אִם־תְּבַקְשֶׁ֥נָּה כַכָּ֑סֶף וְֽכַמַּטְמוֹנִ֥ים תַּחְפְּשֶֽׂנָּה׃
אַז דו װעסט זי זוכן װי זילבער, און װי נאָך אוֹצרות זי פֿאָרשן;
Rabbeinu Bahya
In this verse Solomon compared the Torah to bread and wine, seeing that bread and wine are the principal sources of food for the body. Similarly, Torah and wisdom are the principal sources of nourishment for the soul. The reason why Solomon commences with the expression לכו, and did not say בואו, “come,” is to teach that a person has to follow wisdom, i.e. go out in search of it and after the people who teach it. We find this verb used in this connection also in Proverbs 13,20: הולך את חכמים יחכם, “he who walks with scholars will himself become wise.” The expression is unusual as we would have expected the author to say: “he who sits with the scholars will become wise.” The only reason that in both instances Solomon used the verb הולך to describe how one is to relate to the scholars in order to benefit from their wisdom is to teach that one has to actively go after the wisdom which comes out of the mouth of the Torah scholars. One needs to denigrate oneself vis-a-vis the scholars; as a result one will absorb wisdom.
It is also possible that the reason for the use of the word לכו by Solomon is a hint that even if one has to travel a long way from one’s home in order to acquire this wisdom one should do so. The message is that it is worth while to travel to distant countries in order to hear and study “My bread,” i.e. Torah. The same thought is echoed by Isaiah 55,3 who quotes the Lord as saying: “incline your ear and come to Me, hearken and you shall be revived.” G’d (The prophet) did not say: בואו אלי, “come to Me,” as man sometimes has to travel to distant places in order to study Torah.
The words לכו לחמו בלחמי, may be perceived as “go to one another those who are anxious to eat of My bread.” it is a warning to remove jealousy and envy from one’s heart and that the scholars should not project an image of superiority which would prevent them from going to colleagues of equal stature. Most certainly they should not be arrogant enough to refrain from going to scholars who are of still greater stature. Wisdom increases through the interchange of ideas among equals. Our sages in Makkot 10 used the verse in Jeremiah 50,36: חרב אל הבדים ונואלו (concerning people who avoid studying in large groups) to illustrate this thought by understanding these words to mean “a sword against the loners!” The prophet condemns the people who want to study in solitary meditation only. Not only do these people not increase their knowledge by doing so, but they are even apt to become foolish, i.e. arrive at faulty conclusions. In the verse quoted from Jeremiah, we have the word נואלו and we have a similar word in Numbers 12,11 i.e. אשר נואלנו, where it means: “we have acted foolishly.” The message is clear.
Concerning the words: “drink from My wine;” the letter ב in the word בלחמי in the first half of the verse appears superfluous. Why then did Solomon write it? Similarly, the letter ב in the word ביין also appears unnecessary. Actually, the letter ב in both instances means the same as in Genesis 41,2 where Ibn Ezra understands the letter ב in ותרענה באחו as not part of the word אחו. I believe that whereas when one drinks wine it is only healthy in diluted form, and damaging if drunk in its full strength, so that the word בלחמי and ביין could be understood as warning not to eat or drink all of the bread and the wine, the word מסכתי, “what I (G’d) have mixed” is to teach that when it comes to Torah and the performance of its commandments, all of them are to be studied and performed in undiluted form.
This simile contains yet another lesson which is worth mentioning. If someone spends a lot of time engaged in the pursuit of his livelihood, i.e. the needs of his body, and travels abroad in order to secure himself such a sound economic existence, even though he should have concentrated the major part of his energies amassing Torah knowledge, i.e. food for his soul, he errs, seeing that when one spends all kinds of energy on the amassing of Torah knowledge a measure of success is guaranteed, whereas the energy spent on the amassing of material wealth does not always result in success. Solomon encourages the pursuit of food for the soul more so than the pursuit of physical food for the body. He makes this plain in Proverbs 2, 4-5: “if you seek it (Torah) as silver, and search for it as for treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and will find knowledge of G’d.”
