English translation — תבא ג

Sicha G<pg>160</pg>

A.

Regarding the law "A Torah scholar who has reached [the age of] instruction",

It is stated in the Gemara<sup>1</sup>

that a person does not become fit for instruction until forty years.

And Rashi explains<sup>2</sup>

"Until forty years — from [the time] he was born".

But in Tosafos³

it says "meaning,

Mishnah that he began to learn until forty years, and not Mishnah that he was born,

as we say in the first chapter of tractate Avodah Zarah⁴

And Hashem has not given you a heart to know until this very day⁵

it proves that a person does not grasp the mind of his teacher until forty years,

and this was from the giving of the Torah until forty years, when they began to learn."

And the foundation of Rashi to explain that the intention is "from when he was born" is⁶

from the Mishnah in tractate Avos⁷

"At forty years for understanding,"

that the intention is the age of forty

(like all the matters enumerated in the Mishnah: at five years for Scripture, at ten years etc.),

that then a person reaches the perfection of understanding

(understanding)

in Torah,

and therefore is fit for teaching,

and so it is in the commentary attributed to Rashi⁸

on tractate Avos there

(in the first commentary)

"At forty years,

to understand one thing from another and to rule according to the law."

But still the difficulty of the Tosafos

(on Rashi's commentary)

stands in its place,

how does this reconcile with the words of our Sages "a person does not stand on the mind of his teacher until forty years",

from which it is proven that the completeness of understanding in Torah comes after

forty years of study; and on the other hand it is difficult how will the Tosafos explain the words of the aforementioned Mishnah "a son of forty for understanding".

2.

And behold, in the Maharsha⁹

resolves the difficulty of the Tosafot,

and his language: "And this is not necessary,

for certainly there were in the generation of the wilderness several and many minors also who were born then before the giving of the Torah and were not fit at the beginning of the study then,

and also with them the verse speaks, and 'Hashem did not give you a heart to know' means that they have forty years from their birth even if he did not study forty years, and as we learned: 'A son of forty for understanding,' which does not specifically speak of one who studied all forty years."

And this is,

that according to Rashi's approach,

also in the Sages' statement "A person does not grasp the mind of his teacher until forty years," the intention is not for forty years of study from his teacher,

but rather for a son of forty years¹⁰.

And so it is¹¹

in the commentary attributed to Rashi on tractate Avot there

(in the second explanation)

: "For understanding,

as we say..

'And Hashem did not give you a heart to know and eyes to see and ears to hear until this day'⁵

From here [we learn] about a student who does not grasp his teacher's mind until he is forty years old."

But it requires further study,

for according to this it turns out,

that only about those who were born at the time of the Giving of the Torah and then

(at the time of the recitation of Mishneh Torah)

reached the age of forty years,

it is said "And the Lord did not give you a heart to know etc.<pg>161</pg>

until this day" — but not so those who were born in the years before the Giving of the Torah already "stood upon the opinion of their teacher"

(much)

time before this<sup>12</sup>.

And added to the difficulty in the explanation itself — for

(a)

from the implication of the language "and Hashem did not give you a heart to know etc." it implies that it speaks about all of Israel¹³,

(b)

why did he not rebuke those who were older than forty years — when they reached the age of forty

(and as Rashi explains¹⁴

the phrase "therefore the Omnipresent did not exact punishment from you until this day..

(and only)

from now on He will exact punishment" — and why did He not exact punishment before this on those who reached before this the age of forty years),

And further — this is the opposite of Rashi himself in tractate Avodah Zarah there⁴,

that he wrote "even Moses our teacher was not remembered to put upon his heart this matter until forty years",

behold it is explicit that the words of the verse "and Hashem did not give you a heart to know etc." were said also regarding Moses our teacher¹⁵

(who was then one hundred and twenty years old).

And it must be said that also Rashi explains the language "until forty years" in this saying of our Sages,

that is forty years from when he began to learn¹⁶.

3.

