Parashat Vayelach, Shabbat Shuva, 5782

Midway between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, on the first Shabbat of the year, we read the last mitzvah in the Torah, according to the count in Sefer Hahinuch (anonymous, 13^th-century Spain). On Deuteronomy 31:19, “Therefore, write down this poem,” Sefer Hahinuch writes that the 613^th commandment is for “each person in Israel to have a Torah scroll. If one writes it themself, it is praiseworthy and… Scripture credits them as if they received it at Mount Sinai. But one who is unable to write it themself must pay someone to write one for them. The author goes on to emphasize two reasons for the commandment: 1) people attach more importance to things they prepare for themselves, and 2) Torah should be accessible to everyone and available in every home. Therefore, someone who inherits a Torah scroll but has the means to write or buy one, should lend one of the copies to someone who cannot afford one of their own.

The Torah ends and the year begins with an emphasis on the accessibility of the Torah, the importance of active study and sharing within the community.
In my opinion, nothing could be more appropriate.

We are not only between the Day of Judgment and the Day of Atonement and forgiveness, but also, according to the Oral Torah, between the first giving of the Torah and the second. “In the third month after the Israelites had gone forth from the land of Egypt” God revealed Godself “on Mount Sinai, with thunder, and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the shofar” (Exodus 19:16). Moses then ascended the mountain to receive the written Tablets of the Covenant. When his return was delayed, the people weakened. Aaron met the needs of the hour and created the Golden Calf. At the sight of the Israelites dancing around the calf, Moses broke the tablets written with God’s finger. According to the midrash in Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer, that day was the 17^th of Tammuz (which later became a fast day). The covenant between God and the people almost unraveled. After heavy punishment and great effort by Moses, God relented and on the first of the sixth month (which we know as “Elul”), Moses sculpted new tablets and again ascended the mountain to the sound of a shofar. At the end of another forty days, on the 10^th day of the seventh month, Moses descended with the second tablets, the fruit of a collaboration between God and Moses. On Yom Kippur, the Torah was given a second time.

Following this chronology, Rabbi Nathan Laufer, in Rendezvous with God: Revealing the Meaning of the Jewish Holidays and Their Mysterious Rituals, claims that the Day of the Shofar Blasts – which we know as Rosh Hashanah and about which the Torah tells nothing of its essence – was intended to reenact the revelation at Sinai, to return the people to the sense of wonder and awe they felt at the time, so they would ready to receive the Torah again in ten days. The Torah did not elaborate, because for people who had been there the message was clear. Words were unnecessary.

For those who weren’t there, words help. Therefore, one of the oldest Rosh Hashanah prayers, Seder Shofarot, begins “You were revealed in a cloud of Your glory to Your holy nation to speak to them” and concludes “In thunder and lightning You revealed Yourself to them, and amid the sound of the shofar, You appeared”[1] before quoting three verses from the account of revelation in the Book of Exodus. Rosh Hashanah is not the anniversary of the giving of the Torah but an opportunity to remember not only the impressive moment of revelation but also the fragility of Torah given without human participation.

On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, Naomi Leitner challenged us to move beyond the Coronavirus crisis (when the time is right) with eyes open to see a new world, to look forward with imagination, momentum and daring. She is correct, but there is something I would like to add. A new world deserves to be built on stable foundations.

Therefore, Rabban Yoḥanan Ben-Zakkai chose Yavneh and the scholars there to help revitalize the people after the destruction of the Second Temple. After Rabban Yoḥanan Ben-Zakkai, leadership of the Beit Midrash was transferred to Rabban Gamliel, who imposed strict acceptance requirements for potential students. When his colleagues deposed him (for reasons that are not important at the moment), his successor Rabbi Elazar Ben Azaria changed the admission criteria and several hundred new students joined the Beit Midrash. Moreover, the Babylonian Talmud (Berakhot 27b-28a) records that on the same day, all of the outstanding agenda items facing the rabbis were resolved.

Broad participation in Torah, both learning and teaching, is the key to our continued existence as a people. Opening the doors wide in order to bring in as many positions and varied life experiences possible revitalizes Torah and strengthens it. As Naomi emphasized, technology has opened new doors for us in all areas of life. Learning Torah included.

If not now, when?

If the future of the Jewish people as a unique entity, and the State of Israel as a Jewish society are important to us, we must take personal responsibility for Torah, to learn and to keep, so the our movement forward will be firmly grounded.

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[1] Trans. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks