Vayeira

‎When Hashem sent angels to rescue Lot from the impending destruction of Sodom, one of the things they warned him was, המלט על נפשך אל תביט אחריך, Flee for your life! Do not look behind you. Since Lot’s wife didn't listen, she was immediately ‎turned into a pillar of salt. Rashi explains this punishment as midah k’neged midah. She sinned with salt so she was punished with salt. When Lot asked her for some salt for the guests she answered, "do you want to bring this bad trait of feeding guests into this place?"

To her & the rest of the Sodomites, ‎feeding guests was one of the worst things you could do.  There is a custom to wash your hands after you finish eating.  One of the reasons given is that one washes off the מלח סדומית , the salt from Sodom so that it doesn't blind your eyes. Why, however, in a place where there is no ‎מלח סדום, do we still wash our hands after the meal? Answers the ואני תפילתי that so bad was Sodom’s unwillingness to have guests that מלח סדום became a symbol of stinginess for these kind of people; they themselves were wealthy & satisfied, yet blind to the needs of others. 

Our rabbis wanted to teach us not to forget the needs of others particularly when we are content. Therefore, they started the practice of washing the מלח סדומית off our hands when we are satisfied after a meal, symbolizing washing away that stinginess.  

There is a story told about the Chofetz Chaim that emphasizes this point.  A young boy of fourteen named Leib, who was in yeshiva in Russia, was going home to visit his parents. However, the only train that went there left Thursday afternoon bringing him home right before Shabbos. However, the train didn't come until Thursday night & there was no way to make it home for Shabbos, so he asked the conductor where the train stopped along the way to see if there was a Jewish town to stay in for Shabbos. 

He was ecstatic to learn that the train would stop in a town very close to Radin, for his great uncle, the Chofetz Chaim, lived there.  He would go there for Shabbos. When he got to the house of the Chofetz Chaim he was welcomed warmly by the rebbetzin who told him that although the Chofetz Chaim already had gone to shul, he goes early & that he, Leib, must be tired from the journey. The rebbetzin encouraged Leib to lie down for a few minutes before shul. 

‎Leib who hadn't slept the night before was grateful for the offer & lay down on the couch. When he woke up, he saw the Chofetz Chaim, who welcomed his guest, sitting at the table learning.  He told him to wash his hands & daven after which they sat down to the meal. After the meal, they went to sleep, but Leib couldn't fall back asleep. He went into the kitchen to look at the clock but couldn't understand how the time could be correct.  They had just finished the meal, yet the clock said that it was four in the morning!? 

In the morning, Leib asked the rebbitzin if that clock was the right time. When she said it was, he asked how could it be that we finished the meal last night at four in the morning? She explained that when the Chofetz Chaim came home from shul, you were fast asleep. I wanted to wake you for kiddush but the Rav wouldn't allow it. He said to wait until you awoke, for you were exhausted from your trip.  

He would wait to make kiddush when you awakened. However, since you slept so long, he told me & my son to eat but that he would wait for you. He didn't eat with us & said when you got up, he would wake me up, too, so we could all eat together ‎in your honor. Even though you slept for many hours, the rav wouldn't start to eat without his honored guest. 

Imagine coming home from shul Friday night to an unexpected guest & then waiting hours to eat, not even mentioning a word or complaint. Had Leib not seen the clock, he never even would have known what the Chofetz Chaim did for him. This was the total opposite of Lot’s wife & the people of Sodom who wouldn't even give a little salt to guests. We have to remember to look out for the needs of others & especially when we have it good & others don't, to be careful to reach out to them & help in any way that we can!

Lech Lecha

Once Hashem promised Avraham a son, the Torah tells us והאמן בה ויחשבה לו צדקה , and he trusted in Hashem and He reckoned ‎it to him as righteousness ויאמר אליו אני ה ‏, ‎and Hashem said to him, “I am Hashem”. 

The Midrash compares Avraham's discovery of Hashem to a person wandering through a thick, overgrown forest. Suddenly at a distance he sees  a brilliantly lit palace. He wondered, can it be that this palace has no owner? Is there no one controlling it? Suddenly the owner comes out to him & says I am the owner of this palace.
So, too, said Avraham Avinu. When looking around the world,contemplating nature was sure that there had to be a master. Suddenly Hashem said to him "I am the master."

