Category Archives: Genesis

5783, Bat Ayin, Genesis, Jacob, Joseph, Parsha, Vayechi

The Yoke of Monarchy (Vayechi)

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The Yoke of Monarchy (Vayechi)

There is something behind the throne greater than the King himself. -William Pitt The Elder Chatham

Jacob is on his deathbed and calls his sons together for a final farewell. He shares his parting words; some are harsh reprimands, and some are effusive blessings. The son who receives the most fulsome blessings is Joseph, Jacob’s favorite. Following is a part of the blessing

“The God of your father’s [house], who helps you,

And Shaddai who blesses you

With blessings of heaven above,

Blessings of the deep that couches below,

Blessings of the breast and womb.

The blessings of your father

Surpass the blessings of my ancestors,

To the utmost bounds of the eternal hills.

May they rest on the head of Joseph,

On the brow of the elect of his brothers.”

The Bat Ayin on Genesis 47:31 wonders as to why, besides being Jacob’s favorite son, does Joseph receive such a magnanimous blessing and such respect from Jacob, to the point that Jacob bows down to Joseph, indicating that he considered Joseph to have the attribute of Kingship.

He explains that there was something unique about Joseph that led him to such wild success in life, including becoming the de facto ruler of the Egyptian empire, as well as receiving Jacob’s eternal blessings and his deference. What made Joseph stand out is that he always kept in mind that God was his King and nobody else.

When Joseph is seduced by Potiphar’s wife, Joseph remains steadfast and keeps front and center his obedience and allegiance to God. Even when he is miraculously freed from his incarceration and brought before Pharaoh, Joseph doesn’t forget for a moment that God is in charge, nor does Joseph hesitate to state so to Pharaoh. That steadfast devotion to the true Monarch of the World is what ironically liberates him from any other monarch or servitude. By placing himself squarely under the yoke of God, he frees himself from the yoke of labor or human servitude. He no longer needs to worry about his physical sustenance nor human rulers. That is an aspect of Kingship that Jacob saw in Joseph and bowed towards.

May we find ways to increase our service to God and reduce our subservience to material masters.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the British Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, on being knighted by King Charles III.

5783, Bat Ayin, Genesis, Joseph, Judah, Parsha, Vayigash

Utter Confusion (Vayigash)

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Utter Confusion (Vayigash)

When a man’s knowledge is not in order, the more of it he has, the greater will be his confusion. -Herbert Spencer

Joseph, in his role as Viceroy of Egypt, and still unrecognized by his brothers, has orchestrated an elaborate charade to implicate their younger brother, Benjamin, in the theft of his silver goblet. Joseph announces that Benjamin will remain in Egypt as Joseph’s slave and that the other brothers are free to return home to their father Jacob in Canaan.

Brother Judah, in a great act of repentance for having sold Joseph into slavery, steps forward and confronts the Viceroy/Joseph in an attempt to rescue Benjamin. Judah altruistically offers himself as a slave in place of Benjamin. At this point Joseph, overcome with emotion, reveals himself as their long-lost brother and the family is happily reunited.

The Bat Ayin on Genesis 44:18 examines Judah’s speech to the Viceroy/Joseph and focuses on the part where Judah says to Joseph “because you are like Pharaoh.” The verse is making an equivalence between the righteous Joseph and the (ultimately) evil Pharaoh. The Bat Ayin explains that when Israel is in exile, there is no visible difference between the righteous and the evil. This is in contrast to when Israel is redeemed and in its own land with a greater revelation of God’s presence. In such a reality God more readily shows His pleasure with the righteous and with His more visible blessings they ascend in their righteousness. The evildoers in such a reality descend and are punished more clearly for their sins.

However, the current reality of exile is that God’s presence is significantly hidden. As a result of that, the clearly righteous can be wracked with travails, while evildoers enjoy the blessings and bounty of this world. Our experience is that God can be so obscured that there is no apparent difference between the fate of the righteous and the evil. There is utter existential confusion regarding good and evil, reward and punishment, and God’s involvement in our lives. In such a reality it becomes easy to equate a righteous Joseph with an evil Pharoah.

