Author: Ari Shvat

How is the Jewish insistence that a Jew may not marry a gentile anything but racism? If for the sake of the person him/herself, isn’t it more important that they marry a kind spouse, assuming they probably are not very religious to begin with? And if for the children’s sake, in many cases the children will still be aware of their Jewish lineage and practice some Jewish traditions, and in others, aren’t they no different from purely secular Jews?
Plus, any group forbidding marriage to Jews would be called anti-semitic, so it seems very weird that Judaism can hold this rule in one direction.

We also believe that in 99.9% of the cases, intermarriage between nations is great! If the president of the U.S. had Russian grandchildren there would be a lot more peace in the world, and whites marrying blacks means and breeds that much more tolerance. On the other hand, even as the world unites into one big family, learns an international language and adopts a global international culture, it needs to be decided what language and what culture it’s going to be! If the movies, music and fashions spreading from Hollywood to the entire world were to be that of values and idealistic priorities, mankind would be in good shape. On the other hand, the present western culture which is influencing the world is spreading violence and adultery and is causing more harm than good. The Islamic option may be more family oriented but is even more violent! God’s solution, as suggested in the Torah, is that just as every family needs a “responsible adult”, referred to in the Torah as the “firstborn” (b’chor), who’s job is to set the tone when the father is not “around”, so too our “invisible” Father appointed Israel as “My firstborn” (Shmot 4, 22) of the united family of humanity. Our role as “a light for the nations” (Isa. 42, 6), which brought monotheism and morality to the world, is to benefit all mankind, as Hashem directed Avraham, “through (your nation) all of the nations will be blessed” (Breishit 12, 3), both morally and economically (through peace and cooperation)!
That unique national role brings a lot of responsibility (613 mitzvot as opposed to 7!), and entails suffering and endless anti-Semitism (to date, I imagine most nations wouldn’t want to have traded places with us!). True, it may be convenient for the individual Jew to shirk this historic and moral role, but part of this national and universal responsibility is not to assimilate, not to dilute the message. In human nature, the minority doesn’t influence but is influenced, so the only way the world can benefit from the Torah and morals of the pure and original monotheism is to differentiate that small Chosen Nation. Differentiation is not separation (!) from the rest of mankind, but it enables that desired positive universal influence, rather than diluting the idea through assimilation. If an individual Jew is so assimilated that he doesn’t care about all this, that tragedy doesn’t change the fact that it would be a moral tragedy to mankind if there would be no Jewish people. Accordingly, we must support almost all intermarriage, but for the same moral reason, the entire world should oppose all Jewish intermarriage in the strongest terms.

Question: If we are commanded by Hashem to kill Amalek, then how is that any different then the Arabs who claim that Allah told them to kill Jews?

True the concept of erasing Amalek, today, sounds cruel. On the other hand, the eternal Torah, had to be relevant not only today, but 3300 years ago, as well. To judge methods of national survival 3300 (!) years ago with a modern measuring-stick is anachronistic and simply irrelevant. The same loving G-d who commanded us the super-moral mitzvot, also commanded us peace-loving and “slave-mentality” Jews who just left Egypt, that sometimes we must “toughen up” to “fight fire with fire” in self-defense and retaliation, and is the same G-d who historically “lost” Amalek somewhere along the line, because He doesn’t want that “mitzvah” to be preoccupying modern man. He made sure that Amalek no longer exists, but the only thing that remains is the obligation, once a year, to remember that sometimes we “nice guys” who would do anything not to kill, have to artificially “get tough”, otherwise our anti-Semitic enemies will surely take advantage of us (it still took us thousands of missiles down south and the Oct. 7th/Simchat Torah massacre until we finally retaliated!). Like a loving Father teaches his naive daughter not to let others take advantage of her. Self-defense, retaliation and deterring the enemies of peace is life-giving and moral, and the exact opposite (!) of Islamic terror which brags about how many innocent citizens they killed, and even names their streets after those evil “heroes” of terrorism. The world has difficulty understanding why the Arabs in Gaza could be the aggressors, if they consistently suffer more casualties, because thank G-d, the world doesn’t understand the mindset (and illogic) of religious Jihad!   With Love of Israel, Rav Ari Shvat

Are converts to Judaism 100 % Jewish? Or is it because they are born to a non-Jewish father and non-Jewish member they are not 100 % Jewish despite their conversion to Judaism?

