Tuesday, Mar-Cheshvan 9, 5781 / October 27, 2020
B"H
Tuesday, Mar-Cheshvan 9, 5781 / October 27, 2020
The reason that the Bible is called, "Torah" is because it comes from the word "hora'ah" - "teaching/guide." Even the stories of creation and of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs are not a history lesson, but serve to teach andguide us in each generation and at all times.
This week's Parsha, Lech Lecha, is devoted to our Patriarch Abraham and Matriarch Sarah. The Parsha tells about many of the tests which Abraham and Sarah endured, beginning with G-d's commandment to Abraham, Lech Lecha, to leave their birth place and their father’s home.
He promised Abraham that in the new land, "I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who will bless you... and in you shall all the families of the earth bless themselves."
Thus, Abraham at the age of seventy five, and Sarah at age sixty five, became the first wandering Jews. G-d commanded Abraham and Sarah to travel to a foreign destination--the land of Canaan. But, when they finally arrived, G-d brought a famine and again they had to move. This time, they traveled to Egypt where they experienced more trials and tribulations. Sarah was taken from Abraham and brought to King Pharaoh. G-d punished Pharaoh and his household and she was returned to Abraham. So began Abraham and Sarah’s experience in The Promised Land.. tests and more tests.
Torah commentaries discuss why does the Torah use the words "Lech Lecha" which literally mean "go for you," when only the word "Lech" ("go") would have sufficed?
Rashi explains that with the two words, LechLecha, go for you, G-d is telling Abraham that although this commandment may seem difficult at this time, it is in fact, "for your benefit and for your pleasure." For whatever G-d does and whatever He wants us to do is in truth for our benefit and if we accept it as such, it is also for our pleasure, whether we see it at the time or not.
Said a wise person: In life, generally, the things in which a person finds pleasure are not necessarily for the person's benefit. But, the pleasure one derives through performing G-d's commandments are indeed for our benefit!
The Midrash uses the following analogy to explain why G-d wanted Abraham to experience the many exiles from place to place:
A bottle of perfume was placed in the corner of a shelf. As long as it remained there, no one appreciated its fragrance. Only when someone moved the perfume from place to place did everyone enjoy its wonderful fragrance. The same was with Abraham and Sarah. G-d wanted them to move from place to place so that people could get to know them, appreciate them and emulate their pious and generous deeds.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
Thursday, Mar-Cheshvan 4, 5781 / October 22, 2020
B"H
Thursday, Mar-Cheshvan 4, 5781 / October 22, 2020
This week’s Parsha, Noach is about the story of the Great Flood and Noach’s Ark. The Parsha ends with the birth and life of Abraham and Sarai (Sarah).
Q. How long did it take Noach to build the Ark?
A. 120 years. Noach began building the Ark when he was 480 years old and completed it at age 600.
Q. Why did it take him so long?
A. To give people a chance to repent. When people asked Noach why he was building an ark, he replied that G-d was bringing a Great Flood unless people would repend and better their ways. Yet, 120 years of exposure to building The Ark and telling people why, they still didn’t repent and G-d eventually brought The Flood. Also, G-d waited for Noach’s grandfather, Mesushelach, to pass away.
Q. The Torah proclaims Noach to be a righteous person. Noach was the one who built The Ark and was responsible for saving life on this planet, yet, the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 54) refers to The Great Flood, which brought so much destruction, as Mei Noach, "the waters of Noach." Placing partial responsibility for the Flood on Noach. How could a righteous person (Tzaddik) like Noach, who, he and his family were saved from The Flood, be blamed somehow for The Flood?
A. Our sages explain the apparent contradiction with the following parable: Many people were sitting in a cold room. Two of the people decided they couldn't take the cold any more.
One person went and put on his fur coat. Although he was now comfortable, everyone else was still freezing. The other person decided to get wood and make a fire. He not only warmed himself, but everyone else in the room too.
Abraham, who was a descendent of Noach, was like the second person. When G-d wanted to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorra, Abraham prayed to G-d to save the people of those cities. But Noach was similar to the first person. Noach was indeed righteous, but he didn't go out of his way to save the rest of his generation.
Only when asked why he was building the Ark, he told them, but he didn’t go out of his way to call people to repent. He also didn’t pray that G-d spare the people. Because he didn't do enough to prevent the disaster of The Great Flood, the prophet calls it by his name – “The waters of Noach.”
