Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith
Category: Teachings on Berashit (Genesis)
Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith on Genesis Chapter 24:1
Parshat Lech Lecha November 4 2011
Leah Goldsmith
Much of the book of Genesis is devoted to the stories of the lives of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs, what they did and also where their particular trials and achievements happened. Each chronicle that folds into the next brings a chain of ideas that never ceases to amaze us and how it affects our lives even today. The first Patriarch we encounter is Abraham. Abraham is constantly on the move, walking and running to do mitzvoth. He is associated with setting things in motion. He walks the length and breadth of the Land, runs to mobilize people to form a different way of thinking and approachlife through belief in one G-d. He and his wife Sarah set up special inns providing for their guests and always offering a second helping of spirituality.He made goodness prevail over darkness. This is why Abraham is the personification of Chesed (the attribute of loving-kindness) (active motion). Abraham rushed forward until he reached the city of Shechem as it says in the passuk :”AD makome Shechem AD Elon Moreh”- “UP TO the city of Shechem”. Here in this place middat Haschesed reaches a limit and Abraham stands still. This is the first encounter we have with Middat HaGevurah (the attribute of might/restraint).
The confined boundary given to running Abraham and the AD (ayin daled) used in the passuk also are the only 2 letters in the Shema that are larger. Regarding the Shema, halacha requires an individual to STOP and either stand or sit in one place (which is the opposite of movement) and focus. Later on as we read about the Yosef stories, the city of Shechem becomes the focal point of MiddatHaGevurah- the place he is sold, and even prior to this, the place where Dina is taken by Shechem Ben Chamor and Shimon and Levi retaliate. Each Patriarch has a distinct inner nature as do all the places spoken about in the torah because of their inner essence and connection to Am Yisrael and the people that love Israel. In order to emulate the legacy of our forefathers and land, we study their actions and understand the many dimensions hidden in the character of each place (as Yaakov was able to see and say “Mah Norah hamakomehazeh”- “How awesome is this place!” when he layed upon the stones of the Temple Mount)
Abraham was a saint and his middathachesed had him praying even for evildoers. Chesed can overflow if it is not controlled. This is where Gevurah comes in, disciplining it, making the walls for a vessel to catch it, contain it. This is like healthy love which includes as element of self control and respect for the other person’s boundaries. This is the key ingredient to Shalom Bayit. Our Rabbis teach us: “A person should always draw people close by means of his right hand and know when to push them aside with his left.” (Sotah 47)
There has to come a time soon that all “Peace Love and Good Music” attitudes Israel has been displaying up until now (and what hasn’t Israel done for peace?) will hit finally a brick wall. There will come a time soon when all of its citizens will say AD kahn- UP TO HERE. Israel is a country of true Chesed. When the nations of the world refuse to recognize Israel for its truth, for being G-d’s land, it will have to display another facet- MiddatHagevurah in order to preserve the real meaning of middatHaShalom. A person is made of many aspects of the spheres making him/her complex and interesting. That’s what puts him above animals that show only one distinct nature. Choose to use the middot to be a kind, disciplined, loving and respecting human being. There are many missions yet to be accomplished and the combination of all of Hashem’s aspects in us will save the world when goodness prevails over darkness. That’s why we read about Abraham- some things never change and history always repeats itself.
Shabbat Shalom Leah Goldsmith
Genesis 12: 1
In last week’s parsha, man made a vow to guard the garden and keep it. Ten generations later we witness the total moral crumbling of mankind. No-one is guarding or keeping anything. Noach is building an ark for over 120 years and people are asking, “Why are you building this ark?” Noach explains “Unless we perfect the world, it will go under.” But they really don’t listen. It is getting really dark before the storm and people don’t heed, dark skies turn to black skies, like the plague of darkness in Egypt. Noah says to rectify but time has run out – it’s all over for most of the world aside from the Noach family and the animals they collected and preserved.
