Friday, November 9, 2018

Parshas Toldos Messages 5779

בּ"ה

Parshas Toldos

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‘And these are the generations of Yitzchok, son of Avraham, Avraham begot (הוליד) Yitzchok.’ (Bereishis 25:19)

Explains the Baal HaTurim zt”l that the word ‘הוליד -- begot’ has the same Gematria (numerical value) as the word ‘דומה -- similar’. This teaches us that Hashem made Yitzchok Avinu and Avraham Avinu look very alike.*

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* See Rashi zt”l on this verse, to the words אברהם הוליד את יצחק.

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‘And Yitzchok prayed to Hashem opposite his wife, because she was barren. . . and Rivkah his [Yitzchok’s] wife conceived.’ (Bereishis 25:21)

We see that when Rivkah Imeinu was barren, what did Yitzchok Avinu (and Rivkah herself, as well*) do? They Davened to Hashem. And He heard their prayers and answered them, even when things seemed bleak.

We too must turn to Hashem with our own prayers whenever we are in need, etc. for He is there, ready to answer them.

(Tal U’Matar)

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* See Rashi zt”l on this verse, to the words לנכח אשתו.

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‘And the children struggled inside of her -- ויתרצצוּ הבּנים בּקרבּהּ’ (Bereishis 25:23)

Rashi zt”l quotes a Midrashic interpretation (Bereishis Rabbah) which says that the word ויתרצצוּ can also come from the word to run, רץ. This teaches us that whenever Rivkah Imeinu would pass by a Beis Midrash, a House of Study, Yaakov Avinu would try to run to go there, and whenever she would pass by a house of idol worship, Esav would try to run to go there.

But there is a big question that some ask; if we are taught (Gemara Niddah 30) that a Malach (Angel) teaches a baby the entire Torah inside the womb, why was Yaakov Avinu trying to leave to go to a Beis Midrash? He was learning the entire Torah with a Malach!

There are different answers given, and they are all beautiful. One of them that I have seen in the name of various Rabbonim is that, true, Yaakov Avinu was learning with a Malach -- but he was in the company of Esav. It is important to have proper surroundings.

However, there is another question, and that is the one posed by my dear brother, Yaakov, may he be well: What about Esav? Why, indeed, was he trying to leave if he was being taught Torah by a Malach?! How could he have been?

And Baruch Hashem, we came to an answer and lesson from it: Learning Torah is a great and amazing thing and should be done very much, but it doesn’t automatically make us a Tzaddik if we are, Chas V’Shalom, not going to put it into practice. Learning in and of itself is a huge Mitzvah and an awesome thing, but with it, we must work on ourselves and try to perfect our character, and fulfill the other Mitzvos, etc.

Indeed, Shimon HaTzaddik (Avos 1:2) says, “Upon three things does the world stand: Upon the Torah, and upon the Avodah (Service of Hashem), and upon Gemilus Chassadim (acts of kindness).”

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|~Maaseh~| Rabbi Akiva zt”l taught that a person should always accustom themselves to say ‘Everything the Merciful One does, He does for the good’.

And there is a story that goes with this teaching: Rabbi Akiva was once walking along a road and he came to a town. He inquired about a place to stay, but he wasn’t given any. It might have seemed like something unpleasant, but he said and accepted ‘Everything the Merciful One does is for the good’, and he went to go stay overnight in a field. He had with him a chicken in order to wake him up, a donkey and a candle (or lamp).

However, a wind came and extinguished the candle, a cat came and ate the chicken, and a lion came and ate his donkey. Certainly a seemingly hopeless situation! But, Rabbi Akiva yet again stood strong and said ‘Everything the Merciful One does is for the good’.

It turned out that on that night, an army came and took the town he had originally intended to stay in, captive. “Did I not say to you,” said Rabbi Akiva [sometime later], “That everything HaKadosh Baruch Hu does, everything, is for the best?” Now, if his candle would have been lit, the army would have seen him, and if his donkey would have brayed, or his chicken would have called out, the army would have heard and come and taken him captive. Indeed, everything that occured, was surely for the best!

