Pop Quiz: Which part of the olah offering is given to the kohen?

"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 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!

Birkat HaIlanot

The Shulcahn Aruch (226:1) says that if someone sees blossoming trees, he must recite a Beracha; “Baruch Ata Hashem Elokenu Melech HaOlam Shelo Chisar BeOloamo Kelum, Uvara Vo Briyot Tovot V'Ilanot Tovot L'Hanot Bahem B'nei Adam.”

“Blessed are you Hasehm, our G-d, King of the universe, for nothing is lacking in His universe, and He created in it good creatures and good trees, to cause mankind pleasure with them.”

Preferably, the Beracha should be recited in the month of Nisan. Although the Beracha can really be made so long as you can see the trees budding.

According to the Kabala, there is a lot of mysticism regarding this Beracha. The Hida writes that there are different souls that might be locked up in the trees, and therefore by reciting the Blessing we release them.

The Halacha is that it has to be at least 2 fruit trees at the time they are budding before they give fruit, and it can be the same species (e.g. two apple trees). We do not recite the Beracha on a grafted tree. It has to be a natural fruit tree without grafting. This Sunday everyone is invited to Charlotte Cohen’s garden at 10:15 AM to recite the blessing. If we have a Minyan we will be able to recite Kaddish. Please come and join us!

Answer to Pop Quiz: The animal's hide.