The Tora’s
“Tochechot”
and the
Lessons of Jewish History
Rabbi Yaakov
Bieler
Parashat Ki
Tavo, 5766
In keeping with the theme of
review and reformulation which has been discussed in this year’s previous essays
on Sefer Devarim, the major portion of Ki Tavo also contains a restatement of a
theme that appears earlier in the Tora. However, in this instance, rather than
emphasizing and/or clarifying a particular Mitzva, Ki Tavo is one of the two
sections of the Tora that are referred to as “Tochechot” (rebukes) or “Berachot
VeKelallot” (blessings and curses). Parshat BeChukotai is the first instance of
this stark “carrot and stick” approach to HaShem’s Commandments, with VaYikra
26:3-13 describing the benefits that will accrue as long as the Jews comply with
the Tora’s Mitzvot; 26:14-43 provide more than ample warning about the
consequences of non-adherence. Much of Ki Tavo follows a similar pattern, with
Devarim 28:1-14 paralleling VaYikra 26:3-13, and Devarim 28:15-68 enumerating
negative results similar to VaYikra 26:14-43.[1]
R. Ovadia Sephorno in his
commentary on BeChukotai and Ki Tavo, rather than suggesting that the “Tochecha”
in Devarim is a mere review and expansion of the verses in VaYikra, understands
the two Parshiot as each describing a different period in Jewish history. While
one reason for his approach might be the elements that appear in the shorter
VaYikra listing which are not repeated in the more comprehensive “Tochecha” of
Devarim[2]
suggesting that we are not talking about th same series of events, the more
striking difference is found in the latter verses in BeChukotai, which have no
parallel in Ki Tavo. Whereas the litany of horrors in Devarim concludes without
any hope or optimism—only in the subsequent Parshat Netzvaim, in Devarim 30, is
there a discussion of repentance and redemption—the “Rebukes” in VaYikra
immediately end with assurances that the Jews will not be forsaken by HaShem and the assurance of
their inevitable recommitment to
the Commandments.[3]
According to Sephorno, the
terrible events threatened in BeChukotai prophetically foreshadow the Jewish
experience beginning with the Jews’ original entry into the land of Israel until
their return from the Babylonian exile and the construction of the Second
Temple, while the awful warnings in Ki Tavo point to the eventual destruction of
the Second Temple and the Jews being sent once again into exile from their land,
an exile that officially continues to this day.[4]
With respect to VaYikra, Sephorno
parallels the biblical text with the earlier portion of Jewish history when he
comments on individual verses:
VaYikra
26:15
And if you will despise My
Statutes or if your soul abhors My “Mishpatim” (Judgments), so that you will not
do all My Commandments but that you break My Covenant.
Sephorno:
“So that you will not do all of My
Commandments”—This disgust for “Mishpatim” is for no other reason than to break
away from the yoke of all of the Commandments, as the Rabbis said, (Sanhedrin
63b) “The Jews knew that idolatry had no substance, and the only reason that
they engaged in it was to allow themselves to participate in public orgiastic
activity.” So too the prophet states, (Hoshea 5:4) “Their doings will not allow
them to return to their God, because the spirit of promiscuity is in their
midst.”
Sefer Shoftim documents eight
cycles of the Jews turning to the idolatry of their neighbors, only to come to
regret their sinfulness due to invasions and occupations, necessitating various
military leaders coming forward to regain for them their
freedom.
“To break My Covenant”—in order to
be like the other nations that rule in this world without the yoke of Tora and
Commandments, as they said, (Yechezkel 20:32) “And that which comes into your
minds will never come about, that you say, ‘We will be like the nations, like
the families of countries, to serve
wood and stone.”
See I Shmuel 8,
particularly v. 5, 20. Commentators have noted that they did not only
want to have a king, but one that would rule them according to laws resembling
other nations, i.e., not according to Tora law.
