Parashas Miketz

Our Parsha this Shabbos Chanukah in the New Month of Tevet, is Parashas Miketz.
In this Parsha,Pharoah ( Par'o ) has his dreams and only through HaShem,does Yosef interpret the meanings of them,for none who surrounded Par'o could interpret the dreams to their real meanings. But how did Par'o know that his people were interpreting incorrectly?For within the dreams, HaShem had put their meanings to Par'o subconsciously, even though Par'o did not consciously understand their meanings.When Yosef came and received the interpretation of the dreams from HaShem ,interpreting for Par'o, Par'o knew that this interpretation was correct for subconsciously Par'o was shown by HaShem the meaning.
Yosef offered more than the interpretation,for he also suggested a plan of action to handle the seven years of abundance and the seven years of famine and so, was promoted to viceroy of Egypt and given a title by Pharoah called 'Zaphenat Paneach' which meant ,'Revealer of Hidden things,' as well as also meaning, in the ancient Egyptian Arabic, 'Food man of life,' though it is HaShem who gives life.
Torah says that Yaakov,Jacob saw that there was 'Corn' in Egypt. As Rashi says,the word for 'Corn' here in this Parsha, is 'Shever,' which is like the Hebrew word 'Savar,' which also means 'Hope,' for deep within Yaakov's soul, he never lost his hope for his beloved Yosef , even though Yaakov never consciously realized his son Yosef was still alive, so he sent his sons to Egypt to enter through separate gates from each other. Yosef's brothers hoped to find Yosef.
It is here that Yosef's brothers come to Yosef and Yosef's dream was fulfilled and their morals tested. 
The name of the Parsha is Parashas Miketz and the word 'Miketz,' means 'End,' for it was at the end of two years 'to the day' after the Chamberlain of the Cup-bearers had come out of prison on Yosef's interpretation of the Cup-bearer's dream and even though the Cup-bearer didn't mention Yosef as Yosef had wanted, the time had now come for Yosef to be free and rise to his position of leadership as set for Yosef from his birth. 
When HaShem Makes the time, it is never a moment later , for when HaShem decides the 'Miketz' - 'The End,' so does it happen instantly.
Even though Yosef had to wait another two years in prison, when HaShem makes the time of the 'Miketz,' - ' The End,' it comes as a flood,for Yosef was quickly rushed from the prison,cleaned and dressed and immediately brought to stand before Pharoah Par'o . It is HaShem Who decides the 'Miketz,' not us . It is HaShem Who Chooses the deliverer, not us. 
The word 'Miketz,' is a word that also refers to the Time of the End Of Days, when HaShem will send Moshiach and when HaShem will usher in the End Of Days. This is also called the 'Miketz.' Though we wait and have waited for so long, when the time does come, it will come like a flood.There will not be the case of Moshiach coming and then going away for hundreds of years and returning. The true Moshiach will come and all the prophecies surrounding that, will come at the same time and all will be happen as The Tanach tells us it will,in this period - as a flood. This is the 'Miketz.'
As Rambam says in his Thirteen Principles of Faith, Moshiach will come and though he tarries, we must await him every day for him to come for though he hasn't yet shown himself as Moshiach,when he does come, all the prophecies of the 'Miketz' - the Final End Of Days , will come like a flood . We must remember though not to have our beliefs centred around a Mashiach centred belief. It is and must always be, HaShem , Who is the Centre of all . Moshiach is just HaShem's servant as Yechezkiel 36 shows. It is and must always be, HaShem to Whom we follow and pray and speak and long for.
Though we don't know the time of the 'Miketz,' - 'The End of Days,' we are to work toward it every day and make sure that we plead for this time to come and prepare ourselves all the time for this period, for we never know when it could be. Though HaShem Set Moshiach's name at the Beginning of Creation ,we must always be ready for HaShem to Come and Make the World around us ready by making this World a World where HaShem is made welcome and can Dwell within the World and among us, as HaShem always wanted since Creation . It was this way in Gan Eiden and it is to be this way at the End Of Days. We can bring on the End of Days with certain Mitzvot and keeping Shabbos. Our Rabbis say that if we all,as Jews,just keep two Shabbos's in a row, the Time of the End will come. 
HaShem tells us in the Books of the Prophets, that it can be at any moment, sooner or later, depending on us, but either way HaShem Will Bring on the Time.
And when HaShem Brings on the Time, it will happen in its time - It's 'Miketz,' and will happen as a flood, as it did with Yosef who very quickly and suddenly became the leader.
While we Jews now celebrate Chanukah, let us also remember to keep our faith of Judaism clean and pure and only follow HaShem as He Instructs us to do,never mixing in, other beliefs and faiths that are not Torah. There is only one true way and that is HaShem's Way from His Torah Laws . As we light each candle on this Blessed Chanukah, let HaShem's Holy Light bring HaShem's Oneness to all so that this World returns to be a World of G-D , where all follow HaShem's Ways only and the true Miketz Time can come. 
