Is there a Biblical Mitzvah to Daven? By Rabbi Yossi Goldin

we're now continuing in our series on on we had really just finished last week our introductory series on why we D in and what I want to do now is the next few weeks really go through a trace of the development of meaning aside from the question of why we DAV the other question that we we need to deal with is is is there a Biblical Mitzvah to DAV if there is what was the biblical mitz is the biblical Mitzvah how did the doing that we come to know today develop so we're going to be doing that over the next few weeks the first question we're going to be dealing with today is is there an actual Mitzvah Ora is there a Biblical Mitzvah to David now at first glance you might it might sound like a silly question because the last few weeks we've been going through different reasons why we DAV and I would constantly bring different Pim that reference descriptions of daving so you might say well what about what about all this Pim what kind of what kind of question is this so as we're going to see um just because something is referenced in the Torah specifically when we're talking about things that are referenced in the stories of the Torah does not mean that it is actual a Biblical command sometimes you have things that are hinted to or referenced and where we can learn something about the nature of daving from those hints but that doesn't mean there was actually ne ne necessarily A commandment and you'll understand better as we as we go through the sources today um because sometimes we have things that are written in the Torah or referred to in the Torah but that doesn't mean that there's an actual Commandment that we should be doing them they might be what's called an as in the world of means it's hinted to it's referred to in the text but it might not be an actual Commandments one other question that might be coming to your minds is who cares whether it's biblical or not everyone agrees there's a Rabin commandment everyone agrees that there is a Mitzvah to Davin two three times a day as we'll get to it started out as two maybe now it's three um so why does it matter whether it's biblical or whether it's Rabbi if if we all know we're we're we're committed Orthodox Jews we keep rabic Judaism just like we keep biblical Judaism so the answer to that is number one sometimes there are practical differen is practically between something that is biblical versus something that is rabic in terms of certain unique situations there might be reasons where you could be lenient or act in a certain way depending on whether a certain Mitzvah is biblical or or rinic and number two the actual conversation itself about the nature of the biblical Mitzvah can actually shed light on the nature of daving and on our understanding of daving and so we're not just doing this to understand the specifics but to really be able to develop and continue to learn more about daving so we're going to start by looking at the sources the first place you look to if something is biblical or not if something is midis where do you start look at the Torah look at the Torah where are there references to daving in the Torah and if there are what are those references and how might others who would say it's rabic if there are those who say it's rinic how would they understand their sources let's start with the with theim Source number one is the the well-known PK which is the basis that most of the PK that most of us identify as the source for daving is a p from sh and it will be if you will listen to my that I command you to do today and to serve him with all of your heart and all of your soul now the PK does not explicitly mention does not specifically mention prayer but the m m the quotes a debate as to what it means L of do to serve him serving is a very vague term what does it mean to serve God what what is there is there a specific action or commandment that's associated with serving God so the sa says in Source number two it brings a few a few a few opinions IO one opinion is what does it mean to serve God Z talmud it refers to the study of talmud to learning to understanding to developing your your your knowledge of Torah that is the way that we serve that we serve God if you continue to the next on line part another opinion what does it mean to serve second understanding is that the phrase is a reference to which would be which would mean seemingly that that would be an indication that that there is a mitvah there's a Biblical commandment to to David says how do you know what means to maybe it means something else maybe it just means to serve God uh in the general term t the says it says to serve him with your heart and with your soul normally refer to actual work a it's not done in the heart what is a what does it mean to serve with your heart that's the indication that means is a reference to DAV okay so we have one p that PK is a little bit vague and we have two opinions in the medish as to whether that PK is referring to or not okay we see a similar a similar similar thing happening another PK there's another P that is quoted by some to be the source for daving and this is a inos the P says in Source number three you should serve hasem your God and then he will bless your bread and your water and I will remove illness from amongst you okay that if you do this aod then Hashem will repay you or will answer you in kind by taking care of you and again the question becomes what does it mean what does it mean that you should serve him so here too we have the medish and the medish quotes two different two different opinions one opinion is Source number four one opinion is is referring to ding as it says earlier as we saw before referencing the earlier another opinion the other reference the other interpretation is no aod here means keeping the Torah or or it's a reference to the aod in the bikash or the or the Mish okay so what we've seen here so far are twoim that may refer to and according to what opinion are a source for and according to the second opinion another opinion they can be referencing something else now why would we need to Let's assume for a second for argument sake that the p is referring to why do you think we would have t what do you mean okay right so there's in the gar whether it's conned correct can the medium that's true that that's that's the wellknown why would that why would that mean we need two different because they're I think maybe what you're trying to say okay so so perhap perhaps what you're suggesting good so good okay so I think what you're suggesting and I'll just I'll just I'll just elaborate a little bit