Transcript
Good morning. בוקר טוב Boker tov and welcome back to our פרשה parsha perspectives for today. Thank you so much for being with us again as we try to study the פרשה parsha in a way which inspires our contemporary lives, which reflects and gives us lessons for how to live the most meaningful lives today. I want to thank our generous sponsors for the year, dear friends Becky and Avi Katz, in loving memory of Becky's father, David Grossman. לעלוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש L'iluy nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manesh. Thank you so much to the Katzes for your generosity for the פרשה parsha class and so much more. And as well, a special thank you to our sponsors for this morning's שיעור shiur, in commemoration of the first יארצייט yahrzeit of Egon Henner, יצחק בן יעקב Yitzchak ben Yaakov, beloved father of Lester and Judy Henner, and grandfather of Benji and Zelda Henner and Ariella and Dovid Henner. And a very happy birthday to Judy Henner, celebrating a wonderful milestone and a big birthday. And as well, sponsored by Gordon and Yonina Chas in honor of the יארצייט yahrzeit of his father Max Chas, חבר מיכאל בן החבר גדליה ha'chaver Michael ben ha'chaver Gedaliah. Thank you all for your generosity and sponsorship this morning. We have the privilege of learning, of studying together פרשת תולדות Parshas Toldos, page 124 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. ואלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק V'eileh toldos Yitzchak ben Avraham, Avraham holid es Yitzchak. It's interesting, we have two פרשיות parshios that begin the same way, אלה תולדות Eileh toldos. Our פרשה parsha, which is of course telling us the story of יצחק Yitzchak the son of אברהם Avraham, אלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם Eileh toldos Yitzchak ben Avraham. What other פרשה parsha? If we were together, I would ask you out loud and you would be able to answer me, but you can't, so I'll give you a hint. Go to page 30 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. אלה תולדות Eileh toldos נח Noach. Two פרשיות parshios begin with the words אלה תולדות Eileh toldos. פרשת תולדות Parshas Toldos, אלה תולדות יצחק Eileh toldos Yitzchak, and פרשת נח Parshas Noach, אלה תולדות נח Eileh toldos Noach, which begs the question. Why is פרשת נח Parshas Noach called נח Noach and why is פרשת Parshas יצחק Yitzchak called תולדות Toldos? Why aren't they consistent? Why isn't it symmetrical? It should be פרשת תולדות Parshas Toldos and פרשת תולדות Parshas Toldos. Or פרשת נח Parshas Noach and פרשת יצחק Parshas Yitzchak. In both cases, it begins אלה תולדות Eileh toldos. Why is one named תולדות Toldos and one named נח Noach? Well, the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt\"l gives a magnificent answer. He says, נח Noach, we know, was righteous for his generation, and נח Noach, we did we did well this year learning פרשת נח Parshas Noach without ranking on נח Noach. I have a dear friend who's a good נח Noach, big נח Noach fan, and it bothers him every year that the debate ensues and there are those who are haters on נח Noach. So we're not going to hate on נח Noach, but we'll just say, נח Noach was an איש צדיק בדורותיו ish tzadik b'dorosav, for his generation. He was very, very righteous. However, his generation is what he cared about. It's what he saved, it's what he sustained. נח Noach lived for the here and now. יצחק Yitzchak, in great contrast, did not live, I mentioned נח Noach and the skies opened up. And יצחק Yitzchak in contrast did not live for the here and now. יצחק Yitzchak lived for future generations. יצחק Yitzchak was all about the תולדות toldos. יצחק Yitzchak was all about the offspring, the legacy, what would come from him. That was the story of of יצחק Yitzchak. And that's why one is called נח Noach because it's all about נח Noach. And the פרשה parsha of יצחק Yitzchak is called תולדות toldos because as far as יצחק Yitzchak was concerned, it was really all about his תולדות toldos, it was about, it was about those who would come after him and inspiring them. So יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק Yitzchak ben Avraham, Avraham holid es Yitzchak. יצחק Yitzchak is the son of אברהם Avraham. אברהם Avraham gave birth to יצחק Yitzchak. And of course, we all know and are bothered by the question that comes up each and every year, if יצחק Yitzchak is the son of אברהם Avraham, obviously אברהם Avraham begot, which is a word only used in פרשת תולדות Parshas Toldos, אברהם Avraham obviously was the father, gave birth to יצחק Yitzchak. Why do we need the תורה Torah to provide it in both directions? So we'll begin with an אש תמיד Eish Tamid. This year, we are going through, among the different commentators that we turn to, רב יושע מאיר דרוק Rav Yoshia Meir Druk, the great אש תמיד Eish Tamid, the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of ירושלים Yerushalayim. And he says the following. He begins by quoting רש\"י Rashi. לפי שהיו ליצני הדור אומרים, מאבימלך נתעברה שרה l'fi she'hayu leitzanei hador omrim, mei'Avimelech nisabra Sarah. We know that the cynics, the scoffers of the generation, so falsely accused and said, שרה Sarah was impregnated, conceived from אבימלך Avimelech. We know the episode where אברהם Avraham takes שרה Sarah to אבימלך Avimelech, says, they all pretend you're my sister. רמב\"ן Ramban says he made a terrible critical mistake doing so. So the scoffers, the cynics of the generation, the internet trolls, the bloggers all said, יצחק Yitzchak, it's not אברהם's Avraham's kid. יצחק Yitzchak is אבימלך Avimelech, אבימלך Avimelech and שרה Sarah. שרה Sarah cheated on אברהם Avraham. שהרי כמה שנים שהה עם אברהם ולא נתעברה הימנו sheharei kamah shanim shaha im Avraham v'lo nisabra himenu. How many years were שרה Sarah and אברהם Avraham married and there was no child. שרה Sarah didn't become pregnant, she didn't conceive. So clearly it wasn't אברהם Avraham who was the father, it's אבימלך Avimelech. So מה עשה הקדוש ברוך הוא mah asa haKadosh Baruch Hu, what did the Almighty do? צר קלסתר פניו של יצחק דומה לאברהם tzar kalaster panav shel Yitzchak domeh l'Avraham. He made יצחק Yitzchak the spitting image of אברהם Avraham. And when יצחק Yitzchak becomes the spitting image of אברהם Avraham, it warns and removes any criticism or any suspicion of the scoffers and cynics. How could they accuse יצחק Yitzchak of being the child of אבימלך Avimelech? He's the spitting image of אברהם Avraham. He looks exactly like אברהם Avraham. והעידו הכל אברהם הוליד את יצחק v'he'idu hakol Avraham holid es Yitzchak. So that's why the פסוק pasuk begins, ואלה תולדות V'eileh toldos, this is the story, this is the legacy of יצחק Yitzchak, the son of אברהם Avraham, and because יצחק Yitzchak looked exactly like אברהם Avraham, who was the spitting image of אברהם Avraham, it was undeniable. Everybody knew אברהם הוליד את יצחק Avraham holid es Yitzchak, that אברהם Avraham was the father of יצחק Yitzchak. So, wonders, we've studied this each and every year, that רש\"י Rashi. Who hasn't studied that רש\"י Rashi every single year? Wonders, Rav Druk, the following. הנה מה שהיו אומרים, מאבימלך נתעברה שרה hinei mah shehayu omrim mei'Avimelech nisabra Sarah. Let's talk about this suspicion. Let's talk about this cynicism. Let's talk about this accusation that um, that אבימלך Avimelech is the father. הרי לאברהם היו מלבד יצחק עוד שבעה בנים harei l'Avraham hayu milvad Yitzchak od shiva banim. What a foolish, foolish suspicion. What an absurd suspicion. אברהם Avraham and שרה Sarah are married, they're struggling to conceive a child. If you had to guess who's the source of the challenge, who is blocking the conception? Let's see. אברהם Avraham has ישמעאל Yishmael, he has יצחק Yitzchak, seven other children. שרה Sarah had nobody until she had יצחק Yitzchak. Who do you think is the father? You'd never suspect that אברהם Avraham is not the father. מלבד יצחק עוד שבעה בנים milvad Yitzchak od shiva banim. In addition to יצחק Yitzchak, he has seven sons. ישמעאל שנולד לו מהגר Yishmael she'nolad lo mei'Hagar. ישמעאל Yishmael who comes from הגר Hagar. ועוד ששה בני קטורה שנולדו לו אחר כך בשל אברהם v'od sheisha bnei Keturah she'noldu lo achar kach bishvil Avraham. And another six sons born to קטורה Keturah who's also הגר Hagar. אלא ששרה שרה הייתה עקרה ela she'Sarah, Sarah haysa akarah. It was שרה Sarah who struggled with infertility. ומה טענה היו שיאמרו מאבימלך נתעברה שרה u'mah taana hayu she'yomru mei'Avimelech nisabra Sarah? משל למי שאין לו ילדים, אין הוא מאשים את אברהם אלא את עצמו שלאין לו בית ולד mashal l'mi she'ein lo yeladim, ein hu ma'ashim es Avraham ela es atzmo she'ein lo beis vlad. We know the cynics and scoffers probably would have hacked Sarah's OBGYN's office, they would have gotten her file, and they would have discovered that Sarah struggled. She didn't have a uterus, she didn't have an operational or functional uterus. She was no longer fertile because she was no longer getting her monthly cycle. The cynics and scoffers, these hackers and hackers, these trolls and