Rabbi Mansour 2012

Shabbat Morning Class

פרשת וירא

This past week we’ve experienced a mighty storm that displaced many, and caused much damage, destruction, and flooding in our local areas, and to the homes, and businesses of some of our community members.

Whenever we see the waters rise up, and come upon the shore it brings to mind the important symbolism of water and the deep concepts it represents.

"מקולות מים רבים אדירים מדברי ים אדיר במרום ה'" –"Hashem on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea".

When Hashem gave us the Torah he summoned witnesses to insure that we will always be faithful to it. These eternal witnesses are the heavens, and the earth. They are also known as "אב ואם" -father and mother, and they see all of our iniquities and when it comes time for us to receive punishment ח''ו it is they who deliver the punishment first. This is just like the Pasuk says "יד העדים תהיה בו בראשונה להמתו" -"the hand of the witnesses should be the first ones to kill him" (when a person is convicted guilty to be stoned, the first people that throw stones at him are the witnesses who testified against him). The heaven and earth testify against us - so it is they who deliver the punishment first.

The חתם סופר (addressing flooding that had been occurring in his time) had said that this flooding is an example of the אב ואם -the heaven and earth combining to deliver their punishment.

How do we neutralize and stop the אב ואם -heaven and earth from delivering their punishment?? This is accomplished through the merging of a different אב ואם , and that is; Hashem and the כנסת ישראל (the Jewish

nation). Hashem is the אב ,and the Jews are the אם , and when we "meet" Hashem in the מקדש or synagogue we unite אב ואם and this serves to nullify the potential evil effect of the other אב ואם -the heaven and earth.

This is seen from the words in Tehilim "אדיר משברי ים אדיר במרום ה'"

(Hashem is mightier than the mighty waves of the sea). The first letters of these words spell אבי-אמי - and refer to the אבי אמי (heaven and earth) that carry out these punishments. We find however another Pasuk that speaks of the gathering of the Jews to the Bet Hamikdash for the holidays "וידבר

משה-את מועדי ה' אל בני ישראל" - the first letters of these words also spell אבי-

אמי , and they refer to the Jewish people coming to the Bet Hamikdash to "meet Hashem" for the holidays (the word מועד -holiday also can mean "meeting place"). This serves to mitigate the judgment of the other אבי אמי -the heaven and earth!

The heaven and earth are loyal witnesses-as the Pasuk continues "עדתיך נאמנו מאד" (your witness are very loyal) but our gathering in the synagogues, and holy places is so powerful it protects us from them harming us.

This past week we endured flooding waters that overflowed from the ocean and rivers, into our cities. There is great significance attached to the waters of the sea, and important messages associated with them.

The Zohar writes that on the second day of creation Hashem divided the upper waters from the lower waters. When this happened the lower waters felt bad that they were left in this world as opposed to being up in the heavens, near Hashem, just like the upper waters. The lower waters exclaimed "אנן בעינן למהוי קמא מלכא" -"we want to be in front of our king"!

In order to appease the lower waters, Hashem commanded us to perform the Misvah of "ניסוך המים" . This was a Misvah done in the times of the Bet Hamikdash during the time of Succot, when the Jews would pour water down the two holes of the alter. This ceremony would serve to appease the lower waters, and elevate them to be in front of Hashem.

When the Bet Hamikdash was destroyed, and we lost this Misvah of "ניסוך הימים" the waters were left without this annual elevation to be close to Hashem! The appeasement for being separated from the upper waters was

now gone, and the lower waters were very broken and sad about this. This is why the Pasuk describes the pain of Jerusalem in exile " "כי גדול כים שברך -"for your being broken is like the sea". Just as the sea is "broken" and sad over the loss of its elevation to be close to Hashem, so too we are broken over being put in exile.

This also explains the Pasuk in Tehilim which describes the Jews as they were being sent to exile after the destruction of the temple: "על נהרות

בבל שם ישבנו גם בכינו" -"on the river banks of Bavel-there we sat and also we cried". Why does it say גם בכינו and also we cried? Implying there was someone else crying as well?? Now we can understand that it was the river itself that was crying! It was crying over the loss of being close to Hashem! It was screaming "אנן בעינן למהוי קמא מלכא" -"we want to be close to our king"! We joined the river in tears and wept over the destruction of the temple.

This is why the sea has salt water. Salt water is like the salty tears of one who cries. This is also why we find that the ocean has waves. The waves of the ocean go up and down and it is the waters way of trying to "climb up" towards Hashem but Hashem pushes them back down as if to tell them "it’s not the time yet for you to come back up to me"!

This is why we perform the ceremony of Tashlich (when we "throw away" our sins on Rosh Hashanah) specifically by a sea or river, we confess our sins by the water because the water inspires us to yearn to be close to our creator, and leave our evil ways! The Midrash says that Hashem who will ultimately heal the sea, will heal the Jewish people as well.

When the waters come ashore it serves as an intense reminder to awaken us from our slumber, and they demand from us to yearn to be close to Hashem just as they yearn!! They bring their message onto dry land, and this must motivate us to examine our ways, and change what needs to be changed in order to start elevating ourselves spiritually!

"וירא אליו באלני ממרא" -"and Hashem appeared to him in the plains of Mamreh"

Rashi explains "הוא שנתן עצה על המילה" - it was Mamreh that gave Avraham Avinu advice regarding the Milah. Therefore Hashem appeared to him in the area of Mamreh.

