The Person in the Parasha

Discovering the Human Element in the

Weekly Torah Portion

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Person in the Parasha 2.3 TM clean.indd 2

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Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh

Weinreb

OU Press
Maggid Books

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Person in the Parasha

Discovering the Human Element in the Weekly Torah Portion
First Edition, 2016
Maggid Books
An imprint of Koren Publishers Jerusalem Ltd.
POB 8531, New Milford, CT 06776-8531, USA
& POB 4044, Jerusalem 9104001, Israel
www.maggidbooks.com
OU Press
An imprint of the Orthodox Union
11 Broadway
New York, NY 10004
www.oupress.org
Tzvi Hersh Weinreb 2016
The publication of this book was made possible
through the generous support of Torah Education in Israel.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher, except in the case
of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.
isbn 978-1-59264-462-9, hardcover
A cip catalogue record for this title is
available from the British Library
Printed and bound in the United States

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In Loving Memory of Our Beloved Brother

Jamie Lehmann

;Jamie was an ish eshkolot a loving, joyful, gentle, brilliant soul

the embodiment of Torah im derech eretz.
He is missed more every day.

, ,
.

,


.


Dr. Manfred Raphael Lehmann
Dedicated by

Yitzchok and Barbie Lehmann Siegel and Family

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In Loving Memory of
Rabbi Nachum Muschel

An Educators Educator
The Persons of the Parasha were his extended family,
his soulmates, his mentors, and the subjects of his lifes study.
He so memorably taught their lessons and how to
teach those lessons to generations of family, students,
colleagues, friends, and all who wished to learn.
Dedicated by

Elizabeth and Michael Muschel and Family

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In Honor of
Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
whose wisdom, friendship, and sensitive
leadership continue to guide us
Dedicated by

Lani and Shimmy Tennenbaum and Family

In Loving Memory of Our Dear Parents

Abraham and Sylvia Weinreb

Chaim Yitzchak and Yona Taub

who remain our constant inspiration

Dedicated by

Chavi and Tzvi Hersh Weinreb

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Contents

Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix

Genesis
Bereshit
Creation Conversation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Self-Control, Marshmallows, and Human Destiny. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Noa
Filling in the Blanks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Easy Spirituality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Lekh Lekha
One Day We Will All Be Together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Walking With and Walking Before. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
The Reunion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Ancestral Decisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Vayera
Abraham the Teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Hospitality Before Heaven. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
ix

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An Inn and an Orchard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Optimism Pays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

ayei Sara
Mourning Sarah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
To Eulogize and To Weep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Spiritual Slavery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Better the Servant than the Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Toledot
Disillusionment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Friday Night with Grandpa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Vayetzeh
Two Meanings of Maturity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Whats in a Name?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
The Thankful Jew. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Vayishla
Unheralded Heroes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Nameless. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
See You Later. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
The Better Angels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Vayeshev
No Favorites on anukka!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Man Plans, God Laughs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
The Wisdom of the East. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Thinking and Dreaming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Miketz
Joseph, anukka, and Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
But By My Spirit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

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Vayigash
Forgiveness: A Jewish Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Wagons, Calves, and Responsibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Reconciliation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Vayei
No Two Snowflakes Are Alike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Each One Is One of a Kind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
The Horse Thief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Changing the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Exodus
Shemot
Sleepless Nights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Open Eyes and an Open Heart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Spiritual Time Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Reading the Footnotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Vaera
On the Shoulders of Giants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Work and Will. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Hopeless. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Bo
Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Tell Me a Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Beshalla
Song of the Sea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Horse and Rider. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
An Ounce of Prevention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Dont Forget the Tambourines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

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Yitro
Fathers-in-Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
The Seeker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Redemption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
The Maternal Influence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Mishpatim
Responsibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
The Many Lessons of Half. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Careers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Teruma
The Missing Tzedaka Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Charity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
A Tale of Two Grandfathers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
One of the Angels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Tetzaveh
The Stigma of Fame. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Appearances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Clothes Make the Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Ki Tissa
Dont Take Down the Sign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
The Hindu Princess and the Golden Calf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
The Inevitable Comedown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Little Did I Know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Vayakhel
Three Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Culture, Counter-culture, and Creativity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Black Sabbath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Words of Fire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
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Pekudei
Count Me In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Above Suspicion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Endings and Beginnings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Leviticus
Vayikra
Courtesy and Confidentiality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Forgiving Fallibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
The Victorious Victim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Tzav
Increasing Gratitude. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
The Practical Mystic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Gratitude, Not Solitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
The Open Curtain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Shemini
And Aaron Was Silent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
The Stork and the Heron. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Aging Grace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Religion Versus Spirituality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Tazria
My Earliest Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Going at it Alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Metzora
A Time for Silence, A Time for Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Pinkus the Peddler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Aarei Mot
No Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
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Kedoshim
I Get No Respect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Its All Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Holiness: A Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Emor
The Unburied Corpse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
Becoming a Kohen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Introvert/Extrovert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Like All Other Boys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

