A Thought on Parshas Breishis

A Thought On Parshas Bereishis Introduction This has been a challenging year. My trips to Jerusalem were delayed owing to my aveilus for my father a'h. I was able to go to Israel in the early summer, and spent some time combing the sefarim stores for my yearly Rishon. I visited a number of places but to no avail. There are seldom Rishonim appearing these days, and I have had the zechus of covering many of those which are accessible. Finally, one day, I chanced into a small basement shop and the owner told me that he privately prints a nice edition of a lesser-studied Rishon. I looked it through but was not convinced that this should be my first choice. I asked him to hold on to it, and that I was going to shop a bit more. He understood totally. I returned about two weeks later and settled on his sefer. I was excited to have it. I told no one. However, about a month ago, I was visiting a major American yeshiva, where the mashgiach has asked to consult with me. Some years ago, he had been studying faxed copies of my parsha emails, enjoying them. At the close of our meeting, he asked me if I had seen a recently-published "new Rishon." I had never heard of that reference, and he showed me a copy, saying that I could obtain it from a local individual whose father had worked on the ancient manuscripts and published it. I arranged to obtain it, and finally decided that this would become my choice for this year. Little is known of the author. We cannot be sure which country he came from, as he is not cited in the classic biographical works, his sefer was never published until this edition came out seven years ago, and we can only estimate the time in which he lived by the occasional references he makes to earlier scholars. From those citations, it would seem that he was either from France, Germany or Austria, and would have lived after the beginning of the 13th century. His work is largely remez, meaning it works at a deeper level of interpreting the Torah's allusions and hidden, hinted messages, as opposed to elucidating the text and its lessons. In many ways, he writes like the Rabbeinu Efraim whose works we studied many years ago. What is unique about this sefer is that it first emerged in manuscript form in Yemen, of all places, about three centuries ago! This might be the reason that is exists at all today, for many manuscripts of European origin disappeared or were destroyed. How it made its way to Yemen is not clear, but there are only a few copies of the manuscript known to exist, and we are about to study this new edition. I introduce to you the Sefer HaRemazim - the Book of Allusions - of Rabbeinu Yoel. ************** "...v'ha'aretz haisa tohu va'vohu v'choshech..." "...and the world was empty and formless, and darkness..." (1:2) Remez approaches the Torah for its parallel meanings, looking for hints and allusions to other levels of understanding. Many of the remazim seem, initially, unrelated to the overt meaning of the verses until we begin to spy beneath the mist some connections, some relationship, between the overt and the covert. Rabbeinu Yoel finds in the opening passages of the Torah some forecasting of later events pertaining to the Jewish people. When else was HaShem's world "empty and formless"? When there was no longer a Holy Temple where the Jews could serve Him. This is hinted in the words of the first verse above: tohu has the numeric value of 411, and the first Mikdash was laid waste, formless and empty, in its 411th year.The second Mikdash stood for 420 years, which is the numeric value of the word haisa. The word which follows, choshech, hints to the darkness which fell over the world when the sacred light in the Temples vanished. "...va'Yomer lo, aiecha..." "...and HaShem said to him, where are you?..." (3:9) The word aiecha is spelled "aicha." When HaShem appears to call out as if uncertain where Adam and Chava are hiding, His question "where are you" equals the word aicha which means "how could this happen?" This is paralleled when Yeshaya the prophet (22:12) says that HaShem called for tears and lamentation. Our sages say that this began when Adam committed the first sin. Yermiahu the prophet echoed this lamentation and crying when he asked "Aicha?" The first lamentation for man's misdeeds began in Eden and reverberated again when the Mikdash was destroyed. We resonate with the pain expressed by HaShem, when we recite Aicha, just as He said Aiecha. "...na v'nod ti'h'yeh..." "...you will be wandering and restless..." (4:12) The first human exile following the banishment from Eden was the forecast that Kain would wander restlessly. The last letters of the three words are ayin, dalet, and hae. They form the word aidah - the chosen people. The exile of Kain set into motion the exiles of the Jewish people following the destruction of each Mikdash. This is why in golus we wander, restless. Thus, teaches Rabbeinu Yoel, the words of the Torah are also blueprinting for us the dynamics and processes which will unfold in the world for the rest of time. This year iy'H we will peer into the Torah through his mystical lens, exploring its remazim. Good Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas V'zos Habracha

