The Relevant Parsha

Homecoming Delayed

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 22:08:00 +0000

After the tragedy with Dina and Shechem, Yaakov receives a prophecy.

"Rise up and go to Beis El, dwell there and make there an altar to the God that appeared to you when you fled from before your brother Eisav" (Bereishis 35:1).

This directive has a backstory. After stealing the Berachos from Eisav, Yaakov fled to Charan. Enroute, Hashem came to him in a dream and promised to be with him, protect him, and return him to the Land of Israel. When Yaakov awoke, he set up a stone as a monument and took an oath.

"If Hashem will be with me and protect me on this road that I am traveling on, [if He] gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear and I return in peace to my my father's home... This stone which I have placed as a monument shall be a house of [service for] Hashem" (28:15, 20-22).

Yaakov promised to build a house for Hashem, and now, over twenty years later, Hashem is telling Yaakov to fulfill his promise. More than a mere reminder, this prophecy is actually a devastating rebuke, for the promise is past-due.

"Because you delayed in fulfilling your promise, you were punished and this [raping by Shechem] happened to your daughter [Dina]" (Rashi to 35:1).

Ignoring a promise to God is obviously a serious sin, but why this horrific punishment? It does not seem to fit the crime. Hashem always responds measure for measure, so we must first understand the nature of the sin. Why did Yaakov delay?

While the forefathers of the Chosen Nation were righteous beyond comprehension, they were not infallible and the Torah points out their mistakes. Invariably, however, their "sins" are subtle. Here we are confronted with what appears to be a failure of trustworthiness, from none other than Yaakov Avinu, the Man of Truth!

Why did Yaakov delay the fulfillment of his promise? And why was the family punished specifically with the tragedy of Dina? The Midrashim and commentaries are uncharacteristically silent on these basic questions.

When I presented these questions to my father, Rabbi Noam Gordon of Yerushalayim, he offered the following explanation. In his oath, Yaakov pledged that if Hashem brings him back home to his father's house in peace, he would build a בית אלקים - a "House of God." What exactly does it mean to build a terrestrial home for the infinite creator? Yeshayahu HaNavi described it thus: "My House is a house of prayer for all nations" (Yeshayah 56:7). God's House is a place where every human being feels comfortable to come and speak to Him.

The builder of such a house would obviously need to be a universally respected leader, a person capable of uniting all of humanity. Yaakov understood this; he knew that before he could build a House of God, he must first build a following. This is why Yaakov settled in Shechem and bought a field. His intention was to forge relationships, engage in outreach, and inspire the Canaanites with monotheism, continuing the work begun two generations earlier by his grandfather Avraham. Avraham functioned as a "chariot" - delivering the Shechinah into the consciousness of humanity - and he was successful because he was recognized as a "Prince of God" (Bereishis 23:6). Yaakov set out to build the very same reputation. Only after establishing himself as Avraham's successor would Yaakov be able to build a House of God for all nations.

Best intentions aside, Hashem expected Yaakov to fulfill his promise as soon as he was able. Even if his following consisted of no more than the members of his own household, Yaakov should have headed straight to Bais El to build the Bais Elokim. It was wrong to delay, but at least now we can understand Yaakov's thinking.

My father's explanation of Yaakov's sin enables us to understand what happens next. The kidnapping and violation of Dina is just the beginning of the story. In response, Shimon and Levi take revenge and annihilate the entire town of Shechem. Yaakov then fears for the safety of the family, expecting a counterattack from the other Cannanite villagers in the area (34:30).

In short, Yaakov's move to Shechem backfired. Instead of gaining a following, he is now persona non grata, an enemy of the people - and it is at this very moment that Hashem tells him to go build the promised Bais Elokim. Hashem set this all up, orchestrating events in order to make a critical point about His priorities.

As the Man of Emes, Yaakov naturally yearns for perfection. He wants to build the ultimate House of God for all nations, yet that holy yearning is fraught with danger, as it leads to delays. The service of Hashem needs to be beautiful and the Avos are held to the highest standards, but perfection not attainable, nor is it desirable. "The Torah was not given to angels." A packed sanctuary honors the King - ברוב עם הדרת מלך - but it is more important for Yaakov to expedite his promise, even if the result is a humble house of God serviced only by his twelve sons.

When it comes to Mitzvos, enhancements must never compromise timeliness (see Nefesh HaChaim 1:22, perakim 8).

III

There are additional mysteries here. By the time Yaakov returns to Israel from Charan, over two decades have passed since his departure. Yaakov's parents, Yitzchok and Rivkah, have never met his wives or his children. We would expect Yaakov to head straight home and reunite with his parents, but no. Inexplicably, he settles down in the town of Shechem. Yaakov is only about seventy miles away from his parent's home in Chevron, but he lets at least a year and half go by before he gives them a visit (cf. Rashi to 33:17).

In the original oath, Yaakov expressed his yearning for home. "If... I return in peace to my father's home... then this stone which I have placed as monument will be a house for Hashem." The feelings did not fade with time. Even his father-in-law Lavan knew why Yaakov was in a rush to get back to Israel. "You left because you missed your father's home" (31:30).

If Yaakov missed his parents so much, why didn't he go see them?

The tragedy of Yaakov's delay is compounded by the death of his mother. Rivka never gets to see her grandchildren, as she passes away just shortly before Yaakov arrives (cf. Rashi to 35:8). With his mother gone and his twin brother estranged, the blind and widowed Yitzchok is the sole remaining family member to welcome Yaakov when he finally comes home (35:27).

Another question. As soon as Yaakov settles in Shechem, he builds an altar. "He established an altar there and called it Kel Elokei Yisroel" (33:20). Rashi explains. "Not that the altar itself was called Elokei Yisroel (God of Israel), but rather in recognition of the fact that Hashem was with him and saved him, he named the altar after the miracle."

Safe and sound back in Israel, Yaakov is blessed with wives, children and wealth. The saga with Eisav is over and the time has come for him to express his appreciation with an altar. But instead of building an altar in Beis El as promised, Yaakov builds one in Shechem?! How do we explain this?

The key to resolving these mysteries lies in a linguistic distinction. Yaakov's original promise to build an altar was conditional, first and foremost, on divine protection. אם יהיה אלקים עמדי ושמרני בדרך הזה - "If Hashem will be with me and protect me..." A careful reading of Rashi reveals that Yaakov's altar in Shechem was not in thanks for protection, but for something else: על שם שהיה הקב"ה עמו והצילו - "because Hashem was with him and saved him." Salvation is what Yaakov prayed for (32:12) and salvation is what he received, but it is not the same as protection. A person who is protected does not need saving.

Hashem saved Yaakov from both Lavan and Eisav, and in appreciation, Yaakov builds an altar in Shechem. However, regarding his promise to build an altar in Beis El, Yaakov was unsure how to proceed. That altar was designated for divine protection, and frankly, Yaakov did not feel protected.

Yaakov arrived in Charan empty handed and Lavan took advantage of him, tricking him into marrying Leah, working him for fourteen years, and repeatedly cheating him in business. Subsequently, Yaakov was pursued by Lavan, ambushed by Eisav, and attacked and wounded by an angel. Hashem saved his life, and Yaakov acknowledges that Hashem was "with him" (31:42), but could it be said that Hashem protected him?

Although long ago Hashem had promised to protect Yaakov, ושמרתיך בכל אשר תלך, sins can cause Hashem's promises to evaporate, שמא יגרום החטא. A humble Tzaddik, Yaakov was unsure of his spiritual standing and, in light of all that had transpired, he feared he no longer deserved nor received divine protection. Yaakov's uncertainty explains how he could be afraid of being killed by Eisav (Rashi to 32:11) and at the same time attempt to call in Hashem's old promise of protection (Rashi to 32:10). Yaakov did not know where he stood.

This uncertainty also explains why Yaakov did not return home to see his parents. If Hashem had been protecting him, then returning home in peace would complete the last remaining condition he had set on his promise, triggering an obligation to build a מזבח in בית אל. On the other hand, if Yaakov had lost divine protection, then he cannot build a מזבח in בית אל, for one cannot thank Hashem for something Hashem did not do (especially if it was something Hashem had wanted to do, but couldn't due to sins). Yaakov therefore stays away from home, so as not to enter into a Halachic conundrum.

Failure to build the promised altar was a grave error and Yaakov is punished with the rape of Dina. This punishment provided Yaakov with an answer of painful clarity. To paraphrase Hashem's response: "You avoided build the altar because you question if I have been protecting you? Yes, you have had a difficult life, but watch what happens to your family when I remove my protection for just one moment!"

הקב"ה מדקדק עם סביביו כחוט השערה

Hashem deals most stringently with those who are closest to Him.

Like Uncle, Like Nephew

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 18:47:00 +0000

Eisav is out for revenge and Yaakov must flee.

Yitzchok calls in Yaakov, blesses him, and gives him instructions. "Do not marry a Canaanite woman. Get up and go to Padan Aram, to the home of Besuel your mother's father and take for yourself there a wife from the daughters of Lavan your mother's brother." (28:1)

Yitzchok sent Yaakov off. He went to Padan Aram, to Lavan, son of Besuel the Aramite, brother of Rivkah, the mother of Yaakov and Eisav. (28:1,5)

It is strange indeed that the Torah felt it necessary to reiterate, at this late stage of the family saga, the painfully obvious fact that Rivkah is the mother of Yaakov and Eisav. Our greatest commentator shrugs his shoulders. "I do not know what this teaches us" (Rashi ad loc.).

Although Rashi freely admits when he is at a loss (cf. Bereishis 35:13, Gilyon HaShas to Berachos 25b), in the absence of a pressing question, it is unheard of for Rashi to make such a comment. When a commentator has no useful insight, surely he has the right to remain silent.

In his supercommentary Maskil L'Dovid, Rabbi Dovid Pardo (d. 1792) offers a delightfully creative rereading of Rashi's words. He argues that Rashi is not throwing in the towel. On the contrary, when Rashi wrote "I do not know what this teaches us," he was presenting a brilliant explanation of this difficult verse.

As we can well imagine, before Yaakov departed for Padan Aram, he had a question for his father.

"You have instructed me to go and marry one of my cousins, a daughter of Uncle Lavan. I have never met Lavan. What kind of man is he? Tell me about him."

Although Yaakov's question is not recorded in the Torah, Yitzchok reply is. The Torah's seemingly superfluous description of Lavan as the "brother of Rivkah, the mother of Yaakov and Eisav" is actually an abbreviated quote of Yitzchok's response to Yaakov, and Rashi, in typical fashion, fleshes it out. To paraphrase:

"My dear son Yaakov, I wish I could answer your question. I don't know Lavan personally. Ordinarily, we can infer a man's personality from his nephew, for sons always take after their mother's brother (Yevamos 62b). However, my brother-in-law Lavan has two very different nephews, you and your brother Eisav. This presents a conundrum and I do not know what this teaches us about your uncle!"

When Yaakov first meets Rachel, he introduces himself by saying כי אחי אביה הוא, "he is her father's brother" (29:12). This is technically false, as Yaakov is not Lavan's brother but rather his nephew. Rashi defends Yaakov's usage by citing a precedent: Avraham called his nephew Lot a "brother" (13:8). However, this interpretation is unsatisfying, for the parallel is not direct. In the case of Lot, he was Avraham's brother's son. In line with the Talmudic dictum, בני בנים הרי הם כבנים, "the sons of sons are considered like sons" (Yevamos 62b), Lot can be considered a son of Terach and thus a brother of Avrahom. This is not applicable in the case of Yaakov's relationship with Lavan, for Yaakov was not the son of Lavan's brother, he was the son of Lavan's sister.

Presumably, this is why Rashi offers an alternative interpretation, which has Yaakov making an assertive statement regarding his father-in-law to be:

...אם לרמאות הוא בא, גם אני אחיו ברמאות

If he attempts to trick me, I am his equal ("brother") in trickery. And if he is an אדם כשר, an honest man, than I am also [honest, for I am] the son of his honest sister Rivkah. (Baba Basra 123a)

Yaakov is not postering. Rachel is Yaakov's wife-to-be and she has a right to know the personality of her future husband. Yaakov would love to give a straight answer, but he is confused and does not know what to say.

Yaakov originally thought he was destined for the tents of Torah, but Hashem seems to have other plans. After outsmarting a suspicious father and a shrewd brother, Yaakov is confronted with his hitherto unknown God-given potential. It is frightening realization. Trickery is not compatible with Yaakov's self image as a proudly naive man of truth.

So what kind of person is he? Well, men always take after their mother's brother, so Yaakov tells Rachel that everything depends on the dubious character of "brother" Lavan. If Lavan is honest, then so am I. And if not, not.

Yet Yaakov is mistaken. His identity is not tied to Lavan at all. On the contrary, the Torah testifies that Yaakov was born an איש תם, "a simple man" (25:27) and Rashi (ad loc.) defines that to mean מי שאינו חריף לרמות, "someone who lacks the shrewdness necessary to be a trickster."

How can this be? If Lavan is a scoundrel (29:25) and a swindler (31:7), how could his sister's son be an איש תם, the polar opposite of his uncle?

III

Rivkah was barren (25:21), childless for the first twenty years of her marriage (25:20,26). The Midrash famously states that all four of the foremothers started off barren because "Hashem desires the prayers of the righteous." The Netziv offers a different explanation.

Children naturally take after their mother's brother, and in the case of Rivkah that would mean her children would be born with negative character traits. In order to prevent this eventuality, Hashem made Rivkah incapable of bearing children naturally. She could only have a child supernaturally, in which case the child would not take after her wicked brother.

Describing her husband's prayers during this difficult period, the Torah tells us that Yitzchok pleaded לנכח אשתו, "opposite" his wife (25:21). In light of the Netziv's commentary, we can can take these words literally. Afraid of Lavan's genes, Yitzchok davened "against" his wife, praying that she would not give birth to a child naturally. Yitzchok only wanted a child if the birth would be supernatural, free of his brother-in-law's influence.

Hashem answered Yitzchok's plea (25:21) and the result was an איש תם, the antithesis of Lavan. However, Yaakov was not born alone. Rivkah gave birth to twins.

Yaakov was conceived first (Rashi to 25:26) and his birth was Hashem's response to Yitzchok's tefillah. The question is Eisav. If Rivkah was incapable of conceiving naturally, does that mean Hashem performed a special miracle to create a monster?

A generation earlier earlier, when the barren Sarah gave birth to Yitzchok at age ninety, "many barren women were remembered with her, many sick people were healed that day, many prayers were answered with her; there was a great rejoicing in the world" (Rashi to 20:6).

When it rains, it pours, and when Hashem opens the gates, He showers blessings on the whole world. It follows that when Hashem answered Yitzchok's prayer for a miracle child, many barren women were healed of their disability, including Rivkah herself. This is why Rivkah is able to conceive another child. As opposed to Yaakov, this second child was conceived naturally and should therefore take after his mother's brother.

The Torah tells us that Yitzchok loved Eisav because ציד בפיו, Eisav had "game in his mouth" (25:28). Rashi quotes the Midrash, "Eisav trapped [Yitzchok], tricking him with his words." Like uncle, like nephew. Eisav was a trickster, just like Uncle Lavan.

Unaware of his father's preconception prayer, Yaakov naturally assumes his birth was natural and he is "blessed" with the trickster traits of Uncle Lavan. Yaakov's negative sense of self is reinforced by his native talent as an voice impersonator (cf. Ramban to 27:12), and also by Eisav's twisted take on his name. "So that's why they called him Yaakov - he tricked me twice! He took my birthright and now he took my blessing!" (27:36). Yaakov is wrong about himself, but the misconception is central to Hashem's plan.

Skillsets are overrated; self image is what matters. Thinking he was חריף לרמות, shrewd enough to outsmart anyone, Yaakov faced down Lavan, Eisav, and Shechem with confidence. In reality, Yaakov was an איש תם, but he was better off not knowing it.

Heart and Eyes.

noreply@blogger.com (IshbitzForever) — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 16:25:00 +0000

Posted by Guest Contributor IshbitzForever

After the birth of Moses, in an attempt to save his life, his mother hides him in a basket and places in the Nile river. The daughter of the Pharaoh goes down to the water to bathe, she sees the basket floating on the water, she retrieves it and the passage tells us:

"She saw him, the child, and behold the young one was crying"

The Zohar wondering about apparent redundancy in the sentence clarifies that the "child" refers to Moses, while "the young one crying" refers to the Nation Of Israel who were crying from the pain of the exile.

Let's understand the message of the verse in this light.

The daughter of Pharaoh has been indoctrinated her entire life with the belief that the Jewish people are a threat to her nation's stability, and by extension her family and herself.

Throughout history it has always been the nature of those that feel threatened to dehumanize those they feel threatened by, this clears the conscious and allows whatever actions necessary to neutralize the threat no matter how barbaric. The drive for self preservation focuses and limits the entire existence of their perceived enemy to this one dimension - "the threat". Objectifying the enemy in this way depletes him of any humanity, limiting them to nothing more than a number on an arm, deserving no understanding, mercy, or compassion.

It is only when "she saw him, the child" - she takes the baby in her arms and sees, not the enemy, not the threat, but a child, a fellow human that her heart is opened, breaking thru the wall of fear, and allowing her heart to see things in a new light. For the first time she questions the threat and hears the cries of the Jewish people that until now made no impression on her, for until now they were the cries of the un-human. Standing there gazing at Moses she lets go of the fear and allows herself to connect with the "other" and see them as fellow members of humanity.

Although our eyes sees, its the heart that will dictate and how we perceive the image, what value we attribute to it, what our emotional reaction is, so in a way our hearts our character will be the last word on what we see. So one might say the heart is greater but if we do not encounter new things with our eyes, our hearts will have no new inputs to add to what we know and what room is there for growth will will travel thru life with childish perceptions.

The eye and heart most move in tandem, experiencing, learning, growing.

On the Trail of Blessings: Eisav's Plot

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 20:53:00 +0000

The Midrash tells us of a financial transaction between Yaakov and Eisav.

Yaakov took all the money he earned in the house of Lavan – a literal pile of silver and gold – and gave it to Eisav in exchange for Eisav’s plot in מערת המכפלה, the family burial cave in Hebron (Rashi to 50:5). אמר, נכסי חוץ לארץ אינן כדאי לי - Yaakov said, “Wealth from outside of Israel is unimportant to me” (Rashi to 46:6).

While there is a family tradition of paying retail for a gravesite (23:16), throwing money away is wrong. It is therefore surprising that Yaakov made such an unnecessarily excessive offer. (The alternative, that Eisav’s asking price happened to match Yaakov’s earnings in Charan, is an unlikely coincidence, to say the least.) Yaakov was not wasteful of the wealth he earned in Charan; he even went out of his way to retrieve small jugs (Rashi to 32:24). Why is he volunteering now to give it all away?

