Sunday, June 2, 2019

Torah Of The World

The midrash says (Berashis Rabbah 1:1) הקב"ה היה מביט בתורה וברא את העולם.  Why does the midrash use the לשון of מביט why does the midrash emphasize that Hashem created the world by looking at the Torah, just say the world was created based upon the Torah?  Rav Hartman in his footnotes to Derech Chayim Ch. 3 mishna 14, footnote #1613, brings from Rav Moshe Shapiro that since the halacha is (Yoreh Dayah 274:2) that one can write a sefer Torah only is one is looking at a different sefer Torah tomake sure the words are written properly, so too Hashem created the world by looking at a sefer Torah.  We see from here that the world wasn’t merely made to parallel the world, it itself has a din of Torah.

Based upon this we can gain a greater understanding in the words of the Rambam.  The Rambam in Yesodah Hatorah describes the way to arouse emotions of love for Hashem is to look at all the create creations He made in the universe.  However, in Sefer Hamitvot #3 he says the way to fulfill this mitzvah is through learning Torah.  In light of this idea, they are one and the same.  One can appreciate Hashem through Torah or through the Torah of the world. 

See this peshat of Rav Tzvi Yehudah Kook which with this backdrop can be appreciated a little better.

The Alter Rebbe brings in the Siddur with maamarim that the first letters of  הריעו לה' כל הארץ (in Mizmor Lesodah,) spell out הלכה.  What is the connection?  The song of the universe is the song of the Torah. 

3 comments:

  1. the source for הריעו לה' כל הארץ ראשי תיבות הלכה is the arizal in shaar hapsukim tehillim 100. i think.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rabbi feitman has mentioned a similar peshat to rav tzvi yehudah kook with regard to the mishnah in avos about stopping to learn to admire nature in the name of Rav Avigdor Miller. rabbi feitman and other bochurim would walk home with him after davening and he would talk in learning and inevitably something wondrous in nature would catch his eye and would begin to darshen about it. One time he said such a pshat about the sin being that he veiwed it as a hefsik from his learning. (it could be it was in response to a question about this issue from one of the bochurim. i don't remember)

    ReplyDelete