Ki Sisso.2 – final from Federation UK on Vimeo.
FedTalks Parshas Ki Siso- Transcript
We had a minor yom tov, if that indeed is the right word this week, Purim Kotton, the small Purim. And there is a debate in the poskim as to whether and how one marks and celebrates this. And the Remoh very famously quotes those that say that in essence really one does not have an obligation to engage in extra and extra seudah. Nonetheless, he says it’s a good idea to have a little bit more than perhaps one would normally have, to take into account those opinions that would say that one does have a seuda on Purim Kotton. And he ends his entire commentary on this part of Shulchan Oruch, the chelek of Shulchan Oruch, the Orach Chaim, which deals with day to day living, with a posuk: “Tov lev mishte tomid”, a good heart is always mishte, in a mood to party, to drink and to be happy and to be merry.
And the mefarshim point out that he uses this word “tomid” at the beginning of his commentary in Shulchan Oruch as well: “Shivisi Hashem lenegdi tomid”, he says right at the beginning. Dovid Hamelech’s exhaltation to place Hashem front and centre constantly in our lives, that’s how he starts. So we have this word “tomid” at the beginning and at the end.
But I think it goes way beyond that, because where else have we heard the word “tomid” twice, once in the beginning and once in the end? And the answer is: every single day in the Beis Hamikdosh we had a korban tomid, one in the morning and one in the evening. And what that represents, say the meforshim, is the ability to be consistent in our connection and devotion to Hashem in the morning and in the evening, meaning “lahegid baboker chasdecha va’emunascha balaylos”. We see things clearly in the morning, the mornings of our lives, but also when things are obscured, when there is an erev, when there is evening, to remain on message and focused and consistent. “Tomid”, whatever is happening.
These are the two “tomids”, the “tomid” in the beginning of Shulchan Oruch, that the Remoh brings is “Shivisi Hashem lenegdi tomid” is the work that one needs to be done to create clarity and the perception. And when one has done that, then one is able to channel that through to “tov lev mishte tomid”, to be happy, to be upbeat, to transfer it from the intellect to the emotions and together, “tomid”, to have an eternal and consistent connection to Hashem.