by Rav David Dov Levanon, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.
Just as in the Kabbalah, the highest and lowest levels are connected, the Medrash teaches the same regarding the first and last verses of the Torah. We know that the Torah begins with, "In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth," and ends with, "[G-d's] mighty hand and great sights that Moshe wrought [miraculously] before the eyes of all Israel." When we seek the connection between them, it is clear: The end of the Torah teaches that the entire purpose of Creation is that the Torah should be brought down to earth and be revealed in This World in a way that Israel can see.
G-d, as well, so to speak, descended from His Throne above to create the world, as the Medrash teaches, "He desired to have a dwelling place in the lower worlds."
And Moshe Rabbeinu, the "man of G-d" (Deut. 33,1), who attained the summit of prophecy, also bridged between the Heavenly and the earthly: "No other prophet arose in Israel like Moshe, whom G-d knew face to face" (verse 10). On the one hand, he was exalted like an angel, but his entire desire was to enter the Land – and although this was not granted, he merited on the day of his death to partially fulfill this desire when G-d showed him the entire Land (Deut. 34,1).
The Talmudic Sages ask: "Why did Moshe so long to enter the Land of Israel? Did he simply want to enjoy its fruits? Not at all; he knew that many Torah commandments apply only in the land, and so he wanted to enter the Land to fulfill them…" And still: not that Moshe wanted reward for his deeds, other than the fact that "the reward for a mitzvah is another mitzvah (Pirkei Avot 4,2);" he simply wanted to fulfill his life task, namely, to bring the Torah down to This World, to the Land of Israel where the mitzvot are fulfilled in actuality.
The Gemara says that Moshe was rewarded for his selfless dedication to Israel, literally giving his life for them. That is, he was not rewarded for his great Torah knowledge and study, nor for his prophecy – but rather measure for measure: He understood that his purpose was to give himself on behalf of Israel, and therefore he merited to bring down the Torah to the point where he saw its completion in Eretz Yisrael.
On a slightly deeper level, we can derive this concept from Rashi's last words in his commentary to the Torah: "Moshe's heart raised him to break the Tablets before the eyes of Israel… and G-d agreed with him and endorsed this action." But – what was so "heart raising" about breaking the Tablets? The answer is that it was done for Israel's sake, and this shows his great love – a raised heart – for Israel!
Back to the first verse of the Torah: "In the beginning" – can literally mean "for the beginning," and this has several meanings: The 'beginning' (reishit) can be Torah, and it can be Israel. The Medrash (Kohelet Rabba 1,4) explains which of these beginnings come first: "The Torah was created for the sake of Israel, and will therefore exist forever – and Israel which was created for its sake, all the more so!"
This concept of Israel's greatness that we learn from the end of the Torah can also be learned from the very holiday that we will be celebrating at the end of this week: Shmini Atzeret, the day on which we end the public weekly readings of the Torah. Rabbeinu Bachye explains that both Shavuot (the day of the Giving of the Torah) and Shmini Atzeret (the day on which we conclude its reading) are called Atzeret, which stems from the root meaning "to stop." As follows:
On Shmini Atzeret, immediately after Sukkot, the Divine Presence "stops" especially for Israel; on the previous days of Sukkot, G-d received offerings for all the nations, while Shmini Atzeret is a festival just for Israel. And on Shavuot, Israel "stopped" [in the middle of several months of no holidays] to receive the Torah and study it and accept G-d's kingship and decrees.
Thus, on the Atzeret of the receiving of the Torah, we accepted G-d upon us as our King, and on Shimini Atzeret, G-d made us into kings.
Another Medrash (Yalkut Shimoni, D'varim 833) says that on Shavuot, we received the mitzvah of Kriat Shma in which we accepted G-d upon us – while on Shmini Atzeret, G-d made us the king among all the nations, as above, and in accordance with the verse, "Who is like Your nation Israel, one nation in the land" (Chronicles I 17,21).
This verse is not only praise for Israel, but even for G-d Himself, as written in the following difficult Talmudic passage:
What is written in the tefillin of the Master of the Universe? "Who is like Your nation Israel, one nation in the land." Can it be that G-d is praised from Israel's praise? Yes, as written (Deut. 26,17-18): "You have raised up G-d… And G-d has similarly raised you up…"
The upshot is that we must accept upon ourselves the yoke of Torah, and learn from the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who descended from a high place to a low place to dwell below. We too must strive to live our lives striving to do good for others, thinking how we can contribute to the community, how we can be loyal emissaries to rectify the world for G-d's Kingdom – and then we will merit that G-d will grant us strength and the ability to succeed, and He will grant kingdom to Israel: "Who is like Your people Israel, one nation in the land."
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