Parsha with Rabbi David Bibi

 בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְקוָק, אֱלֹקינוּ וֵֽאלֹקי אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ, אֱלֹקי אַבְרָהָם, אֱלֹקייִצְחָק, וֵֽאלֹקי יַעֲקֹב. הָקל הַגָּדוֹל הַגִּבּוֹר וְהַנּוֹרָא, אֵל עֶלְיוֹן,גּוֹמֵל חֲסָדִים טוֹבִים, קוֹנֵה הַכֹּל, וְזוֹכֵר חַסְדֵּי אָבוֹת, וּמֵבִיאגוֹאֵל לִבְנֵי בְנֵיהֶם לְמַֽעַן שְׁמוֹ בְּאַֽהֲבָה:Love 13   Echad One and Names   13+13 = 26 Havaya   Colors    מֶֽלֶךְ   עוֹזֵר   וּמוֹשִֽׁיעַ   וּמָגֵן:   Instead of paraphrasing Rabbi Kaplan, I thought it importantto quote him directly as this is such an incredible lesson, I doubt there is asingle person who would not benefit tremendously,   He writes: The first paragraph in the Amidah concludes withfour words that are designated to bring Hashem closer to the worshiper. These fourwords are 'Melech - King, Ozer - Helper, Moshia - Rescuer, and Magen -Shield,'  Whereas in the first part of this paragraph we relate toHashem in a general manner, here we develop our personal relationship with Him.These four words are the key to the entire Amidah. If one says them correctly,one is left in a perfect spiritual space for the rest of the service. Even ifone has said the first parts of this paragraph without proper concentration, ifthese four words are said properly, they will bring the worshiper to such acloseness to Hashem that the rest of the Amidah will be perfect. Let us look atthese four words in detail.  The first word is 'King' (Melekh). We begin bylooking at Hashem as our king and at our relationship to Him as that of asubject to a king. A king is far away, in his capital city, in his palace. Ifyou want something from the king, you must send him a formal request, and itgoes through his staff, his ministers, his secretary. Then, if you are lucky,after a few months you may get a reply. Therefore, when we address Hashem asKing, we see Him as majestic but distant. Help is available from him, but notclosely available.  In the next word, we address Hashem as 'Helper'(Ozer). Now we see him as much closer than a king. A 'helper' issomeone whom we can readily approach. He is a friend whom we know we can  always call on and who always will make himself available.Therefore, when we call Hashem 'Helper,' we realize that we can callon Him at any time and He will be there for us. This is a relationship  much closer than that to a king. In saying this word, we arebeginning the process through which we draw closer to Hashem. Third, weaddress Hashem as 'Rescuer' (Moshia). Again, a rescuer is much closerthan a helper. A rescuer is someone who is available to save you when you aredrowning in a river; he is right there to jump in and pull you out. A helpermay have the best intentions in the world, but if he is not close to you at alltimes, he cannot save you when you are in danger. Therefore, when we speak toHashem as our 'Rescuer,' we see Him as being available whenever weneed Him, ready to rescue us in an instant. We recognize that Hashem is alwaysclose enough to help us, even when we are in imminent danger. Thus, therelationship of Rescuer is much closer than that of Helper. This word brings usyet a step closer to Hashem.  Finally, we speak to Hashem as our 'Shield'(Magen). A shield is even closer than a rescuer. A shield can help even when anarrow is flying at me and there is nothing else that can stop it. When the arrowis flying, there is no time for even the rescuer to intercept it. The shieldmust be there in place—right in front of me. Thus, when I address Hashem as my'Shield,' I can feel Him right in front of me. Hashem is all aroundme, surrounding me like a suit of divine armor. I am totally aware of Hashem'sprotective power, surrounding me on all sides. I feel that I am being protectedby Hashem, so that nothing in the world can harm me.  Thus, in the four words 'Melech - King, Ozer -Helper, Moshia - Rescuer, and Magen - Shield,' we become more and moreaware of Hashem's closeness. First we see Him as a benevolent but distant king,then as a willing helper, then as a nearby rescuer, and finally, as an immanentshield. In these four words, we make the transition from viewing Hashem as aremote transcendental force to seeing Him as a protector who is closer than theair around us.  The one person who reached the level where he couldconstantly see Hashem as his shield was Abraham. Hashem had told him, 'Donot fear, Abram, I am a shield to you' (Gen. 15:1). From that time on,Abraham had a constant perception of Hashem as his shield. He was always awareof Hashem being very close to him, surrounding him and protecting him on a mostimmanent and direct level…. Of all the levels of relationship to Hashem, thelevel of shield is the closest. Here we see Hashem close enough to us to stop evena flying bullet. This was the level attained by Abraham, and at this point inthe Amidah, we aspire to it.  Even unaware of the danger and oblivious to even callout for help, Hashem is there protec

