Vol.

21 Issue #10

Parashas Toldos

The Yichus of the Shaliach Tzibbur

Rabbi Michael Taubes

(YUHSB 76, RIETS 82)

Rosh Yeshiva - YUHSB
Rabbi - Kehilas Zichron Mordechai

The Torah tells us that after Yitzchak and Rivkah

had been married for a while and had been unable to have
children, they each davened to Hashem, asking to be
blessed with children (Bereishis 25:21). Despite the fact
that the beginning of this Posuk (ibid) implies that both of
them davened to Hashem, as pointed out by Rashi (ibid,
s.v. lnochach), the end of the Posuk (ibid) indicates only
that Hashem responded to his prayers, meaning the prayers
of Yitzckak. The Gemara in Yevamos (64a), quoted as well
by Rashi in his commentary on the Torah (ibid, s.v.
vayaiaser lo), wonders why the Torah does not say that
Hashem responded to their prayers, and explains that the
prayers of a Tzaddik who is the child of a Tzaddik are more
powerful than those of a Tzaddik who is the child of a
wicked person. Hashem thus accepted primarily the
prayers of Yitzchak, since he was a Tzaddik who was the
child of a Tzaddik, while Rivkah, though a Tzadekkes
herself, was not the child of a Tzaddik. It would thus appear
that ones Yichus, that is, oness family background, can
play some role in the effectiveness of ones Tefillos.
The Rosh (shut haRosh klal 4 siman 22) quotes an
authority who objected, possibly based on the above, to the
appointment of Chazzonim who came from
undistinguished families because it is a bizuy mitzvah, a
degradation of the mitzvah, to have someone represent the
community as the Sheliach Tzibbur if he does not come
from a distinguished family. The Rosh himself (ibid),
however, disagrees with this reasoning and states that ones
Yichus should not have any bearing on his eligibility to be a
Chazzan. He says that if a person comes from a
distinguished family but is himself wicked, his Yichus is not
worth anything to Hashem. On the other hand, if he comes
from an undistinguished or even a non-observant family,

3 Kislev 5777

but is himself a good person, he should, in the name of

Kiruv Rechokim, be encouraged to be the Chazzan and
thereby be brought closer to Hashem. As a side point, the
Rosh (ibid) does object to the practice of selecting a
Chazzan only because people enjoy hearing his beautiful
voice, ignoring the fact that he may be a wicked person; he
concludes that Hashem has no interest in (only) a beautiful
voice. The Rosh (ibid) clearly believes that the person
serving as a Chazzan must himself be a righteous person,
even though he need not come from a great family.
The Tur (Orach Chaim siman 53) quotes this
Teshuvah from his father the Rosh (ibid) that ones family
background is not important in terms of his qualifications
as a Chazzan, but the difficulty is that this position appears
to go against the aforementioned Gemara in Yevamos
(ibid) which states that the prayers of a Tzaddik from a
righteous family are more powerful than those of a Tzaddik
from a wicked family. The Maharshal (shut Maharshal
siman 20) raises precisely this question against the view of
the Rosh (ibid), and he suggests that perhaps the statement
of the Gemara (ibid) refers only to when a person is praying
for himself and his own needs. In such a case, the prayers
of a Tzaddik from a family of Tzaddikim are indeed more
powerful than those of a Tzaddik from a wicked family,
because the merits of the formers righteous ancestors
(zchus Avos) are taken into account and benefit him, while
the latter has no such merits to assist him. But as for serving
as a Sheliach Tzibbur, if one is recognized as a pious person
himself, the fact that he comes from a wicked or nonobservant family is inconsequential. In fact, the Maharshal
(ibid) adds, it is considered significant and especially
meritorious in the eyes of Hashem that this person has
abandoned the ways of his family and returned to the
proper path. In view of that point, it may even be
preferable to have such a person represent the community
as the Sheliach Tzibbur. This notion may be based in part
on the opinion in the Gemara in Berachos (34b) that Baalei
Teshuvah, from a certain perspective, are on a higher level
than people who were always righteous.

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The Bach, however, in his commentary on the Tur

