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"YOU ARE NOT TO WITHHOLD (PROPERTY) FROM YOU
NEIGHBOR, YOU ARE NOT TO COMMIT ROBBERY. YOU ARE NOT TO KEEP OVERNIGHT
THE WAGES OF A HIRED-HAND WITH YOU UNTIL MORNING." (VAYIKRA 19:13)

The withholding
of wages has a demoralizing effect upon both employer and
employee. The employer loses his awareness of sin. Often we hear
explanations and rationalizations of withholding of wages, as though
the employer has the right to extend himself credit from workers'
funds for the benefit of his enterprise. The employee is demoralized,
because it seems to him that he is not receiving recompense for his
work; he is liable to conclude that there is no value in striving to
support himself from the work of his hands. An original Jewish outlook
establishes wage-withholding as a Torah prohibition. Our Sages, with
deep understanding of the problem, included this law in "dinei
nefashot" – laws governing capital cases. In the words of
the Talmud: "On his payday you must pay him his wages . . . for he
is afflicted, for to it he lifts his life- breath," – For
what does he climb the ladder and hangs from the tree and endanger his
life, if not for his wages? Hiding a worker's wages is the
equivale nt of taking his life. (Bava Metsia
112a)

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THE TORAH EXPLAINS ITSELF

Moshe Klein

There are good
reasons for considering Parashat Kedoshim as the focal point of the
Torah. It contains some of the most basic mitzvot — "Love your
neighbor as yourself", for example — and allusions to the Ten
Commandments. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, reveals Himself in first
person, "I am God", sixteen times in Chapter 19 alone. Beyond the
significance of the revelation itself, the proclamation has great
significance as an instrument for revealing 'the ways of Torah'. There
is no doubt that the phrases "I am the Lord" and "I am the Lord your
God" serve as punctuation for the words of God, beginning with
"Holy are you to be" and ending with the closing of Chapter 19
— "You are to keep all my laws, etc." It is rare that the
Torah divides its component parts in such a clear manner. By examining
the structure of the components and their connections, we are able to
learn some of the Torah's innermost secrets. I will illustrate this
with a unit composes of three triads.

THE BOOK OF VAYIKRA, CHAPTER NINETEEN

"My laws you are to keep" (19)

"I am the Lord your God"

The internal punctuation which divides the text
into sub-units – the closing phrase "I am the Lord your God"
– attests that the three subjects, kilayim (mixed
species), the designated female slave, and orlah
('uncircumcised' fruits), although ostensibly unrelated, do, in
fact, make up a designed unit. Were the Torah not to have delineated
the components so clearly, we would never have thought that these
three subjects constitute a single unit. Kilayim and
orlah do have a connection – they are related to plants;
but the designated slave woman? What connection can there be between
her and agriculture? We are forced to seek a covert connection in the
text. There is a hint in the use of the word zera – seed
– which appears in relation to the first two laws. In each of
the three columns there is connection to propagation: ". . . not to
mate . . .", ". . . emission of seed . . ." " . . . it's
fruit". If the uniting factor is indeed propagation, we have proof
that the Torah is speaking metaphorically, and that its wider
significance extends beyond the boundaries of peshat – of
the simple meaning. Deeper inspection of this selection strengthens
this thesis.

If our topic is
indeed propagation, the three columns are arranged in highly logical
order. In 1, we read of "propagation in practice". Because of the
prohibitions, there is neither mating nor planting. The order is
progression from the potential to the performed. There is additional
evidence that the three subject compose a unified conceptual body.

There is undeniable
Halakhic progression. In the left column we find only
prohibitions. On the right side are positive commandments. In the
middle there is a 'gray area' – neither commandment nor actual
prohibition – "they shall not, however, be put to death,
since she has not been freed." There is expiation through "he
must bring . . . his guilt offering." Thus the propagation-based
three-part metaphor has a Halakhic basis. The division
into three is also expressed on a grammatical plane. All prohibitions
in the first column are formulated in the singular; the commandments
in the third column appear in the plural. The obligation is directed
at the nation – "when you enter the land" ["You" is in
the plural]. In the center column we find both single and plural
– "they shall not be put to death". We find private
behavior by individuals – cohabitation – and the public
act of bringing an offering "to the entrance of the Tent of
Meeting".

