Part II
In the first part, HaRav Meiseles first noted that one of
the Greek decrees at the time of Chanukah was that the Jews
had to carve on his ox's horn that he has no part in Hashem
the Elokim of Yisroel and afterwards plow with that
ox. He also catalogued the differences between an ox and a
donkey, noting that the ox symbolizes high spiritual levels
while the donkey symbolizes matter: chomer. Also the
ox is kosher while the donkey is not. Iyov argued that just
as the ox and the donkey did nothing to deserve being kosher
and not, respectively, and were merely created as they were,
so it is with people: some are created evil and some good.
There is no basis for reward or punishment.
Greek wisdom is purely natural science. They maintained
that all that is in the world is what can be experienced with
the senses, and there is nothing in the Creation dependent
upon a free will. Since their whole knowledge base was
empirical, they could not know what lies below the surface.
The true "inner" wisdom is the Divine Power in the Creation,
a Power that is hidden from, and higher than, our powers of
perception, and is thus not accessible to them.
*
The Cheit Ha'eigel Disproves the Level of the Shor and of
Yisroel
The difference between light and darkness is a clear physical
difference, and even more so is the difference between the
holy and the mundane, between the tomei and the
tahor. Someone who does not understand this difference
is lacking basic understanding — daas. This lack
results in his wisdom being faulty and limited.
The Torah of Yisroel is a "flagrant breach" of nature's
apparent laws, since the Torah teaches us that the
shor is tahor and from a sublime source and is
in fact the primary korbon, while the chamor is
tomei and is not kosher even to be eaten by Jews.
This difference is a slap in the face for Greek Wisdom. It is
absolutely insufferable to it.
"And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with an
engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said:
This is your god, O Israel, which brought you up out of the
land of Egypt'" (Shemos 32:4). "Some say that Michah
was there, who was saved from being crushed into a building
in Egypt. Michah had a golden leaf with the name of Hashem
that Moshe wrote on it: Shur, ascend (Shur,
the same as shor, referring to Yosef), to raise
Yosef's coffin from the Nile. Michah threw it into the
furnace and an eigel emerged" (Rashi).
Yosef the tzaddik was called a shor because of
his inner spiritual prominence — "His firstling
shor, majesty is his" (Devorim 17:33). Moshe
Rabbenu wrote Hashem's holy name on a leaf of gold in order
to miraculously make Yosef's coffin ascend from the Nile.
However, when Aharon HaCohen later threw this sacred leaf
into the furnace at the time of cheit ho'eigel, the
most abominable and alien thing from kedushoh —
an avodoh zorah — was formed.
One of two things can be proven. Either: that the shor
has no inherent kedushoh or tumah, and there is
no such concept of kedushoh vetumah, since if there
were, how could such a terrible occurrence happen? How could
an avodoh zorah emerge from something
kodosh?
Another possibility is that the Jewish Nation, who pride
themselves on their Torah through which they know how to
discern between the holy and the profane, the tomei
and the tahor, lost their lofty standing and cannot
truly understand the secret of this difference. In that case,
there is no distinction between Yisroel and the nations and
on the contrary, Greek Wisdom is preferable since it at least
knows how to research deeply into nature's laws.
The substance of the Greek decrees was: "Write on the ox's
horn your having no part in the Elokim of Yisroel."
Because of the cheit ho'eigel in which the Jews said,
"These are your gods, O Yisroel" (Shemos 32:4), the
Greeks claimed that Klal Yisroel had admitted that,
chas vesholom, Elokim is something perceptible to the
senses — that "nature" and "Elokim" are the
same. Even if the Jews were to argue that there is a
supernatural concept of Elokus, the cheit
ho'eigel was proof of their having no part in it!
Incidentally, we can see the immense power of heresy from
this episode. The Greeks admitted that the cheit
ho'eigel had actually happened, and they may have
likewise admitted that it had happened wondrously, through a
gold leaf thrown into a furnace. They denied, however, the
connection between tumah and taharoh in that
event, and stubbornly considered it just another effect of
nature's laws. Although they still could not explain it,
nonetheless they were certain it was a natural occurrence.
If they could not explain it yet, they nonetheless "believed"
that in the future they would be wiser and would then succeed
in explaining the phenomenon.
Man's Main Spiritual Task: Sanctifying the Physical
After we have succeeded in understanding the decree of "write
on the ox's horn your having no part in the Elokim of
Yisroel" we can analyze this subject more profoundly. If we
do we will realize that the Greek accusation against Klal
Yisroel's special status has deeper implications.
Hashem created the whole world, from the crudest substance to
the choicest, through ten of His utterances. Since the
Creator is utterly perfect, it stands to reason that anything
created by Him is also perfect and flawless. "R' Yehoshua ben
Levi said: `All created things were created at the genesis of
the world at their full maturity; each thing agreed to its
creation, and each one had its distinct taste and form, as is
written, "The heaven and the earth were finished and all
their hosts" (Bereishis 2:1) — do not read hosts
(tzevo'om) but rather tzivyonom (their form)' "
(Rosh Hashonoh 11a).
