Even before he was born!
מאת ר' ש. קאפלין שליט"א
Even before he was born!
The פסוק in בראשית tells us, "אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם, ביום עשות ה' אלקים ארץ ושמים". )ב', ד'( , These are the products of the heavens and the earth when they were created on the day that Hashem made earth and heaven. חז"ל teach us, "אל תקרי אלא ,באברהם"
made many people aware about הקב"ה. But what’s so special and great? He was already destined in שמים to become the אברהם אבינו ? In שמים they already foresaw that he was going to be one of the עמודי העולם! What’s the פשט?
Putting it into practice
The answer is: Of course, אבינו born with gevaldiga כוחות, he had the כוחות to reach the sphitz מדריגות, as חז"ל tell us that after אברהם אבינו passed all his נסי ונות including the final one – עקידת יצחק, it was then when the אברהם מלמטה resembled the אברהם מלמעלה, it was then when אברהם אבינו reached his true potential, as it says in the פסוק "אברהם אברהם", which חז"ל teach us, מלמעלה" reached his potential at the time of the .נסיון העקידה
“And those נסיונות are pivotal parts of our life, what’s going to become of us and how much of our potentials are we going to reach”
בהבראם not
certainly, was
do read it, "בהבראם", but rather read it, "באברהם". The מדרש explains: Already from the beginning of בריאת העולם the צורה – the form, of אברהם אבינו was shown in שמים,
אברהם
the
"אל תקרי בהבראם אלא באברהם", already from the beginning, in שמים they knew about .אברהם אבינו
The question we therefore ask is: What was the great גדלות of אברהם אבינו? In this weeks פרשה we learn about אברהם אבינו who found the רבש"ע, who created the תשובה movement, who was מקרב and
כאברהם
מלמטה
,"אברהם
he
He had the potential, but there was one condition: he had to be bring out those כוחות בפועל – he had to actually put them into practice. How did הקב"ה help אברהם אבינו be מוציא מן הכח אל הפועל his potential? Through נסיונות, only through נסיונות – through challenges can a person then reach his true potential. As the רמב"ן writes regarding the פסוק "אבל ,"והאלקים נסה את אברהם" (כ"ב, א') המנסה יתברך יצוה בו להוציא הדבר מן הכח אל " הפועל, But the tester, הקב"ה, commands to preform, a certain act in order to bring forth the matter of that person’s righteousness from the potential to the actual. Through a נסיון one brings out his potential. As the רמב"ן writes that "נסיון" is מלשון נס – lifted up, because through a נסיון a person is lifted, he becomes higher, he becomes a better person.
Becoming higher
A person must understand that הקב"ה sends him נסיונות to grow, to develop and to become a better person in this world, and it’s only through a נסיון that a person can truly grow. Therefore, אברהם אבינו had his נסיונות, and that enabled him to reach great hights. His צורה was חק וק למעלה – the שמים saw his image from day one, but that doesn’t mean anything, אברהם אבינו could have disappeared from history had he not been עומד in his נסיונות, it was only through all those נסיונות that he reached those great hights, that is what was מוציא his מן ה כח אל הפועל ,כוחות .
Pushing it off
But the נקודה I want to share with you today is an important נקודה which the ספרים tell us.
A person has tremendous כוחות which he can be מוציא מן הכח אל הפועל. If a person isn’t עומד on a נסיון, he shouldn’t think to himself, “in three years’ time I will be עומד in this נסיון…to bring out my כוחות” because those כוחות will get taken away from him.
A person can be given a great נסיון in life which can propel him to a great hight, but if he pushes it off for a “next time”, he should know that he might never have a “next time,” because now he those כוחות – he loses those potentials. He won’t be able to reach those hights again, he won’t be able to be מוציא those כוחות אל הפועל, because those כוחות get taken away from him.
Keep exercising
The ספרים tell us that everything in the spiritual world has a parallel in the
loses
physical world. In the physical world, a muscle, if you exercise it, it becomes stronger, the more you exercise the bigger it becomes, however, if you don’t exercise a muscle, it slowly withers until it has no כח. So too, in the spiritual world, the spiritual כוחות a person has works like a muscle, the more a person is עומד on נסיונות, the more he grows, however, if a person leaves it, it withers away.