 Jacob then made a vow, saying, “If God remains with me, protecting me on this journey that I am making, and giving me bread to eat and clothing to wear, Genesis.28.20    Ohr HaChaim The proper explanation of what Jacob said is that he was prepared to conduct himself in such a way that G'd would consent to associate His name with him even during his lifetime.    R' Bachya Yaakov wanted to teach his future offspring that the time to make vows is when one finds oneself in difficulties one does not know how to extricate himself from. Although, as a general rule, the Torah frowns on the making of vows, when a person vows due to finding himself in distress this is perfectly permissible. 

 וַיְהִ֕י כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר יָלְדָ֥ה רָחֵ֖ל אֶת־יוֹסֵ֑ף וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יַעֲקֹב֙אֶל־לָבָ֔ן שַׁלְּחֵ֙נִי֙ וְאֵ֣לְכָ֔ה אֶל־מְקוֹמִ֖י וּלְאַרְצִֽי׃  After Rachel hadborne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me leave to go back to my ownhomeland.     כאשר ילדה רחל אתיוסף WHEN RACHEL HAD BORN JOSEPH — after the birth of him who was to becomeEsau’s adversary (Genesis Rabbah 73:7) — as it is said (Obadiah 1:18) “And thehouse of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame and the houseof Esau for stubble“. Fire (Jacob) that has no flame (Joseph) has no effect ata distance. Therefore, when Joseph was born Jacob put his trust in the HolyOne, blessed be He, and wished to return home (Obadiah 1:18).     Rashi explainsthat Rikvah had sent Devorah to get Ya’akov to tell him it was safe to comeback as she had promised. And Yishak sent two servants     Rashi explains that she was therebecause Rebecca was fulfilling a promise she made to Jacob 36 years earlier. Asher son was departing to Charan,she told him, “I will send for you and bring you from there [and bring youhome].”5 Sending Deborah to her son was her way of keepingher promise to send for him and bring him home.   The Medrash (Esther Rabba 7:9) tells us that it is areference to a conversation that occurred between Mordechai and the servants ofthe King. The King’s servants asked Mordechai, why do you refuse to bow down toHaman especially in light of the fact that your ancestors bowed down before theancestors of Haman? Mordechai asked, 'Which of my ancestors bowed downbefore the ancestors of Haman?' The King's servants replied, 'Did notyour ancestor Yaakov bow down before Eisav his brother, who was Haman’s ancestor?'Mordechaianswered, 'I am descended from Binaymin and when Yaakov bowed down beforeEisav, Binyamin was not yet born and he did not bow down before any human allhis days... Just as my forefather did not bow to Eisav, I who hail from thetribe Binyamin ('ish yemini') will not bow to his descendanteither.'    TheGemara in Megilla (17a) teaches that Yosef disappeared from his father fortwenty-two years 'mida k'neged mida,' corresponding to the twenty-twoyears that Yaakov did not honor his parents while he was in Lavan's house. (The Gemara in Megillah 16b teaches thatYaakov was not punished for the fourteen years he spent learning in YeshivasShem V'Ever as Rabba said in the name of Rav Shmuel Bar Marta 'The studyof Torah is greater than honoring parents' - see also Shulchan Aruch YorehDeah 240:13) 

