My wife and I have much in common, but the month of Tishrei accentuates our notably different careers. The entire month turns my wife\u2019s schedule upside down, forcing her to balance her work and school schedule around the chagim. She jokes how she enjoyed her \u201cvacation day\u201d of Yom Kipuur. As Yom Tov sets in, I can see the struggle as she tries to distract her mind from work to enjoy the chag. My wife is very traditional, but I work on Shabbat! I see the first fifteen days of Tishrei the way an accountant sees the first fifteen days of April. I know that it\u2019s time for me to get to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Sukkot around the corner, I imagine more of you can relate to my wife\u2019s experience, which begs the question: what type of attitude should we have towards these forced vacation days that throw our schedules for a loop?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We read in our parsha today the famous pasuk:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u05db\u05b4\u05bc\u059b\u05d9 \u05e9\u05b5\u05c1\u05a5\u05dd \u05d4\u2019 \u05d0\u05b6\u05e7\u05b0\u05e8\u05b8\u0591\u05d0 \u05d4\u05b8\u05d1\u05a5\u05d5\u05bc \u05d2\u05b9\u0596\u05d3\u05b6\u05dc \u05dc\u05b5\u05d0\u05dc\u05b9\u05e7\u05d9\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc\u05c3<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the name of the L-RD I proclaim; Give glory to our G-d!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This pasuk brings to mind many halachot and minhagim:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But perhaps most importantly, Chazal understand this pasuk to obligate reciting Birkat Hatorah before studying Torah:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u05de\u05e0\u05d9\u05df \u05dc\u05d1\u05e8\u05db\u05ea \u05d4\u05ea\u05d5\u05e8\u05d4 \u05dc\u05e4\u05e0\u05d9\u05d4 \u05de\u05df \u05d4\u05ea\u05d5\u05e8\u05d4 \u05e9\u05e0\u05d0\u05de\u05e8 \u05db\u05d9 \u05e9\u05dd \u05d4\u05f3 \u05d0\u05e7\u05e8\u05d0 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d5 \u05d2\u05d3\u05dc \u05dc\u05b5\u05d0\u05dc\u05b9\u05e7\u05d9\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc<\/p>\n\n\n\n And from where is<\/strong> the mitzva by Torah law<\/strong> to recite the blessing over the Torah before it<\/strong> is read, derived? As it is stated: \u201cWhen I proclaim the Lord\u2019s name, give glory to our God\u201d<\/strong> (Deuteronomy 32:3<\/a>), meaning that before one proclaims the Lord\u2019s name by reading the Torah, he must give glory to God. (Brachot 21a)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Many understand this obligation to be biblical. The Sefer Hachinuch writes that the Torah only obligates two brachot: Birkat Hatorah and Birkat Hamazon. Every other bracha we recite in our lives is rabbinic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Reinforcing the centrality of Birkat Hatorah, a startling gemara in Nedarim 81a suggests that the failure to recite Birkat Hatorah caused the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash and the decimation of land of Israel! <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ran on the page there famously explains why the blessing before studying Torah is so critical:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Torah was not important in their eyes to the extent that they believed it was deserving of having a blessing recited prior to its study.This was the case, since they did not study it for its own sake (lishmah) [but rather simply out of sheer self-serving intellectual pleasure.] Therefore, they acted in a dismissive manner regarding the recitation of the bracha. This is what the verse means when it states, \u201cneither walked therein.\u201d This means that the Sages of the time lacked the proper intention in their Torah scholarship and failed to study it for its own sake [that is, as a service to Hashem].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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