Lech LechaArtscroll p.54 | Haftarah p.1133Hertz p.45 | Haftarah p.60Soncino p.60 | Haftarah p.82

Volume 31No. 7

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In loving memory of Yaakov Yehoshua ben Ephraim Hirsch

“God said to Avram, ‘Go for yourself from your land, from your relatives, and from your father’s houseto the Land that I will show you’” (Bereishit 12:1).

20 October 2018 11 Cheshvan 5779

Shabbat ends London 6.44pmJerusalem 6.38pm

Sidrah Summary: Lech Lecha

United Synagogue Daf HashavuaProduced by US Living & Learning together with the Rabbinical Council of the United SynagogueEditor: Rabbi Chaim Gross Editor-in-Chief: Rabbi Baruch Davis Editorial Team: Rabbi Daniel Sturgess, Rabbi Michael Laitner, Sharon RadleyAvailable also via email US website www.theus.org.uk ©United SynagogueTo sponsor Daf Hashavua please contact Danielle Fox on 020 8343 6261, or dfox@theus.org.ukIf you have any comments or questions regarding Daf Hashavua please email rabbigross@theus.org.uk

1st Aliya (Kohen) – Bereishit 12:1-13God appears to Avraham (at this stage still calledAvram), telling him to leave his homeland,Charan (Babylonia), and travel to a land “thatGod would show him”, where he would flourishand father a great nation (see p.3 article).Avraham takes his wife Sarah (at this stage stillcalled Sarai), his nephew Lot and his entirehousehold. They arrive in Cana’an. Avrahamtravels throughout the Land. Famine strikes andthey are forced to go down to Egypt in order tosurvive. Afraid of being killed if the Egyptiansdiscover that Sarah is his wife, Avraham asks herto say she is his sister.

Question: Where did Avraham build an altar?(12:8) Answer on bottom of page 6.

2nd Aliya (Levi) – 12:14-13:4Pharaoh’s officers take Sarah away to theirmaster’s house. They give Avraham copious giftsas ‘payment’. God strikes Pharaoh with a plague.Suspecting that Sarah may in fact be Avraham’swife, Pharaoh confronts Avraham and thenorders him and Sarah to leave. They travel backto Cana’an with Lot.

3rd Aliya (Shlishi) – 13:5-13:18Arguments break out between the shepherds ofAvraham and Lot. Avraham suggests that theypart ways. Lot chooses to live in the immoral cityof Sedom. God appears to Avraham andpromises that his offspring, who will becountless, shall inherit the Land.

4th Aliya (Revi’i) – 14:1-14:20A war breaks out among nine kings. The king ofSedom is defeated and Lot is taken captive. Thisprompts Avraham to mobilise his small force,which miraculously defeats the victorious kingsand rescues Lot.

Point to Consider: Who came to tell Avrahamthat Lot had been taken captive? (see Rashi to14:13)

5th Aliya (Chamishi) – 14:21-15:6Avraham refuses the King of Sedom’s offer tokeep the spoils of the war. Avraham relays hispain to God at being childless. God tells him thathis offspring will be countless, like the stars.

6th Aliya (Shishi) – 15:7-17:6Wary of future sins, Avraham asks for a hint asto how his offspring will merit to inherit and tokeep the Land (see the Ramban’s commentary).God instructs Avraham to cut up several animals,indicating that the future Temple offerings willprotect the nation. Birds of prey descend on thecarcasses. Avraham falls into a deep sleep. Godtells him that his offspring will be enslaved in aforeign land for 400 years. Sarah, still childless,tells Avraham to take her maidservant, Hagar, asa second wife. Hagar becomes pregnant and isdisrespectful to Sarah, who sends her away. Anangel appears to Hagar in the desert, telling herto subjugate herself to Sarah. Hagar gives birthto Yishmael.

7th Aliya (Shevi’i) – 17:7-17:27God instructs Avraham in the mitzvah of britmilah. God says that Sarah will have a child,Yitzchak. Avraham circumcises both himself andYishmael.

HaftarahThe Biblical prophet Yeshaya reassures Israelthat even when they are downtrodden, Goddoes not tire of them and does not forget them;He remains in charge of Creation and weremain His chosen people.

