This Is the Torah: The Ultimate Paradox

Rabbi Aryeh Leib of Shpola was known to plaint to the Almighty in the following manner: Master of the universe, what do you want from your children? You have after all, placed them in a benighted world.  A world where Satan himself prances amongst them, fanning their evil inclination; where all the things that provoke fleshly desires are ranged before their very eyes, while the warnings of retribution lie hidden between the covers of some moralistic tome. You can be certain that if you had arranged things the other way around – with the place of retribution right in front of their eyes, and all the fleshly desires hidden away in some learned old book, not a single person would ever do anything wrong!

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In the early 1900’s, Manhattan’s Lower East Side tenements served as a bastion for Jewish immigrants. A Rabbi, who resided in the ghetto-type community, once attended an ecumenical function at which a notorious anti-Semitic Episcopalian Minister was in attendance.

“What a coincidence!” remarked the minister upon encountering the Rabbi: “It was just last night that I dreamt I was in Jewish Heaven.”

“Jewish Heaven” mused the Rabbi. “What’s it like in Jewish Heaven?”

“Oh!” replied the minister ever so snidely, “In Jewish Heaven children with dirty faces, shirts un-tucked and clothes un-pressed play in the dirt. In Jewish heaven women haggle with fruit and fish-vendors as panhandlers persistently interrupt.

In Jewish heaven laundry hangs from a maze of clotheslines, the dripping water adding to an already muddy surface. And of course,” continued the minister with a wry grin, “There are plenty of Rabbis running to and fro, with large tomes tucked under their arms!”

“How amazing!” retorted the Rabbi pursing his lips: “I too had a dream last night, in my dream I was in Episcopalian Heaven.”

“Really?” muttered the minister. “I’ve always wondered what Episcopalian Heaven was like. Please tell me what you saw.”

“I must admit,” said the Rabbi with a wide smiled, “It is nothing short of being immaculate.” The streets glitter as if they had just been washed, homes line-up in perfect symmetry; each with manicured lawn and garden. The buildings are freshly painted and sparkle in the sunlight!”

“Not surprising,” said the pleased minister, as he nodded cheerfully. “But tell me about the people! What are the people like?”

“The people” frowned the rabbi, as he looked the minister in the eye: “What people? There were no people!”

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What a difference a week can make. Last Shabbos was Shabbos Chazon, the height of the three week period of mourning. On Shabbos Chazon we read the third of the three Haftora’s of rebuke, in which the prophet Yishayahu forewarns about the impending disaster that was about to befall the Jewish people as a result of their sins.

Only a few days ago was Tisha B’av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. G-d has ordained this day as a time of weeping for generations to come, because of the rebellious behavior on the part of the people of the desert in rejecting the Promised Land 3000 years ago on this very day. Tisha B’av also marks the destruction of our two glorious and holy Temples.

Yet this Shabbos, only one week after Shabbos Chazon and just a couple of days after Tisha B’Av, the mood is drastically changed. This Shabbos is Shabbos Nachamu, the Shabbos of comfort. On this Shabbos G-d comforts his people over all the Tzaros that has befallen them. As of this Shabbos the three Haftoras of rebuke are followed by seven Haftoras of comfort.

The only explanation for this drastic change of mood is that G-d cannot bear to see his children in a state of pain and mourning. Though we have sinned, G-d understands the vulnerability of the human heart and takes great pity. G-d cannot help but love his children even when they mess up and go astray, for after all is said and done, He has created us with an evil inclination and the propensity to sin. A similar idea is reflected in this week’s Torah portion, as there is always a connection between the Torah portion and the current events.

After relating the laws pertaining to the cities of refuge, our Parsha, Vaeschanan, declares: “V’zos HaTorah Asher Som Moshe. . . “And this is the Torah that Moshe presented before the Children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 4:44). The simple inference of this declaration is that the preceding narrative characterizes, in some way, the essence of Torah. Yet it is unclear how the laws of the city of refuge are representative of all the Torah. In fact the contrary seems to be the case.

