Parshas Ekev
This is in the merit of my grandmother Esther bat Mazal. May she have a speedy and complete recovery.
A note: Comments within double brackets, [[abc]], are notes I write for myself so that when I look back later on the topics I discussed, I see all the sources I looked at and how I understood them. Readers are encouraged to skip them.
Aish HaTorah produced a short movie about media fraud in the current conflict. http://www.aish.com/movies/PhotoFraud.asp
Unfortunately, they don't provide us with very much information to verify their claims, or even that media organizations showed these photos. One must be skeptical but if true, it would not be the first time reporting agencies have done these things.
Question:
Deuteronomy 9:7-10:11 is all out of order. Why?
Blessings, Idolatry, and Human Greatness
Jews make all sorts of blessings. We bless before eating, after eating, before fulfilling commandments, on seeing rainbows, smelling spices, and more. But what does it mean to bless G-d? Are we proclaiming G-d as blessed? If so, would not proclaiming G-d as blessed imply that His being blessed is dependant on us? Can G-d's being blessed be dependant on us? In short, what are we doing when we make blessings?
Our first point of reference must be the Torah:
"Safeguard the commandments of God your Lord, so that you will walk in His ways and remain in awe of Him. For God your Lord is bringing you to a good land - a land with flowing streams, and underground springs gushing out in valley and mountain. It is a land of wheat, barley, grapes, figs and pomegranates - a land of oil-olives and honey-[dates]. It is a land where you will not eat rationed bread, and you will not lack anything - a land whose stones are iron, and from whose mountains you will quarry copper. And you will eat and be satisfied, and you must bless God your Lord for the good land that He has given you. Be careful that you not forget God your Lord, not keeping His commandments, decrees and laws, which I am prescribing to you today" (Deuteronomy 8:6-11).
This passage (for whose division I based on Nechama, 90-91) from this week's Torah reading, Ekev, contains the commandment of Grace after Meals, birkas hamazon, the only blessing explicitly mandated by the Torah. In fact, the Sages, when instituting the blessings, modeled them after Grace after Meals. Thus, it would seem that one way to understand the nature of blessings is by studying this passage containing Grace after Meals.
The Torah, after telling the Jews to keep the commandments because G-d is brining them into the land of Israel, a truly wonderful land, mandates that we bless G-d for the land. The simple reading of this passage would indicate that Grace after Meals is an obligation mandated by simple gratitude, G-d is giving us this land and we must thank Him. However, the Torah warns us "Be careful that you not forget God your Lord, not keeping His commandments, decrees and laws, which I am prescribing to you today" (Deuteronomy 8:11). Clearly, the wonders of the Land of Israel pose some spiritual danger to us which G-d expects us to overcome, and given its placement, it seems that the blessing Grace after Means is essential in our victory over this hazard. So what is the danger and what role does a blessing play in overcoming it.
This challenge seems to be based on the supreme quality of the Land of Israel, its delicious fruits, rich mines, and fertile soil; all gifts to us from G-d. According to Nechama Leibowitz, the fear is that instead of viewing everything as acts of G-d's love, looking at the plentitude we see the unrestrained indulgences in pleasure of idolatry (Leibowitz, 92).
Such a philosophy, of seeing the world as only a means for fulfilling our selfish desires for infatuation, in essence worship of pleasures, is, according to our great teacher, Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch, the cause for idolatry (R. Hirsch, 78-80).
Opposing this is the Jewish view which says that G-d's kindness requires humans to, utilizing these new gifts, renew efforts to serve G-d (R. Soloveitchik ?). According to Rav Hirsch, a bracha, blessing, is an impetus to such action. He says "Barech means 'to bless,' i.e., to give or wish success to someone's undertaking or circumstances. Livarech Hashem accordingly means to bless God, i.e., to further or wish for the fulfillment of His Will, that is, to fulfill His Will or to utter one's resolve to act for its fulfillment" (R. Hirsch, 59).
Thus, by making the blessing of Grace after Meals, we will Endeavour to fulfill G-d's will contained in the Torah and will use all the gifts and pleasures of the land for that sole purpose. According to Rav Hirsch, this is our measurement in this world:
"[T]here is an inner criterion by which to judge a man's greatness, which differs from case: not the sum total of his achievements and the amount of resources with which he has been endowed, but whether he has used them to the best of his ability to do God's Will… Thus happiness and perfection consist of using all one's outer and inner possessions in fullest measure according to God's Will-which alone is what makes man great" (R. Hirsch, 57-58).
Sources:
The Nineteen Letters by R. Hirsch
Studies in Devarim by Nechama Leibowitz
Fate and Destiny by Rav Soloveitchik
[[R. Aaron Twerski's introduction to Artscroll Brachos, page 28. The essential difference seems to me is that Rav Hirsch focuses on human duty while those other sources focus on human dependency. I think the latter might be based on the Ramban at the end of Bo, this requires more thought. See also R. Elias who tries to partially reconcile them on 70-71. I am unsure if it works. Anyway, those other sources may fit into the overall context of Deuteronomy 8, both after and maybe even before, and other places in Tanach, but not that specific section as Nechama Leibowitz demonstrates that there is a clear difference between 8:7-10 and 8:12-18. Rav Soloveitchik may combine them both, see TLMoF note on page 78 (Three Leaf) but I am unsure.]]
