by Rabbi Leead Staller
Years ago, I was in Camp Moshava’s Beit Midrash Program for the summer (where I met Shoshana!), and I was learning with Rav Binyamin Tabory zt”l, a major role model in my life who unfortunately passed away almost exactly a year ago from ALS. I remember Rav Tabory once heard me singing along with a song that was popular that summer, and he told me that it’s very nice that I know pop music, but do I know Shirat Ha’azinu by heart? Immediately, I began to recite Ha’azinu with it’s trop by heart, surprising Rav Tabory! What I didn’t tell him was that it was my Bar Mitzvah Parshah.
At first glance, Rav Tabory was absolutely right, as the Torah itself tells us, “write for yourself [Moshe] this song [Ha’azinu], and teach it to the Jewish people, and place it in their mouths” (Devarim 31:19). Based on this, many record a long standing tradition to memorize the song of Ha’azinu. And yet, while Ibn Ezra tells us that on a Pshat level, this verse is talking about the immediately following section of the Torah– Shirat Ha’azinu– this idea has remained merely a custom practiced by few, and not a Halakha. From a Halakhic perspective, Rava on Sanhedrin 21b reinterprets this verse to not just be speaking about Ha’azinu, but rather, about all of the Torah. Thus, our rabbis learn from here a requirement on every Jew to write their own Sefer Torah.
While this requirement may come as a shock to many, don’t worry! According to Rabbeinu Asher, you have likely already fulfilled this Mitzvah. The Rosh (Hilchot Sefer Torah 1) explains that, since this Mitzvah is primarily concerned with ensuring that people have access to Torah resources, we nowadays can fulfill this Mitzvah by merely buying books that deal with Torah. Every time you buy a Chumash or any Torah book, according to the Rush, you fulfill this Mitzvah.
And yet, while most people ultimately adopt the creative interpretation of the Rosh as Halakha, authorities such as the Rambam, Ramban, and Sefer HaChinuch all disagree, and seemingly require one to actually write their own Torah. While we may not hold like these authorities practically, it still warrants asking– why should I have to write my own Torah? Furthermore, there seems to be something important about the act of writing itself that is significant. The Gemara records a position that even if you inherit a complete Sefer Torah, or if you go out and buy an already written one in the marketplace, you haven’t fulfilled the Mitzvah. You have to specifically write it yourself, or, at the very least, commission someone to write it for you as an act of Shlichut, agency. But why should I have to write my own Torah? Can’t I learn all the same from a Torah someone else wrote?
I think the answer lies in reexamining the purpose of this Mitzvah. While the Rosh thinks this Mitzvah is just about ensuring people have resources to learn from, it seems that the Rambam and others disagree with the Rosh fundamentally. The point of this Mitzvah is a not a practical one, ensuring that I have accessible resources. But rather, this Mitzvah is a symbolic statement. Every Jew is responsible to write their own Torah, because every Jew has their own, unique stake in the Torah, and contributes their own unique energies, strength, and creativity to the enterprise of Torah. Just as the handwriting of each person is different, so the Torah they create should be unique to them and their character. Thus, every person must write their own Torah to ensure the full creative forces of each and every individual of the Jewish people is able to find its expression within the enterprise of Torah.
The Netziv in his introduction to his commentary on the Torah notes that it’s peculiar that the rabbis reinterpret a verse about a song, HaShirah HaZot, as referring to all of the Torah. Since when do we call the Torah a song? The Netziv explains that just as a song is a creative, interpretive product, that is full of artistic expression, creativity, and nuance, so too the Torah has to be understood as more than just the words that comprise it. How fitting that the same verse that teaches this idea is the verse that teaches the personal requirement to write your own Torah! God is repeatedly reassuring us that we each have our own stake in the Torah, and we should all feel empowered to express it.
As we begin this new year, I look forward to sharing my Torah with all of you at Stanton Street, but more than that, I look forward to reading all of your Torahs. As a community full of both literal and metaphorical artists, The Stanton Street Shul stands uniquely poised to share a beautiful Torah– full of personality, individuality, and meaning– with the world around it. All we need to do is write it.
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