Parshas Toldos - Eisav's Fables

Parshas Toldos

Eisav's Fables

By: Daniel Listhaus

“And Yaakov boiled a stew, and Eisav came in from the field, and he was exhausted. Eisav said to Yaakov, 'Pour into me, now, some of that very red stuff for I am exhausted.'...Yaakov said, 'Sell as this day, your birthright to me.' And Eisav said, 'Look I am going to die, so what use to me is a birthright?' Yaakov said, 'Swear to me as this day'; he swore to him and sold his birthright to Yaakov. Yaakov gave Eisav bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, got up and left; and Eisav belittled the birthright.”

-Toldos 25:30-34

The Kli Yakar¹ brings from the Gemara² that Eisav transgressed on five major transgressions on the day related in the above passukim. He had immoral relations, murdered, denied Hashem's existence, denied the concept of techiyas ha'meisim (revival of the dead), and belittled the bechorah (birthright). This is alluded to the by the sequence of words in the passuk: “He ate, drank, got up, left, and belittled the birthright.”³ As a matter of fact, this is why Hashem caused Avraham to die five years earlier than he should have, in order that he should not have to see his grandson, Eisav, depart for evil ways.⁴

There are a couple of parts of this story which are difficult to comprehend. Imagine the scenario. Eisav comes storming into the house after a long day of transgressions, and demands of Yaakov to pour some of the “very red stuff” that Yaakov was boiling on the stove. Was this a new recipe in the house of Yitzchak? Did Eisav not know what lentil stew was? Why is it that he addressed the food as “red stuff”, and not by its proper name?

Additionally, Eisav's response to the situation seems quite unusual. He said to Yaakov, “Look, I am going to die, so what use to me is the birthright?” Let us assume for a moment that Eisav knew what getting the bechorah meant. This is a safe assumption because if it is not true, then Eisav should have been able to claim on Yaakov that the sale was a mekach ta'os (mistaken sale) and that all the facts were not on the table. Such a claim would dictate that everything go back to the way it was, with Eisav in possession of the bechorah. Anyway, what was the meaning of Eisav's response? This argument seems so generic with no specific relevance to the bechorah. Yet, certainly Eisav did not walk around saying, “Look, I am going to die, so what use to me is eating, drinking, fighting, or having fun”. Eisav lived his life with exactly the opposite mentality. He spent his time doing whatever he wanted. He certainly did not give off the impression of someone who feared death. So what did Eisav mean in his response to Yaakov?

Let us take a step back for a moment and review what the bechorah package-deal included. The Torah⁵ tells us that a bechor gets a double portion of the father's estate. In addition to this, before cheit haeigel, the bechorim were the ones who were supposed to do the avodah in the Mishkan and Beis Hamikdash. Above all of this, it also seems that having the bechorah was a necessary thing to have in order to be fitting of receiving the bracha of Yitzchak, later in the parsha⁶. This was something which Eisav made clear he was interested in. What convinced Eisav to give this all up?⁷

The S'forno⁸ writes that when Eisav came home and asked for the “red stuff”, Yaakov took the opportunity to rebuke his brother. He told Eisav, “Look at you! You are so focused on your work that you are totally exhausted. You do not even recognize the food, and instead refer to it as “red stuff”! There is no doubt in my mind that you will not have the ability to serve Hashem in the proper way that is demanded of a bechor.”

Rashi⁹ writes that when Eisav came and said, “I am going to die, so of what use to me is a birthright”, he was really responding to Yaakov. Yaakov told Eisav that being a bechor meant doing avodah in the Beis Hamikdash for Hashem. Some parts of the avodah are so strict and serious that making a mistake could cost one his life. To this, Eisav responded to Yaakov that since he would die anyway, there was no point in him keeping the bechorah.

What exactly was going on here? What was it that Yaakov said that persuaded Eisav to give over the bechor? This is Eisav we are talking about. He was a risk-taker, living life on the edge. Why was he any more nervous about messing up in the Beis Hamikdash than Yaakov should be?

