The pesukim in Parshas Nitzavim say, “For this commandment that I command you today – it is not hidden from you, and it is not distant. It is not in heaven, for you to say, ‘Who can ascend to the heaven for us and take it for us so that we can listen to it and perform it?’ Nor is it across the sea, for you to say, ‘Who can cross to the other side of the sea for us and take if for us so that we can listen to it and perform it?’ Rather, the matter is very near to you – in your mouth and in your heart – to perform it.” (Devorim 30:11-14).
There is a dispute among the early commentaries regarding what the expression “hamitzvah hazos” (this commandment) refers to. We will focus on the view of Rashi (and others as well), who say that the expression refers to Torah. According to this approach, the pesukim are saying that Torah is accessible to every Jew. They need not go up to Heaven to access it.
There is an enigmatic Medrash Rabbah here (Nitzavim 8) which states: “Lest you think that it was to your detriment that I gave you the Torah, that is not the case – I gave it only for your benefit! The proof is that the malachay hashares (ministering angels) also wanted it, but it was hidden from them. The Torah is beyond the malachay hashares, but for you, my sons, this is for you, as it is written ‘Lo niflais hi mimcha.‘”
The difficulty with this Medrash is two-fold. First of all, what on earth does it mean “You might think that it was to your detriment that I gave you the Torah”? The Torah is called a “lekach tov” (Mishlei 4:2). Who would have ever thought that it was given to our detriment!? Second of all, what kind of proof is it that it was not to our detriment because the malachay hashares wanted it as well?
I would like to share an interpretation from Rav Elya Baruch Finkel, but I want to introduce that thought with an idea I found in the Daas Zekeinim M’Baalei Hatosfos. On the pasuk, “Mi Ya’aleh Lanu Hashamayma” (Who will go up for us to Heaven), the Daas Zekeinim write that the first letters of those four words (Mem, Yud, Lamed, Hay) spell out the word milah (circumcision). What allusion is the Daas Zekeinim pointing out to us with this comment?
Perhaps we might relate this comment to something the Sefer Hachinuch famously writes. The Sefer Hachinuch asks why the Torah gave us a mitzvah of milah. After all, if the Almighty did not want us to have a foreskin, we could have been born without one and there would have been no need for the mitzvah of milah. Yet, He gave us a foreskin and commanded us to remove it. Why is that?
The Sefer Hachinuch writes that the Ribono shel Olam wanted us to become more perfect human beings. He wanted us to make the effort to improve ourselves. Therefore, He did not create us from the womb as perfect human beings – the proof being that we have a foreskin, which needs to be removed. This symbolizes the following: Just like man is able to improve his physical body, so too he is able to improve his spiritual essence. Mitzvas milah sets the tone for a person’s life. Man is born imperfect specifically to impress upon him the message that human beings are far from perfect and man is charged throughout his life to try to become a more perfect human being.
This is all alluded to in the pasuk “Mi Ya’aleh Lanu Hashamayma” because milah is really an indication of what Torah is all about. Torah, too, was given to us as a way for us to become closer to the Ribono shel Olam and to become holier people.
With this introduction, we return to Rav Elya Baruch Finkel’s interpretation of the above-cited Medrash: There are two reasons why the Ribono shel Olam gave us the Torah. Number one is as an antidote to all the bad things about human beings. “I have created the Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination); and I have created Torah as its antidote.” (Yalkut Shimoni Parshas Ekev) We come into this world as very physical and materialistic people. We have all sorts of lusts and all sorts of personality faults – anger, haughtiness, etc., etc. Part of the reason for mitzvos is “for your detriment” (l’ra’aschem) – to go ahead and take away the negativity that exists within you, to purify yourselves from the dross that encompasses every human being.
You may think, says the Medrash, that the whole purpose of Torah is just to take away the bad. However, that is not the case. “It is for your benefit” – meaning, that not only is there a “sur me’rah” (depart from evil) aspect to Torah but there is also a major “aseh tov” component in it as well. The “aseh tov” component is that you become better people by virtue of the Torah. You become better baalei midos; you become greater baalei chessed; you become better people – l’tovaschem (for your benefit).
By learning the Torah and keeping the Torah, you become G-d-like and you elevate yourselves. This is a far cry from merely taking away the bad. This is the proof from the malachay hashares. The malachim clearly don’t need a Torah to take away the bad. They have no Yetzer Hara. They are not physical. They are totally spiritual. They have no anger or jealousy. Then why did THEY want the Torah if they had no “bad” to be taken away? The answer is that they wanted it because they themselves realized that the way to come closer to the Ribono shel Olam is through Torah.
Transcribed by David Twersky; Jerusalem [email protected]
Edited by Dovid Hoffman; Baltimore, MD [email protected]
This week’s write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissochar Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly Torah portion. A listing of the halachic portions for Parshas Nitzavim/Vayeilech is provided below:
- # 022 – Reading Haftorah: Scrolls vs. Book
- # 112 – Shoteh: Mental Incompetence in Halacha
- # 158 – Schar Shabbos: How Do We Pay Rabbonim and Chazzanim?
- # 205 – Kiddush Before T’kiyas Shofar
- # 252 – Buying Seforim
- # 295 – Burying the Dead on Yom Tov Sheni
- # 341 – The Brachos on the T’kios
- # 342 – Is Building a Succah a Mitzvah?
- # 385 – Fasting on Rosh Hashana
- # 386 – Succah Gezulah
- # 429 – Treatment of an Invalid Sefer Torah
- # 473 – Seudas Siyum Mesechta
- # 517 – What Exactly Is Mitzva of Shofar
- # 561 – Lo Bashomayin He
- # 605 – Selling A Sefer Torah
- # 649 – Minhagim of the Yomim Noraim
- # 693 – My Father’s Chumros
- # 737 – Borrowing and Lending Seforim
- # 781 – I’m the Baal Tokeah and Not You!
- # 825 – The Shuls of Gaza – A Halachic Perspective
- # 826 – Yom Kippur: Women and the Shehecheyanu; Women and Kor’im
- # 869 – The Mitzvah of Chinuch-Whose Responsibility? Mother or Father?
- # 870 – Yom Kippur – The Yom Kippur That They Did Not Fast
- # 913 – The Tefilah of Oleinu
- # 957 – Coming Late for Tekias Shofar and Other Rosh Hashana Issues
- # 1000 – Ta’amei Hamikra – The Tropp – How Important Is It?
- # 1044 – Must You Stand for Chazoras HaShatz on Rosh Hashana?
- # 1088 – Learning During T’kias Shofer?
- # 1131 – Asking For Personal Needs On Rosh Hashana?
- # 1173 – Oops! I Forgot Ya’Aleh Ve’Yavo in Bentching on Rosh Hashana
- # 1217 – Fascinating Halachos Pertaining to a Choleh on Yom Kippur
- # 1261 – Did I Say Hamelech Hakadosh? / Nuts on Rosh Hashana
- # 1305 – The Case of the Esrog That Was Not As Advertised
- # 1349 – The Baal Tokeah Who Was Doubtful If He Could Blow
- # 1393 – The Baal Tokeah Who Could Only Blow From His Left Side and Other Shofar Issues
- # 1437 – Dip the Apple in the Honey Make A Bracha: Which Bracha?
- # 1481 – Selichos: Can It Be Said Without a Minyan? Sitting Down?
- # 1567 – Returning A Lost Object to an Aino Yehudi
- # 1607 – Lo BaShamayim Hee – Can You Use The Heavens to Pasken Shailos?
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