Little Chaya wasn’t getting good marks in school. One day, she gave her teacher quite a surprise. Chaya tapped her on the shoulder and said, “I don’t want to scare you, but my daddy says, if I don’t get better grades…somebody’s gonna get a spanking.”

* * *

Emor: Hands-on Experience

This week’s Torah portion begins, “And G-d spoke to Moses: Say to the priests, the sons of Aharon, and tell them…”[1]

1.) In this sentence, the word “say”, emor, should be sufficient to convey the intended meaning, and yet the Torah adds, “and tell them”, v’amarta. Why does the Torah use this apparent redundancy?

2.) Rashi comments on this verse: “Say (emor)—and tell them (v’amarta). (This teaches us that) adults must warn the young.” In other words, not only should adults be careful to avoid violating Torah law, but they should also warn and inspire minors.[2]

A question arises regarding Rashi’s own wording. Since in the Torah’s verse there are four (Hebrew) words between “say” and “and tell them”, it would seem proper for Rashi to insert an “etcetera” after the word “say”. What can we learn from these surprising grammatical nuances?[3]

FIRE, WIND AND WATER
G-d created the universe with speech. What does this mean? The Kabbalistic text Sefer Yetzirah [4] describes the creation of the universe in this way: “With thirty-two wondrous paths of Wisdom (did G-d) engrave (the universe).” The text says this means G-d used the ten sefiros and the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It continues, saying that the twenty-two letters of the Alef Beis are divided into three categories. The first category is called ‘mothers’. There are three letters in this category, corresponding to the elements of fire, water and wind.[5]

THE FOURTH ELEMENT
The Ramak [6] in his book, Pardes Rimonim, asks, ‘Why does Sefer Yetzirah list only fire, water and wind, and not the element of earth?’ The RaMaK answers, ‘Because if you take a pot of water, and use fire and air to boil the water until it evaporates, you will find traces of minerals remaining in the pot. Therefore, the element of earth is present within the other three.’

The Tzemach Tzedek says the three letters of the word emor–Alef, Mem and Reish–correspond to the three ‘mothers’, the three elements.[7] Alef is the first letter of the word aish, ‘fire’; Mem is the first letter of the word mayim, ‘water’; Reish is the first letter of ru’ach, ‘wind’. The Lubavitcher Rebbe adds that the letter Tav in v’amarta refers to the fourth element, earth.[8]

EXPOUNDING THE LETTER TAV
Order: Tav is the final letter in the Alef-Beis. This represents completion in the service of G-d.

Sefirah: Tav symbolizes the final Divine attribute, the sefirah of malchus. Malchus is synonymous with earth, the last and lowest of the four elements. The inner experience of malchus is humility.

Graphic Design: Tav is made of three lines and a ‘dot’ (the bottom of its left leg): . The three lines represent thought, speech and action. The dot represents bitul, self nullification and humility. In contrast to the lines in the letter Hei , Tav has no space between the top line and the left line. This indicates that with Tav, thought and speech flow directly into action without any pause or interference.

DOWN TO EARTH
In light of the above, we now understand why the Torah adds the word v’amarta. When it comes to warning and inspiring our children, emor–saying what they should do–is not enough. We need the letter Tav in v’amarta; we need the element of earth.

When a parent or teacher wants to impart a lesson to their child or student, (a) it’s not enough simply to think about it. (b) Nor is it enough to say it. (c) It’s not even enough to give them the necessary tools. Rather, (d) the teacher or parent must v’amarta, i.e., join the child in the hands-on activity. Effective teaching requires giving the recipient our down-to-earth participation.

For instance: a teacher wants her first grade class to bake a cake. (a) It clearly won’t be effective if she only thinks about it. (b) It won’t work if she simply says, ‘bake a cake.’ (c) It’s not even enough to supply the children with the recipe, ingredients, utensils and appliances. (d) It’s necessary to show them how to bake the cake by doing it together with them. Only this last step will bring the lesson down to earth and ensure that the children will find proper self-confidence and inspiration.