And one may say simply,

that the two [statements] of our Sages of blessed memory mentioned above — "at forty for understanding" and "a person does not grasp the mind of his teacher until forty years" —

do not contradict each other regarding the measure of the perfection of a person's understanding

(whether it is forty years from birth or forty years from when he began to learn)

— because they speak about two different matters:

The mishnah "at forty for understanding"

speaks about the natural "growth" of the soul's faculties,

that just as the body grows from smallness to greatness,

so too there is a "growth" of the soul's faculties,

which is a natural thing

(and is not dependent on a person's action),

that his faculties go and become perfected

(by themselves).

And this is "at forty for understanding,"

i.e., that the faculty of understanding in a person's soul goes and becomes perfected¹⁷

until it reaches its perfection at age forty,

when then a person has the ability "to understand one thing from another" etc.

(And as with the other matters enumerated in the mishnah there,

that the intention is not that at a certain age the matter itself exists

(Scripture, Mishnah, etc.)

but rather that then a person is capable of engaging in these things).

However, that which [it is said] "a person does not stand on the understanding of his teacher until forty years" speaks about understanding the words of the teacher itself,

meaning not that then he has the strength and the ability to understand the words of his teacher,

but rather that through forty years of actual study,

he understands and grasps and knows in actuality the mind of his teacher in its full depth and breadth,

"to know the end of his mind and his understanding"¹⁸.

And according to this, it can be said that in this Rashi and Tosafos disagree regarding the law of "one fit to instruct" which is only after forty years,

what is the definition of this condition:

One of the conditions of teaching

(even in this time)

is — receiving from his teacher,

that he learned the laws from him¹⁹

(and so he must be ordained by his teacher for teaching²⁰).

<pg>162</pg>

And in this very matter Rashi and Tosafot disagree,

what is the definition of the completeness of receiving from his teacher that is needed in order to make him fit for teaching

(in completeness²¹)

:

Rashi holds that primarily what matters is the perfection of the power of his understanding&lt;sup&gt;22&lt;/sup&gt;

of the person,

that he can understand one thing from another and compare one matter to another

(and receiving from his teacher is only a secondary condition,

that establishes him on the truth etc.),

and therefore forty years from his birth suffices,

for if he received all the laws from his teacher and he is forty years old, when the power of his understanding is at its perfection, we can rely on his ruling;

And Tosafos hold,

that this requirement of receiving from his teacher is because a halachic decisor must stand in the place of his teacher

[and in the manner that we find that ordination must be from person to person back to Moshe Rabbeinu&lt;sup&gt;23&lt;/sup&gt;,

one of the reasons for this being that they stand in the place of Moshe and his court&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt;

— behold, something akin to this is also the ruling in this era

(since ordination was nullified),

that its content and definition is,

that the ordained one is in the place of the ordainer]

;

And for this it is not sufficient that the student understands with the power of his intellect in its completeness

(at age forty)

that which he received from his teacher,

rather he must have within him that same understanding and knowledge of his teacher

(for only then does he stand in his place),

and therefore he is not fit for teaching until forty years "from when he began to learn",

for then he stands at the end of his teacher's knowledge.

And accordingly it is understood that from the outset it is not difficult for Rashi from the teaching of our Sages "a person does not stand on his teacher's knowledge until forty years" — for according to Rashi's method,

regarding teaching only the completeness of the person's own intellect matters

(and not the standing on his teacher's knowledge)

; and likewise it is not difficult for Tosafos from the Mishnah "forty years for understanding",

for certainly the completeness of the power of understanding of a person is at age forty

(and it is simple that without this condition he is not fit for teaching&lt;sup&gt;22&lt;/sup&gt;),

rather Tosafos hold that in addition to the completeness of the power of understanding of the student himself,

he must also have the standing on his teacher's knowledge in order to be fit for teaching,

as above.

4.

But still it is unclear regarding the body of the matter,

that the two statements of Chazal mentioned above

("At forty for understanding" and "A person does not grasp the mind of his teacher until forty years")

speak about two different matters —

It is explicit in Machzor Vitri

(on the tractate Avot there),

and this is its language: "At forty for understanding,

as it is written 'And Hashem did not give you a heart to know etc. until this day' and it was the fortieth year from the Exodus and from the Giving of the Torah..

Moshe did not perceive it until forty years..

They did not suffice to learn and to stand on the mind of Moshe until the fortieth year..

