Rabbi's Corner

In this week’s parashah, Parashat Chayei Sarah, we find the following: “Avraham was old, advanced in years, and HaShem had blessed him in all things. And Avraham said to the senior servant of his household, who was in charge of all he had: ‘Place your hand under my thigh.  I want you to swear by HaShem,       G-d of heaven and earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from among the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live. Instead, go to my land and to my birthplace and there find a wife for Yitzchak my son.’” (Bereshit 24:1-4) What most people do not see here is there appears to be a major trust issue between Avraham and his most senior household servant whom our tradition identifies as Eliezer.  What is this trust issue that has raised its “ugly head?”  It is this: Why did Avraham make Eliezer swear he would follow Avraham’s order to him?  Why did this man who was in charge of all of Avraham’s worldly possessions (i.e.- his wealth) need to take an oath in order to prove his trustworthiness to his master?  Perhaps the following story will increase our understanding of this most important point in the history of the People Israel.

Once, as Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, z”l, was traveling to a distant city, he passed through a small town and decided to rest in one of its many inns that accommodated travelers.  Because the innkeeper sensed that Rabbi Salanter was a true ben Torah, he approached the Rabbi and asked: “Excuse me, but would you happen to be a shochet?  I have a cow in the barn that needs to be slaughtered.  I usually go to our neighboring town to have it slaughtered, but if you are a shochet, you can save me a great deal if time and effort in making the trip there.”  Rabbi Salanter responded to the innkeeper by saying that he was indeed not a shochet.

About an hour later, Rabbi Salanter approached the innkeeper and asked him the following question: “Perhaps you could be so kind as to lend me some money?”  The innkeeper was quite taken aback by the Rabbi’s request and he replied: “Give you a loan?  Why I do not even know you!  How can I trust you to pay me back?”  Without batting an eye, Rabbi Salanter responded as follows: “Listen to what you just said.  When it came to loaning me money, even if only a small amount, you would not trust me as I am a stranger to you.  Yet when you wanted your cow slaughtered, you were fully prepared to rely on me even though you have absolutely no idea who I am.  Shechita involves many intricate halachot.  Why were you so sure that I possess enough Yirat HaShamayim (Fear of Heaven) to be a proper shochet?”

Avraham Avinu, Abraham our Father, trusted Eliezer with all his worldly possessions.  But it was different when it came to finding a wife for his beloved son Yitzchak.  Why was it to be so different?  Because the woman who was to become Yitzchak’s wife had to literally become the next Sarah.  Not only did she have to be Yitzchak’s wife, but she had to be the next Matriarch of what would become the People Israel.  Taking care of physical property was important, to be sure.  But Eliezer was literally performing a task that would literally change the world.  It is for that reason that he had to commit his heart and soul to the task at hand by swearing allegiance to his master.  We, the People Israel, can do no less in keeping and maintaining our commitment to the Torah, to ourselves, and, most important of all, to Hashem.

NOTE: This is my last submission to “Rabbi’s Corner” as your Rabbi.  It has been my honor and privilege to serve you over the past four years.  May HaShem continue to bless Congregations of Shaare Shamayim and its members.

In this week's parashah, Parashat Lech Lecha, we find the following: “Hashem said to Avram: ‘Go forth from your native land and from the place of your birth and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.’” (Bereshit 12:1-2) Pirkei Avot 5:3 states that Avraham Avinu, Abraham our Father, passed all ten nisyonot (tests/challenges) that were posed to him by HaShem.  The command of "Lech Lecha" was one of those nisyonot.  We will find an even more important test in next week's parashah, Parashat VaYeira: it is the "Akeidat Yitzchak," the Binding of Isaac.  Rabbi Simcha Zissel Broide, z”l, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Knesses Yisroel Chevron, teaches us that there are two types nisyonot: one that defines who we are and one that we face on a day-to-day basis.  When you face a big nisayon that may involve serious self-sacrifice, you can often reach deep down and find the courage and determination to make the proper decision and do the right thing.  But what about those "little" nisyonot that you face each and every day that do not require such strength and fortitude.  Such, says Rav Broide, is the nisayon of "Lech Lecha."

