Shabbat Parashat Shoftim 5779

Ein Ayah: Powerful Threes

Gemara: Blessed is Hashem who gave the three-part Torah to a nation with three groups by means of a third child on the third day of sanctification in the third month.

Ein Ayah: The three sections of the Written Torah – Torah (Pentateuch), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings) – together demonstrate the richness of the all-inclusive Torah. It is the basis of a blueprint for life, a world of prophetic vision and practicality, giving spiritual insight about time and nations. It merges the practical world with the emotional world in a manner that penetrates to our internal souls.

The Torah teaches us to “choose life” (see Devarim 30:19). The Prophets saw into the depths of the world and used Hashem’s word to them to give insight about nations and kingdoms, building and destruction. They discussed that which transpired and was to come about. Ketuvim uses a delicate spirit to convey the ethics they absorbed with their distinct imprint. They were able to connect human life with the Eternal. All three were connected into a spirit of the life of the entire world, with nothing missing.

The highest goal of spiritual visions is to enable life to be lived in a way that Hashem’s presence will shine on those fortunate souls that are prepared for it. This, on the one hand, takes them above the myriad mundane concerns of people’s lives. Yet man is rooted within a life in which people desire to create societies, and in these too it is possible to inject sanctity from Above. The need to give expression to all of these elements of life made it appropriate for there to be three groups within Am Yisrael: kohanim, levi’im, and yisraelim, to complement each other. The kohanim are those whose interests go beyond the boundaries of the mundane elements of human life. The levi’im receive divine teachings and ideas and explain them to the people. They hear the sacred voice, appreciate its beauty and holy splendor, and desire to have it reach the broadest avenues of life. Yisraelim comprise the main part of the nation – they are the workers, the soldiers, the builders, and the settlers of the world. As parts of a unified nation, they are able to demonstrate the greatness of the Torah of truth.

The complete ability to lead has to be based on three parts, with the third one being built upon its predecessors. In both a family and a nation, for them to reach their full potential, they need to be built properly based upon a deep divine plan. The way a woman creates a family with her children is parallel to the formation of a nation. Aharon was the basis of the nation, as he inculcated sanctity into national life and softened the interactions between members of the nation with an approach of peacemaking. He made the nation fit for life and for sanctity, so that the people had the right characteristics to function in a pleasant manner. When the basic content of the family and the nation was set, it was possible for the most choice of the brothers to elevate the nation to be capable of serving as a “nation of priests” for the whole world. That is why the third brother was fit to accept the Torah, as he absorbed all of the eternal elements of divine light within him. He was able to stand on behalf of the nation opposite Hashem and represent them before Him (see Shemot 18:19).

In order to connect life to divine heights it was necessary to limit the animalistic elements of the people, as these elements pollute a person’s spiritual aptitude. Three steps of time need to be employed to have a significant unit of separation. Only after three days of separation from their wives were they complete enough to connect to Hashem who could then given everything that they needed.

Top of page

Print this page

Send to friend