See here for Round I
Parshat Vaychi
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Every now and then I like to revisit the question of whether the Torah has a consistent method for how it switches between calling our third forefather, sometimes Yaakov and sometimes Yisrael. Of course he does have both names, and unlike Avraham whose named changed forever at the time of his circumcision, Yaakov maintains both names even after being told by God "Your name will be Yisrael."
Of course there is an approach that the names are interchangeable and there's no specific reason one would be utilized in the text over the other. But logic might dictate otherwise, especially when one considers that the Torah is not haphazardly put together, but rather has rhyme, reason, poetry, and of course (a definition of) perfection in its construct.
Which leads us to Or HaChaim, whose comment on the opening verse of our parsha will now be presented.
Yisrael represents an upper level of holiness. It is representative of an added soul – a similar idea to that which we have on Shabbos, which is a higher level of holiness – making soulful moments and events being ever-tied to the name Yisrael. As long as this loftiness is felt or present, Yisrael is the name of choice.
But when Shabbos leaves, or if that extra soul departs, if the feeling of the soul and spirit becomes lacking, then Yisrael leaves and Yaakov takes over. Yaakov is defined by the presence of “sadness and sorrow.”
When God first tells him “You are Yaakov” – at the time of changing his name, Yaakov was in mourning over the death of his mother. That is why he is referred to as Yaakov in Beit El, even as his name is being changed to Yisrael, because of the downside of mourning for his mother. The same happens when he is in mourning for Rachel – “Yaakov placed a monument over her grave.”
However, once that mourning period passed, God gave him the name Yisrael – because you have to move on and bring yourself up.
But when the brothers are referred to as “the sons of Yaakov” both in Shechem and in the aftermath of the Reuven/Bilhah story – things are not so good for the family – even if he is personally referred to as Yisrael. At those times, he is in a better state, while his family is suffering.
Midrash Tehillim notes that each of the Avot died before their grandchildren could take a significant role in the family. For each father to get full respect in his own realm, his own father needed to be out of the way. When Yitzchak is removed from the equation (in the way the Torah depicts his death and therefore his leaving), Yisrael can make an appearance. At the same time, Yaakov living in Canaan was subject to a very difficult life, and with rare exception is always referred to as Yaakov. He is referred to as Yisrael in 37:3 when the Torah describes how “Yisrael loved Yosef.”
However, from the time Yosef is sold until he finds out Yosef is alive, he is only referred to as Yisrael 3 times, in the context of negotiations surrounding whether Binyamin will be going to Egypt or not. The usage of Yisrael in those cases is because he is being raised up, raising his own status from having become the over-the-hill father to the one in charge of this family’s destiny.
When he hears Yosef is alive, “Yaakov’s spirit came alive” – raising Yaakov out of despair, in order to allow for Yisrael to make an appearance in deciding, “I will go to see Yosef.” God once again makes an appearance in reviving Yaakov’s spirit, which is why “Yisrael travels,” and “God said to Yisrael.”
But, when he heard they were going to be descending to Egypt, and that they would likely be there for some time, a pall fell upon him again, and Yaakov once again appeared.
When he came into the presence of Yosef again, he reappeared as Yisrael. And it seems that Yisrael is mostly used when Yosef is around – because this is what helps Yaakov stay aside. Yosef, in a sense, fulfills the spiritual needs of the man named Yisrael.
What gets our spirit going? What brings out the Yisrael side of us?
What brings us down? What gets us to rally our physical side to help us get to where we need to be?
The march in NYC this past Sunday was inspiring – hopefully a strong Yaakov emerged and will continue to fight societal elements that are looking to wipe away a remnant of Yisrael. In contrast, the world wide Daf Yomi celebrations of this past week are a beautiful reminder of what the strength of Yisrael can achieve, certainly internally, and hopefully as a source of inspiration externally as well.
We need both – Yaakov is where we start. Yaakov is our strength in this world. But Yisrael is where we need to be. It is the fighting spirit of our People, to be getting closer to God, to having that extra soul that makes us a spiritual force to be reckoned with.
Do you like this explanation? According to Or HaChaim, it works throughout chapters 36-50. If you don’t see it, you’re reading the Torah the wrong way.
Take the challenge - prove him wrong! A small homework assignment...
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Monday, December 23, 2019
Eight Days and Bringing Light
Chanukah 5780
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Why is Chanukah an eight day holiday?
With respect to the eight days being contingent on a miracle of a small amount of oil lasting eight days, there are many answers for the question. But in truth, the miracle of the oil is not the reason why the holiday is eight days long. (see here as well)
Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein gathered a few reasons in his “Arukh HaShulchan” and after describing the miracles of the battles surrounding the Chanukah tale, he writes, “And the end of the miracle was on the 25th of Kislev.” This acknowledges that first and foremost, like at Purim, the celebration of this holiday is primarily a celebration of a military victory.
