October 26, 2012/‫י חשון תשע”ג‬
‫בס”ד‬
‫טללי אורות‬
A Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School
Student Publication
Vol II, Issue 2
‫פרשת‬
‫לך לך‬
Shining Stars
Michal Laub
In this week'ʹs parshah, Parshat Lech Lecha, after Avram said to HaShem that He had not given him any offspring, HaShem replied in Perek 15:5, "ʺHabet na hashamaimah uspor hacochavim im tuchal lispor...koh yihiyeh zarecha”, “Gaze now, toward the Heavens, and count the stars if you are able…So shall your offspring be.” A few pesukim later, though, in pasuk 12, the Torah writes, "ʺvayihee HaShemesh lavo vetardemah naphlah al Avram..."ʺ The sun begins to set and Avram drifts off to sleep. It seems from this pasuk that the sun set after HaShem'ʹs promise to Avram about the stars! Accordingly, if HaShem showed Avram the stars during the day when there are no stars in the sky, how do we understand the brachah of "ʺkoh yihiyeh zarecha"ʺ? What did Avram in fact see and how was that a brachah? One approach to understanding Hashem'ʹs brachah is that although initially one may say there are no stars visible during the daytime, there actually is one star clearly present during the day. It is the biggest -­‐‑ and brightest -­‐‑ of them all: the sun. Bnei Yisrael are compared to the sun because even though the sun is a minority among the stars, in that there is only one sun in comparison to the millions of other stars, it brings the most warmth and light to all of the world. The world cannot remain in existence without the presence, efforts and contributions of the sun. Avram'ʹs nation, though small in numbers, has a great effect on the entire world, even to this day. A second way of appreciating Hashem'ʹs brachah is that although one does not see the many stars in the sky during the daytime, nonetheless, they are still there. Those stars are present, but difficult to see, as they seem to blend in with the rest of the bright sky. However, when it starts to get dark, those stars "ʺcome out"ʺ Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls
1650 Palisades Ave, Teaneck, NJ, 07666
201-833-4307
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October 26, 2012/‫תשע”ב‬
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‫בס”ד‬
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and their brightness can be seen. And when it is extremely dark, the stars, which previously seemed invisible, truly shine. They provide light and are a part-­‐‑ if not the main attraction-­‐‑ of a breathtaking heavenly landscape. Correspondingly, Bnei Yisrael are like the stars. During the darkest times in history, when it seemed that the Jewish people would or did disappear into the shadows, the stars of Bnei Yisrael remained intact, shone brightly, provided light, and were a beautiful example for all the world to see and appreciate. And anyone who witnesses the beaut of bright stars on a really dark night will not forget that scene. There is a whole new dimension to the brachah that Avram received from HaShem in the beginning of perek 15, when one realizes that it was said during daylight. Bnei Yisrael reflect the stars in many different ways and it is a multi-­‐‑faceted and very special blessing that allows for all of these facets. The Brachot of Lech Licha
Mairav Linzer
This week’s parsha begins when HaShem blessed Avraham, "ʺ Ve’esacha Legoy Gadol, Va'ʹavarechecha, Va’agdalah shemecha; Vehayah Brachah"ʺ, "ʺAnd I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing"ʺ. How are we to understand the first part of the brachah, that the Jewish nation will be large? Today, our nation is one of the smallest. However, although the numbers of Jews nowadays are miniscule in comparison to the other nations, over time, our numbers are large. If you add up all the Jews from all generations and see how many other nations were destroyed, the number of Jews is large and it is due to our perseverance. We recognize the fulfillment of the next part of brachah, “Va’agdalah shemecha”, “I will make your name great.” Wherever the Jewish nation has been in history, they established good names and reputations. Jews have prospered and contributed to many societies until jealousy overtook these nations and the Jews were forced to flee. It is difficult to comprehend what Avraham received when HaShem blessed him with, “Vehayah Brachah,” "ʺyou shall be a blessing"ʺ. Ramban explained that Avraham will literally be part of a brachah. People in future generations will bless their children to be like Avraham. Not only within the Jewish nation, but even non-­‐‑Jews will bless their children to be like Avraham, since Avraham is their forefather as well. Alternatively, Rashi compared these words, "ʺyou shall be a blessing"ʺ to the words earlier in the pasuk, "ʺ I [Hashem] will bless you"ʺ and noted the difference. Until now, the power to bless was only in HaShem’s hand. Now HaShem was giving Avraham the ability to bless others as well. This power to bless has been transmitted to the entire Jewish nation. We have prevailed as a nation, despite the fact that we have been forced to leave many places. Our resilience over the generations is noteworthy, but we should use this blessing to help others. As Jews, we have the ability to spread the blessing, by helping the rest of the world and by being an, “Or Lagoyim.” Some of this Dvar Torah was adapted from torahportion.wordpress.com
Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls
1650 Palisades Ave, Teaneck, NJ, 07666
201-833-4307
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October 26, 2012/‫י חשון תשע”ג‬
issue, date
The Power of Unity
Tova Sklar
