He who denies the hidden in the revealed (i.e. denies kabbala publicly), in the hidden he denies the revealed (in private denies the Revelation of the Torah).
Chasam Sofer
quoted in Chut Hemshulash (biography of the Sofer family), -. 44
He who denies the hidden in the revealed (i.e. denies kabbala publicly), in the hidden he denies the revealed (in private denies the Revelation of the Torah).
Chasam Sofer
quoted in Chut Hemshulash (biography of the Sofer family), -. 44
Posted at 03:55 PM in Mithnagdic Spirituality and Mussar | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The book, Novarodok: The Movement that LIved in Struggle and its Unique Approach to the Problem of Man is being published in French transplation. R. Meir Levin wrote a new introduction to this edition and I post it here in English:
This book is about a movement, a spiritual discipline and a way of life that speaks directly to the heart of the modern man. We, products of Existentialism and post-modernism were suckled and weaned on the philosophy that self-expression is all that there is, that “Man as he is”, is all that there is to man, that self-actualization and fulfillment of the self is the highest goal of Life. Modern man grows up never questioning the idea that he must be true to himself, that expressing his feelings, artistry and mastery over Nature is calling, work and vocation… and that there is nothing else that matters. But what happens when man finds with a shock that his inner self is empty and that whatever there is inside of him… is not very nice.
Novarodok taught the ancient idea that Man as he is, is nothing but ashes and dung and that Man can, needs to and must sculpt himself or herself in the image of Heaven. To a believing Jew, this is a basic concept. All I thought that I did by writing Novarodok was to record a dying movement’s last embers in the pages of a book. After the book came out, I learned that I was wrong.
I began to hear from people to whom this was a revolutionary idea, to whom it was an epiphany and life changing. They said that this work was their flash in the darkness, that it illuminated their course in Life, the way forward out of the sense of helplessness and failure that ensnared and imprisoned them. That man can change and remake himself was enormously liberating. Soon I began to hear about people changing their lives because of the book, about a professor in Texas who came to Borough Park to redo his wedding, about a Russian immigrant who dedicated his life to Jewish outreach work, about the many who gained from this work the confidence to start anew. And then there was the Mussar Institute.
I would be over-reaching if I claimed credit for Alan Morinis’ work. This Rhodes scholar and former movie producer already found Mussar before reading a copy of Novarodok. It was Novarodok, however, which moved him to contact Rabbi Perr, who became his Musar mentor, and to go on to develop the Mussar Institute, a movement of thousands of Jews from all varieties of observance, who study Mussar as a spiritual discipline and find within it the inspiration toward a holier, more spiritual and more productive life. A movement with branches in many American cities, the Mussar Institute and its annual conferences, chapters and programs and demonstrates that the wisdom of Mussar has something to say to contemporary Jews. R. Avraham Yaffen once despaired of Mussar being able to survive, “the noise of New York that obscures the sun itself”. Mussar Institute demonstrates that the light of Mussar is brighter than sun itself and that there is a future for Mussar in the modern world.
I see Mussar as Jewish liberal education. Perfection of character and rebuilding of the heart goes well with anything one may do in life. It benefits a pulpit rabbi no less than a businessman, a Talmud teacher no less than an outreach professional, a chasidic pietist or devotee of Jewish mysticism as much as their not yet observant brother. The French translation is especially gratifying, for France, along with the Land Of Israel and America that gave the remnants of Novarodok a refuge. May the light of Novarodok burn proudly in La Francophonie. May it burn forever for all Jews.
With gratitude and best wished to the Script Torah project and with blessing to all our brethren,
Meir Levin
Posted at 02:41 PM in Books, Mithnagdic Spirituality and Mussar | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Names continue to fascinate me. Kabbalistically, a person's name is connected with his essence and the root of his soul. R. Yosef Karo writes in Magid Meisharim (Shemos) that a man named Abraham leans toward the side of kindness and one who is called Yosef is either a hero in sexual matters or feeds and supports others. While essentially Kabbalistic, it could be interpreted to refer to the subconscious effect of carrying a name and its meaning, which creates an expectations that will influence a person to express precisely the qualities associated with the name. It appears incontrovertible that one's name has a shaping and clarifying influence on the development of personality and on how others view him/her, and that it modifies a person's perception of who he or she is. There is scientific evidence to this concept.
