Matzot and Mashiach – Vayeira
My shiur this week is based on a shiur I heard from HaRav Baruch Rosenblum Shlita of Bnei Brak and what intrigued me was the connection to the Lechem Hapanim, so I developed the theme a little further. It is a little longer than my regular shiurim, but well worth reading.
In last week’s parsha Lech Lecha we read about Avraham and Lot. Lot appears a “lot” in last week’s parsha and in this week’s, Vayeira. Who was Lot and why does the Torah feature him so prominently?
Avraham had two bothers – Nachor and Haran. Haran was the first person in history to die Al Kiddush Hashem. Nimrod asks Avraham and Haran if they serve him or Hashem. Avraham replies that he serves Hashem and Nimrod gets ready to throw him in the fire, but first asks Haran- me or Hashem? So Haran thinks – “Let’s first see what happens with Avraham. If he comes out OK, I’ll say I’m with Avraham, if not, I’ll say I’m with Nimrod”. Nimrod throws Avraham in the fire and he miraculously comes out unharmed. Haran, seeing this says “I’m with Avraham!” Nimrod then throws Haran in the fire and he is killed!
Haran had a son, Lot, Avraham’s nephew.
Hashem commands Avraham in last week’s parsha – “Lech lecha, me’artzecha, mi’moladetecha umi’beit avicha …. etc., a very specific passuk telling Avraham what to do and …. it doesn’t mention anything about Lot. In the next passuk it says that Avraham went “as commanded by Hashem” and in addition, he took Lot with him. Why did he take Lot? Hashem never told him to take Lot.
Next we read about Avraham arriving in Canaan and there is a famine, so Avraham and his entire household (including Lot) move down to Egypt. Avraham tells his wife Sarah to pretend she is his sister (she was actually his niece) because he is afraid that the Egyptians, seeing her beauty, would kill him if they knew she was his wife. Everywhere they go in Egypt, people ask “who are you?” and they answer - I’m Avraham and this is my “sister” Sarah! Lot knew Sarah was not Avraham’s sister, but he kept his mouth shut, and simply nodded “Yes, correct, she’s his sister!” Pharaoh kidnaps Sarah and brings her to his palace where he plans to marry her. He draws up a ktuba and even gives Sarah his own daughter Hagar as a maidservant. Meanwhile Hashem blesses Avraham with much wealth and threatens Pharaoh, who releases Sarah.
Avraham (and Lot because of him) left Egypt heavily laden with possessions and livestock. When they got back to Canaan it was too much livestock for the land to bear and quarrels broke out between Lot’s and Avraham’s shepherds over grazing resources. Avraham solves the problem amicably. Avraham says to Lot – “You have first choice - choose wherever you want to go! If you go left I’ll go right and if you go right I’ll go left”. Avraham’s a real nice guy! Lot looks around and he sees the Jordan Valley and the area of Sdom, how fertile and beautiful it was (before it was destroyed it was a paradise) and he decides to follow the “bright lights” and relocate to Sdom.
The next episode is all about the war between the four kings and the five kings. The Midrash says – when you see all the nations of the world fighting against each, Mashiach is on his way! Mashiach? What does Mashiach have to do with the five or the four kings? The Torah goes into great detail about each king, Amrafel the king of Shin’ar, Aryoch the king of Elassar, Kedorla’omer king of Eilam and Tid’al king of Goyim. They made war against the five kings, one of whom was Bera king of Sdom. There was a great battle, Bera was defeated and his kingdom was taken captive, including Lot!
Then a palit a “refugee” (according to the Midrash it was Og – a remnant of the Flood who clung onto Teivat Noach from the outside and survived) came to tell Avraham about Lot being taken captive! Avraham musters a small force of 318 warriors. He attacks the four victorious kings, defeats them and sends them fleeing to Syria. He frees all the captives and returns Lot and the loot to Bera king of Sdom. Bera is overjoyed and offers Avraham a reward, but Avraham won’t take even a shoelace for himself.
