Today's Laws & Customs:
• Chanukah Begins Tonight; Kindle One Light this evening
The eight-day festival of Chanukah begins tonight. In commemorartion of the miracle of the oil (see "Today in Jewish History" for Kislev 25) we kindle the Chanukah lights -- oil lamps or candles -- each evening for eight days, increasing the number of lights each evening. Tonight, the first night of Chanukah, we kindle one light. (In the Jewish calendar, the day begins at nightfall; this evening, then, commences the 1st day of Chanukah).
On the 1st night of Chanukah, we recite three blessings before lighting; for text and audio of the blessings, click here.
For a more detailed guide to Chanukah lighting click here.
The lights—which ideally should be kindled soon after sunset—must burn for at least half an hour after nightfall. Learn more about the proper lighting time here.
For additional Chanukah observances, see Laws & Customs for tomorrow, Kislev 25.
Today in Jewish History:
• Construction of the Second Temple Resumes (353 BCE)
In the first year of rule of Cyrus, the King of Persia, Jews were given permission to return to Israel and rebuild the Holy Temple. A group of Jews led by Zerubavel set out for Jerusalem and began working on the second Temple. However, the Cutheans falsely accused the Jews of plotting a rebellion against King Cyrus and were successful in halting the construction of the Holy Temple for the remainder of his reign and throughout the reign of Ahasuerus, his successor. Construction resumed in the second year of the reign of Darius, Ahasuerus's son, on the 24th of Kislev.
DAILY QUOTE:
But when will I do something for my own self?[Genesis 30:30]
DAILY STUDY:
CHITAS AND RAMBAM FOR TODAY:• Construction of the Second Temple Resumes (353 BCE)
In the first year of rule of Cyrus, the King of Persia, Jews were given permission to return to Israel and rebuild the Holy Temple. A group of Jews led by Zerubavel set out for Jerusalem and began working on the second Temple. However, the Cutheans falsely accused the Jews of plotting a rebellion against King Cyrus and were successful in halting the construction of the Holy Temple for the remainder of his reign and throughout the reign of Ahasuerus, his successor. Construction resumed in the second year of the reign of Darius, Ahasuerus's son, on the 24th of Kislev.
DAILY QUOTE:
But when will I do something for my own self?[Genesis 30:30]
DAILY STUDY:
Chumash: Parshat Mikeitz, 3rd Portion (Genesis 41:39-41:52) with Rashi
• Chapter 41
39. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has let you know all this, there is no one as understanding and wise as you. לט. וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה אֶל יוֹסֵף אַחֲרֵי הוֹדִיעַ אֱלֹהִים אוֹתְךָ אֶת כָּל זֹאת אֵין נָבוֹן וְחָכָם כָּמוֹךָ:
there is no one as understanding and wise as you: To seek an understanding and wise man as you said, we will not [be able to] find anyone like you.
אין נבון וחכם כמוך: לבקש איש נבון וחכם שאמרת, לא נמצא כמוך:
40. You shall be [appointed] over my household, and through your command all my people shall be nourished; only [with] the throne will I be greater than you." מ. אַתָּה תִּהְיֶה עַל בֵּיתִי וְעַל פִּיךָ יִשַּׁק כָּל עַמִּי רַק הַכִּסֵּא אֶגְדַּל מִמֶּךָּ:
shall be nourished: Heb. יִשַׁק [Onkelos renders:] יִתְּזַּן, shall be nourished, shall be sustained. All my people’s necessities shall be provided through you, similar to“the steward of my household (בֶּן מֶשֶׁק)” (Gen. 15:2), and“Arm yourselves (נַשְׁקוּ) with purity” (Ps. 2:12), garnis(s) on in Old French, provision.
ישק: יתזן, יתפרנס. כל צרכי עמי יהיו נעשים על ידך, כמו (לעיל טו ב) ובן משק ביתי, וכמו (תהלים ב יב) נשקו בר, גרנישו"ן בלע"ז [אספקה]:
only [with] the throne: That I will be called king.
רק הכסא: שיהיו קורין לי מלך:
the throne: A term denoting the kingship, like“and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord, King [David]” (I Kings 1:37).
כסא: לשון של המלוכה כמו (מלכים א א לז) ויגדל את כסאו מכסא אדוני המלך:
41. So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Look, I have appointed you over the entire land of Egypt." מא. וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה אֶל יוֹסֵף רְאֵה נָתַתִּי אֹתְךָ עַל כָּל אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם:
I have appointed you: Heb. נָתַתִּי אֹתְ. [Onkelos renders:] מַנֵיתִי יָתָ, I have appointed you. It is nevertheless an expression of placing (lit., giving), like“and to place you (לְתִתְּ) above” (Deut. 26:19). Whether for greatness or lowliness, the term נְתִינָה is appropriate, like“I, [too,] have made you (נָתַתִּי אֶתְכֶם) contemptible and low” (Mal. 2:9).
נתתי אתך: מניתי יתך, ואף על פי כן לשון נתינה הוא, כמו (דברים כו יט) ולתתך עליון, בין לגדולה בין לשפלות נופל לשון נתינה עליו, כמו (מלאכי ב ט) נתתי אתכם נבזים ושפלים:
42. And Pharaoh removed his ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph's hand, and he attired him [with] raiment of fine linen, and he placed the golden chain around his neck. מב. וַיָּסַר פַּרְעֹה אֶת טַבַּעְתּוֹ מֵעַל יָדוֹ וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָהּ עַל יַד יוֹסֵף וַיַּלְבֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ בִּגְדֵי שֵׁשׁ וַיָּשֶׂם רְבִד הַזָּהָב עַל צַוָּארוֹ:
And Pharaoh removed his ring: [The] giving [of] the king’s ring is a sign to the one to whom it is given [that he is] to be second to him in greatness [rank].
ויסר פרעה את טבעתו: נתינת טבעת המלך הוא אות למי שנותנה לו להיות שני לו לגדולה:
raiment of fine linen: This is an item of value in Egypt.
בגדי שש: דבר חשיבות הוא במצרים:
chain: Heb. רְבִד, a chain, and because it consists of links placed in a row, it is called רְבִד, and similarly,“I have decked (רָבַדְתִּי) my couch” (Prov. 7:16). I have decked my couch with rows of ornaments. In the language of the Mishnah:“surrounded by rows (רוֹבְדִין) of stone” (Middoth 1:8);“on the row of stones (רוֹבֶד) in the forecourt” (Yoma 43b), which is the pavement.
רבד: ענק, ועל שהוא רצוף בטבעות קרוי רביד. וכן (משלי ז טז) רבדתי ערשי, רצפתי ערשי מרצפות. בלשון משנה (מדות א ח) מוקף רובדין של אבן, (יומא מג ב) על הרובד שבעזרה, והיא רצפה:
43. And he had him ride in his chariot of second rank, and they called out before him, "[This is] the king's patron," appointing him over the entire land of Egypt. מג. וַיַּרְכֵּב אֹתוֹ בְּמִרְכֶּבֶת הַמִּשְׁנֶה אֲשֶׁר לוֹ וַיִּקְרְאוּ לְפָנָיו אַבְרֵךְ וְנָתוֹן אֹתוֹ עַל כָּל אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם:
in his chariot of second rank: Heb. מִרְכֶּבֶת הַמִשְׁנֶה. The one second to his chariot, which goes next to his.
במרכבת המשנה: השניה למרכבתו, המהלכת אצל שלו:
the king’s patron: Heb. אַבְרֵ, as the Targum renders: This is the patron of the king. [The word] רֵ in Aramaic means “king.” In [the chapter entitled]“The partners” (Baba Bathra 4a), he (Herod) is neither a king (רֵיכָא) nor the son of a king (בַּר רֵיכָא). [Thus, רֵ like rex in Latin, means king.] In the Aggadah (Sifrei Deut. 1), Rabbi Judah expounded: אַבְרֵ refers to Joseph, who was a father (אָב) in wisdom, and tender (רַ) in years. Ben Durmaskith said to him,“How long will you pervert the Scriptures for us? אַבְרֵ is only a term denoting knees (בִּרְכַּיִם) , for all would enter and exit under his hand, as the matter that is stated: ”appointing him, etc."
אברך: כתרגומו דין אבא למלכא. רך בלשון ארמי מלך. בהשותפין (בבא בתרא ד א) לא ריכא ולא בר ריכא. ובדברי אגדה דרש ר' יהודה אברך זה יוסף שהוא אב בחכמה ורך בשנים, אמר לו רבי יוסי בן דורמסקית עד מתי אתה מעוות עלינו את הכתובים, אין אברך אלא לשון ברכים, שהכל היו נכנסין ויוצאין תחת ידו, כענין שנאמר ונתון אותו וגו':
44. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and besides you, no one may lift his hand or his foot in the entire land of Egypt." מד. וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה אֶל יוֹסֵף אֲנִי פַרְעֹה וּבִלְעָדֶיךָ לֹא יָרִים אִישׁ אֶת יָדוֹ וְאֶת רַגְלוֹ בְּכָל אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם:
I am Pharaoh: I have the power to enact a decree upon my kingdom, and I decree that no one should raise his hand, etc.
אני פרעה: שיש יכולת בידי לגזור גזרות על מלכותי, ואני גוזר שלא ירים איש את ידו:
and besides you: [I.e.,] without your permission. Another interpretation: I shall be the king, and besides you, etc. This is parallel to“only [with] the throne” (verse 40). - [from Gen. Rabbah 90:2] [I.e., although I give you the exclusive power to raise your hand and foot, as explained below I am still the supreme ruler over the land.]
בלעדיך: שלא ברשותך. דבר אחר אני פרעה אני אהיה מלך ובלעדיך וגו' וזהו דוגמת (פסוק מ) רק הכסא:
his hand or his foot: As the Targum renders [no man shall raise his hand to bear arms or his foot to ride a horse.]
את ידו ואת רגלו: כתרגומו:
45. And Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath Pa'neach, and he gave him Asenath the daughter of Poti phera, the governor of On, for a wife, and Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt. מה. וַיִּקְרָא פַרְעֹה שֵׁם יוֹסֵף צָפְנַת פַּעְנֵחַ וַיִּתֶּן לוֹ אֶת אָסְנַת בַּת פּוֹטִי פֶרַע כֹּהֵן אֹן לְאִשָּׁה וַיֵּצֵא יוֹסֵף עַל אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם:
Zaphenath-Pa’neach: He who explains hidden things, and Pa’neach has no parallel in Scripture. — [from Targum Onkelos]
צפנת פענח: מפרש הצפונות, ואין לפענח דמיון במקרא:
Poti-phera: He is Potiphar, but he was called Poti-phera because he became emasculated since he desired Joseph for homosexual relations. — [from Sotah 13b]
פוטי פרע: הוא פוטיפר, ונקרא פוטיפרע על שנסתרס מאליו, לפי שלקח את יוסף למשכב זכר:
46. And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and Joseph went out from before Pharaoh and passed through the entire land of Egypt. מו. וְיוֹסֵף בֶּן שְׁלשִׁים שָׁנָה בְּעָמְדוֹ לִפְנֵי פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרָיִם וַיֵּצֵא יוֹסֵף מִלִּפְנֵי פַרְעֹה וַיַּעֲבֹר בְּכָל אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם:
47. And in the seven years of plenty, [the inhabitants of] the land gathered [food] by handfuls. מז. וַתַּעַשׂ הָאָרֶץ בְּשֶׁבַע שְׁנֵי הַשָּׂבָע לִקְמָצִים:
And…[the inhabitants of] the land gathered: Heb. וַתַּעַשׂ הָאָרֶץ, lit., and the land made. [This is to be understood] as the Targum renders:“And…the inhabitants of the land gathered.” The language, however, does not lose its meaning of making.
ותעש הארץ: כתרגומו, ואין הלשון נעקר מלשון עשייה:
by handfuls: Heb. לִקְמָצִים. Handful over handful, hand over hand, they were storing it.