Unlike Purim, however, Chanukah is uniquely observed for an 8-day period, unlike any other military victory, which is typically a 1-day observance. While he goes on to describe the miracle of the oil, he does not attribute the eight day celebration of Chanukah to the details surrounding getting more oil, new oil, additional pure oil.
The idea is quite simple. In the moment, when they realized they were going to be dedicating the Temple again, and when they realized they had missed the holiday of Sukkot, they committed to making this rededication an eight-day event. They had no idea that they would experience an eight-day miracle of oil. And they also had no idea that they’d even find oil!
When they looked back at events that had transpired, the eight-day oil miracle was coincidental to the eight-day observance they had already celebrated. It gave them the idea to “establish the mitzvah of lighting candles,” while also perhaps inspiring that what had been a one-time eight-day rededication ceremony would become a yearly eight-day holiday.
Many take the light of Chanukah to be a metaphor for bringing light to the world. We live in exceptionally dark times. With attacks on Jews almost daily in different areas of New York City, with Jewish cemeteries being vandalized, with the recent murders in Jersey City, as well as in the two synagogues in the last year, and with many anti-Semitic notions being normalized in politics and in media, one wonders how Chanukah can fill the world with light.
The Jewish people have seen dark times in the past. While we hope things will not get darker, we can look to Chanukah as a model of a very dark time in which “the many fell to the hands of the few” and those who carried the torch of Torah emerged, while those trying to destroy them ultimately fell into the dustbin of history.
Military miracles and a reminder that God is lighting the way combine to make this holiday. May we merit to continue to see good people of the world defeat the evil people on the battlefield and in the battlefields of media, and may God carry us all through to the light, so the Chanukah celebration can return to what it was always meant to be: a triumph of Jewish ideas and ideals over a hedonism and arrogance that celebrated physicality and the physical world while ignoring true Godliness.
If Chanukah can be the guide to correcting the darkness that is consuming elements of humanity, it will indeed bring a much needed light into this world. And that will only be a blessing for everyone who seeks illumination from that light.
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Why is Chanukah an eight day holiday?
With respect to the eight days being contingent on a miracle of a small amount of oil lasting eight days, there are many answers for the question. But in truth, the miracle of the oil is not the reason why the holiday is eight days long. (see here as well)
Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein gathered a few reasons in his “Arukh HaShulchan” and after describing the miracles of the battles surrounding the Chanukah tale, he writes, “And the end of the miracle was on the 25th of Kislev.” This acknowledges that first and foremost, like at Purim, the celebration of this holiday is primarily a celebration of a military victory.
Unlike Purim, however, Chanukah is uniquely observed for an 8-day period, unlike any other military victory, which is typically a 1-day observance. While he goes on to describe the miracle of the oil, he does not attribute the eight day celebration of Chanukah to the details surrounding getting more oil, new oil, additional pure oil.
“There is someone who wrote, "[Eight days are commemorated,] since they [forbade] the commandment of circumcision, which is for eight days." And there is one who wrote, [It is] because they then inaugurated the Temple for the service that the evil Antiochus had [forbidden] (Ibid.).
“And [the last reason] is the truth - as in the Midrash, it is found that the work of the tabernacle was finished on the 25th of Kislev, and they did not inaugurate it until the beginning of the month (Rosh Chodesh) of Nissan, when the forefathers had been born. And the Holy One, blessed be He, payed [Israel] back in the time of Mattityahu (this midrash is brought by Maharsha, Shabbat 21b). And hence they made it like the inauguration of the Tabernacle, which was [composed of] the seven days of installation and the eighth day, [which] was the completion of the beginning of the service in the Tabernacle by Aharon and his sons, as is explained in the Torah. And so [too] with King Shlomo, it is written in II Chronicles 7, "And Shlomo made the holiday... seven days, and... on the eighth day was a convocation" - see there. And hence to commemorate [this], they called this holiday Chanukah (inauguration) also, from the expression, chanukat hamizbeach (inauguration of the tabernacle) and chanukat habayit (inauguration of the Temple). And with this, there is also an allusion to the 25th day: chanu (they inaugurated) kah [which is made up of the letters kaf and hey, which together represent the number twenty-five] (Ran, op.cit.). And another reason for this is elucidated in the Book of the Maccabees: Since, as a result of the decrees, they were stopped from bringing the sacrifices of the holiday of the past Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. And hence, to commemorate this, they made the eight days of Channukah. And [it followed] that when from the Heavens they were shown the miracle of the oil - 'They' showed them that 'They' agreed to them making eight days. (And this is [the meaning of] what they wrote in Shabbat, op.cit., "The following year, they fixed, etc.;" meaning to say, after they saw that there was agreement to them from the Heavens to make eight days - through the oil that 'They' showed them [stay] lit for eight days. And in commemoration of this miracle, they fixed that candles be lit on Chanukah, as was written by Tur.)”[These translations are from Sefaria: https://www.sefaria.org/Arukh_HaShulchan%2C_Orach_Chaim.670.5?lang=bi&with=Sheets&lang2=bi]
The idea is quite simple. In the moment, when they realized they were going to be dedicating the Temple again, and when they realized they had missed the holiday of Sukkot, they committed to making this rededication an eight-day event. They had no idea that they would experience an eight-day miracle of oil. And they also had no idea that they’d even find oil!
