The Rebuttal to The Angels

When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the angels protested, saying “Why is He giving the Torah to sinful mortals? He should give it to the angels instead.”

The Midrash describes G-d’s rebuttal of this argument by referring to the narrative in this week’s parsha.

As Abraham recovered from his circumcision, three angels, disguised as people, visited him.  Abraham fed them butter and milk together with meat.
G-d’s refutation of the angels’ argument was, if the Torah was so precious to them, why did they partake of dairy and meat, which the Torah prohibits? If they had a chance to observe the Torah’s commandments and failed to do so proved that the Torah was not intended for the angels.

The angels were unhappy with humanity from day one.

The Midrash informs us that, when G-d created Adam and Eve, the angels protested.  They asserted that humans were unworthy of existing because of their fickle nature and their propensity towards evil. When Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge despite being told not to do so, the angels enjoyed a “We told you so” moment.

And when the world degenerated into the immorality and violence that precipitated (pardon the pun) the world-destroying flood, the angels reiterated their objection to the creation of humankind and claimed that humans were an experiment doomed to failure.

Generations later, the angels once again began “rolling” their angelic eyes when G-d decided to entrust His treasured Torah to the unreliable human species.

But G-d explained that when the angels, cloaked in human bodies, had shown in Abraham’s tent that they couldn’t resist the temptation to mix dairy and meat, they demonstrated that they were not qualified to pass judgment on humans and deny them the Torah.

The fact that the Jewish people were able to lay claim to the Torah and “wrest it” from the angels because of the prohibition against mixing milk and meat, suggests that this prohibition relates to the very essence of why G-d chose Abraham as the first Jew and why He gave the Torah to his descendants at Mount Sinai and not to the angels.

What is it specifically about not mixing dairy and meat that so confounded the angels’ argument that G-d should withhold the Torah from humans?

The Beginning

To understand this, we must return to the very Beginning and ask why G-d created the universe.

The Midrash tells us that G-d’s purpose in Creation was to fashion an independent-minded world that, of its own volition, would choose G-d. The Midrash puts it thus: “G-d desired a dwelling in the lowest of realms.”

To facilitate this endeavor, G-d created sentient human beings endowed with the power of choosing freely between good and evil.

Humanity fulfills G-d’s goal of making the world a G-dly home by implementing the teachings of the Torah. When we observe the divinely ordained commandments, we transform the material world into one with Divine receptors. In the aggregate, the Mitzvos we have performed since Sinai have brought us close to the fulfillment of G-d’s plan. Completion of that plan will mark the beginning of the Final Redemption; the Messianic Era.

However, in order for this plan to have a chance of success, humanity first had to achieve three preliminary goals.

The First Challenge

First, humanity had to prove that it is capable of recognizing its dependence on G-d, by accepting His authority and submitting to it.

Adam and Eve immediately failed this first test. They defied G-d’s command not to partake of the Tree of Knowledge. They showed that the world was not yet ready for the Master Plan.

Abraham and Sarah, however, met that challenge. They acknowledged G-d’s sovereignty, destroyed idols, and surrendered their will to His, no matter how radical His demands were.

The Second Challenge

The second challenge humanity had to meet before G-d entrusted the Master Plan of Torah and Mitzvos to the world was to cultivate a mindset that allows for co-existence. No plan could be implemented by people unable to co-exist with others. A world in which every man is for himself only will never be able to transform our world into a G-dly world. If we can’t live with one another, how can we find room for G-d?

Cain, whose Jealousy of his brother caused him to commit murder, failed that test miserably.

Noach, by contrast, reversed the failures of Adam and Cain. He passed the first two tests admirably. He had profound respect for G-d and was able to co-exist with others. However, Noach failed the third test.

The Third Challenge

Before G-d could entrust His plan to the world, he needed a people who would meet a third challenge: to possess the ability to spread these values to others. To do this, one must have a sense of responsibility for the rest of the world; one must be concerned for the whole world’s receptivity to G-d. A “live and let live” philosophy would not do. If we couldn’t influence and inspire others, the Master Plan would never become a reality.

