Parshat Vayeira - The Root of Morality

For the second time in as many parshiyot, Sarah is thrown into a situation where she is told to act as if  she is the brother of Avraham. On a simple level, we understand Avraham’s intentions were to save himself, for if she were to say she was his wife, they would kill him to take her.  But upon closer look, the text of these two incidents are not the same. When going down to Egypt and Pharaoh in Parshat Lach Lecha, Avraham actually says,

ויהי כאשר הקריב לבוא מצרימה ויאמר אל שרי אשתו, הנה נה ידעתי כי אשה יפת מראה את.

והיה כי יראו אתך המצרים ואמרו אשתו זאת והרגו אתי ואתך יחיו.

אמרי נא אחתי את, למען ייטב לי בעבורך וחיתה נפשי בגללך (יב:יא-יג)

Avraham warns Sarah that the Egyptians might see her beauty and upon hearing he is her husband, they might kill him. Therefore, she should say she is his sister.

However, when looking at the pesukim in this week’s parsha as Avraham and Sarah go south to Grar, all the Torah says is,

ויאמר אברהם אל שרה אשתו אחתי היא, וישלח אבימלך מלך גרר ויקח את שרה (כ:ב).

The text simply says that Avraham told Avimelech that Sarah was his sister.  The text makes no mention of Avraham warning Sarah about this or what his reasons were. Rashi suggests that after being taken by Pharaoh in last week’s parsha, Avraham feared that Sarah might not consent to this ploy for a second time. Here I offer another possibility, but it requires looking at a few more pesukim.

As the story with Avimelech continues, he takes Sarah, but before anything can happen, Hashem appears to him in a dream and says not to touch her for she is a married woman. Avimelech not only listens to Hashem, but claims his innocence for not knowing she was married; Hashem concedes Avimelech’s character would not have done anything with Sarah had he known she was married. Moreover, Avimelech wakes up in a panic, calls in his cabinet and tells them what happened and וייראו האנשים מאד, they were all frightened. It is clear that everyone is upset and scared. But why? The story continues as Avimelech goes to Avraham; This is where the message of the entire episode is found. Avimelech says, what did you do to me? By saying she was your sister you almost caused me to sin with a married woman. We do not do things like that in this place! Then comes the big question from Avimelech:

? What did you see here that caused you to do this- מה ראית כי עשית את הדבר הזה?

At this point, I feel sorry for Avimelech; he is upset about almost committing a huge sin, is seemingly not only sincere, but  seems right in his accusation against Avraham. What do you expect Avraham to answer? This is what Avraham replies,

ויאמר אברהם כי אמרתי רק אין יראת אלקים במקום הזה, והרגוני על דבר אשתי.

Sorry, Avimelech, there is no fear of G-d here and I was worried you would kill me to get to Sarah. Can this be correct? Am I understanding this correctly? We just had numerous pesukim showing Avimelech’s fine character. Chazal confirms that the city of Grar was a place of culture and morals (unlike Egypt), and Avraham’s response is that there is no fear of G-d? At first glance, this looks like Avraham spitting in Avimelech’s face. How is Avraham answering the question? What is even more puzzling is that Avimelech does not respond, apparently conceding to Avraham’s statement. What does this all mean?

My Rebbi of four years at Yeshiva University, Rabbi Abba Bronspigiel, suggested the following answer based on the commentary of Rav Hirsch and the Malbim. Avraham was saying the following: It is true that Grar is a place of fine culture and morals, but any time societal norms are based on anything but fear of G-d, there is the fear that they can change at any moment.

Perhaps today society does not condone illicit relationships, but if you want something badly enough and you are the King, you can just as easily change the norms. The only thing that is eternal and non-breakable are the laws created by G-d himself. Unfortunately, history has proven this to be true. Pre-World War Two Germany was viewed as a place of fine culture and high morals. There were even animal protection laws that were more more protective than those in most civilized countries today. (CLICK HERE to read about this). And yet, we all know how quickly the norms and acceptable practices changed in Germany. If they are not G-d given laws, they can change in a heartbeat. This was the answer Avraham gave to Avimelech and Avimelech’s lack of response shows he understood why Avraham was concerned for his life.

