This issue is dedicated to the engagement of my oldest grandson
Noam Elimelech to Chana
Refuah Prayers for Michael Chaim ben Feige Dina
Golde Chaya bas Esther
returned her soul to HASHEM at the age of 102. Chana
Tzipporah bas Elka Breindel passed away in her youth.
Parsha
Vayeira
It is fortunate that due to celebrations I am giving a summary
commentary.
Our Parsha opens up with Avraham Avinu three days after
he has done his Bris. It was painful and three angels were sent to visit him as
each angel only has a specific mission. One to heal Avraham, one to over-throw
Sodom etc. and finally one angel to save Lot.
At this point we see Avraham asking them to stay for a
morsel of bread. “Run mix up the finest farina” which at that time was
considered the best bread. He serves that with butter as he has slaughtered 3
male cows for their tongues for the guests. A lot of food to feed a guest.
The Angels pretend to eat and then Rafael heals Avraham
and promises him a son “by this time next year”. They move on, but before they
go, they tell him of the mission of destroying Sodom and saving Lot.
Avraham pleads aka prayers with the Angels for the
people of Sodom that perhaps there are 50 - 45 … 10 righteous men. This shows
how wicked the people were.
18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre, as
he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; … 33 And the
LORD went His way, as soon as He had left off speaking to Abraham; and Abraham
returned unto his place.
This chapter has the angels entering Sodom. Lot has
learned from Avraham to be a good host. But he is a bit foolish in his willingness
to sacrifice the morals of his daughters to protect his guests.
19:1 1 And the two angels came to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the
gate of Sodom; and Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he fell down on
his face to the earth; 2 and he said: 'Behold now, my lords, turn aside, I pray
you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye
shall rise up early, and go on your way.' And they said: 'Nay; but we will
abide in the broad place all night.' 3 And he urged them greatly; and they
turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and
did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
He gave them like a good host from his bread but not
special cake like farina.
4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of
Sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old, all the people from every
quarter. 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him: 'Where are the men that
came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.'
See how wicked this people are they want to take
strangers and gang up upon them in their abuse.
Lot tells the people that the two men are under his
roof. He tried to calm down an unruly mob which is not the greatest idea. Logic
does not work with a mob.
10 But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house
to them, and the door they shut. 11 And they smote the men that were at the
door of the house with blindness, both small and great; so that they wearied
themselves to find the door.
All this on the merit of Avraham and that Haran died on
a Kiddush HASHEM.
12 And the men said unto Lot: 'Hast thou here any besides?
son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the
city; bring them out of the place; 13 for we will destroy this place, because
the cry of them is waxed great before the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to
destroy it.' 14 And Lot went out, and spoke unto his sons-in-law, who married
his daughters, and said: 'Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will
destroy the city.' But he seemed unto his sons-in-law as one that jested.
No different from today. If I said that these men are
angels how many or who would believe me. We see that his son-in-laws were of
the place and did not want to budge. This is perhaps the first recorded event
but in Iraq, Syria and Iran there were people who did not want to flee. My
grandfather had $300,000 in Switzerland at the time of the Anschluss and in his
great wisdom brought it back to Austria to retire. He fled and my father
supported him and my grandmother after he reached the US.
Among other things, one should check out who his son or
daughter is about to marry for Midos (personality qualities).
15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot,
saying: 'Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are here; lest thou
be swept away in the iniquity of the city.' 16 But he lingered; and the men
laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of
his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him. And they brought him
forth, and set him without the city.
Lingered because he was part of the culture of the city
and partially at his age did not want to start a new career.
17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad,
that he said: 'Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in
all the Plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be swept away.' 18 And Lot
said unto them: 'Oh, not so, my lord; 19 behold now, thy servant hath found
grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shown
unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest the evil
overtake me, and I die. 20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it
is a little one; oh, let me escape thither--is it not a little one?--and my
soul shall live.'