VaYikra
26:16
I also will Do this to you: I will
Appoint over you terror, consumption, and fever that shall consume the eyes and
cause sorrow of the heart and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies
shall eat it (the produce).
Sephorno:
“For your enemies shall eat it”—as
was the case during the period of the Shoftim (Judges), as it is said,
(Shoftim 6:3) “And so it was when Israel had sown, Midyan and Amalek and the
children of the east came up against them, and destroyed the produce of the
earth as far as Azza and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor oxen
nor donkeys.
VaYikra
26:19
And I will Break that pride of
your power, and I will Make your skies like iron and your earth like brass and
your strength shall be spent in vain.
Sephorno:
“And I will Break that pride of
your power”—By means of the destruction of the Tabernacle at Shilo, as it
is stated, (Tehillim 78:60-61), “And He Foresook the Tabernacle at Shilo, the
tent where He Made His Dwelling among men,
And Delivered His Strength into
captivity, and His Glory into the enemy’s hand.”
Shilo was the temporary location
of the Tabernacle beginning during the period of the Shoftim (Shoftim
18:31) and continuing through the
period when Eli the Priest was the spiritual leader of the Jews (I Shmuel 1:9;
3:20). After the
Ark was lost in battle to the
Philistines (I Shmuel 4:11-5:1), it is implied that Shilo
was destroyed (Yirmiyahu 26:6, 9), and the Tabernacle was eventually relocated.
Shilo’s relatively temporary status as spiritual center of
Israel is reflected in traditional
interpretations of Devarim 12:9.
VaYikra
26:25
And I will Bring a sword upon you
that shall avenge My Covenant, and when you are gathered together within your
cities, I will Send the pestilence among you and you shall be delivered into the
hand of the enemy.
Sephorno:
“And I will Bring a sword upon
you”—as it was during the times of the Kings of Israel, as it is said,
(II Melachim 8:12) “(the prophet Elisha says to ChaZaL, representative of Ben
Hadad, king of Damascus) Because I Knew that you will do evil to the Children of
Israel, their fortifications you will destroy with fire, and their young men you
will kill with the sword.”
“And you shall be delivered into
the hand of the enemy”—like the ten tribes who were handed over to the king
of Assyria (II Melachim
18).
VaYikra
26:30
And I will Destroy your high
places and Cut down your images and Cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of
your idols and My Soul shall Abhor you.
Sephorno:
“And I will Cast your carcasses
upon the carcasses of your idols”—when the city is being besieged, as is told
(Sanhedrin 63b) concerning the righteous Eliyahu who found a young child
suffering from hunger, and when he said to him: Say “Shema Yisrael” and thereby
live, the child responded: Be silent, for one must not make mention of the name
of the Lord, (so to speak). And he brought out an idol from his bosom, kissed it
and died over it.
Assuming that the reference is to Eliyahu HaNavi, (that is not
certain, even from Sephorno’s commentary; the source in the Talmud states that
this incident occurred in Yerushalayim, which might be a reference to the period
of sieges on the city once the Temple had already been built, and a different
Eliyahu), then this interpretation also places the verse in VaYikra as referring
to the period of the Kings—see I Melachim 17-II Melachim
2.
VaYikra
26:31
And I will Make your cities waste,
and Bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not Smell the savor of your
sweet odors.
Sephorno:
“And I will Make your cities
waste”—by means of the King of Babylonia and his ministers (II Melachim
25).
“And Bring your sanctuaries to
desolation”—by Nevuzaradan (Ibid.)
“And I will not Smell the savor of
your sweet odors”—Even though the Kohanim who were then serving were the
descendents of Tzadok, and therefore their sacrifices were pleasing to
HaShem without a doubt (from the perspective of the skill and piety of the
Priests who offered the “Korbanot”—see Yechezkel 44:15), nevertheless they
ultimately were not pleasing (to HaShem) due to the guilt of the people
(bringing the sacrifices).
