Making it to Seventy: The Secret of a Critical Number

Written by me, SIMSHALOM.

Related to the weekly Torah portion of Vayigash read in synagogue on January 3rd, 2004.
(Genesis Chapter 44, verse 18 – Chapter 47, verse 27). Dedicated to my Parents.

Seventy is a very significant number in Judaism!

If you don’t pay attention there is a reference to seventy key people in this week’s Torah portion that flies by quickly.

In adding up the total number of family members who come down with Jacob to live with Joseph in Egypt the Torah mentions that:
“…the number of individuals (“nefesh” - “soul/s”) in Jacob’s family who came to Egypt was SEVENTY.” (Genesis Chapter 46, verse 27). They are known in classical Judaism as the “SHIVIM NEFESH” – “SEVENTY SOULS”.
The numbers include Joseph and his sons who were already there.

There are crucial “stages” in the birth of the Jewish People:
1) First come the three “AVOT” – “(FORE)-FATHERS”, Abraham, his son Isaac, and his son Jacob. Their vital wives are Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.
2) Then on to the “SHEVATIM”, the “(TWELVE) TRIBES”, the twelve sons of Jacob:
(Reuben; Simeon; Levi; Judah; Issachar; Zebulun; Gad; Asher; Joseph; Benjamin; Dan; Naphtali).
3) And then the “SHIVIM NEFESH”, the “SEVENTY SOULS” consisting of Jacob’s twelve sons and their own children mentioned and enumerated in Genesis, Chapter 46.
4) This is on the developmental track to the next critical number of “SHISHIM RIBU”, the minimal number of “SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND” male Israelites (Exodus, Chapters 12, v. 37; 38, v. 26; Numbers Chapters 1 v. 46;2, v. 32;11, v. 21;26, v. 51), of over twenty years who become the full “AM or BENEI YISRAEL”, the “NATION or SONS OF ISRAEL”. Together with the women and the males, the final population number could be estimated at several million men, women, and children.

The first three “stages” of 3 Fathers, 12 Tribes, and 70 Souls may perhaps be compared to the three “trimesters” of a “pregnancy” of a soon-to-be-born “persona” which is developing and maturing before its birth. At the time of birth, which is what will happen at the Exodus, celebrated by Passover, a full “nation” of at least 600,000 comes into existence as a result of the successful maturation of the earlier developmental stages.

The initial “seed” is Abraham, who together with his wife Sarah, then produce a special son Isaac. Abraham’s primary spiritual mandate and legacy chosen to become Israel goes through Jacob who produces the TWELVE Tribes, the literal Children of Israel that grow into the SEVENTY Souls that becomes the nucleus for the expanded Nation of SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND males minimum. Once the “600,000” status is attained it will always be TRUE that the Jewish people will NEVER ever shrink below that size in their voyage through time, till the end of time.

(In 1948 by the way, there were over 600,000 Jews living in the newly created State of Israel, definitely some sort of historical milestone. Israel’s Jewish population has increased with an extra one million Jews EVERY decade of its growth over the last 50 plus years. Every 10 years equals 1,000,000 Jews; here comes that “Power of Ten Again!” Hitler must be rolling in the dust someplace, especially since he was cremated himself.) The numbers of Jews may increase above 600,000, but they have never dropped below that level ever since the Children of Israel reached that population figure in ancient Egypt!

(Side note: The number of SIX MILLION Jews who perished in Hitler’s European Holocaust has a frightening macabre symbolic connection to 600,000 as if Evil incarnate itself knew intuitively of some “ideal number” to murder and kill in a futile, yet bloody, attempt at “exterminating” the Jews, who nevertheless survived, and presently remain well above their “minimal requirement” of 600,000 males established as a “benchmark” in the Torah itself.)

What is it about the “SHIVIM NEFESH”, the “SEVENTY SOULS”, that is so vital to Jewish destiny? What deeper levels of meaning are there about the SEVENTY SOULS who came “down” to Egypt from the Holy land of (Israel), then called Canaan? Why is the number SEVENTY so important in Jewish life and thought in the Torah? How else does the figure “70” come up as a glaring definitive number for people and events in Judaism?