Definitely! Converts are 100% Jewish, and even say the prayers where the wording may have caused you to think otherwise (e.g. they also say: “The God of OUR fathers, Abraham Isaac and Jacob…”, “who took US out of Egypt”, “MY father (Jacob)…”, “You gave us the Land”, etc.). They count for a quorum of ten men, necessary for prayer, and there is actually a prohibition to differentiate in any way between a convert and one born Jewish, and the commandment to love the convert is mentioned more times than any other mitzvah in the Torah! The Talmud goes so far as to say that the soul of the convert stood at Mt. Sinai with the rest of Israel, already 3,300 years ago. In short, the convert is considered as if he was “born-again”, but this time as a Jew. Many rabbis actually say that the convert has an advantage because he chose Judaism out of his own free will, and wasn’t just born into it.
On the other hand, as opposed to Christianity and Islam, Judaism is not interested at all in convincing people to convert, and those who were born gentiles should stay gentiles, observing the 7 mitzvot of Noah, entitling them to a share in the world to come (it’s also much easier than being Jewish!). All the best!
Rabbi Ari Shvat

When scripture says man is made in the image of God what is it talking about. In what way is man made in the image of God? Obviously it can’t be his shape because God is spirit and He has no shape. And if not, then what is it in man that we can say that he is made in the image of God?

Your question touches upon one of the central points of man’s essence and our role in this world. When the Torah teaches us that God created man, “and He breathed into (man’s) nostrils the living soul” (Genesis 2, 7), this metaphor is explained by our rabbis: “anyone who ‘breathes into’ blows in that which He has inside Himself” (e.g. one blows into a balloon the air which one has in his lungs). Accordingly, that soul, which is man’s essence, is what God breathed into man, as if it were, a “spark” of God Himself. That soul is also called “the image of God” (ibid, 1, 27), or literally the “shadow” of God (in Hebrew: tzel/em). Just like a shadow copies or imitates the person’s actions, but is clearly not the person, so too man is meant to emulate or copy God (“imitateo Dei”), even though we are clearly not Him. In short, every person has a unique spark of God, and we are all capable of and meant to reveal our Godly selves, which is our true essential self (we are not our bodies which are constantly changing, but rather our souls= our Godly spark= our unique individual image of God=our shadow of God). Similarly, when I want to “come close” to God, if He has no physical body, the only possibility is to be similar to His ways (e.g. like a counterfeit bill can “be close”= similar, to the original). How can we copy or “be the image” of God? By emulating God’s 13 attributes in our daily lives towards our families, neighbors, and nation: “The Lord, the Lord, mighty, merciful, and gracious, patient and abundant in love and truth etc. etc. (Exodus 34, 6-7). In other words, man’s role is to be Godly by revealing his Godly self=image=soul=essence through God’s Torah and her teachings.
With Love of Israel!
Rav Ari Shvat

Hi on what basis do people justify staying in Chu”l and not making aliyah. Do some say the Rambam doesn’t hold that there is a mitzvah to live in Eretz Yisrael? Do some say that there is no mitzvah to conquer Eretz Yisrael?
I recently bought sefer hachinuch – is this based on rambam mitzvot or ramban? I cant seem to find there the mitzvah to live/settle/conquer Eretz Yisrael?