VaYikra
26:33
And I will Scatter you among the
heathen and draw out a sword after you and your land shall be desolate and your
cities waste.
Sephorno:
“And I will Scatter you among the
heathen”—when you go to
Egypt following the
destruction (of
the First Temple) (II Melachim
25:26).
“And draw out a sword after
you”—the sword of Nevuchadnetzar in
Egypt, as it is said, (Yirmiyahu 42:16)
“The sword which you fear, it will overtake you there in the
land of Egypt.”
VaYikra
26:41
And I also Walked contrary to
them, and Brought them into the land of their enemies. Then only will their
circumcised hearts be humbled, and then they will make amends for their
sin.
Sephorno:
“And Brought them into the land of
their enemies”—When the Jewish people returned to the land of Israel by
decree of Corash (Cyrus), king of Persia, the land was under the control of
the nations, as it is said, (Nechemia 9:36-37) “And he land that You Gave to our
fathers to eat its produce and goodness, behold we are slaves upon it and its
produce is abundant for the kings that You have Placed over us as a result of
our sins.”
VaYikra
26:42
Then will I Remember My Covenant
with Yaakov, and also My Covenant with Yitzchak, and also My Covenant with
Avraham will I Remember, and I will Remember the land.
Sephorno:
“Then will I Remember My
Covenant”—via the construction of the
Second Temple.
As a compliment to his commentary
on Parshat BeChukotai, Sephorno’s interpretation of the “Tochecha” in Devarim
turns our attention to a different sequence of events and sins that precipitated
them, when history, particularly calamity, is understood by peering through the
lense of religion.[5]
Devarim
28:14
And you shall not go aside from
any of the things which I Command you this day, to the right or to the left, to
go after other gods to serve them.
Sephorno:
“And you shall not go aside from
any of the things which I Command you this day, to the right or to the
left”—that they should not alter the Commandments of HaShem, may He be Blessed,
especially when it comes to “Mishpat”.[6]
And they should not substitute the other Mitzvot with customs of ordinary
individuals[7]
and Commandments that people perform unthinkingly, all the more so when this is
done to honor those who have come before who practiced these behaviors not in
order to honor their Maker or to observe His Commandments, because in this
manner, you are not “to go after other gods to serve them”. Even more problematic than this is when
a religion is newly created to honor those who have come before who are
considered deities and judges on earth.[8]
Certainly, the “Rebukes” until
(v. 36)[9]
“HaShem will Bring you and the king that you have set over you to a nation which
neither you or your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods of
wood and stone,” took place during the Second Temple in the days of the
Hellenists and their counterparts, until the Hasmonean kings (the
brothers Hukenus and Aristobulus) besieged one another, and one of them
(Aristobulus) was exiled by the command of Pompeii to Rome.
And from that point onwards,[10]
until (v. 63) “And you will be plucked off the land…” was what would take
place until the destruction of the (Second)
And he begins the rebukes (v.
15) “…If you will not listen to the Voice of HaShem, your God, to observe
all His Commandments and His Statutes which I Command you this day…”—this is
without doubt the result of substituting for the observance of the Commandments
of the Tora, various customs that are different from them, (Yeshayahu 59:14)
“And justice is turned away backwards…”[11]
Similarly after the text states,
(v. 36) “HaShem shall Bring you and your king…” which is the second
stage, the text repeats and says, (v. 45) “…Because you would not listen
to the Voice of HaShem your God, to keep His Commandments and His Statutes that
He Commanded you”, i.e., but you did observe what others either commanded or how
they conducted themselves, which was not in accordance with our Tora.
