Vayishlach: Holy Women | Rabbi Ari Kahn | December 4th 2025

Here is sponsored today and every week by Michael and Jerry Lax for the grand show. Amen. So this week is parish and I apologize for such an uninspiring start. It's like the worst way to start a Torah. This week's para is like like you should never do that. >> I'm just illustrating. I was just pointing it out >> in uh in Peric Lammed Hay which begins with God calling out to YaKob, go back to Betel and uh and he goes, he travels, he gets there and there is a verse which is kind of like sitting by itself where it gives us information which I guess is important information but it's the kind of thing if we were never told this information none of us would be sitting and saying hold it you know what happened whatever happened to her so in it says I actually put a little arrow next to that so you can so you can see that's where you're supposed to start getting very sophisticated here alone so now we realize within the context text of going back to Betel is why we needed to know about this particular place because this is this significant thing which has happened over here by betel. So again it says that Vatamat D'vorah MK Rifka she died. Now the problem is is that we never knew anyone named Dvora MC Rifka. Now now I I know that you're going to tell me hold it. I remember another minet Rifka and then you're going to use our favorite theory of conservation of minikot of Rifka and therefore say so obviously we're we're talking about the same person although we could note that that person is most likely no spring chicken at this point because she's probably gone through shall we say a whole bunch of winters by now. So we're told about this woman who is all but anonymous and she dies and then she's mourned and not only is she mourned the place is called this uh oak of mourning and it's significant really is one which uh seems somewhat strange. Rashi over here tells us in source two so right here he says hold it even if it is the same. So she had traveled right do you remember who she was? She had traveled with Rifka all those years before. So when Rifka got I don't know if you want to say married engaged or whatever it was the Evid had come and uh the deal was made which is interesting because it's a parallel journey which Yakov right now was taking that his mother had taken the same journey when his mother came came with the MC Rifka. Now she he's coming with Mka Rifka. So Rashi does something which is incredibly clever. He's quoting over here. He'll tell you who he's quoting. But he does something which is really clever because of course whenever you have one problem you solve a second problem with the first problem and that becomes very elegant. And he says my name is what is she even doing here at all? Rifka said I'm going to send for you and I'm going to bring you back. And now Rashi's actually noting a problem that Yakov had was told that Rifa would call for him. And she never as far as we know calls for him which itself could be interpreted as being somewhat ominous because what did she actually say? She said that when your brother calms down in a couple of days you brother will calm down and I'll send for you. So a couple of days and more days. By the way also said you'll work for me for a couple of days. So apparently you can't trust either love and or riifa people from that family. When they say a couple, what exactly does a couple mean? >> It's it's it's a couple. The couple may be interpreted in a slightly broader sense than we would normally than we would normally be tempted to interpret it. So but she never does send for him. Now the reason why I said it's because she said, "Oh, your brother will calm down." Well, maybe he never calmed down. And you could actually bring me some good evidence that he never calmed down is that earlier in this para he shows up for the meeting and Yakov's quite afraid because he shows up with 400 men. Now is 400 men a lot of men. Of course it's a lot of men. Why is it a lot of men? Because World War I was won with only 318 men. World War I of course I'm referring to the war of the four kings against the five kings. So Aram brings out 318 men and right 318. Am I right? >> Yes. >> 318 men. you know, Kamatra, Alzar, and so on. 318 men, that wins World War I. And Asov now is showing up with a bigger armed force than won that war. So, if you were Yakov, you should be very afraid at this point. And guess what Yakov was? He was very afraid. How do I know he's very afraid? Cuz it says he was very afraid. So now, apparently Asaf has not calmed down. So now the question that we presumably have, well, Rifka said, I'll call for you when your brother calms down. Well, he's never calmed down. So why is Rifka not called informed? because there's still uh real imprisoned danger also there's this other point of it is that he had said or thought we'll come back to that that when our father is dead then I'm going to kill him and why is that so the firm answer is because he wanted to wait for his father to die then kill his brother so he wouldn't have to say shiva twice no [laughter] I