Reposting as requested 

And Hashem said to Avram, “Go (to) (for) yourself, from your land, from your birth place, from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. (Breishit 12:1)  Go,yourself,' A hint to him, 'When you will be 100 years old (30+20+30+20), then I will make you a great nation.' For then Isaac will be born. Baal HaTurim  G'd did not tell Abraham if he was meant to set out on his journey immediately or if he should wait till He would specify the exact location He wanted Abraham to move to. This ambiguity was part of the test to which G'd subjected Abraham. G'd also hintedthat He would show Abraham the whole of the land of Israel by broadening his field of vision, etc, as we know from 13,14: 'lift your eyes from where you are and look northward, southward,eastward, and westward. Or_HaChaim

 Tonight, we begin shemini aseret which in Israel is a singleday. For us in Galut, we divide the two days of chutz la aretz into the twoparts of the holiday. We come to think of tomorrow as the day of tikun hageshemwhere we praise Hashem for bringing rain and Sunday, Simcha Torah, ascelebrating the Torah. But in reality,it’s a single 8th day of the holiday. And the question was asked, what’s it allabout?   We always attempt to connect the holidays of this month,which begin with Rosh Hashana and conclude with Simcha Torah.  Rosh Hashana relates to Adam. It is the day Adam was created.It is the day, he was commanded not to eat from the tree, It was the day hesinned and that was the day G-d mercifully pushed aside or forward the punishment,setting a precedent as a day of judgment where Hashem will hopefully, treat uswith mercy.  Now we always connect the Rosh Hashana with Yom Kippur as bookendsof Aseret Yemey Teshuba, but Yom Kippur follows Rosh Hashana 2449 years and 10days later. We left Egypt in Nisan or April and we sinned with a golden thegolden calf in Tammuz or July. Moses went back up a few more times begging forforgiveness. And it is on Yom Kippur that Moses returns and again we have somelevel of forgiveness or pushing off the punishment. We can suggest even thoughthere was no Yom Kippur in the beginning, Hashem created the world based on theblue print presented in the Torah. And what appears to be coincidence, isreally part of the big plan.   Now let’s look at Sukkot which falls five days after YomKippur with four intermediary days between the two. We can suggest that thatholiday should have fallen in April or Nissan, but the rabbis explain that thereason why it’s not as April because it would be natural to go camping or moveto an outdoor area when the sun comes out in the weather gets warm, and herewe’re doing it when the weather starts to change and people are returning backinside to their homes.  A possible answer is that when the people sinned with thegolden calf, they deserve to lose everything, Hashem mercifully refused to withholdfood and water, because they couldn’t survive without either of those, but Hashemcould take away the clouds. So, after they sin with the golden calf in Tammuzor July, the clouds are removed which must’ve been a rough time of year toremove the clouds and then what happens?  Moses returns on Yom Kippur with the second set of luchot ortablets and the next day he begins the fundraising campaign for the Mishkan. Mosescollects all he asks for and more over the next few days because the peoplewant to feel the presence of Hashem among them again to the point where he hasto tell them enough. And so they begin building the Mishkan on the first day ofSukkot and with that the clouds return. With that in mind, it makes sense tocelebrate this holiday, on the day that the clouds returned because Sukkot celebratesthe clouds of glory.  

