Parshat Shelach

For the tribe of asher, sethur, son of michael

                (Bemidbar 13:13)

 

And these are their names: For the tribe of Reuven, Shammua the son of Zaccur - Said R. Yitzchak: This is something we have on tradition from our fathers, the spies were named in accordance with their actions, but we have detected only one, "Sethur the son of Michael. [He was named] Sethur because he undermined [sathar] the works of the Holy One, blessed be He; and Michael [was so named] because he suggested that God [el] was weak [mak]. R. Johanan said: We can also explain [the name] Nahbi the son of Vophsi. [He was named] Nahbi because he hid [hikbi] the words of the Holy One, blessed be He; and Vophsi [was so named] because he stepped over [pasa'] the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He.

 (Bavli Sotah 34b)

 

"Sethur" - because he undermined [sathar] the works of the Holy One, blessed be He - It is essential to know with which acts he undermined. It seems that were it not for the sin of the spies, all 31 kings would have been defeated through acts of heaven, just as befell the Assyrian camp in the times of King Hezekiah, and he undermined His actions, for now they had to fight by themselves. And regarding the statement regarding God being weak, it seems to me that according to His original intent the land should have been given to them miraculously. And regarding the hiding of God's words, that he hid some of His words, for He said"... that I am giving the Children of Israel" (Bemidbar 13:2), and inasmuch as He said "that I am giving" we infer that He plans to give miraculously, and they need not wage war, so that they need not fear defeat, and by his speaking about defeat in battle, he hid His words "...that I am giving", as if He had never spoken them... he spoke words in order to frighten Israel.

(Rabbi Yosef Hayyim of Bagdad: Benayahu ben Yehoyada, Sotah 34b)

 

 

On memory

Moshe Meir

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying:  'Speak unto the children of Israel, and tell them that they make them throughout their generations fringes in the corners of their garments, and that they put with the fringe of each corner a thread of blue. And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go astray;  that ye may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your God.  I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.'

This parasha raises a number of linguistic difficulties:

A.   "...they are to make themselves fringes... It shall be for you a fringe". If they made fringes, then there are already fringes and there is no need for them to be fringes!

B.   "That you may look at it and keep-in-mind... in order that you may keep-in-mind". If with looking comes keeping-in-mind, why is it necessary to add "in order that you may keep-in-mind"?

C.   "I am the Lord your God... I am the Lord your God". Why the repetition? [It may be a repetition for stylistic purposes, but the question still joins the preceding ones].

The Bible's style of writing sometimes integrates two parshiyot into one. Above, we attempted to define the two parshiyot by assigning different fonts to each parasha, thus receiving two coherent stories. In the first, in this font (Arial), God commands to make fringes on the corners of the garments in order that they remember all the commandments and they be a holy people to the Lord who redeemed them from Egypt so that He be unto them a Lord. In the story appearing in this font (Century) He orders that upon the fringes should be placed an indigo twist and it shall be a fringe - a second fringe. The purpose of these fringes is also to remind us of all the mitzvoth, but also to prevent succumbing to the enticing heart and eyes. The three repetitions quoted in our questions, derive from the existence of two stories, each containing the three motifs: fringes, remembrance and identity: "I am the Lord". There appears here an important principle of memory theory. Memory is always memory within memory, just as forgetting is forgetting within forgetting. Human consciousness is composed of layers and folds. Something slips a bit from one's memory, and later it slips yet more. Something returns a bit and then it can return yet more. A one-time violent remembrance can cause externalization. Internalization occurs only in memory which follows memory.

R. Meir says. Why is blue singled out from all the varieties of colors? Because blue resembles the color of the sea, and the sea resembles the color of the sky, and the sky resembles the color of a sapphire, and a sapphire resembles the color of the Throne of Glory, as it is said: "And they saw the God of Israel and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone"; and it is also written: "The likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone, and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it above" (Ezekiel 1).  (Tractate Hullin 89a)

The memory moves gently, from layer to layer, from hue to hue. The Sages fashioned a reality in which the tsitsit meet man in the depths of the material world, and reminds him of his values:

