Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- D'varim
- Shoftim
The usual translation of "tamim" is "simple;" (as usually found in Hagadot, the Tam is the "simple" son). But the standard dictionary defines the word "simple" as "foolish or gullible," as in the children’s poem "Simple Simon," where, among other things, the silly Simon collects water not in a pail, but in a sieve where all the water leaks out. Is it feasible that one of our Jewish children would be "simple?!"
Surely the Torah means something else.
Our Sedra contains the prohibition of seeking out astrologers or fortune tellers who claim to know the future, or say they can predict what times are fortuitous, & what times are dangerous. We are not allowed to employ their services. But there is a dispute between Rambam & Ramban as to what we should do if a bona-fide astrologer comes to us & warns us of some impending danger.
The Ramban says we must heed their warning, based on the verse, "And you should not test Hashem your G-d;" inferring that perhaps G-d sent this person to us & we should "play it safe" by listening. But Rambam sternly disagrees. "All these people are phony," he warns, but even if they somehow do know something, you should rely only on Hashem, & he then quotes our pasuk, "Tamim tih’ye im Hashem Elokecha." (Of course, help from legitimate sources, such as doctors – like Rambam himself - would not only be permissible, but mandatory).
The Torah uses the word "tam" in reference to two righteous individuals, Noach & Yakov: "Noach ish tzadik, tamim haya b’dorotav;" & "Yakov ish tam, yoshayv ohalim." What, if anything, connects these two disparate personalities?
I want to suggest that both Noach & Yakov, perhaps more than anyone else in all the Chumash, endured immense trials & tribulations. Noach saw the entire world destroyed, & then was cruelly abused by his own child. Yakov was forced to leave his home at a young age, lost his beloved Rachel suddenly, & then had to deal with the (apparent) death of his favorite son. How could any normal person survive these terrible traumas? How can WE survive our own traumas, G-d forbid?
The only way is by remaining a "tam," by placing all our trust, all our hope, all our fear & anger & despair in G-d. Where education & erudition end, Emuna begins; that is the time when sophistication must give way to simplicity and with it, hopefully, serenity.
How to Join the Ranks of the Greatest People in History
Rabbi Netanel Yossifun | Elul 6 5782
NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT
Rabbi Stewart Weiss | Elul 7 5776
Eglah Arufah
Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | Kislev 18 5780