Avraham is greeted by Malkitzedek king of Shalem who gives him bread and wine. What is Malkitzedek suddenly doing here in the middle of this story of Avraham, Lot and this war?
Now let’s move to this week’s parsha, Vayeira. The parsha begins with the story of the three angels visiting Avraham after his brit milah. According to the Midrash they were Michael, Rafael and Gavriel. Each angel was given a special mission. Michael was to inform Sarah that she would have a son and to save Lot. Rafael was to cure Avraham and Gavriel was to destroy Sdom.
We know that angels only have one mission, not more, so why did Michael supposedly have a double mission - to tell Sarah she was going to have a son AND to save Lot?. In fact why did Michael have to tell Sarah at all? Hashem, in last week’s parsha already told Avraham about Yitzchak and surely Avraham already told Sarah? Also, why did Gavriel go with Michael and Refael to visit Avraham, if his mission was in Sdom, to destroy it?
According to the Midrash (Breishit Rabba 48, 9) the three angels appeared in different guises. One appeared as a ship’s captain, the second as a Bedouin nomad and the third as a baker! No, this isn’t Purim. According to the Midrash they represented the three regions of the world - the area of the world which is sea (the captain), the uninhabited, desert region of the world (the nomad) and the inhabited region (the baker). Interestingly enough the Torah’s symbol of habitation is bread and baking!
Bread is actually quite prominent in our parsha! Avraham happily greets his guests whom he recognizes as important people and scurries around preparing food for them. He tells Sarah to take 3 se’ah of solet and make “uggot”. 3 se’ah is approximately 15kg of flour, with water added, makes about 26kg of dough! That is a LOT (excuse the pun) of dough! Sarah was a strong woman! How many women this week, making challahs for the World Shabbat Project, will be kneading 26kg of dough?
Not to be outdone, Avraham quickly runs around preparing 3 dishes of calf tongue in mustard for his important guests. If that is not enough, he waits on them hand and foot. This is only THREE days since he has had his brit milah and is still in severe pain (aged 99)! It shows the degree to which Avraham honored his guests.
We then read about the destruction of Sdom. Lot sees two angels and he implores them to come lodge in his house and not sleep in the street, because he knows that the people of Sdom are evil and they would try kill them. Lot wants to serve the angels matzot, but he has run out of salt. His wife doesn’t want to bother at all for the guests, she wants to make the matzot without salt, but Lot is insistent on the best quality matzot for these guests, so he sends his wife to the neighbors to ask for salt to make the matzot and this is how the whole of Sdom hears about Lot’s guests. Sdom was not a hospitable place and soon you have the whole city banging on Lot’s door demanding he cast out the guests so they may kill them. Lot, who grew up in Avraham’s house, learned a thing or two and he knows these are not simple “guests”, so he tries everything to protect them, including offering his own daughters as prostitutes to the mob outside his door! Nothing helps and the angels move Lot aside and take control of the situation. They blindside the mob outside and manage to extricate Lot, his wife and his daughters and escape Sdom. Hashem using Gavriel as his messenger rains down fire and brimstone and destroys Sdom. Lot’s wife, although warned not to, looks back and is turned into a pillar of …… salt.
Lot and his daughters flee to a cave near Tzoar where they witness the apocalypse of Sdom. Believing they are the only surviving humans in the world (like Noach and the Flood), Lot’s daughters feel it is up to them to ensure the continuation of the species, but there are only the two daughters … and their father Lot (or so they believe). So they contrive a plan to give their father wine to make him drunk and sleep with him. Where do they get the wine? According to the Midrash, the bottle of wine was already in the cave, it was there from the time of the Creation of the World (remember vintage “year zero”? It was a good year!), Hashem especially created this bottle of wine during the Six Days of Creation, why would He do that? Anyway the two daughters intoxicate their father and sleep with him. Both conceive and give birth to a son. The elder daughter names her son Moav and the younger names her son Amon.
