Thursday, December 25, 2014

Dvar Torah for Parshas Vayigash

       While the biggest event in Parshas Vayigash is Yosef revealing himself to his brothers, when placed in perspective, its impact only reaches a very short time in history. The more far-reaching event is what happens at the end of the Parshah.
       After Yosef reveals himself to his brothers, he urges them to bring the entire clan down to Egypt so he can support them until the end of the famine. While the famine ended when Yaakov came down, his family still stayed there and prospered. It is at this time that the nation of Yisrael begins to develop. Hashem promised Avraham that his children would become Hashem’s chosen nation, however, they first would have to go through a long exile with much hardship. This process began when Yaakov came down to Egypt with his family. This led to the slavery in Egypt, which led to the creation of Bnei Yisrael, which led to the Plagues, Krias Yam Suf, the Giving of the Torah, and our eventual return to Eretz Yisrael.
       But before all this happened, Yaakov had to go down to Egypt. Before he did, Yaakov was not sure he was doing the right thing. So Hashem came to him in a dream and told him not to worry about going down. “אָנֹכִי אֵרֵד עִמְּךָ מִצְרַיְמָה וְאָנֹכִי אַעַלְךָ גַם עָלֹה “I (Hashem) will go down with you to Mitzrayim, and I will also bring you up.” (Bereishis 46:4). In this pasuk, Hashem promises Yaakov that He will descend with him to Mitzrayim, and will also bring him (or his children) back to Eretz Yisrael.
       An interesting point arises when we examine this pasuk. In the first part of the pasuk, Hashem promises Yaakov that He will go down with him. The pasuk first says that Hashem will be going down, and then mentions that He will be with Yaakov when he goes down. In the second part when Hashem promises to bring Yaakov back, first the pasuk says that Hashem will bring Yaakov up, “אַעַלְך” “I will bring you up”, and then He says that He will come back up as well, “גַם עָלֹה”.
       The Kli Yakar explains that this pasuk contains a vital idea. The times we have gone into exile, it has been after a horrific event. It comes at a time when the nation is reeling and Hashem is apparently nowhere to be found. In this pasuk, Hashem sets the standard for Mitzrayim and all future exiles. Before we even leave our homeland, Hashem will have already gone out ahead of us to await our arrival. And when we return, Hashem will stay in exile, until the very last Jew has left and returned to Eretz Yisrael.
       This was how Hashem calmed Yaakov, and this is how we too should be comforted while we remain in exile. No matter how dark or desperate times may seem, we only need to return to this promise Hashem made Yaakov; He will always be there no matter where we may end up, and He will be the last to leave, making sure no one is left behind.


Shabbat Shalom! 

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Thursday, December 18, 2014

Dvar Torah for Chanuka

In honor of Chanuka, AIMeM is taking the week off. Please enjoy last year's Dvar Torah and have a wonderful Yom Tov!