is the the simple understanding would be that if both of these sukim are referring to they're referring to different aspects of different things that are accomplished by and in fact if you look at theim themselves they're very very different one context is it's a very enal you do you should serve him with your heart and with your soul that's one what's the other model you should serve Hashem and what's going to happen if you serve hash what's gonna happen if you DAV in you're gonna get things so theim are actually highlighting different aspects of what we have been discuss in the last weeks of why we daving one p is highlighting we ding because if we dve in then God will give us bread he'll give us water he'll take care of us kind of like that quidd Pro that we've talked about that's one aspect of doing the other p is saying why should you do because that's part of an overall a it's part of how you should be relating to which I would understand to mean some of the other reasons we talked about for why you DAV you don't just D to get things from you D to connect with him you DAV to remember to to remind yourself of all the important things of what's important to you you David because it's part of your aod so I it could be that if we have two different Zim it's because they're highlight different aspects of what of what is supposed to be okay so now that we've seen theim the next step you go to after seeing theim in order to understand if something is biblical or not we now we need to go to the gamarra now we need to see what are is there evidence in the gamarra how does the gamarra understand these Pim and analyze theim and how do they interpret the the question of of of of daving so there are a number of different garot um some garot seem to indicate that daving is biblical and there are are some gar that seem to indicate that that daving is rabic well we'll go through them some of them are a little bit technical so you'll forgive me but they're basically just establishing that there's going to be really two different ways two different opinions yes what does it take to be a Mitzvah EXC okay so okay excellent excellent excellent question and I appreciate the question the question was how do we know what what establishes something as a Mitzvah okay so I would the best way that I I think I think explain it this this way we know we know according to Aras that there are 613 mitv okay everyone agrees to that to that the big question becomes when it comes to what's considered a Mitzvah is what are those 613 Mitzvah and there are a number of great rabbis gim andon who endeavored took upon themselves to basically list the 63 mitz most famously was the rambam the rambam has in his safe I'm going to get to him in in a little bit he has a where he lists all 63 many other people did the did the same thing did the same thing many many people did the same thing the Big Challenge becomes they all agree that they're 613 but they argue what those 613 are and then it becomes a whole conversation why do you leave this one at and why do you leave that at and why do you include this and and there's different R rules and and it's interesting because the rambam list his and then the ramban who we're going to talk about today has a commentary on the rambam where he argues and says you left this out and this shouldn't be there and and and it becomes a debate now what establishes something it has to be biblical meaning in order for you to say something is a Mitzvah is a Biblical Mitzvah you need to bring a p you need to show that P you need to show the interpretation of that P and people might disagree and that and that's okay and that's part of the question becomes now that's what we're going to see meaning today we're going to see that there is a big debate amongst Theon a bigus how we should look at DAV is DAV and the best way to phrase it is the following way is doing an obligation or is ding an opportunity is ding a Biblical m that this is what we should do or is doing not necessarily an obligation you don't have to do doing is an opportunity it's God God out of God's goodness he gives us the opportunity to doav in but there's no sense there's no straight up obligation that's that's the framing that we're going to see today the makus we're going to see today and and but but before we even get to the rishonim there are references to this question in the gar itself there are a number of garas that discuss and they seem to hint to whether or not there's an obligation or it's not or there's no obligation tibl TI Titus is a little bit different Titus is a little bit different because TI is is a situational obligation meaning meaning if you happen to have a garment of Four Corners then you have to make sure to put to put this on what if you decide not to wear a garment of Four Corners everyone agrees there's no there's no obligation to wear a garment of Four Corners if I were to decide not to wear titas today that wouldn't be that wouldn't be me it would be me missing out the opportunity but if I did if I decided to wear a piece of clothing that had four corners I would be obligated to put to put it on it's a little bit of a different conversation we're going to see there is a parallel to the conversation about daving that we're going to see soon to other there are other Mitzvah where this debate obligation versus opportunity but T is is is is unique another example comparing it to yours mza if you have a house you need to put a mza on your house okay but it doesn't mean not everyone not everyone has a house if you don't have a house you don't need to put a Mis up so those are situational mitv but that's different than here here the question is going to be is there an obligation every single day to DAV or there's no obligation to DAV every single day if I want to I'm going take advantage of the opportunity that's God's God's that he's given us but that's a very different it's it's a different conversation okay so let's look at the garot we're gonna look at the garas that seem to indicate in either direction and then from there we'll go into this com this debate between the RAM and the and the ran which we'll get to in a second we're going to skip Source number four Source number five is the well-known gamar that that the medish quoted which is the gamar quotes and says what does it referred to it refers to simple understanding is like the med said that's a that the is referring to to prayer look at the gamar in Source number six the gamar in Source number six is discussing the various obligations for different for different MIT thear says women servants and people who are below