Beraishis 3H The New State of Man – עצבון – Sacrifice

Woman is told she will have much עצבון and she will bear children with עצבון.

Man is told in verse 17 בעצבון תאכלנה.

The word עצבון is related to the word עזב which means forsake. With the letter צ in place of the ז it means to have to give something up against one’s will.

After the sin, Man is no longer at harmony with nature. Nature no longer smiles at Man ready to flourish without opposition. This moment is the beginning of a new phase of history where in order for Man to attain one pleasure he must give up another pleasure. This is the beginning of thousands of years of Man’s education.

The greatest joy is to have a child. But in order to attain this, women will now have to sacrifice their own flesh and blood.

Men will labor and sacrifice day and night to have food and shelter.

Women will feel dependent on men for their food and shelter. This will create a challenge to the original, natural state of equality between husband and wife. Only through the Torah’s influence will this equality be restored completely. (see Mishlei 12:4 where a wife is called the crown of her husband, also Mishlei 31:10 where a wife is called the invaluable pearl of his life.)

Beraishis 3:16-19, Pages 83-86

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Beraishis 3I – ארץ ישראל A Small Model of Paradise on Earth

After Man’s sin he is told that the ground will be cursed for his sake, The earth will only flourish in response to his living up to a higher ideal.

Here, the Torah shows us the first moment that the flourishing of the earth is not dependent on natural causes such as sunshine and rain, but on the moral standing of Man, to the degree that Man lives by God’s laws.

The giving of the Torah was to teach Man the path to come back to his original level.

ארץ ישראל was to be a returning to a form of paradise, to be lived on this earth.

The path for Man to return to paradise is the way of life detailed in the Torah.

This is explicit  in פרשת בחקתי where the Torah tells us that particularly in ארץ ישראל, our behavior, either good or bad, will be reflected in the land’s flourishing or the opposite.

Beraishis 3:17, Pages 86-87

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Beraishis 3J Man is Inherently Good

After Man’s sin he remains inherently good.

The only things God cursed were the ground and an animal, which serve as the new stage upon which Man continues to carry on the same mission he had before the sin. Man’s high calling and his ability to reach that goal remain the same.

To this day every human child is born as pure as an angel. This is one of the most basic Jewish concepts.

See page 87, mid-page, beginning with the words “what a disconsolate lie”,  for very passionate words written by RSRH written in vehement protest to Christian dogma. He writes that Christianity’s false interpretation of the effects of the original sin presented the mistaken thought that Man is no longer inherently good and must sin, and the only way to return to God and paradise, is for something external to bring Man back.

To this RSRH says yes, it is true that as a result of this sin Man lives in a world which doesn’t flourish as it did before the sin, but the only reason Man has not yet returned to paradise is because he keeps on repeating this same sin, not because the original sin caused irrevocable damage. Man is thrust into the “school of renunciation”, the school where he must learn to sacrifice for a higher good and not give in to his animal instincts. This will ultimately educate Man up to the highest levels, and back to paradise.

Jewish history is filled with examples of people who, through their free willed efforts were able to become very close to God, without the need for any external dead or resurrected intermediary. Avraham, Moshe, Yeshaya, Yirmiyahu and all the prophets attained this level by their pure efforts in fulfilling God’s will.

To this day we begin our prayers with the words הנשמה שנתת בי טהורה היא “the soul that You have given to me is pure”.

The sum total of the Torah is to teach us how to understand and think about God and uplift earthly life up to God, using the moral power that each human being was given.

Beraishis 3:19, Pages 87-88

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Beraishis 3K Woman, Giver of Life

Adam names woman Chava – חוה – which means “one who gives life”.

Woman bears life. Despite the decree that man would no longer live forever, and despite the fact that woman caused him to be driven out of Paradise, he names her by this greatest of her tasks.

Both man and woman would now live a different life than before. Man would labor and woman would suffer to bear children. But the merit of woman, who in return for her suffering delivers the world from death, is greater than man’s.

חוה, as opposed to חיה denotes giving spiritual life. Woman gives life to the next generation so that it can continue to fulfill man’s destiny.

Beraishis 3:20

pages 114-115 (in the new Hirsch Chumash)

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Beraishis 3L Clothing

Clothing (given to man by God) serves two purposes.

1. To cover the lower part of the body. This warns man to rule over his body and not allow the opposite. This was needed especially at the time of leaving Gan Eden. From that point forward, man’s mind would be occupied with more earthly matters than before.

2. To provide protection from the elements. This reminds man that he has fallen from his previous stature and he must strive to regain it.

The Midrash calls these clothing priestly garments (שעשה לו הקב”ה בגדי כהונה). Just as the clothing of the Cohen enlighten and teach (through their symbolism) so do clothing teach man

The Mitzvah of Tzitzis furthers this lesson. The strings, attached to the corners of our garments are an extension of our clothing. They are the “flowering” of the message of the clothing. (Tzits means blossom and flower.) They remind us to keep God’s commandments. Tzitizis counter the notion that man’s own heart and eyes alone can determine what is good. (This was the root of the original sin. See above v. 6)

Beraishis 3:21
pages 115-116 (in the new Hirsch Chumash)

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Beraishis 3M Acts of Kindness – גמילות חסד

The expulsion from Gan Eden brought about opportunities for acts of kindness.  Man must now toil by the sweat of his brow to survive. If he does this only for himself, he is selfish. If he does this for others, he emulates God in acts of kindness. As our sages (Shabbos 133b) explain the verse והלכת בדרכיו – And you shall walk in His ways (Devarim 28:9) “Just as He clothes the naked, visits the sick, comforts mourners, buries the dead, so shall you clothe the naked, visit the sick, comfort mourners and bury the dead, etc.” This is the basis for Jewish גמילות חסדים. One now finds the House of Israel, scattered all over the world, a society of גומלי חסדים.

Anyone who wants can elevate himself to the heights of emulating God. This refutes the erroneous (Christian – GS) notion that the first sin brought a curse upon man and deprived his descendants of the purity of their souls. The very mitzvah to emulate God is derived from the expulsion from Gan Eden. Had man not been expelled from Gan Eden and become lacking and dependent on others for help, this mitzvah to emulate God would not have become a reality.

Beraishis 3:21
pages 116-117 (in the new Hirsch Chumash)

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Beraishis 3N History – The Way Back to Eden

Post Eden – History and the education of Man

Man was removed from Gan Eden and was alienated from God. When man followed his own lusts and desires he was left to himself. Man now begins the long process of of learning to put God before himself through the difficulties of life, until man longs for God’s guidance and closeness.

The Cheruvim and the flame of the ever-turning sword guard the way to the tree of life and guarantee that someday man will return.

The Cheruvim represent the traces of Divine revelation to man. This is the positive form of man’s education.

The ever-turning sword represents the misery and suffering that occur to man and society, left to his own devices. This is the negative form of man’s education.

Together, the sword and the cheruvim, suffering and revelation, guard the way to the tree of life.

The first step in this return is culture that is subordinated to morality. (See Beraishis 3O for more on this)

Beraishis 3: 23-24

pages 119-121 (in the new Hirsch Chumash)

 

 

 

 

 

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Beraishis 3O Culture

Midrash: Derech Eretz (culture) preceded the Torah by 26 generations. As it says “לשמור דרך עץ חיים”.

דרך refers to דרך ארץ (culture) – עץ חיים refers to תורה. First דרך ארץ and then תורה.

The fig leaf and apron are the beginning of culture. They represent culture that is subordinated to morality.

There is intrinsic value to culture as the Mishna in Avos states (3:17): אם אין דרך ארץ אין תורה

But only culture that is moral has value and will contribue to man’s returning to God, as the same Mishna states: אם אין תורה אין דרך ארץ

If a culture does not lead to Torah but seeks to take its place, that culture doesn’t lead to the tree of life but is the way to degeneration.

Beraishis 3:24
page 121 (in the new Hirsch Chumash)

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Beraishis 4A Motherhood – The meaning behind the names Kayin, Hevel and Shais

Chava named her first child קין. The root of this word is acquisition (by production). This displayed egotism. Instead of considering her duties to God upon the birth of a child and giving him a name reflecting that, the name Chava chose said “through my sacrificing my strength, with God’s help, I have acquired a male human being. (“This is my child. I earned him” GS)

Hirsch suggests that קין was born in Gan Eden. However the next son, הבל, was born after they were banished from Gan Eden. (but Hirsch does cite another opinion.) With the new troubles of life, her mood wasn’t happy and she projected her worry and feeling of burden when naming her child הבל which means transitoriness -existence whose continuity is held in check.

(This is a more mature understanding of life than previously but Chava was still projecting herself onto her son and not considering her duties to God regarding raising this child. GS)

(See RSRH later in this chapter, verse 25. After Kayin killed Hevel, Chava named the next child שת, meaning “foundation”. She now said ” God has put before me another seed (a new foundation to develop). – Chava had come to the realization of her duty to see her child as put before her by God and to develop and nurture that child to fulfill its duties. No longer was Chava considering her child as “hers” or projecting her experience onto her child. – GS)

Beraishis 4: 1-2
(pages 121-123)

Beraishis 4:25 (page 146)

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Beraishis 4B Kayin and Hevel – Farmer and Shepherd

The names Kayin and Hevel mean “Acquisition” and “Transitory”. The occupations they chose suited their personalities, expressed in their names.

Kayin became a farmer. Much energy is spent on tilling the soil leaving little time for spiritual growth. The moral risk involved in this occupation is the attachment to ownership. The farmer can become overly proud of the results of his hard work and of his possessions.

Hevel became a shepherd. Working with and caring for animals fosters humane feelings. The flock do not owe their existence to man. Therefore there is less risk of becoming too proud of ownership. This occupation doesn’t drain all one’s energies, allowing time for spiritual growth. (Our forefathers, Moshe and King David were shepherds).

Agriculture vs Shepherding – Egypt vs Israel
Over attachment to land and property dulls the spirit. The desire for property and more productivity leads to enslaving others. The farmer who needs good climate to prosper can easily come to worship the forces on nature. Slavery and idolatry first emerged in the midst of agricultural peoples.

Ancient Egypt culture was based on its agriculture. (The Nile river was its constant source of irrigation and was worshiped. – GS) It was a culture based on enslaving others and idolatry. The national success in the land’s production was the center of all. The individual had no value, with no dignity or freedom.

The Egyptian people had a particular dislike for the Jews who arrived in their midst, a tribe of shepherds. Their values were faith in God, the freedom of man and realizing man’s likeness to God.

Once granted their own land, Israel would also become an agricultural people and share these challenges with the rest of humanity. The Torah provides the Jewish people with the antidote to the dangers of such a life. Laws such as ערלה and כלאים remind us of God’s existence. Laws such as  שכחה, לקט  and פאה direct us to be humane and brotherly. (By faithfully following these laws, and the land prospering and society flourishing, the Jewish nation would model what God wants all of mankind to strive for. -GS)

Beraishis 4:2
(pages 123-125)

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Beraishis 4C Mincha מנחה offering of Kayin and Hevel

The offerings of Kayin and Hevel predate polytheism and idolatry, thus proving that offerings are not a concession to what was commonly practiced at the time of the giving of the Torah. (This is the Rambam’s view. The Ramban here proves him wrong. RSRH often sides with the Ramban. – GS)

Outside the temple מנחה means gift. In the temple it is a flour and oil offering. Throughout the book of Malachi, like here, מנחה is used to describe an animal offering.

The root of מנחה is probably נחה. נחה means “to lead”. Perhaps the meaning of the מנחה offering is to submit to the authority of God (saying to God that He leads us). If this is correct, the מנחה is a sign of homage.

Beraishis 4:3
pages 125-126

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Beraishis 4D Kayin’s offering vs Hevel’s

After the first harvest Kayin, the first born, representing the family, brought leftovers. His attitude was wrong. He felt he add to offer “something” to God. (Hirsch’s cites Malachi who blames Israel for the same thing. He adds, “People establish temples and churches with the same spirit in which they build hospitals and jails.”)

