From Moshe - Shloshim Dvar Torah

From the shloshim we had at the cemetery:
In Parashat Shemini there's a disagreement between Moshe Rabeinu and Aharon about whether one of the goats should be eaten or not. Commentators point out that this is really Oral Torah found in the Written Torah, because Moshe had received a commandment about a different sacrifice, and there was a disagreement between Moshe and Aharon how to implement that teaching here. I feel Abba was an "Oral Torah" Jew. Even though he learned a lot of Torah over the years, the Hebrew was still difficult for him. Instead of giving up or remaining mediocre in his learning, Abba always strived to learn more and more, using different translations and different books in order to continue growing in his learning. For example he had the whole set of Soncino Gemarot, but when ArtScroll came out with their Gemarot, he made sure to get those, because they were more conducive to his learning. I think we can all learn from Abba, how to overcome boundaries and continue growing in learning and spirituality.

2) Kashrut: Kashrut is one of the main themes in Parashat Shemini, and Abba was very careful in terms of kashrut. He was an amazing son-in-law that I can learn a lot from. One of the rare outbursts he had towards his in-laws (or out laws as he would say) that I remember vividly from my childhood was over a questionable hashgacha he found on a product in their home. Occasionally he would taste something and it would remind him of the non-kosher food he ate in his youth. Instead of reminiscing and showing that he missed those times, I remember him using those moments as a time to emphasize how happy he was as a frum Jew. There's a famous statement in the name of R. Moshe Feinstein zt"l that the early generation of Jewish immigrants were not successful in keeping their kids frum because they were always sighing and complaining how hard it was to be a Jew, while keeping all the mitzvot. Obviously it is hard at some points to be a Jew, but the question is what you focus on. At work I deal with a lot of kids of baalei tshuva, which has become an issue in some circles because their parents left their previous milieu but were not 100% incorporated in the frum world, and many times the problems show up by the kids. I never felt like the son of a baal tshuva because I think Abba was able to make the full adjustment to the frum world and help us appreciate the beauty of Yiddishkeit.