Morality in Deception? Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz Toldos 5778

[Music] thank you everybody I to migrate major inconvenience I have to make a very quick trip to the United States just Rishabha see and you mr. sham I will be back before next week share so I hope there will not be any any cancellations so today you know the parsha this of course is partial Estelle dose and the haftorah we have in over the past two weeks we've had narrative of tourists we've had stories we had the story of Elisha and the child that he revived from the dead and then last week we read about the Godfather alike struggles for succession in the aftermath of Governor Maddox death and whatever demo before he died to ensure a smooth succession this week however we no longer have pros we're more into the issue of poetry and Mooser and the profit that we have is the profit Malati and of course malarkey itself is a word that has a very specific meaning it means my messenger Maliki but this was the name of this prophet and what is significant about Malathi in particular is he is considered to be the last prophet of Israel we know that prophecy died at the very beginning of the second base on mikdash and that is the end of the biblical period the end of the biblical period essentially are the beginning years of the Second Temple because shortly thereafter we have the Greek Alexandra that Macedonia conquering the Persian Empire were taking over average Israel and that inaugurates the period after the tanaga eventually eventually leading to the time Noah and the mission of course hundreds of years later so the last three prophets of Omni Israel are said to be a guy Zakaria and Malacca and Malathi is the last of those two but the Prague and Zakaria are primarily concerned with in exciting the people to rebuild the second temple Malati there's already a second based on McNish now it's interesting because I'll have a tendency that they like to identify number of different names as being the same person you often find this tendency and indeed Malathi is given a alternative identity and that's none other than the great Ezra that we know is right Ezra was the spiritual architect of the Jewish community at the beginning of the Second Temple period now answer actually came to Eretz Israel after the canoe passed by it Shanee he was not there for the time you got by a Cheney but according to canal Milwaukee is another name of Ezra and when Ezra is functioning as the rockin the on the Gedaliah door he is called Ezra and when he is functioning in prophetic mode he has a different identity and that is Milwaukee it's fascinating to understand that spiritual leadership in fact has these two different identities the prophets and the Kadal are not necessarily the same thing and in fact they don't behave even in the same capacity just to give you one simple example in the area of Shakalaka so we're actually told that prophecy does not have a role in Shakalaka Ain Hanavi reshawna Kadesh devar a Navi cannot be McCrea Navi cannot resolve a lot of disputes by virtue of divine inspiration that is based on the passage in the Torah Loba shramana me the tour is not in heaven so the column must function within the parameters of interpretation of tal Rasha baba and those various rules the Navi however is a conduit for inspiration for diesel for general messages from God and for specific things that need to be done that are outside of the miss Garrett outside of the framework of of hahaha so whether it's edge remove our feet the haftorah of para todos is is from the book of Milwaukee in fact the beginning of the book now why is Milwaukee chosen for that story because once again just as last week we were discussing the issue of succession as between its karkemish morale this issue now gets replicated in the next generation in which parsha todos involves the election the choice of yakou / ASA and I will actually discuss the very great difficulties of that choice because unlike Avraham's choice of each Maya of its / Ishmael which was done without fraud without deception there was full disclosure on all sides and Avram made his decision at least after the prompting of his wife and dad telling him to listen to his wife the whole story of Yitzhak and Yakov Aneesa is a story that raises some very very serious moral concerns the issue of perception the issue of lack of communication between husband and wife and I'll briefly touch upon that in fact it's been well said that one of the proofs that's been a bit a bit of a joke but I think there's more than the kernel of truth in it you know people say how do you know the torrents from God you know maybe it was just the Jewish people writing their own story so one of the non-academic proofs of Torah - germanium is if we were writing our own story we certainly would I think would not include all of these negative aspects we make ourselves look quite bad with the story that the Torah gives and as a result that means it comes from God it is not really the product of a human hand unless it would be an anti-semitic human hand which I don't think anybody posits that as a direct at the direct theory now the connection to the partial oh just to just to indicate the simple connection is the very beginning first of all the PUC begins mossad devar hashem ally israel the word Mossad is a very interesting word for prophecy the word Mossad means a burden why would a prophecy be called a burden and the explanation is that once again a prophet by definition would be a lover of Israel and one who loves Israel does not want to give harsh messages of review you know if you love to give Mooser you're not a person who should give musser a person who the only person who is really deserving and worthy of trying to elevate and correct others is one who loves them and really hates have to take that type of position so for the profit to give denunciation and criticism is a great burden it is not something he enjoys doing you know it says in querque of votes that one of the 48 ways that you acquire the Torah is to be ohev as Satoko count to love rebuke now in