Rav Sternbuch 82 Parsha 11-27-09

An Unbroken Chain of Greatness How the Avos Guide our Destiny to this Day By Rav Moshe Shternbuch

The following was written by Rabbi Daniel Yaakov Travis based on a drasha given on leil Shabbos by Rav Moshe Shternbuch, Rosh Av Beis Din of the Eidah Hachareidis of Yerushalayim. •••••

IN THE MERIT OF AVROHOM “Yitzchok prayed to Hashem [for a child] together with his wife, for she was barren, and [Hashem answered] his prayer…” (Bereishis 25:21). “His prayer [was answered] and not her prayer, for Yitzchok was a tzaddik who was the son of a tzasdik, while Rivkah’s parents were rasha’im” (Rashi, Bereishis 25:21). Rivkah grew up in a house of rashaim and abandoned her family to marry Yitzchok Avinu. In this sense, she could be considered greater than Yitzchok, who was raised by Avrohom to be righteous from the day that he was born. So why does the Torah consider Yitzchok’s prayers more powerful? Why were his tefillos accepted over Rivkah’s? The answer is that Yitzchok did not ask Hashem to help him in his own merit. Rather, Yitzchok asked the Al-mighty to consider the merit of his father, Avrohom Avinu, as a reason to bless him and his wife with children. Granting children to Yitzchok would perpetuate the dynasty that his father had begun, and in essence would be an act of kindness for Avrohom himself. A person’s achievements in this world are linked to his parents. If they provided him with poor chinuch and that caused him to falter in this Torah observance, they will be held responsible. Conversely, if children grow up to be great tzaddikim, the parents receive reward for their children’s accomplishments. For this reason, every year the niftar is judged on the yahrtzeit regarding the actions of their offspring that year. Avrohom Avinu was extremely dear to Hashem, as the posuk calls him, “Avrohom, my beloved.” Because of the loving closeness of their relationship, it gave the Ribono Shel Olam great pleasure to do things for Avrohom’s benefit. For this reason, Yitzchok’s tefillos found favor in the Ribono Shel Olam’s eyes more than Rivkah’s.

IN THE MERIT OF YITZCHOK From a different perspective, we can understand that Yitzchok’s personal merit was actually greater than that of Rivkah. While Rivkah was a baalas teshuvah who grew up amongst resha’im, Yitzchok, who was brought up by tzaddikim, was also was a baal teshuvah. We can understand this based on the following story. Rav Sadya Gaon was once traveling and stopped to lodge at a roadside inn. The innkeeper had no idea who his distinguished guest was and treated him like a regular person. Eventually, word spread that Rav Sadya Gaon was staying at that inn and he was inundated by visitors. After the innkeeper realized his guest’s true identity, he begged Rav Sadya Gaon for forgiveness. Had he known who his guest was, the innkeeper would have treated him with the honor befitting a rov of his stature. Rav Sadya Gaon told the innkeeper that he had nothing to apologize for, and in fact thanked him for teaching him a valuable lesson regarding teshuvah. Rav Sadya had learned from this incident that we may act

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improperly due to a lack of recognition of someone’s true greatness, and that the same is true of our relationship with Hashem. For the rest of his life, Rav Sadya did teshuvah every day for his past failures to treat Hashem with the honor he now realized He deserved, based on his present recognition of Hashem’s greatness. In this sense, Yitzchok Avinu was also a baal teshuvah. He used every day of his life to strive for even greater levels of awareness of the Ribono Shel Olam’s greatness and was constantly doing teshuvah for his “lesser” mitzvos performed before he reached his current level. Since he was constantly improving and constantly repenting, Yitzchok was both the son of a tzaddik and a baal teshuvah simultaneously. Therefore, his tefillos were an-

and through. Yet, despite his evil nature, Eisav had complete faith in the Ribono Shel Olam, and his commitment to honoring his father was unparalleled. This is in contrast to the resha’im of our times who follow Amaleik and have absolutely no emunah in Hashem. Eisav, however, believed that the Ribono Shel Olam put us on this world to enjoy ourselves as much as possible. The most heinous crimes were justifiable if perpetrated in the pursuit of happiness. He did not see this as a contradiction to his service of Hashem.

EISAV’S BRACHOS Both Yitzchok and Rivkah were aware of Eisav’s and Yaakov’s natures, yet they had different opinions about how this should affect the giving of the brachos. Yitzchok felt that since Yaakov was completely spiritual, the material abundance conferred in brachos would harm him. He believed that Yaakov should be completely absorbed in spirituality and not be involved with worldly affairs

No matter what happens, we must act with complete integrity in all situations. swered over Rivkah’s.

IN THE MERIT OF YAAKOV Yaakov Avinu is considered the paradigm of integrity, as the posuk states, “Titein emes l’Yaakov - Truth is given over to Yaakov.” Even when he was compelled by Rivkah to take the brachos via deception, he clung to his innate honesty. When asked his identity, he would not say that he was Eisav. Rather, he replied, “It is I. Eisav is your firstborn.” Yitzchok asked his son how he had managed to find meat so quickly, and Yaakov replied that Hashem had sent it to him. The use of the Ribono Shel Olam’s name caused Yitzchok to doubt if this was really Eisav, and he touched him. After feeling that his son’s arms were in fact hairy, Yitzchok commented, “The voice is that of Yaakov, but his hands are those of Eisav.” Yaakov could have easily concealed his identity by omitting Hashem’s name from his words. However, as the pillar of emes in the world, Yaakov could not do anything that showed signs of dishonesty. To debase his truthful nature by leaving the Ribono Shel Olam’s name out of his answer went against the grain, and even if it meant taking the risk of being caught claiming the brachos, he was not willing to compromise on truthfulness. Yaakov’s actions guide his descendants for all generations. No matter what happens, we must act with complete integrity in all situations. Even if we have a great deal to lose, this is not a reason to act dishonestly.

