Parshat Lech Lecha Rabbi Shaanan Gelman Parshat Lech Lecha - The Gestation of Desire Bar Mitzvah of Ben

Rosenblum 7 years ago I came during the week for the second part of my interview with this shul I was given a mock-scenario: speak about the parsha on a week in which there was Israel was facing threats from surrounding countries and enemies, massive destructive storms in the US and relate it to the bar mitzvah boy who is a direct descendant of the Kotzker Rebbe. Fortunately for me, I have kept the speech handy to this very day

While its not until next week that we read about the ultimate fate of the city of , its nightmarish destruction and the heroic rescue of Lot, our parsha contains the background to the story how did Lot come to live in Sdom? Why did he move there in the first place? The Torah informs us that upon leaving Egypt, Avram had become extremely wealthy, as did ,and as a consequence they found that there was simply not enough room for the two of them. They decided to split up, heading east, settling in ( Sdom) and Avraham returned to .( -" ( We are informed briefly about the nature of s decision namely, that he was inspired by the richness of the land, a land he observed to
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be well watered and is compared to the Garden of Hashem and The Land of Egypt (naturally irrigated by the abundant flow of the Nile River): - - - , , -- , - -, , And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou goest unto Zoar. However, we discover that despite that obvious advantages found in the green acres of , the inhabitants of were men of deplorable character: The irony in this short narrative is immediately understood; Lots insatiable desire to accumulate mass amounts of wealth had led him to a place saturated in immorality and corruption. On the other hand, Avrahams destination was quite the opposite. Although, we do not know precise information regarding the physical stature of , certainly there is no reference to irrigated fields nor to a ' . If anything there exists a reference to a land which is barren and covered in dirt, endless and innumerable in nature: :

Avraham is next instructed to walk around the entire circumference of the land (so as to make an acquisition). Furthermore, he is told that this land is to be an inheritance to last forever in the possession of his descendents. "

The contrast between these two personalities and their choices is self evident chooses a life of immediate gratification, seeking fulfillment in the here and now, and Avraham embraces the barren soil with the hope of planting and building for some future date to come. As we move on to Parshat Vayera, we should not surprised to find that it is Avraham who is called upon to bail out when is about to turn into sulfur and ash. But the most blatant illustration of their vastly distinct personalities takes place in a brief moment immediately following their evacuation from Sdom. and company were looking for an escape route from ,a new city in which they may take refuge: () : () : () :
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Lot elects to move to Tzoar a city nearby Sdom. The Gemara in Shabbos (10b-11a) uses this as a basis to teach us an interesting lesson: Raba b. Mehasia also said in the name of R. Hama b. Goria in Rab's name: A man should always seek to dwell in a city but : recently populated, for since it is but . recently populated its sins are few, as it . is said, behold now, this city is near + + [kerobah] to flee to, and it is a little one. . What is meant by kerobah? Shall we - ? say that it is near and small? But surely ! : they could see that for themselves! - . Rather [he meant,] because it has been +: ? - + recently populated its sins are few. R. , " Abin said: What verse [supports this]? . , Oh, let me [na] escape thither: the numerical value of na is fifty-one; whereas that of Sodom is fifty-two.

And so, concludes the Gemara, Lot had to leave Sdom because after 52 years the city had become so filled with impurity and evil that it was condemned. But the nearby city was only in existence for 51 years and so it was not as corrupt as was Sdom . Why should there be such a large distinction between Sdom and Tzoar? If Tzoar is 51 years old, why would anyone in their right mind
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seek refuge there? Thats like waiting for the smoke to billow out of the top of Mt. Saint Helens and then taking a hike up to the top.

But that is who Lot is, he operates in the moment, with a short sightedness. Careless, headlong and imprudent, Lots objective is to achieve the immediate fulfillment of his desires without a second thought concerning his future. And so, if he will be able to set up shop for one more day or one more year, thats enough for him even if it means he may have to relocate yet again upon s destruction.