Let us all , from now on , make the most extreme effort,to put our own feelings and wants aside,to welcome HaShem back to the World HaShem Made, so that HaShem can Dwell among us and we can return to the state of Gan Eiden, by following whole-heartedly, HaShem and His Commandments as set out for us in The Holy Torah and so , bring this World to its Final and Holy Miketz , to be surrounded and to live within the Sweetness of HaShem.
With love to HaShem , I wish HaShem with love, a sweet and beautiful Shabbos Kodesh and Happy Chanukah and Chodesh Tov with love and to all my fellow Yidden, a sweet and beautiful Shabbos Kodesh and Happy Chanukah and Chodesh Tov with love.May this World be a World of peace and holiness where all follow HaShem .

Parashas Vayeishev

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Vayeishev.
In this Parsha,we are told that it was in Canaan that Yaakov settled and the Torah tells us about Yosef. 
Yosef, the son of Rachel was very beloved to his Father and so, Yosef,was favored above the other sons.Yaakov saw a sparkle of light and holiness in Yosef that was very deep and so, Yaakov gave Yosef a coat of many colors.It was custom in those days that the son that a Father chose to be over the family, was given a coat of position and so the brothers hated Yosef even more.This is a lesson for us today,never to favor one child over another,but to regard all children from HaShem as a special gift and blessing. The Torah tells us that Yosef would bring reports of his brothers to their Father. His intention was not to make trouble for them,but for their Father to correct their ways,so that their holiness could shine through and so that they could come closer to HaShem .
Sadly, Yosef misunderstood some of the things he saw his brothers doing, and so the hatred grew.
When Yosef, had his dreams of being above his brothers, again, the intention was never one of arrogance at all, for we all know how prophetic his dreams became, for no doubt, his brothers did end up standing before him, later on in years, when Yosef became the viceroy. Again, his intention for sharing his dreams with them, was to get them to improve their ways and listen to him so that he could bring them closer to HaShem .
As Yaakov had dreams,so did Yosef have dreams and both enjoyed dwelling in tents , studying HaShem's Holy Wisdom.Yaakov and Yosef were very much alike. 
Yaakov hadn't heard from his sons for awhile and he chose to send Yosef to go looking for them. Yaakov walked Yosef out of the camp, teaching Yosef the lesson of the Egla Arufah, the Law of the heifer whose neck is broken, when a person is found murdered on the roadside and the murdered is not known.This is the last lesson Yaakov spoke to Yosef before the brothers did what they did to him .
On the way, the Angel Gavriel appeared to Yosef in the guise of an elderly man , telling Yosef ,his brothers had gone to Dothan, where , within the word 'Dothan' was the word 'Din' which had a hidden reference to the fact that his brothers had gone to judge Yosef,but Yosef continued going ahead,not heeding the warning and found his brothers. It was Simeon, who said,'behold,the dreamer comes.' While their words echoed in saying, 'We will see what will become of his dreams,' HaShem said, 'We will see what will become of his dreams for this Yosef will be the one before whom the brothers will have to stand.
They tried shooting arrows at him from far and when he came closer they climbed into him, ripping his tunic and throwing him into one of the pits with scorpions and snakes,ignoring his pleas and cries.Reuvain did not agree with what the other brothers were doing to Yosef and Reuvain's intention was to save him later from their hand and return him to their Father.Midianite traders came,lifted him out of the pit and sold Yosef to Ishmaelites and so was Yosef brought to Egypt, a place completely opposite to Yosef's moral and pure ways.
Yosef ended up in the home of Potiphar ,whose wife Zulaicha made constant advances to this very pure soul of Yosef . Yosef had been found to be of pure and honest ways ,seeing that HaShem was with Yosef and so, Potiphar had promoted him to be in charge of all he ( Potiphar ) had. The word 'Potiphar ,' so named at the time referred to Potiphar's inability to bare children for the word Potiphar at the time came from the Egyptian word 'Potiphara,' which meant 'the mutilated one.'
Yosef turned away from Zulaicha and would not sin with her no matter how many times she tried (for she was completely captivated by his looks) , so she had him wrongly accused and Yosef was thrown in prison.It was here that Yosef met the chief butler and chief baker who Par'o had put in prison, under suspicions of trying to poison him and HaShem showed Yosef the interpretation of their dreams .Within each of their dreams, was the interpretation of the other's dream and so each knew, that the interpretations given by HaShem through Yosef, were correct and true.
Back at home, Yaakov could not be consoled for his beloved Yosef. It was his son Yehudah who brought Yosef's blood stained garment for Yaakov to recognize and Yaakov's own words to his own Father Yitzchak, reverberated now, when Yehudah asked his Father to recognize his son's garment as Yaakov had said to his own Father Yitzchak,when he came to get the Blessing from his Father instead of Eisav (whose it never was in the first place) for Yaakov was to be the first born,till Eisav push him out of the way as they were both being born ,causing Yaakov to be grabbing onto Eisav's heel at birth. As Yaakov was away from His own Father for twenty two years, so was Yosef away from Yaakov for the same amount of time.Such is providence,for each action a person does is accountable.