From here [we learn] about a student who does not grasp the depth of his teacher's mind for forty years" — behold, it connects the statement of Chazal "A person does not grasp the mind of his teacher until forty years"

(i.e., forty years of study from his teacher)

with the words of the Mishnah "At forty for understanding"²⁵.

[And so it is explicitly in Rashi on Avos

(from manuscript)²⁶

on the aforementioned Mishnah

("a son of forty for understanding")

:<pg>163</pg>

"A person does not grasp the mind of his teacher until forty years, as we find with Moshe etc. From here [we learn] that one does not grasp the mind of his teacher until he studies before him forty years"].

And it is forced to say that this was brought only as an example in general for this that forty years are needed also for the matter of understanding the intellect of one's teacher — because from the simple language of the aforementioned early authorities it seems that the content is one.

5.

And this will be understood with the introduction of additional explanation in this that "a person does not stand on the mind of his teacher until forty years",

that superficially how is it possible to give in this a measure equal for every person — forty years — and behold the comprehension of words of Torah depends on the talents of the student,

his knowledge etc.,

and there are in this differences from one extreme to the other,

and how is it possible to establish one rule for every student that he does not stand on the mind of his teacher until forty years?

And it must be said,

that the intention of Chazal in "a person stands on the mind of his teacher" is not for the understanding of the Torah that the teacher teaches his student

(that until forty years he has a more superficial understanding in the mind of the teacher,

and after forty years he descends

(more)

into the depth of the mind)

— rather the intention is for a matter more elevated that is not dependent on the talents and toil of the student,

but rather it comes in a manner of automatically

(if he toils as is proper with his own strength)

after forty years.

And it is explained in the plain sense of the verse — "And Hashem did not give you a heart to know etc. until this day",

which implies from this,

that the delay in this is not on the part of Bnei Yisrael

(that they did not give heart to know etc.),

but rather on the part of the Holy One, blessed be He,

that "Hashem did not give you a heart to know etc."²⁷.

And it is proven,

that standing on the mind of his teacher is not dependent on the toil of the person himself

(that his toil is what brings this about),

but rather this is a matter that comes from above,

that the Holy One, blessed be He, created the person and gave him a heart etc. in a manner that he does not stand on the mind of his teacher until forty years.

6.

Explanation of the concept:

In the study of the rav with the student,

there are two concepts: a)

study of details,

the specific topic that he studies with him,

b)

the way of study,

that the rav gives the student a way and method how to study,

and this way depends on the unique characteristics and senses of the power of intellect of the rav.

And a fundamental difference between them: the particular study the student receives from his teacher in a revealed manner,

that he hears from his teacher an explanation and elucidation of the subject,

and the more the student toils with the power of his intellect,

he will understand it more thoroughly and deeply; but the way of his teacher,

which is connected with the power of the teacher's intellect,

is not influenced and given in a revealed manner

[in the manner explained in many places²⁸,

that it is impossible to influence the power of intellect to another,

and in the manner of the adage "a head one cannot put on [someone else]"],

rather,

since this intellectual matter originates in the power of the teacher's intellect

(that with his unique intellectual power he invented or attained this intellectual matter),

it is understood,

that in it are hidden the unique qualities and senses of the power of the teacher's intellect.

And thus,

that in addition to the teacher teaching the student a particular intellectual matter, he also gives him the ability that his intellect will be like the teacher's intellect²⁹.

And it can be said,

that this is the content of the Sages' statement "a person does not grasp the mind of his teacher until forty years" — that the intention in this is not,

that after forty years the student understands thoroughly and deeply the words of Torah that he heard from his teacher forty years earlier,

but rather that then his way is absorbed<pg>164</pg>

The study of his teacher,

until the power of the student's intellect becomes like the power³⁰

of the teacher's intellect,

that through toil in his teacher's Torah over the course of forty years,

the senses and qualities of the teacher's intellect

(which are hidden in the intellectual words that he influenced to his student)

are absorbed little by little by the student,

until the student's senses become like the teacher's senses,

and then automatically he understands every matter and matter like his teacher.

And this is the explanation of "in the mind of his teacher" — not the knowledge of his teacher,

but rather his mind,

the power of the teacher's intellect,

in his unique qualities.

