Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov to everyone. Welcome back for Parsha Perspectives for today. Continues to be amazing to be in person. Give an applause to the people listening online know there are people here. There you go. We're still trying to prove to the people who watch and listen online that I am not sitting here all alone faking that we are back. I want to thank our generous series sponsors for the year, my dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family in loving memory of Becky's father David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מניש l'iluy nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manish. This morning's שיעור shiur is also sponsored by Robin and Eric Frolman in honor of the יארצייט yahrtzeit of Harold DuBow, the 15th of חשוון Cheshvan. Thank you so much for your generosity. If you'd like to sponsor a future שיעור shiur of Parsha Perspectives, Seder Snippets, Living with אמונה Emunah, or any of the other many, many classes we have during the week, simply go online, brsonline.org/sponsor and you can sponsor easily all in one place. We have the privilege this week of learning פרשת וירא Parshas Vayeira. It appears in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash on page 78. We begin פרק י\"ח perek yud ches, chapter 18, picking up where we left off last week. At the end of last week, אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, 99 years old, performs a circumcision on himself. What an extraordinary feat, what a tremendous statement of dedication and devotion to undergo such a surgery, to perform it on himself at such an advanced age without the benefit of anesthesia. And as you can imagine, he is recovering in our parsha. He is bouncing back. וירא אליו ה' באלוני ממרא Vayeira eilav Hashem b'elonei Mamre, והוא יושב פתח האהל כחום היום v'hu yoshev pesach ha'ohel k'chom hayom. God appears to Avraham as, even though he is busy recovering, even though he is coming back, he is healing, he nevertheless positions himself outside of his tent, because אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu is always eager to be hospitable, to host others, to do חסד chesed. For Avram, to be denied or deprived the ability to play host would be more painful than to be in bed recovering from his circumcision. For Avram, if he's not actively engaged in helping others, that is a source of greater pain for him than circumcision without anesthesia. So much to to recognize and appreciate about Avram and so much to feel responsible for as the offspring and progeny of אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu to follow in his footsteps. וישא עיניו וירא Vayisa einav vayar, he raises his eyes and he sees, והנה שלשה אנשים נצבים עליו v'hinei shlosha anashim nitzavim alav. There are three men hovering over, three men standing over him. וירא וירץ לקראתם Vayar vayarotz likrasam, he gets up and he runs with alacrity, with zeal to greet them, מפתח האהל mi'pesach ha'ohel, from the entrance of the tent, וישתחו ארצה vayishtachu artza, and bow down, and they bow toward the ground. So there are a lot of themes in our parsha which are repetitive. There are several themes in our parsha which continuously repeat themselves, and we'll try to visit some of them. Some of them have to do with דאווענען davening. Some of them have to do with advocacy, have to do with praying for other people, we'll come back to that. Some of it has to do with alacrity. We're not going to cover that today, but this is the source in the Torah for זריזין מקדימין למצוות zerizin makdimin l'mitzvos, the notion that we don't delay and we don't procrastinate, we don't wait, but when we have an opportunity to do a מצוה mitzvah, we jump. We do it right away. We do it as early as possible. That's why though the whole day from sunrise to sunset is kosher for a ברית מילה bris milah, nevertheless, most of us have been to, maybe we've hosted a ברית bris that happens early in the morning, because זריזין מקדימין למצוות zerizin makdimin l'mitzvos. We have another bris tomorrow morning, ברוך ה' baruch Hashem. So the אמונה שיעור Emunah shiur tomorrow is going to be at 9:45, not 8:45 again. Adjust your calendar and your coffee intake, 9:45 not 8:45, because ברוך ה' baruch Hashem we have another bris. כן ירבו Kein yirbu, we should have to move every שיעור shiur because we welcome new babies each and every day with God's help. So a bris is first thing in the morning. פדיון הבן Pidyon haben is often first thing in the morning. How come weddings are at night? If it's a מצוה mitzvah to get married, why don't we make weddings after the 7:00 a.m. מנין minyan? Why are there some מצוות mitzvos that we seem to expedite, some מצוות mitzvos that we do early on and quickly, and other מצוות mitzvos that we delay and we schedule later in the day without any hesitation? Because the florist and the caterer won't be ready? Hair and makeup would have to begin at 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m.? Why don't we do the wedding? Oh, that's what I miss. The laugh at even the bad jokes that I make. Wow, I've missed you the last year and a half. It's good to have you