Tag: Breishis

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Breishis/Noach – The Awesome Power of Man

This dvar Torah is dedicated in memory of Dr. Marshal Benner, who passed away right before Yom Kippur. He was among the first people signed up to receive Food for Thought. Yehi Zichro Baruch!


Sixteen hundred and fifty years after the creation of mankind Hashem brought upon them the destruction of the world, with The Flood, in the times of Noah.

The Torah gives us a glimpse as to the extent of the evil perpetrated by the generation at the end of the Torah portion of Breishis and the beginning of the portion of Noach. In perek 6 pasuk 5 the Torah states: “Hashem saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every product of the thoughts of his heart was but evil always.” In pasuk 12, the Torah states, “And G-D saw the earth and behold it was corrupted, for all flesh had corrupted it’s way upon the earth.”
The Agadat Breishis depicts the general sense to what extent the generation was wicked. The Agadat Breishis (1:4) states: “‘Hashem saw the wickedness of man,’ This is what the pasuk means when it says, ‘There is an evil I have observed beneath the sun, and it is prevalent among mankind’ (Koheles 6:1). The Holy One Blessed Be He said, ‘See what these wicked ones have done! When I created them I gave them two assistants, one good and one bad, and they abandoned the good assistant and clung and attached themselves with the bad one.’ How do we know this? For Shlomo said, ‘There was a small town with only a few inhabitants; and a mighty king came upon it and surrounded it, and built great siege works over it” (Koheles 9:14). ‘A small town’ refers to one’s body. ‘A few inhabitants.’ refers to the limbs of the body. ‘And a mighty king came upon it,’ is the evil inclination. ‘And built upon it great siege works over it,’ is because the evil inclination plans to trap man with great traps. ‘Present in the city is a poor wise man who by his wisdom saved the town, yet no one remembered the poor man’ (verse 15 in Koheles chapter 9). This wise man is the good inclination. ‘By his wisdom he saves the town’ for the good inclination directs man towards life. ‘Yet no one remembered the poor man,’ Hashem said that not only does these wicked people not turn the evil inclination into the good inclination, but they make the good inclination into the evil inclination, as it says, ‘And that every product of the thoughts of his heart was but evil always’ (Breishis 6:5).” (Click here for Hebrew text.)

