Who We Are

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Every generation has its tests. Every generation is confronted with challenges unique to its period. Every generation thinks that the things it has to deal with are tougher than anything their forbears were forced to confront. Many of the challenges we are currently faced with involve matters of self-control and discipline in a time of plenty and easy access.

Not that long ago, nobody dreamt of communal wealth to the extent that we have today. There were some people who were blessed with wealth, but almost everyone was living paycheck to paycheck. Life was much simpler back then, as were the temptations and the ability to deal with them.

In the generation prior to that, as the community was basically comprised of immigrants who came to this country escaping hunger and death, they were confronted with a weak religious education system, meager employment opportunities for a shomer Shabbos, and a real fear of starvation. They were forced to make do with little. Only the strong and faithful were able to transmit their mesorah to their children. Many millions were lost to assimilation. It took strong doses of courage, strength and fortitude to remain loyal to Torah.

From where did they, and from where can we, derive the determination and resilience to see past the adversity of various predicaments? It was and is by studying the examples of our parents and grandparents who preceded us, back to the avos and imahos, whose experiences are recorded in the Torah to inspire and guide us.

The past few weeks, we have been studying the different nisyonos that Avrohom Avinu faced and how he was able to surmount them with steadfast emunah and bitachon. Avrohom was faced with challenges large and small, from being thrown into a furnace, exile, and hunger, to his wife being taken from him and being barren. In this week’s parsha, he’s forced to contend with a lying schemer to bury his wife in the land that had been promised to him.

He withstood them all and continued his growth because he had fortified his faith and was uncompromising in his observance of Torah. That may sound cliché-like, but it was what empowered Avrohom to survive and flourish. Those who follow in his ways until this day enjoy the blessings of Hashem and are able to persevere and endure. Faced with setbacks large and small, despite all the hurdles, Avrohom is prepared for whatever comes and is never blindsided, stymied, or led astray. He overcomes all.

His trusted servant and the one who spread his Torah and ruled over Avrohom’s holdings was Eliezer. The Torah hints to us the secret of his strength and ability. The posuk (Bereishis 24:2) depicts Eliezer as “avdo, zekan baiso hamoshel bechol asher lo, his slave, the senior member of his household, who ruled over all of Avrohom’s possessions.”

But Chazal see a deeper portrayal of Eliezer here. They saw in the words “hamoshel bechol asher lo” that Eliezer ruled over his yeitzer, which was why Avrohom trusted him with everything and why he succeeded in rising to his high position. To make it in this world, to really make it, a person must be able to conquer his yeitzer and control it instead of allowing the yeitzer to control him.

At the root of man’s foibles, mistakes, and errors in judgment and action is the yeitzer hora. At the core of every machlokes, once you peel everything away, is the yeitzer hora. Much of human failure can be clearly placed at the feet of the yeitzer hora. Ego, jealousy, bad middos, poor decision-making, and lack of faith and belief in a brighter future are due to people allowing themselves to be taken over by the yeitzer hora, which poses as a best friend but is, in truth, man’s worst enemy.

Study of Torah and mussar provides the ability to recognize the yeitzer hora and appreciate his attempts to mislead us and cause us to fail. Avrohom paved the path for all to follow. Eliezer was his premier student, and through the portrayal in this week’s parsha of how he went about finding a suitable spouse for Yitzchok, we see a prime example for us to follow when we are in the parsha of shidduchim and every day, from when we awaken and recite Modeh Ani until we recite Krias Shema Al Hamitah and go to sleep.

The posuk (24:22) relates that when Eliezer determined that Rivkah was the girl who was destined to marry Yitzchok and become a mother of Klal Yisroel, he presented her with golden jewelry, which weighed a beka, and two bracelets, which weighed ten zohov.

Rashi explains that the beka hinted to the shekolim of Klal Yisroel, regarding which the posuk says “beka lagulgoles.” The two bracelets hinted at the two Luchos, and the “asarah zohov mishkolom” alluded to the Aseres Hadibros.

Rashi is teaching us that in life, things are often not the way they appear to be. Nobody who was watching the interaction between Eliezer and Rivkah could have understood what was going on. It is only years later, in hindsight, with the aid of the Torah and its meforshim, that we are able to comprehend the shlichus and the manner in which Eliezer went about finding Yitzchok’s basherte.

Rivkah’s older brother, Lovon, the paragon of chicanery to whom we are introduced in the story of Eliezer’s visit with his family, became enamored with Eliezer, the gold he presented his little sister, and his retinue of camels. Most people are like Lovon, seeing what is transpiring in a strictly superficial manner and not bothering to comprehend the depth of what is really going on. Most people fail to recognize that everything that happens is from Hashem and, therefore, what occurs in this world is often not what it appears to be.

Nothing happens without a reason. Although we are not always privy to understanding why we are placed in certain situations, we must know that Hashem caused those experiences to happen to us. As maaminim and children of Avrohom, we have to recognize that we have the strength to overcome everything. We can’t let ourselves become broken or overwhelmed. It happened for a reason, and with faith and the inner strength we are blessed with, we can overcome all, just as Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov did.

There is always what we see and experience on a superficial level, and then there is a deeper level, which we cannot always see or appreciate.