back. It's good to have you back. So why don't we do it early in the morning? So we're not going to cover that. Rav Asher Weiss discusses it in his מנחת אשר Minchas Asher, the discussion of when do we apply זריזין מקדימין למצוות zerizin makdimin l'mitzvos and when do we not apply it? Is זריזין מקדימין למצוות zerizin makdimin l'mitzvos a מצוה דאורייתא mitzvah d'Oraisa or דרבנן d'Rabbanan? Is it a biblical commandment or a rabbinic commandment? Is it, and I'll leave it at this, the למדוס lamdus, this is a quasi חבורה chaburah. The למדוס lamdus. Is זריזין מקדימין למצוות zerizin makdimin l'mitzvos, the idea that you do a מצוה mitzvah as early as possible and you do it with alacrity and enthusiasm, is that part and parcel of the מצוה mitzvah or is it a separate, secondary, corollary to the מצוה mitzvah? What do I mean? When you do a מצוה mitzvah first thing, early on, with energy, when we get upstairs after 120, do we get two checks in the same box called bris? Or one check in the box called bris and another check in another box, a separate independent מצוה mitzvah called זריזין מקדימין zerizin makdimin, do it early on? What's a נפקא מינה nafka mina? What's the practical difference between the two? Can you fulfill זריזין מקדימין zerizin makdimin even before the time of the מצוה mitzvah? The earliest that you could do a bris is at sunrise. Can you lay out the instruments and prepare the baby and have everything ready to go beforehand so that, the moment sunrise hits, you do the bris, have you fulfilled זריזין מקדימין zerizin makdimin early on? Or no, זריזין מקדימין zerizin makdimin can only be fulfilled from the time of the מצוה mitzvah itself. If I just lost you, come back home. We're coming back now. We're coming back now. There's a lot to say on that topic. I'm excited by it, but it is not for now. So there's several themes that repeat themselves in this. Here Avram is recovering. He's recovering from circumcision. You would imagine it would take a little time, a little healing, a little rehab, and he is running, eager, zeal, and enthusiasm because he has guests and he has to feed them. ויהי שלשה אנשים נצבים עליו v'hinei shlosha anashim nitzavim alav, there are three, what he thinks of are men. We really know that they are angels, but they appear to him to be men. The קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, the Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev says the following comment, I found fascinating. Vayar vayarotz likrasam. So the זוהר Zohar says, the זוהר Zohar says, who were these three men? אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Now that's a little problematic. Why? Because Avram is the one greeting the three men. So what does it mean Avram is greeting אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov? He what happens? Vayar, he sees, first of all, it's also another theme of our parsha we'll come back to. Vayisa einav vayar. He has to raise his eyes to see. What was he doing? Why did it take him to raise his eyes? Why didn't he see them until they were standing over him, until they were standing on top of him? What is the notion of what we see and what we don't see? So the זוהר Zohar says, this great book of Jewish mysticism, mystically says, who are the three men that Avram sees? None other than אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. What in the world does that mean? He is Avram. Yitzchak hasn't been born yet. Yaakov is his grandson. What does it mean those are the three men? We know they're three angels. They come to perform different missions. They take the guise, the appearance of men. What does that mean? Thank God, we have Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev to explain it. Says the holy קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi. הנה אברהם היה לו כאב מן המילה Hinei Avraham haya lo ke'eiv min ha'milah. Avram was in pain from the circumcision. ובכל חולי יש מידת רחמנות עליו U'v'chol choleh yesh midas rachmanus alav. When it comes to a sick person, we have tremendous mercy. We have compassion for someone who is sick. ואף על פי כן התחזק ורץ לקראתם ונהג במידת הגבורה v'af al pi kein hischazek v'ratz likrasam v'nahag b'midas ha'gevurah. So Avram was sick and had every reason in the world to be a spectator, to be passive. Avram legitimately would have every excuse in the world to sit and to receive the kindness of others. I'm sure there was a meal train set up for Avram and Sarah. I'm sure there's bikur cholim that was visiting Avram and Sarah. There was probably the Satmar bikur cholim in the desert outside of his tent. They had their own tent pitched in order to deliver incredible meals to Avram. Normally, the sick person who is recovering is in the is receiving חסד chesed. What did Avram do? He dug deep inside himself and despite recuperating, despite having every reason to be a spectator, he expresses and he exerts what מידה mida? גבורה gevurah. ולכן זכה לנשמה של יצחק שהוא מידה זו V'lachein zacha l'neshama shel Yitzchak she'hu mida zu. If Avram is characterized by חסד chesed, by loving kindness, Yitzchak is defined and characterized by what? גבורה Gevurah, strength. Yitzchak perseveres