A Thought On Parshas Ki Taetzae
A Thought On Parshas Ki Taetzae
"...ki yikach ish isha..."
"...when a man takes a wife..." (22:13)
This week we will look at a spritely thought of Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel. He wonders why the Torah places the above verse immediately following the section about tying fringes on our garments. He also looks at verse 16 which writes "es biti nosati l'ish" - I have given my daughter in marriage to this man.
The earlier verse (12) says "you shall place fringes on four cornered garments with which you cover yourself." How are fringed garments related to marriage? He suggests that the positioning of our verse with that of the garment fringes is a source for our custom to spread a tallis over the bride and groom at their chupa.
As for the verse which depicts marriage as a man giving over his daughter, he notes that the first letter of the first three words es biti nosati spell "even" which means a stone. The fourth word, l'ish is made of the letters lamed, alef, yud, shin. Those four letters when split into two segments spell lo yesh - "there is not".
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel suggests that this is a hidden reference to another wedding practice: under the chupa we do not use a ring which has a stone in it. We only use a plain wedding band.
Lastly for now, he offers a novel depth interpretation of a secret significance of the mitzva to refrain from using wool and linen together (22:11). He notes that in the book of Daniel (7:9), we find a prophetic vision of HaShem as if His Presence is cloaked in pure white wool. In contrast, the heavenly court of ministering angels is envisioned there (12:6) as if clad in robes of linen.
A symbolic lesson of our prohibition to mix wool and linen may be to signify how there are important divisions in the world and throughout the cosmos, including the celestial realms. HaShem is One and there is also a familia shel ma'ala*. The realm of His angelic forces, "the family above", is regarded as being a holy abode yet those angels are not Him nor are they His partners or equals or demigods. By keeping wool and linen separate, we signify that we understand this division. Even in the realm of the holy, such as when we are fulfilling Divine commandments, we assert that there is One Holiness and that it is separate, distinct and apart from all else, even from ofanim v'chayos ha'kodesh.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
* (probably the more accurate way of spelling the expression which Chazal use, which is colloquially pronounced pamalia shel ma'ala. Since the word is of Latin origin and means "family" which is familia, it is probably correct to write it as I did).
"...ki yikach ish isha..."
"...when a man takes a wife..." (22:13)
This week we will look at a spritely thought of Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel. He wonders why the Torah places the above verse immediately following the section about tying fringes on our garments. He also looks at verse 16 which writes "es biti nosati l'ish" - I have given my daughter in marriage to this man.
The earlier verse (12) says "you shall place fringes on four cornered garments with which you cover yourself." How are fringed garments related to marriage? He suggests that the positioning of our verse with that of the garment fringes is a source for our custom to spread a tallis over the bride and groom at their chupa.
As for the verse which depicts marriage as a man giving over his daughter, he notes that the first letter of the first three words es biti nosati spell "even" which means a stone. The fourth word, l'ish is made of the letters lamed, alef, yud, shin. Those four letters when split into two segments spell lo yesh - "there is not".
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel suggests that this is a hidden reference to another wedding practice: under the chupa we do not use a ring which has a stone in it. We only use a plain wedding band.
Lastly for now, he offers a novel depth interpretation of a secret significance of the mitzva to refrain from using wool and linen together (22:11). He notes that in the book of Daniel (7:9), we find a prophetic vision of HaShem as if His Presence is cloaked in pure white wool. In contrast, the heavenly court of ministering angels is envisioned there (12:6) as if clad in robes of linen.
A symbolic lesson of our prohibition to mix wool and linen may be to signify how there are important divisions in the world and throughout the cosmos, including the celestial realms. HaShem is One and there is also a familia shel ma'ala*. The realm of His angelic forces, "the family above", is regarded as being a holy abode yet those angels are not Him nor are they His partners or equals or demigods. By keeping wool and linen separate, we signify that we understand this division. Even in the realm of the holy, such as when we are fulfilling Divine commandments, we assert that there is One Holiness and that it is separate, distinct and apart from all else, even from ofanim v'chayos ha'kodesh.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
* (probably the more accurate way of spelling the expression which Chazal use, which is colloquially pronounced pamalia shel ma'ala. Since the word is of Latin origin and means "family" which is familia, it is probably correct to write it as I did).
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 10:57 PM
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