From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 12:56 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Shoftim, 5764



                                       An Aspiration is a Joy Forever

                     By Rabbi Joshua (aspiringly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman


After listing a number of prohibitions, including the reading of omens, sorcery, consulting the dead, and similar practices, Moshe tells the people, "You shall be 'tamim' with the Lord your God. For these nations that you are possessing listen to astrologers and diviners, but as for you, not so has the Lord, your God, given for you." (Devorim 18:13-14). What does the word 'tamim' mean, in this context? Onkeles translates it to mean' complete,' and explains the verse as saying that we should be complete in our fear of God. My teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveichik, zt"l, elaborated on this meaning, saying that we should follow God's commands in all areas of life, whether they involve matters between man and God, man and his fellow man, or man and himself. Rabbi Avrohom Aharon Yudelevitch, who served as rabbi of the Eldridge Street shul in New York in the 1920s, gives many more examples, in his Darash Av, of the different areas of life that a person may carve out as places into which he allows God to enter, to the exclusion of other areas. Some people, he writes, allow God into their lives up until their pockets, but retain their possessions exclusively for themselves. Others allow God in up until their heart, but retain their emotions for themselves. Yet others allow God's presence to influence them only until their mouths, but say whatever they like. Although Rabbi Yudelevitch does not mention it, there is a verse in parshas Netzovim that helps illustrate this point. The Torah there tells us that "the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart to perform it" (Devorim 3:14). I once heard Rabbi Moshe Besdin, z"l, of Yeshiva University, explain this to mean that a person needs to serve God in all areas, with his mouth, his heart and with his hands. Although Rabbi Besdin offered this explanation in a different context, it can also help us explain our verse in accordance with the translation of Onkeles, as elaborated upon by Rabbis Soloveichik and Yudelevitch.  

 Rashi explains the word 'tamim' differently. He understands the verse to mean that, in contrast to the other nations, who turn to sources of divination in order to know what the future will bring and thereby prepare for it, we should walk with God with wholeheartedness and look ahead to him, placing our trust in him and accepting whatever comes upon us. By doing this, Rashi says, we will be with God, as His portion. Maharal, in his super-commentary to Rashi, Gur Aryeh, explains that, according to Rashi, the verse, consisting of five words, should be divided into two parts. The first two words, 'tamim tiheyeh' - you shall be whole hearted - command us to trust in God, rather than turnng to diviners to know the future. The next three words - 'im Hashem Elokecha" - tell us that if we will be tamim, than we will be 'with God,' meaning, we will be His portion. Rabbi Eliyohu Meir Bloch, in his Peninei Da'as, explains that being God's portion means that we will be close to Him and receive His blessing. He then goes on to say that there is a deeper meaning to the verse, as well. Although there is actually a dispute between Rambam and Ramban whether there is any substance to the kind of practices performed by magicians, diviners, sorcerers, and the like, Rabbi Bloch, based on some Talmudic passages, follows the opinion of Ramban and says that they do have some kind of power. However, says Rabbi Bloch, that power is limited, and ultimately in God's control. A person who understands this and is 'tamim',  placing himself totally under God's control, realizing that He is the ultimate force in the universe, will not be subject to the limited power that these agents have.

 Rav Ya'akov Moshe Charlop, who was a talmid/chaver, or close disciple, of Rav Avrohom Yitzchok HaKohein Kook, whose 69th yohrzeit occurs this Friday, the third of Elul, adds a further dimension to our understanding of the commandment to be 'tamim' with God. He says, in his Mei Marom to parshas Shoftim, that the practice of divination, sorcery, and the like bespeaks a desire to know the future, rather than dealing with the present. Those who engage in these practices, he says, are interested in results, rather than in the process of attaining something of value. However, the approach of the Torah is to savor the present, to appreciate the process one goes through in achieving a worthy goal. It is, indeed, through the process that we can connect to God. While a goal may be finite, the aspiration towards a goal is never ending. In the words of Robert Louis Stevenson, an aspiration is a joy forever. The Chofetz Chaim, in a somewhat similar way, explains a passage included in the 'Hadran,' the paragraph one recites after the completion of a tractate of Talmud. That passage reads : ' We toil and they toil. We toil and receive reward, and they toil and do not receive reward'. The Chofetz Chaim explained that in secular endeavors, only results count. If a worker toils at a job and does not deliver the expected product, he will not receive his pay. However, in the realm of Torah, the process itself has its own importance, and brings reward, even if one does not, in the end, succeed in fully understanding what he has studied. Since Torah, as God's word, has unfathomable depth, learning any part of Torah is an unending process, through which we can constantly grow and deepen our connection to God. Rabbi Charlop writes that this approach, of emphasizing the present, and the process we go through in striving for a spiritual goal, applies to our spiritual efforts during the month of Elul, as well. Although the process of introspection we go through during this month is done in anticipation of the judgment that will occur on Rosh Hashonoh, the process itself, says Rabbi Charlop, by strengthening our connection to God, may ultimately have more importance for us than any anticipated future result of the process.


Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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