that context it means I love to accept criticism because it improves me but too many people interpreted to mean I love to give rebuke and that is not really really appropriate so on the most simple level whenever you have prophesies of criticism they are often called massa it is burdensome but the Rambam gives a more generic and general explanation and he says the nature of prophecy as a person gets a message from God and it's as if there's a certain agitation within him until he delivers it he cannot rest he cannot sleep he has to let it go he has to release it and until he releases it it is like a great great weight on his shoulder because the Word of God does communicated to the Navi has to be released okay so we then get into the actual message now again again you have to remember the historical context this is shortly after the Babylonian exile temple was destroyed King Cyrus of Persia has allowed the Jewish people to come back in truth he gave them permission to even rebuild the second temple but shortly after the foundation was laid these via the construction ceased for eighteen years and that's when the porn story happens this is already after the Purim story eventually the king who succeeded after Shailesh which according to rabbinic tradition is none other than Darius the second who was the son of Ahaz parish and Esther so there's kind of an interesting sense of humor here that the Persian king who authorized the rebuilding of the second temple was how luckily Jewish although it's not clear how we self-identifying and a second temple was built and Malaki / ezra is now describing the fact that although you have a beta mech Dutch people are not serving God with enthusiasm they they're not passionate they're not joyous in their service now part of it might be because the overall state of Eritrea and you shall I am is desolate barren the second temple itself this is before Harry is a very simple almost ramshackle structure in fact it is recorded that at the dedication of the second temple there were old people who still remembered the glories of HoMedics they sentences and while the younger folk were singing and dancing the older folk were sobbing and weeping as they remembered the past glories and they saw what they had now and the pus success perhaps with some hyperbole that's how many older people were there that remembered it 70 years before that the crying of the older folk drowned out the song and jubilation and of course we know too that prophecy is waning like this is the very end of practicing so the truth of the matter is even though you would think the Shevat Seon would be a very very glorious experience as it should be in truth people are filled with demoralization they are filled with a sense of hopelessness meaning yeah we got gula this is as good as it gets is this what it is and again the analogies to alia today might be somewhat the same that british am today on the eyes is a much easier process and of course Eric Israel is filled with most modern conveniences you can get Ben and Jerry's and you can get too Skippy peanut butter but I mean yeah I remember I've only been here 7 years living here permanently but I remember what people would say 4050 years ago and they would save her making alia be sure to take toilet paper and be sure to take you know Skippy peanut butter or whatever it is because the Israeli peanut butter has peanut shells in it and you know all sorts of in five years for a telephone you know these were the stories people used to tell and if you go back further I remember reading the memoirs of a Golda Meir her other biography and she talked about you know coming from Milwaukee you know Kiev to Milwaukee and then to the kibbutz in in the 1920s and she talked about sleeping in the mud for five months with unbearable mosquitoes and polluted water and how they heroically you know built a land but you can understand that there's a great deal of demoralization remember in 70 years of babylon many jews were relatively comfortable there they were economically well established the Babylonians granted they destroyed the beit hamikdash but it but they were actually fairly benign rulers meaning once they were in Douglas no they let you do what you want with a few exceptions once in a while so my laughing in God's final prophecies is addressing a very very demoralized people of people who on 110 have experienced a Shabbat soo-jung which is a wonderful thing they've experienced they been on beit hamikdash and yet they don't feel there's anything special about it they don't really see like is this what we yearns for is this our dreams so the nothing is giving them Musa in the sense that dreams are not always what God gives you dreams are what you create from the raw materials that I share puts into your life you make your dream in the sense that with your enthusiasm with your passion with your heart with your love with your devotion you make something to it's not like you sit back and wait for God to entertain you by giving you all sorts of wonderful things how cubby Sparkle gives opportunities and we then have to rise to the occasion and make those opportunities something very very special now the particular technique that Malathi uses is Malathi uses rhetorical questions so for example let's look at the second verse as an example I have the X I'm a Martian I love you this is what a sham says don't look at what you have as rejection or not caring I love you beyond my 10 but then you say back the maja stunning how have you shown us well you bring us back to a desolate empty devastated land and you drop us in the middle of a swamp and you give us permission to put up a ramshackle huts to bring sacrifices to you how is that love so the initial answer is hello ask a sub we echo for gnomish n behold they serve was a brother of Yakko a twin brother we all have this Yakko and I loved Yakko and I rejected a7 so at the very beginning of your national creation I chose you you are that that I love and then it goes on and it gives the specific talk ok now I just want to backtrack a little bit because I want to connect