Correctness of Torah

Let's see the Ramban here in Perek Chaf Zayin, Pasuk Chaf Vav. The Pasuk

ארור אשר לא יקים את דברי התורה הזאת לעשות אותם ואמר כל העם אמן.

The context, the Brachos and Klallos on Har Grizim and Har Eival.

כאן כלל את כל התורה כולה וקיבלו עליהם באלה ובשבועה,

lashon Rashi. Lefi daati says the Ramban

כי הקבלה הזאת שיודה במצות בלבו ויהיו בעיניו אמת ויאמין שהעושה אותן יהיה לו שכר וטובה והעובר עליהן יהיה עונש.

So the kabbala the Ramban says here is not just a kabbala on a practical level that a person practically complies and conforms with mitzvos haTorah. But there has to be an underlying conviction and mitzvos have to be an outgrowth of that conviction. Not just that a person sort of goes through the practical motions which again bring him in compliance, but a person recognizes, acknowledges, right, hoda'ah. So our first association with hoda'ah is to give thanks, but the primary meaning of hoda'ah is to recognize, to acknowledge. הודאת בעל דין כמאה עדים דמי. Hoda'ah as in Modim Anachnu Lach, as in expressing gratitude and thanks is sort of an extension of that, as an acknowledgment of good so then one gives thanks. כי הקבלה הזאת שיודה במצות בלבו that a person acknowledges, recognizes the mitzvos, ve-yihyu be-einav emes. What does it mean in this context that the mitzvos are emes? We usually think of emes as you can evaluate a sechel and a proposition and you can say whether it's emes or sheker. So what does it mean that Hakadosh Baruch Hu truthfully commanded these mitzvos? No, that's already included in yodeh be-mitzvos be-libbo. When a person is in his mind and heart acknowledging mitzvos, so already there there's an affirmation that Hakadosh Baruch Hu commanded these mitzvos. So what does emes mean in this context? So lich'orah we're helped in understanding what emes means by the hemshech in the Ramban. To believe in שהעושה אותן יהיה לו שכר וטובה is not something distinct, it It's an extension of what it means to believe that mitzvos emes. So let's say משל למה הדבר דומה. Let's say that the doctor tells one of his patients, you know, smoking is really dangerous for all types of lung disease rachmana litzlan. If the patient really thinks that what the doctor is saying is emes, so then the patient believes that if he'll choose to smoke, so then he's going to be vulnerable, and he's going to be more susceptible to all these illnesses. And if the doctor tells the patient that tells him what a healthy lifestyle involves in terms of exercise and diet and and not being stressed vechulu. If if the patient really thinks that what the doctor is saying is emes, so the patient will mimeila believe that שהאות עושה לו שכר וטובה. If a person really thinks it's emes, so what it means is it's again in terms of the mashal, it's emes that that's the way the natural physical world functions. And mimeila, if if a person really believes it's emes, if he has reason to and believes it's emes, he realizes it's it's a corollary or or an application of that, an extension of that, that he'll suffer from the dysfunction or benefit from the functioning well. Mitzvos, the Ramban is is telling us the same way in the natural and physical world there are natural and physical realities and and there are God-given laws and facts. You didn't move your car and I was trying to do a hachrazah or maybe five minutes ago was time for hachrazah I'm not sure, but mitzvos are not simply Hakadosh Baruch Hu said do it and we're beholden to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Hakadosh Baruch Hu's בידו להמית ולהחיות, so mimeila we we comply. But mitzvos ha-emes, there's a spiritual reality and mitzvos are the Torah mitzvos are the true blueprint for how a person lives in that spiritual reality, how he can come close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, how he lives morally, ethically. They're not only commandment, avadah they are commandment, but they're not only commandment, they're emes. And part of the recognition and acknowledgment of mitzvos is to recognize and acknowledge that dimension, that reality. A person follows the the... because because it's emes, not mitzad hatzivuy. So v'avada v'avada the tzivuy is mechayiv, of course the tzivuy is mechayiv, but alongside that there's supposed to be a recognition that the mitzvos are inherently and intrinsically emes that Hakadosh Baruch Hu revealed and commanded. And that's what the Ramban is saying, that's why it's a flow here, the ויאמין שהעושה אותן יהיה לו שכר וטובה is not something distinct, there's not A there's mitzvos and B you should know that there's a system of schar v'onesh. No, you should know that the mitzvos naturally because they're emes they naturally yield a tovah. You hear what the Ramban's saying? Why does the Ramban have two words of schar v'tovah but when it comes to onesh he just has one word? So l'chora as follows, if you have it on your computer or if you happen to be having if you have a Chamishah Chumshei Torah with the Ramban. If you take a look at the Ramban the end of Parshas Acharei Mos. It's