In last week’s parsha, we read that after the destruction of Sedom and Amora, Avrohom looked out at the smoldering cities, “vayashkeif al pnei Sedom” (Bereishis 19:28). It is interesting to note that the posuk uses the term “vayashkeif” to describe Avrohom Avinu’s gazing at the cities. Lehashkif denotes a deep, penetrating gaze. It implies looking and contemplating. He didn’t go there to glance indifferently as a tourist would. He stood there beholding the scene.

To most onlookers, the city was nothing more than a bastion of hedonism and immorality, inhabited by sadistic and selfish people. They were so vicious, they would kill a girl for the sin of offering hospitality to strangers. It was a place whose destruction most people would view as a cause for celebration.

Yet, our forefather Avrohom had a deeper perspective. He gazed into the town’s innermost soul, and what he saw there caused him to beg Hashem to have mercy upon them.

What did he see? The posuk in Tehillim states, “Motzosi Dovid avdi - I have found My servant Dovid.” Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 41:4) expound and say, “Heichon motzosi? Where did I find Dovid? B’Sedom. I found Dovid in Sedom.”

And we wonder what that means.

He looked out at Sedom, and where everyone else saw only destruction and a pillar of salt, He saw Dovid Hamelech, who descended from Rus, a daughter of Moav, who was born out of the destruction of Sedom. He saw Dovid Hamelech emanating from there, as well as Moshiach ben Dovid, whose origins lie in the devastation of the infamous city.

Sometimes, a person experiences terrible hardships and begins wondering what he did to deserve such punishment.

A person in difficult straits approached Rav Elozor Menachem Man Shach and shared his tale of woe. Rav Shach took out a Shabbos zemiros and turned to the zemer of Koh Ribon. He read aloud the words, “Lu yichyeh gevar shenin alfin lo yei’ol gevurteich bechushbenaya.”

Rav Shach explained that these words mean that even if a man were to live for one thousand years, he would be unable to comprehend the cheshbonos of Hashem and the constant chassodim being performed for him.

To emphasize his point, Rav Shach began a discussion about Akeidas Yitzchok. Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer states that Yitzchok Avinu’s neshomah left him at the Akeidah. The Zohar states that when Yitzchok was revived, Hashem sent him a different neshomah. He explains further that Yitzchok’s initial neshomah was one of bechinas nukvah, and had it remained, Yitzchok would not have been able to have children. The neshomah that Hashem sent him following the Akeidah was bechinas duchrah and was able to give birth.

Rav Shach told the broken man, “In other words, what the Zohar is saying is that if not for the Akeidah, Yitzchok would not have had children. It was due to the experience of the Akeidah that the bechinas nukvah was removed from Yitzchok and Klal Yisroel sprang forth from him. It is impossible for us mortal beings to understand why things are happening to us, to others and to the world, but we must know that everything that occurs is part of a clearly designed Divine plan.”

We are each here for a reason. We were not created and brought into this world simply for personal, selfish enjoyment. Everyone has a mission and a job to do. We should seek to do what we can to bring light into this world and make the world a better place. Every person can make a difference.

When Rav Yaakov Galinsky, the renowned maggid, was imprisoned in Siberia during the period of the Second World War, he noticed that one of his cellmates would awaken every night. Upon awakening, the man would reach under his bed and pull out some clothing, which he would put on and then stand ramrod straight for a minute or two. He would then remove the garments, return them to their hidden place, and go back to sleep.

Rav Galinsky pressed the man for an explanation.

“In Poland,” the man told him, “I was a general in the army. Here, as a prisoner of the Russians, they attempt to break and dehumanize me. I won’t let them. I need to remember who I really am, what I represent, and that one day I will get out of here and return to my position. So, under the cover of darkness, I take a few moments each night to put on my military uniform and contemplate what it means to be a general. They won’t break me if I can remember who I am.”

The parshiyos we study these weeks inspire us to recognize who we are: bnei Avrohom, Yitzchok v’Yaakov. They remind us of what that means to us and what we must do to succeed in our roles. We each have a mission, and even when things that were not part of our plan happen, they are part of Hashem’s plan. With emunah and bitachon, we can maintain our pride and self-respect. We may be down, we may have losses, wounds and battle scars, but we must never become disillusioned, no matter how bleak things appear.

Our confidence in a better tomorrow must never be shaken. We cannot allow the yeitzer hora to depress us and our ambitions. We should never permit anyone to get us down. We have an inborn strength that nobody can take away from us. No matter what comes down the pike, and as difficult as things appear, we must be as resolute as our grandparents were when they arrived in a strange country with a strange language and customs. As far as they veered from home, they never forgot their roots. Every day, when they arose in the morning, they thought of their great heritage and obligations in this world. Sometimes they faltered, as life was tough and temptations were aplenty, but they always had a Chumash, a Gemara, a Tehillim, and a siddur to remind them of who they are and to look past the ailments, setbacks, and threats of the day.

They left a legacy to us. They bequeathed to us the ability to be strong and have the proper perspective on life, an immutable perspective based on Torah and emunah. When things happen to us or to the world, when we don’t understand what is going on or what to do, think about what Avrohom would have done. What would Eliezer have done? What would our grandfathers and grandmothers have done? What would our rabbeim and their rabbeim have done?

Study Torah. Study the parsha with the meforshim. Study the seforim hakedoshim, Chovos Halevavos, Mesilas Yeshorim, the Gr”a on Mishlei, the works of the Chofetz Chaim, the Sefas Emes, and the like. The list is virtually endless. Find some seforim that you can understand. Learn them and review them. Learn with a chavrusah or a rebbi. Phone a rebbi or a rov and seek guidance. There is no reason to get lost.

