Chasidut su Levitico 22:8
נְבֵלָ֧ה וּטְרֵפָ֛ה לֹ֥א יֹאכַ֖ל לְטָמְאָה־בָ֑הּ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֽה׃
Ciò che muore di se stesso, o è strappato dalle bestie, non mangerà per contaminarsi: io sono il Signore.
Kedushat Levi
A different approach to our verse. The Talmud in B’rachot 33 taught that if someone in his prayer for mercy to Hashem includes a line in which he compares G’d’s mercy on the young and helpless birds in the nest, by praying that Hashem should extend His mercy to him likewise, such a person is to be silenced. One of the commentators on that line in the Talmud explains that the reason why the author of the Mishnah considers this such a travesty, is that the worshipper arrogates to himself the right to draw parallels between emotions experienced by us mortal human beings and immortal Hashem. We have to accept Divine legislation, such as the commandment to send off the mother bird, as decrees, without trying to examine G’d’s motivation.
There is a line similar to the one we quoted from B’rachot 33 in Megillah 25, and there Tossaphot question the reasoning offered in the Talmud B’rachot by citing a well known poetical liturgist, Rabbi Eliezer Hakalir, who wrote (in connection with the kedushah we recite on the second day of Passover) suggesting that the commandment not to slaughter the mother animal and its young (Leviticus 22,8) on the same day, by citing G’d’s attribute of Mercy as the reason. [Tossaphot’s point is that surely Rabbi Eliezer Hakalir was not ignorant of both these Mishnayot? Tossaphot do not offer a solution. Ed.]
Perhaps we may resolve this problem when recalling that in Shabbat 151 the Talmud states that anyone who displays mercy and compassion vis a vis any of G’d’s creatures will experience that Hashem in turn will display His Mercy concerning himself. The root for that statement is found in the Zohar Tossephet 308 where it is stated that when a human being displays compassion for other creatures he “incites” the attribute of mercy, as a result of which this attribute will relate with mercy toward him.
It is a well known fact that חסדי ה' לא כלו, “the deeds of loving kindness by Hashem are inexhaustible because His mercy is inexhaustible.” If we sometimes have the feeling that we have been shortchanged by the attribute of Mercy, the reason is never that G’d has run out of Mercy, but the reason is that we do not qualify for it at all times. Nonetheless G’d is able to bring about a radical change within our hearts so that we will have a pure heart and qualify to serve Him loyally and devotedly. When that occurs, we will qualify for additional displays of His mercy. This is why we regularly pray: לא תכלא רחמיך ממנו, “do not allow Your mercy to come to and end as far as we are concerned.”(Psalms 40,12)
When Bereshit Rabbah 14,11 quotes psalm 150,6 [the last verse in psalms, Ed.] the line כל הנשמה תהלל קה יהללו-קה, is understood to mean that “with every breath we draw we praise the Lord with our whole soul,” so that G’d has no difficulty in changing us into a new creature whenever the soul is restored to us. At that time He can supply us with a pure, non-polluted heart.
We have mentioned repeatedly that a tzaddik by means of his prayer can convert what was an evil decree into a beneficial decree, as we have been taught in Moed Katan 16. This is also the meaning of ויכון בחסד כסאך ותשב עליו באמת “when Your throne will be firmly established through loving kindness You will sit on it truly.” [I could not find such a verse. Ed.] When G’d sits so firmly on His throne the righteous will not overturn His decrees, [as there has been no need for harsh decrees. Ed.]
There is a line similar to the one we quoted from B’rachot 33 in Megillah 25, and there Tossaphot question the reasoning offered in the Talmud B’rachot by citing a well known poetical liturgist, Rabbi Eliezer Hakalir, who wrote (in connection with the kedushah we recite on the second day of Passover) suggesting that the commandment not to slaughter the mother animal and its young (Leviticus 22,8) on the same day, by citing G’d’s attribute of Mercy as the reason. [Tossaphot’s point is that surely Rabbi Eliezer Hakalir was not ignorant of both these Mishnayot? Tossaphot do not offer a solution. Ed.]
