“A צדיק on yena’s shoulders!”
The contradiction seems פרשת לך לך in רמב"ן However, the רמב"ן The .תוספתא to contradict the "חטאה אמנו בענוי הזה וגם אברהם writes, בהניחו לעשות כן, ושמע ה' אל עניה ונתן לה בן שיהא פרא אדם לענות זרע אברהם ושרה בכל sinned by שרה אמנו Since ,מיני ע נוי" and הגר afflicting did not reject אברהם Hashem
“A צדיק on yena’s shoulders!”
implying therefore listened to the cries of her affliction, and gave to her a son who will cause affliction and pain to the children and grandchildren of אברהם and שרה. According to the תוספתא it seems that the רבש"ע was telling אברהם אבינו that what ש רה אמנו did by sending away הגר was the רצון השם – the right thing to do. However, the רמב"ן seems to imply the inverse, that because of what שרה did, her that he agreed, descendants were punished by receiving suffering and pain from the nation of ישמעאל?
The way it was done In fact, the two ideas work hand in hand. Certainly, as the תוספתא teaches, this was the רצון השם – this was meant to happen. However, even when doing something לשם שמים, there is a way how it works. Since they did the רצון השם in a way of עינוי – in a way which caused הגר pain, the רבש"ע had a תביעה on them, and they were punishment which we are still suffering today.
therefore punished with a
He encouraged her
begins
לך
subsequently, describes, "ויקח אברם את שרי אשתו...", And אברם took his wife שרי. The זוהר הקדוש teaches: "ויקח" implies that she took her with soothing words, he encouraged her to come with him until she was a willing partner in going. True, אברהם אבינו was told to leave his land, his birthplace and the house of his parents. Nevertheless, he didn’t just force his wife to come with him, rather, he soothed her, encouraged her until she
The
commanding
,מארצך..."
פרשה with
"לך the
אבינו
the רבש"ע
אברהם
תורה willingly agreed, and then, only once she agreed to go, did he go. However, later on in the סדרה, according to his אברהם אבינו , מדריגה was פוגם in this ענין . There too, he was keeping the רצון השם, however, it was done in a way which caused pain, which caused agony.
The dust of their feet The גמרא in בבא מ ציעא (פ"ו) teaches regarding the פסוק in פרשת וירא when the מלאכים came to visit "יוקח נא ,אברהם אבינו ) ' מעט מים ורחצו רגליכם" (י"ח, ד , Let some water be brought, please, and wash your feet. " ר' ינאי ,"אמר ר' ינאי בן ר' ישמעאל taught, "וכי בערביים חשדתנו שהם משתחוים ,לאבק רגליהם?! כבר יצאו ממנו ישמעאל" אברהם אבינו insulted them, he ordered them to wash their feet since he accused them as bowing down to the dust on their feet. because of this, ישמעאל was born. Had they been human beings they would have been insulted and hurt. The מהרש"א explains that since אברהם אבינו straight away told them to wash their feet, this would have upset them had they been human beings, and because of this he was punished to have ישמעאל who will antagonize his children. Although this was the דרך to offer people to wash their feet in those days, as we find לבן offered אליעזר to wash his feet even though he knew that אליעזר the servant of אברהם will not serve עבודה זרה . Nevertheless, the fact this was his first statement, had they been human beings they would have been hurt, even though his כונה was completely לשם שמים – not to allow ע בודה זרה into his house.
The final patch We want to try understand, what is exactly the מדה כנגד מדה? Why is the suffering we have from ישמעאל, a מדה כנגד מדה from the fact שרה afflicted הגר and אברהם was פוגם in the כבוד of the ?מלאכים In fact, חז"ל in many places teach us that באחרית הימים we are going to go into גלות ישמעאל . The רמח"ל writes: Although it is known about the four גליות which כלל ישראל suffer, there is yet a final גלות – a fifth גלות, the גלות of ישמעא ל . Regarding the פסוק in the ברית בין הבתרים in this weeks פרשה the מדרש describes, " "אימה חשכה גדלה נפלת עליו that each one of these descriptions refer to one of the four גלות that כלל ישראל will endure, the last word "עליו" – refers to the final גלות of "משום עליהם בן דוד יצמח" ,גלות ישמעל – because through ישמע אל the גאולה will come.
The final גלות – the גלות we find ourselves in today is גלות ישמעאל. The main threat to אידן toady is ישמעאל. Constantly the Arab countries threaten to wipe כלל ישראל off the map. Today, wherever there is a big community of אידן, next door we have the בני ישמעאל. In Manchester we have Cheetham hill. Between Homerton hospital, there are many mosques Wherever we go today we see the Arabs. Certainly, we feel the פחד of גלות ישמעאל together with suffering over the past few decades, terrorist attacks and tremendous pain and anguish from the בני ישמעאל .