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3In memory of Mordechai Avraham ben Nechemia

An Example to Allby Rabbi Zvi Cohen, Kingsbury United Synagogue

“Few things are harder to putup with than the annoyanceof a good example” (MarkTwain, d.1910).

With all due respect to MarkTwain, not everyone will

agree with this statement. In my role as a Year Six school teacher, I have the pleasure ofaccompanying the class on various end of yearactivities. One of these is a walking tour aroundWestminster, where we spend some time inParliament Square looking at the statues ofvarious individuals who have made an impact on British and world history. These statuesencourage us to honour people who make adifference and to attempt to learn from their goodexample.

At the beginning of this week’s sidrah, Avraham isgiven a command that is the first in a series of tentests that he was given by God: “Go from yourland … to the Land that I [God] will show you”(Bereishit 12:1). Rashi (d. 1105) points out thatAvraham was not told his destination, whichmade this test harder and thereby increased hisreward. When Avraham is given his ultimate testat the end of next week’s sidrah, the Akeidah(binding of Yitzchak), God again does not revealthe exact final destination (see Rashi to ibid. 22:2).

Yet perhaps we can suggest another meaning for the words “that I will show you” (Kara rwa).Instead of referring to the geographicaldestination, these words were referring toAvraham himself. God was saying to Avraham, go from your land and travel somewhere new, as I want to ‘show you to the world’. Humanityneeds an example of someone who understandsthat there is a Creator of the world, as well as an individual who is a paragon of kindness andcan teach the world how to behave. I, said God,want to display your exemplary conduct to theworld.

In truth, this is the role of every one of us. Inparashat Nitzavim, we are told that there willcome a time when we are uprooted from our Landand cast amongst foreign nations (Devarim29:27). Unusually the word “Mklwyv” – meaning ‘he will cast them’ – is written with a large ‘lamed’(l). Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch (d. 1880)writes that this teaches that we are not in exileamong the nations by chance, but by Divinedecree, with a clear purpose. The word lamed, as well as being the name of the letter, means to teach. We are spread far and wide to ‘lamed’,to inspire the world how to behave. Thisresponsibility, as indicated by the size of the letter lamed, is a huge responsibility.

We may never have statues of ourselves ondisplay in Parliament Square, but our every actionis under scrutiny and has an impact on those whoobserve us. As descendants of Avraham, we areall challenged with continuing his mission andovercoming the tests that come our way,conducting ourselves in an exemplary fashionand making a Kiddush Hashem (sanctification ofGod’s Name) at every opportunity.

Mark Twain may have found it annoying, butfollowing Avraham’s example is our very task in life.

Parliament Square

4In memory of Tzemach ben Yisrael

Jewish Contemporary Ethics Part 5: Mankind’s MoralCompass by Rabbi Dr Moshe Freedman, New West End United Synagogue

So far in this series, we haveargued that mankind needsDivine intervention in order todevelop an objective set ofmoral and ethical standards.Before we discuss those areasof God’s laws which mayappear to us ‘unethical’, let us

first deal with a more fundamental question.

Classical secular ethics are based on the premisethat mankind is able to reason into existencesome kind of moral consensus. And many wouldagree.

In his work To Heal a Fractured World, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks notes: “There is nothinginherently ‘religious’ about a moral sense. TheBible takes for granted that human beings knowthe difference between good and evil”. There are many individual displays of morality andaltruism by people outside of the Israelite nation,such as Pharaoh’s daughter rescuing Moshe(Shemot 2:5-10), the Cana’anite Rachav savingYehoshua’s spies (Joshua 2:4) and Ruth theMoabite showing compassion to Naomi (Ruth1:16). Our sages note that Avraham, long beforethe Revelation at Sinai, independently deducedthe existence of God and the 613 mitzvot, whichhe observed (see Talmud Yoma 28a).

Rabbi Sacks quotes Rabbi Nissim Gaon (d. 1062) who stated unequivocally: “Allcommandments that are rational and amenableto human understanding have been binding oneveryone since the day God created mankind onearth”. Mankind has the inherent capacity todeduce that acts such as murder, brutality andviolence are immoral, without Divine revelation.

