Halakhah su Salmi 139:78

You already knew from “The Wisdom of Formation”¹⁵⁴I.e., Sefer Yetzirah, 4:7. that a human being has seven apertures: two ears, two nostrils, two eyes, and the seventh is the mouth. And the “sevenths” are what the Holy One Blessed be He has “chosen.” He created the heavens, and chose the seventh one, which is “aravot” (“deserts”),¹⁵⁵According to B. Hagigah 12b, “Resh Lakish said: There are seven heavens. Vilon, Raki’a, Shekhakim, Z’vul, Ma’on, Makchon, and Aravot.” as it is said, “Cast up a highway for Him who rides through the deserts [aravot].”¹⁵⁶Ps 68:5. He created seven days of the week, and chose the seventh day, which is Shabbat, as it said, “the days were formed, and for Him there was one among them.”¹⁵⁷Ps 139:16. He created seven climates, and chose the seventh one, which is the land of Israel, as it is said, “For the Lord has chosen Zion.”¹⁵⁸Ps 132:13.And meditate well on this verse: “The Canaanites were then in the land.”¹⁵⁹Gen 12:6. The secret meaning of the verse is “and a girdle she gives to the merchant [la-kana’ani –‘to the Canaanite’]”¹⁶⁰Prov 31:24. “Canaanite” can be a generic term for “merchant” in Biblical Hebrew, just as “gypsy” can generically refer to any wanderer in English, though this is not how R. Bahya reads “kana’ani” here. – a girdle is put on the middle of a body.¹⁶¹In other words, the Cana’anites were originally given the “girdle” – the land, that like a girdle, is in the “center” of all the other lands; its centrality is proof that God prefers it over other lands. Chavel suggests that R. Bahya alludes to a mystical interpretation found also in his contemporary R. Menahem Recanati’s comment on Gen 12:6. Recanati says that “The Canaanites were then in the land” hints that even before God handed the land of the Canaanites over to the Israelites, it was his “chosen” land. For Prov 31:24 says to the Canaanites was given the “girdle” – the center of all the lands. This was when God assigned to each nation a piece of the earth, and an angel above to rule over it. However, no nation below falls from power until its ruling angel above falls – hence “the Canaanites were then in the land.” Eventually this does occur, and so the Israelites get the “girdle” that had originally been assigned to the Canaanites and their ruling angel. He created seven apertures in the head, and chose the seventh one, which is the mouth. And it is well known that he did not choose it because it eats and drinks, but rather because of the Torah and the mitzvah to bless His Name and declare His praise, just as the heavens and their hosts declare His glory, as it said, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky proclaims His handiwork.”¹⁶²Ps 19:2. And thus it is written, “This people I formed for Myself, that they might declare My praise.”¹⁶³Is 43:21. It is obvious that all that the Holy One Blessed be He created in the world, He created only for His glory, and so the prophet proclaimed: “Everyone who is called by My Name, I created for My glory,”¹⁶⁴Is 43:7. and it is written, “The Lord made everything for a purpose – le-ma’anehu,” to praise Him, like in the expression, “And Miriam chanted – ve-ta’an – for them.”¹⁶⁵Ex 15:21, i.e., led the women in a song of praise after God saved them at the Red Sea. R. Bahya interprets le-ma’anehu and va-ta’an midrashically as if they came from the same verb. So if everything was created to praise Him, it goes without saying that the mouth, which is the particular instrument for praising Him, was created for none other than this.

Out of all this it will be explained explicitly that the words are meant literally: about the actual flesh of Leviathan, about his actual skin.³¹In his insistence on the literal meaning of the Talmudic description of the banquets in the world to come, R. Bahya follows the position of his teacher, R. Solomon ben Adret (Chavel). However, there’s a certain irony here that R. Bahya uses rather non-literal midrashic interpretations of scriptural verses to support his contention that the statements about the food and setting of the banquets in the world to come are indeed to be taken quite literally. The actual flesh of Leviathan will be the food of the righteous who “bothered themselves” with the Torah and mitzvot, and his actual skin to make their dwelling place glow in order to proclaim their high status among the nations, how they served the Holy One Blessed be He and took hold of His Torah and His qualities, to what is written here refers: “And you shall come to see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between him who has served God and him who has not served Him.”³²Mal 3:18. And likewise it is written, Behold my servants shall eat, and you shall hunger; My servants shall drink, and you shall thirst… My servants shall cry out in gladness and you shall cry out in anguish, howling in heartbreak.³³Is 65:13-14.