and survives the עקידה akeidah at the end of our parsha, the attempt to kill him. Not an attempt, but the test of killing him. Yitzchak has to redig wells. Yitzchak has to confront the פלישתים Plishtim. Yitzchak is גבורה gevurah, he's might, he's strength, he's tenacity. ונמצא שיש כאן מידת אברהם ויצחק V'nimtza she'yesh kan midas Avraham v'Yitzchak. And what happens? ובכל מקום שיש אברהם ויצחק שם יש יעקב U'v'chol makom she'yesh Avraham v'Yitzchak, sham yesh Yaakov. What's Yaakov's quality? אמת Emes. אמת Emes is the blending, אמת emes is the hybrid between חסד chesed and גבורה gevurah combined. חסד Chesed and גבורה gevurah seem to be antithetical to one another. Loving kindness, generosity, sensitivity, flexibility, as opposed to גבורה gevurah, which is to be rigid and strong. What is the combination of the two is Yaakov. וזהו וירא והנה שלשה אנשים אברהם יצחק ויעקב V'zehu vayar v'hinei shlosha anashim, Avraham, Yitzchak, v'Yaakov. So says Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, what it means is the following. And now it goes from being something so cryptic and what in the world does it mean to being something I find so beautiful and and incredibly inspiring. A person has to live their life and know that when we have to make decisions, when we have to choose our behavior, in every moment and for everything we do, we are impacting ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren. What does he see before him? He sees who he will be, who his son will be, and who his grandson will be. These three men that appear before him are אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. It means he says to himself, there are three hungry, tired people. If I use my excuse that I'm recovering and recuperating, then who will I be? Will I be the Avram of חסד chesed? If I don't display גבורה gevurah in this moment, will I be able to have a son who is characterized by גבורה gevurah? And if I can't combine the two and maintain that equilibrium and balance between חסד chesed and גבורה gevurah, will I produce a Yaakov whose אמת emes? So it goes from being a cryptic comment to a very beautiful insight of Rav Levi Yitzchak, that at every moment and every decision we have to ask ourselves not what's the easy way out, what's comfortable, what's convenient, but what will define me? What will contribute to defining my children and my grandchildren, my legacy? And that's what can enable us to find that inner strength. Sometimes we're tired. I'm very tired. We're all very tired. It's been a very taxing couple of years, emotionally, physically, spiritually. And there are moments that are presented to us, whether to come to the shiur this morning, whether to come in person to the shiur, whether to daven with all of our being, we're going to talk about the power of תפילה tefillah and some of the ingredients of תפילה tefillah today. We are challenged in different moments and it's tempting to take that easy way out. And we have legitimate excuses just like Avram had when he was busy recuperating. But yet Avram recognized that what was at stake at that moment was not just that moment. What was at stake was who he would be, who his children would be, and who his grandchildren would be. And so says Rav Levi Yitzchak, that's what it means that he raises his eyes and he sees והנה שלשה אנשים נצבים עליו v'hinei shlosha anashim nitzavim alav. These three people, these three generations, they're standing over him. Before us in our mind's eye, we should always see these generations and ask ourselves, who do we need to be and how do we need to conduct ourselves to make that impact on these generations. You see this also in another way. What happens? פרק י\"ח פסוק ז' Perek Yud Ches pasuk zayin. So he welcomes these angels and he says that he thinks are men, wash your feet. He's concerned they've been engaged in עבודה זרה avodah zarah. What do you see about this by the way? Was Avram only hospitable to היימישע אידן heimishe Yidden? Did Avram only welcome to his tent somebody with a יארמולקע yarmulke on their head? Was Avram only willing to display loving kindness to people who are exactly like him? Whom does Avram invite into his tent? People he suspects of עבודה זרה avodah zarah. That's who he's inviting in. Momentarily he's going to advocate and lobby and daven on behalf of the people of Sdom. He's not davening, Hashem, there's a צדיק tzaddik in the hospital. You don't know this צדקת tzadekes, you have to spare her, give her a רפואה שלמה refuah shleimah. He's saying, Hashem, there's a רשע rasha that I know, a רשע מרושע rasha merusha, רשעים ארורים reshaim arurim, and yet, I'm intervening on their behalf. That's Avram, that's our legacy. We are the בני אברהם bnei Avraham, we are the children of Avram. We don't only care about and we don't only intervene on behalf of those who are exactly like us or who meet our standards, or who live our lifestyle, or meet our approval. Avram welcomes in people he thinks are עבודה זרה avodah zarah, they have to wash their feet. Avram advocates for people who he knows are רשעים reshaim. So what does he do? He prepares for them, אל הבקר רץ אברהם el habakar ratz Avraham. Avraham