פרק יח פסוק כט. כי כל אשר יעשה מכל התועבות האלה ונכרתו הנפשות העושות מקרב עמם.

So the Ramban begins I think maybe on a different occasion we spoke about the Ramban a little bit, Ramban talks about how kares in the Torah means either of three different things and he correlates that with the different leshonos that the Torah employs for talking about kares. Talks about that sometimes kares just means in olam hazeh that the person rachmana litzlan dies young. And sometimes it means only in olam haba. A person can live to a very old age in olam hazeh but it means rachmana litzlan כרת מתוך עולם הבא. And sometimes it can be both. Sometimes the kares can be hikareis tikareis, it can rachmana litzlan be both, it can be that a person dies prematurely in olam hazeh as well as losing his olam haba. Then the Ramban says continuing this discussion he says dialectically he says v'teida v'taskil. Taskil means you have to have a little bit of a little bit of insight. Right l'haskil is the lashon hif'il so you're acting upon something in the sense that you have insight into it. v'teida v'taskil כי הכריתות הנזכרים בנפש when the Torah speaks of again the last two of the three types of kares that affect the nefesh as well, so תדע ותשכיל כי הכריתות הנזכרים בנפש is בטחון בקיום הנפשות אחרי המיתה is really establishing knowledge and reassuring us about hasharas hanefesh, about the immortality of the nefesh. ובמתן השכר בעולם הנשמות and the fact that there is schar in olam haneshamos ki b'omro yisbarach when the Torah says in extraordinary exceptional circumstances the Torah says ונכרתה הנפש ההיא מקרב עמם or ונכרתה הנפש ההיא מלפני, so clearly what the Torah is thereby yoreh, the Torah is indicating and teaching ki davka, I put in the word davka, הנפש החוטאת היא תכרת בעונה. It's this in this exceptional circumstance this individual will will his nefesh will be nichresas. However the norm V'ta'am zeh hainyan. So why is it? Why is it sort of that the Torah tells us about the immortality, about hisharus hanefesh, the Torah tells us about it almost sort of we're seeing it indirectly, right? That the Torah is agav, v'onesh shel kares says the Ramban, nimtzanu l'meidem about hisharus hanefesh. It's a funny thing. V'ta'am zeh hainyan says the Ramban

וטעם זה הענין כי נשמת האדם נר השם אשר נפח באפינו מפי עליון ונשמת שדי כמו שנאמר ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים הנה היא בענינה ולא תמות.

The neshama is naturally immortal. The natural state of affairs for a neshama is that the neshama is immortal. The natural state of affairs for something physical, for the body, is that the body is mortal. The natural state of affairs for the neshama, for the ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים, whatever the metaphor of vayipach is expressing, but it's something immortal והוא עומד לעד בקיום השכלים הנבדלים like the malachim exist immortally

ולכך לא יצטרך הכתוב לומר כי בזכות המצות יהיה קיום.

The Torah doesn't need to emphasize or even state directly that in the with the merit of mitzvos a person is zocheh l'olam haba. No, a person is on track for olam haba for hisharus hanefesh because the nefesh by naturally is something immortal

אבל יאמר כי בעונש העבירות תגאל ותטמא ותכרת מן הקיום הראוי.

