Parshat Haazinu - The Power of Healing

ByRon Nahshon

Shiurei Midrash Aggada on Parshat HaShavua - שיעורי מדרש אגדה על פרשת השבוע

דברים ל״ב:ל״ט

(לט) רְא֣וּ ׀ עַתָּ֗ה כִּ֣י אֲנִ֤י אֲנִי֙ ה֔וּא וְאֵ֥ין אֱלֹקִ֖ים עִמָּדִ֑י אֲנִ֧י אָמִ֣ית וַאֲחַיֶּ֗ה מָחַ֙צְתִּי֙ וַאֲנִ֣י אֶרְפָּ֔א וְאֵ֥ין מִיָּדִ֖י מַצִּֽיל׃

Deuteronomy 32:39

(39) See, then, that I, I am He; There is no god beside Me. I deal death and give life; I wounded and I will heal: None can deliver from My hand.

יבמות ע״א ב

ובמדבר מאי טעמא לא מהול? איבעית אימא משום חולשא דאורחא, ואיבעית אימא משום דלא נשיב להו רוח צפונית, דתניא כל אותן ארבעים שנה שהיו ישראל במדבר לא נשבה להם רוח צפונית. מאי טעמא? איבעית אימא משום דנזופים הוו, ואי בעית אימא דלא נבדור ענני כבוד:

א"ר פפא הלכך יומא דעיבא ויומא דשותא לא מהלינן ביה ולא מסוכרינן ביה והאידנא דדשו בה רבים (תהלים קטז, ו) שומר פתאים יקוק:

ת"ר כל אותן ארבעים שנה שהיו ישראל במדבר לא היה יום שלא נשבה בו רוח צפונית בחצי הלילה שנא' (שמות יב, כט) ויהי בחצי הלילה ויקוק הכה כל בכור וגו' מאי תלמודא הא קמ"ל דעת רצון מילתא היא:

