Dear Nitzotzos Community, A gutten Chodesh Kislev! Kislev is the third month of the year (when we count from Tishrei) and the ninth month of the year (when we count from Nissan). Tishrei with all of its Yomim Tovim represents Chesed and Cheshvan with its lack of Yomim Tovim represents Gevura. As the third month, Kislev represents Tiferes, harmony. Kislev brings light into the darkness of the winter with the power of Tiferes. Tiferes is the harmony of opposites. We live in a world where “truth” has become increasingly polarized. One only need to listen to today's political rhetoric to experience the distortion of truth on both sides of the aisle. In Yiddishkeit truth is found in subtlety and nuance. Chazal tell us that one of the reasons we pasken like Beis Hillel is due to the fact that before they would present their side of the argument they would consider the truth of Beis Shammai's position. Truth is not found in one position vs another but in the consideration of both opinions. Perhaps the most important lesson I learned from my Rebbe, Rav Yehuda Parnes shlit"a, was that every shita in the Gemara, every opinion in the Rishonim, needed to be clearly defined and defended. Even a Hava Amina, a fleeting thought that is ultimately rejected, requires careful thought and consideration. I remember clearly the day that my Rebbe was grappling in shiur with a difficult Rashi and was suggesting solutions that in his own estimation were not one hundred percent satisfactory. A talmid
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