Tosafos (Chulin 60a, s.v. El) explain that
tzivyonom means "beauty," as in "la'ateres tzvi
— for a crown of beauty" (Yeshayohu 28:5) and
(ibid., 4:2) "letzvi ulekovod — on that
day shall Hashem's growing plant be beautiful and
glorious."
Differences in levels of physical matter are directly
dependent upon the differences of level among heaven's
hosts.
This can be compared to a king's palace, built with supreme
beauty and perfect art, and containing many rooms. Although
some rooms are less prominent, even the less important parts
of the palace must be perfect.
In addition, not all the king's servants are alike: some are
less important and some more, while the most important are
the king's closest ministers. All servants are, nonetheless,
the same in one point: they execute the king's will with awe
and reverence.
Likewise, in reference to the celestial host and its
counterpart in this mundane world, with all its countless
parts and details: they all must perform the King's Will with
awe and reverence. (It is impossible within the limited scope
of these articles to write at length about this subject. The
principles behind the above were taken from the Daas
Chaim and Nefesh HaChaim and should be further
studied there.)
The entire physical world becomes elevated and reaches its
tikkun by being used by a man who has perfected
himself. HaRav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto zt'l taught us
this pivotal precept in Mesillas Yeshorim (chap. 1):
"A person must always reflect about his way in life. If he is
attracted to the world and distances himself from his
Creator, he corrupts himself and the world too. If he
controls himself, clings to his Creator, and utilizes the
world only to assist himself in serving his Creator, he
elevates himself together with the world. It is an enormous
boost for all created things when they serve a man who has
perfected himself."
The main purpose of man in Olam Hazeh is to amend the
world — Hashem's kingdom — and "to be mindful not
to ruin His world." The pinnacle of a man's duty in this
world is that "even his physical acts become actually
sacred." Each person succeeds according to his own level in
elevating this mundane world. Some acts are more physical,
and few can therefore elevate and sanctify them. On the other
hand, there are acts that every man can sanctify and amend.
This amending of Hashem's kingdom in this world is Yisroel's
main avodas Hashem and characterizes Yisroel's
singular stature.
Understanding the Difference Between a Shor and a
Chamor
Now we will turn to the profound distinction between a
shor and a chamor. The fact that the
shor's image is carved in Hashem's Throne of Glory
shows that the shor's essence is an elevated one. The
shor's being more perfected and elevated lends a
metaphysical lift even to Hashem's Throne of Glory. Blessed
be Hashem Who created us to honor Him and gave us many
mitzvos regarding a shor and many Torah laws
concerning a shor. A Jew, by occupying himself in
these mitzvos and studying these dinim, elevates the
shor's physical essence. This avodas Hashem
causes major tikkunim that reach even Hashem's Throne
of Glory.
The main reason for the sacrificing of korbonos, which
was given to us through Hashem's great mercy, is to purify
the physical and transform it into something spiritual (see
Nefesh HaChaim, 1:4). The shor is the primary
korbon since its nature is easier to change from the
physical to the spiritual.
Exceptional tzaddikim have the power to uplift the
most unrefined matter to higher spiritual spheres. The
Mesillas Yeshorim explains that this was what happened
when the stones gathered to one place so that Yaakov, the
tzaddik, could lay his head on them. Other examples
are R' Yosi Demin Yukras's donkey, that was careful not to
steal (Taanis 24a), R' Pinchas ben Yo'ir's donkey,
that would not eat forbidden foods (Chulin 7b), and R'
Chanina ben Dosa's donkey, that would not eat food given to
it by robbers (Ovos DeR'Nosson chap. 8). "Just as the
first tzaddikim were chassidim, so their
animals were tzaddikim like them" (Ovos
DeR'Nosson — more examples are cited there).
The calamity is that just as a tikkun for the
shor is tremendous, so also is the ruin that can be
caused through it. A shor's every imperfection reaches
Hashem's Throne of Glory. Every negligence in the many
mitzvos concerning a shor is extremely damaging (see
the Nefesh HaChaim [1:5] explaining the nature of the
animals carved in Hashem's Throne of Glory).
We learn from a shor (Makkos 13b) all the
different halochos of lavin, since all
malkos are compared to the lav of, "You shall
not muzzle an ox when he treads" (Devorim 25:4). Since
Yisroel are so exalted and govern over the Creation and can
influence the higher worlds, therefore, choliloh, when
they cause any damage it also influences the higher worlds
(as explained at length in Nefesh HaChaim 1:4-5).
When Michah used the gold leaf on which Moshe wrote "arise,
shur, arise" for avodoh zorah, a tremendous
defilement took place, since the shor was transformed
from kedushoh to avodoh zorah, Rachmono
litzlan.
Now we can understand the profound criticism the Greeks
implied in "Write on the ox's horn your having no part in the
Elokim of Yisroel." In the cheit ho'eigel the Jews
actually showed they have no part in "the Elokim of
Yisroel" — in that HaKodosh Boruch Hu made them
unique from all nations and gave them the power to sanctify
the physical. On the contrary, they are worse than the
nations since they have ruined the image of the shor
carved in the Throne of Glory.
End of Part II
The author is the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Radin in
Netanya.
