Reb Ginsbourg's parasha only arrives and appears on Arutz Sheva in the afternoon before Shabbos (if then), and if I'm able I can copy it prior to Shabbat; but most times it arrives too late for me to copy/proof.
The two Sifrei Torah represent the two ways of serving Hashem.
We read in the ‘Parasha of the King’, that (17:18-20):’he shall not have too many horses..so that he will not return the people to Egypt..and he shall not have too many wives, so that his heart not turn astray; and he shall not greatly increase silver and gold for himself.
‘It shall be that when he sits on the throne.. he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah..before the Kohanim, the Leviim. It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear Hashem..to observe all the words of the Torah.. to perform them, so that his heart does not become haughty over his brethren..so that he will prolong years over his kingdom, he and his sons amid Israel.’
Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch comments:’Immediately on his accession to the throne, his first act is to:’write for himself two copies of this Torah.’
‘By writing the Torah himself, he expresses that the Torah is, in his eyes, first and foremost, that he is not above it, and that it shall guide his whole life, and his entire role as king, is to see to its observance by his subjects.
‘In performing this role faithfully, he is the first ‘ben torah’ in the nation, and in his deeds, he is to be an example to the nation.
‘The expression משנה תורה: a doubling of ‘Torah’, is like (Miketz 53:15)משנה כסף: ‘double the money’ - as the gemara (Sanhedrin 21:)expounds: two sifrei Torah, one of which is placed in his treasury, and the second which goes out and comes in with him, at all times.
‘To observe all the words of this Torah’: This expression does not encompass only the mitzvot of the Torah - as this is said in the ensuing words:’and these decrees’ - but alludes to the whole of the historical context and the educational lesson of the Torah.
‘The king of Israel will learn from the Torah, the standing and the destiny of the nation, and the role of the individual in this.
‘He will understand all of this with full clarity.
‘’These decrees’: all of the mitzvot of the Torah are called here חוקים: ‘decrees’, as they stand before the king as immutable laws, which govern and are the frame that binds all that the king may do.
‘In the next passuk, the Torah is called ‘the mitzvot’, as there it describes the standing of the king in relation to the nation- he is to view them not as ‘subjects’, but as brethren - ‘that he ‘not become haughty over his brethren’- and the whole of the Torah is to be to him ‘mitzvah' - which establishes him in his role - Hashem has given him his role, and he is His first servant.’
Rav Moshe Sternbuch adds:’There is a singular additional mitzvah given to the king alone: though there is an obligation on every Jew to write a sefer Torah - even if he already has one - the king is commanded additionally, ‘when he sits on the throne of his kingdom..(to) write for himself two copies of’ the ‘Torah’.
‘The reason for this appears to be, to teach him, on his coronation, that he has additional obligations as to his behavior with his subjects.
‘Further, because of his high office - his elevation to the throne —he is to sanctify Hashem in his conduct and ways, that they should be meticulous and מתוך שורת הדין: beyond what strict justice demands.
‘This is a lesson to anyone who is elevated - be it to the rabbinate, or the like - that he is no longer to conduct himself in his previous way - when he was a layman - but that his ways are now to be meticulous, and to sanctify himself even in permitted activities, to sanctify the name of Hashem, that it should be beloved by the people.
‘This obligation is imposed immediately ‘he sits on the throne’, as on occasions when one is elevated to be king, he becomes lax in performance of his duties, and disparaging in heeding the needs and will of his subjects
‘He is therefore adjured that, as soon as he is elevated to ‘sit on his throne’, he is to fulfill his obligations faithfully, ‘all the days of his reign.’
The Netivot Shalom comments:’In our parsha, the Torah first lists that which the king is to avoid - in the way of סור מרע: ‘turn away from bad’ - not to have too many horses, so as not to put his trust in physical forces, but to only put his trust in Hashem
‘Further, not to have too many wives, so as not to be preoccupied with desire, nor to greatly increase his silver and gold, as this will cause him to become haughty over his brethren.
‘After this, the Torah turns to עשה טוב: ‘doing good’: by, as soon as ‘he sits on his throne, to write for himself two copies of this Torah, from before the Kohanim, the Leviites. It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear Hashem, his G-d’.
‘The matter of the two copies of the Torah, is that ‘one is placed in his treasury, and the other goes out and comes in with him’, alludes to two ways of leadership - between him and himself, and, when he goes out and comes in, from amongst people.
‘The Sefer Torah in his treasury alludes to the opening words of the Ra’ma, at the beginning of the Shulchan Aruch: even when alone in his house, he shall place on his heart, that the Great King, Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu, whose honor fills the world and all in it, stands and sees his deeds.
The second Sefer Torah - that goes out and comes in with him - is to adjure him in all his conduct and activities - in eating, drinking, speaking to others, and in all his mundane activities, to conduct his affairs faithfully.
‘This is the allusion of the second Sefer, that goes out and comes in with him - that the Name of Heaven, is sanctified in all that he does.’
