(1) יהוה said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. (2) I will make of you a great nation,
And I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
And you shall be a blessing.
(3) I will bless those who bless you
And curse the one who curses you;
And all the families of the earth
Shall bless themselves by you.” (4) Abram went forth as יהוה had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. (5) Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired in Haran; and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan,
(א) תרל"ב
...
(ה) רמב"ן הקשה שנאמר לך לך בלי שנזכר מקודם חיבתו. ובזוה"ק נראה כי זה עצמו השבח ששמע זה המאמר לך לך שנאמר מהשי"ת לכל האנשים תמיד כמ"ש וי לאינון דשינתא בחוריהון ואאע"ה שמע וקיבל. וממילא נקרא רק הדיבור אליו כי הלא לא נמצא מיוחד לשמוע. רק הוא אבל בודאי זה השבח בעצמו שהי' מוכן לקבל המאמר:
(5) The Rambam noted a difficulty in our parsha - that God says "Go forth..." without first mentioning why Avraham in particular was so precious as to receive such a command. It appears to me that the holy Zohar sees this very fact as what makes Avraham praiseworthy. He heard the call of 'go forth' which comes out from God to all people at all time, as it says 'oy to those who sleep in their holes (and do not hear)!' Our father Avraham heard the call and received its message. Perforce the Divine word was calling to him alone, because there was no one but he listening. Certainly this itself is his greatest praise - that he was ready to receive the call.
I remember as a child reading about the stories Avraham Avinu, how he revolutionized the idea of monotheism, how he challenged the superpower of the world, Nimrod, and how this almost cost him his life. Avraham was forced to flee, but, according to the Midrash, he attracted a lot of followers in Charan. He traveled to the Promised Land, and he began to preach the word of God undeterred by anyone and anything. Avraham was a man with a mission. Avraham was a hero and the Torah’s description of him as Avram Ha’Ivri, Avram the “Ivri,” so perfectly highlights his true identity.
A Midrash cites a three-way debate as to the import of this description. Rabbi Nehemiah understands that this description refers to the fact that he was a descendant of Ever, and that’s why he was called an “Ivri.” Other Rabbis understand that this description refers to the fact that he was “mai’ever ha’nahar” – from the other side of the Jordan River. He was a foreigner and he spoke “ivri,” the language of those who live east of the Jordan River. However, the interpretation that I found most compelling was that of Rabbi Yehudah, who explained that the whole world was “mai’ever echad v’hu mei’ever echad.” The whole world was on one side and Avraham was on another side. Avraham had the courage to be different than everyone else. This description of Avraham as an “ivri” filled me with a sense of pride about what it means to be a Jew, that we are not moved by cultural values and norms if they are antithetical to Torah values, because we are descendants of Avraham Avinu. The whole world can think one way, but we are “Ivriyim” – we think differently and we are proud of our differences.
Hillel and Shammai and their court received the tradition from Shemayah and Avtalion and their court. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai and Rabbi Shimon, the son of Hillel the elder, received the tradition from Hillel [and Shammai] and his [their] court[s].15
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai had five students [who were] great sages and received the tradition from him. They were: Rabbi Eleazar the great, Rabbi Yehoshua, Rabbi Yosse the priest, Rabbi Shimon ben Netanel and Rabbi Elazar ben Arach. Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef received from Rabbi Eleazar the great. Yosef, his father, was a righteous convert.
Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Meir, a son of righteous converts, received the tradition from Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Meir and his colleagues also received the tradition from Rabbi Yishmael.
The colleagues of Rabbi Meir include Rabbi Yehudah, Rabbi Yosse, Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Nechemiah, Rabbi Elazar ben Shamu'a, Rabbi Yochanan the shoemaker, Shimon ben Azzai, and Rabbi Chananiah ben Teradion.16
Similarly, Rabbi Akiva's colleagues also received the tradition from Rabbi Eleazar the great. Rabbi Akiva's colleagues include Rabbi Tarfon - the teacher of Rabbi Yosse of the Galil - Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar, and Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri.
Rabban Gamliel the elder received the tradition from Rabban Shimon, his father - the son of Hillel the elder. Rabban Shimon, his son, received the tradition from him. Rabban Gamliel, his son, received the tradition from him and Rabban Shimon, his son, received the tradition from him.