the age of okay so an important distinction that I want to just clarify is the G and many of the will differentiate between what they call and what they call kma now that might be confusing for us because you think for wait a second isn't shma part of our D so the answer is is that many many people understand there to be two separate Mitzvah there's the Mitzvah to read kma that's not a Mitzvah of daving that's actually a Mitzvah that's associated with what's called with accepting the Yoke of Heaven some some associate that Mitzvah with learning Torah so there is an actual Mitzvah according to Moston called saying kma that is separate from the mitz the the Mitzvah is usually a reference to saying which we'll get to because that is the main the main okay so when we're talking about shma versus you could there are some people who say that shma Isa is biblical saying is biblical but is not some say both are biblical some say both AR rinic but they're two distinct they're two distinct mitzvot and that's where it might get a little bit confusing two so this Mish says women servants and are putter from and from wearing but they are obligated in what we call and M and okay that's the mishna now the gamar then tries to understand why women are how how you understand their obligation says why are they obligated in why should women be obligated in because is an opportunity to ask for for for ask for to and to ask for Mercy from meaning is not just a standard obligation it's about developing a relationship and and talking to a and that women are women women should be involved in women women have the obligation continues the why would I have thought otherwise why should not be I might have thought since regarding the PK mentions mourning even morning and and afternoon meaning there's a time to David and if there's a time to David we know that there's a well-known rule that that women are generally exempt from time bound women are from any active any which is time bound women are generally putter from so says the you might have thought they should be put from daving because it's a it's a Time bound positive commandment but then comes the gar to say but because daving is different ra who it's about asking for Mercy from therefore it's a rule breaker women are obligated even though it's a MIT now without getting into all the details of women's obligation maybe we'll get to that in a future in a future sh it's a fascinating conversation about women and their obligation to to Davin um and and why why most people most post believe that women are obligated to Davin and how many times we'll get we can get to that conversation later but what's clear from this gamarra is that or what the gamarra seems to be saying is that it calls it a a positive Commandment that is time Bound by definition a positive commandment means a Biblical Commandments which means this gar seems to be clearly stating that this is a Biblical Mitzvah that the Mitzvah in the Torah that this that that the Mitzvah of daving is a Biblical commandment and even though it's a Biblical commandment that's time bound women are still obligated so the evidence from this gar seems to indicate there is a Mitzvah there is a Mitzvah a Biblical commandment to David let's go to the next the next also quotes auk and seems to learn from it the pasuk says the P we saw before you should serve and he will bless your bread and your you should serve this is a reference to both the Mitzvah of and the which means again this is referring to and what does it mean he'll bless your bread and your water that he'll give you some water some bread and he'll give you some water so again the the simple understanding of this gar is that clearly there is a commandment to David the Torah says and that's reference to daving the problem is if you look at a couple of other garas the gamar seems to explicitly say that there is no biblical commandment to Davin the daving is daan look at source number eight Source number eight just to give you a little bit of background it's a bit of a technical halic discussion but we're just again it's just to highlight the point the the the mishna is discussing what should a person do or the gar is a let's say a a man is in the middle of doing certain acts of certain MIT and then he realizes that he had had a seminal emission in which case he is impure and he fail he did not yet purify himself should he continue in the act of what he's doing so what happens if a person in the middle of daving and then they realize that they had had a seminal Mission they they and they they didn't and they didn't and they didn't and they didn't purify themselves yet or what if they're in the middle of kacha or what if they're in the middle of benching what should you do and the gamar seems to point out that there seems to be a contradiction between different between different actions the mishna in Source number eight the Mish or the Bri says if a person is in the middle of daving he's in the middle of saying and he realized that he had had a seminal admission and that he had F he had not yet purified himself he had not yet been right that what should he do says the don't stop in the middle finish up but shorten it now they don't discuss what that means exactly what you should Skip and but the point is it doesn't tell you to stop in the middle it says you should shorten it continues thear that implies that the only reason he's allowed to finish it is because he started it already that implies that had he not yet started daving had he remembered that he was a balky before he started started daving he shouldn't start the implication is he shouldn't even start If he if he if he hadn't yet if he hadn't yet daved and says the gamar but wait a second that's different than what we had seen earlier we had seen earlier in other other mitzvot that that you should you shouldn't even start if you realize that you're a b car so the gar goes back and forth and back and forth the final line is the underlined part of the gar where the gamar says rules are going to be different By kma and By and By bir because those are biblical Commandments kma it says in sh you should say should say these words and there's a p that tells us that the person should bench after they D so because it's biblical it's gonna have one rule regarding AAL and is gonna have a different rule why because isan explicitly the gamar seems to point out that f is is rinic in nature okay one more Source before just to get through this technical is another con ation the conversation in Source number n as a background is is talking about somebody who forgot to do the Mitzvah of lul of