|
Torah Portion -
Vayishlach
|
|
Written by yehuda katz
|
|
.................Lotans sister was Timnah. (36:22)
At the end of Vayishloch,Esaus descendents are enumerated. In Eliyahu Zuta (2:10)it states the following:"Even if a person doesnt know the Bible or Mishnah (Oral law),but sits and reads the verse ,"Lotans sister was Timnah."this person still has the merit of Torah study.........."
People often wonder why certain verses are contained in the Bible that at first glance seem to be extraneous and seemingly unimportant................However ,these people are surely mistaken and myopic in how they perceive the Torah and its wonderous storehouse of Devine knowledge.....Perhapes this can be explained with the following original parable: A very wealthy man was once searching for the most precious diamond money can buy. A close personal friend of this wealthy person advised him to see a certain diamond merchant who was known for having a good reputation for quality diamonds and precious gems.However ,at this particular time , this diamond merchant only had raw,uncut and unpolished diamonds ,and was in the slow process of upgrading his merchandise .Although these gems and diamonds were very valuable indeed to the trained gems expert,their unprocessed appearance were seemingly dull and unflattering to a nonexpert. When the wealthy person saw these gems
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Torah Portion -
Vayishlach
|
|
Written by Rafi Jager
|
|
The midrash in this week’s parsha tells us that as Yoseph was about to succumb to the king of Egypts wife, he saw a vision of his father, and overcame his desires.
This Midrash is somewhat disturbing at face value. How can we turn to Yoseph for inspiration when he himself needed the vision of his father to rescue him from sin? What about us; can we expect to overcome our desires without such a shocking revelation? How can our example of resilience have nearly faltered, only to be saved by a miracle?
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Torah Portion -
Vayishlach
|
|
Written by Daniel Sandground
|
Parashas Vayishlach – Battle Plans against the Yatsa Horra
This week's sedra picks up where we left off last week with Yaakov, having finally broken free of the conniving Lavan, continuing his journey home with his wives, children, servants and masses of wealth which he accumulated, with Hashem’s continuous blessings, during his time away. Unfortunately for Yaakov this isn’t just a standard walk in the park and in order to reach his destination in the South he would have to pass through the land of Seir where his evil brother Esav and his band of 400 men happened to be waiting for him. If we backtrack two parashas earlier, you will remember that Yaakov had to escape his brother’s wrath having deceived him for Yitzhak's blessing… 34 years later he is still clearly not over the episode and he wants to attack Yaakov and his new family. Chazal actually question
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Torah Portion -
Vayishlach
|
|
Written by Yehonasan Gefen
|
VAYISHLACH - EDUCATION THROUGH ENCOURAGEMENT By Yehonasan Gefen
The Parsha ends with an account of the genealogy of Esav. In the midst of this we are told of the birth of Amalek, the progenitor of the nation that would constantly strive to destroy Klal Yisroel. “And Timna was a concubine to Eliphaz and Eliphaz gave birth to Amalek.. ” The Gemara in Sanhedrin informs us of the background to this terrible occurrence. “Timna was a Princess, but she wanted to convert. She came to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov [to convert] but they would not accept her . She then became a concubine to Eliphaz the son of Esav. She said that it was better to be a maidservant to this nation rather than be a powerful woman in another nation. [As a result] Amalek, who would cause Yisroel great pain, was born from her. What is the reason [that this incident produced Amalek]? Because they [the Avos] should not have distanced her. ” Rashi explains that
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Torah Portion -
Vayishlach
|
|
Written by Rafi Jager
|
|
At the beginning of this week's parsha, we find Yaakov preparing to meet his twin brother Esav who still bore a grudge against him for taking the blessings of the birthright. Esav had plans to destroy his brother. Yaakov's approach to Esav appears to be humble, but according to our sages, there are many subtle hints of his intimidating Esav. He begins his message to Esav as follows, "With Lavan [my father in-law] I have lived temporarily" (Genesis 32:5). Rashi points out that the biblical word used for the phrase "I have lived temporarily" has the numerical value of 613, the number of commandments contained in the Torah. Thus, as Rashi interprets, the verse reads, "With Lavan I lived temporarily, and I kept the 613 mitzvot and did not learn from his evil actions." Yaakov was stressing that although he resided for 20 years with the wicked Lavan, he remained an uninfluenced, pious man
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 1 of 7 |
