Friends: 
   
As we go through each narrative in the life of the patriarchs and matriarchs, the Torah spends an enormous amount of time telling us the story without benefit of a halachic punch line.  The Torah is not merely a code of law nor is it a history book.  As such, every story should have some form of lesson for us to justify its inclusion in our Holy Writ.  For example, the story of Yaakov preparing for his confrontation and reunion with his brother is a story that was used by the rabbis of the Talmudic time to inform them as to how they should approach the Romans.  The Midrash is always looking at the Romans as descendents of Esav, even though there is no literal connection between the two.  The Midrash states that once, Rabbi Yannai failed to review this chapter before approaching the Romans, and his trip was a dismal failure.  Similarly, in 1744 during the time of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, there was a decree for the Jews to be expelled from Bohemia.  Rabbi Zalman was supposed to meet with the Austrian official regarding the possibility of repealing the decree.  So, Rabbi Zalman went to meet the councilor when the councilor was visiting with a Jewish woman with whom he had a romantic interest.  At first the councilor was angry at Rabbi Zalman’s approaching him at her place, but Rabbi Zalman explained his methods by quoting from this week’s Parsha.  The councilor was intrigued by the explanation and things progressed well.  How we learn life lesson from the Torah narrative is a challenge.

During the 1967 war, Moshe Dayan, in directing the Israeli Defense Forces,  learned from biblical and post-biblical accounts that the only successful military conquests of Jerusalem took place from the north.  Learning from these ancient historical accounts, Dayan sent paratroopers to the other side of the Old City and they successfully conquered the Old City by entering from the north and northeast through the Lion’s Gate.  History put to use!

Yaakov prepared for his confrontation with Esav in three ways.  First, he prayed to God Almighty for Divine Providence so that his encounter would not be a failure.  Second, he attempted to appease his brother by sending a large number of animals as a gift to his brother.  Third, he divided his family into separate camps and prepared them militarily for the confrontation.  This multi-tiered approach seems practical but it also indicates that Yaakov did not know which method would succeed.  Would God intervene directly?  Would Esav approach him with brotherly compassion and mercy? Or would there be an all-out battle?  Sometimes we do not know the “right” approach.   In this story we see Yaakov being quite unsure as to which is the proper approach.  In the end, the gifts of appeasement seemed to have been successful.

Shabbat Shalom שבת שלום.
Rabbi David Grossman

Friends: 
   
      Yaakov departs the land of Canaan, headed toward Charan to Uncle Lavan’s house, hopefully to marry, and to avoid the wrath of his brother Esav. When Avraham received the divine mandate to leave his country, his birthplace, and his father’s home, it obviously had nothing to do with disassociating himself completely from the members of his larger family because his son and grandson are obtaining their wives from that original household. Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, and Leah, all our patriarchs and matriarchs, emanate from that country, birthplace, and patriarchal establishment. Perhaps what Hashem was telling Avraham is that the people are not treif but their morals, life values, and lifestyle have to be abandoned. The quest for monotheism is difficult enough in the pagan world. Avraham was establishing a new family that would swim against the current of idolatry. It would forge a new path of morality. This was the ultimate mandate and would be costly. It was partially successful at the outset because Avraham not only had Yitzchak, but he had Yishmael. Yitzchak not only had Yaakov, but he had Esav. The ability to abandon one’s roots, even on the scale that was required of the patriarchal family, would take several generations to complete before the road to a Jewish nation evolves.

     Life is very difficult.  Isn’t it a fact that a person may have food but, because his family is without clothing, he has to sell the food to buy clothing?  Similarly, under some conditions a person sells his clothing to obtain money to purchase food.  These are the thoughts Yaakov had in mind when he made the prayer, “Dear Lord, please promise to give me bread that I shall eat and clothing that I shall wear.  I don’t want to have to sell or pawn either to buy food for my family or to buy clothing.” 

     One day the holy Rabbi Chaim of Sanz asked one of his disciples who was sitting at his table whether the waiter did not forget to give him his share of food.  “Rabbi,” replied the disciple very earnestly, “not for the purpose of food did I come here, but for the soul.”  The rabbi smilingly replied, “You did not come to this world to eat, but if you try to withhold the food and drink that a person needs, the soul will fly away very soon.” 
Rabbi David Grossman

​Friends: 
   
The sale of the Birthright is an important ingredient in this week’s Parsha. The narrative tells us that Esav returned home hungry from hunting. He would sell the shirt off his back in order to get to eat some of the lentil soup that Yaakov was making. It would seem that Yaakov was taking advantage of his brother’s weakened condition by securing the Birthright as compensation for food. The Birthright is defined by the ritual tradition that their father and grandfather had carried before them. The sale could be contested later on as being an illegal transaction because Yaakov was taking advantage of Esav at this time. Several commentators bring this up in their writings. It is the last sentence of the paragraph that makes us believe that it is a recognized sale. The Torah tells us in 25:34 that Esav despised the Birthright. Therefore, no matter what value Yaakov placed on it, Esav placed no value on it. Hence this was not an illegal sale.