Sadly, Noach could not get anyone outside of his immediate family to mend their ways and be spared destruction by the flood. The Rebbe explains that while Noach followed G-d’s commands meticulously he lacked the empathy needed to inspire others.

By contrast, Abraham and Sarah passed this third test flawlessly. They possessed a profound sense of responsibility for the whole world and got thousands of people to follow in their footsteps.

G-d, therefore, chose Abraham and Sarah as the progenitors of the people destined to receive the Master Plan at Mount Sinai.

We can now see the connection between the prohibition of mixing dairy and meat to the giving of the Torah and G-d’s rejection of the argument of the angels.

Three Reasons for the Prohibition Against Mixing Milk and Meat

There are three reasons or messages that were given by our Sages that, we may suggest, parallel the three challenges that were the prerequisites to receiving the Torah:

First, not mixing dairy and meat is a repudiation of idol worship. In ancient times pagans would cook an animal in the milk of its mother. To distance ourselves from idol-worship, the Torah wanted us to go to the extreme of not cooking, eating or even deriving any benefit from a ritual associated with idol-worship.

This reason underscores the way we met the first challenge of dramatically accepting G-d’s authority.

The second reason is that cooking a young animal in the milk of its mother is an act of cruelty. The prohibition was intended to distance us from any trace of cruelty and insensitivity towards others. This parallels the second challenge of co-existing with others.

The third reason is to sensitize us to the well-being of the entire world. Milk and meat represent two opposite natural and spiritual forces. Mixing these two substances undermines the proper balance of the world. When we abstain from mixing dairy and meat, we demonstrate our concern for the rest of the world.

When the angels failed this particular test and partook of dairy and meat, they demonstrated that they were not qualified to receive the Torah; they did not have the necessary sensitivity to G-d, others and the world at large.

When humanity proved that it had the capacity to meet all three challenges, G-d gave the Torah, His Master Plan, to the Jewish people to show them the way to make the world a G-dly world.

Good Shabbos! 

GO SOUTH!

By Rabbi Heschel Greenberg

Going Toward Jerusalem

Abraham finally makes it to Canaan, the land promised to him by G-d as an eternal inheritance.

However, rather than settling in one place, Abraham continued to journey southward.

“Then Abram journeyed on, journeying steadily toward the south.”

What does it mean that he would “journey steadily,” and why did he journey toward the south?

Rashi addresses both questions and explains that by journeying “steadily” the Torah implies that he traveled in increments:

“He would dwell here a month or more, and then travel from there and pitch his tent in another place.”

As far as his traveling southward, Rashi explains:

“All of his travels were to the south, to go to the south of the Land of Israel. It is in the direction of Jerusalem which is in the portion of Judah, for they took their inheritance in the south of the Land of Israel, Mount Moriah, which is his inheritance.”

What is Rashi trying to teach us by adding that Abraham traveled in the direction of Jerusalem? And how did Rashi come to that conclusion? All it says in the Torah is that he was journeying to the south.

Rashi seems concerned that the Torah tells us the details that Abraham was continually traveling and that he traveled southward. What difference does it really make? The Torah does not deal with trivial matters and would not have mentioned Abraham’s itinerary for naught. Rashi, therefore, concluded that there must be a deeper message in the Torah’s description of Abraham’s travels towards the south.

Abraham was not just sightseeing or looking for a place to settle. He had a spiritual goal in mind.

By traveling southward Abraham directed his life towards the goal of reaching Jerusalem; more specifically, Mount Moriah, the future site of the binding of Isaac and location of the Bais Hamikdash Holy Temple.

Moreover, by mentioning that the Temple was in the territory apportioned to Judah, Rashi was hinting about the role of Moshiach, a descendent of David and the tribe of Judah.

“A Sign for Their Children”

Nachmanides cites the maxim, “The actions of the Patriarchs are a sign for their children.” This means that everything that our Patriarchs and Matriarchs did, as reported by the Torah, was a portent of the future of the Jewish people. Moreover, their life stories were not just a preview of the future but they actually helped shape the future by empowering us.

For example, the fact that Abraham had to travel to Egypt where his wife Sarah was abducted by Pharaoh was a portent of the future Egyptian bondage of the entire Jewish people. Similarly, Abraham’s exodus from Egypt with great wealth presaged the Jewish people’s departure from Egypt with great wealth.

Similarly, Abraham’s journeying southward towards Jerusalem and Mount Moriah, foreshadowed the return of the Jewish people to their land after their long exile and the rebuilt Bais Hamikdash on Mount Moriah under the leadership of Moshiach, a scion of the house of David and Judah.

It is no surprise that when we consider the numerical value of the words “journeying steadily toward the south,” and add to it the last letter of Abraham’ s name, which is the letter mem, the initial of Moshiach, it adds up to Moshiach.

Moving in Stages

A question still remains: what is the significance of the fact that Abraham stayed in one place for a month or so and then journeyed to another?

The answer is that precisely because his journey was not geographic but of a spiritual nature, it must come in increments.

Similarly, reaching the ultimate Messianic Age is a transformative process for both the individual and the nation. Jewish history is punctuated with ups and downs; smooth sailing and roadblocks. Galus-exile frequently set us back, but it also compelled us to find hidden treasures within which catapulted us to unimaginable heights.

Throughout our winding journey through history we have accumulated treasures from each “stop-over,” that have prepared us for the Final Redemption.

Alternate Interpretation of the South

Abraham’s going south can also be understood in another, related, fashion.

The Talmud (Bava Basra 25b) states: “One who wishes to become knowledgeable should face south [while praying]; whereas one who wishes to be become wealthy should face north.” The Talmud then states that these different directions parallel the location of two of the vessels in the Temple Sanctuary.

The Shulchan was situated on the north side of the Temple Sanctuary. It was a special table upon which twelve loaves of bread were placed each week. This table symbolized the material blessings that G-d provides. These blessings were generated specifically by the placing and eating of these twelve loaves.

On the south side of the Temple, the Menorah—the seven branched Candelabrum—was placed and kindled. The light generated by the Menorah symbolized the knowledge of Torah, which is compared to light.

Material prosperity, in the context of the Holy Temple, means that our material acquisitions are obtained legally and ethically and that we will use them to support the spiritual institutions of the Jewish people.  Therefore, if we direct our minds and hearts to the north by focusing our prayer on our desire to achieve material prosperity, then G-d will grant us our wish.

If our focus is on the south; in the pursuit of knowledge, G-d will grant our request and we will achieve a higher level of Torah understanding which will enable us to bring light and enlightenment to others as well.

Abraham’s movement towards the south is a message to us that in our journeys throughout exile we should always seek Torah enlightenment over the pursuit of material wealth.

We can now also understand why Abraham would make many stops on his way to the south.

While all of the Torah was given to us at Mount Sinai, not all of it was revealed at that time. In every period of history, there were dimensions of Torah knowledge that were kept secret and were known only to a select group of Sages.

However, as time progressed, previously secret knowledge that was withheld from one generation or era was “discovered” and eventually revealed to a subsequent generation.

This is consistent with King Solomon’s statement that “Everything He made in its time.” There is a time for everything to be revealed. When that time arrives, we accumulate more and more knowledge which gets us closer to the “south,” i.e., to the apex of Divine knowledge.

Hence, Abraham’s staying in places for short durations instead of making one long trek towards the south was his way of empowering us to grow incrementally in our Torah knowledge and which gets us closer to the goal.

The Torah of Our Generation

The Rebbe has declared that our generation is inches away from the “south,” and that the parts of Torah that are particularly relevant to us at this juncture are its teachings concerning Moshiach and Redemption.

We can now see how both of the interpretations of “the south” coincide. The route to the Third Bais Hamikdash, to be built by Moshiach, is Torah knowledge concerning the south: Moshiach and Redemption.

Good Shabbos!