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You’re the General and have just conquered strategic point in the battle against the enemy. There is now a new front and you are dispatching the forces towards the target area. There are places that the enemy have fortified and there are places where you, as the commander, have a strong hold Then there are the grey areas, the places where you’re not sure who’ll win.
Kosher food, well that’s your stronghold. With all the kosher supermarkets. fancy restaurants, and fast food whole-in-the-wall take-out places which are open till 2:00am you definitely have no problem keeping kosher. However the grey area, the battle of keeping the laws of family purity (nida laws), well that’s sometimes more difficult to keep. Never-the-less though, sometimes you and your wife feel spiritual and wait the two weeks and then are mikva bound. You and your wife realize it’s a fierce battle. Who will persevere?…..and the war continues. Who’ll win?
There is an awesome question asked by Rav Dessler. Avraham is known for his HACHNASAT ORCHIM hospitality and his nephew Lott’s claim to fame was that he didn’t spill the beans and disclosed, when Avraham, Sarah and himself, were in Egypt that Avraham and Sarah were not brother and sister but rather husband and wife. Interestingly Lott, living in a degenerate society, where kindness and hospitality are outlawed, went out on a limb for having guests. Lott put his life in danger having the two angels at his house while a lynch mob was waiting outside. He even offered his two daughters in order that his guest would not be harmed. For the most part his daughter inherited that character trait as well. She got killed doing a kindness with a passer-by. So it seems like Lott had a tougher time and more of a test to keep hospitality. Why wasn’t hospitality the famous virtue that Lott is known for?
The weakness Lott had was the desire for money. As a matter of fact, that is the reason why he chose Sedom as his residence after he and Avraham went there separate ways. Sedom’s economy was bustling and that attracted Lott to reside there event hough they were evil people.
When the three went down to Egypt Lot had a big opportunity to cash in by disclosing to Pharaoh about Sarah. Against all his desires he kept his mouth shut. That was his battle, his weakness, and he won.
Out of all the times Avraham did kindness, why does the incident with the angels stand out the most. All his life Avraham wanted to reach the height of spirituality. He examined the stars, the sun, anything that could have had a spiritual pulse. On the third day after his circumcision G-d , with all his glory, appeared to him. The ultimate spiritual quest finally arrived. This was the moment he was waiting for. Three men from afar, potential guests, arrived. Ever wonder why G-d had the three men come a few moments after he appeared to Avraham? This was Avraham’s test. This was the sacrifice that Avraham was faced with. The battle had sprung. What would Avraham choose?
He interrupted his meeting with G-d to attend to the guests. For this reason Avraham is known for his kindness and hospitality. He won the battle. |
Archive for Rabbi Avi Matmon
The Battle Of Life
Parshat Vayeira
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First Portion
* We would like to believe we are not the same people we were years ago. Everyone would state, they have matured, been educated and have learned from life’s experiences. This is the general attitude of humans. Well, I hope we have matured and become better people. It’s frustrating to see those that have not. In this weeks parsha our forefather Avraham’s status has been elevated. This is evident by the level of communication between G-d and Avraham. Its clear from the KAVOD that G-d has given Avraham by visiting that Avraham has evolved to a complete and upstanding individual. We learn some very important lessons from this section. First lesson we learn is visiting the sick, which G-d did by approaching Avraham after Avraham followed G-d’s commandment and circumcised himself. The one being afflicted is revitalized by the visit. Secondly, hospitality is of great importance; Avraham in great pain from his circumcision, still managed to accept guest with tremendous enthusiasm. We see the relationship between G-d and Avraham is now on a higher level because of the circumcision. When G-d revealed himself to the non-Jewish prophet Bilam many years later, Bilam’s immediate reaction, peculiarly, was of great embarrassment for not being circumcised. It seams like there’s a connection between high level of spirituality and circumcision. Rabbi Baruch Dopelt asks why do we say at a brit ” just like he (this boy) has entered a covenant with G-d today so too will he be able to enter the threshold of Torah and mitzvot”? Why don’t we say it when he’s born? After all a Jew is a Jew circumcised or not. The Mystics say by having the brit and its ceremony spiritual energies are infused into the boy. These are the tools necessary to be able to comprehend the Torah in a different realm.There are also thirteen times, in last weeks parsha Lech Lecha where G-d mentions his covenant with Avraham. This is to offset the thirteen attributes of G-d. The Thirteen attributes of G-d is mentioned on Yom Kippur and is a focal point in our quest for forgiveness. It can only be applied if the Jew is circumcised. Rabbi Pesach Krohn teaches us with the infused energy that the boy gets at the brit comes a name. A name defines the task that this boy will do in life. This is the reason Avraham’s name was changed the day he was circumcised.
