Shavuos: Cracking the Code of Akdamut and Yetziv Pisgam

This Torah class is brought to you by torahanytime.com. Okay, good morning everyone. Shalom Aleichem. Today is the third day of Sivan, the first of the Shlosh Esrei Hagbalah. Sunday, Monday, and uh Tuesday. And the Chida writes in the Sefer Lev David in perek lamed aleph that as Klal Yisrael was preparing themselves for Kabbalas HaTorah, during these days of Prisha, the Ribono shel Olam began L'hafsik Ziv Ha'Amasan. The Gemara says in Shabbos that when Klal Yisrael stood on Har Sinai, Paska Ziv Ha'Amasan. Their Ziv Ha'Amas stopped. And the Ribono shel Olam began to be Mashpia on Klal Yisrael from the secrets of the Torah during this time of the year. And every year when this Zman comes, the Ribono shel Olam is Mashpia on Klal Yisrael from the uh secrets of the Torah Hakdosha. Today we're going to speak about two piyyutim that are added to the liturgy on Shavuos. One is Achtamus, and one is Yitziv Pisgam. What exactly is Achtamus? It's an Aramaic piyyut. Why are we singing in Aramaic piyyut? Do you know Aramaic? Moshe, you speak in Aramaic commonly when you let's say you're going to the store. You say "Havli Chad." "Chad." You know? You say "Can I have a loaf of bread?" You don't You don't speak in Aramaic. You know, if you want you don't If you want to tell somebody something, you don't You say "Come in here." You don't say "Tashma." Right? So, why all of a sudden Shavuos morning we become Aramaic? What's with the Aramaic? The Torah was not given in Aramaic. The Torah was given in Lashon Kodesh. Who spoke Aramaic? Lavan spoke Aramaic. We're not Malachim, you know. Okay. They They also may I don't know if they speak French, you know. But what Why do we speak Aramaic? Yeah, what are we What are we doing? Why we Why we starting off with uh Akdamus? Why is it in Aramaic? And then another Zaches all of a sudden in middle of the Haftorah Now, most shuls they sing that they either sing just the high part or the low part. Why? Cuz if you don't know it, it's much easier that way. But there's actually a low part and a high part. But why we doing this? Why we singing a piyyut in middle of the Haftorah? Why don't we do it the first day? Why don't we do it on any on any day? What's going on with Shavuos that we have all of these very interesting piyyutim? Let's begin. What we're learning today comes from a rare sefer that I don't even think it's available anymore. It was a sefer written in honor of Rebbe Meir Shapiro. And this is a chiddush from the father of Rebbe Meir Shapiro. And he comments on the closing stanza of Yitziv Piskam where the end of Yitziv Piskam is Yachinason, the humble one, we extend to you kudos. We extend to you Apirin. Who's Yachinason and why we thanking him? My sugar me Gamara Megillah. Maseches Megillah. Because we know that Moshe Rabbeinu had many names. Um Moshe Rabbeinu had many names. Are we talking about Moshe Rabbeinu when we say Yohanan Gamara in the sun? Who's Yohanan? Okay. Comes the Taz and the Taz says in Orach Chaim Siman Tav Tzadi Daled that there was a early minhag to read on the first day of Shavuos in the beginning first a pasuk They would read a pasuk and then they would start That's what they used to do. And the Taz is perplexed. You're not allowed to do that. You can't be mafsik. You can be mafsik after the oleh already made a bracha. The Taz says you're not allowed to do that. Now going back to Moshe Rabbeinu, how many names did Moshe Rabbeinu have? The Gamara says he had seven names. Elsewhere Chazal say he had 10 names. The Gamara says Velama nikra shemo Yered? She arlahem Yisrael man beyamav. Gedar she gadar pritzoseihen shel Yisrael. Chaver she chiber es Yisrael bein shnei shmayim sofer she nasan l'Yisrael kesusah Yekusiel she kivel Yisrael lo kel beyamav Zanach she hizniach avodas avodah zarah. Or Avi Avi Avi, Av Betorah Avikha Av Navius. The Gemara doesn't mention this name. But elsewhere in the Medrash, this perhaps is one of the names of Moshe Rabbeinu. Now, the Taz is Matmia on the original custom. Therefore, the Taz says, the Taz Hiskim Lomar, that you should say Akdomos before the beginning of the first pasuk, and even before, not just before the beginning of the first pasuk, before the Bracha. Before the the Kayan says Barkhu, they say Akdomos, and then he says Barkhu, otherwise it's a Hefsek. The Kas Avoid. I, but Yitzip Piskam we stick in as a Hefsek? Says the Taz, Gambi Yitzip Piskam that we say on the second day of Shavuos, after the first pasuk, really we should say it before, we should change the Minhag. But being Mafsik in Haftorah is not as Khamor as being Mafsik in the Krias HaTorah. Therefore, we're