(Orach chaim, ibid, s.v. vizeh lishono), quotes a view
expressed by the Maharshal in his Sefer Yam Shel Shlomo
on Chulin (perek 1 siman 48) that while it may be , from a
Kiruv Rechokim perspective, good to encourage someone
who is returning to observant Judaism from a nonobservant family to be the Chazzan, if there are two people
whose levels of personal piety and observance are equal, it
is preferable to designate as the Chazzan the one who
comes from a more distinguished family. He then adds that
it is proper to be scrupulous about this, because the prayers
of a Tzaddik from a righteous family are greater than those
of a Tzaddik from a less worth family. The Perishah, in his
commentary on the Tur (ibid, os 7), quotes this view as
well. The Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim, ibid, seif katan
8) likewise writes simply that one should make the effort
to find a Sheliach Tzibbur who comes from a righteous
family for this same reason.
The Taz (ibid, seif katan 3), however, disagrees,
referring back to the aforementioned Teshuvah of the Rosh
(ibid), and pointing out that he implies that it is always
preferable to select as the Chazzan the individual from the
less pious family in order to bring that person closer to
Hashem. He also writes that this persons Tefillos will be
more readily accepted by Hashem than those of the person
from the more righteous family. The Levushei Serad (ibid),
commenting on this view of the Taz (ibid), explains this
latter point by saying that Hashem will see that the Tzibbur
asked this person to be their Chazzan as a means of drawing
him closer to Hashem, whereas the righteous person from
a righteous family did not have the same need to be drawn
closer to Hashem; Hashem will thus more readily accept
the prayers of this person on behalf of the Tzibbur. The
Shulchan Aruch HaRav (Orach chaim, ibid, seif 7) suggests
that the Tefillos of a Tzaddik from a wicked family may be
better than those of the person from a righteous family
precisely because the former has no zchus Avos,
meritorious family background; as a result, his prayers may
be more pure and of a more humble spirit because he
knows he must rely exclusively on Hashem accepting his
prayers. He adds, though, that each situation depends on
particular, individual circumstances. The Mishnah Berurah
(ibid, seif katan 13), writes, however, that it is preferable
to have a Chazzan who is righteous and is from a righteous
family for the reason cited above, and he quotes that when
the Rosh in his Teshuvah (ibid) wrote that the Yichus of the
Chazzan is unimportant, he meant to allow for a Chazzan
from an undistinguished family, but not for one who comes
from a wicked family. The former should be encouraged to
serve as a Chazzan to bring him closer to Hashem, the

Vol. 21 Issue #10

latter, perhaps, should not.

It is interesting to note that when discussing the
qualifications needed for one to serve as a Sheliach Tzibbur
in general, the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim, ibid, seifim
4-6) says nothing about the persons family background.
Elsewhere, however, when discussing the qualifications
relating to serving as a Chazzan on a public fast day, which
is a time of great communal need, the Shulchan Aruch
(ibid, siman 579 seif 1) does mention that the persons
family members ought to be free of sin as well, as implied
by the Gemara in Taanis (16a). The Magen Avraham (ibid,
siman 53 seif katan 6) writes that everything here must be
determined based on the needs and circumstances of the
particular case. The Kaf HaChaim (ibid, os 41) quotes the
different opinions on this entire issue, and as for the
question of who takes precedence as the Chazzan, one from
a distinguished family or one from an undistinguished
family, concerning which the Maharshal (ibid) expressed
conflicting views, as cited above, he too explains that it all
depends upon the feelings and knowledge of the
community which this Chazzan will be representing.
Who Really Got the Bracha?

Yonatan Chudnoff (20)

The parashah starts off by saying that Rivkah got

pregnant, but the pain of pregnancy was unbearable to her,
as the passuk says vayyitrotzetzu habbanim bekirbbah, and the
children struggled together within her.(Genesis 25:22) As
a result, she went and asked Hashem what to do. Hashem
responded by saying shenei goyim bevitneikh ushnei leummim
mimmeiayikh yippareiduverav yaavod tzair, two nations
are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be separated from
thy bowels and the elder shall serve the
younger.(Genesis 25:23) Rashi adds on by saying that if
one nation falls, the other will rise up.
The Medrash Rabba comments by saying that
when it says that the older son will serve the younger son
it is coming to teach about Antonious, a descendant of Eisav
and Roman Emperor, and Rebbi Yehudah Hanasi (Rebbi),
a descendant of Yaakov. The gemara in Avodah Zarah 11a
says that these two people were very good friends and
Antonious acknowledged that Rebbi was greater.
According to the simple understanding it clearly means
that the blessing which was given, was clearly to Yaakov
the older son (Antoninus) will serve the younger son
(Rebbi).
Rav Gedalya Schorr offers a completely different
interpretation. He says the berakhah was really for Eisav;

Page 3

Eisav is evil and his mission in life is to suppress that

evil and to recognize Hashem as God. The way he does
that, is by serving Yaakov, because by serving Yaakov
he will be able to crush his yeitzer hara and will be able
to recognize the kingship of Hashem. Eisav is really the
one getting blessed, because he is being promised he
will be able to complete his life mission. This is the
ultimate intention for zeman mashiach, as we learn in
Ovadiah 1:21: Mashiach will come when the nation
that leads Bnei Yisrael out of exile will ascend Har
Tziyon and will be judged on Har Eisav and realize that
Hashem is truly the only God. May we all be blessed
to be able to experience the speedy coming of
mashiach.
Eisav and the Power of Love

Ezra Epstein (15)

