Chayei Sara

Avraham sends his servant Eliezer back to his hometown to find a wife for his son. Eliezer takes ten camels and heads out. When he arrives he stops at the well & says a prayer, asking Hashem to send him the right girl for his master's son. Then the posuk states ויהי הוא טרם כלה לדבר , & it was when he had not yet finished speaking והנה רבקה יוצאת that suddenly Rivka came out.

The Ben Ish Chai asks, why does it say the word הוא? It appears that it's superfluous. It could have just said ויהי טרם כלה לדבר , & it was as he finished speaking. He answers that the Torah wants to emphasize Eliezer's prayer. The Midrash tells us there were three people who were answered right away & one of them was Eliezer. Not only that, but eliezer was the first one to be answered immediately. After him came Moshe Rabainu & then Shlomo Hamelech.
Since he was the first person in history to have his prayer answered immediately, it says הוא, this one. Eliezer, who was the first one in the world to be answered right away, didn't even complete his prayer, and was answered.  

What was so special about Eliezer's prayer that the Torah has to make a point to tell us that he was the first to be answered?

There's a story that's brought by the ברכי נפשי about רב משה אהרן שטרן the mashgiach of kaminenetz. He said that his grandfather רב יעקב יוסף הרמן was once dealing with a shidduch & was in a quandary not knowing which way to go. Either they would break it off or go full force. One morning he came to the Kotel & poured his heart out davening fervently for a hint from above on how to proceed. As he's davening, one of the papers that were in the cracks of the Kotel came & rested at his feet. He picked it up & it was a page from the siddur, that said וארשתיך לי לעולם , I will betroth you to me forever. Needless to say the shidduch went through.

The ברכי נפשי says that we see from here how a prayer that comes from the recesses of your heart can bring supernatural results. Such is the power of prayer.

This works even for simple things. There's a story told about רב פנחס מקוריץ whose students heard him saying at the end of shemona esrai יהי רצון מלפניך שהמשרתת תחזור ,may it be your will that the helper returns. His students, who were sure that this was some kind of lofty prayer went looking into all the seforim on davening to find what this one was for but to no avail. They couldn't find it anywhere. They asked their rebbi, what's the meaning behind that prayer you said at the end of davening? The rebbe explained that there was really nothing hidden about it, rather he was simply praying that the nurse that his wife had had for many years who was now leaving would come back because his wife was weak & really needed her. The students learned from him that no matter what you need or how mundane it is you can ask Hashem for it.  

Perhaps this is what the Torah was teaching us by stressing that Eliezer's was the first prayer to be answered. His was the first prayer that really came from the heart to teach us that when we really want something, no matter how big or small, we can ask Hashem for it. If we really pray from the heart & mean it then hopefully we too will be answered instantly!

Vayeira

When on the behest of Sara, Avraham sends Hagar & Yishmael away, Yishmael gets sick & finishes all the water they had in the middle of the journey. Hagar, fearing that her child would die, is overcome with feelings of helplessness and throws Yishmael under a nearby tree so as not to see him die. She then sits down & begins to cry.

Hashem hears the cries of the boy & sends an angel down to Hagar. The angel tells her to pick up the boy & then ויפקח אלקים את עיניה  Hashem opened her eyes ותרא באר מים ותלך ותמלא את החמת מים & she saw a well of water. She went, filled the skin with water ותשק את הנער & gave the boy to drink.
Interestingly enough, the Midrash says הדא אמרת מחוסרת אמנה היתה from here we say that she was lacking in her faith , for, by filling up the flask with more than she needed at that moment, she showed that her trust in Hashem was lacking.

Asks הגרי"ל חסמן, this Midrash is very puzzling. This is a woman who is alone in the forest with a sick child with no water, who miraculously comes upon a well. Shouldn't we expect her to take for later?
He answers this question with a parable. There was a man who was invited to travel with the king in his entourage with the understanding that the king will provide all that's needed for the journey. If this man would bring his own food & drink, it would be a personal affront to the king.  

