Today's Learning Nazir 6:8-9 Sponsored by O.C. 224:10-12 Dr. and Mrs. Robert Klein Makot 19 in memory of father Yerushalmi-- Dr. Ernst Shlomo Kaplowitz Ketubot 33 Hamaayan/The Torah Spring edited by Shlomo Katz Eikev Vol. IX, No. 45 (429), 23 Av 5755, August 19, 1995 This parashah warns repeatedly of the dangers of luxuries. For example, the Torah says (11:15-16), "And you will eat and be satiated. Take care lest your hearts be seduced. . ." What should a person do to protect himself? Chazal say (Avot ch.3) that if a person eats and does not say a dvar Torah (words of Torah) at the table, his meal borders on idolatry. Avudraham explains that this is precisely because eating is potentially fatal to a person's spirituality. A simple dvar Torah can put the meal back in perspective, and can even sanctify it. The same lesson was taught to Rav Yosef Karo by the "maggid" (angel) in connection with the verse in our parashah (8:3), "Man does not live by bread alone; rather by G-d's word man lives." If you think of divrei Torah even as you chew, your food will have the sanctity of a korban (sacrifice). A person cannot live if he eats bread alone; he must at the same time ingest Hashem's word, i.e. the Torah. (Maggid Mesharim) ************************************ "You will be unable to destroy them [the Canaanites] quickly lest wild animals overtake you." (7:22) Most simply, this means that if Bnei Yisrael had evicted the Canaanites faster than the Land was resettled, wild animals would have moved in. Therefore, Bnei Yisrael could advance through Canaan only slowly. But, asks Rav Shaul Eliezer Yedidyah Taub zatz'l ("Modshitzer Rebbe") , what could stop Hashem from curtailing the spread of the beasts if He chose? Rather, he explains the verse as follows: "You will be unable to destroy the Canaanites quickly lest the cruel traits of wild animals overtake you." Even in battle, Jews must advance deliberately to avoid unnecessary destruction and to maintain the trait of kindness. (quoted in Shabbat Be'shabbato) ************************************ "Man does not live by bread alone. . ." (8:3) Pirkei Avot (chapter 6) teaches, "This is the way of Torah: eat bread dipped in salt and drink a measured amount of water. . ." What does this mean? Rav Chaim Yosef David Azulai ("Chidah") zatz'l explains that one should become so engrossed in Torah that he has no time to think of eating. Not that man must torture himself in order to learn, but rather that one should be too busy learning Torah to think about luxuries. To what may this be compared? To one who is lovesick, and who thinks of nothing else but the one for whom he pines. Similarly, a person should pine for Torah study. (Petach Enayim) ************************************ "And you will eat, and you will be satiated, and you shall bless Hashem, your G-d. . ." (8:10) This verse teaches the mitzvah of birkat hamazon. However, the fourth blessing of birkat hamazon is a rabbinic ordinance to commemorate the miracles which followed the massacre at Betar in the time of the Emperor Hadrian. Rav Natan Shapira of Horodno zatz'l (grandfather of the kabbalist of the same name who authored the famous work Megaleh Amukot) offers the following reason for placing a reminder of Betar in birkat hamazon. Unfortunately, when people eat big meals and are satiated, they tend to forget, or at least put aside temporarily, their usual awareness of the transience of this life and the importance of spiritual pursuits. To combat this, we remember the martyrs of Betar, a "shock-treatment" of sorts to remind a person of the tenuousness of the human condition. (Seder Birkat Hamazon) ************************************ In his work on Torah-derived table manners, the 14th century sage Rabbenu Bachya ben Asher writes: When one finishes eating he should remain at the table for some time, as Chazal said (Berachot 54b), "If one extends his meal, his life will be extended." Why? Because the longer a person sits at the table, the greater the likelihood that a poor person will chance by and will be fed. In this vein, we find a verse (Yechezkel 41:22) where the words "altar" and "table" are used interchangeably, and Chazal explain that just as one's sins are atoned for upon the altar, so they are forgiven when one feeds the poor at his table. (So great is this mitzvah, writes Rabbenu Bachya, that some people have their coffins built from the wood of their tables so that the boards can "testify" on their behalf before the Heavenly court.) One is obligated to say divrei