As Yaakov is convincing Eisav to accept his gift,Yaakov says כי חנני אלקים וכי יש לי כל, take it, for 'ה has been gracious to me & I have everything.
Rashi explains יש לי כל, I have everything means that I have everything that I need. However, when Eisav spoke, he spoke haughtily saying יש לי רב, I have plenty, implying that he has much more than he needs.
The חפץ חיים says that these words outline their different outlooks on life. By saying יש לי רב, Eisav is saying that he has plenty but not הכל , not everything, he still wants more. However, Yaakov’s יש לי כל , means that he's not missing anything for he was happy with his lot & satisfied with whatever he had.
When הגר"ח מוולאז'ין learned the sefer תנא דבי אליהו, he found one verse very troubling: כי הקב"ה שמח בחלקו that 'ה is happy with his lot. What kind of lot does 'ה have to be happy with? The whole world is his! Since this bothered him for a long time, he went to see his rebbi in Vilna and asked him this question. The גאון answered him that we, עם ישראל, are the lot of הקב"ה as the posuk says in Haazinu כי חלק ה' עמו יעקב חבל נחלתו ,For 'ה's share is his people; Jacob, the portion of His possession.
Continued the גאון , with His portion He's always happy whether it’s a lot or a little. That's how 'ה is שמח בחלקו.
What does that mean though? I understand that 'ה is happy with us when we do a lot but what's his happiness with a little?
The עלינו לשבח brings a story about ר' אלקנה לייסנר who did two interesting things every day while walking to his daf yomi shir. First, instead of walking leisurely, taking the side streets, he would go out of his way to walk along the busiest streets in town second, he would always be carrying his large gemara.
Over the years many people wondered why he would walk carrying around this huge gemara when there were plenty of gemaras in shul to use.
Finally, one of his relatives asked him. Why do you always carry around that huge gemara?
He answered, I want people to see me walking with the gemara so when they see a regular working man coming to learn after a long day, I'm hoping they will be inspired to come to learn too. That's why I take the biggest gemara I have & walk the busiest streets so more people will see me & do the same.
The gemara in Shabbos mentions three things that one should say in his house עם חשיכה, just before dark: עשרתם , ערבתם , הדליקו את הנר. Have you tithed? Have you prepared the eiruv? Light the lamps! הגר"מ שפירא זצ"ל explained these in a more practical way for our generation. עם חשיכה ,in a generation where darkness prevails over light, a generation where sin triumphs, we have to internalize these three things. עשרתם , take tithes from our time to learn Torah. Even those of us that are busy all day must find some time to learn. ערבתם , it’s incumbent upon us להתערב בין הבריות , to mingle with the people & inspire them to join us in the service of Hashem. הדליקו את הנר, ignite the eternal flame of Torah & warm the hearts of the people to want to study Torah.
Perhaps this is the little that 'ה is happy with: the small things that people do to inspire other people to help people , to influence other people to recognize 'ה. Even in this generation, where our values are challenged, & dark has seemingly taken over, we still need to go in the ways of 'ה showing other people the right path & know that even the small things we do are making Hashem שמח בחלקו!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Vayeitzei
The parsha relates the incredible story of יעקב who worked for seven years to marry רחל, is fooled at the last minute to unwittingly marry Leah and then the posuk says, ויהי בבקר והנה הוא לאה and it was morning & behold it was Leah! He didn't realize it was Leah until the next morning.
The בן איש חי is confounded by this story. While it is true that we cannot understand the ways of 'ה , if 'ה wanted יעקב to marry Leah, too, why did He have to make it come about in such a deceitful way? If 'ה wanted יעקב to marry both sisters, why wouldn't He just tell him in a נבואה & he would have done it happily?
