לקוטי שיחות חלק ל״ד - כי תבוא ג

Likkutei Sichos Vol. 34 – Ki Savo 3

1. In the law regarding a "Torah scholar who has reached the stage of issuing halachic rulings," the Gemara states that a person does not become worthy of issuing rulings until forty years. Rashi explains, "until forty years — from when he is born."

However, Tosafot writes, "This means from when he begins to study until forty years, not from when he is born, as we say in the first chapter of Avodah Zarah, 'And the L‑rd has not given you a heart to know until this day,' which implies that a person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years. This was from the giving of the Torah until forty years later, when they began to study."

The basis for Rashi's interpretation that it refers to "from when he is born" is from the Mishnah in Pirkei Avot, "At forty, one attains understanding," which refers to the age of forty, at which point a person reaches the completeness of understanding (binah) in Torah, and therefore is worthy of issuing rulings. This is also stated in the commentary attributed to Rashi on Pirkei Avot there (in the first explanation), "At forty, to understand one thing from another and to issue rulings correctly."

However, Tosafot's question still stands: how does this reconcile with the words of our Sages, "A person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years," which proves that the completeness of understanding in Torah comes after forty years of study? On the other hand, it is difficult to understand how Tosafot would interpret the aforementioned Mishnah, "At forty, one attains understanding."

2. The Maharsha resolves Tosafot's question, stating: "This is not conclusive, for certainly there were many young people in the generation of the desert who were born before the giving of the Torah and were not worthy of beginning to study then, and the verse speaks also of them, 'And the L‑rd has not given you a heart to know,' meaning they have forty years from their birth even if they did not study for forty years, as we have learned, 'At forty, one attains understanding,' which does not specifically refer to having studied all forty years."

This means, according to Rashi, that even in the saying of our Sages, "A person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years," it does not refer to forty years of study from one's teacher, but rather to being forty years old. This is also found in the commentary attributed to Rashi on Pirkei Avot there (in the second explanation): "To understanding, as we say... 'And the L‑rd has not given you a heart to know and eyes to see and ears to hear until this day,' from here we learn that a student does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until he is forty years old."

However, this is problematic, because according to this, it would mean that only those who were born at the time of the giving of the Torah and then (at the time of the repetition of the Torah) reached the age of forty, were included in "And the L‑rd has not given you a heart to know, etc., until this day" — whereas those born in the years before the giving of the Torah had already "grasped the understanding of their teacher" long before.

Additionally, there is an inherent difficulty in this interpretation — for (a) the general language "And the L‑rd has not given you, etc." implies it speaks to all of Israel, (b) why did He not rebuke those who were over forty years old — when they reached the age of forty from now on will He hold you accountable" — and why did He not hold accountable those who reached the age of forty before this?),

Furthermore, this contradicts Rashi's own explanation in Avodah Zarah there, where he writes, "Even Moses our teacher did not take this to heart until forty years," which clearly indicates that the verse "And the L‑rd has not given you a heart to know, etc." was also said concerning Moses our teacher (who was then one hundred and twenty years old). Therefore, it must be said that Rashi also interprets the phrase "until forty years" in this saying of our Sages as meaning forty years from when one begins to study.

3. It can be simply explained that the two sayings of our Sages — "At forty, one attains understanding" and "A person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years" — do not contradict each other regarding the measure of the completeness of a person's understanding (whether it is forty years from birth or forty years from when one begins to study) — because they are speaking of two different matters:

4. The Mishnah "At forty, one attains understanding" speaks of the natural "growth" of the soul's faculties. Just as the body grows from childhood to adulthood, so too is there a "growth" of the soul's faculties, which is a natural process (and not dependent on a person's actions), where one's faculties develop and refine themselves. This is the meaning of "At forty, one attains understanding," indicating that the faculty of understanding in a person's soul continues to develop until it reaches its completeness at the age of forty, at which point a person has the ability "to understand one thing from another," etc. is present, but rather that at that age, a person is capable of engaging in these matters).

In contrast, the saying "A person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years" refers to the understanding of the teacher's words themselves. It does not mean that at that age one has the power and ability to understand his teacher's words, but rather that through forty years of actual study, one understands, comprehends, and knows in practice the teacher's true and deep understanding, "to know the end of his reasoning and insight."