it to be Parker this itself is the connection really it's kind of a bit of a linguistic connection that this preswick says I love Diaco and I hated a sub and that is kind of what you experienced in reading reading the partial but let's go over the parsha a little bit and that in that particular incident first of all there are two transactions that are going on and it's often not very clear what's the relationship between them in when yatha Vanessa were 15 years old this is a chronology that our rabbis established and this was at the time that I Brahma be new dying we find that Yaakov engages in a transaction with a pot of lentils in which he purchases what is called the baccarat the right of the firstborn now although a yacht dominates it were twins but yeah a sig was in fact the older twin came out a little earlier with Yaakov holding on to his heel and the baccarat involves certain privileges we'll explain what they are and Yakko didn't defraud this was not fraud we would not call this checker but Yaakov took advantage of a subs former ability ASA was very very hungry and Yakko was making this delicious children's probably vegetarian showing and then he basically said give me the baklava I'll give you the I'll give you the food an ace of others words which are really very indicative of his philosophy of life he naen Oakley hole a flaw moot behold I am gonna die anyway Lamas Libra why do I need this birthday and cuz I'll explain Aesop is not simply saying if I don't eat I'm gonna die like Rizzo I'm dying of hunger but rather he's expressing a philosophy of life that after I die there's nothing beyond the physical world meaning there's no soul there's no although my BOB there's no taffy at that mate in so all of this concept of serving God for some future purpose Asaph says I don't believe in all I see is the human now all I see is immediate gratification and therefore my philosophy is eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we shall die therefore take this spiritual heritage again because I'll understand that the concept of bacówka is not referring to inheritance rights as it was later understood but it's referring to the a kind of spiritual leadership and succession in terms of being the conveyor of godliness to the family like the co hang like the priesthood and this was technically a sobriety a sub despised it a sub I even he despised him and Yahoo required it now we then don't care anything about this till many many many years later when his hook is close to death although he did live actually much longer and at that point according to Rashi and again the chronology is very intricate but the October 9th of our 63 years old so this is 48 years after that incident there's a second transaction where you Scott wants to give a bracha which he fixes his deathbed brother to a South and Griffin causes a deception whereby he gives us to yahko instead now one thing that's not clear it's not really clear what is the conceptual difference what is the difference in that state between the baccarat at 15 and the Brooklyn and what's going on there now a second problem is number one and justifying the means how can ya Cove engage in deception and checker together Braga where is the morality of that number two even without the morality of it what is the efficacy of that I mean if you get struck intended to bless a sub I mean this with a magic thing like a very gun whoever's in front of the Ray gets the Baraka I mean gets Cooke intends to blow a sub the fact that the guys standing before him is somebody else it's not going to give them the Brucker the one who gets the braava is the one that is the intended recipient of the ground I mean it's too much of a mechanical process to say oh you happen to be standing in front of my hands therefore you get it right so one is the morality one is the efficacy and then the third question which may not be as difficult is how could you talk before how could you talk realistically think that a sub was righteous now with respect to the third question there are a number of you know cuz I'll say the comer said it was blunt now cuz I'll say that why would she took blind he was blinded from the tears that the angel shed during the binding of his birth during the occasional and some apportionments claim that this is a metaphor and a mahjong to express the idea that it sucks contact with the angel the elevation of the it's cut as they sacrificed to God made him unsuitable to see the hypocrisy and duplicity of the world it's not lived in a different claim we live in a world of hypocrisy we live in a world of Shecky we live in a world where people will often have the appearance of righteousness and piety when in fact that doesn't exist a soap in some ways what's a hypocrite although he genuinely honored his father but ASA would ask his father very very religious questions although they were a lovely imbalance how do you take trauma and master from straw or water and get struck according to the to you through his D through you might what you might call his sacred naivete really thought ASA was sincere ASA was holy and therefore cardig the theater was full but once again he was fooled through the holiness of his not understanding the world of duplicity and dishonesty and appearances that are not true rifki the mother understood that world very very well she comes from a home in which there was cheating and deception her own brother loved one etc and therefore risker could see food see through things in a way that Yaakov could not I'm sorry the way that gets put to that so that's interpretation number one that it Huck was a victim of sacred naivete but there's a problem with that because the text clearly indicates that this hook knew that ASA was not the righteous son because when Jakob stands before yet struck with the goat skins the hairy arms and this hug feels the arms and you suck others the very famous words Oh Cole yeah Cole it's look is confused here the voice is the voice of Yaakov but the hands are the hands of Asia you know what rocky says rat he says because Yaakov an answer for twins their voices