לקמצים: קומץ על קומץ, יד על יד היו אוצרים:
48. And he collected all the food of the seven years that was in the land of Egypt, and he placed food in the cities, the food of the field surrounding the city, he put within it. מח. וַיִּקְבֹּץ אֶת כָּל אֹכֶל | שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם וַיִּתֶּן אֹכֶל בֶּעָרִים אֹכֶל שְׂדֵה הָעִיר אֲשֶׁר סְבִיבֹתֶיהָ נָתַן בְּתוֹכָהּ:
the food of the field surrounding the city, he put within it: Because each land preserves its own produce, and they would put into the grain some of the soil of the place, and it would preserve the grain [and prevent it] from decaying. - [from Gen. Rabbah 90:5]
אכל שדה העיר אשר סביבותיה נתן בתוכה: שכל ארץ וארץ מעמדת פירותיה ונותנין בתבואה מעפר המקום ומעמיד את התבואה מלירקב:
49. And Joseph gathered grain like the sand of the sea, in great abundance, until [one] stopped counting, because there was no number. מט. וַיִּצְבֹּר יוֹסֵף בָּר כְּחוֹל הַיָּם הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד עַד כִּי חָדַל לִסְפֹּר כִּי אֵין מִסְפָּר:
until [one] stopped counting: Until the one who counted stopped counting. This is an elliptical verse. [The subject of חָדַל is missing.]
עד כי חדל לספר: עד כי חדל לו הסופר לספור, והרי זה מקרא קצר:
because there was no number: Heb. כִּי because there was no number, and here כִּי is used as an expression of “because.”
כי אין מספר: לפי שאין מספר, והרי כי משמש בלשון דהא:
50. And to Joseph were born two sons before the year of the famine set in, whom Asenath the daughter of Poti phera, the governor of On, bore to him. נ. וּלְיוֹסֵף יֻלָּד שְׁנֵי בָנִים בְּטֶרֶם תָּבוֹא שְׁנַת הָרָעָב אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לּוֹ אָסְנַת בַּת פּוֹטִי פֶרַע כֹּהֵן אוֹן:
before the year of the famine set in: From here is derived that a person may not engage in marital relations during years of famine. — [from Ta’anith 11a]
בטרם תבוא שנת הרעב: מכאן שאסור לאדם לשמש מטתו בשני רעבון:
51. And Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, for "God has caused me to forget all my toil and all my father's house." נא. וַיִּקְרָא יוֹסֵף אֶת שֵׁם הַבְּכוֹר מְנַשֶּׁה כִּי נַשַּׁנִי אֱלֹהִים אֶת כָּל עֲמָלִי וְאֵת כָּל בֵּית אָבִי:
52. And the second one he named Ephraim, for "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." נב. וְאֵת שֵׁם הַשֵּׁנִי קָרָא אֶפְרָיִם כִּי הִפְרַנִי אֱלֹהִים בְּאֶרֶץ עָנְיִי:
___________________________
Daily Tehillim: Psalms Chapters 113-118
• Chapter 113
This psalm recounts some of the wonders of the exodus from Egypt.
1. Praise the Lord! Offer praise, you servants of the Lord; praise the Name of the Lord.
2. May the Name of the Lord be blessed from now and to all eternity.
3. From the rising of the sun to its setting, the Name of the Lord is praised.
4. The Lord is high above all nations; His glory transcends the heavens.
5. Who is like the Lord our God, Who dwells on high
6. [yet] looks down so low upon heaven and earth!
7. He raises the poor from the dust, lifts the destitute from the dunghill,
8. to seat them with nobles, with the nobles of His people.
9. He transforms the barren woman into a household, into a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!
Chapter 114
This psalm explains why the tribe of Judah merited kingship.
1. When Israel went out of Egypt, the House of Jacob from a people of a foreign tongue,
2. Judah became His holy [nation], Israel, His domain.
3. The sea saw and fled, the Jordan turned backward.
4. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like young sheep.
5. What is the matter with you, O sea, that you flee; Jordan, that you turn backward;
6. mountains, that you skip like rams; hills, like young sheep?
7. [We do so] before the Master, the Creator of the earth, before the God of Jacob,
8. Who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flintstone into a water fountain.
Chapter 115
A prayer that God bring this long exile to an end, for the sake of His Name-that it not be desecrated.
1. Not for our sake, Lord, not for our sake, but for the sake of Your Name bestow glory, because of Your kindness and Your truth.
2. Why should the nations say, "Where, now, is their God?”
3. Indeed, our God is in heaven; whatever He desires, He does.
4. Their idols are of silver and gold, the product of human hands.
5. They have a mouth, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;
6. they have ears, but cannot hear; they have a nose, but cannot smell;
7. their hands cannot touch; their feet cannot walk; they can make no sound in their throat.
8. Those who make them will become like them-all who put their trust in them.
9. Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.
10. House of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.
11. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.
12. The Lord who is ever mindful of us, may He bless: May He bless the House of Israel; may He bless the House of Aaron;
13. may He bless those who fear the Lord, the small with the great.
14. May the Lord increase [blessing] upon you, upon you and upon your children.
15. You are blessed by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
16. The heavens are the Lord's heavens, but the earth He gave to the children of man.
17. The dead cannot praise the Lord, nor any who descend into the silence [of the grave].
18. But we will bless the Lord from now to eternity. Praise the Lord!
Chapter 116
This psalm contains magnificent praises to God. It also describes David's love for God, in light of all the miracles He performed for him. David does not know how to repay God, declaring it impossible to pay back for all God has done for him.
1. I would love if the Lord would listen to my voice, to my supplications;
2. if He would turn His ear to me on the days when I call.
3. The pangs of death encompassed me and the misery of the grave came upon me; I encounter trouble and sorrow.
4. I invoke the Name of the Lord, "Lord, I implore you, deliver my soul!”
5. The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is compassionate.
6. The Lord watches over the simpletons; I was brought low, and He saved me.
7. Return, my soul, to your tranquility, for the Lord has bestowed goodness upon you.
8. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
9. I shall walk before the Lord in the lands of the living.
10. I had faith even when I declared, "I am greatly afflicted";
11. [even when] I said in my haste, "All men are deceitful.”
12. How can I repay the Lord for all His beneficences to me?
13. I will raise the cup of deliverance and proclaim the Name of the Lord.
14. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people.
15. Grievous in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His pious ones.
16. I thank you, Lord, that since I am Your servant, I am Your servant the son of Your maidservant, You have loosened my bonds.
17. To You I will bring an offering of thanksgiving, and proclaim the Name of the Lord.
18. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people,
19. in the courtyards of the House of the Lord, in the midst of Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!
Chapter 117
This psalm of two verses alludes to the Messianic era, when the Children of Israel will enjoy their former glory. All will praise God, in fulfillment of the verse, "All will then call in the Name of God."
1. Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol Him, all you peoples.
2. For His kindness was mighty over us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord!
Chapter 118
This psalm describes David's immense trust in God. It also contains many praises to God, Who has fulfilled that which He has promised us.
1. Offer praise to the Lord for He is good, for His kindness is everlasting.
2. Let Israel declare that His kindness is everlasting.
3. Let the House of Aaron declare that His kindness is everlasting.
4. Let those who fear the Lord declare that His kindness is everlasting.
5. From out of distress I called to God; with abounding relief, God answered me.
6. The Lord is with me, I do not fear-what can man do to me?
7. The Lord is with me among my helpers, and I will see [the downfall of] my enemies.
8. It is better to rely on the Lord than to trust in man.
9. It is better to rely on the Lord than to trust in nobles.
10. All the nations surrounded me, but in the Name of the Lord I will cut them down.
11. They surrounded me, they encompassed me, but in the Name of the Lord I will cut them down.
12. They surrounded me like bees, yet they shall be extinguished like fiery thorns; in the Name of the Lord I will cut them down.
13. You [my foes] repeatedly pushed me to fall, but the Lord helped me.
14. God is my strength and song, and He has been a help to me.
15. The sound of rejoicing and deliverance reverberates in the tents of the righteous, "The right hand of the Lord performs deeds of valor.
16. The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord performs deeds of valor!”
17. I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of God.
18. God has indeed chastised me, but He did not give me up to death.
19. Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter them and praise God.
20. This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous will enter it.
21. I offer thanks to You, for You have answered me, and You have been my deliverance.
22. The stone which the builders scorned has become the chief cornerstone.
23. From the Lord has this come about; it is wondrous in our eyes.
24. This is the day which the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice on it.
25. We implore You, Lord, deliver us. We implore You, Lord, grant us success.
26. Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord; we bless you from the House of the Lord.
27. The Lord is a benevolent God and He has given us light; bind the festival offering with cords until [you bring it to] the horns of the altar.
28. You are my God and I will praise You, my God-and I will exalt You.
29. Praise the Lord for He is good, for His kindness is everlasting.
____________________________
Tanya: Likutei Amarim, Chapter 2
• Lessons in Tanya
• Today's Tanya Lesson
Tuesday, 24 Kislev, 5775 • 16 December 2014
Likutei Amarim, Chapter 2
ונפש השנית בישראל היא חלק אלו-ה ממעל ממש
The second, uniquely Jewish, soul is truly “a part of G-d above,”
“A part of G-d above” is a quotation from Scripture (Iyov 31:2). The Alter Rebbe adds the word “truly” to stress the literal meaning of these words. For, as is known,1 some verses employ hyperbolic language. For example, the verse2 describing “great and fortified cities reaching into the heavens” is clearly meant to be taken figuratively, not literally. In order that we should not interpret the phrase “a part of G-d above” in a similar manner, the Alter Rebbe adds the word “truly”, thus emphasizing that the Jewish soul is quite literally a part of G-d above.
כמו שכתוב: ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים
as it is written3 concerning Adam (whose soul was a comprehensive one, a neshamah klalit, in that it contained all the particular souls of subsequent generations): “And He (G-d) blew into his nostrils a soul of life”;
ואתה נפחת בי
and as we say in prayer concerning the soul of every individual Jew,4 “You blew it into me.”
The significance of the verb “to blow” as it relates to the infusion of the Jewish soul is now explained.
וכמו שכתוב בזוהר: מאן דנפח מתוכיה נפח, פירוש מתוכיותו ומפנימיותו
It is written in the Zohar,5 “He who blows, blows from within him,” that is to say, from his inwardness and his innermost being.
שתוכיות ופנימיות החיות שבאדם מוציא בנפיחתו בכח
For it is of his inward and innermost vitality that a man emits through blowing with force.
Blowing tires a person much more quickly than speaking, as is readily observed, for it requires a greater exertion of effort and vitality. Hence, the fact that the metaphor of blowing is used to describe G-d’s implanting the Jew’s soul in his body signifies that this soul originates in the “innermost” aspect of G-dliness.
That the Jew is rooted in G-d’s innermost and essential being is indicated further by the designation of the Jewish people as G-d’s “children”, whose souls originate in His “thought” just as a child stems from his father’s brain, as the Alter Rebbe explains presently.
כך על דרך משל נשמות ישראל עלו במחשבה
So, too, allegorically speaking, have Jewish souls risen in the [Divine] thought,6
The Jew has his source in Divine “thought” — the innermost level of G-dliness. All other created beings, even angels, are rooted in and created by Divine “speech”. Speech is external in comparison with thought.
כדכתיב: בני בכורי ישראל
as it is written7 regarding the Jewish nation, “Israel is My firstborn son”;
בנים אתם לה׳ אלקיכם
and concerning Jews as individuals,8 “You are children unto G-d your L-rd.”
פירוש: כמו שהבן נמשך ממוח האב
That is to say, i.e., the significance of the Jew’s being called G-d’s child is that just as a child is derived from its father’s brain — his inner and essential being,
כך כביכול נשמת כל איש ישראל נמשכה ממחשבתו וחכמתו יתברך
so too (to use an anthropomorphism) is the soul of every Jew derived from G-d’s thought and wisdom.
