במדבר 19:1
זֹאת חֻקַּת הַתּוֹרָה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה יְהֹוָה לֵאמֹר דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ פָרָה אֲדֻמָּה תְּמִימָה אֲשֶׁר אֵין־בָּהּ מוּם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־עָלָה עָלֶיהָ עֹל׃
This is the ritual law that God has commanded: Instruct the Israelite people to bring you a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke has been laid.
The word חקת is normally translated as “ritual law” or “statute.” But the Aramiac translation of the Torah called Targum Onkelos (composed between about the years 80-120 CE) translated the work using a different word: גזירה, decree.
דָּא גְּזֵרַת אוֹרַיְתָא
This is a decree of the Torah
Over the lachrymose periods of Jewish history, a play on words connected this religious decree of the Torah with another: to burn it.
“On Monday, June 25, 1240 the first public trial against the Talmud and its most popular commentary, that by Rashi, was opened in the royal court in Paris in the presence of many church-dignitaries and noblemen. The Queen Mother Blanche who was in an advanced stage of pregnancy presided. The prosecutor was the convert Donin, the defendant-the Talmud, and its defenders four French Rabbis: Rabbi Yechiel of Paris, Judah ben David of Melun, Samuel ben Solomon of Chateau Thierry and Moses of Coucy.”
The Burning of the Talmud in 1244, (or maybe 1242, or 1240)
In 1240 Rabbi Yechiel of Paris (the author of many tosafot, and the teacher of the Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg) was forced to defend the Talmud from accusations that togther with Rashi’s commentary, it contained derogatory remarks about Jesus of Nazareth (De blasphemiis humanitatis Xristi). Yechiel was arguing against Nicholas Donin, a Jew who had converted to Christianity, and who was supported by a team of former Jews. On Friday June 6, 1242 the final verdict was delivered. (As Solomon Grayzel noted many decades ago “the exact year of this event is variously given in the sources. The three years suggested are 1240, 1242, and 1244. Graetz after a long discussion of the subject comes to the conclusion that 1242 is the correct date.” So let’s go with that.) On Friday July 13, 1242, wagonloads of the handwritten Talmud were burned in Paris. That was the day before Parshat Chukat was read in shul.
The FAst of Friday, Parshat Chukkat
One contemporary was Rabbi Zedekiah ben Abraham Anaw, the author of the halakhic compendium called Shibbolei Haleket.
שבולי הלקט 263
ועל שאנו עסוקין בהלכות תענית ובענין שריפת התורה כתבנו זה לזכר על מה שאירע בימינו על רוב עונותינו אשר גרמו לנו ונשרפה תורת אלהינו בשנת חמשת אלפים וב' שנים לבריאת עולם ביום ששי פרשת וזאת חקת התורה כעשרים וארבעה קרונות מלאים ספרי תלמוד והלכות והגדות נשרפו בצרפת כאשר שמענו לשמע אוזן וגם מן הרבנים שהיו שם שמענו שעשו שאילת חלום לדעת אם גזירה היא מאת הבורא והשיבו להם ודא גזירת אוריתא ופירושו ביום ו' זאת חקת התורה היא הגזירה ומאותו היום ואילך קבעוהו היחידים עליהם להתענות בו בכל שנה ושנה ביום ששי של פרשת זאת חקת התורה ולא קבעוהו לימי החודש תהא אפרה עלינו לכפרה (כאשה) [כעולה] על מוקדה וערבה לבני יהודה כמנחתה הקריבה כהילכתה
…Let us remember what happened on account of our sins which caused God’s Torah to be burned in the year 5002, on the Friday of parshat Chukkat. Some twenty-four waggons full of copies of the Talmud and halakhic and aggadic works were burned in France…The rabbis who were there reported that they asked in a dream if this was indeed God’s decree (gezerah me’et haboreh). And one of the rabbis there answered “ודא גזירת אוריתא” - this is the decree of the Torah…
From then on the Jews would fast each and every Friday before the reading of parshat Chukkat. It was not fixed as a calendar date, [but the date is flexible, and depends on when Phukkat is read]
This fast is also recorded in by Rabbi Avraham Gombiner (c. 1635-1682) in his commentary on Shulkah Arukh called Magen Avraham:
מגן אברהם אורח חיים תקפ, ס’ק ט׳
כתב התניא ביום הששי פ' חקת נהגו יחידים להתענו' שבאותו היום נשרפו כ' קרונות מלאים ספרים בצרפת ולא קבעו אותו בימי החדש מפני שמתוך שאלת חלום נודע להם שיום הפרשה גורם גזיר' התורה זאת חקת התורה מתרגמי' דא גזירת אורייתא, וגם בשנת ת"ח נחרבו שני קהילו' גדולות באותו היום כמ"ש בסליחו' שחבר בעל השפתי כהן
We find it mentioned in the work Tanya Rabatia [an early anonymous Italian halakhic compendium] that on the Friday of Parshat Chukkat the Jews have a custom to fast, for on that day twenty cartloads of books were burned in France. The fast was not fixed to a certain date because it was made known through a dream that the day of the burning was to occur on “The day of the זאת חקת התורה which is translated [in Onkelos] as דא גזירת אורייתא - “this is the decree of the Torah”.
