Nov 24, 2017 | Torat Devorah
Jacob came to a certain place [vayifga bamakom] and stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream. He saw a ladder resting on the earth, with its top reaching heaven. G-d’s angels were going up and down on it. There above it stood G-d . . . Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “G-d is truly in this place, but I did not know it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of G-d; this is the gate of heaven.” (28:11-17)
Rabbi Lord JOnathan Sacks explains: “On the basis of this passage the sages said that “Jacob instituted the evening prayer.” The inference is based on the word vayifga which can mean not only, “he came to, encountered, happened upon” but also “he prayed, entreated, pleaded” as in Jeremiah 7: 16, “Neither lift up cry nor prayer for them nor make intercession to Me [ve-al tifga bi]…There is, however, a difficulty with the idea that Jacob introduced the evening prayer. In a famous episode in the Talmud, Rabbi Joshua takes the view that, unlike shacharit or minchah, the evening prayer is not obligatory (though, as the commentators note, it has become obligatory through the acceptance of generations of Jews). Why, if it was instituted by Jacob, was it not held to carry the same obligation as the prayers of Abraham and Isaac?” Rabbi Sacks goes on to explains that there are traditional answers, but he offers a more profound solution to this question: “A different linguistic construction is used for each of the three occasions that the sages saw as the basis of prayer. Abraham “rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before G-d” (19:27). Isaac “went out to meditate [lasuach] in the field towards evening” (24:63). Jacob “met, encountered, came across” G-d [vayifga bamakom]. These are different kinds of religious experience. Abraham initiated the quest for G-d. He was a creative religious personality – the father of all those who set out on a journey of the spirit to an unknown destination, armed only with the trust that those who seek, find. Abraham sought G-d before G-d sought him. Isaac’s prayer is described as a sichah, literally, a conversation or dialogue. There are two parties to a dialogue – one who speaks and one who listens, and having listened, responds. Isaac represents the religious experience as conversation between the word of G-d and the word of mankind. Jacob’s prayer is very different. He does not initiate it. His thoughts are elsewhere – on Esau from whom he is escaping, and on Laban to whom he is travelling. Into this troubled mind comes a vision of G-d and the angels and a stairway connecting earth and heaven. He has done nothing to prepare for it. It is unexpected. Jacob literally “encounters” G-d as we can sometimes encounter a familiar face among a crowd of strangers. This is a meeting brought about by G-d, not man. That is why Jacob’s prayer could not be made the basis of a regular obligation. None of us knows when the presence of G-d will suddenly intrude into our lives. There is an element of the religious life that is beyond conscious control. It comes out of nowhere, when we are least expecting it. If Abraham represents our journey towards G-d, and Isaac our dialogue with G-d, Jacob signifies G-d’s encounter with us – unplanned, unscheduled, unexpected; the vision, the voice, the call we can never know in advance but which leaves us transformed. As for Jacob so for us, it feels as if we are waking from a sleep and realising as if for the first time that “G-d was in this place and I did not know it.” The place has not changed, but we have. Such an experience can never be made the subject of an obligation. It is not something we do. It is something that happens to us. Vayfiga bamakom means that, thinking of other things, we find that we have walked into the presence of G-d. Such experiences take place, literally or metaphorically, at night. They happen when we are alone, afraid, vulnerable, close to despair. It is then that, when we least expect it, we can find our lives flooded by the radiance of the divine. Suddenly, with a certainty that is unmistakable, we know that we are not alone, that G-d is there and has been all along but that we were too preoccupied by our own concerns to notice Him. That is how Jacob found G-d – not by his own efforts, like Abraham; not through continuous dialogue, like Isaac; but in the midst of fear and isolation. Jacob, in flight, trips and falls – and finds he has fallen into the waiting arms of G-d. No one who has had this experience, ever forgets it. “Now I know that You were with me all the time but I was looking elsewhere.”That was Jacob’s prayer. There are times when we speak and times when we are spoken to. Prayer is not always predictable, a matter of fixed times and daily obligation. It is also an openness, a vulnerability. G-d can take us by surprise, waking us from our sleep, catching us as we fall.”