Last Friday, I was eating a turkey-shaped
cookie while on the Jerusalem light rail, on my way to
the Central Bus Station. What was special about this
cookie was what needed to happen in order for it to
get to me: my mother went to Trader Joes, saw the
cookie, thought of me, bought the cookie, and drove
it over to the house of neighbors who were flying to
Israel, who, upon landing and travelling to Jerusalem,
gave it to me. Since I was thinking about all this while
eating the cookie, the experience became more
pleasurable. I wasnt just eating a cookie anymore; I
was experiencing a feeling of closeness with my
mother, despite the fact that she was halfway across
the globe, and probably asleep.
One of the opinions as to why the Torah
mentions that Yitzchak loved Eisav is because Eisav
kept his father well fed. But what about Rivkah? The
Torah does not make a point of saying the same thing
about her, even though the meforshim say that Eisav fed
Rivkah also. Was this not enough for Rivkah to love
Eisav equally?
The answer lies in the characteristics of the
different expressions of love. One expression of love
is servicedoing something for another person to
show your love for them. However, the person on the
receiving end needs to accept this love in order for it
to work. Yitzchak appreciated the service of his son,

Vol. 21 Issue #10

and loved him because of it. When the passuk says that
Yitzchak loved Eisav, it didnt mean that he loved the
meat Eisav brought him, it meant that he loved Eisav.
Take a look at the following Ramban:
Ramban writes that Yitzchak constantly ate the
meat Eisav brought him and never ate anything else.
Was Yitzchak a glutton? Of course not! Instead,
Yitchak was constantly craving the strong relationship
he had with his son. He wanted to make even eating
meaningful by using it as an opportunity to connect
with him.
Rivkah, on the other hand, did not return
Eisavs love. The Ohr HaChaim writes that this is
because of one of several possible reasons, one of
which was that she was from a wealthy family where
she was used to luxuries like fresh game, so Eisavs
meals didnt mean much to her. Another possibility is
that cooking for Mom is nothing compared to what she
has to put up with. Still, why couldnt Rivkah accept
Eisavs expression of love for her, despite her own
standards?
One thing that must be understood about the
nature of love is that most people only like receiving it
in certain forms. For example, a child will really enjoy
getting a gift from his parents, but will usually be
indifferent when his mother does his laundry for him.
Conversely, a mother may appreciate it more if her
child does the dishes than if he buys her flowers for
Shabbas.
So, for whatever reason, Rivkah just didnt
appreciate Eisavs meals. It just wasnt her preferred
form of love. This teaches us an important lesson:
Typically, people give what they want to get. If Eisavs
demonstration of love was steak, then he probably
liked steak. But one must find out how others express
their love, and, when relating to that person, apply
that persons preferred expression instead of their
own and, considering how Eisav turned out in the
end, this understanding can go a long way.`

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Righteousness on a Whole New

Level

Yehoshua Pariser (20)

- - ,
- ,
, -- ,
(Genesis 25:20)

The passuk here describing Rivkahs origins

seems to be superfluous, as we already know her
background from earlier parashos. Rashi picks up on
the apparent redundancy and explains that the Torah
wishes to inform us that even though Rivkahs father
was an evil man, her brother was an evil man and the
people of her town were evil, she did not learn from
their ways and remained a righteous woman.
The Mizrachi asks a very straightforward and
rather obvious question. Why would the Torah need
to use so many words to demonstrate Rivkahs
saintliness, we would have appreciated this anyway
being that Yitzchak deemed her worthy of being his
wife; he surely would not have chosen her as his wife
if she did not contain the necessary elements of
righteousness!?
The Mizrachi answers that it is true that we
would have known the extent of Rivkahs
righteousness, but we would not have understood how
much the Torah wants to praise her and put emphasis
on making it known exactly what type of person she is
and the degree of her righteousness. For this we need
the extra words in our passuk.
The Maharal in the Gur Aryeih asks further.
Once the Torah has praised her righteousness despite
her evil father, why is it necessary for the Torah to
then stress that she was righteous in the face of her
brother and the people in her town. Surely the point
is already clear by contrasting her qualities to the
wickedness of her father. What further idea is
developed by contrasting Rivkah to her brother and
the people in her hometown?
The Maharal answers as follows. There are
three reasons why a person may be influenced by
others to act in an evil way. 1. Out of fear of a person,
2. out of love for a person and 3. to merely following
a local trend. The Maharal explains that Rivkah may

Vol. 21 Issue #10

have been led to sin in all three ways. She may have
followed the ways of her
father out of fear of him.
Similarly,
since
sibling
relationships are to a great
extent based on love, she may
have followed her brother
Lavan. Finally, she may simply
have acted in accordance with
local tendencies and been led
to act in an evil way.
By writing all three
descriptions in the passuk, the
Torah is teaching us three
separate and distinct levels of
Rivkahs righteousness.