Transcript
Okay, good morning everyone. As always, good morning. A few housekeeping announcements. First of all, reminder, the men's afternoon כולל Kollel has begun every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. Men are invited to come take advantage. This Thursday night, there's a special conference call I'm doing together with a incredible therapist, Naomi Berger, on the topic of from the board room, B O R E, to the bedroom. The significance, the importance of healthy intimacy in a healthy marriage. It's for marriages of all ages and lengths of time. You could call in from the privacy of your home and listen as a couple with anonymity from the other callers. All the details are in a flyer in the lobby. And this coming שבת Shabbos is our annual APAC weekend, which will feature not politics and elections, which I think we've all had our fill of, but we'll focus more on Israeli innovation, breakthrough, progress, technology. And it's a wonderful weekend with a Friday night dinner. It's not too late, but it's getting close to sign up for the Friday night dinner. Again, details are in the lobby. This this שבת Shabbos, we have the great privilege of reading פרשת וירא Parshas Vayera. And as always, we'll do an overview of the פרשה parsha, and then delve into specific פסוקים psukim together.So we're on page 78 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. And our פרשה parsha begins where last week's פרשה parsha left off. At the end of last week's פרשה parsha, אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu is charged, it's incredible, we can't even imagine it, but to give himself a circumcision as well as to his son ישמעאל Yishmael. יצחק Yitzchak is not yet born. יצחק Yitzchak will be the first to have his ברית bris on the eighth day. אברהם Avram is recovering, we know it's the third day after the surgery, which is the worst. אברהם Avram is recovering and nevertheless, he's sitting outside his tent because for him the pain of not helping others is a greater pain than the recovery of the surgery. It's an incredible, incredible idea. Many people have a surgery. Some people stub their toe and for six months, they can't care about anyone, think about anyone, ask about anybody, the world revolves around them because they stubbed their toe and the whole world has come to a standstill. אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu takes a sharp knife, a rock, circumcises himself. There was no, there was no anesthesia, there were no sutures. We don't have to get into gory details, but אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu circumcises himself and says, if you ask me not to care about people, you want me to close the doors to my tent and retreat into my own life, that's more painful. That is more difficult, more suffering for me than the pain of the surgery itself. So there he is. The three seeming men walk up to him. He doesn't know at that time they're angels. And אברהם Avram interrupts the conversation he's having with the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. I made it, I made it warmer. And חז\"ל Chazal understand from here that גדול הכנסת אורחים מקבלת פני השכינה gadol hachnasas orchim meikabalas pnei hashchina. That it's greater to host, to entertain, to receive a visitor who needs you than it is to even talk to the Almighty. We've discussed this in the past. You know, you picture the scene. It's hard to even imagine. אברהם Avram is talking to the king of kings, the מלך מלכי המלכים Melech Malchei Hamlachim. And he sees these three men walking up, and he has the audacity. He says to the Almighty, God, would could you give me just two minutes? Would you mind waiting here? He doesn't say to God, you know, you're free to go now, let's pick this up sometime in the future. He doesn't say that. What does he say to השם Hashem? אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך Im na matzasi chein b'einecha, God, if if it works for you, אל נא תעבור מעל עבדך al na sa'avor mei'al avdecha. Would you mind just waiting here? Could you just give me five minutes? I just have to give them something to eat and something to drink. I don't know who they are, but I have to take care of them for five minutes and we'll pick it up. I'll come back to you in five. Do you mind? And the commentators are all troubled. What, do you mind? This is the king of kings. This is the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, the creator of the universe, the infinite, omnipotent, all-powerful. The apex of all of Jewish life and living is to achieve a level of feeling one is before the Almighty. To be in the presence of the שכינה Shechina is what we live for, it's what we strive for. All of מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim, the 12 steps of מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim, culminate in רוח הקודש Ruach Hakodesh. The whole idea is to feel that you're in the presence of the שכינה Shechina. אברהם Avram who achieves a conversation with the שכינה Shechina says, God, could you just give me three minutes? Do you mind? What's going on here?The סלונים-רבי Slonimer Rebbe says very beautifully in his ספר sefer נתיבות שלום Nesivos Shalom, he says, אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu, and he asks a series of questions. I'm not going to take you through that whole piece right now. But one of his questions is, where did אברהם Avram know that from? Yes, חז\"ל Chazal derive גדול הכנסת אורחים מקבלת פני השכינה gadol hachnasas orchim meikabalas pnei hashechina. חז\"ל Chazal understand and conclude, you see from here, it's greater to host people than even talk to God. But אברהם Avram didn't read that מאמר חז\"ל ma'amar Chazal. אברהם Avram couldn't say, God, listen, would you give me five minutes? It says in the גמרא Gemara on דף daf, it says in שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch in סימן siman that I should interrupt, so could you give me five... How did he know? How did he intuit it? How did he have the audacity and the brazenness? And he understood something which was very simple. Is it audacious or brazen if you're talking to your mother or father, and your brother or sister come walking along and they're thirsty and they're hungry and they're tired and they need something? Does it take a genius to realize that your mom or dad are happy for the conversation to be interrupted so you could take care of your sibling, their other child? It's not so brazen, and it's not so audacious. And it's not so novel. It's actually makes a lot of sense. אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu understood, עולם חסד יבנה olam chesed yibaneh. God created the world for loving kindness. It is the essence, the תכלית tachlis of why we are here. It took till אברהם Avram for that מידה mida to be introduced to the world, but אברהם Avram understood it. And he understood it, and he understood that humanity is part of one big family. We are צלם אלוקים tzelem Elokim, we are children of the Almighty. And when a brother or sister walks up to us, hungry or tired or in need of any form of hospitality or help, when we help that sibling, we are giving the greatest נחת רוח nachas ruach to our parent. As parents and grandparents, does anything give you greater נחת nachas than seeing the loyalty among your children? Does anything give you greater נחת nachas than knowing how one of your children helped another, stepped