Transcript

So let's begin the very beginning of the first Ramban here al haTorah.

אמר רבי יצחק לא היה צריך להתחיל את התורה אלא מהחודש הזה לכם שהיא מצוה ראשונה שנצטוו בה ישראל ומה טעם פתח בבראשית שאם יאמרו אומות העולם לסטים אתם שכבשתם לכם ארץ שבעה גויים

Heim omrim lahem,

כל הארץ של הקדוש ברוך הוא היא ונתנה לאשר ישר בעיניו וברצונו נתנה להם וברצונו נטלה מהם ונתנה לנו וזו האגדה בלשון שכתבה רש"י בפירושו.

Ve'yesh lishol baze,

וייש לשאול כי צורך גדול להתחיל התורה בבראשית ברא אלהים כי הוא שורש האמונה ושאינו מאמין בזה וחושב שהעולם קדמון,

a person thinks that the world has existed, exists eternally. הוא כופר בעיקר ואין לו תורה כלל. If a person believes that the world is eternal, so he believes that everything about the world is inexorable. So there's no hashgacha, there are no miracles, everything about the world is absolute, and that's why it's always been there, it absolutely exists as it does. So we need Ma'aseh Breishit because knowledge of Ma'aseh Breishit is the foundation of all emunah. Says the Ramban, vehatshuvah, what the Midrash has in mind, מפני שמעשה בראשית סוד עמוק אינו מובן מן המקראות. When the Mishnah Chagigah refers to Ma'aseh Breishit, it's not something that a person can access just by learning Chumash on his own.

ולא יודע על בוריו אלא מפי הקבלה עד משה רבינו מפי הגבורה.

You need an oral tradition. Veyodav, and what's more, this oral tradition was intended to be an esoteric one, chayavim lehastiro. So ma nafshach, if a person has the tradition, he has the tradition even without the psukim. If he doesn't have the tradition, he's not going to access anything through the psukim.

לכך אמר רבי יצחק שאין להתחלת התורה צורך בבראשית ברא. והסיפור במה שנברא ביום ראשון ומה נעשה ביום שני ושאר הימים והאריכות ביצירת אדם וחוה וחטאם ועונשם וסיפור גן עדן וגירוש אדם ממנו כי כל זה לא יובן בינה שלמה מן הכתובים וכל שכן סיפור דור המבול והפלגה שאין צורך בהם גדול ויספיק לאנשי התורה בלעדי הכתובים האלה ויאמינו בכלל בנזכר להם בעשרת הדברות כי ששת ימים עשה ה' את השמים ואת הארץ את הים ואת כל אשר בם וינח ביום השביעי ותשאר הידיעה ליחידים שהם בהם הלכה למשה מסיני עם תורה שבעל פה. ונתן רבי יצחק טעם לזה כי התחילה התורה בבראשית ברא אלהים וסיפור כל ענין היצירה עד בריאת האדם ושהשליטו במעשי ידיו וכל שת תחת רגליו וגן עדן שהוא מבחר המקומות הנבראים בעולם הזה נעשה מכון לשבתו עד שגירשו חטאו משם ואנשי דור המבול בחטאם גורשו מן העולם כולו והצדיק בהם לבד נמלט הוא ובניו וזרעם חטאם גרם להם להפיצם במקומות ולזרותם בארצות. ותפסו להם המקומות למשפחותם בגוייהם כפי שנדמן להם. אם כן ראוי הוא כאשר יוסיף הגוי לחטוא שיאבד ממקומו ויבוא גוי אחר לרשת את ארצו כי כן הוא משפט האלוהים בארץ מעולם.

So the Ramban explains that Rabbi Yitzchak's question wasn't only about Maaseh Bereishit and his answer is also not only about Maaseh Bereishit because again the question clearly says that the Torah should have begun in Parashat Bo with Hachodesh Hazeh Lachem. So clearly the answer is not only going to explain why we need Perek Aleph in Sefer Bereishit, it has to account for everything. And what the Torah's ברצונו שנתנה להם ועתה נטלה מהם ונתנה לנו so implicit in that is the hanhagat haolam which is responsible for the fact that נטלה מהם ונתנה לנו. It's not just that since Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world, so that gives him ownership, that gives him proprietorship, and then mimmela he can give any, he can allocate as he likes. No, but what the Torah's also teaching us is what how Hakadosh Baruch Hu, what the middah is according to which Hakadosh Baruch Hu is manhig the world. And the reason netalah mehem was because of כי כל התועבות האלה עשו אנשי הארץ אשר לפניכם and that's the reason it was given to us because of how the Avot lived and who they were.

