Parshat Toldot

Parshat Toldot

In this week’s parsha we are told of the barrenness of Rivka and Yitzchak, and their praying to HaShem to conceive.

The passuk says, “Yitzchak entreated HaShem opposite his wife.” Rashi explains that Yitzchak and Rivka would stand in opposite corners of the room and pray. Yitzchak would pray on her behalf and she would pray for herself as well. Directly after this, in the same passuk, the Torah tells us, “And HaShem allowed Himself to be entreated by Yitzchak, and his wife Rivka conceived.” Their prayers were answered.

When reading the passuk, it seems that HaShem answered them very swiftly; from the very fact the Torah puts both the prayer and its answer in one passuk, we can see the direct and immediate correlation between the two. We see clearly from here that prayer was the key to salvation.

The Gemara in Yevamot (64a) asks a very famous and hard-hitting question: This was not the first time or the last time one of our matriarchs was stricken with barrenness. Why did HaShem allow our patriarchs and matriarchs to have children only after many years of heartfelt teffilot? The Gemara gives its answer which has become famous to many: “For HaShem desires the prayers of Tzaddikim.”

This answer is deep and contains within it many concepts which many have expounded upon. However when we look at the original source, the Medrash Tanchuma, we are faced with a tremendous peculiarity. The Medrash asks the same question as the Gemara but adds a new dimension to the answer. Speaking from Hashem’s perspective, it tells us that HaShem made a reckoning saying, “They [the Avot and Imahot] have money, they are beautiful, they are respected, if I give them children they will never pray to me for anything” and the Medrash concludes, “We see from here that HaShem desires the prayers of Tzaddikim.”

This Medrash is startling, to say the least. We are talking about the Avot whose lives were completely focused on the enhancement of G-d’s glory in this world, the very people who created the concept of daily prayer. Can it be that would not pray to HaShem? How can we understand that HaShem could entertain the possibility that the Avot would not pray to Him?

From here we can truly gain a deeper understanding of teffilah. Teffilah is not only a compilation of praise to HaShem, it is a time for us to connect and recognize The Power which runs our universe and nourishes our souls. However, that recognition and connection can only come from a place of total self abdication. Only when we realize that we are so dependent upon His grace for everything we have in life can we really connect to Him. But how can one truly feel this way if he lacks absolutely nothing? When we lack something tremendously important and we recognize that only HaShem can give it to us, we are more able to pray with a realization of our reliance upon Him and to forge a real bond with Him. This is the prayer which HaShem desires.

Of course the Avot would have prayed to HaShem even if they had children, but perhaps their prayer would have been lacking this deeper awareness – the awareness of the minuteness of man before G-d and his dependence on HaShem for his every need. It would not have been a teffilah which one casts all of his burdens, hopes, and dreams onto HaShem, and allows His providence to control his life. Teffilah L’Ani – the teffillah of a pauper, of one who is lacking, is not the same as the teffilah as one who has everything. Because HaShem love the Avot so much, He desires that they pray this deeper teffillah, for He desires the ultimate relationship that it will create.

May we merit having a true connection with HaShem in times of good and bad, and may we all be able to recognize that whatever we lack in life is a symbol of G-d’s love and His desire for a deeper relationship with us.

Shabbat Shalom

Naftali Kassorla

Parshat Chayei Sara

In this week's parsha the Torah tells us of the matching and marriage between Yitzchak and Rivka. The Torah explains at great lengths the journey which Eliezer who was the servant of Avraham took to find a wife for Yitzchak, and the miracles that were done for him.

After Eliezer is successful in finding the fitting bride for his master, he brings Rivka to the Negev where Yitzchak is staying in order for them to meet.

This meeting is a tremendous moment in our history; this meeting is a major step in the culmination of HaShem's promise to Avraham to make his offspring a great nation.

The Torah tells us in great detail of this meeting "And Rivka raised her eyes and she saw Yitzchak; and she inclined while upon the camel. And she said to the slave, 'Who is that man walking in the field toward us?' And the slave said, 'He is my master.' She then took the veil and she covered herself" The Torah interestingly goes out of its way to tell us that Rivka took her veil and covered herself. Why? What does this little detail serve for us? We know that there is not one extra word in the Torah. What is HaShem trying to tell us?

Perhaps we can learn a tremendous lesson in behavior. Naturally when people become closer the standards of modesty and decorum fall. The society around us thinks the more secrets and one tells his friend or spouse, the closer they are. Therapists aware of this fact actually refuse to give over personal details of there own life to there patients lest the patient develop unhealthy feelings for them. However the Torah perspective is different, the closer one gets the level of decorum and respect demanded rises. It's very possible it is for this reason the torah commands us to respect our parents, in order to directly forestall this natural tendency. With our teachers as well this maxim is true, for the laws of respecting ones teacher and the closeness of that relationship are inherently connected. Here as well the Torah is telling us through adding that Rivka in seeing Yitzchak covered herself, that one must carry themselves with a higher level of modesty, even around those to whom they are the closest. Closeness is not defined in how many secrets one knows about the other.

