קוצר ההשגה בסיפרי התורה
The brevity of attainment of the stories of the Torah
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוּדָה אֶל אֶחָיו מַה בֶצַע כִּי נַהֲרֹּג אֶת אָחִּינוּ וְכִּסִּינוּ אֶת דָמוֹ: לְכוּ וְנִּמְכְרֶנּוּ לַיִּשְמְעֵאלִּים וְיָדֵנוּ אַל תְהִּי בוֹ כִּי אָחִּינוּ בְשָרֵנוּ הוּא וַיִּשְמְעוּ אֶחָיו: (לז:כו-כז)
Yehuda said to his brothers, “What gain will there be if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Yishmaelim, but let our hand not be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened. (37:26-27)
Behold, we must know that the entire parsha is above our level of understanding, and we do not know but this, that the holy shevatim did not do what they did without realizing that this was the will of Above. But, so long as he was talking about killing Yosef, it is still possible to say that we can hold onto all that was said. We can still take it to mean that they were arguing about the kingdom, whether it belonged to Yehuda or to Yosef. According to their view, Yosef deserved to die since he ‘rebelled against the king’, and this is actually brought down in holy sefer ‘Sefas Emes’. But when we come to the topic of the sale, we see that we can apply the words of the Gemara (Chagigah 13a), ‘For it is written in the Book of Ben Sira: Into that which is removed from you do not inquire, and into that which is shrouded from you, do not probe.’ We must admit that these words are way above us and our understanding, and with our limited intellect, we cannot explain them.
The Maggid of Yerushalayim, Rebbe Ben Tzion Yadler, explained the parsha of Yosef and his brothers. This was in the early days of the secular government in the Holy Land, and they decided to hold ‘elections’. This caused a difference of opinion among the Gedolei Yisrael of that time. The Great Bais Din of Yerushalayim and other Gedolei Yerushalayim led by the great giant, the Satmar Rav, forbade taking part in these elections. On the other side were Gedolim and Tzaddikim who in their opinion it was a holy obligation to participate in elections.
Of course, the walls lining the streets of the city were filled with posters broadcasting the views of both sides. The Great Bais Din of Yerushalayim announced to all the observant that the word of Hashem is to not give control to sinners, and they should have no part of these elections. On the other hand, the ‘Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah’ of ‘Agudas Yisrael’ announced that it was an obligation to participate in these elections.
At that time, the ‘Bais Yisrael’ of Gur met with the tzaddik Rebbe Ben Tzion, and the ‘Bais Yisrael’ was interested to know how Rebbe Ben Tzion felt about the matter. Rebbe Ben Tzion replied, “I looked into the difference of opinions as I looked into Parashas Vayeishev!” When the ‘Bais Yisrael’ asked him to explain, Rebbe Ben Tzion answered and explained, “See, I am a ‘Maggid’, and when I come to Parashas Korach I know to explain this parsha quite well. There is argument, a difference of opinion, judgment. All those gathered around are interested in what I have to say, and they also want to express their opinion in the matter, and I also defend my position. As an experienced Maggid, I see fit to side with Moshe and I convince the listeners as to why only Moshe is correct. And at the same time, I aim arrows of fire at the Korach of then and at the Korach of today. Similarly, when I come to Parashas Shelach where the spies go against Moshe, and they even convince the people to side against him. Even there, I can make order out of it. I speak out against the spies of our day who turn the people to their view, and they turn the heart of the people to their view against the Moshe of our day. It is the same with the entire Torah, whenever I find an argument between a tzaddik and a rasha, I always find a way to defend the tzaddik.
“But when we come to Parashas Vayeishe it is different. There, I also find argument and a difference of opinion, and so there too, I can quickly point out the two sides of the argument. But, just as you are standing there, I cannot side with either side. I tell the listeners, ‘Rabbosai! There is no point in you joining the argument. You do not understand the mystery behind the arguments and actions, and your opinion is worth as much as a garlic peel. Therefore, go on your way and do not delve into matters that you have no concept whatsoever.”
“It is the same thing”, explains Rebbe Ben Tzion, “with the argument between the Gedolim and Tzaddikim now. There are opinions to prohibit elections, and there are opinions to allow them, and even obligate them. We must know that all these views and opinions are correct, they have a right to their opinion and rule that way, and the other side has a right to their opinion and rule that way. But whoever does not have the right to rule, how can he mix in and choose a side?”
He mainly wanted to express the example, and we are to know that the example is correct...
In light of these words, we must know that we cannot even understand the simple meaning of the posuk. When we come to Yehuda’s words 'מה בצע כי נהרוג את אחינו' – ‘What gain will there be if we kill our brother?’ and his advice is ‘come, let us sell him’, we are not allowed to explain these words literally. Testifying to this is the next posuk where he says, ‘but let our hand not be upon him for he is our brother, our own flesh’. He only said these words because he wanted to benefit Yosef, and not chalilah the opposite.
We also see when Yaakov blessed his sons before he died, he praised Yehuda for this (49:9) 'מטר ף בני עלית' – ‘from prey, my son, you ascended’ and Rashi explains there, ‘You withdrew yourself and said, “What gain will there be...?”’ We have proof from here that we have no concept in these matters, and Yaakov saw in this a reason to praise.
We have to learn these things generally, which is what we say with all the stories in the Torah. All of them were not given for our pleasure, that is, the Torah does not just tell stories. A story is supposed impart wisdom, and here we see that these stories were not given to be understood. One who disagrees with this, desecrates the torah, and it is as if he is saying the Torah that wants to teach us the way in which we are to go also blends in mundane things. Woe to us to say this! See the sharp words of the Zohar HaKadosh (Cheilek 3 daf 152a) regarding one who mistakenly thinks like this.
However, there is another general rule that we must know, and that is, that even if we see things that are above our understanding, we may explain them even according to their simple meaning, for once the stories are mentioned in the Torah, certainly they come to teach, and in order to teach the words need to be understood, for only through this are we able to take anything out of it, and any moral lesson.
