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The Talmud(1) states: למה תוקעין ומריעין כשהן יושבין, ותוקעין ומריעין כשהן עומדין? כדי  לערבב השטן. Why (do the Jews) blow the shofar while sitting and (again) blow it standing? In order to confuse Satan. The imagery invoked here is that of Satan in his role as prosecutor in the heavenly court. He is tasked with detailing the sins of mankind in order to bring G-d’s wrath upon them. Three questions on this citation: What is so confusing about the shofar blowing? If it is so tough on Satan, why doesn’t he just take a coffee break from prosecuting before continuing? By the time the court reconvenes, the offensive blasts would be long finished! What is the connection between the sitting and standing and Satan’s internal turmoil? First, we must understand the significance of the ram’s horn as the means used to confound Satan in the first place. Our Sages(2) explain as follows: אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא: תקעו לפני בשופר של איל, כדי שאזכור לכם עקידת יצחק. The Holy One, Blessed be He stated: Blow the horn of a ram before me, that I might recall the Binding of Isaac. Thus, the reason for choosing the shofar of a ram is to “remind” Hashem of .עקידת יצחק What exactly happened at עקידת יצחק? In  בראשית כבwe find Avraham preparing to sacrifice his son Yitzchak. Suddenly an angel stopped him, and Avraham noticed a ram caught in the bushes, which was then substituted for Isaac. But Rashi(3) adds a few details missing from the text: בקרניו – שהיה רץ אצל אברהם והשטן סובכו  ומערבבו באילנות כדי לעכבו. “(Caught by) it’s horns”:  for (the ram) had been running towards Abraham, and Satan entangled and confused it in the brush in order to hold it back. Here we have Satan attempting to “confuse and confound” the ram from accomplishing its mission of offering itself as a sacrifice in Isaac’s stead. Satan’s strategy apparently includes attempting to entrap and confuse do-gooders, in an attempt to halt their mission. Rashi’s source is the following Pirkei D’Rebbe Eliezer(4), but notice the continuation of the story omitted in Rashi’s account: ר’ זכריה אומר, אותו האיל כשנברא בין השמשות היה ובא להתקרב תחת יצחק והיה סמאל עומד ומסטינו כדי לבטל קרבנו של אברהם אבינו; ונאחז בשני קרנותיו בין האילנות. שנאמר וישא אברהם את עיניו וירא והנה איל אחר נאחז בסבך בקרניו. מה עשה אותו האיל? פשט את ידו ואחז בטלתו של אברהם. Rabbi Zechariah says, this ram was created during the twilight hour (on the eve of the first Sabbath), and it was approaching (Abraham) as a substitute for Isaac. Samael (Satan) then stood and distracted (the ram) in order to inhibit its plans, and it was then caught by its horns in the brush, as is stated, “and Abraham lifted his eyes and behold he saw a ram caught behind the thistles by its Horns.” What did the ram do? It extended its hoof and grabbed onto Abraham’s garment. A particularly resolute ram indeed… even from its helpless entrapment in the thistles, it manages to reach out to Avraham signal its existence.  The animal literally extended itself, albeit ever so slightly, going beyond the call of duty to insure the success of its mission to save Isaac. Thus, we see Satan attempting to block and distract the ram from its mission of offering itself as a sacrifice, but ironically, it is not the ram that is confounded by Satan, but on the contrary, the Adversary himself who is stymied by no more than a hapless sheep’s paw-extension. In the following Zohar(5), we find   הקב”ה כביכול turning the tables and using a very similar tactic against Satan himself; where Hashem’s instrument of “distraction” is the shofar, blown on Rosh Hashana: (משל) לבר נש דהוה רגיז וחגר וזיין גרמיה, ונפק ברוגזיה לקטלא לבני נשא, חד חכימא קם על פתחא ואחיד ביה; אמר אלמלא לא אחיד בי ואתתקף בי הא קטולא בבני נשא. אשתכח, בעוד דאתתקפו דא בדא ואחיד דא בדא אצטנן רוגזיה על דנפק לקטלא, נפק לאוכחא. מאן סביל רוגזא ותוקפא דדינא דההוא בר נש הוי אימא דא דקאים אפתחא. כך אמר קודשא בריך הוא לישראל בני, לא תדחלון הא נא קאים על פתחא  אבל אזדרזו בהאי יומא והבו לי חילא. ובמה? בשופר. This is comparable to a person who became angered and… prepares himself to kill someone. A wise man stood in the way and stalled him. The (would-be murderer) turned to the wise man and said, “had you not stalled me, I would have murdered a person”… thus does Hashem say, to Israel, “my sons, fear not, for I shall stand in the threshold (to thwart the Accuser). However, hasten on this day and give me power; with what? With the shofar. G-d is offering to thwart the destructive designs of Satan, using the latter’s own MO. But Hashem’s trump card is the shofar, a reminder to the Accuser of his own impotence in the face of the self-sacrifice of the primordial ram. But what is it about the seated and standing shofar blasts that throw Satan for a loop? Maharal(6) has a very simple explanation: עצם המאמץ לעמד בתקיעות שניות הוא מערבב את השטן. The very (simple) effort to stand for the second shofar blasts confuses Satan. A deceptively simple explanation. The slight effort it takes to stand up for a few minutes causes Satan such confusion? Apparently, any extra effort that’s לשם שמים throws Satan into a state of bewilderment from which he can’t always recover – just as the ram’s stretching its hoof to alert Avraham of its existence saved Yitzchak’s life. We tend to think of Satan as a sophisticated charlatan, armed with a bag full of tried and tested tricks nearly impossible for mere mortals to overcome. But truth be told, Satan has but one solitary destructive tactic, albeit with numerous variations: ערבוב illusion/confusion, another example of which is demonstrated in the following Midrash(7) about Avraham on the way to the Akeida. א”ל (שטן לאברהם אבינו): זקן, לא שם הייתי כשאמר לך הקב”ה קח את בנך וזקן כמותך ילך ויאבד בן שנתן לו למאה שנה… כיון שראה שלא קבלו  (אברהם ובנו) ממנו (טענותיו) הלך  ונעשה לפניהם נהר גדול… כיון שהגיע עד חצי הנהר הגיע המים עד צוארו באותה שעה תלה אברהם עיניו לשמים אמר לפניו רבש”ע… עכשיו באו מים עד נפש; אם אני או יצחק בני טובע מי יקיים מאמרך, על מי יתייחד שמך?… מיד גער הקב”ה את המעין ויבש הנהר ועמדו ביבשה. (Satan said to Avraham on the way to the Akeida): Old man, was I not there when G-d told you, “take thy son” – will an old man like you go and destroy a son given to him in his hundredth year?! When Satan saw that (Avraham and his son) did not heed him, (Satan) transformed himself into a great river. When (Avraham) had traversed half the river, the water was up to his neck. At that moment Avraham raised his eyes to Heaven and said, “Master of the Universe… now the water is threatening my life! If Isaac or I drown, who will fulfill Your word; who will unify Your Name”? Immediately, Hashem blocked the spring, and the river dried up, and they stood on dry land. Again in the following source (8) depicting how the tragedy of the sin of the Golden Calf came about, Rashi again makes reference to the MO of Satan, עירבוב. כשעלה משה להר (סיני), אמר להם: לסוף ארבעים יום אני בא בתוך שש שעות, הם סבורים שאותו יום שעלה בו מן המנין הוה, והוא אמר להם ארבעים יום שלימים, יום ולילו עמו, ויום עלייתו אין לילו עמו, שהרי בשבעה בסיון עלה, נמצא יום ארבעים בשבעה עשר בתמוז היה, בששה עשר בא שטן ועירבב את העולם, והראה דמות חשך ואפילה, דמות ענן וערפל  וערבוביא, לומר: ודאי מת משה, שהרי באו כבר שש ולא בא. When Moshe ascended (to Sinai), he told (Israel): at the end of forty days I shall arrive by the sixth hour. They believed that that very day was part of the count, whilst (Moshe) had intended (the count) to include forty full days (starting on the morrow)… (the fortieth day according to Moshe’s reckoning was therefore) the seventeenth of Tammuz. On the sixteenth, Satan came and brought chaos to the world, projecting an illusion of darkness and obscurity, of dark clouds, fog and confusion, as if to say: of certainty Moshe is dead, for the sixth hour is upon us and he has not come. But the Demon’s belief in the weakness of spirit of his victims, of their utter susceptibility to confusion and loss of purpose, is in reality nothing but a projection of Satan’s own feebleness. Satan again and again tries the same confusion and obfuscation tactics, but when given a taste of his own medicine he verily collapses. A few toots of a shofar horn and he utterly loses his bearings. Furthermore, not only does Satan disappear like a shrinking violet at the first sign of resistance, but Israel’s Ally lends a hand as well(9). בשעה שהקב”ה עולה ויושב על כסא דין, בדין הוא עולה… ובשעה שישראל נוטלין שופר ותוקעין, הקב”ה עומד מכסא דין ויושב על כסא רחמים… ומרחם עליהם והופך להם מדת הדין למדת רחמים. When Hashem ascends to sit on the Seat of Judgment, he ascends with judicial (strictness)… but when Israel take the shofar and blow it, the Holy One Blessed be He arises from the Seat of Judgment and sits on the Seat of Mercy… and shows mercy to them, transforming judgment into mercy. Thus, Hashem actually follows Israel’s lead; when we get up from our comfortable seats to hear the shofar, Hashem כביכול rises from His Seat of Judgment as well, and moves to the Seat of Mercy. Satan, instead of facing the anticipated judgmental ear, now must make his case in front of Israel’s loving and protective Father, quite uninterested in the Accuser’s rantings. But this only after Israel takes the first step and blows the shofar. This is a sound explanation of Satan’s confusion, but still in all, Satan remains tasked with prosecuting on the Day of Judgment, and it is this task that we directly undermine by our shofar blowing. What is it about the ram’s horn blasts specifically that leads to the downfall of the Old Serpent’s well-rehearsed accusations? The following beautiful Rambam(10) tells us of a subtle hint contained in the sudden sounding of the shofar: אע”פ שתקיעת שופר בראש השנה גזירת הכתוב רמז יש בו כלומר  עורו ישינים משנתכם … וחפשו במעשיכם וחזרו בתשובה וזכרו בוראכם. Although the shofar blowing on Rosh Hashana is a Biblical decree, it contains the following hint: awaken O you slumberers from your sleep! …search your deeds, repent, and recall your Creator… That is, the shofar is the quintessential alarm clock, meant to waken us spiritually at the eleventh hour, before it’s too late. Because it ain’t over till it’s over, as Rebbe poignantly reminds us(11): בכה רבי ואמר: יש קונה עולמו בשעה אחת. Rebbi cried out and said: a person can acquire the World to Come in the span of a single moment! Indeed, if a person responds correctly to the shofar blasts, he is literally a new person at the end of those five minutes(12). אמר ריש לקיש: גדולה תשובה  שזדונות נעשות לו כזכיות… Resh Lakish says: great is repentance, for even malicious sins are transformed into merits! If so, the Satan’s entire PowerPoint presentation of Israel’s misdeeds disappears without any backup… on the contrary, every accusation has been transformed into a merit! No wonder why poor Satan’s so confused – an entire year’s work is lost beyond recovery… ironically in the span of that very same moment. We think of Satan as if he were some sort of a Loch Ness monster ready to chew us up and spit us out when he’s done. But in truth, he’s hardly a match even for the Cookie Monster. The good news for us is that we know all his tricks, and we therefore are potrntially immune to his ubiquitous obfuscation tactics. Indeed, even a hapless sheep has enough fortitude to defeat him with aught but an outstretched hoof. Furthermore, Satan believes in dividing and conquering, in this case by diverting Avraham’s attention from the ram, which itself was acting as a duty-bound ערב (guarantor) for, and united with, Yitzchak. Hence, there is no more appropriate term for Satan’s confusion –measure for measure– than ערבוב. What’s asked of us in our own lives is nothing approaching the sacrifice of that ram, let alone that of Avraham or Yitzchak. All that Hashem wants of us is that we take a stand, and determine to sacrifice, once and for all, our own superfluous misdeeds. And just as the innocent ram acquired life eternal through its indefatigability(13), so will we merit redemption through our emulating its determination and blowing the ram’s horn, as the Midrash(14) reminds us: וישא אברהם את עיניו וירא והנה איל אחר. מהו אחר… א”ר חנינא ב”ר יצחק, כל ימות השנה ישראל נאחזים בעבירות ומסתבכין בצרות. ובראש השנה הן נוטלין שופר ותוקעין בו ונזכרים לפני הקב”ה, והוא מוחל להם – וסופן ליגאל בקרנו של איל. And Avraham lifted his eyes and behold, he saw a ram ‘achar’ – What is ‘achar’? Chanania b. Yitzchak says, all year long the Israelites are caught up in sin, and are entrapped in adversity, but on Rosh Hashana they take the shofar and blow Hashem then recalls them and forgives their sins. So too their ultimate Redemption will come about through the horn of the ram. May we be at least as resolute about our New Year’s resolutions as the ram of yore, and thus merit this promised redemption –from iniquity and from oppression- this very Rosh Hashana. All that’s asked of us is not to hit the snooze button when the shofar alarm goes off. Footnotes: ר”ה טז,א. שם, שם. רש”י בראשית כב:יג, ד”ה בקרניו. פרקי דרבי אליעזר, פרק ל  ד”ה הנס העשירי ויהי. זוהר ג:יח,ב. 6. מהר”ל חדושי אגדות ברכות טז,ב. תנחומא (ורשא) פ’ וירא כב, ד”ה ויאמר אליו. רש”י שבת פט. ד”ה בא השטן. ילקוט שמעוני פינחס תשפב:כט ד”ה ובחדש השביעי. רמב”ם תשובה ג:ד. ע”ז י,ב. יומא פו,ב. פרקי דרבי אליעזר פרק לא: אוֹתוֹ הָאַיִל לֹא יָצָא מִמֶּנּוּ דָבָר לְבַטָּלָה. 14. בראשית רבה פ’ נו. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr

The root ‘ארש’ (betrothing) appears many times in Scripture, for example: And if a man ארש a wife and has not taken her, let him go and return to his house (Deut. 20:7). The word appears as well in the Haftara of Bamidbar (Hosea 2:1-22), where the Prophet offers a powerful metaphor for Hashem’s love for His people, namely that of a man’s love for his betrothed prior to the actual wedding (the period of אירוסין, a derivative of ארש, as the ס’ and  ש’ often interchange between Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew): And I will ארש you to me forever; I will ארש you to me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in grace, and in mercies. I will ארש you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord (Hosea 2:21-22). This beautiful, consoling passage however stands in stark contrast to the beginning of the chapter, replete as it is with rebuke and warnings of retribution: Strive with your mother, strive, for she is not My wife, and I am not her Husband… I make her like a desert, and I set her like an arid land, and cause her to die of thirst… And I will lay waste her vine and her fig tree (Ibid. 4-14). One is left to wondering; is the Haftara’s message is one of retribution of one of comfort? If the latter, the reading could have begun with the following verses (16-20): Therefore, behold I will allure her and lead her into the desert, and I will speak comfortingly to her heart… And I will give her her vineyards… and the bow, the sword, and war I will break off the earth… …and then going on to end with the beautiful metaphoric verses about betrothal. To this question we will return below. The word “אירוס” (as in “אירוסין” above) is found with disparate denotations in Rabbinic literature. For example, in Sota 9:14 its import is “tambourine.” But the Aruch Hashalem (entry ‘ארוס’) suggests the tambourine is so called because it was often used at betrothal ceremonies. Another Rabbinic meaning for “אירוס” is found in Oholos 8:1, where it denotes a vegetable of some sort. Although no one seeks to connect this meaning to “אירוסין” at all, the commentators do explain a unique characteristic of this group of vegetables: the “אירוס” is robust enough to survive the scathing, dry summers without withering and the water-logged, cold winters without rotting. Perhaps this attribute is the key to understanding both why this vegetable is called “אירוס”, and to the stark contrast between the harsh beginning of Haftara in Hosea Chap. 2 and its end referring to Hashem’s love as betrothal, as follows: a vegetable capable of emerging unscathed from the extreme weather conditions described is unquestionably a hearty one… comparable to the love of an engaged couple which survives severe trials and tribulations. The Haftara is on the one hand is teaching of Hashem’s abiding love, His unswerving love for His people, a love that remains unshakeable despite a myriad of reasons for to G-d forbid react otherwise. The characteristic euphoria and anticipation of the betrothal is due in great measure to newness; they experience love and emotions often never felt before. However, this period, these feelings, by default are wont to diminish over time. But the Torah prepares remedies for every ailment, and this is no exception. The Torah is often compared to a bride (e.g. Num. Rabba 12:8), and the Revelation at Sinai as a wedding (e.g. Tanchuma Acharei Mos 8). The Torah states regarding the great and awesome Revelation: Take heed, and listen, O Israel; this day you have become the people of the Lord your G-d (Deut. 27:9). The Talmud asks on this verse: Was this then the day of the Revelation at Sinai – this was forty years afterwards! Rather this teaches that the Torah is as beloved to her students each and every day – as the very first day she was given at Sinai. The Torah never withers, never rots, never ever becomes irrelevant or old. On the contrary, the love of those who study her ad keep her precepts just strengthens with each passing day, thanks to her holiness and endless insights and revelations. Therefore, one who founds his home on the Torah, who welcomes her and sanctifies his home with her holiness, will merit a vibrant, pulsating, marriage, a lifelong betrothal. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr

The Festival of Shavuot is known under many different names. Although these names are all synonyms for the holiday, each name focuses on a different aspect of Shavuot, and, by elaborating on the meanings of the holiday’s different names, we can gain a better appreciation for the ideas associated with the holiday. First of all, the Bible calls the holiday Chag Shavuot (Ex. 34:22, Deut. 16:10) or Chag HaShavuot (Deut. 16:16, II Chron. 8:13) because its date is not given in the Torah, but is rather determined by using a fixed formula related to weeks (shavuot)*. In other words, since the Torah says to mark this holiday seven weeks after Pesach, it became the Festival of Weeks. The commentators explain why the Torah does not give a fixed calendar date for Shavuot: As opposed to other times of the year, during the Shavuot season many people were camped out in their fields. Because they were not in urban areas they would not be aware of exactly when Rosh Chodesh Sivan was declared by the Sanhedrin. Therefore, instead of giving a specific calendar date, the Torah says that Shavuot will occur seven weeks after Pesach. Those in the field certainly knew when Pesach was, and so they simply had to count seven weeks to get to Shavuot. Why were people in the field during Shavuot-time? This leads us to another name for the holiday, Chag HaKatzir (“Festival of the Harvest”), which appears in Exodus 23:16. Shavuot always occurs during the time when farmers would be harvesting grain, more specifically wheat. Incidentally, the harvest season for grain lasted exactly seven weeks (see Rashi to Jer. 5:24). A third name for Shavuot in the Bible (Num. 28:26) is Yom HaBikkurim (“Day of the Bikkurim”). Bikkurim are the first fruits of the season which Halacha mandates must be brought to the Temple (see Deut. 26:1-11), and the Mishnah (Bikkurim 1:3) teaches that the first day on which these fruits can be brought is Shavuot. The three names Shavuot, Chag HaKatzir, and Yom HaBikkurim all appear in the Bible. However, there are another three names for the holiday which appear exclusively in post-Biblical sources. Firstly, Josephus and other Jewish-Hellenistic sources refer to Shavuot as Yom HaChamishim (literally, “the Fiftieth Day”), from which the English word Pentecost is derived. This name is appropriate because the Holiday of Shavuot always falls out on the fiftieth day of the Counting of the Omer. Secondly, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria apparently called the holiday Chag HaTene (“Festival of the Basket”), an allusion to the baskets in which the bikkurim would be brought. Thirdly, Josephus writes in Antiquities of the Jews (Book III) that the Jews customarily called Shavuot, Asartha — which is an Aramaic rendering of Atzeret (“[festive] gathering” or “stoppage [from work]”). In fact, the Mishnah and Talmud generally refer to Shavuot as Atzeret, not Shavuot. Rabbi Tuviah ben Eliezer, the 11th century author of Midrash Lekach Tov (also known as Pesikta Zutrata), addresses this issue. He notes that he examined the parshiyot related to the holidays and not once does he find the word atzeret associated with Shavuot. In fact, the word atzeret appears in the context of other holidays, like the eighth day of Succot, which is known as Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah (Lev. 23:36, Num. 29:35), and the seventh day of Pesach (Deut. 16:8) — but not Shavuot. Nonetheless, Rabbi Tuviah concludes that atzeret is an appropriate name for the holiday of Shavuot because the Targum (to Num. 28:26) translates b’shavuoteichem in Aramaic as b’atzarteichon (although in other instances the Targumim use Aramaic renderings of the word Shavuot itself), showing that atzeret is somehow an Aramaic rendering of Shavuot. How does atzeret refer to Shavuot? Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapiro of Munkatch (1868-1937) explains that atzeret means “stop” (like in Israel, where stop signs say “atzor”), and in this context denotes “the end” of something. Shavuot is called “the end” because it is the conclusion of Pesach in the same way that Shemini Atzeret is the conclusion of Succot, and is also called Atzeret. In fact, rabbinic literature sometimes refers to Shavuot as “Atzeret of Pesach”, because Shavuot is itself viewed as Pesach’s conclusion (see also Ramban to Lev. 23:36 who offers a similar idea). Rabbi Moshe Zacuto (1625-1697) adopts a related approach. Likewise, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev (1740-1810) writes in Kedushat Levi that the reason behind calling the holiday Shavuot and calling the holiday Atzeret is the same. Both names view the holiday in the context of completing a certain span of time, Shavuot as completing the weeks leading up from Pesach, and Atzeret as the festive finale of Pesach itself. However, Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Hofmann (1843-1921) rejects this understanding, arguing that there is no evidence that the word atzeret is associated with conclusions. Instead, Rabbi Hoffmann, as well as Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg (1785-1865), favor a different understanding. The Bible (Deut. 18:16) refers to the day on which the Jews received the Torah as Yom HaKahal (“Day of the Congregation”). According to tradition Shavuot was the day on which the Torah was given at Mount Sinai. With this in mind it makes sense that the Rabbis refer to Shavuot as Atzeret, which literally means “gathering” or “congregating,” because the Torah already used a similar phrase for that very day. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev proposes another way of understanding the name Atzeret. When a person experiences a spark of inspiration to the love or awe of G-d, he can easily lose that inspiration unless he does something to contain and preserve it. The only way to contain this type of positive inspiration is to put it in a worldly receptacle and store it there. Fulfilling a mitzvahimmediately after experiencing such an inspiration can serve as the incarnation of such a vessel within which the inspiration can be contained. That said, when the Jewish people experienced the revelation of G-d at Mount Sinai they did not yet have any mitzvot to perform that would ensure their ability to preserve the inspiration seen there. Nonetheless, they did have the commandment to refrain from touching the mountain. By fulfilling that commandment, the Jewish people fashioned for themselves a vessel by which they can eternally store the inspiration from Mount Sinai. All of this is alluded to in the word Atzeret,which means both “stop” (as in refrain from touching the mountain) and “gather” (as in gathering the inspiration inside a proverbial container). Rabbi Yechezkel Abramsky (1886-1976) notes that the two holidays which are called Atzeret (the eighth day of Succot and seventh day of Pesach) are notable in that they do not have any specific commandments associated with them. This is in contrast to every other holiday prescribed by the Bible, which has at least one specific mitzvah that is to be done: On (at least) the first day of Succot one must take the lulav; on the first day of Pesach one must eat matzah; on Rosh Hashana, blow the shofar; on Yom Kippur, fast. But on the days called Atzeret the only demand made of celebrants is to refrain — “stop” — from doing work. Following this thought, Rabbi Abramsky notes that when the Temples stood, the holiday of Shavuot also had a special commandment associated with it, i.e. offering two goats and two leavened loaves (Lev. 23:16-20). However, when the First Temple was destroyed and this commandment was no longer in effect, the holiday of Shavuot lost its special commandment and became like the eighth day of Succot and seventh day of Pesach, which have only a prohibition against doing work, but no special commandment to do something. For this reason, in later times, people began to call Shavuot, “Atzeret”. (Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev also writes that Shavuot is called Atzeret because it has only a prohibition of work, but no other mitzvah). Even if we can understand why or how the name Atzeret refers to Shavuot, we have not answered the more important question: Why did the Jews stop using the Biblical names for the holiday and instead develop/adopt other names? Rabbi Baruch Epstein (1860-1941) writes that once the Jews were exiled from the Holy Land, so that cultivating the Land was no longer a central part of their lives, they no longer called the holiday Chag HaKatzir or Yom HaBikkurim because those elements of the holiday became impossible to fulfill. But why did the Rabbis stop using the term Shavuot if that was seemingly not associated with agriculture, per se, but with the time measured in weeks between Pesach and Shavuot? Some explain that because the word shavuot means “weeks,” this implies that the date of the holiday should be determined by calendar weeks that always start on Sunday, not by common weeks that refer to any seven-day period. As such, using the term Shavuot may lend credence to the heretical view of the Saducees who believed that Counting the Omer always begins on a Sunday, so Shavuot will always be on a Sunday — after seven complete calendar weeks. However, rabbinic tradition dictates that Counting the Omer always begins the second day of Passover — regardless of the day of the week — so Shavuot need not necessarily occur on a Sunday, but on whatever day is after exactly seven common weeks from the second day of Pesach. Accordingly, to avoid the appearance of supporting the Sadducean approach, the Rabbis discontinued the name Shavuot and instead called the holiday Atzeret. Now that the Saducees are no longer a relevant force we can revert back to the Bible’s name for the holiday, Shavuot. * NOTE: The word shavua in Hebrew has two meanings: It refers to a seven-day period (a week), and it also refers to a seven-year period (a shemita cycle). In Biblical Hebrew the plural form of the formeris shavuot, while the plural of the latter is shavu’im. Nonetheless, for some reason, Rashi in his commentary to the Talmud sometimes uses the word shavu’im when referring to weeks. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr

We are all probably familiar with the name of the site of the greatest mass revelation of G-d’s existence — Mount Sinai. However, throughout the Bible that place is variously mentioned under other names. These names include “Mountain of G-d,” “Mount Bashan,” “Mount Gavnunim” (Psalms 68:16), “Mount Hemed” (Psalms 68:17), and “Mount Horeb” (Exodus 33:6). Various Midrashic sources offer different interpretations of how all of these terms refer to one mountain and in the following paragraphs we will explore some of those ideas and how they relate to the holiday of Shavuot. The mountain is called Har ha-Elokim, “Mountain of God,” because that is where the Jewish people accepted upon themselves the Godhood of the Creator. Additionally, of all the potential mountains on which God may have revealed His glory, Mount Sinai was the most fitting because it had never been previously worshipped by idolaters, while other mountains were, in fact, deified by such people. Moreover, the term Elokim (“Almighty”) as opposed to the Tetragrammaton implies G-d’s trait of judgement, an allusion to the fact that on Mount Sinai, He assumed the role of a “judge” in revealing to the Jewish People all the civil laws of the Torah (i.e. from Exodus 21 and onwards). Mount Sinai is called Mount Bashan because the name Bashan is a portmanteau of the phrase ba sham (“He came there”), as the commentaries point out that the constants n and m are so similar that they are sometimes interchangeable. This phrase speaking about His “arrival” refers to G-d’s arrival at the mountain in anticipation of giving the Torah. Alternatively, the word Bashan is an abbreviation of the word bi-shinav (“with his teeth”) and alludes to the fact that everything which the Jewish people enjoy “with their teeth” (i.e. all material success, typified by agricultural fecundity) is in the merit of their adherence to the Torah. The name Mount Gavnunim is related to the Hebrew word giben (Leviticus 21:20) which is a blemish that disqualifies a Kohen from service in the Temple (in specific, it refers to abnormally long eyebrows). This is similar to Mount Sinai whose cleanness from idolatry “disqualified” all the other mountains by contrast, rendering them unfit for the giving of the Torah. Alternatively, the Midrash explains that the homiletic similarity between the name Gavnunim and the Hebrew word gevinah (cheese) recalls the fact that at the Sinaitic Revelation, all Jews who suffered any ailment or handicap were miraculously healed. Just as cheese is made by separating the most pristine curds of milk from any impurities (i.e. whey), so were the Jewish people at Mount Sinai in their purest state and nobody had any physical blemishes. Interestingly, some explain that the custom to eat dairy foods on Shavuot is related to Mount Sinai’s alternate name and its comparison to cheese. Mount Hemed (Har Chemed in Hebrew) is another name for Mount Sinai because G-d desired (chemdah) to dwell His presence upon that mountain in specific. It is also called Mount Horeb (Har Chorev in Hebrew) in allusion to the word cherev (“sword”) and refers to the fact that the Sanhedrin received its right to implement capital punishment from the Torah received at Sinai. Of course, the mountain’s most popular name is Mount Sinai. This alludes to the fact that from that place comes “hatred” (sinah). Opposition to the Jewish people (i.e. “anti-Semitism”) stems from a deep hatred and resistance to the Torah and its values. That antinomian attitude began as opposition to the Jews’ cosmic role assumed at Mount Sinai. Finally, some versions of the Midrash say that Mount Moriah is another name for Mount Sinai. The Zohar famously explains that Mount Moriah is called so because of the abundance of sweet-smelling Myrrh that is there. This is somewhat problematic because Mount Moriah is understood to be the place upon which the Holy Temple was built—in Jerusalem, not in the Sinai desert! Indeed, Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi (1075–1141), the famous poet and author of The Kuzari, writes in his song Yom Shabbaton, “He spoke through His holiness on the Mountain of Myrrh/You shall remember and guard the Seventh Day”. By writing that the commandments to observe the Sabbath were given on the Mountain of Myrrh, he also implies that Mount Moriah is the same as Mount Sinai. The simplest way of resolving this issue is that there are two different mountains which are both named Moriah. However, some of the most prominent Ashkenazi Kabbalists such as Rabbi Berachiah Baruch Shapiro (d. 1663) and Rabbi Naftali Katz (1649–1718) explain that Moriah and Sinai are actually the same mountain, and when G-d gave the Torah in the Sinai Wilderness, He uprooted the mountain from its regular place in Jerusalem and brought it to the wilderness, only to return it afterwards. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr

On the Seventh Day of Passover, we read one of the most captivating stories in the entire Bible: the splitting of the sea. After the Egyptians finally let the Jews out of Egypt, they quickly changed their minds and followed in pursuit of their former slaves. The Jews traveled and traveled until they reached edge of the Yam Suf (Red Sea, or Reed Sea). With the Egyptians behind them and the sea in front of them, the Jews had nowhere to go but forward, so G-d miraculously split the sea open and allowed the Jews to cross the dry sea bed. Jewish tradition immortalizes this fantastic miracle as Kriyat Yam Suf — literally, “the tearing of the Yam Suf”. However, if one looks very closely, one will notice that Torah never uses the verb korea (“tearing”) to describe the sea opening up. Rather, the Torah uses the verb bokea (“splitting”) to refer to G-d’s breaking the sea open (Ex. 14:15, 14:21). What is the difference between bokea and korea? And why does the Torah use the former, but other traditional sources use the latter? The Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Alter (1799-1866), author of the Chiddishei HaRim, was once asked this question. He replied that he has much to say, but from Above he is stopped from giving a full answer. Instead, the Gerrer Rebbe said that he could reveal only a partial answer, one that is based on the halachic definition of the act of korea (“tearing,” which is forbidden on Shabbat). The Shulchan Aruch HaGraz (Orach Chaim §340:17) defines korea as the act of ripping apart two things that were joined together, but were once separate. The Midrash says that when G-d first created the world, He stipulated with the water that when the time comes, they will split in order to allow the Jews to cross the Yam Suf. Because of this prior stipulation, the water can be seen as having already been split from the time of Creation. Thus, when the Jews came to the Yam Suf and G-d split the sea for them, He was actually splitting something which had already once been split. For this reason, the Oral Torah uses the word korea when talking about splitting the sea. Nonetheless, the Gerrer Rebbe said that he cannot reveal why the Written Torah uses the word bokea. Rabbi Shmuel Borenstein of Sochatchov (1855-1926) offers a different answer. In his work Shem Mi’Shmuel,he explains that the difference between bokea and korea lies in whose voice is speaking. He explains that the word bokea refers to something which was split from the inside out. For example, a hatchling which bursts out from inside an egg is described as bokea (Isa. 34:15), as is wine which busts open a flask (Gittin 26a). In contrast, the term korea applies to something which is cut by an outside force (like North Korea and South Korea, which were split by the Cold War). Accordingly, Rabbi Borenstein explains that from G-d’s point of view the sea split from the inside out, because He commanded it to split and it listened to Him. For this reason, the Written Torah — in which G-d speaks to us—uses the term bokea when describing the sea’s splitting. However, the Oral Torah is written from the perspective of the Jewish People. From that vantage point the sea did not appear to split on its own. Rather, we look at the sea as having split due to an outside force acting upon it. In other words, we look at G-d as coming from the outside and splitting the sea on our behalf. For this reason the Oral Torah uses the term korea when describing the sea splitting. Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim of Breslau (1740-1814) writes that korea refers specifically to “tearing” or “ripping” something which is soft and can be easily torn. The halachic requirement for one to rend one’s clothes when in mourning is called tearing kriyah. According to this we can explain that when speaking of the tradition of G-d’s “tearing” the sea open, we specifically use the term kriyat yam suf to note that vis-à-vis G-d, tearing the sea is no great feat, because He can do everything. When He tore open the sea, it was as though He tore or ripped something which can be easily torn. Elsewhere, the Bible uses a third verb to denote the cutting open of the sea. In Psalms 136:13, the splitting of the sea is referred to as “cutting (gozer) the Yam Suf into cuts (l’gezarim)”. We also thank G-d in the daily Maariv prayers for being “the one who passes His children between the cuts (gizrei) of the Yam Suf”. How does this verb gozer differ from bokea and korea? Rabbi Pappenheim explains that gozer refers to the act of precision-cutting with an instrument. Anything which is purposely “cut out” from being attached to something bigger can be described as nigzar or a gizrah. A decree, or judicial verdict, is also called a gezirah because the final ruling is “cut out” from the greater back-and-forth of the legal discussion, and is applied on its own. Interestingly, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (to Ps. 136:13) writes that the Psalmist specifically chose the word gozer because that word refers not only to “cutting,” but also denotes “decreeing” and “deciding”. At the splitting of the sea G-d decided the fates of two nations: the Jewish nation who crossed the sea bed on dry land, and the Egyptians who ended up drowning. In a separate discussion about the meaning of the root gozer, Rabbi Pappenheim explains that it denotes the type of cutting whereby one must continuously apply a blade, moving it backwards and forwards until it has cut through whatever one is cutting. This type of cutting is used for cutting something especially thick, such as people (I Kings 3:25), animals (Gen. 15:17), or wood (II Kings 6:4). Accordingly, cutting the Yam Suf is referred to by the verb gozer because the sea is considered something eminently thick. Rabbi Pappenheim and others explain that the two-letter root GIMMEL-ZAYIN — from which gozer is derived — refers primarily to “shaving” or “trimming,” which is a type of cutting that leaves some parts attached and some parts detached. Some quick examples of words that are derived from this root: geiz (Ps. 72:6) refers to the grass remaining after trimming, gozez (Gen. 38:12, 31:19) is the act of shearing wool from sheep; gezel is the act of stealing or robbing somebody’s possession (while leaving some of his other possessions intact); gazam is a type of grasshopper which meddles in produce by eating some of it (and leaving over the rest); geza is a tree whose top has been truncated, and gazit refers to a hewn stone (i.e. parts of the stone are shaved down, and the rest of the stone remains in place). In light of this we can easily understand the etymology of gozer (“cut”), and how it relates to the two-letter root GIMMEL-ZAYIN. [The Modern Hebrew word gezer (“carrot”) is not directly related to this discussion because it is actually derived from the Arabic word for that root-vegetable, jazar (which also means “cut” in Arabic).] The most common word for “cutting” is chaticha. However, it should be noted that a chaticha-related word appears only once in the entire Bible (Dan. 9:24). Nevertheless, cognates of chaticha come up more often in later Hebrew writings. Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim of Breslau (1740-1814) explains that chaticha primarily refers to the act of “cutting” something down the middle, thereby splitting it into two halves. Rabbinic Hebrew adopted the word chaticha and its cognate as the principle words for “cutting,” and expanded the word’s meaning to refer to all types of “cutting”. Rabbi Pappenheim explains that like the word chaticha, batar also refers to cutting something in half. More specifically, it refers to cutting an animal in half for the purposes of using that cut animal as a sign for a covenant/treaty between two parties. He explains that the word batar is related to brit, as both words have the same three consonants. In fact, Genesis 15 describes the Covenant Between the Pieces (Brit Bein Ha’Betarim) — an agreement between G-d and Abraham, which Abraham endorsed by following G-d’s command to cut up certain animals and seal the deal. The prophet Jeremiah (in Jer. 34:18-19) also describes solidifying a treaty by cutting animals in half and walking through them. In all of these cases, the word batar is used. With this in mind, Rabbi Pappenheim explains the meaning of the expression harei bater (“mountains of bater”), which appears in Song of Songs 2:17. That term refers to a pair of mountains which appear to have been originally formed as one, but were split from each other over time. Another word for “cutting” is natach (or its verb form minateach). Rabbi Pappenheim explains that natach differs from batar in that it refers to cutting an animal into multiple pieces (not just two), and is not used for making a treaty, but for other purposes. For example, when a butcher sells different parts of an animal’s body, or a cook cuts up pieces of meat so they can fit in a pot, this is called natach. The Modern Hebrew word nituach (“surgery”) is derived from this Biblical root. The term petitah (found, for example, in Lev. 2:6) refers to breaking up something with one’s bare hands. For instance, a baked good broken up into smaller parts is called pat/pita (one of several Hebrew words for “bread”). Rabbi Pappenheim explains that this term differs from natach not in the quality of the cutting, but in its focus. Petitah/pat focuses on the pieces which result from cutting, while natach refers to the whole body of that which was cut. Interestingly, Rabbi Pappenheim explains that the two-letter root PEH-TAV, which makes up the core of petitah, is also related to the words mefateh/pitui (“convincing” or “cajoling”). When one needs to “convince” somebody else to acquiesce to his propositions, he has essentially “torn up” that person’s feelings into different parts, with the person partially agreeing to him and partially disagreeing. On the other hand, when a person does something completely of his own volition, he is said to do it b’lev shaleim (“with a complete heart”), not with a “partial heart”. Rabbi Pappenheim also expands on this idea to explain the etymology of the word mofet (“wonder” or “sign”), which serves to “convince” somebody of a certain reality. Another word for “cutting” is mohl/milah. Rabbi Pappenheim explains that this term is reserved for cutting off the top of something. It is famously applied to brit milah (“circumcision”), which is the commandment of cutting off the foreskin (on the top of the male organ). It is also applies to cutting off the tops of stalks (Job 18:16, 24:24) and of grass (Ps. 37:2), and dulling the tips of arrows (Ps. 58:8). One who engages in this sort of cutting is called a mohel. I seem to remember reading somewhere once that the terms mohel or milah refer specifically to cutting something round, but I am unable to recall where I saw this idea. Nonetheless, Rabbi Pappenheim writes something similar about a different word. He explains that poleach means to cut something open (see Ps. 141:7, Prov. 7:23), while pelach is that which has been cut out (see Song of Songs 4:3, I Sam. 30:12). Rabbi Pappenheim explains that the hallmark of a pelach is that it refers specifically to something “cut off” from a greater circular parent, such that the shape of the pelach makes its obvious that it is cut from something circular or spherical. The shape of an orange segment or a slice of pizza can be described as a pelach (a “sector” in geometrical terms), and poleach refers specifically to cutting something in that fashion. According to Rabbi Pappenheim, ketev refers to the type of cutting which does not penetrate the entire thickness of something to completely sever it. Rather, it is simply a cut that slices into the thickness, but not through-and-through. This is like a paper-cut, when one’s finger gets cut but is not completely severed. Rabbi Pappenheim explains that all four times that cognates of ketev appear in the Bible (Deut. 32:24, Isa. 28:2, Ps. 91:6, and Hos. 13:14), they refer to a type of illness that cuts one’s innards but does not sever them. Another word for “cutting” is primah/porem (Lev. 13:45, 21:10). Rabbi Pappenheim sharpens the definition of primah by comparing it to kriyah/korea. Each act of kriyah makes another tear that separates one piece from the item-at-large. However, with primah, one act of tearing causes multiple pieces to come off of the item in question. When one rips something made up of many smaller parts (e.g., cheap fabrics), one simple act of ripping already begins to unravel the entire item. That type of “tearing” or “cutting” is called primah. Other words for “cutting” include: 1) Gada (“truncating”), which specifically refers to cutting something as a means of destroying it or rendering it useless. 2) Ketzitzah (“chopping”), which refers to the act of cutting something with one strong blow. Rabbi Pappenheim explains that the root of ketzitzah is the two-letter string KUF-TZADI, which means “end,” because through chopping an object into two parts one creates two new ends of it. 3)Ketifah, which refers to severing something which was only flimsily connected. It is the word used to refer to plucking or detaching a flower or other flora. 4) Karet also refers to “cutting,” and is used to refer to the punishment of spiritual excision. In a future essay I hope to address the etymology of karet and how it differs from another punishment called ariri. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr

Yehoshua Steinberg I. Merciful Skipping שמ’ יב:יג – וראיתי את הדם ופסחתי עלכם. Ex. 12:13 – I will see the blood and pass over you. מכילתא (בא פרשה ז): וראיתי את הדם. היה ר’ ישמעאל אומר והלא הכל גלוי לפניו, שנאמר: ידע מה בחשוכא ונהורא עמיה שרא (דנ’ ב:כב), ואומר: גם חשך לא יחשיך ממך (תה’ קלט:יב), ומה ת”ל וראיתי את הדם. אלא בשכר מצוה שאתם עושים אני נגלה וחס עליכם, שנאמר: ופסחתי עליכם, אין פסיחה אלא חייס, שנאמר: כצפרים עפות כן יגן ה’ צבאות על ירושלם גנון והציל פסוח והמליט (ישע’ לא:ה). ופסחתי עליכם. ר’ יאשיה אומר אל תקרי ופסחתי אלא ופסעתי שהב”ה מדלג על בתי בני ישראל במצרים. שנאמר: קול דודי הנה זה בא מדלג על ההרים (שה”ש ב:ח). Mechilta (Bo, Parsha 7): And I shall see the blood – Rabbi Ishmael said, is not everything revealed to Him, as it is written: in the merit of the Mitzva which you perform I will reveal Myself and spare you, as it is written: He knows what is in the dark, and light dwells with Him (Dan. 2:22), and furthermore: Even darkness will not obscure [anything] from You (Ps. 139:12); Wherefore then, “And I shall see the blood”? Rather, in the merit of of the Mitzva that you have performed I reveal Myself and pity you, as it is written: and pass over you (ופסחתי). This term denotes mercy, as it is written: Like flying birds, so shall the Lord of Hosts protect Jerusalem, protecting and saving, passing over and rescuing (Is. 35:5). And pass over you – Rabbi Josiah said, read not ופסחתי (pass over) but ופסעתי (skip over), for the Holy One, blessed be He skipped over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. As it is written: The sound of my beloved! Behold, he is coming, skipping over the mountains (Song 2:8). Rabbi Josiah employs the Rabbinic tool of אל תיקרי to support his exposition that פסחתי (passing over) is similar in meaning (and close linguistically) to פסעתי (skipping), and an אסמכתא (quasi-proof) from the verse in the Song of Songs, which refers to skipping, which his tradition taught him referred to the Israelite houses which were skipped over. This is, after all the common understanding of the word פסחתי. Rabbi Ishmael’s discourse on the other hand, is somewhat puzzling. What is the practical difference between “showing mercy” on the one hand and “skipping over” on the other – is the end result not the same… the Israelites’ houses will be skipped over, i.e. spared. And what is the purpose of quoting the verse in Isaiah; the word פסוח does not appear to add anything to our understanding of פסחתי – if both mean skipping, then why quote it? And if the point is to demonstrate that the word means “mercy” – how does this verse prove it? Rashi paraphrases the two views from the Mechilta: רש”י שמ’ יב:יג – ופסחתי – וחמלתי, ודומה לו: פסוח והמליט (ישע’ לא:ה). ואני אומר כל פסיחה לשון דלוג וקפיצה ופסחתי מדלג הי’ מבתי ישראל לבתי מצרים שהיו שרוים זה בתוך זה. Rashi Ex. 12:13 – ופסחתי [is rendered] and I will have pity, and similar to it: “sparing פסוח and rescuing” (Isa. 31:5). I say, however, that every [expression of] פסיחה is an expression of skipping and jumping. [Hence,] ופסחתי [means that] He was skipping from the houses of the Israelites to the houses of the Egyptians, for they were living one in the midst of the other. By saying “and I say”, Rashi implies that he prefers the opinion of Rabbi Josiah over that of Rabbi Ishmael (and Onkelos, usually favored by Rashi). What is it that troubles Rashi about this opinion? It must first be said that we English speakers are automatically prejudiced to the view of Rabbi Josiah by the mere use of the term “Passover.” This name presumes that the meaning of the word פסיחה is “skipping,” as Rabbi Josiah says. However, Rashi’s comments remind us that this definition is not accepted universally, and the literal definition may be completely different. Rabbi Ishmael is troubled first and formost by the image of Hashem (Himself, and not through an angel or messenger, as the Haggadah reminds us) “skipping” from house to house to check for evidence of blood, since there is no need whatsoever for G-d in His Omniscence to do so. Therefore Rabbi Ishmael believes that the word פסיחה may mean something different entirely. But why “mercy” specifically and how does he derive this from the verse in Isaiah? II. Benignly Sheltering Let’s examine the word חס, here translated as mercy. This term is actually the source of the word מחסה (refuge), as in: תה‘ סא:ה – אחסה בסתר כנפיך. Ps. 61:5 – I will take shelter in the cover of Your wings forever. תה‘ ה:יב – וישמחו כל חוסי בך לעולם ירננו. Ps. 5:12 – And let all who take refuge in You rejoice. . According to this, Rabbi Ishmael would be saying that פסיחה means refuge and shelter, a definition that indeed provides a very different understanding of the mechanism of the salvation of the Israelites on that fateful night. The conventional image is that of death skipping from house to house and passing over those houses with the blood smeared on the doorposts; this leaves the impression that the blood is somehow itself imbued with a measure of power to ward off evil. But R. Ishmael asserts that since ועברתי denotes that Hashem Himself is carrying out the deeds, the word וראיתי cannot mean seeing the blood. Rather the word וראיתי here is like the הָפעל, i.e. like הראיתבהר – I revealed myself to spare, to shelter your household. This, then is what is learned from the verse in Isaiah; the entire context there:גנן, הציל, המליט instills an iron-clad confidence that no harm could possibly come to the city – as if it is utterly surrounded by an impenetrable spiritual forcefield, a fortified and indestructible refuge – מחסה. III. How a Garden Grows This is also reinforced by the etymology of the terms of salvation used in in the verse in Isaiah. Rabbi S. R. Hirsch explains the interrelationship between the root גנן and its derivatives: רש”ר הירש בר’ ב:ח – גן בעדן – ‘גן’ משרש ‘גנן’, ומכאן: ‘הגן’. נמצא ‘גן’: מקום גדור ושמור לצורך אדם (מצינו יחס זה גם בלע”ז: “garden” מיסוד “guard”). Rabbi S. R. Hirsch Gen. 2:8 – A garden in Eden – גן (garden) is from the root גנן, from which derivesהגן (protecting) as well. Therefore גן means: an area enclosed and guarded for the enjoyment of people (this relationship exists in other languages as well: garden from guard). IV. Shade me, O L-rd The next word used in the verse is הציל. According to the 10th-century grammarian Menachem Ibn Saruk, the root of הציל are the two letters צל, the same word as shade or shadow. The implication is that the type of salvation specified by הציל is not e.g. extrication or destruction of the enemy, but simple shelter from danger, in the comforting shadow of the savior[1]. V. From Rescuing to Cementing The final word used in the passage in Isaiah, המליט, is usually translated as rescuing or deliverance, as in: יר’ יח:לט – כי מלט אמלטך ובחרב לא תפל. Jer. 18:39 – For I will surely deliver you and you shall not fall by the sword. Many commentators point out the similarity between the two words מלט and פלט, also meaning rescuing: תה’ יח:ג – ה’ סלעי ומצודתי ומפלטי. Ps. 18:3 – The Lord is my rock and my fortress, and a rescuer to me. The early 20th-century linguist, Rabbi S. J. Shteiger, suggests a link to the word שלט as well, meaning shield[2] in the Tanach: ש”ב ח:ז – ויקח דוד את שלטי הזהב . II Sam. 8:7 – And David took the shields of gold. And I humbly suggest adding the following word meaning refuge to the list: במ’ לה:יא – ערי מקלט. Num. 35:11 – Cities of refuge. All of these words have two things in common: 1. the concept of protection and salvation.2. the letters לט.Indeed, we find the root לט in a similar sense as well: מ”א יט:יג – ויהי כשמע אליהו וילט פניו באדרתו. I Kings 19:13 And as Elijah heard, he wrapped his face in his mantle The underlying concept of protection and salvation are actally illustrated by the seemingly unrelated noun form of the root מלט: יר’ מג:ט – קח בידך אבנים גדלות וטמנתם במלט. Jer. 43:9 – Take in your hand large stones and hide them in the mortar. Mortar? Yes, mortar was used not only to hold bricks together, but to cover and protect them from the elements, or even to hide precious items when necessary to safekeeping, as here. In short, Rabbi Ishmael looked at the context of the verse in Isaiah, and examined the context in which the word פסוח was used. Since all the other terms point to salvation though shelter, so too mustפסוח mean shelter, which he refers to as חייס, as in מחסה – refuge. Let us pray that the Hashem’s everlasting assurance to the Jewish People and His Eternal city continue to be fulfilled, that we be sheltered and protected even as evil is purged from the earth. במהרה בימינו אמן. [1] This is also the source of the Aramaic term for prayer: צלותא . [2] This is why a government is called a שלטון – its principle purpose is to shield the population from harm.

