Did Yosef know the "Behind the Scenes?"

When Yosef was thrown into a pit and eventually sold as a slave, most people never stop to think about what he thought was going on. Did Yosef actually know what was happening? Surely he must have had mixed emotions. His father sent him out to check on his brothers, and then before he knew what was happening he was thrown in a pit. Perhpas he thought that his father had planned for this to happen all along; after all, he was the one who had told him to check on his brothers. Maybe Yosef thought his brothers and father were planning this all along. He might have also guessed that the brothers acted on their own.
On another note, when the brothers tell Yaakov that Yosef was killed, Yaakov mourns and plays the part rather convincingly. After the brothers come back the first time from Egypt and ask to being Binyamin, Yaakov's response hints that he may have known more than he let on before. He says that his son is  "not with him" with the same phrase that he uses to show that Shimon is not with them at the moment, because he is currently somewhere else. Yaakov very well may have sent Yosef to his brothers that day because he knew what was going to happen, and that in order to ensure their good future it had to. He may have also known that it was G-d's will and for the best.

Yosef's Motivation

A couple classes ago we discussed what Yosef's motivation was to not tell his brothers it was him from the moment he saw him. Our class had many ideas on what might actually be going on in his head. Like he could have been trying to get revenge on them or he could have been scared that his brothers were still angry at him and wanted to give them a chance to cool down or he could have been wanting to fulfill his dreams or he is making them go through the same thing that he went through to see if they had the same with the thoughts before he opens himself up he must see if they have changed or it could be that he hasn't yet matured and he couldn't treat them any different. As we went through the Pesukim and saw the whole story we see that the reason that he really did this was because as Rambam says: A second chance is the biggest Teshuva a person can do. They go through the same exact situation and they have to prove that they have changed and this time the results of the situation would be them doing the correct thing. This is exactly what Yosef did. He put his brothers through the exact same situations: favortism, one being left behind. This time Yehuda stood up for his siblings and his father and took all the blame on himself. When Yosef saw that Yehuda had done this he broke down crying and he realized they had trained and he revealed who he was.

Yosef

Yosef is an interesting character. He was always Yaakov's favorite because he was Rachel's oldest son, and his brothers became very jealous of him. He then grew up in Egypt and learned how to govern a people and live as an Egyptian. His experiences led him to be able to bring a lot of different things to the table of Bnei Yisrael. In a way, what happened to him is the one thing that was able to unite the brothers. I don't think that Yosef's exile was a punishment, in fact it was probably a good experience for the most part. I think that Hashem put him through it to make him that much stronger and able to be the glue that holds the brothers together. He became their connection to each other and it is because of him that Bnei Yisrael exists today.

On a dare from Alex....Something

A couple of weeks ago, Sarah posted about how Yaakov was the first to come up with something on Biology with the speckled/spotted and plain goats/sheep in Lavan's flocks. Moshe/Yisro also came up with something new for the court system with the court heirarchy.


Now it turns out that Yosef came up with something new as well. In Perek 41, he tells Pharaoh that he must save up food during the 7 years of plenty in order to have food for the 7 years of famine, thereby instituting the first food rationing and in the words of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, "The first recorded rationing in history was a hit!"

If you can think of any more feel free to comment! :)

A 100% Worthy Blog Post

Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov all have a prayer that is associated with each one of them. Avraham's is Shacharit-the morning prayer, Yitzchak's prayer is Mincha-the afternoon prayer, and Yaakov's is Maariv, the evening prayer. In class we discussed why these prayers are associated with the Avot. In the morning when we say Shacharit it is easy to see G-d. This is considered 'Avraham's prayer' because he was the first person to see G-d in everything around him. Avraham was a visionary and was the first to discover G-d's presence, so too Shacharit is the first prayer of the day in which we can see G-d's presence in the world. Yitzchak's prayer is Mincha. One opinon as to why Yitzchak is associated to this prayer is because Yitzchak was out praying in the middle of the day when he first met Rivkah. Another reason is that Yitzchak was stable and grounded. He never lost sight of G-d's presence in the world. Mincha is in the middle of the day so we can stop in the middle of a busy day when it is easy to forget to thank G-d for what He does for us, and pray to Him. Yaakov's prayer Maariv is said at night when all is dark and murky and it is hard to see G-d's presence. At night we are confused and unclear about our plans or our beliefs. Yaakov was constantly unclear about his role in life. He occasionally needed a push from G-d or others in the right direction.

In the past week we have read over ten Perakim in which Yosef is the main character. We read about the events that took place in his lifetime, from the day he had a dream till the day he died. Throughout these Perakim Yosef's most notable virtue that I noticed is his dedication and commitment to G-d. Yosef was thrown into a pit by his own brothers and sold. He ended up in Egypt and was even thrown into jail. There are times in his life when the majority of people would start losing faith in G-d and wondering where He is. Yosef does no such thing. His belief in G-d never falters.One way he proves this is when he names his sons. Yosef named his first son Menashe because Hashem helped him forget his father’s house and named his second son Ephraim because Hashem made him fruitful in the land of his affliction. Yosef is not one of the Avot for many reasons, but if he were he would need a prayer to be associated with (He wouldn't really need one, but in this post he does). I would associate Yosef with benching. When we bench we thank G-d for the food he has given us just like Yosef thanked G-d for the advantages and privileges G-d blessed him with in Egypt. Also, it takes a dedicated Jew to bench after every meal. Many Orthodox Jews cannot find the time or simply forget to bench after meals. It takes real dedication and commitment to G-d to remember to thank G-d after meals. There are many reasons and obstacles that can prevent a person from remembering to bench, daven, or do any mitzvah (I just happened to have picked benching to compare him to), but Yosef was able to not be influenced by his surroundings or be discouraged by his unfortunate situation. He was able to continue believing in G-d and thanking G-d when something positive happened in his life.

100%?

Please?

It would make my dreams come true.

Invitation

In Zionism I, we learned about how Queen Salome Alexandra did everything in her power to strengthen Judaism in Judea during her rule.  Once she died, her sons had a civil war over who would gain power.  One of them INVITED the Romans into Israel to help his defeat his brother.  Obviously, that is not what happened.  In the end, the Romans got rid of both brothers and conquered the land.  This directly led to the second exile.

The first major exile of the "ethical monotheist nation" A.K.A. Bnei Yisrael was their slavery in Egypt.  Although it was predicted by G-d, it still hit the Jews pretty hard.  I can't help but compare the above situation to this one.  A truly good person with all the right intentions did the right thing in trying to save their people.  In the above situation, the good leader died and left an opening for "evil" to come through.  By the Jews not protecting themselves against the Romans and not assuming that they might have come to Israel to take over, they led to their own demise.  In the case of Yosef and his brothers, Yosef gained power in a foreign country and was able to save lots of people from starving to death in the famine.  Here comes the problem:  After Yosef revealed himself to his brothers, he invited them to come and live in Egypt until the famine was over.  The Midrash says that as soon as Yaakov entered Egypt, the famine ended.  So why did the Jews stay in Egypt?  Maybe it was because Yosef could provide for them there.  As they all had professions, I don't see why they couldn't have returned home and shepherded for themselves.  Maybe it was so that they would be in position to enter slavery and be redeemed later.  This is slightly reminiscent of the other situation where the Jews were also "set up" for failure and ruin.

Although these two scenarios are not identical, they do remind me of each other.  What do you all think?  Are these pieces in the Jewish people's puzzle? Why did these saddening events happen?  Why did the people have to suffer?

What happened to Tamar?

What in the world happened in this story? While I was reading this story, I was really troubled and bothers, as I think everyone else was too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I got out of the story.
Tamar, Yehuda's daughter in law, was married to Er. Hashem kills Er because he was evil. Er's brother, Onan, also gets killed because he was evil as well. Instead of remarrying, Tamar stayed a widow so that she won't look bad in the eyes of her son. Then Yehuda's wife dies. Yehuda thinks that Tamar is "not a shomer girl", or prostitute in real words. After all of this Yehuda promises to give her sheep. When he does though, he does not actually have the sheep to give to her. Instead he gives her his coat, staff, and ring. Later on when she got pregnant. Everyone is mad at her. In addition to everyone else, Yehudah wanted to burn him. Little did he know that it was his child. One night, being very "not shomer", they slept together. After she even proved he slept with him by showing that she had his belongings, he still wanted to kill her. He had her burnt.
I'm sorry, but to me this story is insane! And it came out of nowhere. I personally feel like this story was dropped in the middle of a completely different story. Also...this is so cruel! That's all I got out my feelings on this matter :)

Sad times for Tamar! 