said that's the firm answer you know in this week's para this is a bigger problem why in the world you know we does have come [snorts] and I I know the rashi he bit his neck he broke his feet no it says that he comes running over and he kisses him he hugs him and and and he and he seems very good so I think that that's the gar of so once as heard it's a it's a then he had to break the and that's why he comes over and visits it so now you have lots of things to say in purim Right? You said for Por, but we're not yet set for this week's para. So, let's uh let's then continue. So, Rashi again tells us that she said, "I'm going to send for you." So, therefore, Rifka sent him and said, "Okay, it's time to come." You know, the problem with this Rashi is even though I said it's very elegant because it solves the problem. Rifka said, "I'll send for you." Never send for you, but we know why she doesn't send because there is still a problem going on. And Rashi continues and he says and then she died along the way. And then he tells us where he got this from Mosha and I heard this and I learned this from Mosha. Ra Mosha Daran is somebody who influenced Rash. He lived a little bit before. He sometimes brings Medrashim and sometimes he makes his own Dashot. And how do I know he makes his own Dashot? Because he's called Mosha, right? So this should not be hard. And and Rashi Rashi likes him. Michael, how many times does Rashi quote him in Kish? Some 17 times. And another and 17 times. And another two times he quotes him in his parish in the Gomorrah. And if I'm wrong, let me know. Okay, go ahead. Count up. So, let's continue. This idea is actually found in two different midrashim in the in the but both both of these are late midrashim. So, don't be fooled. They're both late midrashim who quote Mosha. So you have collections of midrashim which are which are published afterwards and they have the same idea and that's in source three and four if you like it you know looking like it's written in a midrash so therefore you have it there and it's great haram writes it talks about the greatness of this woman and I I just want to make one observation right now. I was thinking in my actually actually before I got stuck in my long traffic this morning, but uh I I was thinking that when this woman is called MCA Dvora and then she sent off so one of the things that we have in our minds is this understanding that at that point that Rifa Dvor sorry MC Rifka that at that point Riffka is only three years old so that of course she needs her nurse to be taking care of her. Although in the narrative she's called a na. So if she's called a na then presumably she is a bit older than that right more like a teenager young woman. And on the other hand sometimes we're told to imagine that Yitzik was 37 years old by the aa and how is he referred to by the mada as an so therefore he's considerably younger than that. So again, I'm just I'm just noting that sometimes we have these midrashic understandings and then we read them back into the text. So I think there's actually a parallel that I don't know if you've thought about or you haven't thought about that when she gets married or she's going to get married and she's sent away. So she's sent together with this mat Rifka who I think should not be interpreted as the woman who nursed her but she's being sent off with a nurse in order to take care of her children afterwards. And therefore it almost becomes the same as >> the same as I can't do my ventriloquism today. I can't get you to say it. the same as Bella and Zilpa that when each one of them are given as wives, same family, same situation, same uh values, they're given off this other woman who's presumably there as some kind of a helper for them. So, I'm just wondering if Met Rifka means what we think it means. Cuz by the way, what did I just now do? I just now changed her age by uh by a bit which means uh again if Riff uh >> give her over two years when she's not having children. >> Are you disappointed? >> Well, >> okay. So, correct. I >> already did the >> I know. I know. And that didn't work out well. So, so correct. Correct. And they suffer. >> She might even have been the nurse made of children. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying. That's exactly what I'm saying. And therefore all the crying over here, this is the woman who raised Yakov. And I'm just saying it changes the the dynamic ever. So again, as far as as far as Yeets never giving, you know, asking or Riff or Rha doesn't give up. Sorry, we're going back. Rifka doesn't give up and Rifka 20 years of infertility and I don't know what would have happened if it was 25 years. It was 30 years. I don't know. I don't know. I'm just suggesting that there's that there's a parallel over here. And by the way, quite the opposite. Rael's very upset that Yakov won't pray. And he goes, "Okay, take bill." So I'm just saying they're praying and Yakov what? My God. So leave that just something to think about. And let's go back to Benam. And he says the greatness of this woman's capabilities and it's quite likely he says that people