The Alter Rebbe now takes this concept a step further. Deriving from G-d’s thought and wisdom actually implies that it derives form G-d Himself, as he goes on to explain.
דאיהו חכים ולא בחכמה ידיעא, אלא הוא וחכמתו אחד
For9 “He is wise — G-d possesses the quality of wisdom — but not with a wisdom that is known to us created beings,” because He and His wisdom are one,
וכמו שכתב הרמב״ם שהוא המדע והוא היודע כו׳
and as Maimonides writes,10 “He is Knowledge and simultaneously the Knower... Who knows and comprehends — through the ”Knowledge“...; [and He is that which is Known]” — G-d is also the subject of knowledge and comprehension, as Maimonides concludes.
This means that G-d’s wisdom and comprehension are totally different from man’s. In human comprehension there are three separate and distinct components: (a) the person’s soul, the “knower” and possessor of knowledge; (b) the power of intellect and comprehension — the “knowledge” — by which the person knows; (c) the subject of the knowledge — the “known” — such as a law in the Mishnah or a discussion in the Gemara which is apprehended and known.
Concerning G-d’s wisdom, however, Maimonides states: “He is the ‘Knowledge’, the ‘Knower’, and the ‘Known’.” G-d is the means of comprehension — the “Knowledge,” and at the same time is He Who understands — the “Knower”, and is also that which is understood — the “Known”.
ודבר זה אין ביכולת האדם להבינו על בוריו כו׳
Maimonides continues: “And this is not within the power of any man to comprehend clearly”;
כדכתיב: החקר אלו-ה תמצא, וכתיב: כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם וגו׳
as it is written,11 “Can you find and understand G-d by searching?” And it is also written,12 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,” [says G-d]; and consequently “your” [human] thoughts cannot possibly comprehend “My” thoughts.
Since His wisdom is one with G-d Himself, as has been shown, it follows that the Jewish soul, which stems from Divine wisdom (as stated above), actually derives from G-d Himself.
Many Jewish philosophers13 rejected Maimonides‘ description of G-d as “the Knower, the Knowledge and the Known.” In fact they considered it erroneous to ascribe to G-d a description of any sort — even of the lofty level of intellect of which Maimonides writes — inasmuch as description implies limitation, and G-d is inherently limitless.
The Alter Rebbe therefore points out in this note that the Kabbalists agreed with Maimonides, with the qualification that his concept does not apply to G-d’s essence. For His essence is truly infinite — even higher than the inscrutable level of “Knowledge” that Maimonides refers to. Regarding His essence, those who disagree with Maimonides are correct in maintaining that G-d cannot be defined in terms of “knowledge”, since He transcends it infinitely. Only after G-d limits the infinite light of His essence through the process of tzimtzum (progressive contractions), and thereby assumes the attribute of Chochmah (“Wisdom”), — only then can it be said of G-d that He is the “Knower, Knowledge and Known.”
הגהה
והודו לו חכמי הקבלה, כמו שכתוב בפרדס מהרמ״ק
NOTE
The Kabbalists have agreed with him (that G-d can be described as “Knower, Knowledge and Known”), as stated in Pardes of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero.14
Even according to the Kabbalah of the AriZal (Rabbi Isaac Luria, of blessed memory), Maimonides‘ statement stands.
The Kabbalah of the AriZal provides an even deeper insight into the limitlessness of G-d’s essence, higher than even that level of “knowledge” to which Maimonides refers. Still, even according to the teachings of the AriZal, Maimonides‘ statement is acceptable — with one proviso, however.
בסוד התלבשות אור אין סוף ברוך הוא, על ידי צמצומים רבים, בכלים דחב״ד דאצילות
This is so only when applied to the mystic principle of the clothing of the Ein Sof-light — by means of numerous “contractions” (tzimtzumim) — in the vessels of the Sefirot of CHaBaD (חב"ד — an acronym of Chochmah, Binah and Daat — “wisdom”, “understanding”, and “knowledge”, respectively; the triad of Sefirot which represent Divine “intellect”) of the world of Atzilut (“Emanation”).
Through a process of self-limitation called tzimtzum (“contraction”), G-d manifests (or, in kabbalistic terminology, “clothes”) His infinite essence (referred to by the Kabbalists as Ein Sof — “the endless, infinite One”) in the Sefirot, which are His attributes. This manifestation occurs first in Atzilut; specifically, in CHaBaD of Atzilut — Divine Intellect. Thus, at the level of Atzilut, G-d can indeed be defined in Maimonides‘ terms of “Knower, Knowledge and Known,” i.e., intellect,
אך לא למעלה מהאצילות
but not higher than Atzilut.
Above the World of Atzilut the Unknowable G-d cannot be defined. Accordingly, in terms of the kabbalistic scale, Maimonides had nothing to say about G-d except from the World of Atzilut and “down”.
וכמו שכתוב במקום אחר, שאין סוף ברוך הוא מרומם ומתנשא רוממות אין ק׳ למעלה מעלה ממהות ובחינת חב״ד
As explained elsewhere,15 the Ein Sof, blessed be He, is infinitely exalted over, and transcends, the essence and level of ChaBad.
In fact, the level of ChaBad is regarded as being equally inferior as material action in relation to Him.
Thus it is written,16 “You have made them all with wisdom.”
“You have conceived them all with wisdom” would seem more appropriate: conceiving, not “making”, is surely the proper function of G-d’s wisdom. “You have made them all with wisdom” indicates however that to G-d, “wisdom” — the highest level within the Worlds — is as lowly as Asiyah, the lowest level.
END OF NOTE
The Alter Rebbe now addresses a difficulty arising from his previous statement that every soul emanates from Divine wisdom. Since all souls emanate from one source — Supernal Wisdom — it should follow that all souls are of the same level and rank. How then do the various levels and ranks found in Jewish souls come about?
ואף שיש רבבות מיני חלוקי מדרגות בנשמות, גבוה מעל גבוה לאין ק׳
True, there are myriads of different gradations of souls (Neshamot), rank upon rank, ad infinitum.
כמו גודל מעלת נשמות האבות ומשה רבינו, עליו השלום, על נשמות דורותינו אלה דעקבי משיחא
For example, the souls of the Patriarchs and of Moses our Teacher are by far superior to the souls of our own generations, [which belong to] the period preceding the coming (lit., the “heels”, i.e., the footsteps) of the Messiah;
שהם בחינת עקביים ממש לגבי המוח והראש
for [the latter souls] are like the very soles of the feet in comparison with the brain and the head.
Just as the life-force found in the soles of the feet cannot possibly be compared to that found in the head and brain, so too can there be no comparison between the souls of these present generations and those souls (here called the “head” and “brain”) of earlier generations.
וכן בכל דור ודור יש ראשי אלפי ישראל, שנשמותיהם הם בחינת ראש ומוח לגבי נשמות ההמון ועמי האר׳
Similarly, within each generation we find the same disparity among Neshamot: there are those who are the “heads (the leaders) of the multitude of Israel,” so designated because their souls are in the category of “head” and “brain” in comparison with those of the masses and the ignorant.
וכן נפשות לגבי נפשות כי כל נפש כלולה מנפש רוח ונשמה
Likewise there are similar distinctions between Nefashot and Nefashot (the soul-levels of Nefesh), for every soul consists of Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah.17
Just as the soul-level of Neshamah varies from one Jew to another, so too do the levels of Ruach and Nefesh.
Thus we see how manifold are the differences in the ranks of souls. Accordingly, we would expect similar variations in their divine sources — the greater the soul, the higher its source.
מכל מקום שורש כל הנפש רוח ונשמה כולם, מראש כל המדריגות עד סוף כל דרגין, המלובש בגוף עמי האר׳ וקל שבקלים
Nevertheless, the root of every Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah, from the highest of all ranks to the lowest — the “lowest” being those souls embodied within the illiterate and the most light-minded of light-minded Jews, —
נמשך ממוח העליון שהיא חכמה עילאה כביכול
all are derived, as it were, from the Supreme Mind which is Chochmah Ila‘ah (Supernal Wisdom).
In order to help us better understand why the levels of individual souls vary so widely despite their common source, the Alter Rebbe now returns to the analogy of a father and son (used earlier to illustrate the description of Jews as G-d’s “children” who are derived from Chochmah Ila‘ah — G-d’s “brain”, as it were).
An explanation in brief: In the analogy we observe that the child’s entire body is derived from a drop of semen originating in its father’s brain. Yet the many physical components which constitute the child’s body are by no means uniform. They vary greatly, from the brain — the highest component— to the nails of the feet, the lowest.
These radical differences come about through the presence of the drop of semen in the mother’s womb during the nine months of gestation. It is this period of physical development that produces the differences between one organ and another: the more materialized a particular component of the drop becomes, the more it diverges from its original state and becomes an entity with its own unique physical characteristics. We thus observe that though all the organs share a common source, nevertheless in the process of development there arise differences as radical as that between brain and nails.
Another matter evident from the analogy: Though the nails are the most insignificant part of the child’s body, they are still bound and united with their first source — the father’s brain. For, like the other parts of the child’s body, the nails too receive their nourishment and life from its brain. Since the child’s brain retains the essence of its source (the father’s brain) and is thus constantly bound to its source, even the nails are therefore bound up with their original source.
The same is true regarding souls. All souls are derived from the same source and root, from Chochmah Ila‘ah. But the soul must descend therefrom through a multitude of Worlds and levels, before clothing itself in a physical body. It is this descent that creates changes in the soul’s level and differences between one soul and another, for one soul is affected by this descent to a greater degree than another.
The second aspect of the analogy too applies here. Although a soul may descend to the very lowest of levels, it is still bound up and unified with its original source in Chochmah Ila‘ah. In the analogy, the nails remain bound to the father’s brain through their unity with the son’s brain. Similarly, these souls of the lowest level remain bound to their source in Chochmah Ila’ah through their attachment to the souls of the righteous and the sages of their generation, from whom they receive their spiritual nourishment. Even when in this physical world, souls of a higher level (analogous to the child’s brain) retain the spiritual level of their source — the level of “head” and “brain”; and through these souls even the souls of lower levels remain bound and unified with their source within G-d. This, briefly, is what the Alter Rebbe goes on to explain.
כמשל הבן הנמשך ממוח האב, שאפילו צפרני רגליו נתהוו מטפה זו ממש
[The manner of the soul’s descent] is analogous to a child who is derived from his father’s brain: even the nails of his feet come into existence from the very same drop of semen which comes from the father’s brain. How then were nails created from it?
על ידי שהייתה תשעה חדשים בבטן האם, וירדה ממדריגה למדריגה, להשתנות ולהתהוות ממנה צפרנים
— by being in the mother’s womb for nine months, descending degree by degree, changing continually, until [even] the nails are formed from it.
Though the child’s organs all derive from the same source — the drop of semen which comes from the father’s brain — yet they develop into entities as radically diverse as the brain and the nails.
ועם כל זה עודנה קשורה ומיוחדת ביחוד נפלא ועצום במהותה ועצמותה הראשון, שהיתה טפת מוח האב
Furthermore: Although the drop has been so altered as to become the substance of the child’s nails, yet it is still bound to and united in a wondrous and mighty unity with its original essence and being, namely, the drop of semen as it came from the father’s brain.
וגם עכשיו בבן, יניקת הצפרנים וחיותם נמשכת מהמוח שבראש
Even now, in the son, the nails receive their nourishment and life from the brain that is in his head.
The nails derive their life from the child’s brain, which in turn retains the substance of its source, the brain of the father. Thus the nails too are bound up — through the brain of the son — with the father’s brain.
Evidence is now brought that the nails remain bound to the father’s brain:
כדאיתא בגמרא נדה שם : לובן שממנו גידים ועצמות וצפרנים
As is written in the Gemara (Niddah, ibid.18), “From the white of the father’s drop of semen are formed the veins, the bones and the nails of the child.”
According to the Kabbalah too, there is a connection between the nails and the brain, as shall be presently stated.