Hevel did not want to be represented by this and brought his own offering. He chose the first and the best of his flock. The first represents all the rest that comes after it. With his offering he was dedicating all of God’s gifts to the service of God.

God rejected Kayin, the first born’s offering and accepted Hevel’s.

 

Beraishis 4:4-5
pages 126-127

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Beraishis 4E The Firstborn as Priest – עבודת בכור ככהן

The firstborn, in theory, tends to the material and spiritual needs of the family. Every home worldwide would flourish spiritually- receiving God’s blessing and thus thriving materially. In reality, throughout history we find that the firstborn has not yet lived up to its calling.

Examples of firstborns who were rejected are: Kayin, Esav, Reuven and all the firstborn in the wilderness

This will only become a reality at the end of history. At that time all of life will become holy. Those who bear the burden of the home will automatically also be a priest, dedicated to God. Until then, very often those who bear the material burden are not the most fit to serve as the priest.

Mashiach is described as “a priest upon his throne” (Zecharia 6:13). He will be capable of being both priest and king, leading in spirit and directing the world in its material needs. (And this will inspire the rest of humanity to uplift all aspects of their lives.) Until that time, “the two crowns will be as a reminder in God’s Temple” (v. 14 there). (Perhaps this is referring to the Jewish king who sits beside the high priest who serves in the Temple – GS)

 

 

 

Beraishis 4:3-6
pages 127-128

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Beraishis 4F Man’s ability to master sensualilty

Kayin was angry that God rejected his offering and despaired about his future. He allowed his selfish tendencies to overtake him and present an unacceptable offering to God. He felt that since he had such a nature, he had no ability to be different and to have any hope for the future.

God’s response was: Whether you will accept sensuality for good or for bad, sensuality waits at the door for this purpose; its longing is toward you that you should master it. (It waits outside, by the door, peacefully, not to harm you but for you to master it. Hirsch quotes a Midrash that says sensuality is upset when man fails and allows himself to be ruled by it.)

God created the power of sensuality, not that it should control you but that you should control it. You are not to suppress it or kill it, rather rule over it and guide it. That is its whole purpose and mission.

No human quality is, in itself, good or bad. Everything depends on moral use. Without opportunities for failure, there would be no free will and man would not become noble. Man was given both opportunities for sensuality and free will in order to master his natural tendencies and use them in the proper way.

Beraishis 4:6-7
pages 129-132

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Beraishis 4G Am I my brother’s keeper? Selfishness

Kayin, shortly after killing his brother Hevel tells God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Kayin tells God it is not his task to look after his brother. He is busy enough tending to his own affairs.

This cold-blooded egoism expressed here serves as a warning: Whoever does not care about his fellow man, whoever adopts the motto “every man for himself” is not far from the hatred that impels a man to murder even the one dearest to him, when he fells that the latter stands in his way.

Beraishis 4:9

page 133

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Beraishis 4H Kayin’s punishment

When man follows God’s instructions and lives a moral life, the earth works in harmony with man. Put another way, when man (אדם) is God’s footstool (הדום) the earth (אדמה) is man’s footstool.

Now that Kayin has done such a terrible crime, even though his calling was to work the earth, he will not succeed at that. The ground will not respond favorably to his efforts. He is נע, constantly moving. He can’t find a place to call his own.

He is also נד, isolated from society.

This is a harsher punishment than death. Indeed God declares his continuing to live to be seven-fold worse than death. His difficult existence will serve as a warning to anyone considering murder.

Beraishis 4:11-15
pages 134-139

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Beraishis 4I The selfish mind of a criminal

Kayin was born with his mother Chava’s attitude of acquisition – “קניתי” (see Beraishis 4A Motherhood). His name קין means acquisition which defines his personality. His crime was due to the same root character flaw, jealousy (קנאה).

Now that he realized that he had lost everything as a result of his crime, true to his self centered personalty, he still doesn’t mention his brother and what he had done to him. He continues to focus on himself and tells God “(The results of) my crime are too much for me to bear.”

In other words, he could have tolerated the crime he committed had he himself not been so terribly affected. But this isolated and frustrated existence is too much for him to bear.

Beraishis 4:13
pages 136-137

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Beraishis 4J Kayin the City-Builder

Kayin, alienated from society and no longer able to work the land, turns away from God and sought to build for himself an independent life. He still had himself. He still had his mental powers and skills. This was man’s first attempt at establishing his life without God. He became a city-builder.

Agriculture reaches the city and is converted to meet human needs. Art and industry are developed. The “fields” of the city-dweller are his energy, mind and skill. In the countryside, the fields are cultivated. In the city, man is cultivated.

The Hebrew word for city, עיר, is related to the word עור which means “awake”. In the city, man’s capabilities are awakened.

We see the same contrast between the countryside and the city in other places in the Torah. The cities of the Levites who had no portion of the land. Also the cities of refuge, for someone who committed manslaughter. Also בתי ערי חומה are considered detached from their surrounding land. (See commentary on page 140 for more details)

Beraishis 4:16-17
pages 139-140

 

 

 

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Beraishis 4K Kayin’s Descendants – Industry and Culture

Midrash Rabbah, 23:2, teaches that all of Kayin’s descendants’ names allude to a rebellion against God that continued with each generation. RSRH suggests a creative interpretation of these names, each one symbolizing the essence or a critical component of that generation.

חנוך: This name means development and training. Without the land flourishing, Kayin was forced to rely on the abilities that are innate in every person and bring them from potential to reality. He created a structured system teaching his decedents how to harness their talents.

עירד, related to the word ערוד (which means a wild ass) means resistant. Chanoch attempted to train the next generation toward culture but this was met with resistance.

מחויאל means  מחוי אל – one in whom godliness has been blotted out. Later in the same verse he is called  מחי יאל – מחייאל meaning one who blotted out godliness. – At first, the young generation refuses to become boxed in and accept the development towards culture. As the generation became older it became worse and became proactive in seeking to blot out godliness in others around them.

מתושאל means seeking masses of people.
למך – When masses of people form the next stage is למך (Hirsch doesn’t know what that means and leaves this stage unexplained.)

למך had three sons:  יבל, יובל ותובל קין All three stemming from the root יבל which means to bring in. These three sons encompass all of man’s pursuits as follows:

יבל was the first man of property. The verse tells us he was the father of those who dwell in tents and breed cattle. This represents merchants and tradesmen. The basis of every economy.

  • As the cultural level rises, man aspires from something higher than just possessions. This leads to….

יובל which is in the passive form is the opposite of יבל. He produces nothing. Produce is brought to him. יובל produces nothing tangible and is supported by businessmen. The verse teaches that יובל introduced music to the world.

  • God departed from Kayin’s world which brought about a loss of inner harmony. Seeking to regain that, man seeks inner harmony through external stimulation. It awakens feelings and sensitizes the soul.

The prerequisite for industry and art is…

תובל means “production” – The very act of production. תובל created tools that enable production. He is named תובל קין indicating that he was Kayin’s major production and achievement.

Tuval Kayin’s sister is נעמה which means beauty. Beauty and taste added to industry is the start of progress. This combination is the first step towards higher values.

In this way, Kayin regains his ground. He no longer needs the produce of the field. His mind is his field. The villages bring their produce to the city. In return they receive all the benefits of urban industry.

However this replacement of God is hollow and unsatisfying. Kayin laments that he has gained nothing and has undone his past and his future. More on that in the next post.

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Beraishis 4L The futility of a Godless society

This verse is written in poetic form, lending to Midrashic interpretation.
The verse reads: Lemech tells his wives: I have slain a man to my own hurt, and a child to my own bruising. If Kayin shall be avenged seven-fold , then Lemech shall be avenged seventy-seven fold.

Rashi cites a Midrash: Lemech was the grandson of Kayin, and was blind. He and his young son went out hunting, the boy acting as his eyes to help him locate animals to hunt. When the child spotted what appeared to be an animal he directed his father to shoot. Lemech mistakenly shot Kayin, his grandfather. When Lemech and the boy approached the dead “animal” the boy told his father that it wasn’t an animal, he had actually killed their grandfather, he clapped his hands together and exclaimed, “Woe is me, I have killed my own grandfather Kayin!” In that hand clap he inadvertently struck his son’s head and crushed it. In this way Lemech came to kill his own grandfather and his own son on the same day. Lemech reacted by saying, “By a bruise of mine (my blindness) I killed a man (Kayin) and by a blow of mine (clapping my hands) did I kill a child (his own child)!”

RSRH develops this Midrash further, explaining this episode metaphorically and as a continuation of the previous verses (which spoke of Kayin and his descendants setting out to harness and develop the creative thoughts and skills they possessed to build a city-world of industry and culture, removed from God) as follows:

“Adah and Tzillah, my wives, what we have achieved, setting our children on the path they have taken is no source of pride. The world of the city and all its productivity and culture doesn’t atone for Kayin’s sin. Rather, I have killed him. I have also murdered the youth, and by doing so I have wounded myself most of all.”

Culture is only holy and brings happiness if it is in the service of God. But when the previous generations were set on removing God from their lives and this is the culture they developed as an expression of the aspirations of those generations, this results in being just the same or worse than Kayin himself.  Such a generation sacrifices the past and the future without gaining anything for itself.

Beraishis 4:23-24
pages 144-146

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Beraishis 4M Enosh אנוש – God’s Providence no longer clear to man

אדם signifies the pure state of man. אנוש, related to אנס and ענש, signifies man in decline. (see here for etymology of Adam) (see page 147 for the etymology of Enosh)

Adam is a representative of God in the world. Enosh misuses his position and through violence and coercion he seizes power for himself.

It was then, starting with the generation of Enosh, that man first began to call in the name of God.

Hirsch quotes his teacher Chacham Bernays, with the following explanation of this verse:

The need to call out in the name of God shows a significant decline in man’s relationship with God.
Man began to forget the name of Hashem (the four letter name of Hashem as opposed to the name Elokim). They still recognized the existence of God as understood by the name Elokim. The name Elokim represents the Creator of the world who set all the laws of nature in place. (See Names of God in Concepts.) But the four letter name of Hashem represents a God who is involved in the lives of every individual and nation. It teaches that man is given the world to master it in accordance with God’s will and to uplift everything for a higher purpose. Society is to be subordinate to God’s will, not as a means of subjugating others. With God recognized as Master, men are freed from tyranny.

This explains why we pronounce this name of God by the word “אדנ-י” which means “my Master”.

Man, understanding his relationship with God as his Master, is Adam. This name of God gives man a feeling of dignity. Man comes to understand his smallness and at the same time he understands his role in the universe; that he is the crown of creation, the “footstool for the Divine presence”.

Returning to this relationship became the story of history for all of mankind.

Avraham Avinu, who called out in the name of Hashem was told that his descendants would be charged with teaching this relationship to God, once again. This became Israel’s mission.

Beraishis 4:26
pages 146-150

 

 

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Beraishis 5A Man always remains Adam, a צלם אלקים

זה ספר תולדות אדם – This book is of the developments of Adam.

All of human history, with its ups and downs, all the diverse phenomena of human history, all form one whole. Despite all their striking contrasts, they are all merely the developments of this one Adam who was created in the image of God. The failures of man throughout history indicate man’s greatness. They show that man was given free will and the ability to fail.

The Talmud (Yerushalmi Nedarim 9:4) tells us that  Rabbi Akiva summed up the whole Torah with the verse ואהבת לרעך כמוך, Love your neighbor as yourself, to say that the central goal of the Torah is to teach a person not to be egotistic and selfish. Ben Azai chose the phrase זה ספר תולדות אדם to teach us that the worst criminal and lowest level of degeneration all are included in God’s book as תולדות אדם; everything developed from one Adam, who was created in God’s image. All men bear the name “Adam”. The צלם אלקים in never completely lost.

ביום ברא אלקים אדם בדמות אלקים ברא אתו – On the day that God created Adam, He made him in the likeness of God.

The natural state of man is to be godly. (Take note that the Torah makes this statement after they had sinned and had to leave Gan Eden)
* Man was not created as a savage, mentally and morally deficient.
* Man’s likeness to God is not something supernatural which can be attained only through withdrawing from nature.
Man in his natural state doesn’t need a special education and culture to attain this godliness.
Only because man had stopped calling in the name of Hashem (see above) did man degenerate.

Beraishis 5:1
pages 150-152

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Beraishis 5B Male and Female, both called Adam

זכר ונקבה בראם ויברך אתם ויקרא את שמם אדם ביום הבראם

He created them male and female, and He blessed them and called them Adam, on the day they were created.

The division of roles between man and woman are not arbitrary. From the very beginning “man” – אדם – was created male and female.

Man – אדם- was created male and female. Both were created in the image of God and equal in worth. Both were blessed and together were given the name “Adam”, man resembling God (as stated in the previous verse, בדמות אלקים).

This is the natural state of man –  עיקר שכינה בתחתונים (ב”ר י”ט, י”ג)
(The essential place where the Divine Presence rests is on earth, through “man” אדם who carries out God’s will exercising his free will. Not in upper spheres- GS) The return to blessing and God’s closeness is the goal of all of history.

See RSRH’s explanation of אדם here.

Beraishis 5:2
page 152

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Beraishis 5C The importance of purity of the body

ויולד בדמותו כצלמו

From the order of the words here (reversed from the order in 1:26 where it says כצלמנו כדמותנו) RSRH suggests that man’s spiritual resemblance was greater than his physical resemblance. (As a result of man’s degeneration – GS)

Hirsch adds that perhaps all human being are similar spiritually. The differences are in the degree of bodily perfection (the result of man being distant from God – GS)

This explains why the Torah has such a strong emphasis on טהרת הגוף, purity of the body.

To the extent that the body is kept in purity, so is the צלם אלקים realized in the body, and only then does the body submit to the spirit.

Generally, the חוקים (statutes – see here for more on חוקים) (which aim to purify the body, are mentioned before משפטים (civil law). The reason is that Mishpatim can only be upheld by a people born and nourished in accordance with the Chukim.

This theme is developed throughout RSRH’s writings.

Beraishis 5:3
pages 152-153

 

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Beraishis 5D Descendants of Shais שת

Just as in the fourth chapter the Torah lists the Kayin line, here the Torah lists the line of Shais. The names are quite similar as shown here (The Shais line not in chronological order).

Shais Kayin
קינן קין
ירד ירד
חנוך חנוך
מהללאל מחייאל
מתושלח מתושאל
למך למך

 

The key difference is that in the Kayin line there was only decline. In the Shais line there is decline followed by a turn for the better followed once again by decline and again back upward. In this way, the generations slowly progress.

(The names given, like those listed above in the Kayin line, do not indicate that the parents were prophetic about who their children would be. It is likely that the names reflected trends of the generation that the children were born into.)

קינן – A generation that idolizes possession.
The next generation tries to be more spiritual.

מהללאל – A generation that praises God.
But knowing of God and praising God is not the same as subordinating one’s life to God’s Will (the basic concept of Judaism). This generation knew of אלקים but not שם השם – God as Master. Superficial מהללאל is always followed by…

ירד – The generation sinks. Lip service of hymns and prayers do not inspire. They are not rooted in action.

חנוך – A better generation emerges through education.
However when all around there is spiritual decline, those who strive to be better remain an elite few. They emerge as….

מתושלח – They abandon the masses (see page 157 for detailed etymology), having no interest or concern for society. (Much more on this in a coming post about isolation)

למך – As in the Kayin line, RSRH does not know how to explain the meaning of this name. However he does point out that in both cases Lemech made a pronouncement.

Lemech, Kayin’s grandchild pronounced his despair, that all man’s efforts were useless.

Lemech, the grandchild of Shais, declares that despite man’s struggle with a world that is cursed, good emerges because man himself is not cursed. There is a bright future through children! (More on this in a coming post about the word בן)

Beraishis 5:4-28
pages 153-160

 

 

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Beraishis 5E חנוך Chanoch – Seclusion is not the Jewish Way

ויתהלך חנוך את האלקים ואיננו כי לקח אתו אלקים
Chanoch walked with God and [then] he was no longer, because God had taken him.

Later we see that Noach walked with God and he is praised. However in the case of Chanoch, taken in context of מתושלח, abandoning the masses, walking with God is seen as negative. Noach walked with God as the essence of his life, to live as an איש צדיק תמים בדרתיו. His connection to God was the foundation of his actions, drawing him near to life. In the case of Chanoch, his connection to God lead him away from life.

Hirsch writes the following words:
“This is a misguided aspiration, which at best does nothing to better the world, is quite useless to the world.”

“The Torah opposes ascetic seclusion, which is based on the erroneous notion that godliness lies outside the sphere of ordinary life.”

“התבודדות, secluding oneself from others, is not the Jewish way. Our tzaddikim and chassidim lived among the masses, with the masses and for the masses; they considered it their mission to lift the masses up to them. Abandonment of the masses is symptomatic of a generation’s sickness; it is found in an age in which the concept of God is reduced to a subject  for theoretical speculation, and where the thought of God makes men into fanatics, drives them to eschew and escape  life because they fear its temptations or, in blind arrogance, disdain its problems.”

In the Midrash (ב”ר כ”ה, א) the view of the Tzedukim that Chanoch was a very holy man and similar to Eliyahu HaNavi, never died, is proven wrong. Chanoch was judged on Rosh Hashana, together with all of mankind, to die prematurely.

Beraishis 5:22-24
pages 157-159

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Beraishis 5F Children, Bricks upon the parents’ foundation

ויחי למך שתים ושמנים שנה ומאת שנה ויולד בן
ויקרא את שמו נח לאמר זה ינחמנו ממעשנו ומעצבון ידינו מן האדמה אשר אררה השם

Lemech lived 182 years, then he begot a son. He called him Noach, thereby to say: Only this can give us comfort from our work and from the self-denying toil of our hands, from the earth which God has cursed.

The generations that preceded Lemech sought new trends and qualities. Lemech differed. He wanted to see a continuation of what he started. He says: Our own efforts are thwarted and frustrated by the curse God gave the earth. However, man is not cursed. Through our child (בן, related to build and brick) we shall continue on.

This (child) can give us comfort in the knowledge that despite all that we must renounce of this earth, our efforts in developing and educating our children are not cursed. Our children can reach the loftiest heights.

We direct our children so they can become בוני עולם, eternal builders. They continue to build on the foundations we establish; they finish the work we aren’t privileged to complete.

Beraishis 5:28-29
pages 160-162

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Beraishis 6A Shais lineage marries Kayin lineage

ויהי כי החל האדם לרב על פני האדמה ובנות ילדו להם. ויראו בני האלקים את בנות האדם כי טבת הנה ויקחו להם נשים מכל אשר בחרו. ויאמר השם לא ידון רוחי באדם לעלם בשגם הוא בשר והיו ימיו מאה ועשרים שנה

It came to pass when men began to multiple on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them. That the sons of men were good to look upon, and they took themselves wives from wherever they chose. And God said: My spirit within man will not remain the judge forever, since he is also flesh; therefore his days shall be 120 years.

—-

As explained earlier, the line of Kayin had given up on a relationship with God. The Kayinites created the world of invention, industry and culture. These aspirations, independent of God, created a world of despair. (see 4:17-24) The descendants of Shais had maintained traces of their spirituality. The Torah uses words that show the Shais line had much of the original grandeur of Adam. See 5:1-3 where the following words are used at the onset of this line: אדם, ברכה, צלם, דמות. At the outset of the Shais line, the Torah also states the equal stature of man and woman by writing זכר ונקבה בראם.

The godly spirit and hope for man’s return to its original state became at risk when בני האלקים, men from the Shais line, chose women from בנות האדם, from the Kayin line, because of their beauty. They chose them indiscriminately – מכל אשר בחרו. They didn’t consider how these women would influence the next generation. Devoid of godliness, the Kayin line was a straight path of descent. The Shais line, wavered back and forth, and godliness continued to reemerge. In the Shais line, there was still hope for man. But with the merging of these two lines in the families, the path of man’s return was no longer clear. Perhaps the worldview of Kayin would put an end to the worldview of Shais.

Man needs to use his free will to make good choices. The spirit of God within man is to be judge. But sensuality silences this spirit. לא ידון רוחי באדם לעלם בשגם הוא בשר. In the course of time, man may completely lose the battle and no longer care to make good choices. This is why the Torah emphasizes the laws of family purity and modesty. These laws are essential for keeping the spirit of God awake within man.

God saw that if this trend continued man would no longer be on course to return to a godly life. (Even so, man has free will and even in this situation, man has the capacity to still emerge godly. – GS) And so He granted the world 120 years to see what the outcome of this struggle would be.

Beraishis 6:1-3
pages 163-166

 

 

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Beraishis 6B The Kayin line corrupts the Shais line

הנפלים היו בארץ בימים ההם וגם אחרי כן אשר יבאו בני האלקים אל בנות האדם וילדו להם המה הגברים אשר מעולם אנשי השם

The giants were on the earth in those days and also after that, when the sons of the godly line had already come to the daughters of men, who bore them children. These are the heroes from a distant past, the men of renown.

In the Kayinite line, in which the spiritual element had become extinct, physical development assumed gigantic dimensions. Had the interbreeding of the two lines succeeded, the spiritual element of the father would have overcome the physical element of the mother. Spiritual giants would have been produced.  The work of the spirit requires physical strength. (The physical would have served as a handmaiden to the spiritual. This is a concept that is discussed often. GS)

This did not happen. The union resulted in the physical subordinating the spiritual. The result was that even though these were the children of בני ,האלקים they were rebellious and sacrilegious.

(So that the verse reads… and even after that, when the sons of the godly line had already come to the daughters of men, [and hoped that their spiritual element would be passed on through their children] they bore them children. who were נפילים – predominantly physical… GS)

Beraishis 6:4
pages 166-167

 

 

 

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Beraishis 6C Free Will and Evil – יצר מחשבות לבו רק רע כל היום

וירא השם כי רבה רעת האדם בארץ וכל יצר מחשבת לבו רק רע כל היום

God saw that the evil of man was great on the earth and that every design of of the thoughts of his heart was nothing but evil every day.

—-

כי רבה רעת האדם בארץ
Man’s evil deeds shattered the harmony in the world.

וכל יצר מחשבת לבו רק רע כל היום
יצר has been incorrectly translated and understood to mean “impulse” or “urge”. This is the source of Christian dogma that claims that the power of evil holds sway over man over which he can only be saved by virtue of a certain belief.

But the root of the word יצר does not mean forcing, but shaping. Additionally, the word Yaitzer used here is written in the passive form, not the active form. It does not shape but it is shaped. Accordingly יצר מחשבת לבנו means the formations, designs, of our thoughts.

A weaver’s work is called מעשה חושב. He connects and combines the materials. So too the word for thought is חושב. The raw material is handed over to the intellect. All qualities, good or (seemingly) evil are turned over to combine them into צורות – shapes.

We can exercise our free will and shape the material we are entrusted with any way we like. We are instructed by God to follow His Will. He shows us the correct pattern to weave. If we follow His pattern, all is good. All aspects of our existence are planned and used as He wishes. (There is no inherent evil. There is wrong application. GS)

(see more on page 169)

Beraishis 6:5
pages 167-169

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Beraishis 6D וינחם השם God “regretted” making man on earth

RSRH explains that God’s Will never changes. As it says in Bamidbar 23:19   לא איש קל ויכזב, ובן אדם ויתנחם – God is not a man, who changes His mind.

Hirsch explains:

God doesn’t change His mind on His own account. He is caused to change his mind in response to external circumstances. (This change is in order to facilitate the same original intention, but now, due to the need, adjusted to bring that original intention about in a new way. Man will now move towards the same goal on a new stage.

King Saul failed and there the verse says He changed the Divine mandate for Saul’s family to remain kings.

