[Aspaqlaria] Aspaqlaria

Sat May 3 11:00:19 PDT 2008

Aspaqlaria

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Geulah and the Halachic Process

Posted: 02 May 2008 02:03 PM CDT
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Aspaqlaria/~3/282292449/geulah-and-halachic-process.shtml

Last week I drew the conclusion from the Qetzos haChoshen that Torah is not Truth, it  combined with the Jewish People  is the process by which Truth will bloom from the earth. As I wrote then:
One wonders if this is related to the Maharal’s explanation of machloqes (disputes in halakhah). In an earlier entry, I described his position as follows:
The Maharal’s position is that “divrei E-lokim Chaim — the word of the ‘Living’ G-d” is simply too rich and too complex to exist in this world. Therefore they are mapped to oversimplified models, related to Hashem’s words the way a shadow is a flattened representation of the original. And thus, different people looking at the problem from different directions will get different shadows — even though they are all accurate representations of the same thing.

It is possible to say that history is the process of closing the gap between Truth in its full richness, and Torah as our ability to make it manifest. Or, as the mequbalim would say, “Lesheim yichud Qudshah berikh Hu uShechintei - For the sake of the unity of the Holy” — i.e. Remote — “One and His Presence” — i.e. as we Perceive her amongst us.

I want to make explicit what this says about the case of the Tanur shel Achnai. This tanur is a kind of oven where the parts are just fitted together. Is it a single oven and can become tamei, or not? (I discussed this a while back in a post titled The Legislative Authority of Bas Qol, a summary of the Encyclopedia Talmudica entry. It should be noted again here that there is a clear dispute as to whether this story describes the norm for revelation and halakhah, or if our accepting the Bas Qol authorization to hold like Beis Hillel is an example the norm. Here we will just avoid the question, and assume like most do that it is indicative of the norm.)
An Achnai-style oven was made from pieces of pottery that were not cemented together. So, the question arose: Can it, like any other oven, become tamei? Or, is it like shards of pottery which can not? Rabbi Yehoshua and the other sages ruled stringently. Rabbi Yehoshua ruled leniently.
When the vote was taken, Rabbi Eliezer disputed the result. If I am right, let the carob tree prove it. The tree flew through the air. But the chakhamim replied that we dont accept halachic rulings from trees. He similarly makes a stream flowed backwards, and even the walls of the beis medrash started to buckle. All three times, the miracles back Rabbi Eliezer, but the sages insist the law follows the majority. Rabbi Eliezer then appeals to heaven, and a bas qol declares, Why are you disputing with R. Eliezar, for the Halakhah is according to him everywhere. Rabbi Yehoshua rose to his feet and said, It is not in Heaven. (Devarim 30:12)
Several generations later, Rav Noson asked Eliyahu haNavi what happened in heaven during that story. He is told that G-d smiled and said, Nitzchuni banai - My children have defeated me!

In light of the idea were currently developing, we can say as follows. Rav Eliezer may have even been closer to Emes than the final ruling was. But the purpose of halakhah isnt directly to obtain the Truth. Its to make the Truth bloom within us and be manifest in the world. Thus, the essence is our working the process. And thus, by implementing it, nitzchuni banai!

Rav Moshe Feinstein discusses the halachic process and the role of poseiq in his introduction to Igros Mosheh. (The introduction itself deserves serious study.)  He writes about haemes lehoraah umichuyav lehoros kein af al pi im beetzem galyah kelapei shemaya galya sheeino kein hapeirush - the true ruling, and one is obligated to teach accordingly, even if in essence is it revealed in heaven that this isnt the correct eplanation! The ideal is following the pesaq as according to the process.

As proof, Rav Moshe brings the gemara in Shabbos 130. We rule that only the milah itself overrules Shabbos. All preparation before the milah must be done in advance. Rabbi Eliezer ruled that anything necessary for the milah, even cutting wood to make the fire to make the knife, etc could also be done on Shabbos. There was a town in Israel that followed Rabbi Eliezer. The gemara says that Hashem rewarded them for their tenacity for the mitzvah of milah. No one in that town died an early death. And when the Romans passed a law in Israel against milah, they exempted that one town from the law!

Who was right  this town, which was rewarded for their position, or we, who rule differently? If we understand that the essence of halakhah is that it and the Jewish People become one in a process to make truth bloom in this world, we can understand how the answer could be both.

Torah, like life, is about becoming, not being.

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Geulah and Accepting Hashem as King

Posted: 02 May 2008 01:11 PM CDT
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Aspaqlaria/~3/282265720/geulah-king.shtml

In the previous post, I argued that Geulah is the revelation of Truth after it was cast down to the ground with the creation of humanity. History is the process of that revelation, Torah is the means by which we get there, and the Jewish people are charged with being the parchment of the Torah. Eternal life He planted within us, and from that Truth will bloom from the earth.