       We all know the story of Chanukah, the Jews defeated the mighty Greek army and returned to the Beis Hamikdash. When they came to light the Menorah, they could not find any pure oil to light it with until, after a long search, they found enough oil to last one night. They lit the Menorah and the oil lasted miraculously for eight days. To commemorate this great miracle, we celebrate eight nights of Chanukah. There is a very famous question from the Beis Yosef concerning these eight nights. While the Menorah stayed lit for eight days, the actual miracle only lasted for seven nights as there was already enough oil to last for one night! So really we should celebrate seven nights, not eight?
       There are literally hundreds of answers to this question. I have decided to use the answer found in the Kedushas Levi, written by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Mi’Berditchev, for this Dvar Torah. 
       He explains that we are really commemorating two miracles here. The first day commemorates the miracle of the battle against the Greeks. The fact that Hashem helped us defeat the much stronger and larger Greek army is reason enough to establish a chag. The other seven days represent the miracle of the Menorah. So the eight days of Hallel and Thanksgiving are for both these reasons, the miracle of the war and the miracle of the Menorah.
       According to this explanation, another question arises. If the miracle of the Menorah has nothing to do with the first night of Chanukah, then why do we light the Menorah on that night? The Kedushas Levi answers that once the nation saw the miracle of the oil, they realized that the entire Chanukah miracle, including the battle, was only through the zchus of the menorah. What exactly does this mean? What is so special about the Menorah that we had the miracles of the war and the oil because of it?
       When the Greeks came and took over the Beis Hamikdash, they did not allow any of the daily service to continue. Korbanos, the Ketores, the Levi’im’s singing, the lighting of the Menorah, they were all discontinued. The Bnei Yisrael had no opportunity to even commemorate any of these services as they are all specific to the Beis Hamikdash, except the Menorah. When we light Shabbos candles or the Ner Tamid in Shul, they fulfill the same purpose as the Menorah, to have candles of Kedushah lit at all times, even outside of the Beis Hamikdash.
       If there is something you really want that is sitting right in front of you, and you cannot get to it, it makes it even more precious to you. That is Hashem’s attitude towards our Shabbos candles, they remind Him of the holy lights of the Menorah that were lit in the Beis Hamikdash, making them more precious to Him than any other part of the Avodah. During the time of Greek occupation, the Jews would light their Shabbos candles and think longingly of the Beis Hamikdash and the opportunity to once again do the Avodah. Because this longing came through the lights of the candles, Hashem brought the Beis Hamikdash back through the zchus of the Menorah’s light.        
       What an idea to take into Shabbos Chanukah! Both the Shabbos and Chanukah candles remind Hashem of the Beis Hamikdash and show our desire to once again perform the Avodah. What better time to act on this than the time when we light both of these candles. So when you light your Chanukah candles this week, realize that they don’t just symbolize the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days or even the Menorah itself, they represent the entire service done in the Beis Hamikdash. May this Chanukah bring the Geulah that we have all been waiting for.

Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!


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Thursday, December 11, 2014

Dvar Torah for Parshas Vayeishev

       The story of Yosef and his brothers is one of the most confusing episodes to study in the Torah. How these great men could dislike someone as great as Yosef, and how Yosef could be so naïve to bring such hatred upon himself, are two of the more pressing questions in this story. Another big question is whether Yaakov realized how big the problem was, and what he tried to do about it. We will touch on that subject this week.
       The second aliyah begins, “וַיֹּאמֶר יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל יוֹסֵף הֲלוֹא אַחֶיךָ רֹעִים בִּשְׁכֶם לְכָה וְאֶשְׁלָחֲךָ אֲלֵיהֶם“And Yisrael said to Yosef, ‘Your brothers are shepherding in Shechem. Go, and I will send you to them…” (Bereishis 37:13). Yaakov asks Yosef to go and check on his brothers and see how they are doing. If Yaakov knew how much the brothers disliked Yosef, this is a terrible idea! Not only is he sending the one person that they cannot stand, he’s sending him to check on them! This is a recipe for disaster. To his credit, Yosef immediately says that he will go.
       The Ohr HaChaim explains that Yaakov knew that there were issues between his sons, and therefore, he sent Yosef with extra protection. The pasuk writes that Yaakov tells Yosef to “go” to his brothers, and that Yaakov will “send” him to the brothers; the explanation behind this double sending is that first Yaakov told Yosef to go, and then he put the extra protection on him. What was this extra protection?
       Chazal teach us that שלוחי מצווה אינם ניזוקים, someone on a mission to do a mitzvah will not come to any harm. When Yaakov “sent” Yosef to his brothers, he gave him the mitzvah of Kibud Av to protect him from any harm the brothers would want to do to him.
       However, another question arises from this explanation. If Yosef was doing a mitzvah, then how was he sold as a slave? Wasn’t he protected from anything bad? The first answer is that since at the end of the day, everything turned out great for Yosef, he became the ruler of the most powerful country in the world, the fact that he was sold and mistreated at the beginning is not considered that he was harmed.
       Another answer the Ohr HaChaim gives, is that Yaakov told Yosef to go to Shechem specifically, to check on his brothers. When Yosef arrived there, the brothers had already moved on and Yosef went to follow them. At that point, Yaakov’s protection ran out and Yosef was exposed. Yosef assumed that his father’s protection would follow him wherever he went for the mitzvah, but this was not so.
       This last answer seems a little too convenient to actually be true. Let’s say Yaakov had been more general in his directions instead of being specific, let’s say Yosef had decided not to follow his brother’s from Shechem, what would have happened then? The answer is that Hashem needed something very specific to happen; he needed Yosef to get down to Mitzrayim in order to set things up so that when Yaakov and the family arrived years later, everything would be ready for them. If this exact order of things hadn’t happened, Hashem would have figured out another way of doing it. But at the end of the day, we see from this parshah that, ‘Man plans and God laughs.’ No matter how much Yaakov wanted to protect Yosef, and no matter how badly his brothers wanted to harm him, the only thing that was going to happen to Yosef was what Hashem had planned for him.


