Daf Ditty Shabbes 83: Piyyut (liturgical poem) that begins the Ne'ilah service at the conclusion of Yom Kippur.1 God of awe, God of might, Grant us pardon in this hour, as Your gates are closed this night. We, who are few, raise our eyes to heaven's height, trembling, fearful in our prayer, as Your gates are closed this night. Pouring out our soul we pray that the sentence You will write shall be one of pardoned sin, as Your gates are closed this night. Our refuge strong and sure rescue us from dreadful plight seal our destiny for joy, as Your gates are closed this night. Grant us favor, show us grace; but those who deny our right and oppress, be You be the judge, as Your gates are closed this night. Generations of our sires strong in faith walked in Your light As of old, renew our days, as Your gates are closed this night. Gather Judah's scattered flock unto Zion's rebuilt site Bless this year with grace divine, as Your gates are closed this night. May we all, both old and young, look for gladness and delight in the many years to come, as Your gates are closed this night. Michael, prince of Israel, Gabriel, Your angels bright with Elijah, come, redeem, as Your gates are closed this night. Psalm 60 ;Come, and see the works of God 5 ה מוּכר ,וְּלוּא תﬠפ ְֲוֹלְִ תﬠפ ,וְּלוּא מוּכר He is terrible in His doing toward ִי;םֱא1ה וֹנר ָא לֲﬠ ִ לי ,הָ לַ ﬠ - .the children of men ְבּ ֵני.םדא ָָ ֵני.םדא Moses, may he be strong", in reference to the piyyut's" , השמ קזח The initial letters of the first six stanzas of the piyyut spell out 1 author Moses ibn Ezra (12th century Spain). Shabbes 83 Following Rav’s statement, the Gemara cites that which Rabbi Yonatan said: One should never prevent himself from attending the study hall or from engaging in matters of Torah, even at the moment of death, as it is stated: This is the law: when a man dieth in a tent, every 14 די הֹז,את א,הַוֹרתּ כָּ,םָדָ ִי - ת ָימוּ ת one that cometh into the tent, and every thing that is in ְֶֹבּלאה: ָכּל - אאַהבּ ֶלָ - ֶהלָהא ָלְכֹו - רֲאשׁ ֶ רֲאשׁ .the tent, shall be unclean seven days ֹ,לָבּהא ﬠאבמטֶשׁי תִ ִיָ.םְַמְִָי תִ ﬠאבמטֶשׁי ֹ,לָבּהא “This is the Torah: A person who dies in a tent” (Numbers 19:14). That is an allusion to the fact that even at the moment of death, one should engage in the study of Torah. Reish Lakish said: Matters of Torah only endure in a person who kills himself over the Torah, one who is ready to devote all his efforts to it, as it is stated: “This is the Torah: A person who dies in a tent,” meaning that the Torah is only attained by one who kills himself in its tent. Rabbi Yochanan said: A person should never refrain from attending the beis midrash or from words of Torah, even at the moment of death. For it is stated (Bamidbar 19:14): “This is the Torah - a man who dies in a tent.” Even at the moment of death a person should be involved in Torah. Rambam (Hilchos Talmud Torah 1:10) ַﬠדא ַיחָתֵימ לבַיּ שׁוֹדתְּרמִלָ מַﬠֹהתד םוֹ יוֹ מר)דטֶםאֶָנּוֹ ַ(רֱדבי וּ"פ ןֶ וּרוּסָ י לִּ מ בְ בָ gְ לכּ מְ י יֵ יַּ ח ֶ ."gי כְ ו לָ מְ ז ןַ אֹלֶּשׁ קֹסֲﬠַ י קֹסֲﬠַ י אֹלֶּשׁ ןַ מְ ז לָ כְ ו ."gי ֶ יַּ ח יֵ מְ י לכּ gְ בָ בְ לִּ מ וּרוּסָ י ןֶ וּ"פ אֵַ:שׁוֹחכ דהוּ ְִבּמּוּל דהוּ אֵַ:שׁוֹחכ Until when is a person obligated to study Torah? Until the day he dies, as [Deuteronomy 4:9] states: "Lest you remove it from your heart, all the days of your life." Whenever a person is not involved with study, he forgets. Rambam then concludes, “Whenever a person is not learning, he is forgetting.” The Vilna Gaon (Yoreh De’ah 246:10) cites our Gemara in Shabbos as the source for this ruling of Rambam, where the Gemara tells us that a person should learn even until the moment of his death. It seems peculiar, though, for the Vilna Gaon to refer to our Gemara, and the insight of Rabbi Yochanan who brings the verse in Bamidbar, when Rambam himself already cited a different verse from Devarim as his source.2 הֹז,את א,הַוֹרתּ כָּ,םָדָ ִי - תהאבּ ָיְֶֹמוּל: :This particular verse Is used by the Midrash in one of the most enigmatic protests that man lodged against the divine in the rabbinic imagination: 2 Daf Digest brings the Sefer Ha Chinuch to reconcile the use of the two distinct verses (not convincing), Shabbes 83 Midrash Tanchuma. Vayeshev 4:2 : Adam was created on the sixth day, and He informed him in a roundabout way that He had brought death into the world, as it is said: For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die (Gen 2:17) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt 17 זי מוּ ﬠֵ ,ץֵ דַּ ה ﬠַ תַ בוֹט רָ ו עָ -- ֹל תא ֹ ,לַכא ,לַכא ֹ תא ֹל not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt ִֶממּ :וּנּ gִֶלנּוּכאמּמ םָבֲּ ,ְיִכּיוְֹ -- וֹמת וֹמת '.surely die ָתּוּמ.