From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 4:18 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Behar - Bechukosai, 5767






                                                  The Extra Mile
      
                   By Rabbi Joshua (voluntarily known as The Hoffer) Hoffman


 
  Parshas Bechukosai, and, in effect the book of Vayikra, seem to have two endings. After the conclusion of the section of tochacha, or rebuke, the Torah tells us, "These are the decrees, the ordinances, and the Torahs that the Lord gave, between Himself and the children of Israel, at Mt. Sinai, through Moshe "(Vayikra 26:46). This verse would seem to serve quite adequately as the conclusion of the book of Vayikra. However, the Torah then goes on to present us with a series of laws on various topics, including the laws of valuating people whose worth was vowed as a contribution to the mishkan, consecrating one's house or field to the mishkan, etc. Then we are told: "These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moshe to the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai " (Vayikra 27:34). What is distinct about these laws that generated a separation between them and the final verse in Vayikra ?


  Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch explains that most of the laws presented after the tochacha deal with voluntary contributions to the mishkan, which are not brought out of obedience to God's law, but out of one's subjective feelings of devotion to Him. By separating these laws from the rest of the laws in Vayikra, says Rabbi Hirsch, the Torah is telling us that our main service of God consists in observing the laws of the Torah that are obligatory upon us to fulfill, rather than the voluntary contributions we make. Rabbi Yehudah Shaviv, in his work MiSinai Ba, questions this explanation, because some of the laws at the end of Bechukosai, such as those governing our treatment of a first-born animal (bechor), are, indeed, obligatory. Moreover, says Rabbi Shaviv, the book of Vayikra begins with the laws of the voluntary olah sacrifice. Therefore, Rabbi Shaviv offers an alternate explanation. He says that all of the laws at the end of Bechukosai are generated by what a person says. Thus, they all emphasize the power of speech. One may add that the power of speech is a defining characteristic of man, setting him apart from the rest of creation. Thus, the book of Vayikra both begins and ends with laws that govern our service of God through the use of the power of speech, one of the most precious gifts that God has given us. I would like to offer a third explanation, incorporating elements of both Rabi Hirsch's and Rabbi Shaviv's explanations, and expanding upon them. 

  The Talmud in Chagigah (9b) cites Rabbi Meir as saying that a person who reviews his Torah lesson one hundred times is not comparable to one who reviews his Torah  lesson one hundred and one times. Interpreting the verse in Malachi (3:18), which reads, " "You will return and see ...... the difference between one who serves God and one who does not serve him," Rabbi Meir says that even though both of these people are completely righteous, still, the one additional review of a Torah lesson marks the difference between someone who serves God and someone who does not. Why should this be so ? Remarkably, Rav Chaim of Volozhin, in his Nefesh HaChaim, and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi in his Tanya,  explain this Talmudic passage in a similar way. They say that during Talmudic times the students in the Babylonian academies had different powers of intellect, and it would take some of them more time to comprehend their lesson than it would take others. In order not to shame any of the students, or cause them to feel inferior, the policy was that everyone had to review his lesson one hundred times, since even the weakest student would understand it at that point. Thus, someone who reviewed his lesson that many times was simply fulfilling his requirements. A student who went beyond the requirements and reviewed his lesson an additional time did so out of love of God and His Torah, and could truly be called a person who serves God. The additional time that the student reviews, thus, demonstrates that all of the times that he reviewed his lesson were done out of his love for God, and not merely to fulfill his requirements. Based on this explanation of the Talmudic passage we cited, we can now better understand why the final laws in the book of Vayikra are set apart.


  The book of Vayikra, according to Rabbi Menachem Kasher's explanation of the sacrifices brought in the mishkan, is a guide for serving God through love. The entire institution of sacrifices, says Rabbi Kasher, is an expression of love for God, showing Him that we are willing to offer up our very lives in His service. In this context, it is appropriate to begin the book with a voluntary sacrifice, since voluntary acts that we perform for God are an expression of our love for Him. That is why the book also concludes with a series of voluntary acts. Once a person has shown that he is willing to go beyond his basic requirements because of his love for God, he demonstrates that his fulfillment of the requirements, as well, comes from His love for God. Since all of the laws at the end of Vayikra, in addition to the opening law of the book, deal with the power of speech, Vayikra is teaching us how to express our love for God through all of the gifts he has bestowed us with, beginning with the great power of
speech, which is used in vowing to bring a  voluntary olah sacrifice, and continuing with all of His other gifts.



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

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