If we keep ourselves inspired by constantly learning and growing and reaching higher, we will have the strength and fortitude to persevere and carry on, overcoming all obstacles that come our way, earning untold zechuyos in the process.

May Hashem bentch us to maintain our grip, to hold fast to our heritage and mesorah, and do what makes Him proud each and every day.

Greatness

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

Life is tough, the news is tough, and the economy is tough. It’s tough all around. We have faith that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is causing everything to happen, often for reasons we cannot yet understand.

While some are making more money than imaginable a couple of years ago, many others are floundering. Entire industries have been destroyed. Importers can’t get products; exporters can’t ship theirs. Prices are going through the roof. Everything has gone up in price quite considerably. Commercial property owners are facing vacancies and owners of apartments can’t collect rent. In every field of human endeavor, it is virtually impossible to find employees, and those who do are forced to pay salaries that they can little afford. Covid has not yet left us. It is like an albatross waiting to lower its boom and pounce.

The news spread like wildfire throughout the Olam HaTorah on Sunday. Rav Yehuda Goldberg was niftar. A relatively young and energetic outstanding marbitz Torah, known and beloved to so many, especially those in the world of Telz, was cut down in the prime of his life. An outstanding ben Torah, always positive and full of chizuk for others, a talmid of Telz and Brisk, he personified the greatness of those storied yeshivos.

A loyal talmid to his rabbeim, as a rebbi for decades in the Riverdale Yeshiva, he lifted the lives of many hundreds of bochurim. He was the personification of a person whose life revolves around Torah and its mitzvos. He was always learning, always growing in his avodah, always with a smile, happy about the life Hashem blessed him with. Now, we remain with the Torah, inspiration and memories he left behind. He was a dear friend of this newspaper, frequently calling to offer chizuk over the decades of our publication.

And he wasn’t the only one to leave us over the past couple of days. Rav Hertz Frankel, legendary longtime Satmar English principal and ambassador for the Satmar Rebbe, leaves behind a lifetime of good work for Klal Yisroel. A fountain of information and insight, he was long a friend of this paper.

Rav Noach Cheifetz was a legend in the world of kiruv. A longtime rov in the mystical holy city of Tzefas, he was in a unique position to reach out to lost and struggling souls. His son, Rav Natan, continues his legacy as a leading director of Lev L’Achim.

Rav Boruch Saks, who was niftar this week, was a maggid shiur at the Staten Island Yeshiva for over fifty years and after moving to Lakewood was appointed as rov of the Pine River Village Nusach Sefard minyan. He was previously rov of the Zeiri Agudah minyan in Boro Park and Camp Mogen Avrohom. He was a shining example of someone who lived his life by and for Torah.

There was a common thread connecting these three very different individuals and many other good people who we can learn from and emulate.

We are all familiar with the stories of Parshas Vayeira, which have fascinated and inspired us for as long as we can remember. The parsha opens with Hakadosh Boruch Hu appearing to Avrohom as he recuperated from his bris milah. In the middle of their conversation, Avrohom sees three men approaching and runs out to greet them.

The question is old and has been asked millions of times: Why would Avrohom interrupt his conversation with Hakadosh Boruch Hu to offer food, drink, and respite to a group of desert wanderers?

Just imagine that you are speaking to Rav Chaim Kanievsky. Is there anything that could cause you to interrupt the conversation mid-sentence? How about if you were with the Chofetz Chaim? Is there any way you would ask him to hold on while you gave a drink to some shlepper you don’t know?

How can it be that Avrohom Avinu, who had reached the pinnacle of human achievement and merited an audience with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, gave it up to run out to offer help to strangers?

Rav Dovid Soloveitchik explained that the greatest thing we can achieve is to properly perform a mitzvah. Although meriting gilui Shechinah – a conversation with the Creator – is a tremendous achievement and an indication of having reached the pinnacle of accomplishment, mitzvah performance is what we are all about. Therefore, Avrohom, as satisfied as he must have been to be conversing with the Shechinah, knew that his primary obligation was to perform the mitzvah of chesed.

Whenever anything transpires, a Jew’s first question must be: What does the Torah say I should be doing now? There can be monumental occurrences taking place, but our minds must focus on what Hashem wants us to be doing then. We can’t get caught up with the vagaries of the moment. We always have to be conscious of the fact that as Yidden, we have certain obligations.

Steve Jobs was a brilliant young man who had invented a new computer. He was convinced that his invention was life-altering, but had no experience running a company. John Scully was the hugely successful president of Pepsi. Jobs set his eyes upon him and set about recruiting him to run his young company. But Scully had no interest. Why should he give up a top job in a top company for some genius kid from California who had an idea?

Then Jobs made his final pitch. He said to the experienced, respected, industry icon, “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or do you want to come with me and change the world?”

We need to ask ourselves the same question when considering a career or course of action: Do I want to make a difference in the lives of people? Or do I want to have a nice, simple life? What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. Everyone is different and has differing needs and abilities. But a primary consideration must be to ponder what the Torah would advise us to do.

If you are involved in something and don’t know how to proceed, consider what the Torah would say. If you have a disagreement with someone, should you look aside and be mevater, or, because you are right, are you going to press the issue and cause a machlokes?  We decide on the correct course of action by following the Torah.