The brothers became angry at Yehudah , for not stopping their actions against Yosef for their Father became inconsolable over Yosef and so,Yehudah distanced himself from his brothers for the brothers themselves didn't want him around for they blamed him for not stopping them hurting Yosef.Yehudah had two sons,who both died (again providence shows for Yehudah was punished for what he did to his own Father in letting his Father think Yosef had been torn by an animal)for hiss sons died after not wanting to bring forth children from Tamar, the holy daughter of Melchizedek Shem .For Yehudah's sons,first Er sinned by not bringing forth children when he was with Tamar, for he didn't want to spoil her beauty and so he died and the same happened to Onan (who married Tamar in levirate marriage) Yehudah's second son,who did not want to bring up children in his brother's name and he died also. Yehudah thus feared giving Tamar, his third son Shelach .So Tamar, wanting to have a child from the holy line of Yehudah, stood by the road side with her head covered and consorted with Yehudah,for the sole purpose of having a child of this holy line.Yehudah hadn't known it was her, as she had , out of purity , always covered her face in the presence of Yehudah while she was married to his sons.
Yehudah got to know of Tamar's pregnancy and even at the stake, Tamar did not name Yehudah, till she sent him that which he had given her as a pledge - again HaShem's providence against Yehudah's actions for she sent Yehudah back the similar words he had said to his Father Yaakov 'Recognize if this be yours or not ,' when she sent him back the pledge he had given her.She would rather have let herself be burnt, then embarrass him.Yehudah did the right thing by owning up and so the line of David is born.What a difference of holy Tamar, rather than Potiphar's wife Zulaicha who foresaw someone in her family marrying Yosef,so she pursued Yosef day after day, not because of holy reasons, but because of the debauchery and unholiness of Egypt. Potiphar and Zulaicha had adopted a daughter called Osnas-Asenath, who was actually Yaakov's grand-daughter,for she was Dinah's daughter from Shechem,who also ended up in Egypt and so, became the wife of Yosef, and so she was a member of Yaakov's family.
The Parsha , starts with telling us that Yaakov 'Vayeishev' - 'Settled,' in the land of his Father's sojourns.A person can only truly settle in a place that is that person's home. The only true home for a Jew, is the Holy Land, the land Promised by HaShem, to Avraham and his descendants.There is no where else a Jew can truly call home. It is only in our Holy Eretz Yisrael that we are at home.Yosef felt the true feeling of Galut- Exile , away from Canaan,the feeling Jews feel when away from Israel . Even the most irreligious Jew, feels the sweet Heimishe (homely) feeling of Israel, when coming home to it. It is Israel , that ties Jews of all walks of life everywhere , together under our one and only homeland of Eretz Yisrael . No other place is home to the Jew. To make Israel truly our home, we need to be as Yosef was, keeping the Laws strictly as HaShem Wants us to . The Jew needs to to understand that to deserve this gift of Israel from HaShem , the Jew needs to uphold G-D's Holy Laws in Israel . We, as Jews need to know that to truly settle in Eretz Yisrael, we must welcome HaShem , Who Gives us this land, by keeping His Commandments . It cannot be a land like others , where people forget HaShem's Laws. The Land of Israel, the place where every Jew is to know they will eventually 'Vayeishev,' - ' Settle,' is to be a place of G-D . One cannot have Israel and try throw out G-D or His Laws Chas Ve Shalom .It is only in Eretz Yisroel, that HaShem wants his Shechinah to 'Vayeishev' - 'Settle,' and HaShem Will only let this happen if we follow G-D properly as He Wants to be Followed there.
Israel is not as any other place on Earth . It is the Place of G-D and so must we keep it that way, ridding it of all forms of idolworship from its borders and from everywhere. 
We stand on the verge of Chanukah, a time of miracles for our people, where our people are given miracles when we purify ourselves from all forms of idolworship.No matter where we live, we must be Jews,as Yosef was , following HaShem and His Laws, even in the Diaspora in Exile - may it end soon .Till today, we bless our children on the Holy Shabbos,to be as the children of Yosef, Ephraim and Menasseh, remaining Jewish and keeping all HaShem's Laws, even while in the midst of the Diasporah,never being tempted to stray , but remaining strong and pure Jews as the story of Chanukah teaches. When we are pure to HaShem and Judaism, oil of miracles continues to last.
Let us always remember this and remain pure, keeping HaShem's Laws and remaining faithful to HaShem always,letting the oil of our pure light of Neshoma within us, burn holy and pure so that we can settle in our Holy Land and bring back HaShem's Holy Shechinah to this Earth forever in love. 