We are all riding in Hashem's chariot. Therefore, every time we worry, it’s a personal affront to Hashem who's taking care of us. This is what the claim against Hagar was. After she had seen the great miracle where a well was created just for her, she should have realized that Hashem would be with her & provide for her as needed. Just as she had water now when needed, she would have later too. There was no reason to take extra.

This says ר' אליהו לאפיין  shows us that each person is provided for & judged based on one’s own level of faith. Since we know that one should not rely on miracles, how then could we have a claim against Hagar for taking more. She also shouldn't rely on miracles. He answers that a woman like Hagar who left her father’s home, the home of a king, to attach herself to Avraham should be held to a higher standard. A woman who was accustomed to speak to angels & whom the angel even informed that her son would be made into a great nation, was a woman who was riding in Hashem’s chariot. For her, this was a lack of faith.  
To what extent are we not to worry?

The gemara in Megila says the rabbis didn't understand the verse השלך על ה' יהבך , cast your burdens on Hashem, until one time they were traveling & the Arab camel driver said to them, cast your baggage on the camel. That's when they understood what the extent of bitachon is supposed to be. Just as when you cast your baggage on the camel, you don't feel it anymore, so too, when you cast your burden on Hashem, it has to be that you won't feel it or worry about it because you gave it over to Hashem to carry for you.

As the Midrash says, when a big fish chases a smaller fish as prey, it never catches it. Had it caught and swallowed it from behind, then the fins of the small fish would choke the big fish on the way down. Hashem, too, in his infinite wisdom, made it so that the small fish just swims headfirst, straight into the mouth of the big one. In this way, the fins just fold down without causing any harm. Turns out the big fish chases his food but doesn't catch it for it would just hurt him. Then his food just comes from somewhere else & comes straight to him.

How many times do we see this in business? We go after one deal. When it doesn't work out, we think all is lost until, from out of nowhere, a better, easier one develops. This is what we have to appreciate from here. We have to trust that we’re riding in Hashem’s chariot. If we put our baggage on him, we don't have to worry. No matter how things look, we are not in control & Hashem will take care of us!

Lech Lecha

When Avraham was traveling to Egypt & was worried that the Egyptians would kill him in order to take his wife Sara, he said to her אמרי נא אחתי את למען ייטב לי בעבורך וחיתה נפשי בגללך , please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me for your sake, and that I may live on account of you.
 
Rashi explains למען ייטב לי בעבורך, that it may go well with me for your sake to mean that Avraham was hoping to get presents from the king of Egypt because of Sara.
There are a number of questions on this. First, asks 'ר יעקב ניימן , if the two things he was worried about were them not killing him & giving him presents, shouldn't he have mentioned  first that he wouldn't be killed & only as an afterthought the presents? And if he's worried about his life, why is he being so polite saying please let's do this. Shouldn't he have just said this is what we have to do? Additionally it seems way out of character for Avraham to be vying for presents. What's his reasoning?
 
When we analyze what the essence of Avraham Avinu's mission in life was, says ר יצחק זילברשטיין, we see it was to instill the belief in Hashem to the entire world thereby glorifying Hashem’s name in the world. Showing people that by going in the way of Hashem you won't lose out. Avraham saw that by spreading this fact he strengthened the belief in Hashem & the recognition of truth in the world.
 
The gemara gives us advice on how to have a happy home. אמר ר' חלבו לעולם יהא אדם זהיר בכבוד אשתו שאין ברכה מצויה בתוך ביתו של אדם אלה בשביל אשתו. Rav Chelbo says a person should always be careful with his wife's honor, for blessing only resides in one’s home because of his wife. As the posuk states ולאברם היטיב בעבורה and he treated Avraham well for her sake. Rava added to that by advising his townspeople to honor their wives so that they will become wealthy.
 
