Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Vayeitzei.
In this Parsha Yaakov leaves Be'er Shava and Heads toward Charanah.
In this Parsha we read of the Holy dream that Yaakov had about a Ladder going up to the Heavens.
We also read in this Parsha how Yaakov meets Rachel, his beloved, at a Well,the Holy place where our Holy predecessors met their soul mates.
We read also in this Parsha how Yaakov worked for Lavan and was deceived ,first in marrying Rachel and Leah and then with the sheep and goats.We read also of the birth of Yaakov's children and his wives Rachel and Leah,Bilhah and Zilpah.
The Parsha ends with Yaakov and his family's flight from Lavan and how Lavan catches up to them and the agreement between them.
Our Parsha starts with the words '"Vayeitzei Ya'akov Mi' B' er Shavah Vayeilech Charanah," - " And Jacob Departed toward Beer Sheba and went toward Charan."
Our sages tell us that Yaakov,on leaving Beer Sheba did not go straight to Charanah but spent years in the Yeshivah of Shem and Eiver,preparing himself Spiritually before he faced Lavan and Lavan's negativity.For this reason, the Parsha writes that Yaakov left from Beer Sheba and headed 'Toward' but not directly straight to Charanah. This teaches us a very valid lesson that each day we go out into the World,we must Spiritually prepare ourselves for the negativity we may come across in this physical World, by praying regularly to HaShem and every day Studying HaShem's Holy Torah .There are lots of hooks in this World that try pull us down Spiritually and it is our duty to turn these hooks of Kelipah from negativity to release the Light within and make the Light Shine Stronger.This was Yaakov.
Yaakov was a man that was always going toward Holiness,even in his trials and tribulations and so, must we do likewise.Tests and problems one faces in life are there to help improve us and release the goodness and holiness within. They are not there for the purpose of making us stumble, but rather to help us work on ourselves from within. The true value of a person gets released when that person has to extend themselves into the realm of Spiritual effort that releases the light within.The very fact that the word "Vayeitzei" used for Yaakov leaving Beer Sheva shows that Yaakov was leaving the stage he was at , at that time and "Vayeilech" Going Toward higher Spiritual Holy Things. This is True Life and True Living, working toward one's inner Holiness day by day helping oneself grow and coming closer toward the true inner person one truly is.
We are told in the Midrash that Yaakov at first went past the Holy Place of Moriah and then went back to It, for he realized that when passing past a place of a great Mitzvah , a Jew should pray there and so he returned to This Holy Site of Moriah, where the great Happening of his Grandfather Avraham and the Akeidah with his Father Yitzchak had taken place and HaShem Rewarded him with a Great Vision,his holy dream.It was here that Yaakov prayed in the evening and so Maariv - Evening prayers is attributed to him .
While Yaakov left his family , he wondered himself if he would still be worthy to be the Father of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and so when he arrived at the Holy Place of his dream which would be the future site of the Temple,he took Twelve Stones and laid them around his head saying that if he was truly worthy , these stones would all become one.We see that when he awoke,only one stone is mentioned,showing how HaShem Answered him and made these twelve stones into one (verse 18).
Yaakov's Dream was of a ladder .The Hebrew Words for ladder here is 'Sulam,' which has the Gematrical value of 130 , which is the same as the Gematrical value of the Hebrew Word 'Sinai,' (Stone Chumash),which was the Mountain on which the Torah was given, thus showing that Torah is the pathway to climb to Holiness, like the Ladder of Yaakov.
On this Ladder, the angels were going up and down on its rungs as the nations through history would climb and fall, yet the Jewish people would climb to eternity with those people who follow HAShem Only.Yaakov saw many angels , which represented the different nations through History, for HaShem Gave every nation , its own 'Sar' its own Angel tto speak for it in the Heavenly Court.yaakov saw far into the future and noticed that the Angel of Edom/Esau kept climbing , and so Yaakov was perplexed. HaShem assured Yaakov that this represented only the current long Exile that would have an end point at the Coming of Mashiach.
Yaakov awoke after HaShem Blessed him and his progeny and realized the Holiness of this Place.
Yaakov took the 'Stone' ,set it up as a pillar and poured oil on it and named the Place , " Beit El " - 'The House of G-D' and Yaakov vowed to tithe to HaShem , which was fulfilled by Yaakov giving one of his sons - Levi to serve HaShem as Levi's Portion and do HaShem's Work in the Temple.
Great Holiness is not something one can gain in an instant with a quick action or following someone false.Holiness takes work , every day growing one step at a time and working all the time on one's Middos and Sefirah .There are many parts to the body and many facets to the Neshoma - Soul and this takes work and only Torah and HaShem's Commandments that must be followed , to get one to where one needs to go .
Each one of us in this World, has our own personal Ladders to climb through life to get us to HaShem.Every day , every moment is must be a step up to G-D to achieve true Living .
Let us not be like Lavan who , at the end of the Parsha goes back to his same place level of unholiness , but let us be like Yaakov , who continues to Spiritually Grow with each new day and each new experience.
The destination for each one of us is HaShem .
There are Malachim - Angels , which can sometimes be people along the way that are there to guide and help us along the path of life and if we are true to ourselves and Faithful to our Creator, then we certainly will get to our destination of HaShem in peace .
HaShem waits at the top for all of us. All we need to do is Love Him and Follow Him Wholeheartedly and keep his Torah always and then we will see at the end , that like Yaakov's Stones that became one at the end , all the many trials and tests we faced through our sojourns , will show its One and Only True Purpose , to bring us up to HaShem in Heaven.
Then we will see from HaShem , that all that we went through , was only by HaShem's Love. For Heaven is Eternal as is the Love of HaShem .
With Love to HaShem , I wish HaShem with Love a Sweet and Beautiful and Blessed Shabbos Kodesh with Love and to all , a sweet and beautiful Blessed Shabbos Kodesh with love.