would visit her grave. I mean this is really interesting that people make pill that's why it mentions the grave that people would make pilgrimages to her grave. And he continues says meaning this is the original I'm just saying it's it's interesting and there are women who are named for her who so he's claiming over here that the the later Dvorra is named for this D'vorah and she's a Na'vi and over here this is a great love. So just pause because he just shifted. First of all, he also seems to know the same thing that was taught by Mosha Daron, which therefore could be that Mosha Darian will be here saying an older tradition. They both have. Secondly, it is possible that Arab Rambam actually had access to Mosha Adarian. There's a big argument among the scholars if between professor Torski and Professor Gman if the Rambam was aware of Rashi. He never quotes him. He never quotes him. chronologically he could have been aware but then again the Rambam doesn't seem to pay very much attention to anybody coming from France I'm not saying it's something about the I mean I like the French I I like what they've done to Jerusalem in terms of the bakeries I'm very appreciate very very appreciative of the French but right they've changed it completely even marzipan started making milk rugal with butter in it because they had too much competition I I'm just saying that was it was a game changer what happened here but the ra but the Rambam Again, he's a doctor. He probably knows that butter is not good for you. He has no uh he he has no pain. No, I'm just saying he just doesn't doesn't bring them in at all. But that doesn't mean a lack of knowledge of them. And now his son is another generation past then. So could it be that he knows Rashi? Could it be that he knows Rosha Darian? Could it be that he's seen him other sources? Of course it could. It could be. I'm just pointing out that he knows the same thing. But at the end, he throws out another possibility. It could be that Riff now has heard that Yakov has come back to Israel and sends this message. Hurry, hurry up, come back. Which, by the way, he doesn't. Again, nobody mentions this here, but he doesn't. It It seems to be that it takes Yakob, the seder Olm says it takes YaKob a year and a half from the time he enters into Israel until he actually makes it back to his father. And and the silence then is that his mother's not there. Doesn't mention his mother's there anymore. So presumably she's no longer alive. We know that she died, but we only know that she died much later when Yakov mentions that she's buried in the ma. So, I'm just going to pause there for a second. We're never told when Leia dies. We're never told when Rifka dies. We know when they're buried. And over here, this devour, I mean, I could here. We're told that she dies. So, again, there seems to be this again, the Torah doesn't tell us everything. When the Torah doesn't tell us something, we don't necessarily question why didn't it tell us this? But over here just this comparison that the ma drika is is is going to be mentioned but but riifka itself it is mentioned and especially the second interpretation of rab hurry back and but he doesn't I mean you can do the math if just in case you want to figure out he gets to sukkot he's in the area and we have a whole episode taking place there we have betel we have uh mdal there and finally getting back to And apparently it takes him some time to do it. It's he does have like when he left. When he left it seems to be right away and this is slow. So maybe because it's so slow is why she sends her but she ends up dying either before she comes all the way back home or before Yakov is able to make it back. So if you just want to compare it to the other one in source six So here assuming it's the same person here she's mentioned without a name but her name is given there. So I'm saying again it it's interesting because the way you should have done this is you should have named her over here assuming it it is in fact the same person in verse number seven says so he says oh there's actually something else going on that his mother died at the same time by the way this at face value makes it worse it says riifa meaning why is there so much crying taking place why We have our crying oak over here because Rifa died. So tell us that Rifta died. Meaning no, we're going to tell you that Dvora died, but you should know, read between the lines that she died. Well, you know, her her the woman who she worked for passed away and therefore she has no more task in the world and she dies as well. They both die at the same time, but you told us about the wrong one. I mean, that that that's what's strange. And it says and that's why there's so much crying that God blessed him with a of aim and and trying to bring about some kind of uh some kind of uh compassion for the person who's mourning. in the midrada I thought was interesting Rifka she says well who nursed Rifka by the way that just made it all worse it's Rifka's mother is is travel say it's her mother I mean okay we we'll we'll we'll stop on that so again we have the same