Torah Teasers
Parshas Vayeitzei
1. All the Meforshim ask, how was Yaakov able to marry two sisters if the Avos kept the Torah even before it was given. One common answer, based on the Ramban, is that the Avos only accepted to keep the Torah in Eretz Yisrael and Yaakov was in Charan at the time. However, we find that the Avos did keep the Torah in most instances, even in Chutz LaAretz, so why was this different? Ans… Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky says that the Kabalah, the commitment was only in Eretz Yisrael. In Chutz LaAretz it was a Chumra. While Yaakov surely wanted to keep the entire Torah, even in Chutz LaAretz, in this case he had promised Rochel that he would marry her. It was only because of Lavan’s deviousness that he married Leah, but he still needed to keep his word to Rochel. While keeping extra Chumros are wonderful, Yaakov was not about to break his promise to Rochel over a Chumra. Without hesitating, Yaakov married Rochel at the first possible opportunity, even while violating a future prohibition.
2. Lavan chases Yaakov and when they meet, Lavan demands his idols back. After searching all the tents and not finding anything, Yaakov says (31:36) “MaPish’i U’Mah Chatosi Ki Dalakta Acharai; What was my sin that you chased me?” What “sin” is Yaakov talking about? Ans…Rav Meir Shapiro explains, Lavan was no match for Yaakov Avinu whose strength was legendary, ever since the first day he set foot in Charan and flicked the boulder off the well. Also, his sons, the Shevatim, were cut in their father’s mold and made a veritable army. Nevertheless, Lavan was ready to go to battle and risk his life. For what? To retrieve his avodah zara. At this point, Yaakov is amazed at Lavan’s Mesiras Nefesh. Questioning his own mesiras nefesh, Yaakov says, “Ma Pish’i U’Mah Chatosi; How great is my own sin… Ki Dalakta Acharai; That you chased me in hot pursuit and were ready to give your life for nonsense, whereas, I have never shown this kind of dedication to my Hashem who is King of the universe!” Rav Chaim Kanievsky answered with this complaint when asked what can Klal Yisrael say when our enemies are ready to commit suicide missions in the name of their god, while we can’t claim the same willingness and dedication. He said that our mesiras nefesh needs to overcome the mighty Yetzer Hara, while in their case, the Yetzer Hara is the one behind them, giving them the strength and fortitude to carry it out.
3. “Vayishak Yaakov L’Rochel Vayisa Es Kolo Vayeivch; Yaakov kissed Rochel and raised his voice and cried.” (Vayeitzei 29:11) The Ben Ish Chai says that in this case, Yaakov did not simply shed emotional tears when he met Rochel, he raised his voice in loud cries. “Adults,” says the Ben Ish Chai, “do their crying quietly, so why did Yaakov make so much noise?” Ans…. He answers that the Medrash says when Yaakov kissed Rochel, he saw the other shepherds whispering behind his back. They were saying that since the Mabul, all the nations refrained from inappropriate behavior and Erva, and now this stranger comes along and starts the whole thing all over again by kissing Rochel in public. When Yaakov heard this he cried very loudly to show them that this kiss was not, Chas V’Shalom, Erva. Had it been so, he would be laughing and acting light hearted. He, therefore, cried loudly to show all of them that this was purely emotional and nothing more.
4. “Vaye’esof Lavan Es Kol Anshei HaMakom Vaya’as Mishteh.” (Vayeitzei 29:22) “Lavan gathered all the people for the long awaited wedding and he made a party.” Why does the Torah tell us he made a party? Is this something new that one makes a party by a wedding? Ans…. The Daas Zikeinim says that the only reason Lavan made a wedding party is because he wanted to get Yaakov drunk in order that he should not realize the scam he had pulled by switching Rochel and Leah. Otherwise the cheapskate Lavan, would not have made one, when he could save the money.
5. Hashem told Yaakov it is time to leave Lavan’s house and go back to Eretz Yisrael. Instead of picking up and going, Yaakov first consults with Rochel and Leah. And if they had said, “No!” would Yaakov not listen to Hashem? Moreover, their answer of, “Halo Nochrios Nechshavnu,” seems irrelevant. Ans….Rav Meir Shapiro answers, “Everyone asks how could Yaakov marry two sisters if he kept the whole Torah? Some say that since Rochel and Leah were considered Geirim and a Ger is like a newborn losing all previous family relationships, therefore, they were not halachically sisters.” After Hashem told Yaakov to go to Eretz Yisrael, he called his wives to that he would not be able to remain married to both of them. Their answer was, “Halo Nochrios Nechshavnu; We are considered like Geirim and are not related, so there is no problem.”
6. Yaakov’s parent’s told him to go to Lavan and find a wife. He did that, but only after a 14 year detour to the Yeshiva of Sheim and Eiver. Why did he stopover for 14 years? Ans…. Rav Elyashiv (Divrei Aggada) says that Yaakov had big plans to carry on the legacy of his forefathers. He would come to Charan, a city of Avodah Zara, and do what Avrohom did. He would call out in Hashem’s name and convince the people to become Baalei Tshuva. On his way, he was robbed by Elifaz and left penniless. Yaakov understood that to be successful in kiruv you need money, because money talks. Avrohom was mikarev people with his very successful hotel and hospitality. After wining and dining the people, he turned them towards Hashem. Without the financial clout, Yaakov knew he didn’t stand a chance in Charan. Yaakov had to forge a new path of kiruv. He would bring people close to Hashem through Torah. To accomplish this he needed new training in the form of Torah learning without stopping even to sleep, for 14 years.