The essence of a suhhah is its shade. If there is more sun than shadow, it is invalid.  'In His shadow, I delighted there and there I sat, and the fruit of His Torah was sweet to my palate.' (2:3) בְּצִלּוֹ֙ חִמַּ֣דְתִּי וְיָשַׁ֔בְתִּי וּפִרְי֖וֹ מָת֥וֹק לְחִכִּֽי       אֲוַז הַבָּר הַמְּשׁוֹטֶטֶתבַּמִּדְבָּר. כְּשֶׁרוֹאֵה אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל עוֹסְקִיםבַּתּוֹרָה אוֹמֶרֶת. קוֹל קוֹרֵא בַּמִּדְבָּר,פָּנוּ דֶּרֶךְ יי, יַשְׁרוּ בַּעֲרָבָה מְסִלָּהלֶאֱלֹהֵינוּ, וְעַל מְצִיאוּת מְזוֹנוֹתֶיהָ בַּמִּדְבָּראוֹמֶרֶת. אָרוּר הַגֶּבֶר אַשֵּׁר יִבְטַח בָּאָדָם,בָּרוּךְ הַגֶּבֶר אֲשֶׁר יִבְטַח בְּיי וְהָיָהיי מִבְטָחוֹ:  The Wild Goose flying in the wilderness, when it sees Yisra’el busy with Torah, is saying “A voice cries, Prepare in the wilderness the way of YHVH, make straight in the desert a path for our elo’ah. And upon finding its food in the wilderness, it says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings…” Blessed is the man who trusts in YHVH, and YHVH shall be his assurance.”  

Extremely powerful class discussing reincarnation of entire generations, the tikun olam, tragedy of unfilfilled potential, the flood, the tower, the beauty of Sedom and the Torah of Olam HaBah. 

 KiTavo El HaAretz - When you come to the land and celebrate the first fruits.     Ournewlywed children Mariyah and Moshe moved into their apartment this week andwere busy building plant racks for the balcony and arranging things. Mariyahsent me a picture after shopping at Machaneh Yehuda of her new refrigeratorstocked with fruits and vegetables and it was so apropos considering theopening topic of this week’s portion. Moving from America with the luxuries weget used to including immediate food deliveries through Instacart and settingup a home in Jerusalem with lots of red tape and bureaucracy, presents itschallenges. But they view it as returning home.     Andtoday was our granddaughter Orly Adele’s third birthday. She celebrated at homewith her siblings and parents in the Holy Land while her oldest sister ChouxChoux brought home her homework to do, all in her native tongue, Hebrew.      Beforethere was the internet and podcasts, before there were CD’s and learning viazoom, there were Rabbi Beryl Wein’s cassette tapes. And spending an hour or sowith the Rabbi each day going through each of his history series was a part ofmy daily study curriculum. Rabbi Abittan would explain that understandingJewish history, and where and when each of our great leaders and poskim livedand the socio economic conditions they lived under is crucial in understandingTorah and halacha,     RabbiWein points out to what we refer to as exaggerated stories or fairy talesbrought by the great sage Rabba Bar bar Hana in Baba Batra 73B and clarifiesthat the Talmud’s fairy tales often reflect the realities of life in a veryprophetic way.     “AndRabba bar bar Ḥana said: Once we were traveling on a ship and we saw a certainfish upon which sand had settled, and grass grew on it. We assumed that it wasdry land and went up (onto this island) and baked and cooked on the back of thefish, but when its back grew hot (because of the fire from the cooking), itturned over. And were it not for the fact that the ship was close by, we wouldhave drowned.     RabbiWein tells us to look at this story and ponder how it reflects on the historyof the Jewish people. Often, and throughout time, we think that we are on solidground; what we call terra firma, but in reality, we’ve settled on a floatingfish, and when things get hot, the fish turns and we get thrown into the sea.     Herecalled when he was the rabbi in Monsey, New York, they were building a newstudy hall and synagogue where certain huge ceiling beams were required. Hefound a company in Canada that made these beams and they guaranteed them for 80years. One of the members of the synagogue asked why he purchased these beamsfrom Canada when there was a company in Finland which charged a few dollarsmore, but would give a guarantee for 300 years.     RabbiWein asked: are we planning for 300 years to have a building in exile? Are wenot considering returning home? Are we thinking about building a building forthe people who will take over our synagogue.     Ashe told the story, I remembered the stories he would tell about hisfather-in-law in Detroit, and how they built a Synagogue and years later whenthe neighborhood changed, they all moved away. They built a new synagogue, inthe new neighborhood, while selling the first synagogue to a black minister andhis flock.     Andthen years later, when they were going to move again, and they were sellingtheir synagogue to the same group a second time and building a third synagogue,the minister told them he wanted to be on the building committee for the thirdsynagogue because he figured eventually he would buy that too, once the Jewsmoved away.      RabbiWein in his special way pointed out that the pity is that we think that we’reliving on dryland, and that nothing is going to move us. We are sure there isbedrock below us and we have a stable and perfect foundation, but the realityis everything in Jewish history, from the Torah to the prophets and all throughthe last two millennia tells us that we are really living on that fish, andonce the fish gets hot, we get tossed.     Inhis synagogue in Jerusalem, there was a certain men who, for the last 16 years,was the chazan on the eve of Rosh Hashanah for selichot. And this past year,this man who is a diabetic, must’ve taken an incorrect dosage of insulin, orhad some reaction and there was some imbalance. Towards the end of the prayer,he was unable to continue, and almost passed out. The words just didn’t comeout and they sat him down and gave him some orange juice and someone else tookover. And it occurred to the Rabbi that this is us. One small imbalance and wecan’t continue.     Allof life is like this, but too often we blind ourselves from realizing it. Wehave people who build fortunes, and they think those fort