And also this matter can be proven from the plain meaning of the verses,

that this matter

(that "a person does not stand etc.")

we learn from "You³¹

have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt etc. the great trials which your eyes saw etc. but the Lord has not given you a heart to know etc. until this day",

and that is that from now and onward the children of Israel have "a heart to know etc." the "great trials" etc. that the Lord did for them forty years ago,

and as Rashi explains that therefore "from here onward He will be exacting,

and accordingly 'You shall keep³²

the words of this covenant etc.'".

At first glance it is not understood:

a)

Between the verses "And He did not give etc." and "And you shall guard etc." it is stated³³

"And I led you forty years etc. bread you did not eat etc. and you came to this place and Sihon went out etc. and we took his land etc." — these events are

(not from forty years ago,

but)

fewer

(many)

years after the Exodus from Egypt,

and if so, regarding these matters it is still impossible to demand of them that they have "a heart to know etc."?

b)

In "the words of this covenant" there are matters that they heard from Moshe's mouth

(not in the first year of their exodus from Egypt,

since already forty years had passed from then,

but)

many years afterwards and until — at the end of forty years

(like the portion of inheritances,

and more)

— and why does the Place "insist" on the hearing of these matters,

when they had not yet attained "the knowledge of their teacher" in these things?

And according to the above it is understood simply,

that the explanation of "a person stands on the knowledge of his teacher" is,

that the intellectual power of the student unites with the intellectual power of the teacher,

in a manner that then he understands every matter and matter according to the understanding of the teacher,

and so in our matter,

that after Bnei Yisrael have "a heart to know G-d" the things that the Holy One, blessed be He, did for them forty years ago,

by which they attained "the knowledge of their teacher" so to speak,

behold they already have "a heart to know G-d" in all that G-d did with them during these forty years etc.^*33.

7.

And this is also the explanation that [the matter of] standing on the mind of his teacher depends on years,

and not on the talents of the student and the measure of his toil in Torah.

For according to the above it is understood,

that this rule

("A person does not stand on the mind of his teacher until forty years")

applies only to a teacher and student where there is a relative distance between the power of their intellect in a manner,

that [the case] that the senses of the student become the senses of the teacher — this is a matter of a complete novelty,

that the teacher through his learning with him gives him a new power and sense,

and the "integration" of this power of the teacher within the student takes forty years

(for if the quality of the senses of the teacher and of the student from the outset are not distant from each other,

there is no need for a period of time

(great)

until the student stands on the mind of his teacher).

[And one must say,

that even this detail is learned from the source&lt;pg&gt;165&lt;/pg&gt;

the concept of "a person does not stand etc." — the verses of "You have seen etc. and Hashem did not give you a heart to know etc.",

that which is discussed there is in the conduct of the Holy One, blessed be He,

and in this itself — miraculous conduct that is above nature

("the great trials etc. those great signs and wonders"),

and this conduct is above the grasp of the intellect of a created being,

therefore,

it was not within the ability of Bnei Yisrael&lt;sup&gt;34&lt;/sup&gt;

to absorb in their mind and heart the nature and essence of this conduct

(in a manner that it would become internalized with them)

until forty years — for this is a novelty]&lt;sup&gt;*34&lt;/sup&gt;.

And it is found,

that the content of Chazal's "a person does not stand on the mind of his teacher until forty years" is the exact same concept of "a son of forty to understanding"³⁵

— that the perfection of the power of understanding of a person takes forty years; except that in the Mishnah it speaks of the power of understanding of the person himself

(given to him at the time of birth),

and Chazal's "a person does not stand etc." speaks of the power of his understanding and knowledge of the teacher that is given and flows

(in concealment)

to his student,

that in order for this intellect to develop and be perfected in the student until it becomes inherent in him in a manner that the student's senses become like the teacher's senses,

this takes forty years

(the measure of the perfection of the power of understanding).

8.

And in this way one can explain the words of Tosafos in the topic of "a person does not stand etc."^*35,

who questioned Rashi's explanation that "even Moses was not reminded" — "And if you ask, why was Moses angry at Israel

(for when the Holy One, blessed be He, said

(at the giving of the Torah)

"Who would give that their heart be this etc."³⁶,

"they should have said 'You give'"³⁷),

behold even he was not reminded

(therefore "Moses did not hint it

(this rebuke)

to Israel until forty years^*37)?

