Weekly Torah Reading...
-
Yom Kippur
The Right Fit
By Rabbi Raymond Beyda
The Maggid of Jerusalem, Rav Shalom Schwadron Zt'l, said that it is not an oversight on the part of Rambam [Maimonides] that he did not mention the obligation to repent in the laws of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In fact he did not include it in the laws of Holy Days at all. The laws of Teshubah are strategically placed at the end of Sefer Mada --the Book of Knowledge. Rambam wanted to teach us that Teshubah is not a seasonal Misvah. It is one that is upon the person every day of the year -- as soon after committing a sin as is possible. The month of Elul, he explains, is the prompt to the human being to begin the Teshubah process. The day of Yom Kippur is the day to actually accept upon oneself the commitment to repent but the actual performance of the misvah is done during the rest of the year.
Many people are foolish enough to think that if they start to do a little more, pray a little better and work on their fear of heaven that they are on the road to successful repentance -- even if they don't leave their evil ways.
The Maggid MiDubno demonstrates their folly with a parable. There was once a peasant who visited the big city and spotted a beautiful silk suit in a shop window. The tailor with his expert eye picked the right size for his burly customer off the rack and handed it to him to try on. The unsophisticated peasant put the garment on top of his thick, bulky farm clothing and immediately began to complain. "What kind of store is this? How can you give a big man like me such a small suit to wear?"
"Not true, " said the merchant. "I gave you a perfect size but you are too foolish to take off your old garments before trying it on. Please take off what you are wearing first and then you will see how perfect the fit is!"
This is how it is with Teshubah --repentance. Sometimes a person begins to do more of the "right" things --even some of the stringencies usually observed only by the more pious amongst us -- yet one neglects to take off their "old clothing." In Tehillim we learn "Turn away from evil, and do good". Our Sages teach that first we must turn away from our bad habits and only then we will be able to good.
As we enter the isolation booth of intimacy with G-d called Yom Kippur -- each one should prepare them self with kabalot-- resolutions. Promises should be made to Hashem about how each of us is going to actualize the trend towards teshubah that we have all worked so hard to develop in the forty days since Rosh Hodesh Elul. But we must realize that to be successful we must not only promise G-d that we are going to do misvot that we were unable to adhere to in the past, but we must also be prepared to give up all the things we do that are negative to the teachings of Torah. We must plan ways to avoid the temptations that could bring us back to or sinful ways. A reformed alcoholic should stay away from places and situations where liquors will be served. We should stand clear of all tempting situations that may cause us to fail in our road back to closeness to our Maker.
May we all have a successful fast and accept upon ourselves the things that will yield complete repentance and atonement. G'mar Hatima Toba
Raymond J Beyda -
Rabbi Chaim Dovid Green
I Am A Work in Progress
I was describing a scene recently that had occurred in a crowded shul where I had gone to pray the afternoon service. A fellow walked in near the end with a look that was rather tenuous and uncertain. He got the siddur open to a page on the back of the book with his finger poised at a certain point. He looked around as if awaiting some cue. The service ended and people started to exit. Seeing that, he asked the fellow next to him if it's over and in a semi-panic state he began to recite haltingly the mourners kaddish from the transliteration at the back of the siddur. Some people gathered around him and afterward he told them that his mother had just died and he had come to say kaddish for her. I was relating the story partially in admiration of his courage to enter a strange environment and recite strange words in a foreign language aloud, and partially in awe of the powerful lure of an adult child to do something significant for a deceased parent.
My meaning was misunderstood and someone in the group suggested that maybe the people there considered him to be a hypocrite for only coming then to the synagogue. Nothing had been farther from the truth. Actually, that person had been immediately swallowed into a sea of concern and empathy.
It's a little like the bad joke about the boy who hadn't say a word for fifteen years and his parents thought him incapable of speech until one night at dinner when he threw his spoon down in disgust and declared, "Arrrrrrrgg! The soup is terrible!" His mother jumped with joy and exclaimed, "John, you spoke! But, how come you didn't say anything till now?" To which he blithely answers, "Till now the soup was good!"
The parent cares less why he didn't speak till now and focuses on the fact that now he speaks. Even if a person opens his mouth in prayer only in a time of pain and sorrow, that kaddish, that tearful sincere expression is certainly received with joy. Why a person didn't pray till now is less important to the Receiver of prayer. Till now the soup was pretty good! Life was smooth and creamy.
Furthermore, there is a crucial distinction between being a hypocrite and being inconsistent. If a person comes to lay a carpet in my living room and somewhere in the middle of the job I spot him going out to his truck I am not ready to condemn his work on the spot and report him to The Better Business Bureau. Even though the rug is full of bumps and not every corner is buckled down, still, if he goes out to his truck and eats his lunch, the lack of job completion is only an indicator that more work is yet to be done. Why should I panic and come to false conclusions? However, if he enters his truck, revs the engine, heads home and sends me a bill, thereby declaring that he considers the job is complete, then I'll have Ralph Nader on the phone in the drop of a carpet nail.
When person says that he is the archetype of virtue and the model of perfection, as if the job is done, crowning personal errors or institutionalizing human foibles as ideals; these are the boldest invitations to be titled hypocrite.
I asked a great man what the definition of a positive self-esteem is and he answered simply; "Knowing your good points and your bad points!" When striving for goodness, inconsistencies will continue to appear. The moment a person improves in one area there are other areas to be updated. When one dish is being koshered the other dishes may not yet be koshered. If that's being a hypocrite then we could not afford to try to be perfect until we actually were!
There are two faults here. The first is to pretend to be perfect and the other not to at least try to become better. I have seen it displayed on the fancy buildings in Manhattan when under renovation, "Pardon our appearance, work in progress." When we stand honestly before our Father in heaven on the holy day of Yom Kippur it is important to neither feign perfection or to fall into despair.
The healthiest way to succeed may be to hang a sign on the wall of your heart simply declaring, "Pardon my appearance I am a work in progress!"
Good Shabbos! A Good Yom Tov! -
Sin Don't Laugh
by Rabbi Yaakov Menken
We find ourselves this week in the midst of the Ten Days of Repentance, the days from Rosh HaShana to Yom Kippur. An interesting idea - ten days for self-examination, reflection, and (we hope) self-improvement. But do we understand "repentance?"
The world today almost laughs at "sin" and "repentance." Almost? Let me rephrase that: the world does laugh at the whole idea of "sin." Part of that is denial - if I laugh at something, I don't have to take it seriously. Another part, however, comes from the non-Jewish conception of sin and repentance - which, because of the society we live in, has become quite pervasive in Jewish minds.
Many who no longer go to church describe confession as "going on Sunday to confess what we did Friday, and plan to do again on Tuesday." I don't know if that's accurate; I'm Jewish. I only know that this could not be further from the Jewish idea of repentance.
So instead of these terms, let us use "transgression" and "return," words which correspond more closely to a Jewish understanding of these concepts. Indeed, while we may translate "Teshuva" as repentance, it comes from the infinitive LaShuv: to return.
We know certain things to be right, and others to be wrong, and we cross the line. We go where we should not have gone - and in doing so, we move away from G-d. But in His great kindness, He leaves the door open for us to come back to Him, and restore our connection. That is the purpose of return - to come back to G-d.
If so, is it not obvious that Teshuva must happen in our hearts, and not in our mouths? Maimonides, in his codification of Jewish Law, says this explicitely (Hil. Tshuva 2:3): "One who confesses with words, but has not decided in his heart to abandon [his transgressions], is like a person who goes to a ritual bath while holding something unclean in his hand: immersion in the bath will not help him until he throws the item away!"
Repentance is an activity of the heart - a decision to change our behavior, and to abandon a path that has led us away from G-d instead of towards Him. And to make it easier for us, G-d gave us a certain time of year when He comes close to us, and invites us to go in the right direction. The Talmud in tractate Rosh HaShana says that the verse, "Seek out HaShem when He can be found, call upon Him when He is close" (Isaiah 55:6) refers to these Ten Days. Maimonides also says (2:6) that "Even though return and crying [over our errors] is always beautiful, during the ten days between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur it is exceptionally so, and is accepted immediately" - and he refers us again to that same verse.
It is as if G-d is right here in the neighborhood, and all we need to do is drop in! It is that easy for us to use this time for a rebirth, for making new beginnings in the right direction. Should we wake up in two weeks, feeling as if He left without us? Let's take advantage of this time of year, and come away from the season feeling closer to G-d. -
Thinking Inside the Box
By Rabbi Label Lam
In Sukkos shall you dwell for seven daysÂ… (Vayikra 23:42)
What is a Sukkah? I think may of us could offer a technical definition or an instruction manual for constructing a Sukkah but what is a Sukkah? To understand a thing well one is advised to visit the first time it is referenced in the Torah. Where is “Sukkah” first mentioned in Torah?
After surviving a threatening confrontation with his arch enemy Essau, the Torah records the following: “And on that day Essau returned on his way to Seir and Yaakov traveled to Sukkos and built for himself a house and for his cattle he made Sukkos therefore the name of the place is called Sukkos.” (Breishis 33:16-17)
The verse is a little odd. Yaakov built himself a house (which sounds normal enough) but because he made Sukkos for his cattle the place he traveled to was to become known as “Sukkos”. Is that the reason to name a place? The Ohr HaChaim answers, “Perhaps because he did something new by showing his compassion for the cattle…that he did something that no one had done previously, that he prepared a Sukkah - a shelter for animals. It was that novelty that caused that the place should be called so.”
This may help us to gain an insight into the essence of our Sukkos, the ones we dwell in for seven days or so. After a near head on collision between two super-powers the Torah depicts Essau going back home and to his old predictable ways. Yaakov, however, did something beyond the norm, outside his home. He didnÂ’t walk away from his brush with death the same as he entered. Neither did he become bitter from the experience. Rather we observe he became better. The symbol or the symptom of that improvement was his innovation in creating an expanded arena for compassion in the universe. That is the Sukkah!
After the life and death surgery of the “Days of Awe”, a Sukkah, like a clean parchment or canvas, becomes a place where, everyone can express some renewed sense of gratitude or idealism in an individual way. The inner world of each Sukkah, like each person, is decorated differently.
Some hang native fruits and vegetables and some display the seven fruits that the Land of Israel is praised with. There are Sukkos that are covered with pictures of sagely faces from the ages and there are those are dizzy and busy with childrenÂ’s art projects. Many Sukkos have some reminder of Jerusalem on an eastern wall and few have dangling Mitzvah artifacts such as Shofars, Menorahs, and Kiddush Cups etc. Uplifting verses from the TANACH are frequently found inscribed on the walls of many a Kosher Sukkah. The Ushpizin, the seven shepherds of the Jewish People are often invited guests given the most honorable of mention in this real Hall of Fame. Some are simply decorated with the faces of happy children and parents eating and singing together with guests and friends. The four species is not an uncommon theme maybe because it is the Mitzvah of the day or perhaps because it represents that fresh start.
A Sukkah is a place not just for artistic expression but rather a space that holds a newly harvested crop of inspiration and idealism that will be nourished from for a whole year. A Sukkah is a serious and fun world with limitless possibilities and so are we when we exit the ordinary and begin thinking inside the box. -
Rabbi Label Lam
The Happiness Box
Every once in a while when reading a bed time story to the younger children I find myself in the end wiping a tear from the corner of my eye and wondering if any of the children are really capable of appreciating the depth of the seemingly simple story, if it is not meant more for the parents and if we get it either.
One such book reappeared on the bookshelf recently. It must have been with all the stuff for sukkos 'cause it certainly belongs there. It's called, "The Happiness Box". The plot is something like this. There's this kid that's never happy with what he has. He finds things to complain about all day. Whatever he has is not enough or not just right and all he can find is fault.
One day after his family moves into a beautiful new house a giant package arrives. It's a washing machine or some other large appliance and the kid is suffering from existential nausea because it's not for him. His clever father convinces him that the box is the real item of desire and it's just for him. It's called "a happiness box" and while inside one must think only happy thoughts.
This boy accepts the premise of the box and at first begrudgingly but later with greater ease is able to generate happiness producing thoughts such as; "Sometimes my mother makes dinners I like." And other such affirming statements that put him into a state of mind that makes him feel rich and full. After a while he's complaining a lot less. Then he becomes anxious about going to summer camp because all his possessions need to fit neatly into a duffel bag and he would have to leave "the box" at home. What would become of his state of happiness? He then realizes the great truth that the happiness is not in his box but in his head. The important life lesson is well learned. The children are fast asleep but I am more awake.
The simple child's story reminds me a little of a bad joke about a fellow who claims his dog is so talented he can do anything he is commanded to do. The challenge is taken up by a friend who throws a stick a distance and commands the dog, "Fetch!"
The dog looks up at him and begins his diatribe. "All day long people tell me what to do. Roll over! Jump! Go through the fiery hoop! Good dog. Bad dog. Sit! Heal. Eat this! Don't eat that! I can't take it anymore. It's no fun being a dog. I hate it. I wish I were never born! The fellow interrupts the dog and tells him with a sense of outrage, "All I asked you to do was fetch." The dog answers back with surprise, "Ohhhhhh! I thought you said "Kvetch".
Sukkos is referred to in our liturgy as "the time of our happiness". How do we celebrate? We leave our lovely homes and sit exposed to the elements in little boxes. We are commanded by the Torah; "and you should rejoice with your holiday and be only happy!"
Maybe the story is not so simplistic and the joke not so (as we say in yiddish) "farfetched". It's very easy to be focused on what's missing in life; to give special recognition to the cruel and heartless; to the unfinished business of history and history of business. Even more so these days we need a way to regain a sense of optimism. How about 7 days in "a happiness box" to see what's right in G-d's world. Hearing clearly the commandment as it is pronounced is a critical point. No where does it say, "kvetch"!
We all know how we can feel sometimes and how it creates a contagion of negativity. Therefore we hung two signs in our sukkah. One upon entering reads, "You are entering a no kvetching zone". The other posted prominently reads, "Don't even think of kvetching in the sukkah!" The Vilna Gaon called this the hardest mitzvah in the Torah to fulfill. So, don't expect it to happen with a simple story, a bad joke, by reciting an imperative verse, or by hanging a humorous sign but it sure is a good beginning. -
Succah: Strictly Under Divine Supervision
The Mitzvah:
The Jew dwells for seven days in a succah, booth. Needing a minimum of two and a half walls and organic material as its roof covering, the basic mitzvah is eating bread on the first night of Succos. All activities should be relocated to the succah during this festival (Leviticus 24:42-43)
Succos commemorates the Israelites’ shelter – either the actual ‘huts’ in which the Jewish people dwelled or to the Ananei Hakovod, miraculous Clouds of Glory protecting them in the wilderness.
But it beggars belief why there is a festival to celebrate this miracle? And why should Succos follow in the wake of the Days of Awe?
By swapping his permanent building for a temporary booth exposed to the natural elements, the Jew affirms how he is, in truth, “strictly under Divine Supervision”.
What Succos marks is not just simply their miraculous protection but how G- d lovingly enveloped the nascent nation under His protective shelter. Ever since their emergence as the Chosen People, after the Exodus, the Jew would be subject to a special constant Divine providence.
However this unique relationship forged between G-d and Israel almost disintegrated at the foot of Sinai. This was because of their treacherous disloyalty in worshipping the Golden Calf.
Only on Succos, explains the Vilna Gaon, did the Clouds of Glory which had departed because of their sin, return. That G-d allowed his Divine Presence to return and rest upon the Jewish nation, and their instruction to construct the Sanctuary, confirmed their full atonement. The restoration of the Clouds of Glory is the source for the joyous celebration of Succos, Zman Simchosenu, “time of our rejoicing”. Succos is sequentially placed after the judgment and atonement of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
But with their repentance, G-d once again rested upon Israel. Of the three miracles in the wilderness – the manna, wellsprings of water and clouds of glory – only the latter was not essential for the nation’s on-going survival. Instead, it was an expression of G-d’s love and affection. And they, in turn, would take delight in His protection.
Into the succah the Jew goes.
It is on this festival, that the Jew’s eyes are fixed upon the Heavens. He places his trust and reliance in G-d – and not in the security of physical structures or his financial assets.
The succah is the symbol of G-d is directly involved in every aspect of a Jew’s life – just as He was, is and continues to be involved in their miraculous national survival against all odds through the pages of history. Where challenged and persecuted, the only fortress within which Israel can seek refuge is under G-d’s wings.
It is the knowledge Israel is “strictly under Divine Supervision” which is the happiness celebrated on Succos. -
A Perfect Cycle
Sukkot comes at the exact right time of the year, psychologically and emotionally speaking. If it were not for the advent of Sukkot and all of the preparations involved regarding this festival of joy and happiness, we would all be very depressed at having to climb down from the pinnacle of Yom Kippur to everyday mundane existence.
The Torah allows us to contemplate our future year with a sense of happiness and satisfaction. The sukkah signifies the protection that the Lord will provide us with for the whole coming year. Though the actual sukkah may be small and relatively flimsy as compared to our homes, it nevertheless symbolizes faith, serenity and confidence in the eternity of Israel and its Torah.
