B"H
Dvarim (Deut) Ch. 26:1 reads:
והיה כי תבוא אל הארץ אשר ה' אלקיך נתן לך נחלה וירשתה וישבת בה
Loosely translated:
And it shall come to pass when you enter the land which the L-rd your G-d gives you as inheritance and you shall inherit it and dwell in it....
Rashi comments on the sentence:
והיה כי תבוא וגו' וירשתה וישבת בה: מגיד שלא נתחייבו בבכורים עד שכבשו את הארץ וחלקוה
Loosely translated:
When you come etc... and you shall inherit it and dell in it: teaches us that they were not obligated to bring the first-fruits until after the conquered the land and divided it (amongst the tribes.)
Rahi gets this interpretation for the juxtaposition of 16:1 which talks about conquering the land with 16:2 which talks about bring the first-fruits as a thankgiving offering:
ולקחת מראשית כל פרי האדמה אשר תביא מארצך אשר ה' אלקיך נתן לך ושמת בטנא
Loosely translated:
And you shall take from all first-fruit of your land which you shall harvest from the land that the L-rd your G-d gives you and you shall put it in a basket.
Because conquering the land (and diving it) is juxtaposed to bringing the first-fruits as an offering to Hashem, it's clear that the former is a prerequisite for the second, as Rashi points out.
But Rashi is telling us something a bit deeper:
Conquering the land took 7 years. Dividing it took another 7. The whole process took 14 years, then. However, once the conquering was over and the division process has began, some people would have gotten their potion earlier-on, while other got their portion toward the end of the 14 years.
One might think that the people who got their portion earlier would be obligated to bring the first-fruit thanksgiving offering earlier (i.e. once their fields yielded crop, which could even be the very same year they got their portion.)
Rashi therefore clarifies this for us: despite the fact that by the end of the 14 years the land was fully divided, those who got their portion earlier-on did not bring their first-fruit thanksgiving offering until after EVERYONE got their portion. (Goes to show us that a Jew cannot be fully happy with their lot if he/she knows that their's another Jew out there somewhere who is lacking theirs!)
So, according to this Rashi, the term והיה כי תבוא (=And it shall come to pass when you enter the land) does not mean "as soon as you enter the land". In other words, "when you enter" does not mean "when you physically set foot". Instead, Rashi tells us that "when you enter" means "when you wholly enter, every last Jew enters and gets their allotted portion."
Put differently, the שלמות (=wholeness, completion and perfection) of entering the land only occured when everyone got their portion. Until that time (14 years after physically entering the land) it cannot be said that the Jews "entered the land" in the complete sense.
Some sources (need citation) also give a homiletic interpretation of 16:1
והיה כי תבוא: And it shall come to pass that when the Jewish neshama (=soul) enters
אל הארץ: into the earthly (mundane) body
אשר ה' אלקיך נתן לך: that the L-rd G-d has provided you with
And Rashi comments (as derived above) that the wholeness and perfection of this entrance is only once the land (=homiletically the mundane body) is fully conquered and divided. What does it mean to conquer and divide the mundane body?
An answer:
Each person has within him-/herself the pull towards mundane, earthly things (=ארציות) . The Torah is teaching us that the neshama isn't fully finished entering the body, in שלמות, until the Jew battles his animalistic-self and conquers his/her ארציות and subjugates it to the service of Hashem, thereby rectifying it and making bringing it into the realm of holiness.
Once that's done, and a person's ארציות has been elevated and conquering is therefore complete, it is time to divide the mundane body: each part of the body is involved in a different manner of serving Hashem: the hand is set aside for giving Tzdaka (charity) and downing Teffilin. The foot is set aside for walking to study hall. The head is set aside for learning Hashem's Torah. The heart for loving Hashem, etc...
When a person reaches this level of conquering his/her ארציות and then dividing and giving each body part the prescribed mitzvot specific to it and engaging it in its specific service of Hashem, then it can be said that the neshama has "Wholly entered the body with שלמות."
