Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Sovereignty of Torah
12:06 PM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
By Rav Moshe Sternbuch
DIVINE ETHICS
“And these
are the ordinances” (21:1). Rashi: just as what was previously stated
[the Ten Commandments] were from Sinai, so too are these from Sinai.
After
describing kabolas hatorah the Torah immediately delineates the laws of interpersonal
relationships, such as the provisions against cheating and stealing. This teaches
us that the Torah’s civil and criminal laws are no less divine than the chukim,
which cannot be derived by applying the principles of human logic. "He has
not dealt so with any nation: and as for His ordinances [mishpotim],
they do not know them”. Furthermore, Pirkei Ovos, which deals
exclusively with ethics, starts with Moshe kibel Torah miSinai, in order
to emphasize that ethical matters too are divinely ordained.
For example, the
mishna (Masseches Bovo Metzia 75b) states that if an employee
deceives a fellow employee upon hiring him with regard to the remuneration
terms specified by their employer, the deceived worker only has a grievance
against the other worker. In other words, the aggrieved party does not have a claim
which he can enforce in bais din, but he is entitled to hold a grudge
against the person who has wronged him. Rav Moshe Schneider zt”l said in the name of Rav Yisroel
Salanter zt”l that this demonstrates
that even holding a grievance is forbidden unless the halocho explicitly
confirms it to be justified.
DIVINE PUNISHMENT
“Should you
buy a Hebrew slave” (21:2)
The Chofetz
Chaim zt”l noted that this section teaches us how much Hashem condemns a thief.
With us a wealthy person is likely to be honored and feted even if his wealth
has been amassed by dishonest means, and everyone knows it. By contrast, the
Torah prescribes that if a thief cannot pay back what he has stolen, he has to
be degraded by being in the service of another person for six years, and
cohabiting with a Gentile maidservant.
On the other hand, unlike secular systems in
which thieves are imprisoned, only to have their wayward ways reinforced by
constantly sharing the company of fellow criminals, the Torah’s idea of punishment
focuses not only on the restoration of the stolen object and degradation of the
thief, but also on educating him. Thus, the Torah insists that the master must
give his best food to the "slave". By witnessing such behavior and generally
being in a Torah environment, the thief is inspired to appreciate the beauty
and justice of its laws, and is more likely to be rehabilitated once he has
completed his punishment.
Honesty pays
“The
homeowner shall approach the judges [venikrav ba’al habayis el ho’elokim] [to
swear] that he has not laid his hand upon his neighbor's property” (21:7)
The above is
the plain meaning of this possuk, but a Rebbe once rendered it as
follows: How can a businessman [ba’al habayis] come close to
Hashem? If he has not laid his hand on his neighbor's property, in other words
if he has not obtained property by dishonest means, only then can he come close
to Hashem.
Bonding with our children
“And one
who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death…” (21:15)
The possuk
talks about someone who strikes his father or mother and about a person who
curses his father or mother, but in between it refers to someone who steals a
man, and sells him. Why did the Torah not put the prohibition against smiting a
parent in juxtaposition to the prohibition of cursing a parent? On the face of
it, these two similar prohibitions belong together.
The Ibn Ezra
explains that the Torah is telling us about the origins of this extreme case of
a son cursing his father. Since he was stolen from his father's house, and did
not learn how to respect him, he will eventually end up cursing him. Unfortunately,
we witnessed such phenomena in recent generations, when children were separated
from their parents here in Eretz Yisroel. In such circumstances, the son
is exposed to outsiders seeking to convince him that his father belongs to the
old generation and has no understanding of today’s needs. The boy’s heart will
be “stolen”, he will start calling his father names, and will eventually curse
him.
Moreover, even
in the absence of physical separation, if there is no close connection between
a father and son, the father's influence over his child will decline. If we
make it our priority to nurture a genuine connection with our children, then
even if they go through difficult periods, they will never want to sever their bond
with their parents.
