Emor Parshah Thoughts
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Believing In Hashem Too Much
The Man ‘went out’ and cursed Hashem. Why did he do it? Rashi links it to the Torah’s intro, ‘he went out…’, i
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Believing In Hashem Too Much
The Man ‘went out’ and cursed Hashem. Why did he do it? Rashi links it to the Torah’s intro, ‘he went out…’, in three ways;
1. he left (i.e. lost!) his share in the world to come,2. ‘he came out’ of the previous parshah where we are told to put bread on the shulchan table on Shabbos, which stays there until the next Shabbos. He said ‘A king eats fresh bread. How is it that Hashem gets week-old bread?’
[Fine question. But does this lead to cursing Hashem?
When we bring old bread to Hashem – a seeming disgrace – others see and go farther, cursing Hashem when circumstances arise. He might not have cursed Hashem – angry as he was – had he not developed a disregard for Hashem’s honor.
Such are the ramifications of small disregard on our part!]
1. The curser had a disagreement with other Jews and ‘he went out’ of Beis Din the loser.
So why curse Hashem? His quarrel was with Bes Din!
The kinderlach said that he cursed Hashem because His laws made him lose.
We suggested that in general when people ruin their lives, they turn around and pin it on Hashem. Please, lets not be so frum!
Wicked people curse Hashem for their bad luck, tzaddikim piously accept Hashem’s judgment; neither realize that it has all to do with them.
They have caused their own troubles, not Hashem. People accept ‘Hashem’s judgment’ even when it had nothing to do with Him.
And the flip side is that someone lost a court case and cursed Hashem!
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Its Not How You Say It, Its What You Say…
How was the curser punished? ‘Take the person who cursed and stone him. And tell the Jewish people: he who curses will bear heavy sin. The one who has cursed Hashem is to be killed etc. And the man who kills his fellow shall die. If he kills an animal he shall pay for it etc. And should he wound his fellow man as he did shall be done to him etc.’
Why is this all pertinent here? This belongs in Mishpatim, where damages are discussed; why does it appear by cursing Hashem?
The Torah places cursing Hashem into context: A person cursing Hashem attacks Hashem. It’s pretty hard to attack Hashem, who is invisible and intellectually incomprehensible. Yet using words – speech – to curse Him somehow, somewhere constitutes a hit on Hashem.
It is a part of the lineup – hurting Hashem, hurting a fellowman, hurting an animal.
The legal definition of cursing Hashem is saying ‘May Yossi hit Yossi!’ (-substituting Hashem’s name ‘Yossi’). Anything less is simple frivolity – who besides Hashem can hurt Him? Asking Him to hit Himself sounds odd (- is He expected to carry this out?!) yet this is effective. Man has been given power, awesome power.
Rethink our power of tongue to damage. And in the other direction; we have power in blessing and praying; our words do effect!
P.S. Often, we daaven quickly, anxious to get back to work, to get stuff done. Ironically, this is like a crew arming up a tank or fighter jet before battle and saying ‘Lets get going! All this missile stuff? Lets fight already!’
I don’t think so. Without arms, your tank action will be kinda short…
Sam, the newbie salesman: Visiting a business, he shmoozes with the clerk instead of spending his time pitching the boss upstairs. He reasons that the clerk actually writes out the order, so he better get onto his good side. Silly. The clerk writes what the big boss tells him to. Chat up the boss!
At prayer we get direct appeal to the Boss. Thats where the real action is. In the workplace the clerk merely writes out the check. Focus more on the boss and less on the clerk!
Shabbos too. Shabbos is not down time. Shabbos is the source of bracha for the entire week. Its when we fuel up and load the missiles. Shouldn’t we make sure that we get into Shabbos early and leave it late?
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Ok, Who Done It?
One fellow wanted to put his tent with Dan. They shooed him away. He took the case to Beis Din and was found in the wrong. He cursed Hashem. He was executed for his efforts. An altogether unfortunate episode.
That Dannite who protested and caused so much pain: Why did he do it? Was he correct?
