This Dvar Torah Is Dedicated
By Mendy and Ita Klein
In honor of Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz, for the continued inspiration you provide for us all
In honor of Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz, for the continued inspiration you provide for us all
To Dedicate a Dvar Torah Click Here
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This week's parsha, Vayaytzei, begins, "And Yaakov went out of Be'er Shava, and he went to Charan."
The Midrash tells us that he left "Be'er Sheva, meaning, Be'era shel shavua, the well of the oath," in order that Avimelech (king of the Philistines) won't be able to ask him to take the same oath his parents took, and cause his children's joy to wait 7 generations.
Both Avraham and Yitzchak made peace agreements with Avimelech, in the form of an oath. The Midrash tells us that the consequence of those oaths, was that the Jewish people's entry into the land of Israel was pushed off for 7 generations. Avraham's oath pushed it off until the generation of Moshe, and Yitzchak's oath added another generation, until Yehoshua, who conquered the land, and was the 7th generation from Yitzchak.
It seems that Avraham and Yitzchak weren't afraid to take an oath and make a peace agreement with Avimelech, even though it would push off the entry into the land. We see no effort on their part to avoid Avimelech like Yaakov did. Why was only Yaakov afraid to take an oath of peace with Avimelech?
On the other hand, if our forefathers knew that taking this oath would push off the entry into the land by 7 generations, why weren't Avraham and Yitzchak weary of taking it?
In order to understand this, we need to take a look at the difference between the style of service to Hashem of Avraham and Yitzchak as opposed to that of Yaakov.
Our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, service to Hashem was on the highest level possible, they were like a chariot to Hashem. Just as a chariot has no will of its own, and only goes where its driver wants it to go, same was with our forefathers, they were so in sync with Hashem, that their will was totally His, and they did what He wanted automatically. But there were differences in the way they effected the world around them.
Avraham and Yitzchak's approach to the bad and evil around them, was to avoid it, or to arrange that it wouldn't bother them, so they could serve Hashem in peace. That is why they made a treaty with Avimelech.
When you make a peace agreement with another, it doesn't change who they are or what they stand for. All it does, is put temporarily halt to negative actions against each other. In other words, for the time being, I won't bother you, and you won't bother me. But Avimelech remained the same immoral Philistine that he always was. Because of this style of service, Avraham and Yitzchak didn't change the nations they lived in, the Cannanites remained the same immoral Cannanites, and the Hittites remained the same immoral Hittites. True, they didn't bother Avraham and Yitzchak, and they even respected them, but they weren't changed. Because of this style of service, Avraham was able to have a Yishmael and Yitzchak was able to have an Esav, they didn't have the influence to change them to good, because their way was to negate bad and evil, and not to transform it to good.
Yaakov, on the other hand, worked on transforming the bad around him into good, he didn't make peace with it, he refined it until it was good on its own. That is why he couldn't make peace with Avimelech, because that would ensure that he wouldn't change. And that is why all of his children followed in his footsteps, because he would have that effect and influence on them, as his way was to transform everything to good.
This is why he left the Holy Land to go to Charan, the lowest of places, as Rashi tells us, that it was "charon af shel Makom, the place that angered Hashem." Because he wanted to refine it, and he did over the 20 years that he was there.
So why weren't Avraham and Yitzchak weary of making peace with Avimelech, if it was going to push off the entry into the land of Israel by seven generations?
It wasn't that the oath they took itself pushed off the entry into the land. Rather, as long as the bad remained, it pushed off the entry. Being that their mode of service didn't transform the bad into good anyway, it didn't matter if they took the oath or not, it would have still pushed off the entry into the land by 7 generations.
It is Yaakov's mode of service that made us who we are, we are even called by his name, the Children of Israel (Yaakov's other name was Yisrael, Israel), because it his mode of service that we are meant to follow. Our purpose is to make this lowly world into a dwelling place for Hashem, and we do this by refining ourselves and the world around us, through Torah and mitzvahs, and by using everything in our life in the service of Hashem.
Hashem has put us in the darkest place and the darkest time, the last moments of the exile. This is the ultimate Charan, the lowest of the low, and we have the power to transform it. When the lowest is transformed into good, into a dwelling for Hashem, our work will be complete, and Moshiach will come.