doesn't stop running. Running, running, running. He is recovering and recuperating. He's on crutches, he's got a walker, he's in a wheelchair, he's got a cane. He just has had circumcision. He's 99 years old. Without a circumcision at 99 years old, you could use those apparatuses. He's 99 and just freshly and newly circumcised. And yet, again, he's running. Running, running, running, doing, doing, doing. ויקח בן בקר V'yikach ben bakar, רך וטוב rach v'tov, on pasuk zayin verse 7. ויתן אל הנער וימהר לעשות אתו V'yiten el ha'naar v'yemaher la'asos oso. He goes, notice by the way, when you have guests, you don't go get the Milchigs. He does not take out an Impossible Burger. He goes and he goes to the steak. What else are you going to go if you're going to properly be hospitable and host guests? It's part of my life mission to represent the carnivores among us. So Avram runs and he goes and he takes out a nice piece of fleishig. And tender and good, delicious, and he gives it אל הנער el ha'naar, el ha'naar. Says רש\"י Rashi, why is he giving it to the נער naar? What happened? Did he run out of steam? Did he run out of energy? This is the same Avram that jumped at the opportunity when he saw the three people. This is the same Avram, he's running. He wants to choose the rib steak, the strip steak, the hanger steak, he wants to choose the the cut of meat. And all of a sudden he's handing it over. Why is he handing it over? ויתן אל הנער V'yiten el ha'naar, he's handing it over to the lad. Says רש\"י Rashi, זו ישמעאל zu Yishmael. Who is this young man that he's handing it over to? There's only one young man so far in his life, that's ישמעאל Yishmael. יצחק Yitzchak has not yet arrived, that's why the angels are here. And what's the reason he's giving it to ישמעאל Yishmael? Says רש\"י Rashi, לחנכו במצוות l'chancho b'mitzvos. In order to educate him, to engage him, to involve him in the process of מצוות mitzvos. So in this beautiful sefer called the צדקי עליון Sidchei Elyon, another new sefer I have, when you give the parsha shiur so many years, you got to stay on your toes and constantly get new ספרים sfarim. So this is a fantastic, the צדקי עליון Sidchei Elyon is לימודי פרשת השבוע limudei parshas hashavua that are taking from רבותינו בעלי המוסר raboseinu ba'alei ha'mussar. So we have our we have our מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos of חסידות Chassidus, and we have our essential מקראות גדולות Mikraos Gedolos of מוסר Mussar personalities, phenomenal compendiums. People did the hard work for us. Otherwise, I'd have to have bookcases and libraries up here if each one were in a separate sefer. They took the best of, put them in ספרים sfarim, and I'm trying to take the best of what they took the best of to share with you. So in this beautiful ספר צדקי עליון sefer Sidchei Elyon it says the following. אברהם אבינו השתוקק להכנסת אורחים וזכה בה Avraham Avinu hishtokeik l'hachnasas orchim v'zacha bah. Avram is longing, he's waiting. Avram doesn't sit by the phone and when he sees it's the shul calling and maybe someone needs to be hosted, he doesn't answer. Avram keeps calling the shul and he says, \"nu, you haven't called me in forever. Doesn't anyone need a meal? Doesn't anyone need a room? Doesn't anyone need hospitality?\" By the way, nobody does that if you'd like to sign up to be like Avram, we could use your help. וכשזכה, רץ מרוב זריזות עצומה U'k'she'zacha, ratz m'rov zerizus atzuma. And we see that when he merits that these angels appear, he runs. במשך שני פסוקים אלו הוזכר ארבע פעמים ריצה וזריזות B'meshech shnei psukim eilu huzkar arba pa'amim ritza u'zerizus. Four times we find in these two פסוקים psukim, running. וימהר אברהם V'yemaher Avraham, ויאמר מהרי vayomer mahari, ואל הבקר רץ v'el habakar ratz, וימהר לעשות אתו v'yemaher la'asos oso. Two פסוקים psukim, four references to the alacrity and zeal and the running. פרט לזריזותיו בביצוע המצוה, בעצם עניין הזריזות, מצוה בפני עצמה היא בחז\"ל, כמובא ברשב\"ם: הוא שכיון שהכירן שהיו מזדרזין. K'muva ba'Rashbam: Hu shekeivan she'hikiran she'hayu mizdarezin. He saw they were in a rush, so he was in a rush, and this is the source that we don't do things slowly, and we don't do things hesitantly and reluctantly, but we reflect the attitude we bring by the zeal that we apply. בסוף כל זריזותו זו כזבה של התורה B'sof kol zerizuso zo, k'zava shel ha'Torah. And in the middle of all this, all of a sudden you see Avram goes to the freezer, he chooses the cut of meat, and ויתן אל הנער v'yiten el ha'naar. What happened? Four times he's running himself, and all of a sudden he's handing it off. Rashi, לחנכו במצוות l'chancho b'mitzvos. משמע שלא היה צריך כלל עזרה הנער. Mashma she'lo haya tzarich klal ezras ha'naar. What do you see from Rashi? Rashi says Avram's entire motivation of why he gave it over to Yishmael was why? To include him in the process, to educate him. Which means that did he really need Yishmael's help? No, Avram's got it. He's covered it till now, and he can man a barbecue with the best of like anyone else. He doesn't really need Yishmael. כל מטרתו הייתה לחנכו במצוות Kol mataroso haysa l'chancho b'mitzvos. His entire reason why