bloggers, they should never accuse אברהם Avraham as not being the father. It makes no sense. אברהם Avraham has got other children. So says Rav Druk, we read this רש\"י Rashi every year. Do we ever stop and wonder why would they accuse אברהם Avraham as not being the father? It is utterly illogical. אלא Ela, שזהו ליצנות הייתה she'zehu leitzanus haysa. כידוע מהרמח\"ל k'yadua mei'ha'Ramchal, the רמח\"ל Ramchal writes in מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim in the 25th chapter, כי ליצנות אחת דוחה מאה תוכחות ki leitzanus achas docha meah tochachos. One moment of ליצנות leitzanus, one moment of cynicism will will offset, will nullify, will block 100 messages from penetrating. ולכך אף שלא הייתה טענה נכונה נכנסה ליצנות זו באזני העם u'l'kach af she'lo haysa ta'ana nechona nichnesa leitzanus zo b'aznei ha'am. That's the power of ליצנות leitzanus. The power of ליצנות leitzanus, of cynicism, which is so rampant and pernicious in our generation, cynicism and scoffers who second guess and who accuse and who undermine and who challenge leadership and integrity and the the sincerity of people. Everyone sits and flings arrows at the other. Everyone sits in judgment of one another. Everyone sits with such an attitude and a view of cynicism of one another. So negative, so pernicious, so poisonous is ליצנות leitzanus that it defies logic. You're right. Even though logically it made no sense to accuse אברהם Avraham as not being the father, but the cynic, the scoffer, the troll is so driven by that cynicism, they'll say something so foolish, so stupid that makes no sense whatsoever, and people will listen, because who doesn't like a good healthy controversy? Who doesn't like to follow the thread online that's going to offer lies and slander, that's going to offer suspicion and try to create something where there's not? However, says Rav Druk, and that we've shared before, the power of ליצנות leitzanus. You see just how powerful ליצנות leitzanus is. However, this is new. Rav Druk raises yet another issue. יש להעין הרבה מדוע יצטרך ליחס כלל לטענותיהם של ליצני הדור, שיצטרך הקדוש ברוך הוא מחמת טענת ליצני הדור, לצור את קלסתר פניו של יצחק דומה לאברהם yesh l'ayen harbeh madua yitz'tarech l'yaches klal l'taanoseihem shel leitzanei hador, she'yitz'tarech haKadosh Baruch Hu machmas taanas leitzanei hador l'tzur es kalaster panav shel Yitzchak domeh l'Avraham. The Almighty had to respond? So let them be suspicious. Let them be cynical. Who cares? The longer you're in this business, the thicker your skin you form. So let them write, let them write their comments, let them write their their their cynicism. Who cares? השם Hashem made a miracle. And what was the miracle? The miracle was that יצחק Yitzchak was the spitting image of אברהם Avraham. השם Hashem wanted to respond to the ליצני הדור leitzanei hador. He wanted to undermine the suspicious attitude. And how did he do it? By making יצחק Yitzchak the spitting image. So what? Who cares? So they're going to post online that אבימלך Avimelech is the father. Who cares? God cares so much what the ליצני הדור leitzanei hador, the cynics say, so much that God is willing to perform a miracle in order to respond to the cynics? אדרבה Adraba, כמו שמצינו על הפסוק k'mo she'matzainu al ha'pasuk, he says the following. It should be the opposite. ויאמר אליהם נעשה אדם Vayomer aleihem naaseh adam. We know in the beginning of the תורה Torah, the story of Genesis, God says, נעשה naaseh, let us make man. נעשה לשון רבים naaseh lashon rabim. He says it in the plural. And רש\"י Rashi comes along and says, אף על פי שלא סייעוהו ביצירתו, ויש מקום למינים לרדות, לא נמנע הכתוב מללמד דרך ארץ af al pi she'lo siy'uhu b'yetziraso, v'yesh makom l'minim lirdos, lo nimna ha'kasuv milamed derech eretz. Why did God put it in the plural? Let us make man. Why didn't he say let me make man? Because God wanted to teach דרך ארץ derech eretz. You shouldn't use I. In the state of the union, in your campaign speech, in your inaugural speech, in your acceptance speech, don't use I, use we. The Gettysburg Address was brilliant and famous not only because of how short it was, but it was brilliant because of how many times Lincoln used the term we instead of I. That's how he got everybody involved. That's how he got everyone bought in. So הקדוש ברוך הוא haKadosh Baruch Hu, the Almighty says, it's דרך ארץ derech eretz. It wouldn't be right for me to say, let me make man, he said, us, by committee. Let me consult you. I, who is the committee? God is a committee of one. He doesn't need a committee. So רש\"י Rashi there says, wasn't God worried? נעשה Naaseh. He's trying to teach דרך ארץ derech eretz, so he's going to say let us in order to teach דרך ארץ derech eretz. Wasn't he worried? What about the ליצני הדור leitzanei hador? What about the cynics and scoffers? Aren't they going to say, you see, there are many gods? God says I couldn't care less what they say. Let them say what they say. Let them comment what they comment. Who cares? I know the truth. So why didn't God say that here too? Who cares what they say? We have a precedent for God not paying attention to the ליצני הדור leitzanei hador. And we have it again, the מדרש midrash tells us, כשאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה רבינו לכתוב את התורה k'she'amar haKadosh Baruch Hu l'Moshe Rabbeinu lichtov es haTorah, when God told משה Moshe to write the תורה Torah, he said, נעשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו naaseh adam b'tzalmeinu kidmuseinu. And משה Moshe said, what are you doing? Let us make man in our image. משה Moshe says to השם Hashem, aren't you worried about the cynics and scoffers? And השם Hashem says, aah, who cares what they have to say? Not worried about them whatsoever. Who cares? So why, says Rav Druk, why all of a sudden does God care about the ליצני הדור leitzanei hador? Why does God all of a sudden care about the cynics and the scoffers? So listen to what he answers. אבי מורי Avi mori, he quotes in the name of his father, the דרש מרדכי Drash Mordechai, of Rav Mordechai Druk, zt\"l. שלא הלא הקדוש ברוך הוא אין תובע כבוד עצמו כלל she'lo l'lo haKadosh Baruch Hu ein tove'a k'vod atzmo klal. You know what the fundamental difference is between when God cared about the cynics and when he doesn't? When it comes to himself, he doesn't care about the cynics. When it comes to himself, let him say what they want to say. השם Hashem is the thickest skin there is. He could care less what they have to say. הקדוש ברוך הוא אין מוכן שיאפילו מועט זלזול בבניו haKadosh Baruch Hu ein muchan she'yafilu mu'at zilzul b'vanav. But when it comes to his righteous children, when it comes to the ones he loves, when it comes to אברהם Avraham and יצחק Yitzchak, when it comes to us, he has no patience, he has no he has no tolerance for the ליצני הדור leitzanei hador. He has no tolerance for the ליצני הדור leitzanei hador. When it comes to himself, who cares? Let them say what they want to say. But when it comes to us, השם Hashem protects us. He steps in. He will not allow the ליצני הדור leitzanei hador because the ליצני הדור leitzanei hador can do damage and he doesn't want to allow them to do damage and therefore he steps in. You know, כמו ירבעם בן נבט שהיה מקריב קורבנות לעבודה זרה, חוטא ומחטיא את הרבים. הקדוש ברוך הוא להעניש אותו, כאשר הוא עלה לבמה, ויבש ידו, כמבואר בנביא K'mo Yarovam ben Nevat she'haya makriv korbanos l'avodah zarah, choteh u'machti es ha'rabbim. HaKadosh Baruch Hu l'hanish oso, ka'asher hu ala l'bamah, v'yavash yado, k'mevuar ba'navi. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu steps in and that answers the question. Normally, he doesn't care about the ליצני הדור leitzanei hador when it comes to him, but when it comes about comes to his children, he does. But again, you see, you see how poisonous, you see how much it can contaminate, you see how dangerous and negative ליצנות leitzanus is. Cynicism, it blocks us from hearing messages, from growing, from listening. We have to get rid of that sense of cynicism. We have to get rid of that sense of cynicism. It bothered השם Hashem so much, he performed a miracle in order to offset the attitude of the of the cynics. Let's go right into the next piece of Rav Druk. אלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם, אברהם הוליד את יצחק Eileh toldos Yitzchak ben Avraham, Avraham holid es Yitzchak and we quoted the Rashi, ליצני הדור leitzanei hador. So before, what comes at the end of at the end of פרשת חיי שרה Parshas Chayei Sarah, or in פרשת חיי שרה Parshas Chayei Sarah? והשם פקד את שרה כאשר אמר V'Hashem pakad es Sarah ka'asher amar. השם Hashem for שרה Sarah, כאשר אמר ka'asher amar. השם Hashem sorry, allowed שרה Sarah to become pregnant as he had promised. He allowed שרה Sarah to conceive. And what does רש\"י Rashi say there? סמך פרשה זו ללמדך שכל המבקש רחמים על חבירו, והוא צריך לאותו דבר, הוא נענה תחילה samach parsha zu l'lamedcha shekol ha'mevakesh rachamim al chaveiro, v'hu tzarich l'oso davar, hu ne'eneh techila. And last week's פרשה parsha when שרה Sarah becomes pregnant, רש\"י