And in Turkey, the Jews had a custom to stay inside on the Friday of Parshat Chukkat:
חיים פלאגי, מועד לכל חי, סימן ט, ד
וכבאר היטב סימן תק״ם כתב וזה לשונו, כתב התניא כיום השישי פרשת חוקת נהגו היחידים להתענות שבאותו יום נשרפו עשרים קרונות מלאים טסרים כעדפת ולא קבעו אותו מפני החדש מפני שכתוך שאלת חלום נודע להם שיום הפרשה גורם גזירות התורה, זאת חוקת התודה מתדגמינן דא גזירת אורייתא, גם כשנת ת״ח נחרכו שתי קהילות כאותו יום, עכ״ל, ובעירנו אזמיר יע״א, נהירנא מכד הוינא טליא דהיו כמה אנשים סוחרים דהיו נזהרים שלא לצאת אפילו לשוק לעסקיהם כערב שבת חוקת, ומה שהיה להם לעשות כערב שכת היו עושים ומתקנים מיום חמישי, והן עוד היום רבים נזהרים שלא לילך מעיר לכפר כיום הזה, וה׳ שומר את עמו ישראל ובכל מקום ובכל זמן שלא תאונה שום רעה אמן כן יהי רצון
…In our ciry of Izmir where the young would stroll, there were a number of merchants who were careful not to leave their homes, even to go to the market for business on the Friday of Parshat Chukkat. Whatever they needed to do they did on Thursday. And there were many others who did not leave the city for the villages on that day. My God guard his people Israel in all places and at all times, so that no evil will happen to them, Amen.
This Friday, another sort of fast. Or not
Several days after I finished a draft of this post, Agudath Israel of America issued a Kol Korei. Its rabbinc leadership “…call upon all holy congregations of Klal Yisroel to designate this Friday of the week of Parshas Chukas as a day of great and bitter outcry regarding this decree of the Torah.” And what might that decree be?
Now, we come to matters pertaining to our present time, as in this generation numerous troubles and severe decrees have arisen against the Am Hashem in general and specifically targeting the Torah and its scholars, and the young children learning Torah, both in Eretz Yisroel and in the Diaspora. Policy-makers, with malicious intent, aim to disrupt the sanctity of Torah scholars, requiring the students of our holy yeshivos to abandon their study benches in the beis medrash and enlist in the military. They scheme with various tricks, and their hand is still outstretched, poised to persist. Moreover, decrees are being issued against young children learning Torah, both in Eretz Yisroel and in the Diaspora. All of this is reminiscent of the decree of burning the Torah.
“All of this is reminiscent of the decree of burning the Torah”? In what universe is calling on all of Israel’s citizens to share the responsibility of defending the country “reminiscent of the decree of burning the Torah”? And just what decrees are “being issued against young children learning Torah, both in Eretz Yisroel and in the Diaspora.” Anyone?
The leadership of this organization (one of whose members believes that the polio vaccine is a hoax,) have reached a new low. In his book, the late Princeton philosopher Harry Frankfurt described those whose utterances are a greater enemy of the truth than liars are. Liars at least acknowledge that the truth matters. I have two copies of his book, so let me know if you’d like to borrow one.
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America, Kol Korei released July 9, 2024.
Here’s an idea for Agudath Israel of America. Tomorrow, on Friday of Parshat Chukkat, gather together and pray for the victory of our soldiers, the safety of our people, and the release of the hostages. And then watch this clip of what is possible when those who care about studying Torah combine it with military service. Watch. And learn.