וכמו שכתוב בע׳ חיים, שער החשמל, בסוד לבושים של אדם הראשון בגן עדן
(In Etz Chayim, Shaar HaChashmal, it is likewise stated in connection with the esoteric principle of Adam’s garments in the Garden of Eden,
שהיו צפרנים מבחינת מוח תבונה
that they (the garments) were of “nails” [derived] from the cognitive faculty of the brain.)
וככה ממש כביכול בשורש כל הנפש רוח ונשמה של כללות ישראל למעלה
Exactly so, as it were, is the case with regard to every Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshamah in the community of Israel on high.
The soul, too, is changed from its original state by a process of “development” similar to the gestation which transforms the drop of semen; in the case of the soul, however, this process consists of a descent from World to World, and from level to level within each World, as mentioned briefly above.
The Alter Rebbe will now go on to state the details of this descent.
Specifically, the soul passes through four spiritual Worlds, in its descent from Supernal Wisdom to the human body. These “Worlds”, or stages in the creative process, are (in descending order): Atzilut (the World of Emanation), Beriah (the World of Creation), Yetzirah (the World of Formation) and Asiyah (the World of Action). (They are written acrostically as אבי"ע, pronounced ABiYA.)
The function and significance of these “Worlds” will be clarified further in the Tanya; for the moment a brief explanation will suffice.
Atzilut (Emanation) is a World where the Ein Sof-light radiates, so that Atzilut is, in effect, G-dliness Itself “transplanted” (so to speak) to a lower level. (This takes place by means of tzimtzum.) For this reason, Atzilut is still united with its source — Ein Sof.
These two characteristics of Atzilut are indicated in its very name. The word Atzilut is etymologically related to two roots: (a) The verb לצא, meaning “to delegate”, as in the verse,19 “I (G-d) shall delegate something of your (Moses‘) spirit and place it upon them (the seventy Elders).” The verse is saying, then, that the spirit of prophecy possessed by the seventy Elders was merely an extension of Moses’ spirit, not something new, and separate from him. Similarly, the properties of Atzilut are extensions, on a lower level, of the Ein Sof. (b) Atzilut is also related to the word “etzel”, meaning “near” — thus indicating the unity of Atzilut with its source.
The World of Beriah (Creation), as its name implies, is a creation, not Divinity itself. It is the first creation to come about in a manner of Yesh Me‘Ayin — creatio ex nihilo; from Ayin (“nothingness”) there comes about a Yesh, a definite state of existence. Beriah, however, represents merely the passage out of non-existence; it is a state in creation which cannot yet be spoken of as giving rise to proper “existence”, definable in terms of form and structure.
Yetzirah (Formation) is the World where that which was created from Ayin assumes shape and form.
The World of Asiyah refers to the completed creation. Understandably, this completed creation is still spiritual. The final world of creation (“physical Asiyah”), comprising our physical world with all its creatures, comes into being only at a later stage.
Together, these worlds form the Seder Hishtalshelut, “the chain-like order of descent,” so designated because just as the lowest link in a chain is connected to the highest by means of all the interlocking links, similarly, in the Seder Hishtalshelut, the lowest level in Asiyah is connected to the highest level in Atzilut; all the levels interlock and flow from each other.
In the course of its descent from Chochmah Ila‘ah (Supernal Wisdom — the highest level in Atzilut) to the physical body, the soul passes through the entire Seder Hishtalshelut; and, as stated earlier, this descent produces the various levels of souls, just as gestation causes the drop of semen to be transformed into the child’s bodily organs, even to the point where it is formed into nails.
After this introduction, we return to the Alter Rebbe’s words:
בירידתו ממדריגה למדריגה על ידי השתלשלות העולמות, אצילות בריאה יצירה עשיה מחכמתו יתברך
By [the soul’s] descending degree by degree through the Hishtalshelut of the Worlds of Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, from G-d’s wisdom,
כדכתיב: כולם בחכמה עשית
as it is written: “You have made them all with wisdom (Chochmah)” (i.e., everything emanates from Chochmah, which is the source of all Hishtalshelut),
נתהוו ממנו נפש רוח ונשמה של עמי האר׳ ופחותי הערך
[through this descent] the Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah of the ignorant and least worthy come into being.
Their souls were most strongly affected by this descent, and therefore they are on the lowest level. Similarly, all the various levels of “higher” and “lower” souls are determined by the soul’s descent through Hishtalshelut; some souls are affected to a greater degree, others less.
The Alter Rebbe now relates the second point in the analogy to our case. Just as in the analogy, the nails of the child are still bound up with their first source through their being constantly nurtured by the child’s brain, so too, in the case of the soul:
ועם כל זה עודינה קשורות ומיוחדות ביחוד נפלא ועצום במהותן ועצמותן הראשון, שהיא המשכת חכמה עילאה
Nevertheless (notwithstanding the fact that they have already become souls of the lower levels — the souls of the ignorant and the least worthy), they (these lesser souls) remain bound and united with a wonderful and mighty unity with their original essence, namely, an extension of Chochmah Ila‘ah (Supernal Wisdom),
כי יניקת וחיות נפש רוח ונשמה של עמי האר׳ הוא מנפש רוח ונשמה של הצדיקים והחכמים ראשי בני ישראל שבדורם
for the nurture and life of the Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah of the ignorant are drawn from the Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshamah of the righteous and the sages, the “heads” of Israel in their generation.
By drawing their nuture and life from those who represent the levels of “head” and “brain”, all Jews are bound up with their source in Chochmah Ila‘ah — Supernal Wisdom.
ובזה יובן מאמר רבותינו ז״ל על פסוק: ולדבקה בו — שכל הדבק בתלמיד חכם מעלה עליו הכתוב כאלו נדבק בשכינה ממש
This explains the comment of our Sages20 on the verse,21 “And cleave unto Him” (concerning which the question arises: How can mortal man cleave to G-d? In answer, our Sages comment): “He who cleaves unto a [Torah] scholar is deemed by the Torah as if he had actually become attached to the Shechinah (the Divine Presence).”
This seems difficult to comprehend: How can one equate cleaving to a Torah scholar with cleaving to the Shechinah? However, in light of the above, this is readily understood.
כי על ידי דביקה בתלמידי חכמים, קשורות נפש רוח ונשמה של עמי האר׳ ומיוחדות במהותן הראשון ושרשם שבחכמה עילאה
For, through attachment to the scholars, the Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah of the ignorant are bound up and united with their original essence and their root in Supernal Wisdom,
שהוא יתברך וחכמתו אחד, והוא המדע כו׳
(and thereby with G-d Himself, since) He and His wisdom are one, and “He is the Knowledge...”
והפושעים ומורדים בתלמידי חכמים
(22As for those who willfully sin and rebel against the Torah sages: How do they receive their spiritual nurture and life? Spiritual life and nurture flow only where there is a desire to nurture and give life. In answer to this, the text continues:
יניקת נפש רוח ונשמה שלהם מבחינת אחוריים של נפש רוח ונשמת תלמידי חכמים
the nurture of their Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah comes from the hind-part, as it were, of the Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah of the scholars.)
Nurture from “the hind-part” can be understood by way of comparison to one who gives an object to his enemy — obviously, not out of a true desire to give, but rather due to some external factor. The grudging reluctance with which he gives will be reflected in his manner; he will turn away from him, tossing the object to his enemy over his shoulder. The same is true in the spiritual sphere. When spiritual nurture is given unwillingly, it is described as coming from “the hind-part” of the giver — an external level of nurture.
Nevertheless, even those who rebel against the sages receive some measure of spiritual nourishment from them. For every soul, without exception, must be bound up with its root and source, as explained earlier. The level of nurture they receive, is however from the “hind-part” of the souls of the sages.
Having23 concluded that every Jew has a holy soul which emanates “from above” (from Supernal Wisdom), the Alter Rebbe now states that even the quality (the “rank” or “level”) of each individual soul is determined only by factors “from above” — spiritual factors, such as the soul’s above-mentioned descent through Hishtalshelut. No actions of this physical world can determine its quality and rank. The Alter Rebbe makes this statement indirectly by clarifying a quotation from the Zohar which seems to indicate the contrary.
ומה שכתוב בזהר ובזהר חדש שהעיקר תלוי שיקדש עצמו בשעת תשמיש דוקא
As for what is written in the Zohar24 and in Zohar Chadash25 that the essential factor is to conduct oneself in a holy manner during sexual union,
מה שאין כן בני עמי האר׳ כו׳
which is not the case with the children of the ignorant and their ilk who do not conduct themselves thus,
The ignorant — as the Zohar goes on to imply — draw down for their child a soul of a lower level, which seems to indicate that an action occurring in this physical world can, in fact, affect the soul’s level. Not so, declares the Alter Rebbe. The Zohar is not referring to the soul at all, but to the soul’s spiritual “garment” — as follows:
היינו משום שאין לך נפש רוח ונשמה שאין לה לבוש מנפש דעצמות אביו ואמו
this is because no Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah is without a garment which stems from the Nefesh of its father’s and mother’s essence.
וכל המצות שעושה, הכל עד ידי אותו הלבוש כו׳, ואפילו השפע שנותנים לו מן השמים, הכל הוא על ידי לבוש זה
All the commandments that it fulfills are influenced by that garment — it is through this garment that the soul achieves its ability to affect the body and to perform the commandments involving physical matters; even the benevolence that flows to one from heaven is all given through that garment. Because the soul is so strongly bound up with this garment, the Zohar refers to the garment, in this context, as the person’s “soul”.
ואם יקדש את עצמו, ימשיך לבוש קדוש לנשמת בנו
Now, if the person sanctifies himself, he will bring forth a holy garment for the neshamah of his child, thereby enabling the child to serve G-d more readily.
ואפילו היא נשמה גדולה, צריכה לקידוש אביו כו׳
However great a soul it may be, it still needs the father’s sanctification at the time of intercourse.
אבל הנשמה עצמה, הנה לפעמים נשמת אדם גבוה לאין ק׳ בא להיות בנו של אדם נבזה ושפל כו׳
But the soul itself as distinct from its “garment” is not affected by the parents‘ sanctification; in fact it sometimes happens that the soul of an infinitely lofty person comes to be the son of an ignoble and lowly person.
כמו שכתב האר״י ז״ל כל זה בליקוטי תורה פרשת וירא, ובטעמי מצות פרשת בראשית
All this has been explained by Rabbi Isaac Luria, of blessed memory, in Likutei Torah on Parshat Vayera, and in Taamei HaMitzvot on Parshat Bereishit.
Thus the physical world — of which the parents are a part — can in no way affect the soul’s spiritual rank. Even the statement of the Zohar that the essential factor regarding the state of the soul is the holy manner of conduct during sexual union, pertains only to the soul’s “garment”. The soul itself, with all its various levels, emanates “from above.”
——— ● ———
FOOTNOTES
1. See Tamid 29a.
2. Devarim 1:28.
3. Bereishit 2:7.
4. Siddur, Morning Prayer; cf. Berachot 60b.
5. Not found in our editions of the Zohar.
6. See Bereishit Rabbah 1:4.
7. Shmot 4:22.
8. Devarim 14:1.
9. Introduction to Tikkunei Zohar.
10. Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 2:10.
11. Iyov 11:7.
12. Yeshayahu 55:8.
13. Including Rabbi Yehudah Loewe (Maharal) of Prague in his Gevurot HaShem.
14. Shaar Mahut VeHanhagah, ch. 13.
15. See, e.g., Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah (Tanya, Part II), ch. 9.
16. Tehillim 104:24.
17. See Zohar I, 206a; also Rabbi Yeshayahu Hurwitz, Shnei Luchot HaBrit I, 9b.
18. 31a.
19. Bamidbar 11:17.
20. Ketubbot 111b.
21. Devarim 30:20.
22. Parentheses are in the original text.
23. This interpretation of the following passage of Tanya follows a comment of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory. This paragraph forms (for the most part) a translation of this comment.