When the Torah tells us in the next narrative of Yitzchak’s sojourn into Philistine territory, Hashem tells Yitzchak not to be concerned because Hashem promised the Land of Israel to Avraham. This was because Avraham obeyed Hashem’s voice, observing His safeguards, commandments, decrees and Torahs (26:5). Rashi explains these four categories of commandments. The safeguards are rabbinic enactments that serve as barriers against transgressing Torah laws. Commandments are laws that man sees as sensible and logical. The third category, decrees, are laws that we cannot explain, hence they are like the king’s laws where his subjects do not understand the logic of it. The fourth category, the Torahs, is the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. The Oral Torah in this discussion is limited to the interpretations transmitted to Moshe at Sinai and is tantamount to having the same authority as the Written Torah. The Sages felt that Avraham had arrived at the knowledge of the entire Torah through divine inspiration, and he observed all the mitzvot voluntarily. This, according to the Ramban, is how Hashem can praise Avraham for observing even these rabbinic enactments.
                                                                  

Shabbat Shalom שבת שלום.
Rabbi David Grossman

​Friends: 
   
“And Hashem blessed Avraham with everything, BaKol….” (24:1). What “everything” really is is a subject of Midrash and biblical commentary, but in essence the expression “everything” would indicate that he was happy with his portion in life. The Tiferet Uziel, a medieval commentator, states that recognizing the blessing that you have in life is also associated with the age that you are. When you are young, you are uncertain that your resources are sufficient for your present and future needs. In the verse it says first that Avraham was older and advanced in years. At this point in his life he sees that what he possesses is enough to carry him and his family into the future. It is a brachah to reach a certain age and realize that you are secure.


Avraham sends his trusted servant Eliezer to arrange for the shidduch of Yitzchak, his son. This trust that Avraham had for his servant is immense. No other task was greater. In the eyes of Avraham, he had to make sure that the future matriarch of Israel would be suited to the character traits that Avraham and Sarah held dear in establishing their own household. Abraham had great trust and confidence in Eliezer. Eliezer is true to the task. This is evidenced by the fact that his name is never mentioned in this Parsha. He is referred to only as the “servant of Avraham.” He never lost sight of his mission. He did not do or say anything that did not support his mission; he never lost focus of the task and how important that task really was.


When Rivkah returns with Eliezer and sees Yitzchak for the first time, the Torah states that Yitzchak had gone out to “converse in the field” (24:63). Rashi comments that he went out to pray. Our Rabbis mention that Yitzchak was the patriarch who established the Minchah prayer. The real question that should be asked is: Why doesn’t the Torah specifically say that Yitzchak went out to pray in the field? According to some commentators the Torah uses the expression it does in order to instruct us that when we pray, we should do so quietly in a modest fashion, without fanfare or publicity, and not declare our reverence for Hashem in a loud voice. Yitzchak was a model for this (as would Channah be when she came to the Mishkan to pray for the blessing of a baby.) Somebody walking and seeing Yitzchak out in the field would surmise that he was taking in the pleasant air, or going for a walk enjoying the evening climate and the setting of the sun. The reality of the situation, according to the Rabbis, is that Yitzchak was establishing a new prayer, the prayer of Minchah.                                                                   
Shabbat Shalom שבת שלום.
Rabbi David Grossman

​Friends: 
   