Friday, 24 November 2017
Thursday, 16 November 2017
Parashas Toldos
Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Toldos.
This Parsha continues with the offspring of Yitzchak and Rivka.
In this Parsha,Rivka, the wife of Yitzchak,sees her difficult pregnancy and seeks advice from HaShem,Who relays the answer through Shem, Noach's Son , as to why she is in so much pain and why the agitation within her.
Rivka, who was at first barren,is Blessed with Children, when Yitzchak prays.
The pain she was going through was beyond the normal pain and discomfort of being pregnant and the children she was carrying agitated within her.She noticed that when she would walk past a place of holiness to HaShem, one of the children she was carrying (Yaakov) would agitate in earnest , wanting to go into the holy place , and when she would walk past a place of idols, the other child (Eisav) would agitate within her , wanting to enter the idol place.
So she went to inquire of HaShem, 'Why was she thus.'
She was told that two nations were within her , that would follow very different paths, one of Holiness (Yaakov) and the other of negativity (Eisav).These regimes were even in conflict, within her.
When her term came to have her children, the one that was actually to be the first eldest born - Yaakov was pushed aside, by Eisav , who came out first , thus becoming the first born by dishonesty , and his brother Yaakov, who was actually to come out first, was pushed second and came out grabbing onto the heel (Eikev- in Hebrew) of his brother Eisav.
We notice that this Parsha repeats that these are the offspring of Yitzchak , once to show these are their continuing generations and secondly, to make it clear that Yitzchak was definitely the son of Avraham , for. People at the time tried to falsely say that Yitzchak was Avimelech's son (of the Pelishtim), so HaShem ensured that Yitzchak would come out looking physically like his Father Avraham, leaving no doubt that he was , as this Parsha starts by showing , 'Avraham begot Yitzchak.'
We also notice that the Matriarchs,Sarah and Rivka and Rachel (and also Channah later on in history) were at first unable to have children), so HaShem was Showing that the line of the Jewish people, was totally miraculous by HaShem's Direct Will.
The Children were born and one, Yaakov spent his time wanting to study in 'Ohelim' - 'Tents,' with his Grandfather Avraham, while Eisav was a man of hunting, a man of the field.
It happened later on, that Eisav had come in from the field completely exhausted,and found his brother making lentil stew.The reason that Yaakov was doing this was because his precious Grandfather Avraham had just passed away and while Yaakov was busy mourning Avraham, Eisav, caring little, was out hunting.That particular day, Eisav had gone hunting to kill the son of Nimrod (the son of the Nimrod who had built the tower of Bavel), whose name happened to also be Nimrod, so as to take his coat which Nimrod's family had taken , that was originally the garment given by HaShem , to clothe Adam Ve Chava when they were chased out of the Garden of Eden). Eisav had spent a lot of time and strength chasing after Nimrod that day and so, after killing him, was completely exhausted.
When he came to Yaakov and sold the Birthright to Yaakov, in truth, it was actually Yaakov's , for remember how Eisav had pushed Yaakov aside to cheat being the firstborn.When Eisav said 'he was about to die so of what use was the birthright to him,' he referred to this also in a spiritual sense, as if to say he knew he was bad and a holy future reward,would not be in his future.
The Parsha then discusses how Avimelech and the Plishtim chased Yitzchak away and the issues over the wells his father Avraham had dug.And the common antisemitic Worldly chasing away of the Jew through time.The Names of the Wells, have a prophetic essence to the future Temples to come.
Of course , when the Plishtim saw that they were not blessed at sending Yitzchak away they went to try to get him back.
The Parsha then tells us that Eisav married at the same age as his father had married, at the age of forty, as Eisav's usual false pretense at holiness , but to unfit unholy Hittite women, showing that Eisav was certainly not whom the line of Holy Judaism should go through and so, the next stage started ,of saving the line of holiness.
It was then that Yitzchak called Eisav to prepare him delicacies so Eisav could be Blessed. Rivka who heard ,helped prepare Yaakov to go in, instead of his brother, so as to save the Blessing from going to an evil source.
Eisav spent many hours chasing for the hunt so as to try get the Blessing , he had previously given up in , when he gave up the Birthright, yet still tried to get it.When Eisav could not catch an animal for his hunt, as the Malachim kept him on the run unable to catch anything, in fierce anger, Eisav returned home empty handed and deceitfully and murderously killed the family dog , so as to bring it prepared to his Father.
But by this time, Yaakov had finished receiving the Blessing.
Deep within Yitzchak, Yitzchak's soul knew it was really Yaakov he was blessing, for Yitzchak had said to Yaakov, ' The Hands are the Hands of Eisav (the action) but the voice (of sweet polite holy intentions to save the good for HaShem ) is the voice of Yaakov.' When Yitzchak Blessed Yaakov, Yitzchak clearly so something that could only have fitted for Yaakov who was holy and not Eisav when Yitzchak said,'The Fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a Field which HaShem had Blessed.' In other words with Yaakov , came the smell of the Garden of Eden, from a holy man of Torah Learning.
When Eisav realized he had lost both the Birthright and the Blessing he cried out three very bitter cries, which have echoed through our Jewish History when Eisav's descendants have so hurt us, when we didn't do right by Torah.
The Parsha ends with Yaakov being sent of to Charan to the house of Lavan, the brother of Rivka. Yitzchak here clearly acknowledges the Blessings to Yaakov, showing they belong to Yaakov and his descendants.
The Parsha ends by Eisav going to Yishmael and taking his daughter Mahalath , after Yishmael died,as another wife.
One has to ask how such a negative personality could come out of two very holy parents as Yitzchak and Rivka.
Let us not forget that the family from which Rivka came, were idolworshippers, yet Rivka herself remained totally pure and holy,
So that part of the strain from Lavan's family,had to remove itself and separate from the Jewish line. And so it split away between Yaakov and Eisav so that Yaakov's line could continue without that Tum'a of Lavan and his people.