The Avot Mashal

In class this past week, we discussed a mashal that compares Avraham to a mountain and shacharit, Yitzchok to a field and mincha, and Yaakov to a house and maariv. The different locations have an interesting reason behind them. Avraham is the mountain because he was the visionary. He was up above everything looking at the bigger picture. Yitzchok, as the field, fulfilled the important role of stabilizing the nation. He paved the roads and made sure everything ran smoothly. Yaakov then built the house. He takes Avraham's vision and tries to bring it down to the field and make it work.
We have all heard how each of the avot "created" a different part of davening, but what is truly interesting is how it fits their personalities. Avraham is famous for shacharit the first davening of the day. Some people even wait to eat until after they have said shacharit. He was the one who went out early in the morning to do the work. Yitzchok was the kind of person who was spiritual enough to be able to willingly stop his day in the middle and daven mincha. Yaakov is known for spending time to thank Hashem for his family after a long day of working and caring for them. Maariv takes place at night after the day's work when you are tired, but he was able to persist and thank Hashem for everything.

Yaakov's development in Prakim 33-34

IN perakim 33-34, we see some mixed signals about Yaakov's development. On the one hand, Yaakov finally meets up with Esav. This is the moment that he has been preparing for for so long. Everything went as well as it could have. Esav was not angry with him, they did not fight ,and they seemed to reconcile. Yaakov stood up to Esav, and it seems like his goal of becoming a non- passive person and a leader is finally accomplished. Later in, his daughter Dinah is captured by SHchem. Yaakov tries to reason with them, and they that if all the people of Shechem are circumcised, then Yaakov will accept them into his family and they can have Dinah. He is not very aggressive about getting his daughter back; in fact it looks like he is helping the process along. Shimon and Levi then attack the people of Shechem on the third day after the bris, when they were the weakest. They wipe out the city and rescue Dinah. When Yaakov asked them why they did it, they claimed that someone needed to stand up for their sister- implying that Yaakov wasn't, so they took it upon themselves. Yaakov is not confrontational about this at all .So this can be confusing. Why did Yaakov stand up to Esav but not Shechem? Has he really matured and developed into an active person and a leader? Or not?

שימשון and יעקב

          Recently in נביא, we have been learning about שימשון the שופט. At the same time, in חומש, we have been learning about יעקב אבינו. In נביא one of the main things we said about שימשון was that he was very manipulative and willing to get what he wanted in perhaps not the most scrupulous of ways. We also said that towards the end of his life it seems as if שימשון had a major decline in spirituality and closeness to 'ה.

In חומש, on the other hand, we learned that though יעקב was very spiritual and close to 'ה, he had to become more worldly in order to be deserving of the political part of ברכת אברהם. I think that if the two had lived during the same time period and in the same geographical area, (providing they would be the same as they are where and when they are now) they could have balanced each other out. שימשון could have taught יעקב some of his ways of interacting with the rest of the world and יעקב could have taught שימשון some of his spirituality and control so that both could have the qualities they needed. We can see very obviously that שימשון would have benefited immensely, as would have all of  בנ"י. Also, we can see that even though יעקב seems to be gaining political prowess and worldliness, he still is very non confrontational and non political at the core (with his family). Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, שימשון still might have been able to teach יעקב a few things about dealing with other people.

Like Father, Like Son?

In the past few weeks we have focused on Yaakov's personality. In the past week we also talked a little about Reuven, Yaakov's firstborn son. After Rachel died, Revuen assumed that his mother, Leah, would become the #1 wife. He was wrong. Bilha became the #1 wife. In order to prove that Bilha is only a maidservant, and Leah deserved to be the primary wife, Rueven slept with Bilha. Yaakov hears what happened, and as far as we know,  he did nothing. The pesukim go on to say that Yaakov has 12 sons, in order to confirm that Reuven was not kicked out of the family for what he did.

The saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree" does not apply in this case. Yaakov would never have done something like this. In a sense what Reuven did was manipulative and obnoxious. For whatever reason he thinks that he can go sleep with his father's wife just because he is mad. He didn't get what he wanted so he acted out. Where have we seen something like this before?
Back when Eisav found out that Yaakov had gotten his blessing, he also acted out. Things hadn't gone his way so he cursed Yaakov and begged for a blessing from his father. He later swore that he would one say kill his brother. Yaakov, on the other hand, was hesitant to do anything manipulative. His mother had to basically force him to pretend to be Eisav in order to get the blessing from Yitzchak. (The situation with the birthright cannot be considered manipulative according to the Mefarshim.)

We see in many different cases that Yaakov does not handle manipulative people well. In Charan, it took him over 14 years to stand up to Lavan who had constantly manipulated him throughout his stay in Charan. Yaakov didn't even confront him when Laven switched out Rachel for Leah at his wedding or when he changed his wages numerous times. It took even longer for Yaakov to become prepared to confront Eisav. Even after leaving Charan, he was still not ready. According to Radak, G-d had to send an angel to fight with Yaakov so Yaakov could see that he could defeat Eisav. This would give him the courage to face Eisav later on. Even after facing these two tricksters, Yaakov can't seem to rebuke his own child for committing such a devious, unacceptable act. Maybe this is one of Yaakov's faults, but it proves that this is just the way Yaakov is. He is not a confrontational human being. It's part of who he is, and in many ways it makes him a great leader. Reuven is clearly not like Yaakov. He is not passive. He does what he wants, and does not think about how others will be affected. He could learn a lot from his father; it's too bad Yaakov will not make an effort to teach him.

Dear Mrs. Perl,
I think this deserves an 100.
Todah, Alyssa.

Bad Things Happen

Bad things happen to even the best of us. Yaakov certainly did not have an easy life. We think that just because he is one of our avot that he must have had it made, at least I thought that. Quite on the contrary though, Yaakov had his fair share of hardships. While he was a young man he had to trick his brother then his father. Then as a result of that he had to flee from his home so that his older brother wouldn't kill him. Then he had to work for Lavan for 7 years just to marry the love of his life. Of course when it came time for that, Lavan gave him the wrong daughter "by accident" making him have to work another 7 years for the right daughter. After that Lavan wouldn't let him return back to his home, so he had to escape in the middle of the night. Rachel stole her father's idols so he came after them. Yaakov had to confront him and send him back his way. When Yaakov finally returned him he was met by an angel and then sent gift after gift to appease his brother before meeting him. Then he meets with his brother and everything seems fine. Yaakov finds out after that that his father died. His wife Rachel also dies. Reuven, Yaakov's oldest son decides he has to put his mother on top and sleeps with Yaakov's concubine.
I don't know why many people just assume everything is handed to our avot. Maybe its because Hashem was so close to them and was with them every step of the way. I certainly thought that automatically our avot had the life. That they never had any heartaches or difficulties. In fact its the complete opposite. They might have had to deal with worse and more difficulties in their lifetimes. Our avot are even more similar to us than I had ever realized.
I think we can all take a lesson from Yaakov and the rest of our avot. Life gets tough sometimes, but then it gets better. Hashem is always with us no matter what, just like how He was with Yaakov and all our other avot and imahot.

What's Wrong with Reuven?

Reuven, Yaakov's firstborn son, always seemed to be getting into trouble and interfering with the issues of his parents.  Leah married Yaakov through a scheme of her father Lavan.  He tricked Yaakov into marrying the wrong sister.  In order to marry Rachel, Yaakov worked an extra seven years.  Anyways, Reuven was never Yaakov's favorite child.  Being the oldest, he would have been the first child to sense the lack of affection between his two parents and Yaakov's clear love of Rachel.  He just wanted his mother (and siblings) to be in his father's favor.  Of course, he tried to achieve this through some very odd actions.  Way back, he gave fertility flowers to his mother, which led to her having another child.  After Rachel died, Reuven went to Bilha and "Vayishcav."  There is little room for misinterpretation here.  He had inappropriate relations with his father's concubine and former maidservant of Rachel.  Reuven's intentions were rather sinister: he wanted to make Bilha "damaged goods" so that Yaakov's main wife would become Leah, not Bilha.  (Yaakov exhibits no severe reaction to this.  The text pauses and then commences again with "Yaakov had twelve sons."  This comes to show us that Yaakov's core personality was still non-confrontational and that he could turn the leader part of his personality on and off.)  Later on, he is the one who throws Yosef in a pit.  He had intended to go back and rescue him, but Yosef was gone before that.  He just wanted his brothers to be in their father's good graces.

What can we learn from Reuven?  He displays incredible persistence and determination in all of the above instances.  Obviously, this is not always a good thing.  When one child (or seven) are overlooked by their father, they may go to extreme measures for attention.  Reuven wanted to get Yaakov's attention and wound up doing obscene things for it.  He did not go unpunished.  Although Yaakov did nothing to him immediately after these incidents, Reuven was cursed on Yaakov's deathbed.  We learn two things from this.  First, no misdeed goes unpunished.  Second, as parents and children, jealousy will arise if one is favored over another.  All children want is to be loved.  They deserve that, at least.  What so y'all think?