in, anticipated, supported, provided, helped? So אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu understood, גדול הכנסת אורחים gadol hachnasas orchim. It's not that, oh, there's a value conflict, which one should I do? Let's have a whole חבורה chabura, let's do an analysis. It's ridiculous. If you say to your parent, could you give me five minutes? My sibling, your other child needs my help. Would the parent say, what a חוצפה chutzpah? Where's your כבוד kavod for me? Let them suffer five more minutes. You're in the middle of talking to me. They'd say, gladly, I'll wait as long as you need. And that's what אברהם Avram understood is that part of the תכלית tachlis of life and what it means to be students of אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu is to learn from the legacy of giving נחת רוח nachas ruach to השם Hashem. Of always asking, if השם Hashem is our father in heaven and we are his children, what will give him נחת nachas in the way that I interact with his other children?It turns out these were not three men, these were three angels, but אברהם Avram didn't know that. The בית הלוי Beis Halevi has a beautiful insight. The רב's Rav's great-grandfather, בית הלוי Beis Halevi says, why is אברהם Avram praised to the hilt for his הכנסת אורחים hachnasas orchim? Lot too received these very same angels when they go to סדום Sdom, and they knock on the door, and they come to warn Lot, it's time to get out. Lot too is hospitable. Why is אברהם Avram, we hold in such high esteem, and Lot is a villain of the Jewish people? And the בית הלוי Beis Halevi says the answer is very simple. When אברהם Avram took them in, he had no idea who they were. He thought they were these anonymous, wandering nomads, covered in dust, worth nothing, couldn't cut a check, couldn't provide support, couldn't advance his efforts in the world. He took care of them because whatever their background, whatever the socioeconomic status, he saw people who needed. When Lot took them in, who did Lot see in front of him? He knew they were angels. Who's not going to host an angel? An angel knocks on your door and you're going to say, go to the next one? Of course you're going to host the angel. So superficially, אברהם Avram and Lot seem to practice the same הכנסת אורחים hachnasas orchim. And in fact, רב הירש Rav Hirsch tells us that Lot learned that quality from his uncle אברהם Avraham. But if you dig beneath the surface, you realize there are some people you call them and you say, you know, the chief rabbi of the world, the גדול בישראל Gadol b'Yisrael, the famous celebrity, the great scholar in residence is coming. Would you mind hosting them? Absolutely, my pleasure, no problem. Listen, someone's coming, their mother lives in Boca West, she's not religious, they need a place for שבת Shabbos. Someone's coming, the uncle's in the hospital. Someone's coming, they got stuck here in business. Could you take them... No, I'm sorry, we don't have room. I'm sorry, we can't take them. There's two forms of הכנסת אורחים hachnasas orchim. You could be hospitable for the sake of the guests, in which case it makes no difference who the guests are, they need help, you're offer to be hospitable. Or you could be hospitable because it advances your agenda. You love the social currency of being able to say that you hosted so and so. Lot practiced the second time of הכנסת אורחים hachnasas orchim, אברהם Avram practiced the first.Okay, let's keep going. These angels come, they have three messages for אברהם Avram and Sarah. And we know it's פסח Pesach time and אברהם Avram acts with alacrity and zeal, and he provides for them, and they come to give the great news that Sarah, who was barren and an advanced age, and in fact has no womb, is miraculously going to conceive and she's going to have a child. And if you look, I'm not going to talk about it now, we've discussed it in the past. Again, nobody plugs themselves as much as I do in this פרשה parsha class, but you could listen online to all the previous year פרשה parsha class. But we talked about the fact that at the end of last week's פרשה parsha, אברהם Avram hears he's going to have a child, and how does he respond? How does he react? He's מצחק metzachek. Sarah hears, she laughs. אברהם's Avram's not criticized and Sarah's ripped to shreds. And later, when it's time to give this miraculous baby a name, what name do they give? יצחק Yitzchak. Somehow memorializing the fact. So why was Sarah criticized, אברהם's Avram's not? And if this is such a bad reaction, why do you memorialize it in the very name of this child? We spoke about the difference between true joy and a joy that's laced with cynicism and sarcasm. We talked about it in the past and the key is אונקלוס Onkelos. אונקלוס Onkelos translates the very same word, the שורש shoresh צדיק ח' ק' tzadi ches kuf, differently when it comes to אברהם Avram and Sarah, and that is the insight.The angels then come to סדום Sdom. Lot is sitting at the... I'm sorry, I skipped the part because it's the part we're going to go back and discuss. אברהם Avram tries to intercede on behalf of סדום Sdom. We're going to talk about that momentarily. אברהם Avram objects and protests to the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam and says, you can't do it. You can't do it. Then we have that negotiation, 50, 45, 40, and so on and so forth. אברהם Avram is unsuccessful in that negotiation and סדום Sdom is destroyed. Lot is told that he's not allowed to turn around. Even Lot is saved, but he's told he and his wife can't turn around. She in fact turns around and suffers the consequence. We're normally taught that the reason you can't turn around is why... ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם שהכל נהיה בדברו Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam shehakol niyeh bidvaro. Oh, שכויח shekoyach. We normally learn that you can't turn around because you were guilty of the same thing. Who are you to witness or observe the destruction, the death of those who violated the very same thing as you? רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik has a different insight. He says, what Lot was being told at that moment is, don't turn around. That lifestyle, that behavior, those indiscretions, that poor judgment, that's in your past. Don't turn around. Don't look back with some nostalgia. Don't look back missing that life and lifestyle. Don't turn around, only look forward. A very beautiful insight into how we transform our our lives.Lot's daughters, we have the bizarre interaction. Lot's two daughters, they seem to practice this incest. You read the section, you can't even identify or understand. This we talked about last year in the פרשה parsha class, which you can listen to at length, where Lot's two daughters actually acted nobly. They thought, just like God had destroyed the world once with the מבול mabul and נח Noach was the only survivor, God had destroyed the world again. Their father and they were the only survivors, and though it would take this grotesque act, they were willing to endure it so that they could provide continuity to the world. Obviously they were terribly mistaken, but that was their intent. And there's a lot more to talk about, we talked about it last year. אברהם Avram goes to גרר Grar. Sarah is abducted. אבימלך Avimelech appeases אברהם Avram and Sarah. This is a repeat of a similar story that we've seen before. Finally