Transcript
Good morning, Boker Tov, welcome back to Parsha perspectives for today. I got several messages, people thought that I retired, I moved on, I was done, I was too tired from Yontef. I did go to ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. I had the privilege to be in Israel last week. That's why we did not resume yet, but I'm super excited to be back together today. I want to thank our generous series sponsors, Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of Becky's father, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש leiluy nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manesh, David Grossman. This morning's shiur is sponsored by Bina Greenberg in memory of her beloved mother חיה שרה בת רחל בת נפתלי Chaya Sarah bas Rochel bas Naftali, and memory of her dear grandmother פריידא פייגא לאה בת חיים יצחק Freida Feiga Leah bas Chaim Yitzchak, by dear friends Alan and Sarah Gordon in loving memory of Gertrude Rosenkranz, גטל בת דוד Gittel bas Dovid, and by Ellie and Yaffa Mandelbaum and siblings in memory of their parents ר' אברהם Reb Avraham Ibrahim and Leona Mandelbaum whose יארצייט yahrzeits were on the 24th and 20th of תשרי Tishrei. Thank you to our generous sponsors. Great to be back together. פרשת לך לך Parshas Lech Lecha, page 54 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. And there is so much to talk about and not nearly enough time. These פרשיות parshiyos, all the פרשיות parshiyos in all of the תורה Torah are געשמאק geshmak, they're all wonderful, but these פרשיות parshiyos, this is what forged and found us as a nation. These are our, these are our marching orders. This is our, this is the blueprint of our creation and of our lives. ויאמר ה' אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך Vayomer Hashem el Avram lech lecha mei'artzecha umi'moladetecha umi'beis avicha el ha'aretz asher areka. השם Hashem tells Avram לך לך lech lecha, the first of the ten tests, or maybe not the first, but the first that we're taught in the תורה Torah explicitly, leave your home, מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך mei'artzecha umi'moladetecha umi'beis avicha, and go where? What's the address? Where are the coordinates? What's the name of the town? What's the name of the street? אל הארץ אשר אראך el ha'aretz asher areka. Just set out, get in the car, start driving, get on the camel, get on the horse, start riding, where? I'll let you know. I'll let you know. That's a test. That's a test. רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman says this test wasn't only for אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu. This indeed of course is a test for each and every one of us, as we know that all the תורה Torah is enduring, it is timeless. It is the lessons of life for us and that is Parsha perspectives for today. We try to share specifically דברי תורה divrei Torah that are enlightening and illuminating for us for our lives. So it says רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman, this is in the wonderful ספר שולחן השבת sefer Shulchan HaShabbos of רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman. רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman didn't write it, but it's based on the teachings of רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman. אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu is told לעזוב את ארצו la'azov es artzo, to transcend, to rise above, essentially to abandon, to exit from his land, ממולדתך mi'moladeto, from his birthplace, מבית אביו mi'beis aviv, from his family, and to go to a land we don't know. But why does the Torah have to say לך לך lech lecha? It could have accomplished the same thing with the word לך lech. Go, go forth, journey, exit, go. What is the לכה lecha in לך לך lech lecha? The פרשה parsha, the תורה Torah could have simply לך lech. Go. Says רבי נתן Rebbi Nosson, רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman's student in ליקוטי תורה Likutei Torah on שבת Shabbos, ליקוטי הלכות Likutei Halachos rather on שבת Shabbos, the answer is ההליכה ha'halicha ללכת laleches, because we ask, the destination is not included in the פסוק pasuk. Whoever says, imagine I call my child and say I need you to do me a favor. Sure, but what's the, what's the favor? Can you get in the car and start driving? Sure, but where am I going? What's the address? Just start driving. Okay. That's really a test of love. So we ask, there's no destination, there's no address, there are no coordinates. Where? The answer says רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman, says רבי נתן Rebbi Nosson, the coordinates, the answer, the destination is included in the פסוק pasuk. And what's the destination? לך lech, go where? לכה lecha. Go figure out who you are, what makes you tick, what your life is all about. אל עצמך el atzmecha, know yourself, know who you are. We spoke on שבת תשובה Shabbos Tshuva, IFS, internal family systems, and know your parts and your self. Know your parts, know what makes you tick. Understand who you are. Don't just be the composite, don't just be the product of your environment, of your genetics. Don't just be a result. Don't passively live a life, but actively, proactively, mold and shape your destiny. Decide who you are. What makes you unique and an individual? Who is the אני ani? מהו העצמי שלי mahu ha'atzmi sheli? הנשמה הוא עצמיותו האמיתית haneshama hu atzmiyuso ha'amitis. The answer is we have a self. I'm still in the IFS, I'm still holding by IFS. Shira Fruchter is coming two שבת Shabboses and then she's gonna do a four part workshop on IFS. She wrote the book on IFS and Torah. So we have a self, we have an authentic self. The truest most authentic part of who we are, the untainted, unblemished, purest part of who we are is the self. That's our self, the חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש chelek Eloka mima'al mamash. And then we have parts, protective parts, we have parts that are in exile. We have different parts, we have different aspects to who we are. We're not one thing. It's not, I'm anxious, I'm jealous, I'm happy. No, there are parts of me that are those things, but they're not the sum total of who I am. The reality of who I am underneath at the foundation is that self, that חלק אלוקה ממעל ממש chelek Eloka mima'al mamash. How do I go listen to that voice? How is my life not led? How is my car not driven, my plane not piloted by one of my parts, the jealous, the anxious, the assertive, the shy, the introvert, the shame, the guilt, whatever part. Where is the self? What's the most authentic me? Who am I? Who am I? Each of us have to ask ourselves, because we can't answer that famous question that the רמח\"ל Ramchal begins מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim with, מה חובת האדם בעולמו ma chovas ha'adam be'olamo? That the purpose and the essence of creation, יסוד היסודות ושורש העבודה yesod hayesodos v'shoresh ha'avodah, that the foundation and the root of existence is to ask ourselves, מה חובת האדם בעולמו ma chovas ha'adam be'olamo. I know I'm speaking quickly, I got a lot I want to say. And I want, I just made an appeal everyone should come back in person instead of listening online. The advantage online is you can listen at half speed. Slow me down. Mostly I meet people and they say, you're talking so slowly. I normally listen to you in double speed. So I know I'm speaking quickly, but there's a lot to say. Says רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman, לך lech where? Where should we go? What was that test of Avram? This was taka a test. לעשותך לטובתך l'na'ascha l'tovascha, I'm gonna make you rich, I'm gonna make you famous, I'm gonna make you an influencer. אוה U'ah. Avram is the first influencer. He has no interest in being an influencer. He doesn't sign up, he doesn't go to school. He has no interest in a career as an influencer. But Hashem taps him on the shoulder and he says, get going, leave everything you know, everyone you know, and I'm going to make you an influencer. You're going to have fortune, you're going to have fame, you're gonna have it all. And we say that's a test? And the real test, yes, it is an enormous test. And the test is still relevant to each and every one of us. And what is that enormous test? Of לך lech go where? לכה lecha. Who are you? Who are you? Don't just be your neighbor, don't live someone else's life, everyone else's life is already taken. Who are you? Who are you? What are your skills? What are your assets? What are your liabilities? What are your weaknesses? What are your strengths? What are your talents? What are your gifts? What are your blessings? What are your opportunities? And what are your obstacles? Both sides will ultimately lead us to conclude who am I? And what is my mission? And what is my purpose? What difference am I meant to make here? What is my purpose and what is my essence? So the לך lech, we're on a journey. Where? Where's the destination? Where's the goal? לכה lecha, to the שורש הנשמה shoresh haneshama. What is your שורש הנשמה shoresh haneshama? What's a שורש הנשמה shoresh haneshama? שורש הנשמה shoresh haneshama means what makes your נשמה neshama sing, what makes your נשמה neshama tick? דאווענען Davening, learning? Is it music? Is it art? Is it doing חסד chesed? Is it giving צדקה tzedakah? What is it? Who are you? Don't just be someone else. הכלל הוא לאמור, כל אדם צריך תמיד ללכת אל עצמו, וכל דרכיו וניסיונותיו יהיו מכוונות להגיע אל עצמו haklal hu lomar, kol