The following is a brief summary of a thought said over by R' Frand in his shiur this evening. I have attempted to reproduce this vort to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistencies are the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
R' Frand said a brief parsha vort this evening, before commenting about the tragedy in Mumbai (more on that below). R' Frand quoted a R' Orenstein from Detroit (a former talmid of the the Chofetz Chaim) who said that the Choftez Chaim used to comment about the story of the duda'im which is discussed in Bereishis 30:14-19, that it is instructive of how one can acquire Torah. He noted that Leah had bargained for the right to be with Yaacov in exchange for the duda'im. That night, Leah conceived Yissachar, who is symbolic of Torah. We see from this that Torah comes when one is willing to pay to support it. In this case, Leah was willing to give up the duda'im as payment for the right to have a child who would teach and become emblematic of Torah.
Following this short vort, R' Frand began to discuss the tragedy in Mumbai in which over 170 people were killed, and among them a Chabad Rabbi and his wife and two young men who were only in the Chabad House because they had come to daven and had stayed beyond the time of tefillah. [Regular readers of this blog will know that one of these boys (z'tl) was the nephew of my wife's uncle].
R' Frand told a story that R' Elya Svei when he was a young boy once went to shul and heard the community crying out in tehillim. He asked what was going on and was told that the community had heard of an earthquake across the globe and were afraid for their own lives and therefore were saying tehillim. R' Frand followed this with a quote from the Targum Yonasan Ben Uziel that when disasters come to the world it is all from Hashem and is his way of saying "you need more yiras shamayim."
Unfortunately, our generation does not perceive things in this manner. When natural disasters befall the world, we may observe them and say that the events are tragic, but they do not generally cause us to change our activities or increase our prayers.
Having said that, R' Frand continued, what are we to feel when Jews who are involved in mitzvos are butchered? He answered by making reference to Aharon's reaction when his sons were killed - "Vayidom Aharon." R' Frand then noted that the sefer Torah in the Chabad House in Mumbai had been shot through and the bullets had passed through the pasuk of "acharei mos shnei bnei Aharon."
R' Frand then began a discussion which linked to last week's parsha. He noted that Yaakov had been making lentil soup when Eisav came from the field. Why? Because Avraham had died and it was a seudas havrah. He quoted the Rashi that lentils or eggs are used at the seudah because they have no mouth - just as the mourners have questions and no way to voice them, so too these foods have no mouth as well.
R' Frand then stated - what does havrah mean - a recuperating meal. But what is recuperating about a meal with lentils/eggs which only serves to remind the mourners of their state? He answered in the name of Rabbi Luban (Highland Park, NJ) that the recuperative process is that the meal is prepared for the mourners by their neighbors and friends - to show them that they are not alone and that others share in their grief.
R' Frand then finished with a discussion as to how we can act to do our havrah - by doing kindness for others. He also said in the name of a Rav that I did not catch that we can improve our tefillah with a minyan, kavana when making birchas hanehenin and to learn with one's spouse.
R' Frand finished by saying over in the name of the Kelem Yeshiva that sometimes people have a "kalbina" awakening. What is this? A calf in the field hears thunder and stops eating and looks around. When it is sure that there is no danger, it returns to its eating. We need to be aware that these tragedies occur for a reason and make efforts to improve our treatment of others and our yiras shamayim for longer than it takes for the thunder to move on.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
R' Frand said a brief parsha vort this evening, before commenting about the tragedy in Mumbai (more on that below). R' Frand quoted a R' Orenstein from Detroit (a former talmid of the the Chofetz Chaim) who said that the Choftez Chaim used to comment about the story of the duda'im which is discussed in Bereishis 30:14-19, that it is instructive of how one can acquire Torah. He noted that Leah had bargained for the right to be with Yaacov in exchange for the duda'im. That night, Leah conceived Yissachar, who is symbolic of Torah. We see from this that Torah comes when one is willing to pay to support it. In this case, Leah was willing to give up the duda'im as payment for the right to have a child who would teach and become emblematic of Torah.
Following this short vort, R' Frand began to discuss the tragedy in Mumbai in which over 170 people were killed, and among them a Chabad Rabbi and his wife and two young men who were only in the Chabad House because they had come to daven and had stayed beyond the time of tefillah. [Regular readers of this blog will know that one of these boys (z'tl) was the nephew of my wife's uncle].
R' Frand told a story that R' Elya Svei when he was a young boy once went to shul and heard the community crying out in tehillim. He asked what was going on and was told that the community had heard of an earthquake across the globe and were afraid for their own lives and therefore were saying tehillim. R' Frand followed this with a quote from the Targum Yonasan Ben Uziel that when disasters come to the world it is all from Hashem and is his way of saying "you need more yiras shamayim."
Unfortunately, our generation does not perceive things in this manner. When natural disasters befall the world, we may observe them and say that the events are tragic, but they do not generally cause us to change our activities or increase our prayers.
Having said that, R' Frand continued, what are we to feel when Jews who are involved in mitzvos are butchered? He answered by making reference to Aharon's reaction when his sons were killed - "Vayidom Aharon." R' Frand then noted that the sefer Torah in the Chabad House in Mumbai had been shot through and the bullets had passed through the pasuk of "acharei mos shnei bnei Aharon."
R' Frand then began a discussion which linked to last week's parsha. He noted that Yaakov had been making lentil soup when Eisav came from the field. Why? Because Avraham had died and it was a seudas havrah. He quoted the Rashi that lentils or eggs are used at the seudah because they have no mouth - just as the mourners have questions and no way to voice them, so too these foods have no mouth as well.
R' Frand then stated - what does havrah mean - a recuperating meal. But what is recuperating about a meal with lentils/eggs which only serves to remind the mourners of their state? He answered in the name of Rabbi Luban (Highland Park, NJ) that the recuperative process is that the meal is prepared for the mourners by their neighbors and friends - to show them that they are not alone and that others share in their grief.
R' Frand then finished with a discussion as to how we can act to do our havrah - by doing kindness for others. He also said in the name of a Rav that I did not catch that we can improve our tefillah with a minyan, kavana when making birchas hanehenin and to learn with one's spouse.
R' Frand finished by saying over in the name of the Kelem Yeshiva that sometimes people have a "kalbina" awakening. What is this? A calf in the field hears thunder and stops eating and looks around. When it is sure that there is no danger, it returns to its eating. We need to be aware that these tragedies occur for a reason and make efforts to improve our treatment of others and our yiras shamayim for longer than it takes for the thunder to move on.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
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