Parshas Lech Lecha
22 maamarim of the tzaddikim on this week's reading, each in Hebrew and English with a takeaway.
Lehavas David
Rav Dovid Matisyohu Rabinowitz ›Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzKnowing Hashem in All Your Ways: Avraham's TestAvraham's test was to go only because Hashem had spoken, though he had been promised that the journey was for his good. We meet the same test when we eat, work and do business…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzFaith and Fellowship: Avraham's Legacy for ExileAvraham did not keep his recognition of the world's Master to himself: he gathered people together and planted faith in their hearts. That pairing of faith and fellowship carried…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzAvraham's Eager Going: Keeping the First Fire of a MitzvahAvraham longed for the mitzvah so strongly that his waiting was counted as doing, and when he finally set out he went with the same fire he had felt when Hashem spoke to him. Our…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzAvraham's Walk: Longing for Mitzvos, Living by TorahAvraham's heart ran ahead of his feet: the moment Hashem spoke, it already counted as walking. He asks the same of us: to wait eagerly for each mitzvah, asking “When will it come…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzRescuing the Captives: Teaching Children Torah and Yiras ShamayimAvraham saw the people around him as captive children and rescued them by teaching them Torah and making them his own children, and everyone who builds, supports or teaches in a…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzFervor and Self-Sacrifice: Avraham's RewardBelieving and doing are where every Jew begins; what Hashem rewards, even in this world, is the fire with which we do them. Charity is rewarded not for the money, which is His…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzSimple Faith: Avraham's Gift to His ChildrenAvraham could have reached Hashem through the stars, yet he chose simple faith so that his children would inherit it, and Hashem counted that choice as righteousness. Comfort and…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzFaith and Self-Sacrifice: The Merit for the LandHashem gave us the Land so that faith in Him and the keeping of His Torah would be made known there, not so that we could settle in it like any other nation. Avraham already asked…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzWalk before Me: The Heart's Circumcision for GenerationsAvraham had passed so many trials that he did not need circumcision for his own heart. He needed it so that openness to Torah and yiras Shamayim would flow to all the generations…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzGoing Only Because Hashem Spoke: Making Earth HeavenAvraham longed for Eretz Yisrael before he was told to go, yet once Hashem spoke he went only because Hashem had commanded it, and that was his trial. We too should long for every…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzAs Hashem First Spoke: Pure, Simple ServiceHeaven treasures the first, pure moment of our will to obey, before we feel or understand anything, because then we act only for Hashem's honor. Avraham's greatness was that even…
Yismach Yisroel
Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok Dancyger ›Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerGoing Only Because Hashem CommandedWhen Hashem's will matches what we ourselves want, the test is not in doing it but in doing it for the right reason. Avraham longed for Eretz Yisrael, yet he went only “as Hashem…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerThe Burning Palace and the Guide of the ExileThe fire of the exile, and even our own spiritual lifelessness, does not mean the world has no Guide. Hashem sees the hidden point of faith in every Jewish heart, and when no…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerAvraham's Holy Second Nature Revealed to the WorldHoliness means not only holding back from the physical but transforming it. By steadily training every limb and habit to act only for Hashem, a person can make serving Him his…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerWhy Rashbi's Students Lamented His PassingTorah is truly acquired not only by hearing it but by pausing to reflect on it and toiling over it oneself, as if no teacher were there to lean on. Rashbi's students spoke of his…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerInheriting the Redemption We Cannot EarnAvraham's question was not doubt but foresight. He knew that in the darkness of exile we would lack the deeds to earn the Redemption, so he secured it for us as an inheritance…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerAvraham's Stick: Teshuvah and Faith Against the NationsWhen Israel faces enemies it cannot overcome by natural means, its strength lies not in standing against the wave but in teshuvah and emunah. Even teshuvah prompted by distress…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerSarah's Good Eye and Hagar's PrideA tzaddik's good eye can turn everything bad in a person into good, but only for someone who humbles himself before him. Pride that judges the tzaddik turns that same gaze into…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerAvraham Who Stitched the World TogetherAvraham stitched the torn world together: he served Hashem with earthly things, shared Torah instead of keeping it for himself, and bound people together in love and mutual…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerAvraham's Meal as an Altar OfferingEating in holiness, with a heartfelt berachah, raises the holy sparks in our food and turns our table, especially one that feeds guests and talmidei chachamim, into an altar. But…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerFaith Reckoned as Charity, Darkness Serving LightHashem in His kindness counts our faith and fear of Him, which we owe Him anyway, as charity given to Him, and its merit lasts for generations. The emunah Avraham planted in us is…Yismach Yisroel · Rav Yerachmiel Yisrael Yitzchok DancygerWalking with Hashem: Avraham's Path of LoveThe highest avodah is driven not by reward or punishment but by the joy that Hashem Himself commands us. One who reaches true love of Hashem, like Avraham, is so nullified to His…