שמות

כתב לך את הדברים האלה כי ע"פ הדברים האלה כרתי אתך ברית. ע"ד הפשט כתב לך הוא שיכתוב התנאים שבין הקב"ה לישראל, והיאך קבלו התורה בנעשה ונשמע כשם שעשו בלוחות ראשונות וצוה למשה שיעשה בזה ספר. ומה שחזר והזכיר כי על פי הדברים האלה פעם שניה והיה יכול לומר על פיהם דרשו רז"ל בזה דברים שמסרתי לך בכתב אי אתה רשאי לאמרם על פה ודברים שמסרתי לך על פה אין אתה רשאי לכתבם. ויהיה זה פי' הכתוב אם קיימת הדברים האלה מה שבכתב בכתב ומה שבעל פה על פה כרתי אתך ברית ואם שנית לא כרתי אתך ברית.

כתב לך את הדברים האלה כי על פי הדברים האלה כרתי אתך ברית. “Write down for yourself these words as these words are the ones for the sake of which I have sealed a covenant with you.” According to the plain meaning of these words the instruction “write it down for yourself” means that Moses should record the conditions which form the basis of the covenant between G’d and Israel. This includes recording the conditions under which they accepted the Torah saying נעשה ונשמע, i.e. volunteering to observe whatever G’d would tell them to do. The conditions which applied before they had received the first set of Tablets would also govern their receiving the second set of Tablets. G’d commanded Moses to write this in book form. When G’d repeated: “for on the basis of these words, etc.,” implying that the oral instructions were the binding ones, when He could simply have said על פיהם, “in accordance with them,” our sages (Gittin 40) point out that this was a reference to the oral Torah. G’d said that laws communicated to Moses only orally may not be committed to writing. On the other hand, words (laws) which I commanded you to commit to writing must not become material to be studied and quoted only by word of mouth. The meaning of the whole verse then could best be summarized as follows: “if you observe the commandments which I commanded you to write down and you observe the commandments which I gave you only orally, then the covenant I have made with you remains operative. If, however, you made any changes to the conditions of the covenant I shall not be bound by it.”

ובמדרש אמר רבי יהודה בר שלום בקש משה רבינו ע"ה להיות אף המשנה בכתב, אמר לו הקב"ה למשה אכתוב לך רובי תורתי אבל כמו זר נחשבו, וכל כך למה מפני שהמשנה מסתוריו של הקב"ה ואין הקב"ה מגלה מסתוריו אלא ליראיו שנאמר (תהילים כ״ה:י״ד) סוד ה' ליראיו ע"כ.

A Midrashic approach (Tanchuma Vayera 5): “Rav Yehudah son of Shalom said that Moses requested that the Mishnah (collection of the oral Torah) should also be committed to writing.” G‘d told him: “I shall write down for you רובי תורתי, most of My teachings but they will be considered as something alien” (based on Hoseah 8,12). What was all this conversation about? The oral Torah represents mystical dimensions of Torah not accessible except to G’d-fearing individuals. If such parts of the Torah were to be accessible to everybody (by being available in book form) their impact is likely to be counterproductive. G’d does not reveal His secrets to anyone other than those who fear Him as we know from Psalms 25,14. Thus far the Midrash.

ונראה לי באמרו שהמשנה מסתורים שהמשנה מגלה מסתורים ותורה שבכתב היא המסתורים בשכבר ידעת כי המשנה כנגד ה"א שניה שבשם שהיא פירוש השם הנסתר והנעלם ועליה נקרא השם המפורש, וכן המשנה פירוש לתורה שבכתב ותורה שבכתב מתגלה ומתפרשת על ידה, ומטעם זה רצה הקב"ה שתהיה כתובה על לוח הלב ולא נתן רשות למשה לכתבה כי יהיה בזה גלוי מסתורים ויהיו שאר האומות שלא קבלו התורה ולא רצו בה שוים עם ישראל, וזהו שאמר כמו זר נחשבו שיהיו הכל שוים בכתיבתה ואין למקבלי התורה יתרון עליהם. ועוד לטעם אחר כדי שלא יהא לעכו"ם פתחון פה ליום הדין, ואמשול לך משל למה הדבר דומה למלך ששלח כתבו חתום לבניו על ידי עבדו נאמן ביתו וצוה להם באותו כתב היאך יתנהגו עמו ועם בני העולם ומסר לעבד דברים על פה שיגיד להם תשלום דברי הכתב, והמלך קבע שכר גדול לכל מי שיבא בבריתו ויקיים דברי כתבו כמצותו, מה עשו בני המדינה העתיקו הכתב אמרו אף אנו יש בידינו כתבו של מלך ואנו מקיימין אותו לזמן בא המלך ליתן שכר באו בני מדינה ועומדין לפניו והוא שאל אם עסקו בדברי כתבו לעשות כמצותו וכיון שלא ידעו אותם דברים שבעל פה אמר תיפח נפשם.

