Parashas Chayei Sarah :- The Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Chayei Sarah and the Sedra begins sadly telling of the passing of Sarah . The Haftorah for this Parsha is 1Kings 1 : 1 - 31. The Parsha and the Haftorah tell of the passing of Holy people , The Parsha with the succession of Sarah and Avraham's generation that would pass to Yitzchak and the Haftorah with the succession from David leading to his son Shlomo . The Parsha begins by mentioning the age of Sarah and it is referred to as the "Chayei " - " Life of " Sarah even though Torah is referring to her passing . Such is the case with holy people , as even though it their time to pass on , that very passing on , is part of living , for the soul is ever on a journey , whether it is in a body or out of one , or in whatever spiritual or physical state it is in or within . It is also written in Torah in this way as Sarah and holy people live every day they live for HaShem and not for themselves , and this is True Living . We note that Torah separates it into three different periods of years , where it gives the lifetime of Sarah , as One Hundred years and Twenty years and Seven years . The reason that it is written this way is that on the day of Sarah's passing , at 127 years , Sarah was as free of sin at 127 as she was at 100 years and Sarah was as free of sin at 100 years as she was at 20 years , which according to some sages , is the year a person is responsible for sins they do , though we know also that it is at Bar and Bat Mitzvah age too . Also , Sarah was as innocent and free of sin at 20 years as a person who is an innocent and pure beautiful child of seven years . How did the death of Sarah come to be . When Avraham took Yitzchak to the Akeidah , we are told that Satan came and told her that her husband was about to sacrifice their son . Sarah got up quickly and went to the three giants who lived in Kiriath-arba , which actually means the 'City of the Four ' ( in reference to the four Giants that lived there - Ahiman , Sheshai and Talmai ( Numbers 13:22 ) and their Father Arba ( the name of the place ) ( Midrash Says -Bereishis - Rabbi Weissman ) , and Sarah asked them , seeing that they were so tall , to look into the distance to see if they could see her husband and son , and they told her that they could see that Avraham was about to sacrifice his son . At that moment of fright , her soul left her body and she passed on and so does Torah say that she died in Kiriath -arba . But why Did HaShem Permit Satan to do this to her ? Here we link up with the Haftorah , for Sarah was so Holy as was King David , that their souls could not be taken in the usual way for they were constantly immersed in Torah , so Satan had to divert their attention from their studies of Torah contemplation so that their souls could be taken . This is what happened with Sarah and the same with Dovid HaMelech , who was also immersed in Torah and Satan had to divert his attention by rustling the trees outside his window , so when he put his head up to look , his soul could be taken . Sadly , their time had come . ( A link between the Parsha and the Haftorah ) . Only HaShem Knows why things take place as they do and we are to always trust Him , for HaShem Does What He Does for the benefit of Creation and for the person who passes on to the next stage of spiritual development . And as the life of the Jew , who cannot at this time of Olam Hazeh ( The Present World ) enjoy full happiness till the Temple is Rebuilt , so must we go through suffering and cannot truly have full happiness till Moshiach comes , so must we remember the destruction of the Two Temples we lost . This is why we break a cup at the Simcha of a wedding , so as to remember the destruction of the Temples , even at a happy Simcha . So did Avraham return , elated after the Akeidah , happy that his son still lives only to find that his dearly beloved wife had passed on . And so he needed to seek a burial place for his wife . In the previous Parsha , I mentioned how , when Avraham had been trying to prepare for the Angels meals , he had ended up running into the Cave Of Machpelah near Mamre in Chevron and smelling the sweet holiness of fragrance of Gan Eiden in that cave and knew this was the place that Adam and Chava were buried in a standing up position and that this was the place of entry into Gan Eiden , so it was this Cave , on the plot owned by Ephron the Hittite that Avraham sought as a burial place for his dear beloved wife Sarah his and so Avraham managed to purchase this site for our people for all time , but at an exorbitant price . It was there that Avraham buried Sarah his beloved wife and at the same time , reburied Adam and Chava , who , till that time could not rest for feelings of what they had done in Gan Eiden and so , with the coming of Avraham and Sarah , when they were buried there , being such holy people that had brought HaShem's Shechinah back to Earth , Adam and Chava could finally find rest and peace . We note that in the Torah , the word used for " eulogize " is " Veliv'cotah , " where the " Caf ", letter is made smaller . This makes the word " Liv'cotah " appear as two separate words " Lev " and " Tah ('ah ) " where Lev means " Heart " and " Tah'ah " means " Wonder , " as the heart of those who remain in mourning for the one who has passed on , think and wonder so very deeply at the loss of the one who has passed on . With Sarah's passing , the Shabbos Lights that miraculously burnt from one week to the next in her tent , ( because Sarah always lit Shabbos Lights ) were extinguished , as did the Cloud over her tent leave ( because of her modest Tznius ) and the dough baked by her , ceased its sweetness and fragrant essence - the three Mitzvos of a Jewish Women incumbent on her specifically . Avraham felt his years and so knew he had to continue the succession , and so he called for his beloved steward , in charge of his house , Eliezer to swear by Abraham's Bris Mila to get a wife for Yitzchak from Avraham's kindred , a wife brought up with the family's trait of Chesed Kindness , and even though Eliezer hoped his own daughter might have an opportunity to marry Avraham's son Yitzchak , Eliezer hearing that this could not be , still faithfully did his master's bidding . He took ten camels and his master's bounty and traveled to Aram Naharaim to the city of Nahor , the home of Avrahan's kindred , as Avraham instructed , in order to find a wife for Yitzchak . The journey , that usually took 17 days , this time miraculously took only a few hours . And so Eliezer arrived at the well and asked HaShem that the woman who comes and offers him drink and the camels too , will be the one designated for Yitzchak . The Rabbis do not all agree with his action of testing HaShem , for anyone , might have come to the well , that was not from his master's kindred , But HaShem Made his mission successful , for on that moment that he was just finishing praying this request , did Rivka the daughter of Bethuel , from his master's kindred , came to the well for the first time with a jug on her shoulder and he approached her and requested to drink to which she responded that she give him drink and his camels also. To fully appreciate Rivka's Chesed , one has to realize the greatness of the action she did on her own as a female . A camel drinks vast amounts of water for they store water , so she had to , on her own , with no assistance , keep running back and forth to the well ( a place of holiness to meet one's intended , for a well is like the Wellsprings of Torah , just like at the first meeting place of Yaakov and Rachel ) for the camels for each of the ten camels to have their fill . This was truly an act of Chesed Kindness . Eliezer gave her the jewelry and asked about her family and when he heard that she was the daughter of Bethuel , he , Eliezer Blessed HaShem For HaShem's Kindness Had made his mission successful . Rivka told him of lodging and straw for the camels . Rivka ran and told her family including Lavan her brother , who on seeing the wealthy jewelry , ran out to Eliezer thinking it was Avraham and asked him to come inside . Eliezer waited outside , for he knew that Lavan was an idolworshiper who kept idols in the house , but Lavan told him that he had cleared the house , but even the camels refused to enter . Eliezer entered and Bethuel , Rivka's father thinking that this was Avraham , planned to kill him and take his bounty and so he poisoned Eliezer's drink and food . Some say one or the other . But Eliezer refused to eat or drink till he had had his say for his master and so , did faithful Eliezer tell of his master and Yitzchak and his reason for coming . It was when he sat down and said that Avraham is his master that they realized that this was not Avraham . During this time , HaShem Sent a Malach Angel , that changed around the food and drink , so that Eliezer was saved and Bethuel , was the one who ended up drinking and eating it , and so , Bethuel died that very day . Thus did they want Rivka to wait an extra year or ten months in mourning for her Father . But before Bethuel died , Eliezer proceeded to tell his story and the towns-people wondered if Bethuel would do the same for his own daughter that he forced upon others , which was , that when a maiden got married , he Bethuel would be the first to take that maiden and ruin her and so , the townspeople planned that very next day that if Bethuel does not do the same to his own daughter , as he had done to other people's daughters , that they would once and for all attack him and his family , thus the demise of Bethuel actually saved the rest of the family . HaShem's Ways Are So Deep And All-Knowing And Beyond us and our limited intelligence . They asked Rivka if she would want to go and she said that she would and so , they escorted her and her nurse Devorah , who was like a close sister figure to her and Rivka's family gave her a parting curse in the appearance of a blessing saying that she must become thousands of myriads , and because of this , her pregnancy was delayed for many years , 20 years in total , so that no one could say it was because of Lavan's idol worshiping family that she had children , and so , after 20 years , all knew it was not because of her family's words that she was Blessed with children , But It Was By HaShem Only that she gave birth . And so did Rivka follow Eliezer back to his home . On the way , Yitzchak had gone to Daven Pray at Beer-lahai-roi . Our Rabbis tell us that he had gone there , knowing that Eliezer had gone to fetch him a wife and so he felt sad for his Father Avraham and so he went to the South Country to bring back Hagar for his Father . It was there that Yitzchak was first seen by Rivka and when she realized how holy a man he was , Rivka seeing a light around him , she covered her face out of Tznius . Yitzchak married Rivka and so was he consoled for his Mother , for when Rivka entered the Tent of Sarah , so did the same three miracles that happened for Sarah occur again in Rivka's holy merit , for Rivka was holy and she was to be the next Mother of our people . Avraham was not totally sure that Eliezer had been totally pure with Rivka on the way for Canaanites were known for immorality and so , HaShem Rewarded Eliezer with entry into Gan Eiden alive when his time came , for Eliezer had remained totally modest and pure to Rivka and a very faithful servant of Avraham . We are then told that Avraham remarried a woman called Keturah , who the majority of our Sages tell us was Hagar with a changed name , for Keturah is like ' ketores ' - ' incense ' for her deeds were sweet smelling , beautiful and modest as incense , and also ' Keturah ' means ' Restrained ' for from the time she left Avraham , she never went near another man but remained restrained and so did Avraham have more children but Avraham gave all that he had to Yitzchak and Avraham sent these children away from Yitzchak , to the East , giving them gifts , which our Rabbonim speak of as knowledge and wisdom . Torah then tells us of Avraham's passing at the age of 175 . Avraham passes away at this time so he would not see the the idol worship of Eisav . The same format is mentioned here for Avaham , where the years are split into three different periods of of years , for the similar reasons that Sarah's years were split into periods , for Avraham lived every moment in holiness and Avraham was as Holy and sinless at 175 as he was at 100 , when he became the Father of Yitzchak . He was as holy then as he was sinless at 70 and he was as fresh and faithfully following HaShem at 70 , as Avraham was at five years , when he spoke to HaShem as a child , when Avraham had on his own , worked out and known at that tender age , That HaShem Is The One And Only G-D And Creator of Creation . Avraham was buried with Sarah in the Cave of Machpelah near Mamre in Chevron , the place where Adam and Chavah were resting . And so , could the first couple Adam ' and ' ' Ve ' Chava now truly be at rest . Both Yitzchak and Yishmael buried their Father and Yishmael gave honor to Yitzchak over himself . In these later years , Yishmael respected Yitzchak's right from their Father and because of this , Yishmael too , had become repentant in his later years and repented of his sins and so is he was credited and rewarded by also being mentioned at the end of the Parsha . But he was still not holy as Sarah and Avraham were , and so his years were not written in the format of separate periods of years as Avraham and Sarah's periods of years were written . Yishmael's 12 children or princes are listed . Yishmael died just before Eisav married Yishmael's firstborn son Nebaioth's sister , Mahalath . Here the Parsha ends . The passing of one generation to come to the next , is not an end of that generation , but an advance for that generation that has passed , to go to the next level of climb to HaShem . As it mentions how Avraham " died at a good old age , mature and content , " it shows that Avraham had fulfilled his holy destiny in his life , making each moment of his life , one of serving HaShem , as did Sarah . So should we too be the same , not living for ourselves , but only for HaShem . Our lives are not ours to waste , but we are to make every moment of it count and use every opportunity to rise spiritually to HaShem , keeping His Commandments and making this Olam Hazeh Present World a true preparation to work within it to enter Olam HaBah The World To Come At The End Of days , and so , truly " Live . ' We must not waste a single moment of our lives with frivolity and physical desires and pursuits that have no value or future . Let us all focus on HaShem , every moment That He Gives us Life , and work toward HaShem and truly Live Forever in His Loving Arms . The very fact that such holy people that passed , are described as " Chayei " - " Life of " shows us how , even though they have passed on , they are still with us , within every Jew , through the holy line from them , as they live within us , as long as we keep to the common thread that runs through every Jew , the common thread of Torah and Torah Mitzvos That HaShem Blesses us with . Through Torah we live and through Torah we live eternally , for it is Torah , that keeps our very selves connected to the Holiness Of HaShem , that runs within each and every Jew . To be an observant Jew , that strictly follows HaShem's Torah , is to truly link to Eternity , to link to HaShem and His Intended Direction for Creation . For all is one and we are all HaShem's Creation and The Living Torah Lives within us all , if we would only grasp It and take hold of It , and be at one with Torah . For to be at one with Torah and our fellow Jew who follows HaShem's Words of Torah, is to bring Creation to Olam Habah , as one , and to Live Eternally in HaShem's Light and Love . True " Chayei , " - " Life " comes from following HaShem . It Is HaShem Who Gives Life To all things in Creation and HaShem Teaches us how it is through Torah that we remain " Living . " Our lives are to be lived every moment for HaShem and His Creation . To not do that , is to waste the Precious Life That HaShem Gives us . We only have one opportunity as us , to make ourselves Righteous in the physicality that our soul is within , and so every moment that we live , must be spent serving HaShem With Love as our Fore-Fathers and Fore-Mothers did , spending every moment in the service of HaShem .People of the World go to strange lengths looking for ways to live forever . If only we would all realize that the answer to that , is and has always been right in front of us all along . That answer is to follow HaShem And His Laws And Mitzvos In Torah . Eternal life is only With HaShem And His Torah . Thank You HaShem For Giving us such a Beautiful And Precious Gift Of Torah , Your Pathway back to You . I wish HaShem With Forever Love , A Sweet And Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh With Deepest Love , and to all my fellow Jews and all of Creation , a Sweet and Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with Love .

Parashas Vayeira : - The Shabbos Parsha is Parashas Vayeira , and in this Sedra , we continue learning about the life of Avraham , who was a true holy man of Chesed kindness . In learning about holy kind Tzaddikim , we can also learn how we should behave in this World That Belongs To HaShem . The Haftorah for this Parashah is 2 Kings 4 : 1 - 37 . The Haftorah deals with the prophet Elisha , who was also a man of kindness and he was always ready to help others as a Prophet of HaShem , just like Avraham Avinu , known for his Chesed Kindness . The Parsha before , Parashas Lech Lecha concluded teaching of the Circumcision that Avraham performed and now , in this Parsha , Avraham is in his third day from the Circumcision , the most painful day after a Bris Milah and Avraham , known for his hospitality and kindness , still chooses to sit at the entrance of his tent of four poles , open on all sides waiting for visitors , to show those traveling on their way , Chesed and Teach about HaShem . Though Avraham is in immense pain , he selflessly finds it more painful , not to be able to welcome wayfarers so that he can show Chesed , and teach about HaShem . On this particular day , HaShem , Knowing of Avraham's pain , Specifically Increased the heat that day , So As To Help Avraham Heal And Also To Keep wayfarers away from Avraham at that particular time , so that Avraham could be given an opportunity to rest and heal . But Avraham as I mentioned , felt more pain at not being able to show kindness to wayfarers , So HaShem Himself Went To Pay Avraham Bikkur Cholim , which means a visit to the sick and healing . HaShem , In His Action Taught us that it is a moral obligation to visit the ailing at their time of need . HaShem Gave Avraham a deserved visit , for Avraham had done a holy and faithful thing , by fulfilling the Torah Obligation of Circumcision . While HaShem Was Conversing With Avraham , HaShem Sent three Malachim Angels To Avraham . At first , Avraham thought they were arab travelers ( known at the time to worship the desert sands ) and so Avraham made sure that they washed their feet , so as not to bring into Avraham's tent , any of the dust these people usually worship , for that would be Avodah Zorah Idol Worship . HaShem Felt So Sorry For Avraham's distress at not being able to give wayfarers welcome , That HaShem Sent these Angels , each Angel , as usually is the way an Angel Works , was sent with a separate task . The Malach Angel Michael Came to tell of the coming birth of Avraham and Sarah's son Yitzchak . The Malach Gavriel came to destroy With HaShem's Help , Sodom and Amorah ( Gomorah ) Admah and Zeboiim and at that time Zoar ( which was subsequently saved so Lot might request that he and his daughters could run there ) . The Malach Raphael was there to bring healing to Avraham and help remove Lot and his two daughters from the midst of the coming destruction , thus saving Lot's life , an act of healing , thus healing was his mission . At first Avraham , in Mamre , saw them standing over him , but Torah Says That he then runs to them . The reason for two different statements here , is that his Soul perceived who they were , but this had not reached his conscious knowing yet , so physically he ran to greet them . So his soul realized that these were holy Angels , but this had not to him , become a conscious knowing yet . Avraham hurried to prepare food , calling his wife to help prepare as well as his son Ishmael to prepare the calf . Avraham did not stop for a moment to rest ( even though he was in pain ) , and he continued to serve his guests and wait on them . Even though he said he would just fetch a morsel of bread , he gave them a large feast , providing for them royally . So do we get the concept from Avraham to ' promise little do a lot . ' We notice how Torah mentions how Avraham had to ' run ' to the cattle to prepare it . The reason the word ' run ' is used , is because when Avraham tried to get to the calf , it ran far from there into a cave and Avraham followed it . When he entered this cave , the Cave of Machpelah near Mamre , Avraham noticed the smell of the Cave was as the smell of Gan Eiden . Avraham had run into the Cave that bordered Gan Eiden , where Adam Ve Chavah were buried standing up . It was here , that Avraham made up his mind to purchase this holy cave for burial . The Angel asked where Sarah is and Avraham answered that she is in the Tent . In other words , she was a faithful wife , looking to the needs of her household , as was Avraham a faithful husband , looking also to the needs of the family , unlike so many men and women today