GIRLS AND GEMS:
PARSHAT CHAYEI SARAH
Shira Smiles class 5782/2021
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Avraham
Avinu is nearing the end of his life. The Torah here sums up the life of our
Patriarch and says: “Avraham was old, bo bayamim/well on in years, and
Hashem had blessed Avraham bakol/with everything.” While it may be true
that Avraham was materially wealthy, how could we judge Avraham to be blessed
with “everything” when his beloved wife and full life partner had just recently
died, and the son who was destined to carry on his legacy was an alter
bochur/an older young man who had not yet married? An enigmatic medrash
tries to provide some answers, but the medrash itself requires deep analysis to
arrive at some symbolic and allegorical meaning.
In
the very first confusion over this “everything,” Rabbi Meir says Avraham was
blessed with not having a daughter, (presumably avoiding the worries associated
more with raising and marrying off girls [Ramban]) while Rabbi Yehudah says
that “everything” means that he actually had a daughter.[All the women reading
this, all who were once young daughters and may have daughters of their own,
understand what a blessing a daughter is. CKS] This daughter’s name was Bakol.
Alternatively, Bakol is referring to everyone, There was a gemstone
acting as an amulet that hung around Avraham’s neck, and whoever looked at it
would be cured from whatever ailed him. Upon Avraham’s death, Hashem hung the
stone in the sun. However, as is obvious from this convoluted story, our Sages
interpret this medrash in purely allegorical ways.
First
we must understand that while halachah/law must be literal and clear to
prevent violation, medrash and aggadah are often purposely obscure and guarded
with the messages hidden and obscure, meant to be handed down through oral
tradition to those who would understand them. With this in mind, we can begin
to probe the meanings concealed in this medrash.
According
to Ktav Sofer Bakol was indeed a daughter, born after Yitzchak, a blessing to
silence the scoffers who claimed that Avimelech was Yitzchak’s father. In this
interpretation, since there would be no man worthy of Avraham’s daughter,
Hashem had her die, as a search for a husband would be fruitless [in contrast
to the immediately following search for a bride for Yitzchak. CKS].
Rabbi
Mordechai Ezrachi interprets this medrash more simply and provides us with a
simple yet profound lesson. Bakol literally means “with everything.” This was
Avraham’s blessing, his realization that Hashem had indeed given him all he
needs. To appreciate all of the blessings in his life, he called his
daughter Bakol, to remind himself constantly of all Hashem’s blessings. When we
recognize we truly have everything, even when we pray for things we may want,
we are trying to connect with Hakodosh Boruch Hu and we know we are complete
and have everything we need. As we say in Birkat Hamazon, Hashem
nourishes us Betuvo, in His [complete] goodness, not Mituvo,
from [part of] His goodness.
Rav
Yosef Nechemiah, Av Beis Din of Krakow, gives us insight into the deep faith of
Avraham Avinu and all tzadikim. They understand that although their human
perception may think their life circumstances are not good, if Hashem has given
them these challenges, they are all good. With this approach, Avraham was
indeed blessed with everything.
What,
however, is the gem around Avraham’s neck? In Rabbeinu Yosef Nechemiah’s
interpretation, the gem refers to Avraham’s vocal cords. [The larynx encasing
the vocal cords can indeed seem like a stone “bump” on one’s neck. CKS] The
stone was the power of Avraham’s speech, the pearls of wise advice that had healing
qualities. By teaching others the Oneness of Hashem and that all He does for us
is good, Avraham Avinu brought them to an understanding that all is good. Even
if it feels like the night darkness now, the sun will appear again, bringing
the light of day. When you can believe that hope, the lustrous gem of feeling
God’s blessing embedded in the sun is already here amid the darkness. You can
embrace the darkness as part of the process and the blessing.
Therefore,
writes Dovid Hamelech wrote in Tehillim 90, “Satisfy us in the morning with
your chesed” so that we can perceive and appreciate the chesed Hashem bestows
upon us immediately, so that we don’t need to wait until we are well in years.
“Then we shall sing out and rejoice throughout our days.” So we bless a bride
and groom “with joyous shouts immediately as they leave the chupah,” let them
see and appreciate the blessings of this union and the building of a true
Jewish home from the moment of its inception, not needing to see it only in old
age, in retrospect through the life of marriage.
Sichot
Mussar
points out that the only time Yaakov was criticized for his speech was for
bemoaning Yosef’s disappearance, for not being able to believe in Hashem’s
guiding hand in even these circumstances. At that moment, he was looking at the
details instead of trying to grasp a bigger picture, one that would not be
revealed to him until later. We too must not look at current details of our
lives, but must always have faith that all is for the good, whether in this world
or in the World to come.
How
can we reach that state of faith? Lashon Chasidim cites Bas
Ayin in explaining that a person’s character trait is sometimes
euphemistically called bas/daughter. The main character trait to work
on, emphasizes the Bas Ayin is humility, for humility encompasses all
other traits and enables us to serve Hashem most fully. Avraham was now full in
yamim/days, whose numeric value is 100. The Torah
asks: “Mah/what does Hashem ask of you? Only to fear Hashem… to go in
all His ways…” We are asked to read mah as mayah/100, as the all
encompassing number, as the trait that includes all others, the trait of
humility. This was the blessing Avraham Avinu came with when he was well on in yamim/years/100.