There's a fascinating Midrash in איכה that relates our the attempts of our forefathers in heaven at the time of the destruction of the בית המקדש , to get 'ה to return the people to their land. First אברהם entreated 'ה followed by יצחק then יעקב but to no avail. משה tried & also met with no success. It seemed that the Jewish nation was doomed until רחל spoke up and said: Master of the world,You know that יעקב had tremendous love for me & even worked for seven years that I should be his wife. When the seven years were ending, my father wanted me to switch with my sister which bothered me immensely so I told יעקב & we arranged signs that he would know that it was me & couldn't be fooled.
However, my compassion for my sister was aroused when I thought of the great embarrassment she would suffer. Therefore, I overcame my emotions & gave her the signs so she could marry my intended husband! I did all of that and gave up my future to spare my sister the embarrassment.
Rachel continued: now, I, a mere mortal of flesh & blood, was not jealous of my sister & didn't let her get embarrassed; You, the eternal King, how can You be jealous of idols that have no worth and because of whom you exiled your children?
The Midrash continues: immediately, 'ה's mercy was aroused & He said, “because of you רחל I will return them to their land.”
Continues the בן איש חי ,we see that all the prayers of the אבות & Moshe couldn't sway 'ה to redeem the nation, whereas the merit of רחל ,who sacrificed personal happiness so that her sister wouldn't get embarrassed evokes the mercy of 'ה to enable us to be returned to our land.
After this Midrash, we understand why the marriage to Leah had to be done in a deceitful manner for 'ה was preparing the merit to enable us to get out of galus. It was only self sacrifice of this magnitude that had the power to return us to our land.
Rabbi Shimon Finkelman relates a story that exemplifies this trait; there were two boys from the same shul whose bar mitzvas fell out around the same time & due to poor scheduling were both scheduled for the same Shabbos. Both boys had worked really hard preparing the whole parsha so they didn't know what to do. Who should lain?
One of the boys, Avi, decided on his own that he would forego the honor of reading from the Torah allowing the other boy to read the whole parsha.
A few years later, Avi stayed with his mother, who was in the hospital, over Shabbos. Early Shabbos morning a man came in to the room & said to Avi, “as you might know, Rav Elyashiv is also in the hospital . We have a minyan in his room but we don't have anyone to lain. Perhaps you know how to? Avi answered, “normally I couldn't, but since this is my bar mitzva parsha I could lain!
After they finished davening Rav Elyashiv thanked Avi for laining & asked him why he was in the hospital. Avi told him about his mother’s condition whereupon Rav Elyashiv had his personal doctor take over her care. Guided by the doctor’s recommendation, she went into surgery & had a complete recovery.
Although it seemed like Avi had prepared his parsha for nothing, his selflessness at his Bar Mitzvah could have been the merit for which he got to lain for Rav Elyashiv, leading to his mother’s complete recovery. When we give up something that we really desire for someone else, we might really be setting the stage for our own redemption!
The בן איש חי is confounded by this story. While it is true that we cannot understand the ways of 'ה , if 'ה wanted יעקב to marry Leah, too, why did He have to make it come about in such a deceitful way? If 'ה wanted יעקב to marry both sisters, why wouldn't He just tell him in a נבואה & he would have done it happily?
There's a fascinating Midrash in איכה that relates our the attempts of our forefathers in heaven at the time of the destruction of the בית המקדש , to get 'ה to return the people to their land. First אברהם entreated 'ה followed by יצחק then יעקב but to no avail. משה tried & also met with no success. It seemed that the Jewish nation was doomed until רחל spoke up and said: Master of the world,You know that יעקב had tremendous love for me & even worked for seven years that I should be his wife. When the seven years were ending, my father wanted me to switch with my sister which bothered me immensely so I told יעקב & we arranged signs that he would know that it was me & couldn't be fooled.
However, my compassion for my sister was aroused when I thought of the great embarrassment she would suffer. Therefore, I overcame my emotions & gave her the signs so she could marry my intended husband! I did all of that and gave up my future to spare my sister the embarrassment.
Rachel continued: now, I, a mere mortal of flesh & blood, was not jealous of my sister & didn't let her get embarrassed; You, the eternal King, how can You be jealous of idols that have no worth and because of whom you exiled your children?
