by Rabbi Avi Billet
Every now and then, many of us might find ourselves saying one version of what’s written in the title. It has come to mean “Nice job!” or “Good job!” or “Well done!” or even “Thank you.”
While I can not say for sure when the original format of this phrase appears, it does appear in several places in the Talmud and Midrash, though most commonly in the context of the breaking of the two tablets from Sinai.
First, in the Midrash Shmos Rabba, the daughters of Yisro are credited with saying יישר כחך to Moshe after having saved them from the shepherds who were harassing them. [According to this passage, Moshe then told that an איש מצרי, an Egyptian man, was responsible for saving them, because it was the Egyptian man that he had killed that caused him to be there at that moment to save them.]
One more passage, on the last page of Yavamos, and also repeated in the Tosefta on Yevamos comprises of a story of two men traveling together and getting chased by a group of soldiers. One of them grabs a branch and shakes it wildly at the soldiers causing them to back down. The other person says to him יישר כחך for saving us! [Three days later the saver dies, and he is able to be identified by the other fellow due to their conversation, allowing the deceased’s widow to remarry (or go through yibum or chalitza).
The most famous example, however, is of Moshe breaking the tablets, and God, when reflecting upon “what Moshe did to the tablets you broke (אשר שברת),” the Talmud (most often in the name of Resh Lakish) paints God as saying יישר כחך that you broke them. [see Avos D’Rabi Nosson chapter 2, Shabbos 87a, Yevamos 62a, Baba Basra 14b, and Menachos 99b]
Many of the passages just referenced are raised in the context of a discussion surrounding when did Moshe do things based on instruction from God, versus when did he do something of his own volition.
The phrase referencing that God will write (or did write) the words of the first tablets on the second - עַל־הַלֻּחֹ֔ת אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָי֛וּ עַל־ הַלֻּחֹ֥ת הָרִאשֹׁנִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ – appears in Shemot 34:1 and Devarim 10:2.
How did Resh Lakish take from “אשר שברת” (the tablets that you broke) to "יישר כחך ששברת" (good job that you broke them!)?
The Torah Temimah writes of human nature:
“When a person does something inappropriate off the cuff, or out of anger, it is not fair to remind the person of it, because it is a source of stress and embarrassment, for the soul is already tormented on account of the natural regret which comes from such an impulsive act. Therefore, were we to think that God did not approve of what Moshe did, there is no way He would have told him to get replacement stones, which I will write upon, “since you broke the originals.” The last piece would be obvious and would not need mention! Therefore, it must be that God approved.”
However, the passage Rabbi Epstein quotes on the verse in Devarim 10:2 is from the Yerushalmi in Taanis 4:4, which offers a slightly different version of God’s perspective on that event:
אשר שברת - תנא רבי ישמעאל, הקדוש ברוך הוא אמר לו שישברם, שנאמר אשר שברת, אמר לו, יפה עשית ששברת
Rabbi Yishmael taught, the Holy One told him to break them, as it says “that you broke.” He told him, “You did well in breaking (them).”
Rabbi Epstein notes the subtlety in that the Babylonian Talmud passages have God reflecting after the fact that Moshe had chosen wisely, whereas the Yerushalmi passage suggests God had instructed him to break them. יפה עשית (the Yerushalmi’s language, versus the יישר כחך of the Bavli) is a compliment on your fulfilling instructions, rather than an after-the-fact evaluation of what had taken place.
While he personally feels that the version found in the Bavli (Yasher Koiach) makes more sense, he notes that there is a passage in the Yalkut Shimoni on B’haaloskha which also suggests that Moshe had been commanded to break the tablets. R Meir in that passage connects the phrase in Devarim 10:2 to the final words of the verse, ושמתם בארון, that you shall place them in the Ark, as referencing the broken tablets. In other words it was part of God’s plan for the broken tablets and the second (complete) tablets to be placed in the Ark. In this way, there is symbolism to the broken and complete tablets being placed in the same Ark (which is a topic for a different time). But Moshe was instructed to break the tablets.
With this in mind, Rabbi Epstein presents results of this discussion based on the debate between R Meir and R Yehuda in that Yalkut passage. R Yehuda is of the opinion that Moshe broke them on his own, thereby deserving a יישר כח, while R Meir feels Moshe was fulfilling a direct Mitzvah, and there is no reason to give a יישר כחך to someone who fulfills a Mitzvah.
If this is true, then one must wonder about our own usage of the phrase. Regardless of the fact that people butcher it in their pronunciation (with apologies to those who use either of the first two options presented in the title above), it has become a term of endearment. Yet, it is most often said in shul, for example, after a person has an Aliyah, or any Kibbud for that matter, or a Kohen who blesses the people. According to R Meir, this might not be the right time, when someone is fulfilling one’s responsibilities of one’s own accord! Certainly there are other contexts in which it is recited, such as as a thank you or an acknowledgment of some kindness rendered.
Far be it from me to say it is “inappropriate” to say it in certain contexts, but visavis the way it is presented in the Talmud as God saying it, it is in the context of Moshe taking initiative to do something which turned out to be a good thing, the right thing, when there was no commandment involved. In contrast, being told that one has done well when one is simply fulfilling one’s obligations (mitzvos) as a Jew may possibly be viewed as cheapening the mitzvah! We do mitzvos because we are commanded to by God, and surely not for acknowledgment by our fellow Man.
May we merit to fulfill mitzvos for the sole purpose of fulfilling God’s will. And may our own-initiative actions which prove to be good ones after the fact result in appropriate compliments and acknowledgments when warranted. Clearly the first two examples of the usage of the phrase demonstrate someone taking initiative to do something which turns out well for the good guys in the end. For us, certainly being kind towards others with our words is always appropriate.
Did it? Yashikoiach!!!
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