Today's Learning Menachot 11:7-8 O.C. 467:5-7 Sponsored by Bechorot 23 The Marwick family in memory of Reba Sklaroff a"h Helen & Abe Spector extending a mazal tov to Hamaayan and thanks to its staff on Hamaayan's 500th issue Hamaayan/The Torah Spring edited by Shlomo Katz Yitro Vol. XI, No. 17 (500), 24 Shevat 5757, February 1, 1997 In this week's parashah, the Torah describes the sounds of the shofar and the fire and clouds of smoke which accompanied the giving of the Torah. What was the purpose of this spectacle? Rav Moshe Sternbuch shlita explains with the following parable: A certain wealthy man once betrothed his daughter to a distinguished young man. They agreed that the wedding would take place in the young man's town on a certain date, and that the young couple would remain to live in that town. When the wedding date approached, the bride and her family set out in a golden carriage. In every town the carriage passed through, the bride's father spent money lavishly, and the newspapers reported on the fabulous wealth of the bride and her family. In the town of the groom himself, the family was greeted as royalty. Yet the bride's father saw that the groom himself looked depressed. Upon asking why, he was told, "Even with your daughter's dowry, how will I ever maintain the lifestyle she is used to?" "Don't worry," said the bride's father. "My daughter and I both know that she will live a simpler life from now on. I merely arrived here this way so that you would appreciate where she came from and always do your best to give her everything that you can." Similarly, says Rav Sternbuch, the Torah is the daughter of the King of Kings, who betrothed her to common man. In order to remind us of the Torah's glorious origins, G-d gave her away amidst a spectacular show of fire and sound. (Ta'am Vada'at) ************************************ Parashat Yitro In Halachah This parashah contains seventeen mitzvot -- numbers 25 through 41 of the 613. (Minchat Chinuch) The phrase, "The Ten Commandments," is a misnomer. The section of the Torah often referred to by that name actually contains fourteen commandments. These are: (1) to believe in the existence of G-d; (2) that we should not believe in any other god; (3) not to make an idol; (4) not to bow down to an idol; (5) not to serve an idol in the manner that that idol ordinarily is served; (6) not to take an oath in vain; (7) to recite kiddush on Shabbat; (8) not to do work on Shabbat; (9) honoring parents; (10) not to kill an innocent person; (11) not to commit adultery; (12) not to kidnap; (13) not to testify falsely; and (14) not to desire the belongings of another. This group of mitzvot is referred to twice in the Torah as, "Aseret Hadevarim"/"The ten spoken things" (Devarim 4:13 & 10:4). This is because these mitzvot do fall into the ten general topics commonly known as the "Ten Commandments." The other three mitzvot in this parashah are: not to make statutes of humans, not to build an altar of cut stone, and not to take large steps on the altar. Part of the daily service in the Bet Hamikdash was to recite the Aseret Hadibrot every day, just as Shma is. (Tamid 32b). Rambam writes in his mishnah commentary that an attempt was made to do the same outside the Temple, but that heretics began claiming this as proof that only the Aseret Hadibrot, and not the rest of the Torah, was of Divine origin. The Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 1:4) recommends that every person recite the Aseret Hadibrot to himself every morning. The purpose of this is to remember the giving of the Torah and thereby strengthen one's belief (Mishnah Berurah, para. 13). "And Yitro rejoiced over all of the good which G-d had done to Yisrael . . . And Yitro said, 'Blessed is G-d who saved you from the hand of Egypt and the hand of Pharaoh . . ." (18:9-10) Rav Velvel Brisker z"l observed that this is an example of the halachah that if a person truly rejoices over the salvation of another, then he may recite Birkat Hagomel over his friend's salvation, even with G-d's name. (Shai LaTorah) ************************************ "Moshe related to his father-in-law all that Hashem had done to Pharaoh and Egypt for Israel's sake . . . And Yitro said, 'Blessed is G-d . . . Now I know that G-d is greater than all forces for [He punished the Egyptians] in the manner in which they had conspired against them'." (18:8-11) Yitro recognized G-d's power because he saw that G-d punished the Egyptians