Thursday, March 25, 2010

A thought on parshas Tzav

A Thought on Parshas Tzav

"...v'ha'nosar ba'basar u'va'lechem..."
"...and the remains in the meat and in the bread..." (8:32)

We will explore this week a very different facet of Torah study. We are going to look at some rules of Biblical grammar.

A Hebrew prefix is a single letter added at the beginning of the word. For examples, putting a lamed at the beginning of a word makes it mean "to" as an infinitive or as a possessive object. So, if limud is learning, l'lmod becomes "to learn." If Avraham is a man, something is given l'Avraham, to Avraham. A shin prefacing a word means "that"; a mem means "from"; a kof means "like" or "similar to", and a bais means "in" or "within."

Our verse speaks about food that is leftover from the sacrificial offerings. It must be burned if it is not eaten within the allotted time frame. By all rights, then, the verse should have said, "v'ha'nosar m'basar u'm'lechem" which would maintain the translation "from the meat and from the bread." That is how it is written earlier in 7:17! How did the mem prefixes in our verse disappear and get replaced by the letter bais?

The Rambam (Moreh HaNevuchim 1:41) spells this out for us. The verse means what it says, and the letter bais here functions as a mem.

Still perplexed? Read on.

"...b'yom mashcho osam..."
"...granted them on the day they are anointed..." (7:36)

The Torah tells us that the kohanim will be awarded certain privileges for eternity, yet the verse says that will happen "on the day they are anointed." Now, if this is going to be a gift for eternity to those kohanim and their descendants, how can that legacy be awarded on one day? Surely it is a gift that will keep on being given to each kohen in his own time.

The Rosh addresses this question and quotes Rabbeinu Avraham (who is none other than Rabbeinu Avraham ibn Ezra, a Spanish rishon who preceded the Rosh by two centuries.) Ibn Ezra explains that the bais here takes on the meaning of a mem. The verse then will translate as "granted them from the day of anointment and onward for eternity."

Once again, we see that Hebrew grammar can interchange bais and mem. Perplexed still?

One of the many facets of Torah linguistics is that certain letters originate in similar areas of the mouth. The letters bais, mem, vav and pae involve pressure on the lips. They are known as the "lip letters." Moreover, certain letters may take on identical and interchangeable meanings. The letters bais, kof, lamed, and mem do this.

By writing the words in both of our verses with bais rather than mem, the bais transposes to mean "of" rather than "in." Hence, the former verse translates as "the remains of the meat and of the bread", which is equivalent even in English to saying "from" and definitely loses the meaning "within." In the latter verse, the bais means "from" as if it were written with a mem.

Perhaps the timelessness of the sacred realm, that of those kohanim and of those temple offerings, makes time stretch, so that something that is "within" at a given moment is understood as being enduring, rather than fixed and limited to a point in historical time. So when the Torah speaks about something which is there (the leftover meat and bread; the kohanim who are serving), we need to understand it as coming from a higher realm where time is fluid. "There" continues and endures in the realm where present, past and future are one interval.

The challenge I leave you with as we approach Pesach and will not have a weekly parsha for a while is: where do we see this same letter-based concept of interchangeable letters maintaining equivalent meaning in the Pesach saga, within both the Torah and the Haggada? Send me your responses!

Good Shabbos and chag kosher v'sameach. D. Fox

A thought on parshas VaYikra

A Thought On Parshas VaYikra

"...kol chelev la'HaShem..."
"...all of the fat is for HaShem..." (3:16)

Our parsha introduces the order of sacrificial offerings which were brought in earlier times. In instructing us about the process of burning these offerings on the altar, we are reminded that the forbidden fats, which we never eat, are to be incinerated on the altar flames. The verse captures this commandment by saying that these are "all for HaShem."

The Rambam (Ma'achalos Asuros 7:5) observes that the word chelev is used elsewhere in the Torah and TaNaCh as a synonym for goodness or richness. Even in English, we have a term - "the fat of the land" - which has that same meaning. In context, writes the Rambam, the "fat" here really means those things which have been offered up by people as a gesture of devotion and fealty to the Above. In that sense, the verse means "anything which is offered to HaShem is good."

Elsewhere, the Rambam (Isurei Mizbe'ach 7:11) adds that we derive from this verse a general principle about how we are meant to give and offer our goods to others. When we are doing a mitzva such as feeding the needy, clothing the poor, or building a house of worship, we must offer goods which are of worth and quality. This is also part of reserving the "fat" for HaShem. In that sense, our verse is extrapolated to mean everything that is good should be used in a godly manner.