On the surface, this presents one small complication: battling with the body's inclinations and conquering one's ארציות is something that's related to בעלי תשובה (=penitents). However, for צדיקים (=righteous individuals) there's no war to fight and no ארציות to conquer: a צדיק has no animalistic self. By such a person, there's only the division part that needs to take place, without a prerequisite war. Where is this hinted to in the Torah?
A possible answer: In Bamidbar (Numbers) Ch. 21:32 we find:
וישלח משה לרגל את יעזר וילכדו בנתיה
Loosely translated:
And Moshe sent spies to spy on Yahzer, and they conquered [it and] it's suburbs (see Rashi on the verse).
So, the spies were able to conquer the whole land of Israel, if they did not go off the path of righteousness and drag the whole nation with them.
Therefore, theoretically, if the spies did indeed conquer the land during the 40 days they spent there then the Jewish people would have maintained the status of צדיקים and would have have not needed to resort to fighting a war -- simply enter the land and divide it amongst themselves -- as is the case of a צדיקים. However, since they allowed themselves to follow the spies they ended falling from the level of צדיקים to the point that they needed to repent and become בעלי תשובה, which necessitate fighting with ארציות.
Good shabbos!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Compulsory or voluntary?
B"H
Dvarim (Deut.) Ch. 21:10 reads:
כי תצא למלחמה על איביך ונתנו ה' אלקיך בידך...
Loosely translated:
When you go to war against your enemies, the L-rd G-d will deliver him into your hands...
Rashi's commentary reads:
כי תצא למלחמה - במלחמת הרשות הכתוב מדבר
Loosely translated:
When you go to war - Scripture refers to a voluntary war...
So, the war appears to be one which the Jewish people were not coerced into, but rather one that's fought for other reasons.
However, a homiletic interpretation of "Your enemy" is the יצר הרע (=evil inclination) that a person possesses within. In other words, the scripture says that when you do battle with the evil inclination, Hashem will surly help by helping you defeat it.
Now, battle with one's evil inclination is not voluntary. In other words, one is obligated (and indeed compelled) to fight his/her own evil inclination at all times, as is alluded to in many verses in Torah. (For instance: Dvaim 17:7)
So then, what is this war being fought here? Is it voluntary (as Rashi explains) or is it compulsory?
A possible approach:
Possibly both approaches are true, but they relate to different individuals. The individual who cannot successfully provoke his/her evil inclination and do battle with it and defeat it is told that this is a voluntary war, i.e., "go for it, if you feel up to the challenge." After all, not everyone's up to the challenge and even those that are may end up loosing the battle. So, the battle is tagged as voluntary. Should the evil inclination be kindled and attach the Jew, on the other hand, then of-course the Jew is obligation to defend him- or herself.
An altogether different individual, on the other hand, who is very strong in his yiddishkait and will not be swayed by his/her evil inclination (because his evil inclination cannot exercise control over his/her actions) is commanded to actually provoke and go to war on the evil inclination until it's totally defeated and nullified.
It's also noteworthy that the term used here is על איביך which literally translates to "[go to war] over your enemies", and not עם איביך (...with your enemies) or נגד איביך (...against your enemies.) This would indicate that the Almighty give the Jew all the necessary strength to go to war with his evil inclination, but from the very get-go to be at an advantageous position -- "over you enemies." The evil inclination has no chance if a Jew is approaching the battle-field with the knowledge the the outcome of the battle has already been decided in advance: evil inclination TKO'ed in the first round.
Good shabbos.
Dvarim (Deut.) Ch. 21:10 reads:
כי תצא למלחמה על איביך ונתנו ה' אלקיך בידך...
Loosely translated:
When you go to war against your enemies, the L-rd G-d will deliver him into your hands...
Rashi's commentary reads:
כי תצא למלחמה - במלחמת הרשות הכתוב מדבר
Loosely translated:
When you go to war - Scripture refers to a voluntary war...
So, the war appears to be one which the Jewish people were not coerced into, but rather one that's fought for other reasons.
