A MYSTERIOUS ENDING

by Rabbi Berel Wein

 

 

 

 

The psalmist asks the question "from where shall my salvation arise?" He has no doubt that salvation will somehow come to him but he does not know how that will occur. Life is so unpredictable and volatile that no person, government or institution can truly plan with certainty its success and salvation. "The best laid plans of mice and men..." certainly are undone by events and circumstances that are completely incapable of being foreseen.

This is one of the salient lessons of this week's parsha. Yosef is saved from a life of slavery and prison and transformed into a royal magistrate in an instant. He is certain that somehow G-d will redeem him that his dreams were not merely youthful folly and that he is destined for greatness and fame, but he has no concept how this can occur.

It takes a confluence of strange and even mundane events - Pharaoh's stewards being imprisoned in the same cell block as Yosef, their strange dreams, Pharaoh's birthday, Pharaoh's own disturbing dreams, the confessions of the wine steward as to his earlier misdeeds and Yosef's boldness in interpreting Pharaoh's dreams - to vault Yosef into rulership in the land of Egypt.

Who could have scripted such a drama in advance of its actual happening? But in reality, is this not the way that life always plays itself out for all of us personally and certainly for the Jewish people nationally? We are all Yosef, confident of redemption and vindication but terribly confused as to how this will actually come about.

There are many participants in a person's redemption and success. This is true certainly so in the national life of the Jewish people. We may naively think that it is always completely up to us but G-d has His ways and in the words of the rabbis "G-d has many messengers that do His bidding." Many times they do so unwittingly and certainly unaware that they are fulfilling Divine destiny.

The wine steward, the warden in Yosef's prison, even the Pharaoh himself, are apparently unaware of the roles and actions that destiny has assigned to them. There is an unseen rhythm that guides Jewish life and every person in the world is potentially G-d's messenger to help realize and  actualize Jewish destiny. We may not like all of the actors in this script but they all play a role nevertheless.

And because of this we are constantly reminded of the eternal question "from where will my salvation and redemption come?" Usually it comes from unforeseen circumstances and people who are strangers to us and our ways and even our hopes and goals. The drama of life is unending and

complicated.

The Torah warned us of this by stating that "the hidden things belong to G-d but what is clear is that Jews should observe the Torah and transmit it to their following generations." But there always is a "miketz" - an ending, a fulfillment and an achievement of goals. How that "miketz" occurs is the everlasting mystery of life itself.

Shabat shalom. Chanuka sameach Rabbi Berel Wein

 

Rabbi Berel Wein- Jewish historian, author and international lecturer offers a complete selection of CDs, audio tapes, video tapes, DVDs, and books on Jewish history at www.rabbiwein.com

To See the Good

Parshas Vayeishev

Posted on December 19, 2019 (5780) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah | Level: Beginner

 

Now it came to pass when Yosef came to his brothers, that they stripped Yosef of his shirt, of the fine woolen coat which was upon him. And they took him and cast him into the pit; now the pit was empty there was no water in it. (Breishis 37:23-24)

…now the pit was empty-there was no water in it: Since it says: “now the pit was empty,” do I not know that there was no water in it? For what purpose did the Torah write, “…there was no water in it”? To inform us that there was no water in it, but there were snakes and scorpions in it. – Rashi

So Yosef’s master took him and put him into prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were imprisoned, and he was there in the prison. (Breishis 39:20)

It baffles my imagination! How in the world was Yosef HaTzadik able to endure the suffering that he was subjected to and not only rise to the heights of political power he would later attain but to remain a Tzadik!? How did not just crawl up into a ball and withdraw after being thrown into a pit by his brothers, and sold to Egypt, only to be cast into prison, in a foreign country, on totally made-up charges!? How did he do it? What was his secret? How does one remain so ferociously resilient!?

Years ago my wife and I went to visit Rabbi Mordechai Schwab ztl, the Tzadik of Monsey, with a concern that we had. After listening carefully he declared multiple times with great enthusiasm, “Reish Lamed – Shulchan Aruch! Reish Lamed – Shulchan Aruch!” Then he opened up a Mishne Breurah – Shulachan Aruch to Reish Lamed – Chapter 230 and he showed me inside the words, Ragel Adam Lomer – ‘Kol Ma D’Avid Rachmana L’Tav Avid!’” A person should accustom himself to say, ‘Everything that the Merciful One does, He does for the good!’”

