Translation (Midbar Shur, Drush #3)
And Ya’akov’s sons did for him as he commanded them. They carried him to the land of Cana’an and buried him… (Bereishit 50:12–13)
On the level of p’shat, Ya’akov simply commanded his sons to take his body to Eretz Yisrael for burial. However, our Sages [1] add an additional layer of meaning. They note that Ya’akov assigned a specific station around his funeral bier to each son, and that this same arrangement was replicated in the midbar, when the twelve tribes camped around the Mishkan. Our Sages are identifying more than just an interesting parallel or instance of foreshadowing. What they are uncovering goes to the very heart of what Torah is and how we relate to it.
We find that the Torah is attributed to Moshe – as in “Remember the Torah of Moshe.” (Malachi 3:22) – and Ya’akov as well – as in “Moshe commanded us the Torah, the inheritance of the congregation of Ya’akov.” (Devarim 33:4). The Zohar [2] explains that “Ya’akov stands on the outside, and Moshe on the inside.” The Zohar is teaching that Ya’akov and Moshe represent two different aspects of Torah. The two elements are inseparable from each other in actuality, but they are logically and conceptually distinct. The first aspect is the Torah as a pristine and abstract norm, unfettered from any organic relationship with humanity or this world. [3] This aspect – the “inner” dimension of Torah, as the Zohar puts it – is represented by Moshe. Moshe conveyed the Torah and its laws to the Jewish people in perfect faithfulness to its Divine source. [4] The “Torah of Moshe,” the inner soul of the Torah, is stark in its absolute and singular character. It allows no room for multiplicity or divergent paths towards the Divine. [5]
This is the Torah as it exists in heaven. However, our Sages teach that “the Torah was not given to the ministering angels.” [6] And so there is a second, more ‘human’ dimension in which Torah expresses itself, i.e. through the innate aptitudes and spiritual capacities of the Jewish people. This aspect (what the Zohar calls the “outer” dimension of Torah) was founded by Ya’akov. Unlike the other Avot, Ya’akov succeeded [7] in bequeathing the Divine covenant to his entire family, all of whom stayed within the fold. Because of Ya’akov, a natural receptivity to holiness became part of the Jewish people’s spiritual heritage. However, this receptivity is filtered through the unique character and personality of each individual soul. Thus, we find that each of the twelve tribes established a unique path and typology of Divine service. [8] This is why the twelve tribes are directly descended from Ya’akov, and why the tribal camps in the desert replicated the arrangement of Ya’akov’s children around his funeral bier.
Commentary
Rav Kook addresses one of the most challenging paradoxes of Torah observance. Every Jew is subject to the same undifferentiated demands of God’s Torah, but the same God created us with unique personalities, inclinations and aptitudes. How do we keep the Torah in a way that gives expression to our unique sense of self, and avoid being stifled or suppressed by Torah observance? Or is that begging the question by assuming that God desires this – or even allows it – in the first place?
Rav Kook answers that it depends on which perspective you approach the question from. The abstract, “inner” dimension of Torah does not allow any differentiation, and leaves no room for varying paths of Divine service. However, God gave his Torah to human beings knowing – and desiring – that it would be filtered through the unique character and personality of each individual soul. We observe the same Shulchan Aruch and keep the same Torah, but each leaf on the Tree of Life has its own distinctive color and shape. Some individuals will be drawn to chesed and some to prayer. Some will find themselves in the world of the beit midrash (which, we should note, contains many antechambers itself), and others in the artist’s studio or on the trading floor. [9]
In this regard, we follow the model of Ya’akov’s twelve children, who founded twelve unique paradigms of Divine service. However, what’s more important for us – living in an era where our tribal heritage has long been lost – is the notion that divergent spiritual paths are not a quirk, a luxury or a problem to be eliminated. They are something that God idealizes and desires. A ‘cookie cutter Judaism’ – one that insists all Jews must look the same or live the same way – is not just wrong, it is a denial of human nature and מורשה קהילת יעקב.
Questions for Discussion
- How do we a create space for ‘spiritual differentiation’ in our communities? In our schools? In our families?
- We say two blessings every day as part of birkat haTorah. It seems that one blessing expresses the aspect of ‘Torah of Moshe’ and the other expresses the aspect of ‘Torah of Ya’akov.’ Look it up in the siddur to (i) decide if you agree with this and (ii) see which blessing expresses which aspect.
- In a recent piece on the day school tuition crisis, one writer has noted that “The pressure to produce high earners discourages and marginalizes those members of the community whose calling is in music, literature, the visual arts, or the performing arts. The problem is not only that creative types will likely be unable to afford the Modern Orthodox lifestyle; the community itself tends to marginalize those who pursue artistic careers, viewing them as irresponsible. Some creative types will gravitate toward the rabbinate or Jewish education, careers that can offer a creative outlet, financial incentive in the form of tuition reductions, and social acceptability. Many will either give in to the pressure to pursue a stable, lucrative career, or leave Orthodoxy behind.” Discuss this problem in light of Rav Kook’s comments.
- Rav Kook cites verses from Chumash and Sefer Malachi to demonstrate that the Torah is attributed to both Moshe and Ya’akov. Reread the verses in light of his analysis – does it seem to fit?
- Suppose someone feels that their unique spiritual personality is drawn to things that violate halacha or compromise Torah values. What would Rav Kook say to such a person?
- In terms of how your unique self finds religious expression, can you think of religiously observant friends/family members who are the polar opposite of you?
Further Resources
This piece was published in Midbar Shur, which is a collection of drashot on the parsha that Rav Kook wrote when he was the rav of Zeimel, Lithuania. Unlike Rav Kook’s later works, Midbar Shur is written in normal (i.e. non-poetic and non-kabbalistic) rabbinic Hebrew. Although the drashot were written in the 1880s, Midbar Shur was not published until 1999. It has not been translated into English, but various excerpts are adapted in the works Gold From The Land of Israel, Silver From the Land of Israel, and Sapphire From the Land of Israel, available here, here and here.
[1] Bamidbar Rabbah, cited in Rashi on 50:13.
[2] Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 13.
[3] For an exposition of this aspect of the Torah, see Chapter 8 of Mishlei, and in particular verses 22-31. Kabbalah and Chasidutdwell at length on the ‘supernal’ aspect of the Torah, emphasizing that its words, letters and seemingly mundane laws are a reflection of a much higher, abstract spiritual reality. For an illustrative example, see Chapter 4 of the Tanya.
[4] This is the seventh Ikkar Emunah of the Rambam.
[5] Rav Kook references (homiletically) the pasuk“משפט אחד יהיה לכם” (Devarim 24:22).
[6] Gemara Berachot 25b.
[7] Of course this does not mean that Avraham and Yitzchak were failures, only that they began a process whose completion culminated in Ya’akov. Our Sages refer to Ya’akov as the ‘most chosen of the Avot‘ (lit. בחור שבאבות) – see Bereishit Rabbah at the beginning of Parshat Vayishlach.
[8] The Arizal teaches that each of the tribes even has its own distinct nusach for prayer, in accordance with its unique and distinct spiritual qualities. See Shaar HaKavanot, cited in Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 68:1).
[9] This is my adaptation of Rashi on Devarim 33:19. I am well aware that none of the Twelve Tribes worked on a trading floor.
