True Joy

TRUE JOY

Our Rabbi's tell us that the Covenant at Sinai is a marriage.²⁶ So, too, the Revelation at Sinai is described as a healing event.²⁷ Sinai is also where foundations of stability are laid. Sinai is where happiness is rediscovered. The voice (kol) at Sinai is joyful celebration of a marriage, a union of the Jewish People and God. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that the way to defeat the Evil Inclination is with authentic happiness.²⁸ The sulam and the kol are the same: both uplift us when we are down. When the Jewish People were faced with destruction, Yirmiyahu prophesized against despair:

Thus says the Lord; Again there shall be heard in this place, which you say shall be desolate without man and without beast, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast. The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who shall say, Praise the God of Hosts; for God is good; for His mercy endures for ever; the Sacrifice of Praise shall be brought in the House of God, "For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first," says the Lord. (Yirmiyahu 33:10-11)

Those words are echoed at every Jewish wedding, and they have redemptive powers: they can bring joy and help rebuild the Temple:

R. Helbo further said in the name of R. Huna: Whoever enjoys the wedding meal of a bridegroom and does not help him to rejoice transgresses against 'the five voices' mentioned in the verse: The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that say, Give thanks to the Lord of Hosts. And if he does gladden (the bridegroom), what is his reward? R. Joshua b. Levi said: He is privileged to acquire [the knowledge of] the Torah which was given with five voices. For it is said: And it came to pass on the third day, when it was morning, that there was thunder and lightning and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of a horn . . . and when the voice of the horn waxed louder . . . Moshe spoke and God answered him by a voice. … R. Abbahu says: It is as if he had sacrificed a thanksgiving offering. For it is said: Even of them that bring offerings of thanksgiving into the House of God. R. Nahman b. Yitzchak says: It is as if he had restored one of the ruins of Jerusalem. For it is said: For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first, says the Lord. (Talmud Bavli Brachot 6b)

The voice is a voice of joy, of marriage, of Torah, and of bringing an offering in the Temple of Jerusalem. Those who participate in the joy are seen as having rebuilt one of the ruins of Jerusalem, for all of these ideas are inextricably linked, made of the same voice of joy. This is what Yaakov perceived, lying on the ground someplace between Be'ersheba and Charan. Despite the fact that he now knew that he was in a holy place - perhaps the holiest place on Earth - and that this place would belong to him and his descendents, he nonetheless continued his journey to find his bride, while at the same time dedicating himself to building the House of God that he saw in his dream.

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Red, Red Stuff

As followers of the Master, we must be children of Jacob, not children of Esau. We must remember that our animal nature does not rule us. Paul reminds us that we belong, not to our appetites, but to the Lord. He says, "Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body" (1 Corinthians 6:13). Our heads must rule our hearts.

Toldot Toldot - תולדות "Generations"  Torah : Genesis 25:19-28:9 Haftarah : Malachi 1:1-2:7  Gospel : Luke 3:1-18 11/20/2011

Red, Red Stuff Let there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. (Hebrews 12:16-17) Jacob is often lampooned for cheating Esau out of his birthright in Genesis 25:29-34. Once again, Jacob is regarded as the deceiving trickster. But let's examine this story carefully. Jacob made a stew. Esau returns from hunting, exhausted and famished. When he sees the stew he exclaims, "Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished!" The Hebrew is even more comical. He uses a verb more appropriate to describe "slopping the pigs." In his desperation, he cannot quite formulate the word for soup, so he stammers around calling it, "red, red stuff." "Quick, slop me some of that red, red stuff!" he begs. Jacob, on the other hand, replies calmly and deliberately and in clear legal terms, "Sell me as this day (from this day on) your birthright." There are no hidden terms, no fine print, and no deceitful bait-and-switch. It is a straightforward and honest offer. Esau should have refused. He should have been insulted that Jacob would suggest such a sacrilege. Everything for which Abraham and Isaac had lived was on the line. The entire covenant, the land of Canaan, the blessings and the promises, the future destiny of the nation for the price of a bowl of soup! Instead of refusing the offer, however, Esau considered it and accepted it. He said, "Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?" This was, no doubt, hyperbole. Esau was certainly not about to die. Instead he was letting his appetite dictate his will. His desire for red, red stuff, at the moment, was greater than his desire for the right of firstborn. Whenever we allow our appetites to rule us, we are following in the footsteps of Esau. How often our desire for "red, red stuff" dictates our decisions! Opportunities to honor or despise our birthright pass before us on a daily basis. We are constantly placed in positions where we must decide between what we crave and what is right. A man who lets his appetites control him is a godless man. For many men, sexual temptation is the "red, red stuff" for which they are willing to compromise their birthright. For others it may be the desire for power or control. For others it may be desire for possessions. For still others, it may lie in the realm of physical addictions. All of these are signs of Esau. They are the "red, red stuff". Esau accepted Jacob's offer. The Torah artfully describes Esau's cavalier exit with a succinct series of one-word verbs: "He ate, he drank, he rose, he left and he despised his birthright." FFOZ