Every single commandment may be perceived of as “soul-food;” it provides the kind of nourishment which the soul will imbibe in the future when it is exposed to the brilliance of G’d’s Shechinah in עולם הבא, the world to come. If one is able to perform commandments and good deeds locally, his reward is most certainly substantial; imagine how much more will be his reward if he travels far and wide in order to fulfill some of the commandments of the Torah! The reason is that he also receives a reward for the distance traveled and the effort and fatigue involved. We find proof of this when the eagerness to fulfill a commandment is described by the Torah (Exodus 12,28) as “they went and they did.” Similarly, the Torah describes Moses’ leaving the camp of the Levites in order to go to the camp of the Israelites in these terms. He could have waited for the Israelites to come to him and take leave of him. In fact, although they had all been assembled around him to listen to the rebukes, and he could easily have said his good byes then, he waited till each one of them had returned to his tent, and only then
It is also possible that the reason for the use of the word לכו by Solomon is a hint that even if one has to travel a long way from one’s home in order to acquire this wisdom one should do so. The message is that it is worth while to travel to distant countries in order to hear and study “My bread,” i.e. Torah. The same thought is echoed by Isaiah 55,3 who quotes the Lord as saying: “incline your ear and come to Me, hearken and you shall be revived.” G’d (The prophet) did not say: בואו אלי, “come to Me,” as man sometimes has to travel to distant places in order to study Torah.
The words לכו לחמו בלחמי, may be perceived as “go to one another those who are anxious to eat of My bread.” it is a warning to remove jealousy and envy from one’s heart and that the scholars should not project an image of superiority which would prevent them from going to colleagues of equal stature. Most certainly they should not be arrogant enough to refrain from going to scholars who are of still greater stature. Wisdom increases through the interchange of ideas among equals. Our sages in Makkot 10 used the verse in Jeremiah 50,36: חרב אל הבדים ונואלו (concerning people who avoid studying in large groups) to illustrate this thought by understanding these words to mean “a sword against the loners!” The prophet condemns the people who want to study in solitary meditation only. Not only do these people not increase their knowledge by doing so, but they are even apt to become foolish, i.e. arrive at faulty conclusions. In the verse quoted from Jeremiah, we have the word נואלו and we have a similar word in Numbers 12,11 i.e. אשר נואלנו, where it means: “we have acted foolishly.” The message is clear.
Concerning the words: “drink from My wine;” the letter ב in the word בלחמי in the first half of the verse appears superfluous. Why then did Solomon write it? Similarly, the letter ב in the word ביין also appears unnecessary. Actually, the letter ב in both instances means the same as in Genesis 41,2 where Ibn Ezra understands the letter ב in ותרענה באחו as not part of the word אחו. I believe that whereas when one drinks wine it is only healthy in diluted form, and damaging if drunk in its full strength, so that the word בלחמי and ביין could be understood as warning not to eat or drink all of the bread and the wine, the word מסכתי, “what I (G’d) have mixed” is to teach that when it comes to Torah and the performance of its commandments, all of them are to be studied and performed in undiluted form.
This simile contains yet another lesson which is worth mentioning. If someone spends a lot of time engaged in the pursuit of his livelihood, i.e. the needs of his body, and travels abroad in order to secure himself such a sound economic existence, even though he should have concentrated the major part of his energies amassing Torah knowledge, i.e. food for his soul, he errs, seeing that when one spends all kinds of energy on the amassing of Torah knowledge a measure of success is guaranteed, whereas the energy spent on the amassing of material wealth does not always result in success. Solomon encourages the pursuit of food for the soul more so than the pursuit of physical food for the body. He makes this plain in Proverbs 2, 4-5: “if you seek it (Torah) as silver, and search for it as for treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and will find knowledge of G’d.”