The four species of vegetation that are an integral part of Sukkot reinforce our appreciation of the beauty of GodÂ’s world. It reminds us that the world can be a Garden of Eden and we should endeavor not to destroy it or be expelled from it.
The different species represent the harmony of nature, the flash of its color and its built in symbiotic nature. Whereas pagans worshipped nature, Judaism stressed its role as being one of the great wonders of GodÂ’s creation.
Abraham had it right when he stated that people wonder at the magnificence of a beautiful building but ignore the genius of the architect that designed it. Judaism, while always impressed by the wonder of the building itself, always looks intently to recognize and acknowledge the architect behind it.
Sukkot helps remind us of the necessity to always search for that architect in all of the facets of our lives and world.
Sukkot also reveals clearly our dependence upon Heaven for rain – for water. Without water in abundance, life cannot function and grow. The Torah tells us that the Lord sent us purposely into a land where water is a precious commodity. There are no great rivers or giant lakes that appear on the landscape of the Land of Israel. We are therefore dependent on the winter season’s rains.
We pray on Sukkot for those rains to be abundant, gentle and saturating. Rain has a cleansing effect not only on the air we breathe but on the life spirit that exists within us. Hence its deep association with the joy of Sukkot.
Rain and water also symbolize Torah and purification. Moshe, in his final oration to Israel, states that his words of Torah should be felt as gentle rain and dew descending on the Holy Land. The prophet Yeshayahu compares Torah to water as does King David in Tehillim.
The holiday of Sukkot reinforces this connection with its own link to Simchat Torah, the day that marks the conclusion of this great and noble holiday period. For as obvious as it is that the Land of Israel cannot survive and prosper without water, so too the people of Israel will be unable to prosper and survive without an attachment to Torah, its commandments and values. The message of Sukkot is the perfect conclusion to the spirituality of Yom Kippur.
Chag sameach.
Rabbi Berel Wein -
The Feast of Tabernacles
Sukkot : “The Feast of Booths”
Torah : Leviticus 22:26–23:44
Haftarah : Zechariah 14
Gospel : Luke 2
Thought for the Week:
The Apostle John uses a verb form of the same Greek word that is used to translate the Hebrew word for “booth” (sukkah) when he wrote, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt [tabernacled] among us.” (John 1:14) He tabernacled among us, and He will tabernacle among us again in the messianic future. The celebration of the Festival of Booths (Sukkot) celebrates the Messiah who once tabernacled among us, now tabernacles within us, and in the future will again tabernacle among us.
Commentary:
The last appointment on God’s Leviticus 23 calendar is the Feast of Booths, a seven-day harvest celebration. The Hebrew name of the festival is Sukkot, a word that means “shelters, stables or huts.” These temporary, tent-like structures are often translated as “tabernacles” in our English Bibles. The festival is so named because Israel is commanded to annually build such dwelling places as a reminder of the post-exodus years when they lived in huts and booths, following God in the wilderness.1 Sukkot is a time of joy and celebration, a time to celebrate the harvest and revel in God’s goodness.
Many beautiful traditions are attached to the annual Festival of Booths. For example, it is traditional to invite guests into oneÂ’s booth for a festive meal each night of Sukkot. Among the list of invitees are some auspicious names: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and David. Each are specially invited to come into the booth and pull up a chair at the table. Obviously, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and David are unlikely to actually attend the meal, since they are all dead. That, however, is the point of the ritual. The Feast of Booths anticipates the Messianic Age, when the dead will be raised to life again and we will all sit at the table with the aforementioned in the kingdom of heaven.
When Messiah comes, He will bring in the final harvest of GodÂ’s kingdom and institute an age of peace and prosperity upon the earth. The prophets relate that day to the festival of Sukkot, a day when every man will sit beneath his own vine and fig tree.2 Isaiah 4:6 tells us that God will spread a tabernacle of glory over Jerusalem.
According to the prophets, the Feast of Booths celebrates a time when all nations will ascend to Jerusalem bearing tribute to King Messiah and celebrating the festival. In that day, all nations will ascend to His throne in Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Festival of Booths (Tabernacles). Obviously, this is a very important festival for disciples of Messiah today.
Sukkot is the great festival, the culmination of all the appointed times. Sukkot is to the other festivals what the Sabbath is to the other six days of the week. As such it is a fitting foreshadowing of that great celebration of creation when the entire world will live in peace and brotherhood under the reign and rule of the righteous Messiah King. Just as the weekly Sabbath foreshadows the millennium, Sukkot also looks forward to that great age. Therefore, the festival of Sukkot, like all the festivals, foreshadows Messiah. -
Parshas Bereishis
Goal Tending
This week we are introduced to a formidable foe who greets us upon our entry into this world and attempts to accompany our every action throughout our mortal existence. He is known as the Yetzer Harah, the Evil Inclination. After Kayin has an inferior offering rejected, he is very upset. G-d talks to him frankly about the nature of his act and the hidden beast that undermines our good intentions, the Yetzer Harah. "Surely, if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven. But if you do not improve yourself, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is toward you, yet you can conquer it." (Genesis 4:7). Though the imagery of sin crouching in wait seems quite ominous, the allegorical allusion to an evil force blocking a doorway lends a simile to a story I recently heard that may be quite applicable to the lessons of the finale of any sport season. It may even be a lesson to those of us who have our ears glued to the rumblings of the subway, shuttling high-flying frivolity from the Bronx to Queens.
Rabbi Sholom Schwadron had noticed that one of the students at the yeshiva was missing on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday morning he approached him, inquiring to the reason he missed those two days.
"I know you for two years. You never missed a day of yeshiva. I am sure that something important is happening. Please tell me what's going on." The boy did not want to say, but after prodding, the boy finally blurted out. "I would tell, but, Rebbe, you just wouldn't understand."
"Try me," begged Reb Sholom, "I promise I will try my hardest to appreciate what you tell me."
"Here goes," responded the student, conceding to himself that whatever explanation he would give would surely be incomprehensible to the Rabbi, who had probably had never seen a soccer ball in his life.
"I missed yeshiva because I was at the Maccabi Tel Aviv football (soccer) finals. In fact," the boy added in embarrassment, "I probably won't be in yeshiva tomorrow as well. It's the final day of the championship."
Rabbi Schwadron was not at all condescending. Instead, he furred his brow in interest. "I am sure that this game of football must be quite exciting. Tell me," he asked, " How do you play this game of football? What is the object? How do you win?"
"Well," began the student filled with enthusiasm, "there are eleven players, and the object is to kick a ball into the large goal. No one but the goalkeeper can move the ball with his hands or arms!"
Rabbi Schwadron's face brightened! He knew this young boy was a good student and wanted to accommodate him. "Oh! Is that all? So just go there, kick the ball in the goal, and come back to yeshiva!"
The boy laughed. "Rebbe, you don't understand! The opposing team also has eleven men and a goalkeeper, and their job is to stop our team from getting the ball into their goal!"
"Tell me," Rabbi Schwadron whispered. These other men the other team. Are they there all day and night?" "Of course not!" laughed the student. "They go home at night!"
What was the Rabbi driving at? He wondered.
Rabbi Schwadron huddled close and in all earnest continued with his brilliant plan. "Why don't you sneak into the stadium in the evening and kick the ball into the goal when they are not looking! Then you can win and return to yeshiva!"
The boy threw his hands up in frustration. "Oy! Rebbe! You don't understand. You don't score if the other team is not trying to stop you! It is no kuntz to kick a ball into an empty net if there is no one trying to stop you!"
"Ah!" cried Reb Sholom in absolute victory. Now think a moment! Listen to what you just said! It is no kuntz to come to the yeshiva when nothing is trying to hold you back! It is when the urge to skip class is there, when the Yetzer Harah is crouching in the goal, that it is most difficult to score. That is when you really score points. Come tomorrow, and you can't imagine how much that is worth in Hashem's scorecard!"
Needless to say, the boy understood the message and was there the next day the first in class!
The Torah tells us not only about the nature of the Yetzer Harah as an adversary, but rather as our ultimate challenger. He stands crouched in the door, ready to block any shot and spring on a near hit. Our job is to realize that we must overcome him when the urge is the greatest. Because when it is most difficult to do the right thing, that is the time we really meet, and even score, the goal!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2000 by Rabbi M. Kamenetzky and Project Genesis, Inc. -
Rabbi Label Lam
The Source of Our Blessings
One of my earliest childhood memories of being in Synagogue was the all too frequent announcement; alternately, "All rise! Please be seated!" I remember thinking, "Why don't they make up their mind?" When considering the rapid transition from the "Days of Awe" to the "Time of our Happiness", on Sukkos, one might be left with the same feeling. What's the deal here?! Is the relationship one of overwhelming fear or abundant love, or both somehow?