This trait of humility was his “daughter.”
The
Oshorover Rebbe, Be’er Moshe, takes the symbolism further into the idea
of the stone. The yetzer horo is often referred to as a stone [a
stumbling block or a stone around one’s neck, weighing us down. CKS]. Avraham
Avinu was able to take the negative stone, apply personal pressure, and
transform the stone into something valuable, into a gem. Since Avraham was so
humble, considering himself just dust and ashes, the yetzer horo had no
power over him. Since Avrham had the power of turning a stone into a gem, a
negative into a positive, all who saw him were cured of their ailments.
This
healing was not a magic spell produced by a magic stone. The Shvilei
Pinchas explains. The mishneh in Pirkei Avos states: “Envy,
desire and [pursuit of] honor remove a person from this world.” How often do we
make ourselves “sick” over perceived slights, or the feeling of entitlement for
things we do not deserve? Avraham’s humble speech made people see themselves
and the world more clearly. This change in perception cured them of their ills.
Now,
without Avraham Avinu to guide us, how do we heal ourselves? The Be’er Moshe
advises us to look at the sun, the gem in the sky. We can learn humility
from the sun. The Gemorrah tells us that those who are humiliated and persecuted
and do not respond to the humiliation love Hashem. At the beginning of
creation, when Hashem created the sun and the moon, the moon arrogantly
complained that there could not be two monarchs ruling the one realm of the
sky. The sun remained silent, content in its position. The humble thus resemble
the sun, exploding in its glory. Humility allows one to remain content with
their position. [An ironic observation: The arrogant one, like the moon, thinks
the world revolves around them; the humble sun actually does have the world
revolve around it. The greatest of all men, Moshe Rabbenu was also the most
humble, yet so much of the world revolves around his teachings. CKS]
When
Moshe reviews the Torah before his death and reenacts bringing the Torah down
to Bnei Yisroel, He says, “Anochi/I stood between Hashem and you…” Rabbi
Michel of Zlatchov interprets the verse homiletically, saying that that the I,
the ego stands between Hashem and you. It is the ego that has expectations of
entitlement and therefore is the source of anger and jealousy. The humble,
having no such expectations, remain content and grateful, feeling blessed with
what they have, adds Rabbi Friedlander. The humble make room for others while
those with an overly strong ego push everyone out, including God.
The
Divrei Yisroel of Modzitz also focuses on the sun in interpreting this
medrash. When Avraham Avinu was alive, he inspired people to see the world with
clarity and return to a belief that all Hashem does is for the good. When
Avraham died, the inspiration for teshuvah was transferred to observing the
sun, to return, as the sun “returns” to the earth each day. Teshuvah,
connection to Hashem, is the source of all healing.
Today
we do not have the voice of Avraham Avinu to guide us to do teshuvah, but,
according to another medrash, every day a heavenly voice, called a bas kol/“daughter
of all”/daughter of Heaven, calls out every morning to atone for the
humiliation of Heaven.
How
are healing and teshuvah connected? The Shvilei Pinchas explains that
just as we cannot look directly at the full strength of the sun, so can we also
not look at the meaning of Hashem’s four lettered name. Both require sheaths
and shields. The name of Hashem is clothed in Elokhim, the name associated with
nature. Avraham Avinu was able with his voice to open people’s eyes to see the
truth of Hashem’s sovereignty as clear as day, in the unforgiving light of the
sun. This clarity had a healing quality. Avraham Avinu established our morning
prayer at the time of the rising sun when truth is revealed in full daylight.
Therefore, in the future, the Gemorrah tells us, the sun will be removed from
its sheath, the tzadikim will be healed by its light of truth, while the evil
ones will be judged in that same light of truth.
We
must not get caught up in the world of hiddenness, in the world of nature.
Recognize the core of nature itself and the essence of our own being as part of
Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Our soul is the diamond, the gem that connects us to
Hashem, and the source of all healing.
Every
negative heavenly decree has a specific term for it to remain in effect, writes
the Be’er Hachaim. The term of someone’s suffering, or of his poverty is
preordained. However, that time can be telescoped by also telescoping the
performance of mitzvoth. If someone is destined to be ill for one year but he
or others give an unusual amount of tzedakah on his behalf, the term of the
illness may also be telescoped in the ratio of the tzedakah given. For example,
if one donates a year’s worth of tzedakah in one month, a year of suffering may
be reduced to one month’s suffering, or a month of reciting Tehillim may be
compacted into one day’s suffering. The healing mitzvah observance and teshuvah
bring needs to be continuous, not broken into discrete sections. Twenty four
continuous years of learning is more powerful than two twelve year periods with
a gap between them. Therefore it is important for us to remain steadfast in our
service to Hashem, to move forward in spite of whatever life puts in our path.
We must put our necks forward and push through with the stone around our neck,
knowing with clarity that it is all for the good.