BH ! Shalom Chaverim, Till this moment I didnt find a study of a parshah, more appropriate, which well could describe the desire , the spirit for this group of study - as a statement . But this time is the good one! This study is from the the book Torah studies - a parshah antology which is as a collection of Discourses of Lubavitcher Rebbe, blessed be His Memory , and the adaptation is realized by one of my dearest teachers, a mentor of [for] new generation, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. This study as a thin wire, somehow , comes to link various personalities , different behaviours , different stages of the study of Torah , different point of views , male and female, jewish or non -jewish and so on, remembering that all us, in a manner or another , are at the sevice of G-d, the Creator of all what exist on the Earth and in the Heavens , impure or pures. From the very first moment when we have looked the Heavens, praying Him, asking Him something, or crying out His Name, and from first moment we have took into our hands His Torah to study , to understand Him, to communicate somehow with Him , we are more closer to Him than were before the beginning. I propose you the text of this study in its entirity : The Name Tazria Every name in Hebrew , the Holy language , is an indication of the nature of that which is named . The names of the Sidrot tell us of their essential content . Thus we find that a number of Sidrot are NOT called by their opening words , as is usually the case , but by some later word which more perfectly expresses their theme. An example of this occurs with this week s Sidra . After the general introduction (And the L-rd spoke to Moses saying ...) the first word is woman (ISHAH) : If a woman be delivered and bear a male child : And yet we do no nowdays call the Sidra Ishah but Tzaria (be delivered). What , then , is the concept implicit in the word Tazria that sums up the content of the entire Sidra ? There is also a difficulty posed by Rashis comment on the words If a woman be delivered : Quoting the Midrash , he says , Rav Simlai said : Just as the formation of man took place after that of the cattle , beast and fowl , when the world was created , so the law regarding him is set forth after the law regarding , cattle, beast and fowl (contained in the previous Sidra) . Thus the new theme that our Sidra takes up , by contrast with the previous chapters , is law relating to HUMANS , as opposed to the laws relating to animals . Thus the world ISHAH (woman) is not only the first individuating word in the Sidra : It also seems highly appropriate to its subject -matter -legislation relating to humans. How is it that Tazria embodies more completely this idea of the law of man ? 2. Mans place in Creation. Rav Simlai, in his comment quoted above , uses the phrase just as rather than because . In other words , the law of man follows that of the animals , not because he was created last, but FOR THE SAME REASON THAT he was created last. What was this reason? Various answers are given in the Midrash and the Talmud. One is so that if a mans mind becomes to proud he may be reminded that even the gnats preceded him in the order of creation . Alternatively , so that heretics should not be able to say that the Holy One, blessed be He, had a partner(namely ADAM) in creation. Again, man was created last so that the might immediately enter upon the fulfillment of a percept . he was created on Friday so that he could immediately sanctify the Shabbat . Lastly, it was so that he might go into the banquet straight away ; that is , all nature was ready for his use. But the commentators have noticed that all these reasons, while they apply to man being last in creation, do not explain his being last in legislation. What is the meaning of Rav Simlais analogy just as? The Alter Rebbe, in his book Tanya, explained that in one sense man is lower than all other creatures , even beasts which are unclean , lower even than the gnat, for not only does he sin, whereas they do not. But he CAN sin , whereas they cannot. in potentiality as well as in actuality , sin is a reality for man but not for animal. 3. The order of Learning. The usual order to take in learning Torah is to progress from the simple to the complex , from the light to the weighty. This applies to what is learned : A child of five begins with the Chumash , moves to the Midrash at the age of ten , and so on. It applies also to the depth of learning : First comes acquintance with the text and only afterwards come the questions , the dialectics , the in-depth study . And it applies to the MANNER of learning. We do not reach at once the highest level of Torah study for its own sake, like David who elevated the Source of the Torah on High , and united it with the essence of G-d . Instead , when a man does it (studies ), in the first place he does so with himself in mind. On the other hand , when the Torah was GIVEN , the order was reversed. Its devolution from the spirituality of G-d to the physical situation of man was , as it were , a descent from higher to lower . In the passage in proverbs which describes the wisdom of the Torah , it first says: then I was by Him , as one brought up with Him , and I was daily His delight. Only subsequently were my delights with the sons of men. the Torah reached down from th heights of G-d to become the possession of man. And we in our learning retrace its path, ascending from our physical situation to spiritual closeness with G-d . This order of learning is mirrored in the structure of the Torah itself. This is why the laws concerning animals are placed first. To sanctify the animal world , by distinguishing the impure from the pure , is relatively simple. The problem of sin does not arise in their case. But for man to sanctify himself , given his capacity for wrongdoing , is far harder. Thus the laws of human conduct come last . Not because of mans innate SUPERIORITY to the animals , but because of his DEFICIENCIES . This, too, is rav Simlais opinion as to why he was created last: So that if he becomes too proud , he may be reminded that the gnats preceded him in the order of creation. 