[Index of all Weekly Divrei Torah pages]
When Moshe came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments (the second time, on Yom Kippur), he had a couple of immediate tasks in front of him. One was to build the mishkan, or tabernacle, which would house the tablets and serve as a sanctuary for the entire Jewish people. The other was to appoint judges and teachers, who would adjudicate disputes and dispense spiritual advice, as well. Obviously, this was a critical juncture in Jewish history. In order for the Jews to successfully make the transition to become a nation, they needed a system of laws and a way of preserving them from one generation to the next. This is what preoccupied Moshe as he returned from the mountain to the people.
Moshe needed a “few good men,” to serve as craftsmen and as judges. As different as these professions are, both are described in the Torah with the three adjectives, “wise, understanding, and knowledgeable.” That’s how good judges are described in our Torah portion (Devarim 1:13), and that’s how good craftsmen are described earlier in parshat Ki Tissa (Exodus 31:2-3. But, in our parsha, Moshe returns a couple of verses later (in verse 15) and implies that “understanding” men weren’t to be found (only “wise and knowledgeable” men).
In Exodus, Rashi explained the difference between “wise” (chacham) and “understanding” (navon); a wise man hears from others and learns, while an understanding man draws upon what he already knows and from that figures out new things. Here in our parsha, Rashi is more illustrative; “an understanding person reasons out one thing from within another. Arius [a non-Jew] asked Rebbe Yosi [of the Talmud], what is the difference between a wise man (chacham) and an understanding man (navon)? Rebbe Yosi answered, a wise man is like a wealthy money-changer who works when one brings him money, and when he has no money to change, he does nothing. An understanding man is like a merchant who changes money upon request and when not, he looks for his own opportunities.”
Here are some questions on Rashi’s explanation;
1. What does Rashi add with his parable of the money changer that wasn’t present in the earlier explanation in Exodus?
2. Why does Rashi add the longer parable only in our Torah portion – wouldn’t it have been advisable to put it in the earlier Torah portion when the concept of “wise” versus “understanding” was first introduced?
3. Why mention the names of the people in the parable? What does it add to our understanding to know that Arius and R’ Yosi dealt with this question?
In answer, there is a difference between the “understanding” man (navon) mentioned in our parsha (Devarim) – where it’s referring to judges - and the “understanding” man in Exodus, where it’s referring to a craftsmen. The searches for both professions took place at roughly the same time, after Moshe returned from Mt. Sinai. Yet, in our parsha (Deut. 1:15), we are told that Moshe found men who were wise (chachamim) and knowledgeable (yeduim), but not understanding (navonim). In other words, when Moshe was looking for judges, he could find no “understanding” men. But, that’s curious, because when looking for craftsmen (at around the same time), Moshe did find men who were “understanding” (see Exodus 36:1). So, why weren’t there any “understanding” men who could become judges? It must be that there’s a difference between the kind of understanding necessary to be a judge and the understanding necessary to be a craftsman. And that difference is what Rashi means to illustrate by bringing the parable of the money-changer.
By way of explanation: There are two ways to understand one thing from another. Either you can take the knowledge that you have already and expand upon it, reasoning, for example, that if “a” equals “b” and “b” equals “c,” then “a” must equal “c.” Here, you have not done anything essentially new; you have only built upon what you knew already. But, there is a deeper way of “understanding one thing from another,” and that is when you not only build upon what you have learned already, but you use it as a model and a foundation for something new. That is, you apply the knowledge that you already possess, to an entirely new situation, bringing you to a new levels of understanding. When you do this, you are essentially tapping into the deepest levels of understanding and bringing yourself to look at the world in a new way altogether. That is the true level of “understanding on thing from another,” and it is what is demanded of a judge in our weekly Torah portion.
And that is why Rashi chose to bring the example of a money-changer, and to mention Rebbe Yosi in our Torah portion, rather than earlier in Exodus where the subject first came up. Rashi wanted to make clear to us that the level of understanding demanded in our parsha is the deeper level necessary for a judge. In Exodus, where the requirements of an understanding craftsman are listed, Rashi explained that Moshe and the others didn’t grasp the nature of the objects that G-d wanted them to make for the sanctuary. So, G-d showed them images of the Menora and the other vessels. Based upon those images, the craftsman only had to find the materials and the correct techniques to craft the objects. The necessary understanding was limited to solving problems based upon information that they already possessed.
A judge, though, must possess much a deeper level of understanding. The principles of judging cases are already to be found in the Torah; however, they are applied in only a limited number of cases. A judge must be capable of figuring out when those principles must be applied to solve any number of new cases. He must be capable of comparing one case to another in order to know which principle to apply, and when not to apply that principle. Therefore, his level of understanding must be of the second type, in which he “opens our eyes” with new understanding of the situations in which we find ourselves. He must be able to illuminate the situations that he encounters in ways that are entirely new, that we didn’t think of before. It was this sort of “understanding” man that Moshe sought in our parsha, and could not find.
And that’s why Rashi mentions the money changer here, and not earlier in the case of the craftsman. The money changer who looks for new business is like the understanding judge; he doesn’t merely act upon what he possesses; he actively seeks new ways in which to invest his money and to profit. Similarly, the judge must be able to apply his understanding and expertise. And that, as well, is why Rashi mentions Rebbe Yosi; it was R’ Yosi who specialized in this type of intellect. The sages (in the Jerusalem Talmud, end of Tractate Sota) said that when Rebbe Yosi passed away, “bina,” or understanding also passed away from the world. That is, once R’ Yosi passed away, the level of understanding that allows a person to successfully compare one set of principles with another and arrive to the appropriate conclusions, just didn’t exist any more in the world.
Maybe now we can understand why Hebrew contains so many precisely defined words that mean intellect. As Rashi explains, there are many different kinds of intellect. The Torah (and the Hebrew language that conveys it) comes from a source that far transcends the human mind and intellect. But, the infinite light of the Torah impinges on the world through intellect. We are commanded to use our minds in order to grasp what is essentially beyond our minds. Since the light of G-d is infinite, it comes down to our intellect with infinite nuances and subtleties. The Hebrew language is tailor-made to convey those subtleties. Since the purpose of Hebrew is to bring the infinite light of G-d into the world, it does so with a whole array of synonyms to correspond to the subtle ways that the infinite light of G-d is conveyed and refracted in creation. It is human intellect that brings the infinite light into the creation, and perhaps that is why the Hebrew language contains so many synonyms for intellect.
Adapted from Likutei Sichot of the Lubavitcher Rebbe ztz’l, vol. 34, pp. 9-16 Rabbi David Sterne, Jerusalem Connection in the old city of Jerusalem