Avraham manifested the epitome of human dedication when he stood willing to sacrifice his principles, his reputation, his future, his beloved son, with one swipe of the knife. We know how the story ends. The Almighty was testing to see if he was willing to give it all up and he lived up to the test. Today we continue to draw from the fount of the account gained by his noble intentions. In the last instant he was interrupted and an announcement was made "Now I know you fear G-d, because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from Me!"
That must have been the height of heights, but then something even greater happened which seems to have eclipsed the prior achievement. How could that be? We are told that Avraham noticed a ram in caught in the thicket, which he subsequently sacrificed in place of his son, and a second Divine announcement was made, "I swear, so says Hashem, because you did this (the sacrifice of the ram) and you did not withhold your son your only son, I will bless those who bless you. I will increase your seed like the stars of the heavens and like the sand of the sea shore and your seed will inherit the gates of its enemies. All the nations of the world will be blessed through your descendants because you have hearkened to My voice!"
What's the big deal with the ram? Why after having demonstrated his willingness to give up his son he is titled as one who fears Hashem, which is no small matter, but when he brings some stray creature in his stead, the act of bringing his son is again evoked and mountains of blessing begin to flow in his general direction?
Imagine it's mid-winter and on Shabbos eight feet of snow falls. After Shabbos your boss or significant authoritative other calls and all but commands that you come immediately and dig him out so he can catch a plane. Immediately you get into serious gear, winter gear, and spend the next two hours just getting your self out from under the snow. Now you hurry to the boss's house to perform the same task on his extra long driveway.
When you arrive you notice the driveway is clear already. The plow must have just come. Your boss is already strolling to the waiting Town-Car with is luggage. He thanks you for your effort for coming and titles you a dutiful worker on his way by. Suddenly he notices you running to your car. At first he assumes you are looking to escape before he innovates some other mission impossible. Rather, he witnesses something that amazes him. You take out your broom and dust off his mailbox and sweep a few crumb of snow from here and there. Then as you go back to your car, he runs after you, in tears, offering you a raise for your devotion for having swept around a little. What went right here?
Maybe when you came, initially, your motive was fear, thinking, "What would be the result of not coming? How can I not go when the boss calls!?" By merely arriving you had demonstrated your loyalty. You would have been forgiven for escaping at that moment before he changed his mind and threw another monumental task your way. However, when you took out the broom and swept up, even though the act is significantly smaller, you showed that your original motive was not fear alone but an abiding love, a sincere desire to come close. Therefore the treasure house of blessing is opened. Raises and bonuses are in order.
The same applies to Avraham and the wayward ram and to us in this season of seeming mixed emotions. Simply sitting in a Sukkah reveals retroactively that the devotions demonstrated during the "Days of Awe" were not done due to dread alone but were driven by a deeper dynamic. That tiny extra touch excites a cover of love above and is the source of our blessings!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -
B’reisheet - áøà ùéú : “In the beginning”
Torah : Genesis 1:1?6:8
Haftarah : Isaiah 42:5?43:10
Gospel : Matthew 1, 2
Where Are You?
Thought for the Week
Adam and Eve had choices: The tree of life or the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Choosing is an essential part of being human. We can choose good, which is the way of life, or disobedience, which results in death. We choose between the two trees countless times every day.
Commentary
They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8?9)
Once there was a Chassidic teacher, a great rabbi, who was observing the children playing hide-and-seek. One child covered his eyes and counted while the other children scattered and hid. Then he went and began to find the children, one after another. As he found them the others join the search.
After watching the children play for a while, the rabbi returned to his books. Time passed, and the voices of the children faded away. He was eventually disturbed from his studies by the sound of a lone child’s voice crying in the schoolyard. He went out to see what had happened, thinking perhaps the child might be hurt. He asked the child, “Son, what is it? Why all this weeping?” The boy explained, “We were all playing hide-and-seek. I was hiding, and they didn’t find me. They quit looking for me, and they all went home.” He began to sob. The rabbi realized that this child’s sorrow was like God’s sorrow. God has, in a sense, concealed Himself and bid us to look for Him, but no one is looking for Him.
In the garden of Eden humans experienced God directly. In the paradise of Eden, human beings lived in simplicity and innocence, without sin, guilt, shame or knowledge thereof. God was present; He was immediate; He was revealed. He spoke with them. Walked with them. They knew His presence; they recognized His voice. He was not hidden. There was no seeking after God. God was everywhere; His voice carried through the orchard.
What has happened since then? Why has God removed himself? Why has He hidden Himself away?
Let’s look at the story. Who hid from whom? The Torah says, “The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8 ). In the story, it is God who calls out to man. God did not hide Himself. God searched for man. He called out to the human beings, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). Abraham Joshua Heschel took the title of his famous philosophy of Judaism from this narrative: God in Search of Man.
We are the ones who have hidden ourselves from the presence of God. In our fallen and rebellious state, in our place of sentience, self-awareness and self-determination, we are unable to bear the presence of God.
Where is God? This is the wrong question. The real question is, where are we?
Middot UÂ’Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
Sex and MonogamyThe Torah says that “the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25). This is the Torah’s view of sexuality. God does not see sex as something sinful, shameful or perverse. He made it. He designed it to be a beautiful and fulfilling part of paradise. Consider the simple innocence of our first mother and father in the midst of Eden, the garden of delight.
Today it is common for people to go through several sexual partners before committing to marriage. It is also common for marriages to end in divorce. Things are completely out of kilter. God wants us to experience and enjoy sexuality within a committed, monogamous marriage, just like our first father and mother. When that happens, we experience a small portion of the joy of Eden. When we take sex out of that context, we twist it into something ugly and destructive.
The Torah says that husband and wife, when joined together in marriage, are “one flesh.” In the Bible, the term "flesh" means “human body.” This is the amazing mystery of marriage. When a man and a woman are married, they are spiritually and physically united. They in essence become one new human body. Henceforth, neither one is complete without the other. That’s why marriage can be so wonderful. That’s why divorce is traumatic and tragic. This also explains why infidelity and sexual relationships outside of marriage are so damaging. The apostle says, “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4).We are not designed for multiple partners. We are physically and spiritually designed for a committed, monogamous relationship. -
Where are You?
Creation. After 5756 years it still mystifies us. Where did the world begin, and where will it end? We often forget to ask a question which is much more pertinent than how many stars are in the Milky Way. We forget to ask what are we doing on this world and where do we fit into the great picture of creation. This week we are reminded of that question by no one less then the Creator Himself.
After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden, they were gripped with shame. They covered themselves with fig leaves and hid from the wrath of G-d. G-d, about to interrogate them, appears as if he is searching the Garden for them as if they would be fugitives from justice. Then seemingly in mock frustration, He asks a question quite unbecoming the Omnipotent, "Where are you?" I was always bothered. Why the shtick. He knew good and well exactly where they were, precisely what they had done, and why they were hiding. Why then the question, "Where are you?"
Perhaps there is a great lesson for us to learn from this. Even after we commit what we may think is the greatest sin and we wish that we would disappear, we tend to lose self-confidence and self interest. Hashem doesn't lose interest in us. He still asks for us. He wants to know where we are. He also wants us to know where we are.
In the town of Chelm, there was a man who was quite absent-minded. Upon going to the bathhouse he was worried that without clothes he would forget who he was. He tied a red string around his big toe in order to make sure he would not lose his identity. Unfortunately the string slipped off his toe and wound itself on the toe of a fellow bather. Shocked by seeing the string on his neighbor's foot, he exclaimed, "I know who you are, but who am I?"
We often are occupied in asking "where is G-d?" or "who is G-d?" Sometimes our questions are placed in the present, "where is G-d?" Sometimes they are asked about the past, "where was G-d?" We are so caught up in the search for the unknown and the unseen that we often forget to search for ourselves. It is possible that G-d's first question of man is an unremitting query that reverberates from time immemorial, "where are you?" Maybe we ought to ask ourselves constantly, "where are we?" We should it ask it as we analyze our standing in every aspect of life. After all, if G-d wants to know where we are shouldn't we want to know too?
