‫ק''ק נאטינגהם‬
‫בס''ד‬
NO 6
‫תולדות‬
WE WISH LONG LIFE TO
PARASHAT TOLDOT
DATE
MONTH
NAME
14th
15th
15th
16th
17th
18th
18th
19th
19th
19th
20th
20th
20th
November
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Mr N Pike
Mrs C Sherwin
Mr F Collins
Mrs A Giersh
Mrs B Davidson
Mrs S Freedman
Dr D Resnick
Mrs E Hall
Mrs C Sherwin
Mrs G Norton
Mr I Korn
Mrs Pearl Simmons
Mr P Lanch
WE WISH YOU ALL SHABBAT SHALOM FROM
RABBI MOSHE PEREZ AND THE OFFICERS
AFTER THE SERVICE
FOR MORE LEARNING
YOU CAN LOOK AT THE WEBSITE
WWW.NOTTINGHAMRABBI.COM
14th November 2015 – 2nd Kislev 5776
SEDRA
HAFTARA
PAGE 93
PAGE 102
After twenty years of marriage without children, Yitschak’s prayers to
Hashem are answered and Rivka gives birth to twins. Esav and Yaakov.
The birth is extremely painful for Rivka, and Hashem reveals to her that
her suffering is a microcosmic prelude to the worldwide conflict that will
rage between the two great nations. Edom/Rome and Yisrael, descendents
of her twins. Esav is born first, and tries to prevent the birth of Yaakov,
but Yaakov holds onto Esav's heel, and emerges into the world. As they
grow up, the contrast between the twins becomes apparent. Esav is a
hunter, a man of the field, of the physical world; whereas Yaakov sits in
the tents of Torah developing his soul. On the day of the funeral of their
grandfather Avraham, Yaakov is cooking lentil soup, the traditional
mourner's meal. Esav rushes in, ravenous from a hard day's hunting, and
sells his birthright (and its concomitant spiritual responsibilities) for a
bowl of soup, clearly showing his unworthiness for the position of the
firstborn. Yitschak tries to escape to Egypt when a famine strikes Canaan,
but Hashem reminds him that the Akeida -- being offered as a sacrifice -has sanctified him, and he must remain in the Holy Land. Instead, he
relocates to Gerar in the land of the Plishtim, where, to protect Rivka, he
must say that she is his sister. He becomes very wealthy, thus arousing
jealousy, and Avimelech the king asks him to leave. Yitschak re-digs
three wells dug by his father, prophetically alluding to the three Bateh
Mikdash (Temples) which will be built. Avimelech seeing the blessings
that Hashem has bestowed on Yitschak, makes a treaty with him. When
Yitschak senses the end of his days approaching, he summons Esav to
give him blessings.
Rivka, acting on a prophetic command that the blessings must go to
Yaakov, arranges for Yaakov to impersonate his brother and receive the
blessings.
When Esav in a rage of frustration complains to his father that his brother
has bought his birthright, Yitschak realizes that the birthright has been
bestowed correctly on Yaakov who has valued its responsibilities rather
than its privileges, and confirms the blessings he has given. Esav vows to
kill his brother and so Rivka sends Yaakov to her brother Lavan where he
may find a suitable wife.
********************
“And these are the offspring of Yitschak the son of Avraham -- Avraham
begot Yitschak” (25:19).
Yitschak always considered that his only merit was that he was “the son of
Avraham,” and Avraham thought that his only merit was that he “begot
Yitschak.” That is the way of Tsaddikim -- that they never see themselves
as sufficient in their own eyes, rather that their only merit is being the son
or the father of a Tsaddik.
********************
“And these are the offspring of Yitschak the son of Avraham...” (25:19).
These are the first words of this week's Parsha. Last week's Parsha
finishes: “...[Yishmael] dwelt over all of his brethren.” The Torah uses a
word for “dwelt” which can also mean, “fell.” The Torah is hinting to us,
by the juxtaposition of these two verses, that when Yishmael “falls” in the
final chapter of world history, then will shine the sunlight of the
Mashiach, the son of David...who is of the “offspring of Yitschak the son
of Avraham.” (Ba'al HaTurim)
********************
“And Yaakov was a simple man” (25:27).
A man needs to be able to control and dominate his character traits -- to
exercise the appropriate characteristic in the appropriate situation. For
there will be times when he will need to apply a “bad” trait for the right
reason, as our Sages teach us. “Anyone who is merciful when the situation
demands hardness, will end up being hard when he should be merciful.”
That is why Yaakov is called a simple man. Man -- implying that he was
able to control his character, rather than his character controlling him. He
could apply his simplicity when appropriate, but when dealing with
trickery and deceit, he could be as wily and cunning, as he was simple...
********************
“So he drew close and kissed him; he smelled tthe fragrance of his
garments and blessed him; he said, `See, the fragrance of my son is like
the fragrance of a field which Hashem has blessed'“ (27:27).
Our Sages teach us that when Yaakov entered the chamber of his father,
he was accompanied by the fragrance of Gan Eden (The Garden of Eden).
Rav Yerucham Levovitz explains the significance of this fragrance with a
story about Eliyahu Ha’navi, who was walking along the road with a man.
They came across a rotting carcass, and his companion immediately held
his nose and said “What a smell this carcass makes!” while Eliyahu
merely commented “What white teeth it has!” Later they passed by a man
who was guilty of many transgressions. Eliyahu held his nose because of
the stench of the sins emanating from this man, and removed himself from
his presence immediately. To those who have a “sensitive nose,” like
Yitschak Avinu, evil has a smell as palpable as a rotting carcass, but the
sweetness of good deeds is as real and as actual as thee scent of the most
beautiful garden. (Adapted from Lekach Tov)
********************
Ani Ma'amin
The Rambam's 13 principles of faith
Principle #4:
“I believe with complete faith that the Creator, may His Name be
blessed, is the very first and the very last.”
Time itself is a creation. The first lines of the Torah, “In the beginning,
G-d created...” can also be understood to mean “G-d created the beginning...”.
The Rambam's fourth principle of faith is that Hashem created the whole
universe ex nihilo, out of nothing, so when he speaks of Hashem being the very
first and the very last, he does not mean that there is a possibility that Hashem
has a beginning, and necessarily an end. But rather that He is absolutely first and
absolutely last -- He precedes creation, is totally “separate” from it, and created
everything from a perfect void.
He preceded all things that were created; He is first, yet without
beginning. (in Yigdal)