Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker tov. Welcome back to the Parsha Perspectives for today. And as always, thank you so much for joining me to be able to review our weekly סדרה sedra, our weekly פרשה parsha, and to extract from it the lessons that are so informative, so instructive, so moving for us till this very day, and each and every day. We have the privilege this morning of studying פרשת חיי שרה Parshas Chayei Sarah, a פרשה parsha so rich and so beautiful, so much to extract, so much to learn. I want to thank our generous sponsors for the year, Becky and Avi Katz and family, in loving memory of Becky's father, David Grossman. לעילוי נשמת L'iluy nishmas דוד בן מנחם מנש Dovid ben Menachem Manes. Thank you so much to the Katzes. And as well, this morning is sponsored by Janet Greenberg in honor of the fourth יארצייט yahrzeit of her father, יונה בן יצחק Yonah ben Yitzchak, זכרונו לברכה zichrono livracha, whose נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah as well. Thank you for the generosity and thank you for the sponsorship.פרשת חיי שרה Parshas Chayei Sarah appears in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash, if you're following along on page 106. ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים Vayihyu chayei Sarah meah shanah v'esrim shanah v'sheva shanim, שני חיי שרה shnei chayei Sarah. Tragically we go from the end of last week's פרשה וירא Parshas Vayeira, the story of the עקידה Akeidah, of courage and heroism, a story of faith of אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu and, less appreciated or spoken about, but equally of יצחק Yitzchak. And we go to this morning's פרשה parsha, חיי שרה Chayei Sarah, this week's פרשה parsha, where we see the consequence of that ניסיון nisayon. אברהם Avraham indeed passes that test, but he's faced with another one. The test he's faced with when he returns and comes home is that he finds out that שרה Sarah has expired. שרה Sarah died. And how did she die? What did it say on her death certificate? That the cause of death was the עקידה Akeidah. We learn from here, I said this many times. We learn from here that when you have to deliver news, you start with the end, and then you come back. So, if you call your parents and you tell them, you're never going to believe it, your grandchild at school today had an incident on the playground. They're fine, everything's okay, everyone is well, but listen to what happened. Instead, the messenger who came to report to שרה Sarah the story of the עקידה Akeidah did not begin with יצחק Yitzchak is fine, he's okay, everything is well. They said you're never gonna believe it. God told your husband אברהם Avraham to slaughter your son יצחק Yitzchak, your one and only, your precious and beloved son. And before she could hear the end of the story, her soul left her body. Her soul left her body. That is the tragic beginning and circumstance, the tragic background to our פרשה parsha. To our פרשה parsha.The תורה Torah tells us ויהיו חיי שרה Vayihyu chayei Sarah, and it delineates her years, and it does so not in a succinct way. It does so not to describe she was 127 years, but 100 years, and 20 years, and seven years. These were the שני חיי שרה shnei chayei Sarah, these were the years of her life. And of course רש״י Rashi tells us, when she was 100, she was as pure, when at 100 she was as innocent as 20, because a 20 is not yet liable for punishment. When she was as 20, she was as beautiful as when she was seven. And that's why the תורה Torah delineates and spells it out in all these ways. And it ends שני חיי שרה shnei chayei Sarah, these were the years of the life of Sarah. Isn't that redundant? You just told us that she expired, that she died. You just told us her age when she left this world. Why do you need to also now tell us these were the year of her life? Isn't that the sense redundant? So רש״י Rashi says שני חיי שרה shnei chayei Sarah, listen to this רש״י Rashi, an incredible רש״י Rashi, says רש״י Rashi, כולן שוין לטובה kulan shavin l'tovah. 127 years and all of them, all of them were equal in the sense for being good. All of them were good years. And I can't help but wonder, all of them were good years? Asks the רב ר׳ זושא Reb Reb Zusha. רב זושא מאניפולי Reb Zusha of Anipoli, what do you mean they were all good years? איך ניתּן לומר על כל שנותיה היו שוות לטובה Eich nittan lomar al kol shnoseha hayu shavos l'tovah? Are you kidding me? וכי באמת כך היה V'chi b'emes kach hayah? Is anyone who has a life, can anyone look back on their life and say they're שוין לטובה shavin l'tovah? Can anybody look back and evaluate, every day, every month, every year, they were all equal for the good? הלא במשך רוב שנותיה היו חשוכת פרי בטן Halo b'meshech rov shnoseha hayu chasuchas pri beten. Most of Sarah's life she had infertility, she was barren. ופעמיים נשבתה בבית מלכים