who don't feel content with the Blessings Of HaShem That HaShem Gave them children , and they would rather look outward to other things , and realize one day when it is too late , how much they missed with each moment of their precious children ( as Rabbi Bender puts it ) . When Sarah , who was listening heard she would have a son in the next year , she laughed , bringing up her age and that of her husband . The Angel asked her why she laughed and she denied laughing . When HaShem Relayed the story of her laughing , HaShem Did Not Mention how she had mentioned Avraham's age , so as to keep Sholom Bayis , Family Peace between husband and wife . The Malach Michael's task of reporting the coming year's birth of Yitzchak , being now reported and his task complete , got up and left the other two Angels there , for Michael's task was complete . All this time , HaShem Had Stood Patiently To The Side , How Humble Is HaShem . When the two Malachim got up to go toward Sodom , HaShem Returned To Converse With Avraham . Avraham , being the hospitable man he was , escorted his guests part of the way . The Angels hoped Avraham could stop the destruction and they went toward their mission . HaShem Told Avraham of how the outcry of the evil city had come to Him . This specific outcry , was from a young female P'lotis , Lot's daughter who was married to a prominent Sodomite , and P'lotis had dared to give an elderly poor man in Sodom , alms ( something totally forbidden in Sodom ) . They had caught her , tortured her , and strung her up with no clothes , hanging her in the square , daubed with honey so that the bees would sting her to death . Her outcry reached HaShem . Sodom was a vile place . They had been given wealthy lands , filled with rich minerals and therefore did not take kindly to incomers . Laws like not helping the poor and the compulsory law that a visitor was to be robbed , was just a part of their evil ways . Once , Avraham's beloved helper Eliezer had to go through Sodom on his way elsewhere . As soon as he entered the city , he was come upon by others , who tried to rob him and they assaulted him . The matter came to the Sodomite court , and the as usual corrupt Sodomite judges , judged the case that Eliezer must pay the man who hit him , for he was to pay for his blood being let . Eliezer , a very wise man , responded by hitting the judge . When the judge asked Eliezer the meaning of his action , Eliezer responded that if this is the Law in Sodom that a person victim who gets hit must pay the perpetrator , Eliezer told the Judge that now the judge can just pay the person who had hit Eliezer , to finalize the whole case . Sodom also had a way that a visitor was to be taken into an inn where they would be measured against a certain size bed . If they were too big for the bed , they were beaten and had their feet cut off and robbed . If they were too small , they were mercilessly robbed and thrown out of the city without even their clothes . Sodom was very sexually immoral , with no law on sexual perversions and immorality , which is totally against HaShem's Laws on this matter . A guest , was not allowed to partake in a gathering festive meal with other Sodomites . Eliezer had sat down to eat a meal and one by one the guests being too afraid to admit they had invited him , left one by one , leaving him at the table by himself . He enjoyed all the food they had left , at that table he had sat down at , as they had run away from the table . Eliezer , after this visit never wanted to ever go back to this evil city again . So HaShem Discussed With Avraham , His Plan to destroy them . Avraham started to plead for the lives of the people , having compassion on everyone , even though they were diametrically opposed to his moral and holy way of life . He knew that his nephew Lot was there and he knew Lot had married a Sodomite woman called ( Iddit ) Eeris , Lot's second wife , for his first wife had passed away . Avraham also knew that Lot had four daughters and and two of them had married Sodomites and the other two were set for marriage and so , Avraham hoped that would at least make up the ten Righteous people that might save the cities . Avraham knew it needed a minimum of ten , for he reasoned that with the Mabul Flood , there was only Noach and his wife and their three sons and their wives , which made up only eight , which was obviously not enough to save the World , so Avraham hoped now that there were at least ten . Avraham hoped that there was at least ten in each city and so could save the five cities ( which were all on the same mountain area ) with a hope of finding 50 righteous . HaShem Descended on the City and sadly responded to Avraham that there are not 50 righteous people in these cities . Avraham asked again , that maybe there are only nine in each city and that perhaps HaShem Could Make up that last number , thus hoping to save the five cities with 45 . HaShem Responded that there were not even 45 . Avraham pleaded again that what if there might at least be ten Righteous in only four of the cities , would HaShem Please Not Destroy for the 40 . HaShem Said He Would Not for the sake of the 40 , but there were not even 40 . Avraham hoped to at least save three of the cities , with ten in each , and HaShem Said He Would not destroy on account of the 30 . But not even 30 were found there . Avraham pleaded that if there were at least 20 , ten in two of the cities , that might at least save 2 of the cities . But HaShem Responded that there were not even 20 . Avraham tried again one last attempt , that at least could there be 10 , counting on his family Lot , but HaShem Now Informed him of what these evil people had done to Lot's family , that there were no longer even 10 because of what they had done to Lot's poor daughter P'lotis , and Avraham saw he could not stop the destruction , for not even 10 righteous people could be found there and so , Avraham had to stop pleading . Avraham was such a man of Chessed Kindness and Giving , that when he heard how they had so badly treated poor P'lotis just because she had tried to do a poor man a kindness , Avraham knew his case was lost and he no longer asked anymore , especially when there were not even 10 righteous people in all the 5 cities . The Angels Gavriel and Raphael arrived at Sodom in the evening and met Lot at the Gate of the City , for he had become a Judge in Sodom ( this is why when they converged on his family's door , the towns people mentioned how he had become a Judge over them ) . Lot had taken on Avraham's good action of showing hospitality and invited the guests to his home . The Angels at first turned him down , so that Lot would have to urge them to come with him , thus giving Lot the opportunity to earn some Kavod . When they quietly came to Lot's home and sat down for a meal , Lot's Wife Eeris complained that they were not supposed to have guests as a law in Sodom and that she wanted no part of it . She insisted that the house be divided so that her half would not have to be a part of this action of kindness . She , being a Sodomite , walked out of the house and went around announcing to the neighbors that they had guests and would the neighbors lend them some salt for the meal . Her intention was to alert the neighbors . Once they were alerted , it was not long before the townspeople converged on Lot's door . Lot pleaded with them to not hurt his guests who had come under his roof and even sadly offered his own two daughters to the towns people as long as his guests remain safe . This offer brought about the action that ended up taking place between him and his two daughters later on . The townspeople refused and so the Angels struck the people with blindness , as a sign that they did not respect HaShem , wanting to see only evil , and thus don't deserve to see . The Angel tried to hurry Lot out so that the Cities could be destroyed , but Lot tarried all night , wanting not to leave his belongings until the Angels had to take them by hand and leave them outside the city . His sons in law did not want to leave and so only Lot and his wife Eeris and their two unmarried daughters left Sodom . They were warned not to look back at the conflagration and HaShem's Shechinah , but Eeris , wanting to see , turned back , and was turned into a Pillar of Salt . This Pillar can still be seen today . Lot asked for Zoar to be saved so that they could at least run there . Their request was granted . The Malach had actually told Lot to " escape to the mountain , lest thou be swept away " ( Bereishis 19 : 18 ) , for the Malach was actually telling Lot to return to Avraham , who was actually dwelling as it were on the mountain ( Bereishis 12 : 8 and 13 : 3 ) ( Chumash with Rashi - Rabbi A M Silbermann ) , lest Lot ' be swept away ' spiritually as well as physically , for had Lot returned to Avraham , Lot would have gained spiritually and the incident with Lot and his two daughters would not have taken place , and these two nations of Moav and Ammon would not be an issue . So must we make every action we do , a holy moral action . HaShem Overturned the cities and the entire plain And Caused Sulfur and Fire To Rain Down Upon Sodom and Amorah Gomorrah From HaShem Out Of Heaven . Avraham noticed the heat and smoke that morning. Lot and his two daughter hid in a cave , for Lot was still concerned to run to the city of Zoar , and thinking that there was no man left to marry , his daughters plied Lot with wine and conceived by their father , the first night the elder one , whose idea this was , and so , unabashed , called her son Moav , directly within the name hinting ' from the father , ' and so did this nation of Moav become corrupt and sexually immoral and the from the younger one the following night , came the nation of Ammon - ' son of my people ' not being blatant that it was from the father , and so , are us Jews not to provoke war with this nation . Due to the fact that Avraham's nephew had fathered children through his daughters , Avraham , being a moral man , moved away to distance himself morally from this action , that even in those days was not acceptable and so Avraham settled in Gerar where he and Abimelech had contact . Again , Sarah was not to mention her relationship with Avraham and she was taken by Abimelech . Sarah told Abimelech who she was to Avraham For HaShem Had Stopped Up all the openings of the people . HaShem Told Abimelech in a dream to return Sarah to her husband . Avimelech had cast a negative thought on Avraham and Sarah's offspring that their son turn blind , and so , it was one of the reasons , why Yitzchak turned blind in his old age . When the year had passed , Yitzchak was born , looking as his Father looked , so as to dispel any notions that people of the time thought of the child not being Avraham's . Looking at the two of them , no one could doubt