The Verse states: “And Avram went, as Hashem had spoken to him, and Lot went with him, and Avram was seventy-five years old when he left Charan”. (12:4) The Verse presents some difficulties: 1) Avram had just been ordered by Hashem to pack up and to leave to an unknown destination “And Hashem said to Avram, “Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.” (12:1). It is then obvious that his compliance was based upon Hashem’s order, so why was it necessary to repeat it? 2) It states that “Lot went with him”, and afterwards the Verse spells out “and Avram was seventyfive years old when he left Charan”, what is the correlation between these two information? 3) This Verse does not mention Sarah at all, and only the following Verse reveals that Avram took Sarah and Lot. Sarah being more important than Lot, why was she not mentioned and why Lot deserved to be mentioned? The answer is found in the second Verse: “I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing.” Rashi based on the Midrash explains: “Since travelling is the cause of three things—it decreases (breaks up) family life, it reduces one’s wealth and lessens one’s renown, he therefore needed these three blessings: children, wealth and glory.” Thus, Hashem gave him an additional reward, to be entrusted with the power to bless. When Lot heard those promises, he immediately decided to join in the trip without even confiding with his wife and family. Him being mentioned first teaches us that his motives were for worldly. He realized that he could become successful only through his uncle could as he was entrusted with all the blessings; he had no choice. Besides, Avraham being wealthy and having no heir, he had to be around to get the inheritance. However, Sarah as a woman, got attached to her home and environment and it is a difficult sale to convinced them to undertake a trip to the unknown. Therefore, the Verse states “Avram took his wife Sarai”, hinting it required some convincing. Finally, the Verse intent is to testify that despite those great gifts and promises Hashem had just handed Avraham were not the reason for his immediate acceptance to undertake the trip. Rather, it was because it was Hashem’s will. The Kli Yakar [Ir Goborim] underlines, that Avraham and Lot refer to the two ways Hashem lays in front of each person; the path to Life and the path to death as stated in Parashas Reeh. Both give access to money, family, and glory. However, through the path of life, which is the path of Torah which represents life in this world and the next, they are given as a blessing. Thus, through the path of death they are used as a stick to punish the person for not following Hashem’s precept! It is His world not ours! Here’s a great story that illustrates the power of Divine Blessing: It appeared to be a holiday in the Jewish community of Lumzha. The streets were freshly cleaned, and everyone was dressed in their Shabbos clothing. What was the occasion? One of the most important Torah scholars of the generation was coming for a brief visit, so the entire community was poised at the entrance of the city to greet the esteemed sage, Rabbi Akiva Eiger. A wave of emotion and joy rolled through the waiting crowd when Rabbi Eiger climbed down from his carriage and glanced warmly along the rows of his crowded reception committee. People joyfully called out a cheery Shalom aleichem. For the duration of the great Rabbi’s stay in Lumzha, a long line of petitioners stood in front of the house where he was lodging. Among them were Torah scholars who sought his help in resolving difficulties that arose in their studies, while others came to receive his blessing or advice about matters in their personal lives. One woman, Ettel, burst into copious tears as soon as she entered the famous scholar’s room. She had nine sons, eight of whom were both dedicated and successful in their Torah studies. But she was upset about Moshe-Noach, her fifteen-year-old, who was floundering in the study of Talmud. Nobody could understand why, since he was a clever lad, who did excellently in his secular studies. Rabbi Eiger listened carefully, thought for a few moments and then said, “The greatest authorities in Jewish law have written that one must be exceedingly careful that young children should not taste any forbidden foods, since such foods can dull and coarsen the mind towards Torah.” Ettel was startled at the implication that her son could have eaten something not kosher, but she did her best to keep her face impassive. The rabbi nevertheless picked up on her thought and said gently, “Perhaps it happened once without you knowing it, and that is why he has so much trouble understanding the Gemara.” “What can we do about it then?” asked Ettel, still shocked at the idea. “Let him persevere in toiling in the study of Torah, despite his hardships, and G-d will help him,” responded the