Before the world was created, there was only He and His name alone (some versions say Hakadosh Baruch Hu, not He.., see Sefer Hoemunos 4:7. Another version in the printed version of PRDRE says, "His great name...). The Name is Essence!
This assumption that a name affects the person may be based on Brochos 7b.
How do we know that the name is causative (shapes and affects individuals and events)? R. Elazar said. The verse says " come see works of Hashem, that he put destruction (shamus) in the land. Do not read Shamos but sheimos (names).[
There are other sources as well. In Yoma 83b we are treated to a story of how R. Meir was able to prevent financial loss by paying attention to a name of an innkeeper who turned out to be a wicked swindler. Similarly we read in Sotah 9b, "If her name was not Delila she should have been called that, since she weakened his strength and his vigor". Similarly in Sotah 34b we are told that all of the spies were named according to their deeds. I
In Tanach names are certainly reflective of their bearers. For example, Esav has a name indicating his physical appearance (Genesis 25:) and is also called Edom (red), alluding to his violent tendencies, that he sheds blood. Moses's name reflected how the daughter of Pharaoh drew him from the Nile (Exodus 2:10). Noah's birth was accompanied by the aspiration that the newborn would provide comfort "from our work and from the toil of our hands, because of the ground which God cursed" (Genesis 5:29). And he called his name Noach, meaning to say, "This one will give us comfort (e-noach-meinu) (Genesis 5, 29)". Here the name reflects the man's essence. Another example: "The name of one was Peleg, for in his days, the entire world became divided (ni-peleg-a) (Geneis 10,25)". There are countless such examples.
That a name may indicate something about its owner also goes back to Tanach. "Naval is his name and navala he does (Samuel 1, 25,25). "It is for this that they called him Yakov and he outwitted me these two times (Genesis 27,36).
Not only this - we all have different names.
You find that a person is called by three names: one by which that his father and mother call him, one that people call him and one that he acquires himself. The best one is the one that he acquires himself (Tanchuma VaYakhel, 1).
As is known, Ashkenazim have the custom of not naming their children after living relatives. This is based on Sefer Chassidim 460 who says that it is discourage because it indicates an anticipation that that person will soon die, as explained by Noheg K'Tson Yosef, Yoledes 5.. Of interest, the issue of Gilgul(transmigration) is not cited exlicitly by Sefer Chassidim. An obvious explanation of why we should wait until a relative departs is to give his or her soul an opportunity to partially transmigrate into the newborn baby. To name a child by a parent's name while he is still alive is akin to the sin of Onan, wo did not want to give "seed" to his brother. Abarbanel (unlike Ari who held that souls transmigrate into animals and even stones and trees) on Yibum in Ki Teitse makes the point that giglul is the more appropriate the greater the degree of similarity between the source and the destination and that is why Torah commanded that a brother should marry his passed brother's wife and produce progeny. See a discussion here.
In the recent edition of Kolmos from Mishpacha(Chanukkah 5771, #15), R. Binyamin Jacobson answers a question from Kallah Rabbasi 3, where it says that 80.000 boys named Aharon were present at Aharon's funeral. Does this not sypport the view of teh Sephardim that one names children after LIVING relatives?
His answer is noteworthy. He brings Bareishis Rabba 37,7: "The ancestors, since they knew their genealogies, would derive names from events. We, who are not certain of our genealogies, derive names from our forefathers. Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel said: The ancestors who used the power of Divine Inspiration drew names out of (future) events; we who do not have access to Divine Inspiration, draw names from our forefathers (Genesis Rabbah 37,7)."
SInce Aharon's contemporaries named their children after events, they named them Aharon after the setting up of the Mishkon. Therefore, it does not apply to our practice at all.