that Avraham and Yitzchak were Father and son as he grew up . At eight days , Yitzchak was circumcised . If we look at the name " Yitzchak , " it has a Yud letter with the value of 10 to show that Yitzchak would keep the Ten Commandments . It has a Tzaddi letter of the value 90 , for Sarah was 90 years old when she bore him . It has a Ches letter with the value of 8 , for Yitzchak was circumcised at 8 days old and it has a Kuf letter , with the value of 100 , for Avraham was 100 years old when Yitzchak was born . When the time came for Yitzchak to be weaned , a feast was held and Sarah Was Given By HaShem , the ability to nurse with milk , all the little children that had come with their mothers , showing and proving the Miracle of the birth of Yitzchak , By Hashem , at their elderly age . Our Rabbis say that many who were nursed by Sarah , ended up even in other later lives becoming Gairim Converts to Judaism . Also Og was there thinking that he could squash little Yitzchak between his fingers . Said HaShem , " Evil Og , the time will come when a descendant of this very Yitzchak , who will be Moshe Rabbeinu , will strike you Og down . " Sarah noticed how Yishmael was shooting arrows at Yitzchak and how Yishmael had a yen for idols and so she told Avraham to chase him and his mother out . HaShem Corroborated Sarah's words and so , Avraham the next morning sent her and her son away , with one skin of water and bread , telling her that as long as their minds are not on idols , the water would replenish itself . She went off and strayed in Beer Sheva . When the skin of water was empty , she Hagar cast the boy off at a distance beneath the tree and prayed to HaShem . HaShem Answered that he would become a large nation . The verse says That HaShem heeded the cry of the youth in his ' present state . ' This has a deeper meaning . The Angels questioned HaShem , why save a boy whose nation would become violent And HaShem Responded That , what he has not yet done should not yet be judged and that he should only be judged in his ' present state . ' HaShem Opened her eyes and she saw the well that was there all the time . A disagreement took place between Avraham and Avimelech disputing the ownership of a well that was Avraham's . To prove it was Avraham's , Avraham took seven of his ewes and asked Avimelech to also take seven ewes to the well and see for whose ewes the water will rise . It rose for Avraham's ewes thus corroborating it was Avraham's well . Avraham gave these seven ewes to Avimelech as a testimony oath of remembrance that it was Avraham's well . Thus was the place called Be'er Sheva , the Well of the Seven or The Well of the Oath . Avraham and Avimelech made an agreement that they would not go at each other for a certain number of generations and this was against HaShem's Desire . This agreement was still in existence when the Jews came out of Egypt in Moshe's time and this is why HaShem Had To Lead us away from their area , for there were still children's children's relatives of Avimelech still living in Moshe's time and so does Torah say there , " The Time is still close . " It was because of this agreement that Avraham made with Avimelech , say our Sages , that caused the tenth and final test to come upon Avraham - The Akeidah . Also , Yitzchak and Yishmael once got into a discussion and Yitzchak assured Yishmael , that should he , Yitzchak ever be called upon to give his life for HaShem , he would do it willingly . HaShem called Avaraham and as Avraham being always the obedient of HaShem , said " Hineini " - " Here I am , " ready as it were to do HaShem's Bidding as soon as he is Asked By HaShem . HaShem Told Avraham to take his son , " and Avraham responded " Which one for I have two . " HaShem Said " Your Only one , " and Avraham said " Which only one , for they are both the only one of their Mother . " HaShem Said , " Whom you love , " and Avraham responded , " I love them both , does a Father love one son above another . They are both very beloved to me . " And so HaShem Said , " Yitzchak , " and this is why in The Holy Torah Of HaShem , it is written as it is , for this was part of the conversation between HaShem and Avraham . HaShem Tells Avraham to go to the land of Moriah to bring his son Yitzchak up as an offering on one of the mountains HaShem Would Show him . We note here the Hebrew words again "Lech Lecha , " which always denotes a step toward higher holiness . Thus for both Avraham and Yitzchak , this was a step up in the levels of Holiness . We do not always see in our own lives when things are hard , that it is a step up for us for our benefit . HaShem Sees the whole picture . So obediently , Avraham saddles his own donkey himself and took the two men Yishmael and Eliezer and Yitzchak his son and the wood , specifically worm free as Commanded for an altar offering , and headed toward Moriah . The word Moriah refers to Myrrh , for which this area was famous for . The word Moriah also meant ' Teaching , ' for it was on this very special place and Mountain , this very Mountain on which the Temples would be built and the very place of Adam's first Korban . During their travels , Satan tried to stop them in various ways and even scare the boy but both were on their way to fulfill HaShem's Wish with holy resolve . When they arrived at the place of which HaShem Spoke , only Avraham and Yitzchak saw the Essence of the Shechinah , unlike Eliezer and Yishmael , so Avraham had them wait there with the chamor . How interesting that Avraham says in his soul subconsciously that " We will return to you , " for his soul knew what his body at this moment had not yet realized , That HaShem Would Not Go Through With It . Avraham built the altar and was ready to sacrifice his son , when an Angel appeared to halt Avraham . Avraham would not stop till HaShem Himself Stopped it , for holy and determined was Avraham , to fulfill The Wish Of The Creator , And So Did HaShem Then Assure That there would be no more tests for Avraham . Avraham asked HaShem why He Had Been Asked to sacrifice his son And HaShem Showed him That HaShem Had Never Actually Used the word ' Sacrifice , ' But Had Said only to " Bring him up there as an offering , " for the sacrifice of the soul is the giving of all love and action of obedience to HaShem . HaShem Then Showed Avraham a ram caught in the thicket , organized at the beginning of Creation and so was it offered in place of his beloved son . Yitzchak then went to study in the Yeshivah of Shem and Eiver and was at this time 37 years old . Avraham called the Name of the Place " HaShem Yireh , " for on this site , HaShem in the Future will be seen . May it come soon in our days . Avraham returned to Eliezer and Yishmael and they went to Be'er Sheva for Yishmael stayed there . Avraham was told that also in his family , Milcah had also born children to Nahor , a miraculous birth for they too were well on in years . So is the genealogy down to Rivka , daughter of Betuel here mentioned , for she would become the wife of Yitzchak . So ends the Parsha . This Parsha is called " Vayeira , " - " Appeared , " For HaShem Appeared To these Holy people . What was it that granted them such A Beautiful Gift to have HaShem Appear To them . The answer is in the word " Vayeira " itself , for within the word " Vayeira , " is the word " Yir'eh , " which means " Fear . " This refers to having a Fear of HaShem , which Avraham certainly and respectfully had . We are to be as our ancestors who definitely feared HaShem . With Avraham , Everything That HaShem Would Ask Avraham , Avraham would do without question . Avraham had such an Awe and Fear with Love for HaShem , that Avraham would do whatever HaShem Asked , knowing full well that Avraham would listen , for Avraham knew that HaShem Created all things and so would Avraham obey HaShem without question . That is total Faith and Emunah . Avraham always did What HaShem Requested , for Avraham's fear of Awe of HaShem was without question . That is True " Holy Fear . " Avraham knew without a doubt That HaShem Created Creation And That HaShem Knows all and need not and must never be questioned . If we could do the same and put our own wants aside and selflessly follow HaShem in Awe and Fear of Him , never doing what we are not to do , HaShem May Appear to us too . HaShem Desires our closeness and it is us who keeps Him Away from us by our selfish ways . The World is not about us as the most important be all and end all of all . No . The World is about HaShem , For HaShem Creates Selflessly . We keep complaining how things are not as we want and blame HaShem for not coming down and talking to us personally . But if we had to ask ourselves honestly , ' Are any of us worthy to behold HaShem Appearing to us ? '. No we are most certainly not . So let us start making ourselves worthy , by Fearing HaShem to such an extent , that we would not even dare to go against HaShem And His Wishes . Our wishes are inconsequential . We are too small to even think to put our own wishes as the most important . Our wishes are temporary in the scheme of things . HaShem's Wishes Are Eternal And Selfless , for our benefit . The word " Vayeira , " has a Gematriah of 217 and 2+1+7 = 10 where 1+0 = 1 . So when did HaShem " Vayeira " - " Appear " to us Jews ? At the giving of the Ten Commandments ( thus the Gematriah of the word " Vayeira " coming to 10 ) . The keeping of the Ten Commandments and all of HaShem's Commandments , will bring out our Fear for HaShem's Awesomeness and so will that Fear of Awe in obedience to HaShem , bring about an Appearance By HaShem At The End Of Days . This " Vayeira , " - " Appearance , " Will Be Of Great Light , where the word ' Ohr ' - ' Light ' Appears in the word " Vayeira . " This Light Of HaShem Will Bring us all back to HaShem's Oneness , ( where 2+1+7 = 10 and 1+0 = 1 ) , where we can become One With HaShem . Thus When HaShem Shows us His " Vayeira " - " Appearance , " His Appearance " Will Come With A Great Light , That Will Bring us back to HaShem's Oneness . May we all strive to become what HaShem Wants us to become and May HaShem , " Vayeira " _ "Appear " to us , when we open up our heart and soul , in Total Obedience and Awe , to HaShem's Love . I wish Most Beloved HaShem With Deepest And Most Eternal Love , A Most Beautiful And Very Special Shabbos Kodesh with Eternal Love and to all of my fellow Jews and to all of Creation , a Beautiful and Special Shabbos Kodesh with love .