כי כן הוא משפט האלוהים בארץ מעולם. וכל שכן עם המסופר בכתוב כי כנען מקולל ונמכר לעבד עולם ואינו ראוי שיירש מבחר מקומות היישוב אבל יירשוה עבדי השם זרע אוהבו כעניין שכתוב ויתן להם ארצות גויים ועמל לאומים יירשו בעבור ישמרו חוקיו ותורותיו ינצורו כל מי שגירש משם את המורדים וזין עממים והשכין בו עובדיו זרע אברהם יצחק ויעקב שידעו כי בעבודתו ינחלוה ואם יחטאו לו תקיא אותם הארץ כאשר קאה את הגוי אשר לפניהם.

So that's how the Ramban elaborates the Midrash of Rabbi Yitzchak. Again, it's not that Maaseh Bereishit is there just to establish Hakadosh Baruch Hu's kinyan and therefore his prerogatives, but it's also to illustrate throughout all the stories of Sefer Bereishit the middah of hanhagat haolam, the middah of hashgachat haolam. כי כן הוא משפט האלוהים בארץ that

ראוי הוא כאשר יוסיף הגוי לחטוא שיאבד ממקומו ויבוא גוי אחר לרשת את ארצו.

And partially, not entirely Rachmana litzlan, partially we're also subjected to that middah, partially in the sense as the Ramban says והשכין בו עובדיו שידעו כי בעבודתו ינחלוה however ואם יחטאו לו תקיא אותם הארץ so partially we're subjected to that same hanhagah, not entirely because whereas the Shiva Amamim never had a berit with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, there was nothing locked in about their relationship, so mimmela when they sinned, so they totally forfeited their right to Eretz Yisrael. It wasn't a temporary suspension, it wasn't a temporary galus. The of the Avos, Bris Avos which then laid the groundwork for Bris Sinai. So even Rachmana l'tzlan when yechetu lo and taki osam ha'aretz, but Eretz Yisroel remains ours as the navi says that when we're not in Eretz Yisroel, so Eretz Yisroel will lay waste as it did for millennia until we came back. So what emerges according to this Ramban, rabosai, something extraordinary. What's the first yesod that the Torah teaches? What's the first yesod of kol hatorah kula? The first yesod that the Torah teaches. The fact that Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world, k'she'le'atzmo, Ramban says it would have been enough to have the pesukim in Aseres Hadibros of כי ששת ימים עשה ה' את השמים ואת הארץ. That's not why we have בראשית ברא אלקים את השמים ואת הארץ. The first yesod that the Torah teaches us is that there are consequences to our actions, that יש דין ויש דיין, that there's din v'cheshbon.

ראוי הוא כאשר יוסיף הגוי לחטוא שיאבד ממקומו ויבא גוי אחר לרשת את ארצו כי כן הוא משפט אלקים בארץ מעולם.

And that's basically the limud of Seifer B'reishis for the Ramban. And again and partially because of the bris in the zchus of initially Avraham Avinu because of the bris. So again even though that midah also applies to us but it expresses itself differently. There's never a severance but the midah is there. And this is the opening lesson of the Torah to which Seifer B'reishis is devoted. You know we live in a generation where אהבת עולם עמך בית ישראל אהבת which is 1000 percent true and the yesod gadol within yahadus is accentuated. And the notion of accountability of כי כן הוא משפט אלקים בארץ is not something that's spoken about. Now it It's certainly true that the ultimate goal, the Madrega that a person aspires to is Ahavas Hashem. But Yiras Hashem, Yiras Ha'onesh is also very much at the center of Yahadus. Why, you know, why Yahadus is not accurately, often not accurately portrayed, I don't know, maybe people think it's more marketable as when everything is just fuzzy and feels good and one doesn't talk about stark realities. But it's not a correct conception of Yahadus.

ועתה ישראל מה השם אלוקיך שואל מעמך כי אם ליראה.

So beginning with the Gemara in Brachos, everyone focuses on the question that ועתה ישראל מה השם אלוקיך שואל מעמך sounds like the Torah is only going to mention one thing and then there's a whole list in Parshas Eikev. So one of the answers, I think maybe the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh says, is because Yirah is the foundation and then everything else will follow. So really there's one thing. If we'll cultivate the Yirah, everything else will follow, the Laleches Bechol Drachov and Laleches and Leahavas Hashem and Lishmor Mitzvothav Vechukosav. All that will follow.

הן יראת השם חכמה. אין לו לקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו אלא יראת שמיים בלבד.

And part of Yiras Shamayim is knowing that there are consequences to what we do. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is Avinu Av Harachaman and he's Erech Apayim. But if we're sufficiently obstinate and perverse, there's a Midas Hadin also. You know, what happened and what's happening in Eretz Yisrael is a Midas Hadin. The fact that on the human level it's an expression of the subhuman savagery of Chamas is entirely true. But simultaneously on a religious level, certainly if you take the Pasuk a little bit out of context, I don't know, I read that some of Acheinu Bnei Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael were comparing what happened on Shabbos, Rachmana Litzlan, to scenes from the Holocaust. So at first when I just heard that quote, I couldn't process it, I didn't understand what it meant. But then when I read the descriptions of throwing them into trucks to kidnap them into Azza, the mass murder, it's true that obviously Bechasdei Hashem the numbers don't compare, but that's not because Chamas wouldn't The pasuk that comes to mind every year when we layn it, I think of the Nazis Yimach Shemam, but

גוי עז פנים אשר לא ישא פנים לזקן ונער לא יחן.

