On Ears, Doors and Pesach: Juxtapositions Based on the Torah of the Maharal and the Pachad Yitzchok

On Ears, Doors and Pesach: Juxtapositions Based on the Torah of the Maharal and the Pachad Yitzchok

By Eliakim Willner

Eliakim Willner is author of “Nesivos Olam – Nesiv HaTorah: An Appreciation of Torah Study”, a translation with commentary of a work by the Maharal of Prague, published by Artscroll/Mesorah. This article is adapted from his forthcoming continuation of the Nesivos Olam series, “Nesivos Olam – Nesiv HaAvodah: The Philosophy and Practice of Prayer”.

The Ear Problem

The Gemara in Kiddushin 22b explains why the Torah requires that an eved ivri (Jewish indentured servant) who wishes to stay in servitude beyond his mandatory six years, must first undergo an ear-drilling ritual: “Why does the Torah single out the ear over all other body parts? Hashem declares the answer: ‘This ear that heard My voice on Mount Sinai when I proclaimed (Vayikra 25:55), “For the people of Yisroel are servants to Me”; they are My servants, and not servants of servants, and yet this man went and acquired a [human] master for himself – let it be drilled!’”

The problem, the Maharal in Chidushei Aggados on this Gemara asks, is that the same ear heard all the mitzvos on Sinai, not just the declaration that Yisroel are intended to be the exclusive servants of Hashem. By the Gemara’s logic it should be appropriate to drill the ear of anyone who violates any of the mitzvos! Is there a special relationship between the ear and our exclusive servitude to Hashem that explains why ear-drilling is uniquely appropriate to an eved ivri who extends his servitude?

To Ear is Human

There is an important concept at play here, the Maharal explains, having to do with a distinction enjoyed by the ear that is not shared by any other body part. The ear, and only the ear, gives man his identity as man. We will explain this concept by examining a basic principle in the laws of tumah and tahara – laws regarding the ritual purity of utensils. In general, a utensil is not susceptible to tumah, ritual impurity, unless it is a receptacle; unless it can serve as a container. In fact, it is that quality that gives it its identity as a “utensil”. Until that happens it is unformed raw material (see Rambam, Mishna Torah, Keilim 8:1-2).

In the same way, the Maharal explains, a person’s identity as a human being (odom) is dependent on his ability to serve as a container as well. To be a “container” a person has to have a receptacle. It is the role of the ear to serve as a receptacle for man, and to thereby enable people to be “containers” and to claim the odom identity.

It is true that the ear physically looks like a receptacle but the Maharal is not referring to the shape of the ear. Rather, the Maharal is teaching us that a person is not an odom unless he is able to receive information from his surroundings, and the ear is the primary vehicle – receptacle – for garnering information from the surrounding world and assimilating it into himself. Ears make a person into a “receiver”. In fact, the Targum translation of shimah (hearing) is kabbalah (receiving; see Targum Onkelos on Beraishis 16:11), and even in English we say “I hear” when we want to communicate that we understand.

Our ears are considered entranceways into our selves, just as doors are entranceways into our houses, writes the Maharal in Chidushei Aggados on Kesubos 5a. We will have more to say on the Maharal’s equating doors to ears in subsequent sections.

Servants to Hashem and the Spiritual by Using Our Ears

A non-hearing person is considered incomplete and lacking in final form (tzurah); he is mass; unformed raw material (chomer) awaiting finalization – just like a utensil lacking a receptacle. In fact, the Gemara in Baba Kama 85b, in discussing damages due when someone inflicts an injury on another, assesses various amounts depending on which limb is injured but declares that if the injury causes deafness, full damages are assessed – in effect saying that the injured party’s value declines to zero if he is deafened.

Here, too, the house analogy is apropos. The Maharal points out that just as a house without a door is useless –  it is essentially unformed mass, since it cannot fulfill its designated function, which is to house people – so too is a man without hearing bereft of his ability to perform his designated function – his mission.

Now, what is man’s mission? Our mission, as servants of Hashem, begins with being receptive to what is expected of us at any given time. The primary impact of an inability to hear is an inability to properly serve Hashem. With this in mind let us return to the servitude of the eved ivri. A servant of a physical master is subservient to that which is physical, unlike a free person, who is subservient only to Hashem. The ear of a servant who wishes to extend his servitude is inherently defective since its function is to render him an odom by allowing him to be receptive to Hashem, and this fellow’s ear is deaf to that function since he wishes to remain a servant of another physical being, instead. By “shutting his ears”, as it were, to their true function, he demonstrates his preference for remaining a raw, unformed mass over becoming a receptacle attuned to the commandments of Hashem. It is therefore fitting to bring this ear’s existing defectiveness to the fore by visibly drilling a hole in it.

Passing Over the Doors On The Night of Pesach Mitzrayim

The Torah tells us (Shmos 12:7, 12-13, 21-23) that, prior to the plague of the first-born and the subsequent exodus from Egyptian slavery, Yisroel were commanded to slaughter a lamb or goat on the 14^th of Nissan and smear its blood on their doorposts and lintel. They were warned to stay indoors until the next morning; Hashem would see the blood on their doorposts and lintel, and cause the destructive forces to bypass their homes, as Hashem slay the Egyptian first-born.

The Maharal explains the significance of these events as follows. A house is a macro-enclosure for man; the door is the equivalent of the ear, which, when open, renders the house a receptacle. A closed door signals a lack of receptivity; that night it was a statement that the Jews inside the homes were already spoken for; they were in the midst of accepting Hashem’s Kingship and were not open to alternatives, including further servitude to the Egyptians. The blood on the door was a stand-in for the Jewish occupants of the houses; it was a declaration that the Jews inside the houses had declared their allegiance to Hashem.

Houses Are Bodies for Our Bodies and Souls

It might be asked, if that is the significance of the smearing of the blood, why were they not commanded to smear the blood on their ears – why use the more removed “ear” of the house – the door? The answer, the Maharal explains, is that the ear, being attached to the physical body could be perceived primarily as a door to the physical body. But a person’s physical body is not the most important part of his self – that function belongs to his intellect and soul. The house, however, being a macro-enclosure that is not a part of a person’s physical body, can more easily be perceived as an enclosure that encompasses a person’s intellectual and spiritual aspect, as well as his physical body. Thus they were commanded to smear the blood on the doorposts, making it clear that they belonged completely to Hashem – body, intellect and soul.

The Role of the Ear in Our Continuation of Pesach’s Acceptance of Hashem’s Kingship

On the 14^th of Nissan at night, the night that led to our exodus from Egyptian slavery, we declared our acceptance of Hashem’s Kingship by smearing the blood on our doorposts and lintel. We reiterate that acceptance twice a day in the Shma prayer, the first verse of which is, “Listen, Yisroel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem  is one”.

In Pachad Yitzchok, Pesach Maamar 43 Rav Yitzchok Hutner asks why acceptance of Hashem’s Kingship is couched in terms of “listen”. In answer, he writes that our sense of hearing is unique in that all our other senses, except those of our ears, are two-way streets. Our eyes see; they also reflect our emotions outward. The nose is constantly inhaling and exhaling. Our hands give and take; our mouths ingest and expel. Only the ears are a one way street. They take in. They do not give out.

The ear is uniquely suited for accepting servitude because it reflects complete passivity. I will do as I am commanded. I will not object or argue or protest. That is why we reference our ears when we accept Hashem’s Kingship twice-daily. “Listen, Yisroel…”. We are unconditionally accepting Hashem’s will.

May are actions live up to those words, and may we soon merit our final exodus!