This is all built on a מדרש in שיר השירים: The פסוק tells us, "אחות לנו קטנה ושדים אין לה, מה נעשה לאחותינו ביום שידובר בה. אם חומה היא, נבנה עליה טירת כסף, ואם דלת היא, ישראל ,נצור עליה לוח ארז." (ח', ח') desires to cleave to us, the small and the humbled one, but her time of spiritual maturity has not come. What shall we do for our cleaving one on the day the nations plot against her? If her faith and belief are strong as a wall standing incursions from become her fortress and beauty… but if she wavers like a door, succumbing to every alien knock, with fragile cedar panels we then enclose her.
The big day
The מדרש תנחומא פרק ב' teaches: The פסוקים are referring to אברהם .אברהם אבינו
without,
we
shall
אבינו is called מלשון אחדות "אחות" , because he united heaven and earth after the מבול. The מדרש explains, "מה נעשה לאחותינו ביום שיד ובר בה" – What’s going to be with אברהם אבינו on the day "שידובר בה"? what does this day refer to?
Says the מדרש, this refers to the day, "ביום שאמר נמרוד להשליכו לכבשן האש", the day when אברהם had the נסיון whether to bow down to the עבודה זרה of נמרוד, or to be thrown into the כבשן של אש.
Continues the אם חומה היא" ,מדרש " , meaning, "אם נותן עצמו כחומה שהיא עומדת בפני מלחמות הרבה", if he’s strong like a wall, "נבנה עליה טירס כסף" – built on him will be כלל ישראל – he will be the first of the "ואם דלת היא" .אבות , meaning, "ואם דל הוא" – if he’s weak, if he’s not going to be מוסר נפש על קדושת ה', then ,"נצור עליה " לוח אר ז he will wither away and nothing will become of him.
Concludes the מדרש with the next פסוק, אברהם – "אמר אברהם "אני חומה" said, “I will be like a strong wall! I’m not giving in! I’m going to be strong!”
The ספרים explain the מדרש: אברהם אבינו’s test at the time he was tested in front of נמרוד to bow down to the עבודה זרה, this was a test, but not any test, this was an extremely important junction in his life. This was the deciding factor. This moment was going to decide if there would ever become an אברהם אבינו! If he will be strong like a wall – if he will be עומד in this נסיון, this will propel him to great hights, this will bring about כלל "נבנה עליה טירס כסף" ,ישראל – this will make אברהם become one of the אבות הקדושים. But if not, " "נצור עליה לוח אר ז – he will wither, and he won’t be able to reach reached.
This was the deciding factor "ביום שידובר בה". This is very relevant to our lives as well, very often we are confronted with great נסיונות, and those נסיונות are pivotal parts of our life, what’s going to become of us and how much of our potential are we going to reach.
those
hights
he
could
have
Twenty minutes
There is a ראש הכולל in ארץ ישראל called ר' יוסף גיגי שליט"א. This איד grew up in a secular family in טבריה, who kept nothing, he had nothing to do with Yiddishkeit.
The ר' יצחק דוד גראסמאן שליט''א from מגדל עמק came in contact with this family when he visited טבריה and he managed to convince the child to come to his ישיבה in מגדל עמק.
He came to the ישיבה and leant there for three months.
One day, he knocks on ר' יצחק דוד’s door, exclaiming, “Rebbe! I’ve had enough! I’m sorry… but this life is simply not for me… I’m going home…”
Fine, if that’s your decision, then that’s your decision; ר' יצחק דוד would never force anyone to stay in his ישיבה.
“I’m sorry Rebbe…” says the young teenager at the time, “but I haven’t got enough bus fare to get back to טבריה… I’ve not got a penny with me…”
“No problem…” replied ר' יצחק דוד, he pulled out his wallet and gave him the שקלים to return to טבריה.
