Special Features Life Begins and ends at Forty There is something significant about the number 40. The Maharal of Prague and others elaborate on the significance of numbers. 40 is the number of days for life to form and develop in the womb - an embryo becomes a fetus 40 days after conception. There are halachic ramifications in the distinction between the early embryo and the 40 day old life. In Parshat No'ach, in contrast,40 is the number of days during which life was destroyed rather than created. 40 is the number of days that the Jewish national life was formed (Moshe's time on Mt. Sinai); an additional 40 days was spent on Har Sinai "recreating" the Nation after the disastrous "sin of the Golden Calf". The 40 days of spying out the Land, were matched by the 40 years of wandering, during which the "generation ofthe Wilderness" died out. 40 represents the notion of complete life - in both a positive and negative sense. A mikve contains a minimum of 40 measures of water (suggesting that less than the complete 40 cannot bring about the change from impurity to purity); punishment (and the purging of the soul thereby) is accomplished by 40 (in this case, up to but not including) lashes of makot; definition of creative activity vis-a-vis thebuilding of the Mishkan and Shabbat prohibitions is in 40 (less 1) categories. 40 years is the period assigned to the acquisition of wisdom and understanding, according to Pirkei Avot. 40 is most definitely a meaningful number. The destruction of life on Earth (with the exception of those in the Teiva and the fishes under it) was total. The timing for the whole Mabul was one complete (solar) year. That too, represents completeness. That the destruction was not instantaneous (as it could have been), teachesus the value of life. And, as mentioned above, it takes time to form life too. When a person sins, he is given the special 40 day period from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur to rebuild his life. Here are some other forties for your consideration. There is definitely the flavor of a completeness whenever the number appears. This list is nowhere near complete. Yitzchak and Eisav were both 40 years old when they married. Yehoshua was 40 years old when he was sent to scout the Land of Israel. (Why should the Navi recordthat fact for us?) David and Shlomo each reigned for 40 years. Earlier, there are three periods during the time of the Shoftim that we are told there was tranquility for 40 years (during the rule of Otniel, Devora, and Gid'on). Following Israel's "bad behavior", we were under the thumb of P'lishtim for 40 years. Goliath taunted the People of Israel for 40 days. The Navi records a 40 year period of desolation in Mitzrayim, as punishment for its misdeeds. Eliyahu HaNavi also spent 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain. Not only are we given 40 days to repent, but that was the amount of time that Ninveh was given to avert its destruction.The embalming process takes 40 days. Wine takes 40 days to become eligible for the Altar. The mishna says that if 40 days pass (during the rainy season) without rain, it means drought, and prayers and fasting are immediately activated. The number 40 occurs several times in the dimensions of the Beit HaMikdash. The list goes on. Even the letter MEM = 40 has the flavor of completeness. Notice that MEM has two forms. A 40 that is not quite closed, and another that is complete. The word MEM is spelled with both MEMs. Cheshvan is called BUL in the Tanach (1 Kings 6:38). The word MABUL, then, can be seen to be made up of MEM - BUL - 40 (the 40 day deluge) in BUL, the month of Cheshvan. DOT OR NOT Last week on Torah Tidbits Audio (Arutz Sheva, 98.7FM, 702AM, Thursday night 10:08-11:00) I mentioned Rosh Chodesh benching and quoted parts of the opening passage, including our request for long life. Within seconds of my saying the words CHAYIM ARUCHIM, the phone in the studio rang with a listener's correction of thephrase to CHAYIM ARUKIM. During a musical interlude, I checked a Siddur and prepared my defense. After the song, I declared that I had been right, and even provided (faulty) DIKDUK proof. Over Shabbat I did some checking - with books and people in the know - and I would like to share my findings with you, TT readers. Thank you YA for starting me on this excursion. Rinat Yisrael and Birnbaum siddurim both have CHAYIM ARUKIM. Every other Siddur I've check has ARUCHIM. The common error is understandable, as follows: LONG in Hebrew is AROCH, spelled ALEF-RESH-CHAF (sofit). The correct vocalization of the RESH is CHOLOM CHASEIR (CH"CH - that's the dot above and to the left of the letter, without a VAV under the dot). When the word is written without N'KUDOT (vowels, "dots"), a VAV is used after the RESH to help with reading, but "officially,there is no VAV there. This is where the confusion comes from; keep reading). With adjectives (it happens with other
parts of speech too) in this form, the CH"CH changes to a KUBUTZ (that's the three
colinear dots arranged in an 11 to 5 o'clock orientation). Yellow, for example, is TZAHOV,
TZADI-HEI TZ'HUBA, for example, is broken down as
TZ'HUB•BA. Back to our request to G-d to give us CHAYIM ARUKIM. The proper spelling is without the VAV and with a dot in the KAF, which not only strengthens the letter, it changes it from "CH" to "K". Even if a VAV is used, the KAF still should have a dot. The word ARUCHA (alef-resh-vav-chaf-hei) means HEALTH or HEALING, as in the Nussach S'fard version of the R'FA'EINU bracha of the Amida. But it is difficult to claim that that is the intended word in Birkat HaChodesh, unless the text was something like CHAYIM SHEL ARUCHA. I think that's about it. CHODESH TOV