Rav Hutner gives a related thought, that I was holding on to to use closer to Rosh haShanah. But I found that Kollel Iyun haDaf (no name given, Im guessing its from the Rosh Kollel, R Mordechai Kornfeld) did a better job than what I had started doing last Elul. So, rather than hold onto it. I will just share the relevant part of the kollels Insights into the Daf email for Rosh haShanah 32b.
THE ACCEPTANCE OF HASHEMS KINGSHIP ON ROSH HASHANAH
QUESTION: The Gemara discusses a dispute whether the verse, Shema Yisrael Hashem E-lokeinu Hashem Echad, is considered a verse of Malchiyos such that it counts as one of the ten verses which must be recited in the Musaf Shemoneh Esreh of Rosh Hashanah.
RAV YITZCHAK HUTNERztl (in PACHAD YITZCHAK, Rosh Hashanah, Maamar 11) asks that the Gemara earlier (32a) says that Ani Hashem E-lokeichem is the source for reciting verses of Malchiyos. Why, then, is there any argument whether the verse of Shema Yisrael counts as an expression of Malchiyos? The words Hashem E-lokeinu in the verse of Shema Yisrael should be the ideal expression of Malchiyos, because the verse of Ani Hashem E-lokeichem is the undisputed source for Malchiyos!
Conversely, when one recites Kerias Shema he must recite the verse in its entirety, including the words Hashem Echad, in order to properly fulfill the Mitzvah to accept Hashems Kingship upon oneself. If he omits the words Hashem Echad, he has not properly expressed his acceptance of Hashems Kingship; the words Hashem E-lokeinu are not sufficient. Why, then, is Ani Hashem E-lokeichem a valid source for reciting Malchiyos if those words do not fully express Hashems Kingship?
Another difference exists between the acceptance of Malchus Shamayim of Kerias Shema and the acceptance of Malchus Shamayim in the blessing of Malchiyos on Rosh Hashanah. In Kerias Shema, one accepts upon himself the Kingship of Hashem with an emphasis on the love of Hashem, vAhavta Es Hashem. On Rosh Hashanah, in contrast, one accepts upon himself the Kingship of Hashem with an emphasis on the fear of Hashem (as Rosh Hashanah is the first day of the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe). What is the basis for this difference?
ANSWER: RAV HUTNERztl cites the words of Rashi on the verse of Shema Yisrael. Rashi explains that the verse means, Listen, O Israel: Hashem, Who is our G-d now in this world, will be One G-d [accepted by all people] in the World to Come. This principle is expressed in the Gemara in Pesachim (50a) which says that in this world Hashem is not recognized by all as One. The Gemara adds that in this world man does not recognize the singular goodness behind all that happens. Consequently, in this world a person recites one blessing for bad tidings (Dayan haEmes) and a different blessing for good tidings (haTov vehaMetiv). Times of suffering appear to be times of strict judgment and punishment, while times of prosperity appear to be times of mercy and goodness. Olam haBa will be different; there, one will recite one blessing, haTov vehaMetiv, on all that happens, because on that day Hashem will be One and His Name will be One (Zecharyah 14:9). (See Insights to Pesachim 50:1.)
Rav Hutner explains that mans mission on Rosh Hashanah is to accept Hashem as King in this world according to the limits of his perception in this world. A person in this world cannot fathom the concept of Hashems Kingship the way it will be revealed in the World to Come when Hashem will be One and His Name will be One. In this world, we do not see Hashem as Echad, but rather as both Dayan haEmes and haTov vehaMetiv. Therefore, when we accept upon ourselves Hashems sovereignty on Rosh Hashanah, we must do so with the expression of Ani Hashem E-lokeichem  without the additional Hashem Echad  Hashem is One. This verse expresses the way we perceive Hashem as King in this world. The acceptance of Hashem as King the way He will be perceived in the future is not part of our present experience, and thus such an acceptance cannot comprise a full-hearted acceptance of Malchus Shamayim.
In contrast, in our acceptance of Hashems sovereignty in Kerias Shema, we proclaim our belief in the way Hashem will be recognized in the future when His true Oneness will be revealed to and perceived by all. Accordingly, one does not fulfill his obligation properly if he recites Shema Yisrael without the words Hashem Echad, for he omits the essential component of the future acceptance of Hashems sovereignty, that Hashem will be recognized as One. On Rosh Hashanah, however, these words are not an ideal expression of the this-worldly Kingship of Hashem which we proclaim in Malchiyos. (Even though the verse Shema Yisrael also contains the words Hashem E-lokeinu, that phrase is not the main point of the verse and thus Shema Yisrael does not count as a verse of Malchiyos. Alternatively, the phrase Hashem E-lokeinu in the verse is not an expression of our acceptance of Hashem as King, but it is a statement of fact: Hashem, Who right now is our G-d. In order to be considered a verse of Malchiyos, the verse must contain an acceptance of Hashem as King and not merely be a statement of the fact that Hashem is our G-d. See PACHAD YITZCHAK, ibid. #22.)
This also explains the emphasis in Kerias Shema on the love of Hashem (vAhavta). Kerias Shema refers to the time in the future when we will perceive Hashem as haTov vehaMetiv and we will be drawn to Hashem through our love for Him. In this world, in contrast, when we accept Hashem as our King as we perceive Him now  as the judge of mankind, Dayan haEmes, and as haTov vehaMetiv  we accept His Kingship through an expression of awe and fear.

Rav Hutner sees the split in our perception of Hashem between Dayan haEmes and Tov uMetiv as being a consequence of what we have been identifying with the casting down of Truth for the creation of man. And thus resolved in the World to Come.

We see something similar in the opening chapters of the Chumash. In chapter 1, describing the creation of the world, man appears only as the pinnacle of that process. And G-d is called simply E-lokim. When the Torah switch in chapter 2 to tell the story of the creation of man as a decision-maker, with a mental life of his own, He is described as Hashem E-lokim. Not a singular perception of G-d, but one that is split.

As Rav Hutner writes, history progresses until geulah. On that day, Hashem will be one, and His name will be one.

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