me him on on on suot a person forgot to do to shake to shake the lul on suot he had the it's towards the end of the day and he realized he hadn't shakeing the Lula he's in the middle of eating his meal he's in the middle of eating a nice afternoon meal and he realizes that oh my God I forgot to shake the Lula what do I do so says the that he should take the and He should shake right away that means that you should imply that if I'm in the middle of a meal and I realize I didn't do it I should I should stop my meal I should interrupt the meal Get Up and Shake the Lula says thear but wait a second we have a similar conversation with somebody who hasn't yet daved let's say a person is in the middle of his meal and he realizes he didn't dve in he didn't he didn't yet dve in M okay and he's in the middle of lunch does he stop his meal to dve or not there's a whole conversation back and forth and the says here it says you shouldn't so why by lul of an esrog do I interrupt my meal in order to do the Mitzvah immediately and yet by daving I'm told I can keep finishing my meal and I don't have to I don't have to stop the meal to David so the gamarra gives a few different answers but one answer which is at the very end the gamar says dma the last few lines of the source maybe it's because there's a fundamental difference between the Mitzvah of and the Mitzvah of ding is everyone agrees taking D meim is biblical in nature and therefore maybe I have to stop my meal because I'm dealing with a Mitzvah you're when you're dealing with a Mitzvah you stop your meal you shake a little and then you can finish your meal but if daving baving is daanan and if daving is only daanan maybe you shouldn't interrupt your meal you can finish your meal and then you can do it or if you not going have time okay but you don't have to interrupt you don't have to interrupt your meal so again without getting I apologize if you got a little bit lost on some of the technical points but what we've seen here is that we have some garas that seem to indicate that the that that that that it is a Biblical commandment and yet we have some sources that's get that it's rinic in nature I'm sorry so again I don't want I I don't know I don't want to get into the details but the answer is is that one person gave a different answer and someone said to him why you giving that answer you could just give this answer Dilma Dilma doesn't necessarily again it could mean that he's not sure or Dilma could mean here that maybe the reason is that's the that's the that's the interpretation I I didn't look Reon him enough to tell you to to understand it 100% but it's clear that is basically saying what's the person who's asking this question at the end is B what's the question why you even asking the question maybe it's it seems like he's saying maybe it's because this is D and this the correct it's a very good point I just don't want to get into that that into that you know detail yes yes we when we positive commandment positive when we talk about mitv or mitv positive Commandments and negative Commandments usually we're referring to are the the biblical Commandments of course there are many Rabbi Commandments and R Commandments are also divided by but when we use the phrase in the gar or in the they're referring to the biblical commandment because the phrase a implies if you look by the way when we talked about how there are the monv people who count the Mitzvah right the r has a mitv he divides his sa mitv into two sections the mitv say the positive Commandments and the negative commandments so generally when we're talking about a conversation where or will say that it means they're referring to the biblical commandment even though of course Rabin Commandments also have ones that are a and L but the phrase is kind of like a keyword for the biblical Commandment that are that are negative or positive okay okay so now let's look at this at this fascinating M yes sorry no I believe they I believe they are I believe let's read it again they're P from they said they're pter from and from but they're obligated in okay and again even kma it's a whole conversation why not I I didn't bring that Kamar but that's a separate that's a whole separate that's a whole separate discussion but yes they are obligated in okay okay so this is a what's know as a well-known m a famous makus between the ramb and the ran as I mentioned the rambam took Ram did a number of a number of wonderful things one of the very ambitious things the ra did was he put together what he calls thez and in the he he delineates what he believes to be the 63 Mitzvah he has the Mitzvah the positive Commandments and then he has the mitvah and not only does he list them but he describes them in relative detail um and and what happened was you have then have the ramban the ramban got a copy of the rambam's uh and he has what's called theot he has his reactions and his reactions are two type sometimes he'll agree with the RAM and sometimes he'll disagree with the ram now disagreeing can mean two things it's if you disagree with the RAM and you say this isn't the Mitzvah what does that also mean you got to replace that Mitzvah with something else no again it's not out of necessity it's the ran will argue if he thinks something is not a Mitzvah and and then he'll write and he has a whole he writes a whole commentary very often on on if you if you ever purchased or you've seen a text of the r on the side is the commentary of the ranis where he writes his reactions and then you have people who are going to see some of them soon who then wrote A Commentary to the ramban defending the rambam you have a lot of beautiful conversation taking place between because the rambam himself he never saw the ran so he can't respond himself so you have all these different interpretations one's called migas eser one is called there different on k s that basically come and defend the RAM and it's a beautiful conversation in terms of understanding and there were many other there were many other people who were Mo mitzvot who counted the mitzvot the ram is probably the most the most famous yes you accept the idea that Gover is requ then what do I get out I get what am I why am I doing not why six am I well I think I think I think that's two separate question meaning I think I think that's a that's a a very important question but I think it's also a secondary question meaning sometimes we do things because we're commanded to if there's a Mitzvah mean mean I would say it's a dual question the question he asked was well then it's not just a question of is there commandment the question is what