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Posts Tagged ‘Genesis’

Parshat Vayechi, the last in the first Sefer (book) of Bereishit, is where Yaakov (Jacob) gives all of his sons their blessings.

Ironically, though, Yaakov starts with the blessings for Ephraim and Menashe, who were Yosef’s sons that were born to him in Egypt. It all started when Yosef found out that Yaakov was sick (48:1), Yosef “.took his two sons with him.” (presumably to bring them to Yaakov, although it doesn’t say that anywhere). When Yosef and his sons got there, Yaakov “strengthened himself” (48:5) (which also seems strange), sat up on the bed, and told Yosef that his two sons would now be considered like Yaakov’s children, and will get a portion in the land just like the rest of the brothers. Yaakov then called over the 2 children, placed his hands on their heads, and started blessing YOSEF, giving him the famous “Hamalach” blessing (48:16), that the angel that protected Yaakov from evil should also protect Yosef’s sons, and that Yaakov’s name should be associated with them, along with Avraham and Yitzchak, and they should multiply in the land. All these events seem inconsistent, unless we understand what they all mean…

When Yaakov got sick, the Torah doesn’t say that Yosef brought his sons to Yaakov, but that Yosef took his sons with him! What it could mean is not that Yosef brought his sons physically to Yaakov, but that Yosef kept them close to himself, so that they wouldn’t be spiritually influenced by their non-Jewish surroundings! Yaakov recognized this, which is why he felt strengthened when Yosef came to him with his sons. That’s also why when Yaakov claimed the sons as his own, he made sure to stress that it was those two sons that were born in EGYPT (48:5), because their greatness and Yosef’s greatness was that they were Jews DESPITE living in Egypt. And finally, although his hands were on the two sons, Yaakov’s blessing was that Yosef’s children, and anyone who has to live in a non-Jewish world, should be protected throughout history so that we can all be proudly called the children of Avraham and Yitzchak. But it won’t happen unless we learn to put our hands on their heads and guide the next generation! The adults have a duty to take along and guide the kids, and the children have an equal responsibility to let themselves be guided!

In this week’s Parsha, Vayetzei, we can learn an incredible lesson.

The Torah relates how when Leah had her fourth son, Rachel became envious. The obvious question is why wasn’t Rachel jealous when Leah has her first three sons. As Living Each Week explains, Leah named her first three sons based on her emotions; that 1) now her husband will love her, and 2) now she won’t be disliked, and 3) now my husband will have to help me. But it is the fourth one that got to Rachel. When Leah named her son “Because now I can be grateful to G-d”, that’s when Rachel became envious. Rachel realized that she couldn’t achieve the same level of gratitude to G-d that Leah could. How incredible a virtue! To want to have a reason to thank Hashem, just for the sake of thanking Him.

And then there’s us… We have three chances a day to thank G-d through prayer, but do we? And if/when we do daven (pray), is it with enough meaning/concentration? Are we as grateful as we should be even when we DO have a reason? We can all emulate Rachel’s desire to show gratitude by studying prayers, learning about ourselves from them, and improving ourselves THROUGH them.

Parshat Toldot tells the story of Yaakov (Jacob) and Esav, two brothers that couldn’t be any more different. When their father Yitzchok (Isaac) decides that it’s time to bless his two sons, Yaakov ends up getting the better of the two blessings. In comparing the two blessings, though, the Chafetz Chaim points out a very interesting

observation: When Yaakov gets the blessing, the Torah says “And may G-d give you of the dew of the heavens and of the fatness of the earth” (27:28). However, when Esav gets his blessing, Yitzchok says “Behold, of the fatness of the earth shall be your dwelling and of the dew of the heavens from above” (27:39). Why was the order of the fatness and the dew reversed? Read the rest of this entry »

Parshat Chaye Sarah records two major transactions, which begs us to wonder about their connection. The Parsha starts with Avraham insisting on paying for his plot of land in which to bury his wife.

