047 Rav Twersky 900AM Mussar Rav Hutner Letter 24 June 23 2020

Good morning everyone, hope everyone is well. So Michtav Chaf Daled, Os Alef, what's his point, what's his greatness?

מה ששמע בשעת המאמר כי מלבד תלמוד תורה בתור לקיים הציווי יש עוד עניין עיקרי בתלמוד תורה והוא בתור כריתת ברית וכדי חזינן שלמדו תורה קודם מתן תורה.

So in this Ma'amar, a footnote spoke about how there's a dimension to Mitzvos Talmud Torah of Kriesas Bris, of establishing a Bris, a covenant with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And he references the fact that we learned Torah even before Matan Torah, which means before there was a Mitzvas Talmud Torah.

הנה אני בא לסמוך על הנקודה הזאת שנאמר ומתוכו יראה כבוד מעלתו את תוכן הדברים בדיוק.

So apparently, as is clear from the next sentence, his correspondent was Masig and said since when do we emulate Avodas Hashem of pre-Matan Torah? So what's the relevance of Avos that learned Torah before Matan Torah? So that's what Rav Hutner is coming to explain.

מעולם לא עלה על דעתי להכניס בעניין זה את לימוד התורה שלפני מתן תורה.

That's not what I was saying that we should be recreating a form of Avodah from before Matan Torah.

ואנחנו נמצאים כבר אחר מתן תורה. ואין לנו להכניס לסוכת עבודתנו בתורה ומצוות ציורים והנחות של מצב העניינים שלפני מתן תורה.

The way of Avodas Hashem changed through Matan Torah. The way the Avos were Oved Hashem before Matan Torah differs from the way we're עובד הקדוש ברוך הוא now. The Nefesh Hachaim you'll recall at the end of Sha'ar Aleph talks about how Kodem Matan Torah if someone knew that there was a Tikun in the Olamos to be accomplished by, for instance, marrying two sisters, so then as there was no Tzivui of Torah at that point, so then the person would, i.e. Yaakov Avinu, would appropriately act on that insight. But Achar Matan Torah, so then the definition of Avodas Hashem is as dictated by the Torah.

וכל שנאמר במה שאמר זה של שבועות דהשתא אינו אלא כי אותו לימוד התורה שאנו מברכים המלמד תורה לעמו ישראל והיינו הלימוד של דיברות הר סיני נתקיים לפני הציווי על לימוד התורה.

This is a fascinating He'ara. So we refer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu as המלמד תורה לעמו ישראל. Rav Hutner is assuming the Pshat in that Bracha is that we identify Hakadosh Baruch Hu as המלמד תורה לעמו ישראל by virtue of Ma'amad Har Sinai. Now notice, he says, that by definition, right, Moshe Rabbeinu receives the Torah on Har Sinai. During the 40 days Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives him the Taryag Mitzvos. But on Vav Sivan when Hakadosh Baruch Hu is being המלמד תורה לעמו ישראל, that precedes Mitzvas Talmud Torah.

בשעה שאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא אנכי היה הוא המלמד ואנחנו התלמידים והרי לימוד זה דכנסת ישראל הוא עיקר לימוד התורה שלנו. ולימוד תורה זה נתקיים לפני מתן מצוות של תלמוד תורה.

Be'ofan, now just to highlight the uniqueness of this, שלא היה מתן לולב לפני מתן מצוות לולב. Hakadosh Baruch Hu didn't give us a Lulav before there was a Mitzvas Netilas Lulav. ולא היה מתן שופר לפני מתן מצוות שופר. Hakadosh Baruch Hu didn't send us through Amazon. Where else do you buy anything? He didn't send us through Amazon a shofar before there was a mitzvah shofar. Aval אבל היה מתן תורה לפני מתן מצוות לימוד תורה. But Talmud Torah there was. Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us the Torah before there was a mitzvah Talmud Torah. Vehayinu, what's the pshat in that uniqueness of Torah, in that unique feature of Torah that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us Torah? Hakadosh Baruch Hu is teaching us Torah before there is a mitzvah Talmud Torah. When we hear אנכי ולא יהיה לך Hakadosh Baruch Hu is teaching Torah. So the Torah is preceding mitzvas Talmud Torah in a way that is unparalleled by any other mitzvos.

והיינו משום דמתן מצוות הם תנאי הברית שלנו. ועוד שעל ידי מתן תורה נכרת הברית.

Whenever you have a bris, so a bris is again a covenant, is let's say between countries we would call it a pact, a treaty. So there are bilateral obligations. Create membership in NATO. So each country in NATO has obligations to all the other members of NATO. So a bris also lehavdil obviously on one level, but a ברית בינינו לבין הקדוש ברוך הוא. So a bris consists, a bris is mechayev, a bris there are conditions of what it means to be a ba'al bris. So to be בעל ברית עם הקדוש ברוך הוא, so again, to be a member in NATO means that you're pledged to the security of every other country in NATO. To be a בעל ברית עם הקדוש ברוך הוא means that you're chayav to be mekayem his mitzvos. However, Talmud Torah is not just one of those conditions, one of those obligations imposed by the bris. ועוד שעל ידי מתן תורה נכרת הברית. But matan Torah is what creates the bris. Talmud Torah is not just a mitzvah imposed by the bris, is not just a mitzvah which is one of the obligations of ours as a ba'al bris to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, but the Talmud Torah affects the bris. It creates the bris. על ידי תורה נכרת הברית. The bris was forged through Torah. Uve'al korchoch and therefore of course it had to be the case

שתקדם מתן תורה למתן מצוות. ומכיוון שבלימוד התורה קיימא לן לימודה כנתינתה.