do I get out of it I think that's an important question I think we did a lot of we spent a lot of time on that when we talked about why we David but I also think that it's that the question of is something a Mitzvah is a dual question because sometimes we need to know what a Mitzvah is because we need to know what we're commanded to do and as as I don't know if we I think we've discussed in different context before sometimes we do mitzvot even if we don't understand why or if I don't connect to it we do it because we're commanded that's part of being commanded and having someone who commands us nevertheless we all believe and that's why we spend so much time on it we also believe that it'll be more meaningful if we find meaning in it and and work to and strive to find meaning which is why we spend so much time on trying to understand it so I think there's I think I think both are important I think it's important to know what is the biblical Mitzvah and you're going to see soon that when we get to it it's not just about is it a Mitzvah or not the way the r describes the Mitzvah is very very important and the Bond's understanding of the Mitzvah is very important too and as we're going to see it could be that both aspects are true it could be that it's an obligation and an opportunity but it doesn't have to be either or and that's part of what we're going to see now look at the Raman in Source number 10 the ram in Source number 10 this is the fifth Mitzvah that the ran brings which means for him this is a priority don't forget the rambam list 613 MIT he could list in any order he wants which and the first one he has what's the first mits for the rambam has belief in God okay meaning meaning the rambam when he's listing these he's not listing them in the in the order of the Torah okay someone who did that for example is has his list of 63v and he list them by paraa the way they came up in the Torah the ram doesn't do that the ram can can write them in any order he wants which means that he seemingly is going to put them in an order of what he thinks to be fundamental and important okay and listen to the way the rambam writes it I I mean fundamental I meant fun fundamental is I guess the best way to say it meaning you're right importance they're all important and the mission a says we shouldn't necessarily say one is more one is more important than the other I agree with you Mel I mean that there are certain ones that are we would probably argue are more fundamental to our service to God and the fact that the rahan puts this here in one of the five probably means it's there but look at the way he describes it because he doesn't just open up by saying the fifth Mitzvah is to DAV look how he does that we're in Source number TW 10 excuse me the fifth we are commanded to serve Hashem and this Mitzvah is mentioned more than one it's mentioned a number of times the that we quoted that you should serve which is another and him you should serve so ra list at least four different places where the Commandment is to serve Hashem so Mitzvah number five is serve Hashem the and even though even though this mitvah is one of those Commandments that has many aspects to it because again the phrase serve Hashem is a very vague phrase we have to Define what it means so says the rambam even though it's called serve Hashem and serving Hashem can include many aspects there is one main expression of this Mitzvah and that is the Commandment to DAV okay so what the rambam did here was not was was was was not by accident was by Design he doesn't just say the fifth Mitzvah is to DAV he puts the Mitzvah of daving in the in a context in what kind of context service to daving is just one aspect of our major what we call serving Hashem it's just the r says that's the main expression of that of that serving of okay and he quotes the that means and then he and then again he goes on to just discuss some of this some of the sources okay so according to the Rah we have this biblical Mitzvah it's to D and it's within the context of serving Hashem the Rah writes about this Mitzvah elsewhere as well because the r has another made besides the mitzvas he has many other works but one of his other most important works for us Hally is the Mish Torah in the Mish Tor Otherwise Known asak he lists he discusses all the different Commandments and the from the Gar so if you look at source number 11 we have to also see how does the r phrase daving in in the mishna Torah and he has a whole section called look at source number 11 is the positive commandment to dve in every single day as the says you've served you should serve hasem your God we've learned that is a reference to right the P says you should serve hem what does serving mean so because we have another which says it means okay so the ra says very clearly there is a in every day then he adds something very important how many times you d a day there's no that's not that's not mandated by the Torah repeating it or the text or any of those other aspects of it are not there's no set time that you have to DAV according to the Torah the raam's understanding we're GNA see next week that not everyone agrees to this but according to the r the Mitzvah is DAV in one time one once a day whenever you want and as we're going to see in a second you could say whatever you want continues the r and therefore women and are actually obligated in Why by the way the r is an interesting and by the way if you're thinking about the that we saw earlier ra has a different interpretation of the gar we saw earlier says the ram because there's no specific time to DAV it is actually not a Time bound positive commandment it is actually because there's no de there's no defined time you can die whenever you want and that's the op the ra explains that whole G that we saw earlier in a totally different way and therefore says the r it's a positive commandment and women are obligated just like everybody else because it's not time Mount he says this is the Mitzvah what is the Mitzvah a person should should praise and D to or really means to plea excuse me and he should say he should say God's praises and then he could ask for his needs I'm sorry yeah very good correct we'll get that in a second first you praise then you should ask for the things that you want then afterwards you thank and as you pointed out correctly that's actually what we do in the we start with we start with praise we then go to bakas and then we go to that's what ra has outlined here now again he doesn't tell you what to say biblically he's just suggesting this is the way should look but a bibl but but but I mean I mean