Parashat Tol'dot
Kislev 2, 5782 / November 5-6, 2021
Torah Reading - Genesis 25:19 - 28:9
Haftarah: Malachi 1:1- 2:7
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Elisheva bat Minnie Leah, Feigel bat Kreina, and D'vorah bat Feigel.
Lunch and Learn meets
Tuesday, November 9 at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We’re continuing to read and
discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya’akov. A link to the
reading is here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jt-NLamlIiAGpBhU7WNrCVZGBYhHHWCN/view?usp=sharing
We’ll be continuing from the top of page 13, "Tanya Abba Binyamin omer..." - "It is taught that Abba Benjamin said..."
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at:
https://bnaihayim.org/
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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THE WEARINESS OF PARENTHOOD
"And Rebekah said
to Isaac, 'I am weary of my life...'" (Gen. 27:46)
Rashi: It means "I despise (or reject) my life."
"And Isaac sent Jacob away; and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Betuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau." (Gen. 28:5)
Rashi: I do not know what (the addition of the words "the mother of Jacob and Esau") teaches us.
The Rabbis teach that there are no superfluous words in the Torah. Every word has meaning. Rashi, the medieval French commentator on Torah and Talmud, is unable to explain why the Torah identified Rebekah in this way, after the entire parashah had been devoted to the lives of Jacob and Esau, and to their relationships between themselves and with their parents.
Kislev 2, 5782 / November 5-6, 2021
Torah Reading - Genesis 25:19 - 28:9
Haftarah: Malachi 1:1- 2:7
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Elisheva bat Minnie Leah, Feigel bat Kreina, and D'vorah bat Feigel.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jt-NLamlIiAGpBhU7WNrCVZGBYhHHWCN/view?usp=sharing
We’ll be continuing from the top of page 13, "Tanya Abba Binyamin omer..." - "It is taught that Abba Benjamin said..."
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at:
https://bnaihayim.org/
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
THE WEARINESS OF PARENTHOOD
Rashi: It means "I despise (or reject) my life."
"And Isaac sent Jacob away; and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Betuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau." (Gen. 28:5)
Rashi: I do not know what (the addition of the words "the mother of Jacob and Esau") teaches us.
The Rabbis teach that there are no superfluous words in the Torah. Every word has meaning. Rashi, the medieval French commentator on Torah and Talmud, is unable to explain why the Torah identified Rebekah in this way, after the entire parashah had been devoted to the lives of Jacob and Esau, and to their relationships between themselves and with their parents.
Isaac Blessing Jacob (Gerbrand van den Eeckhout)
Later commentators explain the "superfluous" words in the context of Rebekah's fear that one brother might kill the other. I would suggest, however, that those words may explain why Rebekah despised her life. She had favored Jacob throughout his life. After she helped Jacob deceive Isaac in obtaining the blessing meant for Esau, the Torah identifies her as the mother of both Jacob and Esau to remind her of her failed relationship with Esau. Esau is an avenging victim of Rebekah's cunning bent on murdering Jacob, which is as much her responsibility as it is that of Isaac, who had always favored Esau.
We teach our children in both positive and negative ways. Rebekah taught Jacob how to be an achiever, maybe even an over-achiever, through guile. She taught both sons that action, not passivity, was the way to get ahead in the world. Jacob learned to seize what he wanted at any cost. Esau literally developed a killer instinct, and purposed to hunt down his brother like any other prey. Realizing her responsibility for what both boys have become, she despises her life. Although neither will lose his life, Jacob will become physically distant from his parents, and Esau emotionally distant, as a direct result of Rebekah's actions. As far as can be told from the Torah, Jacob never sees his mother alive again after he leaves for Paddan-aram.
"One who makes trouble for his household shall inherit the wind." Proverbs 11:29 Rebekah had two sons and ended up with none. What are we teaching our children?
Shabbat Shalom.
Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus
TBH/CBM
Sherman Oaks, CA
".איזה הוא חכם? הלומד מכל אדם"
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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