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Toldos 5784

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Fetal movements[1]

ויתרצצו הבנים בקרבה ותאמר אם-כן למה זה אנכי ותלך לדרש את-יקוק
The babies jostled within [Rivka]. She said: “If so, why did I pray for children?” [So] she went to seek [guidance] from Hashem[2]

When Rivka was expecting twins, Yaakov and Eisav, she had a difficult time. No, not the usual struggles of pregnancy. Our Sages tell us[3] that when Rivka would stand near shuls and study halls[4], Yaakov would try to “run”[5] out of her womb towards them. When Rivka would pass by houses of idol worship[6], Eisav would try to “run” out of her womb towards them. There are many difficulties with this Midrash. How could Yaakov and Eisav, fetuses in the womb, have a sense of good and evil? How could Yaakov be drawn to good, and Eisav drawn to evil?

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Purim 5781

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Reaching the greatest heights through regretting sin[1]

חייב איניש לבסומי בפוריא עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי
A person is obligated to get drunk on Purim to the point that they don’t know the difference between “Cursed is Haman” and “Blessed is Mordechai”[2]

Everyone is familiar with the concept of getting drunk on Purim. Our Sages even seem to say that a person is obligated to get drunk on Purim. This begs the obvious question[3]: How could our Sages obligate such a repugnant thing? Our scriptures are full of descriptions of the evils of drunkenness, and it is known to all that it causes people to stumble in their behavior. Why would the day of Purim be any different? This is a question that many struggle with. One suggestion[4] is that it’s to commemorate the fact that all the miracles of Purim occurred through the drinking of wine. Vashti was sentenced to death because Achashverosh was drunk, allowing Esther to become the queen. Haman’s downfall occurred during a wine drinking party. Nevertheless, this doesn’t seem to be a satisfactory explanation. Why should this commemoration be enough to justify something so vile?

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Shavuos 5778 part two

Coerced acceptance, part two[1]

וישלח את-נערי בני ישראל ויעלו עלת ויזבחו זבחים שלמים ליקוק פרים
[Moshe] dispatched the lads of Israel, and they brought up offerings; they slaughtered bulls as peace offerings to Hashem[2]

Before[3] the giving of the Torah, the Jews had tremendous anticipation for the Divine Revelation at Mount Sinai. Moshe dispatched the important members[4] of Israel to bring offerings to Hashem, as a sign of thanks for this momentous occasion. The verse refers to them as נערים, implying they were young lads. Indeed, when the Jews were forced by King Ptolemy to translate the Torah to Greek[5], they were concerned about this implication. Knowing the verse really spoke about the important members of the Jews, they used the Greek translation of the word זאטוטי, which means dignitaries[6]. This avoided any misunderstandings of the correct meaning of the verse. However, if this is what the verse means, why is it written this way? Why doesn’t it just say what it means[7]?

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