There is a Talmudic tradition that there are SEVENTY NATIONS (“SHIVIM AMIM”) in the world. This is derived from a count of the Children of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their offspring as enumerated in Genesis Chapter 10. There is also some disagreement as to how the count of SEVENTY nations is to be derived, of ascribing, for example, 14 nations to Japheth; 30 to Ham; and 26 to Shem. [*1] But what is very clear and established is that when mentioning a “general number” of gentile nations in the world at large, classical Judaism refers to them as SEVENTY NATIONS, even though there may be many more in other ways.

The destiny of the world’s SEVENTY NATIONS is directly connected to the existence and behavior of the Jewish SEVENTY SOULS. The nations of the world are literally morally and spiritually, even materially, adrift until such time as the Children of Israel show up on the world stage to become that GUIDE-LIGHT UNTO THE NATIONS (“OHR LAGOYIM”) only through its functioning as a pleasing Torah Nation. The SEVEN NOAHIDE laws that supposedly should have been, and still are, the moral and religious guidelines for gentile life are very shaky until such time as the Torah’s (“Bible’s”) wide ranging teachings on morality and monotheism take root. In order for that to happen, God brings onto the world stage, relatively late, a group of people who will be actual torch bearers of the Torah’s Divine mission. The Jewish people have to parallel in their own inner spiritual make up dimensions and qualities that will run in harmony with the SEVENTY external nations of the world. Therefore the Children of Israel must become a form of SEVENTY SOULS that will be spiritual powerhouses and guideposts for all other manifestations of SEVENTY in the entire world.

“According to many Torah commentators, this concept of (SEVENTY) seems to underlie the verse in Deuteronomy Chapter 32, verse 8 which says that God “ ‘ESTABLISHED THE BOUNDARIES OF NATIONS [THE SEVENTY NATIONS]…ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL’- NAMELY THE SEVENTY WHO DESCENDED TO EGYPT WITH JACOB. (Genesis, Chapter 46, verse 27).
…This tradition of SEVENTY NATIONS is deep-rooted. According to the Midrash, each of the SEVENTY NATIONS is placed under the protection of a special angel. Just as there are SEVENTY NATIONS, the words of the Torah engraved on the Tablets on Mount Ebal [Deuteronomy Chapter 27] were written in SEVENTY LANGUAGES SO THAT ALL THE NATIONS MIGHT READ IT. FOR THE SAME REASON, GOD’S VOICE AT MOUNT SINAI DIVIDED ITSELF INTO SEVENTY LANGUAGES…
There were SEVENTY BULLOCKS sacrificed on Sukkot – Tabernacles to atone for the SEVENTY NATIONS…
The SEVENTY MEMBERS OF THE SANHEDRIN (the highest Jewish supreme court in ancient Israel and Judea) also corresponded to the SEVENTY NATIONS of the world.” [*2]

It is very basic to Judaism that the numbers SEVEN and TEN are connected with the notion of “KEDUSHAH” – “HOLINESS”. The “proofs” for this are fairly straightforward:
God created the world in SIX days and on the SEVENTH he rested. He sanctified it, meaning he made it a “HOLY DAY” and created the Jewish SABBATH. The first time “Holiness” is mentioned in the Torah is when that first SEVENTH Day is mentioned hence making it in a way a primary SOURCE and ENTRY POINT for Holiness to enter from the Celestial spheres into our mundane material world:
“With the SEVENTH day, God finished all the work that He had done. He thus ceased on the SEVENTH day from all the work that He had been doing. God BLESSED the SEVENTH day, and He declared it to be HOLY, for it was on this day that God ceased from all the work that He had been creating so that it would continue to function.” (Genesis, Chapter 2, vs. 2-3). [*3]