The difference between Avraham and Lot is the difference between a healthy meal and proper sleep, and a 5 hour energy drink with a snickers bar. What comes to mind is a comment in the Gemara Sanhedrin (94b). During the time of Yeshayahu, one of the evil was .The Gemara tells us that Pekach ben Ramliyahu used to eat 40 Seah of doves for dessert alone, whereas Melech Chizkiyah would eat a mere Litra of green vegetable for his meal: ' - , . - . Rashi explains that the curse was on Pekach because he was never satiated from what he consumed: "
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. ' - About a year ago, a book entitled Willpower was published by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney, in it they discuss an idea called Delayed Gratification. The theory is that because children are so accustomed to getting what they want immediately nowadays, there is less value to it. Many Asian American parents on the other hand have a different outlook, they dont withhold gifts and rewards; instead they delay them. For instance, let us say a child has a tantrum in the supermarket over a piece of candy. Most of us would either capitulate immediately or say no indefinitely. But Jae and Dae Kim, born in South Korea and living in North Carolina, co-authors of the book Top of the Class (about Asian parenting techniques) writes that when they would reach the checkout counter at the supermarket, before the whining would have a chance to begin they would preempt them by announcing that if they read a book the following week, they would reward their children with a canfy bar on the next shopping trip. When their daughter Soo went off to college and asked her parents for a cheap used car to get around, they refused but offered to buy her a brand-new car if she was admitted to medical school. Thus, these parents did provide good things for their daughters but each treat was meted out as a reward for some valued achievement. Knowingly or not, they are employing the Confucian concept of chiao shun, which means to train to build up resistance and anticipation. It may seem harsh to American parents but it really works. Our whole culture caters to the mentality of the Lots of the world of living in the moment alone. Baumeister calls this idea the Gestation of
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Desire let desires sit, not overly suppressed, but withheld until you can grow to truly appreciate hard work, achievement and sacrifice. Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt told me a story that when he was 9 years old, he was crazy about animals, and the definitive work on species of animals was first published then, which had pictures of every animal and the details of their genus and species. It was published in 1963, and his father let him know that it was a book which was coming out , and he had decided to buy it in partnership with his son. Each week he would receive a quarter for his allowance and they bank his weekly allotment until he had enough money to purchase it. And he waited and waited, and marked off the amounts in a little blue book, and the days in the calendar. At last, after 6 months he purchased Ernest P. Walker's Animals of the World. What would have happened if today a kid who had a special interest conceived a desire for such a book? The parent would go on the internet and probably express shipment (because our little genius cant wait) and the book probably would have stayed with him for as long as it took to process the order. Avraham Avinus choice to go to Eretz Canaan is about saving up and marking off the amounts in a little book. Canaan was not the Land of Milk and Honey that it would be one day it would take foresight and investment and patience. Avraham knew that it would demand looking beyond the present and myopic self in order to orchestrate a for the next generation, and he took the plunge. Many years later, one of Avraham Avinus descendants acted in kind. The story takes place in the city of Wegrow, Poland (pronounced VenGrov) about 55 miles northeast of Warsaw. Jews settled in Wegrow early in the 16th century, and there were 6,000 to 8,000 of them when
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the Nazi occupation began on Sept. 7, 1939. A few weeks later, on Yom Kippur, SS officers went to the home of the town's rabbi, Yaakov Mendel Morgenstern, dragged him to the central marketplace and ordered him to undress. They handed him a broom and told him to sweep up the manure in the square and carry it to the town dump in his velvet hat. After receiving numerous blows to the head, he was asked to place the straimel on his head in front of the whole kehila. As the rabbi tried to do that, a soldier came and drove a bayonet into his abdomen, killing him. His synagogue was immediately closed and ultimately destroyed.1 Ben Rosenblum, todays bar mitzvah boy, is Rav Morgensterns greatgreat grandson. In conversation with a relative of yours (Rabbi Jonathan Morgenstern of YI of Scarsdale, NY) I learned a few things about the incident: In the midst of receiving a brutal beating at the hands of the Nazis on that fateful day in 1939, your great-great-grandfather is quoted as saying to his congregants, who were staring at him with painful agony in their eyes: It hurts me much more watching the pain on your faces then all of the kicks and punches that Im absorbing right now. Because Rabbi Morgenstern was an Avraham Avinu, he understood that pain was much larger than his own immediate crisis he saw a Tzibur which was larger than he was and whose well being was more central than any personal experience. I learned as well a part of the story that likely no one in the family present today is aware of: At a Bris a number of years ago, in attendance was Rabbi Jonathan Morgenstern, and the father named
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http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/wegrow/rabbi.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/28/opinion/a-time-to-dance-and-mourn.html

his son after his grandfather who had miraculously survived the horrors of WWII. He related that once they were in hiding and when the SS discovered them, they began picking off the victims one by one with the rap of a machine gun but after a dozen or so bodies hit the floor and his grandfathers turn came to meet his Maker, the gun jammed and he was able to escape. The father at the bris came to a close and my grandfather swore that the only reason he survived was because of one act he performed after the Vengrover Rav was stabbed, he took Rav Morgenstern into a hidden location somewhere in his home and cared for him and his wounds prolonging his life until erev Succot and easing some of his discomfort. It was in that Zechus alone, claimed my grandfather, that he survived the war.