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21 Adar I 5765 - March 2, 2005 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Produced and housed by
Shema Yisrael Torah Network
Shema Yisrael Torah Network

Opinion & Comment
The Covenant of the Oral Torah

By HaRav Eliyohu Moshe Ehrentreu

Part I

Introduction: An Allusion in the Weekly Parsha

We are told that the sefer Torah that a Jewish king must have written, "should be with him and he should read in it all the days of his life" (Devorim 17:19). The Chasam Sofer zt'l explains the words, "all the days of his life" as referring not to the duration of his reading but to its subject. In other words, the king should make the sefer Torah his guide in every situation in which he finds himself and conduct his reign according to its dictates.

We find that in earlier generations when guidance was sought it was common to ask a child to "tell me the posuk you have just learned" or to look into a sefer. This though, could be understood simply as a form of casting lots and does not reveal anything about Torah's intrinsic properties.

Dovid Hamelech however said "Your testaments are my pastimes, my men of counsel" ( Tehillim 119:24). This implies that guidance can be divined even from one's regular schedule of Torah study — that even without prior intention a person's daily shiur or the weekly parsha provide insight into contemporary events. This happens because Hashem's spirit speaks through those who learn Torah with pure motivation and they "merit many qualities" (Ovos 6:1).

A celebration of the Oral Torah was just marked with the completion of the eleventh cycle of the Daf Yomi study of the Talmud Bavli and the beginning of the twelfth. In last week's parsha Hashem tells Moshe Rabbenu, "Write these things down for yourself because according to [i.e. on the basis of] these things I have established a covenant with you and with Yisroel" ( Shemos 34:27). The gemora (Gittin 60), cites Rav Yochonon's statement: "Hashem only made a covenant with Klal Yisroel over the things which were said orally, as the posuk says, `for according to [lit. al pi, by the word of] these things . . .' "

The medrash too (Shemos Rabbah 47:1) interprets this posuk as an allusion to the Oral Torah: " `For according to these things . . .' — this refers to the Mishnah and the Talmud which separate Yisroel from the gentile nations." What makes the Oral Torah so unique and so distinct from the Written Torah?

Part One: The Covenant

At the Foot of the Mountain

" `And they stood at the foot of the mountain' (Shemos 19:17) — . . .this teaches us that Hakodosh Boruch Hu overturned the mountain on top of them like a barrel and told them, `If you accept the Torah, well and good; if not, your graves will be over there' " (Shabbos 88). Tosafos ask that since the people had already accepted the Torah when they said na'aseh venishma it should not have been necessary to hold the mountain over them. They answer that they might have wanted to retract after witnessing Hashem's great fire that frightened them so badly that their souls left their bodies.

The Maharal (Gur Aryeh, parshas Yisro) disagrees with this approach because it plays down the tremendous merit of bnei Yisroel's declaration of na'aseh venishma. He explains that overturning the mountain was a way of demonstrating Torah's supreme importance and the impossibility of existing without it.

Hashem in fact made the existence of the entire creation conditional upon Klal Yisroel's acceptance of Torah. Without it, the world would have reverted to its original state of void and emptiness. Suspending the mountain over the people and telling them that if not for their accepting Torah they would be buried right there, conveyed the message that without Torah the world would simply cease to exist.

A third approach can be found in the Medrash Tanchumah. In parshas Noach the Tanchumah tells us that, "Yisroel did not accept the Torah until Hakodosh Boruch Hu overturned the mountain over them like a barrel as it says, `and they stood . . .' etc. It cannot be that He held the mountain over them to get them to accept the Written Torah because when He asked them whether they would accept the Torah they said na'aseh venishma since it does not involve toil or anguish and it is small. Rather, when He told them, `If you accept the Torah, well and good . . .' He was referring to the Oral Torah which contains details of both lenient and stringent mitzvos.

"It is as fierce as death and as harsh as the grave, for it is only studied by one who loves Hakodosh Boruch Hu with all his heart, soul and means, as it says, `And you shall love Hashem' (Devorim 6:5) . . . How do we know that this love refers to study? See what is written immediately afterwards: `And these things that I am commanding you today shall be on your hearts . . .' This refers to study which is in the heart. `And you shall teach them to your sons . . .' This refers to study which needs to be sharpened.

"In the second parsha [of the Shema which the Tanchumah says refers to those who keep mitzvos but do not occupy themselves with Talmud] it is written, `With all your heart and soul' but not, `with all your means.' This tells you that anyone who loves wealth and pleasure cannot learn the Oral Torah because it involves great anguish and deprivation of sleep and some wear themselves out and debase themselves over it. Its reward is therefore given in Olom Habo, as it says, `The people who made their way in darkness saw a great light' (Yeshayohu 9:1) . . . "

Covenant of Love

"We learn from this," writes HaRav Wolbe in Alei Shur, "that the basis of the Oral Torah is love. One who loves another wants to find out every small detail about his beloved. Every tiny piece of information is precious to him. The general principles of the mitzvos were conveyed at Har Sinai in the Written Torah, but the methods of expounding the Torah and the halachos that were given directly to Moshe were conveyed orally. Through Yisroel's great love of the mitzvos and of the One who commanded them, they devoted themselves to explaining each of the mitzvos with the result that we have merited our mighty Shas.

"It takes tremendous toil to clarify every detail of a single sugya, let alone an entire maseches or the entire Shas. It was necessary to overturn the mountain on top of the people in order to get them to undertake this tremendous burden of toil. Hakodosh Boruch Hu showed Yisroel that it is imperative to have the Oral Torah in order to fulfill the Written Torah. He demonstrated His love for them by giving the Oral Torah to them alone and by not writing it down, so that the nations would be unable to copy it. This [in turn] aroused a fierce love of the Oral Torah in Klal Yisroel."

