Chayei Sarah sources -- 2012 edition

by aliyah

rishon (Bereishit 23:1)

sheni (23:17)

shlishi (24:10)

revii (24:27)

chamishi (24:53)

shishi (25:1)

shvii (25:12), maftir

haftara of Chayei Sarah (I Melachim 1)

by perek

perek 23

perek 24

perek 25

meforshim
Geonim (589-1038)

R' Saadia Gaon(882-942) -- see Wikipedia entry:

1. Arabic translation of Torah, here  at Temanim.org. This is a beautiful PDF, with the Chumash text, Rashi, Onkelos, and Rav Saadia's Tafsir. All of these have nikkud, which is a very nice feature. It also designates the Temani and standard aliyah breaks, and two commentaries, Shemen HaMor and Chelek HaDikduk, on the kriyah, trup, nikkud, and dikduk, on the basis of Yemenite manuscripts, which would be worthwhile even absent the other features. Quite excellent, overall.
2. The same Arabic translation, the Tafsir, here at Google books. No nikkud, Chumash text, Rashi, or Onkelos. But there is a brief supercommentary by Yosef Direnburg at the bottom of each page. 
3. And translation of that Tafsir to Hebrew
4. Collected commentary of Saadia Gaon on Torah, selected from the writings of various Rishonim and from his commentaries on other works.

Rabbi Yona Ibn Janach(Spain, 990-1050) -- see Wikipedia  

Rishonim (11th - 15th centuries)

Not really Abarbabel

Judaica Press Rashi in English  and Hebrew (France, 1040 - 1105) -- ואני לא באתי אלא לפשוטו של מקרא ולאגדה המיישבת דברי המקרא, דבר דבור על אופניו

Chizkuni (France, 13th century) -- see Wikipedia  

Daat  -- with Rashi, Ramban, Seforno, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Rabbenu Bachya, Midrash Rabba, Tanchuma+, Gilyonot 

Rashbam (France, 1085-1158) -- see Wikipedia 

1. Here and here, in a printed text, collected and corrected from printed texts and manuscripts, with citations and brief supercommentary by David Rosen.
2. At Daat, color coded and copy-pasteable.

Abarbanel (Portugal, Italy, 1437-1508) -- see Wikipedia -- there is a section on his exegesis 

Baal HaTurim (Germany, Spain, 1269-1343) -- see Wikipedia entry:

1. Baal Haturim -- short, consisting of gematriot and the like
2. Baal Haturim (HaAruch), consisting of perushim, often drawn from Ramban
3. Torat Hatur -- nothing on Chayei Sarah -- when the Tur (in his halachic work) cites pesukim from this parasha. Not very helpful, IMHO. Though the supercommentary on the Tur on the bottom is nice.

Rabbenu Ephraim -- (France, 12th and 13th century) -- see Jewish Encyclopedia entry --  "He was the author of "Perush 'al ha-Torah," which consists chiefly of gemaṭria and "noṭariḳon." He largely followed Eleazar of Worms."

Rabbi Yosef Ibn Caspi -- (Provence, Egypt and elsewhere, 1279-1340) -- A pashtan and rationalist Jewish philosopher. References Rambam, and Ibn Ezra. He also focuses on dikduk and trup. See Wikipedia.

1. Ibn Caspi -- in Mishneh Kesef, volume 2 -- a running commentary with generally short comments on pesukim, though with occasional long discourses.
2. Ibn Caspi -- Tiras Kesef -- lengthy discourses on philosophical points raised in the parsha.
3. His supercommentary on Ibn Ezra,  different from his commentary  (here and here) -- not until Vayeitzei -- explaining the sodot of Ibn Ezra 

Ralbag (France, 1288 - 1344) -- medieval Jewish philosopher. See Wikipedia

R' Shlomo Ibn Gabirol

Ibn Gabirol -- nothing until Vayeitzei -- (Spain, 1040-1058) -- see Wikipedia

R' Yosef Bechor Shor (France, 12th century). See Wikipedia entry. Student of Rabbenu Tam. "Even more than Rashi, to whose exegetical school he belonged, he confined himself to literal interpretations (peshat). Anticipating later Biblical criticism, he assumed the presence of duplicate narratives in the Bible, and he strove to give rational explanations to the miraculous stories."

Meiri -- nothing until Toldos-- (Catalan, 1249 – 1310) -- see Wikipedia entry. This is a collected commentary, culled from his other works.

Rabbenu Yonah -- nothing until Toldos -- (Catalan, died 1263) -- see Wikipedia

Seforno (Italy, 1475-1550) -- see Wikipedia

Sefer Zikaron of Ritva -- not until Vayigash --(Spain, 1250–1330) -- see Wikipedia

Tzror Hamor -- "containing interpretations according to both the ordinary sense and the mystical method of the Zohar" -- Rabbi Avraham Sabba (Spain, Portugal, 1440-1508) -- see Wikipedia

posts so far for parshat Chayei Sarah

2011

1. Chayei Sarah sources, 2011 edition.

2. YUTorah on parashat Chayei Sarah.

3. Eliezer makes a netilas yadayim and hamotzi -- But how does the Baal HaTurim know to add these additional details to the midrash?