Rashi says, you know why שרה Sarah became pregnant? Because אברהם Avraham had davened for אבימלך Avimelech. ויספלל אברהם אל האלקים וירפא אלקים את אבימלך Vayispalel Avraham el ha'Elokim vayirpa Elokim es Avimelech. סמך לו והשם פקד את שרה samach lo v'Hashem pakad es Sarah. שפקדה כבר קודם שריפא את אבימלך she'pakda kvar kodem she'ripeh es Avimelech. You see from here that when you daven for another person for what you need, you're answered first. We all know that. You need a שדך shidduch? Daven for somebody else who needs a שדך shidduch. You want to have a child? Daven for someone else having a child. You want need to get better, you need a רפואה שלימה refuah shleimah? Daven for someone else who needs a רפואה שלימה refuah shleimah. When you want to have something, daven for someone else who needs it. Asks Rav Druk, I don't understand. אברהם Avraham was davening for אבימלך Avimelech because he was struck with a plague. He needed a רפואה שלימה refuah shleimah. He had Corona. שרה Sarah doesn't have Corona. She's perfectly healthy. She wants a baby. She wants to conceive. What's the connection between אברהם's Avraham's davening for אבימלך Avimelech and שרה's Sarah's conception? How is that teaching us this lesson or this rule that if you daven for someone else who needs what you need, that you'll be answered first? Where do you see that from here? There were two separate things they were davening for. So says the מבי\"ט Mabit, says the מבי\"ט Mabit, סיבת הדבר, כי כשאדם מתפלל על עצמו, הוא נראה דוחק את עצמו וכמצוות בתפילה, והוא תועלת המושג בתפילתו. ואין התפילה לשמה. כי אם מתפלל על אחרים, כוונתו בתפילה לא להשיג את תועלת המושג Sibas ha'davar, ki k'she'adam mispalel al atzmo, hu nir'eh dochek es atzmo v'kimitzvos b'tefillah, v'hu to'eles ha'musag b'tefillaso. V'ein ha'tefillah lishma. Ki im mispalel al acheirim, kavanaso b'tefillah lo le'hasig es to'eles ha'musag. Says the מבי\"ט Mabit, when you daven for what you need, when you daven for yourself, davening is just the means to the ends of what you want. So it's unclear you're davening because you believe in davening, the davening is on your checklist. Got to go to the doctor, got to take the vitamins, got to exercise, got that, you got to daven, check, check, check, check, check. I did everything I can in order to get the result that I so desperately want. But when you daven for someone else, where the result is not your focus, then it's clear that you're davening because you believe in the davening. You're davening because you believe that davening is efficacious, davening works. So says the מבי\"ט Mabit, that's why when you daven for somebody else, you're answered first. But still, how does that explain והוא צריך לאותו דבר v'hu tzarich l'oso davar? אברהם Avraham davened for אבימלך Avimelech to get better. Why did שרה Sarah become pregnant? They were two different needs. אברהם Avraham wasn't davening for some other infertile woman and then all of a sudden שרה Sarah conceives. So what's the connection between the two? And listen to this insight. He quotes from Rav Bengis, who says the following. All together a different pshat, and he says the following. He says, I'll tell it to you outside because we have a lot we want to cover and it's a beautiful piece. He says, you know, the ליצני הדור leitzanei hador said that שרה Sarah conceived from אבימלך Avimelech. שרה Sarah conceived from אבימלך Avimelech. So was it in אברהם's Avraham's best interest for אבימלך Avimelech to recover? It would have been in אברהם's Avraham's better interest for אבימלך Avimelech to not recover. Why? He had this plague that he was struck with when שרה Sarah came to visit, and he comes to אברהם Avraham and he says, what's the deal? You told me she's your sister. Why am I suffering? It would have been in אברהם's Avraham's interest for אבימלך Avimelech to continue to suffer. You know why? Nobody ever could have been suspicious that אבימלך Avimelech was with שרה Sarah. אבימלך Avimelech was struck with an illness. He never could have conceived a child. It never would have aroused the suspicion of others that אבימלך Avimelech was the father. So it would have been in אברהם's Avraham's interest for אבימלך Avimelech to remain sick. And yet, אברהם Avraham davens for him anyway. ויספלל אברהם אל האלקים, וירפא אלקים את אבימלך Vayispalel Avraham el ha'Elokim, vayirpa Elokim es Avimelech. He davened for him anyway. And that's what it means, המתפלל על חבירו והוא צריך לאותו דבר ha'mispallel al chaveiro v'hu tzarich l'oso davar. You know what the והוא צריך לאותו דבר v'hu tzarich l'oso davar means? Not that you need the same thing you're davening for the other person about. והוא צריך לאותו דבר v'hu tzarich l'oso davar, you need what they're going through that you don't want to daven for them to be better. והוא צריך לאותו דבר v'hu tzarich l'oso davar, and you need the very thing that you're going to daven against for them to not have. אברהם Avraham needed אבימלך Avimelech to remain sick, so nobody could have been suspicious that אבימלך Avimelech was the father. Nevertheless, אברהם Avraham davens for אבימלך Avimelech. So you see from here this critical notion and principle that you daven for someone else, על חבירו al chaveiro, והוא צריך לאותו דבר v'hu tzarich l'oso davar. אברהם Avraham also needed לאותו דבר l'oso davar. He needed אבימלך Avimelech to be sick. And yet, he was so selfless, so magnanimous, so generous in spirit, he davened for אבימלך Avimelech anyway. And therefore, והוא נענה תחילה v'hu ne'eneh techila, he was answered first. You're right. One had nothing to do with the other, says Rav Bengis. שרה Sarah conceiving is a totally different need than אבימלך Avimelech being ill, needing to get better. לאותו דבר l'oso davar doesn't mean the same need. It means, you're davening for someone else. You know, so you daven for someone else to get the job that you're also going for. You'd be better off if they didn't get the job. But you daven for them to get the job. לאותו דבר l'oso davar, you need them to not get the job, but yet you daven for it anyway, והוא נענה תחילה hu ne'eneh techila. You daven for the whatever the case may be. לאותו דבר l'oso davar means, and really, it's in your interest. If you were aligning your davening based on your interests, you'd never daven for that person to get that result. It's going against your interest. And yet you daven for it anyway, והוא נענה תחילה hu ne'eneh techila. That's what חז\"ל Chazal were telling us that you're answered first. Good. So יצחק Yitzchak is the son of אברהם Avraham. He's 40 years old when he marries רבקה Rivka. We know, בת בתואל הארמי מפדן ארם, אחות לבן הארמי לו לאשה bas Besuel ha'Arami mi'Paddan Aram, achos Lavan ha'Arami lo l'ishah. And רש\"י Rashi is bothered, we've seen it countless times, why is the תורה Torah providing רבקה's Rivka's pedigree yet again? By now we are all familiar that לבן Lavan her wicked brother and בתואל Besuel her father. ויעתר יצחק להשם לנוכח אשתו כי עקרה היא Vayetar Yitzchak l'Hashem l'nochach ishto ki akarah hi. ויעתר לו השם ותהר רבקה אשתו Vayetar lo Hashem vatahar Rivka ishto. And what happens? They are barren. They're barren. רבקה Rivka cannot conceive. She has the same challenge as her mother had. She can't conceive. So יצחק Yitzchak davened for her. And the language is somewhat peculiar. The פסוק pasuk says, ויעתר יצחק להשם vayetar Yitzchak l'Hashem. ויעתר Vayetar, I always tell you שערי תפילה Shaarei Tefillah, we learned it together, the whole ספר sefer. It's on my website, Or Y Torah, all those שיעורים shiurim, little by little, the beautiful insights of Rav Pincus, שערי תפילה Shaarei Tefillah on the the gates of prayer, the 13 synonyms for prayer, and this is one of them. One of the chapters in that book, one of the synonyms for prayer, which is a unique type of davening, ויעתר יצחק להשם לנוכח אשתו Vayetar Yitzchak l'Hashem l'nochach ishto. ויעתר Vayetar, it doesn't say ויספלל vayispalel. It says ויעתר vayetar. רש\"י Rashi tells us according to the Gemara in Succos, like a pitchfork turns over the hay, יצחק Yitzchak turned over God's mind. He entreated God. He he he begged God. It was a prayer out of desperation. And the פסוק pasuk throws in what seem to be two gratuitous words. Which words seem gratuitous? לנוכח אשתו l'nochach ishto. How is יצחק Yitzchak davening? His posture is לנוכח אשתו l'nochach ishto. It sounds like the תורה Torah is telling us he's davening opposite his wife. Opposite his wife? Were they facing each other, shackling towards each other? There's not a lot of room in their apartment, the newlywed apartment, so they're you know on top of each other while they're davening. What in the world is the פסוק pasuk telling us that they're davening לנוכח אשתו l'nochach ishto, opposite his wife? What does that mean, לנוכח אשתו l'nochach ishto? So the רשב\"ם Rashbam writes, בשביל אשתו bishvil ishto, davening for his wife. Isn't that condescending? Isn't that misogynistic? He's davening for his wife? He's davening for himself. He also wants to have a child. What do you mean he's davening לנוכח l'nochach, he's davening