GO UP TO THE TOP OF THE HILL AND LIFT UP YOUR EYES WESTWARD AND NORTHWARD AND SOUTHWARD AND EASTWARD AND SEE WITH YOUR EYES, FOR YOU SHALL NOT CROSS THIS JORDAN.

(Devarim 3:27)

 

Seeing with Pleasure and Seeing with Sorrow

And the Lord said to him: "This is the land..."

(Devarim 34:4)

 

R. Eliezer says: He gave strength to Moses' eyes, and he saw from one end of the world to the other. And so you find among the righteous those who see from one end of the world to the other, for it is said: The King in His beauty shall your eyes behold; [they shall see [from] a distant land] (Isaiah 33:17). So you imply: there are two kinds of seeing, one is seeing with pleasure and the other is seeing with sorrow. By Abraham, he said: Please raise your eyes and see, from the place where you are (Bereishit 13:14) - this is seeing with pleasure. By Moses, He said: Go up this Mount Avarim (Devarim 32:49) Go up to the top of the hill (Devarim 3:27) - this is seeing with sorrow.

(Sifrei Bamidbar 136)

 

From the Other Side

Rahel

The heart's attentiveness. The ear listens:

There - no one comes.

Does he come? Will he come?

Every watchful expectation

Contains the sorrow of Nevo.

Each facing the other - the two shores

Of one river.

The stone decree:

Forever apart.

Spread your arms. Look from the other side.

Each man and his Nevo

Upon the broad earth.

 

 

Respect for the Elder Sister

Yael Levin

This article is devoted to the question of whether a woman is obligated to respect her older sister.¹ In itself, this question is not explicitly discussed in the halakhic sources. As a result, our study of this topic will have to be built upon the foundation of halakhot relating to the obligation to honor an elder brother. Interestingly, analysis of the sources leads us to the conclusion that that a woman is not obligated to honor her older sister. This constitutes an unusual instance in which the hierarchy of relationships between women is less strict than that holding between men. This difference also opens the way for study of some of the philosophical aspects of this matter

The halakha regarding respect for the elder brother is mentioned in a braita of the Talmud:

Honor you father and your mother - your father refers to your father's wife; and your mother - that is your mother's husband. The extra letter vav [and] comes to include your older brother. These words apply during life, but not after death. (Ketuvot 103a)

This braita learns from the additional letter vav in the word ve'et [and] that one is required to honor one's older brother. Some of the rishonim, including the RaMBaN, interpret the braita as saying that one must honor one's father's wife, mother's husband, and older brother only so long as the father is alive; the obligation ends with his death.² In contrast, other rishonim, including the RaMBaM, understand the braita as saying that one must honor one's father's wife only while the father is alive and must honor one's mother's husband only while she is still alive, while the obligation to honor an older brother is permanent (RaMBaM, Hilkhot Mamrim 6:15). The last sentence of the braita constitutes the crux of this disagreement; does it apply to all of the categories mentioned in the braita, or only to the first two?

According to the RaMBaM, the commandment to respect the older brother is of merely rabbinic origin, while the commandments to honor a step-mother during the father's life and a step-father during the mother's life are scriptural [de'oraita] (RaMBaM, loc cit). The notion that honoring the elder brother is a lesser obligation than honoring parents gives rise to several halakhic consequences. Firstly, there is no obligation to honor an older brother if he is wicked, while a son must honor his father even if the latter is wicked. Secondly, the prohibition upon calling one's parents by their first name does not seem to apply to an older brother. Thirdly, while the older brother must be honored, he need not be "feared" [mora].³ Kiddushin 31b sets out the difference between "honor" [kavod] and "fear": "The Rabbis taught: What is fear and what is honor? Fear: That he not stand in his [his father's customary] place, not sit in his [customary] spot, nor contradict his words, nor side with his opponent in a controversy. Honor: Feeds him, gives him drink, dresses and covers him, brings him in and takes him out."

The Talmudic braita explicitly treats the honor due an older brother, but does not directly touch upon honor due an older sister. This issue came up for discussion in several sources, including R. Yaakov Reischer's (1660-1733) responsa to the question of whether the braita also applies to an older sister.⁴ R. Yaakov Reischer states that there is no obligation to honor an older sister. Furthermore, he warns that the adoption of such a law, which is mentioned nowhere in the Talmud or in the writings of any halakhic decisor, would constitute a transgression of the prohibition do not add [to the laws of the Torah of your own volition]. He writes: "I did not know how it occurred to you to supplement the scriptural and rabbinic commandments with something unmentioned by the Talmud or by any of the early or late decisors." R. Yaakov Reischer suggests the possibility that the person who asked the question had seen the midrash according to which Rachel died before her sister because she had spoken up before her sister.⁵ The author of Shevut Yaakov does not want to learn a law from this midrash, claiming that it should be understood as saying that one should not speak up before one greater than oneself. A similar idea can be found in the dictum of Pirkei Avot 5:7 that a wise man does not speak up before one greater than him in wisdom.

