Vayelech - Blessed are the Flax Workers?

 B"H

 

Source 1 - Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeilech Chapter 2 (abridged)

 [...]וְעַל כֵּן יָבִין וְיַשְׂכִּיל כָּל אָדָם בְּדַעְתּוֹ וְשִׂכְלוֹ לַהֲגוֹת בַּתּוֹרָה יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה ,שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וְהָגִיתָ בּוֹ יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה (יהושע א, ח). וּבְמַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים.[...] וְאִם לֹא לָמַד כָּל צָרְכּוֹ, יַעֲשֶׂה מַעֲשָׂיו בֶּאֱמוּנָה. אָמַר אֵלִיָּהוּ זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה, פַּעַם אַחַת הָיִיתִי מְהַלֵּךְ בַּדֶּרֶךְ וּמָצָאתִי אָדָם אֶחָד, וְהָיָה מַלְעִיג לִי וּמִתְלוֹצֵץ בִּי. אָמַרְתִּי לוֹ, מָה אַתָּה מֵשִׁיב לְיוֹם הַדִּין אַחַר שֶׁלֹּא לָמַדְתָּ תּוֹרָה. אָמַר, יֵשׁ לִי לְהָשִׁיב, בִּינָה וָדַעַת וָלֵב שֶׁלֹּא נִתְּנוּ לִי מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם. אָמַרְתִּי לוֹ, מַה מְּלַאכְתֶּךָ. אָמַר לִי, צַיַּד עוֹפוֹת וְדָגִים אֲנִי. אָמַרְתִּי לוֹ, מִי נָתַן לְךָ דַּעַת וָלֵב לִיקַּח פִּשְׁתָּן וְלִטְווֹתוֹ וְלֶאֶרְגוֹ וְלַעֲשׂוֹת הַמְּצוּדוֹת וְלָקַחַת בָּהֶן דָּגִים וְעוֹפוֹת וּלְמָכְרָם. אָמַר לִי, בִּינָה וָדַעַת שֶׁנִּתְּנוּ לִי מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם. אָמַרְתִּי לוֹ, לִיקַּח אֶת הַפִּשְׁתָּן לֶאֱרֹג וְלִטְווֹת וְלָקַחַת הַדָּגִים וְהָעוֹפוֹת, נָתְנוּ לְךָ בִּינָה וָדַעַת. אֲבָל לִקְנוֹת אֶת הַתּוֹרָה לֹא נָתְנוּ לְךָ בִּינָה. וּכְתִיב: כִּי קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ לַעֲשׂוֹתוֹ (דברים ל, יד). מִיָּד הִרְהֵר בְּלִבּוֹ וְהֵרִים קוֹלוֹ בִּבְכִי. אָמַרְתִּי לוֹ, בְּנִי, אַל יֵרַע לְךָ, שֶׁכָּל בָּאֵי הָעוֹלָם כֵּיוָן שֶׁבָּאִין וְנִמְשָׁכִין מִן הַתּוֹרָה, מוֹכִיחִין עֲלֵיהֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וּבֹשׁוּ עוֹבְדֵי פִשְׁתִּים שְׁרִיקוֹת וְאֹרְגִים חוֹרַי (ישעיה יט, ט), וְעָלָיו וְעַל כַּיּוֹצֵא בּוֹ וְעַל הַדּוֹמִין לוֹ וְעַל הָעוֹשִׂין כְּמַעֲשָׂיו. וְאַחֲרִית דָּבָר, יִרְאַת ה'. וְעוֹשִׂין בֶּאֱמוּנָה, בּוֹ מוֹנֶה מְלַאכְתּוֹ וְרָאוּי לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא.

"[...] And so every man [should] understand and fathom with his mind [b'da'ato] and his intelligence to contemplate the Torah day and night - as it is written (Joshua 1:8), "and you shall contemplate about it day and night" - and good deeds. [...] And if he has not learned as is fitting him, let him do his actions with faithfulness [emunah]. Elihayu, may his memory be blessed, said, "I was once walking on the way and I found a man, and he was mocking me and taunting me. I said to him, 'What [can] you answer on the day of judgement, since you have not studied Torah.' He said, 'I have what to answer - it is [because of] the understanding [bina] and intelligence [da'at] and heart [lev] that were not given to me from the Heavens.' I said to him, 'What is your craft?' He said to me, 'I am a trapper of birds and fish.' I said to him, 'Who gave you knowledge [da'at] and heart [lev] to take flax and spin it and weave it to make traps, and to catch fish and birds with them and to sell them?' He said to me, 'It is the understanding [bina] and the knowledge [da'at] that were given to me from the Heavens.' I said to him, 'To take flax and to weave and spin and catch fish and birds you were given understanding [bina] and intelligence [da'at]; but to acquire the Torah, they were not given to you? Behold, it is written (Deuteronomy 30:14), "But the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart to do it."' [So] he immediately thought in his heart [lev] and raised his voice in crying. I said to him, 'My son, Let it not be bad to you, as all those that come to the world are rebuked once they come and are pulled away from Torah, as it is stated (Isaiah 19:9), "And embarrassed will be the workers of flax, the combers and weavers of holes."' And it is about him and those similar to him, and those that do like his deeds. And the last word is the fear of the Lord; and those that do it with faithfulness [emunah] - his craft will be counted and he is fitting for life in the world to come.'"