kind of approach so just to realize this is really the popular approach it kind of solves a problem till you think about it. The Ramban is going to argue with Ben Haram. Again, not by name, but he's going to argue in terms of the his appraisal about who this woman is [snorts] because Raam told us that she's so significant that she is this woman who people make pilgrimages. They name their kids after her and so on. which means we have two revelations taking place by why in the world was this being told right over here in the middle of our God revealing by the way this is a really good question the the it just says forget about who she is and why we're being told why is it being told right here in the middle of something else. It's it's coming and breaking in between two things that happen at the same time in the same place. Why was it placed here? So what we just now saw that there's a hint that died. It can't really be because of this woman who he's going to tell you is not all that significant. Again, I made it more dramatic by saying that she was actually the woman who raised Jacob, but he's saying, "No, she's just some unimportant old lady, his mother who he loved." And again, I'm saying it's not necessarily mutually exclusive bishu. And she had sent her. Now again you realize that he just now adopted that she was sent to bring Yakov back and she never got to come all the way back and therefore God revealed himself in order to console him. In both cases we see that there is God is comforting and so on. We'll skip a little bit. And [clears throat] he points out that by the time he gets back, Rifka has passed away already. I love this cuz she was the one who sent Jacob and caused all of this good that has happened in his life. You you you realize that others may disagree that all this was good. She certainly changed the trajectory of his life and uh taking the bra and sending him certainly changed things. But he said, "Oh, look at all the good that's happened. He's got a bunch of wives. That's very complicated. He's dysfunctional. He's gotten a bunch of kids. That's going to be dysfunctional. That's next week. And uh look at all the good that's happened. And and actually manipulated in order to get him to what he's trying to say now is why is there a cover up in Rifka's death? And he say the cover up is is because if we had to describe the funeral the funeral well it's not just not a happy funeral but it's actually embarrassing. First of all Yakov is not around yet he's going to tell us is too old and really can't function that well. He's old and he's blind and therefore he's stuck inside his tent. And therefore people are first of all going to say oh that's Asv's mother which is not necessarily a good thing to say. He goes that's part of the cover up. The second thing that he's going to say is is that it could be that As never liked him and therefore Asv's not going to get involved in the funeral at all and therefore who's going to bury her. So therefore, who buried her? The Buried her the Kadisha they said okay an old lady passed away over here so we may as well. So he says that Rifka's death and burial is not something that needed to be explained. And again that's what the Ramban goes into over here at a point. He brings some midrashim that he builds up this argument as well. Tori didn't want to tell us all that because by the way now how do you explain that when Leia died that doesn't tell us anything. So again there seems to be a larger theme and then where it's bolded a little bit later on maybe was there that's why it's hinted at here because after she theory of conservation same lady he's by the way he's going to back away from this because first again the birth of Moshe Dar that after she came with Rifka, then she's sent back. And now brings her back in order to see Rifka or Rifka sent her to raise Yakov's children as well. So that's why there's so much crying here because she actually raised these children. She was the official nanny, maid, whatever you want to call her. And you can also say it's not the same lady was some other woman who helped raise the kids and now he brought her out of his mother's arot and important people of lots of women who work in the house nurse the He says it's really a little far-fetched to say that this is the same woman. And again, he he's doing that same kind of math saying that she was the one who raised Rifka. So therefore, by this point, you know, YaKob's not young and Rifka is not that young and she's another generation older, so she's not that young. So he says, "Come on, how can we really be convinced that this is the same person?" So you see the Rambans going back and forth. But one thing that you do see from him is he's not really giving all that much uh value to her. We'll do one more point on this and then we are going to shift direction. The end will come back but we have to shift in source 11 visel he's uh actually some people would accuse him of being a mascul. He worked with men who was a nice firm Jew and he wrote some interesting things but So now we see quoting the and so on. He continues and says