Building on the significance and sanctity of SEVEN, there are other religious Torah phenomena, rituals and observances that revolve around SEVEN (3 Forefathers plus 4 Mothers, the 7 Branched Menorah-Candelabrum in the Temple representing the Light of Torah), SEVEN days (Pesach-Passover, Sukkot-Tabernacles), SEVEN weeks (Counting of Omer-Offerings of new crops between Passover and Shavuot-Pentecost), SEVEN years (Shemitah-Sabbatical for lands), SEVEN cycles of SEVEN years (Yovel-Jubilee Year of Freedom for slaves), and even SEVEN decades (“Average” Lifespan, Exile in Babylon as foretold in prophecy). There is even the concept that the world will exist for SEVEN millennia (Seventh millennium will be totally peaceful). In each instance the arrival at the number of SEVEN means that an indisputable level of “KEDUSHAH” – HOLINESS has been reached and attained, and, hopefully, “locked in”.

The number TEN’s greatest “embodiment” of something supremely Holy is the fact that God chose to express His most important commandments through the TEN Commandments He spoke at Mount Sinai over 3,300 years ago, (Exodus, Chapter 20), which was inscribed on the two Tablets that were handed to Moses to be brought to the Children of Israel. Moses smashed the first set of Ten Commandments when he saw the Israelites worshipping the Golden Calf. The TEN Commandments were “re-issued” when a SECOND set of TEN Commandments (Exodus Chapter 34) were given by God to Moses having forgiven the sin of the Golden Calf.
Both the broken first set of TEN Commandments and the whole second set of TEN Commandments were placed INSIDE the Holy Ark of the COVENANT (Exodus Chapter 40) which was always in the center of the HOLY OF HOLIES of the Tabernacle and then in the Jewish Holy Temples called the “HOUSE OF HOLINESS” – “BEIT HAMIKDASH built first by King Solomon in Jerusalem, (I KINGS, Chapter 8).

The Mishnaic work Pirkei Avot – Ethics of the Fathers in the Fifth Chapter, dedicates space to elaborating on the importance and significance of TEN:
1) With TEN “utterances” (ma’amarot) the world was created (by God)…to bestow goodly reward upon the righteous who sustain it.
2) TEN generations from Adam to Noah to show the degree of God’s patience, for those generations angered Him greatly till He brought the Flood.
3) TEN generations from Noah to Abraham, to show the degree of God’s patience, for all those generations angered Him, until our forefather Abraham came and received the reward of them all.
4) Abraham was tested with TEN trials (tests), and he withstood them all, showing his love for God.
5) TEN miracles were performed for our ancestors in Egypt and TEN at the (splitting of the) Sea, when TEN plagues were brought on the Egyptians in Egypt and TEN at the Sea.
6) With TEN trials (tests) did our ancestors test the Holy One in the Wilderness as it says “They have tested Me these TEN times…”(Numbers Chapter 14, verse 22).
7) TEN Miracles were performed for our ancestors in the Holy Temple.
8) TEN things were created on Sabbath eve at twilight. [*4]

Thus there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that both SEVEN and TEN denote SUPREME HOLINESS AND SANCTITY IN JUDAISM as expressed through the teachings of both the Written and Oral Law. It therefore must follow that any multiples or combinations of SEVEN and TEN must be connected with absolute Holiness and Sanctity. The number SEVENTY consists of either SEVEN UNITS OF TEN OR TEN UNITS OF SEVEN, quite a mighty and potent force of combined Holy Numbers that must be laden with extremely “high voltage” spiritual power sources linked to the supreme source of all Jewish sanctity, God Himself.

These numbers of SEVEN, TEN, and SEVENTY are considered to be of supreme significance in the esoteric Kabbalistic domain of Torah study, which takes our basic material and subject matter into the spiritual stratosphere. The numbers SEVEN, TEN, and SEVENTY all make up variations of the SEFIROT or “SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS OR EMANATIONS” of God’s Divinity.

