February 18, 2006 Parshas Yisro

20 Shevat 5766 Volume 20, Number 17

A
Our Torah Hashkafic
Re-Connecting to
Ephraim Meth Thought
t Mount Sinai, Hashem actions in the verse stating that prophet, that Hashem was

Nature
gave Moshe the written Torah, “is not in the heaven pleased by R. Yehoshua’s
and the oral Torah. He also gave (Devarim 30:12).” This teaches response. Rather than respond-

him a gift of far greater value, a
responsibility far more awe-
some. Hashem bound His val-
ues to the Torah and appointed
us as its interpreters. Let us
O
us that a heavenly voice does ing with anger, He happily Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz
declared, “My sons have been ne of the striking phenom-
At Mount victorious over Me (Bava
life is
ena of modern Orthodox
how distant we are from
Metzia 59b).”
Sinai, A similar point can be deduced
nature. In the ancient world,

examine some manifestations of
this privilege as they appear in
the Torah and the Talmud.
Hashem
both among Jews and among the
from the narrative of Rabbah’s other nations of the world, peo-
death. The Talmud (Bava Metzia ple were sensitive to the cycles of
relinquished 86a) relates that as Rabbah was the sun, moon, stars and the

Rabbi Eliezer was one of the
greatest Torah sages of his gen-
eration. On one occasion, a
heavenly voice issued forth to
support his halakhic ruling.
Encouraged by this support, he
refused to concede to the
majority of scholars who had
argued with him, and was con-
sequently ostracized by them.
Rabbi Yehoshua, who led the
opposition, grounded his
his right to
interpret the
Torah’s
intent.
not carry as much halakhic
valence as the decision of the
majority of the generation’s
scholars. The Talmud tells us, in
the name of Eliyahu the
dying, Hashem was arguing with planets. Today, even navigation
the heavenly tribunal over a con- is no longer done by the stars,
troversial point in the laws of but by machine.
ritual impurity. Both parties I remember when I was in Eretz
agreed to bring Rabbah, who Yisrael once and looked up at
was an expert in those laws, to the sky: thousands and thou-
adjudicate the dispute. The sands of stars! This is what our
angel of death was sent to fetch forefathers saw every evening
him, and Rabbah issued a ruling when they looked up at the night
with his dying breath. sky. It is easy to forget our natu-
(Incidentally, he ruled that ral connection to the world, and
Hashem was correct.) to forget how much we rely on
the natural cycles and resources
that Hashem has given to us. In
fact, all of our holidays and the
continued on page 3

T abl e Torah Public Prophecy cycles of Judaism are based on

A
Yoni Noble
fter Moshe has received B’nei Yisrael’s
resounding approval to accept the Torah,
Hashem, wishing to publicize His connection
with Moshe in a grand, open setting, arranges
a public meeting with Moshe in Shemot 19:9.
The commentators ask why Hashem needed
this public encounter. The Ibn Ezra explains
that Jews at the time doubted a mere mortal
could speak directly with Hashem and live
(Devarim 5:23). Therefore, Hashem proposed
this plainly visible encounter between Himself
and Moshe to forever erase the people’s skep-
ticism about prophecy.
The Ramban challenges the Ibn Ezra’s premise
that the seed of Avraham could ever doubt the
reality of prophecy. With the exception of the
past two thousand years, the Ramban claims,
prophecy had become part of the well estab-
continued on page 2
lished routine. Rather, Hashem understood
that a Jew’s empirical knowledge would not be
strong enough to allow him to reject the yetzer
hara’s seductive alternatives to Yahadut. Via
this public meeting with Moshe, Hashem gave
every Jew a genuine taste of prophecy, thereby
profoundly internalizing its significance in their
hearts and making them more likely to fight off
any future ambushes of the yetzer hara.