The best way to understand all of this is to first realize who Yaakov and Eisav were. The Torah and Rashi¹⁰ describe that starting from when they were in Rivka's womb, they had quite different perspectives on life. Whenever Rivka would pass the Beis HaMedrash of Shem and Aver, Yaakov would toss around; whenever Rivka would pass a place of idol worship, Eisav would start tossing around. As they grew up, the Torah details the interests of the twin teenagers. Rashi¹¹ elaborates that Eisav's two hobbies were spending time in the field and deceiving his father. Eisav liked to indulge in mundane matters and transgress on the word of Hashem in order to gain physical pleasures. He was someone who lived life only to feed the unquenchable desires of his guf (body). Anything that did not translate into instant gratification for Eisav, he had no interest in. When the choice came before him to take a bowl of lentil soup or the privilege of serving Hashem, it was an open-and-shut case. It was so obvious to Eisav to take the thing which would benefit him now in a physical way to which he could relate.

Yaakov, on the other hand, is described as a wholesome man who spent time studying Torah and becoming closer to Hashem. Yaakov was totally focused in avodas Hashem. When Yaakov saw the type of person that his brother was, he realized that Eisav was not fitting for the bechorah. As Yaakov told him, it is impossible to be so involved in your guf and also appreciate kedusha and spirituality. This is very logical. After all, even if a person would utilize all one-hundred percent of one's potential ability to focus, one still only has the capacity of one-hundred percent focus. It is impossible to be engrossed in two things to capacity at the same time. By definition, once one begins to even start thinking about something else, the completeness of concentration is broken. One could focus on multiple items equally, but not all to the capacity possible if one only had to concentrate on one.

When it comes to avodas Hashem, there is no room for fracturing one's attention and dividing it amongst multiple things. One who wants to serve Hashem properly must be totally engrossed in recognizing and carrying out ratzon Hashem. Sometimes, ratzon Hashem indeed demands getting physical pleasures. We eat, drink, sleep, and thank Hashem for the various pleasures from which we benefit. However, the focus must completely be on Hashem. This is the only way that life could be lived in the correct way.

This is precisely what Yaakov was telling Eisav. Yaakov said, “Look at you! You spend your days totally engrossed in your 'work' deriving physical pleasures. Your attention is too divided, how can you expect to carry out the responsibilities of the bechor?” Being a bechor means serving Hashem; and serving Hashem requires unadulterated concentration.

Along with this difference between Yaakov and Eisav, comes another. We live in an olam hasheker – a fake world designed to hide Hashem's presence. Someone who immerses himself in the physical pleasures of this world is, simultaneously, plunging himself into sheker (falsehood). The chitzoniyos are meorer our penimiyos. The things we do have an effect on who we become in a very real way. It is now wonder then that Eisav was a master in deceiving. When the Torah describes Eisav as someone who knows trapping, Rashi¹² comments that he knew how to trap and ensnare people with his mouth. He would ask his father, Yitzchak, insincere questions to make it sound that he was constantly thinking about the intricacies of halacha. Eisav was someone who was so steeped in sheker that it became a part of him – Eisav was a manifestation of sheker in the way he acted, spoke, and thought.

Yaakov avinu, though, is described by Rashi¹³ in a very different way, “As is his heart, so is his mouth”. Yaakov was someone who was real. There were no discrepancies or variances between who he was and who he showed to be. He was not someone who put on a show for others, nor was he a person who lived life for himself. Rather, Yaakov avinu engrossed himself in avodas Hashem at full capacity. This is why he was fit to receive the bechorah and this is why he is associated with emes (truth and reality).¹⁴

There are many levels that exist on the spectrum between being an Eisav – living a life of sheker and concentrating on physical pleasures, and being a Yaakov – living a life of emes with total and complete focus on avodas Hashem. In the world of instant gratification that we live in, there is no doubt that it is becoming increasingly more challenging to be a Yaakov. We have so many distractions which occupy such a large portion of our heads. Even the once-in-a-while that we could get ourselves focused on something, we expect immediate results, or else we are in desperate need of a commercial break.

There is no question that such a mentality diminishes our ability to focus on the real way to live life. It is not just hard for us to serve Hashem properly when we are so self-centered and unable to focus, it is impossible!

