Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Standing for Aseres HaDibros: The Rambam's View

Teshuva 263 (Blau pp. 495-499)

The Rambam was asked about a community where the custom was to sit during the reading of the Aseres HaDibros. A new Rav that came there stood and everyone followed him. The one who raised the question felt that this contradicted the gemara in Berakhos 12a that eliminated the daily reading of the Aseres HaDibros because it gave credence to the minim (i.e. Christians?)who believed that the Ten Commandments are more important than the rest of the Torah. The custom of standing appeared Christian-like and provided ammunition to the Christians when they debated with Jews. Additionally, what is the halakha concerning customs and their precedence in a case like this?

The Rambam answered that sitting is correct and that it does not matter what the custom is in Baghdad or anywhere else. The definition of a min is anyone who does not believe in one the principles of the Torah i.e. that the Torah is divinely revealed (Sanhedrin 99a). There is no difference between someone who denies the entire Torah or one pasuk and says Moshe said this on his own. There are minim who believe that only the Ten Commandments are divinely revealed. For this reason Chazal prohibited the daily reading of the Aseres HaDibros in davening.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

The Letters Beis in Breishis and Alef in Anokhi Hashem

I came across a very interesting piece in the Midrash Aseres Hadibros that explains why the Torah starts with Beis and no other letter in the alefbeis including the Alef. The full, deeper meaning of this midrash still eludes me but, I believe, is memorable enough to note here. Perhaps, someone who reads this here can help enlighten us on the deeper meaning.

When God was about to create the world by His word the twenty-two letters of the alphabet descended from the terrible and august crown of God whereon they were engraved with a pen of flaming fire.
They stood round about God, and one after the other spoke and entreated, " Create the world through me ! "
The first to step forward was the letter Tav. It said: "O Lord of the world! May it be Your will to create Your world through me, seeing that it is through me that You will give the Torah to Israel by the hand of Moshe, as it is written, ' Moshe commanded us the Torah.' " The Holy One, blessed be He, made reply, and said, " No ! " Tav asked, " Why not ? " and God answered: " Because in days to come I shall place you as a sign of death upon the foreheads of men." As soon as Taw heard these words issue from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, it retired from His presence disappointed.

The Shin then stepped forward, and pleaded: " O Lord of the world, create Your world through me, seeing that Your own name Shaddai begins with me." Unfortunately, it is also the first letter of Shav, lie, and of Sheker, falsehood, and that incapacitated it.
Resh had no better luck. It was pointed out that it was the initial letter of Ra', wicked, and Rasha', evil, and after that the distinction it enjoys of being the first letter in the Name of God, Rahum, the Merciful, counted for naught.
The Kuf was rejected, because Kelalah, curse, outweighs the advantage of being the first in Kadosh, the Holy One.
In vain did Tzadde call attention to Tzaddik, the Righteous One; there was Tzarot, the misfortunes of Israel, to testify against it.
Pe had Podeh, redeemer, to its credit, but Pesha', transgression, reflected dishonor upon it.
'Ain was declared unfit, because, though it begins 'Anavah, humility, it performs the same service for 'Ervah, immorality.
Samekh said: " O Lord, may it be Your will to begin the creation with me, for You are called Samekh, after me, the Upholder of all that fall." But God said: " You are needed in the place in which you are; you must continue to uphold all that fall."
Nun introduces Ner, " the lamp of the Lord," which is " the spirit of men," but it also introduces Ner, " the lamp of the wicked," which will be put out by God.
Mem starts Melekh, king, one of the titles of God. As it is the first letter of Mehumah, confusion, as well, it had no chance of accomplishing its desire.
The claim of Lamed bore its refutation within itself. It advanced the argument that it was the first letter of Luchos, the celestial tables for the Ten Commandments; it forgot that the tables were shattered into pieces by Moses.
Kaf was sure of victory. Kisseh, the throne of God, Kavod, His honor, and Keser, His crown, all begin with it. God had to remind it that He would smite together His hands, Kaf, in despair over the misfortunes of Israel.
Yod at first sight seemed the appropriate letter for the beginning of creation, on account of its association with Ya' , God, if only Yezer ha-Ra', the evil inclination, had not happened to begin with it, too.
Tes is identified with Tov, the good. However, the truly good is not in this world; it belongs to the world to come.
Hes is the first letter of Hanun, the Gracious One; but this advantage is offset by its place in the word for sin, Hattas.
Zayin suggests Zakhor, remembrance, but it is itself the word for weapon, the doer of mischief.
Vav and He compose the Ineffable Name of God; they are therefore too exalted to be pressed into the service of the mundane world.
If Daled had stood only for Davar, the Divine Word, it would have been used, but it stands also for Din, justice, and under the rule of law without love the world would have fallen to ruin.
Finally, in spite of reminding one of Gadol, great, Gimel would not do, because Gemul, retribution, starts with it.
After the claims of all these letters had been disposed of, Beis stepped before the Holy One, blessed be He, and pleaded before Him: " O Lord of the world ! May it be Your will to create Your world through me, seeing that all the dwellers in the world give praise daily unto You through me, as it is said, 'Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen, and Amen.' " The Holy One, blessed be He, at once granted the petition of Beis. He said, " Blessed be he that comes in the name of the Lord." And He created His world through Beis, as it is said, " Bereishis God created the heaven and the earth."
The only letter that had refrained from urging its claims was the modest Alef, and God rewarded it later for its humility by giving it the first place in the Decalogue, Anokhi Hashem Elokekha.

