Parsha Perspectives for Today (Toldos)

good morning Boer to and welcome back to our paraa perspectives for today thank you so much for being with us again as we try to study the paraa in a way which inspires our contemporary lives which reflects and gives us lessons for how to live the most meaningful lives today I want to thank our generous sponsors for the Year dear friends Becky and AI cats and loving memory of Becky's Father David Gman Lelo nishmas David Ben manak and Mish thank you so much to the cats's for your generosity for the para class and so much more and as well a special thank you to our sponsors for this morning's sheer in commemoration of the first year site of Igan Henner Yak Ben Yakov beloved father of Lester and Judy Henner and grandfather of Benji and zeld H and Y dor hner and very happy birthday to Judy hner celebrating a wonderful Milestone and a big birthday and as well sponsored by Gordon and Y house in honor of the years of his father Max house thank you all for your generosity and sponsorship this morning we have the privilege of learning of studying together Paras toldos page 124 in the Arts Stone it's interesting we have two paros that begin the same way the told us our para which is of course telling us the story of the son of Abraham a told us abah what other paraa if we were together I would ask you out loud and you would be able to answer me but you can't so I'll give you a hint go to page 30 in the art Stone two par begin with the words us told us us and no us no which begs the question why is no called Noah and why is called toos why aren't they consistent why isn't it symmetrical it should be Paras toos and Par toos or par Noah and Par in both cases it begins a toldos why is one named toos and one named Noah gives a magnificent answer he says Noah we know is righteous for his generation and Noah we did we did well this year learning Paras Noah without ranking on Noah I have a dear friend who's a good Noah big Noah fan and it bothers him every year that the debate and sues and that there are those who are haters on Noah so we're not GNA hate on Noah but we'll just say Noah Wasa for his generation he was very very righteous how however his generation is what he cared about it's what he saved it's what he sustained Noah lived for the Here and Now Y in great contrast did not live I mentioned Noah and the skies opened up and Y in contrast did not live for the Here and Now y lived for future Generations y was all about the toos y was all about The Offspring The Legacy what would come from him that was the story of of Y and that's why one is called Noah because it's all about Noah and the of is called toos because as far as was concerned it was really all about his toos it was about it was about those who would come after him and inspiring them SOI is the son of ab gave birth to Y and of course we all know and are bothered by the question that comes up each and every year if Y is the son of ab obviously AB begat which is a word only used in par toos AB obviously was the father gave birth to y why do we need the Torah to provide it in both directions so we'll begin with an this year we are going through among the different commentators that we turn to may the great rash of and he says the following he begins by quoting rash we know that the cynics the scoffers of the generation so falsely accused and said Sarah wasn't pregnated conceived from a we know the episode where a takes s to a says the old pretend you're my sister ran says he made a terrible critical mistake doing so so the scoffers the cynics of the generation the internet trolls the bloggers all said it's not A's kid is a and s s treated on a how many years were s and a married and there was no child s become pregnant she didn't conceive so clearly it wasn't a who the father it's what did the almighty do he made the spitting image of a and when becomes the spitting image of a it borns it removes any criticism or any suspicion of the scoffers and cynics how could they accuse of being the child of a he's the spitting image of a he looks exactly like a h so that's why the P begins a told us this is the story this is the legacy of the son of ab and because looked exactly like AB he was the spinning image of abam it was undeniable everybody knew AB H that AB was the father of Y so wonders we've studied this each and every year that Rashi who hasn't studied that Rashi every single year wonders Dr the following he named let's talk about this suspicion let's talk about this cynicism let's talk about this accusation that um that a is the father what a foolish foolish suspicion what an absurd suspicion A and S are married they're struggling to conceive a child if you had to guess who's the source of the challenge who is blocking the conception let's see AB has seven other children SAR had nobody until she had y who do you think is the father you never suspect that is not the father in addition to he has seven sons who comes from haar and another six Sons born to also it was s who struggled with infertility we know these cynics and scoffers probably would have hacked sar's OB gyn's office they would have gotten her file and they would have discovered that SAR struggled she didn't have a uterus she didn't have an operational or functional uterus she was no longer fertile because she was no longer getting her monthly cycle these cynics and scoffers these Hawkers and hackers these TR and bloggers they should never accuse AB as not being the father it makes no sense ab's got other children so Cesar of du we read this Rashi every year do we ever stop and wonder why would they accuse Aram of not being the father it is utterly elogical the 25th chapter one moment ofus one moment of cynicism will offset will nullify will block a hundred messages from penetrating that's the power of the power of of sinicism which is so rampant and pernicious in our generation cynicism and scoffers who second guest and who accuse and who undermine and who challenge leadership and integrity and the the sincerity