This is an ingenious answer but it doesn't explain everything. There are many examples of Talmuidc Sages who were named after their fathers when they were still alive (see R. Reuven Margolios extensive note in his edition of Sefer Chassidim 460) and this still requires an explanation.
Posted at 06:48 AM in Kabbala, Mithnagdic Spirituality and Mussar, Talmudic Spirituality | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
The light of a man's face during the day during the week is not the same as it is on Shabbos (Gen.Rabbah 11:2)
On Shabbos the face of every person is transformed. The gemara in Ketubot 7b says that Rabi Yehuda rules that sheva berachot are recited for all seven days so long as "panim chadashot," literally "new faces," have come to celebrate. If there are no panim chadashot, the law is that only the last of the sheva berachot ("asher bara") is recited.Tosafot note that Shabbat and holidays are also referred to as panim chadashot, based on a Midrash where Hashem refers to Shabbat as such (the logical extension to holidays is made by the various commentators).This is why on Shabbos each person has a "A New Face (Panim Chadashos) ", and can be counted for a minyan for Sheva Brochos, even he already attended a previous sheva brochos (Sefas Emes).
"The face of a person shows his internal situation (matsav ruach), if it is setteld or he is upset ( Klach 32)". In Daas Tevunos 2:9 , Ramchal farther explains that the face is called Panim while the inner world of a person is called pnim. This is because the face reflects what is deeper and inside. "After all, we can clearly determine if a person is alive or dead by the pallor of his face, or whether he’s ill or well by the hue and tone of his face, and we could even be said to “read” a person’s thoughts on his face thanks to its affect, color, and configuration. For, the very physical human face is capable of reflecting the soul to the eye that’s sensitive enough to read it."
Thus, on Shabbos the inner state of a person is different, whch in turns is reflected in his countenance. In what way is it different?
As is well known, the soul of a person is elevated on Shabbos. With Borechu in the Friday night, he receives the “Ru’ah” portion of the extra soul with which we are endowed on Shabbat. The “Neshama” aspect of the extra soul descends upon a person later during Maariv, during the recitation of “U’fros Alenu Sukat Shelomecha.”
So what we have is that on Shabbos the inner state of person changes, which changes his face as well. In this sense, we can speak of Panim Chadashos on Shabbos and explain the halacha of Panim Chadashos on Shabbos.
Posted at 07:35 PM in Kabbala, Mithnagdic Spirituality and Mussar | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
This was a three hour interactitive lesson on Teshuva. I decided to post the notes in the hope that they may be useful to some.
Teshuvah Repentance
Book of Yonah- How reading the Book of Yonah can help us understand Teshuva.
What is Teshuva anyway?
1.What happens in the Book of Yonah?
2.Structure and Message
Ch.1 The Call and Running Away
Escape
Despair
Pregnancy and Rebirth
Ch.2 Yonah speaks to G-d
Ch.3 The Call and Reluctant Compliance
Ch.4 Escape
Pregnancy and (?)Transformation
Despair
G-d responds to Yonah
3.Recognition and Denial
1. What are the first steps in repentance?
2. From where does the first glimmer of recognition come?
I always knew it.
Others showed me.
My conscience bothered me.
Life showed me.
Consequences of my actions could not longer be ignored
Religious motivation
a.Religion versus Spirituality
Are spiritual also most moral?
b. I set my own standards vs. G-d sets His own standards.
4. How clear is the recognition?
5.How we respond to Recognition?
Accept – is that what you usually see in life?
Deny completely, or
Deny through:
Rationalization
Reinterpretaion
Reformatting
Sublimation
Why do people deny?
6.Denial through Escape
5.Are there gradations in refusal to do Teshuva or are some forms of denial “better” than others?
Is denial absolute or can denial be partial?
Partial Teshuva: R. Kook and the Satmar Rov
Is it a part of process of complete Teshuvah or an entity in itself?