The great niftarim were people whose every move was dictated by the Torah. That was the secret of their success and popularity. They set an example for their talmidim and all who knew them.

It is interesting to note that the Torah tells us that Avrohom interrupted a conversation with Hakadosh Boruch Hu to care for three anonymous travelers, but it tells us nothing about their conversation. Instead, the Torah provides a lengthy description of how he provided for the strangers.

Everything in the Torah is intended to elevate us and to teach us how we are to conduct ourselves. Obviously, the more important part of the story is that we learn from it how to do chesed and care for others.

How would we have reacted in that situation? What would we do if we were doing something important to us and a strange beggar comes to the door? It is one thing to be nice to a person we know. It is another to be thoughtful when dealing with someone who is an ill-kempt idol worshipper.

Anyone can be nice to a likeable person. The test of greatness is how we treat ordinary folk who may be different from us and for whom we have no special affinity. The way we treat a nudnik after we had a hard day is an indication of the type of person we are.

Avrohom treated each stranger as if he were an important dignitary, because to him, every person who provided him with an opportunity to perform a mitzvah was indeed important.

People streamed to the tiny apartment of the Chazon Ish, whose yahrtzeit is this week, seeking his advice and blessings, and to discuss matters of Torah and communal welfare with him. Often, he was in a weakened state and would lie in bed as people spoke to him. Somebody asked him why he gave so much of his time to listen to and answer so many people.

The Chazon Ish replied that if he would have money, he would use it to help people, but since he doesn’t, he is mekayeim the mitzvah of gemillus chassodim in this fashion.

Every person has an obligation to help other people in any way that he can. If he can’t write a check, he can make a call. If he can’t make a call, he can give advice, and if he can’t give advice, at least he can listen and show that someone cares. There are so many needs and so many people with needs that there is bound to be a way that even simple people like us can be of help.

A secular Israeli couple became connected to Torah and decided to move to Bnei Brak, so that they could raise their daughter among religious people. Upon their move, they were faced with a serious problem that many FFBs are regrettably familiar with: No school would accept the girl they gave up so much for. Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach, rosh yeshiva of Ponovezh and leader of Torah Jewry, whose twentieth yahrtzeit is this week, became aware of the problem.

As a student of Avrohom Avinu and as a man whose every step was decided by what the Torah demanded of him to do in that situation, Rav Shach phoned the person who headed Chinuch Atzmai, the religious school system in Israel, and asked for his assistance in getting the girl accepted into the local school. The leader told Rav Shach that he was unable to assist him in his mission. He said that the principal of the school is a very tough woman and he has a very hard time with her. He was sure that should he reach out to her, it would be a wasted effort.

Rav Shach found the woman’s number and called her himself. When she answered the phone, he said, “Hello, this is Leizer Shach calling. I want to speak to you about a fine girl who belongs in your school.”

How would you react if Rav Shach called you with a request?

Not this woman. She turned him down.

“They are baalei teshuvah,” she said. “I can’t take the girl in. The board of parents who oversee me will never permit such a thing.”

Despite her arrogance and obstinacy, the gadol hador continued the conversation. “Please give me their names and phone numbers,” he said.

There were a dozen people waiting outside Rav Shach’s room to enter and speak with him. He had many other pressing issues to deal with, but ensuring that a bas Yisroel had a school to attend was a priority.

He sat at his table and called each parent representative one by one. “Hello, this is Leizer Shach. I am calling to discuss an issue with you…”

He discussed the matter with each parent who was a class representative and resolved the matter. The girl was accepted to the school and Rav Shach kept tabs on her development.

Rav Shach had never met the girl or her parents, yet he felt that the Torah demanded of him that if he could get the girl into the school, he had an obligation to do so. Without concern for his personal dignity and time, he sat by the phone, lobbying the principal and then the individual parents on behalf of the girl. Every ben Yisroel and bas Yisroel is entitled to be in a Torah school, and if he could make that happen, he would. This is demanded not only of a gadol b’Yisroel, but of every person. If you can help someone, in any way, and in any situation, you have an obligation to set aside your own personal considerations and ignore your ego or inherent hesitations, and as uncomfortable as it may be, you must do what you can to help them.

That is the lesson of this week’s parsha and the reason the Torah records the story for Yidden of all times to study it and learn from it. The opportunities for chesed are there. We need to grab them. The opportunity to do other mitzvos also present themselves quite often, but sometimes at a time that we would rather be doing other things that we consider more enjoyable or more pressing. Quite often, the mitzvah is performed in anonymity or without any fanfare, and there is little motivation that by performing it you will be recognized as some kind of hero. But we must do it anyway.

The success of Klal Yisroel and one of the secrets of how we lasted so long and have steadily overcome so many threats to our survival is that there have always been - and still are - good people who, in the dark of night and loneliness of the righteous, forsake much to do what is right and necessary in every situation. Because of such people, communal schools are built, teachers are paid living wages, and children are afforded a proper chinuch. Because of people who place Olam Haba before Olam Hazeh, there are rabbeim and moros in classrooms across the country and around the world this week teaching our children about Avrohom Avinu, as well as Rav Shach, Rav Yehudah Goldberg, and the many other gedolim and simple good people who have helped individual Yidden and Klal Yisroel flourish.