The Midrash continues: immediately, 'ה's mercy was aroused & He said, “because of you רחל I will return them to their land.”
Continues the בן איש חי ,we see that all the prayers of the אבות & Moshe couldn't sway 'ה to redeem the nation, whereas the merit of רחל ,who sacrificed personal happiness so that her sister wouldn't get embarrassed evokes the mercy of 'ה to enable us to be returned to our land.
After this Midrash, we understand why the marriage to Leah had to be done in a deceitful manner for 'ה was preparing the merit to enable us to get out of galus. It was only self sacrifice of this magnitude that had the power to return us to our land.
Rabbi Shimon Finkelman relates a story that exemplifies this trait; there were two boys from the same shul whose bar mitzvas fell out around the same time & due to poor scheduling were both scheduled for the same Shabbos. Both boys had worked really hard preparing the whole parsha so they didn't know what to do. Who should lain?
One of the boys, Avi, decided on his own that he would forego the honor of reading from the Torah allowing the other boy to read the whole parsha.
A few years later, Avi stayed with his mother, who was in the hospital, over Shabbos. Early Shabbos morning a man came in to the room & said to Avi, “as you might know, Rav Elyashiv is also in the hospital . We have a minyan in his room but we don't have anyone to lain. Perhaps you know how to? Avi answered, “normally I couldn't, but since this is my bar mitzva parsha I could lain!
After they finished davening Rav Elyashiv thanked Avi for laining & asked him why he was in the hospital. Avi told him about his mother’s condition whereupon Rav Elyashiv had his personal doctor take over her care. Guided by the doctor’s recommendation, she went into surgery & had a complete recovery.
Although it seemed like Avi had prepared his parsha for nothing, his selflessness at his Bar Mitzvah could have been the merit for which he got to lain for Rav Elyashiv, leading to his mother’s complete recovery. When we give up something that we really desire for someone else, we might really be setting the stage for our own redemption!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Toldos
The Midrash tells us a very interesting fact about יצחק אבינו : he understood the enormity of the final judgment. Therefore he asked that יסורין befall a person & 'ה answered him saying " you are asking for a good thing & it will start with you". Afterwards, the posuk says ויהי כי זקן יצחק ותכהין עיניו מראות , it was when יצחק become old & his eyesight waned”, his failing eyesight was so that he have hardships in this world to ease his judgment in the next.
The חפץ חיים presents this mashal: A man rented a house for 300 rubles a year due at the end of the year. The landlord had to go overseas and put someone else in charge of his holdings. This person was a Jew hater who immediately told the Jew that his rent was raised to 500 rubles. The year ended , but when the employee came to collect the rent, the man only had 480 rubles. This man refused to give extra time to pay and instead whipped the renter 20 times, once for each ruble that he owed. This became his common practice; upping the rents, beating the Jews & stealing from them which made him very wealthy.
When the landlord returned years later, this Jew went to him & told him everything that happened over the years. The landlord was appalled by his appointee’s behavior & told the Jew that he has to pay you 100 rubles for every blow that he hit you. Since he hit you 20 times, he owes you 2000 rubles. His land is worth 4000 ruble so I am writing you a deed for half his land.
The man went home with his head down & depressed. His wife was perplexed so he showed her the deed for half the property of their tormentor. The wife asked, “why are you sad? You should be overjoyed that you now own half the property”. He answered that the pain is long gone now & how I wish he would have hit me 40 times, for then I'd own the whole property.
This, says the חפץ חיים is how hardships in this world are when one gets them. He just wants them to go away. However, when he gets to the next world, he will see how much pain these hardships had saved him. Not only that, but how much reward one will get in the next world for all the suffering on this one.
