Chasidut do Izajasza 2:5
בֵּ֖ית יַעֲקֹ֑ב לְכ֥וּ וְנֵלְכָ֖ה בְּא֥וֹר יְהוָֽה׃
Domu Jakóba, naprzód, postępujmy w świetle Wiekuistego!
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 30,12. “when you take a census of the Children of Israel according to their numbers, each shall pay the Lord a ransom for his person when being counted.”
Seeing that G’d so loves the Jewish people that He feels personally oppressed by their troubles, He gives them an advice on how to save their lives/souls from the attacks of the evil urge.
It is a fact that the “life”, i.e. continued existence of all phenomena in the universe, however exalted they may appear, is due only to the brightness that emanated from the Creator Who had to restrain Himself by garbing Himself in various veils of appropriate thickness in order to prevent His brightness from fatally harming the creatures He exposed to it, and He has to provide them with nourishment to enable them to remain alive.
We have an explicit Biblical verse in Nechemyah 9,6 spelling this out; we read there: ואתה מחיה את כולם, “and You keep them all alive,” [by providing appropriate sustenance. Ed.] If this applies to the universe’s creatures generally, how much more so does it apply to G’d’s favorite nation, the Jewish people. (Compare psalms 135,4-“for the Lord has chosen Yaakov for Himself.” The Jewish people are a means through which G’d illuminates the universe, as we know from Isaiah 2,5: בית יעקב לכו ונלכה באור ה', “House of Yaakov, let us walk by the light of the Lord.”) From internalizing the meaning of these verses we come to the conclusion that when we pass through a period of distress and troubles, one that has been brought about by G’d’s having to discipline us, He Himself is also experiencing part of this pain. We have already mentioned elsewhere that the root of evil befalling the Jewish people is actually one manner in which G’d reveals that He is –“G’d.”
Our verse commencing with: כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל וגו' לפקודיהם, reminds us of the meaning of the root, as we find it in Numbers 31,49 לא נפקד ממנו איש, ”not a single one of our number is missing.” [After the 12000 men who took part in the punitive campaign against Midian had returned. Ed.] G’d tells Moses that if he is interested in raising the status of the Jewish people from their depressed state, (after the sin of the golden calf), he is to see to it that each of the men between 20 and 60 pray to the Lord to redeem them from the attacks of the perennial antagonist, Satan who is always at work trying to seduce them into transgressing His commandments. [Contribution of a half shekel to the Temple treasury is merely a symbolic gesture of atoning for the guilt stemming from their involvement in that sin. Ed.]
Seeing that G’d so loves the Jewish people that He feels personally oppressed by their troubles, He gives them an advice on how to save their lives/souls from the attacks of the evil urge.
It is a fact that the “life”, i.e. continued existence of all phenomena in the universe, however exalted they may appear, is due only to the brightness that emanated from the Creator Who had to restrain Himself by garbing Himself in various veils of appropriate thickness in order to prevent His brightness from fatally harming the creatures He exposed to it, and He has to provide them with nourishment to enable them to remain alive.
We have an explicit Biblical verse in Nechemyah 9,6 spelling this out; we read there: ואתה מחיה את כולם, “and You keep them all alive,” [by providing appropriate sustenance. Ed.] If this applies to the universe’s creatures generally, how much more so does it apply to G’d’s favorite nation, the Jewish people. (Compare psalms 135,4-“for the Lord has chosen Yaakov for Himself.” The Jewish people are a means through which G’d illuminates the universe, as we know from Isaiah 2,5: בית יעקב לכו ונלכה באור ה', “House of Yaakov, let us walk by the light of the Lord.”) From internalizing the meaning of these verses we come to the conclusion that when we pass through a period of distress and troubles, one that has been brought about by G’d’s having to discipline us, He Himself is also experiencing part of this pain. We have already mentioned elsewhere that the root of evil befalling the Jewish people is actually one manner in which G’d reveals that He is –“G’d.”