The HIDA (1724-1806)⁶, for example, rejects the Shevut Yaakov's opinion and states that one is obligated to honor all one's older brothers and sisters. The HIDA writes that a basis for the duty to honor an older sister can be found in the notion that just as a man's younger sister is required to honor him as her older brother, so too a younger brother is required to honor his older sister. The HIDA compares this to the law requiring one to stand up before an elderly woman. Since the woman herself is required to stand up before an old man, others are similarly required to honor her.⁷

The sources contain no explicit and direct treatment of the question whether a woman is required to honor her older sister. However, we can use R. Yaakov Reischer's responsa as the basis for the discussion of this issue. This scholar states that a man is not required to honor his older sister because of the prohibition do not add; the same reasoning could explain why a woman is not required to honor her older sister The duty of a woman to honor her older sister is not explicitly mentioned in the Talmud or later halakhic texts and we must not invent a new halakhah. R. Yaakov Reischer view is further supported by his interpretation of the midrash about Leah and Rachel. He understands it as teaching that no one should speak up before someone greater than they making the midrash irrelevant to the question of respect between sisters.

It is important to mention the following points in connection with our approach and our parasha: Talmudic law concerning respect towards an older brother assumes as self-evident that both men and women are required to honor their older brother. R. Yaakov Reischer's approach, which frees men from honoring their older sisters, sets up a lack of halakhic equality in the matter of honor of an older sister in comparison with the honor due an older brother. The argument from the principle "do not add" attempts to mobilize a formalistic approach which results in a lenient ruling that creates gender inequality.

Nonetheless, we are entitled to depend on the conceptual foundation of this approach and develop it in another direction in order to deduce from it more broadly a different law, a law that frees a woman from the obligation to honor her older sister. The hidden significance of this conclusion is subject to various interpretations. As far as the younger sister is concerned it is definitely a lenient ruling, while the older sister is apt to see it differently. In any case, we have here a halakhah that is more lenient than the parallel halakhah in the male domain - the halakhah requiring a man to honor his older brother.

It seems that one reason why the Sages were more lenient regarding the honor due to an older brother than they were regarding the honor due to parents is their view that one should concentrate on honoring one's parents - a most imposing commandment.⁸ However, RaMBaM states that even though one is obliged to fear and respect his father and mother, parents must not be overly strict with their children. They must not be punctilious regarding their own honor, for that creates a stumbling block for their children. Instead, parents should be forgiving and not take notice, since when parents relinquish the obligation to honor them, the obligation is set aside.⁹

It appears possible to contend that it would be proper to adopt a similar approach regarding relations between siblings in general, while we have pointed out a foundation for dismissing the duty of a woman to honor her older sister. The lack of an obligation upon a woman to honor her older sister, and the leniency involved there in comparison to the obligation to honor an older brother seems to make room for more sisterly relations between sisters. Joined together not by a structured hierarchy, but rather by true friendship, sisters can direct their best abilities and efforts towards more positive and constructive dialogue and action.

The existence of this lenient halakhah concerning the honor due an older sister by a younger sister, that springs from the Shevut Yaakov's approach as a lekhat'hila [correct from the outset] rather than a bedi'avad [circumstantially correct] law, sets before us the halakhic challenge to continue studying it and its array of significance as an unusual and perhaps unique law, and to infuse it with proper and correct content in a manner that will realize and not miss out on its potential and the positive options associated with it and hidden in its foundations.

[1] I was partially aided in the preparation of this article by HaRav Ovadiah Yosef's book, Halikhot Olam, part 8, He'a'rot ve'he'arot al Sefer Ben Ish Hai, second year, Devarim, Jerusalem, 5762, pp. 161-164.

2 Sefer HaMitzvot le'ha'RaMBaM im Hasagot ha'RaMBaN, Chavel edition, Jerusalem 5741, Ikkar ha'Sheni, pp. 29-31; HaRav Ovadia Yosef, op cit, pp. 163-4.

3 HaRav Ovadiah Yosef, op cit pp. 162-3).

4 Shevut Yaakov, part I, section 76.

5 Bereishit Rabba, 74:4; Theodore Albeck edition pg. 861.

6 Birkhei Yosef, Yoreh De'ah, 240:17.

7 See Beit Lehem Yehuda, Yoreh De'ah 28.

8 J. Peah 1:5 (15d).

9 RaMBaM Hilkhot Mamrim 6:8. This halakhah has no earlier source, and it seems that RaMBaM learns it from the law regarding the spanking of adult sons (Beit Yosef on Tur Yoreh Deah 240:19)

Dr. Yael Levin has published research and studies that deal mostly with very aspects of women in Judaism. She has also authored prayers, including most lately, "A Prayer for the liberation of agunot [women whose husbands have disappeared and who thus cannot remarry] and women who have been refused divorce."

 

You are to do what is right and what is good

You are to do what is right and what is good in the eyes of God - What is good - in the eyes of Heaven; What is right - in the eyes of man. This is the view of Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Yishmael says: Even that which is right in the eyes of Heaven.

