Chiyai Sarah 5771

On Tuesday I heard a fantastic shiur from Rav Brevda who informed us that he will be having a major surgery on Monday (11/1/10) so if everyone can daven for him, Shlomo Leib ben Miriam for about the next week or so it would be great.

Shidduchim:

The Gemara in Sotah 2a tells us "Rav Shmuel Ben Rav Yitzchak said that when Raish Lakish would start learning Sotah he would say 'A man is only paired with a woman based on his actions because the pasuk says (Tehillim 125:3) 'The shevet of a Rasha will not be placed with the lot of the tzadik.'' Rabba Bar Bar Chana said in the name of Rav Yochanan 'Setting up pairs is as hard as Splitting the Yam Suf'... but don't we also know that rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav 'forty days before the fetus comes out a bat kol comes out and says 'the daughter of Ploni to Ploni, house Ploni to Ploni, field Ploni to Ploni.' This is not a contradiction this one [the second barita] by the first pair this one [the first barita] by the second pair."

Rashi explains this gemara as follows: A modest woman will be set up with a tzaddik and an immodest woman with a Rasha... Setting up pairs is as hard for Hashem as splitting the sea in that He must change the Seder Berieshit (the way of creation). If an angel announces who someone will marry 40 days before the fetus comes out then we know from Niddah 16b that a person can become a Tzaddik or a Rasha by his own free will, so how can we say that a Rasha will marry an immodest woman while a tzaddik marries a modest woman? The answer is that when we are talking about the bat kol that is when a person marries the person who is according to their mazal, but the time that is difficult for Hashem is when the person is chosen according to the person's actions it is hard because this is not a person's pair.

Tosfot explain that the Gemara in Moed Katan on 18b that says "Shmuel says that a person can get engaged to a woman on Chol Hamoed because maybe someone else will come and marry her first. This seems to be a contradiction with our second barita. Tosfot answer that this gemara must be talking about a second pair.

Also, Tosfot explains that the bat kol comes out 40 days before the birth of the boy whether or not the girl has been born yet.

We see from here that it is possible for a person not to marry their bashert. The Steipler says that a person can actually lose their bashert by saying no to a shidduch for no reason. Also, we learn from here that a person's perfect match can change constantly. If a person begins to act differently then it is possible that they will not marry the person they are meant to marry. This is what makes shidduchim so hard for Hashem, at any moment He must literally change the world because one person changed his middot. This also means that a person will marry someone who is perfect for him/her when they meet.

This teaches us a very important lesson. If we want to make sure that we marry a good spouse the work does not start when we start dating, it started way before that, how else will we be ready to meet our spouse if we have not fixed our middot yet?

In this week's parsha Eliezer makes a shidduch between Rivkah and Yitzchak. Eliezer's one requirement for a spouse for Yitzchak was that she be filled with Chessed (kindness). The reason explained by the Meshech Chachama is a kabbalistic reason. Since Yitzchak was Gevurah (strength)/Din (judgement) he needed someone who was Chessed so that he could have Yaakov who was Emet (truth)/ Tiferet (beauty). This shows Eliezer knew that the perfect match for Yitzchak was a woman who was able to balance his Din. Now Eliezer's test makes perfect sense. He was looking for a girl who was so full of chessed that she would give water to several camels and not even think of asking for a reward.

The Vilna Goan asks, why did Eliezer wait to give Rivkah the gifts until after she gave water to all of the camels? He answers because Eliezer waited until after she gave them all water to see if she would expect anything in return. It was only once she started to walk home that Eliezer knew she was the right one.

This also is another explanation for the pasuk by Adam and Chavah (2:20) "A helper against him." It means that Hashem makes each husband and wife to match exactly what the other one needs to help them grow closer to each other and Hashem, whether this growth is achieved through reinforcement or through being their spouse's biggest critic.

May all those who are looking for their zivug be successful and may those who have already found theirs continue to grow closer to each other and to Hashem.

Have a good shabbat!

Vayaira 5771

Hishtadlut:

The parsha starts off (18:1) "And Hashem appeared to him in Elonei Mamrei..." Rashi says that since Mamrei was the one who gave him the advice to get the brit milah he got mentioned here. The Gra says something interesting. Avraham's mission in life was to spread Torah throughout the world. He was trying to get everyone to follow the mitzvot bnei Noach. He thought that the only way to get people to follow him was for them to relate to him. He was afraid that if he got the brit milah people would not be as willing to listen to him anymore because he would stand out. So he asked his friends Mamrei, Eshkol, and Aner for advice. One told him he was to old to give himself a brit. one told him that if he did it the people would not be able to relate to him anymore, and Mamrei told him that if Hashem told him to do it that it would all work out in the end.

