RABBI DAVID ETENGOFF: PARASHAT HASHAVUAH
  • Blog: Rabbi David Etengoff: Parashat HaShavuah
  • Sefer Bereishit 5780& 5781
  • Sefer Shemot 5780&5781
  • Sefer Vayikra 5780&5781
  • Sefer Bamidbar 578&5781
  • Sefer Devarim 578&5781
  • Sefer Bereishit 5778&5779
  • Sefer Shemot 5778&5779
  • Sefer Vayikra 5778&5779
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5778&5779
  • Sefer Devarim 5778&5779
  • Sefer Bereishit 5776&5777
  • Sefer Bereishit 5774&5775
  • Sefer Bereishit 5772&5773
  • Sefer Bereishit 5771&5770
  • Sefer Shemot 5776&5777
  • Sefer Shemot 5774&5775
  • Sefer Shemot 5772&5773
  • Sefer Shemot 5771&5770
  • Sefer Vayikra 5776&5777
  • Sefer Vayikra 5774&5775
  • Sefer Vayikra 5772&5773
  • Sefer Vayikra 5771&5770
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5776&5777
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5774&5775
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5772&5773
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5771&5770
  • Sefer Devarim 5776&5777
  • Sefer Devarim 5774&5775
  • Sefer Devarim 5772&5773
  • Sefer Devarim 5771&5770

4/19/2017

​Parashat Shemini 5777, 2017: "Teaching the Mesorah"

0 Comments

Read Now
 
Picture
​
​

Rabbi David Etengoff

Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Chaim Mordechai Hakohen ben Natan Yitzchak, Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, Avraham Yechezkel ben Yaakov Halevy, Shayna Yehudit bat Avraham Manes and Rivka, the refuah shlaimah of Devorah bat Chana and Yitzhak Akiva ben Malka, and the safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.
 
The untimely and supernatural death of Aharon’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, is one of the focal points of this week’s parasha. Following this narrative passage, we are met with two pasukim (verses) that define the kohan’s role outside of the Avodah (Ritual Service) in the Beit HaMikdash:

[In order that you will be able] to distinguish between the holy and profane and between the ritually impure and pure, and [so that you may] instruct the children of Israel regarding all the statutes which the L-rd has spoken to them through Moshe. (Sefer Vayikra 10:10-11, this and all Bible translations with my emendations and brackets, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)

As these verses clearly indicate, the kohan has two crucial functions in addition to the Avodah; namely, he is both a posek (halachic decisor) and an educator for the entire nation.

The Sifra, the halachic Midrash on Sefer Vayikra, is one of the earliest sources to analyze our pasukim (verses):

To distinguish between the holy and profane: this refers to the monetary values of different individuals that they voluntarily desire to donate to the Beit HaMikdash.  Between the ritually impure and pure: This refers to the various levels of ritual purity and impurity. And [so that you may] instruct the children of Israel: These are the decisions (ha’ho’raot) in all legal matters. Regarding all the statutes: These are the hermeneutic principles through which halachic conclusions are derived. Which the L-rd has spoken to them: These are the halachot that were given to Moshe that were not written directly in the Torah (i.e. halacha l’Moshe mi’Sinai, Rashi’s explanation as found in Talmud Bavli, Kritot 13b). Through Moshe: This is the actual text of the Torah. (Parashat Shemini, 40:9, translation and brackets my own)
 
In my estimation, the kohan’s role as posek is rather clear. He, like all poskim, is obligated to render a halachic decision in those areas wherein he has authoritative expertise. The French Tosafist, Rabbi Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil zatzal (d. 1280), opined that this act should be counted as one of the Taryag Mitzvot (613 Commandments, see Sefer Mitzvot HaKatan, 111). While the vast majority of authorities disagree with this view, all maintain that it is incumbent upon the talmid chacham (Torah sage) to issue conclusive rulings whenever his knowledge and experience allow him to do so. As the Rambam (1135-1204) rules:  “A sage who is worthy of rendering halachic judgments and refrains from doing so holds back [the spread of] Torah and places stumbling blocks before the blind.” (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Talmud Torah 5:4, translation, Rabbi Eliyahu Touger)

We are now ready to explore the kohan’s obligation as an educator for the entire nation. My rebbe and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), known as “the Rav” by his students and followers, is widely considered to have been one of the 20th century’s greatest Jewish educators. We are fortunate that he wrote and spoke about this constitutive aspect of his life on a number of occasions. In the main, the Rav discusses two aspects of the teaching experience, namely, the responsibility of the educator, and, indeed, all Jews, to serve as exemplary role models, and the role of the rebbe in ensuring the continuation of the Mesorah (authentic Jewish religious tradition).
 