Avraham Avinu had three close friends ענר, אשכול, ממרא . He had asked all three what they thought of Hashem’s command of the Berit Milah. ענר answered "don’t do it", it will cause you a lot of pain and it is forbidden to cause oneself pain, ענר ’s name stands for עינוי נפש רע (afflicting oneself is evil). אשכול also responded "don’t do it’. His logic was that Avraham Avinu had many enemies and if he were to perform the Berit Milah, this would weaken him and make him vulnerable to attack from his enemies. אשכול ’s name stands for אחי שונאים כברים לך (my brother, you have mighty enemies). ממרא advised Avraham Avinu to perform the Milah, ממרא stands for מל מהר רפאך א-ל (circumcise quickly, Hashem will heal).

Another explanation of what Rashi meant by saying that ממרא gave Avraham "עצה על המילה" is that really Avraham was not asking if he should circumcise himself, it was obvious that he was going to do it. His only question was what Berachah should be made on this Misvah?! Some opinions say the Berachah should be "למול את בני" and others say it should be "על המילה" . Abraham asked ממרא what Berachah to make, and he answered him to make "על המילה" (which is indeed our custom today) and this is what Rashi meant "שנתן עצה-על המילה" , his advice was to say the Berachah על המילה !

In a different vein, the חידושי הרים explains why ענר & אשכול were hesitant to give Avraham support to do the Milah, and why ממרא was rewarded for supporting Avraham (his reward was that Hashem appeared to Avraham in ממרא ’s portion). He explains that ענר & אשכל knew that once Avraham fulfilled this Misvah of Berit Milah, he would be on an entirely

different level of holiness. The Misvah would catapult him so far up in holiness that they would "lose" him, and no longer be able to connect to him! They didn’t want to lose their Rabbi, and instead advised him not to do it so that they could still enjoy his holiness, and associate themselves somewhat with him.

ממרא however had only the best interests of Avraham in mind. He knew that he will very well "lose" Avraham, and that Avraham would grow to such incredible spiritual heights that he will no longer be able to associate with him, but he overcame these feelings and instead advised Abraham to go ahead with this Misvah.

What was his reward for this?

We find ממרא ’s reward for this selfless act manifested in a Gemarah in Taanit (Daf כא ).

The Gemarah says that every Erev Yom Kippur a voice came out from heaven to greet the great Rava. For Abaye this voice came out every Erev Shabbat, and for a man called אבא אומנא this voice from heaven came down every day to greet him!

Abaye (the great Tanna and Rosh Yeshiva) felt bad that he did not merit a daily greeting from heaven just like אבא אומנא but he was told not to take it personal because he could not do the things that אבא אומנא did.

What was so special about אבא אומנא in that he merited a daily greeting from heaven??

He was a doctor, and in his office he had separate waiting rooms for men and women. He gave the people specially made gowns that covered their bodies properly only revealing the small area in which he had to draw blood from.

When the patient was done with is treatment, he left a box in a private area, and if the patient had money he deposited some money in the box but if the patient was poor, he would be able to leave without paying with no shame.

If a Rabbi came to him for a bloodletting treatment he would actually give the Rabbi money and instruct him to go buy food and eat, because bloodletting makes a person dizzy and weak! (This actually the origin of the

swirly red pole found outside barber shops- in the old days one would blood let along with his haircut making him woozy and dizzy hence the swirling spinning sign symbolizing dizziness). These were great actions on the part of אבא אומנא and were acts that אביי -being a Rabbi - could not imitate.

Rav Menachem Azariah Mipano explains that אבא אומנא was actually a reincarnation of ממרא ! ממרא was also a doctor, and came back again as the doctor אבא אומנא . ממרא (281) is the same numerical value as the word רפא (doctor)!

This was also a reward for the deeds of ממרא . ממרא sacrificed his own coming close to Hashem. He encouraged Avraham to do the Milah even though he would thereby lose the Rabbi that brought him closer to Hashem. In return, Hashem greeted him every day and in a way was closer to him than the great Abaye!

One can be close to Hashem even if he is not a big Sadik. As a matter of fact, sometimes the distant ones can be even closer to Hashem than great Rabbis! Hashem loves us, and is so merciful with us that he comes close to inspire us!

Now that we know ממרא was a doctor it sheds light on another question Avraham asked ממרא , and that was for his medical advice on performing the Berit Milah.

ממרא revealed to Avraham the medical benefits of מציצה בפה -drawing the blood up with ones mouth. The Mohel sucks up a little blood from the Milah, and this is healthy for the baby. Not only is it necessary for the baby’s health, but it is absolutely necessary for the removal of the impurities of the ערלה .

The Berit Milah serves to remove the impurities of the baby. However some of the impurities actually remain on the spot of the Milah in the blood, and only the מציצה (suction of the Mohel) can remove it. This is why when a baby is born מהול (with a Berit Milah) we still make a small cut to make him bleed; this removes the impurity that is found in the blood.

ממרא (281) plus the name of Hashem of הויה (26) equals 307. מצצ בפה - also equals 307.

"וירא ה' אליו באלני ממרא" - we put together the name of Hashem with ממרא , and this reveals the advice of ממרא (מציצה בפה ) and the reason he is rewarded with Hashem appearing in his portion!

As a result of his medical advice, ממרא came back as the expert doctor אבא אומנא and merited daily greeting from Hashem.

When we hear of the current attempts make by government to stop this holy practice of מציצה בפה we come to the conclusion that the devastation that was recently visited upon his state comes at least partially as a result of his opposition to this sacred practice.

The first letters of the words; "מקולות מים רבים אדירים" ("from the sound of the mighty waters") spell ממרא !

The waters rushed in and delivered the message of ממרא that מציצה

בפה is a must.

They delivered a wakeup call to us all to examine our ways, and return to Hashem. They remind us of the message of ממרא -אבא אומנא that no matter how far we are, we are always very close to Hashem and we should never give up! We must yearn like the waters to be close to Hashem and to serve him to the best of our abilities.