Bostoner Torah Insights: Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in English and Hebrew: Parshas Yisro – 20 Shvat 5786
Bostoner Torah Insights - Yerushalayim
Bostoner Torah Insights
Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in English
Parshas Yisro – 20 Shvat 5786
Bostoner Rebbe shlit’a – Yerushalayim
Secretariat Email: bosto...@gmail.com
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The Gemara (Pesachim 68b) informs us that on the festival of Shavous, Rav Yosef would ask his household to prepare him a special meat meal. He exclaimed that without the day of Matan Torah, there would be many people named 'Yosef' in the marketplace. Rashi explains that Rav Yosef was basically saying that the study of Torah is what allowed him to gain prominence in Klal Yisroel and made him distinct from thousands of other ordinary Jews named 'Yosef'.
Rabbi Katzenellenbogen zt"l explained that this Gemara should be understood in the context that Rav Yosef was known by the nickname 'Sinai' (Brachos Gemara 64a). As opposed to his contemporary Rava, who was known as 'the one who uproots mountains' for his ability extrapolate and derive new insights from the Torah, Rav Yosef was called 'Sinai' for his encyclopedic knowledge of the Torah and his outstanding memory. He further explains, based on the Pasuk "The [Two] Tablets were Hashem's handiwork, and the script was the script of Hashem, engraved on the Tablets” (Shemos 32:16). The Gemara (Eiruvin 54a) derives from the words 'engraved on the tablets' that only because the original Luchos HaBris were smashed by Moshe, in response to the Sin of the Golden Calf, that Torah can be forgotten. In other words, Rav Yosef was thankful that the Torah was not permanently 'engraved' on every Jew. If anyone who learned Torah would retain it forever, Rav Yosef's diligence in Torah study and his unique mastery of Torah knowledge would seem average instead of extraordinary.
However, it is difficult for me to accept that Rav Yosef expressed satisfaction that first Luchos were smashed and less Torah was retained by Klal Yisroel. Therefore, I would like to suggest a slight variation to this approach.
After forty days atop Har Sinai, Hashem informs Moshe that the people have made a 'molten calf' and that He wishes to annihilate them (Shemos 32:8-10). Moshe effectively prays to Hashem to 'reconsider' punishing the Jewish people and to remember his oath to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, leading to Hashem appeasement, as it were. Afterward Moshe descends the mountain "with the two Tablets of Testimony in his hand" (Shemos 32:15). The question is why Hashem permitted Moshe to take these special divinely manufactured Luchos if the people had sinned? Why didn't Hashem take back the Luchos?
The Tanchuma (Ki Tisa 12) explains that for 40 days on Har Sinai, Moshe Rabbeinu would learn Torah, and each day he would forget what he learned the previous day. At the end of 40 days Moshe admitted to Hashem that he did not know the Torah in its entirety, so Hashem responded by giving Moshe the Torah 'as a gift', which allowed him to remember everything. This Midrash is most probably correlated to the previous Gemara saying that one who learned Torah before the first set of Luchos were smashed did not forget the Torah they learned. It was because of these special Luchos that Hashem ‘gifted’ to Moshe that he should be able to retain the Torah.
We can suggest that Moshe was given the Luchos, even though Klal Yisroel had sinned, in order that someone in Klal Yisroel should receive the Torah. For if in the end, no one from Yisroel would receive Torah, the universe would revert back to its pre-Creation state of Tohu Va'Vohu, as per the condition Hashem made when creating the world (Shabbos 88a). However, when Moshe Rabbeinu broke the first set of Luchos, Torah was once again subject to being forgotten and only Moshe Rabbeinu received the Torah 'without forgetfulness'.
According to the Gemara (Nedarim 41a) at some point in his life, Rav Yosef became sick and forgot his learning. Abaye had to remind his teacher Rav Yosef of the Torah that he had learned from him. Rav Yosef also at one point became blind (Bava Kamma 87a) and a blind person is comparable to one who is dead (Nedarim 64b). Hashem gave Rav Yosef the unique ability to retain all of Torah he learned until his sickness, giving him a status of 'shattered tablets'. However, as the Gemara (Brachos 8b) tells us, one should be cautious regarding a sage who has forgotten his learning due to no fault of his own, since both the second set of Luchos as well as the first set of shattered Luchos were both placed in the Aron HaKodesh. Perhaps this is what Rav Yosef is referring to when he says, "if not for that day and what it caused, how many Yosefs would be in the marketplace" if we presume that he made this statement after he had already forgotten his learning.
May we merit to learn, teach, observe, perform, and never forget the Torah that we absorb, and in the merit of our holy Torah, we should merit the coming of the Go'el Tzedek speedily in our days.
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