Parashas Lech Lecha : - Our Shabbos Parsha is Parashas Lech Lecha teaching us about our Fore-Father Avraham and the Haftorah for this Parsha is Yeshayahu Isaiah 40:27 - 41:16 , which also makes reference to Israel as Avraham's offspring , making it very clear to the World that only biological lines down from Avraham and proper Orthodox Torah Conversion is acceptable to be called Israel , HaShem's Servant . Our Parsha as I mentioned is called Lech Lecha . This was one of Avraham's ten tests , that carry us through the generations , for all that Avraham went through , gives us Jews merit and Avraham's life and travels , show themselves to be a fore-runner of the history of Israel . Avram was 75 and Sarai was 65 when HaShem Told them to Lech Lecha to go from their land and from their relatives and from Avram's Father's House to a land HaShem Would Show him . It would be there that HaShem Would Make Avram a great nation , Blessing Avram and Making his name great and he would be a blessing , where HaShem Would Bless those who bless him and Curse those that curse him , where all families on the face of the Earth would bless themselves by him . So HaShem Tells Avram to " Lech Lecha , " to a place That HaShem Would Show him , Avram being the holy man that he is , makes his final destination Canaan , traveling first southwards and spreading HaShem's Oneness . Avram was 75 years old when he left Haran . When he left , he took with him his wife Sarai and Lot , her brother , Avram's nephew and all that he had and the souls he had , as it says" , " made " in Haran and they left to go toward Canaan . These souls that are referred to that he " made , " meant those people that he brought in belief , under the Oneness of HaShem . HaShem Appeared To Avram And Told him that this Land of Canaan would be given to his offspring , the Jewish people . There being a famine in the land , again another test for Avram , Avram descended to Egypt . We note the word " descend , " which shows that an entry to egypt was a descent away from holiness . It was there , that Avram had tried to hide Sarai , where an agreement was made before that they would , in such a situation , make out that they are brother and sister , which was partly true for they were very closely related . Sarai was very beautiful and Avram knew that these egyptians were very immoral and would take a man's wife for their king , and knowing of Sarai's lighter colour , she would be found very appealing by the egyptians and so Avram tried to hide her in a carry box but the egyptians insisted on opening it and Sarai , was taken and held captive by Pharaoh . Sarai then told Pharaoh who Avram was to her , but Pharaoh did not care . Sarai prayed to HaShem and HaShem Sent the Malach Gavriel to help her and Told her that as soon as she commands the Malach Angel Gavriel , Gavriel would strike Pharaoh's household . A severe plague was set upon Egypt By HaShem , through the Malach Gavriel and Pharaoh had no choice but to let her go . This was a forerunner of our coming to Egypt in Yaakov's time and finally being freed from bondage by HaShem Sending Plagues Against these egyptians . Pharaoh , before he let her go , gave her a region of territory called Goshen Goshnah , the very same region that we Jews lived in at the time of Moshe Rabbeinu . Pharaoh also gave Sarai , his daughter Hagar as a maidservant . Avraham and Sarai and all that they had , were escorted out of Egypt , just as would happen in the time of Moshe . During their sojourn in egypt Lot , Avram's nephew saw the idol worship there in egypt and was again attracted to it . Lot's herdsmen argued with Avram's herdsmen , for Lot's herdsmen would not muzzle Lot's animals when in a stranger's fields , so they would thus eat of that which was not theirs . Avram's herdsmen argued with Lot's herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen responded that seeing as Avram has no offspring , it must be Lot who will inherit from him , and seeing as the grazing is taking place in lands Promised By HaShem to Avram , they ( Lot's herdsmen ) must have a right to the land for grazing . Avram's herdsmen argued that the Land was not yet given to Avram in full possession , even though Avram had traversed the Land ( a form of taking possession in those days ) and so , no one thus had a right yet to partake of it . Avram asked Lot to separate from him and to choose which way he would go , and Lot , noticing the idol worship and greener pasture toward Sodom , chose to go toward that direction and Avram separated from him . It was only then , That HaShem Appeared again To Avram , For HaShem Prefers Not To Appear To a holy man , while in the presence of an unholy man with him . Torah then tells of the war of the four Kings against five . Amraphel is Nimrod and it was in this battle against Avram , that Nimrod was killed . The four kings mentioned here have a deeper reference in our Jewish History for if we look at the areas these four kings came from , we note that their areas were actually later Babylon ( Amraphel king of Shinar ) , later Media Persia ( Arioch king of Ellasar ) , later Greece ( Chedorlaomer king of Elam , where Elam was the son of Shem , where Shem was the son of Noach ) and later Rome ( Tidal king of Goiim ) . All these four nations , later in history attacked Israel . These four made war on Sodom , Amorah Gomorrah , Admah , Zeboiim and Zoar , who were trying to rebel against the four king's control over them . Seeing as Lot was now staying in Sodom , he was taken captive . Amraphel Nimrod purposefully took Lot captive so that he could draw Avram into the battle so as to try and smite him , But HaShem Protects His Beloved Nation and people . Torah tells us that a fugitive came and told Avram about his nephew being taken captive . At the time that this fugitive came , Avram was busy making Matzah Cakes , for Avram kept the Torah , even before it was given . Thus the time that Avram went to war to save his nephew , was actually Pesach night . Seeing as Avram was busy making Matzah Cakes ( where Cakes in Hebrew is Uga ( pronounced Ooga ) thus was his name called Ug / Og ) , and it was then that the fugitive came to warn Avram . This fugitive , who was the Giant , descended from the Nephilim , and so , ended up being called Ug ( Oog ) or as some today call him Og , and so this is where the English word ' ogre ' comes from for a Giant . Og did not intend to help Lot or Avram , by warning Avram . Og hoped Avram would go into the battle and be killed , Chas Ve Shalom and then , Og thought he could take Sarai for himself . Avram immediately prepared his men from his household , 318 in all and fought the four kings at night . Eliezer , Avram's beloved servant also came to help . There is an opinion that only Eliezer went to help Avram , and this opinion comes from the fact that the Gematriah of Eliezer's name comes to 318 . Avram and his men won the battle , but refused to take any of the spoils , referring to not wanting to take even a thread or shoe-strap , thus was Avraham acknowledging that it was Only Through HaShem that the battle was won and so , HaShem Did Reward Avraham for not taking a ' thread , ' for now , us Jews wear Tzitzis , to be close to and remember to keep HaShem's Commandments . This is just one reason we were Blessed to wear Tzitzis as Jews . It is after this battle that MalchiTzeddek King of Salem ( Yerushalaim ) comes out to meet Avram and Blesses him . MalchiTzeddek is none other than Noach's most holy son Shem . Avram being a Torah follower , gives him ( as / like a priest at the time ) the Tithe , a Tenth of everything . HaShem Then Appears to Avram and Avram is Given the Vision and Covenant of the Parts . Avram is Taken " Outside , " in other words outside the physical of what would be in the stars for him and Avram is shown that the destiny of The Jewish people , is above the stars and that Avraham will have children with Sarah . HaShem Took Avram up from the Earth And Took Avram to a vantage point from outside the Galaxies of Stars and Showed him how we Jews are above the destiny of stars and that the stars are only physical bodies And That HaShem Controls the Workings of His Multi - Universes ( plural ) , for HaShem Knew Avram's love of Astronomy and Knew that this would touch Avram very deeply . HaShem Showed how numerous the Stars actually are and when Avram was awed by the multitude of Stars and commented at the vastness of HaShem's Creation and at how numerous and beyond count the Stars are , Said and Answered HaShem , " So will your offspring from Sarah be . " I have often thought that seeing as HaShem Compared Stars to Jewish Offspring , it could also mean that as each new Jewish child is born , so is a new Star born . When Avram showed a slight doubt of how he will know that he will have children , HaShem Took this as a lack of trust and so , as our Rabbis teach us , was our exile in Egypt ordained . HaShem Assures Avram that his offspring through Sarai , will inherit Israel . After ten years between Avram and Sarai and still at that moment no children , it was the way at the time , for a husband then to take a second wife so as to beget children . Sarai gave her handmaid Hagar the egyptian , to her husband so that she might bare through her handmaid . When Hagar conceived , Sarai became lowered in Hagar's esteem , where Hagar would constantly make remarks to Sarai and others , that were totally untrue , making out that Sarai can't be so holy if she can't conceive , where Hagar kept mentioning how she straight away conceived . Hagar did not stop putting Sarai down . Sarai blamed Avram that he did not intervene strongly enough and Sarai became more harsh with Hagar and cast a ' negative eye ' on the child and so Hagar lost her first child . This is why the Angel tells Hagar later , after she ran away from Sarai , that she will conceive , even though it had said previously that she had already conceived , for she had actually lost her first child . Hagar as I mentioned ran away from Sarai and a few Angels encountered her by the spring of water . It was here that it was prophesied that her child would be named Ishmael and his offspring would bring violence , being a " wild ass of a man , his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him . " Hagar returned to Sarai and Avram , and Hagar conceived and bore a son called Ishmael , when Avram was 86 years old . It is after this that HaShem Appears to Avram As El Shaddai , Telling Avram to walk before HaShem and be perfect . Perfect is in reference to Completeness . This Attribute Of HaShem's Name El Shaddai refers to G-D Who Has Completed And Done Enough " or " Dai " which means " Enough . " It is here That HaShem Adds to Avram's and Sarai's names , Renaming them Avraham and Sarah , who now are , as the names Avraham and Sarah , destined to have their beloved child . It is here That HaShem Commands Avraham to Circumcise his household and then himself and enter into the Covenant with HaShem , to complete the human body as man was originally Created ( Adam ) in the Beginning , for Adam was Created circumcised . The Command to Circumcise was to be at eight days from birth . Ishmael too was circumcised and he would beget twelve princes . But HaShem's Covenant would