Parashas Bereishis

Become A Mitzvah Billionaire!

 

“Hashem said [to Kayin], What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.” (Bereishis 4:10)

Rabbeinu Bachya offers a parable about two businessmen. One of them sold an item for ten times the amount that he paid for it. He bought the item for $10 and sold it for $100. He made a profit of $90. The other businessman only sold his merchandise for twice what he paid for it. However, he had much more merchandise. He paid $5,000 for all his merchandise and sold it for $10,000.  His profit was $5,000. Although the percentage of his profit was less than that of the first businessman, he profited more because he had more merchandise. (Chovos Halevavos Shaar Avodas Hashem Perek 6)

 

The first man, Adam, had two sons, Kayin and Hevel. Kayin and Hevel both offered sacrifices to Hashem. Kayin’s sacrifice was from inferior quality produce whereas Hevel’s was from among his choicest animals. Hashem accepted Hevel’s sacrifice but did not accept Kayin’s sacrifice. Since Kayin’s sacrifice was not accepted by Hashem, Kayin became jealous of and angry at his brother. According to some commentaries, that was the reason why Kayin killed Hevel. 

 

Hashem called out to Kayin, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.”  (Bereishis 4:10). The word used for “your brother’s blood” is in plural, “דְמֵי אָחִיךָ”. Why? Rashi gives two explanations that are recorded in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 37A). The first is that Kayin inflicted many wounds on Hevel, not knowing which blow would prove to be fatal. The second explanation which Onkelos also says is that it referred to Hevel’s blood and the blood of his future descendants. Kayin’s act of murder was even worse than imagined. He was responsible for all of Hevel’s descendants who would never be born. Talmud (Sanhedrin 37A) says that in cases of capital law, if one testifies falsely, the blood of the accused and the blood of his offspring that he did not merit to produce are attributed to the witness’s testimony for eternity!

Talmud Yerushalmi (Sanhedrin 4:9) says that anybody who destroys a single life is counted as if he destroyed an entire world! On the other hand, anybody who preserves a single life is counted as if he preserved an entire world! Rabbi Zelig Pliskin (Love Thy Neighbor) quotes the Chofetx Chaim z”l who says that if one is punished for the negative effects of his actions on future generations then certainly, he will be rewarded for the positive effects. One who teaches Torah to others and influences them to fulfill the mitzvos, is also credited with the Torah learning and mitzvos of all that man’s future generations.

Rabbi Pliskin also quotes Rabbeinu Bachya (Chovos Halevavos Shaar Avodas Hashem Perek 6) that the merits of one who teaches a Jew who is not knowledgeable of his heritage or one who influences others to repent is even greater than one who has achieved spiritual perfection in his own service to Hashem! The reason is that when a person influences others to do mitzvos and come closer to Hashem, all their merits [and I assume the merits of all their descendants] will also be added to his own merits. Rabbeinu Bachya’s parable recorded above illustrates that if someone improves himself AND others, his merits are much greater than the person who simply improves himself!

 

Since October 7^th, many Jews have accepted upon themselves to do certain mitzvos.

Now is an opportune time when Jews are more receptive to learning about and doing mitzvos.

 

Most of us probably know of at least one Jew who is ignorant of the beauty of Judaism. It may be a neighbor, someone we do business with, or a co-worker.  Maybe now is a good time to invite them for a Shabbos meal, to our Chanukah lighting, to a Purim seudah, …. Maybe we can show them a short, inspirational Torah video or gently teach them about a particular mitzvah.

Our actions will make Hashem very happy. Doing so will also increase our own merits quantitatively!!

Let us all strive to become mitzvah billionaires!

 

Parshas Bereishis

Eretz Yisroel Belongs To Us!