But let's add one more line here in the Ramban and then we'll see just the extraordinary how much the Rishonim compressed into so little in our Ramban. U'kvar peirashnu, I skipped a line, u'kvar peirashnu וכבר פירשנו כי כל היעודים שבתורה בהבטחות או בהתראות. All the brachos u'klalos, the olam hazeh-dik consequences, brachos u'klalos in olam hazeh, the Ramban says we've already explained back in I think back in Bechukosai or no back in Bo, this is Acharei Mos, back in Bo כולם מופתים מן הנסים הנסתרים. Sechar v'onesh in olam hazeh is all miraculous. There's no reason in olam hazeh that if a person puts on tefillin he should have good health. Tefillin is not naturally good for your health. There's no reason in olam hazeh that if a person doesn't put on tefillin that it's injurious to health. It doesn't naturally, it doesn't affect one's health, it doesn't affect one's longevity, it doesn't affect one's prosperity.

כולם מופתים מן הנסים הנסתרים בדבר מופתי תבטיח ותזהיר התורה לעולם.

So all the sechar v'onesh in olam hazeh is all miraculous. Lachen, the Ramban reiterates, הזהיר הכאן בכרת שהוא ענין נסי. Kares, Rachmana litzlan, is also a miracle because the nefesh, the neshama, naturally is immortal. Kares is a miracle, not the type of miracle that one wants to see, but kares is a miracle and that's why.

תשייכן בכרת שהוא ענין ניסי ולא תבטיח בקיום שהוא ראוי,

kiyum hisharus hanefesh is the natural state of affairs. Come back to our Ramban, incredible how the Rishonim with such, everything was with such profundity and such precision. ויאמין שהעושה אותן יהיה לו שכר וטובה. If a person's mekayeim mitzvos, there are two different maarachos which are triggered. Number one, there's a miraculous s'char. All the brachos of Olam Hazeh, s'char. Number two, there's tovah, there's natural tovah. The natural tovah will ensue. Ma she'ein kein, all onesh is miraculous. There's only one maaracha of onshem, there's two maarachos in terms of the good and the positive that ensues. You hear that, rabosai? Could you explain again the second tovah? The second maaracha of tovah? The Ramban says it's not headline news that if a person lives properly, that he, that there's hisharus hanefesh and that he's זוכה לחיי העולם הבא. That it's natural. That's not, you're not going to put on the, it's not going to be the headline in tomorrow's paper that the sun rose in the east. And it's not going to be the headline in tomorrow's paper that today the sun set in the west. It's natural. It doesn't need to be emphasized, it doesn't need to be underscored. If the sun were to rise in the west and set in the east, so the headline will be whether the Mets or the Yankees won, but on page three, mistama they'll also probably give honorable mention to this as well. So the Ramban says that hisharus hanefesh in our Ramban tovah is natural. It's natural because the neshama is naturally immortal. Nishmas Shakai tivineim, the neshama that we're given is immortal. That's natural, it's not a miraculous system of s'char va'onesh, it's a natural, it's natural, it's natural tovah. On the other hand, there's also miraculous s'char, which is in Olam Hazeh. Onshem, bein be'Olam Hazeh, bein be'Olam Haba are miraculous. And that's why the Ramban, our Ramban has two leshonos of s'char va'tovah but only one lashon of onesh. It's klar, that's the pshat here in the Ramban. Like there aren't natural negative ramifications to actions? Not, certainly not to the same degree that there is tovah, meaning certainly not to the same degree. And that's what the Ramban is really highlighting that difference. Does that mean that there's nothing? I don't know. But certainly not to the same degree, certainly not to the same degree. Let's go on a little bit more here, rabosai.

