Naso 5631 Second Ma'amar

In this week’s parsha we find the law of a person who was accused of stealing and then lied about it under oath. If convicted, this person, must, in addition to returning that which was stolen, bring an asham sacrifice and return a fifth more than he stole. Interestingly, he is only required to bring this sacrifice and pay a fifth more after he admits to his sin as the pasuk states, “וְהִתְוַדו את חטאתם אשר עשו .../They shall confess their sin that they committed …”

The Chidushei HaRim points out that we learn the general mitzvah of confession and repentance from this pasuk. Why does the mitzvah of confession for all sins appear specifically here, associated with the laws of theft? The Torah is teaching us that every sin has an aspect of theft associated with it. God created the world and keeps it in existence continuously. He owns, as it were, everything. One who uses the world in ways which are against His will is stealing. He is using someone else’s property without permission.

Internalizing this concept is certainly a strong preventative to sinning.

Naso 5631 First Ma'amar

“... 'איש או אשה כי יַפְלִא לִנְדֹר נדר נזיר להזיר לה/A man or woman who expresses a Nazirite vow to God …” The pasuk uses an apparently extra word, “יַפְלִא/expresses.” The Zohar explains that this word, from the root peleh which means wondrous and hidden, connotes separate as well. The Nazirite vow is no ordinary vow. The Nazirite is one who distances himself from physical desires and pleasures even as he lives in the physical world surrounded by these desires and pleasures. The Torah is teaching us that even though we are physical beings living in the physical world, we are, to an extent, able to separate from the physical and connect to the hidden spiritual aspect inherent in every physical thing and action.

We find other references to these various meanings of the word peleh. For example, in Tehillim, God is referred to several times as “Osei nifla’os/He does wondrous things.” David HaMelech is teaching us that God infused the seen physical world with an unseen spiritual aspect. In the bracha Asher Yatzar we find that God is, “mafli la’asos/He does things wondrously.” In Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 6, Rav Moshe Iserlis explains this as meaning that God created man – a physical being – and hid a soul in him. Again, the word mafli, whose root is peleh, connotes hidden.

How can physical beings living within the confines of space and time live a life style distanced from the physical and connected to its hidden spiritual roots? The Midrash on this pasuk addresses this very issue. The Midrash explains a pasuk from Shir HaShirim, “שוקיו עמודי שש מיֻסדים על אַדְנֵי פז .../His thighs are pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold …” The Midrash says that “שוקיו/His thighs” refers to this world. This is because “שוקיו/His thighs” has the same root as “תשוקה/desire” and God yearned to create the world as we find in another pasuk in Shir HaShirim, “... ועלי תשוקתו/… his desire is upon me,” referring to God yearning for the Creation. How do we know that this pasuk refers to the Creation? The Midrash answers with a pasuk describing the completion of the Creation, the Shabbos, “... ויכֻלו השמים והארץ/The heavens and the earth were completed …” “ויכֻלו/They were completed” has the same root as the Hebrew word for yearning. We find, for example, in Tehillim, “כלתה נפשי/my soul yearns.” From here we know that God yearned to create the world.

How, though, can “ויכֻלו/They were completed” prove this, though? If anything, “ויכֻלו/They were completed” refers to the Creation yearning, not God yearning. The Sfas Emes explains that God created a physical world far removed from spirituality. In this lowly physical world the possibility of yearning for Him can exist. We long for that which we do not have, not for the things that we already have. On Shabbos with the completion of the Creation, every part of the Creation yearned to do the will of God, in essence, to come close to Him. On Shabbos, everything is naturally elevated and yearns to come closer to God. When the Midrash says that God yearns for this world, then, it means that He yearns for our yearning to come close to Him. This is why the pasuk of, “ויכֻלו/They were completed” meaning that the Creation longs for God, is followed by, “ויכל א-להים/The Lord completed,” suggesting that God also longed for the Creation. In fact, the implication is that because the Creation yearned for God, God in response yearned for the Creation.

Once we long to come close to God, how do we do it? The Midrash continues, “... מיֻסדים על אדני פז/… set upon sockets of fine gold.” Sockets of fine gold are the base upon which the world rests. This is a reference to three things on which the world is based, chochma/wisdom, bina/understanding, and da’as/knowledge. Since the Creation is defined as that which yearns for closeness to its Creator, it follows that the base of the Creation is that which can be used to come close to the Creator. We need to use our wisdom to realize that we cannot fathom God and we need to subordinate our will to His. Realizing this, leads to awe of God as the pasuk states, “הן יראת ה' היא חכמה .../Behold, fear of God is wisdom ...” Understanding means that we internalize our awe of God to prevent us from sinning as the pasuk continues, “... וסור מרע בינה/… and turning from evil is understanding.” Finally, knowledge is drawing the wisdom and understanding into our actions and midos.

The Midrash teaches us that we can live in the physical world and still connect to its spiritual roots. First, we need to long for it. Yearning to attach to the hidden spiritual life force, to come close to God, leads to using our wisdom, understanding and knowledge to reach this goal.

