The Weekly Shtikle - Vayeira

This week's shtikle is dedicated le'ilui nishmas my brother Efrayim Yechezkel ben Avi Mori Reuven Pinchas, whose yahrtzeit is tomorrow, the 18th of Cheshvan.

Rashi on 19:24 notes that the destruction of Sedom happened at day break, when the sun and moon were in the sky at the same time. This was because they used to worship the sun and moon. Therefore, HaShem brought the destruction when both were out as a proof to all the sun and moon worshipers that the sun and moon are powerless. Had the destruction taken place when they were not in the sky, one could have argued that they were not "there" to save them. This is a rather simple statement by Rashi but there is an interesting astronomical support for it.

We naturally associate the sun with the day and the moon with the night. But the moon's time above the horizon actually changes every day throughout the month. The moon rises and sets approximately 49 minutes later each day. This is a result of the moon orbiting the earth. Just as the moon's position is reset at the end of every month, so are its rising and setting times. (The math is as follows: Every full moon cycle (month), moonrise and moonset make a full circle of 24 hours such that the times are as they were precisely one month previous. The figure of 49 minutes is achieved by dividing 24 hours by the duration of the lunar cycle, known as the synodic period: 29.5 days, 44 minutes, 3⅓ seconds. More precisely, the figure is 48 minutes, 45.5 seconds.)

At the beginning of the month, the moon follows a very similar schedule to the sun. The moon rises at the beginning of the day and sets at sundown. As the month progresses, the moon rises and sets later and later. At the middle of the month, the moon has virtually the opposite schedule to the sun. It rises when the sun sets and sets when the sun rises. As we enter the second half of the month, the moon begins to rise later in the night and thus, becomes visible at the beginning of the day.

The midrash (Bereishis Rabba 50) teaches that Sedom was destroyed on the 16th of Nissan. As explained above, at that time of the month, the moon would have risen shortly after sunset and set very shortly after sunrise. Therefore, the only time in the entire day that both the sun and moon were out at the same time was very early in the morning and that is why the destruction took place specifically at the very beginning of the day.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

AstroTorah: A Scratch on the Wall

AstroTorah: Witnesses to Sedom's Destruction

AstroTorah: The Mysterious Midrash by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: Lot's Twilight Escape by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: I Can't Believe it's not Fresh by R' Ari Storch

Dikdukian: Different Forms of Yirash

Dikdukian: Be'er Shava

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The Weekly Shtikle - Lech Lecha

When Avraham and Sarah, then Avram and Sarai, come to Mitzrayim, Avraham asks her to tell the Mitzri'im that she is his sister "l'ma'an yitav li ba'avureich, v'chaysa nafshi biglaleich" (12:13), so that they will do good to me and I will live because of you. Rashi comments on "l'ma'an yitav li" that they will give him presents. The obvious question that many ask is why Avraham seems to be so interested in gifts. We know from later in the parsha that Avraham was not one to desire gifts. Why is this different? Another question to be asked is  why the receiving of presents is put before survival? Surely receiving presents was not more important than coming out alive.

The Ta"Z, in his sefer on Rashi, Divrei Dovid, answers the first question beautifully. When they came down to Mitzrayim, they had a dilemma. Surely, they did not want the Egyptians to think they were married. That would be the worst case scenario. But for them to come into Mitzrayim and for Sarah to blurt out, unprovoked, "he's my brother," would also have seemed very suspicious. But if they never asked, and she never told, they ran the risk of the assumption that they were indeed husband and wife. So they needed a plan to tell them that they were brother and sister without looking suspicious. This was their plan: Sarah would come to Mitzrayim with Avraham and say "This is my brother, a very poor man. Please give him some money." By doing this, there is a very legitimate reason for her to say that he is her brother. This would invoke a feeling of pity and the Mitzri'im would be likely to give gifts. If she had just come in with any beggar off the street they might not be inclined to give him. With this crafty plan, they have informed the Mitzri'im that they are brother and sister without looking suspicious. And the Mitzri'im will give gifts to Avraham because of Sarah.