Perhaps we can use this idea to understand the differences in the Torah’s description of the events in Egypt vs. the events in Grar. When Avraham and Sarah go down to Egypt, they are going to a place known for its licentiousness, immorality and lewd behaviour. In this instance, the Torah describes the detail and motivation of Avraham’s plan with Sarah. This was done as a warning, not just for Sarah, but for all of us to understand that when it comes to immoral places, we must do everything in our power to avoid the bad influences, perhaps even extending the truth. But when a similar episode occurs in Grar, the city of fine character and morals that are not based on fear of G-d, Sarah does not need any explanation. Like Avraham, she understood  he would be concerned about these non-G-d made norms and practices. The Torah didn’t want us to think  this situation was just like Egypt; no, it was an even harder challenge as it seemed like a nice city. To teach us this valuable lesson, the Torah chose to say less and hide this message in the storyline. Perhaps the Torah not explicitly detailing Avraham explaining this to Sarah indicates, unlike Rashi’s concern, that she might not go along with it, but rather, she didn’t need any convincing at all.

Parshat Lech Lecha - The Test of Change

We are taught that Avram Avinu was given ten tests by Hashem to develop and become the Patriarch of monotheism. We find one of these tests hinted to at the end of last week’s parsha when Chazal teach us the story of Avram being thrown by Nimrod, the wicked king, into a fiery furnace. We find another test in the beginning of this week’s parsha when Avram is asked to leave the comforts of his home and travel to some uncertain location.

As an educator, there is something odd about the sequence of these tests. If a teacher were to give a child an exam that assesses advanced algebra and geometry, would it make sense for him to create a second assessment that covers basic addition and subtraction? Isn’t that what Hashem is doing here? After such a huge test, being asked to give up his life and jump into a furnace, does it make sense to be given the apparently smaller test of leaving his hometown to travel to somewhere else? If he passed the first more difficult test, wouldn’t it be obvious that he could pass this second, easier test?

Rav Chaim Pinchas Sheinberg zt”l offers an insight that not only explains the sequence of these events, but it enlightens our viewpoint of life’s challenges. He says that the essence of a test “lies in the power to awaken in a man’s spirit his hidden potential for greatness and to bring it out into reality.” A test is not measured by how big or difficult it appears, but rather by the potential it has to have man grow beyond his natural inclinations and change them. The test of the fiery furnace at Ur Kasdim was huge; Avram consciously chose to give up his life for Hashem, rather than acknowledge idol worship. But as big of a test as that was, it was a single, isolated, one-time event. It was an event, not a process.

The Vilna Gaon writes that the main purpose of a person’s life is to constantly grow and improve one’s character. He uses a strange language and says, and if you don’t do this, “why live?” Is there nothing else to living? The answer is NO. Do not think that you can live a life of Torah and Mitzvot without also refining your character; without improving your middot, our lives are nothing at all.

We know character refinement is hard, because it requires us to break our natural habits and inclinations. We all become accustomed to acting in certain ways that become second nature; to change that is very difficult. Hashem is teaching us with the test of Lech Lecha that we can change. A person can change his nature if he makes a continuous and intense effort. Avram is told to first leave his country, then his family and finally his father’s house. To leave his country is not as difficult as leaving his family; leaving his family is not as difficult as leaving his father; that is just too hard to imagine. So the test of Lecha Lecha goes from easier to harder, hence being the test of change, divorcing oneself from the comfortable past. In essence, the test of Ur Kasdim was unique; to die al kiddush Hashem is not an opportunity that everyone is given. However, that was a one time, out of the ordinary test. In some way that is easier than going through the daily grind of continuous personal growth.

We all face tests on a daily basis. We wake up in the morning and are confronted with making the choice to take time to daven, to daven with a minyan or not to daven at all. We enter the workplace where we are confronted with challenges of honesty and integrity; do we cut corners to make an extra buck or to save ourselves some time? Do we treat everyone we encounter with a warm, friendly demeanour? These kind of tests call into question some of our basic tendencies, what we have grown accustomed to doing, the way “we have always done things.”

Hashem first tested Avram with death and then with life. For the test of death, Avram was helped with the miracles of Hashem. For the test of life, he was left to grow completely on his own. Are you ready for that test?

