Chaya Sara
Oct 28, 2021
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Parshat Chaya Sara ends
by talking about Yishmael:
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“And these are the years
of the life of Yishmael: one hundred
years and thirty years and seven years; and he expired
and died and was gathered to his people.”
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And it ends with:
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עַל־פְּנֵ֥י
כָל־אֶחָ֖יו
נָפָֽל
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Most translate this as “before
all his brothers he dwelt.”
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Why does the Chumash
use the word ‘Nafal’ for dwelt?
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Rashi explains that the blessing
that Hashem gave to Hagar meant that Yishmael’s
descendants would be so numerous that they would have to
expand beyond their own borders into those of their brothers.
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The Baal HaTurim has a very interesting explanation for
this pussuk.
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He places it in the context of
the very next possuk, the first possuk of Parshat Toldos.
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וְאֵ֛לֶּה
תּֽוֹלְדֹ֥ת
יִצְחָ֖ק
בֶּן־אַבְרָהָ֑ם
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“These are the generations of
Yitzchak son of Avraham.”
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The Baal HaTurim says that these two phrases are placed next
to each other to teach that when Yishmael
will fall at the end of days, then the son of Dovid, who is descended
from Yitzchak, will arise.
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So the Baal HaTurim is saying it refers to the conflict between
the Arabs and the Jews that will be intense before
the final redemption.
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And that it’s alluding to the
fact that towards the end of days, the Arabs will become very powerful,
but will ultimately fall as the redemption comes with the coming of Moshiach, and that the Jewish people will prevail.
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Relating to this, I want to
share with you an amazing chiddush of my wife
Miriam.
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Last year I was learning Mishnayos in a small group over Zoom
with Rabbi Myers.
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The Mishna in Bechoros 9a says: A firstborn donkey
you shall redeem with a lamb.
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This comes from the Chumash
in Parshat Bo, 13:13 that says
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וְכָל־פֶּ֤טֶר
חֲמֹר֙ תִּפְדֶּ֣ה
בְשֶׂ֔ה
וְאִם־לֹ֥א
תִפְדֶּ֖ה
וַֽעֲרַפְתּ֑וֹ
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And every firstborn donkey
you shall redeem with a lamb, and if you do not redeem the donkey,
you should chop off it’s head
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After our learning, I asked
Miriam, what could this possibly mean, what could he Chumash be
telling us.
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She said, it’s obvious.
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Who is referred to as a donkey? Yishmael.
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It says at the end of Lech
Lecha:
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וְה֤וּא
יִֽהְיֶה֙
פֶּ֣רֶא
אָדָ֔ם
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And he, referring to Yismael, will be a wild donkey of a man.
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And, for example in Tanchuma, Toldos 5
and Esther Rabbah 2:13 says, ‘the Jewish People are like a solitary
sheep surrounded by 70 wolves’.
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So the Peter Chamor is re-enacting what Hashem did
with Yishmael and Yitzchak.
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Yishmael is the firstborn
donkey.
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Hashem redeemed the donkey
with a sheep, namely Yitzchak, transferring the Kiddushah and First-born status from
the donkey to the sheep.
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And the message to Yishmael is, don’t feel bad that you
lost your status.
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Because if I, Hashem, hadn’t
done that, I would have had to chop off his head.
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As if that isn’t enough, Miriam
has another Chidush about Arabs.
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She asks, why are Arabs called
Arabs?
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The word Arab means ‘mixed’,
as in Meurav.
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How are Arabs ‘mixed’?
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Yishmael descends on his
mother – Hagar’s side – from Noach’s son Cham.
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And he descends on his
father – Avraham’ side – from Shem.
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Cham represents heat, and Shem,
especially as it was exhibited by Avraham and his descendants,
represents Kiddushah.
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So Yishmael
is a mixture of heat and kiddushah, he has a wild,
hot, holiness.
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Can you think of a better
description of the Arabs?
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In addtion
I want to contribute a riddle.
