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Parshas Vayeshev-פרשת וישב

November 24, 2010 // Posted in Weekly Parsha Divrei Torah (Tags: ) |  No Comments

In this week’s parsha, Yosef was confronted with a nisayon from the wife of Potiphar. On a basic level, this was an incredible temptation for any person to withstand. There is an interesting machlokes that Rashi brings down. The pasuk says (39; 11) ‘And it was on that day, that he entered the house to do his work (referring to Yosef). Rashi says that there are two opinions as to what the word ‘work’ refers to. One opinion translates it literally, that he showed up for work like he did every day. The other one says it means that he arrived to concede and perform an aveirah with her. But, an image of his father appeared before him and he didn’t commit the act (Sota 36b).

According to the opinion that he showed up to commit an immoral act-how can we possibly explain that? How can Yosef even contemplate such a heinous transgression?

To answer this, we find a Rashi (39; 1) that notes the following; ‘why is the topic of Yehuda’s descent next to the fact that Yosef went down to Mitzrayim? To have the two stories, the wife of Potiphar and the story of Tamar, side by side; to tell us that just as Tamar acted for the sake of Hashem so too the wife of Potiphar acted for the sake of Hashem. She saw through her astrological prediction that she would have descendants from Yosef but what she didn’t know was, that it would it be from her daughter and not her.’

There seems now to be a link between Yosef and the family of Potiphar. Perhaps this was the reason behind Yosef motives with the wife of Potiphar.

If this is so, why was no act done? Why didn’t Yosef go ahead with the plan, if he was thinking this was for the sake of Hashem? What prevented him from doing so?

Rav Gedaliah Schorr, ZT”L quotes Rav Baruch m’Mezhbitz who explains the following with a powerful lesson for life.

If you look in the pasuk (39; 10) it says ‘And so it was-just as she coaxed Yosef day after day…’ every single day she would try to lure Yosef to do an aveirah and every single day Yosef turned her down. Yosef understood from the fact that she was persistent and determined to entice him, that it was the yetzer hara. The yetzer tov presents an opportunity to a person only once, but the yetzer hara doesn’t relent. Originally, he thought it was a positive opportunity; for the sake of Hashem. But once he saw how she wouldn’t give up, Yosef understood that it was the influence of the yetzer hara.

We find a similar idea by Avraham Avinu. En route to the Akeida the Satan tried making it harder and harder for him by throwing many obstacles his way. Finally, just as Avraham was about to slaughter Yitzchok, he sees a ram whose horns were caught in the bushes. He then stops, untangles the ram and offers it as a korban. Why didn’t he think that this too was an act of the yetzer hara? Why was he so quick to grab this ram?

The answer is because the pasuk (Bereishis 22; 13) clearly says ‘ne’echaz basvach’, it was wedged in a tree. Had Avraham had easier access to it, then he would’ve assumed it was the Satan. Since he had to work to untangle it that made him understand that it wasn’t the yetzer hara! The Satan makes everything available and accessible. He saw how hard he had to work for it; he realized this was an opportunity and he grabbed it.

The Vilna Goan writes, in Rus, that if a person can’t make a decision and he has two options; one is more difficult to carry out and one is easier to carry out. The one that’s more difficult is the right one as that is the yetzer tov speaking; making us work for it. If it’s easy then it’s the yetzer hara talking to a person convincing you to make the wrong choice. The yetzer hara knocks all day….the yetzer tov presents itself once. When an opportunity knocks at your door, you answer it.

(Search by: chumash; parsha; vayeshev; parshas vayesehv; gra; vilna goan; rus; rav gedaliah schorr; sota’ Rav Baruch m’Mezhbitz; opportunities knocking; the yetzer hara is persistent; potiphar and yosef; withstanding the nisayon of potophar; akeida; Yosefs motives with the wife of Potiphar. the yetzer tov presents itself once; satan makes things accessible; machlokes rashi)

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Parshas Vayishlach-פרשת וישלח

November 18, 2010 // Posted in Weekly Parsha Divrei Torah (Tags: , ) |  No Comments

As Yaakov was traveling and returning to his parent’s home, the pasuk tells us that he reached a river. The pasuk (32; 23-24) tells us that first he secured his family; once they were across the water safe and sound he proceeded to transport his belongings. The pasuk continues and says (32: 25) ‘And Yaakov was left alone and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.’

