ON THE THIRD DAY, AS MORNING DAWNED, THERE WAS THUNDER, AND LIGHTENING, AND A DENSE CLOUD UPON THE MOUNTAIN,

 AND A VERY LOUD BLAST OF THE HORN;

 AND ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE IN THE CAMP TREMBLED.

MOSHE LED THE PEOPLE OUT OF THE CAMP TOWARD GOD,

AND THEY TOOK THEIR PLACES AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN

(Bemidbar 19:16-17)

 

 

Acceptance of the Torah by Coercion v.s. Acceptance By Free Choice

"AND THEY STOOD BENEATH THE MOUNTAIN"

"Said Rabbi Chanina bar Chama bar Chassa: - This teaches us that the Holy One, Blessed Be he, suspended the mountain over them as though it were a tank".

(Bavli, Shabbat 88a)

 

... It is important to reiterate and stress that the religious decision does not result from events, but derives from man's judgment and decision. In this context it is proper that we return to the Rambam as he deals with an issue which is ostensibly a purely halachic ruling, but which has deep ideological significance.

In "The Responsa of the Rambam" (ed. Freiman, Chap 30), the Rambam is asked regarding the wording of the conclusion of the Blessings over the Torah... should it be "Blessed are you, O Lord, who gives the Torah" or perhaps "Who teaches Torah to His people Israel"? It should be mentioned that both phrases are found in our daily prayer book, in the "Blessings of Dawn", but the version "who gives Torah" is also the accepted benediction recited by one who is called up to the Torah.

Rambam responds and rules that the correct version is "who gives Torah"; he rejects "who teaches the Torah to his people Israel", emphasizing:

"Inasmuch as the ending "who gives the Torah" is the essence of the benediction, for its substance is that He charged us with its reading."

It should be understood that for the Rambam, "its reading" means "its study", and this, too, is the meaning of 'its being given.' The giver of Torah gave us the Torah so that it be studied. Rambam adds:

"This is the substance of the benediction, to beseech assistance in its study, and whoever concludes with "He who teaches Torah" sins (variant reading errs"), because God does not teach us, He commanded us to study it and to teach it. This is based upon a primary principle of the Torah - that observance of the mitzvot is in our hands; we are not forced to perform them by God."

The importance of the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people lies not in what is described in the famous Aggadic embellishment: 'The Holy One, Blessed Be He, suspended over them a mountain as if it were a tank", but rather in Israel's accepting the Torah of their own accord, and this is not what happened at the Revelation at Sinai, which was acceptance by compulsion - which did not succeed.

This story represents a great devaluation of the significance of faith, if men wish to base it upon revelation and miracles and wonders, and they ignore the fact that there can be no true faith unless it comes from within man's self.

 (Y. Leibowitz: Seven Years of Discussion of the Weekly Parasha, pp. 300-301)

 

 

   To Shelomi and Avital, with love -

  on the occasion of your marriage

 

THE RAMBAM'S RATIONALE OF THE MITZVOT

Gavriel Birenbaum

 

Long ago, - before the 9^th century - it was customary on the holiday of Shavuot to recite the poem called "Azharot" -"Words of Warning", in which the 913 mitzvot of the Torah are detailed. It is, then, quite in place at this time, at the approach of Shavuot, to examine the rationale for mitzvot.

It is reasonable that the search for the reason for the observance of davka these commandments, and davka in this particular way, should have engaged mitzvah observers from the time from the moment that mitzvott were given to the people of Israel. The person who believes in a God who commands wants to understand why he is so commanded, and how these acts leads to greater closeness to the Lord.

Our Sages pondered the rationale for mitzvot at length and in great depth. However, they did not, in keeping with their usual fashion, present their thoughts systematically. Our thinkers of the Middle Ages, such as Rasag, Rabbi Yehudah Halevey, and Rabbi Behayey ibn Pakudah, expanded and deepened thought on the subject.

In this area - as in others - the Rambam's approach is exceptional in its originality and its audacity.

The reasons behind "You shall not kill" and "You shall not steal" appear to be self-evident, and "even if they were not written, reason would have determined that they be written" (as per Chazal in Sifra, Acharie Mot 9, 13, and elsewhere); the reason for others, such as Shabbat and Mezuzzah, are presented by the Torah itself. The main topic for speculation and discussion throughout the ages are those mitzvot termed "Hukkim" [mitzvot seemingly without rationale].

Well-known is the midrash Chazal quoted by Rashi in his explication of the words "This is the hukkah of the torah" (Bemidbar 19:2):

"Because Satan and the nations of the world pester Israel, saying, What is this mitzvah, and what reason is there to it, therefore is it written hukkah, it is a divine decree, you have no permission to question it."

