HaMaayan/The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Parashat Bamidbar Volume V, Number 30 (216) 5 Sivan 5751/May 18, 1991 Erev Shavuot Parasha Overview Parashat Bamidbar is read on the Shabbat immediately preceding Shavuot in all but (approximately) 26 out of every 247 years. (See Be'ur Halacha 428:4; Tur Orach Chaim section 428 and Pri Chadash there.) This association is not mere coincidence; commentaries note many similarities between the primary theme of this Parasha - the layout of the camp of Bnei Yisrael - and the giving of the Torah. In fact, the Midrash records that when the Torah was given, Bnei Yisrael saw that the angels who "accompanied" G-d to the revelation at Har Sinai also stood within a fixed arrangement, and were thus inspired to request a fixed arrangement within their own camp. In the same way, also, when Moshe ascended to Har Sinai, he allowed Bnei Yisrael to accompany him only so far, the elders a little farther, the Kohanim even more, and Aharon the farthest, until at last they reached a point beyond which only Moshe could ascend. All three of these arrangements, explain the commentators, represent the idea that in receiving the Torah and serving Hashem, each person - man, woman, Kohen, Levi, Yisrael, Rabbi or layman - must recognize his place and his role, and not trespass on that of another Jew. ************************************ Shavout is the most "soft-spoken" and "subtle" of all of our holidays, writes R' Avraham Eliyahu Kaplan (1890-1924; dean of Berlin's Hildesheimer Seminary from 1920). Pesach and Sukkot both have names that vividly portray the nature of the holiday: "Chag HaPesach" - "The holiday when G-d skipped over the houses." "Chag HaMatzot" - "The holiday when the Jews left Egypt so quickly that they had no time to bake bread." "Chag HaSukkot" - "The holiday commemorating the 'Clouds of Glory' which protected Bnei Yisrael in the desert." Not so Shavuot! Its name - "The Feast of Weeks" - tells us only that it follows a period during which we eagerly counted-off the days until this occasion. Another example: Pesach coincides with the beginning of the harvest, when the Jewish farmer joyfully goes out to the field, full of thanks to the Creator of all. Sukkot falls at the end of the harvest, when the same Jew celebrates the success of his harvest season. Shavuot? It falls early in the summer when the harvest is in full swing and the farmer is about to turn his attention towards cutting his wheat - the most basic and "unromantic" of all crops. Shavuot is a holiday with no Mitzvot of its own; it does not need any. Shavuot celebrates the most basic of all of man's needs: Torah, for the soul; bread, for the body. Shavuot does not advertise itself through great miracles (as does Pesach) or a plethora of Mitzvot (as do all of the other holidays). Shavuot expects us to understand on our own. Those who are close to the ideals that Shavuot represents do understand the holiday on their own. (B'Ikvot HaYirah, p.234, Ma'amar "HaYom Tov HaGadol V'HaTzanua" ************************************ The Rambam, in Moreh Nevochim ("Guide to the Perplexed") cites three views regarding the origin of the world. Some believe that it is very ancient, having formed itself at some time in the past when conditions were ripe. A second group believes that some higher being created the world, but did so with matter that existed previously. The Torah view, by contrast, is that G-d formed the world "Yesh Mai'Ayin" - "something out of nothing" - not because any outside conditions required it, but simply because He so chose. Rambam also cites three views regarding the nature of prophecy. Some believe that a person need only prepare himself, and prophecy will come on its own. Others believe that even after one has prepared himself, prophecy will come only if and when G-d chooses. Finally, there are those who believe that no preparation is required, for G-d alone determines who His prophets will be. Note how each view of prophecy roughly parallels one of the views of creation in regard to whether G-d acts alone, circumstances act alone, or the two act in combination. Interestingly, while the Torah's view is that G-d created the world from nothing, needing and receiving no help from any other source, the Torah's view of prophecy is that "G-d does not reveal his presence except on one who is wise, rich, brave, and humble" (Nedarim 