Rabbi Frand on Parshas Bereishis
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissocher Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion:
Tape # 117, Inducing Labor: A Viable Option? Good Shabbos!
Rav Yosef Salant: Fill the World, but Stay Out of the Hidden Domain
The pasuk [verse] teaches, "And G-d Blessed them and said to them 'Be
fruitful and multiply, fill the world, and conquer it'" [Bereshis 1:28].
This is the Mitzvah to have children, to populate the world. I saw an
interpretation, perhaps homiletic, of the word 'Kivshua' - 'and conquer it'
- from Rav Yosef Salant in his Be'er Yosef. Rav Yosef Salant points out
that we find the root of this word, "KiVSHua," in a different context.
The Talmud says [Berochos 10a] that King Chizkiyah did not want to have
more children. He grew very ill, and the prophet came and told him "You
will die in this world, and will not live in the world to come" [Isaiah 38:1].
Isaiah chastised Chizkiyahu and asked why he did not want to have more
children. The King responded that it was not because he felt that children
are a burden; rather he saw prophetically that his descendants would be
genuinely wicked. He wished to have no part in bringing such descendants
into the world. That is why he stopped having children.
The Talmud says that the prophet told King Chizkiyah, "What business of
yours is it to go into the Hidden matters (KaVSHi) of G-d? You must do
what you are told. Stop making calculations based on the world of that
which is hidden (KiVuSHim)."
The truth of the matter is that there is an historical precedent to this
philosophy of not having children. It did not start with Chizkiyahu. Our
Sages tell us that Amram the Levite left his wife, because he didn't want
to bring children into the world to be thrown into the Nile by Pharaoh. His
daughter Miriam had to tell him that this was not the proper practice and
that he should return to his wife - who then gave birth to Moshe, who led
the Jewish people out of Egypt.
Amram again thought, "Why bring children into the world?" However, such
issues are the "Kavshi d'Rachmana" (the Hidden Domain of G-d) which we have
no right to enter. This, says the Be'er Yosef, is the meaning of the words
in our Parsha -- "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the world, v'KiVSHuha."
Don't try to enter the secret world. You do what you have to do!
The Medrash says in the name of Rav Berachya, that this issue also bothered
G-d when He created Man. G-d knew that He was creating righteous people
but that He was also creating people from whom wicked people would descend.
G-d said, "I will hide my face from them." It is as if G-d is saying, "I
will create man and I won't look (at the future) -- whatever will be, will
be."
Just as G-d created human beings and gave them the gift of free choice,
knowing that it would not always turn out that people would be righteous,
so too mankind has to emulate this practice as well. In the domain of being
fruitful and multiplying, we can not always make calculations -- "Is this
the right time?" "Is this the right place?" We have to do what we are
told to do.
We see people today, in our generation, who were born in Shanghai while
their parents were running away from Hitler [May his name be blotted out].
They were trapped in China. They did not know where their next meal would
come from. Their past was destroyed, their future uncertain. But a Jew
goes on and brings the next generation into the world.
Don't go into the world of the Hidden (Kivshu-ha); a person must do that
which is incumbent upon him or her. The job of a Jew is to keep the
commandments without calculations. G-d says, "Do it!" That makes it right.
Netziv: The 'Unlucky One' (Lo Zacha) Is the One With The Docile Wife
The pasuk says, "It is not good for man to be alone, I will make for
him a help-mate, opposite him" [Bereishis 2:18].
We are all familiar with the Rash"i on this pasuk. Rash"i asks, "Which is
it? Is the woman supposed to be a 'help-mate' or is she supposed to be one
who stands 'opposite' - in opposition - to her husband?" Rash"i answers,
"If a person has the merit to marry the right woman, she will be a
help-mate, if not she becomes his adversary."
The Netziv, at the Sheva Brochos of his own granddaughter (who
married Rav Chaim Soloveitchik), gave his own insight (virtually the
inverse of Rashi's interpretation) into this same dilemma.
The pasuk in Mishlei states, "For the way of all man, is correct in
his eyes..." [Proverbs 21:2]. Every person thinks the way he does
things is correct. A person cannot see his own faults and
weaknesses. We are our own biggest friends, but on the other hand we
are blind when it comes to judging whether we do right or wrong.
And yet, we cannot always trust an outsider. We don't always know if that
person has our best interests at heart. How does one get around this
dilemma? Who loves me enough that I can be confident that this person will
have my best interests at heart, but on the other hand is, at the same time
a different person, who can maintain an objective opinion? The Netziv said
that to alleviate this problem, G-d created separate genders - G-d created
women distinct from men, and He created the institution of marriage.
It is the woman -- one's wife, who loves her husband as he loves
himself, and yet has the advantage of objectivity. She has the
advantage that she can stand back and tell her husband "What you are
doing is not right." That is the wonderful quality of marriage.
This is the interpretation of "a help-mate, opposite him." The way she
becomes the help-mate that G-d had in mind, the way she fulfills her
destiny as a help-mate is by being the "K'negdo," by being "opposite" every
once in a while, and telling her husband "No Way!" Otherwise, how is a
person to know if what he does is right or wrong? If every man thinks that
he is correct in his own eyes [Mishlei ibid.], who will ever tell him when
he is in fact wrong?
Therefore, the Netziv said, the woman who stands opposite her
husband, at times, telling him that he is wrong, becomes his biggest
help-mate. Unfortunately, if a person marries a woman who is a 'Yes-
Woman,' a docile and servile wife who never takes it upon herself to
show her husband where he is wrong, that is a situation of "Lo Zacha"
-- he was not lucky.
This is what the Netziv told his granddaughter, when she married Rav
Chaim Soloveitchik.
Personalities & Sources:
Rav Yosef Salant -- prominent Rav in Yerushalayim during early 20th century;
author of Be'er Yosef.
Netziv -- (1817-1893) Acronym for Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin.
Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva in Volozhin; author of Haamek Davar
commentary on Chumash.
Rav Chaim Soloveitchik -- (1853-1918); Rosh Yeshiva in Volozhin,
subsequently Rabbi of Brisk. (Known as 'Reb
Chaim Brisker').
Glossary:
Kavash -- conquer or subdue (alternatively, that which is hidden)
Sheva Brochos -- (Meal consisting of the) Seven (Marriage) Blessings
(Lo) Zacha -- (Did not have) merit
This week's write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissochar Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah
portion (#117). The corresponding halachic portion for this tape is:
Inducing Labor: A Viable Option? The other halachic portions for
Parshas Bereishis from the Commuter Chavrusah Series are:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection
of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
