Video Study for Parasha Lech Lecha : Go out for yourself...

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Shalom JTF readers,

This week we read the central story about the birth and life of the great forefathers of the Jewish nation. Abram was told by Hashem to leave his fathers home and to go out for himself to the land of Caanan (The Holy Land). It was a challenge for Abram to leave everything he knew, but he knew he had to because he believed Hashem, believed that Hashem had absolute providence over the entire universe. Abram was despised by the people of his community because he was a monotheist, while the people of his country believed in idolatry. Abrams father was himself the maker of idols.

Lech Lecha contains man very interesting stories about Abram, the greatness of our father and his love of kindness and of Hashem.

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/3161/jewish/Lech-Lecha-in-a-Nutshell.htm

G‑d speaks to Abram, commanding him, “Go from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you.” There, G‑d says, he will be made into a great nation. Abram and his wife, Sarai, accompanied by his nephew Lot, journey to the land of Canaan, where Abram builds an altar and continues to spread the message of a one G‑d.

A famine forces the first Jew to depart for Egypt, where beautiful Sarai is taken to Pharaoh’s palace; Abram escapes death because they present themselves as brother and sister. A plague prevents the Egyptian king from touching her, and convinces him to return her to Abram and to compensate the brother-revealed-as-husband with gold, silver and cattle.

Back in the land of Canaan, Lot separates from Abram and settles in the evil city of Sodom, where he falls captive when the mighty armies of Chedorlaomer and his three allies conquer the five cities of the Sodom Valley. Abram sets out with a small band to rescue his nephew, defeats the four kings, and is blessed by Malki-Zedek the king of Salem (Jerusalem).

G‑d seals the Covenant Between the Parts with Abram, in which the exile and persecution (galut) of the people of Israel is foretold, and the Holy Land is bequeathed to them as their eternal heritage.

Still childless ten years after their arrival in the Land, Sarai tells Abram to marry her maidservant Hagar. Hagar conceives, becomes insolent toward her mistress, and then flees when Sarai treats her harshly; an angel convinces her to return, and tells her that her son will father a populous nation. Ishmael is born in Abram’s eighty-sixth year.

Thirteen years later, G‑d changes Abram’s name to Abraham (“father of multitudes”), and Sarai’s to Sarah (“princess”), and promises that a son will be born to them; from this child, whom they should call Isaac (“will laugh”), will stem the great nation with which G‑d will establish His special bond. Abraham is commanded to circumcise himself and his descendants as a “sign of the covenant between Me and you.” Abraham immediately complies, circumcising himself and all the males of his household.

Let us start with Rabbi Finkelsteins latest post on the portion:

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Ok, some longer ones now....

Rabbi Fishbain talks about Lech Lecha:



Rabbi Chaim Shwab from TorahAnyTime just posted this video recently (although it was recorded in 2011)...



And a really long one from Rabbi Shlomo Katz (student of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach):



That song is a couple of lines from Aleinu...

Ein Ode Milvado (There is no other)
Efes Tzolato (Nothing else compares)

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Lech Lecha
Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann

Reaching for Perfection

"Go before me, and you will be perfect." (17:1)

Perfection. At its best, it is an elusive goal, driving its pursuer to ever greater heights. At its worst, perfection can become an obsession; an unobtainable target that forever escapes those convinced they can attain it.

What is the Jewish outlook on perfection? In this week's sidrah, Lech Lecha, we read (17:1): "When Avram was ninety-nine years old, Hashem appeared to Avram and said to him, 'I am E-l Shadd-ai; go before Me, and you will be perfect.'" To achieve perfection, it seems, all we have to do is 'go before Hashem.'

How does one "go before Hashem?" The holy Mezritcher Maggid zt"l (Likkutei Torah) explains this as follows: If one is aware and truly believes that Hashem surrounds him and is with him at every moment and in every situation, then he has achieved true perfection. Even if he lapses momentarily in his faith, this person's acute awareness of the pervasive presence of Hashem in his life will invariably lift his spirits, preventing him from falling. Contrary to secular thought, which sees perfection as the control of as many components of life and nature as humanly possible, our concept of perfection is one of genuine awareness *that we are not in control,* and the complete faith that we are never alone, constantly surrounded by the Presence of Hashem Who "fills all worlds and surrounds all worlds."

A misnaged (opponent of the chassidic movement) once encountered an old friend who had already been swayed by the teachings of the Ba'al Shem Tov, and had become a disciple of one of the great chassidic leaders of the time. "Tell me," asked the misnaged, "what is so great about your rebbe?"

"My rebbe is so spiritually elevated," said the chassid, "that his mind probes the very thoughts of his disciples."

"You want me to believe that?" - "Sure, try it out, I'll tell what you're thinking."

"Now this," said the misnaged, "I've got to see. Okay, I'm thinking something - now you tell me what I'm thinking."

"You're thinking," said the chassid, "that the Almighty surrounds and permeates all worlds. That His awesome presence is the pervasive force in your life, and that His loving hand never stops guiding you."

"Ha! I got you -- I wasn't thinking anything of the sort!"