* “Where is Sarah your wife?” Oh, she’s in the tent”. From here we learn an importance lesson pertaining to women “modesty is a virtue”.
* “How can we have kids my husband is so old” Sarah proclaimed. What about you Sarah, you’re no spring chicken either? Here we see an ongoing occurrence in human nature. It’s the spouse that’s blamed for everything. If only we can appreciate our spouse and realize their good qualities we would have better marriages
* An important lesson is learned about keeping peace between husband and a wife. G-d altered the truth when he approached Avraham about what Sarah said. He asked Avraham; ” why did Sarah laugh and say how can we have kids, I’m so old”. In saying Sarah is old as opposed to what Sarah actually said – “my husband’s old”, Avrahams feelings weren’t hurt and it preserved peace between the couple. One has permission to alter the truth to preserve peace.
Second portion
* What compelled G-d to destroy the city of Sedom and Amora was an incident pertaining to one of Lott’s daughters. She once performed kindness and gave food to an old passer-by. Kindness, it seems, is against the law in Sedom. As punishment they hung her on a tree and spread honey all over her body and watched how she was tortured as the bees bit her to death. Her cries was the last straw that broke the camel’s back and propelled the all mighty to issue a death warrant to the entire city with the exception of Lot and his family.
Third Portion
* Although Lot had tremendous hospitality, a trait he learned from his uncle Avraham, never-the-less the fact that he offered his daughters as compensation not to harm his guest raises some eye brows
Fourth Portion
* Rabbi Moshe Feinstein relates a story when he was a young man about a colleague, who in one of his powerful sermons blamed Lot’s daughter for the despicable and immoral act of sleeping with their father. Add insult to injury one daughter named their offspring after the sin MO-AV, from the father. A while later Rav Moshe was informed that his friend is very ill. Upon visiting his friend, Rav Moshe was performing the commandment of visiting the sick, he sees that his friend’s throat is tremendously infected and can barely speak. ” Rav Moshe” the colleague said ” I know why I’m being punished. I had a dream shortly after one of my sermons. I was lying in bed and see two elderly woman standing besides me. It was Lott’s daughters. With a stern and angry tone of voice they accused me of slandering their name. They claimed they did the act out of complete sincerity and self sacrifice to preserve man-kind, figuring that civilization had been destroyed again. ” Instead of praising us you unfairly turned our deed and intentions into a sin, therefore you will pay with your life with punishment to your vocal cords”. Soon after Rav Moshe’s friend passed away. We learn never Judge anybody unless you’re in their shoes.
* Once again Avraham and Sarah marriage and morals are tested when Sarah was taken forcefully and brought to Avimelech the king of the Pilishtim. Avimelech intended on keeping Sarah for himself despite knowing that she might be Avraham’s wife. Although that information wasn’t clear. It didn’t require a rocket scientist to figure that Avraham and Sarah were more than a brother and sister.
* Because of Avraham and Sarah passing the test of the Avimelech incident (she had the opportunity to be Queen, and acqiure tremendous riches). However she chose loyalty to her husband. G-d said you preserved the test with the reproductive organ so I will reward you with a child through the reproductive organ. G-d rewarded them with their own child.
Fifth Portion
* It seemed Sarah was on a higher level then Avraham. Yishmael, who was Hagar the maid servant’s son (she had him with Avraham), was a bad influence on Yitzchak ( Avraham and Sarah son and the heir apparent to the Jewish nation). She demanded that Avraham send Hagar and her son Yishmael away. Avraham was faced with a difficult decision. What to do? Naturally he turned to G-d who advised him listen to your wife Sarah, ‘She knows”. We learn here the importance of maintaining the right environment for your children and yourself.
Kids tend to be very impressionable so one has to surround them with the right school, nice neighborhood and proper role models at home.