be through Yitzchak , who Sarah would bear to Avraham . Avraham is Told of the birth of Yitzchak and how we will become a Holy Jewish Nation through whom , HaShem Will Keep An Everlasting Covenant , through Avraham and Sarah's son Yitzchak . So ends the Parsha . We note that When HaShem Asks Avram to leave , HaShem Says " Lech Lecha " - " Go for you . " This is directly A Command From HaShem for Avraham's benefit , as the words directly say " Go for you . " But how would Avram leaving all that is familiar , including his family and go to an unknown land , be for his benefit ? Our Rabbis use the analogy of Avram being like a fragrance that is kept closed in a bottle and only when opened and its aroma permitted to travel in the air , does it sweeten all those around it . For while it would still remain closed and sealed in the bottle , its potential remains closed and waiting to give off its goodness . The same is with Avram , where if he stays in the place he is , it is as if caging all the holiness he possesses in a single place and not letting his goodness and sharing of HaShem's Oneness , spread to all the World around him . Avram Avraham was this kind of a Neshoma , with a task to share HaShem's Oneness and Truth to all . This he could only do , if he shared himself to all and so , become a Father of nations and so all families on Earth could thus bless themselves by him , for he spent his life sharing the Truth and Oneness of our One and Only Creator HaShem HaKadosh Baruch Hu . Also , HaShem Commanded Avram Avraham to go for himself " Lech Lecha " - " Go for you , " for he too , as us all , needs to grow spiritually and not be stifled in a place not suitable for our own growth and so Avram had to " Go for himself " so as to grow as well spiritually and become the holy man he was within . We see this in the words " Lech Lecha , " for these words can also be translated as ' Go to yourself , ' in other words , go to become the holy person you really are . This is so much the case with us all for we too need to grow and work toward that holy part of us within us all that is the true us , that can climb spiritually to HaShem . In fact we need to spend our time , ' Going toward ' our true selves and becoming who we are meant to be and aspiring to that holiness within us all that makes us who we really are . We all carry a Holy Spark Of HaShem and we need to work to earn this privilege for we all , every day carry a Spark Of HaShem , within our soul . Another reason that Avram had to go " for himself " was that in the place he was , he was not ordained to have offspring and only when he would change his place , would he beget children . Our Rabbis talk ever so much about the idea of changing one's place and name that it does change our destiny and we can now see where it comes from , for Avram did change his place and as HaShem Said , that with his name change to Avraham and his wife's name from Sarai to Sarah , he and his wife Sarah bore Yitzchak . So we see that even when HaShem Asks something of us , it is really for our benefit . Every Law , every Mitzvah we do , is to bring us higher and help us grow in holiness . Every Commandment we obey , is a Spark of Love from HaShem , to help us grow higher in Holiness . And through Avraham's line , By HaShem's Will , those nations that bless Avraham and us Jews who are his offspring , will be blessed and the opposite will happen to those that do the opposite . The words " Lech Lecha , " have within them two Hebrew Lameds and two Khafs , and if we take these letters and put them the opposite way , we get the words ' Kol Kol , ' as a repetition . The word ' Kol ' means ' All , ' and this shows us that , in going toward the true holy part of us within and going and doing HaShem's Mitzvos , it brings us ' All , ' in other words ' Completeness . ' It brings us to our destination within ourselves . Thus Holiness and Completeness , is brought about by leaving our own wishes and what is comfortable and what we want to do , and going in faith and trust toward HaShem .That is exactly what Avram did in obeying HaShem , for we note that HaShem Did Not Give him a destination point , but Just Told him to go " El Eretz Asher Ar'Echa , " - " To go to the Land that I ( HaShem Would Show you ( Avraham ) ) . " So this was quite a test for Avram Avraham who never knew , when he was told to pack up everything and go and leave all that was familiar , to which destination he was actually going . Avram followed HaShem purely on pure Faith and Emunah . This is the true Jew . This is who we are , and what we as a people are about . Just as we Jews accepted the Torah without asking what is in it , so are we the children of Avraham , who will follow HaShem into the Wilderness as we did in Moshe's time , and we know with love and faith , That HaShem Will Provide For us Always . That is the True Jew and that is the True Jewish heart . HaShem Also Wanted Avram Avraham to leave and be who Avraham is , the one who teaches the World about HaShem and His Oneness , so that all may come to HaShem and follow His Way and Path to Holiness . Thus did Avram Avraham have to " Lech Lecha , " to bring the World back to HaShem , in true faith and belief . We note that the Gematriah of the words " Lech Lecha , " are 30 + 20 + 30 + 20 = 100 - the number of completion , just like the letters spell ' Kol , ' that I explained above , where ' Kol ' refers to ' Completion . ' So Avram was there also to bring the World back to HaShem , after it had gone astray , and so put it on the road to Completion . And what is at the Heart of everything and completion in Creation ? HaShem Who Is One . This is hidden within the words " Lech Lecha , " which has a Gematriah of 100 as I showed , and if you take this number 100 and bring it to it's deepest single value , we get 1+0+0 = 1 , The Oneness of HaShem and so the Completeness of Creation , is to return to The Oneness Of HaShem . May it happen soon in our days , With The Love Of HaShem . I wish Beloved HaShem With Everlasting Love , A Very Beautiful And Special Shabbos Kodesh With Deepest Love , and to all my fellow Jews and all of Creation , a very Beautiful and Special Shabbos Kodesh with love .

Parashas Noach : - Parashas Noach :- Parashas Noach Our Parsha this week is Parashas Noach and the Haftorah which makes reference to Noach and the Parsha is in Yeshayahu Isaiah 54 1 - 10 for Sephardim and Isaiah 54 1 - 55 5 for Ashkenazim . The Parsha starts out mentioning the offspring of Noach , mentioning Shem then Cham and Yafes . Though Yafes is the oldest , Shem is mentioned first , as the holiest of the three sons , in Torah , the next would have been Yafes and then Cham , but Cham is mentioned in between , who was punished to serve the other brothers . The Parsha begins by mentioning that Noach was an Ish Tzaddik Tamim Hayah Bedorosaiv - Righteous man , perfect in his generations , and our Rabbis give different interpretations to this . On the one hand , Noach is looked upon as standing out in his very bad generation , as the one who was righteous and perfect , unlike those around him and in this interpretation , he is looked upon with great holiness and courage as standing against a whole world , and still remaining holy unlike those around him who had walked away from HaShem , and gone to violence and thieving , but not Noach , who remained apart from them and stood against the wave of negativity of his time and so was he , as a single family , left to be the ones remaining from all those others who perished in the Mabul Flood . The other Rabbinical opinion , is one of being not as righteous as he might have been , and this opinion states that he was 'righteous ( only ) ( with ) in his own generation , for this opinion makes out that had he lived at the time of Avraham , he would not have appeared so righteous in comparison . Where HaShem Says to Avraham , Walk before me and be perfect , here , in this Sedra , HaShem mentions that Noach walked with G-D . This alone can have various interpretations , that go along with both Rabbinical opinions . On one hand , HaShem Asks Avraham to Walk before Him , for Avraham is very holy and HaShem Gives the holy ones great kavod , where Noach has to only walk side by side with HaShem . For the other opinion , Avraham could have been asked to walk before HaShem as a sign of love to Avraham , where Noach , could walk alongside HaShem as a friend . But what ever opinion one chooses , one should never judge one generation with another , for each generation brings its own tests and levels to climb . Thus one should not compare one man to another in holiness , for what Noach did , to stand against an entire World against him , is truly an act of love for HaShem and certainly deserving of walking alongside HaShem in loving friendship and togetherness . Could any of us be like Noach and stand against an entire World . Doubtful . What courage and holy moral love of HaShem , that takes and that Noach must have had . Torah Informs us that the Earth had become corrupted for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the Earth . Corrupted , for people had become very Violent - Chamas ( in Hebrew ) , similar to how people behave today actually and they would rob each other of even the minutest things , just to show to be within the law of what constitutes limits to robbery . The ones who judged also became corrupt and when robbing goes so far as to rob ' illegally ' in an apparent legal yet illegal way and those in charge go along with it ( like what happened in Sodom and Amorah ( Gomorrah ) , this is a break up of the very moral fiber of civilization and society . Such a generation thus does not deserve to continue , for it only gets worse . HaShem Mentions how all flesh had corrupted itself . Which refers to how immoral acts between humans and animals took place and between two different species , for HaShem Had Warned That each is to stay with its own kind . This generation of the Mabul had reached a point of no return and only holy Noach , and his holy wife Naamah ( descendant of Kayin ) and their three sons and their son's wives were worthy to be in the Ark . HaShem Appears to Noach and tells him to build a Teivah - An Ark with three levels and a window which some believe was a precious stone and That HaShem Will Destroy all that are outside of the Ark . The same word Teivah , appears in reference to the Teivah - Basket , made to save Moshe as a baby in Miztrayim , when it was put upon the Nile , showing a spiritual link between Moshe and Noach . Both holy men . HaShem Saw To it that the non Kosher Animals would come to Noach on the Ark two pairs each and the Kosher Animals , seven pairs each , Noach would need to bring himself . The building of the Ark took 120 years , a long time , so that people might question Noach about it and he might try to bring the people