HaMaayan/The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Parashat Shelach Volume V, Number 33 (219) 26 Sivan 5751/June 8, 1991 Parasha Overview The major portion of this Parasha deals with the episode of the spies, and the bad report which they brought back to Bnei Yisrael. Ramban writes that there was no sin in Bnei Yisrael's sending spies, for such is the standard practice for one nation which is about to invade another. However, the spies' mission was only to report on Eretz Yisrael's strong points and weak points so that Bnei Yisrael could prepare their attack; their sin was in unilaterally expanding their own mission and reporting on the quality of the land. Bnei Yisrael sinned in believing this report of the spies. (According to Abarbanel, Moshe was himself punished for giving the spies instructions that could be misinterpreted.) The remainder of the Parasha contains several new Mitzvot which, Rashi writes, were given to Bnei Yisrael to console them after G-d told them that they would die in the desert. ************************************ "And it shall be for you as Tzitzit, and you shall see it, and you shall remember all of Hashem's Mitzvot..." (Bimidbar 15:39) R' Moshe Stern, Shlita, (the "Debrecener Rav") writes the following about the widespread custom to hold the Tzitzit in their hands while reciting Kri'at Shma (of which the above verse is a part): In interpreting the verse in Tehilim (35:10), "All of my bones shall say, 'Hashem, who is like You'," the Midrash Shocher Tov tells of King David's statement, "I praise You with all of my organs...On my left arm I wear Tefilin; with my right hand I hold Tzitzit." According to R' Aharon HaKohen of Lunel, this is the source of the custom of holding the Tzitzit while reciting Kri'at Shma. In fact, according to the early sage, R' Mordechai, the measure of a child's being old enough to wear Tzitzit is whether he can hold them in his hands during Shma. It is therefore surprising that R' Natronai Gaon wrote that if one is seen holding his Tzitzit during the reading of Shma, "We must teach him and make him swear that he will not repeat this behavior." Otherwise, writes R' Natronai, he will come to hold his Tefilin when he reads the verses regarding Tefilin, and will walk to the doorway to touch the Mezuzah when he reads the verses discussing that Mitzvah! How can these contradictory views be reconciled? The answer, explains the Debrecener Rav, lies in R' Natronai's words "...make him swear that he will not repeat this behavior," words that reveal that R' Natronai's statement was a temporary emergency decree intended for his generation alone. How so? The "Ba'al HaMaor" writes that if one does not eat hot food (e.g. our "Cholent") on Shabbat, we must investigate the possibility that he is a heretic who denies the validity of the Oral Law. Why? Because the heretical sects (e.g. the Karaites) interpret literally the verse (Sh'mot 35:3), "You shall not burn fire in your homes on the Shabbat day," they do not leave their ovens on at the beginning of Shabbat and must thus eat only cold food. We, on the other hand, know through the Oral Law that this Pasuk prohibits primarily actions (such as cooking) but not passively preserving the warmth of food that was cooked before Shabbat. Similarly, explains the Debrecener Rav, the Karaites believed (based on the literal interpretation of Bimidbar 15:30 above) that the Mitzvah of Tzitzit was not fulfilled unless one held his Tzitzit so that he could see them. We, on the other hand, know through the Oral Law that the words, "and you shall see it," teach that the primary Mitzvah of Tzitzit is in the daylight and not at night. Whether one must actually see the Tzitzit is not addressed by this verse (and is, in fact, the subject of much Halachic discussion regarding whether Tzitzit should be worn "in" or "out"). In the time of R' Natronai Gaon the Karaites were a major threat to true Torah observance, and many Rabbinic decrees (e.g. the custom to eat hot food at every Shabbat meal) were instituted to distance observant Jews from them. R' Natronai therefore saw fit to abolish the custom of holding the Tzitzit during Shma because of the appearance that it gave of following the Karaite belief. Not only was the custom abolished, but one who continued to observe it was compelled to take an oath that as a Torah-observing Jew, he would cease to act in this ambiguous manner. (She'elot U'Teshuvot Be'er Moshe, I,1) [As always, nothing in HaMaayan should be relied upon in practice. All Halachic questions should be referred to a competent Rabbi.] *********************************** The "Ba'alei Tosfot" "Masters of the Additions" With Rashi's death (in 1040), the work of the greatest "P'shat" (plain meaning) commentator of the Gemara was finished, and a new period of Torah scholarship began. This was the period of the "Ba'alei Tosfot" - literally, "Masters of the Additions." These are the authors of the commentary known as the "Tosfot" which, in most Talmud editions appears side-by-side with Rashi's commentary on nearly every page. The foremost transition figure between Rashi and the Ba'alei Tosfot was probably R' Shmuel ben Meir ("Rashbam"), a grandson of Rashi and an important Talmud and Chumash commentator in his own right. It is clear from Rashbam's commentaries that some of them were written, or at least