שים שָׁלום טובָה וּבְרָכָה. חֵן וָחֶסֶד וְרַחֲמִים עָלֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל יִשרָאֵל עַמֶּךָ. בָּרְכֵנוּ אָבִינוּ כֻּלָּנוּ כְּאֶחָד בְּאור פָּנֶיךָ. כִּי בְאור פָּנֶיךָ נָתַתָּ לָּנוּ ה' אֱלהֵינוּ תּורַת חַיִּים וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד. וּצְדָקָה וּבְרָכָה וְרַחֲמִים וְחַיִּים וְשָׁלום.
Establish peace, goodness, blessing, grace, loving kindness and mercy upon us and upon all Israel Your people. Bless us our Father, all of us as one, with the light of Your face. For in the light of Your face You gave to us, O Lord our God, a Torah of life and love of kindness and righteousness and blessing and compassion and life and peace.
- What does the phrase a "torat hayyim" mean?
- If you understand 'torat hayyim' as 'living torah,' what would it mean for Torah to be alive?
ועשית הישר והטוב בעיני ה' ולרבותינו בזה מדרש יפה, אמרו זו פשרה ולפנים משורת הדין.
והכוונה בזה, כי מתחלה אמר שתשמור חוקותיו ועדותיו אשר ציוך, ועתה יאמר גם באשר לא ציוך תן דעתך לעשות הטוב והישר בעיניו, כי הוא אוהב הטוב והישר:
וזה עניין גדול, לפי שאי אפשר להזכיר בתורה כל הנהגות האדם עם שכניו ורעיו וכל משאו ומתנו ותיקוני הישוב והמדינות כלם, אבל אחרי שהזכיר מהם הרבה, כגון לא תלך רכיל (ויקרא יט טז), לא תקום ולא תיטור (שם פסוק יח), ולא תעמוד על דם רעך (שם פסוק טז), לא תקלל חרש (שם פסוק יד), מפני שיבה תקום (שם פסוק לב), וכיוצא בהן, חזר לומר בדרך כלל שיעשה הטוב והישר בכל דבר, עד שיכנס בזה הפשרה ולפנים משורת הדין,
וכגון מה שהזכירו בדינא דבר מצרא (ב"מ קח א), ואפילו מה שאמרו (יומא פו א): פרקו נאה ודבורו בנחת עם הבריות, עד שיקרא בכל עניין תם וישר:
"You shall do what is right and good in God's eyes"-- ...Our Rabbis have a beautiful midrash on this verse. They have said: "this refers to compromising and going beyond the requirement of the letter of the law."
The intent of this is as follows: At first he [Moshe] stated that you are to keep his statues and his testimonies which he commanded you, and now that he is stating that even where he has not commanded you, give thought as well, to do what is good and right in his eyes, for he loves the good and the right.
Now this is a great principle, for it is impossible to mention in the Torah all aspects of man's conduct with his neighbors and friends, and all his various transactions, and the ordinances or all societies and countries. But after He mentioned many of them- such as "Thou shalt not go about as a talebearer;" (Lev 19:16) "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge;" (19:18) "Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor;" (19:16) "Do not curse the deaf;" (19:14) "You shall rise before an elder;" (19:32) and the like, He then went back and said generally that one should do the good and the right in everything, until through this he reaches [the level of] 'compromise and going beyond the letter of the law.'
This is like what it says of the law of the neighboring landowner (BM 108a), and even what they said (Yoma 86a): his beard should be nice and his speech should be gentle with people," until he is worthy of being called "pure and right" with regard to everything.
- Ramban lists a number of mitzvot. What kind of a human ideal do these mitzvot point to?
- What does 'tov veyashar' (good and right) mean according to Ramban? How does one fulfill it?
- What is his point about "all societies and all countries?
- List 2 mitzvot from Torah (not having to do with temple) which seem irrelevant to 21st century American society. According to Ramban's theory, what is the point of us (21st century Americans) studying them?