"Well if that's the case," said the chassid, "then you certainly need my rebbe! He will teach you how crucial it is for a Jew to constantly have such thoughts!"

The Maggid quotes a verse from Tehillim (32:10): "He who trusts in Hashem, kindness surrounds him." Upon this verse, Chazal, our Sages comment (Yalkut loc. cit.), "Even a wicked person who trusts in Hashem is surrounded by kindness."

In parshas Va-eschanan, there is a pasuk (verse) that beautifully articulates this concept: "You have been shown in order to know that Hashem, He is G-d; Ein Od Milvado - there is nothing else (other than Him)! (Devarim 4:35)." In his commentary to this verse, Rashi explains that at Mattan Torah, Hashem split open the seven Heavens and the lower realms, and every Jew clearly saw that Hashem is the only Force in the universe. Although the Heavens afterward closed, and the earth returned to its natural order, that revelation left an indelible imprint on the soul of every Jew. It is what makes it feasible for us to see through the workings of nature and its seemingly independent forces, and realize that ultimately, "Ein Od Milvado - there is nothing else other than Him."

The Gemara (Chullin 7b) quotes the statement of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa, that the words "Ein Od Milvado" exclude even the powers of keshafim - sorcery. Once, the Gemara relates, a sorceress tried to take some earth from under Rabbi Chanina's feet, in order to cast a spell over him. "Go ahead," said Rabbi Chanina, "it will do you no good - for it is written, Ein Od Milvado!"

Rabbi Chaim Volozhiner (Nefesh HaChaim 3:12) explains that Rabbi Chanina was not relying on a miracle to save him. Rather, Rabbi Chanina, "had firmly established in his heart the emunah [belief] that there is no other force in the universe other than the will of Hashem. He was so connected in his mind to the Master of all forces that it was clear to him that nothing else has any control or existence at all. With this conviction, he was confident that the forces of sorcery could have no influence over him - unless Hashem so desired." When he declared, "Ein Od Milvado," he was emphasizing the clarity of his perfect faith.

As they say, nobody's perfect. From time to time, we all fail. Perhaps, though, we would be well served to realize that while attaining material perfection is an impossible goal, perfect faith is within our reach. The more we allow the awareness of Hashem to permeate our lives and our thoughts, the closer we come to perfection.

Have a good Shabbos.

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One more before I go for myself to bed...

[Ephraim Ben Noach]

Ok, some longer ones now....




Rabbi Chaim Shwab from TorahAnyTime just posted this video recently (although it was recorded in 2011)...




That song is a couple of lines from Aleinu...

Ein Ode Milvado (There is no other)
Efes Tzolato (Nothing else compares)

Wow! That was really interesting!

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Shalom Ephraim,

Yes indeed Rabbi Shwab often has very interesting things to say. He wrote a book on the secrets of the Torah...

Here are a lot of his older lectures on TorahAnyTime...
http://legacy.torahanytime.com/Rabbi/Yosef_Chaim_Schwab/


Here is another Rabbi Shafier short talk on Lech Lecha:

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Here is the musical, animated, G-dcast presentation. It is about our Mother Sarah....  Sarah is the mother of all Jewish converts, so much so that a convert is often referred to as a Ben (Son) or Bat (Daughter) of Sarah.

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I remember that video from last year (when I posted it).

There were a couple of issues I had with some of the material though. Although in totality the video is quite authentic (to the Torah and kabbalah narrative).

My first question is who is the baby they are walking with down to Egypt? They had no child at that time. Yitzak was not born till the next portion. It cannot be Ishmael either because the child is holding hands with Abraham and Sarah with no Hagar (Ishmaels birth mother) in sight.

My second disagreement with the presentation is when they portray Sarah as looking old. I believe that the Midrashim and the sages have explained that Sarah did not age at all. Sarah was barren, but she had the looks of a young woman...

Rashis comment on the portion 'Life of Sarah' when she dies:

And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years: The reason that the word “years” was written after every digit is to tell you that every digit is to be expounded upon individually: when she was one hundred years old, she was like a twenty-year-old regarding sin. Just as a twenty-year-old has not sinned, because she is not liable to punishment, so too when she was one hundred years old, she was without sin. And when she was twenty, she was like a seven-year-old as regards to beauty. — from Gen. Rabbah 58:1]

Rav Soloveitchik said that Chazal are trying to tell us that regardless of how old Sarah was at any point in her life, Sarah had within her the attributes of a seven year old (purity and innocence), the attributes of a twenty year old (vitality and idealism) and the attributes of a 100 year old (wisdom and experience).

http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5771/chayeisarah.html

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Rabbi Ginsburg talks about the secrets of the portion of Lech Lecha...

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Rabbi Svirsky in Jerusalem compares the story of the Tower of Babel to the story of our father Abraham...

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I may have posted some of these before... If you have already seen them, watch them again... It couldn't hurt...

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Rabbi Svirsky, once again, on Hashems promise of the land to our father Abraham.

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A short one, and a long one, all in one post...

Here is a short Shmuz with Rabbi Shafier.



And a long one by Rabbi Trugman...