Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Eikev "Don't Tread on Me" Volume 24, No. 41 20 Av 5770 July 31, 2010 Today's Learning: Tanach: Iyov 21-22 Berachot 9:3-4 O.C. 518:6-8 Daf Yomi (Bavli): Shevuot 34 Daf Yomi (Yerushalmi): Shevi'it 16 The Midrash Tanchuma cites the opening verse of our parashah, "It shall follow eikev / on the heel of your hearkening to these ordinances, and your observing and performing them," and comments: Thus the verse (Tehilim 49:6) says, "Why should I be fearful in the days of evil, when the injunctions that I trod upon will surround me?" [The midrash continues:] Blessed is the Holy One who gave the Torah to Yisrael. It contains 613 mitzvot, some of them "lighter" (less significant) and some "heavier" (more significant). Because there are "lighter" mitzvot which people are not meticulous to perform, rather, they cast them under their heels [i.e., they treat them as unimportant], therefore King David was afraid of the Day of Judgment. He said, "Master of the World! I am not afraid of the `heavy' mitzvot, for they are significant [and I certainly did not neglect them]. Of what am I worried? That I may have neglected one of the `lighter' mitzvot, since it was less significant. You, however, have commanded, `Be cautious with a light mitzvah as with a heavy mitzvah'." [Until here from the midrash] R' Mordechai Ze'ev Rosenthal z'l (rabbi of Kolbiel, Poland; died 1892) writes: In my humble opinion, this is difficult to understand. A mitzvah is a mitzvah; how could one of G-d's commandments be less significant than another?! Rather, when the midrash refers to a "light" mitzvah, it means those things which are not strictly commandments and which people take lightly. One example is the injunction to sanctify oneself even with regard to permitted pleasures. Another example is avak lashon hara, i.e., statements that are not prohibited but which could lead the conversation towards gossip and slander. These are injunctions which are only hinted to in the Torah and which have no precise definition; therefore, people are careless regarding them. In reality, however, there is no limit to how much one can sanctify himself, nor is there a limit to how careful one can be with his speech. (Kol Ramaz) ******** "It shall follow eikev / on the heel of your [plural] hearkening to these ordinances, and your [plural] observing and performing them; Hashem, your [singular, as in the rest of this excerpt] G- d, will safeguard for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers. He will love you, bless you and multiply you." (7:12-13) Why the sudden change from plural to singular? R' Menachem Menashe z"l (leader of the Yerushalayim Sephardic community and father-in-law of R' Ovadiah Yosef shlita; died 1968) explains: Imagine if you entered a large shul and saw everyone reciting Tehilim or selichot. Assume, even, that every person is reciting the same chapter or the same page. Does this mean that everyone is praying for the same thing? Outwardly, it may appear that way, but Hashem knows what is in every person's heart. If all Jews prayed in unison for mashiach, he would come immediately, writes R' Menashe. That would be the ideal state. However, the less than ideal reality is that each person prays for his own needs even during communal prayer. Through the technically imperfect grammatical structure of our verses, the Torah teaches that even in this less than ideal situation, Hashem will answer the prayers of the individual. (Ahavat Chaim) ******** "You will eat and you will be satisfied, and you shall bless Hashem, your Elokim, for the good Land that He gave you." (8:10) R' Chaim Palagi z"l (Izmir, Turkey; 1788-1868) asks: Since Birkat Hamazon is a mitzvah, why do we not recite a berachah before its performance as we do before performing other mitzvot? It cannot be because it is a mitzvah performed by speaking, for there are other mitzvot performed by speaking--for example, Birkat Kohanim, Hallel, and Megillat Esther--and they do have berachot. He answers: Perhaps, since the verse states, "You will eat and you will be satisfied, and you shall bless," the Torah is telling us that this is how the mitzvah should be performed, not in any other way. Thus, we cannot interrupt between eating, being satisfied and benching by reciting a berachah. Alternatively, since the essence of a berachah is praising G-d, which is also the essence of benching, reciting a berachah before Birkat Hamazon would be redundant. (Quoted in Haggadah Shel Pesach Pninei Rav Chaim Palagi p.365) The Gemara (Berachot 49a) states: If one did not mention brit milah and the Torah in Birkat Hamazon, he has not fulfilled his obligation. R' Yonasan Steif z"l (1877-1958; rabbi and prominent posek / halachic authority in Budapest and Brooklyn, N.Y.) writes: Our Sages wish to awaken us to the fact that our food is given to us in the merit of the covenant of moral purity, which brit milah represents, and in the merit of Torah study. Paralleling this, there are two people mentioned in the Torah in whose merit food was provided to others, and they represent brit milah and Torah, respectively. First, we read (Bereishit 42:6), "Yosef . . . he was the provider to all the people of the land." Yosef is the paradigm of morality, as demonstrated by his strength in withstanding the seductions of Potiphar's