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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Toldot
- Can one really sell a birthright? After all, it is a davar she-lo ba l’olam, an intangible thing that does not yet exist (for father Yitzchak is still very much alive). - Is Yakov – known as the "Ish Tam," the man of truth, temimut & wholesomeness - being upright when he trades a bowl of lentil soup for the b’chora? - What real value does the B'chora actually have, & why does Esav, the first--born, want to give it up in the first place?
Not to worry, the Torah throws some important clues our way to sort all this out.
When Esav rushes in from a hard day of hunting in the field, he is….what’s that you say, hungry?! Good try, but guess again! Nowhere does the pasuk call him hungry; but twice it DOES say that he is "ayef," tired! Ok, but what is he tired from? Or better yet, what, exactly, is he tired OF?
The Gemara (Bava Batra 16b) says that on this one day (which was the shiva for grandfather Avraham), Esav committed 5 heinous crimes: he raped an engaged girl, he committed murder, he denied both Hashem & Techiyat HaMetim, & he spurned the b’chora. (Whew, that’s a full day's work right there!) Yet the only sin mentioned in the Torah is "Va-Yivez et ha-B’chora," he scorned the birthright. Why?!
Clearly, the young Esav (he was just 13) is in rebellious mode. He knows that the 1st-born (prior to the sin of the Golden Calf) were expected to be the spiritual leaders of Am Yisrael, the standard-bearers who served as moral models. But Esav wanted no part of this; he was a man of materialism, not spirit. He was tired of shouldering the expectations & restrictions laid upon him, & he simply wanted out. As for the soup? Well, that was just gravy; the really tasty morsel was his liberation from leadership.
Pointedly, Yakov says to Esav, "Michra KA-yom et b’choratcha li," sell your birthright like today to me, rather than "HA-yom, today." Yakov was setting up a scenario, k’iylu, not a strict legal arrangement; he was testing Esav to see if he wanted to take on the reins of leadership.
And that, I suggest, is why the story of the b’chora is told in two separate chapters, instead of all at once. In between, we see that Esav grows up &, at age 40, marries a Hittite woman. Since women are always the catalyst for proper behavior in men, once Esav marries someone whom the Torah calls "morat ruach," spiritually rebellious, it’s clear that Esav cannot & will not take on the mantle of manhigut. And so, immediately after his marriage, we have Part II of the saga, as Yitzchak bestows the b’chora bracha on Yakov.
Friends: It’s tough being G-d’s first-born, it's tremendously challenging to be eternal Lights unto the Nations. Sometimes we, too, get tired; we want to shrug it all off & be just like everyone else. But, no can do, for such is our mission & our mandate. Jewish life is not a bowl of cherries - or lentils.
Rabbis in Midrash
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The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
Chukat "HOW ENTEBBE STOLE THE BICENTENNIAL
The Difference Between Historic & Eternal"
As we approach America's 250th birthday, it's worth remembering her 200th Bicentennial birthday, on Jul. 4th 1976, when Israel "stole the show" by shocking the world & miraculously saving 101 hostages in a foreign continent. As Pres. As Pres. Trump decides which countries get priority in his new Middle-East, it's worth reminding him of the difference between historic events and eternally historic ones. This obviously connects with this week's parsha, as well!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 6 - The Parable of the King of India
The advantages of testimony over circumstantial evidence or philosophical speculation.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