(dikduk tov). How ironic that we read Parshat No'ach on the Shabbat at the beginning of Cheshvan, having recently begun to refer to G-d as the Rainmaker, shortly before we will begin asking Him for rain. Cheshvan is the month of the Mabul - the ultimate example of harmful, destructive rain. If we tremble before the Almighty on ShminiAtzeret (Simchat Torah) when we say T'filat Geshem, how much more do we tremble when we contemplate to devastating power of rain, both in Parshat No'ach and in our daily newpapers of a week or so ago. Before continuing, let's be clear on the time-table and a few other details: We began saying Mashiv HaRu'ach U'Morid HaGashem at Musaf of Simchat Torah. We will say it until Musaf of the first day of Pesach. If one omits it and does not say Morid HaTal in its place, then the Amida is invalid and must be repeated. It one did say Morid HaTal in place of Mashiv HaRu'ach... then the Amida stands (p.i.) as is. If one does not remember whether he said Mashiv HaRu'ach... or not, then for the first month following Simchat Torah we assume that he did not say it, since a habit has not been established. He would then follow the previous paragraph. Remember, for those who say Morid HaTal when they don't say Mashiv HaRuach, they would NOT repeat the Amida, in either a definite or suspected omission. We are still saying V'tein Bracha in Barech Aleinu. We begin to say V'tein TAL UMATAR LiVracha on the eve of the seventh of Cheshvan, i.e. Maariv of Thursday night, November 6th. Omitting Tal U'Matar when we are supposed to say it, invalidates the Amida. The same "not sure" rule about habit applies. Outside of Israel, the starting date this year for Tal U'Matar is Motzaei Shabbat, December 6th. Tal U'Matar is said until Pesach. Visitors from abroad should consult a Rav to determine when they should begin Tal U'Matar. Length of stay is a major factor, and rulings vary as applied to students here for a year, which often is not quite a year. More details... Daven with Kavana. Prayer counts.
Prayer is powerful. Know and mean what you say. We need rain; we need many things. Daven
well. Perhaps this is another answer - We, the Jewish People, currently make up about a third of a percent of the world's population. That means that more than five billion people are Bnei Noach. They do not have to hear the Shofar or separate milk and meat, they don't wear Tzitzit and they can wear Shaatnes if they so choose..But they do have many restrictions which are based on the Seven Noahide Laws. And by telling us about Noach and those who came out of the Ark with him, the Torah is also making us aware of the other 99 and two thirds percent. We are forbidden to "put a stumbling block before the blind". This is the prohibition of leading someone astray and/or abetting another in the commission of a sin. Our Sages teach us that this mitzva applies regardless of whether the "other person" is a Jew or non-Jew. For this reason, some authorities write that we must learn what is expected of a non-Jew - we must know the "Seven Noahide Laws". Aside from this technical reason, we should know what G-d demands of every human being, so that we can properly relate to the non-Jew and perform our role as "a light unto the nations". The seven mitzvot consist of six
prohibitions - Idolatry, Blasphemy, Murder, Incest & Adultery, Theft, and Limb (meat)
from a Living Animal; and one broad positive commandment, known as Dinim, the requirement
to set up a system of laws and codes for the proper functioning of a society. Most of
these mitzvot include several different commandments, and can be seen more accurately as
categories of mitzva. Theft, for example, includes at least The practices of a non-Jew and his
motivation for following a particular course of conduct, have an impact upon us all. We
should know more about the Ben No'ach, how we should relate to him, what we should and
what we should Another point. We are not Jews instead
of being human beings. We are Jews in addition to being human. Our membership in Klal
Yisrael does not cancel our membership in the human race. This is also why Parshat No'ach
should speak to us. One commentary explains that the reason
animals get fed first is based on a Drash of the verse "Man and animal will be saved
by HaShem" - Man will be saved in the merit of the animals. Here with Noach, the
opposite was the case. The animals were being saved because of Noach. Women & K.L. Others say that K.L. is NOT a time-related mitzva (by the usual definition) since it is the phases of the Moon that require K.L., not time per se. Therefore, women would be required to say K.L. Many sources say that women should NOT say K.L. Various reasons are offered: Chava caused the diminishing of the Moon in the first place; it is immodest to say K.L. since it is usually said in a crowd of men and always said outdoors. Some say that the natural body cycle of women gives them a "built in" awareness of what K.L. strives to develop in a man. Some say a woman must say K.L. Some say they may. Some say they cannot say it on their own but may answer AMEN to a man's K.L. Others say she MUST do that. Some say that women have nothing to do with K.L.That is pretty much as varied as opinions on a halachic topic can get. Women should consult their own RAV to
determine the if, what, and why of K.L. for themselves. [The No'ach Homepage][The TORAH tidbits Homepage] |