great rabbi. Ettel’s husband was disturbed to hear the words of the illustrious Rabbi Akiva Eiger about their son. How could it be? Their children never ate anything other than what they received at home. He immediately summoned Moshe-Noach and questioned him as to whether he had ever eaten anything outside of the house. The lad answered that he never had, but his father insisted that he think about it more thoroughly. Finally, Moshe-Noach remembered that once, many years before when he was much younger, something had happened on Chanukah. He and his friends were returning from school earlier than usual, to be on time for the kindling of the Chanukah lights. When they passed the town hotel, they saw that a wedding was about to take place. One of the family members noticed them and invited them to come in and offered them something to eat. To the best of his memory, he took a bit of chicken-lentil soup. His parents were surprised to hear about the incident, especially after so many years, but they did not see how it explained the puzzling words of Rabbi Eiger. Both the owner of the hotel and the shochet were known to be punctilious in their observance of the kashrus laws and were true G-d-fearing men. Nevertheless, the father was determined to pursue the matter till the end. He hurried over to the hotel and discussed the matter with the owner. The latter willingly took out his old record books to try to identity exactly whose wedding it was that took place on that day of Chanukah years before. It turned out to not be so difficult after all. In the curling pages of a ledger nearly a decade old he found it clearly written that on the 26th of Kislev, the second day of Chanukah, in the year 5566 (1805), was catered the wedding of Yekusiel Alpert — his second marriage. It was also recorded that the groom had paid the entire bill in advance. The father of Moshe-Noach knew Mr. Yekusiel Alpert very well. He was an uncouth man, not exceptionally observant, who lived in a house at the outskirts of town. Nevertheless, this information still did not solve the family’s mystery. The food had been prepared under the control of the hotel, not the married couple. So, the father decided to go next to the house of the shochet. Upon hearing that the matter concerned the wedding of Yekusiel Alpert, the shochet was visibly distressed. “Oy vey!” he cried out. “Once again I have to rake that open wound?!” Moshe-Noach’s father was startled by his words. His ears picked up as the shochet proceeded to supply details. “I erred in the slaughter of the chickens for that wedding. Not that I made any mistakes in the procedures,” he hastened to explain. “But something was very wrong. Only, I didn’t know it at the time. Not until a few days after that wedding. “Walking in the street, I encountered one of the Chassidim of Lumzha, an important member of the Chabad community. As I passed by him, he gave me a hard stare and said, ‘Who would have thought? A respected Jew sells his soul in pursuit of monetary gain! Unbelievable!’ “I was shocked to hear such words directed at me. I stared at him, seeking clarification. He said, ‘We heard that you were the one who slaughtered chickens for the wedding of Alpert. Surely you knew that some of the most important rabbis of our time, including Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, issued a decree forbidding him to remarry until he redid the divorce of his first wife, in which the get, the bill of divorce, turned out to be invalid.’ “My whole body began to tremble involuntarily as the chassid took out of his pocket a copy of the letter from Rabbi Shneur Zalman. It said: “I was astonished and disturbed to hear of this deed which should never be done among Jews, which was done in your domain. How can a divorce be sanctioned if the get is invalid according to the Torah? …Therefore, you must prevent this man from remarrying, Heaven forbid, until the problem is fixed. And if, Heaven protect us, such a wedding should be announced, to decree upon all the shochtim in the area a rabbinical prohibition against slaughtering any animals or fowl. If they should transgress and slaughter, all the meat is to be considered treif and forbidden to eat.” “When I saw that letter with my own eyes,” continued the shochet, “I was beside myself with horror. Even though I had known nothing and heard nothing about the problem with the divorce, I was mortified at having transgressed the instructions of a leading rabbi of our generation. I decided to undergo dozens of fasts, which I did, but I still don’t feel as if I have atoned for my error.” The next day the story spread quickly through Lumzha. Everyone was amazed by both the power of Rabbi Shneur Zalman’s decree, and the acute Divine inspiration of Rabbi Akiva Eiger.

By Rabbi Fridmann * [email protected] * 305.985.3461

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