Text Copyright © 1996 Rabbi M. Kamenetzky and Project Genesis, Inc. -
Noach - ðç : “Noah”
Torah : Genesis 6:9-11:32
Haftarah : Isaiah 54:1-55:5
Gospel : Matthew 3?4
Fixing a Broken World
Thought for the Week
Human evil grieves God’s heart. God is not peering down on the planet making observations like a dispassionate astronaut. Neither is He watching us like a man sitting on a sofa watching a football game. Rather, He is like a Father who observes the behavior of His children. He is like a king taking note of how events unfold in his kingdom. When a father sees his children involved in self-destructive behaviors, it grieves him. When a king sees his subjects living in open rebellion against him, it angers him. As God observed humanity in the days of Noah, He was saddened to see the rampant wickedness of His creations. He saw that every human heart harbored evil. “The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart” (Genesis 6:6).
Commentary
Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.” (Genesis 6:13)
The Bible says that the wages of sin are death (Romans 6:23). Sin affects the world around us. It affects others around us. For example, an alcoholic might suppose that his drinking problem is his own business. But when he abuses his wife and children, it is their problem. When he canÂ’t perform at work, it is his employerÂ’s problem. When he loses his job, it is his creditorsÂ’ problem. When he can no longer afford to take care of his family, it is the communityÂ’s problem. Our sins touch the lives of everyone around us. They pollute the spiritual environment of our world.
Human beings are naturally selfish creatures. We rarely consider the consequences that our choices have on others. In the days of Noah, the violent man never stopped to say to himself, “My violence is making this world worse. My sins are hurting the whole of humanity.” Each time we sin, no matter how private and personal we imagine the sin to be, we contribute to the destruction of the world.
God punishes sin. For Him to leave sin unpunished would be unjust.
Think of it this way. Suppose there was a murder trial. The defendant was proven guilty. The jury returned a guilty verdict, but the judge, being a kindly fellow, dismissed the verdict, saying, “Well, the poor bloke is probably sorry. I don’t think we need to punish him.” Everyone would be outraged at the travesty of justice.
Yet people want to imagine God like that. We don’t like to think of God as a punisher of sin. We want Him to just look the other way, like a kindly old grandfather who winks at the misdeeds of his grandchildren. The Bible says, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of [God’s] throne” (Psalm 89:14). In other words, God’s kingdom is founded upon justice. Since God is the very standard of justice, He cannot be unjust.
This is the problem with sin. It begets judgment. In the days of Noah, the sin of humanity was so great that justice demanded God take action against it. The easiest thing for God to do would have been to simply will the universe out of existence. He could have just shut the entire thing down and started over with a new creation. Instead, He chose to try to fix the world.
In Judaism, “fixing the world” (tikkun olam, ú÷åï òåìÃ) is an important concept. The world is broken, and it needs to be fixed. Whenever we apply our efforts to doing good by alleviating human suffering, standing up for justice, making peace in the midst of strife and choosing to do right instead of wrong, we are fixing the world. As we make the world a better, more godly place, we are restoring it to GodÂ’s original intent.
Middot UÂ’Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
Covering Sin
But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their fatherÂ’s nakedness. (Genesis 9:23)
Noah was a godly, righteous man. But even godly, righteous men make mistakes. Abusing alcohol is a sure way to make serious blunders. NoahÂ’s drunkenness brought him shame and family trouble. Worse than getting drunk and making a fool of himself, Noah did so in view of his sons. There comes a time in every childÂ’s life when he realizes that his father and mother are not perfect people. Our parents make mistakes. Sometimes lots of them. ThatÂ’s to be expected, since parents are also human beings. When we see our parents make blunders or behave badly, how do we as their children respond? God commands us to honor our father and mother. How can we honor them when they behave dishonorably?
The Torah shows us two alternatives. Noah’s son Ham “saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside” (Genesis 9:22). The other two sons, Shem and Japheth, took a blanket and covered their father. Ham’s choice was to sneer at his father. The other two sons honored him. In fact, they would not even look on his nakedness as they covered him.
People do and say foolish things all the time. The natural human inclination is to expose their folly by pointing it out to others. The godly thing to do, however, is to look away from the foolishness of others and try to cover their shame.
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8 ) -
Before It Rains
By Rabbi Label Lam
And Noach did all that HASHEM had commanded him, and Noach was six hundred years old and the flood waters were upon the earth. And Noach came and his sons and his wife and the wives of his sons with him into the Ark because of the waters of the flood. (Breishis 7:5-7)
Because of the waters of the flood: Even Noach was from the small believers. He both believed and didnÂ’t believe that the flood would come, and therefore he didnÂ’t enter the Ark until the waters forced him. (Rashi)
Noach was a small believer? He didn’t believe the waters of the flood would really come? How is that possible? He worked for 120 years and exposed himself to extreme ridicule just to build that Ark! The verse said “Noach did all that HASHEM had commanded him.” How could be from the small believers?
A similar accusation is made about Sara when she “laughed within herself” upon hearing that she would be having a child. Rashi (by the incident of Avraham’s laughing) tells us that Sara was rebuked because her laughter betrayed her disbelief. Sara didn’t believe? She prayed the length of her life for a child acknowledging that “HASHEM has held me back from bearing”. Now in a lapse moment the Torah records her inner thoughts and tars her with the brush as someone who didn’t believe in the possibility of what she has heard. Therefore she was in need of the rebuke, “Is something too wondrous for HASHEM?!”
The Chofetz Chaim points out that this faltering of belief is a foreshadowing of a future time when good Jews who have lived with the fervent hope that the Jewish People will again be restored to the Holy Land and the world set right, will confront the realization of their dreams. So many of us repeat and sing those words of the 13 Fundamental Principles of Judaism, “I believe with a perfect belief in the coming of the Moshiach, and although he tarries, even still I await his arrival each day!”
What will that good hearted loyal Jew think when he glances at the headlines one morning and discovers it announces in clear terms what he had hoped for his entire life? A good portion of him is in total disbelief, denying it strongly as a hoax. He is stricken with cognitive dissonance even after confirming the truth. Although he anticipated it on some level another part of him cannot process the actual paradigm shift.
How can one both believe and not believe simultaneously? Simple! A person is not one thing. Some pass the written exam of life with flying colors and still fail the driving test miserably. It is this deficiency that we are warned about by NoachÂ’s reaction to the arrival of the flood waters and SaraÂ’s response to even good news.
Reb Chaim from Sanz posed a question to one of his Chassidim as he passed by. “What would you do if you found a wallet with a significant amount of money in it and there were clear identifiable signs for the owner to reclaim it?” The man said in all sincerity, “Why Rebbe, I would return it!” The Rebbe exclaimed, “Foolishness!” The next gentleman was asked the same question about the wallet to which he responded, “Rebbe, I would keep it!” “Ganav-Thief!” the Rebbe proclaimed. A third man on the street when asked about the wallet answered, “I don’t know what I would do, Rebbe, but I hope I would have the moral resolve to do the right thing and return it to the rightful owner!” “Ahhhhh!”, sighed the Rebbe from Sanz, “This is a wise man!”
We can’t know with certainty what we will do when the even the anticipated surprises of life leap upon us. All we can do is prepare for the eventuality and the inevitability of “whatever” through study, prayer, and a good imagination, because the best time to buy an umbrella is before it rains. -
Parshas Noach
Window to the World
by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky
Did you ever stop to imagine what life was like inside of Noah's ark? There were three floors; the middle floor was filled with a collection of the world's animals wild, domestic, and otherwise. Birds and critters of all shapes and sizes, vermin and an endless potpourri of creepy crawlers whose pesky descendants bear witness to their survival during that tempestuous period.
Then there was a floor of refuse. There was no recycling center, and no sewage system that I am aware of.
The humans had the top floor. Cramped in an inescapable living space was Noach, his three sons, their wives and one mother-in-law. I think the rest of the scenario can play clearly in our minds. Surely, it was far from easy. What intrigues are the detailed architectural commands that Hashem gave Noach. Hashem details measurements and design for an ark that took 120 years to build! Why? Are there lessons to be learned from the design of the design of the ark? After all, Hashem promised that there will be no more floods. If there are no more floods, then there need not be any more arks. So what difference does it make how it was built. Obviously, there are inherent lessons we can learn from the design of the ark. Let's look at one.
Noach is told to build a window. It seems practical enough; after all sitting for an entire year can get awfully stuffy. So Noach is commanded to build a window for breathing room. It is a little troubling. Does Noach need a command to add something so simple as a window? Does it make a difference whether or not he had a window? Did that command have to be incorporated into the heavenly plans for an ark that would endure the ravaging flood?
A renowned Rosh Yeshiva, tragically lost his son to a debilitating disease at the prime of his life. Not long married, the son left a widow and a young child. The Rosh Yeshiva and his Rebbitzin were devastated at the loss and the shiva period was a most difficult time.
