Parshas Chayei Sarah

This week's Torah portion features the strange story of how a wife was found for the second of the three 'Fathers of Judaism; Isaac (Yitzchak) by Abraham's servant Eliezer.

Most other religions don't make much noise about marriage. Usually their founders were single, their priests don't marry and except for continuing the race, marriage hasn't much value.

But in Judaism marriage is so important that it is called "Kidushim' i.e. 'sactification' and not only were all its founders married but their wives were almost as important they themselves. Not only that but G-d's relation to the Jews is called Marriage and in mysticism G-d is called the 'groom' and the Jews His 'bride'.

So it doesn't seem to make sense why, in this weeks story, Abraham sent his non-Jewish servant to prepare this awesome union and didn't do it himself? Even more why did she have to be searched for at all?! Why didn't G-d just send the bride Himself in a miraculous way? That's a lot more Biblical

To understand this here is a story I heard just last week that happened recently.

Rabbi Yaakov (Pseudonym) was in prison in New York. When I heard this story everyone else in the room knew who he was and why he was there, but I didn't ask.

The main thing is that he was a Religious Jew in prison and the seven day holiday of Passover was approaching.

Passover is probably the worst time of the year for such a person to be in jail. First of all because it is the "Holiday of Freedom" commemorating the date the Jews were FREED from Egyptian imprisonment. And secondly because, besides the prohibition of eating bread or anything vaguely similar (i.e. beer), there are also six 'Holiday' meals (four on the first two days and two on the last), that require wine and Matzot; two commodities not usually found in a non-Jewish prison

But it seems that there was a young man from Chabad who visited the prisoners regularly and when he saw Rav Yaakov he went into action. He arranged that R.Yaakov's family supply him with; a large box of Matzot, a few bottles of wine (or perhaps it was grape juice) and a seven-day special Kosher-for-Passover food supply, all made according to the strictest Jewish qualifications, and got permission from the prison on the grounds that it was a special one-week diet.

The Matzot and wine were a small ray of light to R. Yaakov and as the saying goes, a little light can dispel much darkness. The miracle of having Matzot and wine encouraged Rav Yaakov to make is own little, personal, 'Exodus'.

Suddenly he had an idea; he would remove his mind from all the unhappy things around him and see only good. He could start from the Matzot and wine! Maybe his body was still in prison but his mind and soul certainly weren't! So he tried it …… and….. it worked! An amazing thing happened. As soon as he thought one good thing it dawned on him that he had more and more to be thankful about. First; he was alive, second; he was healthy. He had eyes, ears, teeth, lungs… suddenly the whole world was a symphony of G-d's kindness! It was all a miracle. He was free!

But two days later his balloon burst…. Almost!

Early in the morning a stern looking woman; the assistant warden, followed by two burly guards appeared before the bars of his cell door and one of them yelled out his name. She motioned to one of the guards who opened the door and they all entered. Then, she unceremoniously pointed to Rabbi Yaakov's box of Matzot and his few bottles of grape juice on the table. The guards mechanically picked them up, and she declared, "These are religious items and are not allowed in the prison without special permission." And they began to leave.

"But I got permission" Yaakov protested.

"Not for religious items" she replied dryly. "You received permission for food. But this is not food. It is religious! Fill out the papers and maybe in a few weeks we will look at it."

"Weeks?!" whined the Rabbi, "The holiday's over in a few days. Listen, please just let me have them just five more days!"

But his pleas fell on deaf ears. "Fill out the request form!" She barked as they left his cell and slammed the bars behind them.

"Well" he thought to himself, "at least I got to celebrate the first two nights properly."

But as the last day approached he began to get depressed again. Why couldn't she just have left those boxes?! He needed the Matzot and wine for the two holiday meals. He felt tired. Very tired. He sat on his bed, immersed in negative thoughts and dozed off. Behold… a dream!

He dreamt that the Lubavitcher Rebbe entered his cell and asked him why he was sad and reminded him that it is forbidden to be sad on a holiday. And he answered, 'I'm miserable because I'm in prison, it's Passover and I don't even have Matza and wine for the last day's meal."

"If that's why you are sad then don't worry" the Rebbe told him, "Soon you'll have those things."

Reb Yaakov awoke and realized it was just a dream; a very real dream but, after all, only a dream.

Two hours later, just one hour before sunset when the holiday would enter, the warden lady again appeared before his door, this time alone, knocked on the bars, entered and handed him his box of Matzot and one of the bottles of his wine that she had taken.

"Well, thank you!" Reb Yaakov said. "Hey! My request must have gotten answered in record time. Thanks! If you had anything to do with this then, thanks!"

"It wasn't because of any request," She said, "Just please do me a favor and don't tell anyone I took your Passover food or that I brought it back. Let's just forget the whole thing happened, okay?"

"Sure" Said Yaakov, "But I'm curious. Why did you bring these things back?"

"Why I brought them back?" She repeated his question, looking at him as though considering whether to answer or not. Finally she said. "Maybe two or three hours ago I fell asleep in my office and suddenly I had a dream. An old Rabbi with a white beard came to me and asked me why I don't give you back your Passover food. So I answered that Prison Rules don't allow it and second, I don't even know where they are anymore.

