Chazzan Michael Simons Sheet - Parasha Chayei Sarah 5781

27 Marcheshvan 5781

Issue No: 467

‫זכור ושמור בדבור אחד נאמרו‬

[24:54]

‫פרשת חיי שרה‬ ‫ה׳תשפ׳׳א‬

‫ ַויּ ִָלינוּ‬... ‫וַיּ ֹאכְ לוּ וַיִּ ְשׁתּוּ‬

They ate and drank … and stayed over ‫י‬ On this possuk, Rashi remarks that “staying over” always implies a stay of a single night. It seems somewhat surprising, in that case, that Rashi did not make this very comment on the same verb, when it appeared on two occasions earlier in this chapter [pesukim 23 and 25]. Indeed, the question is even more pronounced in relation to when the expression first appears in Bereishis [19:2]. In his commentary on the Torah, the Maharil Diskin draws on the Medrash to explain Rashi’s methodology. The Medrash describes to us how Besuel, Rivka’s father, poisoned the food prepared for Eliezer, but while he was speaking an angel switched around the plates, foiling the plot and causing Besuel’s own death. It was only thereafter that Eliezer and his companions were prepared to eat and drink in Rivka’s home.

However, with such a brazen act weighing on his mind, could Eliezer really have slept soundly that night? Rather, he must have spent the night wide awake, with a weapon close at hand for protection. Thus, it seems that in this instance Rashi wishes to emphasise that the use of the verb means staying over but not necessarily sleeping. Support for this approach can be gleaned from a possuk in Shemos [23:18], which uses the same verb to refer to an inanimate object (where the concept of sleeping would not apply), in this case the fats of an offering. In all its earlier iterations in Bereishis, however, the verb actually implies sleeping. Thus, Rashi only chooses to comment at this juncture, because of the deliberate and specific connotation involved.

[25:8]

‫ַויֵּּאָ סֶ ף אֶ ל־עַ ָ ָּֽמיו‬

And [Avrohom] was gathered unto his people Our parshah records the end of Avrohom’s life and his burial in Me’oras Ha’Machpeiloh. The Gemoro in Maseches Bava Basra [91a] records a statement in the name of Rav, via Rav Chonon bar Rava, that on the day of Avrohom’s passing, all the great leaders of the world stood as if in a row of mourners and declaimed, oy lo le’olom she’ovad manhigo, oy lo la’sefino she’ovad kovrinta – woe to the world that has lost its leader; and woe to the ship that has lost its captain. Though the Biblical imperative against circumlocution does not directly apply in the context of the Gemoro, one can nevertheless query what the imagery of a ship and its captain specifically teaches us beyond that implicit in the first depiction of Avrohom as a world leader. The sefer Beis Yitzchok al HaTorah explains by first pointing out that parents should be viewed as the ‘captains’ of their families, so to speak, steering their children cautiously through the sea of life and supporting them in the struggle…page 2 We hope that these Divrei Torah, which are designed especially for use during the seudos, will ‫ בע״ה‬enhance your Shabbos and may they hasten refuos and yeshuos to all who need.

The Levush writes that on Shabbos we can attain higher levels of wisdom as it is a day especially designated for this purpose. Therefore, we should seek ways to increase the amount of Torah that we discuss on this holy day.

‫גוט שבת‬ ms

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[24:1]

… '‫וְאַ ְב ָרהָ ם ז ֵָּקן בָּ א בַּ יּ ִָמים וַד‬

‫בֵּּ ַרְך אֶ ת־אַ ְב ָרהָ ם בַּ ֹכּל‬ Then he (Eliezer) said, “I am a servant of Avrohom” Chazal point out that, whilst complex halochos (laws) relating to taharoh (spiritual purity) and its antithesis can be learned out from a single extra letter in a word, the Torah goes to considerable length in recording the detail of the conversation of Eliezer, faithful servant of Avrohom, with Rivka’s family. The implication is that a single word emitted from the mouth of someone who is only one of our forefathers’ domestic staff may carry greater significance than the Torah of their progeny.

In this specific instance what is the lesson that we should derive from the ample, precious ink employed to document the minutiae of this episode? In answer, Rav Aharon Kotler explains that even the most complex questions in halocho (Jewish law) are relatively straightforward compared to the sensitivity that must be employed for questions concerning bein odom lachaveiro (interpersonal relationships between ourselves and others). In essence, a chicken is either kosher or it is not. Yet, when it comes to dealing with other people, the governing dynamics are in a state of constant flux with umpteen factors to take into consideration. This is due to the fact that we are dealing with multifaceted human beings who have delicate feelings. Whilst a single letter can teach us that something is tomei (ritually impure), it takes rather more to teach us how to conduct ourselves in an array of situations.

Only by studying the stories of our ovos (forefathers) in their entirety, including those details that may superficially appear to be extraneous, can we acquire the knowledge that will lead us to develop the highest standards of behaviour towards each other.

‫עלינו לשבח לאדון הכל‬ The father of the Sheloh HaKodosh,as well as the Mishnah Beruro, posit the type of imagery that should make us concentrate with the utmost kavonnoh when reciting Oleinu. They describe how Hashem with His full entourage, as well as the entirety of heavenly beings, listen attentively when Oleinu is recited by Yidden, responding ashrei ho’om she’kocho lo – fortunate is the nation whose lot is thus. This tefiloh also has such unfathomable, intrinsic holiness that it has the power to destroy the external barriers that prevent our tefilos from soaring directly to the Kisei HaKovod.

Mimini Michoel

Continued from page 1

… to withstand the storms and setbacks that punctuate this hazardous journey. With this in mind, the picture is painted of Avrohom Ovinu, father of the Jewish People, as responsible for hundreds of thousands of ‘passengers’. On dry land, notes the Beis Yitzchok, a leader can at least in some respects be more readily replaced. The same cannot be said of the captain of a ship on the high seas, where the crisis engendered by the loss of a person in such a position is significantly magnified. Having contextualised this distinction, we can now reappraise the quote from Rav in the Gemoro. Though some of Avrohom Ovinu’s contemporaries simply mourned the passing of a powerful and influential military and, one might venture, civic leader, others viewed his demise from a different perspective. They recognised that the world stood mired in a grave spiritual crisis. Pagan belief and worship were still widespread and people living in that era had neither absorbed nor learnt any lessons from the mistakes of the dor ha’mabul (the generation of the Flood) or the dor haflogo (the generation of the dispersal after building the Tower of Bovel). In the turbulent seas of that epoch, only one captain had been capable of steering mankind along a safe and straight course. And now Avrohom was no more.

[How poignant is this message in a week when the Jewish and wider world has lost two outstanding Rabbinic leaders of our generation. Zechusom yogen oleinu.]