Half Jubilee of Mishkan Israel – 5769

With God’s help

What did Sisyphus and the commandments do that time had to give?

introduction

The semi-jubilee, like every year in the history of a people or group, is an ending point but also a beginning point. Each new year marks the end of the previous year and the beginning of a new one. On our circular timeline, every ending is a new beginning, and every beginning is an ending.

This connection between ending and beginning, and vice versa, is necessary in a finite world. Every finite thing has an end, and when you reach the end, there is nowhere to go.[1] In a finite world, every object is finite, and therefore necessarily has edges. The only possibility of infinity within a finite framework is the circle.

It seems that during the entire cycle we revolve in an infinite circle on the same timeline, retracing our steps from the previous cycle. However, this is not the whole picture. The timeline has two components: a linear component, which progresses from the past to the future, and a circular component, which repeats itself throughout the calendar (and also the day and month). The conclusion is that the entire timeline is structured like a spiral, the origin of which is the two aforementioned components (the linear and the circular). We will demonstrate this through the halachic aspects of these two timelines.

Two timelines

The circular timeline is defined along a Yuval, Shemita, year, month, week, or day. Mitzvot related to this timeline are called "mitzvot es'e' that time has brought." They return to us in different cycles, which depend on the length of the cycle of the relevant cycle. Holidays return to us every year, Shemita every seven years, Yuval every fifty years, Rosh Chodesh every month, and prayers every week or day. There are also things that return twice a day (Tamidi, reciting the Shema, lighting the Menorah, and more).

It can be shown that the essence of positive mitzvot that are time-caused is that time itself causes them, and not any circumstances that occur in time (see Responsorial Psalm 11:11). Tiara stones, O.H. C. Shefford, andFire remains הבב, יוד סי' צ' צ). For the definition of these commandments in halakha, there is a statement: Women are exempt from them.

On the other hand, there is a timeline that is of a different nature: the linear, or historical, timeline. Such an timeline is time that does not repeat itself. It can be the life course of an individual, a group, a people, or the entire world. There are mitzvot of confirmation specifically related to this timeline. For example, with respect to an individual, there is a mitzvah of redeeming a son (for the firstborn), or of circumcision (for every male).[2]

In this context, an interesting question arises. The Gemara in Tractate Kiddushin discusses the father's commandments over his son, and one of them is for him. The mother, on the other hand, is not obligated to circumcise her son. The Gemara (ibid., 29a) learns this from the verse: "When God commanded him" (Genesis 21), "him" and not her. Rashi there (Badah 'Menlan') writes that this is a positive commandment that is not time-dependent, and therefore a special source is needed to exempt the mother from this commandment. However, in Tud "him" it is really difficult to find why such a source needs to be cited, since this is a commandment that depends on time, since the obligation of circumcision begins at the age of eight days and onwards? This question is difficult for several rishonim, and they offer several answers. The above-mentioned Tos' answers this way: "Because from the eighth day onwards there is no cessation for it, nor is it time-dependent."

The Torah's words can be understood on a technical level, that a positive commandment that is time-dependent is only a commandment that is bounded by the time axis on both sides. This is a technical distinction, and it is not clear why it is actually correct. Therefore, it seems to me that the more correct understanding is that the Torah intends to say that a mitzvah that belongs in its essence to the linear (and not the circular) time axis does not fall into the category of positive commandments that are time-dependent at all. This is a different time axis, and this rule was not stated for it.[3]

The Rambam, in his third root, states that one should not enumerate positive commandments that were said for a specific time. For example, the commandment to make a bronze serpent, or to put manna in a jar, which were commanded to Israel in the wilderness. Among the positive commandments, the Rambam enumerates the commandment to blot out the memory of Amalek. He raises a difficulty there, that apparently this commandment does not apply to generations, since Amalek has disappeared from the world, and therefore we could not enumerate it. The Rambam explains that the commandment applies to generations, but it is Amalek who has disappeared. In other words, the problem is technical and not substantive. The time of application of the commandment is indeed eternal, and only the accidental circumstances are such that we have no way of implementing it. Such commandments are definitely enumerated.

