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    A Year of Divrei Torah
    A Year of Divrei Torah
    A Year of Divrei Torah
    Ebook119 pages1 hour

    A Year of Divrei Torah

    By Efroni Schlesinger

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    About this ebook

    The idea for this book came from a desire I had to provide anyone who wanted to learn with easily understandable material from the Torah. My solution was to send out an e-mail every week to hundreds of people with interesting information on that weeks parsha (Torah portion). The difficulty was writing material that was simple enough for those who had no prior knowledge of the Parsha to understand while keeping it substantive enough to interest those who already had a deep knowledge. Since last June, there have been a few hundred people each week receiving words of Torah from me; Id say the project was, for the most part, successful. However, I wasnt yet satisfied. The recipients were limited to those who were on my e-mail list, and I didnt feel that reading a two minute dvar Torah once a week was enough. Firstly, I wanted to greatly expand the range of availability of my weekly divrei Torah. The number of people who could read and benefit from a weekly dvar Torah is limitless so I didnt want the availability of interesting and understandable words of Torah to have a limit. By writing this book, Im attempting to do everything in my power to ensure that anyone on any level has something that they can learn from, be fascinated by, and then teach to others. By closing every dvar Torah with a lesson taken from the Parsha, I hope that this book will not only be educationally enriching but morally enriching as well.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherXlibris US
    Release dateApr 17, 2012
    ISBN9781469199832
    A Year of Divrei Torah

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      Book preview

      A Year of Divrei Torah - Efroni Schlesinger

      Contents

      Bereishit

      BEREISHIT

      NOACH

      LECH LECHA

      VAYERA

      CHAYEI SARAH

      TOLDOT

      VAYEITZEI

      VAYISHLACH

      VAYEISHEV

      MIKEITZ

      VAYIGASH

      VAYECHI

      Shemot

      SHEMOT

      VAEIRA

      BO

      BESHALACH

      YITRO

      MISHPATIM

      TRUMA

      TETZAVE

      KI TISA

      VAYAKEL

      PEKUDEI

      Vayikra

      VAYIKRA

      TZAV

      SHMINI

      TAZRIA

      METZORA

      ACHREI MOT

      KEDOSHIM

      EMOR

      BEHAR

      BECHUKOTAI

      Bamidbar

      BAMIDBAR

      NASSO

      BEHA’ALOTCHA

      SHLACH

      KORACH

      CHUKAT

      BALAK

      PINCHAS

      MATOT

      MASEI

      Devarim

      DEVARIM

      VE’ETCHANAN

      EIKEV

      RE’EH

      SHOFTIM

      KI TEITZI

      KI TAVO

      NETZAVIM

      VAYELECH

      HA’AZINU

      V’ZOT HABRACHA

      Bereishit

      BEREISHIT

      I N PARSHAT BEREISHIT Hashem creates Adam and Chava and gives them a clear, explicit commandment not to eat from the tree of knowledge. Not eating from one tree in an entire garden shouldn’t be such a difficult test, but they failed this test miserably.

      Adam and Chava ate from the tree and became aware that they weren’t clothed. They made clothes for themselves then hid from Hashem. He came and rebuked them for violating his commandment then he kicked them out of the Garden of Eden and forced them to work for a living. They now faced such a large punishment, and all they would have had to do to avoid it was to refrain from eating from one tree. Who in their right mind would risk all that they had just for the small pleasure of eating a fruit that they weren’t supposed to eat? How could two people so close to Hashem violate such an easy commandment?

      The truth is that a snake who lived in the garden actually managed to convince them that there was nothing wrong with eating from the tree. When they were first created, snakes could walk and talk as humans could. It was because of the snake that Chava was fooled into thinking that she was allowed to eat from the tree. Once she ate from the tree and nothing happened, she was able to convince her husband to do the same. They were under the impression that they weren’t breaking a commandment of Hashem anymore. They didn’t think they were doing anything wrong. It seems strange though; it’s God’s word against the snake’s. Hashem says something is forbidden and the snake says no, God allowed you to do it. How is it that they completely neglected what Hashem told them and believed the snake?

      Rashi says that Adam and Chava’s downfall was caused by a mistake that Chava made. It was a simple mistake but it precipitated their ultimate downfall. The snake is very tricky and he paid attention to God’s commandment more than Chava did. When the snake attempted to fool her, Chava refused to eat from the tree because Hashem had commanded not to eat from or even touch that tree. Now the snake knew he had an edge. God commanded them only not to eat from the tree. Chava added her own interpretation and prohibition onto what Hashem had said, which diminished the purity of the commandment that came directly from God. The snake then pushed Chava into the tree, and realizing nothing happened when she touched it, she thought she was permitted to eat from the tree as well.

      A basic question can be asked. Chava was just giving herself an extra restriction to put a safeguard around the violation. Isn’t that what the rabbis do for us with all of their rabbinical prohibitions? The answer is simple and important to recognize. Chava’s error was not that she added an extra prohibition; rather it was that she claimed that her addition came from God. It was her belief that God said not to touch it just as he said not to eat from it that caused her to be tricked. Boundaries are important and the restrictions that the rabbis set up have held the Jewish people together for centuries, but it’s crucial to distinguish between what the rabbis implement and what Hashem Himself says. Otherwise, we may face the same fate that Adam and Chava faced.

      NOACH

      I N PARSHAT NOACH we learn about one of Noach’s great qualities that sets him apart from the rest of the people in his generation. Noach teaches us the importance of having faith in people to do the right thing despite man’s inclination to be critical of other people. In other words, Noach gives people the benefit of the doubt and trusts them to do the right thing even though they may not have the best reputation. It’s far more difficult than it seems because it’s not an action that you can force yourself to do or refrain from doing. Judging people favorably is a mindset that you need to develop within yourself. For example, if you are missing an object, it’s very easy to assume that the last person in the room where you left the object stole it and has very little respect for your possessions. We see from Noach that it’s not enough just to refrain from actively blaming the suspect; you need to learn to withhold immediate suspicion of him as well.

      Noach was in a unique situation. He lived in a time when everyone around him openly violated even the worst of prohibitions. They were so bad that Hashem resolved to destroy everyone in the world and restart from Noach. They were so set in their evil ways that even after Noach stood outside his house year in and year out for 40 years warning them to repent or face death, not one single person heeded a word he said. However, Noach refused to give up on them. He truly believed that they would change, and he was willing to press them for 40 years in hopes of changing the people in his time.

      The Torah says that Noach went into the ark because of the flood waters. It seems unnecessary to say this. We’ve known all parsha that he was building the ark because of the flood. Rashi explains what the Torah meant by that statement.

      Rashi says that it was only because the flood waters rose too high for Noach to remain outside that forced him in. He didn’t go in as soon as Hashem commanded him to. Noach intended to wait until the absolute last second to get in the ark. He actually thought that after 40 years of failure, this might be the time that people will listen. Noach risked his safety to give his neighbors every possible chance to change. He trusted that even though they didn’t listen for 40 years, maybe he could still convince them.

      That is the method everyone should use for judging others favorably. Despite their reputation, past wrong doings, or persistence in ignoring their obligation to repent, we should always believe that people will change.

      LECH LECHA

      T HROUGHOUT THE TORAH, the Jews are compared to two separate entities to show just how numerous we are. We are compared to the stars of the heavens and the dust of the earth, two seemingly very different types of matter found in nature. Why does Hashem need to compare us to both, and is there a difference in the circumstances

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