24. See Zohar II, 204b; III, 80-82.
25. Bereishit, p. 11.
____________________________
Rambam:
Daily Mitzvah Sefer Hamitzvot
Today's Mitzvah
Tuesday, 24 Kislev, 5775 • 16 December 2014
Principle 1
Do not count Rabbinic Commandments in this list. E.g. lighting Chanukah candles or reciting the Hallel.
Indeed, this seems obvious, for the Talmud says that 613 mitzvot "were given to Moses at Sinai," and rabbinic mitzvot were not instituted until later dates. But in truth, we follow rabbinic rulings because of a biblical mandate: "You shall not divert from the word they tell you, either right or left" (Deuteronomy17:11); and as such, before performing a rabbinic mitzvah, we say a blessing in which we thank G‑d for "sanctifying us with His commandments and commanding us to..." Nevertheless, the individual rabbinic precepts are not counted as part of the 613 (and, are considered "rabbinic," a classification that has certain halachic implications).
Principle 2
Do not include laws which are derived from one of the Thirteen Principles of Torah Exegesis.
Every word and letter in the Torah is exact, and the Sages extrapolated many laws from an extra (or missing) word or letter, or a particular sequence which the Torah chooses to use (click here for more on this topic). Nevertheless, unless the Sages explicitly say that a particular law that they derived is categorized as biblical, it is not counted as part of the 613.
An example of this is the obligation to accord honor to parents-in-law, a precept derived from an extra word ("et") in a verse. Though the Torah alludes to the concept, it is not considered a biblical command.
Principle 3
Do not count mitzvot which are not binding on all generations. E.g. the laws regarding the disassembly of the Tabernacle, or the prohibition against waging war on Amon and Moab, which only applied to the Israelites in the desert.
Daily Mitzvah Sefer Hamitzvot
Today's Mitzvah
Tuesday, 24 Kislev, 5775 • 16 December 2014
Principle 1
Do not count Rabbinic Commandments in this list. E.g. lighting Chanukah candles or reciting the Hallel.
Indeed, this seems obvious, for the Talmud says that 613 mitzvot "were given to Moses at Sinai," and rabbinic mitzvot were not instituted until later dates. But in truth, we follow rabbinic rulings because of a biblical mandate: "You shall not divert from the word they tell you, either right or left" (Deuteronomy17:11); and as such, before performing a rabbinic mitzvah, we say a blessing in which we thank G‑d for "sanctifying us with His commandments and commanding us to..." Nevertheless, the individual rabbinic precepts are not counted as part of the 613 (and, are considered "rabbinic," a classification that has certain halachic implications).
Principle 2
Do not include laws which are derived from one of the Thirteen Principles of Torah Exegesis.
Every word and letter in the Torah is exact, and the Sages extrapolated many laws from an extra (or missing) word or letter, or a particular sequence which the Torah chooses to use (click here for more on this topic). Nevertheless, unless the Sages explicitly say that a particular law that they derived is categorized as biblical, it is not counted as part of the 613.
An example of this is the obligation to accord honor to parents-in-law, a precept derived from an extra word ("et") in a verse. Though the Torah alludes to the concept, it is not considered a biblical command.
Principle 3
Do not count mitzvot which are not binding on all generations. E.g. the laws regarding the disassembly of the Tabernacle, or the prohibition against waging war on Amon and Moab, which only applied to the Israelites in the desert.
________________________________________
Rambam:
• 1 Chapter a Day: Part 2Part 2
All the sages who were mentioned were the leaders of the generations. Among them were heads of academies, heads of the exile, and members of the great Sanhedrin. Together with them in each generation, there were thousands and myriads that heard their [teachings].
Ravina and Rav Ashi were the final generation of the Sages of the Talmud. Rav Ashi composed the Babylonian Talmud in Shin'ar approximately one hundred years after Rabbi Yochanan composed the Jerusalem Talmud.1 The intent of both the Talmuds is to elucidate the words of the Mishnah, to explain its deeper points, and [to relate] the new matters that were developed by each court from the era of Rabbenu Hakadosh until the composition of the Talmud.
From the entire [body of knowledge stemming from] the two Talmuds, the Tosefta, the Sifra, and the Sifre, can be derived the forbidden and the permitted, the impure and the pure, the liable and those who are free of liability, the invalid and the valid as was received [in tradition], one person from another, [in a chain extending back] to Moses at Mount Sinai.
Also, [the sources mentioned above] relate those matters which were decreed by the sages and prophets in each generation in order to "build a fence around the Torah." We were explicitly taught about [this practice] by Moses, as [implied by Leviticus 18:30]: "And you shall observe My precepts," [which can be interpreted to mean]: "Make safeguards for My precepts."2
Similarly, it includes the customs and ordinances that were ordained or practiced in each generation according to [the judgment of] the governing court of that generation.3 It is forbidden to deviate from [these decisions], as [implied by Deuteronomy 17:11]: "Do not deviate from the instructions that they will give you, left or right."
It also includes marvelous judgments and laws which were not received from Moses, but rather were derived by the courts of the [later] generations based on the principles of Biblical exegesis. The elders of those generations made these decisions and concluded that this was the law. Rav Ashi included in the Talmud this entire [body of knowledge, stemming] from the era of Moses, our teacher, until his [own] era.
The Sages of the Mishnah also composed other texts to explain the words of the Torah. Rabbi Hoshaia, the disciple of Rabbenu Hakadosh, composed an explanation of the book of Genesis.4 Rabbi Yishmael [composed] an explanation beginning at "These are the names" [the beginning of the book of Exodus,] until the conclusion of the Torah. This is called the Mechilta. Rabbi Akiva also composed a Mechilta.5 Other Sages of the following generations composed other [collections of the] interpretations [of verses] (Medrashim). All of these works were composed before the Babylonian Talmud.
Thus, Ravina, Rav Ashi, and their colleagues represent the final era of the great Sages of Israel who transmitted the Oral Law. They passed decrees, ordained practices, and put into effect customs. These decrees, ordinances, and customs spread out among the entire Jewish people in all the places where they lived.6
After the court of Rav Ashi composed the Talmud and completed it in the time of his son, the Jewish people became further dispersed throughout all the lands, reaching the distant extremes and the far removed islands. Strife sprung up throughout the world, and the paths of travel became endangered by troops. Torah study decreased and the Jews ceased entering their yeshivot in the thousands and myriads, as was customary previously.
Instead, individuals, the remnants whom God called, would gather in each city and country, occupy themselves in Torah study, and [devote themselves] to understanding the texts of the Sages and learning the path of judgment from them.
Every court that was established after the conclusion of the Talmud, regardless of the country in which it was established, issued decrees, enacted ordinances, and established customs for the people of that country - or those of several countries. These practices, however, were not accepted throughout the Jewish people, because of the distance between [their different] settlements and the disruption of communication [between them].
Since each of these courts were considered to be individuals - and the High Court of 71 judges had been defunct for many years before the composition of the Talmud - people in one country could not be compelled to follow the practices of another country, nor is one court required to sanction decrees which another court had declared in its locale. Similarly, if one of the Geonim interpreted the path of judgment in a certain way, while the court which arose afterward interpreted the proper approach to the matter in a different way, the [opinion of the] first [need] not be adhered to [absolutely]. Rather, whichever [position] appears to be correct - whether the first or the last - is accepted.
FOOTNOTES
1.Thus, according to the Rambam, the approximate date of the composition of the Babylonian Talmud was 4125 (465 C.E.).
The commentaries point to Bava Metzia 86a, which relates that "Rav Ashi and Ravina were the final authorities with regard to instruction," as the source for the Rambam's statements. From the Rambam's later statements, it appears that in this instance as well, Rav Ashi laid the foundation for the Talmud. However, the composition of the text was completed by Ravina Zuta, Mar bar Rav Ashi, and Rav Yosse more than seventy years after Rav Ashi's death.
2.In the Introduction to his Commentary on the Mishnah, the Rambam deals with this subject at length, citing as examples, the prohibition of eating fowl together with milk and the eighteen decrees passed by the School of Hillel and the School of Shammai.
3.In the Introduction to his Commentary on the Mishnah, the Rambam also mentions these two categories, describing them as:
Laws that were established after meditation on the proper structure for interpersonal relations, without adding or detracting from the words of the Torah, or matters that [were instituted] for the spiritual betterment of mankind.
Among the examples of such laws he cites are: Hillel's institution of the Pruzbul and the ordinances of Ushia, which require a father to support his children. The Rambam also discusses these three categories of Rabbinic decrees in Hilchot Mamrim, Chapters 1 and 2.
4.The Rambam is referring to Bereshit Rabbah.
5.Today, this collection of teachings is known as Mechilta D'Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.
6.Because these ordinances were universally accepted by the Jewish people, their observance became mandatory, as the Rambam explains further on.
____________________________
Rambam:
• 3 Chapters a Day: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Part 1
The Positive Commandments
1. The first of the positive commandments is the mitzvah to know that there is a God, as [Exodus 20:2] states: "I am God, your Lord."a
2. To unify Him, as [Deuteronomy 6:4] states: "God is our Lord, God is one."
3. To love Him, as [Deuteronomy 6:5] states: "And you shall love God, your Lord."
4. To fear Him, as [Deuteronomy 6:13] states: "Fear God, your Lord."
5. To pray, as [Exodus 23:25] states: "And you shall serve God, your Lord." This service is prayer.a
6. To cling to Him, as [Deuteronomy 10:2] states: "And you shall cling to Him."
7. To swear in His name, as [Deuteronomy 10:20] states: "And you shall swear in His name."a,b
8. To emulate His good and just ways, as [Deuteronomy 28:19] states: "And you shall walk in His ways."
9. To sanctify His name, as [Leviticus 22:32] states: "And I shall be sanctified amidst the children of Israel."
10. To recite the Shema twice daily, as [Deuteronomy 6:2] states: "And you shall speak of them when you lie down and when you arise."
11. To study Torah and to teach it [to others], as [Deuteronomy 6:2] states: "And you shall teach them to your children."
12. To tie tefillin upon our heads, as [Deuteronomy 6:8] states: "And they shall be an emblem between your eyes."
13. To tie tefillin upon our arms, as [Deuteronomy 6:8] states: "And you shall tie them for a sign upon your arms."
14. To make tzitzit, as [Numbers 15:38] states: "And you shall make tzitzit for them."
15. To affix a mezuzah, as [Deuteronomy 6:9] states: "And you shall write them on the doorposts of your home."
16. To collect the people to hear the Torah [being read] in the year following the shemitah year, as [Deuteronomy 31:12] states: "Gather together the people."
17. For each man to write a Torah scroll for himself, as [Deuteronomy 31:19] states: "Write down this song."
18. For the king to write a second Torah scroll for himself in addition to the one which [he is required to write to fulfill the mitzvah incumbent upon] every man. Thus, he will have two Torah scrolls, as [Deuteronomy 17:19] states: "And he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah."
19. To bless [God] after eating, as [Deuteronomy 8:10] states: "[After] you eat and are satisfied, you shall bless God, your Lord."
20. To build [God's] chosen house, [the Temple,] as [Exodus 25:8] states: "And you shall make a sanctuary for Me."b
21. To revere this house, as [Leviticus 19:30] states: "And revere My sanctuary."
22. To keep watch over this house continuously, as [Numbers 18:2,4] states: "And you and- your descendants before the Tent of Testimony.... [And they shall keep the watch....]"
23. For the Levites to serve in the sanctuary, as [Numbers 18:23] states: "And the Levite shall serve...."
24. For a priest to sanctify his hands and feet at the time of service [in the Temple], as [Exodus 30:19] states: "And Aaron and his sons will wash...."
25. To prepare the candles of the Sanctuary, as [Exodus 27:21] states: "Aaron and his sons shall prepare it."
26. For the priests to bless the Jews, as [Numbers 6:23] states: "In this manner, you shall bless the children of Israel."
27. To arrange bread and frankincense before God [in the Temple] on every Sabbath, as [Exodus 25:30] states: "And you shall place the showbread on the table."b
28. To burn a spice offering twice [each] day, as [Exodus 30:7] states: "And Aaron shall burn incense upon it...."
29. To keep a fire burning on the altar for burnt offerings continually, as [Leviticus 6:6] states: "And you shall keep a fire burning continuously on the altar."