Parshat Noach - Let's Try to Understand Noach

Who was Noach? How righteous was he? One would think that the lone person saved in the generation of the flood must have been an incredibly righteous person. The Torah and Chazal’s understanding of Noach seem to be somewhat confusing. Let’s take a look at a few pesukim:

1. אלה תולדות נח, נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדורתיו, את האלקים התהלך נח. (ו:ט)
2. ויאמר ה׳ לנח בא אתה וכל ביתך אל התבה, כי אתך ראיתי צדיק לפני בדור הזה. (ז:א)
3. ויחל נח איש האדמה ויטע כרם. וישת מן היין וישכר ויתגל בתוך אהלה.(ט:כ-כא)

Let’s explore two overarching questions:

1. What exactly was Noach’s level of righteousness compared to other leaders in Tanach?
2. What are we to learn from Noach’s turn to drinking after leaving the Teivah?

The first pasuk states that Noach was a righteous person ״בדורותיו״, “in his generation.” Rashi quotes the famous Midrash that wonders if this language is meant לשבח, as a compliment, or לגנאי, literally translated as a depreciation of Noach. Does it mean that he was so righteous that even if he lived in the generation of other righteous people he would be viewed as righteous, or does it mean that in “his” generation he was considered righteous, but had he lived in the generation of Avraham Avinu he would not be viewed as righteous?

What should we take away from this?? If the Torah begins by calling Noach a Tsadik, why would Chazal even think this pasuk was meant to depreciate him? Furthermore, he is not just called a Tsadik, but a Tsadik Tamim, a complete Tsadik? Clearly, the word בדורותיו must be teaching us something important.

After planting a vineyard and getting drunk, the Midrash says Noach  went from being an איש צדיק to being an איש אדמה, a man of the land. What happened to Noach? He was the most righteous man in the world and he gave it up for wine? Wine led to the him to become totally exposed in front of his sons; how could he let that happen?

The sefer Otzrot HaTorah explains that the righteousness of Noach was in his ability to protect himself from the outside world - from those who stole and were involved in illicit relationships. He knew how to avoid negative outside influences and protect his own spirituality. You could say that his philosophy in serving Hashem was focused on the סור מרע, avoiding evil. However, perhaps Noach did not do all that he could in reaching out to  sinners in his community, try to bring them closer to Hashem, and to help them see their own shortcomings. Perhaps he did not focus enough on the עשה טוב of life. In reality, Noach as an איש אדמה, a man of the ground, but he grew spiritually to great heights by avoiding all the evil around him. That is why he is called an איש צדיק. But his greatness lied in his ability to keep himself protected; something he maintained until leaving the Teivah. However, once he left the Teivah into a world without evil people around him, he didn’t understand what spiritual challenges would confront him, and the איש אדמה in him returned to the forefront. This ultimately leads to his focus on the mundane of drinking wine and then to to his son’s sin. (An interesting study for another time would be to look at Moshe’s rise from an איש מצרי to an איש אלקים).

Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt”l, The Rav as he is known in the Yeshiva University world and beyond, wrote a book called The Lonely Man of Faith. In this book he describes how every tzadik feels alone, set apart from the rest of the world. This is the reality of a righteous person; knowing that he will often live in his own world, not connected or understood by those around him. If Noach was a lonely man of faith before the flood, we can only imagine how lonely he felt after the flood. Not only was he alone as a tzadik, but he watched the destruction of every single human being on earth except for his own family.

My Rebbi, Rav Moshe Weinberger, once used this to to explain Noach’s turn to wine in a similar vein to that of the sefer Otzrot HaTorah mentioned above. He said that many great Chassidic masters often referred to Noach as the “tzadik in a fur coat.” If a room is freezing, there are two ways to warm up. One is to wear a fur coat. It warms the person up, but allows everyone else to freeze. The other method is to build a fire to give warmth to everyone in the room. Noach was a tzadik who wore a fur coat to shelter himself from a world which was freezing because of a lack of G-dliness. His loneliness eventually got the better of him and he was overcome by it. Avraham Avinu, however, built fires to warm up everyone he came into contact with. Even though he was alone in the world, he loved and cared for everyone else.

