Category: Teachings on Berashit (Genesis)
As people that live in the corporeal world, we are not accustomed to experience the supernatural. Nevertheless, growing up in an orthodox world of Torah we are exposed from a very young age to the spiritual realm. Praying three times a day and learning the Biblical stories of prophecy, miracles, and angels force us to enter this completely different level of existence. Naturally, as children we absorb spiritual concepts and happenings on a very simplistic level. The problem is that sometimes we spend our whole lives remaining with the same childish understanding that we attained as children. A perfect example of this is understanding angels. As adults, how should be relate to the Biblical depiction of and angel? This topic is vast and I don’t expect to do it justice in one essay. I would like to try and analyze the opening verse of this week’s portion according to some of our classical commentaries that I hope will shed light on this topic.
This week’s Torah portion opens up with “and Hashem appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent when the day was hot.” And he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent, and he prostrated himself to the ground. And he said, “My lord, if only I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass on from beside your servant (Genesis 18:1-3).
Start reading the verse again “and Hashem appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent when the day was hot” and then stop for a few seconds. What would you expect to follow? Logically, we would expect to see a Divine message given to Abraham through this appearance similarly to Genesis 17:1 And Abram was ninety-nine years old, and God appeared to Abram, and He said to him, “I am the Almighty God; walk before Me and be perfect. Interestingly, this is not the case. Instead of G-D relating a message to him, the Torah goes on to discuss the visit of the three men (angels). Summing things up, we are left in suspense not knowing why Hashem appeared to Abraham at this time. In addition, most of us take for granted the countless times that Hashem appears to His prophets. We almost never ask ourselves the important question – why. In other words, what preparations did the prophet do in order to merit in the experience the prophetic happening. Could it be that no special preparations are required? Most of our major commentators deal with these questions and I would like to present some of their approaches here.
The Rambam explains that prophecy requires tremendous preparation on part of the person. Only after a person has perfected himself to the highest degree morally and intellectually coupled with overcoming his earthy desires can he attain prophecy. Not to mention the fact that he must be in good physical health and in a state of happiness.
With the exception of Moshe Rabeynu, all prophetic experiences take place through dreams or visions via angels. This is clearly taught to us in the Torah. He said, “Please listen to My words. If there be prophets among you, [I] Hashem will make Myself known to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream. Not so is My servant Moses; he is faithful throughout My house. With him I speak mouth to mouth; in a vision and not in riddles, and he beholds the image of Hashem. So why were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses? Numbers 12:6-8)
We see that only Moshe Rabeynu was on a level that allowed him to enter the prophetic state at will, while completely awake and standing up. All other prophets would have to enter a prophetic trance which would cause them to tremble and fall to the ground. They would then see a vision or fall to sleep and dream. The vision would be marked by an angel appearing to them and relating them a prophetic message through metamorphic imagery. (See The Rambam in his magnum opus, the Mishnah Torah, Hilchot Yesoday Hatorah chapter 7 and in his Guide to the perplexed chapters 36-41 where he elaborates on prophecy and explains the difference between dream and vision)
With this introduction in mind the opening verse is difficult to understand –“and Hashem appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he was sitting at the entrance of the tent when the day was hot.” Hashem appearing to Abraham while he is sitting at the entrance to his tent seems to contradict the Rambams’s understanding of prophecy. Of course, as far as readiness goes, there is no doubt that Abraham was more than ready. Since he possessed all the unique qualities that were required by a person in order to reach the prophetic level. Nevertheless, we learnt that only Moshe Rabeynu was able to receive prophecy while being awake! If the Torah would have left out the fact that Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent then there would be no problem in understanding this event. We would simply assume that Abraham saw the angels in while in a prophetic trance. The fact that the Torah mentions his sitting down creates all the difficulty.
Another question that must be raised – if the men that are mentioned here are angels why are they eating and drinking? There is no way one can deny the fact that they were Divine messengers since their actions prove it. And they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “Behold in the tent.” And he said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and behold, your wife Sarah will have a son.” And Sarah heard from the entrance of the tent, and it was behind him. (Genesis 18:9-10) If they were not angels, they would not be able to guarantee that she will have a son by next year.
In chapter 19 the Torah uses the term angels directly with the definite article “And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom, and Lot saw and arose toward them, and he prostrated himself on his face to the ground. The fact that the Torah uses the expression “the two angels” in implies that it is talking about the known angels – those that were mentioned already in chapter 18. Nevertheless, again in chapter 19 verse three we see that they ate. “And he urged them strongly, and they turned in to him, and came into his house, and he made them a feast, and he baked unleavened cakes, and they ate.” Looking in Judges 13:16 we clearly are taught that angels don’t eat! And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you take me in I will not eat of your bread, and if you will make a burnt-offering, you must offer it to the Lord;” For Manoah did not know that he was an angel of the Lord.
