시편 116:16의 유대 사상

This reasoning is based on Kohelet 10,17. "hail to the country whose king is truly free," meaning that the king is obedient to the Torah's commandments, and humbles himself before G'd, as is explicitly required of him. (Deut. 17,18-19) "When he sits on the throne, he must write for himself a copy of the Torah, which shall reside with him, and in which he shall read throughout his lifetime in order to revere the Lord His G'd, to keep all the commandments of this Torah and all its statutes to carry them out, so that his heart shall not become haughty above his brethren and so that he will not depart from the commandments of this Torah either to the right or to the left; in order that his reign should be long; both his and that of his sons." In other words, the Torah tells us that the king is truly free when he does not give in to the temptation to amass women, money and horses. His freedom is due to his attitude towards his Master (G'd) being similar to the attitude of his subjects towards him. We find throughout the Bible that ministers are referred to as "servants of the king." The more dedicated to the service of the king, the more truly free is the minister in question. For this reason, alternate descriptions of such ministers are chorey Yehudah, "the freemen of Yehudah." (compare Jeremiah 27,20) This is also the meaning of Psalms 116,16, "G'd, when I am Your servant, I Your servant, the son of Your handmaid, then You have truly loosened my bonds." David says that his bonds have been loosened by his having become G'ds servant. The Jewish nation's stature as a princess amongst the nations of the world, flows directly from its subservience to its G'd. (Deut. 26, 17-18) "You have acknowledged G'd this day...and the Lord in turn has acknowledged you." Our greatness is due to our having enthroned G'd as our Sovereign. There are four areas in which subservience to G'd has to express itself. 1) Since everyone has a tendency to want to be his own master, irrespective of the benevolence of any authority he may find himself under, the Torah states that "you have expressed the wish that the Lord be with you." (26,17) 2) Man does not like to be thought of as a carbon copy of someone else, nor to imitate someone else, robot like. He feels that by doing that he deprives himself of all originality and that he will never be thought of as an independent individual. Man desires to receive credit for action stemming from his own initiative. The book of Kohelet is full of emphasis of the originality of its author's thinking. "I thought," "I did," I concluded" etc. The desire to "do one's own thing," is so natural that already the Torah refers to it. (Deut 29,18) "For in the autonomy of my heart I will walk." When these tendencies are given up voluntarily by our following the ways of the Lord, (26,17) this is a further expression of the true freedom found in disciplining oneself by recognising the superior wisdom of the Lord. It is not our task to boast about our own way of life, but we are to pursue a way of life in accordance with G'ds instructions. When we read in Genesis 18,18, about Abraham commanding his descendants to perform acts of righteousness, this transforms what would otherwise have been a spontaneous act, an impulsive gesture, into a way of life that serves as a model for the Jew. Denying oneself pork should not stem from a distaste for the product, but should be rooted in G'ds injunction. (Torat Kohanim 9, Parshat Kedoshim) Similarly, in the confession we recite when we offer the tithes for the poor, (Deut 26,14) we emphasize "I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my G'd, and have done all You have commanded me." 3) It is natural for man not to accept suggestions, instructions etc., when these suggestions do not make sense to him. A classic example is that of Yoav, David's commander-in-chief, who was ordered to conduct a headcount of men eligible for army service. He reacted by demanding a reason for this order, (seeing it was contrary to Torah law) Yoav never carried out the full task, and was involved in what must be considered intentional inaccuracies, (compare different results given in Samuel II chapter 24 and Chronicles I chapter 21) Yoav also failed to count the tribes of Levi and Benjamin. Presumably, lack of adequate performance stemmed from lack of interest in a task that seemed senseless and even counterproductive in Yoav's eyes. When the Torah demands obedience also to statutes that defy our understanding, it says "and to observe His statutes, commandments and social laws," to emphasize that it is the source of the instructions that matter, not their content. 4) Lastly, there are things which run counter to human instinct, and which if performed are seen as inviting hazards to one's health or one's property. A case in point, is the outrage expressed by Navot, when king Achav wants him to trade his ancestral vineyard. In all such situations, the Torah stresses "and listen to His voice," meaning that even when the instructions are completely contrary to our instincts, our freedom expresses itself when we discipline ourselves to listen to G'ds wishes. In these four ways we crown G'd as king over ourselves. But, more than anything, in this way G'd crowns us as king over the remainder of the nations. "To place you supreme over all the nations." (26,17) This latter promise goes beyond the one when Israel became the Lord's "precious nation and holy people" at Mount Sinai. The part of the verse saying "to walk in His ways and to observe His statutes," is part of the covenant in return for which Israel was promised to be the highest ranking nation. This makes the Jewish people custodian of "the way of the Lord,," something not entrusted to anyone else. In Psalms 147,19, G'd is described as "He reveals His words to Jacob, His statutes and social laws to Israel,...He has not done so to any other nation." David described the nature of the mutual covenant there.

Generally speaking, the beginning of the Redemption, otherwise known as the footsteps of the Mashiach, began the first hour of Friday morning in the 6th millennium, that is the year 5500 [1740], and from hour to hour, the footsteps have continued to progress from many aspects. As is known, every hour consists of 41 years and 8 months, counting from the time that the bonds on the Mashiach’s steps were loosened, as it says, [Ps. 116:16] “you loosened my bonds” and as revealed in the sentence: [Ps. 81:6-7] “He appointed it as a testimony in Yosef... I have removed his shoulder from the burden; let his hands stay away from the kettle.” Beginning with the second hour (i.e., from 5042 [1782]), the entire House of Israel entered the picture, both as a whole, and with regard to each individual member of the nation, as an order from above, of the Mashiach of the beginning of the Redemption, namely, Mashiach ben Yosef.

