Rabbi David Etengoff

ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
The post-Flood world should have been one wherein mankind felt chastened and humbled before the Almighty after the world’s near total destruction. Moreover, logic would dictate they would have demonstrated overwhelming hakarat hatov (manifest gratitude) to Hashem for His mercy in enabling them to survive. Instead, we are presented with the following disturbing narrative of the Tower of Babel:
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Now the entire earth was of one language and uniform words. And it came to pass when they traveled from the east, that they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly;” so the bricks were to them for stones, and the clay was to them for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered [by G-d] upon the face of the entire earth.” (Sefer Bereishit 11:1-4, this and all Tanach and Rashi translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)
 
Shortly afterwards, “Hashem descended to see the city and the tower that the sons of man had built.” (11:5) The expression, “the sons of man had built,” is peculiar, for who but humans could have constructed the tower? This question is echoed in Rashi’s (1040-1105) midrashically inspired comment on our verse:

But the sons of whom else [could they have been]? The sons of donkeys and camels? Rather, [this refers to] the sons of the first man (Adam HaRishon), who was ungrateful and said (Sefer Bereishit 3: 12): “The woman whom You gave [to be] with me she gave me of the tree; so I ate.” These, too, were ungrateful in rebelling against the One Who lavished goodness upon them and saved them from the Flood.
 
In sum, Rashi views the actions of the Dor HaHaphlagah (Generation of the Tower of Babel) as parallel to the behavior exhibited by Adam Harishon when asked by Hashem, “Have you eaten from the tree [of knowledge] of which I commanded you not to eat?” (3:11) Rather than taking responsibility for violating the one mitzvah entrusted to him, Adam blamed Hashem for having given him Chava, and Chava for having given him the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge to eat. The Ba’al HaTurim (Rav Ya’akov ben Asher, 1270-1340) supports this perspective when he notes that Adam’s reaction personifies the pasuk (verse), “He who repays evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.” (Sefer Mishle 17:13) This is an apropos observation, since the concluding Hebrew letters of the phrase, “lo tamish ra’ah—evil will not depart,” spell the word “isha—woman,” a homiletic reference to the lack of gratitude to Hashem that Adam so blatantly demonstrated regarding Chava.
 
Both Adam, and the Dor HaHaphlagah repaid Hashem’s beneficence with ingratitude. Years later, the Dor HaMidbar repeated this pattern of behavior time and time again. Tosafot in Talmud Bavli, Avodah Zarah 5a, discusses their actions in this manner: “Therefore, [Moshe] labeled them [the Jewish people as practitioners of] kafui tovah, since they refused [to give thanks to Hashem for all of His beneficence] that is, they refused to recognize the good that He had done for them in all of these matters.” The Torah Temimah (Rabbi Baruch Halevi Epstein, 1860-1942) expands upon Tosafot’s gloss and suggests that kafui tovah is far more than a failure to recognize the good that someone else has performed for you; instead, it is a completely conscious rejection of the kindness as if it never had taken place.
 
The Abarbanel’s (1437-1508) analysis of kafui tovah complements Tosafot’s explication in a deeply insightful manner:

The evilest of all middot (behavioral traits) is kafui tovah. This is the case, since when a person recognizes [and gives voice] to the benefit he has received from another individual, he adds to the strength of the benefactor to [continue to] provide him with overflowing kindness, with a full sense of desire and in complete goodness. When, however, the recipient of manifest kindness consciously withholds the requisite recognition of the good that is his benefactor’s due, he weakens his supporter’s strength and aspiration to demonstrate further kindness to him. (Commentary on the Torah, Sefer Shemot, chapter 29, this and the following translations my own)
 
The Abarbanel buttresses this interpretation by citing Rav Ammi’s words in Talmud Bavli, Ta’anit 8a: “Rain falls only for the sake of men of faith (ba’alei emunah) [that is, trustworthy people],” as it is said, “Truth will sprout from the earth, and righteousness will look down from heaven.” (Sefer Tehillim 85:12, translation, The Soncino Talmud)  In the Abarbanel’s estimation, ba’alei emunah are those people who practice hakaret hatov. He, therefore, reasons that those who engage in kafui tovah are the same people that Chazal identified as individuals steeped in brazenness and temerity (azut panim), and those who cause droughts. He suports this view based on Yirmiyahu’s statement: “And the rains were withheld, and there has been no latter rain…you refused to be ashamed.” (Sefer Yirmiyahu 3:3) As such, the Abarbanel opines:

