Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Toldos

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. 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.

The Parsha begins with the pasuk "וְאֵ֛לֶּה תּֽוֹלְדֹ֥ת יִצְחָ֖ק בֶּן־אַבְרָהָ֑ם אַבְרָהָ֖ם הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־יִצְחָֽק". The mefarshim ask the obvious question - why does the Torah need to state that Avraham fathered Yitzchak after stating that Yitzchak was Avraham's son? 

R' Frand quoted the Ibn Ezra who gives two answers and specifically mentioned the second answer in which he states that the second description teaches that Avraham raised Yitzchak.

R' Frand quoted the sefer Bei Chiya which observes that Avraham had expressed concern in Bereishis 15:2 that he would be left without a legacy, stating   וּבֶן־מֶ֣שֶׁק בֵּיתִ֔י ה֖וּא דַּמֶּ֥שֶׂק אֱלִיעֶֽזֶר. After being told that he would in fact have a son, Avraham was still concerned that he would not be able to raise the child as he might be too old to be an important part of Yitzchak's life. It is for this reason that the Torah states " אַבְרָהָ֖ם הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־יִצְחָֽק" - Avraham was a father figure who raised Yitzchak.

R' Frand also quoted the Rashi on the first pasuk in which he quotes the Gemara in Bava Metzia which explains that the Letzanei HaDor questioned if Avraham was Yitzchak's father, therefore Hashem made Yitzchak's face look exactly like Avraham so that no one could question.

R' Frand quoted R' Paam who asked why they were identified as Letzanei HaDor instead of the Risha'im? He answered that a Letz is not just a joker - its a scoffer who looks for the smallest thing in order to ridicule. Indeed - the idea that Avraham could not be the father is nonsense as Avraham was never the reason that they could not have kids, since he had already fathered Yishmael.

R' Paam gave a second explanation - this was done so that in future generations they could not question. Everyone knew that Avraham was the father when Yitzchak was born, but generation later people might have questions. But if he looked identical to Avraham that would not be questioned.

R' Frand noted that when Dwight David Eisenhower liberated the death camps he ordered that everything be documented and required the local residents bury the bodies, so that in the future this could not be questioned. Yet in 2009 the UK considered removing the Holocaust from the curriculum because the Muslims were offended as they don't think the Holocaust ever happened.

R' Frand said a second vort related to Yaakov deceiving his father to get the Brachos. Yaakov resisted this and he was worried that his father would figure it out. To this his mother Rivka said - I am telling you that it will not happen because I have Ruach HaKodesh and I know that Yitzchak would not figure it out.

But was there no other way for Yaakov to get the Brachos without Yaakov needing to lie? R' Yaakov Kaminetsky answers in Emes L'Yaakov that each of the Avos had a Nisayon which against their nature. Avraham was an Ish Hachesed, but he had to leave his father behind, send out Hagar and Yishmael and then bring his son on the Akeidah. But this was test - to go against his nature, because sometimes you need to go against your nature.

Similarly, Yaakov's middah was Emes, but his test was to go against his nature because the situation required it.

But what was Yitzchak's nisayon? Its the Akeidah which will happen in the future. This ties into a Gemara in Shabbos which states that in the future Yitzchak will convince Hashem not to destroy the Jews even when Avraham and Yaakov will not do the same. Even though Yitzchak was straight midas HaDin - this is not the time for it.

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Chaye Sarah

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. 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 24:15 the Torah writes "וַֽיְהִי־ה֗וּא טֶ֘רֶם֘ כִּלָּ֣ה לְדַבֵּר֒ וְהִנֵּ֧ה רִבְקָ֣ה יֹצֵ֗את" but the Torah does not identify the subject of the "ה֗וּא." The Rabbeinu B'Chaye states that the "ה֗וּא" is an angel, but this seemingly creates additional questions as there is no angel mentioned in the story.

R' Frand also raised the famous question of the use of the word הָעֶ֖בֶד and הָאִ֔ישׁ at differing points in the story as pronouns for Eliezer. Why does the Torah begin with calling him  הָעֶ֖בֶד and then later הָאִ֔ישׁ before returning to  הָעֶ֖בֶד?

R' Frand, again quoting the Rabbeinu B'Chaye explains that after Eliezer came to the well and made the condition that whomever would offer water for his camels would be the woman chosen for Yitzchak - he immediately met Rivkah. This is exactly when the ה֗וּא is mentioned, because Hashem then caused the angel to instigate that Rivkah would appear. It is at this point that Eliezer transitions to הָאִ֔ישׁ, based on his interaction at the well. Only later after the mission is completed in that Rivkah's family agrees that she can travel back with Eliezer that he again is called  הָעֶ֖בֶד.