* * * * *

"ki kol se'or v'kol dvash lo saktiru..."
"...but all leaven and honey you shall not offer..." (2:11)

The Rosh finds a related lesson in the above verse. We know that Chazal derive from the ban on offering leavened goods that there is no room for base urges and impulsive desire in the worship of HaShem. This is because "leaven" is a symbol for those inclinations within the mind and body which lead to decay and deviation.

The Rosh adds that honey is also a symbol for those elements of our inner life. We are often tempted by the sweetness of a beguiling opportunity, despite its decadence or dangers. There is no room for such thought and conduct in the service of HaShem, either. Rather, we orient towards the Divine with the premise that it is the best of ourselves, not the basest, which we are to offer in serving Him.

Fat chance! Good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on Parrshas VaYakhel-Pekudei

A Thought on Parshios Va'yakhel-Pekudei

"...u'kvod HaShem malae es ha'Mishkan..."
"...and the Divine glory filled the Shrine..." (40:34)

With the completion of the mishkan, the Torah relates how this sacred shrine would become a "dwelling place" (from which the word mishkan is derived) for the Shechina (which is also derived from the word mishkan.) HaShem is boundless and formless, omnipresent and without limitations. He created the universe and all that abounds within the vastness of space, yet the world does not contain Him. The mishkan nonetheless is described as the place which His glory engulfed. How do we understand that apparent mixing of a physical location with its finite and tangible properties, and the metaphysical Majesty of HaShem's Sacred Presence?

The Rambam (Moreh HaNevuchim 1:19) writes that the key word here is malae. We usually translate this as "full" or "filling." The Rambam explains that it can also mean "to fulfill" or to complete and perfect something. He cites the familiar verse melo kol ha'aretz kvodo (Yeshayahu 6:3). Whereas the usual translation is "the whole world is full of His glory", which leaves us with the same puzzlement which we posed on our own verse, the Rambam understands it as "the whole world is perfected through His glorious Presence." In this way, our own verse should be understood as "His glorious Presence perfected the Shrine."

* * * * *
The Rosh writes that we can appreciate how the mishkan was as sublime a "creation" as was the creation of the universe itself. He spells out the Biblical steps which were part of the formation of the world, and how there are parallels to those steps in the process of building the mishkan.

He observes that part of ma'ase Bereishis - the creation of the universe - was the forming of both firmament and heaven. There is the earth and the cosmos, and in the mishkan, there was the azara - the "commons" or courtyard, and there was the kodesh ha'kadoshim - the Sacred Shrine which represented the higher realm. It was in that place that the Holy Presence was sensed, as we have written in earlier parsha emails. The courtyard was a representation of the firmament. The "heaven" parallel in the physical representation of the mishkan was that kodesh ha'kedoshim.

The Rosh closes with a more mystical message. We have been talking, until now, about how the Divine can "fill" a physical place. We have the Rambam's reframing of the verse, and that helps us. The Rosh offers a very different notion:

"There are four voices which emanate from one end of the earth to the other
yet no one can hear these sounds: when a fruit-bearing tree is cut down; when
a snake sheds its skin; when a wife is abandoned; when the spirit exits its body."

I suspect that the Rosh is alluding to the theological question which we have posed. The four events which he describes involve a living entity being cut off from its lifeline. A fruit tree needs its nutrients which are derived from the ground. When it is cut down, its fruitful life is over. A snake sheds its skin, unlike most animals, and thus is cut off from a part of itself, the case which had been its external body. A wife who is rejected has her heart and soul torn apart as she is ripped away from, and by, her partner. The spirit abandons its body in death never to return. When the Rosh says that these events generate voices which circulate around the globe, unheard, I think that he is referencing the sublime mystery.

What happens to life? Where does that spark disappear to? Whatever kept that tree alive, that body slithering, that person anchored, that essence animated, does live on, and it continues its presence as a power, and energy, although we can no longer see, feel or hear it. The heaven on earth, the higher reality that an earthly shrine is filled with the Divine is also predicated on the reality that there is a sound which pulsates yet cannot be heard. It is energy which we cannot quantify. If life-energy continues to exist despite its loss of all connection to what had once lived and had once contained it, then the Source of all life must exist despite the impossibility of any connection to anything created and formed.

The whole world is full of His glory. May we be fulfilled as well. This is being sent very early because I am departing for London to be at the wedding of my niece, Yocheved Simon, whose mother, Rebettzin Ruthie Simon, is my little sister.