Shabbat Shalom!


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Thursday, December 4, 2014

Dvar Torah for Parshas Vayishlach

       Parshas Vayishlach opens with the long-awaited confrontation between Yaakov and Esav. Even after twenty years, Esav still harbored vengeful feelings against Yaakov and came with 400 warriors ready to battle. For his part, Yaakov prepared for this clash by doing three things, 1) He sent Esav a large gift, hoping to win his favor 2) He prepared himself and his family for a possible battle 3) He davened to Hashem. All three of these things were vital to Yaakov’s survival, but it is the last one that we will discuss.
       After arranging Esav’s gift and making sure his family was safe, Yaakov turns to Hashem and begins to daven. Yaakov ends his prayer by reminding Hashem of the promise Hashem made him many years earlier, “וְאַתָּה אָמַרְתָּ הֵיטֵב אֵיטִיב עִמָּךְ וְשַׂמְתִּי אֶת זַרְעֲךָ כְּחוֹל הַיָּם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִסָּפֵר מֵרֹב“And You said, ‘I will surely do good with you, and I will make your seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of the multitude” (Bereishis 32:13). (Actually, Hashem promised Avraham that his children would be as numerous as the sand, but He then promised Yaakov that He would give him everything He had promised to Avraham, so it works out the same.)
       The Kli Yakar asks, Hashem had promised Yaakov, that his children would be as numerous as the stars and the sand. While they are both numerous, the stars have the added advantage of being celestial objects, so their symbolism extends beyond abundances of offspring, to the greatness of the offspring as well. At this time when Yaakov needs to triumph over Esav, why does he ask Hashem to remember the promise that his children will be lowly like the sand and not great like the stars?
       The Kli Yakar explains that when discussing the blessing of how numerous Bnei Yisrael will be, Hashem uses three examples to illustrate: stars, dust, and sand. When all is peaceful and Bnei Yisrael rule over themselves, they are compared to the stars. At the opposite times, they are compared to the dust.
       Sand is the guardian of the beach. The ocean waves constantly crash onto the shore, trying to destroy the world, and the sand is always there to stop it. In this way, sand continually protects the world from destruction.
       At times of war, you want to be like the sand. You want to be able to stand in front of the charging enemy, and repeatedly push them back again and again. That is why Yaakov reminded Hashem that his children should be like the sand. In the wake of Esav’s attack, Yaakov wanted to be able to withstand it, and throw it back in the direction it came.
       May Hashem give us the strength to continue to stand tall in the face of our enemies like the sand on the shore.

Shabbat Shalom!



