Ramban on the Torah | 57 | Reeh, by Rav Eli Weber
What is the role of the navi?
KMTT - the Torah Podcast
Ramban on the Torah | 57 | Reeh
[MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome, everyone, to another week of Rambanalaparsha. This week, we have the great, exclusive reading parshas for A. Once again, I'm filming this well in advance for Tishaba Av. So in terms of what's going on in the world and things like that, the Clubus, obviously, hoping very, very much and praying very, very much for the best for all of us. OK. I really want to focus on the concept of Nvua, which comes up in a strange way in parshas for A. It comes up because of the parshav Navi Shekar, which, of course, forces us to confront the question of, what's the point of a Navi? And I want to go back to parshas Yistro just to sort of make a point that I think the Ramban is aware of. He never actually references it. But he's aware of it. And if we ask ourselves why we need a Navi, I suppose the answer is, well, if Akbar Khashbar who wants to communicate with us, he needs a way to do that. But some of it may be, from the very beginning, at Meimahar Sinayvayam, we're almost at Dabar Ata Immanu Venishmah. Vali Dabar Immanu Alohim, Pen Namut. We can't listen to Akbar Khashbar who directly anymore. It sounds like, in a Lechatrilo world, Akbar Khashbar, who would have given us not just the Sarasa Dibros, he would have given us Tariq Mitzvah, so he would have given us the entirety of the Torah. But we said, we can't take it. We want Moshe Rabbeinun. Then the post goes on, Vayimah Moshella, Amal Tira, U, Kihle Vavorn, Nasote at Rambanu Alohim, Uvavorn Tia Yirah, Taaben Echamul Vilti, Te Chateau. The idea that Nevua is a nisa yon. Vayavorn, Kihle Vavorn, Nasote at Rambanu Alohim, that's something that comes up in this week's parashah. And if you go to Rehay, the Torah tells us this follows. It's the beginning of Posu Yud Gimmel, Posuk Bet. And it's strange. He says it to our kiyyakumbikir bakhan na viyok holem halom, vinatane lecha oto mofait. OK, so the Torah describes him as a navi. And he gives us a sign. We'll have to come back to that oat or mofait. What the difference is between them. Uvah oot vah mofaita she'di bakh elecha lemun, nelcha akhare, elohim, akhareim, asie lo yid datam, vinah ofdaim. And the oot or mofait that he gives you will come true. And he'll tell you, hey, let's go worship our vodizara. So what's going on here? What does it mean it is a navi who wants us to worship our vodizara? So says the ramban. Vihiyokumbikir bakhan na viyok holem halom, yikra enu hakatouv navi alpiyatsmo. The Torah refers to him as a navi because he presents himself as a navi. Sheyomar hu hashem dibir yinib bakhakits. He says, God appear to me. Va'anine viyok, and I'm his prophet. Sha'luah lachhem shetah asekain. And God has told me that you should do x, y, or z. You should worship our vodizara. Vihi tachain sheyomos hakatouv lemasha who amet. Now the ramban is an interesting thing here. He says, it could be that the navi is telling us the truth. Now, it can't be that the navi is telling us to worship our vodizara, and that's the truth. But it means kibin nafshot bikt satah anashim kohach nivu'i yayidubo atidot. He said, it's possible that there are people in the world who know the future, who can tune into a frequency on which hakarish boho is transmitting, and can find out things about the future. Lo yo da hai ish me ayina vobo, if you asked him, he wouldn't be able to explain where he got the power from. He doesn't know. Aval yik bodeid, he sits by himself, vidtah vobo ruach leimor kohach yi yi ala al tid la vobo bid varploni, and he comes back and he says, this is what's going to happen to Ploni. Vihi crulohafilo sofim ka'in, the word doesn't matter, prophets or whatever it is. But there is such a concept, says the rambhan, of a person who actually gets hints and signs about the future and who views himself as a navi. Is he really a navi? So my sense in the rambhan is that he's not, but he has the trunot of