Mazal tov and good Shabbos. D. Fox

A thought on Parshas Ki Tisa

A Thought on Parshas Ki Tisa

"...ki karan ohr panav..."
"...Moshe's face was radiant..." (24:29)

The Torah reveals that there was a change in the appearance of Moshe Rabbeinu once he descended from the mountain. His face shone with light, or as the verse seems to say, the skin of his face had rays.

Now, that may "rays" a question: what were those rays? The word in Hebrew usually means "horns" as in antlers. Sometimes it is a euphemism for "pride" or "strength." What are we to understand about these rays or "horns"?

The Rambam (Introduction to Moreh HaNevuchim, Perakim B'Hatzlacha 2) writes that the meaning of "rays" here is that Moshe was continuously enlightened. As the supreme prophet, his encounter with the Divine was an ongoing experience and, metaphorically, he was in a state of constant "daylight". He was clear and his vision was clear. His soul had become pure and his presence, as well as his words, emanated the teachings of HaShem with that purity. His face was radiant in the sense that his enlightened countenance was visible to others. His subjective state of "seeing the light" cast an undulating glow which others could sense as well.

The Rosh notes that light can refract into rays. In the prophet Chabakuk (3:4) we see that the vision of supernal light is depicted as "karn'aim", rays, because the eye sees an intense refulgent glow as if it is a pulsating series of sharp or pointed emanations. In Tehillim (22:1), the morning sunrise is termed "the gazelle of dawn" because first light at sunup spreads like the horns of the graceful gazelle. This is a striking property of intense light, as perceived by the mortal eye.

Because the nation had challenged Moshe and had even sought to replace him, the Rosh explains, HaShem elevated Moshe so that he too was viewed as having this meta-natural property. This was to emphasize to the people that there was no one else on earth who could lead them in the ways of HaShem.

According to the Rambam, then, the rays of light were a consequence of Moshe's great attainment as a thoroughly devoted servant of HaShem. Others could also sense his greatness and intense devotion as they beheld his radiant glow.

According to the Rosh, the rays of light were a consequence of others failing to recognize Moshe's great attainment. The Jewish nation needed this point vivified. The subjective glow of internal spiritual enlightenment became, at that time in history, visible to others in a real sense. A phenomenological state which is, by definition, concealed and hidden, became apparent and revealed so that we all renew our recognition that Toras Moshe is Toras HaShem.

Good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on Parshas Tetzaveh

A Thought on Parshas Tetzaveh

"..v'hiktir alav Aharon kitores samim..."
"...and Aharon will kindle the fragrant incense..." (30:7)

The lost art of compounding ketores, the temple incense, was once a vital part of the sacred ritual. The kohen would add fire to the finely powdered spices and the chamber would soon be redolent with their sweet, alluring scent. Our tradition has it that the town of Jericho, quite some distance from Jerusalem, had its air tainted with the incense as the smoke drifted and diffused over the desert skies. The name Yereicho hints at this since it captures the word re'iach, or fragrance.

The Rambam writes (Moreh HaNevuchim 3:45) that one function which we might attribute to the incense was that it masked the temple air made heavy with the sacrificial offerings and with the effects of throngs of animated people attending to strenuous temple work. Moreover, he writes, the incense stimulated people's recognition that this Shrine was a holy place.

The mind and the soul are soothed and also aroused by pleasing scents. The mind and the body recoil from malodorous substances. The incense permeated the air, the tapestries and even the garments worn by those nearby. The impact of that sensory boost inspired awe and people were better able to sense the spiritual energy there.

That way, each visit to the temple, even the anticipation of going there, was associated with that profound deeper sense that the sacred service was of supreme importance and value. This led people to a heightened yearning to draw closer to HaShem. They did so with purity, with devotion and with humbled awareness of HaShem's love and compassion in turning to the offerings of His people with atonement and forgiveness.

* * * * *

The Rosh surveys the same themes as they are depicted in TaNaCh's descriptions of the ketores. Indeed, we read in VaYikra 16:13 of the awe associated with the incense. In Tehillim 66:15 we find Dovid HaMelech longing to show devotion which he associates with wanting to encounter that incense. The sacred Mishkan was inaugurated as the princes brought forth gifts of incense (BaMidbar 7:14), so that tikun, renewal and atonement would be possible there.

The Rosh sees an allusion to these spiritual properties associated with ketores. That word is spelled with the Hebrew letters kuf, tes, reish, tof. This hints, in the interpretative acrostic known as notrikon, at Kedusha, Tahara, Rachamim, Takana - holiness, purity, compassion, and atonement.