For example, the following is mentioned by Rabbi Shimon Leiberman at http://www.aish.com/spirituality/kabbala101/Kabbala_3_-_The_Ten_Sefirot.asp
“
The building blocks of Kabbalistic terminology are the TEN Sefirot (emanations). These are the TEN emanations or "lights" through which God interacts with, and relates to, His world…God's unity vis-à-vis the TEN Sefirot (emanations) may be likened to a ray of sun passing through a prism. On one side, we have a single ray of light, while, on the other side, we perceive a radiation of SEVEN colors. The person sitting on the other side perceives this as if it were many lamps radiating many hues, while in reality it is ONE lamp. The multi-hued rainbow is a "distortion" created by the prism that the light passed through…From our side of the prism, each and every one of these events is disparate. Yet we recognize them as being the work of ONE God, with ONE purpose, with a UNIFIED plan of action for the world.
Thus the TEN Sefirot (emanations) are the various ways we perceive God through His action within the world, while we firmly believe in the UNITY (ONENESS) of God…The following is a literal translation of these TEN modes. It is advised that not much be read into these terms, since most of them are highly metaphorical and their content bears little resemblance to their literal terms…
The TEN Sefirot (emanations) are:
Keter - crown,
Chochmah - wisdom,
Binah - understanding,
Chessed - kindness,
Gevura - strength,
Tiferet - beauty,
Netzach - victory,
Hod - awe,
Yesod - foundation,
Malchut - monarchy.
Sometimes the Sefirot are listed without Keter, and then Da'at -wisdom, is included between Bina and Chesed.” [*5]

