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Collections: Rabbi Weinberger: Tiferes Yisroel

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p 130. Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai explained the mitzvah of the Para Adumah (Red Heifer) to a non-Jew very differently than to his own students. The mitzvos are rooted in the spiritual worlds and any physical benefits of mitzvos are secondary to their true purpose. Eating forbidden foods blocks or dulls the heart from receiving chochma (wisdom). The violation of Hashem's will is what really causes the timtum halev (blocking of the heart). There are people who are alive physically, but are spiritually cut off. The Torah is called the order of divine intellect. We should ask where we are in Hashem, not how Hashem fits into us.