Sarah conceives, gives birth. And then once she has her child, she feels that יצחק Yitzchak being exposed to ישמעאל Yishmael, ישמעאל Yishmael is a contaminating influence. She expels them from the house. אברהם Avram listens to everything Sarah says and goes along with that expulsion, even though it's his own child. We have the 10th trial at the end of the פרשה parsha, which is the famous story of the עקידה Akeida, which obviously we're not going to go into now, but is worthy of great analysis, the story of the עקידה Akeida itself. Okay.We're going to go back and look at, we're going to start from, פרק י\"ח Perek Yud Ches, פסוק י\"ז pasuk yud zayin. Chapter 18 verse 17, it appears in the Artscroll, page 80. Okay. What's going on over here? So I know it seems like we're in the middle of a story and we are, but this is at the conclusion of the angel's visit where they inform Avram and Sarah about the fact that they're going to have a child. And again if you look at the פסוק pasuk before, ותצחק שרה בקרבה לאמור לא צחקתי כי יראה ויאמר לא כי צחקת vatitzchak Sarah b'kirba leimor lo tzachakti ki yareia, v'yomer lo ki tzachakt. She denies that she laughed, but he said no, you in fact indeed laughed. ויקומו משם האנשים וישקיפו על פני סדום Vayakumu misham ha'anashim vayashkifu al pnei Sdom, ואברהם הולך עמם לשלחם v'Avraham holech imam l'shalcham. We see from here the מצווה mitzvah of לוויה levaya, that you have to walk guests out. אברהם Avram doesn't just say goodbye to these visitors, but he escorts them, he walks them out. And as אברהם's Avram's walking them out, where are they looking? What are they looking at? They're looking down at סדום Sdom, and that's where we pick up. Whole setup over here. Okay.So that's where we pick up. פסוק י\"ז Pasuk yud zayin. וה' אמר המכסה אני מאברהם אשר אני עשה Va'Hashem amar, hamechaseh ani mei'Avraham asher ani oseh? Like a לשון בטמיאה lashon bitmiha, רש\"י Rashi says. בטמיאה Bitmiha means with wonder, rhetorically. God says, look, I'm about to do something drastic to the world. I'm about to do a major event. I got to give אברהם Avram a heads up. How could I possibly conceal המכסה hamechaseh, can I conceal from אברהם Avram what I'm going to do? רש\"י Rashi writes, בטמיאה אשר אני עושה בסדום לא יפה לי לעשות דבר שלא מדעתו אני נתתי לו את הארץ הזאת וחמשת כרכים הללו שלו הן bitmiha asher ani oseh b'Sdom, lo yafeh li la'asos davar shelo m'da'ato. Ani nasati lo es ha'aretz hazos, v'chameishes krachim halalu shelo hein. I promised אברהם Avram this is his land. These five cities, the original five towns, these five cities שנאמר she'ne'emar... these are five cities, five... it's another word for town, there was no... nothing negative, no negative connotation being said. So God says, I promised אברהם Avram this land. It's width and its breadth. I walked with him on it. He made a קנין kinyan on it. And he owns all these cities and towns and villages within. So how can I destroy five cities and I'm not going to tell him? says רש\"י Rashi. קראתי אותו אברהם אב המון גוים ואשמיד את בניו ולא אודיע לאב שהוא אהובי K'rasi oso Avraham av hamon goyim v'ashmid es banav v'lo odia l'Av she'hu avai? I changed his name. I called him the father of all nations. He's not just the father of the Jewish people. The reason that a גר ger, a convert, is able to say at the beginning of שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei, אלקי אברהם אלקי יצחק ואלקי יעקב Elokei Avraham, Elokei Yitzchak, Elokei Yaakov, we describe God as אלקינו ואלקי אבותינו Elokeinu v'Elokei avoseinu. So the convert, how could they say אלקי אבותינו Elokei avoseinu? They don't descend from אברהם Avram. How can the convert say in ברכות brachos that they're commanded? How can they use this language? So the גמרא Gemara learns it's from the fact that אברהם Avram is given the name, the hey, אברהם Avraham, אב המון גוים av hamon goyim, that אברהם Avram is associated with all nations. So not only the genetic descendants of אברהם Avraham, but those who choose to join his mission and cause, also spiritually descend from אברהם Avram, so much so, what what name do we give a convert in their כתובה kesuba, when we call them up for an עליה aliyah? בן אברהם אבינו Ben Avraham Avinu or בת אברהם אבינו Bas Avraham Avinu. And there's no problem with their saying, אלקינו ואלקי אבותינו Elokeinu v'Elokei avoseinu, they too descend from אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avram, Yitzchak and Yaakov. So God says, I gave אברהם Avram this new name, I told him he's the father of the world. What am I going to go wipe out these five cities, his children, and not tell him? Particularly שהוא אהובי shehu ohavai, I love him. I love him. And when you love someone, you don't keep secrets from them. They're a confidant, you share, you think through... Next פסוק pasuk: ואברהם היו יהיה לגוי גדול ועצום ונברכו בו כל גויי הארץ V'Avraham hayo yihyeh l'goy gadol v'atzum v'nivrichu vo kol goyei ha'aretz. In fact אברהם Avram, I promised him and in fact will be true, אברהם Avram is going to be a great nation and I'm going to through him bless all of the, all of the world. So how can I not share with him what I'm about to do? And what's he about to do? פסוק י\"ט Pasuk yud tes. כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו ושמרו דרך ה' לעשות צדקה ומשפט למען הביא ה' על אברהם את אשר דבר עליו Ki yeda'tiv l'ma'an asher yitzaveh es banav v'es beiso acharav v'shamru derech Hashem la'asos tzedaka u'mishpat l'ma'an havi Hashem al Avraham es asher dibar alav.And here we have the secret to God's love, God's deep and profound affection for אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu. So God says, I'm about to do something enormous in the world. I love אברהם Avram, and there's implications for him. If you love somebody and you're going to do something, there's implications, then you share it with them. So I can't possibly withhold this from אברהם Avram. And parenthetically the text says, why does God love אברהם Avram? Where does that affection come from? And what would you expect the text to answer? Why does God love אברהם Avram? Because אברהם Avram revolutionized the world. אברהם Avram introduced the entire world to ethical monotheism. There were monotheists before him, but they kept it to themselves. And אברהם Avram shares it with everybody. So השם Hashem one would think says, why do I love אברהם Avram? Why do I cherish the relationship and why do I shower affection on him? He brought me to this world. He's transformed the world with monotheism. Is that what it says? No. Why does God love אברהם Avram? למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו L'ma'an asher yitzaveh es banav v'es beiso acharav. Because whatever one accomplishes and achieves outside their home, what matters most is what happens inside their home. הנפש אשר עשו בחרן Hanefesh asher asu b'Charan. True, אברהם Avram created thousands of converts and followers and disciples. But God says that's nice. That doesn't impress me. That's not important to me. What matters to me is בניו ואת ביתו אחריו banav v'es beiso acharav. Did he bring my values to his children? Is there continuity within his very family? Let's look at some of the מפרשים meforshim. רש\"י Rashi. כי ידעתיו לשון חיבה Ki yeda'tiv l'shon chiba, כמו מודע לאישה k'mo moda l'isha. We're going to talk about this Thursday night on our racy conference call. But the Torah's word for intimacy, what it means for a husband and wife to