To begin all over again!
5774 Torah Parashiyot
The book of Bereishit (Genesis), which is not merely an account of the beginning, a narration of how it went, but it is the very blueprint for the beginning that G-d Himself, as it were, consulted when He chose to begin the creation. Its letters, their shapes and sounds, and the words and verses that they form, are the very DNA of the world of darkness and light, day and night, rivers and streams and oceans and mountains, livestock and wildlife, fish and fowl, stars and planets, moon and sun, that we live in.
The main purpose of Torah study is to enable one to keep the commandments. These letters are the stuff of our very souls, and to study, to examine, to ponder, to immerse ourselves in the depths of the Torah, is not only an immensely satisfying and gratifying endeavor, but it is part and parcel of the fulfillment of our purpose on this earth....
...to behold G-d's wonders and to praise Him and draw near to Him, B"H.
Four Ideas
First Idea - One must first think about the wonder of G-d's creation. Absolutely nothing existed before G-d created the world.
G-d is concerned with all the world, and He looks into each detail. Not only does He direct the universe as a whole, but He also examines each individual, rewarding or punishing him for every deed.
Second Idea - One also must think about the Torah and its commandments. This obviously means the Written Torah. But it also includes the Oral Torah, which consists of the laws, commandments and rules which were given to Moshe on Mount Sinai, but not actually written in the Torah. These must also be observed.
Third Idea - One must constantly meditate on the commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (VaYikra 19:17). These few words form the basis for the entire Torah.
If a person understands this, he will not envy his more successful neighbor. He will not say, "Why does he have the good luck to become wealthy?" He will not be happy to take another's money, and will not trouble his neighbor to come back again and again to collect money that is owed.
Such an individual will give everyone the benefit of the doubt. If he sees another doing some good that also brings benefit to the doer, eh will not rejudge that it is being done for ulterior motives. Even when there is reason for suspicion, he will not consider it. Instead, he will say, "It is possible that I am mistaken. This person is certainly not doing good so as to show off or gain money. He is not giving charity to gain the praise of others. Everything is being done for the sake of heaven, to fulfill G-d's will."
When a person gives others the benefit of the doubt, then he is given the benefit of the doubt by G-d.
In general, when a person properly fulfills the commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," he will not do to another anything that he would not want done to himself. Through this, he will keep the entire Torah and not sin.
Fourth Idea - A person must constantly meditate on the fact that he is mortal and will eventually die. (Berachot, Chapter 1) He should consider that life eventually ends for all men, rich or poor, young and old. Thus, he will avoid sin, and overcome the evil urge which attempts to lead him astray each day. Contemplating one's mortality is a tested method of destroying the power of the Evil Inclination.
Our Sages also advised that one should make a declaration during his lifetime. When a person is about to die, the Angel of Death tries to make him sin, saying, "If you recite the Shema, I will deal harshly with you and torture you. But if you deny the Torah, I will protect you from all troubles." When a person is near death, his will is weak, and out of fear, he feels obligated to heed the advice of the Angel of Death (who is identified with ha-satan), but if he does so, he loses both this world and the next.
One should therefore make an annual declaration in the presence of ten men, either on the first of the month of Elul, or on the day before Rosh HaShanah. One should not wait until he is sick or on his deathbed, since he may die suddenly or lose the ability to speak. This is the declaration that one should make:
O HaShem, my G-d and G-d of my fathers, great and mighty G-d, in whose hands are the souls and spirits of all creatures: When, after many long years, the time comes for me to pass away, may it be Your will that my mind be clear when my soul leaves my body. May my soul be at ease, and may my mind be healthy and alert. Do not take away my love and fear for You, so that they may remain with me when my soul departs my body.
And if, heaven forbid, it is fitting that I experience pain, suffering, confusion, or loss of my mental faculties at the time of my death, I acknowledge the righteousness of Your judgement. You are just in all that comes upon us, for You have done it, and we have been wicked.
I do not, heaven forbid, deny any commandment of the holy Torah. I do not deny any detail of the rules of Judaism that our Sages have taught, and that we are obligated to keep. I believe with perfect faith that G-d lives and exists for eternity. Besides Him, there never was, and never will be, another. He is trusted to give good reward to the righteous in the World to Come, and to punish the wicked.
I believe with perfect faith that the dead will be resurrected at the time that G-d so wills. He has the power both to kill and to give life. He will also send us the true Mashiach.
May it be Your will, O HaShem, my G-d, and G-d of my fathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, that You protect me from the Evil Inclination, and inscribe me in the book of good life. Give me strength, fortitude and health to serve You, to study Your holy Torah, and to keep Your commandments.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to You, O HaShem, my Rock and Redeemer.