for his wife? He's davening for himself. What does the רשב\"ם Rashbam mean, לנוכח בשביל אשתו l'nochach bishvil ishto? So the משך חכמה Meshech Chochma of Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, we've quoted it before, says, לנוכח אשתו l'nochach ishto means, he was destined to have children. How did he know? Because God gave him the promise. But he looks at his father. God gave his father a promise also. And how was the promise to his father fulfilled? It was fulfilled through הגר Hagar, through a co-wife until שרה Sarah conceives later. So יצחק Yitzchak says, look, I don't need any help. I'm going to have children. I can rely on, I got the promise from the one above. I'm going to have children. I'm going to be the father of a great nation. I'm going to have many progeny. I'm not the problem. I'm in good shape. But nebach, my poor wife, I can have many, many children through some פילגש pilegesh, through some other wife, or I can have children through her. So he was davening specifically, לנוכח אשתו l'nochach ishto, davening specifically to have children through her. That's what the משך חכמה Meshech Chochma says. But I want to share with you a different insight. The insight of Rav Dovid of Amshinov, the Amshinover Rebbe, who says the following. Listen to this insight. I love this imagery. I find it very, very beautiful, very beautiful. Says the צדיק tzaddik, Rav Dovid of Amshinov, כך אמרה רבקה בתפילתה kach amra Rivka b'tefillasa, מי אני ומה יחוסי ומה זכותי mi ani u'mah yichusi u'mah zechusi. רבקה Rivka comes before השם Hashem and she says, השם Hashem, I'm desperate for a child. I so badly want to conceive. It defines my life, motherhood, maternity. That's what I want. But who am I and what am I? Why would I deserve for you to answer me? אבל יצחק בעלי aval Yitzchak baali, but you see over there in the other corner, you see my hubby in the other corner, he's a צדיק בן צדיק tzaddik ben tzaddik. Do you know who he is? Do you know how he learns? Do you know the חסד chesed he does? Do you know who his father is? Do you know who his parents were? Abraham and Sarah. ולכן ראוי בזכאי הוא לישועה v'lachen rauy v'zakai hu liyeshuah. See, he's worthy of being answered. So me, little רבקה Rivka, I'm undeserving. But do you see my husband? Do you see who I married? Do you it for him. You know what was going on in the other corner? והנה יצחק עמד כנגדו והתפלל v'hinei Yitzchak amad k'negdo v'hispalel. יצחק's Yitzchak's in the other corner. וכך אמר רבונו של עולם, אנכי קטונתי מכל החסדים V'chach amar Ribbono shel Olam, anochi katonti mikol ha'chasadim. Says יצחק Yitzchak, who am I? I've been diminished by all the kindness you've showed me and showered upon me. כי מי אני ומה אני לעומת הורי הגדולים ki mi ani u'mah ani l'umas horai ha'gedolim. My parents were so great. My parents were אברהם Avraham and שרה Sarah. And little me, little יצחק Yitzchak, I'm nothing. ואף אם עובד השם אני v'af im oved Hashem ani. And even if I serve you, הרי כך חונכתי בבית אבא harei kach chunchti b'veis abba. Whatever I do, that's how I was raised. That's what my parents taught me. So what's the big deal that I've emerged to become the person I am? That was obvious that I'd be this person. Look who my parents are. Look at my DNA. והאלו היא, רבקה אשתי, הצדקנית v'eilu hi, Rivka ishti, ha'tzadkanis. But in the other corner, השם Hashem, I'm a גורנישט gornischt. I'm a nothing. I was destined to this because of my parents. I'm the winner of the lottery to be born to אברהם Avraham and שרה Sarah. But you see in the other corner, השם Hashem? See opposite me over there, לנוכח l'nochach, you see my wife? Boy, she's a צדקת tzadekes, שנולדה וגדלה בבית בתואל ולבן הארמי she'nolda v'gadla b'veis Besuel v'Lavan ha'Arami. She didn't grow up in the same privileged background I did. She grew up with לבן Lavan and בתואל Besuel. והרי כשושנה בין החוחים v'harei k'shoshana bein ha'chochim. She's like a rose among the thorns. יראת השם וצדקנית yiras Hashem v'tzadkanis. She's God-fearing and she's righteous. ולכן ראויה היא לישועה רחמים להפקד בזרע של קיימא v'lachen re'uyah hi liyeshuah rachamim l'hipaked b'zera shel kayama. השם Hashem, I'm undeserving. Don't do it for me. You see over there in the other corner, for her. So therefore says the Amshinover, קמו יצחק ורבקה לנוכח kamu Yitzchak v'Rivka l'nochach. בכך שהעמידו עצמם זה מול זה בבקשת רחמים, כל אחד בזכותה של אחר b'kach she'he'emidu atzmam zeh mul zeh b'vakasas rachamim, kol echad bizchusa shel acher. That's what the פסוק pasuk means. Each one came to השם Hashem and they said, you know, השם Hashem, I'm a גורנישט gornischt. I'm a nothing. I married up. We said last week the pshat, why do we learn קידושין kiddushin, ni estai Efron? Why do we learn standing under the חופה chuppah, the least romantic thing on the planet, is we learn that when you give the ring, you're married from the story of אברהם Avraham buying a burial plot. Why do we learn from there? And we quoted, we learned from there because you see what? Just like אברהם Avraham and עפרון Efron each walked away and said, I got the deal of the century. Just like אברהם Avraham and עפרון Efron each walked away and said, I married up. I got a steal. I got a deal. So to over here when a couple davens, daven in a way that brings you closer together, not drives you further apart. Daven in a way which is not about your ego. Daven in a way which is not about your worthiness. Daven in a way which is not about your needs, but daven לנוכח l'nochach. The holy Amshinover, in this brilliant insight on this one word, is teaching us about when a couple goes through a challenging time. I just sadly met with a couple struggling with infertility. We daven for them and for all those who want to have children, they should be blessed with healthy, healthy children. And I told them because of they came to meet with me, there were challenges and friction in the marriage. And I said, you know, when you go through a hard time, it can either bring you closer together, you can go through it together, or it can drive a wedge and it can push you further apart if there's blame and resentment, if you force the other person to experience it exactly the way you do and you're angry at them if they don't, if you make them conform to exactly how you're responding or to act a certain way you want them to act. So the Amshinover here says לנוכח l'nochach. Allow the challenge or the struggle to bring you closer, not further apart. When you daven, daven לנוכח l'nochach. Daven and say, השם Hashem, it's not me, it's not my worthiness, it's not my need. But my wife, my husband, ooh they righteous, ooh they deserving. Do it for them. Do it for them even if you won't or even if you're not worthy or even if you're not willing to do it for me. In that one word, לנוכח l'nochach, what a powerful, powerful image, what a powerful lesson. Now רש\"י Rashi quotes, רש\"י Rashi quotes, who was השם Hashem more predisposed to listen to? יצחק Yitzchak or רבקה Rivka? רבקה Rivka is the daughter of a רשע rasha, the sister of a רשע rasha, of a wicked person. יצחק Yitzchak is the son of a righteous, of a צדיק tzaddik, a righteous father and a righteous mother. And it concludes, he's more likely to listen to the תפילה tefillah of a צדיק בן צדיק tzaddik ben tzaddik, of the righteous the son of the righteous. And we've asked before, I'm not going to say it now, I'll just pose the question to you. That makes no sense. I would think that God would cherish more the prayers of somebody who's turned out to be righteous even though they come from a place that is unrighteous. What do you mean he listens more to the righteous, the son of the righteous? Listen more to the righteous, the daughter of the wicked. That's much more impressive for a רבקה Rivka to become a רבקה Rivka is much more impressive than a יצחק Yitzchak to become a יצחק Yitzchak. So why does השם Hashem listen to יצחק Yitzchak, the צדיק בן צדיק tzaddik ben tzaddik more? We've shared that question and an answer previously. I'll leave it as a question for you and you can come up with your own answers or suggest one to me. Feel free to email me later. ויגדלו הנערים Vayigdlu ha'ne'arim, פסוק כ\"ז pasuk chaf-zayin. Turn the page, 126. The boys grow up, ויגדלו הנערים vayigdlu ha'ne'arim, they grow up. ויהי עשו איש יודע ציד, איש שדה Vayehi Esav ish yode'a tzayid, ish sadeh. עשו Esav becomes a person who knows how to hunt, a man of the field. ויעקב איש תם יושב אהלים v'Yaakov ish tam yoshev ohalim. And יעקב Yaakov is a simple man, an איש תם יושב אהלים ish tam yoshev ohalim. And back to Rav Druk, back to the ספר sefer אש תמיד Eish Tamid. And Rav Druk is bothered by the following question. Maybe you never noticed it before. יש לדקדק בלשון המקרא Yesh l'dakdek b'lashon ha'mikra. Look carefully. Is there symmetry in the פסוק pasuk? Look carefully at these descriptions of עשו Esav and יעקב Yaakov. Why? Because עשו Esav is called an איש שדה ish sadeh, a man of the field. And יעקב Yaakov is called a יושב אהלים yoshev ohalim, the one who sits in the tent. If it was symmetrical, what should it have