Have a good Shabbas
Mordechai
This is in the merit of my grandmother Esther bat Mazal. May she have a speedy and complete recovery.
A note: Comments within double brackets, [[abc]], are notes I write for myself so that when I look back later on the topics I discussed, I see all the sources I looked at and how I understood them. Readers are encouraged to skip them.
Aish HaTorah produced a short movie about media fraud in the current conflict. http://www.aish.com/movies/PhotoFraud.asp
Unfortunately, they don't provide us with very much information to verify their claims, or even that media organizations showed these photos. One must be skeptical but if true, it would not be the first time reporting agencies have done these things.
Question:
Deuteronomy 9:7-10:11 is all out of order. Why?
Blessings, Idolatry, and Human Greatness
Jews make all sorts of blessings. We bless before eating, after eating, before fulfilling commandments, on seeing rainbows, smelling spices, and more. But what does it mean to bless G-d? Are we proclaiming G-d as blessed? If so, would not proclaiming G-d as blessed imply that His being blessed is dependant on us? Can G-d's being blessed be dependant on us? In short, what are we doing when we make blessings?
Our first point of reference must be the Torah:
"Safeguard the commandments of God your Lord, so that you will walk in His ways and remain in awe of Him. For God your Lord is bringing you to a good land - a land with flowing streams, and underground springs gushing out in valley and mountain. It is a land of wheat, barley, grapes, figs and pomegranates - a land of oil-olives and honey-[dates]. It is a land where you will not eat rationed bread, and you will not lack anything - a land whose stones are iron, and from whose mountains you will quarry copper. And you will eat and be satisfied, and you must bless God your Lord for the good land that He has given you. Be careful that you not forget God your Lord, not keeping His commandments, decrees and laws, which I am prescribing to you today" (Deuteronomy 8:6-11).
This passage (for whose division I based on Nechama, 90-91) from this week's Torah reading, Ekev, contains the commandment of Grace after Meals, birkas hamazon, the only blessing explicitly mandated by the Torah. In fact, the Sages, when instituting the blessings, modeled them after Grace after Meals. Thus, it would seem that one way to understand the nature of blessings is by studying this passage containing Grace after Meals.
The Torah, after telling the Jews to keep the commandments because G-d is brining them into the land of Israel, a truly wonderful land, mandates that we bless G-d for the land. The simple reading of this passage would indicate that Grace after Meals is an obligation mandated by simple gratitude, G-d is giving us this land and we must thank Him. However, the Torah warns us "Be careful that you not forget God your Lord, not keeping His commandments, decrees and laws, which I am prescribing to you today" (Deuteronomy 8:11). Clearly, the wonders of the Land of Israel pose some spiritual danger to us which G-d expects us to overcome, and given its placement, it seems that the blessing Grace after Means is essential in our victory over this hazard. So what is the danger and what role does a blessing play in overcoming it.
This challenge seems to be based on the supreme quality of the Land of Israel, its delicious fruits, rich mines, and fertile soil; all gifts to us from G-d. According to Nechama Leibowitz, the fear is that instead of viewing everything as acts of G-d's love, looking at the plentitude we see the unrestrained indulgences in pleasure of idolatry (Leibowitz, 92).
Such a philosophy, of seeing the world as only a means for fulfilling our selfish desires for infatuation, in essence worship of pleasures, is, according to our great teacher, Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch, the cause for idolatry (R. Hirsch, 78-80).
Opposing this is the Jewish view which says that G-d's kindness requires humans to, utilizing these new gifts, renew efforts to serve G-d (R. Soloveitchik ?). According to Rav Hirsch, a bracha, blessing, is an impetus to such action. He says "Barech means 'to bless,' i.e., to give or wish success to someone's undertaking or circumstances. Livarech Hashem accordingly means to bless God, i.e., to further or wish for the fulfillment of His Will, that is, to fulfill His Will or to utter one's resolve to act for its fulfillment" (R. Hirsch, 59).
Thus, by making the blessing of Grace after Meals, we will Endeavour to fulfill G-d's will contained in the Torah and will use all the gifts and pleasures of the land for that sole purpose. According to Rav Hirsch, this is our measurement in this world:
"[T]here is an inner criterion by which to judge a man's greatness, which differs from case: not the sum total of his achievements and the amount of resources with which he has been endowed, but whether he has used them to the best of his ability to do God's Will… Thus happiness and perfection consist of using all one's outer and inner possessions in fullest measure according to God's Will-which alone is what makes man great" (R. Hirsch, 57-58).
Sources:
The Nineteen Letters by R. Hirsch
Studies in Devarim by Nechama Leibowitz
Fate and Destiny by Rav Soloveitchik
[[R. Aaron Twerski's introduction to Artscroll Brachos, page 28. The essential difference seems to me is that Rav Hirsch focuses on human duty while those other sources focus on human dependency. I think the latter might be based on the Ramban at the end of Bo, this requires more thought. See also R. Elias who tries to partially reconcile them on 70-71. I am unsure if it works. Anyway, those other sources may fit into the overall context of Deuteronomy 8, both after and maybe even before, and other places in Tanach, but not that specific section as Nechama Leibowitz demonstrates that there is a clear difference between 8:7-10 and 8:12-18. Rav Soloveitchik may combine them both, see TLMoF note on page 78 (Three Leaf) but I am unsure.]]
Have a good Shabbas
Mordechai
posted by Mordechai18 at 10:45 AM
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