You’ll Get There

 By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz 

At the beginning of this week’s parsha, Hashem tells Avrom to leave his home and birthplace and go to “ha’aretz asher areka - the land that I will show you.” Many reasons are given for why Hashem did not tell Avrom where he was headed. Rashi (Bereishis 12:1) suggests, “Lo gila lo hamakom miyad, Hashem did not initially reveal the land he was headed to, kedei lechaveva be’einov, in order to make it more beloved in his eyes.”

Imagine an elderly couple setting out on a life-transforming, camel-back expedition over hills and valleys, loaded down with their possessions, livestock and followers, and having no idea where they were headed.

Imagine packing up everything you own, getting into a van, and arriving at the highway not knowing whether to go north or south, east or west.

Imagine the conversation as you load your kids into the car.

“Where are we going?”

“We don’t know.”

“How long will it take us to get there?” 

“We don’t know.”

“Is this some kind of a Chol Hamoed trip?”

“No, we are moving.”

“To where?”

“We don’t know. Stop asking so many questions and get into the car.”

“When will we get there?”

“We don’t know.”

“How will we know when we got there?”

“We just will. You’ll see. And when we get there, everything is going to be great.”

Rav Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky, the Steipler Gaon, explains that the depth of the connection that a person feels toward another person or object is directly related to how hard he worked for it. Love is generated through work, exertion, effort and eventual accomplishment. Hakadosh Boruch Hu was telling Avrom to set out and walk that lonely, difficult path. He was telling him that in traveling to the destination, he would find struggle and darkness, but, at the end, the hard work would create tremendous love for the place Hashem would eventually show him.

Avrohom Avinu worked hard for everything he accomplished. It is interesting to note that the Torah introduces us to our patriarch Avrohom and his interaction with Hakadosh Boruch Hu with the commandment to him to leave everything behind and move.

Discovering that the world had a Creator and finding Hakadosh Boruch Hu caused Avrom much enmity. His family was not entirely happy with him, and neither were his former friends and countrymen. He endured attempts on his life, jail and much scorn, mockery and disdain. However, the Torah does not tell us any of that. After telling us his family tree, it presents him to us through “Lech Lecha,” Hashem telling him to uproot himself and travel to a foreign country.

With the Steipler’s explanation, we can understand why. It is because through telling this story, the Torah shows us that being a Yid involves more than mesirus nefesh for Yiddishkeit. The foundation of being a good Yid is to work hard at what we do. When we follow Hashem, when we do a mitzvah, we do it not only with our whole heart, but also with all the energy we can muster.

To succeed in limud haTorah, we must devote our full concentration and energy to it. We can’t sit with a Gemara with our feet up on a reclining chair, sipping a caffè mocha, and expect to grow in Torah.

Chazal tell us (Tana Devei Eliyohu 25) that a person must say to himself, “Mosai yagiu maasai lemaasei avosai Avrohom Yitzchok v’Yaakov? When will my actions equal those of Avrohom Yitzchok and Yaakov?”

The Alter of Kelm explains that Chazal could not be telling us that our ambition should be to live up to their level of action in Torah and avodah, because that is a goal that is impossible to achieve. Rather, the intention of their teaching is that we must work as hard as they did to attain their towering levels, for it is not possible to achieve shleimus in chochmah, yirah and middos without working hard at it.

In the posuk of “Im bechukosai teileichu,” Hashem tells the Bnei Yisroel that if they will follow His commandments, they will be successful. Chazal famously teach that the deeper definition of the words is “shetihiyu ameilim baTorah,” that you must work hard to study the words of the Torah.

Only through hard work and applying yourself fully to the study of Torah can you accomplish anything in the understanding of Torah and how to perform mitzvos. Therefore, Chazal are saying that in order to merit the blessings of “Im bechukosai teileichu,” of following Hashem’s commandments, you must be “ameilim baTorah,” working hard and striving to gain a deep and proper understanding of Torah.

This is the lesson Chazal are saying. We must strive to work as hard as the Avos did. We are not blessed with their abilities and cannot reach their level of understanding and their depth in their performance of mitzvos, but we can work as hard as they did.

The Avos achieved what they did through hard work, as they followed the dictum as later expressed in Iyov (5:7), “Odom l’omol yulad - Man is created to work.” Hashem created us to work. He wants us to use all of our abilities in the study of Torah and performance of mitzvos. Our goal is not necessarily to attain the high levels of the Avos, something that is beyond our reach, but rather to work as hard as they did to get where they got.

We all are endowed by our Creator with the tools we need to accomplish our individual tasks in life, and we are all obligated to use those tools to the maximum. That is what Hashem wants from us, and if we do that, then our “maasim” can be compared to the “maasim” of Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov.

Rav Nissim Karelitz would regularly visit his uncle, the Chazon Ish, in his Bnei Brak apartment. One time, upon his arrival, the Chazon Ish told him that he wanted to go visit his sister and her husband, Rav Nochum Meir, who lived at the other end of Bnei Brak.

The Chazon Ish was very weak, but he said he wanted to go, so they left the apartment together and began the trek. Bnei Brak in those days was a small, underdeveloped village. A short while after they began walking, the Chazon Ish could not go on and sat down on a fallen log to rest. After resting for a few minutes, he got up and they began walking again. After walking a bit, again he was too weak to continue on, so he sat down on a log to rest. This happened several times, until they finally reached their destination.

When they reached his sister’s home, the Chazon Ish turned to Rav Nissim and said, “Do you see that? We made it. Az men geit, kumt men un.” Loosely translated, he was saying, “If you go, then you’ll arrive.”