adam tzarich tamid laleches el atzmo, v'chol drachav v'nisyonosav yihyu mechuvonos l'hagia el atzmo. All of our journey of life, all the exploration and investigation, all the reflection should be to discover and to be able to reveal who am I. Who am I? How do I get there? לשם כך הלב לצד מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך L'shem kach haleiv l'tzeis mei'artzecha umi'moladetecha umi'beis avicha. It's very hard. It's very hard to discover who we are. You know who we are? Whatever the world tells me is in fashion is how I dress. And whatever Spotify or Apple Music tells me I should listen to becomes my playlist. And whatever echo chamber I enter that reverberates the same messages is who I vote for. And whatever minyan I go to, friends that I have, school my kids are in, we just become the result of that environment, of those people, of those, of those genetics, of those genetics, but our DNA doesn't have to be our destiny. How can we rise above it? מארצך mei'artzecha. מתוך הארציות והגשמיות שלך mi'toch ha'artziyus v'hagashmiyus shelcha. First thing you have to leave is ארצך artzecha. ארץ eretz is always a euphemism. ארץ eretz, ארציות artziyus is גשמיות gashmiyus, the physical, the material, the mundane. If this world and the pleasures of this world and the physical features of this world, if they own you, you don't own them. If they own you, you can't discover who you are. If you just want to have the car that's in your neighbor's driveway, if you need to have the bigger house, if you have to wear the latest clothing, if you need to have the biggest portfolio, you can't figure out who you are. That's the first place we have to leave is ארצך artzecha, to transcend the ארציות artziyus, the גשמיות gashmiyus, the physical draw that defines so many people. They never get to discover who they are because they're so busy, the latest wine, the newest tequila, the charcuterie board, the keeping up, and they can't figure out who they are. ממולדתך umi'moladetecha. What does that mean? המולדות שלך, שהן ידבקו בהם, שהן הטבע שלך ha'molados shelcha, she'hein nidbakim bahem, she'hein ha'tevah shelcha. מולדתך moladetecha means your מולד molad, your יולד yulad, what gave birth to you means your nature. You say naturally I'm shy, I can't play that public role. Naturally I get angry, I get filled with rage, I overreact. I can't be patient and calm. Naturally I'm jealous and envious, it's hard for me to be happy with what I have. Naturally I'm, people have all kinds of natures. We can overcome, we can transcend, we can break through those barriers. We can learn to grow through our nature. מבית אביך Umi'beis avicha, we have the influence of family and friends, nature and nurture, but both contribute to who we are. And we think, well, that's it. That's it. It's my parents, my grandparents, everyone around me. We all struggle with food or we all struggle with this addiction, we all struggle with this behavior, we all struggle with this regulating our emotions, we all struggle with this. Who says? Who's holding you in? It's a self-imposed shackle. So what do we have to do, says רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman? Says רבי נתן Rebbi Nosson in his name, we have to discover the coordinates, the place is given. לך lech, go where? לכה lecha. How? By rising above ארצך artzecha, מולדתך moladetecha, ובית אביך u'beis avicha. It begins with the belief that we can. If you think you're stuck, if you think you're fixed, if you think you're finished, you won't go anywhere in life. But if you believe, you know, Carol Dweck's wonderful book, Growth Mindset, as opposed to a fixed mindset, people fit into one of two categories, she writes. It's a fantastic book. You either have the fixed mindset, which basically means that at 80 you're the same way you were at 18 and at 8. That's who you are, it's how you live your life, that's your thinking. Or do you have a growth mindset? Are you curious? Do you want to learn? Do you want to broaden? Do you want to expand your mind, your experiences? Do you want to be open to new ideas and taking on new behaviors? And what's the destination? אל הארץ אשר אראך el ha'aretz asher areka, which is ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, מקום המקדש makom hamikdash, the place of all holiness. It is the place that is the address of those שורשי הנשמות shorshei haneshamos, the place of all souls, our natural habitat, where the soul, all the diversity of the souls can exist. So this is an idea we've shared before, it's a very powerful and a beautiful one, but it puts the whole test of Avram in a new perspective. Don't just become an influencer. By the way, I know some very famous influencers, and their life is radically different offline than it is online. They're carefully curated life online that everyone is so jealous of, free products, free trips, free travels, everything looks amazing and perfect. Nobody ever puts up videos of their vacation of the kids killing each other in the back seat and the husband and wife fighting in the front seat, and it's not working out at the thing, and the, and the line that you waited on to get there and the weather, you take the best and you put it up. There's a lot of people who are living for others, who are absolutely lost as to who they are. Their שורש הנשמה shoresh haneshama, who am I? I don't know who I am anymore because all I have left is what the world thinks of me, what the world thinks of me. So לך לכה lech lecha, self-discovery, figure out who you are if you take off these labels. I sometimes, I often think about, who am I without the rabbi? Who am I without the Boca Raton synagogue? On the one hand, I'm proud, I'm grateful, I'm passionate about what I do, but who am I without that part of my identity? That's a big part of my identity. If you were to strip that away, what's left? What's my life, what's my נשמה neshama, what's my סיפוק sipuk, and so on. So this test of לך לך lech lecha that starts out looking so easy, fame and fortune, gonna give you all wonderful things. What's so hard about picking up and leaving your miserable, corrupt hometown to go to a place of purity and virtue and to be rewarded with fame and fortune? That's such a test? The answer is, yeah, it is a big test. To transcend your nature, your nurture, your environment, your DNA, to forge your destiny is an enormous test that was one for אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu, and it will remain one for us as well. פרק י\"ב, פסוק ב' Perek yud beis, pasuk beis. ואעשך לגוי גדול v'e'escha l'goy gadol. God says, I'll make you a great nation. ואברכך va'avarechecha, I'll bless you. ואגדלה שמך va'agadla shmecha, and I'm gonna make your name great. אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu is great. Who doesn't know the name Abraham across the globe? The peace treaties, please God they should continue to grow, we should add new ones, are called Abraham Accords. Everyone knows Abraham. I'll make your name great. והיה ברכה v'heyei bracha, and be a ברכה bracha. I can't help, I'll share, we've shared it before. והיה ברכה v'heyei bracha, be a ברכה bracha. What does that mean? Hashem already said ואברכך va'avarechecha, I'm gonna bless you. So if I'm gonna bless you, what is והיה ברכה v'heyei bracha? רב שמשון רפאל הירש Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch says והיה ברכה v'heyei bracha means take everything you have and be a blessing to others. The charge and the mission for life is not to seek blessing, but to be a blessing. So many people are so distracted in the effort to receive blessing. Everybody wants to be blessed. Go get a ברכה bracha, they want ברכה bracha, give me a ברכה bracha, I just want ברכה bracha. It's nice, there's nothing wrong, we want ברכה bracha. Go get ברכות brachos, I met with רבנים rabbonim in Israel, got some ברכות brachos. It's important we need ברכות brachos. But be less focused on receiving the ברכה bracha and more focused on being the ברכה bracha. Be the ברכה bracha. Avram dedicates his life to use his own experience to make other people's lives better. We can be that blessing in other people's lives. We can be that blessing. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk in his להבות אש lehavos eish, we didn't get to לך לך lech lecha last year, for whatever reason. So we're going back to some familiar ספרים sfarim that we hadn't looked into on this פרשה parsha. Rashi says והיה ברכה v'heyei bracha, be a blessing. הברכות מסורות בידך, עד עתה היו בידי. ברכתי אדם, חוה, נח ובניו, מכאן ואילך אתה תברך את אשר תחפוץ. What does Rashi say on وهיה ברכה? He says, \"I'm putting the power of ברכות in your hand.\" So why do we say in the עמידה, \"אלוקי אברהם, אלוקי יצחק, ואלוקי יעקב\"? Why don't we just stop there? He says here, והיה ברכה, \"Be a blessing,\" means that I'll make your name great, that we begin our עמידה three times a day, seven days a week, we say אלוקי אברהם Elokei Avraham, the God of Abraham. ואברכך va'avarechecha, זה שאומרים אלוקי יצחק zeh she'omrim Elokei Yitzchak, I'll bless you with his son. And that's what we say, the God of Isaac. ואגדלה שמך va'agadla shmecha, I'll make your name great, זה שאומרים אלוקי יעקב zeh she'omrim Elokei Yaakov. So we invoke all three names at the beginning of our עמידה Amida. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob. יכול יחתום בכולם yachol yachtom b'kulam, so I might have thought I should conclude the blessing that I begin by invoking our three great patriarchs, that ברוך אתה השם מגן אברהם יצחק ויעקב Baruch ata Hashem Magen Avraham Yitzchak v'Yaakov. תלמוד לומר Talmud lomar, no. That's where the words והיה ברכה v'heyei bracha, בך חותמין ולא בהם b'cha chosmin v'lo bahem. We conclude with you Avram, not them. So we begin the עמידה Amida אלוקי אברהם אלוקי יצחק ואלוקי יעקב Elokei Avraham Elokei Yitzchak v'Elokei Yaakov, but when we conclude the blessing of אבות avos, how do we conclude it? Not with all three, we're back to the original, the OG of the אבות avos, אברהם אבינו Avram Avinu, מגן אברהם Magen Avraham. Wonders the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim, the גערער רבי Gerer Rebbe. All the ברכות brachos are in the are in the present tense. חונן הדעת chonen hadaas, החנון המרבה לסלוח hachonun hamarbeh lisloach, רופא חולי עמו ישראל rofeh cholei amo Yisrael, שומע תפילה shomea tefillah, המברך את עמו ישראל בשלום hamevarech es amo Yisrael bashalom. This is a bonus סידור siddur snippet this morning. So all of our תפילות tefillos are in the present tense. Go through the עמידה Amida and they're in the present tense. We describe God as the one who endows wisdom. I had a lot of כוונה kavanah this morning for חונן הדעת chonen hadaas that everyone in the voting booth, the country, whatever Hashem's will is, should have the wisdom to choose. I'm not saying how, but should have the wisdom to choose. החנון המרבה לסלוח hachonun hamarbeh lisloach, He forgives our sins. He heals the sick. He hears our prayers. He brings peace. We don't find any ברכה bracha in the past tense except for מגן אברהם Magen Avraham. You were Avraham's shield. מגן Magen, you shielded Avraham. Where did he shield Avraham? When Nimrod threw him in the fiery furnace, many times he shielded Avraham over and over and over again. And that's how we conclude this ברכה bracha. Not with Yitzchak and Yaakov, just with Avram. Hashem, you shielded Avram. Why is this the only ברכה bracha in the past tense if all the other ברכות brachos are in the in the present tense? Says the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim, says the great גערער רבי Gerer Rebbe, כי הקדוש ברוך הוא הבטיח לאברהם אבינו שבתוך כל יהודי ויהודי לדורות תהיה איזה נקודה ממנו ki Hakadosh Baruch Hu hivtiach l'Avram Avinu she'b'toch kol yehudi v'yehudi l'doros tihiyeh eizeh nekudah mimenu. The answer is, there is a piece of Avram Avinu inside each and every Jew. מן אברהם שהיה ראשון למסור נפש על קדושת שמו בעולם mei'Avram she'haya rishon l'moser nefesh al kedushas shmo ba'olam. Wherever we go, whatever they try to do to us, against us, they cannot extinguish that פניטעלע איד pintele Yid, the spark of Avram inside us. And on that נקודה nekudah, that inner שורש shoresh of Avram Avinu, we say מגן אברהם Magen Avraham. Hashem, you preserved, you protect the Avram in us. וזה נמצא אצל כל אחד ואחד, אפילו כי באמת אין החסדים, הברכות, והניסים והחסדים רק לאבות. The truth is, we're not only talking, yes, you shielded Avram in the past and by shielding him in the past, you endowed us with the Avram spirit inside us. ועל אותה נקודה של אברהם שנמצאת בכל יהודי, ממילא באמת זה שייך גם היום אצל כל אחד ואחד. So we asked why is this past tense, everything else is present tense. The answer is, it too is present tense. How is it too present tense? Because it's Hashem you shielded Avram then and because of that there's an Avram inside us now. So you ask the Jews of our holy Israel, our brothers and sisters in the army, how are you fighting the longest war more than a year later? How do you have the will? The answer is because there's an Avram inside them. You ask someone who has to overcome illness and obstacle, waiting to get married, longing for children, where do you have the faith and the fortitude? The answer is, do you know where I come from? Do you know my DNA? Do you know who's inside me? Now you might say that's insane. That's a nice, that's a nice hyperbole, it's nice, it's a wonderful drasha, but what does it mean because Avram lived so many years ago there's a piece of him inside us? There's a lot of research done on second and third generation of Holocaust survivors of those who persevered and survived how that actually transformed the genetics. That perseverance and tenacity can become inherited and passed down. Rachel Yehuda, of Tsvi Yehuda who used to live here, his daughter did a lot of research on this subject. You could google it and read about it. Was it her or her sister Tamar? They did, one of the daughters did a lot of research on this subject, and it's worth looking into that the second generation, third generation of survivors genetically transfer and pass on this perseverance, this tenacity, this will, this will. And if we can get it, if that's true from the Holocaust, even though it was more recent, where did that come from? Avram Avinu, Avram Avinu, it comes from an Avram Avinu. That's where we come from and that's the זכות אבות zchus avos, says the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim. When we daven to Hashem and we say Hashem forgive us, זכות אבות zchus avos, זכות אבות zchus avos, that seems entirely and wholly unjust. Imagine one appears before the judge, I say, judge, I committed the crime, guilty as charged, caught red-handed, but you play golf with my grandfather. You're in the same poker group as my uncle. You go to the same club as my cousin. The judge says, \"Ah, that's right. I forgot. Yeah, okay, you know what, I'll let.\" That's justice? That's not justice. So when we appear before God and we invoke זכות אבות zchus avos, and we say, Hashem, you're really close with my זיידע zeideh. You know my grandfather, and my great-grandfather, and my great-great-grandfather. They're all really close with you. And Hashem says, \"Oh, okay, then you know what, then we're good.\" You could walk away scot-free. That's not justice. What kind of just God is that? Said the חידושי הרי\"ם Chidushei HaRim, the answer is, when we tell God you know my grandfather, and my great-grandfather, and my great-great-grandfather, what we're telling God is, don't let me off because you knew them, but if you knew them, then you know me. And maybe I misbehaved, maybe I was out of line, but the potential of them is inside me. I have their DNA. So believe in me, the part of them in me. That's זכות אבות zchus avos. That's מגן אברהם Magen Avraham. That's what we, the כוונה kavanah, that's what we have to think and we have to believe whenever we say these words, each day that עמידה Amida, מגן אברהם Magen Avraham, Hashem, you preserve the Avram in me. Don't give up on a Jew. The Avram of מאנאטהאיזם monotheism, the Jew, no matter how much the Jew says I don't believe and there is no God, don't give up. מגן אברהם Magen Avraham, there's an Avram, there's a פניטעלע איד pintele Yid, there's a spark inside that Jew. Inside that Jew. Don't try to indoctrinate and don't try to, just be a model, just leave the door open, just shower love and believe and hold on and know there's an Avram Avinu inside each and every, inside each and every one. The תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel, רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum of the Rosh Yeshivas Mir Brooklyn. והיה ברכה V'heyei bracha, we just read this Rashi. משמע מכאן שמשום שקיים ציווי השם לך לך, מכיון שזכה, רק בך חותמין mashma mikan she'mishum she'kiyam tzivui Hashem lech lecha, mikeivan she'zacha, rak b'cha chosmin. It sounds like because Avram passed the test of לך לך lech lecha, he is rewarded with, \"Ah, forget Yitzchak and Yaakov, we're gonna close and seal the bracha with you, מגן אברהם Magen Avraham.\" ויש לוהר שלעזוב את מקומו ולצאת לדרך למקום לא נודע, לא היה ניסיון קשה, אבל אנחנו שראינו שאברהם יצא ממקומו ישמע, מדוע עשה כן? אחר שהיה איש מצליח בחרן, היה שם זקן ויושב בישיבה עם הרבה תלמידים, והנפש אשר עשו בחרן v'yesh l'havar she'la'azov es mkomo v'latzeis l'derech l'makom lo noda, lo haya nisayon kasheh, avarnu she're'inu she'Avram yotzei m'komo yishama, madua asa kein, achar she'haya ish matzliach b'Charan, haya sham zaken v'yoshev b'yeshiva im harbei talmidim, v'hanefesh asher asu b'Charan. How old was Avram when he left on this journey? The Torah tells us, שבעים וחמש שנה shvim v'chamesh shana, 75 years old when he arrives in Charan. He's not a young man, 75 is very young, super young, very young. But he's not a youngster. Can we agree on that? He's not a youngster. He's not a youngster. And who was he in Charan? Was he a nobody? No, he had already in Charan, he was a somebody. He was a somebody. הנפש אשר עשו בחרן hanefesh asher asu b'Charan, he was a source of tremendous influence. He was somebody who molded and shaped a generation, and yet he left and abandoned all that. וזה דבר שהוא לגמרי נגד השכל v'ze davar shehu l'gamrei neged hasechel. Imagine the rabbi of a successful shul, it's growing, it's bursting, they got free slushies now in the lobby, it's doing amazing. מניינים Minyanim all morning, all night, classes, unbelievable. There's, they're prospering, they're successful. There's no one pushing them out. Or there's not a majority pushing them out. There's nothing bad happening. And they wake up one day and they say I'm going. Say, where are you going? Hashem told me I have to go. Where? You're giving this all up for that? This is a definite, that's a maybe. And what is that maybe by the way? Tell you the truth, I have no idea. You're giving up a definite for a maybe that you have no idea what the maybe is? ויבאו על הכל השכל של הכרת הקול של חולין רק מי שברא עולם ואמר לו כן. And the answer is, I don't need