I
"Hashem Who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth... you will take a wife for my son there" (Bereishis 24:7). Rashi renders my father's house, from Charan. In fact, Eliezer went to Aram Naharayim, to the city of Nachor (24:10). The Ramban (11:28) identifies the city as Charan, where Nachor, Avraham's brother, lived, and where Terach lived and died (11:31,32).
Rashi renders "the land of my birth", from Ur Kasdim. The Ramban disagrees and posits that Avraham was born in Aram, where he and his ancestors dwelled.
"Your name shall no longer be called Avram. Your name shall be Avraham, for I have made you the father of abundant nations (av hamon goyim)" (Bereishis 17:5). Rashi explains that Avram is a contraction of Av Aram, Avram was the spiritual father of the land of Aram where he lived and, according to the Ramban, he was born.
The letter reish (ר) did not move from its place, even though now he is the father of the whole world. The Sifsei Chachamim explains that the contraction of av hamon is Avham, but the reish remained so it would not complain to Hashem. This refers to the continuation of Rashi: For even the letter Yud (י) of Sarai complained to Hashem when it was removed from her name ["Do not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name (17:15)"], until He added it to the name of Yehoshua, as it says (Bamidbar 13:16) "Moshe called Hoshea bin Nun Yehoshua."
II
When Avraham became the father of the whole world, Aram feared that his new position as a universal leader would destroy his special, particular relationship with his original homeland. Thus, had his new name been Avham, the reish, symbolizing Aram would have complained. Therefore, his new name was Avraham implying a dual role. His new responsibility as the father of the whole world would not detract from his primary role as the father of Aram.
Avram and Sarai took men and women, respectively in Charan, a city in Aram, and converted them from idolatry to monotheism (Rashi 12:5). When their names changed to Avraham and Sarah they continued their special connection to the people of Aram who accompanied them to Eretz Yisroel.
Years later, Avraham's particular responsibility shifted to a much closer, personal, and significant one. [The converts drifted away, presumably because they served Hashem only based on the rational persuasion of Avraham, and not on pure faith in Him (Darash Moshe, Vayikra 25:1; Shefa Chaim, Torah U'Mo'adim p. 213)]. Avraham became the progenitor of Am Yisroel. His main preoccupation for which Hashem loved him, was commanding his descendants to keep the way of Hashem, doing charity and justice (18:19, see Rashi). According to Chazal, Avraham kept the entire Torah before it was given (Kiddushin 82a), as it is said (26:5), "because Avraham obeyed My voice, and observed My safeguards, My commandments, My decrees and My laws." The Ramban adds, based on Bereishis Raba (95:3) that he taught Torah to his children. It was passed to Yitzchak, Yaakov, Yosef and beyond.
The reish of Avram which originally referred to Aram, now applies to Am Yisrael in general and to one's community and family in particular. As descendants of Avraham, the father of the whole world we still have universal responsibilities. As Avraham was the av hamon goyim, we are to be or lagoyim, a light unto the nations (Yeshaya 42:6), so that Hashem's salvation will extend throughout the world. (49:6).
However, our primary responsibility is to Am Yisroel, even at the expense of universalism. As Avraham remained av Aram, we must focus on our own communities. As he was mostly concerned with his own children and family, we must devote ourselves the most to ours. Notwithstanding communal obligations, one must prioritize commitment and connection to one's spouse, children and their spouses, grandchildren, siblings and the greater family.
III
Similarly, the yud of Sarai complained. Sarai, as the possessive yud denotes, means my leader. As Avram converted the men of Charan, she converted the women. As Rashi (17:15) explains, Sarai means my leader, for me but not for others. Sarah means she is the leader over all (Sarah al hakol), the equivalent of av hamon goyim. The yud complained fearing the loss of the special relationship Sarah had with Aram.
Hashem allayed the fear by moving the yud of Sarai to Yehoshua, as Moshe added it to Hoshea bin Nun. What does this mean?
Rashi (Bamidbar 13:16) teaches that Moshe prayed for him "May Hashem save you from the plot of the spies." What was their plot and how would the yud save Yehoshua?
"We were like grasshoppers in our eyes and so were we in their [the inhabitants of Eretz Yisrael] eyes" (13:33). The Be'er Yosef Interprets "grasshoppers" based on the Rashi (Bava Kamma 116b s.v. tz'latzal). A grasshopper is a thief that consumes the produce of the landowner.
The spies viewed themselves like thieves coming to steal the land from the rightful inhabitants. "The fourth generation will return here (Rashi, Bereishis 46:12), for the sin of the Amorites will not be full until then"(Bereishis 15:16). Rashi explains that the four generations began from Yaakov, who went down to Mitzrayim. Calev, son of Chetzron (Sotah 11b), son of Peretz, son of Yehuda (Bereishis 46:12) (from whom the count began see Sifsei Chachamim) was among those who came to Eretz Yisroel.
The spies thought that the sins were not yet complete. Yehoshua and Calev argued "the decent ones among them have died, do not fear them" (Bamidbar 14:9, see Rashi). The time has come for the fulfillment of Hashem's promise to Avraham that his descendants will be given Eretz Yisroel (Bereishis 12:7).
Sadly, the spies ignored them and viewed themselves as thieves. Not surprisingly, the inhabitants agreed. Rashi (Bereishis 1:1) records that the nations of the world will say to Am Yisrael "you are thieves." We will respond "the whole earth belongs to Hashem. He created it. He took Eretz Yisrael from them and gave it to us." Am Yisrael should not have a guilty conscience, feeling that the land rightfully belongs to others (Nachalas Yaakov, see Saperstein edition foot note 5).