“Had I not gone,” said the Chazon Ish, “I could have sat in my house for another twenty years without going, but now that I went, I arrived. Yes, I walked slowly and made frequent stops to rest, but in the end, I got here. The main thing is to begin to go.”

In life, many things are difficult and we all go through tough times, days when we feel that we just don’t have the strength to do what we have to. We all have days when we sit down to learn and it just doesn’t go, and days when whatever we try doesn’t work. What separates the great people from the small people and the successful people from those who fail is that the great people give what they are doing their maximum effort in all circumstances.

The Chazon Ish was often weak and bedridden, but his will to learn Torah and perform mitzvos was stronger than any of the physical forces that conspired to hold him down. He arrived to Eretz Yisroel virtually unknown, a sickly person who kept to himself and was ameil baTorah with every fiber of his being. He went on to become most influential as Klal Yisroel’s rebbi and father, because he said, “Mosai yagiu maasai lemaasai avosai Avrohom Yitzchok v’Yaakov.”

A story is often told of two people from a small shtetel who had a financial dispute. They were near Tizmenitz, the city where Rav Meshulom Igra served as rov. Rav Meshulom was known throughout the Jewish world for his genius in Torah and halacha.

The two men went to the gadol hador and presented their issue to him. He listened to both sides and paused to consider how to rule. After giving the issue much thought, he told them that it was too complicated for him to issue an immediate ruling, and that it would take several days for him to study the sugya and be able to rule. 

The two men returned home to their shtetel. They decided that since the great rabbi was stumped, they had nothing to lose by asking their own rov to decide the issue for them.

Upon hearing the issue and realizing the complexities involved, the rov turned pale. He feared that if he would tell them that he didn’t have an idea how to pasken, word would quickly spread in town. The townspeople wouldn’t appreciate the halachic concerns involved. They would quickly conclude that he is an am haaretz and he would be out of a job. He told the disputants that he needed a couple of hours and sent them on their way.

As soon as they left, he began davening. He opened a Tehillim and shed copious tears, begging Hashem to help him find the answer and save his job.

After several hours of davening, he went to his bookshelf and randomly pulled out a dusty old sefer. He opened it to find that his prayers were answered. The author of that obscure teshuvah sefer, which he had never opened before, wrote about the exact situation the two men had discussed and presented his resolution.

Thankful that Hashem had heard his prayers and saved him from certain disgrace and abject poverty, he sent for the two men. He presented the solution to their case and both accepted the rov’s ruling, duly impressed with his scholarship and reasoning abilities.

As promised, they return to Rav Meshulom Igra at the appointed time and date. It wouldn’t have been proper to have him research their case and then not have the decency to show up. Rav Meshulom greeted them and presented his resolution. It was the same conclusion that their rov had reached.

They told the great gaon that they had presented the question to the rov of their tiny shtetel, and within a couple of hours he had produced the same decision. 

Rav Meshulom was in awe. He said to them, “Take me immediately to your rov. He is a halachic giant. I must meet him.”

The two happily escorted Rav Meshulom to their town and brought him to the home of their rov. The rov nearly fainted when he saw the famed gadol at his doorstep. He was even more stunned when Rav Meshulom began heaping praise upon him, announcing, “It is an honor to meet you!”

The rov was confused. “Why do I deserve such honor? I am but a kleiner shtetel rov, a simple rabbi of a small village!”

Rav Meshulom explained that it took him days to resolve a matter that the rov had solved in a few hours. “If you are such a gaon that you can solve that issue so quickly, I had to meet you,” he declared.

The humbled rabbi welcomed the Torah giant into his home and explained what happened. “I cried out to Hashem for hours to help me find the answer and then I went over to the bookcase and min hashomayim, the answer fell into my lap.”

Upon hearing the tale, Rav Meshulom became agitated. “You davened for an answer?” he rebuked him. “You cried? Veinen? Veinen kenen mir aleh. Davenen? Davenen kenen mir aleh! I can also cry. I can also pray.”

He asked for his coat and said he must return home. “I came here searching for a gaon with whom I can speak in learning and I didn’t find one. I shall return to my home and my seforim.”

What Hashem wants from us is to work at it, to study and study and study some more, concentrating as hard as we can when we are learning or doing a mitzvah. Think about what you are doing and don’t think about anything else. Rid yourself of anything that removes your focus and causes you to lose your concentration.

If you want to grow in Torah and mitzvos, it can only be accomplished by giving it all you’ve got. If you want to achieve greatness in Torah or in any other endeavor, you have to couple fervent prayer and emotion with blood, sweat and tears.

If we want it to be real, if we want it to last, if we want to be the best we can be, there are no shortcuts. Whatever it is we are engaged in, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing properly, and if you are not prepared to expending the effort to do it right, then don’t surprised when you don’t succeed.

Rav Meshulom Igra was blessed with a brilliant mind and was a great tzaddik, but he got to be one of the greatest gaonim of his time by working hard, by horeving, by not letting up and devoting everything he had to studying and understanding Torah.

A new zeman is underway now in yeshivos around the world. People are beginning new limudim and new masechtos. Many new beginnings are commencing and it won’t come easy. You won’t understand everything right away. It will take work, and more work, and lots of effort to gain a proper understanding. Don’t give up. Don’t say, “This isn’t for me.” Don’t say, “I can never understand it.” Go it over one time and a second time and a third time. Get rid of all the distractions.