to know. Hashem told me that's where I need to go. והוא הולך אחר הקדוש ברוך הוא בבחינת לכתך אחרי במדבר v'hu holech achar Hakadosh Baruch Hu b'bchinas lechtech acharai bamidbar. והירושלמי שואל אלוקי אברהם v'haYerushalmi sho'el Elokei Avraham. And by demonstrating, don't just talk about God. You see Avram in Charan, he had an Aish HaTorah center, a Chabad center, he had a Rabbi Josh Brody partners program. He had it all going, outreach. And he had thousands, he was taking over arenas and he leaves not knowing where he's going, because until now Avram talked about God, but now Avram demonstrated that he's ready to listen to God. And how do you demonstrate that? Not when you listen to God when it makes sense and where you know where you're going. When you listen to God and you have no clue. וממילא מגיע לו שאז היה ראשון שמפיץ את שם שמים בעולם באופן גדול, זה של מסירות נפש, חותמין מגן אברהם u'mimela magi'a lo she'az haya rishon she'mefitz es shem shamayim ba'olam b'ofen gadol, zeh shel mesiras nefesh, chosmin Magen Avraham. That's, that's what we have preserved inside each and every one of us. The capacity, even when it makes no sense, even when we don't know where the destination is, even when it defies logic, the ability, the willingness to do it nonetheless, that's the part of Avram that Hashem preserved inside us. פרק י\"ב, פסוק ג Perek yud beis, pasuk gimmel. We're on the third pasuk already. Look at us flying. ואברה מברכך, ומקללך אאר, ונברכו בך כל משפחות האדמה va'avarecha mevarechecha, u'mekalelcha a'or, v'nivrichu b'cha kol mishpachos ha'adamah. And God says, those who bless you will be blessed. ומקללך אאר u'mekalelcha a'or, and those who curse you will be cursed. ונברכו בך כל משפחות האדמה v'nivrichu b'cha kol mishpachos ha'adamah, and through you I will bless, through you, all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by, by you. All of the nations will bless themselves by you. So I want to share with you a beautiful insight of the שיח יצחק Siach Yitzchak. השיח יצחק HaSiach Yitzchak. We know that one of the ten trials of Avram, he would endure and pass, first listed in the Torah, at least according to Rashi, the Ramban argues is not the first. So the Medrash tells us that preceding what we have here in the beginning of פרשת לך לך Parshas Lech Lecha, there was already a test. Terach took Avram, I'm reading the Medrash for the sake of time in English. And he gave him over to Nimrod, the notorious Babylonian, Assyrian king of שנער Shinar. We're going to see him in our פרשה parsha, in the war between the four and the five kings, one of them is Nimrod. He has another name. What's Nimrod's name? אמרפל מלך שנער Amrafel melech Shinar. Rashi says אמרפל Amrafel is none other than Nimrod. Who ruled Babylon, who ruled Shinar, which by the way changes things a little bit. Maybe we'll get to it, maybe we won't. When Avram enters a war that he's not directly involved in and ultimately confronts and defeats Amrafel who's Nimrod, it's justice. It comes full circle. Nimrod's the one who threw Avram into the fiery furnace, the burning, which is the Medrash I'm sharing with you now. So the Medrash tells us Terach took Avram to Nimrod, and Nimrod said to him, \"Let's worship the fire.\" And Avram says to him, \"Fire? Why would we worship fire? Let's worship water because water can put out fire.\" So Nimrod says, \"Okay, let's worship water.\" So Avram says, \"Water? Why would we worship water? Let's worship the clouds. They carry the water.\" So Nimrod says, \"Sounds good to me. Let's worship the clouds.\" Avram says, \"If so, should we not then worship the wind? Because the wind can come and blow and it scatters the cloud.\" Nimrod says, \"Alright, whatever, let's worship the wind.\" So Avram says, \"Should we then not worship the human? Because a human being can withstand the wind.\" So Nimrod said to him, \"You keep piling words on words. We should bow to none other than the fire, the way I started. Enough with you already. And not only should we bow to the fire, I'm throwing you in it and let your God to whom you bow come and save you from it.\" He was so, he had it with Avram. He says, \"I'm going back to the original plan. We'll bow down to fire,\" the source, so we can imagine. Ancient man saw fire as being the source of power. Light, energy, warmth, heat. He says fire is very powerful. He says, let's go back to worshipping fire. And not only we're going to worship fire, I'm throwing you in it, and you big talker who have some monotheistic God, let him come and save you. Let him come and save you. And Taka, that's exactly what happened. It's exactly what happened. So when Avram enters the fray in the war of the four and the five kings, and now takes on and defeats this Nimrod, whom he had this conversation with and who threw him in the fire, when you understand that Amrafel is Nimrod, it puts it in a little bit of a different perspective. Anyway, anyway, the השיח יצחק haSiach Yitzchak, of Yitzchak Isaac Chaver, second generation תלמיד talmid of the Vilna Gaon, in his ספר שיח יצחק sefer Siach Yitzchak, he explains the Medrash as follows. He said Avram severed his ties with Terach his father. Avram made the ultimate sacrifice when he allowed himself to be thrown, to be cast into the כבשן האש kivshan ha'eish. Who, we wouldn't have converted, we wouldn't have given it all up, we're ready to give our lives in such an unbearably painful fashion to be thrown literally into the fire, to be thrown into the fire. When he emerged, he was born again. Avram had tenacity, persistence, perseverance, courage, faith. He planted those qualities in us. And like our grandfather Avram, we the Jewish people do not operate in טבע tevah. In the natural order, according to nature, Avram never should have survived. Avram said, who cares about nature? I believe in God. He's not bound by nature. He is nature. We are not bound by the ordinary rules. We are למעלה מן הטבע l'ma'alah min hateva. He says וכבר כתבנו במקום אחר איך מציאות האומה הזאת אין תלוי בטבע, ובגדר הזמן והמקום, שביאתו לעולם הוא אחר הידור הגמור, כי אברהם אבינו שורש מחצבנו נברא בריאה חדשה ממש. Why? Listen to this חדוש chiddush. He says because Avram, the root of each of us, in the end, he emerges from a place of darkness. Hashem plucks Avram out of that fire. He was intended to be destroyed. And even though he wasn't destroyed, כאילו ke'ilu he was destroyed. Listen to what he writes. אחר שהושלך בכבשן האש ונידון לשרפה, כל העולם הודה לשרפו, כשרף דמי. והוא יתברך הצילו מן האש הגדולה בעמיתת יחודו. נולד ליחד לחצץ יחד, ולכן אין מתייחס אחר תרח אביו, כי היה ממש בריאה חדשה מאתו יתברך. Avram Avinu essentially died in that moment, and when he emerges and comes out of that fire, he is born again, born anew, no longer related to Terach and no longer bound by this world and by nature. And he as the father of our people gave birth to a new reality, a new people, not part of this world because כל העולם ליסרוף כסרוף דמי. It's as if he were incinerated, as if he were burnt. He came back to life. He was born anew and he mamash creates a new world and a new world order. Hashem connects to Avram in a unique way. He tells him, \"I am your God. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. I am the Lord. I am the Lord.\" He says, \"אלוקם elokam.\" He says, \"I am a יחיד yachid in this world, and I am a יחיד yachid.\" He is singular and I am singular. We're gonna connect in a special way. אחד היה אברהם Echad haya Avraham. And we, when we are. thrown in that fire, when they come at us to try to destroy us, we are born anew. The October 8th Jew. They tried to bury us, they didn't know we are seeds. We are born anew. A new birth and a new beginning and a new start and a new start. Our togetherness, our tenacity, our ability to overcome nature. What has happened over this last year, miracles, miracles. הלוואי halevai they should continue, the hostages should come home and our soldiers should be safe and we should be done. But miracles that defy nature. Just yesterday, they killed another person. America had a $10 million bounty on that they'd been trying to get for 10 years. I mean they're able to, it's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. The Pager, other countries, efforts, Iron Dome. כן ירבו ken yirbu. We shouldn't even need it. אברהם Avram is described as traveling with the נפש אשר עשו בחרן nefesh asher asu b'Charan. נפש Nefesh. I saw one commentator say בחרן b'Charan means בחירון אף b'chiron af. We prove our נפש nefesh. How do we so show our soul, who are we, what we're made of? When we face that fire, we face the fire, the fire of antisemitism, and the fire of hate, and the fire of enemies, that forges us and molds us into what we're made of. When we're pushed, when we're challenged, when we're pressured, then we find that we're capable of extraordinary things. This פסוק pasuk says, those who bless us will be blessed, and those who curse us will be cursed. You know who believes that? The non-Jews. The Jews, we don't. Ask the evangelicals, they believe that. Those who bless us will be blessed, those who curse us will be cursed. But רב משה שרר זצ״ל Rav Moshe Sherer zatzal was the head of אגודה Agudah. רב משה שרר Rav Moshe Sherer had a different insight. I think a very beautiful and a very powerful insight. I had the privilege to share this in ירושלים Yerushalayim last November, towards the beginning of the war. רב משה שרר Rav Moshe Sherer says, ומקללך umekalelcha, the פסוק pasuk is incongruous. It says, ואברכה מברכך