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How can the Torah (תורה) say Avrohom "made" souls (asher asu) when humans cannot create souls? The Midrash explains these were geirim who converted, but conversion itself involves giving someone access to their neshamah. Through kiruv and commitment, a person accesses spiritual potential they always possessed but couldn't reach.
The shiur analyzes a Midrash on the verse "and the souls that they made in Charan" (Bereishis 12:5). The Midrash asks how the Torah (תורה) can say Avrohom "made" souls when even all of humanity together cannot create a soul or put a neshamah into a gnat. The answer is that these refer to geirim (converts) that Avrohom and Sarah converted. Rabbi Zweig explores what type of conversion this was, concluding it refers to ger toshav (resident aliens) rather than ger tzedek (full converts). A ger toshav accepts the seven Noahide commandments through a formal commitment before a beit din, but doesn't undergo circumcision or immersion. This explains why Avrohom's converts remained goyim throughout history rather than becoming Jews.
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Why does the Midrash connect Pharaoh's expulsion of the Jews to the mitzvah of shiluach hakan? The shiur develops a chiddush that Pharaoh's sin wasn't only drowning the children, but the insensitivity of expelling the parents afterward. The deeper analysis reveals that Pharaoh may have valued the Jews greatly and wanted to control them—making his expulsion an act of tremendous cruelty, not liberation.
Why does Moshe respond to the splitting of the sea with shirah rather than praise or thanksgiving? Rashi's use of "al libo" reveals that shirah is an emotional expression—a response of love to love. When Hashem shows personal care, the only adequate response is "I love You too," not mere gratitude or praise, and this principle applies to all relationships.
Bereishis 12:5
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