And you ought to understand now that is known, that because of Adam’s sin his height was diminished, as our rabbis z”l taught in a midrash:⁴³B. Sanhedrin 38b. “But when he sinned, the Holy One Blessed be He, set His eyes upon him and diminished him and reduced him to one thousand cubits,⁴⁴From his original height which originally stretched from one end of the earth to the other, according to this midrash! for it is written, ‘You hedge me before and behind; You lay your hand upon me.’⁴⁵Ps 129:5. You need not wonder that when the sin has been atoned for and the decree has been cancelled that his height will return to its original measure, for indeed the height was diminished only because of the sin, which caused the climate to go bad, but at this time the whole work of creation will be changed for the better, and return to its perfection and virtue, just as it was in the time of Adam before the sin, and then the heights will get bigger and return to their original measure, and all of Israel will be elated and enjoy the kingdom of Shaddai, and there will be a flow of perception and pleasure into the body and soul, a huge “King’s share” of blessing.⁴⁶Literally, “great as the hand of the King (may He be blessed)” [could give]. And now that I have explained all this to you, no rationalist ought to doubt from now on that the physical meal prepared for the righteous, because these things had been created back then with this intention – that from them would come in the future the reward for the righteous – that they will delight in these meals with their bodies. And already our sages z”l said that Moses Our Teacher (peace be upon him) will be with them serving these meals. You will find a hint of this matter in the Torah in the blessings of Jacob (peace be upon him) when he said, “Until Shiloh will come,”⁴⁷Gen 49:10. that is to say, until Moses will come. For he wanted to hint at the coming of the “nearer” redeemer by whom Israel would be redeemed from Egypt; and the last, more distant redeemer is included in this who will come at the future redemption And this is also: “Until Shiloh will come.”⁴⁸Ibid. The expression will serve to refer to the two redemptions: the first, which is nearer in time, and the last, which is more distant. And thus they said in a midrash about Moses our Teacher (may he rest in peace): “shihula kardona – the skinner for preparing a meal, who was pulled out,” – the explanation of “shihula,” is Moses, which is from the Aramaic [shihaltay] for the Hebrew, “I drew him out” (Ex: 2:10).⁴⁹The etymology which the Torah has Pharoah’s daughter give for Moses’ name: “Moshe because I drew him out [mashiti-hu] of the water.” However, the Aramaic for mashiti-hu, shihaltay, is related to the word shilulah, which sounds like “Shiloh;” hence Shiloh refers to Moses, according to the midrash. And a “skinner” (for preparing a meal) is a type of butcher or cook. So here the goal of the intention of these bodily meals is to be a device to refine the body and matter and to sharpen the mind so that it will attain knowledge of the Creator (May He be blessed) and meditate upon the purely intelligible beings, and then the souls by this looking of their bodies will become fit for the intellectual banquet from which the ministering angels themselves who are near the Shekhinah eat – for then the soul will perceive the brilliant light which it is impossible to perceive as long as it is stuck in matter.

And this entire issur of lashon hara applies only [when spoken] against the man who is in the category of "your neighbor" [amitecha], "am she'techa," "a people who is with you" in Torah and in mitzvoth. But those people whom he knows to have "apikorsoth" [heresy] among them, it is a mitzvah to demean and to shame, both in their presence and not in their presence, in everything that he sees or hears about them. For it is written (Vayikra 25:17): "And you shall not wrong, one man, his fellow [amito]" and (Vayikra 19:16): "You shall not go talebearing among your people [be'amecha]." And they are not in this category, for they do not act as Your people. And it is written (Tehillim 139:21): "Do I not hate your haters, O L–rd? And against those who rise up against You do I strive." And one who denies the Torah and prophecy of Israel, both the written and the oral Law, is called an apikoress [heretic], even if he says all the Torah is from Heaven, except for one verse, or one kal vachomer [a fortiori argument], or one gezeirah shavah [identity deduction], or one dikduk [inference].

Anyone who hates a fellow-Jew in his heart, transgresses a negative commandment, as it is said: "Do not hate your brother in your heart."⁴⁰Leviticus 19:17. (See Chapter 189: 5) If anyone has sinned against you, you should not hate him inwardly, and keep quiet about it, as it is written concerning the wicked, "And Avshalom did not speak to Amnon either bad or good because Avshalom hated Amnon,"⁴¹II Samuel 13:22. but it is your duty to let him know [what you think of him] and to say to him,⁴²You should not denounce him publicly and thereby embarrass him, rather chide him in private in a calm and gentle tone of voice. (Mishnah Berurah 156:4). "Why have you done this to me, why have you sinned against me in this matter?", for it is said: "You must admonish your neighbor."⁴³Leviticus 19:17. If the offender regrets it and asks you to forgive him, you should forgive him and not be harsh, for it is said:⁴⁴Genesis 20:17. "And Avraham prayed to God."⁴⁵Asking God to heal Avimelech. Avimelech had taken away Sarah, but returned her to Avraham, expressing sincere remorse. In Avos de Rabbi Nasan (end of Chapter 16) [it is stated] "What is meant by 'hatred of people'?" It conveys this thought: "A person should not think of saying "I will love the scholars but hate the students, I will love the students but hate the unlearned." Rather, you should love them all, but hate the heretics, and those who mislead and entice people, [to abandon the Torah and follow false doctrines], and also [hate] the informers. And thus David said,⁴⁶Psalms 139:22. "Behold, those who hate You Hashem, I hate, and with those who rise up against You, I contend. With utmost hatred do I hate them, they have come to be my enemies." But didn't God say; "Love your neighbor as [you love] yourself, I am Hashem?" For what reason? Because I (God) have created him. And if he keeps the laws of your people you must love him, if not, you should not love him.

