Transcript
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Hello everyone. After reading in this
week's Torah portion about the story of
Yakov and Esov, [music] about their
struggle even from the womb and the sale
of the birthright, we move on to read
the Haftara of Tolok from the book of
Malahi, chapter 1, [music] a powerful
prophecy about God's love for the Jewish
nation. When the Jewish people returned
from the Babylonian exile, they built
the second [music] temple. It was a very
difficult period. The new temple was not
as magnificent as the previous one.
Economic [music] life was hard. The
people felt that God was distant, that
he was abandoning them. There were
people who began to assimilate, to marry
[music] non-Jews. Many wondered what was
the point of continuing to be Jewish.
[music] And in the midst of this
despair, Malahi the prophet came with a
powerful message. God loves you. He has
always loved you and always will. I have
loved you, [music] says the Lord. The
prophecy opens with the most beautiful
words possible. The burden of the word
of the Lord to Israel by the hand of
Malahi. [music] I have loved you, says
the Lord. This is not just a message.
It's a journey, an important and deeply
meaningful prophecy. God tells the
Jewish people explicitly, "I love you."
But the people in their difficult
situation don't feel it.
They ask [music] in pain, "How have you
loved us? Where is the love when the
temple is so neglected? Where is the
love when our fields are failing? Where
is the love when [music] we are ashamed
before the nations?" And God answers
with a surprising answer.
He takes [music] them back to the
beginning of history, to the Torah
portion of Tolot,
to the moment when it all began. Essav
was Yakov's brother. [crying] They were
born at the [music] same time to the
same parents, Yeetszak and Rivka, in the
same home with the same upbringing. If
it were a matter of luck, of treatment
or circumstances, [music] they both
should have turned out the same.
But God chose [music] Yakov. He loved
him and chose him to be the father of
the Jewish people, of the chosen nation.
And Essa, who became Edom, a nation that
[music] was always an enemy of the Jews,
God rejected. The word hated here
doesn't necessarily mean hatred as we
know it. The sages [music] explain it
means I did not choose. I love this one
and I hated that one. In other words, I
preferred [music] this one over that
one.
The connection to the Torah portion is
so profound. In the portion of Tolot, we
read the whole story from the beginning.
During [music] the pregnancy, the
children struggled within her. They were
already fighting before birth. Rifka
feels that something is [music] strange
and goes to ask God. And the answer she
receives is astonishing. These aren't
just two babies. They're two nations.
Two entire worlds already fighting in
the womb. Even then, two worlds, two
paths, [music] two completely different
outlooks on life.
At the time of their birth, the sages
say that Yakov was born circumcised, a
sign of his holiness. [music] Esov was
born with teeth, a sign of his violence.
Essav is a hunter, [music] a man of the
field who loves power and violence,
seeking physical pleasures. Yakov is an
innocent man dwelling [music] in tents,
immersed in Torah, seeking spiritual
truth, building an inner world.
And then comes the decisive moment, the
sale of the birthright. Esov returns
[music] from the field hungry. Yakov
feeds him lentil stew and at that moment
buys the birthright from Esov.
Yakov understood the true value of the
birthright. It's not just [music] about
being the firstborn in the family. It's
about being the priest, being close to
[music] God, receiving the spiritual
blessings. And Esov, with complete
indifference, replies, [music] "I'm
going to die one day anyway, so what's
the point of the birthright?
Why should I care about spiritual
things?" He swore an oath. He sold the
birthright officially. He [music]
belittled it, disgraced it, and didn't
understand its value. for a bowl of
stew, for a moment of pleasure, for the
satisfaction of an immediate desire.
[music] He sold the most important thing
in his life.
God continues [music] the prophecy and
shows what happened to Esov to Adom
throughout history. The land of Adom,
which was [music] once full of
mountains, forests, and wealth, became a
wasteland, a desert full [music] of
jackals.
Edom was a strong nation. They had
fortresses in their towns, magnificent
cities, a wealthy [music] economy. But
all of them disappeared. Where is Adam
today? It doesn't exist.
Adam [music] can try. God says they will
build and I will destroy. Why? Because
it is a wicked nation. [music] A nation
that always hated the Jewish people,
always tried to destroy us and was
always cruel and violent.
Like the prophet says, a nation [music]
punished forever. It's not just a
temporary anger, but an eternal anger
because Adam represented [music] the
absolute opposite of everything Israel
stands for. And then God says something
moving and strengthening to the Jewish
people. Your eyes, the eyes of the
Jewish people in every generation will
see this. You will see [music] how Adam
falls, disappears, becomes a mere
footnote in history. See how the Jewish
people continue to exist generation
after generation, exile [music] after
exile, and return to their land. And
then when you see this, you will say,
"God is great. He rules over everything.
He decides who rises and who falls. He
chooses his people. He protects them
forever." This is the central moving and
strengthening message of the Haftara.
No matter how difficult the situation
is, no matter how distant we feel, no
matter what exiles we've endured, what
troubles, what suffering,
this love began with the choosing
[music] of Yakov over Esav, and it will
never end.
I loved you, said God. These words echo
in every generation. In the Babylonian
exile, in the Spanish exile, in the
ghettos, in the Holocaust, in all the
hardships, God tells us, "I love you."
And this is the greatest blessing there
is. Not wealth, not power, not success,
but knowing that God loves you. that the
choosing of Yakov was not by chance
[music] and that the love for the Jewish
people will never end. Even when it's
hard,
even when we don't understand, even when
we feel distant, that love has always
been there and always will be.