The Kli Yakar brings the comment of Rashi, on our subject:’And it will be, when he sits on his throne’:’If he does this’ - that which is imposed on him in the immediately preceding passage. - ‘he merits that his kingdom will remain established’.
‘There is an allusion to this in the word כסא: throne’: the initials of כסא סוס אשה: throne, horse, wife.
‘We learn from what happened with Shlomo Hamelech, that a king needs to beware of things which will divert his heart from Hashem: the over-abundance of silver and gold, will cause him to- as the Torah adjures (Eikev 8:13-14) Your silver and gold..increases, and your heart grows haughty, and you forget the Lord, your G-d’.
‘So, too, an over abundance of horses, as it causes one to reduce his reliance on Hashem, and to put his trust in horse and rider.
‘An increase in the number of wives, likewise, causes one to turn his heart from Hashem, as happened with Shlomo.
‘It therefore said:’he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah..’, so that he shall read in it, and know to beware of these three perils.
‘In regard to the abundance of silver and gold, it says:’so that his heart does not become haughty over his brethren’ - as a lot of money brings haughtiness; as against too many wives, it says:’not turn from the commandment right or left’, and as against an abundance of horses, it says:’so that he will prolong years over his kingdom’ - meaning: that if he puts his trust in them, he is likely to die in battle.’
The Alshich Hakadosh elucidates:’After warning against these three things that are likely to lead to transgression, the Torah comes to teach how to be adorned in three crowns, through the Torah, and also acquire the crown of a good name - not only that he will distance himself from these harmful things, but will also draw near to the thing which gives him real good both in this world, and in the world-to-come.
‘That is, by ‘when he sits on his throne..’- to understand the matter, we need to recall the midrash, in which Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said that there were three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of Kehuna, and the crown of kingship. We learn from the Torah, that, whoever earns the crown of Torah, merits all three crowns, as it is written (Mishlei 8:15):’By the Torah, kings will rule’ - so too, the crown of Kehuna, as Hashem is the lot of the Kohen, and this is greater than Kehuna.
‘We can now turn to our matter, the Torah saying:’When he sits on his throne..’, meaning that it is worthy that, when he acquires with the crown of kingship, he acquires the other crowns as well, and the crown of a good name, which is above them all - this, by the Torah.
‘This is the meaning of:’When he sits on his throne..’, when he has the crown of kingship, so too, he will have the other crowns as well- at the head of them, the crown of Torah, this by:’when he sits on his throne..he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah::, as by this he also acquires the crown of Kehuna, as we brought - from Rabban Shimon bar Yochai - that one who has the crown of Torah, is deemed as if he had all the crowns, the proof of this being that (Horyiot 13:1), even a illegitimate talmid chacham, takes precedence over a Kohen Gadol who is a boor.
‘This is why, the king is to write his books ‘before the Kohanim Leviim’, as the merit of the Torah that he is to write, is above - and greater - than the Kehuna.
‘We therefore have learned, that the king has acquired all three crowns, but all are as nothing, if the crown of a good name - which is above them all - is not with them.
It therefore then says:’It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life..- meaning: when I said that he should have the crown of Torah, it is not that he should have the Sefer, and read from it when he has leisure time - then he does not have the crown of Torah - but that he should learn its wisdom, till it is within him - this is the meaning of ‘it shall be with him’ - actually, ‘with him’, as well as ‘he shall read from it.’
‘When the Torah says:’it shall be with him’, the reason for this is two-fold: First, as if this is not the case, he will not ‘learn to fear Hashem’, as (Avot 2:6):’A boor , does not have fear of sin.’
‘Second: knowing brings to doing - this is the meaning of:’to observe..to perform’ - as the Sages say: (Meg’ 27.)’ learning brings to doing.’
‘Thereby he will acquire a good name, and merit - together with the crown of kingship - to all the crowns, including ‘the crown of a good name’, which is above them all.’
Rav Shlomo Kluger adds:’’For two reasons, Hashem desires that the king reads the sefer Torah at all times: First, so that he understands what is required of a talmid chacham, from the written Torah, as thereby ‘his heart does not become haughty over his brethren’, meaning: that he does not move his heart from the needs of his brethren, and will see to their livelihood.
‘Second, for the benefit of the king himself, that ‘he not turn from the commandment right or left’, from all that he is told by talmidei chachamim, as we are adjured in our parsha:(17:11)’ According to the law they instruct you.. you shall do, you shall not divert from the word they tell you, either right or left’ - which our Sages expound as: ‘Even if they tell you on right, that it is left.’
‘We find therefore that this language applies, to doing that which they instruct.’
The Ktav Sofer asks:’Why is it specified that the king ‘write ..two copies of the Torah in a book, before the Kohanim, the Leviim’, and on what is written ‘and he shall read from it all the days of his life’?
‘Our Sages expound that ‘one goes out with him, and comes in with him’ - we need to understand why it does not simply say:’is with him always’ - why does it add ‘going out.. coming in..’.