However, does the parable really compare to Avraham & Hashem? When the person saw the palace, he said there must be an owner. When the owner comes out & says I'm the owner, the individual sees him, so something was added to his knowledge. However, although Avraham couldn't see Hashem, he already understood that there was a force behind the world. What was added to his understanding by Hashem saying it's Me? He still couldn't see Him. 

From time to time, every person has a feeling that propels him to want to get closer to his Maker. At first, it's only a small feeling.  If Hashem wouldn't help bring him closer, it would just remain like that, a small feeling.  Nothing would come of it, for the odds are too strong against him. If his friends aren't attempting to get closer to Hashem, chances are he never will either. Therefore, Hashem gives special help to those that really want to get closer to Him. Even though Avraham recognized Hashem, he wouldn't have been able to be the only one going against the world, a world that never heard of Hashem. When Hashem said, I'm Hashem, it wasn't that now Avraham knew more than he knew before; rather that is what helped him to be able to take on the world & be the one to plant faith into the hearts of all who crossed his path. 

It's interesting, says the Ramban, that when Hashem chose Noach for his historical role, the Torah first describes his righteousness.  Now, when He chooses Avraham for his role in the making of the Jewish people, the Torah says nothing of his spiritual greatness. The Maharal sees this question as a perspective on the unique relationship between Hashem & the Jewish people. Were the Torah to 
Infer ‎that Hashem only chose Avraham because of his good deeds, then one could think that any closeness he or his descendants would enjoy is contingent on their righteous behavior. However, that would be detrimental to the relationship, for, as the mishna states: any love that depends on a specific cause is lost when that cause is gone.  So, if the Jewish people would sin, the relationship with Hashem would be over. Therefore, the Torah deliberately doesn't tell us about Avraham’s righteousness to show that our relationship with Hashem is inviolable & can never be nullified even if we stray from Him. 

This lesson is very instructive to us today. Even if we sin or feel that we have sunk too far, Hashem will always be there for us. So, all we need is to feel that little yearning to get closer to Hashem. If we do, He will be right there to help us!

Noach

At the conclusion of the flood which essentially destroyed the world,  Noach is commanded to leave the Ark with all the people & animals that were saved to go out & rebuild the world. 

Noach then built an altar & offered animal sacrifices to Hashem. וירח ה את ריח הניחח ויאמר ה אל לבו לא אסף לקלל עוד את האדמה בעבור האדם כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעריו ,‎and Hashem smelled the pleasing aroma, and Hashem said in his heart, I will not continue to curse the ground because of man, for the design of man's heart is evil from his youth. 

There are a few things in this posuk that make one wonder. First, Hashem had just saved Noach & his family from being destroyed with the rest of the world. When the ordeal was over, Noach brought a sacrifice. What was so special about that that Hashem said he would never destroy the world again? How does the reason that the design of man's heart is evil from his youth relate to that? Was the reason because Hashem liked the korban, which is man doing good things, or is it because man was born evil , so it's not in man's control? Therefore, Hashem won't let it affect the world?

Ramban states that Hashem is speaking in man's defense saying, since people are created with an evil nature, it would not be proper to destroy the world because of them. Ohr Hachaim also interprets the posuk as such. He even compares man to a bull trained to perform in the arena who is not put to death if it gores & kills a person even in a non-sport setting. Since this is what it was trained to do, we don't view the bull as intrinsically bad; rather it killed as a result of its training.  So, too, when man sins, it's not because of a conscious decision to do evil; rather it's because that's what is inherent in the nature of man.  

If that's the case, then what changed after the flood? Why did Hashem just decide now that it's not man's fault & again, what did it have to do with the sacrifice that Noach brought?

Reb Chaim from Brisk was once walking with his students on the street when they saw a wagon driver who looked totally exhausted, weak and slumped over in his wagon, barely able to move.  Yet, when he hit the horses, they went to the left or right as he drove them. Reb Chaim turned to his students & said, “isn't this amazing? The horses are healthy, fit & strong, much more powerful than the driver. With one good pull, they could free themselves of the wagon yet they still stay & are in control of their much weaker master. 

Reb Chaim continued; while the horses have much more power than the driver, that's all they have, power but no brain.  They are horses & can't think; they don't know how to exercise their power for their own benefit. אדם ביקר ולא יבין נמשל כבהמות נדמו ,A person gets from his creator tremendous power to do good; however he doesn't realize or understand the power he has. Therefore, he's compared to these horses who also don't  know the power they have ‎. 