and now he starts doing the math when she was sent you know you know at least 20 years have gone by alto together. We're going to skip a little bit again. You have the seven years for seven years for seven years for seven years for another six years as the kids were being born. He finally asked that question. Why would even send somebody? He hasn't calmed down yet as is evidenced. that it's still there in his heart. What's the evidence? Because he has 400 men with him. And don't say that she was told by God. We're going to come back to something very close to that soon. One second. Because again, when could she have come? Because God does not tell Jacob to come back until the end of the 20 years. He he's trying to figure out what in the world is going on. And maybe we'll just point out towards the end here, he writes, being that this dur was an so he goes back she's a great woman and you you know when the movie Wonder Woman came out in Israel they called her which right doesn't get better than that because she was such a great woman that's why her name is mentioned alone so she must have been So he again he makes her into be this woman who raised all the kids. Maybe Rifka, you know, also nursed from this woman. And he says certainly it would must be by the way who was the one who would have hired her. It would have been the two who hired them who was not not necessarily but he says it's important if you're going to bring somebody into your house for help you should you should always try to hire somebody who's at SADK also. I I know good help is so easy to find so you may as well get help who's also at SADK. Wonderful advice if you can do it. Maybe we'll open an agency. It's a day help agency, right? We we we only hire out people who are completely righteous. >> Israel. This was the origin of Israel. >> You know, I once gave a shir on this and I and it was titled it was titled Israel and people thought I was but but it was talking about this issue in terms of as well. So yes, I beat you by this around 15 by around 15 years. Anyway, the shares on why you terrorist someplace. Okay, >> thank you. >> Let's continue. So, as I said, I want to go in a completely different direction now. And it's this point which everybody's kind of dancing around and that is now did Rifka send this woman in order to bring Yakov back. So, I want to try to get this in a slightly different direction. But that's the point that I'm looking for. In order to do this, I want to go back to paracav and I want to note something. It says verif where where is parac that is when the or the take place summons as come let me bless you before I die. And Arifka has an extremely well-developed sense of hearing and she hears all kinds of things. And it says that she hears this. He goes off to find his hunt and to bring the food. Right. I heard. So it goes back. She hears and we know all this. Now this phrase schma listen to my words listen to my voice is actually used multiple times in this section if you that that was on again later on again we're going to find it in so I'm going to tell you something which you're probably going to resist at least a little bit. I suspect that every time that Rifka says Schmabaki and listen which I'm commanding you that Rifka is not speaking by herself that Rifka is speaking prophetically that Rifka is speaking as somebody who has knowledge which is divine inside information and uh she is speaking as a Nivea. Now let's pause that for a second. The fact that Rifka receives come some type of divine information at some point is something that you know even though there I fully acknowledge that there is this tendency at least by some to diminish Rifka's prophetic ability and what the Pik says is that she goes and searches God and then it says hashem now I don't know how to be with I don't know how to be more specific and God said to her none Nonetheless, you're going to find Rashi and others citing, yeah, she went to the Shiva Shame and and then they gave her the information. By the way, there were local there were closer local prophets around, right? Araham is probably more uh accessible. But it's interesting that God said to her, now just in case you therefore think that Rashi doesn't necessarily think that Rifka has prophetic ability. So now let's try to work out a couple of things when it says but let's start with actually what's the next word. So doesn't say it out loud he thinks we know it. How do we know it? We know it because the Torah tells us. How does the Torah know this? Well, that's a really bad question, right? The again, God knows what as thinking God. Now, that's really interesting. But God, again, I told you she hears really well who said this to her. Look at Rashi in source 15 of that she knew from the what it was that he was thinking. So, and how does she respond? What does she say then? Now, if we go back a little bit when she says, you know, what I'm commanding you to do, and as I said, it says that a couple of times as well. Now, one of them is going to be when there's resistance because Yakov is going to say, hold it a second. As is somebody who is