30. To remove the ashes from the altar, as [Leviticus 6:3] states: "And he shall remove the ashes...."
31. To send impure people out from the camp of the Divine Presence - i.e., the sanctuary - as [Numbers 5:2] states: "And you shall send from the camp all the leprous, any zav, and anyone who has contracted impurity because of a corpse."
32. To show honor to Aaron's descendants and to give them priority regarding all holy matters, as [Leviticus 21:8] states: "And you shall sanctify him."
33. To clothe the priests with the priestly garments for service [in the Temple], as [Exodus 28:2] states: "And you shall make holy garments...."a
34. To carry the ark upon our shoulders when it is to be carried, as [Numbers 7:9] states: "And they shall carry it on their shoulders."
35. To anoint the High Priests and kings with the anointing oil, as [Exodus 30:30-31] states: "[Anoint Aaron....] This shall be sacred anointing oil."
36. For the priests to serve in the sanctuary in individual watches; and for them to all serve as one on the festivals, as [Deuteronomy 18:6-8] states: "When the Levite shall come... [he can serve]...with the exception of that which is theirs by ancestral right."a
37. For the priests to become ritually impure and mourn for their relatives in the same manner as other Jews who are commanded to mourn, as [Leviticus 21:3] states: "He shall become impure for her."
38. For a High Priest to marry a virgin, as [Leviti‑cus 21:13] states: "And he shall marry a woman who is a virgin."
39. To offer the tamid offerings each day, as [Numbers 28:3] states: "[This is the fire offering...] two each day continuously."
40. For the High Priest to offer a meal offering each day, as [Leviticus 6:13] states: "This is the sacrifice of Aaron and his descendants."
41. To offer an additional sacrifice every Sabbath, as [Numbers 28:9] states: "On the Sabbath day, two lambs...."
42. To offer an additional sacrifice every Rosh Chodesh, as [Numbers 28:11] states: "On your Rashei Chodashim...."
43. To offer an additional sacrifice on Pesach, as [Leviticus 23:36] states: "For seven days, you will bring a fire offering unto God...."1
44. To bring the meal offering of the omer on the day after the first day of Pesach together with a single lamb, as [Leviticus 23:10] states: "And you shall bring the omer...."
45. To offer an additional sacrifice on Shavuot, as [Numbers 28:26] states: "On the day of the first fruits [Bikkurim]...."
46. To bring two loaves and the sacrifices which accompany the loaves on Shavuot, as [Leviticus 23:17] states: "From your dwellings, bring bread as a wave offering. And you shall offer upon the bread...."
47. To offer an additional sacrifice on Rosh HaShanah, as [Numbers 29:1] states: "And in the seventh month, on the first of the month...."
48. To offer an additional sacrifice on the fast [of Yom Kippur], as [Numbers 29:7] states: "On the tenth of the seventh month...."
49. To carry out the service of the fast [of Yom Kippur], as [Leviticus 16:3] states: "In this manner, Aaron will enter the [inner] sanctuary, with a young bull...." All the [particulars of] this service are stated in the parashah of Acharei Mot.
50. To offer an additional sacrifice on the holiday of Sukkot, as [Numbers 29:13] states: "And you shall present a burnt offering as a pleasing fragrance...."
51. To offer an additional sacrifice on Shemini Atzeret, for it is a festival in its own right, as [Numbers 29:35] states: "And on the eighth day....
52. To celebrate on the festivals, as [Exodus 23:14] states: "And you shall celebrate three festivals for Me."
53. To appear [before God in the Temple] on the festivals, as [Deuteronomy 16:16] states: "On three occasions during the year, all your males shall appear...."
54. To rejoice on the festivals, as [Deuteronomy 16:14] states: "And you shall rejoice on your festivals."
55. To slaughter the Paschal lamb, as [Exodus 12:6] states: "And the entire congregation shall slaughter it...."
56. To eat the meat of the Paschal sacrifice roasted on the night of the fifteenth of Nisan, as [Exodus 12:8] states: "And they shall eat the meat...."
57. To offer the second Paschal sacrifice, as [Numbers 9:11] states: "In the second month, on the fourteenth of the month...."
58. To eat the meat of the second Paschal offering together with matzot and bitter herbs, as [Numbers 9:11] states: "And you shall eat it with matzot and bitter herbs."
59. To sound the trumpets when the sacrifices [are offered] and in times of difficulty, as [Numbers 10:10] states: "And you shall sound the trumpets...."
60. For all animals to be sacrificed after their eighth day [of life], as [Leviticus 22:27] states: "And on the eighth day and afterwards...."b
61. For all animal offerings to be unblemished, as [Leviticus 22:21] states: "[When it is] unblemished, it will be desirable...."
62. To salt all the sacrifices, as [Leviticus 2:13] states: "Offer salt on all your sacrifices."
63. The burnt offering, as [Leviticus 1:3] states:"If his is a burnt offering...."
64. The sin offering, as [Leviticus 6:18] states: "These are the laws of the sin offering...."
65. The guilt offering, as [Leviticus 7:1] states: "These are the laws of the guilt offering...."
66. The peace offering, as [Leviticus 7:11] states: "These are the laws of the peace offering...."
67. The meal offering, as [Leviticus 2:1] states: "When a person presents a meal offering...."
68. For the [High] Court to offer a sacrifice if it renders an erroneous decision, as [Leviticus 4:13] states: "If the entire congregation of Israel shall err...."
69. For each individual to offer a sin offering if he unintentionally violates a negative commandment punishable by karet2, as [Leviticus 5:1] states: "When a person sins...."3
70. For an individual to offer a sacrifice if he is in doubt whether or not he transgressed a prohibition for which he would be liable for a sin offering, as [Leviticus 5:17-18] states: "If he does not know, he still bears responsibility...and he shall bring his guilt offering." This is referred to as "the conditional guilt offering."
71. For [the following individuals:] a person who unknowingly used sacred property, a person who sinned by stealing, one [who had relations with] a maidservant designated for another person, or one who denied possession of an entrusted object and took a [false] oath, to bring a guilt offering. This is referred to as "the unconditional guilt offering."4
72. To offer "the adjustable guilt offering" [as atonement for the violation of certain transgressions], as [Leviticus 5:1,11] states: "If his means are not sufficient.... If his means do not suffice...."
73. For a person to confess before God for any sin which he has committed. [This applies] when he brings a sacrifice [for atonement] and when he does not bring a sacrifice, as [Numbers 5:6] states: "And they shall confess the sins that they committed."5
74. For a zav to offer a sacrifice when he becomes purified [after his affliction], as [Leviticus 15:13] states: "When a zav will become pure...."
75. For a zavah to offer a sacrifice when she be-comes purified [after her affliction], as [Leviticus 15:28] states: "When she becomes pure from [the condition] of zavah...."
76. For a person afflicted with tzara’at to offer a sacrifice after he becomes purified, as [Leviticus 14:1] states: "On the eighth day, he shall take...."
77. For a woman who gave birth to offer a sacrifice after she becomes purified, as [Leviticus 12:6] states: "And after the conclusion of her pure days...."
78. To tithe one's herds, as [Leviticus 27:32] states: "And all the tithes of your cattle and sheep...."
79. To sanctify the firstborn of a kosher animal and offer it as a sacrifice, as [Deuteronomy 15:19] states: "Every firstling which shall be born...."
80. To redeem firstborn sons, as [Numbers 18:15] states: "However, you must surely redeem first-born humans."
81. To redeem a firstling donkey, as [Exodus 34:20] states: "Redeem a firstling donkey with a sheep."
82. To decapitate a firstling donkey [which is not redeemed], as [Exodus 34:20] states: "If you do not redeem it, you must decapitate it."
83. For a person to bring all the sacrifices for which he is liable, be they obligatory or voluntary offerings, on the first pilgrimage festival that occurs, as [Deuteronomy 12:5-6] states: "And you shall come there... and you shall bring there...."
Note: We have marked with the letter “a” those mitzvot concerning which the Ramban (Nachmanides) differs with the Rambam in his Hasagot to Sefer HaMitzvot, and with the letter “b,” those mitzvot concerning which the Ra'avad, in his gloss to the Mishneh Torah, differs with the Rambam.
FOOTNOTES
1. There is a slight difficulty with the Rambam's statements: The verse cited refers to the sacrifices offered on Sukkot, and not those offered on Pesach. Perhaps the intended prooftext is Leviticus 23:8: "And you shall offer a burnt offering for God for seven days."
2. Karet refers to premature death at the hand of God, the death of one's children, and a severe spiritual punishment for the soul. (See Hilchot Teshuvah 8:1.)
3. . Though this prooftext is quoted in the printed editions of the Mishneh Torah, it appears to be an error, for the passage it introduces deals with the adjustable guilt offering (Positive Mitzvah 72). The verse which introduces the laws of the sin offerings is Leviticus 4:27: "If one person sins...."
4. . Perhaps the Rambam does not cite a specific prooftext for this mitzvah because there is a different passage in the Torah which deals with each of the guilt offerings which he mentions.
5. . Note that in Hilchot Teshuvah, the Rambam defines this mitzvah as return to God and repentance, a more encompassing service, of which confession is only one facet.(See Hilchot Teshuvah 2:2.)
Part 2
84. To sacrifice all the offerings in [God's] chosen house, [i.e., the Temple,], as [Deuteronomy 12:14] states: "There, you will perform all that I command you."
85. To tend to all the offerings from the Diaspora and bring them to Eretz [Yisrael], to [God's] chosen house, [i.e., the Temple,] as [Deuteronomy 12:26] states: "Take the sacred offerings which you possess, and your pledges, and come [to the place that God will choose]." Based on the oral tradition, we have learned that this applies to sacred offerings from the Diaspora.
86. To redeem sacred offerings that have becoming blemished, and thus have them to be permitted [for mundane use], as [Deuteronomy 12:15] states: "But whenever you desire, you may slaughter...." Based on the oral tradition, we have learned that this refers only to sacred offerings which have become disqualified and have been redeemed.
87. That an animal substituted for a sacred offering be regarded as sacred, as [Leviticus 27:33] states: "Both [the original animal] and the one substituted for it shall be consecrated."
88. To eat the remains of the meal offerings, as [Leviticus 6:9] states: "Aaron and his sons will eat the remainder of it."
89. To eat the flesh of the sin and guilt offerings,1 as [Exodus 29:33] states: "And they shall eat [the sacrifices] with which atonement was made for them."
90. To burn sacred meat which became impure, as [Leviticus 7:19] states: "And the flesh which touches anything impure... [shall be burnt]."
91. To burn the leftovers [from the sacrifices], as [Leviticus 7:17] states: "The leftovers from the flesh of the sacrifice shall be burnt with fire on the third day."
92. For a Nazirite to grow his hair long, as [Numbers 6:5] states: "He shall let the hair of his head grow without cutting it."
93. For a Nazarite to shave his hair when bringing his sacrifices at the conclusion of his term as a Nazirite, or during his Nazirite term if he becomes impure, as [Numbers 6:9] states: "Should a person die in his presence,... [he must shave....]"
94. For a person to fulfill any [promise] which he utters, be it a sacrifice, [a gift to] charity, or the like, as [Deuteronomy 23:24] states: "What you have spoken, take heed to fulfill...."a
95. To carry out the laws regarding the nullification of vows, as mentioned in the Torah.
96. For everyone who comes in contact with the corpse of an animal to become impure, as [Leviticus 11:39] states: "Should an animal die...."
97. For the [dead bodies of] the eight species of crawling animals [mentioned in the Torah] to impart ritual impurity, as [Leviticus 11:19] states: "These shall be impure for you...."