Thus far we have
found in the three columns three conceptual areas related to each
other in different ways. On the right we found
individualism. Particulars do not connect with each other because of
the prohibitions against kilayim. Each stands alone, in its own
domain. On the right is found a positive commandments directed at the
entire nation dwelling in own land, one bringing a blessing of
increase – " . . . you use its fruit – its yield to you
may be increased." Between the field of isolated particulars on
the left, and the general field on the right, we find the subject of
the designated female slave. He we find individuals adversely
affecting accepted social organization and convention by separating
from the others for the sake of assignation. The antidote for this
damage to social morality is to appear in the very locus of society
bearing his guilt offering. We have begun to discern the hidden face
of Torah.

A general rule may
be derived from the organization of the three-part section before
us. An element found in the middle (center column) is also the
conceptual bridge between the preceding and following units. In
contrast to oral presentation, in which the main point is made at the
end, the Torah places in the center. In speaking, the logical
order of presenting a three-part idea is: thesis, antithesis,
synthesis – a statement, its opposite, and a third statement
which bridges the opposites. The important idea appears at the end. In
contrast to "aural" logic, the Torah presents its ideas visually,
the bridge is found in the center.

The method which
I am presenting for deciphering abstruse parts of the Torah is not to
found in pshat explication. Yet it does have a relationship to
one of the earliest sources: Sefer HaYetsira (The Book of
Creation). According to one of the descriptions found in this book,
reality is divided into three experiences, en"year, soul, and
world". "Year" refers to time and also all that affects man, like the
heavenly cycles. Again "year" is found "world" which is the material
world which man controls. Between the two is "soul", described as
"male and female". Here we have the power of propagation –
on one hand, found in man, but on the other, it is dependent
upon factors which man does not totally control. The three-part
selection we are studying is built upon the basic concepts of Sefer
HaYetsira. The subject of orlat eitzim, 'uncircumcised' trees,
is clearly dependent upon "Year." The subject of the
designation slave woman is built upon "Male and Female", like the
concept of "Soul" in Sefer HaYetsira. And finally, in the "World" of
material nature, the ox does not mate with the cat. This is
"unnatural". Thus, Sefer HaYetsira is a basis for explaining the
Torah.

Throughout generations, young children began to
study Torah from the middle, from the Book of Vayikra. Here is
evidence that the Torah itself employs the rule of organization which
determines that the principal is centrally positioned. The Torah's
style, like that of the Sefer Yetsira, focuses our selection on human
experience. At the extremes (columns 1 and 3) are laws formulated in
terms of prohibition and obligation. In the middle is a 'story' about
a real person, with all his emotions and weaknesses, his drives and
his feelings. This person sins by leaning in the direction of one of
the extremes, towards the prohibition; he seeks personal satisfaction
with no thought of continuity. The actions of this mind resemble
kilayim, which must be destroyed. But there is tikkun
for this man. He can direct his behavior toward the other extreme,
toward public involvement "He shall bring his guilt offering to God
at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting." When he contributes his
offering to the focal point of society, he repairs his egotism; facing
him is society's representative who atones for him "and the priest
shall atone for him." Then The Holy One, Blessed Be He, also
forgives him, and he is eligible to receive the blessing of plenty
along with the public. The Torah describes a human condition, the
condition of everyone caught in the tension between his uniqueness as
an individual, and his obligations as part of society.

We have seen that
focusing upon the significance of the Torah's internal division can
lead to a new kind of commentary, explication which unites seemingly
disparate elements. May it be His will that we be able to do so with
all worlds and experiences, to unite the separate and thus bring
pleasure to our Father in Heaven and to Man who was created in His
image.