It is like ChaZaL recount,
(Ma’aser Sheini
And they were “locking the door
before borrowers” (i.e., that borrowers, who when mentioned in the Tora, are
assumed to be poor[17]
were finding it difficult to obtain loans) because of the Sabbatical Year[18]
and it became necessary for Hillel to institute “Pruzbul”.[19]
And they cancelled the rituals of the “waters of the Sota”,[20]
and the “Egla Arufa”[21]
as well as the (power of the) “Sanhedrin” (the high court of 71 judges)[22]
(the abolishment of these institutions all reflect a degeneration in the quality
of morality and spirituality of the society, leading to the alteration of its
rituals and institutions )[23]
due to the many sinners at the end of the Second Temple period, to the point
where justice no longer was obtainable, as the Rabbis state, (Sota 9:15)
“…R. Pinchos ben Yair said: When the Second Temple was destroyed, scholars and
noblemen were ashamed and covered their head (because inferior individuals
occupied leadership positions), men of accomplishment were disregarded, and
“Ba’alei Zeroa” (lit. men of arm; fig. “strong-armed individuals”) and
“Ba’alei Lashon” (lit. men of tongue; fig. demagogues) grew powerful. Nobody
inquires, nobody prays on their behalf, and nobody asks, “Upon whom is it for us
to rely? Upon our Father Who is in Heaven,” as is the matter today with all
of our exiles and lowliness, where the wealthy, particularly those guilty of
some legal infraction, hold contemptible the Tora of God, may He be Blessed, as
well as the laws that He has Declared, and strive by means of non-Jews and their
courts to corrupt an individual in his dispute, and for this reason they and
their possessions will ultimately be lost. And by means of these is explained
the cause of the destruction of the
It seems to me that Sephorno’s
commentary on the “Tochechot” raises a troubling question, i.e., if the Tora not
only predicted dire consequences for the Jews should they choose to violate
HaShem’s Commandments, but that these consequences have already taken place at
least once—it is possible that calamities that have beset the Jews subsequent to
the destruction of the Second Temple and their exile from the land can also be
viewed as manifestations of the verses in BeChukotai and Ki Tavo—why is the
cause-and-effect relationship being outlined in these Parshiot not taken more
seriously by the average observant Jew? As George Santayana has famously said,
“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Once the
“Tochechot” are written, studied as part of the Mitzva to study the Written
Tradition, read each year during the weekly public Tora reading, and even
identified with some of the horrific events that have come to pass, why are
these warnings not taken to heart to the point where a greater percentage of
even already-observant Jews strive to be ever-holier and more consistent with
the Commandments? Perhaps it was for this very reason that R. Joseph Lookstein,
ZaTzaL, often noted that in his view, the “Tochechot”, rather than being read
from the Tora quickly and in a low tone,[24]
should instead be clearly enunciated in a manner whereby everyone would be sure
to hear and thereby be reminded of what was expected of them by God.
Shabbat Shalom, and may only
“Berachot” rather than “Kellalot” come true for all of us by virtue of our
efforts to fulfill HaShem’s Laws.
[1] The following constitute the
specific threats that are common to the lists of warnings in VaYikra and
Devarim:
a) Disease:
Physical
VaYikra 26:16, 25
Devarim 28:21-22, 27-28, 35, 59, 60, 61
Mental
28-29,
34.
b) Enemies, pests consuming crops 16
30-33,
38-42
c) Enemies murdering 17,
25 25-26
d) Ruled by cruel rulers
17 36, 48-50, 68
e) Rain withheld resulting in famine 19, 26, 29 23-24,
53-57
f) Cities destroyed
31, 33-35 52
g) Exile
33,
36-41 64-68
[3]
VaYikra
26:39-45
(39)
And they
that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands,
and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.
(40)
And they
shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers with their
trespass that they trespassed against Me anda also that they have walked
contrary to Me.
(41)
And that
I also Walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies,
then only will their uncircumcised hearts be humbled and then they will make
amends for their sin.
(42)
Then
will I Remember My Covenant with Yaakov, and also My Covenant with Yitzchak, and
also My Covenant with Avraham will I Remember, and I will Remember the
land.
