Parshas Bereishis - Shazak MultiMedia

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Parshas Bereishis G
Shazak Chumash Volume 1
G E 34
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LOSSA
Parshas Bereishis
5
The Perfect Names
16
In the Beginning
6
A Match Made in Heaven
18
Light Up the Darkness
8
The Forbidden Fruit
19
Water, Water, Everywhere!
9
Trust Me!
20
Bereishis; Noach; Lech-Lecha
By Rabbi Moshe Moscowitz
Copyright © 2015 by Shazak MultiMedia
ISBN 1-930925-19-0
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
translated, reproduced, in any form or by any means,
electronic or otherwise, without written permission from
Shazak MultiMedia.
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Plants and Trees
10
Truth or Consequences
22
Good Heavens
11
Out of the Garden
26
Swimming, Flying…
12
The Next Generation
28
Creeping, Crawling, and
Walking
The Seventh Day: Time to Rest
13
14
Sacrifices – The Good
and the Bad
The First Crime!
29
30
Of all five books of the Torah, the book of
*Bereishis covers the longest time span.
Consider this: Sefer Bereishis spans just
about 2,300 years since creation while the
other four books span around 250 years!
It may surprise you that the last book, Sefer
Devorim, begins on the 1st day of the month
of Shvat, in the year 2,888, and concludes
on the day of Moshe Rabbeinu’s passing
– only 37 days later – on the 7th day of the
month of Adar!
Shmos,
VaYikra
,
BaMidb
ar,
Devorim
ִ ‫ְּב ֵר‬
ִ ‫אׁשית ָּב ָרא ֱא‬
‫ֹלקים ֵאת ַה ָּׁש ַמיִ ם ְו ֵאת ָה ָא ֶרץ‬
Bereishis... “In the beginning, *HaShem (G-d) created the
heavens and the earth.”
Bereishis, translated “in the beginning” – is the very first word of
the Torah.
2
5
0
YE
99 Bereishis is the name of the first of the five books of the
*Chumash - Bereishis, Shmos, VaYikra, Bamidbar, and Devorim.
ARS
99 Bereishis is also the name of the very first *Parshah (weekly
reading) of the Torah. We read one Parshah every single
Shabbos throughout the year. Altogether there are 54
Parshiyos.

Bereishis
2,300
99 First of all, the stories in the Torah are true!
99 Second of all, although they are interesting and enjoyable to
Shazak Rules
read, the stories that make up much of the Torah are not meant
to entertain us, but rather to teach us how to live, and how to
act as a good Jewish person. When we learn about the lives of
our great ancestors, we learn lessons that are just as important
today as they ever were.
Shazak Rule #1- If a Hebrew word ends with the letter
“Hey,” we add the letter “h” at the end.
Example: ‫ = שרה‬Sarah. ‫ = פרשה‬Parshah.
All character drawings in Shazak
Chumash are based on the
imagination of our Shazak artist
(and he has a good imagination!)
Nobody knows how Avraham
or Sarah looked or Moshe or
Miriam, since nobody living ever
saw them. So far, no accurate photo
of them have been found either.
For that matter, nobody knows
how Rashi or the Rambam
looked (but we do know how our
Shazak artist looks).
4

“In the beginning” is different than “Once upon a time.” It’s
true that the Torah is full of stories, but they’re not just any stories:
YEARS
Shazak Disclaimer

Shazak Rule #2 - There may be some Hebrew words
or terms you are not familiar with. So to help we made
a fun glossary at the end of each Parshah! If you come
across an asterisk (*), flip to the end of the Parshah
and look up the word/s in the Shazak Glossary. (For
example: *Chumash; *Bnei Yisrael; HaShem.)
Shazak Rule #3- Shazak capitalizes all Hebrew words for example - Shabbos; Bnei Yisrael; Rosh Chodesh.
Shazak Rule #4- Here at Shazak, our team tries its
best to be accurate, but sometimes we make mistakes.
If you find one (or more… oops) please let us know!
We would also love to hear your comments and
suggestions. Just email us at mosheshazak@gmail.
com.
Shazak Rule #5- No more rules. (Thank Heavens!)
’L CH
!
M
AI
Welcome to the first volume of
shazak chumash!
Bringing you timeless stories
of Torah... to life!
to
lif
e!
5
In the
Beginning
The Book of Bereishis tells us
all about the creation of the
world and everything in it.
Before HaShem created
the world – there was
nothing but HaShem. Then
He created the world –
every single thing in the
heavens and on the earth –
something from nothing!
Something From Nothing!
Impossible?