not Mevatel the original Minhag. Okay, so if you wanted to know, really, I I sounds like the Haftorah is not as Khamor as Krias HaTorah. So what are my allowances? Ready? What you're allowed to do is, once a year, you're allowed to say a piyut after you said the Bracha. That's how that's how much lenient the Haftorah is. In other words, can I make Kiddush then? Sure. If you want to abdicate the Jewish religion, you could go down and make Kiddush. But if you want to follow Halacha, then the only leniency of the Haftorah is to uh say Yitzip Piskam. So the question is, very nice, but why did they originally do it that way? I understand maybe we don't have to Mevatel this Minhag because it's not as Khamor to be mafsik, but those who originated the minhag, why were they allowed to do that? Why were the kadmonim, why did they originally say Akdamot and Yitzei Piskam in middle of the kriya? Halakha davar hu. Yeah? Fine. So, the father Rav Meir Shapiro says like this. We all know from Shas. And we know from the Torah and from the Shulchan Aruch in siman kuf mem hey that in times of the Gemara they would say a pasuk and they would be metargem the pasuk pasuk by pasuk. Yeah? You have a Chumash? Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe lemor. And then they would read the Targum. Bereishit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz. And then the metargem would say be kadmon bra Adonai yas shamaya ve'ara. Veha and that's how they would do it. Now, when did they do this? How much of the Torah would they be metargem? The whole kriya. The whole kriya. You know, people get you know, what? Start 9:00 is over 11:15. Such a long davening. Be happy that we don't do the Targum. If we do the Targum, you won't be out till 12:00 any week. By the way, they wouldn't only be metargem the Torah. They would also be metargem the Haftarah. I in the Mishna Megillah on chof gimmel on beis we find we don't read for the meturgem more than one pasuk and the navi three. That's So, that implies that they would cut corners by the Haftarah and they would read three psukim at a time. So, Rashi says that doesn't mean you have to, it means you're allowed to. Why? Because we weren't so careful if they got every word of the Haftarah right because there was no nafka mina ba'chayra. The Torah you're not allowed to read, you're not allowed to be metargem more than one possuk at a time. Also learns that way. But if there's a chance that you're going to make a mistake, then even Ben Aviem you can only be metargem one possuk at a time. Fine. But you may have noticed that nowadays we don't we're not metargem the Kriya. You notice that? You realize that? We don't we the only Targum that we have in the Davening is Yicum Purkan. You know? We have two Yicum Purkans in Aramaic. That's the only Targum. Yeah, then you have you have Brukh Shemei. And then you have Yeah, well let's see. Now I'm talking about Shabbos morning. But by Shabbos by Mincha you're right, we have uh we don't have that much Targum. But we're not metargem. Can anybody think of a reason why nowadays we're not metargem? Yeah. Obviously, the reason they were metargem is cuz they didn't under in order to understand the psukim. So they would translate it into the vernacular. But nowadays we don't understand Targum either. That's why Chofetz Chaim writes that what Targum used to be Rashi has supplanted Targum cuz we don't understand Targum anyway. Okay. That's what the Torah and the Shulchan Aruch pasken in Siman Kuf Mem Hey. Now, if we see that there are two very chashuva piyutim that were composed in Aramaic, namely Akdamus and Yitziv Pisgam, they obviously were enacted at a time that people understood Targum. Right? Now there was a piyut a song in Chinese, it must have been written for people who understand Chinese. So if you see a song in Aramaic, obviously it was written for a time that they understood Aramaic. So obviously it was written at a time they would be metargem the Torah. Now you could be sure that when they used to say it's a Piskam and they used to say Achtomus in the Bracha, it was at a time they were being metargem in the Bracha. So they would make the Bracha, they would say a Pasuk, they'd be metargem, they'd say a Pasuk and metargem. And for special readings they had a sheer Achtoma also in the Bracha. And there was no problem in that because the Targum is may ikra kriah cuz you need to understand the kriah. By the way, you know in general the ikar limud ha'Torah of the week is kriat ha'Torah. People like to have sidarim during kriat ha'Torah. Why? Tzitz ha'Torah. It's like going to the bank and they'd be giving out $100 bills and in the