          A "Lech Lecha" nisayon is having to decide whether or not to get up in time for morning minyan.  A “Lech Lecha” nisayon is coming home from work exhausted and having to decide whether to sit with your child or grandchild and help with homework or to sit in front of the T.V. or computer by yourself.  While no one classifies such nisyonot as those which define a moment in one's life, they are nevertheless as vitally important in life as a “Lech Lecha” nisayon.  HaShem told Avram that his reward for undertaking the nisayon of "Lech Lecha" would be wealth and offspring upon his arrival in Eretz Yisrael.  Did he get his "just desserts?"  No, he did not.  Instead, he encountered a severe famine, so severe that he was compelled to go down to Egypt in order to survive.  Nevertheless, it is because he accepted this nisayon without question, without comment, and without protest that Avraham Avinu becomes a hero for the People Israel.

A "Lech Lecha" nisayon deals with the issues of everyday life, issues such as health, childrearing, and financial problems.  There is no glamor, there is no excitement in dealing with these types of issues, but they are no less challenging and life-forming…perhaps even life-changing.  And while the "Akeidat Yitzchak” nisayon is more noteworthy because it stands out from the rest, the true indication of how heroic a person is how one deals with the many daily "Lech Lecha" nisyonot that should be and can be handled with complete faith and trust in HaShem and H-s love for us.  May we all become true heroes each and every day of our lives.

In this week's parashah, Parashat Noach, we read the following: "Noach was a righteous man; he was perfect in his generations...." (Bereshit 6:9) Our Rabbis argue about this description of Noach, with one conclusion being that he was not as righteous as the main character of next week's parashah, Avraham Avinu - Abraham, our Father.  But the fact remains that our Torah tells us this about Noach as well: "...with G-d did Noach walk." (Bereshit 6:9) In anyone's eyes that would make Noach appear to be just as the Torah describes him: "tzadik" --- "righteous," maybe even as righteous as Avraham.  It is interesting to note, however, that our Torah tells us how Avraham received the flowing order from HaShem: “…walk before Me in purity." (Bereshit 7:1) “Wait a minute,” you say. “Noach walked with HaShem, but Avraham walked before Hashem? Nu? So, what is the great difference between these two righteous men?"

Rashi tells us that Noach was "mi-ketanei emunah" --- "one who had little faith."  Even though HaShem had told him to enter the ark, he hesitated until the rising waters finally forced him to do so.  And when the waters receded allowing Noach and his family to leave the ark and repopulate the world, what did he do?  Again, he hesitated.  The Torah tells us that Hashem ordered Noach: "Go forth from the ark...." (Bereshit 8:17) One would think that after being cooped up in the ark with his family and all those animals that Noach would be more than willing to exit into the brave new world that awaited him.    But the fact remains that Noach never wants to move far from the current spot in which he finds himself.

So, Noach does not want to march forward to make a new life for his family!  What does he do instead?  He plants a vineyard and gets drunk on its produce.  In fact, he gets so inebriated that he returns to his tent and lies there naked in front of the world, in front of his family, and, worst of all, in front of HaShem.  Because of his failure to take action and his witnessing of the destruction of his world as he knew it, Noach once again refuses to do anything.  Why?  Because he has decided to give up both on himself and on life.  Noach has decided to continue to be a failure.  Avraham, on the other hand, is entirely the opposite.

As we will see in next week's parashah, Parashat Lech Lecha, Avraham is the paradigm of the person who never thinks about failing Hashem.  We will see by way of our Torah that Avraham does more than any other human being to fulfill everything Hashem expects of him and then some.  The concept of failing HaShem never enters either his mind or his soul.  More than any other figure in the Torah, Avraham teaches us that the only true failure we can possibly suffer in life is when we fail to try in the first place.  Indeed, Avraham was so concerned about his world that he literally became "the Father of Nations" both in name and in action.  May all of us be like Avraham, never once accepting failure as an option in our lives as Jews!

Years ago, a husband and wife appeared before Rabbi Mordechai Gifter, zichrono livracha, Rosh Yeshiva of Telz, asking him to rule on a family dispute. The husband, a member of Rabbi Gifter's kollel (an all-day Torah learning program) felt that because he was one who studied Torah in the Rabbi’s kollel, it was beneath his dignity to take out the garbage. His wife felt otherwise. After listening to the couple, Rabbi Gifter concluded that while the husband should in fact help his wife, he had no halachic obligation (an obligation according to Jewish Law) to remove the garbage from the house.  The next morning, shortly before the early Shacharit services were to begin, there was a knock on the front door of the young couple’s house. Upon opening the door, the young yeshiva student was startled to see Rabbi Gifter standing there, and he asked the Rabbi to come in.  Rabbi Gifter responded by saying that he did not have time to come in.  When asked why not, Rabbi Gifter replied: “I've not come to socialize with you.  Instead, I have come to take out your garbage. While you may believe it's beneath your dignity to do this, it is not beneath mine.”