With this comprehension, we could now perhaps understand a difficult passuk in the beginning of the parsha. While Yaakov and Eisav were fighting in Rivka's womb, Rivka was pained and wanted to know what was happening. Hashem told her, “Two nations are in your womb...and one regime shall become strong from the other regime.”¹⁵ Rashi¹⁶ explains this cryptic passuk as follows, “They shall not be equal in greatness. When this one rises, this one falls.” With our understanding, this is clear. Physical engrossment is as mutually exclusive to pure avodas Hashem as sheker is to emes. If the focus for one is up, then the scale must balance itself accordingly. During times of sheker and distractions from concentrating on ratzon Hashem, Eisav rules. Only if we bring emes into the world, could we knock down Eisav.

Let us hope that we at least recognize our distractions so that we could work on them appropriately, instead of pretending that they do not exist. In this way, we could survive this olam ha'sheker and live life as a means of becoming closer to Hashem. With this zechus, Hashem should indeed keep his promise of “teeten emes l'Yaakov” (grant truth to Yaakov) and help us lead a real life of emes, instead of living inside one of Eisav's fables.

1Beraishis 25:34

2Bava Basra 16b

3Beraishis 25:34

4Rashi Beraishis 25:30

5Devarim 21:17

6Beraishis 27:36 and Rashi there.

7According to some, including the Sifsei Chachomim (Beraishis 27:19), learn that Eisav gave away all privileges of the bechor, except for the right to the double portion which he kept for himself.

8Beraishis 25:31

9Beraishis 25:32

10Beraishis 25: 22

11Beraishis 25:27

12Beraishis 25:27

13Ibid.

14Such as we say in Uva L'tzion (in Shacharis) which quotes from the passuk in Michah 7:20

15Beraishis 25:23

16Ibid.

Parshas Chayei Sarah - Test of Kindness

Parshas Chayei Sarah

Test of Kindness

By: Daniel Listhaus

“Let it be that the maiden to whom I shall say, 'Please tip your jug so I may drink,' and who replies, 'Drink, and I will even water your camels,' her will You have chosen for Your servant, for Yizchak; and may I know through her that You have done kindness with my master.”

-Chayei Sarah 24:14

Avraham charged his trusted servant, Eliezer, to find the perfect wife for Yitzchak. The Torah relates that Eliezer said to Hashem that in order to find a wife for Yitzchak, he was going to ask every woman who came to the well for a drink of water. The one who would in return offer a drink for both him and his camels, Eliezer would take as a wife for Yitzchak.

There are two questions which come up when reading about this idea of Eliezer. The first issue is one brought up by a Tosfos in Chullin¹. The Gemara² says that we are not permitted to practice divination. As a matter of fact, even a non-Jew cannot practice such conjectures. If so, how could Eliezer say that if a woman comes out and offers water to him and his camels, that he would take it as a sign that she is the right wife for Yitzchak? That would be comparable to saying, “If there is less than a half a tank of gas in my car, I will take it as a sign that Hashem does not want me to go to Shul today.” We are not allowed to base our decisions on such meaningless events. So, how could Eliezer choose to take a woman for Yitzchak just because she said some catch-phrase?

The second issue which needs to be addressed, is one which is brought by the Medrash³ as well as the Gemara⁴. There were three⁵ people in history who asked for things in a way which was inappropriate. Two of these people received good responses from Hashem, regardless of their improper requests. The third, however was not as fortunate and experienced a most horrible consequence.

The Gemara explains that the one of these three was Eliezer, who said that the girl who would respond, “Drink and I will even water your camels”, would be the one he would take as a wife for Yitzchak. This was considered to be an improper request because it left an opportunity to be open for someone to meet this requirement, yet not be the right person for Yitzchak. Fortunately, Hashem made Rivka be the one to come first with this response.

The second person was Shaul⁶. During his rein, the Pelishtim came to attack under the leadership of Goliyas. Shaul promised that whoever would kill Goliyas would receive tremendous riches and be able to marry his daughter. Similar to Eliezer's statement, this promise of Shaul seems pretty careless. It could have been any person who potentially might have stepped forward and manage to defeat Goliyas. Again, luckily, Hashem sent Dovid HaMelech to be the one to fight and kill Goliyas.

The third man, however, was not as fortunate. The Navi⁷ relates that Yiftach davened to Hashem that he should be victorious in his battle against Ammon. Yiftach promised, “If you will indeed deliver Ammon into my hands, then whatever comes out of my house first shall be for Hashem and I will offer it as a sacrifice.” Unfortunately, Yiftach's luck did not match Eliezer's or Shaul's, for the first thing to come out of his house upon his return from a successful battle, was his daughter.