(43)
The land
also shall be forsaken by them, and shall enjoy her Shabbatot while she lies
desolate without them and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because,
even because they despised My Judgments, and because their soul abhorred My
Statutes.
(44)
And yet
for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not Cast them
away, nor will I Abhor them, to Destroy them utterly and to Break My Covenant
with them. For I am HaShem their God.
(45)
But I
will for their sakes Remember the Covenant of their ancestors whom I Brought out
of the
[4] While great numbers of Jews have
resettled in Israel and it has been declared an independent state, as long as
the Beit HaMikdash is not rebuilt, the “Galut Edom” (the exile of Rome) is
considered to continue, if not physically, then at least
spiritually.
[5] A believing individual posits that
what happens to an entire nation—this may not be the case in terms of the trials
to which a particular individual is subjected—is not a coincidence, but rather
something that is either part of a Divine Master Plan, or a response to
inappropriate behavior, in the interests of precipitating national repentance in
the future. Naturally historiographers usually point to variables that can be
empirically measured and demonstrated rather than metaphysical reasons for
sequences of historical events.
[6] The focus on “Mishpatim” parallels
Sephorno’s comment above on VaYikra 26:15.
[7] This comment is somewhat parallel
to Sephorno’s second comment on VaYikra 26:15, assuming that the “other
individuals” being referred to come from other
nations.
[8] This comment appears to be a
reference to the other “Abrahamic” religions of the Western
world.
[9] Devarim
28:15-36
(15) But
it shall come to pass if you will not listen to the Voice of HaShem, your God,
to observe all His Commandments and His Statutes which I Command you this day,
that all these curses will come upon you, and overtake
you.
.(16)
Cursed
shall you be in the city and cursed shall you be in the field.
(17)
Cursed
shall be your basket and your granary.
(18)
Cursed
shall be the fruit of your body and the fruit of your land, the increase of your
cattle and the young of your sheep.
(19)
Cursed
shall you be in your coming in and cursed shall you be in your going out.
(20)
HaShem
will Send upon you cursing, confusion and failure, in all that you set your hand
to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly, because of the
wickedness of your doings, in that you have forsaken Me.
(21)
HaShem
will Make the pestilence cleave to you, until it consumes you from off of the
land into which you go to possess it.
(22)
HaShem
will Smite you with consumption and with a fever and with inflammation and with
an extreme burning and with the sword and with blasting and with mildew, and
they shall pursue you until you die.
(23)
And your
heaven that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you
shall be iron.
(24)
HaShem
shall Make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven shall it come down
upon you, until you are destroyed.
(25)
HaShem
shall Cause you to be smitten from before your enemies; you shall go out one way
against them and flee seven ways from before them. And you shall be a horror to
all the kingdoms of the earth.
(26)
And your
carcass will be food for all the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the
earth, and no man shall scare them away.
(27)
HaShem
will Smite you with the pox of
(28)
HaShem
will Smite you with madness and blindness and astonishment of the heart.
(29)
And you
shall grope at
(30)
You
shall engage a wife and another man will be intimate with her; you shall build a
house and not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard and not gather its grapes.
(31)
Your ox
shall be slaughtered before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it; your donkey
shall be violently taken away from your before you and shall not be restored to
you; your sheep will be given to your enemies and you shall have none to come to
the rescue.
(32)
Your
sons and daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes will look and
fall with longing for them all day, and there shall be no might in your hand.
(33)
The
fruit of your land and all your labors shall a nation that you do not know
consume, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always.
(34)
So shall
you be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.
(35)
HaShem
shall Smite you in the knees and legs with a festering eruption that cannot be
healed from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.
(36)
HaShem shall Bring you and your king whom you shall set over you to a nation
which neither you or your fathers have known; and there shall you serve other
gods of wood and stone.
[10] Devarim
28:37-68
(37)
And you
shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the nations into
which HaShem will Lead you.
