Overview of the Weekly Reading,
Toldot
To be read on Shabbat Toldot - 4 Kislev
5767 /November 25, 2006
Torah:Genesis 25:19-28:9; Haftorah:
Malachi 1:1-2:7 (because the second verse mentions
Yaakov & Esav)
Toldot,
6th out of 12 in Genesis, 6th overall, 36th out of 54 in
overall length. 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 his Canaanite wives, and married Ishmael’s daughter Machlat.
FROM
THE MASTERS OF KABBALA (K:0667/Toldot)
From the holy
Zohar, teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
(Z:0667/Toldot) It
is written, "Isaac went out to pray in the field towards evening" (Gen.
24:63). Didn't he have a home in which to pray, or some other place? But this
was the field adjacent to the cave that Abraham had bought [from Efron] (see Gen.
25). When Isaac prayed in that field, he perceived the Shechina and the
lofty spiritual scents that were emitted. It was for that reason that he established
that field as his place of worship. For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Holidays" section on our KabbalaOnline
site. * * * * * From
the holy Ari, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Safed
(A:0667/Toldot)
Over-indulgence in the sensuality of this world
renders a person spiritually closed and "clogged up", impervious to
divine inspiration and insensitive to the inner reality of life and its experiences.
This is graphically represented by the letter chet, in which the open "opening"
of the hei has been closed. For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Holidays" section on our KabbalaOnline
site. * * * * * From
Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (S:0667/Toldot)
The
third well he called "Rechovot" [related to the Hebrew word for "spacious"],
a reference to the Future Temple, may it be speedily built in our days, which
will be achieved without quarrel or feud, and G-d will enlarge our borders, as
it says, "And if the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn,
etc." (Deut. 19:8), which refers to the future; and regarding the Third House
of the Future it is written, "Broader and winding about, higher and higher"
(Ezekiel 41:7).
For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Torah" section on our KabbalaOnline
site.
FROM
THE CHASSIDIC REBBES (V:0667/Toldot) "You
shall stay with him a short time ... until your brother's fury turns away ...
until your brother's anger turns away." ( 27:44, 45) Rebecca advised
her son Jacob what to do: "Run away to my brother Laban and wait until your
brother gets over his anger. How will you know when that time has arrived and
he is no longer angry at you? When you yourself stop holding a grudge against
him." Rebecca understood the reciprocity of human emotions: Love is reciprocated
with love, and hatred elicits a like response in others.
(Baal Hahaflaah)
(from L'Chaim #897)
A
MYSTICAL CHASSIDIC DISCOURSE from
the Chabad Master series, produced by
Rabbi Yosef Marcus for www.ascentofsafed.com
and www.kabbalaonline.org
MOSHIACH
THIS WEEK (M:0667/Toldot) "Two
nations are in your womb... Each nation will overpower the other, and the older
will serve the younger." (Gen. 25:23) When Rivkah was pregnant
with Yaakov and Esav, and she was feeling them fighting within her, she asked
G-d why she was having so much pain. She received the above answer. The descendants
of Esav are the ones who are now keeping the Jewish people -- the descendants
of Yaakov -- in exile. They "overpower" us during the period of Exile.
But in the days of Melech HaMashiach, the Exile will end and the Jewish people
will be free. Then, "the older" -- those from Esav -- "will serve
the younger" -- those from Yaakov. Midrash Hagadol [Adapted
from Discover Moshiach in the Weekly Torah Portion (by Rabbi Berel Bell
and the students of Bais Chaya Mushka Seminary of Montreal), as published on www.mashiach.org]
An
essay from Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter, director of Ascent
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
here) (W:0667/Toldot)
Rabbi Isaac Ginsburgh explained the difference
between life before and after marriage: Before the wedding, the bride and groom
can easily grow "vertically", approaching G-d's Essence, taking on new
levels at will. After the wedding, when the two souls are united, it is not so
easy to grow "vertically". The emphasis is to spread holiness outward,
as opposed to personal elevation; the growth is "horizontal", touching
the world with G-dliness through all of the new mitzvahs the couple can
now fulfill that were unavailable to them before. Where do they get the strength
to fulfill all of these new mitzvahs? Jewish custom is that the Shabbat
before his wedding, the groom is called up to the Torah, called an "aliyah".
The word "aliyah" literally means to ascend. It is a Chasidic
tradition that only then, during this state of spiritual elevation, is the groom
invested with the strength to be a married person. A similar transformation happens
to the bride at the "bedekin", when a veil is placed on her face,
just prior to the wedding ceremony. The community celebrates this event
with a Kiddush, which serves to escort the young man on his way to his
new station in life. Likewise, from that Shabbat until the wedding, the bride
and groom are always accompanied by another person, as a form of protection. Also,
during the week following the wedding, the bride and groom are both always escorted
as one honors a king and queen to their every destination. Similarly, as
part of the mitzvah of hospitality, not only should we provide food and
lodging for a guest, we should also escort him some small distance when leaving
our home. Even in the world at large, it is customary to escort someone going
on a long or important journey at least part of the way. What is the significance
of escorting someone? The Shlah connects the idea of escorting someone with
this week's Torah portion. The Jewish nation is called "Knesset Yisrael".
"Knesset" means a gathering and refers to the special power of
the Jewish people, who are gathered together and united on a soul level. This
special unity gives us a secure position before the Almighty in His divine palace,
which is also called the "heavenly city". There is a spiritual
state, called "outside", relating to the verse: "Esau, man of the
field" (Gen. 25:27). Anytime a Jewish person leaves the security of one spiritual
level, he moves out of the spiritually developed "city", into the limbo
of the wilder "field". In the field, all routes are considered dangerous,
because a person is tapping into the dimension of Esau and his field. This is
the basis for travelers or guests to be escorted by loved ones or hosts, to strengthen
their ongoing connection to the spiritual security of the "city". Even
if a person in transit is physically separated from the "city", his
soul is still connected. Since he is still in the "city" in a spiritual
way, no danger can befall him. Through this, Esau's field is transformed
to the holy field of Isaac, as it says, "Isaac went out to meditate in the
field" (Gen. 24:63), and that Isaac smelled "the fragrance of the field
blessed by G-d", on Jacob. This is the holy apple field which the Zohar describes,
and which the Sages say is actually the Garden of Eden. From the above, we understand
the importance of the mitzvah to escort someone physically on their journey.
This is also why the Rabbis emphasized thinking Torah thoughts when traveling,
because this also connects us to the divine "city". As a bride
and groom leave the security of their family homes and move into their status
as an independent couple, may our escorting them create an eternal spiritual connection
to the divine city, protecting them and nurturing them wherever they go. So too,
wherever each of us go, may we maintain our connection to the Source. Shabbat
Shalom, Shaul
P.S. Please also read my weekly Shabbat
Law, below.
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
here)
For all our insights for this parsha:from five years ago | 