Why was it that Eliezer and Shaul were granted positive responses, despite their improper requests, whereas Yiftach was left in shock, faced with the realization that, “I have opened my mouth to Hashem and now I cannot go back.”?

The Orchos Tzadikkim⁸ writes that there are three ways in which someone could be generous: With one's money, body, and wisdom. These three facets of this middah (trait) are actually learned from Avraham who was the first to master them. Avraham was someone who was constantly spending his money on other people, providing meals and help to those in need. Avraham also put tremendous amounts of physical effort into others, the prime example being when he involved himself in a world war in order to save his brother-in-law. Needless to say, Avraham also spent his entire life investing time and wisdom into his generation to educate them about Hashem's existence and the concept of monotheism.

When Eliezer said that he would take the first person who would offer water for him and his camels, as a wife for Yitzchak, he was not really taking any big chances. The S'forno⁹ writes that it is the way of one who needs someone else's help to ask for less than he really needs; but at the same time, it is the way of the generous ba'al chesed to than give more than what was asked. Eliezer was not looking for some catch-phrase that as soon as some random woman would recite the magic words, she would be taken as a wife for Yitzchak. Rather, Eliezer awaited for the person who would respond with the complete middah of nedivos (generosity); someone who was willing to put in money, physical effort, time, and wisdom into a complete stranger. Such a person would surely be the right woman for Yitzchak.

During the time of Shaul's kingship, when Goliyas and the Pelishtim started instigating and fighting, the Jews knew that their army was no match for Goliyas. There was no one who had the strength, nor the confidence that it was possible to kill Goliyas. At that point, Shaul offered his daughter to anyone who would stand up to take on Goliyas' challenge. Shaul knew that only a tremendous yiras shamayim would feel the assurance of Hashem being at his side. Therefore, although Shaul's promise might have been a little imprudent, still, there was not too much risk involved because who other than a yiras Hashem would have the confidence to fight Goliyas?

We are the descendents of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov; a family built upon chesed. This is true to the extent that the Gemara states that anyone who does not express the qualities of someone always looking to do chesed, is not considered as being part of the children of Avraham. May we be zoche to continue our mesorah of being gomlei chasadim.

1Chullin 95b

2Sanhedrin 56b

3Beraishis Rabbah 60:3

4Ta'anis 4a

5The Medrash actually mentions four, adding Kalev to the list.

6Shmuel Alef 17:25

7Shoftim 11:30-31

8Orchos Tzadikkim: Sha'ar HaNedivos

9Beraishis 24:14

Parshas Vayeira - As a Matter of Opinion

Parshas Vayeira

As a Matter of Opinion

By: Daniel Listhaus

“Avraham came forward and said, '...It would be sacrilege to You to do such a thing, to bring death upon righteous with wicked; so the righteous will be like the wicked. It would be sacrilege to You! Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice? ”

-Vayeira 18:23-25

In the beginning of parshas Vayeira¹, the Torah describes that Avraham was sitting by the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Avraham, the tremendous ba'al chesed, was desperately awaiting guests even though he had just had his bris milah and was still in pain. In order to appease Avraham, Hashem sent three malachim (angels) in the form of men for Avraham to entertain. Rashi² tells us that each of these three malachim had come for a distinct purpose. One was to tell Sarah that she would give birth in a year, one was to heal Avraham, and one was overturn Sodom. After the first two had completed their missions, the Torah relates that the third malach delayed going to Sodom in order to give Avraham the chance to ask Hashem for mercy.

Indeed, after the malachim had left Avraham's tent, Hashem told Avraham that he was planning on destroying Sodom. Avraham's response to this, however, seems quite aggressive. Avraham responded, “Perhaps there are fifty righteous people in the midst of the city; would You even obliterate, and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people that are within it? It would be sacrilege to You to do such a thing, to bring death upon righteous with the wicked...Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?”

The fact that this sounds to us as a bold statement to make to Hashem, and that it does not seem to match with the humble personality of Avraham³, is beyond the scope of this d'var Torah. I would just like to focus on the actual argument that Avraham was making.