‘It appears to me, that the reason is the exposition of our Sages (Brachot 35:), on the words of the Torah:’You shall gather in your crop’, whilst as well are also commanded:’The book of the Torah will not move, from your mouth’ - is this to be understood literally? No, do so in the way of the world, plough at the time of ploughing.. - we need to understand the exposition: why should it not be understood literally, that which is written plainly:’The Torah will not move from your mouth’?
‘The answer can be found in the commentary of the Rambam, on the mishna (Avot 2:12):’All your deeds should be for the sake of Heaven’- all our mundane daily deeds should be for this objective - your eating and your sleeping should be, so that you are healthy and strong, fully able to engage in your Torah study.
‘One who engages in commerce or labor, so that he will be free to serve Hashem, and to learn His Torah, in his work, is also performing a mitzvah, as he is compelled to abstain from his learning because he is אנוס: compelled to do so , and is therefore credited as if he did learn
‘The king, who is required to be more sanctified, is therefore required to have as his objective, that all his deeds are for the sake of Heaven.
‘This is why he is commanded to write his sifrei Torah ‘before the Kohanim, the Leviim’, who have no inheritance in the Land, and therefore the Torah is their main concern, and their work, secondary to it - this is what is expected of a king.
‘To connote this, Hashem commanded that he write sifrei Torah ‘before the Kohanim, the Leviim. It shall be with him , and he shall read from it all the days of his life’ - that in all the days of his life, eating, drinking, sleeping and all his activities will be for the Torah, and thereby it will be as if he is always reading the Torah, fulfilling the commandment :’the sefer Torah will not leave your mouth’, as our Sages expound.
‘This is the answer to their query: how is it possible that he read it at all times - when he is required to be engaged in the needs of his subjects?
They therefore expound that his going out and his coming in, will all be with the Torah, meaning: with the objective of the Torah, to observe it and to safeguard it.’
A parting gem from Rav Pinchas Friedman:’Whilst the holy tomes teach that it is not possible today to observe the mitzvah, that a king write two sifrei Torah, as the mitzvah is only for a king of Israel, nevertheless each one of us is obligated to endeavor to fulfill the teaching that underlies the mitzvah, as the Torah is eternal and applicable to each person and to each time.
‘It is therefore incumbent on each of us, to study this mitzvah - especially the teaching of our Sages, as to these two sifrei Torah - that one to be placed in the treasury, and the other, to go out and comes in with with the king.
‘Rav Israel miTchortkov offers a nice explanation, as to this: it is a lesson in the two contradictory ways that a leader is to perform his role: on the one hand, he is to act in a way that casts fear of him on his subjects, this in his public actions - but, in private, he is to act with humility and submissiveness - especially between him and Hashem.
‘We find allusions to these two ways, in what is written in our parsha, as to them king - on the one hand, we read (17:4) that when you decide to appoint a king, you ‘set a king over’ yourself - on which our Sages (Ketuvot 17.) comment:’a king who forgives offence against his honor, his honor is not forgiven, as it says:’set over you a king’, that his fear should be on you.
‘On the other hand, we also read that the king is adjured:’that his heart does not become haughty over his brethren’ - meaning, that in private, between himself and Hashem, the king has to behave with humility, though in the public domain, with regard to his subjects, he has to cast his fear on them, so that they heed his voice.
‘We can now understand why Hashem imposed on the king this additional mitzvah - of the two Sifrei Torah: the one to be placed in his treasury.
‘This alludes to his conduct between himself and Hashem, where he has to take care ‘that he does not become haughty over his brethren’, but expresses before his Maker, his submissiveness - whilst the Sefer Torah that ‘goes out and comes in with him’, publicly, he has to cast his dread on his subjects.
‘We can learn this lesson, from Matan Torah, as our Sages (Sotah 5.) say there, that Hashem overlooked all the higher mountains and peaks, and chose to reside His shechina on the lowly Har Sinai.
‘Our Sages teach us a great principle, that humility is very good when our own honor is concerned - but, when it comes to the honor of Hashem, we need to be garbed in holy pride, as, were it not so, the yetser ha’ra would trap us in his net, to think that Hashem has no need for our unworthy deeds.
Against this, we need to answer him, that Hashem desires our service, and then ensure that we serve Hashem in joy, and with all our power.
‘The Ba’al haTanya elucidates-regarding the choice of Har Sinai on which the Torah was given - asking: Would it not have been a greater lesson in humility, if the Torah was given, not on a mountain, but in a valley, alluding more to humility? And answers: Hashem wanted to teach us, that together with humility, we also need a measure of holy pride - and therefore, the choice of the lowly mountain.
‘This is the lesson of the two Sifrei Torah, that represent the two ways of serving Hashem: the one ‘placed in the treasury’, meaning when one is alone with Hashem, to behave in utmost humility, in the manner of Avraham Avinu, who said before his Maker:’I am ashes and dirt’ - but, with this, the sefer that ‘goes out and comes in with him’, teaches that when we go about the performance of the mitzvot, we are to have in our mind, the greatness of our spirit, in the manner of:’For me the world was created’, so as not fall into the trap of the yetser ha’ra, of improper humility, that we are unworthy to perform the mitzvot of Hashem.’
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/414078
No comments:
Post a Comment