לקוטי שיחות חלק כ״ד - וילך ב

Likkutei Sichos Vol. 24 – Vayeilech 2

1. One of the mitzvos that the Jewish people were commanded at the end of the forty years, and very close (at least to the day) to the passing of Moshe, is the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah. As we learn from the verse "And now, write for yourselves this song," it is a positive commandment for every individual Jew to write a Sefer Torah for himself.

Since the command "And now, write for yourselves this song" was given as a preparation for entering the land — "For I will bring them to the land... and this song will answer..." — it is understood that every Jew was immediately (and now) required to fulfill this commandment and write a Sefer Torah for himself.

This raises a question: The command "And now, write..." was given and said to the Jews on the day of Moshe's passing (7 Adar) — and we do not find it mentioned anywhere that in one day, more than six hundred thousand Jews should endeavor to prepare hides, etc., and write (at least begin) the writing of something from a Sefer Torah! [Such an occurrence would be an even greater novelty than "And Israel camped there as one person with one heart" — here it is a single action].

Additionally, the Jews were occupied with mourning for Moshe for thirty days; and afterwards, on the tenth of Nissan, the Jews crossed (with several preparations for this) the Jordan River.

It should be noted that to write so many Sifrei Torah (more than six hundred thousand!) requires an enormous amount of parchment sheets (which must be "from what is permissible for you"), ink, etc., and the preparation of all these things is associated with a great deal of time, effort, etc. Furthermore, it is not reasonable to say that each individual could write a Sefer Torah himself. Especially in the manner of "beautify it before Him" — with beautiful parchment, ink, quill, and script — it is initially intended, concerning a large number of people, to be done only through an agent.

2. Similarly, there is the question regarding what our Sages say, that on the day of his passing, Moshe Rabbeinu wrote "thirteen Torahs, twelve for the twelve tribes, and one he placed in the Ark" — seemingly: how is it possible to write thirteen Sifrei Torah in one day?!

3. Commentators explain the straightforward meaning of this, that Moshe only completed writing the Sifrei Torah on that day. For generally, "everything he heard in one day he wrote, and so every day, and nothing was missing from the Torah except the completion of the last sections."

In continuation of this, one can add even regarding the sections from Nitzavim and onward — just as we find that Moshe wrote "And Moshe died", he could have similarly written these sections (at least most of them) in the days before his passing [although it is understood that one cannot say he told them to the Jews before the day of his passing].

Similarly, one could seemingly answer regarding all the Jews — according to how the Rambam describes the order of study of the Jews in the desert, that after they heard the commandment and its laws from Moshe and Aharon, they wrote "that commandment in scrolls" (from which they would subsequently learn):

It turns out that during the forty years in the desert, the Jews also had written most of the sections of the Torah, "and nothing was missing... except the completion of the last sections."

Therefore, one can say that after the command "And now, write for yourselves..." each Jew only completed the writing of his Sefer Torah.

4. However, it is a forced explanation to answer this way, because:

a) This answer can only be said according to the opinion that "the Torah was given scroll by scroll," or even according to the opinion that "the Torah was given as a complete entity" — as explained by Tosafos, that this means "it was written in order."

[This means, "in order" as they appear in the Torah: since "there is no earlier or later in the Torah" and there are sections that were said "before those written before them," they refrained from writing these sections until the sections that are "written before them" were said, and then they wrote all the sections connected with the section in order]

— but not according to Rashi, who explains that "it was given as a complete entity" means — "it was not written until the end of the forty years after all the sections were said."

2. Additionally, it is questionable whether the Rambam intends to say that each and every Jew—every individual obligated—would personally write all the sections of the Torah in scrolls during the forty years (especially since a large portion of those who entered the Land of Israel were born in the desert).

3. The main point: In the words of our Sages, as mentioned earlier, we only find that Moshe wrote thirteen Torah scrolls. If every obligated individual of that generation had (after the command "And now, write for yourselves...") written a "Sefer Torah for himself," it would seemingly have been required to be mentioned in the words of our Sages, as noted. From the fact that our Sages only speak about the thirteen Torah scrolls, it implies that it was not the greatest novelty—that at that time, more than ten thousand Torah scrolls were completed (or even begun to be written).

4. This will be understood by prefacing the well-known question: Since it is a positive commandment for every Jew to write a Sefer Torah for himself, why do we not see that Jews in general, and many of the great Jewish leaders in particular, fulfill this commandment in practice? And especially close to the time of the obligation, beginning from the reason for the commandment of "write for yourselves and teach it."

Seemingly, the reason for this can be explained: It is stated in the Rosh (and this is the halacha) that "nowadays, when they write a Sefer Torah and place it in synagogues to be read publicly, the positive commandment is for every Jew to write Chumashim, Mishnah, Gemara, and their commentaries to study them himself and with his children, for the commandment of writing the Torah is to learn from it... these are the books that a person is commanded to write"—and as ruled in the Shulchan Aruch, that "nowadays" the commandment is specifically with these, and not with a Sefer Torah.

