Transcript
Okay, good morning, בוקר טוב Boker Tov. Welcome back to פרשה Parsha Perspectives for today. The privilege of learning together פרשת לך לך Parshas Lech Lecha. Action packed. פרשת לך לך Parshas Lech Lecha, the trick is not to figure out what to say, it's to figure out what not to say. Every part of the פרשה parsha, every piece of the narrative is so filled with depth, with meaning, and with lessons for today. So we'll dive right in. But first, of course, as always, our gratitude, thank you to our series sponsors, Becky and Avi Ketzin family in memory of David Grossman. Our learning should be לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש l'iluy nishmas David ben Menachem Manesh. This morning's שיעור shiur is sponsored by Amanda Lions, a thank you for the weekly learning, for a רפואה שלמה חיה לאה בת מרי refuah shleima Chaya Leah bas Mary, and for all those who were affected by the terrible attack that took place in Manchester over יום כיפור Yom Kippur, they should have a speedy, complete, and painless רפואה שלמה refuah shleima.פרשת לך לך Parshas Lech Lecha. We're going to open up with three insights by Rabbi Sacks, the new חומש Chumash, I understand, is now available. I highly recommend it and I get no commission from it, pure recommendation for everyone. פרשת לך לך Parshas Lech Lecha, page 54 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. I hope everybody enjoys. I mentioned those who come in person, get an extra gift. We produced, my son's בר מצוה Bar Mitzvah this past שבת Shabbos, נחלת שי Nachlas Shai, his name is שי Shai, the inheritance of שי Shai. It's made up of three parts, but the bulk of it is our write-ups of פרשה Parsha perspectives. No, you can't order it and we won't send it to you. It's only for the people who come in person. We didn't produce enough for the whole שול shul or for the whole world, just a few for our family and for the שמחה simcha and for the people who loyally come in person to פרשה Parsha perspectives. You get not only coffee or a slushy or a pastry, but hopefully you walk away with more insight on the פרשה parsha as well. Hebrew side and English side. So please take one before you leave. Page 54 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. ויאמר ה׳ אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך Vayomer Hashem el Avram lech lecha me'artzecha u'mimolad'techa u'mibeis avicha el ha'aretz asher ar'eka. We now transition, as we saw last week, from the opening 11 פרקים prakim, the stories of פרשת בראשית parshas Bereishis and נח Noach, universal, all of man, the failure of man, violent, in the very purpose and creation of the world, to now the one who gets it, the honor society of of ה׳'s Hashem's classroom, אברם אבינו Avram Avinu. And we begin, not at the beginning of his life, but we begin already into his life. The story has already started, which is a question into itself we won't address today, why are we only introduced to אברם Avram at an advanced age, not that advanced, relax, but an advanced age. He's not young, let's put it that way. And we, the תורה Torah omits some of those early stories, even though we're familiar with them. Of course, the story of smashing his father's idol shop and so on. So I want to begin with Rabbi Sacks's introduction to the פרשה parsha and several insights that he has that I think are all magnificent. Number one. Tradition offers several explanations of how אברם Avram and שרה's Sarah's journey began. How did this story begin? According to one, אברם Avram was the iconoclast who broke his father's idols. We all know that story, right? His father went on his lunch break, he put אברם Avram in charge. אברם Avram smashed and destroyed all the idols, put the hammer in the hand of the largest idol. And his father returned, he said, what happened? So what do you mean, what happened? The big idol killed all the little idols. His father said, they're they're stone. What are you talking about? What happened? He said, exactly. If it can't even destroy all the smaller stones, rocks, then then why are you bowing down and worshiping? Why do you think it could do anything else? אברם אבינו Avram Avinu used his common sense and his logic in order to discover. According to another, he was the philosopher who seeing people worship the sun and stars, he asked, but who created them? He looked around, he saw people bowing down and worshiping nature, and he said, nature is indeed a powerful force. Just look at the hurricane that's forming, I think a category five, hopefully not headed our way. Nature is a powerful force. So, but the people who bow down and worship nature, but who created nature? And the מדרש Midrash has a third and altogether more radical reading. The מדרש Midrash says ה׳ Hashem told אברם Avram, go, לך lech. To what may this be compared? to a man who was traveling from place to place when he saw a palace in flames. He wondered, is it possible the palace lacks an owner? Obviously this palace, this home, this magnificent edifice didn't come unto its own. It must have an owner, an architect, a builder. The owner of the palace looked out and said, I am the owner. So אברם Avram our father, our father said, is it possible the world lacks a ruler? The רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam looked out and he said, I am the ruler, the sovereign of the universe. This is a deeply enigmatic passage, says Rabbi Sacks. אברם Avram sees a palace. The world has order and therefore it has a creator. But the palace is in flames. So the first thing אברם Avram saw, philosophers call this the first cause argument and one of the pieces of evidence of ה׳'s Hashem's existence. There is no absolute proof. This is not the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur, we'll save it for another time. But there is no absolute proof that there is a God, and there's a reason, that's by design. Because if it were undeniable, if there were absolute proof, what would we be deprived of? What would we be denied of? What would we not have? Free will. Free will is the essence of creation, it's the essence of life. The fact that we make choices, and with our choices we draw closer or we recoil and retreat further. away. Our choices are what give meaning. And if השם Hashem was provable absolutely, we would be deprived, we would have no free will. Without free will, there's no purpose for life. So השם Hashem created a world in which he still takes an element of a leap of faith. But we have enough evidence to know he exists, as much evidence as we have of anything else.You don't know that coming here today, crossing the street or getting in your car or pouring yourself a cup of coffee that something lethal wasn't going to happen to you. But you compile the evidence. And the evidence tells you, the pattern, the history, it tells you, it's probably safe to drink the coffee. If I look both ways, I don't have to worry I have a blind spot and I'm going to get hit by a car. I don't have to fear that my brakes are going to malfunction. The medicine I picked up at the pharmacy is probably not laced with something lethal. We have evidence, and every day we lead our lives based on the preponderance of evidence we've collected, even though, even though we have no absolute proof. And I would elaborate, but we neither have the time nor do I want to make you neurotic and give you anxiety. But if you actually consider how little proof we have for many of the major things we do.I have two children taking off on planes this morning, one to New York and one to Israel. How do you know getting on a plane? I'm not even going to finish the sentence. But we have evidence. And the evidence we collect is that there are authorities, they do reviews, there are safety checks. All the decisions we make from the moment we wake up in the morning till we fall asleep at night are based not on absolute proof, they're based instead on the preponderance of evidence. And that same threshold of the preponderance of evidence exists that there is a השם Hashem. And that's why the תורה Torah doesn't expect or ask us to take a leap of faith to believe, it tells us we can know. With the same degree of confidence, with the same amount of evidence, we can know. והשבות אל לבבך, וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך. V'hashevota el levavecha, v'yadata hayom v'hashevota el levavecha. וידעת V'yadata. אתה הראת לדעת כי השם הוא האלקים. Ata horeisa ladaas ki Hashem Hu HaElokim. The word the תורה Torah uses over and over again is to know. Don't take a leap of faith. You don't have to believe. Belief and leap of faith is something someone does for something imaginary. But השם Hashem is not imaginary. And if you just look with no bias, if you just examine the evidence objectively, you will conclude and you will also see the preponderance. You will have the same threshold of evidence that you have for the other decisions we make in life. So one of those pieces of