The Rambam answers all these questions in his famous work the Guide to the Perplexed in part 2 chapter 42. There he explains that this entire event with Abraham and the three angels all took place in a prophetic vision. According to his opinion we must understand the opening verse in this week’s portion “and Hashem appeared to him in the plains of Mamre,” as the opening to Abraham’s prophetic vision. In other words, everything that followed did not take place in the corporeal world but in a vision.
Rashi on the other hand explains the opening verses according to the Midrash and solves all the above problems. Abraham merited in Hashem’s visit not through a normal type of prophecy that would require a prophetic trance, but instead He came to visit him after his circumscription to pay a sick call. One could imagine the great pain it would cause Abraham to fall to the ground and tremble after being circumcised therefore Hashem spared him all this by appearing to him directly.
The Midrash Rabah goes on to explain that the angels acted as if they were eating. When the food would enter their mouths it would disintegrate. All this in order to honor Abraham. In addition, My Lord, in the verse – “My Lord, if only I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass on from beside your servant Genesis 18:1-3 as referring to Hashem. Abraham was actually asking G-d not to leave his presence while he went to honor the unexpected guests. In other words, while Hashem was visiting with Abraham, he has a sudden arrival of guests. He therefore asked Hashem to remain with him until he finishes with them. To sum things up, according to the Rashi Abraham experience two different spiritual experiences while being totally awake. One was the visit of Hashem and the other was the visit of the angels.
According to the Rambam, we can’t explain the verses here the way Rashi, in light of the Midrash, does. He writes in his the Mishnah Torah [Hilchot Yisoday Hatorah] chapter 2:3 regarding the third type of creation: “Creations which have form, but no physical matter at all; for example, the angels, for the angels do not possess bodies or corporeal being, but rather are forms which are separate from each other.” In other words, since angels do take on a physical appearance in any way there is no way to understand what happened to Abraham here as an experience of the corporeal world. Instead he chooses to explain everything as a prophetic vision as we mentioned before.
The Ramban (Nahmanides 1194-1270) brings down the interpretation of the Rambam, but does not accept it for a number of reasons. First of all, if this was a vision and not an actual event then the introduction “and Hashem appeared to him” does not match the event described in the vision. The vision focuses on the three men, their meal, and the message about a son to be born to Sarah. Nowhere does it mention how G-D appeared to him or what he said specifically to him. In addition, the Ramban says, we don’t find prophetic visions like this anywhere in the Bible. For example in Genesis 12:7 it says – “And the Lord appeared to Abram, and He said, “To your seed I will give this land,” and there he built an altar to the Lord, Who had appeared to him.” And Genesis 26:24 And the Lord appeared to him on that night and said, “I am the God of Abraham, your father. Fear not, for I am with you, and I will bless you and multiply your seed for the sake of Abraham, My servant.” And in Genesis 35:9 “And God appeared again to Jacob when he came from Padan aram, and He blessed him.”
We see clearly in each of these examples that in this form of introduction it is always followed by a Divine communication with the prophet that G-D appears to. Therefore, the Ramban concludes that this appearance is not connected to the story that follows but is its own event similarly to Rash’s explanation.
He explains that because of the act of doing the mitzvah of circumcision Abraham was rewarded with the resting of the Divine presence upon him. Similarly to Leviticus 23:9 “And Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting. Then they came out and blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people” Here Hashem rewarded the people of Israel by resting his presence upon them for participating in the Mitzvah of building of the Mishkan.
The Ramban continues to challenge the Rambam’s explanation and says if he is correct then the entire story never took place. Meaning that Sarah didn’t bake cake, Abraham did not prepare meat, and Sarah didn’t laugh. In addition, this would make Lot a prophet in his own right since these are the same angels that came to rescue him and destroy the city of Sodom. Lot’s seeing them can only be explained according to the Rambam as seeing them in a vision; it must mean he is a prophet. Even more astonishing, it would make the evil people that came to Lot’s home also prophets since they were able to see the angels go into Lot’s house. If we try and explain according to the Rambam that Lot saw the evil people of Sodom as part of his vision then Lot would still be in Sodom. Even more so, since the whole purpose of this vision was to reveal to Sarah that she will have a child then 99 percent of the story is superfluous and has no meaning. This would diminish this prophetic vision into something similar to a dream which is full of meaningless things. The Ramban has also difficulty in understanding the Rambam’s interpretation of the angel wrestling with Jacob which he also explains as a vision. If he is right, why did Jacob limp and show fear if it was not a real event in the physical world?