A couple of years ago, I was out shopping in the days before Rosh Hashana when I noticed two yeshiva boys in their suits and whiteshirts with their mom. The mother pulled a set of small bowls off a shelf into her wagon and one boy asked why they would need such small bowls. The mother responded that they would be good for the simanim - the special foods we serve on the night of Rosh Hashana.     The other boy laughed and asked, 'Ma, what do you think? That this is Pesach? Ma, it’s not the Seder! Why such a big deal over some foods that we don't want to eat anyway? Do you really think it matters?'      I couldn't mind my own business. The mother was a bit aggravated. She went one way and the boys went the other way.So I went over to speak with them.   The truth is that their question is very valid. Just imagine for a second getting a speeding ticket in some small town in upstate New York or New Jersey. You arrive at this small town court.The cop who wrote you the ticket is there and the judge asks you how you plead. You try some guilty with explanation excuse and then the judge cuts you short, asks the cop a few questions and tells you if you're done he will decide the verdict.   Try telling it to the Judge     You tell him to wait one more minute. You pull out from your bag a jar of honey and some sliced apple and as you dip the apple into the honey you state aloud, may it be the will of your honor the judge to sweeten my verdict just like this honey sweetens the apple and you eat the apple, relishing each bite in front of the court. Odds are that the judge will either throw you into a cell for a few hours charging you with contempt or ask that you be taken to the local hospital for observation.    Rosh Hashana is supposed to be the day of judgment. And as we learned in school as children, G-d takes out the scale. On one side go our sins and on the other go our merits. If we are worthy, we are judged positively and if not then we're in for some trouble.    How can eating a pomegranate or some blacked eyed peas increase our merits? How can eating a gourd or some dateshelp destroy our enemies? How can an apple in honey sweeten out judgments? How is it possible through these foods to change sins into merits? What's going on here?    Is There Such a Thing as a Good Omen?   Is there such a thing as a good omen? And on Rosh Hashana is it the food or the prayer? And if it's the prayer then why do we need the food? The Talmud tells us about omens. If someone wants to know if they will be judged for life then on the days betweenRosh Hashana and Yom Kippur he should light a candle in a draft free room. If the candles burns then fine, if the candle goes out, he better get some more life insurance quickly.    If he wants to know if he will merit a good parnasa or livelihood, he should take a chicken. He should feed it and if after a while it gains weight than all is good. But if it loses weight, he should get on the phone and call the bankruptcy attorney because tough times are ahead. And there are more.    The Talmud then warns not to try any of these at home. “Perhaps he will not see it and worry and as a result he will experience misfortune”.    A Reason to Be More Confused     Then Abaye goes on to say that what does work is eating pumpkin, fenugreek, leeks, beets and dates. These are good omens. He doesn't mention any yehi ratzons, nor prayers. Eat those foods he suggests. And if you were confused when we started, you should be even more puzzled now. How can we begin to understand what is going on here? The Arizal suggests that the person who lit the candle and sees the candle go out goes into depression. Perhaps the “Satan” blew it out just to mess with your mind. Sadness is a tool of the other side as it disconnects us from Hashem. Recall our forefather Jacob who in mourning for the loss of Joseph for 22 years lost his Ruach HaKodesh – his connection with G-d. Abaye in his brilliance suggests that if depression can disconnect us and damage our Mazal then joy can do the opposite. And these special foods should bring us joy.    In Parashat Ki Tavo we read of 98chilling curses. Why are we subject to curses? The Torah tells us it's becausewe didn't serve Hashem with joy and a good heart. We are commanded again andagain to be happy and to serve Hashem with joy.    These foods which make up thesimanim of Rosh Hashana can be sweet but sometimes sour. If we taste them andappreciate them; If we taste the sweetness and forget the tart; If we arethankful of the world G-d gave us and are happy with Hashem then Hashem ishappy with us. If we are satisfied and happy then there is no place forsadness, anger or jealousy. Satisfaction and joy have the power to change usand change our lives.      TheBenefits of Regarding Hashem as Our Fath

