Lessons from Bereshis

Since this is the week corresponding to the Torah reading of Toldos, it is appropriate to look at ties between Toldos and last week’s Torah reading of Chayei Sara. Looking forward, we can bring in to the discussion Rachel and Yaakov. There are indeed connecting themes between all of these in Bereshis/Genesis.

What can we learn from Rivka/Rebecca? Rivka lived in a home of Besuel and Lavan and yet demonstrated the type of good characteristics and mannerisms fit to become a matriarch of Israel. Her family did not share with her those same good characteristics. How does a Rivka come from the home of a Besuel and Lavan?

From Rivka we learn that a Jew has an obligation not just to maintain a proper yiddishkeit perspective, but to elevate herself nonetheless, blocking out those negative images (its so easy just to get along – but not the Torah thing to do) and to ascend in new heights of Torah and mitzvos, even if she finds herself in a society dominated by derech Lavan (mannerisms of a Lavan.

This week in the portion of Toldos, Rivka, now almost a mother is having a difficult pregnancy. A spiritual battle of immense proportions is taking place inside her womb. Yaakov and Esav are engaged in a struggle for domination. After Yaakov and Esav are born and begin maturing, it is very clear that these two sons of Yitchak/Isaac and Rivka are growing into two very different people. Yaakov is a student of Torah and Esav a deceiver and killer. The question is now the opposite of the one above, how does an Esav come from the home of an Yitchak?

There are no guarantees in life and Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not promise any Jew absolute success in all of their endeavors to grow into a thoughtful, kind and Torah observant Jew. It takes work and nothing can be taken for granted. A good home environment is important but that is no guarantee. An Esav can grow up in the home of Yitchak and Rivka.

And what of Rachel and Yaakov? Now we have come full circle. Rachel and her sister Leah grew up with a Lavan as their father yet both managed to become matriarchs of Israel, not by following in the crooked ways of their father Lavan, but by seeing that the society in which they lived was in desperate need not of their father’s corruption but of the Torah of Yaakov.

So here we are. Every Jew must face these challenges and everyone here today must strive to grow in Torah and Mitzvos observance. That’s a pretty big challenge. But it is a challenge that even the least observant Jew can meet through dedication and hard work. Jews have a spark of G-d inside them which pulls the soul to its source. That inner soul is often overlooked and more often repressed in favor of its stronger partner, the physical life force. But while the physical has natural limitations in time and space, the inner more spiritual soul is far less restrained and can soar to greater heights. This is the challenge for the Jew. The example of success in overcoming all the obstacles to our spiritual growth is the inheritance left to us by our patriarchs and matriarchs.

Thoughts on UN Day, Dhimmitude, and Bereshis

My handy desk calendar tells me today is United Nations Day. I don't feel anymore united today then yesterday. Where are the parades down Broadway? The balloons, the confetti? My google news search didn't return any general results for United Nations day until I searched for it specifically. There is a White House Press Release if you care enough to read it. As a small reminder, the UN is the world's antiJew forum which is more concerned with the five and one half (or so) million Jews residing in the land of our divine inheritance and how they make life miserable for the barbarian peoples trying to kill them than all the other problems of the world. That comes as no surprise to the readers of this blog.

I guess most of the world really does read Tanach. The role of Edom who seeks to block the children of Jacob from fulfilling their destiny is on display on the General Assembly floor and semi-circle desk of the Security Council by over paid, privileged with immunity, under-worked, stuffed into expensive business suit antiJews. They seem to understand that every obstacle they can throw in the face of the Jewish people extends the time period of interaction between the Israel, Yishmael and Edom. Yisroel is feared by both Yishmael and Edom, for when Yisroel overwhelms the other two sides, HaShem's presence will be manifest in Yerushalayim. At that time, when Moshiach comes, the 'emes' of existence will be manifest and the abuse of power and waste of resources exemplified by the plush life in midtown Manhattan will fade away.
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And as I have in my ear the niggun Nyet Nyet Nikavo (G-d is One, His name is One, besides Him there is no one) I am again reminded that it doesn't matter what the UN does or says. There is only One in charge.

Nyet Nyet Nikavo
song history

UN and Israel resources
Barbarians war on Israel resources

Now, not everyone is on board in recognizing this spiritual conflict against Edom and Yishmael. British Shul Bans “Racist” Tanya. I have heard an account from Rabbi Posner of a conversation he had where the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe (YYS) was quoted by Rabbi Hadokov as saying to the effect that there are times to fight and times to bend and let the wind pass by. This is not one of those times. The very idea of "banning" a sefer such as Likkutei Amarim Tanya is an act of surrender by Jews, for whom one must conclude, have been Dhimmitized. The UK is under significant pressure to make Jihadist Islam comfortable. The stories abound, see APRPEH's The Power of a Pup - The Impurity of a Religion for one example of this kowtow.

Many of the Jews in the UK have lost their perspective. Even the mainstream OU's EV President, Rabbi Weinreb claims he learns Tanya regularly. If British Jews are truly concerned with Jewish belief, principles, and texts that COULD be considered racist then they might as well ban large sections of Midrash and Gemora too. What part of segula mecal ha'amim (treasured nation), goy kadosh (holy nation) and mamlecket kohanim (kingdom of priests) did they mis-understand? Yisro - ORT, Navigating the Bible These UK Jews will have to purge all of those references out of Chumash I suppose to appease their Muslim masters. No more 'asher bachar banu mikol ha amim' for aliyas anymore either and naturally havdala must go. To these Dhmmi yidden, until they awake from their slumber, I shall repeat: "G-d is One, His name is One, besides Him there is no one". Being on the wrong side of Jewish history is an act that has proven to be, all too tragically, only temporarily tolerated.

The annual reading of the Chumash starting at Bereshis begins G-d willing this Shabbos. Bereshis is wonderful in that it sets a tone for the entire Torah and serves as a foundation for a larger idea, without which, Torah is harder to handle. Bereshis begins with the creation and the account of the first man and then the first woman. From therein, the narrative part of the Torah continues to share with the reader the "evolution" of the world, namely the "evolution" of Hashem's work the establishment of one offspring of the first couple to the establishment of one family of a later offspring to the eventual rise of one nation/people separated from the rest for a divine purpose. It might be hard for some in British Jewry to understand this, but it is a matter of Torah black on white. This happens to be the root of my words above. Not the UN, not the UK not anyone can re-write the lengthy Jewish history which underpins us or the glorious Jewish history which awaits us BimHara V'yamenu with the speedy coming of Moshiach. The Torah has been given to us by HaShem in order to join in the building of the world He wants us to have reflected in the truth of the first three words.

Vedibarta Bam - Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky
"In the beginning of G-d's creating." (1:1)

QUESTION: On this first pasuk of the Torah, the Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni) says that it will be understood with the saying "Rosh devarcha emet" — "Your very first utterance is truth" (Psalms 119:160). What is the connection between these two passages?

ANSWER: The final letters of the words Bereishit bara Elokim spell the word emet — "truth." The Gemara (Shabbat 55a) says, "Hashem's signet is emet." Hashem exists simultaneously in the past, present and future. Likewise, the word emet is made up of the first, middle and last letters of the Hebrew alef-beit to indicate that truth does not change, it is consistent in the past, present and future. (more at link above).

G-d is One, His name is One, besides Him there is no one.