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Thursday, November 27, 2014

Dvar Torah for Vayetzei

       This week’s parshah, Parshas Vayeitzei, continues Yaakov’s journey to Charan, to Lavan’s house. On the way, he stops to spend the night, and in his dream, Hashem appears to him. Hashem introduces Himself to Yaakov by saying, “ אֲנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אָבִיךָ וֵאלֹהֵי יִצְחָק “I am Hashem, the God of your father Avraham, and the God of Yitzchak…” (Bereishis 28:13). The question here is very obvious, how come Hashem only calls Avraham, Yaakov’s father and not Yitzchak? He could have said it only by Yitzchak or He could have said it by both of them, how come by Yitzchak He didn’t say it at all?
       There are several answers given to this question. A commonly given answer is that this is the pasuk that proves that grandchildren are considered like children, a common idea found in the Torah. It might seem obvious, but without this original source, we wouldn’t know it!
       The Ohr HaChaim offers another explanation. The most valuable inheritance that Yitzchak could offer his children was the inheritance of Avraham that his descendants would become Hashem’s special nation. By saying that Avraham was Yaakov’s father, Hashem is promising Yaakov that he will receive this inheritance. If Hashem would have mentioned Yitzchak as Yaakov’s father, then Avraham’s inheritance could just as easily gone to Esav.
       The Ohr HaChaim asks, by that same reasoning, couldn’t Avraham’s inheritance have gone to Yishmael instead of Yitzchak? How come saying that Avraham is Yaakov’s father solves this problem? The answer is that Yishmael’s mother, Hagar, was a servant in Avraham’s house. As such, he had no right to any inheritance. Esav, however, was the son of Rivka, and had as much right to the inheritance as Yaakov did.


Shabbat Shalom!    


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Thursday, November 20, 2014

Dvar Torah for Parshas Toldos

       This week’s parshah, Parshas Toldos, contains the famous story of Yaakov conspiring with his mother, Rivka, to get the brachos from Yitzchak, instead of Esav. The significance of these brachos is that they promised prosperity and economic success in this world. While Yitzchak was going to give Yaakov the brachos of Avraham, as we see him do at the end of the parshah, those brachos guarantee spiritual greatness and, for reasons we will not go into here (perhaps next year!), Rivka felt that Yaakov needed these brachos as well, and therefore, helped him get them.
       In the second pasuk of the brachos, the pasuk reads, “… אֹרֲרֶיךָ אָרוּר וּמְבָרֲכֶיךָ בָּרוּךְ “…those who curse you shall be cursed, and those who bless you shall be blessed” (Bereishis 27:29). This phrase appears earlier in the Torah; when Hashem blessed Avraham, He said this same line, but backwards; “וַאֲבָרְכָה מְבָרֲכֶיךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ אָאֹר “And I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you” (12:3). Later on in the Torah, when Balaam blesses Bnei Yisrael in the desert, he also uses this phrase, “bless those who bless you,” and follows it with a mention of the curses. What is the difference between the two uses of this phrase?
       Rashi gives an explanation that the Kli Yakar expounds upon. Rashi says that tzaddikim generally do not experience great pleasures in this world, in fact, many times they suffer greatly. However, once they reach the next world, their pleasures far outnumber anything this world has to offer. Because they experience suffering before pleasure, tzaddikim mention the curses before they mention the blessings; this is exactly what Yitzchak did. For reshaim, the opposite is true; they receive all their reward in this world and suffer in the next. Therefore, they mention blessings before curses; this is what Balaam did. The problem with this is that Hashem blessed Avraham by mentioning the blessings first! Obviously, there is a part of Rashi’s explanation that we do not understand.
       The Kli Yakar explains that there are two types of curses and two types of blessings. The first type is actual curses and blessings. The best time to give someone a blessing for good is when they are down and need a pick me up. And when everything is going well for someone, you do not feel an obligation to bless them since they do not really need it! Conversely, the time you want to curse your enemies is at their highest point; after all, what is the point in cursing someone who is already suffering so much! This is why Hashem first promised Avraham blessings and then afterwards promised that He would protect him from curses. While Avraham was suffering in the beginning of his time in Eretz Yisrael, Hashem wanted to make sure that he would be blessed. Later in life, when all would be calm, then people would start wanting to harm Avraham in the time of his contentment, and therefore, Hashem promises Avraham afterwards that He would curse all those who attempt to curse him.
       The curses and blessings mentioned in our parshah are referring to those of a different sort. The curses here do not refer to actual curses, but to people who cause you pain, and the blessings here refer to people who bring you joy. What Yitzchak is blessing Yaakov with is that during his time of pain (which for tzaddikim comes before their time of pleasure), is when anyone who could cause him pain should come. All his potential pain should be used up during the time that is designated for his suffering. Then, during his time of pleasure, everyone who brings him joy should come at that time. All the joy and pleasure should be piled up on top of itself until his entire existence is nothing but pure ecstasy.[1]
       Balaam wanted to do the exact opposite of this to Bnei Yisrael. He wanted their pain to be mixed with joy and their joy to be mixed with pain. Even though the pain might not be as bad, the joy still would not be as good as it could be. That is why he mentioned the blessings before the curses.  
       We can now understand why Hashem mentioned blessings to Avraham before curses, and why Yitzchak did it the opposite way to Yaakov. Perhaps this can also help us understand the age-old question of why great people suffer in this world.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Shabbos!