Towards the end of the Six Day War, a talmid chochom met an acquaintance on the street in Yerushalayim – R’ Meir Chodosh, the Mashgiach of Chevron Yeshiva. He asked, how one can develop strong emunah to survive? Rabbi Meir responded with a lengthy answer, which included miraculous stories that occurred to him in his lifetime. He said, “We think that the wondrous miracles we witnessed now during the war will be forgotten, but it’s not true. The miracles, and the impressions they made on us will remain with us. Something of the nekudas emunah will remain in our hearts, and even in the hearts of those who are not religious.”

“Listen to what happened to me tens of years ago in the days of the Russian Revolution. After Czar Nikolai was ousted from power, there was a period of total lawlessness, as one faction after another took control. The streets were filled with stealing, looting, violence, and murder. One of the factions that arose was headed by a man named Petlora; his followers were particularly ruthless, and especially preyed on Jews. Any Jew that ventured into the street was endangering his life, as these ruthless gangsters would murder anyone in cold blood without a second thought. Sadly, many Jews fell into their hands.”

“One day, I had to take care of a pressing matter, and I had no choice but to leave the yeshivah. Shortly after I left, one of these murderers grabbed me, and I understood immediately that there was nothing left for me to do but say vidui. He held on to me and roughly dragged me to the police station. I managed to say vidui five times on the way. As soon as we entered the police station, he stood me next to the wall, and prepared to shoot me. He moved two meters backwards so he could aim his gun, but apparently I still was not standing in his line of vision. However, he did not want to move again and instead screamed at me that I should move and align myself opposite his gun. His screams were blood curdling, and I was truly wanted to listen to him since I had nothing to lose at this point anyway. I knew that these were my last moments on earth, and it made no difference to me if I had to move a few centimeters before my death. The only problem was that my limbs refused to obey me. I was paralyzed from fear and despite my willingness, I could not manage to move even one centimeter. Meanwhile, the murderer continued to screech and curse at me. I thought, ‘No way will I move! You move!'”

During all this screaming, a small window suddenly opened from the next room, and an officer who sat there asked, ‘Why are you screaming so much?’ The murderer answered him, ‘I brought here a Jew to shoot.’ The officer shouted at him and said, ‘Leave him alone, let him go!’ Immediately, the gangster lowered the gun and said, ‘Go’. I went outside and I said to myself, ‘Ribbono Shel Olam, my life was given to me now as a present, like techiyas hameism; I’m like a new creation. I immediately decided to accept on myself many resolutions but on my walk back to yeshivah, I already lost half the resolutions, and by the time I reached yeshiva, only one of my resolutions remained. Two days later, I forgot even that resolution. As more time passed, I forgot everything, and returned to my normal routine.

Seventeen years passed, and I was already in Eretz Yisrael. I was in Chevron Yeshivah in 1929, when the infamous pogrom took place. I was barricaded in a room with sixty other men, women and children. The murderers burst in the room, and were slashing heads, arms, and legs. The screams and moans of the murdered and the murderers together shook heaven and earth. I and my friend, R’ Binyamin, shaking with fright, fell on the floor, and the korbanos, some of them still wavering between life and death, fell on top of us. Eventually, a huge pile of bodies lay on top of us.

R’ Binyamin whispered in my ear, ‘Meir, we need to beg the murderers that they should at least grant us an easy death without torturing us; they shouldn’t cut off our arms and legs, they should suffice with thrusting their knives directly in our hearts!’ I whispered back to him, “Why are you speaking nonsense? Lie down and be quiet! Hope to Hashem!’ He heard me and lay silently, and we lay there until the murderers completed the slaughter and left the area.