The Ramban explains that there is a difference between prophecy and experiencing a vision of an Angel. The book of Daniel is not part of the prophets but instead it is part of the scriptures because it is not on the same level as prophecy. And on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, when I was beside the great river, the Tigris. And his body was like tarshish, and his face was like the appearance of lightning, and his eyes were like firebrands, and his arms and his legs were like the appearance of brandished copper, and the sound of his words was like the voice of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, but the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, and they fled into hiding. But I remained alone, and I saw this great vision, and no strength was left within me, and my complexion was turned in me into corruption, and I could not summon up strength. Then I heard the voice of his words, and when I heard the voice of his words, I fell into a sound sleep on my face, and my face was to the ground. Daniel 10:4-10.
The Ramban agrees that the normal communication with angels is through a vision. But it is not on the same level as prophecy and therefore Daniel was able to see the vision without special preparation and while awake at first. The same applies to Hagar that experienced the angel And an angel of the Lord found her by a water fountain in the desert, by the fountain on the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where are you coming from, and where are you going to?” And she said, “From before Sarai my mistress, I am fleeing.” (Genesis 16:7-9). Although she experienced and angelic vision we surely can’t put Hagar on the level of prophecy.
The Ramban elaborates that there are two types of angelic experiences both are not prophecy but a higher level of consciousness. The first type is called “Geluyee Eynaim” meaning revealing to one’s eyes. At certain times Hashem allows one while being awake to see visions of angels. Although it is a higher level of communication it is not yet prophecy. This is what the Torah is referring to in Numbers 22:31 “The Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a sword drawn in his hand. He bowed and prostrated himself on his face.” This is what Hagar, and Daniel experienced as we mentioned above. The next level is what the Ramban calls “Kvod Nivrha Bimalachim”. This literally means “honor created in angels”. This is a higher level of an angelic appearance where an angel enters a seemingly physical form of existence but it can only be seen by holy and super righteous people. It is still not prophecy but it is a very high level of clairvoyance approaching prophecy. The Torah hints to this level when it describes the angels as men. Although in both cases the one experiencing the angel are awake, the difference between this level and the other one is that here it is not a vision but a real corporeal appearance of an angel. To sum things up, Abraham experienced this type of revelation.
After relating all this one may ask why don’t see angels appearing on a regular basis as in the days of old. Some say this is because we are the product of modern western culture that is not tuned into spiritual reality as the previous generations were.
Nevertheless, if you think about it, we are told of many stories of people being saved by what they believed to be regular individuals. However, when they tried to track them down they were not able to find them. One of my Rabbis, Harav Gnatt ZTZL, told me how he and his wife were saved in the holocaust by angels.
As Jews it is our custom to sing on Friday night the famous Shalom Aleichem song to welcome the angels that are escorting us home from the synagogue. Let us pray to Hashem that He opens our eyes and begin to reveal the magnificent spiritual world that is all around us. “Uncover my eyes and I shall look at hidden things from Your Torah.”
Living in the backyard of where this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Lech Lichah, takes place is such a precious gift that cannot be taken for granted. It is amazing how just this week it was announced that the prime minister of Israel, Benyamin Netanyahu authorized the city plan of Itamar. It is the first place where our Patriarch Abraham and Matriarch Sarah treaded upon when entering the land of Israel. I never get tired of driving up to the lookout point of the three seas on Itamar’s highest peak to meditate on the ancient pathway of Abraham and Sarah when they first entered the land of Israel.
