LECH LECHA

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TALES FOR THE SHABBOS TABLE

In this week's section we read about how G-d promised Abram greatness, fame, fortune and more if he would leave his home only to seemingly renege on all His promises! Abram found himself stranded in a strange land in the middle of a famine and had to run to Egypt (12:10) to find something to eat.

Another thing seems strange. The Torah is telling us here how G-d founded Judaism. So why, instead of giving the things religions are made of like prayers, meditations and spiritual rituals or miracles, did He gave Abraham the power to bless (12:2), the land of Israel (12:7) and the seemingly
primitive commandment of circumcision (17:10)?.

Is that a way to start a religion?

To understand this here is a story.

Shraga was a simple wagon driver. He eked out his meager living by taking people from one town to another. When the weather was nice, the horses were feeling good and he had a customer it was easy for him to be happy but if not Shraga would look for something to be happy about.

But today he was miserable!

When he set out the morning sky was clear and the cool autumn air was fresh and crisp but about an hour away from home suddenly the temperature dropped, clouds blackened the sky and in no time the pouring rain and freezing winds cut through his clothes and made it almost impossible to move.

He whipped the horses. He was freezing and drenched to the bone. It looked like it would rain forever and the horses were barely making progress. In another few hours it would be night. Who knows if he would make it home alive?

Then, suddenly, through the wind and rain he noticed someone standing at the side of the road up to his ankles in mud, waiving furiously and trying to shout through the howling wind. He stopped and yelled to the man to get in the wagon.

It was a Jew! What was he doing on the road in the middle of nowhere? They huddled together and two hours later they miraculously reached Shraga's
home, put on dry clothes and were sitting by the stove sipping hot soup.

The traveler turned out to be none other than the famous Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sussov the Holy Sussover Rebbe. He too had set off in the morning to visit his elderly parents and got caught in the storm.

"Well" the Rebbe said, "now that you saved my life I want to give you a blessing of riches and fame. What do you own? Do you have anything of value?"

"Fame? Blessing? Thank you Rabbi! Wow! Thank you!! Err, anything of value? Not much." Shraga shrugged his shoulders and replied. "Except for, maybe my horses. I mean no one would buy my wagon or my house or anything else. I guess the only things worth anything are my horses."

"Nu" Answered the Rebbe matter of factly, "one will be for Purim and one for Passover. Now I must be gone. Thank you again and G-d bless you!"

He shook Shraga's hand and left, closing the door behind him and leaving poor Shraga more confused than happy. "Wonder what he meant by that?" he said to his wife.

A few months later, just before Purim one of the horses suddenly died. With no other choice and with a heavy heart he sold the meat to the local
butcher, the skin to the tanner and made enough money to celebrate the holiday in style and even invite a few guests!

Then, a week before Passover another tragedy struck; the second horse died as well! Again he had no choice but to mournfully sell its carcass which gave him enough money to make a Passover holiday fit for a king. Now he understood what the Rebbe meant! 'One for Purim and one for Passover'.. But he wished the Rebbe hadn't said it. The holidays were wonderful but now he was left with no horses and no source of income. What would he do?

He asked around in the streets and in the Synagogue if anyone knew how he could make a few Kopeks to feed his family with no luck. There was simply no work.

But Shraga did not loose hope. He talked it over with his wife and decided to go wandering. G-d would certainly help. One thing for sure, he would starve sitting at home. He packed his Talit, Tefillin and a loaf of bread and set off early the next morning to wherever his feet would take him.

After a few days he happened at an inn and sat down to rest his weary bones when suddenly he heard two fellows sitting in the corner talking in loud tones.

"What are we going to do?" said one of them slapping the table in frustration. "Every manager we bring he fires! The man is insane!! This makes the fifth manager in two months. Next thing he'll fire us! What are we going to do?! "The other fellow just kept letting out moans and grunts, shrugging his shoulders and throwing up his hands in despair.

Shraga immediately stood up and walked over to them. "Excuse me. I just came in from the road and, well, I couldn't help overhearing what you were saying. What type of a manager are you looking for?"

The two men looked at Shraga, then at one another in disbelief and one of them answered.

"The Poritz (landowner) needs a manager for his lands." "We are two of his tenant farmers," The other interrupted and then the first one resumed. "He owns all the farmland in these parts and for some reason he assigned us to find him a manager. Were you ever a manger, that is... could you do such a thing?"

Shraga agreed, they took him to meet the Poritz and, for some reason the cruel maniac took a liking to him and gave him the job immediately.

Believe it or not Shraga succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. He seemed to always be making the right decisions and saying the right things at the right time. And most important.. the Poritz loved him!

Every few months he gave Shraga more and more responsibility until simple Shraga became a wealthy and influential benefactor helping everyone in the entire area, in fact even the Poritz himself became more charitable and easygoing.

But if Shraga's horses wouldn't have died he would have remained a wagon driver.

This answers our questions. Abraham was quite successful before G-d commanded him to start moving, but his success was limited. Something like Shraga before he lost his horses.