In Parashat Lech Lecha, 12:5, HaShem tells Avraham, “Leave your homeland and go to the land that I will show you.” The Torah states that when Avraham prepared for his journey, he took his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot, all of his possessions, and “haNefesh asher asu be-­‐‑Charan,” “The souls they made in Charan.” The commentators attempt to understand the meaning of this ambiguous phrase. How does one “make” souls? Whose souls are the pasuk referring to? Many mefarshim that interpret the text literally, such as the Radak and the Ibn Ezra, explain the phrase, “Ve-­‐‑et haNefesh asher asu be-­‐‑Charan” to mean “[And Avraham took the] servants and maids that they bought in Charan.” This is the most realistic explanation of the phrase because Avraham’s servants are not mentioned in the list of things he brought. Rabbi Micha Berger agrees with the Radak and Ibn Ezra’s idea that the phrase refers to Avraham’s servants, but believes that since the Torah wrote the word, “nefesh,” and not, “nefashot,” it must be speaking about one person and not many. He explains that instead, “nefesh” refers only to Avraham’s servant Eliezer, and not to all of his servants. In contrast to Radak and the Ibn Ezra, Rash, the Chizkuni, and other midrashic commentators interpret the phrase as, “[And Avraham took] the souls that they converted.” These mefarshim believe that when Avraham and Sarah were in Charan, they introduced the monotheism to the people living there. Rashi says, “Avraham brought the people of Charan under the wings of the Shechina. He would convert the men, and Sarah would convert the women.” The Chizkuni states that Matan Torah began in the time of Avraham. The Chizkuni quotes Targum Onkeles who translates the phrase as, “And the souls which served the Torah in Charan.” Therefore, according to Onkeles, Avraham not only introduced monotheism to the residents of Charan, but also taught them the teachings of the Torah. However Rabbi Micha Berger’s issue with Radak and Ibn Ezra still remains with Rashi and Chizkuni’s perushim: How can the word “nefesh” be referring to many people if it is singular form? In Parshat Vayigash, Yosef reveals himself to his brothers and sends wagons back to his family in Cana’an so they can live in Egypt with him. In 41:17, it states, “Kol haNefesh le-­‐‑beit Ya’akov haBa’ah Mitzrayimah shivim.” “All the souls of Ya’akov’s house who came to Egypt were seventy.” Just like in Lech Lecha, the word “nefesh” refers to many people. To answer this question, Rashi quotes Vayikra Rabbah which states that a few perakim earlier, in Parshat Vayishlach, the Torah talks about the lineage of Eisav. In 36:6, it states the six souls that Eisav had in his family, referring to them as “nafshot beito,” “the souls of his household.” Vayikra Rabbah asks the following: Why does the Torah use the word “nafshot,” a plural word, when speaking about the mere six souls in Eisav’s family but refers to the seventy souls in Ya’akov’s family as “nefesh?” The reason the Torah refers to Ya’akov’s seventy descendants going down to Egypt as a nefesh, a single soul, is because they were all united as one; they all worshipped the same, single G-­‐‑d. Eisav’s descendants were referred to as many souls because they all worshipped different deities and were not unified as one soul Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls
1650 Palisades Ave, Teaneck, NJ, 07666
201-833-4307
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October
2012/‫תשע”ג‬
issue,
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‫בס”ד‬
‫י חשון‬
because their beliefs about G-­‐‑d tore their hearts away from each other. Similarly, the people of Charan that Avraham converted were united as one soul. Avraham introduced them to the concept that there is only one G-­‐‑d that unifies everyone. When Bnei Yisroel were encamped at Har Sinai, Rashi writes that it says, “va-­‐‑yichan,” “And he camped” instead of “vayachanu,” “And they camped,” because Bnei Yisroel were, “ke-­‐‑ish echad be-­‐‑lev echad,” “like one person with one heart.” As mentioned above, the Chizkuni believes that Matan Torah began when Avraham converted the people of Charan. Not only did Avraham introduce the Torah to the people of Charan but he also made them into a nefesh, a single soul, like Bnei Yisroel were at Har Sinai. However, many commentators question this view suggested by Rashi and the Chizkuni. If Avraham and Sarah converted many people in Charan to believe that HaShem runs the universe, where are they now? These converts are not mentioned anywhere in the Torah after Avraham dies. Rav Henoch of Aleksander explains that while the people of Charan were willing to follow in the ways of Avraham, they were unwilling to accept Yitzchak as their leader after him. Through Avraham’s teachings and the hospitality that he and Sarah showed the people of Charan, they learned about the kindnesses and chesed that they should do towards each other. However, Yizchak took a different path when interpreting Judaism. Yitzchak served G-­‐‑d through yira’ah, fearing HaShem. The people of Charan were not interested in taking the next step in their religious development and learn how to serve HaShem through awe. As a result, they returned to their idolatrous ways. Once they did that, they were no longer considered a “nefesh,” a single soul, because they no longer all believed in the same G-­‐‑d. Since they didn’t have their belief in HaShem to unify them as a nation, they disappeared from history. It is important for us to remember that though we are all different from one another through our diverse goals, talents, and hardships, we have the same G-­‐‑d. As long as we believe in HaShem, we will always have the ability to be unified as one nation. The reason the Jews have not died out, unlike all other nations, is because we can come together as one and succeed in whatever we do. We are all united by our emuna and hopefully, we can continue to come together as one nation and bring the Geulah. Shabbat Shalom!
Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls
Faculty Advisor:
Ms. Elana Flaumenhaft
Editor-in-chief:
Temima Kanarfogel
Associate Editor:
Shira Sohn
Layout Editor:
Rachel Klar
Publications Managers:
Leora Brum
Goldi Weiser
Distribution Manager:
Arielle Isaac
Staff Writers:
Hannah Ash
Adina Cohen
Elisheva Cohen
Ilana Karp
Michal Laub
Moreet Levine
Mairav Linzer
Keren Neugroschl
Malka Schnaidman
1650 Palisades Ave, Teaneck, NJ, 07666
Tova Sklar
201-833-4307
Nediva Susman
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