Appetizers for the Torah Portion of Bereisheet
SHABBAT MEVORCHIM
Excerpted and Translated from the the Teachings of Rabbi Gershon Steinberg ztz"l
L'ilui Neshamat HaGaon HaTzaddik R' Gershon Avigdor Ben Chaim ztz"l
L'ilui Neshamat R' Yochanan Yitzchak Ben Nachum z"l
L'ilui Neshamat R' Yaakov Ben Matisyahu HaLevi z"l
L'ilui Neshamat Esther Mushka Bat Yaakov HaLevi z"l
L'refuat Hanefesh V'l'refuat Haguf L'Chaya Basha Bat Esther
L'refuat Hanefesh V'lrefuat Haguf L'Etan Naphtali Ben Zehava
L'refuat Hanefesh V'l'refuat Haguf L'Rivkah Goldah Bat Chaya Basha
L'refuat Hanefesh V'l'refuat Haguf L'Shimon Ben Rivkah Goldah
L'refuat Hanefesh V'l'refuat Haguf L'Simcha Pearl Bat Rivkah Goldah
L'refuat Hanefesh V'l'refuat Haguf L'Moshe Shlomo Ben Rivkah Goldah
L'refuat Hanefesh V'l'refuat Haguf L'Chaim Sh'muel Ben Rivkah Goldah
L'refuat Hanefesh V'l'refuat Haguf L'Avital Bat Rut
L'refuat Hanefesh V'l'refuat Haguf L'Michael Itzhak Nesshael Ben Avital and
L'refuat Hanefesh V'l'refuat Haguf L'kol Am Yisrael V'l'geulah Hashleima Bekarov
"A Good Beginning."
A teacher said to his students: "Don't say that we have passed the Holidays, but rather, Baruch Hashem we have gained the Holidays, and Baruch Hashem we have also gained many Mitzvot."
"Rabbi Yitzchak said..." (Rashi on Bereisheet 1:1)
Rashi began his Commentary on the Torah with the comment "Rabbi Yitzchak said..." The source of this comment is from the Yalkut Shimoni. The "Be'er Mayim Chaim" wrote that Rashi began with this particular comment in order to honor his father, who was called Rabbi Yitzchak, in order to fulfill the Mitzvah of honoring one's father and mother.
"Rabbi Yitzchak said..." (Rashi on Bereisheet 1:1)
Rashi began his Commentary on the Torah with the letter Aleph, "Amar R' Yitzchak" (in English: "Rabbi Yitzchak said"). And he finished his Commentary on the Torah Portion of V'Zot HaB'racha with the letter Tav, "Yishar Cochacha She'Shavarta" (In English: "May your strength be straight for having shattered the Tablets"). This is to hint to us that Rashi's commentary was inclusive from Aleph until Tav (from the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet to the last), and didn't miss anything. (from the Gaon R' M.D. Halperin ztz"l)
"In the beginning of G-d's creating the heavens and the earth -- and the earth was bewilderment and void..." (Bereisheet 1:1-2)
First of all a Jew needs to believe that Hashem created the heavens and the earth, and from that he will understand that all of this world is bewilderment and void.
Every author of a book includes a hint to his name at the beginning of the book.
The Sages say that the Signature Stamp of the Holy One Blessed Be He is "Emet" (in English: "Truth"), and therefore Hashem began the Torah with the words "Bereisheet Bara Elokim" (in English: "In the beginning of G-d's creating), and the last letters of these three words spell "Emet". These letters which spell the word "Emet" are: "Aleph" (at the end of the word "Bara"), "Mem" (at the end of the word "Elokim"), and "Tav" (at the end of the word "Bereisheet") .
The high level of Adam HaRishon (the first man) and what we can learn from it.
The most capable person in the world and the the one with the greatest memory and deepest understanding and intellectual grasp, was Adam HaRishon (the first man). The reason he was on such a high level was because he was directly created by the Holy One Blessed Be He. And he also had a lot of physical strength, and when he was expelled from Gan Eden (the garden of Eden), it was necessary to have strong guards to prevent him from entering again because of his great strength. And these strong guards were the Keruvim (Cherubim), angels of destruction, and the flaming sword which turned every way. And if he had not eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, he would have lived forever. And what did he do in Gan Eden? The Torah tells us that Hashem put Adam HaRishon into the Gan of Eden "to work it and to keep it" (Bereisheet 2:15). The Sages say that "to work it" refers to the positive commandments, and "to keep it" refers to negative commandments. And Adam HaRishon was constantly studying the Torah. And we see from this an awesome thing, that the Torah of Hashem has no end. Adam HaRishon was the person with the most capability in the world and he had the potential to live forever, and he learned the Torah constantly, and in spite of all that, he still had more to learn from Hashem's Torah. (This ethical lesson is from the Chafetz Chaim.)
