Tehillim
Efrat bat Hadas
a baby in Israel who suddenly lost consciousness yesterday while sleeping. She was diagnosed with 'pre-SIDS', and is now in a coma in the hospital.
Yosef Moshe ben Chana Sara a very sick two year old in Israel.
Please take moment to visit our
refuah shleima
page to see a list of all those who need our prayers. To add a name to this list please email
contact@naaleh.com
May all those who need healing have a complete recovery.
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Dear Naaleh Friend,
Congratulation to the winner of the refer a friend contest, Mindy Schaper from Memphis, TN. Mindy will be receiving an Artscroll Five Megillos Pocket Size Slipcase set. Thank you to all our members who participated and helped spread the Torah learning of Naaleh.com to their friends. Over 400 people received emails from our members letting them know about Naaleh! Keep telling your friends about Naaleh and stay tuned for future contests for your chance to win!
This week, in honor of the upcoming yartzeit of Rachel Imeinu, we present you with a few shiurim about Rachel Imeinu.
 | Rachel and Leah's Roles |
The Torat Imecha, below, also includes two articles about Rachel. Click here for the printable version. May we merit the fulfillment of the prophesy '..and your children shall return to their borders', speedily, in our days!' Ashley Klapper and the Naaleh Crew
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Dedicated in memory of Rachel Leah bat R' Chaim Tzvi
Torat Imecha- Women's Torah Volume 3 Number 34
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Parshat Lech Lecha: The Mystery of Lot
Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rabbi Hershel Reichman
Upon Avraham and Sarah's return from Egypt, a great change overtook Lot, who had accompanied them on their journey. He allowed his shepherds to pasture in strange fields which led to his break-up with Avraham. Lot moved to Sedom, a bastion of impurity and evil and was later captured in the battle of the four and five kings. Avraham then risked his life to save his errant nephew. What lesson does the Torah mean to convey with this story?
The Shem Mishmuel cites a midrash that relates that when Lot left Egypt he had sheep, cattle, and tents. Tents represent two women, Ruth the wife of Boaz, and Naama the Amonit, wife of King Shlomo. What is this midrash teaching us?
Chassidut teaches about a concept of multiple souls. Lot embodied the souls of Ruth and King David. However, he did not know this. The Kotzker Rebbe points out that the greater the future soul, the more deeply it is hidden within the person. When he left Egypt, something within Lot was aroused. This first redemption made the future redemption of Israel an irrevocable reality. There was an awakening of King David within Lot. He felt a future redemptive spirit blossoming. All of us sometimes get this feeling of spiritual inspiration. It is a moment of danger, because it makes a person less careful and can trap him in a net of egotism and haughtiness. This actually happened to Lot. At the peak of his euphoria, he began thinking that he was as great as Avraham. It was a tremendous test for him and he failed. He became so haughty that he assumed ownership of the land of Israel and allowed his sheep to graze freely. Lot's spiritual greatness and gifts were a reflection of Avraham. When he cut himself off from him, evil forces rushed in, overtook him, and led him to Sedom, the pinnacle of impurity.
The four kings who battled with Avraham correspond to the four primary sins, idol-worship, immorality, murder, and forbidden speech. Each of the four exiles represents one of these sins. The kings really wanted to fight Avraham, who was the antithesis of their values, but he was too spiritually powerful for them. Therefore, they settled on Lot, who still maintained a tenuous connection with Avraham. Avraham risked his life to save Lot in order to save the souls of Ruth, David, and Mashiach. The soul of David encompassed all the middot (attributes) of the Avot. It needed to go into captivity in Sedom, a place that contained all four levels of evil, because David was destined to rectify the world's evil. He would lead people back to their inherent purity and holiness. From him would emerge Mashiach,who must have the capability to correct every possible human failure.
We live in difficult times. Permissiveness and immorality pervade all around us. Yet we must remain strong and not give up. We are like the souls of David and Mashiach. Our mission is to rectify the errors of our generation and we must believe that we have the ability to bring tikun (rectification) for ourselves, our family, our people, and the world.
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In the Merit of Righteous Women: Rachel & Leah #7 Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller
When Yaakov met Rachel coming with the sheep, he immediately recognized her as his bashert-predestined mate. How did he know this? What does bashert really mean?
Yaakov was a prophet. He signified emet, which is the ability to perceive something completely - including one's own place in the larger picture. Yaakov was tiferet, a combination of chesed and gevurah, inspiration and challenge. The perfect mate for tiferet is malchut, taking the vision and making it happen. Malchut means achieving absolute control over oneself and then surrendering that control to something higher. Yaakov saw malchut in Rachel.
The Zohar says that Rachel was beautiful but she had no eyes. Rachel wasn't a visionary. She didn't live with perceiving the bigger picture from afar. She lived in the here and now and this is what Yaakov saw in her. He needed someone to take his vision and ground it in reality.
Hashem gives everyone a mission in life, but it's difficult to accomplish it alone. He gives us a helpmate to help us reach our destiny but how do we know who our mate really is? The Gemara says one's first mate is the one who was divinely ordained and one's second mate goes according to merit. The Malbim explains that the first mate is the bonding of the soul to the body.
The person you marry depends on your merits. Every soul has a mission that is applicable to it on many levels. Nefesh is the part of the soul experienced through the body; ruach is the choosing self; and neshama embodies our spiritual uniqueness. A person will encounter his highest zivug according to his merit. Many of us are barely on speaking terms with our neshama. We don't know ourselves at all. Our zivug will not be with our neshama but rather with our nefesh or ruach.