There are three main lessons we can all learn from this dichotomy that made up the personality of Noach:

1. The world we live in is full of pitfalls and challenges that endanger our spirituality. It is our job to have our guard up, constantly looking to avoid succumbing to our physical temptations that are contrary to the Torah or that can lead us down the wrong path. We need to train ourselves and our children to avoid temptation whenever possible. In fact, there are some opinions that say the עץ הדעת which was where the sin of Adam and Chava occurred, was a grapevine. Meaning the major wrongdoing of the first two major Biblical personalities revolved around drinking wine. The challenge of knowing proper limits proved to be too much of a challenge for Adam and Noach.

2. Value spiritual pleasures. Children are like clay and will take the shape according to the way in which you mold him. If you want your child to appreciate Torah and Mitzvot with a real spiritual focus, then you must show him the way; lead by example. If you want your child to appreciate tefilla, then you should take them to shul and show them what it means to daven intently and without speaking to those around you. If you want them to learn Torah, then you should show them that you go out to a shiur or listen to words of Torah on your commute to work. Ultimately, your children will value what you value.

3. Let us emulate Avraham Avinu and look out for our fellow Jews. Let us not just look out for their physical and emotional well being, but for their spiritual well being too.

This is the idea behind the “Shabbos Project” taking place next week.  We must invite others into the Teivah called Shabbat. We cannot be indifferent to friends and co-workers who are unfamiliar with the holiness of Shabbat. We cannot escape into ourselves by hiding in an ark, a fur coat, or alcohol.

Beraishit - Where are you?

In parshat Beraishit, we have the well-known story of Adam and Chava and their mysterious choice to violate the word of Hashem by eating from the עץ הדעת. Here I will focus on two pesukim that require deeper explanation.

1) Immediately after committing the sin, the Torah tells us:

(ותפקחנה עיני שניהם וידעו כי ערומים הם ויתפרו עלה תאנה ויעשו להם חגרת (ג:ז

"And the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized that they were naked; and they sewed together a fig leaf and made themselves aprons."

        Q: Were Adam and Chava not aware that they were not wearing clothes? Were they not aware they were naked?

2) Adam and Chava proceed to hide from Hashem and as Hashem finds and engages Adam He says, (״איכה״ (ג:ט, read as Ayeka, "Where are you Adam?"

        Q: Did Hashem not know where Adam was? What was He asking in "Where are you?"

The 2nd pasuk first and it will help us understand the first.

Rashi explains that Hashem obviously knew where Adam was, but was attempting to gently help Adam understand what a huge mistake he had made. Later in the parsha, after Kayin kills Hevel, Hashem similarly asks "Where is your brother Hevel?" He obviously knew where he was, but was trying to gently help Kayin admit his sin.

On one level, the message here is that as important as it is to look out for others and to help them see their faults, it has to be done gently, in a way that one can really hear the rebuke.

In a number of his Teshuva Drashot, Rabbi Yissocher Frand develops a deeper understanding in what Hashem was saying to Adam. "Ayeka," Where are you spiritually? In spite of your sin, I still care about Adam; there still is hope to return and connect to Me. The Medrash says - “yesterday you reached until the heavens, encompassing the entire world from one end to the other. You were the work of My hands, My special creation, and where are you today? Hiding among the trees in the garden?

We find a similarity to this word "Ayeka" with sefer "Eicha,"; both are spelled as איכה.

In the book of Eichah (Lamentations) it means, "How could it be?" So combining both understandings we can see that Hashem was saying to Adam, How could you? How could you squander your opportunities? You had so much potential, how could you waste it?

With this, we can understand the 1st pasuk, וידעו כי ערומים הם, they realized they were naked. Adam sins and then wonders was it worth it? For this? For a fruit I gave it all away? Thus, they felt totally naked, totally embarrassed and empty.

The message here is that we all have to ask ourselves: what is my potential? Where has it gone? What am I using it for? We each have a unique mission in life; Hashem gave each of us unique talents and it is our job to constantly re-evaluate if we are using those strengths for the greater good.

Perhaps this is why late on Yom Kippur day we read the story of Yonah. A cursory look at this story has one thinking that Yonah tries to run away from Hashem. The truth is that he was trying to run away from himself; trying to run away from his mission and responsibilities. Chazal had us end this holy day by trying to force us to focus on our potential. Who are we? What can we contribute to the Jewish people and to society? Don't run away from it and be forced one day to be asked by Hashem, "Where are you?"