SEVEN has a role in these schemata as it too, as an example, is touched upon in http://www.thirtysevenbooks.com/Sphirot.htm “Adapted from Mystical Concepts in Chassidism by Rabbi Jacob Immanuel Schochet, Copyright 1981 "Kehot" Publication Society”:
“…The total order of the Sefirot (emanations) is generally divided into two groups referred to as the "THREE mothers and SEVEN multiples." That is, the FIRST THREE are the principal Sefirot (emanations), the immot (mothers), from and through which the other SEVEN Sefirot (emanations) issue forth. When beginning with Chochmah (wisdom), the triad of the FIRST THREE Sefirot (emanations) is also called Sechel (Intellect) while the other SEVEN Sefirot (emanations) are called Midot (Attributes; Emotive Faculties). Another distinction is made by calling the FIRST THREE the "THREE Rishonot" (the THREE FIRST ONES, or at times the THREE Upper Ones), and the other SEVEN are called the "SEVEN Tachtonot (SEVEN Lower Ones). The "SEVEN Lower Ones" are subdivided into the TWO TRIADS of Chesed-Gevurah-Tiferet (kindness-strength-beauty) and Netzach-Hod-Yesod (victory-awe-foundation), (all these SIX together are called the "SIX Kitzavot"--the "SIX Extremities"), and the SINGULAR LAST ONE of Malchut (monarchy). While there are a number of other such groupings and distinctions that abound in the mystical writings, the above are the principal or most common ones.”
“The Sefirot are Divine emanations, various phases in the manifestation of Divinity. As we speak of them in terms of numerous gradations, extreme care must be taken to avoid any fatal misconception of dualism or plurality in the Godhead. There is no suggestion that the Sefirot (emanations) are to be taken as entities distinct and separate from God Himself- the En Sof (Infinite). On the contrary, there is a basic and intrinsic UNITY (ONENESS) between God Himself- the En Sof (Infinite) and the Sefirot (emanations). This absolute and intrinsic UNITY (ONENESS) has already been stressed in the ancient Sefer Yetzirah - (“Book of Creation”): "The TEN Sefirot (emanations) are without anything (beli-mah). Their end is wedged in their beginning; their beginning is wedged in their end--like a flame bound up in the coal. For the Eternal is ONE, and there is no second to Him, and prior to ONE what can you count!" [*6]
Thus it is logical to say that based on the above information from the well-springs of Torah knowledge, that when Jacob’s extended “MISHPOCHE” – “FAMILY” reached that point when SEVENTY uniquely Godly individuals were born, they each represented a special “MANIFESTATION” or “EMANATION” of Godliness into this world, something that had not hitherto happened. Please note that the Torah refers to them as “NEFESH” which means the “LIVING SOUL OF LIFE” (as in Genesis Chapter 2, verse 7). These SEVENTY were not mere mortals, they are described as being on the level of “LIVING SOULS” a state of spiritual being and God consciousness larger than ordinary life. They represent the culmination of the “blood, sweat, and tears” of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives. They are a flowering of twelve “Tribes” into an entity capable of undertaking a perilous challenge and journey into an exile as a COLLECTIVE GROUP. From the time they enter Egypt, the countdown to the “launch” of a new national phenomenon that will alter the face of civilization commences: The arrival of the Children of Israel – The Jewish People on the stage of world affairs who will launch a world-wide movement of Ethical Monotheism rooted in the Torah of Judaism.
Rabbi David Feinstein explains that: “Each of the SEVENTY NATIONS represented a unique characteristic…All these national virtues and strains of character are present in Israel as well, for each person has gifts to develop and temptations to overcome. God wants all nations to rise to their greatest spiritual potential. These variations were present in the individuals of Jacob’s family. And the SEVENTY languages used by Moses parallel the SEVENTY facets of Torah; each ‘speaks’ to one of the SEVENTY CHARACTERISTICS with which God has populated the world…Israel, as the spiritual model and leader of the world, was to demonstrate within itself that eminence is within reach of every nation; that every type of person can live a Torah life. Therefore, a significant portion of Jewish life revolves around the number SEVENTY to symbolize that every national trait can become harnessed for HOLY purposes.” [*7]
Talking of life itself we must note the famous verse from Psalms 90 that sets down the “definitive” standard for the age allotted to a man and woman to live – SEVENTY YEARS:
“THE DAYS OF OUR YEARS AMONG THEM ARE SEVENTY YEARS (“SHIVIM SHANNAH”), AND IF WITH MIGHT EIGHTY YEARS; THEIR PROUDEST SUCCESS IS BUT TOIL AND PAIN, FOR IT IS CUT OFF SWIFTLY AND WE FLY AWAY !” (Psalm 90, verse 10).
There is a school of thought (Radak) that says that Moses was the “author” of this Psalm, and that even though he lived to be 120, and indeed God had actually “curtailed” people living hundreds of years in the times before the Flood in Noah’s time, and stated that the life of a person was to be no more than 120 years, “God said, ‘My spirit will not continue to judge man forever, since he is nothing but flesh. His days shall be 120 years’.” (Genesis Chapter 6, verse 3.) Moses was enunciating that an AVERAGE person’s life was now to be 70 years, maybe 80 if blessed with “might”, and not much longer. There is another school of thought (Tosafos) that it was King David, the over-all author of Psalms, who “entered” (into the Divine “computer program for the Universe”) the age of SEVENTY YEARS for the life span of a person, since in his times already most people did NOT live to 120 but basically made it to 70. King David himself died at age 70. [*8]
The Ethics of the Fathers – “Pirkei Avot” (Chapter 5, Mishna 25) teaches that Yehuda Ben Teimah said: “…at 60 old age (“ben shishim leziknah”); at 70 RIPE OLD AGE (“ben shivim leseivah”); at 80 shows “strength” (ben shmonim ligvurah”); at 90 stooped over (“ben tishim lasuach”); a 100 year old is as if he were dead, passed away and ceased from the world (“ben meah keilu meit…”).
IN STATING THAT A “SEVENTY YEAR OLD ATTAINS RIPE OLD AGE”, it’s noted that: “This was the age at which King David died, of whom it was said: ‘HE DIED IN FULLNESS OF YEARS’ (“BESEIVAH TOVAH”) (I Chronicles, 29:28) [*9]
There is a famous Oral teaching that King David was destined to be stillborn, and when this somehow became known to Adam, the first Man, he “granted” King David SEVENTY of his own years and lived only to 930 of the 1,000 years he should have lived. Thus King David who is the first person to unite and perfect the Messianic Monarchy of Judaism embodies in his own personal life span the notion of SEVENTY YEARS OF LIFE. Yet there is a curious thing about King David, that even though he may have passed away a long time ago at age SEVENTY yet Jews do not consider him to be “dead and gone” at all. On the contrary, there is a famous song that is sung “DAVID MELECH YISRAEL CHAI VEKAYAM !” – “DAVID KING OF ISRAEL LIVES AND CONTINUES”!”
How is that possible? It’s because King David’s mission and family lives on. The true Jewish Messiah will be known as “MASHIACH BEN DAVID” – MESSIAH SON OF DAVID, it will be as if DAVID HIMSELF HAD RETURNED TO RULE a rowdy world and make eternal Peace. A great secret of his relatively “short” life, is that his SEVENTY YEAR LIFE embodies and continues to radiate HOPE for the restoration of any past lost Jewish spiritual glories, such as a the longing for Israel’s rebirth as a people free to fulfill its mission. It has in it an indestructible quality of the collective Jewish heart and soul that can never really “die” but rather lives on with greater vitality in each successive generation. This is the result of the powerful energies and qualities that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their family’s SEVENTY SOULS inserted PERMANENTLY into the life and soul of each and every Jew till the end of time.
Have a great Shabbat and please let me know what you think!
[*1] Genesis, Artscroll English translation with commentary, Volume 1(a), pp. 309-310.
[*2] Ibid.
[*3] The Living Torah, English translation, Genesis p.7.
[*4] Ethics of the Fathers – Pirkei Avos, Chapter 5, Mishna 1-8, Artscroll Siddur -Prayerbook with English translation, pp. 571-573.
[*5] Rabbi Shimon Leiberman, http://www.aish.com/spirituality/kabbala101/Kabbala_3_-_The_Ten_Sefirot.asp
[*6] Adapted from: Mystical Concepts in Chassidism, by Rabbi Jacob Immanuel Schochet, Copyright 1981 "Kehot" Publication Society,
http://www.thirtysevenbooks.com/Sphirot.htm [*7] Rabbi David Feinstein, Genesis, Artscroll, Op. Cit., p.309.
[*8] Book of Psalms, Artscroll with English translation, p.197.
[*9] Ethics of the Fathers, Op. Cit, p. 578.


