Tuesday, July 30, 2013

A Thought on Parshas Ekev

"...va'eshev ba'har..." "...and I sat on the mountain..." (9:9) As Moshe Rabbeinu recounts the saga of receiving the luchos with the Torah's commandments, he recalls how he lingered on Mt. Sinai. He references that experience as his having "sat" on the mountain. Later on (10:10), however, he declares "v'anochi omad'ti ba'har" - "and I stood on the mountain." Is there a contradiction between those two expressions? Rabbeinu Avigdor begins at the pshat level, clarifying that "sitting" can mean "staying", as it says (Devarim 1:41) -'va'teshvu b'Kadesh yamim rabbim' - you stayed on in Kadesh for many days. Thus, our verse means "I stayed" on the mountain and the next verse states that he stood there as he stayed there. Rabbeinu Avigdor then moves to a midrashic level of interpretation. "Va'eshev ba'har" has a gematria - a numerical equivalent - of 516. This is the exact equal of the gematria of "le'Talmudo" - for its Oral Torah (the Talmud). In contrast, the words "v'anochi omad'ti" - and I stood - have a gematria of 611. This is the exact equivalent of the gematria of "Torah" - (the Written Torah). This would hint to us that the Torah sh'b'ksav - the Scriptures or Written Torah - was given while Moshe stood. The Torah sh'b'al peh - the Oral Torah, is referenced as having been given with a term which can imply sitting. From this drasha, Rabbeinu Avigdor explains that this is why we stand to hear the reading of the Torah. When people study the Talmud, however, they sit and dwell over it. This may be why we refer to a center of Talmud study as a "yeshiva" - a place of sitting. The differing ways in which we learn the Written and Oral Torah are, therefore, not coincidental. It is alluded to in the Torah itself. It stands to reason, if you sit and think about it. Good Shabbos. D Fox

Friday, July 19, 2013

A Thought on Parshas Vaeschanan

"...va'ahavta es HaShem Elokecha..." "...and you shall love your Lord G-d..." (6:5) These opening words of the Shema passage are familiar to all who have ever read from the Jewish prayer book. The Torah commands us to fulfill those words, loving HaShem. The age old question is, of course, how to do that. Particularly in view of the words which follow - to love Him with all of our selves, all of our souls and all of our might - we need to know more about how that powerful love is meant to be expressed and communicated. Who or what is the object of that emotion, that one might feel the form of connection which feels like love? Rabbeinu Avigdor asserts that we accomplish this love of HaShem by loving what He loves. Namely, HaShem loves the Torah. He loves those who learn Torah. In Mishlei (8:17) we read "Ani ohavai ohev" - I love those who love me. The source for Rabbeinu Avigdor's thinking is borrowed from a drasha introduced by Chazal. When the Torah says (Devarim 6:13 and 10:20) "es HaShem tira" - you shall fear HaShem, Chazal teach that you fear HaShem by having reverence for Torah scholars. Rabbeinu Avigdor then reasons that the same grammar structure which opens up that drasha appears in our verse - the prefix "es" in both verses comes to "include", within the application of both commandments, the fear, and the love, of HaShem's close ones, who are the Torah scholars. Rather than keeping this at the drasha level, Rabbeinu Avigdor the Posek rules that there is a mitzvas aseh - one of the 613 positive Torah commandments - to learn to love the Torah and to learn to love those who learn Torah.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

A thought on Parshas Devarim

"...v'hin'chem ha'yom..." "...and here you are today..." (1:10) Moshe Rabbeinu reviews the events of forty years in the wilderness, contrasting how the group of slaves had now become a great nation. "Just look at us now!" he seems to say in our verse. "Once we were forlorn and today we are mighty and proud!" This is one way of understanding the grammatical use of the word "ha'yom" which literally means "the day." In context we understand that it means today. However, we might ponder the use of the word with its literal sense. What would the Torah, through Moshe, intend by saying that "and here you are the day?" Rabbeinu Avigdor makes this very observation, and offers some ideas. In a sense, we Jews are, or are meant to be, "the day." That is, we have things in common with daytime. Just as the world cannot function without the day (by virtue of earth's orbit and rotation, and by virtue of the necessity of having light with its many healthy and practical functions), so too the world is not supposed to exist without its Jewish presence. We bring light, in many ways, to civilization and to society. We are meant to be shining examples. We are meant to blaze the trailways out of cultural and moral darkness. Hence, we are the day, as Moshe states. Moreover, suggests Rabbeinu Avigdor, we also are the spiritual equivalent to the day through our study of Torah and our performance of mitzvos. The world needs our avoda through Torah and adherence to HaShem's plan. As our sages teach (Avos 1:2), these are the very pillars upon which the world depends. Without them, there can be no existence. Day (and night, and time itself) would be meaningless and would cease were HaShem's Torah to be forgotten. We give the whole universe its light of day. Personally, I would consider adding to this pshat the fact that our verse goes on to say "(and you are the day) like the many stars of the heaven." It is possible to maintain the interpretation of Rabbeinu Avigdor and to carry it further: we are the day, and just as the stars of the heaven also cast light when the sky is dark, the Jewish people are expected to shine on even in exile, even when the world around us is in its darkest hours. We are the day which the world needs, and even when there is no day light, the points of illumination which we cast through keeping Torah and observance strong can never be extinguished. It cannot stop. We are shining stars. Even when the world is in a daze, we are its days. Good Shabbos. D Fox

Sunday, July 07, 2013

A Thought on Parshios Matos - Masei

"...arei miklat..." "...cities of refuge..." (35:12) The Torah devotes a number of parshios to discussing the fate of the accidental killer. In Israel, cities of refuge were established where such people would reside in exile. The Talmud (Makos 10a) observes that because the Torah emphasizes that those residents must reside and "live" there (see Devarim 4:42), they must replicate the quality of life which they had led before the tragedy which led to their being sentenced to exile. The focus was on maintaining their spiritual practices, rather than falling into states of self-degradation and lifestyle decay, which can happen when one must face the long consequences of their errors. The Talmud asserts that this concept of "living" in exile included the rule that, if the killer was a scholar, he must arrange for his rabbi to follow him, lest he loose his connection with Torah. In turn, if the one who killed was a rabbi, his disciples must follow him into exile lest he and they lose their spiritual connection. Rabbeinu Avigdor explains that Chazal's inference here (that "life" refers to "Torah life") is not mystical or midrashic. Rather, he suggests that their lesson is "pshat" - it is explicit and also halachically obvious to anyone who understands the value which we attribute to Torah. Life, for a Jew, equals Talmud Torah, writes Rabbeinu Avigdor. When the Torah says in parshas Nitzavim (Devarim 30:15) "Behold! I place before you this day the life", it is also a reference to the lifestyle of Torah, as it says (Mishlei 8:35) "for those who find Me have found life". We have a similar thought in the Rambam (Hilchos Rotzeach 7:1) who writes that to sentence a learned man into such exile without Torah would be like sentencing him to death. During this time of year, many of us vacation. We take off to pleasant spots, seeking refuge from our stresses and our labor. For a Torah Jew to leave his or her Torah study behind, the vacation becomes an exile. When we travel with Torah, we have our refuge. Good Shabbos. D Fox