Isaac's Wells

Three Torah sections--Lech-Lecha, Vayeira and Chayei-Sarah--chronicle the life and deeds of Abraham. An even greater number are devoted to the life of Jacob. Isaac is the central figure in only one--theparshah of Toldot. We read of the "Binding of Isaac" inVayeira, but there the story is told wholly from Abraham's perspective. Similarly, the greater part of Chayei Sarahis about how a wife is found for Isaac, but Isaac himself is not at all involved in the process. Eliezer doesn't even mention him by name when he proposes the match--he's simply "the son of my master." This scarcity of information about Isaac is even more striking in light of the fact that he was the most long-lived of the three Patriarchs (Isaac lived 180 years, as opposed to Abraham's 175 and Jacob's 147).

Even in Toldot, we are hard-pressed to find some clues to Isaac's identity and personality. The first part of Toldot relates the birth and early years of Jacob and Esau. The latter part is about how the aged and blind Isaac has his plans to bless his elder son Esau foiled byRebecca and Jacob. It is only in the middle part of Toldot (Genesis, ch. 26) that we encounter an active Isaac. We read how he relocates to Gerar, how he farms the land (the only one of the Patriarchs to do so) and how he digs wells.

In fact, the one activity of Isaac's on which the Torah elaborates at some length is his well-digging. We are told how he reopened the wells originally dug by Abraham, and we are given a detailed account of a series of wells of his own which he dug--the names he gave them, and his struggles to retain control over them.

But it is precisely this lack of notoriety which defines the essence of Isaac. The Kabbalists equate Abraham with the sefirah (Divine attribute) of Chessed, "lovingkindness," and Isaac with the sefirah ofGevurah, restraint. Abraham was the very embodiment of kindness, generosity and concern for one's fellow. He was the ultimate extrovert--constantly giving of himself, constantly extending himself to G-d, to his fellow man, to the world. Isaac was his father's diametric opposite: he was awe to Abraham’s love, restraint to Abraham’s expansiveness, self-effacement to Abraham’s self-assertion.

From Abraham we inherited the charitableness and social commitment that is the hallmark of our people. Isaac bequeathed to us the fear of Heaven in the heart of the Jew--his self-censoring discipline, his silent sacrifice, his humble awe before the majesty of his Creator.

Abraham’s love of G-d and humanity took him on a journey from the self outward--a journey etched in the roads of Mesopotamia, Egypt andCanaan. Isaac never left the boundaries of his homeland. For his was an inward journey, a journey into the depths of self to the essence within.

Thus Isaac is portrayed as a farmer and a welldigger. Isaac was a farmer, one who has learned the profound secret of the seed: that growth and profit come only when one allows oneself to disintegrate and become one with the soil from which one has come. Isaac was a digger of wells, boring through the stratum of emotion and experience in search of the quintessential waters of the soul. Boring deeper than feeling, deeper than desire, deeper than achievement, to the selflessness at the core of self.

From Chabad Lubavitcher Rebbe

Into Exile

When God appeared to Jacob for the last time, He calmed his fears: I shall go with you into Egypt....The ancient sages view this as a promise that the Shekhina-the Divine Presence-would follow Israel everywhere, even in exile Israel is never alone and that Israel's redemption will bring about God's as well. At some point in your life you will enter into exile, but you with have the Holy Spirit within which helps fight the loneliness of exile. John was exiled and received revelation. God will bring you out, and you will be better for it. Jesus said in Matthew 28:20
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Be a Blessing

“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples of the earth will be blessed through you.” — Genesis 12:2-3

We live in a world where the mentality is “what’s in it for me?” Before many of us agree to lend a hand, get involved in a cause, or lend our support to someone else, we first want to know how we are going to benefit from it. What is it going to cost me? Why should I help that other guy?

