A case in point (an expression or cliché based on a French expression, in use since the 1700s):
Learning is a Lifetime Process
Last week, in T4, in a Zoom shiur, and on TTA, I gave many reasons for dairy on Shavuot and particularly, for both meat and dairy - of course with proper attention to halacha all the way. And then yesterday, I heard a 5 minute Dvar Torah on Torah Anytime by Rabbi Daniel Glatstein, about the same topic. I could save all this for next year, but I'm to impatient to hold on to it for so long.
We study Parshat HaShavua every week, year after week. (Or, we are supposed to.) We review the laws and customs of the chagim every year. (Or, we are supposed to.) But one thing that is hard to say is, BEEN THERE, DONE THAT! (Or - estado allí, hecho eso - if you speak Spanish.) Because learning Torah, Mitzvot, Halacha, Minhagim... is never stale. There are always new things to learn. New insights to find. New angles to explore. Torah should never be boring. There is no BEEN THERE, DONE THAT with Torah, like there was with skydiving and white water rafting in the old PepsiMax commercial.
There is a Midrash that the heavenly angels complained to HKB"H that he should not give the Torah to Bnei Yisrael, but rather to them. G-d had Moshe Rabeinu answer them, which he did. But G-d had an answer to the angels too. He said the Torah forbids milk in meat, which Bnei Yisrael will observe scrupulously. You, angels, on the other hand, did not observe that mitzva when you visited Avraham and he served you BEN HABAKAR (sources say it was beef tongue in mustard sauce) and CHEM'A and CHALAV. And you 'ate' under the tree. Bnei Yisrael is to receive the Torah, not you.
At least that is supposed to be. "BAYOM HAZEH... that Torah should be fresh in your eyes as if today you received it."
Another source says that the angels said they were neighbors of G-d's and deserved the Torah, not us. G-d said that because of BASAR B'CHALAV that they will observe, they will be called BANIM to HASHEM, and have first claim on the Torah. Very Shavuot appropriate.
ttRIDDLES Last week's FPTL TTriddle was In the 6th year. BASHANA HASHISHIT = 1372. This week, there is a FPTL TTriddle and two Unexplaineds in the ParshaPix. Send solutions to tt@ouisrael.org
No matter how much you know - or think you know - there is always more to learn. Torah is not just very very much, it is infinite.
JONATHAN POLLARD 10,956+1661* days imprisoned • www.jonathanpollard.org OU ISRAEL CENTER
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