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.

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