Perhaps we may resolve this problem when recalling that in Shabbat 151 the Talmud states that anyone who displays mercy and compassion vis a vis any of G’d’s creatures will experience that Hashem in turn will display His Mercy concerning himself. The root for that statement is found in the Zohar Tossephet 308 where it is stated that when a human being displays compassion for other creatures he “incites” the attribute of mercy, as a result of which this attribute will relate with mercy toward him.
It is a well known fact that חסדי ה' לא כלו, “the deeds of loving kindness by Hashem are inexhaustible because His mercy is inexhaustible.” If we sometimes have the feeling that we have been shortchanged by the attribute of Mercy, the reason is never that G’d has run out of Mercy, but the reason is that we do not qualify for it at all times. Nonetheless G’d is able to bring about a radical change within our hearts so that we will have a pure heart and qualify to serve Him loyally and devotedly. When that occurs, we will qualify for additional displays of His mercy. This is why we regularly pray: לא תכלא רחמיך ממנו, “do not allow Your mercy to come to and end as far as we are concerned.”(Psalms 40,12)
When Bereshit Rabbah 14,11 quotes psalm 150,6 [the last verse in psalms, Ed.] the line כל הנשמה תהלל קה יהללו-קה, is understood to mean that “with every breath we draw we praise the Lord with our whole soul,” so that G’d has no difficulty in changing us into a new creature whenever the soul is restored to us. At that time He can supply us with a pure, non-polluted heart.
We have mentioned repeatedly that a tzaddik by means of his prayer can convert what was an evil decree into a beneficial decree, as we have been taught in Moed Katan 16. This is also the meaning of ויכון בחסד כסאך ותשב עליו באמת “when Your throne will be firmly established through loving kindness You will sit on it truly.” [I could not find such a verse. Ed.] When G’d sits so firmly on His throne the righteous will not overturn His decrees, [as there has been no need for harsh decrees. Ed.]
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Kedushat Levi
When G’d commanded us not to remove the mother bird away from her young in the nest, this is not due to considerations of mercy for the mother bird’s feelings, for if it were so the Torah did not have to issue such a commandment, for G’d Himself could have taken care either of the mother bird or its young without leaving their fate to our sense of compassion. G’d has many other ways and means of insuring these birds’ survival. Rather, the decree was issued to teach us mortals to have compassion on G’d’s creatures. When we keep this in mind Rabbi Eliezer Hakalir’s liturgical poem does not contradict the statement we quoted from the Talmud at all. [The reference in his poem to Leviticus 22,8 is so oblique that only outstanding scholars would have detected it. Ed.]
Seeing that every tzaddik, surely has assimilated the mussar contained in either Leviticus 22, 28 or Deuteronomy 22,6-7, so that when he blesses an Israelite he has surely done so with all the generosity his heart is capable of, he himself will also be blessed by heaven. This is the meaning of the line that he who displayed compassion for G’d’s creatures will be rewarded.
Bileam, even when engaged in blessing the Jewish people, was well aware that he was not doing so with a full heart, and that the words uttered by his lips were only words supplied to him by G’d, and did not come forth from his heart; thus he exclaimed that he was aware that the blessings he had bestowed would not accrue to him as a response from heaven.
When he said “I have taken blessing,” he meant that he had borrowed these words from G’d’s vocabulary, but ברך לא אשיבנה, “I am aware that I will not in turn be rewarded with blessing for myself.”
Seeing that every tzaddik, surely has assimilated the mussar contained in either Leviticus 22, 28 or Deuteronomy 22,6-7, so that when he blesses an Israelite he has surely done so with all the generosity his heart is capable of, he himself will also be blessed by heaven. This is the meaning of the line that he who displayed compassion for G’d’s creatures will be rewarded.
Bileam, even when engaged in blessing the Jewish people, was well aware that he was not doing so with a full heart, and that the words uttered by his lips were only words supplied to him by G’d, and did not come forth from his heart; thus he exclaimed that he was aware that the blessings he had bestowed would not accrue to him as a response from heaven.
When he said “I have taken blessing,” he meant that he had borrowed these words from G’d’s vocabulary, but ברך לא אשיבנה, “I am aware that I will not in turn be rewarded with blessing for myself.”
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