"...v'lo kam navi od b'Yisroel k'Moshe..." (34:10) "...and no one else had arisen as a prophet of Israel as Moshe..." In this final parsha of the Torah, ibn Shu'aib turns again to a deeper analysis of the meaning of the verses. He ponders the message whereby the Torah tells us that no one was like Moshe. The verse says, literally, that "no prophet had arisen like Moshe" which is in the past tense. That is a bit mysterious. There were many prophets in the centuries which followed the era of Moshe. Does our verse mean to imply that after Moshe, there arose someone greater than him? Surely one of our 13 Ani Maamin principles is that Moshe was the superior prophet. ibn Shu'aib shares that there are different ways to understand the verse. He cites the Rambam, who writes that Moshe's superiority was that when he forecast miraculous events, they happened just as he had described and they were revealed to believers and heretics alike. An example of this is verse 12 which says that the signs and wonders occurred "in the presence of Pharaoh, his servants and the Jewish nation." Everyone around witnessed the miracles, even evil people. In contrast, other prophets' revelations had a selective "audience". Not everyone was able to perceive or witness the signs which they forecast. An example of this is Melachim 2, 8:4, where Elisha's servant is asked to explain to the king what miracles Elisha had generated. In contrast, the Ramban views the contrast between Moshe and other prophets as a matter of range and intensity of the wonders which they facilitated. Moshe was there for the spectacular giving of the Torah, which was unparalleled before or after him. Moshe was there for the Mon, the Clouds of Glory, and the Pillars of Fire, which endured for forty years. The Well, the Quail, the travel through wilderness without fears of snakes, scorpions and beasts, lasted for forty years. None of the other prophets were involved in miracles of such a range, and for such sustained intervals. Ramban also writes that to Moshe were revealed all of the visions and prophecies which would ever be given over throughout history, whereas other prophets only knew the prophecies which they experienced personally. As for ibn Shu'aib, our master contends that the literal wording of the verse - the past tense - teaches an important lesson: everything was predestined before the creation of the world. Everyone who would ever have any Divine prophecy was predesignated from that "time before there was time." Therefore, all prophecy which would ever surface on Earth was bound to be manifest, so that when the Torah writes that "no prophet arose such as Moshe", this was because all of the prophets were already "there" (to back this up, he cites Yeshaya 48:16 "m'es heyosa sham Ani" - "from the time it came into being, I was there.") In parshas VaEra, HaShem told Moshe of his superior prophetic visions; in parshas BeHalosecha, we see Moshe's ascendancy above others who had visions; finally, in our parsha, this verse hints at how all the prophecies and prophets which had been planned from before existence were unequal to Moshe's. This ends our year of learning the Torah with Rabbeinu Yehoshua ibn Shu'aib. His style was rather versatile and he thinks and writes differently than the French and Italian Rishonim whose works we have studied. Many of his lessons and views are memorable and unique. I gained considerably from this scholar's work, and hope to refer to him in the years to come. And now - the time has come to begin a new Rishon on the Torah. We have merited study with Rashi, Ibn Ezra (short and long versions), Rav Saadia Gaon, Chezkuni, Rabbeinu Bachya, Rabbeinu Yona, Rabbeinu Avraham ben Rambam, Recanati, Radak, Seforno, Rashbam, Rabbeinu Efraim, Ralbag, Rosh, Rambam, Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel, Bechor Shor, Rabbeinu Avigdor, Panae'ach Raza, Sefer HaGan, ibn Shu'aib... Let us see what parshas Bereishis brings to our weekly parsha emails, with the loving help of HaShem. Owing to my travels, I am sending this one out early, and it will be followed shortly well in advance, by the new Rishon on Bereishis. Good Shabbos and good Yom Tov! D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Ha'azinu

"...lu'lae ka'as oyev agur..." (32:27) "...were it not for the anger the enemy has in store..." In this penultimate parsha, the Shira of Moshe exemplifies the very nature of song. Song is a fusing of both parts of the human brain - the structured verbal half and the abstracting imaginal half. Verbal language is focused and logical. Imagery is unbridled by the rigidity of logic and precision. It is for this reason that song, while utilizing words, and also utilizing sound and image and abstraction, can transcend beyond a cerebral impact and can trigger feelings, memories, sensations and other non-verbal reactions in those who sing and those who hear it. ibn Shu'aib is very aware of these dual properties of this Song, and explains that each word and phrase serves a logical purpose - revealing a factual meaning, yet the Song also goes beyond a recounting of fact, and enters into a revelation of primordial time as well as a forecasting of times yet to come. He sees in Ha'azinu references to the era of the Creation, and the era of Moshiach and the afterlife. The Song is predicated on the fact that HaShem has given us the gift of Teshuva. He has shown us the ways in which we can retrace our actions and undo the negative effects and consequences of straying from Torah and Mitzvos. Based on a midrash, ibn Shu'aib writes that HaShem likens us to prisoners who have an escape route but who fail to use it. The warden is not impressed by their decision to stay put. He thinks