Two footnotes are required here! 1) The requirement is to be in the habit of saying the words even if at the time one does not feel it is so. 2) One should say these words for himself, affirming that truth for himself. One should not say it to another who is currently suffering!

Then he told me a very big secret that I don’t mind sharing. He said, “There is a promise that if one says this, he will live to see the good that comes out of that situation!” It was deeply soothing and calming for me to hear his words. I only regret not having the presence of mind at the time to ask him at that moment what is the source of this promise. Years later and whenever I shared this encounter, I would find myself wondering where that promise is recorded.

Now it occurs to me that we might have the primary source right here with Yosef HaTzadik. I don’t have any real evidence of what he was reciting at the bottom of the pit when his brothers threw him into a mix of scorpions and snakes, but the Prophet Habbakuk declares, “Tzadik B’Emunaso Yichyah!” – The Tzadik lives by his Emunah- his loyalty to and trust in HASHEM! Even if he was not reciting these exact words, , “Ragel Adam Lomer – ‘Kol Ma D’Avid Rachmana L’Tav Avid!’” A person should accustom himself to say, ‘Everything that the Merciful One does, He does for the good!’” He must have been saying something like that!

Then when he was sold into slavery and taken to a foreign land, on the way down he must have been cogitating on just such a concept. When he was hauled off to prison in Egypt on false charges, he must have been soothing is emotions with words that can be summarized by, “Everything the Merciful One does, He does for the good!” Well, Yosef HaTzadik remained a Tzadik through it all, and ultimately, miraculously, in the end, he did live to see the good!

Heart to Heart

Parshas Vayishlach

Posted on November 20, 2007 (5768) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

Divine providence seems to work in strange ways, especially for Joseph languishing in an Egyptian prison. Unjustly accused of making advances to Potiphar’s wife, Joseph has been thrown into the dungeon and left there to rot. But destiny requires that he be released and elevated to high office in the royal palace, and to affect this important result, divine providence contrives a very outlandish set of circumstances.

As we read in this week’s Torah portion, ten years after his incarceration Joseph meets up with two discredited palace functionaries, the royal cupbearer and the royal baker. One morning, he finds them despondent. He questions them and discovers that they both had disturbing dreams the previous night. He offers astute interpretations of their dreams, and the sequence of events bears out his predictions. Two years later, when Pharaoh has his own puzzling dreams, the cupbearer remembers Joseph’s interpretive skills and recommends him to Pharaoh. Joseph is brought to the palace, where his brilliant interpretations and wisdom win him high office, and the rest is history.

This story certainly makes for high drama, but why were all these farfetched developments necessary? Why didn’t divine providence manifest itself in a simpler way? Couldn’t Joseph’s release and rise to power have been affected through more commonplace events?

The commentators explain that Joseph’s release from prison is meant to serve as a paradigm of the ultimate in human emancipation. The vicissitudes of life can cause a person to experience confinement of many sorts, not only physical incarceration but also psychological and emotional bondage of the spirit, which can often be far more painful.

How is a person to extricate himself from these situations? How can he escape the isolation sometimes imposed by his conditions? The answer is to focus on the needs of others. As long as a person is absorbed in his own miserable condition, he cannot help but wallow in self-pity to some degree and to walk on the edge of despair. Once he shifts his focus to others, however, his presence in confinement is no longer purposeless and negative. On the contrary, his is a positive presence bringing relief to others and fulfillment to himself. By freeing the spirit, he will in effect have emancipated himself from the shackles of his condition.

Joseph personified this approach. Unjustly accused and imprisoned, he did not withdraw into himself to bemoan his awful fate. Instead, he immediately became the heart and soul of the prison, always there to help a stricken inmate. In this sense, he effected his own emancipation even as he still remained confined within the prison walls. And to drive home the point, Hashem contrived that his actual physical release should also be the result of the kindness he performed for others.