Wishing you a good Shabbos and a joyous Purim of renewal and redemption. D. Fox

A thought on Parshas Teruma

A Thought on Parshas Teruma

"v'no'ad'ti lecha sham...mi'bein shnei ha'keruvim..."
"and I will communicate to you there...from between the two cherubs..." (25:23)

The Mishkan, the holy shrine with which we traveled in the desert after the giving of the Torah, was the centralized place for the nation to receive the Divine word. Whereas a message from Above might come through the vision of a prophet, one of the stages within which the Divine Presence was experienced was that phenomenon described in our verse.
There was a spot which was fashioned in the form of winged cherubs, or keruvim. HaShem declared to us that there would be an intimate sense of His word which could be received in that spot.

The Rambam and the Rosh infer different lessons from our verse. The Rambam (Pirush al mesechta Rosh HaShanna 28b) notes that Moshe Rabbeinu differed from all other prophets. He apprehended the Divine word (the kol HaShem which we have described earlier) in a direct and clear manner, without the medium of altered states of vision, dreams or other changes in his consciousness. This is a principle which we assert in our faith doctrines and is described in the Torah itself. If so, reasons the Rambam, our verse's message was not a description of how Moshe would receive communication, but rather an explanation to Moshe as to how other prophets would experience the Divine word when they were chosen to do so in the times of the Mishkan. They would have their visionary sense more acutely in the spot between the two keruvim.

As for the rest of us, what lesson might we derive from this temporal function of those keruvim? Very interestingly, the Rambam elsewhere (Perakim B'Hatzlacha 1; Igeres Musar) finds a symbolic, spiritual message in the keruvim. "Your heart is the shrine which contains its own "covenantal ark" which holds its tablets of testimony. Hidden also within the ark of your heart as if etched on those tablets lies the capacity to sense the Divine. The heart beats with spiritual keruvim-wings to inspire you, to propel your essence higher and higher."

The Rosh also finds a mystical message within the image of the keruvim. He notes that the first letters of the three words, Mi' bein Shnei Ha'keruvim spell out the name Moshe. This signifies that Moshe on his own had the equivalent of that potential to receive prophecy. His personal capacity was like that which the other prophets could garner only by means of being in the keruvim zone. Moshe did not need a medium. He was his own "zone."

"Shnei Ha'keruvim" is the numerical equivalent (gematria) of Avraham, Yitzchak, v'Yakov. This reminds us that the reality of people living by and empowered through the dictates of the Divine Presence preceded the advent of a mishkan and keruvim. As we saw in the words of the Rambam above, the keruvim phenomenon was but one stage in a ten-stage saga involving the ways in which the Divine Presence has been manifest for us. The Avos long ago also apprehended the Divine word, before the era of the Mishkan.

Our verse closes by saying that from within that spot will be communicated "all that I will command you" - es kol asher atzaveh oscha. The Rosh writes that this has a gematria equivalent of Taryag Mitzovs. This reminds us that all of the prophetic instructions are in concert with the Written Torah. HaShem's words is steadfast and consistent. All of the lessons given to us by the prophets will be consistent with the 613 commandments.

Good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on parshas Mishpatim

A Thought on Parshas Mishpatim

"...he'nei Anochi sho'le'ach malach le'fanecha..."
...behold I am sending an angel before you.." (23:20)

HaShem announces to Moshe and the nation that He will send an administering angel, a malach, to lead the people forward and into the Promised Land. HaShem stresses in the subsequent verses that we must take care to heed the guidance and attend to the voice of that Heaven-sent messenger or agent.

Why the angel? Who needed an angel to lead them? We had the loving protective eye of Moshe Rabbeinu. We had HaShem! What was the role, purpose or function of a malach?

The Rambam (Moreh HaNevuchim 1:64;2:7) writes that there is no question that our nation is led by HaShem. Our leaders are led by HaShem. The difference between us and them is that our holy leaders receive Divine inspiration, at times even ruach ha'kodesh, even prophecy. This is implicit in verse 21 which explains that "Sh'mi b'kirbo" - My Name is within him.

The leaders from Yehoshua and onward who guided our nation were directed by this Higher Presence. Their cognizance of the ratzon HaShem was catalyzed by what the Torah refers to as a malach, a Divinely inspired spiritual energy.

Moshe Rabbeinu, however, communed with the kol HaShem (see last week's parsha email). He did not apprehend the Divine plan by way of any energy or malach. In that sense, then, Moshe himself was a malach. He represented and communicated the Divine will without a catalyst or celestial energy.

