Hello Everyone,
I think that I have said many times that what I see as being most wondrous in עין איה is Rav Kook’s ability to uncover profound ideas is in the most unlikely passages in the Talmud. In yesterday’s shiur we saw another example of this remarkable talent.
The Talmud passage which we studied yesterday deals with a rather technical question; on what basis did the Sages determine that there are precisely 39 acts forbidden on Shabbat?
תלמוד בבלי מסכת שבת דף מט עמוד ב
הדור יתבי וקמיבעיא להו הא דתנן אבות מלאכות ארבעים חסר אחת כנגד מי
אמר להו רבי חנינא בר חמא כנגד עבודות המשכן
אמר להו רבי יונתן ברבי אלעזר כך אמר רבי שמעון ברבי יוסי בן לקוניא כנגד מלאכה מלאכתו ומלאכת שבתורה ארבעים חסר אחת
בעי רב יוסף ויבא הביתה לעשות מלאכתו ממנינא הוא או לא
אמר ליה אביי וליתי ספר תורה ולימני מי לא אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן לא זזו משם עד שהביאו ספר תורה ומנאום
אמר ליה כי קא מספקא לי משום דכתיב והמלאכה היתה דים ממנינא הוא והא כמאן דאמר לעשות צרכיו נכנס או דילמא ויבא הביתה לעשות מלאכתו ממנינא הוא והאי והמלאכה היתה דים הכי קאמר דשלים ליה
תיקו
The idea that there are 39 categories of “work” on Shabbat is well established. The Gemarah quite often seeks to find a basis in the תנ”ך for Halachic rule such as this. Rav Kook takes this technical discussion and moves to a totally unexpected realm.
The Amoraim present two different sources for the rule of 39 types of work. Rabbi Chaninah says that it is based on analysis of the construction of the Mishkan in the desert. [1] The Sages arrived at the conclusion that there were 39 distinct tasks involved in building the Mishkan, therefore these 39 tasks may not be performed on Shabbat.
Rabbi Shimon presented a different view. He said that the word “[2]מלאכה” appears 39 times in the Torah. Therefore the Sages broke down “work” into 39 categories.
Rav Yosef then says that he has a question. There are two verses which contain a form of the word מלאכה/work:
בראשית פרק לט פסוק יא
וַיְהִי כְּהַיּוֹם הַזֶּה וַיָּבֹא הַבַּיְתָה לַעֲשׂוֹת מְלַאכְתּוֹ וְאֵין אִישׁ מֵאַנְשֵׁי הַבַּיִת שָׁם בַּבָּיִת:
שמות פרק לו פסוק ז
וְהַמְּלָאכָה הָיְתָה דַיָּם לְכָל הַמְּלָאכָה לַעֲשׂוֹת אֹתָהּ וְהוֹתֵר:
Which of these two verses were counted by the sages according to Rabbi Shimon? The Gemarah says that there is no answer to Rav Yosef’s question. It remains a תיקו.
What are we meant to learn to from this discussion?
Rav Kook says that this discussion is actually dealing with an entirely different subject altogether. The Gemarah is discussing not just the Shabbat that we celebrate once a week, but the idyllic Shabbat of the redeemed world- the יום שכולו שבת .
Shabbat can be seen as an ideal towards which we work, much as the Mishkan was an ideal place which the Jews worked to build in the desert. It is the nature of such ideal constructs that they have no relationship to the non-ideal world. The labor that was invested in building the Mishkan was certainly important, but once the Mishkan was finished that work could be ignored. Similarly the work which we engage in during the week is important but it has nothing to do with the holiness of Shabbat. In this sense Shabbat does not elevate the world just as the Mishkan did not elevate the work that went into building it. The Mishkan stood alone as a sacred space and Shabbat stands alone as sacred time.
There is another way to look at Shabbat. If I say ( as Rabbi Shimon does) that the 39 forbidden labors of Shabbat were derived from the 39 times that the word “work” appears in the Chumash, that means that Shabbat itself is built from those labors. Those labors are counted together to create the whole known as Shabbat. Shabbat can unite and elevate all that is done during the week.
