Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 116 views

    The Power of Rosh Chodesh

    Uploaded by

    outdash2
    1. The passage discusses Rosh Chodesh, the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people as a nation. It highlights the story of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach forgetting his Torah learning after being attracted to pleasures, but having his learning restored after reciting Rosh Chodesh. 2. It analyzes the concept of "mitzvah goreret mitzvah" where one mitzvah leads to another, and how this only applies if the mitzvah is performed with intention, not just out of habit. 3. The story of Rabbi Elazar underscores the power and holiness of Rosh Chodesh as the first mitz

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    The Power of Rosh Chodesh

    Uploaded by

    outdash2
    116 views4 pages
    1. The passage discusses Rosh Chodesh, the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people as a nation. It highlights the story of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach forgetting his Torah learning after being attracted to pleasures, but having his learning restored after reciting Rosh Chodesh. 2. It analyzes the concept of "mitzvah goreret mitzvah" where one mitzvah leads to another, and how this only applies if the mitzvah is performed with intention, not just out of habit. 3. The story of Rabbi Elazar underscores the power and holiness of Rosh Chodesh as the first mitz

    Original Title

    Untitled

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    1. The passage discusses Rosh Chodesh, the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people as a nation. It highlights the story of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach forgetting his Torah learning after being attracted to pleasures, but having his learning restored after reciting Rosh Chodesh. 2. It analyzes the concept of "mitzvah goreret mitzvah" where one mitzvah leads to another, and how this only applies if the mitzvah is performed with intention, not just out of habit. 3. The story of Rabbi Elazar underscores the power and holiness of Rosh Chodesh as the first mitz

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    116 views4 pages

    The Power of Rosh Chodesh

    Uploaded by

    outdash2
    1. The passage discusses Rosh Chodesh, the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people as a nation. It highlights the story of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach forgetting his Torah learning after being attracted to pleasures, but having his learning restored after reciting Rosh Chodesh. 2. It analyzes the concept of "mitzvah goreret mitzvah" where one mitzvah leads to another, and how this only applies if the mitzvah is performed with intention, not just out of habit. 3. The story of Rabbi Elazar underscores the power and holiness of Rosh Chodesh as the first mitz

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    You are on page 1of 4

    Parashat Bo 5777, 2017:

    The Power of Rosh Chodesh


    Rabbi David Etengoff
    Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi
    ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Chaim
    Mordechai Hakohen ben Natan Yitzchak, Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, Avraham
    Yechezkel ben Yaakov Halevy, HaRav Yosef Shemuel ben HaRav Reuven Aharon, David ben Elazar
    Yehoshua, the refuah shlaimah of Devorah bat Chana and Yitzhak Akiva ben Malka, and the safety of
    our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.

    Rosh Chodesh is one of the many well-known topics found in this weeks Torah reading: The
    L-rd spoke to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: This month shall be to you
    (Hachodesh hazeh lachem) the head of the months; to you it shall be the first of the months of
    the year. (Sefer Shemot 12:2, this and all Bible and Rashi translations, The Judaica Press
    Complete Tanach) On a certain level, Rosh Chodesh stands apart from other commandments,
    since it was the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people, as a nation, instead of to the families of
    Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Rashi (1040-1105), basing himself upon a variety of Midrashic
    sources, gives voice to this idea in one of his glosses on the very first verse of the Torah:
    In the beginning: Rabbi Isaac said: It was not necessary to begin the Torah except from
    This month shall be to you, which is the first commandment that the Jewish people
    were commanded, [for the main purpose of the Torah is its commandments]

    Given Rosh Chodeshs historical and legal significance to our people, it is not at all surprising
    that rabbinic literature is a treasure trove of halachic analyses and aggadic interpretations
    regarding its remarkable import. In particular, the figure of Rabbi Elazar ben Arach, the greatest
    of all the students of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai (Pirkei Avot II: 9-10), looms large in the list of

    famous Torah personalities associated with Rosh Chodesh. The following Talmudic narrative
    highlights the singular significance of this mitzvah:
    Rabbi Chelbo said: The wine of Perugitha and the water of Diomsith cut off the Ten Tribes from
    Israel [due to their powerful hedonistic and anti-Torah influences - Rashi]. Rabbi Elazar ben
    Arach visited those places. He was attracted to them [the wine and the bath waters] and [in
    consequence,] his learning was uprooted [i.e. he forgot it Rashi]. When he returned [to the
    community of scholars], he arose to read the Torah. He wished to read, Hachodesh hazeh
    lachem (This month shall be to you) [instead,] he read Hacharesh hayah libbam (Their
    hearts were silent). But the scholars prayed for him, and his learning returned. (Talmud Bavli,
    Shabbat 147b, translation, The Soncino Talmud with my emendations)

