“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Metzora
6 Nissan 5782/April 8, 2022
Shabbos HaGadol
לזכר נשמת חו"מ נטע
יצחק בן אלכסנדר
SKIN OF HIS TEETH
This
week our son Shalom had his wisdom teeth removed. It wasn’t easy to get an
appointment with a doctor that would do the procedure during the few weeks
between when he arrived home from Eretz Yisroel and Pesach. We were gratified
that it was able to work out.
Wisdom
teeth are highly mislabeled. They are so called because they generally emerge
during the late teen years. I am not sure what those years have to do with
wisdom (see last week’s Musings). It is believed that they were named by the
Greek physician Hippocrates, who is famous for writing the Hippocratic oath.
The
Japanese call those back molars teeth “unknown to the parents,” and in Turkish
they are referred to, simply, as “20-year teeth.” But in Hebrew, wisdom teeth
are called shinei bina - teeth of understanding.
Maybe
calling them wisdom teeth is actually more of a euphemism…
At any
rate, we were advised that when people awake from the extraction procedure, the
after-effects of the anesthesia often cause the patient to act and say funny
things. Indeed, when he awoke Shalom laughingly complained that the doctor not
only took out his teeth but also his (numbed) chin. He also told the doctor
that he wanted the teeth back. In case he needed them he could always glue them
back in.
As this
happened two weeks before Pesach, I was trying to think about what possible
connection teeth extraction may have with the Yom Tov of Pesach. But I was
unable to think of any.
For
those who will say that there is mention of the teeth of the wicked son in the
Haggadah, I will counter that our Shalom is b”H a wise son. What’s more, the
Haggadah doesn’t say that the wicked son’s teeth are knocked out. Rather, it
says that his teeth are to be blunted. In other words, to remove the bitter
sharpness of his invective.
While I
am on the topic however, I would like to share a novel perspective about the meaning
of blunting the teeth of the wicked.
In
Megillas Esther, there is a fateful moment when Achashveirosh tells Haman to
parade Mordechai through the streets of Shushan and repeatedly proclaim, “This
is what is done to the man whom the king wishes to honor”. Achashveirosh adds
to his instructions, “Al tapel davar mikol asher dibarta”. Loosely
translated the words mean that Haman shouldn’t leave anything out from what he
had suggested to Achashveirosh. However, the literal translation of those words
is “do not let a word fall from all that you have spoken.”
The Ben
Ish Chai notes that at that time Haman was an old man. (Rav Chaim Kanievsky
zt”l writes that Haman and Mordechai were both 95 at the time of the Purim
story.) By that age, Haman was undoubtedly missing many of his teeth, which
would make it difficult for him to enunciate certain letters (zayin, samech,
shin, raysh, tzadik).
Achashveirosh
was concerned that in an effort to mitigate his shame, Haman would mumble the
words he was instructed to repeat. In this way, Haman’s proclamation would just
sound like ranting gibberish. Therefore, Achashveirosh warned him, “Speak
slowly and clearly and don’t let the words fall out of your mouth in a manner
that they won’t be understood.”
The
Bendiner Rav, Rav Chanoch Tzvi Levin, was once in agony because of a severely
impacted tooth. A dentist was summoned to the Rav’s house, and he immediately
extracted the tooth. Afterwards, the Rav thanked him and asked him how much he
owed him for his services. The dentist replied that it was common practice for
the members of that town to present the Rav with a monetary gift on Chanukah.
He suggested that in lieu of payment, the dentist would simply not to give the
Rav a Chanukah gift that year.
The
Bendiner Rav replied that he would not allow such an arrangement. “If the
members of the community find out that they can pull a tooth instead of giving
me a Chanukah gift, I will have no teeth left by the end of the week.”
One of
the underappreciated benefits of teeth is that they help us express our
thoughts, ideas and messages clearly.
Torah
and Judaism do not fear questions. In fact, all of Gemara is rooted in sharp
challenges and pointed questions. My rebbi, Rabbi Berel Wein, notes that the
gemara asks the questions we would never ask.
The
question is only how the question is asked. If one asks in order to probe,
ponder and understand, there is nothing that cannot be asked. But if one has
already made up his mind and isn’t interested in hearing another viewpoint or
perspective, trying to answer his questions is futile.
Throughout
my school years whenever a classmate would raise his hand and announce, “I’m
going to the bathroom”, the teacher response was always, “Are you asking me or
telling me?” The student would then rephrase it as a question.
The
question of the wicked son is valid - why do we perform the Pesach service? The
problem is that the wicked son isn’t actually asking. Rather, he is mockingly
declaring, “why are you doing this!” He has already made up his mind that it is
meaningless, and he doesn’t want to be bothered with the facts.
Perhaps
that is part of the response to the wicked son in the Haggadah. Dulling the
teeth of the wicked son means to try to change the way he poses his challenge.
Our response to him is that he is welcome to ask away but do so with respect.
Don’t allow the words to “fall out” of your mouth with disdain or mockery.
If we
get to the teeth of the matter, we realize that the deficiency of the wicked
son is that he doesn’t want to sink his teeth into it. The root of it is that
he wants to remain an outsider looking in. He needs to learn to bite his tongue
and restrain his biting criticism. Otherwise, he is lying through his teeth… to
himself!
Shabbat
Shalom & Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani and Chani Staum