HaMaayan/The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Parashat Balak Volume V, Number 36 (222) 17 Tamuz 5751/June 29, 1991 Parasha Overview This Parasha describes how Balak, the king of Moav, hired Bilam to curse Bnei Yisrael. Commentaries note that Balak's behavior was based on hatred for Yisrael and no other cause. Since Bnei Yisrael had been ordered by Hashem not to attack Moav, Balak certainly had no rational reason to fear them! The Gemara states that during this period, Hashem took special care not to become angry at Bnei Yisrael, lest Bilam - through prophecy - turn that anger to Moav's advantage. Commentaries note also that Bilam was hampered by the fact that he was "cursing" for ulterior motives (money), and not with "pure" intentions. This decreased his chance of success. ************************************ "And Bilam said to Balak, 'Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven oxen and seven rams'." (Bamidbar 23:1; see also 23:14 and 23:29) Rav Yehuda said in Rav's name: A person should always study Torah and do Mitzvot - even if his intentions are not pure ("Shelo Lishmah"). Observe that in the merit of the 42 sacrifices which Balak brought [with the most impure of intentions], the righteous convert Ruth descended from him! (paraphrased from Sanhedrin 105b) What are the proper intentions ("Lishmah") with which to perform a Mitzvah or to study Torah? R' Chaim of Volozhin answers as follows: Learning Torah "Lishmah" does not mean "for the sake of being close to G-d" as most people today think. [Ed. note: R' Chaim is referring to the view of the Chassidic movement which was in its nascent stages in his day.] The Midrash tells of King David's request that G-d consider the reading of Psalms to be equal to the study of the most difficult Talmudic tractate, and we do not find in any of the works of the prophets that G-d granted this request. Since one can certainly become closer to G-d through reciting Tehilim than he can through studying Talmud, why should David's request not have been granted (if the purpose of Torah study is merely to achieve such closeness)?! Furthermore, if the purpose of Torah study is to become close to G-d, why study the whole Torah? Why not choose one Mishnah or one verse and repeat it constantly throughout one's life? Yet the Talmud tells of sages such as Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakki, who studied every Torah subject under the sun, for they realized that no matter how much they had learned, they had not fulfilled their obligation. In fact, Chazal say that a person will be judged and punished for every area of Torah that he could have studied and did not. Finally, how can the purpose of Torah study be to achieve closeness to G-d? Is it really possible to simultaneously keep in mind one's closeness to G-d and the interpretation of a complex Talmudic discussion? The Talmud says: "Do things for the sake of their Creator, and speak about them for their own sake." In other words, Mitzvot should indeed be done for the sake of achieving closeness to G-d, but not so Torah study. This should be for its own sake; Torah study is an end in itself. A person should want to understand the whole Torah, just as Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakki did. This is "Lishmah". This is not to say that Torah study does not require religious feeling. The Mishnah states explicitly: "If there is no fear of G-d, there can be no wisdom." However, this is not the purpose of Torah study, but a prerequisite to it. Therefore, before a person begins to learn each day, he should set aside a few minutes to repent from his misdeeds and to bring himself closer to G-d. A person may also interrupt his learning briefly to repeat this procedure. But when a person is learning, he should learn! (Nefesh HaChaim, IV) [Ed. Note: The subject of "Lishmah" is discussed in many Talmudic passages, and in scores of early and later commentaries and "Poskim" (Halachic decisors). In addition to the view of R' Chaim of Volozhin and the view that he rejects, there is an opinion that "Lishmah" means studying Torah for the sake of knowing its laws. (See the biography in this issue.) As always, nothing in HaMaayan should be relied upon in practice, and all Halachic questions should be referred to a competent Rabbi.] ************************************ Rambam's Study Plan Few Torah works after the Talmud have achieved the "popularity" of Rambam's (Maimonides') Halachic code, Mishneh Torah. This week we examine how Rambam intended this work to be studied and how, by contrast, it is used today. Our source for Rambam's views on this subject is