Sixth Portion
*Avraham and Avimelech make a treaty after Yitzchak was born.. As long as the descendants of Avimelech dwell on the land, no descendants of Avraham will wage war against them. This covenant was the reason later why Israel couldn’t capture Eastern part of Jerusalem. Avraham called the western part Yeru- to see G-d (holy place). Shalem, the eastern part was originally inherited by Noach’s son Shem. The name Shalem comes from Shem. In Yehoshua’s time the Philishtim lived in the Shalem, the eastern part. Although Yehoshua, the leader of the Israelites, conquered the western part, in honor of the treaty the Israelites refrained from entering the Eastern part. It wasn’t until the last descendant of Avimelech died after the time of Yehoshua did the children of Judeah took it.
Seventh portion
* The pride and Joy of the Jewish nation, the incident of the AKEDA which is so beloved by G-d. This is the primary weapon we use on Rosh Hashana to ask G-d for mercy and forgiveness
* The narrative prepares us for the next stage of life describing the future wife of Yitzchak, Rivka’s heritage.
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Do We Really Understand Our Constitutional Rights?
New York in the 21st century should be more advanced than the 20th century, don’t you think? It’s disappointing and not to say, down right inconvenient of the instillation of the new municipal meters. Basically, it’s the new contraption that the City installed where one puts quarters in a slot and receives a slip with the date and time of expiration; one then places the slip on their dashboard.
When I left my job in midtown Manhattan, which required taking the subway as the main form of transportation, and began driving to work to my new job, I realized I would have to be more diligent and careful to the traffic laws (parking tickets in particular). This was very new to me; it’s hard enough to find a spot in crowded Queens, but to always have a supply of quarters was a new task that one has to remember. But the installation, these past few years, of these municipal meters, in which one has to walk, at times, a half a block to find them, and then return again back to the car where one has to open the vehicle a second time and then place it on the dashboard, is very time consuming. A simple quick task in going to the store is discouraged because this new system is very time consuming. It doesn’t pay to do quickies.
‘It is what it is’, a defeatist attitude individual proclaimed. ‘No!’ I retorted, ‘we can’t have our quality of life diminished like that. One should speak out and complain to the local district politicians. ‘Nah, you’re not going to get anywhere, you’re wasting your time’ he countered back.
It says in the Gemarah, a Jew living outside of Israel is obligated to follow the laws of his host country, ‘dina de-malchuta dina’ – the law of the land is the law. This means, if one violates the law of the land, then he violates the Torah. So if this were the law in which we Jews have to follow, it would have to be made comfortable to follow (temporarily, until we are able to return to our homeland, Israel).
Thank G-d, we live in a country, which gives people many rights (Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, to name a few.) As an American, we have to exercise our rights. This great country is kind to the Jews, and has been constructed in such a way to provide and help us with many benefits. But I think one of the crucial benefits that it provides to their citizens is the ability to change laws. Laws are made by the people whom we the people elected.
In the past, the turn of the 20th century, the Jews were instrumental in instituting the 40-hour workweek, abolishing the horrendous sweatshops. This made the working conditions better and safer. Jews also benefited by the new law because now they’re able to keep Shabbat without any hassles. A number of years ago, Sheldon Silver, a Jewish New York politician, was instrumental in allowing Hatzolah volunteer Jewish ambulance corp. to operate even though there was much opposition. Do you know how many Jewish lives were saved through Hatzolah?
When a politician visits a community (his district where he wants to get elected), the people voice their needs, where he then tries to accommodate the voters and if need be, tries to change the laws. This is a tremendous benefit we have in this democratic country.
We are obligated by the Torah to be fine, upstanding citizens, and as citizens we have to utilize what this country stands for, ‘For the People’, to make us better, more efficient (parking solution), and constructive. We should also utilize these rights to make us – let’s not forget – the primary goal, of being better Jews. |
Peace & Harmony
In this week’s parsha, we learn a very valuable lesson on how to maintain peace and harmony among married couples. Both G-d and the angels give us a mind- boggling crash course.
We find the three angels coming to Abraham with a number of tasks, one of which is to tell Sarah that she will have a baby. The angels made a point of inquiring about Sarah, ‘Where is your wife, Sarah?’ so as to endear her to her husband’ (Bava Metzia 87a). The question that the angels asked, set up a response by Abraham (she’s in the tent) and through those words that he uttered, made him realize the exceptional modesty his wife possessed. Therefore, she would become even dearer to him.
