Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz V'zot Haberachah Volume XII, Number 51 23 Tishrei 5759 October 13, 1998 Today's Learning Sponsored by (for Simchat Torah) mblewischarities Niddah 9:2-3 wishing much success to Kitzur 221:5-8 Rabbi Dov Lipman and family Pesachim 58 Yerushalmi Pesachim 25 The early chassidic master, R' Bunim of Przysucha z"l, taught that praying with the congregation on Shemini Atzeret has the potential to rectify the prayers of the whole year. R' Simcha Bunim Alter z"l (the "Gerrer Rebbe"; died 1992) elaborates: The gemara (Berachot 30b) relates that the pious men of the past used to prepare for one hour before praying. Thus, for the three daily prayers together, they prepared for three hours. Before reaching the three prayers of Shemini Atzeret, we similarly have three periods of preparation - Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Perhaps for this reason, Shemini Atzeret was placed right after those holidays, notwithstanding that the midrash offers good reasons why Shemini Atzeret should have been placed fifty days after Sukkot (just as Shavuot, which is also called "Atzeret," is fifty days after Pesach). The gemara states that these pious men not only spent three hours a day preparing for prayers, they spent three hours praying and another three hours transitioning back to "this world" - a total of nine hours. "If so," the gemara asks, "when did they find adequate time for Torah study?" The gemara answers that because of their piety, they merited to retain the Torah that they did study [presumably freeing them from reviewing and allowing them to study more]. In an analogous way, writes the Gerrer Rebbe, our prayers on Shemini Atzeret give greater power to our prayers the year round. Indeed, the root of the word "Atzeret" means "to collect," i.e., through the prayers of Shemini Atzeret we collect and retain spiritual strength for the rest of the year. (Lev Simchah 5742) ********** An Astonishing Midrash "From His right hand He presented the fiery law to them" (33:2) - if not for the law, no person could withstand it. R' Yosef Shaul Nathanson z"l offers the following explanations (some of which are only subtly different from each other): The gemara (Shabbat 88a) relates that the angels challenged Moshe's right to receive the Torah on behalf of Bnei Yisrael. They said to Hashem in disbelief, "You have a hidden treasure and You desire to give it to man?!" Moshe retorted to thye angels, "Did you descend to Egypt? Do you work such that you must rest on Shabbat? Do you have parents to honor?" (Until here the gemara.) What did the angels mean? Surely they knew that they could not keep the Torah's laws! They argued, however, that the laws should be given to man, but the spiritual secrets of the Torah should remain in the heavens, with them. Hashem told them, "No, the Torah's laws and it spiritual secrets are a package, and I am giving them all to man." This is what the midrash means: Many of the Torah's spiritual secrets are too great for man. If not for the Torah's law, which is irrelevant to the angels, the Torah would have stayed in heaven. Alternatively: Just as one cannot drink boiling hot water, but one can cool it with ice, so, one cannot grasp the Torah's secrets in their pure form, but one can bring them down to this world in the more concrete form of practical laws. Alternatively: We are taught that a Sefer Torah is written without vowels to allow for the possibility of reading words in different ways and finding various kabbalistic secrets. If not for the fact that we had to be taught the vowels in order to discern the law, we could never grasp any of the Torah. Alternatively: The law, i.e., the Torah, is our way of becoming close to Hashem. There is no other way, for "He is a consuming fire" (Devarim 4:24). (Divrei Shaul: Mahadura Kamma) In a related vein, R' Gershon Henach Leiner z"l (the "Radziner Rebbe") explains why the month of Tishrei is referred to in Tanach as "Yerach Ha'etanim"/"The Month of the Strong Ones." According to the gemara (Rosh Hashanah 11a), this name refers to the fact that the month is "strong," i.e., replete with unique mitzvot - e.g., shofar, Yom Kippur, sukkah, lulav, and others. He writes: The mitzvot are the source of the Jewish people's strength, for they are the way that we "dress up" the bright light of the Torah in a garb that we can grasp. Although one may think that the mitzvot are of lesser spiritual significance because they involve man's physical being, they are, in fact, the way that we attach ourselves to Hashem (Sod Yesharim: Shemini Atzeret p.29) *************** "From His right hand He presented esh dat/the fiery law to them." (33:2) Rashi writes: "'Esh