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INSIGHTS INTO THE DAILY DAF
THE FREIDA MILLER MASECHES MIDOS
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Rosh Kollel: Rabbi Mordecai Kornfeld
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The Mishnah (2:3) relates that inside the wall of Har ha'Bayis stood the Soreg, a fence ten Tefachim high, which the kings of Yavan (Greece) breached in thirteen places during their war against the Jews in the times of the Chashmona'im. The Jews repaired the breaches and established an enactment that the Kohanim bow when they pass these thirteen places. The BARTENURA adds that the prostrations at these places were instituted as a sign of gratitude to Hash-m for the victory over the Greeks.
The thirteen breaches the Greeks made in the Soreg, and the thirteen repairs that the Chashmona'im made, reflect the true essence of the battle between the Greeks and the Jews at that time.
The Midrash (Bereishis Rabah 2:4) interprets the word "darkness" in the verse, "The world was chaos and void, with darkness over the face of the deep" (Bereishis 1:2), as an allusion "to the exile imposed by the Greeks, who darkened the eyes of Yisrael with their decrees."
Why is the Greek persecution of the Jews represented by the word "darkness"?
The TUR (OC 580) teaches that on the day that the Egyptian ruler, Ptolemy, commissioned his translation of the Torah (the Septuagint), "A three-day long period of darkness descended upon the world." The translation of the Torah is the "darkness" of the Greek exile.
What was the great tragedy of the Torah being translated into another language, and why should it cause the world to become dark?
The Midrash relates that Ptolemy gathered 72 of the Jewish elders and placed them in 72 separate rooms. He did not inform any of them of the purpose of their summons. He approached each elder privately and said, "Translate [into Greek] the Torah of your teacher Moshe for me." Hash-m arranged that the same thoughts occurred to all of them, and they all made the same thirteen modifications in their translations (Sofrim 1:7-8, Megilah 9a).
When the Torah was translated into a foreign language, it lost all of the nuances of meaning. The countless allusions, exegetical derivations, and implicit insinuations in the words of the Torah, Gematriyas, acrostics, and other word-based analyses cannot be carried over from Lashon ha'Kodesh to another language. The entire body of the Oral Torah that lies beneath the surface of the written text was severed from the translation. That was the tragedy.
The Oral Torah is compared to a light that illuminates the darkness (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach #3). The Midrash says, "The Oral Torah is difficult to learn and its mastery involves great hardship. The verse therefore compares it to darkness: 'The people who walked in darkness saw a great light' (Yeshayah 9:1). The 'great light' is a reference to the great light that is seen by the Sages of the Gemara (they understand matters with great clarity), for Hash-m enlightens their eyes in matters of ritual law and laws of purity. In the future it is said of them, 'Those who love Him will shine as bright as the sun when it rises with its full intensity' (Shoftim 5:31).... Reward for the study of the Oral Torah will be received in the World to Come, as it says, 'The people who walk in darkness saw a great light.' 'Great light' is a reference to the primeval light that was hidden away by Hash-m during Creation as a reward for those who toil over the Oral Torah day and night."
Those who "shed a great light" on the Oral Torah are rewarded with the pleasure of the "great light" of Creation.
It is now clear why the translation of the Torah into Greek caused darkness to descend upon the world. The darkness was caused by the obstruction of the "great light" of the Oral Torah that resulted from the translation of the Torah into a foreign language. The Chashmona'im, who defeated the Greeks and the culture they espoused, restored to some degree the glory of the Torah to its place, and the Chanukah candles that are lit each year in commemoration of that miracle represent the "great light" of the Oral Torah.
This understanding sheds light on the significance of the thirteen breaches the Greeks made in the Soreg, and the thirteen repairs that the Chashmona'im made.
The foundation of the Oral Torah is the thirteen Midos sheha'Torah Nidreshes ba'Hen -- the thirteen exegetical principles of expounding Torah law, as enumerated in the introduction to Toras Kohanim. These principles are the basis for deriving the Oral Torah from the written text of the Torah. (This is why the Midrash ha'Zohar on Bereishis teaches that the number thirteen is a metaphor for the Oral Torah.)
The Elders made thirteen modifications in the text of the Torah when they translated it into Greek. This number represents the fact that inherent in the translation is the loss of the Oral Torah, which is derived through the thirteen exegetical principles.
The thirteen breaches made by the Greeks and repaired by the Chashmona'im represent the essence of the focus of the war of the Chashmona'im against the Greeks. The Greeks sought to eliminate the thirteen principles through their literal translation of the Torah into Greek, with its resultant loss of the Oral component of the Torah. The Chashmona'im succeeded in restoring the tools of Torah interpretation.
