Nov 28, 2025 | Torat Devorah
In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayeitzei, we read of the deception of Jacob by his father-in-law, Laban. Jacob, of course, intends to marry Rachel, but discovers, only too late, that he has unwittingly married Leah. Professor Nechama Leibowitz begins her analysis by comparing the welcome that Laban extends to Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, who seeks the hand of Rebecca for Isaac, and Laban’s welcome of Jacob, who arrives alone in Charan. In Genesis 24:28-30, we are told that when Rebecca reported the arrival of Eliezer to her family, her brother, Laban, immediately runs out to the man at the well. When Laban sees the nose-ring and the bracelets on his sister’s hands, Laban gives Eliezer an enthusiastic welcome saying (Genesis 24:31), “Come O blessed of the Lord! Why should you stand outside, when I have made ready the house, and room for the camels?” On the other hand, when Laban hears that his nephew Jacob has arrived, Scripture states in Genesis 29:13, “Va’yaratz lik’rato, va’y’chabek lo, va’y’nashek lo,” Laban ran to meet Jacob, embraced him and kissed him, brought him into the house, and he [Jacob] told Laban all the events [that had happened]. While, at first glance, Laban’s welcome to Jacob seems extremely warm, Rashi cogently declares that Laban’s reason for running toward Jacob with great enthusiasm was due to Laban’s mistaken assumption that Jacob had arrived with great wealth in hand. After all, Abraham’s servant had arrived with ten camels laden with wealth. Rashi similarly maintains that Laban’s embrace and kissing of Jacob was also insincere. In fact, when Laban saw that Jacob had no camels, Laban embraced Jacob to feel if he had any gold pieces hidden in his bosom, and kissed him, to determine if he had secreted any precious jewels in his mouth.
In order to develop the picture more fully, Nehama Leibowitz analyzes Rashi’s words carefully. She points to the next verse in the text, Genesis 29:15, in which Laban says to Jacob, “Just because you are my brother, should you therefore work for me for nothing. Tell me, what shall be your wages?” Nehama Leibowitz notes Rashi’s unusual grammatical comment on the word “Va’ah’vah’d’tah’nee,” that you should work for me, implying, that if you [Jacob] work for me in the future, then I will pay you. But, all the work that you have done for me until now, will not be compensated!
Before Jacob has an opportunity to respond and declare what he believes would be fair compensation, Scripture unexpectedly interrupts. Providing a description of Laban’s two daughters, the Bible informs the readers that the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel, and that Leah was tender eyed, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. Scripture then states that Jacob loved Rachel.
It’s at this point that Jacob responds (Genesis 29:18), “Va’yomer, eh’eh’vahd’cha sheva shah’neem b’Rachel bitcha hak’tahna,” And he [Jacob] says, I will serve you for seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter. Again, Rashi notes that Jacob obviously suspected Laban of planning to deceive him, so he carefully identified Rachel with an exacting description. “Her name is Rachel, she’s your daughter, and she’s the younger of your two daughters!” Laban, however, responds rather ambiguously, saying (Genesis 29:19), “Better I give her to you than give her to another man, stay with me.” Laban, as we see, never definitively promises that Rachel will be given as a wife to Jacob. Despite Jacob’s valiant attempt to be specific, he was cheated just the same.
Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald comments: “And so it is not surprising that after the wedding, we learn, (Genesis 29:25), “Va’y’hee va’boker, v’heenay hee Leah,” When the morning came, behold it was Leah. Jacob’s response to this deception is great anguish–the anguish of one who has served for seven years for someone he loved, only to be cheated! Jacob cries, Genesis 29:25, “Ma zot ah’seetah lee? Ha’lo b’Rochel ahvad’tee eemach, v’lahmah ree’mee’tahnee?” What have you done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you tricked me?! Professor Leibowitz points out, that until now, all the commentators’ interpretations seem to side with Jacob, against Laban. Now, however, that sympathy vanishes. The Midrash Tanchuma maintains, that on the night of the nuptials, Leah acted as if she were Rachel. Jacob only discovers in the morning that the woman with whom he had lain was really Leah. Jacob cries out to Leah, “Daughter of the deceiver, why have you tricked me?!” According to the Midrash, Leah responds to Jacob saying defiantly, “Why did you deceive your own father? When he [Isaac] asked, ‘Are you my son Esau?’ you responded by saying, ‘I am Esau, thy first born!’ Now you ask me why I deceived you? Your own father said to Esau that you, Jacob, had come in deceit.” Jacob is obviously being paid back measure-for-measure for his own misdeeds. Not only was Jacob punished for Esau’s exceedingly bitter cry, but Laban also socks it to Jacob by saying (Genesis 29:26), “Lo yay’ah’seh chen bim’koh’may’noo, la’tayt hatz’eerah lif’nay hab’chee’rah,” It’s not done like this in our place, to give away the younger before the firstborn! Clearly Jacob is being been paid back for his deceit. Professor Leibowitz concludes, “Laban is seen here as alluding either consciously or unconsciously to Jacob’s dealing with Esau. Whatever the truth of the matter, the moral lesson remains clear–sin and deceit, however justified, bring in their wake ultimate punishment.”
~Devorah Abenhaim
Nov 21, 2025 | Torat Devorah, Uncategorized
Rebecca, Isaac’s wife, finally became pregnant after many years of being barren. With regard to her pregnancy, the Torah states that the children were struggling within her womb. She therefore prayed to God and said: “If so, why am I thus?” (Genesis 25:22), or in Hebrew – “Eem ken, lamah zeh anochee?” Hashem answers Rebecca in the following verse in the Torah and states: “Two nations are in your womb; two regimes from your insides shall be separated; the might shall pass from one regime to the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.” Although this verse has been explained by many, the Or Hachayyim believes that there is still no truly satisfactory answer. God responded to her fear that she would miscarry by explaining to her that there was nothing medically wrong in her womb but that she was carrying two instead of merely one fetus. Normally, when a mother expects twins, the two fetuses get along inside the womb. In Rebecca’s case, they did not. Hence, she experienced the feeling of being crushed. She did not merely carry twins, but each one was destined to become a nation with very different characteristics from one another.
Not only would each one be a king in his own right, but these respective nations would endure for thousands of years. All of this would not contribute to her feeling of being crushed were it not for the fact that these twins did not conform to the usual patterns of twins. When God explained that “they will be totally separate already while still inside of you,” this meant that they would not only be separate inside of Rebecca, but their being separate would continue AFTER they were born. The Or Hachayyim continues to explain that an additional factor preventing the two peoples from dwelling together in harmony: each one will derive its strength from the defeat of the other. He cites a similar concept in a statement from Megillah 6 that the city of Tzor attained its true prominence only through the fall of Jerusalem. Seeing that each nation therefore anxiously awaits the downfall of the other, there is no hope that they will live together in brotherly harmony.
Prior to the Torah recording the birth of Jacob and Esau, it tells us that Rebecca “completed the days of her pregnancy” (25:24). Why would the Torah find it necessary to tell us this? Torat Moshe comments that in Berachot 5, it states that whereas in this case the nine-month pregnancy was completed, in the case of Tamar and her twins, it was not. Tamar’s twins were born after a pregnancy of six months and 3 days (Genesis 38:27). We need to understand why Rebecca who suffered such discomfort had to complete nine months of her pregnancy, whereas Tamar was spared almost one-third of her pregnancy. The Midrash tells us that if Rebecca had not exclaimed why am I alive, an exclamation of exasperation, she would have become the mother of all 12 tribes. The numerical value of the word ‘zeh’ in her exclamation is the basis for the interpretation. Also, in Rebecca’s case, the word for twins, ‘teomim’, is spelled defectively without the aleph, since one of her children would be wicked. In the case of Tamar, both of her sons were righteous. There, the word for twins is spelled normally. By allowing Rebecca to complete her pregnancy, each child became complete. Esau was COMPLETELY hairy, unlike humans, whereas Jacob was COMPLETELY devoid of any impurities which Esau was full of. Esau, being the firstborn, exited the womb together with the blood – depicting his future lifestyle. Jacob, on the other hand, was unhurried, and content to wait until Esau had left the womb.