I always wondered why the first place that Abraham came to upon entering the land was Itamar’s backyard -the place of Shechem. Looking deeply into this matter unfolds and entire pattern that testifies to the centrality and importance of this holy site for the people of Israel. This topic is very broad and will, G-D willing, be discussed in a separate essay. Before getting to this topic we must first understand the dual mission of Abraham and his descendants- the house of Israel. On one hand, we are commanded to be a separate nation from the world as mentioned in Numbers 23:9 “it is a nation that will dwell alone, and will not be reckoned among the nations.” On the other hand we are commanded to be a light to the nations. I am the Lord; I called you with righteousness and I will strengthen your hand; and I formed you, and I made you for a people’s covenant, for a light to nations. Isiah 42:6
Our sages teach us that, although growing up in Mesopotamia in a devout pagan home, Abraham at a very young age began to search for the truth and questioned the entire belief system he was raised with. This eventually led him to the realization that there could only be one single creator of the universe. With his discovery of monotheism, Abraham was not able to remain silent. He began an all-out war against idol worship. The Midrash Agadah describes the struggle led by Abraham. Abraham’s father, Terach, had a store where he manufactured and sold idols. One day he was asked to fill in for his father at the store. Every customer that entered the store was asked by Abraham –” how old are you”? The person would answer – “I am 50, 60…years old.” Abraham would then say to them -“how can you worship a manmade idol of stone or wood that is only one day old? Later a women customer came with an offering for the idols. After she left, Abraham took the offering and placed it in front of the largest idol in the store. He then took a hammer and destroyed all the idols, except for this largest one, and placed the hammer in its hand. When Terach returned he had a total meltdown and reprimanded Abraham for destroying all the idols. Abraham responded by claiming that the big idol is the culprit. He told him that when he received an offering for the idols an argument broke out amongst them and as a result the big idol destroyed all the others. Terach answered “these idols don’t know what is happening around them!” Abraham said “father, hear what your mouth is uttering”! Abraham was then brought by his father before the wicked Nimrod who demanded that He bow down to fire. Abraham responded by telling him water is a better choice since it puts out fire. Nimrod then commanded him to bow down to water. Abraham said that it would be even a better choice to bow down to the clouds that produce the water. He then told him to bow down to the clouds. Abraham responded that the wind is more powerful since it scatters the clouds. Eventually Nimrod, a fire worshiper, loses patience with Abraham and casts him into a furnace. A miracle takes place and Abraham is saved from the burning flames.
One may ask although this is an amazing story that sheds a lot of light on Abraham’s struggle against idol worship why is it not mentioned in the Bible. It is only hinted to as we will see soon. I hope to answer this question at the end of this essay.
One must take note that in Judaism the Midrashic literature is a central part of our oral traditions embedded deeply into our culture and heritage. It is one of the four parts of Torah hermeneutics. Pshat (simple meaning), Remez (hint), Drash (Midrash), and Sod (secret). The Midrash usually bases itself on verses, words, or even letters that hint in some way to the Midrashic conclusions. Drawing on these hints the Midrash is able to reveal to us what is hidden between the lines of the verses.
For example, in the above Midrash describing Abraham’s survival from the furnace of Nimrod, is alluded to in verse in Beraishit chapter 15:7 – “And He said to him, “I am the Lord, Who brought you forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.” In Hebrew the word “Ur” means furnace or fire. Here Hashem is reminding Abraham that He saved him from the furnace.
In the Joshuah 24:2 the prophet relates to us clearly that “Terach” was and idol worshiper. And Joshua said to the whole nation, “Thus said the Lord God of Israel, ‘your fathers dwelt on the other side of the river from earliest time, Terach, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor; and they served other gods.”
The Midrash adds that Terach’s son Haran while witnessing the struggle of his brother Abraham with Nimrod proclaimed the following: “If Abraham will be victorious over Nimrod then I shall declare my loyalty to Abraham, if not then I shall follow Nimrod” When Abraham was saved from the furnace Haran was asked, “who are you a follower of?” When he mentioned Abraham he was thrown into the fire and killed.
The Midrash is teaching us the meaning of true commitment. If Haran’s heart was truly with Hashem then he would have been saved just as Abraham was. Miracles don’t happen to just anybody – only to the very pious and devoted servants of G-D. This is hinted in the verse: Genesis 11:28 And Haran died during the lifetime of Terach his father in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees. The fact that the Torah stresses that Haran died before his father did, which is a rear occurrence in the Bible, supports the Medrashic interpretation of an unnatural death. In addition, the Torah mentions the place Ur Chaldees again which is seemingly redundant – showing that there is a connection between the furnace and Haran’s demise.
In other words, it is the Midrashic way to fill in the missing details by presenting very deep concepts that are reflected to in the verses using stories and allegories. This is an extraordinary powerful educational method that draws children at a young age to Torah study and serves as a perfect environment for the presentation of moral, ethical, and philosophical teachings. It is undebatable that The Midrashic style makes a topic interesting and easy to remember. Many of our esoteric teachings, as well, are presented through a Midrashic style concealing within their stories some of the deepest secrets of Torah. Only those who have received the proper keys of such Midrashic interpretation can understand and decipher the deep messages behind these Midrashim. A perfect example would be the famous Ari Hakadosh whose teachings unravel the secrets of the Zohar Hakadosh!
With this in mind, we can now return to the Midrash regarding Abraham. This Midrash Agadah is, obviously, describing the spiritual battle that Abraham waged against the idol worshipers of his time. In Genesis 14:13 Abraham is called Haivri or “the Hebrew” in English. And the fugitive came and he told Abram the Hebrew, and he was living in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshkol and the brother of Aner, who were Abram’s confederates. In Hebrew “Haiviri” means the other side. The Midrash teaches us that Abraham was on one side and the entire world on the other side. The greatness of Abraham is that he was a non-conformist. He didn’t follow along with the norms of society but instead he was willing to take on the entire world for the sake of heaven.
