AND THIS IS THE TORAH WHICH MOSES SET BEFORE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.

(Devarim 4:44)

 

R. Yehoshua ben Levi said: What is the meaning of the verse, And this is the Torah which Moses set [Hebrew: "sam"] before the children of Israel?

If one is worthy - it will be an elixir [Hebrew: sam] of life for him, if one is unworthy - it will be an elixir of death for him.

This is as Rava said: If one engages himself in it and loves it - it is an elixir of life; if one does not engage in it and love it - it is an elixir of death.

R. Shmuel bar Nahmani said: R. Yonatan pointed out a contradiction. It is written The orders of the Lord are upright, causing the heart to rejoice (Psalms 19) but it is also written: the word of the Lord is refined (Psalms 18). If one is worthy - it causes him to rejoice; if one is unworthy - it refines him.

Resh Lakish said: This can be learned from the [original] verse itself: If he is worthy - it refines him for life; if he is unworthy - it refines him for death.

(Yoma 72b)

 

They explained in Yoma: If one is worthy - it will be an elixir of life for him, if one is unworthy - it will be an elixir of death for him. This is as Rava said: If one engages himself in it and loves it... it is impossible to interpret "is unworthy" as referring to study for the sake of mocking, because it would be inappropriate to use the expression "unworthy" to refer to study for the sake of mocking, since only a completely evil person mocks at the King's Crown. Rather, [the one who is unworthy] did not study [Torah] for its own sake. This interpretation is required by another part of the same Talmudic discussion, which states that, "If one is worthy, it becomes a crown for him; but if one is unworthy, it becomes strange to him" and Rashi explains [that "becomes strange" means] "He forgets it." This certainly applies to someone who studies [Torah] not for its own sake, and that is the meaning in the original statement as well. If so, we face an even greater problem: If someone learns [Torah] not for its own sake, it is not - God forbid - an elixir of death for him! On the contrary: "A person should always engage in Torah study [even if] not for its own sake." Also, the expression oman la [translated above as "engages in it and loves it"] is not so intelligible in connection with study... it is not talking about the study of that which has already been received, but rather, which Moses set - the derivation of new laws, which was Moses' special role. That is why it says sam ["placed"], for this exalted path is like an elixir [sam]; if one derives new laws in a manner which is not for the sake of Torah, but rather twists the law as he pleases, it is "not for its own sake" and it becomes a death potion for him, since he has twisted judgment in accordance with his own mind and will, and then "he does not engage in it and love it," for he toils and invents but does not aim at the truth and he sins in his activity. That is why it is called "a potion of death."

(Ha'emek Davar Devarim 4:44)

 

And concerning joy [I said], "What does this accomplish?"

Pinchas Leiser

In one of his books, Adam Baruch z"l wrote that as a young man studying at the Hevron Yeshiva he once danced enthusiastically at the hakafot for Simhat Torah. The rosh yeshiva came over and tapped him on the shoulder and said: "Young man, for what you have studied - you have danced enough."

I think that this encounter with Simhat Torah, (which in the Land of Israel has overshadowed Shemini Atzeret and is rooted in the Babylonian custom of reading the Torah in a one year cycle and which has developed into a folk holiday of dancing and the loosening of various restraints) with the content of the parasha read on that day expresses the same paradoxical dialectic.

In the Diaspora a distinction is maintained between the original holiday of Shemini Atzeret, which is firmly founded in Scripture and rabbinic literature and Simhat Torah, which is celebrated on the "second festival day of the Diaspora." However, no sign of Shemini Atzeret survives in the Land of Israel except for the maftir reading and the amidah prayer. The entire People Israel celebrates Simhat Torah.

On this day, even when it does not fall on Shabbat, we read parashat VeZot HaBrakha, which is, of course, the concluding parasha of the Torah.

As we all know, the Torah devotes a few verses (Devarim 34:5-12) to describing Moses' death:

5. And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there, in the land of Moab, by the mouth of the Lord.

6. And He buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Pe'or. And no person knows the place of his burial, unto this day.

7. Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eye had not dimmed, nor had he lost his [natural] freshness.

8. And the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days, and the days of weeping over the mourning for Moses came to an end.

9. And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands upon him. And the children of Israel obeyed him, and they did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

10. And there was no other prophet who arose in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,

11. as manifested by all the signs and wonders, which the Lord had sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and all his servants, and to all his land,

12. and all the strong hand, and all the great awe, which Moses performed before the eyes of all Israel.

Moses, servant of the Lord and the prophet who achieved the greatest intimacy with God, died by the mouth of the Lord; there was no medical explanation for his death, rather, he died because that is the common fate of human beings as decreed by God. Midrashim describe Moses' dialogue with God, expressing his desire not to die and not just his desire to enter the Land of Israel. Thus, when Moses joins the rest of humanity, dying by the mouth of the Lord, the man of God is transformed into a human figure rather than an angel or a part of the Divinity.

