Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Sicha Level 3 - Kedoshim

(sicha beis chelek yud zayin)

Alef:

Viahavta lirayacha komacha – rebbi akiva: zeh klal gadol btorah

Hillel: What you don’t like, don’t do to your friend and this is the whole torah.”

Q1: Rashi is a book of pshuto shel mikra, not a book of emotions or inspiration. So what’s rashi saying here? What’s he explaining? There’s nothing hard to understand about vihavata lirayacha kamocha.

Q2: Why does Rashi quote the person who said it? Only if there’s a specific message from the person who said it we quote the person.

Beis: There’s a classic question. Q: If we have this mitzvah of love your fellow as yourself – then why do we need all these mitzvos that you shouldn’t steal, kill, etc. obviously you don’t want that done to you! That’s why it says ‘zeh klal gadol btorah’. It’s a klal, but in that klal there are many different pratim.

Challenge the answer: Usually you the say the klal first and then say all the details. But here these pratim are before, and even spread out all over torah. That’s why rashi says ‘klal gadol’. This is not a regular klal. Some of the pratim are also klalim of other things.

Gimmel: How can you have a command to love something – that’s a feeling? A person can dominate his actions, but not everyone can create an emotion. And not just one person – EVERY single jew. And like YOURSELF! In regards to any mitzvah that has to do with emotions, rashi says ‘viyareisa me’Hashem elokecha’. Have to have certain fear of Hashem in emotion.

Based on this we have a question: Why is there no mention of fear here? If this is such a big klal in torah, if anywhere it should be highlighted here! Especially since it’s KAMOCHA – VERY emotional. Why doesn’t Rashi say anything about it?

 

Daled: When something is a klal there are pratim. You attain the mitzvah of the klal from doing the pratim. Rashi DOES say viyareisa me’Hashem elokecha about this mitzvah – in the PRATIM.

Rabbi Akiva has a klal – your life takes precedence of the life of your peer. According to this how can you say ‘kamocha’? Your life comes before your friend. That’s why it says ‘CAmocha’ LIKE you – but not completely.

Yosef – paaroh said ‘kamocha k’paroh’ – Rashi says that he’s LIKE paaroh in Paroh’s eyes. The whole Egypt thought Yosef was another paaroh. When when it comes to paaroh himself, he thinks he’s greater than him. So apply that to our idea: When it’s a matter of life and death then you come first, but in general every day life

Hey: But still, if it’s not life and death can I have that sense of love for every single person at every minute? The same torah that says to punish them says you have to love them. Rabbi Akiva has another quote, “all jews are the children of Hashem and all Jews are brothers & sisters” you have this connection – you can’t be happy if your sibling is suffering. You automatically act that way. 

Vov: Q: I viahavta lirayacha kamocha is such a big klal why isn’t it said at the beginning of the Torah? Why way later on in kedoshim?

A: in the gemara rabbi akiva holds that the klallim and pratim were all said at har Sinai, so it was re learned in this Parsha

 

Zayin: The difference between zeh klal gadob btorah – and this is the whole torah & the rest is commentary. Zeh klal means there is one klal and there are many klalim BAtorah – in Torah.

This is why Rashi would choose r’ akiva – pshuto shel mikra – this sounds more realistic, not that he’s so excited about it & exaggerating it.

But it happened in the opposite order – hillel said it first and then rabbi akiva seems to lessen it.

Ches:

What’s the connection between loving peace, rodef shalom, and bringing them close to torah? The connection to bring them close to torah?

Don’t let your love for them get ahead of doing mitzvos – he’ll feel more comfortable about coming to shul, it’ll get him to shul if there’s not a mechitzah

but this doesn’t seem like the pashtus of it. It seems like loving them brings you to bring them close to Torah – the love is expressed by you bringing them close to torah. Like it says in Tanya – even someone who’s far from torah so that his only merit is that he’s a briya – have to have ahava

how does my ahavas yisroel have to bring me to bring someone closer to torah? What does one have to do with the other?

If the reason we love a yid is because of his neshama, and not for a practical reason like for the outcome of bringing him closer to Torah – then why does it connect it here to mikarvan ltorah?

Tes: Hashem’s thought of a yid came before torah and the world.

A yid is higher than everything, even Torah. But yisroel connect to Torah and Torah is the will of Hashem – have to go through that torah. But what if they don’t go through torah? Don’t they still have this neshama?

The yidden’s source is higher, in their atzmiyus. Their essence transcends Torah – you’re a chelek eloka mimaal mamash. A yid’s neshama is so bli gvul that torah & mitzvos can’t sever that connection, nothing can stop it. But the neshama is down here in a guf and that means that you have to abide by the law of the country – and that is Torah & mitzvos. 

Yud: Because we’re in this world we have to have ahavas yisroel in the way the Torah wants us to do. How can the same Torah tell us we have to hate a person also? In regards to ahavas yisroel there’s also 2 extremes. 1 – goes beyond Torah and everything 2. Our world is dominated by Torah and our ahavas yisroel has to fit into that. 

Yud Alef: Our atsmiusdike aspect expresses ourselves through torah. So if you have love for them and they don’t come close to torah, that means that it’s not a real love because atzmiyus expresses itself in practicality

Yud Beis: Now we can come back to r’akiva versus hillel:

Rabbi akiva is speaking about ahavas yisroel how it is down here – practically – when we’re limited by our body

Hillel isn’t talking about every day life – he’s talking about your perspective looking at other yidden – that yidden came before torah, that the torah was FOR bnei yisroel, torah is here to bring out the mayla of yidden – that IS the whole torah. 


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