In Shemos 32:14 God changed his decree from bad to good in response to prayer. (וינחם על הרעה)

But God’s Will doesn’t change. As the sages explain in Sanhedrin 98a,  לא זכו, בעתה – Should it come to be that His people do not repent, God will still bring about the redemption.

Beraishis 6:6
pages 169-170

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Beraishis 6E “ויתעצב “אל לבו God’s “Heart” Anthropomorphic expressions in Scripture

ויתעצב אל לבו

God’s heart, as it were, wished to rejoice in the thriving of mankind. As it says in Tehillim, ישמח השם במעשיו. He is compelled to forgo the joy of His heart. His heart, as it were, desired man’s continued existence, and He was grieved that He had to renounce it. God’s heart remained unchanged in His love and concern for mankind.

Regarding this (God’s heart) and other similar descriptions of God (God’s hand, God’s arm, God’s eyes, etc.) scholars have written much to explain these phrases in a non literal sense in order to not ascribe material features to God. In the process, however, our sense of the Personality of God becomes blurred and indistinct. If the Torah wanted us to not have a sense of God’s Personality (which provides a path to having a relationship with God – GS) it could have easily avoided such expressions.

RSRH adds, citing the ראב”ד,” a distinctively Jewish thinker”, that “belief in the Personality of God is more important than the speculations of those who reject the attribution of material features to God.”
(יסודי התורה פרק א הלכה י מובא בכסף משנה)

In these verses God “saw” that man chose the path of wickedness. It didn’t have to be. This was man’s choice. That is what is expressed by God “seeing”. Before God acted, He saw.

This critical lessons expressed here are:

1) Man has free will. God considered the matter before rendering His decision, based on man’s course of action.

2) God acts freely without being bound to anything. God’s heart didn’t change. God remained with the same care and concern for man that He had before man chose the path of wickedness. The only thing that changed was the stage man was to live in, and that change was by God’s choice. In order to help man get to the goal that God set, man would not thrive. A flood would kill most of the population. This grieved God’s heart, but it didn’t change God’s heart. (As we see in verse 7, it was השם, the name used for God’s attribute of mercy, Who brought about the flood.)

 

Beraishis 6:6
pages 170-171

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Beraishis 6F השם למבול ישב God “sat” on His throne even at the time of the flood

השם לַמַּבּוּל יָשָׁב וַיֵּשֶׁב השם מֶלֶךְ לְעוֹלָם. השם עֹז לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן השם יְבָרֵךְ אֶת עַמּוֹ בַשָּׁלוֹם (תהילים כ”ט, י-י”א)

God’s plans prevails through all the vicissitudes of nature and history. Even when all of of mankind perished, God remained firmly on His throne. God remained מלך – King, and His מלכות – His plan for the education of mankind – remained firm.

(The same attribute of mercy that placed man on earth now decided upon his destruction with only Noach and his family remaining. They found favor in God’s eyes. They were the start of a new beginning which would set the world back on its course. The stage of man changed, but God’s plan never changed. See pages 169-171)

Just as God’s plan prevails, so will anyone who cleaves to Him find strength and persevere. This strength is not one of waging war and it is not something that disturbs the peace. This is the one and only condition for peace.

With this idea, King David assures the Jewish people that when they cleave to God they will have of a life of inner strength and peace.

Beraishis 6:8
page 174

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Beraishis 6G Noach’s character

אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת נֹחַ נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה בְּדֹרֹתָיו אֶת הָאֱלֹקים הִתְהַלֶּךְ נֹחַ

These are the products of Noach. Noach, a righteous man, was morally pure in his times: Noach walked with God.

—–

The first product of a person’s efforts are his own character traits. Noach was the product of Noach. (מ”ר: ללמדך שעיקר תולדותיהם של צדיקים מעשים טובים)

איש – He was a man – He was courageous, living by what was right in the face of much wrongdoing for 600 years. In verse 11 we see that the evils around Noach were moral sin (השחתת דרך) and theft (חמס).

צדיק – He was צדיק – righteous – in the face of חמס  theft.

  • A צדיק is someone who gives everyone their due. He looks at everything from the standpoint of his duty, not his personal interests. The primary meaning of צדיק is social justice.

תמים – He was תמים – morally pure – in the face of השחתת דרך moral sin

  • A תמים is a person who as a result of “walking”, progressing from step to step perfected his personality even when satisfying his physical aspirations. Self control achieved through moral will.

את האלקים התהלך נח – He walked with God.

 

  • Being constantly aware of God was Noach’s root.
  • His awareness of God was the source of his moral purity.
  • His moral purity was the source of his honesty. (Throughout his writings, RSRH discusses this. חוקים the laws of moral purity, are the basis for משפטים civil law. To live a truly honest life, one must first be morally pure in the areas of sensuality. See Commentary to Vakira 18:4-5 fpr much more on this. GS)

The Torah stresses that Noach was morally pure despite the people around him being morally impure (תָּמִים הָיָה בְּדֹרֹתָיו) . It does not stress this regarding his honesty. The reason is that it is far more difficult to remain morally pure in an age of immorality than to remain honest in an age of dishonesty.

(In chapter 7 we see only the name צדיק used to described Noach. Hirsch comments there that living immorally is misusing and stealing the spirit and powers God gave us.)

Beraishis 6:9
pages 174-175

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Beraishis 6H Meaning of Noach’s sons’ names שם חם יפת

Noach walked with God which was the source of his moral strength and his honesty. (See previous post.) In his naming of his sons, we see all of these attributes separately. This was Noach’s hope and direction for mankind:

שם – Name – Intellect and the potential for spiritual side of man to develop (we utilize our intellect by naming things. The same root letters means “there”, giving things their proper place). שם is the thinker. His task was to “walk with God” as his father Noach did. This would elevate thinking to spirituality.

חם – Heat – The sensual side of man. The task of חם was to exercise moral will (informed by an awareness of God), just as his father Noach did as indicated by his being a תמים.

יפת – Beauty – The aesthetic side of man. The task of יפת was to be guided by the ideal of goodness, and not by the ideal of beauty. To be a צדיק as was his father. (As explained in the previous post, moral purity sets the stage for honesty and goodness. GS)

  • While a sense of aesthetics moves society to have common decency and to rise above coarse behavior, this is very subjective. Every society will have different standards (which are rooted in their consensus for how to achieve their common interests. צדקות goodness, however, means not looking at things from the perspective of one’s self interest but living by a higher standard of concern that everyone around should get what is their due. This can only be attained by a sense of morality GS)

(Contrast all of the above to what became of Kayin’s line which was a society of industry and culture without godliness. Lemech lamented how nothing was achieved in such a society. See 4:23-24. Here we are taught how God-consciousness is to permeate and uplift all aspects of life. GS)

 

Beraishis 6:10
pages 176-178

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Beraishis 6I Diverse Races and Ethnicities

As an introduction to understanding the different natures of Noach’s sons, as understood by studying the meaning behind their names, RSRH writes:

Although the races and ethnic groups of mankind differ from one another, this diversity existed even before the flood and, by God’s design, was permitted to survive the flood. This indicates that God’s plan is to realize the ultimate purpose of mankind despite all the national differences, or perhaps precisely through the interaction between the different nationalities.

If history shows us diverse nations endowed with disparate qualities – nations endowed with intellectual ability or emotional refinement beside nations in which burning sensuality seems to predominate – we should not, as a result, despair of mankind’s future. We should believe with deep faith that all the different races of mankind were created for one human ideal and are driving toward one goal:
כי מלאה הארץ דעה את יהוה כמים לים מכסים
For the land shall be filled with devotion to Hashem as water covers the sea.

(After the flood, we see Noach’s sons’ natures emerge into action and we learn of Noach’s prophetic words in response. See RSRH’s commentary there – 9:25-27, pages 243-249 – that explains how these streams of mankind will ultimately lead to one goal. )

Beraishis 6:10
pages 176-178

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Beraishis 6J Moral corruption destroys the conscience

וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹקים וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ חָמָס
And the earth was morally corrupt before God’s countenance, and so the earth was filled with corruption (petty theft).

—–

שחת means an interruption in the path of life, even in the area of one’s sensual drive. (Sexuality, instead of being a healthy and holy part of life became perverse. GS)

חמס means petty theft. It is not the sort of theft that can be prosecuted in court (כדאיתא במ”ר ל”א, ה).

First came moral corruption. That led to society’s ruin.

When the older generation sees the young generation’s morals decline they aren’t concerned that this will undo the economy. But they are mistaken. While outright robbery will never fill the world, that’s because there are laws in place to protect everyone from those crimes. But there is no protection from petty theft. That requires society to have a conscience. To not steal when one is confident one won’t get caught or prosecuted, requires a conscience. Moral corruption destroys the conscience.

Beraishis 6:11
pages 178-180

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Beraishis 6K Noach followed God’s instructions exactly

The Torah goes into detail to describe the design of the ark. It details measurements, window, compartments, etc. It then tells us that Noach did exactly as he was instructed by God.

RSRH writes here that he chooses to not comment on whether the size of the ark was large enough and other such questions (Others ask if the ark could endure the harsh flood, the water’s heat and similar questions. GS) God has many ways He brings about salvation.

The lesson to take here is that God chose one man and his family and the animal world. He would save them only if man does exactly as he is commanded.

Contrary to what many think, a person’s actions have value only if they constitute performing God’s will. What a person does on the basis of his own judgement is of secondary, uncertain importance. This is a fundamental principal of Judaism. גדול המצווה ועושה ממי שאינו מצווה ועושה – קדושין דף לא

Man must do his part by fulfilling God’s will and God will do the rest.

Beraishis 6:15-22
pages 182-183

 

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Beraishis 6L The meaning of ברית – Bris

God tells Noach that He will maintain His bris with him.

The word ברית stems from the root ברת which denotes separation (ברת הארץ means a stretch of land, separated from others). The verb used in the term כריתת ברית also means to separate.

The expression הקמת ברית denotes an unconditional promise. A ברית stands unsupported. Left to itself it would fall down; only the כורת ברית upholds it.

A ברית can be unilateral. It does not imply a mutual agreement (unlike the word covenant, which is an inadequate translation).

The planks of wood were not enough to save those inside. Others could have tried to copy Noach and it wouldn’t have helped them. They were protected by God because God said He would.

It seems that the only reason Noach was asked to build the ark was to follow the principal of (פסחים דף סד) אין סומכין על הנס – we don’t rely on miracles (we perform actions that minimize or conceal the miracle GS).

Beraishis 6:18
pages 185-186

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Beraishis 7A God’s mercy in bringing the Mabul

…וַיֹּאמֶר י-ה-ו-ה לְנֹחַ בֹּא אַתָּה וְכָל בֵּיתְךָ אֶל הַתֵּבָה כִּי אֹתְךָ רָאִיתִי צַדִּיק לְפָנַי בַּדּוֹר הַזֶּה

גַּם מֵעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם שִׁבְעָה שִׁבְעָה זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה לְחַיּוֹת זֶרַע עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ

—–

In chapter 6, the name אלקים is used (v. 9, v.11, v.13 and v.22). Here in chapter 7, as Noach is told to enter the ark with his family, the name of God describing God’s mercy ( י-ה-ו-ה)  is used.

The explanation for this chage is as follows:

אלקים describes God as Creator, Lawgiver and Judge. אלקים set apart Noach and his family to survive – להחיות (v. 19).

י-ה-ו-ה describes God of mercy. It describes God as the One Who educates mankind toward its goal and shapes every future moment with this goal in mind. The goal of the Mabul was  לְחַיּוֹת זֶרַע to give life to the seed of the future. The Mabul would lay the stage for the future of mankind, built from the remaining people on earth who “walked with God “.

(The goal of the flood wasn’t to destroy. Even the deaths were not gruesome as many pictures of the Mabul depict. See Hirsch commentary on pages 184-185)

Beraishis 7: 1
pages 187-188

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Beraishis 7B Living immorally is stealing from God

Earlier (6:9) Noach was described as צדיק תמים. Hirsch explained there that תמים means living morally and צדיק means living honestly. And yet here Noach is described with just the term צדיק .

