Halacha L’Moshe MiSinai - Volume 2: Number 15

Halacha L’Moshe MiSinai
Volume 2: Number 15
January 25, 2006

Mitzvah 16: The Mitzvah being attached to Torah Scholars and their disciples.

Mitzvah 16 – It is a positive commandment to be attached to Torah Scholars and their disciples.
Hafetz Hayim: Scripture states, “And to Him shall you cling” (Deut. 10:20) which the sages explain to mean “Whoever adheres to Torah scholars, it is as though he were attached to the Shechina (the presence of G-d)” Therefore a person should marry a daughter of a Torah scholar, and he should give his daughter in marriage to a Torah Scholar. He should eat with him, and have him benefit from his wealth. He should wallow in the dust of the feet of Torah scholars and drink in their words thirstily. It applies everywhere and at all times, for both men and women.

Before we begin to understand this Mitzvah, we need to understand who is a Torah Scholar. In its simplest form, it means someone who has studied Torah, the Five Books of Moses. This is a kind of study that is open to everyone all the time. It only requires that we pick up a Torah Commentary and study the words of those who have come before us. The Hafetz Hayim, however, refers to “Torah Scholars” in the widest sense, that is someone who is well versed in the Bible, Talmud, Legal codes and Midrash. A Torah scholar in this sense is not “just” a rabbi, but one who’s scholarship is also well known and admired. This is the kind of scholar that deserves our support. Such a person has given his or her life to understanding the words that G-d has shared with us and the interpretation of those words as understood by sages in every generation. These scholars provide our best link to the past and help to keep Judaism alive, fresh and an important part of our life.
Little wonder, then, that we should want to have such a scholar in our family. That we should want to raise our children to be such scholars, to have them marry a such a scholar and to have such scholars in our social circles. (this is the implication of “wallowing in the dust of their feet”) We should make every effort to listen to what they teach us and even if we don’t always understand their lessons, if we drink in their words, understanding will inevitably come.
This is not a mitzvah created by the Sages of antiquity to garner support for their profession. I don’t think they saw it as self serving at all. It is a mitzvah that grows out of the understanding that not everyone can be a scholar and that the world does need others to provide the necessities of life. This mitzvah allows everyone, however, to benefit from the work of scholars and helps to bring greater understanding and light to our world. It is a great mitzvah for both men and women to be a scholar, but if that is not possible, to at least bring scholars into their family and to treasure their learning.
Next week: Mitzvah 17: Respect for the Aged and for Scholars

HMS Volume 2: Number 14 - Mitzvah 15: The Mitzvah of writing a Torah Scroll

Halacha L’Moshe MiSinai
Volume 2: Number 14
January 16, 2006
Mitzvah 15: The Mitzvah of writing a Torah Scroll

Mitzvah 15 – It is a positive commandment that everyone in Jewry should write a Torah scroll for himself.
Hafetz Hayim: Scripture states, “Now therefore write this song” (Deut. 31:19) which the sages explain to mean “Write a Torah that contains this song.” One should not write a Torah in separate sections. If he writes it with his own hand it is as if he received the Torah at Sinai. If this is not possible, he should hire someone to do it for him or buy a Torah scroll. If he inherits a Torah Scroll, he still needs to write one for himself. However if he corrects one letter it is as if he wrote the whole scroll. Rabbenu Asher (who wrote the law code, the Tur) wrote that this applied to earlier generations when they would write a Torah Scroll and study from it. Today…It is a Mitzvah for everyone who has the means to buy humashim (printed bibles), Mishna, Talmud and their commentaries so that he and his children may study from them. For the religious duty of writing a scroll is to study from it so one will know the Mitzvot and the laws thoroughly. Therefore these are the volumes a person should write or have printed. Whoever has it in his power to do both, to write a scroll and to buy printed Humashim should follow both interpretations of this commandment if he has the means. It applies everywhere and at all times, for men but not for women.

