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Achareimot "And Aharon shall rest his hands on the head of the living goat..." (16:21) As described in this parashah, one of the sacrifices offered on Yom Kippur was a goat, which was not slaughtered in the Temple, but was taken out to the desert and thrown off a cliff. Rav Yosef Dov (Joseph B.) Soloveitchik zatz'l offers the following interpretation of the service involving this goat. The Kohen Gadol recited the vidui (confession) with his hands resting on the goat's head because many of man's sins originate from his head, i.e.; from his overly calculating and rationalising mind. Just as this goat was sent to the desert, man should give some thought to where his cunning will lead him. The Mishnah says that there were ten huts between Yerushalayim and the desert. Even though it was Yom Kippur, the man who was leading the goat was offered food and drink at each of these huts. Rav Soloveitchik says that these ten huts represent the ten exiles of the Jew [see below]. Unfortunately, in each of them, his preoccupation has been with gathering food and drink. The "goat" is climbing the mountain, but little does he realise that soon he will fall off the cliff on the other side. (Yemei Zikaron p.120) Regarding the ten exiles, it is related that Rav Chaim of Volozhin zatz'l (1749-1821) told his students that this was the number of times that the Torah had to wander from its home. The first nine destinations were Babylon, North Africa, Egypt, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, and Lithuania. The tenth and last, Rav Chaim said prophetically, would be America. Many communities have the custom to read Pirkei Avot beginning from Pesach. We therefore provide some insights into the week's Perek. "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai . . ." Moshe Rabbenu learned the entire Torah, and all of our wisdom comes to us through him. This is made very clear in numerous Midrashim and statements of the Gemara. However, there are other Midrashim and statements of the Gemara that appear to differ (see below). Can these be reconciled with each other? Rav Shlomo Elyashiv zatz'l states that they can, and he discusses some of them. For example, in Shemot Rabbah (41:6) we find Rabbi Abahu's statement that Moshe's Torah study consisted of the general principles. Based on what we know of Rabbi Abahu's life, Rav Elyashiv explains that Rabbi Abahu made this statement in a debate with heretics. They could not accept the possibility of a mortal learning the entire Torah in 40 days. Chazal sometimes try to make the Torah easier for heretics to understand [if there will be no Halachic consequences, perhaps as a first step towards further study]. (See Megillah 9a) Can a human really learn the entire Torah in 40 days? Of course he can, considering that his teacher was none other than G-d Himself! The Medrash says that Rabbi Akiva saw things that Moshe did not see. How can we understand this? Rav Elyashiv explains this based on a kabbalistic concept that the higher a person's soul rises, the more esoteric are the concepts that it can grasp. Thus, Moshe and Rabbi Akiva saw the same concepts, but Rabbi Akiva, whose soul was lower than Moshe's, saw them "dressed" more elaborately, i.e., somehow more tangible, than Moshe needed them to be. There is a Halachic concept called a "halachah l'Moshe miSinai"-"a law [given] to Moshe from Sinai." Of course all Torah laws were given to Moshe at Sinai, some of which are stated explicitly in the Torah and some of which are only hinted at. However, the category of laws called "halachah l'Moshe miSinai" includes those that are not even alluded to in the Torah; they are simply oral traditions. [An example is the requirement that tefilin straps be black.] Rav Elyashiv explains that a "halachah l'Moshe miSinai" is a law that was given only in its most esoteric form and it never became "tangible" enough to be written down in the Torah. (Quoted in Sha'arei Leshem Shevoh V'achlamah) In this week's parashah, we read of the threat of exile for our sins. Pirkei Avot (whose first chapter is read this week after minchah) starts with an outline of the Torah's transmission from G-d to Moshe and onwards.] In his Iggeret Ha'nechamah-letter of consolation to his oppressed brethren-Rav Maimon (the father of Rambam) writes that remembering the giving of the Torah and the greatness of the prophets who transmitted it to us is a way to overcome the adversity of exile. Surely G-d would not have "troubled" Himself to establish so great a heritage only to abandon His nation! |