That is because our duty is to be just, צדיקים. Not only the mitzvos between man and his fellow man are mitzvos of justice, but also the mitzvos of morality. We do not own our spirit, life and power. Everything we “have” is entrusted to us by God and we must use them justly and honestly.

Someone who casts off the yoke of morality, squandering and misusing that which was given to him by God, is a scoundrel before God, like a thief who robs human beings.

Beraishis 7:1
pages 187-188

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Beraishis 7C Reason for only kosher animals for eating and sacrifices

מִכֹּל הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה תִּקַּח לְךָ שִׁבְעָה שִׁבְעָה אִישׁ וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וּמִן הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר לֹא טְהֹרָה הִוא שְׁנַיִם אִישׁ וְאִשְׁתּוֹ

Of every pure animal you shall take seven pairs, the male and its mate, and of animals that are not pure you shall take two each, the male and its mate.

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What is the significance of Noach being instructed to take seven pairs of pure animals? (After all, man was only allowed to eat animals after the flood. The distinction about pure and not pure animals for food was giving to the Jews at Sinai.)

Here the distinction is made in regards to permissible animals to be used for sacrifices. The reason why only pure animals are permitted for Israel to eat and why only such animals may be used for sacrifices (brought by Jew and Noahides) is the same

The word טהור (pure) is related to the word צהר (which means transparent – a window that allows light to come through it). The Hebrew word for afternoon צהרים is טיהרא in Aramaic (a sister language GS). The opposite of טהור is טמא, something that doesn’t allow the light of God to come through.

The dietary laws are not given in order to keep us healthy. (Proof: We have an obligation to concern ourselves with the welfare of the גר תושב as stated in Vayikra 25:35 and Devarim 14:21, and yet the same Torah commands us to give forbidden food to the גר תושב.)

The animals that the Torah considers pure are receptive to human influence. They don’t require taming. It is in their nature to serve man’s purposes. Beastliness and passion don’t overwhelmingly predominate in them.

Only such animals are later permitted at Sinai to eat because they don’t dull Israels’ sensitivity or heighten sensuality which would diminish spirituality.

The early men who brought sacrifices were not savages. Adam, Hevel, Shais, Noach, Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, David and Yeshayahu, etc. were all great men. None of them stood before a cruel and bloodthirsty god who enjoys dying animals and forgives peoples’ sins because he received a dying bull!

An offering was an expression of complete devotion. The blood spilled represented our own life’s dedication to following God’s Will. The various parts brought on the altar each symbolically represented the human bringing them and his devotion to God in every way; dedicating our limbs, eyes, hearts, bodies and even our the lowest desires of the body. All were to be dedicated to be לחם אשה השם – “to sustain the holy” on earth.

Only animals closest to man’s nature were suitable to represent man when he would bring such an animal.

Hirsch points out that the name of God used here is the name that signifies God’s concern with the education of man (י-ה-ו-ה). The reason for selecting these animals was to further mankind’s education.

 

Beraishis 7:5
pages 189-191

 

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Beraishis 7D אנכי vs אני

כִּי לְיָמִים עוֹד שִׁבְעָה אָנֹכִי מַמְטִיר עַל הָאָרֶץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לָיְלָה וּמָחִיתִי אֶת כָּל הַיְקוּם אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה

For in another seven days I (אנכי) will make it rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out everything in existence that I have made from off the face of the earth.

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There is a distinction to be made throughout Tanach, whenever אנכי is written in respect to God, as opposed to the word אני.

When the word אנכי is written, God doesn’t stand in opposition, confronting His creatures. Rather, He conducts Himself with love and compassion.

(RSRH provides over a page of etymological proofs for this. Briefly: אני comes from אנה meaning cause to happen, while staying at a distance. אנכי comes from אנך which means to encompass and to bear.)

With this understanding, there is an important lesson learned in the verse: God is telling Noach: I am about to bring about great destruction. Even so I אנכי haven’t changed. I continue to act with love and compassion. I act as אנכי who embraces everything, bears everything, and this harsh decree is for the purpose of the good of the larger whole.

RSRH adds that throughout Tanach when the name י-ה-ו-ה is pronounced by the name אלקים the same idea is being taught. (The attribute of mercy revealing itself as the attribute of justice.)

God is One. What appears to humans at times to be the conduct of opposing forces, are, in truth, all actions of the One God who never changes.

Beraishis 7:4
pages 191-193

 

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Beraishis 7E A “child” of his years…

וְנֹחַ בֶּן שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה וְהַמַּבּוּל הָיָה מַיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ

Noach was a man of 600 years when the Mabul came upon the earth.

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A person is the product of his experiences throughout the years of his life. He is affected physically and psychologically each day. Therefore he is called a child of his years.

A person is also a “child” of his personality as we see in the expression בן בליעל (Devarim 13:14).

A person is also a “child” of his punishments as we see in the expression בן הכות (Devarim 25:2).

Bearishis 7:6
page 193

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Beraishis 7F The God of nature is the God of mankind – Free Will

שְׁנַיִם שְׁנַיִם בָּאוּ אֶל נֹחַ אֶל הַתֵּבָה זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֱלֹקים אֶת נֹחַ

They came to Noach in pairs, male and female, just as God had commanded Noach.

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God had commanded Noach to take in the animals. But it wasn’t within Noach’s power to determine which animals had kept the purity of their breed and should come. This, God brought about.

Also, take note that in verse 5 above it was “as י-ה-ו-ה (the name used to express the God of mankind, the God who command man and guides the world for the sake of man) commanded him”. And here it is “as אלקים (the name used to express the God of nature) commanded him”.

We see here a truth that appears throughout the Torah : The God who commands man is the very same God who the Lawgiver and the Director of nature. השם הוא האלקים

(We see this expressed in Psalms 147:15-19. “He sends snow, freezing cold, he melts the ice…. He teaches his statutes and laws to Israel, etc.”)

God’s Word is given to nature and all of nature obeys it. God’s Word is given to man for him to obey it by his own free will.

 

Beraishis 7:9
page 194

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Beraishis 8A The Mabul’s time periods of 7 and 40

See Chapter 8:1-10. At the end of forty days (from the time the ark came to rest) Noach first sent the raven (which returned) and then the dove (which also returned). Noach waited seven more days before he once again sent the dove.

This is the reverse of what had transpired at the onset of the Mabul. Noach is told that he should enter the ark with all the animals because in another seven days there will be a flood for forty days. (7:4)

We are taught (ב”ר לב, ה) that the forty days of the flood allude to the forty days needed for the formation of the human fetus. These forty days were the time period of the formation of a new world. (From commentary on 7:4).

When the ark came to rest, Noach waited forty days (apparently for another time period of formation – GS). He sent the raven, and the dove but they both returned. He then continued to wait. He chose to wait seven  more days, the mirror image of the seven days prior to the flood.

The significance of seven days is a transition period. We will encounter a similar ideas behind seven days with the laws of טומאה וטהרה – (such as in the laws of    נדה and the laws of מצורע. ) A seven day period marks the complete cessation of one state, before the onset of a new state.

Beraishis 8:1-10
pages 200-204

 

 

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Beraishis 8B The Law of למיניהם repeated after the Mabul

כָּל הַחַיָּה כָּל הָרֶמֶשׂ וְכָל הָעוֹף כֹּל רוֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאָרֶץ לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתֵיהֶם יָצְאוּ מִן הַתֵּבָה

Every living thing, every creeping thing and every flying thing – everything that moves on earth – came out of the ark according to its families.

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In the chapters of creation we learned about the law of למיניהם, all created things were to live within their boundaries and within their species.

Upon exiting the ark the Torah repeats this law. This law will now accompany all the organic living creatures.

(In 7:16 RSRH, immediately prior to the Mabul, points out that only the animals that came in pairs, male and female, were allowed on the ark. Man had degenerated and with it so had much of the animal kingdom.)

See commentary on 6:13. There RSRH writes that the Mabul was the inevitable result of the violation of the law of למיניהו. The world cannot flourish and continue serving man when man is no longer sexually pure. In his words, “The thriving of the species depends on the purity of sexual life.” Had God not intervened and brought about the Mabu even the spark of purity which was to be saved through Noach would have beeb irrevocably lost. (see more on that verse, pages 180-181)

(see Beraishis 1:11-13 here and here)

Beraishis 8:19
page 206

 

 

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Beraishis 8C Noach builds an altar and offers Olah offerings מזבח קרבן עולה

This is the first time that a מזבח is mentioned in the Torah. It is also the first time עולות are mentioned. We see that there is great significance to these offerings. In the verses that follow these offerings, God’s responds with His commitment to never bring another Mabul. The whole subsequent development of the earth and mankind are in response to the offerings that Noach brought.

A מזבח is a man-made structure through which the earth symbolically ascends to Heaven. In Yechezkel (43:15) the מזבח is called הראל – God’s mountain. It is very likely that the מזבח in the בית המקדש corresponds to הר סיני. At the giving of the Ten Commandments the Torah describes the scene as אש אוכלת בראש ההר – fire burning at the top of the mountain. This is expressed in Tehillim (68:18) השם בם סיני בקדש which is to be understood as follows: “God descended from Heaven into the narrow sphere of man: God within His people, and Har Sinai in the Mikdash.” This is probably the meaning of the words regarding the daily תמיד offering where the Torah says it is to be עולת תמיד העשויה בהר סיני which would red as follows: “A daily Olah offering, (a replication of) what occurred on Har Sinai”.

When the Jewish people were given the Torah, they were taught they may only bring offerings on a מזבח, whereas a Noahide may bring offerings on a מצבה. A מזבח is built from several stones and must be connected to the ground. There is an halachic requirement to build it. Contrast the מזבח to a מצבה which is made of a single stone and remains in its natural state. Bringing an offering on a מצבה is bringing an offering on something which is a gift of nature. Bringing an offering on a מזבח, symbolizes man elevating himself above nature, elevating himself through his creativity and free will, ascending from there to God (and elevating nature through this- GS)

This is the significance of Noach’s offering. Noach was consecrating the whole earth, preparing to make use of it through man’s free will, transforming the whole earth as a sanctuary. The deeds of man will join stone to stone, until eventually the whole earth will become God’s consecrated mountain.

Other nations who seek to draw near to God chose to leave the human realm thinking God can only be found in nature. Of course this  is true as well but the main place of God’s Presence is in the sphere of human life. In nature God’s power is revealed. In the realm of human life, God’s love is revealed.

(See Hirsch’s commentary to Tehillim 145 -When they praise God, they speak of His power. But I speak of your wonders. דור לדור ישבח מעשיך וגבורתיך יגידו הדר כבוד הודך ודברי נפלאותיך אשיחה etc. GS)

More on ideas behind offerings in the next 2 posts.

Beraishis 8:20
pages 207-208

 

 

 

 

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Beraishis 8D Offerings are brought to השם. God’s name אלקים is never used.

רבי יוסי points out (ספרא, א:ט”ו) that we never see the name אלקים in reference to offerings – only the שם הויה. See the post Names of God that explains that the name אלקים refers to God as the Creature and Ruler of nature whereas the שם הויה refers to God as the God of history. The שם הויה shows God as man’s educator, involving Himself in the flow of history, operating behind the scenes within the laws of nature and even changing the laws of nature at times, to educate man. רבי יוסי says this is a refutation to the akpikursim who would otherwise confuse the offerings with idolatrous sacrifices offered to the blind forces of nature.

Hirsch adds that it also refutes those who say that the offerings in the Torah are just acts of killing and destruction, intended to appease a bloodthirsty and vengeful deity. They say now we are enlightened and are happy we no longer have sacrifices. To refute them them, the שם הויה is used which is the name that shows God’s love and concern for man.