For us human beings, it is impossible to create something from nothing. As
hard and as long as we try, we will never be able to create a treehouse without
wood, or a book without paper. But for HaShem this is not difficult.
For six days, HaShem spoke of His desires for the world, and whatever He
wanted to create just appeared – many somethings from a lot of nothing!
6
7
People Created Last.... Why?
Simple! The plants, animals, oceans, clouds, and even the stars, were all
created first to prepare the world for human beings to live in it.
Think about moving into a house: first you build it, then you paint it, then
you carry in the furniture and beds, and only after that do you finally move
into the house and begin living in it.
So too, HaShem made sure everything was in order, preparing the world for
the very first man and woman to “move in.”
‫ֹלקים ֶאת ָּכל ֲא ֶׁשר ָע ָׂשה וְ ִהּנֵ ה טֹוב ְמאֹד‬
ִ ‫וַ ּיַ ְרא ֱא‬
Very Good!
HaShem spent 6 days creating all types of good things, yet when
HaShem created the first human, Adam, HaShem saw that he
was very good. Why wasn’t Adam just plain good, like all of His
other creations?
The Hebrew word ‫ ָא ָדם‬contains the same letters as the Hebrew
word ‫ – ְמאֹד‬very.
Unlike plants or animals, only humans have the capability to,
not just be good creatures, but to be VERY good, to overcome
challenges and go above and beyond!
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DAY 7
The Seventh Day: Time to Rest
After HaShem created everything in the world in the first six days, then
on the seventh day, it was *Shabbos, the Sabbath. He stopped, rested and
celebrated! Heaven and earth and everything in them were now complete!
Just like HaShem, we also work during the week, followed by one
day of rest. On weekdays we talk on phones, type on computers,
build houses, play music, and drive cars. Friday evening we stop
all kinds of weekday activities. At sundown, Jewish mothers,
and even many young girls, light candles with a special
blessing.
The next 25 hours are celebrated with our families and
friends, by learning Torah, praying in shul (synagogue),
and feasting on great food – fish, hot soup, tasty chicken
and cholent, scrumptious kugel and mouthwatering
dessert. And let’s not forget… before we begin our
Shabbos meals, we recite *Kiddush on a cup of wine
– Borei Pri HaGafen, and then a special blessing
over two loaves of bread, called *Challahs – HaMotzi
Lechem Min HaAretz.
‫יעי וַ יְ ַק ֵּדׁש אֹתֹו‬
ִ ‫ֹלקים ֶאת יֹום ַה ְּׁש ִב‬
ִ ‫וַ יְ ָב ֶרְך ֱא‬
Making Shabbos Holy
‫ ַויְ ַק ֵּדׁש‬- HaShem made Shabbos holy. Hmmm, that word is very
similar to the first thing we do at the Friday night Shabbos meal:
‫ ִקידוּשׁ‬- Kiddush! That’s because both words essentially have
the same meaning – holiness!
HaShem rested on Shabbos and made it holy. We also have
the power to make every Shabbos holy, starting with reciting
Kiddush on a cup full of wine.
15
Truth or Consequences
Suddenly, Adam and Chavah heard
HaShem’s voice, and they tried to hide
behind some trees.
HaShem called to Adam, “Ayeka” – Where
are you?”
Adam said, “I am so ashamed. So very
ashamed.”
“Ashamed?! Why? Did you eat from the
Tree of Knowledge?”
“The woman you gave to me… she handed
me a fruit and I ate it.”
HaShem said to Chavah, “What did you do?”
Chavah said, “The snake tricked me! So I ate
the fruit.”
None of them accepted responsibility, so
HaShem punished all of them.
have legs, instead you will crawl on your
belly. You’ll eat dust for breakfast, lunch and
supper! People will always be your enemy.
You will try to poison them, but they will be
able to step on you and kill you!” HaShem
also took away the snake’s power of speech.
“As for you Chavah,” HaShem declared,
“when you give birth it will be with great
difficulty and much pain.”
And finally, to Adam, HaShem said, “If you
had only listened to my commandment,
you would have been able to live forever
in Gan Eden! Now you and Chavah MUST
GO – EXIT! And from this day on, you no
longer will have ready, delicious fresh fruits.
Instead, you will have to labor so very hard
to grow your own food – by the sweat of
your brow shall you eat bread.”
To the snake HaShem said, “Because of your
sin, you will be cursed. You will no longer
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23
HaShem’s question,
“Ayeka - Where are you?!”
HaShem called to Adam, “Ayeka” – “Where are you?”
But of course HaShem knew exactly where
Adam was! Doesn’t HaShem see everything?