We see an example of visiting the sick in the opening lines of this week’s Parsha, Vayera. God visits, through messengers, the recuperating Abraham. The Rambam, Maimonides, writes that Bikur Cholim, visiting the sick, is a Mitzvah from the rabbis, not from Torah. He continues with the discussion of other mitzvot such as comforting the mourner, and concludes these mitzvot are from the rabbis as they are part of the mitzvah from the Torah of loving your neighbor as yourself. The Rambam seems to contradict himself. If Bikur Cholim is part of the mitzvah of loving one’s fellow man, why does he say that it is a rabbinic mitzvah? One answer is that the Rambam understands there is a general mitzvah to love one’s fellow human, but the specific ways of fulfilling it were enacted by the rabbis.
We also see here the mitzvah of Hachnassat Orchim, the welcoming of guests in our home. Abraham runs to provide hospitality to the messengers! This mitzvah was also described by the Rambam as within the rubric of “V’ahavta L’rai’acha Kamocha,” to love your neighbor as yourself. We should actually look at this mitzvah as bearing a similarity to the mitzvah of welcoming Shabbat. Perhaps Shabbat is especially aligned with Hachnassat Orchim as we are involved in Kabbalat Shabbat, greeting the Shabbat. The Rambam describes how the Mitzvah of honoring Shabbat includes washing, dressing up, and “sitting seriously as one waiting to greet the King. The early Sages would gather their disciples, cloaked in Talitot, and say, ‘Let us go out to greet the Shabbat, the King.’” We relate to Shabbat as a personality not just as a particular mitzvah performed on a particular day. Shabbat is defined as hosting the honored Divine Guest visiting our home. It is in a way Hachnassat Orchim for the Almighty. Inviting guests then is the essence of Shabbat. Inviting human guests might even go a step beyond welcoming the Divine Presence. Our Sages teach us, based on Avraham’s zealous acts, that receiving guests is greater than receiving the Divine Presence. Avraham interrupted his prophetic experience to race and greet the three guests. Inviting guests – people who are God’s creations, His children – is an even greater sign of our love of Hashem than actually receiving the Divine Presence. We love Hashem so much that we are always ready to open up our homes to His children.                                                                
Shabbat Shalom שבת שלום.
Rabbi David Grossman

​Friends: 
   
The story of Avraham begins this week as he is center stage for the birth of the Jewish people.  Hashem directs Avraham to leave his homeland and, “go for your own good” (12:1).  Rashi tells us that this command form with the added expression “for yourself” indicates that this will be for Avraham’s benefit and for his own good.  Here Hashem is saying to Avraham that “your departure from your home and your homeland will be good for you; you will benefit from it; and you will enjoy it.”  If this is true, asks the Sefat Emet (Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter of Gerer, 1847-1905), what kind of test was this for Avraham?  If Avraham fulfilled that which God commanded him to, he would benefit and enjoy it.  This does not seem like much of a test to be included in the list of the ten tests to which Hashem subjected Avraham. The Sefat Emet answers that Avraham fulfilled all that God commanded him only because Hashem said so.  He never did anything that God said for his own benefit.  It was Avraham’s attitude and perspective that allowed him to fulfill the test and make it beneficial to him in a spiritual level.

During the famine in Canaan, Avraham takes his family south into Egypt. He was fearful of the attraction that his wife Sarah would generate because, as Avraham states in 12:11 “see now I have known that you are a woman of beautiful appearance.”  At this stage Sarah has to be at least 65 years old. Many commentators are perplexed by this statement. Is Avraham not aware that his wife is beautiful until now?  We do realize that love masks an objective standard of assessing beauty.  The Vilna Gaon explains that the Talmud tells us (Megillah 13) that Esther, of Megillah fame, was pale and had a greenish tinge of coloring in her face, but because of her tremendous character of chesed, she projected a certain beauty to people who saw her; she just appeared beautiful because of her character.  So, it is possible that the husband sees his wife as beautiful, but in reality his perception is blinded by his own love for her, or perhaps by her character traits.  Once Avraham reached this stage of his life and the age that they both reached, he realized that Sarah’s beauty was objective and visible, and not a product of her kind character which she possessed as well.                                                                    
Shabbat Shalom שבת שלום.
Rabbi David Grossman

​Friends: 

The yahrzeit for the Abravanel was this past week, so I offer some of his commentary on this week’s Parsha:


Hashem directed Noach to build an Ark. The text says that it was made out of gopher wood. This wood had to have been very strong and water resistant. The Abravanel felt that it was balsa wood, which is very light and buoyant. ( as anyone who ever had a model airplane from a plastic bag could attest!) The Ark itself had to be divided into compartments. It would be separated into different levels and sections. These in turn would be divided into smaller rooms. In this manner all the animals would be able to be kept separate. A ship is usually built wide on top and narrow on the bottom. This Ark however was built just the opposite; 50 cubits wide on the bottom and just 1 cubit wide on top. The top of the Ark therefore was very much like a pitched roof so that the waters of the Flood would run off easily.
Some say that Noach himself took care of the wild beasts. Shem was in charge of domestic animals; Cham over the birds; and Yephet over reptiles. All of them shared in caring for the other creatures. For twelve months they had to remain among wild beasts and snakes. One may logically ask what carnivorous beasts such as lions ate while they were in the Ark. But when no meat is available, even carnivores can be induced to eat specially prepared vegetarian foods. The Abravanel points out that there was a decree from God that even carnivores be vegetarians in order to make them less ferocious. There is a different opinion stating that carnivorous animals were sustained by a special radiation that God had prepared for this purpose. This is a Midrashic interpretation brought down in the Talmud. The story was related that Avraham’s servant Eliezer met Shem, the son of Noach, and asked him about life in the Ark. Shem had replied: “It was very, very hard. Some animals would eat only by day, while others would feed in the middle of the night, and in all twelve months that we were in the Ark we never got to close our eyes.”