ואם יכפור באחת מהן תהיה בעיניו בטלה לעולם הנה הוא ארור. אבל אם עבר על אחת מהן,

a person doesn't deny the mitzvah, he doesn't deny that the mitzvah's emes, he doesn't deny again for shorthand now, the s'char va'onesh, כגון שאכל החזיר והשקץ לתאוותו. Or שלא עשה סוכה ולולב לעצלה, einenu bacharem hazeh.

כי לא אמר הכתוב אשר לא יעשה את דברי התורה הזאת, אלא אמר אשר לא יקים את דברי התורה הזאת לעשות.

He doesn't have the underlying conviction to uphold Torah, not that he practically didn't comply with Torah, but asher lo yakim, he didn't uphold Torah. He doesn't have... the conviction which is the foundation to uphold Torah. כטעם קיימו וקיבלו היהודים והנה הוא החרם המורדים והכופרים. So this arur is intended not for someone who isn't mekayem, but it's intended for someone who doesn't have the foundation for kiyum, who's mored ve-kofer rachmana litzlan. ובירושלמי בסוטה ראיתי asher lo yakim

וכי יש תורה נופלת? רבי שמעון בן יקים אומר זה החזן. רבי שמעון בן חלפתא אומר זה בית דין של מטן דאמר רבי יהודה ורב הונא בשם שמואל על הדבר הזה קרע יאשיהו ואמר עלי להקים. אמר רבי אסי בשם רבי תנחום בר חייא למד ולימד ושמר ועשה והיתה בידו להחזיק ולא החזיק הרי זה בכלל ארור.

Yidrashu ba-hakama ha-zos, so the Yerushalmi is interpreting asher lo yakim, ha-hakama, Beis ha-melech ve-ha-nesius שבידם להקים את התורה ביד המבטלים אותה. So the Ramban is saying that this pshat in the Yerushalmi means that asher lo yakim basically is that someone who's in a position at a time in history when it's appropriate is in a position to be kofeh and isn't kofeh. Right, what Beis Din, what the Melech, what the Nasi have in common is they all have a koach of kfiya. And that's what the Ramban says,

ואפילו היה הוא צדיק גמור במעשיו והיה יכול להחזיק התורה ביד הרשעים המבטלים אותה הרי זה ארור. וזה קרוב לעניין שפירשנו.

How is וזה קרוב לעניין שפירשנו? So this understanding in the Yerushalmi, this de'iah in the Yerushalmi says ארור אשר לא יקים, a person doesn't uphold Torah in the sense that it's be-yado by virtue of the fact that he's Beis Din, by virtue of the fact that he's the Melech, by virtue of the fact that he's the Nasi, it's be-yado to uphold Torah in the sense of being kofeh those who don't comply, להחזיק התורה ביד הרשעים המבטלים אותה. How is וזה קרוב לעניין שפירשנו? The Ramban talked about what the person's attitude and conception of Torah should be. So suppose you have two people, two people, both people of means. One of them gives tzedaka, Reuven. Shimon not only gives tzedaka but urges others to give as well. He'll go to his friends and encourage them, challenge them to match his donation if they're in a position to do so. So Reuven gives, he's an oseh but he's not a ma'aseh. He doesn't, he's not looking to be a catalyst. And Shimon is oseh u-ma'aseh. He does and he's also looking to be a catalyst. So what's the difference between those two? So Reuven apparently feels an obligation to give tzedaka, so he does. So he does. Leaving aside koach ha-arvus for the moment for the purposes of this illustration, Shimon clearly not only feels an obligation to give tzedaka but he feels that tzedaka is important. He feels that tzedaka is just so fundamental. A person who feels obligated to give tzedakah will give tzedakah, but won't look to necessarily to get others involved, to get others to act likewise. A person who's not only motivated by a sense of obligation, but a sense of hashivus hadavar. No, there needs to be philanthropy, there needs to be tzedakah. So many, so many mosdos, so many, so many individuals need the help, need the support. So he's not going to be content with what he can do, he's going to be looking to see that not only should I satisfy my obligation, but I want there to be as much - this is the way this person thinks - I want there to be as much tzedakah in the world as possible. Dehinu, the first individual feels an obligation, the second individual says, no, the obligation is emes. Not stama mitzvah. It's not only an obligation, no, it's emes. It's the way things are supposed to be. It's the way things are supposed to be. Tzedakah is supposed to be given, not just I'm obligated to give tzedakah, that's a mitzvah, that's also true. But additionally, tzedakah should be given, it's emes. It's not just a mitzvah, the mitzvah's emes. That will express itself by not being content that אפילו היה צדיק גמור במעשיו, he's not going to be content with his own fulfillment of obligations. No, he's going to be machzik tova b'yad acheirim as well. ואמרו על דרך האגדה, the first pshat that the Yerushalmi gives, which is not intended as literal pshuto shel mikra, the Ramban says, al derech ha'agada, zeh hachazzan. So chazzan in Chazal doesn't mean shliach tzibbur the way we use it colloquially, it means more the gabbai than the shliach tzibbur.