(Gemara Berachos 60b-61a, with commentary by Rashi zt”l)

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Gut and meaningful Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh to all!

Thursday, November 8, 2018

HaRav Avigdor Miller zt"l on Rosh Chodesh

Rav Avigdor Miller on Rosh Chodesh

Q:
What's so special about Rosh Chodesh that we say Hallel and that it's called a מועד?

A:
There are three elements that can be easily seen in every Rosh Chodesh. And if you ignore them or just think about them in a superficial manner, then you are wasting a valuable opportunity. And many people do waste this opportunity. Yes, many people.

First of all, we must look back and thank Hashem for letting us live through the past month. Do you think that it's a small thing to live a whole month?! Many people haven't made it to this Rosh Chodesh. Boruch Hashem we're still around. Boruch Hashem! And that's why we say Hallel. Hallel is to thank Hashem for the past month.

Now, Rosh Chodesh is also a זמן כפרה לכל תולדותם (Musaf Davening Rosh Chodesh). It's an opportunity for a כפרה, atonement, for the sins we did in the past month. Look back and remind yourself of the things you did wrong during the past month. Not only the things you did wrong but even more important - the good things that you didn't do. What a loss. What a loss! Look back and do teshuva. It's a זמן כפרה, a special opportunity for teshuva and atonement.

And the third element is that it's a יום תפילה for the upcoming month. A special day for davening. At minimum you must say יעלה ויבוא. The words of יעלה ויבוא are an important tefillah for the coming month.

So these are the three elements. Again: One is to thank Hashem for the past month. And the second is to be מפשפש במעשיו - to examine your deeds of the past month and do teshuva. That's זמן כפרה. And the third is to ask Hashem for help for the coming month. These are very important ideas. And that's why Rosh Chodesh is a very important occasion.

You think that a month is a small thing in our lives?! If you look back and you see that you didn't accomplish anything in the past month then you should be worried. Yes, you should worry. And make up your mind that in the next month you're going to start doing all the good things that you hear here. At least that. Get busy doing all these good things next month. Make up your mind that a month shouldn't be wasted.

A month is not a day. It's not a week. It's a whole month. That's a big slice of life! And therefore on Rosh Chodesh we have to thank Hashem for the past month, we have to do teshuva for the things we did wrong in the past month and we have to ask Hashem for His help for the upcoming month.

TAPE E-266 (February 2001)

(SOURCE: TorasAvigdor.org)

Friday, November 2, 2018

Parshas Chayei Sarah Messages 5779

בּ"ה

Parshas Chayei Sarah

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‘And Avraham was old, coming in days, and Hashem had blessed Avraham with everything.’ (Bereishis 24:1)

There is a very big lesson that we can learn from the word ‘everything’ in the above verse:

Many things happen to us in life. Some are very good and we thank Hashem for such blessings. Others don’t seem such. . .

But what we must understand, though, is that even those things are also good and for the best. The happenings that don’t seem so great -- and even very bad, at times -- are for our benefit as well. Hashem only does good things. But it is just sometimes hard to realize.

You see, the verse says that Avraham was blessed with everything. It doesn’t go and list everything we think is good. No! It says that ‘Hashem had blessed Avraham with everything’. Meaning also the things that we would think of as bad, because they too are blessings and messages from Hashem.

Hashem knows what is best for us, and He makes thus occur. If everything we hoped would happen happened, things would not end up as joyous and ideal as we would think. . . Hashem knows what needs to happen. It is just up to us to accept and understand this.

The Chofetz Chaim zt”l (quoted in Torah Wellsprings) gives an analogy: Let’s say a person walked into Shul when somebody was saying the verse in Ashrei, ‘Hashem guards all His loved ones, and all the wicked He will destroy’ -- ‘שׁומר ה' את כּל אהביו ואת כּל הרשׁעים ישׁמיד’, but he happens to not hear the first word in the verse. It would then sound like ‘Hashem, all His loved ones and all the wicked He will destroy’ -- ‘ה' את כּל אהביו ואת כּל הרשׁעים ישׁמיד’! Or perhaps he didn’t hear the last; it would then sound like: ‘Hashem guards all His loved ones and all the wicked’ -- ‘שׁומר ה' את כּל אהביו ואת כּל הרשׁעים’; both of which would be terrible, untrue verses!