Nonetheless, the confusion of the world doesn’t absolve us from pursuing good and believing in God’s benevolent presence. Sometimes He even lets us peek behind the curtain and get a glimpse of His handiwork. In fact, the more we believe in Him, the more He shows Himself.

May we get more glances of clarity within the confusion of our times.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the new project of replenishing the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) with desalinated water from the Mediterranean Sea. https://www.timesofisrael.com/pioneering-plan-inaugurated-to-top-up-sea-of-galilee-with-desalinated-water/

5783, Bat Ayin, Genesis, Joseph, Miketz, Parsha

Giving the Benefit of the Love (Miketz)

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Giving the Benefit of the Love (Miketz)

Love is the affinity which links and draws together the elements of the world… Love, in fact, is the agent of universal synthesis. -Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

At the end of the previous Torah portion, Joseph correctly interprets the dreams of his jail mates, Pharoah’s butler (who is pardoned and reinstated) and Pharaoh’s baker (who is found guilty and executed). In the current Torah portion, thanks to that display of insight, Joseph is called upon to interpret the dreams of Pharoah himself. It’s an opportunity that answers Joseph’s prayers, releases him from incarceration, and elevates him to the role of Viceroy of the Egyptian empire.

Using Joseph’s story as a springboard and looking at the Hebrew etymology of the words butler (saar hamashkim) and baker (saar haafot) the Bat Ayin on Genesis   examines further the divine mechanics of prayers being answered. He differentiates between those who are more deserving like the butler and those who are less, like the baker.

The root for the word butler, shk, is the same as the root for kissing. The root for the word baker, af, is the same as the root for anger. The Bat Ayin explains that when someone is on God’s good side, it’s as if God is “kissing” the person and their prayers are more easily answered. When someone isn’t really listening to God, it incites God’s “anger” and separation from God, making his prayers much less effective. However, the Bat Ayin states that there is a remedy: if one somehow “joins” with all of Israel in one’s prayers.

The most effective way to “join” all of Israel, is to love everyone of Israel. The only way to love everyone of Israel is to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. By giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, it enables the ability to love everyone. When a person loves all of Israel then they are connected to all of Israel, and no matter how undeserving that individual is, they reach the level of “kissing” God and that opens the gateways of prayers, acceptance, and blessings.

May we learn to be more loving as well as giving people the benefit of the doubt.

Shabbat Shalom and Chanuka Sameach,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the lighting of the Menorah of Rabbi Baruch and Rachel Posner of the iconic picture in Nazi Germany. It was lit by their grandson in front of the German Prime Minister and his wife, in his grandparents’ home in Kiel, Germany, where the original picture was taken.

 See below picture and link to article about it:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/18/photo-taken-by-rabbis-wife-in-1931-symbolising-jewish-defiance-of-the-nazis-comes-home

5783, Bat Ayin, Genesis, Joseph, Parsha, Vayeshev

Dangerous Spiritual Success (Vayeshev)

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Dangerous Spiritual Success (Vayeshev)

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose. -Bill Gates

The Torah builds up and then describes a frightening scene of brotherly hatred. Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son. To compound the insult to Jacob’s other children, Joseph describes to them, not one, but two dreams that hint at his eventual leadership of all his brothers. Later, when Jacob sends Joseph to check on the wellbeing of the brothers and their sheep, the brothers plot to kill Joseph as he approaches them.

At the last moment, instead of directly killing him, they throw him into an empty well. The Torah, which is typically thrifty in the use of extra words tells us that “the well was empty, it had no water.” It would seem obvious that if it’s empty, there wouldn’t be any water in it. Many commentaries expound on this seeming redundancy in the verse.