Torah (words of Torah) while sitting at the table. Chazal teach (Avot ch.3) that if one eats at a table where divrei Torah are said it is as if he has eaten at G-d's table, but if he eats at a table where no divrei Torah are said it is as if he ate from sacrifices brought before idols. Why such harsh words? To teach man that he was not created in order to eat and to drink, but in order to study Torah. (Shulchan Shel Arbah) ************************************ "What does Hashem ask of you other than to fear Him....?" (10:12) Rav Yehuda Halevi warns us not to think that Judaism is a religion of the heart or of the mind. Rather, it is a religion of deeds. This is clear from the Torah, a significant part of which describes mitzvot--some, in great detail--that require action. History shows that the great philosophers of Greece or other societies did not come closer to G-d than did the simple Jew who kept the mitzvot; if Hashem merely wanted our hearts or our minds, those philosophers would have fared better spiritually. How then are we to understand the above verse? Just as Hashem does not desire our hearts alone, He does not want deeds alone. In fact, it is unlikely that a person would perform the mitzvot unless he possessed some fear of Heaven. This pasuk may therefore be speaking to the "beginner"--start with fear of Hashem, love Him, emulate Him, and so on, until you come to keep all of the mitzvot. (Kuzari I, 99; II, 48) ************************************ Rav Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin zatz'l ("Netziv") born Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5577 (1816) - 28 Av 5657 (1897) Netziv was the last rosh yeshiva of the original Volozhin Yeshiva, known as the "Mother of the yeshivot" because before Volozhin's founding in 1803 (by Rav Chaim of Volozhin, Netziv's grandfather-in- law), Torah study was usually done in small groups at the feet of leading town rabbis. During Netziv's 40 year reign, many of the greatest Ashkenazic rabbis of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were students in Volozhin. These included (in roughly chronological order) Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzenski, Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook, Rav Baruch Ber Lebowitz, Rav Reuven Bengis, Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, and others. Little is known of Netziv's childhood. He was born in Mir. His father was a successful businessman and Torah scholar, and Netziv's sister was married to Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein (author of Aruch Hashulchan). The fact that Netziv was married to the daughter of Rav Itzele Volozhiner when he was only 13 years old suggests that his great future was foreseen already then, although Netziv's nephew (Rav Baruch Epstein, author of Torah Temimah) writes that even Rav Itzele did not properly appreciate his son-in-law's scholarship until he discovered one of Netziv's manuscripts. Netziv wrote many works, including a Torah commentary (called Ha'emek Davar), halachic responsa (Heishiv Davar), and Talmud commentaries. However, he is most notable for his works on less commonly studied portions of the Torah, especially Ha'emek Sh'eilah, a commentary on the 9th century work She'iltot D'rav Achai. The She'iltot is among the earliest post-Talmudic works and sheds light on many halachic issues and textual questions. The introduction to Ha'emek Sh'eilah discusses two different approaches to Torah study which have existed from the time of Moshe Rabbenu's students to the present and is a classic in its own right. The Volozhin Yeshiva closed (or was closed) in 1892 after a prolonged battle over the Russian government's insistence on the introduction of secular studies. Thereafter, Netziv started out on his way to Eretz Yisrael, having always been an active supporter of the resettlement of the Land. However, he was too ill to finish the trip. Netziv's children from his first wife included Rav Chaim Berlin, rabbi of Moscow and later Yerushalayim, and the wife of Rav Rephael Shapiro, head of the Volozhin Yeshiva when it re-opened after several decades. Among the children of the latter was Lipshe, the wife of Rav Chaim Soloveitchik (whose biography appeared in last week's Hamaayan). In his old age, Netziv married his niece (daughter of Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein), and their son was Rav Meir Berlin (Bar- Ilan), an Israeli religious and political leader. ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax-deductible.