The Rambam brings down in Mishnah Torah, laws of Idol worship, chapter one, the process that led to idol worship. The Rambam explains that it all began in the life of the grandson of Adam – Enosh. This is based on the verse in Genesis 4:26 And to Seth also to him a son was born, and he named him Enosh; then people began to call by the name of the Lord. Our Rabbis explain that the “then people began to call by the name of the Lord” to refer to the beginning of rebellion against Hashem. In Hebrew the word for began is “Hechel”, it can also mean to profane. In other words, Enosh and his generation profaned the name of Hashem. Instead of calling on the name of Hashem, like they thought they were doing, they profaned His name. The Rambam explains that they chose to offer sacrifices, built sanctuaries, and bowed down to the heavenly bodies in order to honor G-D. Although, they still believed in G-D they made a mistake by paying tribute to the heavenly bodies. They felt that this was the will of G-D to honor His glorious creations. Later, as time went on, the situation got even worse. False prophets arose that claimed that G-D commanded them to worship a particular star or stars. People began to create images of the stars described by the false prophets of stone and wood. Temples were built where these images were set up and worshiped by bowing down and sacrificing to them. In addition, images were erected under trees, on mountain tops and hills. The false prophets declared that these idols have the power of bringing blessing and curse to mankind. Therefore, one must fear them. The priests would guide them in a particular kind of worship claiming that if followed would bring them success. This eventually spread all over the inhabited world and G-D’s name was forgotten. Nobody, knew Hashem except individuals like Hanoch, Mitushelach, Noah, Shem, and Ever. This decline of humanity, says the Rambam, continued until the pillar of the world was born Abraham! Abraham, after finding Hashem, doesn’t keep the truth to himself but actively brings as many people as he can into the belief in one G-D. What made Abraham different from Noach and the other individuals mentioned above was that he was proactive. He could not sit around and allow the world to remain a place where G-D’s name is not known. We learn a great lesson from Abraham – it is not enough to know the truth it is what you do with it that counts.
In Genesis 12:5 it says – And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had acquired, and the souls they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go to the land of Canaan, and they came to the land of Canaan. Who are the souls that came with Abraham and Sarah to the land of Israel? The Midrash teaches us that these are the gentiles that were cleansed of idol worship and were brought to the belief of one G-D by Abraham and Sarah. We see how successful Abraham and Sarah were in fighting idol worship in Mesopotamia why then it is so important that they move to Israel? Why can’t they run their Torah academy from Mesopotamia? Answering this question brings us back to the beginning of my essay when I asked -why doesn’t Torah does not mention outwardly the great trials and tribulations of Abraham that were outlined here in such detail by the Midrash. The answer is that in order to do the proper job in educating the world in knowing Hashem can only happen by first building the nation of Israel in the land of Israel. The Torah purposely ignores outwardly, the entire spiritual struggle of Abraham with idol worship. Instead it prefers to talk about Abraham’s journey to the land of Israel – first coming to Itamar Shechem and then moving southward to Beit El and Ber Sheva, Hebron. It discusses his struggle with famine, and his separation from his nephew lot and the war of the four and five kings. It mentions the covenant of the animal parts promising him that his descendants will inherit the land. It mentions the struggle of Sarah and Hagar and finally the covenant of circumcision. Looking into these events, one can see that they are centered on life in the land of Israel. The backbone of the relationship of Abraham and his descendants to the land of Israel is being set into place. Not wanting to overshadow the importance of this vital stage, the Torah chooses, at this time, to conceal the other purpose concerning Abraham’s spiritual message to the nations as great as it may be. This important message must first be clarified to the people of Israel before they can be a true light to the nations. The dangers of not knowing this lesson are great. One can be Jewish anywhere in the world by following the commandments of the Torah. Nevertheless, he must not forget that he is part of the house of Israel. The Torah is teaching us that we are not scattered individuals worshiping G-D independently. We are one united nation that must serve G-D by building a kingdom in the land. The results of looking at Judaism as independent of the land of Israel have led to the entrenchment of the Jews in exile. This in turn led to the darkest periods in Israel’s history which peaked in Nazi Germany. Unfortunately, many are continuing in the same path and have forgotten their homeland.
The opening message of our Torah portion is clearly directed to them. And the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will aggrandize your name, and [you shall] be a blessing” And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you.” We see clearly from these verses that Abraham will be a blessing only in the land of Israel.