The word Na (Nun-Aleph) is 51 in Gematria. The city was
built 51 years after the division of the nations and languages. (Avraham now 99
was 48 at the time of Migdal Bavel – tower) and Sodom was not in the 52nd
year and had accumulated critical mass of sins. Zohar being in the 51st
year did not reach the critical mass of sins. So Lot says Na (please) let me go
to his small village. [Humor – if I wanted to say in Hebrew pretty please stand
here comes G-D I would say Na-Na Kum Ba KAH where K = Y]
21 And he said unto him: 'See, I have accepted thee concerning this
thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken. 22
Hasten thou, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou come thither.'
This shows that he could have fled to the mountains
instead of Zohar.
… 26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a
pillar of salt.
What I think happened is that he fled with his
daughters into a cave and his wife stepped out and was covered with dust and
salt from the overthrow of the cities similar to the dust when the world trade
center collapsed.
27 And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he
had stood before the LORD. 28 And he looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and
toward all the land of the Plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land
went up as the smoke of a furnace.
He knew that Lot would be safe but was there 10
Tzaddikim in the city?
29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain,
that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow,
when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt. 30 And Lot went up out of
Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared
to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31 And the
first-born said unto the younger: 'Our father is old, and there is not a man in
the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth. 32 Come, let us
make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed
of our father.'
Incest was forbidden to the Bnei Noach but why not go
search for your uncle who would be permissible to you? In addition, it was
still permissible until Har Sinai for two sisters to marry one man.
33 And they made their father drink wine that night. And the
first-born went in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down,
nor when she arose. 34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that
the first-born said unto the younger: 'Behold, I lay yesternight with my
father. Let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie
with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.' 35 And they
made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose, and lay
with him; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 36
Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
This is a problem with a good secular education like in
the Sodom school system. Their peers influenced the girls. Orthodox education
in being G-D fearing and loving and modesty is drilled into young women.
… 20:1 1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the land of the
South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2 And
Abraham said of Sarah his wife: 'She is my sister.' And Abimelech king of Gerar
sent, and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and
said to him: 'Behold, thou shalt die, because of the woman whom thou hast
taken; for she is a man's wife.'
Even as recently as the time of Saddam Hussein if he
saw the wife of a general and looked at her too much, if the general did not
divorce her, he was mysteriously murdered.
… 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him: 'What hast
thou done unto us? and wherein have I sinned against thee, that thou hast
brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that
ought not to be done.' 10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham: 'What did you see,
that thou has done this thing?' 11 And Abraham said: 'Because I thought: Surely
the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.
How was it possible that Avraham could physically see
that there was no fear of G-D in that place? Once when my daughter was
traveling with us near the Los Angeles Airport I took a motel before her flight
on the morrow. We needed some food for our trip so I asked where the nearest
supermarket is. I was told that it was a block inwards from the motel. It was
in a section of LA called Inglewood. We parked got out and went into the super
which at two armed guards with shotguns. Normally for security purposes, I do
not speak Hebrew on the street. However, when I noticed that one or two
Vietnamese Refugees and we were the only people who stood out racially I
realized that we were in one of the slums of LA that had rioted only a short
time before. We spoke Hebrew for our own security so that they would think we
were non-Americans and living in the ghetto. If you are aware of your
environment, you have to take some action.
17 And Abraham prayed unto God; and God healed Abimelech, and his
wife, and his maid-servants; and they bore children. 18 For the LORD had fast
closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's
wife.
21:1
1 And the LORD remembered Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as
He had spoken. 2 And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at
the set time of which God had spoken to him. When he prayed for Avimelech, the prayer was also good for Sara.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Avraham did what HASHEM commanded. He then dug wells, the Plishtim came and claimed his wells for the Plishtim Homeland, and this continued until he made a covenant with them by the well of swearing aka Beer Sheva.
22:1 1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him: 'Abraham'; and he said: 'Here am I.' 2 And He said: 'Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou love, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.' … 16 and said: 'By Myself have I sworn, says the LORD, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, 17 that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast hearkened to My voice.' 19 So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.
After waiting 100 years for an heir, Avraham was put to the ultimate test, passed and got the blessing.