We know that there are two types of teshuva. There's teshuva out of love & teshuva out of fear. Teshuva out of love is much greater, because one is not repenting because of fear of getting punished, but rather because one has a love for Hashem. Another difference between teshuva out of love or fear is that if one repents out of fear of punishment, then one could rationalize in his head what he's doing is OK. That diminishes the fear aspect because one will say that Hashem will understand; it’s not so bad.  In his head he thinks there will be no punishment & he could get away with it. 

However, if one does teshuva out of love then there is no rationalization because when one does something out of love, he will make sure that the one he loves isn't getting hurt; when there is love, one will be so much more careful not to mess up. 

Perhaps this can explain our dilemma. Before the flood, the people were like the horses, not realizing that they had the power to overcome the inherent evil that every person is born with; that's why they led the world into total decay causing Hashem to destroy it.

When Noach was saved, the first thing he did when he came out was sacrifice to Hashem, displaying a love for Hashem. Once Hashem saw that Noach was sacrificing to Him out of love, then Hashem recognized that if man felt a love for Him, then they could break the natural tendencies for evil & use their power that was placed in them to overcome evil & do good.That's why when He smelled the korban that Noach brought, He decided that he wouldn't destroy the world again. 
The key is to focus on our love for Hashem & then, instead of acting like the horse with no clue to what we could accomplish,  ‎we will be able to reach the ultimate heights of getting closer to Hashem!

Beraishis

The Torah tells us that after Adam & Chava are banished from the Garden of Eden, they had two children, Cain & Abel ‎. Abel was a shepherd while Cain was a farmer. In time, both brought offerings to Hashem, Cain from the fruit of the ground & Abel from the choicest of his flock. 
The posuk continues & tells us that Hashem accepted the offering of Abel but not that of Cain causing Cain to be very upset & depressed. ויאמר ה' אל קין למה חרה לך ולמה נפלו פניך , And Hashem said to Cain, “why are you upset & why are you depressed?”

The חידושי הרי"ם ‎questions why Hashem had to ask Cain why he was upset when it's stated explicitly that Hashem turned toward Abel's offering & not his. So, if we know the reason, why was Hashem asking him? The חידושי הרי"ם answers that this is what Hashem was really asking "why are you upset: is it because I didn't accept your sacrifice or is it because I accepted Abel's?”   

Prior to this, we read of a similar incident. After Adam & Chava ate from the prohibited tree, they heard Hashem walking in the garden & hid from Him‎. The posuk then says that Hashem called out to Adam איכה , where are you?
Rashi explains that, of course, Hashem knew where he was, but he asked to start a conversation without startling him.

Once, when רב שניאור זלמן מליאדי was in jail, ‏one of the ministers who was fluent in Tanach came to him & started asking questions, of which, one referred to this posuk. Since Hashem knew where Adam was, why was He asking? The rabbi first gave him Rashi's answer that it was not to startle him. However, the minister was not content with that answer. He said, “I know Rashi's answer; I want to hear what you have to answer.”

The rabbi asked him if he believed that the Torah is eternal?  Answered the minister, yes, I believe”. once the rabbi heard that he believed in Hashem, he gave this answer.     
The call of איכה ,where are you, is an eternal call that is the call of Hashem to every person saying ‎איכה , where are you‎? Where are you standing in the world? What have you accomplished? You’re already 20,30,40,50,60,70,80,90 years old & what have you done? That is the question of איכה.

The last letter of the Torah is a ל & the first letter in the Torah is a ב spelling the word לב , heart. This teaches us that the whole Torah is encompassed in the heart. Reb Yochanan Ben Zakkai asked his students to find the best path that a person should follow. When Reb Eliezer responded, “a good heart”,  Reb Yochanan said that he got the right path, because a good heart encompasses everything. 

So perhaps what the Torah is teaching us is that if we want to be able to answer the call of   איכה , where are you, we have to start with a לב טוב. ‎ Unlike Cain, who wasn't upset because Hashem didn't accept his sacrifice, but rather because Hashem accepted Abel's, we must demonstrate a “good heart”.  Cain’s bad heart brought him to ruin. 

As Abraham Lincoln said;
"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns or we could rejoice because thorn bushes have roses". 
Are we upset because we didn't accomplish or because our friend did? We have to learn to have a good heart & look at everything positively & by doing so, everything else will fall into place!

