zyxt zay e"dl dxy iig f"qyz oeygxn f"k November 17•18, '06 Say it clearly... and mean it Avraham sends Eliezer on a vital mission: to find a wife for Yitzchak. When he gets to the spring near Aram Naharayim towards evening, he realizes that he does not have a plan as to how to fulfill he task. He turns to G•d and asks A weekly feature of Torah Tidbits to help clarify practical for kindness to his master Avraham. Eliezer now has a plan. He will ask the and conceptual aspects of the Jewish Calendar, thereby girls who come to the spring to draw water, for a drink. The one that willbetter fulfilling the mitzva of HaChodesh HaZeh Lachem... give him a drink and also offer to water his camels • that's the one Thisfor Shabbat, we bench and Yitzchak. Okay, we all know that. And we also know that Rivka shows upannounce Rosh Chodesh Kislev, even before Eliezer's words are finished. And we know that she becamewhich will be Tuesday and Rivka Imeinu. But... Wednesday. "Usually", there is only one day R"Ch for Kislev, The Gemara says that even though Eliezer did not "ask" properly, he wassince Cheshvan "usually" has answered well. With his plan, he could have gotten an inappropriate shiduch only 29 days. In a "full" year (when there are 355 or 385 days for Yitzchak, but G•d sent him the right girl. Rambam takes this criticism of between one Rosh HaShana and the Eliezer one significant step further. In the Laws of Idolatry, Rambamnext), Cheshvan will have a 30th day and discusses various (forbidden) occult arts, includ• ing omens and "signs". His R"Ch Kislev will be two days. example of "setting signs" is saying that if such• and•such happens, then I mFi§aE i¦Wi¦l§W mFi§A d¤i§d¦i e¥l§q¦M y¤Frg W`rx will do something... like Eliezer, servant of Avraham did. Rambam seems to consider Eliezer's act as forbidden, not just a little off. Commentaries:d¨aFh§l l¥`¨x§U¦i l¨M l©r§e Epi«¥l¨r `¨A©d i¦ri¦a§x disagree with the Rambam and point to several factors in Eliezer's actionThe molad is SUN 8:21:7 (8:00am Isr.) that combine to make it acceptable behavior. First, he calls upon G•d forwhich is announced as follows: kindness and help. Second, his choice of a sign is not arbitrary, but a test of ,i¦Wi¦l§W li¥l d¤i§d¦i c©lFO©d Chesed, kind• ness, a trait that fits with the kind of person that Avraham .r©W¥Yi¥ x£g©` mi¦w¨l©g d¨Srn§WE zFwc © W¥n£g would choose for Yitzchak. Giving a stranger is one thing, but watering ten thirsty camels is quite another. She also offers hospitality to Eliezer and his In Rambam notation: dty:ci'` retinue. And even when he sees Rivka doing exactly what he said in his plea Actual molad: SUN 7:14am Israel time to G•d, the Torah tells us that he was not sure this was the right girl until he found out that she was from Avraham's family. A pretty good test of character, yet he still could have ended up with the wrong girl. There is an old joke (which gave rise to a whole genre of jokes) about a genie granting the wish of a candy store Torah Tidbits Audio The OU Israel Center and Torah Tidbits do not www.ouradio.org• www.israelnationalradio.com necessarily endorse the political or halachic positions of its editor, columnists, or advertisers, nor do we guarantee the quality of advertised services or products OU ISRAEL CENTER Ranges are FRI•FRI • 26 Cheshvan • 3 Kislev • (Nov 17•24) Seymour J. Abrams • Orthodox Union Earliest Talit & T'filin • 5:16•5:22am Jerusalem World Center Sunrise • 6:09•6:15am Yitzchak Fund, President Sof Z'man K' Sh'ma • 8:46•8:50am (8:00•8:03am) Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Senior Vice President Correct for TT 740 • Rabbeinu Tam (J'm) • 5:53pm Prof. Meni Koslowsky, Vice President Sof Z'man T'fila • 9:38•9:42am (9:08•9:10am) Rabbi Dovid Cohen, Vaad member 4:04pm Jerusalem 5:16pm Chatzot (halachic noon) • 11:24•11:26am Stuart Hershkowitz, Vaad member Mincha Gedola (earliest Mincha) • 11:54•11:56am Moshe Kempinski, Vaad member 4:19pm Raanana 5:17pm Sandy Kestenbaum, Vaad member 4:19pm Beit Shemesh 5:17pm Plag Mincha • 3:33•3:31½pm Simcha Rock, Vaad member 4:19pm Netanya 5:17pm Sunset • 4:44•4:41 (4:39•4:36pm) Zvi Sand, Vaad member Harvey Wolinetz, Vaad member 4:20pm Rehovot 5:18pm Rabbi Avi Berman, Director•General, OU in