Yaakov in Charan

We recently learned about Yaakov going to Charan. The Chazal, or sages, say that the name Charan can be associated with anger.
 According to the Sichos by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, there are three different parts of Yaakov's stay in Charan. In class we discussed how the parsha vayeitze shows Yaakov's growth and development, and we showed this using a chiastic structure.The Rebbe also says that this parsha show sYaakov's growth and his characteristics, but instead of a chiastic structure, it breaks the parsha into three pieces that demonstrate how he grew and his character. The first "piece" is that he was challenged to remain who he was, instead of being influenced by Lavan. The second part is that he built up his family and made sure that they were not affected by outside influences either. He set this as an example for the Jewish people to come: we are among the other nations but can still remain true to who we are. The third part is that he gained a lot of wealth and brought holiness to the land of Charan. Each of these pieces shows a spiritual power. In the first part, he shows the power of a soul. Even in a harsh place it still has a Jewish spark and identity that will always be there. In the second part, he shows his ability to influence a lot of people. The third part shows that ne is continuing to spread the holiness and to more and more people. Like it said above, the name Charan can we associated with anger. Everything about Charan that was not connected with Yaakov made G-d angry, as we see by the name Charan. So, because Yaakov was elevating them and making them more holy, he shows us that even the lowliest and least holy place can be turned into a great holy place for G-d. Amen.

One more...

Let's get this over with.

The kidnap and rape of Dina. This is something we have all heard about. What we don't necessarily hear about is the details of the retaliation on Shechem. Shimon and Levi heard what had happened and killed ALL of the men in the city and pillaged the houses, the streets, the women, anything they could find. Is this not a little over the top? I'm going to go a little out there and say it is a good thing this happened. Because of this incident, years later we can read about it and get upset. We can show people that we didn't make up the Torah. If we did, why would we write about the bad things?

The Nidche

Today we learned about the connection between prakim 36 and 25. Both of them begin with the words "V'eileh Toldot" and then continue to tell an unusual tale. That of those who were nidche: Yishmael and Eisav. Normally when we have a story it is about someone who was nivchar, but here we have an exception. Everything is connected. Without Yishmael, Avraham would not have grown to the height that he did. Without Eisav, Yaakov would probably have remained a naive shepherd. Though they were not chosen, they still played a major part in the development of those who were chosen. We all have own place in life, our "niche" if you will. (lol Biology :) It is ok to not be the main character, as long as you don't lose sight of your goal and become the antagonist.

Standing Up

In class we learned about Yaakov's journey to being a true leader. He started out as a man of G-d; he was completely naive to the way of the world. He then goes through many different trials and tribulations to become a true leader of B'nei Yisrael. He is sent to Lot, a renowned trickster to begin. There he marries his wives and learns to stand up to Lot. In the beginning he just let Lot walk all over him, but by the time he left, he knew how to stand his ground. From this we can all learn something. We can come to understand the importance of standing up for what you believe in. In this world where we are less than 1% of the population it is important to know who you are and be able to fight for it.

Rambam vs. Ramban: Was Yaakov's encounter with this man "real"?

Was Yaakov's encounter with this man "real"?

• Rambam: This happens as a Nevuah or a dream. The reason it doesn't state that it is a Nevuah is because it is implies that whenever a person encounters with G-d it is through a Nevuah or a dream. It is not possible to touch an angel. This is not a real event.
• Ramban: Ramban thinks that it is not a Nevuah, it was some sort of physical encounter with Hashem. Yaakov woke up/ when it became morning Yaakov had a limp. Yaakov also said he spoke to G-d face to face. This is a real event. A Malach took a physical form and fought with Yaakov.

We also get an opinion from Abravanel: Sometimes if we imagine we went through a vision we could feel the pain. Yaakov went through this tramatic experience and he could have woken up with pain from this experience.

Radak vs. Rashi: Who is this man? What was his purpose?

Yaakov leaves in the midst of the night and left the camp. While leaving he runs into a strange man who he fought with until morning then gets a Bracha from him. We asked who is this man? and What was his purpose? We got an answer from Radak and Rashi.

• Radak: The random person that Yaakov fought with was the angel Gavriel. He was there to strengthen Yaakov's heart so he wouldn't be afraid of Esav. The angel fought him in a way that he wouldn't get hurt so that when he fights with Esav he will not get hurt. The reason they fight until morning is that like light comes after dark, Esav is dark and Yaakov is the light so he will win the fight. It mentions that Yaakov's rib is hurt. Esav was able to hurt Yaakov, but he was not able to destroy Yaakov. So all he got from the fight was a little wound
• Rashi: This man is a bad angel and he is fighting with Yaakov he is an officer of Esav who was there to destroy Yaakov. Rashi asks another question: Why did this angel bless Yaakov? he answers: The officer really wanted to kill Yaakov, since Yaakov won he asked for the Bracha so that  this bad man can be released. He is giving the Bracha showinf that he could actually deserve the physical Bracha which was the reason that Yaakov and Esav were fighting. 

יעקב's fight with the "איש"

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1AVSA_enUS433US433&q=esavs+angel&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=635&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=jhieT6SoEY6u8ASeraGaDw#um=1&hl=en&rlz=1C1AVSA_enUS433US433&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=jacob+fighting+with+the+angel&oq=jacob+fighting+with+the+angel&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_nf=1&gs_l=img.3...0.0.4.384536.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0.E1HUH0Oiv40&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=dd233e692f100d8b&biw=1366&bih=635

If you do a google images search on the words "jacob fighting with the angel", this (^) is what you will find. Almost every, if not every one of them seems to use רשי's opinion of the איש that יעקב was fighting with and the nature of the fight. They all depict a man with wings (human idea of an angel) having a fistfight if you will with יעקב. As these pictures depict, רשי thinks that the "איש" was עשו's heavenly representative or a "bad" angel and that the fight between the two "men" was a physical one; יעקב physically fought off an angel until the sunrise. The ברכה that the angel then gave יעקב, according to רשי, was the declaration that he (יעקב) was perfectly deserving of the physical part of the ברכה given by יצחק as well as the spiritual part.

רדק on the other hand, thinks that רשי's "bad angel" or "heavenly representative" was really 'ה showing and teaching יעקב that he can defeat עשו in a direct encounter. 'ה is doing it, according to רדק, in order to give יעקב the confidence and courage he needs to openly confront and fight עשו.

Of course it's completely up to you to decide which idea you like better, but personally even though I've always been taught differently, I like רדק's idea better. I like the idea that 'ה was letting this happen as a way of helping יעקב, not just letting it happen to him by someone/something else. The only problems that I have with it though, are:

1. If 'ה was doing it to help יעקב and give him confidence and courage, why would he injure him (with the גיד הנשה)?
2. How could יעקב possibly be able to match 'ה with or without Him being in some kind of form that יעקב would be able to fight?
3. Why would 'ה mention that He had to go at the sunrise and beg יעקב to let Him go? If He actually had to go (which He wouldn't have), He would have been able to just go. He is all powerful. And if He didn't actually have to go, why say that He did?

Religious Growth

We didn't really learn anything about Yaakov's religious growth during his time away from home. I have been pondering it though and come to the conclusion that he has in fact grown spiritually. I have concluded this mainly from the end of our story. When Rachel stole her fathers idols I choose to believe that she did so in order to make him a better person, a more G-d following person. I think she wanted her father to follow the path that she was on. Personally I think that Rachel did that and wanted her father to be more like her because she had been influenced by Yaakov for all those years. I think that unintentionally Yaakov helped strengthen someone else's connection to Hashem and by doing that he strengthened his own. I am not sure if he ever found out that Rachel took them (I don't remember if we learned if she told him or not), but I think that he would have been a little proud of her for doing so. He would have been happy to have been married to a woman strong enough in her beliefs that she would take away her fathers idols, which was more risky than not. Rachel really could have been punished pretty harshly for what she did. Her father could have been very angry with her and done something to her. I think that just furthers the spiritual connection because she has faith in Hashem that again she did something wrong, lying to her father, for the greater good.
As for Yaakov, I think that the fact that he now has the ability and strength to face Esav and even stand up to his father in law in some ways connects back to Hashem. He now knows that whatever he does he will be protected. That Hashem is on his side no matter what. Yaakov also left Lavan's house. After spending 20 years in a house full of idols and immoral people, Yaakov remained connected. He stayed true to his beliefs. I know from experience that when everyone around you is doing the opposite, it's very hard to stick to your ground. I think Yaakov has grown, spiritually as well as physically.
Yaakov is now returning home with 2 wives, a self made fortune, and enough sheep and belongings to even give some as a peace offering to Esav. Although Yaakov tries so appease and calm the waters a bit with Esav before actually going and meeting with him by sending gifts, that does not sway my thoughts. In any case, I think that made him smarter. Testing the waters in this case, when his brother wants to kill him is a smart idea.
Overall I think the journey and stay with Lavan was very beneficial for Yaakov. I think he not only came back with a fortune as well as a family, but he also came back more spiritual and connected than ever!

