Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
On Simhat Torah, you might find yourself dancing to the words of this pasuk!
תּוֹרָה צִוָּה לָנוּ מֹשֶׁה
מוֹרָשָׁה קְהִלַּת יַעֲקֹב׃
The Torah was commanded to us by Moshe,
a morashah for the congregation of Yaakov.
What’s a morashah? How is Torah a morashah?
Here are two explanations. The first connects morashah to another word with the same שֹׁרֶשׁ (shoresh, root):
אַל תִּקְרֵי מוֹרָשָׁה אֶלָא יְרֻשָּׁה. יְרֻשָּׁה הִיא לְיִשְׂרָאֵל לְעוֹלָם.
מָשָׁל לְבֶן מְלָכִים שֶׁנִּשְׁבָּה כְּשֶׁהוּא קָטָן לִמְדִינַת הַיָּם. אֲפִלּוּ לְאַחַר כַּמָּה שָׁנִים אֵינוֹ בּוֹשׁ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא אוֹמֵר, לִירֻשַּׁת אֲבוֹתַי אֲנִי חוֹזֵר. כָּךְ תַּלְמִיד חָכָם שֶׁהוּא פּוֹרֵשׁ מִן הַתּוֹרָה וְהָלַךְ וְהִתְעַסֵּק בִּדְבָרִים אֲחֵרִים. אֲפִלּוּ לְאַחַר כַּמָּה שָׁנִים הוּא מְבַקֵּשׁ לַחֲזֹר אֵינוֹ בּוֹשׁ, מִפְנֵי שֶׁאוֹמֵר לִירוּשַׁת אֲבוֹתַי אֲנִי חוֹזֵר…
Instead of “morashah” say “yerushah” (inheritance). Torah is our inheritance forever.
It’s like a prince who is taken captive far away. Even years later he can return home to his kingdom, because he’s coming back to his rightful inheritance. The same is true for Torah scholars who stop learning, and get involved in other things. They can always return to Torah, because Torah is their inheritance...
According to this interpretation, morashah means that Torah is our rightful inheritance, something that we can come back to even if we haven’t learned it for a long time.
- Does it change the way you feel about learning something new if you know it’s meant for you and belongs to you? For example, is there a difference between how it feels to learn new things about your own family, and how it feels to learn new things about something else completely?
- In the Talmud Yerushalmi (Bava Batra 8:2), R. Hoshaya says that a morashah is a specific kind of yerushah, because a morashah is an inheritance that you have to do some work to get. It doesn’t just come to you automatically. What kind of work does Torah take to inherit? What are some other really great things that take work to get?
Shemot Rabbah offers a second explanation of morashah. It’s a play on words, connecting it to another word that sounds similar.
דָּבָר אַחֵר, אַל תְּהִי קוֹרֵא מוֹרָשָׁה אֶלָּא מְאֹרָסָה, מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהַתּוֹרָה אֲרוּסָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל.
Another interpretation: Instead of “morashah,” say “me’orasah” (engaged to be married). This teaches that the Torah is engaged to Israel.
- How do you understand the idea that Torah and Benei Yisrael are connected to each other like an engaged couple? Can you explain that in more than one way?
- Are you more drawn to one of these two explanations of morashah? Why?
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