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.
Maimonides (Hilchos Chometz Umatzah 7:1) states we are obligated to relate the miracles that occurred to our forefathers on the night of the 15th of Nissan, as it says “Zachor es hayom hazeh,” similar to the phrase “Zachor es yom haShabbos.” What attributes of Zachor are shared by Pesach and Shabbos? Why do we study sections from Mechilta at the Seder instead of the Exodus story? What is the core difference between the question and answer attributed to the wicked and wise sons at the Seder?
How do different cultures and nations approach the concept of inter-generational communication? How do they pass their ideas, hopes and aspirations from one generation to the next? Ancient civilizations such as the Greeks and Romans are known to us predominately through their written works. For example, we have only a written record from Aristotle and Plato. Today’s Greek culture shares nothing significant with their ancient forebears. There is no associated oral tradition that sheds any light on their lives and accomplishments.
Our tradition, mesorah, is built on the combination of a written and oral transmission. Both are indispensable parts of our past, present and future. In commanding Moshe to record our eternal obligation to eradicate Amalek, Hashem said “Ksov zos basefer v’sim b’aznei Yehoshua.” It was insufficient for Moshe to preserve a written record of this mission. A written record alone could become stale. He had to transmit the obligation to Joshua, to inculcate the obligation in his very being. He had to incorporate it into Joshua’s memory as well as the collective memory of future generations. The written word alone could not accomplish this. This combined written and oral transmission process distinguishes the Jewish nation.
We have Written and Oral Torah. Perhaps the oral is the stronger of the two in our national experience. Chazal tell us the commandment to write and explain Torah (Devraim 27:8) was not so much for our national benefit. It was intended for the 70 nations that lacked an oral tradition and relied on books. We uniquely interwove the written word with the oral tradition into a unique relationship spanning prior and successive generations.
To appreciate our oral tradition, let us examine the laws of oral testimony. A witness is enjoined from providing a written record in lieu of oral testimony. A written record can serve to jog the witness’s memory, but it can never serve as the core testimony. The court must interrogate the witness carefully, derisha v’chakira, to verify every detail of testimony. In short, the effective witness must remember everything and forget nothing.
The Torah commands we remember and not to forget we accepted Torah and became the chosen nation at Mount Sinai (Devarim 8:18). The next verse admonishes us not to forget Hashem. What does “forget” mean? After all, human beings forget. Avaylus is built upon forgetting, allowing the individual to move on as the acute pain of his loss diminishes over time. Apparently the admonition against forgetting enjoins us from removing these events from our hearts, pen yasuru m’lvavcha. We remember every detail of something that’s important, relevant to us, fearful lest we forget even one precious iota. Less important events are relegated to the dustbin of our memory. Frail man has a limited retention capacity. Yet Chazal tell us that one who forgets even one learned Torah item is mischayev bnafsho. How could Chazal be so demanding in light of human frailty? Apparently Chazal were not concerned with one who forgets due to limited mental capabilities. They referred to one who decides the Torah he acquired is no longer relevant; it can be readily dismissed. Such an individual denies the connection between the Jew, Written and Oral Torah.
The Vilna Gaon possessed a phenomenal memory, with all of Torah at his fingertips. Yet Reb Chaim Volozin related the Gaon would become ill if he could not immediately recall a halacha or a statement of Chazal. As if forgetting something violated this commandment to remember and not forget. This characteristic was not unique to the Gaon; it is a characteristic unique to the Jewish nation.
Chazal say Esau was exemplary in honoring his parents. Yet the Torah relates his reaction to his brother Jacob taking blessings he felt were his: after Isaac’s passing he would murder Jacob. Didn’t Esau stop to consider Isaac and the pain this plan would cause him? Esau can only appreciate his father while he is alive. Upon Isaac’s passing, Esau is prepared to forget him completely, to render irrelevant all his father taught him and stood for. He feels no remorse in anxiously anticipating the opportunity to slay his brother and exact his revenge, regardless of his father’s feelings. Esau is incapable of remembering; indeed he is eager to forget.