ALL ABOUT EISAV Rashi writes that when the pregnant Rivkah passed by a bais medrash, she felt her baby kicking, and when she walked near a house of idol worship, her child also kicked. These reactions were a cause of great concern to Rivkah. She initially thought that she had a single infant in her womb who had strong tendencies to both good and evil. When Rivkah went to Sheim to ask for an explanation, he told her that she would give birth to two children; one would be drawn to tzidkus and the second would have tendencies towards evil. Rivkah was consoled slightly that at least she did not have a single son who was indecisive and could not make up his mind regarding the right path to follow in life. The most dangerous thing in this world is an inconsistent and volatile person, who at any moment can switch from being a tzaddik to acting like a rasha. In contrast to Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov, who constantly strived for greater levels of righteousness, Eisav was a rasha through

at all. Yaakov suffered tremendously in his lifetime during the various episodes with Eisav, Lavan, Yosef, Dina, Rochel and others. Eisav was meant to be a constant thorn in Yaakov’s side and this was hinted to at birth. All of these tribulations were meant to bring Yaakov closer to the World to Come. Yitzchok thought that Yaakov was meant to be lacking in this world, and that he had no need for his brachos. Hashem gave Rivkah prophetic insight to understand the situation otherwise. Even though Yaakov was destined to inherit the World to Come, he still needed the brachos during his sojourn in this world. But why did they have to come to him in such a round-

about manner? The way Yaakov received the brachos while pretending that he was Eisav set the tone for all future generations, when Klal Yisroel would reap benefit from these blessings without losing their portion in the next world. If we relate to all material wealth as if it really belongs to Eisav and we are merely using it to help us serve the Al-mighty, then we may take part of it. Any wealth we accumulate will help us to get to the World to Come. However, if we try amassing material wealth as an end unto itself, as if possessions are inherently valuable, then we will suffer greatly. When the non-Jews see us flaunting our wealth, it will stir up past memories of Yaakov’s encounter with Eisav. They will feel a seemingly irrational fear that we are once again trying to steal this world away from them. This will cause them to hate us and result in persecution for the Jewish people. Hashem gave us the brachos for sustenance in this world as a way to help us gain great reward in the next world. If we view our possessions as a means unto this end and let Eisav know that this world belongs to him, we will be successful in this world and the next. We should constantly be wary, lest we forget this fundamental principle and stir up Eisav’s anger against us. ••••• Rav Shternbuch’s shiurim on the parsha are being prepared to be published by Feldheim Publishers as a sefer. For information about dedication opportunities, ideas for the title of the sefer, or shailos for the rov, contact [email protected]. ••••• Rabbi Travis is a rosh kollel of Kollel Toras Chaim in Yerushalayim, and is the author of Shaylos U’Teshuvos Toras Chaim and “Praying With Joy - A Daily Tefilla Companion,” a practical daily guide to improving one’s prayers, available from Feldheim Publishers. For more information about his work, contact [email protected].

At the Shabbos Table with Rabbi Juravel By Rabbi Dovid Juravel Yaakov requested of Hashem, “Food to eat and clothes to wear” - the bear minimum and no luxuries. A talmid once said to his rebbi, “I wish I could be like that rich man. He gives tzedaka, learns Torah and he has money.” The rebbi responded, “But can you handle the tribulations of richness as well as he does?” The rebbi then related the following: A talmid of the Chofetz Chaim who learned all day in the bais medrash didn’t have enough food for his family. He asked the Chofetz Chaim for a bracha for his plans of going into business, and he promised that if he would succeed, he would give a lot of tzedaka. The Chofetz Chaim bentched him and he became successful. Years later, however, he met the Chofetz Chaim and cried, “I’m sick with miserliness; I cannot give tzedaka.” The Chofetz Chaim told him a moshol. A man asked a storekeeper for one ruble worth of flour. The storekeeper said, “There’s the flour. Fill your sack with as much as you want.” He filled the sack with one ruble worth. Since there was more room, he filled it more. The storekeeper said, “Five rubles, please.” “But I only wanted one ruble worth,” said the man. “Yes,” responded the storekeeper, “but the more you put in, the more you pay.” Likewise, we pay for richness with a

YATED NE’EMAN

yeitzer harah not to give tzedaka. The more the wealth, the greater the yeitzer harah. As for learning Torah, Chazal teach that instead of praying that Torah enter us, we should pray that delicacies not enter us, since this is the antithesis of Torah. For this reason, Rabbeinu Hakadosh, the richest person alive, said when he was about to die, “Hashem, you know that I did not derive pleasure from this world, even the smallest finger. The Netziv and the Rashash were once learning together and the Netziv answered a kasha that the Rashash couldn’t answer. The Rashash asked him why this was so and the Netziv replied, “Because you have luxuries. This takes away some of your concentration.” When Rav Yisroel Salanter’s wife bought a lottery ticket, Rav Yisroel wrote a document relinquishing all claim to money that his wife wins. He felt he couldn’t handle the trials of being rich. When the Chofetz Chaim dreamed that he became rich, he fasted, for the same reason. The rebbi concluded, “The rich man that you describe is a truly great man, but not everyone can be that way.” Let us not ask Hashem for a situation that we might not be able to handle. ••••• To have Rabbi Juravel speak at your function, call 646.320.3125. 10 Kislev 5770 • November 20 2009