Classic definitions of Teshuva
1.Alter Rebbe: Regret
2.Rambam:Regret, Confession, Acceptance for the future
3.Shaare Teshuva: Multiple elements
How do we understand Partial Teshuva.
There are many levels of Teshuva. However, the sin will not be forgiven completely until the soul will not be purified and spirit sett straight until (Shaarei Teshuva 1:9)
A.Regret alone:
a."Anyone who commits a sin and is embarrassed by it - is forgiven for all transgressions" (B. Berachot 12b). This declaration is rooted in the words of the prophet Ezekiel: So that you will remember and be ashamed... when I have forgiven you for all you have done, says the Lord God (Ezekiel 16:63).
Another biblical source. King Saul found himself in trouble and sought sage advice (I Samuel 28). He turned to a necromancer and asked her to raise the spirit of the prophet Samuel. When the ghost of Samuel appeared it demanded, "Why have you disturbed me and brought me up?"
King Saul replied, "I am in dire straits, and the Philistines are making war against me. God has turned away from me and does not answer me any more - not through the prophets nor by dreams - and I am asking you to tell me what to do!. He was ashamed to mention Urim and Tumim because it was King Saul who destroyed Nob, the city of
b. At the end of the silent Amida of Yom Kippur, "Behold I am before You as a vessel filled with shame and disgrace….. "May it be Your will, Lord, my God and the God of my forebears, that I shall sin no more; and the sins which I have committed before You, erase them in Your abounding mercies, though not through suffering and severe illness."
B.What does shame mean t a 21st century American?
1.The Death of Honor
2.Obligation to the Self
Can one be ashamed before himself?
(Shaarei Teshuva 1,10)
C.Confession and Abandoning sin.
Why does one need these steps?
Mesilas Yesharim
When is Teshuva not possible?
Can future influence the past?
"Reish Lakish said: Great is repentance, for intentional sins become for a penitent as if they were not intentional, as it says: Return Israel to your God for you have stumbled in you crime (Hosea 14,). Crime refers to intentional sin and yet it is called "stumbling". Is this really so? Did not Reish Lakish say, "Great is repentance, for it turns sins into merits, as it says, "When the wicked returns from his sin,he shall live (in the sense of "prosper") (Ezekiel 33,)". No problem - this statement is about repentance through love and this one is regarding repentance from fear (Yoma 86b)".
D.Escape
How is escape different from straightforward denial?
Where do people escape to?
| |
ג וַיָּקָם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה, מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה; וַיֵּרֶד יָפוֹ וַיִּמְצָא אֳנִיָּה בָּאָה תַרְשִׁישׁ, וַיִּתֵּן שְׂכָרָהּ וַיֵּרֶד בָּהּ לָבוֹא עִמָּהֶם תַּרְשִׁישָׁה, מִלִּפְנֵי, יְהוָה. |
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish, from the presence of the LORD. |
Escape end with the escapee being spat out to face himself.
6. Back to Yonah: Spiritual Pregnancy
ב וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל יוֹנָה, אֶל-יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיו, מִמְּעֵי, הַדָּגָה. |
2 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly. |
יא וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, לַדָּג; וַיָּקֵא אֶת-יוֹנָה, אֶל-הַיַּבָּשָׁה. {פ} |
11 And the LORD spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. {P} |
II Life is a spiral
Denial after Denial
Is an admission of guilt sufficient?
Why or why not?
What do we really want?
What does it mean to be free?
Are there orders of desires?
1.Second call to Yonah
א וַיְהִי דְבַר-יְהוָה אֶל-יוֹנָה, שֵׁנִית לֵאמֹר. |
1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying: |
ב קוּם לֵךְ אֶל-נִינְוֵה, הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה; וּקְרָא אֵלֶיהָ אֶת-הַקְּרִיאָה, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי דֹּבֵר אֵלֶיךָ. |
2 'Arise, go unto |
A. How is this call different?
Was this a more complete message, a change of message, or better understanding of the original message?
2.Was Yonah ready to hear?