nivu'a. He has some of the gifts that nivium have. Now we have this idea that you're either born a navi or you're not born a navi, but that's not the case. In Tanakh we read all the time about binan nivium, there were schools that you went to in which you trained to be a navi, and there are methods by which you became a navi, and the rambhan talks very often about the navi being like a type of intellectual perfection, where you keep growing and to a certain point, and yivu'a kohach, and then you get nivu'a. And nivu'a is the result of reaching some type of intellectual perfection. He says volo yadusibata inyan. They won't really understand why or what, but they got nivu'a akhadavun nith amait lei nei roem. But the sign that they gave is true, and people see and people believe it. Ulai hannef ech bakhadara tid bakh besaikhel han niv dal, viteid kaveinbo. Maybe there's some form of like perfect intelligence that this person could tune in to, and he can get a message. Vaish haze yikra navi kimit na behu. The person is referred to as a navi and the pasaik, because he's telling nivu'a. Va al-kain yavoha oudvaha mo faita shayomare lach, and therefore that which he predicts comes true. So is this person a real navi? Is there a man think that this person is a real navi? I don't think so. But the person can get a form of nivu'a. Now how does this work? So I think back to a safe like yer miyahu, where you have navi'a shaykra. So how could it be that yer miyahu, a true prophet of God, stands there and says the base, I think it's just going to be destroyed, and these navi'a shaykra say he's lying. Where do you get the guts to stand up to a navi'a shayom, where do you get the guts to understand that? And the answer is, my feeling is at least, they're not navi'a shaykra in the classic sense. It's not like they know that they're not navi'em. Maybe they're the people who do ramban describes here. Kibin abshot biktsata anasim kar nivu'i yaydubo atidot. There are people who can see into the future. There are people who have a gift who can tune in to a certain thing. I often think to myself that yer miyahu, had navi, was turning into a certain frequency, and that's how God spoke to him. And these navi'a shaykra'a listened in and heard some of the nivu'a, but then there was a lot of static, and they missed the point. They heard kilu, that Hakar Shbokhul told yer miyahu, the base settings will be destroyed. Their frequency was so staticy, they heard the base, and they just won't be destroyed. Now yes, I'm making that up, but I think it's what the ramban is describing, which is these are people who have gifts, and these are people who have an intuition, and a strong intuition, to what Hakar Shbokhul wants and what's going to happen in the future. That's why the pasukh refers to them as navi', but we wouldn't think of them that way. And of course, we wouldn't think of them that way, because the pasukh is describing a navi'a shaykra'a. Now it says that the navi will be the kind of person who, let's read again inside. Um, kiyahu, bhikr, bhikr, bhikr, navi, oh, hallem, hallem, halleom, vinatan, elecha, oht, oh, mofeit. So the ramban now is going to try to explain to us what's the difference between an oht and a mofeit. And these words come up often in komish, and certainly in nah. And so let's try to figure out what they are. So says the ramban, vinatan elecha, oht, oh, mofeit. Inyan, oht, siman al-davar shayyihi, achare, kain bidim yon, oh, kinyan, shaynam, ah, ish al-di-globh, ohtot. Shayyihi shayyihi, vohan, navi, viyomar, davar, ploni, al-tid-li-yot-lidim yon, shayyihi, kah, yikare, oht. Right? When the navi says, I'm telling you the truth, this is going to happen, and you know why? You know how you should believe me? Because tomorrow it's going to rain. Now, rain tomorrow is not a miracle, but I wonder, could it be an oht in August, in Israel, the navi says, or in America, or some other place, it says to you, it's going to snow tomorrow, and it snows tomorrow. Is that an oht? So my sense is no, because