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I
The Chance of a New Day
n this week’s parsha, Yisro
Leib Zalish
assures Moshe that if
Hashem approves Yisro’s
revolutionary new judicial
system, the people will reach
their destination in peace
(Shemos 18:23; see Rashi
there). However, we have no
indication that Moshe con-
sults Hashem before imple-
menting the system (Shemos
18:24-25). How could Moshe
have disregarded Yisro’s
assurance and made such a
radical change without first
consulting
No Jew is
Hashem?
Moreover,
able to
Yisro prom-
ises that the
experience
people “will
inner
arrive [yavo]
at their desti-
n a t i o n distress
while in
[makom] in
peace;" how-
Eretz
ever, this
never hap-
Yisrael.
p e n s .
Tr a g i c a l l y,
that whole generation,
including Ahron, Nadav,
Avihu, and Moshe, die prior
to reaching Eretz Yisrael,
their intended destination.
Most of the commentators
understand the word makom
in this verse as referring to a
more localized destination,
namely, the people's lodging
places, their tents. With the
new judicial system in place,
people will be more at ease in
their tents, and subsequently,
at peace with their neighbors.
EINAYIM L’TORAH • 2
However, this localized defi-
nition of the word makom
does not fit with the verse
itself, where the word, yavo,
which connotes actual travel-
ing, directly precedes the
word makom? Perhaps
makom can indicate both a
localized destination as well
as a broader destination that
B’nei Yisrael hoped to one
day reach. If each plaintiff
and defendant arrived at his
tent with feelings of warmth
toward his court case adver-
sary, the
t r i p
through the
Wilderness
would con-
sequently
be more
peaceful.
The double
meaning of
the word
makom also
explains
w h
H a s h e m ’s
approval, although Yisro had
encouraged it, was not
sought by Moshe. Only the
people could implement the
social reform needed for the
judicial reform to be success-
ful; a happier life would only
be created if positive expres-
sions were directed towards
adversaries.
Unfortunately, because of
the complaining which
ensued on the way to Eretz
Yisrael, neither the short
term peace nor the long term
peace was fully achieved.
continued on page 3
Re-Connecting to Nature
the natural cycles of the world.
Ostensibly, Pesach is about the
exodus from Egypt and Shavuos
celebrates the giving of the
Torah; Sukkos and Shemini
Atzeres commemorate our wan-
dering in the desert. However, it
is also true that Pesach occurs
during the beginning of the
spring when the barley was har-
vested, Shavuos, at the beginning
of the wheat harvest, and Sukkos,
during the ingathering of the pro-
duce and the fruit.
Last year, we had two months of
Adar in the Jewish year. The rea-
son we have Jewish leap years in
which we add an additional
month of Adar is that the Torah
says that Pesach must occur dur-
ing the spring. Therefore, when
Pesach falls out a tad early in the
solar calendar, we must add an
extra month to push Pesach back
into its proper alignment.
Why is it so important that
Pesach be in the spring? The
Talmud says there's an intimate
bridge between the physical
structure of the universe and the
spiritual universe. What happens
on this earth models the “spiritu-
al vibe” that God is putting into
the earth at that time. For exam-
y ple, the idea of freedom is mani-
fested by the fact that the earth
itself becomes liberated, in terms
of productivity and growth after
a long, dormant winter. Pesach
occurs during the spring because
that time most embodies this idea
of freedom.
Shavuous, the time of harvest, is
also the time of the giving of
the Torah, when we can harvest
the knowledge that Hashem has
made available to us. Sukkos,
which occurs shortly after Yom
Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, is
the time of ingathering; so, too,
on each Sukkot we must inter-
nalize the knowledge and emo-
tion gained on Yom Kippur and
Rosh Hashana, ingathering it
unto ourselves.
continued from page 1
This is also true in our prayers.
The times of our prayers are
based on various transition points
in the day. When the night turns
into the morning and when the
sun rises, are the instituted times
for reciting the Shema. Mincha
should be prayed as the sun is set-
ting, and Maariv, when the stars
come out. These transitions are
supposed to inspire us. When we
pray in the morning, it is as if the
sun rises and inspires us; as the
sun sets, amidst fear and trepida-
tion, we ask God to protect us in
time of danger. Nowadays, we
come into our Shul with the lights
on. Shacaris is the same, Mincha
is the same, Maariv is the same.
However, if one is truly connect-
ed to the earth, he or she under-
stands that Chazal teach us to
pray three times of day, because
each tefillah is supposed to elicit
three different emotional view-
points.
Tu b’Shevat, the new year of the
trees, is a holiday that helps us
focus on the natural world. In
Israel, it is the recognized time
when the sap begins running in
the trees, the first early mark of
the coming of spring. We can use
this physical change as a spiritual
time to focus on the earth and the
importance of protecting it.