Once a man, who was very scrupulous about the precept of zizith, heard of a certain harlot in one of the towns by the sea who accepted four hundred gold [denars] for her hire. He sent her four hundred gold [denars] and appointed a day with her. When the day arrived he came and waited at her door, and her maid came and told her, 'That man who sent you four hundred gold [denars] is here and waiting at the door'; to which she replied 'Let him come in'. When he came in she prepared for him seven beds, six of silver and one of gold; and between one bed and the other there were steps of silver, but the last were of gold. She then went up to the top bed and lay down upon it naked. He too went up after her in his desire to sit naked with her, when all of a sudden the four fringes [of his garment] struck him across the face; whereupon he slipped off and sat upon the ground. She also slipped off and sat upon the ground and said, 'By the Roman Capitol, I will not leave you alone until you tell me what blemish you saw in me. 'By the Temple', he replied, 'never have I seen a woman as beautiful as you are; but there is one precept which the Lord our God has commanded us, it is called zizith, and with regard to it the expression 'I am the Lord your God' is twice written, signifying, I am He who will exact punishment in the future, and I am He who will give reward in the future. Now [the zizith] appeared to me as four witnesses testifying against me'. She said, 'I will not leave you until you tell me your name, the name of your town, the name of your teacher, the name of your school in which you study the Torah'. He wrote all this down and handed it to her. Thereupon she arose and divided her estate into three parts; one third for the government, one third to be distributed among the poor, and one third she took with her in her hand; the linens however, she retained. She then came to the Beth Hamidrash of R. Hiyya, and said to him, 'Master, give me instructions and convert me.' 'My daughter', he replied; 'perhaps you have set your eyes on one of the disciples?' She thereupon took out the script and handed it to him. 'Go', said he 'and enjoy your acquisition'. Those very linens which she had spread for him for an illicit purpose she now spread out for him lawfully. This is the reward [for the precept] in this world; and as for its reward in the future world I know not how great it is. (Tractate Menachot 44a)

The seven beds lead delicately from one to the next, reaching the bed of gold. So do the tsitsit lead from hue to hue to the heavens and above the heavens. So must man lead his self-consciousness and his memory to those values which he sets for himself in his world - above the heavens, upon the throne of glory.

Moshe Meir, an educator, leads Bet Midrash study groups He holds a doctorate in Jewish Philosophy. His book "Two Together", dealing with new religious-secular philosophy, was published a few months ago by Magnes.

 

"The country in which they dwell - is it good or is it bad?"

Onkelos, however, translated "Is it rich or is it poor" - for there are countries whose inhabitants are wealthy because their produce is inexpensive, and they are successful in their dealings and in commerce with their neighbors; and there are countries which are dependent upon their neighbors, and their own inhabitants are incompetent - even though the land itself is good and not poor. (Ramban, Bemidbar 13:19)

 

"Where there are no men - try to be a man"

"Send for yourself men" - This is the meaning of that which is written "The stout-hearted were despoiled; they were in a stupor; the bravest of men could not lift a hand " (Psalms 76;6) - "The stout-hearted were despoiled" - these are Moshe and Aharon, who sent spies who returned and spoke slanderously of the land, and they [the Children of Israel] knew not what to do, and even Moshe and Aharon's hands were impotent. Immediately Caleb rose up and silenced the crowd, as is written, "Now Caleb hushed the people before Moshe" - he stood on a bench and stilled them, saying 'Quiet! Quiet!' - and they were quiet in order to hear him. "Good is that land, exceedingly, exceedingly!" Said The Holy One, Blessed Be He, to Moshe: "I am greatly indebted to Caleb, as is written "Only Caleb son of Yefunne" (Devarim 1:36). What is meant by "only"? He lent me more than 600,000 of you. You could not find your hands, you were negligent. Therefore it says "The stout-hearted were despoiled." And why did all this happen? Because the messengers were fools. It is with regard to them that Shelomo said: "He who sends a message by a dullard will wear out legs and must put up with lawlessness." (Proverbs 26:6)

(Tanhuma, Shelach, 2)

 

"The finger of god" and man's responsibility for his decisions

"The entire community lifted up and let out their voice, and the people wept on that night" - Said Rabba in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: That night was the ninth of Av. Said The Holy One, Blessed Be He, to them: You cried for no good reason - I shall give you reason to weep for generations to come.

(Bavli, Taanit 79a)

 

It is almost impossible to fully exhaust the significance of the fact that the people which merited that which no generation before and no generation thereafter merited - for the giving of the Torah was a one-time, never to re-occur event - that this generation in particular should fail totally, bringing about the nullification of the divine plan which included the promise to bring the nation to the promised land.

From this we derive that man, through his actions, can ruin the world, even notwithstanding the divine plan. The entire story of the generation which exited Egypt is replete with signs, omens, and revelation, yet all of these were unable to change man's nature, unable to bring him to faith, and certainly not to the repair of the entire nation. One incapable of recognizing from within himself his status before God and its ensuing commitments will never achieve this awareness through any external agent. This conclusion is valid not only with regard to the distant past, but also to the present and future; Divine supervision and all that is humanly perceived to be "the finger of God" cannot bring men to find their way even in political, national or social matters... the correct path in management of the world, the state and society or the determination of historical courses of events. All these flow from human understanding, with the reaching of conclusions and making decisions. Paths of action are never given man as a grant, through the medium of wondrous revelation, by supernatural means.