Many sought to deduce from this that there exists no logical reason behind these mitzvot. On the contrary, the greatness of the believer lies in his fulfilling them as arbitrary orders of the Lord. The Rambam forcefully contests this approach, maintaining that it perverts Chazal's intention:

"The majority of Sages do not believe that these are things without any reason, and that no purpose is to be sought... the majority of sages believe that they must have a rationale, i.e., some beneficial goal, but that it is hidden from us, either because our intelligence is inadequate, or because our knowledge is deficient." (Guide for the Perplexed III, 26)     

The mitzvot of the Torah have two overall goals: proper functioning of the soul and proper functioning of the body. Proper functioning of the body does not consist only of the body's health and physical strength - "For a person cannot imagine a concept even if it is explained to him - all the more so he cannot arrive at it with his own powers - when he suffers pain or hunger or thirst or heat or extreme cold" (Ibid., 27) - but also of proper functioning of his social and political condition. Proper functioning of the body in this wide sense is the sine qua non for proper functioning of the soul: "So that the masses understand correct ideas according to their ability... And the second perfection is... that man know - to the best of his ability - all that there is to know about everything found [in the world]... It is clear that this latter perfection is not a matter of action or attributes, but of ideas alone" (Ibid.) This, of course, is the recognition of God, which is the goal of all.

The Rambam proceeds to show how each one of the 913 mitzvot prepares man for one of these two overall goals.

It is quite simple to understand how mitzvot such as erection of a fence on the roof, gifts to the poor, and even the mitzvah of appointing a king lead to "proper function of the body" according to the Rambam's extensive definition. But for what goal is man prepared by observance of mitzvot which prohibit meat-in-milk, shaatnez [mixture of wool and flax], sowing mixed species, and removal of the beard?

The Rambam's answer: All these are intended to eradicate idolatry from our midst.

Rambam , who constantly stresses the divinity and eternity of the Torah, was ahead of his times: Centuries before the importance of researching the ancient East was recognized, he argued that prohibitions of this sort can be understood only against the background of the pagan practices of the Biblical period. To this end, the Rambam - as he himself testifies - delved into the pagan literature of that period. His conclusion: Most of the unexplained prohibitions enumerated above were forbidden because such practices were part of the effort of ancient idolaters to propitiate the gods, believing that they thereby bring blessings upon themselves, and prevent curses. Therefore the Torah forbade such rituals, and sometimes even commanded to do the opposite, and davka thus shall the blessings be showered upon the observers.

Here a few examples:

"The shaving of the corners of the head and the corners of the beard were forbidden because this was the fashion of pagan priests. This is also the reason for the prohibition against shaatnez, for such was the fashion of the priests. They used to combine vegetable and animal in their garb, and a seal made of one of the metals was on their hand [all as part of the magic ritual]. You find all this expressly described in their books...

One of the beliefs - well-known in those days and preserved in the Zaabaya - was that when one grafts one kind of tree onto another, and they do it on a special time, and they burn incense of a certain kind, and they recite some special incantation while grafting, from out of this graft will grow something which will bring - so they claim - tremendous benefit. Therefore kil'ayim - grafting one species on to another - was forbidden. (Ibid., 37)

In fact, study of the beliefs and rituals of the ancient East corroborates the spirit of Rambam's hypotheses. An especially interesting case in point is the ban against cooking a goat in its mother's milk. The Rambam surmised that the cooking of meat in milk was part of a pagan holiday ritual, and the Torah comes to protest it and to root it out: "In my opinion, this is the most reasonable explanation for the ban, although I have not found it mentioned in the books of the Zaabaya which I read" (ibid., 48). Two modern researchers, Ginzburg and Cassuto, thought they uncovered documentation of such a ritual in Ugaritic texts, arousing much interest. Later researchers considered the documentation inconclusive, but proof may yet be discovered.

The Torah did not try to totally deracinate every pagan practice. God knew that the nation, which had left a pagan environment, during a pagan era, could not totally discard the rituals they were used to:

"For in those days this was unimaginable [to erase those rituals] for it would not be in keeping of man who is most at ease with that which he used to... therefore the Almight did not eliminate these forms of worship [=sacrifices and other temple rituals] but navigated them from the service of things created and imaginary entities, which have no real essence, to the service of His Name, commanding them to perform for Him."