Source 2 - Devarim 30:14

כִּי־קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ לַעֲשֹׂתוֹ׃         

"No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it."

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Sometimes, it's hard to find anything interesting to write about a midrash. Either the midrash in question can be really esoteric, filled with snippety textual references or gematria, or its message can seem so straightforward that there is nothing much to add. 

This week's midrash covers both extremes. The full version starts with a lot of gematria - the abridged version at Source 1, with our tale of Eliyahu and the trapper, only covers the final section. The basic moral of this story seems clear: the trapper initially blames G-d for his lack of Torah learning, is rebuked by Eliyahu, and then on realising his mistake is comforted by the idea that he still merits a place in the World to Come if he acts with emunah. Sounds clear, right?

If we dig into the Hebrew text, something a little more interesting is going on. To paraphrase the central conversation of our midrash:

Trapper - G-d hasn't given me the bina, da'at and lev needed to study Torah, so what have I got to feel guilty about?

Eliyahu - who gave you the da'at and lev to make traps out of raw flax, use them for trapping and sell the catch i.e. all the steps needed to earn a living?

Trapper - it's the bina and da'at that G-d gave me.

Eliyahu - G-d gave you bina and da'at to do all the steps needed to earn your living, but not to study Torah? It's written in the Torah - "the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart [b'ficha u'v'levavcha], to observe it." (see Source 2). 

Immediately, the trapper hirhur b'libo and raises his voice etc.

Three key words are threaded throughout this conversation - bina, da'at and lev. Lev appears to be easy to understand - the 'heart', or possibly inner desire or emotional feeling, to do something. 

Bina and da'at are a bit more complicated. They each refer to different aspects of knowledge or intelligence. Unfortunately, this is where not being able to read Hebrew-only texts easily lets me down - however, as far as I can make out, possible definitions include:

• Malbim (on Proverbs 24:3) - bina is the ability to understand something based on what one has already learnt from an external source; da'at is clear understanding through intuition and insight.
• Rashi (on Exodus 31:3) - bina/tvunah is deducing something from what one has already learnt (i.e. like the Malbim above); da'at is heavenly inspiration (ruach hakodesh). 
• Rabbeinu Yonah (on Pirke Avot 3:17:5-6) - bina is when one derives one thing from another by comparison; da'at is that which one grasps on one's own. Here, Rabbeinu Yonah argues that da'at must precede bina because one cannot derive Y by comparison with X without being able to grasp X on his own in the first place (my paraphrasing).

What's interesting is that there appear to be two opposing views as to which type of knowledge precedes which. According to Malbim and Rashi, da'at follows bina as it involves some level of inspiration/insight beyond mere deduction from prior knowledge. According to Rabbeinu Yonah, it is the opposite - da'at is required for bina, so presumably bina is a higher level of knowledge as it requires da'at to be in place first.*

So, how does this help us? Well, the trapper starts off by mocking Eliyahu (presumably for appearing to be a Torah scholar), and blaming G-d for not granting him the bina, da'at or lev needed for Torah study instead of taking responsibility for this. He feels no shame for his lack of scholarship, and in fact appears to despise learners and learning. 

Eliyahu responds by asking the trapper where he got the da'at and lev from for his trade - without mentioning bina. Going by the above, by 'da'at' Eliyahu is either asking about the trapper's highest insight/inspiration for his work (as per Rashi/Malbim) or for the basic ability to grasp what he needs to know for this on his own (as per Rabbeinu Yonah). Either way, da'at, intellectual ability (of whatever type) is coupled with lev i.e. the desire or emotion to do a trade - and Eliyahu's question presumes that both come from an external source. 

The trapper responds by only mentioning bina and da'at - no mention of lev here. The trapper only thinks about G-d granting him the intellectual abilities needed to do his work. This could mean he has no emotional connection to his trade - alternatively, he thinks he already had the lev for this coming from within, and only requires the additional bina and da'at from G-d. Conversely, for Torah study the trapper thinks he needs to have lev granted externally by G-d alongside bina or da'at (instead of this coming from within) - so if he doesn't have any lev for study, this isn't his problem or fault. 

Eliyahu picks up on this change of language, pointing out that if G-d gave the trapper bina and da'at for his trade, surely this is enough for Torah study as well. For lev, by quoting the passage at Source 2, Eliyahu points out that the desire to learn and observe Torah comes from within ourselves - not externally from G-d, as originally stated by the trapper. 

This, then, was the trapper's mistake. Only once he realises this, with his heart and voice, does Eliyahu comfort him with the knowledge that he is not alone - unfortunately, it is all too normal for workers and craftsmen to be pulled away from Torah study, with the 'backup' then being their emunah. 

What, then, can we take from this? At the outset, we should all aim to study Torah even alongside our work. How much, and how deeply, will depend on the intellectual ability granted to us by G-d. However, regardless of our intellect, we must also remember that the potential for emotional connection to Torah is in all of us. It is up to us to listen to this inner voice and channel this towards Torah study, rather than just expect to be inspired to study from above.  

RPT

* incidentally, this tension can be seen in the different versions of the blessing 'honen ha'da'at' in the weekday Amidah. Ashkenazim and some Sephardim (myself included) ask for 'de'ah, bina v'heskel' - the remaining Sephardim/Mizrachim ask for 'chochma, bina v'da'at'. Note the different orders of bina and da'at.