"...Let there be a firmament..." (Bereisheet 1:6)
Rashi says that the heavens were wobbly on the first day. The Holy One Blessed Be He shouted at them on the second day ("Let there be a firmament"), and because of that they are standing in fear and awe until today. Because of this we have the term "fear of Heaven". Just as the heavens always stand in fear and awe, so the Tzaddik (Righteous Person) is always in fear and awe (of Hashem).
"It is not written on the second day that it was good." (Rashi on Bereisheet 1:7)
Rashi says that the work of the second day was not completed until the third day, and that is why it doesn't says "Ki Tov" (that it was good) on the second day. The Sages say the reason is because it was written on the second day about the division between the upper waters and lower waters, and where there is divisiveness it is not appropriate to say that it is good. Machloket (divisiveness or quarreling) is the opposite of goodness.
A Story about Rabbeinu Bachya (author of Chovot HaLevavot)
Rabbeinu Bachya had many arguments in his days with non-believers of various kinds. One time they told him that there was a world famous artist who had made a very beautiful painting and they showed it to him. He said to them that the painting was made during the night by a monkey who had come, and next to the monkey was a bottle of ink, and he spilled the ink on the canvas and the result was this picture...They said to him, an astute person like you, how can you say such things? How is it possible that this was done by a monkey? He said to them, also you say things like that, that this world with a sun and moon and all the creations, with all the plants and animals, happened by itself without the existence of a Creator and Leader of the World. And in this way he convinced them.
A Similar Story about Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi
Similarly, it is told about Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi z"l that he had a neighbor who was a non-Jewish poet, and he had arguments with him about faith in Hashem. One time the non-Jew wrote a song on his table in the courtyard and was not able to finish it with a nice ending. Meanwhile he went for a walk in the forest, thinking that perhaps he would find some kind of nice ending. Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi, who was also a great poet, saw this. On the man's table was a pen with ink, and Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi took the pen and finished the song in a beautiful way. When the non-Jew returned he saw his song's ending, that it was very beautiful, and he thought to himself, certainly my neighbor Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi finished it. And he asked him: "Did you write this ending?" Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi answered him that it happened by itself. The neighbor said to him: "An astute person like you, how can you say things like that?" Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi answered him: "Your ears should hear what your mouth is saying. Two lines can't be written by themselves, and a beautiful world like this, how was that created by itself???!!!" And he convinced him.
"...Dust shall you eat..." (Bereisheet 3:14)
Hashem gave a punishment to the snake that "dust shall you eat". Doesn't this seem to be good for him, because he will have sufficient food in every place that he goes? The explanation is that in truth, this is bad. This is similar to a parable about a king who was angry at his son and gave him a lot of money and sent him away from his table. He said to him: "I don't want to see you. You have enough money, go and support yourself in any place that you want, but by me you are not welcome to have your foot step inside my house any more." Applying the parable to the snake's situation, we find that all of the living creatures have a connection with Hashem and always request food from the Holy One Blessed Be He. But the snake has no connection to the Holy One Blessed Be He, for He said to him "You will have food in any place that you want, but not from me".
"And Kayin (Cain) rose up against his brother Hevel (Abel) and killed him." (Bereisheet 4:8)
The Sages say that they argued about apportioning the world, and they agreed between themselves that Kayin would take for his portion the land (real estate) and Hevel would take for his portion the movable property. And therefore they quarelled, because Kayin said to Hevel that he should fly in the air and not have his foot walk on the ground since it belonged to him, and Hevel said to Kayin that he should give him the clothing that he was wearing. Maran HaGaon Rav Eleazar Menachem Man Shach ztz"l asks, what are the Sages coming to tell us by saying this? The answer is that it is in order for us to contemplate this: that even if all of the world is his, all of the countries great and small, in any event if a person doesn't work on his Middot (character traits) he is liable to arrive at the lowest level so that he won't able to stand that another person would walk on his land.