Rashi explains that Avraham's argument was the following: “It is profane for You. For people will say, 'Such is His craft! He washes away everything, righteous and wicked. So did You do to the generation of the mabul (flood) and to the generation of Migdal Bavel (Tower of Babylon)'.”

Why was Avraham so worried that such a thing would occur? The history text books were not as large then as they are now. Certainly the two major events covered in any school curriculum were the mabul and the dor haflaga. Everyone knew the story of Noach's family and how they were saved with all the animals. Additionally, everyone was aware of the fact that there were no casualties as a result of building the Tower of Babylon, other than the fact that the world divided into seventy languages. So, what was Avraham so worried about? Why was he afraid that if Hashem would kill the righteous with the wicked in Sodom, that people would start to say that Hashem also killed the righteous with the wicked by the mabul and dor haflaga?

I think that the answer to this question could be found if we study human behavior. As egotistical people who think we are always right, we often times allow our opinions to control us. To illustrate this point, take a look at the following study:

In 2006, Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler created various fake newspaper articles – each one was written to confirm some widespread misconception or rumor, which people had formed strong opinions about. For example, in one article they wrote that the United States had indeed found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. After giving this article to some people to read, they would then give them a version of a “corrected” paper saying that there was a mistake, and that in reality the weapons of mass destruction were never found. In this research study, Nyhan and Reifler discovered that those who supported the war actually continued to agree with the first article – despite the fact that a second article was given to them specifically correcting that error. Also, those who were opposed to the war, said that they were all along skeptical of the first article and therefore never accepted its contents as accurate.

This is something that we do on a daily basis. When we weigh ourselves on the scale and are happy with the results – we jump off smiling. Yet, when we are upset with the numbers, we get off, reset the scale, and try again with absolute perfect balance. When playing baseball and running to first, the runner honestly swears that he got there first, while the first baseman equally assures everyone that he touched the base first. All of these scenarios demonstrate that the assumptions we make and opinions we believe take a strong hold on us; even to the extreme that we will see facts erroneously and remember events differently.

The Orchos Tzadikkim⁴, in the beginning of Sha'ar Hazechirah, discusses the importance of memory. Although he says that it is obvious that the world would not be able to run properly without memory, the Orchos Tzadikkim goes through several examples. The last example he gives is as follows, “And when one goes to testify before Beis Din (court) regarding that which he saw and knows, he must be extremely careful to remember correctly, and not subtract nor add on that which he saw and knows”.

In this chapter, the Orchos Tzadikkim is not discussing liars or people out to get others. Those middos are reserved for other chapters. If so, that the Orchos Tzadikkim is solely dealing with memory, then there seems to be a contradiction in the aforementioned statement. The Orchos Tzadikkim warns us to be careful to remember. However, why does the Orchos Tzadikkim write, “that which he saw and knows”? If you are an honest person and know precisely what occurred, why should you be worried that you may add or subtract to what you saw and know?

Perhaps the Orchos Tzadikkim is alluding to the fact of human nature discussed earlier. Even an honest person who thinks he knows what he saw must be careful not to allow his opinion to get in the way, thereby distorting the facts. If we do allow our beliefs and personal opinions to be at the forefront of our minds, then what we are essentially doing is causing ourselves to constantly be looking at the world with colored glasses over our eyes. Consequently, we can not trust ourselves to deliver facts, if they are tainted by opinion.

This is what Avraham was worried about. Hashem needed to destroy Sodom because its sins became to great for the world to sustain⁵. The destruction of Sodom and Amorah was going to be a lesson to the world to wake up and realize that such wickedness will not be tolerated. If Hashem were to destroy the righteous with the wicked in such a situation, Avraham was concerned that a strong opinion would be formed in the mind of the world as a whole. People would see that the righteous too were killed and say about Hashem that, “Such is His craft! He washes away everything, righteous and wicked. So did You do to the dor ha'mabul and so to the dor haflaga.” Avraham could not stand for such a belief to enter the world because he knew that Hashem's judgement is true and righteous⁶.