We stood up, looked at each other, burst into bitter crying, and hugged and kissed each other in our great emotion of having miraculously survived the slaughter. In the midst of our great horror and sadness intermingled with simcha and gratitude to Hashem on our survival, R’ Binyamin turned to me and expressed his wonder, ‘Meir, when I said that we should beg the murderers to grant us a swift death, I had ample reason to do so. Where did you glean such courage and bitachon to tell me to stop speaking nonsense, lie down and be quiet, and hope to Hashem?! How did you have the koach to say this? Are you truly on such a high madrega?'”

R’ Chodosh continued his story, and told the talmid chacham that he answered him with same explanation he was elaborating on now. “I’m not on a high madrega, but I saw with my own eyes, and it was etched in my memory seventeen years ago, ‘Even if a sharp sword is resting on a person’s neck, he shouldn’t refrain from begging for mercy.’ Do you know where I learned this? I learned this from that incident with the Russian gangster! At the moment that I stood against the wall in front of that murderer, and he screeched at me that I should align myself with the gun, this was a sharp sword against my neck. Hashem had rachamim on me, and that day, I truly absorbed the meaning of this passuk.” (Shaal Avicha Vyigadcha)
Un-Scrabble Me!
AANVL (Rivka’s brother) ANHDI (Leah’s 7th child) ZLU (Original name of city where Yaakov slept)
OTSSEN (Yaakov’s Pillow) UIDADM (Reuvan’s gift to his mother) ILAATFN (Bilha’s second son)

Who Knows One
Q. Where do we find in the Torah a word meaning “Yes?” (The word “ken” appears many times in the Torah, as in “ken b’nos tzeldovros”and “Lo ta’asun ken,” but not with its modern meaning of “Yes.”) Answer: In Bereishes 30:34 Lavan says to Ya’akov: “Hen.” Rashi explain this as “lashon kabalas devarim,” “Yes” in English. This is an Aramaic word which we would have expected Lavan’s sister, Rivka to use in answer to the question of whether or not she was prepared to go.
Q. I have fulfilled a mitzvah d’Rabbanan when I was not yet commanded to fulfill a mitzvah D’oreisah. Therefore, I can no longer fulfill the mitzvah D’Oreisah when I am commanded to fulfill it. How is this possible?
Answer: A minor who became an adult between Pesach and Pesach Sheini (a month later, Iyar 14). In such a case, in the time when the Bais Hamikdosh stood, he is responsible for eating the Pesach offering on Pesach Sheini. But if he was included in the Pesach offering on Pesach itself (and thus fulfilled eating the Pesach offering only on a Rabbinical level), he is exempt from fulfilling it again on Pesach Sheini (even though it would now be a Torah commandment since he is now an adult).
Q. What name is mentioned three times in the Torah, once as a non-Jew, once as a convert, and once as a Jew?
Answer: Re’uel. The first Re’uel mentioned is one of Esav’s sons, who was not Jewish (Bereishes 36:4). The second refers to Yisro, a convert to Judaism (Shemos 2:18, see Rashi 4:18). The third Re’uel is the father of the nasi Elyasaf, prince of sheivet Gad. His name is spelled three times as De’uel, and once as Re’uel (Bamidbar 2:14).

Know Your Gedolim…

Talk the Talk — Walk the Walk

During the first day of Chanukah, two elderly Jewish men were sitting in a wonderful deli frequented almost exclusively by Jews in New York City. They were talking amongst themselves in Yiddish. A Chinese waiter, only one year in New York, came up and in fluent impeccable Yiddish asked them if everything was okay and if they were enjoying the holiday. The Jewish men were dumbfounded. “Where did he ever learn such perfect Yiddish?” they both thought. After they paid the bill they asked the restaurant manager, an old friend of theirs, “Where did our waiter learn such fabulous Yiddish?”
The manager looked around and leaned in so no one else will hear and said… “Shhhh..He thinks we’re teaching him English.”

