Parshat Vayeira - 5772

7/31/2019 Parshat Vayeira - 5772

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5772

Rabbi Shaanan Gelman

Avraham, Shimshon and David Ortiz

The Jewish people throughout all of her various incarnations havent

been particularly lucky when it comes to making friends. We have

found ourselves victimized and marginalized by virtually every people

with whom we have sought to embrace. The once celebrated peace

treaty with Egypt is now nearly vanquished. And in a time when we

hear daily rumors of a possible pre-emptive attack on the Iranian

reactors, one wonders how such a thing could be conceivable? After

all, the only country which offered a hope of providing airspace to

utilize, Turkey, has also turned on Israel.

We arent really adept to maintaining the allegiance of the other

nations. This is nothing new; it has long been the case for our people,

from Germany to Spain, Rome to Persia and Babylonia to Egypt, each of

our new best friends ceased to be as impressed with us as they had

once been. But, there was once a time when a pact could be relied

upon. In fact, our sidra records the drawing up of such a treaty:


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22 And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol the

captain of his host spoke unto Abraham, saying: 'God is with thee in all

that thou doest. 23 Now therefore swear unto me here by God that

thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's

son; but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou

shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.' 24 And

Abraham said: 'I will swear.'

And so the patriarch of the Jews and the patriarch of the Plishtim (the

Philistines), together agreed to that there will be Shalom between their

people and their descendants.

Rabeinu Bachya ( ) notes that it is the first

time in history in which a is ever made:


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And understand, that this is the first instance of an oath mentioned in

the Torah

Exactly how long did this last? We are told in Sefer Shoftim

regarding the birth :

,----- ,-

;, ---.

The Gemara, playing on the word comments:

/- /

:

And he shall begin to save Israel R Chama ben Chanina said:

The oath of Abimelech became void, as it is written: That thou wilt not

deal falsely with me, or with my son, or with my son's son.


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The relationship with the had remained amicable for quite

some time after all:

In the year 2048 Yitzchak is born, which is just about the same time asthe agreement with , and Shimshon rules as a in the year

2810, a total of 762 years . To my knowledge, this is the longest lasting

peace the Jewish people had ever sustained with another nation

throughout early, medieval or modern history!

And so the question is, what made the relationship last for so long?

And more importantly, how did things fall apart? For as students of

history, it is imperative that we ask this question. And more

importantly, as people who long for a time of tranquility, when we no

longer need to worry about building bomb shelters, it behooves us to

come up with an answer.

It is apparent that Avimelech held Avraham in high regard. What was

he impressed with in particular?

""

God is with you in all that you do

The Rashbam, explains what he meant by "" was that he saw

the miraculous birth of Yitzchak to a 100 year old man and 90 year old

woman:


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The Taz elaborates, pointing out that when the verse says , at

this time in particular Avimelech saw something which intrigued him.

After all this wasnt the first incredible feat A vraham had accomplished;

Avimelech had plenty to be impressed about in the past before thebirth of Yizchak, whether it was the miraculous victory in the war of the

four and the five kings, or his rescue and escape from . But with

the birth of Yitzchak, one couldnt explain the miracle as being a fluke

or a trick:

"-

..'"'

."

."

" :

And so, what was Avimelech impressed with?


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Its not until he is blinded, bound, and left powerless that Sh imshon

finally figures this out:

-',:'

,

,-

. ,

28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and

said: 'O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray

Thee, and strengthen me, I pray Thee, only

this once, O God, that I may be this once

avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.'

And at that moment, even without his magical powers, Shimshon, for

the first time ever, channels the power of God.

Rabbi Riskin shares an incredible story, (Listening to God p. 371 -373)

It was early on in his married life his wife had presented him with a

Purim gift a remarkably realistic-looking beard, it seemed to have

been made for his face and had become his defacto purim costume. He

wore it for two decades on Purim and at the shpiels and Lechayims

friends and congregants would quip at least once a year we have a real

rabbi.

At the conclusion of Purim he would lovingly pack away his beard along

with his wooden grogger and megilla scroll for the next yea rs Purim

festivities.


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missing; apparently it was left at the hospital. He called the hospital

but neither patient nor nurse was able to find it. And so he became

reconciled to his loss and even felt he deserved it for not being

generous to the young boy Lior.

The next morning he received a phone call in his office Rabbi the

voice said, this is Lior, the wait er well you dont have to bring me the

beard, an amazing coincidence happened. You see, my grandfather is

recovering from surgery in Bikur Cholim and I went to see him

yesterday afternoon after work. On my way out, I stopped to call my

girlfriend on the public telephone and right there was a beard sitting

there, and it was a dead ringer for the one you lent me. I kind of see it

as a sign from God, and so I put on tefillin this morning, and I plan to

continue to do so every day of my life.

And so he put down the receiver with tears welling up in his eyes.

Coincidence? Miracle? Or, perhaps just the power of a beard.

As a postscript he noted that his wife found another beard not quite

like the original but one that allows him to look like a real rav at least

once a year. By the following Purim, he was back in full costume andhopefully Lior was still putting on his tefillin.


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Is there such a thing as a magical beard? Where does our strength

come from? Is it from Hair or from the roots?

?

'

Why is it that we dont know this? saw a man who embodied

the and so he was in awe. He didnt ask what his secret

was? Instead he understood .

There is a ritual among some professional baseball players upon hitting

a home run and after rounding the bases to point upward to heaven in

acknowledgement. There is an iconic image of David Ortizs home run

celebration with not one but two fingers pointed to the sky. And you

can see on his face the belief and humility which he espouses:

David Ortiz doesnt spike the ball or kiss his biceps, he doesnt take

high fives from his teammates; instead, he thanks the Almighty.


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And yet, when it comes to our world we remain convinced that there

must be some bag of tricks, some lock of hair which generates strength

which gives way to the avenue of success.

Why did the Plishtim break the bond?

Because Shimshon took the esteem of the Jewish people and exploited

it, he took the innumerable gifts of the Almighty and sterilized them of

their religious content ignoring their place of origin.

The moment that happens, the world stops marveling at the Children of

Abraham. They look at us and they say, its all just a trick, a slight of

the hand!

If we wish to restore the glory of the Jewish people to its rightful place

we have make that commitment to replace the magical beard and the

supernatural locks of hair, with the likes of a simple pair of tefillin.

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Parshat Vayeira - 5772