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What brocha
do we make where we ask Hashem to confuse the Arabs.
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It’s the first Brocha of Maariv davening.
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We say, Baruch Atta Hashem, Maariv
Aravim.
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Recognizing that we are in a struggle
with the Arabs, we are asking – at least as a second meaning – for Hashem
to confuse the Arabs.
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The Gemorah
in Brochas 48b talks about the
different paragraphs of Birchat Hamazon.
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It says that the 2nd
paragraph of Benching that has to do with Eretz Yisrael, must
mention 2 things – Bris Milah and Limud and Kiyum Hatorah.
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Regarding Brish
Milah Rashi says the following:
·
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The blessing of the land comes as a result
of the bris that was given to Avraham in the Parsha of Milah,
“And I will give you and your descendants the land to dwell in’
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And regarding
Limud Hatorah, Rashi says:
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Also because of the Zchus of Torah and Mitzvot do we merit inheriting
the land, as it says in Devorim 8:1
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כָּל־הַמִּצְוָ֗ה
אֲשֶׁ֨ר
אָֽנֹכִ֧י
מְצַוְּךָ֛
הַיּ֖וֹם
תִּשְׁמְר֣וּן
לַֽעֲשׂ֑וֹת
לְמַ֨עַן
תִּֽחְי֜וּן
וּרְבִיתֶ֗ם
וּבָאתֶם֙
וִֽירִשְׁתֶּ֣ם
אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ
אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּ֥ע
יְהֹוָ֖ה
לַֽאֲבֹֽתֵיכֶֽם:
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Every commandment that I command you
this day you shall keep to do, that you may live and multiply,
and come and possess the land that Hasehem swore to your
forefathers.
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Rashi is saying the Zchus of living in Eretz Yisrael comes from two
things.
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Bris Milah, and learning
and keeping the mitzvot of the Torah.
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The Arabs have a Milah, though it is not as complete as the Milah of the Jews.
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Yishmael had a Milah at the time that Avraham was the given
the commandment of Milah.
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The Arabs have a Milah at the age of 13, that is the
age that Yishmael got his Milah.
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But the Arabs don’t have
the mitzvah of Limud Hatorah and keeping the Mitzvot of the Torah.
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Therefore it is clear,
in order for the Jewish people to have more Zchus
to the land of Eretz Yisrael – in our cosmic battle with the Arabs
– we must excel in Learning and Keeping the Torah.
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The Gemorah
in Megilla 17b goes through the Brochas of the Shemonah
Esray.
It asks,
What was their reason for
mentioning the 10th Brocha of Kibbutz
Goliot, the ingathering of the exiles,
after the Brocha of Birchat
Hashanim, the blessing of prosperity for the
year.
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It answers that in
order for the Kibbutz Goliot to the successful,
the land must have a prosperous economy.
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And then it so eloquently
quotes Yecheskel 36:8, “O mountains
of Israel, shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to
your people Israel, for they are coming home soon.”
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So when we see the trees
and produce of Eretz Yisroel, compared to the barren land of 100
years ago, it’s a fulfilment of this prophecy.
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In the latest census of world Jewry, 45% of the Jews
in the world now live in Eretz Yisroel, and many of us have the great
privilege to be among them.
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The economy is doing well, and Israel is Startup
Nation.
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The last Possuk of Chaya Sara
alludes to the idea, according to the Baal HaTurim,
that the final redemption will be preceded by a struggle
between the Jews and the Arabs.
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In the end, says the Baal HaTurim,
the Arabs will fall.
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As we see in the Gemorah in Brochos 48b, our Zchus
to the land comes from Milah on the one
hand, and learning and keeping the Torah on the other hand.
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Our advantage over the Arabs
is learning and keeping the Torah.
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Let’s be as strong as we can be in learning and
keeping the Torah!
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To earn the Zchus of being in
this beautiful and holy land, and earning the Zchus of the Final Redemption!