that's almost miraculous. But an oht is not necessarily a miracle. It's a sign that something else is going to a kar, shayyihi, kah, yikare, oht. When something occurs, which is a sign that something else will occur, that's called an oht. It's a sign that God is with us. The sign is not miraculous. Mi shambhat aeshe tannavi, okay, vahamila, nigzirah, min atah, right, or ohtah. The word oht comes from that word, it means a sign. So if that's an oht, what's the mofait? It says fahammofait, yomar aldavar mikudash, shiyya aeshele faunenu bishinuhi, tivo shalolam. It's something that's going to happen, which requires changing the nature of the world. We think of changing the nature of the world by the word miracle, right? An oht is a sign, a mofait is a miracle. Kinyan-shamar, lidro-shamofaita, shiyya aeshe, vinatatim, moftim-bhashamain, vahamavar, it's dumb, vahish, vithim-rota-shan, right, things we say in the hagada. Vihim-mila-mikud-serat, min-muf-late, right, what's the mofait? It's from the word miracle. Kimo-sarita yisrael-vayashi-luh, hala-shon-le-dabeshu, huts-min-hamin-hag, it's something happens that's out of the ordinary. And he says, even the targhum says, atohi-kama-rav-rivin signs are atohi, vatim-huhi-kama-tikifin from the word tama, from a wonder. Okay, so the ramban, give us a cloud, he says an oht is not a miracle, it's a sign, that something else will occur, a mofait is a type of miracle. It's something out of the ordinary. And now, skipping to the end of that ramban, he says his follows, vihine, siva ha-katu-v-she-lo-nishma-lamit-na-bei-mish-bishay-m-asham-la-vod-a-vodat-gileum-cloud. The Torah is telling us, it is prohibited for us to listen to an avi, if he tells us in any way to worship somebody other than a karash baruhu. The lo-nabit-ba-otot-uvum-of-tim-shiyasa, and we should disregard any o-tot, which I think, okay, that's easy to disregard, but even mofitim, anoh-vishay-keh who does a miracle should be ignored. Vizkir-hat-am, and here's the reason, mi place-cha-anach-nu-yod-danu, mi-it-si-ad-mitz-ra-im-she-hu-ma-as-em-ma-mash-lo-chiz-a-yon-vel-omara. When God took us out of mitz-ra-im, it wasn't some kind of magic trick. We lived it ourselves. We know it was real. Vuh-ha-me-cha-desh, vah-ha-cha-fait, vah-ha-cha-fait, vah-ha-ya-chol, vah-ain-el-okim-mel-va-doh. There is no other God. God proved that to us when He took us out of mitz-ra-im. Viy-ha-danu, mi-ma-amad-har-sin-a-ic-u-ponim-be-fonim-si-v-ot-anu. At Har-sin-a-i, there are months as we were in the VM. We stood face to face, and we knew it was God. What did He command us at Har-sin-a-n-l-a-chad-b-de-re-haz-a-a-chol, we're not going to have to worship any other God's. Just like Har-ash-bahu, uk-fod-ol-a-cha-l-a-char-l-n-a-tan, viz-a-ta-m-ash-a-t-si-v-haz-cha-m-el-ok-cha-cha-ha. Vihine, debar-s-sar-a-la-shem-shalot-si-v-ot-ka-ha-me-ol-am, this Navi-shek-ar commanded us falsely in a way that God never would have commanded us. Oh-sar-a-dibar-a-l-k-fod-o-cha-ain-wa-il-a-vod-l-a-cha-l-a-char. Now, the ramban doesn't say it explicitly, but you need to know the following. If the Navi comes, oh, maybe that's the next ramban. Sorry. Let's wait a second and look at the next ramban and see the full picture. You get to Possek-dalot, and the Torah says, "Lo-tish-ma-el-dibre-ha-n-vih-a-hu-ol-chol-le-m-ha-chol-am-ha-la-ma" who don't listen to this person. "Kimmin nasseh ha'Shem alokhehmehtram lo dat ha'Yishrimo a vimmata'Shem alokhehmehmehkolavhmehkolavhmehkolavhmehkolavhmehkolavhshrim." Right, the same word Misa'on we saw in Yitro. We now see in the Pasochir in Parashat Reh. And Cesaraman, Vittam, kimmin nasseh ha'Shem alokhehmehkimhmehkam, lemor. "Kimyan ha'Mofeit a'Shem wa'Shem wa'Shem wa'Shem alokhehmehkolavhmehkolavhmehkil." God is trying to test us in our loyalty, in our love. Ukhar-peh-rashti. Raman says, "You know this because I've said this before and it's true. We did it in Parashas-Brasius. In that Parashas-Brasius, in Parashas-Vaye-rah, Kihan-niseh-Yon yikare-kain-mitzad-hammin-u-sa." If you recall, the