The Torah portion of the week is not a lesson in history, but to teach us a lesson. The lesson here is that if one doesn’t do enough to set another person on the right path, they too bear some of the responsibility for the other person’s negative actions.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
Tuesday, Mar-Cheshvan 2, 5781 / October 20, 2020
B"H
Tuesday, Mar-Cheshvan 2, 5781 / October 20, 2020
This week’s Parsha, Noach is about the story of The Great Flood and Noach’s building of The Ark.
This parsha is the second Parsha of the Torah. In the first Parsha, Breishis, the Torah records the story of creation. In the second Parsha, Noach, we read about the enormous destruction which G-d brought through The Great Flood. Only Noach and his family were saved in The Ark. Also, seven of each of the kosher animals and two of the non kosher ones were saved in The Ark.
Q. What was the reason for this enormous destruction on such a global scale?
A. The Torah states that it was a punishment for immoralty, murders, idol worship and robbery on a global scale. All the descendents of Cain (who killed his brother Abel), perished in The Flood.
Q. Does the Torah give any reason for the name Noach?
A. The Torah states that his father, Lemech, called his son, Noach, which comes from the Hebrew word “Nechama,” comfort, saying, “This one will bring us comfort from our hard labor in the field which G-d cursed.” Indeed, Noach developed tools which made it easier to cultivate the land.
Q. How old was Noach when The Flood began?
A. Noach was 600 years old when The Flood began.
Q. How many people were saved in The Ark? Who were they?
A. Eight people were saved:Noach, his wife, their three sons and their wives.
Q. How old was Noach when the first of his sons was born?
A. He was five hundred year old.
Q. How long did The Great Flood last? How much time did they spend in The ark?
A. The waters of The Great Flood came down for forty days. Even after the rains stopped, the waters kept on rising and gaining strength from beneath until they covered all the mountains. It was half a year before the waters began receding. They were in The Ark for over one year.
Q. How did the animals behave in the Ark? Whay did they eat?
A. Everyone got along, even the lion and the sheep, just as in Moshiach’s times. Meat was prohibited for them to eat. They all ate vegetation. Only after The Great Flood did G-d permit them to eat meat.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
Monday, Mar-Cheshvan 1, 5781 / October 19, 2020
Monday, Mar-Cheshvan 1, 5781 / October 19, 2020
Today is the second day of Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the new month Cheshvan. The month is also called Mar-Cheshvan.
There are two reasons why “Mar” is added to the name Cheshvan. “Mar” stands for a “drop.” Because Cheshvan is the time when the rains begin to fall in Israel, the word, mar, refering to rain drops, is added to the name Cheshvan.
Another reason: “Mar” means “bitter.” Coming from the month of Tishrei which has so many holidays (Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hoshana Raba, Shmini Atzeret & Simchat Torah), the month of Cheshvan, which has no holidays, feels spiritually “bitter.” Although there are other months which have no holidays, the contrast from the month of Tishrei to the month of Cheshvan, which has no holidays in it, is felt much more, thus, the name “Mar-Cheshvan.”.
Our sages say, that Cheshvan should have had a great holiday. For the first Beth Hamikdash (Holy Temple) was completed in this month and King Solomon should have celebrated its dedication in Cheshvan. However, by G-dly decree the dedication was postponed for almost a year and was celebrated in Tishrei.
When Moshiach will come (may it be speedily in our days), the month of Cheshvan will be compensated with great celebrations.
In the beginning of this week's Parsha, Noach, which is about the Great Flood, G-d commands Noach (Noah) to build an ark. Noach builds the ark for 120 years. The ark had three floors: a top floor for people; a middle floor for animals; and bottom floor for garbage. G-d then commands Noach to enter into the ark. On the 17th day of this month, Cheshvan, the Great Flood began.
The Torah calls Noach a Tzaddik B'dorotav, "a righteous person in his generation." Based on this expression, the Rabbis debate whether Noah was only righteous compared to the other people in his generation or whether he would have been called righteous in the generation of Abraham, as well.
Some say that the Torah uses the term, “In his generation” as a praise to Noach. Even in his generation, where all the people were wicked, Noach was righteous. How much more so had he lived in the time of Abraham.
Another opinion is that only in his generation, compared to everyone else, he was considered righteous. But, had he lived in Abraham’s generation, compared to Abraham, he wouldn’t have been considered so righteous. More on Noach and the Great Flood in tomorrow’s Torah Fax.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL CHODESH-MONTH
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