(38)
You
shall carry much grain out into the field, and shall gather little in; for the
locust shall consume it.
(39)
You will
plant vineyards and prune them, but shall neither drink of the wine nor gather
grapes; for the worms shall eat them.
(40)
You will
have olive trees throughout all your borders but you shall not anoint yourself
with the oil, for your olive tree will drop its fruit.
(41)
You
shall conceive sons and daughters but you will not enjoy them, for they shall go
into captivity.
(42)
All your
trees and the fruit of the land the beetle will consume.
(43)
The
stranger that is in your midst will rise above you very high; and you shall come
down very low.
(44)
He shall
lend to you and you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head and you shall be
the tail.
(45)
Moreover all these curses will come upon you, and shall pursue you and overtake
you, until you are destroyed, because you would not listen to the voice of
HaShem your God, to keep His Commandments and His Statutes that He Commanded
you.
(46)
And they
shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and upon your seed
forever.
(47)
Because
you would not serve HaShem your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart
for the abundance of all things.
(48)
Therefore
you will serve your enemies that HaShem will Send against you in hunger and in
thirst and in nakedness and in want of all things; and He shall Put a yoke of
iron on your neck until He has Destroyed you.
(49)
HaShem
will Bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, which will
swoop down like a vulture; a nation whose tongue you shall not
understand.
(50)
A nation
of fierce countenance, which shall not respect the person of the old, nor show
favor to the young.
(51)
And he
shall eat the fruit of your cattle and the fruit of your land until you are
destroyed; such a one that will not leave you either corn or wine or oil or the
increase of your cattle or the young of your sheep, until he has destroyed
you.
(52)
And he
shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come
down, upon whom you relied, throughout all your land, which HaShem your God has
Given you.
(53)
And you
shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters,
which HaShem your God has Given you, in the siege, and in the distress that your
enemy will distress you.
(54)
The man
that is tender among you and very delicate, his eye shall be evil towards his
brother, and towards the wife of his bosom, and towards the remnant of his
children that he shall leave.
(55)
So that
he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat
when he has nothing left him; because of the siege and the distress with which
your enemies will distress you in all your gates.
(56)
The
tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of
her foot upon the ground for fastidiousness and delicateness, her eyes will be
evil to the husband of her bosom and towards her son and towards her daughter.
(57)
And
towards her afterbirth that comes out from her and towards her children that she
shall bear, for she shall eat them for want of all things in secret, because of
the siege and the distress wherewith your enemy will stress you in your gates.
(58)
If you
will not observe to do all the words of this Tora that are written in this book,
that you may fear this glorious and fearful Name, HaShem your
God.
(59)
Then
HaShem will Make your plagues remarkable, and the plagues of your offspring,
even great plagues, and of long continuance and severe sicknesses and of long
continuance.
(60)
Moreover
he will bring upon you all the diseases of
(61)
Also
every sickness and every plague which is not written in this book of the Tora,
them will HaShem Bring upon you, until you are destroyed.
(62)
And you
shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the heavens for
multitude; because you would not obey the Voice of HaShem, your God.
(63) And
it will come to pass, that as HaShem Rejoiced over you to do you good, and to
multiply you, so the so HaShem will Rejoice over you to destroy you and to
annihilate you and you will be plucked off the land which you go to possess it.
(64) And
HaShem will Scatter you among all peoples from the one end of the earth to the
other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers
have known, wood and stone.
(65) And
among these nations you shall find no ease, neither shall the soles of your feet
have rest, but HaShem will Give you there a trembling heart, and failing of
eyes, and despair of mind.
(66) And
your life shall hang in doubt before you, and you shall fear day and night, and
shall have no assurance of your life.
(67)
In the
morning you shall say: Would it was evening! And at evening you will say: Would
it was morning! For the fear of your heart that you fear and for the sight of
your eyes that you see.
(68)
And
HaShem will Bring you back into
[11] See fn. 6, 7
above.