In the name of Jihad The ספרים relate: בלעם declared, "או מי יחיה משומו א- ל" , woe is to a nation who will suffer from a nation, where in its name is the word בלעם .א -ל already foresaw בנבואה that כלל ישראל will suffer from ישמעאל – the nation which have the name " א-ל " in their name. Regarding כל ל ישראל the "צירי" is placed under the letter ישמעֵ א ל" – "א" " whereas regarding ישמעא ל the "צירי" is placed under the letter ישמע אל" – "ע" ".
Stamford hill and the full of
ישמעאלים there.
many suicide bombings,
Why have ישמעאל got the רבש"ע’s name in their name? The answer is: Since they antagonise the world בשם השם. They claim they are coming in the name of God. Before they kill innocent people, they scream out in the name of Jihad, in the name of Allah, etc, etc. Their entire מלחמה, they believe without any doubt that they are fighting . לשם שמים However, this is the reason the " " is under the letter "ע" and not under the letter "אל" , they believe they are coming in the name of Hashem, however, little do they know that the " " is under the letter "ע". They make their רצון into the רצון השם. What they want, they claim is what הקב"ה wants, however, truthfully, they have nothing in common with the name "אל". This is also why the Arabs would bow down to the dust of their feet, since the dust of one’s feet symbolise the place he wants to go to, they therefore bow down to the dust on their feet, basically, making their feet – their way of life, into the ר צון השם . This is the way of ישמעאל – they make their רצון – a רצון which causes other people pain, into רצון השם claiming that this is what the רבש"ע wants.
The tit for tat With this we can understand the מדה כנגד אברהם אבינו .מדה on his מדריג ה was פוגם in this area. He was פוגם in somebody else, . לשם שמים ישמעאל is therefore מ דה כנגד מדה , they too will cause us grief and pain, claiming it’s all לשם שמים, they will cause untold misery in the name of Hashem. When we look at such דברי חז"ל, this should give us some חיזוק in the words of חז"ל which were written 2000 years ago about באחרית הימים what will happen with גלות ישמעאל . 100 years ago, nobody would have dreamt to see the world as it is today. 100 years ago the United Arab Emirates was a desolate desert with a few huts along the way. Today the Arabs have power, they have wealth, they have weapons. It would have been impossible to imagine such a turnabout.
Trust Hashem We therefore arise with the following question: What is taka the עבודה we must do to encounter the גלות ישמעאל? Firstly, the רמח"ל in his ספר עץ הדעת writes: The final גל ות of גלות ישמעאל will be extremely difficult, and therefore its name is ישמעאל, because כלל ישראל are going to cry to such a degree because of their ואז ישמעם א-ל ויענם" ,צרות " – and then Hashem will hear their תפילות and answer them. They will want to wipe us out – off the map. Continues the רמח" ל : Our עבודה is to have אמונה וביטחון in the רבש"ע, that’s the way to counter the Arab threat. We shouldn’t therefore ח"ו look at this peace treaty as being the השתלות , rather we must only trust in הקב"ה.
Rectify the mistake There is yet another עבודה which we can put into practice to counter גלות ישמעאל . If the פגם which brought about גלות ישמעאל was through doing something לשם שמים on yena’s חשבון – affecting somebody else, obviously, the way to rectify this, is to be cautious in the very same thing. There is no such thing as doing something לשם שמים, if it hurts somebody or affects somebody. We can’t do our מצוות and at the same time bulldoze anything around us. This is not the way of תורה. Often, we get so carried away with our עבודת ה' we begin to disregard other people’s feelings.
The quick שמו"ע The חתם סופר was the Rov of Pressburg. As it’s well known, the חתם סופר would daven long שמונה עשרה’s. It would take him half an hour. When he was young, his friends would tease him, “By the time you finish your שמו"ע we can complete six פרי מגדים’s!” He would respond, “ "כל המאריך בתפילתו, מאריכין לו " ימים ושנותיו –I will therefore have many more years remaining to make up that time of "ביטול תורה"!” Near Pressburg there is a small village called Yergen. Every few months, the חתם סופר would travel to this town for a little holiday, i.e. to learn for a few days without being disturbed, to recharge himself. A businessman from Pressburg was once traveling back from work. It was getting late, so he stopped off in Yergen to daven מנחה. To his surprise he finds the חתם סופר in the same minyan. It wasn’t just that which surprised him, it was then when he saw the חתם סופר daven a 3-minute שמו"ע which really surprised him!” He began to think to himself, “Ah the חתם סופר is one of those... in Pressburg he does a 30-minute שמו"ע… but here no one is watching him so…” His curiosity did not leave, so he went over to the חתם סופר for an explanation. Explained the חתם סופר : “It’s very simple. I daven a 30-minute שמו"ע, true. But when I come to Yergen, the Rov here davens a 4-minute שמו"ע. If I am going to daven a 30-minute שמו"ע when I daven here, the people of Yergen perhaps will no longer respect their Rov! I don’t daven שמו"ע but rather say "הביננו"! I rush my הביננו to make sure to say it in 3-minutes before the Rov finishes his שמו"ע!” In order not to disrespect the כבוד of the Rov he davened a shorter version of שמו"ע. It’s not only about ones own עבודה and ones own תפילה, it’s also about taking other people into consideration when doings something לשם שמים.