HaShem knew, but that was just a nice way
to start a conversation with Adam, instead of
immediately accusing him of doing something
wrong. This was the perfect way to give Adam a
chance to think a bit and admit his guilt.
That’s the simple, plain explanation, but our wise Rabbis
revealed to us some other underlying secret messages.
Let’s see if you get this one:
ˆˆ HaShem was really telling Adam, “How could you,
Adam, have stooped so low, from being the most
important one in Gan Eden to being exiled from it? And
now what has become of you? You are nothing more
than a lowly creature who would obey a snake rather
than Me; the Creator of the entire world! “Ayeka” –
Where are you…What’s become of you?!”
?‫ַא ֶי ָּכה‬
?‫יכה יָ ְׁש ָבה ָב ָדד‬
ָ ‫ֵא‬
ˆˆ Here’s another one:
“Ayeka” can also be punctuated to read “Aicha,” which is a
cry of sadness and mourning. (This is the name of the text
we read on the saddest day of the year – Tisha B’Av.)
It was as if HaShem Himself was crying because Adam
had a great downfall in Gan Eden!
24
25
Before the creation of the world, nothing
existed. Nobody but HaShem could create
something from absolutely nothing!
The very first language to exist in
the world was Lashon HaKodesh,
a.k.a. Hebrew.
When
Kayin killed
his brother
Hevel, he wiped
out one quarter
of the world’s
population at
that time.
Nowadays, that
would equal
close to 2 billion
people - that’s
2,000,000,000!
Adam and Chavah were
created, married, and kicked
out of Gan Eden all on the
same day!
1
‫אנֹ ִכי‬
ָ
The snakes we see today get around by
slithering and sliding on the ground, but
the snake who tricked Chavah in Gan Eden
was able to walk and talk!
32
2
ְ
‫ּב‬
ֵ
‫ר‬
‫א‬
ִ
‫ׁש‬
‫י‬
‫ת‬
The first word of the entire Torah – ‫אׁשית‬
ִ ‫ְּב ֵר‬
(“In the beginning”) – begins with the letter ‫ב‬,
which equals 2.
The first word of the Ten Commandments –
(‫ ָאנ ִֹכי‬- “I am HaShem”) – begins with the letter ‫א‬,
which equals 1. It’s because HaShem is 1, then
came the creation – 2.
33
A Generation of Chaos!
Noach: A Good Man In His Times
After *Adam and Chava were sent out of Gan Eden, life on earth took
a turn for the worse. People forgot about the Creator of the universe.
They began praying to the sun, the moon, and even to statues made of
wood or stone!
But there was one bright light in the middle of all of this
darkness – Noach. He was a good man who knew about
HaShem and tried his best to live a holy life, along with
his wife, Na'amah, and their three sons, *Shem, Cham and
Yefes.
HaShem was very angry and wanted to destroy all the people of the
world. But He waited, in the hope that they would stop serving idols
and remember HaShem who created them. But instead – things went
from bad to worse.
The people who lived in the tenth generation after Adam were the
worst of all. Besides the idol worship, they shamelessly stole from each
other–even in broad daylight! And the judges in the courts were just as
crooked as the thieves, so the bad guys were never punished.
IT WAS TOTAL CHAOS!
HaShem said to Noach, "The people of this generation are
completely wicked, so I have decided to destroy the entire
world – all of the people and animals. I will send a great
flood to wipe out everything – except for you Noach and
your family.”
"Turn on
the light
s!"
!"
?
s
t
h
ig
L
t
a
h
"W
The entire world was plunged into
darkness during the great flood.
So, how was Noach and his crew
able to see?
Some Rabbis say that Noach
had an enormous, shining
precious stone that lit up the
entire Taivah!
36
37
An Amazing Ark!
HaShem continued: “Do exactly as I tell you. Build a *Taivah
(ark) that will float on top of the water. This Taivah will
protect you and your family. Also, bring into the Taivah one
male and one female of each non-kosher animal, and seven
of each kosher animal. Make the Taivah 300 Amos long, 50
Amos wide, and 30 Amos high.” (Amos is plural of Amah, a
measurement of about 2 feet).
Noach was busy, every day, from early morning to late at
night, sawing, hammering, shlepping… you name it, he did
it! He was an awesome carpenter and even invented many
building tools!
It took Noach 120 years to finish this huge project!
This was going to be some big boat – as long as two
professional size football fields!
HaShem then gave specific instructions for building the
Taivah:
ˆˆ “Make the Taivah out of strong wood called Gofer.
ˆˆ Build a slanted roof so the rain will run off.