a hairy person, right? That's in he says again same formula is used over here. Take a look at the uncleus. This is remarkable because generally uncleus is pretty literal. He just read into that that's take a look for it there. His mother said to him, and this is really the Kali, his mother said to him, the tommo, [snorts] I was told prophetically that you will not be cursed. Listen to what I have to say. So therefore, I'm going to say it again. You now you see Tarum, the Tarum is doing it. You see that Rashi is doing it. And I all that I did is I extended it a little bit because the common denominator of both those verses is and there was a third time as well when she tells him to go take the bra. If you want to nuance this a little bit differently and and claim as some will that Rifka is here motivated by that original prophecy that she had and there see she's still acting prophetically but I don't think that's the case because we see two other things over here again much more detailed which the picture that we're getting is and and yes Rashi knows this tarum very well and Rashi says again on this other point what Asab is thinking she knows all of this is pointing out that that She is speaking prophetically. Now I therefore have a very simple question that I want to ask. When Rifka continues and she says, "I know what Asov is thinking." What's the next couple words again? Why? Because I know what he's thinking. How does she know he's thinking? because she heard from the run away and that's right. She then goes in tok and says, you know, if Jacob is going to marry somebody local, you know, that's going to be catastrophic and so on. And then in source 13, commanded. So when Jacob went, which one did he do? Barak, did he run away or did he walk? [gasps] >> So which one? So I'm I'm being very serious about this because there there are two different narratives which you can say again. Yes, finally I've said this many times. Finally, both of his parents are telling him to do the same thing, but they're not doing tell him to do the same thing. They're telling him to take the same path. They're telling him to go to the same place. But his mother said, "Run away." And his father said, meaning his mother said, "Run away from here and go there." And his father's saying, "Go there." Didn't say run away. So which one? >> Which one which narrative does God embrace? Did God embrace the narrative of Rifka or does God embrace the narrative of Yeitzk? I I just want to pause again. If she is talking prophetically now the is speaking to her and that's this whole section here again I told you three different places here theina is speaking the spoke to her as well long before which sets up the entire story. When she says you go and I'll call for you is she speaking for herself or is she speaking prophetically? My question then is is that when she never calls but God speaks to him and says to go, is that a continuation of the same prophecy? Is that all that she had ever said in the first place? She is speaking Rifka is saying but but again all this is prophetic. You go and I'll call for you. Who's the who's who is the me over here who's going to call for you? And now I'm going to go back again and ask you the same question that when we're told over here run away versus go. So which one is it? So let me let me note as uh as follows. First of all, if we turn to to source 17, even before 17 underneath the ladder, betel, God says, I will take care of you and I will bring you back, which means now God is speaking and saying essentially exactly what it was that Riff is saying. It's not only that is God is I'll take care of you is God is acting very God is actually identifying with his feminine side right the is the feminine side of God and saying I I I will nurture you I will take care of you so I'm just saying note that because that's really interesting we go to source number do we want to do Yeah. What's interesting about 17 is that after Yseph is born, Jacob says, "And I will then walk." Kind of like the way that had phrased it. And what happens when he actually leaves? The word barak is used. He runs away from there. So I'm just saying is that the duality of how he's going to leave lavan is actually the same duality which was expressed with how he left beha and there are these two possibilities. I'm going to go but he doesn't go. He runs away from there and and then he gets chased down. If you look at source 19 so it's the is there right? So the barak is there in terms of the way that he comes back. Although what was on the table initially is I'll I'll you know I'll go but that's not what happened in source 18 go and I will be there for you. So now I'm going to say so is this inconsistent with what Rifka had told and therefore Rifka never kept her word or is Rifka talking as a prophet and absolutely God is now saying what he had said he was going to do through the prophet that God is going to take care. So [snorts] when I asked my question before, so which one is it? Now let me note what it actually uh what it actually says. Go back to the first source from the beginning. So what's