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שבת שלום - פרשת חיי שרה
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch the video shiur by Rav Yosef Kaminetsky
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News and Notes
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Last week, the Yeshiva set out on a three day tiyul to the North. The many activities enjoyed by our students included hiking in Nachal Yehudiya, swimming in and kayaking on the Kinneret, visiting Israel's northern border with Syria and Lebanon, and exploring the old city walls of Akko. Rabbi Yaakov Arram joined the students from the start of the trip to the end, and we thank him for coming with us on the tiyul.
The entire Yeshiva sends its heartfelt condolences to Dr. Joseph Schames father of our student Brian, on the passing of his father, Rabbi Leib Schames of Los Angeles. Rabbi Schames z"l was a unique, special, and beloved figure, and will be dearly missed by his family and community. HaMakom yenachem etchem b'toch shaar aveilei Tzion v'Yerushalayim.
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Parsha Insights
By Rabbi Scott Kahn
Towards the end of Parashat Chayei Sarah, we witness Rivkah arriving in the Land of Canaan with Avraham's servant. Just as Rivkah approaches, Yitzchak goes outside to "meditate in the field before evening." (Bereshit 24:63) Chazal tell us that Yitzchak was, in fact, praying; indeed, this verse is used by Rabbi Yosi ben Rabbi Chanina to demonstrate the Yitzchak instituted the Mincha service. (Berachot 26b) Moreover, Chazal state that the field in which Yitzchak prayed was none other than the Temple Mount. (Pesachim 88a)
The marriage of Yitzchak and Rivkah is the first story in the Torah that deals extensively with the process of finding a spouse; accordingly, it represents the quintessential instance of marriage, and the ultimate representation of what proper marriage should entail. Why, then, is the story interrupted with the seemingly irrelevant detail of Yitzchak's meditating on the Temple Mount?
The answer can be found in a fascinating statement in Masechet Berachot (6b). In a discussion of the importance of helping a bridegroom rejoice at his wedding, Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak states, "[It is] as if he built one of the ruins of Jerusalem" - ke'ilu bana achat me'churvot Yerushalayim. How is rebuilding a part of the Holy City relevant to the idea of rejoicing with the groom?
The connection becomes clearer upon examining the creation of the first man and woman. The Torah tells us, "Hashem Elokim formed man out of dust from the earth." (Bereshit 2:7) Targum Yonatan ben Uziel and Rashi cite a tradition that the dust used to form Adam came from "Atar Beit Makdsha" - the future site of the Temple. Later, when we learn about the creation of the first woman, we are told that, "Hashem Elokim built the side that He took from the man into a woman, and He brought her to the man." (Bereshit 2:22) The Gemara notes that the woman was not created, but "built" out of part of Adam's body. (Berachot 61a) Finally, at the conclusion of the story of the Garden of Eden, Hashem says that man has become "Achat" - one - that is, according to Rashi, a unique creature, just as G-d Himself is unique. (Bereshit 3:22)
Using these textual clues, we can decode Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak's claim that giving joy to the groom at his wedding is equivalent to rebuilding one of the ruins of Jerusalem. The achat me'churvot Yerushalayim - one of the ruins of Jerusalem - is none other than man himself. Adam, whom the Torah calls "Achat", was formed from the dust of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Despite being formed as a complete being, however, he was dismantled - literally broken into two - when G-d created the first woman. Thus, Adam became the one specific ruin of Jerusalem who needs rebuilding through the process of marriage. Chava, the first woman, was "built" by depleting the first man. The only way that man can be rebuilt himself is through his successful reunion with his wife.
When a person rejoices with the groom at a wedding, he is helping the groom to create a foundation of appreciation for his other half. The act of rejoicing signals that the husband should never take his wife for granted. Marriage is far more than two people deciding to live together, for it represents the ultimate means for a human being to make himself complete. In the daily trials and tribulations that everyone faces, it is easy to ignore this crucial reality. By rejoicing with the groom, a person reminds the groom of the reasons for the happiness at a wedding - his becoming a complete man - and thereby helps to actualize this truth. In this way, one who rejoices at a wedding truly does help to rebuild the ruined man of Jerusalem, and to participate in establishing the foundation for a meaningful, happy, and spiritual marriage.
This is the reason that the first story of marriage in the Torah includes the fact that Yitzchak prayed on the Temple Mount. This quintessential story of marriage alludes to the reality that the groom comes from the site of the Temple. But despite the fact that Yitzchak was involved in one of the greatest spiritual pursuits possible - prayer - he nonetheless left the site of the Temple to grow to even greater heights through a loving marriage. For a loving home, built on proper ideals, is more than the site of the Temple: it is the fully built Beit HaMikdash itself.
This may be alluded to in a well-known comment of Rashi's upon the verse, "Yitzchak brought [Rivkah] to the tent of his mother Sarah; he took Rivkah to be his wife, and he loved her." (Bereshit 24:67) Rashi explains that the phrase "the tent of his mother Sarah" means that, "As long as Sarah was alive there was a lit candle from Erev Shabbat to Erev Shabbat, blessing was found in the dough, and a cloud was present over the tent; when [Sarah] died, they ceased, and when Rivkah arrived, they returned." These three symbols - the candle, the dough, and the cloud - are also symbolic of three crucial parts of the Temple: the candle represents the Menorah, the dough represents the Lechem HaPanim, and the cloud represents the presence of the Shechina, the Divine Presence. When Rivkah created an ideal marriage, her home truly became a Beit HaMikdash.
With Hashem's help, we will always appreciate that marriage is the means to personal and spiritual completion, so that we, too, can invite the Shechina into our homes, making them places of the utmost holiness and sanctity.
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