Fast forward ten generations and its 1948 BCE. The first man to see and know Hashem, Abraham, leaves it all behind and goes to a land he knows nothing about. He returns to the garden of Adam, to the Land of Israel. His life there is not easy. Every day holds a new test, a new inconvenience, a new hardship. Our Rabbis bring down that Israel is a land acquired through hardship. He has to sweat over the many tasks set before him in Eden/Israel. Notwithstanding,that very place is the field of vision where if you look hard enough, all you see is open miracles
Going full speed ahead in time into modern history,it is 1948 and we have “officially” cast anchor as we again take vows to guard the land and keep it. The very land that remained fallow for the two thousand years, its people were kept from it, where nothing grew for any nation. Jews wandered about aimlessly looking for a haven, a place they could call home. The time wasn’t right during the exile of TohuVaVohu. But now, there is no change of course. Most of the world would like to see us in the sea and controversy surrounds the very idea of Israel. Why?The world still has some time to rectify but even our own fellow Jews ask “Why are you building this ark/Land” They do not realize that the sky is turning dark..
The Chesed Avraham,Rabbi Avraham Azuli, a saint and commentary on Kabbalah and torah subjects (1570-1644) who gave in depth explanations of the Ariz”l said about the days prior to the 7th millennium that “The lower waters will rise up and cover the world and Israel will remain like Noach’s ark.” He prophesied hundreds of years ago about the time that will come when simultaneously problems will flood the world, chaos will rule and only little Israel can be our refuge. (paralleling to the end of the sixth millennium- 6 days of creation- 6 millennium making this hour the one Adam ate from the tree of knowledge)- Unless we perfect the world, it will go under. In the prophets like Zechariah 13:8 there is a clear description of this.
Here on Itamar, the very heart of Israel we are doing our best to guard the Land and keep it. We are tested every single day. Our enemies also know what the heart means to the body. This is THE safe haven as uncanny as it sounds. It’s time to board the boat. “Don’t miss the boat!” Hashem sticks to His time table. Soon it will be time to light the Shabbat candles in more ways than one.
Shabbat Shalom Leah Goldsmith
Rabbi Goldsmith Genesis 6:9
“Ve’emunatcha Baleylot”- Mikeitz-Chanukah December 3, 2010
Leah Goldsmith
The portions of Yosef come to light during the darkest days of the year always at the end of Kislev. Something happens in the dark – the light of Chanukah is revealed. Something happens to Yosef too as he dreams in the dark of night. Pregnant with revelation, Yosef understands that all that transpired in his father’s life- so too he is to experience. He is taken out of his home, separated from his brothers. He sees that in Potiphera’s house all he does, he succeeds, like his father in the house of Lavan. He doesn’t make an effort to “call home” even when 22 years have passed by. Like Ya’akov who had to go into exile in order to build the physical house of Israel being the tikkun of the revealed world. But the buck stops there for him. Yosef is sent by Hashem to the most cultured, civilized modern society of that time, Mitzrayim. Our holy torah never uses the word dark, aside from one instance: to describe Mitzrayim. It is to this place that Yosef falls, deeper than any pit, where the occult ruled and belief in One G-d did not exist. Here the Tzaddik superseded his father in the trials of the darkness of Egypt. He wrestles with more than angels; his job is to “bring up” the holy sparks that reside even there. Only the Tzaddik has the ability to hold the candle of righteousness and show the true light in a place so seemingly alive with culture that accompanies the fat of the land. When he is tested by the most beautiful woman that lived on earth at that time he saw the living picture of his father and prevailed.
By the same token, The Macabees raised the torch of torah light in a time when Greek culture ruled, even in Israel. The objective of Greek culture was the worship of the body and philosophy. Instead of the holy light of the Temple, they erected pagan idols and set up violent gladiator games that they considered sport in coliseums. They forbade the Jews to worship the torah, the sacred times of the year, Shabbat and of course the brit (the Yesod, thus rejecting Yosef haTzaddik who was sent to sanctify the physical world.) Therefore before Chanukah it was considered a dark time not only because there was no light in the Temple but because the traditions passed down from father to son were either abolished by mandatory rule or forgotten due to assimilating into the Greek culture. Chanukah is not only the winning of a physical battle but the time that the holy light prevailed over the darkness of the carnal culture of Greece that threatened to abolish Judaism completely. That is why this is such a blessed time.
