Hamaayan/The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Parashat Mishpatim Volume VII/Number 18 (305) 29 Shevat 5753/February 20, 1993 Many commentaries have dealt with the age-old question: Since Bnei Yisrael accepted the Torah by saying (24:7), "Na'aseh v'Nishmah" - "We will observe and we will study" - why do Chazal say that Hashem forced them to accept the Torah by holding Har Sinai over their heads? The Midrash itself explains that Bnei Yisrael accepted the "Written Torah" but that they had to be forced to take the "Oral Torah." Can these really be separated? wondered a correspondent of R' Yitzchak Hutner, zatzal (1904-1980; Rosh Yeshiva of Mesivta Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn and Yerushalayim). He (the correspondent) suggested the following answer: Studying the Written Torah is a "private" matter; one opens up a Chumash and reads. The "Oral Torah", however, can only be studied (properly) in groups; by definition, it requires a community of individuals who will meet and share oral traditions with each other. There is, therefore, a distinction between the two "Torahs", and it was this feeling of community which Bnei Yisrael were forced to accept. In his reply, R' Hutner added the following thought: The Gemara says that the Halacha that all Jews are responsible for each other did not take effect until Moshe's death. This is consistent with the above distinction, for although the Oral Torah was taught to Moshe at Har Sinai, Moshe's life was the "era" of the Written Torah. Until the day that Moshe died, the writing of the Torah was not completed. Only thereafter did the era of the Oral Torah begin, and the idea of communal responsibility began with it. (Pachad Yitzchak Igrot #6) ************************************ The Gemara (Shabbat 88b) relates that when Moshe went up to the Heavens to receive the Torah, the angels objected, saying that the Torah should not be given to humans. Moshe convinced them, however, that they, had no right to the Torah. Didn't the angels know that they could not perform the Mitzvot? asks R' Yechezkel Abramsky, zatzal (1886-1976). He answers as follows: We have a principle, "Lo baShamayim Hee" - "The Torah is not in the Heavens." This means that once Moshe's prophecy ended (with his death), no prophet can alter the Torah. Furthermore, if two scholars would argue about a Halacha and a Heavenly voice or a prophet would state that Hashem agrees with one scholar, that voice or prophet would be ignored! Rather, Halachic determination follows the principles of "Psak" (Halachic decision-making) which Moshe left us. It was this idea, says R' Abramsky, which the angels disputed. Let the Jews have the Torah, they argued, but let the Heavenly court maintain the ultimate authority over the Torah's interpretation. What was wrong with their request? Moshe reminded them that they could not fulfill the Torah. One who does not fulfill the Torah is incapable of understanding its true depth; the study of Torah and its practice are necessarily inseparable. When our ancestors said "Na'aseh v'Nishmah," they expressed this basic truth. First, "Na'aseh" - "We will do." Only then, "Nishmah" - "We will study and understand." The most brilliant interpretation by one who does not observe the Torah is accorded no weight; the Torah is first and foremost a way of life. (Chazon Yechezkel) ************************************ "...And the holiday of the gathering ('Chag ha'Asif'), when the year departs, when you gather your produce from the field." (23:16) This verse refers to the holiday of Sukkot by the seasonal landmark with which it coincides, i.e. the end of the harvest. The name "Chag haSukkot", on the other hand, does not appear in the Book of Sh'mot. R' Shlomo Goren, shlita (former Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel) suggests that the reason for this may be that Sefer Sh'mot was taught to Bnei Yisrael before the sin of the spies; Bnei Yisrael's sojourn in the desert was to have been relatively short, and the miracle of the "Ananei haKavod" ("Clouds of Glory"), which Sukkot commemorates, was not established enough to be worthy of commemoration. [Ed. note: Why then is the holiday mentioned here at all, by any name? One answer is that it was not the miracle which precipitated the holiday, but the other way around. We read in the Torah that Bnei Yisrael ate Matzah because they did not have time to bake but, in fact, Hashem had commanded them before-hand to eat Matzah! The explanation for this is that (in the words of Chazal), "Hashem looked into the Torah and created the world." The Mitzvot, including the holidays, existed long before history developed as it did. The miracles which have occurred for us are just Hashem's way of making the Mitzvot applicable to our lives.] (Torat haShabbat v'haMo'ed p.219) ************************************ "And Moshe took the blood of the covenant and sprinkled it on the nation, and he said, 'This is the blood of the covenant which Hashem has made with you over all of these words'." (24:8) Chazal speak of two covenants which were made between Hashem and Bnei Yisrael - the first, in Egypt, and the second (in the above verse), at Har Sinai. These covenants, explains R' Joseph B. Soloveitchik, shlita, were quite different. In Egypt, the Jews were taken, against their will, as Hashem's people. At Har Sinai, however, the Jews said "Na'aseh v'Nishmah" -- they willingly accepted the Torah. (That which Hashem "forced" Bnei Yisrael to take the Torah was only symbolic of the first covenant, R' Soloveitchik says.) The purpose of Torah is to allow man to emulate his Creator, but that is possible only if man initiates the climb to that level. (Divrei Hagut v'Ha'arachah, "Ma'amar Kol Dodi Dofek") ************************************ When the "K'hal Adath Jeshurun" of Washington Heights (New York) was set to vote on whether to grant 18-year-olds the right to vote on communal affairs, the community's venerable leader, R' Joseph Breuer, zatzal (1882-1980), stated as follows: One quickly tends to accuse youth of a lack of modesty, of conceit...of a lack of respect for its elders. While this may be true in a few cases, it must not be allowed to result in a negative evaluation of the question of youth cooperation in Kehilla (congregation) work. In the hour of the Sinai covenant, Moshe Rabbenu counted on the youth, bearers of the future [see this week's Parasha 24:5], a youth "implanted" in the soil of Torah [see Tehilim 144:122; Pesachim 87a], a youth accepting the dignity of old age as a command of the Torah and fully aware of the respect it owes the mature judgement of the "elders." Whenever this is not the case, the prophet predicts the symptoms of inevitable decay, a time when "youth usurps the power, frivolously rising above its elders" (Yishayahu 3:4-5). If this happens...that which youth presumes to build bears in truth -- destruction [see Megilah 31]. Yet it is youth which claims for itself vitality, energy and the enthusiasm which are of such great importance for the life of the Kehilla, if young and old work together in harmonious union.... Even if the right to vote seems rather early for the eighteen- year old youth, the vote at a more advanced age would in no way be more beneficial for the Kehilla if the conditions which we have outlined were not fulfilled..... (A Time to Build II p.11-12) ************************************ The learning schedule for this Shabbat is: Machshirin 6:7-8 O.C. 554:12-14 Nedarim 5 Yerushalmi - Pe'ah 12 ************************************ The hard copy distribution of this weeks Hamaayan is sponsored by: Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Taragin on the Yahrzeits of Mrs. Shirley Taragin and Mr. Irving Rivkin The Meth family in honor of Miri's birthday ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax deductible