were actually very very similar so what does it mean the voice is the voice of Yakko because Yakko uses the name of God and nascent use the name of time and that gets hit Scott worrying and confused in other words it's club already knows Yakko was always Massacre shame shame I am a sub map so if yet slug is aware that a sub is not as righteous as Yakko why did you talk want to give the proper to Asia and another indication that you took knows a sub has problems is that immediately before this incident of the it's Clark asking a sub to get him food it mentions a sub marries a Canaanite women and this was a source of bitterness to get stuck and riska his hook remembers how determined Abram was that they don't intermarry with the Canaanites so these are two textual indications that Yitzhak did not think a serve was a righteous person and yet he wanted to give them a bra so there's a matter that I'm gonna bring it back to them so if there is a Muhammad that is suggested by a number of my Porsche prescriptions well verse the mall bends and it says they all kind of say the same thing that the it's a calculation was not naive at all you search calculation was based on the following idea yes what did love Aesop one cannot deny this he saw an ASA in the morning was his son and number two he saw an ASA many many talents a talent for conquest for proactivity for initiative ASA was not the person who would sit in the beit hamidrash and teach TOA asa was not the person that would devote his whole life to avoid a session but Aesop has genuine talents in building a society yakko understand I'm sorry it's luck understands that Yakko will be the successor to the heritage of Avraham in spreading godliness to the world it's not always understood that Yakko would be the foundation of morality and the Baraka that yet Scott wants to give a so if you look at the broker that he wanted to give a so that he gave Yakko it's totally a Branca about the physical and the material may God give you the dew of heaven may nations were serve you may you subjugates all those who rise against you because you look understood that perhaps what's the way I will get a salvation for my wayward son is to create a division of labor similar to what existed between the Sahara and zvolen later ideas all kinds evolving through of the products the soccer was a tribe that devoted itself to Torah study and zvolen was devoted to commerce and by the woman supporting Lisa horn the woman gets a share in all of the Torah of Esau NIT Scott wanted to create a sucker's of woman partnership between Yaakov Anissa let a sum create a society the inherit Israel let ASA build the roads organised the government creates the different pockets of activity create the military and create the engineering infrastructure and Yaakov will be free to sit and Colwell to learn to teach Gosselin and yet such reasoning was that this would be good for a sub and would be good for uncle it would be good for ASA because it would give ace of an outlet for his creative talents for his energy for his being a man of action a man of the field and it would free Akko from all of those responsibilities that might be inimical might be inconsistent with a spiritual destiny seen in this weather the decision that Yeats luck is making when his kids are 63 years old they're not youngsters might be a rectification of an earlier decision that went in the wrong way we're not given a super born so the pus ik says by gig de lujan de RM the young boys grew up and ASA became a hunter and a man of the field and Yakko was a man of the tent which is understood as studious and introspective we're first sets of thought now some people say it's disrespectful to the other so I always have to emphasize that this is your purchase is not me talking so blame her first he says you know the way people dressed wins the same and sometimes raised twins the same but ye q Luhan de RM says initially get stuck and risk directed Yaakov and I serve on the same path to use you know modern a modern analogy although it wasn't exactly what they did then they put both of them in the base on a dress and they said both of you have to learn Torah the whole thing but that wasn't a suppression ality a sub needed basketball he needed to run around he needed outlets for his boundless energy that could not be confined to extender or a bass Emeka could Beit could be well first rights if you try to make an ASA into a Yakko not only will you not get a Yakko with all of the good qualities of ace of himself are going to be distorted and misdirected in rebellion and the life so in a sense what you thought is trying to do now is he's recognizing a subs ability he's telling a said hey you're a hunter going hunts for me and thereby fulfill the Mitzvah of honoring parents and that's the prototype in which I no longer deal with chitta mating your talents and your abilities I've been bracing them and I want them to also have a role you know go that's a Shamu and is building a goblin nation and then building Eretz Israel you will be the gosh me if you will be the material person and Yakko will be the spiritual leader and together you will create a partnership any society so this sounds good this is a fairly sophisticated division of labor but riska understands too little too late maybe this would have worked when they were 15 years old in fact it's interesting point let me make another related point here you know according to Kazan why is Yaakov making lentils when he's 15 because when Yaakov and ASA was 15 that is when avril lavigne who died and this is the food of a mourning you thought was making lentils to feed his father now because I'll have amasova ASA did not become a Russia and deny God until that day so it's very tempting to me to speculate that as long as Abram was alive ASA felt accepted you know you have another situation where every a rebellious child a child who doesn't fit the model of the firm kid we want and sometimes the parents can't deal with that because why is this kid doing it doing the way we want them to be and often the adult in his life that gives the child