va'avarecha mevarachecha, those who bless you will be blessed, ומקללך umekalelcha, and those who cursed you, it should say, אקלל akalel. I will curse, which would have been parallel. We leave the parallel. ואברכה מברכך va'avarecha mevarachecha, ומקללך umekalelcha, it should have been אקלל akalel. What's אאור a'or? אלף אלף ריש alef alef reish. אאור a'or. Why do we abandon the parallel to come up and insert a new word? Said רב משה שרר Rav Moshe Sherer, the word אאור a'or comes from the word אור or, which means light. And what it means is, ומקללך אאור umekalelcha a'or. The ones who come to curse you, I will enlighten them. I will enlighten them. Hashem is saying, bless my children and you'll be blessed. And we are blessed by many around the world. I heard someone say, on October, we knew that there were people who hate us, but we didn't know how much they hate us. But since October 7th, we know there are people who love us, but we didn't know how much they love us. How much they love us, from Floyd Mayweather to Douglas Murray to a local pastor in Boca who wrote the most beautiful note. The people who love us. Bless my children and you'll be blessed. And we are blessed. But there are those who are cursing us on campuses and in Congress and in the media and in the world. And you know what Hashem says to them? ומקללך אאור umekalelcha a'or. You try to curse my children, I will enlighten you. I will illuminate your eyes to see the real people. And they're seeing the real us, who we are and what we're made of. אאור, ומקלל *a'or, umekalel*. You try to curse us? Hashem says, I don't need to curse you. אאור a'or. I will enlighten you. I will enlighten you to who they are and what we are made of, and what we are made of. And that's who we are, and that's what we are, and that's what we are made of, is this strength, this tenacity that we have been showing, that we have been showing since then. Okay. פרק י״ב פסוק ד׳ Perek Yud-Beis, Pasuk Daled. וילך אברם Vayelech Avram, so Avram now receives the challenge and he meets it. וילך אברם כאשר דיבר אליו השם Vayelech Avram ka'asher diber eilav Hashem. Avram goes as Hashem told him. וילך אתו לוט vayelech ito Lot. and he grabs his nephew, he takes Lot with him. ואברם בן חמש שנים ושבעים שנה בצאתו מחרן V'Avram ben chamesh shanim v'shivim shana b'tzeiso meiCharan. Avram is 75 years old when he leaves, when he leaves Charan. Says the אמרות טהורות Amros Tehoros. דיבור is לשון קשה Dibur is lashon kasha. In Hebrew we have many words for speech, אמירה, דיבור, הגדה, סיפור amira, dibur, hagada, sipur. And each of those words is not just a synonym, each word has another subtle, nuanced meaning. So whenever we see the word דיבור dibur, דיבור dibur means a harsh speech, speech, strong speech. וילך אברם כאשר דיבר אליו ויאמר השם אל אברם אמירה רכה Vayelech Avram ka'asher diber eilav, Vayomer Hashem el Avram, amira raka. So in the same פסוק pasuk we shift from כאשר דיבר ka'asher diber to, then Hashem says, ויאמר השם אל אברם vayomer Hashem el Avram, to speech. So which is it? So says the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, says the great of Rebbe Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev, Berditchever. הנה צריך להבין מה הניסיון של אברהם אבינו בהליכתו מארצו Hinei, tzarich l'havin ma ha'nisayon shel Avraham Avinu b'halichaso mei'artzo? What was this test to leave his land? הלא הקדוש ברוך הוא הבטיחו בשכר הליכתו שיעשה לו טובה וחסד Halo HaKadosh Baruch Hu hivticho b'schar halichaso she'ya'aseh lo tovah v'chesed. Hashem promised him fame and fortune. Everyone's going to know who you are. You can have everything you want. אם כן, איזה ניסיון הוא זה שילך כדי להשיג כל הטובות האלו? V'im ken, eizeh nisayon hu zeh she'yelech kedei l'hasig kol ha'tovos ha'eileh? Was it really a test? Where are you going? I don't know. But you can have a private plane, you can have an incredible car, you can have tremendous wealth, you can have a lot of influence. That's a test? כיון שהליכה זו לצורך ניסיון, אם כן למה גילה השם יתברך שהליכתו יהיה להנאה וטובה לו Keivan she'halicha zo l'tzorech nisayon, im ken lama gila Hashem yisbarach she'halichaso yihiyeh l'hana'ah v'tovah lo? And if it were a test, even if that were the result that when Avram got there, he was going to have all that wealth and all that riches and all that fame and all that fortune, why reveal it at first? Why reveal it in the test itself? Says the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, מבואר בזה גופא הניסיון mevo'ar b'zeh gufa ha'nisayon. לראות אם אף על פי שידע אברהם שהליכה מביתו יהיה להנאה וטובה לו, עם כל זה לא ילך מטעם זה כי אם לקיים מצוות השם Lir'os im af al pi sheyada Avraham she'halicha m'beiso yehiyeh l'hana'ah v'tovah lo, im kol zeh lo yelech m'ta'am zeh ki im l'kayem mitzvas Hashem. That exactly is the test, says Rebbe Levi Yitzchok. The test is, yes, you will receive tremendous blessing, but is that why you're going? You keeping Shabbos because you like the cholent and the kugel? Or because Hashem says to keep Shabbos. Do we do it because we get the benefit, we see the blessing, we reap the reward, or are we doing it in the end of the day because it's what Hashem said. ובאמת עשה אברהם ועמד בניסיון שלו ולא נחשב בעיניו הלוך לצורך הנאת עצמו, כגון בנים ושאר הטובות U'v'emes asa Avraham v'amad b'nisyon shelo v'lo nechshav b'einav heloch l'tzorech hana'as atzmo, k'gon banim u'sh'ar ha'tovos. He's not in it for the personal reward. He's not in it for what he'll get for himself. He's in it because Hashem said, and therefore we begin, ויאמר השם אל אברם Vayomer Hashem el Avram, our parsha begins, the opening word of the whole parsha is ויאמר, אמירה רכה Vayomer, amira raka, soft. כיון שאמר השם יתברך לאברהם שילך למען הנאה וטובה שלו Keivan she'amar Hashem yisbarach l'Avraham she'yelech l'ma'an hana'ah v'tovah shelo. You're going for you. Reward, fame and fortune. Soft לשון lashon. ויאמר Vayomer. וילך כאשר דיבר Vayelech ka'asher diber, he went. כאשר דיבר is לשון קשה ka'asher diber iz lashon kasha. כי אברהם אבינו קיים דברי השם, קיים הדבר ללכת אך ורק למען שכן גזר עליו השם ki Avraham Avinu kayam divrei Hashem, kayam ha'davar laleches ach v'rak l'ma'an she'ken gazar alav Hashem. So the soft language reflects that Hashem said it's going to be for your good. The strong language reflects that Avram went because of the ציווי tzivui. He went to respond to Hashem's command and not for any other and not for any other reason at all. פרק י״ב פסוק ה׳ Perek Yud-Beis, Pasuk Hei. ויקח אברם את שרי אשתו ואת לוט בן אחיו Vayikach Avram es Sarai ishto v'es Lot ben achiv. He takes his wife Sarai, takes his nephew, ואת כל רכושם אשר רכשו ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן v'es kol r'chusham asher rachashu v'es ha'nefesh asher asu b'Charan, and the souls whom they had influenced back in Charan. ויצאו ללכת ארצה כנען ויבאו ארצה כנען Vayetz'u laleches artza K'naan vayavo'u artza K'naan, and they set out to go to Canaan and they arrived in and they arrived in Canaan. Says Rav Druk in his להבות אש Lehavos Eish. They set out to go to Canaan and they arrived in Canaan. The חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim, he quotes the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim. The חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim היה אומר, אנו רואים חילוק מהותי בין הנהגת צדיקים להנהגת רשעים haya omer, anu ro'im chiluk mahusi bein hanhagas tzadikim l'hanhagas resha'im. You want to know successful people and unsuccessful people, righteous people and non-righteous people? You know the difference between them? You can see it in the difference between Terach and Avram. Where do you see it? So the Torah tells us that both Terach and Avram had the same goal. I pointed this out before, but if you look at the end of Parshas Noach, how does Noach end? Page 52. ויקח תרח את אברם בנו ואת לוט בן הרן בן בנו Vayikach Terach es Avram bno v'es Lot ben Haran ben bno. Terach, Avram's father, takes Avram and the same Lot, the same nephew, ואת שרי כלתו אשת אברם בנו v'es Sarai kalaso eshes Avram bno, and his daughter-in-law, ויצאו אתם מאור כשדים ללכת ארצה כנען Vayetz'u itam mei'Ur Kasdim laleches artza K'naan, to go to Canaan. So why do we make a whole hullabaloo, we make a whole song and dance, we make a whole big deal over Avram לך לך lech lecha, big deal. His father Terach also went. His father Terach also set out to go to Canaan. So both left all they knew, both left their homeland, both left their birthplace, both left their environment. So what's the difference between, why is Terach a villain and Avram is a hero? ללכת ארצה כנען Laleches artza K'naan. Terach also went, set out to go to ארץ כנען eretz K'naan. You know the difference between them? said the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim. What happens to Terach? ויבאו עד חרן וישבו שם Vayavo'u ad Charan vayeshvu sham. He gets to Charan, he gets to Vegas. His bright lights, casinos, nightly shows, great restaurants. וישבו שם Vayeshvu sham. That was it for the journey. There was supposed to be a stopover in Paris, but he never made it beyond. A stopover in Madrid, stopover at JFK, the restaurants on Central Avenue, he never made it. Never made it. וישבו שם Vayeshvu sham. Terach gets distracted, preoccupied. They started with the same goal, they set out on the same mission. What happens to Terach? He gets to Charan, this metropolis, וישבו שם vayeshvu sham. And he settles there, the bright lights and all the fun. He can't leave. He can't leave. לעומת זאת, אברהם אבינו שהיה הולך לארץ כנען Lumas zos, Avraham Avinu shehaya holech l'eretz K'naan. Avram Avinu says, \"I have a goal, I have a destination. I'm not stopping till I get to Canaan.