Yaakov has no issue with wealth per se; the money he earned in Israel he keeps for himself (46:6). And to suggest that there is something wrong with bringing foreign funds into the Holy Land is also untenable, for Avraham happily imported Pharaoh’s gifts (13:2). There must be a deeper meaning here: a correlation between the money Yaakov earned abroad and Eisav’s plot in Eretz Yisroel.

As we have learned, Yaakov never made peace with Eisav’s bracha and the mission of the איש שדה that was bound up with it. For Yaakov, success in Haran was a source of discomfort. Despite his attempt to deny it (Rashi to 32:6), Yaakov’s שדה-based wealth was a clear indication that he had indeed usurped Eisav’s role. (According to Eruvin 27b, cattle are considered גדולי קרקע, and are therefore presumably also שמני ארץ.)

Eisav’s ownership of a plot in מערת המכפלה is also discomforting. Firstly, it is piece of ארץ ישראל, the land of קדושה that is Yaakov’s Promised Land (28:13). Worse yet is the symbolism. The Talmud tells us that there were only eight gravesites in the cave, for four couples: Adam and Chava, Avraham and Sara, Yitzchok and Rivka, and Leah and her spouse. Only one plot remained, the one beside Leah (Sotah 13a; Rashi to 49:21). Interment in the family’s ancestral burial site implies that Eisav is a member of the pantheon of forefathers. This is a disgrace Yaakov cannot tolerate.

Yaakov said, “This Rasha is destined to enter with his sons into the מערת המכפלה?! He will have a share and a seat with the Tzaddikim buried there?!” (Shemos Rabba 31:17)

Taken together, Yaakov financial success and Eisav’s plot evoke the original conception of a partnership between the two brothers in the Abrahamic dynasty, but with a reversal of roles: Yaakov as גביר (cf. 27:37) and Eisav as spiritual leader. Strange as it sounds, Eisav’s position in the family was still an open question; Hashem does not sign off on Yaakov’s purchase of the birthright until Moshe is sent to save the Jews from Egypt (Rashi to Shemos 4:22).

Yaakov is rightly concerned and he comes up with an elegant solution: buying Eisav’s plot in ארץ ישראל with the wealth he made in חוץ לארץ. For Yaakov, it is a natural trade and a win-win, as it frees him of the stigma of the איש שדה and cements his ownership of the coveted birthright. Eisav’s consent to the sale is yet another insult to the birthright (cf. 25:34), supplying further justification for his removal from the family – a key aspect of Yaakov’s intention, no doubt.

In the generation of Yaakov and Eisav, we are presented with two options in life: to be a יושב אהלים in ישראל ארץ or an איש שדה in חוץ לארץ. The איש שדה is not a natural צדיק, and Yaakov rejects that identity. However, the elements are not mutually exclusive. There is another model: an איש שדה in חוץ לארץ who holds the birthright – and is also a צדיק. This archetype is personified in the next generation by none other than Yaakov’s own beloved son Yosef.

Where the Wild Things Are Frightened

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 00:28:00 +0000

The brothers strip Yosef of his precious coat, stain it with blood, bring it home and show it to their father. They ask, "Is this your son's jacket or not?" (37:32)

Why the scam? Would it not have been more compassionate for the brothers to simply deny having seen Yosef at all? Why traumatize Yaakov with nightmares of violence?

"Yisroel loved Yosef more than all his [other] sons" (37:3). Clearly, Yaakov believed Yosef to be a Tzaddik. However, the reality was not so simple. The Torah tells us explicitly that "Yosef brought negative reports [about his brothers] to their father" (37:2). In the brothers' opinion, Yosef was not the righteous son he appeared to be; he was a Rasha who spoke Lashon HaRa and informed on them. The fact that Yaakov had positive feelings about Yosef was, as the Torah attests, due to the fact that Yosef was a בן זקנים, "a son of his old age" (37:3). The recent precedent of a father misjudging his beloved son was fresh in everyone's mind and the brothers undoubtedly felt that Yaakov had been fooled by Yosef just as Yitzchok had been fooled by Eisav. (For more on the brothers' fear of Yosef as a reincarnation of Eisav, see this post.)

Understanding the brothers' perspective explains their seemingly outrageous behavior after they throw Yosef in the pit.

"They took him and cast him into the pit. The pit was empty, it had no water. They then sat down to eat bread..." (37:24-25).

To eat bread?! Is the Torah telling us that the brothers were heartless?

According to the Rashbam (37:28), the brothers never sold Yosef. They just left him in the pit where he was discovered by the Midianites who sold him to the Yishmaelites. Unaware of these developments, Reuven is shocked to find the pit empty and reports his discovery to the brothers (37:30). (Rashi interprets events differently, but the Rashbam's narrative is undoubtedly the most straightforward reading of the text, cf. Sifsei Chachomim ad loc.).

The pit was infested with snakes and scorpions (Rashi to 37:24), and so the brothers naturally assumed that Yosef had been poisoned. Reuven says as much years later when he criticizes his brothers. "I explicitly told you not to sin against the boy, and you did not listen! And now his blood demands [justice]" (42:22). The term "blood," especially in the sense of demanding justice, is a reference to a homicide victim, as we see in Hashem's words to Cain, "The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the earth" (4:10). (Consistent with his view that the brothers sold Yosef, Rashi interprets the expression differently here.)

Presuming Yosef had been killed by the snakes, it is perfectly understandable why the brothers sat down for a feast, for this is exactly what the Halacha dictates one must do when a brother guilty of informing passes away:

כל הפורשים מדרכי צבור... וכן המומרים והמוסרים, כל אלו אין אוננים ואין מתאבלים עליהם אלא אחיהם ושאר קרוביהם לובשים לבנים ומתעטפים לבנים ואוכלים ושותים ושמחים - "Anyone who abandons communal norms... heretics and informers, we do not morn their passing. Rather, their brothers and other relatives dress in white, eat, drink, and rejoice" (Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 345:5).

III

After the flood, when Noach exited the ark, Hashem made a striking statement: "The fear of you and the dread of you will be on all the wild animals of the earth, on all the birds of the sky, on all that crawls on the ground..." (9:2). The Midrash explains that it had been common for animals to attack members of the wicked generation prior to the flood. Hashem was promising that going forward animals would be afraid to touch the righteous family of Noach (Midrash Aggada). The Talmud affirms the point:

אמר רמי בר חמא: אין חיה רעה שולטת באדם אלא אם כן נדמה לו כבהמה, שנאמר נמשל כבהמות נדמו - "A dangerous animal will not attack a person unless it thinks he's an animal" (Sanhedrin 38b).

In other words, wild animals don't attack Tzaddikim. The famous story of Daniel in the den of lions is a case in point. Daniel attributed his miraculous salvation to the fact that Hashem "found him innocent" (Daniel 6:16).

Returning to our original question about the brother's behavior, we can now understand that staining Yosef's coat with blood was not, חס ושלום, a callous act. On the contrary, it was a well-considered way of informing Yaakov that he was wrong about Yosef. Yosef was a Rasha, evidenced by the fact that animals were unafraid to attack him. The brothers were attempting to ease their father's pain, consoling him with proof that Yosef deserved to die and was unworthy of mourning. Certain that Yosef had been bitten by a snake, the brothers considered a blood-stained coat to be a truthful presentation of Yosef's fate.

Rejecting the suggestion that Yosef was wicked, Yaakov "refused to be consoled" (37:35) and insisted on mourning the loss of his son for the rest of his life. Although excessive mourning is ordinarily prohibited, Yaakov was affirming his view of Yosef's righteousness, for an exception is made for the greatest Tzaddikim. Yaakov himself is a case in point (50:3), as is Moshe Rabbeinu (Devarim 34:8). (Yaakov's and Moshe's "period of crying" lasted seventy and thirty days respectively, compared with the three days dictated by Halacha, cf. Moed Koton 27b.)

The brothers' plan backfired. Aware that Tzaddikim receive divine protection and confident in Yosef's righteousness, Yaakov was left with no choice but to question the voracity of the brothers' story. This explains the surprising assertion of the Midrash (quoted by Rashi to 42:36), that Yaakov suspected the brothers had either killed or sold Yosef.

[Although Yaakov felt a need to protect himself from wild animals when he slept outdoors (28:11), that was not because he doubted Hashem's promise, ח"ו. Rather, the אבות were always careful to avoid relying on miracles (עיין רבי ירוחם ליבוביץ ז"ל, דעת חכמה ומוסר, ריש חלק א באריכות).]

Of course, Yaakov was correct in his judgement. The snakes and scorpions did not attack Yosef. As Hashem promised Noach long ago, even animals that crawl on the ground would never dare harm a true Tzaddik. But the divine protection of Yosef goes well beyond the animal kingdom. Yosef is untouchable. Yaakov called him עלי עין, "above the evil eye," because the forces of evil have no power over him (Rashi to 49:22). More than that, all attempts to do Yosef harm boomerang into blessings. The brothers threw him into a pit, as did the wife of Potifar, but these crimes only served to launch Yosef's meteoric rise to power. Only a man of extraordinary righteousness is worthy of such extraordinary divine providence.

At the very end of the story, after the passing of their father Yaakov, the brothers are terrified that Yosef will finally take revenge. Appealing for mercy, they offer to be his slaves (50:15-18). Yosef responds with this observation: "You planned to do me harm but Hashem directed it for the good" (50:20). What relevance does that have to the question of revenge?

Yosef may be saying that I couldn't hurt you even if I tried, but in light of the above, Yosef is making a different point. To paraphrase his response:

"You are afraid that I will take revenge?! You still think I am wicked and evil?! Not only did Hashem protect me from your attempted murder, He turned it into the best thing that ever happened to me! What greater proof of righteousness can there be than that?" (For a different approach to this conversation, see the end of this post.)

Fascinating parallels exist between the Yosef story and the Exodus story. In the Yosef story, the brothers are afraid of Yosef, view him negatively, and decide to sell him as a slave, while Yaakov recognized Yosef for who he was and elevated him into the position of firstborn, gifting him with an extra portion of inheritance (48:22). More than that, Yaakov entered Yosef into the pantheon of forefathers, declaring Yosef's sons to be on par with Reuven and Shimon (48:5). In the Exodus story, the Pharaoh is afraid of the Jews, views them negatively, and decides to enslave them, while Hashem loves the Jewish People and declares them to be "my son, my firstborn" (Shemos 4:22). Both stories share the common elements of fear, misjudgment and persecution of the righteous.

The consequences also match. The brothers' attempt to eliminate Yosef is what puts him into power. Similarly, Pharaoh's decree to throw the baby boys in the Nile leads directly to the rise of Moshe. (For more on the boomerang effect, see this post.)

This last point greatly impressed Moshe's father-in-law Yisro.

Yisro rejoiced over all the goodness that Hashem did for the Jewish People, saving it from the hand of Egypt... "Now I know that Hashem is greater than all forces, for [the Egyptians were destroyed] with the very thing that they plotted against them." (18:9,11). They were cooked in the pot which they cooked up (Rashi ad loc. from Sotah 11a).

In life of Yosef and in the miracles of the Exodus, divine intervention is evidence of divine love, and divine love is evidence of righteousness (cf. Rambam, Hilchos Teshuva 7:6). Given the complexity of life, righteousness is difficult to define and impossible to judge. People, even great people like Yosef's brothers, can easily get it wrong. Only the all-knowing Almighty knows the truth (cf. Rambam ad loc. 3:2).

Another parallel between the Yosef story and the Exodus story can be found in the fourth plague, מכת ערוב.

Hashem said to Moshe, "Arise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh; He will be going out to the water. Tell him, so said God, 'Send out my people and they will serve me. For if you don't send out my people, I will send the arov against you... On that day, I will differentiate the land of Goshen upon which my people stand; no arov will be there, so that you shall know that I am God in the midst of the earth'" (Shemos 8:16-18). Arov: A mixture of all types of wild animals, snakes and scorpions attacked them (Rashi ad loc.).

Here, when Hashem wants to illustrate the difference between Jew and Egyptian and demonstrate His presence and providence, He uses snakes and scorpions. The choice of animals is interesting. Elsewhere in Tanach, when Hashem calls upon animals to attack His enemies, He uses flying insects (Devarim 7:20), bears (Melachim II 2:24), and lions (Rashi to Bereishis 7:16), not snakes and scorpions.

The animals of arov are not random. Snakes and scorpions evoke the original event which led the Egyptian exile. Just as the righteousness of Yosef was affirmed by his emerging unscathed from a pit of snakes and scorpions, so too in the plague of arov, snakes and scorpions only attack the wicked and keep their distance from the righteous.

Dominance over snakes gains added significance in light of the fact that the snake is the symbol of the Yetzer HaRa (cf. Bereishis 3:1; Nefesh Hachaim 1:6). The idea can be expanded to include the entire animal kingdom, for all animals ultimately represent the animal within man (cf. Rashi to Yona 4:11). By definition, "righteousness" is the mastery and control of the negative drives. Animals' fear of the righteous is thus an external expression of an internal reality.

The Torah is clear. The purpose of the plagues is to educate Egypt about the nature of God. Hashem wanted the Egyptians to recognize His existence, omnipotence and providence, but there is more. The Egyptians must also understand that the Jews are a holy nation. This is the message of the arov, and this is why Moshe keeps telling Pharaoh that the Jews are Hashem's People and He wants them released from servitude so they can serve Him. It is not a marginal point. As can be seen in Maimonides Principles of Faith, only one who accepts the idea of a Chosen Nation understands the nature of God. And that necessarily includes acknowledgment of the essential holiness, goodness, and righteousness of the Jewish People.

After the seventh plague of hail, Pharaoh finally surrenders to the truth. "Hashem is the Tzaddik; me and my people are the Reshaim" (9:27). This is progress, but Pharaoh's admission falls short, for he has only recognized that he is in the wrong. While Pharaoh may view the Jews as hapless victims, he has not acknowledged their special relationship with Hashem. That will have to wait for the greatest miracle of all, the splitting of the sea.

The March

noreply@blogger.com (IshbitzForever) — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 22:37:00 +0000

Posted by Guest Contributor IshbitzForever

Every Holiday shines a different light on our relationship with G-d. We are in middle of Passover, the holiday of “Ahavas Klula’soich”, a time when we compare the relationship of G-d and his people to lovers, bride and groom. It’s the Holiday in which Shir Hashirim, “Song of Songs” is read both after the Seder in our homes and in the synagogue by the community. We all know Rabbi Akiva’s quote “All books are holy, but the book of Shir Hashirim is holy of holy (holiest of all).

After the six million, we surrendered and accepted to live with questions - we accepted that there is a unknown plan, that the rules of reward and punishment are for another world. Why do the righteous suffer? Moses himself was plagued by this question, and he was our greatest prophet. So it’s understandable that even the best of answers leave us unsatisfied and unsettled on some level. So we accept and wait and hope and pray, but we don't look for answers anymore.

As much as we, the Jewish people love to argue, those silly arguments always fade to nothingness when challenged by our absolute acceptance of our oneness. We don’t have to know the man at the door to reach into our pockets, he’s our brother, but when he puts out his hand and says “Hachnasas Kallah” – we instinctively dig a little deeper into our pockets and our hearts – because we know every Jewish cause is holy – but Shir Hashirim is holiest of all. To lend a hand for love, for family – to help create a Jewish home what can be holier.

So although most of us did not know the young couple that was taken from us this week, what they represented to us, runs deep within us.

To imagine the pain of the parents and loved ones is beyond anything I dare.

I can only say that we are a stubborn people, with a bag of questions on our back we march on, not because we are insensitive but because we must, "bal karchah ata chai" - "Lachtaich Achari Bamidbar" its thru these challenging times, that we don't look for answers and just march that we endear ourselves to G-d once again - just keep marching.

From Purim to Passover

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 01:08:00 +0000

Click the link below to listen to the fifth annual Anita Rossman Memorial Lecture, delivered last night in Santa Cruz, California.

From Purim to Passover: Lessons from Queen Esther on Courage, Sacrifice, and Redemption

Saving the Jews: The Great Mordechai - Esther Debate

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 00:41:00 +0000

An enigma lies at the heart of the Megillah.

It begins with Mordechai instructing Esther to appeal to the king to overturn the decree against the Jews. Esther responds that that would be suicide. Everyone knows that to enter the king's throne room uninvited is asking for instant death.

Do not misunderstand. Esther is not refusing to intercede on behalf of her people. Not at all. All she is saying is that it would be unhelpful to get herself killed. Even if the king does spare her life, violating the law is unlikely to gain the king's favor. Rather, the prudent course of action would be to wait until the next time the king calls for her. Then she will make her plea and save the Jews. The destruction of the nation is scheduled for the thirteenth of Adar - eleven months away - so there is plenty of time.

Esther is aware that she has a critical role to play in the divine plan. Undoubtedly, the very same God who installed her as queen will also see to it that the king will grant her an audience and consent to her request. This is why Esther sent Mordechai a fresh set of clothes. She was telling Mordechai, "You can stop crying. I'll take care of it."

Esther's thinking is perfectly reasonable. Mordechai, however, won't hear of it. To paraphrase his response:

If you think you are safe in the palace, you are gravely mistaken. If you are silent now, the Jews will be saved some other way, and you and your family will be destroyed! Who knows if this is why you became queen?

Mordechai's confidence in the nation's future is inspiring, but his harsh words to Esther are in dire need of an explanation.

Mordechai is questioning Esther's assumptions about why Hashem made her queen of the Persian Empire. Esther thinks she is there to intercede on behalf of the Jews. Mordachei differs. "Who knows if this is why you became queen?" In the absence of prophecy Hashem's plans are unknowable. Hashem will see to the survival of the Jews; the question is only what He wants from us.

Mordechai recognized that the decree to destroy the Jews was not merely the collusion of Haman and Achashveirosh; the decree has its origin in heaven. The sages of the Talmud assumed the same and wondered what the Jews had done to deserve such a fate. Some suggested it was the sin of attending Achasveirosh's party. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai attributed it to the sin of bowing to statues of Nebuchadnezzar. Regardless, the Jews are not in need of protexia, what they need is atonement.

One method of achieving atonement is through sacrifice. In the absence of the Beis HaMikdash, animal sacrifice is unavailable. However, there is another kind of sacrifice, the sacrifice of tzaddikim. "The death of tzaddikim atones like the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash."

Mordechai was telling Esther that, in his opinion, Hashem had selected her as the national Korban. "Either you go to the king now and sacrifice yourself, or Hashem will take you some other way. One way or the other, atonement for the nation will come through you."

Esther accepted Mordechai's assessment of the situation, but disagreed on the solution. Mordechai thought that as the chosen one, responsibility for the nation fell on Esther's shoulders. Esther differed. She believed that if the nation was in need of sacrifice, then it should come directly from the the people themselves. They were the ones who sinned and so they must rectify it. Esther therefore instructed Mordechai to gather all the Jews together and institute a three-day fast. After the people gain forgiveness for their sins through tefillah and teshuva with mesiras nefesh, then it will be safe for Esther to approach the king.

