Friday, October 27, 2017

Dvar Torah for Parshas Lech Lecha & Podcast

       In Parshas Lech Lecha, we are introduced to the first Jew, Avraham Avinu, who at the time was known as Avram. From the beginning of the parsha, we are given examples of Avraham’s complete devotion to Hashem. These examples still shine through to us today as examples of what it means to be a God-fearing Jew.
       The Torah tells us how Sarah and Avraham went many years without having children. At a certain point, Sarah suggested to Avraham that he take her maidservant, Hagar, in the hope that this kindness would merit them having children of their own. This practice was imitated years later with Yaakov and Rachel (See Bereishis 30:1-4). Hagar immediately became pregnant, leading Sarah to respond to Avraham, “וַתֹּ֨אמֶר שָׂרַ֣י אֶל־אַבְרָם֘ חֲמָסִ֣י עָלֶ֒יךָ֒ אָֽנֹכִ֗י נָתַ֤תִּי שִׁפְחָתִי֙ בְּחֵיקֶ֔ךָ וַתֵּ֨רֶא֙ כִּ֣י הָרָ֔תָה וָֽאֵקַ֖ל בְּעֵינֶ֑יהָ יִשְׁפֹּ֥ט יְהֹוָ֖ה בֵּינִ֥י וּבֵינֶֽיֹךָ“So Sarai said to Avram, ‘My injustice is upon you! I gave my maidservant into your bosom, and she saw that she had conceived, I became lighter in her eyes. Let Hashem judge between me and you!” (Bereishis 16:5). She felt that Hagar’s pregnancy showed that while she was still not worthy of bearing children, Avraham had no such issues. According to Rashi, she blamed him for not davening that she should be worthy of children as well.
       Of course, fourteen years later, Sarah had her child from Avraham. The question always bothered me, was giving Hagar to Avraham worth it? Did it help her merit to have children?
       This year, I discovered an explanation in the Kli Yakar which I believe answers this question. At the end of the parsha, Hashem changes the names of Avram and Sarai to Avraham and Sarah; adding a letter ה to Avram, and changing the י at the end of Sarai to a ה. Rashi (17:5) brings a famous medrash that says that the י from Sarai didn’t disappear, it waited around for many centuries until it was given to Hoshea bin Nun when his name was changed to יהושע. (Understanding the importance and necessity of recycling letters is beyond the scope of our discussion.)
       The Kli Yakar brings a Kabbalistic explanation to the fate of this letter י. In Kabbalah, the letter ה has the power of fertility. (Again, the power of letters and their significance goes beyond the scope of this Dvar torah.) Hashem gave one ה to both Avraham and Sarah, giving them this power. Where did these letters come from? The numerical value of the letter י is ten and the value of ה is five. Hashem took the י from Sarai, split it in two, and gave one to each of them allowing them to have a baby together. We see clearly that the ability for both of them to have children came from Sarai/Sarah.
       To me, there is no doubt that the zchus Sarah had to give this power to both herself and Avraham came from the act of chessed she did with Hagar. Ultimately, her pain and sacrifice led to her becoming the mother of the entire Jewish nation. As we work through Sefer Bereishis, we will see stories of the many great acts of our forefathers. Through these stories, we marvel at their greatness and feel pride at being their descendants. This great act of Sarah’s is just such an example to lead off with.


Shabbat Shalom! 


Click here to listen this this week's Podcast (Also available on Apple Podcasts)
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AIMeM

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Dvar Torah for Parshas Noach & Podcast

       This week’s parsha begins by introducing us to Noach, the man from whom the entire world would be repopulated after the flood. While we would automatically assume that Noach must have been a great man to have this distinction, Chazal actually discuss this at length with some contending that Noach was simply the best of a bad generation. However, according to all opinions, he was still a tzaddik who was able to rise above the evil of his peers to serve Hashem in the proper manner.
       The first pasuk in the parsha contains a great amount of praise for Noach. “נֹ֗חַ אִ֥ישׁ צַדִּ֛יק תָּמִ֥ים הָיָ֖ה בְּדֹֽרֹתָ֑יו אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים הִתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹֽחַ” “Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generation; Noach walked with God” (Bereishis 6:9). The generation of the Flood had thoroughly corrupted themselves to the point where the world had to be reset. Chazal learn out from the pesukim that there were three main sins which the generation committed that directly led to the corruption of the human race. They are: serving idols, illicit relationships, and theft. The Kli Yakar explains that the praises of Noach correspond to each of these sins. “אִ֥ישׁ צַדִּ֛יק”, Noach was a righteous man in that he didn’t steal the property of others. “תָּמִ֥ים הָיָ֖ה בְּדֹֽרֹתָ֑יו”, he was pure, having only participated in permissible relationships. Finally, “אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים הִתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹֽחַ”, Noach was loyal to Hashem while everyone else served idols. The pasuk lists these specific praises to show specifically that Noach merited surviving the Flood since he was able to avoid corrupting himself through these sins.
       The Kli Yakar continues this explanation with a conversation between Hashem and Noach that takes place before he goes into the ark. “וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ לְנֹ֔חַ בֹּֽא־אַתָּ֥ה וְכָל־בֵּֽיתְךָ֖ אֶל־הַתֵּבָ֑ה כִּי־אֹֽתְךָ֥ רָאִ֛יתִי צַדִּ֥יק לְפָנַ֖י בַּדּ֥וֹר הַזֶּֽה” “Then Hashem said to Noach, ‘Come to the ark, you and all your household, for it is you that I have seen to be righteous before Me in this generation” (7:1). In this instance, Hashem does not call Noach pure nor does He mention Noach’s loyalty to Him; He only mentions the fact that Noach was a tzaddik in that he didn’t steal. Why are the other two aspects left out here?
       Chazal teach us that the final straw that sealed the fate of the world was the sin of stealing. When the people stole, they only took the value of less than what could be claimed in court. There was no reckoning for their crimes since the court couldn’t charge them for it, however, the action still counts in the eyes of Hashem. This type of behavior undermined the foundations upon which a society had to be built and destabilized the entire community. Therefore, Hashem decided the whole thing had to go.
       In this conversation, Hashem is telling Noach that he has been chosen to be saved along with his family. The only reason Noach needs to know about is the sin that actually sealed the fate of the others and in which Noach didn’t participate, stealing. Therefore, Hashem does not make mention of Noach’s purity or loyalty since they are irrelevant here. However, He does mention the fact that Noach was a tzaddik by saying “before Me” in the pasuk; while the whole generation might be righteous in the eyes of the courts, the only one who was righteous in the eyes of Hashem was Noach.

Shabbat Shalom!  


Click here to listen this this week's Podcast (Also available on Apple Podcasts)
For any questions, comments, or to subscribe to our email list, please email is at AIMeMtorah@gmail.com.

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AIMeM

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Dvar Torah for Succos & Podcast

AIMeMTorah would like to wish all our readers a wonderful Succos! Please click here to read this week's Dvar Torah and click the link below to listen to the Podcast.

Chag Sameach!

Click here to listen this this week's Podcast (Also available on Apple Podcasts)

For any questions, comments, or to subscribe to our email list, please email is at AIMeMtorah@gmail.com.

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Don't forget to check out hashkafahandbook.com to learn about my book,Reality Check. And Like it on Facebook.

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AIMeM