There’s a mitzva in this week’s פרשה that is repeated from פרשת שמיני. The mitzva of eating kosher. We all know what it takes for a fish to be kosher, fins and scales, סנפיר וקשקשת. The גמרא in חולין סו: makes a statement about the biology of fish: any fish that has scales will always have fins, but a fish with fins won’t necessarily have scales. The גמרא then asks the famous question which is based on the premise that the Torah tries to limit as amount of words that it uses. If the requirements to be a kosher fish is to have fins and scales, and any fish with scales has fins, why wouldn’t the Torah just say that a fish with scales is kosher, and it will always have both scales and fins? רב אבהו answers with quoting a Pasuk from ספר ישעיה, יגדיל תורה ויאדיר. Hashem makes the Torah great and glorious. This answer sounds nice, but when we analyze it, it doesn’t seem to stand up all too well. The גמרא is saying that the Torah added an extra word to make the Torah greater and more glorious, which the מלבי”ם says means great in quantity and glorious in quality. So, the extra word technically makes the Torah longer, but can we really count that to add anything, even to the quantity of Torah? And in terms of quality the answer makes no sense, Hashem added a literally unnecessary word to add to the quality of the Torah? What does this mean?
This “extra” word in the Torah changes the dynamic of the Torah. Many would consider the Torah a comprehensive law book of the Jewish people. And like a well written law book or contract, it is as valuable as it is precise and concise. The more exact that the words are, the more effective it will be. Many people view the Torah this way, that each letter and word is exactly necessary and in it’s perfect place. However, this extra word of סנפיר makes us realize that this can’t be the only genre that the Torah is using. The Torah does use precise wording, and there is value in every single letter and word, but there is also another theme in the Torah, one where extra and unnecessary words add some sort of value. What can that theme be?
I think the answer lies in a משל. If you would try to explain the game of Tag to someone who has never heard of it before, they would think you are completely insane. You begin explaining, so, the game needs a minimum of 2 people, one person starts out being “it” and they need to tag, or touch, another person in the game, and then that person is “it”. Then this cycle repeats itself until everyone is exhausted of playing. Your new friend looks at you kind of funny and asks, ok, but why? What’s the objective of the game? What do I gain by making someone else “it”? to which you reply, just because. There is no point to the game, we are playing just to play. And when we watch kids playing a good game of Tag, they are in absolute bliss, there is nothing like a good game. And we all know that even games that do have an objective are much more enjoyable when the game is being played just for the sake of playing. When friends get together to play ball without worrying who is winning and who is losing, those are the best games. Why is that? Because in general, we use different channels and mediums to get us to a certain end. School books are studied, to get good grades. Food is cooked, so that it can be eaten and enjoyed. Meetings are held, to discuss ideas and come out with a plan for a business. Generally everything in the world works like that. But games are different, the means does not lead you to the end, the means are the end. There is no purpose in making someone else “it”, other than making someone else “it”. When we act like this, actions are not done to get somewhere else, rather they are done to enjoy the action itself, and this is what makes the action more enjoyable. You are living in the moment during the game, and experiencing the present like never before.
I think this is the theme of the Torah that is the answer to why the word סנפיר appears in the Torah. The word holds no value as a way of getting somewhere, it is there only so that it can be there to be read and explained, but not in terms of halacha or practically, rather so that the גמרא in חולין could be written. And that is the “game” of Torah. This word teaches us that Hashem wants us to learn the Torah, but not necessarily to become a פוסק הדור or a רב, instead he wants us to learn just for the sake of learning. We could know something by heart backwards and forwards and truly understand every halachic ramification of a section of Torah, but there is still a mitzva to learn that section just as much as there is to learn the rest of the Torah. The reason for this is because the Torah is not a means to an end. It is the means and the end all wrapped up into one. We learn, just to learn. Because the Torah is our relationship with Hashem and relationships are meant to be enjoyed in the present, not as a means to an end.
This helps explain the words of the גמרא when they describe Hashem as “playing” with the Torah. It sounds so childish and slightly heretical to read those words. But it doesn’t mean Hashem is playing like a human child plays, it means that Hashem has a relationship with us through the Torah where the Torah is there just to serve as the relationship, and He enjoys watching us learn it, just for the sake of learning it. There’s something amazing about the Hebrew word for playing, שעשוע, which you can notice is a double rooted word, the root שוע is doubled to form this word. The word שוע means to turn towards, ואל קין ואל מנחתו לא שעה, Hashem didn’t ”turn towards” the קרבן of קין. Then the word for playing really means, turn toward the turn, which, for me always conjures up the image of a dog chasing its tail, just turning and running in circles. Where the means and the end are one and the same. There is no objective other than to turn, to enjoy the game as it happens. The language of the word is describing the theme here, that a game is about experiencing the present and enjoying the journey, because when the journey is a game, you are always at your destination.
This גמרא teaches us that we have a relationship with Hashem where he wants us to learn and experience the Torah just for the Torah and not for any ultimate reasons. May we all be able to sit this Shabbos and enjoy Torah/Shabbos/Hashem just as they are.