Rabbi Yehudah, the son of Rabban Shimon and referred to as Rabbenu Hakadosh ("our saintly teacher"),17 received the tradition from his father, from Rabbi Elazar ben Shamu'a, and from Rabban Shimon and his colleagues.
Rabbenu Hakadosh composed the Mishnah. From the days of Moses, our teacher, until Rabbenu Hakadosh, no one had composed a text for the purpose of teaching the Oral Law in public. Instead, in each generation, the head of the court or the prophet of that generation would take notes of the teachings which he received from his masters for himself, and teach them verbally in public. Similarly, according to his own potential, each individual would write notes for himself of what he heard regarding the explanation of the Torah, its laws, and the new concepts that were deduced in each generation concerning laws that were not communicated by the oral tradition, but rather deduced using one of the thirteen principles of Biblical exegesis and accepted by the high court.
This situation continued until [the age of] Rabbenu Hakadosh. He collected all the teachings, all the laws, and all the explanations and commentaries that were heard from Moses, our teacher, and which were taught by the courts in each generation concerning the entire Torah. From all these, he composed the text of the Mishnah. He taught it to the Sages in public and revealed it to the Jewish people, who all wrote it down. They spread it in all places so that the Oral Law would not be forgotten by the Jewish people.
Why did Rabbenu Hakadosh make [such an innovation] instead of perpetuating the status quo? Because he saw the students becoming fewer, new difficulties constantly arising, the Roman Empire18 spreading itself throughout the world and becoming more powerful, and the Jewish people wandering and becoming dispersed to the far ends of the world. [Therefore,] he composed a single text that would be available to everyone, so that it could be studied quickly and would not be forgotten.19 Throughout his entire life, he and his court taught the Mishnah to the masses.
(126) It is a time to act for the LORD,
for they have violated Your teaching.
(א) שיכול לומר ק"ש בעל פה. ובו סעיף אחד:
אע"ג דקיימא לן דברים שבכתב אי אתה רשאי לאומרם על פה כל דבר שרגיל ושגור בפי הכל כגון ק"ש וברכת כהנים ופרשת התמיד וכיוצא בהן מותר:
(1) Even though we have established that things [from the Torah] which were written, you have no permission to recite them by heart, any thing that is routine and fluent in everyone's mouth, for example, the recitation of the Sh'ma and the Priestly Blessing and the section of the daily offering, and similar things to them is permitted.
יהא טעמו של האיסור אשר יהא, נשאלת השאלה כיצד זה הועלתה התורה שבעל-פה על הכתב בניגוד לאיסור המפורש? כדי לענות על שאלה זו, נעיין בדברי הרמב"ם בהקדמתו לספר משנה תורה, כשהוא מסביר מה הניע את רבי יהודה הנשיא לחבר את המשנה:
לפי שראה שתלמידים מתמעטין והולכין, והצרות מתחדשות ובאות, ומלכות רומי פושטת בעולם ומתגברת, וישראל מתגלגלין והולכין לקצוות, חיבר חיבור אחד להיות ביד כולם, כדי שילמדוהו במהרה, ולא יישכח.
את היסוד ההלכתי להיתר כתיבת התורה שבעל-פה מצאו חז"ל בסיפור על ר' יוחנן וריש לקיש שהיו מעיינים בספרי אגדה בשבת והסמיכו את מעשיהם לפסוק "עת לעשות לה' הפרו תורתך" (תהלים קיט, קכו), ואמרו: "מוטב תיעקר תורה [=מצווה אחת], ואל תשתכח תורה [כולה] מישראל"25.
Motivation for Rabbi Judah HaNasi to put the Oral Torah into written form:
How can Rabbi Judah HaNasi transgress the prohibition of writing down the Oral Torah? In order to answer this question, we must look at the Rambam's explanation of Rabbi Judah Hanasi's motivation:
Because he (Rabbi Judah) saw the students declining in numbers, and the oppressions (of the Romans) increasing and the Roman Empire gaining strength, the People of Israel were going to all of the extremeties of the earth. Therefore, one publication of the Oral Torah in written form was critical, in order for the Oral Torah to be taught and not be forgotten...
Better to forego one Mitzvah of the Torah than all of the Torah be forgotten forever.
On a somber day in 1233, in a public square in Paris, a group of Dominican monks set fire to a huge pile of the philosophical works of Maimonides, the leading rabbi of his generation. According to some historical sources, a number of Jewish followers of the rabbis who opposed Maimonides accused him of heretical views, denounced his works to the Dominicans and demanded they be consigned to the flames. The Dominicans were only too pleased to accommodate them.