Ramban says, "Halo-kim-niseh-t-avh-r-ham-vayoma-avh-r-ham-vayoma-vayoma-hehmehmehkimhmehk-yit-shak-yit-shak-yim." Valleh-ol-ol-ah. Cesaraman, what's the point of God giving a test? God knows the future. He knows what Avram's going to do. So here to the same thing, what does it mean God's going to test us? And there the Ramban gives an important cloud, the niseh-cyon is not a test that somebody gives to know the result. It's not a test that God gives the result to know the result. God knows the result. He wants us, the minu-sim, the testes to be able to reach a madrega, right? The madrega is as follows. I genuinely believe that if I was walking past a pond and I saw a little girl drowning, I genuinely believe I would jump in to save her life, even if it was the winter. But all it is is belief. I don't know. If one day I'm walking past a pond and I see a little girl in the river and I jump in and I save her, that's going to change me, says the Ramban, from a person who in potential would jump in to a person who actually jumped in. I will now know that about myself. I'll become a better version of myself because now I'm not just a person who in theory would do it. A person who in practice would do it. So when God tests us with a Navi Shekar, the purpose of it is to know that we genuinely love him, not that he would know that. He knows it already, that we would know it. Vihine meets Fotkala Parsha, Bimit Nabe'la Avoda'a Ghilulim. The example in the Parsha is a Navi who comes to tell me the worship of Avoda'Zara. Ava'll Bimit Nabe'a Be'Shem Hashem l'Shanot Be'Divre'a'Torah, but another who comes to tell me, don't keep Shabbos, Rabotenodar Shumbo, Shimbala, Kordovarghadmina'Torah, Kigon Sheyatir, Ha'Kazir or Ha'Kadmina'arayot, Kimi Shpat, Ha'Zaiya, Aselo. Now then you're gonna kill him. If a Navi, a Navi Shekar comes, Shabbatites Vee comes, and he changes Ha'laha. So that's us, sir. Then you know he's a fake. Ava'llim Yatir Zalik, Satayamim Lahora, Acha'ah, but if he comes and says, we're not gonna keep Shabbos this week, God told me this week we're not going to keep Shabbos. That's different. Kigon Eliyo, Bahara Carmel, that's Horah Shah. Eliyo did what? He was Makriv Kudshim Bukhots. It's an Isardah O'Risa, but he was a Navi and we're supposed to trust him. So we do the Anuch A'Nuchayah Vimli Schma'ilov v'laaz sot Kiholashayyitza'vano. In that case, we're supposed to trust him and believe in him. So the Ramban thinks that the example the Torah is using of a Navi Shaka here is specifically Avodazara. Because Avodazara, even if an Avi Shaka comes to tell me that I have to worship Avodazara just for a short period of time, there the Ha'laha is no. There is no entity in the world that's worthy of worship other than Akkara Shbarahu. And any Navi who comes to tell me that there's some reason to worship somebody else is in Navi Shaka'il. Okay, so what do we get out of the whole power show of the Navi Shaka? First of all, the purpose of a Navi Shaka is to make us stronger in our belief, to force us to consider whether he really is an authentic Navi or whether he's just a person who's blessed with certain skills, but he's not a Navi. Certainly if he tells us to worship Avodazara, he's not a Navi with respect to everything else, whether it's an oat, which is not super natural, or it's a mofait, which is supernatural, that depends on our judgment. But the point of it, says the Raman, it's a nisayyun, not a test. It's to make us stronger. It's to make us believe. I think if I had to choose between a real Navi and a Navi Shaka, it would make me step back and analyze the concept of the Nvua in a way that I never did before. I think I have to ask myself, does it make sense that God would have wanted such a thing? Right? I think with respect to Eliella on Hara Carmel, if I was there, you could understand a situation where you say, well, I understand it's us or, but A, I trust Elie O and B, I realize why this is necessary. I have to prove that the Navi Abal are fake. But somebody who I don't trust, who