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Chassidut on the Torah |
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The week of Toldot, 5762 Overview Yitzchak married Rivkah when he was forty. When he
was sixty, Rivkah gave birth to twins, Esav and Yacov. At age fifteen, Esav
returned one day from hunting in the fields, tired and hungry, and asked Yacov
for some food. Yacov told him to sell him his birthright, which he did. There
was a famine in the land, but G-d told Yitzchak to remain in the land. Yitzchak
went to Gerar, near the border, where he said to the people there that Rivkah
was his sister, as he was afraid that he would be killed because of her. When
king Avimelech found out he issued a decree that should anyone touch Yitzchak
or Rivkah they would be killed. Yitzchak farmed and became wealthy. The
Philistines became jealous and filled in his wells. Avimelech told him to
leave. Yitzchak eventually arrived in Be’er Sheva. He made a peace treaty with
Avimelech. When Esav was forty he married Judith and Basemath. Yitzchak became
old and his eyesight was fading. He told Esav to prepare him a meal, and he
would bless him before he died. Rivkah heard this and told Yacov that she would
prepare a meal for his father, and he should take the blessing instead of Esav.
Esav was furious, and planned to kill Yacov after his father’s death. Rivkah
heard of this and sent Yacov away. Yitzchak blessed Yacov and told him not to
marry a Canaanite girl. Yacov left for the house of Lavan, Rivkah’s brother.
Esav understood that his father was displeased with Canaanite girls, and
married Ishmael’s daughter Machlat. Overview (Due to my traveling abroad, this week’s Dvar Torah is shorter than usual). This week’s portion opens with the verse, “And these
are the generations of Avraham; Avraham gave birth to Yitzchak”. The holy Baal
Shem Tov analyzed this verse: Our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaacov
are correspondingly connected to the three primary emotional attributes of how
G-d relates to the world; first kindness, then judgment (contraction,
essentially the opposite of kindness), and then compassion (the
combination of kindness and judgment). How can Yitzchak, the epitome of
judgment, contraction and strength, be the offspring of Avraham, our archetype
for total kindness and giving? The answer is that Yitzchak had to be
born of Avraham; kindness must be followed by judgment, in order for this
kindness to be expressed in the world. No vessel can contain pure kindness. The
unrestrained flow has to be contracted for us to benefit from it. [For example,
rain can fall indiscriminately and cause massive flooding, or it can fall in
the proper place and measure and help sustain life.] In particular, the
contracting of chesed is manifested in give/take relationships: One person is
lacking and another person is graced with fulfilling that need. This way, the
context of reality will always stem from the verse, “olam chesed y’baneh”—‘a
world of kindness will be built’ (Psalm 89). Through these acts of
giving, even more kindness will be drawn into the world. In a similar way, the Lubavitcher Rebbe gave the world the mission to do more and more acts of kindness to help bring the redemption. Through our acts of kindness now we will also bring the biggest gift—the most powerful vessel of all time to draw in the most blessings—our righteous Mashiach. Shabbat Shalom, Shaul Rabbi Leiter will be in the USA for the next
few weeks, starting Nov. 1. He can be reached at 917-771-5455. Rabbi (Big Mo) Siev will also be in the USA
and available at 516-224-8340 |
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Ascent of Safed
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