From this Gra we learn that even if we put in effort in the end result is all from Hashem. The gemara in Megillah has a machloket as to whether Esther was one of the most beautiful women ever or if she was actually green. The Gra explains that she started off as the most beautiful woman but as she spent time in the house waiting to meet with Achashvairosh she got so sick from all of the Gashmiut until the point where she actually turned green. So then the question is why would Achashvairosh want to marry a green woman? So the Gemara answers that an angel would come and pass a string of Chesed in front of her and everyone would think she was beautiful. This teaches us that as long as you follow the will of Hashem everything will always work out.

In the sefer Madreigas Ha'Adam the Alter of Nevardik quotes a story of the Alshich Ha'Kadosh. The Alshich gave a shiur and said that if a person where to truly believe that Hashem will support him then he will not need to work. At that shiur there was a very poor wagon pusher. He thought to himself that his job is not worth the effort if he will get the money anyways, so he quite. The next morning he woke up and began to say tehillim. Soon his family noticed he was not working and asked him how he will make money. He said that the Alshich told him that Hashem will get him the money he needs. After a few days of no work the man decides to sell his donkey and wagon to a non-Jew. The non-Jew takes the donkey and wagon and goes and digs a hole. In the hole he finds a buried treasure. Quickly, he gathers the treasure and puts it into the wagon. He decides that he will go back for more and as he is digging the make the hole bigger a big rock comes down and kills him. After a few minute the donkey walks away and finds his way back to his old owners house. Once it gets there this poor man's family find the wagon filled with treasure and they all live happily ever after (except the non-Jew...). We see from this story that as long as you follow Hashem's will everything will work out.

The Mesilat Yesharim says that not only is working not a mitzvah, it is a punishment. The only reason why we need to work is because of the curse that Hashem gave to Adam. The Beis Haleivi says that the whole point of Histadlut is so that people should not be nervous. If you are afraid that Hashem will not be able to support you so He gives you the opportunity work but it is not a mitzvah.

So we learn from the pasuk that once Avraham heard Mamrei say that he should listen to Hashem Avraham realized that in the end all of his success comes from Hashem so he should not be worried that the people of the world will not be able to relate to him. This is why Mamrei was zoche to be mentioned here. This is also the same line of thought that Avraham used when it came to shechting his son. Even though it was against all of the morals he had been trying to teach people for all these years (to stop them from sacrificing their children to Avodah Zara). Now Avraham was going to do the thing he had been trying to stop from all those years. The reason why is was so hard for him to do it. But since he learned this yesod from before he realized that as long as he does Hashem's will it will all work out for the best!

Have a great Shabbat!

Lech Lecha 5771

Korbanot:

The pasuk says (12:7) "And Hashem appeared to Avram and He said "to your offsprings I will give this land" and he (Avraham) built there a mizbai'ach to Hashem Who appeared to him." The Ramban says on this pasuk "The reason why "to Hashem Who appeared to him" is because he (Avraham) is thankful to the Honorable Name and he sacrificed a sacrifice of thanks because He appeared to him, because until now Hashem did not appear to him in a vision... but when He said Lech Lecha... it was in a dream or with Ruach Hakodesh. The words "Who appeared to him" is hinting to the secret of the korbon. And a Maskil understands." I in no way claim to be a maskil of any kind, but with some help of a few other sources we may understand the secret to korbanot!