4. A consistent explanation of shalshelet, across Tanach -- Considering explanations for the shalshelet in our parashah, as well as across Tanach. Rav Kanievsky has a consistent midrashic explanation. I give a drier, more technical explanation.

5. Darshening the pesik in ויהי | כראות -- Should we? I don't think so, because it is not a pesik.

6. What nekitas chefetz was there, if Yaakov was nolad mahul?  So asks Rav Chaim Kanievsky, further exploring the path set by Mizrachi. By Avraham, it was nekitas chefetz on the milah, and Avraham's very first mitzvah. Not so for Yaakov, on two counts. Rav Kanievsky's answer, and then I explore further.

7. Calculations regarding stolen blessings and mitzvos -- an elaborate construction from the Chasam Sofer.

2010

1. Chayei Sarah sources -- further improved and expanded.
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2. Was Sarah buried in the *Valley* of Chevron? A variant text in the beginning of parashat Chayei Sarah, present in the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch. And why I believe the masoretic text to be better.
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3. Was Sarah Imeinu evil and ugly at age 101?  I don't think so. Therefore, a potential deeper meaning in the famous midrash.
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4. Why was it called Kiryat Arba? I believe that what drives Rashi is first peshat and second derash. But there are complications, in the form of an explicit pasuk which seems to contradict Rashi's peshat.
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5. Avraham Avinu's deceased daughter -- In which I discover a Chasam Sofer which deduces a neo-midrash I came up with myself.
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6. Does Rashi change the number of miracles?  No, he doesn't. But I like the methodology. A response to a DovBear post.
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7. Proving Rivkah's Virtue -- A fascinating midrash, in which Rivkah proves that she did not have relations with Eliezer on the way.
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8. Sated, or Sated with years? A little more information, to make a more informed decision of the merits of the Masoretic text vs. the Samaritan text, on whether it is 'sated' or 'sated with years'. A response to a DovBear post. But I misidentified the Peshitta text, due to a mixup. What appears in that post is NOT Peshitta.
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9. Rav Moshe Feinstein on Avraham's deceased daughter -- On previous occasions, I have discussed the midrash on Avraham Avinu's deceased daughter. Now, I present Rav Moshe Feinstein's take inside, and analyze it a little bit.
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10. The meaning of יִפֹּל מִצִּדְּךָ אֶלֶף -- In which I encounter a novel peshat in davening, but still prefer my own.

2009

1. Chayei Sarah sources -- links by aliyah and perek to an online Mikraos Gedolos, plus links to more than 100 meforshim on the parsha and haftorah.
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2. Should there be a pasek between Nesi Elohim and Ata? The vast majority of precise manuscripts don't have it. Though Minchas Shai endorses it, I explain why I would not.
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3. The evolution of a derash -- how Midrash Rabba makes no mention of a krei / ketiv, but probably darshens Eliezer's hope for his daughter's marriage to Yitzchak from a different textual feature. Then, how Rashi and Yalkut Shimoni handle it. And then, what do we make of the derasha being of Eliezer's retelling, rather than the original narrative.
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4. Is it written Pilgashim or Pilagsham? A derasha based on deficient spelling, but we don't have this deficient spelling!
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5. If she was a virgin, isn't it obvious that no man had known her?! How different pashtanim deal with this duplication. Rashi, Rashbam, and even Ibn Ezra make something of the duplication, but I side with Ibn Caspi who says that the duplication is a linguistic feature, and should not connote anything on the level of peshat. And my own novel explanation of why veIsh lo yedaah was necessary. Which I now see was not so novel, unfortunately.
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6. Why did Eliezer run after Rivkah? According to Rashi and Ibn Caspi, and what this might demonstrate about their methodologies. I associate it with an even earlier pasuk than Rashi and Ibn Caspi do; and then I note the more general phenomenon of running in the perek, and attempt to explain that as well.
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7. The order of presents and inquiring after Rivkah's family -- and how different pashtanim (Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Ibn Caspi) handle it.
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8. To whom does Avraham bow? The midrash modifying this might be going on different pesukim. If on a particular pasuk, then Ibn Ezra and Rashbam are arguing with Chazal, while Ibn Caspi supports them as a matter of peshat. And how this relates to Eliezer bowing down on hearing good news.
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9. Yeridas HaDoros, and whether Avraham muzzled his camels -- Rashi says yes, and Ramban says no. Also, how this relates to the donkey of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair.