unconditional love and acceptance is a grandparent grandparents because the grandparent is a bit more removed from the day-to-day tension often a child can confide in a loving grandparents even more so than a parent so it's very tempting snailed I don't have a direct my confidence that the statement of crevalle that a sub became a Russia that day is connected to the idea that within a Brahma Venus relationship base of found acceptance within the relationship of music and Rivka Aesop was regarded as the other one a bit of a pariah a bit of an uncontrollable kid he's just not doing anything right and now many years later newsclick wants to rectify it by legitimating and accepting a substantive scene in this way there actually is a tragic dimension yesterday so it became a Russia no question about it but in some ways we meaning our ancestors bear a certain responsibility for that and first goes on and says going back to the other question of the morality how could you do it but push actually says oh this is a big big finish and it's not 100% supported from from the text he actually says that Yoko really wants to be caught Jakob really doesn't want her to see this father first remember Yaakov protested to his mother Jakob said how dare I stand before my father and I deceived my father I will only bring upon myself curses and rifka says the curses on me was son don't worry about it I take full responsibility but rehearse says Yaakov keeps on giving himself away Yaakov uses the name of gods like why did he do that was that just just I mean he's giving him some what to her first actually says Yakov wanted it's fun to know that this was Yakko in the following way part of why it's Huck wants to bless a sub with the blessing of that is he feels that number one this will free Yakko to concentrate on his spiritual mission but number two he feels Jaco was too fragile and vulnerable to be exposed to the tough world of action because the world of Shecky and the world of duplicity and the world of heart bargaining will destroy the sensitive spiritual nature of Yakko as indeed gets like himself understood that this was not a world for him so Yakko has to show it Scott I am also capable of deception I am capable of line I am capable of cheating not that that'll be my modality but the fact that I'm capable of it means I understand it and if I understand it I'm not going to be victimized and therefore your fear so it's two things number one a sub can't get to Brava because he's not gonna use his resources for Yakko and number two giving the Bronco Thiago will not destroy that though because Yakko has the inner resources to be able to handle it and indeed in a much deeper level the purpose of spiritual life is to transform and elevate the physical deposits that the spiritual person should be removed from the building of a society is actually against the overall message of godliness which is to take holiness and transform it into the physical life this was the great debate and refer to actually says that you thought the Greek terrific eventually that's why he basically said the Prophet does belong to Yoko but this explains the relationship between the birthright and the brother the birthright was the spiritual destiny that was already it's like new that belonged to Yaakov all the way back the Dion at this point is Eric Israel the physical building up of a society who builds the roads right who creates the hospitals who builds the universities the professions the military the police the fire department should that be a Yaakov responsibility or an ace of responsibilities it's like wanted a stuff to have all of that and we've got convinced yet but eventually through this whole ruse that Yaakov needs evasive is not going to utilize it in a proper way well we didn't what other point though that one needs to know so the concept of the Yaakov using checker is a vehicle as a pedagogical didactic vehicle to convey the Yitzhak that Jakob is not likely to get stuck is a man that is so elevated so sanctified so otherworldly that yet Scott cannot comprehend a world of deception a world of fraud and as a result he views Yaakov the same way and says Yakko politics is dirty I want to get you out of it so you don't become tainted you don't become destroyed and Yaakov is conveying through this whole room I know this game dad I know how they play and because I know how they play it will have less power over me it will not destroy me in the same way and either you know deep and complicated issues but I want to point out another comment of the Meldrick you know I received an email from a Christian woman the other day and relative but indirectly two different and she raised the question she didn't understand she likes to listen to the Bible and they drive to work on tape and she wonders about how in the Old Testament and I wrote who's making a Christian point you're not that you know people who lie in sheep and they seem to come out ahead and no there's no problem with that you know Yaakov gets the blessings and everything's fine he becomes the father of the children of Israel who are God's elect and yes yeah this all came to fraud and deception and nothing happens Diaco so I just pointed out to her based on for now that let's examine the rest of yonkers life you know what you know Yoko supposedly got this blessing from Utah how did the blessing play out well first of all in the immediate aftermath of the cleansing Yaakov has to flee for his life he'll never see his mother again and he thinks he'll never see his father again all of his possessions were taken away from him he shows up to Lovins house he works for a woman that he loves rock down to seven years and what happens is he is a victim of deception he gets the wrong wife he is victimized by fraud lovin that changes his terms of employment victimized by crime his beloved son Joseph is sold and Yaakov is given a story that a wild animal tore it apart the makers points out that even if we assume that the Alcott's fraudulent behavior was justified based on a higher morality and there are as there is indeed a legitimate