In order to commemorate and give thanks for the victory of authentic Torah ideology over the shallow, incomplete misrepresentation of Torah, thirteen prostrations were instituted at the sites of the repaired breaches.
It is interesting to note that according to Rashi (Devarim 33:11), there were thirteen men (twelve Chashmona'im and Elazar) who commanded the Jewish army that overthrew the Greeks. These thirteen men enabled the Jewish people to preserve the Oral Torah and its thirteen principles. (Based on the explanation of RAV DAVID COHEN in "BIRKAS YA'AVETZ," p. 147) (See also Insights to Shekalim 17:1.)
OPINIONS: The Mishnah (2:3) relates that inside the wall of Har ha'Bayis stood the Soreg, a fence ten Tefachim high, which the kings of Yavan (Greece) breached in thirteen places during their war against the Jews in the times of the Chashmona'im. (See previous Insight.)
What was the purpose of the Soreg?
(a) The ROSH writes that he found one explanation that says that the Soreg was made in order to permit those inside Har ha'Bayis to carry things on Shabbos. It was ten Tefachim high, the minimum height required of a partition to make the enclosed area into a Reshus ha'Yachid (see Shabbos 6a).
The Rosh writes that according to this explanation, the Mechitzah of Har ha'Bayis itself was not sufficient to enable carrying within on Shabbos. The reason why it was not sufficient is that it was built before the buildings inside Har ha'Bayis were built, and, therefore, it is considered "Hukaf uleva'Sof Yashav" -- the area was originally surrounded by walls, and only afterwards were the buildings built and occupied there. Such a partition does not make the area inside of it into a Reshus ha'Yachid (see Eruvin 67b). In contrast, the Soreg was erected after the buildings were built, and therefore it is considered "Yashav uleva'Sof Hukaf," and it is permitted to carry within the partition on Shabbos.
(Even though the Gemara in Shabbos (7a) says that it is prohibited only mid'Rabanan to carry inside of an enclosed area (Karpaf) larger than 50 by 100 Amos that was not originally surrounded for residential purposes ("Hukaf l'Dirah"), and there is a principle (Pesachim 65a) that ordinances of "Shevus" enacted by the Rabanan do not apply in the Beis ha'Mikdash, TOSFOS in Shabbos (95a, DH Shara) points out that there are many exceptions to this rule. See also Pesachim 65a, where Rebbi Nasan says that decrees of Shevus are permitted in the Beis ha'Mikdash only when the act is necessary for the Avodah. See also TOSFOS YOM TOV (end of DH Gavoha) and TUREI EVEN (Rosh Hashanah 29b, DH v'Rabanan), who write that concerning things that are not necessary for the Beis ha'Mikdash itself, the prohibitions of the Rabanan do apply in the Beis ha'Mikdash. Accordingly, carrying inside the Beis ha'Mikdash on Shabbos for one's personal needs would be prohibited if not for the Soreg.)
(b) The TOSFOS YOM TOV questions this explanation of the Rosh. The Mishnah in Pesachim (64b) states that when Pesach falls on Shabbos, the first group (Kas) of people slaughtering the Korban Pesach take their lambs out of the Azarah into the Har ha'Bayis. According to the Rosh, who says that the wall around Har ha'Bayis does not permit carrying within its confines on Shabbos, why are the people permitted to carry their lambs out to Har ha'Bayis?
The Tosfos Yom Tov therefore suggests an alternative reason for why the Soreg was built. He explains that it was intended to serve as a dividing line between the Jews and the Nochrim who came to pray to Hash-m in the Beis ha'Mikdash. The Tosfos Yom Tov cites the Mishnah in Kelim (1:8), which states that Nochrim and people Tamei with Tum'as Mes were forbidden to enter beyond the Cheil.
(Even though the Cheil was ten Amos further inside than the Soreg, and the RAMBAM (Hilchos Beis ha'Bechirah 5:3) states that the Cheil was ten Amos high, the RAMA MI'PANO (Teshuvos, #98) explains that in order to keep the Nochrim and those Tamei with Tum'as Mes at a distance from those constantly entering the Azarah, a Mechitzah between the Cheil and Har ha'Bayis was designated -- the Soreg -- around which the Nochrim and Tamei people could go and avoid encountering the Tahor people passing through.)
The Tosfos Yom Tov adds that the reason why the Greeks damaged the Soreg was that it was intended to prevent them from entering.
(The Tosfos Yom Tov answers his question on the Rosh by suggesting that they indeed were permitted to take the lambs only outside the Cheil, while remaining inside the Soreg. They were not allowed to take the lambs outside of the Soreg. See SEFAS EMES to Eruvin 25a, DH b'Gemara u'Modeh.) (D. BLOOM)
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