“Make for yourself two silver trumpets. You should make them of hammered metal. And
they will be yours for summoning the assembly and to cause the camps to
journey.” (BeMidbar 10:2)
In our pasuk, Hashem commands Moshe to create
trumpets. This passage and the
following pesukim outline four functions assigned to these trumpets. First, the trumpets would be used to
announce that the camp of Bnai Yisrael must begin a new stage of its
journey. Second, the trumpets would to be
used to assemble the people or the leadership. Third, the
trumpets were to be sounded when the Festival sacrifices or the sacrifices for
the Rosh Chodesh – the new month –
would be offered in the Mishcan. Fourth, the trumpets were to be sounded at a
time of affliction.
Of course, the first function mentioned in these passages no
longer applies. We are not traveling
through the wilderness. However, the
other three functions continued to apply after the people entered the Land of
Israel. Maimonides explains that when
Bnai Yisrael is confronted with a threat or affliction, we are required to call
out to Hashem and to sound these trumpets.[1]
Maimonides tells us the trumpets are to be sounded in the Bait HaMikdash during the offering of
the Festival and Rosh Chodesh
sacrifices.[2]
He also explains that the trumpets are to be sounded to assemble the
people to listen to the King read from the Torah on second day of Succot of the
year following the Sabbatical Year.[3]
However, there is an interesting problem in Maimonides’ treatment
of these trumpets. In his Sefer
HaMitzvot, Maimonides explains that we are commanded to sound the trumpets when
offering the Festival and Rosh Chodesh
sacrifices. He adds – seemingly as a
postscript – that these trumpets are also sounded when we are confronted with a
danger or an affliction.[4]
It seems clear from this formulation that not all functions of the
trumpets are equally central to the mitzvah. The primary function of the trumpets is to
be sounded when offering the Festival and Rosh
Chodesh sacrifices. The sounding of
the trumpets at a time of affliction is treated as a secondary function. In this description of the mitzvah, Maimonides does not mention the
sounding of the trumpets to assemble the people.
In his code of law – the Mishne Torah – Maimonides places the mitzvah of sounding the trumpets in the
opening law in the laws of fasts. He
explains that it is a positive commandment to cry out to Hashem and to sound
the trumpets whenever an affliction confronts the people. In this treatment of the mitzvah Maimonides does not even make
mention of the other functions of the trumpets – their sounding when offering
the Festival and Rosh Chodesh
sacrifices and their sounding to assemble the people.[5]
In short, in Sefer HaMitzvot, Maimonides seems to assert that the
primary function of the trumpets is the requirement to sound them with the
offering of the Festival and Rosh Chodesh
sacrifices. But in Mishne Torah, he
treats the sounding of the trumpets at a time of affliction as the primary
element of the mitzvah.
Actually, this is one of numerous instances in which Maimonides
treatment of mitzvah in Sefer
HaMitzvot differs from his treatment of the same mitzvah in his Mishne Torah.
In order to understand Maimonides’ two different treatments of this mitzvah it is helpful to consider
another example of a similar seeming inconsistency. In his Mishne Torah, Maimonides introduces his laws of repentance
by explaining that when a person violates a mitzvah
one is required to repent and confess the sin.
He explains that this confession is a positive commandment.[6]
In this characterization of the mitzvah
of confession – veyduy – Maimonides
describes it as the essence or as an essential component of the process of
repentance. In his Sefer HaMitzvot,
Maimonides offers a similar definition of the mitzvah of veyduy. However, he includes this mitzvah among the commandments relating
to sacrifices.[7]
In other words, in his Mishne Torah Maimonides presents the mitzvah of veyduy as the fundamental mitzvah
discussed in the laws of repentance. In
his Sefer HaMitzvot, he presents it as one of the many mitzvot related to sacrifices.
Maimonides adds an interesting and important comment to his
discussion of the mitzvah of veyduy in his Sefer HaMitzvot. He explains that the Torah discusses the mitzvah of veyduy in the context of its treatment of sacrifices. This context might mislead a person to
assume that the performance of veyduy
is an element within the offering of sacrifices and that without a sacrifice veyduy is not performed. Maimonides explains that this is not the
case. The performance of veyduy is required whenever a
commandment is violated. Even when a
sacrifice is not or cannot be brought the performance of veyduy is required.
Therefore, veyduy deserves to
be treated as an independent mitzvah
and not as a mere element within the process of offering a sacrifice.[8]
Maimonides is clearly defending his treatment of veyduy as an independent mitzvah within the system of Taryag – the 613 mitzvot. He is arguing that
veyduy is not an element of the
process of offering a sacrifice. But if
this is Maimonides position, why does he include this mitzvah among the mitzvot
dealing with sacrifices?
