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שבת שלום - פרשת האזינו
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch the video shiur by Rav Pesach Wolicki
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News and Notes
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Yom Kippur in the yeshiva was beautiful and meaningful, featuring davening
by Rav Kahn, Rav Wolicki, Rav Lichtman, and Rav Krohn.
Rav Wolicki spoke before Maariv, while Rav Kahn spoke before Neilah,
as they have every year since Yesodei HaTorah opened. The atmosphere was
intense and passionate, and our students experienced a truly memorable Yamim Noraim
that will stay with them for many years.
The yeshiva now begins bein hazmanim, and students are busy making plans to travel throughout Israel during the upcoming chag.
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The Name of G-d - Haazinu
By Rabbi Scott Kahn
The third pasuk of Parashat Haazinu consists of the directive, "When I call out the name of Hashem, ascribe greatness to our G-d." (Devarim 32:3) Numerous halachot are derived from this verse, among them the obligation for three people who ate together to say Bircat HaMazon as a group (Berachot 45a), and the requirement to answer Baruch sheim kevod malchuto l'olam va'ed upon hearing G-d's ineffable name in the Beit HaMikdash (Yoma 37a). An additional law is noted in the following statement in the Gemara:
From where do we know that making a blessing before learning Torah is a Torah requirement? As the pasuk says, "When I call out the name of Hashem, ascribe greatness to our G-d." (Berachot 21a)
How does this pasuk teach the requirement of Bircat HaTorah? Where is Torah mentioned in the verse at all?
The answer can be discovered in Sefer HaZohar, which states that, "We have already taught: The Torah in its entirety is the Holy Name, for there is no word in the Torah which is not included in the Holy Name." (Zohar Yitro 87a) Similarly, the Ramban explains in the introduction to his commentary on the Torah, "We also have a true tradition that the entire Torah is the names of the Holy One, Blessed be He; for the words of the Torah can be alternatively divided into names." Therefore, since the Torah is the name of G-d, the pasuk from Parashat Haazinu can otherwise be translated, "When I speak words of Torah, ascribe greatness to our G-d." The obligation to make a beracha before learning Torah emerges directly from this translation.
Why, however, is the Torah considered the name of G-d? What is a Name such that it would be equivalent to the Torah?
More than simply acting as a means of identification, a name represents the very identity of a subject in classical Jewish thought. Thus, for example, Adam's first act after his creation was the naming of all animals, and by so doing determining the fundamental characteristic of each. That is why the Torah states that he "did not find a help mate opposite him" (Bereshit 2:20) only after the process of naming all other creatures, for naming was nothing other than investigating, discovering, and classifying their essential nature. Once that process was completed, he knew that there was nothing in existence with his singular characteristics. Similarly, Chazal maintain that a person's name is causative, not reactive (Berachot 7b). A name helps determine what a person will be, for the name identifies the primary attribute of that individual.
The Kabbalists tell us that even when we call Hashem by His names, we are only describing His actions, and never His actual Divine essence and being. (See Ramchal, Daat Tevunot, ch. 46) For this reason, G-d has many names, as each name relates to a different lens through which we attempt to perceive Him, and a different means by which He relates to us. Nevertheless, G-d's names, so to speak, are the vehicles through which we understand His nature as revealed to us through His actions. The Torah, as G-d's name, is the ultimate means by which we can understand Who Hashem is. Even without mystical speculation, we recognize G-d by investigating His words and commands. The Torah is the method G-d chose to relate to His people, and therefore represents the definitive system for identifying, relating to, and understanding the Holy One.
This point is seldom recognized, but is crucial for establishing a proper relationship with Hashem. While theological, philosophical, and mystical speculation lead to an understanding of G-d, no method will lead to a greater knowledge of the Ribbono Shel Olam than the study of Torah. Thus, as a somewhat parallel example, a person who reads a biography of a given individual will undoubtedly learn certain facts about the subject's life that even his close intimates may not have known; still, no one can doubt that the subject's friends will "know" him better than someone who merely read a book about him. The same distinction applies between the philosophical study of G-d and the study of Torah. There may be theoretical concepts recognized by the philosopher alone, but the talmid chacham is Hashem's intimate. Only the talmid chacham knows G-d's name.
Our relationship with Hashem reaches its apex when we identify Him through the Torah. No other means, despite its theological sophistication, can equal the ability to call Him by name. For this reason, the study of Torah has unique standing, and unsurpassed greatness; the intimacy of the Divine-human encounter reaches its height through Torah learning. This unique level of closeness with G-d is the most treasured possession we have, and for this reason we enter into this relationship with a heartfelt blessing of thanks: When I call out the name of Hashem, ascribe greatness to our G-d.
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