"So this Rabbi says. 'You didn't have to take away the food, so no one will know if you return it. And, if you go down to the next floor, there are three refrigerators in room 316, in the one on the right is a unopened bottle of his wine. Then go down another floor to the storeroom. On a shelf in back etc. etc. is a box of his Matzot. Both have his name written on it.'

"Then I woke up! At first I thought it was just a dream and I wouldn't pay attention but when out of curiosity I went to those places and, sure enough there were your things with your name on them, well I freaked out.

"I went to the chief warden, told him the whole story and asked if I could return your things. He told me that he didn't know I took it and he doesn't know I'm returning it. So here it is!"

Reb Yaakov saw a revealed miracle. But even more, his curiosity had been aroused, who was that Rabbi that appeared to the warden? So the next time he saw him he asked the young man from Chabad to bring a book with pictures of 'Tzadikim' (Holy Jews) so that perhaps the warden could identify the one that appeared in her dream.

She looked at the pictures, turning from page to page and occasionally pausing to examine one of the holy faces until she finally announced "Ah! Here! It was him."

Sure enough, it was a picture of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

This answers our question:

The reason Abraham sent his servant to find his son's future bride and didn't go himself or ask G-d to make miracles was because he was beginning a new religion; Judaism. And the purpose of Judaism would be to reveal G-d 'down' in this physical world.

In fact that is why Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were called the 'Fathers' of Judaism, because their every thought, word and even deed, every instant of their lives was dedicated only to this purpose (Tanya Chap.23).

Just as in our story the prison, the warden and even dreams became vehicles for truth.

So, for the same reason that marriage is so important in Judaism; namely that it uses THIS PHYSICAL WORLD to serve the Creator, so too Abraham used his gentile servant and did not rely on miracles to find his son's future bride.

Because the purpose of Judaism is to reveal the Creator in EVERY ASPECT of His creation and that is exactly what Abraham was doing; using nature to reveal that everything is really above nature.

This will only be revealed fully with the arrival of Moshiach.

The Moshiach will be a Jew something like Moses and King David who will make the world a 'vessel' to Abraham's goal and to the blessings that G-d promised him: To be the "Father of ALL NATIONS" (16:5) and a "Blessing to the entire world".(22:18)

But it all depends on us now. We must use the world and everything in it for the same goal as Abraham did. One more good deed, word or even thought can bring…

Moshiach NOW!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
RYYH
ULYOP
In a Rush to bring Moshiach

Class of 1966

I don't have any names Yet. Thanks to Mr. Goller.
RYYH
ULYOP
In a Rush to bring Moshiach

Class of '72

Dovid Azizo, Shaya Berkowitz, Moshe Shabsi Cohen, Eli Gielman, Yisroel Z. Goldshmid, Efraim Grynsztajn, Moshe C. Korenblit, Mordechai Krasnjanski, Shlomo Kugel, Moshe Kupfer, Ronald Moore, Avrohom Moskovits, Mendel Raksin, Mendy Rosenfeld, Yossie Simpson, Joseph
mordechai Schwarzman, Yakov Ehrman, Mark Zahler
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In a Rush to bring Moshiach

Class of '71

Morris (Moshe) Azizo, Betzalel Blumenkhel, Yakov Blumenfeld, Mendel Duchman, Arthur Fried, Irwin Garfinkel, Israel Goldstien, Ephraim Gottlieb, Noochie Gross, Aron Hecht, Yitzchok Hecht, Yoel Hecht, Robert Hadjadj, Bruce Jacobs, Leon Konigsberg, Stven Lustig, Yechezkel Posner, Aron Raskin, Larry Rosinski, Yosef Schanowitz, Nachman Sanowicz, Hyman Wieder, Shimon BBTZ Weiss, David Wise, Yossie Zajac, Moshe Zweig, David Grynsztajn, Chaim Lazarovich
RYYH
ULYOP
In a Rush to bring Moshiach

Test

Test
RYYH
ULYOP
In a Rush to bring Moshiach

Parshas Vayera

This week's Torah portion begins with Abraham, the founder of the Jewish religion, sitting in the entrance of his tent waiting for guests. Abraham was definitely not a normal person and here is a prime example. At the time of this scene he was ninety nine years old, had just circumcised himself and was sitting in blistering hot, desert weather!

Torah means "Teaching" it is supposed to 'teach' us how to live a more meaningful life but here seems to be an exception.

What made this great Patriarch look for guests under such terrible conditions? Could this be telling us to endanger our lives as Abraham did in order to find a guest for our dinner table? What could be so special about guests? And what does this have to do with Judaism?

To understand this here is a story I recently heard from Rabbi Yisroel Brod here in Kfar Chabad.

The story centers on a thirty year old, non-observant Jew who we will call Joe. Joe had been orphaned at the age of five. His mother had been sick for a year or so before her passing and it's not clear what happened to his father but in any case, at five years old he was alone and bitter.

He was angry at his mother for leaving him; all the other kids had parents but him. He knew it didn't really make sense to hold a grudge, after all it wasn't her fault, but he did and it consumed him.