May our efforts in refining the world through Torah and mitzvahs be fruitful, and put an end to the suffering and pain of this dark and bitter exile once and for all. The time has come.
The Midrash tells us that he left "Be'er Sheva, meaning, Be'era shel shavua, the well of the oath," in order that Avimelech (king of the Philistines) won't be able to ask him to take the same oath his parents took, and cause his children's joy to wait 7 generations.
Both Avraham and Yitzchak made peace agreements with Avimelech, in the form of an oath. The Midrash tells us that the consequence of those oaths, was that the Jewish people's entry into the land of Israel was pushed off for 7 generations. Avraham's oath pushed it off until the generation of Moshe, and Yitzchak's oath added another generation, until Yehoshua, who conquered the land, and was the 7th generation from Yitzchak.
It seems that Avraham and Yitzchak weren't afraid to take an oath and make a peace agreement with Avimelech, even though it would push off the entry into the land. We see no effort on their part to avoid Avimelech like Yaakov did. Why was only Yaakov afraid to take an oath of peace with Avimelech?
On the other hand, if our forefathers knew that taking this oath would push off the entry into the land by 7 generations, why weren't Avraham and Yitzchak weary of taking it?
In order to understand this, we need to take a look at the difference between the style of service to Hashem of Avraham and Yitzchak as opposed to that of Yaakov.
Our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, service to Hashem was on the highest level possible, they were like a chariot to Hashem. Just as a chariot has no will of its own, and only goes where its driver wants it to go, same was with our forefathers, they were so in sync with Hashem, that their will was totally His, and they did what He wanted automatically. But there were differences in the way they effected the world around them.
Avraham and Yitzchak's approach to the bad and evil around them, was to avoid it, or to arrange that it wouldn't bother them, so they could serve Hashem in peace. That is why they made a treaty with Avimelech.
When you make a peace agreement with another, it doesn't change who they are or what they stand for. All it does, is put temporarily halt to negative actions against each other. In other words, for the time being, I won't bother you, and you won't bother me. But Avimelech remained the same immoral Philistine that he always was. Because of this style of service, Avraham and Yitzchak didn't change the nations they lived in, the Cannanites remained the same immoral Cannanites, and the Hittites remained the same immoral Hittites. True, they didn't bother Avraham and Yitzchak, and they even respected them, but they weren't changed. Because of this style of service, Avraham was able to have a Yishmael and Yitzchak was able to have an Esav, they didn't have the influence to change them to good, because their way was to negate bad and evil, and not to transform it to good.
Yaakov, on the other hand, worked on transforming the bad around him into good, he didn't make peace with it, he refined it until it was good on its own. That is why he couldn't make peace with Avimelech, because that would ensure that he wouldn't change. And that is why all of his children followed in his footsteps, because he would have that effect and influence on them, as his way was to transform everything to good.
This is why he left the Holy Land to go to Charan, the lowest of places, as Rashi tells us, that it was "charon af shel Makom, the place that angered Hashem." Because he wanted to refine it, and he did over the 20 years that he was there.
So why weren't Avraham and Yitzchak weary of making peace with Avimelech, if it was going to push off the entry into the land of Israel by seven generations?
It wasn't that the oath they took itself pushed off the entry into the land. Rather, as long as the bad remained, it pushed off the entry. Being that their mode of service didn't transform the bad into good anyway, it didn't matter if they took the oath or not, it would have still pushed off the entry into the land by 7 generations.
It is Yaakov's mode of service that made us who we are, we are even called by his name, the Children of Israel (Yaakov's other name was Yisrael, Israel), because it his mode of service that we are meant to follow. Our purpose is to make this lowly world into a dwelling place for Hashem, and we do this by refining ourselves and the world around us, through Torah and mitzvahs, and by using everything in our life in the service of Hashem.
Hashem has put us in the darkest place and the darkest time, the last moments of the exile. This is the ultimate Charan, the lowest of the low, and we have the power to transform it. When the lowest is transformed into good, into a dwelling for Hashem, our work will be complete, and Moshiach will come.
May our efforts in refining the world through Torah and mitzvahs be fruitful, and put an end to the suffering and pain of this dark and bitter exile once and for all. The time has come.
Thanks you for your wisdom!
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