Hot answers tagged avot-patriarch-fathers
18
No, no, no. Judaism makes clear that G-d has no physical form, nor does (nor can) He ever take one on.
You're confusing several stories about angels, which are heavenly beings that can take human form, with their Boss.
Abraham invites three guests who turn out to be angels; similarly, Jacob wrestles with a mysterious man, who is likely to have been an ...
13
Yitzchak's name was bestowed by Hashem (Gen. 17:19).
(Yerushalmi, Berachos 1:6)
Actually, Rashi (first explanation to Gen. 25:26) says that Yaakov was also named by Hashem. Yefeh Mar'eh simply says that the Yerushalmi evidently agrees with Rashi's second explanation, that he was named by Yitzchak. Tov Ayin, on the other hand, suggests that the difference ...
12
This is one of the "perplexing" topics that the Rambam addresses in his "Guide of the Perplexed". While the examples you give are of Angels (see Shalom's answer), a cursory glance of the Bible, could make it seem like there is reason to wonder whether God can be corporeal, since the Torah does refer to God with "physical" attributes like hand, finger, and ...
11
Interestingly, Daas Zekeinim and Kli Yakar (to Gen. 32:8) say that when Yaakov heard that Eisav was planning to attack, he was distressed thinking that this must mean that indeed Yitzchak was already dead and that Eisav therefore feels free to kill him.
Rashbam (to 32:7) suggests that indeed Eisav meant well in coming out towards Yaakov with his 400 men - ...
11
"Jewish," as @Yishai points out in the comments, is an anachronism. I don't think we're talking about being what we'd call Jewish nowadays - being a member of the Jewish Nation. It's pretty irrelevant to ask whether you'd marry off your daughter to Avraham Avinu or whether you'd count him for a minyan, since neither your daughter nor the other nine guys ...
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Per Rabbi Aaron Gamliel in the Sefer Matei Aharon, the words Yitzchok & Rivka = Tefila (יצחק רבקה" בגימטריא "תפלה") and per the Raya Mehemna Zohar Chadash Vol 3, page 223:1 & page 253:1 the Shechina is also called Tefila since the whole purpose of Tefila is to connect to Hashem, like the name Naftali (נפתולי אלקים נפתלתי).
In Bereishis 25:21 it says ...
10
The Gemara there is discussing verse 24:1:
א. וְאַבְרָהָם זָקֵן בָּא בַּיָּמִים וַי־הֹוָ־ה בֵּרַךְ אֶת אַבְרָהָם בַּכֹּל:
And Abraham was old, advanced in days, and the Lord had blessed Abraham with everything.
The different Rabbis are giving different interpretations how Avraham was blessed.
This didn't happen until after Sarah passed ...
9
The Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l answers that the Avos' observance of the entire Torah was a personal stringency, which could not override societal norms that were generally accepted by the descendants of Noach. One of these was not to deceive each other (hence Yaakov could challenge Lavan, "Why did you deceive me?" and Lavan had to find an excuse - Gen. ...
8
Good question about critique. I know of one Holocaust survivor who asks this question every year, and is never satisfied with the answers provided (echoing his own life's experience trying to connect with his family after the war).
Some (I believe Netziv) indicate that Yosef saw his dreams as a prophecy he was ordered to fulfill, and thus was obligated to ...
8
Yosef's father also rebuked him for the dreams, and Yosef had no idea that אביו שמר את הדבר. When Yosef's brothers sold him, he thought his father was in on it also. Thus, he had no reason to think that contacting his father was worthwhile.
When Yosef heard his brothers speak about how much it pained his father that he was gone, Yosef realized he was wrong ...
8
In the sefer נפוצות יהודה, the explanation is given as follows:
Yitzchak represents מדת הדין. Since it was this that was responsible for the destruction of the temples and our exiles, the Tanach hints that eventually, מדת הדין will be dropped in favor of מדת הרחמים in the time of redemption. Since the redemption consists of four stages, as alluded to by the ...
8
To summarize 9 or 10 hours of Rabbi Daniel Raccah's shiurim on the subject in a single paragraph:
Malki-Tzedek is identified with Shem, Avraham's great (x7) grandfather. Noach originally aspired for his sons to be the Torah teachers in the world (like Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov eventually would be), but only Shem adopted the calling. That's why ...
8
This is discussed by Abarbanel (Bereshis 22). He explains previous commentators as understanding that Avraham's pain in killing his own son, although less than Yitzchak's pain of actually being killed, would last throughout the rest of his life, and thus would have been much worse than Yitzchak's pain. In his words:
ואם כן יצחק שמסר עצמו לשחיטה עם היות ...
8
The body of your question differs slightly from the title, so I will focus on that (i.e. why he wasn't worried Pharoah would say the same thing). Here's an answer from this Ohr Somayach Parsha Q&A (see Kasha section), as heard from Rabbi Michael Bachar:
Avraham suspected that the king of Sodom would publicize the fact that he enriched Avraham. ...