A prisoner was thrown into a cell with a large number of other prisoners. The walls of the prison were thick and damp, and high up on one side, far above the heads of even the tallest prisoners, was a tiny, heavily barred window that looked out over a barren piece of land. Every day, the new prisoner would drag his bed to the wall under the window. Then he would climb onto the bed, stand on his tiptoes and, stretching, was just able to rest his chin on the stone window sill. The other prisoners gathered in groups to talk or play games, but the new prisoner never participated. He just stood there all day, staring out the window.

“What do you see out there?” a prisoner asked him.

“Nothing,” he replied.

“Then why do you stand there all day?”

“As long as I look out at the world outside,” the new prisoner replied, “I still feel a little connection with it. I still have a little bit of my freedom. But once I turn away from this window and look only at the cell and my cellmates, all my freedom will be gone. Once I surrender to my situation, I will truly be imprisoned.”

In our own lives, we are often pummeled by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Assailed by financial difficulties, family and childrearing problems, pressure in the workplace and all sorts of other strains and stresses, we can easily find ourselves becoming gloomy and depressed. So, what can we do? How can we regain the equilibrium and morale we need to deal with our problems constructively? By throwing ourselves into helping families less fortunate than ourselves or an important community project. For one thing, focusing on others immediately relieves the distress of our own situations. But more important, it elevates us spiritually and allows us to view our troubles in the broader perspective of what has lasting value in the ultimate scheme of things and what does not.

Text Copyright © 2007 by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.

Rabbi Reich is on the faculty of the Ohr Somayach Tanenbaum Education Center.

 

Lets End The Blame Game

Parshas Vayishlach

Posted on November 14, 2013 (5774) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

Yaakov has overcome the tremendous trials of living for over twenty years in an alien environment and being subjected to severe challenges and injustices. It was under these trying circumstances that Yaakov married and raised the ‘shivtei kah;’ the founding pillars of the Jewish people. After fleeing Lavan’s home, he encountered Eisav and succeeded in subjugating his brother’s angels, and was finally ready to make a triumphant return to his parents’ home.

Yet his ordeals were far from over. Just when he looked forward to a period of respite, the tragic story of Dina’s abduction and violation at the hands of Shechem ben Chamor, befell him, followed by his sons’ devastating strike against Shechem in retaliation for the outrage.

How did this tragic chain of events come about? How could Providence have permitted Dina to be subjected to such a humiliating assault?

Our tradition teaches that many factors contributed to this disaster. The Torah tells us that Dina went out to associate with the ‘daughters of the land’; the local girls. It seems her objective was simply to examine their culture and lifestyle. She was taken to task for this choice, as the verse says: ‘kol kevuda bas melech pnima’; a princess’ place is in the home. In mingling with the gentile population, she compromised her modesty and so she, in turn, was compromised.

In another place, our sages indicate that her behavior was influenced by her mother, Leah, who, our sages call a “yatzanis;” one who tends to put herself forward even when not wholly appropriate. Leah went out to the field to greet Yaakov, informing him of her desire to be with him that evening. Dina’s desire to go forth “among the daughters of the land” is seen as an outgrowth of her mother’s tendency to act in an immoderately forward manner.

Our sages also view Yaakov as carrying an element of responsibility for the tragedy that befell Dina as well. Rashi tells us (chapter 32; verse 22) that before his encounter with Eisav, Yaakov placed Dina in a chest so that Eisav should not gaze upon her and desire her as a wife. For this, he was punished by having her fall into the hands of Shechem. Had Eisav married Dina, Rashi says, she may have influenced him so profoundly, he would have repented.

Dina’s experience of being locked away from the world in a chest likely piqued her curiosity, sharpening her desire to investigate her surroundings. After all, when we excessively restrict our children from engaging the outside world, the temptation to taste the forbidden fruits and wander off the reservation is so much more acute.

Lastly, our sages tell us that Yaakov deserved to have his daughter abducted for tarrying excessively before returning home to his parents, who surely missed him and longed to see him. (Rashi Chapter 35;verse 1).

The sad and sorry saga that unfolded in Shechem was precipitated by a complex interplay of factors, as we have seen. From the perspective of our sages, we gain access to an even deeper dimension. Through these bizarre events, Hashem was planting the seeds and orchestrating events for later generations.

