Ten Minutes of Torah

with

Rabbi Chaim Weiner

Terumah- 5766

שמות פרק כה

(י) וְעָשׂוּ אֲרוֹן עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים אַמָּתַיִם וָחֵצִי אָרְכּוֹ וְאַמָּה וָחֵצִי רָחְבּוֹ וְאַמָּה וָחֵצִי קֹמָתוֹ:

Exodus 25

They shall make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

Rashi

Acacia wood: But from where did they get this in the wilderness? Rabbi Tanhumah explained it thus: Our father Jacob foresaw by the gift of the Holy Spirit that Israel would at one time build a tabernacle in the wilderness: he therefore brought cedars to Egypt and planted them there, and bade his children to take these with them when they would leave Egypt.

Ibn Ezra

Acacia trees: There are those of our Rabbis who said that our father Jacob planted them, and Israel brought them out of Egypt at Moses' command, the proof being the verse: "and every one who had in his possession acacia wood ..." [35:24] - just like the purple and the crimson. But we should ask, why did they have the planks in the first place - for personal use? What were they intending to do with them?

Furthermore, the Egyptians thought that they were going to the desert for three days to sacrifice to their God and would then return. How could they then have taken out numerous planks, each one 10 amot long! ... How did they answer those who asked them, "Why are you taking these planks with you for a three day outing in the desert?!"

I do not know if the Rabbis had a tradition regarding this, in which case I will follow their lead, or whether they derived this through their own reasoning, in which case I must search for a different path. I say, that nearby Mount Sinai there must have been a cedar forest. When the children of Israel arrived at Sinai they were told that they would be staying there for a long while. Each family built for themselves a Succah, and the elders fenced off courtyards with the cedars. Moses gave the commandment to build the tabernacle later, and that is the meaning of the verse, "and every one who had in his possession acacia wood ..." [35:24]

Ramban

Acacia trees are a type of cedar, and they are very thick and light in weight. There is a Midrash that Jacob planted them in Egypt, but it is farfetched to suggest that they carried them out of Egypt and across the sea. Ibn Ezra wrote that there was a forest near Mount Sinai and they cut them from there.

The correct explanation is that people from all over came to the Israelite camp in the desert to sell them all kinds of goods. It was from these people that they bought oil for the lamp and perfumes and oils for the incense. One can not think that they brought all of these things from Egypt. They bought the acacia wood in the same manner.

QUESTIONS

1. What different suggestions are given for the source of the acacia trees?

2. What arguments does Ibn Ezra put forward against the Midrash, and how can they be answered?

3. Which explanation is closer to the Pshat (the simple meaning of the text)?

Answers to last week’s questions:

(To access last week’s study sheet, visit the archives page on www.tenminutesoftorah.supanet.com .)

1. What forced the Sages - and following them Rashi and Ibn Ezra - to explain the word ‘staff’ as a metaphor? Base your answer on both the context and the language of the verse.

The simple meaning of the text, that when an injured person has recovered enough that he can go out with his staff, then the person who had attacked him is considered blameless – goes against the Halacha. This forces the Rabbis to look for an alternate explanation.

The Commentators therefore interpret that only when a victim has fully recovered from his injuries is the attacker considered blameless. They disagree as to how much a person needs to recover before he is forgiven. According to Rashi the victim must have completely recovered. According to Ibn Ezra, he must be have recovered enough to move around independently. According to Ramban – he must be able to move around without the assistance of others, even if he still needs the help of a staff to walk.

This source in the text is as follows. The verse says: “His staff” – not “staff”. Therefore, according to Rashi, it means ‘his own personal strength’, rather than the strength of his staff.

2. How is Ramban’s explanation similar, and how does it differ from the other commentaries.

Ramban also interprets that the verse means that the person has recovered. He is closer to the simple sense of the verse, because his understanding of ‘being healed’ includes walking around with a staff.

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Ten Minutes of Torah was prepared by Rabbi Chaim Weiner, based on the methods of Prof. Nechama Leibowitz. Rabbi Weiner studied and corresponded with Prof. Leibowitz for several years.

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