I WILL SEND THE PROPHET ELIJAH TO YOU

STRIKE THE WHOLE LAND WITH UTTER DESTRUCTION.

(Malachi

3:23-4 from the haftarah for Shabbat HaGadol)

Rabbi

Joshua said: I received a tradition from Rabban Yohanan ben Zakai who heard it

from his teacher, who heard from his teacher – a halakhah given to Moses

on Mount Sinai – saying that Elijah will not arrive in order to proclaim some

pure and others impure, to push away [demote someone's pedigree] or draw near

near by force, and draw near those pushed away by force. The Beit Tzarifah family

lived across the Jordan, and Ben Tzion pushed them off by use of force. Another

family there was brought near thanks to Ben Tzion's violence. These are the

kinds of cases in which Elijah will intercede, declaring pure and impure,

bringing near and pushing away.

Rabbi

Yehudah said: [Elijah will come] to bring near, but not to push away.

Rabbi

Shimon said: To settle disagreements [regarding halakhah].

The

Sages say: Not to push off or draw near, but rather to make peace in the world,

for it is said: Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you and it

concludes, he shall reconcile fathers with sons and sons with fathers.

(Mishnah

Eduyot 8:7)

The

question has been asked, what is the difference between the view of the Sages

and that of the first rabbi quoted in the mishnah. It would appear that his

statement jibes with the Sage's opinion that Elijah will come "to make

peace in the world."

Prof.

Hanokh Albek explains the Sage's statement from this mishnah by supplying it

with an additional word: "to make peace in the entire world."

That is to say, while the other Tannaim in our mishnah understand Elijah's

mission as involving the establishment of peace between fathers and sons, and

the settlement of disagreements between Jews, the Sages emphasized the word

"world" in order to say that peace would be established not only

within the Jewish People, but also throughout the entire world.

(Yeshayahu

Leibowitz, Sihot al Hagei Yisrael, 64-5)

Love Truth and Peace

The

author of Midrash Shemuel wrote regarding the Mishnah's statement (Avot 5:7) "Any disagreement

that is for the sake of heaven [will endure.]": "According to RaMBaN,

this is to be understood along the lines of the dictum, 'If everyone finds

guilt, he is innocent' (Sanhedrin

17a).

When no party opposes the prevailing view with arguments and difficult

questions, it is impossible for the matter to be properly illuminated and

everyone may fall into error – (consult the cited text). Understand that when

each one takes heart to present his view, acuity is increased and the truth

becomes purified.

(Yismah

Moshe II 7b)

Some people mistakenly believe that world peace

can only be achieved by [establishing] uniformity of opinion and character. And

so, when they see scholars investigating wisdom and Torah ideas, and as a result

of these investigations the number of viewpoints and methods multiplies, they

think that they [the scholars] cause controversy and the opposite of peace. But

in truth it is not so, for true peace can only come to the world by way of the

value of the multiplicity of peace. The multiplicity of peace occurs when all

viewpoints and methods become visible, and it becomes clear how each has its

own place, each according to its worth, its place, and its concerns.

(HaRav

Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook, ztz"l Olat RaAYaH, pg.330)

The Shalshelet as Interpretive Cantillation

Yossi Morgenstern

Excluding leap years, parashat Tzav is always

read on Shabbat HaGadol. On this Shabbat we are commanded to prepare for the

upcoming Pesach holiday, to study the Haggadah and learn about the festival.

There are those who claim that there is a correlation between the contents of

the parshiyot and the seasons in which they are read. (For instance: Eichah

esah levadi [how will I bear alone] (Devarim 1:12) is read on

Shabbat Hazon, which always precedes the 9^th of Av. Also: The

parshiyot touching upon repentance are read in the month of Elul.) I shall

argue that such a connection exists between Shabbat HaGadol and parashat Tzav.

And what is the locus of this connection? The cantillation sign known as the shalshelet.