Shavuos 5631 First Day (1rst half of the ma'amar)

The Torah refers to Shavuos as Yom HaBikurim/The Day of the First Fruit. The Torah itself explains that on Shavuos a meal offering is brought from the new wheat harvest. This new wheat is referred to as the first fruit. On a deeper level the Sfas Emes associates the name Yom HaBikurim with the giving of the Torah which occurred on Shavuos. What is the connection between Yom HaBikurim and the giving of the Torah?

The Zohar teaches that God used the Torah to create the world. If God used the Torah, then the life force that causes every creation to continue to exist comes through the Torah. Chazal teach that the Torah itself is called, ראשית/first. The first source of power, is the Torah. Rashi in the beginning of Breishis quotes a pasuk in Tehillim, “כֹח מעשיו הגיד לעמו .../He told his nation the power of His deeds …” Rashi explains that this pasuk refers to the story of the Creation in the Torah. The Sfas Emes understands this to mean that the Torah itself is the power of His deeds.

This concept is alluded to in the first bracha of Krias Shma of Shacharis, “המחדש בטובו בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית/In His goodness He renews the workings of the Creation every day continuously.” Chazal explain that טוב/good is an allusion to the Torah. This bracha can be translated, then, as, “With the Torah He renews the workings of the Creation every day continuously.”

Each day God renews the Creation subtly. We are not generally aware of the creative force that keeps the entire Creation from ceasing to exist at every moment. This creative force is within everything. On Shavuos, the day the Torah was given, every part of the Creation became aware of its spiritual root, the source of the creative force. God’s creative force was thus revealed. This is the meaning of Moshe Rabbeinu’s statement, “פנים בפנים דבר ה' עמכם בהר .../God spoke with you face to face on the mountain …” This is also hinted at by Chazal when they said that with every word that God uttered the Creation was filled with perfume. Also, every word that God uttered split into the seventy spoken languages of the world. The concept is the same. The giving of the Torah resulted in a universal awareness of God’s spiritual life force that comes into the universe through the Torah.

This concept is also alluded to by the Zohar. The Zohar states that the ten commandments parallel the ten sayings with which God created the world. What is the relationship between the ten sayings and the ten commandments? The ten sayings are the mechanism through which God infuses the world with life force, with existence. Paradoxically, they are also the mechanism by which God’s life force is hidden behind a façade of “nature.” Looking around us, it is not apparent that there is a spiritual life force at all. The ten commandments, on the other hand, are a clear revelation of God’s will. At the giving of the ten commandments it was revealed that the Creation receives existence through the Torah. The difference between the hidden aspect of the ten sayings and the revelation aspect of the ten commandments is hinted at by the word for saying and the word for commandment. מאמר/Saying is a lighter form whereas דיבור/speech is a more powerful form. We find, for example, in Koheles, “... דבר מלך שלטון .../… A kings word is rule …” (The Sfas Emes points out in parshas Bo 5631, that דיבור/speech in Aramaic means leadership, certainly an aspect of revelation. )

In fact, the primary קבלת התורה/acceptance of the Torah, is this revelation. Onkelos alludes to it when he translates , “וירד ה' על הר סיני .../God descended onto Mount Sinai …” as, “God revealed Himself on Mount Sinai.” The literal translation is problematic since God’s glory fills the entire Creation. Onkelos understands God’s descending as revelation.

The answer to our first question, then, is that Yom HaBikurim/Day of the First Fruit suggests ראשית/first (The Midrash says that Bikurim are also called Reishis.) Shavuos is the day on which the entire Creation connected to and became aware of the aspect of “Reishis” – the power of life that diffuses throughout the Creation through the Torah. As the Sfas Emes said before, this revelation is the primary קבלת התורה/acceptance of the Torah. May we merit it!

Shavuos 5631 First Night

The proper performance of mitzvos requires preparation. This is such an important concept that God built it right into the Creation. In Tehillim we find, “משמים השמעת דין ארץ יָרְאָה וְשָׁקָטָה/From heaven You made judgment heard; the earth feared and subsided.” This pasuk contains an apparent contradiction. How can the earth be both fearful and calm at the same time? Chazal tell us that first the earth was fearful. Afterwards it was calm. Rashi explains that it was fearful before we accepted the Torah. After we accepted the Torah it was calm. Why did the earth care whether we accepted the Torah or not? Reish Lakish explains that God created the world on the condition that the nation of Israel accept the Torah. If we had not accepted the Torah, the Creation would have lost it raison d’etre and would have ceased to exist. So, before we accepted the Torah, the earth was understandably fearful.

The Sfas Emes points out that Chazal are teaching us that fear before and calm after go hand in hand. The fear is a prerequisite which leads to the calm. The universe was apprehensive because its very existence depended upon Israel accepting the Torah. By making the existence of the world dependent upon our accepting the Torah, God had built into nature, at the time of Creation, a tension that naturally produced conditions which were conducive to accepting the Torah. This tension can be seen as a preparation for accepting the Torah.