Shaul Epstein was taking an oral exam applying for his citizenship papers. He was asked to spell “cultivate”. He spelled it correctly.
He was then asked to use the word in a sentence.
He brightened up and said, “Last vinter on a very cold day, I vas vaiting for a bus, but it vas too cultivate, so I took the subvay home.”
The Geula — What to Expect
Eliyahu will make the announcement.
The Navi Malachi says, “Behold, I will send to you Eliyahu the Navi before the arrival of the great and awesome day of G d.”
Eliyahu will appear in order to herald the coming of Moshiach. Some say he will arrive three days prior to the revelation of Moshiach. Others say that he will arrive before the war of Gog and Magog which will precede the arrival of Moshiach.
Regardless, the fact that Eliyahu has not yet appeared doesn’t preclude Moshiach from coming this very moment. If we are found deserving today, Hashem will not delay the Redemption even one extra moment.
Elijah will also serve several other important functions:
1. He will bring peace to the world.
2. He will rectify Israel’s behavior, causing them to do tshuva and return to Hashem.
3. He will ordain rabbonim; a necessary prerequisite to the reestablishment of the Sanhedrin. (To be eligible to serve on the Sanhedrin one needed to be ordained by an individual who can trace the chain of his ordination back to Moshe–who ordained Yehoshua and the seventy zekeinim. Through the course of the golus, this chain has been broken.)
4. He will issue decisions regarding unresolved halachic disputes.
5. He will inform every Jew to which of the twelve shvatim he belongs. (His ability to establish the tribal ancestry of every Jew stems from one of his favorite pastimes–attending every Bris. Who better to recount the lineage of every Jew than someone who was at every Jewish Bris?)
Why Eliyahu and not Moshe Rabeinu?
Eliyahu will herald the Geula for he personifies the essence of the Messianic Era: the culmination of the refinement and elevation of this physical world which we are accomplishing throughout millennia of exile.
An analysis of Eliyahu will explain why, of all the naviim and gedolim, specifically he was chosen to be the bearer of the greatest tidings ever. But why Eliyahu, as opposed to Moshe Rabeinu, our first redeemer?
Regarding Moshe’s birth, the Torah tells us that his mother, Jocheved, “saw him that he was good.” Chazal explain that with Moses’ birth, the entire home was filled with light. On a deeper level, the “home” is a reference to the body, the soul’s domicile. For most people, life is a constant struggle between the soul and its spiritual agenda, and the body and its desires and urges. For such people, life’s challenge is to work on refining the body, until it is in harmony with the soul.
This was not the case with Moshe. Moshe’s neshama was so powerful that despite its descent into a body, its holiness was undimmed; his body couldn’t conceal its light; it was never a match for the intensity of his soul. Moshe’s bodily needs were somewhat irrelevant; his body was merely the vehicle through which his remarkable neshama communicated with this world. This is the inner reason why Jocheved was only pregnant with Moses for six months: his body was never fully developed; only the soul was of prime importance.
Our chachomim tell us that Eliyahu’s mother’s gestation period was a full twelve months! Indeed his body was fully developed — perhaps a tad overdeveloped — and presented a formidable foe for his neshama and its holy agenda. Throughout his entire life, Eliyahu was forced to struggle to achieve a state of spirituality and refinement. His inborn “animalistic” nature is alluded to in his name, Eliyahu, which incredibly has the same numerical value as the word behema (animal)!
Yet Eliyahu wasn’t deterred by the magnitude of the challenge. He persisted in his quest for refinement and succeeded in refining himself–to the extent that his body became sufficiently purified and spiritual that it was able to ascend as-is to the spiritual worlds. Even Moshe was unable to accomplish this feat, because refinement of the body was never his objective. Im Kol Zeh Achakeh Lo B’Chol Yom SheYavo!
­ Halacha Trivia ­
Scheduling a C-Section
Rav Moshe Feinstein was asked (Igros Moshe YD 4:74) if it is permissible to schedule a date for a C-Section delivery for a woman who already had a Cesarean delivery and the Doctor’s did not think she could have a natural delivery.
Rav Moshe says it is not halachicly acceptable to schedule a date and she should wait until she goes into labor before they deliver the baby. He gives three reasons for this. First he says that even if this operation will need to be done eventually at the time of childbirth, still we don’t opt to do any dangerous procedure before it is necessary as the principal of Chayei Sha’a (that every moment of life is precious and must be saved) applies to the case of operations as well.
Secondly, says Rav Moshe, unless there is some danger, it is surely better for the infant in the mother’s womb until nature sends him out. Therefore, we have no permission to take the baby out against its best interest. Lastly, says Rav Moshe, the baby may go against the odds and come out naturally and not need a C-Section after all. Therefore, for these three reasons, it is best not to schedule a C-Section until the baby has run its natural course in the womb. This all of course only applies, says Rav Moshe, if there is no danger to the mother or the baby by its remaining there until the end.

This week’s Torah is B’Zchus: Parents with large families — with each child a shaivet unto himself.
Distributed by the Chevre Marbitz Torah D’NMB

Created By Allen Sherman