Weekly Story: Chitas #2
by Rabbi Sholom DovBer Avtzon
This weeks’ post is L’zechus our newly born granddaughter Shterna Sarah bas Devorah Leah shetichye, L’arichis Yomim V’shonim tovim. May our children raise her, together with their other children, L’Torah, Chuppa U’maasim tovim, in good health, tranquility, and may we all merit to inform each other with good tidings and the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu.
The response to last week’s article about our custom of saying Tehillim, and when it should be said, was much more than I anticipated. Many people emailed me or spoke to me personally asking me for details and when should they say their personal Tehillim.
I searched and found a quote in the name of Rabbi Dovid Raskin a”h, of some fifty years ago. Being that I am not a Rov and don’t pasken for others, after discussing it with a Rov I will add the following, that if one said korbonos, and is waiting for the minyan to begin, they can say their and their family members kapital, before איזהו מקומן. At that point, it is not considered as part of Tikkun Chatzos.
So this week, I am following up with an article about the history of learning the daily portion of the Parsha.
As always, your feedback and comments are most welcome.
Chitas stands for Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya.
The Alter Rebbe stated that מיר דארפן לעבן מיט די צייט – one should live with the times. Being that the chassidim didn’t understand what the Rebbe was asking of them, they asked the Rebbe’s brother, HaRav Yehudah Leib, (known as the Maharil) to explain it. He asked the Rebbe who explained that one should live with the daily parsha.
Seemingly it means, as many have said to me that the Alter Rebbe was instructing the chassidim to learn the daily portion of the parsha, and from then on Chassidei Chabad began learning the daily portion of Chumash.
However, I don’t believe that the Alter Rebbe was then informing his chassidim to learn Chumash and Rashi (and other commentaries on the chumash), as there is a strong possibility that Jews and especially chassidim were by then already learning the daily Chumash.
The basis for this statement is, for centuries many Jews learned the Chok L’Yisrol daily. Not only does it contain the daily chumash portion, but it also divides the 19 volumes of the Neviim and Kesuvim, as well as Mishna.
This concept of learning every day from the full spectrum of the Torah was initiated by the Arizal. His intent was that every Jew should learn a part of both Torah She’bichsav (the written Torah) and Torah shel Baal Peh (the Oral Torah) every day. This concept was publicized by his great student Rabbi Chaim Vital.
At that time there was just the concept, but nothing was printed or even handwritten, The first printed edition was arranged by Rabbi Chaim Alouzi, commonly known as the Chida and it was printed in 5500 (1740) in Cairo (where the Chida lived). So this was 168 years after the Arizal’s histalkus.
The Arizal lived from 5294 – 5332 (1534 – 1572). In other words the Arizal was nistalek 126 years before the Baal Shem Tov was born, and 162 years before he publicized himself. However, we do know that the Baal Shem Tov praised to his students the commentary of the Ohr HaChaim, written by Rabbi Chaim ben Atar, which was first published in 5502 (1742). This was eighteen years before the Baal Shem Tov’s histalkus.
The stidents of the Baal Shem Tov immediately began learning it, as we see that his student Rav Pinchos Koritzer instructed his two grandsons, the printers of Slavita, to reprint a Chumash with the Ohr HaChaim’s commentary every year.
Therefore, I confidently state that learning Chumash on a weekly and even daily schedule was done before the Alter Rebbe’s era, and in fact before the Baal shem Tov’s era.
So then what did the Alter Rebbe mean when he said, מיר דארפן לעבן מיט די צייט – one should live with the times?
In my opinion, the meaning is, it is not enough that we all learn Chumash and its commentaries every day, rather you should live with it, meaning take a lesson from it that it affects your conduct. In essence this is exactly what the Rebbe writes in Hayom Yom, entry for the 2nd day of Cheshvan.
Bezras Hashem in a follow up article we will discuss the aspect of daily Tanya.
A Taste of Chassidus
ולא יקרא שמך אברם Torah Ohr (Bereishis p. 12A)
Towards the end of this week’s parsha, the possuk informs us that after Avrum circumcised himself, Hashem said to him, “Your name will no longer be Avrum, but rather from now on it is Avrohom. So we have to understand what is the difference between these two names, and why specifically was the name changed after Avram circumcised himself, or in other words what is the connection between the name change and being circumcised?
To explain this, the Alter Rebbes focuses on a midrash where it states that the Gentiles asked our Sages, if the Creator truly wanted every male to be circumcised, then why didn’t He create them without the foreskin? The fact that we were all created (born) with a foreskin, that proves that that is the way the Creator desires man to be. So why do the Jews alter the human body from the way the Creator and wants it to be?!
The sages replied, “There is the Lupin bean which is extremely bitter [and in fact toxic] when it is growing. The only way to make it edible is by cooking and rinsing it in water and then it becomes sweet [and full of flavor].” So you see that Hashem who is the creator desires that man himself improves the creation. As the Lupin bean was created for man to eat and enjoy it, but until man alters it, it cannot be eaten. Similarly, although He created us with a foreskin we are to remove the foreskin and bring man to completion.
In essence this is why the Targum Yonason Ben Uziel, explains the words, אשר ברא אלקים לעשות – that G-d created to do, and translates לעשות – that it really means לתקן to correct, fix or improve.
In other words, our mission is to improve the physical world and change its appearance from the way it seemed at Creation. As Chassidus teaches us, that our mission is to transform this world that not only doesn’t it oppose G-dliness, but that it becomes the dwelling place for the Shechina to rest. This concept that Hashem wants his Shechina to rest in each one of us is expressed by the building of the Mishkan – Tabernacle. Where the possuk states, And you should make a Mishkan for me, and I will rest/dwell in them.