When they looked back at events that had transpired, the eight-day oil miracle was coincidental to the eight-day observance they had already celebrated. It gave them the idea to “establish the mitzvah of lighting candles,” while also perhaps inspiring that what had been a one-time eight-day rededication ceremony would become a yearly eight-day holiday.
Many take the light of Chanukah to be a metaphor for bringing light to the world. We live in exceptionally dark times. With attacks on Jews almost daily in different areas of New York City, with Jewish cemeteries being vandalized, with the recent murders in Jersey City, as well as in the two synagogues in the last year, and with many anti-Semitic notions being normalized in politics and in media, one wonders how Chanukah can fill the world with light.
The Jewish people have seen dark times in the past. While we hope things will not get darker, we can look to Chanukah as a model of a very dark time in which “the many fell to the hands of the few” and those who carried the torch of Torah emerged, while those trying to destroy them ultimately fell into the dustbin of history.
Military miracles and a reminder that God is lighting the way combine to make this holiday. May we merit to continue to see good people of the world defeat the evil people on the battlefield and in the battlefields of media, and may God carry us all through to the light, so the Chanukah celebration can return to what it was always meant to be: a triumph of Jewish ideas and ideals over a hedonism and arrogance that celebrated physicality and the physical world while ignoring true Godliness.
If Chanukah can be the guide to correcting the darkness that is consuming elements of humanity, it will indeed bring a much needed light into this world. And that will only be a blessing for everyone who seeks illumination from that light.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Can You Have a Part in Someone Else's Dream?
Parshat Vayeshev
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Yosef comes across two sets of dreams in our parsha. The first are his own dreams, of bundles of grain and stars, and the second are the dreams of Pharaoh’s chief wine pourer and chief baker. (For more on Yosef and all the dreams he experiences, read here)
If Yosef’s own dreams were predicting a portion of his future, we certainly understand why the Torah gives them to us in full detail. It is interesting to note that the anger of his brothers, and the concern of his father do not actually amount to proper interpretations of the dreams. It is not farfetched to say that while everyone seems to take the messages of the dreams in a similar manner, Yosef has no actual inkling of how such notions might ever come to fruition, simply because he doesn’t know where or how he might ever rise above his brothers.
As far as the dreams he hears of in prison, we can ask a simple question. What need have we to hear their details?
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Yosef comes across two sets of dreams in our parsha. The first are his own dreams, of bundles of grain and stars, and the second are the dreams of Pharaoh’s chief wine pourer and chief baker. (For more on Yosef and all the dreams he experiences, read here)
If Yosef’s own dreams were predicting a portion of his future, we certainly understand why the Torah gives them to us in full detail. It is interesting to note that the anger of his brothers, and the concern of his father do not actually amount to proper interpretations of the dreams. It is not farfetched to say that while everyone seems to take the messages of the dreams in a similar manner, Yosef has no actual inkling of how such notions might ever come to fruition, simply because he doesn’t know where or how he might ever rise above his brothers.
As far as the dreams he hears of in prison, we can ask a simple question. What need have we to hear their details?
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Thanking God Even When the Going is Really Rough
Parshat Vayishlach
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Parshat Vayishlach begins with Yaakov’s troubles and worries over finally meeting Eisav again after so many years apart. And while that encounter goes surprisingly pareve-ly, his next significant stop, in Shechem, destroys his daughter’s life and almost destroys his family.
When one looks at the forefathers, it is easy to see that they had their challenges, their trying moments, and even extended time periods of difficulty. It’s not a competition, but I think Yaakov had it worst, as we’ll soon see. But even after Shimon and Levi wipe out Shechem, much to their father’s disappointment, Yaakov still manages to go to Beit El, under God’s reminding instruction, at which time he declares “I will build an altar there to God who answers me on the day of my distress, and has been with me on the path on which I have gone.”