But by leaving everything (even what he thought G-d owed him) he became a new TYPE of person; a Jew.

And that became the essence of the Jewish people: Serving G-d from pure love, expecting nothing in return and wanting ONLY what the Creator wants.

And what does G-d want?

Abraham discovered that G-d wants to be revealed HERE in this world through our deeds. (And at Mount Sinai some five hundred years later it was revealed even more.)

This G-d expressed when He gave him these three gifts: the power to bless, the land of Israel and Circumcision.

Blessings mean bringing G-d into the physical. Israel means bringing G-d into the physical and circumcision means bringing G-d into the physical;
each in a different way.

And all these three are connected to Moshiach who will completely reveal HaShem here in the entire physical world.

Then (and the Lubavitcher Rebbe says we have allready begun the process) all creation will be filled with the BLESSING of G-d like water fills the ocean (see the end of Yad HaChazaka by the Rambam). All the Jews will return to ISRAEL (and Israel will be bigger see Rashi 15:19). And everyone's hearts will be CIRCUMCISED (Tanya; Igrot Kodesh chap. 4).

That is the secret of creation and the purpose of Jewish people. And today it can only be accomplished by doing what the Lubavitcher Rebbe says (see Moshiach essay at www.ohrtmimim.org/torah ) and revealing......
Moshiach NOW!!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad, Israel

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TALES FOR THE SHABBOS TABLE

This week's section tells us of G-d's eternal covenant (Bris) with the first Jew, Abraham, thus marking the beginning the Jewish people.

But it arouses a big question.

G-d swore to Abraham that his seed would inherit the Promised Land, and be as multitudinous as the dust of the earth and the stars of the sky. But later in the Torah when G-d defines exactly who these offspring are, it doesn't sound so promising:

Firstly, only the seed of Yitzchak and Yaakov were to be considered Jews, thereby excluding the myriads of Yishmail and Asav (who are a son and a grandson of Abraham, and with whom it would have been easy to fulfill these big promises, due to their hugh numbers).

Then G-d says that someone is only counted as Jewish if their mother is Jewish (or who converts, which is rare). In other words, each Jew would have to know for sure that he stems from an unbroken chain of mothers
till Abraham!

This Bris (covenant) is also very vague; it doesn't seem to contain
ANYTHING except promises. True, it is connected with Circumcision, but Circumcision is not unique; other nations do it as well.

Why didn't G-d give Abraham some unusual talent or birthmark, or even a book or something to make him and his seed different?

And to make things more difficult, Avraham was called "HaEvri", which means "from the other side" implying that he and the Jews after him would be strangers and the entire world would be against them.

If so, what is the good of this covenant? And what secret power does it contain that has preserved Jewish identity for over four thousand years?

I want to explain with two stories:

Stanley was never really happy being a Jew. He learned in Yeshiva (Talmud academy) just like his father and grandfather before him, but it just seemed like a lot of work and no rewards. There was always someone brighter and wittier than he, and he just never seemed to get the attention he craved.

Finally one day when walking home from Yeshiva he happened to meet one of the priests from the local church, and they got into a conversation.

One thing led to another, and it wasn't long before they were sitting on a park bench, and Stanley was spouting off his Torah insights and philosophies. The priest invited him to come visit his school, and a few
days later they were sitting together before the priest's teacher. The teacher listened, and then heaped so many praises upon poor Stanley that he became insane with pride and joy.

A few weeks later he disappeared from the Yeshiva, went to another country where his parents wouldn't see him, converted to Catholicism, and enrolled in a monastery.

Stanley had begun a new life. He excelled in his studies, and in no time he had mastered the major texts, and even became the favorite of the Bishop that ran the monastery. But there was only one problem...the
other monks there hated his guts.

They couldn't stand his clever answers, his attention seeking quips, and his stupid smile. Eventually they became so obsessed with getting him ousted, that they actually bored secret peepholes in the walls of his room with the hope of catching him in some sinful act.

And it worked! According to the Church law, it was forbidden to eat meat on Fridays. So you can imagine their joy when one Friday, before
their very eyes, Brother Stanley locked himself in his room, took a box out from under his bed, opened it, put it on his table, pulled up a chair, sat down, took out a clean handkerchief, and tucked it in his collar for a bib.

Then from the box he ceremoniously took out a chicken leg, held it up, looked at it lovingly, and completely unaware he was being observed, ate the entire thing, skin and bones included, until nothing was left.

The monks gleefully ran to report what they had seen to the Bishop, who accordingly ordered that Brother Stanley be brought immediately into his office to stand charges. But to the amazement of the monks, when he arrived and heard the accusations, he flatly and vehemently denied
everything.

"What do you think I am, some sort of infidel? A traitor, a heretic!? Why, the very thought of eating meat on Friday is detestable to me. NEVER! I swear by all that is holy that it is a lie! May I burn in Hell for all eternity if it is true! I ate NO MEAT....It was a potato."

His performance was so convincing that even his accusers almost believed it, and it goes without saying that the Bishop, despite their protests, swallowed the entire story.