evidence is what's called the first cause, which is that I look back and I come from my parents who come from their parents who come from their parents. But if I trace that back all the way, where did it all begin? And even if you conclude it began with a Big Bang, Dr. Gerald Schroeder argues for how you can reconcile the Big Bang and ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis in his book, wonderful book, Genesis and the Big Bang. They're not necessarily in conflict, you can reconcile them. Who created, who launched that Big Bang? So the first cause. There's another piece of evidence, which is that the third law of thermodynamics is that order goes to disorder, to chaos. Your cup of coffee when you leave it too long gets cold. The water molecules spread out, no longer retains the heat, and it gets cold. Fruit and vegetables, they decay. People get old, we decay, we become infirm. Order goes to disorder naturally. Whenever you see disorder become organized, you know there's a creator, there's a designer. Nature, order goes to disorder. When you see disorder become organized, it means there was a creator. The חומש Chumash sitting in front of you is not because ink spilled on it and we got the result of this text. There is instead a publisher, and a printer, and of course, a divine author. Every building had an architect and a builder, every sculpture a sculptor, every artwork an artist, even though some artwork goes for a lot of money that looks like paint accidentally spilled on it. That's because I'm just unsophisticated, I don't appreciate apparently what looks like kindergarten artwork to me. But we'll leave that aside for another time. So אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, the מדרש Midrash is telling us, sees a palace, a palace can't lack an owner. It didn't just come to be the materials. There wasn't a hurricane that whipped this palace into shape. There was an architect and a designer. But why does the מדרש Midrash, all that was a long-winded way of explaining the מדרש Midrash. אברם Avram came to the conclusion, this third suggestion is because he saw the world as no less than a palace. If a palace has an architect and a builder, then the world too is not accidental or random. But why does the מדרש Midrash describe that the palace is in flames? So listen to what Rabbi Sacks says. The world is full of disorder of evil, violence and injustice. Now no one builds a building then deserts it. If there's a fire, there must be someone, there must be someone to put it out.The building must have an owner. If so, where is he? That is the question, and it gives אברם Avram no peace. With this we arrive at the starting point of Jewish faith. Faith is born not in the answer, but in the question, not in the harmony, but in the dissonance. אברם Avram doesn't just see a palace, he sees one on fire. And he says, no one builds a building and abandons it and leaves it and lets it be destroyed and allows it to go up in flames. Where's the owner? It's a question that irks him, that bothers him, and he's stimulated by that question to search, to search for answers. And that is the starting point of Jewish faith. If השם Hashem created the world, why does he allow man to destroy it? Can השם Hashem have made the world only to abandon it? From time immemorial to the present, there have always been two ways of seeing the world. The first view says there is no God. There are contending forces, chance and necessity, the chance that produces variation, the necessity that gives the strong victory over the weak. From this perspective, the evolution of the universe is inexorable and blind, and therefore we never know why. There is no why. There's no palace. All we see are flames. But the second view insists, there is a השם Hashem, there's a creator. All that exists or transpires does so because he willed it. Therefore, all injustice is an illusion. Perhaps the world itself is an illusion. Will the innocent suffer? It teaches them to find faith through suffering. The soul strength through the body's torments. Evil is the cloak that masks the good. There is a question, but there's always an answer. For if we could understand השם Hashem, we would know that the world is as it is because it would be less good were it otherwise. There is a palace. Therefore, there are no flames.The faith of אברם Avram begins in the refusal to accept either answer. Suppose both השם Hashem and evil exist. Suppose there are both the palace and the flames. It is in that cry, that sacred discontent, that אברם Avram's journey begins. At the heart of reality is a contradiction between order and chaos that has no resolution at the level of thought, can only be resolved at the level of action, only by making the world other than it is. To be a Jew is to have the courage to refuse easy answers, to reject either consolation or despair. השם Hashem exists, therefore life has purpose. Evil exists, therefore we have not yet achieved that purpose. Until then, we must travel just as אברם Avram and Sarah traveled to begin the task of shaping a different kind of world. What haunts us about the מדרש Midrash is not just אברם Avram's question, but השם Hashem's reply. He answers, I am here, without explaining the flames. He doesn't attempt to put out the fire. It's as if instead he was calling for help. השם Hashem made the building. Man set it on fire. Only man can put out the flames. אברם Avram asks השם Hashem, where are you? השם Hashem says, I am here. Where are you?Man asks השם Hashem, why did you abandon me? So begins a dialogue between earth and heaven, which has not ceased for 4,000 years. In these questions, which only the other can answer, השם Hashem and man find one another. Perhaps only together can they extinguish the flames. What an introduction to the פרשה Parsha, to אברם אבינו Avram Avinu, to this מדרש Midrash. We ask השם Hashem, where are you? He says, where are you? We saw that with אברם Avram. איכה Ayeka. We saw that with קין Kayin. Are you your brother's keeper? Where were you? אי הבל אחיך Eih hevel achicha, where's your brother? And אברם Avram is the one who now when he asks השם Hashem and השם Hashem reciprocates, and he points the question back on him, אברם Avram becomes the אב המון גוים Av hamon goyim, he becomes אברם Avram forever. Why? Because he becomes the answer. He takes אחריות achrayus. He takes responsibility. He doesn't shirk, he doesn't point fingers. He doesn't pivot. He doesn't blame. He steps up. He steps in. He becomes אברם אבינו Avram Avinu. We see that. That is the theme of our entire פרשה Parsha, whether it's stepping up to help rescue his wife, rescue his nephew Lot, the war of the four kings and the five kings, argue even on behalf of the evil people of סדום Sedom. He continuously and consistently steps up. Yes, the palace is on flame, in flames. Man lit it on fire, and man has to put it out. And אברם Avram is ready to do so.And that's how the story begins. השם Hashem tells אברם Avram, לך לך Lech Lecha, go. Translate the word לך לך Lech Lecha. לך Lech, go. What is the word לך l'cha? You can translate it a lot of different ways, which lend a lot of different meaning. So Rabbi Sacks writes, in Hebrew the suggestive phrase is לך לך Lech Lecha. Literally, go for yourself. Possibly, go to yourself. A more Midrashic interpretation takes the phrase to mean, go, לך לך אל Lech Lecha El, go with yourself, meaning, by traveling from place to place, you will extend your influence not over one land, but of many. There's a beautiful מדרש Midrash in בראשית רבה Bereishis Rabbah that says this. It describes, go מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך me'artzecha umimoladetecha umibeis avicha, from your birthplace, your land, your father's house. What did אברם Avram resemble? למה הדבר דומה L'mah hadavar domeh, wonders the מדרש Midrash, to a jar of scent, a jar of perfume, a jar with a pleasant fragrance with a tight-fitting lid put away in a corner, so the fragrance never spread. As soon as it was moved from that place and opened, now the fragrance began to spread. So too השם Hashem said to אברם Avram, אברם Avram, it's wonderful you discovered me. Don't keep this secret to yourself. לך לך Lech Lecha, go with yourself. Travel from place to place so the greatness of your name will go forth in my world. אברם Avram is commanded to leave his place in order to testify to the existence of השם Hashem not bounded by place, creator and sovereign of the entire universe. אברם Avram and שרה Sarah, listen to this ברכה bracha. Listen to this תפילה tefillah. Listen to this charge for every one of us. אברם Avram and שרה Sarah are to be like perfume, leaving a trace of their presence wherever they go. Implicit in this מדרש medrash is the idea that the fate of the first Jews always prefigured that of their descendants. We would be scattered around the world to spread the knowledge of השם Hashem. Part of the diaspora, the גלות