Parshas Toldos
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.
Question:
With Jacob "stealing" his brother Esau's blessing, the Torah seems to paint Jacob as a terrible person. However, Jacob was a tremendous spiritual giant. How can we textually show that he was righteous ?
(Whether he was right in taking the blessing or not is another question. Rav Hirsch for example, says that everybody was wrong.)
Judaism and Changing Times
The Torah was given about 3500 years ago and much has changed since then. Within recent history, we have witnessed the Enlightenment and the fall of the ghettos, the Holocaust, and the creation of the State of Israel. Is Judaism and halacha still relevant to this modern era ? To answer this question, we must first understand what halacha is and I think we can find the beginnings of an answer within our parshah.
Earlier, we saw G-d commanding Abraham (Abram at the time) to leave his birthplace for the land of Israel which would be given to him and his family forever. However, upon arrival, the Torah tells us:
"And there was a famine in the land, and Abram descended to Egypt to sojourn there because the famine was severe in the land" (Genesis 12:10)
Why would G-d send Abraham to Israel and once he arrives, bring about a tremendous famine ? Rashi comments:
a famine in the land in that land alone, to test him, whether he would think ill of the words of the Holy One, blessed be He, Who ordered him to go to the Land of Canaan, and now He was forcing him to leave it. [from Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer , ch. 26]
Rashi tells us it was a test; a test to see if Abraham, who had just been promised the land and is now being forced out, would loose faith or think that G-d was cruel. Our Sages in fact say that G-d tested Abraham ten times and passed them all (Pirkei Avos 5:3) and Rashi there says that this famine was one of those tests that Abraham passed.
In this week's Torah reading, regarding Isaac, we find something slightly different.
"And there was a famine in the land, aside from the first famine that had been in the days of Abraham , and Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines, to Gerar.And the Lord appeared to him, and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land that I will tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and I will bless you, for to you and to your seed will I give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham, your father" (Genesis 26:1-3).
The Torah goes out of its way to compare this famine with the famine Abraham experienced. However, unlike Abraham left Israel for Egypt and it is viewed meritoriously, G-d tells Isaac that he cannot leave the land of Israel! Why? Rashi comments:
Do not go down to Egypt For he [Isaac] had in mind to go down to Egypt as his father had gone down in the days of the famine. He [God] said to him, "Do not go down to Egypt." You are [as] a perfect burnt offering, and being outside the Holy Land is not fitting for you. [Tanchuma Buber, Toledoth 6; Gen. Rabbah 64:3]
Unlike Abraham, Isaac, after being bound on an altar to be offered up to G-d is considered like a "perfect burnt offering" and it is not proper for him to leave Israel. Rashi says that Isaac was going to do what Abraham did, head to Egypt, but G-d said no, things are different.
My teacher, R. Moshe Lichtman, explained in the name of Reb Hershel Schachter, how these two famines and the different obligations (Abraham being supposed to leave v.s. Isaac who is commanded to stay) give us an insight into the nature of Torah and Jewish law.
Within Jewish law, there are certain underlying principles which never change. However, while the principles do not change, there application does change. Take for example, these famines. In the first famine, Abraham was supposed to leave, he was following the principles that applied in his situation. Isaac's situation was different and thus a different law applied.
Similarly, my teacher R. Yehoshua Hershberg, gave the example of the Traveler's Prayer, a prayer recited by travelers before undertaking a dangerous trip. Its central principles and legal concepts are found within the Talmud. Image the posek, a Rabbi who decides Jewish law, who is asked does one recite this prayer on airplanes or not. What must he do? What is his task?
He must first determine the correct understanding of the concepts given in the Talmud and its commentaries and based on these principles, he must create a definition of the type of trips which require the Traveler's Prayer. Next, he must fully understand the scenario, in this case, the airplane flight. Once he understands what it means to fly on an airplane, the posek must simply say, does this trip fall fit the conceptual description of trips which require the prayer. If it does fit, then the prayer must be recited. If it does not fit, the prayer must not be recited.
[[Comparing and contrasting, ideal math]]
Rav Soloveitchik in Halakhic Man, compares Jewish law to mathematics. Just as a math and science can describe and classify all phenomena with reality, Jewish law can do the same. Once the mathematicians create the conceptual categories, for a scientist, the question is only, for example, does this rock fit the definition for Rock Category X in which case it was formed by A, B, and C or does it fall into Category Y in which means E, F, and G. (Obviously this is a tremendous oversimplification of the relationship between math and science and the scientific endeavor). So too in Jewish law; G-d created certain conceptual definitions and our job is to apply the principles correctly and act on them. The difference is that while a scientist will tell one what something is, the Torah tells us what we are to do. In essence, the Torah contains ethical ideals which must be acted out in the right situations and at the right times.
The Judaism relevant to and practiced by our ancestors is just as relevant today. Outer forms may change. While on the outside, it may seem that the Judaism practiced ages ago is gone, this is far from the case. The situations have changed and thus new approaches are required but beneath the surface, it is all the same Judaism given by G-d.
[[Daas Torah that everything is halacha but perhaps this is not so simple. Rav Wolbe that the application is mussar. Psak v.s. lomdus.]]
A biography of Reb Hershel Schachter
http://www.yutorah.org/bio.cfm?teacherID=80153
Food for thought and discussion:
Based on this, how should one study Jewish law?
Have a good Shabbas
Mordechai