One line , Yaakov,would be the builders of holiness and the Holy Temples and the teachers of Monotheism of The One and Only True G-D and the teachers of HaShem's Torah , and the other line of Eisav Edom , would be the progenitors of the Roman Empire that would spread paganism and false mythology, and the people who would desecrate the Holy Temple.
This fight is as old as the time of Adam and Chava and the World then, where Good and Evil battle it out on the stage of the physical World.
The true holy path is always the one that follows HaShem's Wishes, while the opposite negative path is the one that turns away.
The turning away, doesn't even have to be of a significant difference in the beginning of stepping off the path.
All it takes are small little steps away bit by bit, till one is so far away from the truth that one is no longer following truth at all.It is similar to coming to a split in the road with two choice paths, that at the start only separate slightly at the beginning at a slight difference in angle , but further down the line, one cannot any longer see one path anymore that is now far from the other.
Such is the danger of lessening on even one Law of the Torah Chas Ve Shalom. It only starts by changing one Law.And further down the line , one is no longer following the Torah anymore Chas Ve Shalom .
This is a great danger with living in a secular society. For there are many worthless physical temptations that work to pull the Jew from the our destiny and path Chas Ve Shalom , sometimes only one small step at a time, and before one know it, one has Chas Ve Shalom forgotten the holiness of our history and Torah. To keep the Torah means to keep all of It, and not choosing which sounds most pleasant to follow. Who are we to decide what G-D Knows we need.
It is up to G-D Alone and no one else , that every Jew should follow Torah True.
This is the path of the Jew.
Any other path, leads away.Even one small step at a time.
It is not so much that we Jews Keep The Shabbos and Torah, as much as the Shabbos and The Torah in reality, actually Keep us. As For centuries ,Torah and Shabbos Observance has ensured the survival of the Jewish People, and our Continuation in this World that so tries to lead us away and astray Chas Ve Shalom. It is only when we Keep Torah and Shabbos, that we defeat the attempts of Eisav and the other Worldly forces that try to remove us . HaShem Chose the Jew to be the teacher of HaShem's Oneness, through HaShem's Holy Torah. It is our duty as a Jew, to ensure this World learns of HaShem's Oneness and that we remain as always learned 'People of the Book' as we were called, for it is our Jewish task to bring HaShem's Oneness to others. This starts with a choice in the beginning, as every child has , as Yaakov and Eisav had, to always choose Torah as Yaakov did , rather than one's own way as Eisav did.
And if we choose the right path, then the first words of this Parsha shines through,and these first words are 'Eileh Toldos,' which means 'These are the offspring,' but within these words are the Hebrew Words ' EL Le Didi,' which means 'For me is my Beloved G-D,' so if we or I live every moment for G-D and do what HaShem Wants, so will I and we come close to G-D , for then 'Beloved G-D will be with me .' Follow on the path of G-D Only and count yourself among the followers of HaShem and His Creation.
The Creation took place near the end of the Hebrew Month of Elul.The Word Elul has within it these words I just mentioned that are within the first two words of this Parsha.Within the word Elul, is the Hebrew saying formed with each of the letters of the word Elul from Shir Ha Shirim of Shlomo Ha Melech, 'Ani Le Dodi Ve Dodi Li' 'I am to My Beloved (HaShem) and My Beloved (HaShem) is Mine .' So the beginning words of this Parsha show within it the Creation of Creation and HaShem's Love for His Creation and how, if all of us follow HaShem's Laws, we will Come Close to HaShem and we will show HaShem , by following HaShem's Mitzvos, that HaShem is our Beloved .Every Mitzvah we follow shows HaShem our total Beloved Faith in Him that He is The One and Only Creator Who Created All Things.And if we teach our Offspring to follow in HaShem's Ways, we become Close with our Creator , showing our Creator one of the greatest acts of Beloved Love .
I wish HaShem With Beloved Love , a Beautiful Beloved Shabbos Kodesh with Love and to all, a beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love.
This Parsha continues with the offspring of Yitzchak and Rivka.
In this Parsha,Rivka, the wife of Yitzchak,sees her difficult pregnancy and seeks advice from HaShem,Who relays the answer through Shem, Noach's Son , as to why she is in so much pain and why the agitation within her.
Rivka, who was at first barren,is Blessed with Children, when Yitzchak prays.
The pain she was going through was beyond the normal pain and discomfort of being pregnant and the children she was carrying agitated within her.She noticed that when she would walk past a place of holiness to HaShem, one of the children she was carrying (Yaakov) would agitate in earnest , wanting to go into the holy place , and when she would walk past a place of idols, the other child (Eisav) would agitate within her , wanting to enter the idol place.
So she went to inquire of HaShem, 'Why was she thus.'
She was told that two nations were within her , that would follow very different paths, one of Holiness (Yaakov) and the other of negativity (Eisav).These regimes were even in conflict, within her.
When her term came to have her children, the one that was actually to be the first eldest born - Yaakov was pushed aside, by Eisav , who came out first , thus becoming the first born by dishonesty , and his brother Yaakov, who was actually to come out first, was pushed second and came out grabbing onto the heel (Eikev- in Hebrew) of his brother Eisav.
We notice that this Parsha repeats that these are the offspring of Yitzchak , once to show these are their continuing generations and secondly, to make it clear that Yitzchak was definitely the son of Avraham , for. People at the time tried to falsely say that Yitzchak was Avimelech's son (of the Pelishtim), so HaShem ensured that Yitzchak would come out looking physically like his Father Avraham, leaving no doubt that he was , as this Parsha starts by showing , 'Avraham begot Yitzchak.'
We also notice that the Matriarchs,Sarah and Rivka and Rachel (and also Channah later on in history) were at first unable to have children), so HaShem was Showing that the line of the Jewish people, was totally miraculous by HaShem's Direct Will.
