Parashat Chayei Sarah

Everyone likes a good story. After weeks and months of parashiot with little narrative, the legendary tales of Sefer Beraishis are a perennially welcomed transition. We soon forget the litany of seemingly unrelated mitzvos that comprise Ki Teitzei, the catalog of curses that consume Ki Tavo, and the vivacious vocabulary that would bring Ha’azinu to life, if only we could understand what the words meant. But at a certain point, even the storytelling gets a little out of hand. At first glance, Eliezer’s trip to retrieve Rivkah as Avraham’s future daughter-in-law was not only a marvelous success; it was a total breeze. He arrives 16 days early, according to the Midrash, immediately chances upon the right girl, and brings her back to Cana’an the very next day! So how does the Torah turn this rather anticlimactic account into virtually an entire parasha?! If it wasn’t detailed enough – with asides like Eliezer giving water for his men to wash their feet – Eliezer then repeats the entire story, in case we missed anything the first time! Why?

Va’Avo HaYom El Ha’Ayin (Beraishis 24:42)

Va’Avo HaYom, [why does Eliezer need to specifiy that he arrived that day? Rather, Eliezer must mean,] “I left [Avraham’s home] today and I arrived [in Charan] today.” From here we learn that [Eliezer’s] path of travel was contracted. Rabbi Acha said: The chatter of even the forefathers’ slaves is more precious to Hashem that the Torah of his children, the halachos observed by the later generations. Therefore the story of Eliezer spans two or three pages and is doubled, whereas the [halachos of Tumah, which are the] Gufei Torah, the body of Torah law, are contained within a few extra letters here and there.

Rashi, Beraishis 24:42

Rashi, quoting the Midrash Rabbah, explains exactly why the Torah spends so much time on this tangent. But this Rashi still leaves us to wonder why the chatter of the Avadim is so precious. The Midrash apparently proposes that the amount of pasukim devoted to a particular inyan indicates the topic’s relative importance. But why then would we consider the Halachos of Tumah to be the Gufei Torah? Either it is present in the pasukim and thereby bears greater importance, or it is absent from the pasukim and is thereby secondary to the Avadim’s chatter? Furthermore, Rashi’s lashon suggests that it is chatter that is always more valuable than Torah, even when it comes from Avadim, but why would Hashem ever consider chatter more precious than Torah?

Perhaps the strongest question we should ask is on Rashi’s placement of this Midrash. It doesn’t appear at the start of Eliezer’s repetition, nor does it appear at the end, but rather somewhere close to the middle. Rashi seems to be using this pasuk, VaAvo HaYom El Ha’Ayin, to drive home the point of this Midrash, namely that Eliezer’s story was repeated simply because of its value in Hashem’s eyes. But this very pasuk, of all the pasukim in Eliezer’s account, is the one source that suggests exactly the opposite! Rashi says “from here we learn that Eliezer’s path was shortened,” so without this repetitive account, Rashi implies that we never would have known this fact. Eliezer’s story can’t be looked at as a repetition after all; it bears new details, details that did not find their way into the nuances of the Torah’s initial account. Could we argue anymore that Eliezer’s words were repeated out of their relative preciousness?

The Nachalas Ya’akov is also very troubled by Rashi’s placement of this Midrash, but for different reason. If we look in the Midrash Rabbah, we find that this drasha, this inference that the path was shortened for Eliezer’s sake, is not learned out of Eliezer’s report but rather from the initial account. Actually, a closer look into the Midrash shows that the Amora’im themselves weren’t really so certain as to the source of this drasha. It’s a lot easier to describe their confusion by quoting the Midrash:

VaYakam VaYeilech El Aram Nahara’im (Beraishis 24:11)

Rabbi Yitzchak said: This trip took only one day. [The juxtaposition of VaYakam and VaYeilech implies that he left and immediately arrived in Charan.] From where did Rabbi Yitzchak know this? From the pasuk Va’Avo HaYom El HaAyin…