Kashrus
“And you
shall be a holy people to Me, and flesh torn [tereifo] in the field you shall
not eat” (22:30)
When it comes
to ma’acholos asuros we have to behave like “holy people" who adopt
stringencies and ensure that any food enters their mouths does not have the
slightest suspicion of being treif. For this purpose we have to stick
only to the most reliable hechsherim, and avoid places where shochtim
compete with each other as to who can shecht the most chickens or beef
in an hour. Moreover, even when we are away travelling ("in the
field"), we should not compromise the standards which we maintain at home.
UNISON
“And all
the people answered in unison and said, "All the words that Hashem has
spoken we will do."” (24:3)
Why does it
say that the people answered in unison?
In a public
auction in which people bid against each other, the person whose bid is
accepted might claim that he would not have agreed to buy the auctioned item
had the other people not forced him to outbid them. Similarly, had only part of
the nation agreed to accept the Torah and others followed suit, those who did
not agree initially might have argued that they had been convinced to consent
by those who agreed before them, and they wished to withdraw their consent.
Since, however, all the people answered in unison, any such arguments could not
be made.
Cancelling gezeiros
“And Moshe
was upon the mountain forty days and forty nights” (24:18)
The number 40
is of great significance. For example, the mabul lasted for 40 days. Also,
continuous prayer for a 40-day period for the sake of a specific purpose is a
wonderful segulo. Someone suffering from misfortune, who is in need of a
yeshu’o should go to shul on a daily basis especially for the
sake of the prayer, he should state what he is asking for, give money to
charity, and afterwards recite the fourth book of Tehilim (chapters
90-107) and undertake bli neder that if Hashem will answer his prayers,
he will say the nishmas prayer continuously for a 40-day period.
Many people have had their prayers answered in this way. We must not lose sight
of the fact, however, that the basis of all segulos is to trust in
Hashem that He will help.
Moreover, dinim
(judgments) should be distinguished from gezeiros (decrees). Dinim can be
overturned through prayer, segulos and repentance, whereas gezeiros are much more difficult to overturn. This
could only take place on occasions such as Yom Kippur or when we pray with
tears throughout the year. We also have a tradition that if someone undertakes
to pray the yom kippur koton prayer
every month and engages in a dialogue with the Creator from the depths of their
heart with tears to the best of their ability, that is also effective for
overturning gezeiros.
During the last
yom kippur koton prayers (erev rosh chodesh odor) Rav Sternbuch spoke briefly about the
current situation in Eretz Yisroel. He said that this was an ais zoro,
and that the issue of serving in the army is symptomatic of their general goal
of secularizing the nation. They are fully aware that the yeshivas are
the core of the whole nation in its genuine form, and that is why they wish to
undermine them as much as they can. Rav Sternbuch implored those present to
bear in mind that we are still before the stage of a gezeiro, and should make the most of our
possibilities of changing the situation through prayer and repentance before a gezeiro
crystallizes, because such a situation would rachmono litzlon be much
more difficult to overturn.
ParaShas Shekolim
Rashi brings
the Medrash that Moshe had difficulties with the machatzis hashekel,
and so Hashem showed him the form of a fiery coin. Why did Moshe have
difficulties in understanding the shape of a coin, and what was the
significance of the fire?
Moshe did not
understand why specifically half a shekel was required. Hashem’s response was
that the physical act of giving only constituted half of the mitzvah, whereas
the emotion accompanying the act and the desire to perform the will of Hashem
are complementary and indispensable ingredients. If these are lacking, then not
even half of the mitzva has been performed. Since these aspects of the mitzva
are intangible, they are compared to fire, which cannot be touched.
Similarly, it
says that someone giving tzedoko to a fellow Jew with a sour face loses
his reward. During World War Two, Rav Sternbuch went round collecting money for
Rav Schneider’s Yeshiva in London. Some people refused to give anything pointing
to the sign outside their door “No hawkers allowed!”, and even some of those
who did give something, complained to Rav Sternbuch: "Why do people come
to me all the time? I’ve had enough of this! All right, what can I do, here,
take this and go!”
The act of
giving is only an empty shell that has to be filled with genuine love and respect
for the recipient - be he an oni or the representative of a Torah
institution - based on the recognition that the money with which we are parting
is not ours in the first place, and that by means of this act money is being
handed over to its rightful owner, and the recipient has enabled us to
come closer to Hashem.
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