Just as he started walking to the door, ר' יצחק דוד said the following, “Just do me one little favour… To walk from my house to the bus stop is a twenty-minute walk, do me one favour: in those twenty minutes I want you to think to yourself, “I’m returning now to טבריה to live a secular life…” Think about, “If I go back to טבריה what type of wife am I going to marry? What type of children am I going to have? What type of life am I heading out for, where will I end up!? Whereas, if I stay here in מגדל עמק, what type of wife will I marry? What type of children will I have? What type of life am I going to live!?” Just please think about those thoughts minutes…”
The boy left the room, letting the door shut behind him… twenty minutes later he did not return.
An hour later there was a knock on the door, “I’m staying here in מגדל עמק! I’m not going anywhere else!”
He stayed there, continued to learn, until he moved onto כולל and eventually becoming a ראש הכולל.
Forty years later ר' יוסף גיגי שליט''א was making a בר מצוה for his grandchild and he invited ר' יצחק דוד to join in with the ר' יצחק דוד .שמחה was the only outsider there, everyone else was the משפחה.
He come into the hall, where there were 150 people sitting there.
It was then when he asked ר' יצחק דוד to tell over the story which happened forty years ago.
We can imagine what such a story meant! He stood up there and said the following, “… he made a decision in those twenty minutes… אם דל הוא נצור עליה לוח ארז… if he’s going to be weak what’s going to become?! Those twenty minutes!! That decision impacted his life
during
these
twenty
to such a degree that there are here today in this hall 150 people – אידן בני תורה! This is the power when one is faced with a big נסיון! The impact of the decision is phenomenal… it can be the deciding factor of one’s entire future… it can change the course of history for all of eternity… אמר אברהם "אני חומה"...”
This can be an inspiration for us all. We all have our נסיונות throughout our life. We often tell ourselves, “There will be a future time when I will be עומד in this נסיון…” and the answer we must say to ourselves is: we don’t always get the same נסיון again, and if we don’t receive that נסיון again we will no longer be able to be מוציא our true and full potential מן הכח אל הפועל or we might lose that כח altogether, it’s only through that specific נסיון – through those “twenty minutes” that we can reach such great hights. If we are relaxed in fighting that נסיון, the next נסיון may not be as great, it won’t bring out the same כוחות or those כוחות will disappear, we’ve lost that chance to reach that potential.
Days of old
"אל תאמר writes, קהלת (ז', י') in פסוק The שימים הראשונים היו טובים מאלה כי לא מחכמה Do not say, “How was it ,שאלת על זה." that former times were better than these?” For that is not a question prompted by wisdom.¹
ר' בונם מפרשיסחא זצ"ל would give the following explanation to this "אל :פסוק – תאמר שהימים הראשונים היו טובים מאלה" Don’t say, “When I was young I had much potential!” "כי לא מחכמה" – because the חכמה – the wisdom wasn’t yours, "שאלת", but rather it was borrowed, it was lent to you.
We all have tremendous כוחות, but if we want to do something about it, if we want to bring out our כוחות to the פועל, then we must be מתגבר, we have to be עומד on our נסיונות, because these are our opportunities to really grow and reach our true כוחות.
It’s now, because next time, you may not receive the same נסיון, you may not receive the same נסיון which can bring you to your full potential, it’s now, so make
more
כח
and
much
more
sure
opportunity.
you
grab
onto
each
Going to the maximum
The מסילת ישרים )פרק ד'( writes: People often say to themselves, “ די לנו שלא נהיה מהרשעים הנידונים בגיהנם – I’ll make sure I won’t go to גיהנם… but why do I have to be the greatest "למה נייגע עצמנו בכל !?צדיק כך חסידות ופרישות"?! I will be a simple איד in גן עדן, but do I have to be one of the knackers?! Why do I have to sit in מזרח… I’ll have my small חלק… all will be good…”
He writes there באריכות גדול that this type of thought process only comes from a fool who wants to live an easy life. In עולם הזה we know the constant drive to be on top of others and to be better than others, we know the drive of jealousy. So much of our push in life is to be better than others, when we see somebody growing and we get left behind, it’s a gevaldiga צער which causes a person tremendous pain, and this is only in the עולם השקר – the עולם השפל.