- Identify 1 thing in our society which Torah doesn't mention, but which you believe violates Torah ideals. Would Ramban say those things are forbidden?
Bonus Source
(ו) כי יקרא קן צפור לפניך גם זו מצוה מבוארת מן אותו ואת בנו לא תשחטו ביום אחד (ויקרא כב כח) כי הטעם בשניהם לבלתי היות לנו לב אכזרי ולא נרחם או שלא יתיר הכתוב לעשות השחתה לעקור המין אע"פ שהתיר השחיטה במין ההוא
בב"ר (מד א) וכי מה איכפת לו להקב"ה בין שוחט מן הצואר לשוחט מן העורף הא לא נתנו המצות אלא לצרף בהם את הבריות שנאמר (משלי ל ה) כל אמרת אלוה צרופה
אלו ההגדות ...כפי דעתי ענין אחר להם שרצו לומר שאין התועלת במצות להקב"ה בעצמו יתעלה אבל התועלת באדם עצמו למנוע ממנו נזק או אמונה רעה או מדה מגונה או לזכור הנסים ונפלאות הבורא יתברך ולדעת את השם
וזהו "לצרף בהן" שיהיו ככסף צרוף כי הצורף הכסף אין מעשהו בלא טעם אבל להוציא ממנו כל סיג וכן המצות להוציא מלבנו כל אמונה רעה ולהודיענו האמת ולזוכרו תמיד
"Should you happen upon a bird's nest" (Dt 22:6) This mitzvah is also clarified based on "Do not slaughter her and her calf on the same day." (Lev 22:2) The reason for both of them is that we should not have a cruel heart and be uncompassionate. Also, the Bible does not want us to exterminate a species even though we can slaughter one animal within that species....
Bereshit Rabbah (44:1) [says]: "What does God care whether one slaughters from the neck or from the throat? Behold, the mitzvot were given only to refine humans, as it says 'all of the words of God are refined." (Prv 30:5)
In my opinion, these aggadot all say the same thing: that the commandments do not help God, but help humans, preventing them from harm, bad beliefs, or disgusting attributes or to remember God's miracles so that we should know God.
This is the meaning of "refine:" that we should be like refined silver. For the one who refines silver is not doing so without a reason, but rather to remove every impurity. So too the mitzvoth exist to remove for our hearts all bad beliefs and to make us aware of the truth and always remember God...
- What does he mean by 'disgusting attributes'? What is one such 'disgusting attribute' the Torah comes to remove from us?
- Can you think of a particular mitzvah that trains us to remove a particular "bad attribute"?
Barren, Cramped Battery Cages
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/confinement_farm/facts/battery_cages.html
In the dark barns where America’s egg-laying hens are confined in cages, birds are packed together so tightly they can’t even spread their wings. The space reserved for each is less than a sheet of paper. Crammed wing to wing, the birds are nearly immobilized their entire lives. Their feet sometimes get stuck in the metal floor or their heads between bars so that they’re maimed or trampled to death, or trapped to die of dehydration. They cannot nest, forage, perch or dust bathe, all natural behaviors necessary for their welfare.
Hens are intelligent, highly social animals with a communication system that includes dozens of different vocalizations. But their social structure breaks down in battery cages, says animal scientist Dr. Michael Baxter. “Hens appear to be in a chronic state of social stress, perpetually trying to get away from their cage mates, not able to express dominance relations by means of spacing and not even able to resolve social conflict by means of aggression.
Scientists call battery cages cruel
Researchers say the cruelest thing about battery cages is that they prevent hens from following their instincts when laying eggs. If they were not so tightly confined in such a barren environment, hens would seek out a secluded spot to nest and lay. Since this is impossible in crowded battery cages, hens go through long periods of frustration. They also suffer in other ways. Their feet are intended to wrap around branches in the jungles where they evolved, yet they have no perch to rest on. Their movements are restricted so much that they develop osteoporosis—weak, brittle bones.
- What would Ramban say about this practice?
- Could one say that chickens/eggs produced this way are kosher?