Get there the way the Chazon Ish got to his sister, one step at a time. “Az men geit, kumt men un.” You’ll get there. You can also be great.

“Mosai yagiu maasai lemaasei avosai Avrohom Yitzchok v’Yaakov.” You can be as great as Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov if you believe in yourself, your mission, and your ability to accomplish it.

Get To Work

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

This week we are introduced once again to Noach, the grandfather of all of mankind. The Torah describes him as a “tzaddik tomim,” totally righteous in deed and thought. He lived in a time when all living beings had become corrupt and immoral.

It is interesting that the pesukim (6:11-12) that describe the depraved situation of the world at that time state, “Vatishocheis ha’aretz lifnei Ha’Elokim vatimolei ha’aretz chomos - The world became corrupt before Hashem and was full of thievery. Vayar Hashem es ha’aretz vehinei nishchosah - And Hashem saw the earth and behold it was corrupted.”

The Alter of Kelm points out that the pesukim seem to indicate that although the world had become an awfully sinful place and was totally corrupted, it was only Hashem who saw what was happening. What about all of mankind, who were themselves experiencing the heinous behavior? Were they not aware of what was happening in and to the world? 

We can add that Rashi seems to support the idea that not every person at the time was evil, as he writes (6:13), citing the Medrash, that at a time of promiscuity, destruction is brought to the world and kills the righteous along with the wicked. If there were good people, where were they? Why is there no record in the Torah of people speaking up and attempting to fight the depraved? Why is there no record of anyone heeding Noach’s warning about the impending doom and destruction?

The Alter explained that since the people were living in the midst of the evil, they were not able to discern what was going on.

At first glance, the explanation seems a bit of a stretch, but after thinking about it, you will realize that so is the way of man, and apparently so it has been since the beginning of time. People who are part of a group, or society, or country, don’t grasp the situation around them.

So it was in the time of Noach, so it was in the time leading up to the Churban Bais Hamikdosh and the Holocaust, and so it is now. The nevi’im chastised the Bnei Yisroel and warned them that if they would not improve themselves and their actions, the Tochacha would be realized, the Bais Hamikdosh would be destroyed, and the people would be massacred and driven into exile. Yet, they thought it would never happen. They felt that they were so powerful that no nation would be able to take them down. They couldn’t fathom that the magnificent edifice of the Shechinah would be destroyed and taken from them. They thought that the novi was fantasizing when he told them what would transpire if they would not repent.

When Hitler became chancellor of Germany, he made his agenda known, yet as he advanced towards realizing his goal, and later, as he began swallowing up countries, many people in Europe and around the world did not realize how dangerous the situation was. Of course, we are not judging anyone. We are merely stating the fact that a person often cannot separate himself enough from what is going on around him to be able to perceive the seriousness of the situation.

Our period is no different. We see increasing anti-Semitism in the United States, in Western Europe, and around the world. We see the United States limping with failing leadership, with the forces of socialism and leftist thought on the ascent. We see Iran rapidly gaining influence and about to obtain a nuclear weapon, with nobody doing anything to stop them. We witnessed the disastrous retreat of the United States from Afghanistan. The dishonesty and incompetence of the president and his entire national security team were on full display, portraying for all a nation in decline.

Covid and vaccine mandates have become political weapons. Science plays a decreasing role in how the disease is fought. The American border is wide open, and hundreds of thousands are pouring in here without vetting, as the leftists continue their mad dash to change the makeup of the country. None of the illegal immigrants are checked for Covid or vaccinated, while the heroes battling the epidemic and keeping the country safe lose their jobs if they don’t vaccinate. The hypocrisy and insincerity are apparent, insulting to those who follow the law and take their health seriously.

In America, we see that free speech is no longer free, nor is it considered virtuous. Speech not consistent with the “woke” correctness is punished, curtailed, and cancelled. People are afraid to say and write what they really think, lest they lose their jobs and standing.

Immorality has seeped into virtually every segment of society. Time-honored values are sacrosanct no longer.

Last week, a student spoke before the vice president of the United States, accusing Israel of “ethnic genocide,” among other crimes. The vice president of this country, which has always been supportive of Israel, encouraged the young woman. She said, “I’m glad you [brought this up] … Your truth cannot be suppressed, and it must be heard.”

Nowadays, everyone is entitled to their truth. There is no absolute truth. Whatever you choose to believe is seemingly as valid as what is real and true. And so, all types of movements are springing up, led by liars and charlatans, but it’s their truth, and they are given the same legitimacy as what has been known to be true, proper and effective for thousands of years.

I know that for many, the very thought of climate change and global warming as being promoted by leftists is sacrilegious, but I hope you will forgive me for quoting from the Seforno in this week’s parsha.

The posuk (6:13) states that Hashem said, “Hineni mashchisom es ha’aretz - Behold I will destroy all creatures from the earth.” We know that man and animal, save those that were in the teivah (and Og), were destroyed, but where do we find that the earth was destroyed? Rashi (ibid.) offers an explanation, but listen to what a Rishon, the Seforno, writes on this posuk:

“[What Hashem was telling Noach was that He would destroy every living thing together with the earth.] I will destroy the weather and the air by deviating the axis of the sun, which has been changed ever since the Mabul, as Hashem told Iyov. And therefore, the length of man’s life was shortened immediately following the Mabul, because the weather and the fruits are no longer in their complete state in which they were created…”

Hashem punished mankind by changing the weather pattern. We must hope and pray that the weather is not being changed again now as punishment for the world’s corruption. The way to stop global warming and climate change – if it exists – is not through legislation banning plastic bags and private vehicles, but by returning a moral compass to the world. The very talk about these issues should serve to spur us to do our part to right the world.