Behar
The Time of Your Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Anniversary, Birthday, Jubilee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Bullying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
The Process of Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

Beukkotai
Walking the Walk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
The Walking Tour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
The Work-Study Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Numbers
Bemidbar
You Too Can Be a Levite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
My Teacher, My Father. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
The Wilderness First. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

Naso
Sanctity and Sanctimony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Can en Mean Charisma?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

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The Mood of the Priestly Blessing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401

Distinctly Different . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Behaalotekha
A Candle of God Is the Soul of Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
A Second Chance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Earning Self-Esteem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
Humble, Not Meek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

Shela
Caleb at the Crossroads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
History Repeats Itself. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Of Grasshoppers and Jewish Pride. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
Memory Loss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434

Kora
Can Everybody Be Somebody? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Better They Learn From Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
The Secret of Remaining Correct. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Two Jews, Three Opinions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

ukkat
Discovering our Mortality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
The Many Songs of Leadership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
Let Me Repeat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

Balak
Doing It My Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
Balaam and Dostoevsky. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466
The Ancient Near East: Its Relevance Today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
No to Here and Now. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

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Pinas
I Act, Therefore I Am. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476
Lessons in Leadership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
Avoiding a Hateful Heart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
Zealotry and Tolerance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485

Matot
Honesty and Integrity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
Breaking Promises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493

Masei
Journeys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Zionism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

Deuteronomy
Devarim
A Sublime Autobiography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
A Time and a Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
The Path to Eloquence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
The Jewish Obsession. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516

Vaetanan
What To Pray For. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
Unanswered Prayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522
What, Me? Worry?!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
Religion Is Good for You. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529

Ekev
Discipline and Suffering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

Reeh
How Am I Doing? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536
The Thief of Blessing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
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Idealism and Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

All That Glitters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546

Shofetim
Justice, Justice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
We Are All Judges and Kings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
Anarchy or Utopia?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
The Participant Observer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560

Ki Tetzeh
Words Can Never Harm Me?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
And the Winner Is.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
He Is Not What He Is. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570
The Duty of Civilians in War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574

Ki Tavo
Walls Have Ears. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577
In the Good Old Days. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580
Didnt You See Them?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

Nitzavim
This Seasons Leitmotif: Return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
An Attitude of Gratitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 591
Lessons of Equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

Vayelekh
Forgiven, but Not Forgotten. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
Denying Death or Facing It. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601
Reflections Upon the Years End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604

Haazinu
Two Songs, Two Singers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
Repression of the Sublime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
Nationalism: Good or Bad?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
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Vezot HaBerakha
A Godly Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
More than Just a Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622