The seasonal Chanukah couldn’t be better timed. As we add another light to the menorah, the days of the year begin to lengthen too. The book of Chaggay even speaks about the auspicious time of the 24th day of the 9th month (kislev) as being the window of opportunity for the dedication of the Temple.(way before the second Temple!)- “But now consider from this day onwards, from the twenty forth day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the lord’s temple that was laid, consider it. From this day I will bless you.”
Let us take this opportunity to remember that it is NEVER totally dark. It is up to each and every one of us to spread the light. Greece was the FIRST country to come to Israel’s aid in the terrible fires on the Carmel. May we hear only besoorot tovot, yeshuot venechamot.
Shabbat Shalom, Chanukah Sameyach Leah Goldsmith
Parshat Vayeshev November 26 2010
Leah Goldsmith
Dear readers- As I turned on my faucet to get ready for Shabbat – I really almost looked up into it to see if water would come out. Israel has been in a drought for the last 5 years. By the time we read the portions of Yosef, which is usually Chanukah time, here in Israel it is raining. Yosef and rain come together. Yosef, who brought the bounty gave only credit to Hashem, for interpreting dreams, for the foresight to save food and water before the drought, for the plenty of this world. As the Yesod, he is the pipeline that channels all of these blessings into practical use in our material world. So, as I was feeling apprehensive to say the least about my dying grass, my worry for the Kinneret that is drying up, my sorrow at the Civil Administration’s destruction of one of the only steams-pools in this area near Eilon Moreh this week, the phone rang and it was a friend of Itamar- someone like yourselves, whose name is Brian Dellaca calling from Australia to say Shabbat Shalom. I told him I was pretty shaken up knowing that all the reservoirs in the Golan are bone dry, the Kinneret is a meter under the red line, the Dead Sea is drying up, and the only underground aquifers that exist in Israel are under negotiations to be given away to a Palestinian State, and that I’m afraid to water my trees. He simply said, ” Go outside with an umbrella!”
That got me thinking again about Yosef Hatzaddik. How much have we said about Yosef already. We could go on until tomorrow. What would he do? The idea of feeling potential and mapping out a plan is what the yesod is all about. It’s about preparing the vessel. It’s also about blind faith. We don’t ever hear Yosef bellyache. I am sure he did a lot of praying too. Yosef is the person, a symbol of the process of our redemption unfolding also now in these days. If Hashem has promised, Hashem will do. It’s up to us to follow the techniques of Yoseph, conserving water, using grey water techniques, wetlands from sewage, and come up with new ideas that will bring the continued blessing to the Land. But first we have to pray:
A Prayer for Time of Drought “Answer us, Creator of the Universe, with the attribute of mercy, the One who chose His people Israel to proclaim His greatness and honor. The One who hears prayers, give rain and dew on the earth, satisfy the entire world from Your bounty, and fill our hands from your blessings and from riches, the gift of Your hand. Protect and save this year from everything bad, and from all types of destructive agents and from all types of suffering, and provide it with hope and peace as its goal. Have mercy and compassion on us and all our produce and fruits, and bless us with abundant rains, that we may merit life, satisfaction, and peace as in the good years. Remove from us plague, the sword, and famine, evil beast, captivity, and despoilment, the evil urge, and bad and harsh events. Decree for us good decrees from before You, let Your mercy be revealed over Your other attributes. Treat Your children with the attribute of mercy, and accept with compassion and desire our prayer.”
Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith
Parshat Vayishlach November 19 2010
Leah Goldsmith
Our Rabbis tell us, Ma’aseh avot siman lebanim- What happens to the fathers is a sign of what will happen to the future generations. This applies to the soul, the time, the place. Parshat Vayishlach is an even lesson for us on placating or going in advance, armed and ready. Ya’akov prepares gifts, taking the edge off of things and cooling the air. His brother, Esav says “I have plenty”(meaning I have a fortune but I want more). Ya’akov says, “I have all that I need”. He bears gifts. The story line of the parsha moves along from a situation of negotiations through diplomatic relations to the family of Yisrael taking matters into hand when Dina was forced upon in the land of Shechem, where the brit hurts. They came to a radical decision premeditating to wipe out the enemy. Ya’akov is distressed in this situation too but another tragic incident overrides all the previous tribulations. The love of his life dies and Rachel is left at the crossroads of Bethlehem. There, chazal tell us she waits for her children to return from their long sleep in the exile to their rightful borders, waiting to be reunited with Yisrael.
Every turn of events takes us to a new turn in the road of our Patriarchs, on a different vertebrae on the spinal cord of the backbone of the land of Israel thus laying the groundwork through trials, as we have already seen with Abraham. The first stones of our legacy were placed and oil was poured down as a brit for time immemorial. Tears too. As things turn out, we find ourselves in a similar situation today. We placate. We negotiate. But there is also a time to protect the honor of our sister, our mother. The message of hope and steadfastness, of permanent faith is what Ya’akov/Yisrael passes on to us. He is the shaliach. (Emissary) These are the messengers he is sending to us about the gift of Eretz Yisrael, then, now and forever!
Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith
Parshat Chaye Sarah October 30, 2010
Leah Goldsmith
Chazal tell us that Yitzchak mourned for his mother three years. This is outstanding in that a person generally mourns for a spouse for 30 days and one year for a parent. There are different ideas about why Yitzchak mourned overtime. (Sarah passed away upon hearing that her only son was taken to the akeida.) What we do know is that he was finally consoled when Rivka came into his life. Rivka touches him, entering into his spirit to the quick. Yitzchak resembled his father, Abraham in a way that no-one could doubt their father-son relationship, the impression of Abraham’s face on his son’s, though internally they were profoundly different. One had active attributes, one passive. One held the domain of Chesed and one of Gevurah. Rivka resembled Sarah, Yitzchak’s mother, not only superficially, but profoundly in her core essence. In the way that Sarak knew who would build the nation of Israel, classified to Yitzchak, the refining process was done by her, Rivka knew this too. Sarah fought for the sole inheritor- Yitzchak (your son, your only son). Rivka does the same for Ya’akov, sifting out Esav. In these attributes Sarah and Rivka won the status of the deciding factor of who continues into the next generation of Judaism, the mother.
Rebecca is no pushover. Yes, she falls off the camel (out of being struck by “Cupid’s bow) but she demonstrates amazing strength when telling her parents she is leaving with the servant to join the family in Israel. Rivka leaves her homeland (following the traits of Abraham and Sarah). She has an objective but doesn’t realize that her role right now is to console the bereaved Yitzchak. Consolation (nechama) means moving from a state of emptiness and sadness into a feeling that life is filling up those empty places. Happiness is filling and sprouting new life. This is what Yitzchak felt on the day he met Rivka. This being the continuation of Sarah, his mother living in his wife. Therefore he took her to Sarah’s tent, and not Abraham’s (who was still alive).
Today, as we experience the “post akeida” of the holocaust and the sacrifices of the long bitter exile that left us scarred and bereaved. We are consoled with being returned to our land. But we cannot yet be content because again, two souls share the same womb. History repeats itself. The image of our Matriarchs fills up the barren and lifeless hills and dales. Our ancient cities are refortified. Thousands of children play in the streets. But we still do not know the peace of a New Jerusalem. It is time to remember Rebecca and Sarah, buried in Chevron. It is time to realize the lessons their lives have taught us. Their impression is ingrained in the torah and in us.
(much of this torah was influenced by the teachings of HaRav Yitzchak Shapira, shlita)
Shabbat Shalom, Leah Goldsmith