galus, part of being spread all over, it's time to go home, of course. But part of the mission of those who are still waiting and planning for that time is to understand why are we there, what's our purpose, what's our mission? Not to live in retreat, not to ever be apologetic or defensive, to be proud, practicing Jews. To spread our fragrance and our perfume, to let the world know that Jews were here, and they left a pleasant fragrance. They made it a, made it a better place. לך Lech, we have a mission, go out and pursue it. And לך lech, what's the mission? לך לך Lech lecha. Go, not only for yourself and not only to yourself, go with yourself. Bring your energy, bring your you wherever you go. Topic of our שבת שובה דרשה Shabbos Shuva drasha, just a few weeks ago was this, ego versus אלוקות elokus. When we're out there trying to make a difference, when we're trying to have influence, as an influencer, not as an influencer, but influence the world positively, we're doing so not out of ego. It's not about us, our name, our followers, our power, our likes, our income. It's not about us. We're not doing it out of ego, we're doing it out of אלוקות elokus. That's the mission אברם Avram. Yes אברם Avram, it's more comfortable, it's more convenient staying in your home, studying your תורה Torah, discovering and living with me, offering your hospitality, doing your חסד chesed, that's comfortable, that's convenient, that's lovely. But that's not why you're here. Your purpose, your mission, your why is לך לך lech lecha. Go with yourself all over and spread that light, spread that knowledge, spread that energy, spread that good, transform and repair and redeem my world. Jews are not meant to live in retreat, in an ivory tower, in isolation. Judaism is not just for Jews. The תורה Torah and ידישקייט Yiddishkeit and Judaism have what to say for the entire world. A world increasingly confused and lost. Judaism has succeeded enormously in that mission. אברם Avram, who promoted ethical monotheism, transformed the globe. This country credits Judeo-Christian values, which are Judeo values. The Declaration of Independence is laced with language that comes from the תורה Torah. Don't take it from me, it's what the founding fathers said when it was written. The majority of the globe today, Christians, Muslims, and a handful of Jews, Muslims are monotheistic, technically not עבודה זרה avodah zarah according to the רמב\"ם Rambam. Christianity according to many is עבודה זרה avodah zarah, but at least even the רמב\"ם Rambam who sees it as such says it's a step in the right direction. They believe in our God, also. That also is a problem. But it begins with belief in our, in our God. אברם Avram was and is successful and we carry and pick up the baton, and that's our purpose. In this confused world, to teach what it means, time, marriage, love, what it means intimacy, what it means the responsibility and the role of money and materialism. Judaism is meant to shape and mold the whole world, not only us. That's the לך לך lech lecha רבי זקס Rabbi Sacks is describing. לך לך Lech lecha, not just go for yourself, not just go to yourself to discover who you are, go with yourself. With your energy, with your talent, with your ברכה bracha, with who you are, bring that and share that with the world. I mentioned in שבת שובה Shabbos Shuva, I spoke to, I struggle with this. You know, when you want to get to the next level, when you want to elevate your classes or have them reach farther or further or more people, is that ego or אלוקות elokus? You want your articles to appear more places, is that ego, or is that because you're an ambassador, an agent, you're sharing the message of השם Hashem? Every day in that struggle, and I spoke to many people I admire and love. One of them, רבי וואווע יעקובסון Rabbi YY Jacobson, my friend, and I asked him how he navigates that tension. And he shared with me from the Rebbe, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, זכותו יגן עלינו zechuso yagen aleinu, who said that when השם Hashem tells אברם Avram at the beginning of our פרשה parsha, ואגדלה שמך va'agadla shmecha, I'll make your name great. So I'll make your name great. The simple understanding of I'll make your name great is I'll make your name great. You'll become a household name, which we now are, which he now is. How many homes across the globe have never heard of Abraham? Or as President Trump likes to call him, אברהם Avraham. Abraham. Whichever formulation he uses. I mean, just think about how the president stood in Egypt with dozens of world leaders behind behind him at a summit that the whole world is focused on, referencing over and over again the Avraham Accords, invoking Avram's name.והגדלה שמך V'agadla sh'mecha, I'll make your name great. Everyone's talking about Avraham. And please God to expand these accords and more countries join them and more peace, a real, legitimate, lasting peace. Avraham, והגדלה שמך v'agadla sh'mecha. We are living and we are watching and we are seeing the fulfillment of that promise, והגדלה שמך v'agadla sh'mecha, that Avram's name is made great. It is a household name, a recognized name. It is the name of these accords. It's the name on the lips of every world leader. But said the Lubavitcher Rebbe, והגדלה שמך v'agadla sh'mecha may mean something else or another layer of meaning. והגדלה שמך V'agadla sh'mecha. Hashem says, the way I'll be great is when your name is known. והגדלה V'agadla, I'll be great, שמך sh'mecha. So you hesitate Goldberg, said Rabbi YY. You just want to sit in the corner, teach your class, stream it. Why are you streaming it? Don't post it, don't advertise it, don't promote it. Whoever shows up, you'll learn with one or two other people. No, Hashem says, והגדלה v'agadla, the only way I can be great is שמך sh'mecha. When the Jewish people's names are great, when the individuals among them, not only those on this side of the camera, but all of us are willing to put ourselves out there, and we're willing to become known, well-known, a little known, but associated with teaching the message of Hashem. That's the טיטש titsch, that's the פשט pshat, והגדלה v'agadla, Hashem says, I will only be great שמך sh'mecha, through your name. So as much as you hesitate, as much as you're uncomfortable, you don't want to be the brand, when people recognize you as saying my message, אגדלה agadla, I will be great through שמך sh'mecha. That's the second. Third, and then we're going to move on, I promise. לך לך מארצך Lech lecha mei'artzecha Rabbi Sacks to start the פרשה parsha. There's another interpretation. לך לך Lech lecha, go by yourself. Only a person willing to stand alone, singular and unique can worship the God who is alone, singular and unique. Only one able to leave behind the natural source of identity, home, family, culture and society can encounter Hashem, who stands above and beyond nature. Avram's children are summoned to be the people that defy the laws of nature. They refuse to define themselves as the products of nature. That is not to say that economic or biological or psychological factors have no part and play in human behavior, they do. But with sufficient imagination, determination, discipline, and courage, we rise above them. Avram does, so at most times will his children. לך לך Lech lecha in this sense means being prepared to take an often lonely journey. לך לך Lech lecha. Be willing to go by yourself. To be a child of Avram is to have the courage to be different, to challenge the idols of the age, whatever the idols and whichever the age. In an era of polytheism, that meant seeing the universe as the product of a single creative will and therefore not meaningless, but coherent, meaningful. When power was worshipped, it meant constructing a society that cared for the powerless, the widow, orphan, and stranger. During centuries in which the mass of mankind was sunk in ignorance, it meant honoring education as the key to human dignity. In ages of radical individualism, like today, it means knowing that we are not what we own but what we share, not what we buy but what we give. To be a Jew is to be willing to hear the still small voice of eternity urging us to travel, move, go on ahead, continuing Avram's journey towards the unknown destination as far at the far horizon of hope. Part of the mission, part of what Avram gave us, his legacy, is לך לך lech lecha, a willingness to go at it alone. You know, the Jewish Views, I don't mean the newspaper, although I'm happy to promote it, the Jewish views of the world, the Jewish view of the world is increasingly less popular. How we see things versus the way the world does. It's harder to hold fast to our convictions. But Avram, we'll discuss in a moment, one of the names of Avram is אברם העברי Avram HaIvri, מעבר mei'ever. The whole world was on this side, Avram was willing to stand on that side. Do we have the courage to be willing to go against the culture, the