of people Everyone sits and flings arrows at the other everyone sits in Judgment of one another everyone sits with such an attitude and a view of cynicism of one another so negative so pernicious so poisonous if is L us that it defies logic you're right even though logically it made no sense to accuse Aram as not being the father but the cynic the scoffer the troll is so driven by that cynicism they'll say something so foolish so stupid that makes no sense whatso ever and people will listen because who doesn't like a good healthy controversy who doesn't like to follow the thread online that's going to offer lies and slander that's going to offer suspicion and try to create something where there's not however say Dr and that we've shared before the power of lus you see just how powerful lus is however this is new raises yet another issue the almighty had to respond so let them be suspicious let them be cynical who cares the longer you're in this business the thicker his skin you form so let him write let them write their comments let him write their their their cynicism who cares Hashem made a miracle and what was the miracle the miracle was that y was the spitting image of aam Hashem wanted to respond to the lore he wanted to undermine the suspicious attit ude and how did he do it by making like the spitting image so what who cares so they're gonna Post online that is the father who cares God cares so much what the the cynic say so much that God is willing to perform a miracle in order to respond to the cynics he says the following it should be the opposite we know in the beginning of the Torah the story of Genesis God says let us make man he says in the plural and Rashi comes along and says why did God put it in the plural let us make man why didn't he say let me make man because God wanted to teach ter you shouldn't use I in the State of the Union in your campaign speech in your speech in your acceptance speech don't use I use we the Gettysburg Address was brilliant and famous not only because of how short it was but it was brilliant because of how many times Lincoln used the term we instead of I that's how he got everybody involved that's how he got everyone bought in so K the almighty says it's D it wouldn't be right for me to say let me make man he said Us by committee let me consult you I who is the committee God is a committee of one he doesn't need the committee so Rashi there says wasn't God worried Nas he's trying to teach so he's going to say let us in order to teach D wasn't he worried what about the Lor what about the cynics and scoffers aren't they going to say you see there are many gods God says I could care less what they say let them say what they say let them comment what they comment who cares I know the truth so why didn't God say that here too who cares what they say we have a precedent for God not paying attention to the and we have it again the medis tells us God told mosha to write the Torah he said and mosha said what are you doing let us make man in our image mosha says to hasem aren't you worried about the cynic and scoffers and Hashem says ah who cares what they have to say not worried about them whatsoever who cares so why says Dr why all of a sudden does God care about theor why does God all of a sudden care about the cnics and the scoffers so listen to what he answers a he quotes in the name of his father the you know what the fundamental differen is between when God cared about the cynic and when he doesn't when it comes to himself he doesn't care about the cynic when it comes to himself let him say what they want to say Hashem has the thickest skin there is he could care less what they have to say but when it comes to his righteous children when it comes to the ones he loves when it comes to when it comes to us he has no patience he has he has no tolerance for the he has no tolerance for theor when it comes to himself who cares let him say what they want to say but when it comes to us Hashem protects us he steps in he will not allow theor because Ador can do damage and he doesn't want to allow them to do d damage and therefore he steps in steps in and that answers the question normally he doesn't care about theor when it comes to him but when it it comes to his children he does but again you see you see how poisonous you see how much it can contaminate you see how dangerous and negative cynicism is cynicism block blocks us from hearing messages from growing from listening we have to get rid of that sense of cynicism we have to get rid of that sense of cynicism bothered hem so much he performed a miracle in order to offset the attitude of the of the cnic let's go right into the next piece of R and we quoted so before what comes at the end of at the end of for sahem sorry allowed sah to become pregnant as he had promised he allowed sah to conceive and what is rash say there in last week's when s becomes pregnant Rashi says you know why s became pregnant because had daved for you see from here that when you D for another person for what you need you're answered first we all know that you need a for somebody else who needs a you want to have a child D for someone else having a child you want need to get better you need a for someone else who needs when you want something D for someone else who needs it asks Dr I don't understand was doming for a because he was struck with a plague he neededa he had Corona Sarah doesn't have Corona she's perfectly healthy she wants a baby she wants to conceive what's the connection between A's doming for and s's conception how is that teach us this lesson or this rule that if you DAV for someone else who needs what you need that you'll be answered first where do you see that from here they're two separate things they were ding for so it says theit says when you do for what you need when you do for yourself ding is just the means to the ends of what you want so it's unclear you're doing because you believe in ding the doing is on your checklist gotta go to the doctor gotta take the vitamins gotta