that they are foolish for not taking advantage of an opportunity to flee to freedom. HaShem gave us a mechanism to escape from the prisons which we create for ourselves through decadence, dishonesty and deceptiveness. That is Teshuva. We can actually reverse our direction and get out of our impure ruts, if we take advantage of that opportunity. These Days of Repentance are our finest opportunity yet if we fail to run with Teshuva, HaShem judges us as self-encased in our own folly, by choice. This is one message of Ha'azinu: our national blundering and perfidy has HaShem declaring "Af'eihim ashbisa m'enosh zichram lulai kaas o'yev agor" - I scattered the Jews into exile and would have exterminated them from human memory, but I was concerned about the vicious nations." If we stop and think about this hypothetical, something seems wrong. What does it mean that HaShem would have exterminated us except that He was concerned about the nations and their viciousness? If there would be no more Jews, what harm could their viciousness do to us? ibn Shu'aib revels a deeper truth. Jew hatred is actually G-d hatred. The oppression which the nations spew against us is an effort to rid the world of any trace of Holiness. The wars against the Jews have always been wars against What or Who we Jews represent. If there were no Jews left, HaShem's morality and His standards for human purity would still be under attack. It is reminiscent of the Tower of Bavel, which began as a vain attempt to ascend to the Heavens in order to "kill G-d." That battle has never ended. There is still a war being raged against Heaven. This is why the subsequent verses have HaShem asserting "vengeance is Mine." We might assume that this means that HaShem will avenge our suffering at the hands of the nations. ibn Shu'aib clarifies that it really means that HaShem takes His revenge against those who seek to obscure His Presence in the world. Vengeance is His. Good Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Nitzavim

"...v'lo Ya'az'vecha..." (31:6) "...and HaShem will never forsake you..." As we move from Nitzavim to VaYelech, two parshios which are often read together but on years such as 5777 are separated, ibn Shu'aib continues on last week's theme of teshuva. He actually has a long essay on Rosh HaShanna, but I will focus here on his parsha commentary alone. The Torah reminds us that HaShem gave us His Torah and mitzvos and that they are within our reach. They are "in your mouth and in your heart to do." He cites a Midrash Tanchuma that we are expected to serve HaShem with our entire physical being, which includes our utilizing our physical selves to correct and remedy our errors. This can become a means of kapparah, atonement. ibn Shu'aib offers a recipe for such physically-sourced atonement procedures. Some of us fantasize about improper acts, hirhurei aveira. The mind's straying can be corrected, he writes, by our having fantasy or ideational preoccupation about personal prayers which we long to say, and we can have remedial fantasies in developing self-guided images of HaShem's creations and manifest actions. Imagine what you would pray for if you had the patience, the time and the incentive. Imagine what Matan Torah would have been like had you been there. Those tasks represent sacred use of fantasy. When one has strayed with his eyes, his eyes should be directed to increased efforts at personal Torah study. Read Torah with your eyes. When one has misused his ears, he should make more efforts to listen to others who share words of Torah. Listen and be inspired.The improper use of one's hands should be remedied through putting on Tefillin, or other constructive forms of serving HaShem, such as writing down words of Torah, and performance of "manual" mitzvos. Put those hands to work in serving HaShem. When one has used his legs incorrectly (we have an al chait for "ritzas raglayim l'hara"), let him walk to shul. Let him walk to study Torah. He can also walk to help bury the dead, to comfort the bereaved, to visit the infirm, to attend a bris. Let the mind's repentant stirrings and the soul's longings for closeness to Heaven translate into activities which use the entire self. Kol atzmosai. He offers a metaphor: when a person is not well, the doctor tries to determine whether it is because he has too much, or too little, of something in his body. If he has too much, the body needs emptying out and he has to void or reject that troublesome ingredient or substance. If his Illness is because his body has too little of a substance or nutrient, the doctor must instruct him to replenish the deficiency. With our efforts to do teshuva, he says, we also need to determine where our soul suffers from excess, and where from insufficiency. The failure to perform positive commandments when we have the opportunity is like an internal deficiency and requires that we feed this emptiness by increasing our performance and engagement in proper, sacred conduct. If our spiritual malady stems from excessive involvement with the forbidden, then we need to "void" ourselves. How is that done? ibn Shu'aib says that fasting, sitting out opportunities to pursue unnecessary stimulation of one's mortal comforts, and expelling our wealth to help others are ways in which we get rid of the excesses through which we often over-stimulate ourselves. May our efforts during these Ten Days of Repentance be acceptable and may this first Shabbos of 5777 be a good one. D Fox