Imagine if Abraham had sat there and considered the cost when God called him to leave his home and move to a “land I will show you”? Suppose he said, “What if I don’t like it there? What if I get lost? What if I lose all my cattle and sheep on the way? How will I make a living? What if my family doesn’t want to move?”

Of course, God did make Abraham some incredible promises if he did obey and go: He would make Abraham into a great nation; Abraham would be blessed and his name would be great. Those are some compelling reasons to obey, don’t you think?

Then we come to God’s second command to Abraham: “be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). Many translations render this more as a prediction, “you will be a blessing,” but in the Hebrew, it literally means, “Be a blessing.”

Abraham was called to be a conduit of blessings, not just a recipient. We tend to think of receiving blessings. We even pray for God to bless us. But how often do we seek to bless others? How often do we pray that God would use us as instruments of blessing in someone else’s life?

God’s two commands are related in a sequential way. Abraham couldn’t be a blessing unless he first left to go where God was sending him. As Abraham obeyed the first command, God would bless him. Then, as a result of God’s blessing, Abraham could obey the second command to be a blessing.

Sometimes we can’t see how we can be a blessing to others. But if we obey God, we often find ourselves in a position to do exactly that. God loves to bless people, so when we are obedient and available to Him, we find new opportunities that we didn’t see before.

God may not ask us to leave our home to go to another land, but our willingness to obey whatever God asks of us is the first step to allow God to work in and through our lives to bless others. Why not try it today?

With prayers for shalom, peace,


Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

Your God is nothing but a thief

A king met Rabban Gamliel and told him: I don't know how to say this, but....your God- yes, your God is nothing but a thief. Here was Adam sleeping the sleep of the just and suddenly God steals one of his ribs. - Rabban Gamliel's daughter chose to answer the sovereign: Do you know what happened to me last night, Your Majesty? Thieves entered my house; they took all my silver and in its place they left me gold. - If only I could be the victim of such robbers said the king. - Well, said the sage's daughter, that is precisely what happened to Adam. True, God did take a rib from him, but in exchange he gave him a beautiful woman who helped him when he needed help, served him when he needed to be served and was silent when he talked.

After God’s Own Heart

"In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation." — Psalm 5:3

One of the things I have always admired about King David was his close relationship with God. Despite his many failings — adultery, murder, his inability to discipline his children — David maintained an intimate connection with God throughout his life. In fact, God called him “a man after my own heart.” How did David earn such high esteem from God?

I believe some of the answers lie in the opening verses of Psalm 5. Written during a difficult period in David’s life, as he was surrounded and distressed by his enemies, this psalm finds David pleading with God to “give ear to my words,” to “consider my sighing,” “to listen to my cry of help.” As he does so, David reaffirms God as his King, the only One to whom he prays. David reveals his total dependence and reliance on God. David knew without a doubt that God alone could help him.

His confidence is further revealed in verse 3, as he writes, “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” We see two important lessons here. First, David prayed expecting God to answer him. For David, praying wasn’t wishful thinking or an exercise in futility. It was a real exchange between David and God rooted in mutual love and faithfulness. David had faith that God would hear his heartfelt prayers and answer him.

Finally, we see that David consistently spent time in prayer with God. Verse 3 is translated as “each morning” in the New Living Translation; in the New King James, the verse begins “My voice You shall hear in the morning.” Prayer was woven into David’s daily routine; it wasn’t a once-in-a-while occurrence. David habitually found time to lay his requests before God.

Want to be known as a person after God’s own heart? I think we can as we acknowledge God as our Help and King, as we come to Him in total dependence and expectation, and as we make spending time with Him part of our daily routine.

We can begin today, as we pray like David: “Listen to my cry for help, my King and God, for I will never pray to anyone but you” (v. 2, New Living Translation).

With prayers for shalom, peace,


Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

GO

Go from your land, from your birthplace, and from your fathers House. (Genesis 12:1)

The question is, why the repetition? If God would have said, from your land or from your birthplace, it would suffice!

The answer is that God was alluding to not only a physical journey but to a spiritual journey.

Therefore, מארצך or from your land means from your evil inclination.

וממולדתך or from your birthplace means from the the bad attributes that are innate in man.

ומבית אביך or from your fathers house means from the habits that you learned in your fathers house.