The first controversy came 15 years later. At the age of 45, Maimonides authored the magisterial Mishneh Torah, the first formal codification of Jewish law written in beautiful, clear, concise and easy-to-understand Hebrew. It was a work of art and science that rocked the rabbinate. Moreover, with fears of it affecting their livelihood, some of the less illustrious rabbis of the time responded with furious opposition and condemnation.
Some were concerned that it simplified and watered down the complex, interlocking tapestry of the authoritative Talmud. Until that point, questions of law and custom presented to rabbis were adjudicated solely by reference to the Talmud, the grand depository of all Jewish law. But the Talmud is not the kind of law book to which we are accustomed, in which all the laws are arranged in a series of articles and sub-articles. Rather, the Talmud is a voluminous transcript of wide-ranging and often contentious debates among the Sages of the first millennium of the modern area. The debates veer off into numerous tangents, and debates that begin in one tractate often reappear in other tractate with other proofs and arguments. The debates are rarely resolved in the two thousand pages of the Talmud, leaving it to later generations to derive the law as it should be applied to practical cases.
רמב"ם החל לכתוב את "משנה תורה" בשנת 1177, ועסק בכתיבתו עשר שנים. על הצורך בכתיבת הספר "משנה תורה" כותב הרמב"ם בהקדמה לספרו:
בזמן הזה תקפו צרות יתרות, ודחקה השעה את הכול, ואבדה חכמת חכמינו ובינת נבונינו נסתרה. לפיכך אותם הפירושים וההלכות והתשובות שחיברו הגאונים, וראו שהם דברים מבוארים - נתקשו בימינו ואין מבין ענייניהם כראוי אלא מעט במספר. ואין צריך לומר הגמרא הבבלית והירושלמית, וספרא וספרי והתוספתא, שהם צריכים דעת רחבה ונפש חכמה וזמן ארוך, ואחר כך ייוודע מהם הדרך הנכוחה בדברים האסורים והמותרים, ושאר דיני התורה היאך הוא. ומפני זה ניערתי חוצני, אני משה בן מימון הספרדי, ונשענתי על הצור ברוך הוא, ובינותי בכל אלו הספרים, וראיתי לחבר דברים המתבררים מכל אלו החיבורים בעניין האסור והמותר, הטמא והטהור, עם שאר דיני התורה, כולם בלשון ברורה ודרך קצרה, עד שתהא תורה שבעל פה כולה סדורה בפי הכול בלא קושיא ובלא פירוק...
כללו של דבר: כדי שלא יהא אדם צריך לחיבור אחר בעולם בדין מדיני ישראל, אלא יהא חיבור זה מקבץ לתורה שבעל פה כולה, עם התקנות והמנהגות והגזרות שנעשו מימות משה רבנו ועד חיבור הגמרא. לפיכך קראתי את שם חיבור זה "משנה תורה", לפי שאדם קורא בתורה שבכתב תחילה, ואחר כך קורא בזה - ויודע ממנו תורה שבעל פה כולה, ואינו צריך לקרות ספר אחר ביניהם."
(Translation, Ariel Tal)
Rambam (Maimonides) started writing "Mishen Torah" in the year 1177, and spent ten years completing the work. Maimonides writes the motivation and need behind writing the "Mishne Torah" Halachic publication, in his introduction to the 14 volume book:
In this time there are many travesties, and we are at a critical time, where much of our collective wisdom is lost. Therefore, those commentaries and the Halachot (Jewish laws) and Responsas that the "Ge'onim" (Sages of post-Talmudic Era) compiled, are not widely learned. Not to mention that the masses are not well versed in the classical texts of Mishna, Talmud, and the Talmudic commentaries and Midrashim, which requires a breadth and depth of knowledge, and many hours and years of study in order to master them. The Halacha is sourced from those sources, which are not accessible to the wider public.
For that reason, I, Moshe ben Maimon from Spain, decided to "shake up" the Halachic book format, and relying on God and my knowledge of the classical Torah and Rabbinic texts, have decided to author words that clearly depict the Jewish laws in all areas - the permitted and forbidden, the pure and impure, with all of the other Torah laws. All of them written in a clear language and short format, in order for the Oral Torah to be widespread and known to the wider public without having to learn the issues in depth.
