Putting Sarah in Danger - an Exploration

Parshat Lekh Lekha

by Rabbi Avi Billet

After arriving in Canaan, Avraham is faced with a test of famine. On his own, absent instruction from God, he chooses to go to Egypt to find food, a move which in many ways sets the precedent for how his descendants would go down to Egypt (on account of a famine) and how they would leave (with wealth given to them by the Egyptians). 

 One question that is addressed by many commentators is “How does Avraham justify his taking Sarai with him? He is putting her in mortal danger!” 

Noting that one is not supposed to rely on miracles (a theme many touch upon), Netziv writes that Avraham was relying on Divine promises. He had been told “Those who curse you I will curse,” which should serve as a protection from harm, but he only realized close to Egypt that that might only refer to possible enemies living in Canaan. And so while he hoped that God would protect Sarah, their proximity to Egypt made it too late for him to leave her or bring her back to Canaan. The Zohar (at the end of Parshat Tazria) notes that Avraham saw an angel accompanying him to protect them, and so when Avraham asks her to say “you are my sister” למען ייטב לי בעבורך (in order that he should be good to me on your account), he was referring to that angel, not his hopes for how “Egypt” might treat him. Avraham never had a fear in Canaan, because he was allied with Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre - people he could see - who provided protection from any of these kinds of shenanigans. 

Defining Mabul (and Bavel) – What Works for Humanity and What Does Not

Parshat Noach 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

You may have heard this one: What type of cake was served on Noah’s Ark? Mabul cake (Ice cream? Mabul ice cream… What kid’s game? Mabuls, etc….) 

The Torah’s word for the flood is מבול (Mabul), hence the play on words for those who drop their “r”s when saying words like “marble” and “Canarsie” and “mother, father, sister, brother, daughter.” 

Where does the word מבול come from – what is it’s “root” (שרש) that gives it its format? As it turns out, the answer is not so simple. 

 In his Haksav V’hakabbalah, Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenberg lays out the following, which will be summarized afterwards with bullet points.

The Blame Game

Parshat Bereshit 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

No matter how one views the term “original sin,” it is quite clear that the first sin the Torah depicts is the violation of the only command given to Man. “Eat of every tree. But of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from you shall become mortal.” (2:16-17) 

Early in chapter 3, through the enticement of the Nachash (the Garden of Eden serpent, who can walk and talk), the woman eats from the tree, and then gives of its fruit to her husband, in clear violation of that one command. 

When God rhetorically asks about the deed, “Have you eaten from the tree regarding which I had commanded you not to eat from?” the answer should have been Yes, because after all, God already knows the answer. But instead, the man says “The woman that You gave me… she gave me the fruit and I ate it.” And when God turns to the woman, her response is, “The snake enticed me and I ate.” God doesn’t ask the snake for his excuse, but He goes and issues His judgment to the snake first, then to the woman, then to the man. 

 In other words, those who can point their finger to a person (or a snake) go ahead and do so, instead of looking in the mirror and taking ownership of their own actions. It's a Blame Game 101.

Haazinu is the Connection Between Yom Kippur and Sukkos

 Parshat Haazinu

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Parshat Haazinu looks both to the past in Moshe’s depiction of events and to the future that Moshe foresaw, for events which would unfold both during the conquering and settling of the land, as well as for things which would take place much further in the future. 

 As an example, a number of commentaries describe events that took place in their own experience. Or HaChaim describes a litany of events that are quite reminiscent of the Shoah. Considering that he lived several hundred years before the Shoah, he was either a prophet, filled with Ruach HaKodesh, or able to read the writing in what Moshe is saying, to reach a very logical conclusion of what steps would lead to such a devastation. 

 Towards the beginning of Shirat Haazinu, Moshe says the following:

 (י) יִמְצָאֵ֙הוּ֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִדְבָּ֔ר וּבְתֹ֖הוּ יְלֵ֣ל יְשִׁמֹ֑ן יְסֹֽבְבֶ֙נְהוּ֙ יְב֣וֹנְנֵ֔הוּ יִצְּרֶ֖נְהוּ כְּאִישׁ֥וֹן עֵינֽוֹ:  He brought them into being in a desert region, in a desolate, howling wasteland. He encompassed them and granted them wisdom, protecting them like the pupil of His eye.

 (יא) כְּנֶ֙שֶׁר֙ יָעִ֣יר קִנּ֔וֹ עַל־גּוֹזָלָ֖יו יְרַחֵ֑ף יִפְרֹ֤שׂ כְּנָפָיו֙ יִקָּחֵ֔הוּ יִשָּׂאֵ֖הוּ עַל־אֶבְרָתֽוֹ: Like a nesher arousing its nest, hovering over its young, He spread His wings and took them, carrying them on His pinions.