With love to HaShem, I wish HaShem with love, a beautiful and sweet Shabbos Kodesh and Happy Chanukah with love and to all my fellow Yidden, a beautiful and sweet Shabbos Kodesh and Happy Chanukah with love.

Parashas Vayishlach

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Vayishlach.
In this Parsha,Yaakov 'Vayishlach,' sends angels to his brother Eisav .This is just before the meeting between Yaakov and Eisav after so many years of being away.Our sages have differing opinions as to whether these were real angels, or human messengers , for the word 'Malach,' can refer to both, as an angel is also a messenger of HaShem. Rashi says that they were real angels, which shows the stature and holiness of this very holy Yaakov,that he would have the right to request angels to do something for him. HaShem Wants us to be partners with Him in Creation and to work with all that is Created, to ensure a Holy World for HaShem so HaShem allowed Yaakov, a most righteous and holy man,to command angels, as HaShem Does,for the good of holiness.It also shows that a person who walks in HaShem's ways is a messenger of HaShem to carry HaShem's Words and Laws to the World.
Yaakov takes different measures to ensure the safety of the camp,by splitting his camp so that should Eisav and the four hundred men,he was on the way with, should attack one of Yaakov's camps, the other camp can escape.Yaakov also prays to HaShem for help.Yaakov sends Eisav a tribute to try appease him though Eisav refused the tribute showing that even within the most evil, is still a small spark of good.Yaakov sends a message to Eisav that Yaakov had sojourned with Lavan, a known powerful evil man and HaShem had kept him safe and that Yaakov had overcome Lavan so, Eisav should be wary too.
When Yaakov reached the Ford of the Yabbok, he sent his wives over the stream and his possessions too , by making a number of crossings of the stream. When Yaakov returned to take the last of his jars, a man appeared , who asked him to help with the man's possessions,which Yaakov kindly did. When Yaakov returned, he saw the man's possessions had gone back to the side of the stream where he,Yaakov, had carried them from .So again Yaakov took them over for the man, only to find that the same thing kept happening. Yaakov repeatedly kept taking the man's possessions over and they kept returning.When Yaakov questioned the man and what kind of a spiritual being he was to do such magic, a fight broke out and Yaakov realized that he was facing more than a man.This was the angel Samael, who was the protective angel of Amalek, the Jew's enemy and this angel was the same one that tempted Chava in the beginning, in Gan Eiden .
The fight raged through-out the night and Yaakov again showed his superior strength,even against the might of one of the most powerful of angels.Samael knew he was beaten and managed to damage Yaakov in the socket of his hip and because of this,Jews do not eat this part of Basar to this day,called the Gid HaNasheh.This shows that , though through time, Amalek and the enemies of the Jews will hurt us, they will not overcome us, but we will overcome and destroy them in the end, those who harm us.
The angel of Eisav Amalek Edom begged Yaakov to release him so he could go and sing Shira (Songs of Holiness) to HaShem on the one time he was given the opportunity to do so, but Yaakov would not let him go till the angel of Eisav would bless him,thus ratifying the Blessings taken from Eisav and given to the rightful Yaakov.It Is here that Yaakov's Name becomes Yisrael, which means 'Prince of G-D,' as well as 'Yeisher El,' which means 'To walk in the straightness of G-D ,' a message of who Israel is to be,a people that walks in the straightness of the One True G-D HaShem ,teaching all to do so.
HaShem caused the Sun to be hotter to help heal Yaakov.
It was then , that Yaakov faced Eisav and they parted in a semi-form of peace.Yet Yaakov hid his daughter Dinah from Eisav, lest Eisav cast his eyes upon her and it was this that led to the incident of Shechem and her abduction. 
Dinah went out from Yaakov's surroundings to look upon the daughters of the land and Shechem the son of Chamor the Hivvite took her and lay with her and forcibly raped her, holding her and asking his father Chamor to speak to Yaakov ,so he could take her as a wife. 
Yaakov's sons responded(not wanting to allow such an outrage for a daughter of Israel and so, told Chamor ,who was trying to trick Yaakov by offering their daughters and women to intermarry with Israel,just so they could steal Yaakov's possessions and also they had a plan of attack ,to try and wipe out Yaakov's whole family, so Yaakov's sons answered with cleverness and intimated that only those circumcised could even think of coming near Israel,so this is what Chamor got his people to do , their plan being to wipe us out completely Chas Ve Shalom . On the third day, Yaakov's two sons Simeon and Levi who were still very young at the time , came upon the city, to decimate it and save their sister.Yaakov was upset at their anger and this action brought a number of battles down on Yaakov's head, one of the battles, was against the Emorites.The two sons of Yaakov felt they were correct in their actions as Shechem had broken the Noachide Laws of theft by kidnapping Dinah and also not judging the wrong action they did in setting up a court of Law to judge the wrong.
