5770 A thought on פרשת בראשית
A Thought On Parshas Bereishis
For this year’s Torah reading cycle, I have elected to study the works of two great rishonim. Both of them were great halachists and leaders. One of them is the single most studied authority on Talmudic law, and his extensive writings are known to every Torah scholar. The other lived a bit later and was a forerunner of those who composed Talmudic commentaries focused exclusively on applied contemporary halacha. His writings are found following the text of every standard edition of the Talmud.
The first was a Sefardi Jew whose family fled from Spain to escape coercive Islamic rule. He passed through North Africa and finally settled in Egypt where he was esteemed as a rabbinic leader, a philosopher and a physician. His works eventually formed a basis for a legal compendium addressing the practices of Sefardic Jews, which is used today and known as Shulchan Aruch.
The second was an Ashkenazi Jew from Germany, who received the traditions of the greatest European halachists and Tosafists who preceded him. In later life, he was forced to flee to Spain, where he was regarded as a ranking authority among that country’s eminent leaders. His works eventually formed a basis for the glosses appended to the Shulchan Aruch which presented the Ashkenazic practices when they differ from those of the Sefardim.
I hope to present some of the teachings of each of these great scholars, who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries, respectively. At times we will be able to compare their approaches to some Torah verses; at times we will explore their thoughts independently.
This year’s focus will be Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon and Rabbeinu Asher ben Yechiel. Meet the Rambam and the Rosh zichronam livracha.
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“…kotz v’dardar tatzmiach lach…”
“…thistles and thorns will sprout up for you…” (3:18)
As man was banished from idyllic Eden, HaShem defined the new rules which would shape the existence of human life on this planet. Among these rules was the reality that man would labor to sustain himself, and would struggle to survive. We were told that while we might till the soil and plant crops, the yield would include thistles, brambles, thorns and weeds. The almost poetic words used in our verse demand some interpretation. Is there a deeper thought within the stark imagery of this forecast?
Surely those of us who plant gardens or who trek through parks and fields know about weeds and stickers. They are a reality. They are a fact of natural life. What did HaShem want the first man to understand as those words were spoken? Why is this such a thorny issue?
The Rambam writes that this verse introduces a life concept which is embedded in the universe, that of mida k’neged mida: for every wayward act, there is a corresponding consequence from Above. Man had been placed in Eden where life was truly serene. There was a sweet and easy feeling about living, for Odom and Chava lacked nothing. Their needs were sustained so that they would commune with HaShem through a sublime consciousness of Him. In having sought more, in having fantasized about the forbidden and living in pursuit of desire, a consequence would have to sprout.
Thistles are coarse plants and thorns are animal food. They are not tasty or pretty and can be hard on the human system. Moreover, they come about after people have labored to improve the land, something that was not in the original plan of creation. In place of tranquil Eden, man who had devalued having what he needed in favor of lusting for what he wanted, would now toil for the food he needed, and would be troubled by the un-wanted.
There is a saying in English, “cheaters never prosper.” The Rambam understands that such was the lesson of the thistle: those who aim to veer from the perfect Divine system must bear the imperfect consequences which signify man’s descent. The Rambam learns a universal principle, a halacha, from our verse.
________________
The Rosh looks at the words kotz v’dardar and relates that these words have a numerical value (gematria) which equals the value of the word doros, generations. The forecast that henceforth, man’s efforts in the field to produce food would also yield the thorn and the thistle brings a deeper message. In Eden, existence had been a pure process of encountering all of the good manifested in HaShem’s creation. Outside of Eden, man would experience good and evil for generations to come. “Each epoch produces its righteous ones yet they are opposed by adversaries who spring up – Avraham faced Nimrod; Yakov, Esav; Moshe, Dasan & Aviram…”
A world which was meant for harmony was to become a place of interpersonal strife and conflict. The good people in times to come would have their goodness challenged and their ascent sparred by a new rule of the post-Eden creation: an embedded halacha of mundane existence is that attaining goodness is a struggle beset by both internal resistance and by a social environment which can be antagonistic. The thorn and the thistle are symbols of the harsher realities which spring up amidst our best efforts to grow and to improve. The Rosh learns that this universal principle can be traced to our verse.
May this year yield a wholesome harvest from our field of study. Wishing you a good Shabbos.