The possessive yud of Sarai was attached to Yehoshua to save him from the universalism of the spies who denied their particular right to Eretz Yisrael and viewed themselves as thieves. This parallels the Raish of Avraham which denotes the particular connection to Aram, and later to his family, notwithstanding his new role as the father of the whole world.
Sadly, the sin of the spies, unchecked universalism, has plagued our nation repeatedly. Workers of the world unite! Socialism and communism. And now anti-Zionism which views Jews as "occupiers" in our own land (See Chet Hameraglim: Then and Now). If we consider ourselves thieves, the nations will certainly concur, as happened to the "grasshopper" spies of old.
IV
This week, the Yeshiva world lost a unique masmid, rebbe, and rav, my close cousin Harav Yehoshua HaLevi Kalish zt"l. From early youth, his soul thirsted for Torah. After attending and graduating H.I.L.I. in Far Rockaway and RJJ on the Lower East Side, he learned in the Philadelphia Yeshiva. His parents, my beloved uncle and aunt, objected strenuously. They wanted him to learn by day and attend college at night, like his older brother, and most b'nei Torah in 1963. He responded that he is willing to forgo the comforts associated with a college degree for the sake of Torah.
After a brief stint in Mir Yerushalayim, he learned in Lakewood for many years. Like Avraham Avinu he retained his special relationship with his birthplace, and returned to the Far Rockaway/ Lawrence community with his wife, appropriately named Sarah, who shared his willingness to sacrifice for Torah, and children.
He taught in Yeshiva of Far Rockaway for nearly fifty years and subsequently founded a halacha kollel. He served as the rav of Beis Medrash of Harborview for nearly thirty years, and together with his rebbetzin, developed an unusual mutual love and admiration with their mispalelim.
But what made him unique was his extraordinary devotion to learning and reviewing Shas. After teaching daf yomi in Lawrence before it was popular, which he continued to the end, he embarked on a regimen of seven blatt a day, completing all of Shas annually. In sum, he finished Shas more than forty times!
His public roles and prodigious hasmada spread his name and fame throughout the Yeshiva world. His universal dimension included the interests of his American youth: tennis, skiing, Scrabble, and his beloved accordion among others. He used them all to advance Torah and enhance tefilah in his yeshiva, his shul, and in Camp Heller, and abruptly abandoned an interest in baseball when it interfered with his primary, particular focus.
The yud in Yehoshua, taken from the possessive of Sarai, was most apparent in his connection to his prized talmidim and beloved balebatim. To their greater family, Hagaon Harav Yehoshua and Sarah insisted on being called (Uncle) Josh and (Aunt) Beaty. His super-tight relationship with his children and their spouses and children, was exceeded only by the exemplary closeness, and mutual devotion, to his eishes chayil.
In his final year, he published Penei Levana, compared (Bava Basra 85a) to Penei Yehoshua, his ancestor and namesake. It contains a comment on every single daf of Shas! Sadly, his life was cut short by illness, but in his last few weeks he expressed how happy and fortunate he is to have lived a full life, from youth to old age, toiling in Torah. His lifelong good name (shem tov) reflected his constant service of Hashem. His soul ascends on high, accompanied by every daf that he learned, reviewed, and wrote about, He will merit continuing his lifelong song of Torah in the next world. Indeed, Harav Yehoshua HaLevi was and will be happy and fortunate in both worlds.
I conclude this brief tribute with three ashreis, meaning both happy and fortunate, excerpted from his beloved Shas:
ברכות (יז.) - אשרי מי שגדל בתורה ועמלו בתורה ועושה נחת רוח ליוצרו, וגדל בשם טוב ונפטר בשם טוב מן העולם
בבא בתרא (י:) - כי הא דיוסף בריה דר' יהושע חלש, אינגיד. א"ל אבוה: מאי חזית? א"ל: עולם הפוך ראיתי, עליונים למטה ותחתונים למעלה. א"ל: עולם ברור ראית. ואנן (פרש"י בעלי תורה) היכי חזיתינן? [א"ל:] כי היכי דחשבינן הכא חשבינן התם (פרש"י חשובים ונכבדים) ושמעתי שהיו אומרים: אשרי מי שבא לכאן ותלמודו בידו.
פי' מהרש"א, " יש לפרש כי עיקר הלימוד ושנעשה בו רושם הוא הלימוד הבא מכתיבת יד אשר על כן נקראו החכמים סופרים."
סנהדרין (צא:) - אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: מניין לתחיית המתים מן התורה - שנאמר אשרי יושבי ביתך עוד יהללוך סלה, היללוך לא נאמר אלא יהללוך - מכאן לתחיית המתים מן התורה. ואמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: כל האומר שירה בעולם הזה - זוכה ואומרה לעולם הבא, שנאמר אשרי יושבי ביתך עוד יהללוך סלה.
פי' מהרש"א, שירה שבעוה"ז לא הוזכר בקרא דאשרי יושבי ביתך, דקאמר קרא דיהללוך היינו לעוה"ב, כדקאמר ריב"ל גופיה מכאן לתחה"מ מן התורה. אלא ממלת עוד דריש ליה, דלשון עוד נופל בדבר הנוסף על הראשון, דהיינו בשירה שהללוך כבר בעוה"ז עוד יהללוך לעוה"ב.
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