שלשה שותפין יש באדם הקב"ה ואביו ואמו. אביו מזריע הלובן שממנו עצמות וגידים וצפרנים ומוח שבראשו ולובן שבעין. אמו מזרעת אודם שממנו עור ובשר ושערות ושחור שבעין. והקב"ה נותן בו רוח ונשמה וקלסתר פנים וראיית העין ושמיעת האוזן ודבור פה והלוך רגלים ובינה והשכל. וכיון שהגיע זמנו להפטר מן העולם הקב"ה נוטל חלקו וחלק אביו ואמו מניח לפניהם.
There are three partners in a person: the Holy One of Blessing, their father, and their mother. Their father supplies the semen of the white substance, out of which are formed the child's bones, sinews, nails, the brain in their head and the white in their eye; their mother supplies the semen of the red substance, out of which is formed their skin, flesh, hair, blood and the black of their eye. And the Holy One of Blessing gives them breath and a soul and a face and seeing and hearing and speaking and walking and understanding and the mind. When one's time of death approach, the Holy One of Blessing removes that part and leaves [the parts] of the father and mother before them.
(1) וכל האדם, “as well as every human being.” The word: אדם when used in the Holy Scriptures always includes men women and children. If you were to ask why the human race was punished when it had not been given commandments by G-d that had to be observed, we must answer that there are a number of rules for behavior of society that humankind can be expected to honor without the need to be specifically commanded to do so. If proof were needed for this statement we remind you of Cain being punished for having killed his brother Abel, although there is no record that he was ever warned by G-d not to kill another human being.
(7) But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; The birds of the sky, they will tell you, (8) Or speak to the earth, it will teach you; The fish of the sea, they will inform you. (9) Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this? (10) In God's hand is every living soul And the breath of all humankind.
(א) בהמות ותורך. תלמדך כל אחת מהם:
The beast, and they will teach you... You shall learn from each of them.
ברוך אתה ה' אלהינו מלך העולם, שככה לו בעולמו.
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, shekacha lo beolamo
Blessing for Wonders of Nature
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has such [beauty] in his universe.
It is therefore clear that all corruption, destruction or defect comes from matter. Take, for example, man; his deformities and unnatural shape of limbs; all weakness, interruption, or disorder of his actions, whether innate or not, originate in the transient matter, not in the form. All other living beings likewise die or become ill through the matter of the body and not through its form. Man's shortcomings and sins are all due to the matter of the body and not to its form; while all his merits are exclusively due to his form. Thus the knowledge of God, the formation of ideas, the mastery of desire and passion, the distinction between that which is to be chosen and that which is to be rejected, all these man owes to his form; but eating, drinking, sexual intercourse, excessive lust, passion, and all vices, have their origin in the matter of his body.3Guide for the Perplexed Part 3, Chapter 8
Accordingly, we are told how the 'sons of God', who are the forces found throughout creation, His sons and His handiwork, were in attendance before the Lord. All of them, since He is the Lord who sustains and who is the source of all existence; for maintaining existence is continual creation. They are joined by Satan, who is the force of extinction and the source of evil, decay, sin and everything else that obliterates and damages. As Maimonides explained:
It does not say: 'And the Sons of God and Satan came to present themselves before the Lord'; for this sentence would have implied that the existence of both was of the same kind and rank...it only states that he joined them. Satan does not attend God of necessity and a priori, for he has no role in existence, only in extinction and decay. He only joins them because he is needed by the sublunar 'Sons of God', viz., the material forces; for the existence of a material object requires a prior extinction that changed form.4Guide for the Perplexed Part 3, Chapter 22. In the sublunar world, an object must first undergo some degree of extinction or destruction before it can assume a new form. Change, therefore, cannot occur in the sublunar world without Satan, the agent of extinction and destruction. On the other hand, he has no role in the immutable celestial world.