If I understand this Midrash correctly the words משנה מסתורים “Mishnah of secrets” means that the Mishnah reveals mysteries hidden in he written Torah. Study of the oral Torah will make the meaning of the written Torah much clearer to the student. The “secrets” are in reality the parts of the written Torah which the reader has difficulty with. [The Mishnah, dealing with halachah, is or appears to be quite straightforward. Ed.] You are already aware that the Mishnah corresponds to the second letter ה in the tetragrammaton which is the explanation of the mystical, the hidden name of the Lord. The name of G’d we are not to utter is representative of what is contained in the Mishnah. It is also the key to understanding the written Torah properly and the written Torah receives its authoritative interpretation only by means of the Mishnah. [In other words, the written text of the Torah cannot serve as the basis of halachah, rulings governing normative Judaism. Ed.] This was the reason that G’d wanted the oral Torah to be engraved on the ‘tablets’ of our hearts rather than merely on a parchment. This is the meaning of what G’d said to Moses “if the Mishnah were to be committed to writing it would be considered as alien.”] If all parts of the Torah, written and oral, were available in book form then the advantage which the Jewish people enjoyed over the Gentiles as a result of accepting the Torah at Mount Sinai would disappear. This is the meaning of the words in Hoseah 8,12 כמו זר נחשבו, i.e. that the Jewish people would be considered as just like the Gentiles. There is yet another reason why the oral Torah was meant to remain only “oral.” It was meant to deny the Gentiles an argument they could use on the day of Judgment. Let me illustrate what I mean by means of a parable. A king sent a sealed letter to his sons, employing a trusted servant to deliver the letter. In that letter he issued instructions to his sons how to conduct themselves both with him and with the rest of the world. In addition he issued oral instructions to his servant which formed the postscript to what was written in the letter itself. This “postscript” included the promise of a great reward for all those who would enter into a covenant with him and observe all that was written in the original letter. What did the people of that country do? They made themselves a copy of what was written in the letter, claiming that they too had a written document from the king promising them such a reward. They claimed that they too observed what was written in the letter. When the time came for the king to hand out the reward all the people of his kingdom lined up as potential recipients (not just the king’s sons). The king asked them if they had observed all that they had been instructed to observe. As the citizens were unaware of the postscript they were in no position to list the instructions contained in the postscript. The king, realising, that someone had tampered with his letter, said: “may their souls perish.”

ולזה רמזו בריש פ"ק דע"ז לעתיד לבא מביא הקב"ה ספר תורה ומניחו בחיקו ואומר כלום יש בכם מגיד זאת שנאמר (ישעיהו מ״ג:ט׳) מי בהם יגיד זאת ואין זאת אלא תורה שנאמר (דברים ד׳:מ״ד) וזאת התורה, מיד יוצאין מלפניו בפחי נפש.

This is what the Talmud alluded to at the beginning of Avodah Zarah (folio 2) when it says that in the future G’d would bring a Torah scroll and deposit it in His lap and say: “Is there anyone amongst you who can tell Me זאת? [a reference to Isaiah 43,9 where the Torah is referred to as זאת. Ed.] Upon hearing this all the citizens realized that they had been found out. They left the proximity of the Lord in fear of their lives.

ורבינו הקדוש שחבר המשנה ולמד אותם ברבים וכתבוה הכל בימיו כונתו היתה כדי שלא תשכח תורה מישראל שראה הרשעה מתפשטת בעולם וישראל מתפזרין בגלות על כן הותר לו לעשות כן משום שנאמר (תהילים קי״ט:קכ״ו) עת לעשות לה' הפרו תורתך, וכתב וחבר המשנה שהיא תורה שבעל פה ועל כן קראה משנה לפי שהיא שניה לתורה שבכתב ורובה לשון הקדש צח כתורה שבכתב, ואחרי כן נתמעטה החכמה וקצרו הלבבות ועמדו רבינא ורב אשי וחברו התלמוד שהוא פירוש המשנה כי לרוב חכמת רבינו הקדוש וחכמת בני דורו היה פירוש התורה אצלם מבורר ופשוט מתוך המשנה, ואצל דורות רבינא ורב אשי היה עמוק וסתום מאד ומזה אמרו בתלמוד על המשנה חסורי מחסרא והכי קתני שאין הכוונה להיות המשנה חסרה כלל חלילה, אבל הכוונה שהיא חסרה אצלנו מפני חסרון שכלנו מפני שאין אנו מגיעים לעומק חכמת דור של חכמי המשנה ולפיכך עשו רבינא ורב אשי פירוש על המשנה והוא התלמוד ובארו ספקות המשנה והאריכו לשונם על לשון המשנה העמוק והסתום. ומה שאמר אתך כלומר בעבורך כי בזכותו עשה עמהם.

This leaves us with the problem of why Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi, who decided to edit and publish the oral Torah in written form (some 1600 years after the revelation at Mount Sinai), decided to contravene what had been sacred instructions not to commit the oral Torah to paper. He was motivated by a very real fear that unless this were done the whole oral Torah was about to become forgotten as the circumstances of the Jewish people at his time and the dispersal of the people all over the world made it impossible for large parts of the people to memorise all that material. The venerable Rabbi based himself on the verse in Psalms 119,126 עת לעשות לה' הפרו תורתך, “at a time when they have violated Your Torah it is time to act on behalf of the Lord,” [actions which violate the Torah and which are decreed in defence of Torah must be temporary by definition. Ed.] Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi proceeded to edit the oral Torah as what is known today as the Mishnah, seeing it is like a second version of the written Torah and most of it is in clear and unsmistakable Hebrew similar to the written Torah. In the course of the centuries after Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi, the people’s ability to absorb Torah learning declined further so that Ravina and Rav Ashi saw fit to commit the Talmud, the commentary on the Mishnah, to writing also. During the era of Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi most people of his generation (scholars?) were still thoroughly conversant with the meaning of the Mishnah, so that it did not need to be elaborated on. This situation had undergone a drastic change in the few centuries between the era of Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi and Rav Ashi and his contemporaries. We find that in the Talmud the sentence: “something is missing in the text of the Mishnah and it should read as follows, etc.” occurs quite frequently. This does not mean that the text of the Mishnah had been handed down incorrectly. It means that matters which were clear from the text to people in the generation of its editor, Rabbi Yehudah, were no longer clear to the people of the generation of Rav Ashi so that in order to clarify them for the people of his time the text was emended. (Compare Zohar Tzav edition by Reuben Margolies folio 27 note 12) The word אתך in our verse means “for your sake,” meaning that G’d had made the covenant with the people for the sake of Moses.