Analyzing Rashi's Opening Comment to the Torah Chizuk During Iron Sword by Rabbi Avi Herzog

ER and uh to those listening perhaps from overseas in the US or elsewhere it may still be time to say Boer um I always feel or at least I should say um these days um as we are in the midst of the war I unfortunately feel as I'm sure we all do that I have to add a caveat and that is that when I say BTO or in the case of us that are privileged to be here in in Isel um just to add the caveat of of course keeping it in perspective or as much of a of an ER as it possibly can be um at this particular Point um I just would like to begin um the same way that I began uh when I had the privilege of presenting two weeks ago uh to thank both Khana whom I see here and uh Rabbi Sam Shaw uh for putting all of this together it really I just know for myself and I do not want to speak for anybody else it gives me tremendous just to have this opportunity to share and to learn words of torat together and just seeing all of us come together itself really um is is a wonderful opportunity uh for um this morning I would like to or this evening I should say like to learn with you a specific text before we do however um I would like to just by way of introduction um review with you a what I believe to be a an inspiring Insight of R salic which does not directly relate to our or the topic of our today um but it does indirectly and I think in of itself can really give all of us tremendous at least I hope that is the case in the beginning of par or in the first half of the closing reads as follows it's a famous perhaps we're all familiar with itot those things for lack of a better word that are hidden they are for God in other words there are certain events that transpire in the world and I suppose events is a better word than things there are certain manifestations or aspects to this world here on Earth that are God's domain we don't understand them we're never going to understand them indeed mosu challenged God on at least one occasion when he said to God please show me your glory that was another way of his saying According to some of the parim God please allow me to understand the way that you work God walks in mysterious ways um as the saying goes allow me to understand your mystery and God basically said to him that's not going to happen or at least what God said to him was not meant to be taken literally but rather you perhaps will be able to have some glimpse into me and how I operate after the fact but my front meaning as events are taking place that will not be seen by any man even by youu so now getting back to the with which we opened wrot they are but the continues those that are revealed they are for us to understand forever more Rob salv reminds us that if you take a look in a savior Torah in an actual saer Tor the words for us and our children actually have dots written over the words R Sal's understanding is whenever we have dots over a letter or a word it is signaling to us to stop and to think just think about it for One Moment In other words there's more to it than meets the eye the most classic example of this at least the one that comes to my mind immediately is not the first in the Torah I believe but it is when Yakov and asav have their reunion after being away for a couple of decades and among other things the Torah tells us about with a which means that he kissed him he kissed fitting with or in keeping with the theme of the way that tend to portr as which is he was not as good of a guy as he may come out to be upon a Upon A cursory reading of the text they changed the word to with a instead of a and by the way indeed in the letter K which should be pronounced K I believe and a c or with without a are sometimes interchangeable so it's not really too much of a stretch otherwise K would not have said it but somehow they managed to imply that the word visha or to stress that the word Vish not only means he kissed him of course he did but he also bit him that I think is the classic case there are dots over the word here there in our text there are dots over the words and so explains that one needs to take a hard look at it the words become an equalizer in other words don't only read the to be saying on one hand but the flip side of the coin is rather is a modifier of both of those Realms both the hot and the HL or put putting it another way think about those words you may think they areu but the truth of the matter is that while it is true that we may be able to grasp some events that transpire in the world on some level at the end of the day they too are also last and the flip side of the equation they too in some way on some level will eventually hopefully become maybe in keeping with the theme of the pasuk that I quoted before by mosu then indeed we can't know but hopefully on some level we will be able to understand eventually and in that sense those two the will also become it's I think pretty obvious to all of us that so much of what is transpiring right now maybe I should have speak for myself is under the realm falls under the umbrella of hanot at the same time there is this aspect of that one day these events will somehow become clearer to us as time proceeds as to why they indeed needed to take place either way they are on some level or hopefully will be but we always need to bear in mind and I know that it gives me that everything that transpires in this world whether they are theot or whether they are they areem it may not necessarily seem that way at all times and it certainly isn't going to necessarily seem that way for those that unfortunately have been affected on a much closer level than we have at least not at the the moment that they're going through it necessarily but just knowing thatu that everything indeed is the domain of God and God indeed is in control of every single thing that transpires in this world hopefully will be able to give us some during this time I shared that simply by way of opening and now I would like to move on to our main text this morning and this morning I should say I'm sorry again this evening I am after all here with you in is in so indeed it is after 5:00 pm not the morning but be that as it may I would like to explore together the well-known very first Rashi or very first uh per of Rashi on Kash we will then see that kakar a 17th century Paran or commentator takes issue not with the quote upon which Rashi basis his comment but rather on rashi's understanding