Ready or Not?

When Yaakov left Haran he had confronted Lavan and had finished growing and developing. He was supposed to be ready to finally confront Eisav and take his role as leader of Bnei Yisrael. That was the plan. Go to Charan. Grow. Develop. Learn how to confront manipulative people like Lavan. Assert yourself. Mature. And along the way there was the opportunity of gaining family and wealth. Then return home and confront Eisav. Everything seems to be going swell. Yaakov leaves Haran prepared for his imminent encounter with Eisav along with all of the wealth he had picked up in Charan and his wives and children. Yet, what confuses me is that Yaakov begins to seem scared and nervous to see Eisav again. Was everything that happened in Charan just a fluke? Did Yaakov just snap back to his old self once he thought about the possibility of facing off with Eisav?

Yaakov sent messengers to Eisav, which already sounds like a weakness. Although they are called messengers, it sounds more like they are spying on the competition. Doesn't Yaakov have any faith in himself that he can defeat Eisav without any prior knowledge of Eisav's plans or thoughts of their upcoming face-off? Or at the least, does he not have faith that G-d will protect him and his family? When the messengers return they tell Yaakov that Eisav has 400 men with him. This terrifies Yaakov. He assumes that Eisav is coming to attack him, and he immediately prepares for the attack. First, he splits his camp into two. This way, if Eisav destroys one camp, at least the other can escape. Yaakov also prays to G-d and reminds Him of His promise to Yaakov (and his fathers). Then, Yaakov sends gifts to Eisav. Yaakov's actions can be understood as intelligent and clever or they can perceived as a display of his former insecurities that have resurfaced. If he had truly believed that he was prepared to defeat Eisav, then why was he so scared when he hears about Eisav's men?

In Pasuk 23, it says that "he arose during that night". He then took his family across the river. By saying that he woke up that night, it seems like he is trying to be sneaky. Yaakov is supposed to be fully prepared and ready for this confrontation. Why is he acting like they're undercover? My main question is (which I'm sure will be answered this week) is: Is Yaakov actually ready to confront Eisav? And if he is then why is he not acting like it?

The Angel Man

This week in class, we learned about the encounter between Yaakov and the man who came and attacked him in the middle of the night.  When Yaakov heard that Esav was coming to meet him and his family, Yaakov immediately evacuated his family.  Once he had taken them to the safe side of the river, he returned to the other side to fetch some jars that he left behind.  On his way, he was attacked by a mysterious, unnamed man.  They wrestled until dawn, when the man mysteriously said that he had to leave.  He blessed Yaakov and changed his name to Yisrael.  Who, then was the man?  According to Rashi, the man was the angel or guard of Esav who came to physically injure or kill Yaakov on Esav's behalf.  When the angel realized that he could not overcome Yaakov, he chose to bless him and let him know that in the future, G-d will change his name to Yisrael, so as to remove any shadow of trickery which led him to gain leadership of the ethical monotheist nation.  The angel said he had to leave at dawn because he had to "report" to heaven to sing the morning songs.  Radak has a different opinion all together.  He says that the man was not an angel, but some sort of manifestation of G-d who came to teach Yaakov that he can defeat Esav in a direct encounter.  When it was all over, G-d vowed to change Yaakov's name at the proper moment.

These two explanations are all fine, but I have one further question: Was this encounter physical or spiritual?  When I thought about this situation, I thought of it both a spiritual/mental and physical struggle where Yaakov's consciousness and physical power won.  This scenario can be compared to the final battle in the "Eragon" series.  The evil king fights with Eragon by first attacking his mind and then by throwing physical obstacles at him.  The combination of the two would be overwhelming to most people.  To relate this back to the case of Yaakov, maybe the angel was attempting to take over his mind while simultaneously attacking his body.  I was wondering what the rest of you think about this situation and what kind of fight it was.

Growth & Development

When Yaakov sets out for Charan, he is alone and penniless. His mother had to force him to leave because he was not ready to confront his brother, Eisav, who had made it his mission to kill Yaakov. While Yaakov remained in exile (Charan) he had to develop as a person so he could one day be the leader that he was destined to become and become able to finally confront his brother; so Yaakov did just that. He married Leah and Rachel only after being tricked by their manipulative father, Lavan. At this point he still was not ready to confront Lavan. Yaakov became the father of many children, but only after his favorite wife, Rachel had a child was he ready to leave Charan. Lavan, manipulative as ever, convinced Yaakov to stay, but as part of the deal, Yaakov would get all of the spotted and speckled sheep that came out of Lavan's white sheep. With help from G-d, Yaakov discovered how to make the speckled and spotted sheep multiply fast causing him to be instantly wealthy. G-d finally told Yaakov it was time to return home. On the way, Lavan accused Yaakov of stealing his idols. Here Yaakov's development is evident. He stands up to Lavan and tells him that everything he has was given to him by G-d/due to G-d's help. This confrontation proved that he was ready to confront his brother and be a great leader for Bnei Yisrael. He had fulfilled his mission.

In class we focused on the growing and developing as a person Yaakov did while he was in Charan. Although, by looking at the chiastic structure we made in class, you can see that Rachel also did some developing and growing of her own. When we first meet Rachel in Perek 29 she's daddy's little girl. As soon as she sees Yaakov, she runs to tell her father that he is there. She even stays loyal to him throughout the entire wedding-trickery incident. She knew that her father was tricking Yaakov and probably also knew that what de was doing was immoral; yet, she stayed loyal to him. After Yaakov and Rachel got married, Lavan continued tricking and manipulating Yaakov. It took time but Leah and Rachel finally realized how immoral Lavan's actions were, especially towards their husband and they were no longer loyal to him. Rachel's actions later on prove how much she had deviated from the path of being daddy's little girl. Rachel stole her father's idols. She even lied to him so he could not find them.

Rachel and Yaakov both went through major changes during Yaakov's time in Charan. Yaakov could not return home without having grown and developed like he did. Rachel's development and growth is much less noticeable, but also necessary. She had to recognize how immoral Lavan was so she could grow into the role model she is for all Jews.

Yaakov really has changed so much over our studies! From being naive, non-confrontational person to someone who stands up to his father in law. Yaakov had to run away in the first place because he did not want to confront Esav after stealing his bracha. It is understandable that Yaakov was afraid of being killed, but still he chose to run instead of facing what was in store for him. Anyway, he runs away. Fortunately for him he runs into a well where his future wife is. Yaakov puts up a very impressive face. He lifts this huge rock alone, which other shepherds had to come together in order to move. Then he "waters" his sheep and places the rock back in place. Rachel runs back to her father, Lavan, and tells him all about what she saw. He then invites Yaakov into his house, but Yaakov has a condition, only if he can marry Lavan's daughter Rachel. Lavan agrees in return of 7 years of labor. At the end of these 7 years Yaakov gets married to who he thinks is Rachel, but really it is Lavan's other daughter Leah. Yaakov is very mad, but agrees to work 7 more years in order to marry the real love of his life, Rachel.
They get married and all is happy. Until Leah starts having children. Rachel was baron and could not have any. She was worried that Yaakov would love Leah more because she was able to have children. Bilha has some kids and Leah has some more and finally Rachel also has. Yaakov then decides it is time to return home. He goes to speak to Lavan, but he just convinces Yaakov to stay and work longer. Yaakov makes a deal that he would get all of Lavan's spotted sheep. It was not time for Yaakov to make a fortune after he had made one for Lavan. Lavan agrees to giving him all the spotted sheep. Yaakov makes a fortune for himself and packs up all his family and belongings and heads out. During their travels, they decide to set up camp and rest. Lavan finds out about them leaving and runs after them. When he catches up to them he is infuriated. Lavan accuses Yaakov of taking his idols. Rachel was really the one who took them, but Yaakov had no idea about it. Rachel sits on top of them in her tent when Lavan comes to check and claims she is too sick to get up. Lavan is also upset that Yaakov ran away with his daughters. Yaakov gets very mad and yells at Lavan before sending him back home.
There are so many parallels. Rachel who used to be loyal to her father has just tricked or hid something from him. Yaakov has grown so much as a person. He is now able to face the problems in front of him instead of backing down. Yaakov is also finally ready to go back home and face those problems that await him.