Rav Chaim Palagi in his commentary on this medrish, called Avi HaNachal, explains the last part of this medrish; that in fact Avraham had transformed his evil inclination into good as mentioned in a Talmud Yerushalmi. King Dovid just killed his evil inclination in his heart, but these wicked people in the era of the flood made their good inclination bad. As hinted to in Mishlei (2:14), “who are glad to do evil” with the evil inclination, those “who rejoices in the duplication of evil” when they also convert the good inclination to bad which results in two inclinations for bad. This is also hinted to in Melachi 2:1:, ” whoever makes bad good,” referring also to the good changing into bad… (Click here for 
Hebrew text.)
It appears to be true that man has the power to change his evil inclination into good, or good inclination into bad. Yet these concepts are so esoteric; spiritual forces that Hashem created to help drive a person to live and make free choices in his lifetime; how then does this possibly work? How can we make sense of it? How can any person transform a spiritual being that Hashem created into something else? It makes sense that man can be manipulated by the evil inclination and completely ignore his good inclination, or vice versa, but how can he transform what’s good to bad or what’s bad to good? We see from this concept the awesome greatness and power of mankind endowed in every individual; but how does it work? How is it really possible?
 Rav Yisrael Salanter zt”l in his Iggeres HaMussar defines what exactly are the evil and good inclinations. “…We can apply these 2 categories of sin in order to find compromise between 2 schools of thought, concerning the definition of the evil inclination and good inclination. The first more common view asserts that the evil inclination is the force of impurity in man that induces him to sin. Whereas the good inclination is the force of holiness in man that aspires him to perform good deeds. The second school of thought asserts that the evil inclination is the force of desire that looks to get pleasure from every sweet thing in its time… whereas the good inclination is the straight intellect that looks and gazes towards the inevitable consequences of our deeds, namely, the trepidation of fear of Hashem and His exceedingly horrifying judgments. And he chooses the advantageous way to conquer his desire, so that he will be sated with delight and with wondrous pleasure in the World To Come. The glory of the pleasure is beyond description.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
Rav Yisrael Salanter goes on to assert and to prove that the good and evil inclinations are made up of both schools of thought. The good inclination is both a holy force and one’s straight intellect, whereas the evil inclination is both the forces of impurity and physical desires.
The Etz Yosef on this medrish explains why the big king is considered the evil inclination and the poor wise man is the good inclination. It is because a person before he is born learns the entire Torah in his mother’s womb and is caused to forget it when he comes out, and for 13 years (12 years for a girl) his evil inclination has control over him and when he turns bar mitzvah he has the chance to use his good inclination, but his evil inclination is older by 13 years and it’s a big struggle for his good inclination to be heard.
Based on all this I humbly believe that the medrish discussing the good inclination being transformed to evil, and the Avi HaNachal mentioning that Avraham transformed his evil inclination to good, they are referring to the second school of thought. According to this opinion, Avraham took control of all his senses and physical desires with his great intellect, to the point that all his desires were good, based in fear of Heaven. However, the generation of the flood used their intellect for their physical desires, transforming the good into bad.
We find children with implicitly good natures and other children who are a handful. This could be because the force of impurity or the force of holiness are focused more in some children than others for many different reasons. But a child’s physical desires nurture and grow from the time they are born, along with the capacity to think clearly and maturely, in ways which are deep and profound, which only start to truly take root once they are bar or bas mitzvah. This is the period during which one’s intellect starts to expand and mature, when one can start to handle and develop deep concepts like Fear of Hashem. And if a person takes advantage of his or her newfound gifts to fight off all the physical habits and enjoyments one is used to, then he or she can be victorious in the fight between good and evil. Indeed, if they really master their intellect, then they can destroy evil from inside them or even transform it into good as Avraham did. However, if one never uses or improves on his wisdom or intellect, then the big king, the evil inclination, will not let them see good too easily.

What is worse though is when one actually uses one’s intellect, which was originally made for the potential to do good, for evil. People have the ability and tendency to rationalize and make up great hypotheses and theses, which sound very logical, as to why what is really wrong should be good. But this is all rationalization, lacking fear of Hashem; “Without wisdom there is no fear but without fear there is no wisdom” (Avos 3:17).

A person has the ability to be controlled by all types of physical desires and use his intellect to rationalize that what he is doing is correct; that it is justice, fair, and of moral grounding. Not only that, but he can also philosophize and prove that his way is the right and only way. When this happens, his evil inclination transforms his good inclination into bad. That is what the Agadat Breishis says happened to the generation of the flood.

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Simchas Torah/Breishis – Kavod Shabbos vs. Kavod HaTorah


