אמר רב חננאל אמר רב החליף פרשיותיה פסולות אמר אביי לא אמרן
whereas in the other it is to the right of the one that wears them; the reader thus reads them<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When reading the portions from right to left (Rashi) .');"><sup>27</sup></span> according to their order.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Sc. as they are found in the Torah, and that is, the order as given in the first Baraitha (Rashi) . According to R. Tam's interpretation of the first Baraitha, which states the order from the reader's point of view, the sections occupy the following places: 'Sanctify' is on the extreme right, to the left of it is 'And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee', next to it is 'And it shall come to pass if ye shall hearken diligently', and on the extreme left is 'Hear'.');"><sup>28</sup></span> R'Hananel said in the name of Rab, If a man reversed the order of the Scriptural portions, it is invalid. Abaye said, This is so
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 18,5. “let me take a piece of bread so that you can refresh yourselves,……he presented it to them and they ate.” The true meaning of this verse has been best explained by the Or Hachayim, according to whom even the highest ranking angel, Michael is on occasion referred to as “High Priest,” whereas on other occasions he is known by another name. [Not in my edition of the אור החיים. Ed.] The point of this is to alert us to the fact that the standing, or even existence, of the angels in the celestial spheres, is affected by the mitzvah performance of the Israelites in the terrestrial part of the universe. When Israel is meticulous in the performance of G’d’s Torah, then the most senior of the angels in the celestial spheres assumes the title: “High Priest.” When Avraham spoke about a פת לחם, instead of merely פת, bread, he alludes to both the written and the oral Torah. The word פת refers to the written Torah, whereas the word לחם refers to the oral Torah. The word לחם in psalms 78,25 i.e. לחם אבירים, is an allusion to the Torah. According to the Talmud Menachot 34, the word פת amongst the Africans means “two.” [The latter half of the word: טוטפת. Ed.] The word is used as an allusion to Torah also in Proverbs 9,5, לכו לחמו בלחמי, “come and partake of My bread.” [Compare Alshich, pages 171-172, my translation of Proverbs. Ed.] When Avraham is now described as serving the angels, we may see in this the reward both for Avraham‘s having performed the circumcision on himself, as well as reward for the angels, their being hosted by a person of Avraham’s standing. [Perhaps the mitzvah of hospitality shown the angels by Lot in the following chapter was a factor in his being saved, whereas his wife was not. Ed.] When Avraham, in verse 8, is described as standing next to the angels while the latter were seated while eating, the “tree” mentioned in that verse may be a reference to the tree described as “tree of life” in Proverbs 3,18, i.e. an allusion to the Torah.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