Our sages tell us that the union of Dina and Shechem gave birth to Osnas, who later became the wife of Yosef, the forbears of two of the twelve tribes, Ephraim and Menashe. For the Divine plan to be brought to fruition, it was necessary that Yosef marry one who was born of the union between polar opposites; the profane and the sacred. Dina’s daughter, Osnas, chose to connect to her mother’s spiritual legacy of sanctity.

This fascinating story is but one example of the multidimensional underpinnings of events that appear deceptively simple on the surface. The Divine plan that drives human events is so sublime and unfathomable, we are only afforded a tiny glimpse from time to time of its breathtaking sweep.

In our own lives, we can learn from the events in this portion how to view our own lapses of judgment. We tend to blame ourselves, and often find fault with our upbringing. We examine our parents’ disposition and deflect the blame for our own poor choices onto our forbearers. But all of this is an exercise in futility and misses the point.

This week’s portion teaches us that our job is to embrace the circumstances of our life even if they seem to be the product of our own faulty judgments. Instead of turning to recrimination, our task is to view Divine providence, in the context of history and our own personal lives, as the supreme guiding force. In the end, all will be understood and revealed as being part of a Divine plan designed for our own personal benefit and the benefit of the world at large.

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos,

Rabbi Naftali Reich

Text Copyright © 2013 by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.

Rabbi Reich is on the faculty of the Ohr Somayach Tanenbaum Education Center.

Filters

Parshas Vayishlach

Posted on November 14, 2013 (5774) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah | Level: Beginner

 

And Yaakov sent angels in front of him to Eisav his brother to the land of Seir to the field of Edom. And he commanded them saying; “So you shall say to my master to Eisav; So says Yaakov your servant; “I have lived with Lavan and tarried till now and I have oxen and donkeys and sheep and servants and maid servants and I am sending to my master to find grace in your eyes…”(Breishis 32:3-5)

And Yaakov sent angels: Real angels! (Rashi)

It’s quite remarkable that Yaakov had such control over the angelic world that he could direct them to represent him and speak on his behalf. Not many people who have walked on this planet can make such a claim. It’s hard enough for us to have control over our own actions, words, thoughts, and emotions. Yaakov must have been a master of his world. The truth is that we too produce angels daily and constantly.

The Nefesh HaChaim writes; “Every Jewish person should not say in his heart, heaven forfend, ‘what am I and what impact do my lowly deeds have in the world?’ Rather, he should understand that every minute detail of his actions, and his speech, and his thoughts, each and every moment is not lost! How powerful are his actions and very great and lofty too, for everyone according to the root of his soul, to impact and effect in the highest of heights, and the purest of lights. In truth, a man who is wise and understands this clearly, his heart will tremble within him a great shuddering when he considers his actions that are not good and how far they reach to destroy and ruin with even a slight misstep…”

Everyone has power to release angels, extraordinarily productive and destructive too! The Sefas Emes says that these are the angels sent by Yaakov, and that according to the Zohar there are angels created from both the Yetzer Hora and the Yetzer Tov! He states that the angels generated from the Yetzer Hora can have more protective powers than those created from the Yetzer Tov!

A person might just be sent into a panic mode with the power of the information provided here. After all, one the things a person is not save from each day, the Talmud tells us, is “bad thoughts”. What’s a person to do?!

Here is an important life-saving point. Imagine for a moment a player for one of the famous sports teams is standing in his position, let’s say, center fielder for the Yankees. A fan throws a Frisbee onto the field and he jogs over casually to toss it back into the stands so no one will stumble on it. Nobody will fault him for this Frisbee toss. However, if he starts to have a catch with the left fielder, and during live game time, he’s a candidate for bench warming.

It was once explained to me by a great person, that just as there are arenas, and stages by which things come into reality, through “thought, “speech” and “action”, so too in the world of thought there are levels, such as “the “thought of thought”, the “speech of thought” and, the “action of thought”. The same goes for the realm of speech and action as well. “I’ll spare you.

Based on this we can understand a very important question. “What is the difference between crazy people and everybody else?” The answer is simple! Filters!

We don’t say everything we think! We don’t even develop every thought that “pops up” on the screen of our mind. We have filters. Once something is halted at the “thought of thought” and is prevented from entering the “speech of thought” or the “action of thought”, we are then spared from its harmful effects. However, a crazy person has a broken filter.