2008

• Chayyei Sarah Sources -- links to an online mikraos gedolos, by aliyah and perek.
• Rivkah's Age, Once Again, And Apikorses -- talking about an article by Rabbi Avi Billet, and the reaction of some. And then my own take on the issue of Rivkah's age (3 vs. 14), and why it is or is not plausible or readable into the Biblical text, as a summary of several parshablog posts on the subject.
• As a followup to the above, an analysis of the Rashis about Rivkah's age at marriage, and at what age they began to try to have kids. And how it may arise from various textual cues.
• Rashi and Women's Empowerment? An analysis of the Rashi on the statement that they asked Rivkah, and why Rashi might have changed the text from marrying off an orphaness to marrying off a woman.
• Did Sarah did from the shock or from the kiss? A harmonization of the two mechanisms of Sarah's death, and why I don't like that harmonization.

2007

• The Servant Becomes A Man
• Why the shift from the servant to the man? I would posit changing roles in the story, or to convey how they did not know who he was.
• Can We Argue That Rivkah Was Not Three Years Old?
• Of course. And several meforshim do. How Rabbenu Bachya is motivated by some of DovBear's concerns, and is willing to see derash as just one possible perush.
• Does The Torah Calling Rivkah a Naarah Mean That She Cannot Be Three?
• Not necessarily, as a matter of peshat.
• The Benei Chet: Good For Purchasing Burial Plots From, But No Good For A Shidduch
• But why?
• Did Eliezer Make The Camels Kneel?
• Or did he "park" them by a breicha?
• How Do We Know Eliezer Had Kefitzat HaDerech?
• Because Rashi tells us so! Also, how it is derived from various local pesukim.
• The Gematria of Ephron
• Based on the commentary of the Baal HaTurim. And what it means.

2006

• A Three Year Old Rivkah -- Plausible? Obscene?
• I discuss plausibility of a three year old marrying, and of a three year old able to carry a heavy water pitcher. Also, whether a three year old could carry on such a conversation with Eliezer. Also, would this be obscene? Note that Rashi says the actual consummation of marriage was years later. Plus more.
• Use of Time-of-Day To Convey Drama and Mood
• in Vayera, in Chayyei Sara, and in Rut. I think in Chayyei Sarah it adds to the drama of the romantic meeting of Yitzchak and Rivka.
• The Account of Betuel's Death By Poision, part i
• What apparent problem in the text does this midrash solve? What is the textual basis for the resolution? How does this midrash fit in with the overall theme of the parsha?
• The Account of Betuel's Death By Poison, part ii
• The same midrash, but with a different spin, as it occurs in Bereishit Rabbati from Rav Moshe haDarshan. In terms of a different poisoner (Lavan) and a different, fairly positive, motivation for the attempted poisoning.

2005

• The Sons of Keturah
• I argue that, on a peshat level Avraham married Keturah well before Sarah's death. I just discovered Shadal says the same thing, though not using my reasoning.
• The Sons of Keturah Followup
• I consider the idea that Avraham married Keturah after Sarah's death, and discuss why it is somewhat plausible.
• Two Questions On Parshat Chayyei Sarah
  
• And one on Toldot. It's a joke.
• The Pluperfect יֹשֵׁב a
• Relevant to parshat Vayera and Chayyei Sara, we compare three instances of the verb יֹשֵׁב written deficiently, and show how midrash treats them the same and differently.
• Proof of Gilgul
• It's a joke
  
• Why a shalshelet?
• An explanation based on the science of trup.

2004

• Was the Servant of Avraham Eliezer?
• An analysis of the identification of Eliezer with the servant of Avraham. Most obviously, Chazal's closed canon approach. But even on a peshat level, we show a reason to equate the two. Why would the Torah not mention it, if so. From the perspective of literature, other people in this narrative are deliberately not mentioned by name - Rivka, Lavan, Betuel - even though their names are known from elsewhere - and this for deliberate literary effect. Compare with the story of Moshe being born and placed in the Nile, where proper names are also deliberately omitted.

2003

• לוֹ, לוּ, לֹא אֲדֹנִי שְׁמָעֵנִי - part 1
• Aleph and Vav are matres lectiones, "mothers of reading," and in reality can and do fill many vowel roles. What different perspective of the interaction between Efron and Avraham do we get it we revocalize all the above as לוּ and change the locations of pasuk break to always give us לוּ אֲדֹנִי שְׁמָעֵנִי? 
• לוֹ, לוּ, לֹא אֲדֹנִי שְׁמָעֵנִי - part 2 (2004)
• Further thoughts and developments on the same subject. Plus what Tg Yonatan does with this.
• Waterloo
• A joke which matches well with the two aforementioned divrei Torah.
• Sarah's Daughter
• The derivation of a midrash that states that Sarah had a daughter who died on the same day that Sarah died.

to be continued...