In addition, in order to bless all families on earth we must first become a great nation in the land. At first glance, this may seem a little illogical. One may argue that it would make more sense to be a light to the nations by living amongst them. It surely is easier to influence someone if he is your neighbor. Nevertheless, G-D says to Abraham go to the land I will show you – there I will make you a great nation and there you will be a blessing to all of mankind. The greatest influence of Abraham will be felt only when the people of Israel become a great nation – living a spiritual life in the land of Israel. The nation of Israel must grow, develop, receive Torah, and live a life in the land. This eventually will culminate with the building of the kingdom of Hashem with His precious temple standing in Jerusalem. Only through this process will the nations of the world will be drawn to Israel like a magnet and the redemption of all mankind be reached. This dual role of Abraham – on one hand settling and building the land of Israel and the other being a light to the nations will be continued by his decedents until the end of time.
Today we are blessed to witness the fruition of this prophecy. Millions of non-Jews are being drawn to Torah because of the Jewish presence in the land of Israel. It goes together. I remember being on a speaking tour in the USA a few years ago and was invited for a meeting with the Jewish federation in a particular city. The head of the Federation asked me why is it that the non-Jewish world are so interested in what is going on in your community? They are so enamored by your message. On the other hand, they seem to ignore us here in America.
The answer to this question is this essay! The positive energy and blessing of Israel can be felt only through deep connection through the land of Israel. This is what the prophet Isiah teaches us in verse 2:3 And many peoples shall go, and they shall say, “Come, let us go up to the Hashem’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, and let Him teach us of His ways, and we will go in His paths,” for out of Zion shall the Torah come forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
This perhaps is hinted in the expression of – Lech Licha in Hebrew they are spelled the same way לך לך – this double refers to the two roles of Abraham and Israel – in one hand go for the sake of the land on the other hand go for the sake of the nations!
Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith
If I wasn’t living in Israel and witnessing the nightmarish situation here in the land, I would not believe the present events as being real. Everyone is in a total state of shock. The experts say that this is an unusual kind of Intifada – uprising. The previous riots were marked by a leadership. Israel knew who to blame and where to focus its energy on fighting the situation. The present disorder and violence in Israel seem to be spontaneous although it is engrained by the hate media and call to kill Jews- where ever they may be. Even children are taking up knives and joining the other Muslims in their attempt to kill Jews. This situation is extremely difficult to fight against since it is hard to predict the next move of our enemies. This morning we woke up to the terrible news of the burning of the tomb of Joseph for a second time. In reality, we don’t have to look too deeply into the situation to pinpoint the source of this violence and aggression against Israel. It is called -Islamic extremism. Muslim extremists have declared war against the people of Israel. As a matter of fact, they have declared war against the entire western world and against anyone who thinks differently than them. They are motivated by an obsession of hatred that they have been indoctrinated into it since birth. Let us not forget – Hajj Amin al-Husayni, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was a renowned Nazi collaborator. He was a diabolical anti-Semite and was personally financed by the Nazi regime to promote anti-Jewish propaganda. He was the one who sparked the Hebron Massacre of 1929. This hatred existed before the formation of the modern state of Israel. No one can blame the settlers because they were not around then. This Islamic fundamentalism over the years has spread all over the world and is causing immense suffering. It is important to note that most of those who are suffering are moderate Muslims and Arab Christians in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Africa. Instead of trying to stop this madness, the western powers and even Jewish liberals are playing right into the hands of the evil. They choose to ignore the situation and blame the governments of Israel for not making more concessions and the settlers for incitement. This of course is absurd since no country has given major assets away and truly attempted to make peace more than Israel did. With each concession to the radicles instead of bringing us closer to peace it brought us further away. Instead of standing with Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, the western world has been isolating Israel more and more. Yesterday, the white house came out with ludicrous statements – like Israel is using excessive force. As far as the status quo – unfortunately, Israel has not changed it. Of course, this is the problem! The holiest place on earth for the people of Israel is the Temple mount – the site of the first two temples of Israel. What takes the cherry on the cake is the current Obama administration signing the recent agreement with Iran. The Iranian sponsorship of terrorism all over the globe and their outright declarations in calling for the destruction of Israel and the USA did not stop President Obama from pushing forward the agreement. We mustn’t forget history. In September 1938 the famous Munich agreement (betrayal) was signed between Germany, France, The United Kingdom and Italy. Czechoslovakia was betrayed by England and France who wanted to appease Hitler by giving Germany the Sudetenland. The British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlin, returns to Great Brittan and announces that the Munich agreement meant “peace in our time”. Six months later he ate his hat when Hitler continued his Nazi rampage. Doesn’t this also remind us of Obama’s dream of an Arab Spring or Perez’s dream of a new Middle East? Wishful thinking doesn’t always work. Is it so difficult to see the handwriting on the wall? Could world leaders be so foolish and blind? In my opinion, it is a combination of two things: indifference and interests. As long as this terrorism was focused primarily against Israeli targets the world sufficed by making public condemnations but didn’t do anything practical because of the risk of shaking up the Arab oil market. Unfortunately, when the cancer is not eliminated when it is small it begins to grow out of control. Over the last decade and a half Islamic terrorism has spreading like fire. The wakeup call for America took place in September 11th 2001 when hijackers crashed two planes destroying the twin towers. What is the solution to this madness? This week’s Torah portion Genesis 9:6 says “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man.” The Torah is teaching us how precious the life of a human being is. G-D created man in His image. After the flood G-D commanded Noach to populate the world. The world has to be built on the principles of ethics and morals. Murder and violence have no room in society. I must add that Islam is the second largest religion in the world. Most of them living in Southeast Asia. Indonesia is the county with the largest Muslim population. In Israel there is a population of around eight million three hundred thousand people. Around six million three hundred thousand Jews and around one million seven hundred thousand Muslims. In other words, a very small percentage of the world Muslim population live in Israel. The eradication of evil extremists will bring a blessing to the millions of moderated Muslims worldwide as well. Our battle is against evil and those that support it and perpetrate it.
