Ecclesiastes 8:1 Jewish Thought: Akeidat Yitzchak, Duties & Derashot HaRan

Midrash Rabbah Numbers 19, writes "the man Moses was more humble than any other human being." (Numbers 12,2) Man's wisdom illuminates his face. (Kohelet 8,1) Rabbi Yudan said: "the power of the prophet is great, for he can relate the grandeur of the Heavenly spheres to the form bound human being, as is written in Daniel 8,16, "I heard the voice of "Adam" when at the river Ulay." Rabbi Yehudah son of Seymon said this is proved from the verse "on the likeness of a Heavenly throne, a vision like "Adam" was upon it."(Ezekiel 1,26)

As discussed in chapter ten, man's cognitive powers are twofold. Perception is possible by means of one's intellect, or by means of one's senses. Perception by intellect is divided into two categories. A) Things or beings that cannot be other than they are. B) Things or beings which are subject to change. We will call the perception of the first type the ability to "know," whereas we will call the perception of the second type, the ability to "calculate." There is a constant relationship between him who endeavours to know, and between the object that is being defined. If the object of one's perception undergoes a fundamental change, the faculty enabling us to perceive such object also undergoes some transformation. We observe a parallel phenomenon concerning perception with our senses. The sense of sight, vision, is affected by the object being perceived. Yet that same sense of sight remains completely unaffected by objects that are perceived merely by the sense of touch, for instance. Should an object that had been perceived as incapable of undergoing change be found to have changed nonetheless, the powers of perception applied to it will no longer be speculative reason, but practical reason. To determine the common denominator between man and bird for instance, we employ "wit," speculative reason. It tells us that both species are living entities, react to stimuli, breathe and move. To determine the difference between man and bird, we employ "sagacity," practical reason. The latter tells us of the ability of the birds to fly, their having wings etc. On the other hand, it tells us that man has the power of speech, the ability to express thoughts coherently etc. At any rate, we employ two branches of what may also be described as "soul power," when we engage in these perceptions. The reason "sagacity" is also known as "practical reason" is, that without it, almost no voluntary activity is possible. Being able to understand and analyse phenomena does not by itself lead to action. Therefore, the practical “reason” is an essential part of the cognitive process. Since speculative reason concerns itself with phenomena that are abstract, or at any rate immutable, everlasting, it too is constant. Practical reason, since it concerns itself with transient phenomena, is itself transient in nature. When departing this life and becoming a purely spiritual being, we will no longer possess this practical reason, since in the world of abstract beings there is nothing it could be applied to. This is in line with the statement in the Talmud that "the departed is aware of his own pain, but not of the pain of others." (Rosh Hashanah 18) Since all bodies die, he is aware of his own demise, since apart from this fact, each person's fate varies, he is unaware of other facts which would require practical reason in order to be appreciated. The term "life" is a constant, even though each individual living creature is bound to die at some point or other. Since the prophet perceives beings that cannot be perceived by other human beings with his soul, it follows that his soul's faculties are somewhat different from other people's faculties in this respect. According to Aristotele, the relationship between pure speculative reason and pure practical reason is similar to the relationship between Divine intellect and human intellect respectively. When G'd, at the time of creation, said that man was to be made in His image, He meant man in his ideal state. Picture for yourself the spiritual state of the people of Israel at the time they received the ten commandments at Mount Sinai. Our opening Midrash discusses a similar state of affairs. Since all the forces active in the universe are represented in man in some form, and he is therefore sometimes referred to as a microcosm, he had dominion over all the other creatures on earth, just as G'd had dominion over all things and spirits in the entire universe. Therefore, prophets, on occasion use the term "Adam" when referring to G'd, to describe Him in His capacity as the Omnipotent. See Daniel, 8,16, "I heard the voice of "Adam," or Ezekiel 1,2, "and on the likeness of the throne, a likeness such as "Adam " above." These terms are used only in order to facilitate understanding by human ears of all the anthropomorphical terms used for that purpose. Since it is permissible to employ the term "Adam" in this fashion, it is not surprising to find references to "perfect man" as "Adam" also. Chochmat adam ta-ir panav, "the wisdom of perfect man lights up his face." (Kohelet 8,1) It is this that is meant by Rabbi Yudan, when he stated that the descriptive powers of the prophets are very great indeed, since they can employ the form to describe its original Creator. When one considers that Moses gave of his spirit to the newly appointed elders, then one can understand the relationship between them and Moses as parallel to the relationship between G'd and His most superior creatures, i.e. the angels. According to Rabbi Akiva in Avot 3, 14, man is beloved since he was created in The image. The meaning is that since this image had been bestowed on him at the very beginning of the creative process, i.e. nivra, he has the potential to emulate Divine powers. However, not one in ten million reaches this lofty goal. Rabbi Akiva continues to single out the Jewish nation, which due to the gift of Torah, can hope to achieve the human ideal more easily than any other nation. The Jewish people are called banim, children, to show that they possess more of the traits of the "father," i.e. their Creator. Maimonides in the first section of his "Moreh," chapter 45, is at pains to explain that Ezekiel's visions describe his own image of G'ds throne, which image, though Divinely inspired, is not to be confused with the objectively true state of affairs. The greatness of Ezekiel lies in his describing the function of this image as being equivalent to the function of G'd Himself. Moses, being extremely humble, had his stature attested to by G'd Himself, who explains to Aaron and Miriam that his status is incomparably higher than theirs. When our sages say of Moses, that his face was like the sun, they mean that though the sun is only one of the planets, its stature is such that it is always mentioned separately, never lumped together with the other planets. Similarly, the prophetic powers of Moses cannot be lumped together with that of other prophets, as it is far too superior.