38a). In other words, the prophet requires preparation. Why? Although Hashem created the world from nothing, He decreed that never again would such a miracle occur. Henceforth, He would work through nature. Thus Chazal tell us that such miracles as the splitting of the Red Sea were ordained at the time of creation. (See Chazal's comment on Sh'mot 14:27.) Why? Because if Hashem would repeatedly change creation it would call into question creation's perfection and (G-d forbid) that of G-d himself. One time in history, prophecy was given to those who were not prepared for it. These were the Jews at Har Sinai. A new creation was brought into being for their benefit: Prophecy without prerequisites. Why? Chazal say that Hashem did leave one aspect of creation imperfect. As Rashi (B'reishit 1:31) explains, G-d made the world's permanent existence contingent on one thing. If Bnei Yisrael had not accepted the Torah when it was offered at Har Sinai, the world would have returned to its state before creation. Without Torah, the world cannot exist. It turns out, therefore, that not until the great revelation at Har Sinai was the work of creation finished. It is certainly fitting that just as the world was created by Hashem without preparation, so, when Bnei Yisrael brought it to completion, they should merit a similarly miraculous gift. (R' Meir Leibush Malbim, Eretz Chemdah: "Drush L'Chag Shavuot) ************************************ Although we wrote last week that early Sephardi Yeshivot and authors adhered to the Babylonian method of studying the Talmud by memorization of the text and composition of Halachic codes and responsa, and the Ashkenazim followed the Italian study methods which included composing incisive analytical commentaries, these two schools could not long remain separate. Already, in the early generations of the Spanish "Rishonim" - even before Rambam wrote his magnum opus Mishneh Torah in the Babylonian mold - sages such as R' Yosef HaLevi ibn Migash ("Ri Migash") wrote Talmud commentaries in the "Ashkenazi style" usually associated with later scholars such as the "Ba'alei Tosfot", Ramban, and Rashba. (These latter two were Sephardic scholars, but lived in an era when the distinction between the two methods had largely disappeared.) Two events caused the Italian study method to spread throughout Europe, so that by the end of the period of the Rishonim it was the predominant way of studying the Talmud. The first was the establishment of the first Yeshiva in Germany in the year 787, the result of the Emperor Charlemagne's invitation to R' Kalonymous of Lucca (Italy) to settle in the city of Mayence (Mainz). It was this Yeshiva that developed scholars such as Rabbenu Gershom Me'or HaGolah (died 1040), the teacher of Rashi's teachers. Rabbenu Gershom was himself an important Talmud commentator, and, according to some historians, was for a time a student of the Babylonian sage R' Hai Gaon (939-1038). If this is true, it is yet another example of the early mixing of the two major schools of Talmud study. The second event that led to the spread of the Italian method throughout Europe was the episode of the "Four Captives." The traditional version of this story tells of four sages - R' Moshe ben Chanoch, R; Chushiel (the father of Rabbenu Chananel), R; Shmaryah ben Elchanan, and another scholar - who set out from Bavel (circa 960) on a fundraising mission and were captured by pirates, who then sold each of the Rabbis to a different Jewish community around the Mediterranean. However, the historian Yitzchak HaLevi demonstrates from various sources that the "Four Captives" were not Babylonian, but were actually Italian. (See e.g. the commentaries of R' Chananel to Shabbat 123b and Eruvin 83b. There is also extant correspondence of R' Hai Gaon indicating that he did not know R' Chushiel personally, a circumstance that would have been unlikely had the these sages been Babylonian.) Thus, the Italian study methods were spread in the Sephardic countries. ************************************ Daily Mishnah Chulin 1:2-3 (Learn two Mishnayot every day) Daily Halacha Orach Chaim (Mishnah Berura) 264:6-8 (Learn three paragraphs each day) Daf Yomi Pesachim 64 (Learn two sides of a page each day) Pirkei Avot Chapter 6 (Learn one chapter each Shabbat afternoon during the summer) ******************** 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