Category Archives: Kli Yakar

5771, Abraham, Genesis, Kli Yakar, Lech Lecha, Parsha

The Power to Bless

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Tzvi Ilan ben Gita update: Ilan is back in the rehab clinic, starting therapy and making progress since his seizure. He’s getting stronger, and his walking and speaking are improving. Thanks for the continued prayers. Keep ‘em coming.

Kli Yakar Genesis: Lech Lecha

The Power to Bless

Dry conventional theological wisdom might claim that only God is capable of affecting blessings upon us. There is a perhaps apocryphal joke of a Lithuanian (non-Hasidic) Rabbi that is approached by a simple Jew and asks the Rabbi to bless him. The Rabbi answers:

“Are you an apple that I should bless over you?”

The Hasidic and Sephardic traditions on the other hand are rife with blessings being bestowed at every opportunity.

When God commands Abraham to leave his homeland and head towards Canaan, He states:

“And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.” Genesis 12:2

The Kli Yakar wonders as to the seeming repetition of ‘be thou a blessing’ and what is the difference from ‘I will bless thee’?

He explains that not only will Abraham be blessed for obeying God’s word but that Abraham will also have the power to bless whoever he wants and will indeed be the source of the blessings he bestows.

The Kli Yakar further explains the simple metaphysical mechanics of how one achieves the power to bless. God is the ultimate source of all blessing. The closer one is behaviorally and/or physically to God (the Kli Yakar also points to the Temple mount as a ‘source’), the more one will acquire His ability to bestow blessing.

May we acquire more and more the power to bless – and may we use it.

Shabbat Shalom and blessings of “all your heart’s desire for good” to you, for whatever it’s worth,

Bentzi

Dedication

To the Chilean miners. They are blessed and their spirit and discipline in the mine hints that they must be doing something right.

5771, Genesis, Kli Yakar, Noach, Parsha

Deadly Letter of the Law

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Tzvi Ilan ben Gita update: Ilan suffered a seizure. It is a small setback and not completely unexpected as it was always a possibility with the type of injury he sustained. He is back in the hospital but we are hoping he will recuperate quickly and be able to return to the rehab clinic in the near future. Please continue praying.

Kli Yakar Genesis: Noach

Deadly Letter of the Law

Antediluvian man was apparently really bad. All sense of fair play had broken down to the point where the healthy functioning of society collapsed. Murder, illicit relations and idol worship were commonplace.

The Kli Yakar quotes the above from Rabbinic tradition. He also cites that the doom of the generation of The Flood was sealed because of the relatively minor sin of theft. And not just any theft – miniscule theft. The theft of items worth less than a ‘prutah’ (the modern equivalent of a penny, or maybe a nickel if you count a few thousand years of inflation).

What was so horrible, so catastrophic of such minor theft that warranted the destruction of all of human civilization?

The Kli Yakar explains that it was actually an attitude of righteousness. The theft of less than a ‘prutah’ does not require prosecution. It is too small a value to bother the courts with. Therefore the thief is legally innocent. These penny ante criminals were smug in the knowledge that they had outsmarted the system. They did nothing wrong. They were just below the radar of justice. They were within the letter of the law.

It seems this really angers God. These characters, these righteous thieves, upset God more than murderers, adulterers and idol-worshippers. Thanks to these weasels, God destroyed the planet.

May we be spared from such righteous people and remember to follow the spirit of the law.

Shabbat Shalom,

Bentzi

Dedication

To Brad Rubin on his swearing-in ceremony to the Paratroopers of the Israel Defense Forces. Each soldier is issued his gun and his Tanach (Bible) at the event in front of the Western Wall. The whole occasion was moving and gives me great hope for the future.

Please pray for the complete and speedy recovery of an old friend, Hanoch ben Devorah, who just had surgery for the removal of a brain tumor and is recovering in ICU in Pittsburgh.

5771, Bereshit, Genesis, Kli Yakar, Parsha

Imperfect Creation

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Tzvi Ilan ben Gita update: Ilan’s recovery continues at a great pace. He has been moved to an excellent rehabilitation clinic where he is returning more and more to his old self every day. He is speaking with greater clarity and word recall and is able to walk with less assistance.