said? איש שדה ish sadeh, איש אהלים ish ohalim, a man of the field and a man of the tent. עשו היה שוהה בשדה ויעקב היה באהל Esav haya shoheh ba'sadeh v'Yaakov haya ba'ohel. If we're trying to characterize or define them based on where they hang out, עשו Esav hangs out at the bar and יעקב Yaakov hangs out in the בית מדרש beis medrash. עשו Esav hang out in the field and יעקב Yaakov hangs out in the study hall. מדוע עשו נקרא איש שדה Madua Esav nikra ish sadeh? עשו Esav is identified with the place, he's the איש שדה ish sadeh. And יעקב Yaakov is not identified with the place where he hangs out. He's called יושב אהלים yoshev ohalim rather than איש אהלים ish ohalim. It's a good question. Never bothered or occurred to me before. He's מדקדק בלשון medakdek b'lashon. Careful. You have to read the text carefully in order to be able to extract and to derive lessons from the questions and the answers that emerge. So what does Rav Druk say? How does he answer? נראה לומר Nir'eh lomar, he offers the following suggestion. שאצל עצם המציאות בשדה הפך את עשו להיות איש שדה she'etzel etzem ha'metzius ba'sadeh hefach es Esav l'hiyos ish sadeh. ונקרא איש שדה על ידי עצם הימצאותו בשדה. אמנם המציאות באהל אינו הופך את האדם הנמצא שם להיות איש אהל, ודווקא אם הוא במהותו יושב אהלים הוא נקרא כן. לכך הדגישה התורה שיעקב לא היה רק אדם הנמצא באהל, אלא במהותו היה יושב אהלים. When you're in the field, the environment, the atmosphere, the culture molds you, it shapes you. It makes you become who you are. So when Esav hangs out in the club, Esav hangs out in the bar, Esav hangs out on the street corner, Esav hangs out with the gang, Esav becomes an איש שדה ish sadeh. He conforms to the environment and to the place where he is. He is characterized as an איש שדה ish sadeh. But you know, just because you sit in the אוהל ohel, you sit in the tent, doesn't make you through osmosis become like the tent. You need to work. You need to struggle. You need to toil. When you sit in the בית מדרש beis medrash reading comic books, you don't become a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham. If you sit in the שול shul reading the newspaper, you don't become a great דאווענער davener. You have to be a יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim. So when it comes to the negative impact, if you hang out at the bar, the club, the field, if you hang out in the wrong place, through osmosis, just by being there, you become an איש שדה ish sadeh. The environment has an impact on molding and shaping who you become. But when it comes to learning Torah, when it comes to righteousness, it's not enough to just simply place yourself there. You have to be a יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim. You have to sit there, and you have to toil, and you have to work, and you have to put in the effort in order to become the person you want and are meant to be. ידוע בשם הגאון רב חיים הלוי מבריסק Yadua b'shem ha'gaon Rav Chaim HaLevi mi'Brisk, and then Rav Druck continues by quoting the great רב חיים Rav Chaim. שלאמדן זה לא מי שיודע ללמוד אלא מי שלומד she'lamdan zeh lo mi she'yodea lilmod elo mi she'lomeid. You know what a למדן lamdan is? A למדן lamdan, the title, the appellation למדן lamdan we don't give to somebody who knows how to learn. We give it to someone who learns. There's a big difference. You can be a brilliant person and you know how to learn. Maybe previously in your life, you learned. But if you're not currently learning, you're not called a למדן lamdan. וכמו שגנב אינו מי שיודע לגנוב אלא מי שגונב U'kemo she'ganav eino mi she'yodea lignov elo mi she'goneiv. You don't call someone a thief because they know how to steal. You call them a thief when, if they've stolen. So the same way you call them a thief if they've stolen, not just because they know how to steal, similarly, you don't call someone a למדן lamdan because they know how to learn. You only call them a למדן lamdan if they are a learner. זהו שמתבאר מתוך דברינו שאין המציאות באהל הופכת את האדם להיות חשוב איש אהלים, אלא דווקא מי שיושב באהל ועושה הדבר למהותו, הוא נקרא יושב אהל. It's not enough to have a מקום makom in the בית מדרש beis medrash. It's not enough to have a place. Now it's true, it's better than hanging out outside the בית מדרש beis medrash. It's true that some things will rub off and catch on, but if you want to be a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, if you want to be a scholar, if you want to be righteous, if you want to grow, it's not enough to just be there. You need to be engaged while there. You're not a thief because you know how to steal, you're a thief when you steal. And you're not a למדן lamdan because you know how to learn, you're a למדן lamdan when you learn. So therefore, יעקב Yaakov is not an איש אהלים ish ohalim because he hangs out there. He's יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim. He puts in the work in order to be able to grow while he is, while he is there.So that's number one. איש תם יושב אהלים Ish tam yosheiv ohalim, יעקב Yaakov is יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim, not defined by the place, while עשו Esav is איש שדה ish sadeh, defined by his place. The great צדיק tzaddik, the רבע Rebbe of לובלין Lublin also has an insight. רש\"י Rashi says, יעקב Yaakov is called איש תם, יושב אהלים ish tam, yosheiv ohalim. Why the double description? So says רש\"י Rashi, מי שאינו חריף לרמות קרוי תם mi she'eino charif l'ramos karui tam. Whoever is not sharp in order to cheat, to steal, to trick, is called תם tam. It's called simple. So says the צדיק tzaddik, the רבע Rebbe of לובלין Lublin, מי שאינו חריף לרמות, פירושו של דבר שאינו יודע כיצד מרמין, הוא קרוי תם. mi she'eino charif l'ramos, peirusho shel davar she'eino yodea keitzad m'ramim, hu karui tam. If you have no idea how to operate and how to trick, you're called תם tam, you're called simple. ואילו מי שיודע כיצד מרמין ואינו מרמה קרוי איש תם v'ilu mi she'yodea keitzad m'ramim v'eino m'rameh karui ish tam. Why wasn't יעקב Yaakov just called תם tam? ויעקב תם, יושב אהלים V'Yaakov tam, yosheiv ohalim. When it comes to the סדר seder, and it comes to the four sons, we talk about the תם tam. We don't talk about the איש תם ish tam. So why is יעקב Yaakov here called איש תם ish tam rather than just תם tam? So says the לובלינר Lubliner, you know why? Because תם tam is somebody who doesn't have the smarts, who doesn't have the cunning, who doesn't have the brain to be able to cheat or manipulate or operate. An איש תם ish tam is the one who has the brain, who knows how, but chooses not to. And that's יעקב אבינו Yaakov Avinu. יעקב Yaakov, and we see it at the end of the פרשה parsha, when יעקב Yaakov maneuvers and manipulates and takes the ברכה bracha, it's clear he knows how to be an operator, but he chooses not to be an operator. Not because he's not sly enough, not because he's not smart enough, not because he doesn't have the courage or bravery enough. But איש תם ish tam as opposed to תם tam, says the לובלינר Lubliner, because even though he knows how to, he refuses to. It's not who he is. The של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh, רבי ישעיה הלוי הורוביץ Rebbe Yeshaya HaLevi Horowitz also points out, the fact that the Torah here is trying to give praise to יעקב Yaakov. What's the greatest praise it can give? What he got on his SATs? No. What's the greatest praise it can give? His IQ? No. The greatest praise it can give is איש תם ish tam. תמימות temimus. You see that the מידה מעולה midah me'ulah, the highest and the most admirable quality for us to strive for is to be תם tam. Is to be pure, is to be holy. Is not to be an operator, is not to be a maneuver, but rather to be תם tam, to be somebody who is, who is תם tam in our, in our daily living. Good. So you see from this פסוק pasuk, going back again. Let's read the פסוק pasuk again. פסוק כ\"ז Pasuk chaf zayin. ויגדלו הנערים Vayigdlu ha'ne'arim, they grow up. ויהי עשו איש יודע ציד איש שדה Vayehi Esav ish yodea tzayid ish sadeh, until then they were indistinguishable. When you're under בר מצוה bar mitzvah, when you're a young child, you could dress everybody in the same little, cute, adorable outfit, and you can make everybody play the same game, fall asleep in the same crib, and do the same things. And it's only once you become ויגדלו הנערים vayigdlu ha'ne'arim at the age of בר מצוה bar mitzvah, they begin to differentiate, they begin to distinguish themselves based on their character and who they are. When they mature, their essential differences become apparent and become transparent, that others can see. So rather than elaborate with stories about the greatness of יעקב Yaakov, and rather than learn about his piety and his virtue, the Torah simply tells us he's יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim. And rather than develop עשו Esav's wickedness by giving us examples and illustrations, we capture that wickedness with the simple description, he's יודע ציד yodea tzayid, he's a hunter. So what's the Torah getting at? What is this fundamental difference? עשו Esav, יודע ציד yodea