U'paamayim nishbesa b'veis melachim, and twice she was held captive in a palace of a king. פעמים בבית פרעה ופעמים בבית אבימלך Paamayim b'veis Paroh u'paamayim b'veis Avimelech. וכן סבלה רבות מהגר וישמעאל V'chein savla rabos meHagar v'Yishmael. She suffered from Hagar, with whom she had to share אברהם Avraham, and from ישמעאל Yishmael, who she thought was a bad influence on her son יצחק Yitzchak. ועל שנים אלו ניתּן לומר כולן שוין לטובה V'al shanim eilu nittan lomar kulan shavin l'tovah? Are you going to tell me that her years of barrenness, of infertility, oh it was all good, it was all bliss, it was all beautiful? Her years of being imprisoned or the times in which she was held captive in the palaces of the king, how could you possibly say כולן שוין לטובה kulan shavin l'tovah that they were all equal for the good?So the רב ר׳ זושא Reb Reb Zusha, and it's not a coincidence that he is the one who says this inside, he is the one who says this ווארט vort. Says the רב ר׳ זושא Reb Reb Zusha, I want to tell you his answer, but first I want to give you by background, a story. I may have said this story recently here in the פרשה parsha class, might have been in the אמונה emunah שיר shiur, I don't remember, I don't recall, and I ask you to indulge me forgiveness if I did say it recently, it is well worth repeating. The story of a man who once came to the רב רב דוב בער Reb Reb Dov Ber, the מגיד ממזריטש Maggid of Mezritch. And he said, you know, the גמרא Gemara tells us that כשם שמברכין על הטוב k'shem sh'mevorchin al hatov, the same way you make a ברכה bracha when something is good, you won the lottery, you got the job, you made the שידוך shidduch, you have great news, you bought a house, you have a baby, you make a ברכה bracha, הטוב והמטיב hatov v'hameitiv, you make a ברכה bracha for the good, שהחיינו shehecheyanu. So כך מברכין על הרע kach mevorchin al hara, you also have to make a ברכה bracha when something bad happens. And he said, what do you mean כשם k'shem? How could the גמרא Gemara possibly say כשם k'shem? Same energy, the same same enthusiasm? The same mentality? The same attitude? What do you mean כשם k'shem, the same way? How is that possible? How could one bring the same attitude?So the מגיד ממזריטש Maggid of Mezritch, the great רב רב דוב בער Reb Reb Dov Ber heard the question. He said, you know, that's a very positive, very powerful question. I want you to go see my תלמיד talmid, my disciple, my חסיד chasid, the רב ר׳ זושא מאניפולי Reb Reb Zusha of Anipoli, go to Anipoli, and I only he can help you. Ask him this question, he's the only one who can satisfy you with an answer. Go to him and ask him the question. So, the רב ר׳ זושא Reb Reb Zusha received his guest warmly, invited him to make himself at home, offered him something to eat and to drink as you would expect. And then the visitor decided it was time to challenge. So, he watched רב זושא Reb Zusha, and he concluded that his, his holy host, in fact exemplified this teaching, because רב זושא Reb Zusha had suffered so much in his life. He was a very poor man, there were times where he had nothing to eat, times he was at risk of losing his home. His family had all kinds of illnesses and afflictions, had all kinds of challenges and tragedies and suffering, and yet the רב ר׳ זושא Reb Reb Zusha always had a smile. He was always positive. He always had a positive demeanor, he was always cheerful, and he was always expressing gratitude, הכרת הטוב hakaras hatov to the רבונו של עולם Ribbono shel Olam, the Almighty. So what happened? The visitor finally got the courage and the strength and he turns to the רב ר׳ זושא Reb Reb Zusha and he says, you know, I had this question and I went to the מגיד ממזריטש Maggid of Mezritch to ask it, and he said I had to come to you, you're the only one who could give an answer. And my question was כשם שמברכין על הטוב כך מברכין על הרע k'shem sh'mevorchin al hatov kach mevorchin al hara. What do you mean the same way that you make a ברכה bracha on the good is the same attitude and mentality, the same passion and enthusiasm you should make a ברכה bracha on the bad? And the רב ר׳ זושא Reb Reb Zusha turned to his guest and he said, I don't understand. It's a good question. But why would the מגיד Maggid send you to me? I've never suffered a day in my life. I've never had a moment of רע ra in my life. And the חסיד chasid, this תלמיד talmid, this disciple, understood that indeed the רב ר׳ זושא Reb Reb Zusha was the right address to answer the question. What do you mean כשם k'shem? If you go into your life with such a sense of faith, if your attitude is that none of it is suffering, it doesn't mean that there aren't painful things that happen to us. There are painful things that happen, but if we absorb them and integrate them, if they come, if they're, they're seen through the filter that everything that השם Hashem does is