Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bereshit
- Toldot
A major issue in the parsha that touches on the lives of our young people, now and then, is Identity Crisis.
"And the children ‘struggled - vayit’rotz’ztu’ inside of (Rivka)." She said, ‘Why is this happening?' & she inquired of Hashem. G-d then revealed to her, ‘Two nations are inside you, two entities; they will vie for supremacy & the elder will serve the younger." (25:22/3)
We know the famous Medrash that Rivka would pass a house of idolatry & Esav would try to emerge from the womb; she’d then pass a house of study & Yakov would try to get out. Aside from advising us to avoid idolatrous hang-outs, let’s see this Medrash in a different light:
The children inside Rivka, even as unborn fetuses, were already expressing a will & identity of their own. Though they were twin brothers, their characters were decidedly disparate. Each had a distinct "answer" (the word teretz/answer is a root of the word vayit’rotz’ztu) that expressed their own particular world-view.
This totally confounded Rivka: "If my child already behaves in a certain way," she thought, "then "lama zeh Anochi?" why do I need G-d (Anochi)? What place does He have in their development? If their life’s direction is already decided, what role does He play in their destiny?"
G-d answers Rivka: There are 2 entities inside you – in effect, inside every child. The diverse forces compelling & controlling us, the identities which define us, compete against one another in a battle for supremacy. Will we be selfish or compassionate, stingy or charitable? Will we care for others, or only for ourselves? Are we driven by greed, or a desire to do good? While our responsibility is to introduce our children to a G-dly path in life, in the end they alone who choose whether or not to walk down it.
Interestingly, both Esav & Yakov experience a name-change. Yakov – the meek & mild "follower" out of the womb, who hangs on to his brother, will become Yisrael, the leader of the nation whose new name embodies nobility & decisiveness. Esav – who came into the world "asuy," ready-made, with amazing strength & the potential to build the world - becomes Edom, a bloody & barbaric predator who will terrorize & destroy the planet.
Life is all about choices – from the womb to the tomb.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