~Devorah Abenhaim
Nov 13, 2025 | Torat Devorah
In an ironic twist, the portion dealing with the death of Sarah is called Chayei Sarah, “The Life of Sarah,”but on second thought, it is not really so strange. We celebrate a person’s life only when it has been rounded out.. But instead of a eulogy, the portion begins with a long passage describing Abraham’s acquiring the cave of Machpelah as a burial place for his wife, Sarah. The following chapter tells the story of Abraham’s servant finding Rebekah and bringing her back to become the wife of Abraham’s son Isaac. Notably, Isaac brings Rebekah to the tent of his recently deceased mother, where “he took Rebekah, and she became his wife and he loved her. Thus did Isaac take comfort after [the death of] his mother”(Genesis 24:67).
It is disappointing that Sarah’s life is only hinted at in the portion that bears her name, and we are left to fill in the blanks only from events as told from Abraham’s perspective. We cannot know whether Sarah has truly lived the life she meant to live—kept her values, lived up to her integrity—until we see the whole of her life. So let us try to reconstruct her life based on what we know.
When Abraham was called in Lech L’cha to leave his father’s house, Sarah naturally went with him. She, too, was taken from her home, her kindred, but to a land that would be shown to her husband, not to her. We know she was barren and that it grieved her enough to offer her servant Hagar to her husband so that he could have a son. We know that she is twice called beautiful, but Abraham used her beauty for his own purposes. He put her at great risk by passing her off as his sister, because he feared that if the Egyptians knew that she was his wife, he would be killed. He did not object when Pharaoh took her as his own wife—that is, until God afflicted Pharaoh with plagues (Genesis 12). Abraham repeated this ruse with Abimelech (Genesis 20). We know that Sarah longed for a son and was finally blessed with the birth of Isaac, which seemed to answer her distress and give meaning to her life. One midrash suggests that her fear for Isaac’s life during the Akeidah caused her death ( Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer 31). With hardly any other clues, we are left to discover, if we can, who Sarah was in herself and in her relationship with God.
Dr. Carol Ochs, a professor at Hebrew Union College, explains that the most important traces of Sarah can be found in the life of her son. When Rebekah first sees Isaac and he is meditating in a field, it is evident that Sarah had helped him develop his own relationship with God. Isaac, as the Torah points out, loved his wife, and unlike the other patriarchs, he was monogamous. Also he is the only one of the three to pray to God on behalf of a barren wife (Genesis 25:21). With the death of his mother, Isaac exhibited both a capacity to mourn and a capacity to be comforted. Abraham was the first and the great innovator of the faith. Jacob grew to be the ancestor of the twelve tribes. Isaac merely re-dug his father’s wells. But his faithfulness, modesty, and humility say much about him and about his mother, who raised him. We have been led to believe that greatness comes from carrying out flamboyant deeds and taking courageous stances. Today we recognize the deeper courage that lies in endurance, in day-to-day faithfulness granted not for recognition, wealth, or power, but for its own sake.
If we regard the Torah’s depiction of Isaac as a text that sheds light on the life of Sarah, we recognize a woman who had to fashion her own relationship with God. She was capable of abiding love and fidelity to her spouse and son. Also, she could endure the harshness of the land, even in times of famine, and the deeper harshness of her husband’s silent ways. We celebrate the life of Sarah not simply because she passed on the line of the covenant, but because in the values she passed on to her son, she exerted a tempering influence on the severe ways of patriarchy. Because of her, Jewish wives can expect to be loved, exclusively, by their spouses. They can expect a relationship that is mutual and that is shaped by a shared relationship with God. And they can know that through their own fidelity and endurance, they contribute significantly to the line of the covenant.
~Devorah Abenhaim
Oct 31, 2025 | Torat Devorah
And it occurred, as he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘See now, I have known that you are a woman of beautiful appearance. And it shall occur, when the Egyptians will see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife!’ – then they will kill me…’ ” (12:11-12) How was it possible that only now Avraham recognized Sarah’s beauty? The Arizal says that up till this point in time Avraham had no concept of physicality – like Adam before he sinned. However, as he approached Egypt, the world center of decadence, even his lofty spiritual level lessened when he perceived good and evil – the domain of physicality. Sensing this change in himself, Avraham recognized the depths of impurity that was Egypt. He now sensed that it was indeed possible for man to sink to murder in order to satisfy his physical desires.