Our verse commencing with: כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל וגו' לפקודיהם, reminds us of the meaning of the root, as we find it in Numbers 31,49 לא נפקד ממנו איש, ”not a single one of our number is missing.” [After the 12000 men who took part in the punitive campaign against Midian had returned. Ed.] G’d tells Moses that if he is interested in raising the status of the Jewish people from their depressed state, (after the sin of the golden calf), he is to see to it that each of the men between 20 and 60 pray to the Lord to redeem them from the attacks of the perennial antagonist, Satan who is always at work trying to seduce them into transgressing His commandments. [Contribution of a half shekel to the Temple treasury is merely a symbolic gesture of atoning for the guilt stemming from their involvement in that sin. Ed.]
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Kedushat Levi
The sages in Rosh Hashanah 12 alluded to this when they stated that “the Jewish people are in the habit of counting Biblical calendar dates as based on the view of Rabbi Eliezer when speaking of the deluge, (solar year), whereas they do so according to the view of Rabbi Joshua when counting the seasons the seasons of the year.” (lunar “year”). The Talmud adds that the astronomers of the gentile nations also count the deluge according to the opinion held by Rabbi Joshua. [The whole statement is extremely puzzling, our author contributing a novel interpretation by understanding it as relating to the mystical dimension of life on earth. Ed.]
Our author raises the question that seeing that the astronomers of the gentile nations adopt an opinion that is contrary to halachah, how can they be described as “sages of gentile nations?” We have a rule that anyone contradicting what is written in the Torah or recorded as wisdom by King Solomon is an absolute fool.
We need to explain above statement allegorically. We have already explained in connection with a statement in the Talmud Pessachim 118 that when Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yossi, (a sage of the fifth generation of the sages that belonged to the Mishnaic period) fell ill Rabbi Yehudah (hanassi?) sent to him asking him to tell them one or two Torah insights of his father that he had not previously revealed. He responded by offering an interpretation of a difficult passage in psalms 117,1 where the psalmist appears to invite the nations of the world to praise G’d, saying: הללו את ה' כל גויים שבחוהו כל האומים, “praise the Lord all you nations; extol Him all you peoples!” Seeing that the next verse describes the miracles G’d has performed on behalf of the Jewish people, what reason would the gentiles have to praise G’d for this? He answered that if the gentiles are required to praise the Lord for having been witnesses to miracles performed for the Israelites, how much more so must the Israelites be duty bound to praise Him on account of this! How much loving kindness have we experienced at the hands of G’d without having thanked Him adequately! Thereupon Rabbi asked for another pearl of wisdom that Rabbi Yossi had not yet revealed. He told them that at the time when the messiah would come, the gentiles would welcome him with gifts. It seems clear that the words שבחוהו, “praise Him,” in the psalm are not meant as acknowledgement of what G’d had done for the gentiles, but for what He had done for His people, the Israelites. It is the overriding duty of all of G’d’s creatures, including the beasts in the field to praise the Creator in accordance with the manner in which they are capable of doing this. This includes even the flora that appear tied to the place in which they grow, and which do not even enjoy the ability to move freely on G’d’s earth. How much more so must the more advanced forms of life on earth praise their Creator, seeing that they are able to enjoy so much more of the world they have been born into?
We may take a cue from the words of Rashi on Shabbat 50, “whatever G’d created, He created for the greater glory of His name.” When Jews are killed for the sanctification of the Lord’s name (having had the opportunity to save themselves by denying Judaism, as happened frequently during the crusades) they do so joyfully.
It is therefore not difficult to comprehend that the psalmist reminds the gentiles of their duty to praise the Lord as He has given them an opportunity to carry out His will. Miracles which G’d performed for the Israelites frequently were at the expense of the gentiles who had oppressed them. The psalmist warns these gentiles that they are obligated to praise the Lord for having been privileged to experience His greatness even while they perish in the process. The fact that they had been chosen to be G’d’s means of showing His might to the Israelites is something they have to acknowledge, not grudgingly, but joyfully. The fact that they deliberately try to blind themselves to such recognition, stamps them as utter fools. The perennial problem with fools is that they do not wish to be enlightened, believing that they are wise.