Yaakov journeyed onto Beth-El and then onto Luz in the area of Yerushalaim and it was at this time that Rivka his Mother and her wet-nurse Devorah passed away - may they both rest in peace in Gan Eiden .
When Yaakov moved on to Beth-el , his beloved Rachel went into Labor and as her son Ben-Oni (which means 'son of my sorrow' ) was being born, she died in childbirth.Yaakov buried her on the road to Ephrath and changed this new son's name to be 'Binyamin' - which means 'Son of my right hand.' Yaakov had made his permanent couch with Rachel and after she passed away, he moved his couch into Bilhah's tent who was Rachel's helper and sister and Mother of some of Yaakov's children.This upset Reuvain the first-born who felt Yaakov should have made his permanent place now with his Mother Leah and so, Reuvain disarranged his Father's couch. Not that he directly lay with Bilhah, but the word 'Vayishkav,' means that he lay down on the couch moving it into his Mother Leah's tent,even though it was in Bilhah's tent and was his Father's, thus disarranging it .The couch was called the place where Yaakov lay with Bilhah and so, Reuvain's action of moving it was disarranging his Father's choice. 
Reuvain never forgave himself for this action of slighting his Father and would , every day go outside and pray most of the day under the trees. HaShem shows us in the Torah that he , Reuvain was still holy and didn't literally lie with his Father's wife, by stating in the next verse the holiness that still remained with Yaakov's sons by saying,' Vayiheyu V'Nei Yaakov Shneim Asar,' - ' And the sons of Jacob were twelve,'still worthy of being the holy sons of Yaakov, all of them .
Yaakov returns home and reunites with his Father Yitzchak and sadly Yitzchak passes away.
The Sedra ends with the sons of Eisav and if one looks closely at the family of Eisav, one sees that within his family down those generations, mothers and fathers had children with their own children and parents , thus the family of Eisav ended up to be filled with children of incest.
Yaakov and Eisav agree to separate and Yaakov, referring to the End of Days, assures Eisav they will meet again, when the Jews will vanquish our enemies.
Parashas Vayishlach refers to the act of 'Sending, where it starts with Yaakov sending Malachim - Angels to his brother and ends, with the unholiness of Eisav and Eisav's line.
Again, here we have two opposite paths - one that leads to holiness and the other, to negativity. Following G-D and His Laws leads to Holiness, but following the opposite, leads to destruction . 
The beginning of this Sedra,it says 'Vayishlach Yaakov Malachim Lefanaiv el Eisav Achiv Artzah Seir,' which can be read in a deeper way, for it also translates as ,' And He , G-D , sent Angels before Yaakov to Eisav his brother to his brother Eisav's land to Seir,(where the word Se'ir with the root 'S'ar means 'To fear or make afraid,') to make Eisav - S'ar' afraid.' And here is the secret of the path to safe living. If we keep HaShem's Commandments and follow all G-D's Laws, HaShem will send Angels before us to keep us safe from all those who would do harm, be they physical or otherwise . HaShem always protects the righteous followers and will in the End of Days, make an end to them, making them fear the righteous , in their very own homes and land no matter who they are . 
HaShem uses many emissaries to Work His Way and will always watch over those who follow Him Faithfully . 
HaShem walks with the righteous hand in hand and carries us even from what we don't know would have hurt us.
It is time that we returned the love to Him , by 'Vayishlach' sending HaShem our full selves and with every breath we take, make each breath a breath for G-D .
With love to HaShem I wish HaShem with love, a beautiful sweet Shabbos Kodesh with love and to all, a beautiful sweet Shabbos Kodesh with love.

Parashas Vayeitzei

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Vayeitzei .
In this Parsha, Yaakov departs from his home and heads toward his future destiny , where he will marry and become the third Forefather of the Jewish people and bring into the World, the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
The word , 'Vayeitzei,' means 'To Depart' or 'To Go Out." So Yaakov was leaving his home as Avraham did when Avraham was given the Command to Lech Lecha and head toward his destiny and Yaakov , was sent to Charan to meet his future .
Sometimes in life, we need to go out from ourselves in order to fulfill our destinies. We don't become who we are meant to be , by sitting and hiding at home . Even if it means going out into the physical World, to find it. That step may feel like a step away from HaShem, but as long as we keep HaShem within us and fulfill His Word, we are still fulfilling His Wish.We find this with Adam Ve Chava , who left Gan Eiden to go out into the Physical World to teach the World about HaShem and to also bring the World to HaShem.