We Are All Blind To Something

We read
in our parasha "Before the blind you are not to place a stumbling-
block; rather you are to hold your God in awe; I am the Lord."
(19:14). A plain reading has this passage dealing with causing a
blind man to stumble. All commentators, however, widen the prohibition
to include mental blindness.

This
expansion is based upon the end of the passage, "you are to hold
your God in awe". Rashi writes, "And so, regarding
everything which lies in the heart of the perpetrator, unknown to
others, the Torah states: "You are to hold your God in awe".

In
addition, Malbim explains the double meaning of the term
"blind" – "the verb pikeach [Translator's note: The
Hebrew root peh, kuf, het means both 'intelligent' and 'open'] proves
that (our passage) is dealing with blindness of the
intelligence."

Rambam,
too, (Guide for the Perplexed, Article 1) "Know that this word
pikeach, can be explained only as revelation of knowledge."

A prohibition
of causing a blind person to stumble does not require the addition
"You are to hold your God in awe". The blind person may be
aware of the identity of the person who caused him to stumble; others
may inform him. Therefore, our Sages coined the term "summa
l'davar" [Literally, "Blind to s Specific Thing"], blind in a
certain respect, referring to one whose stumbling is a result of
intentional misleading.

Our Sages, in
the Sifra, on Parashat Kedoshim, describe three categories of summa
l'davar:

0. Incitement to sinful action (e.g., marriage to
   a forbidden woman)
1. Dangerous advice (e.g., a journey which may end
   in death)
2. Counsel which may result in monetary damage
   (e.g., loss of possession of land)

Nechama Leibowitz explained that the last-mentioned
category is the most severe from the point of view of the adviser,
because he is the instigator – "He (the mislead) does not
come to you, you come to him and convince him do something which is
not in his interests" (Studies in Book of
Shemot). Particularly in monetary affairs, people permit
themselves to advise and recommend in potentially damaging
affairs.

Thus it is that, from among the tens of
examples of summa l'davar which appear in the Mishna and
Talmud, Rashi chooses "Do not tell him, 'Sell your field and buy
yourself a donkey' and then you circumvent him and take it from him,"
which is considered less severe and is therefore more recurrent. We
are speaking of actions in which the instigator will not stand trial
and be punished, because advice is not a crime.

There have always been hawkers and advisers
who entice people to purchase unnecessary items at inflated prices,
but in our generation advertising methods have been perfected, and few
can resist them.

To point out just a few advertising gimmicks
which are considered legitimate: misleading photos, prices quoted in
foreign currency, complicated installment plans, imaginary "sales",
important information in small print (V.A.T., shipping costs, linkage
to index, interest, cancellation fees, etc.).

Actually we are all "blind to something," but there
are three especially endangered groups: Children, the aged, and the
disabled. These groups lack adequate tools for resisting the
strong temptation.

Great dangers also
lurk in government-sponsored lotteries; their legality sanitizes all
advertising ploys. No one bothers to inform the gamblers (many of whom
are indigent, disabled, unemployed) who lack the information to
calculate their infinitesimal chances of winning. Attraction to
gambling is known to be a type of addiction to which one becomes
enslaved – like alcohol and drugs. Therefore, we mention here
the words of the Rambam (Laws of Murder and Life
Preservation, chap. 12) "Therefore, whoever causes a blind
person to stumble in some way, and gives him misleading advice, or
lends a hand to a sinner, who is blind and does not see the way of
truth because of his heart's passion, this person has transgressed a
Torah prohibition, as is written: "Before the blind you are not to
place a stumbling – block"

Editorial Board: Pinchas Leiser (Editor), Miriam Fine (Coordinator), Itzhak Frankenthal and Dr. Menachem Klein

Translation: Kadish Goldberg

This weekly publication was made possible by:

The New Israel Fund

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Tax exempt contributions to Oz VeShalom may be made through the New Israel Fund. Contributions should be marked as donor-advised to OzVeShalom/Netivot Shalom.

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