Interesting Posts and Articles #386

1. Via Life in Israel, In the Year Tav Shin Ayin Gimel, if mashiach chas veshalom still hasn't come down from himmel, etc., etc.


This was based on the song "In the year 2525", by Zager and Evans.



However, I think Life In Israel's reference to Back to the Future coming to be was based on a hoax.

2. DovBear is still stirring the hornets nest with no breastfeeding in shul posts. I agree with him. Here is why.

A kohen with a disfigurement which will distract the tzibbur is not supposed to duchen. However, if the tzibbur is used to him, it is not a problem. Thus, on Megillah 24b:

(a) Despite the fact that Rav Huna disqualifies a blear-eyed Kohen (who constantly sheds tears) from Duchening, and Rebbi Yochanan, a Kohen who is blind in one eye - they both opted to remain silent (when a blear-eyed Kohen Duchened in the vicinity of the former, and a Kohen who was blind in one eye in the vicinity of the latter - because in both cases, the people of the town had gotten used to him, and would not look at him anyway (which is the real reason for the prohibition).

Should a woman be allowed to nurse in shul, if others will view it as a breach of ettiquette and thus such actions will distract them from davening? Sure.

Do you want to argue that nursing is non-sexual and should be brought into the public sphere? Go ahead and argue it. I'll even agree with you.

Still, society still are idiots. Wage this war outside the shul. Until the war is won, and people internalize an acceptance of the practice, it still will have negative repercussions on the kavvana of other people, and it might be considered somewhat selfish to disregard the feeling of others, and disrespectful to shul decorum.

Saying this does not mean that breastfeeding in public is inherently evil or wrong. But neither having such an eye-mum in public.

3. Crown Heights.info brings us news of some meshugenas, who are interacting with the Rebbe's chair as if he were there. Fine, so there are meshuggenas. The Chabad posters there seem embarrassed by it all. And if the vast majority of mainstream Chabad are really closet meshichists, which certainly sounds plausible to me, this new unit of craziness does not really add much.

4. At the Yeshiva World, when an IPhone is discovered in a Bnei Brak yeshiva.

“We are going to fulfill the mitzvah of וביערת הרע מקירבך”

Rather than smashing IPhones, the real evil in their midst is ignorance coupled with intolerance.

5. At COLLive, We're Stronger Than The Internet, by Rabbi Manis Friedman. Follow the link for article and video.

6. At Hirhurim, a time to defer.

7. Here at parshablog, a review of the recent English translation of Shadal's commentary on Chumash.

Is the eruv up?

From The Queens Vaad:

ERUV INFORMATION

Please be advised that the eruv maps provided are for reference purposes only. For the current status of each neighborhood’s eruv, please call the phone numbers listed. For most accurate updates, it is best to call only a few hours before the start of Shabbos or Yuntif.

 

Area / Shul	Hotline #	Eruv Website / Map of Eruv Boundaries
Briarwood	(718) 657-2880 - After 2pm on Friday	Not Available
Forest Hills- Rego Park	(718) 544-6898	See Web Site
Hillcrest	(718) 969-2021	See Web Site
Glendale	(718) 847-3049	Not Available
Jamaica Estates/Holliswood	(718) 776-8500 Ext. 121	See Web Site
Kew Gardens	(718) 849-3788	See Web Site
Kew Gardens Hills	(718) 263-3921	Not Available
South Bayside/Hollis Hills	(718) 224-2100 Ext. 26	See Web Site
Sunnyside	(845) 538-0452	Coming Soon

When I tried the # for Kew Gardens Hills just now, they did not yet update the info -- it was for Shabbos parshas Lech Lecha. If anyone calls these numbers and finds out info, please post it in the comment section.

posts so far for parshat Vayera

2012

1. Vayera sources, 2012 edition.

2. YUTorah on parashat Vayera.

3. Running commentary on Vayera, part one.

4. Did Avraham call anyone 'My Master' besides Hashem? According to Meshech Chochma, he did not, and so was of the select few to be called an eved Hashem. But it is not so simple, according to Rav Yechezkel Abramsky's son. According to one opinion, Adonay at the start of Vayera is chol. Then, I weigh in with what I think is an even stronger counter-example, עַל-עַבְדְּכֶם.