The Sedra starts by saying that Yaakov 'Vayeitzei,' departed from Beer - Sheva and went toward Charan.The sense of loss , when a righteous man leaves a place, gives the feeling of departing , in that place.It doesn't say that he went directly to Charan , but toward it. The reason for this is that on the way to Charan, Yaakov went past the Holy Place of the Akeidah where a miracle was performed for his Father Yitzchak and Grandfather Avraham ,who taught him when he was small.This Holy place was also to be the future site of the Holy Temples and as it is Jewish Law, to Bless a place where a miracle occurred, he realized that he hadn't done that , so he went back to this Holy Place , where his Grandfather and Father had been spoken to , by HaShem , so he could Bless this Most Holy Place. It was here that it suddenly got dark , so that he would have to spend the night. He worried that he may not be worthy to bring about the Twelve Tribes, so he put as a test, twelve stones around him and said that if these twelve stones become one stone together, he would know that he is worthy by HaShem and so, as Torah tells us in Bereishis Chapter 28 verse 22,these stones become one stone all clambering to be under this holy Tzaddik's head.
It is here, that HaShem delays Yaakov and brings on night, where Yaakov has his famous dream of the Ladder. We notice that the angels that he sees, are first ascending and then descending on it before he notices ascending.The reason that they first ascend is that when Yaakov first came out of the Holy Land, the angels of Israel accompanied him and had to return to Shamaim, now that he was leaving the Holy Land, the angels were to be replaced by the angels of Chutz La' Aretz, the angels outside the Holy Land to now escort him further, who were the angels now descending after the angels that had accompanied him thus far, had ascended. 
Yaakov saw in his dream, of all the angels of all the nations that would rise to power and then come down again, for each nation has its protective angel ,called a Sar . Yaakov saw all future generations through the long exile of the pulling down of Amalek and its Sar . Yaakov awoke realizing the Holiness of the place he was in and after HaShem Blessing him and his descendants,Yaakov is the first to make a vow that he would make a tithe to HaShem for HaShem's protection, and so, one of Yaakov's sons Levi, was that tithe, always being in the Service of HaShem . 
Yaakov then goes on his way and comes to Charan , to a well, that was covered by a large stone that no single man could move on his own, showing how the people of this place were filled with deceit and stinginess and didn't even trust each other to , alone , take water for themselves , in case one might take more, so they always had to have someone else with them to help them to move the stone . Here Yaakov shows his immense strength in rolling away the stone on his own . Here, a man of trust and holiness had come in the name of Yaakov . It is at the well , like Eliezer had met Yaakov's Mother Rivka , and as Moshe would meet his future wife Tzipporah, that Yaakov too, met his ever beloved Rachel , but wept on meeting her and kissing her for prophetically he foresaw subconsciously that she would not be long with him for she would pass away in childbirth .He also wept for he had nothing to give her, as Eliezer did before when Eliezer had come with jewelry for Yaakov's Mother Rivka,for Yaakov had been robbed on the way by Eisav's son Elifaz .
And so, Yaakov meets Lavan and works fourteen years ,seven years for each of his wives Leah and Rachel and six more years, he serves Lavan while for the flocks.Lavan constantly tries to cheat and deceive him when Yaakov works for Lavan,like Lavan did ,when he replaced the elder Leah ( whose eyes were tender , for she had spent her life crying , worrying about the arrangement that people in her day had spoken of ,of her being the elder and having to marry the cruel Eisav while Yaakov would marry her sister Rachel ).Lavan even offered to pay off the whole town to keep up this ruse while it went on, and never ended up paying them .
Still Yaakov remained a faithful worker and remained working for Lavan through all his deceit. 
The Sedra continues telling of the wives of Yaakov, Leah and Rachel and their two sisters Bilhah and Zilpah who are referred to as Leah's and Rachel's maid - servants in their day, but were in reality sisters and the sons that got born to him . 
When Yaakov tries to return home, Lavan hotly pursues him and HaShem keeps Lavan from doing Yaakov any harm .We also learn how Rachel stole her father's teraphim (skull remnant idols that Lavan used to foretell future events) , for Rachel did not want her father using them to find where Yaakov had gone and also to get rid of these idols in her father's home and so , Yaakov , not knowing that Rachel had taken them, puts words in the air that the one who took them will die ,which sadly ends in Rachel passing away at childbirth. This teaches that we must always watch very carefully what we say and not say anything negative, for there are spiritual agents that are only to happy to ensure negativity comes upon people .We learn that if we follow HaShem ,HaShem travels with us to where we go. In this Parsha, we read how the holy Yaakov , becomes the Father of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. 