The years passed. Joe became totally estranged from Judaism; his mother had been religious so it was a sort of revenge.

One day he got an idea. He would go to the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

It's not so clear where he got this idea from or what his motivation was but he remembered that his mother mentioned this Rabbi a few times so he went. Perhaps he wanted to make trouble, perhaps he was just curious, perhaps bored but whatever the reason he made up his mind to visit the Rebbe's headquarters.

He had heard that the Rebbe only received guests at night and only once or twice a week. Figuring he had nothing to lose, one night he took a taxi to the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn to 770 Eastern Parkway and entered.

It was after midnight but the place was well lit, busy and lively just as at midday. Bearded young men with friendly faces were walking about, others were vociferously learning Torah in a room off to the side, once in a while someone rushed by him in a hurry. A young man approached him, shook his hand and asked him if he could help and when Joe answered 'The Lubavitcher Rebbe' the young man pointed to a small hallway where a line of several people stood silently and nervously before a large closed mahogany door.

"They are waiting for Yechidut" the young man said. "The Rebbe is in there" and he pointed to the door "and they're waiting to talk to him alone. Some have been waiting for months for this meeting."

Joe went to the line, examined it for a few minutes from a distance and made his move. He went to the first man in line, tapped him on the shoulder and whispered. "S'cuse me. I have something really urgent. Really urgent! But I have to catch a plane. Please, it's really important and it will only take a minute, maybe less. Can I go in front of you?"

The man hesitated for a few seconds, looked Joe in the eyes, shrugged his shoulders, quietly said "Nu, Urgent? Nu, what can I say?" and let Joe get in front of him.

At that moment one of the Rebbe's secretaries, Rabbi Groner, entered the hall, noticed what was happening; that Joe was not there with permission, and he rushed to remove him.

But at that moment the Rebbe's door opened, someone came backing out, eyes red possibly from weeping, and Joe entered.

Rabbi Groner ran after him to pull him out but the Rebbe just made a sign to leave the intruder alone and Rabbi Groner had no choice but to retreat and close the door.

Joe sat in the chair next to the Rebbe's desk and said nothing. He just stared at the Rebbe, perhaps in defiance, perhaps in curiosity, and was silent. His plan was to make the Rebbe talk first.

The Rebbe looked at him for a few seconds and said with a European accent. "I know you."

Joe just pointed to himself, shrugged his shoulders, raised his palms upward, shook his head and said, "Me? No, not me!"

The Rebbe continued, "I received a letter some years ago."

"Not from me!" He replied.

"About you."

About me?" Joe said incredulously. "Who would write a letter to you about ME?"

The Rebbe stood, pulled a letter out of a cabinet, sat back down and put it on the table. "Your mother."

Joe was shocked, he could see from afar that it was an old handwritten letter. Could it be from his mother?

"She wrote me twenty five years ago saying she was about to die and requested that I should pray for you. Here, you can read it."

The Rebbe turned the letter to Joe but kept his hand on it so Joe could not pick it up.

Joe read the letter. It was as the Rebbe said! His mother didn't just leave him! His insides were turning around, his head was spinning. He had been wrong all these years! She really did try her best to provide for him! Tears filled his eyes but he couldn't cry, the inner turmoil was too much and too sudden.

"Rebbe!" He begged "can I have this letter? Please, it is from my mother!" But the Rebbe pulled the letter back and said.

"I can give you a copy but the letter was written to me and it stays with me."

"But it's my mother!" Joe said with a broken heart not understanding why the Rebbe wouldn't just give it to him! It was his mother!! "Why not?" He whispered like a child.

The Rebbe answered "Every year, just before Yom Kippur I gather all the pupils in my Yeshiva; several hundred young men, and I bless them."

"So?" Joe interrupted.

The Rebbe continued "Before I bless them....I read that letter."

This answers our questions.

Abraham was the first Jew, the first of the 'chosen' people. That is why he was so 'fanatical' about guests.

Because the 'job' Abraham was chosen by G-d to do was to inform every human being of G-d's love; that G-d creates, enlivens, protects, encourages, provides for and CARES about each person. Indeed, every human is unique, precious, beloved and created in the 'image' of G-d (Pirke Avot 3:14).

That is why the Torah tells us that Abraham looked for guests immediately after his painful circumcision.

Because this circumcision was the 'covenant' that transformed him into 'The spiritual Father of the entire world" (See Rashi on 17:5): In other words to teach all mankind as a father teaches his son by being a living EXAMPLE; a living example of G-d's unconditional love for each person.

This is what the Rebbe was teaching Joe; the letter was not as important as the LOVE that caused the letter to be written. And it was Joe's job to embody that love; to love others like his mother loved him. As the Rebbe did.

But this was only begun by Abraham. The culmination will be by Moshiach.

The Moshiach will bring all the Jews back to the Torah and teach all mankind how to be partners with the Creator through observing His Seven Noahide Commandments. Then the true love of G-d to each of us will be in every heart. But it's up to us to make it happen.

Just one more good, loving thought, word or deed can tip the scale and bring…..

Moshiach NOW!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
RYYH
ULYOP
In a Rush to bring Moshiach