for the good, that there is a reason, that there's meaning and purpose and order to the universe, that though they may be painful, that they are not bad, because all that השם Hashem does is by definition good. If a person is able to, within themselves, extraordinarily challenging, not to minimize or diminish or make it sound easy, extraordinarily challenging, but a person could reach that level of the רב ר׳ זושא Reb Reb Zusha, a person could live that life and say, 'I've never had a bad day in my life. I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know why the מגיד Maggid sent you to me. I've never actually had a bad day in my life.' So if a person has that attitude, then כולן שוין לטובה kulan shavin l'tovah. And that's exactly what the רב ר׳ זושא Reb Reb Zusha answers this question. למדנו בך כי כל מאורע ומאורע שבא על שרה Lamdeinu boch ki kol me'ora u'me'ora sheba al Sarah, whatever שרה Sarah endured, whatever she went through, אף אם היה קשה ומצער af im hayah kasheh u'metza'er, even if it was challenging and even if it was painful, היתה מתרצה ואומרת גם זו לטובה hayisa misdarezess v'omeres gam zu l'tovah. She understood it's all from השם Hashem. It's all by design. It's all for a reason. It all therefore makes sense. And therefore כשם שחייב אדם לברך על הטובה כך חייב לברך על הרעה k'shem shechayav adam l'varech al hatovah kach chayav l'varech al hara'ah. ומעולם לא חשה שרה בצער כיוון שידעה שהכל בא לה מאת השם יתברך U'me'olam lo chasha Sarah b'tza'ar keivan sheyad'ah shehakol ba la me'es Hashem yisborach. שרה Sarah never wavered in her faith. שרה Sarah never paused or hesitated. For שרה אמנו Sarah Imeinu, כולן שוין לטובה kulan shavin l'tovah. All 127 years were good. Does it mean they were all good? Of course not. We just gave several examples where they weren't good. And yet, she received them, she experienced them as if they were all good because they were from השם Hashem. And whatever's from השם Hashem is by definition for the good. So therefore you see כולן שוין לטובה kulan shavin l'tovah. This wasn't only שרה אמנו Sarah Imeinu, we'll get to it, I hope. But this was also the attitude of her life partner, of her husband. When אברהם Avraham loses his life partner שרה Sarah, and he's essentially rendered irrelevant afterwards. Rabbi Soloveitchik points out that after שרה Sarah leaves, אברהם Avraham lives significantly longer and yet we hear nothing from him because without his other half, he's incomplete and he doesn't have the impact, the influence that he once had before. And yet, is he debilitated? Is he at a loss? Does he challenge השם Hashem? Does he walk away? No. What does the פסוק pasuk describe right after אברהם Avraham takes care of burying his wife? The very next section, page 108, פרק כ״ד פסוק א Perek Chaf-Daled, Pasuk Aleph, chapter 24, verse one, ואברהם זקן בא בימים v'Avraham zaken ba bayamim, והשם ברך את אברהם v'Hashem beirach es Avraham, בכל bakol. אברהם Avraham had reached a ripe old age and השם Hashem blessed אברהם Avraham בכל bakol. And before you get to רש״י Rashi and גמטריאות gematrios and what בכל bakol means, the simple understanding is that אברהם Avraham had an attitude throughout his life. Not only in the joys, the triumphs, the successes, but even after in a moment of grief and loss, והשם ברך את אברהם v'Hashem beirach es Avraham, בכל bakol. Like שרה Sarah, who was שוין לטובה shavin l'tovah her whole life is all equal good, good not in the sense that it was pleasurable, there were painful moments, but good in the sense that if it all comes from God, then by definition it is good. Similarly, אברהם Avraham had an attitude of והשם ברך את אברהם בכל v'Hashem beirach es Avraham bakol, that אברהם Avraham experienced everything he has, if it comes from השם Hashem, then by definition it is good. כל Kol, he has everything, he has everything השם Hashem has determined he should have, and that is the attitude and that is the life he led.Why do I launch, why do I begin with that דבר תורה dvar Torah? First of all, because I think it's very beautiful. I think it's very powerful and I think it is a level that we can be ambitious and strive to achieve in our lives of כולן שוין לטובה kulan shavin l'tovah, even the moments of hardship or challenge, to realize it's from השם Hashem and therefore to receive it all as לטובה l'tovah, to live a life, to get to a level of והשם ברך את אברהם בכל v'Hashem beirach es Avraham bakol. But also because I want to share with you an insight of Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה zecher tzaddik v'kadosh livracha. The world lost, what a terrible, terrible and difficult weekend it was for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, and more than just for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, for the world. The loss of רב דוד פיינשטיין Rav Dovid Feinstein, זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה zecher tzaddik v'kadosh livracha. רב דוד הפוסק של אמריקה Rav Dovid ha'posek shel America, רב דוד הצדיק Rav Dovid ha'tzaddik, we are a loss, we are bereft without his humble and modest leadership and guidance in הלכה halacha. And the world lost Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, who I think is someone so irreplaceable. I'm not gonna take the time to offer my humble impressions of what it means that we lost him, what it means that we lost him. I don't know how many of you listening live or afterwards print out his דבר תורה dvar Torah on the פרשה parsha every week. What will be stuck in our טלית tallis bag? What will make an appearance at our שבת Shabbos table? What will make sense out of contemporary events? Or what will give us a charge for leadership in our lives without him? He was so unusual. And I have many thoughts, but not for now. But I want to share with you the following, and I can't do it justice by repeating it. So I'm going to do something unusual I've never done, which is I want to share for you here in the פרשה parsha class, but I want to share it him in his own words. Around three years ago, January 2018, Rabbi Sacks came to our community to fulfill a promise he had made because of a certain episode that had happened. And he came to speak, and before there was a reception in my house, and at the time I had been thinking about starting a podcast, and I said to him, could he grant me a few minutes to interview because I thought I was going to do a podcast. Meanwhile, that recording sat in my phone and I did nothing with it for three years. But learning the devastating news of his loss, I went back and listened to that recording and determined I had to share it with the world. And yesterday, I posted it. And as everything is בשערט bashert in life, nothing is coincidental, that it wasn't פרשת חיי שרה Parshas Chayei Sarah that he came here to speak. It was January 2018. But for some reason in that conversation, one of the questions I asked, he answered by invoking an insight from פרשת חיי שרה Parshas Chayei Sarah, the very week where the שבת Shabbos in which we are are mourning him, in which his שבעה shiva falls, in which the world feels his absence. So rather than to try to repeat it in his name, I want you to listen to his own words. And I want you to listen to it against the backdrop of כולן שוין לטובה kulan shavin l'tovah. Rabbi Sacks suffered cancer twice in his life before he finally was lost to it this past שבת Shabbos. He suffered from cancer twice, he had hardship, and yet you listen to his voice and you listen to his unwavering faith and it is reminiscent of the רב ר׳ זושא Reb Reb Zusha. It is reminiscent of the attitude of שרה אמנו Sarah Imeinu, כולן שוין לטובה kulan shavin l'tovah, that they were all equal for the good. It's reminiscent and it invokes the image of אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu that והשם ברך את אברהם בכל v'Hashem beirach es Avraham bakol. So I wish I could play for you the whole thing, it's much better use of your time than listening to me this morning. But I just want to play you this part where he talks about the insight from פרשת חיי שרה Parshas Chayei Sarah. I hope you can hear it.You are a beacon of faith. You promote faith, you teach faith, and you've inspired faith not only in the Jewish community and among the Jewish people, but around the world. And my first question is, do you ever struggle with faith? Do you ever feel that you confront doubt? And in those moments of uncertainty, what do you do to overcome it?Okay, let me be very blunt with you. I have had many crises of faith. I have never had a crisis of faith in הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, in God. I have had many, many crises of faith in humanity. As soon as I began to understand the Holocaust, as soon as I began to understand that this took place at the heart of civilized Europe. It was not some third world country or some medieval century. And the biggest question of faith that I have is how come, knowing all this would happen, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu had faith in us. But I never like faith in God because I never expected the impossible from him. I know perfectly well that he put each of us here for a reason, and we are supposed to discern that and walk on ahead. For me, the critical moment that defined my faith was פרשת חיי שרה Parshas Chayei Sarah. It begins with the death of Sarah. There is Abraham, having lost his life companion. He is now 137. He has received from השם Hashem three promises. Number one, I will give you the land. He promised him that seven times. Number two, I will give you children. Four times. I will make you a great nation. They'll be as many as the stars of the sky, as the sand on the seashore. I will make you not one nation, but many nations. And he had one son. And