(Tosefta, Shekalim 2:3)

 

What is right and what is good –This refers to compromise lifnim meshurat hadin -- beyond the strict requirements of the law.

(Rashi, Devarim 6:18)

 

Rabbi Yohanan said: "Jerusalem was destroyed only because judgment was rendered strictly according to the Torah." Were they then to have judged in accordance with the laws of swindlers?! But say thus: Because they based their judgments [strictly] upon scriptural law, and did not rule lifnim meshurat hadin - beyond the requirements of the law.

(Bava Metzia 30b)

 

You are to do what is right and what is good

The Book of Bereishit is called by the prophets "Sefer HaYashar" - "The Book of the Upright". R. Yohanan explains: This is the book of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who were called upright, as is written Let my soul die the death of the upright. Jews of the Second Temple period were tzaddikim [righteous], devoted to Torah study, but they were not yesharim - [upright] in worldly affairs. Because of groundless hatred, they suspected whoever feared God in a fashion different from their own of being a Sadducee and a heretic, and this led to bloodshed and all the evils of the world, until the Temple was destroyed, for The Holy One, Blessed Be He, is upright and he cannot tolerate this kind of tzaddikim. [He prefers] only those who walk in the straight path also in worldly matters, and not crookedly, even though [the crooked behavior] is for the sake of Heaven, for this leads to the destruction of creation and the devastation of civilization.

(From the NeTziV of Volozhin's commentary Ha'Amek Davar, preface to the Book of Bereishit).

 

After mentioning that one should observe these three categories of commandments (Mishpatim/regulations, eidot/testimonies, hukkim/laws) and not test the Holy One, Blessed Be He, with regard to any of them, He decreed (according to the midrash) in favor of compromise on matters on which the Torah did not rule, saying - You are to do what is right and what is good. And because it [compromise] will lead to peace, He called it What is right and what is good in the eyes of God.

(Rabeinu Bahayey, Devarim 6:17)

 

It would seem that the admonition that the Torah adds to all of its laws, You are to do what is right and what is good in the eyes of the Lord, is superfluous. All of the laws are directed towards that goal, in order to show man the straight path. However, there are some things which are legally permissible but which were prohibited solely on the basis of You are to do what is right... Judaism does not stop at limiting deeds of actual evil - it also tries to root out potential evil from the human soul. That is why there are special admonitions that address that which is in our hearts.

(The "Admor He'Halutz" - R. Yeshayahu Shapira z"l, as quoted by Nehama Leibowitz)

 

"Peace in His Celestial Heights" Depends Upon "Peace On Us"

And thus we are to understand For who else is such a great nation that has God so near to it… And who else is such a great nation that has laws and regulations so equitable… I had intended to explain, in Parashat Shekalim, the passage Now these are the regulations that you are to set before them. The purpose of regulations is to prevent people from swallowing each other alive; if there will be peace between man and his fellow, aside from the hidden import of the subject which is beyond human comprehension, when there will be peace below -- between man and his fellow - then will there be peace above.

(Yetiv Panim II, P. 219b)

 

Comfort, comfort you my people;

A Conditional Promise or a Spiritual Challenge?

...The chapter of the Haftara (of Shabbat Nahamu) is cut off at verse 26, and the four concluding verses are not recited, lest they - Heaven forbid - adversely affect the pleasant feeling radiated by the preceding verses of consolation and mission, verses coveted by the human soul, ideas with which the soul amuses itself.

From the words of the prophets we derive that consolation and the mission of redemption are not a given reality or an event due to occur in the future. They are talking about a direction and a goal towards which one must strive, and this is, in effect, the meaning of all prophecies that contain promises.

Careful study, without prejudgments regarding the redemption and the return to Zion, which are actually the content and the main subjects of the "Seven Prophecies of Comfort," will reveal - to our surprise- their true meaning: they are always interwoven with presentations of demands; were this not so, they would be devoid of any religious significance, and it would have been able to relate to them as pronouncements of the Oracle, fortune tellers, and diviners of idolaters, which existed from days of yore until this very day.

In contrast to one opinion of the Sages, which claims that there are only prophecies of misfortune and that they do not materialize because of penitence that is capable of nullifying the decree, there is no denying the fact (which we tend to ignore) that there are to be found many prophecies of consolation that were never realized. On this subject, too, Talmudic literature, midrashim, and aggadot make forceful statements, such as those great consolations which Jeremiah predicts for Ephraim and the ten tribes, and for our mother Rachel who announces the future return of her sons. But we all know that the sons did not return, and the Kingdom of Israel has long passed from the world, despite all these prophecies.

Similarly, Amos prophesied that Israel will be exiled from its land, and in that same generation there arose in Israel Yoravam son of Yoash, the powerful leader and conqueror' who restored the territory of Israel from Levo-hamaath to the sea of the Arabah (II Kings 14:25), and achieved victories and conquests hitherto unparalleled, but one generation later, the Kingdom of Ephraim ceased to exist.

(Y. Leibowitz, Sihot al Haggei Yisrael U'Moadav, pp.146-147)

 

 

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