Strange as that thesis may appear, it serves, in this writer's opinion, to explain two difficult aggadic statements³²Another source, Midrash Tanḥuma, Parashat Ki Tissa, sec. 36, cites Daniel 2:22 and Psalms 139:12 as establishing that there is no darkness in heaven and proceeds to discuss how Moses, during the forty days in which God transmitted the Torah to him, could tell when it was day and when it was night. Teshuvot Rav Pe‘alim, II, Sod Yesharim, no. 4, cites that discussion in support of his position that the day is determined on the basis of twenty-four hour periods. See, however, the sources cited supra, note 16, who maintain that the references of such nature are to Jerusalem time. Moreover, that discussion may be understood metaphorically whereas the two aggadic statements discussed herein have halakhic ramifications. that have long been a source of puzzlement. Scripture records that in the war against Gibeon undertaken by Joshua the sun stood still in the sky in order to enable the conquest to become complete: "And the sun stood still and the moon stayed until the nation avenged itself of the enemies … and the sun stayed in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for a whole day" (Joshua 10:13). Based upon differing interpretations of that verse, the Gemara, Avodah Zarah 25a, records a dispute with regard to whether that "day," i.e., the hours of daylight, was twenty-four, thirty-six or forty-eight hours in duration. In Avodah Zarah 25a there is no hint that the entire time period described together with the normal period of darkness counted for other than a single calendar day. However, Pirkei de-Rabbi Eli'ezer, chapter 52, adopts the view that the sun shone for thirty-six hours and reports that the battle occurred on Friday "and Joshua saw the anguish of Israel lest they desecrate the Sabbath … and each [of the luminaries] remained stationary for thirty-six hours until the conclusion of the Sabbath."

And it is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females. And one who transgresses it and fixes hatred in his heart towards any proper Israelite has violated this negative commandment. But we do not administer lashes for it, as there is no act [involved] with it. But there is no prohibition in the hatred of the evildoers, but rather [it is] a commandment to hate them, after we rebuke them about their sin many times and they do not want to return, as it is stated (Psalms 139:21), "Do I not, Lord, hate Your enemies, and argue with those that come against You."

And so [too,] did they, may their memory be blessed, say (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Mourning 1:10) [regarding] those that separate themselves from all the ways of the community, and likewise heretics, apostates and informants - that we do not mourn at all for all of them, since their death is gladness for the world. And this is not a punishment for their relatives, but rather a merit for them. And this is all from the root that I wrote. And about them is stated (Psalms 139:21), "Do I not hate those You hate?" And likewise, we do not mourn for one who kills himself on purpose. And in its place, it is clarified how we know that he struck himself on purpose. And also from the laws of the commandment are the things that they, may their memory be blessed, said (Moed Katan 21a) that the mourner is forbidden with on the first day from Torah writ and the rest of the days rabbinically; the law of seven and thirty [days]; the law of twelve months of mourning for father and mother; the law of tearing - who are the relatives who tear and what is the time [for it], how is it for [other] relatives and how is it for father and mother, for which of his relatives, and his teacher and his greats, for which places in the Land of Israel in their destruction; the law of the tear that we darn immediately or after a time and the law that a woman darns immediately so as not be disgraced; the law of the holidays that interrupt [the count] and do not count [in the tally], and that which they said (Moed Katan 19a) that the decree of seven is negated for anyone who buries his dead even an hour before the holiday, and the decree of thirty is negated if seven days passed before the holiday and he began even one hour of the thirty [days], and that the status of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is the same as the holidays of Pesach, Shevouot and Sukkot; that which they said (Moed Katan 24b) that even though there is no mourning on the intermediate days of the festival, a man tears for a dead [relative] for which he is obligated to mourn; the law that we only observe one day and do not tear for a distant report [of death] after thirty days, - since the law is like Rabbi Mani, who said like this in the Gemara [Moed Katan 21b] - but he tears even for a distant report for his father and for his mother according to the opinion of Ramban, may this memory be blessed, (Torat HaAdam 61b), but not according to the opinion of the rabbi, Rabbi Avraham beRebbi David (Ravad), may his memory be blessed.

And from all of these warnings (negative commandments) about the seducer, I can understand that it is permitted - and also a commandment upon us - to likewise hate evildoers in other sins, in our seeing that they have corrupted their deeds and made them hateful to the point that there is no hope for them; and that they will not listen to the voice of teachers but disparage their words, and will not bend their ear to those that teach them, but damage the 'direction of their faces.' Behold, these are the evildoers about which David stated (Psalms 139:21), "Do I not, Lord, hate Your enemies, and argue with those that come against You."