The Children were born and one, Yaakov spent his time wanting to study in 'Ohelim' - 'Tents,' with his Grandfather Avraham, while Eisav was a man of hunting, a man of the field.
It happened later on, that Eisav had come in from the field completely exhausted,and found his brother making lentil stew.The reason that Yaakov was doing this was because his precious Grandfather Avraham had just passed away and while Yaakov was busy mourning Avraham, Eisav, caring little, was out hunting.That particular day, Eisav had gone hunting to kill the son of Nimrod (the son of the Nimrod who had built the tower of Bavel), whose name happened to also be Nimrod, so as to take his coat which Nimrod's family had taken , that was originally the garment given by HaShem , to clothe Adam Ve Chava when they were chased out of the Garden of Eden). Eisav had spent a lot of time and strength chasing after Nimrod that day and so, after killing him, was completely exhausted.
When he came to Yaakov and sold the Birthright to Yaakov, in truth, it was actually Yaakov's , for remember how Eisav had pushed Yaakov aside to cheat being the firstborn.When Eisav said 'he was about to die so of what use was the birthright to him,' he referred to this also in a spiritual sense, as if to say he knew he was bad and a holy future reward,would not be in his future.
The Parsha then discusses how Avimelech and the Plishtim chased Yitzchak away and the issues over the wells his father Avraham had dug.And the common antisemitic Worldly chasing away of the Jew through time.The Names of the Wells, have a prophetic essence to the future Temples to come.
Of course , when the Plishtim saw that they were not blessed at sending Yitzchak away they went to try to get him back.
The Parsha then tells us that Eisav married at the same age as his father had married, at the age of forty, as Eisav's usual false pretense at holiness , but to unfit unholy Hittite women, showing that Eisav was certainly not whom the line of Holy Judaism should go through and so, the next stage started ,of saving the line of holiness.
It was then that Yitzchak called Eisav to prepare him delicacies so Eisav could be Blessed. Rivka who heard ,helped prepare Yaakov to go in, instead of his brother, so as to save the Blessing from going to an evil source.
Eisav spent many hours chasing for the hunt so as to try get the Blessing , he had previously given up in , when he gave up the Birthright, yet still tried to get it.When Eisav could not catch an animal for his hunt, as the Malachim kept him on the run unable to catch anything, in fierce anger, Eisav returned home empty handed and deceitfully and murderously killed the family dog , so as to bring it prepared to his Father.
But by this time, Yaakov had finished receiving the Blessing.
Deep within Yitzchak, Yitzchak's soul knew it was really Yaakov he was blessing, for Yitzchak had said to Yaakov, ' The Hands are the Hands of Eisav (the action) but the voice (of sweet polite holy intentions to save the good for HaShem ) is the voice of Yaakov.' When Yitzchak Blessed Yaakov, Yitzchak clearly so something that could only have fitted for Yaakov who was holy and not Eisav when Yitzchak said,'The Fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a Field which HaShem had Blessed.' In other words with Yaakov , came the smell of the Garden of Eden, from a holy man of Torah Learning.
When Eisav realized he had lost both the Birthright and the Blessing he cried out three very bitter cries, which have echoed through our Jewish History when Eisav's descendants have so hurt us, when we didn't do right by Torah.
The Parsha ends with Yaakov being sent of to Charan to the house of Lavan, the brother of Rivka. Yitzchak here clearly acknowledges the Blessings to Yaakov, showing they belong to Yaakov and his descendants.
The Parsha ends by Eisav going to Yishmael and taking his daughter Mahalath , after Yishmael died,as another wife.
One has to ask how such a negative personality could come out of two very holy parents as Yitzchak and Rivka.
Let us not forget that the family from which Rivka came, were idolworshippers, yet Rivka herself remained totally pure and holy,
So that part of the strain from Lavan's family,had to remove itself and separate from the Jewish line. And so it split away between Yaakov and Eisav so that Yaakov's line could continue without that Tum'a of Lavan and his people.
One line , Yaakov,would be the builders of holiness and the Holy Temples and the teachers of Monotheism of The One and Only True G-D and the teachers of HaShem's Torah , and the other line of Eisav Edom , would be the progenitors of the Roman Empire that would spread paganism and false mythology, and the people who would desecrate the Holy Temple.
This fight is as old as the time of Adam and Chava and the World then, where Good and Evil battle it out on the stage of the physical World.
The true holy path is always the one that follows HaShem's Wishes, while the opposite negative path is the one that turns away.
The turning away, doesn't even have to be of a significant difference in the beginning of stepping off the path.
All it takes are small little steps away bit by bit, till one is so far away from the truth that one is no longer following truth at all.It is similar to coming to a split in the road with two choice paths, that at the start only separate slightly at the beginning at a slight difference in angle , but further down the line, one cannot any longer see one path anymore that is now far from the other.
Such is the danger of lessening on even one Law of the Torah Chas Ve Shalom. It only starts by changing one Law.And further down the line , one is no longer following the Torah anymore Chas Ve Shalom .
This is a great danger with living in a secular society. For there are many worthless physical temptations that work to pull the Jew from the our destiny and path Chas Ve Shalom , sometimes only one small step at a time, and before one know it, one has Chas Ve Shalom forgotten the holiness of our history and Torah. To keep the Torah means to keep all of It, and not choosing which sounds most pleasant to follow. Who are we to decide what G-D Knows we need.
It is up to G-D Alone and no one else , that every Jew should follow Torah True.
This is the path of the Jew.
Any other path, leads away.Even one small step at a time.