This exact concept actually reappears later in parshas Vayeira. After the destruction of Sodom, Avraham traveled to Gerar. Upon entering, Avraham experienced déjà vu⁷, as Sarah was taken to the king's palace. When Avimelech, king of Gerar was struck with a deathly plague, he called out to Hashem, “My Lord, will you slay a nation even though it is righteous? Did he [Avraham] himself not tell me that: 'She is my sister'...”⁸. Rashi⁹ on this passuk comments that Avimelech was really saying the following, “...Perhaps this is Your practice, to destroy people for no reason. So did You do to the dor ha'mabul and the dor haflaga. I say that you slew them for no reason just as You will slay me [for no reason].”

In the end of the day, though, Avimelech was saved from the plague. So, what happened to his “strong belief” that all the history books were wrong. Did he or did he not believe that everyone in Noach's time was also righteous, and that all the participants during the dor haflaga were killed without record? What happened to the “I say that you slew them for no reason...”? Clearly, Avimelech was not threatening Hashem that he would start pretending that Hashem was an unfair G-d, rather, Avimelech was just thinking out loud that if Hashem is willing to destroy innocent people, then that is what must have happened during the past events as well. Avimelech would be different person because of his newly formed opinion, and would therefore have a different perspective on the past – even if it would mean making up parts of history.

This is the inferred lesson we could take from Avraham's discussion with Hashem. Human's are easily swayed by opinions. The power of opinion and preconceived notions are such that we are even willing, unconsciously, to remember facts differently in order to fit them into our opinions and beliefs. This is something which is a middah and could be worked on. Zechira is the safeguard for emes (truth and reality). This means that even if we are honest, good people we still must make sure that we remember things objectively, and not clouded by our thoughts and opinions. We must work on this aspect of this middah in order to ensure that we are not limiting ourselves to a perspective influenced by our views and beliefs. This is the only way we could be sure that we are really seeing what we think we see, and really know what we think we know.

1Beraishis 18:1-2

2Beraishis 18:2

3Beraishis 18:27; Only two passukim (verses) later, Avraham says that he is of but dust and ash.

4Orchos Tzadikkim, Sha'ar HaZechira - (Gate 19: The Gate of Remembrance)

5Bereishis 18:20

6Tehillim 19:10

7An almost identical episode occurred in parshas Lech Lecha 12:10-20

8Beraishis 20:4-5

9Beraishis 20:4

Parshas Lech Lecha - Strings Attached

Parshas Lech Lecha

Strings Attached

By: Daniel Listhaus

“Avram said to the king of Sodom: “I have raised my hand to Hashem, G-d, the Most High, Maker of heaven and earth; if so much as a thread or a shoe-strap, or if I shall take from anything that us yours! So you shall not say, 'It is I who made Avram rich'. Far from me! Only what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who accompanied me....”

-Lech Lecha 14:22-24

This week's parsha is devoted to Avraham avinu's life. Even reading through the passukim on the most basic level, one gains tremendous insight as to how a Jew should live life. Avraham was the true ba'al chesed and ba'al middos – in the truest meaning of the words. “Ba'al” means a master; and Avraham was truly a master of kindness and good traits¹.

The parsha describes that it was not long after the dispute and separation of ways between Lot and Avraham, that Lot was in need of Avraham's help. In order to save his brother-in-law (and nephew) Lot from captivity, Avraham joined in on the World War which was occurring at the time. With Hashem on his side, Avraham, and his servant Eliezer, miraculously defeated the enemy.

After winning the war, there were many prisoners and assets. The king of Sodom told Avraham, “Give me the people and take the possessions for yourself”. However, Avraham turned down the offer and swore that he would not take even a thread or a shoelace². Rashi³ comments that the reason that Avraham did not want anything to do with the spoils of the war was because he did not want to the king of Sodom to be able to say, “It was I who made Avraham rich”. Avraham was someone who believed that his whole existence was for nothing other than to sanctify Hashem's name throughout the world and spread monotheism. Therefore he wanted to make sure that there would be no openings for flawed thinking that Avraham needed anyone but Hashem.

The Gemara⁴ tells us that because of this speech that Avraham gave to the king of Sodom, refusing to take even a thread or a shoelace, he was zoche (merited) to two things: the mitzva of tefillin and the mitzva of techeilis – the blue-dyed tzitzis string that is put on each corner of tzitzis-garment.

