These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly portion: #1355 – Doing Mitzvos First Time – Bar Mitzva & Tephillin; Women & Candles: Shehechiyanu? Good Shabbos!

Passions Corrupt Good Judgement

The malachim (angels) who came to visit Avraham went on to their next mission, which was to destroy the cities of Sodom and Amora. We know the story. They entered Sodom and encountered Lot. Breaking the normal protocol in Sodom, Lot hospitably invited them in for a meal. Before the malachim went to sleep, the people of Sodom – from youth to elders – surrounded the dwelling and demanded that Lot throw out his guests, so that they may commit depraved aveiros (sins) with them. (This was part of the evil practices of Sodom.)

Lot offered his daughters to the mob in lieu of his guests. The Sodomites were upset with him. The malachim pulled Lot back into the house and miraculously smote the mob surrounding the dwelling with blindness. As a result, the mob could not see, and they therefore could not find the door.

The narration should have ended with the words that the malachim smote the people with blindness. That should have marked the end of their attempt to enter the dwelling. However, it is interesting that the pasuk continues, saying that “they were unable to find the door.” This means that even in their blindness, rather than giving up, they were groping around attempting to find the door. This itself is amazing. An entire crowd of people are suddenly miraculously blinded. Should this not have given them pause to perhaps not start up with these malachim? No! They still wanted to find the door, and they still wanted to do what they intended to do.

The Seforno comments tellingly: Even though they were blinded, they struggled to find the door and break it down, as it is said about the wicked: They do not repent even at the gates of Gehinom (Hell). They were not deterred at all.

Rav Elya Svei said in one of his shmuzin that the Sodomites were not deterred at all because such is the power of lust within human beings. They are so obsessed with fulfilling their base animal needs that something that would deter normal human beings does not phase them. As Chazal say, “The drive of kinah (jealousy), tayvah (lust), and kavod (pursuit of honor) draw a person out of this world” (Pirkei Avos 4:21). If a person is not in control of his desires and passions, nothing can deter him.

Bilaam is the same story. Bilaam is going to curse Klal Yisrael. What is his motive? Money. He runs into trouble. His donkey gives him a hard time. He hits the donkey. Suddenly, the donkey opens up its mouth and starts questioning Bilaam. Such an occurrence would give a normal person pause. However, Bilaam gets into a dialogue with his donkey! The reason is that he is so consumed with getting that money (which is one of the great lusts of this world) that no amount of logic or common sense is going to deter him from that pursuit.

A third example of this can be found in both this week’s parsha and last week’s parsha. Lot’s original separation from Avraham Avinu was based on seeing the lushness of the Jordan Valley in which Sodom was located (Bereshis 13:10), even though at that time Sodom and its surroundings already had a reputation for being Sin Cities. Lot leaves Avraham, goes to Sodom, and his life falls apart. He gets caught up in the war of the five kings against the four kings. He is captured and he doesn’t know whether he will live or die.

Miraculously, Avraham Avinu comes and defeats the four kings and saves Lot – again. How would a normal man react? “I separated from Avraham and my life went south!” Lot should have returned to Avraham Avinu. But he doesn’t. He stays in Sodom. Rashi points out that Lot stayed in Sodom because he liked the life there.

Thus, we have three examples of how passions and tayvohs affect human beings. When they gain control of us, we lose all perspective.

Divine Benefit of the Doubt

I would like to share an observation from the Meshech Chochmah on this week’s parsha. The Gemara says that “a good thought is attached to deed” (Kiddushin 40a). The Gemara explains that when Klal Yisrael intends to do good, they are credited with that good deed even if they do not succeed in accomplishing that good deed. If someone intends to do a mitzvah and then, due to circumstances beyond his control, he is unable to do it, the Ribono shel Olam counts it as if he accomplished it and he is thusly rewarded (Brachos 6a). However, it is troubling that the Gemara says that this principle only applies to Jews. It does not apply to umos haolam. On the face of it, this is terribly unfair. Why should He not provide this same “benefit of the doubt accounting” for everyone? We know that the Gemara says (Avodah Zarah 3a) that the Ribono shel Olam does not stack the deck with his creations. He plays fairly. Therefore, when the umos haolam said, “You gave Klal Yisrael the navi (prophet) Moshe. If we had such a navi, we too would have had a fighting chance.” The Ribono shel Olam gave them Bilaam to level the playing field, so to speak. “I gave Klal Yisrael a Moshe. I gave the nations a Bilaam.” So here the Ribono shel Olam gives Klal Yisrael this tremendous “benefit of doubt accounting,” such that the mere intention of doing a mitzvah is somehow credited as if the mitzvah was actually accomplished. But this was not granted to the umos haolam. How does that work?

Rav Meir Simcha says that this works because of what happened at the Akeida in Parsahs Vayera. It is well known that the motif of Sefer Bereshis is Ma’aseh avos siman l’banim. The accomplishments of the avos are a precursor of their children’s accomplishments. Their actions remain, so to speak, part of our DNA.

Moving to Eretz Yisrael is not simple even in our day and age, but people do it. It sometimes takes mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice). What is the source of this mesiras nefesh? The source is Avram’s willingness to follow the Divine command of Lech lecha m’artzecha u’mi’moladetecha u’mi’beis avicha (Go forth from your land, from your birth place and from the house of your father). Avram instilled in us this power that allows us to be drawn by the desire to live in Eretz Yisrael.