[1] IMPORTANT TO NOTE: this level of experiencing total suffering before experiencing joy (though it be an extreme joy) is an extremely high level that only the greatest tzaddikim are expected to reach. Even then, the Gemarah tells stories of tzaddikim who did not want to live in this manner. Of course, there were many people who did.



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Thursday, November 13, 2014

Dvar Torah for Parshas Chayei Sarah

       Parshas Chayei Sara begins the next chapter in Jewish history, with the marriage of Yitzchak and Rivka. Avraham sends his trusted servant, Eliezer, to Aram Naharayim to find Yitzchak a wife, while giving him strict instructions on how to do so. Upon arrival at the well outside the city, Eliezer davens to Hashem that He should send him the right girl. Eliezer gives several conditions on how he will know it is the right one. All of these conditions are filled and Eliezer finds Rivka immediately.
       Eliezer goes with Rivka to tell her family the news that he wants her to marry Yitzchak. He proceeds to tell the story of his journey over to the family, beginning from when he got his instructions from Avraham and his prayers to Hashem at the well, until he found Rivka, telling them the exact actions he did during the entire period. In fact, it is pretty much the previous thirty pesukim repeated verbatim! It is very uncharacteristic of the Torah to repeat so many pesukim over again, especially when there does not seem to be any special reason to telling the story over to Rivka’s family.
       Rashi asks this question and gives an answer: “אמר רבי אחא יפה שיחתן של עבדי אבות לפני המקום מתורתן של בנים “Said Rabbi Acha, we see that the conversations of the servants of our forefathers are greater before Hashem than the Torah of their children (because this conversation is recorded in the Torah and many fundamentals of the Torah are learned through allusions)” (Bereishis 24:42). My first reaction when reading this Rashi is what exactly does that mean? There are many laws that we only learn out from extra letters, similar words, and other allusions, while this story is written out completely twice. Why is this so? What is it about a simple story that could be more precious than writing down the exact way to keep the Torah?
       The answer is that there are some things in life that can be learned from books and some things that cannot. Judaism is a very hands-on religion; in order to know how to do it properly, you need someone to show you; but learning out the Torah’s laws is different. Hashem taught Moshe thirteen ways to derive different laws from the Torah, and we use each one of those thirteen many times over in order to learn out every single detail that we need to do the mitzvos perfectly. However, some things cannot be given over through allusions. In order to know the proper way to act, to live, to treat others, to actually perform the mitzvos, we need someone to tell us and show us exactly how to do it. Therefore, in some cases, it was more important to write down the stories of our forefathers that teach us how to act, than to write the actual acts that we must perform.
       So what act do we learn from the story of Eliezer that the Torah needs to repeat it? Let’s take a look at the placement of Rashi’s explanation. Rashi places his answer in pasuk 42, right in the middle of Eliezer’s story. If he wanted to teach us how important this story was, why didn’t he put his explanation at the beginning? Or, in order to summarize this whole episode, why didn’t he place it at the end? The lesson we are supposed to learn must be in that pasuk where Rashi comments.
       The pasuk reads, “וָאָבֹא הַיּוֹם אֶל הָעָיִן וָאֹמַר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם אִם יֶשְׁךָ נָּא מַצְלִיחַ דַּרְכִּי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי הֹלֵךְ עָלֶיהָ“So I came today to the well, and I said, ‘Hashem, God of my master, Avraham, if you desire to prosper my way upon which I am going” (ibid.). This pasuk describes when Eliezer arrives at the well and begin davening to Hashem that He should help him find the right girl. I believe that the connection here is obvious. The Torah is teaching us that when you are in a time of need, there is one place you can always turn to. Hashem is always waiting to hear your tefillos, no matter how difficult and helpless the situation might seem.
       Eliezer was sent to find Avraham’s family and bring back a girl for Yitzchak to marry. He did not know who they were and he didn’t even think they would be interested in coming with him! Furthermore, how was he supposed to pick the right girl for the son of Avraham, someone who was already a great person in his own right! How in the world was he supposed to find the right girl? He did the only thing he knew to do, he did what he had learned by living in Avraham’s house, in his time of need, he turned to Hashem and davened that everything should go smoothly.
       The connection to us is clear. We must learn from Eliezer and realize that there is one line that is never unavailable, it is our line to Hashem. Let us use this same tool that our Avos used and through tefillah, connect to them and Hashem in ways other things cannot compare.