Furthermore: Our Rabbi Moses, greatest of prophets, has no gravesite! His burial place is unknown. One can only imagine what kind of rites would have been practiced by his grave, and indeed, various commentators (Hizkuni and R. Yitzhak Shmuel Reggio) discuss the matter. R. Yitzhak Shmuel Reggio (Northern Italy 19^th century) writes:

And no person knows the place of his burial - Behold this is a wonderful matter; the Torah tried to specify the place of burial as thoroughly as possible - in the valley, in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Pe'or - but despite all that God arranged things so that no person knows the place of his burial. He did so that future generations would not err and worship him [Moses] as a god in reaction to the fame of the wonders he worked.

The Jerusalem Talmud (Shekalim chapter 2, 47a, halakhah 5) also expresses concern that the graves of the righteous should not become places of worship:

We learned: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: "A nefesh [memorial structure built over a grave] should not be made for the righteous; their words are their memorial."

And the RaMBaM (Hilkhot Avel 4:4) states:

The entire cemetery should be marked and a nefesh should be built over each grave, but a nefesh should not be set up over the graves of the righteous for their words are their commemoration and one should not be given to visiting graves.

Regarding the Torah's concluding words, which Moses performed before the eyes of all Israel, Rashi writes:

before the eyes of all Israel [This expression alludes to the incident, where] His heart stirred him up to smash the tablets before their eyes, as it is said, and I shattered them before your eyes (Devarim 9:17). - (Sifrei 33:41) And [regarding Moses shattering the Tablets,] the Holy One Blessed is He gave His approval, as Scripture states, "[the first Tablets] which you shattered" (Shemot 34:1); [God said to Moses:] "Well done for shattering them!" - (Shabbat 87a). (Judaica Press translation)

It would appear that the death of the ultimate leader is a sad event, and so concerning joy, What does this accomplish? Why conclude the Torah reading of the festival known as Simhat Torah - the rejoicing of the Torah - with this depressing episode?!

I think that investigation of this short passage teaches us something about the paradoxical joy that is appropriate on this day. Verse 8 states: And the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days, and the days of weeping over the mourning for Moses came to an end. That is to say, Moses' death was mourned in the same normative and limited fashion as is the death of anyone else: for thirty days.

This limitation, together with other elements discussed above, highlights the fact that despite his fame as the greatest of prophets, Moses was only human. Perhaps this can teach us that each of us can, as a human being, rise spiritually in his own way, even if we cannot achieve Moses' station. This is not a matter reserved for "angels."

Let us conclude with a clear statement from R. Meir Simha MiDvinsk's Meshekh Hokhma:

All of the types of holiness, [that of] the Land of Israel, Jerusalem and the Temple, they are but details and branches of the Torah, and they are sanctified through the Torah's holiness... Do not imagine, God forbid, that the Temple and the Tabernacle are intrinsically holy objects! God dwells among His sons in order for them to worship Him, and if they, to a man, have transgressed the Covenant (Hosea 6:7), all holiness is removed from them [the Temple, etc.], and they become like profane vessels "intruders came and desecrated it." Titus entered the Holy of Holies with a prostitute and was not harmed (Gittin 56b) because its holiness had been removed. More than that - the Tablets - the writing of God - are not holy in themselves, but only for your sake when you observe that which is written in them... no created thing is holy in itself, but only in that Israel observes the Torah.

...None of the holy places are founded in religion... [As for] Mount Sinai, the place of religion, as soon as the Divine Presence left it - the sheep and cattle climbed up it (Shemot 19:13)! (Meshekh Hokhmah Shemot 32:19;12: 21)

Yeshayahu Leibowitz broadened this principle to encompass every phenomenon in our lives that we tend to call "holy":

Our Rabbi Moses exemplified this when he broke the tablets as soon as he saw the people transgress the commandment make no idol or image for yourself. We must understand that the expression idol or any image applies not only to the golden calf made by Israel, but to every natural existent: Nation, land, homeland, flag, army, idea, a personality, and so forth, whenever they are treated as being holy. (Y. Leibowitz: Sheva Shanim shel Sihot al Parashiyot HaShavu'a, pg. 401)

Perhaps it is precisely the knowledge that what is left for us is "the Torah of Moses" - which is the "Torah of Life" that can be interpreted in every new generation, and that we are commanded to choose life and not worship of the dead, of graves, or of other objects - that can be a source of true joy and significance.

Pinchas Leiser, editor of Shabbat Shalom, is a psychologist.

 

He dwells securely... between his shoulders he dwells.