he involved Yishmael was to educate. רואים נקודה נפלאה Ro'im nekuda nifla'ah, say the Baalei Mussar, we see a very powerful point. איך למרות כל להבתו וזריזותו לא שכח גם לקיים מצות חינוך Eich l'maros kol lehavaso v'zrizuso lo shachach gam l'kayeim mitzvas chinuch. Sometimes in our zeal and our alacrity and our enthusiasm, sometimes in our excitement for מצוות mitzvos or for life, we leave the children behind. We're running out to the beis medrash. We're running out to shul. We're running out to the fabrengen and the tish. We're running out to get together. We're running out to do the mitzvah. And we leave the children behind. We leave them home alone. We leave them in our dust. That wasn't Avram. דוקא בגלל הזריזות הוא מצא מקום בסוף כל זה לחנכו Davka biglal ha'zerizus, hu matza makom b'sof kol ze l'chancho. In the middle of this zerizus, davka in the middle of running and doing, Avram realizes that part of the fulfillment of running and doing is involving Yishmael, is involving the next generation. Our מצוות mitzvos can't come at the expense of our children. They are the invitation and opportunity to involve and engage our children. To bring them with us to the hospital for the visit, to bring them with us to drop off that meal, to bring them with us to the fabrengen or the tish, to bring them with us to the oneg, to bring them with us to the beis medrash, to not leave them behind but to lead by example. פרק י\"ח פסוק י\"ז Perek Yud Ches pasuk yud zayin. Turn the page. We are flying today. Turn two pages. ויאמר ה' המכסה אני מאברהם אשר אני עשה. ובן יהיה לגוי גדול ועצום ונברכו בו כל גויי הארץ. v'Avraham hayo yihyeh l'goy gadol v'atzum v'nivrichu vo kol goyei ha'aretz. Avram's going to be a great nation. This is Sdom's destruction. כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו ושמרו דרך ה' לעשות צדקה ומשפט למען הביא ה' על אברהם את אשר דיבר עליו. Ki yadativ l'maan asher y'tzaveh es banav v'es beiso acharav v'shamru derech Hashem la'asos tzedakah u'mishpat, l'maan havi Hashem al Avraham eis asher diber alav. Hashem is about to reveal something to Avraham. He's about to let him in on an intelligence briefing that nobody else in the world has. Says Hashem, \"I have been utterly disappointed by the absolute corruption of the people of Sdom, of these five cities, and it's time to wipe them out.\" This is a microcosm of Parshas Noach. Just like in Noach, humanity globally disappointed God, he did a hard reboot, a hard reset. Now, a microcosm, this is a specific region who are disappointing and violating the very reason God created a world, and God does a hard reset on them. But he says, this special relationship with Avraham, I can't hold this from Avraham. I got to tell him in advance. I got to give him some advanced warning. This is a I've got to I've got to give him a briefing. And why? Why does Hashem feel compelled? What drives him? So Hashem doesn't conceal that from us. He tells us this pasuk. Chapter 18 verse 19, פרק י\"ח פסוק י\"ט perek yud ches pasuk yud tes. כי ידעתיו Kiyadativ, because I know, למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו l'maan asher y'tzaveh es banav v'es beiso acharav. Avram is devoted to his children and his grandchildren. ושמרו דרך ה' V'shamru derech Hashem, they observe the way of Hashem, they do צדקה ומשפט tzedakah u'mishpat. They don't just shuckle hard and have very good, which are very, very important and I try to do myself, but they also do משפט וצדקה mishpat u'tzedakah. They're also very consumed by justice and charity, interpersonal, representing the underprivileged. למען הביא ה' על אברהם את אשר דבר עליו L'maan havi Hashem al Avraham eis asher diber alav. Now we've spoken about this pasuk a lot in the past and I'm not going to repeat it because a good friend of mine who made a brief appearance here at the shiur pointed out that I my favorite דיברי תורה divrei Torah make their way into every parsha shiur. So you'll have to listen to a previous year if you want to hear more about this pasuk that I love. The Rambam's שביל הזהב shvil ha'zahav comes from this pasuk. The Rambam, don't live in extremes. You have to live the golden mean, comes from this pasuk. Previously we spoke about where. The fact that Hashem is telling Avram, \"You know why I love you? Not because of you. I love you because you are committed to transmit what you have to your children, not at the expense of your children.\" Again, continuing a similar, a similar theme. So listen to what the Chofetz Chaim says on this pasuk. This is new. The Chofetz Chaim says the following. The Chofetz Chaim appears not in his Chofetz Chaim on on the Chumash, but it's in his sefer Nidchei Yisrael. The Chofetz Chaim wrote many sfarim. Some of them became much more well-known than others. So, his name wasn't Chofetz Chaim. Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin. His mother called him Yisrael Meir. She didn't say, \"Chofetz Chaim, come for dinner. Chofetz Chaim, did you do your homework?