zeitgeist? We have the the courage to be willing to stand against what the world is saying, what the world is saying? Do we have the courage to be the true progeny of Avram, to be willing to stand מעבר mei'ever, on the other side? ספר יונה Sefer Yona proudly declares, עברי אנכי ואת השם Ivri anochi v'es Hashem. I am an עברי Ivri and I worship Hashem. I don't care what the world says, I don't care what the polls say. I don't care what became popular. I follow what Hashem tells me. Our definitions, our values, our priorities, our principles. I follow Hashem, עברי אנכי Ivri anochi. I am a descendant of אברם העברי Avram HaIvri. I have within me the DNA of לך לך lech lecha, the willingness to stand alone just like just like Avram. פרק י\"ב פסוק ב' Perek yud beis, pasuk beis. ואעשך לגוי גדול ואברכך ואגדלה שמך והיה ברכה V'e'escha l'goy gadol v'avarechecha v'agadla sh'mecha v'heyeh bracha. Says Hashem to Avram, he promises him, I'm going to make you a great nation. ואברכך V'avarechecha, I'm going to bless you, ואגדלה שמך v'agadla sh'mecha, I'll make your name great, והיה ברכה v'heyeh bracha. We've unpacked the beginning of this פרשה parsha. many times. You could go online, you could listen to previous שיעורים shiurim. We're going to try to not spend a lot of time in the beginning of the פרשה parsha because we have in the past, even though I'm tempted to tell you some of my favorites right now, but I'm behaving. I'm not going to. I just want to tell you a new idea I had. Now, brace yourselves and it's good you're sitting down, original Ephraim Goldberg thought. There are not a lot of them. You come to the פרשה parsha class every week and you see I carry all these ספרים sfarim, not just to impress you with my muscles, but because I don't have original ideas. If I have anything to contribute, it's I'm good, I'm not a producer, I'm a distributor. I'm good at, I'm good at bringing the ideas of others. Every now and then, every now and then, I get lucky and I have an original thought. So I had an original thought on Sunday. My original thought was this. I was learning the פרשה parsha, שנים מקרא shnayim mikra, the first עלייה aliyah for the first day for Sunday. Hashem gives Avram a ברכה bracha. And what's his ברכה bracha? I'm going to make you a great nation, I'm going to bless you, I'll make your name great. Says Rashi on these words. Says Rashi on these words. He gives several explanations, but one of them is, דבר אחר davar acher, ואעשך לגוי גדול v'e'escha l'goy gadol, זה שאומרים zeh she'omrim אלוקי אברהם Elokei Avram. I'll make you a great name, I'll make you a large nation. How is that fulfilled? In our דאווענען davening we say the God of Avram. ואברכך V'avarechecha I'll bless you, זה שאומרים zeh she'omrim אלוקי יצחק Elokei Yitzchak. ואגדלה שמך V'agadlah shmecha, זה שאומרים zeh she'omrim אלוקי יעקב Elokei Yaakov. Look at Rashi and say to myself, Hashem tells Avram, I'm going to give you three ברכות brachos. What are the three ברכות brachos? אעשך לגוי גדול E'escha l'goy gadol, אברכך avarechecha, אגדלה שמך agadlah shmecha. What are the fulfillment of those three ברכות brachos? That in our דאווענען davening, we associate God as the God of Avram, that's a ברכה bracha to Avram. But also the God of Yitzchak and the God of Yaakov. And I said to myself, one second, how's that a ברכה bracha to Avram? God says to Avram, I have a ברכה bracha for you. In the future they're going to reference me relative to you, to your son, and to your grandson. What do you see from here is the biggest ברכה bracha a person can have and want? Is the pride you get that your children are continuing in your footsteps and in your way. The pride, the joy, the satisfaction, the fulfillment that they will associate God not only with you, but that your children and grandchildren will live such lives they'll associate God with them. I had that thought Sunday morning and I shared it Sunday night at the הכתרה hachtara. Our ישיבה yeshiva, ישיבה Yeshiva of South Florida, מדרש חיים Medrish Chaim. Our ישיבה yeshiva installed our new ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva רב יהודה וויליג שליט\"א Rav Yehuda Willig shlita. We're so blessed, such an incredible, such a charismatic, such חן chein, such a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. What a leader. You're going to see the ישיבה yeshiva is going to blow up. It's incredible what's happening at the ישיבה yeshiva. So I introduced his father, רב מרדכי וויליג Rav Mordechai Willig, my רבי rebbi, ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva at ישיבת רבינו יצחק אלחנן Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan at YU. And I said this insight. I said the the biggest ברכה bracha רבי Rebbe, רבי מרדכי וויליג Rabbi Mordechai Willig, for a long time we've said אלוקי רב מרדכי וויליג Elokei Rav Mordechai Willig. But now with your son at the helm of our ישיבה yeshiva, אלוקי רב יהודה וויליג Elokei Rav Yehuda Willig. And what could be a bigger source of נחת nachas or ברכה bracha? So this indeed is a ברכה bracha to Avram. What do you mean what's the ברכה bracha to Avram? אלוקי יצחק, אלוקי יעקב Elokei Yitzchak, Elokei Yaakov? אלוקי יצחק, אלוקי יעקב Elokei Yitzchak, Elokei Yaakov, that's also a ברכה bracha to Avram. Original thought, take it or leave it, if you like it. פרק י\"ב פסוק י\"א Perek Yud Beis Pasuk Yud Aleph. Moving right along. Turn the page. We're introduced to Avram, right away we've got a story. Avram, there's a famine in the land. Hashem tells Avram לך לך lech lecha, they're headed south, they go even further south. Why? There's a famine in the land, not the first or the last that we'll hear about. Where can they find sustenance and nourishment? ויהי רעב בארץ Vayehi ra'av ba'aretz, וירד אברם מצרימה vayered Avram Mitzraima, there's a famine in the land, Avram goes down to Egypt to live there כי כבד הרעב בארץ ki chaved hara'av ba'aretz. The famine was severe in the land. And what happens? ויהי כאשר הקריב לבוא מצרימה Vayehi ka'asher hikriv lavo Mitzraima, and as he approaches to arrive in Egypt, ויאמר אל שרי אשתו vayomer el Sarai ishto, he says to his wife, הנה נא ידעתי hinei na yadati, I just realized something. כי אשה יפת מראה את Ki isha yefas mareh at. You're not bad looking. I just realized something. You you're not bad looking. That's what he says when they arrive. They land, there are customs, they're about to enter Egypt, and he says to her, hah, you know, I never noticed, but you're kind of pretty. The שדכן shadchan wasn't lying. What's going on over here? So I want to share with you an insight, brand new ספר sefer, hot off the press, I'm not even sure it's in ספרים sfarim stores yet. הלקח והלבוב HaLekach V'haLivuv, another one of my רביים rebbeim, רב אברהם שאר שליט\"א Rav Avraham Schorr shlita. I was זוכה zocheh to get it when his son came for the בר מצוה bar mitzvah this past שבת Shabbos, הלקח והלבוב HaLekach V'haLivuv. I hope it is already in stores. Everything he writes and publishes is absolutely fantastic. ויהי כאשר הקריב לבוא מצרימה Vayehi ka'asher hikriv lavo Mitzraima. Rashi brings the מדרש Midrash. עד עכשיו לא הכיר בה מתוך צניעות שבשניהם Ad achshav lo hikir ba mitoch tzniyus sheb'shneihem. What do you mean he never noticed how pretty? Avram is our forefather, he's our role model. He never said to his wife, you're beautiful. You look fantastic. He never said, not only when she asked him, how do I look? He was never smart enough to actually preempt it by saying at the בר מצוה bar mitzvah, you look beautiful. ועכשיו הכיר בה על ידי מעשה V'achshav hikir ba al yedei ma'aseh, and it's only because they landed and they're about to go into Egypt, that's that's what stimulates and motivates him to say, wow, you're not bad looking. דבר אחר מנהג העולם שיודעי טורח הדרך אדם מתבזה וזאת עומדת ביופיה davar acher minhag ha'olam she'yodei toreach haderech adam mitbazeh v'zos omedes b'yofya. So another פשט pshat Rashi says is, you know why he notices it now? It's not that he didn't notice she's always beautiful. Here's what he noticed now. Everyone else shows the signs of travel. Nobody looks good coming off the plane from Israel. to Israel. Nobody. I don't care which class you sat in. I don't care what lounge you tried to freshen up in. Nobody looks good. Except of course my wife, my daughters, they look fantastic. But nobody else looks good. Travel is exhausting. Travel takes its toll. And travel, travel is on display in how we look. So Avram, who probably feels like a mess, looks like a mess, is falling apart. He looks over at Sarah and he says, one second, why do you look so beautiful? We just came off a long caravan, camel, horse, what it took to get down here to Egypt. And as we're going through customs, he says, you show no impact from the travel. But Rashi quotes the פשוטו של מקרא והגיעה שעה שיש לדון על יופיה pshuto shel mikra v'higia sha'ah she'yesh lidon al yofya. The third פשט pshat is, Avram says, of course he always noticed she was beautiful. He was