exercise gotta gotta do check check check check check I did everything I can in order to get the result that I so desperately want but when you D for someone else where the result is not your focus then it's clear that you're doing because you believe in the ding you're doing because you believe that doing is efficacious daving works so says the that's why when you DAV for somebody else you're answered first but still how does that explain who DAV for a to get better why did sah become pregnant they were two different needs AB wasn't daving for some other infertile woman and then all of a sudden s conceives so what's the connection between the two and listen to this insight he quotes fromis who says the following all together a different and he says the following he says I'll tell to you outside because we have a lot we want to cover and it's a beautiful piece he says you know theor said that sah conceived from a Sarah conceived from a so was it an A's best interest for aiik to recover it would have been an A's better interest for aiik to not recover why he had this plague that he was struck with when Sarah came to visit and he comes to a and he says what's the deal you told me she's your sister why am I suffering it would have been in ab's interest for a to continue to suffer you know why nobody ever could have been suspicious that aiik was with Sarah aik was struck with an illness he never could have conceived a child it never would have arouse the suspicion of others that aiik was the father so it would have been in a in aam's interest for to remain sick and yets from anyway he D for him anyway and that's what it means you know what the means not that you need the same thing you're doing for the other person about you need what they're going through that you don't want to D for them to be better and and you need the very thing that you're going to D against for them to not have a needed a to remain sick so nobody could have been suspicious that a was the father nevertheless DAV so you see from here this critical notion and principle that you D for someone else also needed he needed a to be sick and yet he was so selfless so mag animous so generous in spirit he DAV anyway and therefore he was answered first you're right one had nothing to do with the other says RIS sah conceiving is a totally different need than a being ill needing to get better doesn't mean the same need it means you're doing for someone else you know so you ding for someone else to get the job that you're also going for you'd be better off if they didn't get the job but you D for them to get the job you need them to not get the job but yet you D for It Anyway You D for the whatever the case may be means and really it's in your interest if you were aligning your doing based on your interests you'd never do for that person to get that result it's going against your interest and yet you D for it anyway that's what was telling us that you're answered first good so Y is the son of Abram he's 40 years old when he marries Rifka we know bothered we've seen it countless times why is the Torah providing R pedigree yet again by now we are all familiar that L on her wicked brother and B her father and what happens they are baren they're baren RKA cannot conceive she has the same challenge as her mother had she can't conceive so DAV for her and the language is somewhat peculiar the says I always tell you we learned it together the whole safer it's on my website Tor although sh little by little the beautiful insights of rinkis on the the Gates of Prayer the 13 synonyms for prayer and this is one of them one of the chapters in that book one of the synonyms for prayer which is a unique type of daving V doesn't say says Rashi tells us quot the like a pitchfork turns over the ha turned over God's mind he intreated God he he he begged God it was a prayer out of desperation and the PK throws in what seemed to be two gratuitous Words which words seem gratuitous how isav his posture is it sounds like the Torah is telling us he's in opposite his wife opposite his wife what are they facing each other shuckling towards each other there's not a lot of room in their apartment the newly wet apartment so they're you know on top of each other while they're daving what in the world is the PK telling us that they're daving is opposite his wife what does that mean is so the rashbam writes ding for his wife isn't that condescending isn't that misogynistic he's daving for his wife he's daving for himself he also wants to have a child what do you mean he's daving he's daving for his wife he's daving for himself what does the mean so we've quoted it before says means he was destined to have children how did he know because God gave him the promise but he looks at his father God gave his father a promise also and how is the promise to his father fulfilled it was fulfilled through Hagar through a co-wife until SAR conceives later so y says look I don't need any help I'm gonna have children I can rely on I get the promise from the one above I'm gonna have children I'm gonna be the father of great nation I'm gonna have many progeny I'm not the problem I'm in good shape but neb my poor wife I can have many many children through some PES through some other wife or I can have children through her so he was doing specifically ding specifically to have children through her that's what the says but I want to share with you a different Insight the Insight of who says the following listen to this Insight I love this imagery I find it very very beautiful very beautiful says RKA comes before hem and she says hem I'm desperate for a child I so want to conceive it defines my life Motherhood Maternity that's what I want but who am I and what am I why would I deserve for you to answer meali but you see over there in the other corner you see my hubby in the other corner he said sadad do you know who he is do you know how he learns do you know the he does do you know who his father is yesu see he's worthy of being answered so me little r I'm