Sunday, February 15, 2009

The danger of trivializing Torah

Hi,


"King David was punished for calling the words of Torah "songs," as he did in the verse (Psalms 119), 'Your laws were songs for me in the house of my dwelling.'

"Gd said to him: You call these words songs? Regarding those words it is written (Proverbs 23), 'Blink your eyes and they disappear (meaning that understanding them requires great concentration)!'"

(Talmud, Sotah 35a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

4 comments:

  1. Just want to know how King David was punished when he trivialized the Torah.
    Jeannie M.

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  2. This is actually a very interesting point.
    The gemara there is discussing the death of Uzza. At one point during the parade when Dovid was bringing the Aron to Yerushalayim, a man named Uzza thought the Aron might fall, and he tried to support it - and he died.
    The gemara takes it for granted that not only was Uzza being punished here (for his presumption regarding the Aron), but Dovid was also being punished, in that this death occurred during an event he had organized.

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  3. Where in the gemara does the death of Uzza appear?
    Jeannie

    ReplyDelete