The shalshelet is among the rarest of

cantellation signs. Not including Mishlei, Iyov and Tehillim (which use a

different system of cantellation), it only appears seven times in all of

Scripture, and of those, only four times in the Torah itself. Here I shall only

consider its appearances in the Torah.

The shalshelet marks a break between words

and it always appears towards the beginning of a verse, over a verb conjugated

in the singular. It comes to tell us that the subject of the verb suffers a

difficult moment of indecision and hesitation. Let us investigate the cause for

indecision involved in each of the four cases in which the shalshelet appears

in the Torah. We shall try to uncover the method behind the selection of these

verses and how the use of the shalshelet which occurs in our parasha is

connected with Pesach.

1)

Bereishit 19:16:

Still he delayed. So the men seized his

hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters – in the Lord's mercy upon

him – and brought him out and left him outside the city.

Rashi: Still he delayed – In order to

save his property.

Lot was concerned about his wealth and

property. At first he refused to obey the angel. Here we have a case of

hesitation caused by greed.

2)

Bereishit 24:12:

And he said, "O Lord, God of my master

Abraham.

The shalshelet over the word vayomer

Abraham's request. The word perhaps uttered by Eliezer in 5:24 expresses

his hope that he will not to find a wife for Isaac, as explained by Rashi:

Rashi on Bereishit 24:39: Peradventure the woman

will not follow me – The word ulie [perhaps] is written without the

letter vav so that it may be read eiylie [to me] Eliezer had a

daughter and he was endeavoring to find some reason why Abraham should say that

he must appeal to him [Eliezer] that he should give his daughter in marriage to

Isaac. Abraham said to him, "My son is blessed and you are subject to a

curse. One who is under a curse cannot unite with one who is blessed." (Silberman translation).

This is a case of hesitation caused by the

desire for status.

3)

Bereishit 39: 8:

But he refused. He said to his master's

wife, "Look, with me here, my master gives no thought to anything in this

house, and all that he owns he has placed in my hands."

The shalshelet over the word va'yema'ein (but

he refused) demonstrates Joseph's indecision regarding his behavior towards

Potiphar's wife. This is a case of hesitation caused by bodily desire.

4)

Vayikra 8:23:

And it was slaughtered. Moses took some of

its blood and put it on the lob of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his

right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

If we have succeeded in explaining the

three earlier uses of the shalshelet in the Torah as signifying a moment of

indecision, why would we expect Moses to be especially indecisive and hesitant

in the verse from our parasha?

(There are differences of opinion regarding whether Moses or

Aaron slaughtered the animal mentioned in our verse. I follow Sifra 179's view

that Moses was the slaughterer. In Bar-Ilan University's parashat hashavua

sheet for Tzav of 5756, Rabbi Shlomo Pik claims that according to the plain

meaning of the text, Aaron was the slaughterer, and that he hesitated out of

fear that he may not be worthy)

On each of the seven Days of Ordination, three

offerings were made: a sin offering, a burnt offering and a peace offering.

Tension builds from slaughter to slaughter. This is expressed by the

cantellation sign appearing above the word vayish'hat (and it was

slaughtered) in each verse. Verse 15, referring to the sin offering, uses

the sign reviya, which marks a break of moderate significance. Verse 19

deals with the burnt offering, and the very first word of the verse, vayish'hat,

is marked with an etnahta, signifying the most important division of the

verse. Our verse treats the ram of ordination, and is marked with a shalshelet.

There are those who explain that in the course of the service, Moses

experienced spiritual exaltation while performing the tasks that would be later

reserved for the High Priest. While dismayed by the thought that he will soon

have to abandon this role, he remains true to the divine command. (See Goren Zechariyah, Ta'amei

Ha'Mikra Ke'Parshanut, Ha'Kibbutz Ha'Meuhad, 5755, pp. 75-6.)