developed, in Rashi's presence. In Rashbam's Talmud commentaries - those on tractates Baba Batra and the 10th chapter of Pesachim are printed in the standard edition of the Talmud and are studied by most Talmud students - one finds not only concise comments on "P'shat" (as in Rashi's work), but also longer comments which include digressions into other tractates and practical Halacha. The "Additions" alluded to by the name "Ba'alei Tosfot" are of two kinds, neither of which is literally an addition (in the sense of changing the original work), but rather an explanation and elaboration. Unlike Rashi's focus, which was on elucidating the Talmud page that was then in front of the students eyes, the Ba'alei Tosfot approached each page of the Gemara as if they were actually studying the entire Talmud at one time. The result was that every question, answer, or observation of the Gemara was tested against every other discussion in the Talmud. If an apparent contradiction was found, an resolution would be offered, often by changing the "Ba'alei Tosfot's" understanding of one of the passages, by showing that the two Talmudic passages represent the views of different Talmudic sages, or a similar answer. The second focus of the Ba'alei Tosfot was to study Rashi's commentary, and to test his explanation of one passage by the Talmud's own statement elsewhere (and Rashi's explanation of them). Sometimes the Ba'alei Tosfot would accept Rashi's explanation, sometimes they would refine it, and sometimes reject it outright. (As we will see, one major focus of Eastern European Talmud scholarship in the 17th - 19th centuries was - and in many Yeshivot today, is - to explain the basis for each disagreement between Rashi and Tosfot and to answer the latter's questions on the former.) In the 14th century work Tzeidah LaDerech we find the following description of how Tosfot were developed in the Yeshiva of R' Yitzchak ben Shmuel of Dampierre, a great grandson of Rashi who is better known as "Ri HaZaken". "Sixty Rabbis would sit before him, each of whom was then studying one of the [approximately] 60 tractates of the Talmud. They would listen to the lessons and Halachot that Ri HaZaken taught, and because they encompassed the entire Talmud between them, they were able to test every statement of the teacher against the entire Talmud and the commentaries and Halachic writings of Rashi and other scholars." Ri HaZaken and his uncle, Rabbenu Tam (real name: R' Yaakov ben Meir; he was Rashbam's younger brother), are considered the greatest of the Ba'alei Tosfot. The number of times that they are quoted in our Tosfot commentary probably outnumbers the citations to all other Ba'alei Tosfot combined. However, they did not "write" our Tosfot. The development of the Tosfot commentary that appears in our Gemara took place over three centuries, and involved many scholars and Yeshivot in France, Germany, England, and even Russia. Just as the "Kuntreism" (notebooks) of the period before Rashi often travelled between Yeshivot independently of the student whose notes they were, so did the Tosfot. It is plain that our Tosfot are but a minute fraction of all of the notes and comments of the Ba'alei Tosfot. Regarding this process, R' Yehuda HeChasid, one of the Ba'alei Tosfot, writes (in Sefer Chasidim) sections 566- 567): "If someone is selfish and refuses to share his Torah knowledge, he will in the end lose it. If one Rabbi has notes of Tosfot and another does not, the former should say, 'Let his students come to me,' but rather he should share the notes." On the other hand, R' Yehuda HeChasid cautions those who distribute the students' stipends (often based on merit) against those students who have read many Tosfot and can repeat the questions and answers, but do not understand the substance of the discussions therein or even the words of the Talmud. Within the Ba'alei Tosfot, we do find many scholars whose style of learning set them apart from their colleagues. As a group, the French branch of the Tosafist school separated the academic composition of Tosfot from the process of rendering Halachic decisions; the German school used the Tosafist method of discussion in their Halachic compositions. Among individuals, some focused on the Talmud Bavli alone; some concentrated equally on the Yerushalmi. Some, notably R' Shimshon of Shantz (Sens, France) stressed the study of the laws pertaining to the Land of Israel, while others stressed other areas. Not coincidentally, R' Shimshon is an important commentator on the Mishnayot of "Seder Zeraim" (the first of the six orders of the Mishnah). His student, R' Moshe of Coucy, is noted for popularizing the study of Rambam's Mishneh Torah in France. ************************************ Daily Mishnah Chulin 7:1-2 (Learn two Mishnayot every day) Daily Halacha Orach Chaim (Mishnah Berura) 272:6-8 (Learn three paragraphs each day) Daf Yomi Pesachim 85 (Learn two sides of a page each day) Pirkei Avot Chapter 3 (Learn one chapter each Shabbat afternoon during the summer) ************************************ The hard copy distribution of this week's HaMaayan is sponsored by: Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Edeson on their 29th wedding anniversary The Weiser family on the second Yahrzeit of Mrs. Lucy Weiser, A"H ******************** 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