And regarding regular (written or printed) books, there are many—even those who have just reached the age of Bar Mitzvah—who buy books to study from them, and in this way, they fulfill the commandment of "write for yourselves."

And although the Rema rules that "if one bought such and did not correct anything in it, it is like grabbing a commandment from the market and does not fulfill the obligation with it" (and according to all opinions, it is not a proper and ideal fulfillment of the commandment)—

this ruling (in the Rema) was said only regarding a Sefer Torah, where there is an obligation of writing; however, "nowadays," when the commandment is fulfilled with regular books, the Rema also agrees that one fulfills the commandment by purchasing books, as explained elsewhere at length.

5. However, in truth, this is not a sufficient answer. For we do not find anywhere, nor do we see in practice, that every Bar Mitzvah boy immediately upon reaching Bar Mitzvah age writes (or at least corrects; or buys books—as mentioned at the end of the previous section) and thereby possesses books up to a Shulchan Aruch as soon as he becomes obligated in the commandment of learning.

Additionally, according to many poskim [including the Beit Yosef (Bach) and the Taz, among others], the Rosh did not intend to nullify the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah in its simple sense. Rather, he meant to add that "nowadays" there is an additional obligation "to write Chumashim, Mishnah, Gemara, and their commentaries."

And since this is so, the above question remains: How is it that even many of the great Jewish leaders—who certainly were meticulous in fulfilling mitzvos—did not strive to write a Sefer Torah (neither personally nor through an agent) in order to fulfill the opinion of the aforementioned poskim, who hold that there is a mitzvah to write a Sefer Torah in its simple sense?

Moreover, even those great Jewish leaders who did write a Sefer Torah did not do so immediately after they became obligated in the mitzvah, nor even at the first opportunity (when financial means, etc., were available) to carry out this matter—but only after many years!

It is therefore necessary to say that even before they wrote the Sefer Torah, they fulfilled the mitzvah—and, as was their custom even in matters of later authorities and the like—in a manner of l'chatchila and with hiddur; and their later effort in writing a Sefer Torah was (not because there was previously a lack, G‑d forbid, in fulfilling a positive commandment from the Torah, but) as an additional matter of enhancement, hiddur, etc.

6. We can explain this as follows:

It is customary among Jews in all Jewish communities that every community possesses a Sefer Torah that belongs to the public.

6. In addition to individuals who write Sifrei Torah and donate them to synagogues (many of whom do so with great care, and there is much discussion about whether they remain the property of the individual or become the property of the community), it is a Jewish custom that the community collectively hires a scribe to write (or purchase) a Sefer Torah. These Sifrei Torah are certainly the property of the community, and thus every Jew has a share in the mitzvah of "write for yourselves, etc."

However, regarding something that belongs to a community, there is a debate about whether one can say that an individual (as a private person) has a personal share in it. This is because a community (a congregation) is not merely a collection of many individuals, but a new entity; therefore, there must be caution in donating it to the community with great care.

Furthermore, even if one were to say that it is considered a Sefer Torah of partners, many later authorities hold that one does not fulfill the obligation with a Sefer Torah of partners, but rather each person must write a Sefer Torah for themselves.

This brings us back to the original question: How can one fulfill the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah by having a share in a communal Sefer Torah?

7. The explanation is as follows: Regarding an etrog (and its species), the law is that one does not fulfill the obligation with a partnership; it must be "entirely his." Nevertheless, it is customary in places where an etrog is not readily available for the entire community to purchase an etrog in partnership. Since they bought it to fulfill the mitzvah, it is assumed that it is as if they specified that the entire community gives their share to whoever takes it to fulfill the mitzvah, on the condition that it is returned to them.

Similarly, we can say in our case: Since due to the situation of not having wealth, etc., not everyone has the ability to write a Sefer Torah for themselves, they fulfill the obligation through the community writing a Sefer Torah together. It is assumed that it is as if they specified that the entire community gives their share to each individual in the community so that the Sefer Torah (and its writing) entirely belongs to them, allowing them to fulfill the mitzvah of "write for yourselves and teach, etc."

8. Furthermore, this is not a Sefer Torah of partnership; rather, it is entirely his from the outset, as will be explained.

8. At first glance, this does not seem to be a satisfactory answer, because a Sefer Torah is not comparable to an etrog:

With an etrog, it is sufficient that the etrog is owned by him—"his"—and it helps that the community transfers ownership of the etrog to him at the time of taking it. However, with a Sefer Torah, it is not enough for him to merely have a Sefer Torah; rather, each person must write it (either personally or through an agent). Therefore, the law is that "even if his ancestors left him a Sefer Torah, it is a mitzvah to write one of his own." Furthermore, according to the Rema, even if one buys a Sefer Torah "and does not correct anything in it, it is as if he snatched a mitzvah from the market and does not fulfill his obligation with it."