round , telling them of the deluge to come and that they must return to HaShem . Interesting again , how Moshe lived till 120 . Noach didn't make as much effort as he should , in trying to change his generation , not that he didn't try with a few people , but not like Avraham , who made it his life work to bring people to HaShem . This could be one of the reasons , HaShem Said to Noach , Asei Lecha Teivat - Make for yourself an Ark , for HaShem May Have Been Trying To Hint That he needs to be more open to others and not just his own family , in saving their Neshomas . We see HaShem Say similar words To Avraham , in the next Parsha Lech Lecha , - Go for yourself , for Avraham , who did differently , spent his life doing for HaShem , and not just for his own family , constantly bringing people to HaShem . We see Moshe also asked to make a Tabernacle that HaShem Can Let His Shechinah Dwell in . This Is The Way Of HaShem and this is how we are to be , totally giving beyond our own surroundings , to go out into the World and make it a World Where HaShem Can Dwell Among us . HaShem Had Before this , Sent Warning floods and other disasters To Wake the people up , but , like what happens in our present time , people ignored it and still do . Even when the time of the Mabul came , Noach wasn't totally sure HaShem Would Go Through with it . We note that a seven day delay is mentioned and this refers to that Noach sat Shiva for Metushelach , who had just past away . HaShem Himself Had To Shut Noach and the family Into the Ark , for Noach still hoped it would pass , but it didn't and after many arduous years of work , for which the animals too helped carry while lions sat guard over Noach and his family , the Mabul began . Forty Days and Forty Nights was the rain upon the Earth .HaShem Brought flood waters of heat from below from Gehinnom and masses of water from Above . All died , except Og ( the giant , descendent of the Nephilim fallen angel mixing with the daughters of men - where Og was finally killed in Moshe's time ) , for whom Noach had made a platform for him outside the Ark with a cover and Noach fed him too . This was the Og who later tried to get Sarah for himself , by trying to entice Avraham into war . This was the same Og who , at Yitzchak's weaning , thought to himself that he could crush Yitzchak within his fingers and from that moment on , Did HaShem Decree That this Giant Og , descended from the Nephillim , would fall by a descendant of Yitzchak , who was Moshe Rabbeinu . The people outside tried to climb to higher ground , but the water massed higher and higher and all were drowned . The evil people that died , died with their bodies leaving and their souls still in anger and these became Mazikin Demons . The animals in the Ark had to have constant attention and feeding , for different animals have different feeding patterns . Once in feeding , Noach ran a bit late in feeding the Lion , for Noach was so busy and the lion took a claw scratch at him . After many days , Noach noticed that one of the birds looked completely starved and was sitting very quietly and humbly , hardly showing itself and Noach realized that it hadn't been fed in a long time . Noach asked the bird why it hadn't alerted him for feeding and the bird said it had seen Noach so busy that it didn't want to be a bother and thus was prepared to hurt its own self than trouble Noach . For this action , HaShem Blessed the bird and it became what we today know as the mystical bird the Phoenix , that rises again , for HaShem Had Blessed it With continual life in reward for its action , to be prepared to lose its life for Noach's sake . So the family of Noach was kept very busy . HaShem Commanded that all pairs and couples on the Ark were not to be together sexually , but two disobeyed and these were Cham ( Noach's son ) and the kelev , the dog . HaShem Remembered Noach and all in the Ark ,which means that HaShem Was Ready To Let the Mabul period end , and on the 17th of the seventh month , the Ark came to rest on the Mountains of Ararat , one of the tallest mountains in that region near modern day Iraq . Noach first sent the raven but it returned , and had a negative thought that Noach wanted its mate . So it didn't want to go anymore . How totally wrong of it . Noach then sent out the dove but it too returned for the water had not totally subsided yet . Noach waited another seven days and sent out the dove again and this time it returned with an olive leaf in its mouth . Olive leaves are usually a bit bitter and according to Rashi , it was saying , better a bit of bitterness from HaShem's Hand then food from from man . Some of our Rabbonim even think the olive leaf may have come from Gan Eiden or even Israel . All were Commanded to leave the Ark and as soon as that happened , Noach made korbanos and HaShem , Shows His Upset At man And Assures That there will never be another full World flood and HaShem Placed His Kashes - Rainbow Bow as a sign that there will never be another Full World Flood . The Bow faces upwards , to show HaShem's Mercy that He Points His Arrow away from us . But , with the Rainbow we are to remember that at such a time as it appears , HaShem Is Showing us His Displeasure With us . Within the word Kashti , - My Bow , is the word Kasheh , which means Hard , showing how hard HaShem Tries to have Mercy with us day after day . So started the seasons at that time . Noach walked out , into an empty World and he was depressed and so planted Vineyards with the thought to make wine . Satan came to him and showed him three animals and when Noach asked what these are about , Satan allied it with the results of drinking , for the first drink , one becomes like a monkey jumping around , then if one continues to drink one becomes like a lion , bold and aggressive and if one continues to drink even more, one becomes like a pig , rolling in the dirt . During one of the occasions that Noach had too much to drink , his son Cham saw his own Father undressed and having drunk over much . Cham first saw his Father's nakedness and should have turned his gaze away from his Father's nakedness , but did not , and told his two brothers Bachutz , - Outside . This word Outside refers to that Cham spoke and slandered his Father Outside , in other words loudly that others could hear . Shem and Yafes walked backwards , so as to respect their Father , and covered him . Because Shem was the main one who wanted to cover his Father , so also do we Jews , as one reason , Get Blessed with wearing Tzitzis , for we are descended from Shem , who was Melchitzeddek in Avraham's time . Noach's son Cham had a son called Canaan , referred to as his own son , but it was Cham's son Canaan . According to Ramban , Canaan was Cham's firstborn son . This would mean that Canaan was conceived at a time that was forbidden by HaShem , for couples to be together sexually , in the Ark , and so is the result of sin and the negativity that follows it . Canaan did not want Noach to have any more offspring , and , according to a number of opinions , came and castrated his own Grandfather . According to other opinions , he raped his own Grandfather . Noach cursed him , to have to serve his brothers . Noach passed away at the age of 950 . The Torah then gives the descendants of the three sons of Noach . And it is from these that the 70 nations of the World came .All at the time were of one language Ivrit Hebrew .We note how one of the nations that are to fight at the End of Days , Magog , descends from Yafes . When mentioning Cham's descendants , we note how , when referring to Cush , the first 5 sons are mentioned and then separately is Nimrod mentioned separately as a son of Cush . The reason for this that Nimrod is mentioned as a separate son , is That HaShem Wanted To Specifically Point Out That Nimrod had human parents , though he had everyone believing otherwise , for he told people he was a deity . The name Nimrod , has within it Marad , which refers to Rebelling , for it was Nimrod who caused the People in his time , to rebel against HaShem . He had gotten the special garments that were originally made by HaShem for Adam , when they were forced to leave the Garden . These Garments were passed down to Adam's son Shais and down the line to Noach and Cham , who stole them and so did Nimrod acquire them , for they would subdue animals and so , did Nimrod give the false idea to others that he was a Mighty Hunter . HaShem Calls him Might Hunter before HaShem , for Nimrod wanted to get all people to literally hunt Hashem and remove Him , Chas Ve Shalom , and so , when Nimrod started to build the Tower of Bavel , he had a sword put on the top so as to point upwards as a defiant attack on HaShem . It was from Cham that Egypt Mitzrayim came and also the Pelishtim Philistines from where modern day Greece comes . From Canaan , son of Cham , came the nations that HaShem wanted destroyed in Canaan . From Shem , down the line , through Ever , who ensured to be Eiver - On the other side - Away of those that did not want to follow HaShem , for Ever , followed HaShem and his line stayed away from idol worshippers . It was through his line down the line from Shem , that Avram descended and so were we known as Ivrim , - Jews - Those on HaShem's Side - The Other side of and away from idolatry , that the rest of the World followed then , as do some now . It was at this time when Nimrod instituted the building of the city and Tower of Bavel , that Avraham was 48 years old and refused to take part even though people taunted him and wanted him to help , for he was a tall strong man and the bricks were heavy . The one difference That HaShem Did Not Completely Destroy the Generation of the Dispersal ( Bavel ) Like HaShem Did , in Destroying the Generation of the Mabul - Flood , is because at least , in the project of the building of the Tower of Babel , the people at least had peace with each other . The people at the time believed and many tried to push HaShem away , and so they put forth the idea that every 1656 years , the World has a flood , thus trying to push away HaShem's Providence , and so it was decided that they would build a tower to reach Heaven and thus avoid another flood . Also some led by Nimrod wanted to wage war against HaShem . They feared being dispersed and so , Did HaShem Make that one of their punishments - being dispersed . HaShem Came Down With a host of Angels so as to show and teach us that even the Leader need confer with His generals . HaShem Noticed how a falling man in this tower building project had no value , but a falling brick , people would mourn over . HaShem Felt their ingratitude and so , Came Down to Judge the sons of man . The Tower was immense . It had stairs for going up on its eastern side and stairs for going down on its western side . Its structure was built to last and atop , Nimrod