Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Shlomo Zargari
Shalom,
The pasuk says in this week’s Parasha ” You shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you right or left ” (17,11). Rashi comments that one should listen to them ( the Hachamim) even if they tell you that right is left and left is right, and even more so when they tell you that right is right and left is left. The simple understanding of Rashi would be that even if it seems to you that they are saying the opposite of the facts – for example that right is left – you must listen to them. This is especially the case when you are in the wrong and have been told the precise information; their words are always in sync with the truth and it just seems to us otherwise. Our thinking is far from the thinking of the Torah hakedosha (HaRamban).
All the dictums, decrees, fences and customs that our Hachamim instituted in the oral tradition really portray the will of Hashem and that will is only revealed at the correct time through the sages of the time. Those Hachamim and the righteous in every generation are the embodiment of the oral tradition and through them the will of Hashem materializes. (Maharal,Be’er Hagola)
With this we can understand that our Hachamim are like the guardians of the Torah in every generation and our continuity is dependent upon them. May Hashem keep them healthy for many years to come, Amen.
Shabbat Shalom