We find something interesting in the Gemara in Ketubot in which we see that it is permissible to lie to a groom and tell him ‘your wife is such a beautiful Kallah (bride)’, even though she’s not. But for the sake of endearing the wife in the groom’s eyes, a little white lie is permissible. Commentaries on this Gemarah extend this idea. For example, if one purchases an item, lets say a tie, and you meet him for coffee, even though the tie is not nice, one should lie in order not to make him feel bad; (If there is no refund policy.)
Furthermore in the parsha, we find Sarah could not believe the good news of her upcoming pregnancy. But she had an interesting response about her husband, ‘How can we have kids? My master is old’. But G-d misquoted her to Abraham, saying only about her ‘I have aged’ (not mentioning Abraham). G-d lied for the sake of shalom (peace), so that her words should not offend Abraham. This, despite the fact that Abraham was indeed old (he was 99) and would certainly have realized that she had no ill intentions when she had said it. Yet to avoid that tiniest possibility of friction, to refrain from diminishing somewhat the peace and harmony (shalom bayit), G-d altered her words.
The master of creating peace and harmony was Aharon (Moshe’s brother). He would fabricate a story and tell Joe, who is fighting with Jack, that Jack has tremendous regret about the disagreement between the two of you and is devastated by losing such a wonderful friend; then he would go to Jack and similarly fabricate a story that Joe feels the same way. This is how he would successfully bring Jack and Joe together. Each one thinks the other is caring and wants to make up.
Dr. Goldman, the Psychologist at Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim, once was in the crossroad between a major feud of two individuals. Both claimed the rights to Dr. Goldman’s seat in the study hall. On Shabbat, the good doctor stayed home in Kew Gardens, therefore the seat is vacant. Remembering the famous Medrash (commentary) of Aharon, the good doctor said, ‘let me try it’. He proceeded to tell one of the fellows that the other is ashamed and regrets that it has escalated to such an extent and is willing to give up the silly spot. He then, similarly fabricated the same story to the other. So I asked him what happened. Dr. Goldman answered back ‘it worked!’ ‘So who sits there now?’ I asked. ‘It’s vacant’! He responded, ‘out of respect to each other’.
Aharon was especially successful with married couples. People in general have tremendous sensitivities and get hurt too quickly, especially couples. One has to be super sensitive to his or her spouse. In this highly pressurized society that we live in, it’s easy to get busy and ignore the other’s needs. We therefore have to make an effort to spend quality time with the ones we love.We learn how careful one must be when speaking about one spouse to the other. If one promotes bad feelings, it’s a terrible sin.
The discovery in this week’s parsha that even G-d would lie to preserve the peace between a couple, should make us realize the importance of the matter. |
The Act of Kindness Goes a Long Way
This week in the portion of the Torah we’re introduced to Abraham, the first Father of Judaism. He’s known to have many virtues, one of which is kindness. To commemorate Abraham’s ability to enhance and popularize the trait of kindness, a story must be told about a few of his descendants. One would think Abraham, our Father, would be proud of them.
Rabbi Joel was coming back from a conference in New Jersey where he figured he’d stop at the cemetery to visit the grave of his father, since it’s conveniently on the way. As he was saying tehilim at the grave site, he notices a family burying their loved one, not far away from his father’s grave. It didn’t seem they were observant and were having a hard time with some of the rituals.
After Rabbi Joel finished saying tehilim, he walked over to the family and said ‘Can I offer you my help, I’m a Rabbi”. After getting a nod of approval, he immediately helped with the rituals and then gathered ten Men and asked the sons of the deceased to say kaddish. Unfortunately, they seemed disinterested with saying the prayer that is said for the deceased and gave him permission to finish off the ceremony himself. Rabbi Joel proceeded to say kaddish and finished the necessary customs of burying the dead. On the way back on the Belt Parkway, he felt a tremendous uplifting feeling having helped out a perfect stranger getting buried properly according to Jewish law. Through the ride back, he couldn’t stop to think about the name of the deceased, ‘Sam Rosenberg’.