never worried about it, because he lived in a place they were safe. But as we're about to enter Egypt, place of moral depravity and corruption, he says, I just realized your beauty is going to become an issue here. הגאון רב מאיר שפירא מלובלין HaGaon Rav Meir Shapiro miLublin quotes Rav Shore, הגיד בשם המהר\"ם הקדוש מריז'ין hegid b'shem haMaharam haKadosh miRzhin. The tightest קושיות kushiyos of the מפרשים meforshim. הלא אסור לקדש אישה עד שיראנה Halo assur l'kadesh isha ad sheyirena. So the classic קשיא kasha that's asked is, the גמרא Gemara tells us, a man is not allowed to get let not allowed to get married without seeing the prospective bride. Why? The גמרא Gemara tells us in קידושין Kiddushin, because שמא תתגנה shema titganeh, maybe he'll be repulsed by her, ויעבור על ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'yaavor al v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha. In other words, what do you mean, how would you ever get married without seeing the woman? The answer is you're allowed to get married through a שליח shliach. So let's say I hear about a prospective mate halfway around the world and I don't want to go, I can't go. So what I do is I appoint an agent on my behalf, I give them the ring, I say travel to this destination, find this woman and betroth her for me. And when the agent gives her the ring, and the betrothal is not to the agent until they come back, I'm married to the woman immediately through the act of the agent. That's what the גמרא Gemara cautions and says, don't do that if you haven't seen the woman first. Why? Because what happens when the agent comes back with the woman, and now I see her, and she looks nothing like her שידוך shidduch picture. שידוך Shidduch picture was professional photographer, Photoshop, the right lighting, the right moment. And now I see her, she looks nothing like this שידוך shidduch picture. I say, never mind. It's not very nice. It's not very kind. It's a violation of ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha. Or she will see me and say he looks nothing like... The גמרא Gemara is not as worried about that for whatever reasons, I am not going to get into it now. But ואהבת לרעך כמוך v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha would be violated. So how in the world could Avram have ever married Sarah if he fulfilled all תורה Torah without having seen her and noticed her beauty beforehand? דודאי ראה אותה קודם שקידשה, רק אברהם אבינו חשב שיופיה מחמת שכיות של חסד משך עליה d'vadai ra'ah ota kodem shekidsha, rak Avram avinu chashav sheyofya machmas shechiyus shel chesed mashach aleha. So the answer is Avram did notice, he saw her beauty before they got married, before they wed. It's just that he thought her beauty came from what? Her character. He was drawn to her character, to her charisma, to her kindness. דוגמת מה שדרשו חז\"ל על אסתר dugmas ma she'darshu Chazal al Esther, ירקרקת היתה וחוט של חסד משוך עליה yerakrokes hayta v'chut shel chesed mashuch aleha. Similarly the גמרא Gemara testifies about Esther, Queen Esther, her beauty came from her kindness. שנתן לה חן על ידי חוט של חסד she'natan la chein al yedei chut shel chesed. ולפי שחשב אברהם אבינו דכשיבוא למקום זימה כארץ מצרים, בודאי לא יהיה לה חוט של חסד, כי לידע אם ישקול הקדוש ברוך הוא חן כאשר אין לה טוב לעשות. ועכשיו הכיר בה כי באמת יפת מראה היא, ויפת מראה, הכוונה יופי בעצם, ולא על ידי חוט של חסד ul'fi shechashav Avraham avinu d'k'sheyavo l'makom zimah k'eretz Mitzrayim, b'vadai lo yiheyeh la chut shel chesed, ki l'yada im yishkol HaKadosh Baruch Hu chein ka'asher ein la tov la'asot. v'achshav hikir ba ki be'emes yefas mareh hi, v'yefas mareh, hakavanah yofi b'etzem, v'lo al yedei chut shel chesed. Avram always thought, why is she so beautiful? She's got such חן chein because of the חסד chesed she does. But now he gets to a place that's not deserving and that she shouldn't do any חסד chesed. And therefore he realizes her beauty stems not from her חן chein and her חסד chesed, her beauty stems from what? Beauty. And now he's worried. לכן בא עכשיו השעה לדאוג עבור יופיה. נמצאו ב' הפירושים אחד, על ידי שהכיר כי יפת מראה בעצם Lachen ba achshav hasha'ah lid'og avur yofya. Nimtze'u beis ha'peirushim echad, al yedei she'hikir ki yefas mareh b'etzem. Because he now saw that her beauty was intrinsic, now he realizes I've got a worry. If her beauty only stemmed from her חסד chesed, so in a place that admires and values חסד chesed, they'll see her as beautiful. But because her beauty is intrinsic, now I have to worry that even in Egypt where they don't appreciate חסד chesed, they're still going to see her as beautiful, and they may come to try to molest her, rape her, take her from me. That's the answer of the Rav Meir Shapiro. בספר נחלת יעקב B'sefer Nachlas Yaakov, the הנצי\"ב HaNetziv of... brings from the אריז\"ל Arizal. Another פשט pshat, says רב אברהם שור Rav Avraham Schorr. כי אברהם אבינו ראה כי עיקר יופיה בא ידי מעשה. על אשה אין יצר הרע שולט רק בה, ומיזה ידע שמצרים מקום טמא, מקום שאנשיה שטופי זימה. Ki Avraham Avinu ra'ah ki ikar yafya ba yedei ma'aseh. Al isha ein yeitzer hara sholeit rak bah, u'mizeh yada sheMitzrayim makom tamei, makom she'ansheha shtufei zimah. Listen to this fascinating and fantastic insight. Listen to what רב אברהם שור Rav Avraham Schorr says. He says now he realizes that what? Right, now he realizes that it's not Sarah that's got the problem, he's got the problem. Why does he have a problem? Because he says, until now where I've lived with Sarah, I don't notice beauty. Avram is a righteous person living a righteous life. Of course he's a healthy man, but he says he's not drawn by her or distracted by the יצר הרע yeitzer hara. But now as he's about to enter Egypt, he's on the border of Egypt, he's at the customs of Egypt. And he says all of a sudden, I feel something in me. I'm noticing my wife's beauty more than I usually do. There's something in this country and land that brings out of you the יצר הרע yeitzer hara. All of a sudden, I'm now struggling with, with שמירת עיניים shmiras einayim. I'm now struggling with שמירת הברית shmiras habris. All of a sudden I feel I'm struggling with noticing beauty, with the יצר הרע yeitzer hara. This is a land of טומאה tumah. This is a land of טומאה tumah. וממילא נפקע קדושתו על ידם, ונגרם שהיקר בה, וממילא ידע מזה שצריך לדאוג על יפיה כי יהרגו אותו על דבר אשתו. U'mimela nifkam k'dushaso al yadam, v'nigram shehikar bah, u'mimela yada mizeh shetzarich lidog al yafya, ki yahargu oso al dvar ishto. If I'm in such a place whose energy is having an impact on me, says Avram, if I'm in such a land, you go to Times Square. You shouldn't go to Times Square. You can't go to Times Square today. It's unbelievable what's going on in Times Square. The state of dress and undress, the activities that are happening in public. There are certain places you go to and certain energies and obstacles and impulses are are impossible to avoid. They're unavoidable, they're undeniable. There's an energy to that place. Avram sensed it the moment he arrived in Egypt. And because he sensed it in him the moment he arrived, he was worried for his wife's safety. So it wasn't his wife he was worried about. Yes, that too as an extension of what he was worried within himself, because he noticed it. הגאון ר' שלמה קלוגר מוסיף עוד נקודה, כי ידוע שכל צדיק משפיע על סביבו שלו, וכל שכן שזכותו מגן על כל אנשי ביתו. אם כן חשב אברהם אבינו שצדקתו תגן על שרה, שאף אחד לא יכשל בה, וממילא לא דאג לה עד עכשיו. ועכשיו, כיון שהיקר בה, ראה אברהם אבינו שהמקום משפיע עליו, שנפקע צדקתו. Hagaon Rav Shlomo Kluger mosif od nekudah, ki yadua shekol tzaddik mashpia al svivo shelo, v'chol sheken shezchuso magen al kol anshei beiso. Im kein chashav Avraham Avinu shetzidkaso tagen al Sarah, she'af echad lo yikachel bah, u'mimela lo da'ag lah ad achshav. V'achshav, keivan shehikar bah, ra'ah Avraham Avinu shehamakom mashpia alav, shenifkam tzidkaso. Avram thought he had an impact on his surroundings. The impact he had on his surroundings would protect his wife. Now that he feels my surroundings are having an impact on me, I can no longer rely on that to protect my wife. Now is when he's worried, and that's why he goes to extreme measures in order to try to protect her. פרק י\"ד Perek Yud Daled. I told you we're going to move ahead from the beginning of the פרשה parsha to try to cover new ground. פרק י\"ד Perek Yud Daled, the war of the kings. The war of the kings. The four kings and the five kings, a war in which Lot is taken captive. Four and five kings. פרק י\"ד, פסוק י\"ג Perek Yud Daled, pasuk Yud Gimmel. Skip right to פסוק י\"ג pasuk Yud Gimmel. ויבוא הפליט ויגד לאברם העברי. Vayavo hapalit vayaged l'Avram ha'Ivri. The פליט palit came. Who was the פליט palit? Pulitzer Prize winner? Who's the פליט palit? A fugitive. The one who ran away, the refugee. The fugitive. And he came to tell Avram, how is Avram identified as? Avram העברי ha'Ivri. והוא שוכן באלוני ממרא. V'hu shochein b'eilonei