The Meshech Chachama on this pasuk is quite eye opening. "This matter is spoken about (Iyov 19:26) "And my flesh will see God." To my knowledge the Nefesh is a spiritual being who fears and honors Hashem. But since it is placed into a disgusting body it is separated from its father in Heaven, so Hashem gave us the Torah to use as a microscope to remove our dirty clothes and be like before we were born. [As Chazal explain (Brachot 32b) "From when the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed a wall of iron was placed between the Jews and their Father in heaven." This is the wall that stops us from the pure lens of sight.] It is possible to use the Torah to remove this wall between us and Hashem and be able to see Hashem. This is what the pasuk in Iyov means "With my flesh"- the disgusting flesh, "I will see"- with a unnatural sight. That is why the pasuk says "Echaze" (I will see a vision) and not "Ereh" (I will see). We see that the word of Hashem comes even to animals (the snake and the fish) but we do not see anywhere that the animals saw Hashem. Adam before the sin was a pure body who had no issue seeing the honor of Hashem, this is why he walked naked. For the spirit all parts of the body are equal because he had no desires and no bad parts. But when he ate from Eitz Hadat the body switched to a disgusting body with bad Kochot desiring pleasures and anger... and now they knew they were naked and they were embarrassed, because now they had a flesh of ervah. Then it says "And they heard the voice of God" they only heard the voice but they did not see the honor of Hashem... because their bodies separated them from their Father in heaven. From that point until now we have only seen "And Hashem said" but not "And Hashem appeared." Only when Avraham came to the Eretz Yisrael did his body become like Adam's before the sin. This is what the pasuk means when it says "And Hashem appeared to Avraham saying"- now he was able to see Him. This is what our pasuk means "And he built a mizbai'ach to Hashem Who appeared to him" that Avraham was able to see Him before he heard Him, because his body was not a separation. And this is what the pasuk means "And I appeared to Avraham Yitzchak and Yaakov" (Shemot 6:2) And we see it by all of the Avot that "Hashem appeared to him."

The gemara on Shabbat 146a explains that from Avraham to Yaakov the zuhama that was placed in man after the sin was removed.

The gemara in Brachot in the fourth perek has a machloket if the tefillot we have today come from the Avot or the Korbanot. There is a perush that explains that once the avot davened at those times it made it possible for us to daven at those times. By Avraham davening in the morning it gave us the ability to do the same.

The gemara in Megillah (31b) has a conversation between Hashem and Avraham. Avraham says "Master of the World, maybe Chas V'Shalom the Jews will sin before You will You do to them like what you did to the Generation of the mabul or the flaga?" He answered Avraham "No" Avraham asked "Master of the World, with what will I know this?" He said "Give me a calf..." Avraham said "Master of the World, that is fine in the time of the Beit Hamikdash, but what will happen in the time when there is no Beit Hamikdash?" Hashem answered "I have already esablished for them an order of Korbanot for all time that they can read and I will make it as if they brought a korban and I will forgive them for all of their sins." This shows us that by the time of Avraham Hashem already had an order set up for how we will bring korbanot when there is no longer a Beit Hamikdash. It is possible to say that just like Tefillat Shacharit that Avraham gave us the ability to daven so too he gave us the ability to bring korbanot.

The Vilna Goan in his sefer Aderet/s Eliyahu writes that this very mizbai'ach is the "destroyed Mizbai'ach of Eliyahu." If we look in Melachim 1 perek 18 we see the story of Eliyahu beating the prophets of peor in challenge where Eliyahu fixes the mizbai'ach of Hashem and is able to bring a korban on it.

In the times of Mashiach, may they come soon, this very challenge will happen again. Except this time the results will be different and the Jews will have the hardest test of Emuna that they have ever experienced. At the end of the trial Hashem will reveal Himself. Through this mizbai'ach Hashem will reveal Himself just as He had done with Avraham.

Now we can begin to understand the depths of Avraham's korban! Avraham built the very mizbai'ach that would later prove to the Jews that Hashem is the only true God. Avraham built it because Hashem revealed Himself, and Avraham was preparing for the time when after many years Hashem will finally reveal Himself to the world in the times of Mashiach, when everyone will have removed the dirt off of their bodies and return to a time before the sin of Adam.

Have a Great Shabbat!

Noach 5771

Cutting the Small Plants:

