Lech Lecha – Page 4 – Peninim on the Torah

ירק את חניכיו ילידי ביתו

He armed his disciples who had been born in his house. (14:14)

A war was to be waged in order to rescue Lot. Avraham Avinu wasted no time in gathering his students and setting out to the battlefield. Obviously, the Torah has a reason for relating this piece of history. Certainly, it is not to teach us about Avraham’s physical prowess and his skill as a soldier and as a general. Indeed, the image of our Patriarch that is presented in this parshah is blurred. On the one hand, Chazal teach that Avraham took hold of a hammer and smashed his father’s idols. He followed this up by arming himself and going…

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ברך עלינו את השנה הזאת

Roberto Szerer In Lech Lecha, 5778

Bareich Aleinu es ha’shanah ha’zos.

The Zohar HaKadosh teaches that nitzotzos ha’kedushah, holy sparks, which contain the Divine Light, are imbedded all over the physical world within klipos, shells, of impurity. When one makes a brachah prior to food consumption, he releases these holy sparks which ultimately attach to him. If he does not make a blessing, or if the food lacks appropriate spiritual standards, the holiness disappears and the impurity of the klipos attach to the soul of the person who consumes this food. This ultimately causes him to wane in his service to Hashem, until he eventually completely turns his back on Hashem….

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ויאמר ד' אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5777

Hashem said to Avram, “Go for yourself from your land, from your relatives, and from your father’s home. (12:1)

Although the Torah relates the birth of Avraham Avinu at the end of Parashas Noach, we are introduced to the Patriarch in Parashas Lech Lecha. In Derech Hashem, the Maharal explains that originally the plan of Creation was that all human beings would share equally in fulfilling the Divine mission and that the Torah would be given to all mankind. Twenty generations of failure from Adam to Noach to Avraham precluded this reality from occurring. Thus, the title of Hashem’s Chosen People was given to the nation that earned it: Avraham, followed by his progeny. They would receive the Torah;…

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וילך למסעיו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5777

He proceeded on his journeys. (13:3)

L’masaav, on his journeys, implies that Avraham Avinu took a specific, planned itinerary. It was not a haphazard trip. Chazal teach that our Patriarch lodged in the same places that hosted him on his original trip to Egypt. Our sages derive a lesson in mentchlichkeit, human decency, proper etiquette, from this idea. One should stick to his usual lodgings. There is no reason, –nor is it appropriate – to switch from one’s customary lodgings unless he has suffered harassment and anguish there. Otherwise, he inadvertently gives the impression that he was displeased with his lodgings, which could cause a financial…

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ויהי ריב בין רעי מקנה אברם ובין רעי מקנה לוט ויאמר אברם אל לוט אל נא תהי מריבה ביני וביניך ובין רעי ובין רעיך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5777

And there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Avram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock… so Avram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen.” (13:7, 8)

Some people love to quarrel. It gives them something to do. Decent people, however, understand that strife is destructive, regardless of the motivation. If one is in a community, no matter the size, and a quarrel begins to ensue, he should distance himself from there as if from a contagious plague – because that is what quarrels lead to. At first, the Torah writes that a riv, quarrel, commenced between Avram’s herdsmen and those of Lot. When Avram spoke to Lot, he referred to the quarrel as a merivah. Why the change in spelling? The Shlah Hakadosh explains that this…

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והאמין בד' ויחשבה לו צדקה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5777

And he trusted in Hashem, and He reckoned with it to him as righteous. (15:6)

On a recent trip to an area, which was completely foreign to me, I was forced to rely totally on my GPS to guide me, literally every step of the way. I did not know when a turn was coming up, when I should just go straight. I was at the mercy of my GPS. As Jews, we, too, have a GPS system that guides us through life. It is called emunah, faith. Without emunah, we do not function; we are unable to function. It is our lodestar, our beacon of light, our guide which takes us by the hand…

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ויאמר ד' אל אברם לך לך מארצך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5776

Hashem said to Avram, “Go for yourself from your land. (12:1)