the narrative that God chooses? When you ran away, what else does it say over here? It adds it again. So what exactly is the divine narrative in all of this? That he ran away. So who does God identify with completely with Rifka? Why does God identify with Rifka? Because Rifka was speaking prophetically. So now you realize that Rifka who was speaking prophetically, she's using the same words that the Torah or God is using. So I think this actually incredibly solidifies what it is that I was trying to say. I do want to add one more thing and then we'll like it's one more twist in all of this. I don't did you guys print up all five pages only print up four pages or you didn't print it all. So at the very bottom of source number four, there's something which actually I could have said over at the end of the first part right before we shifted over to Rifka. It's something which I had heard probably around 40 years ago. I heard it from uh Rabbi Mayor Likenstein who was then Mayor Likenstein and he heard it from his grandfather from the RV and actually saw him yesterday and I was like he we both ded at the same minion and then he left before I was able to catch him and perhaps remind him of this but I found it written and it was the RV trying to explain who D'vorah is or who D'vorah was and the RV said something remarkable again he he looked at all the pieces of information then he put it together in the way that you know perhaps only the RV can and I actually if anybody has the this from uh Arnold Lustiger with the five dimes with the so he quotes it but he but this is where he's quoting it from it's from a book which called insights of Rabbi Joseph Salvich by a rabbi Saul Weiss and who was rabbi in Brockton who passed away a number of years ago okay So he quotes the puk that's in the end of uh page number four. He quotes the puk that dvora died and then the rv says as follows. Rashi comments that D'vorah was the same nurse who accompanied Rebecca when she left her father's house. Rebecca we know was a young girl who possessed. We all know the incident that took place in the house of Betuel and Lavan coming from a pagan orastic society. How was it that she possessed such great humility and typical of a daughter of Abraham? How did this happen? Why was she not influenced by her family and society? The Rev theorized, this is by the way one of the Saturday night shirum that the RV would give in Boston back in the day. The Rev theorized that there must have been an underground community like uh in Karan by the way. So one of them was D'vorah preaching Aram's morality. Rebecca was part of this underground movement. She studied and absorbed Aram's philosophy adopted his chong living by his principles of justice and righteousness. Who was the leader of this underground movement? Dvorra. Why was the death of an old woman so significant that it was accord in the Torah? Apparently, Dora played a major role in shaping the history and the destiny of the Jewish people. Diver's death and the naming of the place where she died was recorded because her life was historically important. Dvau was the leader of a moral underground movement and the most effective leader at that. The question may be posed regarding Rifka. Why was it necessary for her to be brought up in a pagan home? Why could she not have been raised in a home similar to Arahams? The RF compared Rifka's environment to that of the Israelites during the long period of bondage in Egypt. The Torah teaches that in Egypt they became a great nation. The Israelites were subjected to merciless persecution. Yet somehow even in order for them to experience the evils of morality spirituality had sorry of immorality spiritually had Rebecca been brought up in a hakically Jewish home, she could not have appreciated the greatness and beauty of the moral philosophy that cannot be grasped when one experiences the bad. I think the word the rev actually has used was a balabatish. Had she been in a balabatish home? I think I think that that was the word that he had used. Um now there's there's something again remarkable because again he took all the pieces put it together. So who's Dvora? Dvora what are you talking about who Dvora is? She's a religious giant. You know it made me think about a number of people that I met in 1985. My wife and I traveled. was sent by uh the foreign ministry of Israel to go to the old Soviet Union and uh we met all kinds of refusnix and followed by the KGB brought in for questioning. I mean all kinds of really interesting things took place but uh meeting some of those people on the underground movement is what this reminds me of. Now I think this is again remarkably elegant but there's still something that troubles me about this because I think that there is an aspect of Rifka's life which is absolutely patterned after Araham's life. Aram was raised in this foreign culture and discovers God and discovers. I mean this would be really interesting idea in terms of uh of uh ethical monotheism. It emerges out of this idea in paganism. Each one of the gods are limited. So each of the gods need something. So