In perek 14 of this week's parsha the Torah tells the story of the Tower of Bavel. The Ramban has a very deep explanation of these events. He writes (14:2) "... And look because in the entire story of the Mabul it uses Elokim and in the entire story of the flaga it uses the special name, because the Mabul was because they corrupted the land, and the flaga was because they cut the small plants, and they were punished with the big name and this was the reason for their destruction and also the midat Sodom." Let us try to break down this Ramban and hopefully it will be very enlightening. The pasuk says (6:11) "And the land was corrupt before Elokim and the land was filled with Chamas." Rashi explains that the reason why the world was destoryed was because the people did Ervah and Avodah Zara as it says in the pasuk (Devorim 4:16) "So that you do not act corruptly and make for yourselves carved images..." So when it says in the Ramban that the people of the mabul corrupted the world it means that they did avodah zara. It says in last week's parsha (6:6) "And Hashem was Nachem because of what man did in the land, and He was sad in His heart." The Ramban quotes a Midrash Rabbah on this pasuk (27:6/7) There is an argument about what the word Nachem means. According to one view Hashem was upset that He created man in the lower world were He is hidden because had they been in the upper world were He was revealed they would not have sinned. Another view was that Hashem was happy that He created man in the lower world because had man been created in higher world and he had sinned then Hashem would have to have destroyed the whole world... Then the midrash brings a Mashal. If a king hires an architect to design a building and the king does not like the building he does not blame the architect[, because the king was the one who designed it, the architect just made it a reality]. If a king makes a deal with a lowlife and the deal doesn't work out the king can only blame himself. This is what happened when man sinned, Hashem blamed Himself for their failure. Why? There is a midrash that says that when Hashem wanted to create man He first created a group of angels and asked them if it was a good idea. They said not to create man because his desires would get the best of him and he would sin, so Hashem destroyed them. He then created a second group of angels and the same thing happened. The He created a third group and they said that it was a bad idea to create man but Hashem could do whatever He wants. So Hashem created man and said that any time a person does a mitzvah this group of angels must come and have testimony in front of Hashem that the world was worth being created just for this man. That is the end of the midrash, but what happens every time man does something bad? Hashem would have to admit to the angels that they were right. This is why Hashem blames Himself for man's failure. The Ramban also notes that this one of the very few times in the story of the mabul that Hashem is used and not Elokim. Why change the name here? There is a midrash that says that Adam named all of the animals and then Hashem asked him to name himself and Hashem asked Adam to name him and Adam called God "Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei." Rav Chaim Volozhin explains that Hashem gave the power to man to affect the upper worlds. This is what it means to be a tzelem Elokim. The very fact the man could name Hashem showed how much power Hashem gave man in the upper worlds. This might be why the Torah uses this name here to show that even though they could have used their power for good it just led them to Avodah Zara. The name Hashem comes up again the story of the Mabul in 7:1. The Ramban there says that the reason for this is because "Hashem was using His midah of mercy to save Noach and his family... and it was a hint to him that in the future Hashem would have mercy on the korbon that Noach would bring and because of that korbon the world would be established. (Taanit 27b)" Hashem's name is used here to show that for Noach the whole world was worth being created, that Noach fought against his nature and the nature of everyone else in the world and he did not sin and for this the world was worth being created. "And Noach found favor in Hashem's eyes... Noach was a pure tzaddik in his generation" (6:8-9) He was a tzaddik even his generation filled with evil people, for this the world was worth being created. We also see why the name of Hashem is used in the flaga, because people their took their ability to affect the upper worlds and used it to rebel. The Ramban said that their sin was different from the earlier generation because they cut the small plants. In Chagigah 14b it says that four people entered the Pardes... Acher came in and cut the small plants." Later in the gemara it says that a Bat Kol came out and said "Everyone has the power to do teshuva except Acher." What is the meaning of this gemara and the ramban? Chazal explain that when one does a sin that is liable for Karet a person is cut off from Hashem. But the person should know that even though part of their soul (their ruach) is separated from Hashem their neshama is still connect to the Kisei Hakavod. As long as your neshama is still connected you can still survive. But as we said there is something worse, to use the power that Hashem gave us, to influence the upper worlds, to try to fight against Hashem. This is exactly what the dor Haflaga did and what Acher did. He used the great Torah knowledge he had to enter the Pardes and then once he got there he cut the small plants meaning he cut even his neshama from the Upper Worlds. The midrash says about the Dor Haflaga that they built the tower in order that they can place an idol there so that it can fight Hashem. They wanted to use their powers to influence the upper worlds to rebel against Hashem and this was the exact reason why the angels told Hashem not to create man, and this is the thing that gets Hashem the most angry. So now it would not be enough to destroy them with Elokim like He did to the Dor Hamabul He would need to use His "Big Name" (Ramban). Also the midrash explains that the people of Sodom would punish any person who would try to do nice things. They would take what Hashem gave them and use it for the opposite of what He wanted them to use them for.

Now when it came to Noach Hashem wanted him to have protection from the Mabul so He told Noach to build a tevah. The Zohar compares the Tevah to the Aron. Just like the Aron protected the Jews from the mountains and valleys, the tevah protected Noach, It was worth saving the world just for him. In fact rashi says several times that his children were only saved because of him. Now once Noach had gotten off the tevah he saw a whole new world. He was hoping that it would be possible to return to the time before the original sin. So Noach planted vines, the exact opposite of cutting down plants.

There are still one part that I do not understand. 1) What is going on after Noach plants the vineyard? (fitting into the Ramban) Any suggestions?

Good Chodesh and Good Shabbat!