concept that sometimes truth needs to be sacrificed for how your goal we don't deny that you want to give you many cases the Nazis are looking for a Jewish child I mean you know you lie you're terribly right your life we understand that there may be moral reasons not to tell the truth there may be moral reasons to hurt people but the metric gives the following amazing incident that just as there's a physical law let's imagine I jump into a fire to save a child did I do the right thing yes does that immunize me from the consequence of being burnt no you don't get burnt when you're dumped into a fire because God is punishing you it is a consequence it is a normal phenomenon of nature that even if your action is justified there will be a constant well the same way there's kind of automatic consequences in the physical laws of nature there is kind of an automatic consequence in the spiritual laws that govern the universe that is when you cause pain and suffering to another that will come back to bite you in one way or the other just as the old saying he lives by the sword dies by the story he who lives by shechem will be affected by check the rest of yakult's life except for the last 17 years where bertha gem there was reconciliation but the rest of Yakov's life he is constantly victimized by fraud and deception and the Torah is teaching you a very subtle message it doesn't automatically thing out there was a bad guy yeah it was not a bad guy Yaakov did what he did for a higher morality but it reminds you that there's a moral cost and a fact the Kumari even said this was not only a moral cost that Yaakov suffered it's a moral cost that we suffered to this very day when a sub discovers that the breakfast were given to Yakko so the Puttock says like years AK czar cogito lot on my round you really have to feel phrases they some mince a bitter loud cry because I will point out that that identical expression only appears one other place in Tanaka and that's in the story of McGillis ester when Hama proclaims that the Jews are going to be eradicated mortify here's the news like use up ha ha sido la my mouth says the gomorian Megillah because of the pain that Jakob caused a son the descendant of ASA coming from a mullick which is a does ransom causes the descendant of Yakko that identical thing so there is an important lesson you know people ask the question on in very general sense do the ends justify the means the short answer is sometimes not always you know to simply say no it's not true but the point is though maybe it's the wrong question to ask even when the ends justify the means there is what philosophers call moral traces that will still affect you in a negative way the overall morality of an endeavor does not mean that all of its negative elements are perched there are negative elements that can drag me down this is why for example without getting into too many specifics if they want to get back to connected to that aura this is why for example of good point out that zealousness against people who break to the toilet right the idea of demonstration maybe of criticizing your the imputing mother and one hand may be justified but he talked about how it corrupts the salt as it produces in the soul a certain negativity in a certain a dream that at some point is no longer emanating from divine imperative but it becomes an affliction of the soul because you've introduced into yourself a certain negativity and cynicism about others that goes well beyond the parameters of what was a mitzvah at the time that's rookie famously wrote a beautiful beautiful passage that it is the way of the wise to create light rather than attack darkness is the way of the wise and the righteous to build to the positive rather than overly focus on the negative that's when we focus on the negative even when it's justifiable we become tainted with a certain hatred and anger which can destroy us and carry over in all sorts of other contexts as well again very very wise very very true words and again I think unfortunately in the various disputes and polarizations that exist in Israeli society I think we see this playing out in different ways okay so now let's swing back to that door any we needed I think I needed to connected to the pressure because it was a lot that's going on here God is making a point that don't think choosing Yaakov over ASA is simply a function of some arbitrary choice I like Yaakov more and I chosen rather it's a question of character Mido and goodness God says I make choices based on fortress I make choices based on commitment and on one hand I've shown you my wealth and if first going back to the Exodus that and all of those different things I've given you a verges RAL I've given you a beta mixer not so fancy not so boring but how can you not have enthusiasm and passion and the specific thing that I shop talks about is and again we don't really know this is intended to be a literal criticism you talked about the fact that Kohanim with green blemished animals as sacrifice because it wasn't important to them in the language of the parser so far Hashem nibsy who the table of God is despicable it's not worthy why do I have to give a sham the best I'll save the good from I take my own table and I will give God the inferior the second drink because now why is this even important and a sham points out that you are even worse than the because the Galleon to their own gods their own idolatry they bring the best and in fact it's interesting that the kumara itself derives certain her buccal smear no they said that how can you bring a blemished animal to the altar of God so the Talmud in the centre suka takes this person and it derives a more general principle from it not limited to sacrifices and this is actually the Talmudic or the biblical source for the Talmudic principle called mitzvah hababam what is mitzvah baba they are very important principle that if I fulfill a mitzvah through the commission of a sin not only do I have the sin but I don't have the mitzvah yes so the example is very clear I steal a Lula van and Ezra I steal a pair of Dylan and then