 

“In the beginning Hashem created the heavens and the earth.” (Bereishis 1:1)

In Netzivin, just north of Eretz Yisroel was a great yeshiva headed by the tanna, Rabbi Yehudah ben Besaira. Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua and Rabbi Yochanan Hasandler were two sages who lived in Eretz Yisroel. They decided to travel to Netzivim to learn Torah from Rabbi Yehudah ben Besaira, who had been alive when the Bais HaMikdash was still standing. They traveled for many days until they arrived in Tziddon. They turned back to see Eretz Yisroel, once again, for they did not know when they would return. They began to cry and tore their clothes in sorrow for having to leave Eretz Yisroel. They thought of a pasuk in the Torah and said, “Dwelling in Eretz Yisrael is over and against all the mitzvoth in the Torah”. At that point, they decided not to continue to Netzivin but to return home and continue learning in Eretz Yisroel. (Sifri Re’eh 80:5)

Rashi, quoting a Midrash, asks, why did the Torah begin, with the story of Creation? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to start by listing the first mitzvah that the Jewish People were given, namely “This month shall be unto you the first of the months” (Exodus 12:2)? The Midrash answers that Hashem wanted to give the Jewish People the answer to future protests which would be raised by the other nations. Other nations may call us robbers for forcefully taking Eretz Yisroel (the Land of Israel) from the Canaanite nations. The Jews would be able to answer, “All the earth belongs to Hashem. Hashem created it and gave it to whom He pleased… He took it from them and gave it to us.”

It is interesting to note that many commentaries question this Midrash. Rav Ovadia miBartanura, Chizkuni, and others ask, how could we possibly be accused of being robbers? Firstly, the land initially belonged to the children of Shem, from whom the Jews are descended. Canaan conquered it from them (see Rashi Bereishis 12:6). If anything, the Caananites should be considered the “robbers”. Also, Noach made Canaan a servant of Shem. The Talmud tells us that whatever belongs to the slave automatically belongs to his master. Thus, even if the land did “seem to belong” to Canaan, it really belonged to his master, Shem. The commentaries answer these questions.

So, the Torah began in a way that legitimizes the Jews’ ownership of the Land of Israel. What did that accomplish? That has NOT stopped the nations from protesting that we have no legitimate claim to it.

We can understand this based on Rabbi Mordechai Gifter zt”l’s explanation of a Mishna in Pirkei Avos. “Rabbi Elazar said, …and know how to answer an apikores (Avos 2-14). Rav Ovadia miBartenura says that an apikores is one who disgraces the Torah. Rabbeinu Yona says that an apikores is one who denies the validity of the oral Torah. Rabbi Mordechai Gifter zt”l says that the knowledge of what to answer the apikores is NOT for the purpose of explaining it to the apikores. Rather it is for our own understanding. We must be educated sufficiently so as not to be influenced by the corrosive arguments and ridicule of the apikores. We must remain strong in our beliefs, without feeling any bit of doubt about our legitimacy of having Eretz Yisroel.

 Thus, the Torah first tells us that Hashem is the Creator and that He gave us Eretz Yisroel. It was not so that we can respond to others that we are not stealing the land. Rather, it is for our own edification and knowledge. We should feel secure in our belief that Eretz Yisroel belongs to us. This is also alluded to in Tehillim (111:6), “He told His people of the power of His deeds in order to give them the heritage of nations”. Radak explains that before the Jews conquered the 7 powerful nations of Caanan, Hashem made it known that His strength and might would “help” them. Rashi connects this pasuk to the first pasuk in Bereishis. “He wrote for Israel [about] the Creation to let them know that the earth is His and that it is in His power to settle in it anyone He wishes, and to move these out and settle others, so that the nations will not be able to say to Israel, ‘You are thieves, for you conquered the land of the seven nations.’”

Rabbi Gifter zt”l points out that the pasuk says that Hashem told His People of the power of His deeds. Hashem did not tell the other nations, whose land was taken and given to the Jews. 

Eretz Yisroel is our heritage, given to us by Hashem, Himself, the Owner of the world!
We should not feel otherwise.
We should not permit anyone to make us feel that we stole the land from others.

(dvar Torah based on Talelei Oros by Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rubin)

Parshas Bereshis

The Reason For It All!

“In the beginning Hashem created the heavens and the earth.” Bereishis (1:1)

Silas Hardoon (1851-1931) was a business tycoon. In 1927 He built the Beth Aharon Synagogue in Shanghai, China, in memory of his father, Aharon. The story goes that Silas Hardoon’s father appeared to him in a dream and asked him to build a shul. Silas did not build the shul in the center of town, but far away from the reasonable and accessible location for the public. The shul had two hundred and fifty-two seats, a huge kitchen and dining hall. The shul was unused and remained empty for years.