In short, there are two problems with Maimonides’ treatment of the
mitzvah of veyduy. First, in his
Mishne Torah he describes it as the mitzvah
that is the basis of the laws of repentance.
He does not relate it to sacrifices.
In his Sefer HaMitzvot, he places it among the mitzvot relating to sacrifices.
Second, in his Sefer HaMitzvot, he stresses the veyduy is not merely part of the process of offering a
sacrifice. It is an independent mitzvah. Yet, the places the mitzvah
among the mitzvot related to
sacrifices.
It seems from Maimonides’ different treatments of this mitzvah in these two works that Sefer
HaMitzvot and Mishne Torah have very different organizational schemes. In Sefer HaMitzvot, the commandments are
organized and formulated in a manner that reflects their treatment in the
Torah. Although veyduy is an independent mitzvah,
it is presented in the Torah in conjunction with the Torah’s discussion of
sacrifices. Sefer HaMitzvot adopts the
organizational scheme of the Torah.
Therefore, although veyduy is
an independent mitzvah, because the
Torah presents the mitzvah in
relation to sacrifices, Maimonides preserves this presentation in his Sefer
HaMitzvot.
However, the Torah is not just a system of 613 mitzvot. It is also a system of law – of halacha – the guides every aspect of our personal and national
lives. Mishne Torah is a code of
law. It presents the various laws of
the Torah as a systematic and comprehensive legal system. In this context, veyduy and repentance play a fundamental role. Therefore, Maimonides places veyduy in the first book of his Mishne
Torah. This placement reflects the
fundamental nature of the process of repentance.
A simple analogy will help illustrate the difference between these
two organizational schemes. Assume that
an author wishes to write a book that graphically describes the human
body. The author begins with the toes
and describes every body part up to an including the crown of the head. Another author wishes to write a text on
anatomy. He begins with a description
of the fundamental internal organs. He describes
the heart and lungs, the digestive organs.
He eventually arrives at the finger and toes. Both authors are describing the body. Is one organizational scheme more correct than the other? Of course not! Both are correct; the authors have different objectives. The first author wishes to present the body
as it appears to the observer. His
scheme corresponds with this objective.
The second author’s objective is to describe the body as a system. He begins with the most fundamental elements
of the organic system and then continues on to the other elements. Sefer HaMitzvot organizes the mitzvot as they appear in the
Torah. Mishne Torah is more concerned
with exploring and presenting the mitzvot
as a system of halacha. Therefore, Maimonides departs from the
observable organizational scheme and presents the mitzvot in a manner that expresses their interrelationship within
the system of halacha.
Let is now return to Maimonides treatment of the mitzvah of sounding the trumpets. Our parasha
begins with a discussion of material primarily related to the Mishcan, and sacrifices. In this context, the mitzvah of the trumpets is presented. It follows that in Sefer HaMitzvot Maimonides will present the mitzvah in this context. Therefore, he characterizes the mitzvah as primarily commanding us to
sound the trumpets when offering the Festival and Rosh Chodesh sacrifices.
This description is true to the presentation in the Torah.
However, according to Maimonides, this mitzvah is also the fundamental commandment upon which the laws of
fasting are constructed. Mishne Torah
is designed to present the system of halacha. The laws of fasts are fundamental component
of this system. They are certainly not
merely a postscript to the obligation to sound the trumpets when offering
Festival and Rosh Chodesh
sacrifices. Therefore, Maimonides
places the mitzvah of sounding the
trumpets at a time of affliction at the opening of the section of the laws
dealing with fasts and emphasizes the role of the mitzvah as the foundation of this section.
[1] Rabbaynu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides) Mishne Torah, Hilchot Ta’aniyot 1:1.
[2] Rabbaynu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides) Mishne Torah, Hilchot Kelai Maikdash 3:5.
[3] Rabbaynu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides) Mishne Torah, Hilchot Chagigah 3:4.
[4] Rabbaynu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides) Sefer HaMitzvot, Mitzvat Aseh 59.
[5] Rabbaynu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides) Mishne Torah, Hilchot Ta’aniyot 1:1.
[6] Rabbaynu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides) Mishne Torah, Hilchot Teshuvah 1:1.
[7] Rabbaynu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides) Sefer HaMitzvot, Mitzvat Aseh 73.
[8] Rabbaynu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides) Sefer HaMitzvot, Mitzvat Aseh 73.