tzayid, he's a hunter. יעקב, יושב אהלים Yaakov, yosheiv ohalim. He's a studier, he's a learner. So what's this difference between them? So I want to share with you an insight of רב ירוחם Rav Yerucham. The great רב ירוחם Rav Yerucham. Oh. My friend רב שמואל גולדשטיין Rav Shmuel Goldstein asks, why does it say יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim and not יושב באהל yosheiv b'ohel? We're going to answer it right now. You can ask questions by the way in the chat on either Zoom, Facebook, or YouTube. We're streaming to all three simultaneously. רב ירוחם Rav Yerucham, the great משגיח mashgiach of the מיר Mir explains that in order to understand the fundamental essential difference between the two brothers that emerges when they reach this age of בר מצוה bar mitzvah, of majority, take a look at how the תרגום Targum translates. The תרגום Targum translates the following: איש שדה ish sadeh, גבר נחשירכן gavar nachshirchan, which Rashi explains to mean, אדם בטל adam batel. Esav is characterized as a hunter. חז\"ל Chazal tell us that not only does he capture with his hands, Esav is a hunter who captures, he's skilled at dominating with his lips. Esav has charisma. He's a smooth talker. He's a salesman. He's a manipulator. He's an operator. He's a יודע ציד yodea tzayid. Not only with his hand, it's not only he knows how to operate and to hunt in the field, but he hunts his prey. He hunts the vulnerable. He hunts his victims even in life with his words as well. Esav wants to influence his surroundings and the people with force, with manipulation, with maneuvering. He's controlling, he's commanding, he's imposing. He doesn't make room for other points of view. Esav's world, no one's allowed to vote differently, or root for a different team, or come to a different conclusion, or wear a different type of יארמלקע yarmulke, or think differently. Esav is a hunter. He has prey, he goes out and he slays, he kills anyone who's different than him. Everyone has to conform to who he is and how he behaves. That's Esav's MO. His modus operandi is to be to coerce and to con everyone to conform to exactly how he sees the world. That's what the תרגום Targum is saying. איש שדה ish sadeh, גבר נחשירכן gavar nachshirchan, he's an אדם בטל adam batel. He's a maneuver, a manipulator, he coerces everyone. Indeed we read at the beginning of the פרשה parsha that when Yaakov is making these lentils, we'll study more about in a moment, Esav comes in from the field and he says, עייף אנוכי ayef anochi. I'm exhausted. Why is Esav exhausted? Because he was up late with night סדר seder, he was studying deep into the night? No. Is he exhausted from all the צדקה וחסד tzedakah v'chesed? No. Why was he so tired? So חז\"ל Chazal give us insight. חז\"ל Chazal, our rabbis tell us you know why Esav was so exhausted? He was so tired because he had just come from the funeral of his grandfather, his זיידע zeideh, אברהם Avraham. Avraham had died. And חז\"ל Chazal say that when Avraham died, Esav absolutely melted down. Esav went where? He went to pieces. He absolutely fell apart. Why did Esav fall apart? Esav was so close to the זיידע אברהם zeideh Avraham? We know that in fact God did a great, a great kindness to Avraham by allowing Avraham to leave this world before he would see just how terrible Esav would become. Esav fell apart, what was he so close with his זיידע zeideh, with his grandfather that he fell apart? So the rabbis say, no. You know why he fell apart? Because not that he lost Avraham, he confronted death. Esav was so arrogant, so egotistical, so controlling that he thought I'll live forever. He thought he had immortality. And when his grandfather Avraham dies and he confronts mortality and death for the first time, he falls apart. Why? Because Esav is the ultimate controller, manipulator, and death is something no one can control. Death is something no one can manipulate. And when he discovers and he encounters and he confronts something he cannot control or manipulate, he falls to pieces. That's who Esav is. In contrast, the Torah describes יעקב Yaakov. And how is יעקב Yaakov described? יעקב Yaakov is יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim. And again if you look at the תרגום Targum, it's most insightful. Says the תרגום Targum, ומשמש בבית מדרשא דעבר ותבע אולפן מן קדם ה' u'meshamish b'veis midrasha d'Ever v'tava ulfan min kodam Hashem. יעקב Yaakov, Jacob was a מבקש mevakesh. He had an insatiable appetite to listen, to learn, to absorb from everyone around him. Yaakov didn't have one point of view. Yaakov wasn't narrowly in a box. Yaakov wasn't locked into one perspective. He didn't try to make everyone else conform to him. He didn't maneuver and manipulate and coerce. He listened and he learned and he tried to gain the truth from everywhere. Notice the pasuk doesn't say he was יושב באהל yosheiv b'ohel. He didn't sit in a tent, but rather it says יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim in the plural. You know why? Because he didn't sit in one tent. רש\"י Rashi points out, he learned in the ישיבה yeshiva of שם ועבר Shem v'Ever. שם ועבר Shem v'Ever were not co-רשאי ישיבה roshei yeshiva of the same בית מדרש beis medrash. They had two different study halls, they had two different בתי מדרש batei medrash. So, says רש\"י Rashi, יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim, not יושב אהל yosheiv ohel. It's not that Jacob found one study hall and he planted himself there and he learned there full time. Do you know what made Jacob so righteous? You know what made יעקב Yaakov a תלמיד חכם talmid chacham, a scholar? He was יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim because he went from tent to tent. He exposed himself to different ideas and different views and different perspectives, and the weaving of all of them together produced the most beautiful tapestry that made him become who he was. And I share this insight of רב ירוחם Rav Yerucham with you this year in particular because we're living more polarized, we're living more divided than ever, where everyone is trying to make the other conform, coercing, you have to vote the way I voted, you have to look the way I look, believe the way I believe, act the way I act. We have to be more like יעקב Yaakov. That was עשו Esav. עשו Esav was this hunter who hunted not only with his hands, but he hunted with his lips in the way he spoke and the way he carried himself on. But יעקב Yaakov, our patriarch, really our legacy is not to hunt and not to coerce and not to force and not to make others conform, but to be יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim. to make room and space for multiple tents, to make room in our tent for multiple complex and nuanced views instead of binary ones. The world is not you're either with me or against me. You either see it like I do or you're wrong and evil. The world is a complicated, nuanced place with multiple tents, like יעקב Yaakov was יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim. The גמרא בעבודה זרה י\"ט Gemara b'Avodah Zarah yud tes, רב חסדא Rav Chisda quotes רב חסדא Rav Chisda who taught, כל הלומד תורה מרב אחד אינו רואה סימן ברכה לעולם kol ha'lomeid Torah mei'rav echad eino ro'eh siman bracha l'olam. If you learn Torah only from one teacher, you don't see any blessing in your life. Just like when it comes to material investments, just like when it comes to your investments, you have to diversify. If you put all in one stock, if you invest all with one person, you could find yourself in a whole lot of trouble. You have to diversify in order to be safe. So too spiritually, we believe in diversification. יושב אהלים yosheiv ohalim. יעקב Yaakov was diversified in his learning. He sat and exposed himself to many tents. שבעים פנים לתורה shivim panim laTorah, to the seventy faces of the Torah. That is our legacy, that is Yaakov's legacy, and that is what we, what we learn from. Okay. פרק כ\"ה פסוק ל' Perek chaf hei pasuk lamed. Moving right along. ויאמר עשו אל יעקב, הלעיטני נא מן האדם האדם הזה כי עייף אנוכי Vayomer Esav el Yaakov, hal'iteini na min ha'adom ha'adom ha'zeh ki ayef anochi. יעקב Yaakov, עשו Esav comes in from the field and he's exhausted. And what's he exhausted from? We already saw. He's exhausted from confronting mortality. He's exhausted from realizing that there's something that he can't control. There's something he's not in charge of. There's something he cannot break. Okay. So someone asked, why is a בן סורר ומורה ben sorer u'moreh responsible for his actions? Still a minor immature child. The answer is, there never was such a thing as a בן סורר ומורה ben sorer u'moreh. But you're right, we discussed that actually previously, why in why the בן סורר ומורה ben sorer u'moreh is punished על שם סופו al shem sofo because what he's ultimately going to do, as opposed to ישמעאל Yishmael who was באשר הוא שם ba'asher hu sham. It's a good question. We have discussed it, we have discussed it previously. So עשו Esav comes in from the field, he's exhausted, he's exhausted emotionally, spiritually, he