of the quote and Rashi tells us as follows on the wordsit Rashi reminds us that there are different genres of works of books the Torah according to rashi's understanding or according to the source that he will be quoting this rabi who was an Amora the Torah is or falls under the rubric of a book of lists some of us that are uh that are on this Zoom session now or or we'll be listening at a later date in the archives or in YouTube are old enough to remember of course a phone book that is a book of lists a dictionary is a book of lists the the Torah is a book of lists what is that list comprised of well obviously it's comprised of mitv if that's the case we now can begin the Rashi and he writes as follows the if indeed the t is to be understood as a book of lists perhaps with a little bit of History here and there thrown in for for um for for good measure but at the same time if it is a book of lists then the Tor could have started with the first mitvah given to we're putting it another way there were certain other MIT that were given to individuals but we were not yet an arm of course the classic one would be I believe GRE to abrahamu there's also G Peru Oru twice both to Adam and then to Noah prior of course 10 Generations prior to the time of Abraham ainu himself but be that as it may once we were formed by into an am once we were transformed from a band of individuals into one unit of to sanctify Roes or to designate that this is the first day of the month of Nissan and every month thereafter that is the first Mitzvah so if the Torah is simply a book of lists the Torah should start with that Mitzvah it's a very good point and so then the midash asks the question what is the reason why the torat then begins withit in other words what is the purpose of the creation story and what is the purpose of everything that transpires after that in the recounting of the story or the history why do we need to know for example that God told AB to pick up and to move to ER Isel why does any of that matter to it to us if this is simply a book of lists or or putting it another way of course it matters to us why here in this text that we will call the and Rashi answers quoting because God is stressing to us the the strength of his deeds in other words these are God's deeds and God is the one who is running the world this by the way is a to give them meaning to give to us an inheritance of the other nations what is meant by that the way this RAB explains it is if the other nations of the world or some nations of the world will come along and say that we are Le that we are thieves as is transpiring right now for you went ahead and you captured the lands that at the time belonged to the the Seven Nations living in is can answer back to them take a look open up the open up the safer Tora and you will see the starting point is not that we took ER Isel we did but the starting point is that a created the world and thereby God himself is the owner of the entire world it all belongs to God that is the reason by the way given in the gar or the rale for our reciting a before we partake of food for example in this world we thank afterwards because of because of the understanding of the directive that it's sequential of first you will eat then you'll be satisfied and then in that order you will bless so that is the source for blessing God after we partake of food what is a source for a the that we recite before partaking of food for example the answer that's given by the is it's very simple it isn't yours it's God's and if you eat a food without reciting a it's as if you are actually but it's as if you're stealing it isn't yours how could you dare eat it first you have to take ownership of that how do you do that by reciting the bra now how that works that of course is an aside and that's for a different time but it's the same reasoning created the world and he gave every single piece of the world to whom he wished to give it we know that he gave a sub certain territory he gave is or Abraham at the outset our precursor ER according to God's will he then at some point took this particular land we'll call it in the terminology from them and according to God's will he took it from them and he gave it to us in other words in order for us to have a rightful claim over the land that can serve as proof that indeed this was given to us gifted To Us by hak none other than hakos the torat therefore starts with the creation Story the world belongs to God planet Earth belongs to God and if so he has the right to give it to whom he deems and God indeed deemed that he would give to us and in case any of you are wondering and maybe some of you have indeed explored this um how this will serve as a proof to those who have no belief whatsoever in the torat who don't consider our torat to be any more authentic than any other um than any other work it's a very good question one of the understandings that is given is that this isn't necessarily meant to be approv to to them to yenim but rather it's approved to ourselves and I think it's fair to say that every one of us at some point I would think at least I know I do sometimes wonder not now during the but sometimes really really do wonder about all of this you open up the Kash and to me that is the ultimate proof and I believe this is what RIT quoted by rash means it is the ultimate proof for me it is the ultimate proof for you it is the ultimate proof for a believing Jew that beyond a shadow of a doubt ER Isel indeed belongs to us that's the opening Rashi however the kakar comes along and he tells us that there's something missing here because all Rashi is doing is quoting rabi y he's quoting the mid that's all very nice but if the if the understanding is as based as Rashi seems to to leave it in other words leaves it as is there's something am Miss what is that and so the kakar writes as follows this and rashi's quoting of it without deling into it any deeper is extremely difficult why because he asked the basic question the 17th century so what if we're accused of being robbers what difference does it make now clear is not making light of that right now of course this question is at the four it's not a So what at all the enemy probably perhaps at least the most evil people that have ever existed on the planet on Earth's history I dare to say they believe that we did steal ER Israel so obviously kakar is not making light of the scenario today and he's not making light of the fact