Dont Start Tampering With the Little Yuds There is an interesting Medrash in this weeks Parsha: When G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people, He gave them positive and negative commandments, and He gave the king his own set of commandments such as Do not take too many wives. King Solomon said that this law did not apply to him. He felt that he could have many wives without being negatively affected. At that moment, the letter yud at the beginning of the word Yarbeh in the verse Lo Yarbeh lo Nashim (do not take too many wives) came and complained before G-d that Solomon was ignoring him. Today it is a little yud, tomorrow it will be the word, until the entire Torah is nullified. G-d responded to the yud, Solomon and a thousand like him will become nullified, but even the little point of the yud will not become nullified. The Medrash concludes, Solomon took many wives and in fact they affected him. The Sefer Beis Av by Rav Elyakim Schlessinger quotes an opinion that gives a tremendously keen insight into this Medrash. Technically speaking, Solomon was right. He saw in himself that he had the ability to take many wives without being affected and he was right! But G-d caused it to affect him, because the little yud was also right. The yud was right that if Solomon can start tampering with Torah and saying this applies and this does not apply, then the whole show is over. The whole Torah will become nullified. If Torah becomes a smorgasbord from which one can pick and choose, then it is no longer Torah. This is the meaning of the Medrash. Let Solomon fall from his stature (where in fact the multiplicity of wives should not have affected him) -- I will cause Solomon embarrassment, but that will be worthwhile because if we start up with the kutzo shel yud then the whole package will unravel. Therefore, in order to set a precedent, G-d caused Solomon to be influenced.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 17:00:00 +0000
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