How do we understand the concept of serving Hashem with joy?  Is there really a misvah gedola lihiyot besimcha tamid?  How do we define simcha ?  David corrected Michal his wife, daughter of Shaul's misconception concerning the meaning of simchah in the service of Hashem. Heemphasized that this type of simchah must be expressed physicallyand outwardly—even if it means that one must seemingly act beneath one’s dignity for the sake of Hashem— and display his simchah like a commoner.    Zohar hakadosh (Toldos 138a): “אצטריך יצר הרע לעולם —כמטרא לעולם, דאלמלא יצר הרע חדוותא דשמעתא לא ליהוי” the world requires the yetzer Hara just like it requires rain; if notfor the yetzer Hara, simchah related to Torah study would notexist. What a powerful and incredible idea!  Based on the Shvilei Pinchas: The yetzer Hara yearns to be transformed into a force for good, so that it, too, can participate in the service of Hashem. Yet, when people do not serve Hashem with simchah, it remains in its original evil state. In fact, it is angrywith man for not having rectified it and transformed it. Asrevenge, it prevents man, as well, from elevating himself in theservice of Hashem; it rallies all of its forces to bring man downspiritually by means of its various traps. These are the verysame forces that man, had he been wiser, could have transformedinto instruments for good by simply performing misvotwith simchah.  

 “When you go out to the war against your enemies, and theL-RD your G-d delivers HIM into your hand and you capture HIS captive    And you see among the captives a beautiful woman and youdesire her and would take her to wife,   How can the Torah permit soldiers raping and capturingwomen in battle and keeping them against their will? It seems so inconsistent with so much else the Torah teaches us about marriage – and about waging war?   The Status of Those Defeated in War in the Past: In ancienttimes, the victors of wars would do whatever they pleased with those they vanquished. Any type of abuse was considered acceptable, both legally, and morally. Those who fell in captivity were considered the property of the victors. Many of them were killed and publicly abused (for that reason, King Saul asked to be killed with his own the sword, rather than be captured by the Philistines). Some were slaughtered as sacrifices on the altars of their gods, while others were taken for murderous games and used as gladiators in wars against wild beasts or between one another, until death. 

Shoftim Eglah Arufah 

Rabbi Akiva - Miriam  Rav Dessler Mussar  Raising Children