Over the millennia, there have been hundreds of thousands of Jews who have been moser nefesh to die al kiddush Hashem (via martyrdom), rather than convert. That attribute of mesiras nefesh to do the will of the Ribono shel Olam came about as a result of the mesiras nefesh of Yitzchak Avinu at the time of the Akeida. That “will” (i.e. – “intent”) of the forefather was implanted in his descendants, and that is why Hakadosh Baruch Hu joins our intent with action.

As the Rambam writes (Gerushin 2:20), every Jew wants to do the right thing. It is only our yetzer harah (evil inclination) that sometimes gets in the way of our positive intentions. The Rambam paskens that when Beis Din decides that a person is obligated to give a get (divorce document) to his wife and he refuses to do so, they can whip him “until he says ‘I agree to do so.'” Under normal circumstances, a “coerced get ” is invalid. The Rambam explains why this is a valid get. He explains that deep down, the Jew wants to be part of the Jewish people and fulfill all the mitzvos and distance himself from aveiros. However, he is overcome by his yetzer harah. When he is beaten by Beis Din, that weakens the hold of the yetzer harah over him, causing his true will, to follow the will of Hashem, to come to the fore.

This deep desire within every Jew to follow the will of Hashem originated on Har HaMoriah. Yitzchak planted into us this deep-down desire to do the will of Hashem. Therefore, Hakadosh Baruchu Hu joins even unrealized action with our proper intent. That proper intent was implanted into us by our ancestor Yitzchak. The umos haolam have no such ancestor and no such presumption of an inner motivation to follow the will of Hashem.

Thus, Rav Meir Simcha says a beautiful p’shat: What did Avraham Avinu call the mountain (the future location of the Beis HaMikdash)? Hashem yireh (The L-rd will see) (Bereshis 22:14). The Gemara says that the name Yeru-shalayim is a contraction of what Avraham Avinu called the mountain (Yireh) and what Shem (son of Noach) called it (Shalem) (Bereshis 14:18). The combination of the two is Yeru-Shalayim.

Avraham’s naming of the mountain invoked a prayer: Hashem – Look here. These are the types of children You have! You have children who wish to do the will of Hashem, except that sometimes too many things get in their way – whether it is the yetzer harah or whether it is shibud malchiyus or whether it is other types of temporary setbacks. But this is what Yitzchak gave us – the foundational desire deep down to do the ratzon Hashem.

Transcribed by David Twersky; Jerusalem [email protected]

Edited by Dovid Hoffman; Baltimore, MD [email protected]

This week’s write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissochar Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly Torah portion. A listing of the halachic portions for Parshas Vayeira is provided below:

• # 029 – Mila and the “Yellow” Baby
• # 071 – Last Will & Testament of R. Yehuda Hachasid.
• # 120 – After Milchigs: How Long a Wait?
• # 167 – The Bris Milah Seudah
• # 213 – Is lying ever Permitted?
• # 257 – Makom Kavuah and Other Davening Issues
• # 303 – Milk and Eggs in Halacha
• # 347 – Women and the Laws of Tznius
• # 391 – The Mitzvah of Nichum Aveilim
• # 435 – Declining a Kibud
• # 479 – Mitzvah of Inviting Guests
• # 523 – Walking by a Person Who Is Davening
• # 567 – Asking and Giving Mechila
• # 611 – Shalom Aleichem on Friday Night
• # 655 – The Bris Milah Seudah – Fleishigs or Milchig?
• # 699 – Zichrona L’vracha, Sh’lita and Neru – For Whom?
• # 743 – Chazoras Hashatz – More Important Than You Think
• #787 – Tefilah—Guaranteeing Success
• # 831 – Hagomel for Elective Surgery
• # 875 – Visiting the Sick – Are 2 Better Than 1? and Other Issues
• # 919 – Bas Mitzvah Celebrations – Kosher or Not?
• # 962 – Hard Cheese: Hot Dog After Pizza — Is There A Problem?
• #1006 – “I’m Mochel You” — Do You Really Have To Mean It?”
• #1050 – Saying No to a Rosh Yeshiva? Saying No to your host?
• #1093 – Tefilah B’Tzibbur: Must You Start Shmoneh Esrai Exactly With the Tzibbur?
• #1136 –I have a Toothache / Headache / Cold – Do I Still Have To Daven?
• #1179 – Walking Your Guest to the Door, To the Car – Do You Do That?
• #1223 – Davening at Netz or Davening with a Minyan: Which is Better?
• #1267 – Inviting Your Next Door Neighbor for Shabbos: Is that called Hachnosas Orchim?
• #1311 – I Had Eggplant Parmesan for Lunch Friday: Can I Have Fleishig for the Shabbos Seuda?
• #1355 – Doing Mitzvos First Time – Bar Mitzva & Tephillin; Women & Candles: Shehechiyanu?
• #1399 – Speaking Lashon Horah for the Sake of Shalom – Can it be Mutar?
• #1443 – Oops! I Started Shachris Shmoneh Esrai With Ki Shem Hashem – Now What?
• #1487 – Are you acting like a person who lived in Sodom?
• #1531 – Can you fulfill Bikur Cholim by a Telephone?
• (2022) – Bentching on a Cup of Wine – Do You Share It With Your Wife?

A complete catalogue can be ordered from the Yad Yechiel Institute, PO Box 511, Owings Mills MD 21117-0511. Call (410) 358-0416 or e-mail [email protected] or visit http://www.yadyechiel.org/ for further information.