Spirituality in Lavan's House

We found out as we read the story of Yaakov's stay in Lavan's house, that Yaakov never mentions HaShem while there and only once after he has already left. This gives us a problem. Does this mean that while Yaakov was working on his worldliness and learning about the "politics" of life that his spirituality and connection with HaShem were somewhat sacrificed? Could it be that by being around Lavan (though he didn't totally lose his connection with HaShem, which might have been an amazing feat all on its own) Yaakov was losing some of his connection with HaShem and the spiritual side of Birkat Avraham? Could that have been why he decided to leave for home right then? Because he realized what was happening?

Yaakov and Genetics

This week in class, we discussed Yaakov's sheep breeding.  When Yaakov confronted Lavan about going back to Canaan, Lavan convinced him to stay.  Yaakov's main goal at this point was to take care of his family. He asked Lavan if he could tend his sheep.  Lavan made super-complicated conditions for Yaakov to tend the sheep.  First, Yaakov could only keep the speckled and spotted sheep from Lavan's flock.  Second, Lavan gave Yaakov the white flock to tend and put a three day distance between the two men.  Yaakov saw this "obstacle" as a chance to prosper.  He took the heterozygous white sheep (one allele for white fleece and one for speckled or spotted fleece) and bred them with each other.  This would produce (on average) three white sheep (two heterozygous and one homozygous offspring) and one speckled and spotted sheep.  Yaakov then bred the speckled and spotted offspring together.  The only possible outcome of this union is a speckled and spotted sheep since being speckled and spotted is a recessive trait.

During our class discussion, we said that Yaakov was WAY ahead of his time.  For the rest of the world, genetics came to the forefront of scientific study after the works of Gregor Mendel gained recognition.  Yaakov was actually the first person in recorded history to realize that living organisms could be bred for certain traits.  Obviously, he did this correctly and managed to produce an entire flock of speckled and spotted sheep.  Unfortunately, people do not recognize Yaakov as the father of genetics.  I wonder if Yaakov was ahead of his time in any other areas.  Any ideas?

Eisav's Reaction

Eisav's reaction to being told that Yaakov had stolen his bracha was not a good one. He said that he was going to kill his brother. However, is he truly unjustified? Firstly, at this point he is probably feeling angry and betrayed. His twin brother just took the one thing that he had going for him, his one connection to his father's way of life and even his father after death. Not only did Yaakov take it from him, he took something that cannot be given back. He may also be feeling a little left out because now that Yaakov has the bracha, what is left for him? He had no real connection with his mother and now his father is dying. He will have nothing to remember him by. He is also thinking over the deal he made with Yaakov when they were younger. In his anger he is not thinking clearly and so is trying to find a way to pin his frustration on his brother. Succeeding in doing this serves only to make him more frustrated and say something he may have never said otherwise. Maybe he meant it then, but did he really want to go through with it later? Maybe, maybe not. It could be that circumstances forced him to continue his hatred and misunderstanding of his brother. We will never know.

Mizbeach and Matzevah

In class we were talking about the difference between a mizbeach and a matzeva. Yaakov builds a matzevah at Bet El after he wakes up from his dream and realizes that G-d was in that place. Why does he build a matzevah and not a mizbeach? A mizbeach is permanent, while a matzevah is temporary. Yaakov is showing us that he can't build anything permanent at that moment, but he has made a commitment to do so in the future. The matzevah is almost a promise or a place holder for what will be there later on. Yaakov will come back and make that place a place for G-d. That is also why he changed the name of the place to Bet-El. He will make sure that soon it will become a place for Hashem.

Arranged marriages

I was talking to someone about arranged marriages, and how they turn out either for better or for worse. Then, we figured out that this is the same with many of the couples in the Tanach. Many of the couples that had arranged marriages did not have very easygoing marriages, while many of the couples that picked their spouses tended to have happier marriages. For instance, Yitzchak and Rivka were set up, and their marriage was kind of rocky. Yaakoc, however, picked his wive[s] and they appear to have a better relationship with him. There are more examples like this that support this idea. Interesting, isn't it?

Did Yitzchak mean to split the bracha?

There are three different opinions on whether Yitzchak meant to do with the bracha. The first opinion is that Yitzchak intended on giving the entire bracha to Esav. This opinion is saying that Yitzchak was intending on making what we believe was the wrong choice. In this scenario, Esav would have recieved everything, and who knows where we would be today if that had happened.

The second possibility is that he planned on splitting the bracha. Yitzchak may have known that Esav's strenghts were in worldy things, and that he was manipulative and good at politics. He would be powerful and have agricultural success. Yaakov would have Avraham's blessing. HE was the more spiritual and G-dly one, and he would inherit the zera and aretz. They were both sons from the same mother and father, and he loved both of them. Why couldn't both of them take care of this job?

The last possibility is that Yitzchak meant for Yaakov to have the entire bracha. He may have made this decision because he saw that Yaakov was capable of handling the entire bracha, not just the spiritual parts. He may have realized that Yaakov's descendants deserved the entire bracha, not Esav's.

Rivka might have some balance issues

As we learn earlier in Bereshit, Rivka falls off her camel when she sees Yitzchak. Why does she fall off her camel? She doesn't even know who he is, much less that he is the man who is going to be her husband. A possible reason is that she saw how spiritual and holy he was because he was praying, and she felt insignificant and on a lower level. Perhaps she was also just nervous about meeting the man she was going to marry and walking blindly into the whole situation. Maybe she was overwhelmed, ans she had every right to be. She may have been thinking about the family and the life she left behind. Or perhaps, we are over-examining this whole situation, and Rivka just had a small balance problem. Or then again, she could have been dizzy and nervous becuase...

Dysfunctional Family (Part 2)

As Alyssa so awesomely said in her post, the family of Yitzchak, Rivka, Esav, and Yaakov was quite dysfunctional. In my mind though, the family of Betuel and Lavan was the ultimate family mess.

The first time we hear about these people is when Eliezer comes to Charan to find a bride for Yitzchak. He finds Rivka at the well. She displays extreme kindness, generosity, and other traits essential to an ethical monotheist. When Eliezer goes to meet her family, he finds the most fake and messed-up kind of people imaginable. When he confronts them with the idea that Rivka should come with him to Canaan and marry Yitzchak, they start using the name of G-d to swear that, "Of course, that is what should be done!" The next morning, they change their minds. They say, "No, Rivka can't go because she's too young." In the end though, they decide that it is Rivka's choice and she agrees to go with Eliezer. I can only imagine what Eliezer must have been thinking. How is it possible that such a person like Rivka came from such evil? Honestly, this whole scenario seems oddly similar to an overdrawn drama. The villains are just so beyond evil and the good people are "saint-like", for lack of a better word. The fact that they were not even bothered by their own evilness also bothers me. Do these people not have a conscience?

The only way I can explain this is as follows: Rivka's horrible family made her practice of Tzedek U'mishpat that much more fantastic. This situation is not a Midrashic exaggeration of what might have actually happened. Clearly, Lavan and Betuel just wanted to be evil. We see later on that Lavan deceived Yaakov intentionally and forced him into fourteen years of hard labor for his wife. The fact that Rivka grew up in such an environment and still turned out an ethical monotheist makes her that much greater. This is a lesson for all people: evil always comes back to bite you. Although the evil people do seem to benefit in the short term, I believe that G-d won't let them win.

My Opinion: Did Yitchak Know What He Was Doing?

We all talk about Yitzchak's intentions as far as the giving of the 3 brachos to Yaakov and Esav. We have come up with 3 options so far: Yitzcka planned on splitting the Bracha all along, Yitzchak was going to give it all to Esav, and Yitzchak was going to give it all to Yaakov. We have come up with different facts and aspects in class pointing to one or another of the three options above. We said that Yitzchak probably wasn't planning on giving it all to Esav because when Yitzchak blessed Yaakov thinking he was Esav, he didn't include anything about the spiritual aspect of the world or even mention HaShem. Yitzchak was a very spiritual person, so why would he ass on the full bracha to one son and not mention HaShem or religion? We also seem to think that Yitzchak was not planning on giving the whole bracha to Yaakov either because the torah says that he trembled a great trembling when he realized that it was Yaakov that he had given the bracha to instead of Esav. I think that Yitzchak really did plan on splitting the bracha between his two sons, but when Yaakov took Esav's place for the first part, Yitzchak realized that Yaakov really was capable of presiding over both parts: the spiritual and the political/social. Yitzchak then gave Esav his own bracha because after all, he was the elder son and Yitzchak's favorite (for better or for worse).