This Mitzvah is pretty straight forward but I have just a few comments on it. First of all, since the writing of a Torah scroll involves skills that are no longer a real part of our lives, the writing of these scrolls has been given over to a trained Sofer (scribe). These Sofrim (scribes) can produce a Torah scroll in about a year. They are commissioned by those who want to fulfill this mitzvah, who pay them for their labor. They also, usually, leave the last few lines unfinished. They outline the letters but do not fill them in, so that when they are done, there can be a “Siyyum” a ceremony for finishing a Sefer Torah. This Siyyum involves the person who commissioned the work to actually fill in some of the letters and to let others fill in letters so that everyone can say that “I wrote a Sefer Torah” since filling in one letter is the same as writing the entire scroll.
When an organization or synagogue commissions the Torah, they will raise money for the organization by having members or the organization and others in the community to sponsor the writing of a Parsha, paragraph, chapter, book, sentence or letter. In this way, everyone has a hand in writing this scroll. On can fulfill this Mitzvah when one participates in a Siyyum ceremony.
It is also important to buy a Humash, and other copies of Rabbinic texts for our homes so that we can study from them. Every Jewish home should have a printed Torah, Talmud, and law codes so that they can use them as reference books to understand their faith. Many online E-mails (like this one), websites, blogs and podcasts are designed to help us read and understand these important Jewish Texts. If we don’t have them in our homes we will never read them and will not come to value our heritage and our faith. This is more than just supporting the Jewish publishers of these texts, it is crucial to our growing in our understanding and commitment to Judaism.
The Hafetz Hayim may have lived in a time when women did not participate in this Mitzvah, indeed, women in his day never really studied Torah at all. In our day, however, women are equally commanded to study and they are equally commanded to write and purchase a Sefer Torah as described above.
Next week: Mitzvah 16: The importance of Torah Scholars

HMS Volume 2: Number 13 - Mitzvah 14: : The Obligation to Learn and Teach Torah

Halacha L’Moshe MiSinai
Volume 2: Number 13
January 9, 2006
Mitzvah 14: : The Obligation to Learn and Teach Torah

Mitzvah 14
It is a positive commandment to learn Torah and teach it.
Hafetz Hayim: Scripture states, “and you shall teach them diligently to your children.” (Deut. 6:7) It is our duty that the words of Torah should be sharp in our mouths and we should not stammer over them. No matter if a person is rich or poor, young or old, suffering, poverty stricken or sustained by charity, we are duty bound to set a fixed time to study Torah every day until the day of our death. It is a religious duty for a father to sit and teach is son and the son takes precedence over others. The father also has a duty to study with his grandson. Children should begin to study when they begin to speak. If the father can not teach his son, he has the responsibility to hire a teacher for his son. A woman is free of the obligation of Torah study but she should make sure that her sons are not ignorant. The study of Torah is equal in importance to all the Mitzvot, since learning leads to action. It applies everywhere and at all times.

It is hard to overstate the fact that learning Torah is the single most important Mitzvah a Jew can do. As the Hafetz Hayim says, “learning leads to action”. The entire purpose of learning Torah for all Jews is so that we may know what our Creator requires of us.
First of all, let us be clear by what we mean by “Torah”. Torah is not just the Five Books of Moses, but the entire library of Jewish Law. It begins with the Five Books of Moses, but also includes the other books of the Bible, the Talmud, Codes and Midrash. There is no end to what we can study and this is why study is a life long endeavor. It is not for any one social class or age group. Study is for all Jews all the time.
While the Hafetz Hayim excludes women from the obligation to study Torah, he does this because it is a positive Mitzvah that is time bound. Women, in general, are free from Mitzvot that are positive and time bound since they have other duties that may make their participation impossible. Conservative Judaism finds these exemptions less then compelling today and has declared that women too have the obligation to study Torah in its widest sense and also are obligated to teach it to their children, both sons and daughters. Judaism is just too important to be the realm of just men/boys in our modern age. I am not away of any level of study that is closed to women in Conservative Judaism.
Parents thus have an obligation to teach their children. The rule is that if one can only afford one teacher, either for the parent or for the child, the parents must hire a teacher for themselves, and they, in turn, should teach their children. If for any reason a parent did not fulfill this obligation and did not teach Torah to his or her children, then, beginning at age 13, the child must arrange for their own education. There is no excuse for not learning. Even if one has to beg from door to door, one must study. It is said that the greatest of the Sages, Hillel the Elder, when he was a student, was so poor he could not pay the entrance fee to the school. He then climbed on the roof and put his ear to the skylight to hear the lesson being taught below. Once he almost died up there when it snowed and he was buried while listening to the lesson. One of the teachers, concerned about the poor lighting, looked up, saw the figure of a man on the skylight and ran to the roof to save Hillel. I should also note that from that time on, they abolished the entrance fee. To this day, in order to study, most institutions will do all they can to make it affordable for all who are in need. Rabbi Eleizer, a brilliant mind, was disinherited because he wanted to study. He studied anyway. Rabbi Akiva was illiterate until he was over 40 years old, but went to school with his son and became one of the greatest sages.
It is encumbent upon all Jews, to set a time every day to study Torah. There are no exceptions or excuses allowed. (For the record, reading this E-mail counts for today’s study, now find something to study tomorrow!)
Next week: Mitzvah 15: The Mitzvah of writing a Torah Scroll

