Rabbi Zweig explores how Israel becomes God's 'mother' through accepting divine kingship, analyzing the deeper meaning of 'crowned by his mother' in Shir HaShirim and its connection to the grammatical ambiguity in 'Bereishis bara Elokim.'
Rabbi Zweig begins by addressing a challenging verse from Shir HaShirim (3:11): 'Go forth and see, daughters of Zion, King Solomon with the crown that his mother crowned him.' The Gemara (גמרא) interprets this as referring to God being crowned by His 'mother,' which raises the theological question of how God can have a mother. Through a mashal (parable) about a king who loved his daughter so much that he called her first 'my daughter,' then 'my sister,' and finally 'my mother,' the Gemara explains that Israel progresses through these relationships with God. The shiur then delves into a fascinating grammatical analysis of the opening verse of the Torah (תורה). Rabbi Zweig explains why the seventy-two elders translating for Ptolemy changed 'Bereishis bara Elokim' to 'Elokim bara bereishis' to avoid the implication that someone created God. However, he questions why the Torah was originally written in an ambiguous way that could be misunderstood. Rabbi Zweig proposes that the ambiguity is intentional and reveals a profound truth about divine kingship. The concept 'ein melech b'lo am' (there is no king without a people) means that God's kingship in this world depends on our accepting Him as King. Therefore, 'Bereishis bara Elokim' can be understood as Israel (called 'reishis') participating in making God King through their acceptance of His sovereignty. This explanation could not be shared with Ptolemy because gentiles are not part of this coronation process - only Israel has the role of making God King in this world through accepting the Torah and mitzvos. The partnership between God and Israel is so profound that we become like His 'mother' - the one who gives Him His status and importance in this world. The shiur traces the historical progression of Israel's relationship with God: during the patriarchal period we were like a 'daughter' (receiving everything from the Father), during the Egyptian exile and exodus we became like a 'sister' (maintaining family traditions and loyalty), and at Sinai with the acceptance of Torah we reached the level of 'mother' - actively participating in establishing God's kingship. This explains why the acceptance of Torah is called both God's 'wedding day' and 'the day of His heart's joy' - it's when Israel crowned God as King through saying 'na'aseh v'nishma.'
Rabbi Zweig explores Eichah Rabba's interpretation of 'Bas Galim' (daughter of waves), revealing two distinct types of teshuvah: decisional repentance based on personal choice, and instinctive repentance rooted in learned behaviors from our forefathers.
Rabbi Zweig explores the profound difference between merely doing tasks versus taking full responsibility, using the stories of Iyov (Job), Avraham's burial of Sarah, and the Jewish slavery in Egypt to illustrate how true spiritual growth requires taking managerial responsibility for our own lives rather than just following orders.
Shir HaShirim 3:11
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