In a similar vein, הגר"ש יודלויץ told a story about a person who had many hardships, sickness, & poverty. One day, when he just couldn't bear anymore, he undertook a journey to the great רב שלום שרעבי זצ"ל to ask what 'ה wants from him. When he arrived, he sat on a chair to wait for the rabbi and fell into a deep sleep. In his dream, he sees himself slowly ascending to heaven when he hears noise behind him which is a wagon full of snow white angels who quickly pass him. Silence ensues. Once more he hears the noise again & this time it’s white angels of different sizes: some big & strong & some wimpy with missing limbs. As that one passes him, another wagon of black angels pass, just like the white ones with some strong & some wimpy. He keeps going until he comes to a clearing filled with all the wagons, with a big scale in the middle of the clearing. The angels mount the scale with the black on one side & the white ones on the other.
He doesn't know what's happening until someone tells him that this is the heavenly court & they are judging someone. When a person does a mitzvah, he creates a white angel. If the mitzva is done properly, with the proper intent,then the angel is big & strong. If not, then it creates a wimpy angel which is also true with sins. Each sin which is done with full gusto creates a black angel that is big & strong, while sins that were done with a heavy heart create wimpy angels.
As he's watching the scale fill up, he asks who's being judged? The answer is “you!” He is shaking with fright for he sees that all the angels are on the scale & it’s tilting to the black side. He's doomed!
Then he hears them calling out, " are there any more angels?" When the first response is “no”, they ask again, “did perhaps this man have hardships in his life?” Immediately, another wagon full of angels created from his hardships pulls up & started pulling off the black angels for hardships erase sins. As the two sides of the scale are practically even, he sees that there are no more angels so he starts screaming " give me a few more hardships!!"
With that, he woke up startled. The people in the rabbi's house ask him what happened? As he heads to the door, they ask, “didn't you want to talk to the rabbi?” to which he responded I already have my answer.
We are living in a time where 'ה is giving us many hardships. We, for the most part, can't understand & accept that they will help us in the long term. As the gemara says, ר' יוחנן had terrible יסורין when 'ר חנינא went to visit him he asked him חביבין עליך יסורין, are these hardships dear to you? ר' יוחנן answered " don't give me them or their reward." How do we reach the level of not needing hardships to balance the scale?
Perhaps we can do as follows; when we do the mitzvos we do them wholeheartedly, creating strong, capable angels & when we invariably sin, we do it with a heavy heart creating weak, decrepit black angels. Then, we will have enough of our own merits to tip the scales & we won't need any more hardships!
The חפץ חיים presents this mashal: A man rented a house for 300 rubles a year due at the end of the year. The landlord had to go overseas and put someone else in charge of his holdings. This person was a Jew hater who immediately told the Jew that his rent was raised to 500 rubles. The year ended , but when the employee came to collect the rent, the man only had 480 rubles. This man refused to give extra time to pay and instead whipped the renter 20 times, once for each ruble that he owed. This became his common practice; upping the rents, beating the Jews & stealing from them which made him very wealthy.
When the landlord returned years later, this Jew went to him & told him everything that happened over the years. The landlord was appalled by his appointee’s behavior & told the Jew that he has to pay you 100 rubles for every blow that he hit you. Since he hit you 20 times, he owes you 2000 rubles. His land is worth 4000 ruble so I am writing you a deed for half his land.
The man went home with his head down & depressed. His wife was perplexed so he showed her the deed for half the property of their tormentor. The wife asked, “why are you sad? You should be overjoyed that you now own half the property”. He answered that the pain is long gone now & how I wish he would have hit me 40 times, for then I'd own the whole property.
This, says the חפץ חיים is how hardships in this world are when one gets them. He just wants them to go away. However, when he gets to the next world, he will see how much pain these hardships had saved him. Not only that, but how much reward one will get in the next world for all the suffering on this one.