Yaakov recognized Rachel as his absolute zivug. He kissed her and wept. The kiss was not a kiss of desire. He cried because he had a flash of prophetic insight that told him he wouldn't be buried with her. Nobody thinks of death and desire at the same time. He was in love with her righteousness and part of her righteousness entailed that she wouldn't be buried with him. She was destined to be interred at the crossroads. Being a doer, uplifting physicality, means you have to address yourself to the world and not hide in a cave.
Leah's eyes were weak from weeping. Unlike Rachel she didn't live in the moment but rather in the future. She was projective. Leah had great spiritual capacity and could have turned Esav around. But she didn't want him. He could give her nothing that she desired and she therefore wept for the fate that awaited her. Leah's middah was binah, insight. Yaakov needed action, not insight, and therefore Lavan gave him Leah so that he would fail in his mission. For Yaakov it seemed like a disaster. For Leah, however, it was the fulfillment of her deepest prayers.
Rachel saw Leah just as herself, a woman no less divine than her, who wanted just what she desired. She could not let her suffer humiliation. She sacrificed her entire future to save her sister from shame. Her act took only a moment, but it changed the course of history. The power of redemption is in her merit.
Why didn't Yaakov leave Leah after discovering Lavan's deception? We believe that all marriages are predestined. If Hashem blesses a marriage with a child, it means the couple is meant to be bonded. However the Torah does permit divorce because people can choose themselves out of a good marriage. Divorce can be a matter of a bad choice. In marriage there has to be a basic premise of honesty between the couple. If it is based on false premises, it's not a valid pact. Nonetheless, Yaakov's depth was such that he wouldn't divorce the mother of his child.
In truth it wasn't a mekach ta'ut (a mistaken pact). The tribes with their caliber had to come from Leah. And Yaakov, the personification of emet had to be married to the wrong woman in order to develop himself. He needed both Rachel and Leah because in a certain sense it was as though he was two people, Yaakov and Yisrael. At this juncture in his life he was still Yaakov, the heel touching the floor, he wasn't at his highest most developed state. Yet eventually he became Yisrael, the one in whom Hashem would prevail.
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Community Kiddush #9 Part 2 Based on a Naaleh.com shiur by Rabbi Shimon Isaacson
On Friday night the prohibition of eating before Kiddush begins from the time one accepts Shabbat. Shabbat morning, it takes effect after Shacharit. The Magen Avraham, who based himself on the Rambam, allowed women to say a short prayer before eating. Rav Moshe notes that although this is a leniency, it has a stringent aspect, because once a woman says her tefilah on Shabbat morning, she is obligated in Kiddush andcannot eat until she says Kiddush.
According to the Shulchan Aruch, no wine is available, chamar medina (an important drink) can be used for Kiddush. Some say coffee falls in this category but others say it only refers to an intoxicating drink such as beer or whiskey. Juice or pop are not chamar medina. Rav Moshe maintains that chamar medina should only be used b'shaat hadechak (when there is no choice). Similarly the Mishna Berura writes that wine is the preferred choice. He does note that when it was expensive or hard to come by, even great Torah scholars would use chamar medina. The Mishna Berura adds that whiskey is acceptable provided there is a reviit and one drinks a maleh lugma. Bidieved if you can only drink a sip, it can be passed around to the others.
How do we explain the custom of making Kiddush on a shot glass? There is a disagreement between the Yerushalmi and the Bavli regarding what constitutes a shiur (measurement) in halacha. The Yerushalmi maintains that shiurim have elasticity and there are no formal halachot. However, the Bavli argues that there are set measurements and if you don't consume the required amount, there's no obligation to make an after blessing. The Shulchan Aruch mentions both approaches. The Mishna Berura concurs with the Bavli.
Based on this dissension, there's a difference of opinion between the Taz and the Magen Avraham whether a beverage that is usually sipped slowly (so that a reviit is not drunk in the set amount of time) requires an after blessing. The Taz rules that whiskey, which is usually consumed in small quantities, is considered a shtiya chashuva (an important drink) with elasticity. Therefore, even an ounce requires an after blessing. The Magen Avraham disagrees and says there's no after blessing unless there's a formal shiur. The Mishna Berura agrees with the Magen Avraham. The custom to make Kiddush during the day on a shot glass of whisky is based on the Taz's ruling. If it's considered significant enough to make an after blessing on less than a shiur, then it's also acceptable for Kiddush. However ideally, one should use wine with a shiur reviit.
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Achieving Balance Class 2
Excerpted from Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller's Question and Answer series on Naaleh.com

Question: Why wasn't the spiritual goal of building Klal Yisrael adequate to bond Leah to Yaakov in the same way it bonded him to Rachel? Answer: By definition special love is unique and exclusive and cannot be directed towards two people. Therefore, Yaakov's love for Leah could not be like the love he had for Rachel. Had the world been on a higher level, Yaakov would have had one wife. Rachel would have had within her both her own attributes and the spiritual attributes of Leah. Yaakov would have had within him both the spiritual forces of Yaakov and Yisrael. Rachel was the more practical of the two sisters, the one who could address the revealed physical world. Since we are meant to bring the idealism of Leah into the world of Rachel, Rachel became the akeret habayit, the mainstay of the house of Israel.
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Meet the Teacher
Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen
Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen, born in the Midwest and educated at Yeshivas Torah Vodaath, is a well-known Mussar personality who has been inspiring hundreds of students at Yeshivas Rabbenu Yitzchak Elchonon and Camp Morasha for over thirty years. His impassioned message of devotion to G-d and uncompromising loyalty to Truth has impacted the lives of his many students and admirers in an astounding way.
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