(1) We have already explained that in order to understand any matter completely, one needs to know the answer to four basic questions, namely : material, form, purpose and the architect, i.e. creator of the matter which we try to understand. However, depending on the intelligence of the questioner, he may have to be satisfied with answers that do not reveal the full information about every one of the four parts of the question. As a matter of fact, there are occasions when explaining the full extent of the answer to a query is futile, due to the limited intelligence of the questioner. If a simple minded person were to ask "why is this a dwelling?" and you were to reply "because it consists of bricks and lumber," the chances are that such a questioner would be satisfied with this answer. If the questioner were a little less simple minded however, he might object that he had seen combinations of bricks and lumber which certainly did not constitute a dwelling. Yet, when you tell this person that the combination of bricks and lumber was designed by an architect, he would likely be satisfied seeing that he now understands what and who is responsible for the structure in question. However, a more inquisitive mind would not be satisfied unless he also understood the need for this particular structure, i.e. the motivation of the architect who designed it. Finally, the most probing mind of all would not be satisfied until it was clear how this particular design enables the structure to fulfil the purpose for which it was designed. Similarly, the Torah addresses its answers to these four levels of intelligence. The wise son has all aspects of the legislation explained to him; the emphasis is on the format of the structure. The wicked son is reminded of the overall purpose of the legislation. The simple son, the tam, hears about the architect and the materials, whereas the real simpleton hears only about the materials used. (Passover lamb, matzah and bitter herbs) The slaying of the firstborn and the way in which this occurred, concludes the list of miracles that were designed to establish the truth of G-ds existence, mastery, and freedom of action. As such, it is a suitable point for introducing laws of Passover which recall this very truth about G-d. (3) G-ds instructions to Moses are divided into verse 1-11, and again into verses 13 to the end of the commandment, (verse 20) (2) G-ds instructions to the people, are divided into the four categories of intelligence that are found amongst the people. First and foremost comes the part which was to make sure of the belief in the very existence of G-d, i.e. the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood thereof on the door-posts. Also, there is the plague of the slaying of the Egyptian firstborn which would answer the scoffers and doubters of whom there were many. The evidence of the multitude of the doubters is the phrasing of the question of the wicked son in the plural, i.e. "when your children will say to you." This does not refer to a genuine enquiry at all, nor to thirst for enlightenment, but expresses scoffing and doubting. We find similar language employed for the same purpose in Joshua 22,24. (4) When the members of the tribe of Gad answered Joshua, they were worried about future attitudes of the Jews of the West Bank towards those residing on the East Bank of the Jordan. The question then was merely rhetorical, expresses conviction already deeply held. This is why our sages have seen fit to put this "question" in the mouth of the wicked son, meaning "what good does all this service do for you?" The wicked son asks for the purpose of the legislation. The author of the haggadah then is not content with telling him of G-ds Providence, His Personal Intervention on behalf of the Jewish people, but adds that such Personal Intervention, hashgachah peratit is reserved for those individuals who have accumulated some merit. Since people of the type of the wicked son have not accumulated such merits, they would have been excluded from such Personal Intervention on their behalf by G-d, anyways; therefore they do not have to worry about Passover observances, not about the removal of chametz etc. After the Torah said (12,29) "they went and they carried out," we are told about the actual happening of the slaying of the firstborn that had been predicted. Then we have the section about the Passover statute legislation, which must have included all the pertinent details, although mention is made only of the heading of the subject matter, i.e. "Passover." This is proof that both eydot, chukkim and mishpatim, the three categories mentioned in the question of the wise son, were included in that legislation. An example of the former, i.e. the chukkim is the command that no bone of that lamb must be broken. An example of the mishpatim, social aspect of the legislation would be "if a stranger (convert) lives amongst you and he too wants to observe the Passover etc." Lastly, the eydot, testimonial aspect of the legislation would be the demand "the entire congregation of the Jewish nation shall perform it," part of the legislation. (5) It is fitting therefore that in the haggadah we pose the question of the "wise son," which though it addresses itself to the entire range of Torah legislation, is being directed at the Passover legislation, since no similar query is mentioned in our chapter. That this question is indeed the one posed by the most intelligent type of our children, is evident from the probing nature of the query which addresses itself to what at first glance appear as as illogical aspects of the legislation. After all, most nations would commemorate events such as the Jewish people had experienced, without the need for Divine instruction. The answer points out that at least part of our "testimony" (read "history") was due to G-ds loving kindness, Personal Intervention on our behalf. He took us out by means of miracles, thus establishing an eternal claim on our obedience. Therefore, our historic observances cannot be compared to other nations' observances of their respective historical highlights. The Psalmist in Psalms 116,16, expresses it thus: "Please, O Lord, if I am Your servant, it is because You have loosened my bonds." On the other hand, the purpose of the seemingly illogical chukkim is to test our obedience and fear of the Lord, but also "to be good for us at all times," as stated in Deuteronomy "it will be considered righteousness for us to observe and carry out the entire mitzvah, legislation." (Deut. 6,25) This sentence refers to the mishpatim, mentioned earlier, and teaches that beyond the fact that our social behaviour is good for the other person, it is ultimately good for the person who acts in a socially positive manner. Our sages express this by stating that the poor man does more for the rich man than the rich man does for the poor man, when the former is the recipient of the donation by the rich man. (6) The author of the haggadah suggests that the Passover legislation be used as a miniature Torah, to demonstrate to the wise son the validity of the answer given by the Torah in parshat va-etchanan.