Feb 4, 2016 | Torat Devorah
“If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep or a goat, and slaughter it or sell it, he shall pay five oxen in place of the ox, and four sheep in place of the sheep.” (21:37)
Sometimes we subconsciously cause ourselves deep self-inflicted emotional wounds. Ironically, however, exactly what we think is the cure for our unhappiness can actually be the cause of our malaise. In this week’s Torah portion there is a law that on the surface is very puzzling. Someone who steals an ox has to pay back five oxen, but someone who steals a sheep has to pay back four sheep. Our Sages teach us that The Torah has concern even for the self-respect of a thief. Stealing a sheep requires the thief to carry the animal across his shoulders, which is most undignified, and so if he is caught, he only to pay only four sheep, whereas stealing an ox only requires the thief to lead the animal by a rope, which isn’t embarrassing, and so the greater penalty for stealing an ox is five oxen.
So, in reality, a sheep-stealer should also pay back five sheep, but seeing as he has already suffered severe humiliation, the Torah considers that he has already paid part of his penalty. It must be then that his humiliation is not something abstract, but it is so great as to be quantifiable in money. This is rather strange. Because were we to approach the thief at the scene of the crime and suggest to him that he must be experiencing the most terrible humiliation and emotional angst, he would almost certainly reply: “You must be joking! I’m getting away with a sheep! You know what this is worth?!” And yet the Torah, which sees to the very deepest levels of a person’s psyche, tells us that the thief is in point of fact suffering great humiliation, equivalent to the payment of money — otherwise how could his penalty have been thus reduced?
In the book Chiddushei HaLev, it s explained: The fact of the matter is that at the moment of the theft, the theft does feel a tremendous depression and sense of disgrace. He feels cheap. He experiences emotional trauma. And yet he has no idea why he should feel this way. And thus he carries on stealing and stealing and causes himself more and more emotional angst, thinking that another ‘job’ will get him out of his emotional slump. And so the vicious circle spirals down and down. Only by observing the Torah can one be truly happy in this world, because only the Designer understands the true nature of His creations, and only He knows what makes one happy and sad. Only G-d knows which actions a person should stay away from and which he should embrace to live a rich, happy and fulfilled life.
“And on the seventh day you shall rest, in order that your ox and your donkey should rest.” (23:12) Shabbat is the most distant whisper of the World-to-Come, a glimpse into a world beyond time and space that we connect to by refraining from actions that connect us to time and space. G-d gave the Jewish People an awesome power: the ability to infuse the physical world with the spiritual; to elevate the physical world so that it speaks the language of the soul. Why is it important that “my ox and my donkey” should rest on Shabbat? Are they going to go to shul as well? Wasn’t Shabbat given to man and man alone? Rabbi Avraham Moderchai Gur comments: ‘The Torah is telling us here that our Shabbat rest should be such that it creates ripples of spiritual energy that elevate the entire world and felt even by the animals. The Midrash describes how one of our Sages sold an ox to a non-Jew and it refused to work for its new owner on Shabbat because resting on Shabbat had become second-nature to it.When we keep the mitzvot properly — and especially Shabbat — the whole world feels the difference.’
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
Jan 28, 2016 | Torat Devorah
This week we encounter Moses at a pivotal point in his leadership. Since the Exodus, he has acted as the magistrate, serving as an intermediary between the people and God — literally, day in and day out. The people come to him to understand what God requires of them, and Moses, in a pastoral leadership role, responds. As a father–in–law who must realize how little time Moses is spending with his family — and frighteningly prophetic for our modern rabbis — Yitro advocates that Moses change his style of leadership. “But Moses’ father–in–law said to him, ‘The thing you are doing is not right; you will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone’ ” (Exodus 18:17).
Yitro’s solution is to create a hierarchy of leadership. He instructs Moses to select “capable men who fear God, trustworthy men who spurn ill–gotten gain.” Yitro tells Moses to teach the “ordinances and laws” and “the way where they must walk” to act in his stead. Surely, there are cases that Moses should see himself, but many others can be managed by these “chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens” (Exodus 18:20–21). They share the burden of leadership and ease the load on Moses (and maybe he can have dinner with his family once in a while).
Rabbi Marc Wolf comments: ‘There are numerous lessons we can learn from this passage about the nature of effective leadership — most notably about the burden of leadership. Although we read that the Israelites came out of Egypt on eagles’ wings, we can assume from the tensions that surface that Moses felt as if he carried them out on his shoulders. From the models in his book Leadership Without Easy Answers, Ron Heifetz would define Moses as exhibiting an “ethic of responsibility.” These leaders, however, frequently suffer from stress and loneliness, “Because those who lead take responsibility for the holding environment of the enterprise. They themselves are not expected to be held. They do the holding, often quite alone” (250). Moses lived this loneliness; Yitro recognized it while offering his advice. Moses responds, implementing Yitro’s suggestions and shares his burden of leadership and allows others to stand in the breach with him.’