Mordechai recognized the truth of Esther's words and followed her instructions. The rest is history.

Kickstarter Campaign

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 23:05:00 +0000

Seventeen hours to go!

Help support the amazing Moshe Reines Project. (The project is amazing, but far more amazing is Moshe Reines himself.)

Click here to learn more.

On the Trail of Blessings: Honoring Parents vs. Learning Torah

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 23:38:00 +0000

Dedicated in memory of my grandfather

RABBI YEHUDA LEIB GORDON z"l

on the occasion of his 50th Yorzteit

When Rivkah orders her son Yaakov to deceive his father, present himself as Eisav, and steal the Berachos, Yaakov is nervous. "My bother is a hairy man and I am of smooth skin. Maybe my father will feel me and discover that I am an impostor. I will have then brought a curse upon myself, not a blessing!"

Rivka responds by saying, "Your curse will be on me, my son. Now go and listen to my voice..."

Yaakov brings the goats and Rivka prepares the meat. She then dresses Yaakov in Eisav's clothes and puts the furry goat skin on his arms and neck, just in case Yitzchok would try to feel him. The plan works perfectly and Yaakov gets the Berachos.

Rivkah's response to Yaakov's question is difficult to understand. Her flippant comment about accepting Yitzchok's curse does little to alleviate Yaakov's fear; if anything, it gives the impression that she has no plan at all. Instead of explaining herself, Rivka tells Yaakov to be obedient and follow orders. However, Rivkah does have a plan, and it's a good one. Why doesn't she tell Yaakov what it is upfront?

THE RIGHTEOUS EISAV

Eisav's strong point was his performance of kibbud av, honoring his father. Presumably, Eisav's claim on the Abrahamic birthright and its associated Beracha was not merely due to the fact that he was the eldest son; it was also in the merit of this most fundamental mitzvah, a mitzvah that was a core family value in the house of Avraham.

Eisav's great-grandfather Terach was a kibbud av innovator, the first man in history to name his son (Nachor) after his father (Nachor). This helps us understand why Hashem chose Terach's son Avram to be the father of the Torah Nation, for the survival of Judaism generation after generation depends on kibbud av. Parents are obligated to teach their children Torah, but that is obviously predicated on their children's respect and trust.

Moreover, respect for parents is a basic building block in the education of a child to respect his Creator. This principle finds expression in the Ten Commandments, where kibbud av is bundled on the first tablet together with the laws governing the God/man relationship.

The centrality of kibbud av also explains why Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov all insisted on marrying nieces and cousins: kibbud av was a core value in all of Terach's descendants. Only on a foundation of kibbud av could the Torah Nation be built.

Yitzchok elevated kibbud av into his guiding light in life. In virtually everything he did, Yitzchok followed his father's lead. In the end, Yitzchok's life matched Avraham's life. "The two of them walked together." Yitzchok's firstborn son Eisav had his challenges, but he excelled in kibbud av. Undoubtedly, this was a primary factor in Yitzchok's election of Eisav as the next patriarch.

Now we understand why Rivkah did not reveal her plan to Yaakov. Rivkah knew that in order to successfully transfer the Berachos to Yaakov, Yaakov would have to compete with Eisav and prove his commitment kibbud av. Explaining her plan would undermine the challenge! Yaakov must submit to his mother's inexplicable command and follow orders faithfully, without protest. Only after performing a sacrificial act of kibbud eim could Yaakov take on the mantle of leader of the Abrahamic dynasty.

At the end of Parshas Toldos, Rashi does some elementary math and discovers that fourteen years are missing from Yaakov's life. When Yaakov meets Pharaoh in Egypt, biblical chronology indicates that he was one hundred and sixteen years old - but Yaakov tells Pharaoh that he is one hundred and thirty. Rashi explains that before going to Charan, Yaakov spent fourteen years learning in the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever.

Rashi goes on to cite a disturbing teaching of the sages. From the time of his arrival in Charan, it was twenty-two years before Yaakov returned home. During this entire period Yaakov failed to observe the mitzvah of kibbud av - and he was punished for that failure. Yaakov's own beloved son Yosef went missing for the exact same amount of time: twenty-two years. However, continues Rashi, Yaakov was not punished for the additional fourteen years he spent in the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever. Although he failed to observe kibbud av for that period, the merit of Torah learning protected him from suffering any consequences (Rashi to 28:9).

This entire teaching is difficult to fathom. Yaakov's parents explicitly told him to leave home and go to Charan to find a wife. Yaakov arrived penniless and had no choice other than to agree to Lavan's terms and work for fourteen years for the hands of Rochel and Leah in marriage. How could he be punished for his inability to honor his parents when he was busy fulfilling their wishes? Wouldn't that itself be the highest form of honoring parents?!

Another question: Why was Yaakov penniless? His parents were wealthy; why didn't they give him money? When Avraham sent his servant Eliezer to find a wife for Yitzchok, he sent him off with ten camels laden with gold and silver. More than that, Avraham formally gifted Yitzchok with his entire estate to make the shidduch more attractive (Rashi to 24:10). How could Yitzchok send off Yaakov empty handed?

Rashi quotes a Midrash. Yaakov actually left home with plenty of money. However, Eisav sent his son Elifaz to pursue and assassinate Yaakov. Elifaz caught up with Yaakov, but he couldn't bring himself to kill him. Trapped between his father's command and morality, Yaakov offered a solution. "Take my money!" A poor man is compared to dead man; by making Yaakov poor, Elifaz could report back that he had "killed" Yaakov (Rashi to 29:11).

Was it really necessary for Yaakov to give away all his much-needed money? Why didn't he just explain to Elifaz that there is no mitzvah of kibbud av when your father asks you to commit a crime?

There is a deeper level of meaning here. Eisav undoubtedly told Elifaz the whole story of how Yaakov lied to their father and stole the blessing of wealth. Elifaz was coming to revenge his father and kill Uncle Yaakov for his inexcusable crime. Yaakov knew this and was defending himself against this accusation. He explained to Elifaz that there are circumstances in life when misleading your own father and stealing from your own brother is actually the right thing to do - even if it results in great personal gain. However, it must be done in a way that is technically honest. A case in point: The right thing for Elifaz to do right now is to steal from his brother (i.e. uncle, cf. Bereishis 12:8) and tell his father that he killed him.

A very different explanation for Yaakov's poverty is proposed by the Ibn Ezra: Yitzchok actually was broke. Somehow he had lost the vast wealth he inherited from his father and he had nothing to give Yaakov.

According to either of these explanations, Yaakov had no choice but to spend years working for Lavan, making it difficult to understand how this would be a violation of kibbud av. However, what if Yaakov chose to be poor? What if Yitzchok did in fact offer Yaakov ten camels laden with gold, but Yaakov turned him down. Strange as it sounds, there multiple rationales for this.

Firstly, taking money from his elderly father would further enrage Eisav. Eisav maintained his claim on the birthright. Taking even a single penny from the estate would be viewed by Eisav as an act of theft from his own forthcoming inheritance. An additional consideration: the Halacha requires that the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, must be the wealthiest Kohen. If the most qualified candidate is not the wealthiest, then his brethren, his fellow Kohanim, are obligated to chip in and make him the wealthiest. As Yaakov explained to Eisav years earlier, the birthright includes the privilege of offering sacrifices. If Yitzchok would give his wealth to Yaakov, the vindictive Eisav would construe that as the election of Yaakov as the new Kohen Gadol! Sensitive to Eisav's feelings, Yaakov refused to take any money from their father.

Secondly, Yaakov may have wanted the Beracha of wealth to come directly from Hashem, in fulfillment of Yitzchok's words, "God will grant you the dew of heaven and the fat of the earth, and abundant grain and wine..." If Yitzchok gifts Yaakov with wealth, that could potentially undermine and downgrade the divine flow of blessings from heaven.

There is a precedent for this perspective. When Avram was offered the spoils of his own military victory, he refused it.

Avram said to the king of Sodom, "I raise my hand [in an oath] to Hashem, the exalted God, owner of heaven and earth: From a string to a shoelace, would I take anything that is yours?! You shall not say, "I made Avram rich!" (14:22-23)

Avram wanted the blessing of wealth to come from Hashem himself and not through a human intermediary; his grandson Yaakov may have felt the same way. (For a fuller treatment of this principle, see this post.)

It is also possible that Yaakov chose to be poor because he did not want to be tested with the challenge of wealth. (For more on this idea, see this post, this post, and this post.)

Regardless of his motivations, if it was Yaakov's own decision to be poor, it becomes a lot easier to understand why he is held accountable for the years spent abroad working for Lavan. Had Yaakov accepted Yitzchok's gold, he could have brought his fiancee Rachel straight back to Israel (just as Eliezer brought Rivkah home one generation earlier) where he would have been able to properly fulfill the mitzvah of kibbud av for twenty-two additional years.

III

Earlier we explained why kiddud av - Eisav's forte - is the pillar upon which the Mesorah rests. A tradition is only as strong as the respect and honor children have for their parents. "Listen, my son, to the lessons of your father; do not abandon the Torah of your mother." The torch of Torah is passed from one generation to the next through the intermediary of parents.

There is another way for the Mesorah to survive and thrive generation after generation: through a person's own learning. One who labors in Torah merits to be taught Torah by Hashem Himself. "Blessed are you Hashem Who teaches Torah to His nation Israel!" This was the path of Yaakov. Yaakov "sat in the tents" of Shem and Ever and received Torah directly from the source. For Yaakov, honoring parents is secondary.

However, when Yaakov stole Eisav's Beracha, Yaakov's destiny changed. It was not only his brother's blessing that he took; he also took on his brother's mission, and now Yaakov must become the world's leading proponent of kibbud av. It is critical that Yaakov model this path for future generations - ma'aseh avos siman l'bonim - and there is zero tolerance for failure. Observing his parent's instructions to find a wife may be a technical fulfillment of kibbud av, but it is not the kind of kibbud av that Yaakov needs to focus on. Yaakov must serve his father and become his father's student, in the model of Avraham's servant Eliezer, who "drew and gave others to drink from his master's Torah." To accomplish this, Yaakov must be home.

Nonetheless, as long as Yaakov remains in the tents of Shem and Ever studying Torah, he is exempt from kibbud av. In the Beis Medrash, Yaakov's original identity comes to the fore. There Hashem teaches him Torah, and the need to learn from his father fades. But the moment Yaakov leaves the Beis Medrash and sets out to do Eisav's work in the fields abroad, the service of kibbud av becomes imperative, and no excuses are accepted.

Enroute to Charan, Yaakov offers a prayer: "If God will be with me... and return me in peace to my father's house..." (28:20-21). It is noteworthy that while Hashem always speaks of Yaakov's return to "this land" (28:15) or the "land of your birth" (31:13), Yaakov specifies his father's house. Years later, when Yaakov finally heads home, his father-in-law Lavan knows exactly what is on his mind. "You left because you yearned for your father's house..." (31:30).

For Yaakov, returning to Israel is more about homecoming than dwelling in the Holy Land, and that is because Yaakov's new role requires him to focus on kibbud av. Yaakov thus yearns for his parent's house, where he can care for, and learn from, his father and his mother.

Continue the trail here.

On the Trail of Blessings: Two Delivery Systems

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 05:40:00 +0000

When, due to the famine in Israel, Avram heads south for Egypt, he instructs his wife Sarai to say that she is his sister, "so that it will be good for me" (12:13). She follows his instructions and this is indeed exactly what happens. "[Pharaoh] was good to Avram because of her, and he got sheep, cattle, donkeys, slaves, maidservants, female donkeys, and camels" (12:16). The family arrived in Egypt destitute; when they returned to Israel, "Avram was heavily laden with livestock, silver and gold" (13:2).

Later in the Parsha, after conquering large swaths of territory in battle, Avram is approached by the deposed king of Sedom. The king makes an presumptuous request. "Give me the people. Take the wealth for yourself." Avram responds by rejecting the spoils. "I raise my hand [in an oath] to Hashem the exalted God, creator of heaven and earth. From a string to a shoelace - I will not take anything that is yours! You shall not say, I made Avram rich" (14:21-23). According to the Midrash, Avram explained himself, "Hashem promised to make me rich, as it says [in the original blessings of Lech Lecha], "I will bless you" (Rashi ad loc.).

There are two obvious problems here. Firstly, Avram gives away what is rightfully his because Hashem promised to make him rich?! Does Avram expect gold to rain down from the sky? Maybe Hashem intends to make him rich through the spoils of this miraculous military victory! Secondly, how do we reconcile Avram's righteous oath not to take a dime from the king of Sedom with his eagerness to harvest wealth from the king of Egypt? These are powerful questions indeed (see Gur Aryeh to 14:23).

At the beginning of the Parsha, in the final words of the original blessing of Lech Lecha, Hashem tells Avram, ונברכו בך כל משפחות האדמה, "through you all the families of the earth will be blessed." In other words, all of humanity will be blessed because of the Jews. This can happen in one of two ways, which we will call System One and System Two.

System One functions when the Jewish People are in the land of Israel. In the Holy Land, Hashem's blessings flow to the Jewish Nation in the form of agricultural produce. Our forefather Yitzchok sowed his field in Israel and harvested מאה שארים, one hundred times the expected crop (Bereishis 26:12). This is an early example of System One at work, and the Torah promises the very same blessing for the Jewish future in Israel: "Blessed will be... the fruit of your soil... Blessed will be your basket and your kneading bowl" (Devarim 28:4-5). The blessing is not limited to abundance; it also includes speed. The Holy Land is called ארץ הצבי, the land of the deer (Daniel 11:16). This means that produce ripens at an accelerated pace in Israel (Kesubos 112a).

When Yitzchok wants give a blessing to his son, he begins with the blessing of the farm: "Hashem shall give you from dew of heaven and abundant grain and wine" (27:28). As opposed to Egypt where the Nile River provides a constant source of water to irrigate the fields, the farms of Israel need rainfall, and as the Torah tells us, rainfall in Israel depends on mitzvah observance. "If you listen to my mitzvos... I will give the rains in their times" (Devarim 11:13-14). Obviously, this is miraculous; no natural cause and effect relationship exists between mitzvos and rainfall (Ramban to Vayikra 26:9).

As a blessing which comes directly from Hashem, the produce of Israel is understandably sacred. This reality is reflected in the host of mitzvos which regulate its use (i.e., Terumah, Maaser, Leket, Shemitah, etc.). It is also reflected in the words of על המחיה, the blessing recited after eating grain products. "Rebuild Yerushalayim the holy city speedily in our days, and bring us up into it so we can rejoice in her rebuilding, eat her fruits, and be satiated by her goodness..." We are not praying to satiate our hunger for fruit; we are expressing our yearning to imbibe the elevating, sacred produce of the Holy Land (Bach, O.C. 208).

From the land of Israel Hashem's blessings spread out to the rest of the world, both materially and spiritually: materially through the exports of Zevulon (Bereishis 49:13) and spiritually through the Mikdash. "Since the day the Mikdash was destroyed... the flavor of fruit is gone" (Sotah 48a). The capital city Yerushalayim is the gate to heaven (Bereishis 28:17) and the Mikdash is the conduit through which Hashem's blessings flow to the entire world. System One is thus the ideal way in which the descendants of Avraham are a source of blessing for all of humanity. "Through you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

According to the Bais HaLevi (Toldos), setting up this system was Rivka's intention when she instructed Yaakov to take the Beracha of agricultural abundance, and it was subsequently confirmed by Yitzchok. The text of the original Beracha states: "Hashem will give you from the dew of heaven and the fat of the earth..." (27:28). Yaakov is the recipient of this blessing. Yitzchok later blesses Eisav with the same dew and fat, however he makes no mention of Hashem (cf. 27:39). Yaakov brings Hashem's blessings down to earth, and Eisav receives his portion through Yaakov.

III

There is, however, a second system. When the Jewish People are in exile, the situation is reversed. Instead of blessings flowing through the Jews to the nations, it flows through the nations to the Jews (cf. Ramban to Vayikra 18:25). When that happens, the host nation is enriched by virtue of being a conduit of blessing for the Chosen People.

An early illustration of System Two at work on a micro scale can be found in the story of Yosef. The Torah describes what happened to the estate of the Egyptian slave-owner Potifar. "From the moment that [Potifar] appointed [Yosef] over his house and all his belongings, Hashem blessed the house of the Egyptian because of Yosef, and the blessing of Hashem was in everything he had in the house and in the field" (39:5).

On the national stage, System Two is epitomized by the Egyptian exile. Describing the Exodus, Hashem told Avraham that his descendants would leave Egypt with great wealth, and indeed they did: the Egyptians literally handed over their gold and silver. In order for that to happen, the Egyptians would obviously needed to have gold and silver. In other words, Hashem's promise to Avraham guaranteed Egypt's economic success. System Two is thus another way that the families of the earth are blessed because of Avraham.

Hashem presented the concept of System Two to Yaakov when he was on his way out of Israel. "Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth and spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and through you will be blessed all the families of the earth" (28:14). In other words, when you and your children are spread out like dust around the world, blessing will come to all of humanity because of you. What follows in Yaakov's own life sets the model. Hashem gives sheep to Lavan, and then, with Lavan's sheep, Yaakov becomes rich (30:31-31:1). Lavan himself recognizes this truth: "I know I have been blessed because of you" (30:27).

Throughout the long history of the Diaspora, we have witnessed System Two over and over again. Countries which hosted Jews were blessed with financial success and the Jews were beneficiaries of that success. However, when we were expelled, Hashem no longer had cause to send His blessings to those countries and their economic fortunes fell.

Sometimes, System Two is activated inside the Land of Israel. As described in Parshas Metzora, when a Jew speaks lashon hara in the Holy Land, his home can be afflicted with tzaraas, necessitating the demolition of the house (Vayikra 14:33-45; Rambam, Laws of Tzaraas 16:10). Rashi explains why his house is destroyed. "During the entire forty years the Jews were [wandering] in the [Sinai] desert, the Amorites [in Israel] hid gold treasure in the walls of their homes. When the house is demolished because of the tzaraas, [the treasure] will be found" (Rashi to Vayikra 14:34).

The problem is obvious. Why would a sinner be rewarded with treasure?

In light of the two systems of divine blessings, the answer is clear. When in Israel, System One is in play and a Jew is meant to receive wealth directly from the Creator. However, a sinner who speaks lashon hara is unworthy of receiving blessings miraculously. How will he survive? Hashem knew this would be a problem. When the Jews accepted the spies' negative report, they demonstrated their propensity for lashon hara and were doomed to forty years of wandering in the desert. During that entire period, Hashem showered wealth on the Amorites - wealth destined for the Jews of the future. Hashem, in His infinite compassion and providence, set up System Two in advance, knowing that some Jews of the future will need to receive divine blessings through the intermediary of the gentiles.