God made promises to Noach when he left the Ark, and these promises were for a good reason. When Noach and his children left the Ark they looked out and saw the entire world destroyed. It was desolate and empty with nothing left standing. They began to weep as they gazed on this cataclysm. They had themselves suffered during the Flood and had lost many friends and relatives. They had three major concerns. First, since only Noach and his family had survived they were very much afraid of the wild animals. They were vastly outnumbered by the animals and susceptible to the pack. Second, they were afraid that they would not have food to eat. The earth was completely desolate. Not a single plant or tree had survived the Flood. Even though Noach had taken along all kinds of seeds in the Ark to replenish the world, they would require time to grow. They were therefore in great danger of starvation. The Abravanel points out that the divine permission to eat meat was a necessity in order to avoid starvation since there was no vegetation to feed from. The third concern that Noach and his family had was about strife among the brothers. There was fear that one might kill another like Cain killed Abel, since there were no authorities to instill respect for law and order. Therefore, all the survivors decided not to have any children. God told them not to worry about these three things, that all had been taken care of. Now they would be able to have children, forget about the past, and develop the future. The first Mitzvah of the Torah was reiterated to this generation: Be fruitful and multiply!

Rabbi David Grossman

​Friends:

There is much discussion in the Talmud and Midrash about identifying the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. One opinion was that it was a fig tree, and it makes sense because figs were mentioned in the story – that Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves for themselves to wear. Another opinion is that it was actually a grape vine. A third opinion is that it was wheat stalks. The Midrash further goes on to suggest that it might have been an etrog. All of these have some form of connection to the text itself. One of the interesting aspects of the discussion is the suggestion that it was wheat, because we know that wheat does not grow on trees! Including wheat as a possible identification of the Tree of Knowledge is a comment about life in the Garden itself. Humanity did not have to work the land in order to obtain food. It was divinely provided for them. Prior to the sin of the Garden of Eden, wheat grew on a tree so that it was easily taken by humans and worked into however they decided to ingest it. The tree, in essence, represented a divine gift of the Almighty for us to enjoy with a minimum amount of work, or no work whatsoever. As a result of the sin of the Garden of Eden we were punished by having to work hard for the food that would sustain us. Wheat would no longer grow on a tree but would grow as we know it today in nature. This is a valuable lesson for us as certain aspects of nature would change as a result of Adam and Eve’s interaction with Hashem and with nature itself. The bigger change, of course, we would see after the Flood in the days of Noach. The acts of Creation, those that cannot be taken for granted, do require our involvement. Even in our prayers we say that God renews the acts of Creation each day, for without Hashem’s supervision and involvement the phenomena of Creation would cease and would not offer benefits to the human race. We therefore extend Adam’s role in the Garden of Eden where he is called upon to “work it and to guard it” to be the responsible way that we have to work and preserve the gifts of God and nature in the world today as well.
Avraham was supposed to rectify Adam’s sin. When he asked Hashem, “How will I know that I will inherit the land?” (Genesis 15:8), it showed that he had not rectified his knowledge completely. Therefore, Hashem told him, “Know that your children will be slaves in a land that is not theirs” (Genesis 15:13). Knowledge needs to be improved. All the miracles in Egypt were to increase knowledge. After the Exodus Hashem told the Jews, “You have been shown to know…” (Deut. 4:35), the sentence that begins our Simchat Torah liturgy. If not for the sin of the Golden Calf, the rectification of knowledge would have been complete. Now it would not be complete until the coming of Mashiach when “the earth will be full of knowledge of Hashem…” (Isaiah 11:9).
“Hashem gave Cain a sign.” According to one view of the Midrash, Hashem gave Cain a dog to accompany him. What was the significance of giving Cain specifically a dog? The Chafetz Chaim explained that the Midrash says that Abel was stronger than Cain and in the original altercation Abel was in a position to kill his brother. Cain pleaded with him to have mercy and spare his life. After he was released, Cain attacked Abel when he was unprepared and was thus able to kill him. According to this, Cain came to kill his brother because of his lack of Hakarat HaTov, an ability to show gratitude to someone who had performed a kindness to him. It was for this reason that Hashem gave him a dog to accompany him, since a dog is known for its Hakarat HaTov and total devotion to its master who feeds it. Our Sages say (Horayot 13a): The dog recognizes its master. Its appreciation is so great that it will sacrifice its own life to protect its master. By giving him a dog as a companion, Hashem afforded him the constant reminder of the importance of demonstrating Hakarat HaTov, and hoped in this manner he would correct this most serious deficiency in his character. A real endorsement of having a dog in our lives!