Accordingly, it can be said that Rashi and Tosafot disagree regarding the ruling "worthy of issuing halachic rulings," which is only after forty years, about the nature of this condition:

One of the conditions for issuing halachic rulings (even in our times) is — receiving from one's teacher, having learned the laws from him (and one must also be ordained by his teacher for rulings).

And in this itself, Rashi and Tosafot disagree on what constitutes the completeness of receiving from one's teacher necessary to make one worthy of issuing halachic rulings (in completeness):

Rashi holds that the main concern is the completeness of a person's understanding, so that he can understand one thing from another and compare one matter to another (and receiving from his teacher is only a secondary condition, to establish him in truth, etc.), and therefore forty years from birth is sufficient, for if he received all the laws from his teacher and he is forty years old, at which point his understanding is complete, one can rely on his rulings;

Whereas Tosafot holds that the need for receiving from one's teacher is because a halachic authority must stand in the place of his teacher [similar to what we find that ordination must be from person to person until Moses our teacher, one of the reasons being that they stand in the place of Moses and his court — similarly, this is also the nature and definition of rulings in our times (since ordination has ceased), that the ordained stands in the place of the one who ordains];

Therefore, it is not enough for the student to understand with his complete understanding (at age forty) what he received from his teacher, but he must also have the same understanding and knowledge as his teacher (only then does he stand in his place), and therefore he is not worthy of issuing rulings until forty years "from when he began to study," at which point he stands on the full understanding of his teacher.

Based on this, it is understood that initially, Rashi is not troubled by the saying of our Sages "A person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years" — because according to Rashi, in the matter of issuing rulings, only the completeness of the person's own understanding is relevant (and not standing on the understanding of his teacher); and likewise, Tosafot is not troubled by the Mishnah "At forty, one attains understanding," because certainly the completeness of a person's understanding is at age forty (and it is obvious that without this condition, one is not worthy of issuing rulings), but Tosafot holds that in addition to the completeness of the student's own understanding, he must also stand on the understanding of his teacher to be worthy of issuing rulings, as explained above.

5. However, there is still room to examine the matter itself, as the two sayings of our Sages mentioned above ("At forty, one attains understanding" and "A person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years") speak about two different matters —

This is explicitly stated in the Machzor Vitri (on the tractate Avot there), where it says: "At forty, one attains understanding, as it is written, 'And the L‑rd has not given you a heart to know, etc., until this day,' and this was the fortieth year since the Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah... Moses did not perceive it until forty years... they did not manage to learn and grasp Moses' understanding until the fortieth year... from here we learn that a student does not grasp the full understanding of his teacher until forty years" — thus connecting the saying of our Sages "A person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years" (meaning forty years of learning from his teacher) with the words of the Mishnah "At forty, one attains understanding."

[And this is explicitly stated in Rashi's commentary on Avot (from a manuscript) on the aforementioned Mishnah ("At forty, one attains understanding"):]

"A person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years, as we find with Moses, etc. From here we learn that one does not fully grasp his teacher's understanding until he has studied with him for forty years."

It is difficult to say that this is brought merely as a general example to show that forty years are needed also for understanding the intellect of one's teacher, because from the straightforward language of the earlier authorities mentioned above, it seems that the content is the same.

5. This can be understood by first explaining further the statement that "a person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years." At first glance, how can there be a uniform measure for everyone — forty years — when the comprehension of Torah matters depends on the student's talents, knowledge, etc., and there are vast differences from one extreme to the other? How is it possible to establish a single rule for every student that he does not grasp his teacher's understanding until forty years?

We must say that the intention of our Sages in "a person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher" is not regarding the comprehension of the Torah that the teacher teaches the student (where until forty years, he has a more superficial understanding of the teacher's intellect, and after forty years, he delves deeper into its depth). Rather, the intention is regarding a higher matter that does not depend on the student's talents and efforts but comes automatically (if he exerts himself properly with his own strength) after forty years.

This is explicitly stated in the plain meaning of the verse — "And the L‑rd has not given you a heart to know, etc., until this day," which implies that the delay is not due to the Israelites (that they did not give their heart to know, etc.), but due to the Holy One, blessed be He, who "has not given you a heart to know, etc." This proves that standing on the understanding of one's teacher is not dependent on the person's own effort (that his effort brings this about), but it is something that comes from above, that G‑d created man and gave him a heart, etc., in such a way that he does not grasp his teacher's understanding until forty years.