He gave up everything מרע"ה at first didn’t want to take כלל ישראל out from מצרים since he was afraid of upsetting his older brother אהרן who wasn’t given the mission! He was going to give up everything in order not to offend his brother אהרן (only once הקב"ה assured him that א הרן will not be upset, did he go).
The heavy מחזור The story is told about the town of Pressburg where they used on יום כיפור a very big and heavy מ חזור , known as the דרך חיים מחזור . There were those people there who liked to stand the entire day of יום כיפור; a very חשוב'ע ר thing indeed. There was this man who had been standing and holding his heavy מחזור all day. Eventually, by the time he came to מנ חה every part of his body was aching. When it came to the "על חטא" of מנחה, indeed it was difficult trying to bend over, balance the מחזור in one hand whilst his glasses were falling down his nose… Suddenly, a brainwave hit him. The person in front of him too had his back bent forward; a moridiker עצה: he put his מחזור on yena’s back! About this story, the saying has become, “A צדיק on yena’s shoulders!” It doesn’t work, you cannot be פוגם the כבוד of yena with your רוחניות; this is the way to bring an end to גלות ישמעאל.
The giant and midget ר' שלום שבדרן זצ"ל writes about a giant who came to visit ארץ ישראל. As he arrived, he sees a midget, immediately he takes the opportunity to do a מצוה, he picks the midget up and shakes it all over like a לולב whilst saying the ברכה of !"משנה הבריות" Often, we do מצוות בכונה – לשם שמים , however, at the same time we are torturing yena – causing another person pain and embarrassment.
תכנת שבת and אתה יצרת It once happened when I davened שחרית on חול ומועד in מחזיקי הד ת . When it came to leining, there was nobody going up to lein; so they asked me to lein. Knowing it wasn’t too difficult I decided to lein. Whilst leining I made a mistake and before I could even correct myself somebody from the back screamed out the mistake on top of his lungs! After davening, a איד comes over to me and tells me, “You know… it was me who screamed out…Why was I the first person to scream out…?” He related to me the following story: ר' שלום שבדרן זצ"ל was once walking through ירושלים on שבת ראש חודש when it began to pour, he was getting drenched. Instead of walking to his usual שול, he went to the שול closest to him. “Who in ירושלים doesn’t know me and how nicely I daven?” thought ר' שלום,
“I’m sure they will offer me to daven שחרית with הלל for the עמוד.” However, it comes to שחרי ת and the גבאי gives the עמוד to somebody else! “Ah…” thought ר' שלום, “They most probably want to give me כהן or מפטיר with מוסף…” It came to כהן and then again, the גבאי calls somebody else! “Ohh! ב"ה I’m getting מפטי ר with ”… מוסף However, to ר' שלום’s disappointment, the גבאי calls somebody else up for מפטיר! A real פלא! ר' שלום is certain, “Okay… I’m sure he will still offer me מוסף…” After אב הרחמים the גבאי looks around to see if anyone is interested in davening מוסף… nobody offers… so without any choice the גבאי himself goes up to daven for the עמוד ! “What a חוצפה!!” thought ר' שלום, “He saw me davening here… he knows I’m a ”.בעל תפיל ה Then he thinks to himself, “What’s going on with me? What’s happening to me? Why are my having such thoughts?” Immediately, he says to himself, “I’m מוחל him בלב שלום!!”
During חזרת הש"ץ after קדושה the גבאי starts with "תכנת שבת", who was the first person to scream out "אתה יצרת"?! “It was me ר' שלום שבדרן זצ"ל !” said ר' שלום. Continued this man to me after שחרית, “I am a בעל קורא… I was the one to scream out the mistake first…” He was hurt, “Why didn’t you let me lein? I’m a professional בעל קורא!!” Not always do we even have כונה לשם !שמים
Coming into the house We must make ourselves used to this concept. Certainly we want to shteig, we want to have יראת שמים and we want to be ע ובד הקב"ה the right way. However, we must take into account everyone around us. When you come into your room late at night you don’t have to wake up your roommates! When coming into your house after learning on ליל שישי , the entire house doesn’t have to wake up.
The man before סליחות As ר' של ום זצ"ל would tell the story about the man who woke up on first night סליחות, his alarm clock wakes up the whole block of flats… he runs down the stairs possible… he slams the front door behind him… he runs into סליחות… quickly puts on his טלית whilst hitting about ten people around him… We must constantly be aware what is around us – who our actions affect. With this, we can אי"ה in our little way be מתקן the חטא for גלות ישמעאל, by taking into consideration the people around us.
making the biggest noise
Transcribed by Avrohom Dov Kohn – אברהם דוב הכהן כהן
All mistakes, omissions and errors are mine.
