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Rebecca Yoshor Accepting Rebuke

Dr. Shulamis Pollak Making Peace

Rabbi Eliezer Kessler Language of Prayer

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Editor Dvar Torah•Rebecca Yoshor•Grade 11

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n Parshat Vayechei, we learn about the death of a great tzadik, Yaakov Avinu.  The pasuk says that on his deathbed, Yaakov gave tochacha, rebuke, to three of his children, Reuven, Shimon, and Levi.  Yaakov rebuked Reuven for his actions as a teenager. After the death of Rachel, his most beloved wife, Yaakov moved his bed into his wife, Bilha’s tent instead of into

the tent of Leah, Reuven’s mother. Reuven was angered by this and took the initiative to move Yaakov’s bed into Leah’s tent. Yaakov remembered this on his deathbed and admonished Reuven for his actions of getting involved in matters that were not his business. Yaakov also chastised Shimon and Levi for their hastiness in killing the people of Shechem without consulting him first.  All three men accepted

Faculty Dvar Torah•Dr. Shulamis Pollak

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arshat Vayeichi paints for us the culmination of the family tree of our great forefathers and mothers. As the first book of the Torah comes to a close, we too receive closure on the family story that laid the foundation for the building of the Jewish nation. While on his deathbed, Yaakov blesses each of his twelve sons

with their own blessing according to their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, Yaakov blesses two of his grandchildren, Ephraim and Menashe as part of the tribal blessings. One cannot help but wonder why Yaakov felt the need to bless these two grandsons specifically and what message the Torah is transmitting by including their blessings? Furthermore, the mes-

the rebukes of their father and admitted that their actions had been wrong.  Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahami comment in a Midrash that the brothers’ acceptance of tochacha is the reason they, alone, merited to be listed in the lineage of Moshe and Aaron in Parshat Shemot, and the rest of the brothers are left out. The great reward the sons of Yaakov received for accepting tochacha confirms that acContinued on page 2

sage must be a strong one indeed, because it is exactly these two figures that our chachamim chose to construct the bracha for the weekly blessing that a parent gives to a son on Friday nights, “Yisimcha elokim k’Emphraim u k’Minashe,” May God establish you like Ephraim and Menashe. In order to understand the significance of this blessing, Continued on page 2

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Faculty Dvar Torah•Dr. Shulamis Pollak Continued from page 1

we need to take a step back and ref lect upon our national history and how Ephraim and Menashe fit into it. If we take an overview of Sefer Bereishit, one can summarize by saying that we witness God creating the world and then populating it with people who will follow in His ways. We are introduced to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov as they fight to pass their belief in God down from generation to generation, despite the conf licting familial personalities and struggles they encounter along the way. Each one then has a chosen child who is favored, and each one has at least one other child that literally, might be willing to kill, for that future. In the effort to give birth to Am Yisrael, our early history seems to be fraught with family discord, constant splintering, rejection, and attempts at rejection, of a part of our lineage. From this perspective it seems clear that

simply blessing these ensuing shevatim, even after their reconciliation with Yosef, would not suffice to ensure a positive and loving future for the family of Am Yisrael. It wasn’t until Yaakov blessed Ephraim and Menashe, the two children of Yosef, that we get to see a family that does not break apart. Yosef had two sons, both of whom followed in God’s ways. The Torah states clearly that Yaakov, following the theme of the earlier events, blessed the younger son with the brachot of the b’chor, but the outcome here was drastically different than ever before. Menashe, even upon witnessing his brother’s acquisition of his brachot, remained loving and peaceful and accepted his share of Yaakov’s blessing with an open heart. The relationship between Ephraim and Menashe and their reactions to Yaakov’s seemingly unfair action is what

merits these two people to be the prototype of person that we wish our children can grow to become. This is the kind of sibling relationship, family dynamic, and overall attitude toward life’s disappointments that will lead the Jewish people to success. This is the kind of open mindedness and acceptance that will allow us to survive despite the seeming unfairness that we will each most certainly encounter in life. This is the strength of character that each parent wishes for their child- that he will be able to accept what life throws at them and walk out with their heads held high. If we view Sefer Bereishit in this light and as a whole entity, we can now appreciate the journey that God takes us on in building up the Jewish nation in a way that can survive and even thrive in the challenges of nation building that lay ahead.

Editor Dvar Torah•Rebecca Yoshor•Grade 11 Continued from page 1

cepting our sins, though difficult, is well worth it.  The difficulties involved in accepting criticism and admitting our mistakes is highlighted also in a story regarding the Chafetz Chaim and one of his students in his yeshiva in Radin. The student had been caught smoking on Shabbos and was about to be expelled. The Chafetz Chaim heard what had happened and 2

demanded the boy be brought to him. The boy went to the home of the Chafetz Chaim; terrified of the anger he was surely going to face from the great tzadik. However, upon meeting the boy, the Chafetz Chaim did not scream or yell. Instead he took the boy’s hand in his own and crying, said the word “Shabbos” three times in a disappointed, painful tone. The sight of this great tzadik’s sor-

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row and the knowledge that the Rebbe’s pain was caused by his actions was a big rebuke for this boy. From that day on, he vowed to keep Shabbos, and he held true to this till his death. Accepting that we have sinned is very difficult, but we can look to the examples of people like this boy and the three sons of Yaakov and be inspired to do our best in admitting our mistakes and reform ourselves accordingly.

