Save "Ha'azinu ~ short vort: Torah, desire and deficiency
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Ha'azinu ~ short vort: Torah, desire and deficiency
יַעֲרֹ֤ף כַּמָּטָר֙ לִקְחִ֔י תִּזַּ֥ל כַּטַּ֖ל אִמְרָתִ֑י כִּשְׂעִירִ֣ם עֲלֵי־דֶ֔שֶׁא וְכִרְבִיבִ֖ים עֲלֵי־עֵֽשֶׂב׃
May my discourse come down as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
Like showers on young growth,
Like droplets on the grass.

~ How does the metaphor work?

~ What is the connection of Torah and rain? What is the connection of Torah and dew?

~ What is the difference between those two?

~ Who or what is the grass? Who or what is the young growth?

אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה: גָּדוֹל יוֹם הַגְּשָׁמִים כְּיוֹם שֶׁנִּיתְּנָה בּוֹ תּוֹרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״יַעֲרֹף כַּמָּטָר לִקְחִי״, וְאֵין ״לֶקַח״ אֶלָּא תּוֹרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״כִּי לֶקַח טוֹב נָתַתִּי לָכֶם תּוֹרָתִי אַל תַּעֲזֹבוּ״. רָבָא אָמַר: יוֹתֵר מִיּוֹם שֶׁנִּיתְּנָה בּוֹ תּוֹרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״יַעֲרֹף כַּמָּטָר לִקְחִי״, מִי נִתְלֶה בְּמִי? הֱוֵי אוֹמֵר: קָטָן נִתְלֶה בַּגָּדוֹל.
Similarly, Rav Yehuda said: The day of the rains is as great as the day on which the Torah was given, as it is stated: “My doctrine [likḥi] shall drop as the rain” (Deuteronomy 32:2), and lekaḥ means nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “For I give you good doctrine [lekaḥ]; do not forsake My Torah” (Proverbs 4:2). Rava said: Rainfall is even greater than the day on which the Torah was given, as it is stated: “My doctrine shall drop as the rain,” and when one makes a comparison, which object is made dependent upon which? You must say that the lesser object is dependent upon the greater one. If Torah is compared to rain, it follows that rain is greater than Torah.

אמר רבא לעולם ילמוד אדם תורה במקום שלבו חפץ שנאמר כי אם בתורת ה' חפצו ואמר רבא בתחילה נקראת על שמו של הקב"ה ולבסוף נקראת על שמו שנאמר בתורת ה' חפצו ובתורתו יהגה יומם ולילה ואמר רבא לעולם ילמד אדם תורה ואח"כ יהגה שנאמר בתורת ה' והדר ובתורתו יהגה

Rava says, in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi: A person should always learn Torah from a place in the Torah that his heart desires, as it is stated: “But his delight is in the Torah of the Lord.” And Rava also says, with regard to this verse: Initially the Torah is called by the name of the Holy One, Blessed be God, but ultimately it is called by the name of the one who studies it. As it is first stated: “His delight is in the Torah of the Lord,” and in the continuation of the verse it states: “And in his Torah he meditates day and night.” This teaches that through study one acquires ownership, as it were, of the Torah.

כשעירם עלי דשא. פירש"י כל עשבים בכלל נקראים דשא כשהארץ מתלבשת בדשאים, והיינו כל תרי"ג מצות בכלל ששייכים לכל ישראל. וכרביבים עלי עשב, פירש"י כל מין ומין בפני עצמו קרוי עשב, היינו נגד כל איש ישראל בפרט אשר כל אחד מכיר נגע לבבו, והחסרון שיש לזה אינו דומה לזה, ע"כ באותה מדה שיודע כל אחד חסרונו בה, צריך להטיף שם תמיד אותו ד"ת השייכים לאותו חסרון עד שיושלם באותו מקום והיינו כרביבים עלי עשב, כרביבים הוא לשון רב היינו שתרבה ד"ת באותו מקום אשר יש לך החסרון.
“… as the light rain upon the herb, as the heavy rain upon the grass.” (Devarim, 32:2)
Rashi explains that all grasses (eisev) in general are called “herb,” deshe in Hebrew, when the land is dressed in herbs. This means that all the 613 mitzvot are suited for all of Israel in general. “Like the heavy rain on the grass.” Rashi explains that each particular kind of herb specifically is called a “grass” or eisev. The intention of the verse is each particular soul in Israel, where each one recognizes the negia (personal motive, partiality), of his heart. No one’s deficiency is similar to any others; therefore in that particular aspect where each one knows that he is deficient, the corresponding aspect in Torah must be reinforced in that very place until it is eventually completed. This is “the heavy rains upon the grass,” “heavy” meaning in great measure, or to increase the measure of Torah specifically in the place that is lacking.

~ How do our desires reinforce of expose our deficiencies?

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