In a similar vein, הגר"ש יודלויץ told a story about a person who had many hardships, sickness, & poverty. One day, when he just couldn't bear anymore, he undertook a journey to the great רב שלום שרעבי זצ"ל to ask what 'ה wants from him. When he arrived, he sat on a chair to wait for the rabbi and fell into a deep sleep. In his dream, he sees himself slowly ascending to heaven when he hears noise behind him which is a wagon full of snow white angels who quickly pass him. Silence ensues. Once more he hears the noise again & this time it’s white angels of different sizes: some big & strong & some wimpy with missing limbs. As that one passes him, another wagon of black angels pass, just like the white ones with some strong & some wimpy. He keeps going until he comes to a clearing filled with all the wagons, with a big scale in the middle of the clearing. The angels mount the scale with the black on one side & the white ones on the other.
He doesn't know what's happening until someone tells him that this is the heavenly court & they are judging someone. When a person does a mitzvah, he creates a white angel. If the mitzva is done properly, with the proper intent,then the angel is big & strong. If not, then it creates a wimpy angel which is also true with sins. Each sin which is done with full gusto creates a black angel that is big & strong, while sins that were done with a heavy heart create wimpy angels.
As he's watching the scale fill up, he asks who's being judged? The answer is “you!” He is shaking with fright for he sees that all the angels are on the scale & it’s tilting to the black side. He's doomed!
Then he hears them calling out, " are there any more angels?" When the first response is “no”, they ask again, “did perhaps this man have hardships in his life?” Immediately, another wagon full of angels created from his hardships pulls up & started pulling off the black angels for hardships erase sins. As the two sides of the scale are practically even, he sees that there are no more angels so he starts screaming " give me a few more hardships!!"
With that, he woke up startled. The people in the rabbi's house ask him what happened? As he heads to the door, they ask, “didn't you want to talk to the rabbi?” to which he responded I already have my answer.
We are living in a time where 'ה is giving us many hardships. We, for the most part, can't understand & accept that they will help us in the long term. As the gemara says, ר' יוחנן had terrible יסורין when 'ר חנינא went to visit him he asked him חביבין עליך יסורין, are these hardships dear to you? ר' יוחנן answered " don't give me them or their reward." How do we reach the level of not needing hardships to balance the scale?
Perhaps we can do as follows; when we do the mitzvos we do them wholeheartedly, creating strong, capable angels & when we invariably sin, we do it with a heavy heart creating weak, decrepit black angels. Then, we will have enough of our own merits to tip the scales & we won't need any more hardships!
Friday, November 9, 2012
Chayei Sara
When Eliezer comes to Rivka's house to convince her family to let her go home with him to be the wife of יצחק, we see something that's out of character for Lavan. After Eliezer told them all the miracles that happened to him on the way & how ה's hand led him to them & that he wants to take Rivka with him, Lavan, instead of his usual conniving self, immediately says "from 'ה this came out we cannot say anything to you, here is Rivka, take her & go".
The sefer בכורי אברהם says that an answer like that from a man whom we know would do anything to try to trick people is way out of character. Why would he give in so easily?
The posuk says ויושם לפניו לאכול, they put food in front of him. Chazal tell us that the word ויושם is similar to סם & that teaches us that they tried to poison Eliezer. Why would they want to poison him when they didn't even know who he was yet?
The דעת זקנים says that the reason they tried to poison him wasn't personal, it was just that whenever someone with a lot of money came to town, they would poison him & take the money. That's what they wanted here too.
Alas what happened ? Eliezer ruined their plans because he said first I'll talk & say what I have to say & then I'll eat so they had no choice but to listen.
Being that they just wanted him to eat, they didn't really care about what he was saying, they just wanted him to finish & eat so they could get his money. Therefore, as soon as he finished speaking, they were very agreeable & said all the right things just so that he would sit down & eat.
The של"ה הקדוש asks, how could it be that Lavan is the one who answered first before his father when his father was right there? Even the lowest of the low wouldn't do that!
The כתב סופר answers, being that Lavan didn't want the shidduch to take place he intentionally answered before his father so that Eliezer should think he's an absolute boor. Since we judge a girl by her brothers, he wouldn't want the shidduch anymore.
Lavan thought that he could somehow change what was meant to be, however that doesn't always work.
