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Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
The concluding words of our parasha and Sefer Vayikra begin with the phrase, “aleh hamitzvot asher tzivah Hashem et Moshe—These are the commandments that Hashem commanded Moshe.” (Sefer Vayikra 27:34). This refers to the complete and final body of law that Hashem revealed to Moshe on Har Sinai, and is interpreted by the Sifra on our verse and Talmud Yerushalmi, Megillah 1:5, in this manner:

“Aleh hamitzvot that Hashem commanded Moshe.” These are the mitzvot that we were commanded directly by Moshe, and so, too, did Moshe say to us: “There will never be another prophet in the future who will create new mitzvot (literally, davar) for you from this point forward.” (Translation my own)
 
There are a number of passages in Talmud Bavli, as well, that follow this approach in explicating the phrase, “aleh hamitzvot.” One of the better-known examples is found in Yoma 80a:

Measures of punishments are halakha transmitted to Moshe from Sinai. Others say: These measures were instituted by the court of Jabez [Rashi, Atniale ben Kanaz]. The Gemara questions this: How can this be? Isn’t it written: “aleh hamitzvot which Hashem commanded Moshe for the children of Israel at Har Sinai?” (Sefer Vayikra 27:34). The word “aleh” underscores that a prophet is not permitted to introduce any new element related to the Torah and its mitzvot from here on. Rather, over the course of time, the people forgot the measures; subsequently the prophets reestablished the measures and taught them to the masses. (The Koren Talmud Bavli, translation, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz zatzal, with my emendations)
 
In his Commentary on the Mishnah, the Rambam (1135-1204) counts the principle of the immutability of the Torah among the Ikkarei Emunah (Essential Principles of Faith):
The Ninth Principle of Faith is that of nullification. This means that the Torah of Moshe will neither be nullified nor will there ever be another Torah in addition to it from Hashem. It will never be added thereto nor be detracted therefrom, neither in writing nor through explanation. As is stated in the Torah: “You shall neither add to it, nor subtract from it.” (Sefer Devarim 13:1, Masechet Sanhedrin, Introduction to Perek Chalek, translation my own)
 
The concept of the fixity of the Torah could lead one to believe that the Torah is static and does not adjust to new scenarios. In his newly published work, Divrei Soferim: The Transmission of Torah Shebe’a Peh, Rav Hershel Schachter shlita strongly rejects this idea: “The principle of the immutability of the Torah that we have outlined should not be confused, though, with the mistaken notion that religious practice never adapts to changing conditions.” (All quotations, page 145)  To buttress his position, Rav Schachter cites Rabbi Soloveitchik’s exposition of the pasuk: “And Yitzchak again dug the wells of water which they had dug in the days of his father, Avraham…and he gave them names like the names that his father had given them.” (Sefer Bereishit 26:18, translation, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach) The Rav (1903-1993) zatzal suggests: “Yitzchak followed the exact Masorah (tradition) of his father. This is why when there was a famine in the land, Yitzchak traveled to Gerar, intending to dwell in Mitzrayim, just as his father had done earlier.” Rashi (1040-1105) on Sefer Bereishit 36:12 notes, however, that following the Akeidah, Yitzchak had attained the kedushah of a korban olah (a burnt offering); therefore, it was improper for him to go down to Egypt, since such a korban must remain in Eretz Yisrael. According to the Rav, Hashem was explaining to Yitzchak that by going to Mitzrayim, he would not be following in the footsteps of his father. Yitzchak, therefore, remained in Eretz Yisrael demonstrating that Masorah, and the Torah in general, respond to new circumstances.
 
I believe this explanation of the Rav in Rabbi Schachter’s presentation sheds new light on the meaning of a well-known phrase from Sefer Mishle: “Eitz chayim he l’lmachazikim bah—It is a tree of life for those who grasp it.” (3:18)  Just as a tree is a dynamic entity that changes throughout the seasons, so, too, does the application of the Torah’s laws “adapt to changing conditions,” ever guiding us in our service to Hashem.
 
Shabbat Shalom
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
Please contact me at [email protected] to be added to my weekly email list.
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link: The Rav

Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
Sefer Vayikra is the sole book in Tanach wherein the phrase “v’yarata m’elokecha” (“and you shall demonstrate awe to your G-d”) is found. It appears three times in Parashat Behar and twice in Parashat Kedoshim:

1) You shall not curse a deaf person. You shall not place a stumbling block before a blind person, and you shall demonstrate awe to your G-d. I am Hashem. (19:14)
2) You shall rise before a venerable person and you shall respect the elderly, and you shall demonstrate awe to your G-d. I am Hashem. (19:32)
3) And you shall not wrong, one man his fellow Jew, and you shall demonstrate awe to your G-d, for Hashem, your G-d. (25:17)
4) You shall not take from him interest or increase, and you shall demonstrate awe to your G-d, and let your brother live with you. (25:36)
5) You shall not work him with rigor, and you shall demonstrate awe to your G-d. (25:33, these and all Tanach and Rashi translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach, with my emendations)
 