undeserving but do you see my husband do you see who I married do it for him you know what was going on in the other Corner in the other Corner says who am I I've been diminished by all the kindness you've showed me and showered upon me my parents were so great my parents were aam and Sarah and little me little y I'm nothing even if I serve you whatever I do that's how I was raised that's what my parents taught me so what's the big deal that I've emerged to become the person I am that was obvious that I'd be this person look who my parents are look at my DNA the but in the other corner I'm a gornish I'm a nothing I was destined to this because of my parents I'm the winner of the lottery to be born to a and sor but you see in the other corner you see opposite me over there you see my wife she didn't grow up in the same privileged background I did she grew up with she's like a rose among the Thorns she's God-fearing she's righteous I'm undeserving don't do it for you see over there in the other corner for her so therefore says the that's what the p means each one came to and they said you knowm I'm a gourish I'm a nothing I married up we said last week the why do we learn why do we learn standing under the the least romantic thing on the planet is we learn that when you give the ring your Mar married from the story of aam buying a burial plot why do we learn from there and we quoted we learn from there because you see what just like aam and Ephron each walked away and said I got the deal of the century just like aam and Ephron each walked away and said I married up I gotta steal I got a deal so to over here when a couple davins Davin in a way that brings you closer together not drives you further apart doin in a way which is not about your ego D in a way which is not about your worthiness D in a way which is not about your needs but D the holy amover in This brilliant Insight on this one word is teaching us about when a couple goes through a challenging time I just sadly met with a couple struggling with infertility we doin for them and for all those who want to have children they should be blessed with healthy healthy children and I told them because of they came to meet with me there were challenges and friction in the marriage and I said you know when you go through a hard time it can either bring you close together you can go through it together or it can drive a wedge and it can push you further apart if there's blame and resentment if you force the other person to experience it exactly the way you do and you're angry at them if they don't if you make them conform to exactly how you're responding or to act a certain way you want them to act over here says allow the challenge or the struggle to bring you closer not further apart when you DAV D DAV and sayem it's not me it's not my willingness it's not my need but my wife my husband oh are they righteous or are they deserving do it for them do it for them even if you won't or even if you're not worthy or even if you're not willing to do it for me in that one word what a powerful powerful image what a powerful lesson now Rashi quotes Rashi quotes who was Hashem more predisposed to listen to Rifka Rifka is the daughter of a Rasha the sister of a Rasha of a wicked person Y is the son of a righteous of aad a righteous father and a righteous mother and it concludes he's more likely to listen to the of aad benad of the righteous the son of the righteous and we've asked before not going to say it now I'll just POS the question to you that makes no sense I would think that God would cherish more the prayers of somebody who's turned out to be righteous even though they come from a place that is unrighteous what do you mean he listens more to the righteous the son of the righteous listen more to the righteous the daughter of the wicked that's much more impressive for a Rifka to become R it's much more impressive than a to become a so why does hasem listen to we've shared that question and an answer previously I'll leave it as a question for you and you can come up with your own answers or suggest one to me feel free to email me later Turn the Page 126 the boys grow up they grow up becomes a person who knows how a a man of the field andov is a simple man in and back to R back to the safer H and R is bothered by the following question maybe you never noticed it before look carefully is there symmetry in the look carefully at these descriptions of as and yov why because as is called an is s man of the field and Yakov is called a the one who sits in the tent if it was symmetrical what should it have said is a man of the field and a man of the tent if we're trying to characterize or Define them based on where they hang out ASV hangs out at the bar and Yakov hangs out at the B Mish as of hang out in the field Yakov hangs out in the study hall M as of n is asov is identified with the place he's the is and yov is not identified with the place where he hangs out he's called Yos rather than isal it's a good question never bothered or occurred to me before he's mtic in the carefully you have to read the text carefully in order to be able to extract and to derive lessons from the questions and the answers that emerge so what does say how does he answer he offers the following suggestion when you're in the field the environment the atmosphere the culture molds you it shapes you it makes you become who you are so when ASA hangs out in the club ASV hangs out in the bar ASV hangs out in the street corner ASV hangs out with the gang ASV becomes an is he conforms to the environment and to the place where he is he is characterized as an is but you know just because you sit in the O you sit in the tent doesn't make you through osmosis become like the tent you need to work you need to struggle you need to toil when you sit in the B Med reading comic books you don't become a if you sit in the sh reading the newspaper you don't become a great daver you have to be a so when it comes to the negative impact if you hang out at the bar the club the