I wear it now you might argue well okay I committed a sin of step and I have a mitzvah Phyllis - maybe I'm equal that's what one to one so at least I'm no worse the answer is no a mitzvah that is accomplished by the commission of a sin is not a meritorious Act at all it is a desecration of God's name and this is called the Mitzvah a Bobby a vagrant and the Talmud actually derives it from God's condemnation of bringing a blemished offering to God - metaphorically the way we understand it is what you're giving to God is something tainted and blemished God does not want immorality to be the foundation of his service God does not want any Avera to be the basis of how you serve him and now in a way there's a problem here because there's a counter principle sometimes that it's the only way you can do a positive mitzvah is by transgressing a negative you're actually given the green light to do the negative for the positive so there seems to be two opposite principles here one is don't do a mitzvah through a sin that we just missed my Baba Vera the other principle is I say okay well stop that okay we don't have to get into the answer for that but generally speaking this is the rule called Mitzvah huh Bobby availeth by somebody is dishonest in business and gives his profits to charity that's Tucker as he done a good thing no this is sadaqa meritorious does it count in shamayim it does not because it came through dishonesty immorality and the light now with Yaakov obviously there's kind of almost a counter text right because ya govern one in got the breakfast by dishonesty but it makes everyday the way we're first explained it Yaakov wanted gets up to discover the roots and there was a certain pedagogical point in a way might very well be that the reason why I have Torah is indicating you don't serve God through sin is maybe it's designed to be a counter text so you don't miss inter what happened in the park sometimes the haftorah is telling you don't be over literal in what the Parcher seems to be telling you by indicating you don't serve God through Zeus in and again though the idea basically is that Hashem says that if you look at a vote Hashem as a burden as something you just want to get rid of then I will reject you as well because you will be a burden to me if you desire to love me embrace me and do your best then I will embrace you as much as you want to be close to a Shem how much a Shem wants to be close to you and that's really a very very important message you know it's been said that part of the problem that many Orthodox people have is that even if we're committed to halakha we look at the Torah as 613 problems that we want to circumvent so we can get on with the real business of our lives so you know I got this problem kosher so I just want to arrange everything so I can do what I really want to do when in reality it's really the opposite of the 613 commandments should be what our life is fundamentally about then I got to do other things in order to do that now that story ends with another discussion which God says in one hand the Kohanim and alluvium seem bored disinterested they treat the temple and Hashem service as something inferior something that doesn't matter but Denis Shem described in some very beautiful verses what an identical servant of God is because that's what a Cohen is taught damage hai sub appeal he's really recalling ironic owing the Torah of truth was in his mouth he only taught that which was true Afflalo name sabbath's vltava there was no crookedness or perversion in his mouth this shallow over me sha Allah eating in peace and in uprightness he walked with me who robbed him they shaved me of them and many he turned away from sin you may notice that with some frequency this parsec is often used I'm not save us to describe a very very righteous person not only for a Cohen even for an ongoing because it doesn't specifically mention Cohen in this public but this is one of the highest accolade a person who lived with truth and a person who lived in peace and a person who was not necessarily a professional while Shuba Makaha when it says he turned many away from sin it doesn't necessarily mean that he was actively involved but it means by the life he lived people looked at him and they said I want to be like him made the name of God beloved and I want to point out that it mentions both living in truth and living in peace now you understand that on some level those are kind of opposites because truth means I'm uncompromising I say it as it is I tell it as it is and I see things that are deviating from truth and I will not be able to be quiet the man of peace tends towards Pisciotta tends towards compromise tends towards letting things slide so there are people who by dint of their personality are Mormon towards peace I'm not going to rock the boat then there are fiery temperaments that are inclined to advocate at least their version of the truth this may not be true but it's these diverse than the truth what a chef is saying is a truly righteous person has to be both that's a big challenge a person who tells it as it is who communicates the truth who doesn't compromise doesn't water now he just told it it's not kind of shy away from giving the teachings of a son because it's politically incorrect or it makes people uncomfortable but does it in such a way where people feel respected they feel the chitta mated they feel loved that's quite a challenge and it really is a challenge because you will find people gravitating to one polarity or the other polarity without being able to combine them I think I may have mentioned the climb salivation the great rubber brisk I'm sure there were many jobs since then and would jump like this but I find I'd 1918 so quite a long time the climb songs nature like all the brister's you know you might call on some level of fanatic I mean he was absolutely strict not compromising he thought dying scientists were epic awesome if you were he thought secular schools were anathema any type of secular education he was absolutely strict absolutely uncompromising and he was the Robin brisk