Behold, we have a tradition that each of the natural forces of creation is governed by a superior agency that is also its source. These are the 'sons of God' who were in attendance before the Lord; angels that are controlled by and receive their power from God and who are in turn appointed over each of the forces of existence. As the Talmudic Sages said: There is no plant that does not have an angel appointed over it telling it to grow.5Bereshit Rabbah 10:6. The Midrashic source actually speaks of 'a destiny in the firmament that acts upon the plant' rather than 'an angel that is appointed over it.' This notion appears in the Zohar (II,171a) too:
Acting as guardians over this world are all the stars of the firmaments, with each individual object of the world having a specially designated star to care for it. The herbs and the trees, the grass and the wild plants, to bloom and increase must have the power of the stars that stand over them and look directly at them, each in its particular mode. Likewise, an ethereal agent has also been appointed over the force of extinction and destruction: Satan, the adversary, the killer and the destroyer. As the Talmudic Sages said: He is Satan, he is the evil inclination, he is the Angel of Death (Baba Batra 16a), He is the accuser, the one permitted to corrupt and destroy.
דָּבָר אַחֵר אָמוֹן, אֻמָּן. הַתּוֹרָה אוֹמֶרֶת אֲנִי הָיִיתִי כְּלִי אֻמְנוּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בְּנֹהַג שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם מֶלֶךְ בָּשָׂר וָדָם בּוֹנֶה פָּלָטִין, אֵינוֹ בּוֹנֶה אוֹתָהּ מִדַּעַת עַצְמוֹ אֶלָּא מִדַּעַת אֻמָּן, וְהָאֻמָּן אֵינוֹ בּוֹנֶה אוֹתָהּ מִדַּעַת עַצְמוֹ אֶלָּא דִּפְתְּרָאוֹת וּפִנְקְסָאוֹת יֵשׁ לוֹ, לָדַעַת הֵיאךְ הוּא עוֹשֶׂה חֲדָרִים, הֵיאךְ הוּא עוֹשֶׂה פִּשְׁפְּשִׁין. כָּךְ הָיָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַבִּיט בַּתּוֹרָה וּבוֹרֵא אֶת הָעוֹלָם.
Alternatively, amon means "artisan." The Torah is saying, "I was the artisan's tool of Hashem." In the way of the world, a king of flesh and blood who builds a castle does not do so from his own knowledge, but rather from the knowledge of an architect, and the architect does not build it from his own knowledge, but rather he has scrolls and books in order to know how to make rooms and doorways. So too Hashem gazed into the Torah and created the world.
ר' צדוק הכהן מלובלין - פרי צדיק במדבר פרשת שלח
ובפירוש הפסוקים הרשות לכל אחד לפרש דשבעים פנים לתורה ועוד יותר גם כן וכל אחד מישראל יש לו שבעים פנים לתורה
Rav Zadok HaKohen from Lublin - Pri Tzadik, Bamidbar, Parshat Shelach
The meaning of the verses is that all have the ability to expound, as there are “seventy faces of the Torah”. And all the more so, each individual in Israel in themselves has “seventy faces of the Torah.”
פירוש רש"י על אבות פרק ד משנה א
הלומד מכל אדם. ואפי' שאינו גדול ממנו בחכמה הולך ולומד ודוחק ונכנס בכל מקום שהם בני תורה ואינו מתבייש: מכל מלמדי וכו'. כל מי שבא ללמדני הייתי משכיל שומע לדבריו ולא בושתי:
Rashi on Avot 4:1
One who learns from all. And even if they are not greater than him in intellect, one can go and learn and push and enter into every space where there are bnei Torah, and they should not be embarrassed....everyone who came to learn from me, I thought and listened to their words and I was not embarrassed.