\" He had a name. But certain people became known by the name of their sfarim. The Noda B'Yehuda, the Avnei Nezer, these became so well-known, they became known by the name of their sfarim. So the Chofetz Chaim's name was Yisrael Meir Kagan and he wrote several sfarim. You can have there's a three-volume set that for many years collected dust on my shelf because someone got it for me from my Bar Mitzvah, and only when I was an adult that I appreciate that I even owned it. And thank God, unlike many Bar Mitzvah kids, I did not put it in sheimos in the interim. Sometimes I've gone through sheimos and I find the Bar Mitzvah gifts that I've given out. It's always a good, always a good feeling. Anyway, but it's good for repurposing. That's why Hashem created Wite-Out. So the Chofetz Chaim, just joking. The Chofetz Chaim says the following. It's in his sefer Nidchei Yisrael, perek yud, and he writes the following. באמת היו בזמנו כמה עבדי ה' שהיו בבית המדרש של שם ועבר שהיו במדרגת נביאים. B'emes hayu b'zmano kama ovdei Hashem she'hayu b'veis ha'medrash shel Shem v'Ever she'hayu b'madregas nevi'im. In the generation of the time of Avram, there were other righteous people. Avram was not the only one. He stood out for reasons we spoke about last Shabbos, and maybe we'll review this morning, but there were others because שם ועבר Shem v'Ever who were predecessors of Avram had a ישיבה yeshiva, ישיבת שם ועבר Yeshivas Shem v'Ever. The yeshiva had students. כמלך מלכי צדק מלך שלם הוא כהן לאל עליון. Kemo she'namar Malki Tzedek melech Shalem hu kohen l'Keil elyon. Malki Tzedek is a priest, a righteous priest. שזה כהן לשם She'ze kohen l'Shem. We know that Malki Tzedek was Shem, Rashi tells us. וכן עבר אמרו עליו חז\"ל שהיה נביא גדול, ושנקרא שמו פלג. V'chein Ever amru alav Chazal she'haya navi gadol, v'she'nikra shmo Peleg. כמפרש רש\"י K'mefareish Rashi. ומכל אלו לא נשארו אלא עבדי ה', ואף על פי כן, לא יצא מהם אומה או אפילו משפחה שתזכה להיות עבדי ה' לעולם הזה U'mi'kol eilu lo nish'aru ela ovdei Hashem, v'af al pi kein, lo yotza mehem umah o afilu mishpacha she'tizkeh l'hiyos ovdei Hashem b'olam ha'zeh. So the Chofetz Chaim wonders, there were other righteous contemporaries of Avram. Shem and Ever, they even in fact had a yeshiva. So why aren't they the fathers of a nation? Why is Avram Avinu, why is Avram the אב המון גוים av ha'hamon goyim? Avram is the father of all great nations. Avram is the patriarch of the Jewish people, the chosen people, and Shem v'Ever who were righteous, had a yeshiva, lived contemporaneous to Avram, and they are footnotes to history. What is the difference between them? Says the Chofetz Chaim. גילתה לנו התורה הטעם שלא נדע. Gilta lanu ha'Torah ha'ta'am she'lo neida. The Torah itself tells us the reason, it doesn't hide it. You don't have to guess. שהיו כולם עובדי ה' בעצמם. She'hayu kulam ovdei Hashem b'atzmam. אבל אברהם אבינו עליו השלום היה נאמן לה' יותר מכולם או אברהם אהבי Aval Avraham Avinu alav ha'shalom haya oheiv ne'eman la'Hashem yoser mi'kulam o Avraham ohovi. התבונן בעצמו לייסד דבר Hisbonen b'atzmo l'yased davar. So the rest of them, says the Chofetz Chaim, the rest of them kept their relationship to Hashem to themselves. They kept it to themselves. They worshipped Hashem personally and privately. They involved Him in their life, in their own private and personal life. Avraham Avinu got up on a soapbox. Avraham Avinu broadcast the message everywhere and to anyone who would listen, there is a God, there is one God. Enough with the shtus of paganism and idolatry. Stop worshipping the mighty dollar, celebrities, pop culture, athletes. Stop worshipping social media. There's one Hashem, and there's meaning in life when we attach ourselves to Him. Avram told the world. You're right, they were righteous. And you're right, they also practiced monotheism, but they kept it to themselves. Avram shared it with the world. We spoke about last Shabbos, that really the Rambam in his introduction to Hilchos Avodah Zarah tells the whole history of religion, and tells us that from the beginning of time, there were monotheists, Adam, Enosh, Mesushelach, and so on and so forth. What distinguished and differentiated Avram, and the reason he's the father, the patriarch, not only of our people, but in many ways of all people, is because Avram didn't keep it to himself. He shared it with the world. למען, כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה. L'maan, ki yadativ l'maan asher y'tzaveh. כי ידעתיו Ki yadativ, I know. I know. Rav Wolbe points out, this we did say last year, Hashem is trying to express his affection for Avram. \"Avram, I love you. Avram, you're great. I feel so close to you. I feel so connected with you. I could never withhold this from you.