At the end of last Partshat Beraishit the Torah relates to us the reason that Hashem decided to destroy the generation of the flood. “And Hashem saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Hashem regretted that He had made man upon the earth, and He became grieved in His heart”. We see that what brought about the destruction of the world was the fact that mankind’s thoughts were all evil. This led to their evil actions. If someone’s thoughts are in the wrong place then his actions will be in the wrong place. In the beginning of parshat Noach we see that the final decision of bringing the flood was taken as a result of Hamas (referring to thieves, murderers, and sex offenders). It is amazing how this same word was taken by the Hamas terrorist organization as it says on their logo “Just as Israel loves Life, Chamas loves death. The time has arrived for all of us to wake up and prevent another flood like catastrophe. These terrorists must be stopped. There are so many good people in the world. This is a battle of good over evil. If we work together we will succeed in bringing true peace to the world. Through the light of the Torah we will be guided and led in the journey of redemption. Help us be a light to the nations.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith
What a privilege it is to be able to start the Torah from the beginning again. Our beautiful custom of going through the Torah once a year testifies to our endless love for the Torah. The story of creation is obviously one of the most difficult and deepest parts of the Torah to grasp. As human beings, it is impossible for us to be able to understand all the depth that is behind the prophecy of creation. On the other hand, the fact that the story of creation is an essential part of the Torah – we must try our best to connect to some of the messages behind the verses. In this essay, I want to focus a little bit on the word “Biraishit“. בראשית]]
I mentioned many times that without the command of the Hebrew language one is limited in his ability to understand the Torah. The Hebrew language is so special in that it was the language that Hashem used to create the world. It is the language of prophecy. This is taught in the first verse of the Torah. In the beginning G-D created in Hebrew – (Biraishit Barah Elokim Et (בראשית ברא אלוקים את/ “Et” in Hebrew refers to the (Alpha Bet/ (אלף בית which starts with Aleph and ends with Tav. G-D created the world using the Hebrew language and letters. Without a knowledge of Hebrew one cannot obtain a complete picture of the Torah. It is pathetic how many claim to be authorities on Torah without having any real knowledge of Hebrew. What is even more pathetic is that people are so naïve and actually turn to these leaders for guidance in their quest for Torah study. If one really wants to study Torah he must find himself a Rabbi who is fluent in the language and has truly received a traditional orthodox ordination and most importantly, his fear of G-D must be valued more than his wisdom. Any other choice can only lead to the distortion of the Holy Word of G-D. If someone offered you and original painting or a poor copy – what would you prefer?
Putting this aside, let us begin our attempt to try and understand the first word of the Torah. The word “Biraishit” is commonly translated as in the beginning. The commentators right away bring up an important question based on Hebrew grammar. Since the word “Biraishit” is pronounced “Bi” and not “Ba” – in other words it uses the Hebrew enunciation form of a “shvah” and not the Hebrew vowel “kamatz” therefore it is what we call in Hebrew grammar “samuch” meaning the construct state. It could be looked as a noun pair like “policeman”, doorbell, car alarm, etc… This means that the word “Biraishit” should be followed by another noun. However, this is not the case. The next word to follow is the verb created ברא) /Barah). In other words, the Torah should have said something like – in the beginning of creation, G-D created… Where is the missing noun?