D Fox
For this year’s Torah reading cycle, I have elected to study the works of two great rishonim. Both of them were great halachists and leaders. One of them is the single most studied authority on Talmudic law, and his extensive writings are known to every Torah scholar. The other lived a bit later and was a forerunner of those who composed Talmudic commentaries focused exclusively on applied contemporary halacha. His writings are found following the text of every standard edition of the Talmud.
The first was a Sefardi Jew whose family fled from Spain to escape coercive Islamic rule. He passed through North Africa and finally settled in Egypt where he was esteemed as a rabbinic leader, a philosopher and a physician. His works eventually formed a basis for a legal compendium addressing the practices of Sefardic Jews, which is used today and known as Shulchan Aruch.
The second was an Ashkenazi Jew from Germany, who received the traditions of the greatest European halachists and Tosafists who preceded him. In later life, he was forced to flee to Spain, where he was regarded as a ranking authority among that country’s eminent leaders. His works eventually formed a basis for the glosses appended to the Shulchan Aruch which presented the Ashkenazic practices when they differ from those of the Sefardim.
I hope to present some of the teachings of each of these great scholars, who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries, respectively. At times we will be able to compare their approaches to some Torah verses; at times we will explore their thoughts independently.
This year’s focus will be Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon and Rabbeinu Asher ben Yechiel. Meet the Rambam and the Rosh zichronam livracha.
******************************
“…kotz v’dardar tatzmiach lach…”
“…thistles and thorns will sprout up for you…” (3:18)
As man was banished from idyllic Eden, HaShem defined the new rules which would shape the existence of human life on this planet. Among these rules was the reality that man would labor to sustain himself, and would struggle to survive. We were told that while we might till the soil and plant crops, the yield would include thistles, brambles, thorns and weeds. The almost poetic words used in our verse demand some interpretation. Is there a deeper thought within the stark imagery of this forecast?
Surely those of us who plant gardens or who trek through parks and fields know about weeds and stickers. They are a reality. They are a fact of natural life. What did HaShem want the first man to understand as those words were spoken? Why is this such a thorny issue?
The Rambam writes that this verse introduces a life concept which is embedded in the universe, that of mida k’neged mida: for every wayward act, there is a corresponding consequence from Above. Man had been placed in Eden where life was truly serene. There was a sweet and easy feeling about living, for Odom and Chava lacked nothing. Their needs were sustained so that they would commune with HaShem through a sublime consciousness of Him. In having sought more, in having fantasized about the forbidden and living in pursuit of desire, a consequence would have to sprout.
Thistles are coarse plants and thorns are animal food. They are not tasty or pretty and can be hard on the human system. Moreover, they come about after people have labored to improve the land, something that was not in the original plan of creation. In place of tranquil Eden, man who had devalued having what he needed in favor of lusting for what he wanted, would now toil for the food he needed, and would be troubled by the un-wanted.
There is a saying in English, “cheaters never prosper.” The Rambam understands that such was the lesson of the thistle: those who aim to veer from the perfect Divine system must bear the imperfect consequences which signify man’s descent. The Rambam learns a universal principle, a halacha, from our verse.
________________
The Rosh looks at the words kotz v’dardar and relates that these words have a numerical value (gematria) which equals the value of the word doros, generations. The forecast that henceforth, man’s efforts in the field to produce food would also yield the thorn and the thistle brings a deeper message. In Eden, existence had been a pure process of encountering all of the good manifested in HaShem’s creation. Outside of Eden, man would experience good and evil for generations to come. “Each epoch produces its righteous ones yet they are opposed by adversaries who spring up – Avraham faced Nimrod; Yakov, Esav; Moshe, Dasan & Aviram…”
A world which was meant for harmony was to become a place of interpersonal strife and conflict. The good people in times to come would have their goodness challenged and their ascent sparred by a new rule of the post-Eden creation: an embedded halacha of mundane existence is that attaining goodness is a struggle beset by both internal resistance and by a social environment which can be antagonistic. The thorn and the thistle are symbols of the harsher realities which spring up amidst our best efforts to grow and to improve. The Rosh learns that this universal principle can be traced to our verse.
May this year yield a wholesome harvest from our field of study. Wishing you a good Shabbos.
D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 11:47 AM
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