However, this presents itself with a problem. In parshas Noach, after the flood was finally over and the waters settled, the Torah relates that when Noach and his family came out of the teivah (ark) the first thing he did was planted a vineyard⁵. This ultimately resulted in Noach getting drunk and uncovering himself. The passukim there describe that Noach's son, Shem, exerted himself and went to cover his father. Rashi⁶ writes that in this zechus, the descendents of Shem merited the mitzva of tzitzis.

The Sifsei Chachomim⁷ asks the obvious contradiction: Who merited to the mitzva of tzitzis – Shem or Avraham? Rashi in parshas Noach seems sure that Shem merited the mitzva as a reward for what he did for his father. Yet, the Gemara states that it was Avraham who merited the mitzva of tzitzis?

To answer this question, the Sifsei Chachomim explains as follows. There are two different elements to the mitzva of tzitzis, the four cornered garment itself and the tzitzis-strings (specifically that of techailis). Shem merited that we, his descendents, receive the mitzva of wearing a four cornered garment, whereas Avraham merited for us that we were to receive the mitzva of techeilis.

This Sifsei Chachomim is difficult to comprehend. The mitzva of wearing a talis (the four-cornered garment) and the mitzva of wearing tzitzis are not two separate items. There is nothing inherently special about a four-cornered garment other than the fact that it is only this type of clothing that we put tzitzis on. At the same time, there is nothing uniquely special about techeilis/tzitzis, except for when they are on a talis. If one were to hang strings around his ears, certainly one would not be fulfilling the mitzva of tzitzis. How could the Sifsei Chachomim be viewing these two aspects of tzitzis as independent entities? Clearly Shem's zechus means nothing without Avraham's, and Avraham's zechus especially means nothing without Shem's. Why is it that Avraham merited something which is dependent only special aspect of a four cornered? Why did Hashem divide up what appears to be only one mitzva?

Additionally, there is another problem we must consider. As aforementioned, Rashi in parshas Lech Lecha writes that the reason that Avraham turned down even a thread or a shoelace was because he did not want the king of Sodom to be able to say, “It was I who made Avraham wealthy”. However, Rashi's explanation in the Gemaras discussed earlier is different. Rashi in the Gemara writes that the reason that Avraham avinu turned down the treasures of the war was because he did not want to benefit from stolen goods. How could we understand this contradiction in Rashi?⁸

In order to better understand all of this, we must realize the deeper meaning behind what the talis and tzitzis symbolize. As we discussed last week, the main reason for the flood was because the world was filled with robbery. Robbery has two aspects to it. One aspect is the fact that one is dishonoring his friend by stealing from him. The other aspect is the fact that stealing from others shows lack of trust and faith in Hashem. The cause for the flood was because of robbery – and specifically the bein adom l'chaveiro (between man and his friend) aspect of robbery. The world was too full of the attitude of “What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine”⁹.

Although it is physically impossible for a person to transgress on only one aspect of robbery without the other, it is still clear that it was this aspect of bein adom l'chaveiro alone which brought about the flood, and not the combination of that with the bein adom l'makom (between man and Hashem) aspect of it – that a thief has basic lack of faith in Hashem. The proof to this comes from the end of parshas Noach. The passukim at the end of parshas Noach testify to the fact that the whole world was “of one language and of unified words”¹⁰. There was actually peace among all of the people in the world¹¹. When they gathered together to declare war against Hashem, so to speak, by building the Migdal Bavel (Tower of Babylon), their punishment was not to be wiped out. Rather, Hashem decreed that their languages become confused so that they would not have the ability to continue with their evil plan. From this contrast in parshas Noach, we could learn that bein adom l'chaveiro is something that is needed, at least on a basic level, in order for the world to exist – otherwise, we deserve to be destroyed with a mabul (flood). Bein adom l'makom is the “step two”. It is necessary to have bein adom l'makom in order to live the right and proper life. These two aspects go hand-in-hand with each other, similar to that which is alluded to in the two-part passuk (verse), “Turn from evil, and do good”¹². Just like it is necessary to first turn away from evil before building up to do good, so too it is necessary to have bein adom l'chaveiro in place before being ready to work on bein adom l'makom.

Shem was the first one in the new world who fully grasped the mistakes of the generation before the mabul, internalized the lessons, and perfected his bein adom l'chaveiro. He was the one who exerted himself to find a proper garment to clothe his father; for this, he merited the mitzva of talis. The talis represents the level of da'as (knowledge) we have over animals. Animals do not wear clothing, people do. This is because as people, created b'tzelem Elokim (in the image of Hashem), we understand that there is a degree of kavod ha'briyos (respect for mankind) which every person has the right receive and the responsibility to give and ensure for others.

