The articles in this column are transcriptions and adaptations of shiurim by Rav Joseph Ber Soloveitchik, zt”l. The Rav’s unique perspective on Chumash permeated many of the shiurim and lectures he presented at various venues over a 40-plus-year period. His words add an important perspective that makes the Chumash in particular, and our tradition in general, vibrant and relevant to our generation.
Please dedicate In memory of the members of my family who perished Al Kiddush Hashem during the Shoah in the month of Adar.
In the parshiyos of Terumah, Tetzaveh, and Ki Tisa, Hashem instructs Moshe regarding the building and consecration of the Tabernacle and the kohanim that serve in it. At the conclusion of the long list of activities for the Tabernacle, Hashem again commands Moshe regarding keeping the Sabbath, reiterating that which was said at Marah and after the splitting of the Red Sea.
Upon returning with the second set of tablets at the conclusion of the final 40 day period, Moshe gathers the people and the first commandment he relates from Hashem is the last one he was given: keeping the Sabbath. Why did Moshe reverse the order? Why not focus initially on the construction of the Tabernacle which represented the bulk of the time he spent on Mount Sinai?
The Bais Halevi explains that there are certain commandments that are fundamental to the survival of the Jewish people as a coherent people. On the other hand there are commandments that, while important, their absence does not negate our role as Bnei Yisrael or negatively influence our observance of the commandments. These commandments represent luxuries that while important, are not as essential to the functioning fabric of our people.
Examples of the group of fundamental commandments are Sabbath, prayer and Jewish education. Without the Sabbath, the Jewish people simply could not survive. It provides the required regeneration and nourishment we require to maintain our spiritual existence. The corrosive, downward spiral of Torah and mitzvah observance among American Jewry is closely correlated with the decline and lack of Sabbath observance on the part of American Jewry at large.
Another example of a fundamental, core commandment is prayer. How would Judaism and the Jewish People survive without the concept and notion of prayer? We would have disappeared and assimilated long ago. And of course, the importance of chinuch, Jewish education, cannot be overstated.
On the other hand, there are commandments that one does not violate any negative law if he does not keep. We have commandments that obligate us to build a Beis HaMikdash. However, we do not violate any prohibitions by not fulfilling these positive commandments. Obviously we yearn for the rebuilding of the Temple speedily in our days. However, its absence has not condemned us to oblivion or the scrap heap of history. The proof for this is that we have survived for close to 2000 years without a Temple.
Not only have we survived, to a certain degree we have thrived, despite all the devastating anguish we have endured throughout the millennia, as demonstrated by the generations of Tanaim, Amoraim, Gaonim, Rishonim, Acharonim, Kabbalists and Chasidic Masters who have contributed so much to our understanding and practice of Judaism. The Midrash says U’Midbaraych Naveh, we have reached great levels while we were in a desolate desert, without a Temple and exiled from our land. Indeed, the presence of the Temple was no guarantee of mitzvah observance, as different prophets who documented the extreme transgressions and desecrations of Judaism committed by various kings and the people at various points in the first commonwealth.
The order of mitzvah presentation by Moshe coincided with the state of mind of the people. A sane person recognizes that he has to interact with people in a normal, rational way. He takes care of his core needs, such as personal health, by rote, without outside prompting, allowing him to focus on the more intricate and luxurious aspects of life.