Rabbi L. Scheinbaum

ויאסר יוסף מרכבתו ויעל לקראת ישראל אביו... וירא אליו ויפל על צואריו ויבך

Yosef hitched his chariot and went up to meet his father… He appeared before him, fell on his neck, and he wept on his neck. (46:29)

Yosef made a point to harness the horses personally in preparation for his long anticipated meeting with his father. It would be no ordinary meeting. It was Yosef and Yaakov Avinu, two individuals whose relationship with one another was unusual, in the sense that Yosef was a spiritual replica of his father. Separated for over two decades, one can only begin to imagine the pent-up emotion that was welling up within each one – father and son. Yet, we see a number of anomalies concerning this meeting. Yosef hitched the chariot himself, probably out of excitement and growing anticipation. “Yosef…

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אל תירא מרדה מצרימה כי לגוי גדול אשימך שם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5773, Vayigash

Do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make a great nation of you there. (46:3)

Yaakov Avinu needed reassurance. He was prepared for the worst, as he had already experienced so much hardship. It is no wonder, therefore, that when he was confronted with the beginning of what was to be galus Mitzrayim, the Egyptian exile, he was afraid. The Patriarch, however, did not fear for himself. His commitment and devotion to Hashem was unwavering. He feared for his children, his descendants who would be born into Egypt’s depraved culture. How were they going to be able to withstand the onslaught of evil and licentiousness, as they confronted an environment permeated with spiritual defilement? He…

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וימהר אברהם האהלה אל שרה...ואל הבקר רץ אברהם...ויתן אל הנער וימהר אתו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeira, 5773

So Avraham hastened to the tent of Sarah…Then Avraham ran to the cattle…and he gave it to the youth who hurried to prepare it. (18:6, 7)

There seems to be an unusual amount of “hurrying” and “running.” Also, did Avrham Avinu have to serve his guests personally? The Alshich HaKadosh writes: “Avraham teaches us two proper courses of action in carrying out mitzvos. First, zerizus, alacrity. Second, whatever one can do personally is preferred.” The Patriarch ran personally to serve his guests. Zerizus is one of the fundamental attributes listed by Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair as leading up to kedushah, holiness. Indeed, alacrity/enthusiasm is a fundamental step in mitzvah observance and toward leading a productive life. One who acts with zerizus does not defer to tomorrow…

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ויגש אברהם ויאמר האף תספה צדיק עם רשע

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeira, 5773

Avraham came forward and said, “Will you also stamp out the righteous along with the wicked?” (18:23)

Unlike his predecessor, Noach, Avraham Avinu prayed for the wicked people of his generation. The Torah makes a point of relating the Patriarch’s dialogue with Hashem to spare the city of Sodom. This was a community inhabited primarily by evil degenerates whose narcissistic desires towered over any sense of humanity they might have had. They were totally evil. Yet, Avraham prayed for them. Likewise, Moshe Rabbeinu prayed on behalf of those Jews who had sinned with the eigel ha’zahav, Golden Calf. The prayer was for the sinners to repent and the sins to be forgiven. This is the area in…

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כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו ושמרו דרך ה'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeira, 5773

For I have loved him, because he commands his children and his household after him that they keep the way of Hashem. (18:19)

The angels had just recently informed Avraham Avinu of the wonderful news that Sarah would have a child. Yet, the Torah writes that Hashem loved Avraham for his parenting skills in imparting the way of Hashem to his offspring. Was this not a bit premature? Avraham did not yet have any children. The Patriarch was not yet a parent. Horav Gamliel Rabinowitz, Shlita, derives from here that one’s focus on how he will raise his children begins prior to marriage. Everything depends upon one’s purpose in marriage, what it means to him. If one’s goal is to increase kavod Shomayim,…

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ויקחו את לוט ואת רכושו בן אחי אברם וילכו והוא יושב בסדם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeira, 5773

And they captured Lot and his possessions – Avram’s nephew – and they left; for he was residing in Sodom. (14:12)

Upon reading the pasuk, one cannot help but note that the word rechusho, “his possessions,” is out of order. The way the pasuk reads is: and rechusho/his possessions, the son of Avram’s brother. Surely, rechusho was not Avram’s nephew! In his Shevilei Pinchas, Horav Pinchas Friedman, Shlita, cites the Arizal in Likutei Torah, who comments that the neshamah, soul, of the famous Amora, Rava, had its roots in the neshamah of Naamah ha’Amonis, descendant of Lot. Thus, Rava’s neshamah was held “captive” within Lot. If something were to happen to Lot, there would be no Rava. Hence, Avraham Avinu went…