The Bat Ayin on Genesis 37:24 uses the verse as a springboard to discuss some of the ways we fool ourselves into unhealthy behavior, even, or especially, when we start off on the right path. He explains that our evil inclination will start off by having us consider all of our good traits and accomplishments, and that we should be proud of them. However, that is just the beginning of the insidious strategy. The second part is that our evil inclination, having achieved a feeling of pride for our legitimate traits and accomplishments, will then have us develop pride in things that we haven’t reached or achieved. This strategy is hinted at in the description of Joseph in the well. The first part, “the well was empty,” mirrors a person’s spiritual reality and the pride they feel in the success they’ve achieved so far. The second part, “it had no water,” is the delusion we have once we live too much off feelings of spiritual success.

The Bat Ayin suggests that the remedy is to return to a humbler approach, where though we can be happy about and celebrate our successes, we must realize that even our successes are thanks to God and are in His hands and therefore we should circumscribe any undue pride even in successes we’ve achieved.

May we have many successes to be humble about.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for their significant fusion ignition breakthrough.

5783, Bat Ayin, Genesis, Jacob, Paintings, Parsha, Vayishlach

Antidote to the Seven Deadly Sins (Vayishlach)

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Antidote to the Seven Deadly Sins (Vayishlach)

Many of the insights of the saint stem from their experience as sinners. -Eric Hoffer

It seems that the concept of seven deadly sins already existed in Jewish sources and may predate the version popularized by Christian theologians. The Jewish version, according to some opinions, differs minutely from the more popular one and can be listed as follows (based on the Vilna Gaon on his commentary on Tractate Berachot 4b):

  1. Gluttony
  2. Envy
  3. Pride
  4. Stinginess
  5. Lust
  6. Hatred
  7. Sloth

The Bat Ayin on Genesis 33.:3 references that Jacob struggles with “seven evil traits.” The way he overcame them were by the “seven holy traits.” The “seven holy traits” may be more familiar to some and have been popularized by the listing of the “lower” seven Kabbalistic “Sefirot.” A loose translation of them would be:

  1. Kindness
  2. Strength
  3. Splendor
  4. Victory
  5. Glory
  6. Foundation
  7. Kingship

The Bat Ayin suggests that somehow Jacob’s evil twin brother Esau was the embodiment of the seven evil traits and that Jacob was able to subdue those evil traits within himself via his conflict with his brother. The idea is hinted at in the verse which states that “He himself [Jacob] went on ahead and bowed low to the ground seven times until he was near his brother.”

The Bat Ayin explains that ironically, Jacob was able to rise above these evil traits by abjection. By humbling himself, by realizing all the reasons he should be contrite and humble, it allowed him to quash and nullify the evil traits within himself and thus give rise and power to the seven holy traits which cancelled and supplanted the evil ones.

May we beware of all evil traits within ourselves and look to supplant them with holy ones.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To 18forty.org – whose podcasts I’ve recently discovered and found to be outstanding, deep and thought provoking.

5783, Bat Ayin, Genesis, Jacob, Parsha, Vayetze

Prophetic Vision (Vayetze)

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Prophetic Vision (Vayetze)

As a man is, so he sees. As the eye is formed, such are its powers. -William Blake

The encounter with God is often a nebulous affair. It seems that prophetic visions are challenging for most mortals to withstand, let alone fully and deeply comprehend. The sages liken the prophetic experience as seeing someone through a clouded window. The most prominent exception is Moses, who is described as perceiving God clearly, through a “clear window” (Asplakariah Meirah is the term that’s used).

However, between the clear and the clouded visions, there are nuances as to how one achieves prophetic clarity. The Bat Ayin on Genesis 28:10 delves into some of the factors of prophetic vision based on Jacob’s journey.

He explains that the first level of prophecy is achieved by wholehearted fulfillment of God’s commandments. This is the level of entry into the land of Israel and is similar to the level achieved by the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest when he enters the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. The most holy person entering the most holy place on the most holy day of the year. By actively and fully pursuing and fulfilling all of God’s desires one can strive for the initial level of prophecy, the Asplakariah She’eina Meriah – the unclear window into the realm of prophecy.

The next level of prophetic vision is achieved by immersion in God’s Torah. By fully accepting, embracing, and internalizing God’s word, one’s mind and heart are sanctified. The Torah has the power to enlighten and show a person the path they should undertake.

