83 Torah: The Ultimate Sacrifice 

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph quotes a verse in Vayikra (7:37):

“This is the Torah (instructions) of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the purgation offering, the reparation offering, the offering of ordination, and the sacrifice of well-being.”

There are several midrashim that notice the use of the phrase “This is the Torah.” The pashut peshat is that Torah here means ritual instruction or directions. However, some understand it literally, that the study of Torah is a form of sacrifice. Even more, Torah itself generates forgiveness.

Nefesh Hachaim (IV:31) quotes the Zohar (Shlach 159a):

“Rabbi Yehuda began… ‘It is important for people to deeply contemplate the Holy One’s (blessed be He) work. It is important for people to toil and contemplate the words of the Torah, for anyone who is involved with Torah is as if he offers all of the sacrifices in the world before the Holy One (blessed be He). And not only that, but the Holy One (blessed be He) awards atonement for all of his obligations, and they prepare for him a number of thrones in the world-to-come.’”

And also for this reason, involvement with Torah atones for all sins, as the sages stated (at the end of Menachos 110a): “Why is it written (Vayikra 7:37), ‘This is the Torah of the burnt-offering, of the meal-offering, and the sin-offering…’? And they deduce that anyone who is involved with Torah has no need for a burnt-offering, nor a meal-offering, nor a sin-offering, nor a guilt-offering.”

And so it is written in Tanchuma, parshas Tzav, and in Shemos Rabba, parsha 38: “The Holy One (blessed be He) said to them: ‘It is words I ask of you… and I forgive all your sins.’” And “words” are none other than words of Torah…

And in Zohar Tzav (35a): “Come and observe…, because of that, one who labors in Torah doesn’t need sacrifices nor offerings, for the Torah is better than all of them and connects all the parts of faith.”

Anyone who has gone through a traditional yeshiva education is familiar with this unique aspect of Jewish tradition. Torah study is not just for knowledge, nor is it merely a mitzvah to study, but it is also a redemptive, elevating process. The question is: what is the spiritual and psychological mechanism? Let us explore a number of reasons offered by various mussarists and commentaries.

Nefesh Hachaim (IV:31) argues that while repentance may involve confession and abstaining from sin, the root of it is simply returning to God and recovering that attachment. The blessing in Shemoneh Esreh that asks for assistance in repentance states: “Return us, our Father, to Your Torah… and restore us before You with a complete repentance.” The study of Torah engenders love and attachment to God and therefore can be the highest form of repentance.

Nefesh Hachaim (ibid.) also says that there is a certain light and power in Torah that overcomes darkness and evil. Sometimes even persons who are immersed in impurity slowly become enlightened by Torah. Eicha Rabbah (Pesicha 2) has God lamenting: “If only they had forsaken Me and observed My Torah… By engaging in Torah, the light that is in it would have returned them to the good path.” Rav Huna said: Study Torah even if it is not for its own sake, as through doing so not for its own sake, one comes to do so for its own sake.

And lastly, we find an explanation from the Maharal (Tiferes Yisroel 70):

Torah is pure intellect. Sin is the opposite. It is the emphasis of the physical over the spiritual and a detachment from God. Therefore, if one uses Torah to enter this elevated intellectual state, he will reverse and overcome the physical taints and stains of sin.

It is important to note that the word intellect, to the Maharal, is meant in the sense that the ancients understood intellect. They did not mean brains. They meant the power and ability for higher thinking, which cannot merely be a biological process. Insight, autonomy, and wisdom are seen as a gift from God, the source of all wisdom and the way in which our souls are part of God. Torah study is designed to develop this aspect within us—to emulate God’s intellect, which is a combination that manifests in kindness, wisdom, understanding, and moral reasoning.

84 Dreams: Divine Signal or Mental Static?

Our Gemara on Amud Beis relates that Rabbi Elazar felt his explanation of Rabbi Yochanan was correct since he saw Rabbi Yochanan in a dream. Some commentaries interpret that he merely saw this as a good omen, while others go as far as to say Rabbi Yochanan appeared in a dream and told him he was right (compare standard Rashi to Rashi Kesav Yad).