Yonah:
Eliahu:
Antidote to Denial is arousal: Arise go…
p.147
How many exposures does it take to admit full, full truth?
Can human beings ever be completely truthful?
What are the barriers to completely surpassing Denial?
Self-confidence
Reliance on G-d
Teaching yourself the habit of Truthfullness.
What is Integrity?
A lifetime of work
A Commitment to Transformation
When slow is not OK.
Shaare Teshuva: Difference between the”path” and an act.
5. Yonah’s Lessons
Posted at 10:09 PM in Mithnagdic Spirituality and Mussar | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The jelousy of scribes increases wisdom (Bava Basra 21a).
Should a person want to be as holy and learned as his friends, and because of his envy strives to emulate them, this is tolerable. While it is not desirable as a primary motive to study Torah, it is nevertheless acceptable.
Rabbeinu Yonah
Avakesh comments: We need to rethink the way that we foster competetiveness in education. Our schools and camps have taken over wholesale the Gentile methods of fostering competetive behavior - with raffles, contests, valedictorians, color war and sport teams. This is not the portion of the Sons of Yakov. Whereas to gain in Torah it is "acceptable", it is not ideal. It is post facto and not ad initio and not something that we should encourage. We should reward and promote sharing and working together rather than competition and rivalry.
Posted at 03:08 PM in Mithnagdic Spirituality and Mussar | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
A passuk in this week's parasha Ekev 10:12 is quoted in Masechta Menachos 43b as a source to the requirement of saying 100 brochos daily. There are many other allusions to this requirement to say a hundred brochos that are cited in various sefarim.
There are many practical halachic issues that can be reviewed in these websites: http://www.meahbrachos.com/ and http://berachot.org/
There are two recent sefarim devoted to this mitsva: Meah Brachot by R. Mordechai Potash and HaMevarech Yitbarech by R. Yaakov Meir Shechter. R. Moshe Goldberger published an English booklet and a hard cover edition.
Rabbi Yaakov Zev Smith of Irgun Shiurei Torah has a tape on the topic( SN 269 from 5762). Rabbi Yonaton Rietti also spoke about it for Irgun Shiurei Torah
(SF330 8/6/08 The Last Ten Plagues Before Moshiach & How to Escape Them) basing his talk on the many rewards for saying 100 brochos daily as discussed in Rav Schechter's sefer. Yutorah also has a shiur on this topic by R. Arye Lebowitz.
In their introductions, these summaries cite all the classical sefarim (Rabbenu Bachaye, Sefer HaManhig, Machzor Vitry, Shibolei Leket, Recanati, Shelah, Chida etc) [There is also good synposis in Pardes Yosef on Ekev 10:12].
There seems to be two main opinions as to the nature of the requirement to say these one hundred brachos:
1) The enactment of 100 blessings every day started with Dovid HaMelech and it is rabbinic in origin.
2) It is Biblical and started with Moshe Rabbenu (Halacha L'Moshe M'Sinai) but was forgotten, reinstituted by Dovid HaMelech forgotten again and finally established by the Anshei Knesses HaGadolah.
The question arises according to the opinion that the halacha of reciting brochas started with King David: "Until his time, did the Jews eat without a brocha?!" According to what is stated in the Ben Ish Chai (Balak) and Chabad chassidus
דף הבית > ספרי כ"ק אדמו"ר מהר"ש נ"ע > תורת שמואל > תרל"ח > חייב אדם לברך ק' ברכות
דף הבית > ספרי כ"ק אדמו"ר מהר"ש נ"ע > תורת שמואל > תרל"ח > ולהבין כו' ברוך ה' אלקי ישראל
דף הבית > ספרי כ"ק אדמו"ר הזקן > תורה אור > בראשית > ו,א
as well as in sefarim of Reb Tzadok of Lublin, originally and especially during the days of the Mishkan and Bayis Rishon, there was no need to make a brocha due to the greater revelation of G-dliness that existed. This follows from the meaning of the root of the word brocha meaning to draw forth from one level to another as expounded upon in Chassidus (see links below). Moreover, in a similar manner that prayers were not fixed until Anshei Knesses Hagdolah because the Jews were on a higher level, blessings were not fixed either. This idea is similar to the one that the Avos performed whatever actions that they wished as mitzvos. For example, Yaakov and his sticks (in the story with Lavan's sheep) accomplished as much or more as we might now accomplish with a spiritual avodah as putting on tefillin. In latter generations, especially during this long galus, there are so many impediments to kevana and deveikus, that there is thus a greater need for saying a set nusach of brochos to bring Moshiach.