Monday, May 29, 2006

Emes and Sheker

I heard Rabbi Reisman retell a story about Rabbi Avigdor Miller when he was a young student in Slabodka.

In Slabodka they used to have a mussar vaad once per month to discuss the midah, character trait, they would work on trying to improve. Rabbi Miller kept quiet in his humility in the presence of the older students. One month someone suggested to choose emes, truth ,as the midah of the month. But, no, an older student objected, they should choose, sheker, falsehood instead. They should practice sheker in a positive way by pretending to reach higher levels of perfection, doing more and learning more. Use sheker to make an aliya, to foster their growth and raise their standard. Maybe the behavior would stick, the older student thought. Rabbi Miller said he was right.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Kohanim Are Kodesh Kodashim: Why?

Parshas Bamidbar, 3:1

These are the generations of Aharon and Moshe
Rashi: Only the children of Aharon are mentioned. They are called the children of Moshe because he taught them Torah. This teaches that anyone who teaches the children of his fellowman is considered as if he fathered them.

The Ramban says that the Kohanim became kodesh kodashim, holy of holies or most holy at Sinai. The Leviyim were made holy later on in the desert.

This idea is supported and developed by the Ramban in many places in his Commentary on the Torah.

Rav Dovid Cohen asks of the Ramban:
The holy should come before the most holy. Holy should precede most holy. You have to have holy before you can have most holy. Why is most holy first?

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Honor and Revere Parents: Why Not Love?

Honor (kabed) your father and your mother; that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you.
--Shmos 20:12

You shall revere (tiro'u) every man his mother, and his father, and keep my Sabbaths; I am the Lord your God.
--Vayikra 19:3

My friend, Reb Yaakov Freedman, asked me: We are commanded to honor and revere our parents. Why are we not commanded to love them?

The Rambam (She'elos u'Teshuvos, #448) says, ahava is included in honoring and revering (kibud and mora) for parents. Rambam does not say it is a chiyuv or part of the mitzvah, only that it is a logical outgrowth i.e. in the form of his rhetorical question: Is it possible to honor, fear and listen to someone he does not love?

The Zohar (Ki Setze 281a), quoted by the Sefer Haredim (Ch. 9), similarly, says that love is included in the mitzvah to honor parents. (Credit to R. Binyamin Zeingold for the reference in S. Haredim).

If honor and reverence assume love, why do we have a separate mitzvah, v'ahavta es Hashem Elokecha, to love Hashem? It seems a separate mitzvah is needed for love when it comes to Hashem. Why not have a separate mitzvah to love parents?

Tzorikh iyun - This requires further study.

Updated: 5/27/06
A prominent Orthodox therapist, Vicky Harari, told me that she believes there is great psychological wisdom in the fact that the Torah does not command love for parents. Many people have abusive or otherwise difficult parents and love for them may not be possible. Whereas, respect and reverence are still a mitzvah and possible even in a difficult relationship.

The basic problem is: If love has to come from within the person, how can love be commanded?

Rav Dovid Cohen says, that one has to act as if he loves and habituate himself with the performance of loving acts until the love grows from within.

Rav Dovid gives an analogy to someone who gets an anonymous gift everyday of $1,000. The person who recieves the gift is grateful but does not know his benefactor. How can he love someone he does not know? If Hashem is your benefactor and you know Him, surely, you can love him.