2011

1. Vayera sources -- in 2008, it was just links by perek and aliyah to the appropriate page in an online Mikraot Gedolot. Then improved and expanded, year after year.
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2. YU Torah on parashat Vayeira.
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3. Isn't 3 seah a lot of flour for three men? A seah is an enormous amount of grain. 1 seah = 6 kav. 1 kav = 24 eggs. Therefore, 1 seah = 144 eggs. And 3 seah is 432 eggs. And Avraham told Sarah to take 3 seah of meal and flour to prepare ugot for the angels. Are they truly such gluttons?
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4. Peshitta for Bereshit perek eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty one.
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5. Did Avraham serve the milk with the meat, or did he serve them separately? The gemara, Chizkuni, Daas Zekeinim, and Rav Chaim Kanievsky make some interesting diyukim. Plus, how I would understand the gemara in Bava Metzia. Did the Avos keep the Torah?
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6. Did Nimrod and Company, or Hashem, perform the הִתְעוּ אֹתִי to Avraham? Considering a trup dvar Torah in Bikras Avraham.
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7. The parasha of Lot --
   I noted the following interesting dvar Torah on parashat Vayera at Avakesh:
   

   אין לך שבת ושבת שלא יהא קורין בו פרשתו של לוט 

   "There is not a Shabbos in which we do not read the parasha of Lot" Bereshis Rabbah 51:9 (see the commentary there Nezer HaKodesh)

   There are those who say this midrash is a printer’s error since we only read the Parasha of Lot once a year on parshas Vayeira. However, the Munkatcher Rebbe (in Chaim V'Shalom) says... 

   I am not really interested in kabbalistic or chassidic explanations, so I won't discuss the continuation, but the first part caught my eye. What is the meaning of this strange statement in Bereishit Rabba? And what is this printers error to which he refers?
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8. A consistent explanation of shalshelet, across Tanach -- Considering explanations for the shalshelet in our parashah, as well as across Tanach. Rav Kanievsky has a consistent midrashic explanation. I give a drier, more technical explanation.

2010

1. Sodomites and Procrustes --  A parallel between a midrash and a Greek myth, and what this might mean.
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2. When did the Sodomites turn evil? Major repercussions, depending on whether it was before or after Lot arrived.
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3. Hershele Ostropoler and the bone -- ולשרה בן! Heh.
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4. I Spy ... A Ram! But is it one ram, or a ram behind, or afterwards? A consideration of the textual evidence for achar vs. echad. But in terms of the Peshitta, I got it seriously wrong. See note on next item.
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5. As a followup to 'I Spy... a Ram' (see immediately above, item 4), More on achar / echad, in the Peshitta and Onkelos.The threefold girsological variant in Onkelos on Vayera, paralleling precisely the Peshitta. However, this is wrong, at least as it applies to the Peshitta. I accidentally did not use the Peshitta. The site I used, peshitta.org, has a tri-linear Targum, which I took to be a presentation of the Peshita. But actually, their Tri-linear Targum, on Tanach, is not the Peshitta. My rather serious bad. כשם שקיבלתי שכר על הדרישה כך אקבל שכר על הפרישה. In terms of Onkelos, I think the observations still hold true..
6. Avraham Avinu as author of Sefer Yetzira -- Whether hanefesh asher asu beCharan is indicative of this. Did Avraham create golems? Did he create cattle? In terms of the latter, Malbim says the same thing. So either baruch shekivanti in my derivation of this idea from the pasuk, or else it was in the back of my mind and guided my suggestion.
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7. The Malbim, that Avraham created the calf via Sefer Yetzira -- as a followup. The text of the Malbim. Plus, people often attribute this position to him, and stop there, but in fact he attributes this view to Chazal, so we should really try looking further to identify the midrash.
8. Also, Rabbi Slifkin has a nice post on the moral / ethical challenge of the Akeida. From a parshablog Vayera post from 2005, why I don't think this is really a moral / ethical challenge, and that it is beside the thematic point of the story.
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9. Trup and Peshat in the judgement of Sodom -- How some Rishonim takes cues from the trup in how to parse the pasuk of erda na.

