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By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum
ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם (פרק כו פסוק ד)
The פרשה begins by telling us that if we follow Hashem’s מצוות then He will bestow all physical blessings upon us. The פסוק first begins, “I will give your rain in their proper times”. The מדרש comments that there is an emphasis on “I”- that is, Hashem will send the rain Himself, not through His angels, and that the “proper times” refer to שבת- specifically Friday night. R’ Yehonason Eibschutz explains the correlation between these two comments of the מדרש based on a different מדרש found in בראשית. The מדרש there quotes a story about Turnusrufus, a Roman, asked R’ Akiva, “If it is true that Hashem observes שבת, how could it rain on שבת, isn’t He transferring from one domain to another?” R’ Akiva answered him, “One cannot transfer objects from his personal domain to someone else’s, but one can move within their own personal domain as much as they like.” Meaning, the whole world belongs to Hashem as His personal domain, therefore He can send rain from the heavens to the earth even on שבת. With this, R’ Eibschutz explains the first מדרש: Because Hashem is the One sending the rain, therefore He can send it on שבת as well. Had the rain been directed through a messenger, they would have been prohibited from transferring domains on שבת.
העשירי יהיה קדש לה’ (פרק כז פסוק לב)
The תורה tells us that every year one must tithe their animals and designate the מעשר as holy, a sacrifice to Hashem. The owner must pass their animals through a narrow opening, and every tenth one is to be set aside as מעשר. R’ Moshe Feinstein quotes the גמרא in בכורות that even though the holiness comes automatically to every tenth animal, the owner is supposed to vocally declare that it is holy. R’ Moshe sees in this an important lesson, that even things that we take for granted as being elevated and holy, still need constant reinforcement and encouragement to remain as such. Even though we are all endowed with beautiful and lofty נשמות, souls, we must constantly strengthen our thoughts, actions, and interpersonal relationships to ensure that they are in line with what Hashem wants of us.