It is not so much that we Jews Keep The Shabbos and Torah, as much as the Shabbos and The Torah in reality, actually Keep us. As For centuries ,Torah and Shabbos Observance has ensured the survival of the Jewish People, and our Continuation in this World that so tries to lead us away and astray Chas Ve Shalom. It is only when we Keep Torah and Shabbos, that we defeat the attempts of Eisav and the other Worldly forces that try to remove us . HaShem Chose the Jew to be the teacher of HaShem's Oneness, through HaShem's Holy Torah. It is our duty as a Jew, to ensure this World learns of HaShem's Oneness and that we remain as always learned 'People of the Book' as we were called, for it is our Jewish task to bring HaShem's Oneness to others. This starts with a choice in the beginning, as every child has , as Yaakov and Eisav had, to always choose Torah as Yaakov did , rather than one's own way as Eisav did.
And if we choose the right path, then the first words of this Parsha shines through,and these first words are 'Eileh Toldos,' which means 'These are the offspring,' but within these words are the Hebrew Words ' EL Le Didi,' which means 'For me is my Beloved G-D,' so if we or I live every moment for G-D and do what HaShem Wants, so will I and we come close to G-D , for then 'Beloved G-D will be with me .' Follow on the path of G-D Only and count yourself among the followers of HaShem and His Creation.
The Creation took place near the end of the Hebrew Month of Elul.The Word Elul has within it these words I just mentioned that are within the first two words of this Parsha.Within the word Elul, is the Hebrew saying formed with each of the letters of the word Elul from Shir Ha Shirim of Shlomo Ha Melech, 'Ani Le Dodi Ve Dodi Li' 'I am to My Beloved (HaShem) and My Beloved (HaShem) is Mine .' So the beginning words of this Parsha show within it the Creation of Creation and HaShem's Love for His Creation and how, if all of us follow HaShem's Laws, we will Come Close to HaShem and we will show HaShem , by following HaShem's Mitzvos, that HaShem is our Beloved .Every Mitzvah we follow shows HaShem our total Beloved Faith in Him that He is The One and Only Creator Who Created All Things.And if we teach our Offspring to follow in HaShem's Ways, we become Close with our Creator , showing our Creator one of the greatest acts of Beloved Love .
I wish HaShem With Beloved Love , a Beautiful Beloved Shabbos Kodesh with Love and to all, a beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love.
Friday, 10 November 2017
Parashas Chayei Sarah
Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Chayei Sarah.In this Parsha,our beloved Sarah passes on as does Avraham at the end of the Parsha.
In this Parsha,also, Avraham sends his faithful Eliezer to find a wife for his son Yitzchak.Eliezer,a man of kindness chooses a test of sweetness of Chessed and Kindness to see who would be the woman that will be worthy of Yitzchak and Rivka , shows she is the one , for she shows great Chessed in offering Eliezer and all his Camels water,quite a task , for she continues up and down to bring each Camel water till they have had their fill- quite a feat as Camels drink and store a lot of water.
Our Parsha starts with , as I said , the passing of Sarah, just after the Akeidah..
Though it is the passing of Sarah, the Parsha is called 'Chayei Sarah,' - 'The Life of Sarah.' Strange to talk about it as the life of Sarah, when it is her passing.
In these words, HaShem shows the true meaning of an Eishes Chayil, a woman of valor as Shlomo Ha Melech put it.
Sarah lived the years of her life serving HaShem helping to promote HaShem's Oneness.
Thus Sarah truly 'Lived.'A holy soul like this continues to spiritually grow and live after the physical time to move on has come and it is as though Sarah continues to live on through her Jewish people.
The Parsha puts it as 'Sarah's lifetime was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years , the years of Sarah's life.'
The Torah splits these years like this for a reason , for our Sages say ,that at a hundred, she was as sinless as she was when she was twenty years and at twenty years, she was as beautifully innocent and pure as a seven year old who is as though she never committed sins by that age.
This is a true reflection of Sarah.A woman who was never tainted by the outside world , but remained pure and holy with Tznius.
The Sedra says she passed away in Kiriat Arba , a name which meant the 'City of the Four,' in reference to the four giants that lived there and as Rashi says, prophetically because of the four holy couples who would rest there ,Adam and Chava, Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivka and Yaakov and Leah.
While Avraham had gone to offer his son, Satan came to point this out to Sarah, and we are told that she passed away from the shock.Not that Satan was evil, but it was just her time and her holiness had to be diverted that she might move on to her next spiritual stage.
Avraham then returns to find his beloved wife had passed and mourns her and seeks to buy a burial plot for her from Ephron the Hittite .
Why did Avraham want this specific Cave of Machpelah in Chevron as a burial site?Our Midrash tells us that before this, when Avraham was welcoming the three angels before and was trying to prepare the bullock , which ran away and ran into this Cave,it was when Avraham followed it into this cave that he smelled the sweet fragrance of Gan Eiden for The Cave of Machpelah was just that, an entry into Gan Eiden.This Cave being the place where Adam and Chava were buried standing up.For this reason, Avraham sought this cave and purchased it and sealed it as Jewish owned, till eternity.
Sarah, was missed by all.Her departed holiness was felt throughout.In fact, the candles in her tent extinguished after her passing and only returned at the coming of Rivka who became wife to her son Yitzchak.
The true value of a Woman is beyond imagination.She can bring HaShem's Shechinah into the home like Sarah did. Even today,many men of the World take women for granted , making them out to be lower than them.How wrong they are.
That is not the role of a Woman.
HaShem tells us in the beginning,when HaShem Made Chava for Adam, that she would be a Help-mate to him and an 'Eizer K'Negdo,' - 'A Help-mate Corresponding to him.'These words actually are also literally,' A Help-mate Opposite to him.' In other words,a help-mate that is on his level and not below him, and one that is 'opposite to him' when he is wrong,to teach him, thus she is his help-mate as he is hers, helping to correct each other when necessary, so that they can help to bring each other up spiritually in level and so that they can help each other work to bettering each other so as to help each other grow up toward HaShem.