This same backdoor can also be utilized to sustain the nation when they are unworthy of System One. Consider the story of the four metzoraim (lepers) in Sefer Melachim II (chapter 7). The Aramean army had laid siege to Shomron and the resulting starvation was so severe, the people were reduced to cannibalism (6:29). Instead of inspiring the people to repentance, the king blames the Navi Elisha and condemns him to a beheading (6:31).

The scene shifts to outside the city gates where four starving metzoraim with nothing to lose decide to approach the enemy camp and beg for food. To their astonishment, they discover the camp empty of soldiers, yet filled with food. Apparently, the Aramean army had imagined the noise of an onslaught and fled. The metzoraim run back to inform the Jews and the starvation ends.

Undeserving of direct sustenance from heaven, Hashem opens the pipeline of System Two, providing for his people in Israel through the gentile population. It is illustrative that the agents were metzoraim. As we have seen in the case of Tzaraas on a home, this is exactly the way Hashem provides for metzoraim themselves.

When Avram was in Egypt he was more than happy to receive the gifts of Pharaoh, for this is how Hashem's blessings flow when we are in exile. Hashem blesses the host country with wealth and we receive it from them. However, when Avram is in Israel, he refuses the wealth of Sedom. "Hashem promised to make me rich!" In Israel, Hashem blessings come directly from heaven in the form of rain and agricultural produce. Avrom refuses to receive wealth in any other way.

[This posts serves as the introduction to the "trail series." Begin the trail here.]

Who Wears the Crown?

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 23:00:00 +0000

I am honored to recognize our dear friend Selwyn Gerber for hosting today's "lunch and learn" at Gerber & Co. in Century City. To listen to the recording, click on the link below:

Who Wears the Crown?

The real meaning of Teshuvah - and how Rosh Hashanah makes it possible.

The Sun Disappeared, the Moon Laughed, and I Discovered the Universe

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 04:42:00 +0000

I began to worry we would miss it. Heading south from West Yellowstone with the whole family in tow, traffic was at a standstill. A mass exodus to the path of totality extended as far as the eye could see along the single lane of Route 20. Following the lead of several gutsy drivers, I turn the rented SUV onto a dirt road between the fields…

Our destination was Rexburg, an innocent Western town with pretty parks, flapping flags and friendly folks. Eventually the traffic cleared and I got back on the highway. We made it to Rexburg in time to find a parking spot and join a crowd gathering in a large field to view the eclipse.

Reality eclipsed the hype.

Witnessing a total solar eclipse is incomparable to any other experience on earth. Those who missed it stare at the pictures in bewilderment, wondering what all the fuss was about. But a camera cannot capture the thrill and the terror of being in the shadow. You really did have to be there.

It’s not only photography that fails, language also has its limits. We have no words to describe intangibles like love, prayer, silence, or the color green. An eclipse, however, presents an even greater challenge. Writing about totality is like trying to explain infinity to a child. It is not just a want for words; the human mind is simply not wired for it.

BLACKOUT

I was unprepared. One moment there was a sun above my head, and the next, it was gone. I had underestimated the power of our star. Apparently, even the tiniest sliver of crescent sun is still a sun. And so, when the moment of totality arrived, it came as a shock.

We are unaccustomed to swift changes in the firmament. It takes an entire month for the moon to move through its phases. Prior to totality, the sun shrank too slowly for the eye to perceive movement. The daily sunrise and sunset are gradual and romantic, but there was nothing romantic about totality. The sun morphed before our eyes from a source of light into a source of darkness and we immediately felt the impact. Suddenly, the world went dark. Suddenly, a cold wind blew. Suddenly, stars appeared. Suddenly, we were screaming.

The great clockwork of heaven froze. My time-conscious son Meir did not believe me when I told him afterwards that totality exceeded two minutes. He insisted it was no more than a few seconds.

I sense a commotion around me, but the sound is off and the color is gone. A silent film playing in slow-motion. Everything is strange, foreign. The sky, the earth, people. Even the darkness is unfamiliar. It is not the darkness of night; it is the cold of outer space. Taking off my eclipse glasses, I look up and stare at the impossible.

It is magical and magnificent and splendorous and terrible. A globe of nothingness emanating rays of pure, ethereal light. The royal white mane of an invisible celestial lion.

I hear voices.

"Doesn't it look great on me?" The moon laughs, admiring herself in the mirror. "It's the sun's crown!" Her back is turned and she laughs again. I worry about her sanity.
A scientist, unsure of himself, makes a feeble attempt at reason. “That is not a crown. It is just the corona, the superheated gases of the solar atmosphere...”
"Gases, shmases! Are you blind? You don't see my crown? It is mine now. Mine! God knows, kings do not share crowns."
A simpleton speaks. "That crown is a curious thing. Dangerous, I say. When the sun wears it, it is invisible, and when moon wears it, she is invisible."

A prophet raises his voice. "What you see now in the heavens foreshadows the future redemption, when the light of the moon will once again be as bright as the sun, the way she was first created in Genesis.”
The moon is furious. "Silence!" she screams. "The future is today! I am King!"
An old gentile woman whispers, "It is an evil omen. The end is near." A young boy starts to cry.

I heed them no attention. Maybe some other time I'll ponder the meaning of it all, but right now that thing in the sky has me in a trance. It is so strange, so alien...

Peering out through the portal of the spaceship, I fix my gaze on the menacing, growing black hole at the center of the galaxy. The seatbelt light goes on as the pilot engages the hyperdrive and we head straight for the wormhole. Accelerating to light-speed…

I have always fantasized about space travel and here I am. I settle in to enjoy the trip, but then lurch back into reality. There is no spaceship. I am in Evergreen Park, in Rexburg, Idaho. I am on Planet Earth.

At long last, the fool on the hill sees the world spinning round. Totality is an ice bucket; an epiphany. We stand on a rock, speeding through the cosmos, dancing among celestial spheres.

We are always in outer space!

Excitement turns to panic. It cannot be. It just cannot be. Humans cannot survive in space. We can’t be here! We don’t belong here.

But then, where do we belong?

Totality strains consciousness to the brink of madness. Life is a miracle and we are so very, very vulnerable.

REVELATION

What is happening to me? Why am I reacting this way? There is nothing extraordinary about an eclipse. It is a simple alignment of the earth, moon and sun. A predictable phenomenon, solar eclipses occur somewhere on earth every eighteen months. Everybody knows the earth orbits the sun and everybody knows the moon orbits the earth. If darkness is so inspiring, the sun sets every night, for heaven’s sake.

I suppose we could also ask why the Jewish People were shocked when God declared at Mount Sinai, “I am Hashem!” The Jews knew that already; they witnessed the Ten Plagues and the splitting of the sea. Everyone knew there was a Creator in heaven who cared for them, but when He pulled back the curtain and said hello, they fainted.

Totality is an “I am God” moment.

It was a magnificent spectacle – and it was also mundane. Trivial, actually. We don't even bother to recite a beracha on it. Our astonishment was entirely due to the fact that eclipses are rare. If eclipses were common we would pay them as much attention as a passing cloud. Nonetheless, I felt, we all felt, that we had witnessed a supernatural event. To quote my wife, the end of totality, seeing the sun burst forth from behind the moon, was like being present at the moment of creation. Let there be light!

photo by Dr. John Polansky

Despite our awareness that eclipses are ordinary, the experience shattered our complacency.

Why, you ask? Nature is nature. Nothing shocking about it. I share your question, but the problem of our irrational reaction is eclipsed by a second and far more important question. Why have we never noticed the universe before? You understand of course that this second question answers the first. After totality, the whole world looks different. Nature isn't natural anymore. "In His goodness, He renews the acts of creation every single day!" The triviality of the eclipsed sun is what makes it such a bright revelation of the Creator.

In retrospect, the eclipse was a silent pre-Elul Shofar blast. Out in Idaho, God yelled at humanity.

“Wake up and stop taking life for granted!”

Humility on the Rocks: Mining the Mystery of Moshe's Mistake

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 18:18:00 +0000

This article was first published in Nitzachon, the Adas Torah journal.

Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, “Take the staff and gather the congregation – you and Aaron your brother – and speak to the rock in front of their eyes. It will give its waters. You will bring out water for them from the rock and you will give the congregation and their animals to drink.”

Moshe took the staff from before Hashem as He had commanded him. Moshe and Aaron then gathered the congregation in front of the rock and said to them, “Listen now, rebellious ones! Will we bring out water for you from this rock?!”[1] Moshe raised his hand and hit the rock twice with his staff. Abundant water came out and the congregation and their animals drank.

Hashem said to Moshe and to Aaron, “Since you did not trust Me to sanctify Me before the eyes of the Jewish People, you will therefore not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”

Bamidbar 20:7-12

The Sin at the Rock is an enigma. What did they do wrong? And why was the punishment so harsh? The more carefully we read the pesukim, the less clear the sin becomes. We typically quote Rashi, that Moshe erred by hitting the rock instead of speaking to it, but by no means is this the consensus among the commentaries.[2] In fact, there is no consensus. The Ohr HaChaim counts no less than ten different opinions among the rishonim.

In his lengthy treatment of the episode, the Ramban rejects the offerings of his predecessors and ultimately insists that the sin requires a Kabbalistic explanation. However, there is a straightforward reading of the text the Ramban does recommend, that of the great Rabbeinu Chananel (henceforth, “the Rach”):

The most reasonable of the interpretations that have been offered on this issue, one which satisfies the questioner, are the words of the Rach. He writes that the sin was saying “Will we bring out water for you from this rock.” It would have been more appropriate for them to say “Will Hashem bring out water for you,” as they said [on a different occasion], “when Hashem gives you meat in the evening to eat…” (Shemos 16:8). So it was with all the miracles, [Moshe and Aaron always] made it known that Hashem was doing wondrous things for the people. [Now that they failed to do so,] the nation might think that Moshe and Aaron used their own wisdom to bring out water from this rock. This is the meaning of [Hashem’s statement years later], “You failed to sanctify Me” (Devarim 32:51)…
[According to the Rach,] it is understandable that [Hashem] used the expression ma’altem bi (Devarim 32:51) in reference to this [sin], for utilizing the sacred for personal benefit is called me’ilah… (Ramban to Bamidbar 20:8)

In short, the sin was the usage of the word “we.” This allowed for the misconception that Moshe and Aaron were using their own magical powers to extract water from a rock. This was a me’ilah of sorts, a “theft” of the sacred, for they usurped Hashem’s miracle for their own benefit. Of course, this was not Moshe’s or Aaron’s intent, but nonetheless, the Rach feels that this was the impression given by their choice of words.

Compare the Rach’s interpretation with that of the Ibn Ezra, as explained by the Ramban:

“Will we bring out water from this rock for you?” They said to them, “Listen… is there any way in the world we could get water out of this rock?! Recognize that it is from Hashem. He is the one who took you out of Egypt and brought you to this place. He will provide for you here.”

According to the Ibn Ezra, Moshe is proclaiming his inability to make miracles on his own. In truth, the Rach may well agree with the Ibn Ezra; the Rach’s issue is not with Moshe’s actual intent, but with the ambiguity of his words. Nonetheless, even that is challenged by the Ohr HaChaim:

Was it not known that Moshe was the agent of Hashem? Everything he did was done with Hashem’s power! … Moreover, in Parshas Bo we find the following, “Moshe called all the Jews and said to them, ‘Take or buy for yourselves a sheep…’” (Shemos 12:21). He did not say it in Hashem’s name, for certainly it was a known fact that he was the agent of Hashem.

In other words, how could anyone in their right mind think Moshe was saying he will perform a miracle on his own, without Hashem?[3] Underscoring the Ohr HaChaim’s point, a more direct challenge to the Rach can be found in the Shema:

And it will be, if you listen to My mitzvos which I am commanding you today, to love Hashem your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, then I will give the rain of your land in its time, the hard rain and the soft rain, and you will gather your grain, your wine, and your oil…

Devarim 11:13-14

Here we have Moshe committing the very same sin! Instead of saying that Hashem will provide rain and water, Moshe says “I will give the rain!” Since we do not find that Moshe was punished for this “infraction,” we must infer that there was no problem here at all; it was understood by everyone that Moshe was just quoting Hashem. Why then does the Rach consider it a sin at the rock?

A Higher Reality

In order to appreciate the wisdom of the Rach, we must first study a polar opposite approach. According to Rabbi Chaim Volozhiner, Moshe’s use of the first-person in the Shema was not a sin of me’ilah, but the very highest expression of humility before God.

[Moshe] continually grew in this [awareness of divine omnipresence][4] until he successfully achieved it before he died to the highest degree possible for a living human being. As we find in Devarim, in the parsha of v’haya im shomoah, where [Moshe] initially says, “…to love Hashem your God” but then immediately afterwards, in the very next verse, he speaks in the first-person, “and I will give the rain of your land.” He is the giver and the actor, for, from his perspective, he has utterly ceased to exist and it is only the Shechina which speaks. This is why he said, “I will give.” As Chazal wrote in the Zohar, “The Shechina speaks from the throat of Moshe,” and as the verse states (Shemos 13:8), “Mouth to mouth I speak in him.” It does not say “to him,” but “in him.” Literally, in him. (Nefesh HaChaim 3:14)

Moshe uses the first-person because he has erased his identity and transformed into an instrument through which Hashem speaks to the nation. Total self-nullification was the defining feature of Moshe’s personality.[5] It distinguished him from the forefathers and made him a superconductor of the divine will for both miracles and prophecy. Rabbi Chaim Volozhiner explains:

The level of Moshe Rabbeinu was even higher [than that of the Avos], as the Torah testifies, “there never arose a prophet like Moshe” (Devarim 34:1). Hashem Himself described the nature of the distinction between them: “I am Hashem. I appeared to Avrahom, to Yitzchok and to Yaakov as El Shaddai, but I did not make known to them My Name of Y-H-V-H.” (Shemos 6:2-3).
[The avos] did not reach a level of prophecy where the natural forces completely ceased to exist. As the Torah states, “I appeared to Avrahom, to Yitzchok and to Yaakov as El Shaddai.” This is akin to the name Elohim, which means to say, “I am the master of all forces and at every moment My Will directs the entire system of forces as I set them up from the time of creation.” This is the meaning of El Shaddai. “However, in their prophecy I did not make known to them the dimension of My Name Y-H-V-H.”
On the other hand, the prophecy of Moshe Rabbeinu was on the level of the name of Hashem’s essence[6] and unity, Y-H-V-H, may He be blessed, and for this reason no force could block the light of his prophetic vision. This is also the reason why in all the miracles performed by Moshe everyone witnessed the utter nullification of all forces and [recognized] the literal truth of ein od milevado, nothing exists other than Hashem…
This is also the idea behind the words of Chazal at the end of Perek Kisui HaDam (Chullin 89a). “What it says about Moshe and Aaron is greater than what it says about Avrahom. By Avrahom it says, “I am dust and ashes” (Bereishis 18:17), but by Moshe and Aaron it says, “What are we?” (Shemos 16:5).” At the very least, “dust and ashes” implies the existence of dust, as opposed to Moshe Rabbeinu who said, “What are we?” – implying that they do not exist in the world at all. (Nefesh HaChaim 3:13)

In other words, Avrahom, Yitzchok and Yaakov experienced Hashem as Master of the Universe, but Moshe experienced Hashem as if there was no universe.

This is why the miracles of the Avos differed from the miracles of Moshe. When Hashem made a miracle for the Avos, it remained within the bounds of the natural order. Avrahom defeated multiple armies, but he had to go out to battle. Sarah had a baby at ninety, but she had to conceive and give birth. Yitzchok harvested one hundred times more than the norm, but he had to plant. Yaakov’s monochrome sheep gave birth to multicolored sheep, but they had to mate. The point is that the miracles of the Avos did not technically violate the laws of nature. In contrast, the miracles of Moshe – from the plagues to the sea to the manna – were distinctive in their total disregard for physics. This is not coincidental. Moshe achieved awareness of a higher truth: Y-K-V-H echad. Hashem is the sole reality, ein od milevado. From that perspective, natural law is not law, it is just the current divine will. That is why Moshe was able to transcend nature and serve as a conduit for acts of God unfettered by the laws of physics.

This also explains why Moshe’s prophecy was unparalleled. When Aaron and Miriam mistakenly compare the quality of their prophecy to Moshe’s, the Torah states, “The man Moshe was exceedingly more humble than any other person on the face of the earth” (Bamidbar 12:3). In his work on Pirkei Avos, Rabbi Chaim Volozhiner explains that Moshe’s extraordinary prophetic vision was a function of his extraordinary humility (Ruach Chaim 1:1). Moshe viewed his physical self as naught before the reality of Hashem.[7] With self-interest and ego nullified, Moshe was able to receive Hashem’s transmissions b’aspaklaria hameira, with crystal clarity, free of human static.[8]

Despite the challenge it presents to our senses, the concept of ein od milvado is not religious fundamentalism. It is the first fundamental principle of Judaism.

The first fundamental principle is the existence of the Creator, may He be praised. That is, a perfect being exists which is the original cause of all else… If we were to imagine that this being would cease to be, then all reality would vanish and nothing would remain in existence. But if we were to imagine that all that exists would cease to be, His exalted existence would not vanish, nor be detracted from, for He requires nothing outside of Himself. (Rambam, Thirteen Principles of Faith)

The Rambam spells out the implications of this principle at the beginning of Mishneh Torah (Yesodei HaTorah 1:4).

The nature of His reality is thus unlike the reality [of created things]. This is what the prophet meant when he said, “Hashem our God is true” (Yermiah 10:10), He alone is true and nothing else is true like Him. This is what the Torah states, ein od milvado, “There is nothing else besides Him” (Devarim 4:35). In other words, there is no other true reality like Him.

Every believing Jew accepts the principle; only Moshe internalized it.

Back at the Rock

Now we understand why Moshe used the first-person when he brought out water from the rock. In order to facilitate the performance of this supernatural event, in order to channel a divine will in flagrant violation of natural law, Moshe needed to disregard physical reality, including the reality of his own self. As Rabbi Chaim Volozhiner explained, when Moshe transmits a prophecy in the first-person, he is absenting himself and allowing the Shechina to speak through him. And so at the rock, when Moshe said, “Will we bring out water…?” it was Hashem’s words that Moshe declared, not his own.[9]

According to the Midrash, Hashem actually instructed Moshe to speak in His name.

“Speak to the rock.” Say in My Name, “Hashem said, ‘Give forth your waters!’” (Lekach Tov; Torah Shleima 60).

This Midrash lends credence to the Rach’s contention that Moshe should have made it clearer that he was acting as Hashem’s agent. Although Moshe did not quote Hashem explicitly, we can assume he was following orders and serving as Hashem’s mouthpiece. In fact, in the opinion of the Rambam, the legitimacy of this assumption was the source of Moshe’s sin. When Moshe called the people “traitors” (Bamidbar 20:10), the people naturally inferred that Hashem was angry with them; Moshe would never deride them without inside knowledge. Moshe’s sin was giving the Jews a false impression of divine displeasure (Shemonah Perakim, chap. 4).