field you hang out in the wrong place through osmosis just by being there you become an is the environment has an impact on molding and shaping who you become but when it comes to learning Torah when it comes to righteousness it's not enough to just simply Place yourself there you have to be a y you have to sit there and you have to Toil and you have to work you have to put in the effort in order to become the person you want and are meant to be brisk and then continues by quoting the great you know what a l is a lden the title The appalation lambden we don't give to somebody who knows how to learn we give it to someone who learns there's a big difference you could be a brilliant person and you know how to learn maybe previously in life you learned but if you're not currently learning you're not called a l you you don't call someone a thief because they know how to steal you call them a thief when if they've stolen so the same way you call them a thief if they've stolen not just because they know how to steal similarly you don't call someone a lden because they know how to learn you only call them a l if they are a learner it's not enough to have a in the it's not enough to have a place now it's true it's better than hanging out outside the B medish it's true that some things will rub off and catch on but if you want to be a if you want to be a scholar if you want to be righteous if you want to grow it's not enough to just be there you need to be engaged while there you're not a thief because you know how to steal you're a thief when you steal and you're not a lambdon because you know how to learn you're LD done when you learn so therefore yob is not an isal because he hangs out there he's he puts in the work in order to be able to grow while he is while he is there so that's number one is not defined by the place while is defined by his place the great sadic the Reb of luin also has an Insight Rashi said says yob is called why the double description so says rash whoever is not sharp in order to cheat to steal to trick is called it's called Simple so says the if you have no idea how to operate and how to trick you're called You're called Simple why wasn't yob just called when it comes to the Sedar and it comes to the four Sons we talk about the we don't talk about the is so why is yov here called is rather than just Tam so says the lubliner you know why because Tom is somebody who doesn't have the smarts who doesn't have the cunning who doesn't have the brain to be able to cheat or manipulate or operate in is is the one who has the brain who knows how but chooses not to and that's Yakov ainu Yakov and we see it at the end of the para when Yakov Maneuvers and manipulates and takes the braa it's clear he knows how to be an operator but he chooses not to be an operator not because he's not Sly enough not because he's not smart enough not because he doesn't have the courage or bravery enough but is as opposed to says the blin because even though he knows how to he refuses to it's not who he is also points out the fact that the Torah here is trying to give praise to Yakov what's the greatest praise that can give what he got on his SATs no what's the greatest praise that can give yeah his IQ no the greatest praise that can give is isus you see that theid the highest and the most admirable quality for us to strive for is to be T is to be pure is to be holy is not to be an operator is not to be a maneuver but rather to be T to be somebody who is who is Tom in our in our daily living um good so you see from this P going back again let's read the again they grow up until then they were indistinguishable when you're under Bar Mitzvah when you're a young child you could dress everybody in the same little acute adorable outfit and you can make everybody play the same game and fall asleep in the same crib and do the same things and it's only once you become at the age of Mitzvah they begin to differentiate they begin to distinguish themselves based on their character and who they are when they mature their essential differences become apparent and become transparent that others can see so rather than elaborate with stories about the greatness of Yakov and rather than learn about his piety and his virt the Torah simply tells us he's Yos and rather than develop as's wickedness by giving us examples and illustrations we capture that wickedness with the simple description is he's a hunter so what's the Torah getting at what is this fundamental difference he's a hunter he's a studier he's a learner so what's this difference between them so I want to share with you an Insight of the great R oh my friend Goldstein asks why does it say yosal not yosal we're going to answer it right now you can ask questions by the way in the chat on either Zoom Facebook or YouTube We're streaming to all three simultaneously the great of the explains that in order to understand the fundamental essential difference between the two brothers that emerges when they reach this age of bar mitzvah of majority take a look at how the tarum translates the tarum translates the following is theum which Rashi explains to mean as is characterized as a hunter K tell us that not only does he capture with his hands ASA is a hunter who captures he skilled to dominating with his lips ASF has Charisma he's a smooth talker he's a Salesman he's a manipulator he's an operator he's not only with his hands it's not only he knows how to operate and to hunt in the field but he hunts his prey he hunts the vulnerable he hunts his victims even in life with his words well as well ASA wants to influence his surroundings and the people with force with manipulation with maneuvering he's controlling he's commanding he's imposing he doesn't make room for other points of view asa's world no one's allowed to vote differently or root for a different team or come to a different conclusion or wear a different type of yamaka or think differently ASV is a hunter he has prey he goes out and he slays he kills anyone who's different than him everyone