However, there will come a time, when G’d will open the eyes of the blind and all of them [those who have survived the cataclysmic events occurring first, Ed.] will turn into servants of the Lord.
At the time of the Exodus, when G’d performed miracles that enabled the Israelites to be redeemed, He revealed His power to the Egyptians at the same time, of course. However, the latter, almost until their last breath did not acknowledge that it was G’d Who was fighting them when the waves of the sea of reeds came crashing over them. (Exodus 14,25)
The Jews have not always been better, so that Isaiah 2,5 tells us that the time will come when –after the gentiles have already acknowledged all this in Isaiah 2,3 – they too will experienced the “light” of the Lord. In psalms 118 David foresees all this already hundreds of years before the prophet Isaiah.
Let us revert to the passage in the Talmud Rosh Hashanah 12, and the strange statement referring to the astronomers of the gentiles as “sages.” Traditionally, the month of Tishrey symbolizes that G’d’s attribute of Justice, sits in judgment of His creatures on the first day of that month. The month of Nissan, however symbolizes the attribute of Mercy, loving kindness, as it is the month during which the Jewish people, who had a minimum of merits to their credit, were redeemed after hundreds of years of persecution. When looked at from the perspective of the gentiles, the month of Nissan symbolizes the attribute of Justice, as during that month G’d brought retribution on the leading nation of the gentiles, reducing a world power, Egypt, to becoming a “banana republic,” practically overnight. The effect of this was so overwhelming that Rahab from Jericho, who harbored Joshua’s spies, was still in awe of that event. (Joshua 2,9-11).
Rabbi Eliezer correctly realized that for the gentiles what we perceive as unmitigated disaster, actually is the catalyst that brings them to recognize G’d in the end, by seeing in the month of Tishrey also a harbinger of the attribute of Mercy, seeing it is the gentiles’ last opportunity to change their ways and survive as servants of G’d.
The Talmud introduces a reference to the period during which the deluge occurred, i.e. in Marcheshvan, although neither Rabbi Joshua nor Rabbi Eliezer had made reference to that event at all. When the “sages” of the gentile nations are described as taking their cue from the deluge as being in accord with Rabbi Joshua, even when referring to the deluge, what the Talmud means is that these “gentile sages” recognized that the disasters that had struck them was also an outpouring of G’d’s love, as this enabled the survivors to recognize G’d as a G’d of love after all. [According to the Talmud there the gentile sages recognized what Yitro recognized later also, (Exodus 18,11) i.e. that when G’d brings on retribution He makes the punishment fit the crime. Ed.]
Our author raises the question that seeing that the astronomers of the gentile nations adopt an opinion that is contrary to halachah, how can they be described as “sages of gentile nations?” We have a rule that anyone contradicting what is written in the Torah or recorded as wisdom by King Solomon is an absolute fool.
We need to explain above statement allegorically. We have already explained in connection with a statement in the Talmud Pessachim 118 that when Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yossi, (a sage of the fifth generation of the sages that belonged to the Mishnaic period) fell ill Rabbi Yehudah (hanassi?) sent to him asking him to tell them one or two Torah insights of his father that he had not previously revealed. He responded by offering an interpretation of a difficult passage in psalms 117,1 where the psalmist appears to invite the nations of the world to praise G’d, saying: הללו את ה' כל גויים שבחוהו כל האומים, “praise the Lord all you nations; extol Him all you peoples!” Seeing that the next verse describes the miracles G’d has performed on behalf of the Jewish people, what reason would the gentiles have to praise G’d for this? He answered that if the gentiles are required to praise the Lord for having been witnesses to miracles performed for the Israelites, how much more so must the Israelites be duty bound to praise Him on account of this! How much loving kindness have we experienced at the hands of G’d without having thanked Him adequately! Thereupon Rabbi asked for another pearl of wisdom that Rabbi Yossi had not yet revealed. He told them that at the time when the messiah would come, the gentiles would welcome him with gifts. It seems clear that the words שבחוהו, “praise Him,” in the psalm are not meant as acknowledgement of what G’d had done for the gentiles, but for what He had done for His people, the Israelites. It is the overriding duty of all of G’d’s creatures, including the beasts in the field to praise the Creator in accordance with the manner in which they are capable of doing this. This includes even the flora that appear tied to the place in which they grow, and which do not even enjoy the ability to move freely on G’d’s earth. How much more so must the more advanced forms of life on earth praise their Creator, seeing that they are able to enjoy so much more of the world they have been born into?