In contradistinction to the Rambam who faults Moshe for appearing to speak in Hashem’s name, the Rach faults Moshe for failing to clarify that he was doing just that. The Rambam’s position highlights our issues with the Rach. Why does Moshe need to quote Hashem explicitly? As the Ohr HaChaim asked, doesn’t everyone know that Moshe always speaks in Hashem’s name?

Out of Matzah

In order to appreciate the Rach’s understanding of what happened when the Jews ran out of water, we would do well to go back to the early days in the desert and review what happened when the Jews ran out of food.

The entire community of Bnei Yisroel complained to Moshe and Aaron in the desert. The Bnei Yisroel said to them, “If only Hashem had killed us in the land of Egypt when we sat by the meat pot, when we ate bread to the fill! You have taken us out to this desert to kill this entire congregation by starvation!”

… Moshe and Aaron said to the entire Bnei Yisroel, “Tonight you will know that Hashem took you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of Hashem. Your complaints against Hashem have been heard. What are we that you complain against us?”

Moshe said, “Hashem will give you [quail] meat to eat in the evening and satisfying [manna] bread in the morning, for Hashem has heard your complaints which you have complained against Him. What are we? Your complaints are not against us, they are against Hashem.”

Shemos 16:2-8

One month after the Exodus, when the Jews ran out of provisions and began to starve, they turned in anger against Moshe and Aaron and attacked them for taking the nation out of Egypt and into the desert. This was an embarrassing failure of faith. Moshe and Aaron didn’t bring them out of Egypt, Hashem did!

How could the Jewish People lack clarity on an elementary truth which they witnessed with their own eyes? The answer is that the Jews certainly knew that Hashem was behind the miracles of the Exodus (Shemos 4:31, 14:31), however, they had difficulty conceiving of a companionate, all-powerful God who would starve them to death (cf. Shemos 17:7). This is what the Jews were saying to Moshe. “If Hashem wanted to kill us, He would have done it in Egypt. If we are starving in the desert, it can only be because of human error. It was your decision!”[10]

In response, Hashem delivers quail and manna. This was not intended merely to feed the nation, but to demonstrate by way of a miracle that Hashem takes personal responsibility for their welfare in the desert – because He is the one who put them there. This is what Moshe meant when he said, “Tonight you will know that Hashem took you out of the land of Egypt” (Rashi). According to the Ibn Ezra, both the quail and the manna served as “signs” which restored the faith of the Jews.

To further strengthen the recognition of Hashem, Moshe and Aaron repeatedly impress upon the people their powerlessness, their virtual nonexistence. “What are we?” Moshe and Aaron are making a critical point. They are nothing more than Hashem’s agents and therefore any complaint about life in the desert can only be taken as a complaint against Hashem Himself.

Armed with this historical background, we are prepared to return to the Rock.

Fixing a Broken Faith

It was a time of national crisis. The prophetess Miriam passed away and the nation’s water supply suddenly vanished. Stuck in the desert with nothing to drink, people panicked and the worst came out.

The nation challenged Moshe. “If only we had died with our brethren before Hashem! Why have you brought the congregation of Hashem to this desert? For us and our animals to die there? Why did you take us out of Egypt? To bring us to this evil place? This is not a place of planting, of figs, grapes and pomegranates! There is no water to drink!”

Bamidbar 20:3-5

After all the nation has been through and all they have witnessed, these ugly words are the height of cynicism and ingratitude. It is an uncomfortable truth that this complaint was aired often in the desert. Although it took on different forms, the idea was the same. Whether regretting their departure from Egypt (e.g. Shemos 17:3), expressing nostalgia (e.g. Bamidbar 11:5), or harping for a return (e.g. Bamidbar 14:4), the Jews seem to have positive feelings for a place of pain and enslavement. This is quite difficult to understand. For a Jew, missing Egypt makes as much sense as missing Germany.

Before we suspect the Stockholm syndrome, we should recall that by the end of the Ten Plagues, the Jews were free and the Egyptian people were bowing to Moshe and gifting the Jews with gold and silver. With the drowning of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, Egypt ceased to exist as a sovereign state. The Jews could easily waltz back in and, in the ultimate poetic justice, take over the country and enslave their taskmasters. It took an extraordinary act of faith for the Jews to abandon the security of the Nile and walk into the deprivations of the desert and war with the Canaanites. Hashem said, “I remember the kindness of your youth, the love of your nuptials. You followed Me into the desert, into a land where nothing grows” (Yermiyahu 2:2). Great indeed was their love, but when the going got tough, some Jews regretted it.

However, the real travesty of the Jews’ complaint is not disloyalty or chutzpa, but the sin of heresy, the very same irrational heresy the people committed years earlier when they ran out of food. The Jews blame Moshe for the lack of water? The Exodus was orchestrated by Hashem, not Moshe! How could anyone think otherwise?

Human leaders are necessary, but they poses a threat to the sovereignty of Hashem.[11] It is far easier to become enamored with a physical human being than with an abstract infinite being. “Moshe was very great… in the eyes of the nation” (Shemos 11:3). When that happens, when a person is venerated, there is a danger of crossing the line from reverence to cult worship. “The nation realized that Moshe was late coming down from the mountain. They gathered around Aaron and said to him, ‘Get up and make us a god that will lead us, for we do not know what happened to the man Moshe who took us out of Egypt’” (Shemos 32:1). The Torah could not be clearer: The Jews built an idol, a Golden Calf, to replace Moshe. Apparently, some thought he was a god.

The Golden Calf was destroyed and the perpetrators were killed, but years later, Jews were again saying that it was Moshe, not Hashem, who took them out of Egypt. The water crisis, like the food shortage, was a test and the Jews failed miserably. The signs and wonders of the Exodus were designed to demonstrate the reality of the Almighty and the fragility of all else.[12] This should have built a solid foundation of faith, but when the water dried up, instead of faith, the Jews experienced fear. Questioning the wisdom of the Exodus, they doubted God and blamed Moshe.

Hashem responds in the same way He responded years earlier when the Jews blamed Moshe for the lack of food. He decides that a supernatural event is needed to bolster belief in the divine origin of the Exodus and the goodness of God, and to remind the nation that Moshe is no more than a messenger. When they ran out of food, Hashem recalled the signs of Egypt with the creation of miracle food, and now that they have no water, Hashem creates a new sign, miracle water.

“Take the staff and gather the congregation – you and Aaron your brother – and speak to the rock in front of their eyes…”

Bamidbar 20:8

Notice the elements which evoke memories of Egypt: the use of the staff, the partnership of Moshe and Aaron. Both function to take the spotlight off the personage of Moshe. Most tellingly, Hashem instructs them to perform the miracle in the presence of the people. “Gather the congregation… speak to the rock before their eyes.” This is exactly how the signs were performed in Egypt. “He performed the signs before the eyes of the nation” (Shemos 4:30). The hope was that witnessing water flowing from a rock would sanctify Hashem’s name and, like the signs of Egypt, restore faith in the fundamental principle of Judaism, immortalized in the first of the Ten Commandments: Hashem exists. He is the sole power that runs the world, and He is the one, the only one, who took us out of Egypt and gifted us with freedom.

Moshe misunderstood. He thought this was about supplying drinking water. Moshe didn’t catch the heresy implicit in the people’s words, for in his humility Moshe viewed himself as nonexistent; nothing more than an agent, an angel, of Hashem. Moshe was accustomed to speaking in Hashem’s name, and so when he hears people blaming him for the Exodus, he innocently assumes they are referring not to him, but to Hashem.[13] After all, years earlier when they ran out of food, Moshe had made it clear that all complaints would be received as complaints against Hashem. This is why Moshe did not hear a denial of divine providence; all he heard was a protest about the lack of water.

Serving as Hashem’s spokesperson, Moshe uses the divine “we.” “Will we bring forth water from this rock?” With this dangerously ambiguous language, Moshe unwittingly undermined Hashem’s plan.

Hashem said to Moshe and to Aaron, “Since you did not trust Me to sanctify Me before the eyes of the Jewish People, you will therefore not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”

Bamidbar 20:12

The miracle at the rock was supposed to put an end to the cult of Moshe. Ironically, Moshe’s humility exacerbated the problem. As the Rach wrote, to some Jews – particularly those who blamed Moshe for their predicament – Moshe’s choice of words sounded as if he was using his own powers to produce water. Worse, it reinforced the notion that Moshe was the one who took the nation out of Egypt. The situation has gone from bad to worse and Hashem is forced to take drastic measures. Hashem decrees that Moshe and Aaron will die in the desert. It is a tragedy, but the people must face the mortality of their heroes.

When the nation is bereft of its great leaders, when Miriam, Aaron and Moshe have all passed on and their bodies lie buried in the Sinai Desert, Jews will finally cease putting their faith in people, magic, and the natural forces of the world. Even the weakest will wake up and realize that the only dependable power is Hashem. In the end, Moshe will achieve in death what he failed to achieve in life: the nullification of man and the sanctification of Hashem in the eyes of the Jewish People. When that happens, the nation will finally be ready to enter the Promised Land.

[1] “Commentators say that there are statements posed as questions that are meant in the affirmative” (Ramban). Interestingly, three of the four examples cited by the Ramban are statements made not by man, but by Hashem. One is a famous verse, “Did you eat from the tree which I commanded you not to eat?” (Bereishis 3:11). The question is clearly rhetorical; the same could be said for Moshe’s question at the rock.

[2] The Ramban asks several questions on Rashi. 1. Hashem told Moshe to take the staff; that implies he should use it. 2. Why does the Torah (Devarim 32:51) call this a sin of me’ilah? 3. Moshe and Aaron spoke to the nation in the presence of the rock; that should satisfy Hashem’s directive to speak “to” the rock. We could add another question: Why was Aaron punished?

[3] Even when the Jews built a golden calf to replace Moshe, it was not because they thought Moshe was a deity. “It is a known fact that the Jews did not think Moshe was God and that he had himself performed the miraculous signs and wonders for them…” (Ramban, Shemos 32:1). However, elsewhere the Ramban suggests otherwise. “It is also possible to say that the nation believed in Hashem and prayed to Him to save them, but they also harbored doubts about Moshe, maybe he had taken them out [of Egypt] in order to rule over them. And even though they had witnessed miraculous signs and wonders, they thought it possible that Moshe had done it using [magical] wisdom…” (Ramban to Shemos 14:10).

[4] This is the concept of “ein od milevado,” i.e., nothing exists other than the perfect unity of Hashem, and the universe is but a mirage masking the presence of God. Despite its truth, Rabbi Chaim Volozhiner goes to great lengths to underscore the dangers of this concept and the threat it poses to Torah and Halacha (cf. Nefesh HaChaim 3:1-8). In short, this perspective is indeed the perspective of Hashem, but it is not for man to dwell on it (unless your name is Moshe). Humans are obligated to stay focused on their own legitimate perspective, namely, that the created universe is real.

[5] For more on the humility of Moshe, see Rabbi Paul Gelb’s article in this edition of Nitzachon.

[6] “All divine names are considered labels [which describe attributes]; the name of Y-H-V-H is the name of God’s essence” (Ruach Chaim 1:1). Citing the Zohar, Reb Chaim qualifies this statement in Nefesh HaChaim (2:2). The infinite nature of Hashem transcends human comprehension and it is forbidden to label it with any name. Y-H-V-H refers to the divine essence only inasmuch as it relates to the created universe.

[7] Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk goes so far as to say that Moshe elevated himself to a level where he lost his free-will and lacked the ability to disobey Hashem, cf. Meshech Chochmah, introduction to Shemos.

[8] “All prophets gazed through an unclear lens, but Moshe Rabbeinu gazed through a clear lens” (Yevamos 49b). The Rambam enshrined this point in his list of fundamental principles. “The seventh principle is the prophecy of Moshe Rabbeinu… He reached the level of angels. There did not remain before him any screen that he did not rend and none of the obstructions of physicality stopped him…”

[9] Hashem occasionally uses the royal “we,” as in “Let us make man” (Bereishis 1:26). “The use of pluralis majestatis, the royal “we” employed by human sovereigns to proclaim their will to their subjects, is indicative of the nature of their rule… he issues decrees and edicts solely for the general good and the general welfare… So, too, in our verse, the Creator announces the rule of man – for the good of the world and out of concern for its destiny. And so we find, in the section on the scattering of the people of the world: ‘Let us go down…’ (Bereishis 11:7)” (The Hirsch Chumash, Bereishis 1:26). This would not be the first or the last time Hashem asks a rhetorical question; see note 1.

[10] What they failed to understand was that starvation was a deliberate part of the divine plan: it challenged the Jew and steeled his faith. “I afflicted you. I starved you. I fed you the manna… so that you would know that man does not live on bread alone, rather man lives by the word of Hashem” (Devarim 8:3). “[Hashem] who fed you manna in the desert… in order to afflict you and in order to test you, for your own good in the end” (ibid 8:16). See Ramban to Shemos 16:4.

[11] See Shmuel I 8:7

[12] See Ramban to Shemos 13:16

[13] “I am standing between Hashem and you” (Devarim 5:5). Moshe’s unique position allows him to serve both as a Hashem’s representative for the nation and as the nation’s representative for Hashem. Indeed, Hashem occasionally speaks to Moshe as if Moshe is the nation. “Hashem said to Moshe… so that you will tell your children and your children’s children how I mocked Egypt…” (Shemos 10:2; Ibn Ezra ad loc.). It follows that from the perspective of the people, Moshe could be spoken of as if he was Hashem, as in the verse, Torah tzivah lanu Moshe, “The Torah was given to us (lit., commanded) by Moshe” (Devarim 33:4).

Seven Times Seven? Yericho, Yovel & the Omer Count

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Thu, 18 May 2017 03:51:00 +0000

A new shiur on the meaning of Sefiras HaOmer and the unique Kedusha of Shavuos. Click here to listen to the recording.

A big thank you to Mrs. Shoshana Rivka Bloom of Link's TLC program for inviting me to speak.

Why Did He Take Us Out?

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 00:57:00 +0000

Firstly, a big Mazal Tov to the Perl, Bookbinder and Gordon families on the engagement of Rivkie Perl of Jerusalem to Shalom Bookbinder of Toronto! May the young couple be blessed with great Simcha & Shalom and all good things, עד בלי די!

A Yasher Koach to our dear friend Selwyn Gerber for hosting today's class and for bringing out an exceptional bottle of bourbon in celebration of Rivkie's engagement.

Click here to listen to the shiur, recorded live this afternoon at Gerber & Co.

Why Did He Take Us Out? The Answer is in the Haggadah

Here's a preview: The shiur presents a new understanding of the Haggadah's mysterious line: "יכול מראש חודש, you might think [the story of the Exodus should be told] on Rosh Chodesh... the Torah therefore states, בעבור זה, 'it was for this' - [tell the story] at a time when Matzah and Marror are before you."

In other words, one might have thought Hashem took us out of Egypt because He wanted to rest His Shechina in the Mishkan on Rosh Chodesh Nisan. The Torah therefore teaches us that He did not do it for Himself, He did it for us. Now click on the link and listen, and you will understand.

Shabbos at Sinai: Experiencing the Impossible

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 20:01:00 +0000

The Torah invests much ink and parchment in describing the buildup to the Ten Commandments. Remembering the seminal event of our history is a mitzvah in and of itself; we must read with a listening ear.

"Hashem came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain..." (Shemos 19:20)

It sounds as if the Creator of the Universe left heaven behind, entered our world and landed on a hill in the Sinai Desert, but this is not the whole story. The reality of the revelation was more complex.

"Hashem came down on Mount Sinai" - One might think He literally came down onto it, the verse therefore states [later], "You have seen that I have spoken to you from the heavens..." (20:19). [The combined verses] teach us that He bent the upper and lower heavens and spread them out on the mountain like a sheet on a bed. And then the divine throne - כסא הכבוד - descended on them. (Rashi ad loc. citing Mechilta)

Hashem was on the mountain and in heaven, at the very same time? Yes. He brought heaven down with Him. This resolves the contradiction and Rashi believes that this is the correct way to understand the text.

Forgive me, but what exactly are we supposed to do with this information? Disregard it as inscrutable and irrelevant? If that were true, the Torah would not record it, Rashi would not comment, and we would all live happily ever after. Hashem is describing the scene for posterity and He is undoubtedly telling us something important. Our job is to figure out what that something is.
תורה היא וללמוד אני צריך

The Torah gives us two versions of the Ten Commandments, one on location in Parshas Yisro and one forty years later when Moshe reiterates them in Parshas Va'eschanan. Early commentators posit that the first version appeared on the original tablets which were smashed by Moshe when he saw the Golden Calf, and the second version appeared on the second set of tablets (Gaon cited by Ibn Ezra).

Although both versions are basically identical, significant discrepancies do appear in the fourth commandment, the mitzvah of Shabbos. In the first version, we are told to "remember" - זכור - the day of Shabbos to sanctify it, whereas in the in the second version, the mitzvah is not to remember, but to "guard" - שמור - the day of Shabbos to sanctify it. As the Ramban writes, this is indeed a fundamental change, for a mitzvah to "remember" requires a positive act, reciting Kiddush, as opposed to "guard" which is essentially passive, abstaining from violating Shabbos.

The Gemora resolves the problem. שמור וזכור בדבור אחד נאמרו. Both obligations - to remember and to guard - are equally valid and were declared simultaneously by Hashem at Mount Sinai.

Generally, the Torah does not give reasons for mitzvos, however, Shabbos is one of the exceptions, and here we find another major discrepancy between the two versions of the Fourth Commandment. According to the first version, working for six days and resting on the seventh affirms that Hashem created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. The second version, however, makes no mention of creation. Rather, it states that by observing Shabbos we affirm the Exodus from Egypt. Both ideas find expression in Kiddush, where Shabbos is said to be both זכר למעשה בראשית, commemorating creation, and זכר ליציאת מצרים, commemorating the Exodus.

III

The changes to the text of the Fourth Commandment are not random; they are complementary. There are two ways for man to relate to God and, correspondingly, there are two types of holiness and two dimensions to Shabbos.

As the infinite and timeless being that created our universe, God is unfathomable to the human mind. Awareness of God thus generates awe and humility, turning man into a vessel for Kedusha. It takes work to gain and maintain this awareness and that is the mitzvah of "Zachor." We must engage in a positive act, the verbal declaration of Kiddush, to sanctify the day of Shabbos with an awareness of the Creator. This is the original Shabbos recorded in the first version of the Ten Commandments.