A Dysfunctional Family

Yitzchak, Yaakov, and Rivka are known to the Jews as role models and some of the most spiritual, moral people we can think of. Whether some of their actions were moral is debatable, but the majority of Jews admire their actions and characteristics and strive to be more like them. What I've noticed from learning about their family is that they made a incredible dysfunctional family. I'm not sure this family could even get through a family dinner without causing drama.

Firstly, we know that Yitzchak and Rivka's relationship was a bit rocky. They didn't speak to each other. The only time we see that they actually agree on something is when Eisav marries a Canaani girl. As soon as Rivka sees Yitzchak for the first time, she immediately feels insecure and feels that she is on not on the same level as he is. She wonders how she is good enough to be his wife. After all, she didn't grow up with a spiritual or moral family. Even when she feels 'irregular activity' inside of her womb (during her pregnancy) she does not go to Yitzchak. When she is told that there are two nations inside of her and the older will serve the younger, she does not pass on this knowledge to Yitzchak. She doesn't even tell him this when he is about to bless Eisav, when she knows that Yaakov deserves the blessing. And how does Rivka know that Yitzchak is planning on giving the blessing to Eisav? She overhears it. In other words, she was not supposed to hear it, but somehow she did. So, then what does she do? She uses Yaakov to trick her old, blind husband. Rivka is the mastermind behind the trickery that occurs in Perek 27. Because Rivka couldn't work up the nerve to talk to her husband, Yaakov and Rivka have to go behind Yitzchak's back and even lie to him in what is known as one of the most [ethically] controversial events in Bereishis.

Another parenting flaw is written out in the Pesukim. Rivka loved Yaakov and Yitzchak loved Eisav. Picking favorites? It just doesn't seem necessary. Some even think that Yitzchak loved Eisav because he brought him food from what he hunted. These two clearly need to attend some parenting seminars. And visit a marriage counselor.

Then, as if there aren't enough problems going on with Rivka and Yitzchak, the twins also have some problems of their own. Eisav and Yaakov also take part in a very controversial event, the Lentil coup incident or the Selling of the Bechora. In this event, Yaakov arguably takes advantage of Eisav. Later when Eisav finds out that Yaakov "stole" his blessing from Yitzchak, he swears that he will kill Yaakov once his father dies (common twin/brother problems, right?). Then Eisav marries a Canaani girl. This action is bad enough to make Rivka and Yitzchak agree for once! They are both upset and make sure that Yaakov does not end up marrying a Canaani girl. Eisav hears this, even though he is clearly not meant to be part of this conversation, and marries a girl from Yishmael's family to try to make things right.

These are only a few examples of how dysfunctional this family is. This family has many problems: eavesdropping, trickery, lies, a lack of communication skills, jealousy, favoring (children), and the minor problem of a twin swearing to kill his other twin. It seems like with so many moral, righteous people living in one house they should be a model family, but for some reason, that is not the case. At all.

Summary

So I think (emphasis on I think) we are coming to the end of our story sometime soon. Here is a short flashback to one part of the story from before.

Esav married a C'naani woman at the age of 40 just like Yitzchak did. Rivkah and Yitzchak were both very upset about who Esav chose to marry. Yitzchak called Esav because he wanted him to make a meal to eat and then bless him. At this point we dont really know if Yitzchak is giving Esav THE bracha or just a bracha in general. Then Rivkah over hears her son and husband talking and quickly intervenes. She call her other son, Yaakov, and comes up with a plan. Rivkah tells Yaakov to get a goat and she will cook it just like Yitzchak likes it. He will put on fur and Yitzchak will bless him instead of his brother. Rivkah thinks she is going a good thing because she got the initial prophecy. Yaakov protests a little because he does not want to trick his father. In the end Rivkah convinces him by saying she will take the blame for it all. Yaakov goes and gets the goat. While Esav is in the field still, Yaakov goes to his father with the meal and his fur on, wanting the bracha. Yitzchak then touches "Esav", speaks to him, and hears him just to make sure its really Esav. Because of the fur he felt like Esav and also smelled like him. The only thing that was off was how he was speaking. "Esav" said that he got back to quickly because Hashem sent him the animal. The real Esav would never speak that way...EVER. Yitzchak was a little put back but overlooked it and proceeded to bless Yaakov. He is bless with the dew of the sky and the fat of the land, nations will bow to him, he will be stronger than his brother, the son of his mother will bow to him, those who cure you will be cursed and those who bless you will be blessed. Yaakov leaves after his bracha and then comes Esav. He stands in front of his father wanting his bracha but Yitzchak just trembles. He realizes what he has done. For some reason, we dont know, Yitzchak just trembles. Esav still gets a bracha. This one is where he dwells there will be fat on the land and he will have the dew of the sky, he will serve his brother, he can be free, and when his brother is up he will be down and when his brother is down he will be up. Esav is very mad about this whole situation and wants to kill his brother for stealing his bracha (which we still don't know if it was THE bracha). Rivkah was very protective over her son Yaakov but she doesn't raise that concern with her husband. Yitzchak gives the wrong son a bracha and then ends up giving Yaakov another blessing of not marrying a Cnaani woman, fruitful, multiply, nations come from him, and the promise of Avraham. Yaakov gets Esav's blessing plus another one and then flees for his life. Esav and Yaakov seem to have a horrible brotherly relationship, with trickery, no love, and hatred. Esav now looks bad because he is the one who wants to kill Yaakov (even though he has somewhat of a good reason). He marries a Cnaani woman and then married someone from Yishmael. Now Esav seems like the bad character.

Esav's marriages

Alyssa posted about how Esav married a woman that was a descendant of Yishmael to appease his father Yitzchak. What he did not understand was who he was allowed to marry that would make his parents happy with him.

We know that Esav may have wanted to make Yitzchak happy, but he may not have known how or why what he had already done (his previous marriage to the Cnaani woman) was wrong. We know that Yitzchak and Esav had a good relationship-- Esav may or may not have been Yitzchak's favorite child. When he (Esav) married the Cnaani woman and Yitzchak and Rivka got angry, he obviously knew that he had done something wrong, but he probably didn't know what it was that he had done wrong. Yaakov was the spiritual one. He would have known about Birkas Avraham and everything that it was about and included. Esav definitely would not have, being the outdoorsy type. He was probably just trying to make his father pleased with him again in whatever way he could think of that he thought could work. He was like a child that does whatever it can think of without thinking to aks how to perfect itself. It was like he was trying to please his father to the best of his ability, so much so that he didn't realize that the location of the girl didn't matter, only her background, faith, and people. And as mentioned before, he probably didn't know anything about the whole nivchar/nidche thing, so how could he have been expected to do the exact right thing if he had never been taught/told? Though Esav was evil according to more than one source, there are sources that say that Esav was very into the mitzvah of Kibbud Av, whether or not that applied to Kibbud Eim. I think that Esav was not entirely evil, and in this case was just trying to do what he thought could remedy the situation.

Yitzchok's Intentions

A closer look at the psukim in class led me to look at my ideas of Yitzchok. From what I saw it looks like he definitely knew what he was doing when he planned to whom he was going to give the brachas.

He knew that Hashem had given Avraham a promise of being a great nation, land and children, so he decided to split the bracha between his 2 children. To Eisav, who valued material possessions and the here and now he was going to give the bracha of a large nation and prosperity. To Yaakov, the more spiritually inclined, and the one who will continue the chosen people, he was giving the more important part of the bracha, zera and aretz. This way he was insuring that Yaakov would continue the Jewish line, but Eisav would still be happy with what he received.

I think that maybe, had Rivka and Yaakov not interfered, Yitzchok's plan would have come to fruition and maybe, just maybe, things would have worked out better between the 2 brothers.

Yitzchok vs. Avraham

I know that Mrs. Perl said we would discuss this in more depth later, but right now it makes a great blog post. In class, we were comparing Yitzchok to Avraham. We discovered that they essentially went through the same challenges. Now, the question becomes why?

With Avraham we see a lot more need for reassurance and arguments with G-d. It is almost like on the fundamental level Avraham does trust G-d, but every now and then, he still has moments of doubt. When things don't work out like he thought they would he needs Hashem to physically remind him He is there. For example when Lot left, or just the fact that Hashem talks to Avraham A LOT.

Yitzchok seems to understand that G-d is completely in control, and never doubts that. He doesn't need the constant reassurance, and is willing to ask G-d for a child. He "understands G-d" at least as much as is possible. He follows what G-d wants him to do without argument, just complete faith.

They both had different backgrounds: Avraham lived among people without his ideals, whereas Yitzchok lived with Avraham. I think that it is much easier to start something new, rather then to follow the path of your parents. Most people want nothing to do with the way their parents raised them, yet Yitzchok does what his father did to prove that he would do it just as well, if not better.

I had accidentally posted it on the navi blog from last year, hence the coloring.

Questions...