Mamre. This is where Avram was dwelling at the time. And he tells them, אחי אשכול ואחי ענר והם בעלי ברית אברם. Achei Eshkol v'achei Aner v'hem baalei vris Avram. וישמע אברם, Vayishma Avram, Avram hears, כי נשבה אחיו, ki nishba achiv, that his brother was held hostage, his brother was taken captive. וירק את חניכיו, Vayarek es chanichav, he armed his disciples, ילידי ביתו, שמנה עשר ושלש מאות וירדף עד דן. yilidei beiso, shmonah asar u'shlosh me'os vayirdof ad Dan. 318, and that's it, he got involved. He got involved. Says the מדרש רבה Midrash Rabbah, רבי יהודה אומר, כל העולם כולו מעבר אחד והוא מעבר אחד. Rebbi Yehuda omer, kol haolam kulo me'ever echad v'hu me'ever echad. The whole world is on one side. Why is Avram identified here as Avram ha'Ivri? We mentioned it before when we began לך לך Lech Lecha. The whole world is on one side, and Avram is willing to stand on the other. Asks רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, the head of ישיבת מיר, שמואל Yeshivas Mir, Shmuel, צריך עיון למה דוקא כאן כשבא אוג לאברהם שנשבה לוט. Tzarich iyun lama davka kan k'sheba Og l'Avraham she'nishba Lot. Who's this פליט palit? Who's the refugee? עוג Og. עוג Og who will become the king of Bashan. עוג Og who is the king of Bashan. עוג Og. דוקא Davka when Og comes, the Torah goes out of its way to identify Avram as אברהם העברי Avram ha'Ivri. דמה נוגע לכאן מה שאברהם מעבר אחד וכל העולם כולו מעבר אחד. D'mah noge'a l'kan mah she'Avram me'ever echad v'chol haolam kulo me'ever echad. Why now? Why here? We've already talked about Avram, and he wasn't called the Ivri until now. Why specifically in the conversation with Og? Why specifically part of this narrative of rescuing his nephew Lot? Why now is Avram called Ivri? Says the מיר ראש ישיבה Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva, דלכאורה, כשיש מלחמה גדולה, מה יועיל להגיד לאדם שנשבה. d'lechora, k'sheyesh milchama gedola, mah yo'il l'hagid l'adam she'nishba. אחיו achiv. כי במצב כזה של סכנה ki b'matzav kazeh shel sakana, לכאורה אין מה לעשות l'chora ein ma la'asot. אבל אצל אברהם aval eitzel Avraham, הבין עוג hevin Og שכמו שיש לאברהם העברי הכח להלחם נגד כל העולם sh'k'mo sheyesh l'Avraham ha'Ivri ha'koach l'hilachem neged kol ha'olam, כשזה נוגע לאמונתו k'she'zeh noge'a l'emunato, כמו כן k'mo chein, תהיה לו כוח של מצוות פדיון שבוים tihyeh lo koach shel mitzvas pidyon shvuyim, הוא יצא למלחמה אף כנגד כל העולם hu yotzei l'milchama af k'neged kol ha'olam.I'm gonna give you two answers to the question. Again the question was, Avram is called עברי Ivri because when the whole world is on this side, he's willing to stand on the other. Why is he called that specifically here? So the first answer Shul Berenbaum gives is because normally someone comes to tell you, a massive war has broken out, hostages have been taken. The fact that one of them is your brother, but what can you do about it? There's nothing you can do. Why do you need to be told specifically one is your brother? The reason here Avram is called the עברי Ivri is, the same way that Avram could resist, he has the tenacity, the resolve, the strength, the courage of his conviction to take on the whole world. They're on this side, he's on the other. If his brother was taken hostage, he will take on the entire world. And that's why the introduction to your brother's been taken captive is Avram is העברי ha'Ivri. Just like he's willing to take on the whole world about paganism and idolatry, he'll take on the whole world to liberate, to get back his brother. וכשם שאברהם Uk'shem she'Avraham, בהיותו ילד, שיבר צלמי אביו ולכן נלחם כנגד נמרוד b'heyoso yeled, shiber tzalmei aviv, v'lachein nilcham k'neged Nimrod. Avram took on his father, he took on the idols, he took on Nimrod, he was thrown into the כבשן האש kivshan ha'eish. Avram wasn't afraid. The same strength, the same courage of his conviction, that same resolve that left him isolated and alone, עברי Ivri, מעבר me'ever. He's willing to take on the whole world about religion, philosophy, morality and ethics, and he's willing to take on the whole world in order to get his nephew back. But I want to tell you a second answer. It doesn't appear in the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel. A second answer. You know why this section specifically is introduced with that Avram is העברי ha'Ivri? Because you know what Avram might have been tempted to say? Why was Lot taken captive? Why is Lot no longer with him? We skipped this part of the פרשה parsha. Lot's his beloved nephew. He grew up in Avram's home under his watch, in his embrace. Avram trained him, and indeed he learned well. Lot will later show, display tremendous hospitality. He learned to do חסד chesed in his uncle's home. So if Avram raised Lot, why is Lot not with him? Because Lot, unfortunately, lost his way. Lot preferred to put his lot, see what I did there? Lot preferred to put his lot with the people of סדום S'dom. He was drawn to סדום S'dom. He wanted to live in that corrupt society more than continue to drink from the fountain of his uncle Avram. And Avram and Lot, when Lot's, Avram senses this. Lot's losing his way. How did he first sense that? Lot's flock, his sheep, and his ewes, is that a plural of ewe? ewes? They were grazing on stolen land. They were grazing from other people's property, which was to steal that vegetation. Avram says, I can't be associated with you. You're hurting the brand and the image. Remember what we began with? ואגדלה שמך Va'agadla sh'mecha. God says to Avram, I will go great when everyone knows your name. So Avram doesn't really like it, but he says fine, there'll be an Abraham accords. Fine, there'll be the Torah of Avram. Fine, I'll be the אב המון גוים Av hamon goyim. My name, if if I'm the brand because that helps you God, I'm willing to do it. But now Avram realizes, Lot, you're hurting the brand. You're compromising the brand. You're stealing, and you're engaged in immoral activity. And and if I'm connected and associated with you, that brings the brand down. So we've got to part ways, we've got to go two different directions. We've got to go two different directions. So now he hears that his nephew Lot, who had begun the trajectory of a bad direction, has now wound up hostage. He's been taken captive. If you're someone else, what might you say? This is what happens. This is what becomes when you leave your uncle Avram, when you turned, when you lost your way, when you put your, when Lot put his lot with the people of סדום S'dom, I'm sorry to hear it. It's tragedy. I'll mourn and grieve. I'll publish a eulogy. But this is what happens. This is what happens. Avram could have easily dismissed. Avram could have easily said, this is what he deserves. What does he do instead? And why might he have said that? Because he's Avram העברי ha'Ivri. I stand alone on this side. Lot went to go be with everyone else on the other side. This is what happens to those on the other side. Is that what Avram says? No. He says, I don't care where he's standing, this side, that side, the other side. My nephew, my brother was taken captive. I'm going to get him. And that's why the Torah here calls Lot אחיו achiv. Is Lot his brother? No, Lot's his nephew. But a Jew, Every other Jew is our brother, is our sister. There is no, he's a distant cousin, I'm not related, I don't even know him, I never met him. Every hostage is our brother. That's why we daven so hard, fought so hard, advocated so hard. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, the 20 living hostages are home, but we can't let up and we have to continue until the 13 remains are returned. Who knows what's going to be today after Hamas pulled that stunt last night, claiming to return the body of another hostage, when instead they returned remains of one who was already given back, not a new, just torturing that family more, torturing our people more, violating the ceasefire. They first buried it and dug it up, and Israel has it all on drone footage. It's horrible what they did, horrible, evil. Every time you think their evil and wickedness can't sink any lower, they find a way, they find a way. They have to be obliterated from the earth. What they did is so horrific. Those 13 bodies that are still there, אחיו achiv, those are our brothers. Those remains also, because their parents and families can't grieve and mourn fully until they're back. And אחיו achiv, those are our brothers. Those are our brothers who are being held captive. And we like Avram, who cares? Yamaka, no Yamaka, religious, not religious, vote this way, vote that way, who cares? Who did Avram go rescue and fight for? Lot. אברם העברי Avram HaIvri. The same Avram who says, I'm willing to stand on this side and the whole world is on that side. That same Avram went to go fight. Why? אחיו Achiv, because that's what you do, that's what you do for a brother, and that's what Avram brought. So we asked the question, two questions. Why is he called brother when