This would apply to loving Hashem and the mitzvah of v'ahavta es Hashem Elokekha.

The Rambam says that love for Hashem is a natural outgrowth of knowing Hashem. The level of love for Him is proportionate to the level of knowledge.

Loving your fellowman, v'ahavta l're'a'kha ka'mo'kha, is more difficult to understand because every man is not your benefactor and yet we are commanded to love him. Perhaps that is why R. Akiva translated it as, ma d'sani lakh l'cha'verkha lo sa'aved, which means, that which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is much easier to achieve and in passive form than to demand love in an active sense.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Counting Sefirah: Why Do We Say Li-me-komah in the Ha-ra-cha-man?

After counting the day of the sefirah we say:

Ha-ra-cha-man, hu ya-cha-zir la-nu a-vo-das beis hamikdash li-me-komah bim-he-rah ve-yo-meinu, amen selah.

The Compassionate One! May He return for us the service of the Temple to its place, speedily in our days. Amen, selah!

Why Do We Say Li-me-komah, to its place? Why doesn't it just say: Return the avodah to the beis hamikdash? Why does it add li-me-komah?

The Abudraham is the first source to mention this nusach which we use. In contrast,Tosefos (Megillah 20b, Kol) has the more familiar nusach: Ye-hi ratzon she-yi-baneh beis ha-mikdash etc.

The reason for either nusach is because the whole mitzvah of sefirah today is zekher le-mikdash.

There is a significant difference between the mitzvos of sefirah and lulav. Lulav is also zekher le-mikdash for the full seven days of sukkos and we do not say Ye-hi ratzon or Ha-ra-cha-man! The Tosefos explains that shofar and lulav have an action, asiya, so that it achieves a kiyum of the mitzvah mi-derabanan. Sefirah, in contrast, is to merely serve as a reminder, hazkarah, zekher le-mikdash for which we say, Ye-hi ratzon she-yi-baneh beis ha-mikdash. (Note: Why the beracha al sefiras haomer? Tosefos hold that a beracha is recited for a minhag, too.)

The Gemara (Menachos 66a) says:
Abaye said, The mitzvah is to count the days and also to count the weeks. The Rabbis of the school of R. Ashi used to count the days as well as the weeks. Amemar used to count the days but not the weeks, saying, It is only in commemoration of Temple times.

The Baal Hamaor at the end of Pesachim explains that we do not say she-he-che-yanu for sefirah because it is just a zekher le-mikdash and a sad reminder at that.

In addition, the separation of counting sefirah from the original form of the mitzvah is important to note. Without a korban today, counting sefirah loses its full impact. It is merely a zekher. Nonetheless, counting sefirah is still possible as an act by itself.

But, what does counting as a mere zekher imply?

Reb Velvel (based on Reb Chaim) extrapolates that counting as a zekher accepts the view that the sanctity of the mikdash was temporary and limited to the time of the existence of the mikdash, kedushas ha-mikdash lo kidshah le-asid lavo. Since the korban ha-omer is not brought, the mitzvah of counting is also no longer required -- it is just a zekher.

The Rambam (Beis HaBechirah 6:15) holds kedushas ha-mikdash kidshah le-asid lavo, the sanctity of the mikdash is permanent, the korban could be brought today and the mitzvah of counting sefirah is still required min ha-Torah.

Why Do We Say Li-me-komah, to its place?

Li-me-komah implies:
1 - Zekher, commemoration of the counting in the mikdash
2 - The sanctity of the mikdash was temporary and limited to the time of the existence of the mikdash, kedushas ha-mikdash lo kidshah le-asid lavo and, therefore,
3 - The longing for the day when the avoda in the beis ha-mikdash will be reinstated to its place on Har HaMoriah in Yerushalayim

Ye-hi ratzon she-yi-baneh beis ha-mikdash bi-me-he-rah ve-yomeinu!

Monday, May 15, 2006

The Holiness of the Nazir: Letting his Hair Grow

Rambam, Sefer HaMitzvos, Aseh 92

The nazir is to separate himself, and refrain from otherwise permitted pleasures, because of his vow for thirty days. Holiness means separation from something. The root letters, Kuf Daled Shin, for example in the word kiddushin, marriage, means that the wife is now separated from all other women, holy, sanctified, dedicated and permitted only to her husband.