2009

1. Yaer Hashem as a revival of Yitzchak, after his soul flew from his body at the akeida.
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2. What was Yonah's message in the beginning of sefer Yonah? I think that כִּי עָלְתָה רָעָתָם לְפָנָי is parallel to what we find by Sodom, namely זַעֲקַת סְדֹם וַעֲמֹרָה כִּי-רָבָּה and הַכְּצַעֲקָתָהּ הַבָּאָה אֵלַי. And וַיַּהֲפֹךְ, which we find later, is certainly parallel.
3. Were Avraham's actions praiseworthy in washing the feet of the malachim first? I believe so. Rashi is not changing the midrash from the gemara, but basing himself on the midrash in Bereishit Rabba. But on the other hand, there does seem to be a contradiction between Rashi on Avraham's action and Rashi on Lot's action. I suggest that they are indeed contradictory, but that Rashi has a different focus. In the comment section, SoccerDad notes Artscroll's explanation. I cite the text of the explanation -- one, that perhaps Rashi never said it, and two, a possible harmonization, and explain what I like and dislike about the harmonization.
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4. Would Hashem condescend to talk to a woman? Three different approaches as to whether Hashem spoke to Sarah. The provocative title comes from the last position, that of Ibn Caspi. (Though see the comment section how this approach may have strong midrashic precedent.)
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5. Does Ibn Caspi maintain that Hashem appeared to Avraham in human form? He writes in a deliberately ambiguous manner, but after assembling all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, it would certainly seem so. This is a form of weak corporealism. God's true form is not human; this is just a disguise -- or rather, it is like God speaking from between the keruvim.
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6. Why does Rashi, or the Torah, specifically reference worshiping the dust of their feet? The question, I thinks, is based on mistaken assumptions. And the answer is that washing the feet is primarily an act of hospitality, and the Torah and Rashi agree to this. Once that is in place, there are derashot on the respective order of different acts of hospitality, where one resolution is that there is concern for this particular type of idolatry. One could not readily substitute another idolatry, since we are first bound by the peshat meaning and the historical sequence of events.
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7. The destruction of Sodom by lightning bolt? According to Shadal, lightning igniting natural deposits of tar and crude oil. Afterwards, a smell of sulfur.
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8. And related to this, the text of Clericus, translated into English, so we can see the full lightning-bolt theory. And what he said about lightning, and what this might teach us about Chazal and science.
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9. What was Avraham's relationship to Sarah? Was he lying or telling the truth that she was indeed his paternal sister? If telling the truth, how do we understand the words describing the relationship? And how do we make it accord with the genealogy given at the end of parshas Noach, and the midrash that Sarah was Yiskah?
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10. Avimelech, also stuffed up? And how we are to understand vayeileidu, if Avimelech also seems to be part of the group; and how to understand kol rechem in the next pasuk.
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11. Dual interpretation of Netziv Melach, from Ovid -- his Metamorphoses, the story of Baucis and Philemon, seems based on the story of the destruction of Sodom. Besides noting the parallels, I notice that there is a parallel both for looking at the city destroyed and turning into a monument.
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12. Avraham teaches us humility and generosity -- according to Ralbag. Yet, I suggest there as follows: While these are indeed two important middot that we can learn from Avraham, perhaps we can also learn from the limitations he placed upon these middot. Yes, he said that he was but dust and ashes, but this was a preface to arguing with Hashem! And he basically accused the Judge of the entire world of not acting with Justice! And he bargained with Hashem to try to spare Sodom. Throughout, he acknowledged how small and insignificant he was, but he still did this great thing, which takes tremendous chutzpa... And so to in terms of generosity and hospitality. He was a tremendous host to these people / angels. And yet, the midrash makes a point of the limitations of this. While the typical order might not have had washing feet first (where washing feet is admittedly very important for someone who has been trudging through the hot sand for days), he moved the order earlier. This was because he wanted to be hospitable, but at the same time he did not want to bring the negative influences of avodah zarah into his house...
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13. Those mean Sodomites, who made uncomfortable beds for their guests! Bowdlerizing midrashim.
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14. Can angels eat?! Don't transform a genuine machlokes into evidence of a deep pnimiyus meaning.
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15. Are there limitations to Hashem's omniscience? His hashgacha? According to Ibz Ezra (and Tzafnat Paneach and Mechokekei Yehuda, interpreting him. Yet Avi Ezer will have none of it, and presents a creating reinterpretation.

2008

1. In The Age of Trup, pt iv, we see that Ramban pays heed to the vowel points in the Divine Name in Vayera, when establishing his peshat. And see part v, where Rabbenu Bachya feels free to offer interpretations against the nikud in Vayera, in a portion I bring down myself. And in part vi, Abarbanel offering a peshat against the nikud in parshat Vayera.
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2. How Rabbinit Keren Is Tzniusdik, by dressing like a tent, like Sarah Imenu. And how she is not, based on Shir HaShirim.
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3. The Duplication in Sarah-As-Sister Stories, and why this is not problematic at all, based on an explicit pasuk.
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4. A Censored Baal HaTurim on Vayera, about Avraham protecting those with brit milah from Gehinnom, except for some. And an elaboration on the etiology of that midrash.
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5. What was the name of Lot's wife? And why should we care? A discussion of why midrashim supply names for Biblical characters which were previously without, of how they go about supplying these names, and what such names can teach all. Also, a tracking this particular midrash through three sources, and perhaps the aims of each source.
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6. Did Avimelech touch Sarah, while Pharaoh did not? Trying to understand the Baal Haturim, about how the setirah caused Hashem to decide to make her pregnant, and how there is a difference from the incident with Pharaoh. Also, whether Rashi gives a similar interpretation of משמוש here.
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7. Were the malachim who met with Avraham angels or prophets? And how, if they are men, they performed miracles in Sodom. Based on Ralbag.
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8. How sure was Avraham of Hashem's command to bind Yitzchak? According to Rambam, his decisive action was a clear demonstration of the clarity of his prophecy. According to Ralbag, it seems that this was the test, to see if he would interpret it in a different way.