Explains the Chofetz Chaim zt”l: Since we don’t see the whole picture, some things look very bad to us. But that is because we “only hear part of the verse”, i.e. we only see part of the picture. If we knew and saw the Supreme Plan behind everything, we would understand and not question that all is truly for the best.

Indeed, Avraham Avinu was blessed with everything.

(Tal U’Matar)

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In this parsha, we read about the shidduch (marriage match) between Rivkah Imeinu and Yitzchok. Avraham Avinu sent Eliezer Damaseik, his loyal servant, to find the match, and the entire affair was guided and aided by Hashem, and there were many open miracles.

Teaches the Chiddushei HaRim {first Gerrer Rebbe, Rebbe Yitzchok Meir Alter zt”l}: The Torah lists the many miracles that took place with Yitzchok Avinu’s shidduch so we should know that every shidduch has miracles; they don’t happen according to the rules of nature.

(Brought in Torah Wellsprings)

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‘And Yitzchok went out to converse [לשוח] in the field shortly before evening’ (Bereishis 24:63)

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Rashi zt”l comments from Midrash Bereishis Rabbah that the word לשוח (‘to converse’) is a language of Davening.

Our Sages teach us that Yitzchok Avinu was establishing Mincha at that time. And in Gemara Berachos (Daf 26), it is taught that the three Davenings of the day were set up by the Avos. Avraham Avinu established Shacharis; Yitzchok Avinu established Mincha; and Yaakov Avinu established Maariv.

Interestingly, the second letter in all of their names allude to the prayer that they set up: אברהם; the ב alludes to the Davening of the בקר (morning), which is Shacharis. יצחק; the צ alludes to the צהרים (afternoon), which is the time for Mincha. And יעקב; the ע alludes to Maariv, the Davening of the ערבית, (evening time).

(Vi’Karasa L’Shabbos Oneg)

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‘And Yitzchok brought her [Rivkah] to the tent; Sarah his mother; and he took [married] Rivkah, and she was to him for a wife, and he loved her, and Yitzchok was consoled after his mother.’ (Bereishis 24:67)

‘And he brought her to the tent,’ and behold, she was ‘Sarah his mother’: Meaning to say that she became the likeness of Sarah his mother. All the time that Sarah was alive, a light burned from one Erev Shabbos until the next Erev Shabbos; a blessing was found in the dough; and a cloud [of the Divine Presence*] was “tied” upon the tent. When Sarah died, these things stopped. But when Rivkah came, they returned.

(Rashi zt”l from Midrash Bereishis Rabbah)

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* Gur Aryeh zt”l.

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|~Maaseh~| One day, when HaRav Chaim Kanievsky shlit”a was young, the Kanievsky’s washing machine stopped working. The technician said that one of the machine’s parts had broken, and they needed to buy a new spare part from a store in Tel Aviv.

Rav Chaim’s sister was sent to Tel Aviv to buy the part. She decided that while in the city, she would take care of another matter as well.

“I’m going to Tel Aviv to buy a part for the washing machine.” She told their father, the Steipler Gaon {HaRav Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky zt”l}. The Steipler added, “You should say, ‘im yirtzeh Hashem’ (if Hashem wills it)!”

After an exhausting trip, Rav Chaim’s sister returned home. While she had, Baruch Hashem, managed to complete her other errand, she had not managed to buy the spare part for the washing machine.

From that day on, Rav Chaim and his sister paid attention to a “small”, but very significant “spare part”, that directly affects one’s success, and, if absent, Chas V’Shalom, seems to remove success.

From that day on, they understood to say ‘Im yirtzeh Hashem’ to every future action, as their father did.

