EXOD342 Rules Regarding an Envoy. Rashi writes: "The Torah teaches us derech eretz--do not think that if the one who sent you knows of your deeds, you are no longer obligated to inform him [of the completion of your assignment]. This is the meaning of the verse, '… and Moshe relayed the people's word to Hashem" [this verse]. This obligation certainly applies if the person who sent the envoy does not know if the assignment was completed according to his instructions. Thus, in order to avoid causing undue worry to the person who appointed him, derech eretz would require the envoy to contact him.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD343 When someone sends us on a mission, we should report back afterward. Rashi cites the Mechilta: "Why was it necessary for Moshe to report back to God, the omniscient? Because the Torah comes to teach you derech eretz (proper behavior) from Moshe; Moshe did not say: 'Since He who sent me knows anyhow, I do not need to report.'" Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv cited this verse in a letter he wrote to someone who had neglected to respond to a letter that he had previously written him, and added: "We must learn derech eretz from Moshe and remember to report back to someone who sends us on an errand or mission." (Chochmah Umussar, vol. 1, p. 45).

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD344 The Torah hereby teaches us derech eretz [proper deportment], that one should return an answer to his sender; for Moses said: Even though He knows, I shall return an answer (Mechilta).

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD345 The need for circumspection in one's manner of dressing is inherent in the Bible. A preliminary period before the giving of the law on Mount Sinai was set aside to allow the people to launder their clothes so that they would be properly dressed for the occasion [this verse]. Ecclesiasticus admonished: "Let thy garment be always white, and let thy head lack no oil" (Ecclus. 9:8). Warnings against the wearing of improper clothes abound in the Talmud (see "Appearance and Attire"). This includes provocative clothes (Yevamot 63b) and soiled garments (Shabbat 114a).

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD346 Let us analyze this. It is written (34:3): "Also the sheep and the cattle shall not feed opposite that mountain" [Where the Shechinah abides]. Why, then, is it stated: "With the sounding of the shofar they shall ascend the mountain"? [i.e., Why should the departure of the Shechinah not suffice?] To teach that anything [prohibited] by consensus requires another consensus to permit it [though the reason for the original prohibition no longer applies] (Beitzah 5b)

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD347 See [[EXOD1051]] Exodus 34:27 covenant HIRSH 50-1

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD348 To the Jew, his Torah has no peer as a source of instruction in the art of right living. For him, it combines the loftiest teaching with abundant illustrations to show how its ideals can be lived. The Bible will always be the divine Book because it is, at the same time, so intensely human. Its uniqueness consists in that while it contains not a little which is within the understanding of an intelligent child, it is also so profound that the studies of two thousand years have not exhausted its significance for scholars and philosophers. "And the voice of the Shophar waxed louder and louder" [this verse]. Unlike the human voice which gets weaker after much use, the "Voice of God" assumes more force with time. The Bible by no means exhausts the sources of Jewish faith. The Jew has preserved, in addition, a treasury of doctrines and sayings transmitted from father to son. This traditional literature, the Oral Law (Torah she'be'al Peh) constitutes the largest part of Judaism. Many Halachic doctrines not mentioned in the Torah have been, explicitly or implicitly, traced to the forty days Moses spent with God prior to communicating them orally to Israel [these traditional observances are described in the Talmud as halachah l'moshe mi'Sinai]. So have many well-known haggadic illustrations been connected with Sinaitic teachings. This Oral Law comprises all the interpretations and conclusions which our scribes have deduced from the written Torah, together with the regulations instituted by them. These are to be found in the Mishnah, Gemara, Tosefta, and Halachic Midrashim, all of which were originally not committed to writing but transmitted and taught orally. In these sources, the claim is often repeated that a complete body of Rabbinical doctrines had been revealed unto Moses on Sinai, together with the hermeneutical rules according to which they might be developed. An example of such exegetical principles is the thirteen rules of R. Ishmael [See Singer's Prayer Book, pp. 13-14. These are included in the Siddur, in order to enable the Jew to study, as well as pray, each day.] These rules are indispensable, in view of the terse utterances of the Torah. May not the very brevity of the Scriptures be a further proof that, side-by-side with the Bible, there existed a vigorous body of tradition? Let one illustration suffice. In Deut. xii.21, the commandment of slaughtering the sacrifice is given with the addition "as I have commanded thee". We will search in vain for a command in the Torah advising us how to slaughter the animal in the prescribed way. It is when we turn to the Talmudic Tractate Hullin that we find the laws of Shechitah enumerated in detail. These are invested with Divine authority because they are believed to form part of the instruction given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai. We can understand the opinions expressed in the Talmud that customs and ceremonies observed by the rank and file of the people are to be regarded as sacrosanct as the Torah itself [minhag Yisrael Torah hee].