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Parshat Vayishlach begins with Yaakov’s troubles and worries over finally meeting Eisav again after so many years apart. And while that encounter goes surprisingly pareve-ly, his next significant stop, in Shechem, destroys his daughter’s life and almost destroys his family.
When one looks at the forefathers, it is easy to see that they had their challenges, their trying moments, and even extended time periods of difficulty. It’s not a competition, but I think Yaakov had it worst, as we’ll soon see. But even after Shimon and Levi wipe out Shechem, much to their father’s disappointment, Yaakov still manages to go to Beit El, under God’s reminding instruction, at which time he declares “I will build an altar there to God who answers me on the day of my distress, and has been with me on the path on which I have gone.”
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Rachel's Struggle and Rachel's Cries
Parshat Vayetze
by Rabbi Avi Billet
One of the more fascinating family relationships in the Torah surrounds that of Yaakov with his wives, and that of the wives themselves with one another. All of what you will now read is aimed at opening conversations, and not to diminish the status the fathers and mothers of the Jewish people hold in our eyes. In fact, looking at their experiences as very real, human experiences should be more the source of inspiration and what to learn from rather than to be critical of their roles in our national story.
The fact that Yaakov ends up having 4 wives at the same time is an anomaly. While Avraham had Sarah and Hagar at the same time (and took Keturah as a wife when he was a widower living alone) this is something he did not want or initially agree to, but only accepted at his wife’s insistence, after ten years in Canaan (and an unknown amount of time they were married prior to coming to Canaan), and Sarah’s embracing her barrenness.
Yitzchak only had Rivkah in his life.
Yaakov intended to only have Rachel in his life. That he married Leah was a result of Lavan’s trickery. His keeping her as a wife (though he had every right to divorce her) was likely the result of his own honesty and kindness towards Leah. And, like Hagar to Avraham, Bilhah and Zilpah became his wives at his wives’ insistence.
But even in that arena, we need to raise an eyebrow about Leah’s role.
by Rabbi Avi Billet
One of the more fascinating family relationships in the Torah surrounds that of Yaakov with his wives, and that of the wives themselves with one another. All of what you will now read is aimed at opening conversations, and not to diminish the status the fathers and mothers of the Jewish people hold in our eyes. In fact, looking at their experiences as very real, human experiences should be more the source of inspiration and what to learn from rather than to be critical of their roles in our national story.
The fact that Yaakov ends up having 4 wives at the same time is an anomaly. While Avraham had Sarah and Hagar at the same time (and took Keturah as a wife when he was a widower living alone) this is something he did not want or initially agree to, but only accepted at his wife’s insistence, after ten years in Canaan (and an unknown amount of time they were married prior to coming to Canaan), and Sarah’s embracing her barrenness.
Yitzchak only had Rivkah in his life.
Yaakov intended to only have Rachel in his life. That he married Leah was a result of Lavan’s trickery. His keeping her as a wife (though he had every right to divorce her) was likely the result of his own honesty and kindness towards Leah. And, like Hagar to Avraham, Bilhah and Zilpah became his wives at his wives’ insistence.
But even in that arena, we need to raise an eyebrow about Leah’s role.
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
How Tensions Resolve Themselves
Parshat Toldot
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Our parsha shares with us 3 stories. The first is the background of the birth of Eisav and Yaakov and the sale of the Bechora, the second is the one chapter dedicated to the life of Yitzchak, and the final tale concerns the blessings seemingly designated for Eisav which Yaakov received based on his mother’s intervention and instruction.
If I could summarize each of these stories with their aftermath objectively, based on the text we have, it would sound like this:
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Our parsha shares with us 3 stories. The first is the background of the birth of Eisav and Yaakov and the sale of the Bechora, the second is the one chapter dedicated to the life of Yitzchak, and the final tale concerns the blessings seemingly designated for Eisav which Yaakov received based on his mother’s intervention and instruction.
If I could summarize each of these stories with their aftermath objectively, based on the text we have, it would sound like this:
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Shidduch Criteria - Bigotry or Common Sense?
Parshat Chayei Sarah
by Rabbi Avi Billet
by Rabbi Avi Billet
When it came time to find a wife for Yitzchak, Avraham was very clear in his instructions to his servant. Swear “that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live. Instead, you must go to my native land, to my birthplace, and obtain a wife for my son Yitzchak.“ (24:3-4)
Was Avraham instructing his servant to specifically find Rivkah, about whose existence he learned of in the end of Chapter 22? Was he generally instructing his servant to find a wife for Yitzchak specifically from his family? Or was he being discriminatory against his neighbors, while remembering fondly or wistfully the Haranite, Aramite, or Casdean women?
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