Talmud Torah

אלה תולדות יעקב, intelligent people must remember that our sages taught us that in spite of all different methods of exegesis of the text of the written Torah, no verse may legitimately be explained in a manner which contradicts the plain meaning of the text. While it is true that the Torah, by means of allusions, grammatical anomalies, tone-signs, etc., teaches us far more than meets the eye when we look at the bald text, there are strict limitations even to these methods of exegesis such as the thirteen principles of Rabbi Yishmael and the 32 principles of Rabbi Yossi Haglili. Exegetes of former times, thanks to their piety, relied exclusively on the drashot i.e. allegorical and ethical interpretations of anomalies in the text of the Torah, thereby neglecting a thorough study of the text as it presents itself to the average, though not scholarly, reader. Seeing that our sages stated אל תרבו בניכם בהגיון, “do not burden your children overly with interpretation based on logic, on common sense,” and they also saidהעוסק במקרא מדה ואינו מדה, העוסק בתלמוד אין לך מדה גדולה מזו, “he who studies the written text of the Torah has accomplished something positive but has also failed to accomplish something positive, but on the other hand, he who has studied Talmud has chosen by far the best path in Torah study,” (freely translated), the result of such statements has been that students have not become used to studying the plain meaning of the text without immediately looking at exegesis. (Baba Metzia 33 and a source supposedly in Berachot 28, the correct text being מנעו בניכם מן ההגיון, prevent your children from indulging in speculative reason,” but this does not seem to have any connection with Torah exegesis in the context where the statement is made. Ed.] This principle has been illustrated in Shabbat 63; we read there in the name of Rav Kahane “I was already eighteen years old and had studied the entire Talmud, but had not ever been taught of the principle that אין מקרא יוצא מידי פשוטו, “that the text in the written Torah must not be interpreted in a manner which completely nullifies its plain meaning.” Also Rabbi Shlomoh, my mother’s father of blessed memory (Rashi) the brilliant exegete, who wrote commentaries on the entire Bible, was careful not to ignore the plain meaning of the text. I, Shmuel, son of Rabbi Meir, Rashi’s son-in-law, have argued with him, and he admitted to me that if he had the opportunity, he would compose an additional commentary in which he would concentrate on the plain meaning as it became clearer to him with each passing day. [I believe that the wording here means that Rashi meant that just as his published commentaries consisted mostly of anthologies, i.e. his quoting existing interpretations, so he would search out more commentaries based on the plain meaning to present to the reader when publishing another commentary. Ed.] I am now presenting to the reader what earlier exegetes had to say on our verse.

"as it is said (Ezekiel 41:22), 'And he said to me, this is the table that is before the Lord'": Immediately when he speaks words of Torah, it is called a "table that is before the Lord." And some say that it comes out from the beginning of the verse, as it is written, "The altar is three amot" - do not read [it as] amot, but rather eemot (mothers or foundations), as in, there is a foundation (priority) to how a verse is written. Three corresponds to Torah, Prophets and Writings; and some say to Sripture, Mishnah and Talmud - [meaning] that a person must speak about them over the table, and then it is called "a table that is before the Lord." So explained Rashi.

FOR THE VERSE SAYS “EVERYWHERE, ETC.” I’ve already written that in my opinion the text here should have the verse “let him sit alone, etc.” This is why Rav’s commentary here has the words “for he has taken upon himself—because natal here means ‘shading’ or ‘protecting’”, as does Rashi’s commentary, per the testimony of Midrash Shmuel but not per his conclusion, which is that those words should appear in Rashi’s commentary earlier.
Tosafot uphold the version that quotes the verse “and his group etc.” in the case of five, as I wrote above, and their proof is that the Talmud in Berakhot 6a quotes “He Judges in the midst of judges” for the case of three. Now although that same passage in Berakhot 6a also quotes the verse “everywhere I cause my name to be mentioned” for the case of one, that is no proof that we should read this in the text of our mishna,⁹⁶The argument goes as follows. Since Tosafot is willing to establish the text of our mishna for the case of five based on the passage in Berakhot 6a and Tosafot Yom Tov has accepted their argument for the case of five, consistency should force him to then accept the verse adduced in Berakhot 6a for the case of one as the verse to appear in our mishna as well. Tosafot Yom Tov now counters this argument. because the Talmud might be discussing mishna 2. This is an especially strong argument if we take into consideration that Rav reads “ten that sit in judgment” in our mishna, making the case of one likewise one that sits in judgment, as I explained earlier. Therefore, when the Talmud in Berakhot 6a speaks of one who sits and studies Torah it is quoting the earlier mishna. That passage does present some difficulty, because since the material is taught in a mishna, it is unclear what the amora who says it independently is teaching us.
One might object that if we emend the text to quote the verse “let him sit alone” for the case of one, how will this verse relate to someone sitting in judgment? But this is no objection, for when the judge has heard the claims and is thinking through the case he indeed “sits alone and is quiet,” since there is nobody with whom to discuss the case. In fact, a lone judge is more likely to sit quietly and think than one who is studying Torah, for although he is alone it is quite likely that he will study aloud to fulfill the verse “for they [the words] are life to those who find them” (Proverbs 4:22), which the Talmud in Eruvin 54a reads midrashically: read not “those who find them” [Heb. motz’eihem] but “those who bring them forth from their mouths” [Heb. motzi’eihem]. But to judge one must think and ponder the case.

Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants.

רק השמר לך … פן תשכח את הדברים ONLY TAKE HEED TO THYSELF … LEST THOU FORGET THE THINGS — But only then when you do not forget them but will do them in their correct manner, will you be accounted wise and understanding men, but if you do them in an incorrect manner through forgetfulness, you will be accounted foolish.