Torah Parallels

Parshas Vayeira Lost in the System By: Daniel Listhaus וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה  וְהָאֱלֹקים  נִסָּה אֶת אַבְרָהָם וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אַבְרָהָם וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּנִי : וַיֹּאמֶר קַח נָא אֶת בִּנְךָ אֶת יְחִידְךָ אֲשֶׁר אָהַבְתָּ אֶת יִצְחָק וְלֶךְ לְךָ אֶל אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה וְהַעֲלֵהוּ שָׁם לְעֹלָה עַל אַחַד הֶהָרִים אֲשֶׁר אֹמַר אֵלֶיךָ : “ And it happened after these words that G-d tested Avraham and He said to him, 'Avraham', and he said, 'Here I am.” And He said, 'Please take your son, your only one, whom you love – Yitzchak – go to the land of Moriah, and bring him up there as an offering upon one of the mountains which I shall tell you.” -Vayeira  22:1-2 The  mishna 1 mentions that there were ten tests that Avraham  avinu was given. During this final test, Avraham was commanded to take his son, Yitzchak, and offer him as a  karbon  (sacrifice) to Hashem – what we now refer to as  Akeidas Yitzchak . The  Akeidah  represents much more t

~ Something to Think About ~ פרשת וירא Parsha Stumpers By: Daniel Listhaus The Torah tells us that Avraham was visited by three men who looked like Arabs. How could they have looked like Arabs if Arabs are descendents of Yishmael? The  passuk  relates that the  malachim “ ate” the food which Avraham prepared for them.  Rashi  explains that the reason they pretended to eat is because it is proper not to deviate from the  minhag  of the place. Obviously this concept is important enough for the  malachim  to proactively eat, as opposed to passively just say that they are not hungry. What is so important about not deviating from the  minhagei ha'makom ? Where in  halacha  do we see this concept as well? After Avraham's  bris , Rashi (18:1) tells us that Hashem made it extremely hot and sunny in order not to trouble Avraham with guests. When Hashem saw Avraham was upset that no guests were coming, Hashem sent three  malachim . Why didn't Hashem just make

~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~ Parshas Lech Lecha Mind Your Surroundings By: Daniel Listhaus וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל אַבְרָם לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶלהָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ:  וְאֶעֶשְׂ לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ וַאֲגַדְּלָה שְׁמֶךָ וֶהְיֵה בְּרָכָה “Hashem said to Avram, 'Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.'” -Lech Lecha  12:1-2             The  mishna [1] mentions that there were ten tests that Avraham  avinu  was given and he passed all of them, demonstrating the incredible amount of love Avraham must have had for Hashem. One of these ten tests is the opening  passuk  (verse) of this week's  parsha . [2] Hashem commanded Avraham to leave his birthplace and his father's house and to keep traveling until Hashem wo

Parshas Noach Better Bitter By: Daniel Listhaus וַיָּחֶל עוֹד שִׁבְעַת יָמִים אֲחֵרִים וַיֹּסֶף שַׁלַּח אֶת הַיּוֹנָה מִן הַתֵּבָה וַתָּבֹא אֵלָיו הַיּוֹנָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ וַיֵּדַע נֹחַ כִּי קַלּוּ הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ “ And he waited for again another seven days and again he sent out the dove from the ark. The dove came back to him in the evening – and behold! An olive leaf it had plucked with its mouth. And Noach knew that the waters had subsided from upon the earth.” -Noach  8:10-11 Safe inside the security of the   teivah (ark), Noach had no way of knowing when the earth would be dry and ready for man again. After sending the raven out unsuccessfully, Noach sent out the dove to determine if the land was ready for them to exit the   teivah . The first time the dove was sent, it returned right away because it could not find a place to rest. Noach then waited another period of seven days and sent out the dove a second

~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~ Parshas Beraishis Human DNA and the First Mutation By: Daniel Listhaus וַיִּבְרָא  אֱלֹקים  אֶת הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ בְּצֶלֶם  אֱלֹקים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אֹתָם “And G-d created man in his image, in the image of G-d He created him....” - Beraishis  1:27 Where did we come from? What is our purpose? Is our universe even real? Do we have free will? These are questions which mankind has debated for thousands of years. Philosophers wrote books, religions were started, and tens of billions of dollars spent toward research. Indeed these questions are quite intriguing to intellectuals; however as many truths and derivatives of facts that could be gleaned from numbers and science, the most basic place to start one’s research would be in  Beraishis . The early  parshiyos  of  sefer Beraishis , and in particular  parshas Beraishis , discuss a time period before the Jews receiving the Torah [1] , a time before Avraham, Yitzchak, an

~ Something to Think About ~ פרשת בראשית Parsha Stumpers By: Daniel Listhaus 1.       (1:1) The Torah begins with “ Beraishis bara Elokim ”. Why not start with “ Elokim bara beraishis ” which would (a). Allow the first letter of the Torah be an ‘ aleph’ , (b). allow the first word to be the name of Hashem and (c). not cause any possible misunderstanding in someone  chas v’shalom  thinking that something called “ beraishis ” created Hashem? 2.      (1:1)  Rashi  writes that it is important to start the Torah with a recount of Hashem being the master and creator because this way it is clear to the goyim that Hashem has the only right to decide who gets Eretz Yisroel – the  B’nei Yisroel . If we are counting on the goyim accepting the story of the Torah, then for the same price it should be enough for them to just read that Hashem promised us Eretz Yisroel without going into detail of days of  Beraishis . So how did  Rashi  answer his question? Furthermore, what good