Ask The Rabbi
20 September 1997 
Issue #163 (Parashat Ki Tavo)
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This Issue Contains:
1.  Braided Bunch
2.  PaRDeS
3.  Yiddle Riddle
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Alison <mershjam@usaor.net> wrote:

Dear Rabbi:

>Every Friday I make Challah for Shabbat.  When asked why I braid them, I 
>had no answer!  What is the historical/traditional significance to 
>braiding Challah?

Roi Levine Garcia <roigar@aol.com> wrote:

>In the Torah portion we read about the Challah, the bread of Shabbat.  
>What is the significance of the intertwining of the bread to make it 
>Challah?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dear Alison & Roi Levine Garcia,

I have heard several reasons for braiding Challot for Shabbat.  The three 
braids are symbolic of the commands to observe Shabbat that appear in the 
Ten Commandnments  One braid represents the word "Zachor" -- "Remember."  A 
second braid represents the word "Shamor" -- "Guard."  The third braid is 
for "b'Dibbur Echad" -- that these commands of "Remember" and "Guard" were 
said by G-d simultaneously and as one unit.

Another reason is that Shabbat signifies and reminds us of three different 
concepts:  The Creation of the World, the Exodus from Egypt and the 
Messianic Era.  This is also the reason for three distinct separate Amidot 
-- Silent Prayers -- on Shabbat, as opposed to the weekday Amidah which is 
of identical wording three times a day (the theme of the fourth prayer of 
Shabbat -- Mussaf ("additional") is said for the additional Temple 
sacrifice for Shabbat, and also applies on Festivals.)  This idea also 
provides an understanding for the three meals eaten on Shabbat.

By the way, the "Challah" mentioned in the Torah is not referring to the 
Challah that we eat on Shabbat and Yom Tov.  (See Ask the Rabbi Issue #165 
for a critique of this comment.)  It refers to the command to separate a 
small amount of the dough that one kneads when baking bread.    In Temple 
times this portion of dough (called "Challah" by the Torah) was given to 
the Kohanim, the priestly tribe, who were responsible for the Temple 
service.  Today there is a rabbinical command to separate "Challah" from 
the dough and burn it, since in order to eat it there is a requirement for 
the Kohanim and the Challah to be ritually pure -- a state that does not 
presently exist.

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Brian Levitan < blevitan@cisco.com> wrote:

>Could you please give a simple explanation with examples, of the levels of
>textual interpretation, referred to as PARDES. ( Pshat, Remez, Drush,
>Sod.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

Dear Brian Levitan,

Let's take the first verse of the Torah as our example:

1. Pshat -- simplest meaning, based on the text and context.  Rashi 
explains that pshat of the verse as follows:  "In the beginning of God's 
creation of the heaven and the earth, the earth was desolate and void."  
This is based on a linguistic analysis of the word "Bereshit," which does 
not mean "In the beginning", but "In the beginning of..."

2. Remez -- "hint."  The Gaon of Vilna taught that all commands of the 
Torah are hinted at in the first word of the Torah.  For instance, Pidyon 
Haben -- redemption of the first-born -- is alluded to by an acronym of the 
letters of Bereshit, which spell "ben rishon acharei shloshim yom tifdeh" -
- the first son you shall redeem after thirty days.

3. Drush -- contextual and non-contextual, moral and philosophical 
explanations.  Rashi states that there is a philosophical  idea alluded to 
in the word "Bereshit."  The world was created for the sake of Torah which 
is called "reshit," and for the Jewish people who are also referred to as 
"reshit."  Both are "firsts" in terms of their centrality in the purpose of 
Creation.

4. Sod -- hidden or secret meaning.  Mishna:  "The world was created with 
ten statements."  Gemara:  "But when you count them there are only nine 
statements!  Bereshit (In the beginning) is also a statement." The 
statement of "Bereshit" was the creation of time, which is a dimension of 
the physical world.  One of the names of G-d is "Hamakom" -- "The Place" -- 
as the Midrash explains that "He is the place of the world, the world is 
not His place."  This concept is based on the idea that the physical world 
would not exist if not for G-d willing it to exist at every moment.  
Therefore G-d is the "Place" of the world, meaning the framework of reality 
in which everything exists, and He provides the possibility of existence to 
all of Creation.  The dimension of Time and the laws of nature were created 
during the six days of Creation.  The Sforno, The Gaon of Vilna, the 
Maharal, and Maimonides, all basing themselves on the Talmud, state that 
the hidden meaning of the word "In the Beginning" -- Bereshit -- is the 
creation of what we today call "the space-time continuum."

Sources:
o  Ethics of the Fathers 5:1; Babylonian Talmud Tractate Megillah 21b
o  Gaon of Vilna in Aderet Eliyahu, Bereshit 1:1; Maharal of Prague
o  Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, Nefesh Hachaim
o  Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed 2:30 (13th Century)

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Yiddle Riddle

Ralph Zwier" <zwierr@netlink.com.au> of Double Z Computer sent us this 
riddle:

We all know that you must nullify chametz prior to Pesach at a time when it 
is still permissible to derive benefit from it, because when the chametz 
becomes totally prohibited, the Torah withdraws a person's ownership of it 
and the person can no longer nullify it.

Under what circumstances would a person be able to make an effective 
statement of nullification during Pesach, which will enable him to avoid 
transgressing the strict prohibition on owning chametz?
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