When the Jews sinned and built a Golden Calf, it became clear that this ideal was too challenging. Human beings are born, raised, and live out their lives trapped inside a physical universe. As such, our minds are more comfortable with the concrete than the abstract, and a physical idol seems more real than something we cannot see or touch. Even if man knows the truth, it is unrealistic to expect him to maintain an uninterrupted awareness of the Creator. And so, for the second set of tablets, Hashem emphasized a more accessible type of Kedusha: awareness of Hashem's presence in our world. While Hashem's essence is infinite and unknowable, He is also the one who entered Egypt and saved the Jewish People. The truth is, we know Him well; He cares for us and He is a constant presence in our lives. No effort is needed to generate this Kedusha; it is always there. We need only to preserve it and abstain from violating it. This is the mitzvah of "Shamor."

"It is a sign between Me and you." The day of Shabbos speaks to fullness of our relationship and as such both types of Kedusha are present: God as Creator and God as Redeemer. The Creator is beyond us; the Redeemer is with us. This dichotomy is the paradox of the God/man relationship - and it cannot be any other way. One type of Kedusha without the other is not only incomplete, it is false. A person who accepts God as Creator but denies His involvement in our lives is no less a heretic than the person who humanizes God and relates to Him as a friend. An authentic experience of God requires the coexistence of both perspectives: שמור וזכור בדבור אחד נאמרו. Hashem said "guard" and "remember" simultaneously. This is the unified Kedusha of Shabbos.

The duality of man's relationship with Hashem finds expression in the beracha we recite before performing a mitzvah.

Blessed are You Hashem our lord, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us with His mitzvos and commanded us to...

The sentence begins by referring to Hashem in second person (blessed are You) and then switches mid-sentence to third person (His mitzvos). It is grammatically inconsistent and deliberately so. As we prepare to perform a mitzvah, we encounter the impossible, the concurrent presence and distance of the God Who sanctifies us.

Returning now to Sinai, the meaning of the contradictory verses is clear. When giving the commandments, Hashem spoke to us from the mountain and from heaven. Yes, that is impossible, but it is the familiar impossibility we call Kedusha.

The Flavor of Love: Towards a New Appreciation of the Manna

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 01:08:00 +0000

Although Pharaoh capitulated at the tenth plague and finally freed the Jews, Hashem wasn't done with him yet.

I shall strengthen Pharaoh's heart and he will pursue you. (Shemos 14:4)

Pharaoh pursues the Jews to the sea, the sea splits, and then... you know the story. The question is why? Why split the sea? If Hashem wanted to kill Pharaoh and destroy his army, He had ample opportunity to do it in Egypt during the Ten Plagues. There was no need for yet another miracle.

As the Egyptian army closed in on the Jews, Hashem told Moshe exactly why this was happening.

ואיכבדה בפרעה ובכל חילו ברכבו ובפרשיו - "I will be glorified through Pharaoh, and through his entire army, his chariots and his horsemen. (14:17; see also 14:18, 14:4)

Hashem split for the sea for His kavod, His honor and glory. Assuming that the Creator is not insecure or arrogant, how are we to understand the meaning of this?

A clue to the answer appears later in the Parsha, in the story of the manna. When the Jews run out of Matzah, they complain.

The entire community of Bnei Yisroel complained to Moshe and Aaron in the desert. The Bnei Yisroel said to them, “If only Hashem had killed us in the land of Egypt when we sat by the meat pot, when we ate bread to the fill! You have taken us out to this desert to kill this entire congregation by starvation!” (Shemos 16:2-3)

Yes, it is a big chutzpah, but worse, it's heresy. The Jews accuse Moshe and Aaron of bringing them into the desert when they should know good and well that Hashem is the one who took them out of Egypt. Ignoring their pleas for food, Moshe and Aaron address the basic issue of faith first.

Moshe and Aaron said to the entire Bnei Yisroel, “Tonight you will know that Hashem took you out of the land of Egypt, ובקר וראיתם את כבוד י-ה-ו-ה, and in the morning you will see the glory of Hashem. Your complaints against Hashem have been heard. What are we that you complain against us?” (ibid 16:6-7)

Moshe explains: "When Hashem gives you (quail) meat to eat in the evening and (manna) bread to the fill in the morning..." (ibid 16:8). In other words, since you seem to think we took you out of Egypt, the arrival of quail tonight will prove that Hashem orchestrated the Exodus, and in the morning, with the arrival of the manna, you will witness His glory.

Quail vs. Manna

According to the Ibn Ezra, both the quail and the manna served as "signs" that Hashem took them out of Egypt. The Ramban, however, points to the plain meaning of Moshe's words. The manna's function was different. It was an experience of Hashem's honor and glory, His kavod.

What does this mean? What is Hashem's "kavod"?

The Ramban explains that the quail and the manna are not comparable. The quail were ordinary birds that were brought in by a strong wind; the manna was a unique creation ex nihilo. When Hashem performs extraordinary wonders, the full extent of His power and sovereignty - כבוד מלכותו - is made manifest. This, writes the Ramban, was what Moshe meant when he said, "In the morning you will see the kavod of Hashem."

The distinction between the quail and the manna is clear, but it raises a different question. Was the manna really necessary? If the arrival of the quail reminded the nation that Hashem took them out of Egypt, why the need for another miracle? If Hashem wanted to give the Jews bread, He could deliver sacks of flour the same way He delivered flocks of quail. Why perform the super-miracle of the manna?

Living on Light

The Ramban continues his comments on this verse with a description of the extraordinary nature of the manna. Extraordinary is an understatement. He begins by quoting Rabbi Akivah (Yoma 75b) who said that angels eat manna. The Ramban explains that to make manna, Hashem took the spiritual light that emanates from His Shechina and gave it physical form. Manna is the splendor of the Shechina corporealized!

It goes without saying that I don't have the foggiest clue what this means. To borrow an Artscrollism, Kabbalistic concepts are "beyond the scope of this elucidation" (see header). Nonetheless, I quote it for it brings us to the Ramban's next big idea.

If the manna was so lofty and spiritual, how did it sustain men of flesh and blood? The truth is, ordinary mortals cannot live on manna. However, the Jews of that generation were not ordinary. They witnessed the splitting of the sea, and it changed them. When the sea split, it was a revelation of God greater than the prophet Yechezkel ever saw. In the words of the Ramban, the souls of the Jews were "elevated" by the experience, and that is what made it possible for them to live on manna, the food of angels.

The Ramban thus links the sea and the manna: both are manifestations of the Shechina, and as such, the sea is what made the manna possible. These two miracles also share another distinction, a most puzzling common denominator: both the splitting of the sea and the manna stand out as the greatest miracles of our history - and we didn't need either of them. Both could be deleted from our history with no negative effect. But the question answers itself. It certainly is true that we did not need the manna or the sea - and that is exactly the point. These miracles functioned solely to reveal the kavod of Hashem.

If Pharaoh did not pursue the Jews and the sea never split, then the Exodus would simply be the salvation of an oppressed people. Had the manna never appeared, the quail would serve to keep the Jews alive in the desert. The formative miracles of our history would all be purely utilitarian, and this was not Hashem's intent.

The completely unnecessary revelation at the sea and the edible light called manna were Hashem's way of saying that something else is happening here: the Creator desires an intimate relationship with man. Hashem wants the Chosen People to recognize His kavod and to know who He is. He therefore orchestrated a ruse, a transparent excuse to reveal Himself for no reason other than love itself.

A Nes of Faithfulness; a Nes of Kindness

Now we understand Hashem's response to the Jew's embarrassing failure of faith. When the Jews forgot their history and blamed Moshe for taking them into the desert, Hashem refreshes the their memory with a replay of the two fundamental messages of the Exodus. First, He restores their faith by delivering quail and reminding them that He took them out of Egypt. This happens at night, matching the original emancipation - the Tenth Plague - which occurred at midnight. Hashem then reveals his kavod with the manna in the morning, just as the Jews experienced the splitting of the sea in the morning.

The timing of these events has great symbolic significance. The rising sun proclaims Hashem's kindness and the darkness of night calls for faith. This dichotomy, the contrast of day and night, was spelled out by the Psalmist. "To speak of your kindness in the morning and of your faithfulness in the evening" (Tehillim 92:3). Taking us out of Egypt was a divine act of faithfulness, a fulfilment of Hashem's promise to Avrahom. That is why it occurred at night, a time of faith. In contrast, the forefathers were never told about the revelation at the sea. It was a surprise gift; an expression of Hashem's love for His fiancee, the Chosen Nation. That is why it occurred in the morning, a time of kindness.

The same is true for the quail and the manna. Providing food was an act of faithfulness - Hashem had to take responsibility for the nation's survival - and so it came at night, like the freedom from slavery. But the manna, the light of the Shechina, was a divine kiss, if you will, and that is why it came with the rising sun, like the splitting of the sea.

Faithometer

Hashem introduced the manna with these words:

"I will rain down bread for you from the heavens. The nation will go out and collect each day's ration daily, in order for Me to test them, will they follow my instructions or not." (16:4)

What is the test of the manna? The Ramban explains that it is not easy for people to live in a desert and have to rely on miracles for survival. To agree to such an existence requires an extraordinary degree of faith. By entering the desert after the Exodus the Jews demonstrated their loyalty and Hashem took note. "I remember the the kindness of your youth, the love of your nuptials; you followed after Me into the desert, a land where nothing grows" (Yermiyah 2:2). With the challenge of manna, Hashem continually tested the strength of the nation's loyalty.

The manna thus served as a barometer of faith and a geiger counter for sin. "Just as the prophets would speak to the Jews [about crimes they hide] in holes and cracks, so too the manna would tell the Jews what [lurks] in the holes and cracks" (Yoma 75a). Manna fell at the front door of the righteous, but the less righteous you were, the further you had to travel to find your portion of manna (ibid). It was a symbiotic relationship: manna produced faith and faith produced manna.

Stop Praying?

When the Jews were trapped between the enemy and the sea, they were obviously terrified. Some began to cry out in prayer (14:10). Moshe said to the people, "Do not be afraid! Stand and watch the salvation of Hashem... Hashem will do battle for you, and you will be silent!" (14:13). Hashem then said to Moshe, "Why do you cry out to me? Speak to the Jews and move!" (14:14).

It is surprising enough to hear Moshe telling people to stop praying, stranger yet, Hashem tells Moshe to stop too! Why is everyone so down on prayer?

The Ohr HaChaim explains that prayer may be an appropriate response in a crisis, but it is not always sufficient. Sometimes extra merit is required for salvation and the call of the hour is not prayer, but an act of faith. The blind march of the people directly into the deadly waves was needed to induce the divine intervention that split the sea.

Once again we find that the manna and the sea share a basic feature. This time it is not the quality or the purpose of the miracle, but the driving force behind it: faith. Both at the sea and in the desert, acts of faith produced acts of God. The reason is easy to understand. When we rise above self-centered, predictable behavior and demonstrate our love with a sacrificial gesture, Hashem responds in kind, violating the natural order to reveal His love for us. Ironically, on both sides of the relationship, meaning is derived specifically from the needlessness of it all. As in human relationships, love between man and God finds expression in the things you don't have to do. (See Mesilas Yesharim, chap. 18)

Give Love, Get Love: Why Moshe Was Chosen

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 05:33:00 +0000

Only thirty-two verses into the Book of Shemos and the Jewish People are already enslaved and oppressed, Pharaoh is engaged in genocide, and the young Moshe is comfortably ensconced in the royal palace.

"And it happened in those days that Moshe grew up. He went out to his brethren, וירא בסבלותם, and he saw their burdens..." (2:11).

Rashi explains. "He saw their burdens: נתן עיניו ולבו להיות מיצר עליהם. Translated literally, "He set his eyes and heart to be distressed about them." In plain English, Moshe invested the necessary effort to feel their pain. Although the phrase "he saw their burdens" is ambiguous, the introductory words "he went out to his brethren" indicates that Moshe was not a gawker or a journalist. Moshe cared about the Jews and related to them as a brother.

The depth of Moshe's empathy is described by the Midrash (Shemos Rabba 1:27).

"He saw their burdens" - What does "he saw" mean? [Moshe] saw their burdens and he cried. He said, "I feel your pain. I wish I could die for you! There is no labor more difficult than working with cement." He shouldered [their burdens] and helped everyone.

Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yossi HaGalilee said, [Moshe] saw the burden of adults on children and the burden of children on adults, the burden of men on women and the burden of women on men, the burden of the elderly on the young and the burden of the young on the elderly. Abandoning his rank, he went and lightened their burdens. [He did it all] acting as if he was assisting Pharaoh.

God said, "You abandoned your own business and went to see the pain of the Jews and you treated them like brothers, I too will abandon the upper and lower realms and I will speak with you." This is what the verse states [by the burning bush]: "Hashem saw that he turned to look" (3:4), i.e., God saw that Moshe turned away from his own business to see their burdens, that is why "God called to him from within the bush..." (ibid).

It was not the arrogance of noblesse oblige that motivated Moshe's charitable activities, nor feelings of guilt for his privileged position. Moshe was driven by a simple and pure love for his fellow Jews, his "brethren." However, the Midrash makes it clear that the selection of Moshe was not due to his love for the Jews or even for attempting to alleviate their suffering. Moshe was chosen specifically because he abandoned his rank and went down into the trenches. This elicited a matching divine response: "I too will abandon the upper and lower realms and I will speak with you."

The Good Kapos

To help oversee the massive slave population, the Egyptians appointed Jews to serve as taskmasters, similar to the system of Kapos implemented millennia later by the Nazis. When Pharaoh gave the order to cease providing straw for bricks, it became the responsibility of the Jewish taskmasters to enforce the quota. Jews scoured the countryside in search of straw, but they came up short.

The Jewish taskmasters appointed by Pharaoh's supervisors were beaten... The Jewish taskmasters went and cried to Pharaoh, "Why have you done this to your servants? Your servants are not provided with straw and we are told to make bricks?! Your servants were beaten! It is a national injustice!" [Pharaoh] replied, "You are lazy! Lazy! That is why you say let us go bring offerings to Hashem..."

Rashi quotes a Midrash:

The taskmasters were Jewish and they took pity on their fellow [Jews] and would not pressure them. When they supplied the bricks to the Egyptian supervisors and the total was lacking, they beat them for not pushing the workers [to complete the quota]. The Jewish taskmasters were therefore rewarded [years later] by [being appointed to] the Sanhedrin, the High Court.

To qualify for the Sanhedrin, a great legal mind is insufficient. Hashem wants justices of great compassion; men willing to take a beating for their fellow Jew. (Compassion is actually a legislated Halachic requirement for a judge, cf. Hilchos Sanhedrin 2:3.)

However, there is another point here. The taskmasters bravely challenged Pharaoh and declared, וחטאת עמך - "It is a national injustice!" Those who stood up against the tyrannical decrees of the Egyptian State are the ones selected to serve on the High Court in the future Jewish State. Hashem directs the flow of His Torah, His Halacha, and His Justice into the world through individuals who sacrificed for justice. Once again, we find the courageous acts of the righteous eliciting a matching divine response.

I Will Be What I Will Be

At the burning bush, Moshe asks Hashem what he should tell the people when they ask for God's name. Hashem responds, "I will be what I will be" (3:14). The answer is a riddle and the Ramban quotes a Midrash to explain it. "Just as you will be with Me, so will I be with you. If they open their hands and act charitably, then I too will open My hand... and if they don't open their hands..."

Hashem is saying that He relates to the Jews "measure for measure." If the Jews practice caring and kindness toward each other, then Hashem will do the same for the nation. And if they don't, He won't either. This is what Hashem meant when He said, "I will be what I will be." What I will be is an open question. It depends on you.

Hashem Saw and Hashem Knew

And it was in this long era that the king of Egypt died. The Jews sighed from the work and they cried out and their cries rose up to God from the work. God heard their groans and God remembered his Bris, his covenant, with Avraham, with Yitzchok and with Yaakov. God saw the Bnei Yisroel and God knew. (3:23-25)

"And God knew"? What does that mean? Rashi explains: נתן עליהם לב ולא העלים עיניו. Hashem focused on their plight and determined to address the issue.

This explains "and God knew," but what about "God saw"? What does that mean? The verse already stated that Hashem heard the cries of the nation and remembered His promise to their forefathers. What is added by saying that he "saw" the Jewish People?

We know from Moshe that going to "see" the Jews does not refer to mere observation, it means experiencing deep empathy. The word is surely being used in the same sense here. Hashem saw and felt the pain of the Jewish People.

At the burning bush we learned that when Jews are charitable, Hashem responds in kind. Putting these facts together, we can say that Hashem "saw" the Jews and focused on their plight because Moshe "saw" the Jews and focused on their plight. This explains why Hashem's "seeing" the Jews appears after remembering the Bris with the Avos. Hashem's empathy is a new and unplanned component of the redemption, one not included in the original Bris but inspired and brought down by Moshe.

I called my father in Israel this morning to present this insight and hear his reaction. He was positive. When I asked where this extra divine empathy might have expressed itself, my father immediately came up with an excellent suggestion. He noted that Hashem did not send an angel to redeem the Jews from Egypt, but took them out בכבודו ובעצמו, "personally." As the Torah records and as the Haggadah emphasizes, at midnight of the Tenth Plague, Hashem Himself entered Egypt to save the Jews. This is certainly an expression of divine love, one which does not appear in Hashem's promise to the Avos.

I am delighted with my father's pshat, for the singularity of divine revelation is the perfect response to the singularity of human kindness. Moshe lowered himself from his upper class perch, rolled up his sleeves and got into the trenches with the oppressed Jews, simply because he loved them. When the time came for redemption, Hashem did the exact the same thing. "I will be what I will be." When Jews love each other, Hashem loves them too.

After hearing my father's insight in the Kollel on Thursday night, Mr. Ben Schuraytz pointed out another parallel between the acts of Moshe and the Tenth Plague. When Moshe went out to his brethren to see their burdens, he strikes down an Egyptian who was beating a Jew. This is an apt description of what Hashem does in the Tenth Plague: He strikes down the leadership responsible for the oppression of the Jewish People. It is noteworthy that the Torah used the word ויך, "and he smote," to describe Moshe's killing of the Egyptian, the very same word it uses for the plagues, מכות. The parallel is even more striking when we consider the Midrash, quoted by Rashi, that Moshe killed the Egyptian by uttering a Name of God. Moshe knew that invoking the Divine Presence would bring about the death of the Egyptian - and Hashem later uses the very same method in the Tenth Plague! Revelation itself is what kills the firstborn. In both empathy and in justice, Hashem mimics Moshe.

"If I am not for myself, then who is for me?" When a Jew loves, then Hashem loves, and Hashem directs His blessings to the nation through the Jew who inspired the divine love in the first place. As the Midrash taught, Moshe was selected to be our savior because he cared.

On the Trail of Blessings: What Did Yosef Want?

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 04:35:00 +0000

I had a short and sweet insight just this morning and Jeff Rohatiner encouraged me to share it on the blog. Torah has a life of its own and the little insight has grown into part 7.25 of the Trail Series.