 On Simchas Torah we conclude the reading of the Torah and immediately start it again with the reading of the seven days of creation in the Torah portion of Breishis. The creation culminates with the Shabbos; yet the obvious question is, why did Hashem rest on the 7th day and declare it a weekly “holiday “ in perpetuity?
 The Medrish Tanchuma in the second paragraph for the portion of Breishis answers this question based on a Shi’iltos di’Rav Achai Gaon, that was added into the medrish, and says that “Jews are obligated to rest on the day of Shabbos for Hashem created the world in six days and rested on Shabbos. He blessed [that day] and sanctified it, just as a person who builds his own house, and upon finishing it would throw a party. They would have a feast commemorating the conclusion of building, so that is what ‘By the seventh day G-D completed His work’ (Breishis 2:2), means. Hashem says you shall rest on Shabbos just as I rested on Shabbos, as it is written, ‘And He rested on the seventh day therefore Hashem blessed etc.’ (Shemos 20:11).” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The medrish goes on to discuss various things we do differently on Shabbos than during the week, for example not fasting, eating and drinking fancier food and drinks to delight on Shabbos, as well as dressing up in fancy, clean clothing. One shouldn’t talk about the same subjects or in the same way as they do during the week; neither shall they walk the same way as they do during the week, for mundane matters. (The Radak in Yeshayahu 58:13 adds that one should even eat his meals at different times than during the week, before or after the normal weekday times).
 The medrish then asks, “However we have to figure out, if a person is going to do a mitzvah, or going to pray, or to learn in the beis medrish, is it permitted to take big steps on Shabbos [as they would during the week]? (Big steps are defined by the Anaf Yosef as more than an amah. A normal step is an amah, meaning a half an amah between each foot when taking a step, and the sole of the foot is about a half an amah as well. An amah is 21.25 inches.) Is a mitzvah better or is honoring Shabbos better?” (The Be’ur Ha’amarim explain the question is, is honoring the Shabbos more important or is kavod HaTorah, honoring the Torah and it’s mitzvos when performing them more important? Meaning, are you considered in violation of the pasuk in Yeshaya 58:13 which says one should walk differently on Shabbos if one’s steps are too big when going to perform a mitzvah, or does it only apply to doing personal tasks?)

The Medrish answers, “Come and listen, for Rebbe Tanchum said in the name of Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi that a person should always run to do any matter of a mitzvah and even if it is on Shabbos. And Rebbe Zeira said that originally when I saw rabbis running to a Torah class on Shabbos, I said to myself that these rabbis are profaning Shabbos. When I heard what Rebbe Tanchum said, I also ran, and I concluded in my learning that the reward for going to a Torah class is in fact for the running.”
The Etz Yosef brings two reasons why the reward in Heaven for going to a Torah class is for running:

  1. According to Rashi, the reward for most people listening to a drasha [speech] from the rabbi is in fact the actual running to the lecture, as most of them cannot follow what he is saying, and even if they can, they won’t be able to repeat the lecture after a short period of time from when they got the reward for learning.
  2.  According to the Maharsha, this is referring to the rabbis who show up but don’t need the shiur, for they already know halacha, but nevertheless they are rewarded for running to the class. (Click here for Hebrew text.)

How could Rebbe Zeira think his fellow rabbis were desecrating Shabbos and what was it that Rebbe Tanchum said which made Rebbe Zeira change his mind so emphatically?

On the one hand we see how respecting Shabbos is so important to the degree that we have to do many things differently, like what we eat and drink, when we eat, how we dress, talk, and even the way we get from one place to the next. They should be different on Shabbos than during the week in order to acknowledge our belief in The Creator and appreciate His handiwork.
On the other hand the importance of respecting Hashem’s Torah can be emphasized by the opening statement of the Medrish Tanchuma on this Torah portion, which is the beginning of the entire book when it says, “’In the beginning G-D created’ this is what the pasuk writes, ‘Hashem with wisdom laid out the foundation of the land’ (Mishley 3:19), and when Hashem created His world, He inquired into the Torah and created the world.” The Torah is the blueprints of creation and handbook for mankind, so in showing honor to the Torah by running to fulfill its mitzvos and learning from it, it does not take away from the sanctity and honor of Shabbos as both are for the purpose of honoring Hashem.

Rebbe Zeira must have understood all this but thought that if the pasuk in Yeshayahu went out of its way to emphasize that one must walk differently on Shabbos, then that must be in all situations. Therefore since performing a mitzvah with alacrity or learning diligently with understanding, or praying with deep intent, suffices to bring honor to the Torah on Shabbos, the speed of travel to begin that mitzvah can be slowed for the sake of honoring the Shabbos, for both can be accomplished. Indeed, it is uniformly a show of respect for Hashem; therefore it must be those rabbi are disrespecting Shabbos by running to do the mitzvah!