98. For [certain] foods to impart impurity, as [Leviticus 11:34] states: "From all the food which you will eat...."
99. For [a woman in the] niddah state to be impure and to impart impurity to others.
100. For [a woman] who gives birth to be impure [like a woman] in the niddah state.
101. For a person afflicted with tzara’at to be impure and to impart impurity.
102. For a garment afflicted with tzara’at to be impure and to impart impurity.
103. For a house afflicted with tzara’at to impart impurity.
104. For a zav to impart impurity.
105. For semen to impart impurity.
106. For a zavah to impart impurity.
107. For a corpse to impart impurity.
108. For the sprinkling water [used for the purification process involving the red heifer] to impart impurity to a person who is ritually pure, and to impart ritual purity to a person who is ritually impure solely because of contact with a human corpse.b All the laws dealing with these different types of impurity and the majority of the judgments regarding all types of ritual purity and impurity are explained explicitly in the Written Law.2
109. For the process of purification from all types of ritual impurity to involve immersion in the waters of a mikveh, as [Leviticus 15:16] states: "And he shall wash all his flesh in water." Based on the oral tradition, we have learned that this washing [involves immersion in a body of] water in which one's entire body can immerse at one time.
110. For the process of purification from tzara’at, be it a person afflicted with tzara’at or a house afflicted with tzara’at, [to involve] a staff of cedar, a hyssop, the crimson wool, two birds, and spring water, as [Leviticus 14:2] states: "This shall be the purification process for the person afflicted with tzara’at...."
111. For a person afflicted with tzara’at to shave all of his hair, as [Leviticus 14:9] states: "And it shall be on the seventh day, he shall shave all his hair."
112. For a person afflicted with tzara’at to make known his condition to all others, according to the instructions mentioned in [Leviticus 13:45]: "His garments shall be torn, his hair shall grow uncut, he shall cover his face to the lip, and he shall cry out: `Impure! Impure!"' Similarly, all others who are ritually impure must make known their condition.
113. To prepare the red heifer so that its ashes will be ready, as [Numbers 19:9] states: "And it will be a keepsake for the congregation of Israel."
114. For a person who makes an endowment valuation to give the specific amount of money stated in the [Torah] portion, as [Leviticus 27:2] states: "When a person expresses a vow...."
115. For a person who makes an endowment valuation concerning a non-kosher animal to give [the required amount of] money, as [Leviticus 27:11] states: "And he shall cause the animal to stand...."
116. For a person who makes an endowment valuation concerning his home to give the value determined by the priest, as [Leviticus 27:14] states: "And the priest shall determine its value."
117. For a person who consecrates his field to give the fixed amount determined by the [Torah], as [Leviticus 27:16] states: "And the value you attach to it shall be according to the amount of seed."
118. For a person who unintentionally makes use of a sacred object to make restitution for what he misused [when] sinning against God, and for him to add one fifth of its value, as [Leviticus 5:17] states: "For that which he sinned, [using something] sacred, he shall pay...."
119. For the produce of the fourth year to be sacred, as [Leviticus 19:24] states: "Its produce shall be sacred, [an object of] praise to God...."
120. To leave pe'ah.
121. To leave leket.
122. To leave a forgotten sheaf.
123. To leave the incompletely formed grape clusters.
124. To leave the individual fallen grapes. With regard to all these [five mitzvot], [Leviticus 19:10] states: "Leave them for the poor and the stranger." This [verse states] the positive commandment for all these.3
125. To bring the first fruits to God's chosen house, [the Temple,], as [Exodus 23:19] states: "The first fruits of your land...."
126. To separate the greater terumah [and give it] to the priest, as [Deuteronomy 18:4] states: "Give him the first of your grain."
127. To separate a tithe of grain [and give it] to the Levites, as [Leviticus 27:30] states: "All the land's tithes...."
128. To separate the second tithe so that it can be eaten by its owners in Jerusalem, as [Deuteronomy 14:22] states: "You shall surely tithe...." According to the oral tradition, we learn that this refers to the second tithe.
129. For the Levites to separate a tenth from the tenth which they took from the Israelites and give it to the priests, as [Numbers 18:27] states: "Speak to the Levites:...."
130. To separate the tithe for the poor instead of the second tithe in the third and sixth years of the seven-year [agricultural cycle], as [Deuteronomy 14:28] states: "At the end of three years, remove a tithe of all your crops...."
131. To give thanks, [reciting] the declaration concerning the tithes, as [Deuteronomy 26:13] states: "And you shall declare before God, your Lord, `I have removed the sacred [foods]...."'
132. To read the statement [acknowledging thanks] for the first fruits, as [Deuteronomy 26:5] states: "And you shall respond and say before God, your Lord:...."
133. To separate challah [and give it] to the priest, as [Numbers 15:20] states: "The first of your dough, the challah, you shall separate as an offering...."
134. To let the land lie fallow [in the seventh year], as [Exodus 23:11] states: "In the seventh year, you shall let it lie fallow and withdraw from it."
135. To refrain from agricultural work [in the seventh year], as [Exodus 34:21] states: "From plowing and harvesting, you shall rest."
136. To sanctify the Jubilee year by refraining [from agricultural work], as is done in the shemitah, as [Leviticus 25:10] states: "And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year...."
137. To sound the shofar in the Jubilee year, as [Leviticus 25:9] states: "And you shall sound the shofar blasts."
138. To free all land in the Jubilee year, as [Leviticus 25:24] states: "For all your ancestral lands, there will be redemption for the land."
139. To allow houses in a walled city to be redeemed within a year, as [Leviticus 25:29] states: "If a person shall sell a residential house in a walled city...."
140. To count the years of the Jubilee year and the shemitah years within it, as [Leviticus 25:8] states: "And you shall count seven shemitah years."
141. To remit all financial [obligations] in the seventh year, as [Deuteronomy 15:2] states: "Every creditor must remit...."
142. To seek to collect [a debt] from a gentile [in the seventh year], as [Deuteronomy 15:3] states: "Seek to collect [a debt] from a gentile. However, what your brother owes you must remit...."
143. To give a priest the shankbone, the jaw, and the maw from an animal [which is slaughtered], as [Deuteronomy 18:3] states: "And you shall give the priest the shankbone...."
144. To give the first portion of the fleece to a priest, as [Deuteronomy 18:4] states: "Give him the first portion of the shearing of your sheep."
145. To render judgment with regard to property which is dedicated, whether dedicated to God or dedicated to the priests, as [Leviticus 27:28] states: "However, any dedication that will be made...."
146. To slaughter an animal, beast, or fowl and afterwards to eat their meat, as [Deuteronomy 12:21] states: "And you shall slaughter your cattle and your sheep."b
147. To cover the blood of beasts and fowl [which are slaughtered], as [Leviticus 17:13] states: "And you shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust."
148. To send away the mother bird from the nest [when taking the young], as [Deuteronomy 22:7] states: "You shall surely send away the mother."
149. To check the signs [with which] animals [are identified], as kosher, as [Leviticus 11:2] states: "These are the animals which you may eat...."
150. To check the signs of fowl in order to differentiate between one which is kosher and one which is not kosher, as [Deuteronomy 14:11] states: "All birds which...."
151. To check the signs of grasshoppers in order to know which is kosher and which is not kosher, as [Leviticus 11:21] states: "Those which possess walking legs...."
152. To check the signs [with which] fish [are identified as kosher], as [Leviticus 11:9] states: "These are the animals which you may eat from all that is found in water...."
153. To sanctify the months and to calculate the years and months. [This mitzvah is incumbent on] the court alone, as [Exodus 12:2] states: "This month will be for you the first of the months."
154. To rest on the Sabbath, as [Exodus 23:12] states: "Rest on the seventh day...."
155. To sanctify the Sabbath, as [Exodus 20:8] states: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."
156. To destroy chametz [before Pesach], as [Exodus 12:15] states: "On the day before [the holiday], obliterate chametz from your homes."
157. To relate the narrative of the exodus of Egypt on the first night of the Feast of Matzot, as [Exodus 13:8] states: "And you shall tell your son on that day,...."
158. To eat matzah on this night, as [Exodus 12:18] states: "In the evening, you shall eat matzot."
159. To rest on the first day of Pesach, as [Exodus 12:16] states: "And on the first day, it shall be a sacred holiday."
160. To rest on the seventh day [of the festival], as [Exodus 12:16] states: "On the seventh day, there will be a sacred holiday."
161. To count 49 days from the harvesting of the omer, as [Leviticus 23:15] states: "And you shall count from the day following the day of rest...."
162. To rest on the fiftieth day [after Pesach], as [Leviticus 23:21] states: "And you shall proclaim a sacred holiday on that selfsame day."
163. To rest on the first day of the seventh month, as [Leviticus 23:24] states: "On the first day of [this] month, you shall have a day of rest."
164. To fast on the tenth [of this month, Yom Kippur,] as [Leviticus 15:29] states: "On the tenth of the month, you shall afflict your souls."
165. To rest on [this] fast day, as [Leviticus 16:31] states: "It shall be a Sabbath of Sabbaths...."
166. To rest on the first day of the festival of Sukkot, as [Leviticus 23:35] states: "On the first day, there shall be a sacred holiday."
FOOTNOTES
1. . In Sefer HaMitzvot, the Rambam includes eating other sacrifices and sacred foods in the scope of this mitzvah.
2. . It is somewhat curious that although the Rambam makes this statement, he does not cite prooftexts for these mitzvot.
3. . In Sefer HaMitzvot, the Rambam notes that the command to leave a forgotten sheaf in the field is derived, not from this verse, but from Deuteronomy 24:19, which states: "When you reap your harvest... and forget a sheaf in the field..., it shall be for the stranger..."
Part 3
167. To rest on the eighth day of the festival of Sukkot, as [Leviticus 23:36] states: "On the eighth day, there shall be a sacred holiday."
168. To dwell in a sukkah for seven days, as [Leviticus 23:42] states: "And you shall dwell in sukkot for seven days."
169. To take the lulav [and the other three species on Sukkot], as [Leviticus 23:40] states: "And you shall take for yourselves on the first day, the fruit of a beautiful tree, a palm branch,...."
170. To hear the sound of the shofar on Rosh HaShanah, as [Numbers 29:1] states: "It will be a day of [shofar] blasts for you."
171. To give a half-shekel each year, as [Exodus 30:13] states: "This shall be given by all those included in the census...."
172. To listen to any prophet who will arise in any era, provided he does not add or detract [from the Torah's commandments], as [Deuteronomy 18:15] states: "You shall listen to him."
173. To appoint a king, as [Deuteronomy 17:15] states: "You shall surely set a king upon yourselves."
174. To obey the High Court regarding all [the ordinances] they establish for Israel, as [Deuteronomy 17:11] states: "Carry out the judgment which they render for you."
175. To follow the majority if there is a difference of opinion in the Sanhedrin concerning a law, as [Exodus 23:2] states: "Follow after the majority."
176. To appoint judges and court officers in each and every Jewish community, as [Deuteronomy 16:18] states: "Appoint judges and court officers...."
177. To treat litigants equally when they appear [in court] to be judged, as [Leviticus 19:15] states: "Judge your fellow man with righteousness."
178. For anyone who has evidence to testify in court, as [Leviticus 5:1] states: "If he was a witness, saw, or knew...."
179. To cross-examine the witnesses thoroughly, as [Deuteronomy 13:15] states: "You must investigate and probe, making careful enquiry."
180. To [punish] false witnesses [by] giving them the same penalty that they wish to have imposed [on the defendant], as [Deuteronomy 19:19] states: "And you shall do to him what he plotted to do to his brother."
181. To decapitate the calf [brought as atonement for an unsolved murder] as required, as [Deuteronomy 21:4] states: "You shall decapitate the calf there in the river."
182. To prepare six refuge cities, as [Deuteronomy 19:3] states: "Prepare the way and divide into three [the boundary]...."
183. To give the Levites cities in which to dwell - they also serve as refuge centers - as [Numbers 35:2] states: "And you shall give cities to the Levites...."
184. To construct a guard rail, as [Deuteronomy 22:8] states: "And you shall construct a guard rail for your roof."
185. To destroy false gods and all their objects of worship, as [Deuteronomy 12:2] states: "You shall surely destroy...."