ת To what may this be compared? It may be compared to a man who wished to divorce his wife. Before he enters his home, he writes out the divorce document and then enters the house with the divorce document in his hand. He then seeks a circuitous way to hand it to her. He says to her: “Give me some water that I may drink.” She does so, and when he takes the glass from her hand, he tells her: “Here is your divorce.” She asks: “What sin have I committed?” “Leave my house,” he retorts, “you have served me a warm drink.” “Apparently you already knew,” she replies, “that I would serve you a warm drink when you prepared the bill of divorce you brought with you.” And that is what Adam told the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, two thousand years before You created the world, You had the Torah as an artisan, as it is written: Then I was by Him, as a nursling; and I was 30 ל ֶָוהא ֶהיְ וְֹלצֶא , ןוָֹאמ : ֶָוהא ֶהיְ ִﬠוֲּשׁﬠַשׁ םי , , ,daily all delight, playing always before Him וֹים וֹים ; ֶַחקְמשׂ ֶת ְָלפ נ ָ וי ָלְבּכ - ֵﬠת . Then was I by Him, as an artisan; and I was day by day all delight (Prov. 8:30). (The repetition of the word day indicates that two thousand years had elapsed). For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday 4 ד ﬠיִכּנלבּאשׁ ,ףם 6ְִֵיֶניֶָ ֶי -- יוְֹכּם וֹ,ֶאמלת ְ וֹ,ֶאמלת {when it is past, {N יִכּ ֲַר;בﬠי ֹ ַ;ﬠ ִ .and as a watch in the night ְוְַאשׁמָוּרה ָ.ְהלָיַבלּ A thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday (Ps. 90:4). (a day meaning a thousand years had passed since He wrote the Torah). Within it is written: This is the law; that a man dieth in his tent (Num. 19:14). This is the law: when a man dieth in a tent, every one 14 די ה,ת ָהַאֹזוֹרתּ ,א ָד ,ָכּם יִ - ָימוּת that cometh into the tent, and every thing that is in the ְֶֹבּל:הא ָכּל - אאַהבּ ֶָל - ֶהלָהא ֹ ְוָכל - רֲאשׁ ֶ רֲאשׁ .tent, shall be unclean seven days ,ֹלהָבּא באִמשׁטיֶ תִָﬠְ ִי.םָמְַי תִָﬠְ באִמשׁטיֶ ,ֹלהָבּא If You had not previously decreed death for mankind, You would not have so stated in it (the Torah). The decree of death was thus predicted long before the original sin meriting it. The fact is, You introduced the threat of death against me in a “roundabout way” (sic). Hence He acts circuitously in His doings toward the children of men (Ps. 66:5). Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind! The implication is one of a set up! “awesome deeds” now has a darker connotation of scheming….is this our rhetorical implication of the Piyut just before Neila? Does it encode a kind of protest before the gates of Mercy are forever closed at the termination of Yom Kippur? ה מוּכר ,וְּלוּא תﬠהאפ ְֱֲִיוֹלְִ‰ם ; וֹנר ָא לֲﬠ ִ לי ,הָ לַ ﬠ - יםדְבּאנ ֵָָ . וֹנר ָא לֲﬠ ִ לי ,הָ לַ ﬠ - יםדְבּאנ ֵָָ יםדְבּאנ The first notion of such a scheming divine are implied in the midrashic commentaries on the Judah and Tamar story in Genesis. Based on a midrash in Genesis where God works His plan BY SCHEMING through the politics of daily life behind the scenes to achieve HIS goals,3 the midrash states that while the other brothers were engaged in the sale of Joseph, and Jacob was occupied by his sackcloth and fasting (over the presumed death of Joseph), Judah was busily engaged in taking a wife, and God was engaged in creating the light of the Messiah (who will eventually issue from the union of Judah and Tamar) “Before she was in labor, she gave birth” (Isaiah 66:7)…“It happened at that time” (Gen. Rabba 85:1). ״פה ְִיַויה ֵתָבּﬠ ִואַהה ֵַויּרד ֶ ְיהוָּדה ֵֵמתא ָויֶאח ) ישרבא ת חל ,א) ,( כלמא י ב , אי :( ְָהדָבּג ְיהוָּדה ְותוֵָֹﬠבה ְֶֶָנﬠשׂתה וגו ,' ַרֲאמ יֵלהּ ְְַתּרָכּפ ְיהוָּדה ְתַּרְשׁק ְ ְיהוָּדה , ְותוֵָֹﬠבה ְֶֶָנﬠשׂתה ְְִֵָבּילראשׂ , ְיהוָּדה ֲַָנﬠשׂה ןיִֻחלּ ) , כלמא י ב , אי :( יִכּ ִֵחללּ ְיהוָּדה ֶֹקשׁד ה ' ֶרֲאשׁ ֵבָאה .