We see this point brought out in the Gemara in Nedarim (21b) the Gemara tells us of a woman named Ema Shalom who had exceedingly beautiful children. When asked why she merited having such beautiful children, she answered that her husband was extremely modest during marital relations. We see that even during the most intimate time between a husband and wife, the concept of modesty must be upheld. Modesty is the foundation of a Jewish home; the wife is the spiritual conduit to bring holiness into the home. If the wife isn’t conducting herself in a modest way then the house isn’t built on a spiritual base. This is what the Torah was teaching us by adding a seemingly superfluous detail. May we all grow in perfection of our behavior and service to HaShe

Shabbat Shalom

Parshat Vayera

Parshat Vayera

In this parsha we read about the episode of Akeidat Yitzchak. HaShem commands Avraham to "Please take your son, your only son, whom you love-Yitzchak- go to the land of Moriah, and bring him up there as an offering upon one of the mountains which I shall tell you".

At first glance this commandment is mind boggling. Did HaShem not promise that through Yitzchak, He would make Avraham into a great nation? Just earlier in the parsha, when Sarah pressures Avraham to send away Hagar and Yishmael, HaShem commands Avraham to listen to Sarah "since through Yitzchak will offspring be considered yours." The Gemara in Nedarim (31a) learns from that passuk that no one else other than the offspring of Yitzchak is considered the offspring of Avraham (meaning that Yishmael and Esav are excluded). The only possible link to Avraham is through Yitzchak. And now, HaShem is asking for his son as a human offering? Avraham was an extremely intelligent person, for he came to the knowledge of G-d on his own, so then how could Avraham not pick up on this blatant contradiction?

Even more puzzling is when we take into account that Avraham fought his entire life against Idol worship and human sacrifice. How could Avraham possibly serve up his own son as a human offering? Everyone he taught would be so disgusted by the hypocrisy that surely they would reject his past or future teachings. It would undo all the progress that he had made so far to spread monotheism. How could it be the will of HaShem to plunge the world back in the darkness of polytheism, turning it farther away from the original belief in one G-d?

Perhaps from the Midrash we can begin to understand. The Midrash explains that while Avraham was on his way to Moriah, the Satan wanted to stop him from fulfilling the will of HaShem; he put a river to stop Avraham from reaching his destination. Nevertheless, Avraham was intent on crossing and he succeeded. The Satan, seeing that he couldn't stop Avraham, tells him that in the end, HaShem won't let Avraham go through with it, thus telling him that there is no test at all. The Alter of Novardohk explains the approach of the Satan: the Yetzer Harah comes in two ways. One way is to stop a person from doing the mitzvah, and when that fails, he tries to steal the pure intention of the mitzvah. For example, for a person who gives tzedaka freely, the Yetzer Harah knows that if he tried to get him not to give at all, it won’t work; this person has worked so hard on generosity. Rather the Yetzer Harah tells him, “Give...but give so people will think you're righteous!” Here too, the Satan couldn't stop Avraham, but he could at least take away the pure intent. He hoped to have Avraham believe that he would never actually need to sacrifice yistchak, and thereby remove Avraham’s lofty motives in going to do the mitzvah. But Avraham could not be swayed – and he continued on to do the Will of G-d.

According to this explanation, perhaps we can say that the test for Avraham was not to offer his son – he was ready to do that. Rather, the challenge was to go and do the mitzvah with a completely pure heart, without any of his own logic and calculations getting in the way. We know that Avraham was an intelligent, thinking person, for he came to belief in G-d on his own accord. And yet, at the moment of trial, he was able to disregard logic in the face of G-d’s request. Avraham could have asked how any of this made sense, how Hashem could want such a thing, how this could possibly benefit society or result in the emergence of a nation from his offspring. He could have gone according to the arguments of the Satan, telling him that the act would never follow through. But instead, he kept his own thoughts out of the picture and focused only on doing what G-d said.

We see a proof to this idea, in that when HaShem stopped Avraham from offering Yitzchak, He said, "Do not do anything to him for nowI know that you are G-d fearing". The question is why now? Could it be that HaShem, chas ve shalom, had doubts about Avraham's fear of Him? However, according to our explanation above, we can say that HaShem now saw that Avraham's fear of Him was a fear of pure intentions, seeing that despite the social repercussions and the questions of logic, Avraham did not allow any of those doubts in to affect his purity of service. This was the test of Avraham, and it is our test as well. We often put our own calculations on par with what Hashem asks of us, when what we really need to do is bend our will to His. May we learn from Avraham and have the strength to do so.

Shabbat Shalom.

Naftoli Kassorla