This answer may be used to alleviate the second difficulty as well. Only "v'chaysa nafshi..." is really what Avraham wanted to get out of the whole deal. The phrase "l'ma'an yitav li" is not as much a statement of what Avraham wanted, but more of what he wanted Sarah to say, that they should give her brother presents as the Ta"Z explains.

I propose another suggestion, though, exclusive of the Ta"Z's explanation. The two results of the situation are not put in order of what was important to Avraham, but more of an order of events from the Mitzri'im's perspective. If they were husband and wife, surely they would know they have no chance with Sarah and they would kill Avraham right away. But now that they are brother and sister, they will simply give Avraham gifts to convince them to let them have Sarah. But if this does not convince him, then they will still have to kill him. So the Mitzri'im had the mindset, "If he accepts the gifts, we will let him live." That is why the order in the pasuk is "they will give me gifts, and they will let me live" because it is the accepting of the gifts on which his survival relies.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:
AstroTorah: The Uncountable Stars

Dikdukian: King #5

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The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com

The Weekly Shtikle - Noach

Rashi (11:1) gives two possible explanations as to what the plan was of the generation of the dispersion in building the Tower of Bavel. The second interpretation is that they said, "Once every 1656 years the sky caves in. (The flood was in the year 1656.) Let us build a support so it doesn't  happen again." This rationale is quite startling. The dispersion occurred in 1996. The next predicted flood would not be until 3312. That is another 1316 years. I find it hard to accept that they took upon themselves this entire project solely for the purpose of their kids and grandkids. They must have felt that they would suffer through this destruction themselves. So why were they looking so far ahead into a future? Nobody had ever lived that long.

I propose an approach which does not have any actual support but nevertheless seems possible given the facts we are provided in the pesukim. If we examine all the men mentioned after the flood and their respective life spans, we will find that not one of them died before the dispersion. Perhaps the generation of the dispersion did not have an understanding of natural death. It is possible that they did not see anyone die and therefore, believed that the only time people die is when the heavens fall and the world gets wiped out. Thus, they thought they would indeed be alive at the time of the next forecasted flood and were determined to stop it. If  they could prevent the next global destruction then perhaps they would live forever.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Al Pi Cheshbon: The Weight of the Teiva and The Constant Rate of Recession 
AstroTorah: Sailing the Friendly Skies by R' Ari Storch

AstroTorah: The World's First Boat?

Dikdukian: Noach's Three Sons

Dikdukian: Different Ways to Wake Up

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The Weekly Shtikle - Bereishis

This coming Sunday, 28 Tishrei, is the Yahrtzeit of my dear friend, Daniel Scarowsky, z"l.

This week's shtikle is dedicated leiluy nishmaso, Daniel Moshe Eliyahu ben Yitzchak.

 

All the matter in the universe exists in three dimensions - length, width and height. We do not live in the two-dimensional world of comics and cartoons, nor can our minds conceive of something physically consisting of more than three dimensions. When a cube of a given volume is removed, it leaves behind a space, filled with air, of identical volume. However, before the creation of the world, there was nothing. The second pasuk of the Torah asserts that before creation, the world was tohu vavohu. Rashi explains vohu as emptiness and void. He writes that tohu connotes astonishment and wonderment, as one would have been astounded by the emptiness that existed. Indeed, we are astonished to the point of incomprehension at the very idea of nothingness. It is beyond the grasp of human thought and will never be understood. An integral component of creation was the establishment of the infrastructure necessary for the existence of the world as we know it. On the second day, the waters are divided into the upper and lower waters. This is the first evidence of a dimension in creation. However, at this point there was only one dimension. Left, right, forward and backward did not yet exist - only up and down. The next day the waters were collected to form the oceans and reveal land. The three dimensions were now in place.

Although a physical object may be comprised of no more than three dimensions, there is another dimension commonly included as the fourth - time. Before the creation of the world, time did not exist either. In fact, the word "before" is probably a misnomer. It implies temporal precedence. If there is no time, there can be no precedence. This, too, is beyond the comprehension of the human mind. With the first day of creation, the concept of time was implicitly infused into the universe. Indeed, as we recount the events of creation, we are declaring HaShem's dominion over all of three-dimensional space and time as we know it.