Avraham avinu took this all to the next level. He too was known for his chesed (kindness) and care for others. However, he developed his middos to extend to the ultimate form of bein adom l'makom. He accepted upon himself the job of being the role model for the entire world, and used his influence to spread the will of Hashem. Avraham did this above and beyond. Surely, after the war that took place, everyone was aware of the miracles that the G-d of Avraham performed for him. Yet, Avraham passed up the offer of the treasures from the war and instead used the opportunity to make a speech, declaring his pure trust in Hashem. He did not even want to take the risk of taking a shoelace, for perhaps that would give the king of Sodom the slight opening to say that it was he who caused Avraham to become wealthy. Rashi in the Gemara tells us that Avraham did not want to benefit from stolen goods. Perhaps Rashi does not mean stolen in the sense that they were stolen from people and represented a lack in bein adom l'chaveiro, because that is not true. Avraham had the ownership rights over those goods. Rather, perhaps Rashi is referring to the other facet of robbery – the robbing of an opportunity to make a kiddush-Hashem by not showing what it means to have complete faith and trust in Hashem.

In this way, Avraham meticulously kept the utmost degree of kavud Hashem. For this, the Gemara tells us, Avraham merited that his children receive the mitzvos of tefillin and techeiles/tzitzis. The tefillin that we wear each day is a means of literally tying the most essential elements of Judaism to ourselves. The parshiyos contained within declare the unity of Hashem and our acceptance of His mitzvos – two sides of the same coin, as the way to achieve kavod Hashem. Techeiles also represents a the Oneness of Hashem. As the Gemara13 tells us, the blue-dyed techeiles reminds us of the sea, which resembles the sky, which cause us to think of the Kisei Ha'kavod (the Throne of Glory) of Hashem.

These two aspects – bein adom l'chaveiro and bein adom l'makom, go hand in hand. After all, respect of man is a degree of respect of Hashem, since man was created b'tzelem Elokim. Now perhaps we could understand why Shem and Avraham each merited what they did, and why Avraham's zechus of techeilis was dependent upon Shem's talis. We, the descendents of Shem and Avraham, need to realize the importance of bein adom l'chaveiro and bein adom l'makom and perfect ourselves in these areas

Bein adom l'chaveiro and bein adom l'makom are two essential elements in keeping this world in existence. This is the lesson that Shimon HaTzadik teaches us in Pirkei Avos¹³, “On three three things the world depends: On Torah study, the service of Hashem, and on bestowing kindness upon others – Torah represents the relationship we build with our inner-self (the neshama). Avodah (service of Hashem), is the means which we serve Hashem through bein adom l'makom. Finally, Chesed is our relationship with others and the necessary requirement to respect each others' feelings and property.

May we all be zoche to remember the combined actions and lessons of Avraham and Shem every time we wear tzitzis, and internalize these two essential aspects – bein adom l'chaveiro and bein adom l'makom.

1Rashi in Beraishis 17:1 writes that Hashem added an extra letter to Avram's name making it Avraham. The gematriya (numerical value) of his new name totals to 248, equal to the number of body parts. This is quite proper because Avraham was someone who worked on bringing himself closer to Hashem and used his entire body for tahara (pureness) and kedusha (holiness).

2Beraishis 14:21-23

3Rashi Beraishis 14:23

4Chulin 89a as well as Sotah 17a

5Beraishis 9:20-24

6Rashi Beraishis 9:23

7Beraishis 9:23

8To make things even worse, it is very difficult to say that Avraham's reason was literally not to benefit from stolen goods because, as the Mahar'sha writes in Gemara Chulin 89a, the spoils of the war truly belonged to Avraham. Additionally, despite the fact that the treasures already belonged to Avraham, the king of Sodom was giving it all to him anyway.

9Pirkei Avos 5:13 – The mishna calls such a person a “rasha” (wicked person)

10Beraishis 11:1

11Although it was short lived, it still took the record for being the first and last time (until mashiach) that the whole world was in peace.

12Psalms 34:15

13Pirkei Avos 1:2