One of the hundreds of visitors was the Bluzhever Rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael Spira, whose entire family was wiped out during the Holocaust. He sat quietly, taking in the pain of the bereaved family. Finally, when it was time to say something, Rabbi Spira turned to the Rosh Yeshiva and spoke. "Your loss is terrible, but at least your son will have a living remnant, his child. He will also have a resting place and stone where the family can visit. I do not even know where any of my children who were killed by the Nazis are buried." Then he added, "yet somehow Hashem has given me the strength to rebuild my family and life." Those words truly helped console the Rosh Yeshiva.
Sometimes when we are locked in our little boxes, we, too, need a window. When we think our world is crumbling and that we are doomed to a fate that is too difficult to bear, Hashem tells us to make a window. Sometimes, in our frustrations we have to look across the globe, or even across the river to know that despite our difficulties, others must endure a more difficult fate. And when we realize that they can endure, whether it is an Og holding on the back of the ark, or struggling with those lost amongst the ruins, we can remember that life inside the ark is not so bad after all. -
Noach
by Rabbi Chaim Dovid Green
TWe all relate to the misery we feel when we suffer from a cold. The constant runny nose, sneezing, and fatigue tend to demand our attention and remind us how really uncomfortable we feel. It has the ability and the tendency to affect our whole attitude. Imagine receiving a phone call on one of those miserable days with the news that you won a major lottery, and you will have no financial worries for the rest of your life. I believe that even under those unpleasant circumstances most of us would manage to be full of cheer.
The question then is, why aren't we constantly ecstatic with our lives? We all possess things which we would never sell for even the worth of the highest lottery, so why don't we celebrate? I'm referring to the wonderful gifts we receive every day. We wake up, we can see, we have mobility, we can breath, digest, pass waste, and literally thousands of functions which we take completely for granted without a thought. Aren't these functions more vital to us than any sum of wealth? We know they are, because we have all seen what it's like when some of these functions don't work correctly. Yet we still often find reason to be disillusioned despite that fact that we win the lottery in the biggest way each time we awake, and each time we draw a breath.
Generally this comes from self-centeredness. The passage states as follows. "For the inclination of the heart of man is evil from his youth" (Genesis 8:21). One interpretation explains that the word "from" in the passage explains why the inclination of man's heart is evil. Man's inclination is evil because of his youth. In other words, he refuses to grow up. Children are born self-centered. It is normal and necessary. However, as we get older we are expected to become other-centered. Marriage and children facilitate that process. If we refuse to grow up, the old selfish habits remain strong and we remain "takers" instead of "givers".
This was the problem before the time of the Great Deluge in the days of Noach. "And G-d said to Noach, the end of all flesh has come before Me, for the world is filled with corruption (Genesis 6:13)." Rashi explains that this refers to robbery. Everyone was taking. Everyone felt that it was all coming to him. The entire world was unfortunately a world of "takers." This went directly against the purpose for which the world was created. "The end of the world has _come_ before me. It was not G-d's retribution, but it was a natural consequence of the deeds which that generation embraced. It came, as it were, on its own.
G-d tells Noach to build an ark. It should be populated with every form of life which existed on earth. All of their foods were stored aboard the ark. Who had the job of feeding such a huge population of creatures? Noach and his family did. Day and night Noach, his wife, his sons, and their wives, fed animals. This went on for over a year. Why? Why couldn't G-d use an alternative plan? Why was the survival of life made dependant on Noach and his family working non-stop, day and night?
Rabbi Dessler explains that this was necessary for the survival of all life. As we stated earlier, the basis of the sin of this generation was selfishness. The only circumstances which could save the world was one in which humankind in microcosm would exercise complete selflessness. These were the circumstances which Noach and his family were placed in - such that only their most basic needs could be addressed, and the animals' needs would dominate. This was the wisdom behind the "mini-world" that was created in the ark. This was the true fulfillment of the purpose of the creation of the world, and it was the foundation upon which the new post-deluge world would be built. -
Parasha: Lekh L'kha (Get yoursef Out)
For Oct 13-20
Torah : B'resheet (Genesis) 12:1-17:27
Haftarah : Isaiah Yeshayahu 40:27-41:16
Brit Chadashah : Acts 7:1-8;Romans 3:19-5:6; Galatians 3:15-18; 5:1-6; Colossians 2:11-15; Hebrews 7:1-19;11:8-12 -
Parshas Lech Lecha
Wake Up Call
Volume 5 Issue 3
by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky
Hashem has different ways in which He reveals Himself to mortal men. The Torah tells us that Moshe was special. Moshe's revelation was termed face-to-face. Others, however saw Hashem in a vision. This week the Torah tells us of Avram's vision. It is more than a vision. In fact, it is very animated. "And the word of Hashem came to Avram in a vision, "Fear not, Avram and He took Avram outside and said, 'Count the stars, if you are able to count them... This shall be your offspring" (Genesis 15:1-5).
Avram goes outside and tries to count the stars. Then he goes back inside, and the Torah tells us that Avram has another vision. This one, however, takes on another type of medium. "the sun set and a deep sleep fell upon Avram and behold a dark fear descended upon him" (Genesis 15:12).
It is interesting to note the contrast between the two visions. The first seems dynamic and upbeat. The second begins with a sense of doom. Commentaries explain that the first vision engendered the good news about the growth and future prosperity of Avram's descendants. The second vision predicted the doom and exile of the Jewish people in Egypt. That is why Avram trembled. But it seems Avram trembled as a" a dark fear descended upon him," even before hearing the news about the Egyptian bondage. In fact, the fear set in as soon as the deep slumber fell upon him. Could the sleep alone have precipitated the premonition of fear? Perhaps the deep slumber set off some impending feeling of despair that caused the great fear. How?
Rabbi Shimshon Zelig Fortman was the Rav of Congregation Knesseth Israel in Far Rockaway during the 1940s. During that period, the naysayers had all but discounted any chance of a rebirth of Orthodox Jewry. They had hardly a voice in Washington, they were disorganized and fragmented, and the destruction of European Jewry was almost the last nail in the alleged coffin of traditional Torah Yiddishkeit. Rabbi Fortman had a young son-in-law, Moshe, who had studied in Yeshiva Ner Israel in Baltimore. He would tell his father in-law how he saw a future for Orthodox Jewry that was filled with honor and power. Their representatives would have direct access to Congress, the Senate, and even the President of the United States. They would influence legislation with their values and fill stadiums and coliseums with Torah assemblies and prayer gatherings!
Rabbi Fortman was very concerned about his young son-in-law's ivory-towered dreams. He felt that he the dreams distracted him and he would never accomplish anything. Rabbi Yosef Kahanamen, the Ponovezer Rav had recently come to America to raise funds for his Yeshiva in Israel and was staying by Rabbi Fortman in Far Rockaway. Surely, Rabbi Fortman thought, Rabbi Kahanamen would terminate Moshe's fantasies and teach him about the realities of accomplishment.
Moshe and Rabbi Kahanamen met for nearly an hour. The Rav listened intently and then told young Moshe, "Dream my son. Continue to dream. In fact you can continue to dream as long as you live. But remember one thing. Never fall asleep."
Young Moshe was eventually known to hundreds of thousands of Jews world-over as the man who may have been one of the most influential personalities in the emergence of Torah Jewry today Rabbi Moshe Sherer, the President of Agudath Israel of America until his passing this past year.
Perhaps, homiletically, Avram began to tremble the moment that sleep set in. He understood that great visions of grandeur might occur in a dream. But nothing good could appear if he fell asleep! Because if the visionary falls asleep then all the dreams are lost in slumber!
Good Shabbos
Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky -
Parshas Lech Lecha
That Fire Within
By Rabbi Label Lam
Rabbi Yitzchok said, “It is comparable to one who was going from place to place and he saw a castle brightly lighted. He said, “Is it possible that that this palace does not have a keeper?” The master of the building peaked at him through the window and said to him, “I am the master of this castle.” (Midrash Rabba - Lech Lecha)
Writes Moshe Chaim Luzzato, “A person should stop for at least some time every day, free from all thoughts, and quest within his heart, “What did the early forefathers do that HASHEM desired them so much?” (Derech Etz Chaim) What did Avraham do that he and his children became the focal point of the entire Torah and of all subsequent human history?
In psychology class senior year in high school it was always my job to go the 9th grade to select a fresh specimen for an experiment. One of those trials involved testing the weight of peer pressure and perception. An orange colored object was held up in front of the class. Everyone was coached to declare its color “purple”. The 9th grader would be the last one to be asked his opinion about of its color. It never failed. They always agreed with the rest of the class. Afterwards we reasoned that they did not just say it to avoid being harassed in the lunch room later but their actual perception had shifted gradually with each vote and in the end they were actually convinced that it was a shade of purple.