be intimate, והאדם ידע את חוה אשתו v'Adam yada es Chava ishto. That language, ד' ע' ה' dalet ayin hey, to know is to love. The greatest knowledge one can have of another, the greatest connection, the greatest love, the greatest knowledge, the greatest access, the greatest exposure, the greatest connection is that act of intimacy. So that word למען ידעתיו l'ma'an yeda'tiv, the same root, ד' ע' ה' dalet ayin hey, למען ידעתיו l'ma'an yeda'tiv, means חיבה chiba. God says I love him. The reason I'm intimate with him, the reason I have this affection towards him, just like מודע לאשה modeh l'isha, הלבבות מודעתנו וידא בשם עיקר לשון כולו לשון ידיעה halabo'os modatano, v'da b'shem, ikra l'shon kulo l'shon yediya, שהמחבב אדם מקרבו אצלו ויודעו ומכירו she'hamechayev odom me'karvo etzlo v'yodea u'makiro. When you love someone, you give them access to who you are. One of the biggest challenges in marriages are people who are shut down. You know, they're just roommates, but you don't allow the person into your inner thoughts, your inner fears, your inner dreams, your inner struggles, your inner anxieties. Sometimes you let them in too much and they want you to, you know, turn it down a little bit, shut it off. But sometimes in a relationship, there's a barrier where you say, let me into your world, I don't know what you're thinking, I don't know how you're feeling. When you in fact love someone and feel affection, then you want in their world and you allow them into your world. למען ידעתיו L'ma'an yeda'tiv, למען שיצוה l'ma'an sheyitzaveh, לפי שהוא מצוה את בניו עלי לשמור דרכי lifi shehu mitzaveh es banav alai lishmor d'rachai says רש\"י Rashi. Why does God love אברהם Avram? He commands his children to observe our path, to observe our path. Okay. Look at the רמב\"ן Ramban, למען ידעתיו l'ma'an yeda'tiv, לשון רש\"י l'shon Rashi. אראיה תניא כתורה גומה לשון חיבה כמו מודה לאשה Arei hi tania k'Torah guma l'shon chiba k'mo moda l'isha. First the רמב\"ן Ramban as he often does, quotes רש\"י Rashi. ונכון V'anachnu in the second paragraph, שידיעה בו ממש כידיעת ה' שהיא השגחתו בעולם השפל היא לשמור הקולים she'yediya bo mamash, k'yedi'as Hashem shehi hashgachaso ba'olam hashafel, he lishmor kolim. וגם בני אדם המונחים בו המיקרים עד בוא פקודתם V'gam bnei Adam han'chim bo meikreim ad bo p'kudasam. אבל בחסידיו יעשו מליבו לדעת אותו בפרט להיות שמירתו דוקא באותם ולתפארת ידיעה והזכירה ממנו כלל Aval b'chasidav ya'asu me'libo l'da'as oso b'frat, l'hiyos sh'miroso davka b'otam, u'l'tiporei yediya v'hazkirah mimenu klal. So רש\"י Rashi said the language of knowledge here is meant euphemistically to really describe affection and closeness. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, it's not only meant euphemistically, it's meant literally. That those who are more lowly, we only know God in a general sense. God is the creator of the universe. He's the omnipotent divine providence of the universe. But the more righteous one is, the closer they are connected, the more details they have in understanding and interpreting the knowledge they have access to about how and why God runs the world. No one ever can say they know with certainty the answer. No one should proclaim, I don't care how righteous or great they are, this is why השם Hashem did what he did. But says the רמב\"ן Ramban, here the knowledge is meant not meant euphemistically, it's meant literally that God is awarding אברהם Avram with knowledge of his ways to reciprocate for אברהם's Avram's loyalty and love towards him. So רש\"י Rashi, רמב\"ן Ramban, is it meant euphemistically or is it meant or is it meant literally? What is this that the פסוק pasuk charges למען כי ידעתיו l'ma'an ki yeda'tiv למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו l'ma'an asher yitzaveh es banav v'es beiso acharav? יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו Yitzaveh es banav v'es beiso acharav. What what is this? What exactly is is is is is אברהם Avram, what is the charge that אברהם Avram is giving to his children?So the רמב\"ם Rambam, what is this דרך ה' derech Hashem? ושמרו דרך ה' V'shamru derech Hashem. אברהם Avram has taught his children דרך ה' derech Hashem. That sounds pretty generic. What is the דרך ה' derech Hashem that אברהם Avram, what's the secret? If we want God to love us, what must meet we transmit to our children and grandchildren that אברהם Avram successfully transmitted that earned the love and affection of השם Hashem? What is this דרך ה' derech Hashem that the פסוק pasuk is referring to? So the רמב\"ם Rambam at the end of the first פרק perek of הלכות דעות Hilchos De'os, the רמב\"ם Rambam in this פרק perek, the first פרק perek, is laying out his famous golden mean. פרק א' הלכה ד' Perek aleph, halacha daled. הדרך הישרה היא מדה בינונית שבכל דעה ודעה מכל הדעות שיש לו לאדם Haderech hayeshara hi mida beinonis sheb'chol de'ah v'de'ah mikol hade'os sheyesh lo la'adam. You know what the proper path is? In life, the רמב\"ם Rambam is the king of moderation. Never do things on the extremes. Take the golden mean, just live a moderate life. והיא הדרך שרחוקה משתי הקצוות ריחוק שוה ואינה קרובה לא לזו ולא לזו V'hi haderech she'rechoka m'shtei hak'tzavos richuk shaveh v'eino karov l'zo v'lo l'zo. It means you should be equally distant from both extremes, going down that middle path. לפיכך צוו חכמים הראשונים שיהא אדם שם דעותיו תמיד ומשער אותם ומכוון אותם בדרך האמצעית כדי שיהא שלם בגופו L'fichach tzivu chachamim harishonim she'yihyeh adam sham de'osav tamid, u'm'shayer osam, m'chaven osam b'derech ha'emtza'is k'dei she'yihyeh shalem b'gufo. A person should always be moderate. Don't be extreme. You know, extremists can waver in any direction. Today they're extreme that way and tomorrow they'll be extreme that way. I know people who are extreme, they became very religiously turned on, and they became an extremist. And overnight, they walk away from פרום frum, right? And they are extremely not פרום frum. Because when you live your life on the extremes, you run the risk of whatever that extreme of the day is becomes replaced by another extreme. Says the רמב\"ם Rambam, the רמב\"ם Rambam endorses, do not take extreme positions. First of all with all the qualities and all the character traits that exist in life, don't be extreme, be moderate. The רמב\"ם Rambam has two exceptions. What are the רמב\"ם's Rambam's two exceptions? Anyone know? If you're near a bad thing, you got to go to the opposite side. Okay, so one thing he's talks about going to the opposite extreme in order to bring the equilibrium, but there the goal is to get back to the equilibrium into the golden mean. Where is the goal to never be in the golden mean, but to always be extreme? The רמב\"ם Rambam says two things. Number one, extremely humble. Arrogance is such a negative quality that when it comes to arrogance, you have to be extremely, exceedingly humble. And number two, anger. Anger is so self-destructive that you have to be extreme in your sense of forbearing and patient to never get angry. Anyway, where does the רמב\"ם Rambam learn this from? Where does the רמב\"ם Rambam talk about this golden mean? He talks about it for several הלכות halachos, and at the end of the first פרק perek, the first פרק perek, he says the following. ולפיכך שמא שזה נקרא... ירגיל אדם עצמו בדעות אלו עד שיתקבעו בו V'l'fichach shema she'zeh nikra... Yarga'el adam atzmo b'de'os eilu ad she'yitvu bo. How do you accustom yourself to live this moderate