After much negotiating, Efron agrees to accept payment for the plot.

The Parsha then goes into even greater detail describing the efforts of Avraham’s servant in finding a suitable wife for Yitzchak, his son.

What’s the connection, other than then technically both being “transactions”?

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abraham and three angels

As Parshat Vayeira clearly demonstrates, one of Avraham’s most beautiful qualities was his kindness to others. This is demonstrated when his three guests came to visit: Almost everything was done with excitement, enthusiasm, and in excess, solely for the benefit of his guests. The only exception was that when Avraham offered the men water, he specified getting them “a little” water. Why did Avraham suddenly seem to get stingy?

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In Parshat Lech Lecha, among the blessings that Avraham was to receive for leaving all that he had was the blessing that he himself should be a blessing (12:2). How does one become a blessing? Furthermore, Rashi comments that G-d promised Avraham that although he would be identified with Yitzchak and Yakov, any such blessings would end with Avraham’s name at its conclusion. If the sages are correct that Yitzchak and Yakov reached higher levels than Avraham, what made him so special that any blessing would end with him? Read the rest of this entry »

Parshat Noach has G-d proclaiming Noach as being both a “Tzaddik”

(righteous), and “Tamim” (perfect). What’s tricky about that is that the term “Tzaddik” denotes a person that^Òs been accused of something and has been proclaimed righteous, while the term “Tamim” describes a person that required no defense or exoneration. So which one was Noach?

In “Darash Moshe”, Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that if you’re an individual, working on yourself and no one else, your goal should be to perfect your actions and in using the guidelines of the Torah to achieve that perfection. However, if you’re a leader, or in a position to influence others, many times that involves saying or doing things that evoke allegations and accusations. For this reason, many people would rather stay away from communal affairs, and lead a quiet life.

However, G-d told Noach and us that although Noach could have kept to himself and become perfect, He prefers that we stand up for the Torah even if it means facing opponents because of it. The biggest scholars of our past weren’t known as Tamim, but as Tzaddikim (righteous people), because they stood for something! And the best way for us to achieve this goal is to find ONE Mitzvah (consult Kitzur for entire list of commandments) that we’re willing to embrace and stand up for. Read the rest of this entry »

In the beginning, starts the Torah in Bereishit, G-d created the heaven, earth, and everything in between, all by Himself. Then, when it came time to create man, G-d asked his council about it, as it says “Let US make man in our image, after our likeness” (1:26). Just as we see a problem with the idea of G-d needing to confer, Moshe noticed the same problem as he was dictating the Torah from Hashem. The Midrash goes on to explain that G-d insisted on the text, accentuating the importance of conferring with others regarding all major aspects of life (as Jews, a spouse and a personal Rabbi is especially emphasized), and that those who wish to misunderstand the sentence will do so. Rav Wasserman raises a good question, though: Although the lesson is a good one, is it really worth the risk? Doesn’t the potential for negative (people thinking there are multiple gods) outweigh the potential for positive? Read the rest of this entry »

The most famous verse in the entire Torah was first said in this week’s Parsha (Shema Yisroel). As Yaakov prepared to die he gathered his sons around him wishing to reveal to them the date of the final redemption. However, as Rashi references from the Talmud in Pesachim 56a and the Midrash, G-d’s presence departed from Yaakov and he was unable to continue with the prophecy. Yaakov was understandably distraught at “losing” the prophecy and suspected that one or more of his sons had become unworthy of sharing the revelation. Seventeen years had already passed during which the “family” had grown geometrically. Was it possible that during that time the brothers had been negatively influenced by the Egyptian culture? Yaakov confronted his sons and asked them if this was so. They all responded, “Hear O’ Israel (Yaakov),” No! We are worthy of your trust. “The Lord our G-d, The Lord is one!” What is the relationship between revealing the time of the final redemption and the declaration of Shema Yisroel? Read the rest of this entry »