Hamaayan / The Torah Spring Toldot Volume 23, No. 6 2 Kislev 5769 November 29, 2008 Sponsored by the Marwick family in memory of Samuel Sklaroff a"h Robert and Hannah Klein on the yahrzeit of his mother Devorah bat Avraham a"h (Dorothy Jacobs Klein) Today's Learning: Keraitot 1:4-5 O.C. 235:1-3 Daf Yomi (Bavli): Kiddushin 52 Daf Yomi (Yerushalmi): Nazir 36 King Shlomo writes in Mishlei (20:5), "Counsel is like deep water in the heart of man, and the man of understanding will draw it forth." R' Yaakov ben Chananel Sakly z"l (Spain; 14th century) offers several explanations of this verse. The "counsel" that is deep in the heart of man is man's knowledge of G-d. Every person has the potential to know G-d. However, this knowledge exists only in potential form, like water that one has the potential to draw from a deep well but which is out of reach unless one exerts himself. Likewise, only through toil and study will one bring his latent knowledge of G-d into his consciousness. Alternatively, "Counsel is like deep water in the heart of man" refers to the fact that a wise man does not necessarily look any different on the outside than does a person who is not wise. "The man of understanding will draw it forth" means that only if a second person - a person of understanding - attempts to draw forth the wise man's knowledge will that wisdom become apparent. Finally, "Counsel is like deep water in the heart of man" refers to Avraham's worries about the fulfillment of Hashem's promise that Avraham would have a son from Sarah. Our Sages tell us that Yitzchak's birth could have caused a chillul Hashem / a desecration of G-d's Name, as the scoffers of the generation asserted that Sarah was not pregnant from Avraham but from Avimelech, the king who had kidnapped her for one night. "The `man' of understanding will draw it forth" refers to Hashem, who solved this problem by drawing forth from Sarah a child (Yitzchak) who looked exactly like Avraham (see Rashi on the first verse in our parashah). (Torat Ha'minchah) ******** "Hashem said to her, `Two goyim / nations are in your womb . . ." (25:23) Rashi z"l comments: The word "goyim" is written in the Torah "gayim" / "lofty ones" -- an allusion to Antoninus [possibly the Emperor Antonius Pius] and Rabbi [i.e., the Jewish leader Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi] from whose table neither radish nor lettuce was absent neither in summer nor in winter. R' Shmuel Krause z"l (rabbi in several communities in Europe and the United States) asks: Rivka went to inquire from the prophet why her pregnancy was so painful. Would she be comforted by the fact that she would have descendants who would eat radish and lettuce even when those items are out-of-season? [One can ask also: Rashi to the prior verse implies that Rivka's concerns were spiritual. Was she then interested in radish and lettuce?] An additional question: The Gemara (Ketubot 104a) states that before Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi died, he lifted his fingers to heaven and he said, "It is revealed and known before You that I derived no pleasure from this world, not even equal to my small finger." If so, ask the Tosafot, why did he need radish and other delicacies? The Tosafot answer: To feed to his many guests. However, observes R' Krause, this makes the prophet's answer to Rivka even more difficult to understand. Should she be willing to undergo a painful pregnancy because of the promise that her descendant would have many guests to whom he would serve radish and lettuce year- round? R' Krause explains: There are three different positive attitudes one can have with regard to food. The Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 231:1) states that even if one eats only when he is hungry, that is not considered praiseworthy. Rather, the minimum intention that one should have when he eats is that he wants to have the strength to serve G-d. Above this level, writes R' Krause, is one who eats with the kabbalistic intention that the berachah he recites will elevate the sparks of holiness that are trapped within the food. On the highest level is one who eats with the intention of being a pipeline by which sustenance is delivered to the entire world. In other words, G-d sustains the world in the merit of the righteous, and the righteous should desire abundance for themselves so that the flow to the rest of the world will be abundant as well. This does not mean that the tzaddik must derive pleasure from this world; rather, even if the tzaddik eats very little, if he sets an abundant table, as Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi did, he "awakens" the flow of sustenance to the entire world. This was the assurance that the prophet made to Rivka - that she would have a descendant from whom sustenance would flow to the world. (Siftei Chen: L'viat Chen, p.186) ******** "He [Yitzchak] smelled the fragrance of his [Yaakov's] garments and blessed him, saying, `See, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field which Hashem has blessed'." (27:27) Rashi z"l comments: "Surely there is no more offensive smell than that