life? יעשה וישנה וישלש במעשים שעושה על פי הדעות האמצעיות Ya'aseh v'yishneh v'yishalesh b'ma'asim she'osah al pi ha'de'os ha'emtza'iyos. Habit. The רמב\"ם Rambam endorses habit. We are creatures of habit. If you form the correct habits, you'll be leading a wonderful life. So repeat and repeat and repeat again being moderate in your thoughts, in your emotions, in your actions, in your behaviors, in your feelings. And if you repeat it over and over again, you'll end up the golden mean, you'll end up being moderate. And he says, ונקרא זו דרך זו v'nikra zu derech zu, דרך ה' derech Hashem. Being a moderate person, being calm, being בנחת b'nachas, being contemplative, being thoughtful, being moderate, that's called דרך derech, that's the way of השם Hashem. השם Hashem doesn't want you to be an extremist. והיא שלימד אברהם אבינו לבניו V'hi shelimad Avraham Avinu l'banav, שנאמר כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה she'ne'emar ki yeda'tiv l'ma'an asher yitzaveh. And says the רמב\"ם Rambam, that's what our פסוק pasuk is talking about. When God is so loving towards אברהם Avram because he says, why does אברהם Avram deserve my love? Because he has successfully transmitted דרך ה' derech Hashem. And we what's the דרך, derech, what's the secret דרך ה' derech Hashem? Says the רמב\"ם Rambam, what did אברהם Avram successfully transmit that endeared him to השם Hashem? This golden mean. וההולך בדרך זו מביא טובה וברכה לעצמו V'haholech b'derech zu meivi tova u'vracha l'atzmo. A person who always is moderate and thoughtful and balanced and equal and not extremist, you're going to bring good and blessing to yourself. שנאמר למען הביא ה' על אברהם את אשר דבר עליו She'ne'emar, l'ma'an heivi Hashem al Avraham es asher dibar alav. Okay. So the רמב\"ם Rambam says, what is this golden, what is this דרך ה' derech Hashem that our פסוק pasuk is referring to? Says the רמב\"ם Rambam, that is the golden mean that he famously endorses. רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik also has an insight here in his חומש chumash, the Rav of חומש chumash, and says רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik, למען אשר יצוה את בניו l'ma'an asher yitzaveh es banav. אברהם Avraham introduced the covenantal community. The covenant was signed and sealed by God and imposed an obligation not only on man, but on God as well, involving each side of the covenant. Was it unconditional? Did אברהם Avram have to meet certain conditions and obligations? The answer is clear. Certain definite conditions were introduced, as we find here. אברהם Avram has to transmit all these teachings to future generations. If he leaves if אברהם Avram leaves no will, there's no obligation by God to uphold the covenant. So last week's פרשה parsha we had the ברית בין הבתרים bris bein habsarim, we have this covenant, we have this contract between אברהם Avram and השם Hashem. אברהם Avram promises to transmit these values to his children, to create a legacy, to transform the world, and God promises to shower upon him blessing, to give him a great name, through you the nations of the world will be blessed and so on and so forth. What happens in any contract? Often there's a contract, often there's a clause, I'm not a lawyer, you didn't need me to tell you that to know that, but often there's a clause in contracts that says if one party breaks the contract, the contract is null and void. Says the רב Rav, the ברית בין הבתרים Bris ben habsarim, if it would be violated from one side, it would be null and void. So if אברהם Avram failed to transmit the values and the principles and the lifestyle to his offspring, then השם Hashem would say, I'm not bound by my side of the contract either. And that's what's going on here. אברהם Avram has to leave this will, the contract to his children.Continues the רב Rav, every member of the covenental community must leave two wills. This is such a beautiful insight. To be a Jew means to concern ourselves with the end of our life leaving two wills. A material will, in which we dispose of personal wealth and belongings, and a spiritual will, in which we pass in the mandate to adhere to the דרך השם Derech Hashem. השם Hashem declares, he, אברהם Avram will entrust the spiritual treasure to his children and is therefore worthy of the covenant. According to the רמב\"ם Rambam, the word מצווה mitzva means not merely a commandment, but is synonymous with the word צוואה tzava'ah. If the spiritual will had not been carried out, the covenant would have been terminated. So if you hear, if you go to Israel, you want to go to a lawyer, you want a will, you want a צוואה tzava'ah. A צוואה tzava'ah is a will. But we also have not only the will that describes how our assets should be divided, but we also encourage people to write a spiritual צוואה tzava'ah, an ethical will. There's a ספר sefer I once saw, which is a collection of some of our greatest גדולים gedolim's ethical wills. Their צוואה tzava'ah to their children of what is the spiritual legacy, what are the values they want to lead. So is it just a nice thing to have a spiritual will? I would venture to say everyone in this room has probably been to a lawyer to do estate planning and to form it. If you haven't, you should go. When you leave this class, the best סגולה segula for אריכות ימים arichus yamim, the biggest סגולה segula to live a long life is to take care of what will happen after you die. I don't know where it says that, I'm telling you that's the biggest סגולה segula.If you love your children, you'll take care of it. Because the alternative is God forbid, you know, death doesn't always come on schedule. There are tragic, tragic circumstances. And if you love your children, you will not leave a gaping hole where they have to fight and argue and guess what you would have wanted. So take care of it. Leave a ethical, leave a הלכתי halachic living will, and a הלכתי halachic will to dispose of your assets, and until now you would have said, it's a nice idea, write a spiritual will. Write a letter to your children and grandchildren about what you held dear and what matters to you and what you care about and so on. You know, some people combine the two wills. In the sense that they make the inheriting of the assets dependent, conditional on certain things. Some people have in their will that if a child, grandchild marries a non-Jew, they don't get the inheritance. I know somebody who's not particularly observant but he wanted his grandchildren to have strong Jewish identity and values. He put in his will that a condition to the grandchildren having access, again, I don't know the legalities of this, this is what he told me, that they have to go on March of the Living. If they don't go on March of the Living, they can't… So a person can combine the notion of the will and the spiritual will. But until now you would have said a spiritual will is a nice idea, you write a letter with what mattered to you. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik, quoting the רמב\"ם Rambam, no. למען אשר יצווה את בניו lemaan asher yetzaveh es banav. יצווה yetzaveh is לשון צוואה lashon tzava'ah. אברהם Avram didn't just say here's how you're going to divide up the camels and the donkeys and the tents and the nose rings. He said, here is my צוואה tzava'ah to you. למען אשר יצווה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו lemaan asher yetzaveh es banav v'es beiso acharav, אברהם Avram left an ethical will. And השם Hashem says, you hold up your part of the bargain, you keep your side of the contract, I'm in. I'll keep up mine. Had אברהם Avram not been successful, למען אשר יצווה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו lemaan asher yetzaveh es banav v'es beiso acharav, had אברהם Avram not left the ethical will, השם Hashem had the right according to a clause in the contract of the covenant of ברית בין הבתרים Bris ben habsarim, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu could have said, null and void. אברהם Avram, I'm just finishing the רב Rav, אברהם Avram was the first teacher, not to a few but to tens of thousands as the רמב\"ם Rambam writes in הלכות עבודת זרה Hilchos Avodah Zarah. The community organized around אברהם Avram consisted of students. The main aspect of the community was the teacher-pupil relationship rather than the biological father-son relationship. אברהם Avram's responsibility was to see to it that there was someone to pass on the צוואה tzava'ah to create a community of teachers and students, a community of מסורה mesorah. אברהם Avram gave יצחק Yitzchak the responsibility for this teaching. יצחק Yitzchak then passed it on to יעקב Yaakov.Okay. The רב Rav has another insight here, which is, what's this doing here? השם Hashem wants to tell אברהם Avram about destroying סדום Sdom. So tell him about destroying סדום Sdom. What's with the whole prelude of the love and affection? What's going on? So says the רב Rav, the angels took their leave of אברהם Avram heading towards סדום Sdom, and then it repeats the same information. Why is this verse, how אברהם Avram influenced his followers to act with virtue and righteousness, inserted between these two verses that say the same thing? Furthermore, מיכאל Michal was the angel who informed אברהם Avram of the birth of יצחק Yitzchak, while גבריאל Gavriel was sent to destroy סדום Sdom. Why did גבריאל Gavriel accompany מיכאל Michal to אברהם Avram's home? Those are the רב Rav's questions. And he answers, it was only after the angel גבריאל Gavriel saw how אברהם Avram's household and his loyal followers shared his vision of virtue and righteousness that he could proceed to destroy סדום Sdom. The contrast between אברהם Avram's household and the evil of סדום Sdom convicted that city. So אברהם Avram, it's fascinating. אברהם Avram, it's an unintended consequence of his righteousness. But אברהם Avram's righteousness drew the tremendous contrast with סדום Sdom. So הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu might have been more tolerant of סדום Sdom and allowed it to fly. But once he saw אברהם Avram, such virtue, such righteousness, that contrast indicted, convicted the city of סדום Sdom. And that's what the text is trying to tell us as the רב Rav, why the angels seeing what's going on in אברהם Avram's house, למען אשר יצווה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו lemaan asher yetzaveh es banav v'es beiso acharav, is smack, put right in in between the angels heading to סדום Sdom and the continuation of the סדום Sdom story, because it's that contrast which ultimately is what indicted the city of סדום Sdom. Let's keep going, because we've not really even started what I wanted to do. ויאמר השם פסוק כף Vayomer Hashem, pasuk kaf. פסוק כף Pasuk kaf. Yeah. פסוק כף Pasuk kaf.ויאמר השם, זעקת סדום ועמורה כי רבה, וחטאתם כי כבדה מאוד Vayomer Hashem, zaakas Sdom v'Amora ki raba, v'chatasam ki chavda me'od. What happens? השם Hashem says, since the cry of סדום Sdom and עמורה Amora has become great, since their sin has become very grave, their cry is רבה raba, it's great, וחטאתם v'chatasam, their poor judgment is great. Therefore, ארדה נא ואראה, הכצעקתה הבאה אלי עשו, כלה eirda na v'er'eh, haketze'akata haba'ah eilay asu, kalah. It's time for me to descend and see whether according to her cry which has come to me they have done. In other words, this cry, this news flash that I got about what's going on in Sodom, time for me to come down and check it out. ואם לא אדעה V'im lo eid'ah. And if not, and if not, I will know. Let me come see what's happening. What is this language, let me come down and see? What's going on here? השם Hashem is here, השם Hashem is there, השם Hashem is everywhere. He's got to come down? Takes the elevator, the escalator, climbs down a rope? How does השם Hashem get down here? ארדה Eirda. Let me come down and see.רש\"י Rashi quotes, לימד לדיינים שלא יפסקו דיני נפשות אלא בראיה limed l'dayanim shelo yifsku dinei nefashos ela b're'iyah. ככל קשר פירשתי בפרשת הפלגה kechol kasher peirashti b'parshas haflaga. So says רש\"י Rashi, this is a lesson for judges. Don't take anyone's word, investigate. You have to see it for yourself. You can't just get a text or a tweet or someone testifies to you and then you make a decision of grave consequence. To judge a situation properly, you got to see it for yourself. And that's what השם Hashem was trying to emulate for us. ארדה נא ואראה eirda na v'er'eh. Let me go check it out. Word has it, Sodom is a pretty horrible place. Word has it, it's time for me to erase them from the globe. But you know what, before I do it, ארדה נא ואראה eirda na v'er'eh. Let me come down and check it out. The ספורנו Sforno has a different interpretation. Look at the ספורנו Sforno. ארד לסוף תכלית רשעם שהוא מוכן לצאת מן הרע אל הרע כי אין הבה נרדף ונבלה סם סם כמו שזכר למעלה Eired l'sof tachlis rish'am, shehu muchan latzeis min hara el hara, ki ein hava neirdaf v'nivla s'sam, k'mo shezachar l'maala. ארדה Eirda doesn't mean let me go down, as in God is in heaven and he has to come down to earth to see it firsthand. For the ספורנו Sforno, it's not השם Hashem coming down. ארדה Eirda means let me investigate just how deep their evil runs. So it's not a geographic description, השם Hashem is coming from above down here to earth, for the ספורנו Sforno that was רש\"י Rashi. For the ספורנו Sforno, ארדה eirda means, let me plumb the depths of how deep this wickedness and this evil actually go. The אור החיים Or HaChaim has a comment here as well, says the אור החיים Or HaChaim, ארדה eirda. צריך לדעת אומרו לשון ירידה. למה יצטרך השם לרדת הלא כל עולם כגרגיר של חרדל לפניו tzarich ladaas omro lashon yerida. lama yitz'tarech Hashem lareides, halo kol olam k'gargir shel chardal l'fanav. The whole world is like a mustard seed before God. It's tiny, it's a little speck. God has to come down and go up sideways. He fills the whole world with his glory. So why is the Torah specifically employing this language as if ארדה eirda, let me go down. ועוד אומרו כצעקתה וכי אדון ברוך הוא יסתפק בידיעה V'od omro k'tza'akasa, v'chi Adon Baruch Hu yistapek b'yedia. And he says, let me check out whether what I've heard is true. Whether what you've heard is true? You're all knowing, omnipotent, all being. You have access to everything in real time as it happened before it happens. What kind of doubt is there in השם Hashem's mind that he feels he has to check it out? So the אור החיים Or HaChaim quotes רש\"י Rashi, that השם Hashem was teaching us that if you're a דיין dayan you got to check it out. וקשה עליו למה לא יספיק לזה מה שאמר הכתוב בפרשת דור הפלגה, וירד השם V'kasha alav, lama lo yaspik l'zeh ma she'amar hakasuv b'parshas Dor Haflaga, Vayered Hashem. This same language happened with the דור הפלגה Dor Haflaga. God says, I hear there's a group of people, they're building a tower, they're trying to pierce the heavens. וירד השם Vayered Hashem, God