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
Jan 21, 2016 | Torat Devorah
The Torah states, “You shall not taunt or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Rashi cites Chazal who explain that the term “stranger” is referring to a convert. A Jew is not permitted to cause pain or aggrieve a convert by reminding him of his past. The Gemara tells us that this prohibition extends for ten generations. However, we find that very often Yisro, Moshe’s father in law, is referred to in the Torah as “Kohen Midian – high priest of Midian.” Although this was after his conversion to monotheism, he is continuously referred to in this seemingly pejorative manner. If one is not permitted to remind another of his past, then why does the Torah repeatedly emphasize and reiterate that Yisro was the pagan priest of Midian? Rabbi Yosef Kalatsky explains ‘If the Torah had not referred to Yisro as the high priest of Midian, then we would not appreciate the ramifications of his ultimate accomplishment of converting to monotheism. By rejecting idolatry and abandoning his position as the pagan leader of Midian, he became a pariah in his own community. The Torah tells us that when his daughters would go to water their flocks they were driven away by the other shepherds because of the status of their father. The reason the Torah continuously identifies Yisro as the high priest of Midian is to communicate to us that although he had originally represented the most advanced position as a pagan priest, he rejected it all for the truth of monotheism. It would be the equivalent of the head of the Catholic Church rejecting all his previous beliefs and acknowledging Judaism as the true religion. An ordinary pagan converting to monotheism would have not brought about such a level of kiddush Hashem. ‘
The Torah states after the splitting of the Sea, “…and they had faith in Hashem and in Moshe, His servant.” Ramban explains that other than the Sinai event, there was no other time in Jewish history in which the people had reached such an advanced level of faith in G’d. This is understandable because the dimension of revelation at the splitting of the Sea was of such a degree that even the prophet Yechezkel did not merit to witness what the lowly maidservant had experienced. They had declared, “Behold, this is my G’d I will glorify Him!” G’d’s Presence was so palpable that one could point his finger at Him. Seemingly, having such a great degree of faith in G’d at that moment should not be considered a significant accomplishment. However, we see from the Midrash differently. The Midrash states, “Because the Jewish people had faith in G’d at the time of the splitting of the Sea, they merited to inherit the Land of Israel. We find that the reward that Avraham, our Patriarch, had merited for having faith in G’d was exceptional. After G’d had informed him that he would have a son, the Torah states, ‘And Avraham believed in G’d and He considered it to be righteous.’ Because of this level of faith he merited inheriting this world and the world to come.” At this time, Avraham was 99 years old. He had already dedicated his life to the selfless espousal of monotheism. He had withstood the test of being thrown into the fiery kiln of Kasdim, rather than bowing to the idol. He had also withstood the test of needing to leave his homeland, his birthplace, and his family. He did not question G’d when he was confronted with the famine in Canaan, causing him to go to Egypt. Despite all these accomplishments, Chazal tell us that it was only because he had “believed in G’d” when he was told that he would have a child that he merited this world and the world to come. Firstly, based on all of Avraham’s spiritual accomplishments, why was that not sufficient to merit a share in this world and the world to come? In addition, why was Avraham’s belief in G’d, regarding having a child, so unique? Chazal tell us that G’d does not associate His Name with a person during his lifetime. As we see, He did not associate His Name with the Holy Patriarchs, with the exception of Yitzchak, while they were alive despite their level of faith and unique levels of accomplishment. It was only after they had passed away that G’d identified Himself as “the G’d of Avraham” and “the G’d of Yaakov.” This is based upon the principle, “One should not believe in himself until the moment of his death.” Meaning, regardless of one’s level of devoutness and dedication to G’d, as long as one is alive he is subject to free choice. He has the ability to chose until the very last moment of his life to become a heretic. It is because of this, that G’d does not associate His Name with someone during his lifetime.
Jan 7, 2016 | Torat Devorah
One of the more difficult theological problems raised in the book of Exodus is precisely the verse in which the Bible declares that it was God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart to be impervious to the cries of his forced laborers. To be sure, during the first five plagues, it was Pharaoh himself who was responsible for his stubborn cruelty, who hardened his own heart. Now that we have come to the sixth plague of boils, how can we blame the Egyptian monarch if it was God who prevented him from freeing his Hebrew slaves?!