A wealthy man came to the שרף מקוצק & told him his tale of woe. I was a wealthy man who lacked nothing with many servants & maids. One of these maids was an older girl who had never married. One day she came to me with money that she had saved up & asked me to get her a lottery ticket so that if she would win she would be able to start life on her own. I did as she asked & she gave over the ticket to her father for safekeeping, however, she asked me to write down the numbers as backup. Years passed & she stopped working for me but unfortunately never got married. As for me, many misfortunes befell me. My wife passed on, & little by little my businesses started failing until I was left alone & penniless.
One day I checked the winning lottery numbers & to my utter disbelief it was the numbers of my former maid! She won a huge amount - 100,000 ruble.
I thought to myself, I will find a way to marry her & then I can go back to my former lifestyle. I sent a shadchan to propose the idea to her & she accepted. We were both happy. She had just about given up hope on getting married & I would go back to my former glory.
All goes as planned, & a few weeks after we were married I come to her with great news. "Remember that ticket you bought years ago? I just saw that the numbers match & you won 100,000 ruble!"
She looks at him embarrassed & crestfallen, & says, my father bought that ticket from me & from it he set up his whole household; there's nothing left.
The man continued, my bitterness knew no bounds. I took on loans because I thought I was coming into money, married beneath me, even though it was an embarrassment for me & now I want to divorce her.
The Rav said to him you should know that all that befell you was just that you should marry this girl. In your previous state as a wealthy man you never would have married her, but she is your destiny so 'ה made all this befall you so that the shidduch would come about. אין עצה ואין תבונה לנגד ה.
Same thing happened by Lavan. After he spoke first before his father & said take her & go, he thought he would terminate the shidduch. Now that the malach switched the plates & Besuel was the one who died, it was up to Lavan to give permission. Had Besuel been the one to say take her & go, Lavan could have still stopped it & said I never agreed. Since in his effort to stop it he jumped ahead & answered before his father, he had nothing to say, & in effect sealed the deal.
The Torah is teaching us not to manipulate events to gain what we feel is the desired outcome we have to internalize this lesson of ' אין עצה ואין תבונה לנגד ה and realize if 'ה wants something to happen it will & nothing we do can change it!
The sefer בכורי אברהם says that an answer like that from a man whom we know would do anything to try to trick people is way out of character. Why would he give in so easily?
The posuk says ויושם לפניו לאכול, they put food in front of him. Chazal tell us that the word ויושם is similar to סם & that teaches us that they tried to poison Eliezer. Why would they want to poison him when they didn't even know who he was yet?
The דעת זקנים says that the reason they tried to poison him wasn't personal, it was just that whenever someone with a lot of money came to town, they would poison him & take the money. That's what they wanted here too.
Alas what happened ? Eliezer ruined their plans because he said first I'll talk & say what I have to say & then I'll eat so they had no choice but to listen.
Being that they just wanted him to eat, they didn't really care about what he was saying, they just wanted him to finish & eat so they could get his money. Therefore, as soon as he finished speaking, they were very agreeable & said all the right things just so that he would sit down & eat.
The של"ה הקדוש asks, how could it be that Lavan is the one who answered first before his father when his father was right there? Even the lowest of the low wouldn't do that!
The כתב סופר answers, being that Lavan didn't want the shidduch to take place he intentionally answered before his father so that Eliezer should think he's an absolute boor. Since we judge a girl by her brothers, he wouldn't want the shidduch anymore.
Lavan thought that he could somehow change what was meant to be, however that doesn't always work.
A wealthy man came to the שרף מקוצק & told him his tale of woe. I was a wealthy man who lacked nothing with many servants & maids. One of these maids was an older girl who had never married. One day she came to me with money that she had saved up & asked me to get her a lottery ticket so that if she would win she would be able to start life on her own. I did as she asked & she gave over the ticket to her father for safekeeping, however, she asked me to write down the numbers as backup. Years passed & she stopped working for me but unfortunately never got married. As for me, many misfortunes befell me. My wife passed on, & little by little my businesses started failing until I was left alone & penniless.