\" והוא ממשיך ללכת ואינו נעצר עד שמגיע ליעד V'hu mamshich laleches v'eino ne'etzar ad shemagia l'yaad. And does he stop? Not till he gets to the destination. No pause, no break, he runs through walls, he breaks down barriers. He's not distracted, he is singularly focused. Who cares about the casinos and the bright lights and the great restaurants? ויקח אברם את שרי אשתו ואת לוט בן אחיו Vayikach Avram es Sarai ishto v'es Lot ben achiv, ויצאו ללכת ארצה כנען, ויבאו ארצה כנען vayetzu laleches artza K'naan, vayavo'u artza K'naan. Says the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim, \"In those six words you have the entire difference between Terach and Avram. You want to be righteous, you want to be successful, you want to be someone, fulfill your goals. Set out on a journey and get to your destination. Don't get distracted, don't do half a job, don't give up, keep going, plow through, break through. כך אנו רואים את ההבדל המהותי בין הנהגת צדיקים להנהגת רשעים, אומר רב דרוק Kach anu ro'im es ha'hevdel ha'mahusi bein hanhagas tzadikim l'hanhagas resha'im, omer Rav Druk. צדיקים, כאשר הם רוצים לעשות דבר, לא ינוחו ולא ישקוטו עד שיצליחו להשיג את שאיפתם Tzadikim ka'asher hem rotzim la'asos davar, lo yanuchu v'lo yishketu ad she'yatzlichu l'hasig es sh'ifasam. When a צדיק tzadik says, \"I'm finishing Shas.\" When a צדיק tzadik says, \"I'm giving out, I'm collecting this much צדקה tzedakah, I'm solving this crisis, I'm intervening on this problem.\" When a צדיק tzadik sets out, the local askan, the community leader says, \"I'm solving this problem. I'm not standing by and watching anymore. We need to resolve the tuition issue, security issue, we need to take care of single moms, we need to intervene on the שדך shidduch, whatever the issue.\" The righteous person says, \"I'm not, I took on the Daf Yomi, I don't stop till I make a סיום הש\"ס Siyum HaShas.\" Whatever I take on, שניים מקרא Shnayim Mikra, I'm going to dance next Simchas Torah, I am finishing. I am finishing. Both Avram and Terach set out on the same journey. Terach disappears. He falls off. Avram Avinu says, \"I'm going to start working out, exercising, going for a walk every day.\" I set out. This is the sleep I'm going to get every night. I set out. This is the whatever it is that I want to do, whatever my goal, don't stop. מצד שני, תרח, יתכן שיתחיל את המסע, ויקח תרח את אברם Mi'tzad sheini, Terach, yitachen she'yat'chil es ha'masa, vayikach Terach es Avram. And what happens? וישבו שם, התחיל ללכת בדרך ארץ כנען, הגיע לחרן, לא המשיך ללכת, זהו החילוק Vayeshvu sham. Hitchil laleches b'derech eretz K'naan, higia l'Charan, lo himshich laleches. Zehu ha'chiluk. This is the difference. Whatever your goal, you need to have that tenacity. You need to have that incredible, incredible drive, that insatiable drive. Tzadikim accomplish and they achieve and they transform and they make a difference because they have an insatiable drive. They have this drive, this push, they're not satisfied. Terach is a footnote to history. Terach is a villain, a villain of history. Why? וישבו שם Vayeshvu sham. He got distracted. One day he missed the daf, that was it. One meal, he ate, that was it for the diet. One day he didn't exercise, forget about who needs it anyway. One night didn't get that amount of sleep, forget it. Not Avram Avinu. No way. No way. Not happening, not happening. You got to stay charged, you got to stay focused, you got to stay on the mission, you got to keep with the plan. פרק י״ב פסוק ו׳ Perek Yud-Beis, Pasuk Vav. ויעבור אברם בארץ עד מקום שכם עד אלון מורה, והכנעני אז בארץ Vaya'avor Avram ba'aretz ad makom Shechem, ad Elon Moreh, v'haKna'ani az ba'aretz. He goes to Shechem, and the Canaanite are then in the land. Why does Avram go to Shechem? This is a great insight. Why does he go to Shechem? Rashi tells us, נכנס לתוכה עד מקום שכם להתפלל על בני ישראל כשיבואו להלחם בשכם nichnas l'socha ad makom Shechem l'hispalel al bnei Yisrael k'sheyavo'u l'hilachem b'Shechem. What's destined to happen in Shechem? What ultimately happens in Shechem? Not such good things. חמור בן שכם Chamor ben Shechem rapes Dina, #MeToo, takes advantage, rapes Dina. October 7th wasn't the first time our people were so brutally, brutally raped and mutilated. We were victims of it throughout our history, from our very beginning, Dina. And so, because Avram already anticipates what's going to happen, he goes to Shechem to daven. Wonders Rav Yitzchak Sorotzkin in his wonderful Meged Yosef, יש להבין מדוע הוצרך אברהם להיכנס עד שכם כדי להתפלל על בני ישראל Yesh l'havin madua hutzrach Avraham l'hikanes ad Shechem k'dei l'hispalel al bnei Yisrael. הרי התפילה מתקבלת בכל מקום Harei ha'tefilah miskabeles b'chol makom. Why can't Avram stay exactly where he is and daven from there? Because something bad's going to happen in that city, you got to go to that city to daven there? Why? Why? The Gemara says, שכם מקום מזומן לפורעניות Shechem makom mezuman l'puraniyos. Gemara in Sanhedrin 102a tells us that שכם Shechem is a very inauspicious city. Several bad things happened to us in Shechem. בשכם עינו את דינה, בשכם מכרו אחיו של יוסף, בשכם נחלקה מלכות בית דוד B'Shechem inu es Dina, b'Shechem machru achav shel Yosef, b'Shechem nechleka malchus Beis David. In Shechem, Dina was raped, in Shechem, Yosef was sold, in Shechem, the Davidic dynasty was divided. הרי שהפורעניות היו טמועות בעצם מהותו של שכם Harei she'ha'puraniyos hayu tmu'os b'etzem mahuso shel Shechem. Shechem is an inauspicious place. It is a just a place that bad things happen to the Jewish people. להתפלל על צרת הזולת, צריך להרגיש צרתו בצורה מיוחדת ביותר L'hispalel al tzaras ha'zulas, tzarich l'hargish tzaraso b'tzura m'yuchedes b'yoser. Says Rav Sorotzkin, \"If you want to really daven for someone, for something, you need to feel it. You could daven with sympathy or you could daven with empathy.\" Brené Brown talks about the difference between the two. Sympathy is, I feel really bad for you. I'm good, my life's comfortable, but I feel bad for you. Empathy is, I feel with you. I feel with you. There's a little cartoon she produced that describes it. Somebody's sitting in a ditch, in a hole, dark and dingy and cold and uncomfortable. Sympathy is you lean down, you say, \"How are you down there? I'm so sorry you're stuck down there.\" Empathy is you put a ladder, you climb down, you sit next to the person, and you have empathy for them and with them. And then you put them on your back and you climb the ladder and get them out. But even if something you can't get them out of, you climb down and you sit next to them. To really daven for someone, you don't daven with sympathy from a distance, but with empathy right by their side. You climb down, you feel that pain. לכן נכנס אברם לשכם להרגיש בחוש את אווירת שכם Lachen nichnas Avram l'Shechem l'hargish b'chush es aviras Shechem. He goes into Shechem in order to feel it in the air, הספוגה פורעניות לישראל, שעל ידי כך יתעורר לתפילה ויתגברו תחנוניו hasfuga puraniyos l'Yisrael, she'al yedei kach yisorer l'tefilah v'yisgabru tachanunav. He wants to offer the most authentic, the deepest, most profound, most efficacious prayer. And how can he do that? Not from a distance, but by going into Shechem, breathing its air, feeling its environment, understanding the pain that will happen there. The new הננו זהירים, גם הסביר מה שאמרו חז\"ל, רחל נקברה על אם הדרך כדי שתתפלל על בניה כשיעברו שם בדרכם לגלות Hineinu zehirim, gam hisbir ma she'amru Chazal, Rachel nikbera al eim ha'derech k'dei she'tispallel al baneha k'she'ya'avru sham b'darkam l'galus. We have Kever Rachel, I visited last week. Kever Rachel, Rachel is not buried in Ma'aras HaMachpela with the other Avos and Imahos. She's on the path so that when the Jewish people are being led out to our exile, she prays for us. יכולה להתפלל עליהם גם ממרחק, מה? yachola l'hispalel aleihem gam mei'merchak, mah? If we're being led out, she can't daven from Chevron? She can't daven from Ma'aras HaMachpela? She's got to be buried right on the way, derech Kever Rachel? Derech Chevron, on the way, we're going to pass her by? Says Rav Sorotzkin, \"Yeah. When we want Mama Rochel to daven for us, to really feel our pain, she's got to see it, feel it. We have to walk right by her.