When historians trace the downfall of this country, they will point to exactly this time period and record how it began. What is happening is plainly obvious, yet very few take the situation to heart enough to do anything about it.

Following the uplifting days of Elul and Tishrei, we enter the placid month of Mar Cheshvan, uninterrupted by Yomim Tovim and the rise they brought us day after day. The leaves will soon drop from the trees, the air will become cold, and when we wake up to go daven, our path will be covered with slippery frost, literally and figuratively. We are ushered into that period by Noach, who persevered following Hashem’s word. Despite the mocking of the entire world and the chilly reception his message received, he carried on with his mission, undaunted by all the negativity and disapproval of the masses.

Imagine being Noach. For 120 years, he worked on a project to save the world and no one was interested. Instead of accolades, he was mocked and vilified. He was the ultimate cancel culture victim. He couldn’t even get one person to sign up for his life-saving boat ride. How long could we have kept at it, a lone lonely man of faith preaching to the entire world and not even one person paying any serious attention to us?

Yet, the Medrash tells us that Noach never thought of throwing in the towel. In fact, he asked for more time to try to save those very people who were laughing at him and ignoring his message of fidelity and honesty.

No wonder Noach found favor in the eyes of Hashem. He wasn’t a quitter. He didn’t care what anyone said about him. He showed the way for those in later generations who wanted to accomplish something. He demonstrated to never be deterred, never pay attention to the pessimists, never get down, and, most importantly, never give up.

When it feels as if the world is closing in on us, it is easy to raise our hands in defeat and give up. We say, “It’s too hard. It’s impossible. I can’t do it. I can’t afford it. I don’t have the strength. It’s too lonely. I’m not a quitter, but I simply can’t go on.”

But then Elul comes, and as we prepare for the Yomim Noraim, we restore our faith in ourselves and in Hashem. And then the Yomim Tovim arrive, reinforcing the message of hope with overwhelming joy. We start again, a new beginning. We learn Bereishis, about beginning anew, bishvil Yisroel shenikreu reishis. Am Yisroel is all about new beginnings and regeneration. A week passes, and no longer ensconced in the cocoon of the beautiful days of Sukkos and Simchas Torah, we are back in the world, faced once again by the mounting pile of bills and issues we are forced to confront and deal with.

Hashem told Noach to build a “tzohar” in the teivah. Some interpret this as a command to place a window in the teivah to provide light. Others say that it was a light-emitting diamond.

Perhaps we can say that there was a subliminal message in the tzohar: No matter how bleak everything appears, no matter how dark it is outside, never give up hope, for there is always a glimmer of light. Despite all the destruction, life existed and would regenerate and repopulate the world. Despite overwhelming darkness, there is always light.

The Chofetz Chaim would often quote the Gemara that describes the posuk in Eicha (3:6) which states, “Bemachashakim hoshivani kemeisei olam - He thrust me into the darkness as the dead,” as a reference to Talmud Bavli. The Talmud we all study, the Talmud that is the foundation of our lives, is an achievement that emerged in the darkness and gloom of the exile.

It is easy to get pulled down, to stand on the sidelines and shrug our shoulders, agreeing that nothing can be done. We can excuse our inaction by convincing ourselves that even if we were to act, nothing would be accomplished. Noach stands by his teivah and proclaims that this is not true. He reminds us that we must do what we can. Standing up for what is correct, proper and moral is itself an accomplishment. Defending the righteous is the correct course of action, whether or not you prevail.

Thus, the Torah testifies, “Noach ish tzaddik tomim hayah bedorosav.” Although his generation was depraved, Noach stood out as a tzaddik because he wasn’t deterred from his lonesome mission..

Our job is not necessarily to win every battle, but rather to do our best to succeed. We do what we can. We work as hard as we can, to the best of our abilities, in the pursuit of justice and propriety and fulfilling Hashem’s will. The rest is up to Hashem.

We must become astute enough to sense that the world around us is sinking in a morass of immorality, deceit, hate, impropriety and dishonesty. Nothing much is real; everything is a façade, a mirage. But we can’t permit ourselves to be swept along with the times. We can’t just shrug our shoulders and say, “Everyone does it, so I will join the stream.” We mustn’t view ourselves as too weak to withstand the many ever-present temptations. We have to remember and teach our children and anyone who will listen that we are an am kadosh. We are meant to be a holy people, and our lives should be about bringing kedusha into our lives and the world, as well as jettisoning things that cause us to lose kedusha.

Each one of us is a little Noach, fighting to keep our families together in our little teivos, separated from the swamp that seeks to engulf and sink us.

As the world descends increasingly deeper, we each have an obligation and a calling to do what we can to make the world a better place. We can each make a difference if we take our mission seriously. Everything we do affects the world in a spiritual way and also in a physical way. The big things and the little ones. The way we vote really does make a difference. That should be obvious by now to all the good people who thought they had to get Trump out of the way. So does what we read and what we give our children to read. So does the way we drive and the way we treat people - all people. The way we conduct our lives in public and in private matters.

It’s not too late. We can still be like Noach. With a hammer and some nails, we can set out to build and change the world. Let’s get to work.