Beraishis 8:2
pages 208-209

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Beraishis 8E Symbolism of קרבנות עולה חטאת ומנחה

The offerings must be brought on a מזבח. The root of the word is זבח which means killing or slaughter whose purpose isn’t to destroy but to provide nourishment. That is why זבח also means a meal. Offerings are considered a “meal”. The Torah calls offerings לחם אשה השם – bread of fire to השם. It sustains the the fire of holiness on earth. (RSRH expands on this idea in many places, calling the offerings fuel for the fire of holiness on earth. GS) Thinking of the symbolism of the offerings while bringing them evoke our commitment to carry out God’s Will on earth.

The offerings are offered to God with the concept of God as י-ה-ו-ה the educator man, the Giver of life, never with the notion of God as אלקים, ruler of the forces of nature, in mind.

Symbolically, one offers his own life in order to win new life from God. He offers himself up to God, dedicating himself to live a holy life on earth.

One dedicates…
…one’s mind through סמיכה ווידוי
…every pulse-beat through שחיטה,קבלת הדם וזריקת הדם
…every nervous impulse and muscular strength through הקטרת אברים

A קרבן עולה elevates. It is a consecration of action. The Cohen stands at a distance from the altar, dashing the blood against the lower half of the altar, thereby symbolically saying the person offering this isn’t even at the bottom of the mountain. He hasn’t reached the heights of his calling and should energize himself to reach the full potential of his calling.

A קרבן חטאת teaches man to return to his previous moral heights that he lost through his carelessness. The finger of the Cohen directs his (symbolic) blood back to the top of the altar.

A קרבן מנחה is a homage offering, brought in gratitude for the gifts he receives from God (and committing to make use of the gifts as God would want him to. GS)

Beraishis 8:2
pages 208-210

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Beraishis 8F The meaning of ריח ניחוח

The offerings are a fragrance, ie. a slight and allusory expression (ריח) of compliance with God’s Will (ניחוח). They signify that our will is to do God’s Will. The offerings aren’t themselves ניחוח a show of full compliance. They are only a ריח ניחוח. They allude to our compliance; our desire to comply.

ריח – The sense of smell stands between the other 4 senses. We see and hear from a distance of that which we see and hear. We come into direct contact with that which we touch and taste. When we smell, the item itself remains at a distance but fine particles of that item come into contact with our organs of smell. (The word for “mill’ where grain is ground into fine particles is ריחיים.)

ניחוח – Coming to rest. Granting the wish or fulfilling the aspiration of another.

ריח ניחוח does not mean a pleasing smell.

Beraishis 8:21
pages211-212

 

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Beraishis 8G God’s Personality – God said to “His Heart”

RSRH refers here to his earlier comment (see Beraishis 6E) that God uses physical terms to describe Himself in order to provide us a path to have a relationship with him.

There are scholars who turn the concept of God into a transcendental, metaphysical concept because of their fear of attributing to God actual physical features. However RSRH agrees with the ראב”ד (cited in the כסף משנה in יסודי התורה פ”א, ה”י) that the danger of not having a relationship with a personal God is greater.

In RSRH’s words: “It is a person’s duty to believe with perfect faith in the Personality of God and in His close relationship to every man. This belief is more important that any speculation on transcendental concept such as the eternity or incorporeality of God, for these concepts are as detached from the morality of our lives as are algebraic codes.”

Here, included in the term God’s “Heart” are His attributes of love, compassion and mercy.

An additional lesson is learned from the expression of God speaking to His Heart. God is the model for man who has free will and is not a slave to his emotions. Even though man was far from the level of his goal, and as things stood at that moment, perhaps warranted destruction, God’s attribute of mercy stood before the Throne of Glory and pleaded for the preservation of the world and of man.

Beraishis 8:21
pages 212-213

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Beraishis 8H Disobedience of youth is not evil

וירח השם את ריח הניחח ויאמר השם אל לבו לא אסף לקלל עוד את האדמה בעבור האדם כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעריו ולא אסף עוד להכות את כל חי כאשר עשיתי

God took note of the expression of compliance (וירח השם את ריח הניחח) and God said to Himself: Never again will I curse the earth for the sake (בעבור) of man when (כי) the design (יצר) of man is evil from his youth, nor will I ever again destroy every living thing as I have done.

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Until the time of the Mabul, whenever man wasn’t living as God wanted, God thwarted the development of the earth. This was for man’s benefit and for the sake of his moral and spiritual growth. From now on, He will not limit its fertility in order to educate man. Instead, there is a “plan B” for the new world order, to be explained in verse 22.

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The phrase “כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעריו” has been misunderstood. כי shouldn’t be translated as “because”. RSRH has 3 reason why not:

  1. What would be the explanation? “Because it would be of no use?” (That God’s educating powers don’t work?) That would not be befitting God’s dignity and majesty to speak like that of Himself.
  2. Above 6:5, the reason for God bringing the Mabul was because of man’s yetzer hora, now the reason for clemency is the very same yetzer hora? That’s contradictory without an explanation.
  3. The way the verse is structured (see commentary)

The verse should be read as follows: (Even) if (כי) man should become evil, even evil from his youth, and the destruction of the world would seem to be the only of salvation, I will never curse the land, as I have done previously. (Rather there will be a “Plan B” as is explained in the following verse.)

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The wording of “even if” teaches that this is not the typical behavior. Normally, the youth are not assumed to be evil.

The word for youth is נער which means to shake off.

Young people want to develop out of themselves; neither good nor bad impressions are permanently absorbed by them. A youth’s nature is still in its original state; it is not yet cloaked in hypocrisy; it still shakes off both good and bad impressions.

Youth are neither tsaddikim or reshaim. Woe unto him who thinks the average youth has a wicked nature. The thoughts of a person are not evil from his youth. There are more adults aspiring to evil than youth. Yes, youth will do many things that are evil but that’s because they haven’t yet learned to subordinate themselves to the yoke of mitzvos. Self control and obedience to duty appear burdensome to them. They want to “shake off” this burden. Intellectual immaturity gives youth the mark of obstinacy. (God chose Israel because they are a stiff-necked people. Ultimately they would overcome their obstinacy and then would use it for good.)

It is adults, not youth, who are addicted to base desire and greed and mock idealism, calling it “youthful dreams”. Once a person becomes an adult and “clever”, he learns to accommodate and conform, but he also succumbs to desire and selfishness.

All people are born with this youthful spirit and it is this very independence of will that, when harnessed and directed, is the root of the moral personality of the future adult.

Once a person realizes that the ultimate goal of God’s Law is freedom and not restriction, he is filled with youthful enthusiasm and he resolves to dedicate himself to every noble ideal.

 

Beraishis 8:21
pages 213-215

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Beraishis 8I Changes to the World After the Mabul

We have a tradition that before the flood it was always springtime. the seasons never changed. A person would only need to sow the fields once in forty years. The earth was not yet split into continents and so it was possible to quickly travel across the world (ב”ר לד:י”ג) . The same Midrash  implies that the reason people lived much longer was the perfect weather.

Before the flood the world was in a state of perpetual bloom. People grew rich and old, living in luxury. Their selfish ways (חמס) were perpetuated by the good life they lived and by their ability to pass this on to the next generations.

This was put to an end by the flood. Before the flood, there were changes in seasons but they occurred one after the other affecting all of civilization at the same time. When man was corrupt, all of nature responded at once to all of mankind. Now the continents would be split. All of these seasons would occur at the same time in different places of the earth. Here night, there day. Here winter, there summer…

This would create a new form of educating mankind. Ever since the flood man has been in a constant state of dependence. Now there are frequent climatic and meteorological disturbances.

As a result of man living in varied climates and terrains, there developed many civilizations, each an outgrowth of the locations people lived in. The division of the earth into continents obstructed the routes of travel (which would take a thousand years for man to overcome by artificial means). This would hinder the spread of evil. If one civilization became evil, it could not spread easily to another.

As a result of the rapid changes in climate, the human life span was shortened. This would ensure that evil would not rule forever. The worst tyrants can not rule for more than fifty years. In the new reality the wicked die off quickly and an upright generation takes its place.

Beraishis 8:22
pages 215-219

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Beraishis 9A After the Flood Man’s Goal is to Regain His Greatness

Before the Mabul man understood animals. Man was close with animals. At that stage in history, man’s task was to be caretaker of the world, preserving it – לעבדה ולשמרה. Man’s task was to master and perfect the world.

After the Mabul animals will fear you. Man’s relationship with the world and his goal changes. Man’s task is now to perfect and refine himself, and to restore the honored position he should have.

As we see from the entire content of the Prophets, the rest of history is the story of man’s return to his original condition and God’s deeds to further this goal.

This will ultimately come about, and with it longevity, the return of peace and the “new heaven and earth” (Yeshaya 66:22).

Beraishis 9:1-2
pages 219-222

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Beraishis 9B Eating Meat is Permitted

After the flood eating meat is permitted.

It is possible that this is because now that man’s life span was shortened, he would need to develop more rapidly. Another possibility is that now that the continents were divided and the climates would change from season to season,  limiting eating to produce would be more difficult. With this allowance, man would be less dependent on food grown from the soil.

Had man remained at his previous, higher level eating meat would have been prohibited. Now that it is permitted it can even be a mitzva (such as eating meat for yom tov).

Once meat has become permitted, the Torah sets limitations to what is permitted. (See the next verse 9:4 which teaches the prohibition of אבר מן החי – eating meat of an animal that was separated from a living animal.)

Later, when the Torah is given to Israel, the only food that is prohibited by the Torah is animal-based food. By contrast all foods that are plant-based are permitted by the Torah. The exceptions (חדש, ערלה and כלאי הכרם) are prohibited for other factors.

Beraishis 9:3
pages 222-223

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Beraishis 9C אבר מן החי Blood’s Relationship to the Soul

אַךְ־בָּשָׂ֕ר בְּנַפְשׁ֥וֹ דָמ֖וֹ לֹ֥א תֹאכֵֽלוּ

However, (although flesh is now permitted to be eaten) you shall not eat flesh whose blood is still in it (in its soul).

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Here the Torah refutes a materialistic view of life. It speaks to those who think that power, intellect, soul, and life are merely variations and attributes of the material. They think that הדם הוא בנפש, that the blood is the soul, and that if someone destroys the blood he also destroys the soul. They think that there is no realm of the spirit. Everything can be understood materially. The Torah is saying here that body and soul are distinct from one another, and that the body is subservient to the soul.

There are 3 components of an animal discussed in this verse:
1. בשר – flesh, the body
2. נפש – the soul, the individual
3. דם – the blood

The blood is the instrument of the soul. As long as the animal is alive, the blood is still in the soul, meaning, the blood is encompassed and dominated by the soul. The blood is merged in the soul.

When the animal is alive, the blood is the physical representative of the soul. Every part of the body is dependent on the blood. The blood then subordinates the entire body to the soul. The body, the בשר – the מבשר, “the announcer”, declares, via the blood, the existence of the soul.

The soul – individuality, is expressed through the living body (the בשר). As long as the body is subservient to the soul via the blood, the body retains its individuality.

The link between body and soul is the blood. Once this bond is broken, once the animal dies, the body reverts to the elements of which it is made, no longer having any connection to the soul of the animal.

Based on the above….

This law teaches us that the body of an animal may be eaten only when the soul has departed from the blood. Now the body is merely passive, not under the sway of the animal’s soul. The blood is already dead and no longer represents the animal’s soul. Whereas if a part of an animal was severed while it was still alive, the flesh still bears the invisible effect of the living animal’s soul, unfit to be assimilated by man.

(See pages 225-226 for a full discussion of all the places in the Torah where דם and נפש are mentioned together and how they all fit into this understanding.)

In the following post we will see that the soul of a human is different to that of an animal. The animal soul is rooted in the physical and the human soul is rooted in the spirit of God.

