"Va'yashav Yitzchak va'yachpor es beiros hamayim asher chafru b'yimeie Avraham aviv.../And Yitzchak dug anew the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Avraham his father..." (Bereishis 26:18)
We can clearly see the praise in this pasuk of Yitzchak avinu! The fourth call went out. Open up the gates and remove Yissachar a man from the village of Barakay, who respects himself and degrades things that were consecrated to shamayim!!! This amazing story is found in the gemara (Kerisus 28:) and is talking about a bas kol (announcement from heaven) that went out in the Beis Ha'Mikdash kicking out Yissachar from Barakay, who was then the Kohen Gadol. What did he do wrong? He wore gloves while doing the korbanos/sacrifices, so that he wouldn't get his hands all bloody and gooey. This is considered a big insult to the korbanos, which are our offerings to Hashem. He didn't see the pieces of the korbanos as objects of holiness but rather as dirty pieces of meat, just like a gump of mud from the ground. The pasuk is pointing out to us the praise of Yitchak avinu in that he was willing to get down and dirty in order to do the will of Hashem. Especially when it had to do with living in the Holy Land! The lesson that we can try and learn from Yitzchak avinu is twofold. A) The importance of settling and building up the Holy Land of Eretz Yisroel!!! Yitzchak himself went to dig up wells that were dried up and filled in!!! No discouragement just pure emunah that the water would come. B) We learn from Yitzchak avinu that sometimes we just have to get down and dirty in order to do mitzvos and come closer to Hashem!!!! And no worries! The gemara we quoted above ends off on a happy note "This time a bas kol of praise! Lift up your heads gates, and allow Yochanan ben Narvay!" Yochanan ben Narvay was a kohen who could eat 400 seah (`seah'' is shown at about 6.66 dry quarts) of chicken as desert for his meal. As long as he was alive there was never any nosar/left over meat, in the Beis Ha'Mikdash. At first glance we would think that he was a pig! But really he did it as a mitzvha! So that there shouldn't be any left over meat, which is also a big insult to the korbanos!
Toldos/Offspring..... that's what its all about! If we're just living for ourselves what's the point? It's gotta be about coming closer to Hashem! and making sure that our offspring do so as well. It's hard work but if we truly want to do it, we'll get all the help that we need!! This is the the darkest month of the tear, but yet it has Chanukah which brings the greatest light into the world. Lets keep yearning and may we soon merit seeing with our own eyes the coming of Mashiach and the building of the third and final Beis Ha'Mikdash speedily!!! In our days!!! Amen!!!
A good month to one and all!
A good week!
peace & joy,
Etan
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
The Family Jewels - Parshas Chayei Sarah
As posted to: http://thefamilyjewels-etan.blogspot.com/
Hello to one and all.
We've been talking a lot about Avraham Avinu and now we come to the parsha of Sarah Imenu. "Sarah's lifetime was one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years..." The midrash tells us how Rabbi Akivah's students were falling asleep, so he told them that Queen Esther ruled over 127 countries in the merit of Sarah's 127 years, and they all jumped up. Rav Ahron Kotler asks "whats pshat"? Every country has states, every state has cities, every city has boroughs, every borough has neighborhoods, every neighborhood has streets, alleys etc... So it goes beyon just the 127 years every second of Sarah Imenus life had an affect on the future, and so too by us every second counts, both for ourselves and those around us and for the generations to come. Chayei Sarah comes to tell us that behind every great man there is an even greater woman, behind every nation is a great woman. Lets take a moment to thank all of the great women in our lives. Our mothers, our wives, our sisters, etc... And let us remember that they have a closer connection to Hashem. The parsha also teaches us the essential concept in Judaism of respect for the dead. We neither reject what has gone before nor neglect what lies ahead. After all the tests that he went through and the daunting challenge of marrying off Yitzchak up ahead, Avraham Avinu puts everything on hold to find a place to burry Sarah. Even though it is not listed as one of the tests, I heard an opinion yesterday that the challenge of buying Maaras Hamachpela was the greatest test of his life. Just a little aliyah plug! Maaras Hamachpela is the "Shaar Gan Eden" and the Beis Hamikdash (which Dovid Hamelech also bought the property from a goy) is the "Shaar Shamayim."
Now we go on to the first shiduch. First a question for everyone to think about, because I don't have an answer. It says that when Avraham and Yitzchak were coming down from the akeida it was told to Avraham that Rivkah was born. So what's the whole big deal that he has to send his servant to find a suitable mate for his son? Ok, she was still a baby, she was far away, but why couldn't Avraham tell Eliezer who she was, and where she was?