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ויפגע במקום וילן שם... ויעקב הלך לדרכו ויפגעו בו מלאכי אלקים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5773

And he (Yaakov) encountered the place and he stayed there. (28:11) – And Yaakov went on his way; and Angels of G-d encountered him. (32:2)

Horav S. R. Hirsch, zl, explains that the word vayifga has the special connotation of an unexpected encounter. Thus, we understand that Yaakov Avinu experienced something unexpected when he arrived at “that” place. He saw Heavenly Angels ascending and descending a ladder. This was a significant personal experience which conveyed a special message to the Patriarch. Likewise, at the end of the parsha, as the Patriarch was leaving the house of his wicked father-in-law, Lavan, he encountered Angels. This time, however, it was the Angels who encountered him. They were “surprised” by Yaakov as he had been surprised by them…

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ועיני לאה רכות

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5773

Leah’s eyes were tender. (29:17)

Leah Imeinu had good reason for her excessive weeping. She feared that she would be relegated to marry the wicked Eisav. After all, it made sense. Rivkah had two sons; her brother Lavan had two daughters. It was only “right” that the older daughter Leah would marry the older son, Eisav. For this reason, she cried. When we think about it, especially through the spectacles of contemporary society, what really was so bad about marrying Eisav? As an ish sadeh, man of the field, he was out there making money. Eisav would not settle for a mediocre paycheck. He certainly…

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ועיני לאה רכות

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5773

Leah’s eyes were tender. (29:17)

Rashi comments that Leah Imeinu’s eyes were tender due to her incessant weeping. She thought that,as she was the older sister; it would be her lot to fall into the hands of Eisav for the purpose of marriage. This was clearly a reason to cry. Tears play a significant role in our relationship with the Almighty, especially in the area of prayer; indeed, weeping is considered a form of supplication. In one of the most moving elegies of the Selichos prayers, we ask Hashem: Yehi ratzon, “May it be Your will, You who hear the sound of weeping, that You…

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וישכב במקום ההוא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Vayeitzei, 5773

And (he) lay down in that place. (28:11)

Rashi notes that ba’makom ha’hu, in that place, is an expression of exclusion, implying that it was only in that place that he lay down. During the fourteen years that he spent in the yeshivah of Eiver, however, he did not lay down at night, because he was occupied with the study of Torah. Previously, in Parashas Toldos, Rashi explained that when Yaakov Avinu left Be’er Sheva, he did not immediately go to Charan. He took a fourteen-year hiatus in the yeshiva of Eiver to study Torah. The Oztrovtzer, zl, wonders why Yaakov Avinu, who was sixty-three-years old when he…

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ויאסר יוסף מרכבתו ויעל לקראת ישראל אביו... וירא אליו ויפל על צואריו ויבך

Yosef hitched his chariot and went up to meet his father… He appeared before him, fell on his neck, and he wept on his neck. (46:29)

אל תירא מרדה מצרימה כי לגוי גדול אשימך שם

Do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make a great nation of you there. (46:3)

וימהר אברהם האהלה אל שרה...ואל הבקר רץ אברהם...ויתן אל הנער וימהר אתו

So Avraham hastened to the tent of Sarah…Then Avraham ran to the cattle…and he gave it to the youth who hurried to prepare it. (18:6, 7)

ויגש אברהם ויאמר האף תספה צדיק עם רשע

Avraham came forward and said, “Will you also stamp out the righteous along with the wicked?” (18:23)

כי ידעתיו למען אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו ושמרו דרך ה'

For I have loved him, because he commands his children and his household after him that they keep the way of Hashem. (18:19)

ויקחו את לוט ואת רכושו בן אחי אברם וילכו והוא יושב בסדם

And they captured Lot and his possessions – Avram’s nephew – and they left; for he was residing in Sodom. (14:12)

ויפגע במקום וילן שם... ויעקב הלך לדרכו ויפגעו בו מלאכי אלקים

And he (Yaakov) encountered the place and he stayed there. (28:11) – And Yaakov went on his way; and Angels of G-d encountered him. (32:2)

ועיני לאה רכות

Leah’s eyes were tender. (29:17)

ועיני לאה רכות

Leah’s eyes were tender. (29:17)

וישכב במקום ההוא

And (he) lay down in that place. (28:11)

YEARS

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