"And Noach found favor in Hashem's eyes." (Bereisheet 6:8)
The Midrash says that if someone who is "Noach L'briot" (in English: "easygoing with others"), he will find favor in Hashem's eyes.
The Torah Portion of Bereisheet has 146 verses. It has one positive commandment.Haftora: "Ko Amar HaKail" (Yeshayahu 42).
This Shabbat is Shabbat Mevorchim. Rosh Chodesh of the Month of Mar Cheshvan will be on Yom Shlishi and Yom Rivi'i (Tuesday and Wednesday) The Molad: Lail Beit at the hour 3:24 with 5 Chalakim.
This Shabbat we begin to say Borchi Nafshi.
May you all have a light-filled and happy Shabbat. Shabbat Shalom.
L'ilui Neshamat HaGaon HaTzaddik R' Gershon Avigdor Ben R' Chaim ztz"l, Nilkach L'Bait Olamo Yud Gimmel Tishrei 5772
YOM KIPPUR
"AND FOR EVERYTHING, G-D OF FORGIVENESS, FORGIVE US, PARDON US, ATONE FOR US" (from the "Al Chait" prayer)
Excerpted and Translated from the the Teachings of Rabbi Gershon Steinberg ztz"l
L'ilui Neshamat HaGaon HaTzaddik R' Gershon Avigdor Ben Chaim ztz"l
"...Seal the mouths of our adversaries and accusers..." (from the "Avinu Malkeinu" prayer)
The Chafetz Chaim says that when a man requests "...Seal the mouths of our adversaries and accusers", he is asked in the Upper Realms: "What about your mouth? Do you guard your mouth?", but when a man is careful about his speech, then his prayer is accepted.
It's a Mitzvah to eat on Erev Yom Kippur, the day before Yom Kippur.
There are several reasons for this. There are those that say that it is in order for a person to have the strength to fast. And there are those that say the reason is that on every Holy Day, half of the day needs to be for Hashem, and that is the prayer, and half of the day is for us, and the festive meals are the half for us. Thus the eating on Erev Yom Kippur is the half which is for us, and on Yom Kippur we pray the entire day, and that is the half for Hashem. Rabeinu Yonah says another reason; it is a Mitzvah to eat on Erev Yom Kippur because we need to be happy that we have arrived at this day. The Sefat Emet says another reason why it's a Mitzvah to eat on Erev Yom Kippur; on Erev Yom Kippur it's a Mitzvah for each person to appease his fellowman. And it's only natural that when a person is fasting he is tense and his heart is not receptive to listening to his friend. Therefore the Torah said to eat in order for a person to have the heart to forgive his friend, as it is written regarding Boaz "And he ate...and his heart was satisfied". (Megillat Rut 3:7)
"For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to purify you; from all your sins shall you be purified before Hashem." (Vayikra 16:30)
Rabbi Yisrael Salanter says that if Yom Kippur was even only once in 70 years, we would need to be happy, all the more so that it comes every year.
"Al Chait...V'Al Chait" (in English: "For the sin....and for the sin...")
We say "Al Chait" according to the order of the Hebrew Alphabet, twice. One time we say "Al Chait", and another time we say "V'Al Chait". The reason the confession covers every letter of the Hebrew alphabet is in correspondence to the Torah which we have sinned against, since the Torah was written with every letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. And why do we cover the Hebrew alphabet twice? One time corresponds to sins between man and Hashem, and another time corresponds to sins between man and his fellow man.
"And they shall confess their sin which they have done..." (Bamidbar 5:7)
Vidui (In English: Confession) is a positive Mitzvah from the Torah, as it is stated in the Torah Portion of Naso: "And they shall confess their sin which they have done..." The main point of confession is to abandon the sin, and one strikes his heart to as if to say "you (my heart) have caused me to sin".
The Book of Yonah (Haftorah read in the afternoon service of Yom Kippur)
The Rav of Brisk ztz"l emphasizes that in the Haftorah of Yonah, that there were all kinds of people from the 70 nations of the world in the boat, and all kinds of idol worship, and the righteous person Yonah says "I am to blame" as it is said, "because of me there is this big storm". The reason for this is that a Tzaddik (righteous person) always places the blame upon himself.