that we will be accused as we were accused in his time as well of being robbers of being thieves of stealing is rather he's saying as follows that is the reason for the order of the Torah this is a very important Point that's being made in the mid but that's a reason to actually start the Torah with with a creation story it's something that's important it needs to be addressed we need to somehow find a way to convince ourselves and maybe convince others that erel indeed belongs to us and a statement needs to be needs to be made but to start the with the creation story for that reason is it that big of a deal and his answer is as follows if indeed people are able to engage in theft and we'll see that in a moment is going to stress there are no repercussions then indeed that leads to K that leads to denial of God's existence why people will say late de there is no de there is no judgment or there's no justice in the world there is no judge with a capital J of course and the way that possession of property works and we know that historically indeed this is a piece of it if you stake a claim called the Alim the one who has the strength gar will have the upper hand in other words if I arm wrestle against my 28-year-old son he is going to win maybe you thought it was going to go in the other direction why will he win because despite the fact that I am a 33 years older than he he is stronger than I am and he will take me down in an arm wrestle because he's the stronger one and the same thing comes to property when it comes to property if in fact the torat did not inform us that there is a dean and that there is a that there is Justice and there is a judge with the capital J then the way that it would seemly work is called the Alim G for if the world and I'm paraphrasing the kakar if the world did indeed did have a man did have a leader who that indeed organizes everything and is behind everything the other nations could say to us then why didn't God go ahead and slap you across the face why didn't God give you a pin Pim at the very least when you took with a strong hand the the excuse me the lands of the other nations why is that the case they would say it's the case because of late de to late there are no no manifest visible repercussions of your stealing the land from us it must be that you actually it must be that late and therefore you were able to go ahead and do whatever you want now one could take issue with the cakar and turn it around absolutely and there are others that have tried to do that but that is his reasoning and then the cakar goes on to explain the connection to the to the mabul to the flood story that in indeed it was only after the flood that God decided to destroy the world excuse me it was only at the point of the flood that God decided to destroy the world why because the world was engaged in Theft the world was engaged in gazel yes I'm sure we've all seen so many videos and heard shim about the fact that the word that's used there for gazel which incorporates other um evil Behavior as well isas and there are those who have tied in the word Kamas in the Tor to the name of the organization Kamas today we have to keep in mind that that is perhaps telling and perhaps significant but at the same time it's notat it's not what the word Kamas means and it is not an actual um reference toas of today it can't be because Kamas is an Arabic word not a Hebrew one and it is rash it is an acronym in the Arabic I'm not even going to try to pronounce the Arabic even though it was pronounced for me but indeed it stands for the is in English the Islamic uh the Islamic resistance movement it is an acronym and it is not related at all at its core to the word Kamas but be that as it may what kakar goes on to explain is that it was because of theft that the world was destroyed and once people engage in Theft that means that according to them and that will spread that belief will spread like wildfire that late de there is no judge there is no judgment there's no justice in the world God does not own the world anybody who takes hold of any part of the world indeed owns that part of the world you want to take somebody's spouse go ahead and take their spouse that makes that spouse yours you want to go ahead and rape young children on when you march them back to Aza go ahead and do so and if you succeed that makes that your territory that is exactly what some unfortunately think today and this according to the kakar is why the flood came at that particular point and then the kakar goes on to say as follows please apologize I just like to take a very quick drink but if I may Shalom we will have Shalom soon again I apologize for that Interruption the kak car goes off in a different direction and this is where he takes issue with rashi rashi seems to understand the mid RAB as saying that we don't need the creation story we're not for the fact that however kakar disagrees and says that's not the reading here at all we absolutely need the creation story as part of the and he goes on to say does not mean to imply that this the creation story Etc all the way up until does not mean to be in the Kum at all because there is great need on so many levels not just for this reason in God's creation of the world because after all that lays for us the foundation of MIT of the existence of God obviously the Torah which is ours which is intended for us to keep the MIT beginning with only has makes any sense if it's in the proper context of these come from God who is God the creator of the world oh now it makes sense of course we need that and not only that we need the story of the flood we because that indeed is what publicizes for all is in the words of that indeed is the prime story of ones in this world at least on a global scale of punishment and of reward of course there's an earlier story of punishment and reward to as well aside from the fact that kak goes on there are many in as IAD mentioned before Ella the kakar explains I'm not gonna ask you for a show of hands unless you wish to but I will volunteer just a moment as you will see how many of us have ever started let's say a book and I don't mean a very thin book necessarily but a thick book a a rather lengthy book and then decided not to follow through with it and didn't actually complete the work so you you don't have to I see that KH is willing to volunteer um thank you KH that you're in with me on this and you're not embarrassing me um I'm gonna imagine