Rabbi David Grossman

Friends:

Each year on Sukkot, we read these famous words of Ecclesiastes (Kohelet):
“A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven. ...a time for tearing down and a time for building up.” (Kohelet3:1,3)
To speak of building during a holiday dedicated to erecting a temporary structure seems fitting. And yet, the order of the ideas in this verse is at odds with our Sukkot experience. Surely, “a time for building up and a time for tearing down” would align more closely with the sequence of the holiday. So why this order? And what exactly are “we tearing down and building up”?
The Torah portion for ShabbatChol HaMo-eid Sukkot — Exodus 33:12-34:26 — can help us answer these questions.    In this Torah portion, we are presented with a slice of a story — a short vignette of a significant moment in the history of the people of Israel that covers several key events. The portion begins with Moses’ request to “behold Your [God’s] Presence,” (Exodus 33:18), continues with the carving of the second set of tablets (Exodus 34:1), and concludes with a short summary of the three Pilgrimage Festivals (Exodus 34:18).  At first glance, this somewhat disjointed section seems a strange fit for the Shabbat of Sukkot and appears to offer no answer to our questions about tearing down and building up. As we examine the narrative more closely, however, we realize that the story
enacted in this text is indeed one of rebuilding — not of structures but of relationship.
In their original context, Exodus 33 and 34 occur in the aftermath of the sin of the Golden Calf. God is furious, Moses is distraught, and the people are in peril. Our small section is the coda to the entire episode — the events that transpire after Moses intercedes, God forgives, and the people are
spared complete destruction. Here, God, Moses, and the people all try to move forward — to rebuild their relationship and their eternal covenant.
In just a few short verses, the Torah portion reveals a path to repair:
 Reassurance of God’s Presence: Moses asks God to lead the people and reveal God’s Presence (Exodus 33:12-18)
 Granting a Second Chance: God commands Moses to write the second set of tablets (Exodus 34:1)
 Restating the Terms of Relationship: God restates the conditions of the three Festivals (Exodus 34:18-26)Shabbat Shalom שבת שלום. 
Rabbi David Grossman

​Friends:

Most of the parshah of Ha’azinu is a song. Moses sang this song to the Jewish people on the day he passed away, singing to them about their experiences together, rebuking them for the things they'd done wrong, and reminding them that even though G‑d gets very angry at their sins, He will always come back to His people. Here are some quotes from the song, which is called, like the Parshah itself, by its first word, Ha’azinu, "listen." Remember that because it is a song, the words are sometimes unusual, with many metaphors and figures of speech:
Reminding them of how G‑d took care of them:
"Because the Lord's portion is His people Jacob...He found them in a desert land, and in a desolate, howling wasteland. He encompassed them and bestowed understanding upon them; He protected them as the pupil of His eye. As an eagle awakens its nest, hovering over its fledglings, it spreads its wings, taking them and carrying them... So God guided them alone... He made them ride upon the high places of the earth, that they would eat the produce of the field. He let them suck honey from a rock, and oil from the mighty part of the mountain."
Rebuke and criticism:
"You forgot the [Mighty] Rock Who bore you; you forgot the God Who delivered you."
G‑d's anger at their sins:
"And the Lord saw this and became angry, provoked by His sons and daughters. And He said, "I will hide My face from them. I will see what their end will be, for they are a generation of changes; they are not [recognizable] as My children whom I have reared."
In the end, G‑d will come back to his people:
"Sing out praise, O you nations, for His people! For He will avenge the blood of His servants, inflict revenge upon His adversaries, and appease His land [and] His people."
At the end of the Parshah, G‑d tells Moses to go up the mountain of Nebo. From there, he will see the Land of Israel, but he will not be able to enter. After he sees the land, G‑d tells him, his soul will be gathered to heaven, and he will pass away.                                                                               
Shabbat Shalom שבת שלום.
Rabbi David Grossman