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A
Divine Invitation
by:
Rabbi Francis Nataf,
Teacher, Midreshet Rachel V'Chaya
Shavuot, 5762 (2002)
The Beit haLevi asks an interesting question on
the nusach of our Shavuot prayers: We speak of Shavuot
as "zman matan torateinu," yet the Torah was actually
given on the seventh day of Sivan, the day after
we celebrate Shavuot (ed note; make reference to
gemara that discusses this point-see Shabbat 86B-88A).
He answers by pointing out that Moshe extended the
purification prior to the giving of the Torah by
an extra day. According to the Beit haLevi, this
means that while the written Torah was given on
the seventh, G- d's agreement to Moshe's idea (on
the sixth) was a transmission of the Oral Torah.
In other words, the Oral Torah is epitomized by
G-d's granting the Jewish people the right to apply
our intellect to his words, thereby formulating
the Divine Will. Thus, "zman matan torateinu" refers
to the giving over of "torateinu,"our Torah, as
opposed to the written Torah, which belongs uniquely
to G-d.
The Midrash explains how the angels wanted the Torah
to be given to them, and not to mankind. On this
the Beit haLevi writes that the angels wanted the
right to formulate that which we just described
as the Oral Torah, in place of the Jewish people.
While this may make the midrash more palatable,
it remains difficult to see what the angels would
have done by applying their own intellect to the
Torah. Presumably, angels have no independent will
or thought and would only apply G-d's own intellect
in understanding the Torah.
This difficulty could, however, be the precise point
of the Midrash. In the Drashot haRan, the Ran points
out that the Torah commands us to follow our sages
"whether they agree on the truth or its opposite."
This is how the Ran understands the Talmudic dictum
"lo bashamayim hee," that it is not part of the
Divine plan that we should apply our intellect and
then be corrected by a bat kol or other Divine intervention.
Instead, it is G-d's will that we follow our intellect
even if it leads to the wrong conclusions. The midrash
illustrates the tension created by such a situation,
where angels cry out that the Torah should only
be given over to beings that have no independent
intellect, and that the Torah should be "bashamayim,"or
understood according to its true objective meaning.
The Gemara Kiddushin 32b concludes that the Torah
studied by a scholar becomes his very own possession.
The Gemara implies that this parallels G-d's own
ownership of the Torah. The ownership being spoken
about comes about by the creation or formation of
something as opposed to its mere acquisition. Were
halacha to be determined by angels or the like,
any human effort involved in making the correct
application at the correct time would simply be
an intellectual exercise. The outcome would be the
same whether we applied ourselves or not. Thus man
could not truly be said to own the Torah that he
creates. Apparently, in creating man, G-d desired
the greatest possible incentive to doing His will
out of free choice: partnership in the realm of
thought.
Along the lines of the Beit haLevi, we have much
to celebrate on Shavout. Anyone who has been involved
in serious learning has felt the tremendous joy
of formulating a chidush or an original Torah thought.
Knowing the nature of Torah requires us to use the
greatest possible effort and caution when actually
formulating chiddushim. At the same time, realizing
the auspicious gift represented by the Divine permission
to create chiddushim should elevate us greatly.
On Shavout, our elation for literally being given
the Torah should know no bounds. |
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