Divrei Torah
Explore insights, tips, and stories from the world of Torah. If I find it interesting, it goes here.
The Naming of Galeid – An Eternal Lesson
Yaakov Avinu fled the house of Lavan, stealing away in the dead of night. Subterfuge was the only hope he had of escaping. Taking advantage of his father-in-law's shearing his sheep three-day's travel away, he created a bit of distance between them. The reprieve,...
What did the Bnei Yisroel do wrong by listening to the Meraglim?
How do we understand what the sin of the Meraglim (spies) was? There was nothing they said which was technically incorrect - so why were they punished for what they said?Iit is similarly difficult to understand what the Jews did wrong by listening to them - after...
The Secret To Yosef’s Success Under Duress, & How We Can Apply That to Our Lives
A Shmuez delivered in Beth Medrash Govoha this past Tammuz by Harav Asher Druk Shlita
The varied symbolism in the two dreams of Yosef, and why the Shevatim hated him for one and were jealous for the other.
The inherent handicap of youth is the inability to see and appreciate long-term consequences.
The two parallel challenges of Golus – friendly rulers, and ones who want to kill us
Hashem will create frightful situations in order to motivate us to return to Him
Thinking we can control things should lead to worry; peace of mind can only be achieved by recognizing things are beyond our control
Why did Hashem tell Lavan not to harm Yaakov, but He gave no such instruction to Eisav?
Why does the Midrash (and Gemara Yoma) choose Eiruv Tavshilin to illustrate the extreme to which Avraham Avinu kept the Torah?
Eisav felt he had no Olam Habah because he regularly was in a Makom Sakanah as an Ish Yodeia Tzayid.
Special Zchus for a child who went off the Derech
Various aspects of Avodas Hashem which are all necessary
Purpose of Reshaim to provide a starker contrast for those trying to do what’s right.
The difference between a father and mother’s responsibility for how their children turn out.
Changes in Teva only occur for spiritually positive reasons.
Which is why it troubled Rivka that she would have a child who was a רשע when the entire pregnancy was בדרך נס.
Interactions with great people and greatness should never leave us unchanged like Lavan.
Why was Yaakov allowed to leave Eretz Yisroel, and when did he need to return?
There is a third reason one is allowed to leave Eretz Yisroel, and that is for Parnassah. It is then quite interesting that as soon as Yosef was born, Yaakov took the opportunity to "settle up" with Lavan, thereby doing away with the third Heter he had to remain in...
Even in instances where deception is warranted, there is no dispensation to tell unnecessary untruths.
What was it Rivkah feared most about Yaakov and Eisav, and how did what Shem told her assuage those fears?
זי האט מורה געהאט פון די אחדות
Why didn’t Rivkah tell Yitzchok what she knew about Eisav?
An interesting point to ponder...
Differences between knowledge borne of tradition and knowledge borne of one’s own own thinking
It is imperative to focus on Chinuch at all times – Avraham did so even while he was on his way to the Akeida.
The Torah isn't coming to tell us just what Avraham was himself able to carry.
Why did Avraham give Avimelech Mussar about the well right when they made a treaty?
Why did Hagar not want to sit next to Yishmael as he was dying?
The link between ציצית and Avraham’s ability to follow Sarah’s direction and send Yishmael away.
עשה דוחה לא תעשה
סעודת ברית מילה
A Malach can do two jobs when one is required for him to do the other.
The Halachic dialouge between Lot and the people of Sedom
Lawlessness with regard to fiscal matters necessitates a special sort judgement from Hashem due to the “outcry” it causes.
Why was Sarah’s reaction of laughter to the news of Yitzchok’s impending birth criticized, while Avraham’s laughter was not?
The praises of Sarah are primarily to denote her incredible purity and innocence.
Sarah sent Hagar away only because her denigration of Sarah was making it impossible for her to accomplish what she had to
The depths of Negiyos – it doesn’t allow one to see their own intentions
What was the relevance of Yitzchok being born to Sarah in her old age to what Eliezer was telling Besuel and Lavan about his Shidduch?
Someone who has a life-altering נס happen to them - and certainly someone whose entire life is due to נס - has a special הנהגה of נס running through his entire life.
How did Lavan know they needed to clear the house of Avodah Zarah for Eliezer to come?
There is a different standard of “trust” one can have for worldly affairs does not suffice for the spiritual.
Avraham bought Mearas HaMachpeila from both Ephron and the Bnei Ches. The former was a traditional real estate transaction, the second was to preclude them from repossessing it in the future using eminent domain
A part of חינוך is to train children that they need to do מצות even through times of יסורים.
אברהם had to ask the מלאך who had no שליחות by him to stop anyway.
According to the רמב”ם the מצוה of הכנסת אורחים is only for travelers; other hospitality is simply חסד.
Two aspects to אברהם’s inviting guests
There is the מצוה of הכנסת אורחים as well as the general הנהגה of חסד which applies even in instances where הכנסת אורחים does not.
Both the external aspect and the internal כוונות of the בנות לוט are reflected in the outcomes of what they did.
The people of סדום were so committed to their רשעות they wouldn’t stop searching for לוט despite having gone blind!
The אנשי סדום used לוט as an example of what might go wrong when they bend their rules for outsiders.
A special sort of tyranny, unfortunately not uncommon.
The most joyous of things are those which come through great challenge
שרה’s wonderment in her having a child wasn’t the issue, it was not recognizing the greatness of אברהם when she expressed it.
Presented without comment
Avraham waited for a ציוי to give himself a ברית מילה because he could not improve on הקב”ה’s handiwork unless He told him to.