Yosef was unable to control his emotions... "I am Yosef! Is my father still alive?" (45:1,3)

Apparently, Yosef was not finished with his brothers. His plan was as yet incomplete, but he was unable to follow through. Compassion for his brothers forced him to reveal his identity prematurely.

What more did Yosef want to do? What was his plan? According to some (Hakesav V'HaKabala; Meshech Chochma) Yosef wanted his father Yaakov to come down to Egypt and bow before him in fulfillment of his second dream. Whatever Yosef's intentions were, it is clear that he miscalculated. He was too weak to bring his plan to fruition.

Strange. Why would Yosef make a plan that he could not carry out? The answer is that Yosef failed to account for something. When Yaakov sent the brothers back to Egypt, he gave them a blessing.

Yaakov their father said to them, ... "The Almighty God - אל שדי - should grant you compassion before that man." (43:14)

Yosef was strong, but he could not withstand the blessing of Yaakov. A divine wave of compassion forced Yosef to abandon his plan and reveal his identity.

A Father's Blessing

On second thought, Yosef was a very wise man and he should have anticipated this. Yaakov's blessing was not an oversight. On the contrary, it was exactly what Yosef wanted.

Hashem granted Avrohom the power to bless (12:2) and the power to curse (12:3). Yosef knew that his father Yaakov inherited these powers, and Yosef also knew that blessings and curses function well even when the recipient is unknown. Yitzchok unknowingly blessed Yaakov and Yaakov unknowingly cursed Rachel. Nonetheless, ignorance did not mitigate the effect of their words.

Yosef wanted a Beracha from his father, a Beracha that God should grant him compassion for his brothers. As a teenager, Yosef would speak Lashon HaRa about them, but as a mature adult, he would do no such thing. Unwilling to tell his father that the brothers sold him into slavery, the only way Yosef could get the Beracha he so desperately needed was to orchestrate a ruse. And it worked! Yaakov asks God to grant "that man" compassion and we watch as Yosef's heart melts.

A Blessing and a Curse

Blessings and curses play yet another role in our story. When Yosef first set his eyes on Binyomin, he blesses him. אלוהים יחנך בני - "May God have pity on you, my son" (43:29). That's a surprising thing to say. Why would Binyomin need divine pity?

Before they depart on their return journey to Israel, Yosef frames the brothers, planting his goblet in Binyomin's pack. When accused of stealing Yosef's goblet, the brothers say, "He among your servants with whom it is found should die!" (44:9). Lo and behold, the goblet is found in Binyomin's pack, and the brothers are guilty of cursing with death the very person they commited to protect.

After the tragedy of Yaakov's curse which killed Rachel, the brothers should have known better than to make such statements. Yosef knew this and he therefore got the brothers drunk before their departure (43:34), weakening their resistance to the natural, impulsive reaction.

Yosef intended for the brothers to curse Binyomin! This was all part of his plan, and this is why he preemptively blessed Binyomin with divine pity.

Now we have a faceoff. It's the brother's curse against Yosef's blessing. Who wins? Yosef! Unlike Rachel who was killed by Yaakov's curse, Binyomin survives his brother's curse and does not die. What Yosef is demonstrating is that the family legacy, the power to bless and the power to curse, belongs not to the brothers, but to him! Yosef is the inheritor of the legacy of Avroham, Yitzchok and Yaakov!

This is exactly what the brothers were afraid of. As they understood it, Yosef's dreams foretold that he would seize the family blessings and rule over them. That is why they hated him and now Yosef shows them that they were right. Yosef could seize power, but he doesn't. Instead, Yosef shares the destiny of the nation with all of his eleven brothers.

In the end, the brothers were right about the dreams, but wrong about Yosef.

[Continue the series with part 7.5 by clicking here.]

Making Your Dreams Come True

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 18:58:00 +0000

How Yosef Redeemed Himself, Revised the Future, and Reunified the House of Israel

Originally published in Nitzachon

[A word of warning: readers of the Trail Series will recognize the ideas presented in the introductory paragraphs. However, this essay develops things further, breaking new ground and containing many new insights. If you liked the Trail Series, you will love this piece, and if you like this piece, then you must read the Trail Series - it provides the backstory.]

Although it is the subject matter of nearly half of Sefer Bereishis, the story of Yosef and his brothers rarely receives the scrutiny it requires. Familiarity breeds neglect. All too often, we rely on the superficial reading we learned in elementary school and fail to relearn the formative events of our nation as adults. This article is a limited foray into the many mysteries of Yosef’s life: his dreams, his dream interpretations, and his complicated relationship with his family. Although some points are speculative, our intention is to stir debate and hopefully play a role in bringing these issues back where they belong: at the forefront of our consciousness.

The saga was born of hatred. “His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers and they hated him” (37:4). Exacerbating the situation was the fact that Yosef spoke lashon hara. “He told his father every negative thing that he saw by his brothers the sons of Leah” (Rashi to 37:2). Under these conditions, it is reasonable for the brothers to be upset. However, the intensity of their feelings, the burning jealousy and the hatred, can only be understood in light of family history.

Avraham received extraordinary divine blessings – wealth, power, fame, a country and a dynasty – but not all of his children inherited it. Yishmael was found unworthy and expelled and Yitzchok took all. In the second generation, the same thing happened again. Yitzchok had two sons, Yaakov and Eisav, but Eisav was left empty handed and Yaakov was the sole inheritor. Now we are in the third generation and Yaakov’s sons can take nothing for granted. The big question is on everyone’s mind. Who will get the blessings?

Another worrisome precedent troubles the third generation. When Yitzchok selected his favorite son Eisav, Yaakov took action to prevent the blessings from falling into the wrong hands. He tricked his father and seized the blessings that were rightfully his. The brothers fear history will repeat itself. They suspect that Yaakov will follow in his father’s footsteps and give all the blessings to his favorite son Yosef. And when Yosef speaks lashon hara about them to Yaakov, they naturally suspect that Yosef is walking in his father’s footsteps, attempting to ensure the blessings don’t end up in the hands of an “evil” son.

Yet another piece of family history weighs on the mind of the brothers: that of Yosef’s mother Rachel. Our most influential matriarch, Rachel was a spiritual supergiant; a woman who exemplified selfless caring for others. However, blinded by rivalry, the sons of the other mothers may have had a skewed perspective. Rachel betrayed her fiancé, giving away the secret signs to her sister Leah. And in a bold act of righteous criminality, she stole her father’s treasured teraphim – and lied about it.[1] In short, both of Yosef’s parents are self-confident and forceful personalities, and when they believe something is right, they will do it, even if it comes at someone else’s expense. With genes like these, it is reasonable for the brothers to expect that Yosef will self-righteously seize their birthright. The brothers know that they are worthy and capable of furthering the family’s destiny, and that they need to protect their spiritual future from being usurped by Yosef. This is why they hate him.

And then Yosef has a dream.

The First Dream

Yosef tells his brothers what he saw in his dream.

“We are bundling bundles of grain in the field and my bundle suddenly stands up straight. Your bundles surround it and bow down to my bundle.” (37:7)

Obviously, telling his brothers about his dream is not going to improve their relationship, but to understand their reaction we must once again turn to family history.

The brothers are undoubtedly struck by the appearance of grain in the dream. Why are the sons of Yaakov in a field harvesting grain? They are shepherds, not farmers! But then the brothers remembered the blessings. Many years earlier, when the time came for grandfather Yitzchok to bless his children, he began with these words: “Hashem will grant you from the dew of the sky and from the fat of the earth, much grain and wine…”

Grain is the first blessing and Yosef is claiming it for himself! The brothers’ suspicions are heightened, but it isn’t until the second dream that their fears are confirmed.

The Second Dream

Yosef has a second dream. He sees the sun, the moon and eleven stars in the sky bowing to him. He shares this dream with his family and the reaction is fierce.

His father yelled at him and said, “What is this dream that you have dreamt? Will we come – I, and your mother and your brothers – to bow down to you to the ground?!” (37:10)

Rashi explains Yaakov’s skepticism.

“Will we come – I, and your mother…? But your mother is already dead!” He did not realize that it referred to Bilha who raised him like a mother.

Yaakov’s question is a good one, but why is he so upset? Once again, the answer is to be found in the blessings of Yitzchok. Thinking he was talking to Eisav, Yitzchok said, “…You will be master over your brothers and the sons of your mother will bow to you.”

Brother bowing to brother is a central feature of the blessings! As far as the brothers are concerned, the game is up: Yosef clearly sees himself as the sole inheritor and future master of the family. His father’s favorite and a son of both Yaakov and Rachel, nothing will stop Yosef from stealing what is rightfully theirs. Yaakov knows what his sons are thinking and he tries to downplay the dream’s significance, but the damage is already done.

To save themselves and to secure the legacy of Avraham, the brothers take preemptive action and sell Yosef into slavery. The tragedy here is that the brothers’ fears drive them to commit the very crimes they are trying to prevent: throwing a brother out of the family, plundering his share of divine blessings, and lying to a parent. All for the sake of Heaven and all in line with family precedents.

(There is one glitch that cannot escape notice. When Yitzchok spoke of bowing brothers, he referred explicitly to “the sons of your mother.” Yosef’s mother was Rachel, and Benyamin is his only full brother. All the other brothers were born of different mothers. Yosef’s vision of all eleven of his brothers bowing to him does not quite match up with the wording of Yitzchok’s blessing. Yosef and the brothers must have wondered about this.)

Yaakov is upset and the brothers are jealous because they understand what the dreams foretell. Yosef will rule. Yosef will inherit the rights and powers vested in the Abrahamic blessings. Right? Wrong.

It never happens. Yosef never does become king; that role is reserved for the tribe of Yehuda. Nor does Yosef become Kohen; that honor goes to Levi. While it is true that Yosef's two sons are elevated to the status of shevatim, it is difficult to see this as a fulfilment of the dreams or the blessings. Historically, the tribes of Ephraim and Menashe have no leadership role and no greater prominence than any other tribe.

So what became of Yosef's dreams? If the Torah records them, they must be significant. What do they mean?

Bowing Etiquette

When the brothers first arrive in Egypt and stand before Yosef, he accuses them of being spies.

Yosef recognized his brothers and they did not recognize him. Yosef remembered the dreams he dreamt about them and he said, "You are spies! You have come to find the land's weakness." (42:8-9)

With this false accusation Yosef begins his long torment of the family, which includes the imprisonment of Shimon, months of anxiety for Yaakov, and the framing of Benyamin. What exactly is Yosef doing? Even if it were possible to suspect Yosef HaTzaddik of engaging in revenge, that untenable suggestion is refuted by Yosef's repeated emotional breakdowns. Revenge is sweet, not painful.

According to the Ramban, Yosef was busy making his dreams come true.

When Yosef saw his brothers bowing to him, he remembered all of the dreams he dreamt about them and he realized that neither of them was fulfilled with this [bowing] event. For he knew their interpretation. First, all his brothers would bow to him. This comes from the first dream, "we were bundling bundles of grain" (37:7), "we" means all of his eleven brothers. And the second time, in the second dream, the sun, moon and eleven stars bow to him. Since Yosef did not see Benyamin with them, he came up with this strategy of accusing them [of being spies] so that they would also bring his brother Benyamin to him in order to fulfill the first dream first.

This is why he didn't want to tell them [now] "I am Yosef your brother" ... as he does on the second time [they come to Egypt]. For [if he would reveal his identity now], his father would certainly come immediately [and the first dream would not be fulfilled independently]. Only after the first dream is fulfilled does he tell them to fulfill the second dream.

Absent this [explanation], Yosef would be committing a terrible crime to put his father through pain, making him bereft and in mourning for so many days over [the imprisonment of] Shimon and over [the disappearance of Yosef] himself. Even if he wanted to make his brothers suffer a little, how could he not have compassion on his father? But [the truth is that Yosef] did everything at the right time in order to make the dreams come true.

As brilliant as it is, the Ramban's approach is difficult to accept. Are we to believe that the meaning of Yosef's dreams is the mechanical bowing of his brothers and his father, in a specific order? What is the significance of that? More disturbing is the idea that Yosef is making his father suffer in the pursuit of a personal agenda. Since when did making your dreams come true become a Mitzvah?

The Dream Interpreter

The Talmud (Berachos 55b) teaches that dreams are flexible. Dreams have multiple valid possibilities and they materialize however they are interpreted.[2] This gives dream interpreters a remarkable degree of power and Yosef was dream interpreter par excellence.

The truth of this reality is indicated by Yosef's own words to the royal butler:

"For if you remember me, just as I have been good to you, you should please do me a favor and mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this [prison] house!" (40:14).

To ask for the pardon of a man convicted of attempted rape, a foreigner and a slave no less, is no small request, and a newly freed prisoner in no position to ask for favors. Yosef knows he is asking a lot and he tells the butler to do it "just as I have been good to you." What did Yosef do for the butler? All Yosef did was explain his dream and in return for that Yosef asks the butler to request a pardon from the king?! The answer is that dreams follow their interpretation. Yosef didn't just explain a dream; he saved the butler's life, and now he rightly asks the butler to do the same for him.

Cognizant of the power of dream interpreters, my father, Rabbi Noam Gordon, explained our difficult Ramban.

Of course the plain meaning of Yosef's dreams is that he will be king, but Yosef does not want to be king. He does not want to usurp his brothers’ role and the very idea has torn the family apart. As a dream interpreter, Yosef has the power to grab a dream by the horns and direct it as he wishes. Exercising this ability, Yosef decides to defuse his dreams by interpreting them literally. His brothers will merely bow down to him and that will be the end of it. Once that is accomplished, Yosef can reveal his identity and the brothers will have nothing to worry about. The dreams will be gone.

Now we understand why Yosef put his family through this ordeal. It was the only way to get rid of the dreams. As the Ramban wrote, had Yosef revealed his identity right away, Yaakov would have come straight down to Egypt together with Benyamin and the option of interpreting the dreams literally would have been closed.

It is a marvelous explanation, but taking things one step further, we end up with a disturbing result. Aside from his own dreams, Yosef also interprets the dreams of Pharaoh’s baker and butler. If dreams follow their interpretation, then Yosef is responsible not only for saving the butler’s life, but also for the death of the baker. Surely Yosef could have come up with an alternative interpretation! Who gave Yosef the right to kill a man?

Disturbing as it is, this question pales in comparison with the one posed by next episode in Yosef’s career. When the king of Egypt dreams of stalks eating stalks and cows eating cows, Yosef is taken out of the dungeon to explain it. Yosef insists that it is all God’s doing – “It is not me… God is showing Pharaoh what He is about to do” (41:16,28) – but we know that this is only half the story. Hashem empowered Yosef to make the call. Later on, the Torah makes this point explicitly: "The seven years of plenty that Egypt experienced came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, as Yosef said, and there was a famine in all the lands..." (41:53-54). The famine was not "as God decreed," nor was it "as Pharaoh dreamed." Rather, the famine occurred "as Yosef said!" Yosef is the one responsible for the famine.

Yosef is brilliant and creative and he has many options at his disposal, yet he decides to create a horrific famine. Why would he do that?!

A Dream and a Nightmare

Yosef had two dreams. In his first dream, his father is ominously absent. Understandably, Yosef never tells his father about this dream. In Yosef’s second dream, his father is present, powerfully represented by the sun. Another basic difference: In dream number one, Yosef's brothers appear to be his slaves, but in dream number two, they are untouchable and he looks up to them as stars.

Hashem is presenting Yosef with two options. Yosef will be given the opportunity to enslave his brothers, but for that to occur, their father cannot be present. Alternatively, Yosef can bring his father into the picture as the patriarch of the family, but that requires putting his brothers on a pedestal. It will be for Yosef to choose which vision to bring to life. On a deeper level, Hashem is presenting Yosef with two different versions of himself. Yosef can follow in the footsteps of his father Yaakov and be a Tzaddik or he can be a Rasha like Uncle Eisav. The choice is his.

The idea that Yosef's two dreams prophesize two different futures is not as radical as it sounds. In fact, it can be inferred from the words of Yosef himself. When Pharaoh relates his two similar dreams, Yosef states that the two are one and the same (41:25), and the repetition of the dream indicates that "Hashem has it all set up and Hashem is rushing to make it happen" (41:32). It follows that if one were to have two similar dreams back to back and they did not materialize quickly, that would prove that they were not the same dream. As Yosef's dreams did not materialize for twenty-two years, they must be different. [It is worth noting that despite Yosef's assertion that Pharaoh's two dreams are "one," they in fact speak of two different manifestations of the famine (cf. Meshech Chochma to Miketz).] (This paragraph added 1/23/2020.)

At the very beginning of our story, Yosef was living at home and speaking lashon hara about his brothers. Which brothers, exactly? According to the way the Ramban translates the pasuk, the Torah is clear:

Yosef was seventeen… despite his youth, he led the sons of Bilha and the sons of Zilpa, his father’s wives, and Yosef spoke negatively about them to his father.”

Why did Yosef speak negatively about Dan, Naftali, Gad and Asher? The answer is in the verse. Yosef did not consider them to be his brothers. He did not even consider them to be his father’s sons. They are the “sons of his father's wives." Yosef’s attitude suggests resentment and it undoubtedly has its roots in the early death of his mother Rachel and his strained relationship with her “replacement,” his stepmother Bilha.

When Yaakov reacted to Yosef’s dream, he was correct to focus on the moon, for the moon holds the secret to saving the family. As Rashi explained, the moon tells us that Yosef’s mother is alive and well. Her name is Bilha.

Yosef must make peace with Yaakov’s second marriage to Bilha and he must view himself as Bilha’s son. In so doing, his relationship with Dan and Naftali will be fixed, for he will cease viewing them as “sons of his father’s wife.”

They must be recognized as full-fledged brothers, sons of his own father and mother, and then Yosef will appreciate their strengths, not publicize their weaknesses. From there Yosef can move on to recognizing all of Yaakov’s wives as matriarchs and accepting all of Yaakov’s sons as brothers. If Yosef does that, the family will be whole. Otherwise, we are left with the nightmare scenario of the first dream.

Years later, Yosef is masquerading as an Egyptian viceroy and his brothers are all assembled before him, helpless and at his mercy. Yaakov is far away in Israel, low on food and anxiously awaiting his sons’ return. The time has come for Yosef to make a choice.

Bursting into tears, he cries out, "I am Yosef! Is my father still alive?" He then kisses each of his brothers and cries with them (45:3,15).

Yosef is telling his brothers that he rejects the first dream and its dark temptations of revenge and power. What he wants is family. Yosef has chosen dream number two and for that Yaakov must be present, and so Yosef asks, “Is my father still alive?”

Yosef has passed the test and the mystery of Yitzchok’s prophecy is resolved. “Your mother’s sons will bow to you.” By embracing his brothers, Yosef has indeed transformed the sons of his father’s wives into the sons of his own mother.

Yosef and Avraham

Secrets are buried beneath the surface of dreams and extracting them requires the right tool. Diamonds are mined with explosives. Dreams are mined with questions.