This year on Tu b’Shevat, let’s
take a few moments to appreciate
our connections to the physical
world, to appreciate Hashem’s
marvelous creation, and to pro-
tect the natural resources
Hashem has granted us.
This article is printed as part of the Tu
b’Shevat Learning Campaign, spon-
sored by Canfei Nesharim, an organi-
zation that is educating the Orthodox
community about the importance of
protecting the environment and does not
necessarily represent the views of
Einayim L’Torah. For more informa-
tion, visit www.canfeinesharim.org.
The
vhv,Chance
ohn, of a New Day
Tragically, the people of that generation
did not use the momentous opportuni-
ty Yisro’s judicial changes represented
to improve their daily actions.
In Vayigash, when Yosef sends his
brothers to bring Yaakov to Egypt,
Yosef cautions his brothers not to
argue on their journey (Bereishis 45:24).
Rashi explains that Yosef feared that
over the course of their journey, his
brothers would argue with one another
about the sale of their younger brother,
Yosef, which had occurred many years
Our Torah
Why was Rabbah needed to make this
continued from page 1
decision? Hashem, who authored the
entire Torah, must certainly be correct in
any dispute! The Derashos ha-Ran (cited
in the introduction to Ketzos ha-Choshen)
answers that at Mount Sinai, Hashem
relinquished his right to interpret the
Torah’s intent. We now own the meaning
of Torah; it is our privilege, and our
responsibility.
Although Hashem made us masters of the
Torah’s meaning we are nevertheless not
fully free to interpret it. Unlike the
Sadducees and the Karaites, we believe
that interpretative authority lies with our
Rabbis, whose sensibilities are refined by a
chain of tradition that reaches back to the
times of Moshe. The final decision in
Torah law is based on human understand-
ing; however, that human understanding
must be based on a life-long quest for
absolute, divine truth.
The Greatest Jewish Music
Tzvi Simcha Cohen • (646) 387-8573 • TSimcha@gmail.com
continued from page 2
earlier. Although it is illogical to express
distress over what has already passed,
the Netziv explains that such strife may
nonetheless be harbored internally. The
Netziv also cites a passage in Nedarim
on 22b as proof that no Jew is able to
experience inner distress while in Eretz
Yisrael. For this reason, only during the
trip home to what would become Eretz
Yisrael would strife be able to strike
Yosef ’s brothers.
Eretz Yisrael provides a haven from the
stress of the outside world for those
Our acceptance of Rabbinic authority has
its roots in Parshas Yisro. After hearing the
first two commandments directly from
Hashem, the Jewish nation pleaded with
Moshe: “You speak with us and we will lis-
ten; do not let Hashem speak with us, lest
we die (Shemos 20:16).” The Jews recog-
nized the awesome responsibility inherent
in properly interpreting the Torah. They
ceded their opportunity to define the
Divine will to Moshe, his students, and the
Torah scholars of every generation.
The Midrash relates that each time Hashem
spoke the Jews standing aroundMount Sinai
died and subsequently had to be revived by
angels. Why did Hashem impose such an
experience on us, when he knew that we
were incapable of surviving it? It seems that
Hashem was sending us an eternal message
about our potential; there is no Jew who
does not have the ability to make himself
into a sage and scholar. Dedication to dis-
who seek it. The Jewish people who
traveled in the Wilderness towards
Eretz Yisrael fell victim to strife and did
not perpetuate
continuepeace
d from painstead, falling
into the “trap” that had been predicted
ge 1
by Yosef many years before. As a result,
they were unable to experience the
inner tranquility of the Holy Land.
May we all work to perpetuate this unity,
one day hopefully settling in a rebuilt
Eretz Yisrael as a unified, wholesome
people. Good Shabbos!
cerning the Divine intent is not a privilege
reserved for the elite.
At the end of his life, Moshe wrote a
Torah scroll for each and every tribe. By
doing so, he intended to emphasize this
very point. Every Jew of every tribe has
the opportunity to become an interpreter
of the Torah. Every Jew can come to pos-
sess this privilege, which once belonged to
Hashem alone. However, there is a specif-
ic path that leads to this lofty level, a path
where every footfall must be directed to
discerning the Divine will. Those who
walk this path fulfill the prophetic predic-
tion describing us as “a nation of priests”
– a nation of Torah teachers and servants
of Hashem. Parallel to this path walk the
members of “our holy nation,” hallowed
by heeding the words of the sages who
transmit the values of Hashem.
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PARSHAS YISRO • 3
Parsha Points in Yisro
Ephraim Meth
• Yisro, Moshe’s father-in-law, joins the Jews after hearing about the miracles Hashem has performed for
them.

• Yisro observes that Moshe, the Jews’ only judge, is wearied, and he proposes a hierarchical judicial
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EINAYIM L’TORAH • 4 PARSHAS YISRO