TOLDOT 5784 Our BBC Rabbi Andrew Shaw Chief Executive, Mizrachi UK The BBC did it again. The Reuters report quoted an IDF spokesperson saying, “Our medical teams and Arabic speaking soldiers are on the ground to ensure that these supplies reach those in need.” The BBC said that the Israeli military was “targeting people including medical teams as well as Arab speakers” in Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital, a horrific misquote of the Reuters report! They apologised, but as always, the damage was done – Israel and the Jewish people were maligned again. I can just imagine the headlines if BBC were covering the Parsha this week. FATHER OF JEWISH NATION STEALS BLESSINGS FROM DESERVING ELDER BROTHER. It is one of the most well-known stories in the Torah. How Yaacov, urged by Rivka dressed up as Eisav to receive the blessings seemingly destined for the elder brother. As children we think that yes, they were stolen, but the ends justify the means! The problem is if we keep that attitude throughout life and not look deeper. The initial thought process is that Rivka KNEW that Yaacov was the chosen one, and that Eisav was the undeserving one for the bechora. Yitzchak on the other hand was about to make a terrible mistake and give Eisav THE bracha instead of to the righteous Yaacov, so Rivka had to act. However, as Rabbi Sacks explains:
Yitzchak fully understood the nature of his two sons. He loved Eisav but this did not blind him to the fact that Yaacov would be the heir of the covenant. Therefore, Yitzchak prepared two sets of blessings, one for Eisav, the other for Yaacov. He blessed ‘Eisav’ (Gen. 27:28-29) with the gifts he felt he would appreciate: “May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine” – that is, wealth. “May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you” – that is, power.
These are not the covenantal blessings. The covenantal blessings that God had given Abraham and Yitzchak were completely different. They were about children and a land. It is this blessing that Yitzchak later gave Yaacov before he left home (Gen. 28:3-4): “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples” – that is, children. “May He give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham” – that is, land. This was the blessing Yitzchak had intended for Yaacov all along. Rabbi Sacks further notes that Yaacov understood this, and in his meeting with Eisav decades later, he gives him back the ‘power’ blessing.
“Please accept the blessing that was brought to you, for Hashem has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” Bereishit 33:1 So really, was there no need for the cunning plan of Rivka? It seems that if she had done nothing. Yaacov would still have received what was destined to him as per her communication from Hashem. However, there is a lot we can learn from the episode, specifically when Yaacov returns to his father wearing the garments of Eisav. The Gemara sheds some light on what happened during the climatic moments of Yitzchak trying to work out who was before him. Its conclusions relate very much to events going on at the moment. It is on the pasuk right in the heart of the parsha.
He smelled the odour of his clothes, and he blessed him.Bereishit 27:27 “And he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said: See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed” (Genesis 27:27). Do not read “his garments [begadav]”; rather, read: His traitors [bogedav], meaning that even traitors among the Jewish people have qualities “as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.” Sanhedrin 37a The Gemara is explaining how Yitzchak saw the future of our people, and it was not pleasant. There would be Jews who were going to betray their people, but ultimately they would come back to the fold. Regarding this, I was struck by a comment on social media: If there’s one thing we Jewish people have learned in the past few weeks it’s this: The world doesn’t care about us as much as we hoped, but we care about each other a lot more than we realise. It is very true BUT, as we all know, it has not been all love and unity. We too have seen our ‘bogdav’. The disgrace of Neturei Karta as well as Jews against Genocide, causing real damage to our people. What has been positive however, is the condemnation of these two groups.
The Satmar Rebbe, has publicly denounced the Neturei Karta group for their recent conduct, particularly their involvement in protests alongside “enemies of Israel.” The rebbe's speech, shared on social media, included pointed remarks, stating, "It's a terrible desecration of God's name to support murderers in the name of the holy Torah and God's name." He lambasted the group for lacking traditional values and boundaries and acting without Torah guidance. Then, on the other end of the spectrum. There was a lengthy, depressing, yet necessary tweet from the current head of The Jewish Agency for Israel in North America, Dan Elbaum. “I never thought I would say what I am about to say, this is the hardest thing that I have ever written. Since October 7, when 1,400 Jews were slaughtered, I have been overwhelmed by the unity and support for Israel of the global Jewish community, I have spent every day fielding phone calls and meeting with American Jews who want to do all they can for their fellow Jews in Israel. I have also seen another group of American Jews. They are a minority, a fringe, but they are vocal and make their voices heard in a disproportionate manner. These include, but are not limited to, members of IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace. To be very clear, I am not talking about American Jews who have expressed sympathy for Palestinians or have criticized Israeli policies, I am also sympathetic. I have also been critical. I am talking about American Jews who say that killing the act of 1,400 Jews was consistent with the ‘Palestinian right to resist’ and blamed Israel for the loss of life. I am talking about American Jews who proudly use a heroic image of a paraglider – lionizing the Hamas murderers who came into Israel and murdered and tortured their fellow Jews. I am talking about American Jews who call Israelis Nazis and accuse them of acts of genocide – knowing full well and even relishing the hurtfulness of those terms. I am talking about American Jews who question whether the atrocities committed against Jews are accurate or propaganda and use phrases and terms that sound remarkably like [those of] Holocaust deniers. I am talking about American Jews who have taken down pictures of Israeli hostages. I have reached a sad conclusion. As much as I would not like to give up on a single Jew, I have given up on them. For me, they are deserving of herem (formal exclusion from the Jewish people). There will be a time in the future to wonder about how such people could have emerged from our community. It should involve introspection as to Jewish and Israel education. But for now, there is nothing to be done with them. Unlike Hamas, who would have joyously murdered them on October 7, I do not consider them Jews. I hope that someday they see what they have become and offer some repentance, I am not that religious a person, but I do pray that God forgives them for their actions. I, for one, do not believe that I ever will.” Our ‘bogdav’ come in all shapes and sizes, and we have to hope, as Dan does, and the Gemara notes, that one day they will realise the terrible error of their ways and return to our people. Despite the small minority, there is tremendous unity among the vast majority of Jews as seen by the incredible rally in Washington attended by 300,000 Jews of all shapes and sizes! Yes, we have our challenges internal and external, but we have to marvel at our people, our unity, our strength and our dedication to truth, justice and morality. I will finish today with the closing powerful words of Hillel Fuld about the rally. His words reflect the beauty of our people, the beauty of our ideology and the fulfilment of a BBC that Hashem gave to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaacov, that we can be proud of. Bechora, Beracha, C ovenant
On October 6th, our nation was more fragmented and divided than ever, we had zero unity. Today, we are more unified than we’ve ever been. We will defeat our enemy in Gaza. We will defeat our enemies on the Internet. We will defeat our enemies on college campuses. We will defeat our enemies in parliaments around the world. Israel and the Jewish people will win this and we will come out stronger than ever before. When we are one; we win. History proves it. Stand proud and march for the Jewish people because we aren’t going to take the world’s hate anymore. There’s a new Jew in town and he can fight back. Proud of all of you and grateful for your efforts. I am there with you in spirits. Stand proud, my Jewish brothers and sisters. We have so much to be proud of! Shabbat Shalom
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