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Orchard of Delights
“Shabbat Shalom”) this practice is in keeping with the above dictum
that there is no greater vessel of blessing than peace.
The word “shalom” (peace) is derived from the word “shalem,”
which means complete or whole. Blessing our children with peace on
Shabbat conveys the essential truth that nothing gives us a greater
sense of inner fulfillment and wholeness than seeing our children grow
and blossom. For our children are a reflection of our innermost hopes
and dreams, representing our link to eternity, the realization of our
essential purpose in life. This is expressed beautifully by the fact that
when God commanded Abraham to leave everything behind and
“go … to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1), the Torah
uses the phrase “lech lecha.” This phrase, in context, literally means
“go,” but the repetition of the root “lech” suggests an even more
literal or deeper meaning: “go to your self.” God was subtly hinting
to Abraham that his journey would be both a physical and spiritual
one, ultimately touching upon his innermost being. The numerical
value of the phrase “lech lecha” is one hundred; therefore, it is
extremely significant that Abraham gave birth to Isaac, the child
who would carry on his lifework, at that age.
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s well-known song “The Psalm for
the Day of Shabbat” begins: “A song for the day of Shabbat.” He
incorporated the following sentence into the Hebrew lyrics: “The
whole world is waiting to sing the song of Shabbat.” How true this
is! Is there anyone in the world who does not seek contentment and
peace of mind? Is there anyone who does not long for pleasure that
transcends the ephemeral material world? Is there anyone who deep
inside does not long to be safe and protected, free from the fear of
violence and aggression? The whole world is truly waiting to sing the
song of Shabbat, but is, as of yet, unaware of this precious vessel of
peace. That is why the future Messianic age is referred to as “a day
that is all Shabbat.” May the whole world merit that day soon!
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Behar
Rashi asks why the opening verse of Behar stresses that God
spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai about the laws of Shemittah and
Yovel, when we would assume that God spoke to Moses about all
the commandments there! After all, were not all the commandments
given on Sinai!? Rashi answers by revealing the straightforward
peshat reason for why the Torah emphasizes that these laws were
given at Sinai. The Torah wishes to stress that just as in Behar the
general principles of the laws of Shemittah and their specifics and
fine points are mentioned in great detail, so too all the mitzvot were
given to Moses at Mount Sinai in great detail (even though the
specifics and fine points do not usually appear in the Written Torah).
Rashi, in citing the ancient legal Midrash Torat Cohanim, teaches a
fundamental lesson about the interplay between the Written and Oral
Torahs. Even though virtually all the mitzvot in the Written Torah
are described quite briefly, Moses received a thorough explanation.
The Oral Torah provides the commandments’ specifics and fine
points, including their particular applications.
The remez level of interpretation notes that Mount Sinai is
mentioned to hint at the connection between the two cycles of
seven times seven present in the Torah: the seven times seven years
culminating in the fiftieth – the Jubilee – year, and the seven times
seven weeks culminating in the fiftieth day, the Festival of Shavuot
when the Jews received the Torah at Mount Sinai. (This will be
discussed further in Bechukotai.) This remez hints to a more profound
underlying connection between the two cycles than initially meets
the eye.
The derash interpretation, which adopts a symbolic approach,
focuses on the intrinsic connection between Mount Sinai and the
Sabbatical year alluded to by the verse describing how the children
of Israel camped by Mount Sinai. As Rashi notes the Hebrew word
for “camped” is written in the singular form rather than the more
likely plural one (Exodus 19:2). Explaining the reason for this, Rashi
remarks that the people’s unity was so great that all the children of
Israel felt as if they were “as one person, with one heart” (see “Time,
Space, and Soul” in the portion of Yitro for a fuller explanation of
this phenomenon). This feeling of unity among the people manifest
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