Pĕsikta dĕ-Rab Kahăna: R. Kahana's Compilation of Discourses for Sabbaths and Festal Days (JPS Classic Reissues)

PISKA 12

298 PISKA 12 Summary Torah and its range of eternal meaning In earlier ages, before the revelation on Sinai, a number of commandments had been given to certain illustrious men: six commandments to Adam, one to Noah, one to Abraham, one to Jacob, and one to Judah. But only to Israel were given all 613 commandments. Even as Israel was thus distinguished, so was Moses distinguished among the Prophets, every one of whom bluntly demanded that the Holy One meet Israel’s needs (Sec. 1). God’s willingness to meet Israel’s needs is so strong, that as a mother draws out her breast to suckle her child He drew out the Torah for Israel (Sec. 2). Still He had to delay giving the Torah to Israel, so that with the waters of the well, with the manna, and with the quail, He might nurse them back to good health after their years of servitude (Sec. 3). The day God gave the Torah was the sixth of Sivan (Sec. 4). Though given long ago, matters of Torah should be looked upon not as antiquated decrees, but as decrees freshly issued, as recently as the day before yesterday (slsm) (Prov. 22:20). In further explication, the word slsm is taken to mean weapons: as weapons stand up in battle for their owners, so, too, do words of Torah stand up for him who valorously gives them the labor they require to be understood. The words of both Torahs are meant—the Torah given by the written word and the Torah given by word of mouth. Preoccupation with Torah assures life in this world as well as in the world-to-come, and like PISKA 12 299 wine, honey, and pepper, gives zest to the daily round of life (Sec. 5). To be God, God requires that the people of Israel witness His presence (Sec. 6). Hence Torah, the most desirable thing in heaven above, was given to Moses dwelling on the earth below (Sec. 7). The Ten Commandments alone are not sufficient, however, for the guidance of Israel. Innumerable laws precede and follow the Ten Commandments to give them validity and force (Sec. 8). No stranger, not even Moses’ father-in-law, was allowed to be present at the revelation (Sec. 9), because it is only the children of Israel who under no circumstances shun the Holy One. Other nations, however, are apt to say of Him that He is too severe in His demands upon mankind (Sec. 10). Several parables speak of the giving of Torah as coinciding with the beginning of a new era; of certain events preceding the giving of Torah as stages in God’s wooing of Israel; and of the revelation itself as marking the time when heaven and earth were no longer apart (Sec. 11). The words salisi and salisim which describe Torah are construed consecutively as “trustworthy,” and as “day before yesterday,” the latter meaning indicating that one is to regard the Torah as having been given “the day before yesterday”—hence its decrees are never antiquated (Sec. 12). Salisi in the sense of “third” and “three” points to the many triads associated with Torah and with the day when it was given (Sec. 13). To receive the Torah, however, and to hold on to it, Israel had to become one brotherhood (Sec. 14) and to resolve upon “slothfulness” in the committing of transgressions (Sec. 15). No wonder that in the moment of union between God and Israel no stranger was permitted to be present (Sec. 16). To make doubly certain that strangers were not to take part in the union between God and Israel, it was decreed that three months were to elapse between redemption and revelation, three months being the length of time which a female convert, a female captive, or an emancipated female slave had to wait before marrying in order to prove that she had been chaste (Sec. 17). 300 PESIKTA DE-RAB KAHANA Moses knew the site of the mountain where Israel were to serve God, but not until God said, “The month is come” did he know the particular time the revelation was to occur (Sec. 18). God had delayed the revelation in order to have time for the renewal of Israel so that the blind could see, the deaf could hear, the lame could stand upright, and the mute could sing out (Sec. 19). He...