When a person mediates on all this, and makes himself aware of the mortality of men, he will be sure to be adequately prepared when he time comes. When a person goes on a journey, he must make sufficient preparation and be certain to have the necessary supplies. If he does not do so before he leaves, he will not be able to later.
The parashah commentaries provided at this blog are mostly from two major works, Yalkut MeAm Lo'ez (Torah Anathogy) by Yaakov Culi, and Torah Commentary by Rabbi Bachya ben Asher (Bachya). There is anthology of the teachings of the Midrash, Talmud and other major Jewish classics. Included will be pertinent laws, adhering to merely the simple obligations binding on every Jew, from the works of Rambam and Rabbi Yosef Caro's Shulchan Aruch.
There are ten fundamental benefits that you gain from studying these anthologies of the Torah:
- You will be aware of the commandment which you must keep, as well as the sins and prohibitions which must be avoided. There are many things which you might have done without being aware that they are forbidden; and once you learn about them, you will refrain.
- You will have a clear understanding of the miracles that G-d has wrought for our ancestors. There are recorded in Scripture in a highly concise form, often by mere allusion. You might know that Noach was saved from the flood, that Avraham was rescued when Nimrod cast him into the fiery furnace, and that the Reed Sea was split during the Exodus from Egypt; yet, you might have little idea of exactly how these miracles occurred. There are other miracles of which even minor details are not generally known, and there are yet other miracles which are not recorded in the Torah at all. When you read these anthologies, you will be able to visualize all these miracles, just as if you had personally experienced them.
- It is well known that the Torah portion must be reviewed each week, "twice Scripture and once Targum." This means that one must first read the Scripture twice, and then read the Aramaic Targum translation once. Even if the Torah is heard in Synagogue, it must be personally reviewed each week. This rule was legislated so the average person would be able to understand the weekly parashah. In those days, even people who did not understand Hebrew spoke Aramaic as their vernacular. The Targum was given to Moshe on Sinai. It was later forgotten, and then reconstructed by Onkelos, a convert to Judaism, based on the teachings of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. Today, since many people do not understand Hebrew, and Aramaic is even more foreign to them, they are not careful to review the weekly portion. It is obvious that one who understand neither Hebrew, Aramaic, nor Rashi, must read a commentary that he can comprehend. It is advisable to divide the weekly parashah into seven parts, reading one each day. Some should be read in the morning, before business, and the rest in the evening, before bedtime. In the course of a week, each portion is then completed.
- There are many questions that can be asked about each portion in the Torah. There are words that appear superfluous, ideas that seem contradictory, and concepts that are difficult to understand. In every case, you will find satisfactory answers in these anthologies. It is important to realize that Moshe wrote the Torah with very precious ink. Nothing is superfluous, not even the smallest letter.
- In some of these anthologies, especially within Yalkut MeAm Lo'ez, the relationships among the various prophets and kings of Yisrael, the interplay among them, the letters they sent one another, the reasons why some were killed and even the years in which events took place are explained.
- These anthologies are also of great help to businessmen who wish to conduct their affairs according to the standards of the Torah.
- In these anthologies, you will find many anecdotes from the Talmud, Midrash and other Jewish classics. You will learn things that happened since the time of creation, without resorting to secular histories. Many things found in such books are false, and it is forbidden to read them even during the week, and certainly not on the Shabbat and Festivals.
- From these anthologies you will also learn how the Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash) appeared, how the sacrifices were offered, the order of the service recited on Yom Kippur, and the reasons for each detail. Also the order for the daily sacrifice, as well as those offered on Shabbat and Festivals. Although these sacrifices are no longer offered now that the Temple has been destroyed, the Talmudic Sages have taught us that when a person studies the laws of sacrifice in order to understand the Biblical references, it is counted as if he had actually offered the sacrifice. This is a special advantage unique to the laws of sacrifice. If a person studies the laws of Shabbat, it is not counted as if he had observed the Shabbat. There are five types of sacrifice: Olah (burnt offering), Minchah (meal offering), Chatat (sin offering), Asham (guilt/crime offering), and Shelamim (peace offering). When a person studies the Book of Bereishit (Genesis), it is counted as if he sacrificed an Olah. The Book of Shemot (Exodus) is considered like a Minchah; the Book of VaYikra (Leviticus) is like a Chatat; the Book of BaMidbar (Numbers) is like the Asham; and the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) is like a Shelamim. When a person studies all five Books of the Torah, it is counted as if he had brought all the sacrifices. In general, when a person studies the Torah so as to know which laws he must keep, it is considered as if he had observed the entire Torah. This is still true even though there are laws that cannot be kept, or no opportunity to keep them ever arises, since his intent is good. This is true of course, only when it is impossible to actually keep the commandment.
