MO Woman

Megillat Ruth

Hold onto this insightful article on Megillat Ruth by Dr. Berel Dov Lerner (aka Jewish Bible Blog) for next Shavuot, it is worth it!

Vehigadet Levitekh

Some quality divrei Torah on Pesach can be found through JOFA's Vehigadet Levitekh project by Jennie Rosenfeld, Deena Grant and Lonnie Saks.

On Rivka and Sarah (updated)

I just came across a midrash about Rivka and Sarah which struck me as interesting (Hebrew below) (Bereshit Rabbah 58:2):

"The sun rises and the sun sets..." (Ecclesiastes 1:5) Rabbi Abba said, "Don't we already know that the sun rises and the sun sets? Rather [it comes to teach us] that before God sets the sun of a righteous person, God raises the sun of his friend [another] righteous person. [For example] On the day that Rabbi Akiva died Rabbenu [Rebbe Yehuda Hanasi] was born... On the day that Rabbenu died, Rabbi Ada bar Ahava was born... Before God caused the sun of Moses to set, God raised the sun of Joshua..."

Rabbi Yochanan said, "like an innocent calf [follows it's master]. Before God caused the sun of Sarah to decline, God raised up the sun of Rebecca. First it said, 'Milcah has born children...' and in the end it said, 'And Sarah's life-span came to...'."

The first half is a midrash which Rashi cites when discussing the passing of leadership from Moses to Joshua and from Eli to Samuel. It interprets the verse from Kohelet in a somewhat allegorical sense, the sun referring to the many cycles of tzaddikim (righteous people). However, the statement of Rabbi Yochanan both builds on the previous midrash and adds a new layer of meaning to it.

First, Rabbi Yochanan compares the relationship between the student and his/her mentor to an innocent calf following it's master (this is based on the notes in the Theodore-Albeck edition of Genesis Rabbah, see discussion in comments on this post for further thoughts). Rabbi Yochanan establishes that Rivka's sun rose before Sarah's sun declined because of the smichut, closeness, of the Torah's accounts, first of Rivka's birth and then of Sarah's death. This aspect of the midrash, which emphasizes uninterupted continuity between these two great matriarchs, may also relate to other midrashim about Rivka replacing Sarah in her tent, and continuing  to have a Shabbat candle which remained lit all week long (see Bereshit Rabba parsha 60).

Second, Rabbi Yochanan uses the same language and imagery in discussing the relationship and role of Sarah and Rivka as Rabbi Abba applied to prophets, military leaders and Talmudic sages. This analogy portrays Sarah and Rivka as leaders and teachers of Torah, two great suns as well.

Update: I had a very interesting discussion with an anonymous commenter below, which explores this dvar Torah and it's sources in further depth if you are interested.

Hebrew:

וזרח השמש ובא השמש וגו' (קהלת א ה) אמר ר' אבא וכי אינן יודעין שזרח השמש ובא השמש, אלא קודם עד שלא ישקיע הקב"ה שמשו שלצדיק הוא מזריח שמשו שלצדיק חבירו, יום שמת ר' עקיבה נולד רבינו [וקראו עליו וזרח השמש ובא השמש], יום שמת רבינו נולד רב אדא בר אהבה וקראו עליו וזרח השמש ובא השמש, יום שמת רב אדא נולד רב [אבין וקראו עליו וזרח השמש ובא השמש], יום שמת רב אבין נולד ר' אבין בריה [וקראו עליו וזרח השמש ובא השמש, יום שמת ר' אבין נולד אבה הושעיה איש טרייה וקראו עליו וזרח השמש ובא השמש], יום שמת אבה הושעיה איש טרייה נולד ר' הושעיה [וקראו עליו וזרח השמש ובא השמש], קודם שלא השקיע הקב"ה שימשו שלמשה הזריח הקב"ה שימשו שליהושע ויאמר י"י אל משה קח לך את יהושע (במדבר כז יח), עד שלא שקעה שמשו שליהושע זרחה שמשו שלעתניאל [וילכדה עתניאל בן קנז (יהושע טו יז)], עד שלא שקעה שמשו שלעלי זרחה שמשו שלשמואל [ונר אלהים טרם יכבה ושמואל שוכב וגו' (ש"א =שמואל א'= ג ג)] אמר ר' יוחנן כהדה עגלתה תמימתה, עד שלא השקיע הקב"ה שמשה שלשרה הזריח הקב"ה שמשה שלרבקה, בתחילה הנה ילדה מלכה (בראשית כב כ), ולבסוף ויהיו חיי שרה.

  

Psalm 47

For an inspiring dvar Torah on why this Psalm is read before shofar blowing on Rosh Hashanah see the thoughts of Malka Hubscher (via Vehigadet Levitekh).

Dvar Torah for Shavuot

I wrote a short dvar Torah for Shavuot which can be viewed via the JOFA website.

Chag sameach!