How to Have it All -Tehila Gimpel:The Land of Israel Fellowship

hey guys so in this past torah portion we read about this epic meeting it's you know the ultimate sort of reconciliation between yaakov and asap jacob and esau you just feel as this is building up that it's more than just a meeting between two brothers right it's that of course but it's also like these two worlds are colliding two outlooks on life and our sages throughout the generations have really seen this meeting as a deep symbolic enactment of the sort of general meeting between israel and the biblical worldview and the world of asap who represents whatever is the opposite of that so obviously you know in the story jacob is really nervous about meeting his brother when the brothers finally do meet and embrace jacob offers a gift to aesop and he says no no don't worry about it i don't need your gift you can keep it he says yesh li rove i have rove roven hebrew means like much most a lot and then jacob says no no no please accept my gift because hashem has been merciful to me hashem hashem has been kind to me and yeshli ko meaning i have cull calling hebrew is all everything so there are like these two different words being used to describe their material wealth asap says the word rove right he's saying i have most and yaakov is saying i have all everything and when you look at it it sounds a little bit funny like if someone was just listening to the outside it would almost sound like jacob is bragging like oh you think you have a lot i have everything right but it's obviously not that asap's um choice of term though does seem to make more sense on a factual level like obviously he's wealthy and he has a lot but you can't possibly have everything no one has everything and besides let's say that jacob he felt like he had so much that it was infinite in his subjective experience right he felt like it was infinite enough to call it everything but then even according to that like if he would give his gift then just definitionally he would have that infinity minus one and then it wouldn't be infinity anymore it would be most of infinity of most of this everything that he has so it doesn't make sense what is he saying i have everything like if you're giving gifts how could you have everything um so you kind of get the feeling when you're reading this like this is a strange conversation there must be something deeper going on than sort of this quantitative banter of how much do i have and how much do i have how much can i afford to give and how much you know do i think that i should receive when it comes to gift giving it's really two ways of experiencing life how do we think about the abundance and what we have in life so the clia car in explaining these verses points out that the term that asap uses to describe as well rove it's relative most is always relative when you say i have a much or most there's no objective much or most it's always relative to something else it's hard to say a lot without thinking about what you're comparing it to when you say oh that guy has a lot of money right you see you know some guy in your neighborhood you say oh yeah he has a lot of money or he has you know more money he has a you know something like that you don't actually probably know how much money he has in his bank or how much money he has in his paycheck you're making an estimate based on how nice his stuff is compared to everyone else right like you're seeing him driving a nicer car than average and you're seeing him wearing a nicer watch than most people can afford so you think well he must have a lot compared to other people so asap is saying yeah i have a lot that's a relative term it's a measurement that can never really be satisfied because if you have a lot you could always have a little bit more if you have a million you can have a million and one it never really ends when you're counting your wealth based on what other people have you know or based on the potential of what you could have it can never end it's never really satisfied yaakov comes jacob comes with a different perspective he says when you're measuring your wealth against the infinite potential of wealth that could be on a good day you could be like a7 have a lot but look at what yaakov says he says hashem has blessed me he attributes his wealth to hashem he says hashem has been kind to me it's not a rat race of me earning whatever i can compared to other people or compared to what i could potentially have but rather i'm so grateful for the abundance that hashem has given me and when you know that hashem has given you everything you know that it's exactly what you need because it's from hashem and it's exactly what's right for you it's going to be what's best for you it may be that you only have modest means on an objective level like compared to other people you know you only have a little bit but if you live in an you know so if you live in a mason mentality that'll seem like a little because you're looking over your shoulder all around and what i could have if only if only if only right if only i could afford if only if i was like that guy if only i had you know richer parents but when you have a yakov perspective you say i have everything yeshli ko even if i have a little even if i have a lot maybe hashem wants me to work on my modesty maybe hashem wants me to work harder if i have wealth maybe hashem is entrusting me with the privilege of giving a lot of charity or having a beautiful home that can host many guests either way once you see that it's directed by hashem in the most perfect way it's not a lot or a little relative to something it's always everything because it's everything that was perfectly tailor-made for me so you know this expresses itself in asa's rejection of yaakov's generosity he says no don't give me a gift he's trying to be nice to yaakov because in his world view everything is relative if you're giving something to me you're going to have less brother i don't want you to have less i already have a lot don't worry about it and yaka says no no no you're missing the point if i feel guided if i feel that it's right for me to give you this gift i won't have everything minus one i won't have what i have minus one i'll still have everything because it's everything i need and deserve directly decided for me by hashem so when i'm giving i'm not simultaneously losing it's not a you know a zero-sum game i can do a kindness for someone else and still remain whole i don't have anything less um you know the aura kind of the holy or chaim he says that the