The Sfas Emes teaches us that what was true for nature at the giving of the Torah is true for us with regard to each and every mitzvah. Ideally, mitzvos are performed with love. In order to reach the ideal, we need to be concerned about doing them. We need to care. One who is concerned about performing a mitzvah makes sure that he is in a state of readiness for when the opportunity presents itself. This is the meaning of the pasuk, “ושמרתם ועשיתם .../You will keep and you will do …” Chazal tell us that “ושמרתם/You will keep” refers to negative commandments. Negative commandments are generally associated with fear or awe whereas positive commands are associated with love. The feeling of fear or awe which prevents us from transgressing negative commandments corresponds to the concern which keeps us in a state of preparedness for performing mitzvos with love. Through this state of preparedness we merit “ועשיתם/and you will do”, referring to the positive commandments. We find this concept in a pasuk in Tehillim as well, “סור מרע ועשה טוב/Turn from evil and do good.” Turning from evil prepares us to do good.

The pasuk in Tehillim uses an earth metaphor to teach us that by being concerned about performing mitzvos and then performing them with love, following the dictum we learn from “... ארץ יראה ושקטה/… the earth feared and subsided,” we elevate the physical world as well.

This is the concept of “זכור ושמור/Remember and keep.” The first time the ten commandments are mentioned in the Torah at the giving of the Torah, we find, “זכור את יום השבת .../Remember the Shabbos day …” Forty years later, when Moshe repeats the story of the acceptance of the Torah he says, “שמור את יום השבת .../Keep the Shabbos day …” Why the change from זכור/Remember to שמור/Keep? Moshe Rabbeinu certainly did not change what God said. Chazal tell us that God said, and we heard, both זכור/Remember and שמור/Keep simultaneously. The mitzvah of keeping Shabbos actually comprises both a positive and negative commandment. זכור/Remember refers to observing the positive commandment of Shabbos. שמור refers to the negative commandment of Shabbos. On a deeper level זכור/Remember on its highest level is not really remembering at all. Rather it is a connection to something at such a deep level that it becomes a part of us to the extent that there is no possibility of forgetting. This is a very high level that not everyone merits reaching. However, Chazal are teaching us that a person who is careful about שמור – a person who keeps himself in a constant state of preparedness, whose primary concern is to do mitzvos, God’s will – is included in זכור/Remember on its highest level as well. That person will merit achieving God’s will.

This is the inner meaning of the principle Chazal learn with regard to keeping Shabbos, “מי שישנו בשמירה ישנו בזכירה/Whoever is in the category of keeping, is also in the category of remembering.” Chazal use this principal to explain why women are required to keep the positive commandment of Shabbos even though ordinarily they are not required to keep those positive commandments which we are obligated to perform only at specific times. The Sfas Emes explains that there is a deeper meaning as well to this principle. To reach the highest level of remembering, a level at which one identifies completely with the mitzvos, one needs to nurture a sense of care and concern keeping himself in a state of readiness for those very mitzvos.

Bemidbar 5631 Third Ma'amar

In this week’s parsha the Torah describes the arrangement of the nation’s encampment in the desert. The Mishkan was in the exact center of the encampment. Surrounding the Mishkan were Moshe and Aharon, Aharon’s children and the Levites. The remainder of the nation camped farther away around the Mishkan. The Levites’ task was to guard the Mishkan. Only the Levites were permitted to come close to the Mishkan, to take it down when they traveled, to carry the vessels of the Mishkan and to erect it when they camped. A member of any other tribe who approached the Mishkan to do this work was subject to death at the hand of God.

The Levites merited this task because they did not participate in the sin of the golden calf. However, there were certainly members of other tribes who were on a higher level than the lowest of the Levites. Why were the lowest of the Levites permitted to approach the Mishkan while these righteous people were not? The Sfas Emes explains that although subordination to God and working hard to serve Him properly is His primary desire of us, there is a limit to how close God will allow us to come to Him. God chose the Levites and no amount of work will change this. Having said this, we are still able to come as close to God as the Levites by strongly identifying with the nation. By feeling a part of the nation of Israel, and by realizing that God chose the entire nation, we participate in the closeness of the Levites as well. The Levites, after all, represent us in their service before God.

We find this idea in a Midrash in this week’s parsha. At the end of the paragraph describing the encampment of the Levites the pasuk states, “והלוים יחנו סביב למשכן העדות ... ויעשו בני ישראל ככל אשר צוה ה' את משה .../And the Levites camped around the Mishkan of the testimony … and the children of Israel did all that God had commanded Moshe …” What is it that the children of Israel did? The Midrash explains that they moved farther away from the Mishkan to make room for the Levites.

The Sfas Emes notes that the Midrash is teaching us that the nation helped the Levites to come close to God by making room for them. The nation understood that the Levites were God’s chosen within the nation and acquiesced to God’s will that their service would be through the chosen ones rather than directly. By identifying with the nation as a whole each individual would benefit from the closeness of the Levites whose work was on behalf of the nation. The Sfas Emes points out that this is the meaning of the pasuk, “... לקחתי את הלוים מתוך בני ישראל .../… I took the Levites from the midst of the children of Israel …” The Levites were not coming close to God in a vacuum. Rather they were serving God from amongst the nation of Israel. The Levites could only come close to God because they were coming from the nation.

When we identify with, subordinate ourselves to, and understand our role as part of the nation, our task as individuals gains clarity.