The question then becomes, being that the Mishkan was a single structure, shouldn’t the wording have been and I will rest in it [and not in them]?
But by saying the words I would rest in them, the Torah is informing us that Hashem wants to rest in each one of us. In other words, each individual through their actions transforms their body into becoming a sanctuary for Hashem.
So by analyzing and learning from the way the Mishkan and Beis Hamikdash were built, that will not only give us guidance that Hashem wants us to bring His Shechina into this world, but furthermore, it shows us how we can accomplish this tremendous feat.
We know that there are various stages in holiness; the Beis Hamikdash was holier than the city of Yerushalayim, and Yerushalayim is holier than Eretz Yisroel, and that Eretz Yisroel is Holier than the diaspora. That is in general, but even in the Mishkan and the Beis Hamikdash there are different levels of holiness. The holiest place is the Kodesh HaKodoshim (the holy of holies). Then comes the heichal followed by the western part of the courtyard where only priests could be. Then the eastern part of the courtyard were even a Yisroel could be, and then there’s the place for the woman etc etc. So you see there are different levels of holiness.
To have a clearer understanding of these different levels we will use light as a metaphor for holiness and explain different levels of light. We all know that there are places and times where the light of the sun is more intense and places where it is less intense. However, the reason why in one place is less intense than the other could be for one of two reasons.
One reason for this difference can be, that the second place is further distant from the source of the light than the first place is. Therefore, for example, in the summer we feel the heat of the Sun much stronger than we feel it in the winter, as the Earth is further away from the Sun in the winter than it is in the summer. But then there can be another reason for the disparity in the suns intensity. And that is for example the intensity of the light inside the house is much less than the intensity that is outside of the house. T
here too, that can be for one of two reasons. The first reason is that a house has walls which naturally block out sunlight. And the sun can enter only through the open spaces of the windows. This reason is similar to being it further away, and the intensity diminishes.
However, there is a second reason why the room has less sunlight, and that is that the owner of the house placed a curtain over the window which serves to block out the sunlight from entering. Although some light does penetrate through the curtain, it is not the same quality of light that would have entered had there not been a curtain there, and the rays would have just entered through the opening or window.
This difference can be compared to the sunlight that we see in the late afternoon and the light we see at night time.
During the day, the intensity of the sunlight varies, but nevertheless, we are speaking about the light which is emanating from the sun. However, at night it changes completely. Because at night the sunlight is not what we actually see, as at that time, its rays cannot shine on the earth. Rather it is being reflected off the moon onto the earth.
Subsequently, while there is light it is still called night and darkness. As the light is not from the sun, but rather from the moon which adapted the light of the sun.
So now we can explain how Hashem created the world that we humans are given the task to transform it, into becoming His Dwelling Place. Hashem wanted that the Creations themselves make this world into a Dwelling Place, not letting it be His accomplishment that it is a Dwelling Place, rather He wants the humans accomplish this.
Therefore, Hashem created the world in such a manner that the world should consider itself an entity on its own. Then it becomes the person’s responsibility to draw G-dliness into that space.
So the way the Mishkan and Beis Hamikdash was built, is that the holiest place is in the kodesh hakadushim. Now, if the Holiness would spread from there into the Heichal and onwards, even if the holiness would be in a diminished state of power and intensity, but nevertheless it is the same light. Therefore, between the kodesh HaKodoshim and the Heichal, there was the curtain. The curtain serves to stop the Holiness of the Kodesh HaKodoshim from extending itself further. Yet, at the same time, it itself took the light and after transforming it, allowed the new light to enter into the Heichal. [Just like the light that is absorbed by the moon and then reflected back onto the Earth. We don’t call that sunlight, even though the source of that light is the Sun. Rather it is called the light of the Moon because it is not the same quality has light from the sun would be.]
We see the same thing when it comes to work (on regular weekdays) and rest on Shabbos.
The possuk instructs us ששת ימים תעשה מלאכתךץ – six days you should do work, and then the Torah says וברכך ה בכל אשר תעשה – Hashem will bless you in all that you do. So on one hand Hashem wants us to put effort into whatever we are doing, as if it is our work that is accomplishing its success, [and therefore, the person would put themselves into making it a success, because it is their effort which would make it or break it], but then the Torah instructs us to realize that it is Hashem’s blessings that made us successful.
Because the purpose of creation is to bring holiness into the mundane and transforming it into holiness.
Now we can explain the connection of the two names to Avrum circumcising himself.
The name Avrum ad it is spelled in Hebrew is אברם, which is a compound of two words אב and רם, which means that whatever level אב is referring to, it is רם exalted and separated from the person and the masses.
Circumcision removes the foreskin or covering of the member and then it is revealed. At that point his name became Avrohom, which the possuk explains that Hashem told Avrohom, I have made/appointed you to be a אב above the nations.
Chassidus explains this to mean that before he circumcised himself, his level was not able to influence the levels below him, as he was too exalted above them. [It was like the curtain which is blocking the light to enter.] But by removing the foreskin, (just as we explained by the curtain, that the curtain allows the light to come through, so too) the lower levels are now expressing their willingness to draw the higher levels down into them.
And this is the lesson to each and every Jew, every day of our lives; Yes Hashem placed us in a physical world, but through our actions we have the ability to accomplish that the world becomes elevated and accepts to be guided and utilized to accomplish Hashem’s true desire of dwelling in this physical and material world.
Rabbi Avtzon is a veteran mechanech and the author of numerous books on the Rebbeiim and their chassidim. He is available to farbreng in your community and can be contacted at avtzonbooks@gmail.com.
