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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Behar
The previous parasha ends with the incident of the blasphemer. Now God instructs Moshe to tell the People of Israel that, when they inherit the Land of Israel, they must observe a Sabbath for the land.
Chazal explain the juxtaposition of the reference to Mt. Sinai/הר סיני, with the rules of the Sabbatical year/שנת שמיטה: Just as all the detailed laws concerning שמיטה are revealed here, so, too, the details of all Torah laws were revealed at Mt. Sinai.
However, there is a different question of juxtaposition which arises here: How do the extensive details of the laws of שמיטה relate to the immediately preceding incident, in which Moshe does not know the law relating to the punishment of a blasphemer/מגדף?
The word הר is from the root ה-ר-ר "to protrude in isolation." The word שמיטה is from the root ש-מ-ט "to release." Both land and debts are released in the seventh year. The word מגדף is from the root ג-ד-ף "to scorn and defame."
According to the Torah, Moshe did not know how to deal with someone who cursed God; he received no guidance as to an appropriate punishment. As a result, the blasphemer is incarcerated until Moshe asks God how to deal with this particular sin. However, the incident of the מגדף seems to contradict the explanation of Chazal that all of the laws given at Sinai were conveyed in all of their detail. If that was the case, why does Moshe need to request that God reveal the punishment for this sin?
It seems incomprehensible that there were no laws dealing with cursing God, one of the most serious sins imaginable. In addition, it is the kind of act that can be committed at any time, in any place, by any person. And yet, the Torah clearly indicates that no established protocol existed for dealing with a blasphemer until Moshe seeks God’s special instructions!
Contrast this with שמיטה, the laws of which are minutely detailed. Yet, the שמיטה laws should not have been a priority in the desert. The practical observance of שמיטה would not begin until the Jews entered the land of Israel/כי תבואו אל הארץ. In fact, it was not until the fifteenth year after coming to the land that the first cycle ofשמיטה began. Chazal tell us that it took seven years to conquer the land and another seven years to apportion and settle it. The first שבת of the land was observed in the twenty-first year after the Jewish people entered the land.
The word תבואו is from the root ב-ו-א "to come to an attractive place." The word שבת is from the root ש-ב-ת "to cease activity before completion."
How can one explain why the Torah sets forth the details of שמיטה, while the laws of מגדף were utterly disregarded? The answer is a psychological one. The sin of blasphemy is such a terrible act that the Torah did not want even to mention it as a possibility. To enumerate the details would acknowledge that it is possible for a Jew to commit such a sin. Instead, God waited until the act was actually committed (Chazal tell us, by a renegade half-Egyptian, half-Jew) whereupon the specific rules of punishment were detailed to Moshe.
Copyright © 2014, Matityahu Clark. All Rights Reserved. This is an excerpt from the forthcoming Hirsch At Your Table, a collection of brief divrei torah based on R. Samson Raphael Hirsch’s Torah Commentary.
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
Shlach Lecha "Why So Many Don't Make Aliya?" - Parshat Shlach
This short article deals with the weird phenomena that every single time Am Yisrael is meant to enter the Land of Israel, throughout the Tanach, 2nd Temple and until today, they "chicken out" and look for excuses. What's the problem with this mitzvah that proves so challenging. The article, based on sources, suggests that the difficulties of Eretz Yisrael is precisely her secret and beauty!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 4
The class deals with Islam and how the Muslim tries convincing the King of the Khazars, and why he was also rejected.
Beha'alotcha JEWISH STATE= GUIDE TO G-DLINESS & SELFLESSNESS
A Jewish State not only is a good idea, but educates us towards selflessness, altruism and G-dliness in our daily lives.
Ein Aya In Zion Even the Smoke of the Bark is Sweet
Just as Jewish nationalism is different from others, so too our capitol of Jerusalem is totally different than other national capitols. Rav Kook beautifully explains the passage in the Talmud that the trees of Yerushalayim were cinnamon trees.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 3
The second speaker invited to convince the Khazar King is the Christian, who presents their beliefs. Even before the questions of the King, "between the lines", the author R. Yehuda HaLevi already begins disproving them.
Ein Aya "Intimacy: Love, Life & Giving or Egocentric Taking & Expiration"
Today, many confuse between intimacy in marriage, based on love, giving and life which are diametrically opposed to empty "sex", pornography and prostitution which destroyed the Beit HaMikdash. The practical importance of clarifying this topic in today's western society is obvious, especially for young adults.