One day I checked the winning lottery numbers & to my utter disbelief it was the numbers of my former maid! She won a huge amount - 100,000 ruble.
I thought to myself, I will find a way to marry her & then I can go back to my former lifestyle. I sent a shadchan to propose the idea to her & she accepted. We were both happy. She had just about given up hope on getting married & I would go back to my former glory.
All goes as planned, & a few weeks after we were married I come to her with great news. "Remember that ticket you bought years ago? I just saw that the numbers match & you won 100,000 ruble!"
She looks at him embarrassed & crestfallen, & says, my father bought that ticket from me & from it he set up his whole household; there's nothing left.
The man continued, my bitterness knew no bounds. I took on loans because I thought I was coming into money, married beneath me, even though it was an embarrassment for me & now I want to divorce her.
The Rav said to him you should know that all that befell you was just that you should marry this girl. In your previous state as a wealthy man you never would have married her, but she is your destiny so 'ה made all this befall you so that the shidduch would come about. אין עצה ואין תבונה לנגד ה.
Same thing happened by Lavan. After he spoke first before his father & said take her & go, he thought he would terminate the shidduch. Now that the malach switched the plates & Besuel was the one who died, it was up to Lavan to give permission. Had Besuel been the one to say take her & go, Lavan could have still stopped it & said I never agreed. Since in his effort to stop it he jumped ahead & answered before his father, he had nothing to say, & in effect sealed the deal.
The Torah is teaching us not to manipulate events to gain what we feel is the desired outcome we have to internalize this lesson of ' אין עצה ואין תבונה לנגד ה and realize if 'ה wants something to happen it will & nothing we do can change it!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Vayeira
When Avraham sees the travelers coming toward him, he runs outside and asks them not to pass by his house without coming in. Rather, he says: יקח נא מעט מים ורחצו רגליכם והשענו תחת העץ , take a little water, wash your feet and recline under the tree.
Rashi explains the purpose of washing their feet was to keep idolatry out of his tent since he thought they were Arabs who worshiped the sand.
Rashi continues & says that's unlike Lot who didn't care about having idols in his house, so he says to the Malachim: first come in & rest & then wash your feet.
However, Rashi’s actual explanation when the Malachim came to Lot, was that Lot was scared of the people of Sodom so he had them come in, rest and then wash. If the people came & saw that he had guests who had already washed, they would think that he had had guests for a few days already. Therefore, he didn't have them wash so it should look like they just came. It wasn't that he didn't care about bringing an idol into his house; rather he was afraid for his life.
If that's true then why does Rashi in the first posuk mention it as a negative of Lot when the reason he did it was just to protect himself. Had there been no fear of the people he would have had them wash first.
The צהר לתיבה relates a story that happened to רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב , who was traveling when he came to the town of Levov & needed a place to sleep for the night. He went to the home of a respected wealthy man & asked for a place to stay for the night, without identifying himself. The man told him, “I don't have room for travelers; go to the local inn. רבי לוי יצחק asked again, pleading, “please don't you have a small room for me; I won't bother you for anything else?” Again, the man answered, “I don't have room. However, if you don't want to go to the inn, you can go to the schoolteacher on the next block who takes in travelers.”
Having no choice, רבי לוי יצחק went to the home of the schoolteacher where he was received with open arms. Once he was there, someone recognized him & the word spread around town that רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב was in town. Within a short while, all the townspeople, including the wealthy man, were converging on the home of the schoolteacher to greet the great rabbi.
When the wealthy man approached him, he said, “please forgive me; I didn't know who you were. Please come be my guest, as all the rabbis who come to town stay at my house.
The rabbi answered him with a question, what was the difference between Avraham & Lot ? Why is Avraham known for his hospitality while Lot is not? When the Malachim came to them, both prepared a big meal for them so why isn't Lot known for his hospitality like Avraham?