R' Frand said a second vort from a Sefer written by Nat Lewin's father, R' Aharon Lewin - the Reisha Rav. He began by quoting Rashi which states that all of Sarah's life was equally good. But how is this to be understood? She marries Avraham and then immediately moves to Canaan. Then there is a famine and they travel to Egypt where she is taken captive and later again she is taken captive by Avimelech. Later she has the indignity of seeing Hagar have a child while she is barren and then Hagar treats with her disdain. Finally she has Yitzchak and has the fright of him being offered at the Akeidah. How is this good?

R' Lewin answers that Sarah saw her life with its peaks and valleys, but accepted that it was all for the best.

R' Frand then quoted a Medrash which states that R' Akiva was giving a derasha when he saw that people were Misnamnem (commonly translated as dozing). He wanted to awaken them and he said why did Esther rule over 127 lands? Because she is the granddaughter of Sarah who lived 127 years.

But is this a gezeira shava? What is the connection between the 127? R' Frand quoted R' Lewin who said that the connection was Esther's attitude. She lost both of her parents and was orphaned before being taken in by Mordechai. But then she is forced into the "beauty pageant" for Achasverosh and later taken as his bride. But much like Sarah - she recognized that everything is from Hashem and it is all for the good.

R' Frand then circled back to R' Akiva. He noted that R' Akiva lived at the end of the Beis Hamikdash era and things were going quite poorly for the Jewish people. He saw that they were down and he wanted to wake them up. To do this he remarked about Sarah and Esther and how they did not get depressed over the troubles that befell them and R' Akiva sought to "wake up" the people by giving them a positive outlook as well.

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Vayera

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. 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 the midst of Avraham's "negotiations" to save Sodom and the other cities from destruction, Avraham stops actively negotiating and says to Hashem in Bereishis 18:27 וַיַּ֥עַן אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הִנֵּה־נָ֤א הוֹאַ֨לְתִּי֙ לְדַבֵּ֣ר אֶל־אֲדֹנָ֔י וְאָֽנֹכִ֖י עָפָ֥ר וָאֵֽפֶר. Rashi explains that Avraham uses these terms to thank Hashem as he could have become dust when he fought in the war of the four kings vs the five kings and he could have been turned into ash when Nimrod threw him in the Kivshan Ha'Esh. 

R' Frand quoted R' Bukspan (of Parshah Pearls fame) who observes that Avraham was mentioning these things at present even though the events had occurred in the past. In this way Avraham was teaching how to be Makir Tov - by constantly having in focus the good that was done for you.

R' Frand told a story about someone who had been in a massive car accident and walked away without a scratch. The state trooper was amazed and told him that no one walks away from an accident like that. 

The man decided that he would learn Mussar every day as a Hakaras HaTov for being saved. But after a year he was no longer keeping the Mussar seder. 

Avraham's lesson was that you need to constantly remember the good and not relegate it to the past. R' Frand gave the example of a person who was unemployed for a period of time and then found a job. He was ecstatic when he began the job, but at some point later he felt under appreciated and under paid. 

R' Frand also invoked a car commercial for GM from my childhood which asked "What have you done for me lately." He also quoted the late great Pete Rose who famously said - you are only as good as your last at bat.

Avraham was teaching us that this is not the mindset of a Jew.

R' Frand said a second vort related to the Akeidah and specifically the pasuk in Bereishis 22:5 -  וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶל־נְעָרָ֗יו שְׁבֽוּ־לָכֶ֥ם פֹּה֙ עִם־הַֽחֲמ֔וֹר. The Gemara in Kiddushin remarks that they are compared to a donkey, in the sense that much like a donkey does not have lineage, so too if one has a baby with a shifcha or akum, the child does not have his lineage.

The Beis Halevi asks - why does the Torah choose this point in time to teach this law? He answers that Avraham could have had a doubt when Hashem told him to sacrifice Yitzchak - after all, Avraham had been previously told that Yitzchak would be his lineage. Perhaps Avraham was thinking that Hashem had "changed His mind" and that the lineage would be through Yishmael. To disabuse him of this notion, the Torah chose this moment to teach that a child of Hagar could not be Avraham's lineage.

R' Frand next quoted the Pirkei D'Rebbi Elezer in which R' Yehudah states that when the knife was applied to Yitzchak's neck, his soul departed. It was only when he heard from between the Kruvim that Avraham was told not to harm him that Yitzchak's soul returned. At that point Yitzchak recited the bracha of Mechaye HaMeisim. 

