The final mitzvah in the Torah is that of writing a Torah scroll. The source for this mitzvah is the verse[1] where Hashem commands Moshe:
And now, write for yourselves this song.
The “song” to which Hashem is referring is expounded by the Sages as referring to the Sefer Torah.[2]
It is most interesting to ponder the characterization of the Torah as a song. Is this an association which we would have intuitively made? What do we learn about the nature of Torah by it being referred to as “this song”?
An Angel’s Rebuke
The book of Yehoshua[3] relates the following episode which took place during the buildup to the battle with Jericho.
It happened when Yehoshua was in Jericho that he raised his eyes and saw, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. Yehoshua went toward him and said to him, “Are you with us or with our enemies?” He said, “No, for I am the commander of Hashem’s legion; now I have come.”
This brief encounter is enigmatic in the extreme. What was the purpose of this revelation?
Additionally, what does the man [who is subsequently revealed to be an angel of Hashem] mean when he says, “Now I have come?” Isn’t it obvious?
The Gemara[4] explains that the appearance of this angel was in order to rebuke the Jewish People for being lax regarding certain mitzvos during the buildup to the war:
He [the angel] said to him [Yehoshua], “Yesterday, you neglected to bring the daily afternoon offering, and today you have been neglectful of Torah study.
He [Yehoshua] said, “Regarding which one have you come [specifically]?” He replied, “Now I have come” [i.e., Torah study].
Rashi explains that by saying “Now I have come,” the angel was saying, “I have come regarding the area being neglected now,” namely, Torah study.
The Gemara’s explanation of the exchange still needs to be clarified. Yehoshua asked, “Are you with us or with our enemies?” Where do we find in this question any reference to either Torah study or the daily offering?
Deciphering the Exchange
Tosafos[5] provide the key to this conversation. The Gemara is expounding that when Yehoshua asked לצרינו אם אתה הלנו (which literally means, “Are you with us or our enemies?”), he was referring to the two areas in which Israel had been neglectful:
- The word לנו is a reference to Torah study, as the verse says: “תורה צוה לנו משה— Moshe commanded the Torah to us.”[6]
- The word לצרינו (for our enemies) is a reference to the daily offering which protects Israel from their enemies.
- Hence, Yehoshua was asking which of the above two matters the rebuke was about.
- The answer of the angel, באתי עתה (now I have come), refers to the commandment to write a Sefer Torah and learn from it: “ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת— And now, write for yourselves this song.”[7] With this term, the angel was indicating that the rebuke was concerning Torah study.
To sum up: The Gemara helped us understand the meaning of the verses, and Tosafos helped us understand the explanation of the Gemara.
But there is one aspect of Tosafos’ explanation which itself needs to be understood. We have identified the two words in Yehoshua’s question, לנו and לצרינו as referring to the two possible areas of neglect. When the angel responded that it was the area of Torah study, why did he change the reference to a third term — עתה? We had just about gotten used to the first two! Why did he not answer with the term that Yehoshua used when he asked the question, i.e., לנו, preferring instead to insert a new term of his own?
Close to the Heart
Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, the Ponevezher Rav,[8] explains that in order to understand why the angel shifted the way by which he alluded to Torah study, we must first contemplate the meaning of the Torah being called “a song.” By referring to the Torah in this way, the verse is indicating the nature of the connection we are meant to have with Torah study. Music may require intellectual and professional skill to produce, but the part of a person it is meant to reach is not the intellect – it is the heart. A musical connection is not expressed by knowing all the notes, but by being emotionally impacted by the song. This is our connection with Torah study. It may take the form of scholarly discussions, but the entire person needs to be connected with the message of Torah. Whenever we sit down to study Torah we are engaged in discovering an aspect of Hashem’s Will regarding how we are to lead our lives. Our relationship with the Torah as a revelation of Hashem’s Will is ultimately an expression of our relationship with Him, and every time we learn Torah we renew and strengthen the connection.