had confronted mortality, something he couldn't control, and that left him broken into pieces. And he's starving, he's hungry, and יעקב Yaakov is cooking up a dish. Why is יעקב Yaakov cooking? We know he's making lentils. Why is he making lentils? Because they had just gotten back from the funeral of אברהם Avraham. And what does a mourner eat? Something round. An egg is the first meal when you come in from the funeral, the סעודת הבראה seudas havra'ah. Round egg is the circle, the cycle of life. The lentils are circular, it's the cycle of life. יעקב Yaakov is making a hot pot of טשאלנט cholent, of lentil טשאלנט cholent. And עשו Esav comes in and he says, please, give me something, I'm starving. ויאמר עשו אל יעקב, הלעיטני נא מן האדם האדם הזה Vayomer Esav el Yaakov, hal'iteini na min ha'adom ha'adom ha'zeh. Give me some of that red stuff. Give me some of that red stuff. כי עייף אנוכי ki ayef anochi, I'm exhausted. על כן קרא שמו אדום Al kein kara shmo Edom. And until this day, he is known as the people of אדום Edom. עשו Esav is the father of אדום Edom. There is an exile, the exile of אדום Edom. In fact, Christendom, Christianity, we view as the descendants of עשו Esav and are אדום Edom, the manifestation of אדום Edom. So Rav Druck is bothered by the following. הפליאה עולה מאליה ha'pliah olah mei'eleha. The question comes out on its own from the פסוק pasuk. וכי בשביל שעשו באותו שעה ביקש לאכול מן האדום, לכך נקרא שמו לדורות אדום v'chi bishvil she'Esav b'oto sha'ah bikeish le'echol min ha'adom, l'chach nikra shmo l'doros Edom? Because Esav saw that food cooking and he's hungry and he didn't know the name of the dish, he didn't know the name of the recipe. So he said, give me some of that, that red stuff. I'm starving. Give me some of that red stuff. So because he didn't know the name of the dish and he called it red stuff, that becomes the name of the people forever? הלא שם בא לבטא את תמצית מהותו הפנימית Halo shem ba l'vatei es tamtzis mahuso ha'pnimit. A name is a description. A name defines an essence. A name describes what is really going on. So because Esav didn't know the name of the food and he calls it red stuff, we call him and the people that descend from him, the people of red stuff? We call them אדום Edom, red? מה בין צבע המאכל שראה עשו וביקש לאכלו, לבין מהותו של עשו Ma bein tzeva ha'maachal she'ra'ah Esav v'bikeish le'echlo, l'vein mahuso shel Esav? In what way does that name of his descendants, of that people reflect the essence of who Esav is and his impact in the world? What's really going on over here? So he says Rav Druck, let me explain based on an insight of my father, says Rav Druck. His father the דרש מרדכי Drash Mordechai. שהנה עשו הרשע היה רמאי She'hinei Esav ha'rasha haya ramai. We know that Esav was manipulative, conniving. Esav was a cheat, a liar, a thief. איש ציד ish tzayid, as we saw in the pasuk, איש ציד ish tzayid. So how did he, how did he do this to his father? He would come to his father and he would say, he wanted his father to believe that he was righteous. So he'd come to his father and he'd ask questions in הלכה halacha which really were nonsensical questions, but that would impress his father that he was thinking in that way. היאך מעשרין את התבן? Heich ma'asrin es ha'teven? How does one give tithes, how does one tithe the straw, the produce? היאך מעשרין את המלח Heich ma'asrin es ha'melach? How do you tithe the salt? מהו החילוק בין רמאי לשקרן Ma'hu ha'chiluk bein ramai l'shakran? What's the difference? He is, he is characterized as a רמאי ramai. A רמאי ramai is somebody who tricks. So why is he characterized as a רמאי ramai, as somebody who tricks, rather than as a שקרן shakran, a liar? So says Rav Druck the following. רמאי הוא העושה כל תועבות שבעולם, אבל כל הזמן מדבר על צדקותיו ומעשיו הטובים Ramai hu ha'oseh kol to'avos she'ba'olam, aval kol ha'zman medaber al tzidkusav u'ma'asav ha'tovim. The רמאי ramai is the person who is conniving, that they engage in every lewd, licentious, corrupt behavior in the world, however, they cloak it in righteousness. They try to present themselves as if they're righteous. So they ask those kinds of questions. כיצד מעשרין את התבן, את המלח Keitzad ma'asrin es ha'teven, es ha'melach. זוהי המידה גרועה ביותר Zohi ha'midah gruah b'yoser, that's the worst. Because it's deceptive, it's duplicitous, it's so worse. כשהיהודי אינו לומד ואינו מתפלל יש תקווה שיבוא יום ויחזור בתשובה Ka'asher ha'Yehudi eino lomeid v'eino mispalel, yesh tikvah she'yavo yom v'yachzor b'teshuvah. If a Jew doesn't learn and he doesn't daven, then there's hope that one day he'll repent, he'll turn around. אבל מי שמרגיל לעשות עצמו צדיק, אין לו תקווה להשתנות Aval mi she'margil la'asos atzmo tzaddik, ein lo tikvah l'hishtanos, has no hope. They're going to remain in that place. Why? Because in their mind they're righteous. Even though just beneath the surface of their righteousness, they're a lowlife, but since they are conniving and cunning, since they're scheming and lying, they present themselves as if they're righteous, they're also hopeless. So the difference between a רמאי ramai and a שקרן shakran, a שקרן shakran has hope, but a רמאי ramai, a רמאי ramai is hopeless. A רמאי ramai is hopeless. And therefore we understand. למדנו חומרתה של הרמאי, שכיוון שהוא מתחפש לגמרי לכולם בצדקותו Lamadnu chumrasa shel ha'ramai, she'keivan she'hu mischapes gamur l'kulam b'tzidkuso, because he lies and he tries to present himself as if he's righteous, he's really even worse than the wicked person. So that's what's going on over here. When Esav comes in and he says, give me some of that red stuff. Let me have some of that red stuff. And we call his descendants that emanate from him red from now on, what's going on over here? The answer is, Yaakov was cooking these lentils in observance of mourning, of grieving for his grandfather. אומנם עשו כאילו לא ידע מכל עניין, הוא מבקש בתמימות מיעקב Omnam Esav k'ilu lo yada mi'kol inyan, hu mevakesh b'tmimus mi'Yaakov, but he didn't know from this, and he presents himself as if he's asking innocently, give me some of that red stuff. He doesn't realize that this was the meal for an אבל avel, for a mourner that was being prepared for his father יצחק Yitzchak. כאילו הוא אינו יודע כלל מכל מה שקורה מסביבו K'ilu hu eino yodea klal mi'kol ma she'koreh misvivo, as if he is naive to everything happening around him. And he's trying to innocently ask, what's this red food? Who's it for? Let me have some of the red stuff. I don't know what this is about. על כן קרא שמו אדום Al kein kara shmo Edom. So you know what? Forever we call his name, his descendants Edom because that captures who he is. He's a cunning, conniving, lying, cheating, manipulative, distortive, controlling thief. That's who he is. He's trying to present himself as if he's righteous when he's really a lowlife. עשו שנמשל לחזיר Esav she'nimshal la'chazir, our rabbis tell us that Esav is likened to the pig. We know that for an animal to be kosher, it has to have two signs, two symbols, split hooves and chew its cud. The pig sticks out its foot and says, 'Look at me, I have split hooves.' And so you're tempted to believe, 'Ooh, this must be a kosher animal.' But the truth is, it doesn't chew its cud, it's not kosher. So Esav sticks out his, 'Look at me, I'm kosher,' even though just beneath the surface, he is entirely non-kosher. And that's the worst, that's the most irredeemable, that's the most hopeless. And because when he asked for the red food, that was an expression of that very attitude and behavior, that's why his name was אדום Edom moving forward and moving on from there. ויאכל וישת ויקם וילך Vayochal vayesht vayakom vayelech פרק כ\"ה פסוק ל\"ד Perek chaf hei pasuk lamed daled. We're not getting that far in the parsha. We're going to try to move along. But turn the page. Page 128. Yaakov gives, they cut a deal. Yaakov says, 'Ooh, you want some of my red stuff, do you? You're hungry and tired and exhausted, are you? No problem. I'll make a deal. Here you go. You know what? Sell me the birthright, sell me that birthright, and I'll be happy to share my cholent with you. You're more than welcome to have some of my lentil soup, it's all yours.' So they cut the deal. ויעקב נתן לעשו לחם ונזיד עדשים V'Yaakov nasan l'Esav lechem u'nezid adashim. Yaakov gives him some bread, ונזיד עדשים u'nezid adashim he gives him lentil soup. ויאכל וישת ויקם וילך Vayochal vayesht vayakom vayelech. And Esav eats and he drinks, he gets up and he goes, ויבז עשו את הבכורה vayivez Esav es ha'bchorah. And he was ויבז vayivez, he spurned, he ridiculed, he mocked the בכורה bchorah, the birthright, the birthright. The רמב\"ן Ramban has an extraordinary insight of the רמב\"ן Ramban on this פסוק pasuk. The רמב\"ן Ramban points out that this day was Avraham's funeral, as we said, and that Yaakov was preparing the lentil soup for his father Yitzchak who was a mourner, and Esav sold the birthright for a bowl of soup. And our rabbis teach us that in fact, on this day, Esav violated no less than five separate prohibitions, five transgressions. The