Beraishis 9:4
pages 223-226

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Beraishis 9D Prohibitions of Suicide and Murder

וְאַךְ אֶת דִּמְכֶם לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם אֶדְרֹשׁ מִיַּד כָּל חַיָּה אֶדְרְשֶׁנּוּ וּמִיַּד הָאָדָם מִיַּד אִישׁ אָחִיו אֶדְרֹשׁ אֶת נֶפֶשׁ הָאָדָם

But your blood which belongs to your souls I will demand; I will demand it of every animal. But from the hand of man, from the hand of a being that is his brother, I will demand the soul of a man.

שֹׁפֵךְ דַּם הָאָדָם בָּאָדָם דָּמוֹ יִשָּׁפֵךְ כִּי בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹקים עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם

Whoever sheds blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God He made man.
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In the previous post (verse 9:4) we learned that while an animal is alive its blood is בנפש, subservient to the animal soul. There is an organic connection between the animal’s blood and its soul. The animal soul, together with its body is formed from the earth. The prohibition of אבר מן החי taught that it is not befitting a human to eat and thereby assimilate any connection to an animal soul into itself, because an animal is rooted in the physical.

There is a difference between the soul of an animal and the soul of a human. The animal’s body, blood and soul belong to humans. The human body, blood and soul belong to God.

These verses teach the prohibition of suicide and murder.

Suicide

We have no right to commit suicide. Human blood and souls are not ours. The human soul is not part of the physical realm. His blood, ie. his life, is subservient to that soul. A person’s own blood and soul belong to God. God denies man the right to be master over his own blood. If he takes his own life he will be held accountable.

Murder

Every person is “אדם” “Adam”, a representative of God on earth (see the post on the creation of אדם). He should understand this about himself and about all other humans. It must be understood that every other person is his brother. Human relationships are not body to body but soul to soul. We must recognize the spirit that God breathed into every person and respect and preserve each נפש. We have no right to cause harm to other humans. We certainly have no right to take their life.

Beraishis 9:5-6
pages 226-228

 

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Beraishis 9E The Purpose of Judicial Punishments

The purpose of judicial punishments is not deterrence. Proofs of this are:

  1. Punishments are only given with 2 witnesses who must first warn the criminal about the punishment he will receive should he commit the crime. This seldom occurs and a smart criminal will usually be able to avoid this.
  2. In most monetary crimes there is only restitution (תשלומין) and not even a fine.

The purpose of judicial punishments is not to repay the offender in kind. Proofs of this are:

  1. The expression in the Torah (Shemos 21:24) “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” does not mean remove an eye or remove a tooth. It means monetary payment. We are taught that by tradition (ב”ק פ”ד עמוד א).
  2. Furthermore, there in Shemos various payments are mentioned (loss of work and medical expenses for the victim) in the words שבתו יתן ורפא ירפא.

(There are only four places where the Torah states that “all Yisrael should see and be afraid.” Those four places are specifically in cases where the crime was not successful. People might not have understood the significance of where these attempted crimes were leading (על שם סופן). They are: עדים זוממין, בן סורר ומורה, זקן ממרא and מסית ומדיח. In all four of these cases deterrence is the reason for the public execution or announcement, but not for the punishment in and of itself.)

  • The lesson of the expression of “an eye for an eye” is that a person’s rights are reserved for him, only to the extent that he recognizes the rights of others.

All punishments are rather atonement (כפרה) for the offender. Even someone who is to be executed has a future in the next world and needs this atonement. His death atones for his misdeeds, enabling him to go to the next world in a new state of being, in purity.

Beraishis 9:6
pages 228-229

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Beraishis 9F The Educational Value of Varied Nations and Cultures

וְאַתֶּם פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ שִׁרְצוּ בָאָרֶץ וּרְבוּ בָהּ

And you, be fruitful and multiply, diversify upon the earth and multiply upon it.

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This verse is the culmination of God’s “Plan B” for mankind, after the Mabul.

After the Mabul the continents were split apart, the climate of the world changed and man’s life span was shortened. As RSRH explained, all of this stymied the spread of evil.  See Beraishis 8:22.

Here, Hirsch explains the positive affect of this diversity of nations and cultures and how that too is part of “Plan B”.

In this verse God tells Noach and his family to spread out in the world, to bring about the diversification of man.

Under the most diverse conditions and influences they are to become “men” (אדם) in the true sense of the word (“Adam” means man who lives a Godly life on earth. A representative of God in this world.) and to develop the character traits common among men. Wherever he may live, man can be “man”, meaning he can find happiness and develop all of his human qualities.

People are born with a natural tendency to love the place where they are born and raised, even when that place has difficult conditions – מ”ר ל”ד, ט”ו  ברוך שנתן חן המקום בעיני יושביו. The Midrash tells us ברית נחלקה לאוירות, a covenant was given to the special climates. Hirsch suggests that the deeper meaning of this Midrash is that God’s covenant with man is spread out over various climates. (God’s relationship with man, living as “אדם” will take hold by means of man’s varied ways of living in the world, influenced by the varied climates in the world. GS) Every local has its vices and its virtues. (Every individual and every culture has its own experience . Each has the capacity for its unique expression of a relationship with God. GS) By the same token, no man can judge others by his own standards.

The diversity will compensate for man’s shortcomings and pave the way to progress toward the goal.

Beraishis 9:7
pages 230-231

 

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Beraishis 9G The Covenant of the Rainbow – ברית – אות

Symbolism of the Rainbow

As was explained above, the new world order after the Mabul was to create diversity. On the basis of the variations of human beings, God will educate mankind toward the Divine goal.

A rainbow is one unified and complete ray of light, broken up into seven colors. The red ray is closest to the light and the violet is the farthest. Together they form one white ray which shines forth in full purity.

The entire variety of living things, from man – אדם (= red/אדום) to the lowliest worm, are all united by God in one common bond of peace. In all of them is found a refracted ray of God’s spirit.

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  1. Earlier God’s decision was made to Himself. Here the decision is revealed to man as a ברית; a commitment to never again bring about a Mabul, but rather to bring the world to its destiny by other means.
  2. God doesn’t just declare his commitment. He establishes an אות – a sign and a remembrance in reference to this commitment. We find this throughout the Torah. Some examples are תפילין, שבת, מילה.
  3. It is plausible to say rainbows were existent prior to this time. Now, God is designating the rainbow as a sign of the covenant that God has declared. (Just as we see God showing Avraham the stars that already existed, showing Moshe the moon that already existed, and the seasons of the year that were declared to be signs of historical remembrance for Israel.)

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Beraishis 9:8-17
pages 231-234

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Beraishis 9H Every Nation has its Human Mission

Immediately before the Torah teaches us the source of the nation of Canaan’s degeneracy (so degenerate that we are taught in Vayikra 18:25 that the land would no longer tolerate its inhabitants) we are told that all the children of Noach left the ark. All, including Cham, the father of Canaan.

Each of them was found worthy of being saved with Noach. From this we can infer that this is true for current times as well. Differences in the character of nations, even if certain national characteristics border on degeneration, do not prevent a person from fulfilling the human mission.

All were created in the image of God (which was taught just a few verses above, 9:6) and no man can say to another “You are less of a human being than I am; in fact, you cannot even be classified as a ‘man'”.

Beraishis 9:18
pages 234-235

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Beraishis 9I Honoring and Revering Parents is the Foundation for Mankind’s Development

After the Mabul, Noach set out to rebuild the world. In time (by then, Cham had a child, Canaan), the soil flourished and he succeeded in planting grapes. He must have been ecstatic to know that there was hope for the future. He became drunk from his first taste of wine (quite possibly unintentionally) and went inside his tent to not be seen this way in public. The Torah describes his state of being as being “uncovered”. RSRH explains that this is not necessarily intended to be understood literally (he quotes sources for a broader meaning of the word ויתגל, uncovered). It means his weaker side was exposed. In that state he would not be viewed as the dignified father he was, and so he wanted privacy, to not be seen that way.

His son Cham followed him into the tent and reported what he saw to his brothers, who remained outside, in vivid detail (ויגד). He enjoyed witnessing the event and thought that the story would entertain his brothers. His brother’s reaction was to walk in backwards and cover their father’s nakedness (Shem at the lead and Yefes followed) (Is this part of the story literal? See below for its metaphorical lessons. GS).

The whole future of mankind depends on how children act towards their parents. As long as children regard their parents as keepers of God’s charge, revering their parents spiritual essence and not focusing on their physical essence, mankind flourishes. The children learn lessons from the parents and can grown and develop them further. But if the children delight in the physical side of the parents, if there is no reverence for the father, then the continuation from one generation to the next doesn’t occur. The important lessons of the past will not inform the future. The younger generation will consider the older generation obsolete.

Honoring and revering father and mother is the foundation for all of mankind’s development.

When Noach woke up and realized what had happened, he said that Canaan, the son of Cham, is cursed. Note that Noach didn’t say Cham is cursed. Noach’s lesson is: “Honor your father and your mother, lest you be punished through your children.” Sins that children commit against their parents will be punished by the manner in which their own children, in turn, deal with them.

The younger generation must “take a garment and cover their parents’ nakedness”, looking for the spiritual legacy they can take from then, so as to build their own future. If instead, they scorn their parents’, looking only at their frailties and weaknesses, they have nothing to build on and they have no future.

Beraishis 9:20-25
pages 236-243

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Beraishis 9J Noach’s Prophesy about Shem, Cham and Yefes (part 1)

וַיֹּאמֶר אָרוּר כְּנָעַן עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים יִהְיֶה לְאֶחָיו. וַיֹּאמֶר בָּרוּךְ השם אֱלֹקי שֵׁם וִיהִי כְנַעַן עֶבֶד לָמוֹ. יַפְתְּ אֱלֹקים לְיֶפֶת וְיִשְׁכֹּן בְּאָהֳלֵי שֵׁם וִיהִי כְנַעַן עֶבֶד לָמוֹ

He said: Cursed is Canaan: he shall be a servant of servants to his brothers. And he said: Blessed be God, the God of Shem; may Canaan become their servant. God will open [people’s] emotions to Yefes, but He will dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be a servant to them.

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This prophecy is very far reaching. It is not just about the future of Noach’s sons. It is about the three basic elements that form all civilizations throughout history.

Cham (חם=heat, unrestricted materialistic  passion) is cursed. (This is not a wish it is a statement.) Hot, unrestricted sensuality, that has no respect for spiritual values is incapable of ruling and is unable to preserve its own freedom. It bears in itself its own ruin.

Unrestrained desire leads to slavery. He who at all times controls his passions will not be lead astray by bribes or enticements. (Freedom here means moral freedom. Slavery means the inability to exercise moral freedom. GS)

Shem. (שם=”name”=intellect, the mind recognizing God and deciding how to live based on this understanding. This is the opposite of Cham. Shem decides how to act in tranquility and doesn’t act without thinking.) The God of Shem (meaning the God as Shem understood God) is blessed. Recognition of God, the God of Shem, will grow and spread and ultimately conquer all hearts and all material forces will ultimately submit to it.

Yefes. (יפת= beauty. Its root is פתה which means open to external impressions and influences.) Yefes represents emotion. Yefes is the middle ground between Shem and Cham. From Yefes the world has culture which elevates and dignifies man.

All three exist in every man and nation, but only one of them is dominant both in individuals and nations.

Looking back on 4,000 years of history we see many nations acting like Cham. They conquer and destroy, putting their minds and emotions to use for their physical ambitions. These nations rise and fall; their essence being brute force.

Other nations, primarily the Greeks (and the Romans who built on what the Greeks taught), teach man to value beauty. They put a cloth of elegance over crude sensuality. They engage in poetry, music and art. They elevate man above the physical. This is the contribution of Yefes.

The highest goal, however, is not man living within himself, enjoying his own talents and creativity. A civilization cannot endure without a higher, object ideal, from outside of man that shines forth, raising man above himself. A nation that promotes spiritual values, contributing to the recognition of truth, exemplifies the character of Shem and advances the welfare of mankind.

Beraishis 9:25-27
pages 243-247

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Beraishis 9K Lust Enslaves, Culture Refines, God’s Teaching Liberates (Noach’s prophecy part 2)

See previous post which explains the characteristics of each of Noach’s sons.