Furthermore, educating and inspiring young people is not optional. It’s an obligation upon everyone. It’s one of our major responsibilities as Jews, even if we don’t have children, or if our children are grown. This is why Rashi puts emor and v’amarta together, without an ‘etcetera’ interrupting them. The obligation to say and to tell them is a single obligation.[9]

The Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Y.Y. Schneerson states, “My father (the Fifth Rebbe, the ‘Rebbe Rashab’) proclaimed at a farbrengen: Just as wearing tefillin every day is a mitzvah commanded by the Torah to every individual regardless of his standing in Torah, whether deeply learned or simple, so too is it an absolute duty for every person to spend a half hour every day thinking about the Torah-education of children, and to do everything in his power—and beyond his power—to inspire children to follow the path along which they are being guided.”[10]

LAG B’OMER
This year we celebrate Lag B’Omer on Friday, May 23, the thirty-third day in the counting of days between Pesach and Shavuos. Lag B’Omer marks the histalkus, the ascent of the soul of Rashbi, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the principal author of the Zohar.

The Zohar states that once there was a severe draught. Many great people were praying for rain. Finally, Rashbi stood and began to expound on the verse, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.” At that moment, rain began to fall.

To Rashbi, Jewish unity was paramount. Jewish unity is also the theme of our verse in the Torah portion. Adults must connect to youth. When there is unity between generations, we receive G-d’s blessing. This is the reason for our Lag B’Omer custom: adults bringing our children to inspiring parades and outings.

The Talmud states, “In a time of difficulty (meaning ‘exile’) one can rely on Rashbi.”[11] In his merit, and in the merit of the holy Zohar, may we all be redeemed from exile, with the coming of Moshiach, now!

A STORY
The Chasam Sofer was a brilliant scholar and codifier of halacha, Jewish law.[12] Many people came to him seeking his definitive halachic rulings and endorsements. Once, two people came to seek his approval-one to become a shochet,[13] and the other to become a teacher of young children. The Chasam Sofer met with the potential shochet first, asked him a few quick questions, and then gave his endorsement. When the Chasam Sofer admitted the potential teacher, he asked him many in-depth questions and continued to meet with him throughout the week.

A student in the yeshivah, witnessing these events, asked the Chasam Sofer: “Why were you so brief with the shochet, while you continue to have long meetings with the teacher? If the shochet invalidates the ritual slaughter of an animal with a minor inaccuracy, the animal is rendered non-kosher. Eating such meat is a Biblical offense. Yet the teacher will simply read from a textbook to a small number of students each year.”

The Chasam Sofer answered that the shochet‘s job is to elevate the animal, rendering it fit for human consumption. If he makes a mistake and kills the chicken, the chicken is expendable. However, the teacher’s job is to develop a child’s potential. If he misuses his judgment, he could kill the child’s potential forever. No child is expendable.

ACTION: a) Join a Lag B’Omer outing or parade. b) Contemplate how you can further Jewish education, and then act.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Leviticus, 21:1
[2] To warn, l’hazir, comes from the word zohar, “enlighten”—or perhaps “inspire”.
[3] Question asked in Sefer HaSichos 5750, p. 447.
[4] Sefer Yetzirah, considered the writings of Abraham our father, is regarded by many as the oldest Kabbalistic text that we have today.
[5] The second category consists of seven letters termed ‘doubles’, and the third category consists of twelve letters termed ‘singles’.
[6] The RaMaK, Rabbi Moses Kordovero (1522 – 1570), was one the great kabbalist of Tzfas, Israel.
[7] Sefer HaLikutim, Section on “Fire, Water, Air”
[8] Sefer HaSichos 5750, p. 449
[9] Ibid, p. 447.
[10] HaYom Yom, 22nd of Teves
[11] Berachos, 9a
[12] Rabbi Moshe Sofer (1762-1839). His nickname is the title of one of his many works.
[13] A ritual slaughterer of animals for kosher meat.