"P'tach Lanu Sha'ar" (in English: "Open for us a gate", from the Ne'ila prayer)
It is written in the Holy Books, that just as every gate has a specific key to open it, but an axe can open every gate; so too in the Upper Realms every "Heichal" (in English: "Hall") can be opened by means of specific Kavanot (in English: elevated and/or Kabbalistic intentions during prayer), but a broken heart and submission to Hashem and crying are like an axe that can open all the Halls. It is written in the Zohar that there is a Heichal (Hall) and a treasure which is opened only one time in the year at the time of Ne'ila (the final prayer on Yom Kippur). This treasure has within it all the goodness in the world -- atonement, forgiveness, an emanation of abundance, and everything good. If so, we need to strengthen ourselves very much at the time of Ne'ila in order to receive this emanation of abundant blessings.
On Yom Kippur we take out two Torah Scrolls.In the first we read the Torah Portion of Acharei, and 6 men are called.In the second we read the Maftir, in the Torah Portion of Pinchas, "Uve'asur Lachodesh".Haftora: "V'amar Solu Solu" (Yeshayahu 57)
G'MAR CHATIMA TOVA -- MAY YOU BE SEALED FOR A GOOD YEAR
The Torah Portion of Vayeilech
SHABBAT SHUVA
Excerpted and Translated from the the Teachings of Rabbi Gershon Steinberg ztz"l
L'ilui Neshamat HaGaon HaTzaddik R' Gershon Avigdor Ben Chaim ztz"l
"And Moshe went..." (Devorim 31:1)
The Tirgum Yonatan says that Moshe went to the place of study -- to Yeshiva. The Baal HaTurim says that he went to the Patriarchs to tell them that Hashem fulfilled his oath that Israel will enter the Land.
"And Moshe called Yehoshua and said to him before the eyes of all Yisrael, 'Be strong and be courageous'..." (Devorim 31:7)
The last words of the Torah are "before the eyes of all Yisrael" (Devorim 34:12). After finishing the Torah we need to strengthen ourselves and to begin anew.
"Gather together the people -- the men, and the women, and the small children...." (Devorim 31:12)
The Sages say, why do the small children come? It is in order to give reward to those who bring them. It has been asked, if the parents all come to the Temple certainly they will take the small children with them anyway, because how could they leave them? But the explanation of the text is that the Holy One Blessed Be He wanted that they would have a Mitzvah (and therefore a reward) to bring them, and therefore He commanded to do so.
"...the men, and the women, and the small children..." (Devorim 31:12)
In the Mitzvah of "Hakhel", the gathering together of the people, mention is made of men, women, and small children. The Roshei Teivot (initial letters) of the Hebrew words for men, women and children are as follows: "Tet" is the first letter of the word "Taf" (in English: "small children"); "Nun" is the first letter of the word "Nashim" (in English: "women"); and "Aleph" is the first letter of the word "Anashim" (in English: "men"). The Gematria (numerical value) of each of these letters adds up to 60, as follows: "Tet" has a value of 9, "Nun" has a value of 50, and "Aleph" has a value of 1. The number 60 is also associated with Birkat Kohanim (the blessing given by Kohanim), because that blessing has 60 letters in it. In addition, the number 60 is associated with the Talmud, because the 6 Orders of the Mishnah have a total of 60 Tractates. Because of this, the Holy One Blessed Be He wanted everyone to come -- men, women, and small children -- so that both blessing (from the Kohanim) and the holiness of the Torah (associated with the 60 Tractates of the Talmud) would apply to everyone. (from the Ben Ish Chai)
"And I will surely conceal My face..." Devorim (31:18)
It is told about a particular Tzaddik (Righteous Man) that he saw his grandson crying, and asked him "Why are you crying?" The grandson told him that he was playing with his friends and hiding just like the other children that play hide-and-seek, but no one came to look for him, and that's a sign that he isn't worth anything to his friends. The Tzaddik also started to cry, and he said, "Also Hashem hides His face and cries", as it is written "In hidden places my soul cries" (Yirmiyahu 13:17), and why? Because "No is inquiring and no one is requesting" (Yechezkel 34:6).