ever wonder why.. W

Do we have to pray in Hebrew? Rabbi Eliezer Kessler

hen we pray as Jews, do we have to pray in the Hebrew language or can we use a different language with which we are more fluent? This classic question is very relevant for those of us who may not be native Hebrew speakers or who may not have had a yeshiva background. To fully address this question we must first understand something of the nature of Jewish prayer and its history. In Judaism, prayer is understood as a great privilege as well as a daily obligation. It gives us an ability to forge a special relationship with God by which we can change not only our own destiny but also the destiny of all those around us. The first person to pray was Adam HaRishon, the first man. Our rabbis tell us that after he was created, Adam recognized the need for rain and then proceeded to pray for it. From that time on, until many generations later, each person would com-

pose his own prayers, speaking to God from the depths of his own heart as he felt the need. Finally, the Anshei Kenesset HaGedola, the rabbinical body that led Bnei Yisrael after the destruction of the first Beit Hamikdash, saw that the ability to effectively compose tefillot was being lost. At that time,

they took it upon themselves to use their prophetic vision and great wisdom to compose all the basic prayers that the Jewish people should say. With very little change, these are, in fact, the very tefillot that have come down to us today. The rabbis designed every word of the text of our tefillot to be effective on many different

levels from the simple meaning of the words to the deepest mystical implications imaginable. They used the language of Lashon Hakodesh to accomplish this. Lashon Hakodesh, literally “the holy language”, is colloquially known as Biblical Hebrew since it’s the language of the Torah and the language that God used to create the world. So if our tefillot have been written with such care in the original Hebrew so that each word has many layers of meaning how can we then say them in any other language? To answer this question we must first look at the Gemara in Masechta Sotah. The Gemara tells us that a person who prays with the tzibur or congregation may pray in any language he wants. However, one who prays by himself should not ask for his needs in Aramaic (which was the common spoken language of the time). The commentaries explain that when there is a minyan, God’s presence is in attendance and our tefillot are accepted readily by Him. However, when a person prays as an individual, his prayers need the help of the melachim which are the Continued on page 4



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Ever Wonder Why? Continued from page 3

Editors Chaya Miriam Nimchinsky Rachel Rolnick Rebecca Yoshor Faculty Editor Rabbi Eliezer Kessler Copy Editors Dr. David Jacobson Lisa Kellerman

Robert M. Beren Academy 11333 Cliffwood Drive Houston, Texas 77035 713∙723∙7170 www.berenacademy.org

heavenly angels to bring it inside the pargod, or heavenly curtain. The melachim, it is said, are “not attached to the language of Aramaic” and therefore will not bring that tefilla to God. The commentaries glean many important halachot from this Gemara. The first concerns the differences between Lashon Hakodesh, Aramaic and other languages. The rishonim offer three different ways of explaining the phrase “the angels are not attached to Aramaic” and from each we gain a different perspective on our problem. The first opinion is that of Rabbeinu Alfalsi, the Rif, who says that the Gemara cites Aramaic only as an example to illustrate that the angels do not understand any language other than Lashon Hakodesh. Subsequently, according to the Rif, the halacha would be that one should only pray in Lashon Hakodesh. The second opinion understands the Gemara to mean that while the angels understand all languages, they prefer Lashon Hakodesh. The third opinion is that of Rabbeinu Asher, the Rosh, who interprets the Gemara to mean that the angels find

Aramaic to be disgusting, but that they understand and will bring all other languages to God. The opinion that one accepts determines the language that he will use for prayer. Most halachic authorities agree that the halacha follows the Rosh and, therefore, an individual may pray in whichever language he wants, with the exception of Aramaic. However, in deference to the Rif, it is considered a mitzvah min hamuvchar, the choicest way to do the mitzvah, to pray in Lashon Hakodesh. The second set of halachot that are learned from this Gemara concern the differences between communal prayer and individual prayer. One of the great advantages of praying with a minyan is that God is in attendance and the petitioner’s prayer is readily accepted by God Himself. Indeed, we see this in practice regarding various tefillot that are in Aramaic, such as yekum porkan which we say on Shabbat. If one is praying by himself, this prayer is omitted. Similarly, since God’s presence rests next to the bed of a sick person, one can pray for that sick person in any language he wishes, even Aramaic. How should a person who does not have an understanding of Hebrew pray? That really depends on the temperament of the person. He could either recite the

prayers from a siddur that has a reliable translation or recite them in Hebrew. Our rabbis tell us that although prayer from the heart comes from a language one understands, there is a distinct advantage to praying in Lashon Hakodesh. Namely, that if one does not understand every word he is saying he, nevertheless, has still fulfilled his obligation and his tefilla will be accepted. Rav Moshe Feinstein cautions against one making up his own tefillot because they probably would not be able to include all of the components necessary in order to fulfill the Biblical obligation of tefilla. The Mishnah Berurah tells us that every person should make it his daily habit to ask for his needs at the end of his tefilla. He should pray for his livelihood and that his Torah learning not be forgotten. In the final analysis, prayer is the time to have a personal conversation with one’s Creator. If one cannot organize his thoughts in Hebrew then he should do so in whatever language he understands. Although our tefillot are always heard and desired, there are preferred ways to fulfill this great mitzvah that we have. Lashon Hakodesh remains the preferred language for Jewish prayer but no matter what language we use Hashem is always ready and able to hear our heartfelt supplications.