The following is a quote from the the Vilna Gaon: “In every generation new barriers need to be erected, for every generation is less than its predecessor and the eruv rav (descendents of the Egyptians who left Egypt at the time of the Exodus) grow stronger. Therefore, it is necessary to barricade anew the breaches (in morality) perpetrated by the eruv rav. This is what the Torah means when it says “Guard my guardings!” (Vayikra 29:9) Rabbi Chaim Zvi Center explains: Like Avraham, the closer we get to our own little Egypts – the larger our cars, our houses and our physical well-being loom in our lives – the more we know that we need to build stronger and stronger fences against a world that celebrates immorality and conspicuous consumption.
Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair comments: ” Life’s essential journey is that of the soul discovering its true identity. We learn this from the first two words in this week’s Torah portion. “Lech Lecha.” “Go to yourself.” Without vowels, these two words are written identically. When G-d took Avraham out of Ur Kasdim and sent him to the Land of Israel, He used those two identical words —Lech Lecha —“Go to yourself.”
Spiritual growth requires the soul to journey. Our soul must notch up the miles, not our feet. The spiritual road requires us to forsake the comfortable, the familiar ever repeating landmarks of our personalities, and set out with an open mind and a humble soul. We must divest ourselves of the fawning icons of our own egos which we define and confine us — and journey. Avraham experienced ten tests in his spiritual journey.Each was exquisitely designed to elevate him to his ultimate spiritual potential. When G-d gives us a test, whether it’s the death of a loved one or a financial reversal or an illness, it’s always to help us grow. By conquering the obstacles that lie in our spiritual path – be it lack of trust in G-d or selfishness or apathy — we grow in stature. We connect with the fundamental purpose of the journey — to journey away from our negative traits and reach and realize our true selves.
We “go to ourselves.”
~Devorah Abenhaim
Oct 24, 2025 | Torat Devorah
“And He blotted out all existence that was on the face of the ground – from man to animals to creeping things and to the bird of the sky; and they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noach survived and those with him in the Ark.” (Gen. 7:23)
Parashat Noach raises the following question: Why did G-d wipe out all of the beasts, birds, and crawling things in the flood? If man sinned, why should the animals suffer? Rashi explains: “The entire creation is for man, and when man is wiped out, who needs all these?” That is, the purpose of the creation is not simply to exist, but rather to actualize the destiny of the Creation. The moment there is no purpose (which is the case after G-d wiped out man, for whom the world was created), then the animals must perish since there is no longer a reason for their existence. Here, too, the moment the deeds of man prove that there is no longer a possibility for him to fulfill his destiny, his existence is no longer necessary, and he perishes. But we are still left wondering: All that creation, just for annihilation? All those generations before the flood (a span of 1654 years) were for nothing?
The answer is no. Harsh though this verses may be, a verse appears at the very end of Bereshit which turns everything around: “But Noach found grace in the eyes of G-d.” And while this lonely verse may appear to be only a small comfort to a world gone astray, the truth is that this one verse is everything. Even if we are speaking about one individual, he is the one who counts. Noach is the justification for the world’s continued existence.
The story of Noach provides us with a concrete illustration as to what the true role of the chastising prophet is – as Noah did warn the people to repent. Certainly the major goal of the warnings and admonishment are to direct the people onto the proper path, in the hope that they will do “teshuva” immediately. But in contrast as to what one might think, if the prophet does not succeed in bringing the people to “teshuva,” this does not necessarily mean that he failed! A deeper look will reveal that the rebuke in itself has value. If we look at the prophets of Israel, we will notice an amazing fact: Generally speaking, they were a dismal failure. It seemed as if they influenced no one. The people were not interested in hearing them, and did not change their evil ways. Does this mean that there was no value in the warnings of the prophets?