This perspective is directly pertinent to one of the central laws of keriyas shema. The essence of shema is the acceptance of HaShem's kingship upon us. One is required to include this concentration with the recitation of shema or he does not properly fulfill the mitzvah (Shulchan Aruch OC 60:5.) Ideally, this is accomplished with specific focus on the ches and dalet of echad, as explained in 61:6. The ches corresponds to HaShem's rule over the earth and the seven levels of Heaven. This is a one-dimensional focus in concurrence with the events of the second day of creation. The dalet corresponds to the four directions - essentially, the other two dimensions, over which HaShem rules. This coincides with the events of the third day. Hence, HaShem's dominion over the three physical dimensions.

The Mishnah Berurah (63:11), in the name of Levush and Magein Avraham, writes that "Baruch Sheim Kevod, etc." is subject to the same concentration requirements as the first pasuk. In this passage, as the words clearly indicate, we assert the eternity of HaShem's kingship. In essence, we are declaring HaShem's rule over the fourth dimension, time.

This perspective on Bereishis fits nicely into the month of Tishrei and the yamim tovim which have occupied a majority of our time throughout the month. We begin, of course, with Rosh HaShanah whose principal thematic element is affirming HaShem's ultimate kingship. As we have pointed out on a separate occasion, the pesukim of malchios are meant to declare not only HaShem's present Dominion but His Dominion in the end of days as well and therefore His Dominion over time.

Rabbi Dovid Heber observes an interesting nuance in our tefillos which exposes the centrality of emunah as the backbone of our observances throughout the month. In the tefillah for both Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, we recite or sing Vechol Ma'aminim as an affirmation of faith pertaining to all sorts of Divine attributes arranged in the order of the aleph beis. When we dance around the bimah on Simchas Torah, each hakafah is initiated with the responsive "hoshia na – hatzlicha na - aneinu" refrain which is also arranged in aleph-beis order and divided among the seven circuits. Indeed, many of the terms and phrases that make up Vechol Ma'aminim comprise this tefillah as well (go'eil chazk, tov umeitiv and others that are similarly worded.) So the most solemn and serious of days and the most joyous and celebratory of occasions are both highlighted with similar affirmations of emunah and the reading of Bereishis is the perfect way to cap it all off.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian:Do you Sea what I Sea?

Dikdukian: And the Days Was

AstroTorah: Emunah in Time and Space

AstroTorah: The Two Luminaries

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The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com

The Weekly Shtikle - Simchas Torah

First, a belated Weekly Shtikle mazal tov to my nephew Nochum Aharon Shonek on his Bar Mitzvah a little over a week ago. Mazal tov as well to the Mandelbaums of Yerushalayim and Seligers of Manchester on a girl and boy, before and on yom tov, respectively.

On Simchas Torah we conclude one Torah cycle and begin another. V'zos HaBerachah is not only the culmination of the Torah but also marks the end of Moshe Rabbeinu's life. This final pesukim focus on his death and his great accomplishments. The final words are, "asher asa Moshe l'eini kol Yisrael." Rashi writes that this phrase is a reference to the breaking of the luchos. It seems odd, that of all the praises of Moshe Rabbeinu, that this would be the ultimate praise with which to end the Torah.

I offer the following explanation which I have later heard in the name of others as well: All the other missions on which Moshe was sent, one can argue that he simply did what he was told, with the instruction and the aid of HaShem. Surely, it was Moshe's greatness that earned him such a role. But the outsider or onlooker might have room to reason that Moshe was put in that position. This is not the case, however, with the breaking of the luchos. The breaking of the luchos was Moshe's own decision which he, in his greatness, calculated was the will of HaShem. But HaShem did not tell him directly to do it. However, Rashi stresses that after he did it, HaShem said, "yiyasher kochacha sheshibarta."  HaShem congratulated Moshe on his decision. This episode proves that Moshe was at the level to make his own decision that was in accordance with the retzon HaShem. This, therefore, makes this, as sad a time as it was in our history, his ultimate accomplishment.

Have a good Yom Tov.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Al Pi Cheshbon: How many bakashos in Ya'aleh v'Yavo
Dikdukian: Do you sea what I sea
Dikdukian: Come on, people!

Please visit the new portal for all Shtikle-related sites, www.weeklyshtikle.com

The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com