it's a nephew? And why are we introduced with Avram's identity עברי Ivri, דוקא davka here? Rav Shmuel Berenbaum gave one answer, which is that Avram brought the same tenacity, the same energy that he brought to being עברי Ivri, is what he brought to bring home his brother. And the second answer is, I would have thought he had every reason in the world to not get involved, but he gets involved anyway and he goes. פרק יד פסוק יד Perek yud daled pasuk yud daled. So what does he do? We just read. He gets everyone in his home and he goes in order to fight. Back to the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel. Rav Shmuel Berenbaum. פרק יד פסוק יד Perek yud daled pasuk yud daled, sorry. וישמע אברם כי נשבה אחיו Vayishma Avram ki nishba achiv. יש לדקדק ממה נפקא כתב כי נשבה אחיו Yesh l'dakdek mama nafka kasav ki nishba achiv. Why brother? Could have said כי אנשים אחים אנחנו ki anashim achim anachnu. כאן Kan, when he's talking about he was captured, why here? יש לבאר על דרך למוד Yesh l'vaer al derech lamud, במה שאברהם אבינו הכניס עצמו בסכנה b'mah she'Avraham Avinu hichnis atzmo b'sakana. הרי מנקים לו מזכויותיו של אדם Harei menakim lo m'zchuyosav shel adam. Avram put himself into danger going to bat, going to fight. He put himself in danger. And normally you can't do that. The guiding principle ordinarily is, לעולם אל יעמוד אדם במקום סכנה l'olam al ya'amod adam b'makom sakana, לומר שעושים לו נס lomar she'osim lo nes, שמא אין עושים לו נס shema ein osim lo nes. Normally, we say, אין סומכין על הנס ein somchin al hanes. You don't rely on a miracle. ואם עושים לו נס מנקים לו מזכויותיו V'im osim lo nes, menakim lo m'zchuyosav. And if a miracle is done, it is depleting your merits. ונמצא שגם סיכן את נפשו כדי להינצל V'nimtza shegam siken es nafsho k'dei l'hinatzel עד שהקדוש ברוך הוא אמר תירא אברהם ad she'Hakadosh Baruch Hu amar tira Avram. ועלים בזה כשבא לאח צריך לעשות כל מה שביכלתו בלא חשבונות V'alim b'zeh k'sheba l'ach tzorech la'asos kol ma she'b'yecholto b'li cheshbonos. The answer is, even though you're relying on a miracle, and even though if you get that miracle, maybe it is depleting, maybe it is diminishing your merits, doesn't matter. When it comes to a brother, that's what it takes. We don't leave anyone behind. We don't leave anyone behind. So Avram doesn't hesitate. And he might have said, four kings against five kings, rescuing my nephew, that's impossible. It's impossible. Can't do it. But you see Avram never hesitated or demurred. He said it's my brother, my nephew, whatever it takes. I don't care if I have to rely on a miracle. I don't care if it will take away from my merits, not leaving me many left. It doesn't matter. This is what a brother does for another brother. Rabbi Sacks also has a comment here on this. And Rabbi Sacks says the following: וירדף Vayirdof, he went in pursuit. He went in pursuit. The unique structure of Torah spirituality, its calibrated attention between the universality of justice and the particularity of love, is the most compelling way I know of giving religious expression to both our common humanity and our religious difference. Consider the life of Avram. Readers of Tanakh are so familiar with his story, they often fail to notice how strange it is. We're so familiar with the story, we've been learning it in many cases since we were little children, that we fail to realize how peculiar it is. Here is the father of monotheism. Yet, in the text itself, Avram breaks no idol, challenges no polytheist, establishes no religious movement. Other than an ambiguous hint that Avram took with him on his journey, the people they had gathered, הנפש אשר עשו בחרן hanefesh asher asu v'Charan, which may refer to converts, but may equally merely refer to the servants. They attract no disciples. He lives among people whose belief and practices are alien to his own, yet he doesn't reprimand them, except when the servants of Avimelech, with whom he had made a treaty, seize one of the wells he had dug. He holds them to the standards of simple human morality, not those of divine ethics or holiness. When his nephew Lot chooses to live among the people of סדום Sdom, about whom the Torah says they're evil, Avram doesn't even criticize him, nor does he condemn them. To the contrary, he fights a battle on their behalf. When in the next parsha he hears that God is planning to punish them, he pleads for them. Avram doesn't seek to impose his views on others, yet his contemporary sense, there's something special and godly about him. מלכי צדק מלך שלם Malki Tzedek Melech Shalem salutes him. The חיתים Chitim call him a prince of Hashem in our midst. Avram impresses his contemporaries by the way he lives, not the way he forces or even urges others to live. Avram doesn't proselytize. Avram leads and lives by example, and the results are, people want to be more like him. פרק י\"ד פסוק כ' Perek Yud Daled, pasuk chaf.At the end of this episode and rescuing his nephew and the victory in the war of the four kings and the five kings, Torah tells us that he interacts with מלכי צדק מלך שלם Malki Tzedek Melech Shalem. מלכי צדק Malki Tzedek, the king of שלם Shalem. Where is שלם Shalem? ירושלים Yerushalayim. ירושלים Yerushalayim doesn't appear in the Torah, the word. But there are hints and allusions, this is one, the king of שלם Shalem. He takes out bread and wine. This מלכי צדק Malki Tzedek is a כהן לקל עליון kohen l'Kel Elyon. He is a priest to God. ויברכהו ויאמר Vayivarcheihu vayomar, he gives Avram a ברכה bracha. ברוך אברם לקל עליון קנה שמים וארץ Baruch Avram l'Kel Elyon koneh shamayim va'aretz. Blessed is Avram of God, Blessed is Abraham of God, the most high, the maker of heaven and earth. And blessed, וברוך קל עליון אשר מגן צריך בידך ויתן לו מעשר מכל U'varuch Kel Elyon asher migen tzarecha b'yadecha v'yiten lo maaser mikol. And he gave מעשר maaser, he gave a tenth of everything. Rav Shmuel Berenbaum points out, this notion of מעשר maaser, the אבות avos all were careful to give. אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu, it says ויתן לו מעשר מכל v'yiten lo maaser mikol. With יצחק Yitzchak it says that וימצא בשנה ההיא מאה שערים vayimtza bashana ha'hi mea shearim, a hundred measures. Hashem blessed him. It says, יצחק Yitzchak gave מעשר maaser. יעקב Yaakov, כל אשר תתן לי עשר אעשרנו לך kol asher titen li aser a'asrenu lach. The Torah makes a point of telling us that our patriarchs and matriarchs, our forefathers were all incredibly generous. They gave 10% away. They gave 10% away. וכן מבואר שהאבות עשרו מאוד V'chein mevoar she'ha'avos isru me'od. באברהם כתוב ואברהם כבד מאוד B'Avraham kasuv v'Avraham kaved me'od. Through their generosity and their giving, they got. When you give, you get. Hashem is the senior partner in all that we do. He says you can keep 90%. None of the success would happen without him. And even though he says he's the senior partner, he says you could keep 90%. All I ask for, and not even for me, give it away to my other children, is 10%. Says Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, you see from here that אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak, v'Yaakov, Torah goes out of its way to tell us they all gave 10%. They all tithed. They all gave, they all gave מעשר maaser. They all gave מעשר maaser. They all gave מעשר maaser. I was talking to someone recently who told me, whatever business deal he was with, he did with someone, and they only gave him 10%. And he said 10% is so little. I deserve so much more. And then he turned to me, he realized, I just realized, when it's a person giving me a piece of the deal, 10% is so little. But when you ask me to give צדקה tzedaka, 10% feels like so much. Why is it when we think we deserve, 10% is too little? But when Hashem says, take a part of what I've given you and give it back, 10% now feels like it's too much. If the Jewish world would just give 10% of their after-tax income, we could solve the tuition crisis, this crisis, the other crisis. Any crisis where money is the problem, if we would only truly tithe, truly tithe, 10% of our after-tax income. There's enormous wealth in the Jewish people. And by the way, I often find that people with the smaller income, more fixed income, are more careful to be hitting the mark of 10% than the people with the enormous return and enormous income. People who are blessed with tremendous resources, who are making on that money, who because they have so much, they give a lot and it looks like a lot, but it doesn't come close to 10%. If we'd actually, if the Jewish billionaires in the world all gave 10%, forget the living, the dying pledge, living pledge, whatever the pledge of Bill Gates, to give most of your wealth. If they just give 10%, we could solve every Jewish problem. That's the way of the אבות avos. And that's why the Torah goes out of its way to tell us, אברהם יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak, v'Yaakov, all three, they were careful and they