A Man , who rather chooses to put down a Woman and think he is superior and who thinks he knows it all, is losing a golden opportunity that HaShem Gave him as a Gift, to Grow.
A Woman is to be treated with care and love and tenderness and never to ever be abused.
A Woman is never to be dishonored and a Woman is never to be physically or emotionally abused in any way.
A Woman is never there for the man's convenience, but they are to be there for each other to help each other grow in righteousness toward HaShem.
A Woman must be looked upon like a Star, so high in the Heavens, looked up to and admired , with a feeling of respect that she is high up and never to be taken advantage of or taken for granted but to be looked upon that she is partly unreachable and uniquely special and thus a man must always keep for her a feeling of such respect that keeps him from ever getting to take advantage of her or taking her for granted ,but he must rather look up to her as the Shiny Star in is life ,never to become a habit but always to be appreciated and thus his Help-mate to G-D in Heaven.
A woman is to be realized for the holy being she is.
Our Kabbalah says that HaShem Counts the Tears of Women.In other words, a Woman understands the Spirituality of the World's Birth better and understands better what it is to bring life into this World, as she is the one who gives birth.She thus has a deeper understanding than a man does,of HaShem in this way , as HaShem Brings life, and so she has a type of closeness to HaShem that a Man does not have in this way and so HaShem and Women can relate to the pains that the World can cause in ways that Men can't relate to and so HaShem Counts the Tears of Women.
A Woman is not an ornament , but a highly spiritually intelligent Creation and most certainly a Gift from HaShem, to their partner, so that their partner can be helped to grow up toward HaShem.
All these things , was Sarah.A precious gift to Avraham and certainly a precious and holy soul on her own as he was her gift too.Couples are an equal gift to each other.
Such is the true value of a Pure and Holy Woman.
And such is the much needed lesson to many Men of today, that a Woman is his sweet light to be loved and cared for and ever truly respected and honored as an equal , and looked up to , as a path to HaShem.
With Love to HaShem, I wish HaShem with Love, a Special and Sweet Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with Love and to all, a special, sweet and beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love.
In this Parsha,also, Avraham sends his faithful Eliezer to find a wife for his son Yitzchak.Eliezer,a man of kindness chooses a test of sweetness of Chessed and Kindness to see who would be the woman that will be worthy of Yitzchak and Rivka , shows she is the one , for she shows great Chessed in offering Eliezer and all his Camels water,quite a task , for she continues up and down to bring each Camel water till they have had their fill- quite a feat as Camels drink and store a lot of water.
Our Parsha starts with , as I said , the passing of Sarah, just after the Akeidah..
Though it is the passing of Sarah, the Parsha is called 'Chayei Sarah,' - 'The Life of Sarah.' Strange to talk about it as the life of Sarah, when it is her passing.
In these words, HaShem shows the true meaning of an Eishes Chayil, a woman of valor as Shlomo Ha Melech put it.
Sarah lived the years of her life serving HaShem helping to promote HaShem's Oneness.
Thus Sarah truly 'Lived.'A holy soul like this continues to spiritually grow and live after the physical time to move on has come and it is as though Sarah continues to live on through her Jewish people.
The Parsha puts it as 'Sarah's lifetime was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years , the years of Sarah's life.'
The Torah splits these years like this for a reason , for our Sages say ,that at a hundred, she was as sinless as she was when she was twenty years and at twenty years, she was as beautifully innocent and pure as a seven year old who is as though she never committed sins by that age.
This is a true reflection of Sarah.A woman who was never tainted by the outside world , but remained pure and holy with Tznius.
The Sedra says she passed away in Kiriat Arba , a name which meant the 'City of the Four,' in reference to the four giants that lived there and as Rashi says, prophetically because of the four holy couples who would rest there ,Adam and Chava, Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivka and Yaakov and Leah.
While Avraham had gone to offer his son, Satan came to point this out to Sarah, and we are told that she passed away from the shock.Not that Satan was evil, but it was just her time and her holiness had to be diverted that she might move on to her next spiritual stage.
Avraham then returns to find his beloved wife had passed and mourns her and seeks to buy a burial plot for her from Ephron the Hittite .
Why did Avraham want this specific Cave of Machpelah in Chevron as a burial site?Our Midrash tells us that before this, when Avraham was welcoming the three angels before and was trying to prepare the bullock , which ran away and ran into this Cave,it was when Avraham followed it into this cave that he smelled the sweet fragrance of Gan Eiden for The Cave of Machpelah was just that, an entry into Gan Eiden.This Cave being the place where Adam and Chava were buried standing up.For this reason, Avraham sought this cave and purchased it and sealed it as Jewish owned, till eternity.
Sarah, was missed by all.Her departed holiness was felt throughout.In fact, the candles in her tent extinguished after her passing and only returned at the coming of Rivka who became wife to her son Yitzchak.
The true value of a Woman is beyond imagination.She can bring HaShem's Shechinah into the home like Sarah did. Even today,many men of the World take women for granted , making them out to be lower than them.How wrong they are.
That is not the role of a Woman.
HaShem tells us in the beginning,when HaShem Made Chava for Adam, that she would be a Help-mate to him and an 'Eizer K'Negdo,' - 'A Help-mate Corresponding to him.'These words actually are also literally,' A Help-mate Opposite to him.' In other words,a help-mate that is on his level and not below him, and one that is 'opposite to him' when he is wrong,to teach him, thus she is his help-mate as he is hers, helping to correct each other when necessary, so that they can help to bring each other up spiritually in level and so that they can help each other work to bettering each other so as to help each other grow up toward HaShem.
A Man , who rather chooses to put down a Woman and think he is superior and who thinks he knows it all, is losing a golden opportunity that HaShem Gave him as a Gift, to Grow.
A Woman is to be treated with care and love and tenderness and never to ever be abused.
A Woman is never to be dishonored and a Woman is never to be physically or emotionally abused in any way.