That's the descriptions, or the images, from what happened. Goy az panim, that describes what they are, not who they are, what they are. And it's אשר לא ישא פנים לזקן. It took 80 year olds. Venaar lo yachon, they took babies. But that's part of the tochacha. The tochacha is triggered והיה אם לא תשמע בקול השם אלוקיך. It's a reality that what we do have has consequences. And this, what do you call when you have a picture you brush it up or something if you want to change the you want the there's certain things you don't like in the picture, so you brush up the picture? So we brush up the picture of Yahadus. But it's a distortion. Again, Yahadus is not a religion of fear. But it's a religion where Yiras Hashem is central. There's a mitzvah of Ahavas Hashem, but there's a mitzvah of Yiras Hashem. I think it's the only two mitzvos that the Rambam introduces together. In general, in Mishneh Torah, the Rambam introduces mitzvos separately individually. And in Perek Beis in Yesodei Hatorah, האל הנכבד והנורא הזה מצוה לאהבו וליראה ממנו. The description of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Nichbad VeNora also comes from the tochacha in that pasuk. Nichbad is the description which correlates with la'ahavah and Nora, awesome. Again, awesome in its literal literal sense, is what correlates with the mitzvah of yirah. And they're both right there at the center. Right there at the center. They did what they did because they're a goy az panim. And when the Mishnah in Avos says az panim lagehinnom, it refers to this. But the fact that it was allowed to happen, so we have to look at the context. It's a pasuk in the tochacha. So what's the context of the pasuk in the tochacha? It has ever you know, this brushed up picture of Yahadus, which is a distortion, it's a distortion of reality, the distortion of Torah. If what when I do a cheit, what I should tell myself is not you know, don't worry about it, Ribbono Shel Olam loves you. What I should tell myself is Ribbono Shel Olam loves you and he gives you a chance to do teshuvah, so I should do teshuvah. That's what I should tell myself. But because what we sort of expunge the yira and the accountability from religion, so then we also don't take firm stands. But it's it's a shita, right? It's a shita. That the child is rachmana litzlan intermarried, gotta love 'em, gotta love 'em. That's that's the only concept in our world. Now that is a major, major defining concept but it's not the only concept. The the child is is entering into rachmana litzlan a so-called gay marriage, gotta love 'em. He's gonna feel hurt if you don't go. How can you not go? Aye, but it's a chilul Hashem. It's a celebration of of a brazen defiant brazen defiance of devar Hashem. No, but he he may feel alienated. So it's it's the same. Is that how it happens? I don't know, but but it's hard not to notice a parallelism. Okay, so whenever you have parallelisms you know it's it's hard to know what's cause and effect. But it's it's difficult not to notice the parallelism between our depiction of Yahadus always purely, exclusively in warm, fuzzy terms and the fact that we're incapable of taking firm stands and saying this is unacceptable and no, if the child marries the non-Jew, the parent is not going to be there at the wedding and the parent's going to break off relations. And and the same is true for same is true for gay marriage. But so first we you know I don't know which comes first, which comes second, but again, there's a parallelism here. There's a parallelism. And going to the Rambam, this is the this is the opening yesod of kol haTorah kula. It's the opening yesod of kol haTorah kula. I think Rashi then says I think Rashi quotes the Mechilta that this same yesod is the opening message of Aseres HaDibros. וידבר אלקים את כל הדברים האלה לאמר. So given that the Aseres HaDibros is going to open up with Anochi Hashem Elokecha, Hashem Havayah, so why does the Torah introduce it as וידבר אלקים את כל הדברים האלה לאמר? So I think I think Rashi does someone have it? Maybe is it Perek Kaf or something in Shemos? That that Elokim is lashon dayan. Now don't think that if you want to opt in you'll get schar, but if you opt out it's okay. No, it doesn't work that way. Torah is the most incredible beracha, zechus, privilege. But beracha, zechus, privilege is always one side of a coin and the other side of the coin is responsibility. The two always go hand in hand. One side of the coin is beracha, zechus, incredible opportunity, but the other side of the coin is responsibility. What what's Rashi's lashon? אין אלקים אלא דיין. And then does he continue after that?

וכן הוא אומר אלהים עשה לך סגו מדינא לפי שיש פרשיות בתורה שמי שעושה אותן מקבל שכר ומי שעובר עליהן מקבל פורענות יכול אף עשרת הדיברות כן תלמוד לומר וידבר אלהים דיין ופרע.

So it's an amazing thing. So according to the Ramban, this is the opening message of the Torah. Then the Mechilta says this is the opening message of Aseret HaDibrot. Okay, we'll stop there.