Yevamot 71b

that during the recovery period one must wait from the time the seven days began to the exact same time seven days later, i.e., seven complete twenty-four-hour periods. Therefore, if the child recovered in the afternoon of a particular day, one is required to wait until that same time of day a week later, and only then is he circumcised. The Gemara asks: Didn’t the Sage from Lod teach that the day of his healing is like the day of his birth? What, is it not that just as with regard to the day of his birth we need not wait from the time he is born to the same time on the eighth day to circumcise him, so too, with regard to the day of his healing we need not wait from the time he heals to the same time seven days later? The Gemara refutes this argument: No, the day of his healing is superior to the day of his birth: While from the day of his birth until circumcision we need not wait from the time he is born to the same time on the eighth day to circumcise him, i.e., the child may be circumcised already at the start of the eighth day, from the day of his healing we need to wait seven complete days from the time he heals to the same time seven days later. The Gemara suggests other circumstances where a male child may be present at the time of the eating of the Paschal lamb but absent at the time of its preparation. Rav Pappa said: This would take place, for example, if the baby’s eye hurt him on the eighth day following his birth, which occurred on the eve of Passover, and he recovered in the meantime between the time of the preparation of the Paschal lamb and the time of its eating. In the case of a minor ailment such as eye pain, circumcision is not performed as long as the pain persists, but it may be performed as soon as the child has recovered, without first waiting seven days. Rava said: This would occur, for example, if the infant’s father and mother were incarcerated in a prison at the time of the preparation of the Paschal lamb, and they slaughtered their offering by way of an agent, and there was no one available to circumcise the infant, and the parents were released from prison before the time for eating the Paschal lamb arrived. Rav Kahana, son of Rav Neḥemya, said: This would occur, for example, if the infant was a tumtum, one whose external sexual organs are indeterminate and it is unclear whether the infant is male or female, and in the meantime between the time of the preparation of the Paschal lamb and the time of its eating, he was torn open, his gender was revealed, and he was found to be a male, so that the obligation to circumcise him went into effect. Rav Sherevya said: This would occur, for example, if seven days earlier the baby had already extended his head, but not the rest of his body, out of the corridor to his mother’s womb. In such a situation he is considered born, but he is fit for circumcision only after his entire body has emerged. If this occurs between the time of the preparation of the Paschal lamb and the time of its eating, the child’s father may not eat of the offering until he has circumcised his son. The Gemara poses a question: But in a case such as this, can the child live for such a long period with only his head outside? Isn’t it taught in a baraita: Once a baby emerges into the air of the world, that which had been closed, the mouth and nostrils, open, and that which had been open, the umbilical cord, from which the child had previously received its sustenance, closes, as, if this did not occur it could not live for even an hour, as it has no other way to receive nutrition. If so, this child whose head alone emerged from his mother’s womb would certainly starve, as it cannot take in any sustenance. The Gemara answers: With what case are we dealing here? It is, for example, a case where he was sustained by the heat of a fever and therefore did not need to eat. The Gemara asks: Whose fever? If we say it is his own fever, i.e., the baby himself had a fever, if so, it should be necessary to wait a full seven days after his entire body exits the womb before he can be circumcised, in accordance with the halakha governing an infant who was ill. Rather, it must be that he was sustained by his mother’s fever. And if you wish, say that this principle that a child cannot survive in such conditions applies only when he does not cry, but when he cries he can live, as his crying indicates that he has already started to breathe. § Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Bena’a: An uncircumcised man may receive the sprinkling of the water mixed with the ashes of a red heifer in order to purify himself from ritual impurity imparted by a human corpse, as we do not say that this sprinkling is ineffective as long as he is uncircumcised. As we found that our forefathers received the sprinkling when they were uncircumcised, as it is stated: “And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month” (Joshua 4:19), and the verses go on to relate that the men were all later circumcised before sacrificing the Paschal lamb on the fourteenth (see Joshua 5:10). The Gemara clarifies: On the tenth day itself they did not circumcise themselves due to the weariness caused by their journey. When, then, was the sprinkling done to them in order to remove the ritual impurity resulting from contact with a corpse, so that they would be fit to bring the Paschal lamb on the fourteenth? The first sprinkling must have taken place no later than the tenth, as there is a four-day waiting period between the first and second sprinklings. In that case, wasn’t the initial sprinkling performed when they were still uncircumcised? This proves that an one who is uncircumcised may receive the sprinkling of the purification waters. The Gemara counters: But perhaps they did not sacrifice the Paschal lamb at all. The Gemara answers: This cannot enter your mind, as it is written: “And they kept the Passover” (Joshua 5:10), meaning they brought the Paschal lamb. Mar Zutra strongly objects to this: But perhaps it was a Paschal lamb that comes in a state of impurity? If the majority of the community is ritually impure due to contact with a corpse, they may all sacrifice their Paschal lambs even though they are ritually impure, and there is no need for any sprinkling. Rav Ashi said to him: It is taught explicitly in a baraita that they circumcised themselves, immersed in a ritual bath, and performed the ritual of their Paschal lambs in a state of purity. Rabba bar Yitzḥak said that Rav said: The mitzva of uncovering the corona during circumcision was not given to our Patriarch Abraham. The command given to Avraham included only the mitzva of circumcision itself, i.e., the removal of the foreskin, but not the uncovering of the corona, i.e., the folding back of the thin membrane that lies under the foreskin. As it is stated: “At that time the Lord said to Joshua: Make yourself knives of flint, and circumcise again the children of Israel a second time” (Joshua 5:2). Why was it necessary to circumcise them? Apparently, it is because before the Torah was given on Mount Sinai, some of them had been circumcised in the manner of Abraham, without uncovering the corona, and therefore they needed to be circumcised a second time in accordance with the Torah law that requires uncovering the corona. The Gemara asks: How may it be inferred that those who were already circumcised required a second circumcision? Perhaps the verse is referring to those who had not been circumcised at all, as it is written: “For all the people who came out were circumcised; but all the people who were born in the wilderness…had not been circumcised” (Joshua 5:5)? The Gemara responds: If so, that it was only those who had never been circumcised who required circumcision, what is the meaning of “circumcise again,” which indicates that they had to be circumcised a second time? Rather, is it not referring to uncovering the corona? And what is the meaning of “a second time,” stated in the same verse? This phrase appears redundant, as the verse already stated: “Circumcise again.” The Gemara explains: It comes to equate the end of circumcision, when it is necessary to circumcise a second time in order to correct an improperly performed circumcision, with the beginning of circumcision: Just as an incomplete performance at the beginning of circumcision invalidates the circumcision, so too, incomplete performance at the end of circumcision, i.e., the foreskin not being fully removed, invalidates the circumcision. As we learned in a mishna (Shabbat 137a): These are the shreds of flesh that invalidate the circumcision if they are not cut. The essential element of circumcision is the removal of the flesh that covers most of the corona, and a child who was not circumcised in this manner is considered uncircumcised, and he does not partake of teruma. With regard to this issue Ravina said, and some say it was Rav Yirmeya bar Abba who said that Rav said: When the mishna mentioned most of the corona, it meant the flesh that covers most of the height of the corona as well as most of its circumference. The Gemara returns to the incident involving Joshua. And what is the reason that they did not circumcise themselves in the wilderness after the Torah had already been given? The Gemara answers: If you wish, say it was due to the weariness caused by their journey. Since they were traveling continuously, they were too weak to undergo circumcision.