This statement raises the question of why the jar of manna, or the bronze serpent, are not such mitzvot? After all, under the same circumstances, if they do indeed occur and are realized again in the course of history, then the reasons for performing them will exist, and therefore it is reasonable to assume that in such a situation the mitzvah will also return and apply to us. The fact that such circumstances will not repeat themselves in the course of history is accidental and not essential, just like the disappearance of Amalek.

The words of the Rambam indicate that even if the circumstances repeat themselves, the obligation will not be repeated. The reason for this is that the one who causes the obligation is time itself, and it does not repeat itself. It follows from the words of the Rambam that there are commandments that are essentially one-time (not because of the circumstances). Their principle application is temporary, and not just the circumstances of the obligation. If so, these are commandments that time itself causes (as we saw above), and therefore they are essentially temporary. However, these commandments are caused by linear time, not circular time. Commandments that are parallel to those that are caused by circumstances that depend on circular time will certainly be included in the number of commandments (such as the festivals, or reciting the Shema, etc.), since they will repeat themselves each time such a cycle is completed.

The conclusion is, as stated, that the Torah timeline consists of two different components: the linear and the circular. Each of us lives within several different circles listed above, and also within several different lines (the national one that began with the Exodus from Egypt, the global one that began with the creation of the world, and the personal one that began with his birth).

Order Caspirale

Why did God create a dual system of two types of timelines in His world? What is the purpose of this structure?

The myth of Sisyphus describes an eternal process of ascending and descending again. Circular time is Sisyphean, and therefore meaningless. Albert Camus, in his book The Myth of Sisyphus, tries to offer an alternative to linear time (and thereby goes so far as to legitimize suicide). God, in His Torah, offers us a different logic: a combination of these two axes, which creates a spiral that progresses while rotating in circles.

An example is climbing a mountain. If you climb directly up the mountain (='doch'), it may be very difficult, and we will probably not be able to do it. If you go around it in circles, it is easier, but we simply will not progress upwards. The only realistic option to climb is to combine these two routes: climb up while turning (this is also how a road that climbs a mountain is usually planned).

The metaphor is our life. The points of reference of the timeline are marks on both axes. Such observation allows us to see that there is a way to climb up. We are always in the process of climbing, and we always have somewhere to move forward. The cyclical-circular paths are designed to help us climb. We celebrate a birthday to see that we have completed another circular deficiency, but we must always check whether in terms of the height axis we are higher than on the previous birthday. Does our Passover or Rosh Hashanah look like last year's, or did we meet the task and manage to climb higher. The purpose of repetition is to provide each of us with an opportunity to improve and climb further. It is important to make sure that we take advantage of this, and do not continue to go around in Sisyphean circles that omit the meaning of our lives, as individuals and as a group. This is why the timeline is constructed in such a spiral manner.

And where is God in all this?

There is another condition for such progress to be possible. There must be a mountain to climb. There must be a goal to climb, and there must be an axis that defines what is 'up' and what is 'down.' Such a definition requires something, or someone, that is greater than anything we know. Someone who fills all of reality, from bottom to top. Improvement can only be made in the direction of the infinite, that is, in the direction of God. The work of God defines a direction for us to climb, and establishes its possibility. Therefore, this is also the standard by which we must check whether we are on a Sisyphean path or not.

At a time when we mark a year in the history of the community, looking forward and backward, this is an opportunity to ensure that it is indeed "on the path leading to the house of God."

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1. C. ESCHER claims that there are also ascents that are Sisyphean!?

[1]  I don't think there's anyone who hasn't wondered what's going on at the edge of the universe? What's there beyond the edge? Is it possible to sit on the edge and swing your legs outward?

[2]  It is interesting that these practical commandments are not defined as practical commandments that are time-bound, yet women are exempt from them.

[3]  According to our proposal, even if there were a one-time mitzvah in our lives, which was bounded on the time axis on both sides, women would be obligated to it. Interestingly, there is no such mitzvah in the Torah. Bounded mitzvahs are always found precisely on the circular axis.