However, a homiletic interpretation of "Your enemy" is the יצר הרע (=evil inclination) that a person possesses within. In other words, the scripture says that when you do battle with the evil inclination, Hashem will surly help by helping you defeat it.
Now, battle with one's evil inclination is not voluntary. In other words, one is obligated (and indeed compelled) to fight his/her own evil inclination at all times, as is alluded to in many verses in Torah. (For instance: Dvaim 17:7)
So then, what is this war being fought here? Is it voluntary (as Rashi explains) or is it compulsory?
A possible approach:
Possibly both approaches are true, but they relate to different individuals. The individual who cannot successfully provoke his/her evil inclination and do battle with it and defeat it is told that this is a voluntary war, i.e., "go for it, if you feel up to the challenge." After all, not everyone's up to the challenge and even those that are may end up loosing the battle. So, the battle is tagged as voluntary. Should the evil inclination be kindled and attach the Jew, on the other hand, then of-course the Jew is obligation to defend him- or herself.
An altogether different individual, on the other hand, who is very strong in his yiddishkait and will not be swayed by his/her evil inclination (because his evil inclination cannot exercise control over his/her actions) is commanded to actually provoke and go to war on the evil inclination until it's totally defeated and nullified.
It's also noteworthy that the term used here is על איביך which literally translates to "[go to war] over your enemies", and not עם איביך (...with your enemies) or נגד איביך (...against your enemies.) This would indicate that the Almighty give the Jew all the necessary strength to go to war with his evil inclination, but from the very get-go to be at an advantageous position -- "over you enemies." The evil inclination has no chance if a Jew is approaching the battle-field with the knowledge the the outcome of the battle has already been decided in advance: evil inclination TKO'ed in the first round.
Good shabbos.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
To live or not to live?
B"H
Tractate Erovin, Ch. 1, pg. 13b reads:
נחלקו ב"ש וב"ה הללו אומרים נוח לו לאדם שלא נברא יותר משנברא והללו אומרים נוח לו לאדם שנברא יותר משלא נברא נמנו וגמרו נוח לו לאדם שלא נברא יותר משנברא עכשיו שנברא יפשפש במעשיו
Loosely translated:
The followers of Shamai and the followers of Hillel had a disagreement: The formers argued "it's more beneficial for Adam not to have been created, more so that having been created" while the latter argued "it's more beneficial for Adam to have been created, more so than not having been created." They debated the matter and concluded that "it's more beneficial for Adam not to have been created, however, now that he has been created he should examine his deeds..."
This verse uses the term "Adam" which could be understood to mean the first human being Adam, but could also be understood to mean all Adam's descendants (i.e., all of humanity), by extension.
The above disagreement is a bit odd, to say the least. While the position of the followers of Hillel can be understood plainly, what do the followers of Shamai mean by it's better not having been created?
After all, we were created. Having said that how could they come to the conclusion that it's better than we weren't created?
An explanation:
An analogy is in order: suppose a person is requested to invest a very large sum of money in some business venture. He is told that there's 248 possible outcomes in which he's going to double his/her investment, while there are 365 other outcomes in which he/she will loose everyting. Any reasonable investor is going to back out of the deal really quickly. Why the odds of loosing are significantly greater than those of gaining.
Now, the analog in the Jewish soul: when it descends into this world it invests itself in a corporeal body. The Jew is obligated to keep 248 positive commandments. When a positive commandment is perform, a Jew's bond to the Almighty gets stronger. While the Jew is also obligated to keep 365 prohibitive commandments. When a prohibition is transgressed, heaven forbid, a Jew's bond to the Almighty weakens.
A straight forward calculation reveals that "it's more beneficial for Adam not to have been created..." because there are just so many more ways Adam (i.e., a person) can get hurt from this, than he/she can benefit from it."
This is also alluded to in the word נמנו, which the Gmarah uses: in this context it means "debated" but it is etymologically related to מנו (=the counted.) I.e., the students of Shamai and Hillel counted the mitzvot and came to the conclusion that there are too many prohibitions relative to the positive commandments.
So the question then becomes: Why were we created after all, then?