See Hirsch’s essay “Hellenism and Judaism”, Collected Writings, volume 2, page 199.

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Cursed is Canaan. Nations that are controlled by their base desires and coarseness will lose their freedom and become enslaved. Canaan will be a slave to slaves. Other nations will have this characteristic as well.

Only nations that are themselves enslaved try to enslave others. The tyrant who wants to conquer other nations, first subjugates his own people who become his tool to subjugate other nations.

Freedom is found where the law of morality reigns. Lust is the breeding ground of slavery.

Cham’s gods are the gods of brute force. Man trembles before them. Tyrants build altars to such gods, creating an atmosphere of fear which enables them to rule over their people.

Shem calls out in the name of God, before Whom the enslaving gods disappear. God liberates man. He endows man with equal dignity and uplifts him above the forces of nature. The breath of God lives in each person. God who is merciful and compassionate is close to everyone equally. He calls man to His service, which liberates and uplifts.

The teaching of God does not do battle through might and force. It wages its struggle in the moral battles man must fight within himself to be honest, kind and giving. Ultimately, God’s teaching will be victorious.

Noach expresses the wish that if indeed Cham must be a slave, let him be a slave to Shem, where he can serve him and thereby fulfill his Divine mission.

But the step before this is Yefes; culture. Cham is not ready to receive the Teaching of Shem immediately. The uncivilized person must first become a cultured person. Before a person can live a life of submission to God and all that He asks of him, he must first become refined and learn “proper taste”, even if these are only material values. This is a step above savagery towards higher values. Culture is the pathway that leads to the teachings of Shem.

Ultimately, all the civilizations of the world will learn from Shem. In time, the world will learn to make their homes dwelling places for the Shechina. (More on this central theme of RSRH in the next post!)

Beraishis 9:25-27
pages 247-249

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Beraishis 9L The meaning of the word ברוך – Commitment to Fulfill God’s Will

וַיֹּאמֶר בָּרוּךְ השם אֱלֹקי שֵׁם וִיהִי כְנַעַן עֶבֶד לָמוֹ

And he said: Blessed be God, the God of Shem; may Canaan become their servant.

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ברכה is the fundamental idea of the Jew’s whole life. The whole purpose of the Torah is to teach us how to bless God, לברך את השם.

We are constantly called upon לברך, to bless God and God is ברוך, blessed.

The meaning is as follows: God’s Will is furthered by our commitment to fulfill His Will. God asks of man ברכני; further My aims, perform My commandments, realize My Will, bless my work, whose completion on earth depends on you!

ברכה is the commitment to further God’s aims in the world. When we make this commitment, God’s Will is furthered. He is blessed.

ברכה does not mean mere praise. Praise of Hashem becomes ברכה only when it has an effect on us, when our minds become illuminated and our hearts purified, leading us to do the Will of Hashem.

The ברכות we say in our daily שמונה עשרה are considered substitutes for the קרבנות not because of the requests we make, but because of the ברכות that we conclude each request with. Just as the קרבנות were לחם אשה השם, fuel for the fire of God on earth, representing the dedication of all of our energies and talents to carry out God’s will, so we make that same commitment with each ברכה of the שמונה עשרה. (For more, see Horeb, Avodah, pages 471-478)

Noach, the first ancestor of the new humanity, understood all of this. When we say ברוך, we are carrying out the work that was assigned to all of mankind. We are pronouncing the first word that was ever spoken to express man’s relation to God.

Beraishis 9:26
pages 249-250

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Beraishis 9M Closeness to God on Earth עיקר שכינה בתחתונים

…וְיִשְׁכֹּן בְּאָהֳלֵי שֵׁם…

… He will dwell in the tents of Shem…

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Other religions teach what man must do to attain closeness to God in the next world. Judaism teaches what we must do to so that God draws near in this world.

In Beraishis Rabbah, 19:7 we are taught the great principle of עיקר שכינה בתחתונים. The Shechina, the Divine Presence, resides primarily on earth.

The Torah teaches us “ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם“. “Let them make of their lives on earth a sanctuary so that I will dwell in their midst.”

The purpose of the Torah and the mission of Israel is to perfect the world through the reign of God ie. through carrying out God’s Will in our lives. (This is an obvious reference to the words we pray three times daily “לתקן עולם במלכות שקי” GS).

(Hirsch adds here: That is why all the promises of the Torah relate to this world ie. children, prosperity, peace, etc.)

The Torah’s ideal is שכינה. Wherever man sanctifies his home and his camp God fills him with rapture and allows him to experience closeness to God in this world that is מעין עולם הבא. This ideal is not unique to the Jewish people but will ultimately be reached by all of mankind.

But the closeness to God the Torah seeks is grounded. Man is not to “lose himself in God”, to “merge with the divine”. The word שכינה, the Divine Presence, is rooted in the word שכן, neighbor. Just as a person allows the space allotted to his neighbor, so too God wants man to live an active life on earth in man’s space; the earth.

The Talmud teaches us (סוכה דף ה) מעולם לא ירדה שכינה למטה מעשרה, the Shechina never came down lower than 10 tefachim. The ten tefachim are where man is active and only where man’s activity ends does the realm of the Shechina begin.

God draws near to man but He does not encroach upon the human sphere. Man is allowed to develop in accordance with his own free will, as a man on earth.

Judaism doesn’t teach that man should get lost in God, losing his mind in ecstasy. That would result in thinking that there is nothing for a person to do. All that’s expected of him is to feel close to God and God will act through him. Judaism wants man to take action.  It requires man to have a composed mind, making use of his intellect and the freedom God gave him. Our actions become sanctified based on clear thinking, faithfully serving God. That is what makes us worthy of God’s closeness.

Beraishis 9:27
pages 250-251

 

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Shemos 12A – Sanctification of the New Moon – קידוש החודש

א וַיֹּאמֶר השם אֶל-מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל-אַהֲרֹן, בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר.
ב הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם, רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים:  רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם, לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה

The first part of verse 2 הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם, רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים cannot mean “this month is the first of the months”. If so it would be exactly what is stated at the end of the verse.

Rather it means this renewal of the moon. (The primary meaning of חדש is not “month” but renewal and rejuvenation.)

As stated in verse 1, this mitzvah was given to Moshe and Aharon. And in verse 2 it states this renewal of the moon is given לכם – to you. As explained in the Talmud (Rosh HaShana 22a and 25b) the sanctification of the new moon was given to the leaders/representatives of the nation, ie. the Sanhedrin.

There is much more to this declaration of the Sanhedrin than a precise astronomical determination. It is not the occurance among the heavenly bodies, nor is it in honor of this occurance that we celebrate our New Moon. This is seen in the following:

  • If the day of the actual new moon’s arrival was cloudy and no witnesses could see it, even though the Sanhedrin calculated the astronomical day, that day would not be declared the start of the month.
  • Even if the entire Sanhedrin, or even the entire nation, witnessed the New Moon, but there wasn’t time in the day to declare it officially, that day would not become the first of the month. The following day would be the first of the next month.
  • Out of various considerations (ie. that Yom Kippur and Shabbos shouldn’t fall out on consecutive days), the Sanhedrin could declare the 31st day as Rosh Chodesh even if the moon was sighted on the 30th.

There are a number of unique laws regarding קידוש החודש:

This mitzvah has the characteristic of a משפט as indicated by the following:

  • The Sanhedrin could only declare the new moon in the daytime. Unlike monetary cases.
  • In order to declare the new moon, there was a need to have at least three judges present. This is unlike monetary cases. There were no exceptions allowed.
  • There was a requirement to have a minimum of two witnesses, unlike איסורין (cases about determining facts that would affect prohibitions) where one witness was sufficient (based on the the principal of עד אחד נאמן באיסורין.) Two witnesses is a requirement for cases of personal relationships.

We see from all of the above that the decisive factor on which the beginning of the new month depends is the sanctifying enactment of the Sanhedrin, the representatives of the Jewish community.

All the holidays are called מועדים and so is the beginning of the month. The holidays are called Moed informed by their historical events or seasonal nuances. Rosh Chodesh is a purer form of Moed. It has only the concept of Moed.

The root of Moed is יעד – to call a meeting. מועד means a place or a time designated for a meeting. מועדים are designated times to meet with God.

This meeting should be voluntary from both sides. God wishes that His people will come to Him. He sets a general time. He allows a certain amount of latitude within which they themselves may set the exact date for the meeting. So the meeting will be by mutual choice.

All of our holidays are linked to these monthly “meetings”. This is not a fixed time, based on what Nature presents. If it was, our holidays could be misunderstood as a pagan celebration of the meeting of heavenly bodies.

Each time the moon reunites with the sun and receives from it new light, God wants his people to find their way back to Him, so that His light may again shine forth on them. No matter how dark and distant we have become, the model of the moon serves as inspiration for us to pull closer to God.

This is why the determination of the beginning of each month depends on the Sanhedrin’s (who represent the nation) declaration.

In light of all of the above, the meaning of the verse reads as follows: הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם, רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים. This renewal of the moon shall be for you a beginning of renewals. You should take inspiration from the renewal of the moon and do the same לָכֶם for yourselves.

The Jewish sanctification of the new moon is an institution for the moral and spiritual rejuvenation of Israel, to which Israel must always strive anew at regular intervals, and which it will achieve through its re-encounter with God.

This is contrary to paganism. Paganism knows no renewal. The pagan view sees all things, Man, the world, the gods, forever locked in their situation. The gods are stuck in their ways and Man has no free will.

Egyptian culture was deeply immersed in this view. Even the plagues couldn’t shake Pharaoh out of his view of the world.

The first command God gave the Jewish people in its formation, prior to leaving Egypt, was the sanctification of the moon. God was teaching us we have the capacity for change and renewal.

(In the next post, we will discuss the concept of the “year” that is constant as well as the year that begins in Spring vs. the year that begins in Fall.)

Shemos 12: 1-2
pages 154-163

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Shemos 12B – Two Types of Years and Days

ב הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם, רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים:  רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם, לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה

The first part of this verse (הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם, רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים) taught about rejuvenation and renewal through the mitzvah of Sanctifying the New Moon. (See the previous post here.)

The second part of the verse (רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה) teaches that the counting of the months within the repeating cycle of the year begins each year with the month of Nisan.

True, there is repetition in constantly having new months but the character of each month is different. (There’s a moon of early spring, mid- spring, summer, winter, etc.) Not so the year. Each year, the same cycle repeats itself and the start of each year has the same character as the start of the previous year. The Hebrew word for year is שנה. The same word שנה means repetition.

This verse teaches us that the start of the Jewish year is in Nisan, at the beginning of the spring.

There are other verses in the Torah (Shemos 23:16 חג האסיף בצאת השנה – also Shemos 34:22 וחג האסיף תקופת השנה) that teach us that the month of Tishrei, in the fall, marks the start of the year.

RSRH explains as follows:

The “World Year” year begins in the fall. From that perspective (the time of harvest ie. the physical) there is a repeating cycle that starts with fall. It may reach a spring and a summer, but it always returns to the fall. (within that repeating cycle there are Jewish times of renewal at each New Moon, as taught in the first part of the verse.)

The Jewish Year begins in the spring. It may lead to an autumn and winter, but it always returns to the spring, a time of renewal.

We find the same contrast of perspectives in marking the beginning of the day. In worldly matters, the “day” always begins at night. (As we see in Creation “and it was evening and it was morning, one day…”). However in the Temple the “day” begins when the sun comes out.

Taken together, these two perspectives of time teach us about our dual nature. Everything of this world is born at night. It may blossom in the day but it will ultimately sink into the night. Everything Jewish and holy has its origin in light and life. It may endure difficult struggles, but will ultimately find renewal and life. What was born from morning and spring will end with morning, rejuvenated to a new spring.

Shemos 12:2
pages 163-164

 

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