This comprises the Jewish people's covenant with Hakodosh Boruch Hu. In every covenant between two parties, each side makes a commitment. Klal Yisroel undertook the toil and labor required to understand everything that Chazal extracted using the methods of expounding the Torah — and this will only be done by those who love Hashem with all their heart, soul and means. For His part, Hakodosh Boruch Hu "gives wisdom; from His mouth, understanding and comprehension" ( Mishlei 2:6). "The wisdom imparted to Hashem's loved ones comes from His mouth and nowhere else" (Rashi, Niddah 70 ).

Part Two: Reshaping

Down into the Depths

"Rabbi Yochonon said, `The hearts of the earlier generations were wide open, like the entrance to the antechamber [Ulam of the Beis Hamikdosh] and those of the later generations were less open, like the entrance to the chamber [Heichal of the actual Mikdosh] while ours are like the eye of a fine needle.' Abaye [several generations after Rabbi Yochonon] said, `In gemora, we are like a peg that only goes into a narrow hole in the wall with great difficulty' — we only understand what we hear with great difficulty. Rava said, `In logic, we are like a finger placed onto hard wax' — that cannot penetrate but just becomes slightly attached. Rav Ashi said, `In forgetfulness, we are like a finger placed into a pit' — we forget things as easily as a finger is placed into the opening of a pit" (Eruvin 53, Rashi).

By this yardstick, what was left for those who followed after the Amoraim — the Geonim, Rishonim and Acharonim? What frame of reference remains for us to use in evaluating Rav Saadyah Gaon, the Rambam and the Ramban, the Mechaber and the Vilna Gaon? If people's hearts were so utterly unreceptive and uncomprehending, how did Torah undergo renewal in subsequent generations? How have new insights and Torah secrets become revealed even to very recent generations? And how are we at all able to attempt the study of the Oral Torah?

In Alei Shur (vol. II, pp. 128-32), HaRav Wolbe enlightens us on this subject. In the mishnah, Chazal portray how life will be prior to Moshiach's arrival (Sotah 49): "Impertinence will greatly increase; prices will be tremendously high; the vine will yield its fruit but wine will be expensive; government will become heretical; there will be no rebuke . . . the wisdom of scribes will be befouled and those who fear sin will be despised; the truth will vanish; youths will shame elders . . . and upon whom can we lean? Upon our Father in Heaven."

"It is wondrous to see how Chazal with their spirit of holiness saw all of this centuries ago with a degree of clarity that we appreciate as we see everything unfold with such awe-inspiring precision. This is not a process of the diminishing stature of later generations such as the one described in the preceding mishnah: `When Rabbi Meir died those who drew parables ceased to exist; when Ben Azai died . . ..when Rebbi died humility and fear of sin ceased to exist.'

"Our mishnah [however] is describing a situation in which the foundations of life crumble — economic life, society, family life, morality and political life. Chazal reassure us that even in such a state of affairs we can place our trust in our Father in Heaven with complete confidence. The Planner of all generations, who revealed the future to Chazal in their holy spirit, is close even to our generation. Moreover, `I am with the latter generations' (Yeshayohu 41:4), which means that the generation that precedes Moshiach will enjoy particular Heavenly assistance and Providence.

Decay that Precedes Rebirth

"Why will this general disintegration precede Moshiach's arrival? The gemora (Sanhedrin 97) brings this mishnah, citing as a source the posuk that deals with tzora'as, "He has turned completely white; he is pure" ( Vayikra 13:13). The connection between a posuk dealing with leprosy and our topic seems unfathomable at first glance. The Maharal (Netzach Yisroel, perek 35) explains that leprosy that erupts over part of a person's body is a sign of decay — when his sister was stricken with leprosy Moshe Rabbenu prayed, "May she not be as though dead . . . half of whose flesh is consumed" (Bamidbar 12:12). Such a person is tomei and his place is outside the town; his affliction is an aberration of the natural order.

"If the leprosy erupts over a person's entire body however, showing utter and complete decay, the Maharal explains that it is a sign that his earlier state is null and void and that he is about to experience a completely new state of being. In this case, he is tohor."

It is the same, he says, with the generation that precedes Moshiach. The total disintegration of the old way of life that then takes place is unlike the deterioration and descent that took place in the generations following the destruction of the Beis Hamikdosh that are mentioned in the mishnah. Rather, it represents the complete annulment of the old state of affairs in preparation for the world's renewal.

In the Days of Moshiach there will be a new type of existence; Hashem yisborach's unity will be openly revealed and evil will vanish. That world can only appear after everything that our existing world order depends upon is lost. Amidst all the troubles and travails — both material and spiritual — that afflict the generation before Moshiach's arrival, our Father in Heaven is all that we have to rely on.

"This is how Hashem, who arranged all the generations in advance, runs his world. In their holiness, Chazal foresaw what this generation would look like. Everything we are experiencing is ordained from Above and we rely upon Hashem and His promise that He will remain close to the latter generations. It is one of the wonders of Hashem's perfection that even in such a situation, He continues bestowing His wisdom upon us, not only on the Amoraim, the Geonim and the Rishonim but even on the very latest generations. Even though our hearts' capacity for understanding is nothing like that of the Tannaim, Torah's hidden teachings continue to be discovered, generation after generation, thanks to Hashem's mercy on His people and His promise that Torah will never be forgotten.

End of Part I

HaRav Eliyahu Moshe Ehrentreu delivers several Daf Yomi shiurim in Petach Tikva each day.


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