Understanding Torah study as part of an ongoing relationship with Hashem means that learning Torah every day is part of maintaining that relationship. As we go through life, different periods find us in different moods; some happy, some sad, some settled, and some turbulent. We don’t always have the peace of mind to engage in all of our pursuits, but the relationships which are important to us are maintained though all of our ups and downs.
Returning to the exchange between Yehoshua and the angel, when Yehoshua asked whether Israel was being rebuked over neglect of Torah study, he used the term לנו, referring to Moshe commanding us the Torah. By using this term he was actually seeking to defend the Jewish People for their neglect; after all, they were on the eve of battle, and thus may not have had the peace of mind that study requires. When the angel responds that the rebuke is indeed about Torah study, he changes the term to עתה, referring to the mitzvah to write and study the Song of Torah. In so doing, the angel is responding to Yehoshua’s defense, for he is saying that if Torah study was purely an intellectual exercise, then perhaps the people could be excused for neglecting it today. However, the Torah is more than that; it is a song and represents a relationship with Hashem. Relationships cannot be neglected, even during turbulent times.[9]
Notes and Music
The characterization of Torah as a song should also impact the learning experience itself. Music takes the form of notes, but a musical experience is infinitely more than the sum total of the notes. The emotional – as well as intellectual – faculties of the person are engaged and entire person is impacted and elevated. Indeed, from a certain point of view, it is only once a person knows all the notes that the music really begins. This idea may give us a deeper understanding of the emphasis that is laid on chazarah – review of one’s learning. The goal is not just of cementing the material in one’s memory (although that, too, is a most worthy goal!), it is of playing the “song” of that Torah discussion again and again with the goal of hearing the music of its message.
Playing an Instrumental Role
Understanding the Torah as a song may also give us deeper insight into another well-known idea, namely, that every Jew has his portion in Torah. This means that each and every individual has a unique contribution to make to the Jewish nation’s ongoing Torah discussion. Some people may hear this idea and wonder how it is possible that they may have something meaningful to say in Torah which has never been said before. With all the Torah giants throughout the generations who applied their phenomenal intellects and endless diligence to every Torah topic, what room is there for the average person to find his portion and make a significant contribution? As if to say, if the Vilna Gaon and Rabbi Akiva Eiger somehow left something unsaid, how likely am I to pick it up?
Although experience has shown that it is indeed possible for someone in a later generation (and of smaller stature) to add meaningful insight to earlier discussions, perhaps remembering the idea of Torah as a song may help reveal an added dimension in this matter. A song is much more than the sum total of its notes. The musical experience may change dramatically depending on tempo, cadence, emphasis, and the instrument being used – as well as the person playing! The notes may be exactly the same, but the song is entirely different.
Each person has a unique personality with singular experiences. Every Jew is thus a unique instrument with which to play the song of Torah.[10] The way he may choose to express a certain idea and illustrate it based on his own individual situation and experience may be an expression that no one else has given beforehand or will do so afterwards. This is his song, and knowledge of its existence should certainly serve as an inspiration for each person to strive toward making his unique – and irreplaceable – contribution to the ongoing symphony of Torah.
Chag Sameach.
[1] Devarim 31:19.
[2] See Sanhedrin 21b.
[3] 5:13–14.
[4] Megillah 3a.
[5] Megillah, loc. cit., s.v. “emesh, and s.v. “ata.”
[6] Devarim 33:4.
[7] Ibid., 31:19.
[8] Quoted in Zichron Shmuel, p. 574.
[9] For further discussion of the significance of characterizing the Torah as a song, see Torah Temimah to Devarim, loc. cit., and the Netziv’s introduction Kidmas Ha’emek to his commentary Haamek Davar on the Torah, part 1, sec. 5.
[10] This idea is not static, but rather, it is a dynamic and ongoing deepening of one’s understanding of Torah based on further life experience. Rav Shlomo Ashtaruk explains in this vein the famous statement of Chazal (Bamidbar Rabbah 13:15) that there are “seventy facets of Torah,” i.e. seventy different ways to understand a Torah idea. Rav Ashtaruk writes that the “seventy facets” correspond to the seventy years which a person is typically allotted. With the experience and maturation that come with each year, a person gains insight into words of Torah that he did not previously have.