#luchos

ROUND 1

Welcome to the first round of the bracket! Voting is open now!

The matchups are:

The Leviathan (Book of Job) vs. Metatron (Book of Joshua) WINNER: LEVIATHAN

2. The Angel Gabriel (Book of Daniel) vs. Samson (Book of Judges) WINNER: SAMSON

3. The Snake (Genesis) vs. Daniel (Book of Daniel) WINNER: SNAKE

4. The Seraphim (Isaiah) vs. Moses (Exodus) WINNER: MOSES

5. The Ophanim (Ezekiel) vs. Elijah (Kings I & II) WINNER: THE OPHANIM

6. The Two Tablets (Exodus) vs. King David (Samuel I & II) WINNER: KING DAVID

7. Isaac (Genesis) vs. Jonah's Tree (Jonah) WINNER: ISAAC

8. The Fish That Ate Jonah (Jonah) vs. Jacob (Exodus) WINNER: FISH

9. The Nephilim (Genesis) vs. Jonathan (Samuel I) WINNER: JONATHAN

10. The Angel Who Wrestled Jacob (Genesis) vs. Nachshon ben Aminadav (Exodus) WINNER: THE ANGEL

11. Boaz (Book of Ruth) vs. The Angel Uriel WINNER: BOAZ

12. Mordechai (Book of Esther) vs. The Rock That Moses Hit (Numbers) WINNER: THE ROCK

13. King Solomon (Book of Kings) vs. Mt. Sinai (Exodus) WINNER: MT SINAI

14. The Ziz (Psalms) vs. Judah (Genesis) WINNER: ZIZ

15. The Angel Michael (Book of Daniel) vs. Joseph (Genesis) WINNER: JOSEPH

וָאֶתְפֹּשׂ בִּשְׁנֵי הַלֻּחֹת וָאַשְׁלִכֵם מֵעַל שְׁתֵּי יָדָי וָאֲשַׁבְּרֵם לְעֵינֵיכֶם (דברים ט, יז)SO I GRABBED HOLD OF THE TWO TABLETS, CAST THEM OUT OF MY TWO HANDS, AND BROKE THEM BEFORE YOUR EYES. (DEVARIM 9:17)

The commentaries discuss why it was necessary for Moshe to “grab hold” of the Luchos before he broke them, since he was already holding them as he descended the mountain (see Ohr HaChaim).

One explanation is that Moshe did so for legal reasons—to establish his exclusive ownership of the Luchos before acting on his decision to break them. Although the Torah states (Shemos 31:18) that G-d “gave” Moshe the Luchos, and the Talmud (Nedarim 38a) interprets this verse to mean that the Torah was given to Moshe as a gift, Moshe had not intended to keep theLuchos for himself, but to confer their ownership to the entire Jewish nation. Moshe therefore “grabbed hold” of the Luchos before breaking them, to reestablish outright ownership over them and avoid the possibility of damaging (or stealing) property that did not belong to him exclusively.

Alternatively, Moshe’s repossession of the Luchos before breaking them stemmed from his extraordinary devotion to the Jewish people. By claiming exclusive ownership, Moshe sought to ensure that the guilt of shattering the holy Luchos would lie squarely on his shoulders and not on the Jewish people whose behavior caused him to break them.

בְּטַבְּעֹת הָאָרֹן יִהְיוּ הַבַּדִּים לֹא יָסֻרוּ מִמֶּנּוּ (שמות כה, טו) The poles of the ark shall be in the rings; they shall not be removed from it. (Shemos 25:15)

The Sefer Hachinuch (Mitzvah 96) explains the prohibition of removing the poles from the Aron, the Holy Ark, as a means of ensuring that the Aron is always ready for travel. “If they are made with no intention of ever being removed, they will be firmly fastened in place,” the Sefer Hachinuch explains. Otherwise, “in the event that we’ll need to urgently transport the Aron, and in the hurry of the moment we might not verify that the poles are properly secured, the Aron might, G-d forbid, slip from our hold.”

The Torah’s concern for the Aron to be readily mobile, as per the Sefer Hachinuch’s explanation, teaches us an important lesson.

The Aron contained the Luchos, inscribed in which were the Ten Commandments.Our Sages explain that essentially all six hundred and thirteen mitzvos of the Torah are contained within the Ten Commandments (Azharot of Rav Saadia Gaon). Thus, the Aron, which housed the Luchos, is a metaphor for Torah study, through which your mind and heart becomes a home for the Torah’s wisdom.

Now, to succeed in the study of Torah requires intense concentration, removing one’s self entirely from outside distractions. This too is comparable to the Aron, hidden away in the Kodesh Hakadashim, the holiest chamber in the Mishkan, which was off-limits to everyone but the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest—and even he could enter only once a year.

Nevertheless, the poles of the Aron teach us that even while wholly engrossed in Torah study, one must always be readily mobile. Our immersion in Torah study must be pervaded by a readiness and willingness to embark at any time, and to any place, to do whatever it takes to bring the Torah to another Jew and another.

Reponedora siesta de mediodia, ideal para retomar la ardua labor...