This immediately sets mankind apart from theanimal world. Animals regularly kill, steal and useviolence. A New Scientist article, for example,described how male chimpanzees have beenknown to beat, murder and cannibalise rivalswhen competing for a mate. A 2014 studypublished in Ethology reported that female

cuckoos misappropriate the nests of magpies bylaying their eggs in them while the magpie is stillincubating its own. Despite violent pecking, themagpies are unable to evict the invading cuckooand eventually abandon their nests, leaving theireggs behind.

Most humans would accept these examples as part of animal behaviour; no one is planningto arrest a chimpanzee for murder or serve aneviction order to a cuckoo! Yet we wouldconsider murder, cannibalism or theft betweenother humans as immoral. Avraham’s sensitivityto God’s moral code allowed him to deduce thewhole of the Torah himself. Whilst this wasexceptional and none of us could claim to be asmorally objective as Avraham, it indicates thatthere must nevertheless be some inner source toour innate sense of morality, however subjectiveit may be.

The Ramban (Nachmanides d. 1270) explainsthat God created humanity from both physicaland spiritual matter, indicated by the formationof Adam from both the dust of the earth and thebreath of God (see his commentary on Bereishit1:26 and 2:7). Mankind is therefore comprised of both carnal desire and Godly intent. Ouranimalistic needs and higher moral aspirationsoften conflict, but we have the freedom tochoose between them. As we will see in the nextarticle, this points to the original creation ofmankind as the seminal moment in conceiving amoral framework for human civilisation and theentire world.

5In memory of Moshe ben Avraham Zarach

Shaimos: The Inestimable Value of Jewish Sacred Texts by Dayan Elimelech Vanzetta, Rabbi of Ahavas Yisrael United Synagogue, Rabbinical and Halachic Administrator for US Burial

On 30 April 2014 the Paris branch of Christie’s,the famous auctioneers,sold a chumash (Five Books of Moses) printed in Bologna in 1482, for US$ 3.87 million. The backof the copy bears the

signature of three 16th and 17th century censors,testifying to its presence in an Italian library at that time.

In the UK, we have the phenomenal CairoGenizah, housed at Cambridge University since it was discovered in 1896. It boasts 193,000manuscripts, which had accumulated in adesignated room of the Ben Ezra Synagogue, inFustat (Old Cairo). Such manuscripts includeboth sacred writings as well as more routinedocuments pertaining to almost 1000 years ofJewish life in Egypt prior to their discovery.

London was home to the Valmadonna TrustLibrary, a fascinating and unique privatecollection of some 13,000 historical printedbooks and manuscripts, meticulously curated byMr Jack Lunzer until his death in 2016. In January2017, the library was sold by its trustees to theNational Library of Israel.

These examples indicate the importanceJudaism ascribes to its books and manuscripts.However, from a Jewish perspective, even adamaged book that is no longer fit to be usedmay be just as important as the Italian Chumashsold by Christie’s. Indeed, we find in Devarim(12:4) that one may not destroy (erase or discard disrespectfully) any of God’s Names.Furthermore, we are commanded to store allsacred Jewish texts in a box known as a genizah(more commonly referred to as Shaimos1),irrespective of the language they are written in(Mishnah Shabbat 16:1). These requirementsextend to several objects used in theperformance of mitzvot.

One of the important mitzvot US Burial isroutinely involved with is the respectful disposal of sacred texts and objects sent to

our Bushey and Waltham Abbey Cemeteries by the administrators of our constituent USsynagogues. The method of disposing of suchtexts and objects will vary according to their levelof holiness, with some requiring a proper burial,such as a Sefer Torah which has been damagedbeyond repair, damaged tefilin and mezuzahparchments, as well as printed siddurim whichare no longer used. Other texts, however, suchas printed Torah articles and pamphlets intendedto be used temporarily, have a lesser degree of holiness and may therefore be discarded in other ways, such as double wrapping the itembefore placing it in a regular domestic rubbishbin.

Given the various types of sacred texts and objects and the different methods of disposing of each of them, US Burial hascreated an extremely useful and conciseShaimos Guide, which is available online(www.theus.org.uk/shaimosguide). It helps usestablish what is and what is not consideredShaimos, what should be sent to our cemeteriesand what may be dealt with locally.