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat, Israel, comments: “Such conduct on the part of the Creator of the Universe goes against those very axiomatic standards by which the world and humanity first came into being. “And God said, Let us make a human being in our image and like our likeness…” (Gen. 1:26), to which Seforno comments that only the human being has untrammeled and independent freedom of moral choice: the “angels” act with knowledge and recognition, but are totally functional and devoid of volition, whereas God is volitional—He cannot, by definition, choose evil, as God is consummate goodness. This Biblical commentary is therefore saying that the human being is created with the capacity to choose to do even that which God would not have wanted him to do—as we certainly see in the unfolding stories of the book of Genesis again and again (Gen. 6:6). So how can it be that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh, preventing him from hearkening to God, Moses and the Hebrews, preventing him from repentance? Our Biblical text iterates and reiterates God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, not only once but four more times, with reference to the plague of hail (Ex. 10:1), the plague of locusts (10:20), the plague of darkness (10:27), and the plague of the death of the first-born (11:10). How can God hold Pharaoh responsible for a heinous and ongoing crime when it was He, God, who prevented Pharaoh from repenting? Seforno, in a most creative interpretation, does not believe that God prevented Pharaoh from repenting: “Had Pharaoh wished to submit himself to the Divine Will, may He be blessed, and to return to Him in complete repentance, there would have been nothing to serve as a deterrent. Behold, when God may He be blessed, says, I shall harden the heart of Pharaoh, it merely means that (Pharaoh) will be strengthened by the suffering of the plagues, and not release the Hebrews because of his fear of the plagues….” (ad loc. 7:3) Seforno is almost turning the verse on its head by insisting that, in hardening Pharaoh’s heart from “running scared” and freeing the Hebrews, He was only enhancing Pharaoh’s freedom to make moral decisions; God was removing the malaise and mayhem being wrought upon Egyptian society by the plagues from becoming the cardinal reason for his sending the Hebrews out, which would have made the decision not at all a matter of morality but rather an issue of political expediency. On the basis of this commentary, the entire logic of the plagues becomes much clearer. During the second plague of frogs, Moses explains that the reason for the horrific discomfiture, the turn-around of the Nile from being a life-giving god of Egypt into becoming a macabre and ridiculous repository of blood and frogs is “in order that you may know that there is none like the Lord (YHVH) our God” (Ex. 8:6); and the fourth plague of swarms of insects is “in order that you know that I am the Lord (YHVH) in the midst of the land” (Ex. 8:18)… This is the lesson that God wanted to teach Pharaoh, totalitarian ruler of the most powerful nation at that time. God, YHVH, the unique creator and owner of all of creation who loves His creation, will act in history and in the world to free all slaves and redeem all who are oppressed. Hence, it was crucial that God harden Pharaoh’s heart to free him from succumbing to pressure from the plagues; Pharaoh had to free the Israelites only because he recognized the ultimate authority of the one God whose universal laws of freedom must govern the world if there is to remain a world.”
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
Dec 23, 2015 | Torat Devorah
In this week’s parsha, Yosef brings his two children to his father Yaakov for a bracha [blessing]. Yaakov gave Yosef’s children a tremendous bracha: “By you shall Israel bless saying, ‘May G-d make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh'” [Bereshis 48:20]. In the future, whenever the Jewish people would bless their sons, they would invoke the prayer that they should be like Yosef’s two sons: Ephraim and Menashe. A very obvious question is asked. Yaakov had twelve illustrious sons. Why didn’t Yaakov say, for example, that the perennial Jewish blessing would be “May you be like Yehudah and Yosef” or “like Yissachor and Zevulun”? Why did Yaakov single out these two grandchildren to be the prototypes of blessing?
Rav Yissocher Frand explains: ‘Several meforshim [commentators] offer the following explanation, which I saw most recently from Rabbi Eliyahu Munk, zt”l. Yaakov saw a special quality in Ephraim and Menashe that he did not have the opportunity to see in his own children. Yaakov’s own children were raised in the best of environments. They lived in the Land of Israel, in the house of the patriarch Yaakov, insulated from any bad environment. Granted, it is not trivial to raise good children even in the best of circumstances. However there is nothing novel in the fact that Yaakov’s own children turned out well. It is no surprise if a child who is raised in Bnei Brak or Meah Shearim grows up as an observant Jew. However if people raise a child in a city such as Sioux City, Iowa — where their family is, perhaps, the only observant Jewish family in town — and the child is subject to foreign influences from all of his surroundings — and nonetheless, the child turns out a faithful Jew, that is truly a great accomplishment. The Patriarch Yaakov, perceiving that generations of Jews would spend so much of their time in Exile, formulated the greatest blessing that the Jewish people could give over to their children. “May they be like Ephraim and Menashe”. Ephraim and Menashe were raised in the Sioux City, Iowa of their time. They were the only Jews in the entire country! They had to grow up knowing that many things that they saw around them were not right, not the way things should be. Despite this, they turned out just like Yaakov’s own children. This is the special blessing that the Jewish people would need — the ability to be raised in a non-Jewish environment and yet turn out to be good and honest Jews.’
Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves and I will tell you what will befall you in “The End of Days”. Gather yourselves and listen, O sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father. (Breishis 49:1) When they had assembled they thought they would hear a litany of blessings and consolations. Jacob our father answered and said to them, “Abraham my father’s father had blemished children that came out from him, Ishmael and all the children of Ketura. From my father Isaac issued, my brother Esau who was disqualified. I am afraid that that there might be amongst you a person whose heart is divided from his brothers and goes to serve other gods”. All twelve tribes responded simultaneously and said, “Listen (our father) Israel HASHEM is OUR G-D HASHEM is the ONE and ONLY.” At that moment Jacob our father answered, “Blessed is the Name of His glorious kingdom for all eternity!” (Talmud- Yerushalmi) Maimonodies writes in The Laws of “Shema” that this homiletic is the source of our inserting those whispered words after the first line of “Shema”, although it is not part of the verse- “Blessed is the Name of His glorious Kingdom for eternity!” With that as the punctuation to their discussion, it seems that Jacob’s worries were quieted by the brother’s unanimous pledge. Why was their declaration of faith at that moment taken as a “guarantee” of future loyalty?Rabbi Leibel Lam explains: ‘Shema Yisrael” can be called the “mission statement” of the Jewish Nation. Properly understood from its primal origin, The “Shema” declares not only our point of departure but our final destination, as well, as we say daily: “On that day HASHEM will be ONE and His Name will be ONE!” (Zechariah 14:9) With the end in sight and all his children unified in purpose around him, Jacob sought to and was successful at offering us a glimpse of that which paves our way to “The End of Days”.
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
Dec 15, 2015 | Torat Devorah
The Torah tells us that when Yosef became aware that his father Yaakov had come to Egypt, “Yosef harnessed his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen.” Rashi cites Chazal who explain, “He personally harnessed his chariot in order to honor his father with cheerfully and with exuberance.” Yosef did not want to be delayed in honoring his father by delegating this task to his servants. The Torah tells us that Avraham, our Patriarch and Bilaam the evil one both harnessed their own donkeys when they had set out on their individual objectives. The Torah tells us regarding Avraham, that he harnessed his own donkey when he was told to perform the Akeidah (The Binding of Yitzchak). Chazal explain that although Avraham was extremely wealthy and was 137 years old at the time, he harnessed his own donkey rather than delegating it to his servants because “Love disrupts all protocol.” Avraham’s love for G’d was to such a degree that at that moment all that existed was fulfilling the Will of G’d. His sense of self at that moment did not exist. We also find that when Bilaam, the prophet for the nations of the world, embarked on his journey to curse the Jewish people to destroy them he hitched his own donkey. Chazal explain the reason for this was, “Hate disrupts all protocol.” Bilaam’s intense and all consuming hate for the Jewish people caused him to be singularly focused on his mission to destroy the Jewish people. His sense of self had no relevance at that moment, although he was a selfabsorbed and egotistic person. One would think that regarding Yosef harnessing his own chariot, despite being the Viceroy of Egypt, Chazal would have also said that this is another example of, “Love disrupts all protocol.” Yosef’s special love for his father Yaakov would have caused him not to focus on his own status. However, Chazal do not say this. Rather, Yosef harnessed his own donkey so that he could honor his father without delay. Why is this example not similar to that of Avraham harnessing his own donkey? Rabbi Yosef Kalatsky comments: The Torah tells us that when Yaakov came to Egypt, although the famine was initially meant to be for seven years it ceased upon his arrival to do his merit. The famine thus lasted only two years. The ending of the famine due to Yaakov’s arrival was a sanctification of G’d’s Name. Despite the fact that the Egyptian people were pagans, they understood that the ending of the famine was due to Yaakov, who was the representation of the Omnipotent G’d in existence. This was only a sanctification of G’d’s Name because the people had a sense of Yaakov’s importance and value due to the Viceroy’s hitching his own chariot. Since the Egyptian people were aware that Yosef, the Viceroy, who was one of the most renowned and powerful personalities in the world, harnessing his own chariot to accord his father proper honor in the most expedient manner, they realized that Yaakov must of an exceptional dimension of person. When Yaakov had come to Egypt he had given a special blessing to Pharaoh that the Nile would rise in his presence. By doing so, it provided water to all of Egypt. Thus, Yaakov, the man of G’d, became synonymous with the one who gives life. Regarding Avraham’s harnessing of his own donkey, it was purely out of his love for G’d. No one was aware of the objective of his mission to bring his son to the Akeidah. Thus, it was only to reveal to us that “love disrupts all protocol.”
Prepared by Devorah Abenhaim