Rashi asks why was Yaakov left all alone? He answers, that he crossed back over the river to retrieve a few small jars that he had left on the rivers bank. He quotes the gemarah in Chulin (91a), which says ‘to tzaddikim their money is dearer to them than their guf’. It concludes with the reason ‘because they don’t benefit from stealing…everything they have is from hard work.’

There is an apparent question here that is asked by many. How can we possibly explain this gemarah? Is the money of a tzaddik more important to him than his physical body? One would envision quite the contrary! What type of ma’aleh is this-that their money is dearer to them than their guf?

The Meshech Chochma offers a fascinating explanation.

We say in shema that one must love Hashem with all their ‘heart, soul and money’. If a person encounters a nisayon that requires him to give up his life for Hashem, he will dig deep to find the inner strength to be able to give up his life. Imagine experiencing that feeling; ones heart will be bursting with love towards his Creator!

However, by a more frequent mitzvah-such as tefillin, mezuzah, tefilah-one is not performing it with the same enthusiasm that he would be performing it were it to be his last shemona esrei on this world. Once we get accustomed to doing something it becomes second nature to us. When it comes to loving Hashem one has to do so with their whole heart, soul and money; it should be performed as if it was our last minute on this world. The same devotion for Hashem that is demonstrated when one is being moser nefesh has to be demonstrated when performing everyday mitzvos. They should both be performed with the same fervor.

Continues the Meshech Chochma- why was a tzaddik like Yaakov busy with such seemingly small and insignificant possessions? The answer is that when he gave away his money to Hashem (as we see that Yaakov gave ma’aser from his earnings to Hashem) it was very meaningful to him. Imagine a person who spends $500 a day on cigars and is approached by an individual collecting tzedakah and he hands him a $500 check, is that impressive? Yes, it’s a large amount but will he really feel the loss? Not really, since he spends that amount daily on cigars! But if you were to have a second person who penny pinches every nickel and dime, yet when approached by that same individual for tzedakah he hands him a $500 check- THAT, is impressive. There is no doubt that this $500 was extremely meaningful to him as we know how dear his money is to him.

The same is true with Yaakov. He took an ordinary everyday object and transformed it into a davar ruchniyos. He showed how important it was to him by making the extra trip back for the little jars. He wanted that when he gave it to Hashem it would have been like giving up his dearest possession. This is the explanation of the gemarah. Why is their money dearer to them than their bodies? Since they want to show Hashem that what’s dearest to them they will give up for him Him in a heartbeat; professing their ultimate love for the Borei Olam.

We can learn from this, that one must make it his business to take an everyday mitzvah and find a way to do it with more of a feeling towards the Ribono Shel Olam. Making the everyday mitzvos so dear and performing them as if your life is about to be taken will make them so much more special to the receiver: Hashem.

May we be zoche for this to be easy for us and may we do so without any hesitation so that Hashem won’t hesitate any further and grant us the coming of Moshiach speedily, in our days.

(Search by: parsha; chumash; torah; parshas vayishlach; vayishlach; meshech chochma; ein Yaakov; transforming an everyday object to a spiritual thing; money being dearest to tzaddikim; giving maser; loving Hashem with all your heart, soul and money; being moser nefesh for Hashem; performing everyday mitzvos with enthusiasm; making mitzvos your dearest posession; feeling the ribono shel olam in your everyday affairs)

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Parshas Vayetzei-פרשת ויצא

November 11, 2010 // Posted in Weekly Parsha Divrei Torah (Tags: ) |  No Comments

After all the hardships that Yaakov endured with Lavan, they made amends and feasted over a korban together. When they were finished, the pasuk says (32; 1, 2) ‘And Lavan arose early in the morning and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them; and Lavan went and returned to his place. And Yaakov went on his way, and the Angels of Hashem encountered him.’

Rashi, on the last part of the pasuk, comments and asks ‘what does it mean that the Angels of Hashem encountered him?’ He answers that the angels of Eretz Cana’an came towards him to escort him into the land.