He may say whatever he thinks. Even more dangerously he can act on a wild unscreened thought. When we hear about the depraved behavior of a lunatic letting loose his fury, we can understand well that which was lost before his sanity, was his filters.

DvarTorah, Copyright © 2007 by Rabbi Label Lam and Torah.org.

Torah Values

Parshas Vayeitzei

Posted on November 19, 2012 (5773) By Rabbi Berel Wein | Series: Rabbi Wein | Level: Beginner

Rashi points out for us in the beginning of this week’s parsha (really at the conclusion of last week’s parsha) that Yaakov stopped at the study house of Shem and Ever for fourteen years on his flight from Eisav to his uncle’s house in Aram. This seems to be a strange stopover at first glance.

How will the instruction that he received in the school established by Shem and Ever contribute to his survival and success at the house of Lavan, the master conniver and duplicitous character? The question is phrased in a more current if blunter fashion in the Talmud itself – of what value are the Torah students to society at large?

To meet Lavan, Yaakov apparently needs to train in different forms of legal, commercial and worldly pursuits. Studying Torah is all well and fine, but how does it prepare one for the real world? This question is heard today in thousands of Jewish households and is a most vexing one. Our world today is one of Lavan compounded.

Where does Torah study and Torah knowledge fit into our milieu, into solving our problems and difficulties, in facing down our enemies? Yet, we find that on the whole Yaakov was quite successful in the house of Lavan. He acquires his wives there and his children are born and raised there. He waxes wealthy in spite of all of Lavan’s efforts to cheat him out of his just payments and wages. What courses of study did he take and master in the school of Shem and Ever that enabled him to so succeed?

I have always felt that the answer lies in understanding the place and goals of a Torah education in one’s life. Most people, especially those who view it from the outside looking in, think that Torah education is purely a matter of material covered, of knowledge of facts, of understanding complex and difficult Talmudical concepts and statements. In truth it is all that but, it is much more.

A proper Torah education, a study course at the school of Shem and Ever, is meant to impart life-long values and a world view in which to fit the events of one’s life in a proper and moral fashion. One has to learn how to deal effectively with Lavan but one has to be very cautious not to become Lavan in the process.

Self-defense and protection of one’s own interests is part of the Torah value system. But pleasantness, sensitivity, faith in G-d’s justice and promises, and a willingness to tolerate and accommodate others (even unpleasant others) are also a part of the value system of the Torah.

Yaakov enters the school of Shem and Ever to absorb the Torah value system that will allow him to survive Lavan and not to fall spiritually and become Lavan in the form of Yaakov. One of the most difficult tasks that faces Jewish society today is to remain a kingdom of priests and a holy people even when struggling with Lavan, Yishmael and Eisav for our very existence. Our schools have to teach Torah values and not be satisfied merely with knowledge, grades and test scores.

Shabat shalom,

Rabbi Berel Wein

Healthy Competition

Parshas Toldos

Posted on November 28, 2019 (5780) By Rabbi Berel Wein | Series: Rabbi Wein | Level: Beginner

 

Sibling rivalry is the name of the game. In fact, the entire book of Bereishis can be described as a narrative of sibling rivalry. We have Kayin and Hevel, Avraham and his nephew Lot, Yishmael and Yitzchak, Yaakov and Eisav and Yosef and his brothers. It is as though the Torah wishes to inform and impress upon us the true nature of human beings.

I often think that that is what is meant when the Torah said that the nature of human beings is bad from its onset. We are by nature competitive creatures and the competition always begins at home and with those who are closest to us. We should not think of our children as being angelic but rather deal with their true nature and recognize the pitfalls that natural sibling rivalry will always engender.

Every child is a different world and no two – even identical twins – are the same. Because of this fact of human nature, competitiveness is built into the structure of all children. It is the task of education and the home to channel this competitiveness into positive behavior and creative goals. This is what the Rabbis meant by their statement that the competitiveness between scholars and wise men is a method for increasing wisdom and understanding generally. Without competitiveness there can be very little creativity or advancement in all forms of life – technology, healthcare, finance, politics and human nature. The task is to direct this competitiveness towards positive aims and to limit it so that it does not descend into violence and tyranny.