There are three things a nazir must refrain from during the period of his nezirus:
1. Wine or any grape product
2. Cutting his hair
3. Coming near a dead body even for immediate family members

The Rambam in Sefer HaMitzvos, Aseh 92, explains:
The Mitzvah of the Nazir is to let his hair grow, as it says, "...he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow." The Mechilta says, "He shall be holy: he shall let his locks grow in holiness; He shall let the locks...grow long: this is an aseh, a positive commandment. Where do we learn that a lav, a negative commandment, also is involved? From the words: no razor shall come upon his head."
What if he removes his hair without a razor? What if he uses depilatory chemicals?
In that case he has not transgressed on the negative commandment but he has violated the positive commandment to let his hair grow long.
The Rambam says that according to his principles for counting commandments, a negative derived from a positive equals a positive commandment.

The Gemara teaches that a nazir is a sinner for taking on the nezirus. In Nedarim 10a we read:

R. Eleazar ha-Kappar Berabbi, as it was taught: And he shall make atonement for him, for that he sinned against a soul. Against which ‘soul’ then has he sinned? But it is because he afflicted himself through abstention from wine. Now, does not this afford an argument from the minor to the major? If one, who afflicted himself only in respect of wine, is called a sinner: how much more so one who ascetically refrains from everything. Hence, one who fasts is called a sinner.

But doesn't the Torah also call him a kadosh, holy? How can he be both holy and a sinner at the same time?

There are three possible reasons why he became a nazir:
1. He wants to inflict pain on himslef to atone for his sins, hence the he refrains from from doing something that is normally permitted.
2. He wants to subjugate his evil inclination toward sins that drive his passion.
3. He just wants to cause himself pain like crazies for no good reason.

For the first two reasons he may be holy, but for the third reason he is a sinner and a meshugeneh.

The Ramban in Parshas Kedoshim says that the mitzvah to be holy means to separate yourself from things that are permitted, kadesh atzmecha be-mutar lecha.

(To be continued)

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Combining the Physical and the Spiritual

Statement of Purpose

My purpose in this blog is to keep a journal of the Torah I learn everyday and share it with whoever may be interested in reading or responding. I hope that this will be of interest to many and stimulate discussion.

My first offering is something I learned today on Parshas Emor.

Parshas Emor contains mitzvos about kohanim and the Shalosh Regalim. The mitzvos related to kohanim are understandable since the purpose of Sefer Vayikra is Toras Kohanim, the laws of kohanim, their duties and the sacrifices they offer. But why are the Shalosh Regalim here?

The Ramban notes (Vayikra 23:2) that the switch in Chapter 23 to Shalosh Regalim, the Festivals, changes from addressing Aharon and his sons to addressing the Bnei Yisrael. The Bnei Yisrael are being addressed because the Shalosh Regalim are not limited to kohanim. There is no specific mitzvah here limited or directed to kohanim as a separate group. They are part of the Bnei Yisrael in this context with nothing specific or different for them.

The question remains:
Why are the Shalosh Regalim in this parsha, or more generally in Sefer Vayikra as a whole, since they apply to all of Bnei Yisrael, not just kohanim?

The Ramban says that the Shalosh Regalim are mentioned as part of Toras Kohanim because these are the times for korbanos which are brought by the kohanim for Bnei Yisrael.

Rav Dovid Cohen offers another explanation:
In this physical world that God created, He combined the physical and the spiritual. For example, Man is created from matter but also has a spirit in the image of God, tzelem elokim. The beracha of asher yotzar concludes with the words, u'mafli' la'asos, i.e. that God acts wondrously, because Man is made of matter and at the same time has a high level of spirituality.

Similarly, the kohanim who are on a higher level of kedusha and spirtuality, bring Man and Bnei Yisrael closer to God through the korbanos and the avodah in the Beis Hamikdash.

Bnei Yisrael are also called kohanim. We are the mamleches kohanim v'goy kadosh, a kingdom of kohanim and a holy nation. We are the 'or la-goyim, the light to the nations. Bnei Yisrael are the conduit of kedusha to raise the level of kedusha, holiness, and spirituality for the nations of the world.

Toras Kohanim, Sefer Vayikra, is about the combination of the physical and the spiritual and raising the level of spirituality. The challenge for Man is to take the combination of the physical and the spiritual and raise up the spiritual aspect to the highest levels. Each one plays his part: The kohanim for Bnei Yisrael and the Bnei Yisrael for the 'umos ha-olam, the nations of the world.