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Preface

he book you have in your hands is a collection of some of

the columns I have written on the weekly parasha during the past
seven years. These columns have a history, which was initiated by Mr.
Stephen Steiner, OU Director of Public Relations, in the spring of the
year 2009. At that time, I was preparing to end my tenure as Executive
Vice President of the Orthodox Union. It was agreed that I would stay
on with the OU in an emeritus capacity, but it was not initially clear to
me what that capacity entailed. It was Steve who suggested to me that
my new role would allow me to spend more time writing, something I
had long dreamed of doing.
Steve further suggested that I might write a weekly column on
parashat hashavua. He identified a need for a column that would reach
all Jews, whatever their educational background and whatever their
degree of religious observance.
But Steve went further than that. Because of our many years of
collegiality, he was aware of my professional background and abiding
interest in psychology, and particularly of my fascination with the inner
spiritual lives of human beings. It was out of our initial discussions that
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Preface
I consented to write such a column and to focus upon the human element contained in every weekly Torah portion. This human element
often goes unnoticed or is, at the very least, under-emphasized.
In the early stages of my excitement over the prospect of writing such a column, the title The Person in the Parasha occurred to me.
That title would allow me to concentrate upon the biblical characters
who play a part in the drama of almost every chapter of the Pentateuch.
But that title would also allow me to introduce the reader to numerous
other individuals, drawn from my own personal life experiences, as well
as from the vast world of literature of which I am so fond.
It was after several years of writing these columns that a reader
approached me and told me that she had discovered my secret. She
knowingly, and correctly, exclaimed, Why, you are the person in the
parasha! Indeed, her observation was on the mark. Whereas I only rarely
refer to myself directly in the columns, I do rely heavily upon the major
personalities who had an impact upon my life. They include my own
parents and grandparents, and occasionally my siblings, classmates, and
friends. But mainly, I introduce the reader to my religious and spiritual
mentors over the years and most especially, my paternal grandfather,
Chaim Yitzchak Weinreb, of blessed memory, who was a Talmudist par
excellence and who inspired me to adopt a lifelong commitment to the
study of rabbinic texts.
A preface such as this primarily serves the purpose of thanking
those individuals who played a role in the conception of the book and
in its writing, editing, and publication. Steve Steiner deserves first mention because he conceived of the idea and prodded me to do it. The many
individuals whose lives, works, and teachings provided the material for
the columns also deserve to be thanked, although it is impossible to
enumerate them all.
A special statement of gratitude is due to Mrs. Yocheved Goldberg,
whose remarkable editorial skills, sensitivity to religious language, and
commitment to proper English usage in every detail are admirable and
laudable and very much appreciated by me. Yocheved has been my loyal
and dedicated assistant for many years now, and she and her husband
Avi and their lovely children deserve special thanks.
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Preface
Thanks too to Mr. Matthew Miller, who heads Koren Publishers
Jerusalem, for agreeing to co-publish this work and for the many opportunities he has given me to utilize my fascination with the world of
books. Matthews outstanding staff also deserves honorable mention,
especially assistant editor Tomi Mager and proofreaders Shira Schreier
and Shoshana Rotem.
I am privileged to be on the editorial board of the Orthodox
Unions publishing arm, known as OU Press. My dear friends and colleagues, Rabbi Menachem Genack and Rabbi Simon Posner, spearheaded this important undertaking, and I feel especially honored that
this book is now numbered among the many excellent contributions
that OU Press has made to the world of traditional English-language
Jewish learning.
There is one person who heads the list of persons in the parasha. I refer, of course, to my dear wife Chavi. I may never have explicitly
mentioned her by name in any of my hundreds of weekly columns, but
she has been the inspiration of each and every one of them. Her loving
encouragement has enabled me to produce a column every week of the
year for many years on end. She has helped me overcome innumerable
episodes of writers block and has been the first reader to see each column after its final draft. Her invariably positive reactions have propelled
me to persist with this project and to undertake the writing and editing
of other publications.
I extend my blessings to all who have helped me achieve this goal.
I close by inviting the reader to share his or her responses to this book
with me. I have long ago learned the value of feedback, and I assure those
of you who will respond that I will take your comments very seriously.
Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
12 Nissan, 5776
Monsey, NY