The Bat Ayin draws all of this out from the somewhat repetitive verse “And Jacob left Beer Sheva and went to Charan.” We were just told of Jacob’s journey a few verses before that. The Bat Ayin relates the word Charan to the word Cherut, meaning freedom. Jacob travelled from his earnest and dutiful fulfillment of God’s commands to a level of fully delving into the Torah, thereby reaching a higher level of awe of God, of freedom and of even being able to see the angels, besides the prophetic vision he was granted.

May we, in our own small ways, reach for glimpses of the divine and holy by doing what’s right and learning what God says about it.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the memory of one of my rabbinic inspirations, Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu z”l.

5783, Bat Ayin, Genesis, Parsha, Toldot

The Spiritual Road to Material Riches (Toldot)

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The Spiritual Road to Material Riches (Toldot)

Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them. -Napoleon Bonaparte

In one of the more dramatic scenes in the Torah, Jacob disguises himself to appear more like his hairy twin brother Esau, in order to receive the blessing that their blind father Isaac had originally intended for Esau. It seems that Jacob is successful and manages to convince an initially suspicious Isaac, that it is indeed the son who should receive this primal blessing standing in front of him, hairy arms and all.

Isaac proceeds to bestow a short but powerful blessing upon the disguised Jacob. The blessing is as follows:

“May God give you of the dew of heaven and the fat of the earth, abundance of new grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow to you; be master over your brothers and let your mother’s sons bow to you. Cursed be they who curse you, blessed they who bless you.”

The Bat Ayin on Genesis 27:28 delves into the duality of blessings from the dew of heaven as well as from the fat of the earth. He connects heaven to spiritual endeavors and the earth to material efforts and provides guidance as to how we can connect to God. He suggests that we need to start with the spiritual endeavors, with our study of Torah, with prayer, with reaching out to God with our hearts and minds.

After we’ve established that connection to heaven, then we can better focus and succeed with our earthly efforts. Even then, the material activities need to remain connected to God and the Torah. By connecting our mundane, daily efforts to God’s will, we ensure that His blessings will be upon our work. By connecting heaven and earth, we ensure that our efforts will yield fruit, that we will enjoy from the fat of the earth and an abundance of blessings.

May we remember that our efforts cannot succeed without God’s blessing, and may we realize He’s given us lots of suggestions as to how to merit such blessings.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the start of the World Cup.

5783, Abraham, Bat Ayin, Chayei Sara, Genesis, Parsha

The Ultimate Agent (Chaye Sara)

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The Ultimate Agent (Chaye Sara)

The condition of an enlightened mind is a surrendered heart. -Alan Redpath

Sarah has died, Abraham is getting older, and their son Isaac has yet to marry. According to the Midrash, Isaac is forbidden from leaving the land of Canaan, but none of the women of Canaan were considered suitable for Isaac.

Abraham sends his loyal servant, who the Midrash names as Eliezer, to return to Abraham’s hometown, Haran, northeast of Canaan, and find a wife for Isaac. Eliezer dutifully goes to Haran and is immediately successful in finding Rebecca, who happens to be from Abraham’s family (a granddaughter of Abraham’s brother, Nachor – making Rebecca and Isaac first cousins once-removed). Thankfully, Eliezer convinces her resistant family to let her return with him to Canaan to marry Isaac.

The Torah is effusive in its description of Eliezer, calling him “the elder of his house and the one who rules everything that is his [Abraham’s].” The Bat Ayin on Genesis 24:2 wonders as to how Eliezer achieved such distinction as a servant. He explains that Eliezer had such respect and awe for Abraham, that he completely identified with Abraham’s mission and goals and annulled his own desires to the extent that he was the ultimate agent on Abraham’s behalf. The Bat Ayin elaborates that when a servant of the king is so closely identified with the king, then the servant, in a certain respect, is comparable to the king, in his power and majesty.

Eliezer subsumed and annulled his own desires so thoroughly and took on Abraham’s goals so devotedly that he became comparable to Abraham himself. That gave Abraham the confidence to send Eliezer on this most vital mission for the continuity of his family, to find a suitable match for Isaac. Hence, the Torah’s description of Eliezer as “the elder of his house and the one who rules everything that is his.”