In the עולם הנצחי – in the עולם האמת where everything is clear, we will have a tremendous בושה and tremendous עגמת נפש if we didn’t reach where we could have reached. A person must understand that if he didn’t achieve in life what he could have achieved, לעולם ועד in the next world he would be so embarrassed and jealous of the other people there who used and maximised their כוחות to the fullest, as he writes there, "אך לפחותים ,מאלה שיהא צער גדול לעולם ועד בעולם הבא" a person will suffer in the next world if they didn’t achieve their potential. 1F²
This is what we must remember when we are faced with נסיונות, and remember the ביום שידובר בה" – remember the days which are the deciding factors of our future, opportunities which decide our future – which decide whether we will reach our potentials, am I כדל or am I כחומה?
The punching fight
ר' יצחק דוד גראסמאן brings another story about where he once went collecting to a great גביר. The maid answered the door who told him to go and sit in the lounge. In the lounge there was a screen the size of the entire lounge!
we
encounter
countless
The גביר was standing there watching a boxing match! The boxing match was going in full force, and the גביר was there screaming “Come on! Come on! Go for it! Keep going! Come on! Go for it! Again! Again! Come on!”
For twenty minutes he was standing there waiting, not exactly sure what to do with himself.
Eventually, the game ended, perhaps one of them was knocked out, and the גביר sits down to catch his breath. He then gets the shock of his life when he sees the big ראש ישיבה standing there… rather embarrassing to be seen watching such a match.
ר' יצחק דוד told him, “I can’t thank you enough! You did me such a טובה?!”
Confused, the גביר replies, “What are you talking about?!”
“Now I understand… if you were egging on one of the fighters most probably you paid probably betted on him winning… you’ve invested a lot of money in him…
“Taka…” he גביר nodded, “I’ve invested a lot into this player…”
jumping
up
and
down,
good
money…
you’ve
most
“But tell me something! If he would be on the screen alone punching and fighting, would you be watching!?”
“Of course not!” said the גביר.
“This is why I am thanking you,” continued
,ר'
“now
I
דוד understand… you go through life and you’re punching and fighting… but you’re not just punching and fighting, you’re opponent. That is why it’s interesting. That’s how we are getting somewhere. That is why we are investing a lot of effort! That is why there is something to it!
If there will be nothing to fight in life, life will be empty and we would get nowhere.”
This is the message we are sharing today: The נסיונות a person has bring a person
יצחק
punching
and
fighting
an
to
unimaginable hights! A person is מתרומם
through
gevaldiga
,מדריגות
the
,נסיון
but
we
must
understand, we have to work on the נסיון and we have to conquer it! There is no such thing as pushing off a נסיון if we want to reach great hights!
Don’t think you can float and cruise along and in a few years, you will begin to be עומד on נסיונות… because then it will be too late… you would have lost your chance to be מוציא those כוח ות to the פועל, the יום שידובר בו has passed already.
If you leave it for later on, then לוח ארז – the muscle withers, and one doesn’t reach the hights he could have. Now is the opportunity to reach hights because I may not be able to reach them on a later date.
Let’s take our נסיונות and say to them, “I’m going to smash it! I’m going to be strong like a wall – אני חומה! I’m going to be uplifted through this נסיון, I’m going to reach new hights, this is what הקב"ה is giving me, He is giving me the כח to be מוציא מן הכח אל הפועל!”
Transcribed by Avrohom Dov Kohn – אברהם דוב הכהן כהן
It’s a good פסוק to remember when someone says, “When I was young there was no such thing! In my times we didn’t do this! There was no such behaviour in my days…” Just think of this "אל תאמר שבימים ,פסוק הראשונים היו טובים מאלה" – “Don’t say that the olden days were better than today! "כי לא 6 מכחמה" – It’s not a חכמה to speak like that! Todays’ different! Different נסיונות, different people, different world. It’s a different generation, what are you comparing this generation to that generation for?! It’s no חכמה… They shouldn’t say, “when I was young people didn’t do this…” See תשפ"א 22 פרשת ויקהל פיקודי גליון where we gave another reason why it’s so 7 important and so vital for a person to put in all his כוחות.
