Opening discussion questions
1. What emotions come to mind when thinking about the month of Elul?
2. How about when hearing the shofar in the morning?
3. Or when contemplating spending Yom Kippur in the Synagogue?
Many of us tent to associate the moments mentioned above with trepidation, fear and trembling, with solemnness and with gravitas - and for many good and legitimate reasons. However, as we will see below, Rabbi Akiva offers us yet another possible paradigm with which we can approach the day.
אָמַר רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא, אַשְׁרֵיכֶם יִשְׂרָאֵל, לִפְנֵי מִי אַתֶּם מִטַּהֲרִין, וּמִי מְטַהֵר אֶתְכֶם, אֲבִיכֶם שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (יחזקאל לו), וְזָרַקְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם מַיִם טְהוֹרִים וּטְהַרְתֶּם. וְאוֹמֵר (ירמיה יז), מִקְוֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל יקוק, מַה מִּקְוֶה מְטַהֵר אֶת הַטְּמֵאִים, אַף הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְטַהֵר אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל:
Rabbi Akiva said: How fortunate are you, Israel! Who is it before whom you become pure? And who is it that purifies you?
Your Father who is in heaven!
As it is said: “And I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean” (Ezekiel 36:25).
And it further says: “O hope (mikveh) of Israel, YHWH” (Jeremiah 17:1--just as a mikveh purifies the unclean, so too does the Holy One, blessed be He, purify Israel.
4. Given this teaching, how might Rabbi Akiva have answered some of the questions above? Is this a new, or surprising perspective for you?
5. To justify his teaching, Rabbi Akiva quotes passages from the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah. Read through his quote of Jeremiah carefully. What game is Rabbi Akiva playing with the words?
6. More context from Jeremiah is given below. What else might Rabbi Akiva be picking up on for his teaching?
(ז) בָּר֣וּךְ הַגֶּ֔בֶר אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְטַ֖ח בַּֽיקוק וְהָיָ֥ה יקוק מִבְטַחֽוֹ׃ (ח) וְהָיָ֞ה כְּעֵ֣ץ ׀ שָׁת֣וּל עַל־מַ֗יִם וְעַל־יוּבַל֙ יְשַׁלַּ֣ח שָֽׁרָשָׁ֔יו וְלֹ֤א ירא [יִרְאֶה֙] כִּֽי־יָבֹ֣א חֹ֔ם וְהָיָ֥ה עָלֵ֖הוּ רַֽעֲנָ֑ן וּבִשְׁנַ֤ת בַּצֹּ֙רֶת֙ לֹ֣א יִדְאָ֔ג וְלֹ֥א יָמִ֖ישׁ מֵעֲשׂ֥וֹת פֶּֽרִי׃
...
(יג) מִקְוֵ֤ה יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ יקוק כָּל־עֹזְבֶ֖יךָ יֵבֹ֑שׁוּ יסורי [וְסוּרַי֙] בָּאָ֣רֶץ יִכָּתֵ֔בוּ כִּ֥י עָזְב֛וּ מְק֥וֹר מַֽיִם־חַיִּ֖ים אֶת־יקוק׃ (ס)
(7) Blessed is he who trusts in YHWH, Whose trust is YHWH alone.
(8) He shall be like a tree planted by waters, sending forth its roots by a stream: It does not sense the coming of heat, Its leaves are ever fresh; It has no care in a year of drought, It does not cease to yield fruit.
...
(13) O Hope of Israel! O YHWH! All who forsake you shall be put to shame, those in the land who turn from you shall be doomed men!
For they have forsaken YHWH, The Fount of living waters!
The importance of water and Torah are used to speak to each others' importance many times throughout our literature - be it in both Biblical and Rabbinic traditions. (In fact, the reason we have communal Torah reading three days a week is because the sages reasoned that just like a human may not survive more than three days without water, so too an Israelite cannot survive three days without Torah. [Bava Kama 82a]). Rabbi Akiva probably assumes we know this, just as he assumes we are well-versed in Yirmiyahu above.
7. How might any of this affect your reading of his words above in Mishna Yoma?
8. How else could verse 13 have been translated? What might be the significance of some of these different possibilities?
9. There are many possible reasons as to why Torah and water became important symbols for each other. In his 18th century work Sefer
haBeinonim, Rabbi Schneiur Zalman of Liadi suggests one reason as to why this might be the case.
ולכן נמשלה התורה למים: מה מים יורדים ממקום גבוה למקום נמוך, כך התורה ירדה ממקום כבודה, שהיא רצונו וחכמתו יתברך (ואורייתא וקודשא בריך הוא כולא חד ולית מחשבה תפיסא ביה כלל), ומשם נסעה וירדה בסתר המדרגות, ממדרגה למדרגה, בהשתלשלות העולמות, עד שנתלבשה בדברים גשמיים ועניני עולם הזה, שהן רוב מצוות התורה ככולם והלכותיהן, ובצרופי אותיות גשמיות בדיו על הספר, עשרים וארבעה ספרים שבתורה נביאים וכתובים; כדי שתהא כל מחשבה תפיסא בהן. ואפילו בחינות דבור ומעשה, שלמטה ממדרגת מחשבה, תפיסא בהן ומתלבשת בהן.
The appropriate metaphor for Torah is water. Just like water descends from a high place to a low place, so too Torah descends from its Honored Place - for it is His wisdom and His will – and Torah and the Holy One are both one and the same thing – and human thought cannot apprehend Him at all. And from there it journeys and descends from level to level, until finally it clothes itself in words of physicality and earthly matters, as well as in the joining together of physical letters with ink on parchment, in order to enable human thought to grasp it. And by the end, even speech and deed, which is an even lower world than the capacity for thought, can now grasp it and is clothed by it!
10. There is much to unpack here. In your own words, what might be the important take-away Rabbi Schneur Zalmon is trying to get across?
11. Rabbi Shneur Zalman is wrestling with the question as to how the gap between the finite and the infinite could ever be bridged, and he presents us with one approach. Do you think you could find his answer helpful or practical? Why, or why not?
12. Can you think of any other possible ideas?
13. Can this bring any further depth to our understanding of Rabbi Akiva above? How so?
Water's ability to purify is one of our most ancient traditions. Perhaps this hearkens back to the idea that according to our creation narrative, water's existence extends back to even before creation itself, when all else was still formless and void.
(א) בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹקִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (ב) וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹקִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃ (ג) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹקִ֖ים יְהִ֣י א֑וֹר וַֽיְהִי־אֽוֹר׃
(1) When Elohim began to create heaven and earth— (2) the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from Elohim sweeping over the water— (3) Elohim said:
"Let there be light!”;
And there was light.
14. Given this - what might have been at play in our ancestors' minds when they conceived of immersion in water being a means by which to purify? Are there any other texts, rituals, or practices that is called to mind for you?
Wrap-up Questions
15. Turn back to the teaching of Rabbi Akiva with which we began. How might your understanding of his words have changed by the end of this limmud?
16. Rabbi Akiva speaks to the importance of feeling joy. Can any of the teachings we explored help us in tapping into this joy as we approach Yom Kippur?
17. Given the sources above, how many different ways can you think of by which we can pursue purity?
18. Do you ever find yourself feeling particularly pure? Or feel a need to purify? What techniques have you found yourself turning to during such moments?