The Price of Fish and Mount Sinai
Whatever it is we do, there is one question we should be asking: “What is the connection of anything and everything we do with Mount Sinai?” Everything we do should be evaluated in terms of its relationship to the ideal of Mount Sinai. The value of each and every experience should be measured by its ability to express the ideal of Mount Sinai. BECHUKOSAI BECHUKOSAI
Connections
What does this week’s parsha have to do with the price of fish?
Well, there is no known connection between them. But a similar question has been raised by Rashi concerning the way the Torah begins this week’s parsha:
G-d spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: speak to the children of Israel saying: When you come to the Land that I am giving you, the Land should rest a Sabbath to G-d… The question that Rashi raises here is:
What is the connection between the sabbatical year and Mount Sinai?
In other words, why did the Torah stress that this commandment in particular was given at BECHUKOSAI Sinai, considering the fact that all of the commandments were given at Sinai? Yet, the Torah does not mention that fact explicitly regarding all the other commandments; only this one concerning the sabbatical year.
In this essay we will focus not on Rashi’s answer, but on his question.
This phrase Rashi uses to formulate his question, “What is the connection of the Sabbatical year to Mount Sinai?” has been popularized in rabbinic literature and has the connotation of “what connection is there between two things that appear to be unrelated.” Whenever we confront two themes that are juxtaposed that do not seem to have a thematic connection, the rabbis will employ that phrase, “What is the connection of the Sabbatical year to Mount Sinai?” no matter what the topics are.
Some have wondered why the question is phrased as, “What is the connection of the Sabbatical year to Mount Sinai?” It should have been phrased as “What is the connection of Sinai to the Sabbatical year?” After all, it is the mention of Mount Sinai in the context of BECHUKOSAI the laws of the Sabbatical year that seems to be out of place.
An Existential Question We Should Always be Asking.
In truth, this phrase—especially the way it is worded—can be said to go beyond the specific discussion of the Sabbatical year. It can be understood as a lesson to us in every aspect of our lives. We should always hear that question reverberating in our ears. Whatever it is we do, there is one question we should be asking: “What is the connection of anything and everything we do with Mount Sinai?”
Everything we do should be evaluated in terms of its relationship to the ideal of Mount Sinai. The value of each and every experience should be measured by its ability to express the ideal of Mount Sinai.
What is the ideal of Mount Sinai? And why must everything we do revolve around it?
BECHUKOSAI
The Sinai Ideal
First and foremost, Mount Sinai is the location at which history’s most momentous event took place.
It is the singular event that gave meaning and purpose to all the other events that have happened before and after the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Without Sinai, the world would not have a reason to exist. When G-d created the world, our Sages tell us, G-d made a stipulation: If the Jews will accept the Torah, then the world will continue to exist; if not, then the world would revert back to its original state of nothingness.
When we go to work—the theme of the Sabbatical year as the Torah states in this week’s parsha “For six years you may sow your fields…”—we must ask ourselves, “What does my work have in common with Mount Sinai?”
Similarly, when we go on our vacation—again, the theme of this week’s parsha: “but in the seventh year, the Land should have a complete rest…”—we must ask the same question of ourselves. “What does my vacation have to do BECHUKOSAI with Sinai? How does the event of Mount Sinai inform my vacation? And the same must be asked about everything we do.
The Sinai Attitude of Mountain Climbing
More specifically, Mount Sinai is not just the location where history’s most pivotal event took place, it is also emblematic of the attitude a Jew must have in his or her life. Judaism demands that we approach every aspect of our lives with the Mount Sinai ideal.
A mountain represents the ideal of climbing. A Jew cannot stay in one place as it pertains to his or her spiritual life. Just as most “normal” people want to climb the ladder of material success, we must always view every opportunity in life as a means to climb Mount Sinai; to grow in our knowledge of Torah and the observance of its commandments.
Most people who start off living in a one room apartment aspire to the American Dream of owning their own little house. But it doesn’t stop there. The average person strives to climb even higher on the ladder of success and moves to a larger and fancier house.
BECHUKOSAI
This natural tendency to strive for more success is actually rooted in the soul’s experience of Mount Sinai. As we are taught, every Jew’s soul stood at the foot of Mount Sinai, and at that time the desire to “climb mountains” was embedded in the psyche of each and every Jew.
If we lack familiarity with the Sinai experience—the memory of which is etched in the souls of every Jew—we will confine our ambition and “mountain climbing” skills for mundane matters. If, however, we are able to hear the sounds of the soul, we will utilize our desire to climb for the existential and spiritual aspects of life.
Not All Mountains were Created Equal
But, it is not enough to approach every aspect of life in terms of how it assists us in climbing our own mountains. It must also be a specific mountain, for not all mountains were created equal. It must be Mount Sinai. Even our desire for spiritual growth has to be informed and qualified by the specific Mount Sinai experience.
BECHUKOSAI
What is it about Mount Sinai that informs our lives and its experiences?
One basic lesson is derived from the fact that Sinai was the lowest mountain in the region. We should not get carried away with our ability to climb to the greatest heights; it should not go to our heads. We must always maintain a sense of humility. No matter how high one’s climbs they have to always be able to relate to everyone.
Precursor to Redemption
The experience of Sinai—the seminal Chassidic work, the Tanya, teaches us—was the precursor to the ultimate Redemption, at which time, the process begun then will become a permanent and all pervasive reality.
Translating that in the context of our discussion this means that in the Messianic Age we will achieve the goal of scaling the greatest spiritual heights without the attendant feeling of smugness and arrogance that often goes along with a person’s great achievements.
BECHUKOSAI
The role model for such a balanced—Mount Sinai—attitude was Moses who, despite his exalted level, was also the most humble person that ever lived. Moses was the embodiment of the Mount Sinai ideal par excellence.
Moshiach too—the one who will usher in the Messianic Age—must also possess the ability to reach the highest spiritual levels while never losing sight of the need to relate to even the simplest and lowliest member of our society.
BECHUKOSAI
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Behar-Bechukosai by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