20
And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying:
'Behold, Milcah, she also hath borne children unto thy brother Nahor: …23 And
Bethuel begot Rebekah; these eight did Milcah bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother.
All these last Pasukim were for the birth of Rivka.
The Baal Shem Tov’s
closest follower
In his earlier
years, Rabbi Zev-Wolf Kitzis served as the town Rabbi of Toltzin, and later
held the position of Chief Rabbinical Judge in the town of Medzibuzh.
When he first arrived in Medzibuzh, the town had not yet become the famous founding center of the Baal Shem Tov's movement. With the arrival of the Baal Shem Tov in subsequent years, Rabbi Wolf set out to investigate him and his unusual ways.
His initial reaction was one of great opposition, but after a short while he became one of his greatest followers. Chassidic lore has it that this turnabout was the result of a remarkable incident:
When he first arrived in Medzibuzh, the town had not yet become the famous founding center of the Baal Shem Tov's movement. With the arrival of the Baal Shem Tov in subsequent years, Rabbi Wolf set out to investigate him and his unusual ways.
His initial reaction was one of great opposition, but after a short while he became one of his greatest followers. Chassidic lore has it that this turnabout was the result of a remarkable incident:
On Erev Shabbos the
Baal Shem Tov had the custom to begin his Mincha (Afternoon Prayer)
early hours before sunset, and linger over the Amidah (Standing Prayer)
for several hours. Rabbi Wolf, who was constantly dogging his steps, became
angry at this behavior and claimed that it is not possible to prayer for such a
long time with the correct level of Kavanah (focused intention).
One day, Rabbi Wolf approached the Baal Shem Tov as he was immersed in prayer, and lifted the Rebbe's tallit (prayer shawl) so as to see what he was doing. After one brief glance at the face of the Baal Shem Tov, he fainted.
One day, Rabbi Wolf approached the Baal Shem Tov as he was immersed in prayer, and lifted the Rebbe's tallit (prayer shawl) so as to see what he was doing. After one brief glance at the face of the Baal Shem Tov, he fainted.
After he regained
consciousness, he became seriously ill and was bedridden for three months. He
explained to those around him the reason why he had fainted - instead of the
radiant, healthy countenance of the Baal Shem Tov that all knew and recognized,
the face that met his gaze when he lifted up the tallit was pale as death, eyes
protruding from their sockets from intense mystical meditations and streaming
with tears. From that moment on Rabbi Wolf humbled himself before the Baal Shem
Tov, and became his devoted student.
After he became a
veteran chasid of the Baal Shem Tov, he protected his Rebbe and the path of
Chasidut in many debates that he held with scholars who opposed the fledgling
movement. It is told that the Baal Shem Tov himself once said to Rabbi Zev-Wolf
- 'What stands between me and you is a mere hairsbreadth; but this hairsbreadth
you will never be able to cross.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Biographical notes:
Rabbi Ze'ev-Wolf Kitzis [of blessed memory: circa. 5460 - 12 Cheshvan 5548 (1700 - 1787)] is considered to be the closest follower of the Baal Shem Tov. In his earlier years, he served as the town Rabbi of Toltzin, and later held the position of Chief Rabbinical Judge in the town of Medzibuzh, years before the Baal Shem Tov's arrival. He was an outstanding Torah scholar and equally adept in the mystical teachings, as well as extremely meticulous in all areas of mitzvah observance. It is told that he would not eat meat that was not koshered in front of his eyes, even if the Baal Shem Tov would partake of that meat. He is buried in Medzibuzh next to the Baal Shem Tov.
Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer [of blessed memory: 18 Elul 5458 - 6 Sivan 5520 (Aug. 1698 - May 1760 C.E.)], the Baal Shem Tov ["Master of the Good Name"-often referred to as "the Besht" for short], a unique and seminal figure in Jewish history, revealed his identity as an exceptionally holy person, on his 36th birthday (1734 C.E.), and made the until-then underground Chasidic movement public. He wrote no books, although many works claim to contain his teachings. One available in English is the excellent annotated translation of Tzava'at Harivash, published by Kehos.