Every single commandment may be perceived of as “soul-food;” it provides the kind of nourishment which the soul will imbibe in the future when it is exposed to the brilliance of G’d’s Shechinah in עולם הבא, the world to come. If one is able to perform commandments and good deeds locally, his reward is most certainly substantial; imagine how much more will be his reward if he travels far and wide in order to fulfill some of the commandments of the Torah! The reason is that he also receives a reward for the distance traveled and the effort and fatigue involved. We find proof of this when the eagerness to fulfill a commandment is described by the Torah (Exodus 12,28) as “they went and they did.” Similarly, the Torah describes Moses’ leaving the camp of the Levites in order to go to the camp of the Israelites in these terms. He could have waited for the Israelites to come to him and take leave of him. In fact, although they had all been assembled around him to listen to the rebukes, and he could easily have said his good byes then, he waited till each one of them had returned to his tent, and only then
Haamek Sheilah
The second category, “that which is covered,” refers to matters that can only be revealed to those who already possess knowledge and analytical skills. Similarly, the Torah contains laws that require analysis in order to be understood correctly. These kinds of laws are described as “covered” because while their general location is known, they can be retrieved only with effort, as it says, “If you search for her as for silver… [then you shall understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God].”11Proverbs 2:4–5. This refers to deep analysis of the words of the Torah to derive new concepts related to the context of the passage that are hidden within the words. The Netziv interprets the word “silver” in this verse as silver ore rather than silver coins. See Kadmas Ha’amek 2:6 and the introduction to his commentary on the Torah in os 3, where he elucidates this verse in greater detail.
Kli Yakar
And because it says “This is the statute of the Torah” and not “the statute of the cow,” we learn that the Torah and the red heifer are one matter, just as the Torah is called by Moses’s name, as it says Remember the Torah of Moses My servant (Malachi 3:22), so too the red heifer is called by his name. And the reason for both is one: Because 50 gates of understanding were created in the world, and all were given to Moses except one (Nedarim 38a). And through the 49 gates of understanding that he attained, he had an entrance to come into the secret of God, to interpret the Torah in 49 ways of purity and 49 ways of impurity, as it says And search for it as for hidden treasures (Proverbs 2:4) — the word treasures [matmonim] hints at twice 49 [the first two letters having a numerical of 49], monim [times] being two times, because through this, the words of God are pure words, refined sevenfold (Psalms 12:7), meaning seven times seven.
Similarly, the reason for the red heifer is hidden from all living beings, even from Solomon, of whom it says he was wiser than any man (1 Kings 5:11), and it was revealed only to Moses through the 49 gates of understanding that he attained, as concluded in Yalkut Shimoni (658 on Psalms 12): Silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified sevenfold. Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi interpreted this verse regarding the section of the red heifer, which has seven times seven: seven cows, seven sprinklings, seven burnings, seven washings, seven impure persons, seven pure persons, seven priests. If someone tells you they are lacking, tell him that Moses and Aaron were also included.
We should examine what significance this number has that a verse about refined sevenfold was expounded upon it. Rather, certainly the opinion of this midrash is to give a reason for what is written in the midrash (Yalkut Shimoni 759 on Chukat 19): And they shall take to you a red heifer — to you I reveal the secret of the heifer, but to others it is a statute. And why was it hidden from all living beings? Because it contains the number 49, which hints that its matter can only be refined and purified through the 49 gates of understanding that were revealed only to Moses. Therefore, it remains a statute to others, even to Solomon.
Similarly, the reason for the red heifer is hidden from all living beings, even from Solomon, of whom it says he was wiser than any man (1 Kings 5:11), and it was revealed only to Moses through the 49 gates of understanding that he attained, as concluded in Yalkut Shimoni (658 on Psalms 12): Silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified sevenfold. Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi interpreted this verse regarding the section of the red heifer, which has seven times seven: seven cows, seven sprinklings, seven burnings, seven washings, seven impure persons, seven pure persons, seven priests. If someone tells you they are lacking, tell him that Moses and Aaron were also included.
We should examine what significance this number has that a verse about refined sevenfold was expounded upon it. Rather, certainly the opinion of this midrash is to give a reason for what is written in the midrash (Yalkut Shimoni 759 on Chukat 19): And they shall take to you a red heifer — to you I reveal the secret of the heifer, but to others it is a statute. And why was it hidden from all living beings? Because it contains the number 49, which hints that its matter can only be refined and purified through the 49 gates of understanding that were revealed only to Moses. Therefore, it remains a statute to others, even to Solomon.