We may take a cue from the words of Rashi on Shabbat 50, “whatever G’d created, He created for the greater glory of His name.” When Jews are killed for the sanctification of the Lord’s name (having had the opportunity to save themselves by denying Judaism, as happened frequently during the crusades) they do so joyfully.
It is therefore not difficult to comprehend that the psalmist reminds the gentiles of their duty to praise the Lord as He has given them an opportunity to carry out His will. Miracles which G’d performed for the Israelites frequently were at the expense of the gentiles who had oppressed them. The psalmist warns these gentiles that they are obligated to praise the Lord for having been privileged to experience His greatness even while they perish in the process. The fact that they had been chosen to be G’d’s means of showing His might to the Israelites is something they have to acknowledge, not grudgingly, but joyfully. The fact that they deliberately try to blind themselves to such recognition, stamps them as utter fools. The perennial problem with fools is that they do not wish to be enlightened, believing that they are wise.
However, there will come a time, when G’d will open the eyes of the blind and all of them [those who have survived the cataclysmic events occurring first, Ed.] will turn into servants of the Lord.
At the time of the Exodus, when G’d performed miracles that enabled the Israelites to be redeemed, He revealed His power to the Egyptians at the same time, of course. However, the latter, almost until their last breath did not acknowledge that it was G’d Who was fighting them when the waves of the sea of reeds came crashing over them. (Exodus 14,25)
The Jews have not always been better, so that Isaiah 2,5 tells us that the time will come when –after the gentiles have already acknowledged all this in Isaiah 2,3 – they too will experienced the “light” of the Lord. In psalms 118 David foresees all this already hundreds of years before the prophet Isaiah.
Let us revert to the passage in the Talmud Rosh Hashanah 12, and the strange statement referring to the astronomers of the gentiles as “sages.” Traditionally, the month of Tishrey symbolizes that G’d’s attribute of Justice, sits in judgment of His creatures on the first day of that month. The month of Nissan, however symbolizes the attribute of Mercy, loving kindness, as it is the month during which the Jewish people, who had a minimum of merits to their credit, were redeemed after hundreds of years of persecution. When looked at from the perspective of the gentiles, the month of Nissan symbolizes the attribute of Justice, as during that month G’d brought retribution on the leading nation of the gentiles, reducing a world power, Egypt, to becoming a “banana republic,” practically overnight. The effect of this was so overwhelming that Rahab from Jericho, who harbored Joshua’s spies, was still in awe of that event. (Joshua 2,9-11).
Rabbi Eliezer correctly realized that for the gentiles what we perceive as unmitigated disaster, actually is the catalyst that brings them to recognize G’d in the end, by seeing in the month of Tishrey also a harbinger of the attribute of Mercy, seeing it is the gentiles’ last opportunity to change their ways and survive as servants of G’d.
The Talmud introduces a reference to the period during which the deluge occurred, i.e. in Marcheshvan, although neither Rabbi Joshua nor Rabbi Eliezer had made reference to that event at all. When the “sages” of the gentile nations are described as taking their cue from the deluge as being in accord with Rabbi Joshua, even when referring to the deluge, what the Talmud means is that these “gentile sages” recognized that the disasters that had struck them was also an outpouring of G’d’s love, as this enabled the survivors to recognize G’d as a G’d of love after all. [According to the Talmud there the gentile sages recognized what Yitro recognized later also, (Exodus 18,11) i.e. that when G’d brings on retribution He makes the punishment fit the crime. Ed.]
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