more Chabad references:
ובכדי לגלות בחי' מ"ה שבנפש, הנה על זה תקנו מאה ברכות, כמאמר רז"ל אל תקרי מה אלא מאה, שמזה למדו שחייב אדם לברך מאה ברכות בכל יום, דמאה ברכות הוא ע"ד מ"ש ויזרע יצחק בארץ ההיא... גו' מאה שערים ויברכהו ה', והיינו, שע"י עבודת...
מאה, מאה הוא בכתר, והיינו, שההמשכה דמאה ברכות היא המשכת שם הוי' דלעילא שלמעלה...
מעמך כי אם ליראה גו', ואיתא בגמרא חייב אדם לברך מאה ברכות בכל יום שנאמר ועתה ישראל מה ה' אלקיך... מעמך, אל תקרי מה אלא מאה. וצריך להבין, הרי מה ומאה הם שני ענינים שונים, ויתירה מזו, שהם... דלשון מה מורה שהענין (המדובר) הוא דבר קטן, ומאה הוא מספר גדול ועד לשלימות המספר [ובפרט... המבואר בחסידות, דזה שניתוסף, במאה על מה הוא אות אל"ף אותיות פלא, אור... מ"ש הטור בשם רב נטורנאי גאון, דזה שצריך לברך מאה ברכות בכל יום הוא תקנת דוד המלך, כמ"ש נאום... הוקם על, על בגימטריא ק', והדרשה אל תקרי מה אלא מאה היא אסמכתא. והטעם שתיקן דוד לברך מאה ברכות הוא (כמ"ש הטור שם) כי בכל יום היו... מאה נפשות מישראל ולא היו יודעים על מה היו... עד שחקר והבין ברוח הקודש ותיקן מאה ברכות בכל יום. וצריך להבין, דמזה שהחיוב... מאה ברכות בכל יום למדו (באופן דאסמכתא) מהכתוב... מובן, שבכדי לבוא ליראה את ה' ולאהבה אותו הוא ע"י מאה ברכות, ואעפ"כ במשך כו"כ דורות (כל זמן שלא... בכל יום מאה נפשות) לא תיקנו לברך מאה ברכות בכל יום.
Posted at 07:33 PM in Chabad, Chassidic Thought, Mithnagdic Spirituality and Mussar | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
An yeshiva principal says that his institution employs somebody with a gift for ferreting out families that are not of proper type (signon) to deny their children admission. Rav Shteinman responds angrily: "It is gaava.gaavah. gaavah (arrogance). See especially at about 3:15min **********************
Posted at 09:56 PM in Looking Around, Mithnagdic Spirituality and Mussar | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
A recent post in Avos discussed the tension within Judaism between a personal, individual path to Hashem and the path which is recommended to all. The best way is to follow both paths simultaneously.
I recently came across an early Avakesh post that expressed something important and true.
"On the one hand we are told that any minchah, or meal offering, may not include leaven or honey (Vayikra 2:11). This pasuk implies that the basic ingredients of flour and oil must remain free from anything extra.
And yet, just two pesukim later we are told “ba’melach timlach,” that all menachos should be salted (2:13). In fact, the verse continues and further commands us that all sacrifices must include the addition of salt.
The question is two-fold: Why may we not add leaven or honey to the korban? And if we are commanded not to add ingredients, why must we add salt?