186. To slay the inhabitants of an apostate city and burn the city, as [Deuteronomy 13:17] states: "And you shall burn the city and all its spoil with fire."
187. To destroy the seven nations [that dwelled in] Eretz Yisrael, as [Deuteronomy 20:17] states: "You shall utterly destroy them."
188. To exterminate the seed of Amalek, as [Deuteronomy 25:19] states: "Blot out the memory of Amalek."
189. To constantly remember what Amalek did to us, as [Deuteronomy 25:17] states: "Remember what Amalek did to you."
190. To wage a voluntary war according to the laws prescribed by the Torah, as [Deuteronomy 20:10] states: "When you approach the city...."
191. To anoint a priest [who will address the people before] battle, as [Deuteronomy 20:2] states: "And it shall come to pass, when you approach the battle, the priest will come forward and speak to the people...."
192. To prepare a place [outside] the [army] camp [for use as a latrine], as [Deuteronomy 23:13] states: "Prepare a place for yourselves outside the camp."
193. To prepare a shovel [to cover one's excrement], as [Deuteronomy 23:14] states: "You shall have a shovel in addition to your weapons."
194. To return a stolen object, as [Leviticus 5:23] states: "And he shall return the object which he stole."
195. To give charity, as [Deuteronomy 15:8] states: "You shall surely open your hand [to your poor brother]."
196. To give a severance gift to a Hebrew servant, as [Deuteronomy 15:14] states: "You shall surely give him gifts...." Similarly, [this gift is given] to a Hebrew maidservant.
197. To lend to the poor, as [Exodus 22:24] states: "If you will lend money to my people...." In this instance, the word "if" does not refer to a matter left to one's volition, but to a commandment, as [Deuteronomy 15:8] states: "You shall surely lend him."
198. To lend to a gentile at interest, as [Deuteronomy 23:21] states: "Take interest from a gentile." Based on the oral tradition, we have learned that this is a positive commandment.b
199. To return security to its owner, as [Deuteronomy 24:13] states: "You shall surely return the security to him."
200. To pay a worker his wage on time, as [Deuteronomy 24:15] states: "Pay him his wage on the day it is due."
201. For a hired worker to be allowed to eat [from produce] while he is working with it, as [Deuteronomy 23:25-26] states: "When you enter your neighbor's vineyard... When you enter your neighbor's standing grain...."
202. To assist a colleague in unloading a burden which he or his beast [is carrying], as [Exodus 23:5] states: "You shall surely help him."b
203. To [help a colleague] load a burden unto a beast, as [Deuteronomy 22:4] states: " You shall lift it up with him."
204. To return a lost object, as [Deuteronomy 22:1] states: "You shall surely return them to your brother."
205. To rebuke a person who sins, as [Leviticus 19:17] states: "You shall surely rebuke your fellow men."
206. To love every member of our people, as [Leviticus 19:18] states: "And you shall love your neighbor as yourself."
207. To love a convert, as [Deuteronomy 10:19] states: "And you shall love a convert."
208. To balance scales with correct weights, as [Leviticus 19:36] states: "You shall have correct scales, with correct weights."
209. To honor the Sages, as [Leviticus 19:32] states: "Rise before an elder."
210. To honor one's father and mother, as [Exodus 20:12] states: "Honor your father and mother."
211. To fear one's father and mother, as [Leviticus 19:3] states: "A person must fear his mother and his father."
212. To be fruitful and multiply, as [Genesis 9:7] states: "Be fruitful and multiply."
213. To have sexual relations [only within] marriage, as [Deuteronomy 24:1] states: "If a man takes a woman [as a wife]...."
214. For a groom to rejoice together with his wife for a year, as [Deuteronomy 24:5] states: "He shall be free for his home for one year."
215. To circumcise a son, as [Leviticus 12:3] states: "On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised."1
216. To marry the widow of one's brother who died childless, as [Deuteronomy 25:5] states: "Her yavam shall come unto her."
217. To remove the yavam's shoe [if he does not marry his brother's widow], as [Deuteronomy 25:9] states: "And she shall remove his shoe from his foot."
218. For a rapist to marry the woman he raped, as [Deuteronomy 22:29] states: "She shall become his wife."
219. For a person who made defamatory remarks about his wife to remain married to her for his entire life, as [Deuteronomy 22:19] states: "She shall become his wife. He may not send her away for his entire life."
220. To carry out the judgment concerning a seducer, fining him fifty shekels and carrying out the other laws regarding this matter, as [Exodus 22:15] states: "If a person will seduce...."
221. To carry out the procedure [the Torah] prescribes for a yefat to'ar, as [Deuteronomy 21:11] states: "And if you see a beautiful woman among the captives...."
222. To divorce with a get, as [Deuteronomy 24:1] states: "And he shall write a bill of divorce for her and place it in her hand."
223. To carry out the [procedure] prescribed for a sotah, as [Numbers 8:30] states: "And the priests will carry out all these laws for her."
224. To whip the wicked, as [Deuteronomy 25:2] states: "The judge will cast him down and beat him."
225. To exile a person who accidentally kills a person, as [Numbers 35:25] states: "And he shall dwell there until the High Priest dies...."
226. For a court to execute by decapitation, as [Exodus 21:20] states: "Revenge shall surely be taken."
227. For a court to execute by strangulation, as [Leviticus 20:10] states: "The adulterer and the adulteress shall die."
228. For a court to execute by burning [the condemned] with fire, as [Leviticus 20:14] states: "They shall burn him and them with fire."
229. For a court to execute by stoning [the condemned] with stones, as [Deuteronomy 22:24] states: "And you shall stone them."
230. To hang [the corpses] of those liable for hanging, as [Deuteronomy 21:22] states: "And you shall hang them on a gallows."
231. To bury [the body of] an executed person on the day of his execution, as [Deuteronomy 21:22] states: "For you shall surely bury him on that day."
232. To carry out the laws concerning a Hebrew servant, as [Exodus 21:2] states: "When you purchase a Hebrew servant...."
233. To marry a Hebrew maidservant, as [Exodus 21:8] states: "Who has designated her for himself... and she will be redeemed."
234. To redeem a Hebrew maidservant, as [Exodus, ibid.] states: "And she will be redeemed."
235. To have a Canaanite servant serve forever, as [Leviticus 25:46] states: "You shall have them serve you forever."a
236. For a person who injures [a colleague] to pay him damages, as [Exodus 21:18] states: "If men will quarrel and one man will strike [his colleague]...."
237. To judge regarding the damages caused by an ox, as [Exodus 21:33] states: "If an ox belonging to one person gores an ox belonging to a colleague...."
238. To judge regarding the damages caused by a pit, as [Exodus 21:33] states: If a person will open a pit...."
239. To judge a thief, obligating him for payment or execution, as [Exodus 21:37] states: "Should a theft be perpetrated," as [Exodus 22:1] states: "If when breaking in," and, as [Exodus 21:16] states: "If one kidnaps a person and sells him,…. "2
240. To judge regarding the damages caused by grazing, as [Exodus 22:4] states: "If a person will graze [his animals] in a field or vineyard...."
241. To judge regarding the damages caused by fire, as [Exodus 22:5] states: "If fire will break out and catch in thorns...."
242. To render judgment [in questions] regarding an unpaid watchman, as [Exodus 22:6] states: "If a person will give a colleague money or utensils [to watch]...."
243. To render judgment [in questions] regarding a paid watchman, as [Exodus 22:9] states: "Should a person give a donkey or an ox...."
244. To render judgment [in questions] regarding a borrower, as [Exodus 22:13] states: "If a person will borrow from a colleague...."
245. To render judgment [in questions] regarding business transactions, as [Leviticus 22:14] states: "If you sell merchandise to your colleague...."
246. To render judgment [in questions] regarding claims made by one person against another, as [Exodus 22:8] states: "For every matter of trespass, concerning an ox, concerning a donkey, or concerning a sheep...."
247. To save a person who is being pursued even if it is necessary to kill the pursuer, as [Deuteronomy 25:12] states: "And you shall cut off her hand...."
248. To render judgment [in questions] regarding inheritances as [Numbers 27:8] states: "If a person dies without having a son...."
FOOTNOTES
1. The Rambam cites this verse, rather than a verse from Genesis, Chapter 17, which describes the circumcision of Abraham, because he prefers to cite a prooftext that was given after the giving of the Torah. Nevertheless, we also learn some particulars regarding this mitzvah from the passage from Genesis. (See also the Rambam's Commentary on the Mishnah, Chulin 7:6.)
2. . The Rambam cites these different verses because each involves a different punishment. (See also Negative Mitzvot 243 and 244.)
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Hayom Yom:
Tuesday, 24 Kislev, 5775 • 16 December 2014
"Today's Day"
Torah lessons: Chumash: Vayeishev, Chamishi with Rashi.
Tehillim: 113-118.
Tanya: Ch. 1. It has been taught (p. 1)...(modes of interpretation). (p. 3).
(Continuation of Kislev 23): An explanation of the three verses beginning l'chu n'ran'na, in a manner meaningful to everyone, is as follows: Wednesday, we begin thinking: What will we have for Shabbat? This is a concern in the literal sense and also spiritually, "how can we Shabbos" (i.e. make a real Shabbat)? After all, every person is quite different on Shabbat than on a weekday. So we become a bit despondent. The solution is l'chu n'ran'na ("Come let us sing"), have faith, trust. Comes Thursday, it is now closer to Shabbat and we still have nothing. It doesn't seem to "n'ran'na" so easily and we realize we must do something. So we study Chassidus Thursday night, so that by Friday we sense the depth of "...for the L-rd is a great G-d and a great King1..."; and with this a Jew "can Shabbos."
During Mincha, tachanun is omitted.
Compiled and arranged by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, in 5703 (1943) from the talks and letters of the sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory.
FOOTNOTES
1. Tehillim 95:3, opening Friday-night prayers.
Light Meets Dark
Wherever light radiates, it does not find darkness. For light, darkness does not exist.
Wherever darkness spreads, it does not find light. For darkness, light does not exist.
In a time yet to come, the two shall meet and know one another in perfect union. At that nexus we will see the One who created all things.
In the meantime, we glimpse a premonition of that wonder. For this is the human being: A breath of the divine within a material body; light and darkness face-to-face within a single being.[Maamar Gadol Yi’hyeh 5722.]
____________________________
Torah lessons: Chumash: Vayeishev, Chamishi with Rashi.
Tehillim: 113-118.
Tanya: Ch. 1. It has been taught (p. 1)...(modes of interpretation). (p. 3).
(Continuation of Kislev 23): An explanation of the three verses beginning l'chu n'ran'na, in a manner meaningful to everyone, is as follows: Wednesday, we begin thinking: What will we have for Shabbat? This is a concern in the literal sense and also spiritually, "how can we Shabbos" (i.e. make a real Shabbat)? After all, every person is quite different on Shabbat than on a weekday. So we become a bit despondent. The solution is l'chu n'ran'na ("Come let us sing"), have faith, trust. Comes Thursday, it is now closer to Shabbat and we still have nothing. It doesn't seem to "n'ran'na" so easily and we realize we must do something. So we study Chassidus Thursday night, so that by Friday we sense the depth of "...for the L-rd is a great G-d and a great King1..."; and with this a Jew "can Shabbos."
During Mincha, tachanun is omitted.
Compiled and arranged by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, in 5703 (1943) from the talks and letters of the sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory.
FOOTNOTES
1. Tehillim 95:3, opening Friday-night prayers.
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Daily Thought:Light Meets Dark
Wherever light radiates, it does not find darkness. For light, darkness does not exist.
Wherever darkness spreads, it does not find light. For darkness, light does not exist.
In a time yet to come, the two shall meet and know one another in perfect union. At that nexus we will see the One who created all things.
In the meantime, we glimpse a premonition of that wonder. For this is the human being: A breath of the divine within a material body; light and darkness face-to-face within a single being.[Maamar Gadol Yi’hyeh 5722.]
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