ˆˆ Build a window to let light in.
ˆˆ Waterproof the Taivah by putting tar all over it, inside
and out.
Gather together a year’s worth of food... you’ll need it!”
The Taivah had three floors:
ˆˆ The top floor was for Noach and his wife, their three
sons, and their son's wives.
ˆˆ The middle floor housed all the animals – more animals
than you'd find in the biggest zoo. After all, at least
one pair of every kind of animal in the entire world was
there!
ˆˆ The third floor, in the basement of the Taivah, was
where all the garbage was kept.
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39
120 Years to Build a Boat?!
“Is This Some Kind of a Joke?!”
The sound of construction
filled the air. Day in… day
out. Noach knew that as
he hammered each new
board, destruction of his
generation was coming
closer… unless the wicked
people REPENT!
Word spread throughout
the land that a crazy man
was building a boat to save
himself from a flood, yet
nobody took him seriously.
People often stopped by
to make fun of Noach as
he and his sons sawed and
hammered away.
"Hey Noach, what are you
doing up there?”
"I'm building a Taivah,
because HaShem told me
that there will be a great
flood that will destroy the
world!”
40
"A flood, eh? That's a pretty
good joke, Noach! Ha, Ha,
Ha! Hardy Ho Ho!”
Imagine building an enormous ship the size of two football
fields, with hundreds of rooms, using only your bare hands and
some simple tools. Remember, there were no electric drills and
power saws in those days. It’s actually a wonder that it only took
120 years!
Also, HaShem wanted to give plenty of time so the wicked
people would change their ways and repent.
"It's no joke. The flood
will destroy everything,
including you, unless you do
Teshuva (repent) and stop
your wicked ways!”
"Sure, Noach. Ha! Ha! Ha!
Sure, Noach.”
"It's true! Don't miss your
chance! Before it too late!”
"Ooooh, I'm sooooo scared!
Well, have fun building your
Taivah! A flood you say...
now that's funny...”
And the people would go
off, laughing in disbelief.
Yet, in 120 years, not even
one person repented!
41
It’s Drizzling… It’s
Raining… It’s Pouring
At first it was just a little
drizzle and the wicked people
continued to laugh.
“Sure, Noach. Some flood. I
think I felt a few drops on my
head. Let me rush back to my
house to get my umbrella… Ha!
Ha!”
But before long, the windows
of heaven opened and the
drizzle turned into a massive
downpour. Hot springs from
deep down in the earth broke
open and began gushing out
boiling hot water! Oceans, lakes,
and rivers started to overflow.
As the water level began to
climb higher and higher, the
wicked people tried to find
safety in tall trees and on
mountaintops. But it was too
late. They had missed their
chance.
The Mabul destroyed
everything and everyone
(except the fish). The only safe
place on earth was now inside
Noach’s Taivah.
The waters continued raging for
40 days and 40 nights.
The entire world was covered
with water – even the tallest
mountain!
Noach the Zookeeper
Day and night, Noach and his
family tended to the needs of
thousands of animals, giving
them food and water and
cleaning up after them.
But miraculously, the animals did
not fight while on the Taivah.
Even the wild animals were as
tame as house pets – besides for
one incident.
One day, Noach was late
bringing the lion his food. The
king of the jungle was furious
and bit Noach’s leg. Ouch!
Otherwise, it was very calm and
peaceful for the entire stay in
the Taivah.
A Bit about the Bite
Why did Noach deserve to be bitten?
This indeed was his punishment for not standing
up for his fellow human beings when HaShem
told him the flood was coming.
He should have begged HaShem not to destroy
the world! He should have been as
“strong as a lion” in fighting for the
sake of the people of the earth.
In fact, this was the approach of
Avraham when he was told that
the wicked people of Sodom
were going to be killed by
HaShem. We’ll learn all about
this in Parshas Lech Lecha.
44
45
Why the Rainbow?
The First Rainbow
HaShem “smelled” the offering and was very pleased with Noach’s gifts!
He also realized that mankind struggles to overcome evil which is very
difficult.
So Hashem promised, “Although you may have sinned, I will never
again send a flood that will destroy the entire world. And as a sign of
My promise, every once in a while, after a rainfall, I will create a beautiful
rainbow in the sky.”
Why was the rainbow chosen as the symbol that HaShem will never destroy the
world by means of a Mabul – flood?
Well, HaShem said, “When I made the Mabul, My “bow” was drawn against
mankind and I shot an “arrow” to wipe out the world. The rainbow actually looks
like a reversed bow! This shows that there shall be no more “arrows from Heaven”
sent to destroy humanity.