that it probably applies to all of us at some point in our lives whether it was as a child when we faked writing a book report for the teacher I indeed engag in that on more than one occasion I pretended I read a book when indeed I read the first line and maybe the ending and then of course the teacher discovered that I had no clue what the book was about or as an adult will pick up a novel to read will'll read two pages and we'll say no this is not for me and then we'll put it aside and the cakar goes ahead and he says as follows and he says as follows um excuse me I apologize since the main purpose of the Tora is the since its function is to list for us the we're obligated to keep if we go back to the original words of the said according to the the point of in this m is not that the Tora did not need to record The Creation story ET up until rather it did need to record it but that should not have been the starting point except for the first that could have been an addendum that could have been a postcript added at the end of the Torah start with the mitv take us all the way through the death of Moshe Ru perhaps and then add by the way PS you should know that this SC we' been talking about all along he created the world it would have worked so why do we need to start the Torah with that again one can take issue with a kakar but for me it's the kakar's answer that I think is very important and very telling and I think I just gave it away a moment [Music] ago therefore explains is coming along and saying if God would have instructed mosu to write the Tor in that sequence meaning the of through Abraham and yob up through MOS the the birth ATC and the and the growing up of mosu until he becomes our leader until we receive the first first as we are about to leave um to leave as The Exodus is about to take place that indeed would give Sinners the opportunity to indeed be K to indeed just toss aside the entire Torah in other words they'll say okay this is a mitv given to us by God to keep so what there's no discuss of who this God is and if at the end of if it's at the end of the Tor it won't serve any function why because there's always the danger that the person will start reading and he will not he or she will not read it from the beginning until the end this needed to be stated at the outset because if a person picks up this book and only reads the first few pages then at least that piece of it that God created the world and that God has therefore has the authority to do with what he to do with the world and every single land as it were every single country every single continent whatever it may be as he with a capital H wishes that will have been established even if one after reading just a few pages after reading for five minutes and then loses their attention span puts it aside and picks up a novel to read instead and therefore it had to be presented first andak Ends by saying Al therefore in order to show they meaning we did not take through theft but rather through what was just indeed it was given to us and that he go on to to uh to close with that is what R meant with his opening words of his answer of the quote from sa the strength of God's Deeds beginning with the creation of the world there's no greater um strength than that there's no greater deed than [Music] that to give to them an inheritance of the other nations the next goes on to say and ends with this indeed this idea [Music] of indeed is it is the prime example that all of God's actions indeed are they are all truth they are all mishpat they are all just to me personally um I find this to um be words of as a reminder that indeed decided to give as a gift to is and just as has given it to a gift we know that in several other places in Tor and as the hour is late we're not going to get into any other source material now but that as long as we continue to display that we are deserving of continued ownership of is which was gifted To Us by then indeed ER Israel will be ours for all eternity there is no way as I mentioned at the outset of our today and I hope that indeed these words are somehow for all of us not that I am in any position to give any of us but we began with the pasuk if you recall it is on some level we have no idea what God is waiting for we don't really have any idea what God wants of us at this very moment what we can do is to do our best to channel what would like of us is that what God wants of us there's no way to know for sure but I can tell you this it certainly seems like Ronda right track when all of us of course are volunteering in ways that are simply beyond belief whether it's cooking for whether it's so many people from the more shall we say world that suddenly are showing up at army bases and cooking barbecue dinners for whether it's going to pick fields in the pick fruit in the fields that if we do not do so now then the owners will take will suffer TR tremendous loss because the time for picking olives for example is now this week and if not then all of that will go down the drain whatever it may be all of those that until two weeks ago were against and against serving the in the Army and now hundreds According to some reports thousands and even if the numberers exaggerated I don't think makes one bit of difference are suddenly entertaining the idea and even already going going um through with it and and listing in the Israeli Army that they did not support even two weeks ago all of this and I can go on and you know more examples perhaps than I do it simply it it boggles the mind and maybe indeed this is what is waiting for maybe what is waiting for is for us to display to display all of us regardless of our bent regardless of our level of religiosity as Israeli that are now Israeli such as myself and all of us that are that are privileged to live at erel those that are still in diasp whatever the case may be perhaps what wants from us right now is to see that we indeed are all pulling together and if we do we can't know but who knows maybe just one day the n that are transpiring right now will also indeed be transformed into hanl either [Music] way will be ours forever more I would just like to wish all of us with with an AR to or depending on where you may be located right now or maybe as the case may be but of course again with the caveat that we should all just do our best to function as well as we can to give each other and to give others as well we will be to have as ours forever more