תורה בדרכו של אלן וינר
Asher & Elisheva (Gold) Stein
A lesson learned from Grandpa
רבי פנחס בשם רבי שמעון בן לקיש: התורה שנתן לו הקב"ה למשה נתנה לו אש לבנה חרותה באש שחורה. (ירושלמי שקלים פ"ו ה"א, מט ע"ד)
The Gemara teaches that the Torah was given to Moshe as white fire engraved with black fire. The white fire represents white parchment, while the black fire represents the letters written in black ink.
דאמר רב יהודה אמר רב כל אות שאין גָוִיל [=קלף ריק] מוקף לה מארבע רוחותיה פסולה. (בבלי מנחות כט ע"א)
There is a halacha that if the letters of the Torah aren’t surrounded by white parchment on all sides then the Torah is pasul.
Why is the blank parchment so important?
ומה היו הפסקות משמשות? ליתן ריוח למשה להתבונן בין פרשה לפרשה ובין ענין לענין" (רש"י על התורה, ויקרא א:א)
Rashi and additional commentators say that the empty spaces in the Torah are for our own new ideas and to develop upon the ideas of the Torah; i.e. that they represent Torah Shebe’al Peh.
Grandpa taught me a different idea, based on the Zohar. The letters (black fire) can only be read in the context of the paper (white fire). Blank spaces give the letters their shape and enable them to be read. This is to say that sometimes what is most important is to be able to properly convey information and present it in a way that is understandable and effective, rather than coming up with new ideas.
This idea is one that encapsulates the teacher that Grandpa is. Grandpa always comes up with creative and illustrative ways to teach us important lessons and new (to us) ideas. We can see his love and attention for presentation shine through in his divrei Torah, in his signs, and even in his love of Apple products!
Grandpa, through his great humility, sees himself as the white fire around the black; a medium for transferring developed ideas rather than being a source of chiddushim himself. It’s for this reason that for a period of time Grandpa named his series of divrei Torah “White Fire.”
This, in and of itself, is really the greatest chiddush of all. To recognize the power of great communication and design in bringing forward ideas and lessons; to know how to best use your strengths to affect others is no small task. Thank you Grandpa for the lengths you’ve gone to teach us amazing things, happy birthday!