Rainbows Nowadays
To this day, whenever we see a rainbow, we
make a special blessing: “Zocher Habris,
ViNe’eman Bivriso, ViKayam BiMa’amaro”
– ”Blessed are You, HaShem our G-d... who
remembers the promise, who is faithful to
His promise, and keeps His Word.”
A Flood of Floods!
52
There are still many floods today that can be found in many places
all over the world. There are even great tsunamis, gigantic waves
whose force can within moments cause vast destruction, and even kill
thousands of people!
Yet, HaShem’s “rainbow promise” was that He will never make a Mabul,
as he made in the time of Noach, that wiped out the entire world.
53
“Let’s Build a Tower!”
300 years passed after the Great Flood, and once again people filled the earth. In this post–
Flood world, everyone spoke the same language, Hebrew, and they all got along pretty
well.
One day the people of the city of Bavel had an idea: “Let’s all make some bricks and build
ourselves a city! Let’s build a tower that will reach as high as the sky. That way, if HaShem
ever sends another flood, we can climb up and fight Him.”
“What a great plan!” they all exclaimed.
They worked together peacefully and, brick by brick,
began to build the giant Tower of Bavel.
But something wasn’t quite right. HaShem didn’t
like what they were doing. Not at all!
Sure, people were treating each other kindly and
working as a team – but for what purpose? To
become more powerful than HaShem?
To fight against Him?!
54
55
The Tower of Bavel
or...
The Tower of Babble?!
Even though the people had rebelled, HaShem decided not
to destroy them – only to divide them. HaShem, together
with his angels, caused the people to begin speaking in 70
different languages!
Suddenly, no one understood what anyone else was saying.
The confusion was incredible!
One worker would say to the next, “Hey, buddy, hand me a
brick, will you?”
“A stick?” the other would say.
“No, a brick. A BRICK. You know, the heavy blocks we’re using
to build the GREAT TOWER.”
“Oh, you mean this?” He would then toss a hammer over,
hitting his coworker on the side of the head.
“Owww!”
One misunderstanding led to another until the whole project
fell apart... literally… CRASH… BANG… KERPLUNK!
The angels scattered these people all over the world. Never
again would they be able to unite against HaShem.
56
57
950
HaShem told Noach to dedicate an
entire floor of the Taivah for trash
storage rather than throwing the
Taivah’s garbage into the water of
the Mabul.
That sure is eco-friendly!
The Taivah Noach built was
the size of two professional
football fields. That was
some big boat!
2
Which colors are in the rainbow?
The main colors are red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo, and violet, but if you
look closely, there are many shades within
each color.
THE TOWER OF BAVEL.
BAVEL sounds like the
English word, BABBLE.
Tower of Bavel, Tower of
Babble – coincidence?
Noach had many professions:
He was an architect, a carpenter,
a zookeeper, and even a
winemaker!
58
The word Noach in Hebrew – ‫– נח‬
equals 58. That’s how old Avram was
when Noach passed away.
Get it?
58
Noach passed away at the
age of 950. He lived almost
1,000 years!
Can you imagine?!
The Great Flood lasted 12
months and the word Mabul,
meaning flood, is mentioned 12
times in Parshas Noach!
120
Noach spent 120 years building the Taivah!
That’s 1,440 months, 43,829 days,
1,051,896 hours, 63,113,760 minutes, and
3,786,825,600 seconds. Whew, some job!
59
The BIG Question
Do you have a brother or sister, or maybe a
cousin or neighbor, who is three years old?
Then you know that three year old kids ask
a lot of questions. Well, when our forefather
*Avraham was a little boy of just three years
old, he also asked plenty of questions. He
was so curious and wanted to know: “Who
rules over everything in the whole wide
world? Who takes care of the universe?”
So *Avram, as he was then known, set out
to investigate. He sat on a grassy hill and
gazed up at the sky. “The sun looks so
bright and hot and powerful. Could the sun
be the ruler of the world?”
But the sun set when evening came, as the
sun always does, and Avram knew that the
sun could not be the One he is looking for.
“A King would never turn His back on His
world!”
Avram sat and watched as the moon took
the sun's place in the sky. Gazing at the
62
shining, white moon, Avram wondered:
“Could the moon be the ruler of the world?”
But the moon set when dawn came, and
the sun rose again to light up the morning.
So Avram had to keep looking to find his
answer. He walked and walked through
meadows and hills and valleys. He looked
at the clouds and trees and flowers and
rivers, and he observed animals of all kinds
swimming, flying, and running everywhere.