How was Avraham able to stand against the entire world and its most powerful ruler? Where does one get the courage and the conviction? Maybe when the whole world disagrees one should rightly question his perception and humbly yield his opinion. How and why did Avraham remain so fixed and loyal to his thesis that he was able to confidently convince many others as well?
When subjective matters of taste are being discussed one might still be open to being persuaded. These are perception issues and it might even be wise to consider whether or not the milk is sour after eight other noses tell you so. However, the subject of the oneness of G-d is too serious to be left to feelings alone and therefore Avraham from his earliest days conducted an exhaustive research project that left him absolutely convinced and convincing. (See Rambam: Laws of Idolatry)
The Rambam in Morah Nevuchim writes, “Truth does not become more-true by virtue that the whole world agrees with it nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it! Galileo said something similar, “In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth that humble reasoning of a single individual.”
In Sefer Yetzirah which is reputed to have been authored by Avraham, it is written, “Twenty-Two Foundation letters: He engraved them, He carved them, He permuted them, He weighed them, He transformed them, and with them, He depicted all that was formed and all that would be formed.”
Imagine in place of a chart of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew Aleph- Beis we are looking the periodic table of elements and with that we read the statement above. Even a rudimentary understanding of chemistry teaches that we and everything in our world are made from the ingredients of that chart and that every item listed there is not more than an admixture of the same stuff with varying valences, in different combinations and densities. When cracked open, we know all too well, that each element is actually a sublimely packaged particle capable of revealing profound amounts of raw energy.
Physicist Stephen Hawking penned these words, “Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a world for them to describe?” 3700 years ago, long before the Unified Field Theory, and prior to any notion of quantum physics, Avraham Avinu uncovered with his searching mind, and in spite of the world about him, came to know, the Source of that fire within. -
Parashat Hashavuah
Vayera - åéøà : “And he appeared”
Torah : Genesis 18:1?22:24
Haftarah : II Kings 4:1?37
Gospel : Matthew 8?10
AbrahamÂ’s Great Test
Thought for the Week
AbrahamÂ’s life was a life a faith, and the life of faith is a life of testing. At every juncture we are tested. Passing each test requires stubborn optimism, resolute confidence in God and steadfast obedience. LifeÂ’s problems are opportunities to prove our faith and to improve our faithfulness. We fail lifeÂ’s tests when we give in to despair, lose confidence in God or turn away from obedience. Every difficulty and trial is a test of faith. Will we assess the problem through the eyes of faith or not? Will we respond in faith or faithlessness?
Commentary
He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” (Genesis 22:2)
When God first called Abraham he said, “Go forth from your country.” The Hebrew for “go forth” is lech-lecha (ìê ìê). That was the first test of Abraham’s faith. Near the end of Abraham’s life, the LORD again tells Abraham, “Lech-lecha.” He commands him to bring his son Isaac to the land of Moriah. The land of Moriah is the area of Jerusalem. God tells Abraham to bring Isaac to “one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” Mount Moriah is the mount on which King Solomon built the holy Temple. Abraham built his altar on the very spot where the Holy Temple would one day be built.
Abraham did not object to GodÂ’s commandment. Instead he rose early in the morning to carry out the terrible duty. Remember that he also rose early in the morning to send off Hagar and Ishmael. When we have a commandment from God, even if it seems disagreeable, we should not procrastinate.
Abraham passed the test. He demonstrated his confidence in God.
When Isaac asked about the lamb for the sacrifice, Abraham confidently replied, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:
.
He demonstrated he was willing to sacrifice Isaac, even binding him, placing him on the altar and taking the knife to slaughter him. How could a loving father do this? The writer of the book of Hebrews explains:
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said [in Genesis 21:12], “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. (Hebrews 11:17?19)
Abraham believed God with such absolute faith that he did not hesitate to obey. He knew God had made promises to bless and multiply his seed through Isaac, and He knew God would keep those promises, even if He had to raise Isaac from the dead.
Middot UÂ’Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
AbrahamÂ’s Hospitality
Now the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. (Genesis 18:1)
Abraham was sitting outside his tent during the hottest part of the day. Under the shade of a tree, he was trying to catch a little bit of breeze. He saw three strangers passing by on the road below. Despite the heat and the inconvenience, Abraham sprang up and chased them down to invite them home for a meal.
When Abraham hurried out to greet the strangers, he did not realize that they were angels. He thought they were just common wayfarers. He ran to meet them, bowed before them, greeted them and entreated them to enjoy a meal with him. His exceptional hospitality is a model for all godly people. Clement, the disciple of Peter, suggests that one of the reasons that Abraham merited the birth of Isaac was the exceptional hospitality that he showed to the mysterious visitors. Clement says, “Because of [Abraham’s] faith and hospitality, a son was given him in his old age” (1 Clement 10:7).
We should show the same enthusiastic hospitality to people who pass near our “tents.” By imitating our father Abraham, welcoming people into our homes and communities, serving them and showing them kindness, we demonstrate the love of God. We should treat each person we encounter as if it might be the LORD Himself.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2)
Imagine the Messiah disguising Himself as a stranger and visiting your home or your congregation. How would He be received? -
Parshas Vayera
Homosexuality
The Mitzvah:
The Torah prohibits the act of homosexuality terming it an abomination (Leviticus 18:22)
The townsfolk of Sedom were outraged that Lot had invited guests into his home. They surrounded his house and demanded he surrender his visitors. Rather than permit the citizens to engage in “sodomy” (a phrase named after this town), Lot offered his unmarried daughters to the frenzied mob in lieu of his guests (Genesis 19:4-.
In what is a sensitive, highly charged and politicized subject, the permissiveness of homosexuality in contemporary society is incompatible with the Torah which is unequivocal in its condemnation – not of the person but of the act itself.
Homosexuality may give the partners companionship and love. But the dimension where it utterly fails, spiritually, is to capture the paradigm of human relationships: that of man and woman.
The framework of marriage is what the Torah defines as natural: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Indeed, homosexuality is considered an unnatural perversion of this ideal: where the offender acts “with a man as one lies with a woman” (Leviticus 18:22).
Regarding the formation of mankind, “in the image of G-d He created them; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). It requires two distinct, separate beings to unify their attributes and forces to become one: as in Adam and Chava.
Actually, this template of two opposite forces is not reserved for mankind; it goes right to the heart of creation: “All that G-d created in His universe, male and female He created them” (Shabbos 157a, Pesachim 56a). Accordingly, the existence and interdependence of masculine and feminine forces within creation are, demonstrably, both essential.
Neither man nor a woman is complete by themselves. An unmarried person is no more than a partial, yet incomplete attainment of the Divine image of humanity. In the need to imitate G-d – as in mankind’s creation “in the image of G-d” –male and female must fuse their identities as one. Only where the different genders merge and their relationship framed within the setting of a Jewish marriage, can it be deemed special. And become sacrosanct.
A harmonious marriage has the capacity for holiness. Here G-dliness descends and rests within their relationship, filling the physical world with spirituality. It goes from natural to supernatural, to something higher and transcendental.
Homosexuality cannot achieve this holiness. Homosexuality cannot capture mankind’s unified “image of G-d” in the interaction of male and female. And as an offshoot of this, homosexuality impedes reproduction.
It is exclusively the male-female relationship wherein procreation is possible (although marital intimacy is not exclusively dependent upon the ability to procreate). Herein mankind is able to emulate G-d as a creator, in the creation of new life. In contrast, the homosexual act cannot result in any offspring. On the contrary, there is the waste of manÂ’s seed.
Homosexuality unnaturally frustrates the ideal model of humanity – whether in the holiness of marriage where man and woman become one or undermining the forum for man’s seed to have the potential to reproduce.
What Judaism calls for, in the final analysis, is an acceptance that it is the divine Torah and not the changing views of our wider society that defines our morality. -
Parshas Vayera
The Avraham Effect
One of the more intriguing episodes in the parsha of this week is the story of the three visitors to the tent of Avraham and Sarah. The Torah first describes the three visitors as anashim – human beings. And that is how Avraham certainly saw them – as Bedouin Arabs whom he suspected of being idol worshippers who sanctified the dust on their feet. Therefore, he gently requests them to wash their feet before sitting down to eat their meal at his home.
Judaism, which always operates in reverse venerations to paganism, therefore bids us to wash our hands before we sit down at a meal to break bread. But in any event, it is clear from the text of the Torah that these visitors to Avraham and Sarah are simply viewed as being three passing human strangers at the beginning of their visit. Suddenly, Avraham realizes that these three visitors are really GodÂ’s angels sent to him to reveal GodÂ’s plans and to fulfill His Divine mission.
