Musar do Daniela 2:38

Yalkut Shimoni on our portion describes the פרה, heifer, as symbolizing Egypt, since Egypt is referred to as עגלה יפיפיה מצרים, "Egypt is a beautiful calf," in Jeremiah 46,20. He goes on to say that the word אדומה, red, refers to Babylonia which is described in Daniel 2,38, as "you are the head of gold." The word תמימה, symbolizes Media. Rabbi Chiyah bar Abba said that the kings of Media were תמימים, sincere. The only complaint G–d has against them is that they served idols, a practice they had learned from their forbears. The words אשר אין בה מום, "which is totally unblemished," refer to Greece. When Alexander the Great saw Shimon the Just he rose on his feet and praised the Lord of Shimon the Just. His palace attendants were incredulous that their king should accord this kind of honor to a Jew. Alexander told them that this man had appeared to him whenever he was about to enter battle, and was victorious. The words אשר לא עלה עליה עול, "which has never borne a yoke," refer to wicked Edom who had refused to accept the yoke of G–d. Not only had he not accepted it, but he had blasphemed by saying: "whom have I in the Heavens!" So far the Yalkut. Why does the Yalkut understand all these references as being to different nations? After all, they ridicule us, wish to cause us frustration!

We have now learned that the three parts of the Tabernacle correspond to the three parts of the universe concerning which King David said in Psalms 103,20: "Bless the Lord, O, His angels, mighty creatures who do His bidding, ever obedient to His bidding. Bless the Lord all His hosts, His servants who do His will; bless the Lord all His works, through the length and breadth of His realm." David's son Solomon also adopted his father's outlook when he alluded to this in three consecutive verses in Song of Songs 5,13-15. Three different parts of the human body form the subject of those verses, each one representing a different aspect of the universe and how man's composition reflects this division of the universe into three constituent parts. I (Rabbenu Bachyah) have explained this in detail when I discussed Jacob's dream of the ladder." Thus far the quotation from Rabbenu Bachyah.

Once we follow this approach the verses in Deuteronomy which appeared strange, begin to make sense. Moses first said: "See I have given you חקים and משפטים, i.e. statutes devoid of rationale as well as laws that commend themselves to your reason." Immediately afterwards The Torah quotes the Gentiles as basing their assessment of the Jewish people as a wise and intelligent people on the fact that we perform all these commandments faithfully (compare Deut. 4,5/6). Their argument is that surely just as there are good reasons for the משפטים which have been revealed, there must be equally good reasons for the חקים which He has not seen fit to reveal. These חקים emanate in the domain רשימו. The meaning of the word רק in the verse רק עם חכם ונבון הגוי הגדול הזה, "this nation is a great and intelligent people," then is ריק, empty, i.e. "these commandments cannot be empty, devoid of intellectual content." As long as the people of Israel hold on to Torah and perform its commandments it is complimented by the nations of the world. This is what the Midrash alluded to when it said cryptically, פרה=ישראל, אדומה=ישראל, תמימה=ישראל, אשר לא עלה עליה עול=ישראל. This means that Israel is superior to the nations of the world in four respects, hence the grudging respect of Satan and the rest of the world. If we fail to demonstrate our superiority by heeding those four areas from which Torah values are transmitted to us, we would – G–d forbid! – become victims of the four kingdoms that rule over us in the four exiles. The degree of mystery surrounding these four examples of Torah legislation that Satan and the nations had quoted, varies. The red heifer legislation is the most mystifying, since its true reason is available only to those who have access to the domain of רשימו. The scapegoat on the Day of Atonement is a little less mystifying, as explained in the Zohar, in its commentary on the words איש עתי, Leviticus 16,21. The true reason for that legislation is reserved for those who have access to the domain of חקיקה. The domain חציבה holds the mystery of the levirate marriage legislation, whereas the domain of עשיה contains the answer to the mystery of the כלאים legislation. We have shown why this Parshah in pointing to the mystical domain of רשימו is really the root of all Torah legislation.

On 14,1 Nachmanides writes that the whole occurrence was to teach Abraham that there would be four empires that would rule the earth at different times, but that ultimately Abraham's descendants would prevail over them all and that all their property would be restored to Israel. The first such empire would be the Babylonian Empire, as we know from Daniel 2,38: "to whom He has given dominion over them all -you are the head of gold." Possibly the name of the king Elassar, (14,1) corresponds to a town in Persia by the same name. King "Eylam" may be the name of a town in Greece also. He may have been the first king of that empire, Darius being a later one after the empire expanded. [There are some confusing versions here as to who is who, seeing that Darius was a king of the Medes. This does not matter in our context. Ed.] There is a view among our sages that this king ruled for six years in Eylam before ruling the whole civilized world. The name “מלך גויים" refers to a variety of kings appointed by the king of Eylam as his deputies in different parts of his empire. There is a hint here of the method of the Romans who appointed governors in different parts of their empire. Similar views are expressed in Bereshit Rabbah 42,2 by Rabbi Avin who claims that since the chapter opens with four kingdoms (the problems of Abraham), so his descendants also will suffer at the hands of four kingdoms. [Rabbi Avin, as do others, assumes that the campaign against Sodom was really intended as a campaign against Abraham, and that his involvement was not quite voluntary. Ed.] Rabbi Avin sees in Amrafel king of Shinor a reference to Babylon, in Aryach king of Elassar (a reference) to the Empire of the Medes, in Kedor-Leomer king of Eylam a reference to the Greek Empire, and in Tidal king of "Goyim," (a reference) to the present exile since it comprises numerous kingdoms all of which exercise dominion over the Jewish people. The king "Bela" is called so because he ruled only over a small city with few inhabitants. Thus far Nachmanides' comment. His words are truly those of a wise man. Abraham's experiences foreshadow both the bondage in Egypt and the redemption that was to follow. Later, it foreshadowed Jewish exile (after the destruction of the Temple) and finally the Redemption at the hands of the משיח בן דוד, the Messiah son of David, a descendant of Lot.