There are other Gemaras which indicate the reverse—that sages disregarded the halachic significance of their dreams. For example, Gittin (52a) states:

“It is related that there was a certain guardian who was in Rabbi Meir’s neighborhood who was selling land belonging to the orphans and purchasing slaves with the proceeds, and Rabbi Meir did not allow him to do this, as the practice is contrary to Halacha. They showed him in his dream the words: I wish to destroy and you build? He understood this as a sign that God wanted the orphans to suffer financial collapse, and therefore it would be preferable to allow the steward to continue his practice. Even so, Rabbi Meir paid no heed to his dream and said: Words appearing in dreams do not bring up and do not take down; they should not be taken into consideration” (Bava Metzia 86b).

It is a fascinating topic of discussion: how sometimes in Rabbinic literature dreams are taken as ominous portents and at other times not taken seriously. We have other incidents in the Talmud where financial obligations were not impacted, regardless of how powerful the evidence from a dream may be (Sanhedrin 30.) In fact, it is codified in Shulkhan Arukh (CM 55:9) that if one has a dream telling him where a certain amount of money is hidden from his father’s estate—and it actually is an unpaid debt—even if the location and the amount turn out to be uncannily accurate, he has no legal obligation to turn this money over to whomever the dream said it belongs.

On the other hand, in Gemara Nedarim (8b), oaths and excommunications that occur during dreams are to be taken as valid. This suggests that certain types of dreams hold significance and are treated as credible sources of information. The Torah Temimah (Bereishis 37:9) explains that dreams often reflect a person’s preoccupations and thoughts during the day. Therefore, if someone is genuinely concerned about an oath or the possibility of being excommunicated, their dream relating to these matters is given weight and considered seriously. That is, his spiritual concerns, while possibly not totally accurate, have significance. However, in regard to monetary matters, there can be enough inaccuracies to suspend obligation. (Note: This is my interpretation of the Torah Temimah. It is ambiguous, so check it out yourself and draw your own conclusions.)

The idea of dreams being prophetic and their intersection with our unconscious imaginative faculty encompasses a complex spiritual, theological, and psychological interaction. Maimonides, in his work Guide for the Perplexed (II:41), delves into this topic, acknowledging the intricate nature of dreams and their potential prophetic qualities that employ aspects of human imagination as it encounters divine stimuli.

The symbolic, non-cognitive part of ourselves possess a capacity for attunement and recognition of patterns and data. It can manifest in the conscious mind through symbols, imagery, or sudden thoughts. This aligns with the teachings of the Talmud (Berakhos 57b), where Rabbi Yoḥanan states that if a person wakes up in the morning with a verse on their lips, it is considered a minor form of prophecy. Additionally, the Talmud suggests that a dream is 1/60th of prophecy, highlighting the potential significance of dreams as sources of divine communication.

The phenomenon of prophetic experiences extends beyond the Gemara. Many great Rabbis throughout the Middle Ages spoke of experiencing Ruach Hakodesh, divine inspiration. For instance, Rav Yosef Karo, the author of the Shulkhan Arukh, documented his encounters with a personal maggid, an entity that appeared to him and conveyed teachings. His sefer, called Magid Mesharim, provides insights into the divine teachings he received.

An intriguing aspect related to the reliability of these revelations is a conversation between Rabbi Kloft and the Chazon Ish, as recounted by Tzvi Yabrov (Maase Ish, 1998, pp. 119, 187). Rabbi Kloft questioned whether Rav Karo’s halachic rulings in Magid Mesharim, which originated from supernatural sources, should be exclusively followed. The Chazon Ish responded, “Rav Karo’s Magid is also Rav Karo,” implying that the authority of Rav Karo’s Maggidic rulings carries no more weight than Rav Karo himself.

This statement requires nuanced understanding. The Maggid was a manifestation of a spiritual resource within Rav Karo, but not mere figments of his imagination. Rather, while Rav Karo’s Maggid was not fully a separate entity from himself and therefore had no more authority than himself, it was his imaginative faculty grasping and presenting symbolic, non-verbal truths in the best way it could.