Shalom,
Your question on the Sefer HaChinuch is the same as your question regarding the Rambam for he copied his list from the Rambam. Regarding the Rambam, the fallacy that he may not hold that there’s a mizva to live in Israel is based upon the fact the he doesn’t list it among his count of the 613 mitzvot. The question is usually raised by those looking for an excuse to justify their not making aliya, and if that’s the best they can come up with, it proves the point better than anything!
The Vilna Gaon says there are several thousand (!) mitzvot m’doraita, and the technical question of how to settle that with the mesorah (oral tradition) that counts 613 (Makot 23b) provides some interesting pilpulim but there’s no nafka-mina  (practical ramification) whatsoever (מעלות התורה, עמ’ סו במהד’ י-ם, תשנ”א). Everyone agrees there must be a menora in the Beit HaMikdash, but there’s no difference whether it’s 1 of the 613 or included in the mitzva of “v’asu li mikdash” (see Sefer Hamitzvot, shoresh 12). Everyone agrees one must believe in God, but many don’t consider it one of the 613 (see Ramban on mizva 1).
Only R. Y. DeLeon, who is not considered by any accounts a posek, in his commentary “Megilat Esther”, suggests that maybe the reason the Rambam doesn’t count mitzvat yishuv haAretz as a mitzva is because it’s not applicable during the exile (and the Rambam only counts mitzvot which apply in all times, Sefer HaMitzvot, shoresh 3). This is only one of many possible reasons suggested- although for those living in America it is obviously popular! It is clearly wrong (something I would never say about any opinion of a rishon on any issue, but R. Y. DeLeon (the Megilat Esther) can hardly be considered a halachic authority, surely not a rishon- there is not even one (!) halacha in his name brought in the entire Shulchan Aruch and not everyone who lived in the period of the rishonim has that status). The mistake of the Megilat Esther is self-evident in the Rambam himself in hil. Avadim 8, 8, where the Rambam takes the trouble to state explicitly that the mitzvah to live in Eretz Yisrael is in all generations, also during galut, even if the Land is in the hands of the gentiles!
Additionally, in hil. M’lachim 5, 12, the Rambam says “a person should always live in Eretz Yisrael, even in a city of gentiles, and not in chu”l (outside of Israel) even in a Jewish city”. The Rambam should have sufficed with his opening statement (“a person should always live in Eretz Yisrael), yet again he goes out of his way to give an example (“even in a city of gentiles, and not in chu”l even in a Jewish city”, clearly referring to the period of exile), where we (or the Megilat Esther!) may have thought otherwise!
Another unquestionable proof regarding the Rambam’s opinion is in hil. Mlachim 7, 14, that the only p’tur (exemption) from the Israeli army (in milchemet r’shut- an optional war) for one who planted a vineyard (and didn’t redeem it in the fourth year) or one who built a house (and has yet to dedicate it) is if they ‘re in Israel. As usual, the Rambam takes his halachot straight from the Talmudic sources, in this case from the Y’rushalmi Sotah 8, 4, which explains the reason is because only in ER.Y. is planting a vine and building a house a mitzva, that of yishuv Er.Y. This exemption from the army is a halacha m’doraita (Torah level commandment), and there is no other way to explain the Rambam but that he holds mitzvat yishuv Er.Y. is a mitzvah d’oraita (from the Torah).
I personally think that it is not kavod to R. Y. DeLeon even to quote his opinion which he clearly did not check up in the Mishneh Torah, where the Rambam’s consistent opinion (see also hil. M’chira 14, 8; hil Shmita 4, 27; hil. Shabbat 6, 10-11; hil. Ishut 13, 19 and more) is that it’s a mitzva D’oraita in all times, explicitly contradicting R. Y. DeLeon suggested explanation of the Rambam.
[Ironically, today with the advent of the State of Israel, even R. Y. DeLeon (the “Megilat Esther”) who was often cited as the opinion who justifies living in chu”l, apparently holds that the mitzvah has returned! For he opines that according to the Rambam there is no mitzvah until the Land is in our hands (Megilat Esther: “… after we were exiled, this mitzvah is not practiced until the coming of the Machiach… that conquering the Land is a mitzvah when we are not subjected to non-Jewish rule”. And as the Rambam himself writes, hil. Tshuva 9, 2; Milachim 12, 2, we know we are in the days of mashiach if we have an independent state, and we’re not under foreign rule. In other words, today, even the dissenting “Megilat Esther” would agree that there’s a mitzvah today to live in Israel, for even if the mashiach has yet to come, we are already in what the Rambam terms (ibid) “the days of Mashiach” for we “are not subjected to non-Jewish rule”!].