The question is asked: Does there not exist a danger of relativization of the mitzvot? After idolatry had already ceased to exist among the Jewish people (at least in the forms then prevalent), are not all the prohibitions superfluous? The Rambam thought not. The rationales were given to help understand the ways of He who commanded, to let us know that they are not arbitrary but are the fruits of His elevated wisdom. But, as regards he who is commanded, the mitzvot are only an expression of the service of God. "Know that all these acts of the divine service - such as the reading of the Torah, prayer, an performance of the other mitzvot - have as their goal your accustoming yourself to engage in His commandments; do not engage in matters of this world; be engaged with the Almighty and with no other." (Ibid., 51, "Note")

Yeshaaya Leibowitz explains:

'All rationales of the mitzvot are, as it were, totally erased, and in the three opening sentences [of the above 'note'] the Rambam transports us to a different plane, in which all the rationales of which we read until now become irrelevant. In his opinion, one who is in need of explanations in order to observe any mitzvah is on the place of service of God not for its own sake, and it was on this level that the Rambam offered all the explanations we have described. But when man reaches the recognition of the truth, he understands that "engaged with Him" - means: Observnce of the mitzvot not because of humanly comprehended rationale, but because they are God's commandments - this, and this alone, is the goal.

And purify our hearts to serve you in truth.

Dr. Gavriel Birenbaum lectures on Hebrew Language in Bar-Ilan University.

 

 

"The Scroll of Ruth" and "Parashat Nasso"

The Scroll of Ruth is "the parasha of the gerim [converts]and the parasha of gerut [conversion]"- not only conceptually, but also halachically; the laws of conversion are derived from the story of Ruth the Moabite. This is the reasion that the Ruth scroll is read in Jewish congregations on Shavuot, the occasion of the giving of the Torah, when those rightous converts who accepted upon themsleves the Torah and its mitzvot, became part of the Israelite community.

This is a leap year, and connections may be found between the Scroll of Ruth and the reading of Nasso on the Shabbat following Shavuot.

Among the many subjects included in sidrat 'Nasso' we find the short chapter dealing with "asham g'zelot' [=guilt offering for wrongdoing against persons and then swearing falsely]. There it says: "And if the man has no redeemer [=kinsman] to make restitution of guilt payment to him..." (Bemidbar 5:8)

In this case, the Torah orders the sinning thief who is repenting to transfer the "asham" (i.e., the fifth added on the the principle value of the stolen object) to the priest. The question is asked, how is it possible that a Jew should have no redeemer! Even if we were to say that he has no close relatives, there must be in his tirbe kinsmen and redeemers... from all the above we must conclude that the subject of "has no redeemer" is none other than the convert, who, upon conversion, severs all ties with his bilogical family, and now he is a Jew without a reddmer. This parasha has generated much thought and also halacha on the subject of gerim and conversion, and the subject of conversion leads to the subject of the righteous of all nations and races, those referred to [in Hallel] as "Yir'ey Hashem" - "Those who fear God."

 

"Any sin committed by humans - Refers to Stealing from the Ger

"And God said to Moshe, as follows: Speak uonto the children of Israel, a man or a woman - when they do any sin committed by humans" (Bemidbar 5:6) Why was this parasha written? Because it is written: "A person - when one sins, breaking-faith against God... or by finding a lost object and denying it, or by swearing falsely...To the one whose it is, he is to give it at the time of his being proven guilty (Vayikra 5:21-24) but regarding stealing from the ger we do not find the Torah commanding "Speak to the Children of Israel: A man or woman who does any sin committed by humans" - therefore the Torah comes to teach us that one who steals from the ger, and swears to him (falsely), must pay the principle and a fifth to the priests and an asham offering for the altar.

(Sifri Nasso, Piska 2)

 

"And will give you peace": Peace when you enter, peace when you leave, peace with all men.                                                  

(Sifri, Nasso, 32)

 

External and Inner Peace: Juxtaposition in Parashat Nasso.

It appears that this parasha was placed here in order to remove evil from the camp, which might lead to quarrel and altercation; [the purpose is to ensure] that man be wary of holding his fellow's property illegally, and he should not depend upon the weakness of the other, who has no redeemer.

... Therefore this parasha (Sotah) is adjeccent to the preceding parasha, its purpose being to eliminate controversy and dispute from the home , and peace of the home precedes peace iof the nation.

... And the Parasha of the Nazir is adjacent to to that of the Sotah - the purpose of which was to remove conflict in the home. Its purpose is to to pacify contention and loss from man himself, lest his physical desires lead him to sin...

After having mentioned that which will lead to the eradication of man's inner wars, and will remove quarrel and fights from the home and from the nation in general, the Torah, in this parasha, talks about the Priestly Benediction, which illuminates with wondrous light the matter of wholeness and true peace."

(From Ralbag's commentary, quoted by Prof. Nechama Leibowitz, in "Studies in the Book of Vayikra, pp. 45-46)

 

 

 

 

 

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