"If a fire shall go forth and find thorns, and a stack of grain or a standing crop or a field is consumed, the one who kindled the fire shall make restitution."

(Shemot 22:5)

 

If a fire shall go forth - by itself... and our sages of blessed memory interpreted this in [the Babylonian Talmud, tractate] Baba Kama (60b) in terms of the destruction of the Temple, as it is written (Yeshayahu 64:10): "Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt with fire", and we caused [it to happen] by corruption, and The Holy One Blessed Be He promised us to pay as if He set the fire.

(Rabbeinu Bachya, ibid.)

 

...And the Torah alludes to what the wicked will cause by their wickedness, in order that man should wake up from the slumber of his mind and see the tremendous evil they bring on the world. For they harm not just themselves, but rather cause evil to the whole world. This is what "a fire shall go forth" means, for you surely know that the people's troubles are called "fire" - go and learn from the angel Gabriel who asked the Cherub for fire, which represents an increase in [the mystical property of] judgment. [The Torah continues] and says "and find thorns" - those are the wicked who are nothing but painful thorns. And the term "find" is used, similar to (Dvarim 31:21) "It shall be when many evils and distresses come upon (lit: 'will find') [this people]..." The reason being that a wicked person does not have a master because regarding the Master Blessed Be He - [the wicked] denied Him and threw off His Authority. So The Lord hid His face from him, and from then on, he is like a finding (as in: lost object), and whoever meets him can treat him as he pleases.

(Or HaChaim, ibid.)

 

 

Freedom on the Luchot (Tables of the Law)

Ariel Rathaus

In memory of my father and teacher

Menachem Mendel ben Moshe of blessed memory

who passed away on 27^th of Shevat 5755.

Several of the Bible commentators make a connection between the law of freeing the Hebrew slave in the seventh year, which opens Parashat Mishpatim, and the Ten Commandments in Parashat Yitro preceding it. For example, here is what Ramban writes (Shemot 21:2): "The first law starts with the Hebrew slave, because in the freeing of the slave in the seventh year, there is an allusion to the Exodus from Egypt, which is mentioned in the first Commandment." (He means, of course, the words "I am Hashem, your God, Who has taken you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery." - see also the comments by Chizkuni, Abarbanel, and "Ha'amek Davar" on this.)

From making this connection, we can infer that the idea of freedom is one of the building foundations of Torah, a kind of starting point, both of a theological-ethical platform of the Ten Commandments, as well as of the detailed halachic legislation of Parashat "Mishpatim". But ideals are ideals, and reality is reality. Parashat Mishpatim was combined with the Haftara from the Book of Yirmia, which constitutes a bitter-ironic counterpoint to the opening verses of the parasha: after the masters set free "every man his bondsman and every man his bondswoman" (ibid., 34:10), behold - they enslave them again, and it becomes clear that the freeing was nothing but make-believe. Likewise, the fact that halacha recognizes slavery - namely that of a Canaanite slave - which is not limited in time, where there is no principal prohibition of subjecting another human being to forced labor, bears witness to the difficulty of implementing the idea of freedom in reality. A Canaanite slave is a man in God's image, yet "his body is property" of his master. Even though Hashem is the God who "takes out from the house of slavery", it seems that the economic mechanisms of the technologically primitive antique society do not permit to abolish a classic slavery of this kind.

Even on a purely conceptual level, it looks like the link between the Ten Commandments (as a symbol of Torah and Mitzvot) and the concept of freedom is not a simple matter. One of the most famous sources that touch on this problem is a saying at the beginning of the sixth chapter of "Pirkei Avot" (which is also known under the name of "Chapter of Acquiring Torah"):

Rabbi Yehoshua ben (son of) Levi said, on every day a heavenly voice emanates from Mount Horev, announcing: 'Woe to them, the people, because of the affront to the Torah.' For anyone who does not study is called 'rebuked,' as the verse says 'As a golden ring in a swine's snout, so too is a beautiful woman who has turned from sound reason' (Proverbs 11:22). It also says, 'And the tablets were the handiwork of G-d, and the writing was G-d's writing engraved ["charut"] on the tablets' (Exodus 32:16). Do not read 'charut' (engraved), rather "cherut" (freedom). For you will not find a freer person than one who is involved in the study of Torah. (Pirkei Avot 6:2)

Much earlier than the commentators mentioned above, and from a different viewpoint - wider, not focused on the laws of the Hebrew slave - emphasizes Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, using a brilliant, clarifying wording, the link that in his opinion exists between freedom and Torah: Freedom is engraved on the Tablets of the Covenant, and so the Ten Commandments - well, actually all the 613 Commandments - are meant to transform an Israelite into a free man.