He explained that the wording of the Posuk shows the difference. By Lot it says, ויבאו שני המלאכים the two angels came, & that's when he was hospitable whereas by Avraham it says, שלשה אנשים נצבים עליו three men were coming toward him. Lot saw angels & therefore welcomed them into his home while Avraham saw ordinary people, tired and covered in dust & begged them not to pass by his home.
Maybe this is the difference between the two Rashis. In the first one, Rashi is critical because the posuk was talking about the travelers as people, so Lot should have had them wash not to bring avodah zara into his home. However, in the second Rashi, they were identified as Malachim so there was no reason to suspect idol worship. Therefore, Rashi gives a separate reason why he didn't have have them wash first.
Continued רבי לוי יצחק, as children of Avraham, we have to emulate his ways & not the ways of Lot.
Teaching us that we have to help out all kinds of people. We have to be hospitable, friendly, helpful to everyone not just those that are respected or wealthy but the downtrodden & weary too showing that we are truly the children of Avraham Avinu!
Rashi explains the purpose of washing their feet was to keep idolatry out of his tent since he thought they were Arabs who worshiped the sand.
Rashi continues & says that's unlike Lot who didn't care about having idols in his house, so he says to the Malachim: first come in & rest & then wash your feet.
However, Rashi’s actual explanation when the Malachim came to Lot, was that Lot was scared of the people of Sodom so he had them come in, rest and then wash. If the people came & saw that he had guests who had already washed, they would think that he had had guests for a few days already. Therefore, he didn't have them wash so it should look like they just came. It wasn't that he didn't care about bringing an idol into his house; rather he was afraid for his life.
If that's true then why does Rashi in the first posuk mention it as a negative of Lot when the reason he did it was just to protect himself. Had there been no fear of the people he would have had them wash first.
The צהר לתיבה relates a story that happened to רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב , who was traveling when he came to the town of Levov & needed a place to sleep for the night. He went to the home of a respected wealthy man & asked for a place to stay for the night, without identifying himself. The man told him, “I don't have room for travelers; go to the local inn. רבי לוי יצחק asked again, pleading, “please don't you have a small room for me; I won't bother you for anything else?” Again, the man answered, “I don't have room. However, if you don't want to go to the inn, you can go to the schoolteacher on the next block who takes in travelers.”
Having no choice, רבי לוי יצחק went to the home of the schoolteacher where he was received with open arms. Once he was there, someone recognized him & the word spread around town that רבי לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב was in town. Within a short while, all the townspeople, including the wealthy man, were converging on the home of the schoolteacher to greet the great rabbi.
When the wealthy man approached him, he said, “please forgive me; I didn't know who you were. Please come be my guest, as all the rabbis who come to town stay at my house.
The rabbi answered him with a question, what was the difference between Avraham & Lot ? Why is Avraham known for his hospitality while Lot is not? When the Malachim came to them, both prepared a big meal for them so why isn't Lot known for his hospitality like Avraham?
He explained that the wording of the Posuk shows the difference. By Lot it says, ויבאו שני המלאכים the two angels came, & that's when he was hospitable whereas by Avraham it says, שלשה אנשים נצבים עליו three men were coming toward him. Lot saw angels & therefore welcomed them into his home while Avraham saw ordinary people, tired and covered in dust & begged them not to pass by his home.
Maybe this is the difference between the two Rashis. In the first one, Rashi is critical because the posuk was talking about the travelers as people, so Lot should have had them wash not to bring avodah zara into his home. However, in the second Rashi, they were identified as Malachim so there was no reason to suspect idol worship. Therefore, Rashi gives a separate reason why he didn't have have them wash first.
Continued רבי לוי יצחק, as children of Avraham, we have to emulate his ways & not the ways of Lot.
Teaching us that we have to help out all kinds of people. We have to be hospitable, friendly, helpful to everyone not just those that are respected or wealthy but the downtrodden & weary too showing that we are truly the children of Avraham Avinu!
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