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Rashi quotes the Midrash that, for each and every amirah, communication, Hashem sent another angel to speak with Hagar. There is a dispute among Chazal as to the number, whether there were four or five angels. What is the reason that a new angel was required for every pronouncement? Horav Chaim Zaitchik, zl, explains that a malach, angel, is an omeid, static, does not experience spiritual elevation. He is what he is and remains on that level. Unlike a human being, an angel cannot grow spiritually. His spiritual plateau has a limited parameter to which he adheres. His mission is…

Hashem’s command to Avraham Avinu, instructing him to leave his present surroundings is “stretched” out a bit. The Torah emphasizes the various phases of his departure: his land, his birthplace, his father’s home. The Mizrachi suggests that the purpose in this emphasis was that the Patriarch would digest all that he was abandoning. It was not just his land; it was also his birthplace, and his father’s home. Uhr Casdim meant a lot to Avraham. To leave was to forsake a major part of his past. He had a history in Uhr Casdim. The purpose of this detail was to…

Two Avos, Patriarchs, left their homeland – Avraham Avinu and Yaakov Avinu. The Torah uses “different” vernacular in describing their respective departures. Avraham is to lech lecha, leave, go, while concerning Yaakov, the Torah writes, va’yeitzei, “And he (Yaakov) went out.” Rashi comments that when a tzaddik, righteous person, leaves a place, it makes an impression. He impacts the city’s beauty, glory and luster. Why does the Torah choose to make Yaakov’s departure impactive, while Avraham’s departure seems more like an escape, as if no one really cared? The Chasam Sofer, zl, distinguishes between the communities that hosted Avraham and…