middah-kenegged-middah-/measure-for-measure. Rav Aharon Hakohen z"l (son-in-law of the Chafetz Chaim) observes that Yitro was uniquely situated to recognize this because Yitro had been a member of Pharaoh's cabinet, which had plotted against the Jews. (Pirchei Aharon) ************************************ "You have seen that I spoke to you from the Heavens." (20:19) Rav Yitzchak Hutner writes: Chazal interpreted this verse to mean, "You have seen that I spoke to you from the Heavens, and I am not asking you merely to believe some old tradition." We, of course, are asked to believe the old tradition that Hashem appeared on Har Sinai, says Rav Hutner. What Chazal mean is the following: The Jewish nation is comparable to the human body. A human experience usually begins through sight [or one of the other senses], and then the rest of the body acts based on what the eyes saw. The legs do not see on their own; they simply carry out the instructions which follow from what the eyes saw. We are the legs of the Jewish people, virtually as far from the eyes (the generation that received the Torah) as possible. We know, however, that what we are asked to do began with something that our eyes beheld. (Pachad Yitzchak: Shavuot ch. 26) ************************************ From the humor of our sages . . . "Israel camped there . . ." (19:2) Rashi writes that the verb "camped" is written in the singular to indicate the unity of the Jewish people when they arrived at Har Sinai. Added Rav Naftali of Ropshitz z"l: Such unity was possible only before the Torah was given, for after the Torah was given, each person thinks only he knows the right way to serve G-d. ************************************ "And all the people answered simultaneously . . ." (19:8) It's a good thing, said Rav Moshe Amiel (Chief Rabbi of Antwerp and Tel Aviv), for if one person had been first to say, "We will do," another certainly would have said, "We will not do." ************************************ Rav Yosef Zundel Hutner z"l born 5606 (1846) - died 27 Shevat 5679 (1919) Rav Yosef Zundel was born in Dvinsk, where his father was a noted scholar. His father was also his first, and only, teacher, as from a young age, Rav Yosef Zundel was self-taught. At the age of 25, Rav Yosef Zundel published his first work, Bikkurei Yosef. (In the introduction, he bemoans the passing of his young wife.) Thereafter he moved to Bialystok, where he remarried, and became the chavruta/ study partner of Rav Meir Simcha Hakohen, who later achieved fame as rabbi of Dvinsk and author of Meshech Chochmah and Ohr Sameach. Rav Yosef Zundel himself was offered the rabbinate of Dvinsk at that time, but he declined it. In 1897, Rav Yosef Zundel became rabbi of Eishishok. The demands on his time in this small town were few, and he was able to study Torah almost without interruption. Even during World War I, when the front approached Eishishok, Rav Yosef Zundel was not distracted from his study. Rav Yosef Zundel took it for granted that young men should become Torah scholars. When he was introduced to Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel (then a student in Radin, later rosh yeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva in Yerushalayim) and was told that the boy was expert in the entire Talmud, Rav Yosef Zundel asked, "How old is he?" Told that the student was 17 years-old, the sage responded, "Then why is it a big deal that he knows the entire Talmud?!" Similarly, he told the young Yosef Shlomo Cahaneman (later the "Ponovezher Rav"), "Being a great Torah scholar does not require constant study. Fourteen hours a day is enough." Rav Yosef Zundel also was known for his piety and for the power of his prayers. When supplicants would seek a blessing from the Chafetz Chaim, he would send them to nearby Eishishok, to Rav Yosef Zundel. Rav Yosef Zundel left several written works, which were published by his sons. One of his grandsons was Rav Yehoshua Hutner, executive director of the Encyclopedia Talmudit project. The latter's sister, Chava Leah, was the wife of Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook. Rav Yitzchak Hutner, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn, also was a relative of our subject. ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax-deductible ************************************ This 500th issue of Hamaayan is dedicated to my wife Sharona Katz without whose encouragement and sacrifice Hamaayan would not appear every week. The editor.