Halakhic Day: Living Opposing Orientations to the World - Drisha Parsha Discussions Parshat Vayera 5784

(27) Avraham started-early in the morning to the place where he had stood in YHWH’S presence; [Everett Fox trans.] יהוה, (28) and, looking down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the Plain, he saw the smoke of the land rising like the smoke of a kiln. (29) Thus it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain and annihilated the cities where Lot dwelt, God was mindful of Abraham and removed Lot from the midst of the upheaval.

"Avraham started-early" - this is articulated because Lot was not deemed fit to be saved. For after he delayed leaving and when the plague began, it was possible that bad things could occur to him as he walked to Tzoar. Only in this time did Avraham start-early in the morning to the place where he had stood to pray the Shacharit service, and he would always pray with the sunrise, and this time with the first light, and he saw smoke of the land, for then was when the destruction began.

(1) וישכם AND HE ROSE EARLY — He was alert to fulfil the command (Pesachim 4a)

(1) One should strengthen himself like a lion to get up in the morning to serve his Creator, so that it is he who awakens the dawn. ... Rem"a: "I have set the Lord before me constantly" (Psalms 16:8); this is a major principle in the Torah and amongst the virtues of the righteous who walk before God. ... All the more so when one takes to heart that the Great King, the Holy One, Blessed Is He, Whose glory fills the earth, is standing over him and watching his actions, as it is stated: "'Will a man hide in concealment and I will not see him?' - the word of God" (Jeremiah 23:24), he immediately acquires fear and submission in dread of God, May He Be Blessed, and is ashamed of Him constantly (Guide for the Perplexed III 52). And one should not be ashamed because of people who mock him in his service of God, and should also go modestly. And when he lies on his bed he should know before Whom he lies, and as soon as he wakes up from sleep he should rise eagerly to the service of his Creator, May He Be Blessed and Exalted (Tur).

MISHNA: From when, that is, from what time, does one recite Shema in the evening? From the time when the priests enter to partake of their teruma. Until when does the time for the recitation of the evening Shema extend? Until the end of the first watch. The term used in the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:7) to indicate the time for the recitation of the evening Shema is beshokhbekha, when you lie down, which refers to the time in which individuals go to sleep. Therefore, the time for the recitation of Shema is the first portion of the night, when individuals typically prepare for sleep. That is the statement of Rabbi Eliezer. The Rabbis say: The time for the recitation of the evening Shema is until midnight. Rabban Gamliel says: One may recite Shema until dawn....GEMARA: The Mishna opens with the laws concerning the appropriate time to recite Shema with the question: From when does one recite Shema in the evening? With regard to this question, the Gemara asks: On the basis of what prior knowledge does the tanna of our mishna ask: From when? It would seem from his question that the obligation to recite Shema in the evening was already established, and that the tanna seeks only to clarify details that relate to it. But our mishna is the very first mishna in the Talmud. The Gemara asks: And furthermore, what distinguishes the evening Shema, that it was taught first? Let the tanna teach regarding the recitation of the morning Shema first. The Gemara offers a single response to both questions: The tanna bases himself on the verse as it is written: “You will talk of them when you sit in your home, and when you walk along the way, when you lie down, and when you arise” (Deuteronomy 6:7). By teaching the laws of the evening Shema first, the tanna has established that the teachings of the Oral Torah correspond to that which is taught in the Written Torah.... If you wish, you could say instead that the tanna derives the precedence of the evening Shema from the order of the creation of the world. As it is written in the story of creation: “And there was evening, and there was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:5).

...Now pay close attention to understand the stupidity of those who explain and there was evening and there was morning in the manner which I noted above. For Scripture says, And God called the light day (Gen. 1:8), the reference being from the time that the sun rises until the time that it sets; and to the darkness He called night, the reference being from the time that the sun sets until the time that it rises. The night is thus the opposite of day, as the darkness is the opposite of the light. This being the case, how can Scripture refer to the evening, which commences at the time that the sun sets and lasts until the morning, as “day” when it is then night? Behold, concerning such people Scripture states, They change the night into day (Job 17:12). ...This is the opinion of those who err. I have already explained to you the meaning of and there was evening and there was morning (Gen. 1:5) in its place.

...If so, what is the intent of "and when you lie down and when you rise"? The time when men (normally) retire, and the time when they (normally) rise.

MISHNA: On the evening [or] of the fourteenth of the month of Nisan, one searches for leavened bread in his home by candlelight....GEMARA: The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the term or, translated as: The evening of? The Gemara provides two answers. Rav Huna said: It means light, and Rav Yehuda said: In this context, it means evening. At first glance, it could enter your mind to suggest that the one who said light means that one searches for leaven by the actual light of day, on the morning of the fourteenth of Nisan, and the one who said evening is referring to the actual evening of the fourteenth.

We learn from the creation of the world, that in all matters, the night comes before the day, as the Talmud teaches. (Berachot 2a) For in all matters, absence precedes existence. “When I dwell in darkness”, I know that afterward “Hashem will be my light.” (Michah 7:8) Indeed, a person’s entire life is comprised of times in darkness and light, day and night, and that cycle repeats itself as a circuit, with the darkness always coming first, as the peel precedes the fruit. This is always true except in the case of kodashim [referring here to both the laws of the Beit haMikdash and to the highest state of holiness in life] wherein the night follows the day. Once one has already arrived at holiness, the day is first, like one who is already inside the fruit; from his perspective, the fruit comes before the peel.

“These and those are the words of the living G-d”⁠—the rabbis of France, of blessed memory, asked: how is it possible that these and those can be the words of the living G-d, when one forbids and one permits? For when Moshe ascended on high to receive the Torah, it was shown to him, about every matter, forty-nine ways to forbid and forty-nine ways to permit. He asked the Holy One, blessed be He, about this and He said that this is to be given to the sages of Israel that are present in each generation, such that there will be judgement in accordance with them. This is all true according the traditional interpretation (derash), and by way of truth, there is an esoteric reason (ta’am sod) in this matter. [Dr. Tamar Marvin trans.]

Now make for your heart chambers within chambers and bring into it the words of Beit Shammai and the words of Beit Hillel, the words of those who declare impure and the words of those who declare pure.