Feature Tidbit Speak the Truth and Be Understood The following is based on a Dvar Torah I gave at my great-nephew's Pidyon HaBen earlier this week, and is presented here in his honor — Yechezkeil ben Tzvi and Naama. In the description of Day Four of Creation, the Sun and the Moon are referred to as the Two Great Luminaries. Within the same pasuk, the Sun is called the Great Luminary and the Moon is called the Small Luminary. Same pasuk. What's the story? The answer is a matter of perspective. From our vantage point on Earth, there are only two heavenly bodies that appear to us as being more than a point of light — the Sun and the Moon. In fact, apparent size-wise, the Sun and the Moon are twins. The Sun has a diameter 400 times greater than that of the Moon. (That means that the Sun's volume is 64 million times greater than that of the Moon.) One would hardly consider using the term Great Luminaries for both of them. Yet the Sun is (non-coincidentally) 400 times more distant to us than the Moon. (Both 400s are approximate figures, but very close.) The combination of distance and size results in the Sun and the Moon appearing to be the same size. And compared with planets and stars and other objects in our sky, they - and only they - deserve to be called Great. Describing things from a human perspective is the SOP (standard operating procedure) of the Torah. But sometimes, that is not the only way the Torah puts things. We also need to know that the Sun is far larger and more powerful than the Moon. Hence their descriptions as GADOL and KATAN, respectively. Perhaps, this is a lesson the Torah is teaching us. We must be able to tell things in such a way that the truth is presented and represented properly, and that our words should also be readily understood by those to whom we speak. Clear, not misleading, distinguishing between objective and subjective perspectives, extra explanations when called for. Included in all this is the ability to speak to scholars and Talmidei Chachamim on the one hand, and "plain folk" on the other. This ability is the key to true Jewish (Torah) Education. [The B'reishit Homepage]
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