This is an important way to understand spiritual and prophetic experiences. The divine is so far beyond our temporal and physical existence that we can only grasp certain ideas in an intuitive, imaginative sense. I will be clear: I am not saying the mystic is imagining something as in making it up. Rather, he is relaxing his hold on the physical, concrete, and sensate world so his intellect picks up spiritual signals and emanations, which his imaginative faculty tries to grasp and represent through symbolic vision.

We have a tradition that the Urim V’Tumim on the Choshen served as an oracle so that kings and leaders could ask questions of the Kohen, and with Ruach Hakodesh the appropriate letters would “light up,” and the Kohen would spell out the answers (see Yoma 73b and Rambam, Laws of Vessels of the Temple 10:11). But why did the letters have to be there on the breastplate in the first place? Why not just have the Kohen meditate and receive the divine answer via a vision?

The answer is along the lines of how we explained prophecy and divine inspiration to work. Because it is difficult for subtle spiritual emanations to be perceived over the din of physical noise and static, there must be some ambiguous, disconnected medium that allows for a projection of the imagination’s perception and intuitive cognition of these non-verbal outflows. Just as old-time photographs or X-rays needed a sensitive medium for the light to embed a pattern, spiritual rays also need some medium that allows release from the physical senses that drown them out. This is why the Kohen’s trance, while gazing at the letters, is key. He needs something to allow his imagination and soul to project their perceptions upon it.

Our Gemara on Amud Aleph relates an interesting encounter between Moshe and the magicians of Egypt:

“Moses and Aaron’s first meeting with Pharaoh: Aaron cast his staff to the ground, whereupon it turned into a serpent. Pharaoh’s necromancers then duplicated the feat using their incantations, only to then be confounded when Aaron’s staff swallowed up all of theirs (see Exodus 7:10–12).”

“The Gemara relates the conversation that took place: Pharaoh’s two leading necromancers, Yoḥana and Mamre, said to Moses: Are you bringing straw to Afarayim? Performing necromancy in Egypt, the world leader in sorcery, is like bringing straw to Afarayim, which is rich in the finest grains. Moses said to them: It is as people say: To a city rich in herbs, take herbs.”

How do we understand Moshe’s reply? Rashi understands it as a nonsense answer. A scoffer cannot be convinced even when presented with the strongest evidence, because he is not open-minded. Moshe did not bother to argue; he knew that over time these magicians would see wonders and miracles far beyond first-grade magic tricks. It is an interesting strategy—that some people are simply not worth debating.

However, other commentaries understand Moshe’s answer to be more substantive. Rashi Kesav Yad implies a different approach. Moshe was saying, “Bring it on!” Meaning, one often brings trade to a hub in the marketplace because, in the end, there is more opportunity to showcase one’s goods. If the goods are superior it will win out. In a place where people are experts in magic, they will be able to appreciate that the wonders and signs from God exceed any human ability, and so they will know it is true.

The Pri Tzaddik (Miketz 4) offers a most intriguing and creative interpretation. The spiritual forces in this world come about via dual possibilities—for good or evil. Usually, at the same time that a window for evil opens up and becomes dominant, a new positive spiritual potential unfolds as well. Thus, the spiritual power of Egypt’s magic was not a sidebar, but a harbinger of a new spiritual window that was opening for humanity. Its most positive form culminated in the revelation at Mount Sinai, and its most toxic form was the magic used by the Egyptians to control fate without engaging with God via moral behavior and purity.

Likewise, he says, Babylonia was an intellectual center of the ancient world (with sophisticated astronomy, math, and medicine), and at a later time the Greek and Roman empires were as well. In those very locations, the Torah sheb’al peh flourished in the explosion of ethical and legal writings of the Talmud and Midrashim. Pri Tzaddik says this was hardly a coincidence, but rather part of a new potential that the Jewish people employed in the most spiritual and moral manner.

This is what Moshe meant when he responded, “To a city rich in herbs, take herbs.” Egypt was the place to bring humanity to the next step of moral and intellectual development. Magic was an impure expression of this potential to bring more spiritual force into the world, which Moshe actualized via giving the Torah.

In a modern historical sense, we might consider that the development of modern psychology, Chassidus, and the mussar movement all took place within a relatively short span of time. Humanity was in a space where physical prosperity allowed for more introspection into our psyche regarding the motivations and inner nature of emotional and intellectual processes.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)