That evening as Rabbi Joel was curiously looking up Sam Rosenberg’s name on the internet for any information, he gets a call from his Rabbi. After some casual greetings, he decides to tell his Rabbi the act of kindness he did earlier that day. ‘I can’t seem to find out anything about Sam Rosenberg from Staten Island’ Rabbi Joel said in frustration. ‘What’s his name?’ his Rabbi asked. ‘Sam Rosenberg from Staten Island, why do you know him?’ Let me tell you about Sam Rosenberg from Staten Island. Thirty five years ago, I was a young rabbi convincing parents from a secular background to place their child in Yeshiva. The parents half heartedly agreed as long as it was free. I was handed a list of rich-well-to-do businessmen whom might be gracious enough to help. After a few hours, I called Sam Rosenberg who’s name was half way down the list. I began to go through my pitch on how important it is to give these boys a Jewish education and we need people who can commit long term for their studies. I told him, I have five boys that need the financial help. He said to me ‘I can only finance one; THAT ONE WAS YOU!
There is an old expression, ‘What goes around, comes around’. Be aware, Baruch Hashem, kindness is contagious.
Taken by the lectures of Rabbi Issac Olbaum
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A Warning for Computer Lovers
There is a primary concern over an addiction, which has been spiraling out of control, and that is the use of the internet. The damage this addiction can do is something many are unaware of, although one can argue that the knowledge one can attain from the internet is enormously unlimited. There are the shiurim of Torah one can see live or taped. Maybe read a newsletter email like this one with a cup of coffee and a quick thought, and one can have an instant schmooze on the weekly parsha (although one can say it’s not a quick thought as I proclaim, but the time span is more like a cup of coffee and a seven course meal).
I was once stopped at a wedding where a woman said she listens to my shiurim on Torahanytime.com on a Friday in the kitchen while preparing for Shabbat; that’s cool, the chickens and me. Here is a woman who utilizes her time to the maximum. She’s preparing for Shabbat as well as pulling in a shiur (as long as her young kids are taking a nap). In a high demanding New York environment, we have to squeeze as much juice from the demanding lifestyle, Kol Hakavod! So, we see the internet could be a tremendous benefit. However, it can be dangerous.
Pornography is easily accessible at your fingertips. People can lose track of time by getting caught up in so many seductive areas. Chat rooms are especially tempting for women meeting random gentiles online, although indirectly, and it’s only typing; but shockingly, one hears stories of one thing leading to another and they are frequently alarming. The addiction of gambling is especially abused on the internet. One can categorize them, day-trading being one of them. We are obsessed at looking at people doing things where we are left inactive and not practicing our social skills properly. There used to be an expression describing excessive TV watchers as ‘couch potatoes’; computer watchers should be called chair potatoes. Those of us, who use the computer for constructive purposes for job-related or intellectual stimulation, have forgotten about our physical bodies. Does anybody remember how to do a pushup? The sages say that after 120 years, the body and soul will separate. We’re a little early for that, aren’t we? Rightfully so, the New York Board of Health is concerned over obese children because of too much computer time. Now they’re putting two evils into one with the invention of the smart-phone; a computer and a phone.
I remember a number of years ago when I was in the jewelry industry in the city, I left my phone in my office. I must say it was quite relaxing; I felt liberated. But I’ll be the first to say, I need all that technology. But as Dr. Goldman (psychologist for Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim) says, ‘Don’t let it run you, you run it’.
We have a tremendously difficult task ahead of us, especially when technology is getting more and more enticing. The key is ‘control’. We have to control ourselves so it won’t get out of hand. |
Tribute to Ari Haimoff
It saddened me to hear of the passing of Mr. Ari Haimoff. He was a very important man in the development of a group of twenty Bukharian Israeli families in the early 1960′s to mid 1970′s.
As a person born in this country, it’s hard to imagine what immigrants go through, whether it is the new language, the new culture and so forth. Our parents were immigrants. It wasn’t like today where whole communities migrate at the same time. I remember my father telling me how one day he heard Hebrew on one of the streets of 63rd Drive. He ran towards the person to greet him.
We actually learn in next week’s parsha, that even though G-d told Abraham to go to a different land and promised him a better life, he still found it hard to leave; it was one of his tests. As kids, we sensed that our parents were uncomfortable and were having a hard time adjusting. It was easy for us to communicate with the natives; after all, we too were ‘crazy Americans’. However, they had a tough time.