came down, checked it out, and then scattered the people of the tower of בבל Bavel. What's the same language we keep finding? וירד השם Vayered Hashem with the tower of בבל Bavel, ארדה נא eirda na now with סדום Sdom. What's going on? Says the אור החיים Or HaChaim, אכן הכוונה היא כי הודיע השם הסדר שהוא מתנהג בו עם הנבראים לצד החסד והרחמים, שורת הדין נותנת כי הכל כפי המביש והמבייש, וכשיעבור אדם נחת בקומת השם, ויאמר פי עליון, לצד מעלת השכל הגדול יתחייב להאמן הוא וכל סביביו. Says the אור החיים Or HaChaim, God interacts with the world in two ways. He has a מידת הדין midas hadin and a מידת הרחמים midas harachamim. There is the voice of strict justice. Justice doesn't tolerate compassion. Compassion and justice are a contradiction. If you're just and you're committed to do what's just, there's no room to show compassion. So God has these two perspectives. And the voice of strict justice says that if a person acted inappropriately, the consequence should be swift and without delay. כי אז מלך השם צבאות יכריס וכל שהוא ממשפחתו יתחייב עליו. ויחשב אדם כאדון ידין עולמו במשפט זה, והוא משפט צדק. וליעלם אם יבוא השם במשפט כדרך תורת ה' תן לשפיע עם הנבראים אפשר שלא יתחייבו. So what happens though? If you start talking to השם Hashem and defending yourself and getting into it, so that it's going to be hard for השם Hashem to exact the מידת הדין midas hadin because, you know, you're the parent and you say this is going to be the consequence. The moment the child starts crying and please don't and I promise and you can't and it's going to be terrible for me, it invokes a sense of compassion. It softens you up. וגם דור המבול אשר לא ינש במשל מות, וזהו אמר השם כאן בדור סדום ואברהם, ארדה נא V'gam Dor Hamabul asher lo yinash b'mishpat maves, v'zehu amar Hashem kan b'dor Sdom v'Avraham, eirda na. פירוש, לא ישפוט בערך מעלתו אלא בשווה לנבראים, כדרך אומר הנביא במשפט יאחד peirush, lo yishpot b'erech ma'alaso ela b'shave l'nivraim, k'derech omer hanavi b'mishpat yached. So says the אור החיים Or HaChaim, when השם Hashem says I'm coming down it means from the perspective of strict justice, from my porch in heaven, their actions are inappropriate, they deserve to be killed. However, my מידת הרחמים midas harachamim says, let me understand their behavior in context. True, if I look at it objectively what they're doing is deserving of death. But if I see it in context and I see that others are also misbehaving, maybe I'll have a greater sense of רחמים rachamim. So it's an expression of God's loving kindness, his patience, his מידת הרחמים midas harachamim, that the language of ארדה נא eirda na. Let me come down and check it out. That is the אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim HaKadosh.Rav Shimon Schwab זצ\"ל zatzal in his ספר על חומש sefer al Chumash has a similar insight, I don't think he quotes the אור החיים Or HaChaim, has a similar insight to the אור החיים Or HaChaim. And he shares this insight in the context of the spies. פסוק Pasuk says when it comes to the מרגלים meraglim in פרשת שלח Parshas Shlach, ויאמר השם אל משה, עד אנה ינאצוני העם הזה Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, ad ana yinatze'uni ha'am hazeh. How long are they going to antagonize me? They report, they return from this investigation of the land, and השם Hashem is so disappointed, he tells משה Moshe I can't take it anymore. How long will they provoke me and antagonize me? I'm going to annihilate them, that's it. I've had it. Just like the מבול mabul and just like סדום Sdom, and now it's the מרגלים meraglim's time. And משה Moshe challenges השם Hashem and pleads for their lives. And he gives a similar argument that he did with the עגל הזהב Eigel Hazahav, and he says if you destroy your children, it's going to be a terrible חילול השם chillul Hashem. Don't do it. You created a world in order to share your presence. If you destroy your children, the מרגלים meraglim, it will ultimately reflect poorly on you. It will set the mission back. It's a חילול השם chillul Hashem. And in both circumstances, the עגל eigel and the מרגלים meraglim, God forgives his children. So what's the secret? What was משה Moshe appealing to that he was successful in getting God to forgive? How do you convince the master of the universe, the omnipotent God, to change his mind?So Rav Shimon Schwab says the following. He talks about our פסוק pasuk right here, that immediately before אברהם Avram's negotiation with השם Hashem over סדום Sdom, it says, ארדה נא ואראה eirda na v'er'eh. Let me go down and see. Why did God have to come down? And how did God's coming down open the door for אברהם Avram's negotiation? Because if you look at the succession of פסוקים psukim, it sounds like the ארדה eirda, God coming down is what gave אברהם Avram license to begin a negotiation. What's the connection? Says Rav Schwab, השם Hashem lives above all creation. The world is finite and imperfect, השם Hashem is infinite and completely perfect. For השם Hashem, there are no mistakes, there's no errors, there's no indiscretions, there's no failings. And human beings are the exact opposite. We have shortcomings. We all do. We have mistakes and we sometimes fail. So from השם Hashem's divine perspective of justice, we should be absolutely accountable for everything. Says Rav Schwab, for forgiveness to occur, for compassion to happen, השם Hashem has to descend to his world. He has to say, you know what, up here in the heavens where I am perfect, I would kill you in a second when you do something wrong. If I am judging you according to my standard, you've got no shot. So the prerequisite to God being able to forgive us says Rav Schwab is what? He's got to come down to this world. God, look around. You created a world with temptation and seduction. God, look around. You created people who fail and who struggle and who don't always succeed. So השם Hashem, yes, I did something wrong. And true, if you judge me by the standard of heaven, I don't have a chance. But come down here and look around this world, the world you created, that's filled with temptation and desire, in which everyone struggles. And only from the perspective down here can God find a way to forgive. And that's what משה Moshe understands, that to petition השם Hashem, he has to invite השם Hashem down to the world. And that's what he's saying. See the חילול השם chillul Hashem that will ensue. So says Rav Schwab, it's not a coincidence, I'm giving you a דבר תורה dvar Torah for next אלול Elul now. It's not a coincidence that before we recite the י\"ג מידות הרחמים Yud Gimmel Midos HaRachamim, throughout all of סליחות slichos, on יום כיפור Yom Kippur, נעילה Neilah, over and over and over and over and over we repeat that magic formula of the י\"ג מידות הרחמים Yud Gimmel Midos HaRachamim: השם השם קל רחום וחנון Hashem Hashem Kel Rachum V'chanun. What do we always say right before we repeat it? וירד השם בענן Vayered Hashem be'anan. וירד השם בענן Vayered Hashem be'anan. השם Hashem forgive me. And I understand that you can only forgive me if you come down here. Look at it from my perspective. Look at it from my angle and the challenges that I have. So that's what's going on here. ארדה נא Eirda na. השם Hashem is coming down to check out what's going on. Ultimately what he sees doesn't satisfy him, he destroys סדום Sdom anyway. וירד השם Vayered Hashem, that's why he came down with מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel. That's what השם