2007

1. Why Do We Care That Lot Ate Matza on Pesach, midrashic anachronism, and that perhaps the importance of this midrash here is to fix the time of this second promise of a child from Sarah.
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2. The Scribal Emendation of Avraham Standing, and whether this means actual emendation of the Biblical text, or something else.
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3. The Motivation of Lot's Daughters -- To preserve the world? Their family line? Because while men were present, they were not appropriate shidduch material? Seforno and Shadal on the latter.
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4. The Sin of Sodom Was Beating Up Women On Buses -- Relating the parsha to current events.
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5. The Sodomite Practice of Stretching or Amputating Legs -- and how it relates to the middat Sedom. Each person must conform, and take up exactly the space allocated to him.
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6. Tales From The Gemorrah -- a true, funny story.
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7. Hashem And Two Angels Walk Into A Tent -- A reading of Vayera that has Hashem assume human form. And how Rashi deals with each aspect of this.
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8. Noach And Lot -- various links between the two, who were survivors of massive destruction.
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9. A Star In The East? So says Zohar on parshas Vayera:

1. "In the year sixty-six the Messiah will appear in the land of Galilee. A star in the east will swallow seven stars in the north, and a flame of black fire will hang in the heaven for sixty days, and there shall be wars towards the north in which two kings shall perish. Then all the nations shall combine together against the daughter of Yaakov in order to drive her from the world. It is of that time that it is written: "And it is a time of trouble unto Yaakov, but out of it he shall be saved" (Jeremiah 30:7)."

   Perhaps this was a partial basis of Jewish mystics believing that Venus portended the arrival of Moshiach.
   

2006

1. Hashem Sent Wayfarers -- Discussing the textual footholds for various elements of the midrash: that Hashem took the Sun out of its sheath so as to keep away guests; that Avraham was troubled by their absence; that as a result of this, Hashem sent angels in the guise of men.
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2. Sending Eliezer to Look For Guests -- How do we know this was on the third day since circumcision? Several answers. How do we know that before he himself went out to look, Avraham sent Eliezer? The derasha from elav.
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3. How Long After Avraham's Bris Did Hashem Appear? How Soon After Sarah Laughed Did She Give Birth to Yitzchak? To the first question, three answers: 3 days; 0 days; 90 days. Bases for these answers.

2005

1. Dr. Leiman's Speech At Etz Chaim -- which includes a tie-in to the parsha. Avraham would listen to an angel to save. But to kill (including placing someone under a ban) you need to here from Hashem himself. A story about Rav Shlomo Zalman of Velozhin.
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2. The Sin of Sodom -- on a peshat level like Chazal, that it was cruelty to strangers and inhospitality. Based on the contrast with Avraham's hospitality; based on comparison to the concubine of Giveah; protection due a guest; even if sodomy, it can be sodomy as a method of cruelty; finally, other verses in Tanach referring to the sin of Sodom.
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3. The Pluperfect יֹשֵׁב a -- cross-listed with Chayyei Sarah. How the word is pluperfect. The tension between the krei and the ketiv. Avraham was sitting, and Hashem tells him to stay sitting. Lot is sitting as judge, but only today. Ephron comes to a high position that day.
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4. וְהוּא אַחֲרָיו a- What was behind him? The tent or tent door; Yishmael; the tent door at the opposite side of the tent -- matching the idea of a tent door to each of the compass directions.
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5. A Moral or Ethical Struggle? The story of the Binding of Yitzchak is a personal/emotional struggle, rather than a moral/ethical struggle. This is clear throughout the narrative but is stressed at the beginning. Moral/ethical questions here are misplaced, for reasons I get into.
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6. Avraham's Sacrifice and Struggle -- The poetic form of God's command and repetition of son in various ways is a way of underscoring the dramatic tension involved. And it is followed through throughout the narrative. Also, some E/J stuff.
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7. Rivka's Age -- What's the purpose in making Rivka 3 years old?
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8. An Elderly God? rather than an elderly husband
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9. Avraham's Special Tent -- with entrances in each compass direction. And two derivations for this special tent.

2004

• On Sarah, Wombs, Chazal, and Science (2004) -- My own take on an issue dealt with by Hirhurim, from a text-analytical point of view.

2003

• Moav's Book -- about his grandmother. humor.
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• Salt and the City -- Who exactly turned to a pillar of salt? Ralbag's view.
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• Did Avraham serve the malachim בשר בחלב? First milk, then meat. Or they didn't actually eat. A harmonization between the midrash that they didn't eat and that they violated.
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• Is the Code of Hammurabi the dina demalchuta of Avraham? Matching instructions in the code of Hammurabi for such rules of giving maidservants as wives, elevating and demoting in status. And why Sarah wants them out of the house.

To be continued...