Ariye, as he was called, had charisma and was able to captivate an audience by being a tremendous orator. Bukharians have a tradition to make a yartzeit a bit more elaborate. Back then there weren’t many of us and the yartzeit dinner would take place at the home. We would all gather there whether it is a sense of obligation for the deceased or just for our parents to share the company of their own kind. I still remember the nicely set up table and coshkalich (rounded sugary dough with the confectionary sugar customary at yartzeits). Every time Ariye Haimoff would speak, it would always bring joy to our parents. He would say nice things about the deceased. He would joke about the Americans. He would say some Divrei Torah and would talk about the past. He had the ability to strike an emotional cord, whether it is laughter and tears all in one speech! Our parents, homesick as they were, enjoyed this spark plug called Ariye. He brought the small-knit-group closer which was important. It was the support group that they needed and Mr. Haimoff helped wedge these families together. I remember at my Bar Mitzvah how he danced and made people laugh.
I didn’t realize how uncomfortable these immigrants were until my parents and I went to Israel shortly after my Bar Mitzvah. My father and I took a walk on the streets of Florentine, Tel Aviv, my father’s old neighborhood. I noticed a transformation in my Pop, which was tremendously pleasant to see. Pop was walking, not needing a GPS, saying hello, shaking hands, and joking with everybody with complete confidence. For those two weeks, he wasn’t the lost, ‘no speak English’ immigrant. He was a lion in his hometown. Then I realized the sacrifices they had to take to live in America.
At my father’s one-year yartzeit, six and a half years ago in Israel, Ariye Haimoff spoke with such emotion; he had tears rolling down his eyes. He mentioned when he first came to America, my father took him (like many others) to see the Lubavitcher Rebbi for a bracha. He spoke of those years in Queens and how much hope they had for a better life and how young and vigorous they felt.
I can truly say how much I miss my Pop and that generation. We learned from them how to handle adversity, how to raise our own family, and how to make the best of what we have. This warmhearted group of pioneers helped shape our lives. |
A Lesson From A Happy New Year Greeting
I had the pleasure of receiving this text before Rosh Hashanah from a friend and I would like to share it with you.
“10 years ago we had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Now we have no jobs, no hope, and no cash, Happy new year!!” My first reaction was that of laughter and I immediately texted back to the sender, David Richter, in appreciation for making me chuckle. However, a little while later I realized it could connote a doom and gloom message that life was better then, and now it stinks. Although we definitely have something to worry about with the economy, and everybody has his or her load, there is a valid argument to be down and out. Every aspect of life has a positive and negative side; nostalgia too, is no exception. Many people who know me would tell you I’m pretty fond of the past. Although I disagree with my wife that dwelling in the past will do me no good, I feel that the past energizes oneself (as long as he had a positive past experience) and elevates every aspect of his personality. Thinking of the family one comes from, the experiences which one can learn valuable lessons and apply them to today’s times, or even thinking of good times one had with friends and loved ones, and feel WOW I was fortunate to have good times with family and friends … remembering those experiences gives a warm satiated feeling.
However, nostalgia can also be negative and one of the classic examples is from the book of Bamidbar. The Israelites were in the desert and were complaining to Moshe their leader ‘there is no meat’. They said ‘Why did you bring us here? We were better off in Egypt where we had meat and it was good’. Rashi (one of the main commentaries on the Torah) is in wonderment. ‘What are they talking about? First of all, Egypt was a strictly fish dietary society, no meat. Secondly, the Egyptians gave the slaves (Jews) only onions. No fish was given. Where did they get this meat?
One must be aware that the human psyche has a way of sugarcoating the past to an extent that one thinks he had something he never had. This is done deliberately by the evil powers to convey that the past was great, the present stinks, and this sorry person of a soul is living a miserable life resulting, most likely to depression. This is the primary goal of these evil sources.
Madison Avenue is aware of this. Does one remember the classic Coke ad campaign? The delicious Coke from the past, with the old looking cans, are the best.
What one has to realize is that there are good times and bad times in every period. One has to realize this especially now!! Today!! You might be living a wonderful part in your life and you’re too down to realize it; that would be a great shame.
