took
as collateral–if only we would cry out for it. The problem is, we are not
crying out enough for the Temple’s return, and so Hashem does not feel that He
has to give it back to us”.
Esther Shlisser probably cried more genuine, heartfelt tears for the return of
the Beit HaMikdash than any other individual Jew in our history.
Interestingly, the commentaries say about Moshe, that after the 515th time he
davened to enter Eretz Yisrael, Hashem told him to stop because had he davened
once more, Hashem’s Midat HaRachamim (Attribute of Mercy) would have been
forced to let him. Perhaps Hashem took Esther from us because had she cried
once more in her heartfelt way, Hashem would have surely had to bring the
Temple to us, at a time that perhaps we were not yet worthy of it. Instead, as
Hashem usually does, He took the soul of a righteous person from us to make us
feel the loss that we should otherwise feel for the Beit HaMikdash. In fact,
the commentary Pardes Yosef notes that the word in the first pasuk of Parshat
Pekudei “Ayleh–these” has a numerical value of 36, which represents the 36
hidden Tzaddikim in the world. According to the Pardes Yosef, when there is no
Beit HaMikdash (as in our time), the 36 Tzaddikim act as collateral for our
debt and may be taken as payment if we do not do Teshuvah.
Parshat HaChodesh talks about the laws of Rosh Chodesh. The Sages say that
women observe Rosh Chodesh with greater stringency than men and should only do
work which is absolutely necessary. According to Pirkei D’Rabi Eliezer (chap
45), this is because the women refused to contribute their jewelry to making
the Golden Calf. Yet, when it came to contributing gold for the building of
the Mishkan, it says (Vayakhel 35:22) “the men came in addition to the
women” which, according to the commentaries, means that the women contributed
first, in a selfless, wholehearted, giving to Hashem. It can be of no doubt to
anyone who knew her, that had Esther been alive during that period in the
desert, she would have led the procession of women contributing to the building
of the Mishkan, because she made selfless-giving an Art.
I was incredibly fortunate to know and work closely with Esther Shlisser every
year for a seminar on Yerushalayim that I organized. In fact, Esther WAS the
seminar as she did all the tours, since no one could portray Yerushalayim like
she could. One year, I had forgotten to book Esther for one of my time slots
and realized only that day (or perhaps the day before). I called Esther in a
panic, asking her if she could do the tour, but she explained that I had
already booked her for two other tours that day and she had yet another tour
booked with another group. (Her limit was three tours a day, based on the
amount of stamina she had.) This made me panic all the more as I had no
alternative and could never explain to the boss why I had simply forgotten to
fill the spot. I pleaded with Esther to help me out of this predicament and in
the end, she agreed. For me, that sums up who Esther was–always giving of
herself, even when she had no more to give.
As part of his eulogy for Esther, her brother, Mayer, noted that Esther’s soul
left this world at the moment that those at her bedside said the word “Echad–
One” in the Shema Yisrael tefilla. The only other person about whom we are
told that his soul left on the word “Echad” was R. Akiva (Gemarra Brachos,
61b), upon which a voice from Heaven came out and said “Praiseworthy are you R.
Akiva that your soul departed on the word ‘Echad’. You are invited into Gan
Eden”. The Maharsha (R. Shmuel Eidels) notes that the fact that R. Akiva’s
soul departed on the word Echad, is evidence that he accepted “Ol Malchut
Shamayim–the “Yoke of Heaven” completely. This is the same R. Akiva who, when
he saw foxes walking on Temple Mount, took it as a sign that the Temple would
be rebuilt. Esther’s love of teaching about the Beit HaMikdash is certainly
evidence of how she completely accepted Ol Malchut Shamayim, which no doubt has
brought the rebuilding of the Temple closer to fruition.
Though we usually use the phrase “Chazak Chazak V’nitchazayk–Be strong, Be
strong and strengthen yourselves” merely to signify the fact that we have
finished a book of the Torah, this week, with the passing of such a holy soul,
this phrase takes on new meaning for all those who knew and loved Esther. May
the soul of Chaya Esther Malka Bas Yehuda, like the soul of R. Akiva, be
invited into the highest sphere of Gan Eden and may she bask in the glory of
the Beit HaMikdash Shel Maala (the Heavenly Beit HaMikdash) where she no doubt
feels like she is finally at home.
Good Shabbos and Shabbat Shalom,
Shprintza Rappaport