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
Nov 17, 2017 | Torat Devorah
The Torah states: “And Yitzhak was forty years old when he took Rivkah, the daughter of Besuail the Aromite, from Padan Arom, the sister of Lavan the Aromite, for himself for a wife” (Genesis 25:20) The Torah has already stated (in last week’s Torah portion) that Rivkah was the daughter of Besuail, the sister of Lavan, and was from Padan Aram. What do we learn from this seemingly superfluous information? Rashi asks this question and answers that the Torah is emphasizing the praises of Rivkah. She was the daughter of an evil person, the sister of an evil person and lived in a community of evil people. Nevertheless, she did not learn from their behavior! Many people try to excuse their faults by blaming others as the cause of their behavior. “It’s not my fault I have this bad trait, I learned it from my father and mother.” “I’m not to blame for this bad habit since all my brothers and sisters do it also.” “Everyone in my neighborhood does this or does not do that, so how could I be any different?” They use this as a rationalization for failing to make an effort to improve. We see from Rivkah that regardless of the faulty behavior of those in your surroundings, you have the ability to be more elevated. Of course, it takes courage and a lot of effort to be different. The righteous person might be considered a nonconformist and even rebellious by those in his environment whose standard of values are below his level. However, a basic Torah principle is that we are responsible for our own actions. Pointing to others in your environment who are worse than you is not a valid justification for not behaving properly.
The Torah states: “And Isaac loved Esau because he was a was a trapper with his mouth…” (Gen. 25:28). This means that Esau successfully deceived his father regarding his level of righteousness. Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler cited the Arizal (a famous kabbalist) that it is a mistake to think that Esau was a complete hypocrite and just tried to deceive his father. If Isaac made an error, there must have been good reason for such an error. The problem with Esau was that he kept all his spirituality “in his mouth,” without swallowing it. He spoke spiritual words, but did not become a spiritual person. Therefore, said Rav Dessler, anyone who speaks ethical and spiritual words without allowing them to penetrate his heart and soul is a colleague of the evil Esau. Rabbi Pliskin explains: The essence of an elevated person is to be totally integrated: the Torah ideals that one talks about must be part of his very being. There are many different levels along a continuum. Some people are unaware of how far they are from actually feeling what they say. Such a person can say he loves everyone deeply, but a perceptive person can tell that although he believes that he feels that way, in actuality he is very far from it. It is not sufficient to just repeat words like a parrot or a tape recorder. Whenever you learn a new idea, keep reviewing it until little by little it penetrates your soul and your words truly become part of you.
“And Yitzhak called Ya’akov, and blessed him, and commanded him saying, ‘You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan’ “ (Genesis 28:1). What is the connection between Yitzhak blessing his son and then admonishing him? The Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, a great rabbi of the last generation, commented that we learn from here the most effective manner in which to reproach someone. Show that you truly care about his welfare; he will more readily listen to your reprimand. Often people who mean well give reproof in a harsh manner or by yelling — particularly if the recipient is one’s own child. Every person wants to do the right thing. If we can focus on our love for the other person, our desire to genuinely help and our knowledge that the other person wants to be good, then we can speak softly and give admonition which will be heard.
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
Nov 10, 2017 | Torat Devorah
Eliezer arrives in Charan. Rivka gives him water to drink. The Torah states: “And she finished giving him to drink. And she said, ‘Also for your camels I will draw water until they finish drinking.’ “(Genesis 24:19) Why does the Torah specify that she will draw water rather than writing “I will give the camels to drink”? The great Spanish Rabbi, the Abarbanel, tells us that Rivkah was meticulously careful not to say anything that would be untrue. Therefore, she said she would draw water, as if to say, “I don’t know for sure if they will drink or not, but I will draw water for them. If they want to, they can drink.” Rabbi Shmuel Walkin adds that we see here how careful we should be to keep away from saying anything untrue. He cites as an example Rabbi Refael of Bershid who was always very careful to refrain from saying anything that was untrue. One day he entered his home while it was raining outside. When asked if it was still raining, he replied, “When I was outside it was raining.” He did not want to mislead in case it had stopped raining from the time he entered his home. Rabbi Zelig Pliskin explains: ‘This may seem to be ridiculous or inconsequential. However, if a person is careful with keeping to the truth in such instances, he will definitely be careful in more important matters. On the other hand, if a person is careless with the truth, he can even be tempted to lie in major ways.’
| “And she hastened and emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran again unto the well to draw – and drew for all his camels.” (Genesis 24:20) |
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato takes note of the swiftness with which Rivka performed her act of kindness: “She hastened” and “ran again.” As the Midrash states, “All of the deeds of the righteous are done quickly” (Bamidbar Rabbah 10:7). Rabbi Luzzatto writes: “The man whose soul yearns to perform the will of his Creator will not be lazy in the performance of His mitzvos. His movements will be as the quick movements of a fire and he will not rest or be still until the deed has been completed” (Mesilas Yesharim, Chapter 6). Rabbi Isaac Sher commented on this that even a seeming minor action, such as giving someone water, can be spiritually elevated when prompted by the proper motivation. When Rivka gave water to Eliezer and his camels, she did it with a love for chesed (kindness) which was manifest in her speed. For this deed she was deemed worthy of becoming the mother of the Jewish People. Rabbi Sher encouraged people to elevate the level of their chesed. Most people perform many acts of kindness daily by mere habit. If we were to consider these seemingly insignificant acts not as automatic behavioral responses, but rather as opportunities to do the will of the Almighty, we would succeed in transforming the mundane into the sublime.