\" I have to tell you, I came back as I said from Eretz Yisrael, from Israel, my sixth time over this past year. And I thought, you know, there's such fatigue and there's been a pivot, and the missions aren't really going as strong. And I thought I was going, I had a simcha, a couple simchas to go to, and family. But I ended up going to a couple shiva calls and I ended up going to the hospital and visiting several soldiers. And I have to tell you, it's just transformative. For them, it's not over, it hasn't slowed down, there's no fatigue and it's not old. For the new orphans and widows, there's nothing old about this war. When you pay that shiva call, you don't daven the same way before you paid a shiva call. And when you walk out of a hospital room, soldiers covered in bandages from the burns across their body because of what Hezbollah did to them, you don't daven the same way for this crisis. You need to be in it, you need to see it and feel it and empathize with it. You need to sit at a hospital bed, you need to sit at a shiva call, you need to be at a funeral on Har Herzl. You need to go to an army base and understand the circumstances in which they're living. And that's what Avram says. He could have davened from anywhere, davening is effective everywhere. Why does he have to go to Shechem? Because it's not the same to daven outside as it's not the same as to daven when you're there. Why did Rochel need to be buried on the path? Because for her to daven from Chevron is not the same as to daven while she's watching the Jewish people, her children be marched by on their way to exile. And our davening is not the same. You're planning your next trip, planning your winter vacation, planning your Yeshiva week? Get to Israel. Get to Israel. There'll be other times to go explore Europe or elsewhere. I don't know why you'd want to go where you're not wanted. But there'll be plenty of times to see other places. Israel. Because our davening is so desperately needed, and the davening can't compare from when you're there to when you're to when you're not there. So says Rav Sorotzkin, that's why Avram went to Shechem. You can't compare sympathy and empathy. We desperately need empathy, not sympathy. פרק י״ב פסוק ח׳ Perek Yud-Beis, Pasuk Ches. ויעתק משם ההרה מקדם לבית אל ויט אהלה בית אל מים והעי מקדם ויבן שם מזבח להשם ויקרא בשם השם Vaya'atek misham ha'harah mikedem l'Beis El vayet ohola, Beis El mi'yam v'ha'Ai mikedem, vayiven sham mizbeach l'Hashem vayikra b'shem Hashem. Very interesting pasuk. Very interesting pasuk. From there he relocated to the mountain east of Beis El and he pitched his tent. Beis El on the west and Ai on the east. And he built there an altar to Hashem. Something about that pasuk strike you as off? What's interesting about that pasuk? ברוך אתה אדני אלהינו מלך העולם שהכל נהיה בדברו Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melech ha'olam shehakol nihiyeh bidvaro. Amen. What's interesting about that pasuk? It's repetitive. If the mountain is to the east of Beis El, then Beis El is to the west of the mountain. Why do I have to be told twice? Let me repeat the pasuk. We're in pasuk ches, eight. From there he relocated to the mountain which is east of Beis El, he pitches his tent, and Beis El is on the west of the mountain and Ai on the east. Okay. Why do we have to repeat that? That's such an important fact that it has to be repeated? Says Rav Sorotzkin, כפלות הדבר בסוף הפסוק, לא בא להורות נקודה גאוגרפית אלא נקודה רוחנית, השקפתית kfeilus ha'davar b'sof ha'pasuk, lo ba l'horos nekudah geografit ela nekudah ruchnis, hashkafatis. Because the beginning of the pasuk is laying out the geography. The end of the pasuk is not telling me the physical geography, it's telling me now the spiritual map. מצד עצמו, הר שמם טפל לעיר בית אל Mi'tzad atzmo, har shamem tafel l'ir Beis El. On the one hand, a desolate mountain is secondary to the city of Beis El. ומיקום ההר נקבע פי יחסו לבית אל U'mikum ha'har nikba pi yachaso l'Beis El. So the place of the mountain is relative to Beis El. ויעתק משם ההרה מקדם לבית אל Vaya'atek misham ha'harah mikedem l'Beis El. ואחרי ששכן אברהם בהר, אבל פעם אחת אברהם אבינו פיטשז טנט על המאונטיין V'acharei she'shachan Avram ba'har, aval pa'am achas Avram Avinu pitches his tent on the mountain, it's no longer some desolate barren mountain, and therefore I only care about it where it is relative to relative to Beis El. Now Beis El becomes secondary to the mountain. It's the new landmark. It's the new landmark, why? Because that's where Avram pitched his tent. ומהעתה מיקומה של עיר בית אל נקבע פי יחסו להר U'mei'ata mikuma shel ir Beis El nikba pi yachaso la'har. So because the beginning of the pasuk is telling me, this abandoned barren mountain, oh yeah, it's next to Beis El. Avram pitches a tent on that mountain. Oh, now Beis El is next to that mountain, next to that mountain. The geography, the landmark changes because Avram chooses to go, chooses to go there. I saw that both both Rav Sorotzkin and Rav Berenbaum has the same idea. He puts it a little bit differently, listen to the way that he says it. פרק י״ב, פסוק ח׳ Perek Yud-Beis, Pasuk Ches. He says a little bit differently. Here it is. Got it. Here it is. כתב בספר ׳באר משה׳, אחר שאברהם אבינו נטע שם אהלו, כמו שכתב, נעשה המקום למקום מרכזי Kasav b'sefer 'Be'er Moshe', 'achar she'Avraham Avinu nata sham ohalo, k'mo she'kasuv, na'aseh ha'makom l'makom merkazit. Where is the central place and what's considered the place relative to it? So the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim said, מי שמסתכל על מפות העולם mi she'mistakel al mapos ha'olam, if you look on a world map, you'll see the big countries, Russia, America, China, Russia, America, China. אבל מקומות קטנים כמעט אינם נראים על המפה Aval m'komos k'tanim kim'at einam nir'im al ha'mapah. Small places you almost can't discern, you can't find, they're not identified on the map. מקומות התורה, כסלבודקה, קלם, מיר, ראדין, פוניבז׳, קלצק, טלז, ברנוביץ׳, קמניץ M'komos haTorah, k'Slabodka, Kelm, Mir, Radin, Ponevezh, Kletsk, Telz, Baranovitch, Kamenitz. You look on a world map, none of those cities will be appear. כולם עיירות קטנות Kulam ayaros k'tanos. They're all small cities. So you'll see Warsaw and you'll see Paris and you'll see London and you'll see New York. You're going to see on a map Slabodka, Kelm, Mir, Radin, Ponevezh, Kletsk, Telz, Baranovitch, Kamenitz? No. אבל בשמיים, אבל אפשטערס, השם יש מפה Aval ba'shamayim, aval upstairs, Hashem has a map. המקומות האלו הם עיקרי המקומות על המפה Ha'mkomos ha'eileh heim ikarei ha'mkomos al ha'mapah. Those are, those are the core places on a map. וכל המקומות הגדולים כרוסיה כמעט אינם נראים שם על המפה V'chol ha'mkomos ha'gedolim k'Rusya kim'at einam nir'im sham al ha'mapah. Hashem has a map upstairs. Our map down here, what do we have? We have, you know, New York City and we have Chicago and LA and Vegas. But on Hashem's map, you have a little sign called Washington Heights, Yeshiva University, Lakewood. You have cities, Passaic, not, I love, I have kids who live in Passaic. No offense, Passaic's not on many people's map. It's a wonderful, incredible city of Torah, Passaic. On Hashem's map, Passaic is in huge letters. On other maps, it's not. I'll just say and leave it at that. So that's what's going on with this pasuk, is this notion of of what's relative is what's going on on this map. So it starts out, Beis El is the central city and the mountain's small. But once Avram moves there, now it on Hashem's map, that is the central place. All right, we got a lot to cover and not a lot of time. So let's see what we want to cover especially left. למען יטב לה L'ma'an yitav la. Yeah. Let's see this. פרק י״ב פסוק י״ג Perek Yud-Beis, Pasuk Yud-Gimmel. Let's skip a little bit. Avram now, there's a famine, Avram goes down to Egypt, and Avram tells Sara something, this is mind-boggling. The Ramban says Avram did something wrong. I couldn't say it, but the Ramban can. The Ramban says Avram did something wrong in this episode. But the pesukim simply describe that the righteous Avram who listens to God and passes those tests, now has to descend down to Egypt because of a famine and he's got a scheme. For the first time he notices his wife is magnificently beautiful, that she is אשה יפת מראה את isha yefas mar'eh at. Wow. Wow. I didn't know because I didn't look at the picture on the resumes. I didn't know. I didn't know. 75 years old, married many years. I didn't know. How could that be? There's meforshim that of course he knew. He never saw his wife? He never complimented her on how pretty she looks? What is he, crazy? Of course he knew and of course he complimented her. But he saw the פנימיות pnimius. What he what attracted him, what he was in love with, was her essence. She also had a beautiful external, and he complimented, no doubt. But the real beauty, what he was most drawn to, was her פנימיות pnimius, was her essence. But anyway, he's worried. If he notices now she's beautiful, you know who else is going to notice? Those corrupt, immoral, lowly Egyptians. We're in trouble. So he's got a plan. אמרי נא אחותי את Imri na achosi at. You know, here's the plan, Sarai. I'm putting you in a box. If they find you, tell them you're my sister. למען ייטב לי בעבורך L'ma'an yitav li ba'avurech. And then they'll do good things for me because of you. וחיתה נפשי בגללך V'chaysa nafshi biglalech. Because of you, we'll survive. When they see your beauty and they think you're just my sister, they're going to put us up in the Four Seasons, and they're going to give us incredible, incredible driver and car, they're going to give us incredible delicacies, and we'll survive, all because of you. Good plan? What happens? They get to Mitzrayim, exactly as anticipated, they notice the beauty, Pharaoh tries to be with her. He's stricken with a terrible illness. Avram davens for him, he's healed, but he says, \"She ain't your sister, she's your wife, get lost, get going.