The Rishonim took great efforts to explain the reasons and the beauty behind the mitzvos Hashem gave us. In the forefront stands the Chinuch who authored a book compiling all the 613 mitzvos in a clear and concise format. The author is generally assumed to be R. Aharon Halevy, or the Re'ah, of mid thirteenth century Barcelona. In the entry he authored for every article, the Chinuch gives a brief paragraph explaining the "shorshei," or the "depth" of the mitzvah.
At times, they are quite timeless:
Regarding the mitzvah on the Leviim not to encroach on the Kohen's service and vice versa, the Chinuch writes:
"...The tasks of these two groups are precious and sacred; as such, care must be taken lest they become subject to idleness and neglect. There is no doubt that a job charged to two people or more will be subject to more neglect than a job charged to but one man alone. For many times each one will rely on the other; meanwhile, the job will not get done. This is clear to all men. Indeed, our Rabbis succinctly expressed this very point: 'The pot of two partners neither heats up nor cools down...'"
ספר החינוך מצוה שפ"ט
Interesting post.
ReplyDelete"Generally assumed..."
Some more info:
Chida (Shem Hagedolim, Ma'arechet Gedolim, under the name of Aharon HaLevi) argued that to say that the Chinuch is the the work of the Re'ah is problematic. His points:
1) The Re'ah is known to be a student of the Ramban. Yet the Chiunch quotes the Ramban saying zechrono levrachah, while saying in other instances "from the mouth of my master may G-d protect him," (meaning his teacher was alive, while Ramban had passed) indicating that his teacher was not the Ramban.
2)The Chiuch often has different views than that of the Re'ah.
True that. Could you send me a link of a good article on this topic and I'll post it here for further viewing? Thanx
ReplyDeleteSome people tend to believe that it is the work of the Rashabah, for in most cases thier views are very alike.
ReplyDeleteThe refutation to tah is the Rashabh was not a "Levi", and the chinuch clearly states he was a "Levi". (which is what why most people are inclined to say it was the Re'ah)