Our five verses refer to: the prohibition of purposely misleading someone to your own financial advantage (lifnei ivare), the obligation to rise before and treat the elderly with respect (mipnei saivah takum), the injunction against vexing your fellow Jew through painful words (ona’at devarim), the ban against charging interest to a fellow Jew (rivet) and the sanction against mistreating Jewish slaves by forcing them to perform worthless and unpleasant work (avodah b’farech). At first glance, these mitzvot appear unrelated to each other. Rashi (1040-1105), however, basing himself upon the Sifra, teaches that the phrase, “v’yarata m’elokecha,” links these pasukim together:

and you shall demonstrate awe to your G-d: [Why is this mentioned here?] Because this matter [of misadvising someone] is not discernible by people, whether this person had good or evil intentions, and he can avoid [being recriminated by his victim afterwards] by saying, “I meant well!” Therefore, concerning this, it says, “and you shall demonstrate awe to your G-d,” Who knows your thoughts! Likewise, concerning anything known to the one who does it, but to which no one else is privy, the Torah says, “and you shall demonstrate awe to your G-d.” (Commentary to Sefer Vayikra 19:14, underlining my own)
 
In sum, Rashi notes that the underlying intentions inherent in these behaviors are hidden from all observers, and only the active party knows whether they are performed for the benefit of others or to their detriment. Moreover, since nothing is hidden from the Almighty, including our very thoughts, we must ever be in awe of the Master of the Universe and meticulous in our mitzvot observance.
 
Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter zatzal (“Sefat Emet,”1847-1905) expands upon Rashi’s gloss in this manner:

It is obvious that through awe [of G-d] one is able to properly fulfill those matters that are not visible to others. [What is less evident,] however, is that these mitzvot that are solely contingent upon one’s private intentions, will, through their proper performance, enable one to acquire awe [of the Almighty]. This is the case, since when each mitzvah is fulfilled, it alters a person’s actions in a positive fashion. Therefore, these mitzvot that depend upon a person’s innermost thoughts, [when performed correctly,] will repair [any negativity that lurks] in the mind] … (Translation and brackets my own)
 
The Sefat Emet’s presentation parallels the words of the Rambam (1135-1204) in The Guide for the Perplexed:
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This purpose to which I have drawn your attention is the purpose of all the actions prescribed by the Law… I refer to the awe of Him, may He be exalted, and the awe before His command… For it has already been made clear that this refers to actions prescribed by commandments and prohibitions… awe is achieved by means of all actions prescribed by the Law... (The Guide for the Perplexed, III:52, translation, with my emendations, Shlomo Pines, pages 629-630, brackets and underlining my own)
 
In sum, for both the Rambam and the Sefat Emet, mitzvot actions enable us to acquire the middah of yirat Hashem. May it be His will and our fervent desire that our heartfelt fulfillment of Hashem’s mitzvot will lead us to hold Him in awe and bring us ever closer to Him. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
Please contact me at [email protected] to be added to my weekly email list.
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link: The Rav

 















Rabbi David Etengoff
 
 
The beginning of our parasha focuses upon a variety of laws that pertain solely to the kohanim. From a halachic perspective, they have little to do with the majority of the Jewish people, as the kahunah is a biologically endowed status. Yet, from a broader perspective, all members of the Jewish people have the inherent ability to be “kohanim.”
 
How can we actualize this innate spiritual potential to be kohanim? Two pasukim in Sefer Shemot help us answer this question: “And now, if you obey Me and keep My covenant, you shall be to Me a treasure out of all peoples, for Mine is the entire earth. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests (mamlechect kohanim) and a holy nation…” (19:5-6, this and all Tanach translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach, with my emendations). Rashi (1040-1105) rejects the literal translation of mamlechect kohanim as a “kingdom of priests.” Instead, he opines that the correct explication of “mamlechect kohanim” is “a kingdom of princes,” since, as noted, we cannot all be kohanim. The Seforno (1470-1550), however, takes an entirely different approach:

Precisely by being kohanim you will be chosen (segulah). You will be a kingdom of priests in the sense that you will explain and teach [the existence and knowledge of G-d] to all manner of people. In that way, everyone will call upon Hashem and worship Him, shoulder to shoulder. As it says in Sefer Yeshayahu [61:6]: “And you will be called the Priests of Hashem.”
 
According to the Seforno, our foremost obligation is to bring spiritual illumination to humankind as an ohr l’goyim (“light unto nations,” Sefer Yeshayahu 42:6 and 49:6). It is our responsibility to act as the moral compass of humanity by embodying the highest standards of ethical behavior, and thereby be metakane ha’olam b’malchut Shakai--perfect the Universe through the proclamation of Hashem’s sovereignty.” In this way, we pave the way for all people to recognize His greatness and glory.
 
