A Striking and Beautiful Formulation of Torah Life

It was a striking statement that beautifully captures the essence of Torah life. A woman from Teaneck named Ms. Nancy Neff submitted a letter to the editor to The Jewish Link of New Jersey beautifully stating:

“I came to be a Torah-observant Jew because I believed that mitzvah observance not only makes me a better person, but also allows me to ‘live the prophecy.’ Judaism is special. It is a gift that requires constant and careful handling. Hashem entrusted us with laws that will ensure that this gift endures.

“We are under tremendous pressure to embrace all the new ideas, or threatened that we will be ostracized if we don’t embrace them. In the arc of Jewish history, they create the slippery slope that actually challenges and threatens our survival.

“There is a reason why Jews have not become extinct, surviving countless and continuous attempts to annihilate us. We cling to a living Torah that sustains us. The laws that Moshe Rabbeinu received at Mt. Sinai are as alive today as they were then. I am proud to live in a community that accepts these facts. We embrace all Jews but we live by a Torah and mesorah that tells us how to plug into eternity so we all survive.”

Our Living the Prophecy

I am particularly fascinated by the phrase “living the prophecy.” On Purim, for example, we live the prophecy that the Jews will always remember and observe the Purim holiday (Esther 9:28). Hearing this pasuk read on Purim should give us the goosebumps, as we, the readers, are truly part of the story. The same is for the words of Rashi (to Devarim 31:21) who notes that the Jews will always be observing the Torah. On Friday evening, Sephardic and most Ashkenazic Jews describe Shabbat as part of the eternal covenant (“brit olam”) between us and Hashem: our observance of Shabbat plants us squarely in the midst of eternity.

Indeed, I believe that most or even all observant Jews are attracted to observance to a great extent because of the priceless feeling that by adhering to the Torah one is part of eternity. Ms. Neff is surely not the first baalat teshuva who was attracted to the precious opportunity halachic observance provides to “plug into eternity” and reclaim the heritage that is rightfully hers.

Elisha Cures the Water of Yericho

Ms. Leff’s letter helps us understand a puzzling episode recorded at the end of Melachim II Perek 2 in which Elisha cures the putrid water of Yericho by pouring salt into the water. It seems highly counterintuitive that salt should cure water; it should only make the rancid waters even worse!

Rashi’s Explanation

Rashi explains that Elisha added salt to magnify the miracle. Adding salt made it a “neis b’toch neis,” a miracle within a miracle. In this manner one could not doubt that it was Hashem who brought about the result. This is similar to Makkat Barad (the plague of hail) where fire was contained within the hail to create a double miracle, as Rashi notes to Shemot 9:24.

Malbim’s Explanation

Malbim adds a powerful layer of explanation to Elisha’s placing salt. He notes that bad waters (“mayim hara’im”) are presented in Pirkei Avot (1:11) as a metaphor for misguided Torah teaching. Salt, the Malbim notes, is a symbol of the permanent covenant between us and Hashem. In fact, this is the Torah’s reason for why we are required to salt the korbanot we offer in the Beit Hamikdash (Vayikra 2:13). It is also part of the reason why we salt our challah on Shabbat and Yom Tov.

The people of Yericho were disconnected from the eternity of the Torah, and this manifested itself in their water becoming putrid. Elisha solves the physical problem by addressing the spiritual problem. Elisha adding salt refers, explains Malbim, to reconnect the people of Yericho to their heritage of Torah observance. Elisha plugged the people of Yericho into eternity. By curing their spiritual malaise, their physical waters were healed as well.

Conclusion

When adding salt to our challot on special occasions we can remind ourselves of Elisha adding salt to the troubled waters of Yericho. Plugging ourselves into the eternal bliss of Torah life is the great elixir for so much of what ails us. Let us truly revel in our God-given opportunity to live the prophecy. Thank you, Ms. Neff, for reminding us in such eloquent terms of our core mission in life.

By Rabbi Haim Jachter

Rabbi Haim Jachter is the spiritual leader of Congregation Shaarei Orah, the Sephardic Congregation of Teaneck. He also serves as a rebbe at Torah Academy of Bergen County and a dayan on the Beth Din of Elizabeth.