GEN1582 If man occupies himself with the study of Torah and acts of kindness and so awakens the Divine attributes of mercy, then when he is, God forbid, in trouble, the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself, will hear his case and extended His chesed to him. So the person will surely be saved. It is otherwise when a person has been exclusively preoccupied with Torah study, and he did not devote himself sufficiently to acts of chesed. Then the Heavenly chesed is correspondingly not aroused on his behalf. So if he afterwards suffers distress, God forbid, and he is, at the same time, arraigned in Heaven, then he will not succeed in entirely preventing the forces of justice exercising power over him. This is the meaning of Chazal's assertion: "He who only occupies himself with Torah study and not with kindness is as if he has no God." He is like one who has no God to shield him by His Divine Mercies and chesed from the forces of justice, because he had cast those holy virtues behind him. A similar idea is expressed in Bava Kamma (17a), according to one version: "Whoever occupies himself with Torah and acts of chesed, his enemies shall fall before him, as his written of Joseph (Deuteronomy 33:17): 'He shall gore the people, all of them, even to the ends of the earth.' He acquires intuitive understanding like the children of Issachar, (1 Chr. 12:32): 'And the children of Issachar had understanding of the times…'" Through the merit of Torah study one requires understanding like the children of Issachar, whose occupation was Torah and thereby they acquired understanding; through his acts of chesed one causes his enemies to fall before him, as Joseph did because he engaged in acts of kindness in very great measure.  He supplied food to many lands during the famine, and in particular to his father Jacob’s family.  Also, he took care of his father’s funeral, and this too is deemed chesed by Scripture [this verse]. … one should appreciate this greatness of the virtue of chesed; one should cling to it, as so be rescued from distress both in this world and the next.  AHAVH 92-3

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GEN1583 True kindness is when you help someone without any ulterior motive.   Rashi comments on the phrase “kindly and truly” that kindness which is shown to the dead is true kindness, for one who does chesed for a dead person certainly does not look forward to any payment.   When someone does something for another person so that the person will in turn do him favors, the action cannot be considered true kindness.  Rather, it is a form of bartering in which the merchandise is not objects but favors. Whenever you do something for others, have their benefit in mind, not your own.  (Shaloh, cited in Eved Hamelech, Braishis, p. 118a).   PLYN 124

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GEN1584 R. Binyamin b. Yefet said in the name of R. Elazar: “This is as people say: ‘Bow down to the fox in his time’” [when he is in authority]. Megillah 16b TEMIMAH-GEN 184

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GEN1585 With some minor exceptions, promises are not enforceable.   The law that reflects   common cynical appraisal of promises.   They are hollow words spoken by someone eager to make a good impression.   There are several reasons for the failure of the law to give promises binding force.   A promise may be a declaration of intent rather than a formulation of an irrevocable decision. Promises flow from sudden impulses and do not represent a reasoned conclusion. The extemporaneous phraseology of a promise lacks careful framing. Promises are frequently made in jest. From a legal point of view, promises may be broken with impunity.   [Note: The reader should be cautious; this is not necessarily true under American law – AJL].   What about the moral point of view? Does a person who has no regard for his word brand himself as untrustworthy? Does a breach of promise constitute a breach of faith and trust? Most biblical passages and injunctions dealing with promises relate to oaths and vows, which are legally binding. Jacob made Joseph swear that he would transport this body for burial at the Cave of Machpelah [this verse]. Jacob realized that Joseph’s responsibilities might make it difficult for him to get a leave of absence. This might force him to break a promise, but he would never violate an oath. Prior to Joseph’s death, he too made his kinsmen swear that his skeleton would be removed from Egypt when all the Hebrew slaves departed the land. Genesis 50:25 A later generation might not feel bound by a mere promise made several centuries earlier, especially if circumstances rendered such a time-consuming task a most difficult assignment. He therefore demanded an oath. To preclude the possibility of retraction, all promises made to God were put in the form of a vow. “And Jacob vowed a vow, saying: ‘If God will be with me … of all that thou shalt give me, I will give a tenth unto thee’” Genesis 28:20-22.  And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said …” Numbers 21:2   Ecclesiastes warned people against breaking a vow on the excuse that it was unintentional and “made in error” Ecclesiastes 5:5.   Apparently there was no significant opprobrium attached to a breach of a verbal promise to a fellowman.   BLOCH 248-9