where was the father of many nations? Where was the infinite number of descendants? And what did he do at that moment when he should have had a crisis of faith? He understood that God said, 'Walk on ahead of me.' התהלך לפני והיה תמים Hishalech lefanai veheyeh samim. So what did he do? He bought the first plot of land. He made sure his son got married so that he would have Jewish grandchildren. And then in that strange episode, he takes an additional wife whose name is קטורה Keturah, and he has six more children who become the fathers of many nations. In other words, instead of expecting God to do it for him, he realized that God was expecting him to do the hard work for השם Hashem. Once I understood that, I never, ever had a crisis of faith. Sorry to disappoint you.Not at all, that's very, it's very inspiring. When, when you'reThere's a lot more and a lot worth listening to, to even hear his voice again is is so powerful and painful. And as I said, for another context, another time to hear the reflections, but that that to me, what a powerful insight Rabbi Sacks was sharing. כולן שוין לטובה Kulan shavin l'tovah. והשם ברך את אברהם בכל V'Hashem beirach es Avraham bakol. That one doesn't ever have a crisis of faith in השם Hashem if we realize that we don't work, that he doesn't work for us, we work for him. That his התהלך לפני והיה תמים hithalech lefanai veheyeh samim, that we have to walk in front of him, that we have to be in front of him and be with him, and that that is our mission, that is our mandate, that is our responsibility. And despite all he had been through, Rabbi Sacks, he never had a crisis of faith in השם Hashem. Only he had a crisis of faith in, in other people. All of that is דבר תורה dvar Torah number one, insight number one. Moving right along. I want to share with you an insight we've been learning together, the wonderful ספר אש תמיד Sefer Eish Tamid of רב ישראל מאיר דרוק Rav Yisrael Meir Druk, a great ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva today in ירושלים Yerushalayim. And he has a beautiful insight here. רש״י Rashi tells us ותמת שרה בקרית ארבע היא חברון בארץ כנען Vatamas Sarah b'Kiryas Arba hi Chevron b'eretz Knaan. שרה Sarah passes away in קרית ארבע Kiryas Arba, which is חברון Chevron. ויבא אברהם לספוד לשרה ולבכתה Vayavo Avraham lispod l'Sarah v'livkosa. אברהם Avraham comes in order to eulogize for שרה Sarah and to cry. He cries, of course, the sense of loss of שרה Sarah, and he offers a eulogy for her. אומר רש״י לספוד לשרה ולבכתה Zogt Rashi lispod l'Sarah v'livkosa ונסמכה מיתתה של שרה לעקידת יצחק v'nismicha misasa shel Sarah l'akeidas Yitzchak, של ידי בשורת העקידה שנזדמן בנה לשחיטה she al yedei b'soras ha'akeidah shenizdaman bna l'shchitah, וכמעט לא נשחט v'kim'at lo nishchat, פרחה נשמתה ממנה ומתה parcha nishmasa mimena u'meisa. As we began with, why are we connecting, why does the beginning, Sarah's death, why is it adjacent, why is it juxtaposed to the story of the עקידה Akeidah? What is the connection between the two? So רש״י Rashi tells us the story that when שרה Sarah heard of the close call, just how close a call it was that יצחק Yitzchak almost died because of the עקידה Akeidah, she expired, she left this world. Wonders רב דרוק Rav Druk, ונהי רש״י הביא מדרש חז״ל תמיהה היא מדוע נסמכה מיתתה של שרה לעקידת יצחק V'hinei Rashi heivi midrash Chazal t'miha hi madua nismicha misasa shel Sarah l'akeidas Yitzchak. אבל מדוקדק בדברי רש״י עולה התמיהה מדוע הביא זאת רש״י על קטע לספוד לשרה ולבכתה Aval medukdak b'divrei Rashi ole ha't'miha madua hevi zos Rashi al keta lispod l'Sarah v'livkosa. Why does רש״י Rashi bring that insight, the insight of the juxtaposition of the עקידה Akeidah to the death of שרה Sarah? Why does רש״י Rashi provide that insight, that teaching specifically on the words לספוד לשרה ולבכתה lispod l'Sarah v'livkosa? לכאורה היה לו להביא זאת כבר בתחילת הפסוק על תיבת ותמת שרה L'chorah hayah lo l'havi zos kvar b'tchilas ha'pasuk al teivas V'samas Sarah. When should רש״י Rashi have brought that insight? רש״י Rashi's insight should have been elucidating the words ותמת שרה בקרית ארבע Vatamas Sarah b'Kiryas Arba. שרה Sarah died. What was the cause of death? Her hearing about the story of the עקידה Akeidah. Why does רש״י Rashi wait to share that insight of the cause of death until the words that אברהם Avraham came to eulogize his wife and to cry for her? Good question. The מדקדקי רש״י medakdekei Rashi, for those who are careful, scrupulous, those who look carefully and studying רש״י Rashi, that question should arise. So says רב דרוק Rav Druk, ובביאור הענין נראה לומר U'v'viur ha'inyan nir'eh lomar, ובהתבונן בניסיון העקידה נראה כי על מנת להסתכלות פשוטה נראה שהניסיון הסתיים בכך שאברהם מוכן לשחוט את יצחק בנו U'v'hisbonen b'nisayon ha'Akeidah nir'eh ki al manas l'histaklus p'shutah nir'eh she'hanisayon histayem b'kach she'Avraham muchan lishchot es Yitzchak