set an idol with sword in hand pointing upwards . The Tower was so tall , that a man walking in its shadow , would have to walk for three days before finally coming out of its shadow . Its top was sometimes covered in low cloud and its bottom was so very wide that it could take a long time to walk around it . Its top could not be sen from the bottom and its bottom could not be seen from its top . HaShem punished them in three different ways . Firstly the ones who wanted to rebel and attack HaShem , faced lighting and fire and destruction . The ones who wanted to make a place for themselves and worship idols , were turned into monkeys and those that joined the rest of the project , had their language and dialects confounded so that they could not understand each other . If one would ask for a hammer , the other would not understand and give him a brick . Fighting broke out between them and many were killed . The builders of the Tower were dispersed and went different places in their own language . Thus was their coming together to sin , punished by them separating . So was the Tower called Bavel for the word refers to Confounding of the Language , and so were they scattered over the Earth . And what of the Tower The bottom third was swallowed by the Earth and the top third was struck and destroyed by lighting bolts and fire , leaving only the middle part that remained , which was still very tall . After this , Torah gives the line from Shem to Avraham ,another ten generations , like the ten generations from Adam to Noach . The Father of Avram was Terach , who begot Avram , Nahor and Haran ( from whom was born Lot , Avram's Nephew ) . Nimrod had set himself up as a ruler and had built a massive palace . All who came to him , had to ensure they would be physically lower than him , in his presence . Terach , Avram's Father was his viceroy at the time . The astrologers warned Nimrod that a baby was just born who would topple Nimrod and show Nimrod up as not a deity . Nimrod was informed that this would be the son of Terach and so , did Nimrod tell Terach to bring his new child to be killed . Terach requested Nimrod to not kill his son , but Nimrod threatened Terach's whole family that they would be burnt , if Terach didn't listen and so , did Terach request three days to prepare his family for the giving up of his newborn Avram . Terach , instead took another boy , the son of a slave woman that served him and gave it to Nimrod as his own . Terach was not sure this would be enough and so , Avram was put in a cave at three years old and it was then , that Avram , being a lover of Astronomy even at that age , that he noticed how the Sun ( that was believed to be a deity at the time ) went away and was replaced by the Moon ( also believed to be a deity ) and so they couldn't be deities . Avram watched the natural happenings of nature and realized that there must be a Divine and Beautiful Intelligence behind this all and so , did Avram find HaShem . HaShem had waited twenty generations for this holy soul to come . Many years later , Avram left the cave and was more open with his inner thoughts and started even at a young age to try to get people to leave their false beliefs and follow HaShem Only . Terach his Father had a shop that sold idols . Avram constantly tried to get through to his Father , but his Father would not listen . One day , Avram was put in charge of his Father's shop . Avram's Mother had made a special food and Avram decided to leave it in front of one of the idols to prove they can't eat , as they are but stone and wood . His Father still would not change then . So when his Father left him in the shop , a woman walked in , requesting an idol , and Avram asked her how can she buy something that is so not alive that it won't and can't even eat a meal . Another man came in and said that he wants an idol for protection as his idols were robbed and Avram pointed out to him that the idols won't protect anyone as they can't even protect themselves from being stolen . Another elderly man came in and showed interest in a newly made idol . Avraham said to him , How can you follow something that is so much younger than you and that was just made yesterday . So did Avraham go out of his way to do away with idolworship. So did Avraham go out of his was to teach about HaShem The One And Only True Creator in this World . Avram had had enough of these idols and while his Father was out , he took a big hammer and smashed all the idols but one , the largest one , and when his Father returned and saw the destruction , he asked his son what had happened . His son answered and said that he had brought food for them and put it in front of one of the idols and the big one got jealous and took a hammer and smashed all the others and Avram said that if his Father doesn't believe him , he can go look and see the hammer still in the hands of the biggest idol . Terach was furious and told his son that is impossible as the idols are not alive and so did Avram say then , How can you sell and trick people with these idols and believe in them . Terach felt obligated to report this incident to Nimrod , who had also heard about it and realized now this was the son he was supposed to have brought to kill . Nimrod called Avram and at the same time , was Haran , his brother there too in front of Nimrod . Avram refused to bow lower than Nimrod . As one entered Nimrod's place , there was an idol of Nimrod and no one was allowed to be taller than it , but Avram stood up erect for he was a very tall man . When Avram entered , Nimrod got off his throne and lowered himself so that all in front of him had to go even lower , as was his law , but Avram refused and still stood erect . Avram was not shy and spoke loudly of HaShem Shaddai As Maker of the Heavens and Earth and all of Creation . Nimrod told Avram that he is standing before a deity and Avram responded that if he is divine , let him prove that he can make the sun rise and set in the opposite direction from where it sets . Nimrod knew he was beaten and so did he have Avram put in prison . It was here , that Avram met his beloved Servant Eliezer , for Eliezer was Nimrod's son . HaShem brought these two holy men together and saved Avram even in the prison for Nimrod had not wanted to give Avram even food and HaShem Sent His Angels to feed Avram . Eliezer was most interested in Avram and HaShem The One And Only ,and fully believed in Avram and his G-D . Eliezer became totally faithful to HaShem and would visit Avram in the prison and learn from him and also bring him food . Eliezer left with Avram when they all left Ur Kasdim and totally turned his back on his idol worshiping father Nimrod , so as to totally follow HaShem . A very holy man was Eliezer and very very beloved to Avram . Nimrod had a furnace built , hotter than any other and so was the place called Ur Kasdim - Ur The Fire Furnace of the Chaldees . Avram had to watch this furnace being built , and when the time came , they were prepared to throw Avram in it . HaShem Sent an Angel to save Avram and he walked out unscathed . They asked Haran , his brother what he believes and when and only when he saw that Avram escaped unharmed , did he say he also believes as Avram ( not in full faith but only because of what he had just seen ) and so , was Haran burnt in the Furnace , in front of Terach his Father , as the Torah portion says Haran died in the lifetime of Terach his Father . And so did Avram and Nahor his brother take themselves wives . Avram married Yiscah who was Sarai and Nahor married Milcah , both were daughters of Avram's brother Haran . Things became very dangerous for Terach and Avram and so did they all leave Ur Kasdim for Canaan and when they settled in Haran , Terach years later passed away at 205 , when Yitzchak ( Avram's son ) was already 35 years old . Terach realized the truth before he passed on and so , in Haran , the part of him that was not following HaShem , ended ( died ) in Haran , for what happened to Avram being saved and Haran being burnt for having no Emunah Faith and Trust in HaShem , woke Terach up to the truth . So ends the Parsha . So here we have three different men . Noach , Avraham and Nimrod . With these different men , so can we see the choices in life we are faced with and their results . To live a life like Nimrod , to totally turn away from HaShem , Chas Ve Shalom , and fight HaShem every step of the way and think of being deified , lands one in Gehinnom and set for destruction , which is exactly what happened to Nimrod , who faced a fate of death at the Spiritual hands of the very holy man Avram that he wanted to kill , for he ( Avraham ) faced the big battle with the four kings against five in Avram's time . To live a life like Noach , that starts out righteous , and must continue so , leads one with a base of a good beginning , but this is not enough , for one must do for all , and not just for ones own family . So , to live a life of and like Avraham , is how HaShem Would Like us to be . We are here to bring HaShem's Light to all the dark corners of this World . To live each day , as Avraham did , in total service of HaShem and to ensure , very importantly that we are to bring up our children in the way of our Fore-Fathers , even today , that our children continue in the path of Torah as deep and full as Moshe taught us . That is the way to live . Not to be like Nimrod , who seeks only to serve himself and be served , unlike Noach and Avraham , seeking to serve our Creator and like Avraham , looking always to the welfare of others , to bring them closer to the Shechinah of HaShem and even if they are not the best people , like Sodom and Amorah ( Gomorrah ) Admah and Zeboiim , to still speak for them and try save them by HaShem , as Avraham did . That is the Path to HaShem . That is the Path to Peace . That is the Path to The End Of Days . That is the Path to HaShem's Light and Love . What we choose , is who we are and who we are , is what we choose , so always must we choose and be As HaShem Is . For to emulate HaShem , is to define ourselves as HaShem Wants us to be . We are to be a Light to the Nations and a Light to all around us . That Light that we must carry in love , we must make ourselves worthy to carry. The Light Of HaShem . To Light up this World , is to fulfill our destiny , a destiny , That HaShem Set For us all at Creation . Go out into the World around you and fulfill your destiny That HaShem Has Set For you . Be as Avram , and make every moment last an eternity , by bringing this World and all around you , to the Light Of HaShem Ha Kadosh Baruch Hu . I wish HaShem With Deepest Love , A Very Beautiful And Sweet Shabbos Kodesh With Eternal Love , and to all my fellow Jews and to all of Creation , the children of the holy Noach and holy Naamah , a Very Beautiful and Sweet Shabbos Kodesh with love .