Beraishis Rabbah, 59:11

So where did Rabbi Yitzchak learn Kfitzas HaDerech from? The Nachalas Ya’akov proposes that both paskim serve as valid sources for the limud. However, the author of this Midrash was bothered by Rabbi Yitzchak’s drasha because the Kfitzas HaDerech didn’t seem to serve any significant purpose. Yes, it made Eliezer’s life relatively easier. But the real point of Hashem’s miracles along the way was to ensure that Rivkah would follow him home and her family would consent. When Lavan and Bisu’el hear about all the amazing Nissim performed for Eliezer, all the pleasant coincidences, they exclaim MeiHashem Yatzah HaDAvar, Lo Nuchal LiDabeir Eilechah Rah O’ Tov, and the deal is immediately done. Therefore, we are skeptical as to whether Eliezer traveled a seventeen day journey in only one day, until we can find a source suggesting that Eliezer told over such a miracle to Bissuel.

Perhaps this explains why Eliezer’s story, though precious to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, is only repeated once. When Eliezer returns to Yitzchak, the pasuk relates “VaYisapeir HaEved LiYitzchak Es Kol HaDivarim Asher Asah,” that he told Yitzchak about all the things Hashem did to aide his journey. Why contract the fantastic story into this one short pasuk? But since the miracles occurred for the sole purpose of informing Rivkah’s family, there was no need for the Torah to elaborate a third time; this ‘chatter of the forefather’s servant’ was relatively superfluous.

Our questions on Rashi disappear. The drasha Va’Avo HaYom is indeed repeated, although Rashi says we ‘learn’ from this particular pasuk that Eliezer’s distance was shortened. The Nachalas Ya’akov explains that Rashi chooses this pasuk to elaborate on Eliezer’s long-winded repetition of the story because it is this pasuk that contains the repetition of Hashem’s miracle, the Kfitzas HaDerech. Rashi uses the Midrash to argue that the stories even slaves tell can be more precious in Hashem’s eyes than the Halachos upon which our Torah is built because these stories can help us to recognize the tremendous miracles Hashem is capable of performing. The Anaf Yoseif brings this point out in a beautiful analogy:

Yafah Sichasan Shel Avdei Avos… (Beraishis Rabbah 60:8)

Chas Vishalom the Torah merely came to relate stories, and the breath of those who claim such should evaporate! Rather, the secret behind these stories is: The Malachim are made of fire and dressed in fire, but when they are sent down to this world, they dress in material clothing in order for this world to properly accommodate them. Kal ViChomeir, the Torah, which is above the Malachim, for HaKadosh Baruch Hu peered into it and created Olam Hazeh with the very intent that the world’s inhabitants accommodate it (the Torah), was dressed in a clothing, namely stories that people could understand.

Anaf Yoseif, Beraishis Rabbah 60:8

The Anaf Yoseif here relates a tremendous Yesod. The stories of the Torah contain many lessons and many inferable Halachos and Midos. But there is much more to glean from these tales, more than we can find even in the endless commandments of a Parashat Ki Teitzei, or in the dense discourse of a Parashat Ki Tavo. Here we can see the hand of G-d acting, just as it did in Ma’aseh Beraishis, actively partaking in the unfolding of every plot. We see it most clearly in the chronicles of Beraishis and Noach, and more subtly by the saga of Yoseif and his brothers. And here, where Eliezer relates this most awesome fact, that Hashem truly does control each and every historical plot, the account is repeated. Perhaps we can take this new approach to storytelling and build it into a new way to look at the entire Sefer Beraishis. Let’s begin with the first Rashi in the entire Torah:

Amar Rebbe Yitzchak: Hashem didn’t need to begin the Torah from before HaCHodesh HaZeh Lachem, for that is the first mitzvah commanded to the Bnei Yisrael. Why then did He begin with Beraishis? Because He tells us the power of His actions, Koach Ma’asav Higid LiAmo, for if the other nations shall ever say to Yisrael, “You are bandits! You have unjustly conquered the lands of the seven nations!” Yisrael can reply, “All the land belongs to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, He created it and He gives it to whomever He pleases. It was His will to give it [to the seven nations] and it was His will to take it from them and give it to us.”