Rav Binyomin Zeev Kahane explains: ‘G-d’s answer to Ezekiel when He appoints him as a prophet (chapter 2) is as follows: “And He said to me, Son of man, I sent thee to the children of Israel…that have rebelled against me…and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord G-d. And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse to hear, (for they are a rebellious house), so that they shall know that there has been a prophet amongst them.” And afterwards (3:7): “But the house of Israel will not hearken to you…” Can this be? If G-d knows that they will not listen, why send Ezekiel out and put him through such humiliation and abuse? And so a new concept is learned here. The saying of truth has value, even if it has no apparent influence at that particular moment. What is the value? “So that they shall know that there has been a prophet amongst them.” Even if immediate results are not seen, the value of the warnings are that they manifest the bringing in of G-d’s word into the world. The prophet who expresses G-d’s truth is giving expression to G-d’s actual presence in this world. It is showing us that the world is not “hefker” (chaos). There is justice in the world. By so doing, the prophet in essence sanctifies G-d’s name.’
~Devorah Abenhaim
Oct 17, 2025 | Torat Devorah
Bereishit
Male and female He created them (1:27)
Midrash Rabbah states that G‑d created the first man as a two-sided creature—one face male, and one face female. He then hewed him in two and made a back for each half. But I f G‑d desired mankind to be comprised of both male and female, why did He not create them that way in the first place—as He did with the other animals? The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains: “If they were to be originally and intrinsically two, each would be trapped in the exclusivity of his or her identity. Their encounter would be a relationship at best, a war at worst. Neither would have it in them to transcend the individuality into which they were born. The two would remain two, however integrated. But neither did G‑d desire man to be a singular being. As a single individual, man was without match, without challenge, and thus without potential for growth and creation. “It is not good that man be alone,” said the Creator; he requires a “helpmeet” and an “opposite.” So G‑d created them one, and then split them into two.
Thus man searches for woman, and woman yearns for man. Thus each has it within their power to reach within their splintered self and uncover their primordial oneness. Thus man and woman cleave to each other and become one.” And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day (1:31) The six days of creation embody the whole of history, for the world shall exist six thousand years (Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 31a), which is why it is said that “G‑d’s day is a thousand years” (Midrash Rabbah).
The Ramban comments: “The first day of creation, which saw the creation of light, corresponds to the first millennium of history—the millennium of Adam, the light of the world, when the world was still saturated with knowledge of its Creator and was sustained by the indiscriminate benevolence of G‑d.
The second day, on which the Creator distinguished between the spiritual and the physical elements of His creation, yielded a second millennium of judgment and discrimination—as reflected in the flood which wiped out a corrupt humanity and spared only the righteous Noah and his family.
The third day, on which the land emerged from the sea and sprouted forth greenery and fruit-bearing trees, encapsulates the third millennium, in which Abraham began teaching the truth of the One G‑d, and the Torah was given on Mount Sinai.
The fourth day, on which G‑d created the sun and the moon, the two great luminaries, the greater luminary and the lesser luminary, corresponds to the fourth millennium, during which the First Temple and the Second Temple in Jerusalem served as the divine abode from which light emanated to the entire world.
The fifth day, the day of fish, birds and reptiles, represents the lawless and predatory Dark Ages of the fifth millennium.
The sixth day, whose early hours saw the creation of the beasts of the land, followed by the creation of man, is our millennium—a millennium marked by strong, forceful empires, whose beastly rule will be followed by the emergence of Moshiach, the perfect man who brings to realization the divine purpose in creation and ushers in the seventh millennium—the world to come—a time of perfect peace and tranquility.”
‘And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat parts thereof; and G‑d paid heed to Abel and to his offering’ (4:4) By the same token, the Rambam explains, everything that is for the sake of G‑d should be of the best and most beautiful. When one builds a house of prayer, it should be more beautiful than his own dwelling. When one feeds the hungry, he should feed him of the best and sweetest of his table. When one clothes the naked, he should clothe him with the finest of his clothes. Whenever one designates something for a holy purpose, he should sanctify the finest of his possessions, as it is written (Leviticus 3:16), “All the fat is to G‑d.”
~Devorah Abenhaim