Shabbat Shalom!

     

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Wednesday, November 12, 2014

We've Reached Twitter!

We are very happy to announce that AIMeM has joined Twitter! We are always looking for ways to improve how we can connect with our readers and we believe this is the next step. By joining Twitter, it enables you to reach the Dvar Torah faster and easier than ever, as well as encourages readers to give us more feedback. Please follow us today at the Twitter handle @AIMeMTorah. We recommend using the hashtags #AIMeM, #AIMeMTorah, and #twittertorah, as well as any you can come up with yourselves! Please let us know what you think of!
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Thursday, November 6, 2014

Dvar Torah for Parshas Vayeira

       This week’s Parshah, Parshas Vayeira, tells the story of Akeidas Yitzchak, when Avraham brought Yitzchak up on Har Hamoriah to be a korban to Hashem. This act showed a tremendous amount of faith in Hashem by both Avraham and Yitzchak. The merit that they both received from their roles in this act has been a source of protection and reward for the Jewish nation throughout the generations and continues until today.
       The story begins when Hashem comes to Avraham and tells him, “וַיֹּאמֶר קַח נָא אֶת בִּנְךָ אֶת יְחִידְךָ אֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתָּ אֶת יִצְחָק וְלֶךְ לְךָ אֶל אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה“And He said, ‘Please take your son, your only one, whom you love, Yitzchak, and go to the land of Moriah” (Bereishis 22:2). Based on the usage of the word ‘please, this appears to be, not a command, but a request. Why does Hashem have to request from Avraham to pass this test? And how come He didn’t do this by any of the previous times He tested Avraham? Rashi explains very interestingly; אמר לו בבקשה ממך עמוד לי בזה הנסיון שלא יאמרו הראשונות לה היה בהן ממש“He (God) said, ‘I beg of you, pass this test for Me, so that people should not say that the first [tests] had no substance” (Ibid: Rashi).
        This idea seems strange. Chazal tell us that Hashem gave Avraham ten tests to try his faith, and he passed each one. The Akeidah was the final test and apparently, it was the most important one. It was so important that Hashem pleaded with Avraham to pass it. How come not passing this test would have ruined Avraham’s image from all the previous ones? While the other tests were difficult, none of them compare to taking your only child, who you waited 100 years to have, and killing him! So why should people think less of Avraham for not passing this test?
       On one hand, you can say that the question is the answer; people will not separate the previous nine tests from the Akeidah and therefore, Hashem has to plead with Avraham to pass this final, extremely difficult test. However, there is another message we can take out of this.
       Imagine two best friends, who would do anything for each other. Let’s say one friend comes to the other and asks to borrow $10,000 that he will pay back when he can. The other friend immediately takes out the money without asking any questions and gives it to his friend. The borrower then calls the press and tells them all about his great friend and how he is saving his life. The reporter will say that’s nice and then hang up the phone, he is not that interested in this story, no matter how nice the friend seems. Now, let’s say the friend asks this best friend for a kidney. The friend agrees without any delay, and the surgery is a success. The receiver of the kidney then calls the press and tells them the story. This event is such a big deal, that everyone will be touched at the tremendous friendship these two people share, as well as how deep their relationship goes; the reporter is sure to be interested.
       This is the difference between the first nine tests and the Akeidah. The first nine were tremendous acts of faith shown by Avraham, but most of them could not be seen to be anything extraordinary. The fact that Avraham left his family in Charan, that he was childless for so many years, that the king kidnapped his wife; these were all difficult challenges, but at the end of the day, you could not necessarily see that they tested Avraham’s faith; perhaps they were just bad luck! By the first nine, the only one who truly recognized the depth of Avraham’s faith was Hashem.
       The Akeidah had to be different. The Kli Yakar explains that the purpose of this נסיון, this test, was to raise a נס, a banner, to the world and show everyone how great Avraham was. The ability to sacrifice your only child for the sake of Hashem was something that the entire world could understand and would appreciate how dedicated Avraham was to his faith. This is why the only time the Torah actually tells us explicitly that Hashem was testing Avraham is this one. Because this is the נסיון that will be the נס, this is the test that will show the world who Avraham is. That is why Hashem so badly wanted to be sure that Avraham would pass this test, because this time the true relationship Hashem shared with him would be known to all.
       This same idea applies to us nowadays. Whenever we do mitzvos, we are broadcasting our commitment to Hashem and His Torah. Especially nowadays, this is a tremendous accomplishment! This is not only when we do mitzvos we do among non-Jews, even in our own communities, showing off our strong faith is something we should all be very proud of. But, once in a while, we are put in a situation where we have the opportunity not only to show our nation’s connection to Hashem (by doing it in front of non-Jews), but also to show our personal connection to Hashem (by doing it in front of Jews as well). Sometimes they come in public opportunities, times where we can show the globe our commitment to Hashem. But sometimes these opportunities come in everyday life as well. When we have a chance to stand up for what is right, a chance to do an uncommon mitzvah, a chance to learn Torah instead of doing something else. Acts that may appear normal, but because of the surrounding situation, they show how we, as individuals, are committed to serving Hashem. This is how we show the world our commitment.
       We don’t necessarily need an Akeidah to raise our banner. Any act will do, as long as it is done right. And it is not only non-Jews who need to see this, it is more important to show our own people how we serve Hashem. We need to show how important the mitzvos are, how much we enjoy them, how we will not let anything, big or small, stand in our way of our doing what we should be doing. As long as we do act in the way Avraham did, humbly, without any expectations for personal benefit, with just complete love for Hashem. That is what the Akeidah was about and that’s why it remains a merit for Am Yisrael until this very day. May we be zoche to create our own Akeidahs, and with them, bring the Geulah we all crave.

Shabbat Shalom!       


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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Dvar Torah for Parshas Lech Lecha