With regard to Rebecca, the Torah states: “Isaac brought her into the tent [of] his mother Sarah” (24:67) Rashi and Midrash Rabba comment that this verse can also be punctuated “Isaac brought her into the tent—his mother Sarah,” implying that when she came into the tent she became, in effect, his mother Sarah. For as long as Sarah lived, a cloud (signifying the Divine Presence) hung over her tent. When she died, the cloud disappeared; but when Rebecca came, it returned. As long as Sarah lived, her doors were wide open. At her death, that openhandedness ceased; but when Rebecca came, it returned. As long as Sarah lived, there was a blessing on her dough, and the lamp used to burn from the evening of the Sabbath until the evening of the following Sabbath. When she died, these ceased; but when Rebecca came, they returned.
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
Nov 3, 2017 | Torat Devorah
”So she (Sarah) said to Abraham, ‘Drive out this slave woman with her son, for the son of that slave woman shall not inherit with my son with Yitzhak’” [Beresheet 21:10]
One of the tests of Abraham concerned the expulsion of his son Yishmael. After the birth of Yishak, Sarah became very sensitive to the evil ways of Hagar’s son Yishmael and feared his bad influence on her son. Her feelings, of course, were not, Heaven forbid, ones that we could understand, since her thoughts were always motivated by the spiritual future of the people of Israel and not the jealousies and desires of common folk. Abraham, a man of kindness had difficulty with the ultimate decision to expel his flesh and blood out into the desert with minimal provisions but he passed the test and listened to Sarah as G-d commanded.
Rabbi Hirsch Zt’l says that Abraham also saw the bad behavior of Yishmael but was concerned that if the bad influences were able to affect him while living in the house of Abraham and Sarah then the effect of being raised in another environment with Hagar would certainly seal his fate to a life of wickedness. The Hafetz Haim teaches from this chapter a valuable lesson in regard to bringing people closer to Torah and misvot. How far does one go to make contact with those who are non-observant in an attempt to bring them back into the fold and show them the beauty of a Torah-observant life? Certainly, living with Yitzhak would have a positive influence on Yishmael. But, on the other hand, Yishak would not be immune to the negative influences of his 1/2 brother. Sarah ruled the danger outweighed the benefit. Very often one who goes out to mingle with the non- observant in hopes of showing them the way, results in a cooling of the well-intentioned persons Torah values. Rabbi Elhonon Wasserman Hy’d used to say that the Torah warns the Jew not to associate with those who are not observant. He quotes the wisdom of King Solomon who said, “Do not be overly righteous” i.e.”don’t be smarter than the Torah” — heed its warnings!
Rabbi Yisrael Salanter expressed the same idea with a parable. A king once sent one of loyal officers on a diplomatic mission to another monarch. Before he left, the king gave final instructions. “The people there are very wily. Do not wager with them under any circumstances”. He agreed and left to do his king’s bidding.
He spent a few days in the kingdom working out all of the details of his master’s policy with the neighboring monarch. On the day he was to leave one of the officers of the court began to poke fun. “Look at what kind of man the King sent to us–he is a hunchback.” The others in attendance began to laugh and jest also. The emissary objected, “I am not a hunchback nor have I ever been one,” The court officer said, “I will wager 1,000,000 rubles that this man is a hunchback.”
Remembering his king’s instructions the emissary was ready to leave the palace in shame but he thought that this was not really a wager that he could lose and he could come back with 1,000,000 rubles to add to the royal treasury. He accepted the bet. The king said, “Take off his shirt and we will see the truth once and for all.” The man rushed to remove his shirt in order to prove that he was indeed the one who was correct and collect the huge some at stake. Of course his bare back proved that he was in perfect physical shape and was not at all hunchback. Shortly thereafter her returned happily to his country.
As soon as he came before the king he reported with great pride the 1,000,000-ruble victory. To his dismay the king’s face turned to one of anger. “How could you violate my command? Didn’t I personally command you not to wager with those people?” “Yes”, replied the surprised messenger. “Well, what you did not know was that I had bet the king that my messenger would never take off his shirt in the royal court. My wager was for 100 times the amount of your meager bet –100,000,000 rubles. Your disobedience has cost the royal treasury 99,000,000 rubles!”