I have a few questions on the Pesukim we have studying in class this week. First, we learned that Yitchak's plan was to split the Nivchar leadership [role]. He gave Yaakov the blessing he planned on giving Eisav, which was a blessing for material and political success. Later on he calls for Yaakov and gives him 'Birkat Avraham'. What I don't understand is, how was Hashem OK with Yitzchak splitting the Nivchar leadership between Yaakov and Eisav? If Rivka hadn't intervened then Eisav would have received half of the Bracha and would have been a leader for Bnei Yisrael. Everything would be different. Did G-d want Eisav to receive the bracha as Yitzchak had planned? Did G-d and Yitzchak ever "talk" about who really deserves the bracha/leadership role? Or of G-d really wanted Yaakov to receive the entire bracha, then are Rivka's actions justified?

My next question has to do with the famous "trembling" that occurs in Perek 27, Pasuk 33. The pasuk says, "וַיֶּחֱרַד יִצְחָק חֲרָדָה, גְּדֹלָה עַד-מְאֹד". Was this an excited tremble, a nervous tremble, or a scared tremble? One opinion brought up during class is that maybe once Yitzchak realized that Yaakov was capable of being manipulative, he realized that Yaakov might also be capable of receiving the entire Bracha. This would explain why Yitzchak then goes on to give Yaakov the rest of the Bracha. Another opinion is that Yitzchak was nervous/scared of what Eisav might do if he doesn't get any part of the Bracha. Or maybe Yitzchak was upset because he knew Eisav could not get Birkat Avraham and he had really wanted to be able to give Eisav half of the bracha. I don't think that Yitzchak was mad at Yaakov. If he was, then he wouldn't have though that Yaakov deserved Birkat Avraham.

My last question is on the Pasukim 6-9 in Perek 28. Eisav overhears Yitzchak instruct Yaakov to not marry a woman from Caanan. This casues Eisav to realize that Yitzchak did not like the women of Caanan (they did not please him). This is already confusing. How could Eisav not know that Yitzchak didn't want Eisav to marry a Canaani girl? The problem was severe enough to get Yitzchak and Rivka to agree on something! Then, Eisav goes on to marry a woman from Yishmael's family. None of Eisav's logic really makes sense to me. If Eisav really wanted to please his father, then why didn't he go with Yaakov to marry a girl from Rivka's family? Leah, maybe? Why did he think marrying someone from Yishmael's Nidcheh family would please his father who had previously wanted Eisav to be Nivchar?

Mothers

We have learned about the role of the wives and mothers in both Chumash and Navi class. We learned about how the promise of Zerah and Aretz could only be fulfilled through the children of both Avraham and Sarah. We learned about how the two of them prayed for a child. Their prayers were finally answered when they were aged 100 and 90: Yitzchak was born. A similar situation arose with Yitzchak and Rivkah. It took Rivkah roughly thirty years after marriage to have their twin sons, Esav and Yaakov. Once again, both spouses prayed for children. Even though they did this separately, they DID achieve their goal of having children. Yaakov and Rachel went through the same thing.

The mystery arises in Shoftim: the mother of Shimshon, who was also barren, is never given a name. During our analysis in class, Emma pointed out that maybe the fact that she does not have a given name relates to the fact that the Navi does not tell us that she prayed for a child. According to one commentary, during the Plishti oppression, it was dangerous to have children. Shimshon's mother apparently did not want to go through the whole ordeal of pregnancy just to have her only child killed in infancy. As a result, she did not pray. We know in hindsight that Shimshon was an essential player in the Shoftim cycle of his time. Without him, the Jews would have been completely defeated by the Plishtim. Also, the cycle stated that if the people repented, then G-d would send a savior to redeem them from their suffering. If that is the case, why was Shimshon born to people that didn't really want children and didn't make any effort to "beg" G-d for offspring?

Learning about all of these mothers and the power of their prayer (or lack thereof) has given a whole new meaning to being barren. All of these women had to go through some kind of test of faith. I believe that this was it. How would they react to their barrenness? How long would they wait and pray? It's just good food for thought. (I think that Shimshon's mother was nowhere close tot he spiritual level of the others and that she should have gone ahead and prayed for children anyway.)

3 Promises/Blessings

In class, we recently learned about 3 similar but separate blessings, or promises, that Yitzchak gives to his sons.

• The first promise is given to Yaakov when he is dressed as and his father thinks he is Esav. The blessing is that he will have the dew of the sky and the fat of the land (agriculturally fruitful), he will be stronger than his brother who will bow down to him, nations will serve and bow down to him, the people that cursed him would be cursed and those that blessed him would be blessed.
• The second promise is given to Esav after Yitzchak realizes that Yaakov tricked him and took Esav's bracha (even though one could argue that it was really Rivka acting through him). Yitzchak promises agricultural success to Esav the way he meant to in the beginning. He also says that although Esav would be ruled by his brother, there would be times where he would break free.
• The third promise is given to Yaakov like the first, but this time he is being truthful about his identity. Yitzchak says that HaShem should: make Yaakov fruitful, bless him, give him Birkat Avraham, and give him the Zerah and Aretz promise.

We can see from the way the blessings were given that either it was Yitzchak's plan from the beginning to give the whole bracha to Yaakov, or he had to change his plan halfway through when he found out he had blessed Yaakov when he had thought he was blessing Esav. Personally, I think that he had meant to split it all along. We said in class that Yitzchak didn't even mention Bircat Avraham in the first blessing, implying that he was in fact saving it for Yaakov. We also know that Yitzchak didn't mention all the spiritual things when he thought he was blessing Esav. He focused more on the outdoorsy, political type stuff. We said in class that we can see that Yitzchak didn't even mention HaShem being the one to do the blessing when he was (or thought he was) talking to Esav. It's only when he knows he is blessing Yaakov that he says that HaShem should bless him.

I think that, like we said in class, Yitzchak was planning to split the bracha and the nivchar leadership, but when he realized (charada gedolah=lightbulb moment) that Yaakov had manipulated what was going on, Yitzchak realized that maybe Yaakov would be able to handle the other part of the bracha too and gave it all to him.

Was what Yitzchak did to Eisav really that bad?

In class we went through many sources to find out the answer to this question. Rashi-says that Eisav was a complete Rasha and Yaakov was justified into getting the Bechora. Rambam-was pretty equal towards both, that neither of them were bad in any way. Radak-says that Eisavc is not bad, but Yaakov was on a higher level than him. He aslso says that Eisav was staying in the present and Yaakov was looking into the future. Seforno-says that Yaakov was thinking into the future and if Eisav could not have even come up with a name for the soup (he called it red stuff becuase it was red colored) then how could he fulfill his actions as the Bechor? He says that the soup was a symbol that Eisav should not be getting the Bechora.

Why did Yitzchak do the same things as his father?

In class we discussed why Yitzchak did the same things as his father. One opinion was that he was filling in the gaps, completing the actions of his father. Another opinion was that he didn't want to leave the land because he had a special connection to it. My opinion is that these certain events were the events that both Avraham and Yitzchak have to go through for Hashem to know that He is doing the right thing by choosing those people to give his promise to. These tests were the tests that were the Aretz part of the promise.

Interesting.

Why is it that we think of Esav as being evil? He was the victim in our story along with his father, Yitzchak. Surprisingly enough to to what we think that Esav is the only person who does not do anything wrong. Rivkah and Yaakov both are the people who supposedly do the wrongs. I know that some people think what they did was fine and I accept that. My thoughts though are that its still a little not so ok what they decided to do. I also think that it is Rivkah's wrong doing more than Yaakov. If Rivkah had not over heard Yitzchack speaking to Esav before sending him away to hunt some food, Yaakov would have never been pressured into deceiving his father. I mean the real issue is that Rivkah didn't speak to her husband about all of this instead of just sending her other son to just go against her husband, but that is a completely different issue. Clearly this family does not get the family of the year award or anything close to it. I just think its so interesting how the families that built and are the founders of our religion had such messed up families.

Anyway, why do we think of Esav as being the evil child if he didn't actually do anything wrong? I know he gave up his bechorah for a bowl of soup, but that doesn't make him evil. We already decided in class that what he did was justified because he was going to be unfit for the position in the future. I'm fine with that and everything until then. I just can't see why Esav is the evil child. And I also cannot understand why each parent chose one child to be "theirs". Also more family issues.

The bracha was another interesting topic to me. Why did everyone think Yitzchak was giving "Esav" THE bracha? It's funny to me also that in all the brachot we see there is always someone who is strong/higher/ruling over someone else. Why can't everyone just be equal? I also think its interesting how there are so many problems in the Torah. We are supposed to look up to it. It is our guide book. It's interesting to me that in the one thing that is supposed to set an example for us there are so many problems. Neighbor to neighbor problems, family problems, spiritual problems, and so so so many more. I guess that's why its ok to make mistakes because Hashem knows that we pretty much don't have any perfect example to look at.