and brisk had many non-religious Jews or many modern Jews or many even religious Jews who were strongly Zionist and there were people who were opening up secular schools or at least schools that combined second as either a crime was denouncing it and coming off money and yet what's interesting is it is recorded everybody in lovely they said they couldn't live with it they say oh this rabbit I can't I can't stand what he's doing to it but somehow in a way that's hard to put your finger as difficult as he was a thorn in their side but they just left him that he cared about that and even though he thought their ideas were totally wrong and he never hesitated from telling them that there was still a sense that he was ultimately a man of peace very very difficult but the greatest of the great managed to combine them Cook was that way as well although some would argue he was too far in the area of peace but but that's not entirely true both cooked denounced many things that needed to be denounced but it was always in the spirit of I fight the issue but not the person the person is not bad some of the actions and some of these thoughts and some of the philosophies need to be opposed so this is the very important emphasis on MS and shovin and then finally the next Patrick is also very famous fussa that is also on the mat saber of Kohanim sometimes he sits day calling ish Muruga the lips of the true calling guards true knowledge there was always true knowledge of God on his lips the Torah evacs you me to you and that is the person from whom you should seek Toa team My Luck Hashem sawako's because such a person a human flesh and blood this is angel of the Almighty the word angel literally means an emissary of that but we usually use angel to refer to the supernatural phenomenon so here the talmud makes a very interesting observation which is a pretty high standard just really it says ah it says seek torah from his lips because he is like an angel of god so the Gemara says if the Rebbe who teaches your torah is like an angel of god you should seek torah from his lips if he's not an angel of god then don't see solar from the well if you take it quite literally we're all in big big big trouble and I mean that except for the greatest of the great we are not under much radio of Moroccan but the Rambam modifies it a little bit still a high standard the ramp-up says this refers to be dust of us that if you have for example a brilliant brilliant scholar somebody who knows a tremendous amount of soul but the person has badly dose the person is rude the person is arrogant the Rambam says you're not supposed to learn color from such a person they Rabi the teacher on some level is supposed to be angel God meaning meaning these are Mito struggles so this is an important thing you know when you consider for example you're looking for a teacher for your child you're looking for us you see be looking for a hater you're looking for any type of school setting and the light and sometimes people look at the academics you know how do it is the learning of good is the education and people don't always pay attention to the vetoes that are inculcated but this says no when you look for somebody that is supposed to be the vehicle to community I'm stolen you have to look for teachers and by extension school that represent the epitome of Moloch Hashem said welcome like this is the ideal calling this is the ideal lady this is what it means to be a man of God the person of God one man or woman of God somebody who makes the name of a symbol of it the bar says and create certain crea Sh'ma the a half day Sasha maloca you shall love a chef your God the kumaras interpretation is you shall make it the name of God beloved I remember I once somebody many many years ago somebody was very very critical of something I did I really remember exactly what it was but what I do remember is the marshal she gave me and she knew absence of a sermon was a great investment we only surviving servants of the great global common basserman and simply basserman himself he and his wife they died without children so there there is literally no living descendant of rebel Conan basserman in the world it's fascinating when he died the only one who would sit Shiva for him was his wife and she said she really does not want to live without him but such a great man needs one person to sit Shiva for him so she shat Shiva for him and I believe she died the day after Shiva he will just help to stay alive for seven days and then she just went yes children died in the Holocaust there was one grandson from another son who survived and he died of cancer before the sermon so if sinful was the last son last descendant above opponent and when he dies without children was knowing no one left at all but what she said what she knew if some clubs isn't up simply buffering in one hand was a great great song become the other hand he was very involved with Jews a very limited background he could teach at the very highest very very highest level and yet he also taught at the very very beginning level and she said that knowing with simcha she was convinced that if the whole Torah had been forgotten she could reconstruct it by just watching the way he lived everything she could seen in his life what did she was supposed to do and what did you is supposed to be does everything he did was only in accordance with Hashem as well so she could as it were reconstruct the Torah from watching him and she said that is what a true it was very very true okay so that's kind of sort of Molossia that they say he is the very very last prophet so when you read his words you have to look at it as a farewell message just as Yaakov of e-news blessings before he dies and Moshe Romania's blessings before he dies so Milwaukee is the last prophet is giving us messages from our emblem that we're not getting directly here in this form until the restoration of prophecy with the coming of Messiah so you'll have a wonderful Shabbos new church am I very much hope to be here next week if this got to be there so don't cheer for me we're here for me [Music]