----- Forwarded Message -----From: "Rabbi Moshe Revah" <htcnews@htc.edu>To: "mates57564@aol.com" <mates57564@aol.com>Sent: Thu, Nov 9, 2023 at 4:30 PMSubject: Dvar Torah from the Rosh HaYeshiva
Dear Yeshiva Family:
In this week's parshah, Eliezer takes upon himself the task of finding a wife for Yitzchak. Eliezer promises Avraham that he will search for the best woman with whom Yitzchak would be able to build the nation.
Eliezer receives orders from Avraham on where to search and whom to search for, he then goes on his mission, immediately meets the perfect girl, and then recounts his whole tale to the family of the girl. Eliezer explains to the family that he was nervous and had asked Avraham, "perhaps the girl would not have wanted to return with me." Rashi (24:39) comments that the word "perhaps," אולי, is spelled without a 'vav', thereby looking like the word אלי meaning 'to me'. Rashi explains that Eliezer was hinting that he had an eligible daughter, and he really wanted Yitzchak for his own daughter, so his real intention when saying perhaps this girl would not want to follow him home really belayed an underlying hope that indeed that would be the end result, and that Yitzchak would end up marrying his own daughter – to me! That was hinted by the Torah in the missing 'vav' reading 'to me'.
I saw a beautiful thought from the Kotzker Rebbe in a sefer given to me by R' Avraham Morgenstern shlit"a. He asks a simple question. The Torah first details the actual story as Eliezer received the orders and asked Avraham his question, and only then does it repeat the entire episode when Eliezer recounts his mission to the girl's family. In the initial actual conversation, the 'vav' is there as it is supposed to be and it is written properly, אולי; only the second time is the 'vav' missing. If the Torah meant to convey that there was a hidden message in the question, why is the 'vav' not missing in the initial conversation?
The Kotzker explains that indeed Eliezer's deep desire to have Yitzchak marry his daughter caused him to ask questions which revealed that hope. Initially however, prior to meeting the perfect woman for Yitzchak, Eliezer still believed it to be possible that perhaps a suitable candidate would not be found; and therefore his question of "perhaps the girl would not want to follow" subtly implied that he would be able to be Yitzchak's father-in-law, a mechutan with Avraham. At that point, when the possibility was real to him, he was blind to his own subtle intentions, believing himself to be asking things altruistically. He fooled himself, that he was earnest in his request, not recognizing that his question belied a personal agenda. Only after he met the perfect candidate, and saw the clear hand of Hashem, did he accept the fact that his personal motive was misguided. Only at that point, when his chance of achieving his goal was no longer possible, and when he was no longer personally invested in the game, was he able to recognize that his very own questions were motivated by his personal agenda, and his question had previously revealed his initial true subconscious intent. Therefore, the Torah only reveals it later on, when it became clear to Eliezer himself what his subconscious intention had been when he had originally asked the question.
This lesson is very relevant to us today. Many times, we may believe our actions to be altruistic, when in fact they're colored and motivated by our own personal agenda.
Across America anti-Semitism is rising in ways that eerily resemble 1933 Berlin. People are openly harassing Jewish students at universities across the country. Hundreds of thousands of protesters are marching in cities across the globe. The UN has long antagonized Israel, so no surprises there, but now countries are withdrawing their ambassadors from Israel at an alarming rate. Earlier this week a Jewish person was killed(!), rachmana litzlan, at a protest in Los Angeles. To be sure, there are many supporters of Israel, but to have such open anti-Semitic rhetoric is scary.
We cannot reason with such people. When engaging some of them in ostensibly peaceful debates, they spew utter nonsense. Debates end in chaos, because it just ends up turning into a "Yuh huh/Nuh-uh" spectacle, a bewildering scene where people are cheering for the wrong side and one ends up wondering "how could I be losing this debate?" How can people see things so backwards?
The reason is based on this Kotzker. When a person has a personal agenda, they cannot recognize logic, or the fallacy of their own statements. They will fool themselves into the shallowest of arguments, and hold on to them and shout them louder, for when reason fails in an argument, the only way to win is to shout. Their personal agenda causes them to be blind to the truth, and they will think they are saying the truth. At that point no amount of reasoning will help them; they already think they're right, and no logical argument will convince them not to believe what they want to believe. Their personal agenda is anti-Semitism, the age-old hatred of Jews. There is no logic to explain it, but no logic to refute it. Logic cannot win over personal agendas.
We have to be aware that before we put our energy into trying to refute college students' beliefs that blatant, illogical anti-Semitism has been around forever. Trying to explain its absurdity to the people who have utter hatred programmed in their heart is futile. Acts of hishtadlus in this area have to be performed knowing that the ones who are full of hatred cannot, and will not, see things straight. Certainly if one has the ability to sway people, based on his position or utilizing other methods, such hishtadlus has a place even in this part of the battle, but our main avodah, for those that don't have thousands of followers on social media, is to remain strong and steadfast in our commitment to Hashem.
May Hashem help His nation all over the world raise the banner of a Torah life of morality and spirituality so that we may indeed continue to be the brightest light unto the nations.
Rabbi Moshe Revah
Rosh HaYeshiva, HTC - Beis HaMidrash LaTorah
HTC
Hebrew Theological College is a member of Touro University
and a partner with the Jewish United Fund in serving our community
Thursday, November 9, 2023
Fw: Dvar Torah from the Rosh HaYeshiva
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