In this week's parashah, Parashat Ha'azinu, we read the following: "My lesson will fall as the rain, my saying will flow like dew, like rainstorms on grass, and like raindrops on vegetation." (Devarim 32:2) Rabbi Chayim Shmuelevitz cited the Vilna Gaon on this verse who said that rain helps things grow.  And what is it that rain helps to grow?  Only that which has already been planted.  The same is true with the Torah, the study of which can help a person grow.  But just like the rain and plants, the growth spurred by Torah study is dependent upon what kind of character traits a person already has.  The Torah student filled with arrogance will become more arrogant as his knowledge increases, and he may laud it over those whom he considers inferior to him.  The person who is not filled with himself will use his Torah learning to be of service to his fellow Jews.  In fact, for such a person, the more Torah knowledge he accumulates, the more will his behavior toward others will become a Kiddush HaShem (a sanctification of HaShem's name).

A Rabbi once told the Chazon Ish all about the positive intellectual qualities of a young man whom his sister-in-law was considering marrying.  After listening patiently, the Chazon Ish interrupted the Rabbi and asked him, "Yes, but will he also be a good husband?"  It is very important to remember that what is most important is not what you know; what is most important is what you do with what you know.

In this week's parashah, Parashat Nitzavim, we read: "See, I have given you today life and good, and death and evil...I call the heavens and the earth today to testify upon you that I have given you life and death, blessing and curse; and you should choose life in order that you and your descendants live.  To love HaShem your G-d, to listen to H-s voice and to cling to H-m, for He is your life and the length of your days to dwell in the land that HaShem swore to your forefathers, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya'akov, to give you..." (Devarim 30: 19-20) A remarkable thing happens in the final six verses of this week's parashah, and it is found nowhere else in either the Torah or the Tanakh.  What we find in this passage is the fact that Moshe is conveying Hashem's “willingness” to allow the B’nei Yisrael the ability to have free will.  Our tradition teaches that all is determined in Heaven, that Hashem controls everything that happens...except for the free will of human beings.  But how can this be?  If HaShem truly is all-powerful and all-knowing, then how could we human beings have the ability to do anything independent of H-m?  If HaShem truly controls nature, life, death, and the destiny of this world, then how could we human beings have the power to choose what HaShem has not chosen?  How can this be?

The latest findings in neuroscience claim human beings make choices through the physical properties of the brain and not by something called the "soul" or the "spirit."  But even the scientists themselves who make this observation are at odds with it when it comes to the human experience.  We like to think that we have choices to make, and we sense that the choices we make matter in our lives and in the lives of those whom we love.  And it because of the choices we make that we matter in this world.  As human beings, we believe that life itself is precious, and that it has great significance.  To claim otherwise strikes us as being both inhumane and just plain wrong.

Each of us has the ability to make choices. The Torah tells us this is so.  We even have the free will to either make choices or not make choices.  This ability, this "gift" comes from our Creator, Hashem.  Our moral and spiritual fate lies in the choices we make and are not determined by either HaShem nor in the forces of nature.  The Torah states an eternal and essential truth: We have free will.  We have the ability to choose.  At this time, in this season, it is imperative, its vital, that we choose to continue our lives Hashem’s Chosen People!

We journeying forward in this month of Elul in the Jewish calendar toward the ultimate time of the “Yamim Nora’im” – the “Days of Awe, the period of time beginning with Rosh HaShanah and ending with Yom Kippur.  During this journey, we are commanded by our Tradition to engage in “t'shuvah” (repentance/returning) in order to cause us to come back to our Tradition, to our people, and, most important of all, to HaShem.  Ashkenazic minhag (custom) during this month bids that we sound the shofar at the end of the Shacharit service each day except for Shabbat.  Why do we do this?  We do this, because the blasts of the shofar are meant to awaken our souls, to spur us to action, and to inspire us to became actively engaged in doing t'shuvah.  But I ask you: should it only be the blasts of the shofar that lead us to take action?  Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev answered this question with a resounding "No!"  He taught that there exist two kinds of "awakenings:" an "Awakening from Above" and an "Awakening from Below."  But what did he mean by this?