- posted by Izak @ 5:48 AM (0) comments

 
Hanukah Special: Joseph & The Mystery of Leadership.

Written by me, SIMSHALOM

Related to the weekly Torah portion of MiKeitz read in synagogue 27 Dec. 2003.
(Genesis, Chapter 41, verse 1 – Chapter 44, verse 17.) Dedicated to my Parents.

Joseph, the son of the Jewish patriarch Jacob dominates this week’s Torah portion completely. He starts out dominating the prison in which he finds himself, having been falsely accused of rape, in ancient Egypt over 3,500 years ago in the land of the pharaohs, correctly predicting the fate of his fellow prisoners as they divulge their dreams to him. This gains him a sensational audience with Pharaoh who has yet to find anyone savvy enough to interpret his troubling nightmares about seven fat cows being eaten up by seven thin cows. When he tells Pharaoh that it means that seven years of plenty will be followed by seven years of famine, and that Egypt needs to stock up now, he is incredibly appointed as Pharaoh’s deputy to dominate Egypt at age 30!

With the onset of the famine many years later, Joseph’s nemeses, his ten brothers, come calling for food and receive an audience with him not knowing that the powerful “Egyptian” Viceroy they are literally bowing down to in search of food is their brother they long ago sold into slavery. This brings everyone full circle in fulfillment of dreams that Joseph himself had in his youth that one day his brothers would bow and “submit” to him and that had triggered their original suspicion and anger of him, and united them in wanting him “gone”, that had almost brought about his execution. And now it is he that is lording it over them, as we see him play cat and mouse with them to test their present attitudes, and they don’t even get it!

