Godssecret's Weblog

PARSHA TOLDOT

THINGS ARE NOT AS THEY APPEAR====== ON SEEING THE TRUE REALITY==== PARSHA  TOLDOT

Filed under: Israel, Jacob, PARSHA CHAYAH SARAH, Parsha Toldot, women, Yakov | Tags: asev, Garden of Eden, god, Hebron, Jacob, LIFE, machpelah, middot, Palestinians, PARSHA CHAYAH SARAH, righteousness, SECRET, spirituality, stars of heaven, teshuva, Vortex, ZOHAR

PARSHA Toldot

Our parsha is called “Toldot” (off spring). We see a pattern emerging Isaac, like Abraham finds himself forced by famine to go to Gerar, in the land of the Philistines. There, like Abraham, he senses that his life may be in danger because he is married to a beautiful woman. He fears that he will be killed so that Rebecca can be taken into the harem of king Avimelekh. The couple  pass themselves off as brother and sister. The deception is discovered, Avimelekh is indignant, explanations are made, and the moment passes. Genesis 26 reads almost like a replay of Genesis 20, that happened a generation before. Also Avimelekh says to Yitzchak, “you have become too powerful for us.” Centuries later, Pharaoh says, at the beginning of the book of Exodus, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are greater in number and power than we are. Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and it come to pass, when there befall any war, that they join also with our enemies and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land” (1:9–10). The same word, “atzum” (power) appears in both cases.

This idea of the Jewish people being too “powerful” mentioned in both our passages are interesting as this is also one of the most common excuses for one of the deadliest of human phenomena, anti-Semitism.

There are those who say God is only love, God does not hate. The God said by His prophet ” I loved Jacob; but Esau I hated” (Malachi 1) Because Esau deliberately chose a course of wickedness. So the Prophet says of Esau ” They shall be called the border of wickedness” (Malachi 1, 4). From the side of Esav comes Amalek, the enemy  of The God and Israel as it says “God has war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Ex 17:6). Asev is called a cunning hunter. Because he tries to  pass himself off as a hardworking, honest, and reliable. The Midrash compares Asev to a pig which has split hooves (Midrash Tehillim 80:6), but  inside, his personality he is 100% “treif” (unkosher). This is what makes the Asev’s of the world so very dangerous. T

In the Torah its written “There were two boys in her womb. The first to come out was completely red, and clothed in hair; so he was called Esav. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esav’s heel; so he was named Yakov” (Gen. 25:24-26). Esav is described as having a body covered with ” Seir” Hair, this is as that of demons who are said to have hair all over their body but are bald on their heads. It’s also written in the Torah: “They must no longer offer sacrifices to the “Seirim” (Demons)” (Vayikra 17:7). The word for hair has the same root as the word in the verse above describing demons.===This is so as Esav comes from the side of ס“ם (evil).

Asev is called a cunning hunter. Because he tries to  pass himself off as a hardworking, honest, and reliable. The Midrash compares Asev to a pig which has split hooves (Midrash Tehillim 80:6), but one the inside, his “midot” personality he is 100% “treif” (unkosher). This is what makes the Asev.s of the world so very dangerous. The sages tell us that In the Time-to-Come, Asev will don his “tallit” (prayer shawl) and sit among the righteous in “Gan Aden”. However, God “knows the mysteries of the world and the workings of the heart” will see right through Asev and, “The Holy One, Blessed be He, will drag him from them.” (Talmud Yerushalmi, Nedarim 12a)

Things are not as the appear. From a superficial reading of the Bible in our parsha it looks like Yaakov does evil by deceiving his father by dressing up to appear as Asev to get the blessing his father, Yitzchak intends to give to Asev. Such a act would certainly find great disfavor, but we see this is not so as at the end of the parasha, Isaac sends Yakov to Padan Aram to find a wife, and bestows on him Abraham’s blessing that he will inherit the land: “And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him…And God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a congregation of nations, and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you, that you may inherit the land of your dwelling that God gave unto Abraham”. (Genesis 28:1-4). Obviously the actions of Yakov did not find disfavor with his father Yitzchak. From this we can learn a lesson to apply in our own lives. In truth Yakov did nothing wrong as Yakov was coming in the place of Asev to receive the blessings that he  had bought. So it was not wrong for him to say “I am Asev” since he had bought the right to stand in for Asev and get Asev’s Blessings that he had already paid for. . Rivka and Yaakov act selflessly and heroically to continue the tradition of Avraham. They jeopardize their personal relationship with Yitzchak in order to save the future of Klal Yisrael.

Ya’ạqov’s impersonating Ẹsav is one of the stranger stories in the Torah. This reminds us of Purim.