4. Rav Simlai - The man and his opinion We can now see the connection between Rav Simlais comment , that just as man was created last so his legislation comes last in the Torah , and the character of Rav Simlai himself. A virtue can be possessed in two ways. It can be won by effort , or it can be innate or fortuitous. each has its advantages . An innate or unworked -for virtue has no natural limits. it is like the difference between talent and expertise. An inborn talent may be unlimited ; expertise , painfully acquired , can never quite match it. But in its inwardness , the virtue reached by effort surpasses the virtue which is innate . One is always more closely involved with what one has earned than with what one has been given. This distinction underlines the two contrasting explanations of mans place as the last of the works of creation : the first that he is the highest , the second that he is the lowest , of creatures. In innate capacities , he is the highest . From birth , before he begun to serve G-d , he is nonetheless possessed of a soul which is literally a part of G-d. this he retains, together with an underlying faith, even if he turns away from the Divine will. But in those virtues which he acquires through the effort of service , at the outset he is no better than the rest of creation. In fact , what is most readily apparent is his physical nature , his lack of restraint , his capacity for sin. The powers of the soul are yet undisclosed . they need to be brought to the surface by effort in the service of G-d . hence the second opinion , that man was created last to be reminded that even the gnat is in this one respect prior to him. The connection between this view and its author is this: Rav Simlai did not have an illustrious ancestry: The story is told in the Talmud that he came to rabbi Jochanan and asked him to teach him the Book of Genealogies . But Rabbi Jochanan refused , because (according to Rashi) his lineage was undistinguished . therefore Rav Simlai , unable to lay claim to INHERITED virtue , appreciated the value and importance of effort and ACQUIRED virtue. This explains his regarding of the order of creation. When man is created , he has not acquired distinctions except the disposition to sin . he was made last because at that stage he is the lowest of beings. This also explains why human law should be called TAZRIA (be delivered ) . The process from conception to birth is a symbol of effort , of bringing to fruition , in other order words of labor in both its senses. there is an additional symbolism in the phrase if a woman be delivered . the male and female elements in procreation represent respectively the spiritula awakening from above (i.e. the Divine initiative) and from below (the human initiative) . And service , effort , struggle are the forms which the human initiative takes. 5. The two faces of Man There is a priciple expressed in the Lecha Dodi prayer that last action , first in thought . Thus man , who was created last, was the original intention behind the whole enterprise of creation. Both opinions agree with this , that man is the apex of created life . But one side of the argument sees his stature in terms of his INNATE ESSENCE : his Divine soul. The other sees it is in terms of his POTENTIAL ACHIEVEMENT through the effort of serving G-d , while viewing man in HIMSELF AS the lowest of beings. This view , which is Rav Simlais , sees the two faces of man (ADAM in Hebrew) . On the one hand he is formed from the dust of the earth (ADAMAH) ; on the other , he is capable of becoming Divine (ADAMEH la Elyon - I will resemble G-d) . This is his essential capacity - to transform himself completely , from a natural to a spiritual being . 6. Service and creativity The name Tazira therefore symbolizes AVODAH , mans SERVICE of G-d . it also suggests the importance of that service , for when a woman conceives a child and it grows in the womb , an entirely new being is brought into existence. The birth of the child merely REVEALS this creations , which was wrought at the moment of conception. And when man enters on the life of service , he too creates a new being . Natural man becomes spiritual man , ADAMAH (the dust of the earth ) becomes ADAMEH LA-ELYON ( a semblance of G-d) . And his Divine soul , which was innate , becomes also inward , because it has changed from being a gift to being something earned. Wishing you a joyful reading and study Shavua Tov umevorach ! May HaShem, blessed be He, protect and bless all you beloved Chaverim ! Shalom vBrachot! Tamar bat Noah
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 17:25:59 +0000
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