Eleizer goes, he davens to the G-D of his master, and is successful. Why does the Torah have to repeat the story twice? We know the Torah doesn't waste words. The Ohr Gedalyahu (Rav Gedalyahu Schorr. If anyone can send me a picture of him I would be grateful!) says that this is coming to teach us about how great of a servant Eliezer was. That he did everything exactly the way Avraham told him to. Even though Rashi tells us that he had a daughter that could have married Yitchak. It's a lesson in how to be a servant. We are Hashem's children, but we are also Hashem's servants and we can learn a lesson from Eleizer. The midrashim tell us how great of a man Eliezer was. So how could he be a simple servant? First of all to be a servant to a talmid chacham, to a gadol hador is anything but simple, and we can also say that all of the greatness that is attributed to Eliezer he got because he was such a faithful servant.
Avraham leaves us. "Now these are the days of the years of Avraham's life which he lived..." Just like the lesson by Sarah we also learn from Avraham "He lived!!!" He made every day count!! So too each and every one of us needs to make every count. Rav Nosson writes in his introduction to Chayei Moharan, the biography of Reb Nachmans life that he chose the name based on this lesson. It's a big job, but we're also taught never to give up hope. So if you have a day which you feel you didn't live fully, just remember that Hashem loves you no matter what, and will still help you no matter what. And also remember what we learned in Bereishis, that the thought itself isn't you but rather the "bad guy." May we all try (or at least aspire to) live our lives a little more fully, and in that zechus bring the geula and the building of the third and final Beis Hamikdash speedily in our days!!!
Have a great Shabbos,
peace & joy,
Etan
Hello to one and all.
We've been talking a lot about Avraham Avinu and now we come to the parsha of Sarah Imenu. "Sarah's lifetime was one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years..." The midrash tells us how Rabbi Akivah's students were falling asleep, so he told them that Queen Esther ruled over 127 countries in the merit of Sarah's 127 years, and they all jumped up. Rav Ahron Kotler asks "whats pshat"? Every country has states, every state has cities, every city has boroughs, every borough has neighborhoods, every neighborhood has streets, alleys etc... So it goes beyon just the 127 years every second of Sarah Imenus life had an affect on the future, and so too by us every second counts, both for ourselves and those around us and for the generations to come. Chayei Sarah comes to tell us that behind every great man there is an even greater woman, behind every nation is a great woman. Lets take a moment to thank all of the great women in our lives. Our mothers, our wives, our sisters, etc... And let us remember that they have a closer connection to Hashem. The parsha also teaches us the essential concept in Judaism of respect for the dead. We neither reject what has gone before nor neglect what lies ahead. After all the tests that he went through and the daunting challenge of marrying off Yitzchak up ahead, Avraham Avinu puts everything on hold to find a place to burry Sarah. Even though it is not listed as one of the tests, I heard an opinion yesterday that the challenge of buying Maaras Hamachpela was the greatest test of his life. Just a little aliyah plug! Maaras Hamachpela is the "Shaar Gan Eden" and the Beis Hamikdash (which Dovid Hamelech also bought the property from a goy) is the "Shaar Shamayim."
Now we go on to the first shiduch. First a question for everyone to think about, because I don't have an answer. It says that when Avraham and Yitzchak were coming down from the akeida it was told to Avraham that Rivkah was born. So what's the whole big deal that he has to send his servant to find a suitable mate for his son? Ok, she was still a baby, she was far away, but why couldn't Avraham tell Eliezer who she was, and where she was?
Eleizer goes, he davens to the G-D of his master, and is successful. Why does the Torah have to repeat the story twice? We know the Torah doesn't waste words. The Ohr Gedalyahu (Rav Gedalyahu Schorr. If anyone can send me a picture of him I would be grateful!) says that this is coming to teach us about how great of a servant Eliezer was. That he did everything exactly the way Avraham told him to. Even though Rashi tells us that he had a daughter that could have married Yitchak. It's a lesson in how to be a servant. We are Hashem's children, but we are also Hashem's servants and we can learn a lesson from Eleizer. The midrashim tell us how great of a man Eliezer was. So how could he be a simple servant? First of all to be a servant to a talmid chacham, to a gadol hador is anything but simple, and we can also say that all of the greatness that is attributed to Eliezer he got because he was such a faithful servant.
Avraham leaves us. "Now these are the days of the years of Avraham's life which he lived..." Just like the lesson by Sarah we also learn from Avraham "He lived!!!" He made every day count!! So too each and every one of us needs to make every count. Rav Nosson writes in his introduction to Chayei Moharan, the biography of Reb Nachmans life that he chose the name based on this lesson. It's a big job, but we're also taught never to give up hope. So if you have a day which you feel you didn't live fully, just remember that Hashem loves you no matter what, and will still help you no matter what. And also remember what we learned in Bereishis, that the thought itself isn't you but rather the "bad guy." May we all try (or at least aspire to) live our lives a little more fully, and in that zechus bring the geula and the building of the third and final Beis Hamikdash speedily in our days!!!
Have a great Shabbos,
peace & joy,
Etan
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