רש"י על יבמות ע״ב א

רוח צפונית - נוחה לא חמה ולא צוננת וחמה זורחת:

לא נשבה להם רוח צפונית - ביום ולא זרחה חמה עליהם:

איבעית אימא משום דנזופים היו - ממעשה העגל ולא היו ראויין לאור נוגה:

ואיבעית אימא - משום הכי לא נשבה כי היכי דלא ניבדרו ענני כבוד שהיו מקיפין ולא היתה חמה יכולה ליכנס:

יומא דעיבא - יום המעונן:

יומא דשותא - שרוח דרומית מנשבת והיא קשה מכל הרוחות:

עת רצון מילתא היא - וכיון דחצות הלילה עת רצון הואי למכת בכורות הואי נמי עת רצון לרוח צפונית ואין לך יום שרוח צפונית אין מנשבת בו בחצי הלילה. וזה היה סימן לדוד כנור תלוי לו למעלה ממטתו ונקבע כלפי צפון כיון שהגיע חצות לילה רוח צפונית מנשבת בו ומנגן מאליו והוא נעור. והאי דנקט הכא ארבעים שנה לומר לך שאפילו אותן מ' שנה דנזופים היו ולא נשבה להו בימים נשבה להו בחצות לילה משום דעת רצון הוא:

Rashi on Yevamot 72a

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פרקי דרבי אליעזר ג׳

(יא) ארבע רוחות בעולם: רוח פנת המזרח, רוח פנת המערב, רוח פנת הדרום, רוח פנת הצפון. רוח פנת המזרח – משם האור יוצא לעולם. רוח פנת הדרום – משם טללי ברכה וגשמי ברכה יוצאין לעולם. רוח פנת המערב משם חושך יוצא לעולם. רוח פנת הצפון משם אוצרות השלג ואוצרות הברד וקור וחום וגשמים יוצאים לעולם. ד"א רוח פנת הצפון ברא ולא גמרו. אמר שכל מי שיאמר שהוא אלוק יבוא ויגמור את הפנה הזאת שהנחתי וידעו הכל שהוא אלוק:

Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 3

(1) PREMUNDANE CREATION, AND THE WORK OF THE FIRST DAY
R. ELIEZER BEN HYRḲANOS opened (his discourse with the text), "Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord, or shew forth all his praise?" (Ps. 106:2). Is there any man who can utter the mighty acts of the Holy One, blessed be He, or who can shew forth all His praise? Not even the ministering angels are able to narrate (the Divine praise). But to investigate a part of His mighty deeds with reference to what He has done, and what He will do in the future (is permissible), so that His name should be exalted among His creatures, whom He has created, from one end of the world || to the other, as it is said, "One generation to another shall laud thy works" (Ps. 145:4).

(2) Before the world was created, the Holy One, blessed be He, with His Name alone existed, and the thought arose in Him to create the world. He began to trace (the foundations of) the world before Himself, but it would not stand. They told a parable, To what is the matter like? To a king who wishes to build a palace for himself. If he had not traced in the earth its foundations, its exits and its entrances, he does not begin to build. Likewise the Holy One, blessed be He, was tracing (the plans of) the world before Himself, but it did not remain standing until He created repentance.

(3) Seven things were created before the world was created. They are: The Torah, Gehinnom, the Garden of Eden, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, Repentance, and the Name of the Messiah.

(4) Whence do we know that this applies to the Torah? Because it is said, "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old" (Prov. 8:22). "Of old" means before the world was created. Whence do we know this with regard to the Garden of Eden? Because it is said, "And the Lord God planted a garden of old" (Gen. 2:8). "Of old," whilst as yet the world had not been created. Whence do we know this with reference to the Throne of Glory? Because it is said, "Thy throne is established of old" (Ps. 93:2). "Of old," whilst as yet the world had not been created. Whence do we know that Repentance (was premundane)? Because it is said, "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world" (Ps. 90:2); and then in close proximity (we read), "Thou turnest man to contrition" (Ps. 90:3). "Before," i.e. before || the world was created. Whence do we know this with regard to the Temple? Because it is said, "A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary" (Jer. 17:12). "From the beginning," whilst as yet the world had not been created. Whence we do know that the name of the Messiah (was premundane)? Because it is said, "His name shall endure for ever; before the sun Yinnôn was his name" (Ps. 72:17). "Yinnôn," before the world had been created. Another verse says, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, which art to be least among the thousands of Judah, from thee shall he come forth unto me who is to be ruler over Israel; whose ancestry belongs to the past, even to the days of old" (Mic. 5:2). "The past," whilst as yet the world had not been created.