פירוש רבינו יונה על אבות פרק ד משנה א
בן זומא אומר איזהו חכם הלומד מכל אדם - אמרו חכמי האומות כי היודע כל החכמות אם אינו אוהב החכמה אינו חכם אלא טפש הוא אחר שאינו אוהב החכמה כי היא הדעת. אך האוהב אותה ומתאוה אליה אף על פי שאינו יודע כלום הרי זה נקרא חכם שעל כל פנים תשיג אל החכמה האמיתית ודעת אלהים תמצא. ועל זה אמר בן זומא איזהו חכם הלומד מכל אדם שכל כך אוהב החכמה ומתאוה אליה ששואל לכל אדם ואף מי שאינו יודע כי אם דבר (אחר) [אחד] ילמד ממנו ואז יצליח דרכו ואז ישכיל. ועל זה נקרא חכם שנאמר [תהלים קי"ט צ"ט] מכל מלמדי השכלתי שכן אמר דוד ע"ה שלמד מכל אדם ולא היה אומר זה אינו יודע כמוני כי מכלם למד והשכיל משל לאדם שהפסיד כלי קטן והלא מכל אדם מבקש אותו:
Rebenu Yona, Avot 4:1
Ben Zoma said who is wise, one who learns from everyone: the wise ones from other nations said, as they knew all of the wisdom, if one does not love wisdom, they are not wise, rather they are stupid, because wisdom is thought. But rather the one who loves it even though they might not know anything is called wise, for they will obtain true wisdom and knowledge will be found. And this is where Ben Zoma says who is wise a person who can learn from all, for they love wisdom so much and ask all people, even those who don’t know, because even if he is able to learn one thing he will succeed in their path and gain knowledge. And this is who is called wise, as it says is Psalms “From all that I learned from I gained wisdom”, as it is said about David, that he learned from every person, and he never said ‘this person doesn’t know like I do’ for it is possible to learn from everyone.
מאי משמע דהאי יובלא לישנא דדכרא הוא דתניא אמר רבי עקיבא כשהלכתי לערביא היו קורין לדכרא יובלא ואמר ר"ע כשהלכתי לגליא היו קורין לנדה גלמודה מאי גלמודה גמולה דא מבעלה ואמר ר"ע כשהלכתי לאפריקי היו קורין למעה קשיטה למאי נפקא מינה לפרושי (בראשית לג, יט) מאה קשיטה דאורייתא מאה דנקי אמר רבי כשהלכתי לכרכי הים היו קורין למכירה כירה למאי נפקא מינה לפרושי (בראשית נ, ה) אשר כריתי לי אמר ר"ש בן לקיש כשהלכתי לתחום קן נשרייא היו קורין לכלה נינפי ולתרנגול שכוי לכלה נינפי מאי קרא (תהלים מח, ג) יפה נוף משוש כל הארץ ולתרנגול שכוי אמר רב יהודה אמר רב ואיבעית אימא ריב"ל מאי קרא (איוב לח, לו) מי שת בטוחות חכמה או מי נתן לשכוי בינה מי שת בטוחות חכמה אלו כליות או מי נתן לשכוי בינה זה תרנגול
§ It is taught in the mishna that Rabbi Yosei proves from a verse that a the horn of a ram [yovel] is called a keren. The Gemara asks: From where may it be inferred that this term yovel denotes the horn of a ram? The Gemara answers: As it is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Akiva said: When I went to Arabia, I heard that they called a ram yovla, and from this we can infer the meaning of the term yovel in the related language of Hebrew.The Gemara records a series of similar statements: And Rabbi Akiva said: When I went to Galia, I heard that they called a menstruating woman galmuda, and this clarifies the meaning of that word in Scripture. It should be understood as follows: What does galmuda mean? She is separated [gemula da] from her husband, as all physical contact between a menstruating woman and her husband is forbidden. And Rabbi Akiva said: When I went to Africa, I heard that they called a ma’a, which is a certain coin, kesita. The Gemara asks: What is the practical significance of this? The Gemara answers: To explain that the words in the Torah relating to Jacob’s purchase of his field near Shechem: “And he bought the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent, from the sons of Hamor for a hundred kesita” (Genesis 33:19), denote a hundred dankei, i.e., a hundred ma’a. Similarly, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said: When I went to the sea towns, I heard that they called a sale kira. And the Gemara asks: What is the practical significance of this? The Gemara answers: To explain the verse relating to Jacob’s burial plot: “In my grave which I purchased [kariti] for myself, there shall you bury me” (Genesis 50:5). Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: When I went to the district of Kan Nishrayya, I heard that they called a bride ninfi and a rooster sekhvi. The Gemara explains how this information serves to clarify the meanings of biblical verses: A bride is called ninfi; what is the verse that uses a similar term? “Beautiful view [nof ], the joy of the whole earth, Mount Zion” (Psalms 48:3), which therefore means beautiful like a bride. And a rooster is called sekhvi; Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: And if you wish, you can say that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said this: What is the verse that employs this term? “Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the sekhvi” (Job 38:36), which should be understood as follows: “Who has put wisdom in the inward parts”: These are the kidneys that are hidden in the body; “or who has given understanding to the sekhvi”: This is a rooster, who knows to crow at fixed times during the night.