Now the monks were out for blood; he may have slipped through their fingers once...but never again!!

It took a few weeks of careful planning and patient waiting, but the next time Stanley locked his door and took out the box, they were ready.

There was one monk hiding in his closet, one behind the drapes, and
another under his bed. As soon as he put that chicken leg in his mouth, they leaped out from their places with tremendous speed and precision,
and before he knew it he was bound and gagged with the bone sticking out his mouth, being carried, struggling and wiggling to the Bishop.

"Your holiness" said the monks. "We caught him in the midst of..."

The Bishop was almost in tears; his beloved Stanley was a two-time sinner, and a liar to boot. "Brother Stanley, Brother Stanley, How could you?!"

But Stanley vigorously shook his head and tried his best to shout what was obviously a denial.

"UMMFFF FOUMMPPFF NU UUU” Was all he could say. But it was enough to arouse the Bishop's sense of justice, and curiosity.

"Release him!" declared the Bishop. "Even a doomed man has a right to defend himself". They tried to object, but finally did what the Bishop asked.

Brother Stanley indignantly stood up, removed the bone from his mouth, threw it angrily to the floor, swallowed the meat, cleared his throat, raised his hand majestically in the air, put the other to his heart, looked the Bishop deep in the eyes and said with the utmost sincerity.

"Your Holiness. I am INNOCENT! I swear by Holy Script that I did not, nor will I EVER eat meat on Friday!"

The monks were astounded; their eyes were bulging out of their sockets with disbelief.

"But, B-B-But Brother Stanley" stammered the Bishop, "WE SAW YOU!! I myself just saw you eat meat!? How...?"

"Allow me to explain" Said Stanley.

"I will never forget that glorious day that I first entered the fold. Remember? I was taken to the Holy Anointing Chamber and you, you yourself, your holiness, took the silver anointing spoon, dipped it into the Holy Water and sprinkled it on me three times, saying "You are a Catholic! You are a Catholic! You are a Catholic!"

"So?" said the Bishop, "So what's the point?"

"But once in a while" resumed Stanley, "I got this urge to eat meat on Fridays. It got to the point that it simply bothered me so that I couldn’t think or pray. So, what did I do?

Every Thursday evening I bought a chicken leg, took it down to the anointing room, took the holy anointing spoon, sprinkled holy water on the meat three times and declared:

"You are a potato! You are a potato! You are a potato!"

Here is the second story; a true story that happened just recently.

A certain Chabad Rabbi in Russia (Rav Kaminitzki in Denyeperpatrovsk) was approached by a young gentile girl with a strange request; she said that her aged grandmother wanted to see a Rabbi before she died.

The Rabbi asked the girl a few questions, and when it became clear that she and her Grandmother were definitely not Jewish (and she lived over two hours drive away), the Rabbi flatly refused. He simply didn't have the time.

But a week later the girl returned. And this time she made such a fuss weeping and crying and insisting she would never leave, that the Rabbi had no choice but to either call the police or agree. He chose the latter.

Two hours later when they arrived, the first thing he noticed was a very old woman, no more than skin and bones who, when she saw the bearded
Rabbi, began weeping and speaking....in Yiddish!

"My whole life I have been waiting for this moment," she said. "I am a Jew!" She hesitated, took out a handkerchief and wept again. "When I was nine, my parents were killed in a pogrom, and I was put in a Church orphanage. One nun there once told me that I should never say I am Jewish because it is dangerous. Now I am ninety-six, that's right, ninety-six years old, and my entire life I have been keeping this secret, even from my children."

The Rabbi was surprised but not overwhelmed, many non-Jews also knew Yiddish and perhaps the old lady was losing her mind.

"I know what you are thinking," She continued, "You're thinking that maybe I'm not Jewish, right? Well you should know that I remember how my mother would light the candles and make a Brocha (blessing) before Shabbos" (and she repeated the blessing). "And my father would put on T’filin in the weekdays. And she repeated some more details."

She paused for a few minutes, dried her eyes again and continued. "My whole life I have been repeating these things because I was afraid that I would forget them. See, I remembered! Now I want you to tell my daughter that they are Jewish too, so that they will remember. Will you do that Rabbi? And teach them what it means to be Jewish."

In the book called the Kuzari it explains what Avraham got with this covenant. It says that there are five levels of creation: mineral, plant, animal, human and Jew, and what Avraham received was a new identity. Just like a chicken leg can never be a potato, so a Jew can never be anything else than a Jew. And it is that awareness, that 4,000-year-old covenant, which was burning in the heart of the old lady in our story.

The good of it is that only the Jews have the ability and desire to advertise to the entire world that there is a Creator who loves His creation, gave the Torah, and will soon bring the long awaited redemption.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe knew what he was saying when he predicted that very soon all of G-d's promises to Avraham will be fulfilled, and we will see with our eyes how all the Jewish suffering of thousands of years will make perfect sense with the arrival of...

Moshiach NOW!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim
Kfar Chabad Israel

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TALES FOR THE SHABBOS TABLE