Everything proceeds as Chazal said: [Illumination reaches us,] “during the times that the Jewish people fulfill the will of the Omnipresent we add to the power, so to speak, of that which is Above. As the text says, ‘Now, please, let the strength of Hashem be increased, as You spoke…’ (Sefer Bamidbar 14:17) [Conversely,] during the times that the Jewish people fail to fulfill the will of the Almighty, we diminish the power, so to speak, of that which is Above. As the text states, ‘You forgot the [Mighty] Rock Who bore you; you forgot the G-d Who delivered you.’” (Sefer Devarim 32:18)
 
Based upon these presentations, kafui tovah emerges as a reprehensible behavioral trait that manifests itself in a brazen repudiation of the good that either Hashem or man has done for us. As such, its remedy must be the polar opposite action, namely, hakarat hatov, wherein we demonstrate heartfelt gratitude to our benefactor through our words and deeds. With Hashem’s help, may we master this middah thereby fulfilling Shlomo HaMelech’s stirring counsel: “Kindness and truth shall not leave you; bind them upon your neck, inscribe them upon the tablet of your heart; and find favor and good understanding in the sight of G-d and man.” (Sefer Mishle 3:3-4)  V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
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The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you would like to be added, please contact me via email: mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: Tefilah and Tanach
 
*** 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.

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
Parashat Bereishit contains some of the most thought-provoking pasukim in the Torah. One of the most notable examples is the description of man’s creation: “And Hashem Elokim formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils nishmat chayim (the soul of life), and man became a nefesh chaya (a living soul). (Sefer Bereishit 2:7, this and all Tanach and Rashi translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)
 
Rashi (1040-1105), in his Commentary on the Torah, analyzes nefesh chaya in this manner: “Cattle and beasts were also called living souls, but this one of man is the most alive of them all, because he was additionally given intelligence and speech.” In his work, Kli Yakar, Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz (1550 – 1619) rejects Rashi’s interpretation. In his view, nishmat chayim, rather than nefesh chaya, is the crucial expression for understanding humankind’s true nature:

Nishmat Chayim must be understood as the eternal rational soul (hanefesh hamaskelet hanetzachi). Come and learn, [after all,] who was the One who breathed [into Adam the soul of life]? We, therefore, find that this [nishmat chayim] refers to a portion from above (chalek Elokah). (Translations and brackets my own)
 
In shifting the verse’s emphasis from nefesh chaya to nishmat chayim, Rav Luntschitz defines this term in a unique manner and declares it to be a heavenly portion from above. In addition, he maintains that Hashem’s overwhelming kindness in providing each person with a nishmat chayim is necessary but insufficient for attaining the highest level of humanity:

This is to say, that although Hashem breathed the eternal rationale soul into Adam, nonetheless, man, at the outset of his being, is indistinguishable from any other living soul and is just like the other animals. [As the text states:] “For man is born as a wild donkey.” (Sefer Iyov 11:12)  [Moreover,] the essence of man’s perfection (shlaimuto) is contingent upon the diligence of his labors and the degree of good inherent in his choices, as he opens his intellectually maturing eyes (einei sichlo) while growing in age.
 
At this juncture, Rav Luntschitz clarifies the diligence that is required to actualize our eternal rationale soul and thereby achieve perfection in our service of Hashem:
…this soul…will remain solely in potential unless he will try with all of his efforts to go to the “head of the troops,” and fight the war of Hashem. If he fails to do so, he will remain in his original animalistic state (ruled by the yetzer harah) and will be the equivalent of an animal…man should never beguile himself into thinking that he can attain shlaimuto without tremendous effort and persevering exertion…rather, everything depends upon his own actions…
 
Rav Luntschitz’s words are reminiscent of the well-known expression of Ben Hey Hey: “L’fum tza’arah agra—According to the effort is the reward.” (Pirkei Avot 5:23)  This phrase is interpreted by Rav Yisrael Lifschitz (1782-1860) in his commentary on the Mishnah, Tiferet Yisrael, in this manner:

Rabbeinu HaKadosh (Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi) concluded this section of the Mishnah with this statement in order to teach us that whether we are engaged in the act of Torah study, the fulfillment of its mitzvot, or in the improvement of middot hanefesh (ethical characteristics), [the same rule applies, namely,] their reward will grow according to the effort that one expends on them in order to perfect themself ….
 