beauty of what yaakov was saying is that even after he gave all these you know sheep to to asa he didn't actually have less he says it's like in a miraculous way but it's actually just really true in the way that yaakov experienced it he didn't feel like he had less because he knew that he was still whole these are two totally different ways to approach the world i think it's interesting because you can see that you know economic philosophies like socialism and communism they really only take foot in direct relationship to how religious a country is i don't think that you can find a country that has high levels of religious belief and observance that's also communist and on the flip side whenever communist regimes take hold they always try to stamp out religion why what is it what do this have to do with each other their economic world views it doesn't matter you know what religion you have but when but when but these economic views they actually really are very deep uh an economic view that sees everything as relative where all wealth is evil because one person shouldn't have more than someone else the only way to stamp out that evil in that philosophy is to erase all differences in wealth so no one has more than anyone else we the government is going to decide the government is going to decide how much you should have otherwise there's always going to be somebody who has a little bit more right aciv will maybe have a lot and someone else will have relatively less but when you live in a faith-based philosophy you can see someone who has more than you and you're okay you don't need to stamp that out you know you're not in a row of mindset you're not in a relative mindset of comparing yourself to that guy but you are in a yaakov mindset on all perspective that you say i have all that hashem has chosen for me it's the exact right amount for me so you can live without being beaten away with all that jealousy and you can also be a giver because you realize that even after you give you're not going to really have less you'll have the exact same everything that you had before because you have everything that you need and so it's not going to be a world view that expects the government to take care of everybody but it's a worldview that says i'm going to be able to take responsibility for my neighbor because i'm not going to be at a loss if you think that by giving you already are at a disadvantage then of course you're going to want the government to give and not you so i could you know you could you can see this really just in israel when israel started out it was a very secular country and was very influenced in its um economic policies by by you know soviet kind of thinking and as the decades have gone by and in many ways israel has become a more traditional and religious country and traditional groups have had more influence in guiding policy you can see israel distancing itself from economic philosophies that base themselves on this kind of on this kind of asap mentality so if we return to the story i think it's so beautiful because this conversation between them allows them to have that reconciliation jacob teaches this idea to asam and he's able to accept that gift and through accepting that gift they're able to they're able to love each other again and realize that they're not in this continual competition of who's going to beat you know who's going to beat the other one but they can actually be giving to one another without either of them losing so with that i want to leave you guys and uh bless you with everything and that we'll all be able to feel not just that you know we're getting everything but that we already have everything that we already have everything that hashem wants us to have and i bless us to have a week filled with that abundance and gratitude bye everyone hi my name is jeremy gimpel a lot of people want to know exactly what the land of israel fellowship is and what members receive when they join so let me explain the land of israel fellowship is a global online community with hundreds of members from over 40 countries around the world they're live sessions and gatherings that create a direct personal connection to the land of israel and the lovers of israel from around the world there's no online gathering that i'm familiar with that is connected to the land of israel that unites and brings together such a diverse group of people backgrounds and nationalities it feels like prophecy it feels like something we need in these times a window in to a better future on the horizon there's a divine unity we experience every week in our fellowship broadcast we heard these amazing teachings from an authentic hebrew and israel perspective and our jaws drop not only because they ring so true and are such a blessing because they are so consistent with what we believe these sunday morning gatherings are nothing less than a house of prayer for all nations cindy lo the united states of america the land of israel fellowship is an amazing resource for learning torah the bible and the prophets unfiltered and uncensored directly from the land of israel we've been studying torah for almost 20 years but we feel we are stepping into it more than ever and seeing new depth and dimensions to scripture we're encouraged more and more every week calen ardell usa members receive access to all the archives in the library of teachings on every portion of the torah the biblical feasts hebrew prayer prophecy sessions on the ancient wisdom of the prophets of israel to help us navigate through these turbulent times these sessions are so rich i re-listen to each and truly each session is the best one yet tehela is a tremendous asset and the teachings ari shares are so rich i've read the bible so many times and i've known the things you are teaching the hebrew understanding is what christians have missed for century sister georgian from germany the land of israel fellowship is truly unique because it's built upon personal relationships with the teachers of the fellowship myself rabbi arya bramwitz in tehillah every member has direct access to the staff 24 6 via email or direct whatsapp to ask questions to comment to connect directly to all the teachers and over the last years we've connected to some of the most beautiful people on the planet so if you want to find out more and join the land of israel fellowship you can click on the link below and if you want to try it out for just a month you can email fellowship at the land of israel.com and we'll hook you up i hope to see you shalom from the mountains of judea