What Avraham wanted to do in reference to the gifts, says ר יצחק זילברשטיין, was to spread the word to the world that his wealth only came to him because of his wife.  He wanted everyone to know that his wealth was only in his wife's merit so that everyone who would hear about Avraham's wealth would learn from him to accord their wives great honor so that all would be good for them too. It wasn't that Avraham wanted gifts, rather he wanted to teach the Torah's way to treat one’s wife & that when one honors his wife the material blessings will come too.   
 
The מסילת המהרשא asks, where do we even see that Avraham honored his wife so much that we are learning from him that all bracha comes from the merit of one’s wife?
He answers that by the fact that Avraham's life was on the line & still he asked his wife please do this for me so that I will live, we see how much he honored her & wouldn't force her to do anything even if he might be killed.
 
Perhaps that's why he put the gifts first. If his whole mission in life was to spread the word & belief in Hashem, then by him getting the gifts & being able to show that success comes from honoring one’s wife & that that's the Torah way, then that was his life & that's what comes first. The gifts were just a vehicle for him to show Hashem’s ways & that's what mattered to him more than anything.
 
Rebbizin Kanievsky once went to a wedding by herself & after maariv R’ Chaim asked his shamas if the rebbetzin came back yet. When the shamas told him that she was back already before maariv, he said I wish I would have known because when she's not here I worry too much & can't concentrate. In a similar vein, she once told one of her friends that she doesn't like to leave the house because R' Chaim had said he doesn't learn as well when she's not there.  
 
We could learn from here how to treat our wives, how to care for them & know that when we treat our wives with caring & respect Hashem will shower the ultimate blessings upon us!

Noach

Our Parsha begins by introducing Noach saying נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו, Noach a righteous man, perfect in his generation.

Rashi, in explaining what the word  בדרתיו is coming to teach us says, that some of our rabbis explain it to Noach's credit; had he been in a generation of righteous people he would have even been greater. Then, others use it to discredit him saying that only in his decadent generation was he good; had he been in the generation of Avraham, he wouldn't have amounted to much.

Many commentators ask: if we can interpret something for either good or bad, why would anyone choose the bad rather than just judge him for good?

The Chazon Ish says that these two interpretations are really the same thing. One who is in a society where spirituality is, at best, frowned upon if not actually scorned, is bound to be influenced & dragged down by his surroundings. As the Rambam writes, " People’s actions and character are deeply affected by the opinions, actions and spiritual level of their friends & acquaintances." So, objectively, Noach never became the great person he could have been had he lived in Avraham's generation. The amount of energy he needed to resist succumbing to his generation’s evil ways & negative atmosphere, but to also propel himself to the next level was just too much.

However, the spiritual level he did reach even under those circumstances was extraordinary given the society he lived in.
What was it that compelled Noach to be different than everyone else? What was it that kept him straight?

The Alter of Novardok says that the ones who interpret our posuk negatively don't necessarily mean it to reflect badly on Noach. Rather it’s the reason that he went the other way. When he saw what was going on in his generation and the perverse level of the people, he made tremendous effort to distance himself from them. Therefore, he turned himself into a great person. Had he lived in Avraham's times, there wouldn't have been that perversity to disgust him & propel him to greatness.  

The Chafetz Chaim wrote about the declining spiritual level of Eastern Jewry during the 1920's & 30's. Since the spiritual level was much lower, every small spiritual accomplishment was just as important as the great accomplishments of the previous generations, for it took a great inner strength to go against the trend & grow spiritually.

When one lives in a society that is perverse, that perversion has to propel him to be better than the norm. One must be turned off by such a society & develop a moral prerogative to better oneself. We, in our generation, can surely relate to Noach. We need to realize that no matter how small our accomplishments are they really count. We should learn from him that even if society sinks to a new low level, we cannot let it overcome us. Rather, let it disgust us, so that we, too, can be perfect in our generation!