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The words "Torah Tavlin" are best known from a phrase in the Gemara in the tractate Kiddushin: "בראתי יצר הרע ובראתי לו תורה תבלין" - "I created the Yetzer Hara, and I've also the Torah Tavlin" - as an antidote; it is only in this passage that the context compels this translation. The word “Tavlin” has many understandings in the teachings of Chazal, but it is literally translated as “Spices.” Just as a master chef will employ a refreshing blend of spices and ingredients to make his culinary creation into a masterpiece, so too, does Hashem blend together a Divine brand of seasoning - “Tavlin” - into His Living Torah for us to absorb, each according to our individual understanding. Through the countless pages of our commentators, from thousands of years ago up to the present day, we “taste” these spices in every word and posuk in the Torah, and our intellectual senses are overloaded. It is the “Sam Hachaim” - the elixir of life, and the truest manner to experience the Torah.
THE WEEKLY MESSAGE
Parshas Pinchos
"Pinchos Ben Elazor ... has turned back My wrath from the Bnei Yisroel ..."
The Targum Yonason lists twelve miracles that occurred when Pinchos killed Zimri and Kozbi. One of them was that they remained alive long enough so that Pinchos, who later became a kohen, not become ritually impure. Moreover, their blood became congealed and did not fall on him. An obvious question arises. Why was it necessary to ensure that Pinchos would not become טמא - ritually impure? He was not yet appointed a kohen and it was not yet prohibited for him to become טמא?
R' Chaim Shmuelevitz zt"l tells us an important principle here. As we know, Moshe's mother, Yocheved, was deserving enough to have her son saved and not killed, in Egypt, together with the rest of Bnei Yisroel's baby boys. Moreover, Pharaoh's daughter brought baby Moshe to Yocheved to nurse, and she even paid Yocheved for her services. Chazal comment in this context, "It is not enough for tzadikim that their lost items are returned to them, but they even receive payment!" We can only wonder, was Yocheved really concerned with a little extra money that she received for nursing? The answer is that Moshe's rescue from the river was for the benefit of all of Am Yisrael, whereas he was destined to be their savior. However, the payment Yocheved received came as a special reward for her, a unique gift worthy of note. Here too, most of the miracles were performed in order to allow Pinchos the opportunity to carry out his task to completion. However, the miracle that he did not become טמא revealed an added level of affection, a loving kiss from Heaven
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