The laws of the cities of refuge constitute a portion of Torah that we would like to believe are not very relevant, since we Jews are not killers and are certainly not proud of people who kill. The Torah portion that deals with this element and issue, one might expect, would be considered atypical and mostly hypothetical. Why then would it be depicted as “The laws of the Torah?”

Moreover, there is an ancient Jewish custom, practiced in Synagogues all across the world that after each time the Torah is read in public, it is opened wide, raised into the air and turned in all directions for everyone to see. As the Torah is lifted, the congregation rises and chants in unison the verse from this week’s Parsha: “V’zos HaTorah . . .” with love and admiration.

One would expect that the verse chosen to be recited during this momentous ritual would be of a most lofty nature and certainly not one that is associated with killers and refuges. But that’s not the case.  As stated earlier, the words “V’zos HaTorah” follow a section of Torah discussing the laws of the cities of refuge – the cities designated for people convicted of negligent manslaughter, or awaiting trial for murder.

The obvious question is why choose this particular phrase – which is ostensibly related to the gravest human blunder – to summarize the essence and embodiment of the Holy Torah?

Rashi asserts that these words don’t actually pertain to the prior discussion but rather to the ensuing portion, which recounts the events at Sinai and the Ten Commandments. Rambam explains that these words indicate that after Moshe’s admonition of the people, he resumed discussing the sacred laws. Yet the most basic and literal reading of the text does not readily support these interpretations, especially since there is a Vav (Hamosif), the letter Vav, like the word “and,” serves as link between the present sentence and the one prior.

A basic explanation is that by connecting the verse: “And this is the Torah. . .” with laws of the cities of refuge, the Torah is sending a resounding message that the Torah is meant for humans not Angels.

The Torah is essentially designed to guide the Jew through every dimension and experience in life; from the highest to the lowest; from the most honorable to the most shameful. Whether the Torah is commanding the laws of the sacred priestly service in the holy Temple, or the rehabilitation of a man who is in a state of flight for fortuitously killing another, it is the Torah of reality, truth and compassion.

Judaism doesn’t profess that man is perfect and infallible; it does not ignore our misdeeds or hide them. The Laws concerning thievery and murder are as much a part of the Torah as are the perpetrators a part of reality.

The Torah doesn’t claim to be preaching to superhuman beings, nor does it gloss-over man’s animal dimension and propensity for acts of failure and wrongdoing. When the Torah deals with this topic, it does so boldly – stating that “This is the Torah that Moshe placed before the Children of Israel.”

The Torah wants us to know that when we fail we are not freaks in the eyes of G-d but humans and to be human is to occasionally fail. Barring our capacity for failure, of what value would be our successes and triumphs? G-d knows that our journey in this world is precarious and has therefore given us a great gift: The gift of Teshuva; the power to return and forgiveness.

Kabbalah teaches that there are sparks of holiness scattered throughout the world — bits of holiness that the Kabbalists say fell into our universe prior to its creation from the ‘Shattering of the holy vessels’ of a prior universe that could not contain its great Divine Light. These holy sparks; hints of Divine light, which are concealed in material objects, are released through the performance of a Mitzvah with a given object or even by reciting holy words of Torah. The object and its location are thereby elevated closer to G-d. The entire world is elevated in this way to a higher level of spirituality.

Taking this phenomenon a step further, the Baal Shem Tov asserts that even within our sins reside holy sparks. What are these sparks? ‘They are Teshuva’ he asserts. When we do Teshuva for a particular wrongdoing, we release and elevate the spark contained within the forbidden act or object. A little piece of repair is achieved at that moment.

This point could not have been stated any clearer than in the words of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, delivered in a talk on the Shabbos that the Torah portion of Ki Sisa was read in 1992 – the portion that contains the sin of the Golden Calf: ‘The Parsha’ says the Rebbe, ‘Contains three main events that seem diametrically opposed – first there is the awarding of the original set of Tablets to the Children of Israel. Second: There is the event of the sin of the Golden Calf and the demolition of the Tablets. Third: There is the endowment of the second set of Tablets. What is the meaning of these three conflicting events; the granting of the Tablets, their loss and the bestowing of a second set?