According to the Rambam, our verse is explaining the nature of the prophetic phenomenon with which our early leaders guided us. Almost all of them were empowered by "malach". Moshe Rabbeinu was a malach. A prophetic leader's role was the malacha of Divine communication.

* * * * *

The Rosh writes that there are fine interpretations of our verse. However, he preferred the "very basic nice explanation" (pshat na'eh) which he heard from Rabbeinu Dan Ashkenazi (this is a Spanish rishon who communicated with the Rashba and others, and was known for his at times innovative approaches. Apparently, the Rosh met him when he fled to Spain in later life - see my introduction to parshas Bereishis in this year's email cycle.)

The "nice basic explanation" is that a navi - a prophet - is a malach. We find in Divrei Ha-Yamim II 36:16 that the prophets are referred to as angels. According to Rabbeinu Dan Ashkenazi, the words are synonyms. Anyone who acts according to the guidelines of the Divine, one who exemplifies the teachings of Torah and implements them with the masses, is serving a Divinely administered role. He becomes a malach in the sense that he is doing the malacha, the service of HaShem.

The Rambam views the verse as an explanation of the role communicated by a leader. The Rosh, drawing on the insight of his contemporary, views the verse as an explanation of the nature of the prophetic leader.

Good Shabbos. D Fox

A thought on Parshas Yisro

A Thought on Parshas Yisro

"...v'kol ha'am ro'im es ha'kolos..."
"...and every one saw the sounds..." (20:16)

The outstanding imagery of our verse, seeing sound, has drawn great attention from our sages and commentaries. You may have noticed that we see with our eyes and hear with our ears, but seldom experience a crossover of our senses which would result in our seeing something which was audible. Yet, the Torah proclaims that we saw the sounds of Sinai.

The Rambam (Moreh HaNevuchim 2:33) understands that we are not referring to the sounds of thunder and the blasts of the shofar alone; the Torah is referring to the kol HaShem - the Divine voice - which is also referenced in our parsha.

That "voice" of HaShem was not actually His voice, for HaShem is not embodied in either physical or sensory manifestations. Rather, the Voice refers to the experiences at Matan Torah in which all of us engaged. Virtually every facet of Torah was broadcast to us through the medium of Moshe's prophecy. However, the first two Divine declarations, the dibros of "I am the L-ord your G-d who brought you out of Egypt" and "You shall have no other 'gods'" were heard at a sublime and transcendent level by every one of us. This latter experience was known as the kol HaShem.

Why was there this difference between all of the words, and commandments, of the Torah, which were given us via Moshe's prophetic pronouncements, versus the first two of the "top ten commandments" which we needed to hear through the experience of kol HaShem, a phenomenon which the Rambam says was a one-time creation just for that moment?

The Rambam writes that virtually all of the Torah is instructive, and can be presented directly or through a spokesperson (prophet). The means through which we were given Torah was not as important as the reality that we received, accepted and internalized it. However, those first two principles, HaShem's omnipresence and HaShem's One-ness, cannot just be told to us and accepted. They are not lessons which can be intellectualized and left at that.

Metzius HaShem and Yichud HaShem require profound analysis, personal engagement, and meditative contemplation. They are transcendent and spiritual realities. In order to grasp their depth and magnitude, each of us needed a personal epiphany, a moving subjective moment of apprehending the numinous. This was the experience of kol HaShem. The Torah depicts this as seeing the sounds, because that Voice of HaShem was presented so that we could fathom and grasp those essential principles deep within.

* * * * *

The Rosh takes these already mystical views and adds to their mystique. What does it mean to "see" a sound? We often speak about how "seeing is believing." The Rosh argues that "seeing is enjoying": the prophet Yeshaya (44:16) uses the expression chamosi ra'isi ur - I warmed myself and saw the fire, where it is clear in context that "seeing" means taking delight or pleasure. The Torah (VaYikra 20:17) admonishes the one who has ra'ah es ha' erva - who has seen the forbidden relationship, where it is clear in context that "seeing" means enjoying or taking benefit.

The experience of hearing the powerful Voice of HaShem touched our deepest souls. We heard those Divine declarations, but the experience moved us in a profound manner. It was as if our very soul was aflame with supernal delight. We "saw the sounds" in the sense that we exalted in that moment. We took delight and benefit from that spiritual encounter. That form of seeing was sensory and fulfilling.

Good Shabbos, if you see what I mean. D Fox