When reading the pasuk the loshon that is used seems a bit odd. When the pasuk describes Lavan departing from Yaakov, it says that Lavan returned to ‘his place’. Shouldn’t it have said that he returned to his land? The expression that the pasuk uses seems to be inaccurate?

The Meshech Chochma answers with a poignant lesson.

A person can have the z’chus of hosting a tzaddik in his home for an extended period of time. But it comes with a catch; he is expected to bask in his glory and to learn from him. To observe his ways and to watch and see how he conducts his spiritual and mundane needs. The pasuk in Mishlei (13; 20) says, ‘Haloch im chachamim’, go in the ways of talmidei chachamim.

Yaakov lived by Lavan for over twenty years! He should have learned and observed from hosting a tzaddik how to act appropriately. Not to cheat or be dishonest with others, but to be a little bit of a better person in his daily activities. The Torah is teaching us that Lavan went back to ‘his place’. He went right back to his bad habits. He was a cheat, a swindler, a liar and a person of low character; he didn’t change one iota. The Medrash adds, and says, that when the pasuk says Lavan went back to ‘his place’ it means he went back to his evil ways.

On the other side of the coin, byYaakov, it says that he went ‘on his way’; he went the way of a tzaddik. The gemarah in Berachos (64; 1) says that ‘a tzaddik does not rest; not in this world or the next world.’ How can we understand this? With this same teretz; that the way of tzaddikim is to constantly be growing and elevating themselves. That’s why the pasuk continues and says that the ‘Angels of Hashem encountered him’; to show that even after all of the trials and tribulations with Lavan, Yaakov came out shteiging. Through his confrontations with Lavan, Yaakov understood what NOT to do.

The message is crystal clear. You can host a great Rebbe or Rosh Hayeshiva at your house for a lengthy period of time and still remain the same person. If a person doesn’t make an effort to change, nothing will happen on its own. A yid has to always look to grow. If a person has the attitude of ‘I want to constantly grow’ then they will embrace each challenge that life presents to them, and grow from it.

The Gemarah in Berachos says that when someone leaves your presence you shouldn’t say ‘leich b’shalom’ but rather say ‘leich l’shalom’. What is the difference? The Avnei Neizer explains that if a person will say ‘go b’shalom’ it means that you’re telling that individual that he is already complete; he’s whole. Why? Because it’s a loshon of shleimus, of being complete, and it’s telling that person that they don’t have to be on the lookout to grow or to become better. But, if you were to say ‘go l’shalom’, towards being complete, you’re telling that person that they still have some work to do to become a complete person. They still have to grow to reach that shleimus; they should never lose focus and stop growing. As yidden, we should constantly be striving to grow.

There is an amazing story that brings out this point. (Previously mentioned at http://www.vertluch.com/2009/11/parshas-chaya-sara-)

In the 1950’s, a group of American ba’al habatim came to Reb Aharon Kotler ZT“L and asked for his haskama on the commencement of a new program. They wanted to implement the Amud Yomi as they felt that a Daf Yomi was way beyond the capacity of the American Jew. However, Reb Aharon’s firm rejection was accompanied with the following explanation.

Reb Aharon was privileged to attend the Knessia Gedolah in Vienna where Reb Meir Shapiro ZT“L proposed the Daf Yomi program that would serve as the daily Torah obligation to many Jews across the globe. Reb Aharon had the z’chus of standing near the Chofetz Chaim at that time, and as Reb Meir finished his proposal he heard the Chofetz Chaim mumble (in Yiddish), “Yisroel Meir, where have you been all this time?”

Here you have a man that in his time was considered one of the Gedolai Hador; a person who wrote countless seforim. Someone who was close to ninety years old, who had devoted ALL his time, energy and work for klal yisroel. But he stills asks himself “Yisroel Meir, where were you all these years?” That’s how a Yid thinks. After contributing enormously to Torah Jewry, at the age of ninety he was still looking to grow!