By surrendering his own ego and fully accepting the role of a humble servant, Eliezer became the authoritative representative of the great Abraham and the master of Abraham’s entire domain.

May we realize that to serve often means to lead.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To NASA’s Artemis 1 launch to the moon.

5783, Bat Ayin, Genesis, Parsha, Vayera

Questioning Certainty (Vayera)

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Questioning Certainty (Vayera)

It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question. -Eugene Ionesco

God commands Abraham to circumcise himself. There is a Midrash that recounts how Abraham asked his friends, Eshkol, Aner and Mamre for their opinion on the matter. Without getting into what their answers were, the Bat Ayin on Genesis 20:1 wonders as to the question itself.

Abraham had received a direct command from God. We have seen, both before this command and after it, that Abraham performed all of God’s commands without question or hesitation. Whether it was to leave his homeland and his family, or to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abraham is the model of enthusiastic and unquestioning divine obedience. So why does Abraham ask the opinion of his friends regarding this command?

The Bat Ayin answers that Abraham had no doubts regarding performing this command. His intention was to fully and immediately fulfill God’s command. However, there’s an added benefit of asking others, even when there is no question or doubt as to what the answer is. The Bat Ayin explains that by asking others a question, even if the answer is clear and obvious, Abraham is involving them in the process and in the answer. By inquiring of others what one should do regarding performing God’s will, one is thereby also involving them in God’s will. They need to pause and think about it. They must consider what it means to be involved in that divine connection. Though the answer may be clear, there’s value in giving it further consideration, of spending more time on thoughts of the divine.

Abraham could have just gone ahead and performed the circumcision without discussing or consulting with anyone. By asking his friends, he involved them in the divine service. He brought them closer to God and to God’s way of thinking; all of that with a simple, obvious question.

May we learn to use questions in our divine service, whether we know the answers or not.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the Beit Yosef community of Las Vegas.

5783, Abraham, Bat Ayin, Genesis, Lech Lecha, Parsha

Attracted to Holiness (Lech Lecha)

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Attracted to Holiness (Lech Lecha)

A soul without a high aim is like a ship without a rudder. -Eileen Caddy

Abraham is famously directed by God to leave his homeland and venture to the land of Canaan, a land that God would bequeath to Abraham and his descendants. However, what is perhaps less noticed, is that a few verses before God’s directive to Abraham, the Torah tells us how Terach, Abraham’s father, takes his family from their homeland, from Ur of the Chaldeans and heads to Canaan. However, Terach’s journey ends when they arrive in the town of Haran, before entering the land of Canaan. It is only Abraham, later, who successfully enters Canaan.

The Bat Ayin on Genesis 12:1 wonders as to what the cause of the apparent false start was. Why does Abraham’s family, when accompanied by his father Terach head towards Canaan, before God commands it; why are they initially unsuccessful in entering and why later, does Abraham, without Terach, succeed?

He explains that while still in Ur of the Chaldeans Abraham started to perceive the holiness of the land of Canaan. He ventures west, attracted by the holiness of Canaan, independently of God’s command. His father Terach, seeing Abraham’s efforts, is taken up by the spiritual journey and he too seeks the holiness of Canaan. However, upon reaching the town of Haran, in close proximity to Canaan, they realize something that gives them pause. They come to the conclusion that though they’re attracted to the holiness, they don’t feel themselves worthy of entering the land. They are not yet at a level where they could fully connect with the inherit holiness of the land.

It is then, after God’s command, that Abraham redoubles his spiritual efforts and realizes that he needs to divest himself of his material, worldly attachments. Only with a pure spiritual focus can one fully connect to the inherent holiness of the land. Abraham succeeds in reaching that spiritual level, that focus on the transcendent and that connection with God. He is then worthy of entering the land and claiming its spiritual and material bounty for himself and his descendants.

May we take advantage of the road to holiness our forefathers already paved for us and bequeathed to us and connect to the holiness of the land of Israel.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To democracy.