comes along, who tells me to me, mvavat le mitzvah satorah, even temporarily, in theory, I should believe him, if the oat and mofait are true. But in practice, I don't have to. And I have to look at, and I have to make decisions. And that process is going to make me be a more religious person and a bigger believer in Akhara Shbaruhu. Then you come to really one of the most fascinating Sukhim in the Torah. After all this, after all this, after all this, after all this, after all this, after all this, after all this, after all this, after all this, after all this, after all this, after all this, a series of mitzvahs that we have, you know, there's five or six mitzvahs in that parasha, in that parasha, sorry. Right? You have to follow Akhara Shbaruhu, you have to fear Akhara Shbaruhu, you have to fulfill his mitzvahu, you have to listen to his voice, you have to worship him, you have to cling to him, you have to cleave to him. There's a lot going on. And so the ramban, it's not really being mikharish, anything here. He just tells you, "Sha'an the possek." "A'rash al khe'an ke'an te lehu." He mitzvahu, shen ne leh, ha'hara a'at sato. We're supposed to listen to the, to the Word of God. Umi manu livadonid roshu. When we want to know the future, it's related to what we just read. We want to know the future. We're supposed to turn to Akhara Shbaruhu. Venish al kha'latid, we, who do you ask? Yes Akhara Shbaruhu, ke'an, vateh leh, lidro sha'an, right? Rifka's an oldest pain. She goes to ask Akhara Shbaruhu, what's happening to her? She doesn't ask somebody else, she doesn't ask a card reader. She asks Akhara Shbaruhu, kiyavoi, lai ha'amli drosh alokim. When most sha'an behu tells the Israel, I have to work all day long because people come, lidro sha'alokim, it tells us, "Sha'an that possek." It's not that there are so many cases. Venish alokim have against each other. They don't really have personal property, they don't have money, they're in the mid-bar. What are they fighting about? No, lidro sha'alokim, they want to know what's going to happen to them. V'hein yasu yisraelim handivim, that's what they do with nivim. I lost my donkey. I go to sha'al, I ask him, "Where's my donkey?" It sounds demeaning, but it's like asking Akhara Shbaruhu. Ha'an pon na'vila sha'an, vinidro sha'an, may you tell, why don't we find the navi and ask him the questions. So it gives you a sense for the role that the navi played in his world, right? It's not just that you ask him where your donkey is, you ask him what a major in college, what job should I have, who should I marry? You can find out or get a hint of the future through a navi. Okay, V'hein mitzvos tov tishmohru, torat mosha, says the rambhan. Uva kolo tishmohru, lassod komashit savel tannu mil vadha torah. "I know it's in the torah," says the rambhan. "I don't have to ask God who have to keep sha'avas. I don't have to ask God, you know, my ladderware shotness. That's in the torah. There's all these things that are not in the torah. That's what I asked lassod komashit savel tannu mil vadha torah. kimosha mashmohru, niskalta losha mahrtad mitzvotashem. Shaul violated one of the mitzvos sashhem. No, shaul violated the navi, the navi commanded shaul, and he didn't fill the navua. That's an isse torah. Hu mashit pirei shaul, navi mikir bhamecha komonya kimmohra shaul kaha, a love tishmohun. Va amar vihaya ye sha sha lo yishmahun ochir adroshme imo. It's part of the torah. Having nuvua allows, I don't know, elasticity, it allows hakara shbakhu to add and to subtract. Even though, you know, the torah is not subject to that. And in fact, right before this in the parasha, we have the issar of bhaltosif and bhaltigra. Again, the second time in three weeks to make the point. But through a navi, God can introduce, and God can add, and in a certain circumstance, like Elio and Akkaimel, God can suspend mitzvos satora. Now, one last thing about the poshok. It doesn't have anything about aha vata sha'am. Aha rea sha lo kha hem te lehu ve o tootirahu. Shouldn't