Part of the problem with Eisav is not competitiveness but rather insecurity. He always feels his younger brother tugging at his heel and preventing him from achieving the greatness that he feels is his due. Because of this insecurity, he seeks fame and fortune in opposing the ideas and lifestyle of his own very family. He scorns his birthright because he feels that fulfilling its demands will only inhibit him. He feels that only by being different than Yaakov can he achieve permanent respect. As all his plans crumble, he cries out in anguish to his father that he wants the blessings that Yaakov has received. He realizes that only in those blessings, which he will have to share always with Yaakov, can his destiny truly be fulfilled.

This is what Yaakov himself tells Eisav at their last meeting, which we will read about in a few weeks. Eventually Yaakov will come to the mountain of Eisav and then Eisav will be redeemed by his acceptance of Yaakov and of the moral values and tradition of his family. Throughout the books of Tanach, we find this constant struggle of insecurity versus acceptance and competitiveness versus conformity. We are uncomfortable when we see people who are different than we are. But the only way to achieve personal greatness is by realizing that our own inner security need not be weakened by competitiveness with others.

Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Berel Wein

 

A Healthy Transmission

Parshas Toldos

Posted on November 28, 2018 (5780) By Torah.org | Series: Lifeline | Level: Beginner

 

The Torah spends a great deal of time discussing the life of our forefather Avraham, and that of Yaakov. By comparison, Yitzchak receives relatively short shrift. The offering of Yitzchak as a Korban, a sacrifice, is primarily told as a test of his father. It is Eliezer, his father’s servant, who goes out to find Yitzchak a wife. And though I have not done a formal count, I strongly suspect that the Torah provides a longer account of Eliezer’s visit to the family of Besuel, Rivkah’s father, than the total of all verses directly discussing Yitzchak. Yitzchak meets and marries his wife at the end of last week’s reading, and this week begins by discussing “Toldos” Yitzchak, meaning his children Yaakov and Esav.

Much of what we hear about Yitzchak sounds very familiar. He is forced to hide his wife’s identity, fearing for his life. That is precisely what happened  to his father. We learn that Yitzchak goes back and digs the same wells that his father previously dug, which the Pelishtim had filled with dirt.

Even in appearance, Yitzchak was like his father. Rashi tells us, in his commentary to the first verse of our reading, that the mockers of Avraham’s time said that it must be that Sarah became pregnant from Avimelech, because she had been with Avraham for many years and only became pregnant after being briefly taken by Avimelech. To prove otherwise, G-d made Yitzchak look so profoundly similar to his father that no modern DNA test was needed to prove paternity.

So with all of the above, what is Yitzchak’s unique identity?

Our Rabbis teach that our forefathers were each paragons of a particular character trait. For Avraham, that was Chesed, kindness. He was so devoted to reaching out, to showing generosity to others, that he ran to welcome idolaters into his tent (or, angels that he believed to be idolaters) while suffering the worst day of recovery from his circumcision. Yaakov’s defining characteristic was Emes, truth, and thus the biggest tests for him were needing to mislead his father, and then deal with Lavan’s deception.

Yitzchak’s characteristic was Gevurah, strength. How did he show that strength?

One answer is found in the very similarity to his father’s story, that we find above. Yitzchak’s mission was to hold firm to the teachings of his father, and prove that his father, though a uniquely great individual, would not be a “one off,” an “aberration,” a “blip on the radar.”

We learn that Yaakov, when he ran from Esav, went to study with Noach’s son Shem and grandson Ever. Shem and Ever were great men, they knew Torah through prophecy, yet they were unable to transmit righteousness to their descendants. Yitzchak was able to take what he learned from Avraham, and give it to Yaakov. Yitzchak is the linchpin tying grandfather to grandson, creating the “threefold chain” which, our Sages teach, “is not easily broken.

In last week’s reading, when Rivkah comes to Yitzchak, he marries her, and loves her, and “is consoled after his mother.” Rashi tells us that during Sarah’s lifetime, she would light the Shabbos candles, and they would continue burning until the eve of the following Shabbos. She would bake loaves, and they would be blessed. The cloud of the Divine Presence rested by the tent. When Sarah passed away, all of these three things stopped. But when Rivkah came to the tent, the blessings returned.