One has to appreciate at least some of the things and people in his life because it might not or they might not be there for long. |
Sufganiyot – Jelly Donuts
I thought my sweet-tooth days were over. A few years ago, I started to put a pinch of cinnamon in one of my morning cups of coffee, and a little while later I realized my desire for sweets decreased. I freed myself from the long stares at the Entenmanns section at the supermarket. The customary sweet-something after a meal was no more. Even my Shabbat sweet treat was a thing of the past. There was a period where I would taste a cookie and be able to tell what bakery it’s from and the territory covered was Brooklyn, Queens, and the City. Impressive, huh!
This past Chanukah I happened to go, unconsciously, to quite a few places all around town, and purchased donuts for my kids and for the guys at my shiur. Well, with a taste here and a taste there, quite a bit of good donuts were consumed. But what did me in were the donuts I had at Wassermann’s. I just lost it; it was very good. The donuts were full of jelly and it didn’t taste too syrupy. I couldn’t stop; I must have had…oops my wife is going to read this, let’s just say it was a nice Chanukah. It didn’t help the situation that Wassermann’s was open till 1:00 am and I just happened to be passing by.
B”H I went back to the decreased sugar regiment. But I would like to ask the readers, what was the best jelly donuts you’ve tried over the holidays? Please write back your response, everything is confidential. |
Overview of Sefer Bereishit
The accomplishment of finishing something is always sweet, and this week we conclude the book of Bereishit. The beauty of learning the Chumash (Bible) is that one can study the same passage when you’re in grade school and as an adult, and come out fulfilled. I remember how proud I was in finishing the book of Bereishit in early grade school and the whole class screaming the signature conclusion that one finds in any scripture ‘chazak chazak venitchazek’. The classmates would then add jokingly ‘my mother baked a chocolate cake and in the cake there was a rake’. If one had to summarize or give an underlying theme of the book of Bereishit, what would it be? Perhaps, one may say, it’s seeking the truth.
The first memory of this concept is Abraham who experimented in many areas in his pursuit of the truth and coming to the conclusion of a monotheistic G-d. How many of you remember this beautiful Midrash? (story from the oral Torah). On one occasion, he was given the task of watching over his father’s pagan-idol shop. When his father came back, he found all the idols broken except the biggest one, holding an ax. He asked Abraham ‘what happened?’ He replied, ‘the big one got angry at the rest and broke them all’. The father in disbelief answered back ‘their incapable’. Abraham answered if you don’t believe it’s true, why do you make them out to be powerful Gods?
There is a riveting storyline of truth in Parshat Vayeshev, when Yehuda was rewarded and became the leader of the Jews. This is because it was extremely tempting to lie and hide what really transpired. However, he admitted his participation in sleeping, unknowingly, with his widowed daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law was in the right because she was legally bound to Yehuda’s family. The revelation of truth produced, through that union, the seeds of the Moshiach.
In the book of Bereishit, we learn how sensitive one should be when confronting issues between husband and wife. G-d teaches us that sometimes truth is meant not to be told. When good news arrived via the angels, that Abraham and Sarah will have children, Sarah had doubts ‘how can we have children, my husband is so old?’ G-d asked Abraham in a later conversation, altering what his wife said, why did Sarah say ‘how can we have kids, I’m so old?
Sometimes, lies and impersonations are required in order to maintain and preserve integrity in the world. Straight-laced Yaacov, the epitome of truth, had to lie and go against his character, his whole philosophy of life and impersonate his brother, Eisav, in order to get a crucial blessing from his father.
Apparently, right from the beginning, we find the snake putting doubt in Eve’s mind, taking advantage of the lie Adam told her, in order to seduce her. Although Adam used the lie in order to protect her from eating from the tree, it backfired.
It seems like the concept of truth has been in a tug of war, fighting for preservation throughout the entire book of Bereishit. The Torah teaches us when to use it and when not to. Although it’s a bit complex, perhaps the teachings of Rav Henoch Leibowitz z’l, would shed some light with this very clear message. ‘Who is a man of truth, one who recognizes the good and appreciates what G-d has done for him’. He continues, ‘ever wonder why Yehuda was able to persevere and tell the truth under extreme difficult circumstances, because when he was born, his mother named him Yehuda – in appreciation; ‘I appreciate that G-d gave me a wonderful child. She acquired the trait of appreciation and instilled it in her son, and he reciprocated and became royalty in G-d’s eyes. |