This is a paradoxical statement, and many were those who wondered about its meaning. After all, the Torah is called "Yoke of the Heavenly Kingship", the opposite of freedom. In which sense does the Torah, which commands a person how to behave in each moment of his life, provide him with freedom? What kind of an inner freedom is one that comes from outside, from the absolute coercion of the System of Mitzvot?

A simple, somewhat utilitarian explanation is found in a commentary attributed to Rashi on the "Chapter of Acquiring Torah": "For you will not find a freer person: Because people honor and serve him." In other words: a person who engages himself in the study of Torah and becomes a Torah scholar earns honors and high esteem, and is therefore "ben chorin" (here, the expression "ben chorin" is interpreted as meaning "noble", "wellborn", and not in the sense of "free"). A different interpretation, in a pronouncedly moral vein, is the one offered by the author of "Tif'eret Israel": "For you will not find a freer person: Because he does not subjugate himself, and is not ruled by physicality (hedonism), and this is freedom, the fact that his soul is not ruled by physical passions." This is maybe the most acceptable among the interpretations of this saying (even for modern commentators), which sharply outlines the borders of freedom, autonomy, and anarchy. The man is a creature whose drives take control of him, and only the Torah, which liberates him from physical passions, turns him into a truly autonomous being. Only that according to this interpretation, freedom is attained almost against a person's will, against his spontaneous and primal inclinations. Does such a freedom still fit the definition of 'freedom', or is this maybe coercion? In order to answer this, a variant interpretation has been suggested which stresses that the Torah frees us precisely because it does not act against man's nature (or, rather, against the nature of a Jew). Quite the opposite: it reveals to him his true nature and removes him from sin: for "such a lifestyle (throwing off the Yoke of Mitzvot) goes against his essence and nature." (R'Menachem Mendel Shneurson, "Explanations of Pirkei Avot", vol.2, p.338).

The Maharal of Prague presents a different and original point of view in "Path of Life", his big commentary on Prikei Avot. According to his view, the Torah grants freedom by way of being the highest intellectual-spiritual revelation: a man's mind is a "design of reality", meaning the power which shapes the world, and above him is the Torah, which is the pinnacle of mind, and it is "wholly a design of reality". The Maharal illustrates his idea with a parable which sharply contrasts the earthly, limited freedom of the freest and highest-standing person of all - the king - with the true freedom offered by the highest intellectuality of the Torah, which is totally metaphysical and pure from materialism:

And it says: 'For you will not find a free person except the one who is involved in the study of Torah'. For even a king, who is free, is not called free in comparison with someone who is involved in the study of Torah. And this is as they said (below, Mishna 6) 'And do not crave for the table [of kings], for your table is greater than their table, and your crown is greater than their crown'. For the king, even though he is king, fears that maybe his subjects will rebel against him, and is therefore not completely free. For only that person can be called 'free' for whom not even the possibility of slavery exists, and this cannot be found except with someone who is involved in the study of Torah, and is therefore completely free, as we have explained. For the mind is free, slavery is not applicable to it ("Path of Life", ch.6, 3).

