Listen – just listen

(13) if you hearken, yes, hearken to my commandments that I command you today, to love YHWH your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your being:

Shema is one of the key words of the book of Deuteronomy, where it appears no less than ninety-two times. It is, in fact, one of the key words of Judaism as a whole. It is central to the two passages that form the first two paragraphs of the prayer we call the Shema, one in the previous parasha, the other in this parasha.

At the most basic level, Shema represents that aspect of Judaism that was most radical in its day: that God cannot be seen. He can only be heard. Time and again Moses warns against making or worshipping any physical representation of the divine. As he tells the people: It is a theme that runs through the Bible. Moses insistently reminds the people that at Mount Sinai, “The Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice” (Deut. 4:12). Even when Moses mentions seeing, he is really talking about listening. A classic example occurs in the opening verses of the next parasha – Re’eh:

(12) ה׳ spoke to you out of the fire; you heard the sound of words but perceived no shape—nothing but a voice.

Judaism, by contrast, is a culture of the ear more than the eye. As Rabbi David Cohen, the disciple of Rav Kook known as “the Nazirite,” pointed out in his book, Kol HaNevua, the Babylonian Talmud consistently uses the metaphor of hearing. So when a proof is brought, it says Ta shema, “Come and hear.” When it speaks of inference it says, Shema mina, “Hear from this.” When someone disagrees with an argument, it says Lo shemiya leih, “He could not hear it.” When it draws a conclusion it says, Mashma, “From this it can be heard.” Maimonides calls the oral tradition, Mipi hashemua, “From the mouth of that which was heard.” In Western culture understanding is a form of seeing. In Judaism it is a form of listening.

(35) It has been clearly demonstrated to you that ה׳ alone is God; there is none else.

(9) Exactly as I show you—the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings—so shall you make it.

§ The mishna continues: If the court alone saw the new moon, two members of the court should stand and testify before the others. The Gemara ponders: If the court saw the new moon, why is it necessary for two of its members to testify before the others? Hearing their testimony should not be greater than actually seeing the new moon.

"The mitzvah" - i.e., the explanation of the Torah - he did not transcribe. Instead, he commanded it [verbally] to the elders, to Joshua, and to the totality of Israel, as [Deuteronomy 13:1] states: "Be careful to observe everything that I prescribe to you." For this reason, it is called the Oral Law.

(3) "The mitzvah" - i.e., the explanation of the Torah - he did not transcribe. Instead, he commanded it [verbally] to the elders, to Joshua, and to the totality of Israel, as [Deuteronomy 13:1] states: "Be careful to observe everything that I prescribe to you." For this reason, it is called the Oral Law.
(4) Even though the Oral Law was not transcribed, Moses, our teacher, taught it in its entirety in his court to the seventy elders. Elazar, Pinchas, and Joshua received the tradition from Moses. [In particular, Moses] transmitted the Oral Law to Joshua, who was his [primary] disciple, and instructed him regarding it.

Similarly, according to his own potential, each individual would write notes for himself of what he heard regarding the explanation of the Torah, its laws, and the new concepts that were deduced in each generation concerning laws that were not communicated by the oral tradition, but rather deduced using one of the thirteen principles of Biblical exegesis and accepted by the high court. This situation continued until [the age of] Rabbenu Hakadosh.

Why did Rabbenu Hakadosh make [such an innovation] instead of perpetuating the status quo? Because he saw the students becoming fewer, new difficulties constantly arising, the Roman Empire spreading itself throughout the world and becoming more powerful, and the Jewish people wandering and becoming dispersed to the far ends of the world. [Therefore,] he composed a single text that would be available to everyone, so that it could be studied quickly and would not be forgotten. Throughout his entire life, he and his court taught the Mishnah to the masses.

(40) At this time, we have been beset by additional difficulties, everyone feels [financial] pressure, the wisdom of our Sages has become lost, and the comprehension of our men of understanding has become hidden. Therefore, those explanations, laws, and replies which the Geonim composed and considered to be fully explained material have become difficult to grasp in our age, and only a select few comprehend these matters in the proper way. Needless to say, [there is confusion] with regard to the Talmud itself - both the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds - the Sifra, the Sifre, and the Tosefta, for they require a breadth of knowledge, a spirit of wisdom, and much time, for appreciating the proper path regarding what is permitted and forbidden, and the other laws of the Torah.


(41) Therefore, I girded my loins - I, Moses, the son of Maimon, of Spain. I relied upon the Rock, blessed be He. I contemplated all these texts and sought to compose [a work which would include the conclusions] derived from all these texts rega
rding the forbidden and the permitted, the impure and the pure, and the remainder of the Torah's laws, all in clear and concise terms, so that the entire Oral Law could be organized in each person's mouth without questions or objections. Instead of [arguments], this one claiming such and another such, [this text will allow for] clear and correct statements based on the judgments that result from all the texts and explanations mentioned above, from the days of Rabbenu Hakadosh until the present.