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD349 Lest a man should say, “Since some scholars declare a thing impure and others declare it pure, some pronounce a thing to be forbidden and others pronounce it to be permitted, some disqualify an object while others uphold its fitness, how can I study Torah under such circumstances?” Scripture states, “They are given from one shepherd” (Ecclesiastes 12:11): One God has given them, one leader [Moses] has uttered them at the command of the Lord of all creation, blessed be He, as it says, “And God spoke all these words” (Exodus 20:1). You, then, should, on your part, make your ear like a grain receiver and acquire a heart that can understand the words of the scholars who declare a thing impure as well as those who declare it pure, the words of those who declare a thing forbidden as well as those who pronounce it permitted, and the words of those who disqualify an object as well as those who uphold its fitness. Although one scholar offers his view and another offers his, the words of both are all derived from what Moses, the shepherd, received from the One Lord of the Universe. Midrash, Numbers Rabbah 14:4

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD350 [Continued from [[934]] Deuteronomy 18:22 prophet DORFFDRAG 40-1]. This practical problem of distinguishing a true prophet from a false one, coupled with the conviction of several prophets that God's punishment of the people for disobedience would include not only the destruction of the Temple but also the cessation of prophecy, (Amos 8:11-12; Micah 3;4,6,7; Jeremiah 18:18, 23:29-40; and Ezekiel 7:26) together meant that by the end of the biblical period prophecy was no longer seen as the vehicle for knowing God's will. Indeed, the prophet Zachariah already foresees a time when “every ‘prophet’ will be ashamed of the ‘visions’ [he had] when he ‘prophesized,’” and the prophet's own mother and father will say to the prophet, “You shall die, for you have lied in the name of the Lord” and they themselves “will put him to death when he ‘prophesizes.’ (Zekhariah 13:3-4). This, however, did not remove the statements of God as the objective criterion that would determine the true and the good. The way that we would know God's will, however, changed: It would now be through the interpretation and application of the Torah, the one text that all Jews accepted as true Revelation from God. Study, in other words, became the post biblical form of God's revelation, (B. Bava Batra 12a) making it a religious experience as well as an educational and legal one. It is for this reason that Jewish law obligates Jews to study the Torah throughout their lives, even if they are poor and even if such study involves them in debates with their teachers or parents, for nothing less than knowing God's will is at stake. Rabbis, who gain their authority at least in part from their expertise in the texts and traditions of Judaism, would often differ with each other in discerning the will of God, and that might be frustrating at times; but one must learn to live with that indeterminacy and open one's mind to the multiplicity of meanings inherent in both the law and lore of the Torah: Lest a person say, “Since some scholars declare a thing impure and others declare it pure, some pronounce it to be permitted while others declare it forbidden, some disqualify an object [as ritually fit] while others uphold its fitness, how can I study Torah under such circumstances?” Scripture states, “They are given from one Shepherd” (Ecclesiastes 12:11): one God has given them, one leader [Moses] has uttered them at the command of the Lord of all creation, blessed be He, as it says, “And God spoke all these words” (Exodus 20:1). You, then, should make your ear like a grain receiver and acquire a heart that can understand the words of the scholars who declare a thing impure as well as those who declare it pure, the words of those who declare thing forbidden as well as those who pronounce it permitted, and the words of those who disqualify an object [as ritually fit] as well as those who uphold its fitness. ... Although one scholar offers his view and another scholar offers his, the words of both are all derived from what Moses, the Shepherd, received from the One Lord of the universe. Avot d-Rabbi Natan 18:3; T. Sotah 7:7; B. Hagigah 3b; and Numbers Rabbah 14:4.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

EXOD351 Perhaps the Torah's most consequential statement of Judaism's ethical essence is the Ten Commandments Exodus 20:2 – 14, the biblical document that is the bedrock of Jewish and Western morality. The Ten Commandments obligate Jews to affirm God (who brought them out of slavery), to observe the Sabbath (on which day they must make sure that even their animals are not put to work), and ban idolatry. The Ten Commandments also prohibit murder, adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, taking God's Name in vain and covetousness. "Where are all the sacrifices? why no mention of Passover or of circumcision?" asks Rabbi Schubert Spero."The testimony of the Decalogue seems overwhelming: Moral rules regulating relations between human beings are primary. Morality is the essence of Judaism."

SHOW FULL EXCERPT