HAFTORA
"Return, Israel, to Hashem Elokecha, because you have stumbled in your iniquity." (Hoshea 14:2)
Why does the Prophet need to say "because you have stumbled in your iniquity"? Isn't it clear when he said "Return, Israel", that you have stumbled in your iniquity? However, what the Prophet meant when he said this to Israel, is that if you had been precautious not to stumble in any sins, then it would be clear that you would not be stumbling in any transgressions -- even accidentally or under duress. And this is why the Prophet seems to repeat himself and says "because you have stumbled in your iniquity". The reason that you need to repent is because you have already stumbled in your inquity, and that is what has brought you to sin again in transgressions that you did not even know were transgressions. And therefore we also confess "On the sin which we sinned before you by mistake, on the sin which we sinned before you under duress", because also these types of transgressions are thought of as sins. (from the Gr"a)
"Return, Israel, to Hashem Elokecha, because you have stumbled in your iniquity." (Hoshea 14:2)
From this verse, Rabbi Levi said, great is repentance which reaches the Throne of Glory (Yoma 86a). It has been asked, why did Rabbi Levi need to bring a proof from the Prophet? Isn't there a verse which specifies this in the Torah, "You will return to Hashem Elokecha..." (Devorim 4:30)? The explanation is that our Rabbis said (in Yoma 86a) regarding the one who repents from love, his willful sins are turned into merits, but the one who repents from fear, his willful sins are made into sins that he did by mistake. And in truth, if we were to study only the verse "You will return to Hashem Elokecha..." (Devorim 4:30), we would think that only in the case of sins which were done by mistake does repentance reach the Throne of Glory, but in the case of sins which were done willfully that repentance does not reach the Throne of Glory. But now, when we are studying the verse from the Prophet, "Return, Israel, to Hashem Elokecha, because you have stumbled in your iniquity" (Hoshea 14:2), the significance of this is that even for sins that were done willfully, if a man returns in repentance, we see that his repentance reaches until the Throne of Glory.
"...nor will we ever call again call our handiwork 'our god' -- only in You will the orphan find compassion." (Hoshea 14:4)
The Rambam in the Laws of Repentance (Chapter 2, Halacha 2) writes: And what is repentance?...that the One Who knows hidden things will testify on him that he won't return to that sin forever, as it is said "nor will we ever again call our handiwork 'our god' etc." And the Aruch Hashulchan adds, in the Laws of Rosh Hashana (siman 602), that is what the Torah says (in Vayikra 16:30) "...before Hashem you will be purified...", that is to say, that He, the Blessed One, will testify about you that you are purified.
"Our Father Our King, cause us to do complete repentance before you. Our Father Our King, send complete healing to the sick ones of your people." (from the Avinu Malkeinu prayer)
One time, the Admor the Rebbe Yoel of Satmar ztz"l and the Gaon Rav Moshe Feinstein ztz"l met each other, and the Gaon Rav Moshe ztz"l asked the Admor from Satmar ztz"l, Your Honor is a Rebbe and when people mention a sick person before you, and you bless him with a "complete healing", what is the intention of saying "complete"? Isn't it enough to bless him with "healing" by itself? And the Admor of Satmar ztz"l answered him, Your Honor is a Rav, and if so, explain to me what is the intention when we say "complete repentance"? Isn't it sufficient to just say "repentence" by itself? And the Gaon Rav Moshe ztz"l answered that "complete repentence" means just what the Rambam wrote, that it is a repentance such that the One Who knows all hidden matters will testify that the person will never return to do that sin ever again, and if so it is not just repentance on what occurred but "complete repentance" so that he won't return to do that sin. The Admor of Satmar ztz"l then said to him, if so, then this is the explanation of "complete healing", not just that the person will be healed from his disease, but that he will never again return to have that sickness again.
The Torah Portion of Vayeilech has 30 verses. 2 positive commandments.Haftora: "Shuva Yisrael" (Hoshea 24 61).
We don't say Pirkei Avot and we don't say "Borchi Nafshi".
May you all have a light-filled and happy Shabbat. Shabbat Shalom.
L'ilui Neshamat HaGaon HaTzaddik R' Gershon Avigdor Ben R' Chaim ztz"l, Nilkach L'Bait Olamo Yud Gimmel Tishrei 5772
G'mar Chatima Tovah - May You Be Completely Sealed for a Good Year.