Rabbeinu Shimson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) presents a complementary approach to the Seforno’s analysis. He explains Sefer Shemot 19:6 in terms of our people’s mission to be kohanim and the resulting positive impact we can have on humankind:

Each one of you will be a “kohane” in the sense that you will accept upon yourselves My hegemony [My power to rule] in every action that you will do. In so doing, you will take upon yourselves the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven in its overarching sense. One will then be able to spread the knowledge of, and loyalty to, Hashem through the words of one’s mouth and the performance of one’s deeds. (Translation from the Hebrew my own)
 
These presentations serve as compelling descriptions of our role as Hashem’s servants. Beyond a doubt, however, it is the Rambam (1135-1204) who gives this concept its most powerful voice. Moreover, he underscores the notion that anyone, Jew, or gentile, can be sanctified to the point that they can emulate the levi’im and kohanim. As such, everyone can potentially become a light unto nations:
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Not only the tribe of Levi, but any one of the inhabitants of the world whose spirit generously motivates him and understands with his wisdom [how] to set himself aside and stand before Hashem to serve Him and minister to Him and to know Hashem, proceeding justly as Hashem made him…is as sanctified as the holy of holies. Hashem will be His portion and heritage forever and will provide what is sufficient for him in this world like He provides for the kohanim and levi’im. And thus, David declared: “Hashem is the lot of my portion; You are my cup, You support my lot.” (Sefer Tehillim 16:5, Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Shemitah v’Yovel 13:13, translation, Rabbi Eliyahu Touger)
 
May we be counted among those who strive to create a mamlechect kohanim, and thereby dedicate ourselves to the holy task of tikkun haolam (perfecting the Universe). V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
Please contact me at [email protected] to be added to my weekly email list.
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link: The Rav
 
 

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
One of the most celebrated mitzvot of our parasha is “v’ahavta l’reicha kamocha —and you shall love your fellow Jew like yourself.” (Sefer Vayikra 19:18)  Rashi (1040-1105), citing the Midrash Sifra to Sefer Vayikra, notes: “Rabbi Akiva said: ‘This is an all embracing principle of the Torah.’” (19:45, translation my own)  Perhaps it is Rabbi Akiva’s unparalleled intellectual greatness, or his heroic gesture of teaching Torah to his students during the height of the 130’s CE Hadrianic persecutions, that caused his words to become part of the moral fabric of the Jewish nation. Either way, whenever we think of our personal responsibility towards one another, the Torah’s verse, and Rabbi Akiva’s expression, are writ large in the collective consciousness of our people.
 
Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 31a, is one of the best-known sources in Rabbinic literature wherein we find a restatement and implicit discussion of the phrase, “v’ahavta l’reicha kamocha:”

On another occasion it happened that a certain non-Jew came before Shammai and said to him, “Make me a convert, on the condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot.” Thereupon he repulsed him with the builder’s staff which was in his hand. When he went before Hillel, he converted him and said to him, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the entire Torah, while the rest is commentary; [now] go and learn it.” (Translation, The Soncino Talmud with my emendations)
 
In his commentary on the Torah, Kli Yakar, Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz (1550 –1619), maintains that the Talmud’s phrase, “what is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor,” is a reformulation and an interpretation of “v’ahavta l’reicha kamocha.” In addition, Rav Luntschitz carefully examines the interaction between Hillel and the would-be convert, and in so doing reveals the underlying intent of the latter’s famous words, “teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot.”
 
According to Rav Luntschitz, the non-Jew who came before both Shammai and Hillel was no prankster or joker—even though Shammai seemed to have viewed him as such. Instead, and this is apparently how Hillel perceived him, the aspiring convert was a potential ger tzedek, a truly righteous individual, who deeply desired to accept the Master of the Universe and His Torah, live according to His mitzvot and join our people. As Rav Luntschitz suggests: “[The potential ger tzedek] absolutely wanted [the essence] of all of the Torah’s mitzvot presented to him in such a manner that they would have one [unifying] principle, and this is what he actually meant by the words “on one foot.”  (This and the following translation and brackets my own)  At this juncture,  Rav Luntschitz analyzes the ger tzedek’s ultimate purpose in making his request:
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As a result of this [“on one foot” notion,] he would be able to understand all of the mitzvot [with particular emphasis upon the proper ethical behaviors that the Torah commands between man and his fellow man]. He desired this so that he would never forget [the meaning of the mitzvot,] since this would be all too easy for a convert who had not studied anything whatsoever regarding the commandments during his youth...Thus, his intention [when he deployed the unusual phrase, “teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot,”] was [for Hillel] to teach him something that could be said quickly and was comprised of few words. This, then, would be the fundamental concept of the Torah, and “the one foot” that he needed; for as a result of this idea, he would be able to remember [and understand] all of Hashem’s mitzvot.   
 
In Rav Luntschitz’s estimation, the ger tzedek was driven by the highest spiritual ardor in order to understand the authentic meaning of the mitzvot. In many ways, therefore, he serves as an ideal role model for us all, since far too often, we become overwhelmed by the challenges of daily living and forget that the Torah and mitzvot should appear to us as holy gifts from the Almighty. The ger tzedek helps us refocus our priorities, so that we may redouble our energies and create a spiritually suffused relationship with the Master of the Universe. With His help and our fervent desire, may this be so. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
Please contact me at [email protected] to be added to my weekly email list.
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd
 
*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link: The Rav