This is the last we hear of Lot! Until now the Torah has devoted reams and columns to Lot and now it drops him like a hot potato.
With your permission I will now skip ahead briefly to parshat Balak for one or two additional questions and then we will begin tying everything together.
Balak, king of Moav sees what Am Yisrael did to his neighbors the Emori after leaving Egypt and he is afraid. So he sends for Bilam who is in Petorah to curse Am Yisrael. Why should Balak be afraid? Moshe was given a directive from Hashem “Al taztar et Moav ve’al titgar bam milchama!” Don’t touch them basically. Balak knows this … so what does he have to fear from Am Yisrael? Why in fact did Hashem command us to leave Moav alone in the first place? Balak sends for Bilam and we know the remainder of the story - Bilam tries to curse us, but fails miserably and ends up blessing us.
Ad kan our story!
Lots (again excuse the pun) of unanswered questions! Let us now review and try fill in the gaps.
Lot is basically a nobody! He repeatedly didn’t choose the correct path, even though he lived in Avraham’s household.
Why did Avraham take him along when Hashem told him Lech Lecha? Because Avraham knew that Lot was a key player in the destiny of Am Yisrael and this is why he schleps him along even though Hashem didn’t tell him to.
When Lot’s shepherds fight with Avraham’s shepherds, it is because Lot’s sheep are grazing on land that does not belong to them. Lot mistakenly thinks that since Avraham does not have any sons (yet), he (Lot) will inherit from Avraham and also inherit Hashem’s promise of the land of Canaan to Avraham’s descendants. So he thinks, “Why wait, the land is going to be mine anyway, so what is the problem to let my sheep graze there?” Even Avraham himself (the recipient of the promise) did not allow his sheep to graze on Canaanite land that was not his. Lot, given the choice, chooses to go live in Sdom, which may have nice landscape gardening, but in terms of the people, it is the pits of the pits! He chooses materialism over spiritualism (not remaining with Avraham).Lot makes mistake after mistake!
Lot, however does one thing right! When Avraham goes down to Egypt and tells Sarah to pretend she is his sister, Lot doesn’t spill the beans. HKB”H is the Dayan Emet and even though Lot was not such a “Groisse Tzaddik”, for this he did deserve reward and oh boy, what a reward he got – he became the great great great great …….. great grandfather of the MASHIACH! as we will soon see.
Then comes the war with four vs. the five kings. The Midrash says – when you see all the nations of the world fighting with each other, know – the Mashiach is coming! This war was not about imperialism and capturing territory - the fertile Sdom valley, this battle was about capturing and killing Lot! If they could kill Lot, then ….. no Mashiach.
Who were the four kings? According to the Midrash - Amrafel, also called Kush, also called – Nimrod! The same guy who tried to kill Avraham and failed, Amrafel was the forbearer of Bavel! Aryoch, king of Elassar was forbearer of the Yevanim, the Greeks. Kdorla’omer king of Eilam was forbearer of Madai and Tid’al king of Goyim, the forbearer of Edom. Ring a bell? the four galuyot and destructions of the two Batei Mikdash? These guys already started their shenanigans in the time of Avraham! Nimrod planned to kidnap Lot. He knew Avraham would come to rescue him and then he could kill Avraham and Lot at the same time, thus destroying the origins of Am Yisrael (Avraham) and their Mashiach (descended from Lot). Nada! No more Am Yisrael, now or ever! Describing the war (Breishit 14:7) it says “they smote the entire Amaleki field”. But Amalek had not been born yet (he was the grandson of Esav)? The four kings’ purpose was the same as Amalek – to destroy Am Yisrael and obliterate Hashem’s name from this world.