Rashi, Beraishis 1:1

There are numerous questions on this Rashi, but let’s focus for now on the two strongest, most basic, questions. Rashi first asks why the Torah doesn’t begin from HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem, putting the significance of 62 perakim of Torah into question. Yet the answer Rashi gives only reveals the purpose behind one pasuk! The Torah should tell us Beraishis Barah Elokim – we’ll know what to answer to the Goyim – and then skip ahead to HaChodesh HaZeh! Futhermore, Rashi acknowledges that we are responding to Goyim, nations that do not recognize the power of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So what good could it possibly do us to tell these nations all about Hashem having created the world, about Hashem’s carte blanche to take and give Eretz Yisrael to deserving nations? Clearly, we are missing Rashi’s point.

Perhaps the key behind Rashi’s argument falls on those very first words He quotes. Why doesn’t the Torah begin with a litany of mitzvos, all those detailed instructions that consume our everyday life, Rashi asks. Why does it begin with chapters and chapters of stories? And the answer? Koach Ma’asav Higid LiAmo, to teach us, His own nation, about His incredible strengths. These stories are what help us stand up to the Goyim, to say that we believe in Hashem’s Kochos, so that when they call us bandits, we will stand our ground, whether or not the Goyim listen to us. The Torah is for us, not Goyim, and whether other nations will ever accept our beliefs, we must never forget what we truly believe in. We believe in the Kochos of Hashem, and we learn of these Kochos through the stories of Beraishis.

It is the storytelling of Beraishis that lends us the strength to accept Hashem’s Torah. Without the recognition of Hashgachah Pratis, without the cognizance of Hashem’s hand through the totality of history, up until our very times, the mitzvos we are instructed to keep and perform lose connection from their very source. It is the storytelling of Beraishis that prepares us for a Yitzeas Mitzrayim and a Mattan Torah in but twelve more weeks, so that weeks from now, we can embrace the statutes of a Parashat Mispatim with open arms and open hearts. And months from now, when we arrive at a pasuk “Binu Shnos Dor VaDor, She’al Avicha ViYagedchah, Zikeinechah ViYomru Lach,” we will understand what value the Shnos Dor VaDor truly hold. Good Shabbos.

Parashat VaYeira

Before resolving to destroy the cities of Sedom and Amora, Hashem first consults his loyal follower Avraham, giving Avraham ample chance to defend the cities. But ultimately, Avraham’s pleas are to no avail, and Sodom and Amora are reduced to rubble. Many wonder, why then did Hashem feel the need to inform Avraham? If there was nothing Avraham could do, what benefit did Hashem foresee in opening Sedom’s fate to discussion?

And Hashem said, “Am I to cover from Avraham what I am about to do [to Sedom and Amora]? Avraham will soon be a great nation, and all nations of the world will be blessed by his name. For I am attracted to him, because he commands his children and household to keep to the Derech Hashem, to do Tzedek and Mishpat, in order [that Hashem] bring on Avraham what He has promised him.”

Beraishis, 18:17-19

Hashem answers our question Himself ever so clearly in these few pasukim. Avraham is seen as a fatherly figure, a Michaneich, not only to his own children and household, but to even the other nations of the world. Even if Sedom and Amora are not deserving of Avraham’s defense, it would simply be improper for Hashem to destroy them without informing Avraham, a leader who has invested so much in even these rotten cities. In just last week’s parasha we witnessed Avraham valiantly risk his life in order to help the kings of these wicked cities. For sure Avraham at least deserves to hear his people’s sentence before it is carried out.

This opinion, however, is clearly not shared by the Mizrachi, who fervently searches for a connection between the stories of Avraham’s three angelic visitors and his defense of the city of Sedom. The Mizrachi notes the syntax of the phrase “ViHashem Amar HaMichaseh Ani MeiAvraham.” We would normally expect to see the pasuk write “VaYomeir Hashem.” Perhaps the intent of the pasuk is to illustrate that Hashem had already resolved to tell Avraham about Sodom’s verdict. In similar vein, we find Chazal infer from the words “ViHashem Pakad Es Sarah” that Sarah had already been remembered prior to the pasuk’s chronological placement (see 21:1, Rashi D”H ViHashem Pakad Es Sarah). However, Hashem decided to wait on telling Avraham until after He sent the three guests; only then would Avraham be fit to defend Sedom and Amora, for he would have proven his care for every individual by performing proper Hachnasas Orchim.