R' Frand then quoted the Ari who writes that Yitzchak previously had a female Neshama, but when it returned to him after the Akeidah it was male. R' Frand (although with the disclaimer that he is not a Kabbalist) said that this was truly the new beginning for the Jewish people. When Yitzchak had a female Neshama he did not have the ability to procreate, but now he could become one of our forefathers. 

R' Frand said that there are times that a person can feel that something is coming to the end, but in reality its a new beginning. He quoted R' Epstein who observed that the Golden Age of Spain ended for the Jews on Tisha B'Av 1492 ... the same day that Columbus set sail for America. And while the Jews of Spain were forced to flee on that day, it was the beginning of the discovery of a nation which would absorb millions of Jews from the 1800s through the Holocaust.

R' Frand closed the vort by observing that the Torah reading on Rosh Hashanah ends with the descendants of Besuel. He said that it always bothered him why the Kriah could not be broken up so that the five Aliyos on Rosh Hashanah could end before this part of Parshas Vayera. But with the understanding of the Ari its clear why the descendants are mentioned. Prior to the Akeidah, Yitzchak was incapable of having children. But after he received a male Neshama he was capable of having children, thus the descendants of Besuel are mentioned because they include Rivka.

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Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Lech Lecha

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. 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.

R' Frand's first vort asked why Avram being told to leave his homeland was a test? He prefaced the vort by stating that in Elul 1939, the Brisker Rav travelled from Brisk to Warsaw and eventually Vilna as he fled the Nazis. The Sefer L'Romeim tells a story about how someone observed the Brisker Rav in Vilna and he appeared pensive. The man asked why he seemed concerned and the Brisker Rav explained that he had always wondered why Avram leaving his home was a test. After all, Avram was promised that he would be made famous and wealthy but leaving his home. But now I understand that when a person leaves his hometown he is in Galus and it is difficult to be in Galus. And even though I am waiting to travel to Eretz Yisrael, I am not in my hometown and the house of my father and its a test.

R' Frand observed that everyone has tests and they are difficult. R' Frand quoted the Sefer R' Yehuda Hachasid who said that the foundation of Yiras Shamayim is the test. When a person does not understand why something is happening it is because it is a test. R' Yehuda further states that when Hashem wants to give a person a gift, the Satan comes before Hashem and says - he is not deserving - have You ever tested him? This is why Hashem gives the test and if the person withstands it, Hashem can answer back to the Satan.

R' Frand also told a story about an orphan who went to the Pnei Menachem and said - Hashem is giving me tests and it is like Hashem is putting sticks into my wheels. The Gerrer Rebbi answered - what travels faster - a car or a tank? A tank is slower because it has tracks, but it is equipped to go over anything. While it might be slower, it is a more powerful vehicle. While a person has challenges, it makes the person stronger. 

Rabbi Frand began the second vort by noting that when Hashem said to Avram, לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵֽאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ it appears to be out of order in that Avram is told to leave his land, where he was born and the house of his father, when usually a person would first leave his father's house and as he continued to travel would eventually leave the country.

R' Frand answered by quoting the Malbim who explains that this was not merely a physical move - Hashem wanted him to leave the mindset of his environment. In order to change his philosophy, he needed to leave his state, but more than that, his city will have a greater impact on his thinking and he needed to leave that behind. But even more fundamentally is the mindset of his father's house. 

R' Frand also told a story of R' Moshe Turkichinsky who was born in Israel and traveled to learn in Slobodka for the summer z'man. Before Shavuous, the Rosh Yeshiva, R Isaac Sherer asked him whether he would be keeping two days of Yom Tov as he was now in galus. R' Moshe did not answer and this was more of a statement than a question, but still he was confused. The halacha is that someone who intends to return to Israel does not do work on day 2, but also davens as if it is Chol. 

R' Moshe went and asked the Rav of the city what he should do and was told that he should be davening the Chol davening. When asked again by the Rosh Yeshiva about keeping two days he decided that he would daven in his dorm with tefillin first and then go to the Yeshiva when they davened and no one one would know that he had previously prayed. But then as the Yeshiva was going to daven Maariv to begin the second day, the Rosh Yeshiva approached him and asked him to be the Shaliach Tzibbur. Now he was stuck, how could he lead the Yom Tov prayers?

R' Moshe decided that the only solution was to take upon himself not to return to Israel and become a ben Chutz L'Aretz. He then went up and led davening and recited all of the Yom Tov prayers. When he was done, R' Sherer said to him - I know the halacha that you should only keep one day, but I also saw that your head and heart were not in the yeshiva. You may have been physically in Slobodka, but you were thinking about your birthplace and I needed you to commit to being a bochur here.

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