Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Acharei Mot - Kedoshim The Multi-Faceted and Eternal Soul Volume 23, No. 27 8 Iyar 5769 May 2, 2009 Sponsored by The Marwick family in memory of Morris Bervin a"h The Katz family on the yahrzeit of Yehuda ben Shmuel Indig a"h Today's Learning: Keilim 18:7-8 O.C. 305:18-20 Daf Yomi (Bavli): Bava Metzia 7 Daf Yomi (Yerushalmi): Bava Kamma 41 King Shlomo writes in Mishlei (9:10), "The beginning of chochmah / wisdom is yir'at Hashem / fear of Hashem, and da'at kedoshim / knowledge of the sacred is [the beginning of] binah / understanding." R' Yehoshua ibn Shuiv z"l (Spain; early 14th century) comments: The complete person has five attributes: chochmah / wisdom, yir'at Hashem / fear of Hashem, da'at / knowledge, kedushah / sanctity, and binah / understanding. These parallel other "fives" including: the five names by which the soul is known (nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah, and yechidah), the five times that the word "ohr" / light is mentioned in the description of creation, and the five times in Tehilim that King David said, "Barchi nafshi" / "Let my soul bless . . ." What are these attributes? R' ibn Shuiv explains: Da'at refers to the intelligence with which man is born and which distinguishes him from other living things. Paralleling this attribute are the commandments that are obvious, for example, not to murder, steal, commit adultery, or testify falsely. Binah is the ability to draw conclusions, an ability that different people have in different degrees. Paralleling this attribute are the less obvious, but still rational, commandments such as tzitzit and tefilin. Chochmah is the wisdom that was revealed to the prophets. Paralleling this attribute are the commandments that appear to be irrational. Kedushah means distancing oneself from excessive enjoyment of the world's pleasures, even those which are halachically permitted. (This mitzvah is found in our parashah, Kedoshim.) Finally, yir'ah is the highest level one can attain. This does not refer to fear of punishment, but rather to awe of G-d's loftiness. This is a level even higher than love of G-d. (Derashot R"Y ibn Shuiv) ******** "You shall observe My decrees and My laws, which man shall carry out and by which he shall live . . ." (18:5) The Aramaic translation Targum Onkelos states, "By which he shall live forever." R' Menashe Ben Israel z"l (1604-1657; rabbi in Amsterdam; best known for persuading Oliver Cromwell to permit Jews to live in England, from which we had been expelled in 1290) writes: Many ask where in our Torah there is a reference to our belief that one's soul lives on eternally after the body's death. One such reference is the above verse, as is indicated by Onkelos' translation. Indeed, this is the only possible translation, R' Ben Israel states, for if the verse were understood as referring to life in our physical world, it would not be true. Our own observation shows that observing mitzvot does not necessarily result in long life in this world. R' Ben Israel continues: Many other verses can be found which allude to life after death. These include: Devarim 4:4: "You who cling to Hashem, your G-d -- you are all living today." This verse cannot be taking literally, since it makes no sense to say to another person, "You are alive." Rather, it means, "You have today the ability to cling to Hashem and merit eternal life." Devarim 30:19: "I have placed life and death before you, blessing and curse; and you shall choose life . . ." As already noted, performing mitzvot does not guarantee long life in this world. Accordingly, this verse can only mean that man should choose eternal life. R' Ben Israel adds: In this light we can understand a seemingly paradoxical verse. We read (Devarim 14:1), "You are children to Hashem, your G-d -- you shall not cut yourselves and you shall not make a bald spot between your eyes for a dead person." How is the first part of the verse ("You are children to Hashem") a reason for the prohibition on excessive mourning that follows? It is like saying to a person who has lost a diamond, "Don't feel bad; it was a very beautiful diamond." The answer is that the verse must be understood as saying: You are children to Hashem, your G-d. From this it follows that you will have eternal life and you will be reunited with your deceased relatives in the next world. Therefore, do not mourn excessively. (Nishmat Chaim