\" And what word does he use to express affection? כי ידעתיו Ki yadativ. You know how you express affection? When you come to know somebody. If you don't ever care enough to know about them, you don't really love them. You don't love them. There are the people that every time you get together with them, all they do is talk about themselves, and they never ask you one question about you. And if you're sharing about you, they have no interest in hearing about you. And then they claim to be your close friend or close family member or that they love you. But if somebody doesn't have the interest or the patience to inquire about you, then they don't have a lot of affection for you. One of the ways, a critical way to express affection is to care enough to get to know people. This is a big signal when I talk to young people about dating. On that date, on that date, did they ask you about you? Or do they only want to talk about themselves? That is a big red flag if they never have an interest in asking about you. If all they want to do is talk about them, then they're not going to be very affectionate. There's not going to be a whole lot of love. So says Rav Wolbe, כי ידעתיו kiyadativ, the word that the Torah uses to express Hashem's affection is כי ידעתיו kiyadativ. Hashem says, \"I know you. I know you. We spend time together. I ask about you and I watch you and I observe you and I listen to you and I hear what's going on in your life. I know you.\" And that's the expression of affection. That is how you know whether someone really loves someone else or not. Let's keep going. פרק י\"ח פסוק כ Perek Yud Ches pasuk chaf. ויאמר ה' זעקת סדם ועמרה כי רבה וחטאתם כי כבדה מאד Vayomer Hashem, za'akas Sdom va'Amora ki raba v'chatasam ki chavda me'od. Hashem says, \"Bad news, bad stuff going on down there. Corruption, iniquity, there's moral decadence, moral descent.\" So what does Hashem do? ארדה נא Eirda na, perek, pasuk kaf aleph. ארדה נא ואראה הכצעקתה הבאה אלי עשו כלה ואם לא אדעה Eirda na v'er'eh haketza'akasa haba'ah elai asu kalah v'im lo eida'ah. Hashem says, \"I got to go down and check it out. Let me see what's going on down there.\" And of course the question begs itself, \"Go down to check it out? What happened to the omnipotent, omniscient God? Doesn't he know everything from wherever he is? Why does he have to come down to take a closer look?\" So we mentioned this two parshios ago, because מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel, it says the same thing. God says, \"Let me go down to see what's going on.\" How come when we mess up, Hashem has to come down? He can't give us a patch from up there? He has to come down to check it out to see for himself. So Rashi says the same thing in both places. Look at Rashi here, pasuk kaf aleph. למד לדיינים Limed l'dayanim, this is a teaching for judges, שלא יפסקו דיני נפשות אלא בראיה she'lo yifsku dinei nefashos ela b're'iyah. And he said the same thing earlier in Parshas Haflaga, ארדה נא על סוף מעשיהם eirda na al sof ma'aseihem, let me go down and check out. And the message is true in both places. Do not have an opinion until you see for yourself. Says God, \"I'm omnipotent and omniscient. I'm infinite and all knowing. And yet, I go check it out for myself. I don't listen secondhand. I don't take someone else's word. I don't rush to judgment. I don't make conclusions. I go check it out for myself, and so should you. Don't come to conclusions without seeing for yourself. Without talking to the person, without hearing both sides, without knowing what's going on. ארדה נא Eirda na,\" Hashem says, \"Let me model for you what you need to do. You cannot come to conclusions. You cannot come to judgment through secondhand or third hand information. You have to come down, you have to see, you have to know for yourself.\" We mentioned Rav Schwab. Rav Schwab says that from Hashem's high perch where he is perfect, it's very hard to be tolerant of the imperfections of others. And that's what it means Hashem says, \"Let me come down. Let me come down to humanity. Let me come down to this earth. Let me look at it and think about it through your perspective, a world of temptation, a world of stress and anxiety, a world of challenge and desire. And when I can look at it through your eyes, when I can look at it through the eyes of someone who struggles, ארדה נא eirda na, let me come down, now I can be more tolerant, more forgiving, now I can understand it with empathy and sympathy.\" And that's what we need to do. Sometimes we look at people with such intolerance. Can't believe they behave that way. My family would never do such a thing. We have to get out of our ivory tower and come off of our high horse and come down and realize that people aren't perfect and life isn't easy. And we have to grow and learn in our tolerance for others. That's why Rav Schwab writes that we just concluded the Yom Kippur, the Yomim Noraim season, particularly on Yom Kippur in Neilah, Selichos, we repeat the Yud Gimmel Midos, we invoke God's 13 attributes of mercy, and what do we always say beforehand? We introduce it with? וירד ה' Vayered Hashem. Hashem, come down. If you're going to have mercy with on us, it's only because you're see from our level, from our perspective, from our perspective. Okay. There's a beautiful piece by Rav Druk. Rav Druk is going to be here this Shabbos in Boker. He's going to speak at Shalosh Seudos this week. You're invited to hear Rav Yisrael Meir Druk. We spent many months learning his Eish Tomid on parsha. We didn't do this piece, but in honor of Rav Druk coming this Shabbos, I'll share a piece from his sefer. יש לעיין כי הכתוב לא אמר מה יעשה לו בסוף, האם באמת יירד? chazarah. So listen to her. Listen to her, the beautiful insight by Rav Soloveitchik on those words, but we don't have time for it. So Avram does listen to her and throws Yishmal out of the house. And what does it say? פרק כ\"א פסוק י\"ד Perek Chaf Aleph Pasuk Yud Daled. וישכם אברהם בבוקר Vayashkem Avraham baboker. Again, you see the theme of Avram waking up early in the morning, alacrity, zeal, זריזות zrizus. ויקח לחם וחמת מים ויתן אל הגר Vayikach lechem v'chemes mayim vayeitain el Hagar, שם על שכמה sam al shichma. He packed her lunch. What a good hubby, while he's throwing her out of the house. Here's her lunch box. Puts את הילד וישלחה es ha'yeled v'yishalcheha. He puts it on her shoulder, gives her the boy, his boy, Yishmal, sends them off, sends them off.