פֶּלֶא: wonder נְפִילָה: falling פִּיל: elephant תְּפִילָה: prayer הִפְלָה: separate, distinctive פֶּלֶא: Wonder There are foolish people who have gone down to Egypt to find evidence that the miracles of the plagues really happened. They found evidence in hieroglyphics, and then they tried to explain away how all the phenomena could have happened naturally, by cause and effect. They explain that some disease affected the waters in the rivers, which caused the fish to die, the frogs to come out, the lice, etc. Fools! The real wonder פֶּלֶא/wonder, the peleof Pesach, was how Hashem separated us from the Egyptians; the blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and death of the firstborn born did not affect us. We were handpicked for life and they for punishment, to show the whole world the greatness of Hashem — וְהִבְדִילָנוּ מִין הַטוֹעִים/that He separated us from the ones that stray. פֶּלֶאis a wonder. When we are children, life is full of wonder; a baby can be mesmerized for hours by a plastic cup, seeing things for the first time, examining them, analyzing their textures, shapes, colors, and function. But slowly, as we get older, we get used to things and we lose the aspect of wonderment. נְפִילָה: Falling Rivkah, when she saw Yitzchak for the first time, fell off her camel:וַתִּפֹּל מֵעַל הַגָּמָל. The sages say this was because she saw him coming out of Gan Eden upside down. She was in wonderment, and the word used to describe this action is lashonנְפִילָה/falling. Why do we fall? Sometimes, when we are struck by wonder, it can be so powerful that it can knock us off our feet. We lose our balance and we fall from our ordinary state of seeing the world. Instead, we are in a state of amazement, literally “knock your socks off!” פִּיל: Elephant The Gemara in Brachossays: הַרוֹאֶה פִּיל בְּחַלוֹם פְּלִאוֹת נֶעֶשׂוּ לוֹ/if one sees an elephant in his dream, it is a sign that wonders will happen to him.1פִּילis called so because it is the biggest animal and in the times of the Greeks was used in warfare like a tank, causing the enemy to flee and fall. תְּפִילָה: Prayer תְּפִילָהis not only called so because we fall down and pray, but it is also related to wonderment. How can it be that when we open our hearts to heartfelt prayer we see transformations happen in our lives? It should leave us awestruck in wonder. הִפְלָה: Separate, Distinctive If you survived a plane crash where everyone on board died except you, your wife, and your children, or you were thrown into the lion’s den like Daniel, or thrown into a pit full of snakes like Yosef, or into a fiery furnace like Avraham, and survived, would you not be in wonder?! Coming back to our exodus from Egypt, in the plague of wild animals, thepasuksays: וְהִפְלֵיתִי בַיּוֹם הַהוּא אֶת אֶרֶץ גֹּשֶׁן אֲשֶׁר עַמִּי עֹמֵד עָלֶיהָ לְבִלְתִּי הֱיוֹת שָׁם עָרֹב לְמַעַן תֵּדַע כִּי אֲנִי ה’בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ/and I will separate on that day the land of Goshen where my people are, a place without wild animals, in order that you will know that I am Hashem in the midst of the land.2 וְהִפְלָה ה’בֵּין מִקְנֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל וּבֵין מִקְנֵה מִצְרָיִם/and Hashem separated between the cattle of the Bnei Yisrael and the Egyptians.3 וְנִפְלִינוּ אֲנִי וְעַמְּךָ/and I will niflinu, I and your people, from all the people that are on the face of the earth.4Rashi comments that the word niflinuhas a connotation of “and you will be separate in this matter from all the people,” just like Hashem separated the cattle herds of Israel and Egypt. נִפְלָאֹת/And behold I am cutting a brisopposite all your people, and I will make wonders that have not existed in all of the land and all of the goyim, and the people will see that you are within the deeds of Hashem, because awesome is my dealings with your people.5Rashi explains lashonnefilahas being separated from all the nations of star worshippers in that the Divine Presence will not rest upon them. In all the above pesukimwe see a common thread: that the real נִפְלָאֹת/wonders that Hashem performed in Egypt were how He separated us from thegoyim. They worship the stars and are influenced by them, whereas Hashem compares us to the stars. We are above mazal, we are above the stars in that we arethe stars. We are the chosen nation,אַתָּהבְחַרְתָּנוּ, who shine Hashem’s presence in the world, a light among the nations. שֶׁלֹּא עָשַׂנִי גּוֹי— We bless Hashem in the morning with the brachahthat He did not make us a goy. A friend of mine told me that when he was coming out of the mikvehone Shabbos afternoon, there were two Chassidim dancing and singing who appeared to be in an extreme state of joy. As he drew closer, he was able to make out the words they were singing and dancing to:שֶׁלֹּא עָשַׂנִי גּוֹי…שֶׁלֹּא עָשַׂנִי גּוֹי. In the prayerעָלֵינוּ לְשַׁבֵּחַ, wepraise Hashem that He did not make us like the goyim,who bow down to vanity and emptiness and to a god that doesn’t hear them. We bow and acknowledge before the King of Kings, HaKadosh Baruch Hu. This should be our kavanahwhen we make Havdalah. Just like Hashem has made a separation between holy and profane, between light and darkness, so too Hashem has separated us, the Jewish Nation, from the other nations. Just like the sunrise, which separates light and darkness, leaves us in a state of wonderment, so too Havdalah, the separation that Hashem made between us and the goyimin Egypt and continues to do throughout history, should leave us in no less a state of wonderment. The difference is literally light and darkness. Leaving Egypt is a state of mind. It is to know that we have been set aside by Hashem from all of the nations, using the lashonof pele/wonder. The fact that we are still here, a lone sheep among seventy wolves, is a wonder. The goyimhate us — yes, there might be a few righteous non-Jews here and there, but en masse they have proven many times over who they really are. If not the Egyptians, then it was the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Spanish, the pogroms, the English in York, the Germans, and now the whole world in the guise of the United Nations. וְהִיא שֶׁעָמְדָה לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְלָנוּ,שֶׁלֹּא אֶחָד בִּלְבָד עָמַד עָלֵינוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנוּ,אֶלָּא שֶׁבְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר עוֹמְדִים עָלֵינוּ לְכַלוֹתֵנוּ,וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַצִּילֵנוּ מִיָּדָם And it has stood for our fathers and us that not only one has stood against us to annihilate us, but in every generation they stand against us to annihilate is, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu saves us from their hands.6 “And it makes me wonder.” 1Brachos 56b. 2Shemos 8:18. 3Ibid., 9:4. 4Ibid., 33:16. 5Ibid., 34:10. 6Pesach Haggadah. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr #Pesach #פל #פלא

The Holiday of Passover, when the Jewish People were emancipated from slavery in Egypt, is described in our liturgy as Zman Cheiruteinu, “the Time of our Freedom.” However, as we shall see in the coming lines, the word cheirut is not the only Hebrew word for “freedom”. When the Bible refers to freeing slaves it uses two other words for “freedom”: chofesh and dror. An additional, conceptually-related word is hefker (“ownerless”), which is also related to freedom. We will seek to understand the differences between these four words and what lies at the roots of these words. We begin with the words dror and chofesh. The word dror first appears in the Bible when discussing the freeing of slaves in the Juiblee Year (Lev. 25:10). Rashi, based on Rosh Hashana 9b, explains that the word dror is related to the word dar (“dwells”), and refers to one who dwells within his own domain, and does not fall under others’ control. Dror is also a type of bird whose very essence expresses this notion. Ibn Ezra explains that the Dror Bird happily sings when free to its own devices, but if captured and stuck in man’s domain, it refuses to eat until it dies. Sefer HaAruch also tells that the Dror Bird is suicidal when it loses its freedom. Radak in Sefer HaShorashim explains that a Dror Bird is called so because it builds nests inside people’s homes without fear of being captured, as if it was completely free from the possibility of capture (see also Beitzah 24a). In this way, dror denotes being “free as a bird.” When the Torah calls for “pure myrrh” to be used in the anointing oil (Exodus 30:23), the word dror is used for “pure”. Rabbi Yonah Ibn Janach and Nachmanides explain that this is because the Torah requires they use myrrh that is free from outside impurities and forgeries. Interestingly, the word dror can sometimes be abbreviated as dar,like in Esther 1:6 when it refers to Achashverosh granting merchants a special tax exemption (see Megillah 12a). The word chofesh also appears in the Bible in the context of freeing slaves (most notably in Ex. 21, Deut. 15, and Jer. 34), although it means “vacation” in Modern Hebrew. In terms of their mutual association with the concept of “freedom”, Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer (1866-1935) explains that dror and chofesh do not refer to the exact same phenomenon. Chofshi refers to freedom from an obligation to work, while dror refers to the freedom from subjugation to a specific person who lords over him. The word cheirut does not appear in the Bible in the context of freedom. Nonetheless, it is the standard word for freeing a slave in Rabbinical parlance. In the Birkat HaChodesh prayer, which we say on the Sabbath before Rosh Chodesh, we beseech G-d to redeem us from avdut (“servitude”) to cheirut (“freedom”). Moreover, the Mishnaic term shichrur is a cognate of cheirut that refers to the formal act of freeing a slave, and the Mishnaic phrase eved she’nishtachrar refers to a freed slave. On Passover Night we strive to act like Bnei Chorin — “free men.” Although the Bible itself never uses the word cheirut in the context of freedom, Rabbinical tradition (Avot 6:2) finds a Scriptural allusion to such a meaning. The Bible describes the Tablets that Moshe brought from Mount Sinai as “the work of G-d, and the writing was the writing of G-d, engraved (charut) on the tablets” (Ex. 32:16). The root for the Hebrew word which means “engraved” is generally spelled CHET-REISH-TET. However, in this context a variant spelling is used, replacing the ultimate TET with a TAV. Because of this slight deviance from the norm, the Rabbis found something deeper alluded to in this verse: “Do not read it as not charut (‘engraved’), but as cheirut (‘freedom’), for the only person who is truly free is one who occupies himself with Torah study.” It seems fairly clear that if the ultimate purpose of the Exodus was to give the Jewish People the Torah at Mount Sinai, then the word for freedom resulting from the Exodus should appropriately be cheirut — and the holiday which celebrates that freedom should be termed Zman Cheiruteinu. Nevertheless, our understanding of cheirut does not address its meaning vis-à-vis the other words for “freedom.” Why did the Rabbis decide to use the word cheirut for “freedom” instead of the words found in the Bible? The British philosopher Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) famously differentiated between two distinct types of freedom: “negative liberty” and “positive liberty.” Based on this philosophical distinction, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (Chief Rabbi Emeritus of the United Kingdom), offers a deeper understanding as to the difference between chofesh and cheirut. He explains that the adjective chofshi denotes what a slave becomes when he goes free. It means that he can do whatever his heart desires. The word chofesh is related to chafetz (desire) and chapess (search out). Rabbi Sacks, philosopher, identifies this type of freedom with “negative liberty” because it simply denotes the lack of coercion. Negative liberty may be worthwhile on an individual level, but on a society level there must be some form of rules — one cannot simply do whatever one pleases. On the other hand, law and order must not be imposed in a coercive manner, because then the masses will resent and resist said law. Instead, the law must be presented and taught in a way in which everyone willingly accepts it of their own volition. When this happens, the law becomes a part of them — engrained in their very essence — for the greater good. To that effect, the Rabbis coined a new term cheirut,which denotes a sort of freedom that comes to society where people not only know the law, but study it constantly until it is engraved on their hearts (so charut and cheirut become one). On the surface, this “positive liberty” seems restrictive, but actually it proves quite liberating. Truth be told, the cheirut-cognate chorim does actually appear in the Bible, just not in the context of freedom, per se. Chorim appears thirteen times in the Bible in reference to noblemen and other dignitaries (see Rashi to Jer. 27:20). Rashi (to Sotah 49a) explains that chorin are people of lineage. The illustrious Wurzberger Rav, Rabbi Yitzchok Dov Bamberger (1807-1878), explains that chorim is related to the Aramaic words whose root is CHET-VAV-REISH, which means “white.” He explains that dignitaries are called “white” because their reputation must be untarnished, and because only important people were allowed to wear white clothes in the ancient world. (Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg (1785-1865) associates cheirut with the Hebrew root chor, which means“hole” and uses those exact letters, but we will not delve into his approach here.) That said, it seems to me that the Rabbis chose to use the word cheirut and various conjugations thereof in order to convey the idea of freedom on Passover for a very important reason. They wished to stress that newly-freed slaves begin their new lives with a clean slate, and they have the potential to become important people in their own right. On Passover we recognize and celebrate this potential for greatness. This optimistic, yet challenging, look at a freedman’s bright future warranted the Rabbis’ adoption of a new word for “freedom,” even though the Bible already has two words for that concept. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr

On Lag B’Omer, Jews all over the world celebrate Rashbi’s hillula. Rashbi, of course, is an acronym for the Tannaic sage, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Or, is it Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai? Why do we sometimes use the word ben to mean “son,” and sometimes use the word bar? What is the difference between these two words? Moreover, why is a Jewish boy coming of age called a bar mitzvah, why not a ben mitzvah? Simplistically speaking, the words ben and bar both mean the same thing — but in different languages. Ben means “son” in Hebrew, while bar means “son” in Aramaic. Indeed, whenever the word ben appears in the Bible, the Targumim translate it into Aramaic as bar. For this reason, ben is found in Hebrew texts, while bar is used in Aramaic texts. (The one possible exception to this is Prov. 31:2, which is written in Hebrew, but uses the word bar. However, see the Malbim who argues that in that context bar is a Hebrew word meaning “choicest,” not the Aramaic word for “son.”) The word bar in Aramaic also means “outside” or “separate” and it is routinely used this way in the Talmud. For example, a baraita is a Tannaic teaching outside of the Mishna. Bar’s two meanings are reflected in a halachicdiscussionsurrounding how to properly write a get (bill of divorce). Rabbi Yaakov Margolis of Regensburg (1430-1501) writes in Seder HaGet that when writing a get one should refer to the divorcer as “so-and-so ben so-and-so,” not “so-and-so bar so-and-so.” He explains that although the Aramaic word bar is used in all other legal documents, given that a bill of divorce must be as clear as possible, bar (with its multiple meanings) should be avoided in favor of ben. Rabbi Shlomo Luria (1510-1573), sometimes known as the Maharshal, supports Rabbi Margolis’ ruling but for a different reason. He contends that although in this context nobody would think that bar means “outside,” bar might be misconstrued as an acronym for the Hebrew phrase “ben reb” (son of Reb…). This creates a problem because it goes against the custom of refraining from using honorifics in bills of divorce. For this reason, explains Rabbi Luria, one should avoid writing bar, and use ben in writing aget. Although Rabbi Yosef Colon (1420-1480), also known as Maharik, contests this ruling, the Rema, Rabbi Moshe Isserles (1520-1572) — who died on Lag B’Omer— twice codified Rabbi Margolis’ ruling in his glosses to the Shulchan Aruch (Even HaEzer §126:30, 129:7). As is his way, Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim of Breslau (1740-1814) traces both of the words in question to their respective two-letter core-roots. He explains that the root BET-NUN refers to “building” and “producing.” The word ben fits with this explanation because children are “produced” from their parent’s marriage. Other related words include binyan (“building”): the building materials even (“stone”) and teven (“straw”), and even avnayim (a “birthing chair,” which helps facilitate the birthing process). He also writes that the words binah/tevunah (“understanding”) are related to this root as they are the “products” of contemplation and thought. Rabbi Pappenheim maintains that the word bat (“daughter”) is also derived from the root BET-NUN and should really be spelled banat (like it is in other Semitic languages). However, the NUN is generally dropped, rendering the actual word bat. That NUN returns in the plural form banot (“daughters”). Now, let’s continue on to the core-root of the word bar. Rabbi Pappenheim explains that the two-letter root BET-REISH refers to “exclusion” or “separation.” For example, the word bahr refers to grains which have been “separated” from the chaff, bor/borit is a cleaning agent used to “separate” and “exclude” filth, and bari (versus shemma) refers to a sort of certainty by which all other options have been conclusively “excluded.” We can add to this the common expression bar minan, “except from us”. In this spirit, Rabbi Pappenheim explains that bar means “son” because the child was “separated” from his mother’s person by the act of childbirth. Now what does all this have to do with a bar mitzvah? But once we’re on the topic, if we call a boy a bar mitzvah in Aramaic (as opposed to the Hebrew ben mitzvah), then why do we call a girl a bat mizvah in Hebrew? What would the Aramaic form of bat mitzvah even be? Although technically the Aramaic word for “daughter” is barat, the Targumim tend to leave the Hebrew word bat untranslated, so bat can also be used in Aramaic (as Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur writes in Meturgaman). Hence, a young lady’s coming of age makes her a bat mitzvah — even in Aramaic. For some reason, the nomenclature for a young man’s coming of age is bar mitzvah. Why do we refer to the Jewish boy’s rite of passage as a bar mitzvah as opposed to a ben mitzvah? After scouring different sources I came up with three possible lessons that we may be teaching the bar mitzvah boy by using the word bar instead of ben: Rabbi David Ovadiah of Tiberias (a nephew of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef) explains in the name of Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk (1843-1926) that because the word bar also means “outside” it serves to teach the young bar mitzvah boy that he is now standing “outside” — on the threshold to entering his adult life. At this fateful juncture he has the capacity to decide whether he will choose the correct path or the incorrect path. The late Rabbi Alexander Sender Feuerstein of London explains that the Aramaic word for “son” is used to convey the lesson that the young man is not only expected to master the entire Written Torah — which is mostly written in Hebrew — but must also master the Oral Torah, which is mostly written in Aramaic. Rabbi Meir Mintzberg (son-in-law of the late Rabbi Leib Mintzberg, the spiritual leader of the Jerusalemite “Masmidim” movement) takes a different approach. Like Rabbi Pappenheim he explains that the word ben is related to “building” and “producing,” and connotes that the son is the product of his parents’ building and nurturing. The word bar, on the other hand, has the opposite connotation: Bar implies the “son” as somebody independent (“separated” or “excluded”) of his parents. It is thus an appropriate term for the bar mitzvah boy because it stresses that his personal growth is no longer in the hands of his parents who have “built” him up, but is now his own responsibility. (See Haksav V’hakabbalah to Ex. 12:43 who explains how the word ben in the construct form can be attached to a noun to become an adjective.) By the way, you should know that whenever the Mishna or Talmud refers to the Tannaic sage “Rabbi Shimon,” this is actually Rashbi. Why then is he sometimes called “Rabbi Shimon” and sometimes called “Rabbi Shimon ben/bar Yochai?” In his lexicon of Talmudic sages Yechusai Tannaim V’Amoraim, Rabbi Yehuda ben Kalonymos of Speyer (a 12th century Tosafist) writes that anything Rashbi said before he was famous is ascribed to “Rabbi Shimon ben/bar Yochai” in order to clarify who said it, but what he said once we was already an important figure is attributed to simply “Rabbi Shimon” because everyone already knew who he was. 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You Can Take Slaves out of the country, but… The Zohar Chadash tells of two types of salvation in Egypt: זוהר חדש (פ’ יתרו, דף נב.): אני ה’ אלהיכם אשר הוצאתי אתכם וכו’ – בהאי פסוקא שאל רבי ייסא זעירא דמן חברייא מרשב”י וא”ל, אית [לי] למשאל שאילתא חדא מינך ומשבשא לי בלבאי, ואנא דחיל מלמשאל מינך, ואמינא אי נשאל דחילנא דילמא איתענש; אי לא נשאל משבשא לי בלבאי. א”ל ר”ש אימא. א”ל האי דקב”ה מדכר להון לישראל בכל אתר ואתר אני ה’ אלהיכם אשר הוצאתי אתכם מארץ מצרים. מאי רבותא אוליף הכא? תנאה שלים הוא הדא דאמר לאברהם: כי גר יהיה זרעך בארץ לא להם וגו’ ואחרי כן יצאו ברכוש גדול (בר’ טו:יג-יד), א”כ למה לאדכרא להון מילתא דא בכל אתר ואתר? א”ל תא חזי ברי, קב”ה לא אתני עם אברהם אלא דיפיק ית ישראל מן גלותא דמצרים – ולא מתחות שעבודא דדחלא אחרא, דודאי ישראל כד הוו במצרים אסתאבו ואתטנפו גרמיהון בכל זיני מסאבו, [עד דהוו] שראן תחות ארבעים ותשע חילי דמסאבותא. וקב”ה אפיק יתהון מתחות פולחן כל שאר חילין. Zohar Chadash (Yisro, 52a): “I am the Lord, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Lev. 19:36) – R. Yeisa the Small of the Colleagues posed a question on this verse to R. Shimon bar Yochai. He said: I would like to ask a question of you which pounds in my heart, but I am afraid to ask it. On the one hand, if I ask it I fear I may deserve punishment; but if I don’t, I shall remain confused. Rabbi Shimon told him to ask. So he asked: “I am the Lord, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt” – what is the novelty being taught us [in the fulfillment of this promise], did not Hashem fully stipulate in his covenant with Abraham: “You shall surely know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and oppress them, for four hundred years… and afterwards they will go forth with great possessions.” (Gen. 15:13, 14) – If so, why is the verse repeated so often? Rabbi Shimon answered him: come and see my son, the Holy One Blessed be He stipulated only that he would remove Israel from the Egyptian exile – but not from the influence of foreign deities; for the Israelites in Egypt had surely defiled and contaminated themselves with all manner of abominations, until they lived under the influence of the forty-nine powers of impurity – and the Holy One, blessed be He separated them from the service of all these forces. What is Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s source to distinguish between these two paradigms? Inharmonious Homonyms גאל – Terms of redemption: גאולה is one of the four expressions the Torah uses to foretell the emancipation from Egypt: שמות ו:ו – לכן אמר לבני ישראל אני ה’ והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלת מצרים והצלתי אתכם מעבדתם וגאלתי אתכם בזרוע נטויה ובשפטים גדלים. פסוק ז: …ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם. Ex. 6:6 – Therefore, say to the children of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will take you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will save you from their labor, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7. And I will take you to Me as a people. גאולה is used in other contexts to denote redemption as well: בר’ מח:טז – המלאך הגאל אתי מכל רע יברך את הנערים. Gen. 48:16 – may the angel who redeemed me from all harm שמות טו:יג – נחית בחסדך עם זו גאלת נהלת בעזך אל נוה קדשך. Ex. 15:13 – With Your loving kindness You led the people You redeemed ויקרא כה:כד – ובכל ארץ אחזתכם גאלה תתנו לארץ. Lev. 25:24 – Therefore, throughout the land of your possession, you shall give redemption for the land. _____________ On the other hand, the term is used many times in the Tanach with a very different meaning: גאל – Terms of defilement: ישע’ נט:ג – כי כפיכם נגֹאֲלו בדם. Isa. 1:3 – For your hands were defiled with blood. מלאכי א:ז – מגישים על מזבחי לחם מגֻאל. Mal. 1:7 – You offer on My altar defiled food. מלאכי א:יב – שלחן אדני מגֹאָל הוא. Mal. 1:12 – The Lord’s table is defiled. _____________ A similar term to גאל in this sense is געל: געל – Terms of rejection: וי‘ כו:יא – ולא תגעל נפשי. Lev. 26:11 –  and My Spirit will not reject you וי‘ כו:ל – וגעלה נפשי אתכם. Lev. 26:30 – And My Spirit will reject you. ש“ב א:כא – כי שם נגְעַל מגן גבורים. II Sam. 1:21 – For there the shield of the mighty was rejected יר‘ יד:יט – אם בציון געלה נפשך. Jer. 14:19 – Has Your soul despised Zion? _____________ The commentators equate the two: When גאל meets געל: עזרא ב:סב – ויגֹאֲלו מן הכהנה. Ez. 2:62 – they were disqualified from the priesthood רש”י (שם): ויגאלו – שהיו מגואלים ומגועלים. Rashi: Heb. Uk©t»d‰h©u, for they were defiled and purged איוב ג:ה – יגְאָלֻהו חשך וצלמות. Job 3:5 – May darkness and the shadow of death defile it מצ”צ (שם): יגאלהו – כמו יגעלהו ב’ע’, ועניינו טנוף ולכלוך. וכן: לחם מגואל (מלאכי א:ז). Metudas Zion: Defile it – יגאלנו here is like יגאלנו with an ‘ע’. The meaning is soiling and filth. Comp. “polluted bread” (Mal. 1:7). _____________ III. Opposites Attract? Rabbi S. R.Hirsch compares גאל  to other seemingly self-contradictory verbs: רשר”ה שמות ו:ו – וגאלתי אתכם בזרוע נטויה – מעניין דל”גאל” בבואו בבנין פיעל משמעות הפוכה (בדומה ל’שרש’, ‘סקל’ ועוד). ההוראה בבנין קל היא: למשוך אל עצמו דבר כדי למלטו מהשפלה. ובפיעל: לדחות מעל עצמו דבר, כדי להימלט מההשפלה שבחזקתו. כן קרוב לזה ‘געל’: להשליך מעל עצמו, וכן בלשון חכמים ‘הגעלה’. Rabbi S. R. Hirsch Ex. 6:6 – It is interesting that (like e.g. שרש and סקל) when גאל appears in the פיעל form, it has the opposite meaning[1]. In the קל it means: to draw something towards oneself in order to spare it from disgrace. In the פיעל it means: to repel something from oneself in order to spare oneself the disgrace of holding it. Related to this sense of  גאל is געל, “to cast off oneself,” and the Rabbinic term הגעלה, “the purging of an absorbed substance.” _____________ Examples of words with opposite meanings: שרש – Terms of