To answer it, we can dig a bit into the Jewish understanding of performing a commandment. The performance of mitzvot (commandments) can be in one of three ways:
1. the mitzvah is performed with all the right intention, livelihood, joy and enthusiasm, or
2. the actual mitzvah-action is performed, but it's not accompanied by any of the above or
3. all the intentions etc are right, but there's no actual physical performance.
It's explained that when a person does a mitzvah, an angel is created (to advocate for that person.) However, כמים פנים אל הפנים i.e., just as a person performs the mitzvah so to is the angel that's created. Each angel has a "body" (albeit noncorporeal) and a "soul". So:
1. when the performance of a mitzvah is done with all the right spirit, the angel is created with a good body and a health soul.
2. when the performance of the mitzvah is done without the right intentions, i.e., it's lacking in spirit, so too is the angel: a strong body, but it's lacking a soul.
3. when the performance of a mitzvah is lacking in the actual doing, but there's all the right intention is spirit, then a soul of an angel is created but there's no body to vest it into.
G-d Almighty does something very neat, as it alluded to in Kiddushin Ch. 1, pg, 40a:
מחשבה טובה מצרפה למעשה
Loosly translated:
(G-d) joins a good thought to a deed.
In the context above: there's a number of soul-less angels out there that resulted from a mitzvot performed without the right intentions and a number of body-less angel-souls out there resulting from Jews having the right intentions but not following up on them. So, the Almighty takes a these souls (=good thoughts) and joins them in these angel bodies (=deed), thereby creating a good and healthy angel!
So, in a sense each positive mitzvah can be counted twice: once on the count of the intentions, and once on the count of the actual deed. And rewards for the mitzvah are dished out.
On the other hand, a person can have all the intentions in the world to transgress, but never actually does anything to actualize these intentions, then there's no punishment dished out -- since there's no deed associated with these intentions.
So, we find that on the account of positive commandments there's twice the reward per mitzvah than prohibitions. This can explain why Adam was indeed created: true there are many more possibly paths leading away from the almighty, but each path leading to the almighty is twice as wide. That is, indeed there are 365 prohibitions that detract from a persons connection to the Almighty, but there are 2x248=496 ways to connect to the Almighty), so to speak. The landscape changes because with positive commandements, intentions alone carry weight, while with prohibitions they do not!
While on the subject of deeds, the Gmarah continues:
עכשיו שנברא יפשפש במעשיו
I.e., now that the person is created, he should examine his deeds, to ensure that he/she is heading in the 2x248 direction rather than in the 365 direction, heaven forbid.
This also connects to the month of Elul (which we're in, at the time of writing). The month of Elul has been specifically set aside as the month of introspection and self-adjustment and self-refinement. A person should examine his/her deeds and ensure that he/she is on the correct path as we approach the days of Awe which immediately follow the month of Elul.
Leshana tovah tikatevu vetichatemu.
Tractate Erovin, Ch. 1, pg. 13b reads:
נחלקו ב"ש וב"ה הללו אומרים נוח לו לאדם שלא נברא יותר משנברא והללו אומרים נוח לו לאדם שנברא יותר משלא נברא נמנו וגמרו נוח לו לאדם שלא נברא יותר משנברא עכשיו שנברא יפשפש במעשיו
Loosely translated:
The followers of Shamai and the followers of Hillel had a disagreement: The formers argued "it's more beneficial for Adam not to have been created, more so that having been created" while the latter argued "it's more beneficial for Adam to have been created, more so than not having been created." They debated the matter and concluded that "it's more beneficial for Adam not to have been created, however, now that he has been created he should examine his deeds..."
This verse uses the term "Adam" which could be understood to mean the first human being Adam, but could also be understood to mean all Adam's descendants (i.e., all of humanity), by extension.
The above disagreement is a bit odd, to say the least. While the position of the followers of Hillel can be understood plainly, what do the followers of Shamai mean by it's better not having been created?
After all, we were created. Having said that how could they come to the conclusion that it's better than we weren't created?