Israel 4:00pm Petach Tikva 5:17pm Menachem Persoff, Director of Programs, Israel Center 4:19pm Modi'in 5:17pm mi`ad mikexa Phil Chernofsky, Educational Director and TT editor 4:21pm Be'er Sheva 5:19pm Rabbi Tzvi Hersh & Chavi Weinreb 22 Keren HaYesod • POB 37015 • Jerusalem 91370 4:18pm Gush Etzion 5:17pm Executive Vice President, Orthodox Union phone: (02) 566 7787 • fax: (02) 561•7432 email: [email protected] • website: www.ou.org/torah/tt 4:19pm Ginot Shomron 5:17pm and the Orthodox Union • National Conference of Synagogue Youth 4:04pm Maale Adumim 5:16pm Advance Guard Torah Tidbits and many of the projects the Israel Center 4:19pm K4 & Hevron 5:17pm of the OU Convention Staff are assisted by grants from The Jewish Agency for Israel 4:05pm Tzfat 5:13pm Produced and printed in•house at the Israel Center This Shabbat is the 57th day (of 355) and the ninth Shabbat (of 51) of 5767 bq:ck ziy`xa ...ax ¤r ®¨ zF´p§t¦l dc¨g¤V©A gE¬© U¨l w²¨g§v¦i `¬¥v¥I©e Israel Center TT #740 • page 1 • Chayei Sara (m'vorchim) 5767 issue owner (the old type with a soda fountain) for a vacation, including that the genie would mind the store until the owner's return. A customer came in and said: "Make me a malted". goto p.10 To which the genie answered: "Puff, you are a malted". Not exactly what the customer had in mind, becoming a malted rather than being served one. But that's what happens when a person does not ask or speak clearly and properly. Yiftach got into trouble for making a poorly•worded promise. Yaakov Avinu said something he definitely didn't mean to Lavan, which resulted in the untimely death of Rachel. Reuven, Moshe Rabeinu, and others said things they didn't exactly mean • and they are taken to task for their words. On the other hand, there is a concept in the realm of Nedarim (promises, oaths, vows) that it is important to know what a person had in mind when he said what he said. The binding nature of the promise depends on it; whether hatarat nedarim is possible depends on it; whether the neder is even considered a real neder or not, depends upon what the person said AND what he meant. Bottom line (for here in this issue of Torah Tidbits only • the topic itself needs a lot more extensive treatment): One should think before he speaks, think again before he speaks, say things clearly, say what you mean and mean what you say. Whether or not Eliezer acted properly or not, we have a special lesson to learn from him. MITZVOT None of Taryag are counted from Chayei Sara Aliya•by•Aliya Sedra Summary [P> X:Y (Z)] and [S> X:Y (Z)] indicate start of a parsha p’tucha or s’tuma respectively. X:Y is Perek:Pasuk of the beginning of the parsha; (Z) is the number of p'sukim in the parsha. Kohen • First Aliya • 16 p'sukim • 23:1•16 [P> 23:1 (20)] The parsha begins by telling us that Sara died in Kiryat Arba, which is Hevron. But first it tells us that she lived a full, long life of 127 years. With the last theme of Vayeira being the AKEIDA, the juxtaposition of Sara's death supports our Tradition that Sara died as a result of the Akeida. The Midrash says that the Satan informed Sara about what Avraham was intending to do with Yitzchak, when they went towards Har HaMoriah. The shock was too great for an old woman, and she died. Some commentaries give an interest• ing twist to this episode. They say that Sara expired, not from fear that Avraham would offer Yitzchak as a Korban, but rather that he might not! She remembered Avraham's reaction when she told him to banish Yishmael (and Hagar). She was afraid Chayei Sara STATS that Avraham's love and kindness towards Yitzchak would prevent him from carrying out G•d's command, and that 5th of the Torah's 54 sedras; 5th of 12 in Avraham would thus fail this ultimate test. When she saw (or B'reishit heard) that Avraham was returning with Yitzchak still alive, Written on 171 lines in a Sefer Torah, rank 37th she thought her fears were realized and she died. 4 Parshiyot; 3 open, 1 closed Avraham comes (some say from the Akeida, that is from Har HaMoriah; some say from Be'er Sheva; either way, it 105 p'sukim • ranks 32nd (11th in B'reishit) was apparently to Hevron that he came) to eulogize same as D'varim (which is longer) Sara and to cry for her.