Connection: Seasonal - this Wednesday is the 230th yahrzeit of Rabbi Ze'ev-Wolf Kitzis.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Biographical notes:
Rabbi Ze'ev-Wolf Kitzis [of blessed memory: circa. 5460 - 12 Cheshvan 5548 (1700 - 1787)] is considered to be the closest follower of the Baal Shem Tov. In his earlier years, he served as the town Rabbi of Toltzin, and later held the position of Chief Rabbinical Judge in the town of Medzibuzh, years before the Baal Shem Tov's arrival. He was an outstanding Torah scholar and equally adept in the mystical teachings, as well as extremely meticulous in all areas of mitzvah observance. It is told that he would not eat meat that was not koshered in front of his eyes, even if the Baal Shem Tov would partake of that meat. He is buried in Medzibuzh next to the Baal Shem Tov.
Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer [of blessed memory: 18 Elul 5458 - 6 Sivan 5520 (Aug. 1698 - May 1760 C.E.)], the Baal Shem Tov ["Master of the Good Name"-often referred to as "the Besht" for short], a unique and seminal figure in Jewish history, revealed his identity as an exceptionally holy person, on his 36th birthday (1734 C.E.), and made the until-then underground Chasidic movement public. He wrote no books, although many works claim to contain his teachings. One available in English is the excellent annotated translation of Tzava'at Harivash, published by Kehos.
Connection: Seasonal - this Wednesday is the 230th yahrzeit of Rabbi Ze'ev-Wolf Kitzis.
Prays needed for one of the Gadolei HaDor. Rav Aharon Liab
Steinerman Shlita. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/237345
New poll shows Shass will not make it into the Knesset. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/237320
Inyanay
Diyoma
Iranian missile and most likely nuclear program full steam ahead. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5035316,00.html
Kurds losing more ground to Iranian Guards in Iraq. https://www.debka.com/key-kurdish-held-border-crossing-falls-iranian-control-cuts-us-army-land-supply-line-syria/
Tunnel Vision is not always bad as 12 Jihadists becomes Shachidim
as the IDF blows up a tunnel network. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/237413
The left - TV host O’Brien. https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/10/29/conan-obrien-and-anti-israel-lies/
Settlers protest by PM’s residence. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5035580,00.html
Time to change Defense Policy: https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5034366,00.html
Terror attack stopped near Neve Zuf. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/237444
Auto mfg. bids for Israeli firm. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3723812,00.html
When old and new antisemitism meet. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5035391,00.html
100th anniversary of the liberation of Beer Sheva by New
Zealand and Australian Troops. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/WATCH-LIVE-Battle-of-Beersheba-centennial-commemorations-510922
Time to free Pollard. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/237471
Rutgers U. antisemitic professor and symbols. https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/10/31/student-petition-to-suspend-antisemitic-rutgers-professor-gains-momentum-as-swastika-appears-on-campus/
Dershowitz reacts to the antisemitic cartoon (see Ed-Op by Ben Dror
Yemeni above) https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/10/31/alan-dershowitz-the-forwards-defense-of-an-anti-semitic-cartoon-is-unacceptable/
Hit on Hamas Security Chief was an inside job from the Interior
Ministry. https://www.debka.com/debkafile-hit-hamas-security-chief-internal-job/
Meanwhile back in NYC Akbar again. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5036805,00.html
Bedjuin shot at border recognized. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/237497
Threatens to break Coalition over Yehuda and Shomron Security
issue. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5036673,00.html
Unlike Israel, Trump calls for death penalty. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5037468,00.html
Ed-Op regarding the Gaza Tunnel.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5036496,00.html
Syrian Anti-aircraft. https://www.debka.com/russian-made-air-defense-missiles-miss-israel-air-force-raiders/
Hamas have terrorists bodies that they can’t reach. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/237615
Druze wounded by Syrian Shots. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/237616
Good Shabbos all,
Rachamim Pauli
