HaRav Kamenetsky, HaRav Yaakov Ruderman and HaRav Mordechai Gifter
The Growing Need for a Growing Understanding
"Perhaps this need can better be understood by referring to a problem of a different sort: While people recognize the value of buying a tiny tallis kotton for a small boy as training for performing the mitzvah of tzitzis when he grows up, not many can also see the pitfalls inherent in this. Little children grow, but the tiny four cornered garment remains tiny. Eventually, a grown man may still wear a miniature tallis, now too small for him to effectively use it for the mitzvah of tzitzis.
"Unfortunately, too many of us are also outfitted with child-sized conceptions of Chumash from which we never divest ourselves. We continue to understand Eisov according to our cheder training." Vayochal — and he ate without a brocho beforehand; Vayeisht — and he drank without a brocho afterwards... "
But we have grown up since, and so our understanding of the personalities and events of the Chumash must mature. In fact, as we grow to adulthood and develop further, with each increment in personal growth and in anticipation of each new experience, we can uncover new layers of meanings with fresh applications in Chumash and the interpretations of Chazal.
"Thus, Rabbi Yehuda Hanossi had genuine need to study Vayishlach anew, in preparation for his encounter with Eisov's offspring. Having failed to do so, he found himself unprepared, and was forced to return to Eretz Yisroel — to his Chumash.
Our Current Encounter
"We are now in the midst of a face-to-face encounter with the progeny of Eisov, making it all the more essential that we return to our Chumash study with an approach of maturity and searching.
"First, we must attempt to perceive Eisov as the complex person he was, beyond the simple black-and-white of childhood conceptions. It thus becomes important to understand how Eisov changed as radically as Chazal tell us he did. Until the age of fifteen, he was not much different from his brother Yaakov. It was only then, when his grandfather Avrohom passed away, that he rebelled: `How could so righteous a man die before his time?' he asked. (It was apparently known that Avrohom was destined to live longer.) `There is neither judgment nor Judge!' he cried, and embarked on an orgy of transgressions.
"It should be apparent that no one can undergo such a complete transformation from `Yaakov's brother' to the rowdy who `ate without a brocho ...,' unless there was some preparation for this change beforehand.
Yaakov, in contrast, had a broad based and deeply-rooted emunah, and the challenge of Avrohom's early demise did not upset the overall strength of his belief. Eisov's emunah had been waning for a much longer time. Apparently, the major underpinning of his faith was his grandfather's presence. When that was taken from him, his emunah was left without support.
Mal'ochim for Mal'ochim's Job
"As an extension of this: We are aware of the dispute among the commentaries as to the mal'ochim Yaakov dispatched to report to him regarding his brother's intentions: Were they human scouts? Or were they mal'ochim mammosh, real angels?
"This might hardly seem to be a matter for Talmudic dispute, for we are aware of Yaakov's familiarity with mal'ochim without this incident. What new insights can be gained from determining the exact nature of these particular emissaries?
"It seems that Yaakov was interested in information that only a mal'ach can provide. He had wrested Yitzchok's brochos from Eisov through deceitful means, because he and his mother, Rivka, did not share Yitzchok's trust of Eisov. They realized that if only Eisov received the blessing of material bounty, he would not carry out their father Yitzchok's designs; he would not share his wealth with Yaakov, who would certainly pursue a purely spiritual existence. There was a critical need for Yaakov to be blessed with independent material resources.
"Twenty years had passed since then. Perhaps Eisov had mellowed and was ready to enter the partnership of study-and-support once envisioned by Yitzchok. Yaakov's entire approach to Eisov at their meeting would be determined by this assessment of Eisov's current outlook.
"It was possible that Eisov's intentions were obvious to a human onlooker. On the other hand, it was also possible that in spite of his belligerent appearance, Eisov was really ready for a spiritual alliance. Only a mal'ach is equipped for this type of perceptive evaluation.
"Today, too, we have difficulty in interpreting the intentions of our adversaries. We might be inclined to rely on human instinct, but a higher sort of perception is often required.
"We are in need of guidance. We must continue to study our Chumash with depth, in search of basic insights in the events of our ovos to help us understand our current dilemmas and how to deal with them." (Excerpted with permission from Jewish Observer, Nov.-Dec. 74)
What is Included in the Written Torah?
The Talmudic statement we quoted earlier, that all parts of the Torah were given at Sinai, leaves us with a number of questions. "Torah" refers to the written law, "Mishnah" and "Talmud" to the oral law. They are both from Sinai — Moshe was taught the written law in daytime, and the oral law at night. But what exactly was included in each of these categories?
Rashi (Bereishis 1:1) states that the text of the Torah should have started with Shemos Chapter 12 where the commandment about the month of Nisan is stated. Instead, the Torah begins with creation to show that G-d made the world and therefore it was His prerogative to give Eretz Yisroel to the Jewish people as an inheritance.
Yet there are innumerable basic teachings that we learn from the story of the Ovos, such as: "Their doings are a sign for their children," and, "The words of the servants of the Ovos are more precious than the instruction of the children." How could such important principles be omitted?
In reply, the Rosh Yeshiva pointed out that many fundamentals of the Torah, such as the resurrection of the dead, are rules spelled out only in the oral Torah. The stories of the Ovos could just as well have been left to the oral tradition. The rule for inclusion in the written Torah is that only matters that belong to the 613 commandments, or that are important for the gentile nations, are written down. (Chazal emphasized that the oral nature of the oral law was designed so that gentiles should not have access to it.)
Therefore Rabbi Yitzchok, quoted by Rashi, explains that there was no need to start the Torah with Creation, if not for the fact that the nations had to learn about Creation and the subsequent development of the Jewish people, in order to establish their title to Eretz Yisroel. (Heard at a kiddush on Simchas Torah.)
What is the Relationship Between Nach and Torah?
Another question is raised by the Talmudic statement that Nevi'im and Kesuvim were also given at Sinai. How could the historical account in these works have been given at Sinai? Moreover, Chazal say that if the Jews had not sinned, they would have received the Chumash and the book of Yehoshua but not the rest of Nach!
The answer can be found in Taanis (9a). Resh Lokesh's little son recited for Rabbi Yochonon a verse from Mishlei, and Rabbi Yochonon wondered how there could be anything — in this case the passage in Mishlei — that is not hinted at in the Chumash. The boy then pointed out where the lesson from Mishlei could be found in the Torah.
From this Talmudic passage we learn the relationship between Torah and Nach: all that is in Nach can be found — even if only in an allusion — in the Torah. Thus, the gemora asks e.g., where we find Esther and Haman in the Torah. If the Jews had not sinned at the golden calf, they would not have needed the prophets to spell out for them the lessons contained in the Torah. Now that we have the books of the prophets, we can and should use them to uncover their roots in the Torah.
An example of how the Torah provides a hidden hint which only the prophets helped us to understand can be found in the enumeration of the men who would distribute Eretz Yisroel to the tribes (Bamidbar 34: 16-29). They are listed in no apparent order and the commentators all wondered about this.
However, the Rosh Yeshiva pointed out that when we look at a map of Eretz Yisroel, and see where the various tribes, by means of the lottery, received their inheritance, we find that the order in which the men are enumerated in the Torah corresponds to the order in which their tribes were settled, going from south to north. Thus the passage of Chumash is illuminated by the events described in Nach. (Another example is Chapter 38 in Bereishis, the story of Yehuda and Tamar; see Emes LeYaakov there.)
End of Part I
Next week: Yeridas hadoros, the development of Torah education and more.