These two ways of looking at Shabbat are two ways of contemplating the world of Redemption. Rav Kook is known for the universality of his outlook. He strove to teach that to the greatest extent possible we should practice an inclusive form of Judaism. He sorely believed that the ideal Jewish existence is an existence which includes not only scholars but artists and writers as well. This is why he gave such a moving speech at the opening of the Hebrew University and wrote a stirring letter to the founders of the Betzalel Academy of Art.
Rav Kook had great faith that all these talents can find their expression in ארץ ישראל. But Rav Kook was worried about the expressions of Jewish talent in the Exile. What will become of the works of Jewish composers, painters and writers? In the Messianic era what will become of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue?” The music of Gershwin is brilliant but it was composed in a Gentile environment for their entertainment. Can it be redeemed?
Rav Kook was bothered by this question and he sees it in the question of Rav Yosef. There many instances of the word “work”/מלאכה in the Chumash. Rabbeinu Chananel in his commentary says that the word actually appears 61 times. Rav Yosef was apparently able to eliminate 21 instances of the word easily. He was also able to include 38 instances easily. Rav Yosef was only puzzled by two instances of the word “work.” One instance would be included and one would be excluded. What can we learn from the two verses containing the word “work?”
Let us look at the two verses again:
בראשית פרק לט פסוק יא
וַיְהִי כְּהַיּוֹם הַזֶּה וַיָּבֹא הַבַּיְתָה לַעֲשׂוֹת מְלַאכְתּוֹ וְאֵין אִישׁ מֵאַנְשֵׁי הַבַּיִת שָׁם בַּבָּיִת:
שמות פרק לו פסוק ז
וְהַמְּלָאכָה הָיְתָה דַיָּם לְכָל הַמְּלָאכָה לַעֲשׂוֹת אֹתָהּ וְהוֹתֵר:
The first verse deals with Joseph in Egypt. Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery. He was forced to put all of his great talents and energies at the disposal of his Egyptian master, Potiphar.
The second verse does indeed deal with the Mishkan. However it does not deal with the building of the Mishkan, rather it refers to the completion of the Mishkan.[3]
Why was Rav Yosef confounded by these two verses specifically? Rav Kook says that Rav Yosef’s doubt reflects his own question about how to view the Messianic era.
If the first verse is included in the laws of Shabbat this symbolizes the inclusion of all talents into the final great Shabbat epoch. Yosef was a great man, he is known as Yosef Hatzadik. He represents the entire Jewish nation. Not only Yosef will be redeemed (of course he will). What Rav Yosef is teaching is that not only what he did for his brothers will be acknowledged but even what he did for Potiphar will be acknowledged.
Bur Rav Yosef had doubts. Perhaps there are endeavors that are so foreign to Jewish ideals that they have no place in a redeemed world. Perhaps not everything can be elevated and sanctified. There is a point where we say “enough.” No more. That is what Rav Yosef suggested when he said that the 39th instance of the word “work” is the verse that contains the word “enough”:
וְהַמְּלָאכָה הָיְתָה דַיָּם לְכָל הַמְּלָאכָה לַעֲשׂוֹת אֹתָהּ וְהוֹתֵר:
Rav Kook usually gives us an idea of what he feels is the conclusion of the Gemarah’s discussion. Here however the Gemarah concludes by saying there is no answer to Rav Yosef’s question. It is left as a תיקו and Rav Kook himself writes that this is an interesting question without (apparently) answering it:
“…זאת היא שאלה מענינת מאד.”
Thanks to everyone who participated.
Stuart Fischman
[1] In ספר שמות the commandment to build the Mishkan is juxtaposed with the commandment to observe Shabbat.
[2] In its various grammatical constructs.
[3] More precisely, it deals with the completion of the gathering of the materials needed to build the Mishkan.