Emunah as an emotional concept, and being able to transcend “stability”
The different approaches needed for the relationships man has with the Almighty and with his fellow man.
Why it was not a problem for אברהם to keep שבת.
Differences between the מצות מילה for יצחק and ישמאל and how they were given
Why did אברהם suddenly fall on his face?
אברהם could only be מתפלל for himself and not שרי, since she was an עקרה and that sort of תפלה would be a תפלת שוא
What was it which cemented the בני ישראל’s place as the true progeny of אברהם?
The reason why אברהם didn’t want to benefit at all from the spoils of the war was because it had come to him through השתדלות, and he wanted it to be entirely מלאכתך נעשית על ידי אחרים, as is promised to those who do like רבי שמעון.
אברהם was מוסר נפש to go and partake in the war of the מלכים because it was, at its core, a war against him.
Knowledge does not absolve one of responsibilities/what is required of them מן הדין
What did אברהם mean when he told שרה she should tell the מצריים she was his sister, because otherwise they would kill אברהם, “and allow שרה to live?”
An amazing point he makes here - שרה living life without אברהם at her side was itself inherently dangerous --- for her!.
The way הקב”ה commanded אברהם to leave without first telling him a destination was to make the trip the מצוה itself, not just הכשר מצוה
See also the final paragraph, a similar question is asked by the הפלאה>
What level of אמונה was נח missing that he was called מקטני אמנה, and what is meant by his entering the תיבה מפני מי המבול?
Posting this out of order because I heard it last night from an older Telzer Yid I gave a ride to. The idea of אמונה as the sole motivator for what we do, without any הרכבה of other חשבונות is one which is certainly worth contemplating even not during that week's...
The special characteristic of טל which makes it unique from גשם, and how that relates to אברהם אבינו as a בעל תשובה.
The נשמה יתירה makes a surprise appearance here as well.
What is the fundamental difference between אברהם אבינו and all the other Yidden who have been מוסר נפש throughout the ages?
Additionally, perhaps we can say that the entire reason they were זוכה to be saved על דרך נס was specifically because they had no expectation that they would - or even could - be saved. Will update this post with a related שפת אמת...
Haran negated the Kiddush Hashem Avraham made in Uhr Kasdim, so Avraham had to fix it by saving Lot
Included in that negation was that Nimrod still threw Haran into the furnace despite having just seen how Avraham was miraculously saved. "מכירו ומתכוין למרוד בו" -
The meaning of Nisayon
During times of נסיון, a person only has the "help" of his יראת שמים.
True love for someone includes a desire that others should love them as well.
אברהם's deep אהבת השם meant he wanted others to love הקב"ה as well.
What was Sarah’s complaint to Avraham of חמסי עליך?
Three elements to the Golus Mitzrayim
Calculations to make when doing “extras”
R Yaakov explains why אברהם אבינו didn't do מילה despite being מקיים the entire תורה. Important to note: once the ציווי was given, however, all the correct calculations he had made before went by the wayside, because a ציווי from הקב"ה makes all the other חשבונות...
What is the right nations have to spoils of war?
Rav Yaakov says that was what he was saying here: The מהרי"ל דיסקין writes about it a bit more at length here:
Requirements of מענשליכקייט go beyond just what is expressly written in the תורה.
לוט, like all people, was a complex סוגיא.
Just like תורה has פרד"ס to it, so too do all people.
אברהם saw the split from לוט as a necessary but only utilitarian split, while לוט decided to make a complete split, disavowing the entire שיטה in his move to סדום
Even if מחלוקת necessitates total separation from another, it does not absolve one of his obligations to him.
Even at the cost of אברהם אבינו's entire עולם הבא, which was the very reason he separated from לוט!
Elements of Chaos and Tranquility (being at “rest”) in defining what something is
In Rav Lopiansky's new Sefer on חומש שוב ראיתי that מרן הגרמ"ד הלוי שליט"א brings this from his father:
The דור מבול had no excuse that they were not allowed to partake of the תבלין the תורה is because they were not careful with גזל regardless.
By bypassing the human judicial system, the דור המבול ensured their own destruction.
Judicial punishment is not meant to function as a deterrent.
Youth is not the root of all which is bad.
Still, Rav Hirsch does take care to point out that "The same rule applies in the development of the generations. The younger generation must stand reverently at the grave of the generation that preceded it. It must take a garment and cover the nakedness, the weakness,...
The fundamental elements of mankind
Important thought on Chinuch from Rav Hirsch.
One must lay down all the foundations needed to raise children - especially in a decadent world - in the years prior to marriage and child-rearing.
Symbolism of Noach’s invention of the plow
Property rights can only possibly exist if they are endowed to us by a בורא עולם.
If there was no בורא who decides who gets what, nobody can lay claim to anything more than anyone else.
Noach being saved from the מבול is the foundation for the world going forward.
What was the essential difference between אברהם and נח which set them apart from each other?
Why doesn’t it say וימת in this פרשה while it says וימת in the end of בראשית?
This Rashi has to hold that the מבול was in מרחשון
Question on the Ramban’s פשט on והקמתי את בריתי and a possible answer.
Another possible answer is that the גמרא in חלק tells us that the עורב was one of the three who were משמש in the תיבה. Perhaps the עורב knew this, and therefore he knew that the קיום המין was not dependent on his return. But either he knew that Noach wasn't aware of...
What does “צדיק תמים” mean, and how did that save Noach from dying in the Mabul?
Subscribe