A thought on פרשת ואתחנו
"..."u'v'shachvecha u'v'kumecha...""...when you lie down and when you arise..." (6:7)
The well known words of the Shema instruct us to recite the words twice daily, when we end the day and when we begin it. We know that the halacha guides us in the tradition to say the Shema once we have astronomical cues that night has set in and that day has broken.
Various commentaries highlight the lessons which we might derive from the Torah's precise timing for our reading the Shema. We might read into those chronological parameters the idea that we are meant to regiment ourselves in the service of HaShem, or how we must value time and order. Both of those notions point to the mitzva as a stabilizing point for our becoming oriented to avoda.
The Ralbag was an astronomer, as I mentioned in my brief sketch of his life on the Parsha Thought for Bereishis. Some of his contributions are still in use today by scientists, and there is a crater on the moon, "Rabbi Levi", which is named after him. He may be drawing on his knowledge of astronomy when he offers his own interpretation:
When we observe the sky at night, he writes, we see the planets which orbit around the fixed heavenly bodies, such as the sun. The ones which are close at one point become distant at another point, and vice versa. When we observe the sky at daybreak, we see the sun emerging over the horizon. Yet, the next day and the next, it shines in a different spot, as we apprehend that there is rotation and movement at a grand scale within the universe.
The reality that there is movement, perceived and actual, within and throughout the galaxies, and the fact that there is change taking place within outer space, attests to the profound truth that there is a Greater Force, an unmoving and immutable Being, Who determines the forces, which do change and do vary. By getting up in the morning and having to gauge and calculate time according to celestial position in space, as we do at night as well, in order to observe the Shema mitzva, we are reminded of this greater reality. We are forced to acknowledge the Higher Power, the One Above.
According to the Ralbag, then, the lesson of Shema's timing is one of stabilizing our grasp of HaShem's majesty. It is less about our role in creation, and more about His role in creation, and in governing our lives.
Wishing you a good Shabbos Nachamu. D Fox
The well known words of the Shema instruct us to recite the words twice daily, when we end the day and when we begin it. We know that the halacha guides us in the tradition to say the Shema once we have astronomical cues that night has set in and that day has broken.
Various commentaries highlight the lessons which we might derive from the Torah's precise timing for our reading the Shema. We might read into those chronological parameters the idea that we are meant to regiment ourselves in the service of HaShem, or how we must value time and order. Both of those notions point to the mitzva as a stabilizing point for our becoming oriented to avoda.
The Ralbag was an astronomer, as I mentioned in my brief sketch of his life on the Parsha Thought for Bereishis. Some of his contributions are still in use today by scientists, and there is a crater on the moon, "Rabbi Levi", which is named after him. He may be drawing on his knowledge of astronomy when he offers his own interpretation:
When we observe the sky at night, he writes, we see the planets which orbit around the fixed heavenly bodies, such as the sun. The ones which are close at one point become distant at another point, and vice versa. When we observe the sky at daybreak, we see the sun emerging over the horizon. Yet, the next day and the next, it shines in a different spot, as we apprehend that there is rotation and movement at a grand scale within the universe.
The reality that there is movement, perceived and actual, within and throughout the galaxies, and the fact that there is change taking place within outer space, attests to the profound truth that there is a Greater Force, an unmoving and immutable Being, Who determines the forces, which do change and do vary. By getting up in the morning and having to gauge and calculate time according to celestial position in space, as we do at night as well, in order to observe the Shema mitzva, we are reminded of this greater reality. We are forced to acknowledge the Higher Power, the One Above.
According to the Ralbag, then, the lesson of Shema's timing is one of stabilizing our grasp of HaShem's majesty. It is less about our role in creation, and more about His role in creation, and in governing our lives.
Wishing you a good Shabbos Nachamu. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 2:30 PM
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