\" And that's the story. Beautiful. What was Avram's intent? למען ייטב לי בעבורך L'ma'an yitav li ba'avurech. Rashi says, יתנו לי מתנות yitnu li matanos. They're going to give me a Rolex, they're going to give me a car and driver, they're going to give me all kinds of great things. How can it be? Avram was willing to die in the Kivshan HaEish. The same Avram who says throw me into the fiery furnace to Nimrod, now is willing to sell out his wife? Sell out his wife? Does that not bother you when you learn this parsha every year? So I want to tell you, Rav Shmuel Berenbaum's sefer turns the story on its head, an entirely new way of looking at and learning this story. You ready? Here we go. יש לומר, שמזה גופא נראה רוממות מדרגת האמונה ובטחון של אברהם אבינו Yesh lomar, she'mizeh gufa nir'eh romemus madrigas ha'emunah v'habitachon shel Avraham Avinu. You see, we read the story as saying Avram was afraid of what the Egyptians might do. He was worried, he was anxious, he was afraid, so he concocts a scheme to survive. And he does it at Sara's expense. But we're reading the story all wrong. Avram says, we got to go down to Egypt because there's a famine. Hashem's going to take care of us. Even if the Egyptians see how pretty you are, even if they try to take you for their leader, I'm not worried because Hashem's in charge, Hashem's in control. Hashem told me to come to Israel, and now Hashem is sending us to Egypt, and everything Hashem said he's doing is for our best. So I have no fear, I have no worry, I'm living with אמונה emunah, I have בטחון bitachon. We are good to go. So now that we're good to go and I know with certainty and confidence that everything is going to be for a purpose, for a reason, and for our good, how should the good come about? Because of me? Nah. I want to concoct it, I want to choreograph it, that the good will come about because of my wife. And for the rest of our marriage, our family will say, isn't mommy amazing? Isn't Bubby amazing? I'll be able to say, look how we survived, look at the gifts and the blessings and the riches we got because mommy's amazing. So says the sefer, and that's the pshat, למען ייטב לי בעבורך l'ma'an yitav li ba'avurech. All the blessing I have is בעבורך ba'avurech because of you. Whatever blessing is in our home. And he says, I wish I had time to read this to you because he goes on and on. למדנו מכאן שצריך תמיד להכיר טובה לבני ביתו Lamadnu mikan she'tzarich tamid l'hakir tovah l'vnei beiso. This is the way a Jewish home works. You need to tell your children, isn't Mommy amazing? Any blessing we have in our life, any blessing we have with this home, if all the blessing that we have, it's because of her. It's her merit, it's because of what she does, it's who she is. And the opposite's also true. The wife should tell the children, \"Isn't Abba amazing? He works so hard, and look at what we have. Look how much he cares, look at the life that we enjoy, look at what we benefit. It's all in his merit, it's all in his merit.\" So Avram goes not from some poor intent, what's going on in the story, to Avram is amazing. He's teaching us a methodology of shalom bayis, what it means in marriage and what it means with children. You don't need children just to say mommy's a, you as a husband can say you're amazing. You're amazing, whatever blessing we have, even if you are not front and center, but all the blessing that we have is is because of you. That's what great people always said and did. They attributed it to their spouse, to their partner, to others. They couldn't and wouldn't be who they are without them, without them. Not behind every great man, not not not some uh, you know, pejorative way, not some uh, pretentious way. But really feeling, I wouldn't be without. You know, in court, that's how they pasken. Why is it? I was just looking at the Forbes 400. Melinda Gates has uh, I don't want to rank her in case she's listening. No offense, Melinda Gates. Melinda Gates is worth, anyone know? I don't remember. 80 billion? Some insane number of money. After the divorce, that's what she got. I was looking at, I was thinking, she didn't come up with Microsoft. Okay, so she get a few million, a couple billion, she'll survive, she'll make do, she'll get by. But all that wealth, she didn't do it. So the legal system decides that why is, why is the wealth split? Because for you to have gone to earn it, someone else had to be taking care of the house, by your side, your support. It doesn't matter who had the job or who took home the paycheck. It becomes the home's wealth because it took a partnership in order to create it, in order to create it. So להבדיל l'havdil, Avram is telling Sarah, למען ייטב לי בעבורך l'ma'an yitav li ba'avurech. Hashem's got it. We're going to be good. There's a plan, there's a reason. He's not sending us down unless there were, it's going to be good. It's going to be good. And now that we know it's going to be good, let me orchestrate things that there'll be good credited to you. I don't need the credit. Good marriage, you want your spouse to have the credit. You want them to be, to be uh, given the uh, the credit. So that's what's going on over here. Ooh, so much more to talk about. So much more to talk about. I'll tell you one more of Rav Sorotzkin. Avram and Lot, their shepherds get in a fight. Lot's shepherds are stealing. Says, this is our land. It was promised to my uncle, and after he dies, he doesn't have a son. and I'm going to get it. So it's not stealing even now because I'm going to get it. Avram says that's all nice and lovely, it's a promise Hashem gave me. It's not mine yet. And so what you're doing is stealing. They fight, they go their separate ways. וילך למסעיו vayelech l'masa'av. And Rashi says that they, sorry. היפרד נא מעלי אם השמאל ואימינה ואם הימין ואשמאילה hipared na mei'alai, im hasmol v'eimina, v'im hayamin v'asmeila. Avram says to Lot, go left, I'll go right. You want right, I'll go left. We got to go separate ways. So wonders Rav Srotzkin, מדוע נצרכו שניהם לחפש מקום חדש? madua nitzrechu shneihem l'chapes makom chadash? Why do they both have to find a new place? If one of them leaves, that's the end of the מחלוקת machlokes. Why do they both have to find a new place? Listen to this, I never thought of that question before. You go learn פרשת לך לך Parshas Lech Lecha your whole life. Never thought of that question? If one leaves, the מחלוקת machlokes is over. Two people are fighting in a community. Everybody knows, the Hatfields and the McCoys are fighting in the community. Everybody knows. So they realize we got to go separate ways. So one of them leaves, now you're good, right? Why did they both have to leave? Why do they both have to leave? Listen to what he says. שבמקום מחלוקת שוב לא ישרה ברכה sheb'makom machlokes shuv lo yishra bracha. Because in a place that there was מחלוקת machlokes, in a place that there was strife and contentiousness and division, there can't be blessing. לא מצא הקדוש ברוך הוא כלי מחזיק ברכה אלא שלום lo matza Hakadosh Baruch Hu kli machzik bracha ela shalom. אם כן, אף שבשביל הפרוד די שאחד מהם יעזוב im kein, af she'bishvil ha'peirud dai she'echad mehem ya'azov. In order in terms of the fight, one of them can leave. One of them can leave. But in order for the place to be able to start again, you can't be in the same place. It's sort of the inverse of the Shechem d'var Torah. The Shechem d'var Torah was Avram had to go daven in Shechem because the place itself was inauspicious. And in a place where there's מחלוקת machlokes, you make it a place without ברכה bracha. So both have to leave. Neither can stay. If either of the parties that were in the מחלוקת machlokes stay, then the place is still identified by the by the מחלוקת machlokes. When when Avram goes down to Egypt, when he comes back up, he stays in the same hotel. Rashi says we learn from here דרך ארץ derech eretz. That you should stay in the same place. Stay in the same place. Where's the דרך ארץ derech eretz? Stayed at a Hilton. You can't switch to the Hyatt. You can't switch to the Holiday Inn. You can't switch to the... Why do you have to stay at the same place? Where's the דרך ארץ derech eretz of staying at the same place? So Rav Srotzkin says, you know what the דרך ארץ derech eretz is? When Avram went down to Egypt, what did he have? Nothing. There was a famine. He was poor, he was desperate, he was hungry. Not a lot of people want to take someone in in that condition. When you're not sure how they're going to pay, who wants to take you in? So when you make it in life and you leave with wealth, don't forget the little people who helped you on the way up. That's the דרך ארץ derech eretz lesson. Avram, go stay in the same place. The דרך ארץ derech eretz lesson is, the people who stood by you and who loved you and who supported you when you had nothing, when you have something, don't forget them. When you become someone, don't forget them. Don't forget them. There are politicians, political leaders, when they were trying to get their name out, they spoke in our שול shul, they texted, they had a phone number, they sat at our שבת Shabbos table, and then they became a someone, they lost your number, you can't stay in touch, they no longer can help you when you ask them for it. Don't forget the people who helped you, who were there for you when you were a nobody and you had nothing. That's the דרך ארץ derech eretz that אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu is teaching us. We had such beautiful of Rav Soloveitchik's to get to, we had beautiful... Okay, we'll read לך לך Lech Lecha again next year. בעזרת השם b'ezras Hashem. It should be a meaningful day of בשורות טובות, ישועות ונחמות besoros tovos, yeshuos v'nechamos. If you haven't voted, go vote. Rav Moshe felt that it's a mitzvah. Rav Moshe Feinstein wrote a letter, a person has an obligation as an expression of our gratitude of the freedom to live in this country, the freedom of religion, we express our gratitude for the gift of that freedom by using it. So go vote. I won't tell you who I voted for or who you should vote for, at least not on camera, but go vote. Go vote.
