[Avodah] ra-ah - da-ah

[saul mashbaum]

RSamuel Svarc wrote

>>
The P'nei Yehoshua already states clearly in his
hagdama, "Ki rov d'rush rochok min haemes k'rchok mizrach m'marriv". So,
yes, drush *is* usually a game, useful more for identifying where the
darshan is holding then a legitimate form of Pardes (Pshat, Remez, Drush,
Sod - The four frameworks in which the Torah is to be understood). However,
when the darshan is a known quantity, like the Chasam Sofer, who, as you so
cogently point out, is known as a tremendous posek with authoritative
tshuthos, then his drush is qualitatively on a different level then a plain
plebian's.

>>

Since almost all chachmei Yisrael and baalei hamesorah engaged in drush, from the time of the tannaim and amoraim until now, there is surely  tremendous body of homiletics which is of great value; it is fair to believe that the g'dolim were not wasting their time playing games, but were engaging in a valuable aspect of limud Torah. In this respect, drush is like literature: anyone can write something, most of what is written is rubbish, but there is a great corpus of material which is considered great literature. Much more than in the case of literature, however, in drush what matters is not only what is said, but who says it. 

"k'rchok mizrach m'marriv"... 
Hashta d'ata l'yadi, eima bei milta. 
This phrase appears in T'hillim (103), and speaks of our sins separating us from HKBH as far as East is from West (not pshat in the pasuk, but can be worked into it). One of the chassidic masters asked his chassidim how far East is from West, and they said that of course the whole world is between East and West. The rebbe said that when one is facing east, all he has to do is turn around and he is facing west; one may be far removed from HKBH, but t'shuva has the power to turn the person around so that he is facing the schechina.

Saul Mashbaum
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