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GEN1586 See [[GEN250]] Genesis 2:7 nostrils ROSNER 284-5

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GEN1587 It was taught: “If a woman curses her husband’s father in his [her husband’s] presence, she is divorced without receiving the amount stipulated in her kethubah [marriage contract.] R. Yehudah said in the name of Shmuel: “This need not be specifically in his presence, but applies even if she curses his father in the presence of his children [for ‘grandchildren are considered, as children.’] A device for remembering this is: ‘Ephraim and Menashe will be to me as Reuven and Shimon’” Ketubot 72b TEMIMAH-GEN 185

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GEN1588 The dominant image of God in the Bible is as a shepherd of God’s human flock generally and of Israel in particular [this verse; Isaiah 40:11; Psalms 23:1] --an image that uses the relationship between humans and farmed animals to describe the ideal human-divine relationship. (By Aaron S. Gross, "Jewish Animal Ethics") OXFORD 420

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GEN1589 The classic Jewish blessing on Friday evening by a Jewish father to his son is “May God make you like Ephraim and Menasheh.”   Of all of the great people to aspire to, why did the rabbis choose these two (relatively minor biblical personalities) and ignore Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and so on?  One possible answer is that unlike Isaac and Jacob, who grew up in a totally Jewish household in the land of Israel, Menasheh and Ephraim were born and raised in the land of Egypt, where they were the only Jews in the entire land and they had to “act Egyptian” as children of the king’s viceroy.   Nevertheless, they were able to remain good Jews, as they were brought up properly by their father Joseph.   … The other half of the blessing, for girls, can now be understood.   There, the four mothers of Judaism are mentioned as models, because each of them grew up in an environment alien to Judaism, yet, nevertheless, emerged as Jewish women with the right Jewish values. Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel all had fathers who did not exemplify Jewish values, and they all grew up in the most non-Jewish of environments.  Like Menasheh and Ephraim, they, too, were able to withstand the pressures and influences of their environments to develop the right attitudes and pass them on to their children. … it is the obligation of Jewish parents to try and instill those values that will last and remain with children when they become adults so that they will be able to live Jewishly in any environment in the world. AMEMEI 138-9  

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GEN1590 The true ba’al mussar will be acutely aware of the dual-faceted nature of the humility concept. On the one hand as he strives ever-upwards in his quest for self-fulfillment, he will learn to recognize his own self-worth and his own stature and dignity as a Torah Jew, who can aspire to attain the highest rungs of spiritual fulfillment in his role as man-Israel. Thus, the Sages teach us that the Torah Jew must always say to himself, “When will my deeds approach those of my ancestors, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov?” Tanna Devei Eliyahu Rabbah, Chap. 25.  Similarly, it has been said in the name of Rav Moshe Feinstein [Rav Moshe Feinstein, venerable Dean of Mesifta Tiferes Jerusalem in Manhattan, was regarded as the leading Posek or halachic authority of our generation.] that when a father blesses his sons each Friday evening, he makes them perennially aware of their high calling as descendants of the Shivtei Kah – the “Tribes of God” – as he invokes the worlds of the Patriarch, Jacob – “May God make you as Ephraim and Menasheh.”  [this verse]. In this way, the Jewish child is made aware from his earliest youth that he must always aspire to attain the magnificent spiritual splendor of his ancestors, setting before his eyes the resplendent example of Ephraim and Menasheh, who, surrounded though they were by the sensual pleasures of Egypt, nevertheless managed to emerge with the full radiant spiritual statute of the Shivtei Kah –the sons of Jacob – the “Tribes of God.” FENDEL 160-1

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GEN1591 Concerning the explanation of [this verse], Rashi states that Yaakov suspected Shimon and Levi of having sold Yosef.   The reason he suspected them and did not suspect Issachar and Zevulun of having committed this sin is that they [the latter] did not speak in the presence of their elder brothers.” Rashi’s explanation indicates that this principle of derech eretz [proper conduct] was assumed as a matter of course by the Patriarchs and their sons.  [See also 31:4 “Rachel”] WAGS 74

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