[12] Because Ezra had enacted that
Ma’aser Rishon should be given to the Kohanim, rather than the Levi’im, as the
Tora Commands, as a punishment for the refusal of the Levi’im to return from
Bavel (see Ezra 8:15). Therefore one could not truthfully say in the confession
for Ma’asrot: I have given it to the Levi (Devarim
26:13).
[13] The singing of the Levi’im in the
Temple of Tehillim 44:24, “Awake! Why do you sleep HaShem?” because it sounded
like blasphemy and too much anthropomorphism.
[14] Some used to strike the animal
between the horns in order to stun it before slaughter. The practice was
abolished because it appeared too much as if a blemish was being made on the
sacrificial animal.
[15] There used to be “Melacha” done
during Cholo Shel Moed of Pesach and Sukkot. Yochanan prohibited
this.
[16] “Demai” is produce grown in
[17] See the this year’s essay on
Parshat Re’eh “Rescinding Loans, Respect and Self-Respect” at http://www.kmsynagogue.org/Reeh4.html
[18]
Devarim
15:9
Beware that there not be in your
heart an unworthy thought, saying: The Seventh Year, the year of release (of
loans) is at hand and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give
him nothing, and he cry to HaShem against you , for it shall be considered
against you as a sin.
[19] According to Gittin 4:3, “Hillel
instituted Pruzbul (two Greek words that according to some means “a benefit for
the rich” whereby they are assisted in not violating Devarim 15:9 quoted above
in fn. 15) because of ‘Tikun Olam’ (lit. repairing the world; i.e., correcting
an aberration within society.) “Pruzbul” constitutes a legal loophole which
would prevent the loan from being rescinded by the Sabbatical Year by means of
transferring the debt to the Beit Din during the Seventh Year. Since the
Commandment to rescind the loan applies to the lender as opposed to the
corporate abstraction of the Jewish court, the court is considered the creditor
of the debt until the completion of the Sabbatical Year, when the IOU is
returned to the original holder. While such a device will reassure the lender
that the debt is not liable to cancellation and therefore encourages him to loan
the money, the spirit of the Tora is to allow such debts to be rescinded. The
need for Hillel’s legislation reflects negatively on the generation that
precipitated such a measure.
[20] See BaMidbar
5:11-31.
[21] See Devarim
21:1-9.
[22] An assemblage of 71 judges
comprising the highest level of Jewish court that is empowered to adjudicate the
most complex and delicate legal cases (Sanhedrin 1:5). The number 71 is based
upon BaMidbar 11:16.
[23]
Sota
9:9
When murderers multiplied, the
ritual of “Egla Arufa” (breaking a heifer’s neck) was
discontinued… (Since in Devarim 21:1, the condition of the ritual is that
the murderer is unknown, when murder became common, it was more than likely that
the perpetrator was known. Since according to some commentators, the ritual was
designed to expose the identity of the murderer, when this was no longer
necessary, the ritual also became superfluous.)
When adulterers multiplied, the
ceremony of “Mayim Marim” (bitter waters, symbolizing the
“Sota” ceremony) was discontinued… (BaMidbar
Sota 9:11
When the Sanhedrin ceased to
function, song ceased from the places of feasting… (The Talmud explains this
cause-and-effect relationship upon Eicha 5:14 “The elders from the gate no
longer were there, and the young men also no longer sang.” The former phrase is
interpreted as a reference to the functioning court.
[24] In addition to an alteration in the
manner in which the verses of the “Tochechot” are read, much Halachic discussion
is centered upon who is called up to the Tora for this reading—see Shulchan
Aruch, Orach Chayim 428:6. Due to concern that the person being given this
“honor” is being subtly censored by the congregation, the custom evolved that
either the reader himself, the Gabbai or the Rabbi be given the Aliya in order
to allay suspicions of some more nefarious intent in the distribution of the
“Aliya”.