There are many other alternative suggestions why the Rambam doesn’t count yishuv Eretz Yisrael among the 613 mitzvot,
1. The Chatam Sofer (Resp. Yoreh De’ah, 234): the obligation to live in Aretz is based on the exceptional kedusha (holiness) here, and there is therefore no need to call it “just” a mizva.
2. The Avnei Nezer (Resp. Orach Chaim, vol. II, 535, 8) says its included in the mitzva of kibbush haAretz (“haCharem Tacharimem”).
3. Rav Kook quotes the Or haChayim (end of p. Nitzavim), that living in Israel encompasses all of the mitzvot in the Torah, or “is equated with all of the mitzvot in the Torah” (Sifre Dvarim 12), and need not be counted as “only” one individual mitzvah (shoresh 4).
4. Eretz Chemda (R. Shaul Yisraeli, p.33): it’s included in “v’achalta v’savata uverachta et Hashem Elokecha al haAretz haTova” if we thank Hashem for (literally: “on”) the Land which He gave us, we obviously must be here!
5. The Gadol of Minsk: Shoresh 2 of the Rambam’s rules for what he counts in the 613 and what not: Inferred Mitzvot aren’t among the 613. Anyone who reads the Tanach sees that it is obviously addressing Am Yisrael who is living in Eretz Yisrael.
6. Rav Yissachar Teichtel, Em haBanim Smecha (p. 151): It’s a basic necessity for our national survival to have Eretz Yisrael, just as there’s no mitzva to breathe because it’s simply a necessity, and the Rambam himself (Sefer haMitzvot, aseh 153) infers this point.
The Pitchei Tshuva (Even haEzer 75, 5) points out that the Shulchan Aruch as well as “all the poskim Rishonim vAchronim” hold like the Ramban in this issue, that aliya is a mitzvah in all time periods. In other words, the sugya has already been decided several hundred years ago. In my opinion it’s even unwise and uneducational to spend so much time on the rejected minority opinion of this Megilat Esther because it lends legitimacy to this lone view as if it were a legitimate halachic opinion which can be relied upon (see the klalei psika of the Shach on Yoreh De’ah 110, that such a minority opinion isn’t even considered an opinion). Since when do we learn halacha l’ma’aseh from R. Y. DeLeon (or even the Rambam, for that matter)? Since their time (about 750 years ago), the universally accepted Shulchan Aruch and Rama have been published and are the definitive halachic decision. They hold that aliya is a mitzvah in all times (Even haEzer 75,3, Orach Chaim 248,4). The only time you’ll hear someone pasken like a rejected da’at yachid against the Shulchan Aruch regarding any mitzvah m’doraita (!) is when he’s fishing for that yearned-for excuse to live in America.
Regarding your question whether it’s a mitzvah to conquer the Land of Israel today, we’ve already cited the Pitchei Tshuva (Even haEzer 75, 5) that the Shulchan Aruch as well as “all the poskim Rishonim vAchronim” hold like the Ramban in this issue, that it’s a mitzvah to settle and conquer the Land in all times and if one sees the Rambam’s Perush HaMishnayot (on Sotah 8, 6 and the Tiferet Yisrael there) this seems to be the opinion of the Rambam, as well.
Regarding the excuse that aliya might lower their standard of living, I already elaborated in my article in Tchumin (vol. 22), and found that all the rishonim and achronim agree that parnassa can only be an excuse if one must beg for a living in Israel (see http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/israel/maamarim/teruts-2.htm).
In short, the legendary Ya’avetz (R. Ya’akov Emdin, Sulam Beit-El, p. 14) summarized the issue well when he wrote (more than 200 years ago) “it is truly a recurrent riddle on the holy people of Israel. Regarding other mitzvot they are extremely strict… spend great sums and make the effort to observe them as meticulously as possible. But why are they lazy and degrade this beloved mitzvah (of aliya), the peg upon which the entire Torah hangs?!”. Similarly, R. Yehuda HaLevy in his Sefer HaKuzari has an answer for all of the king’s hundreds of questions on Judaism, but when asked why doesn’t the rabbi himself make aliya, the answer is simply, “You have found my point of embarrassment” (Kuzari 2, 24).
I know someone who for years claimed that he didn’t make aliya because his parents needed his help. Only after his elderly parents (!) made aliya and he stayed in America, did it turn out that it was just an excuse. When people don’t make aliya it’s not because of any sources, but usually just because they don’t have the guts to make the change.
With Love of Israel!
Rav Ari Shvat