it have been, you know, aha rea sha lo kha hem ve o tootirahu. So, you know, the poshok is the poshok. But the answer I think for the Ramban is something that he doesn't say here, but he says elsewhere. We normally see yirah, and above it is aha vah. Right? I can fear somebody who I don't love, because I'm afraid of him. But then, when I break through that barrier, I can love that person as well. But in another place, the Ramban hints that yirah is on a level above aha vah. And how can that be? And it says the rikhanadi, one of the sort of capitalistic mifarishim on the Ramban, and it's really a beautiful, fascinating idea. He says as follows, it's true in the world that we live in, you're afraid of somebody, and a higher level to that is loving that person. But it says the rikhanadi, sometimes you love a person so much that you're afraid to disappoint them. That's not aha vah. Right? My wife tells me to do something. I'm afraid to not do it, not because she's not going to cook me dinner, not because she's going to be mean to me. I don't want to let her down. Right? I love her in a way that I don't want to disappoint her. To disappoint her is a level of yirah, but it's a level of yirah that's above the level of aha vah. And so that might be shot in this puzzle when the Torah says vahotot yirah, it might be the second type of yirah, which is I love Akkarish bahu so much, I'm afraid to disappoint him. Okay? So maybe that's enough for today. We did a lot focusing on the idea of a navi, the role of a navi, how he can add to the Torah as the Raman says explicitly, and of course we're required to listen to him. But the context of all of it in this week's parasha is a navi shekar, which is a navi who may or may not, says the Raman, have a certain intuition, and it may impress us. But if that's the case, says the Raman, whether it's an oat, which is natural, or a mofait, which is supernatural, we would still have to test, where we still have to ask ourselves, does it make sense? Could it be that God is getting a navi to tell me to do or to not do these things? And then the answer becomes, if it's a vodazara, absolutely not. There is no circumstance and no situation in the world in which Hakkarish bahu, for even the shortest period of time, would tell me to worship a vodazara. But if it's other things, like Elio Bahara Carmel, if it's other things that Horace Shaf, it's some short period of time, God requires this, that's the role of a navi. And maybe that goes back to where we started in Yitro, which is Benet Yisrael, say, I can't listen to Hakkarish bahu anymore, I'm going to die, and Moshe Rabein who steps in, and Hakkarish bahu, hei tivu eta, Shirdi Beiro. The idea of a navi sisakarish bahu is a really good idea. And maybe, maybe that's why the rambam has not one, but two of his ani mamins, right, or about navi wa. Shekol diviyana vim amet, and shen navi wa at Moshe Rabein wa lava shalam haya amitit, vishihu aya avla niviyim la kodnimle funava leba imakharav. Is that like a foundational piece of yaddu, so I was going to pick 13 foundational principles. Would that be one of them, let alone two of them? And the answer is yes. Once Hakkarish bahu told us that I communicate through a navi, I have to believe two things, both the navi speaks in God's words, that God appoints a navi to communicate with me, and that Moshe Rabein who was the greatest of all the navi m. That may be tied many scholars at least think that the rambam's obsession sort of with Moshe Rabein wa now, he had to be greater than all other navi m might have something to do with Moshe being greater than or necessarily greater than other religions, than Jesus, than Muhammad, than what have you. But the rambam really thinks that it's a foundational part of our religion, and I think the rambam is very, very close to the rambam on this, and the rambam would also think that it's foundational to our religion. Okay, that's it for today. Yashkhar to everybody. Have a shabbat shalom, and next week I will see you live, so to speak.