A thought on Parshas Yisro
"...im shamoa tishmy b'koli u'shmartem es brisi..." (19:5)"...and if you will listen well to My voice and observe my covenant..."
The Recanati helps us grasp more about the "voice and covenant" aspects of HaShem's Torah.
HaShem is the Source of Compassion, rachamim, as we have discussed in a number of places this year. The Written Torah is given through, and composed of, the attributes of Compassion and Divine Kindness. It is broad. It is deep. It has infinite facets for us to study and interpret.
The Oral Torah appears to comprise the Divine attribute of Judgment, din. It is studied with precision. It includes precautionary measures, gezeiros, and is the explicit source of formal laws and their corollaries.
However, the Oral Torah is inextricably melded with the Written Torah for our Torah Sh'b'al Peh derives its entirety from the Written Torah. This is why we find our great sages looking for reference places in the Chumash upon which to append so many Rabbinic rules and practices. This is also why the Oral Torah was meant to be Oral, as in not-written-down, in order to proclaim that the Oral Torah has no "place" or identity of its own: its identity and place is none other than the Written Torah Sh'b'ksav.
And that, declares the Recanati, is what the kiss is all about.
Recall that in Shir HaShirim (1:2), the verse proclaims, "Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth!" What is a kiss other than a connection between two creatures, coupled deftly through contact between the most delicate of parts? Breath and passion are exchanged and shared in a kiss. It is a most intimate encounter. And in the supernal cosmic realm, the kiss is the connection between the Written and the Oral Torah. They share the same breath, because every element of the Oral Torah is infused with the Source Wisdom of the Written Torah.
And this is why we must study both the Oral and the Written Torah. One without the other is like a groom separated from his bride. Together, asserts the Recanati, when one is able to learn in a way which literally weds the dinim of Talmudic study with the rachamim of Scriptural learning, that "din" becomes subsumed within the sacred sense of HaShem's great kindness to His people.
There is no joy as great as the joy of those who learn Torah.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
The Recanati helps us grasp more about the "voice and covenant" aspects of HaShem's Torah.
HaShem is the Source of Compassion, rachamim, as we have discussed in a number of places this year. The Written Torah is given through, and composed of, the attributes of Compassion and Divine Kindness. It is broad. It is deep. It has infinite facets for us to study and interpret.
The Oral Torah appears to comprise the Divine attribute of Judgment, din. It is studied with precision. It includes precautionary measures, gezeiros, and is the explicit source of formal laws and their corollaries.
However, the Oral Torah is inextricably melded with the Written Torah for our Torah Sh'b'al Peh derives its entirety from the Written Torah. This is why we find our great sages looking for reference places in the Chumash upon which to append so many Rabbinic rules and practices. This is also why the Oral Torah was meant to be Oral, as in not-written-down, in order to proclaim that the Oral Torah has no "place" or identity of its own: its identity and place is none other than the Written Torah Sh'b'ksav.
And that, declares the Recanati, is what the kiss is all about.
Recall that in Shir HaShirim (1:2), the verse proclaims, "Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth!" What is a kiss other than a connection between two creatures, coupled deftly through contact between the most delicate of parts? Breath and passion are exchanged and shared in a kiss. It is a most intimate encounter. And in the supernal cosmic realm, the kiss is the connection between the Written and the Oral Torah. They share the same breath, because every element of the Oral Torah is infused with the Source Wisdom of the Written Torah.
And this is why we must study both the Oral and the Written Torah. One without the other is like a groom separated from his bride. Together, asserts the Recanati, when one is able to learn in a way which literally weds the dinim of Talmudic study with the rachamim of Scriptural learning, that "din" becomes subsumed within the sacred sense of HaShem's great kindness to His people.
There is no joy as great as the joy of those who learn Torah.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 9:09 PM
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