has to conform to who he is and how he behaves that's as's emo his MO is to be to coerce and to con everyone to conform to exactly how he sees the world that's what the tarum is saying he's anot he's a maneuver a manipulator he coerces everyone indeed we read at the beginning of the paraa that when Yakov is making these lentils we'll study more about in a moment ASV comes in from the field and he says I'm exhausted why is ASV exhausted because he was up late with night Sider he was studying deep into the night no is he exhausted from all stuck and no why was he so tired soaz give us Insight Kaz our rabbis tell us you know why ASA was so exhausted he was so tired because he had just come from the funeral of his grandfather hisa Abraham abah had died Kaz say that when AB died asov absolutely melted down asov went where he went to Pieces he absolutely fell apart why did asov fall apart ASA was so CL close to the Z AB we know that in fact God did a great a great kindness to AB by allowing AB to leave this world before he would see just how terrible ASA would become ASA fell apart what was he so close with his Zeda with his grandfather that he fell apart so the rabbi say no you know why he fell apart because not that he lost aam he confronted death asov was so arrogant so egotistical so controlling that he thought I'll live forever he thought he had immortality and when his grandfather Aram dies and he confronts mortality and death for the first time he falls apart why because asov is the ultimate controller manipulator and death is something no one can control death is something no one can manipulate and when he discovers and he encounters and he confronts something he cannot control or manipulate he falls to Pieces that's who asov is in contrast the Torah describes Yakov and how is Yakov described Yakov is and again if you look at the tum it's most insightful the says theob Jacob was a mish he had an insatiable appetite to listen to learn to absorb from everyone around him Yakov didn't have one point of view you yakob wasn't narrowly in a box yakob wasn't locked into one perspective he didn't try to make everyone else conform to him he didn't maneuver a manipulate and coer he listened and he learned and he tried to gain the truth from everywhere notice the PK doesn't say he was Yos oh he didn't sit in a tent but rather it says Yos oh halim in the plural you know why because he didn't sit in one tent Rashi points out he learned in the Yeshiva shame the a shame the a were not Kash Yesa of the same B medish they had two different study halls they had two different but medish so says Rashi not Yos oh it's not that Jacob found one study hall and he planted himself there and he land learned there fulltime do you know what made Jacob so righteous you know what made yob a scholar he was Yos oh because he went from tent to tent he exposed himself to different ideas and different views and different perspectives and the weaving of all them together produced the most beautiful tapestry that made him become who he was and I share this Insight of r with you this year in particular because we're living more polarized we're living more divided than ever where everyone is trying to make the other conform coercing you have to vote the way I voted you have to look the way I look believe the way I believe act the way I act we have to be more like yob that was ASV ASV was this Hunter who hunted not only with his hands but he hunted with his lips in the way he spoke and the way he carried himself on but Yakov our patriarch really our Legacy is not to hunt and not to coerce and not to force and not to make others conform but to be Yos to make room and space for multiple tents to make room in our tent for multiple complex and nuanced views use instead of binary ones the world is not you're either with me or against me you either see it like I do or you're wrong and evil the world is a complicated Nuance place with multiple tents like yob was Yos quotes who taught if you learn Torah only from one teacher you don't see any blessing in your life just like when it comes to material investments just like when it comes to your Investments you have to diversify if you put all in one stock if you invest it all with one person you could find yourself in a whole lot of trouble you have to diversify in order to be safe so too spiritually we believe in diversification yob was Diversified in his learning he sat and exposed himself to many tents sh p t to 70 faces of to the 70 faces of Torah that is our Legacy that is yacob's legacy and that is what what we learn from okay moving right along yob ASA comes in from the field and he's exhausted and what's he exhausted from we already saw he's exhausted from confronting mortality he's exhausted from realizing that there's something that he can't control there's something he's not in charge of there's something he cannot break okay so uh someone asked why is aora responsible for his actions still minor immature child the answer is there never was such a thing as a Bor or MOA but you're right we discussed that actually previously why in why the Bor is uh is punished s because what he's ultimately going to do as opposed to isal who was B it's a good question we had discussed it we had discussed it previously so as comes in from the field he's exhausted he's exhausted emotionally spiritually he had confronted mortality something he couldn't control and that left him broken into pieces and he's starving he's hungry and Yakov is cooking up a dish why is Yakov cooking we know he's making lentils why is he making lentils because they had just gotten back from the funeral of a and what does a mner eat something round an egg is the first meal when you come in from the funeral the sud round egg is the circle the cycle of Life the lentils are circular it's the cycle of life yob is making a hot pot of chalant of lentil chalant and and ASA comes in and he says please give me something I'm starving give me some of that red stuff give me some of that red stuff I'm