Perhaps our collective obligation to remember is the reason we exist to this day. Many nations have disappeared over the millennia, with and without recorded history. Their individual contributions were assimilated by their successors or faded away. Yet the Jewish nation survives. We were exiled from our land, our Temple destroyed, yet our commitment and relevance remain as strong today as when the Temple stood. This phenomenon can be attributed to our adherence to the oral and written tradition. Consider that we have not brought sacrifices for 2000 years. Our adversaries derided and scorned our commitment to ritual service. Yet Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi contain an entire order detailing Temple ritual service. Oral Torah has kept their memory alive throughout millennia of persecution and exile. We refused to listen to our tormentors and render irrelevant these laws and traditions. Forgetting would mean our national self-destruction.
The Torah commands us to sound trumpets during crises, festivals, Rosh Chodesh to be remembered before Hashem. Just as we refuse to forget our relationship with Hashem, Hashem promises not to forget us. For if Hashem would forget us, we would be as irrelevant as the other long forgotten nations. Isaiah (49:14) proclaims that as a mother cannot forget her nursling, so too Hashem cannot forget His nation. The connection is unbreakable. Though we may be distant from Hashem, we simply need to stimulate the memory, coax Hashem to consider us. This will ultimately lead to Zachor ezkirenu od (Jeremiah 31:19), overwhelming memories leading Hashem to reunite with His chosen people.
The wise and wicked sons both ask “what?” – Mah. On closer examination, the wise son inquires about eidos, chukim, mishpatim. The Talmud says these terms refer to Written and Oral Torah, which are relevant to him. The wise son desires to be a link in the mesorah. He accepts he must study the oral and written law. In contrast, the wicked son asks why are you doing this work? The Jewish nation may have left Egypt millennia ago. But why does that affect me tonight? He declares the Exodus and Torah irrelevant to him. He has forgotten, removed from his heart, this event. He is mischayev bnafsho. Had he been in Egypt thousands of years ago, he would not have been redeemed and would not now be deriding our unique national existence.
Rashi explains (Exodus 20:8) Zachor implies a constant obligation to remember Shabbos. Remembering Shabbos testifies to the creation of the world and our exodus from Egypt. Proper remembering of Shabbos requires we study not only Written, but perhaps more importantly, Oral Torah. Forgetting Shabbos, i.e. not fulfilling the positive obligation to remember the Shabbos, ascribes irrelevance to it. We ascribe significance to Pesach night by remembering it, just as we do Shabbos, Zachor es hayom hazeh, through Written and Oral Torah, immersing ourselves in all aspects of the Seder.
On Pesach night we fulfill the obligation of Vhigadta l’bincha. We find the term Haggadah refers to witnesses. Im lo yagid, vnasa avono, we are prohibited to suppress testimony. Haggadah is connected to bikurim, first fruits, brought by the Jew to the temple who recites the paragraph of Arami ovayd avi… v’anisa v’amarta… higadti hayom. What is the significance of these terms? The Jew proclaims he bears witness that he entered Eretz Yisrael. Hashem fulfilled His promise to us. Through this proclamation, he testifies to the truth of the Exodus events. The terms v’anisa, v’amarta, higadti all refer to the Jew’s obligation to testify.
Seder night we expound on this chapter using the words of the Mechilta. Why not simply read the Exodus story? On the Seder night each Jew must feel as if he himself left Egypt. He must affirm his connection to the Jewish nation, to those that preceded him as well as those alive today and those that will succeed him. We bear witness to these events just as the Jew bringing his first fruits to the Temple. Simply reading from Sefer Shemos, using just Written Torah, would relegate those events to ancient, disconnected history. We merge Sefer Devarim and Mechilta, our mesorah, to identify and connect with events that transpired this night generations ago.
Why do we praise one who expounds expansively on the Exodus? Judges investigate and interrogate a witness to ensure detailed testimony accuracy. On Pesach night, we all testify regarding the Exodus. As witnesses, we provide as much detail of the event as possible. Also, we are engaging in Talmud Torah. The more one studies Torah the greater his reward.