planting/implanting: תה’ פ:י – ותַּשְרֵש שרשיה ותמלא הארץ. Ps. 80:10 – It took root and filled the land איוב ה:ג – אני ראיתי אויל משריש. Job 5:3 –  I have seen a fool taking root. _____________ שרש – Terms of uprooting: איוב לא:יב – ובכל תבואתי תְשָרֵש. Job 31:12 – and it uproots all my grain To plant a shrub or sapling with its roots, it has to have been uprooted from its previous locale. _____________ סקל – Terms of stoning: מ”א כא:יג – ויסקלוהו באבנים. I Kings 21:13 – And they stoned him with stones, and he died. _____________ סקל – Terms of removing stones[2]: ישע’ ה:ב – ויעזקהו ויְסַקְּלֵהו. Isa. 5:2 – And he fenced it in, and he cleared it of stones. ישע’ סב:י – סַקּלוּ מֵאֶבֶן. Isa. 62:10 – clear it of stones. In order to accomplish the act of stoning, the stones must be removed from another location. _____________ גדד – Terms of slashing/splitting: דב‘ יד:א – לא תתגדדו. Deut. 14:1 – You shall not cut yourselves. יר‘ מח:לז – ידים גדדת. Jer. 48:37 – on all hands are lacerations. _____________ גדד – Terms of assemblage: מיכה ד:יד – עתה תתגֹדְדי. Micah 4:14 – Now you shall gather yourself in troops. תה‘ צד:כא –  יגודו על נפש צדיק. Ps. 94:21 – They gather upon the soul of the righteous. An action that appears to unify and mend can actually divide and rend. The Sages teach: יבמות יג: – לא תתגודדו (דב’ יד:א) – לא תעשו אגודות אגודות. Yevamos 13b – Lo tithgodedu (Deut. 14:1) –  you shall not form separate sects. The reverse is true as well: the act of rending one’s garment in mourning can serve to unify the family during the week of mourning, and unifies the entire Jewish people who observe the laws of mourning! Likewise, an act of dismantling organizations which cause strife is actually an act of unity. _____________ גרר – Terms of streaming/dispersing: מיכה א:ד – כמים מֻגָרים במורד. Micah 1:4 – as water poured down a steep place. יר‘ יח:כא – וְהַגִרֵם על ידי חרב. Jer. 18:21 – and spill their blood by the sword. _____________ גרר – Terms of gathering: משלי ו:ח – אָגְרָה בקציר מאכלה. Prov. 6:8 – she gathers her food in the harvest. יואל א:יז – נשמו אֹצרות נהרסו מַמְגֻרות. Joel 1:17 –  the storehouses are laid desolate, garners are demolished. From the individual’s perspective, the waters cascading away seem irretrievably gone. But from a larger perspective, the waters all flow in a predictable direction and can be harnessed or gathered for future use. _____________ כרת – Terms of excision: בר’ יז:יד – ונכרתה הנפש ההוא מעמיה. Gen. 17:14 – that soul will be cut off from its people. ויק’ יז:י – ונתתי פני בנפש האכלת את הדם והכרתי אתה מקרב עמה. Lev. 17:10 – and I will cut him off from among his people. _____________ כרת – Terms of covenant: שמ‘ לד:י – הנה אנכי כרת ברית. Ex. 34:10 – And He said: “Behold! I will form a covenant.” בר‘ כא:כז – ויכרתו שניהם ברית. Gen. 21:27 – and they both formed a covenant. בר’ כו:כח – ונכרתה ברית עמך. Gen. 26:28 – and let us form a covenant with you. The act of  entering into a covenant is itself an act of “excision” from previous contrary commitments. _____________ The Still, Small Monster… We have seen to this point several examples of the Divine Tongue’s unique quality of integrating apparently opposite meanings in a single word. גאל is no exception, meaning sublime redemption on the one hand and revilement on the other hand. But what can we learn from this about our forebears in Egypt, indeed about ourselves? We asked earlier about Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s source differentiating between two kinds of redemption. We preface the answer with another passage from the Zohar questioning the order of the verse describing the four stages of salvation: זוהר ב:כד:-כה. – לכן אמר לבני ישראל אני ה’ והוצאתי אתכם, רבי יהודה אמר, האי קרא אפכא הוא, דכתיב והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים בקדמיתא, ולבתר והצלתי אתכם מעבודתם, ולבתר וגאלתי אתכם, הוה ליה למימר מעיקרא וגאלתי אתכם, ולבתר והוצאתי אתכם – אלא עקרא דכלא בקדמיתא דבעא קודשא בריך הוא לבשרא לון בשבחא דכלא בקדמיתא, אמר רבי יוסי והא שבחא דכלא ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם והייתי לכם לאלהים ואמר ליה לבתר, א”ל בההוא זמנא לית להו שבחא אלא יציאה, דחשיבי דלא יפקון מעבדותהון לעלמין בגין דהוו חמאן תמן דכל אסירי דהוו בינייהו מקשרו לון בקשרא דחרשי ולא יכלין לנפקא מבינייהו לעלמין, ובגין כך מה דחביב עלייהו מכלא אתבשרו ביה, ואי תימא אף על גב דנפקו הא דילמא יזלון (חיליהון) בתרייהו לאבאשא לון כתיב והצלתי אתכם מעבודתם, ואי תימא הא יפקון וישתזבון ולא יהא לון פריקא ת”ל וגאלתי אתכם. Zohar 2:24b-25a – THEREFORE SAY UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, I AM THE LORD, AND I WILL BRING YOU OUT FROM UNDER THE BURDENS OF THE EGYPTIANS, ETC. Said R. Judah: These words are in the wrong order, and should read, firstly, “I will redeem you”, and then “I will bring you out”. The reason, however, why bringing out is put first is that God desired to announce to them first the best promise of all. To which R. Jose remarked: But does not the greatest promise of all come last, namely, I will take you to me for a people and I will be to you a God (v. 7)? R. Judah replied: Deliverance from Egypt was the chief concern of the people then, because they despaired of escaping on account of the magical arts with which the Egyptians held fast their prisoners; hence it came first in order in the proclamation, followed by the promise of deliverance from bondage once and for all, as they might have been afraid that the Egyptians would enslave them again. Then came the promise of redemption, namely, that He would not merely free them from Egypt and then leave them to themselves! The Israelites wished to end their suffering as slaves, but on the other hand, many had become enamored of the decadent trappings of the pagan Egyptian culture – had come to believe in the magical power of the strage deities. The true redemption was twofold. Hashem opened their eyes to their own defilement – their own גיאול –  upon which they finally purged themselves of their abominations once and for all. Having purified themselves, Hashem’s גאולה came instantaneously. The lessons for our own times should not be lost on us. Let us do our part of the גאולה, and Hashem will do His. We purge, and Hashem will cause us to surge! !במהרה בימינו אמן. [1] See Rashi on Ex. 27:3 for other examples of  roots with derivatives of opposite meanings. [2]  ‘סקל’ = ‘סלק’ בחילוף מיקום האותיות (כמו כבש-כשב). לשון ‘סלק’ מציינת הוצאה בארמית (ע’ עזרא ד:יב). 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Geula: emancipation or Expulsion? I. You Can Take Slaves out of the country, but… The Zohar Chadash tells of two types of salvation in Egypt: זוהר חדש (פ’ יתרו, דף נב.): אני ה’ אלהיכם אשר הוצאתי אתכם וכו’ – בהאי פסוקא שאל רבי ייסא זעירא דמן חברייא מרשב”י וא”ל, אית [לי] למשאל שאילתא חדא מינך ומשבשא לי בלבאי, ואנא דחיל מלמשאל מינך, ואמינא אי נשאל דחילנא דילמא איתענש; אי לא נשאל משבשא לי בלבאי. א”ל ר”ש אימא. א”ל האי דקב”ה מדכר להון לישראל בכל אתר ואתר אני ה’ אלהיכם אשר הוצאתי אתכם מארץ מצרים. מאי רבותא אוליף הכא? תנאה שלים הוא הדא דאמר לאברהם: כי גר יהיה זרעך בארץ לא להם וגו’ ואחרי כן יצאו ברכוש גדול (בר’ טו:יג-יד), א”כ למה לאדכרא להון מילתא דא בכל אתר ואתר? א”ל תא חזי ברי, קב”ה לא אתני עם אברהם אלא דיפיק ית ישראל מן גלותא דמצרים – ולא מתחות שעבודא דדחלא אחרא, דודאי ישראל כד הוו במצרים אסתאבו ואתטנפו גרמיהון בכל זיני מסאבו, [עד דהוו] שראן תחות ארבעים ותשע חילי דמסאבותא. וקב”ה אפיק יתהון מתחות פולחן כל שאר חילין. Zohar Chadash (Yisro, 52a): “I am the Lord, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Lev. 19:36) – R. Yeisa the Small of the Colleagues posed a question on this verse to R. Shimon bar Yochai. He said: I would like to ask a question of you which pounds in my heart, but I am afraid to ask it. On the one hand, if I ask it I fear I may deserve punishment; but if I don’t, I shall remain confused. Rabbi Shimon told him to ask. So he asked: “I am the Lord, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt” – what is the novelty being taught us [in the fulfillment of this promise], did not Hashem fully stipulate in his covenant with Abraham: “You shall surely know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and oppress them, for four hundred years… and afterwards they will go forth with great possessions.” (Gen. 15:13, 14) – If so, why is the verse repeated so often? Rabbi Shimon answered him: come and see my son, the Holy One Blessed be He stipulated only that he would remove Israel from the Egyptian exile – but not from the influence of foreign deities; for the Israelites in Egypt had surely defiled and contaminated themselves with all manner of abominations, until they lived under the influence of the forty-nine powers of impurity – and the Holy One, blessed be He separated them from the service of all these forces. What is Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s source to distinguish between these two paradigms? II. Inharmonious Homonyms גאל – Terms of redemption: גאולה is one of the four expressions the Torah uses to foretell the emancipation from Egypt: שמות ו:ו – לכן אמר לבני ישראל אני ה’ והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלת מצרים והצלתי אתכם מעבדתם וגאלתי אתכם בזרוע נטויה ובשפטים גדלים. פסוק ז: …ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם. Ex. 6:6 – Therefore, say to the children of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will take you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will save you from their labor, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7. And I will take you to Me as a people. גאולה is used in other contexts to denote redemption as well: בר’ מח:טז – המלאך הגאל אתי מכל רע יברך את הנערים. Gen. 48:16 – may the angel who redeemed me from all harm שמות טו:יג – נחית בחסדך עם זו גאלת נהלת בעזך אל נוה קדשך. Ex. 15:13 – With Your loving kindness You led the people You redeemed ויקרא כה:כד – ובכל ארץ אחזתכם גאלה תתנו לארץ. Lev. 25:24 – Therefore, throughout the land of your possession, you shall give redemption for the land. _____________ On the other hand, the term is used many times in the Tanach with a very different meaning: גאל – Terms of defilement: ישע’ נט:ג – כי כפיכם נגֹאֲלו בדם. Isa. 1:3 – For your hands were defiled with blood. מלאכי א:ז – מגישים על מזבחי לחם מגֻאל. Mal. 1:7 – You offer on My altar defiled food. מלאכי א:יב – שלחן אדני מגֹאָל הוא. Mal. 1:12 – The Lord’s table is defiled. _____________ A similar term to גאל in this sense is געל: געל – Terms of rejection: ויק’ כו:יא – ולא תגעל נפשי. Lev. 26:11 – and My Spirit will not reject you ויק’ כו:ל – וגעלה נפשי אתכם. Lev. 26:30 – And My Spirit will reject you. ש“ב א:כא – כי שם נגְעַל מגן גבורים. II Sam. 1:21 – For there the shield of the mighty was rejected יר‘ יד:יט – אם בציון געלה נפשך. Jer. 14:19 – Has Your soul despised Zion? _____________ The commentators equate the two: When גאל  meets געל: עזרא ב:סב – ויגֹאֲלו מן הכהנה. Ezra. 2:62 – they were disqualified from the priesthood רש”י (שם): ויגאלו – שהיו מגואלים ומגועלים. Rashi: ויגאלו – for they were defiled and purged איוב ג:ה – יגְאָלֻהו חשך וצלמות. Job 3:5 – May darkness and the shadow of death defile it מצ”צ (שם): יגאלהו – כמו יגעלהו ב’ע’, ועניינו טנוף ולכלוך. וכן: לחם מגואל (מלאכי א:ז). Metudas Zion: Defile it – יגאלנו here is like יגאלנו with an ע’. The meaning is soiling and filth. Comp. “polluted bread” (Mal. 1:7). _____________ III. Opposites Attract? Rabbi S. R.Hirsch comparesגאל to other seemingly self-contradictory verbs: רשר”ה שמות ו:ו – וגאלתי אתכם בזרוע נטויה – מעניין דל”גאל” בבואו בבנין פיעל משמעות הפוכה (בדומה ל’שרש’, ‘סקל’ ועוד). ההוראה בבנין קל היא: למשוך אל עצמו דבר כדי למלטו מהשפלה. ובפיעל: לדחות מעל עצמו דבר, כדי להימלט מההשפלה שבחזקתו. כן קרוב לזה ‘געל’: להשליך מעל עצמו, וכן בלשון חכמים: הגעלה. Rabbi S. R. Hirsch Ex. 6:6 – It is interesting that (like e.g. שרש and סקל) when גאל appears in the פיעל form, it has the opposite meaning[1]. In the קל it means: to draw something towards oneself in order to spare it from disgrace. In the פיעל it means: to repel something from oneself in order to spare oneself the disgrace of holding it. Related to this sense of גאל is געל, “to cast off oneself,” and the Rabbinic term הגעלה, “the purging of an absorbed substance.” _____________ Examples of words with opposite meanings: שרש – Terms of planting/implanting: תה’ פ:י – ותַּשְרֵש שרשיה ותמלא הארץ. Ps. 80:10 – It took root and filled the land איוב ה:ג – אני ראיתי אויל משריש. Job 5:3 – I have seen a fool taking root. _____________ שרש – Terms of uprooting: איוב לא:יב – ובכל תבואתי תְשָרֵש. Job 31:12 – and it uproots all my grain To plant a shrub or sapling with its roots, it has to have been uprooted from its previous locale. _____________ סקל – Terms of stoning: מ”א כא:יג – ויסקלוהו באבנים. I Kings 21:13 – And they stoned him with stones, and he died. _____________ סקל – Terms of removing stones[2]: ישע’ ה:ב – ויעזקהו ויְסַקְּלֵהו. Isa. 5:2 – And he fenced it in, and he cleared it of stones. ישע’ סב:י – סַקּלוּ מֵאֶבֶן. Isa. 62:10 – clear it of stones. In order to accomplish the act of stoning, the stones must be removed from another location. _____________ גדד – Terms of slashing/splitting: דב‘ יד:א – לא תתגדדו. Deut. 14:1 – You shall not cut yourselves. יר‘ מח:לז – ידים גדדת. Jer. 48:37 – on all hands are lacerations. _____________ גדד – Terms of assemblage: מיכה ד:יד – עתה תתגֹדְדי. Micah 4:14 – Now you shall gather yourself in troops. תה‘ צד:כא – יגודו על נפש צדיק. Ps. 94:21 – They gather upon the soul of the righteous. An action that appears to unify and mend can actually divide and rend. The Sages teach: יבמות יג: – לא תתגודדו (דב’ יד:א) – לא תעשו אגודות אגודות. Yevamos 13b – לא תתגודדו (Deut. 14:1) – you shall not form separate sects. The reverse is true as well: the act of rending one’s garment in mourning can serve