dat'/'the fiery law' - The law which was written from before in black fire on white fire, He gave to us after writing it with His right hand." Ramban (in his introduction to the Torah) elaborates: Chazal say that the Torah existed before creation. However, it did not exist in the form that we have it. Rather, the whole Torah was written as one long word. When kabbalists say that the whole Torah consists of Hashem's names, they mean that that long word can be broken up into different words which are names of Hashem, instead of being broken up into the words as we know them. Another difference between the Torah as it existed before it was given to Bnei Yisrael and now is that it was not written in ink on parchment, but rather, it existed as black fire on white fire. In the Torah, the words "esh dat" are written as one word, although they are pronounced as two. This can be understood in light of the above, writes R' Yosef Zvi Salant z"l. It is the Torah's way of alluding to the fact that when the Torah was written in fire, it existed as one long word. (Be'er Yosef) *************** About "Today's Learning" [While many of Hamaayan's readers have heard of Daf Yomi/the program for the daily study of a page of Talmud, probably fewer people have heard of Mishnah Yomit, Halachah Yomit, and the Talmud Yerushalmi Daf Yomi. It is those study programs which are "advertised" each week in Hamaayan in the area of the front page entitled, "Today's Learning." This week, on the occasion of the completion of the Halachah Yomit cycle, we devote this space as well to those programs.] Mishnah Yomit is a program of daily mishnah study. Every day, participants study two mishnayot, and a complete cycle through the Six Orders of the Mishnah lasts about six years. (The next siyum/completion will be on 22 Tevet 5759/January 10, 1999.) The program was founded in 1947 by R' Yonah Shtenzel z"l as a commemoration for the victims of the Holocaust. The first listing in "Today's Learning" is the Mishnah Yomit. Today's listing, "Niddah 9:2-3," means: Tractate Niddah, chapter 9, mishnah 2 and mishnah 3. Halachah Yomit is a program for the daily study of those halachot which a Jew is most likely to need in his lifetime. A complete cycle lasts 3+ years, and a new cycle begins tomorrow! The Halachah Yomit cycle consists of two parts. By way of background, the Shulchan Aruch, the universally accepted code of Jewish law, consists of four divisions. These are: Orach Chaim (including laws of prayer, Shabbat and yom tov), Yoreh Deah (including laws of kashrut, niddah, mikvah, Torah study, honoring parents, charity, vows, and mourning), Choshen Mishpat (civil laws), and Even Ha'ezer (marriage and divorce). (The well-known work Mishnah Berurah is a commentary on the Orach Chaim section.) The first part of the Halachah Yomit cycle involves the daily study of three paragraphs of Orach Chaim. However, because there are many laws that every Jew must know that are not found in Orach Chaim, time is devoted to studying those subjects from the 19th century work Kitzur Shulchan Aruch/the "Abridged Code of Law" . This study progresses at the rate of five paragraphs a day, although not always consecutive paragraphs. The selection of which paragraphs of Kitzur to study was made by the Chazon Ish z"l. The second listing in "Today's Learning" is the Halachah Yomit. The listing, "Kitzur 221:5-8," means Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, chapter 221, paragraphs 5-8. (This is not five paragraphs like other Kitzur selections because today is the last day.) Tomorrow's listing would be "O.C. 1:1-3," meaning chapter 1, paragraphs 1-3 in the Orach Chaim division of Shulchan Aruch. The third listing in "Today's Learning" is the Daf Yomi, the daily study of a page of the Bavli/Babylonian Talmud. Today's page is Tractate Pesachim, folio 58, sides aleph and bet. (The numbers refer to the Hebrew page numbering. Most Talmud editions also have arabic page numbers, which are different.) Talmud Yerushalmi Daf Yomi, the fourth listing in "Today's Learning," is the daily study of a page of the Jerusalem Talmud (as opposed to the more popular Talmud Bavli). There is a page for every day except Tishah B'Av and Yom Kippur. This program was founded by the Gerrer Rebbe, R' Simcha Bunim Alter z"l. It is a coincidence that the Yerushalmi Daf Yomi is also studying Tractate Pesachim - today, folio 25. The Talmud Yerushalmi is much shorter than the Bavli. ("Today's Learning" first appeared in Hamaayan at the request of Moreinu Harav Gedaliah Anemer shlita. In the merit of the Torah that is studied thereby and his many other endeavors, may R' Anemer enjoy many more years of teaching Torah and providing leadership to his community.)