“I do not decree that the event [at the Convention of Sinai] occurred in the [exact] manner as I have [previously] described; perhaps it had occurred in manner that is far more deep than that which I had [previously] described. But the result was that it had become self-evident to anyone who had seen the events [that had transpired there]; that the matter [of communication] was from the Creator, without any intermediary, being that they are to be akin to the first emmination [of creation], and to the first created-object [of creation], whereby their psyches comprehended the trust in the Law; now intertwined with them, and the trust in the creation of the world, ex-nihilo, and that He created it in the same manner in which He--as you all see--brought about the two tablets [of the Decalogue], the manna, and other things, whereby the uncertainties of philosophers and physicalists would disappear from the hearts of the believers.” - Kuzari 1:1:91 (1:1:97) , Translated from Arabic by R. Y. Z.
Seeing that Pharaoh was so closely involved in the raw materials our terrestrial universe is made of G’d showed him two of the major elements of that combination of four elements which make up the raw material of our universe. They are water and dust, (earth). Seven cows emerged from the element water, whereas the seven ears of corn grew out of the element dust, earth. These two elements hold the key to satiety or hunger as the case maybe, subject to G’d’s benevolent supervision of what goes on in our world. Our Rosh Hashanah (Mussaph) prayers concentrate on the fact that on that day G’d determines which country is to suffer famine and which will have plentiful food. This subject, i.e. that decisions pertaining to the earth’s food supply are made in heaven was something revolutionary for Pharaoh. The man who had thought that the seven fixed stars determine what happens in our territorial world was taught in a dream that there is a Power which supervises and directs these seven planets at will if need be. (we have discussed this in greater detail in our commentary on Genesis 1,2) He was taught that G’d may increase or decrease the apparent power of these planets relative to the system of reward and punishment which forms the basis of G’d exercising His supervision of the universe.
The reason that Pharaoh had to be taught all this was that up until that point he had thought of the river Nile as his personal property, as we quoted from Ezekiel 29, 3 “the river is mine and I have made it.” The fact that the events in his dream originated in the river are an example of what our sages term מגיד מראשית אחרית, “that G’d allows us a preview of things to come.” In this instance the preview granted to us in this dream of Pharaoh was the eventual collapse of Egypt as a world power after Pharaoh and his army were drowned in the sea a week after having suffered the death of all their firstborn. The Egyptians had been give ample warning to change their concept of the terrestrial universe and the place therein of its Creator. The ten plagues had been designed to wean the Pharaoh of his time of his pagan beliefs. His failure to do so resulted in his downfall.
The fact that his downfall was caused by water, the element which he thought was under his control, was a clarion call for other nations to recognise the attribute of G’d we call י-ה-ו-ה, i.e. the attribute which G’d uses to demonstrate that He is totally free, not bound by so-called “laws of nature.” The Pharaoh at the time of the Exodus, while acknowledging the אלו-הים attribute of G’d, had exclaimed: מי ה' אשר אשמע בקולו, “who is this new attribute of G’d that I should have to listen to His voice?” (Exodus 5,2).