to unify the family during the week of mourning, and unifies the entire Jewish people who observe the laws of mourning! Likewise, an act of dismantling organizations which cause strife is actually an act of unity. _____________ גרר – Terms of streaming/dispersing: מיכה א:ד – כמים מֻגָרים במורד. Micah 1:4 – as water poured down a steep place. יר‘ יח:כא – וְהַגִרֵם על ידי חרב. Jer. 18:21 – and spill their blood by the sword. _____________ גרר – Terms of gathering: משלי ו:ח – אָגְרָה בקציר מאכלה. Prov. 6:8 – she gathers her food in the harvest. יואל א:יז – נשמו אֹצרות נהרסו מַמְגֻרות. Joel 1:17 – the storehouses are laid desolate, garners are demolished. From the individual’s perspective, the waters cascading away seem irretrievably gone. But from a larger perspective, the waters all flow in a predictable direction and can be harnessed or gathered for future use. _____________ כרת – Terms of excision: בר’ יז:יד – ונכרתה הנפש ההוא מעמיה. Gen. 17:14 – that soul will be cut off from its people. ויק’ יז:י – ונתתי פני בנפש האכלת את הדם והכרתי אתה מקרב עמה. Lev. 17:10 – and I will cut him off from among his people. _____________ כרת – Terms of covenant: שמ‘ לד:י – הנה אנכי כרת ברית. Ex. 34:10 – And He said: “Behold! I will form a covenant.” בר‘ כא:כז – ויכרתו שניהם ברית. Gen. 21:27 – and they both formed a covenant. בר’ כו:כח – ונכרתה ברית עמך. Gen. 26:28 – and let us form a covenant with you. The act of entering into a covenant is itself an act of “excision” from previous contrary commitments. _____________ IV. The Still, Small Monster… We have seen to this point several examples of the Divine Tongue’s unique quality of integrating apparently opposite meanings in a single word. גאל is no exception, meaning sublime redemption on the one hand and revilement on the other hand. But what can we learn from this about our forebears in Egypt, indeed about ourselves? We asked earlier about Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s source differentiating between two kinds of redemption. We preface the answer with another passage from the Zohar questioning the order of the verse describing the four stages of salvation: זוהר ב:כד:-כה. – לכן אמר לבני ישראל אני ה’ והוצאתי אתכם, רבי יהודה אמר, האי קרא אפכא הוא, דכתיב והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים בקדמיתא, ולבתר והצלתי אתכם מעבודתם, ולבתר וגאלתי אתכם, הוה ליה למימר מעיקרא וגאלתי אתכם, ולבתר והוצאתי אתכם – אלא עקרא דכלא בקדמיתא דבעא קודשא בריך הוא לבשרא לון בשבחא דכלא בקדמיתא, אמר רבי יוסי והא שבחא דכלא ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם והייתי לכם לאלהים ואמר ליה לבתר, א”ל בההוא זמנא לית להו שבחא אלא יציאה, דחשיבי דלא יפקון מעבדותהון לעלמין בגין דהוו חמאן תמן דכל אסירי דהוו בינייהו מקשרו לון בקשרא דחרשי ולא יכלין לנפקא מבינייהו לעלמין, ובגין כך מה דחביב עלייהו מכלא אתבשרו ביה, ואי תימא אף על גב דנפקו הא דילמא יזלון (חיליהון) בתרייהו לאבאשא לון כתיב והצלתי אתכם מעבודתם, ואי תימא הא יפקון וישתזבון ולא יהא לון פריקא ת”ל וגאלתי אתכם. Zohar 2:24b-25a – THEREFORE SAY UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, I AM THE LORD, AND I WILL BRING YOU OUT FROM UNDER THE BURDENS OF THE EGYPTIANS, ETC. Said R. Judah: These words are in the wrong order, and should read, firstly, “I will redeem you”, and then “I will bring you out”. The reason, however, why bringing out is put first is that God desired to announce to them first the best promise of all. To which R. Jose remarked: But does not the greatest promise of all come last, namely, I will take you to me for a people and I will be to you a God (v. 7)? R. Judah replied: Deliverance from Egypt was the chief concern of the people then, because they despaired of escaping on account of the magical arts with which the Egyptians held fast their prisoners; hence it came first in order in the proclamation, followed by the promise of deliverance from bondage once and for all, as they might have been afraid that the Egyptians would enslave them again. Then came the promise of redemption, namely, that He would not merely free them from Egypt and then leave them to themselves! The Israelites wished to end their suffering as slaves, but on the other hand, many had become enamored of the decadent trappings of the pagan Egyptian culture – had come to believe in the magical power of the strange deities. The true redemption was twofold. Hashem opened their eyes to their own defilement – their own גיאול – upon which they finally purged themselves of their abominations once and for all. Having purified themselves, Hashem’s גאולה came instantaneously. The lessons for our own times should not be lost on us. Let us do our part of the גאולה, and Hashem will do His. We purge, and Hashem will cause us to surge! !במהרה בימינו אמן. [1] See Rashi on Ex. 27:3 for other examples of roots with derivatives of opposite meanings. [2] ‘סקל’ = ‘סלק’ בחילוף מיקום האותיות (כמו כבש-כשב). לשון ‘סלק’ מציינת הוצאה בארמית (ע’ עזרא ד:יב).

Merciful Skipping שמ’ יב:יג – וראיתי את הדם ופסחתי עלכם. Ex. 12:13 – I will see the blood and pass over you. מכילתא (בא פרשה ז): וראיתי את הדם. היה ר’ ישמעאל אומר והלא הכל גלוי לפניו, שנאמר: ידע מה בחשוכא ונהורא עמיה שרא (דנ’ ב:כב), ואומר: גם חשך לא יחשיך ממך (תה’ קלט:יב), ומה ת”ל וראיתי את הדם. אלא בשכר מצוה שאתם עושים אני נגלה וחס עליכם, שנאמר: ופסחתי עליכם, אין פסיחה אלא חייס, שנאמר: כצפרים עפות כן יגן ה’ צבאות על ירושלם גנון והציל פסוח והמליט (ישע’ לא:ה). ופסחתי עליכם. ר’ יאשיה אומר אל תקרי ופסחתי אלא ופסעתי שהב”ה מדלג על בתי בני ישראל במצרים. שנאמר: קול דודי הנה זה בא מדלג על ההרים (שה”ש ב:ח). Mechilta (Bo, Parsha 7): And I shall see the blood – Rabbi Ishmael said, is not everything revealed to Him, as it is written: in the merit of the Mitzva which you perform I will reveal Myself and spare you, as it is written: He knows what is in the dark, and light dwells with Him (Dan. 2:22), and furthermore: Even darkness will not obscure [anything] from You (Ps. 139:12); Wherefore then, “And I shall see the blood”? Rather, in the merit of of the Mitzva that you have performed I reveal Myself and pity you, as it is written: and pass over you (ופסחתי). This term denotes mercy, as it is written: Like flying birds, so shall the Lord of Hosts protect Jerusalem, protecting and saving, passing over and rescuing (Is. 35:5). And pass over you – Rabbi Josiah said, read not ופסחתי (pass over) but ופסעתי (skip over), for the Holy One, blessed be He skipped over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. As it is written: The sound of my beloved! Behold, he is coming, skipping over the mountains (Song 2:8). Rabbi Josiah employs the Rabbinic tool of אל תיקרי to support his exposition that פסחתי (passing over) is similar in meaning (and close linguistically) to פסעתי (skipping), and an אסמכתא (quasi-proof) from the verse in the Song of Songs, which refers to skipping, which his tradition taught him referred to the Israelite houses which were skipped over. This is, after all the common understanding of the word פסחתי. Rabbi Ishmael’s discourse on the other hand, is somewhat puzzling. What is the practical difference between “showing mercy” on the one hand and “skipping over” on the other – is the end result not the same… the Israelites’ houses will be skipped over, i.e. spared. And what is the purpose of quoting the verse in Isaiah; the word פסוח does not appear to add anything to our understanding of פסחתי – if both mean skipping, then why quote it? And if the point is to demonstrate that the word means “mercy” – how does this verse prove it? Rashi paraphrases the two views from the Mechilta: רש”י שמ’ יב:יג – ופסחתי – וחמלתי, ודומה לו: פסוח והמליט (ישע’ לא:ה). ואני אומר כל פסיחה לשון דלוג וקפיצה ופסחתי מדלג הי’ מבתי ישראל לבתי מצרים שהיו שרוים זה בתוך זה. Rashi Ex. 12:13 – hˆT‰j‹xŠpU [is rendered] and I will have pity, and similar to it: “sparing ‹jIxŠP and rescuing” (Isa. 31:5). I say, however, that every [expression of] vŠjhˆx‰P is an expression of skipping and jumping. [Hence,] hˆT‰j‹xŠpU [means that] He was skipping from the houses of the Israelites to the houses of the Egyptians, for they were living one in the midst of the other. By saying “and I say”, Rashi implies that he prefers the opinion of Rabbi Josiah over that of Rabbi Ishmael (and Onkelos, usually favored by Rashi). What is it that troubles Rashi about this opinion? It must first be said that we English speakers are automatically prejudiced to the view of Rabbi Josiah by the mere use of the term “Passover.” This name presumes that the meaning of the word פסיחה is “skipping,” as Rabbi Josiah says. However, Rashi’s comments remind us that this definition is not accepted universally, and the literal definition may be completely different. Rabbi Ishmael is troubled first and formost by the image of Hashem (Himself, and not through an angel or messenger, as the Haggadah reminds us) “skipping” from house to house to check for evidence of blood, since there is no need whatsoever for G-d in His Omniscence to do so. Therefore Rabbi Ishmael believes that the word פסיחה may mean something different entirely. But why “mercy” specifically and how does he derive this from the verse in Isaiah? Benignly Sheltering Let’s examine the word חס, here translated as mercy. This term is actually the source of the word מחסה (refuge), as in: תה‘ סא:ה – אחסה בסתר כנפיך. Ps. 61:5 – I will take shelter in the cover of Your wings forever. תה‘ ה:יב – וישמחו כל חוסי בך לעולם ירננו. Ps. 5:12 – And let all who take refuge in You rejoice. . According to this, Rabbi Ishmael would be saying that פסיחה means refuge and shelter, a definition that indeed provides a very different understanding of the mechanism of the salvation of the Israelites on that fateful night. The conventional image is that of death skipping from house to house and passing over those houses with the blood smeared on the doorposts; this leaves the impression that the blood is somehow itself imbued with a measure of power to ward off evil. But R. Ishmael asserts that since ועברתי denotes that Hashem Himself is carrying out the deeds, the word וראיתי cannot mean seeing the blood. Rather the word וראיתי here is like the הָפעל, i.e. like הראית בהר – I revealed myself to spare, to shelter your household. This, then is what is learned from the verse in Isaiah; the entire context there:גנן, הציל, המליט instills an iron-clad confidence that no harm could possibly come to the city – as if it is utterly surrounded by an impenetrable spiritual forcefield, a fortified and indestructible refuge – מחסה. III. How a Garden Grows This is also reinforced by the etymology of the terms of salvation used in in the verse in Isaiah. Rabbi S. R. Hirsch explains the interrelationship between the root גנן and its derivatives: רש”ר הירש בר’ ב:ח – גן בעדן – ‘גן’ משרש ‘גנן’, ומכאן: ‘הגן’. נמצא ‘גן’: מקום גדור ושמור לצורך אדם (מצינו יחס זה גם בלע”ז: “garden” מיסוד “guard”). Rabbi S. R. Hirsch Gen. 2:8 – A garden in Eden – גן (garden) is from the root גנן, from which derivesהגן (protecting) as well. Therefore גן means: an area enclosed and guarded for the enjoyment of people (this relationship exists in other languages as well: garden from guard). Shade me, O L-rd The next word used in the verse is הציל. According to the 10th-century grammarian Menachem Ibn Saruk, the root of הציל are the two letters צל, the same word as shade or shadow. The implication is that the type of salvation specified by הציל is not e.g. extrication or destruction of the enemy, but simple shelter from danger, in the comforting shadow of the savior[1]. From Rescuing to Cementing The final word used in the passage in Isaiah, המליט, is usually translated as rescuing or deliverance, as in: יר’ יח:לט – כי מלט אמלטך ובחרב לא תפל. Jer. 18:39 – For I will surely deliver you and you shall not fall by the sword. Many commentators point out the similarity between the two words מלט and פלט, also meaning rescuing: תה’ יח:ג – ה’ סלעי ומצודתי ומפלטי. Ps. 18:3 – The Lord is my rock and my fortress, and a rescuer to me. The early 20th-century linguist, Rabbi S. J. Shteiger, suggests a link to the word שלט as well, meaning shield[2] in the Tanach: ש”ב ח:ז – ויקח דוד את שלטי הזהב . II Sam. 8:7 – And David took the shields of gold. And I humbly suggest adding the following word meaning refuge to the list: במ’ לה:יא – ערי מקלט. Num. 35:11 – Cities of refuge. All of these words have two things in common: 1. the concept of protection and salvation.2. the letters לט.Indeed, we find the root לט in a similar sense as well: מ”א יט:יג – ויהי כשמע אליהו וילט פניו באדרתו. I Kings 19:13 And as Elijah heard, he wrapped his face in his mantle The underlying concept of protection and salvation are actally illustrated by the seemingly unrelated noun form of the root מלט: יר’ מג:ט – קח בידך אבנים גדלות וטמנתם במלט. Jer. 43:9 – Take in your hand large stones and hide them in the mortar. Mortar? Yes, mortar was used not only to hold bricks together, but to cover and protect them from the elements, or even to hide precious items when necessary to safekeeping, as here. In short, Rabbi Ishmael looked at the context of the verse in Isaiah, and examined the context in which the word פסוח was used. Since all the other terms point to salvation though shelter, so too must פסוח mean shelter, which he refers to as חייס, as in מחסה – refuge. Let us pray that the Hashem’s everlasting assurance to the Jewish People and His Eternal city continue to be fulfilled, that we be sheltered and protected even as evil is purged from the earth. במהרה בימינו אמן. [1] This is also the source of the Aramaic term for prayer: צלותא . [2] This is why a government is called a שלטון – its principle purpose is to shield the population from harm. Share this: WhatsApp More Telegram Email Print Share on Tumblr #Passover #Pesach