6. The explanation of the matter:

In the learning between a teacher and a student, there are two aspects: a) the specific study, the particular subject matter that he learns with him, b) the method of study, where the teacher gives the student a way and method of how to learn, and this method depends on the unique qualities and senses of the teacher's intellectual capacity.

The main difference between them: the specific study is received by the student from his teacher in an explicit manner, as he hears from his teacher an explanation and elucidation of the subject, and the more the student exerts himself with his intellectual capacity, the more he will understand it correctly and deeply. However, the teacher's method, which is connected with the teacher's intellectual capacity, is not transmitted and given in an explicit manner [as explained elsewhere, that it is impossible to transmit intellectual capacity to another, similar to the saying "a head cannot be placed on someone else"], but since this intellectual matter originates from the teacher's intellectual capacity (who, with his unique intellectual capacity, invented or comprehended this intellect), it is understood that it contains the unique qualities and senses of the teacher's intellectual capacity. Thus, in addition to the teacher teaching the student a specific intellectual matter, he also gives him the ability for his intellect to become like the teacher's intellect.

We can say that this is the content of the Sages' statement that "a person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years" — the intention is not that after forty years the student understands the Torah matters he heard from his teacher forty years ago correctly and deeply, but that then the teacher's method of study is absorbed in him, until the student's intellectual capacity becomes like the teacher's intellectual capacity. Through exertion in his teacher's Torah over forty years, the senses and qualities of the teacher's intellect (embedded in the intellectual matters transmitted to the student) are gradually absorbed by the student, until the student's senses become like the teacher's senses, and then he naturally understands every matter like his teacher. This is the meaning of "the understanding of his teacher" — not the knowledge of his teacher, but his understanding, the intellectual capacity of the teacher, with its unique qualities.

6. This concept can also be proven from the simple reading of the verses. This idea (that "a person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years") is learned from the verse, "You have seen all that the L‑rd did before your eyes in the land of Egypt... the great trials which your eyes saw... yet the L‑rd has not given you a heart to know... until this day." This means that from now on, the Children of Israel have "a heart to know" the "great trials" etc., that the L‑rd performed for them forty years ago. As Rashi explains, from now on, He will be more exacting, and therefore, "you shall observe the words of this covenant, etc."

At first glance, this is not understood:

a) Between the verses "yet the L‑rd has not given..." and "you shall observe..." it is stated, "I have led you forty years... you did not eat bread... and you came to this place, and Sihon came out... and we took their land..." — these events occurred (not forty years ago, but) many years after the Exodus from Egypt. Therefore, regarding these matters, it is still not possible to demand that they have "a heart to know"?

b) In "the words of this covenant," there are matters that they heard from Moses many years later, and even at the end of the forty years (such as the section on inheritances, and others). Why would the Omnipresent be exacting about their hearing these matters when they have not yet grasped "the understanding of their teacher" in these matters?

According to the above, it is understood simply, because the meaning of "a person grasps the understanding of his teacher" is that the intellectual power of the student unites with the intellectual power of the teacher, in such a way that he then understands every matter in the manner of the teacher's understanding. Similarly, in our case, after the Children of Israel have "a heart to know" the things that G‑d did for them forty years ago, by this they have grasped "the understanding of their teacher," so to speak. They already have "a heart to know" everything that G‑d has done with them during these forty years, etc.

7. This also explains why grasping the understanding of one's teacher depends on years, and not on the student's talents or the extent of his toil in Torah.

For according to the above, it is understood that this rule ("a person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years") applies only to a teacher and student where there is a significant disparity between their intellectual capacities. In such a case, for the student's senses to become like the teacher's senses is a complete novelty. The teacher, through his teaching, gives the student a new power and sense, and the "development" of this power of the teacher within the student takes forty years..

[It can be said that this detail is also learned from the source of the concept "a person does not grasp...," the verses "You have seen... yet the L‑rd has not given you a heart to know...," which speak of G‑d's conduct, and specifically — miraculous conduct that is beyond nature ("the great trials... the great signs and wonders"). This conduct is beyond the intellectual capacity of a created being, and therefore, the Children of Israel could not absorb in their minds and hearts the nature and essence of this conduct (in a way that it would become internalized within them) until forty years — because this is a novelty].

