The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha last evening which we missed while travelling to LA on overnight flight. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
In Bereishis 19:27 the Torah states וַיַּשְׁכֵּ֥ם אַבְרָהָ֖ם בַּבֹּ֑קֶר אֶ֨ל־הַמָּק֔וֹם אֲשֶׁר־עָ֥מַד שָׁ֖ם אֶת־פְּנֵ֥י יְהֹוָֽה - Avraham went back and davened in the place where he previously stood before Hashem. The Gemara in Berachos learns from this that anyone who is kovea makom - sets a regular place for davening, the G-d of Avraham will help him.
But what is the significance of setting a makom? R' Frand answered by quoting R' Meir Tzvi Bergman who cites a mishna in Pirkei Avos which talks about the disciples of Avraham or Bilaam. Avraham was happy for others, generous and humble, whereas Bilaam was not happy with other peoples success and haughty and could not be satisfied with his lot.
Where do we see this? When Bilaam went to curse the Jews it became a beracha and afterwards Bilaam asked to go to another location where he thought he could be successful and after failing again asked to go elsewhere. Why did Bilaam keep asking to go elsewhere? Because he thought that the problem was not him, it must be the location. This demonstrates haughtiness - the inability to say I made a mistake, it must be the location.
Meanwhile Avraham davened unsuccessfully for Sdom and afterwards went back to daven in the same place again - because it was me and not the place where he davened.
R' Frand mentioned his disdain for politicians who always blame other people or other things for the failings and don't say - its my fault. R' Frand quoted from a note that was written by Eisenhower which initially stated that a beachhead landing had failed but changed it to, I failed.
R' Frand also quoted Bereishis 19:1 - וַ֠יָּבֹ֠אוּ שְׁנֵ֨י הַמַּלְאָכִ֤ים סְדֹ֨מָה֙ בָּעֶ֔רֶב וְל֖וֹט ישֵׁ֣ב בְּשַֽׁעַר־סְדֹ֑ם וַיַּרְא־לוֹט֙ וַיָּ֣קָם לִקְרָאתָ֔ם וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ אַפַּ֖יִם אָֽרְצָה. Rashi states that Lot got up immediately to run to the guests because he learned chessed and to be machnis orchim from the house of Avraham.
R' Frand cited the Tolner Rebbi from Yerushalayim who notes that Rashi is referring to a Medrash, but that Medrash was on the pasuk two pesukim later which states וַיַּ֤עַשׂ לָהֶם֙ מִשְׁתֶּ֔ה. So why did Rashi state this here? Also, why does Rashi say that it was learned from the house of Avraham and not Avraham himself?
The Tolner Rebbi asked a third question - the Medrash says that Lot should have been killed in Sdom since he went there based on their lifestyle. What happened to Avraham's chinuch? He brought in guests, but worshipped idols and lived the hedonistic lifestyle of Sdom.
The Tolner Rebbi explained that there are two different forms of chinuch. The first is a direct chinuch where you tell them to do x or not to do y. But as children get older they have their own drives and yetzer hara. But there is a second type of chinuch - which is a lifestyle they learn from their parents. If children see that their parents are always on time and responsible, children learn that too based on their environment. This is a less direct chinuch, but also is not a battle with the yetzer hara.
This answers the second question - Lot brought in guests because he learned from the way that Avraham had his house to be machnis orchim. No, the direct lessons did not make an impact on him, but he did learn this.
R' Frand said that also answers the first question on Rashi - its mentioned in the first pasuk because at this juncture, Lot had just been made a judge in Sdom and was bound to follow their laws of not treating guests properly. Yet, Lot ran to bring in the angels and be machnis orchim because it was instinctive. Lot may have been an idol worshipper and hedonist, but he learned from Avraham's house how to be machnis orchim.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
No comments:
Post a Comment