Today's Learning Zevachim 2:4-5 Sponsored by O.C. 410:3-412:1 The Parness family Chullin 80 on the yahrzeit of Yerushalmi- Max Parness a"h Sanhedrin 2 Hamaayan/The Torah Spring edited by Shlomo Katz Chayei Sarah Vol. XI, No. 5 (488), 27 Marcheshvan 5757, November 9, 1996 At one time, Rabbenu Bachya writes, it was customary to read this parashah in the presence of every bridegroom on the day of his wedding. One of the lessons the bridegroom should learn from this parashah is that he should not focus on his bride's beauty, her money or her position (i.e., her career or her standing in the community), but only on her good character. Yet, asks Rav Avraham Yaakov Pam shlita, if Avraham was concerned primarily with his daughter-in-law's character, why did he choose a girl from a family of idolaters rather than a daughter of his students Aner, Eshkol and Mamre? Because, says Rav Pam, just as a family carries physical genetics, it carries spiritual genetics. A relative of Yitzchak, even if she came from a depraved household was a more worthy bride for him than the daughter of a man who was personally righteous but who was the exception in his family. However, asks Rav Pam, if beauty is not important, why does the Torah mention that Rivka and other women were beautiful? Beauty is like the digit zero, he answers. Alone, it is nothing, but if other numbers are placed in front of it, it increases their value ten-fold. (Atarah Lamelech) ************************************ Parashat Chayei Sarah In Halachah None of the 613 mitzvot/commandments appears in this parashah. (Sefer Hachinuch) One whose family member dies is obligated to cry over the deceased and eulogize him. We learn this from Avraham who did just that. (She'iltot D'Rav Achai Gaon) [See box below] "And Avraham was old coming along in days, and Hashem blessed Avraham with everything." (24:1) Reciting this verse after Hallel on Rosh Chodesh is considered to be a segulah (charm) for long life. (Quoted in the name of Shelah Hakadosh) "They blessed Rivka and they said to her, 'Our sister--may you come to be thousands of myriads, and may your offspring inherit the gate of its foes'." (24:60) Based on this verse, Tosfot (Ketubot 7b) cites an opinion that the first blessing of the wedding ceremony (known as "Birkat erusin") may be said in the presence of the bridegroom's representative, even if the bridegroom himself is not there. According to that opinion, this blessing which Rivka's family gave her was the equivalent of our wedding blessing [see box below], and since Yitzchak, the bridegroom, was not present at this event, hence the lesson that the bridegroom need not be present at the berachah. However, says Tosfot, this is not the literal meaning of the verse. ************************************ How is it possible that we learn one of the laws of marriage from the actions of Rivka's family of idol worshippers? Perhaps the answer is that the Torah is not a story book and no word in the Torah is for naught. If Hashem chose to record the words of these people, we are expected to learn from them. Similarly, from Lavan's statement to Yaakov, "Finish this week [of celebrating Leah's marriage] and then I will give you also [Rachel]," we learn that one should not mix two causes for joy. This also explains why we learn from Avraham's actions that a person is obligated to mourn for his deceased. Isn't such mourning only natural? Again, the answer may be that since the Torah chose to mention this fact, it must be that were are meant to learn from it. ************************************ "And Avraham heeded Efron, and Avraham weighed out to Efron the price which he had mentioned in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred silver shekels in negotiable currency." (23:16) The Midrash Rabbah states: Thus it is written (Mishlei 28:22), "A person who has an evil eye ("ra ayin") chases after wealth, and he does not realize that it will be his loss." What was Efron's loss? The first time Efron is mentioned in the above verse it is spelled with the letter "vav" and the second time without it. [Until here from the midrash] What is the significance of Efron's losing his "vav"? The Ba'al Haturim explains that the gematria of Efron without the letter "vav" is 400, equal to the gematria of "ra ayin"/"evil eye." Note that 400 also was the number of silver shekels which Efron demanded for Sarah's burial plot. ************************************ Kli Yakar notes that Chazal promised six blessings to a generous person. Efron, who was miserly, lost his "vav" (whose gematria is six). ************************************ Rabbenu Bachya (Bereishit 15:13) notes that the number 400 also appears in Yaakov's reunion with Esav. When Yaakov sent emissaries to Esav, they reported back that Esav was advancing towards Yaakov with 400 men. When Yaakov heard this, he sent gifts to Esav from his herd and his flocks, and he instructed that the animals travel with spaces between each group. Why? "In order to satisfy the eyes of that rasha," Rashi explains. ************************************ The full name "Efron ben Tzochar" (with the letter "vav") is equal in gematria to the verse in Kohelet (10:19), "Hakessef ya'aneh et hakol"/"Money is the answer to everything." ( quoted in Shoham Yakar) ************************************ From the humor of our sages . . . "And Avraham was old, coming along in days." (24:1) When the famed Rav Yaakov Lorberbaum (better known as the "Nesivos") was being considered for rabbi of Lissa, some felt that he was too young. "If that is my only failing," he told them, "I guarantee that it will heal itself over time." ************************************ Rav Yitzchak Isaac Chaver z"l 5549 (1789) - 29 Cheshvan 5613 (1852) From his earliest youth, Rav Y.I. had no interest except Torah study. Already when he was 14, Rav Menachem Mendel of Shklov began to teach him the kabbalistic secrets of his own teacher, the Vilna Gaon. Through Rav Mendel, Rav Y.I came into possession of rare manuscripts of the Vilna Gaon's teachings, and leading kabbalists of the generation used to come to Rav Y.I. to study these. (Rav Mendel himself published the Vilna Gaon's commentary on Mishlei.) Rav Y.I. held a number of rabbinic posts, most prominently in Tiktin and Suvalk. In every community he worked hard to inspire the townsfolk and raise their spiritual level. Even so, his own learning did not suffer, and at age 60 he finished the Talmud for the sixtieth time. He also was, according to his younger contemporary Rav Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, the leading kabbalist of his time. He published numerous works, including: Bet Yitzchak: Covering the concept of "sfek sfeka"--the halachic principle which permits leniency in certain cases of compound doubts; Seder Zemanim: Covering time-related halachot; Pitchei Shearim: An introduction to kabbalah; and Magen Vetzinah: A defense of kabbalah against those who questioned its legitimacy. ************************************ Rav Yitzchak Isaac Chaver writes in his haggadah commentary, Yad Mitzrayim, that Hashem used each one of the Patriarchs to introduce a different aspect of His relationship with the Jewish people. The innovation in G-d's relationship with Yitzchak was hashgachah pratit, the idea that when G-d watches over man, man is above nature. Thus, for example, Yitzchak was born to aged parents who, Chazal say, were originally infertile. This also is why Yitzchak was forbidden to leave Eretz Yisrael, because that is the place where Hashem's hashgachah is found. ************************************ Donations to Hamaayan are tax-deductible