At last Avram realized, “Each of these things
is so very beautiful and special. But none
of them could be the One and Only Ruler
of the Whole, Wide World. There must be
some being who created them all!”
Then it struck him! “I know! There must be
such a super force that is everywhere, all
the time, but can’t be seen to us human
beings!”
This is how Avram discovered *HaShem,
and from then on he shared this insight
with everybody he met. “I have great news
to tell you – HaShem created the whole
wide world. Let me tell you all about it.
It’s absolutely amazing!”
63
Terach’s Idol Store
Avram knew who HaShem was, but his father, *Terach,
refused to believe his son’s discovery. In fact, Terach was
an idol-worshipper, and he even had a store to sell idols!
(Who knows? Maybe the store was called "Idols R Us"?)
This upset Avram very much, and finally he had a chance
to do something about it.
One day, Terach left his son Avram in charge of his idol
store while he went out for a while.
Within a few moments, a very tall man entered the store.
“Show me the biggest idol you have in stock. It must be
as big as or even bigger than me. Money is no object,” he
said as he took out a huge amount of cash from his wallet.
“How old are you?” Avram questioned him.
“I am 53 years old.”
“And you want to spend a ton of money for a god that was
just made yesterday?!”
“Hmmmm. You’re pretty smart for such a young boy,” he
said and quickly left the idol store.
Next, a very old woman entered. She told Avram the
terrible news. “Young man. I must buy some idols… a
thief robbed me of all my idols last night and I can’t be
in my house without idols for protection. Quick, sell me
some idols!”
“No problem,” answered Avram. “But if the idols couldn’t
protect themselves and they were stolen, how do you
expect them to protect you?!”
“You got a good point, sonny-boy…”, she said as she
walked out of the store empty-handed.
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65
Avram Takes a Stand
What a Mess!
While he was sitting alone in the store, surrounded by lifeless statues, a lady came in
with some delicious food for the idols. An idea popped into Avram’s head.
Upon returning home, Terach entered his
store and… What a shock! What a mess!
He grabbed an ax and smashed all of his father's idols – ALL, except the largest one.
When he was finished, he placed the ax in the arm of the one remaining idol and
placed the food in front of it.
"What on earth could have happened
here?" Terach demanded to know.
Avram replied, "See that big idol standing
over there? All of the idols were shouting
and fighting over the food, and the biggest
and strongest one grabbed an ax and
smashed all the others to pieces! There was
no way I could stop him.”
"What?" Terach exclaimed. "That's
impossible! That's just a piece of rock. It
can’t eat. It can’t talk. It can’t hear. It can't
move. It certainly can't use an ax!"
"Father," Avram replied, "you are quite right.
But if an idol can’t eat, can’t talk, can’t hear,
can’t move and does not have any power,
then why in the world do you bow down to
it?!"
Do you think Terach realized the truth in his
son's words?
No way. He was burning angry!
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67
A Fire and a Miracle!
After the idol-smashing incident, Terach informed *King
Nimrod about Avram’s “terrible” act. Nimrod immediately
brought Avram to a fiery furnace near his palace, pointed to
an idol, and cried out to him, “Bow down to this idol or be
thrown into this fire!”
This did not frighten Avram. He knew that a human king can
never be more powerful than HaShem. He refused to bow
down to the idol. Nimrod was furious and he ordered Avram
to be thrown into the flames!
But... Miracle of Miracles! HaShem commanded the fire not to
harm the one who has served Him so faithfully. Avram came
out from the fire without a burn or a scratch! He announced
to all, ”It is HaShem, the Creator of the world, who saved me!”
As soon as *Haran, Avram’s younger brother, witnessed this
great miracle, he declared, “Amazing, Avram! I now believe
in the ONE AND ONLY HASHEM”.
Immediately, King Nimrod’s officers seized Haran and threw
him into the flames. But unlike his brother, the great Tzaddik
Avram, Haran did not survive the intense fire of the furnace.
Avram was devastated and decided that from then on he
will take care of Haran’s orphaned children, Lot and his sister
*Sarai.
Terach, Avram and their families settled in a place called
*Charan, far away from the wicked Nimrod.
How old was
Avram when he
was thrown in
the furnace?
There are various opinions amongst
the Rabbis as to how old Avram
was when he was thrown into the
furnace. Although Shazak Parshah
depicts Avram as a child, there
are those that say that he was an
adult at the time of the incident.
Regardless, it is accepted by all
Rabbis that Avram, at the tender age
of 3, was already against idol worship
and had begun his journey towards
belief in one G-d.
Years passed. Avram continued to learn
more and more about HaShem and
went around teaching as many people
as possible all about the Creator of the
world. He also ended up marrying his niece,
Sarai...