    The second Bobover Rebbe, HaRav Ben-Zion Halberstam zatzal (1874-1941), in his work,
    Kedushat Tzion, states the following regarding our Talmudic passage: We must understand
    the words of our Sages and the quizzical nature as to why Rabbi Elazar ben Arach was called
    upon to read the specific parasha of Hachodesh hazeh lachem. Rav Halberstams exploration
    of the connection between Rabbi Elazar and Rosh Chodesh sheds a good deal of light upon the
    concept of mitzvah goreret mitzvah (one commandment brings another in its wake, Pirkei Avot
    4:2), and the problems associated with mitzvat anashim mlumdah (the automatic performance of
    a commandment):
    The meforshim (commentators) ask, Does the phrase, mitzvah goreret mitzvah really imply that
    an individual who performs one commandment will henceforth be like an unceasing river [of
    mitzvot observance], since one commandment brings another in its wake [i.e. ad infinitum] so that
    the entire rest of his life will be, by definition, mitzvot-infused? (Kedushat Tzion, Parashat Bo,
    page 98, this, and the following translations, my own)

    Rav Halberstam summarizes the commentators response to this question in the following
    fashion:
    The meforshim address this difficulty by noting that the uniquely valuable reward inherent in the
    phrase mitzvah goreret mitzvah applies solely to a commandment that is performed with deep
    intention (bkavanat halev) and in its proper manner then, and only then, does it lead one to
    perform another mitzvah. If, however, the commandment is performed as a mitzvat anashim

    mlumdah, i.e. without proper intention, then it will not lead one to undertake another
    commandment.

    One of the clearest expositions of the somewhat elusive phrase, mitzvat anashim mlumdah,
    was offered by the Malbim (Rabbi Meir Leibush ben Yechiel Michel, 1809-1879). His
    formulation helps us understand why a commandment performed in this manner fails to
    engender the performance of another commandment, since the one who acts in this fashion is
    existentially disconnected from the mitzvah-gesture:
    There are those who perform the mitzvot solely because this is what they have become
    accustomed to do since their youth and they are used to performing them. They perform them
    without any cognitive gesture (kavanah) and without thought even though they may know that
    they are commandments from G-d. They, however, do not perform them in any way because
    Hashem commanded them to do so. Instead, they perform them because this is what they were
    dictated to do by their teachers and parents. They [the mitzvot] are performed without any
    understanding and are mere mechanical actions reinforced by past rote behaviors (Commentary
    to Sefer Yeshiyahu 29:13, translation and underlining my own).

    Given the above analysis, Rav Halberstam suggests that Rabbi Elazar ben Arach was frightened
    after reading Hacharesh hayah libbam in place of our pasuks phrase, Hachodesh hazeh
    lachem. Based upon his abiding humility, Rabbi Elazar believed his error resulted from having
    failed to properly concentrate when fulfilling the commandments on prior occasions, for if this
    were not the case, the great mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh - the subject of his Torah reading - should
    have come to his aid. After all, as the very first mitzvah given to the entire Jewish people, Rosh
    Chodesh is followed by all the other commandments, and thereby embodies the concept of
    mitzvah goreret mitzvah. Rabbi Elazar, therefore, concluded that his mitzvot observance must
    have been on the low level of mitzvat anashim mlumdah, which resulted in the loss of the
    reward and protection of mitzvah goreret mitzvah, and made him susceptible to the lure of
    hedonistic pursuits and consequent loss of his Torah knowledge.

    According to Rabbi Halberstam, however, Rav Elazar ben Arachs colleagues knew full well
    that, in truth, he had performed prior mitzvot with the requisite intentionality, and as a result,
    prayed for mercy on his behalf and his learning returned.
    This poignant episode underscores the great power and holiness of Rosh Chodesh, and its
    manifest significance in rabbinic thought. May the merit of our heartfelt observance of this
    mitzvah bring us bountiful blessings from Hashem and hasten the coming of the Mashiach
    (Messiah) soon and in our days. Vchane yihi ratzon.

    Shabbat Shalom
    Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
    They may also be found on YUTorah.org using the search criteria of Etengoff and the parashas
    name.
    The email list, bchasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to
    add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please
    do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:[email protected].
    *** My audio shiurim for Women on the topics of Tefilah and Megillat Esther, may be found at:
    http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd
    *** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchiks English language audio shiurim (MP3 format)
    spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

    You might also like