gave. Rabbi Soloveitchik also has a comment. I can't even find anyone anymore. Rabbi Soloveitchik has a comment here as well on this conversation. ברוך קל עליון Baruch Kel Elyon. מלכי צדק Malki Tzedek first blesses Avram and then he blesses God. Blessed be Avram, and then he blesses God. Shouldn't the order have been reversed? To address this question, we have to understand the concept of blessing God in general. How can temporal man, flesh and blood, approach the everlasting King of kings, creator of the world and bless him. How can you give a blessing to השם Hashem? The blessings we give one another we understand. You're blessing me that if I'm missing something, השם Hashem shouldn't be missing me, missing it. So you're giving me a ברכה bracha, good health, נחת nachas, money. השם Hashem is the source, omnipotent, infinite creator of the universe. He's missing nothing. So what does it mean to bench, to give a ברכה bracha to השם Hashem? Writes Rabbi Soloveitchik. The answer is that man must provide assistance as it were to the Master of the Universe. Man must help God reveal his presence in the world. For השם Hashem to have דירה בתחתונים dirah b'tachtonim, for השם Hashem to have a divine presence here on earth to be available, accessible for people to see and believe, he needs us as his agents, as ambassadors. That's a big theme of the פרשה parsha. אברם Avram, be willing to let your name be great because that's the only way that people will find me. השם Hashem needs us to be his agents, his ambassadors. השם Hashem needs us to bench him. The ברכה bracha we give him that he needs from us is for us to be agents, ambassadors, to help represent the brand. השם Hashem told אברם Avram his assignment is to make God's presence known to the world. השם Hashem must dissipate the clouds that obscure God from human perception. Before Malki-Tzedek blessed השם Hashem, he first wanted to bless אברם Avram to be successful in spiritually conquering the world. Through אברם's Avram's own success, השם Hashem would also be blessed. And that's why the order was, first he blessed אברם Avram, and then he blesses השם Hashem. But it's interesting because while Rabbi Soloveitchik finds a beautiful meaning in it, the גמרא Gemara itself is very critical of אברם Avram for it. The גמרא Gemara in נדרים דף ל' ב' Nedarim daf lamed beis. The גמרא Gemara in נדרים דף ל' ב' Nedarim daf lamed beis tells us, ביקש הקדוש ברוך הוא להוציא כהונה משם Bikesh HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'hotzi kehuna m'Shem. השם Hashem was ready to take away the כהונה kehuna from Malki-Tzedek. He blew it. הוא כהן לאל עליון שהקדים ברכת אברם לברכת המקום הוציאה מאברם Hu kohen l'Kel Elyon shehikdim birchat Avram l'virchat haMakom hotziah m'Avram. Once it proceeded, first Malki-Tzedek gave a ברכה bracha to אברם Avram before השם Hashem, השם Hashem withdrew it from אברם Avram. ויאמר ברוך אברם לאל עליון קונה שמים וארץ וברוך קל עליון Vayomer Baruch Avram l'Kel Elyon koneh shamayim va'aretz uvaruch Kel Elyon. אמר לו אברם וכי מקדימין ברכת עבד לברכת קונו Amar lo Avram v'chi makdimin birchat eved l'virchat kono? מיד נתנה לאברם Miyad natnah l'Avram. שנאמר נאם השם לאדני she'ne'emar ne'um Hashem l'Adoni. And there's a whole conversation, a whole back and forth. The פרי מגדים Pri Megadim. The פרי מגדים Pri Megadim in אורח חיים Orach Chaim. אורח חיים Orach Chaim in סימן קע\"ד siman kuf ayin daled. The Holy פרי מגדים Pri Megadim, יוסף בן מאיר תאומים Yosef ben Meir Teomim, Lemberg in the 18th century. כשאוחז את הכוס k'she'ochez es hakos, what's the proper way? We'll end with this. Not literally, because it's a little too early in the morning. But we'll end with this. What is the proper way to make a לחיים l'chaim? Often people hold up the glass and they say, לחיים L'chaim, בר מצוה bar mitzvah, you should get נחת nachas, your children should make you proud. לחיים L'chaim, the granddaughter should grow up to make you proud. לחיים L'chaim to the יארצייט yahrzeit, the נשמה neshamah should have an עליה aliyah. Then you make a שהכל shehakol and they drink. Is it proper? לחיים L'chaim, the engagement, you should build a בית נאמן בישראל bayis ne'eman b'Yisrael. You're giving, the גמרא's Gemara's critical. גמרא Gemara says, how could Malki-Tzedek first bless אברם Avram before he blessed God? The גמרא's Gemara's critical and says, in fact, they paid a price. So what's the proper order when you're making a לחיים l'chaim? Should you first make the ברכה bracha, blessing God, take a sip, and then make the לחיים l'chaim? Or do you make the לחיים l'chaim and then the ברכה bracha? Everything there's הלכה halacha. For everything there's a Torah. Says the פרי מגדים Pri Megadim, כשאוחז את הכוס מברך תחילה וישתה מעט ואחר כך יאמר לחיים K'she'ochez es hakos m'varech techilah v'yishteh me'at v'achar kach yomar l'chaim. וכדומה דכבוד שמים עדיף uch'domei d'kvod shamayim adif. ויש אומרים תחילה לחיים דכבוד הבריות גדול V'yesh omrim techilah l'chaim d'kvod habriyos gadol. Some say no, first make the לחיים l'chaim because כבוד הבריות kvod habriyos, honoring people comes first. And he goes back and forth about this. But the פרי מגדים Pri Megadim brings it down as a, as a discussion. שו\"ת כנסת הגדולה She'elos u'Teshuvos Knesses HaGedolah also weighs in. לי נראה שאין בכך כלום אדרבה ראוי להקדים לומר למסובין בשמחת חתן ואחר כך יברך וישתה Li nir'eh she'ein b'kach klum adraba ra'ui l'hakdim lomar l'mesubin b'simchas chasan v'achar kach yevarech v'yishteh. דגדול כבוד הבריות שדוחה לא תסור שבתורה d'gadol kvod habriyos she'docheh lo sasur shebaTorah. We know we have a הלכה halachic principle, כבוד הבריות kvod habriyos supersedes even a לאו lav. So if that's the case, first make the לחיים l'chaim and honor the person even before you take the sip, even before you drink, drink. Believe it or not, the שבט הלוי Shevet HaLevi, Rav Wosner also weighs in. שבט הלוי Shevet HaLevi חלק ג' סימן צ\"ד chelek gimmel siman tzadi daled. בענין אמירת לחיים b'inyan amiras l'chaim. He quotes the פרי מגדים Pri Megadim, שו\"ת כנסת הגדולה She'elos u'Teshuvos Knesses HaGedolah. What's the proper order? What's the proper way? כף החיים Kaf HaChaim as well. Everybody weighs in. What's the proper way to make a, to make a לחיים l'chaim? All based on these פסוקים psukim, all based on our פרשה parsha. All based on our פרשה parsha. We'll end with one last one. I know we're already over time. פרק ט\"ו פסוק א' Perek tet-vav pasuk aleph. אחר הדברים האלה היה דבר השם אל אברם Achar hadvarim ha'eleh hayah dvar Hashem el Avram. After all these matters, the trip down to Egypt, the war of the four kings and the five kings, the rescue of Lot, the conversation with Malki-Tzedek king of סדום Sdom. After all this, היה דבר השם אל אברם hayah dvar Hashem el Avram. אברם Avram has a vision במחזה לאמר bamachazeh leimor, אל תירא אברם Al tira Avram, אנכי מגן לך Anochi magen lach. אברם Avram, don't be afraid. I'm your shield. שכרך הרבה מאוד s'charcha harbeh me'od, you have a lot of reward. We started with Rabbi Sacks, for today we'll end with Rabbi Sacks. And he says the following: אל תירא Al tira. Short and sweet. It is after the face of the sword to save Lot. It is after he faces the sword to save Lot that השם Hashem tells אברם Avram, I'm your shield. Each year we tell the story of אברם's Avram's call from God to leave. travel אל הארץ אשר אראך el ha'aretz asher areka. I call that the journey into insecurity. Rabbi Sachs calls it the journey into insecurity. Life has been highly insecure for Jews for 4,000 years. We're still on that journey. A lot of people are struck by the history of Jewish suffering. I'm always struck by the history of Jewish recovery from suffering. While the rest of the world marvels at the history of Jewish suffering, Rabbi Sachs says, I marvel at the history of the Jewish recovery from suffering. This לך לך lech lecha, Hashem tells Avram to leave and it is on a journey into insecurity. What gives our people the strength to keep going? It is that feeling that you can't face the future without fear if you know that you're not alone. It is that famous line in תהילים כג Tehillim Kaf Gimel, what we're learning in אמונה שיעור emunah shiur. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me. That, I think, says Rabbi Sachs, is the positive reason for faith in the 21st century. We can handle anything so long as we have the humility to know that we are answerable to something much greater than ourselves. This journey of לך לך lech lecha is the journey into insecurity. We want security, we don't get security. This is the journey into insecurity. And you know what? Only when you're willing to take the journey into insecurity can you feel secure. If you think that you can be secure, you'll be insecure. But when you realize and you're willing to take the journey into insecurity, only then, into the arms of Hashem, can you feel secure. בעזרת השם B'ezrat Hashem, we'll pick up with next time. Have a wonderful day. We should hear בשרות טובות besoros tovos.