MAZAL TOV! CONGRATULATIONS!
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69
Avram Packs His Bags
While living in Charan, Avram and his wife,
Sarai, continued to teach others about the
one G-d, HaShem, and gained quite a few
followers. Avram taught the men and Sarai
taught the women.
HaShem saw that Avram and his wife were
the most special, the most righteous and
the most faithful people on planet earth.
He decided to make Avram the father of the
Jewish people–a holy nation, and Sarai the
mother.
One day HaShem called to Avram,
"Lech Lecha – Go away from your land,
from your birthplace, and from your father's
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house, to the land that I will show you. I will
bless you and make you great!"
Could you believe it? Avram didn't even
know where he was going, yet he was ready
to do whatever HaShem asked of him. He
left immediately with his wife, Sarai, and
his nephew, Lot. They were also joined by
many of the people whom they had taught
to believe in HaShem.
The Cupboard Was Bare
After traveling for a very long time, they finally made it to the Land of Israel
(then known as the Land of *Canaan). “Great! We finally arrived to the
place HaShem told us to go!” they all proclaimed.
Yet, it was not so great after all. A terrible HUNGER came upon the land.
The rain stopped falling. Drought set in, crops stopped growing, and fruit
trees stopped blossoming.
The people began to get hungry, but there was no food to be found. There
wasn't a crumb of bread in the breadbox. People were waiting on line at
the stores, but the shelves were bare.
But did Avram complain? Did he say, "Oy! Why has HaShem brought me
to this land? To starve me and my family?" NO! With calm faith, he said to
Sarai, "I hear that Egypt has plenty of food. Let's go down there."
Avram's only regret was that he and Sarai would not be able to fulfill the
*Mitzvah of inviting guests while in Egypt. Well, there was no time to think
about that. They had no choice but to head down south to Egypt to find
food. And the sooner the better!
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At the Palace
Crossing the Border
Sarai was very beautiful, and Avram feared
that when the Egyptian border officials saw
her, they would want to kill Avram so that
they could take Sarai to be *King Paraoh's
wife.
Avram had an idea. He put Sarai in a big
box, in order to smuggle her through the
border without anyone noticing her. But
as a backup plan, he told Sarai that if the
officials did discover her, she should say that
she is Avram's sister. That way, at least they
would not kill Avram.
Avram and Lot approached the border,
with Sarai in the box. The customs officials
noticed the strange box and said, "Hey,
what's in the box?"
Avram was forced to open it.
When the officials saw Sarai, they were
struck by her beauty. Immediately, they sent
a messenger to Paraoh, letting him know
that this beautiful woman “fit for a king”
had arrived with her brother.
Paraoh sent back an urgent message –
“Send me Sarai... NOW!”
At the palace, after taking
one look at Sarai, the king
declared, “You will become
my wife.”
“There is no way that
I can marry you,” Sarai
responded. “I am already
married! Take me back
to Avram… PLEASE! I’m
begging you!”
But Paraoh didn’t listen.
Sarai prayed to HaShem to protect her. HaShem answered
her prayer, and sent 10 terrible plagues on Paraoh.
The plagues made Paraoh realize that Sarai was indeed a
righteous woman, a Tzaddekes, who could not be harmed
because HaShem was watching over her. Paraoh said,
“Quickly! Get Sarai out of here! NOW!”
Paraoh was so amazed by the greatness of Sarai and Avram
that he even sent along with them his very own daughter
*Hagar to be their maidservant! Paraoh declares, “Better a
servant with Sarai than a Princess in Egypt.”
The First 10
Plagues!
Then 10 Plagues in the
*Pesach story weren’t the
first plagues to ever befall
the Egyptians! When Sarai
was kidnapped, she davened
to HaShem for
protection. HaShem
sent 10 terrible
plagues
for this
Paroah to
experience!
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73
Yitzchak - The
Secret Code
The Hebrew name Yitzchak - ‫ יִ ְצ ָחק‬- is
composed of four letters and each letter
has a number value.
100=‫; ק‬8=‫; ח‬90=‫; צ‬10=‫י‬.
Now we can see how each letter in
the name Yitzchak stands for some
dramatic events, either from the past or
the future:
‫ – י‬The nation to descend from Yitzchak
will receive the 10 commandments.
‫ – צ‬Sarah miraculously gave birth to
Yitzchak when she was 90 years old.
‫ – ח‬Yitzchak had his Bris-Milah
(circumcision) when he was 8 days old.
