Halakhah Study Group 021

1:
The previous paragraph (139:9) dealt with the blessing which is to be recited by the honoree before his section of the Torah is read. This present section (139:10) now teaches that there is also a blessing to be recited by the honoree after the conclusion of the reading of his section. Its text is as follows:

We have mentioned on several occasions that from earliest times, it would seem, a blessing was recited before the Torah reading and another was recited upon its conclusion. However, the text of these blessings is not uniformly preserved. It seems that the text quoted above for the second blessing is a comparative latecomer – certainly compared with the blessing recited before the reading from the Torah, which is quoted in the Talmud [Berakhot 11b]. On the other hand, there are variant texts which have come down to us for the first blessing but the text given above is the only one which has come down to us for the second.

2:
Section 139:10 rather untypically gives a homiletic interpretation of the second blessing (an interpretation which derives from the Tur). In order to understand this interpretation we must pay careful attention to the wording as given in the text. The Hebrew phrase ve-ĥayyé ha-olam nata betokhenu must be translated as given above: who has planted within us the life of the world. (Later on the text was altered by the removal of one syllable so that the Hebrew runs ve-ĥayyé olam – not ha-olam – nata betokhenu. This yields a different translation: who has planted within us eternal life.) That God giving Israel "the Torah of truth" should be made to refer to the Written Torah is reasonable; but only by accepting the reading as given in the text of section 139:10 can we make any sense of the reference to the second clause as being to the Unwritten Torah – the former coming from heaven whereas the latter comes from our daily life. (The term "Unwritten Torah" is one that I generally use to indicate the oral tradition of the sages, the tradition enshrined in the Mishnah, the Gemara and the compilations that came after them.)

3:
The text of this second blessing, as now accepted in Ashkenazi communities (and as noted by the Mishnah Berurah in his commentary), yields a different meaning: and planted within us eternal life. I do not see how this version can be easily reconciled with the homiletc interpretation offered by the Tur.

4:
Perhaps we should parenthetically note the other versions of the first blessing, since they could be understood as having theological implications. The very late and non-canonical tractate Sofrim 13:8 gives the main clause of the first blessing as "the Giver of Torah from heaven". The midrash [ Deuteronomy Rabba 11:6] has Moses himself offering this text: "Who chose this Torah, sanctified it, and takes pleasure in those that observe it". It seems more than likely that these variations derive from differences between customs observed in Eretz-israel and customs observed by Babylonian Jewry. As in most things the Babylonian custom won through.

5:
Section 139:11 requires the honoree to actually grasp the Sefer Torah in his hands while reciting the blessings – and later authorities extended this requirement to include the reading itself. Rabbi Moshe Isserles says that this custom is based on what is written in the book of Joshua [Joshua 1:8-9]. God tells Joshua that "this book of the Torah shall never leave your mouth". By holding onto the handles of the Torah scroll while reciting the blessings and following the reading the honoree is identifying the Sefer Torah with this Torah that God gave Israel. The somewhat gratuitous continuation of the quotation into verse 9 is in order to explain, as it were, the custom of congratulating an honoree who has completed his honour with the word Ĥazak.

In HSG 020 I wrote: The third blessing is the one which we have already quoted in the previous paragraph. For these blessings see Siddur Va'ani Tefillati, page 19 and Siddur Sim Shalom, page 63.

Art Evans seeks to correct me. He writes:

If by 'Siddur Sim Shalom' you mean the version for Shabbat, festival and weekday prayer, the third blessing is on page 8. In 'Siddur Sim Shalom for Weekdays' that blessing is on page 4.

I respond:

Since Sim Shalom is a siddur designed for American congregations it is one that I only use for reference. The copy that is in my possession is entitled "Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals" and the date of printing is given as September 1998. In the copy that is in my possession the berakhah is on the page indicated by me. It could well be that there have been other issues of this prayer book in which the pagination is different.