8
I couldn't find the source of our Minhag to give the name only after the Bris and when it started, but I have an idea of why it is like this:
In the case of Yitzchak the name was already known. Hashem gave it to the newborn even before there was a newborn, so there is no need to postpone it as we do today.
8
Taken at face value, this statement is an outright lie. Though it is clearly intended to make Yitzchak think that Yaakov was actually Eisav, it is still unsettling that Yaakov (who is often thought to be the paradigm of truth) could lie like that.
Therefore, Rashi gives his interpretation of how to read Yaakov's words:
אנכי המביא לך ועשו הוא בכורך
...
8
The Gur Aryeh (Bereshit 25:27) writes that when making a halachic inquiry, you don't go to a lesser Rabbi in place of the greater Rabbi. Since Shem was greater, she went only to him.
See the Toras Menachem in the Gutnik Chumash, where the Lubavitcher Rebbe points out that Rashi previously wrote that Shem was MalkiTzedek, high priest of G-d (Bereshit ...
8
The term "Jew" is relatively recent. The Hebrew form of it ("Yehudi") first appears (I believe) in Megillas Esther and in Zechariah. Before that, Jews were referred to as "Ivrim" or "(B'nei) Yisrael" (The Children of Israel). (Thanks @IsaacMoses, for bringing up @Menachem's excellent links. I'd like to reemphasize that those should really be checked out, ...
7
The name אברם numerically equals 243. Originally Avram was master of 243 of his 248 body parts: all except his two eyes, two ears, and male organ. [These are usually exposed to improper stimuli, even against a person's will.] However, with the Hei (numerical value of 5) added to his name, Hashem granted him control even over these [so that he no longer could ...
7
Sefer Hayashar says that Haran was 42 when Sarai was born to him. Further on, it says that Haran died at age 82 (from being thrown into the fire with Avram), and that "at that time" Avram and Sarai married. So that would make them respectively 50 and 40.
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This question was discussed by the Meforshim (traditional commentators), who use Genesis 26:5 as a springboard for this discussion. The verse states: עֵקֶב אֲשֶׁר-שָׁמַע אַבְרָהָם בְּקֹלִי וַיִּשְׁמֹר מִשְׁמַרְתִּי מִצְוֹתַי חֻקּוֹתַי וְתוֹרֹתָי.
Rashi holds that the Avot kept the entire corpus of Halacha - all of Torah sheBa'al Peh — including Rabbinic ...
7
I think that we do necessarily have to suppose that they kept some mitzvos only in the non-literal sense. For example, there are the mitzvos concerning a "depraved city" (ir hanidachas), a "rebellious son" (ben sorer umoreh), and a house with tzaraas, all of which are pretty rare (and indeed according to some opinions in Sanhedrin 71a, never actually ...
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The Chumash Shai LeMorah brings the Be'er Mayim Chaim (A commentary on Rashi written by the Maharal of Prague's brother, R' Chaim of Friedberg) says that once G-d agreed to save the 5 cities if there were 45 righteous people, Avraham understood that G-d was willing to be complete the quorum in order to save the city. (as Rashi 18:28 explains).
Once Avraham ...
7
The Tzemach Tzedek, in Derech Mitzvosecha 186b brings this same question in the name of R' Menachem Mendel of Horodok.
He asks it much the same as you did, but he adds that Yitzchak was 37, and if he had wanted to.....:
ובזה ית' מה דקשיא טובא מדוע יחס הכתוב נסיון דעקידה לאברהם הלא יותר היה נסיון ליצחק וכדאי' קושיא זו בזהר שהרי יצחק הי' אז בן ל"ז שנה, ...
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The midrash that I assume Rashi is quoting actually does say that she went to "מדרשו של שם ועבר". However, lower on that same page, it does identify Shem as the one who is the official navi (though not clear if it's talking about Rivka or Hagar). Interestingly, Abarbanel quotes the midrash as saying that she went to the beis midrash of Shem and Eiver, but it ...
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This is a quote from the following, I found it hard to summarize, the entire article is very interesting.I can't vouch for the author, but he appears to be knowledgeable in both history and Judasim. The Missing Simeonites
The Book, Sparta, by A.H.M. Jones, a Professor of Ancient History at Cambridge University, noted several things about Sparta. He states ...
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I have no source for this, but I would guess that it has something to do with the fact that the Torah calls Yitzchak "שְׂבַע יָמִים" - "full of days" at his death (Bereshis 35:29), a description not given to the other avos at theirs. This would seem to imply that Yitzchak lived a "full" life in terms of length, i.e. he lived as long as he should have and as ...
7
Midrash Hagadol (to Gen. 48:1) cites an opinion that Osnas, Yosef's wife, urged him to do so: "I have heard that anyone who receives a blessing from a tzaddik is as if he received it from the Divine Presence. Take your sons so that he can bless them!"
7
The Ohr Hachaim answers that either this means that there was just enough left for a return trip to Egypt which is considered "finished" because they needed more, or alternatively what they brought from the previous trip to Egypt was finished but they still had some food that Yaakov saved for times of famine.
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