Rabbi Raymond Beyda explains: ‘The comparison is clear. Very often a person may feel that they know how to protect them self in spite of the warnings of the Torah. Unfortunately, instead of being the influence they often end up to be the influenced. It is very, very important that the observant Jews reach out to help those who have lost their way. It is also important, however, that they follow a path as directed by our spiritual leaders who know the Torah method for recognizing and dealing with the inherent spiritual dangers of interacting with those who are far from a life of Torah and misvot. Also, we all must inspect the environment in which we raise our children to see that it complies with the directives of our contemporary Rabbis who know best how to discern the dangers. We must not feel that on our own we can determine and protect against the dangers that society throws at our children. ‘
Oct 27, 2017 | Torat Devorah
What is God’s first command to Abraham and in essence, God’s first command to every Jew? God tells Abraham: “Go to you, from your land, your birthplace and your father’s home to the land which I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). At first glance, this is hard to understand. What does God mean by, “go to you”? Rabbi Shaul Rosenblatt explains: ‘God is telling Abraham to leave behind the influences that have shaped his value system: his land – his society; his birthplace – his peer group; his father’s home – his family. God says to Abraham: Don’t allow these influences to determine your beliefs in life. Don’t allow yourself to be a simple product of your environment, rather: “Go to you.” Go to yourself, Abraham. Look deep inside and find out who you are. And don’t let anyone else tell you. Trust yourself, because ultimately that is all you have to trust. Truth, God tells Abraham, is to be found within every one of us. But we are usually so busy seeking it from without, that we don’t notice what is right in front of our eyes, within. This is a shocking philosophy for a religion to give its adherents, let alone as its first command. Forget what your family tell you to be true. Forget what your friends say. Forget what society says is true. Look inside yourself, and trust what you know to be true.’
One of the underlying themes in the Torah is the importance of developing a sense of gratitude. Even the most spiritual person is liable to fall into the trap of ungratefulness. As Abraham approaches Egypt, a place of danger, after many years of marriage he says to his wife Sarah, “Now I realize how beautiful you are.” It seems that when he realized that he might lose her, he became aware of how much she really meant to him. Rabbi Ron Jawary comments: ‘One of the battles in life is to avoid this danger of becoming accustomed to people and things, and allowing this familiarity to deprive us of our sense of gratitude.
Unfortunately, we so often neglect to realize what we have until it is too late. The Talmud tells us that, in order to help us avoid this pitfall, we should spend a few moments before we partake of any pleasure in the world to say thank you to the Almighty. We should do this even for those things that we all take for granted.
By making a blessing before partaking of any pleasure we protect ourselves from becoming insensitive to the beauty and pleasure inherent in them. We can also take the most mundane moments of our lives and elevate them into a sublime experience, using them as stepping stones to reach the Divine. As King David said, “With every breath I take, I will praise the Divine.”
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
Oct 20, 2017 | Torat Devorah
The Torah states: “Noah was a completely righteous man in his generation” (Gen. 6:9).The Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 108a, is bothered by the seemingly superfluous words “in his generation.” What are these extra words coming to teach us? There are two opinions: 1) Praise of Noah. Even in an evil generation he was righteous. However, if he were in a righteous generation, he would have been even more righteous. 2) Denigration of Noah. In his own generation he was considered righteous, but had he lived in Avraham’s generation he would not have been considered righteous in comparison to Avraham. The Chasam Sofer, a great rabbi, explained that there really is no argument between the two opinions. If Noah would have stayed the way he was in his own generation, then in Avraham’s generation he would not have been considered that righteous. However, the reality is that Noah would have been influenced by Avraham and have reached even greater heights of righteousness.
Rabbi Zelig Pliskin comments that this teaches us that we are all affected by our environment. When we are close to people of good character, we are automatically influenced in positive directions. We must choose our friends and your community with care as they strongly impact our lives.
The Torah states: “And Noah, man of the earth, profaned himself and planted a vineyard” (Genesis 9:20). Previously the Torah called Noah “a righteous man.” What happened? Rabbi Yeruchem Levovitz comments that by planting the vineyard first, Noah revealed his essence. He should have planted more essential produce first. His choice of priorities lowered his previous spiritual level. He concludes that we should learn that whenever you have a number of things to choose from, note what you choose first. This is a powerful tool to gain greater self-awareness. Regardless of your present level, strive to build up such a love for doing good that it will be first on your list of things to do!
The Torah states: “One who spills the blood of a person shall have his own blood spilled by man, for in the image of the Almighty He has made man.” (Genesis 9:6) This verse is also cited as a source that we must not embarrass another human being. What is the connection between murder and embarrassment? Rabbi Moshe Alshich explains that when a person is embarrassed, his blood flow changes – his face reddens. The Torah tells us in this verse that every person is created in the image of the Almighty. Therefore, every person must be shown great respect. An attack upon a human being – whether it be upon a person’s body or upon his sense of self – contains an aspect of an attack on the Almighty. When one is embarrassed, he is in great pain. The suffering can be even greater than from a physical wound. The harm, however, is much more than the present pain – the person suffers a loss of self-esteem. Humiliating someone can cause a person to fail to realize his true greatness. The ramifications of this are awesome.
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