       The first steps towards the birth of the Jewish People appear in this week’s parshah with the introduction of Avraham Avinu, the patriarch of the Jewish Nation. The parshah begins with Hashem telling Avraham to move to Eretz Yisrael, and ends with the promise of a great nation coming through Avraham’s future son, Yitzchak.
       The parshah begins with the first instance that Hashem ever spoke to Avraham, who at the time was still known as Avram. The pasuk reads, “וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל אַבְרָם לֶךְ לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ“And Hashem said to Avram, ‘Go forth from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you” (Bereishis 12:1). The Ohr HaChaim points out that there is no other instance of Hashem speaking to someone without first appearing to that person in some capacity, either through a dream, vision, or a physical object. By Avraham, however, Hashem spoke to him without the assistance of a visual aid.
       The Ohr HaChaim gives two reasons for this. First, unlike anyone else that Hashem spoke to in the Torah, Avraham, from a very young age, actively sought out Hashem. In fact, until that point in history, no one else had ever done this. At a time when everyone was worshipping idols, Avraham looked at the world and recognized that Hashem as the true creator. With everyone else that Hashem spoke to, while they all believed in Him, there was a part of them that did not completely ‘recognize’ Hashem for who He is. Therefore, Hashem had to speak to them using a visual aid in order for His full impact to be appreciated and ‘understood.’ However, because Avraham had worked on recognizing Hashem in a ‘hostile’ environment, and completed this journey over the course of his life, he did not need the extra visual aid when Hashem finally came to speak to him. He had developed this appreciation and understanding of Hashem while overcoming a world full of idol worshippers, and recognized Hashem as the one true God.
       The second reason also has to do with Avraham recognizing Hashem, but from the opposite perspective. For the previous ten generations since Noach, there had not been anyone who had been worshipping idols and then gone away from them to seek out Hashem. Therefore, Hashem was not ready to appear before just anyone, He had to be sure that Avraham was really committed to Him. So He first spoke to Avraham, without a visual aid, and gave him a difficult task, to leave his family and his homeland and venture into the desert. Once Avraham completed that task with enthusiasm, Hashem saw that it was the right time to appear to him. By the others Hashem appeared to, they already had grown up knowing Hashem and had shown themselves to be committed to Him, and therefore, Hashem felt comfortable appearing to them immediately on His first time speaking to them.  


Shabbat Shalom!


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Thursday, October 23, 2014

Dvar Torah for Parshas Noach

       Parshas Noach tells the well-known story of when Hashem brought a flood and destroyed the world except for a tzaddik named Noach, and his family. The reason given in the Torah for the Flood is that humans had destroyed society, and had gone so far away from how the world was supposed to function, that Hashem had no choice but to ‘start over.’ After the Flood ended, Hashem made a few structural changes to how man related to the world in order that future generations would not reach the same levels of degradation that the generation of the Flood had reached.
       One of these changes is something that makes a very big difference in our lives, that we may not realize was not allowed until this point in history. “כָּל רֶמֶשׂ אֲשֶׁר הוּא חַי לָכֶם יִהְיֶה לְאָכְלָה כְּיֶרֶק עֵשֶׂב נָתַתִּי לָכֶם אֶת כֹּל “Every moving thing that lives shall be yours to eat; like the green vegetation, I have given you everything” (Bereishis 9:3). With this statement, Hashem gave man permission to eat meat. For ten generations since Adam, all men had been vegetarians, not by choice, but by the command of Hashem. After the Flood, this was changed.
       The Ohr HaChaim asks why Hashem waited until now to permit the eating of meat, and did not permit it immediately by Adam and the creation of the world. He explains that the permission to eat meat gives humans a certain governance over animals; Noach was given this governance for three reasons. The first reason is that without Noach, Hashem would have destroyed the entire world, including the animals that came with him on the ark. So, in essence, these animals, and their descendants, owed Noach their lives. Therefore, Hashem gave him authority over them. The second reason is that when Noach came off the ark, he immediately brought korbanos (from the animals) to Hashem. It was because of these korbanos that Hashem promised to never again destroy the world. (See 8:21.) Since Noach was responsible for insuring the survival of the world, Hashem gave him permission to satisfy himself from even animals. The final reason is because of all the hard work and effort Noach put into taking care of the thousands of animals he brought onto the ark with him. As a reward, Hashem gave him this extra authority over them.
         None of these reasons applied to anyone at any time before the Flood. Only now, after Noach did all these things in order to sustain the animals, was man given this ‘supreme’ authority over them, and was granted permission to eat meat. Enjoy your seudah this Shabbos! להתענג בתענוגים ברבורים ושלו ודגים!!


Shabbat Shalom!


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