Hashem, משה Moshe is arguing to השם Hashem, it's a חילול השם chillul Hashem. Don't look at it from the perspective up there. Look at it from the perspective down here. There's a very powerful lesson that if you in relationships, if we hold people to our standard and we judge them exclusively from our perspective, we'll be very unforgiving. But if we can get in their shoes and look at it through their eyes and understand what they're battling, we'll become much more forgiving people. And if השם Hashem has the capacity of ירידה yerida, ארדה נא eirda na, if השם Hashem can come down a level to see what someone's going through and be forgiving, then we too have the capacity to come down a level, to see what someone's going through, and to be more forgiving. So a beautiful insight of Rav Schwab, what's going on here with the ארדה eirda.So what happens? ויפנו משם האנשים וילכו סדומה, ואברהם עודנו עומד לפני השם Vayifnu misham ha'anashim vayelchu Sdoma, v'Avraham odainu omed lifnei Hashem. And אברהם Avram is not going anywhere. רש\"י Rashi says, ויפנו משם, ממקום שאברהם ליוום שם Vayifnu misham, mimakom she'Avraham livam sham. They took leave from the place that אברהם Avram had escorted them to. ואברהם עודנו עומד לפני השם, הלא לא הלך לעמוד לפניו אלא הקדוש ברוך הוא בא אצלו V'Avraham odainu omed lifnei Hashem, halo lo halach la'amod l'fanav ela HaKadosh Baruch Hu ba etzlo. רש\"י Rashi's bothered by a סתירה stira. What do you mean? אברהם Avram is still standing in front of השם Hashem. השם Hashem is the one who came to visit אברהם Avram. Remember when אברהם Avram said could you give me five minutes, a long five minutes, could you give me five minutes? Okay, רש\"י Rashi deals with that. But look at the ספורנו Sforno. Says the ספורנו Sforno, ואברהם עודנו עומד. אף על פי שהמלאכים אשר שולחו להשחית כבר הגיעו לסדום, מכל מקום אברהם עודנו עומד לבקש רחמים ולא למצוא חוסן V'Avraham odainu omed. Af al pi shehamalachim asher shulchu l'hashchis kvar higiu l'Sdom, mikol makom Avraham odainu omed l'vakeish rachamim v'lo limtzo chosen. The angels already have arrived in סדום Sdom, the mission is about to begin, but אברהם עודנו עומד Avraham odainu omed, he is stubbornly protesting. He refuses to take leave. He's standing there. As חז\"ל Chazal say, אפילו חרב חדה מונחת על צווארו של אדם, אל ימנע עצמו מן הרחמים afilu cherev chada munachas al tzavaro shel adam, al yimna atzmo min harachamim. גמרא ברכות דף י' Gemara Brachos daf yud. You can have a sharp knife, a sword hovering above your neck, never stop דאווענען davening. It ain't over till it's over. So the angels have already arrived in סדום Sdom, they're about to carry out their mission and אברהם Avram אודנו עומד odainu omed, stubbornly protesting, even in the 11th hour, he refuses to give up. And here we have the debate, the negotiation between אברהם Avram and השם Hashem. We're going to pick up with this next שיעור shiur, because it deserves much more. But I want to just end with a couple quick thoughts. I see Rabbi Moskowitz walks in and everybody should continue with his שיעור shiur. But very quickly.First of all, from here you see something very powerful. You see, faith does not mean passive acceptance. I've said this many times before and I'll say it many times, because as people go through tragedy and struggle and hardship in life, they somehow think that Torah demands of them to blindly accept what's happening as the will of השם Hashem. אברהם Avram didn't, משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu didn't, and our greatest teachers throughout our history didn't. In fact, to protest is an even greater expression of faith than to be passive. Because if you're passive, maybe you believe in God, maybe you don't. You know, whatever, you just accept. But you only protest to someone who you really think is in charge. You only protest to someone who you really think can make a difference. So someone you love is struggling with illness and you דאווענען daven and דאווענען daven and דאווענען daven for them, that's a form of protest. Where you're saying to the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam is, it's not okay. I don't accept it. Does that mean you don't believe in השם Hashem? It means you really believe in השם Hashem. Because you're trying to influence the omnipotent being who can really change things. So אברהם Avram with this protest gives us an incredible license, that we can in fact protest. The other night we had our social action committee, Sarah Brodny, Zoe Waxman, we had a protest, a rally against the recent UNESCO resolution. Who were we rallying against? Was it the mass media coverage that we got? The paparazzi in the back of the room? There was neither. So was it a waste of time? Why did we bother? The answer, Rabbi Friedman mentioned this on שבת Shabbos, that the most important recipient of our voice of protest is present at every single rally. He's present at every מנין minyan and act of דאווענען davening, of תפילה tefillah. And that is the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam. Like אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu, sometimes he sets the world in a particular trajectory and he's waiting for our objection. And when we're passive, it's not an expression of faith. It's a counterfeit moment of faith. Genuine faith is to say, God, I object, I protest. This is not how you taught me the world should run. And if I'm wrong, I accept whatever you do in the end, but I don't accept it without protest.So that's point number one. We'll pick up with that next year. The last thing I want to leave you with, tomorrow night Thursday, Rav Shlomo Carlebach's יארצייט yahrzeit. So there's a ספר sefer, Even Shlomo of Shlomo Carlebach on בראשית Bereishis, it's only on בראשית Bereishis through תולדות Toldos. So very, very quickly he has in here. Which was the first prayer ever answered in the world? I'm reading to you from Rav Shlomo's book. Which was the first prayer ever answered in the world? Says Rav Shlomo, listen to the deepest depths. Now you know I'm reading to you from Rav Shlomo. Listen to the deepest depths. The first time God answered a prayer, it was a secret. Do you know how much אברהם Avram and שרה Sarah were praying for a baby? Unbelievable. It's not even mentioned in the Torah how much they prayed for יצחק Yitzchak. When יצחק Yitzchak and רבקה Rivka were praying for their children, it says ויעתר יצחק להשם Vayetar Yitzchak l'Hashem. יצחק Yitzchak prayed to God to have a child. But with אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu, it does not say he prayed for יצחק Yitzchak. But גוואלד gevalt, גוואלד gevalt was he praying. So when the angels came and they told him, God heard your prayer, you'll have a son, and Sodom will be destroyed, אברהם Avram said, ah! If God listens to prayer, I'm going to pray for סדום Sdom as well. Isn't that a beautiful insight of Rav Shlomo? The Torah never spells out that אברהם Avram davened, but boy did he and שרה Sarah daven. So when the angels come and say your prayer was answered, אברהם Avram says, ooh, that really works. תפילה Tefillah works? Well then I'm not just going to accept that סדום Sdom is going to be destroyed. If תפילה tefillah really works, then he continues immediately to then pray for סדום Sdom. We'll pick up with it next week. We'll pick up with וירא Vayera next year. Everybody who is invited and encouraged to stay for Rabbi Moskowitz's ספר מלכים sefer Malachim.