Yitzchak saw consolation, because he wanted that continuity. He wanted to see his wife able to bring the same blessings as his mother brought, because he wanted to follow in the path of his father. He did not want to strike out on his own, to do something different. On the contrary, his very strength of character was shown in how carefully he modeled to the example set by his holy parents.

All of us, as Jews, come from those holy ancestors. We, like Yitzchak, must strive to continue, to hold fast to the patterns set by our holy forebears, to maintain that which we have, and to successfully transmit it to the next generation. May we be successful in doing so until the end of days.

Yitzchok and Rivka Build a Family

Parshas Chayei Sarah

Posted on November 10, 2009 (5770) By Rabbi Berel Wein | Series: Rabbi Wein | Level: Beginner

Death is not only tragic for those intimately affected it also always poses problems of succession and reorganization of the family, company or institution. Avraham and Sarah, the founders of the Jewish nation pass from the scene in this week’s parsha. They are succeeded by Yitzchak and Rivka and in fact the majority of the parsha concerns itself with how Yitzchak marries Rivka and they establish their new home together.

In personality, temperament and action Yitzchak and Rivka differ markedly from Avraham and Sarah. Whereas Avraham and Sarah devoted themselves to reaching as many outsiders as they could and were actively engaged in spreading the idea of monotheism in the surrounding society, Yitzchak and Rivka seem to take a more conservative approach. They attempted to consolidate what they accomplished and to build a family nation rather than to try to attract more strangers to their cause.

As we will see in next week’s parsha the struggle of Yitzchak and Rivka is an internal family struggle as how to raise Eisav and Yaakov and guarantee the continuity of the ideas and beliefs of Avraham and Sarah through their biological offspring. Eventually it is only through Yaakov that Avraham and Sarah continue and become the blessing that the Lord promised that they would be. The world struggle that engaged Avraham and Sarah becomes a struggle within Avraham and Sarah’s family itself.

It becomes abundantly clear that the main struggle of the Jewish people will be to consolidate itself and thus influence the general world by osmosis, so to speak. The time of Avraham and Sarah has passed and new times require different responses to the challenges of being a blessing to all of humankind.

There are those in the Jewish world who are committed to “fixing the world” at the expense of Jewish traditional life and Torah law. Yet the simple truth is that for the Jewish people to be effective in influencing the general society for good there must be a strong and committed Jewish people. King Solomon in Shir Hashirim warns us that “I have watched the vineyards of others but I have neglected guarding my own vineyard.”

The attempted destruction and deligitimization of the Jewish people or the State of Israel, G-d forbid, in order to further fuzzy, do-good, universal humanistic ideas is a self-destructive viewpoint of the purpose of Judaism. Without Jews there is no Judaism and without Judaism there is no true moral conscience left in the world. Therefore it seems evident to me that the primary imperative of Jews today is to strengthen and support Jewish family life, Jewish Torah education and the state of Israel.

We are in the generations of Yitzchak and Rivka and therefore we have to husband our resources and build ourselves first. We have as yet not made good the population losses of the holocaust seventy years ago! If there will be a strong and numerous Jewish people then the age of Avraham and Sarah will reemerge. The tasks of consolidation of Jewish life as represented by the lives of Yitzchak and Rivka should be the hallmark of our generation as well.

Shabat shalom.

Rabbi Berel Wein

 

The Choice Way

Parshas Vayera

Posted on October 21, 2010 (5771) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah | Level: Beginner

 

And HASHEM said, “Shall I hide from Avraham what I do, now that Avraham is surely to become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the world will bless themselves by him?! For I have loved him (Avraham) because he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of HASHEM to do acts of charity and justice in order that HASHEM might bring upon Avraham that which He had spoken of him. (Breishis 18:18-19)

Avraham is being treated as a partner of The Almighty. A loyal friend would not do something that would upset his comrade’s world without first consulting with him. It’s wondrous to behold such a level of Divine endearment directed at a single mortal individual. It begs a larger question though.

The Ramchal in Derech Etz Chaim writes the following: This is the most powerful medicine that you can find to cure the negative inclination. It’s easy and yet it result is profound, and its fruit is plenty. The person should set aside and fix at least one hour daily a time without any other distractions and consider and focus on only this matter about which I have spoken (to wonder about your purpose in the world) and he should consciously meditate in his heart on the following question: “What did the Patriarchs of the world do that HASHEM desired them so? What did Moshe do? What did David the anointed one do? And all the other great individuals that preceded us, what did they do that they went up into His mind? What would be good for a person to do all the days of his life so that it should also be good for him?