bno. והקדוש ברוך הוא מנעו מכך v'HaKadosh Baruch Hu mana'o mi'kach. When did the עקידה Akeidah end? The עקידה Akeidah began when השם Hashem tapped him on the shoulder and said, לך לך אל ארץ המוריה lech lecha el eretz haMoriah. I want you to go, I need to ask you to do something. When did the עקידה Akeidah end? If you would have asked me, maybe the עקידה Akeidah ended when the angel called out and said, 'Stop! Drop the knife! Don't do it!' Maybe the עקידה Akeidah ended when he found the ram caught in its horns and instead שחט shachat the ram. Maybe the עקידה Akeidah ended when יצחק Yitzchak and אברהם Avraham hand in hand, arm in arm, walk away from this harrowing experience, forever changed together. But I would have said the עקידה Akeidah ended somewhere in there, at the end of the עקידה Akeidah. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, כי מצידו היה מוסר את הדבר רק לא ניתן לו ניכר בשירת הקדוש ברוך הוא Ki m'tzido hayah moser es ha'davar rak lo nittan lo nikar b'shiras HaKadosh Baruch Hu. ונמצא שעמד בניסיון בשלימות V'nimtza she'amad b'nisayon b'shleimus. האמת היא שבכך לא נסתיים הניסיון Ha'emes hi she'b'kach lo nistayem ha'nisayon. The truth is that the test of the עקידה Akeidah did not end when they walked down from the mountain. כי כאשר שב אברהם לביתו ונודע לו כי בעקבות מעשה זה של העקידה Ki ka'asher shav Avraham l'beiso v'noda lo ki b'ikvos ma'aseh zeh shel ha'Akeidah, שהגיע לאוזני שרה אשתו she'hegia l'oznei Sarah ishto, פרחה נשמתה ממנו ומתה parcha nishmasa mimeno u'meisa. Because what was the result, what was the consequence of the עקידה Akeidah? When אברהם Avraham came down from that mountain, and when אברהם Avraham arrived home, and when אברהם Avraham got the news, the devastating, tragic news that his life partner, that his other half, שרה Sarah was gone, and what was her cause of death? She had heard of the close call of the עקידה Akeidah. אילו היה תועה על הראשונות מחשש לעצמו כי אם לא היה עושה כן יכול היה למנוע מיתת אשתו Ilu hayah to'eh al ha'rishonos machash l'atzmo ki im lo hayah oseh kein yachol hayah limnoa misas ishto. אז בחרטתו על העקידה היה מאבד את כל המעלה עצומה שהגיע לה על ידי הניסיון Az b'charatoso al ha'Akeidah hayah me'abed es kol ha'ma'alah atzumah she'higia la al yedei ha'nisayon. A lesser person, a lesser person than אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, how would they have reacted? What would they have thought? A lesser person would have said to themselves, 'Oh my goodness, what did I just do? What happened? What is the consequence? I should have never done it. I should have never listened. I should have told השם Hashem I can't cross that line. I should have never taken my יצחק Yitzchak. I should never have kept שרה Sarah in the dark.' But אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu instead never wavered. Even after he understood or learned of the consequence of what it cost him, אברהם Avraham understood that when God says jump, you say how high. And אברהם Avraham understood that if שרה Sarah died, it wasn't because of him. It was her time to go because הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu feared, felt, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the Almighty runs the world. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, הרי שהניסיון harei she'hanisayon, the test of the עקידה Akeidah did not end when he got down from the mountain, the test of the עקידה Akeidah indeed continued when he arrived home to find out about the loss of שרה Sarah. And the test continued in challenging him, how would he react? How would he react to this news, to this hardship? נמצא לפי זה שמיתת שרה היא זה המשך ישר לניסיון העקידה Nimtza l'fi zeh she'misas Sarah hi zeh hemshech yashar l'nisayon ha'Akeidah. The death of שרה Sarah is the continuation, the literal continuation of the test of the עקידה Akeidah. כי בכך שאברהם לא נשתכר ואיבד את דעתו על כך שלא התגבר ולא נכנס בו שום רגש חרטה Ki v'kach she'Avraham lo nishkar v'ibed es da'ato al kach she'lo hisgaber v'lo nichnas bo shum regesh charatah. The fact that he had no regret, על ידי זה בא ניסיון העקידה לידי שלימות al yedei zeh ba nisayon ha'Akeidah l'yedei shleimus. That was the completion, that was the fulfillment, that was the conclusion of the test of the עקידה Akeidah. Not when they came down from the mountain, but only when they arrived home to find out that news. מטעם זה מובן מדוע הביא רש״י את המדרש למה נסמכה מיתתה של שרה לניסיון העקידה על המילים לספוד לשרה ולבכתה Mi'ta'am zeh muvan madua hevi Rashi es ha'midrash lama nismicha misasa shel Sarah l'nisayon ha'Akeidah al ha'milim lispod l'Sarah v'livkosa. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, now we understand why did רש״י Rashi specifically bring this teaching of the connection, the juxtaposition of the עקידה Akeidah to the death of שרה Sarah on the words to eulogize שרה Sarah and to cry. כי כאן הוא גמר ניסיון העקידה שלא תהה אברהם על הראשונות Ki kan hu gmar nisayon ha'Akeidah she'lo teha Avraham al ha'rishonos. Because it was specifically in that sense of grief and loss, it was specifically in his eulogizing and his crying where the continuation of the עקידה Akeidah went on. The test continued. So therefore רש״י Rashi specifically brings the teaching that the cause of death was the עקידה Akeidah on the words that he grieved and he cried and he mourned and he eulogized שרה Sarah to teach us that that sense of loss was in fact a continuation of the experience of the עקידה Akeidah. The test of the עקידה Akeidah did not end when he came down from the mountain, the test of the עקידה Akeidah continued.I'll tell you I've seen elsewhere the similar idea that רב דרוק Rav Druk is sharing here that tells us this is the words that we say every night when we make the ברכה bracha השכיבנו Hashkiveinu in our מעריב Maariv דאווענען davening, and we say והסר שטן מלפנינו ומאחרינו v'haseir satan milfaneinu u'mei'achareinu. If you've been with me, you know I love this insight. My favorite דבר תורה dvar Torah, I'm going to share, and I'm not going to apologize for it. I love them, they inspire me, I hope they inspire you. And if you don't like it, I believe in recycling. What can I tell you? I'm a recycler. So what do we mean והסר שטן מלפנינו ומאחרינו v'haseir satan milfaneinu u'mei'achareinu? The שטן מלפנינו satan milfaneinu I understand. Remove the שטן satan, remove the evil urge, remove the appetite for that which is wrong, remove the voice of the יצר הרע yetzer hara, the שטן satan מלפנינו milfaneinu. I got it. The rest of my day I'm going to be tempted to eat the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, look at the wrong thing, go the wrong. I got it. There's a שטן satan, there's a voice of temptation that is attracting me מלפנינו milfaneinu in front of me. What is the שטן מאחרינו satan mei'achareinu? What is the voice of the שטן satan behind me? If it's behind me, what kind of שטן satan is it? If it's behind me and I've already passed it, then what way am I still challenged by it? How could there be a שטן satan which is מאחרינו mei'achareinu? So I saw in several places this exact insight. You know what the שטן מאחרינו satan mei'achareinu is? What, how do we react in life when we do the right thing, but it doesn't work out in the right way? We did the right thing. But you know what? Despite what we were taught sometimes when we're young, doing the right thing, the honest thing doesn't always pay. It doesn't. Sometimes when you do the honest thing or the right thing, it doesn't pay. Will you regret having done the honest thing? There's a journal of education, of Jewish education called תן דעת Tein Daat. And there was once an article in there that I saw that had the following discussion or question. You know, the מנהג minhag is that if a student brings a test up to the teacher and says, you know, you marked a wrong answer correct, you gave me too many points, what do most teachers do? Most teachers say, 'You know what? Because you were honest and because you brought it to my attention, and because you stepped forward, keep the points. I'm not going to deduct them, I'm not going to take them off.' And this article in this Jewish educational journal suggested that that's a terrible mistake. It's a it's a loss of a of a teachable moment. Why? Because you know, if you go to the IRS and you say, 'You know, by accident, you let me keep too much money.' They don't say, 'You know what? Keep it.' You go to the store and you said, 'You know, by accident, you gave me too much change.' They don't say, 'You know what? You were honest, keep the change.' In life, honesty, we're not honest because it pays. Because the truth is most of the time in life honesty doesn't pay. When you do the honest thing, it costs you. When you return the money that you were over were given too much in change, it doesn't pay. We're not honest because it pays, we're honest because we're supposed to be honest. That was the article of this author, the argument of this author. So הסר שטן מלפנינו haseir satan milfaneinu, remove the voice of temptation before me, but also remove the voice from behind me. That even after I've done the right thing, but I've done the right thing and the right thing didn't pay, the right thing didn't pay off, so maybe now I'm going to regret it. Maybe now I'm going to wish I didn't do it. Maybe now I'm going to wish I could turn back time. That's the שטן מאחרינו satan mei'achareinu. And that's the test of the ניסיון nisayon of אברהם Avraham continued. It wasn't over when he came down the mountain. It continued all the way through the episode of שרה Sarah. And says רב דרוק Rav Druk, בזאת נבאר את עוד שאלה נוספת B'zos nevayer es od she'elah nosafes, now we can understand another anomaly in this פסוק pasuk. The פסוק pasuk says, לספוד לשרה ולבכתה lispod l'Sarah v'livkosa. He got the devastating news that his wife had passed away. So what did he do? He eulogized her and then he cried. And I ask you, is that the order? Is that the order? The family of רב דוד פיינשטיין, זצ״ל zatzal, the family and the world who lost Lord Sacks, זצ״ל zatzal, did we first offer eulogies and only then cry? Or does one react by crying, wailing, and only then compose themselves to deliver a eulogy? What is the correct order? Shouldn't it say he first came לבכותה livkosa and then לספוד לשרה lispod l'Sarah? Why is it out of order? It's a famous question, many many many answers are given. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, but now we can understand. He says, דרכה של עולם כי במקום שאין מכירים את הנפטר אז היה כן הספד קודם Darka shel olam ki b'makom she'ein makirim es ha'niftar az hayah kein hesped kodem. You're right, if you didn't know the deceased, first you eulogize and then when you've come to learn about the deceased, then you cry. But when you know the deceased, when she was your other half, she was your life partner, shouldn't you cry first and then? אבל כאן נודע לנו מהיתב שכתוב על גדולתו מעלתו ונשגבותו של אברהם אבינו Aval kan noda lanu me'heitev she'kasuv al gedulaso, ma'alaso v'nisg'vuso shel Avraham Avinu. The פסוק pasuk is testifying to the greatness of אברהם Avraham. Why? Because he withstood this ניסיון nisayon of the עקידה Akeidah until its end. Not just when he got down the mountain, but he withstood the challenge of the עקידה Akeidah all the way through when he came home to find out about שרה Sarah. אילו היה אברהם בוכה על מיתת שרה עוד קודם ההספד Ilu hayah Avraham bocheh al misas Sarah od kodem ha'hesped, היה מקום לפרש בכייתו שהוא מתחרט על מעשה העקידה hayah makom l'faresh bechiyaso she'hu mischarat al ma'aseh ha'Akeidah. If he would have begun to cry before he eulogized, an onlooker, an observer might have erroneously concluded, 'Why is אברהם Avraham crying? Why is he crying? He's not crying about the loss of שרה Sarah. He's crying because he made such a mistake listening to God to do the עקידה Akeidah.' Had he cried before the eulogy, one might have mistakenly concluded that the cause of his crying is regret for the עקידה Akeidah. That's why the תורה Torah tells us, first he eulogized, he held back and suppressed the tears, and he only cried after the eulogy. Why? Because he wanted to make clear that the source of his tears was not regret for the עקידה Akeidah. He was whole with having done the עקידה Akeidah. He he surpassed that test all the way to its end. What was the source of the tears? The source of the tears was crying for the loss of his beloved, of his beloved wife, שרה Sarah. ומהיבן היטב את דקדוק לשון הפסוק U'muvan heitev es dikduk lashon ha'pasuk, and that's why the פסוק pasuk seems to be out of order in this in this way. Okay? That's the first רב דרוק Rav Druk we're going to mention today. Moving right along. The פסוק pasuk tells us, פרק כ״ג פסוק ט״ז Perek Chaf-Gimmel, Pasuk Tes-Vav. כיוון שהתפלל על הדברים אלו, הרי נחשב שהוא זה שעשה את הדברים הללו. Kevan she'hispalel al hadvarim eilu, harei nechshav she'hu zeh she'asah es hadvarim ha'eilu. Because he davened for them, he is considered as if he's the one who brought them. כשאדם מתפלל כהוגן, K'she'adam mispalel k'hogen, when a person davens properly, הרי הוא עושה את הפעולה. harei hu oseh es ha'peulah. Then you get credit for the result. True, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is the source of the result. But you were the one who opened that flow, that storehouse, you created that connection, you enabled השם Hashem to bring that change. לא כמו שנראה לעין, Lo k'mo she'nir'eh l'ayin, not the way it appears on the surface, שהעשיה נעשית על ידי העושה, she'ha'asiyah na'asis al yedei ha'oseh, that it's done, it's brought about by the one who did it, ואין למתפלל שייכות לזה אלא התפילה היא עשיית הדבר. v'ein l'mispalel shayachus l'zeh, ela ha'tefillah hi asiyas ha'davar. The davening is the act of doing.Essentially, the way I understand Rav Druck and the message I think for us is, you know, we often daven for things, and then we move ahead, we move right on, and we don't pause to say thank you. We don't see that our davening was answered. The miracles of today are the positive answer of the תפילה tefillah of the prayer of yesterday. Do we ever pause to say thank you, my prayers are answered. My prayers are answered. So when he's relaying all these miracles, what he's essentially saying is, listen to all the things I did, meaning, I davened for and that came about because of my davening, listen to השם Hashem answered our תפילות tefillos.Wishing everyone a wonderful day. Stay happy, healthy, and holy. Tomorrow morning we continue with מסילת ישרים Mesillas Yesharim 8:15 and living with אמונה emunah 8:45, going behind the bima at 9:00 p.m. Have a