technically he's just saying what it should look but biblically there's no there's no mandate one second I'll get to the question in one minute and this is just to again defining what the should look like if you wanted to do it and you like it you would say a lot you would do a lot if you're somebody doesn't who's not who's not very good with words you should say whatever you want when you want this is the rah's definition of of daving biblically how many times you should D in according to your abilities some people would D in once a day more than once a day many times the key is that when you D you should D in facing the facing the and says this is what ding was from the times of mos Ezra one time there was a Biblical commandment to d one time a day when you want what you wanted however you wanted yes so that's you're asking a great question whether whether there's a whole discussion regarding the obligation for women and what they need to Di and what's included and what's not I don't want to get into that now um but what hopefully we can try we can try we can try to to cover that in the future Shure um but that but this is just this is again this is all M okay now yes please only why not more time excellent excellent excellent question next week we're going to get to that we're going to talk about the the meaning we're going to get to if you believe it's D how many times is it one there's there's a whether it's once a Daye he doesn't say why but there some of the commentaries on the rambam so you had make suggestions as to where the r got that from and not everyone agrees to it so we we we'll get to that next week some understanding where the ra got once a day from um some suggests connected to the PUK we we'll we'll get to that okay so that's the r it's a very good question it's a very good question I mean there's a lot of things in the Torah that are not very clear and I think that has to do with with a with with a different question which is the question of why why is the Tor written in the way that it is it's written it's written shorthand it needs a key right you have you have the WR they have the written law and they have the oral law and they need each other to complete each other why is the Torah not written why do you need an oral law why did why just write everything in the Torah those why is not clearer I think it's about it's a good question it's a good question you could you could suggest you could suggest I mean there were some who may suggest that it was clear and then and then over time became unclear Some who say maybe God made it unclear on purpose so that we could require the rabbis to to to to interpret it and once you get to the rabbis then it becomes subject to mugus there's there's different ways to look at it but it's more of a larger It's a larger question and I I can't I can't I can't say that I have a uh a straight a straight answer but it's a good question it's a good question about me there are many things that are very unclear and you'd think and they would be much easier if they were clearer and you could say that that's just that that's just that it was clearer originally and it just became unclear because we lost certain muras over time or it could be that that was was that was the way intended it and that's the the whole development of the oral law and the development of Mak and development of the way the way Torah as we have as we have as we have today just because of time I want to conservative quote unquote religion so that's that does away from in other words there was a possibility that conservative Judaism in America became a very uh major right denomination denomination okay no what what I'm not sure what you mean changes Rel to women I don't that's a totally separate conversation I don't want I don't I don't what about no I understand but I'm not sure I'm not sure that I don't I don't want to get off topic I think that's it's an independent question I'm not sure exactly what you're asking but I I definitely think it's taking us a little bit off topic and just because of time I'm going to I'm gon to uh I'm gonna beg to uh to keep going okay okay so so now that's the rambam's understanding now we have the ramban the ramban saw this rambam and he clearly disagrees okay by the way just just just to give you another example there's another famous M well it's it's a well-known it seems to be a mlus with r and the ran just relatively wellknown regarding the Mitzvah is some of you may be familiar with that the leaves out any written any clear indication at least some say there are indications that there's a Mitzvah to live in the land raan takes T you left it out okay so there are many examples of this one of the most famous ones is this issue of davani look at the ramban we're not going to read the whole ramban but the ran in Source number 12 starts by saying he says I I not I can't can't I can't agree with this because there are a number of garas where the gamar says explicitly daving is so how could the ra disagree how could argue on those garas and then he goes on right now to explain all of those garas and list those garas we're not going to get into all the details the question then is so how does the r Envision look at the middle the next underlining part of the ram says the the whole idea of prayer is it's not an obligation rather this is a of that he gives us the privilege and the opportunity to come to him and to pray to him and that he will respond so in short according to the ramban prayer is not an obligation it is a privilege and an opportunity that is the opinion of the ramban which means that should you still do it we're going to see soon you should still do it am I obligated to do it no and then the ran has one final addition which he references again we're going to skip all the details of this just because just because of time the ran says at the very the ran says you know what I'll throw you a bone if there is a Mitzvah says the ran it's very very limited in nature the last underlined part of the ramban the same Source 12 the last underlined part if maybe there there is some real context to the fact that there is something called as the way that it is counted in in the [Applause] r the only time says the ra that I might agree that there's a Mitzvah DAV is during times of Crisis during times of Crisis then there is a mitah to turn to why because we need to be able to know when we're in times of Crisis there's only one being we should be turning to and who is that so during times of Crisis says I'll give you there it might there might be a Mitzvah Torah to DAV in during times of Crisis that there might