corner they're giving out $10 bills and you go to the corner to get $10. How could you give up limud ha'Torah b'rabim to learn by yourself? The ikar limud of the week that was enacted by Moshe Rabbeinu, it's Talmud Torah d'rabbinan. Fine. In any event, says the father Meir Shapiro, back in the day they would read the Pasuk and they would be metargem. Now what are these special piyutim? So if you look in Tosafot Megillah chof dalet amud alef that in their days they would also be metargem the haftarah of Pesach and Shavuot. Why? Cuz they would talk about the miracle and they'd talk about the Yom Tov and they would also be metargem the haftarah of Matan Torah. Okay? So they didn't necessarily they were metargem all of the pesukim of the kriah and especially the haftarahs of Pesach and the haftarahs of Shavuot in order to be mefarsem Matan Torah. Now, says the father Moshe Shapiro, it would seem that they were mesakin Akdamus to be a sheer Akdamah to the Targum of the Kri'as HaTorah of the first day of Shavuos. And l'chvod Kabbalas HaTorah, l'chvod Aseres HaDibros, they would sing this sheer in the beginning, the Shir HaNikbar of Akdamus. Now, why would they sing it in lashon Targum? They would sing it in Targum so that people should understand it. So, how would they do it? They would first say the pasuk. They would lane it. And excuse me, first they would say Baruch atah. They would make a bracha Asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim v'nasan lanu es Toraso. Baruch atah Hashem nosein HaTorah. They would say Akdamus. Now, he says they would say the first pasuk. And before they would be metargem, they would sing a Shir Akdamah for the for the Targum. In other words, Akdamus is a Shir Akdamah for the Targum. So, they would be korei the first pasuk. They would say Akdamus, and then they would be metargem. The same thing with Yitziv Pisgam. They would say um Va'Hashem Meichal Kodshi Hasmi Panav Kol Ha'Aretz. They would say Yitziv Pisgam, and then they would be metargem. Va'Hashem Meichal Kodshi Hasmi Panav Kol Ha'Aretz. So, Yitziv Pisgam and Akdamus were Shir Akdamah to the Targum. Now, why would they make the Why did they make this Shir Akdamah on the second day? Think about it. So, they made a Shir Akdamah for the Kri'ah of the first day, and a Shir Akdamah for the Haftarah of the second day. You know, make up your mind. Which Kri'ah is ikar? First day or second day? So, he says it's very pashet. The first day Kri'as HaTorah is Aseres HaDibros. So, l'chvod is the message of the message of the message of the The second day of the is It's about It's about so they're a message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message What are they doing in the room? But now We get to that. But nowadays we don't understand them. So we're not anymore. So the task is back in the day when they actually understood the message and the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message So the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message in honor of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message They It was the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message of the message Ah. Now, why were they the message of the message of the message for the second day reading and not the first day reading? The first day reading is a very after all. The answer is what do we learn from the first day? We learn the nice America bar. And the Gamora says the nice America bar in Metagame in they were never Metagame in the master America bar. That's why they were never Masaki in the sheer hack Dharma for the master America bar. Kiga mala clear Ben Avi Amro the Mishnah in master tearing the America bar. There's a there's a day or that holds we don't even read it. Rabbi Matthew twice who says kind of like Rabbi Judah and the Gamora says we pass them like Rabbi Judah that push was kind of a shoes master tearing the America bar. I've a lot better show lawyer lawyer Metagame in America bar. Obviously they weren't Metagame in America bar. Kilo Chevy now my now cloud was a they don't want people to understand it. Like Hazard say in Hagiga that we don't have a base for lawyer America bar the off head unless you're a common even me day day. There is a Targum. But in Metagame in. No, in Metagame in you don't read it publicly. That's what means in Metagame in. The Gamora says that there's a day or the Tanaka holds in master tearing the America bar that you're not allowed to read it publicly at all. And there's another day or you could read it but in Metagame in meaning you don't read the you don't read the Targum publicly. So certainly back in the day they never read the after of