(5) Forthwith the Holy One, blessed be He, took counsel with the Torah whose name is Tushijah (Stability or Wisdom) with reference to the creation of the world. (The Torah) replied and said to Him: Sovereign of the worlds ! if there be no host for the king and if there be no camp for the king, over whom does he rule? If there be no people to praise the king, where is the honour of the king? The Holy One, blessed be He, heard this and it pleased Him. The Torah spake: The Holy One, blessed be He, took counsel with me concerning the creation of the world, as it is said, "Counsel is mine, and sound knowledge; I am understanding; I have might" (Prov. 8:14). Hence they say, Every government which has no counsellors is not a proper government. Whence do we know this? From the government of the House of David which employed counsellors, as it is said, "And Jonathan David's uncle was a counsellor, a man of understanding, and a scribe" (1 Chron. 27:32). If the government of the House of David had counsellors, how much more so should other people act likewise. This is of benefit to them, as it is said, "But he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise" (Prov. 12:15), || and (Scripture) says, "But in the multitude of counsellors there is safety" (Prov. 11:14).

(6) Eight things were created on the first day, namely, Heaven, Earth, Light, Darkness, Tohu (Chaos), Bohu (Void), Wind (or Spirit), and Water, as it is said, "And the wind of God was moving upon the face of the waters" (Gen. 1:2).

(7) Whence were the heavens created? From the light of the garment with which He was robed. He took (of this light) and stretched it like a garment and (the heavens) began to extend continually until He caused them to hear, "It is sufficient." Therefore is He called God Almighty (El Shaddai), who said to the world: "It is sufficient," and it stood (firm). Whence do we know that the heavens were created from the light of His garment? Because it is said, "Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain" (Ps. 104:2).

(8) Whence was the earth created? He took of the snow (or ice) which was beneath His Throne of Glory and threw it upon the waters, and the waters became congealed so that the dust of the earth was formed, as it is said, "He saith to the snow, Be thou earth" (Job 37:6).

(9) The hooks of the heavens are fixed in the waters of the ocean. The waters of the ocean are situated between the ends of the heavens and the ends of the earth. The ends of the heavens are spread out over the waters of the ocean, as it is said, "Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters" (Ps. 104:3).

(10) The dome (or inside shape) of the heavens ascends upwards like a tub, (that is to say) like a tent (denda) which is spread out with its extremities (fixed) || downwards and its dome stretching upwards so that people can sit beneath it and their feet stand on the earth, whilst all of them are inside the tent; in like wise are the heavens, their extremities are (fixed) downwards and their dome stretches upwards and all creatures dwell beneath them as in a tent, as it is said, "And he spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in" (Isa. 40:22).

(11) Four quarters have been created in the world; the quarter facing the east, that facing the south, that facing the west and that facing the north. From the quarter facing the east the light goeth forth to the world. From the quarter facing south the dews of blessing and the rains of blessing go forth to the world. From the quarter facing west where are the treasuries of snow and the treasuries of hail, and thence come forth into the world cold and heat and rains. From the quarter facing north darkness goeth forth into the world. The quarter facing north He created, but He did not complete it, for He said, Anyone who says: I am a God, let him come and complete this quarter which I have left (incomplete) and all will know that he is a God.

(12) There (in the north) is the abode of the destroying spirits, earthquakes, winds, demons, lightnings and thunders; thence evil issues forth into the world, as it is said, "Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the earth" (Jer. 1:14). Some say by ten Sayings was the world created || and in three (Divine attributes) are these (ten Sayings) comprised, as it is said, "The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens, by his knowledge the depths were broken up" (Prov. 3:19, 20). By these three (attributes) was the Tabernacle made, as it is said, "And I have filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, and with knowledge" (Ex. 31:3). Likewise with these three (attributes) was the Temple made, as it is said, "He was the son of a widow woman of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and knowledge" (1 Kings 7:14). By these three attributes it will be rebuilt in the future, as it is said, "Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge are the chambers filled" (Prov. 24:3, 4).

(13) With these three attributes will the Holy One, blessed be He, give three good gifts to Israel in the future, as it is said, "For the Lord will give wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding" (Prov. 2:6). It is not said, "The Lord has given wisdom." These three attributes will be given to King Messiah, as it is said, "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord" (Isa. 11:2).