Rabbi:

The yahrzeit of my father falls in Adar. We observe it in both Adar I and Adar II in a leap year. We (the sons), also fast on the yahrzeit.
I have two questions. First, is it proper to fast in both months of Adar during the leap year, and second, if the yahrzeit falls on a Friday, what is the practice for a private fast on a Friday?
(Thank you)

Shalom. I checked with Rav Ya’akov Ariel, the Chief Rabbi of Ramat Gan, and he agreed that being that observing the yahrtzeit on both Adars is only a chumrah (personal stringency) and that Ashkenazim really observe yahrtzeits in the first Adar, so one should fast only in the first Adar (for that’s a relatively difficult custom). You can commemorate the date in the second Adar by saying kaddish, and if you wish, giving tzedaka and/or learning some extra Torah in your father’s memory and/or giving a “tikun”/kiddush.
If a personal fast like this falls on Friday, the Rama says you only fast until you come out of shul at night, even if it’s an early minyan (he adds that it’s good, if you remember, to have this in mind when you accept the fast on the previous afternoon mincha, but in any event you can be lenient and need not wait until night, if you have an early minyan for kabbalat Shabbat and ma’ariv, Rama, Or. Ch. 249, 3). [This is different from if Asara b’Tevet or a public fast comes out erev Shabbat.]
I’m sure your father has much nachas in heaven from children who are so careful in their observance of mitzvot and customs!
With Love of Israel,
Rav Ari Shvat

Over the years I have heard that one is not supposed to sell their first, or only, home in Israel. What is the source of this idea? Is it Halacha? Can one sell in order to buy another? Thank you.

Shalom. There is a positive mitzvah to buy a house or land in the Land of Israel (Bamidbar 33, 53) and it’s so important that one can even ask a gentile to write a contract on Shabbat, in order to fulfill the mitzvah (Shulchan Aruch Or. Ch. 306, 11). Accordingly, one shouldn’t sell their property in Eretz Yisrael unless they intend to buy other property here, or unless their economic situation forces them to do so, and that’s the only way they can stay in Israel (the minimal aspect of Yishuv Eretz Yisrael is to live here, even if you don’t own property), or in order to start a business in Israel which is also Yishuv Eretz Yisrael. In general, one must be willing to sacrifice up to 10-20% of their possessions in order to fulfill most positive commandments, but the poskim cite that special mitzvot, like learning Torah or to live/settle in Israel, obligate one to give up everything they own, as long as they don’t have to beg for a living. For more details, see my article from Tchumin at: http://www.yeshiva.co/midrash/shiur.asp?id=20192 . Accordingly, there’s no problem to temporarily sell property in Israel (it doesn’t matter of it was your first house or not), as long as it’s not to a gentile, and it’s for the sake of settling the Land of Israel.   With Love of Israel,

Rav Ari Shvat

A while ago someone (not Jewish) “lent” me a notebook, to use in class, because one day I did not have one. She did not say it was a gift. However, it is something you use to write on it, so you surely cannot give it back to the original owner in its original state. I used it only for that day, so some pages are still blank. Moreover, I am pretty sure she forgot of it. Do I still have the halachic obligation to give it back to that person?