That's just interesting to me.

Yitzchak's blessing to Yaakov

When Yitzchak is about to die, he wants to bless his children before he dies. Yaakov tricks his father into thinking that he is Eisav, and by doing so Yaakov receives both of his father's blessings. THe blessing that is meant for EIsav is that G-d should give him agricultural success, other nations will serve you, and that he will be stronger than other nations. Those that curse him will be cursed, and those that bless him will be blessed.

Yaakov then receives another blessing that G-d should bless him ( Yitzchak can't give him this), he should be fruitful and multiply, they will be a large nation, and they will get the blessing of Avraham and the land that was given to Avraham (zerah and aretz).

In the Footsteps of Avraham

IN class, we came up with many possibilities about why Yitzchak did many of the same things as Avraham. One of the ideas we came up with ( with the help of the article by Rav Amnon Bazak ) was that he was not the trailblazer that father was. He was not as active, as we learned earlier in the year. BY repeating the actions of his father, he was "cementing" the actions of his father so others could easier find the path. Another idea we came up with that he had a special connection to the land so he did not leave it. It could also be necessary to show us that YItzchak was worthy of receiving the promise of Avraham.

The Bechora: How much was it worth?

We recently learned about the birthright that Esav sold to Yaakov for a bowl of lentil soup. I saw an article about relative values of things based on desire.

The beginning of the article spoke about how the bechora MUST be worth more than a bowl of soup! It then went on to tell a story about a man that needed money to pay for his daughters wedding. His rebbe told him to take the first business opportunity he found. He was in an inn and a rich man decided to make fun of him, so he offered to sell the poor man his Olam Habah for one ruble. The poor man accepted, thinking of what his rebbe had said. The rich man went back home and told his wife what had happened and she freaked out and sent him to buy it back. The poor man initially refused until the rich man offered him the exact amount of money he needed to pay for his daughter's wedding.

The article concludes with an interesting thought. In the first transaction, the portion of Olam Haba was only "worth" one ruble. After, when the rich man was trying to buy it back, it was worth so much more. It was all based on the value to the owner. In the beginning, Esav was willing to sell his birthright for only a bowl of soup. The Chumash says that he "despised" it. Afterwards, he seemed to value it a lot more and was angry that he no longer had it.

Ethical Monotheists

This week in class, we learned a lot about the character of Yitzchak versus the character of Avraham. In short, they did the same things. The only difference was that Yitzchak had to mend and push the things his father did forward. Since this is the case, I was wondering if Yitzchak continued spreading ethical monotheism the way that Avraham had.

We learned that part of Avraham's main purpose and goal was to spread ethical monotheism and educate the people of the world about the one, true G-d. Yitzchak was very different. He was an ethical monotheist and grew up surrounded by Avraham and his ideals. Although Yitzchak did take after Avraham in many ways, he did not have the exact same personality or inclinations. Avraham was more outgoing and a "people person". Yitzchak was more of a reserved person and directed his energy towards improving the internal structure of ethical monotheism. The Torah never tells us that he went out of his way to seek followers. Now, the question is: did G-d change his expectations of his "chosen" people? I don't know the answer to that. All I do know is that Avraham accumulated followers. In the time of Yitzchak, they seem to have disappeared. One theory is that they learned what they could from Avraham and then moved off on their own. After that, they went on to make their own, obscure ethical monotheist religions. As of today, these religions did not turn into worldwide phenomena. (All three "ethical" monotheistic religions came from Avraham biologically.) As far as Yitzchak's role goes, I think that he and G-d decided that it would be better if the religion was contained to the immediate family of Avraham.

In the Torah, we never hear about Avraham's followers again. I have given you my interpretation and explanation of this event, but I would like to know if anyone else comes up with anything that makes more sense logically.

Did Eisav want to be Chosen?

In most readings of the story of the selling of the birthright, its is assumed that once Eisav realized what he did, he regretted his decision to sell the birthright. Once he realizes that Yaakov had "stolen" Yitzchak's blessing, he tell himself that one day he will kill Yaakov. Most people seem to think that Eisav was so hungry that he just gave up the birthright, even though under normal circumstances he would never have given it up. Maybe he did regret his decision. Maybe he did want the birthright-but I don't think he ever wanted to be 'chosen'.

According to Radak, Yaakov paid Eisav the full monetary value of the birthright. Sephorno says that the soup represented the sale but it wasn't the actual price Yaakov paid for the birthright. If this is true then Eisav's hunger had nothing to do with his decision to sell the birthright. Rashi says that there were certain things the person in possession of the birthright couldn't do, and if they did the punishment could be death. Eisav didn't want any restrictions, so he wasn't hesitant to sell the birthright to Yaakov. These commentators prove that Eisav really had no problem with selling the birthright. Radak even mentions that Eisav went right back to work after the 'selling', proving that he was not affected by it at all. He didn't care that he had sold the birthright, because he wasn't interesting in being the chosen one anyway. Ramaban and Radak both say that Eisav thought he was going to die during his father's lifetime because of his hazardous profession or because of the spiritual requirements of the birthright. If he thought he was going to die soon, then why would he care about being the chosen one and continuing the promise. Why would he want to dedicate his life to G-d and live with all of those restrictions?

We know that Avraham made sure that Yitzchak's wife was not from Caanan. Since Yitzchak was the chosen one, he had to marry a girl who also came from a "chosen family". In Perek 28, pasuk Aleph, Yitzchak tells Yaakov not to marry a girl from Caanan. Basically, the 'chosen one' cannot marry a girl from Caanan. It's simple. Yet, when Eisav turns 40 he marries Yehudit--a Caanani woman. It now seems obvious. Not only did Eisav have no interest in being the chosen one, it seems like he is actually actively trying to not be chosen. If he had wanted to be chosen or eve had a slight interest, he would not have married a Caanani girl. What does confuse me here is that Eisav was so dedicated to the mitzvah of Kibud Av, yet he married a Caanani girl when Yitzchak clearly did not want him marrying a girl from there. In Pasuk 35, Perek 26 it even says that Yitzchak was not happy about it! If Yitzchak really didn't want Eisav to marry the girl, then I don't know why he did--I mean, everything else he did seemed to be in order to please his father.

Evil...Really??

What do we really know about Esav? Not a lot thats for sure. We have come accustomed to calling him red, but that is about it. Yes it also says that he was a man of the fields, but really thats it. Us ourselves make him out to be someone evil. As Purim has just passed, there is a character in that story that we also don't know very much about, Vashti. We make her out to be this very evil, ugly, bad person. In reality though that is just how me made her up to be. In actuality the megilah does not say much about her at all. I guess we just assumed her to be a bad person because she rejected the king. Was that so evil of her? If we think about it, if she didn't refuse the king's invitation, Achashverosh would have never had to look for a new queen and Esther would have never come into the picture. Ok maybe she would have because Mordechi still would not have bowed down to Haman, but let's face it the whole story would have been completely different. I'm sure that Esther would not have had it so easy if she hadn't been made the queen.

In my opinion and if I'm not mistaken Rabbi Perl also thought so, that Vashti is really a hero. Maybe not a hero, but definitely not a bad or evil person. If it wasn't for her refusing to join the king at his party who knows what would have happend to the Jewish people. At the time, I'm sure Vashti seemed bad, but in the long run what she did was great for us!

I think its the same with Esav. He might not have been as evil as we thought him out to be. It's not like the Torah told us explicitly that he was an evil person. He hunted, so what? He could have been getting meat to eat. Without Esav giving over the bechorah our fate could have been completely different. Again who knows where we would be right now if he had kept it. I think in this sense Esav is a hero almost. He gave over the bechorah without a fight even. Yes, most people think he was crazy and just for giving it up he was a bad person. If he hadn't given it up, we might all be the complete opposite religion wise right now. Ok, so maybe I wouldn't call him a "hero", but I definitely would not call him evil. And let's be honest, we have all had those times where we thought we were going to die from hunger or exhaustion. Like the Sforno Racheli and I had to learn said, he said he was going to die because he was so tired, but honestly we have all most probably been there. We all over exaggerate sometimes, but that is not a crime.

So basically I do not think Esav is such a bad person. We might make him out to be and everyone thinks he is but in reality no where does it say that for sure. All we know about him is that he was red because he was covered in a red coat of hair and that he was a man of the field. There is nothing in that information to indicate that he was evil or even remotely bad. With Vashti also. She was just judged by how we perceived her, but really its all made up.

Thanks Rabbi Perl for giving me the perfect blog post at your house on Purim!!