A person's destiny is not written in the stars as so many think even though the secular world thinks it follows mazal. Every moment of every day, we can choose our destiny and follow the path HaShem sets for us . Every step we take , needs to be like the Ladder which Yaakov saw , for every rung and step we take , needs to be a step up to Heaven , a walk toward Shamaim , A Destiny Toward HaShem . Even when some think they can outwit HaShem and choose their own path , HaShem has many ways and agents to ensure that even a step away , is part of the very steps toward the right direction . We all , climb the ladder of life and should all always head toward HaShem .To do this , we first need to ' Vayeitzei,' - ' Depart and Go Out ' from ourselves and our own wishes and wants and become part of the greater picture of Creation , in fulfilling our destinies for HaShem , by walking toward Him and following His Laws in the Torah and Tanach . So often are we tempted Chas Ve Shalom to pull away from Him and travel our own way that will lead nowhere , so here , HaShem reminds us that even if we want to go straight to Charan , to physically fulfill what we physically feel we need to fulfill , HaShem reminds us that we cannot do that without stopping and remembering to Whom we owe every breath of Life and to Whom and by Whom , all Creation exists ,To and By HaShem , HaKadosh Baruch Hu , HaShem , The Holy One Blessed Be He . No matter where we are , we must always remember that to follow the right path and go toward HaShem and the destiny of Creation , we need to ' Vayeitzei ,' - ' Depart and Go Out ' from our own wishes and wants and walk towards HaShem. May we all , forever travel upwards toward HaShem .
With love to HaShem , I wish HaShem with love , a precious , beautiful and ever so sweet Shabbos Kodesh with love and to all , a precious,beautiful and sweet Shabbos Kodesh with love.

Parashas Toldos

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Toldos.
The word 'Toldos,' means ' Offspring,Descendants and Generations.'
Our Parsha starts by saying "Ve Eileh Toldos Yitzchak Ben Avraham Avraham Holid Et Yitzchak," - "And these are the offspring of Isaac son of Avraham, Avraham Begot Yitzchak ." 
When a Parsha starts with a 'Ve' - 'And' , it denotes that it is a continuation of the words before and what was happening before. Before this, the Torah stated the other children of Avraham's son Yishmael through Hagar and Avraham's other sons through Keturah. So now, Torah continues to discuss this line of Avraham, the one that comes through his beloved Sarah, the line, the offspring, the generations that would be the Jewish people.
At the time, people did not believe that Yitzchak could possibly be Avraham and Sarah's son and said that it must be the child of Abimelech and Sarah. So , at the beginning of this Parsha, HaShem Makes it clear that this precious son Yitzchak is truly Avraham's biological 'Toldot'- 'Offspring.' To ensure that all doubts were squashed at the time, HaShem Made sure that Avraham and Yitzchak looked physically alike so that there would be no doubt that Yitzchak was truly the 'Toldos'- 'Offspring,' of Avraham .
Next, we are told that Yitzchak is forty years old when he took Rivka , daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean from Paddan Aram, sister of Lavan, the Aramean , as a wife.Here, Torah mentions twice that Rivka is from a family that were Arameans.This is to show, how ingrained the family were away from HaShem and followed Idols, yet this one sweet rose among the thorns- Rivka , came out holy and faithful and pure , to HaShem .The word 'Paddan Aram, 'means 'The Field of 'Aram,' - Paddan being the Arabic name of a field,and the word Aram, is part of the word Armon which means 'Palace,' suggesting a field in a Palace, the showing of the high opinion Lavan and his family had of themselves at the time .Lavan and his family were well known at the time as leaders of this area (now in our times, in the area of Syria ) and were well known idolworshipers and people who delved into negative things and negative forces. It was out of the family of Lavan, that Bilaam came, who tried to curse the Jewish people. 
So it was out of this area and family of idolworship that Rivka came. If we remember, that before Rivka left with Eliezer and her wet-nurse Devorah, to go meet Yitzchak, her family wished her to be come 'myriads,' and the wish of blessing of negative people can have a negative effect. Both Yitzchak and Rivka pleaded with HaShem for Rivka to have a child and finally, HaShem relented and gave them children in honor of the Righteous Yitzchak and his righteous Father Avraham.
But when Rivka was carrying them within her, the pain was excruciating and she needed to inquire of HaShem , why she was this way.
The Torah says that the two children she was carrying 'Vayit'rotzetzu,' - 'Agitated' within her. Within the word 'Vayit'rotzetzu,' is the word 'Ratz,' which means 'Run,' for within her, when she would pass by a House of Holy Learning,' Yaakov would want to run to it and when she would pass by a house of idol-worship,' Eisav would want to run to it. It was already in the Womb, that these two forces of Good and Evil were already at loggerheads.It was actually Yaakov who was to be the first-born, but within the womb, Eisav continued to push him aside. When Rivka went to the Learning centre of Shem and Eiver, Shem told her what would be from these two forces she carried. When she gave birth , Eisav came out with a complete head of hair and Yaakov came out holding onto his heel. When Eisav was born, he scratched and damaged the insides of his own Mother to ensure she would not have any more children. Yaakok was actually the first-born,from his Father Yitzchak's first drop of seed,yet even in the womb, good and evil were fighting to gain the upper hand and by Yaakov emerging holding onto Eisav's heel, we learn that at the End of Days, so will Yaakov's descendants pull down and finally destroy their enemy Amalek. We can kind of understand now how the Birthright and Blessing belonged to Yaakov, a man who dwelt in tents of Holy Torah Study. 