wife. Second, our Sages say that the mahn fell in the desert in the merit of Moshe Rabbeinu. He was, of course, the giver of the Torah. (Haggadah Shel Pesach Mahari Steif p. 199) ******** "Then I shall provide rain for your [plural] Land in its proper time, the early and the late rains, that you [singular] will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil." (11:14) R' Aryeh Leib Gordon z"l (1845-1913; Yerushalayim) writes: Serving Hashem and performing mitzvot are more meaningful, more complete, and more apt to fulfill the purpose for which the Torah was given when they are performed with a tzibbur / group than when they are performed by individuals. Thus, the Gemara (Berachot 8a) teaches: Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says, "If one who studies Torah, performs acts of kindness, and prays with a tzibbur it is counted as if he has redeemed Me and My sons from among the nations." In this teaching, the words "with the tzibbur" modify not only prayer, but also Torah study and performing acts of kindness, R' Gordon writes. The Gemara (Yoma 9b) states that the second Bet Hamikdash was destroyed even though the people were studying Torah, performing mitzvot and doing acts of kindness because there was senseless hatred among the people. R' Gordon explains that, because of this senseless hatred, they studied Torah and performed mitzvot individually, but not in groups. The Torah's goal, in contrast, is to make us as one body with one soul. [Since the people's Torah study and mitzvah performance was not accomplishing its goal, the nation was deserving of exile.] In contrast, R' Gordon continues, when mitzvot are performed in their ideal manner, the entire nation, as a unit, is blessed. Thus our verse says that, if we heed the mitzvot, the rains of our [plural] land will come in their proper time. Indeed, when rains fall, it is always based on the needs of the many, without consideration for the convenience of the individual. In fact, the Kohen Gadol would pray on Yom Kippur that G-d not heed the prayers of travelers when they pray that rain not fall. Nevertheless, our verse tells us, the blessing that results from the rains will be individualized according to each person's needs. That is why our verse concludes, "You will gather you [singluar] grain." (Iyun Tefilah) ******** "For if you will observe this entire commandment that I command you, to perform it, to love Hashem, your G-d, to walk in all His ways and to attach yourself to Him." (11:22) Our Sages comment: "How could one possibly attach himself to G-d, Who is described as a `consuming fire'? Rather, attach yourself to His attributes-- just as He is merciful, so you should be merciful, etc." R' Yehuda Ashlag z"l (1886-1954; rabbi of the Givat Shaul neighborhood of Yerushalayim and one of the leading kabbalists of the 20th century) asks: How is this interpretation consistent with the simple meaning of the verse? He explains: The only way to "attach" oneself to something that has no physical form is to imitate it. Therefore our Sages teach: "As He is merciful, so you should be merciful, etc." The defining characteristic of G-d is that He acts for the sake of giving and never for the sake of receiving. He lacks nothing, and there is nothing we can give Him. Imitating these characteristics is the literal meaning of attaching oneself to Hashem. He continues: Unlike G-d, man must sometimes receive. How then can one truly imitate G-d? The answer is that if one receives with no intention other than to please the giver, then one's receiving is actually giving. (Matan Torah) ******** Shabbat R' Moshe ben Maimon z"l (Rambam / Maimonides; 1135-1204) writes: Hashkafot / ideas and beliefs which are not tied to actions that publicize them and preserve them in the minds of the multitudes will not have a lasting existence. Therefore, we were commanded to sanctify this day [Shabbat] in order to solidify the foundational belief that the world is created [not, as some believed, that it always existed]. This belief is publicized when we all rest on one day. This will cause people to ask us, "What is the reason for your behavior?" and we will tell them that Hashem created the world in six days. (Moreh Nevochim Part II, ch.31) R' Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg z"l (1884-1966; rosh yeshiva in Berlin and a major halachic authority) writes (in a letter to R' Akiva Glasner z"l, rabbi of Cluj Romania): Rambam is teaching that we do not rest on Shabbat because Hashem "rested" on that day. Rather, Hashem blessed and sanctified the day of Shabbat and commanded us to "rest" as a means for us to publicize our belief in Creation. Based on this idea, R' Weinberg continues, we can answer a question that R' Glasner had posed: Why is there a mitzvah of Tosefet Shabbat / adding time on to Shabbat at both the beginning and the end when Hashem's Shabbat was certainly only 24 hours long? The answer, R' Weinberg writes, is that our Shabbat does not directly commemorate Hashem's Shabbat, as discussed above. As for Tosefet Shabbat, that is a separate mitzvah to sanctify the mundane. Adding to Shabbat is an application of the mitzvah, not the mitzvah itself. For this reason, Tosefet Shabbat is not a time- dependent mitzvah from which women would be exempt. (She'eilot U'teshuvot Seridei Esh: Orach Chaim No.27)