Leah named her fourth child Yehudah saying "ha'pa'am odeh es Hashem," with the birth of this child I will give thanks. The Daas Zekeinim adds an additional reason for the name. When confronted with the evidence pointing to his own guilt, Yehudah admits -- he is modeh -- to Tamar that he is in fact the one who had relations with her.
We've discussed before the relationship between the idea of hoda'ah, giving thanks and praise, and the idea of being modeh/viduy, confessing and owning up. Hoda'ah is giving thanks for something you never thought would happen. 12 children / 4 wives of Yaakov = 3 children per wife. Yehudah was an extra gift above what was expected. Viduy/hodaah is the same idea -- you thought X was true, but are now modeh that the reality is different.
The Targum Yonasan writes that Leah gave Yehudah that name because she saw that his descendent would be David haMelech who would give hoda'ah. The T.Y. likely means that David gave hoda'ah to Hashem by saying Sefer Tehillim. However, it's worth noting that David is also modeh to wrongdoing when confronted by Noson haNavi regarding the episode with BasSheva.
Sefas Emes quotes the Ch haR"IM that Yosef=hallel but Yehudah=hoda'ah. Yosef has a dream that shows him what the Divine plan is, and every obstacle he encounters is just a bump on the road leading towards what he knows will be the inevitable conclusion. Yehudah and his brothers reject that dream. From the sale of Yosef right through their final reconciliation with Yosef, their struggle is one of their own making, a struggle against their own (mis)perception of the way things should be. The hodaah of rediscovering Yosef can only be achioeved with viduy, acceptance that their version of reality is incorrect.
In Widen Your Tent sec 8.7 "To Be a Jew" (pp 369-374), I write about Yehudah in terms of the hoda'ah he was named for and the vidui that comes up with Tamar and Vayigash, as well as with his descendants (David and Bat-Sheva, most famously). And then Chazal take the same shoresh and in their use it's extended to refer to agreement (e.g. "הכל מודים בעצרת דבעינן נמי לכם").
ReplyDeleteI build the case that to be a Jew is to be aware of your connection to others. If you eliminate the negative ways we can be aware of that -- lo siqom velo sitor (dwelling on the wrong they did you), or dwelling on the tov you did them, what's left is talking about our achdus in terms of the good they did us (hoda'ah), the bad we did them (vidui), or the win-win (hakol modim).
This was the one range of derakhim in avodas H' to survive Galus Bavel. (By the time we get to the Megillah, even an "ish Yemini" is a Yehudi.)
(Since the book is all about R Shimon's introduction to Shaarei Yosher including his take on "im ein ani li", this whole mehalekh fits the broader thesis.)
[a book of 374+ pages, about an "introduction"?! Widening the Tent indeed...]
ReplyDelete-- "the relationship between the idea of hoda'ah...and the idea of being modeh/viduy"
a confused one, as in pasuk 3 of "mizmor l'todah" (linked post), where one reads vav-lamed-vav, though what's written is >vav-lamed-aleph<. 'He made us [hoda'ah*], >not< we' [viduy]. we are not self-made, though "Yehudah and his brothers" might [for a time] think so, selling the offensive dreamer in a southbound project "of their own making"...
*...and we are His (as read)
-- "David is...modeh...regarding the episode with BasSheva"
and forgiven (in part) because of his second sefer Torah? "kabbalas haTorah as a mechapeir" (DC, May 13, 2013)?
David's first sefer Torah (in the Treasury), a reception from Sinai in its own right, helps clear him of ordinary sins; his second, pocket Torah, helps clear him* of sins of [kingly] power, such as ordering BasSheva for a visit from her rooftop, or sending Uriah to the front line...
the first sefer Torah is a cause for praise (more precious than gold! [it rests atop the bullion in the Treasury, in pride of place]), the second** an opportunity for "confessing and owning up" (hand on Bible, 'swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth'), if a king should abuse his power over his brothers...
*clear David, and any other melech given, more or less, to keeping Torah (in this case, writing a second sefer {= a second reception from Sinai, then DC '13 above})
**still the first (and only) personal Torah of those not king, for viduy...
Taking the dual meaning of hodaa to a further length it is worth noting that The Tur Ha’Aruch al HaTorah (ad loc.), cited by Rav Yaakov Chaim Orloff (Avir Yaakov, Vayeitzei), teaches us that because Leah thanked Hashem but did not make any more requests for children, she stopped giving birth. This at first seems counterintuitive. If I thank someone for a gift, but add, “Another $50,000 would be nice,” would that bring more blessing? Or would it cause my benefactor to turn his back on me?
ReplyDeleteYet we see this concept elsewhere, as well, points out the Avir Yaakov. The Rambam (Hilchos Berachos 10:26) teaches that a person should always cry out to Hashem about the future and ask for mercy, while also acknowledging, thanking, and praising Hashem for what he has been given in the past. In addition, if we look carefully at much of tefillah (e.g., Shemoneh Esrei, Modim DeRabbanan, Nishmas, Hallel, and Birkas HaMazon), we will see that after thanking Hashem, we close our tefillos with additional requests. Apparently, it is not enough to give thanks for the past, but one must also ask for the future. Why is that?
The Avir Yaakov explains that in Lashon HaKodesh, the word for thanking, ,להודות comes from the same root as ,להתודותto admit. When a person thanks Hashem, he is acknowledging that everything comes from Him and he could not have done anything without Him. He is negating himself and essentially saying, “I admit that I needed You in the past and will still need You in the future. No matter how much I have already received, I will never be self-sufficient. You, Hashem, gave it to me, and You, Hashem, can take it from me at any time. I understand that I am as needy now as I was before I was the recipient of Your largesse.”
If, however, the person says, “Thanks for the gift, but now I don’t need anything else,” that is not real self-negation. It is as if he is saying, “You helped me before, but I’m good now. See You later.” He is essentially denying and disrespecting the One Who is always needed. In this case, there is thanks but no admission. This explains why our tefillos do not stop with thanks, but go onto an admission that we need Hashem in the future, as well.
And this is why Leah lost out, since her thanks for Yehudah without a request for future blessings didn’t constitute a full hodaah — thanks plus admission.
Maor vaShemesh:
ReplyDeleteוהנה שמעתי מאדמ"ו הרב הקדוש מו' יעקב יצחק מלובלין הכ"מ זלה"ה במעשה דחוני המעגל במס' תענית שהתפלל על הגשמים עד שירדו גשמים מרובי' ולא היו צריכים להם עוד ובקשו ממנו שיתפלל עליהם שלא ירדו עוד אמר להם שיביאו לו פר הודאה יעוין שם והביאו לו והקריב ופסקו הגשמי' אמר אדמ"ו זלה"ה שהכוונה הי' כנ"ל כי אחר שהקריב פר הודאה בזה רימז שכבר יצאו מן הצער לגמרי ואינם צריכים עוד להטובה וממילא יפסקו הגשמי' וזה מרומז בפסוק שלפנינו אחר שאמרה לאה הפעם אודה את ה' וקראה שמו יהודה לשון הודאה ממילא הראה בעצמה שכבר קבלה כל הטובה בבנים ואינה צריכה עוד לטובה זו על כן ותעמוד מלדת
wow,learn new things...thanks
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