The Rebbe prefaces his answer by establishing that these three events reflect the essential properties of creation: The beginning/purpose, which is like the preparatory state as it were, the actual creation, which is the middle state and finally the end state – the fruition of the original intent.

These three essential states correspond to: A) Torah, which preceded the world and is often referred to as its blueprint. B) Teshuva, which represents the cycle of mortal man’s life, i.e. his potential for transgression and forgiveness. C) Messianic era; the ultimate redemption, rooted in the origins of creation. The latter, says the Rebbe, explains the chronology of the Parsha:

A) The giving of the first Tablets which contain the Ten Commandments – the core of G-d’s Torah as it exists in the supernal realms; higher than Creation.

B) The Torah as it applies to the functional world – reflected in the sin of the Golden Calf and the shattering of the first Tablets which highlights man’s ability to serve the Almighty through Teshuva despite the downfalls, thereby perfecting the lowly world.

C) The second set of Tablets – representing the ascent – the bounty harvested as a result of sin/repentance; the Messianic Era.

What is obvious from all this is that though the second set of Tablets came through sin and lack of faith, which is seemingly negative, they actually signify, according to Chassidus, man’s ability to transform the secular into holy and sin into virtue, which is essentially the purpose of Creation and the essence of Torah. “Sin,” in the Rebbe’s words: “Is needed because that’s the order in which G-d created the world, to quote the words of Rashi: “This was decreed by the King.”

The Rebbe, in this talk clearly weaves transgression into the very fabric of creation; as a natural part of man’s very existence. In this particular talk, which incidentally was one of the last before the stroke that took away his ability to speak, the Rebbe describes this idea in the bluntest of terms. Hardly ever in all of Chassidus are such words spoken, the role of sin is usually alluded to in abstract philosophical terms. Yet whatever the reason, in this particular Sichah – talk, the Rebbe chose to spell it out in the most literal and blatant form, without pretenses.

The latter is somewhat revolutionary in itself. Perhaps it is because the Rebbe as a prophet was indicating that this aspect of Judaism; this particular way of service, relates especially to our generation; the difficult and dark “Heel of Moshiach,” the last generation of the Exile.

The reason for this is because it is the spiritually lowest generation due to the “Descent of the generations.” Yet it is also the generation that is specifically connected with Teshuva, as Maimonides states: “The Torah has already promised that the people of Israel will return to G-d at the end of their exile and will be immediately redeemed.”

Be that as it may, the Rebbe goes much farther then to merely acknowledge man’s misdeeds as having a place in the greater Divine master plan; he perceives it as an inevitable part of man’s journey towards perfection; the very intent of creation, for if G-d sought perfection he already had the angels, but from them He’s not going to get a ‘Dwelling-place in this lowly world.

If He wants a dwelling in the lower world, which is defined not by space but rather by the level of holiness, then there is a reason why this world is dubbed the lowest of all worlds, because ours is a benighted world which is by definition prone to sin. In a world prone to sin there is going to be transgression, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

So essentially ours is a world where sin is inevitable and obviously part of the master plan; to make a dwelling for Him specifically in a place that’s prone to sin. This is to say that we begin our lives in a spiritually lowly and raw state. As we progress in life we perfect ourselves through self effort and refinement creating within ourselves and our surroundings a Divine abode. But in our lowly unrefined state we are predisposed to sin and almost inevitably will succumb at one point or another, but that precisely was G-d’s desire to turn the lowliness of a sin prone, or perhaps even sinful individual into a dwelling place.

This idea may further explain why the seemingly shameful subject of the “Cities of refuge” is placed together – in the same Torah portion – with the most remarkable event in history of mankind – the giving of the Torah and the recital of The Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai – another portion for which the congregation rises to its feet.

After this long and arduous exile/decent, may we merit the ultimate comfort and mercy of Hashem/ ascent, with the coming of the righteous Moshiach BBA!