And it can be said that because he did not need this prayer, he did not pay attention until forty years, when he stood on the mind of his teacher,

but Israel, who needed this prayer, should have contemplated from that hour, since they had already sinned with the calf and the spies."

And from the words of the Tosafot it is understood,

that since the Children of Israel "were in need of this prayer",

behold, through their contemplation they were in the category of "he stands on the mind of his master" immediately then

(at the time of the Giving of the Torah),

even before the forty years

(for otherwise what is the claim against them "that they should have said etc.",

if they had not yet attained "the mind of his master").

And according to the above regarding the concept of "he stands on the mind of his master"

(that this is not only the understanding of the intellect of the master,

but rather that which the senses of the master are absorbed by the student until that in a manner of automatically he understands like the master)

— one must explain the matters,

for when the matter touches the very essence of the person,

this itself is like the concept of "he stands on the mind of his master",

that the very power of his intellect is changed.

And according to the saying of the Admor Maharash&lt;sup&gt;38&lt;/sup&gt;,

that we find "the laws of women etc. and their claims that they can claim and about this Tannaim and Amoraim and the Geonim speak,

that all of them are people of extraordinary intellect..

And is not the woman not on a level to claim these claims,

but the truth is that when the matter touches,

behold even the weak-minded devise deep intellects".

And that is,

because when the matter touches oneself,

automatically the human intellect devises deep reasonings etc. in accordance with the need;

And so in our matter,

that since Bnei Yisrael "needed this prayer",

that the matter had to be touching to them,

therefore,

there is not in this the limitation of "a person does not stand&lt;pg&gt;166&lt;/pg&gt;

etc. until "forty years" — that if the matter was truly relevant to them,

in a natural way they would understand it and it would be absorbed by them,

like "a person does not grasp the mind of his teacher" until after forty years.

9.

And now, based on the statement of our Sages of blessed memory that "a person does not grasp the mind of his teacher until forty years," one can find a source in the Written Torah for the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov

(the twentieth of Elul is his birthday)

— which is a foundation of the teachings of Chassidus — that "every&lt;sup&gt;39&lt;/sup&gt;

single thing that a person sees or hears is a lesson in divine service,

and this is the matter of divine service,

to understand and comprehend from everything — a way in divine service."

And it is found,

that everything that happens to a Jew needs to be "learned" from it

(in the manner of learning a matter, as it were, in Torah),

until he can derive from this a directive in his service to his Creator.

And this matter is explicit in the aforementioned words of our Sages,

that they learn this that "a person does not stand on the mind of his teacher",

from what is said "You have seen etc. and the Lord has not given you a heart to know etc. until this day".

For at first glance,

regarding matters of Torah,

it is understood that there must be a delay of time until one stands "on the mind of his teacher",

due to the depth within depth hidden in the words of Torah that the teacher teaches with his student; but regarding "the great trials" and "the signs and wonders",

which are things seen by the senses,

behold at the time of seeing the miracles for the first time,

he already "grasped" everything,

and what relevance is there to say about this "a person does not stand on the mind of his teacher until forty years"?

And it must be said,

that in these miracles were hidden instructions in divine service,

and this is the ultimate intention of the Holy One, blessed be He, in performing these miracles

(from which Bnei Yisrael will learn "they took" strengthening in their service to their Creator),

and the details of these instructions can be delved into more and more,

until after forty years they stand on the "end of His intention" of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, in performing these miracles.

But for this one needs to delve into the details of the miracles etc.

(in the manner explained⁴⁰,

that in order to understand his teacher's mind, the student must be precise in the letters of the teacher etc.,

for in these precise details is hidden the depth and inwardness of the teacher's intention),

then,

after forty years they stand on the depth of the intention and the instructions in this.

And so it is with every single thing that a person sees or hears,

that they constitute a lesson and study

(like words of Torah),

that one must contemplate them,

learn them and be precise in them,

in a manner,

that after forty years the matter becomes ingrained in him,

"he stands on the opinion of the Rabbi."

(From talks of Shabbat Parshat Vayishlach and Yud-Tes Kislev 5729; Yud-Beis Tammuz 5727)