A number of classical meforshim offer symbolic explanations for the problem with leaven and honey, but most of these explanations don’t address the positive contribution of salt.
R. Mordechai Gifter (Pirkei Torah), offers a beautiful explanation to both rules.
The problem with honey and leaven is that they are additives. They improve the taste or consistency of food by changing it. The external nature of the change they induce is the source of their prohibition.
Salt, on the other hand, preserves and enhances the natural flavor of food and this is the reason that we add it to korbanos.
R. Gifter goes on to explain that these twin halachos do not merely govern what ingredients can be added to a sacrifice, but – more profoundly – serve as a model for spiritual expression and aspiration.
Symbolically, we are being taught that our service of and relationship with God shouldn’t be artificial mimicry of others, but a natural expression of our true inner selves. [For a similar idea, see the comments of the Sfas Emes, on the phrase (Vayikra 1:2) “adam ki yakriv mi’kem.”]
Posted at 10:51 PM in Avos, Mithnagdic Spirituality and Mussar | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The first night of Passover is unique among Jewish festivals in that it is associated with a prescribed text, the Haggadah. This particular feature warrants a closer exploration.
We generally think of remembering Exodus as telling the story of what happened on that night. A number of sources, however, imply that Torah study is a primary component of this obligation or that it can substitute for the Haggadah.
Two scholars who know the laws of Pesach are still obligated to discuss the laws of Pesach on that night (Pesachim 116a). A person is required to be engaged in the study of the laws of Passover the entire night (Tosefta, Pesachim 10:5).
This focus on laws is not always fully appreciated.
If he is a wise son, what does he say: "What are these testimonies, statutes, and rules that G-d has commanded you? Also you reply to him according to the laws of Passover, "We do not eat after afikomen" (Haggada).
The Tur comments: " For a person is obligated to occupy himself the entire night with the laws of Passover and to recount the miracles and wonders...until sleep overtakes him (O'C 481). Tur posits two components of the obligation: "laws of Passover" and "to recount miracles and wonders".
One can pose a Chakira about the nature of the obligation of Seder night: Is it the laws or reciting a text, or both? Is our model at Seder the commandment to remember Amalek, wherein we read a specified story text, or is it the commandment to remember what Hashem did to Miriam -"that you shall study it (Ra'avad - the laws of tsaraas) with your mouth" (Sifra Bechukosai 2)?
We have in the past discussed the fact that remembering something may be done through simple awareness (not forgetting), review (study of laws), recall (performance of an associated action), and commemoration (a recitation of a text). In fact, Sifra in Bechukosia appears to list examples of 3 of these kinds of remembering:
1. Awareness - not forgetting one's learning
2. Review - remembering Miriam by studying the laws of tsaraas.
3. Commemoration - Reading the portion of Amalek.
What about the Seder - what kind of remembering is it?
Well, it seems that several kinds of remembering come together at the Seder table. We have recall by eating matza and korban pesach (see Rashi on Devarim 16:3). We have review - this is study of Passover laws. We finally have commemoration - the recitation of the Haggadah text during the Seder.
Is there also a component of awareness regarding in the mitzvah of remembering the Exodus?
The Yefeh To'ar to Brochos 12b appears to understand that the commandment to remember the Exodus from Egypt is merely to remember it in our hearts and not to say it out loud. All other observances are Rabbinic enactments so as to ensure the performance of the basic Biblical obligation. If so, it would seem that Biblically there is merely the obligation to be aware and nothing more.[1]
This approach allows us to answer the well known question of why the Rambam does not count the obligation to remember Exodus on Pesach night as one of 613 mitvos; he only counts the every day obligation to remember the Exodus. It would seem that the obligation to inwardly to remember the Exodus can be triggered by any means of remembrance - recall, review or commemoration; however, the essence and nature of the obligation is the same on Pesach night as it is the rest of the year - simple awareness. Consequently once the obligation of being aware is counted once in Sefer Hamitzvos, it cannot be counted another time.
Posted at 06:22 PM in Mithnagdic Spirituality and Mussar | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)