HaShem Does a Mitzvah Too
‫ – ק‬Avraham had a son when he was
100 years old.
Avraham was overjoyed, and immediately went to fulfill the
*Mitzvah of *Bris Milah (circumcision).
Afterwards, Avraham needed to rest and recuperate for a while
until he felt better. As he rested in his tent, HaShem Himself came
to do the Mitzvah of *Bikur Cholim (visiting the sick)!
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83
90
Avraham was 100 years old and
Sarah was 90, when they had
a son. That’s triple the age of
most first time parents!
100
Avram’s small army of 318
men was victorious over
Kedarla’omer’s massive army!
What a miracle!
The Paraoh Avram met in Parshas
Lech-Lecha was not the same Paraoh
who enslaved the Jews in the story of
Passover. “Paraoh” is a generic name
for all Egyptian leaders, just like
“President” or “King.”
8&13
A baby boy’s Bris Milah always
takes place when he is 8 days old.
Yet Avraham’s first son, Yishmael,
had his Bris Milah at the age of
13 years old!
#1
The very first thing HaShem said
to Avram was, “Leave!” This was
test #1 out of 10 tests, and Avram
passed them all with flying colors!
Think about this – Avraham was the
world’s first Jew! He taught everyone he
met all about HaShem. Yet Avraham’s own
father, Terach, was a big idol worshipper
– he even owned an idol shop!
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Before Avram crossed
the border into Egypt, he
hid his wife, Sarai, inside a box. Avram
was usually an out-of-the-box thinker,
but this was a very in-the-box move!
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Shazak Glossary – Lech Lecha
Avraham – Abraham. The first Jew… ever!
Avram – Avraham’s name for the first 99 years of
his life, until HaShem added the extra “Hay.”
Bikur Cholim – The Mitzvah of visiting the sick. It’s
a big Mitzvah, and helps in the healing process.
Bris Milah – Literally - Covenant of Circumcision.
A special ritual that marks a Jewish male’s being
part of HaShem’s special people. Avraham had his
when he was 99 years old. After Avraham a Bris is
performed for Jewish boys at the age of 8 days.
At the celebration we sit down to eat a variety of
traditional foods. It could be either lox and bagels;
cold-cuts and Challah, knishes, kishkeh, kugel and
kreplach, or all of the above.
BTW: Did you ever wonder why so many Jewish
foods start with the letter k? Koincedence?
Canaan – The name of the Land of Israel when the
people of Canaan still lived there.
Charan – The place where Avram and Sarai lived
before Hashem told them to move to Canaan.
Hagar – An Egyptian princess who attaches
herself to Avraham and Sarah. She is the mother of
Yishmael, Avaham’s first son.
Haran – Avram’s brother who was thrown in the
same burning hot furnace that Avram was thrown
into. OUCH! OUCH!
HaShem – G-d. You’ll find Him in every Parshah,
and we’ll keep on translating it for you every time.
That’s because the Torah is all about Him and His
connection to the Jewish People.
Kaput – German and Yiddish word to describe
something broken and useless. For example: “My
cell phone fell into the bathtub. It’s kaput!”
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Kohen – A descendant of Aharon, Moshe’s brother,
the first Kohen. The Kohanim (plural of Kohen)
were assigned to do the service in the Holy Temple,
a.k.a. Beis HaMikdash.
Mitzvah - Usually translated, “a good deed.” But
it’s a lot more than that! It’s fulfilling HaShem’s
commandments and thus connecting to Him. Jews
connect with HaShem through 613 Mitzvahs and
non-Jews through 7 Mitzvahs.
Nimrod – A wicked ruler who threw Avram into a
burning hot furnace. OUCH!
Paraoh – Pharaoh. The generic name of all
Egyptian kings. This Paraoh in our Parshah almost
marries Sarai. WHOOPS!
Pesach – Passover. An 8 day holiday, celebrated in
the spring. It’s a Matzah eating holiday. Crunch…
Crunch… Crunch… Gulp.
Sarai – Literally - “My Princess.” This was the name
of Avraham’s wife before HaShem changed it to
Sarah.
Sodom – A city of wicked, horrible, cruel, evil,
malicious, mean, nasty, hateful, people… with no
manners whatsoever! Home of Lot – Avraham’s
nephew.
Terach – Father of Avram a.k.a. Avraham. Owner
of an idol store. According to one humble opinion,
(yours truly, Shazak), the name of the store was
“Idols R Us.”
Yitzchak – Isaac. Avraham’s son. The first child
to have a Bris Milah at 8 days old. MAZEL TOV!
It’s quite a forgetful celebration - at least for the
“birthday” boy!