In summary: This should be the only composition of the laws of Israel that a person should need to learn, in order to understand and keep all of the Mitzvot, customs, and required Rabbinic laws that have been established from the time of Moshe Rabeinu until the composition of the Talmud. Therefore, I am naming this composition "Mishne Torah" (the Second Torah) - since a person should be able to read the Written Torah and this composition, and not have to read any other book in order to understand all of the Mitzvot to its fullest degree.
(ב) שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד. ... וכל האדם צריך לעבוד השי"ת בכל כחו שהכל הוא צורך מפני שהשי"ת רוצה שיעבדו אותו בכל האופנים. והכוונה כי לפעמים אדם הולך ומדבר עם ב"א ואז אינו יכול ללמוד וצריך להיות דבוק בהש"י וליחד יחודים. וכן כשהאדם הולך בדרך ואינו יכול להתפלל וללמוד כדרכו וצריך לעבוד אותו באופנים אחרים. ואל יצער את עצמו בזה כי השי"ת רוצה בזה שיעבדוהו בכל האופנים פעמי' באופן זה ופעמים באופן זה לכך הזדמן לפניו לילך לדרך או לדבר עם ב"א בכדי לעבוד אותו באופן הזה. כלל גדול גול על ה' מעשיך ויכונו מחשבותיך שכל דבר שיזדמן יחשוב שהוא מאתו יתברך ויראה שיבקש מהשי"ת שיזמין לו תמיד מה שהשי"ת יודע שהוא לטובתו ולא מה שנראה לב"א ע"פ שכלו כי אפשר מה שבעיניו טוב הוא רע לו רק ישליך הכל כל עניניו וצרכיו עליו יתברך:
From the will of R' Yisrael Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760)
(2)...Every person must serve Hashem with all their strength, for it is all necessity, for Hashem desires that people serve Him in every way. Meaning: there are times when a person engages in conversation and is unable to learn Torah. At these times, a person must maintain focus on Hashem (and perform [Kabbalistic] yichudim). And when a person is going on the way and is unable to pray or learn as usual, and one must find other ways in which to serve Hashem, one must never be distraught about these things. Hashem wishes to be served in many ways, and therefore He grants the opportunity to travel or converse in order to serve Hashem in that way. “Commit your deeds to Hashem, and your thoughts will be established” (Mishlei 16:3). Everything that occurs, a person should think that it is from Him. It is appropriate for one to ask Hashem to always grant what Hashem knows to be in one’s best interest, and not what a person thinks based on their own mind. It is possible that what is good in one’s eyes could be detrimental. As such one should cast everything, all of one’s matters and needs, upon Hashem.
When a person prays in happiness then certainly their prayers will be more accepted than that of prayers uttered with bitter tears and sadness. A parable to illustrate this: If a poor beggar approaches a king screaming and crying for sustenance, the king will provide a morsel. However, if a dignified minister comes to visit the king, praising him out of great respect and happiness to see him, then the king will honor any request in any way for his minister.
Not everyone was pleased with the fledgling movement. Many rabbis and community leaders viewed Chassidism as revolutionary and dangerous. They were afraid that the vast, popular appeal of Chassidism would threaten their authority. They were also concerned that the movement would endanger the fundamental Jewish value of Torah study and scholarship, due to the Chassidic emphasis on unqualified love for every Jew, regardless of his status in Torah learning.
No less dangerous in their eyes were the mystical Chassidic teachings themselves. In the context of the recent, traumatic episode of false messiah Shabbtai Tzvi and his followers, who used a lot of distorted teachings of the Kabbalah to further their goals, a movement that made this secret wisdom public was regarded with extreme suspicion. Some thought that the new Chassidism was a branch of the Shabbatean movement.
Though these fears were altogether unfounded, many rabbis and community leaders issued proclamations of denunciation against the Baal Shem Tov and his followers. The Baal Shem Tov himself, when directly confronted, would respond by refuting these charges, but did not allow himself to be drawn into public arguments and fights. To him, it was more important to spread light and comfort.
A distraught Jew came to the Baal Shem Tov to receive the tzadik’s blessing and guidance regarding a pressing family matter: his oldest son had abandoned Jewish practice, Torah and mitzvos almost completely. “Tell me,” the Baal Shem Tov inquired, “do you love your son?” “Of course I do!” the man cried.
“Then love him even more,” was the Baal Shem Tov’s response. “Love him more.”