Reb Levi Yitzchak taught that one must not rely solely/”soul-ly” upon the "Awakening from Above" to spur him/her to action.  S/he must rely on his/her “Action from Below.”  How does one do this?  Each person must benefit from the work of his/her own hands in order to become inspired to action.  It is only when s/he does this that s/he will merit the feeling of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Spirit of Hashem) resting upon him/her.  How does this happen?  It is only when we take the first step, it is only when we inspire ourselves by actively engaging in a more spiritual lifestyle creating a greater connection to HaShem that we create an "Awakening from Below."  This, in turn, will create an "Awakening from Above" resulting in the fulfilling of HaShem's promise to us as imparted in the words of the prophet Zecharyah: "Return to Me and I will return to you!"  (Zecharyah 1:3) We know that this is HaShem's desire for us by way of the name of the month in which we currently find ourselves.

The Hebrew letters which make up the name of this month leading up to Rosh Hashanah are Aleph, Lamed, Vav, Lamed which, when put together, are read as "Elul."  What is most interesting to note is that the word Elul is an acronym formed by the first letters of the following words found in Shir HaShirim (the Song of Songs) written by Shlomo Hamelekh: "Ani L'dodi ve-dodi li!" --- "I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me!" (Shir HaShirim 6:3) This pasuk (verse) speaks of desire.  It is interesting to note that the days of the month of Elul are known as "Yamei HaRatzon" (Days of Desire).  Why are they called this?  Because it is during this month of Elul that we, the People Israel, seek a special closeness with Hashem.  It is during this time of the Jewish year that we desire to do t'shuvah in order achieve that closeness with Hashem.  Is this a very difficult process in which we must expend a great deal of effort and a lot of expense to achieve our desired result?  No.  When all is said and done, all it takes for Hashem to come closer to us, all it takes for Hashem to love us is for us to want to be closer to and to love H-m.

We read the following in this week's parashah, Parashat Re’eh: "You are the children to HaShem your G-d... For you are a holy nation to HaShem your G-d, and HaShem has chosen you to be a treasured nation from all the people on the face of the earth. (Devarim 14:1-2) From these verses we see that Am Yisrael (the People Israel) have a unique characteristic that no other nation on earth has and that no other nation can replicate.  The problem is that there is a significant number of Am Yisrael, especially here in America, who not only do not appreciate our unique role as Jews that they play in this world, but they deny it altogether.  And it is because of this that they look to other peoples and other cultures for satisfaction and justification of their existence.

Recently, “Tablet” magazine published an article dated June 16^th of this year entitled “The Un-Jews: The Jewish attempt to cancel Israel and Jewish peoplehood.”  It was written by Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy.  Of course, Sharansky was a “refusenik” and Soviet prisoner before being released and emigrating to Israel.  He eventually held ministerial positions in no fewer than four Israeli governments.  Troy is both a presidential historian at McGill University and a Zionist activist.  The article they co-authored addresses the dozens of Jewish Studies and Israel studies scholars and academics who signed a “Statement on Israel/Palestine” in reaction to the “crime” they believed Israel committed in dealing with the May onslaught of missiles from Gaza at the hands of Hamas: “This language (i.e.- the words used in the Statement) effectively denied the need for a Jewish state, thereby declaring war not just on Israel’s existence but on modern Judaism as we know it.  Within American Jewry, this surge in anti-Zionism openly targets the broad Zionist consensus the Jewish world developed after the Holocaust and the founding of the State of Israel – as well as the post 1990’s Birthright consensus embracing Israel and Israel experiences as central Jewish-identity building tools…We call these critics ‘un-Jews’ because they believe the only way to fulfill the Jewish mission of saving the world with Jewish values is to undo the ways that most Jews do Jewishness.”  Sharansky and Troy explain that these anti-Zionists join a long history of “un-Jews” pointing out that they are most active when they seek “to join with non-Jews in advancing quintessentially Jewish ideas of brotherly love, equality, and social justice unmoored from their Jewish context and their Jewish delivery systems.”  They point out that the most successful of these un-Jewish movements has historically been Christianity, and Am Yisrael knows only too well what the results of that “pairing” have been.

