1:1 Tapping into the Transmission

What's the importance of being told the detailed order of the transmission of the Torah? The sage could have just written in short that it went from Moshe and eventually reached the Men of the Great Assembly nearly a thousand years later, intact and accurate?

Moses received the Torah from Sinai and gave it over to Joshua. Joshua gave it over to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets gave it over to the Men of the Great Assembly. They [the Men of the Great Assembly] would always say these three things: Be cautious in judgment. Establish many pupils. And make a safety fence around the Torah [Avot 1:1].

QUESTIONS

Q1: There seems to be two different and separate parts to this mishnah. A) Telling the order of the passing down of the Torah. B) Telling the three prime teachings of the sages of the Anshei Knesset Hagedolah {'Men of the Great Assembly' — the first rabbinical 'Supreme Court' at the time of the Second Temple in Jerusalem]. What do these two parts have to do with each other and why did the sages of the Mishnah not divide them into two separate mishnahs?

Q2: What's the importance of being told the detailed order of the transmission of the Torah? The sage could have just written in short that it went from Moshe and eventually reached the Anshei Knesset Hagedolah nearly a thousand years later, intact and accurate?

Q3: Even more, if he is going to specify all the generations, well then he's missing a lot. In the time of the elders and the prophets, there were dozens of generations not mentioned here. So why didn't he include them?

Q4: Why mention the prophets as a stage in the transmission of the Torah? The reason for the Anshei Knesses Hagedola receiving the Torah from the prophets is not derived from their attainment of prophecy, because a prophet cannot make laws based on prophecy. So why mention this advantage of theirs when it has no connection to the importance of Torah — which is what's being discussed here?

ANSWERS

A2, 3, 4: The purpose of being told the order of the passing down of the Torah is in order to teach a lesson to each and every Jew. Learning Torah cannot just stay in the mind but must affect his soul and how he conducts himself. He must make effort in all five levels of the order of the transmission of the Torah: the distinct levels of Moshe, Yehoshua, Elders, Prophets and Anshei Knesset Hagedola. This also explains why the sage uses the terminology of 'prophets' — because it is this level that needs to be affected in the soul, not the aspect of their wisdom.

This also explains to us why Moshe was named as 'Moshe' and not 'prophet', despite his being the greatest prophet of all time. Because it is not that level that needs to be worked on — but the even higher level beyond that of 'Moshe'.

The five levels of working with Torah in one's life:

These five levels need to be in order from easiest, lowest to hardest, highest levels of his soul.

Level A: Moshe = Bittul D'chachma — Nullifying one's intellect. This is the basis of genuine Torah learning. Not to understand it or feel it, but to have kabbalat ol — total uncompromising acceptance — of the Torah.

Level B: Yehoshua = the next level of kabbalat ol which extends from the level of 'Moshe'. To be the student who doesn't leave. To sit all day and learn and just take it in and accept. To be Yehoshua, the disciple who never left Moshe's tent.

Level C: Elders = Once you have this basis of the Torah inside you, now you need to understand it. Bring in your mind. Be the elder, as it says, 'who is an elder? One that acquires wisdom.'

Level D: Prophets = The prophets, although they of course ruled the halacha (Torah law) according to wisdom as is commanded, they first saw the halacha as it is in heaven and then drew it down into human conception. This is the higher level above understanding. To have the yiras shomayim (fear of heaven), of G‑d, that enables you to have this higher level of understanding and perception.

Level E: Anshei Knesset Hagedolah = once you have all this understanding, now it's about putting it to use. It says that the Anshei Knesset Hagedolah were the ones who dealt with the harshness and evil of the world and fixed it. Take the physical world and each individual's yetzer hara (evil inclination), and break its interference and the shadow it is putting over everything good and bring it forth into light. This is the level of working with the world at large and your own personal world, and affecting it for the good.

A1: therefore, the Sage brings these two seemingly separate parts into this one mishnah, because once you've followed the advice of the Anshei Knesses Hagedola, of working with the world and elevating it, you'd have made the 'many' — the Kelipot (the impurities that separate), into kedusha (holiness), and joined them into one to be 'students' of Torah and 'standing', unified and strong (the deeper level of this mishnah).

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Rabbi Nadav Cohen, a former Educational Director of 'Ascent-of-Safed', is the author of the groundbreaking easy-to-understand Hebrew exploration of the Tanya's basic concepts, Muda'ut Yehudit. The popular English translation-adaptation, by Zalman Nelson of Tzefat (Safed), is titled “GPS for the Soul.'