The parsha begins describing how Yaakov when he was born came out holding on to Asev’s Heel. Because of this he was called Yaakov, which comes from the world “akev” heel. Asev has been fighting against Yaakov since the time he was born. It is written: “In the womb he took his brother by the heel” (Hosea 12:4 ), We see from here that Asev tried to pull down Yaakov from his spiritual superiority even before they were born, and he has not stopped to this day. Amalak is a direct descendent of Asev. And of Him its written : “God has war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Ex 17:6). In the end Amalek will be destroyed forever !

Yaakov was the first to be father of twelve sons who were all righteous, and thus he became the father of the Jewish people.

It is explained in the Zohar that when Yaakov descended to Egypt, Adam’s soul entered him. Until he came to Egypt, Yaakov’s life was a long series of troubles. As Rashi lists them:

The trouble of Laban ,who deceived him and tried to steal from him, the trouble with Esau who tried to kill him, the trouble with Rachel his favorite wife, died in childbirth, the trouble with Dinah who was raped by Shechem, the trouble with Joseph his favorite son, who was sold and who he thought was dead, the trouble with Simeon who was detained in Egypt, the trouble with Benjamin who Joseph demanded be brought to Egypt. It was from successfully dealing with all these troubles that Yaakov was able to reveal the Nashama of Adam.

When Yaakov arrives in the house of Lavan, he is fooled at night, when his vision is impaired, and the elder daughter switches the younger. After having fooled his blind elderly father, his protest, “Why did you fool me” (29:25), rings hollow. Lavan’s response, “We do not act that way here, to give the younger before the older” (verse 26), hints to the way Yaakov had acted there. He remains in Haran, subject to Lavan’s deceptiveness, for the next twenty years. Yaakov tricked his father by wearing the skin of a goat on his arms. Similarly, when Yosef is sold by his brothers, his children trick Yaakov into thinking that Yosef was killed with the blood of a goat. This is all obvious providence . Yaakov spent twenty-two years mourning the supposed “death” of Yosef.

In this world Yaakov who is the Jewish people only emulate or appear similar to the people of Asev, the western world which is represented by asev’s heel. This being only a small part of their physical actions. Yaakov like Asev may work in jobs, eat food and reproduce yet only in the outward physical appearance does he do these functions like Asev. The foot represents Malchut. The physical manifestation yet even of this Yaacov only grasps only Asev’s heel, not his entire foot. Only in appearance sometimes does Yaakov perform physical functions like Asev. But in the realm of emotions, thought and needless to say spiritual motivation there is no compare. Spiritually is awareness and participation in the return of the Divine energy to its source, and the flow of this energy outward giving life animating our world, whether for healing, renewal or just finding a better taste in your food as all good comes from God. All happiness in life is there. The process of returning is also called repentance. such is the nature of the universe. Every thing returns to its root . Which is directly attached to its source. It is to be attached to the Infinite. The Eternal essence of the universe. Which is as a unfailing fountain of life that flows forever.

As to Yaakov the only purpose of being in this world and the underlying cause of all his actions is to serve The God. Thus it says ” And I will make your seed multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give to your seed all these countries; and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because Avraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” (26:4-5) Thus we must follow in The God’s ways to hasten this blessing.

It says in the Zohar that the world is as a living body. This is evident when we see that when Asev showed complete disregard for his birthright and sold it there was immediately after a famine in the land. If Asev is removed from his bond with Yaakov he becomes Asev “ha Rusha” It says in Pesicta that it is the job of Edom who is Asev to try to push Yisrael off the Torah path. When Edom disregards natural law founded on the love of their fellow men and makes the world a place of vicious competition “ a dog eat dog world” none can stand. This is why Yisrael must be a light to the nations. As the complete negation by Asev of his source of spiritual inspiration reveals Edom which represents his blood thirsty nature, The God should help us.

The sages tell us in Midrash Tanchuma and Rashi Bereishis that in many ways our matriarchs had a greater understanding and even deeper prophetic vision than their husbands. Sarah discerned the danger of leaving Yishmael in the household, while Avraham was biased and did not want to send away his son. In Zohar 1:137b we learn that Rivka understood the nature of  Asev better than Yitzchak did, she realized  Asev is a wicked son. Rivka received this prophesy when she went to the Yeshiva (School) of Shem and Ever. Why did Rivka go to the yeshiva of Shem and Ever for advice, when the greatest spiritual figure of her generation was her husband Yitzchak ? The midrash teaches that as the twins grew up, Rivka could not tell Yizchak about Esav’s evil deeds and just how far he had gone in his wickedness, lest Yitzchak blame her for having brought that evil soul from the house of Betuel and Lavan.  Rivka’s regular practice was therefore to praise Esav before Yitzchak.

