Part I
The Medrash Tanchuma: Rigors and Rewards of the Oral
Torah
"Blessed be the Name of the King of Kings, Hakodosh Boruch
Hu, who chose Yisroel from the seventy nations. He gave
us the Written Torah, replete with allusion and cryptic,
hidden meaning, which is explained by the Oral Torah that He
revealed to Yisroel. The Written Torah moreover, is composed
of general principles and the Oral Torah, of details. The
Oral Torah is vast; the Written Torah is sparing.
"Of the Oral Torah it is said, `Its length extends beyond the
land and it is broader than the sea' (Iyov 11:9). You
will not find [knowledge of] the Oral Torah in someone who
seeks [to secure] worldly pleasure, desire, honor or
greatness in this world. You will only find it in someone who
martyrs himself [by depriving himself] for the sake of its
study. This is the Torah's path . . .
"Hakodosh Boruch Hu only made His covenant with
Yisroel over the Oral Torah, which is difficult to learn and
which entails [enduring] great distress, for it is compared
to darkness, as it says, " `The people who made their way in
darkness saw a great light' (Yeshayohu 9:1) -- these
are the Talmud scholars, whose eyes Hakodosh Boruch Hu
illumines concerning that which is prohibited and that which
is permitted, and impure and what is pure."
"It is as fierce as death and as harsh as the grave, for it
is only studied by one who loves Hakodosh Boruch Hu
will all his heart, soul and means. This comes to teach you
that anyone who loves riches and pleasures cannot learn the
Oral Torah, for it[s study] entails great distress, banishing
sleep.
"[So rigorous is its study that] Hakodosh Boruch Hu
even [found it necessary to] make a covenant with Yisroel,
that the Oral Torah would not be forgotten by them or their
descendants. Therefore, Hakodosh Boruch Hu established
two yeshivos for Yisroel so that they should be studying it
day and night . . . holding fiery Torah discussions, which
lead them to a thorough understanding and to arrive at the
genuine halochoh.
"Those two yeshivos experienced neither captivity nor
spiritual persecution nor despoiling. Neither Greece nor Rome
gained control over them. Hakodosh Boruch Hu took them
away twelve years before the destruction of Yerushalayim with
their Torah and their learning intact, and they settled with
their Torah in Bovel . . . And in the time of Moshiach
too, they will not experience the travails of
Moshiach['s arrival] . . . It is written, `and I shall
dwell' (Michah 4:10), even when a person goes into
exile . . . My Presence will not budge from you. It is from
there that the redemption shall begin . . . and then, `the
kingdom will belong to Hashem' (Ovadiah 1:21)"
(Medrash Tanchuma parshas Noach 3).
Where the Shechinah Resides
Klal Yisroel's yeshivos are the chariot upon which
Hashem's Presence rests and through them it comes to rest
upon the entire nation. It is because of the yeshivos that
the Divine Presence is with us even in exile; its holy spirit
appears in the beis hamedrash. Hakodosh Boruch Hu
only made His covenant to bring His Presence to rest upon
us -- so that, "I and Your People shall be distinct from all
the families of the earth" (Shemos 33:16) -- "al pi
[over, lit. by word of] hadevorim ho'eileh, these
things" (34:27), meaning, over the Oral Torah.
Torah's power exceeds that of prophecy. Ever since the nation
entered Eretz Yisroel, prophecy no longer rests upon
prophets in chutz la'aretz. Of Torah though, it is
written, "And I shall dwell" -- Hashem's Presence does not
budge from Torah and those who study it -- they are one and
the same. This is either because of Hashem's bond to His
Torah or because of the personal virtues of Torah scholars
and their elevation, as Rav Hai Gaon zt'l, writes
(Teshuvos Rivosh, siman 45): "You will only find the
fear of Heaven, the fear of sin, alacrity, humility, purity
and holiness among those who are occupied with the Mishnah
and the Talmud."
The gemora in Yoma (28) says that Avrohom Ovinu
knew how to ascertain the precise time for praying
minchah, whereas we cannot do so because he was "an
elder who dwelt in a yeshiva." Rabbenu Chananel explains that
"Hashem's Presence was [therefore] with him, [teaching us]
that the Divine Presence that rested upon Avrohom was because
of his yeshiva and his Torah!"