Did Avraham call anyone 'My Master' besides Hashem?

Summary: According to Meshech Chochma, he did not, and so was of the select few to be called an eved Hashem. But it is not so simple, according to Rav Yechezkel Abramsky's son. According to one opinion, Adonay at the start of Vayera is chol. Then, I weigh in with what I think is an even stronger counter-example, עַל-עַבְדְּכֶם.

Post:

Meshech Chochma

The Meshech Chochmah, Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, writes an interesting comment on the following pasuk in parashat Behaalotecha, on the pasuk:

כח  וַיַּעַן יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן-נוּן, מְשָׁרֵת מֹשֶׁה מִבְּחֻרָיו--וַיֹּאמַר:  אֲדֹנִי מֹשֶׁה, כְּלָאֵם.

28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses from his youth up, answered and said: 'My lord Moses, shut them in.'

He writes:

"And behold, there were three people mentioned in the Torah who were called 'My servant', namely 'Avraham My servant', 'Kalev My servant', 'in My servant Moshe'. These were the ones who never said to any person 'My master' or 'Your servant'. Not so Yehoshua, who said [in this pasuk] 'My master Moshe', and this is as they said, that they did not wish the mention the kingdom of heaven in relation to the kingdom of flesh and blood (the beginning of perek Shlosha sheAchlu). And so too by Aharon, it does no mention 'My servant', since he said 'Adoni' to Moshe."

R' Yechezkel Abramsky

This comment takes a position in the dispute in parashat Vayera, whether the "Adonay" that Avraham says is kodesh or chol, that is, whether it is directed to Hashem, or to the anashim/malachim, which is a machlokes in Shevuos and then later among the Rishonim.

In Chazon Yechezkel, Rav Yechezkel Avramsky writes the following, regarding Bereishit 18:2:

ג  וַיֹּאמַר:  אֲדֹנָי, אִם-נָא מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ--אַל-נָא תַעֲבֹר, מֵעַל עַבְדֶּךָ.

3 and said: 'My lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant.

That is, after summarizing the position of the Meshech Chochma, he writes:
"And my dear son, Mar Menachem Ezra comments that this general rule does not hold according to the one who says (on Shevuot daf 35b) that 'All names [of Adonay] said in the Torah by Avraham are kodesh except for this one, which os chol.'

And yet, by Avraham, it is said {in Toledot, in Bereishit 26:24}:

כד  וַיֵּרָא אֵלָיו ה, בַּלַּיְלָה הַהוּא, וַיֹּאמֶר, אָנֹכִי אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אָבִיךָ; אַל-תִּירָא, כִּי-אִתְּךָ אָנֹכִי, וּבֵרַכְתִּיךָ וְהִרְבֵּיתִי אֶת-זַרְעֲךָ, בַּעֲבוּר אַבְרָהָם עַבְדִּי.

24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said: 'I am the God of Abraham thy father. Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for My servant Abraham's sake.'

" End quote.

This pasuk, and example of Avraham being called the eved of Hashem, was explicitly mentioned by Meshech Chochma, rather than being a mere example of a general rule. And indeed, if we take Adonay to be chol, meaning 'my masters' as a term of respect, then he is calling entities who are not Hashem his masters.

This is the most obvious counterpoint, since the dispute about the meaning of Adonai is a famous one. And the Meshech Chochma would likely acknowledge this point, and assert that this is according to the position that this shem is indeed kodesh.

However, a much stronger objection (though less immediately obvious) could be raised from a slightly later pasuk in Vayera, which everyone seems to have forgotten:

ה  וְאֶקְחָה פַת-לֶחֶם וְסַעֲדוּ לִבְּכֶם, אַחַר תַּעֲבֹרוּ--כִּי-עַל-כֵּן עֲבַרְתֶּם, עַל-עַבְדְּכֶם; וַיֹּאמְרוּ, כֵּן תַּעֲשֶׂה כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ.

5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and stay ye your heart; after that ye shall pass on; forasmuch as ye are come to your servant.' And they said: 'So do, as thou hast said.'

Note that the word עַבְדְּכֶם is plural. While אֲדֹנָי could plausibly refer to Hashem, and עַבְדֶּךָ is singular, such that it could refer to Hashem, עַבְדְּכֶם is plural and so must refer to the malachim. And recall that Meshech Chochma said that these three never said to anyone Adoni or Avdecha.

I don't think that there is a good rejoinder to this objection, but I would offer the following anyway. Meshech Chochma did not forget עַבְדְּכֶם. And he did not forget the position that אֲדֹנָי was chol. But note that he said that this was not said לשום אדם, to any man. These are angels, not men. And indeed, there are interpretations of these pesukim that Avraham knew of the angels' exalted nature when he first saw them (though that might be coupled with the Shem Adnus as calling them by the name of their Master.)