The kinderlach had several thoughts;
1. Perhaps there was a limited area granted to Dan. Another family moving in meant less space for the rest of them. There was no real need or justification to move specifically there: there was place for those with no family. (- Where the Eruv Rav lived) It would be wrong to welcome him in!2. As events proved, he was a rotten apple. His low lineage was reflected in his acts. They may have already known of him and did not want this bum’s kids teaching their’s swear words and bad behavior. So they threw him out.3. The Torah wanted Shvatim living separately; each as a tribe. An admixture of outsiders would spoil the scheme of things. Much as they personally welcome outsiders into their community, this was not what the Torah had wanted from them at this time.4. A related idea: Hashem had wanted people defined by patriarchal lineage. Mr. Wannabe Dannite was presenting his matriarchal lineage. The people were rebuking him for contravening and undermining the Torah dictate and moving in. Rebuking a sinner is a Torah value.5. The people of Dan were simply being selfish, keeping outsiders out. It would have been better had they been gracious about it. Yet they were within their rights. They were not nice, but cannot be faulted for the outcome.6. Or were the people of Dan truly guilty in this sorry episode….?
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The Secret Code
When one sinner cursed Hashem, he was jailed until Hashem decreed judgment. The Gemarah tells us that we cannot learn Halachik principle from this story because it was irregular (“chiddush hu”). Rashi explains that there was no legal basis to jail him; cursing Hashem hadn’t yet been defined a sin!
So why did they lock him up?!?
Although never stated, certain things go without saying. The people felt in their bones that this cannot be tolerated. Their reaction proved correct: he was sentenced to death.
Perhaps this is the SIXTH chelek of shulchan aruch; besides the standard four, besides the fifth one of common sense, another code exists though written nowhere. The Code Of Devotion to Hashem is real. It exists in the hearts of people devoted to Him.
I can think of many instances where this code is evinced. Can you?
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TimeSpace
The Sforno explains the pasuk: ‘It is Shabbos before Hashem in all your homes’ that every part of the world has a different time zone. The Torah tells that Shabbos starts at every location at its time, not the entire world at once.
Shabbos has no specific time? Does it not affect all at the same time?
It would seem that time itself is not absolute, the same in all places, rather it is tied to place, similar to any physical object. Time exists as a point in the universe, and as the world spins, we pass through time, much as we pass through place. For example: the hour of ‘exactly four hundred hours’ since creation of the world exists at different places in different times. As the world spins, it becomes that time progressively around the world.
This seems difficult to conceptualize: when the world was created every part of it came into existence at once, presumably. An hour later each and every part was exactly an hour old, no matter where it stood. So how can it be that different parts of the world reach the four hundred hour mark at different times?
Perhaps it needs to be explained a bit differently: Time, in fact, is an aspect of matter. Matter exists as a time-object. Time is a property just like heat and cold is. We can say that this part of the globe is cold right now, and the next part of the globe will become cold when it reaches that place too. So too, it becomes Shabbos in different places at different times.
Time and space are interdependent. Sounds like something Einstein would say…
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Accomplished And Happy
What is the nexus between keeping from pleasure on Yom Kippur, and refraining from doing work on Yom Kippur? The Torah goes back and forth between the two, indicating some connection. What is it?
The idea behind Yom Kippur is humbling oneself; acting meek and guilty. Its power lies in the posture we assume, not in fasting itself. In fact, fasting is referred to as ‘humbling’. Acting humble and contrite brings forgiveness. If our enemy humbles himself before us we forgive him. So too, when we humble ourselves before Hashem, He is inclined to forgive us.
Accomplishment is related. When we do and accomplish we feel power and ability. Doing makes us feel good about ourselves. Feeling powerful and feeling meek don’t go together.
Not working and fasting are related; they foster feelings in us that make Hashem forgive.
What is the takeaway? 1. Be aware that we need to feel low before Hashem, and 2. to feel good about ourselves we need to accomplish.
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Shabbos VS Yomtov
The Torah puts Shabbos together with the list of the holidays. Rashi asks ‘What has Shabbos to do with the holidays!?’ and goes on to give a homiletic explanation.
It seems obvious to him that Shabbos is NOT a holiday. Yet why not? Isn’t it time-bound?
Shabbos is different: Shabbos is part of the tissue of time itself. Time has its ups and downs, and Shabbos is the ‘up’. Its integral to time itself. Yomtov, however, is superimposed onto time, not essentially part of it.
That’s why Shabbos is regular – every seven days – while yomtov is only from time to time, and varies in nature too.
And thats also why Yomtov can be determined by us while Shabbos is out of our hands.
The idea needs development, this is its start.
©2014
kollel parshah | Tiferet Ramot 83-21, Jerusalem, Israel, 97290
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