- These anthologies explain the greatness of our holy Torah. All the stories found in the Tanach (Bible), especially in the Torah, are not to be considered as mere legends. In the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said, "Woe is to the man who says that the Torah merely comes to teach us worldly stories and history." One who says this has no portion in the World to Come. If the Torah were a mere history book, we could write better history today. If the Torah had such mundane purpose, how could we recite a blessing, thanking G-d for "choosing us from all nations and giving us His Torah?" Such a blessing is said before and after reading the Torah. Each morning we also recite a blessing to cover what we intend to study that day. Some people do not know anything else, but only read the Bible stories. How is it fitting for them to recite a blessing, if these stories are merely legends? Furthermore, if there is even the slightest error in the writing of a Torah scroll, it is invalid and cannot be used. This is true even if the mistake is in the name of Pharoah or Balaam. For mere stories, what difference would a minor variation make? There is a reason why the Torah uses stories as a vehicle for its teachings. When angels visit the physical world, they disguise themselves as human beings. Thus, when the three angels visited Avraham, he thought they were ordinary wayfarers. He prepared a meal for them, they sat at his table, and Avraham watched them eat. The same was true when Yaakov wrestled with the angel. Angels must clothe themselves in a mundane form, since if they did not, the world could not endure their radiance. If this is true of an angel, how much more so must it be true of the worlds of the Torah, for whose sake heaven and earth were created. When the Torah was given on Mount Sinai, it was therefore necessary that all of its secrets and mysteries be disguised in the form of stories. If the Torah had remained in its true spiritual form, the world could never have accepted it, and the human intellect could never comprehend it. It was for this reason that King David prayed, "Uncover my eyes that I may behold the wonders of Your Torah" (Tehillim 119:18). He was saying, "Master of the universe, open my eyes that I may see the secrets of the Torah which are clothed in the obvious stories found in the Scripture."
- Our Sages teach us, "When a person engages in Torah and deeds of kindness, all of his sins are atoned." (Berachot, Chapter 1) This is based on the verse, "Through love and truth, sin is atoned" (Mishlei 16:6), where the Torah is "love," and kind deeds are "truth." Even though Torah study is highly important, one must also keep the commandments and do good deeds. It is written, "For a commandment is a lamp, and the Torah is light" (Mishlei 6:23). This indicates that without observance of the commandments, study of the Torah is not sufficient. (Zohar, Terumat) The main reason why the Torah must be studied is that the commandments be kept properly. Neither a lamp without a wick, nor a wick without a lamp, is adequate. Each commandment provides the doer with a "lamp," while Torah study gives him a wick so that it will produce light. This is the meaning of the above verse. Our Sages liken one who studies Torah but does not keep the commandments to one who spends much money building a house, but then neglects to install a door. As long as the house remains open, it is little better than an open field.
Torah - Man's True Wealth
G-d, Who is King and Patron of this world, sends souls from heaven to sojourn here in the physical world. Here, they can amass observances and good deeds so as to be worthy of high status in the Future World. The physical body is like the ship which transports the soul, while the Torah reveals the commandments which will be rewarded in the Future World.
G-d, Who is King and Patron of this world, sends souls from heaven to sojourn here in the physical world. Here, they can amass observances and good deeds so as to be worthy of high status in the Future World. The physical body is like the ship which transports the soul, while the Torah reveals the commandments which will be rewarded in the Future World.
The only advantage of the physical world is that it is a place where one can observe G-d's commandments and thus fulfill His will.
There are some people who pursue only physical pleasures, such as eating, drinking, travel and parties. Since they cannot satisfy their desires, they become sick and die.
Others wish to amass fortunes, and these are also never satisfied.
Wise are the people who are masters of their souls. They eat and drink moderately, nourishing themselves so that they have the strength to discover G-d. When they find a rare jewel, they "place it under their tongue" (i.e. like honey and milk, [Torah] lies under your tongue, Shir HaShirim / Song of Songs 4:11). Since they cannot study Torah all the time, they engage in some business, but their intent is to place their money in a safe place, through giving charity and keeping the commandments meticulously. Their only intent in earning money is to have the opportunity and peace of mind to study Torah and to contemplate the Future World.
This is man's true wealth.
- MeAm Lo'ez; Bachya
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Parashat Bereishit
Bereishit [Genesis] 1:1 - 6:8
1:1 In the beginning... (Begin the mastering of your soul here - Parashat Bereishit)
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