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Genesis

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Parashat Bereshit

Creation Conversation

nyone who has ever taught anything can confirm the adage
of our sages, I have learned from all my teachers, but I have learned
most from my pupils. It is especially true that one learns a great deal
from his students if one does not limit himself to lecturing to them, but
rather engages in face-to-face conversation with them. It is in candid and
interactive dialogue that one learns most from his students.
The immense value of simple conversation between teacher and
student was brought home to me many years ago in a conversation I had
with two very different students. They both attended a series of lectures
I gave for individuals with very little prior exposure to the Jewish religion and its teachings. One of them was almost exclusively interested
in what he called, the rules and regulations of Judaism. The other was
far less interested in Jewish law. He was more of the spiritual type and
had a plethora of questions about the nature of God.
The first individual, lets call him Rick, was interested in a meaningful way of life. He wanted to be part of a congregation, to celebrate
the holidays, and to learn how to live daily life as a Jew. The other student, lets call him Seth, was consumed by questions of cosmology and
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Bereshit
the origins of the universe. He saw God as an almost impersonal force
behind nature. He wanted a relationship with God, but questioned
whether that was at all possible. Both students had in common an interest
in engaging me, their teacher, in conversation after class. Usually, those
conversations took place in the local kosher pizza shop.
I vividly recall the evening I gave a lecture on the opening
chapter of Parashat Bereshit in the Book of Genesis (Gen. 1:16:5).
Rick and Seth appeared equally eager to corner me in the pizza shop
after that lecture.
Rick began the conversation by firmly questioning why the
Torah even bothered to give us details about the creation of the world
and Gods role in it. As a Jew, he maintained, I just need to know how
to live my life, how to celebrate the holidays, what food is kosher and
what is not, and what is right and wrong in the spheres of ethics and
morality. I can satisfy my curiosity about the origins of the universe by
consulting some scientific book on the matter. For me, this has nothing
to do with religion.
Seth, sitting across the table, was absolutely astounded. What?!
he exclaimed. This opening chapter of Genesis is precisely what I need
to know as I begin my exploration of Judaism. I need to know about
God, from beginning to end. And this is His beginning.
I was fascinated by this conversation because it helped me put
into a new perspective the conflicting opinions of two of the greatest
rabbinic commentators on the Bible, Rashi and Nahmanides.
Rashi (Shlomo ben Yitzhak), in the very first words of his magisterial commentary on the entire Pentateuch, asks the same question
that was bothering Rick. He begins by quoting a Rabbi Yitzhak who,
some have maintained, was none other than his own father. He avers
that the Torah should have begun with the chapter in the later Book of
Exodus, which outlines the mitzvot that Jews were supposed to fulfill.
Rashi struggles to find a reason for the Torahs description of creation
and the detailed narratives of early human history.
Rick, I was able to say, your question was anticipated many
centuries ago by a great man whom you never heard of. I continued
to introduce him to the man who was Rashi and to his indispensable
commentary. Rick was gratified that Rashi too seemed to conceive of
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Creation Conversation
the Torah as primarily a book of rules and regulations, so that he felt
compelled to seek a reason for its beginning with an account of the
creation.
Seth was obviously hard put to restrain himself, but before he
began to protest against Rick, and against Rashi, I attempted to placate
him. There was another great rabbinic commentator on the Bible, I
explained. His name was Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman. Some call him
Nahmanides. Traditionally, we call him Ramban and consider him
second only to Rashi as a rabbinic commentator.
I told Seth, and Rick who was listening reluctantly, that
Nahmanides, in his opening paragraph of his commentary on Genesis
1:1, contests Rashis very question. Of course, he asserts, the Torah
had to begin with a description of the creation. That is the root of our
faith, so anyone who believes that the world always existed but was not
created by the Almighty at one specific moment in time, has no share
in the Torah at all.
Rick and Seth were gratified to discover that their differing views
on what is important in Judaism has precedents in the writings of two
great medieval rabbis. I hastened to disappoint them. I told them that
it was incorrect to conceive of two mutually exclusive definitions of
Judaism. It is not a matter of a rules-based religion versus a Godbased one.
I quoted to them the marvelous passage in the writings of
Maimonides in which he speaks of the mitzva to love God, and he
explains that there are two ways to achieve this. One way is by studying His Torah and its laws, and the other way is by contemplating His
astonishing creation, the world of nature.
I admonished them to carefully avoid reducing our faith to one
or the other conception. Our faith is not a simplistic one, I argued. As
you proceed in your study of Judaism in general, and of the Five Books
of Moses in particular, you will come to realize that our religion emphasizes that our God is both Creator and Lawgiver. Any conception of Him
as one but not the other is not authentic Judaism.
I thanked them for once again demonstrating to me the great
value of conversation between student and teacher. Before we parted that
evening, I shared with them a story of another conversation between a
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Bereshit
teacher and a student that I had read about in philosopher Samuel Hugo
Bergmanns memoirs.
Bergmann recounts the story of Hermann Cohen, the GermanJewish philosopher who drew closer to religious Judaism in his later
years. The climax of his lifes work was his book, Religion of Reason Out
of the Sources of Judaism. It seems that the philosopher Cohen once
entered into a long conversation with an old and old-fashioned Jew who
resided in the university town of Marburg with him. The philosopher
attempted to explain to the old Jew his elaborate and highly intellectual
theory about the nature of God. The old man listened with the respect
due to a university professor. When Cohen was finished with his learned
and lengthy discourse, his elderly partner in conversation responded in
Yiddish, I understand everything you said, but something is missing.
Vu iz der Bashefer? Where is the Creator?
Cohen heard the old Jews response, and got it. His eyes welled
up with tears, but he remained speechless.
The opening chapter of Parashat Bereshit assures that everyone
who reads it will not make the philosophers mistake, but will realize,
along with the old-fashioned Jew, that whatever else God may be, He
is primarily der Bashefer, the Creator.