HMS Volume 2: Number 12 - Mitzvah 13: Birkat HaMazon

Halacha L’Moshe MiSinai
Volume 2: Number 12
January 2, 2006
Mitzvah 13: Birkat HaMazon

Mitzvah 13
It is a positive commandment to say the blessing of Birkat HaMazon after eating bread.
Hafetz Hayim: Scripture states, “and you shall eat and be satisfied, and bless the Lord your G-d.” (Deut. 8:10) According to the Torah one does not have to say the blessing unless he has eaten his fill. But the Sages enacted the law to say that even if he has eaten an olive’s amount of bread he is duty-bound to say afterwards the Birkat HaMazon. We infer this by the logic (kal v’Homer) that if a person says a blessing when he is full, how much more should he bless G-d when he is hungry. It is in force everywhere and at every time, for men. For women, there is disagreement if they have the obligation to recite the Birkat HaMazon or not.

In Judaism, there is a blessing for everything, and as we see from the passage in Deuteronomy, we have to bless G-d when we have eaten our fill. This passage has been interpreted to mean that we should recite the Birkat HaMazon. It is not just recited at the end of a meal, but anytime that we eat more than just a few crumbs of bread.
Bread is the key to understanding how our Sages looked at food. There are blessings for almost every kind of food. For fruits, vegetables, nuts and most drinks. As we eat each food, we are supposed to say the proper blessing. The Sages understood, however, that bread was different. Bread is the key food that makes up most meals. Therefore it was determined that if one was eating bread and said HaMotzi, than that would also cover any other foods that were being consumed and of the three different blessings after the meal, the Birkat HaMazon was the only one required. In short, the eating of bread defines the meal and thus it trumps all the other foods that may also be served.
Birkat HaMazon consists of three blessings. “who sustains all life”; “for the land and for nourishment”; who in His mercy rebuilds Jerusalem”; and “our Father, our King, our Creator and our Redeemer…”. These four make up the core of the blessing. Other prayers have been added to acknowledge holidays and other special occasions. There is a special introduction to the blessing if there are three or more present at the meal. We also make an addition when there are ten present at the meal. The Birkat HaMazon should be recited at the table where you eat the meal. If you end your meal at a different table than where you started, if possible, you should return to the first table for the blessing. Since the table is considered an alter, there are some who will remove knives from the table (instruments of violence) before reciting the blessings.
While the Hafetz Hayim notes that there is a dispute as to whether or not women are obligated to recite the Birkat HaMazon, in reality the dispute is over whether or not this obligation is from the Torah or is it an enactment of the sages (Midioraita or Miderabbanan) almost everyone agrees today that women are obligated to say Birkat HaMazon. The issue over the source of that obligation determines the ability for a woman to lead the recitation of the Birkat HaMazon, especially the introductory passages when three or ten are present. If the obligation is from the Torah, than a woman can lead others in the Birkat HaMazon. If her obligation is from the Sages, than a woman could not lead men in the prayer who certainly have a different, higher obligation. Egalitarian Conservative Jews consider women equally obligated for Birkat HaMazon and women, in fact, do lead the prayer when a quorum of three or ten are present.
Next week: Mitzvah 14: The Obligation to Learn and Teach Torah