Both Rav Luntschitz and Rav Yisrael Lifschitz focus on the need to expend great effort in refining ourselves so that we can overcome our “original animalistic state” and become true servants of the Almighty. As we study His holy Torah, perform its mitzvot and perfect our middot hanefesh, may Hashem help us to realize this goal. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you would like to be added, please contact me via email: mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: Tefilah and Tanach
 
*** 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.

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Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
The mitzvah of dwelling in the succah appears quite straightforward, as the Rambam (1135-1204) states:

What is the mitzvah of dwelling in the succah? One should eat and drink and dwell in the succah for the entire seven-day period both at night and during the day in exactly the same manner that he dwells in his house during the other days of the year. Throughout the entire seven-day period, a person should treat his house as a temporary dwelling and his succah as his permanent dwelling. As it says in the verse: You shall dwell in succot for seven days (Vayikra 23:42). (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Succah 6:5, translation my own)
 
The Rambam emphasizes the ma’aseh hamitzvah of succah, the actual manner in which the commandment should be performed. In contrast, the Tur (Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, 1270-1340), focuses on its rationale:

“You shall dwell in succot for seven days…in order that you should know throughout the generations that I caused the Jewish people to dwell in succot when I led them out … [from Egypt]” (Vayikra 23:42). The Torah demonstrates that the mitzvah of succah is contingent upon the Exodus from Egypt. So, too, in the case of many other mitzvot. This is so, since this is a matter that we saw with our eyes and heard with our ears and no one is able to deny it. It teaches us about the truth of the existence of the Creator, may He be exalted, and that He created everything according to His will. It also teaches us that He has the power, the dominion, and the ability, both in the upper and lower worlds, to do with them as He so desires… (Introduction to Hilchot Succah, translation my own)
 
The Tur underscores the conceptual link that obtains between the mitzvah of succah and essential principles of Jewish thought, such as the existence of the Creator and His omnipotence in both the Heavens and the earth. In so doing, he suffuses the act of sitting in the succah with notable theological significance.
 
The Bach (Rabbi Yoel Sirkes, 1551-1640) scales the Tur’s analysis and reveals further levels of meaning. He asserts that the Tur’s core point is highlighting the indispensable role that kavanah plays in performing the mitzvah of succah, namely, viewing the succah as the symbol of Yetziat Mitzraim. The Bach elaborates on this point in his conclusion:
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The purpose of the mitzvah of succah is to remember Yetziat Mitzraim. This is accomplished through one’s dwelling in a succah where the shade is greater than the sun. This, in turn, is a reminder of the Clouds of Glory that protected them … through their wanderings in the desert.
 
In addition, the Bach asserts that the highest form of fulfilling this commandment requires us to carefully focus on the Torah’s phrase, “… in order that you should know (yaydu) throughout the generations that I caused the Jewish people to dwell in succot.” The Bach maintains that this “will enable one to fulfill the mitzvah in its most proper fashion (k’tikunah).” Therefore, for the Bach, if a person desires to fulfill the mitzvah of dwelling in the succah on its deepest level, he must have kavanah regarding two major points: this mitzvah’s inextricable link to Yetziat Mitzrayim, and Hashem’s great kindness in allowing us to dwell in succot following the Exodus.
 
May Hashem soon fulfill the stirring words of our Friday night tefilot “And spread over us the succah of Your peace. Blessed are You Hashem, Who spreads the succah of peace upon us and upon all His people Israel and upon Yerushalayim.” V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you would like to be added, please contact me via email: mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: Tefilah and Tanach
 
*** 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.
 

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל, בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
Rav Yosef Karo zatzal (1488-1575) is best known as the author of the Shulchan Aruch. Toward the end of Hilchot Yom HaKippurim (623:6), he states that we are obligated to sound four shofar blasts at the conclusion of Neilah: tekiah, shevarim, teruah and a final tekiah. In contrast, the Rema zatzal (Rav Moshe Isserles, 1530-1572), in his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, notes that the widely accepted Ashkenazi minhag is to sound only one tekiah. Somewhat unusually, neither of these Torah giants discuss the reason why we sound the shofar at this time.
 