Shalom Ralph,
Firstly, allow me to admire the fact that you are as meticulous and caring about mitzvot between man and his fellow, as between man and God, for both are religious obligations! You definitely should return the rest of the notebook, for the common practice is to lend pages to fellow students, but not to give an entire notebook. In addition, to not return it may inadvertently cause a chilul Hashem (a desecration of God’s Name), for Jews must set an example and be at least (!) as morally careful as is commonly accepted, that she shouldn’t go around saying, or even thinking, that Jews don’t act properly. To the contrary, by returning it you are doing a Kiddush Hashem (sanctifying His Name), by doing positive “public relations” for God and His People, in addition to cleaning your conscience, your soul, and your “bank account” from any non-kosher property.
With Love of Israel,
Rav Ari Shvat

Dear Rabbi,

I had a conversation with someone that disturbed and shocked me very deeply. I was told that I do not have true emuna.

I had said that I could understand that people who survived the shoah asked where Gd was during the shoah. As a matter of fact, I ask myself this question, especially as I am setting up my family tree and record all the details of the deaths of my own family members in the great-grandparent, the grandparent and my parents’ generation. I often have to stop with the work as it really drains me and drives me to tears. And I ask myself, where was Hashem when all this happened?

I also wonder why Gd allows severe illness to befall young children and teenagers. It is said that bad illness is a punishment for a major transgression in life. How can a child or teenager have committed such a transgression? They simply haven’t lived long enough for this.

It is not that I do not believe in Hashem, if I did not believe, I would not daven twice a day, it is just that I cannot understand it, although I know that my limited mind cannot fathom the infinite. I just cannot understand how Hashem allows this and that it is all supposed to be for a greater good.

My question is: Is voicing my feelings in this direction a sign that I cannot be trusted in emuna? Should I just accept everything as it comes and not think about it as to why and for what reason it has occurred? Is it permissible to ask Hashem why He let all this happen? I thank you for your answer.
Jessica

Shalom. Your question regarding “how can a good God allow ‘bad’ in the world?”, is the oldest of questions in monotheism, where we believe that God is not only good, but perfect. There are many things in life and in the world that we don’t understand, and this reality is basic humility. I don’t understand quantum physics, after 30 years I still sometimes don’t understand my spouse, and sometimes I don’t even understand myself, so how can I expect to understand God? “If I would understand Him, I would be Him” (R. Yosef Albo). Like a child compared to an adult, our vision is extremely limited compared to the objective all-knowingness of God. If we could see the entire past and the entire future (including the world to come), it would change our view of many incidents in life which seem to be bad, yet in the end, such challenges are exactly what build us. In addition, it’s important to stress, as you inferred, that there are many factors and different “tracks” in the world, aside from reward and punishment, and clearly not all difficulties or challenges are punishments, as is clear from the suffering of small children. Especially when remembering that man’s free will is a major factor in the “ground rules” of this world, and God prefers not to intervene whenever possible. Accordingly, a more practical question with more useful ramifications is: “Where was man during the Holocaust?”
In addition, only after there is a giant question (such as yours) can there be a giant answer (teshuva, which in Hebrew, also means answer, return and repentance!).
In fact, we see that Avraham (Breishit 18), Moshe (Shmot 32) and others in the Torah dared disagree even with God, albeit very respectfully, when it comes to ‘sticking up” to defend Israel, and even Sodom (see the many stories about R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev). God also wrote this in the Torah, as something that we are meant to emulate, as well. Accordingly, you not only can but you should (!) turn to God requesting Him to be as visibly kind as possible, to facilitate the masses to love, serve and emulate Him.
Nevertheless, there’s definitely a difference between voicing this questioning in your private conversations with God (prayer- where it’s natural and even worthy in a true open “relationship”!), or even here in this educational forum, where it’s legitimate, positive and constructive, as opposed to voicing this out loud, especially around impressionable children (who may be old enough to understand the questions but not mature or patient enough to hear the answers…) where it may awaken questions or weaken the belief of others. This may have been the intention of your friend’s comment.
In addition, our exile from Israel is called a desecration of God’s Name (you must see Ezek. 36), and the Holocaust was the climax of the exile, raising the greatest question, why does God not stand up for His people? The prophet Ezekiel continues that God always wanted to redeem His children, like a father who sent his child to his room as a temporary punishment, just waiting for him to improve and apologize. But after 2,000 years of waiting, and 2,000 years of “holding” Himself back, He declares that He will redeem us, even if we don’t deserve it, for as you point out, the “treading” upon Israel is a bad reflection on God, and raises strong questions (the Babylonians and Romans also asked after defeating us, “Jew- where is your God!”!) We actually say this every day in the central Shmoneh Esreh prayer, at the end of the very first blessing, “and He will bring redemption to His sons’ descendents, for His sake (!), out of love”. Even if we don’t understand the Holocaust, the questions: “Does God still exist” and “Is Israel still the Chosen People”, were answered just 3 years later in the miraculous War of Independence in Israel, the fulfillment of the Biblical promise of the Ingathering of the Exiles and the revival of the Land and State of Israel after 2,000 years. It was God’s way of saying: “Of course I’m still around and you are still My Chosen Children” (all of this is in Ezek., ibid), and that’s why He returned us to Israel, even if we don’t deserve it- exactly for this purpose, as an answer to you and all other questioners- especially those who question out of love for God and Israel.
With Love of God and Israel,
Rabbi Ari Shvat