From Time Immemorial
Torah has been studied in the world since the day it was
created. [About] Odom Horishon on the day he was created [it
is written], "And Hashem placed him in Gan Eden to work it
and to protect it" (Bereishis 2:15) referring to the
work of Torah study. After him, Noach was told, `And from
every clean animal" (7:2), on which Rashi quotes
Chazal's comment: "This teaches us that Noach learned
Torah."
Yeshivos began in our forefathers' days and have never
disappeared since. "Avrohom Ovinu dwelt in a yeshiva" and so
did Yitzchok Ovinu and Yaakov Ovinu. Let's see what the Torah
tells us a yeshiva looked like when one was founded by Yaakov
Ovinu.
" `And he sent Yehuda ahead' (46:28) -- Rabbi Chanina
the son of Rabbi Acha and Rabbi Chanina [differed over how to
explain this]. One said, `It was to prepare living
accommodations' and the other said, `It was to prepare a
meeting place, where he could rule on divrei Torah and
where the tribes could learn. Proof that it is so, is that
when Yosef left him, he knew at which perek they had
parted, for he had been teaching him. When Yosef's brothers
came to him and told him, ` "Yosef is still alive," his heart
revived' (45:26). He remembered at which perek
they had separated and he said to himself, `I know that Yosef
left me at perek Egloh Arufah.' He said to them, `If
you know at which perek Yosef left me, I shall believe
you.' Yosef also knew which perek they had separated
at. What did he do? He gave them wagons as it says, `And
Yosef gave them wagons at Pharaoh's command' (45:21),
to teach you that wherever Yaakov lived, he occupied himself
with Torah just as his fathers had done' " (Medrash
Rabbah, Bereishis parsha 95:3).
The medrash is difficult to understand. Why is the
fact that Yaakov had been learning Torah with Yosef any proof
that he sent Yehuda in order to establish a place for Torah
study? At any rate, we see that the Sages differ over the
nature of Yehuda's early dispatch to Mitzrayim [but both
agree that] it was for something that had to be done before
Yaakov came to Goshen; something so important that without
it, he wouldn't have been able to come. It had to be prepared
in advance so that as soon as he arrived, it would be ready.
What was it that could not have waited for a moment? One
opinion is that Yehuda was sent early to prepare
accommodation; that is something that is needed at every
moment. It is impossible to stay somewhere without having a
place to live. Yaakov Ovinu couldn't have sat in the street
until a home was ready. In order to live there he needed a
house.
Without Interruption
The other opinion is that it was "to prepare a meeting
place." He could not live somewhere without there being a
place to meet for Torah study -- without there being a
yeshiva! On the posuk, "And Yaakov lived"
(37:1), Chazal comment that he dwelt in a yeshiva.
That was what constituted living for Yaakov Ovinu -- wherever
he lived, he lived with Torah. Just as living somewhere
without accommodation is impossible, even more so living
without a yeshiva -- even for a moment -- is impossible. "
`He sent Yehuda ahead' . . . to prepare a meeting place," so
that he would find his yeshiva ready as soon as he
arrived.
This is the proof that the medrash cites from the fact
that both Yaakov and Yosef knew at which perek they
had parted. Was the moment at which Yaakov sent his most
beloved son, Yosef, with whom his soul was bound up, on a
dangerous mission to Shechem, that involved risk from the
hazards of travel and from his brothers' jealousy, the right
time to be learning perek Egloh Arufah? The
medrash's concluding words come to answer this: "to
teach you that wherever Yaakov lived, he occupied himself
with Torah." Wherever he was, his life involved occupation
with Torah. There was no place, no time, no moment that he
was not occupied with Torah -- even at the hour of such a
parting. And who wouldn't remember such a parting? With such
a chavrusa, their very lives must have hung on their
learning and their parting must have been like parting from
life. This proves that Yaakov must have sent Yehuda to
prepare a place for his yeshiva.
In a similar vein, Chazal say that, "One who parts from his
friend should only do so with a halachic teaching, for as a
result, he will remember him." In other words, if their
friendship was firmly built upon Torah study, to the extent
that when they part, it is amid divrei Torah and they
have no other spare time for taking leave because they are
always learning and their leave taking is parting from
learning together, this will lead them to remember each
other.
End of Part I
HaRav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro is rosh yeshivas Be'er
Yaakov.