An explanation:
An analogy is in order: suppose a person is requested to invest a very large sum of money in some business venture. He is told that there's 248 possible outcomes in which he's going to double his/her investment, while there are 365 other outcomes in which he/she will loose everyting. Any reasonable investor is going to back out of the deal really quickly. Why the odds of loosing are significantly greater than those of gaining.
Now, the analog in the Jewish soul: when it descends into this world it invests itself in a corporeal body. The Jew is obligated to keep 248 positive commandments. When a positive commandment is perform, a Jew's bond to the Almighty gets stronger. While the Jew is also obligated to keep 365 prohibitive commandments. When a prohibition is transgressed, heaven forbid, a Jew's bond to the Almighty weakens.
A straight forward calculation reveals that "it's more beneficial for Adam not to have been created..." because there are just so many more ways Adam (i.e., a person) can get hurt from this, than he/she can benefit from it."
This is also alluded to in the word נמנו, which the Gmarah uses: in this context it means "debated" but it is etymologically related to מנו (=the counted.) I.e., the students of Shamai and Hillel counted the mitzvot and came to the conclusion that there are too many prohibitions relative to the positive commandments.
So the question then becomes: Why were we created after all, then?
To answer it, we can dig a bit into the Jewish understanding of performing a commandment. The performance of mitzvot (commandments) can be in one of three ways:
1. the mitzvah is performed with all the right intention, livelihood, joy and enthusiasm, or
2. the actual mitzvah-action is performed, but it's not accompanied by any of the above or
3. all the intentions etc are right, but there's no actual physical performance.
It's explained that when a person does a mitzvah, an angel is created (to advocate for that person.) However, כמים פנים אל הפנים i.e., just as a person performs the mitzvah so to is the angel that's created. Each angel has a "body" (albeit noncorporeal) and a "soul". So:
1. when the performance of a mitzvah is done with all the right spirit, the angel is created with a good body and a health soul.
2. when the performance of the mitzvah is done without the right intentions, i.e., it's lacking in spirit, so too is the angel: a strong body, but it's lacking a soul.
3. when the performance of a mitzvah is lacking in the actual doing, but there's all the right intention is spirit, then a soul of an angel is created but there's no body to vest it into.
G-d Almighty does something very neat, as it alluded to in Kiddushin Ch. 1, pg, 40a:
מחשבה טובה מצרפה למעשה
Loosly translated:
(G-d) joins a good thought to a deed.
In the context above: there's a number of soul-less angels out there that resulted from a mitzvot performed without the right intentions and a number of body-less angel-souls out there resulting from Jews having the right intentions but not following up on them. So, the Almighty takes a these souls (=good thoughts) and joins them in these angel bodies (=deed), thereby creating a good and healthy angel!
So, in a sense each positive mitzvah can be counted twice: once on the count of the intentions, and once on the count of the actual deed. And rewards for the mitzvah are dished out.
On the other hand, a person can have all the intentions in the world to transgress, but never actually does anything to actualize these intentions, then there's no punishment dished out -- since there's no deed associated with these intentions.
So, we find that on the account of positive commandments there's twice the reward per mitzvah than prohibitions. This can explain why Adam was indeed created: true there are many more possibly paths leading away from the almighty, but each path leading to the almighty is twice as wide. That is, indeed there are 365 prohibitions that detract from a persons connection to the Almighty, but there are 2x248=496 ways to connect to the Almighty), so to speak. The landscape changes because with positive commandements, intentions alone carry weight, while with prohibitions they do not!
While on the subject of deeds, the Gmarah continues:
עכשיו שנברא יפשפש במעשיו
I.e., now that the person is created, he should examine his deeds, to ensure that he/she is heading in the 2x248 direction rather than in the 365 direction, heaven forbid.
This also connects to the month of Elul (which we're in, at the time of writing). The month of Elul has been specifically set aside as the month of introspection and self-adjustment and self-refinement. A person should examine his/her deeds and ensure that he/she is on the correct path as we approach the days of Awe which immediately follow the month of Elul.
Leshana tovah tikatevu vetichatemu.
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