Shalom Rabbi
From what I understand, Torah = truth, Midrash = commentary/ allegory/ interpretation or something supporting commentary, Rashi and many other commentators use Midrash as their “proof”. Are there various levels of Midrash in terms of “truth”/correctness, midrash = story only if a parable (didactic story). All of the above is created to assist my removing the “garments” of the Torah to live God’s words. So is midrash dvar Torah? I might create midrash, correct? It may not be as good as Rashi or could it? The only absolute is the Torah’s words themselves! Please comment. Shalom,

The field of midrash is very complex and, as you correctly inferred, includes several different types. Interestingly, the Ramban sometimes disagrees strongly with the Ibn Ezra for veering in his commentary from the midrash of our sages, yet it’s not infrequent for the Ramban to do the same, differing with certain midrashim cited by Rashi! The answer to this apparent contradiction is that some, probably most, midrashim are not factual traditions but rather educational vehicles for teaching us philosophical or spiritual ideas, or how to act properly, while others apparently do come to fill-in ancient traditions. Unfortunately, it’s often difficult to tell whether a certain midrash is meant to be taken literally or not, but the following signs may help their identification. The first category (non-factual) may include midrashim where there are different contradicting opinions, or those many midrashim which “frame” our forefathers as doing sins they clearly didn’t do or exaggerating light offenses into serious ones, to serve as a “springboard” framework to educate others. Similarly, midrashim which seem esoteric would usually fall into this category. On the other hand, midrashim which don’t have an educational message, but are rather fact-filling traditions, like the names of Avraham’s or Shimshon’s respective mothers, may be meant factually. In short, all midrashim are true, yet not all are historically factual, and the best thing to do is to study them with a rabbi who is experienced in the field and constantly search for the deeper meaning.
There are more than enough midrashim to keep you occupied for a lifetime and there’s no logic or need to invent new ones. On the other hand, one can surely develop his/her own divrei Torah, but would be wise to run it by several learned scholars before publicizing them, so as to prevent embarrassing mistakes. I expounded more on the topic of midrash, in my articles http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/tanach/maamarim/hazakaim-2.htm
http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/mahshevt/vikuah/tokpam-2.htm
With Love of Israel,
Rav Ari Shvat