The Gemara in Brachos tells us that the way a person learns Torah is supposed to be modeled on the way Torah was given. Just as Torah was given באימה ביראה ברתת ובזיעא that when we receive the Torah, so there was a tremendous sense of awe and fear and trembling. So too ladoros when we learn Torah we're supposed to learn Torah with that same mindset. So you see that limudah kinessinasah. You see that the way Torah was given dictates ladoros the way Torah should be learned. Suggests Rav Huna ebazai, so הוא הדין הוא הטעם if when Torah is given again it's not it doesn't just mitzvas Talmud Torah is not just a mitzvah pratis but the Torah is what forges the bris. It's the substance of the bris, not just an obligation which was accepted as part of the bris but it's gufa what forges and creates the bris so then that dimension of Talmud Torah should be present ladoros as well.

ומכיוון שבלימוד התורה קיימא לן לימודה כנתינתה. הרי בכאן הוא השורש של לימוד תורה לשם כריתת ברית.

That's the mokor for what I was talking about in this. And this is the mokor of divrei haRosh in Nedarim

וזהו המקור של דברי הראש בנדרים דבתורה לשמה יש כוונה אחרת מאשר במצוה לשמה.

Right, so we're all familiar with this Rosh because it features, it's featured so prominently in Sha'ar HaDalet in Nefesh HaChaim. The Rosh explaining the עשה דברים לשם פועלן ודבר בהם לשמן. So the Rosh explains when you're mekayem a mitzvah, so your machshava should be לשם הקדוש ברוך הוא. But when you're learning Torah, you're learning Torah lishmah. You're not, you're not doing it לשם הקדוש ברוך הוא, but but you're just totally immersed in, in the Torah. So again, the Nefesh HaChaim is reflected in this, again, the yesod that he talks about there. Our footnote suggests something additional, quite fascinating. Our footnote suggests that this difference reflects what he's talking about, that a mitzvah is not the etzem habris, but the mitzvah is the, are the conditions, are the obligations assumed because of the bris. So my obligation is to what? My obligation is to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So the way to be mekayem mitzvos is to be thinking beshas netilas lulav, to be thinking about Hakadosh Baruch Hu, not that my mind should be immersed and focused on the lulav, but my mind should be focused on Hakadosh Baruch Hu. מה שאין כן היות התלמוד תורה, Torah is gufo what, what, what forges and creates the bris. So then it's the acceptance of the Torah, it's the immersion in Torah, it's the preoccupation with Torah, again, which at Ma'amad Har Sinai created the bris and we sort of are recreating it. It's not that we have the option of, of opting out, but we're recreating and reinforcing that kabbalas habris. So the kabbalas habris is not l'shem, is not that this is my obligation to the ba'al habris. The obligation to the ba'al habris comes only after the bris has been forged. So when a person takes, accepts that which is forging the bris, so then he's just taking it for its own, for itself, for its, for its intrinsic value. דברים עמוקים יעיין בהם וימצא בהם הארה לנפשו. And I think maybe we discussed this once, but just me'inyan le'inyan, so the Gemara in Gittin says

לא כרת הקדוש ברוך הוא ברית עם ישראל אלא בשביל דברים שבעל פה, כי על פי הדברים האלה כרתי אתך ברית ואת ישראל.

So the bris is through Torah shebe'al peh. Again, it's a funny thing because obviously on another level we discussed this a little bit in one of the other shiurim, so Torah shebichtav and Torah shebe'al peh are always, are obviously inseparable. So it's a funny thing that in this context we are sort of, at least for purposes of talking about the bris, we are sort of delineating and distinguishing between the two. But יתכן הפשט הוא כפי שלהלן. Again, what's peshat in a bris, rabosai? A bris is something bilateral. Again, in NATO, so each country has obligations to all the other member states, member countries, but me'idach gisa, it also is the beneficiary of, of their commitments, of their obligations. So a bris is something which is, which is, which is bilateral. cheilek in creating Torah she'b'ktav, in contributing to Torah she'b'ktav. HaKadosh Baruch Hu dictated milla b'milla to Moshe Rabbeinu. He didn't solicit his input, his input wasn't welcome and therefore his input wasn't volunteered. When it comes to Torah she'ba'al peh, so there we're shutafim with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We're supposed to utilize by way of Torah and המידות שהתורה נדרשת בהן, we're supposed to generate dinim which HaKadosh Baruch Hu didn't explicitly tell Moshe Rabbeinu b'Ma'amad Har Sinai. We're supposed to be mechadesh in Torah she'ba'al peh. So Torah she'ba'al peh is bilateral, Torah she'b'ktav is unilateral. A bris, the pshat in a bris is that a bris is bilateral and therefore

לא כרת הקדוש ברוך הוא ברית עם ישראל אלא בשביל דברים שבעל פה.

Okay, so we'll stop here for now. Okay, rabosai, have a good productive morning, be well, be safe.