One of the derashos that returns to me with frequency and as such has greatly impacted me begins, in a way, with the very first Simchas Torah, and is eerily most relevant this year. It takes me back to my student years at Yeshiva when the rov of the shul of my youth was in Washington Heights visiting his children. Rav Nachum Rabinovitch, author of the Yad Peshuta, would later become the Rosh Yeshiva of the hesder yeshiva in Maale Adumim and a towering force in the world of tziyonut Toranit. Already recognized as one of the formidable talmidei chachomim of our time, we asked him to speak at Seuda Shlishis.
He discussed two enigmatic pesukim near the close of Parshas Mishpatim (Shemos 24:9-11) which follow the ascent of Moshe up Har Sinai:
"ויעל משה ואהרן נדב ואביהוא ושבעים מזקני ישראל: ויראו את אלהי ישראל ותחת רגליו כמעשה לבנת הספיר וכעצם השמים לטהר: ואל־אצילי בני ישראל לא שלח ידו ויחזו את־האלהים ויאכלו וישתו:
Moshe and Aharon and Nadav and Avihu and seventy from among the elders all went up [Har Sinai] They saw the G-d of Israel and at His feet was something like sapphire brick workmanship and the essence of the purity of the heavens. [G-d] did not send His hand forth. They saw G-d and ate and drank"
Many commentaries address the vision referred to in these pesukim, deciphering the metaphor and unveiling its message, while others consider the ensuing celebration and what it came to mark, and yet others explore the seeming restraint of the Almighty, why it was necessary, and why it was extended.
Ramban explains that this event followed the receiving of the Torah and there was much to celebrate. Indeed, this event became the paradigm of both our Simchas Torah celebrations as well as every siyum for all time. The leadership followed Hashem's instructions scrupulously, resisting the urge to go beyond their prescribed area, and as a result, they only "saw" Hashem from a distance. Receiving the Torah in close precincts to Moshe and Aharon, together with their "yiras Shomayim" with its seeming sacrifice, opened up new vistas of knowledge and unconquered horizons of spiritual achievement. Their celebration was cherished by Hashem and they received one of the most sought after blessings of His protection.
Yet Rashi reads the text much differently. He explains it to be a flashback, describing a moment at which point they were still anticipating Matan Torah. Leadership was obliquely faulted for something that deserved great censure and sobering punishment. Nevertheless, Hashem כביכול held back so as not memorialize Simchas Matan Torah as a day of great suffering and tragedy.
Rav Rabinovitch addressed this puzzling Rashi and the referenced "missing piece" that does not surface in the text. The vision, Hashem's footrest that connected sapphire brickwork and the pure heavens, was their new understanding of the years of enslavement, i.e. the enslavement had accomplished something. The "kur habarzel - refinery" (Devarim 4:20) had reduced our impurities. We had been readied for our greatest moment of "na'aseh venishma". There is nothing greater. In fact the suffering of every Jew, the children that were taken away, the lives that were lost and those who were beaten mercilessly, all of it, had a purpose and meaning.
There was much to rejoice over, as the emunah of leadership and their teachings of bitachon, during the darkest of times, all became regal robes, and they celebrated that. Rav Rabinovitch concluded that this is what Hashem censures. No matter how certain our bitachon is, and it should be, and no matter how successful we have come in interpreting Hashem's ways, we can never become comfortable with someone else's suffering. There cannot be a "ויאכלו וישתו - they ate and drank" as long as the brickwork of suffering is still in sight.
What is the lesson of the very first Simchas Matan Torah? No doubt, there will be a time when we will all have penetrating insight that will render the pain worthy and meaningful. In the meantime, that deep seated faith and authentic emunah must find its place in concert with a painful awareness and genuine empathy of the suffering of others.