Q&A: Several Questions
Several Questions
Question
A question in education that I was asked, and I really don’t know much about it:
Is there a place for exceptional and outstanding students in small yeshivot not to do matriculation exams, or to do only minimal matriculation? And when such a student does complete a good matriculation certificate, does that detract from his value, such that he should not do it?
My own question, and we would be glad to know the opinion of my teacher and rabbi, may he live long:
A. The wording of the prayer “Ana BeKoach” in the order of “Welcoming the Sabbath”:
“Release the bound one; accept the song of Your people; exalt us, purify us, Awesome One; those who seek Your unity, guard them like the pupil of the eye; purify them.”
And this requires clarification: after all, we already prayed “purify us,” so what is added in this prayer of “purify them”?
I, the humble one, thought to say it in two ways:
A) Every purification brings yet more purification and more holiness.
B) First of all, “purify us,” and afterward also “bless them” materially, and even so continue to guard us so that there will be “purify them” — that even after the blessing of materiality we remain pure.
And there is a bit of support from the Blessing of the New Month, where fear of Heaven appears twice — implying that there are two levels of fear of Heaven.
B. I was left with an unresolved difficulty regarding the obligation of a blessing before reading the Torah:
In Midrash Rabbah (VeZot HaBerakhah, section 11) it says: “A Jew who goes up to read from the Torah is not permitted to read before first reciting a blessing; he blesses and afterward reads. And Moses, at the time when he merited to receive the Torah, first blessed and afterward read. Rabbi Elazar said: What is the blessing that Moses first recited over the Torah? ‘Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who chose this Torah and sanctified it and desired those who practice it.’” End quote. And this requires clarification in the language of the midrash, which says that a Jew who goes up to read the Torah is not permitted to read before first reciting a blessing — for this is seemingly not a law of prohibition, that it is forbidden to read from the Torah without a blessing, but rather a commandment by Torah law, or that they instituted the commandment of a blessing before Torah reading as with all blessings over commandments.
Answer
Hello.
In my opinion, it is preferable for everyone to complete matriculation exams, since a person never knows whether he will succeed in remaining in Torah study all his life. It is not only a matter of talent, but also of perseverance and motivation. It also opens a door for him to additional fields that can help him in his Torah thinking as well. Still, it is not absolutely necessary, and a person can decide not to do it. That too can be made up later. In any case, if he decided to complete matriculation exams, nothing at all is diminished from his value. The hours he devoted to it can easily be made up afterward.
The interpretations are possible, and I have nothing to add.
Regarding fear of Heaven in the Blessing of the New Month, the reference is to love of Torah and fear of Heaven — that love of Torah should not undermine fear of Heaven (as in the introduction to Aglei Tal).
Regarding the Torah blessing: as is well known, the medieval authorities (Rishonim) and later authorities (Acharonim) disagreed whether this is a blessing of praise or a blessing over commandments. According to the view that it is a blessing over commandments — and that seems to be the view of the Magen Avraham and the Mishnah Berurah, who asked about women reciting it even though they are not commanded in the commandment of Torah study. But even if it is a blessing of praise, it is possible that they instituted it before study in the manner of blessings over commandments.
Beyond that, there are three blessings, and the blessing “who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to engage in words of Torah” seems in the straightforward sense to be a blessing over commandments according to all views. Perhaps the midrash refers only to that one. The blessing “Please make pleasant” is a request, not a blessing over commandments.