(A Gadol in Our Time: Stories about Rav Chaim Kanievsky)

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Gut and meaningful Shabbos to all!

Friday, October 19, 2018

Parshas Lech Licha Messages 5779

בּ"ה

Parshas Lech Licha

With the parsha of Lech Licha, we essentially begin the stories of the Avos (Patriarchs):

It says in Tehillim (121:1-2): ‘I raise my eyes to the mountains; from where will come my help? My help is from with Hashem, Maker of Heaven and earth.’

Now, the Avos are, at times, compared to mountains (see Rashi HaKadosh to Rosh Hashanah 11a, on the words ואומר שמעו הרים את ריב ה׳ והאיתנים). We thus see a wonderful inspiration from the above quoted verse: A person sometimes doesn’t know what to do in a certain situation or how they will be helped. But what we must do is ‘raise our eyes to the mountains’ -- meaning to look at and recall the stories of what happened with the holy Avos, and understand that just like they were in seemingly hopeless positions at times, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu helped and saved them, so too He will help us no matter what situation we find ourselves. He is always there.

(Tal U’Matar)

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‘“Go for yourself -- לך לך”’ (Bereishis 12:1)

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Hashem alluded to Avraham Avinu, says the Baal HaTurim, that when he was 100 years old -- like the Gematria (numerical value) of the words לך לך -- then ‘I will make you into a great nation’, when Yitzchok Avinu would be born.

Another thing, says the Baal HaTurim: Hashem alluded to him that after leaving from his land, etc. he he would live 100 more years (like the Gematria of לך לך), for he was 75 years old at the time of his departure from his land, birthplace, and father’s house.

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‘“Go for yourself -- לך לך”’ (Bereishis 12:1)

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I was privileged to hear from my Rebbe, HaRav Elyakim Rosenblatt shlit”a,* a beautiful lesson derived by one of the great Chassidishe Rebbes from these words: לך לך -- Go away from ‘for yourself’ -- i.e. we must overcome the tendency to be and think exclusively about ourselves.

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* Who saw it, I believe, in sefer Peninei HaTorah.

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‘And he [Avraham] pitched his tent -- ויט אהלו’ (Bereishis 12:8)

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The usual grammar for saying that a man pitched his tent would be to say ‘ויט אהלו’ -- yet that isn’t what the Torah says here. Although vowelized as if spelled in the masculine form, the verse reads ‘ויט אהלה’, spelled in the feminine form, seemingly meaning ‘and he pitched her tent’!

Explains Rashi HaKadosh (from Midrash Bereishis Rabbah); that is exactly what the spelling means to say: Avraham Avinu first pitched Sarah’s tent -- and only afterwards he pitched his own.

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‘And Sarai afflicted her [Hagar] and she fled from before her.’ (Bereishis 16:6)

The question arises; is it possible that the great Sarah Imeinu, the first Matriarch of the Jewish People, should have acted out of pure malice? Surely she must have had some kind of reason or justification for her actions!

Suggests HaRav Yisroel Yaakov Lubchansky zt”l; Sarah Imeinu’s conduct towards Hagar did not change at all: She had been accustomed to treating her with a certain strictness and direction all along in order to better mold her character and make her into a finer person. Hagar, who greatly respected Sarah, willingly accepted this, and also understood that it was for her benefit.

Once she conceived a child, however, ‘her mistress became light in her eyes’: Hagar developed a certain arrogance towards Sarah Imeinu and no longer regarded her with the same respect. Suddenly, Sarah’s household strictness was no longer acceptable to Hagar. She started feeling persecuted and oppressed, until finally, she she was forced to flee from the house of her mistress.

Perhaps Sarah Imeinu should have been more sensitive to Hagar’s new state of mind, says Rav Lunchansky zt”l, which is why her descendants suffer as a result (see Ramban zt”l), but she certainly didn’t act out of spite or malice.

(Talelei Oros)

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* See The Stone Edition Chumash p. 71, for a similar idea in the name of HaRav Aryeh Levin zt”l.

