Musar do Powtórzonego Prawa 6:4

Then when a person leaves his house let him pray this short prayer: “Master of the Universe! Please have pity upon me and spare me from the evil impulse and all its minions, Amein.” Or else let him recite the first paragraph of the Shema: “Hear, Yisroel, Hashem is our God, Hashem is one” until the verse “You shall write them upon the door posts of your house and upon your gates” (Devarim 6:4-9). Then he will be spared that day from all iniquity and guilt.

These commandments are divided into three groups of which some aim at perfecting our souls, some at perfecting our bodies, and others at ensuring that our property will be "pure", i.e. that we will not be guilty of robbery and dishonesty. Concerning these three aspects of perfection, the Torah says: "Love the Lord your G–d with all your heart, i.e. the seat of your physical life, with all your soul, i.e. the seat of your spiritual life, and with all your might, i.e with all your economic assets" (Deut 6,4).

כי נר מצוה ותורה אור, ודרך חיים תוכחת מוסר, We have already mentioned that the weekly perusal of the relevant Torah portion has to include three distinct approaches. First and foremost, one must study the relevant commandments contained in the פרשה, be they positive or negative. This part of the weekly study comes under the heading of כי נר מצוה, “for the commandment is a lamp." Secondly, one must try to understand both the obvious and the more mystical significance of these commandments and their influence on our relationship with the "higher" world, each person according to his ability. In that connection it is important to be aware that no one part of the Torah is less important than any other part. If the Torah tells us for instance, that "the concubine of Eliphaz was called Timnah" (Genesis 36,12), this is no less important a sentence than שמע ישראל ה' אלוקינו ה' אחד, "Hear O Israel the Lord our G–d the Lord is One" (Deut 6,4). Every single part of the Torah reveals matters relevant to our world as well as matters relevant to the "higher" world. Our sages have given us an example of the importance of the verse quoted from Genesis by showing that the name of that concubine תמנע is composed of the first letters of certain words in the verse תורת השם תמימה משיבת נפש, עדות השם נאמנה מחכימת פתי (Psalms 19,8). The implication is that "the Torah is so perfect in totality" i.e. תורת ה' תמימה, that any part of it is מחכימת פתי, "makes the simple wise." All of Torah from beginning to end is משיבת נפש "renews life." The "life" referred to is the life in the "higher" regions. Anyone endowed by G–d with wisdom, חכמה, will be granted the kind of intelligence that enables him to touch base with חכמה-תבונה-ודעת. This is all included in the concept of תורה אור, that Torah is light. Any recipient of this "light," will discover in Torah the three dimensions of knowledge we have mentioned.

I am nonetheless inclined to go more deeply into the meaning of that statement in the Sifri and to take it literally. We will find that it is quite possible to understand it. In this connection we need to consider a statement that we find in Baba Batra 14b, that "Moses wrote his book and that of Bileam and Job." How are we to understand this? Is there a single letter in the Torah that is not "Torah," not of Divine origin? If so, what could the Talmud have had in mind with that statement? Rashi comments on this: "His prophecies and parables, even though Moses did not need to, and the Torah would have been complete without them." I have not understood this comment of Rashi. All the stories in the Torah e.g. the slaying of Abel by Cain, are all at first glance not "necessary" parts of the Torah, and yet they are all part of the fabric of תורת השם תמימה, "that the Torah of G–d is complete, perfect", i.e. there is nothing in it that is redundant. Our sages usually point to Genesis 36,12: "and Timnah was the concubine of Esau's son Eliphaz" as an example that there is no word in the Torah that is not of enduring and meaningful significance. Sanhedrin 99, even concludes that we are to learn from this that it is better to be a lowly maidservant to a nation that has blood ties with Israel than to be a Lady in a family that has no ties with the Jewish people. Timnah the daughter of a nobleman, had chosen to demote herself in order to be associated with Abraham's descendants in some way. This verse in the Torah is equal in importance to the "Hear O Israel the Lord our G–d the Lord is One."

In some places in the Bible (a mention of) the hearing occurs, followed by urging; thus the expression (Deut. vi. 4, 5), "Hear, O Israel," and after that it is said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God," etc. Furthermore (Gen. xxiv. 52), "When Abraham's servant heard "; it is said immediately following, "He who worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth "; and again (Gen. xxix. 13), "And it came to pass that when Laban heard the tidings, he embraced him and kissed him."

As a result of benefitting from all those miracles, the ערב רב were required to celebrate the Passover and to observe all the prohibitions connected with the leavened bread. You have already been made aware that the ערב רב do have a mystical bond with the emanation דעת עליון, or בינה. The mystical dimension of the מלכות של בינה contains the secret of the significance of המצה השמורה העליונה which is symbolised by the enlarged letter ד in the word אחד of Deuteronomy 6,4, as I have explained when discussing the deeper meaning of that מצוה. This is why the Jewish people were commanded to eat unleavened bread. This is also where you find the secret of why the Talmud (Shabbat 33) considers נשים דעתן קלה עליהן, "the minds of women are shallow." The numerical value of the word מצה is 135, the same as of the word קלה. Moses said to the ערב רב: "You are leaving Egypt this day," היום אתם יוצאים ממצרים. The reason Moses added these apparently superfluous words was to make them understand that there is one commandment which will be addressed only to the children of Israel and not to them. They should not be surprised at this, since they did not need this commandment; G–d did not select them as His people. They had already been given the commandment of מצה because that commandment had a significance which related to them. The reason that the original Jewish people needed the commandment of sanctifying their first-born was that G–d saved the first-born of the Jewish people when He slew the first-born of the Egyptians. An expression of eternal gratitude by those who were spared was indicated as a result. The ערב רב had not been spared; those surviving had joined the Jewish people only on the morrow at the time of their departure, i.e. היום!