The “palit” runs to tell Avraham. According to the Midrash this was Og (as in Og Melech Habashan), a remnant of the generation of the Flood. He was called Og because he ran to Avraham at the time that Avraham was preparing Uggot (remember Avraham tells Sarah to prepare Uggot for the angels). It was Pesach time and they were preparing Uggot MATZA. (incidentally this is how we know matzot are meant to be round – from a gzeira shava between Avraham’s Uggot and the Uggot Matzot mentioned in Shmot 12:39). Og was also not such a good guy. He saw the beautiful Sarah and thought to himself, “If I tell Avraham about Lot, he will go try and rescue him and be killed, and then I will marry Sarah!”
Avraham doesn’t waste any time, he musters a force and attacks the four powerful kings and their armies and manages to defeat them with Hashem’s help, with only 318 men. 318 is the Gematria of “Eliezer”. Perhaps only Avraham and (Damesek) Eliezer, his faithful servant went to rescue Lot. With Hashem helping them, they really didn’t need any more.
I will get to Malkitzedek in a moment.
At the beginning of Vayeira, we talk about the three angels, Michael, Rafael and Gavriel. Michael and Rafael’s missions were at Avraham – Michael to tell Sarah about Yitzchak and to save Lot and Rafael to heal Avraham from the brit milah! But Gavriel’s mission was to destroy Sdom, what was he doing at Avraham? We also know that angels only have one solitary mission. Michael’s mission was to rescue Lot, so what about the part about telling Sarah about having a son? Isn’t that two missions?
In fact all the angels had only one mission each. Rafael was there to heal Avraham and then he departed. Michael’s real mission was to save Lot. Michael’s visiting Avraham was not essentially to tell Sarah about having a son. (Avraham has already been told by Hashem and he had told her). Michael’s real mission was to save Lot and Gavriel’s real mission was to destroy Sdom, Michael and Gavriel were a duo working in tandem and an important part of their missions required first visiting Avraham!
We know from the Torah that an Amoni and a Moavi are not allowed to be mitztaref to Am Yisrael. Why? – “Al davar asher lo kidmu etchem belechem uvamayim”. There is a halacha psuka - “Ish mekadem, isha lo mekademet”. Where did we get this psak halacha from? From Avraham Avinu! Michael was on a mission to save Lot, but first he had to make a “pit stop” at Avraham to determine if he had a mission at all! So Michael asks Avraham – “Where is Sarah? I have something to tell her”. Avraham replies “She is in the tent”. Michael says “Please call her out so I can tell her something” to which Avraham replies “Sorry, Ish mekadem, Isha lo mekademet.” Aha! Michael has just learned this psak halacha from Avraham. If it is only the man who is mekadem and not the woman, then when Am Yisrael went out of Egypt and the Amonim and Moavim did not mekadem them with bread and water – it was the male Amonim and the male Moavim who sinned, not the women – it was not the woman’s job to be mekadem. Therefore the issur of “Lo yavo Amoni u’Moavi bikhal Hashem” only applies to the MEN! Therefore an Amonit and a Moaviya can mitztaref to Am Yisrael. Therefore Rut Hamoaviya, descended from Lot, can mitztaref (marry Boaz) and subsequently enable the birth of David Hamelech. So yes, Lot must be saved and there is a mission after all.
Gavriel’s mission was intertwined with Michael’s. Gavriel was to destroy Sdom. But he needed to synchronize with Michael and wait until Michael had extricated Lot and only then destroy Sdom. If rescuing Lot was not on the cards – if Michael had not learned that psak halacha from Avraham, Gavriel could have just gone straight ahead without waiting at all. That is why Gavriel also had to visit Avraham, to determine the timing of his mission.
Sdom is destroyed and Lot and his daughter flee to the cave, where the daughters conveniently find a bottle of wine to make Lot drunk. Hashem created this bottle of wine during the Six Days of Creation because – as a result of this bottle of wine the forbearer of Mashiach was conceived - Moav! This bottle of wine was vital to Am Yisrael’s destiny which was already predetermined during the Six Days of Creation!