exhausted and until this day he is known as the people of Edom ASA is the father of Edom there's an exile the Exile of Edom in fact Christendom Christianity we view as the descendants of asov and are Edom the manifestation of Edom so J is bothered by the following the question comes out on its own from the because Asa saw that food cooking and he's hungry and he didn't know the name of the dish he didn't know the name of the recipe so he said give me some of that that red stuff starving give me some of that red stuff so because he didn't know the name of the dish and he called it red stuff that becomes the name of the people forever pus a name is a description a name defines an Essence a name describes what is really going on so because Asa didn't know the name of the food and he calls it red stuff we call him and the people that descend from him the people of red stuff we call them red in what way does that name of his descendants of that people reflect the essence of who asov is and his imp in the world what's really going on over here so he says R let me explain based on an Insight of my father says RR his father the we know that as was manipulative conniving ASV was a cheap a liar a thief ish as we saw in the P ish so how did he hint how did he do this to his father he would come to his father and he would say he wanted his father to believe that he was righteous so he'd come to his father and he'd ask questions in which really were nonsensical questions but that would impress his father that he was thinking in that way how does one give tithes how does one tithe the straw the produce how do you tithe the salt what's the difference he is he is characterized as a r ray is somebody who tricks so why is he characterized as a r as somebody tricks rather than as a Shak and a liar so Dr the following the r is the person who is conniving that they engage in every lwd licentious corrupt behavior in the world however they cloak it in righteousness they try to present themselves as if they're righteous so they ask those kinds of questions that's the worst because it's deceptive it's duplicitous it's the worst if a Jew doesn't learn and he doesn't DAV then there's hope that one day he'll repent he'll turn around but the person who presents himself as if he's righteous has no hope they're gonna remain in that place why because in their mind they're righteous even though just beneath the surface of their righteousness they're are low life but since they are conniving and cunning since they're scheming and lying they present themselves as they're righteous they're also hopeless so the difference between a and a shakran a shakran has hope but a AR is hopeless AR is hopeless and therefore we understand because he lies and he tries to present himself as if he's righteous he's really even worse than the wicked person so that's what going on over here when ASF comes in and he says give me some of that red stuff let me have some of that red stuff and we call his descendants that emanate from him read for now on what's going on over here the answer is yakob was cooking these lentils in observance of mourning of grieving for his grandfather but he didn't know from this and he presents himself as if he's asking innocently give me some of that red stuff he doesn't realize that this was the meal for an for a mourner that was being prepared for his father as if he is naive to everything happening around him and he's trying to innocently ask what's this red food who's it for let me have some of the red stuff I don't know what this is abouted so you know what forever we call his name his descendants Edom because that captures who he is he's a cunning conniving lying cheating manipulative distortive controlling Thief that's who he is he's trying to present himself as if he's righteous when he's really a low life as our rabbis tell us that ASV is likened to the pig we know that for an animal to be kosher it has to have two signs two symbols split hooves and chew its cud the pig sticks out its foot and says look at me I have split Hoopes and so you're tempted to believe oh this must be a kosher animal but the truth is it doesn't chew its cut it's not Kosher so ASA sticks out his look at me I'm kosher even though just beneath the surface he is entirely non- kosher and that's the worst that's the most irredeemable that's the most hopeless and because when he asked for the red food that was an expression of that very attitude and behavior that's why his name was Edom moving forward and moving on from there we're not getting that far in the para we're gonna try to move but turn the page page 128 yob gives they cut a deal Jakob says oh you want some of my red stuff do you you're hungry and tired and exhausted are you no problem I'll make a deal here you go you know what sell me the birthright sell me that birth right and I I'll happy to share my CH with you you're more than welcome to have some of my lentil soup it's all yours so they cut the deal yob gives him some bread when he gives him lentil soup and as eats and he drinks he gets up and he goes and he was he spurned he ridiculed he mocked the B the birthright the birth right the ran is's an extraordinary Insight of the ran on this P the ran points out that this day was ab's funeral as we said and the yov Was preparing the lentil soup for his father y who was a mourner and ASA sold the birthright for a bowl of soup and our rabbis teach us that in fact on this day Isa violated no less than five separate prohibitions five transgressions says says he slept with a married woman he committed an act of murder he denied God's existence he degraded the birthright what exactly was the transgression of selling the birthright these five I understand sleeping with a married woman that's no no murder big no no I got it I understand denying God's existence heresy no no what exactly was the Prohibition of selling the birth right so Rashi tells us the birth right he had inherited positioned him to be the ambassador of God in this world the Judaism Embraces