Category Archives: Breishis

Chaya Sara 5782

Chayei Sara

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CONNECTED TO THE SOURCE

The Torah dedicates this week’s Parsha to the passing of our mother Sarah. Regarding the verse that states that Sarah died in Kiryas Arba, the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh, goes to great lengths explaining that Sarah dies only in the physical material world but her life continues uninterrupted. The basis of this notion is taught in the Talmud; “Tzadikim, even in their death, are considered alive, and the wicked, even in their life are considered dead.”

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Chaya Sara 5781

Chayei Sara

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THE BEAUTY OF AGING

Excerpted from a talk from Rabbi Ahron Lopiansky

The Midrash relates the following conversation between Avraham and HaShem. Av-raham turned to HaShem “You told me that I am most beautiful of all people and yet when I and my son enter the city nobody recognizes who is the father and who is the son and they therefore do not know to whom to give respect”, since Avraham and Yitzchok were identical. HaShem responded “With you, old age shall begin”. That night Avraham’s hair whitened.

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Chayei Sara 5780

Chayei Sara

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THOUGHTFUL ACTS OF KINDNESS

In this week’s Parsha, Chayei Sara, the Torah tells us the story of the search for a wife for Yitzchok in great detail. Our father Avraham sent his servant Eliezer to find a wife for Yitzchok. He instructed Eliezer to take a wife from his own family. He understood that this woman will be the mother of the Jewish nation and as such needed to have the Abrhamatic disposition of sensitivity to the needs of others. When Eliezer arrives at the city of Nachor he turns to HaShem with the request that HaShem guide him in finding the appropriate woman. He begins his prayer with the following introduction. “Blessed be HaShem Who has not discarded His chessed (loving kindness) and His emes (truth) from my master….”

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Chayei Sara 5779

Chayei Sara

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ODE TO THE JEWISH WOMAN

In this week’s Parsha, Chayei Sarah, the Torah tells us of our mother Sarah’s death. The name of the Parsha translates as “The Life of Sarah”. I wish to dedicate this issue of TableTalk to the life of Sarah Imeinu. In her role of being the first Jewish woman, she set the path upon which Jewish women walk and upon which they build their homes. Although there is much to say about Sarah’s life specifically, I would like to address the role of the Jewish woman in general.

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Vayeira 5781

Vayeira

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UNCALIBRATED COMPASSES

In this week’s Parsha HaShem brings total devastation to Sedom and its surrounding metropolis. The entire region becomes home to the Dead Sea. What was once a lush land is now totally dead. Even its water source turned into the Dead Sea. The prophet Yechezkel tells us that the sin for which Sedom was destroyed was that “Sedom was satisfied and comfortable and they did not support the hand of the needy.” While this attitude of not helping the needy is certainly not a nice attitude, how are we to understand it as the cause of such devastation?

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Vayeira 5781

Vayeira

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NEVER ALONE

In this week’s Parsha, Vayeira, we find our father Avraham praying to HaShem to reconsider His decision to destroy Sodom. Let us contemplate this request and discover how incredulous it was that Avraham should want Sodom to continue their existence.

The Mishna in Avos teaches us that Sodom’s State policy was “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours” The implication of this policy was that each man is on his own. Let no man turn to his neighbor for help and certainly do not offer help to your neighbor.

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Vayeira 5779

Vayeira

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WALKING HUMBLY

This week’s Parsha, Vayeira, continues with last week’s mission of drawing a picture of our father Avraham. Before launching into appreciating Avraham Avinu, I would like to dedicate this week’s Parsha thought to the memory of Reb Pinchos Marder whose memory is a blessing. Reb Pinchos was a person who resembled our father Avraham in the core of his personality.

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Lech lecha 5783

Lech l'cha

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WE ARE HERE TO GUARD HIS HONOR

The main character of our Parsha is our father, Avraham. He, together with Yitzchok and Yaakov, fathered our people. It is worth noting that in spite of Avraham’s incredulous legacy, he was not the greatest contributor to the Jewish people. It is true that he gave birth to Yitzchok, who, in turn, gave birth to Yaakov. However, consider Avraham’s brother, Haran, who had three children; Sarah, Milka, and Lot. While Avraham fathered Yitzchok, Haran also played a critical role in Yitzchok as Sarah was his daughter, so Yitzchok was his grandson. Yitzchok’s wife, Rivka, from whom he fathered Yaakov, was a great-granddaughter of Haran. This is because Rivka was born to Besueil, the son of Milka, the daughter of Haran. Yaakov then married Rochel and Leah, from whom he fathered the twelve tribes. Rochel and Leah were once again great great granddaughters of Haran as they were born to Lavan, a brother of Rivka and great-grandson of Haran. 

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Noach 5783

Noach

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THE TREE DOES NOT GROW FAR FROM THE SEED

Taken from Rav Hirsch on Chumash

All of humanity as we know it today began with Noach and his three sons. Many of the unique traits of the various societies find their roots in the development of the three sons of Noach. The Torah highlights the story of Noach’s becoming drunk and how his three sons reacted to his drunkenness. From their varying reactions we can see the seeds of the future nations and societies that sprouted from them. It is evident that the Torah is highlighting this sorrowful story to give us a direction on living our own lives.

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Lech l’cha 5782

Lech l'cha

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JUST LOOK AROUND, IT’S ALL THERE

In his introduction to the laws regarding idol worship the Rambam tells us how idol worship developed. Naturally, Adam knew HaShem as well as the first generation of Adam’s children. However, with eh subsequent generations people’s perspective on a dirty began to evolve. They initially said that if HaShem placed the sun and the stars in such a position of energy we must honor them. As the generations continued this erroneous notion continued to evolve until the people attributed the power of the sun to the sun itself. They naturally worshiped it because they wanted to curry favor with these deities. This perspective became widespread and with the exception of only a handful of individuals the entire world accepted this belief system.

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