Joseph, well aware of Pharaoh’s faulty pagan beliefs, first told him that the power to reveal the meanings of dreams did not reside within him but was reserved for the superior power of G’d. By that he meant that there was a power which superseded that of the seven planets whom Pharaoh had thought of as independent forces each supreme in governing different parts of the universe. By saying בלעדי אלוקים, he drew attention to the discriminatory nature in which G’d supervises His universe. By saying that this Power אלוקים was going to put Pharaoh’s mind at ease, he introduced him to G’d the benevolent who deals with people on an individual basis. Pharaoh’s relief would come from G’d not via any of the seven planets. It therefore behooves man not to turn to the stars, the horoscopes, etc., in order to divine his destiny but to turn to his Creator. This is what he meant when he said: “G’d will set Pharaoh’s mind at rest.” This approach to matters concealed from us is illustrated by Job 5,8 when Eliphaz said: ואל אלו-הים אשית דברתי, “and I will direct what I have to say to the Lord.” This is also what prompted Hoseah, quoting G’d, to say (Hoseah 2,23-24) “on that day I will respond; I will respond to the sky, and it shall respond to the earth; and the earth shall respond with new grain and wine and oil.” This verse teaches that just as it is not up to the earth to initiate any response to man’s request and efforts unless it had first been so instructed by G’d, so it would be foolish to direct one’s prayers and efforts to intermediaries. The reason Joseph always uses G’d’s attribute אלו-הים when referring to G’d is that he wanted to underline that what purports to be “natural,” i.e. laws of nature which man thinks he can depend on, is so only as long as the Lord who has created these forces, i.e. אלו-הים continues to direct these forces to operate normally. Seeing that the dream of Pharaoh forecast interference by G’d in these “natural” forces of the earth to produce crops, Joseph added את האלוקים עושה הראה לפרעה, “what G’d is about to do, (i.e. changes in established patterns of nature) He has revealed to Pharaoh.” Afterwards Joseph added that not only had G’d given Pharaoh advance warning of what was about to occur, but He had even provided him with a time frame of when to expect these changes, i.e. beginning immediately. [I believe the author went out of his way to justify the use of the word אלוקים when in reality anything denoting G’d’s interference in the laws of nature is usually credited to His attribute י-ה-ו-ה; in this instance, the fact that Pharaoh did not even acknowledge the existence of Creator who had preceded the creation of this universe had to be acquainted with that fact before he could absorb any lesson about the attribute Hashem. Ed.]
When Joseph added כי נכון הדבר מעם האלוקים לעשותו, “for the matter is already ready before G’d and He will proceed forthwith to carry it out,” (verse 32) he again attributed anything that would occur to G’d and not to anything man could do. At the same time he wanted to convince Pharaoh that man is not a robot and acts under compulsion, that everything in his life has not been decreed from above. The words בלעדי אלוקים, contain within them an allusion to the limit of G’d’s power, i.e. the freedom of choice He as accorded to man, something over which G’d has no control. If you will examine Joseph’s word carefully you will find that they parallel the Torah’s report of the story of creation. That report began with the words בראשית ברא אלוקים, ”at the beginning, G’d created, etc.” and ended with the words (Genesis 2,3) אשר ברא אלוקים לעשות, “which G’d had created as an ongoing process.” Joseph commenced with telling Pharaoh that first and foremost there would be an activity by G’d, i.e. את האלוקים עושה, and he concluded with the words האלוקים לעשות exactly like in Genesis 2,3.
Now there is no need for it for such is the normal expression of the Hebrew language as in the verses: The rain is over and gone ‘lo’; I will get ‘li’ unto the great men; Rise up, and get ‘lachem’ over the brook Zered; and many similar examples. Our Rabbis, however, have made a Midrash — (a homiletical interpretation) — concerning the verses [addressed to Moses] which state, And thou shalt make ‘lecha’ an ark of wood, and Make ‘lecha’ two trumpets of silver, since it was not his work and it would have been proper for these verses to be stated in the same way as that concerning the tabernacle, i.e., And thou shalt make the tabernacle.