Only in Torah learning, the arena of encounter between the Godly mind and the human mind, true freedom exists. "The mind is free" - this statement might reflect a radical scholarly-intellectualistic position, but it also opens a door to new and interesting insights regarding the saying of R'Yehoshua ben Levi. For an additional, possible interpretation of the expression "freedom on the tablets", an interpretation which is derived from the words of the Maharal yet deviates from them, is that the man of mind "who designs the reality" is free vis-à-vis the tablets, meaning in relation to them, in his understanding of them. As everyone who learns Torah knows, there is no greater sense of freedom than that which a person feels when he is engaged in the study of Torah, when he makes an effort and sharpens his mind, while at the same time giving freedom to his imagination and desires, and choosing among existing contradicting interpretations, and sometimes creating new interpretations according to his own understanding, and even according to his personal situation at that very moment, according to the emotional resonance of the words he reads, and according to their meaning regarding himself - and this also becomes in some way "Torah", as long as it is born out of conversation and engagement with the text, and not from arbitrarily ignoring some of it. This is a freedom that looks very modern to us (maybe even "post-modern"), but as a matter of fact, it is a heritage of the Jewish people. It derives directly from a tradition with deep roots not just in the world of Aggadah where everything is possible, but also in the world of Halachah and Psikah (halachic codification), where one of the texts that sets down its principles is the story about the "Oven of Akhnai" (Babylonian Talmud, tractate Baba Metzia, 59b), a story that shows how humans, using their intellect and reasoning, overruled that which was said by a Heavenly Voice, and the Law was codified according to them.

With all that, a word of caution should be added to the last things we said. Learners of Torah ultimately shape the face of the Torah, and this is their freedom, but be it allowed to add and point out that this is also their heavy responsibility. Every freedom is a "difficult freedom". While it is true that "the Torah has seventy faces", that is certainly not to say that all the faces are equal. We are well aware of the existence of a conceptual and halachic interpretation that is corrupting our ethical essence beyond recognition, and it is this violent face that distorts, like a grotesque masque, the pure face of the Torah as we have become accustomed to know it, which we must reject. A wonderful freedom has been given to the learners of Torah and to the codifiers of Halacha, but they must use it in a responsible, prudent, and, above all - humane way.

Dr. Ariel Rathaus, literature researcher and translator, teaches at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

 

 

And you shall not mistreat a stranger, nor shall you oppress him: Lack of Protest can also be Counted as Oppression

After it said do not oppress in the plural, it said if you indeed oppress him [in the singular], for anyone who sees someone oppressing an orphan or a widow and does not come to their aid is also thought of as an oppressor. This is the punishment: if someone is oppressed and the other does not come to his aid, the punishment is inflicted on them all. That is why afterwards [it is written] My wrath will be kindled, and I will slay you [plural] with the sword - all of you.

(Ibn Ezra Shemot 22:20)

 

This notion, i.e., that non-action is also a kind of action, that everyone who is capable of protesting but does not protest is judged as a collaborator, is found frequently in Scripture, Mishnah, and the aggada. The author of the Ha'Amek Davar, who agrees here with Ibn Ezra, makes the paradoxical comment that the prophet makes a claim of this kind against the Holy One blessed be He. If He sees injustice and remains silent, even He is - so to speak - a collaborator with the wrongdoers:

And Rabbi Abraham wrote that anyone who sees someone oppressing an orphan or a widow and does not come to their aid is also thought of as an oppressor. He is correct; this is fully supported by a verse from Isaiah (64:11): Concerning these will You restrain Yourself; will You remain silent and afflict us so very greatly? This means: In that You are silent You impose affliction.

(Ha'Amek Davar Shemot 22:22)

 

By restraining and remaining silent - You become - so to speak - one of our oppressors.

( Nehama Leibowitz, Iyyunim le'Sefer Shemot, pg. 285)

 

And The Holy One, Blessed Be He, Delivers Every Man from the Stronger

It is correct, in my opinion, that it should say "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him" and you should think "for he has none to save him from your hand:, for you know that you were strangers in the land of Egypt, and you witnessed the oppression with which Egypt oppressed you, and I wreaked vengeance upon them, because I see the tear of the oppressed who have none to comfort them… and I save every man from those stronger than he, and also the widow and the orphan shall you not oppress, because I shall hear their cries, for all these live in uncertainty, and they depend on Me, and in another passage another reason is added; "For you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt.", in other words, you know that every stranger, whose spirit is low, and he groans and scrams and his eyes are always towards God and He will have mercy on them as he had mercy on you, as is written (2:23), "The Israelites were groaning under the bondage and cried out; and their cry for help from the bondage rose up to God," that is to say, not in their own merit, but rather that He had pity on them because of the labor.

(Ramban, Shemot 22:20)

 

 

 

 

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