Before Shavuot- and Moshe took them towards Hashem from the camp

When we learn Torah in depth, there is no way of knowing what to expect. Nevertheless, there is a way to organize ourselves and head towards the unknown!

Let us focus on understanding ameilus of melachah, and from this, we will also see a new understanding of ameilus of melachah and ameilus of sichah.

The possuk (Shemos, 19,17) says that ‘Moshe took the people towards (‘likras’) Hashem from the camp and they stood at the foot of the mountain (Har Sinai)’. In other words, the defining moment of Klal Yisroel immediately before Matan Torah is described as Klal Yisroel going towards Hashem. They went to meet Hashem without knowing what to expect.

People say that we need to set goals when we learn Torah. Accordingly, the whole goal should be only to learn bekius and to finish masechtas. Learning in depth iyun, on the other hand, has no predetermined structure. It is an unknown endeavour-we don’t know how long it will take, and we do not know how the sugyah will turn out. Such an unknown quantity doesn’t fit with making predefined goals.

I find it hilarious when people come to me and say that if they have no clearly defined goal, they will not end up doing anything. Do they want me to open a new yeshivah where we will make a clear plan for finishing the masechta and how many chazoros to do (and not to mention that when we finish each perek before starting the next, we will make sure to first chazar the whole perek)?! When we learn iyun, we cannot make plans. We have no prior knowledge of how the sugyah will pan out. Rashi in Sanhedrin says that setting deadlines for our learning is incorrect!

Heading towards the Torah without knowledge

We learn from Klal Yisroel, as they go towards Hashem at Matan Torah, what the correct approach to our learning should be. They didn’t know who Hashem was or what the prophecy of Moshe was (which, in fact, when they became part of his prophecy, they passed away), but they nevertheless went towards the Torah without knowing what to expect.

So we see that there is an idea of just ‘going towards’ something without a specific goal.

Melachah, Sichah and Torah

Omel melachah, omel sichah and omel Torah all have an element of ‘going towards’. Similarly, when I constructed my shelves with my son, this was also with a ‘going towards’ something unknown, without any expectations. Another example of where omel melachah entails working without knowing exactly what the result will be: people used to chop down trees to produce wood for construction. Whilst the person might have known what he wanted to make in the end, the process of getting there, e.g., how good the wood would be, was unknown to him.

Regarding omel sichah, when listening to a good, clear speaker, you know where he is coming from and where he is heading the whole time. On the other hand, a person who is unskilled at delivering a shiur will tend to veer from the point.

When unskilled people deliver a shiur, it’s hard to know where they are heading. This is like throwing a stone into a pond. This creates a ripple in the water that extends further and further, but without any real direction. There is another way of extending ideas in a shiur, similar to shooting an arrow, where every moment it is clear where it came from and where it is heading towards.

Omel melachah is not so delicate, and one doesn’t need to be so clear about where they are heading. One can construct a table without such clear direction, and he may even take breaks in the middle of the melachah.

Omel Torah

Now we will return to our question about omel Torah: how can we order ourselves in Torah if we do not know what to expect?

Let’s learn a mehalech how to find some order in ameilus haTorah by looking at the possuk. The possuk (Shemos 19,17) says that Moshe took Klal Yisroel out from the machaneh, from the camp. We know where Klal Yisroel were located when Moshe took them out. If so, why does the Torah need to spell out that Moshe took them out of the camp?

Creating a machaneh

Machaneh means a place where you stop. If you want to create a ‘towards’ in a situation where you do not know where you are heading or what to expect, you first need to create a machaneh.

When a person learns bekius, it is easy to have a ‘towards’ because there is a predictable goal. However, when learning iyun, since you cannot know where you are heading, how can you create a ‘towards’? The solution is to set up a machaneh, meaning to say, to know where you are holding. Once you have established well and know what you have ascertained in your learning and where you are up to in your development through the sugyah, you can push forward from there.

The way to create a machaneh is to know exactly where you are holding the whole time. You can do this by writing down your thought process. This is similar to baking a cake. The whole time, the baker knows where they are in the process and where they are heading. He knows he has just added the flour and is now going to add the eggs, etc. It is slightly different because these steps are more clearly defined. Nevertheless, they are the same since in both scenarios it is important to know where we are holding and then to go a step further.

Why does ‘im bechukosai teleichu’ refer to ameilus hatorah (Rashi)? Ameilus hatorah only entails taking one step further from where we currently are. The going refers to being in a very important place and then taking one step away from where we are.

We count 49 days from Pesach until Shavuos. This is a counting ‘towards’ matan Torah. Similarly, Reb Yerucham wrote a letter to one of his talmidim, and he gives him a berachah of birchas hachanah ‘likras chag matan Torah’, to go towards matan Torah. The whole avodah of Shavuos is to approach matan Torah by establishing a clear base (machaneh) and then taking one step forward at a time.

A chiddush in pshat

I want to give you an example of an unexpected pshat that I came up with from my ameilus batorah. In Parshas Yisro, Yisro went to Moshe Rabbeinu, and he saw that Moshe was sitting whilst all of Klal Yisroel were standing. Yisro said that through this, Moshe Rabbeinu disgraces the honor of all of Klal Yisroel. Later, the possukim say that Yisro saw Moshe sitting from day until night, judging klal Yisroel. Rashi asks how it could have been that he was sitting all day and night, and he answers that every judge who judges emes leamito becomes a partner with Hashem in maaseh bereishis.

What did Yisro see that was wrong with Moshe Rabbeinu’s actions? In Pumbadesa, when the Rov was teaching the talmidim, the Rov always sat, and the talmidim stood. Klal Yisroel were learning from Moshe how to make a din Torah. If so, surely it was fitting that they should stand and Moshe should sit?

I think the pshat is that Yisro saw that Moshe was always making din emes leamito shel torah. Yisro saw that Klal Yisroel was broader than that. For example, there is a place for compromise in din Torah. This comes before din, but it’s not leamito shel torah. Compromise is when the two litigants reach an agreement within the din. Compromise is a way of dealing with the din even though it’s not leamito shel torah.

The gemorah in Sanhedrin says that Moshe cannot make compromises because he was totally din. Aharon was the one to judge compromises in dinei torah. Klal Yisroel was broader than just emes leamito shel torah. Klal Yisroel has a place within it, to go along with Torah, but without leamito shel torah.

When we learn and come up with an idea, it is very important not to be content with it and then go on to learn something else. Rather, the idea is like the machaneh, like we said above. We then need to try to take this idea further and further.

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Written by Rabbi Rapport