It was on the day Eisav had been hunting and had killed the son of the Nimrod who had built the tower of Bavel, whose name was also Nimrod,and stolen back the coat that the first Nimrod had used, to hunt animals that was originally Adam's,given in Gan Eiden, that Eisav came in and saw Yaakov cooking lentils in honor of the sad passing of Avraham who had just passed away,yet Eisav was not mourning his grandfather but was killing another man. Avraham passed away just before seeing Eisav turn really bad,thus Avraham was held from seeing this hurt.
When Eisav came in and saw the redness of the lentils like the color of the blood he was so used to seeing as a hunter and killer , he asked Yaakov for some of it . It was here that Eisav showed his worth and true colors , for he was prepared to give up an entire Birthright for a bowl of pottage. Eisav proved he was a man of physicality and lived for the moment's desires-not a man who deserved to be the continuation of our holy Jewish people .So he said to Yaakov ,'of what use will it be to me anyway,' as he knew, by his behavior ,that he wouldn't have a spiritual future,to enjoy it anyway. So he sold the birthright to his brother, even though it was his brother's to begin with. 
It says in Torah that Rivkah loved Yaakov but Yitzchak loved Eisav,"For game was in his mouth." This referred to Eisav's mouth for Eisav showed physically that he was good but inwardly he was an evil man.Yitzchak hoped to influence his son Eisav to the better, for Eisav would try to deceive his Father that he was learning, even though he only would listen to a lesson from outside and afterwards come and tell his Father he attended and ask copious questions of his Father to make it look as though he had gone and learnt. 
When the time came for Yitzchak to Bless his sons, it was here that on Rivka's plan, Yaakov took his place while Eisav was busy hunting.
After Yaakov , who inwardly thought this could be Yaakov he was Blessing, went ahead anyway and Blessed Yaakov . Eisav unable to catch the animal he wanted for his Father, ended up killing and cooking the family dog. By the time Eisav came to his Father, Yaakov had already gone. Eisav never forgave Yaakov, for something that was actually Yaakov's in the first place and Eisav passed on his hatred to his son Elifaz and then onto his son Amalek, from where the dreaded Amelekites come .
Rachel quickly sent Yaakov away to Rivka's family to find a wife, with the permission of his Father , who again ratified the previous Blessings by blessing Yaakov again. Eisav also married , but he married idolworshipers as well as the daughter of Yishmael,Machalat.
So, here we have two lines of split in a family. The one who chose to follow HaShem's Ways and the other who chose murder,killing and idolworship and the pagan ways of the rest of the World .
But out of two holy people, Yitzchak and Rivka, how could such a son as Eisav come? We know that Rivka came from Lavan's family, so this part of the family had to separate itself from the Jewish people as a thorny branch removes itself from the sweet holy branch that is to flourish in purity so that there will be no taint to the branch of Avraham's 'Toldot' - 'Offspring,' and so, this split had to occur so the remaining line of Yaakov could grow fresh and pure and holy and sweet. 
This shows , that for us all, the choice to choose between good and bad, the Ways of G-D or one's own ways, exist for us all, every moment.Where we end up, depends on where we start and how we travel there. Our destiny is in our own hands and if we keep close to HaShem and His Torah, our path will always lead to His Light. 
Our 'Toldot,' - Our 'Offspring,' must be a true child of Avraham , carrying on in the Ways of our Jewish people . There are lots of things in this World that come to taint and pull the Jew away Chas Ve Shalom from his true path to HaShem . Some of these things may look so innocent , making a person wonder what can be the harm of turning to respect other idolwoshiping festivals or ways. But the harm is so deep and so dangerous, for a step away Chas Ve Shalom from HaShem's Pathway for us, is a step away from Truth . To even acknowledge other Ways out of respect for others, is a disrespect for HaShem and His Truth and the precious Gift of Yiddishkeit that HaShem Blesses and Gives the Jew.To even think of praising or even wishing well for anything that is not G-Dly or for anything that is from pagan ways, is to step away like Eisav and we all know where that leads - Away from G-D .
A true follower of HaShem, is a person who shuns all things pagan and stays only on the path of G-D and His Torah .
Our Parsha of Toldot is a Gift of HaShem, for HaShem gives us the generations so that we can travel toward Him . As soon as one starts to veer, even with a small thing, one has turned away from G-D .
HaShem Says ,"Ve Eileh Toldos Yitzchak Ben Avraham," - "These are the Offspring of Isaac son of Abraham,' telling us, that to remain a child of Yitzchak and Avraham, just as Yitzchak remained a child of holy Avraham and followed his Father's holy ways, so must we follow the ways of Avraham and remain a child of Avraham and be Avraham's 'Toldos,' - ' Offspring,' for this leads to G-D and makes us one with G-D .
With love to HaShem , I wish HaShem with love, a very special and sweet and beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love and to all, a sweet and special and beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love.