ואמרו על דרך האגדה זה החזן שאינו מקים את ספרי התורה להעמידן כתיקונן שלא יפלו.

So the first pshat he says is when the gabbai puts the sefer Torah, the sefer Torah back in the aron kodesh, he has to make sure that they're secure, that they're not going to fall, that they're not going to fall.

ולי נראה על החזן שאינו מקים ספר תורה על הצבור להראות פני כתיבתו לכל,

that what the Yerushalmi is saying is al derech ha'agada the pasuk is referring to someone who when he gets hagbah doesn't turn around and show the ksav in all four directions that everyone in shul should be able to see the ksav.

שאינו מקים ספר תורה על הציבור להראות פני כתיבתו לכל כמו שמפורש במסכת סופרים שמגביהין אותו ומראה פני כתיבתו לעם העומדים לימינו ולשמאלו ומחזירו לפניו ולאחוריו שמצוה לכל האנשים והנשים לראות הכתוב ולכרוע ולומר וזאת התורה אשר שם משה וגו' וכן נוהגין.

So the asher lo yakim al derech ha'agada means a person doesn't do hagbah properly, doesn't do hagbah properly. So what's the pshat of that? And what is the inyan taka of hagbah and turning around? So lichora the pshat is the whole hagbah is just a heichi timtza that people should see the ksav, and people seeing the ksav is just a heichi timtza for saying the Vezos HaTorah. Dehinu, that basically hagbah creates an opportunity to reaffirm the eighth of the yud-gimel ikkarim of Torah min HaShamayim. No, that's what's happening in hagbah, right? וזאת התורה אשר שם משה לפני בני ישראל. This sefer Torah, the words in this sefer Torah from Bereishis to Leinei kol Yisrael,

וזאת התורה מצויה בידינו היום היא הנתונה למשה רבינו עליו השלום.

That's what we're, that's what we're saying and affirming besha'as hagbah. So asher lo yakim means, again, this sort of al derech ha'agada, asher lo yakim means that he's not mechazek this basic emuna. of Torah min hashamayim. And that's what's symbolically represented during hagbah. The Gemara in Megillah says that hagolel is נוטל שכר כנגד כולם. But the Mishnah Berurah explains, so nowadays we have hagbah and gelilah as two separate kibbudim. But he says that when Chazal say golel, so they were assuming that the magbiah was golel. And he says the ikkar, if you take a look at the Mishnah Berurah, the Mishnah Berurah says the ikkar, what it really means is hamagbiah. Now that we've sort of broken that down into two parts, so it really means hamagbiah. It's the same idea. So why is hagbah such a chashuva thing? Because it provides the, it's leading people in an affirmation of Torah min hashamayim, of

כל התורה המצויה בידינו היום היא הנתונה למשה רבינו עליו השלום.

Okay, so we'll stop here now.