publicly. Now it's just all the after of is the master America bar so there's no there's no use of Pisgah. That's why maybe should be in you know cuz I'm so for rights. The mug in a room says the shoes is the second day. It's a locker. The shoes is the second day. You know why? Cuz the tower was given on the second day not on the first day. Nothing What by the way what happened Tuesday night and Wednesday? Nothing. We left in time on a Thursday. The tower was given on a Shabbos on the 51st day of the owner. That's why mug in a room says me kind of Ramos Leon to say he shall go Leo's. Shavuos is a unique holiday. The occur day is the end days. Anyway, last week we spoke about being regal for the for the shall I show them that the some say for says from the Rabbi Akiva Emden that they're still in the midst of the regal was not a but the mice there's an advantage of being in on Shavuos the second day. Okay, now he continues there was a story but that would read in his in his Rebbe's house and he understood the and a fire emanated from the and it burnt him and they wanted to be going to but at the at the very least we see that it's not so that we want to publicize the meaning of the ah so now we come to the grand finale. Who is in the Torah? Who wrote the Targum on the Torah? Onkelos Onkelos again. Where he get it from? Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua. So he he translated the mesh. Who did Jonathan translate the Jonathan Uziel? No. Did Jonathan write a Targum on the no. I in my school it says Targum Jonathan Uziel the printers made that up. It's Targum Shani. Why they make it up? Because they're two girls always of Targum Shani. So in order to differentiate they mistakenly wrote Targum Jonathan but Jonathan did not write it. It's in the Megillah that Targum on the is Onkelos and then the says then Jonathan revealed the Targum on the Nevi'im. Who says this? The Chida, the Maharit Chiyus, nobody argues. So, Yonasan wrote a Targum on Nevi'im. And when he when he revealed the Targum on Nevi'im, what happened? The world shook. Arba Me'os Parsa, Arba Me'os Parsa. And Yonasan ben Uziel said got up and he said, "Galui v'yadua lifanecha shelo l'chvod atzmi asisi. I didn't do this for my honor. I did it so that people should understand the the Nevi'im." He wanted to be metargem Kesuvim, but they didn't let him. Why? Cuz in Sefer Daniel it says when Mashiach is coming. So, what do we see from Yonasan ben Uziel? That he was an anav. He said, "I didn't do it for my honor. I did it so that people should understand the Nevi'im." So, therefore, as a sheer hakdama on the second day of Shavuos, what is it? A hak- dama to the Targum on Chavakuk. You know the Haftarah the second day of Shavuos is Chavakuk. So, they would be metargem it. And whose Targum are we reading? Targum Yonasan ben Uziel. And why did he write the Targum? Not for his own honor. He did it out of humility. So, therefore, before we begin to say the Targum, we sing a sheer hakdama. And we say, "Yonasan." Who's Yonasan? Yonasan ben Uziel. Give Aaron the son. He was humble. He did it for the honor of Hashem. B'chein nam tilei apirin. It should be extended to you. Apirin is grace, chein, from Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and from us, that you were megaleh to us the Targum Hakashuv on the Nevi'im. V'zehu l'dati emes gamur. Yitziv Piskam was written as a sheer hakdama for the Targum of Nevi'im. Con- In contra-distinction to the Targum on Chumash, which was written by Onkelos, the Targum on the Nevi'im was written by Yonasan ben Uziel. Therefore, we conclude Yonasan Targum Onkelos was given me Sinai. Onkelos was given me Sinai. What does that mean? That means the the meaning of this translation and the meaning of this pirush. It's not a translation, it's a pirush. The commentary was given me Sinai. It was transmitted by Rebbe Eliezer and Rebbe Yehoshua to their talmid Onkelos HaGer. Targum Yonasan ben Uziel, we don't say it's me Sinai the way we say about Onkelos. One of the advantages of Targum over over Rashi is that Targum is uh me Sinai. But still, the Targum on on the Nevi'im was from Yonasan ben Uziel. Pirush was not given me Sinai, just the words that they like in the That's in English. The The There should There are many interpretations of Torah. The interpretation of Onkelos was given me Sinai. But that's Yonasan. Yonasan is Yonasan ben Uziel, who the Gemara says gave over the Targum in honor of uh Hakadosh Baruch Hu, not in his own honor. Therefore, we say "Gavar in v'son v'chein am tilei apirin." Rabbosai, have a wonderful day, shkoyach. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by torahanytime.com.