One of the earliest sources to address the rationale for sounding the shofar at the conclusion of Ne’ilah is a gloss of Tosafot in the name of Rashi’s great grandson, Rabbi Yitzhak ben Shmuel zatzal (known as the “RI” or the “RI-HaZaken,” 1115-1184):

The sole reason why we sound the shofar at the conclusion of Yom HaKippurim is to publicize that it is now fully nighttime so that people may proceed to feed their children who have fasted. In addition, this is to inform the Jewish community that it proper to prepare the meal for the night that has followed the Yom HaKippurim day, for it is similar in kind to a Yom Tov… This is in contradistinction to the incorrect opinion of the Machzorim where it is written that the tekiah is a reminder of the Jubilee year (yovel). [If this were to be the case,] why would we sound the shofar year after year [at this time?] Is it possible for the yovel to be each and every year?  (Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 114b, s.v. V’amai, translation and brackets my own)
 
The RI maintains that in a world without accurate clocks and rapid communication, the shofar blast at the end of Neilah publicizes the end of Yom HaKippurim and the permissibility to eat, drink and cook once again. Moreover, he summarily rejects any notion of a link between the conclusion of this day and the sounding of the shofar as a reminder of the Jubilee year.

Approximately 400 years later, Rabbi Mordechai Yoffe zatzal (1530-1612) presented three additional reasons as to why we sound the shofar at the end of Yom HaKippurim:

We sound the shofar with one tekiah blast as a sign of the Shechinah’s departure, namely, that the Schechinah has left [this world] and has gone up to the firmament, just as it had done at the time of the giving of the Torah. As it is written: “No hand shall touch it [that is, Mount Sinai], for he shall be stoned or cast down; whether man or beast, he shall not live. When the ram’s horn sounds a long, drawn-out blast, they may ascend the mountain.” (Sefer Shemot 19:13) It is also written: “God shall rise with the trumpet blast; Hashem, with the sound of the shofar.” (Sefer Tehillim 47:6, with my emendation)

The tekiah is a symbol of joy and victory: This means we have been victorious over the Satan (Evil Inclination).

The sound of the tekiah is the symbolic representation of freedom, for on this day we have made our souls free from sins and our bodies have become free from enslavement and punishments. (Sefer Levush Malchut, Levush HaHod 623:5, translation, brackets, underlining and parentheses my own)
 
Closer to our own time, Rabbi Yechiel Michal ben Aharon Halevi Epstein zatzal (1829-1908) offers a new interpretation for sounding the shofar at the conclusion of Ne’ilah: “We sound one tekiah as a sign of good fortune to proclaim the news that Hashem has received our prayers.” (Aruch HaShulchan, Orech Chaim 623:8, translation my own)  In Rav Epstein’s view, the tekiah is a declaration of success, a sound that signifies we have encountered the Almighty through the medium of prayer and in His great chesed and rachamim, He has accepted our heartfelt tefilot.

In stark contrast to the opinion of Rav Epstein, my rebbe and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), known as the “Rav” by his students and disciples, asserts that the sounding of the shofar at the end of Yom HaKippurim is symbolic of our failure to communicate our depth-level spiritual longings to the Master of the Universe through our words:

… the Rav said that on Yom Kippur, at the conclusion of the Ne’ilah service, he often felt that despite having spent the entire day in prayer, he had not articulated even a tiny fraction of what he had wanted to express… [He was convinced that on the existential level, every] Jew has similar feelings at the conclusion of Ne’ilah, the final prayer on Yom Kippur: [they have] spoken, yet said nothing.
 
What can we do when such a feeling of defeat descends upon us? Rav Soloveitchik provides us with this groundbreaking answer:

In order to adequately express his deep longing when words have cruelly failed him, he feels the compulsion to release an instinctive, inarticulate cry. In the seconds before the Holy One Blessed Be He once again retreats into obscuring clouds, man must urgently express what he could not verbalize in an entire day of prayer. He thus sounds the shofar as a response to the ultimate futility of verbal prayer to express his needs. (Before Hashem You Shall Be Purified: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on the Days of Awe, summarized and annotated by Dr. Arnold Lustiger, page 24, underlining and brackets my own)
 
In short, for the Rav, when words fail us, the shofar blast at Neilah represents a radically different approach: In essence, we are expressing to our Creator our deep desire to renew our spiritual relationship with Him as it was in the past.
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In conclusion, interpretations of the sounding of the shofar in the final moments of Yom HaKippurim range from the sublime to the practical, and from the assertion of man’s greatness to the recognition of the futility of words in reaching out to the Almighty. Fortunately, no matter which perspective we take, we can rest assured that, “For through this day, He shall grant atonement for you to cleanse you. Before Hashem you shall be purified from all your sins.” (Sefer Vayikra 16:30, emendation my own)
 
G'mar Chatimah Tovah and Shabbat Shalom
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you would like to be added, please contact me via email: mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: Tefilah and Tanach
 
*** 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.