therefore you need to bribe the gods, pay the gods, do something for the gods. When you realize that a god is unlimited, has no limits whatsoever. Then god doesn't need anything. If god doesn't need anything, then creation emerges out of some type of act of altruism. And therefore aam processes this and a therefore says I can't be like god but I can try to sorry I can't do anything for god but I can try to be like god and I can become altruistic. And a therefore becomes a person who's full of which is a a necessary outgrowth of his monotheism. And then you would have Rifka and when we meet her she is this woman who's completely young woman if you will who's completely full of so now according to this so how did that happen right you can't have a yes right it can't have a result without a cause. So the rub there saying well it must have been riff it must have been dvorra d'vorah therefore creates rifka but that takes away from rifka. Maybe Rifka does exactly what Aram does and comes to the same conclusion and she emerges from this world. And by the way, I also think that that's the reason why the midrash says that she's three years old because it also says that Aram is three years old when he recognizes that there's a god. And I think that's it's the midrashic approach of trying to show the parallelism between Rifka and Abraham and not necessarily trying to tell us anything in terms of the chronology and the age that they may have been at that particular point. So therefore, I think that, you know, this whole thing fills this up a bit. But now I want to go and think about really what we're saying, ignoring the RV's comment that she's essentially the Hadar and she is like the greatest woman of the generation who raises Rifka and she is Abraham's primary student at that at that stage. Again, completely beautiful concept. But if you say instead that she was just a woman who raised children, you know, there's something honorable about that as well. that somebody because what is it that I've really been trying to show I took two approaches essentially to what is the dynamic of this message of bringing Yakov back is it the speaking to him the who says I will protect you I'll take care of you and I will make sure that you're okay and you come back and that's the in this protective sense and I said really this feminine side of God taking care of am Israel or is it a manifestation of theina down below which is this nurturing woman who's taking care of amuse which means the two different approaches are in a sense not mutually exclusive it's two different reflections of the exact same process and therefore to speak about these two ways that Yakov could be coming back either because of this old elderly nurse who takes care of the children and maybe she took care of Rifka and maybe she took care of Yakov and maybe she took care of Yakov's children so then who is she's this woman who is representing the Shina above down here below or is it Rifka who speaks through the voice of the and speaks through the voice of God and tells how Yakov will be taken care of. What I'm saying is that these are two sides of the same coin and maybe instead of saying, "Oh, these are just two different approaches." Maybe it's two different ways of talking about the same approach. So is it, you know, so who died? So, okay, Dvora died. Who else maybe died? Maybe Rifka died. If Dvora died, so who is she? She's this woman who takes care of children, which is a very holy thing to do. Or maybe it's Rifka who is this woman who the Shina flows through her words and God then continues the conversation and all the things that she had said God then continues the conversation as I think we see very clearly all the way through and as I said now you understand why it's my really strong suspicion that whenever she says she's saying listen to what I'm saying because what is coming out of her words what's coming out of her words is theina is speaking and therefore we saw later theina adopts her approach and then when God says is YaKob, it's time to come home. That is what Rifka referred to. And it's not that Rifka didn't keep her word. That means I don't need to develop this old this whole other approach is because God had told Rifka to tell Yakov to go, but I will bring you back. And therefore, God says right away, I will bring you back. And when it's time to come back, God says, come back. And what about that small problem that Asov is still angry at him? What does God say? I'll take care of you. I got it covered. I can make even Asovs of the world melt. I can make Asov identify with his feminine side and want to come over and to kiss you and to hug you and that uh and he'll be all loveydovey and everything will be taken care of right now because the has all kinds of ability even of turning Asov into somebody who now has completely is interested in uh in in making up and being nice and so on and so forth. So when God says don't worry, I'll take care of this. It's time to come home. I don't have to worry about that other element. But Asov never calmed down because when God is speaking, God can make Asov calm down.