After this we hear no more about Lot. All the Torah’s detailing Lot’s affairs in minute detail were not about Lot, they were about the Mashiach! As soon as Moav is born, Lot disappears from the stage! He did Avraham a chessed with Sarah, and he was rewarded beyond compare, but now his task has ended so the Torah speaks of him no more.
Balak, king of Moav hears about the Emori and is afraid of Am Yisrael. Why is he afraid? Hashem explicitly told Moshe to leave Moav alone! Why would Hashem tell Moshe that? Because from Balak came Rut! Rut was Balak’s granddaughter, but she hadn’t been born yet! Balak was afraid that Am Yisrael WOULDN’T attack him! He WANTED Am Yisrael to attack him and kill him and his family so that he could stop Rut being born, because Rut and Boaz were the parents of Oved, the father of Yishai, the father of - David Hamelech and Mashiach (ben David) is descended from David Hamelech. The passuk says “Vayagar Moav mipnei ha’am me’od ki rav hu!” (Bamidbar 22:3). What was Moav afraid of? “Rav” is rashei teivot “resh” and “bet” – Rut and Boaz! So Balak tries to provoke Am Yisrael into attacking him using Bilam. The last two letters of Balak and the last two letters of Bilam (in Hebrew) make up the word Amalek!.
Bilam was in Petorah (“table” in Aramaic – look how Onkelos translates “Shulchan” in parshat Truma). What table? The shulchan of course – the Shulchan Lechem Hapanim. Hashem commands David “Ta’aroch lefanai shulchan neged tzorerai!” (Tehilim 23:5). David Hamelech is linked to the Shulchan Lechem Hapanim. In Masechet Yoma (72b) R’ Yochanan says “There are three crowns – on the Mizbeach, the Shulchan and the Aron. The crown on the Mizbeach belongs to Aharon, the crown on the Shulchan belongs to David Hamelech and the crown on the Aron Habrit is ownerless, anyone who wants it can claim it”. This links to a Mishna in Masechet Avot (4:13) that talks about Keter Kehuna, Keter Malchut and Keter Torah. The Keter of the Shulchan is Malchut and belongs to David Hamelech, because the Shulchan symbolizes Osher – wealth, like a king!
Balak and Bilam are interested in only one thing – preventing the birth of David Hamelech and the Mashiach.
After Rut was born however, Hashem allowed Am Yisrael to attack Moav!, But Rut had to be born first.
Remember Malkitzedek melech Shalem (according to the Midrash Yerushalayim) who came out to Avraham after he rescued Lot with bread and wine? What bread, what wine? Malkitzedek was a “Kohen Le’Keil Elyon”. Orginally the Kehuna was supposed to emanate from his descendants. The bread he gave to Avraham was Lechem Hapanim and the wine was Yayin Nesech. Malkitzedek however forfeited the Kehuna when he greeted Avraham and blessed him before he blessed Hashem. He should have first blessed Hashem and then Avraham - so the Kehuna was transferred instead to Avraham’s descendants and not Malkitzedek’s.
Out entire story was never about Lot, it was about Lot’s descendants Rut Hamoaviya – great grandmother of David Hamelech and Naama Ha’Amonit, wife of Shlomo Hamelech. It was about Mashiach ben David all along, from Nimrod throwing Avraham into the fire, to later capturing and trying to kill Lot, the father of Moav, along with the other 3 forbearers of Bavel, Yavan, Madai and Edom. It continued with Balak and Bilam and it has never stopped since! The enemies of Hashem, our enemies, are always trying to terminate our destiny, be it via churban bayit, galut, inquisition, pogrom, Holocaust, assimilation …. But they will never succeed! Hashem has always and will see to that. He has plotted our destiny from the Creation of the World and there can be no other outcome.
We need to look around us and see what is happening today! “When you see all the nations of the world fighting with each other (and within each other) – Mashiach is on his way!”
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Showbread Institute
www.showbreadinstitute.com
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