Sadly, our history is replete with such attempts made in previous eras.  Examples include the Hellenist Jews who embraced everything Greek, the Jews who followed Jesus (including today’s so-called “Messianic Jews” and “Jews for Jesus”) believing him to be the Mashiach (the Messiah), as well as the Jews who fully embraced Socialism/Communism from the German Marxist Rosa Luxemburg to those Jews who helped to create and carry out the Bolshevik Revolution to the “Overstay Sekcia” (the Jewish Section of the Communist Party) whose Jewish members did all they could to destroy both Russian Judaism and the Russian Jewish community.  All these “un-Jews” eventually perished at the hands of those whom they sought to embrace in their head-long rush to destroy Judaism.  And, as the late Yogi Berra said: “It’s deja vous all over again!”  The tragedy of this outpouring of Jewish self-hatred is that it has an even greater presence in the American Jewish community than ever before because of the use and availability of social media.  And it is because of this that far too many unlearned and uneducated Jews gravitate to the “un-Jewish” side completely forgetting who they are and why they are here in this world.

We need to remember that we are the earthly representatives of HaShem, and this should cause us to behave accordingly.  As the Torah tells us, we are indeed a "treasured nation!"  Not because we are born a people better than any other people, but because we are born into royalty as the children of the King of Kings.  The Torah has outlined our mission in this world and we must do all we can do to complete it.  May we not fail in this task!

In this week's parashah, Parashat Va'etchanan, we read the following: "HaShem, our God, sealed a covenant with us at Chorev.  It was not with our fathers that HaShem sealed this covenant, but with us – the living, every one of us who is here today." (Devarim 5:2-3) Moshe was reminding the B'Nei Yisrael that the brit, the covenant, they made with HaShem when receiving the Aseret HaDibrot, “the Ten Utterances” (more commonly referred to as “the Ten Commandments”), was made with all generations of the B’nei Yisrael, both with the generation of our ancestors alive in that place at that moment as well as with all succeeding generations of the B’nei Yisrael.

We recall Parashat Yitro which tells of the giving of the Aseret HaDibrot, and we read these words that HaShem spoke to Moshe: "’But you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’  These are the words that you shall speak to B'nei Yisrael." (Shemot 19:6) The great Torah commentator Rashi comments on the phrase beginning with "These are the words" saying that this means: "Not less (words) and not more (words)."  What is Rashi saying here?  Merely that Moshe is not supposed to add or subtract any words from what HaShem told him to say.  But why would HaShem limit Moshe to just those few words? The answer to this question can be found in a story as related by Rabbi Yaakov Luban.

There was a family in Yerushalayim that had a severely challenged child.  As he got older, his needs conflicted with the needs of the rest of the family so much so that consideration was being given as to how it might be the time to place him in an institution.  They sought guidance from Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zichrono livracha (may his memory be for a blessing), one of the greatest Orthodox Rabbis of his time, regarding this matter.  He asked them: "Did you discuss this with your son?"  The family protested that due to his mental incompetence, the boy would not understand the question let alone be able to answer it.  Rabbi Auerbach protested: "You cannot just drop off a child at an institution without discussing it with him!  Bring him to me.  I want to speak with him."  The family did as he asked.  Rabbi Auerbach identified himself to the boy, and the boy told him his name.  The Rabbi proceeded: "I have a problem that you may be able to help me with.  There is a school that has no mashgiach to make sure that everything is being run properly.  It's my job to make sure that everything there is on the up-and-up, but I cannot be there on a regular basis.  Can I ask you a favor?  Would you be willing to live in the school and serve as my representative to make sure that it's being run properly?  Tell them that I have sent you as my personal emissary to supervise."  The boy immediately accepted his mission and took it so seriously that when his parents came to bring him home for Shabbat, he told them that he could not take any Shabbat off."  Because Rabbi Auerbach told him that he was responsible for the school, he felt he had to remain on campus to supervise.  Using a simple, brief explanation that the boy could understand, Rabbi Auerbach had given this boy a mission to fulfill, and fulfill it he did.

Rabbi Luban went on to say that in a similar fashion, HaShem told Moshe that He was giving the B'nei Yisrael a specific mission as well: the B'nei Yisrael - both those present at that moment and all who would come afterwards - were to be HaShem's emissaries of Torah in this world.  In a few simple and straightforward words, HaShem gave both our ancestors and us the most important mission of all: "And you shall be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation...."  May all of us, the B’nei Yisrael, accept this mission forever, and may we forever remain committed to its fulfillment.