(Search by: parsha; chumash; vayetzei; parshas vayetzei; Torah; Chofetz Chaim; Rav Ahron Kotler; Meshech Chochma; Mishlei; berachos; growing spiritually; growing as a yid; constantly elevating yourself; always looking to grow; following the ways of tzaddikim; Lavan not learning from Yaakov; making the effort to change)

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Parshas Toldos-פרשת תולדות

November 4, 2010 // Posted in Weekly Parsha Divrei Torah (Tags: ) |  No Comments

The pasuk (25: 27) says, “The lads grew up and Esav became a man who knows trapping, a man of the field; but Yaakov was a wholesome man, residing in his tent.” Rashi points out and explains that the reason why the Torah uses the terminology ‘ish’, man, is to explain its definition. ‘Ish yodeah tzayid’ means that Esav was sharp and clever ; he would ask Yitzchok interesting questions in halacha, to make him think that he was very meticulous in his observance of mitzvos. On the other hand, he was an ‘ish sudeh’, a man of the field. Rashi explains this to mean that he wasted most of his time and would hunt animal with his bow and arrow. However, Yaakov wasn’t as sharp as Esav and was not an expert in the mundane areas. He was simple; he would dwell in the tents of Shem and Ever by spending his days learning.

By Esav it stresses, he was a man who knows trapping and a man of the field. The word ish is used twice; but by Yaakov it is only used once. Why is there a change in the wording?  Shouldn’t it have said ‘ish’ twice and be read ‘Yaakov was a wholesome man; a man who sat in his tent’? What message is the pasuk trying to teach us?

Rav Chaim Shaul Kaufman Shlit”a, in his sefer Mishchas Shemen, explains with an important lesson that we must constantly keep in our minds.

Years ago, in the 1960’s, there was a certain Rebbe that when discussing the possibility of someone going to the moon he would say ‘it will never happen’. His reason was based on the pasuk, ‘Ha’shomayim shomayim l’Hashem v’ha’aretz nosson livnei adam’; the heavens belong to Hashem and land belongs to humans. However, that dream became a reality on July 20th, 1969. There was a certain Rosh Hayeshiva that met a very close friend of this Rebbe and asked him that the fact is that someone did land on the moon? The Rebbe’s friend answered him and said the Rebbe was right. How is this possible? His answer was very profound. A person can’t settle and live on the moon. We know that the astronauts who went up had to bring their own food, water, equipment, and even their own oxygen! They couldn’t breathe or stand without these apparatuses. It’s comparable to a person living underwater. Is it possible? No, but we see people have the ability to stay underwater? The answer is it is only temporary, for short periods of time. The same is true with the man on the moon. A person can’t survive up there, unless he brings his own provisions. Such a place, he said, is not called living.

What do we learn from this? A person gets his chiyus, his life, from a place where he can inhabit. If you can’t survive in a place, like the moon, then it’s not considered your place. If someone gets his life from a place of kedusha, e.g. a yeshiva, then he must understand that this type of atmosphere is where he belongs; THIS is his place, THIS is his home!! Sometimes he has to go out from there, but he takes his ‘life’ with him.

This is p’shat in the pasuk. Yaakov was an ‘ish tam yoshev ohalim’ he was a person who was the same no matter where he traveled. The same man as an ‘ish tam’ was the same that he was when he was ‘yoshv ohalim’. However, Esav had two different personalities. One was that he was a man who was sharp; he would trick his father. He would ask sly questions so his father would think he was choshev. His other existence was a man of the fields. He was a completely different person; a man who would kill for fun and waste his time. The Torah felt it important to stress that.

His entire life, Yaakov was a man of the Bais Medrash. Esav had his moments too; but in addition to him being sharp he had a second existence of an ‘ish sudeh’. Yaakov, however, was consistent. Wherever he went and whatever he did he was always an ‘ish tam’. He understood that what defined him-gave him life. He excelled at allowing the Bais Medrash to define who he was, no matter where he went.

Our goal is to feel that our home, our life, comes from the Bais Medrash. If we have that realization then we will be able to be consistent and be able to understand that our sustenance comes from the Bais Medrash. We must all strive to be the same person, be it in shul or in the business world; having two existences is not an option.  If we are able to survive in a Bais Medrash then that is the place where we can call our home.

(Search by: chumash; [arsha; toldos; parshas toldos; Rav Chaim Shaul kaufman; mishchas shemen; walking on the moon; having one existence; Yaakov and Esav; Bialer Rebbe; getting our life from a bais medrash; getting sustenance from Torah.)

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