Matters continued in this way until the time came for Yitzchak to bless Esav thanks to her own words of praise of Esav over the years, and she understood that she had to correct the warped situation that she, herself had created by hiding the truth from her husband. Here a lie for the sake of peace which at times is permissible was the wrong move . Yitzchak and Rivka booth strove to influence Esav to be true to Torah, but all their words were rejected as the true nature of Esav Detested holiness. The Midrash states (Sifri on Bereishiet 33:4), “There is a well-known rule that Esav hates Ya’akov.” Esav’s soul was the total opposite of Ya’akov’s, just as impurity is the opposite of purity. , Isaac is the only one of the Patriarchs who was born, bred, and lived his entire life in the Land of Israel.

In the Bible Yishmael and Aisav, each  have demonstrated their inner hatred towards Yakov and The God’s chosen people. However, when they function together against the Jewish nation, the dangers multiply exponentially, which arouses HaShem to act in His miraculous manner to save His chosen nation. In our parasha Toldot, Aisav joins forces with Yishmael when Aisav marries Machalat, daughter of Yishmael.

This inner hatred towards Yakov and The God’s chosen people is inherent in the Second World War in the collusion of the Arabs (Yishmoyal) led by the Mufti Haj Amin Husseini with Hitler in the Holocaust. It was also tactical Arab strategic policy to “cleanse” the land of its Jewish population.

This inner hatred towards Yakov and The God’s chosen people was inherent in England’s closure policy of The Holy land to Jewish immigration. Not even allowing those trying to escape the Holocaust to enter Israel when they had no other place to go !

Now we also see this inner hatred towards Yakov and The God’s chosen people with the joining of Aisav (the West) and Yishmael (Muslims) through the UN and its anti-Semitic policies which continue to try to weaken and destroy the Jewish State. This inner hatred towards Yakov and The God’s chosen people that Asev and Yismoyal share will do them no good and they did not succeed to do the evil they intend to do to the Jewish people  in the future.

Yakov, refers to degree of “Katnut” (small consciousness). This exists because a person has not moved forward risen above their ego, so to hold the will of God above their own., or even more have them become one.  “katnut” is a result of broken Kelim (vessels) and lack of development. When Yaakov reaches selfless expanded consciousness he is called Yisrael. In the state of expanded consciousness called “Gadlut” one has more vessels of bestowal. “Yisrael” means Yashar El (straight to God). He is called “Israel” Yashar El (straight to God), as he has the potential power to dominate the whole of creation, in a way bestowal, giving and sharing !

There is another way that is far from the God as it is written, “They are all as beasts” (Psalms, 49:13). These do not engage in correction of their souls.

In this parsha is described how the Palestinians envied Yitzchak’s properity so they blocked up Yaakov’s wells. This envy finally resulted in the king of the Palestinians asking Yitzchak to leave his country. So it has been in our exile. The properity of the Hebrew people is often followed by their persecution. Yitchak dug out the well’s of his father Avraham that the Palestinians had blocked up. He named the first well “Esek” which means contention. This well is said to correspond to the first Temple. The first temple was destroyed primarily because of idolatry which resulted in contention and division among the Jewish people. This contention eventually split Yisrael to 2 kingdoms. Finally all this resulted in the nations having contention with us and destroying the Temple. The 2nd well he dug out he called ”Sitnah” which means hatred. Because he had to fight much with the Palestinians as they hated him over it. This well corresponds to the 2nd temple which was destroyed because of baseless hatred. The influence of Hellenism divided the people and they developed baseless hatred which is still with us today. The next well he called ’”Rachavot” meaning wideness as in this place there was no strife. The sages say this corresponds to the 3rd Temple. This reminds us that we need to give each other a little breathing room, space for individuality. As in this ”wideness” we can all live together without fighting. Concerning this its written ”they strove not; and he called the name of it Wideness; and he said, For now the Yhv”h has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” The Sni Luchot ha Brit says that it says “now” in the verse because that the building of the 3rd Temple is in our hands to accomplish. The Vilna Gaon says concerning the verse we quoted in the beginning of this parsha, “But Asev  I hated” – “this refers to a superficial part of Esau, but the essential part of him, his head, was interred with the patriarchs.”. The Zohar states that “No one in the world honoured his father as Esau honoured his.” It is for this reason Jacob, said on his reunion with Esau, “I have seen you, and it is like seeing the face of G-d” (Gen. 33: 10) Asev has the potential. Rav Kook wrote that the brotherly love of Esau and Jacob, Isaac and Ishmael, will assert itself above all the confusion that evil brought on by our bodily nature has engendered. Asev will overcome them and transform them into eternal light and compassion. So may we see this accomplished now with the end to baseless hatred and the building of the Temple with the arrival of out righteous mashiach quickly in our days.