 

 

Kli Yakar: Bereshit

 

Imperfect Creation

After various stages of creation, including the animal kingdom, the Torah tells us:

“And God saw that it was good.”

The creation of Man is not accompanied by any such praise.

The Kli Yakar (see below for brief biography) finds it curious that both animals and Man are described in the Torah as “living souls”. He wonders why on one hand there is the equivalence of both Man and animals as living souls, while on the other hand the creation of animals was “good” in God’s eyes, while the creation of Man lacks any such reference.

The Kli Yakar answers that Man is the only creature that was brought into this world incomplete. Animals are born with all the innate instincts and physical characteristics that they need to grow and survive. They are born “good” as far as God is concerned. Whatever prowess or physical ability they possess reveals itself with no conscious effort on their part. They are perfect and complete creations.

Man on the other hand is far from complete. Man must go through an often grueling growth process of development and self-improvement in order to reach his potential. Only at the completion of man’s maturity can God determine if His creation “was good”.

In this New Year, may we continue to work on our self-development and reach the level of a “good” creation.

Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom,

Bentzi

Dedication

To the Kli Yakar (biography below), and to my mother, Nira Spitz, on the opening of yet another exciting exhibition of her artwork.

Kli Yakar Biography

Ephraim son of Aaron was born in the city of Luntschitz in what is today central Poland around the year 1550. He studied under the famed Maharshal (Rabbi Shlomo Luriah) and became Rabbi of the city of Lvov where he served for 25 years.

From an early age he was recognized as a star orator and was renowned for his fiery sermons. In 1601, Rabbi Ephraim became deathly ill. During the course of his illness he added the name Shlomo to his name and thereafter signed his name Shlomo Ephraim. He also vowed that if he survived his illness he would compose a commentary to the Pentateuch.

Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim survived his illness and the very next year wrote and published his commentary, named Kli Yakar. The commentary became immediately popular throughout the Jewish world and was his most famous publication, to the point, as with many other great Rabbis, that he is now known simply as the Kli Yakar. More than 400 years later, the Kli Yakar remains popular and is printed alongside the commentary of Rashi and others in many Chumashim.

The year after the Kli Yakar’s publication, he was appointed Chief Rabbi of the great city of Prague, where he also served as Rosh Yeshiva and the Head of the Beit Din. Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim passed away in 1619. His son and other descendents followed in his footsteps, also holding the esteemed position of Chief Rabbi of Prague. Amongst his most famous students was Rabbi Yom Tov Lipman Heller, also known as Tosfot Yom Tov.

5771, Biography, Kli Yakar

Kli Yakar Biography

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Kli Yakar Biography

Ephraim son of Aaron was born in the city of Luntschitz in what is today central Poland around the year 1550. He studied under the famed Maharshal (Rabbi Shlomo Luriah) and became Rabbi of the city of Lvov where he served for 25 years.

From an early age he was recognized as a star orator and was renowned for his fiery sermons. In 1601, Rabbi Ephraim became deathly ill. During the course of his illness he added the name Shlomo to his name and thereafter signed his name Shlomo Ephraim. He also vowed that if he survived his illness he would compose a commentary to the Pentateuch.

Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim survived his illness and the very next year wrote and published his commentary, named Kli Yakar. The commentary became immediately popular throughout the Jewish world and was his most famous publication, to the point, as with many other great Rabbis, that he is now known simply as the Kli Yakar. More than 400 years later, the Kli Yakar remains popular and is printed alongside the commentary of Rashi and others in many Chumashim.

The year after the Kli Yakar’s publication, he was appointed Chief Rabbi of the great city of Prague, where he also served as Rosh Yeshiva and the Head of the Beit Din. Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim passed away in 1619. His son and other descendents followed in his footsteps, also holding the esteemed position of Chief Rabbi of Prague. Amongst his most famous students was Rabbi Yom Tov Lipman Heller, also known as Tosfot Yom Tov.