be a Mitzvah to do but on a regular day-to-day basis says the ran there is no commandment there is there is no obligation there is only opportunity now the question becomes okay so one second before we even try to understand this okay now again what we're not going to do today is go back to all the garas and try to understand how the Rah and the ran each read the garas because everyone has they both have to do it right because we saw two two garas that seem to indicate was a Mitzvah and two garas so how would they each explain their garas we could go back and you know if we want if we were in Yeshiva we' go back and do a pill pull on how each one explains the gamar trust me they all do and they all go back to the evidence and have different ways of explaining it for for time sake we're not going to do that but they do go back and they and they and they discuss it but what I want to understand is okay wait wait a second according to the ramban does he also have this idea of daving during a sar meaning the ra the ramban's reference that there is a Mitzvah that we should turn to AES during times of Crisis that that's when a person should be turning toing how does the ram view that is that is that included in his initial so in fact if you look at the rambam in another place he understands that Mitzvah differently okay because the Torah we'll see it in a second look at source number 13 Source number 13 the says theowing there is a to shout or to make noise and to make use the Trumpets on any T any tragedy that falls upon the Tor because the Torah says that if any enemies come you you should make noise with anything which causes you pain like if you have a uh if you have a famine Arbor or you have a plague or anything that's happening you should make noise and you should and you should shout using the trumpets so the r does agree that during times of Crisis we're we're meant to turn to but if you look carefully at the way the ran describes it it's very different than what the ran said the ran said that when we're in times of Crisis we're supposed to turn and David what does the ra say we're supposed to do make noise with what it's a different type of it's a different type it's a totally different type of obligation the r says yes we're supposed to as a community get up and make noise but it's not a reference to it's not a reference to personal per se it might include aspects of that but it's a very very different obligation so the RAM and the ran a seem to understand totally separately and they also seem to understand the obligation please if if you don't you don't have to stand you're welcome to come in you welcome to come sit here okay I don't like people standing I feel bad okay so but let let's take a step back according to the Rah and according to the ran they have very different understandings of how would you understand the according to the r what is according to the ramam it's part of our what part of it's part of our AEM it's a part of what we're supposed to do on a daily basis it's part of how we serve Hashem it's part of what we need in order to go about our lives as of Hashem according to the ran who may agrees that there's only in times of need what would be the purpose to what's the goal of according to ra ran agrees it seems at the end that there is requesting things it seems that we could suggest that the r at F at first glance the r and the ran have different visions of what is according to the r is an obligation it's part of your a according to the ran f is an opportunity it's an opportunity for when you want it you want to ask him for something you want to be you want to connect in some way you can do it and only in times of Crisis is there a special obligation for you to turn to him and remember that he's the one that you're supposed to turn to but it seems like a very different type of obligation in terms of its nature however if you learn to look turn to Source we're going to skip up a number of these sources these are just sources where people try to defend each side we're going to skip now to Source number ralic has a has a beautiful uh explanation where he tries to reconcile the rambam and the ran and he tries to suggest that they're much more similar than we thought they were that really both the ramam and the ramban are about doing during times of Crisis there's just two different types of Crisis there's communal crisis and there's personal crisis I'm going to read the the the R's words because he really says it perfectly Source number 17 the views of my mani and akes can be reconciled both regarded prayer as meaningful only if it is derived from a sense of sah they differ in their understanding of the word myones regarded daily life itself as being existentially in Straits inducing in the sensitive person feelings of Despair a broding sense of life's meaninglessness absurdity lack of fulfillment it is a persistent sah which exists daily the word Sarah canotes more than external trouble it suggest an emotional and intellectual condition in which man sees himself as hopelessly trapped in a vast imper person Universe desolate without hope certainly the psalmist's cry Minar karti out of my Straits I have called upon the Lord refers to an inner rather than an externally induced state of constriction and depression out of this sense of discomfort prayer emerges offered in comfort and security prayer is a paradox modern methods of suburban worship and plush synagogues notwithstanding the desire for proximity of wife and children at Services comes from a need for comfort and security and comfort real prayer is derived from loneliness helplessness and a sense of dependence thus while n the ran dealt only with the surface crisis public distress mes regarded all life as a depth crisis the Torah bids man to actively to actively to combat and possibly eliminate superficial external crisis the ills of poverty disease and War are debilitating and impair our spiritual Freedom the Torah however encourages man to submit to and embrace the experience of the depth crisis thereby does man truly grasp the reality of his condition and become stirred to Great Heights of the spirit for this depth crisis there is no solution except prayer surface crisis can be overcome the existential crisis can only be met by prayer so what the what the r is beautifully pointing out is that there's two different types of Tor there is the communal Tor that's the Ran's vision of and then there's the personal Tor the existential sorah that a person has on a daily basis and that says that's what that's that's that's the ru of the of the Commandment of the of the of how the