It seems to me that Moses' hesitancy had a

completely different cause. The third slaughter, on the seventh of the Days of

Ordination, was Moses' final ritual act before handing over the priestly role

to Aaron. In the course of those days, Moses served as an educator. Just before

he executes the slaughter and completes his job, Moses asks himself: Have I

taught flawlessly? Perhaps I have failed in my preparation of Aaron for his

role? That is why the word vayish'hat is marked with a shalshelet. The

great teacher is subjecting himself to merciless self-criticism.

Unlike Lot, Eliezer, and Joseph, Moses'

hesitation is positively motivated; not by greed or status or carnal desire,

but by concern for his student and the future of the priesthood. Perhaps the

cantellation signs reflect the Mishnah's statement in Pirkei Avot (4:21): "Rabbi

Eliezer says: Jealousy and desire and status drive a person from the

world." Moses, who was principally concerned with building up the world,

did not hesitate because of jealousy, desire, or status.

When we read the shalshelet on Shabbat HaGadol –

the day when we must educate our children in preparation for Pesach – let us

take Moses' example to heart. Let each of us ask himself or herself: Have I

taught my children in the best way possible? Have I given all that I can give?

Were my answers to the Four Questions no more than empty formalities? Have I

fulfilled the commandment of and you shall tell your child (Shemot 13:8)? Let us adopt

Moses' self-questioning hesitancy, and be granted, God willing, a kosher and

joyful holiday.

Yossi

Morgenstern is a computer programmer

The Joy of Deliverance does not Cancel

Sorrow over the Loss of Human Life

You

find joy mentioned three times in connection with the holiday [of Sukkot]: and

you shall rejoice in your holiday (Devarim 16:14), and you shall have nothing but joy (Devarim 16:15), and you

shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days (Vayikra 23:40). However, in

connection to Pesach, we do not find even a single mention of rejoicing. Why?

You find that judgment is passed [by God] on the grain crop on Pesach, and no

one knows if there will be [grain] this year or not [therefore, people's

anxiety interferes with their joy]. Another opinion [has it] that [rejoicing is

not mentioned] because Egyptians died during it [during the deliverance from

Egypt]. Similarly, you find that we read the Hallel all seven days of the

night. Why? Because, Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let

your heart be glad when he stumbles. (Mishlei 24:17).

(Yalkut

Shimoni 23: 654)

Abarbanel

explains that our custom during the seder of spilling wine when we recall the

plagues of Egypt as intended to strengthen in our minds the ethical importance

of regretting, even as we celebrate our deliverance, the price paid by other

human beings, even though they were rightfully punished for their evil deeds,

in accordance with the verse, Do not rejoice when your enemy falls.

Some

him in the sand (Shemot

2:11-12).

The four actions taken by Moses tell of his

soul's greatness: it was full of exalted, divine courage. He was incapable of

could: 1) While living in the royal house, he set out to observe the condition

of his Israelite brothers, 2) He struck the Egyptian who had hit one of his

Hebrew brothers 3) He reprimanded the wicked Hebrew who had hit his neighbor 4)

He delivered the Priest of Midian's seven daughters from the shepherds.

Any

person of character and pure heart will learn from his example to stand in the

breech and save his brothers from their murderous tormentors.

This

is particularly true in those places where our brothers are oppressed and

tormented by the gentiles. However, one should not disregard abuse perpetrated

by one of our own brothers from the House of Israel. Even if the victim is a

gentile, one must stand by him because all injustice is abhorrent to God. From

this we must also learn that even when one lives comfortably, in peace and

security in his own tent, surrounded by wealth and honor, the regime attentive

to his words, such a person must not say to himself, "I am at peace in my

own tent, why should I trouble myself about others, be they my brothers or from

the world at large."

(Rabbi

Moshe Kalfon, Darkhei Moshe, Gerba, Tunis circa 19^th cent.,

as

quoted in HaLayla HaZeh an Israeli Haggadah edited by Mishael and Noam

Tzion)