V'zos Habracha

Before his death,  Moshe blesses the nation, defining the unique talents & abilities of each tribe. Before he does so, he recounts the merit that makes the nation as a whole worthy of blessing. Then, in the final posuk before the individual blessings, Moshe qualifies Hashem's kingship over the nation. ויהי בישרון מלך , and He became King over the Jewish people, בהתאסף ראשי עם יחד שבטי ישראל , when the numbers of the nation are gathered - the tribes of Israel in unity. 

Rashi explains that when they are gathered together in a single group & there is peace among them, then He is their King but not when there is discord among them. 
We see how great it is when we're at peace with each other, for Hashem doesn't even want to be our king when we're not at peace. In the gemara, Reb Shimon Ben Chalafta states, "Hashem hasn't found a vessel that holds blessing for the Jewish people, only peace".  

What does it mean that peace is the vessel that holds blessing? Isn't peace itself the blessing? 
‎The Chida answers this question.  When the Kohanim bless us, they conclude with the blessing of peace, for without peace, all the brachos are worthless. He explains that Hashem judges a person by the way he deals with other people. 
This is illustrated by this story in the gemara.  Rav Huna got sick & was about to die. Suddenly he recovered. He said that when his soul got up to the heavens, he heard Hashem say to the heavenly court that since I didn't stand on ceremony to repay those that did bad to me, the heavenly court shouldn't look too carefully at my misdeeds. Therefore, they let me live. 

Continued the Chida, when a person is at peace with everyone, then upstairs they can't prosecute him either. For if they try to prosecute him, that creates challenge & this is a person who stays away from challenge so Hashem doesn't let them prosecute him. Since there is no prosecution on him upstairs, all the brachos will be realized. It turns out that peace is the vessel that makes all the blessings come to fruition.        

The gemara relates a story that, one year, when the Jews came up to Yerushalaim for one of the three festivals, there was no water for them to drink. Nakdeimon Ben Gorion went to ‏one of the princes & asked him to loan him twelve springs of water & if he didn't replenish them by a certain date he would have to pay him an ‎enormous sum of money. The date arrived without any rain. The prince sent a messenger to Nakdeimon to collect the money but was told there  is still time . Every few hours the messenger came to collect but was sent away with the same message. The prince, confident that he would get the money in the end, went to the bathhouse to prepare for his party. At the same time, Nakdimon went to the Beis Hamikdash to daven. Then, as the sun was setting, the rains came & filled the twelve springs with water. 

The אצרות התורה asks if that year was one where the rain was held back because the Jewish people had sinned, what was it that Nakdimon did that would make Hashem change & give rain when he had said He wouldn't? 

The gemara tells us about Rav Preida who had a student who needed to be taught everything four hundred times until he understood it.  One day, while he was teaching this student, Rav Preida was invited to go somewhere. He continued teaching but even after four hundred times, the student still didn't understand. The Rav asked him what's wrong; why aren't you getting it? He answered that since they came to invite you away, I keep thinking that you're going to leave any minute & I can't concentrate. Rav Preida told him, “Ok now pay attention & we'll start over;  he taught him another four hundred times . 

A heavenly voice came out & offered him two possible rewards.  Either you will have four hundred years added to your life, or you & your entire generation will merit the world to come. He answered, let us all merit the world to come. 
Now we can understand why Rav Preida would merit the world to come for his exceptional patience. However, what did his generation do to merit anything?

The רמ"ק,  after he brings the thirteen attributes of mercy that a person should try to emulate his maker with, ends by saying that however a person acts down here he merits to have them act upstairs. For example, if a person shows mercy to his friend, then Hashem will show mercy upstairs & that mercy will prevail in the world. Since Rav Preida had exceptional patience, he caused  Hashem to have exceptional patience with the entire generation. Therefore, they all merited  the world to come. So, too, Nakdimon’s willingness to spend a fortune so that the people would have what to drink, was able to change Hashem's judgment from strict justice to one of mercy. Once mercy was dominant, the rains came. 

This demonstrates how we can be the ones affecting the outcome of the world.  We have the power to control what goes on just by going out of our way for other people. We will have Hashem go out of His way not only for us but  for everyone. Let us be nice & at peace with everyone, then Hashem will be nice to us & bring peace into the world showering all of us wit‎h bracha! 



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