One of The greatest commentators of all time, Rashi (Harav Shlomo Yitzchaki – (1040-1105 France) raises this question and turns to a Midrashic interpretation. Rashi explains that the word “Raishit” is always found in the construct state in the Torah. In other words, not only does the vowel “Bi” testify to this but the word “Biraishit” itself is always used in the construct grammatical form. Rashi does add that if you want to understand this verse on the pshat level – meaning the simple understanding of the text, you have no choice but to explain the verse in the construct form and add the missing noun. This means that we must understand the verse as in the beginning of creation, G-D created the heavens and earth… This teaches us that we must not understand this verse as teaching us the order of creation. Instead, we must understand it as a general statement at the time of the creation of the heavens and earth. This he proves from the next verse that mentions that G-D’s spirit hovered over the face of the water. This means that water was already created before the earth. Although, the Torah did not mention when water was created. In addition, the heavens in Hebrew are called (shamayim/ (שמים – a combination of two Hebrew words fire (Esh/ (אש and water מים)/ Mayim) again showing that water and fire already existed. Because of this difficulty, Rashi says the verse demands a Midrashic level of interpretation. According to the Midrash, “Biraishit” means that G-D created the world for the sake of the Torah and for the sake of Israel. This is based on the fact that in Hebrew grammar the “shvah” under the “Beit” means with. Using this interpretation of the verse we should understand the verse as saying – with the beginning in mind -G-D created the Heavens and earth. In other words, with the Torah and Israel in mind G-D created the world. The Midrash proves this by showing how the Torah and Israel are called the beginning. If we look in Proverbs 8:22 “Hashem made me as the beginning of His way, the first of His works of old” This verse is referring to the Torah which was created first. The word in this verse that refers to the Torah is (Reishit/ (ראשית the same word that opens the first word of the Torah. In Jerimiah 2:3 it says “Israel is holy to Hashem, the first of His Harvest, all that devour him shall be found guilty and evil will come upon them says Hashem” Again, in this verse in Hebrew the word for first is (Reishit/ (ראשית the same word that opens the Torah. The Midrash is teaching us that Hashem created the world for the sake of the Torah and Israel. This I mentioned before comes from the fact that the (Bi/ (ב from the word “Biraishit” means with – with the Torah and Israel in mind G-D created the word.
The first question that comes to mind is – what about all the other creations of the universe? Aren’t they important as well? The answer is of course – yes, Hashem loves all of mankind. However, without the Torah and the people of Israel the world cannot reach perfection. The Divine plan would remain unachieved. This stems from the fact that Hashem created the world to bestow his love and kindness upon mankind – this will happen when the light of the Divine is revealed to the world. This can only be attained by following the guidance of the Torah through its true teachers – those that received Torah on Sinai – the nation of Israel!
This idea is amazingly hinted to in the Hebrew word (Beraishit/ (בראשית. It has the same letters as the first part of the word Israel and the word Torah – בישרא – ת. The amazing thing is that the only missing letter for the complete word for Israel is the (Lamed/ ל )this we find at the last word of the Torah that is Israel and ends with lamed. Showing so clearly that with Israel and the Torah Hashem created the world. It also has the letters of (Brit and Esh/ ברית אש) meaning the covenant of fire. It is well known that the Torah refers to the covenant of fire. In addition, Israel is the nation of the (Brit/ (ברית the covenant. Rabbi Hirsh explains that the next word (Barah/ברא) meaning created is close to other Hebrew words like (Barah (ברח/ – to run away), (Parach/פרח) – to flower, (Parah – (פרע -to reveal. The roots of these words all mean to bring into fruition. Setting free that which is chained down. In Aramaic the word “Barah” means outside. In other words, creating refers to bringing out something that was hidden within the depths of Divine Will. This plan is all outlined in the Torah and brought and set free by the people of Israel who must bring G-D’s light to the world. Like a gorgeous flower that when its bud blossoms the beauty hidden within becomes revealed to all.
In this difficult time here in Israel – more than ever we have to pray and work hard in order to reveal the beautiful goal of creation through the study and living a life of Torah. Only then we will see an end to this bloodshed and violence. The word Beraishit has the same letters as ראש בית meaning the head of the house. This hints to what is going on the Temple Mount. The site of the house of Hashem. When the Temple will be rebuilt on the Mountain and the word of the Torah will be sounded from the walls of thus holy site by the house of Israel – only then will the world reach true salvation.
Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith
“Ve’emunatcha Baleylot”(With faith at Night)- Mikeitz-Chanukah
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. May we hear only besoorot tovot, yeshuot venechamot – Shabbat Shalom, Chanukah Sameyach – Leah Goldsmith