Chazal teach that, among the many practical issues that concerned Avraham Avinu regarding his departure from Charan, he also had a spiritual basis. In the previous parshah, the Torah records the death of Terach, father of Avraham – when, in fact, Terach died more than sixty years later. Chazal explain that Avraham was anxious about what people would say. His father was at a point in life that an able son would have been an advantage to him. For Avraham to abandon his father at this point in his life would open him up to public criticism, implying that he…

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לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5776

“Go for yourself from your land, the land of your birthplace, and from your father’s home, to the land that I will show you.” (12:1)

The Degel Machane Efraim teaches that the Torah is eternal and not limited to one specific period in time. Every Jew can discover a response to life’s challenges in the Torah. Thus, the words, Lech lecha me’artzecha u’mimoladetecha u’mibeis avicha, applies to each one of us. The Zohar Hakadosh addresses this issue and explains that the words, Lech lecha me’artzecha, are stated by Hashem speaking to the neshamah, soul, which is viewed as being an av, father, to the guf, body, of a person. “Avram” would then represent the av, soul, which descends from ram, on high, Heaven above. Hashem…

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ויקח אברם את שרי אשתו ואת לוט בן אחיו... ויצאו ללכת ארצה כנען

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5776

Avram took his wife Sarai and Lot, his brother’s son… and they left to go to the land of Canaan. (12:5)

Torah commentary is divided into four approaches. Each one delves progressively deeper into the esoteric background of a given situation, thereby lending the reader an unparalleled insight into the behind-the-scenes workings of occurrences which initially seem to mystify us. The fact that Avraham Avinu took his nephew, Lot, with him when he left for Canaan is one of those instances which baffle the reader. Lot was far from being a saint, which was evidenced later, when he chose to live in the plains of Sodom, despite the evil and corrupt nature of its inhabitants. Later on, when Lot separated from…

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אל תירא אברם אנכי מגן לך שכרך הרבה מאד

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Lech Lecha, 5776

Fear not Avram, I am a shield for you; your reward is very great. (15:1)

In his He’Emanti Va’Adabeira, Horav Moshe Toledano, Shlita, cites the Peninei Ben Ish Chai, who quotes the Aderest Eliyahu that Hashem is mavtiach, assures/guarantees those who observe Hashem’s mitzvos, with great reward, commensurate with their performance. Chazal teach (Kiddushin 39b) s’char b’hai alma leka, “There is no (payment of) reward in this world.” In other words, mitzvah performance is rewarded in Olam Habba, the World to Come. The commentators wonder how this reward is reconciled with the pasuk in the Torah, B’yomo titein s’charo, “On that day shall you pay his hire” (Devarim 24:15). A day-laborer must be paid each…

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ירק את חניכיו ילידי ביתו

He armed his disciples who had been born in his house. (14:14)

ברך עלינו את השנה הזאת

Bareich Aleinu es ha’shanah ha’zos.

ויאמר ד' אל אברם לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך

Hashem said to Avram, “Go for yourself from your land, from your relatives, and from your father’s home. (12:1)

וילך למסעיו

He proceeded on his journeys. (13:3)

ויהי ריב בין רעי מקנה אברם ובין רעי מקנה לוט ויאמר אברם אל לוט אל נא תהי מריבה ביני וביניך ובין רעי ובין רעיך

And there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Avram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock… so Avram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen.” (13:7, 8)

והאמין בד' ויחשבה לו צדקה

And he trusted in Hashem, and He reckoned with it to him as righteous. (15:6)

ויאמר ד' אל אברם לך לך מארצך

Hashem said to Avram, “Go for yourself from your land. (12:1)

לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך

“Go for yourself from your land, the land of your birthplace, and from your father’s home, to the land that I will show you.” (12:1)

ויקח אברם את שרי אשתו ואת לוט בן אחיו... ויצאו ללכת ארצה כנען

Avram took his wife Sarai and Lot, his brother’s son… and they left to go to the land of Canaan. (12:5)

אל תירא אברם אנכי מגן לך שכרך הרבה מאד

Fear not Avram, I am a shield for you; your reward is very great. (15:1)

YEARS

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