Traditional commentary, part plain interpretation, part legendary drash, applies these words to the Temple service on the Temple Mount which lies in the inheritance of the tribe of Binyamin; and if the Temple is the residence of God's glory, then He dwells between its shoulders. But this raises a question: He surrounds him all day. All day? What day? The reference is not to a 24 hour period, a revolution of the earth around its axis; a day of The Holy One, Blessed Be He, is eternity. This means that the dwelling place of God is eternal. But we see that it was not eternal; the Temple was destroyed and the site profaned, and upon it stands an alien sanctuary. There is an eye-opening midrash (found in the book Pitron HaTorah which won acclaim a few years ago when published by one of our generation's scholars, R. Efrayim Urbach). This midrash, from the Gaonic period, contains much material from other, more familiar, midrashim, and also from midrashim which may be original or may have been taken from sources unknown. In this midrash we read something new about, He surrounds him all day and between his shoulders he dwells. Moses' prophetic blessing was actually realized, for the sanctuary which stands there today, the sanctuary of an alien nation, is not a site of idolatry. This sanctuary is a temple of a people which recognizes the Oneness of God and means to serve God, even if it did not receive the Torah and does not serve God by observance of the commandments. We find, then, that this is still a temple for those who worship God in truth. These words were said during the Gaonic period, an era of Arabic rule over the Land of Israel, and they certainly preceded the crusades, during which rule over the Temple Mount passed into the hands of those who do not share our understanding of faith in the Oneness.

(From Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz, z"l He'Araot al Parshiot HaShavua, pp. 140-141)

 

...as manifested by all the signs and wonders, which the Lord had sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and all his servants, and to all his land,

12. and all the strong hand, and all the great awe, which Moses performed before the eyes of all Israel.

(Devarim 34:11-12)

 

Tablets were made by God - is it possible that they be used by idol worshippers?! Therefore he broke them. Witness, then, the greatness of Moses: Aaron and the seventy elders were holding Moses' arms and could not overcome him. Not they alone - even The Holy One, Blessed Be He, did not want him to break them, as is written, by all the signs and wonders - the Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to Moses: Peace be upon that hand, as is written: and all the strong hand.

(Shemot Rabba, Parasha 46)

 

At the Completion of Our Eleventh Year of Publication...

On Shabbat parashat Bereishit of 5758 we started on our way "in love and fear," knowing that many parashat ha'shavua sheets were already being distributed in the synagogues every week. Some of them included articles by famous rabbis, figures of influence in the religious community. Most of them emphasized the importance of the commandment to settle the Land of Israel, sometimes by staking clear stands on controversial political issues, which were presented as the Torah view [da'at Torah]. Sometimes the impression was created that settlement of the Land was presented as being "equal to all the rest of the commandments," as a factor that overrides any other Torah-value.

At the outset of our journey we felt - and we believe even more strongly today - that it is important to let the community hear an alternative voice, a more complex voice, a voice which we hold to be the authentic voice of religious Zionism, one which views our Torah as a "Torah of life."

At first, we were unsure how a sheet expressing a different message would be received by the religious-Zionist community.

Great demand for the sheets, both in Israel and in the Diaspora, and the responses we receive from our readers - including from those who disagree with some of the ideas we propagate - strengthened our impression that today, especially in times when deep disagreements divide the nation, there is room for discussion and debate to take place in a mutually respectful manner, and in cognizance of the notion that "the Torah has seventy aspects." There is room for a "disagreement for the sake of Heaven" regarding fundamental issues as long as all agree that discussion requires attentiveness to the various standpoints and compliance with democratically decided matters of policy.

At this time, when Israeli society is grappling with difficult questions that sometimes require difficult solutions, it is important for us to continue emphasizing those Torah values that seem to us to be no less important than the commandment to settle the Land of Israel. It is important to remind all of us that human beings were created in the Divine image, that we are required to protect the rights of the stranger, that the Torah is a Torah of life and that therefore we must do everything possible to avoid bloodshed and to create a just society, a society committed to fulfilling the needs of its weaker members. These are among the foundation stones of a Jewish Torah society, and the pursuit of peace is also an important religious value.

We have managed to fulfill this mission, and, God willing, we shall continue to fulfill it with your help.

With the completion of this cycle of publication and the beginning of a new year, I would like to thank Miriam Fine, who is responsible for distribution and fund-raising both inside and outside of Israel, Daniel Lazare, who faithfully and devotedly attends to the graphic editing and online publication, our English translator, who prefers to remain anonymous, our regular illustrators, Dov Abramson and Harry Lanbeheim for their pictorial midrashim which grace our pages, our printer, Graphos Print in Jerusalem, and all of our authors, contributors, and readers who make Shabbat Shalom possible.

Hazak hazak ve'nit'hazeik

Pinchas Leiser - Editor

 

 

 

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About us

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom is a movement dedicated to the advancement of a civil society in Israel. It is committed to promoting the ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and justice, concepts that have always been central to Jewish tradition and law.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom shares a deep attachment to the land of Israel and it no less views peace as a central religious value. It believes that Jews have both the religious and the national obligation to support the pursuit of peace. It maintains that Jewish law clearly requires us to create a fair and just society, and that co-existence between Jews and Arabs is not an option but an imperative.

5,000 copies of a 4-page peace oriented commentary on the weekly Torah reading are written and published by Oz VeShalom/Netivot Shalom and they are distributed to over 350 synagogues in Israel and are sent overseas via email. Our web site is www.netivot-shalom.org.il.