a letter which he wrote to his student, R' Yosef ben Yehuda, who lived in Aleppo, Syria, but had requested Rambam's approval for opening a new Yeshiva in Baghdad. The ultimate purpose of Torah study, in Rambam's view, is the knowledge of Halacha. All of one's endeavors in Torah must therefore be measured against this goal. It follows from this, writes Rambam, that the best text for Torah study is one which summarizes, as succinctly as practicable, the Halachot that a person must know as he goes through life. [Not surprisingly, this view is reminiscent of the Babylonian method of Torah study, the method with which Rambam himself was taught. As R' Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (the "Netziv") writes: Rambam received from his teachers - word for word - the traditions of the "Geonim", their Halachic decisions, the origins of those decisions in the Talmud, and the knowledge of when the Halacha did not follow the Talmud, but rather the view of a Midrash or Beraita. (Kidmat HaEmek)] Rambam writes that it was actually the intention of the Talmudic sages to study in this straightforward manner, but that each time one uttered a disputed Halacha, he was called upon to defend his position. These discussions eventually found their way into the Talmud, together with the Halachic statements themselves. Only later, when the great sage R' Yitzchak Alfasi (the "Rif") published his "abridgement" of the Talmud (which left out nearly all of the Gemara's give-and-take) was the Talmud's purpose fulfilled. Rambam saw his Mishneh Torah as a codification of the Talmud as abridged by the Rif. (In another place Rambam writes that there were only 30 instances - from among thousands of Halachot - in which he disagreed with the Rif.) He therefore recommended that R' Yosef implement the following program of study in his Baghdad Yeshiva: 1) Memorize Mishneh Torah; 2) Study the Halachot of Rif and compare them to Rambam's work; and 3) If a difference is found between the two views, attribute it to differing understandings of the Talmud, and check the relevant Talmudic passages. However, 4) Do not spend to much time on Talmud commentaries per se, lest you lose sight of the ultimate goal of learning Halacha. *********************************** R' Avraham ben HaRambam (Maimonides's son) said in his father's name that if Rambam had known that his great code would be used by many scholars as a Talmud commentary, rather than a definitive Halachic source, he would never have written it. (See Igrot HaRambam (Kapach edition, p. 136). Yet in most Ashkenazic Yeshivot and many Sephardic academies today, this is how Mishneh Torah is seen. Netziv notes this turn of events and explains it as follows: Our teachers, the later sages of blessed memory, looked upon the Rambam of blessed memory in a favorable way and therefore wanted to understand his position on every matter. They wanted to know how he understood the Talmudic discussion, just as they wanted to understand the views of Rashi, Tosfot, and the other commentaries. Because the later sages knew that no word of the Talmud was hidden from Rambam, they therefore felt obliged to dissect his words and deduce their true relationship to the Gemara, even more than was necessary when studying other commentaries, because of the very fact that Rambam possessed a chain of tradition going back to the Geonim and Talmudic sages themselves. (free translation from Kidmat HaEmek I,16). The study of Rambam's Mishneh Torah remains a Yeshiva staple to this day, albeit to differing degrees in different schools. Some of these schools will be discussed in future issues, when our history of Torah study reaches the 19th and 20th centuries. ************************************ Here is the schedule for this Shabbat: Daily Mishnah Bechorot 2:5-6 (Learn two Mishnayot every day) Daily Halacha Orach Chaim (Mishnah Berura) 284:7 - 285:2 (Learn three paragraphs each day) Daf Yomi Pesachim 106 (Learn two sides of a page each day) Pirkei Avot Chapter 6 (Learn one chapter each Shabbat afternoon during the summer) ************************************ The hard copy distribution of this week's HaMaayan is sponsored by: The Koblin family in memory of mother and grandmother, Shaine Koblin Martin and Michelle Swartz in memory of Martin's grandfather, John Hofmann ******************** Posted by Alan Broder, ajb@grebyn.com (uunet!grebyn!ajb), who should be contacted to request back issues of HaMaayan or to get on or off the direct email mailing list. Shlomo Katz can not receive EMAIL, however I will pass on any comment forwarded to me, or alternately, send your comments care of yehuda@gwuvm.bitnet