The Torah now calls them malachim – angels. I have always felt that there was a deep subliminal message in this change of description of Avraham’s guests. Namely, that coming into the tent of Avraham and Sarah can by itself transform seemingly pagan Bedouin Arabs into heavenly angels. Such is the effect of Avraham in the world and such is the influence of the tent of Avraham and Sarah in their society. The Hittites will be moved to say: “You are a prince of God in our midst.” And so he was.
The Jewish home was always the place of individual spiritual elevation and holy transformation. It was the factory that produced holy and devoted people, conscious of their responsibilities to God and humankind. With its rituals and rhythms, with its silences and loving disciplines, with its peace and the serenity of the Sabbath and the Holy days, the Jewish home was able to transform and uplift people.
I once had a tradesperson – a woman drapery designer - come to our home Friday early afternoon to give an estimate on draping our windows. Our home, due to the influence of my wife, was a place of serenity and calm on Friday afternoons as it pretty much was at all times. The woman remarked to me as she left: “I have never felt such a feeling of serenity as I do in your home.” I explained to her that the transformation was due to the upcoming arrival of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is serenity and the only way to welcome it is with serenity itself. The Jewish home was the direct descendant of the tent of Avraham and Sarah. It genetically inherited the transcendent ability to sanctify, enhance and transform human beings. It provides the setting and milieu for human beings to work on becoming angels.
The privilege to be visited by angels can be experienced by all of us. We welcome them to our home every Friday night at the onset of the Sabbath and we can have them accompany us all week long as well, if we only will it. Such is the legacy of Avraham and Sarah to us, their children.
Shabat shalom.
Rabbi Berel Wein -
BTW may i ask wads torah??
-
Chayei Sarah - çéé ùøä : "Life of Sarah"
Torah : Genesis 23:1-25:18
Haftarah : I Kings 1:1-31
Gospel : Matthew 11-12
Adapted from Torah Club Volume One : Unrolling the Scroll
Bashert: The Real Soul Mate
Thought for the Week
In our culture, we believe that a person should marry whoever he or she falls in love with. This is a bad plan. It is possible to fall in love with the wrong person. It is possible to fall in love with many wrong persons. Falling in love is a terrible criteria upon which to base a marriage. It would have been easy for Isaac to fall in love with any number of Canaanite girls. Why didnÂ’t he? Because Abraham would not allow it. Abraham placed clear and specific limits around IsaacÂ’s potential mates.
Commentary
May she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. (Genesis 24:14)
Abraham’s servant Eliezer was sent to find a wife for Isaac. He prayed that God would indicate which woman He had appointed for Isaac to marry. God miraculously singled out Rebekah. Later, when recounting the story of his encounter with Rebekah to her family, they had to admit, “The matter comes from the LORD” (Genesis 24:50). By all appearances, God had appointed Rebekah to be the wife of Isaac.
This teaches that God appoints each personÂ’s a spouse. Some people call this appointed person a soul mate.
How do you know when you have found your soul mate? And what exactly is a soul mate? The idea is that each individual has one other person, somewhere out there, who is his or her preordained, perfect match. A personÂ’s soul mate is the ideal complement to fulfill his or her physical, spiritual and psychological needs. Soul mates are like two halves of the same soul, and if you marry the wrong person, you will never be truly happy because you missed your soul mate. This is not a biblical idea.
The search for a soul mate sounds romantic, but how do you know if the one you are with is really your soul mate? IsnÂ’t it possible that you missed your true soul mate, or might still encounter him or her? What if you were married previously and are now on your second marriage? Was your first spouse your soul mate, or is this one the true soul mate? The soul-mate concept is a foolish idea that ultimately discourages people from getting married because they fear that their prospective match might not be their soul mate. For people already married, the soul-mate concept can lead to discontentment and uncertainty.
The soul-mate idea does exist in Judaism. It was probably born from a misunderstanding of the Jewish concept of soul mate. Among Yiddish-speaking Jews, the term for soul mate is bashert (áà ùòøè). Bashert is a Yiddish word that means “destiny.” A person’s ideal spouse is called his or her “destined one.” How is this different from the romantic soul-mate concept? You cannot seek your destined one, because you will not know if you are destined to be together until you marry each other. Once you are married, destiny has been fulfilled and proven your soul mate. In other words, your spouse is your destined one. The person you are married to is the person God has ordained for you. If he or she was not, you would not be married.
So donÂ’t waste time trying to find your soul mate. She/he does not exist and will not exist until you get married. Once you are married, you can be confident that your spouse is your true bashert.
Middot UÂ’Mitzvot (Character and Deeds)
The Matchmaker
In Hebrew, a match between a man and a woman is called a shidduch (ùéãåê). Finding a shidduch for someone else is considered to be a great mitzvah (good deed). It is a responsibility that the whole Jewish community takes seriously?after all, the future of the nation depends upon successful matches.
Everyone remembers the matchmaker from the movie Fiddler on the Roof. A matchmaker is called a shadkan (ùøëï). A person with a special talent for matchmaking is referred to as a shadkan, but it is not a field reserved exclusively for professionals. Everyone in a community is supposed to be keeping an eye out for potential matches. It is such a serious duty that even the great rabbis are known for keeping notes concerning potential mates for the purpose of making matches.
It may be true that opposites attract, but they donÂ’t stick together very well. A successful shadkan looks for mutual compatibility. He tries to match people on the basis of personality, disposition and character as well as watching for similar family backgrounds, values, social and economic standing. ItÂ’s not an easy job, but itÂ’s an important one. The responsibility of making matches is so important and so difficult that the rabbis claimed that God Himself has been occupied with the matter ever since creation.
In the small and splintered world of Messianic Judaism, every person needs to contribute to the effort of matchmaking. -
Parshas Chayei Sarah
The Dignity of the Stranger
By Rabbi Label Lam
She descended to the spring, filled her jug and ascended. The servant ran towards her and said, “Let me sip please, a little, from your water jug.” She said, “Drink my lord” and she hurried, and lowered her jug to her hands and gave him drink. When she finished giving him drink, she said, “I will draw (water) even for your camels until they have finished drinking.” So she hurried and she emptied her jug into the trough and kept running to the well to draw (water) and she drew for all his camels. (Breishis 24:16- 20)
Rivka may not have known but she was trying out for the position of Matriarch of the Jewish People. What was her test and how did she display her worthiness? Well the story line tells us of her extraordinary display of kindliness to even to the 10 camels of Eliezer the servant of Avraham. So she gets the job of Mother of a Nation because of her extra sensitivity and concern for animals? Realizing, of course, she did demonstrate, thereby, the abundance of her native kindliness, there is still room to wonder aloud whether or not it was her concern for animals that tipped the scale in her favor or something else!?
Why does the Torah tell us that Rivka “emptied her jug into the trough” before running to fetch more water for the camels? Of all the matters in the universe why is it that this detail is included? Why did she first announce her intention to feed the animals before spilling the water into the trough and getting into high gear? What does this add? What do we learn about her unique qualifications for the task to which she is about to be appointed?
The story is told about Rabbi Akiva Eiger ztl. that a guest at his table had clumsily toppled a glass of red wine on the pristine white Shabbos table cloth. The Rabbi reacted immediately and almost instinctively. He jarred the table in such a way that his glass of wine spilled as well. What a ploy and play of unrehearsed sensitivity he displayed in that one move and all just to protect the other fellowÂ’s feelings of embarrassment.
In a similar way Rivka preserved the inherent honor of the man Eliezer. He had requested a drink. She could have poured into another vessel or into his mouth but rather she gave him to drink from the jug directly in the most dignified fashion. After this stranger drinks from her jug a new dilemma is born. Can she deliver home a partially filled jug or one out of which a stranger has just partaken? If you owned a grocery store and a customer, for whatever reason took a swig from a gallon container of milk, and returned it to the shelf, what would you, the proprietor do? 1) Would you reseal and resell it at a slight discount? 2) Would you spill it out! 3) Would you give to the cat?
Rivka was alert to a number of matters. 1) Spilling the water out is wasteful. 2) Spilling it in front of him is insulting. 3) The pain of thirst of the animals is also a pressing obligation waiting to be fulfilled by someone.
Therefore Rivka cleverly announced her intentions first before emptying the jug into the water trough to spare him even a moment of personal discomfort. Only then did she launch into her heroic activity to care for his ten camels, fueling them like ten Mack Trucks and all by hand. The whole giant effort may have included a desire to be economical as well as to quench some creaturely thirsts but it may have been mostly motivated by a desire to maintain to the dignity of the stranger.