So what is achieved by the entire community giving their share to each individual in the community? After all, it is still no better than buying a Sefer Torah on one's own!

The explanation is as follows: Here we are dealing with a communal Sefer Torah, which belongs to the community. Therefore, the principle applies that "the heart of the court stipulates for them." This means that the transfer of the Sefer Torah to each individual is not due to each individual specifically, but because "the heart of the court stipulates" and grants the Sefer Torah to each individual.

Based on this, we can say that the "gift" from the "heart of the court" in this case is not only that the Sefer Torah should be "his," but even more so, that the writing of the Torah is for him. At the time of the writing of the Torah, "the heart of the court stipulates" that the writing is on behalf of each individual in the community.

9. Based on this, we can say even more: Those who were born after the community wrote the Sefer Torah (where the "heart of the court stipulates" from the time of writing seemingly does not apply to them), since it is necessary to correct a Sefer Torah from time to time, and "anyone who corrects a Sefer Torah, even one letter, it is as if he wrote the entire Torah," it can be said that according to all opinions, the "heart of the court stipulates" that the correction of the Sefer Torah is considered as the writing of the Torah for all those who were born (and reached the age of mitzvos) between the writing of the Torah and the correction, and similarly between one correction and another.

And according to this reasoning, it follows that even communities that only purchased a Sefer Torah, the "heart of the court stipulates" that at the time of the correction of the Sefer Torah (from time to time), it is on behalf of every obligated member of the community, thereby fulfilling the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah.

10. However, we still need to understand:

Seemingly, there is only a difference between a communal esrog and a communal Sefer Torah, as the later authorities differentiate between a Sefer Torah of partners and an esrog of partners. [Also, regarding an esrog of partners, the Rema rules that "if they bought it for the purpose of a mitzvah, they fulfill their obligation with it by default because they acquired it with this intention."]

With an esrog, a gift on condition to return suffices, since the esrog needs to be "yours" only at the time of taking it; whereas with a Sefer Torah, which one needs to have in order to learn from it in the community of Israel, this does not suffice.

11. However, this is not the case. The distinction between a Sefer Torah and an esrog is only relevant in the earlier generations when the primary study was conducted from a Sefer Torah. In contrast, regarding a Sefer Torah today, the "and you shall teach" aspect is primarily fulfilled through the public reading from it, according to the practical custom of Israel. Therefore, it follows that even according to the opinions that one does not fulfill the mitzvah solely with books and must also write a Sefer Torah, there is no obligation for the Sefer Torah to be in one's possession at all times. It suffices to have one's own Sefer Torah when fulfilling the "and you shall teach"—when one is called to the Torah and reads from it.

12. Another detail in this matter: A communal Sefer Torah is different from a Sefer Torah of partners. In the case of a Sefer Torah of partners, the division of the Sefer Torah among them depends on the partners' intention. Since the "and you shall teach" does not have a fixed time (unlike an esrog, whose taking is at a specific time), one cannot say that "they fulfill their obligation by default" because "it was acquired with this intention."

13. Based on all the above, we can say that this is how Jews fulfilled the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah for the first time:

14. Since there was a time when it was impossible for every Jew to write a Sefer Torah for himself, and especially since the fulfillment of the mitzvah of "and you shall teach" begins from "This month shall be for you...", Moshe Rabbeinu wrote thirteen Sifrei Torah for them—one Sefer Torah for each tribe. These were considered communal Sifrei Torah, and therefore, "the heart of the court stipulates upon them" that when each person would learn from the Sefer Torah, it was as if Moshe Rabbeinu had originally written the Sefer Torah for him.

We can say that this is precisely the reason why the commandment to write a Sefer Torah was given in such a situation—when at that time it was not possible for every Jew to fulfill the mitzvah of writing except through a communal Sefer Torah. This serves as a lesson for future generations, that in a situation where, over many years, not every Jew can write a Sefer Torah for himself, the mitzvah is initially fulfilled with a communal Sefer Torah.

13. From all the above, it is also understood the great significance of acquiring a letter in a communal Sefer Torah:

In such a case, one fulfills the mitzvah not only because "the heart of the court stipulates", but one also has the advantage of an actual deed (with one's money) in the writing of the Torah.

In this way, it is certainly not a case of "snatching a mitzvah from the market," but rather "as if he received it from Mount Sinai."

And through all Jews having a letter in a Sefer Torah—which the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah is the "completion" of all 613 mitzvos—we will soon merit the completion of the exile, our exile from which all Jews will emerge, with the coming of our righteous Moshiach, who will write "Mishneh Torah" "for the sake of the king," which "shall be with him always, as it is stated, 'and it shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life.'"

(From the talks of Yud-Tes Kislev and the subsequent Farbrengens, 5742)