A Woman is never there for the man's convenience, but they are to be there for each other to help each other grow in righteousness toward HaShem.
A Woman must be looked upon like a Star, so high in the Heavens, looked up to and admired , with a feeling of respect that she is high up and never to be taken advantage of or taken for granted but to be looked upon that she is partly unreachable and uniquely special and thus a man must always keep for her a feeling of such respect that keeps him from ever getting to take advantage of her or taking her for granted ,but he must rather look up to her as the Shiny Star in is life ,never to become a habit but always to be appreciated and thus his Help-mate to G-D in Heaven.
A woman is to be realized for the holy being she is.
Our Kabbalah says that HaShem Counts the Tears of Women.In other words, a Woman understands the Spirituality of the World's Birth better and understands better what it is to bring life into this World, as she is the one who gives birth.She thus has a deeper understanding than a man does,of HaShem in this way , as HaShem Brings life, and so she has a type of closeness to HaShem that a Man does not have in this way and so HaShem and Women can relate to the pains that the World can cause in ways that Men can't relate to and so HaShem Counts the Tears of Women.
A Woman is not an ornament , but a highly spiritually intelligent Creation and most certainly a Gift from HaShem, to their partner, so that their partner can be helped to grow up toward HaShem.
All these things , was Sarah.A precious gift to Avraham and certainly a precious and holy soul on her own as he was her gift too.Couples are an equal gift to each other.
Such is the true value of a Pure and Holy Woman.
And such is the much needed lesson to many Men of today, that a Woman is his sweet light to be loved and cared for and ever truly respected and honored as an equal , and looked up to , as a path to HaShem.
With Love to HaShem, I wish HaShem with Love, a Special and Sweet Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with Love and to all, a special, sweet and beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love.
Friday, 3 November 2017
Parashas Vayeira
Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Vayeira.
The word 'Vayeira,' means 'Appeared,' for HaShem Appeared to Avraham on the third day of his Bris , the most painful day of a Bris, for HaShem had specifically Made it very hot so that no visitors would come and make Avraham , in pain , need to serve them his hospitality, which was his way.So HaShem Did His Own Bikkur Cholim and visited Avraham Himself.
This is a Parsha filled with HaShem Revealing Himself in different ways, from HaShem Appearing to Avraham at the beginning of this Parsha and then the three angels that represent HaShem and again in discussing with Avraham , the intention to destroy the cities of Sodom and Amorah - Gemorrah Admah and Zeboiim and Zoar and the subsequent destruction of four of these cities, leaving Zoar for Lot and his two daughters to flee and then the birth of Yitzchak, the sweet soft continuation of the Jewish people for HaShem and the Revealing of HaShem to Avraham to offer his beloved son Yitzchak at the Akeidah and HaShem Sending a Malach ,through Whom HaShem Spoke,to appear to Avraham , letting Avraham know not to offer his son and Blessing Avraham and his offspring and here , at that point , the Parsha ends where we are told of the line of Rivka, who was set to marry Yitzchak and how HaShem Was Already Preparing the line of Avraham through Yitzchak to carry on the Jewish people.
How special a beautiful happening is HaShem Appearing . Avraham had earned this Revelation now , as we see as he had made a covenant with HaShem through circumcision and by Avraham's action of giving himself to HaShem in this Mitzvah which was painful and an act of total obedience and faith of love for HaShem and forming the covenant between HaShem and himself, warranted HaShem Appearing to Avraham.
The Parsha starts out telling us how Avraham was sitting at the entrance to his four poled tent open on all four sides so he could show hospitality and bring people to HaShem, people who could only come from all four directions, always open to give for HaShem.
The very fact that it says Avraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent, shows that he put his own needs and extreme pain aside so he could still look for wayfarers to show kindness and hospitality at the expense of his own pain and so then, HaShem came to visit him. And Heal him. HaShem Saw that Avraham was still upset that he could not show hospitality as HaShem Had Made it hot ( as the Parsha refers, to Avraham sitting in the 'heat of the day ' ), so people wouldn't travel and bother Avraham and so that people would be Kept away.HaShem , Seeing Avraham's distress at not being able to do and show Chessed, sent the Three Malachim , each with its separate mission, The Malachim : - Michael to bring news of the following year's birth of Yitzchak, Gavriel to go to Sodom and through Whom HaShem would destroy the cities and Raphael, who had come to take out Lot's family from Sodom before it got destroyed and help with HaShem's Help,to heal Avraham.
Avraham at first thinking they were desert travelers, first washed their feet as he knew desert travelers worshiped the dust of the ground they walked on as deities and so, would not have such a thing in his holy house Chas Ve Shalom.
At first it says the three men were standing over him and then it says he ran to them.For a holy man as Avraham, who wants so badly to do a Mitzvah, such a holy man already perceives the Mitzvah standing 'over him' before he even starts the Mitzvah.Also, though his inner Neshoma felt these were no ordinary men but angels who would stand over him and not need to physically walk to him, his physicality had not yet processed this. HaShem Stands aside while Avraham again shows his hospitality to guests and teaches us another concept , for Avraham promised them only a morsel of bread yet gave them a meal fit for a king.In this, we learn to say little and do a lot for others.
We again see Avraham's caring for others, even if they are not up to his holy standards, when he argues for the lives of the people of the five cities , when HaShem Wants to destroy Sodom after their action of killing a young girl who dared to give a beggar Tzeddakah and hanging her body up in the square daubed with honey so the bees would attack her.P'lotis , Lot's daughter too was caught giving to a beggar food and sustaining him and she too was sentenced to death and so their ' Cries went up to HaShem ' as is written in Torah .
HaShem saved Lot and his family, with lot's wife (who originally warned the people they had guests by going round asking for salt for the guests ) being turned into a pillar of salt.
Lot flees with his two daughters and from them come the Moabites and Ammonites.