By treating our sacred books and objects withthe deference they deserve, even whendisposing of them, we are able to show theAlmighty that whilst our old, damaged siddur orchumash may not have a price tag of US$ 3.87m,it is nevertheless precious in our eyes. A cost-free way of performing a mitzvah of inestimablevalue!1 We normally use the Modern Hebrew pronunciation in the

Daf for all Hebrew terms. However, this is the term morecommonly used in our communities.

Solomon Schechter studies documents from theCairo Geniza (photo: Cambridge University Library)

6In memory of Frida Mirel bat Chaim Simcha

100 Years since the Birth of Chaim Herzogby Rabbi Michael Laitner, Jewish Living Division Rabbi; Assistant Rabbi, Finchley United Synagogue

185 Cliftonpark Avenue inNorth Belfast is an unlikelystarting point for a greatJewish journey. It was thehome of the renownedRabbi Dr Yitzchak andRebbetzen Sarah Herzogwho, on 18 September

1918, were blessed with their first son. NamedChaim, after the great Talmudist Rabbi ChaimSoloveitchik of Brisk, who passed away earlierthat year, the newborn child was to have adecisive impact on the Jewish world, includingserving as Israel’s sixth President, from 1983-1993. He passed away in 1997. His wife, AuraHerzog, was a social activist and a full partner inhis work.

As part of the commemorations for the 100thanniversary of Chaim Herzog’s birth, there is aspecial service this Shabbat at FinchleySynagogue. This and following articles will surveyhis achievements, alongside those of his famousparents and his younger brother, Rabbi YaacovHerzog.

The Herzog family left Belfast in 1919, whenRabbi Herzog took the position of Chief Rabbi ofIreland in Dublin. Chaim later followed his parentsto Mandatory Palestine, when his father wasappointed Chief Rabbi. Chaim studied at YeshivatMerkaz Harav and Yeshivat Chevron beforeserving in the Haganah. He then read law atLondon University and qualified as a barrister.

His active service in the British Army during andafter World War Two included a period in militaryintelligence, when he interrogated many leadingNazis.

He fought in the Israeli War of Independence of1948, remaining in the military until 1962,including a stint as Israel’s Military Attache inWashington. He later returned to the military,notably during the Six Day War of 1967, rising tothe rank of Major-General. During the Six-DayWar, his English-language broadcasts with theirfamiliar Irish lilt, told Israel’s story to the world and

reassured his listeners. The broadcasts havebeen preserved on YouTube.

After spells in industry, he was one of thefounders of the prominent Israeli law firm Herzog Fox Neeman, also serving as Israel’sAmbassador to the UN from 1975-1978.

His knowledge of Jewish law, history and theTanach (the Hebrew Bible), was demonstrated inhis literary activity. He authored important bookson Biblical and Israeli military history, as well ashis fascinating memoirs Living History. He alsoedited a book of his father’s writings in English,Jewish Law and Ethics (Soncino Press, 1975).Eliyakim Rubinstein, former Deputy President ofthe Israeli Supreme Court, who worked inHerzog’s presidential team, related that Herzogwould begin meetings with a Torah thought fromthe Tanach.

Perhaps the most memorable of his many finepublic moments was his remarkable speech at theUnited Nations General Assembly in 1975, againstthe infamous ‘Zionism is Racism’ Resolution.Concluding by putting trust in “our Providence, inour faith and beliefs…” he ripped up the Resolutionat the podium. The speech is preserved onYouTube and reproduced in Living History as wellas the United Synagogue/Koren machzor, FromExile to Redemption. The historian Simon SebagMontefiore included it in his book Speeches thatChanged the World (2013).

Chaim Herzog’s family remains active in Israeli life.Notably, his son Yitzchak held several roles in theKnesset, including chairman of the Labour Party.He is the current Chairman of the Jewish Agency.

Chaim Herzog’s life story should be of greatinterest to British Jews. It may also inspire us,even from unlikely starting points, to do greatthings for theJewish people.

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Due to unforeseen personal circumstances, we were unable to produce a Tribe Scribe; this is areproduction of Lech Lecha 2016.