of washed goat skins. However, the Torah implicitly tells us that the perfume of the Garden of Eden entered the room with Yaakov." Why would Yitzchak call the fragrance of Gan Eden "the fragrance of a field"? R' Yitzchak Isaac Liebes z"l (noted American posek) explains: The Torah relates that just before Yitzchak met his wife Rivka, "Yitzchak went out to pray in the field towards evening." For what was he praying? He was beseeching G-d that his forthcoming marriage would produce worthy children who would serve Hashem. Until the moment described in our verse, Yitzchak did not know whether his prayer had been answered, but when he smelled the fragrance of Gan Eden, he knew. Then he said, "The fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field." This is what I prayed for that day in the field. (Quoted in Otzrotaihem Shel Tzaddikim) ******** "Yaakov simmered a stew, and Esav came in from the field, and he was exhausted." (25:29) Rashi z"l writes that Esav was exhausted from having committed murder that day. Rashi writes further that Avraham Avinu had died that very day. Hashem took him five years before his time so that he would not see his grandson Esav turn bad. Midrash Rabbah appears to understand the sequence of events differently. According to the midrash, it was Avraham's death that caused Esav to sin. Esav reasoned that the death of someone so righteous as Avraham indicated that the world has no Judge and no justice. R' Isser Zalman Meltzer z"l (1870-1953; rosh yeshiva in Slutsk and Kletsk, Poland, and later in Yerushalayim) explains that there is no contradiction. Esav was in any case on a path that would lead him astray, so Hashem did Avraham a kindness by taking him from this earth so that he would not see what became of his grandson. However, people who do bad things generally seek a way to rationalize their behavior, and Avraham's death gave Esav the excuse he needed. R' Moshe Tzuriel shlita (former mashgiach ruchani of Yeshivat Sha'alvim and a prolific author) uses R' Meltzer's explanation to resolve a seeming conflict between two Talmudic statements about the sage Rabbi Elisha ben Avuyah, also known as "Acher." The Gemara (Kiddushin 39b) states that Acher became a heretic when he saw a pig defiling the corpse of one of the Sages (one of the "Ten Martyrs"). Elsewhere, however, the Gemara (Chagigah 15b) states that Acher became a heretic because he read heretical books. R' Tzuriel explains: Acher was destined to become a heretic because of the books he read. However, he needed a way to rationalize his departure from loyalty to Torah, and seeing the defilement of the corpse of one of the Sages was his excuse. (Be'urei Aggadot: Kiddushin 39b) ******** This Week in History, Halachah, and Minhag Rosh Chodesh Kislev: If no rain has fallen in Eretz Yisrael by this date, fast days may be decreed on the general populace. (Shulchan Aruch O.C. 575:2) On this day, olives that were forgotten on the crowns of the trees, and which therefore were required to be left for the poor, become permitted to the general populace. (Luach Davar B'ito p.340) Today is an auspicious day for atonement. (Derashot Chatam Sofer II p.379c) 2 Kislev: This day is "Casablanca Purim Kattan," which celebrates the Jewish community of Casablanca, Morocco being saved from anti-Jewish riots during World War II. The community also observes the 20th of Kislev as a Purim-like holiday, complete with the reading of a megillah that relates the story of the German defeat, and the singing of "Cursed be Hitler, cursed be Mussolini." (Luach Davar B'ito p.345) 3 Kislev: On this day during the Second Temple period, the Chashmonaim removed the "forms" that the Greeks had placed in the Bet Hamikdash. (Megillat Ta'anit) Commentaries suggest that these "forms" either were idols, decorations or military symbols. On this day in 5463 (1702), R' Yaakov Yehoshua z"l was miraculously saved from a great fire in his hometown of Lvov (Lemberg). The fire killed his wife, mother-in-law and dozens of other Jews. While lying in the rubble, R' Y.Y. made a vow that, if he survived, he would devote himself to writing a Talmud commentary that would defend Rashi's explanations from the challenges of the Tosafot. The result of that vow is the popular work Pnei Yehosuhua. (From the introduction to that work) 4 Kislev 5504 (1743): On this day, the army of the Pasha of Damascus lifted its 85-day siege of Teveryah (Tiberias). Thereafter, the day was celebrated as "Purim Teveryah." The miracle was two-fold; not only were the Jews of Teveryah saved from the invading army, but the siege prevented a plague that was decimating the nearby city of Tzfat from infiltrating Teveryah. (Me'am Lo'ez: Esther p.292) 7 Kislev 3758 (4 B.C.E.): Herod, king of Judaea, dies. In subsequent generations, the day was observed as a yom tov because Herod had hated Torah scholars. (Megillat Ta'anit) Although Herod is famous for having renovated the Bet Hamikdash, the Gemara (Bava Batra 4a) explains that he did so as atonement for having murdered numerous Torah Scholars. Thursday night, December 4: Begin to recite "V'tain tal u'matar" in the Diaspora.