We do not belong to the generation of the desert which merited divine revelation; we belong to the generation of the wilderness which has no divine revelation. We do not know - we cannot know what event or act has elements of "the finger of God" in the sense of divine intervention in historical processes. We cannot know which of these phenomena belong in the category of "Olam k'minhago noheg" - "the world acts in its usual way." We must beware the great and terrible danger of dependence upon that which seems to be "the finger of God", a dependence with potential for casting off responsibility from the shoulders of man and nation, the responsibility of determining their way according to their understanding and their accountability.

(Y. Leibowitz: Seven Years of the Discussion on the Weekly Parasha, pp. 665-666)

 

Why Was the Parasha of Tsitisit Conjoined as a Third Parasha in "Kriyat Shema"?

The significance of the relationship between "And you shall love" and "And these words shall be" [the first two passages of the first parasha of Kriyat Shema] in the "Shema", and the relationship between this first parasha and the second parasha - "And if you will carefully obey my commands" is illuminated by the addition of the third parasha - the parasha of Tsitsit - to the two opening parshiot. This portion deals with memory and action; it expressly directs man's awareness not to the subject of "God and Man" but the subject of "Mitzvoth and Man" ("...and you shall remember all God's commands, and you will observe them... so that you remember and perform all My commands..."). Remembrance is a thing of the heart, and, at first blush, it would have seemed possible to combine it with "faith" and "love" in their abstract sense; but Scripture states the meaning of remembrance is the doing of the mitzvot. Remembrance of God exists in the believer's consciousness on one of two planes: that of "Shema" (pure belief 'lishemah', with no ulterior motive) - God is the Lord; and the second plane, that of "And if you will carefully obey" (belief 'shelo lishmah' - with ulterior motive) - God is the supra-Minister of Finance, supra-Minister of Health, supra-Minister of Security, etc. But regardless of whether one remembers God on the "Shema" plane or on the "And if you will carefully obey" plane - both obligate the observance of mitzvoth.

At the conclusion of Parashat Tsitsit, which concludes the Kriyat Shema, there appears a concept with specifically religious significance, the concept of kedusha - holiness: "And you shall be holy". This concept has no meaning outside the world of religious faith. True, the concept has filtered into the day-to-day vernacular, taking on secular meanings, such as: "The memory of my late mother is holy to me" - but in such as case it is no more than an idiom with emotional content. In its original and essential meaning, "holy" refers only to God; therefore it cannot be explained through concepts taken from human thought or in other terms from human language, and it cannot be applied to anything found in the world. In human reality the category of "kedusha" can be used only to designate activity directed toward the "kadosh" - the Holy One" - a designation of the service of God through observance of the mitzvoth. It designates the purpose and goal to which one must strive, and also the striving itself, but it does not designate any given or existing thing. In human reality, there is only functional kedusha; the essential kedusha is God's alone. Whoever attributes kedusha to anything from the natural or artificial reality - to man, to the land, to an institution, to an edifice, to an object - is guilty of idol worship; he raises it to the level of the divine. This is the great meaning presented to man by the mitzvah of Tsitsit: "so that you remember and perform all My commands and you will be holy..."; that is to say, you are not holy by virtue of your essence; your holiness is not something which exists in yourself; it is something for you to achieve. The mission is eternal, because it is tied to a condition which can be fulfilled only with eternal effort.

We bring the words of one of the greatest Torah scholars and believers, one of the greatest religious thinker of recent generations, Rabbi Meir Simcha HaCohen of Dvinsk, author of the "Meshech Chochma". Many times, with great emphasis, he repeats in his book his explanation that "there is nothing holy in the world... only the Lord, Blessed Be He, is holy, and only He is deserving of praise and service"; no creation has holiness - only the Creator, Blessed Be He"; "all things considered holy - Eretz Yisrael, Yerushalayim, the Temple Mount, the Mikdash, the Tablets of the Law - none of these possess intrinsic holiness, but they were sanctified through action and mitzvoth." Therefore, when Israel repudiates the Torah and violates the mitzvoth - all the above lose their holiness, they become profane. He repeats this idea again and again: "Do not imagine that the mount is something holy..." ; "...Do not imagine that the Mishkan and the Mikdash are, in themselves, holy entities" and many more such statements. In one place he adds the remark "This is a weighty matter" - as though he had foreseen how "religious" Jews, 50 years after his death, would disgrace and profane the concept of "kedusha" by exploiting as cover for satisfaction of human needs and interests - private or communal.

It seems that Torah desired to instill in us the deep religious significance of "kedusha", and therefore it placed the story of Korach in juxtaposition to the parasha of Tsitsit. A space of only three lines separates between the great programmatic proclamation of faith voiced by Moshe our Teacher ("You shall be holy") and the programmatic proclamation of faith voiced by Korach: "The entire community is holy" - i.e., kedusha is not a goal which Israel is charged to achieve but it already exists inherently and unconditionally. The great concept of faith - kedusha - is profaned and becomes an idolatrous concept.

(From Y. Leibowitz: Paths to Faith in Judaism, in "Faith, History, and Values", pp. 18-19)

 

 

 

 

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