the unique position of the Bor and the role of the Bor the firstborn plays within the home B salic points out that primogeniture is not considered a source of power in Judaism just because you're the firstborn doesn't make you any better however being the oldest does give you some responsibility kades sanctify for me every firstborn that through being the firstborn the B yakob is now not only going to inherit the land but he's going to inherit the covenantal destiny the responsibility the special relationship to Kahuna the priesthood that notion of a Birthright is much more than just a right to land it's a right to a role in Destiny in shaping Destiny a was given the option to participate in the Divine Covenant and had he not sold the birthright the firstborn ASV would have been entitled to the same destiny that God put on yov ASV would have been the Jewish people so to say who were the chosen people who were who were who were teaching the world so that was an AA that was a great transgression a great prohibition that he sold it that he so flippantly and casually got rid of it exchanged it for what for a bowl of lentil soup so ran says if you want to know what as of truly thought about his Birthright and if you want to know what ASA really thought about the honor to carry the legacy of his father and grandfather look at what he does right after he sells it the says notice the order says the raan it doesn't say he denigrated the birthright when it was sold it says he sold the birthright and he continued then to eat and to drink and to get up and to go out and only then did it say he displayed a great disregard for the birthright you see ASA was hungry so he sold the birthright for a bowl of soup was he traumatized was he devastated when his belly was full and he realized what he had done when he sobered up and he came to was he regretful was he depressed did he get upset did he have remorse for what he had done no says the ramban as's most egregious transgression was how easily he went back to normal life how little he cared about his Birthright how casual he was about getting rid of it and moving on he went on he just got up and he went on you know tragically there are children who have gotten rid of their own Birthright they've walked away from our Torah and our Torah way of life and maybe they've walked away because of circumstances in their lives or maybe they've walked away because of of pain or maybe they've walked away because of what they think are compelling questions but there's a way to walk away and a way to walk away do you walk away with regret with pain with sorrow or do you walk away like ASV so cas so flippantly just getting rid of it the raan says look at that order he got up and he went back to play golf he went back to the bar he went back to his dorm room he went just moved back on but it didn't cause him any pain whatsoever he didn't even pause to think about what walking away meant to him and what walking away meant to others to the people around him and that in itself is very very painful okay we know one of the episodes oh so much more I wanted to tell you so much more I wanted to tell you so little time very quickly the para tells us that y digs Wells and the the Philistines they fill in the wells and red digs the wells what is this image the great on that chapter 26 verse 19 that the slaves of redou Wells that were filled and they were dug again says you see from here a very powerful lesson which is if you try and fail try again teaches us don't give up don't walk away don't give in don't despair if he dug and didn't find water you know what he did next he dug again he continued to dig and if he dug and found water but his enemies filled him in you know what he did he dug again if you don't succeed first with your learning where does get this from he says water is a symbol of Torah so just like Doug means he was invested in learning to try to discover truth to discover spirituality to discover Torah and even when it got filled in he dug again and even if he didn't find water he dug again to find water don't ever get discouraged in your learning of Torah stick with it and stay at it and don't get discouraged because you will break through to water says see that from our great patriarch y don't give in don't give up don't walk away don't despair keep trying keep trying again and again and again the great Kover is the Kover was the and he said the following he said you know what this means what does it mean to dig and redig the wells of a father our Patriarchs and matriarchs planted within us genetics they gave us DNA physically but they also gave us spiritual DNA that's what we say in our daving we didn't just sayu each one separately planted within us different skill different DNA different capacity and different potential however that spark that they planted within us gets covered layers over it vas called we have to redig we have to uncover that toly spark we have to discover what they planted and put within us the matriarchs and Patriarchs so before you can dig new you have to redig The Well of your ancestors before you dig a new well before you discover for yourself you have to redig The Well of the ancestor that's how theover understands new ones again is Torah if you want to discover Torah spirituality and you want to chart your own path towards Torah and spirituality it begins first by redigging and revealing the wells the wells Springs of Torah of our ancestors that which they planted and that which they placed deep inside us one more two more insights I wanted to share but we are at of time so we'll save them for next year until next time stay happy stay healthy stay holy tomorrow morning we continue with missil SAR at 8:15 8:45 join our living with amuna both of these are given on our YouTube Channel Rabbi e Goldberg join us for Miss 8:15 living with amuna at 8:45 and tomorrow night we're going behind the beima with the great Ben bman join us for an amazing conversation at 900m tomorrow night until then have a fantastic day