Tavo 5632 First Ma'amar

The first Tanchuma in this week's parsha explains the pasuk, “הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה ה' אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ מְצַוְּךָ לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת־הַחֻקִּים .../This day God, your Lord commands you to do these laws …” (Devarim 26:16)  This pasuk is written in the present tense in order to teach us to view the laws of the Torah as if they were given to us now in the present.  God wants us to relate to the Torah with the excitement of novelty.

The Sfas Emes learns from this Midrash that there is no novelty in the physical world.  All newness comes from outside the physical world as we pray each day that God, "מחדש בטובו בכל יום תמיד מעשה בראשית/in His goodness, renews the workings of the Creation continuously each day."  Being aware of renewal in the world is a way of becoming aware of God.  We can become aware of novelty by always harking back to the beginning of things.  It is at the beginning that novelty is most acutely perceived.

The Torah contains many examples encouraging us to remember beginnings.  The mitzvah of Bikurim, mentioned at the beginning of this week's parsha is one example.  We are enjoined to bring the first fruit of our fields to the Beis HaMikdash.

Another example is prayer.  In fact, the Midrash quoted above teaches us that there is a close connection between Bikurim and prayer.  The Midrash relates that Moshe Rabbeinu foresaw a time when there would be no Beis HaMikdash and we would not be able to observe the mitzvah of Bikurim.  To compensate, he instituted daily prayers.  What is the connection between Bikurim and the daily prayers?  How do daily prayers compensate for the mitzvah of Bikurim?

The Chiddushei HaRim explains that the fundamental aspect of the mitzvah of Bikurim is that we dedicate our first produce to God.  As well, when we pray in the morning, we dedicate our first activity of the day to God.

The mitzvah of remembering the Exodus is another example of remembering beginnings.  We are required to remember the Exodus each and every day.  In fact, when we declaim upon bringing our first fruit to the Beis HaMikdash, that God brought us to the land of Israel, we preface with a summary of the story of our sojourn in Egypt and salvation.  Remembering the beginning of our nationhood strengthens our connection with God who gives us existence on a continuous basis.

Chazal[1] teach us that as a way of preventing sin, we should remember our humble physical beginnings.

Another reason that we remember the Exodus daily is in order to remind us of our own personal salvations.  The Sfas Emes teaches that not only did we, as a nation, experience a national Yetzi'as Mitzrayim/Exodus from Egypt, each of us individually can and may have experienced a personal salvation.  The word for Egypt – מצרים – in Hebrew has the same root as the word for narrow straits – מצרים.  When we are experiencing a crisis we may feel like we are inside a strait.  We may feel that our options are limited.  But then, God opens up new opportunities for us.  Suddenly, we have more options.  We are able to overcome the crisis.  We have experienced a personal Exodus.  Remembering personal Exoduses connects us to God.

The basis for these examples is the concept that all novelty, all renewal comes from outside the physical world.  Elsewhere the Sfas Emes learns this concept from a pasuk in Koheles, "אין כל חדש תחת השמש/There is nothing new under the sun."  The implication is that above the sun, outside the physical world, there is renewal.  All renewal comes from God and everything is being renewed constantly.  We acknowledge this, internalize it and can experience God, by remembering beginnings.

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[1] Avos 3:1

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!