A celibate monk sat in the Vatican day and night, copying ancient scrolls. One day, he happened to step into a rarely visited and secret archival chamber. As he glanced through the writings, he came upon a very old document. Suddenly, he stopped, frowned, rubbed his eyes, and bent down to look more closely at the words before him. Then, shrieking, he ran out of the chamber. Collapsing in grief, the monk groaned, “O my goodness. It says, ‘cele-brate‘.”

* * *

Vayeilech: Torah–Masculine or Feminine?

WRITING A SEFER TORAH
Before he passed away, Moses wrote thirteen sifrei Torah–Torah scrolls.

In this portion, we are commanded, “Now, write for yourself this song.”[1] Rambam says [2] this means that, “Every person is obligated to write for himself a Torah-scroll.” This mitzvah, however, is very difficult for most people to fulfill. 1) Most people don’t have the calligraphic or technical skills necessary to write a kosher Torah scroll. 2) Though one could properly perform the mitzvah by hiring someone else to write it, for most people, this is a costly proposition– some tens of thousands of dollars. How then can “every person” perform this important mitzvah?

TORAH: MASCULINE OR FEMININE?
The word ‘Torah’ is grammatically feminine. The word ‘shirah’ (song) is also feminine. Yet in this portion, there seems to be a masculine side to Torah, as well. It states: “take this sefer Torah.” One would expect the word “this” to be ‘hazos‘, a feminine adjective, however it says “hazeh“–a masculine adjective. Rashi, however, teaches [3] that the word “sefer“, ‘scroll’, is masculine, therefore the word hazeh refers to sefer rather than to Torah. A question arises: what difference does it make if Torah is masculine or feminine?

OPENING THE SCROLL
The objective of the mitzvah of writing a Torah-scroll is not to put the Torah-scroll away in your closet, but rather to open it, to study it, and to live by its laws. The Rosh states [4] that nowadays, it is incumbent upon every Jew to acquire a printed Chumash–the Five Books of Moses–as well as other Jewish books. Therefore, progressing towards the objective behind the mitzvah is indeed accessible and affordable for every Jewish person.

At this point, thousands of years after Sinai, tremendous amounts of commentary and insight on the Torah have been published. These commentaries and innovations are also part of the Torah in the broader sense. Therefore, the mitzvah of writing a Torah scroll includes acquiring, studying and living from the Oral Law as well–the Talmud, the Code of Jewish Law, the Zohar, Chassidic texts, etc. We can fulfill the commandment of writing a Torah-scroll by building a library of the writings of our sages and rabbis. Doing so also creates an ambiance of holiness in our homes.

WRITTEN LAW VS. ORAL LAW
According to Kabbalah,[5] the Written Law is a ‘masculine’ phenomenon. ‘Masculine’ is a symbol for giving or ‘the benefactor’. The Written Law consists of the letters and words given to us directly by G-d, the ultimate Benefactor.

The Oral Law is ‘feminine’. ‘Feminine’, in Kabbalah, is a symbol for receptivity or ‘the beneficiary’. The Oral Law consists of the insights and explanations that our sages and rabbis [6] receive from G-d when they are immersed in His wisdom. Through these insights, our sages and rabbis apply the principles of Torah to all aspects of life, including modern technology and current events.

Like masculine and feminine marriage partners, the Written and Oral aspects of Torah find completeness in one another. The completeness of the mitzvah to write a sefer Torah therefore includes both the Written and the Oral aspects of the mitzvah.

PURCHASE A LETTER
The Lubavitcher Rebbe has requested [7] that each and every Jewish man, woman, and child–in addition to acquiring and studying many Jewish books–‘acquire’ a letter in a Torah-scroll. That is, when a competent scribe is writing a new scroll, one should purchase at least one letter, funding the writing of that letter. This is another way of fulfilling the mitzvah, for one has become a contributing partner in the writing of the entire Torah.[8]

Furthermore, to be in this way a benefactor to the Torah is a masculine expression of the mitzvah. Acquiring Jewish books and receiving them into our homes is a feminine expression of this mitzvah. We should perform both.

Fulfilling the mitzvah of writing a Torah-scroll can bring stability to the world in these turbulent times. Through this mitzvah, may we merit to study Torah from Mashiach himself, who will show us the ultimate insights and explanations contained in the letters and words of our holy Torah.[9]

A STORY [10]
The Maharam, Rabbi Meir of Rotenberg (1215-1293), a great rabbi of Germany, was arrested by King Rudolph, and locked in a fortress on the Rhine. The king placed a heavy ransom of twenty thousand marks on his release.

The Jews sold their possessions until they had collected the sum. The Maharam, however, did not agree to be released in such a manner. He said, “I do not want that because of me, the king and the rulers will begin to imprison our rabbis whenever they wish to take in a great deal of money.”

The Maharam knew the whole Torah by heart. However, he was pained that he did not have a Sefer Torah (Torah scroll) to read in his prison cell on Shabbos, Mondays and Thursdays. One night, he dreamt that the Angel Gavriel was holding a Torah scroll and speaking to him, saying, “Heaven sees your pain and has decided to send you a Torah scroll written by Moses himself.”

To his delight, when the Maharam awoke, a Sefer Torah was lying on his table. That Shabbos, when he opened the Torah, the room lit up. After Shabbos, Rabbi Meir acquired a pen and parchment and carefully began to copy the Torah. When he had completed it, the Angel Gavriel again appeared to him in a dream, this time telling him that he was taking the Torah Scroll away. The rabbi pleaded with him not to take it. The Angel Gavriel replied, “The Torah must return to Heaven, but how good that you copied it. Now the Jewish People will have an exact copy of the Torah Scroll written by Moses.”

The Maharam died in his prison cell. Miraculously, however, the Torah scroll made its way to Worms and is kept in the Synagogue of Worms [11] to this very day.

ACTION: Purchase a letter in a Sefer Torah, and buy a Siddur, Chumash, Tehillim, and a Tanya for your home.

FOOTNOTES
[1] Numbers, 31:19
[2] Mishneh Torah, the Laws of a Sefer Torah, Chap. 7:1
[3] On Numbers, 29:20
[4] Hilchos Kitanos, beginning of the Laws of a Sefer Torah. See also The Beis Yosef on the Tur, Yoreh De’ah, Chap. 270. Also, Likutei Sichos, Vol 23, Shavuos, No. 1
[5] Shelah, Introduction, p. 16a; Likutei Torah on Songs of Songs, 11:4; Likutei Sichos, Vol. 30, p. 10
[6] Hayom Yom, 6 Sh’vat.
[7] Likutei Sichos, Vol. 24, Vayelech, 2
[8] See Rambam, Ibid. “If one fixes even ‘one letter’ of a Torah, it is considered as if he has written the entire scroll.”
[9] See Vayeira Rabba, 13
[10] Adapted from Stories of Tzaddikim #84. Machanayim: Israel
[11] HaYom Yom, 7 Elul.