אתו אברהם אבינו Oso Avraham Avinu, we'll close with these words of the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim of the ויז'ניצר רבי Vizhnitzer Rebbe. אתו אברהם אבינו Oso Avraham Avinu, שהכניס בצל קורתו כל דכפין מכל אומה ולשון shehichnis b'tzel koraso kol dichfin mikol uma v'lashon, להאכילם ולהשקותם l'haachilam v'l'hashkosam. The this פרשה parsha is a paradox. The פרשה parsha begins with Avram welcoming idolaters. It begins with Avram who cannot stand not expressing hospitality and love and sensitivity and kindness. And the same Avram who can't help but be hospitable, אשר התפלל על אנשי סדום להצילם מירד שחת asher hispallel al anshei S'dom l'hatzilam m'yered shachas. The same Avram who intervenes and intercedes and advocates and davens for the wicked people of Sdom. וחרף את נפשו למוס בצאת למלחמה נגד ד' מלכים כדי להציל את לוט V'chiref es nafsho l'muss b'tza'as l'milchama neged dalet melachim k'dei l'hatzil es Lot, שאינו אף על פי שלא התנהג ברצונו she'eino af al pi she'lo hisnaheg b'ratzono. The same Avram who welcomes idolatrous angels, the same Avram who davens for Sdom, the same Avram who goes to battle the four things of the five kings because he thinks there's an injustice, the same Avram who rescues Lot even though Lot's a disappointment, הוא מגרש את בנו ישמעאל בכל ימי עמו המדברה hu me'garesh es bno Yishmael b'chol yemay amo ha'midbara? Same Avram is the one who can't stand injustice, who stands up and advocates for the underprivileged, who helps those who don't have, is now going to throw his wife and son to the curb? ללמדך L'lamedcha. Says the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, the ויז'ניצר Vizhnitzer. אף על פי שהיה מוכן אפילו להשליך נפשו מנגד כדי להציל נפש אחת Af al pi she'haya muchan afilu l'hashlich nafsho mineged kedei l'hatzil nefesh achas, Avram will give his entire life in order to save another soul. וברגע שקיים חשש לפגם בנשמה Uv'rega she'kayin chashash l'p'gam b'neshama, אין חכמה ואין עצה ואין תבונה נגד ה' ein chochma v'ein eitza v'ein tvuna neged Hashem. When he thinks that his son is spiritually in danger, there is no compassion anymore.Avram, while he's the most compassionate person that ever lived, when it comes to protecting and securing the spiritual safety of his son, he has no compassion. ומאחר שהתחברותו עם אנשי דלא מעלי גורמת לפגם בנשמה U'mei'achar she'is'chabruso im anshei d'lo ma'alei goremes l'p'gam b'neshama. If his son were to be exposed to or attached to, if his son were to be tempted by influences which would corrupt him, Avram has no patience. התאכזר אפילו על בני משפחתו His'achzar afilu al bnei mishpachto. He found the ability to be cruel even with his own wife and even with his own flesh and blood son. ושלח את לוט מעליו V'shalach es Lot mei'alav. He gets rid of Lot. וגרש את ישמעאל להפרידו מיצחק V'garesh es Yishmael l'hafrido mi'Yitzchak. He expels Lot, he expels Yishmael. כי ידע Ki yada, because he knew, שאם ישבו יחדיו עם לוט ועם ישמעאל בסוף ילמדו ממעשיהם ומדעותם הניסדות חס ושלום she'im yeshvu yachdov im Lot v'im Yishmael b'sof yilm'du mi'ma'aseihem u'mi'deosam ha'nisados chas v'shalom.It's a very powerful idea that we have to find that balance. To truly be the progeny of Avram, we also have to thread this needle. On the one hand, to stand up and to represent, to advocate for those who are less privileged, to fight for justice, to express sympathy and empathy and sensitivity and care and concern for all. On the other hand, we have a spiritual legacy that we have to secure, that we have to protect, fiercely, fiercely. And we have to engage and involved whatever it takes for ourselves to protect it, because there is so much at stake, the continuity of our people and our values and ideals and virtue, and the ability to transform the world is at stake.So yes, it's not a contradiction, says the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, that the same Avram who did all those things on behalf of others could throw out his own flesh and blood, Lot and Yishmael, because when it came to Yitzchak's spiritual safety and security, he was unwavering, and he did whatever it took. It's a big lesson for us. I already have half my shiur for next year prepared. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, I guess for that. Join us tomorrow morning for Living with אמונה Emunah, 9:45, thank God because of a bris. Tomorrow night 9:00 p.m., Professor Ruth Wisse of Harvard University. We go behind the בימה Bima. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy.
