Yaakov & Eisav: The Battle for a Spiritual Life

one of the main stories in the himesh is the story of Yaakov and ASA in the deeper sense Yaakov represents the idea of the neshamah the holy soul within us and a sub represents the body and this is hinted to in in the comments of Rashi and the ballot Orion he talks about the two of them battling for this world which is a physical world where the physical life and the next world where this soul lives also a battle between the evil inclination and the good inclination is a concept of a ahaaa EXL tov this idea of the the holy soul worth in battling the sort of speak the animal potential with him and so every jew has within him this dichotomy the two opposites within the physical drive and the spiritual drive and that's the battle when one is thriving the other one is failing when the other one is is up on top the other one is down there's no such thing as as living a neutral line through we give a little bit to each side if you're following the ways of asa then you go in the opposite direction of Yaakov and if you're following in the ways of Yaakov but that's the opposite direction of a sub how do we battle and win win this fight here we're forced to earn a living we're forced to deal with you know the different work environment and the different physical needs that we have there's a lot of different things that here that we're forced to do and on the outside really looks like we're all the same all of the nations are the same they have the same essential life the same essential activities we all look the same you know to look at a non Jew and a jublee we don't look any different physically and and our lifestyles a lot of times don't look very different either you know you have lawyers doctors with all of the professions are available to all types of people from all different places different countries so what's the difference between the idea of going in the way of not even going in the way later we are a unique nation in the land in the world go ahead Baris a unique nation specifically mentioned in the earth in the land in the world and what does that mean practically speaking so in the end of the day would do essence of holiness and the essence of following in the way of of Yaakov and being a spiritual holy person isn't only in the base metric or in the bed Knesset it doesn't only happen when you're praying obviously when you're going to go to shul and pray you're being holy when you're gonna sit down and open up a hummus and Yeshe who are learning it in the best measures so you're doing a mitzvah the real essence of the Jewish kid who share the holiness of a mr. L happens when you leave the the shoe when you leave the best mattress when you go out into the world then what do you do if you leave your books and your filling and your sitter in the in the bed Knesset and you go out and you become no different on everybody else so then that's not being Haller that's not following in the true ways of Yaakov the true ways of sanctity for example when you do business how do you do business do you do business with faith in God and do you bring God's rules with you in business or do you say wait a minute now I'm doing business I put on my business hat and I'm a different person now it's a business is cutthroat it's a dog-eat-dog world if I don't take care of myself then I'll be lacking in the end or do I understand that God is also here with me in my business endeavors and I have to follow the same rules and the same standards that I learned in the books when I'm in business you're making a business deal you can justify you know taking advantage of the person there's legal excuses you can your lawyer will tell you what you're doing as a half's it'll be legal but is it moral is it the way that someone that's the descendant of other means the kanakam would be doing business and if it's not you have to ask yourself what am i other only gonna gain from this transaction I might gain more money but we're blessing come with that money or real troubles come with that money and even if troubles won't come with that money in truth what am i accomplishing what kind of a person am I the Battle of Yavin a stuff isn't just this battle in the heavens it's a battle in every person's individual life and the details of his life and he's constantly fighting that battle every time you give in you go lower every time you fight and overcome you go higher and you bring the neshamah out and you change this world and that's how we actually fulfill what it really means to be a unique nation in the world and when we do our part then we make this tremendous kiddush Hashem the people look around and say wow that person was so nice he was busy he was in a rush but it took the time to notice that other person that needed help he was in business and he could have looked out for himself but he had integrity and he did the honest decision that he made less money buddy but he was a man he was a man he was a gentleman about it he didn't look for an opportunity to take advantage of his fellow you know co-worker or his business partner and that's the main lesson that we want to learn the practical lesson today life is how to be like Yaakov and how to win this battle against the extra Hara and of course the idea of the pursuit of only the physical is to maintain that integrity in the crunch times in our life [Music] [Applause]