Talmud in בבא בתרא ט\"ז Bava Basra tes vov says, tes zayin, says, אמר רבי יוחנן, חמש עבירות עבר אותו רשע אותו היום amar Rabbi Yochanan, chamesh aveiros avar oso rasha oso hayom. He slept with a married woman, he committed an act of murder, he denied God's existence, he degraded the birthright. What exactly was the transgression of selling the birthright? These five. I understand, sleeping with a married woman, that's a no-no. Murder? Big no-no. I got it. I understand. Denying God's existence? Heresy? No-no. What exactly was the prohibition of selling the birthright? So Rashi tells us the birthright he had inherited positioned him to be the ambassador of God in this world. The Judaism embraces the unique position of the בכור bchor and the role the בכור bchor, the firstborn plays within the home. Rabbi Soloveitchik points out that primogeniture is not considered a source of power in Judaism. Just because you're the firstborn doesn't make you any better. However, being the oldest does give you some responsibility. קדש לי כל בכור kadesh li kol bchor, sanctify for me every firstborn. That through being the firstborn, the בכורה bchorah, Yaakov is now not only going to inherit the land, but he's going to inherit the covenantal destiny, the responsibility, the special relationship, the כהונה kehunah, the priesthood. That notion of a birthright is much more than just a right to land, it's a right to a role in destiny, in shaping destiny. Esav was given the option to participate in the divine covenant, and had he not sold the birthright, the firstborn, Esav would have been entitled to the same destiny that God put on Yaakov. Esav would have been the Jewish people, so to say, who were the chosen people, who were, who were teaching the world. So that was an עבירה aveira, that was a great transgression, a great prohibition, that he sold it, that he so flippantly and casually got rid of it, exchanged it for what? For a bowl of lentil soup. So the Ramban says, if you want to know what Esav truly thought about his birthright, and if you want to know what Esav really thought about the honor to carry the legacy of his father and grandfather, look at what he does right after he sells it. The pasuk says ויאכל וישת ויקם וילך ויבז vayochal vayesht vayakom vayelech vayivez. Notice the order, says the Ramban. It doesn't say he denigrated the birthright when it was sold. It says he sold the birthright, and he continued then to eat and to drink and to get up and to go out, and only then does it say he displayed a great disregard for the birthright. You see, Esav was hungry, so he sold the birthright for a bowl of soup. Was he traumatized? Was he devastated? When his belly was full and he realized what he had done, when he sobered up and he came to, was he regretful? Was he depressed? Did he get upset? Did he have remorse for what he had done? No. Says the Ramban, Esav's most egregious transgression was how easily he went back to normal life. How little he cared about his birthright, how casual he was about getting rid of it and moving on. He went on. ויקם וילך Vayakom vayelech, he just got up and he went on. You know, tragically, there are children who have gotten rid of their own birthright, they've walked away from our Torah and our Torah way of life. And maybe they've walked away because of circumstances in their lives or maybe they've walked away because of pain or maybe they've walked away because of what they think are compelling questions. But there's a way to walk away and a way to walk away. Do you walk away with regret and with pain, with sorrow, or do you walk away like Esav, so casually, so flippantly, just getting rid of it? The Ramban says, look at that order. ויקם וילך Vayakom vayelech. He got up and he went back to play golf. He went back to the bar. He went back to his dorm room. He went, just moved back on, but it didn't cause him any pain whatsoever. He didn't even pause to think about what walking away meant to him and what walking away meant to others, to the people around him. And that in itself is very, very painful. Okay. We know one of the episodes, Oh, so much more I wanted to tell you. So much more I wanted to tell you, so little time. Very quickly, the parsha tells us that Yitzchak digs wells and the פלשתים Plishtim, the Philistines, they fill in the wells and Yitzchak redigs the wells. What is this image? The אור החיים על התורה Ohr HaChaim al haTorah, the great חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim on that pasuk, פרק כ\"ו פסוק י\"ט perek chaf vov pasuk yud tes, chapter 26 verse 19, that the slaves of יצחק Yitzchak re-dug wells that were filled in and they were dug again. Says the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim, you see from here a very powerful lesson, which is, if you try and fail, try again. ענינה באר שעשה חופר יצחק מלמדנו Inyana be'er she'chafar Yitzchak melamdeinu teaches us, שלעולם לא ירפה אדם את ידיו מלהמשיך את העסק שהתחיל she'l'olam lo yarpeh adam es yadav m'lehamshich es ha'eisek she'hischil. Don't give up. Don't walk away. Don't give in. Don't despair. אל ייאוש ואל כישלון Al ye'ush v'al kishalon. אם יצחק אבינו חפר ולא מצא מים Im Yitzchak Avinu chafar v'lo matza mayim, if he dug and didn't find water, you know what he did next? He dug again. He continued to dig. And if he dug and found water, but his enemies filled them in, you know what he did? He dug again. מי שאינו מצליח בתחילה בלימודו Mi she'eino matzliach b'tchila b'limudo, if you don't succeed first with your learning, אל יעזוב את התורה al ya'azov es haTorah. What where does the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim get this from? He says אין מים אלא תורה ein mayim elah Torah. Water is a symbol of Torah. So just like יצחק Yitzchak dug means he was invested in learning to try to discover truth, to discover spirituality, to discover Torah, and even when it got filled in, he dug again, and even if he didn't find water, he dug again to find water. Don't ever get discouraged in your learning of Torah. Stick with it and stay at it and don't get discouraged because you will break through to water, says the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim. We see that from our great patriarch Yitzchak. Don't give in, don't give up, don't walk away, don't despair. Keep trying. Keep trying again and again and again. The great Koshker Glover, רב ארי צבי פרימר Rav Ari Tzvi Frimer. רב ארי צבי Rav Ari Tzvi is the Koshker Glover, was the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of ישיבת חכמי לובלין Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin and he said the following. He said, you know what this means? What does it mean to dig and redig the wells of a father? נראה דמי זה למד לעשות, שאבותינו הטביעו בכללות ישראל ניצוץ קדוש Nireh d'mi zeh lamad la'asos, she'avoseinu hitbi'u b'klalus Yisrael nitzotz kadosh. Our patriarchs and matriarchs planted within us genetics, they gave us DNA physically, but they also gave us spiritual DNA. That's what we say at our davening. אלהי אברהם, אלהי יצחק ואלהי יעקב Elokei Avraham, Elokei Yitzchak v'Elokei Yaakov. We didn't just say אלהי אבותינו Elokei Avoseinu. Each one separately planted within us different skill, different DNA, different capacity and different potential. However, that spark that they planted within us gets covered, layers over it. וראשית כל צריך לחפור את הסתימה v'reishis kol tzrich lachpor es ha'stimah, we have to redig, we have to uncover that holy spark. We have to discover what they planted and put within us, the matriarchs and patriarchs. ורק אחר כך יכולים לחפור חפירה חדשה V'rak achar kach yecholim lachpor chafirach chadashah. So before you can dig new, you have to redig the well of your ancestors. Before you dig a new well, before you discover for yourself, you have to redig the well of the ancestor. That's how the Koshker Glover, Rav Ari Tzvi Frimer, understands וישב יצחק ויחפור את הבארות vayashov Yitzchak vayachpor es ha'be'eros that were וסתמום פלשתים v'yistmum Plishtim. Then ויחפרו vayachperu new ones, באר מים חיים be'er mayim chaim. באר מים חיים Be'er mayim chaim again, מים חיים mayim chaim is Torah. If you want to discover Torah, spirituality, and you want to chart your own path towards Torah and spirituality, it begins first by redigging and revealing the wells, the wellsprings of Torah of our ancestors, that which they planted and that which they placed deep inside us. One more, two more insights I wanted to share, but we are out of time, so we'll save them for next year. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, stay holy. Tomorrow morning, we continue with מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim at 8:15. 8:45, join our living with אמונה emunah. Both of these are given on our YouTube channel, Rabbi Ephraim Goldberg. Join us for מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim at 8:15, living with אמונה emunah at 8:45, and tomorrow night we're going behind the בימה Bima with the great Ben Brafman. Join us for an amazing conversation at 9:00 p.m. tomorrow night. Until then
