בס"ד
Parsha for the Table
Vol 2 Issue 6
Toldos
"The only thing we have to fear is NOT fear itself"
Yitzchak has just made potentially the biggest mistake in history. The ramifications of giving the keys to the universe to the wrong son are mind-boggling and irreversible. And Yitzchack is seized by an awesome terror, the true essence of fear (perek 27, pasuk 33).
Rashi teaches us an unforgettable lesson here. In pasuk 36, he quotes a midrash "Why was Yitzchak so terrified? He thought 'Maybe I did a sin that caused me to make this mistake'" I am not convinced that the fear was so much for the consequences as for the possibility thought he had done an aveira. But I am convinced that the basic understanding of the way Hashem set up the universe is undeniable. When something goes wrong, it MUST have sin as its root cause. Period. It's a good thing we have tshuva.
Have a great Shabbos,
Rabbi Bader
Friday, November 24, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
חיי שרה "The worst funeral pick-up lines"
בס"ד
Parsha for the Table
Vol 2 Issue 5
חיי שרה
"She was so beautiful, a hundred years ago."
100+20+7. That's how old Sara was when she died. Rashi notes that the pasuk doesn't say 127 straight, rather splitting each set, to teach us something. At 100 years old she was as free of sin as when she was 20; at 20 she was as beautiful as when she was 7.
Can someone please explain to me the praise of beautiful at 20?
1.I don't think telling someone she used to be pretty many years ago is such a compliment.
2.Physical beauty is comes from Hashem, and for the Torah (meaning Hashem) to praise her for it is highly suspect.
3.At the point of being eulogized, Sara is already in the world of truth, her true self is totally separated from the clothing of her body, and it is forever clear that her totality does not include anything physical.
Let's look at the Rashi again. She was without sin from 20 to 100. And at 20 she was beautiful. Connect the dots. Despite the fact that she was the best-looking woman of her generation (top four ever), and had the greatest men of her generation (Pharoh, Og, Avimelech) falling all over themselves to marry her; she lived her entire life without sin . Without even the sin ga'ava over her beauty.
What practical lessons can we learn from that?
Parsha for the Table
Vol 2 Issue 5
חיי שרה
"She was so beautiful, a hundred years ago."
100+20+7. That's how old Sara was when she died. Rashi notes that the pasuk doesn't say 127 straight, rather splitting each set, to teach us something. At 100 years old she was as free of sin as when she was 20; at 20 she was as beautiful as when she was 7.
Can someone please explain to me the praise of beautiful at 20?
1.I don't think telling someone she used to be pretty many years ago is such a compliment.
2.Physical beauty is comes from Hashem, and for the Torah (meaning Hashem) to praise her for it is highly suspect.
3.At the point of being eulogized, Sara is already in the world of truth, her true self is totally separated from the clothing of her body, and it is forever clear that her totality does not include anything physical.
Let's look at the Rashi again. She was without sin from 20 to 100. And at 20 she was beautiful. Connect the dots. Despite the fact that she was the best-looking woman of her generation (top four ever), and had the greatest men of her generation (Pharoh, Og, Avimelech) falling all over themselves to marry her; she lived her entire life without sin . Without even the sin ga'ava over her beauty.
What practical lessons can we learn from that?
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