What had Avraham done that distinguished him from all the other people that came before him? What had he done to be chosen? How did he prove himself worthy to G-d?

What might we be able to do that would earn perhaps similar recognition? Could anything be more important in the entire world?

The hint is as subtle as the sun at noon! The verse above identifies two items. Avraham will teach his children to go in the way of HASHEM for all generations! Well, what is the way of HASHEM? How is it such a certainty that Avraham will be able to cast his opinion and his influence across so many future generations?

A woman was buying clothing for her boys for an upcoming holiday when she noticed the rather sad face of a child pressed against the window of the store on the outside. She recognized the boy and remembering that he was an orphan who had recently lost his father. She asked her own children to step aside momentarily while she went outside to speak to the young fellow. Within minutes the mother had kindly coaxed the youth into the store and was urging him to pick out a jacket, pants, shirts, and a tie just as if he was her own. While she stood in line to pay for these items the boy queried naively, “Are you HASHEM?” The woman chuckled and responded in all modesty, “No! I’m just one of his children!” To which the boy retorted, “I thought you were related!!”

The verse explicitly states that the way of HASHEM is “to do acts of charity and justice”. So Avraham is portrayed as living in HASHEM’s spotlight, high on the stage of human history at an advanced age, infirmed, deep in prophecy, yet in search of strangers in the heat of the day to wash, feed, and dignify. Styles and tastes come and go. The political landscape changes like the seasons. An act of kindliness, though is classic-always in-style, and for all time it’s the choice way.

DvarTorah, Copyright © 2007 by Rabbi Label Lam and Torah.org.

 

 

 

 

Why Test Abraham?

Parshas Vayera

Posted on November 15, 2019 (5780) By Rabbi Berel Wein | Series: Rabbi Wein | Level: Beginner

 

The Mishnah in Avot specifically, and Jewish tradition generally, instructs us that our father Abraham was constantly challenged with great tests in life and was able to survive and surmount all of them. There is an underlying difficulty to this narrative regarding the testing of Abraham. G-d after all is omniscient and knows well in advance what the reaction of Abraham will be to all the challenges that are placed before him. This being the case, then one can easily ask why bother presenting those challenges in the first place.

This fits in to the general question that Maimonides deals with when he attempts to reconcile G-d’s omniscience with the presence of human free will and free choice. His answer is that both exist and coexist and that is part of the secret of the fact that human beings and human logic can never truly understand the Infinite and the Eternal. So that is undoubtedly true in the case of Abraham and his challenges.

Even though ultimately we will be unable to arrive at a definitive answer to this question – almost all questions that begin with the word ‘why’ are never completely satisfactorily answered – nevertheless I believe that we can attempt to arrive at some sort of understanding as to the purpose of the tests that Abraham endured and overcame. The Torah would not have devoted so much space and such detailed descriptions to these events in the life of Abraham if there wouldn’t be eternal moral teachings present in the narrative that are relevant and true to all humans in all generations.

I think the obvious answer that jumps forth from the pages is that the tests are not meant to prove anything to Heaven as much as they are meant to prove the potential of greatness of Abraham to Abraham himself. It is our nature not to realize how great our potential is, how strong we really are, morally and emotionally, and to our surprise what we are capable of accomplishing.

It is one thing to profess that one has faith and is willing to make sacrifices on behalf of the preservation of that faith, whether personal or national. However, it is another thing completely to make those sacrifices, and to experience the emotional difficulties and even tragedies that life often visits upon us. A person never really knows what one’s true makeup is unless tested over a lifetime, with the Talmud’s graphic phrase that we are ultimately tested regarding our final resting place.

Abraham becomes great and stands erect after having successfully dealt with the challenges to his faith and to his vision that life and the environment in which he lived set before him. That is perhaps what the Torah indicates to us when it says that Abraham’s faith was of such power in nature that the Lord deemed it to be the paragon of righteousness. Righteousness is achieved only when challenges are overcome.

Shabbat shalom
Rabbi Berel Wein