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Parashat Bereshit

Self-Control,
Marshmallows, and
Human Destiny

t didnt take very long after man was created for the history of the
world to change its course. It seems clear that the Almighty had a very
different narrative in mind for the story of the human race. For one thing,
death was not part of the narrative. Nor was the need to earn our bread
by the sweat of our brow. We were originally designed to be immortal,
and to reside in a paradise that required very little of us. Our immortality
and our idyllic abode were assured to us with but one caveat:
The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of
Eden, to till it and tend it. And the Lord God commanded the
man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but
as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat
of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die. (Gen. 2:1517)
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Bereshit
As an additional blessing, designed to remove from man the
sad state of loneliness, God created woman. The Almighty, who is as
benevolent as He is omnipotent, clearly expected man and woman to
live up to this single expectation. We can even assume that He was rooting for them to come through this simple challenge successfully. The
course of human history was at stake. Would it be a story of a perfect
existence or would it be a tale ridden with misery and woe? Man and
woman failed the test:
When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a
delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of
wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her
husband, and he ate. (Gen. 3:6)
This type of failure has been repeated innumerable times in
human history. It is certainly a failure with which we are all personally
familiar. But we dont tell our stories in the sublime language of the Bible.
In fact, we recently have found a much more mundane way to refer to
our moral shortcomings. We now say, We failed the marshmallow test.
This new term has become part of our parlance because of the
many years of research on the subject of self-control by a professor at
Columba University, Dr. Walter Mischel. His book, The Marshmallow
Test: Mastering Self-Control, describes the extensive research he conducted over the course of his long professional career.
It all began with a simple experiment in which he observed how
a group of five-year-olds reacted when he placed some tempting marshmallows before them. They were given the choice between consuming
one marshmallow immediately or being allowed two marshmallows if
they waited fifteen minutes.
Some ate the one marshmallow right away, while others engaged
in a range of hilarious attempts to overcome temptation. Some averted
their gaze from the marshmallows. Others squirmed in their seats or
sang to themselves. Others counted to one hundred repetitively until
the fifteen minutes passed by. Some fantasized that the marshmallows
were poisoned or that they werent marshmallows at all, but insects or
sugar-coated cardboard.
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Self-Control, Marshmallows, and Human Destiny

The point, of course, is that one can use ones mental skills to
divert ones attention from the forbidden object. In psychological terms
there is such a thing as willpower and it is possible to succeed at the
vitally important task of self-control.
Mischel followed the original group of children forty years later
and found that the five-year-olds who passed the marshmallow test
developed into adults who were much more successful in life than their
counterparts who failed the test. More importantly, Mischel used the
results of his research to develop a system of guidelines for gaining the
ability to delay the pressures of immediate gratification and to exert selfcontrol in a wide range of real life situations.
How different the course of history would have been if Adam
and Eve had the benefit of Dr. Mischels instructions for mastering
self-control!
It has occurred to me more than once that the Jewish religion
requires a great deal of self-control, perhaps more than any other religion.
There are numerous foods that we are forbidden to eat. There are days
of the year when we must forego all sorts of otherwise important and
often pleasurable activities. There are times of each day when we must
interrupt our activities in order to pray. There are urges and passions
that we are forbidden to satisfy. We must inhibit tendencies to speak
maliciously of others, and it is essential that we deny our very human
temptation not to tell the truth (emet).
Of course, from time to time we fail, but, by and large, we succeed
in controlling ourselves and in avoiding those behaviors that others in
our social environment, not bound by the restrictions of our faith, perform without the slightest hesitation. What is the secret of our success?
To some extent, it is the secret that Mischels five-year-olds knew
intuitively. We do go through internal mental processes, either telling
ourselves, for example, This is not kosher, or, This is a great mitzva.
We may even control ourselves to the extent that we physically avoid
situations that might confront us with irresistible temptations and
compel us to compromise our religious standards.
But I think that the secret of the successful observant Jew lies
deeper within us than these exertions of willpower. Dr. Mischel provides us with a clue when he distinguishes between the hot and cool
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Bereshit
systems of the brain. The former is designed to deal with immediate
rewards and threats, while the latter is designed to deal with long-term
consequences.
Although the hot system is necessary in certain situations, the
practicing Jew learns the importance of the cool system. For those born
into Jewish observance, it is learned in the earliest formative years, from
parents and grandparents, from stories and songs. For those who come to
Jewish observance later in life, it is learned intentionally, through study,
reflection, and discussion. One way or another, we internalize a world
view that looks beyond the immediate present to an ultimate future.
As we read Parashat Bereshit, which is all about beginnings, we
have the opportunity to begin to be more conscious of our decisions
and to appreciate how different and more rewarding our spiritual lives
could be if we learn the lessons of self-control. More so, we can ponder
how different the world would be if many more of us would learn to
pass the marshmallow test.

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