 

The Mirrer yeshiva left Europe, as a group, escaping the Nazis and the Russian communists. They traveled through different countries, until they eventually reached Shanghai, China. They needed a building to house the yeshiva. They ended-up using the Beth Aharon Synagogue. The Synagogue was used for the very first time, fourteen years after its completion. Its kitchen and dining hall were exactly large enough to accommodate all the students. The number of seats in the synagogue numbered 252, the EXACT NUMBER OF STUDENTS and Rabbis of the Mirrer yeshiva. Coincidence?? (Silas’s Folly: The Beth Aharon Synagogue in Shanghai and How it Saved the Mirrer Yeshiva by Vera Schwarcz. Operation Torah Rescue by Yecheskel Leitner)

 

The Talmud (Avodas Zara 2A -2B) states that in the future, Hashem will bring a Torah scroll and say, “Anyone who engaged in its study should come and take his reward”. Immediately, all the nations of the world will come before Hashem to collect their reward. The Roman Empire, the most important of all the nations, will come first. Hashem will ask them what they were involved with. They will respond that they established many marketplaces, built many bathhouses, and accumulated much silver and gold. They will say that they did all of this only for the sake of the Jewish people, so that they would be free to engage in Torah study. One example that Rashi explains is that the Jews would have the convenience of being able to purchase all their needs in the marketplaces. Thus, they would have more time to learn Torah.  Hashem will respond to the Romans, “Fools! Are you attempting to deceive Me? Everything that you did, you did for your own needs.” … The Roman Empire will leave, and the Persian Empire, the second most important empire, will come before Hashem. They will tell Hashem that they built many bridges, conquered many cities, and fought many wars. And they did all of that only for the sake of the Jewish people, so that they would engage in Torah study. Hashem will send the away, also telling them that everything that they did was for themselves and not for the benefit of the Jewish People. Hashem will have a similar exchange with the rest of the nations of the world.

 

Rav Yitzchak Zev Halevi Soloveitchik zt”l (Chidushei Maran Riz HaLevi) asks, how the nations of the world could have the chutzpah to tell Hashem that all their accomplishments were for the goal of making it easier for the Jews to learn Torah? How could they tell Hashem an obvious lie, knowing that Hashem knows the truth? Hashem knows that their intent was NOT to help the Jews learn Torah!

Rav Yitzchak Zev Halevi Soloveitchik zt”l gives an amazing answer. Rashi (Bereishis 1:1) says that the world was created for the sake of the Torah and for the sake of the Jewish people. Similarly, Rav Yitzchak Zev Halevi Soloveitchik zt”l says that everything that is done in the world, including every invention and innovation, from the time of Creation to the end of time, has one purpose. The purpose of everything is to make it easier for Jews to learn Torah!! Currently, we don’t comprehend how everything done is for our sake. In the future, it will become known. 

Now we can understand why the nations of the world lined-up to receive their reward from Hashem for helping the Jews learn Torah. At the end of days, it will be clear to all that everything that happened in the world was to help the Jews learn Torah. The nations were Not lying to Hashem. Their claim of all that they did was to help make it easier for the Jews to learn Torah is the truth! The nations will say that all their actions benefited the Jews learning Torah and they should be rewarded for that. Hashem’s response to them will be: “Fools!” Your intentions in all that you did were totally selfish. You did everything for yourselves and not for the Jews. Your actions which benefitted the Jews were guided by Hashem. Therefore, you will receive no reward for them.

Even though Mankind has free will, Hashem guides that everything that occurs. NOTHING HAPPENS IN THE WORLD for any other purpose.

Fourteen years after Silas Hardoon built a synagogue, it became clear that his actions, orchestrated by Hashem, were for the benefit of Jews learning Torah!

 

When a train was built from Peterberg, Russia to Berlin, Germany, Rav Chaim Brisk zt”l (Rabbi Yitzchak Zev’s father) said that the purpose of its construction was to enable yeshiva students to easily reach the most important and prestigious yeshiva in Volozhin. Rabbi Chaim Brisk explained that this was so because everything that is done in this world is for the Torah and those who learn it. (Yalkut lekech Tov by Yaakov Yisroel Beifus)

Everything that occurs in the world is for the benefit of Jews learning Torah!

The Torah is so special, it is the raison d’etre, the purpose of our existence.

We are so privileged that Hashem granted us this very special gift!