In what I believe to be a very self-reflective statement, Rav Soloveitchik outlined his vision of the Jew as an educator to the world:

The job of teaching is not fulfilled merely by writing books; it is accomplished by setting an example. That is exactly our task – kiddush shem shamayim, sanctifying G-d’s name…it means that a Jew, in his daily living, in his human relations with his fellow man, should be honest and sincere, and – I wish to emphasize – should act with dignity. (This, and the following quote, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Festival of Freedom: Essays on Pesah and the Haggadah, Rabbis Joseph B. Wolowelsky and Reuven Ziegler, editors, page 146, underlining my own)
 
At this point, the Rav’s emphasis regarding the obligation of every Jew to be a teacher to the world is reminiscent of Yeshayahu’s famous message to our people “…I will make you a light of nations, so that My salvation shall be until the end of the earth:” (Sefer Yeshayahu 49:6)

If a Jew commits a crime or a misdeed, he is violating the assignment given him, namely, to teach – and every Jew can teach. Perhaps only the philosopher or the scholar can intellectualize, but Judaism is a living discipline, and therefore, the simplest and most ignorant Jew can teach.
 
In the Rav’s worldview, the second role of the Torah educator is to transmit the Mesorah to new generations:

The Jew of the Mesorah…has a capacity to live in retrospection. Revelation and tradition erase the bonds of time. Distance in time is rendered irrelevant for him. Thousands of years have elapsed, but he walks back and forth from antiquity to modern times…Upon this phenomenon of an historical continuum was founded the Mesorah, conceived as an historic stream of Jewish spirit whose tributaries of past, present and future merge into each other. (This and the following passages, Rabbi Abraham R. Besdin, Man of Faith in the Modern World: Reflections of the Rav, adapted from the Lectures of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Volume II, pages 20-23, underlining my own)
 
In sum, the Jew of the Mesorah lives beyond time. Ancient sources, as interpreted by the leading scholars of the past and present, excite his imagination and soul as if they were the immediate product of his own time. Time is not a boundary; it is, instead, a bridge to ultimately understanding Hashem’s holy Torah.

We become Jews of the Mesorah by studying with, and learning from, masters of the Mesorah – for they, like the kohan, in the Beit HaMikdash, are the authentic educators of the entire nation. The Rav describes his personal experience as just such an educator, in the following autobiographical vignette:

The Rebbe introduces the guests [i.e. the great scholars of earlier generations] to his pupils, and the dialogue commences. The Rambam states a halakah; the Rabad disagrees sharply…Some students interrupt to defend the Rambam, and they express themselves harshly against the Rabad as young people are apt to do. The Rebbe softly corrects the students and suggests more retrained tones…Rabbenu Tam is called upon to express his opinion, and suddenly, a symposium of generations comes into existence. Young students debate earlier generations with an air of daring familiarity, and a crescendo of discussion ensues.
 
At this juncture, the Rav reveals the definitive goal of great Jewish education:
​
All speak one language; all pursue one goal; all are committed to a common vision; and all operate with the same categories. A Mesorah collegiality is achieved, a friendship, a comradeship of old and young, spanning antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times…this merger of identities will ultimately bring about the redemption of the Jewish people…The Messianic realization will witness the great dialogue of the generations…Thus, the “old ones” of the past continue their great dialogue of the generations, ensuring an enduring commitment to the Mesorah.
 
May we be zocheh (merit) to experience this “historical continuum” and “merger of identities” as Jews of the Mesorah, and may the ultimate redemption of the Jewish people come soon and in our days. V’chane yihi ratzon.

Shabbat Shalom

 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: reparashathashavuah.org
They may also be found on YUTorah.org using the search criteria of Etengoff and the parasha’s name.

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 have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:rdbe718@gmail.com.
​
*** My audio shiurim for Women on the topics of Tefilah and Megillat Esther 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.

Share

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

Details

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Author

    Talmid of Rabbi Soloveitchik zatzal

    Categories

    All
    Parashat Hashavuah

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog: Rabbi David Etengoff: Parashat HaShavuah
  • Sefer Bereishit 5780& 5781
  • Sefer Shemot 5780&5781
  • Sefer Vayikra 5780&5781
  • Sefer Bamidbar 578&5781
  • Sefer Devarim 578&5781
  • Sefer Bereishit 5778&5779
  • Sefer Shemot 5778&5779
  • Sefer Vayikra 5778&5779
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5778&5779
  • Sefer Devarim 5778&5779
  • Sefer Bereishit 5776&5777
  • Sefer Bereishit 5774&5775
  • Sefer Bereishit 5772&5773
  • Sefer Bereishit 5771&5770
  • Sefer Shemot 5776&5777
  • Sefer Shemot 5774&5775
  • Sefer Shemot 5772&5773
  • Sefer Shemot 5771&5770
  • Sefer Vayikra 5776&5777
  • Sefer Vayikra 5774&5775
  • Sefer Vayikra 5772&5773
  • Sefer Vayikra 5771&5770
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5776&5777
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5774&5775
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5772&5773
  • Sefer Bamidbar 5771&5770
  • Sefer Devarim 5776&5777
  • Sefer Devarim 5774&5775
  • Sefer Devarim 5772&5773
  • Sefer Devarim 5771&5770