Part I, ch.3) ******** "You shall love your fellow as yourself." (Vayikra 19:18) How does one accomplish this? R' Shneur Zalman of Liadi z"l (1745- 1813; the first Lubavitcher Rebbe) explains: "Putting into practice the suggestion mentioned above [i.e., previously in the same work] - to view one's body as lowly and to find joy only in the joy of the soul - is a direct and easy way to attain fulfillment of the commandment, "You shall love your fellow as yourself" toward every soul of Yisrael, both great and small." R' Shneur Zalman goes on to explain that whereas we all view ourselves as separate entities when we focus on our bodies, we recognize that we are one when we focus on our souls, for they all come from the same Father. This is what Hillel the Elder meant when he said, "This is the whole Torah and the rest is commentary." Elevating the soul above the body is the essence and purpose of the whole Torah. (Likkutei Amarim Tanya, ch.32) ******** Pirkei Avot "Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa says, `If one's fear of sin precedes his wisdom, his wisdom will endure. If one's wisdom precedes his fear of sin, his wisdom will not endure'." (Chapter 3) At first glance, says R' Yoel Teitelbaum z"l (1887-1979; the Satmar Rav), this teaching seems to contradict Hillel's teaching in the prior chapter: "An empty person cannot fear sin." Really, though, the two statements are consistent, as follows: Not every person is either a talmid chacham / Torah scholar or an am ha'aretz / ignoramus. There are intermediate steps. Hillel is teaching that a person who is completely empty of Torah cannot fear sin. One must have acquired at least some Torah knowledge to begin to fear sin. However, one cannot be a talmid chacham until he has first attained a significant measure of fear of sin. This is what Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa is teaching. Alternatively, Hillel and Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa are speaking of different levels of fear of sin. The Zohar teaches (Introduction, p. 11b) that there are three different reasons why people fear sin. Two categories of people are merely afraid of being punished - one group fears punishment in This World, for example, harm to their families or livelihoods, while the other fears punishment in the World-to-Come. Both of these are lower forms of fear / Yirah because the focus of the Yirah is actually one's self, not G-d. The higher level of Yirah is the fear of severing one's relationship with G-d. This is called "Yirat Ha'romemut," loosely translated, "Awe." Our Mishnah is teaching that fear of sin - i.e., fear of punishment - must precede the acquisition of Torah wisdom. Hillel, on the other hand, is teaching that wisdom must precede Yirat Ha'romemut. (Kuntres Chiddushei Torah) ******** This Week in History, Halachah, and Minhag 7 Iyar 5058 (1298): The "Rindfleisch Massacres" began in Germany. Over the following six months, thousands of Jews were killed in approximately 150 communities, including the sage R' Mordechai ben Hillel Hy"d, whose work is printed at the end of each volume of the standard edition of the Talmud. (Luach Davar B'ito p.940) Shabbat Parashat Acharei Mot Kedoshim: On a Shabbat when two sidrot are joined, the haftarah which is read is the one established for the second sidrah, with which the Torah reading was completed. The exception is when Acharei Mot and Kedoshim are read together, in which case the haftarah for Acharei Mot, "Halo kivnei kushi'im"/ "Behold, you are like the children of the Cushites to Me," is read. (Sha'arei Ephraim; She'aih Berachah) 10 Iyar 2872 (889 B.C.E.): Chofni and Pinchas, sons of Eli, the Kohen Gadol, died in battle against the Plishtim, and the aron kodesh was captured. When Eli heard that the aron kodesh had been taken by the Plishtim, he collapsed and died as well, as described in the Book of Shmuel I. This was the end of the era of Jewish history known as the Shoftim / Judges. (See Shulchan Aruch, O.C. 580:2) 11 Iyar was observed as a "Purim" by those citizens of Izmir (Smyrna), Turkey whose ancestors originated in the town of Angorra. This day is the yahrzeit of R' Chaim Yehuda Meir Hager z"l, the Vishuver Rebbe in Tel Aviv. After his passing, when his students began to arrange his notes of his divrei Torah for printing, they discovered that only one paragraph was dated, and it bore this day's date. (Zecher Chaim Al Ha'Torah p.137)