However when he heard Rebbe Tanchum’s statement that at all times, even on Shabbos, one should rush to perform mitzvos or listen to Torah being learned, he realized that the ultimate respect to Hashem is in showing one’s interest and passion to hear and perform the “Word of G-D,” even if one does not understand what he is listening to or knows it already and doesn’t gain anything. The rush to acknowledge the importance of listening to Torah and trying to perform His will is the ultimate show of honor to the King Of All Kings and is not a sign of lack of respect to the Shabbos, because it is all one thing, serving Hashem, The Creator Of The World, and showing excitement in performing His will.

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Breishis – Beyond Even the Shadow of a Doubt

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The Pirkei D’Rebbe Eliezer (chapter 12, 20) says that Adam HaRishon was created on Har Hamoriah, the Temple Mount. In chapter 11, the Pirkei D’Rebbe Eliezer says that in the 10th hour of the 6th day of creation, Hashem placed Adam into Gan Eden.

The pasuk in this week’s Torah portion of Breishis states and Rashi comments:

Now Hashem, G-d took the man, and He placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it. (Breishis 2:15) טווַיִּקַּ֛ח יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֑ם וַיַּנִּחֵ֣הוּ בְגַן־עֵ֔דֶן לְעָבְדָ֖הּ וּלְשָׁמְרָֽהּ:
took: He took him with pleasant words and enticed him to enter. — [Gen. Rabbah 16:5] ויקח: לקחו בדברים נאים ופתהו ליכנס:  

 The Gur Aryeh, wondering what it means that Hashem took Adam with words and why He did so, explains that for a person it is not possible to just physically take him or her, since the essence of a person is the fact that he or she is an intellectually thinking organism, and it is not possible to physically take them. For even though one’s body could be taken, one cannot just take one’s mind or intellect. Therefore Rashi explains the word “took” to mean that He took with words, and it therefore makes sense that He took also his mind, meaning with permission, through talking to him. So too, anytime the Torah writes the word “took” in reference to a person, Rashi explains it in this fashion; that he was convinced through words, so that the taking would be with the consent of the person. For the mind is the main essence of a person, and if this is not done then a person really isn’t taken, since the main essence of a person is his or her mind and intellect. 

Based on this Gur Aryeh, it would seem that if a person is captured, he or she is not willfully taken away unless he is convinced to go where he or she was taken, that is why Hashem didn’t just take Adam and place him in Gan Eden, He also told him what He was doing. However, Rashi also says that He had to manipulate, or literally seduce, Adam to enter Gan Eden. The Gur Aryeh asks why Adam had to be enticed to enter Gan Eden? However, he answers that this enticement was just to tell him he is entering Gan Eden; Hashem would not have taken him and brought him into Gan Eden without telling him because it would not be considered him going willfully. (Click here for Hebrew text.)
Wouldn’t you trust your loving father if he told you that you are moving to a new beautiful place? Now what if your father was a very powerful and wealthy king; you would be even more excited about where he was going to take you! All the more so if He is the King of Kings, All Powerful, All Loving, and only does good. Shouldn’t it be then obvious to Adam that Hashem, Master Of The Universe, would bring him to the most delightful place that would be perfect for all his needs and desires? Furthermore, Chaza”l say Adam was created by Hashem already an adult, with not just mature understanding, but on such a level that the angels mistook him as G-D, being that he was literally the son of G-D, formed by Hashem Himself, without any intermediaries helping Him. Hashem had to put him to sleep in order for the angels to realize Adam wasn’t the all-perfect G-D that Hashem is. Someone on such a level with such a relationship with Hashem, why would it need to be spelled out that he was being placed in Gan Eden as if he needed convincing that this is right for him?

It is true that it was very obvious that Hashem would only want and give Adam what would be best for him, and Adam knew that, however Hashem wanted to make sure Adam accepted with crystal clear, authentic clarity what he was getting himself into.

We see from here that there is a difference between the obvious and real clarity.