Then the Parsha tells of Yitzchak's birth and the expelling of Hagar and his son Yishmael and the covenant between Avraham and Avimelech.
Avraham lives his life for HaShem and every step he walks in in honor of HaShem.
Avraham shows over and again how he is a man of kindness and a man who totally lives his life for HaShem.
He stands as an example to us all how life should be lived, not for ourselves but for HaShem.
We need to learn to put our full faith in HaShem and let Him Guide us to Him.
Avraham is the perfect and sweet example of kindness and by his holy and giving ways to HaShem and those around him, we can learn how to behave and how to act. Our lives are much bigger than just the physical wants we desire and we all need to learn that only HaShem's Wishes are Everlasting and True and the way to HaShem is only HaShem.
With love to HaShem , I wish HaShem with Love , a Sweet and Blessed Shabbos Kodesh with Love and to all, a sweet and Blessed Shabbos Kodesh with love.
The word 'Vayeira,' means 'Appeared,' for HaShem Appeared to Avraham on the third day of his Bris , the most painful day of a Bris, for HaShem had specifically Made it very hot so that no visitors would come and make Avraham , in pain , need to serve them his hospitality, which was his way.So HaShem Did His Own Bikkur Cholim and visited Avraham Himself.
This is a Parsha filled with HaShem Revealing Himself in different ways, from HaShem Appearing to Avraham at the beginning of this Parsha and then the three angels that represent HaShem and again in discussing with Avraham , the intention to destroy the cities of Sodom and Amorah - Gemorrah Admah and Zeboiim and Zoar and the subsequent destruction of four of these cities, leaving Zoar for Lot and his two daughters to flee and then the birth of Yitzchak, the sweet soft continuation of the Jewish people for HaShem and the Revealing of HaShem to Avraham to offer his beloved son Yitzchak at the Akeidah and HaShem Sending a Malach ,through Whom HaShem Spoke,to appear to Avraham , letting Avraham know not to offer his son and Blessing Avraham and his offspring and here , at that point , the Parsha ends where we are told of the line of Rivka, who was set to marry Yitzchak and how HaShem Was Already Preparing the line of Avraham through Yitzchak to carry on the Jewish people.
How special a beautiful happening is HaShem Appearing . Avraham had earned this Revelation now , as we see as he had made a covenant with HaShem through circumcision and by Avraham's action of giving himself to HaShem in this Mitzvah which was painful and an act of total obedience and faith of love for HaShem and forming the covenant between HaShem and himself, warranted HaShem Appearing to Avraham.
The Parsha starts out telling us how Avraham was sitting at the entrance to his four poled tent open on all four sides so he could show hospitality and bring people to HaShem, people who could only come from all four directions, always open to give for HaShem.
The very fact that it says Avraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent, shows that he put his own needs and extreme pain aside so he could still look for wayfarers to show kindness and hospitality at the expense of his own pain and so then, HaShem came to visit him. And Heal him. HaShem Saw that Avraham was still upset that he could not show hospitality as HaShem Had Made it hot ( as the Parsha refers, to Avraham sitting in the 'heat of the day ' ), so people wouldn't travel and bother Avraham and so that people would be Kept away.HaShem , Seeing Avraham's distress at not being able to do and show Chessed, sent the Three Malachim , each with its separate mission, The Malachim : - Michael to bring news of the following year's birth of Yitzchak, Gavriel to go to Sodom and through Whom HaShem would destroy the cities and Raphael, who had come to take out Lot's family from Sodom before it got destroyed and help with HaShem's Help,to heal Avraham.
Avraham at first thinking they were desert travelers, first washed their feet as he knew desert travelers worshiped the dust of the ground they walked on as deities and so, would not have such a thing in his holy house Chas Ve Shalom.
At first it says the three men were standing over him and then it says he ran to them.For a holy man as Avraham, who wants so badly to do a Mitzvah, such a holy man already perceives the Mitzvah standing 'over him' before he even starts the Mitzvah.Also, though his inner Neshoma felt these were no ordinary men but angels who would stand over him and not need to physically walk to him, his physicality had not yet processed this. HaShem Stands aside while Avraham again shows his hospitality to guests and teaches us another concept , for Avraham promised them only a morsel of bread yet gave them a meal fit for a king.In this, we learn to say little and do a lot for others.
We again see Avraham's caring for others, even if they are not up to his holy standards, when he argues for the lives of the people of the five cities , when HaShem Wants to destroy Sodom after their action of killing a young girl who dared to give a beggar Tzeddakah and hanging her body up in the square daubed with honey so the bees would attack her.P'lotis , Lot's daughter too was caught giving to a beggar food and sustaining him and she too was sentenced to death and so their ' Cries went up to HaShem ' as is written in Torah .
HaShem saved Lot and his family, with lot's wife (who originally warned the people they had guests by going round asking for salt for the guests ) being turned into a pillar of salt.
Lot flees with his two daughters and from them come the Moabites and Ammonites.
Then the Parsha tells of Yitzchak's birth and the expelling of Hagar and his son Yishmael and the covenant between Avraham and Avimelech.
Avraham lives his life for HaShem and every step he walks in in honor of HaShem.
Avraham shows over and again how he is a man of kindness and a man who totally lives his life for HaShem.
He stands as an example to us all how life should be lived, not for ourselves but for HaShem.
We need to learn to put our full faith in HaShem and let Him Guide us to Him.
Avraham is the perfect and sweet example of kindness and by his holy and giving ways to HaShem and those around him, we can learn how to behave and how to act. Our lives are much bigger than just the physical wants we desire and we all need to learn that only HaShem's Wishes are Everlasting and True and the way to HaShem is only HaShem.
With love to HaShem , I wish HaShem with Love , a Sweet and Blessed Shabbos Kodesh with Love and to all, a sweet and Blessed Shabbos Kodesh with love.
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