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‘And Avram heard that his brother [Lot] had been captured, and he armed [וירק] his students who were born in his house, three-hundred-and-eighteen, and he pursued until Dan.’ (Bereishis 14:14)

According to Shmuel in the Gemara (Nedarim 32a), “וירק” means that Avraham Avinu brightened his students with much gold (i.e. he gave the much gold). Why did he do so? Tosafos to Gemara Sukkah 31b explains that it was so that they would not be tempted to secure for themselves the spoils of war, and would be able to concentrate on saving lives. (See Matanos Kehunah on Bereishis Rabbah 43:2).

According to this explanation of Tosafos, says my Rebbe, HaRav Elyakim Rosenblatt shlit”a (adapted from a shmuse of HaRav Chanoch Henoch Leibowitz zt”l), in his Dvar Torah, the verse is saying that prior to their embarking on their sacred mission to rescue Lot from captivity, Avraham Avinu gave each and every one of his students an abundance of gold. The reason for this somewhat strange behavior for people going to war was that in the course of battle, these students might be tempted by the glitter and glare of the spoils of war lying on the battlefield. They might stop, even if only briefly for a few short moments, to acquire this newfound wealth, and thus jeopardize their goal of saving Lot. Avraham Avinu foresaw this possibility and gave them gold to counter this temptation. They no longer would need to stop. They would now be independently wealthy on their own.

This would seem to imply that if Avraham Avinu hadn’t given them the gold, there would be a significant possibility that they might have indeed stopped and been diverted from their mission by the lure of financial gain.

However, who were these students? They were Gedolei Torah and Tzaddikim in their own right (Nedarim 32a), worthy of being disciples of the Patriarch of the Jewish People, Avraham Avinu. These noble people had volunteered to risk their lives for the holy Mitzvah of saving a life, of rescuing Lot from captivity. How could such great and idealistic people jeopardize their entire mission by stopping to acquire for themselves spoils of war? Wouldn’t rational people, as they surely were, understand how precious every moment actually was? Shouldn’t they realize that tarrying even for a few short moments could jeopardize their entire mission? Surely, it made no sense for them to stop, even for one moment. Why, then, did Avraham Avinu deem it necessary to give them gold?

We see from here, says Rav Rosenblatt shlit”a, a profound insight into the human temperament: Even rational people, Gedolei Torah and Tzaddikim, embarking on a sacred life saving mission, willing to risk their own lives for the sake of this goal, might stray from their path and engage themselves in insignificant matters.

While on the path to attain their holy objective, they will see the enticing gleam and glitter of the spoils of war lying on the battlefield, and they will be attracted to it. Avraham Avinu, with his brilliance and depth, foresaw and understood these inner temptations of the human being. He, therefore, addressed the issue directly by satiating that desire from the outset, by giving his students an abundance of gold prior to their embarking on their mission to rescue Lot, in order to counter that temptation.

An he concludes beautifully: Perhaps we can apply this thought to our very own lives: Hashem created us and charged us with a mission and purpose in life -- to do Hashem’s will, to study and observe His Holy Torah, and to disseminate it. Despite the fact that we are fully cognizant of this sacred mission -- which is our obligation on earth and the purpose of our creation -- and despite the fact that we may set out to attain this goal with great self-sacrifice, we can nevertheless become distracted from this noble goal. We can involve ourselves in trivial pursuits, and in matters of zero spiritual consequence. We can tarry on the way, to the extent that we may never attain our holy objective, which means so very much to us, and for which we are willing to sacrifice so very much.

May we recognize this inherent weakness within us, and may we find the inner strength to overcome it. May we be zoche to never be distracted from the sacred mission for which we have been created. Amein.

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Gut and meaningful Shabbos to all!

Friday, November 9, 2018

Parshas Toldos Messages 5779

Thursday, November 8, 2018

HaRav Avigdor Miller zt"l on Rosh Chodesh

Rav Avigdor Miller on Rosh Chodesh

Friday, November 2, 2018

Parshas Chayei Sarah Messages 5779

Friday, October 19, 2018

Parshas Lech Licha Messages 5779

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