It seems clear from the Mizrachi’s comments that Avraham did not yet deserve to know about the judgment on Sedom until after he took care of the Malachim. But doesn’t Hashem resolve to inform Avraham based on the merits of his future? If Hashem has already reasoned “Ki Yidativ Lima’an Asher Yitzaveh Es Banav” before He even sent the Malachim, then how could the Mizrachi suggest that Avraham was not yet fit to defend Sedom?

Perhaps we can approach Hashem’s reasoning for informing Avraham from an even simpler angle. Hashem puts a lot of emphasis on the Chinuch Avraham performs. The later generations, Avraham’s descendents, will study and learn from their forefather’s actions; therefore, it is important that Avraham teach his descendents that one should never simply accept Hashem’s Midas HaDin, but should always pray for Rachamim, right until the last moment. Whether Avraham is successful in defending Sedom is of little consequence; we still learn the proper fashion by which we should entreat HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and we still learn how to exhibit proper care for other individuals, even individuals like the members of Sedom and Amora.

But we can also learn from the Malachim’s visit, for we see that Avraham could not defend Sedom or Amora until he had welcomed the Malachim into his home and treated them properly. Avraham surely already merited that Hashem inform him about Za’akas Sedom Va’Amora, but his descendants needed to learn what type of man could argue with Hashem on behalf of others. Through the care Avraham shows for the Malachim, we see exactly what type of person has the Pischon Peh to plead with Hashem on behalf of another’s well-being.

But why then begin the parahsa with the Malachim’s visit? If the Mizrachi’s take – how Hashem first resolved to tell Avraham about Sedom and Amora, then sent the Malachim, and then informed Avraham – is the correct progression of our parahsa’s story, why do we begin with VaYeira Eilav Hashem? Shouldn’t we begin with HaMichaseh Ani MeiAvraham, and then Hashem should appear to Avraham and send the Malachim?

Before we attempt to explain the significance of the parasha’s order, we should take note of something a little more subtle, something that bothered the Mizrachi about his own pshat. Analyzing the first Rashi in the parasha, where Rashi explains that Hashem appeared to Avraham in order to be Mivakeir Choleh, the Mizrachi wonders how Rashi knew that Bikur Cholim was the purpose of Hashem’s visit. Couldn’t it have simply been to inform Avraham about Sedom and Amora? Therefore, the Mizrachi asks on himself, Rashi must have believed that Hashem did not first appear with the intention of informing Avraham about Sedom and Amorah.

Although the Mizrachi leaves the question on himself a rather large Tzarich Iyun, the Levush HaOrah comes to his defense. Had the pasuk intended to tell us that Hashem appeared to Avraham to tell him about Sedom and Amora, the pasuk would have read “VaYeira Hashem Eilav,” Hashem appeared to him. “VaYeira Eilav Hashem,” on the other hand, means that Hashem appeared for him, for Avraham’s personal benefit. This cannot refer to Hashem’s need to tell Avraham about Sedom and Amora, for that futile discussion served no direct benefit to Avraham. Although Hashem did appear to Avraham in order to discuss Sedom, Hashem prioritizes the reasons for His visit and first asks about Avraham’s well-being.

Perhaps it is from this very first pasuk that Avraham learns to argue on Sedom’s behalf. Avraham sees how Hashem puts the urgency of Sedom’s cries to the side in order to attend to another’s health and well being, and so Avraham does the same, forgetting about Hashem’s Din and discussing the prospect of Tzadikim in Sedom. What better a pasuk with which to open the parasha that VaYeira Eilav Hashem, for we learn from it that the actions of our forefathers we so often strive to imitate are really the actions of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Before we can discuss the importance and significance of Avraham’s Midos, the parasha details Hashem’s Midos, anchoring all the “Tzedek and Mishpat” we perform to its most perfect source.

Hashem’s words HaMichaseh Ani MaiAvraham is then not an expression of sympathy but rather one of urgency. We can come to emulate the actions of Avraham, but will we ever recognize that we “keep to the Derech Hashem” by doing so? Through the gestures and conversations of parashat VaYeira, we not only learn a few helpful Midos, but we discover that copying the Avos’ actions will teach us how to live our lives more properly, for nobody had a greater mentor than the Avos did.