In Yosef’s second dream, he sees the sun, the moon and eleven stars. There is a very obvious problem with this picture. Stars are invisible when the sun is in the sky!

Yosef was not the first man to see stars during the day. Great-grandfather Avraham saw them too, in the midst of the bris bein habesarim.

The words of Hashem came to Avraham in a vision… He brought him outside and He said, “Look now at the sky and count the stars, if you can count them.” And He said, “So will be your descendants.” …The sun began to set… (15:1,5,17)

If the sun first sets at the end of the prophecy, then it must have been in the sky when Avraham was stargazing. How is this possible?[3] After acknowledging that the plain meaning of the text is that Hashem literally brought Avraham outside of his tent to view the stars, Rashi quotes a Midrash that reads the verse allegorically. Hashem said to Avraham, “Breakout from your destiny! You saw in the stars that you would not have a son. Avram has no son, but Avraham does have a son.” Rashi then cites another Midrash. “[Hashem] took him outside of the universe and lifted him up above the stars…” From that perspective, the sun can certainly be seen together with all the other stars.

Stars represent the forces of nature. Divine providence flows through the zodiacal constellations (mazalos),[4] particularly through the constellation in which the sun is currently located (cf. Rosh Hashanah 11b). When Hashem told Avraham to look at the stars during the day, He was directing Avraham’s attention to that month’s mazal. Hashem then said, “So will be your descendants!” In other words, divine providence and blessings will flow into the world through the Jewish People just as they flow through the mazalos. Hashem essentially said the same thing to Avraham years earlier. “Through you will be blessed all the families of the earth” (Bereishis 12:3). This is why the Jewish People have no mazal; they are themselves a mazal.[5]

Seeing stars by day also represents the extrasensory ability to recognize invisible forces at play in our daily lives. “So will be your descendants.” This is the quality of the Jew. He knows there is a God who runs the world. He knows there is more to life than what meets the eye.

Yosef’s dream matches Avraham’s vision. Like Avraham, Yosef was given the gift of seeing stars by day. It follows that Yosef is the spiritual successor of Avraham, heir to the bris bein habesarim. This may mean that Yosef exists outside of the laws of nature and is not bound by destiny. It may mean that Yosef will be a conduit of blessing and provide sustenance for the entire world. Or it may mean that Yosef will always be cognizant of Hashem’s presence and providence. We cannot be certain of the meaning of the dream, but we do know that all of these things turn out to be true in the life of Yosef.[6]

In the ancient world, pagan man worshiped the heavenly bodies. In Yosef’s dream the scene is reversed; the sun, the moon and the stars bow before man. This is a fundamental teaching of the Torah: The center of creation is Man. The message of the mazalos bowing to Yosef is that he has the power and the mandate to transcend natural law and bend the world – and his dreams – to his will.[7]

The Seed of Yosef

The divine promise Avraham received under the stars is being channeled now through Yosef. That promise was encapsulated by the words, ko yihiyeh zarecha, “so will be your descendants.” Yosef’s zera will be as uncountable as the stars.

What if Yosef does not want this blessing? What if he wants to share it with his eleven brothers? Is there any way out?

Yosef has a plan. Usually translated as descendants, zaracha literally means “your seeds.” Aside from the zera of Avraham, there is one other thing in Sefer Bereishis which is described as uncountable: the surplus of seeds produced by Yosef. “Yosef amassed produce as numerous as the sand of the sea, until they ceased counting, for it was without number” (41:49).[8] Yosef the Dream Interpreter has manipulated the meaning of zera! Redirecting the blessing from children to food, Yosef simultaneously saves mankind from starvation and secures the legacy of Avraham for all of Yaakov’s sons.

Where did Yosef get the right to intervene in Hashem’s plans? Why didn’t Yosef submit to the plain meaning of the blessings and the dreams? Who gave Yosef a license to kill the royal baker and create a world-wide famine? The answer is his own dreams! Yosef’s dreams taught him that he has been vested with the responsibility and the power to unify the family of Yaakov and nothing in the universe is more important. Killing the baker and saving the butler cemented Yosef’s reputation as an effective dream interpreter and ultimately got him out of prison, and the famine is what put Yosef in power and brought his brothers down to Egypt. Man and Nature must bow and collude with Yosef to make his dreams come true, collateral damage notwithstanding.

The Eisav that Wasn’t

Sefer Bereishis ends with a heart-wrenching episode.

The brothers saw that their father died and they said, "Maybe Yosef hates us and will repay us for all the evil we did to him!" They sent a message to Yosef. “Before his death, your father instructed as follows, ‘Tell Yosef to please forgive now the crime of your brothers…’” Yosef cried as they spoke to him. His brothers then went and prostrated themselves before him and said, "We are your slaves."

Yosef said, "Do not be afraid. Am I in place of God? You thought evil of me; Hashem arranged it for the good in order to bring about what we have today: the sustenance of a great nation. Now, do not be afraid! I will support you and your children." He consoled them and spoke to their hearts. (50:15-22)

Yosef's response is strange. They "thought evil” of him?! They did evil to him! And why is Yosef committing to support his brothers? They came pleading for their lives, not asking for a handout.

The answer is that the brothers are not afraid of revenge; they are afraid of Yosef’s dream. Their offer to become Yosef's slaves was not driven by guilt for enslaving him – Yosef forgave them for that already (cf. 45:5). Rather, unaware that the dreams had already been neutralized, the brothers are acting in accordance with their understanding of Yosef's first dream. As long as Yaakov was alive, the second dream was in play and the brothers were as safe as the stars in the sky. But now Yaakov is gone. The brothers "saw that their father had died.” The second dream had run its course and now the time has come for the first dream to materialize. And so the brothers prostrate themselves before Yosef and declare, "We are your slaves!"

What is Yosef's response?

"You thought evil of me." You think I wish to strip you of your blessings? You accuse me of fantasizing of a dystopia where I am dictator and you are my slaves? You suspect me of being Eisav reincarnate? You think I am evil?

"Yes, I had that option and I rejected it. You forget that I do not only dream; I also interpret dreams. My first dream, the vision of your bundles bowing to mine – it is not what you think! I do not see enslavement, I see food distribution, and you are bowing in gratitude. Due to my intervention, Hashem turned my dream into an engine for good, to sustain a great nation. My dream does not mean that I shall enslave you; it means I will support you!"

In the end, the brothers were justified in their fears that Yosef would be a “thief” like his mother and a “trickster” like his father. Rachel had the right and the ability to claim the blessing of Yaakov all for herself, but she gave it up for her sister. Yosef also had the right and the ability to claim the family blessings for himself, but like his mother, he gave it up for his brothers. Yaakov had to pose as his evil twin and deceive his father in order to prevent the blessings from falling into the hands of his brother. Yosef also had to pose as his evil alter ego, in the form of a vicious viceroy, and deceive his father in order to prevent the blessings from falling into the hands of his twin, the other Yosef. Like his mother and like his father, Yosef is a holy thief. Yosef the Tzaddik stole the blessings from Yosef the Rasha.

This gives us a new understanding of Yosef’s emotional outburst. “I am Yosef! Is my father still alive?” After all the years separated from family and living in the fleshpot of Egypt, Yosef is grappling with his own identity. Like Yaakov and Eisav in the womb of Rivka, the two Yosefs are engaged in a struggle for supremacy and the future of the Jewish People hangs in the balance. Yosef cries out in amazement, “I am Yosef! Does the Yaakov within me still live?!” With that question, Yosef provided the answer.

As we read Sefer Bereishis, we watch Yosef grow from a self-centered child damaged by his mother’s death to a man who courageously exercises supernatural powers and lovingly embraces the brothers who tried to destroy him. Emasculating his dreams, Yosef sacrificed the promise of eternal royalty on the altar of family unity. Millennia later, will still bow before the man whose leadership, wisdom and selflessness healed the family and set the stage for the birth of the Chosen Nation.

[If you liked this piece, I recommend reading the Trail Series from the beginning for the full backstory. For a strikingly parallel interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams, read this post.]

[1] What the brothers thought of Rachel can be seen by their reaction when Benyamin is caught red-handed with Yosef’s goblet in his pack. The brothers jeer at him, “Thief, son of a thief! You are an embarrassment! You are truly the son of your mother. Your mother embarrassed our father in just the same way.” (Midrash Tanchuma, Miketz 10)

[2] The Gemara learns this from none other than Yosef himself, as the Royal Butler told Pharaoh, “Just as he interpreted [our dreams] for us, so it was” (41:13). Of course, it is not a free-for-all. Dreams will only materialize as interpreted if the interpreter is qualified and the interpretation is valid. According to Tosefos (ad loc. s.v. posrei chalomos) the mazal of a person at the time of his birth determines his ability to interpret dreams.

[3] Due to the force of this question, the Rashbam posits that despite the clear flow of the text, these events did not all occur at the same time (cf. Berachos 7b, Tosafos s.v. lo haya).

[4] “Every single blade of grass has a mazal in the firmament which hits it and says, ‘grow!’” (Bereishis Rabba 10). For more on mazalos, see Derech Hashem 2:7 and Nefesh HaChaim 3:10.

[5] “Ein mazal l’yisroel” (Shabbos 156a). See, however, Rashi and Tosfos (ad loc.) who qualify this statement.

[6] Seeing stars by day is also a sign of tragedy (cf. Moed Koton 25b), another thing Yosef’s life did not lack.

[7] Every individual is obligated to say, “The world was created for me” (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:5). “I rule over man. Who rules over Me? The Tzaddik, for I pass a decree and he annuls it” (Moed Koton 16b). “This is one of the conditions that Hashem set upon all the acts of creation: they are subjugated to the Torah and to those who labor [in Torah]. [The creation] must perform whatever they decree on it and their rule over it is akin to the rule of the Creator, may He be blessed. This is why you will find individual Tzaddikim who control the heavens, the earth, the stars, the sun and the moon” (Ohr HaChaim, Shemos 14:27, s.v. l’eisano). For a description of how the human neshama was designed to influence and control all the forces of the created universe, see Nefesh HaChaim 1:5-7. For the idea that a person immersed in Torah transcends the mazalos, see Nefesh HaChaim 4:18.

[8] The produce amassed by Yosef is called zera in 47:19, 47:23 and 47:24.

On the Trail of Blessings: Yitzchok's Wisdom, Eisav's Appetite & Yaakov's Mission

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 06:52:00 +0000

Occasionally old posts get refined and sometimes a post develops and grows to the point that warrants a reposting. Rare indeed is when it happens at just the right time. This week's parsha, in fact. (The new paragraphs follow the quote from Rav Hirsch.)

[This is the second installment in the series. It can be read independently or, for maximum reading pleasure, begin the Trail here.]

Yitzchok was no fool. His desire to bless Eisav was not driven by blind love for his son but by a compelling vision for Israel: Yaakov would be master of spirituality and Eisav would be master of physicality.

Do not misunderstand - Yitzchok has only the highest regard for Eisav. In Yitzchok's plan, Eisav has the awesome responsibility of sanctifying this world by harnessing it for the Creator's purposes. This is why Yitzchok tells Eisav to serve him a meal before he blesses him; it is Eisav's job to dedicate the physical in support of the Tzaddik - and it is only in this merit that he gets the Beracha.

Yitzchok wanted to bless Eisav in the spirit of his future calling...
The savage craft of hunting must be elevated and used for exalted humane purposes. For it seems that Eisav did not usually hunt in order to provide a nourishing meal for his aged, feeble father. He enjoyed hunting for its own sake, for the sight of the steaming blood of his prey...
Yitzchok therefore tells Eisav: "Please take your gear, hunt some game for me, and prepare a tasty dish for me" (27:4). You yourself, this time, use the tools of your trade to perform an act of kindness...

Rabbi S.R. Hirsch

Expanding on Rav Hirsch's insight, we can say that before granting Eisav his mandate, Yitzchok wants to see him perform. Yitzchok understands Eisav and he is training him in the appropriate use of his God-given gifts.

Avraham and Yitzchok were not hunters; they were shepherds. For this family descended from Noah, the love and care of animals was a central tenet, as evidenced by Eliezer's test of Rivka. Coming from this tradition, we would expect Yitzchok to abhor Eisav's sport of choice, but Yitzchok is bigger than that. He does not attempt to quash Eisav's native talent; on the contrary, he embraces it and encourages his son to pursue it. On one condition: it must be elevated.

Eisav was born to hunt and this defines his mission: to conquer the animal - both the external prey and the internal drive - and dedicate it for a higher purpose. In this way, unbridled physicality is tamed, sanctified and elevated. Eisav is thus privileged to play the central role in the ultimate purpose of creation: bringing down the divine presence and its accompanying blessings into our physical world.

Yitzchok's directive to Eisav carries a deeper meaning. It is the birthright of the firstborn to serve as Kohen and offer sacrifices (cf. Rashi to 25:31,32). On its most basic level, animal sacrifice is the elevation of the animal soul before God, כי הדם הוא הנפש. In order for this to be accomplished, it is critical that the Kohen has the right intentions. If the Kohen has his own personal agenda in mind - for example, if he plans to eat the meat at the time and place of his own choosing - the offering is rendered invalid, פיגול הוא לא ירצה.

The fundamental principle of sacrifice is thus the total subjugation and dedication of life itself to God - קודש להשם. The physical act is the easy part; the real challenge occurs within the human mind. This is what Yitzchok was telling Eisav: "In order for you to succeed in the offering of sacrifices, you must first learn to transcend your self. Let's try a practice run. Use your hunting talent selflessly. Do it for me and follow my instructions precisely. If you pass this test, you will qualify to be a Kohen."

Eisav failed. He does deliver game to his father, but he can't get his mind under control. Yitzchok instructed Eisav, "Capture for me" (27:3), i.e., be sure to find an ownerless animal and don't steal one (Rashi). However, Eisav heads out "to bring it" (27:5) - he said to himself, "If I don't find an animal on the hunt, I will steal one" (Rashi). Eisav will not submit to his father's instructions. Success must be achieved, by hook or by crook. Eisav's mind is warped and wrapped into itself and instead of sacrifice he is only willing to serve his own interests. Eisav will never be Kohen. (See Kli Yakar 27:3.)

Understanding Eisav's mandate to transcend himself and do for others allows us to reconcile Yitzchok's blessing with the prophecy that Rivkah received before the boys were born:

ויתרצצו הבנים בקרבה ותאמר אם כן למה זה אנכי ותלך לדרש את יקוק
ויאמר יקוק לה שני גיים גוים בבטנך ושני לאמים ממעיך יפרדו ולאם מלאם יאמץ ורב יעבד צעיר

...and the elder will serve the younger.

Assuming Yitzchok knew this, how could he attempt to bless Eisav (27:29) הֱוֵה גְבִיר לְאַחֶיךָ וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְךָ בְּנֵי אִמֶּךָ? The Ramban (27:4) concludes that Rivka never told him, but in light of the above, there is no contradiction here. Yes, Yitzchok foretells that Eisav will be more powerful than his brother; he even says that Yaakov will bow to him. But the elder will still serve the younger, for this is Eisav's role - to support his younger brother, the Tzaddik. Yaakov bows before Eisav not in servitude but in recognition of Eisav as the גביר - the source of his support!

Since selfless giving is Eisav's mandate, he is uniquely challenged in this regard - "blessed" with impulsiveness, self-centeredness and the need for instant gratification (cf. Vilna Gaon on Rus; Reb Tzadok, cited in Ali Shor). He trades his birthright for a bowl of soup and is prepared to kill his brother in an act of vengeance. He was a rapist and a murderer (Baba Basra 16b). Most tellingly, Eisav strove towards paganism from the womb (Rashi to 25:22). Paganism is equated with hedonism - "the Jews knew that paganism had no substance; they only worshiped it in order to permit for themselves sexual immorality in public!" (Sanhedrin 63b) - but in Eisav's case it ran deeper than that. He pursued paganism before he was born!

A prenatal interest in sin would seem to contradict the Talmudic teaching that the evil inclination enters man only after birth (Sanhedrin 91a), but Eisav is different. For Eisav, paganism and its accompanying hedonism was no ordinary "Yetzer HaRa." Eisav's paganism was not ideological, nor was it "sinful" in the usual sense of the word, for man has no evil inclination before he is born. Rather, Eisav had a natural affinity for paganism (Gur Aryeh to 25:22). Eisav was predispositioned to be attracted to the forces of nature and obsessed with power because Eisav's life-mission is to subdue, transcend and channel his physicality, sanctifying it to the One God. If subjugating nature is your mission, God isn't going to make it easy.

Eisav failed. Instead of controlling himself, he indulges in all things physical. In the end, his head is buried in the Machpela Cave, but his body is not (Sotah 13a). His head was in the right place; the problem was his body, the negative drives he could never get under control.

In contrast, Yaakov's primary mission addresses not his body, but his mind and heart. Yaakov must elevate himself in the tents of Torah, and God therefore challenges him not with an appetite for hedonism, but with ethical dilemmas, crises and tragedy:

Can he "steal" the birthright and blessings from his older brother?
Should he honor his mother and delude his father?
May he outwit his father-in-law Lavan?
How will he deal with Dina's rape, Rachel's death and Yosef's disappearance?
According to the Rambam, Yaakov's struggle with the angel was fought on the battlefield of the mind, in a prophetic state.
Even Yaakov's assertion that he took Shechem with his "sword and bow" is an allegory for his prayers and supplications (cf. Targum and Rashi to 48:22).

For Yaakov the issue is not battling a Yetzer HaRa but exercising his Yetzer Tov. Is his faith strong enough to weather a life of aggravation? This is why Yaakov placed stones around his head when he slept (28:11). He is not worried about his body; if a problem were to arise it would be a challenge to his head.

It is as Yitzchok said: "The voice is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hands of Eisav" (27:22). Yaakov perfects the universe of thought and Eisav perfects the physical universe. If Eisav cooperates, that is.

[Continue the Trail with part-three here.]

Making It Real

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 00:09:00 +0000

Click on the link below to hear the pre-Rosh Hashana shiur delivered today at the offices of Gerber & Co. in Century City, CA. Once again we are indebted to our dear friend Mr. Selwyn Gerber for hosting.

זה היום תחילת מעשיך: Making It Real

Shabbos Tisha B'Av

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 05:25:00 +0000

Click here to listen to a talk delivered last night in "The Shul on the Beach" in Venice, CA. A special thank you goes to Joni Ziff for organizing the program and to all the wonderful people who attended.

What happens when Tisha B'Av falls out on Shabbos?

What do we need to do to bring an end to the Galus?

Listen and find out how the answers to these two questions are related.

The Spies

noreply@blogger.com (Rabbi Yisroel Gordon) — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 01:17:00 +0000

I wrote a short piece on last week's parsha, but since it is built upon the Ramchal's (read Zohar's) explanation of the sin of the spies, I posted it on my other blog.