From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 9:47 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Vaeschanan, 5766




                                                     The Wasteland
                       
                  By Rabbi Joshua (whimperingly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman



  We have mentioned in the past (see Netvort to parshas Vaeschanan, 5762, available at Torahheights.com) that Rabbi Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik pointed out that the Rambam, in his Laws of Prayer, writes that the widespread custom is to read Va'eschanan on the Shabbos after Tisha B'Av. He does not mention that parshas Devorim should be read on the Shabbos preceding Tisha B'Av. The main goal, thus, is the reading of parshas Vaeschanan after Tisha B'Av, and the reading of Devorim on the previous Shabbos comes as a natural result. Rabbi Soloveitchik explained that it is important to read Vaeschanan on Shabbos Nachamu because the parsha contains elements of nechama, or comfort,  and we need to emphasize nechama so that our nation can continue, with a sense of confidence, its spiritual work after the mourning period that ended with Tisha B'Av. The entire process of mourning on Tisha B'Av, Rabbi Soloveitchik said, can only be carried out because it ends with a note of consolation, as reflected in the prayer 'nacheim' - comfort - that we include in the mincha service that day.

  One aspect of consolation that we find in the parsha occurs when the Torah (Devorim 4:25-40) tells us that God will send us into exile if we persist in our sins, but that within that exile we can return to God if we seek him with all our heart. This, then, is a parsha of repentance. Rabbi Soloveitchik pointed out that it was for this reason that this part of the parsha was chosen to be read on Tisha B'Av itself. One method of attaining repentance, is spelled out, I believe, in the section immediately following the section that is read on Tisha B'Av. The Torah (Devorim, 4:41-43) goes on to relate that Moshe set aside three cities of refuge, each designated as a kind of sanctuary for the inadvertent murderer, to save him from the hands of the blood avenger. The rabbis point out that Moshe set these cities aside in his lifetime even though they would not become operative until the other three, that were on the other side of the Yarden, would be set aside, something that would not happen until after Moshe's death. Moshe, out of his love for the mitzvos, did as much as he could in his lifetime, setting an example for the nation, to pursue mitzvos.


  Rabbi Naphtoli Tzvi Yehudah Berlin pointed out that Moshe's actions demonstrated another aspect of his approach to mitzvos given in his commentary Ha’amek Davar, one that is not spelled out by the rabbis. By designating these cities, Moshe was teaching us that we need to study new cases in Jewish law before they actually arise, so that we will be prepared for them when they do. This approach, writes the Netziv, decreases the possibility of mistakes that might obtain if we waited until actual new circumstances arose to learn how to apply the halacha in them. The  emphasis on the study of Torah pointed out by the Netziv actually can serve as a spur to repentance on the heels of Tisha B’av, based on a passage in the Talmud (Nedorim 81a) which cites the verses in Yirmiyahu (9:11-12) : Who is the wise man who will understand this? … For what reason did the land perish and become parched like the desert without a passerby? God said ‘ Because of their forsaking My Torah that I put before them…’ " . The rabbis there explain this to mean that the people who studied Torah did not recite the blessings over it before learning it. Rabbi Nissim of Gerona, in his commentary there, cites, with approval, the explanation of  Rabbeinu Yona, who says that if it was merely because of a failure to learn Torah that the land had been destroyed, then the wise men should have understood that. Rather, it was because they did not recite the blessings over  the Torah, which, on a deeper level, means that they did not place enough importance on their torah learning, and learned it for selfish reasons (‘shelo lishma'), and that this is something which only God, who can see into people’s hearts, could know. Based on the explanation of the Netziv, we can add that studying Torah in the way which Moshe demonstrated to the Jewish people, anticipating possibilities of cases in Jewish law arising before they actually did, is certainly a form of learning Torah that is motivated by the love of God. In this sense, it serves as an example of the kind of learning that must be engaged in to preclude the divine reaction referred to by Yirmiyahu, over which we mourn of Tisha B’Av.

  Interestingly, the Talmud in Yoma (9b), in discussing the reasons for the destruction of the two Temples, does not cite the verse in Yirmiyahu which is discussed in Nedorim, but gives completely different reasons. Rav Zechariah Gelley, shlita, spiritual leader of the Breuer’s community in Washington Heights, pointed out that there is really no contradicton, because the gemara in Nedorim is not discussing why the Temples were destroyed, but why the land was desolate. As Rav Gelley interpreted it, the gemara is discussing a stage after the exile, such as the times in which we now live, when God, in His mercy, has given us back portions of Eretz Yisroel, but then to take parts of it back. Why does this happen? Because the reason we have received Eretz Yisroel again is to learn learn God’s torah and perform His mitzvos there. When we fail in that task, we slowly begin to lose the parts of Eretz Yisroel which we have received.


  Actually, Rav Ya’akov Emden, in an introduction to his commentary to the siddur (Sulam Beis- El, chapter 4) already pointed out the distinction between the gemara in Nedorim and the gemara in Yoma, but explained it differently from Rav Gelley. He wrote that the gemara in Nedorim is not asking why the Temple was destroyed, but why, after the destruction of the Temple, the land itself  became desolate. Why should the land suffer because of the sins of the people? The answer is that the people did not make the blessings over the Torah before learning it. Rav Zevi Yehudah Kook, zt"l, explained this to mean that they did not emphasize the words in the first of the blessings of the Torah, thanking God ‘ Who has chosen us from among the nations and given us His Torah,' before engaging in Torah study. The message here is that the Torah is the soul of the Jewish people, which keeps it alive, and those people who did learn Torah did not do so for the interest of the Jewish people at large, but for their own selfish purposes. 


  Both the explanation of Rav Gelley and that of Rav Ya’akov Emden, as expanded upon by Rav Zevi Yehudah Kook, take on added meaning when seen in the light of the Netziv’s interpretation of Moshe’s purpose in setting aside the cities of exile before they could actually serve as places of  refuge for those who killed inadvertently. By demonstrating to them that they needed to study the Torah laws involved with these cities before they actually could serve their function, he was both showing them that our hold on Eretz Yisroel is a function of our application of Torah law to it, and that, in learning those Torah laws that apply to Eretz Yisroel, we must have in mind the welfare of all factions of the nation, even those who have been involved in acts of murder, albeit inadvertently. May we all experience the consolation of Tziyon and Yerusholayim, speedily in our days.



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

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