It follows that the content of the Sages' statement "a person does not grasp the understanding of his teacher until forty years" is essentially the same as "at forty, one attains understanding" — that the development of a person's understanding takes forty years. However, the Mishnah refers to the understanding power of the person himself (given to him at birth), while the Sages' statement "a person does not grasp..." refers to the understanding and knowledge of the teacher, which is given and transmitted (in a concealed manner) to the student. For this intellect to develop and become refined within the student until it becomes internalized with him in such a way that the student's senses become like the teacher's senses, it takes forty years (the measure of the development of the power of understanding).

8. In this manner, we can explain the words of Tosafos in the discussion of "a person does not grasp..." where they question Rashi's commentary that "even Moshe did not remember" — "And if you say, why was Moshe angry with Israel (for when the Holy One, blessed be He, said at the giving of the Torah, 'Who would grant that they have such a heart,' they should have said, 'You grant it'), for he too did not remember (therefore Moshe did not hint at this rebuke to Israel until forty years)? It can be said that since he did not need this prayer, he did not pay attention until forty years when he grasped his teacher's understanding, but Israel, who needed this prayer, should have contemplated from that time, for they had already sinned with the Golden Calf and the spies."

From the words of Tosafos, it is understood that since the Children of Israel "needed this prayer," through their contemplation, they were in the category of "grasping their teacher's understanding" immediately then (at the time of the giving of the Torah), even before the passage of forty years (otherwise, what is the claim against them "that they should have said," if they had not yet grasped "their teacher's understanding").

According to the above explanation of "grasping their teacher's understanding" — we can explain that when it concerns the essence of the person, it is similar to the concept of "grasping their teacher's understanding," where the very power of intellect changes.

As the saying of the Rebbe Maharash goes, we find "the laws of women, etc., and their claims which they can make, and this is discussed by Tannaim and Amoraim and the Geonim, all of whom are of profound intellect... and yet the woman is not on the level to make these claims, but the truth is that when the matter concerns oneself, even those of weak intellect produce deep intellectual insights." This means that when the matter concerns oneself, naturally, a person produces deep reasoning according to the need;

Similarly, in our case, since the Children of Israel "needed this prayer," the matter should have concerned them, therefore, there is no limitation of "a person does not grasp... until forty years" — for if the matter truly concerned them, they would naturally understand it and it would be absorbed within them, similar to "grasping their teacher's understanding" after forty years.

9. Now, according to this teaching of the Sages that "a person does not grasp his teacher's understanding until forty years," we can find a source in the Written Torah for the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov (whose birthday is on the 18th of Elul) — which is one of the foundations of Chassidic teachings — that "everything a person sees or hears is a directive for conduct in the service of G‑d, and this is the essence of the work, to understand and comprehend from everything — a path in the service of G‑d."

It follows that everything that happens to a Jewish person must be "learned" (as if learning a matter in Torah), until he can derive from it a directive in his service to his Creator.

This is explicitly stated in the aforementioned teaching of the Sages, who learn the idea that "a person does not grasp his teacher's understanding" from what is said, "You have seen... but the L‑rd has not given you a heart to know... until this day." Seemingly, regarding words of Torah, it is understood that there must be a passage of time until one stands "on the understanding of his teacher," due to the depth beyond depth hidden in the Torah that the teacher teaches the student; but regarding "the great trials" and "the signs and wonders," which are things visibly seen, at the first sight of the miracles, everything was already "grasped," so how can it be said here "a person does not grasp his teacher's understanding until forty years"?

It must be said that within these miracles were hidden directives for the service of G‑d, and this was the ultimate intention of the Holy One, blessed be He, in performing these miracles (that from them the Children of Israel would "take" strength in their service to their Creator), and the details of these directives can be delved into more and more, until after forty years one stands on the "end of the understanding" of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, in performing these miracles.

However, for this, one needs to delve into the details of the miracles, etc. (as explained, that to be "grasping the teacher's understanding," the student must be meticulous in the letters of the teacher, etc., for within these meticulous details lies the depth and inner intention of the teacher), so that after forty years, one stands on the depth of the intention and the directives within it.

6. And so it is with everything that a person sees or hears, as they serve as a directive and a lesson (similar to words of Torah), which require contemplation, study, and precision. In this manner, after forty years, the matter becomes fully integrated within him, "he stands on the understanding of his teacher."