(1,2,3) Just as man is not allowed to enjoy nature's blessings without first reciting an appropriate benediction acknowledging G'd as the source, so the priests remind people of that fact when they say "may the Lord bless you." Constant reminders that G'd is the source of all blessings and well being are important. This too is the purpose of "they will place My name on the children of Israel and I will bless them." The priests' function is to keep Israel aware of this cardinal fact. The function of the priest in relation to G'd, is parallel to the aggadah about Moses assisting G'd in His task of tying the crowns to the letters of the Torah, that we mentioned earlier. The first part of the priests' blessing is essentially material in nature. The additional word "and may He preserve you," is the difference between human and Divine blessings. The former, however generous in nature, does not carry with it the guarantee that it will endure. G'ds blessings however, includes the blessing that it will endure. The second blessing revolves essentially around spiritual matters, the important feature being that the attitude of others towards you will be positive, generous, acknowledge your worth. The third section, "Peace," is relatively the most important of the blessings, as documented by many of the sayings of our sages. They teach that even in death, shalom, peace, is an indispensable attribute. "You will join your fathers in peace." (Genesis 15, 15) See also Jeremiah 34, 4, concerning the death of king Tzidkiyahu. We find a somewhat puzzling statement by Rabbi Eleazar Hakappor, who is quoted as saying "peace is great because even if Israel worships idols, as long as they have harmony, Satan does not touch them.” He bases himself on the verse in Hoseah 4, 17, "as long as the idol worshipping Ephrayim live in unity, leave them alone;" but it continues in chapter 10, 2, "when their heart is divided, now they will receive their punishment." How strange that those who destroy the fabric that binds them to their Creator by worshipping idols, should not also burst the fabric of harmony, peace? But the lesson is that the merit of maintaining harmony gives even sinners an extension before G'ds justice is executed. The three blessings then are 1) Provision of material needs including a healthy body. 2) Provision of the needs of the spirit and soul. 3) Assistance in establishing harmony between man and his Maker, which is true harmony. The tabernacle represents the totality of this world, a microcosm. The beriach hatichon, the central bolt joining all forty eight boards comprising the walls, are the thread shalom, i.e. "peace" that bonds everything together in harmony. When the Midrash says that when G'd created the world, He desired a dwelling down here, just as He has in the Heavens, the meaning is none other than that He wished to supervise and assist man's activities, just as He supervises all that goes on in Heaven. To that end, He endowed the world with blessings. Adam, unfortunately forfeited that relationship through his sin, and until the arrival of Abraham on the stage of history, the broken thread did not begin to mend. Finally, at the completion of the tabernacle, this thread had been fully restored. This is the reason the Torah records the blessings at this juncture. For this reason also, the Midrash talks about Moses hearing three voices. He called the first voice hadar, to paraprase material well being. He called the second voice naeh, to parapharase spiritual and mental well being. The third voice he called meshubach, "choice," since it is the crowning achievement of all. Moses was anxious to have G'ds message spelled out. G'd obliged, saying "I speak shalom, I harbour no ill feelings against My children." (Psalms 85,9.) Rabbi Joshua ben Levi says that there is no need at all to quote a verse from the book of Psalms, since the verse in the Torah is perfectly adequate. Since the Torah tells us about blessings, and continues with the line "it was the day the tabernacle had been completed," the word va-yehee, it was, always refers to the reestablishment of a situation that had existed at one time, but had been interrupted.