Ram understands things the ram understands that there is T we have every single day and that's where com by the way those who are familiar with the R's writing this is very very common the r writing used to write a lot about existentialism and and and and and and and theone white one of the M most famous books work works of salvic was the lonely man of Faith right and many believe that he was the lonely man of faith in terms of feeling helplessness in EX in an existential crisis this is the r highlighting something very very important I will add that that I believe that isn't necessarily in the rambam because the rambam in my opinion seemed to be looking at it not just from coming out of out of a sense of pain but from coming out of a sense of aod of service to but the R I think is a beautiful piece and I think it's it adds a new dimension to to just because of time I'm gonna I just want to finish I'm sorry just because I want to there's one other source that I want to get to one other source that I want to get to that I think will kind of bring this bring this home if you turn to Source number Source number 19 of aronstein there's another there's one other Mitzvah where there is a big debate there's many one other important Mitzvah there's a big debate whether whether it's an opportunity or an obligation and that is the Mitzvah of chuva there was a debate amongst the amongst theim is there a Mitzvah to do chuva is chuva a Commandment that I have to do chuva or is chuva just an opportunity it's not that you have to do chuva it's that if you want to do chuva God allows you to do chuva that's a big debate in the rste in a piece he has on a number of essays on chuva tries to connect it to and point out that they don't have to be mutually exclusive and he writes it about chuva but I believe the words he says here are true about fil as well and I want to just read it with you because I think he highlights that perhaps the way the way he says it is that chuva is an an opportunity that creates an obligation once you have the opportunity if you're somebody who's spiritually sensitive you're going to view it as an obligation because if you see what the opportunity is you truly understand what the opportunity is it's no longer just going to remain an option if you're really somebody who takes it seriously it's going to become an obligation the way he says it is that opportunity in end obligation and I believe that same perspective could be true for as well so just bear with me we done in in two minutes how do we categorize and describe chuen again I we I think we could really just put in Fila for this as an opportunity or as an obligation the terms of course are quite different when we speak of opportunity we generally have in mind some fortunate some undeserved option to which we are glad to have access whereas obligation conjured up a sense of pressing demand a categorical imperative grounded in an existential situation excuse me or mated by an authoritative Commander one doesn't need to think hard to realize that the answer is that chuva is both I would like to examine in what sense it is both and how these aspects of chuv are related in effect the r has linked the two elements again we're skipping parts of it the two elements we are addressing if you have the opportunity you must Avail yourself of it so apart from the fact that there might be a Mitzvah of Chua just as there is a Mitzvah of Lula Suka or Chau there is an additional ground for Chua being obligatory the fact that it is possible renders it mandatory the opportunity reduces the obligation in effect R and the med are saying that the moment the opportunity is there it engenders obligation at least to a person who is morally and religiously sensitive failure to Avail ourselves of the opportunity becomes a sin all over again so if we ask ourselves whether Tru is an opportunity a granted by God or an obligation a demand imposed upon us the answer is that not only is not only that it is both independently it is both intertwined the very existence of the opportunity imposes a fresh obligation this is the meaning of the ramam expression accordingly it's a de in the ramam there it is inconceivable that a person who attaches significance to his own spiritual State should be totally impervious and insensitive to the ability to restore his relationship with God to cleanse himself if indeed he does not seize the opportunity this is both a symptom and a cause for Spiritual weakness the sense that opportunity and gender obligation to spiritual Rob is not just the universal religious concept but a central category of a Tor based worldview the failure to exploit spiritual potential the failure to drink spiritual life to the Le is not some kind of palad passivity but in the perception of kazal it is spiritual rot such described as such and condemned as such we are expected to leave a life charged with a sense of obligation on the one hand and with a sense of the awareness of the opportunity on the other we need to keep our eyes and ears open to know where opportunity is present and to live a life suffused with the interaction of the two so we've seen again I'm just I'm not going to take questions because I want to end but I'm happy to stay and and answer anything personally one-onone just we we we discussed the question of whether or not there is a Mitzvah in a biblical we saw the theim and we saw the garas that seem to point in different directions we saw theas between the r and the ran the rambam says there is a Biblical obligation to D in every single day the ramban disagrees and understands it to be an opportunity on a daily basis and only a Mitzvah perhaps during times of Crisis and we saw the Sal we saw that we suggested that that seems to point to two different visions of what is Sal tried to put the two of them closer together that both R and the ran are about are about F coming from a sense of Crisis the r for the ramom that for the ramban that was external crisis communal crisis and for the ramom that was more personal existential crisis and then we saw at the very end uh the beautiful words ofstein he's talking about Chua but I think it applies to as well that the answer is probably that they are both that they it could be an obligation according to the r but it is also an opportunity and the fact that it's an opportunity brings it back to being an obligation because something is an opportunity to those of us who are spiritually aware and spiritually careful then we want to take take advantage of that opportunity and that would engender the the obligation uh thank you everybody wishing you a wonderful week