What an incredible journey! The ultimate “rags to riches” tale of a very fortunate personality! A story of “Ultimate Revenge” that was written thousands of years before the haggard and grizzly tale about the fictional “Count of Monte Christo”. The question arises: Who exactly is this person Joseph? Why is he granted so much good fortune and pride of place in the climax of the book of Genesis? How does all we learn about his life connect with the opening dramas of Genesis such as the story of Adam and Eve? What does he symbolize and teach us? And finally, how is this section tied in with the events and holiday of Hanukah?

In classical Judaism, Joseph is known as “YOSEF HATZADIK” – “JOSEPH THE RIGHTEOUS/SAINT”.

BUT, how does he earn the title of “Righteous Saint” you may rightly ask, as it is not quickly obvious? After all, he played “daddy’s favorite”, liked to “show off”, misspoke with grievous consequences for himself, seems to always “get into trouble” by being “in the wrong place at the wrong time”, and spends years in jails.

To view the events in his life as just “petty” personal subjective “milestones” along the way of an over ambitious and self-confident young man trying to make his mark on the world, as have millions (billions?) of others like this in history, is to miss the very profound real direction that the Torah wants to take us. All the deep commentaries of Judaism state that Joseph is a paragon of perfection as a man. His SOUL and ESSENCE is so great that it drives Joseph to “do the impossible” and paves the way for generations to come.

And just what is it that is so “impossible” to do, you may wonder? It is one “neat” point, the conquest and harnessing of unbridled SEXUALITY.

The hidden deeper meaning of the episode in last week’s Torah portion where Joseph does NOT succumb to the attempts at seduction by the wife of Potiphar his master’s wife (A Primal Defeat for Evil incarnate, and an Eternal Victory for Absolute Good), is that THE VERY “INSTITUTION” OF SEDUCTION (=EVIL’S “DOORWAY”) HAS BEEN FOILED AND TAMED ON SOME PROFOUND PERMANENT LEVEL. In contradistinction, this is weighed against the successful seduction of Eve by the Serpent in Genesis’ opening chapters and then the seduction of Adam by Eve (A Primal Defeat for Good and a Fatal Victory for Evil), to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which God had instructed them NOT to do on pain of being punished by death.

Whereas Adam and Eve succumb to seduction’s temptation, which the esoteric Jewish sources connect with entering into and obtaining carnal/sexual knowledge in a negative manner and in a fashion that they had not known of before, Joseph however flees “naked into the night”, (actually it was day |:- ] ), from the lures of the wife of Potiphar who was sex-crazy for him. This one act of fleeing from the arms of the rapacious wife of Potiphar by Joseph, is juxtaposed to the ensnared submission of Eve to the wiles of the Serpent. It is because Joseph was able to summon up the super human personal, spiritual, and moral courage to break away from an invitation to high-powered sex (power as the ultimate “aphrodisiac”?) of unbridled love-making (sin with a married woman who happens to be the boss’s wife – some offer/affair!), that earns him the title and status of RIGHTEOUS/SAINT – “YOSEF HATZADIK”! Every young child in a yeshiva today knows that Joseph’s name is “Yosef Hatzadik”!

This does NOT mean to say that Joseph became asexual or anti-sexual, and was some sort of a “monk at heart” subscribing to “chastity etc”. On the contrary, he was extremely handsome, very popular, and knew it, and was actually “granted” a wonderful wife by Pharaoh, by the name of Osnath daughter of Poti-Phera, who bore him two sons, Ephraim and Menasheh who were destined to become two full “Tribes” of Jacob eventually in fulfillment of Joseph’s earned status as the “First Born Son”.

Joseph is a primal Torah role model and blue-print from which is drawn the profound Oral Torah Mishnaic teaching that asks rhetorically “EIZEHU GIBOR? HAKOVESH ET YITZRO” – “WHO IS MIGHTY/VALOROUS? THE ONE WHO CONQUERS HIS LUSTS/EVIL DRIVES” in Pirkei Avot - Ethics of the Fathers, Chapter 4, v. 1: “…as it said ‘he who is slow to anger is better than the strong man, and a master of his passions is better than a conqueror of a city’.”(Proverbs Chapter 16, v. 32.) [*1].

When all is said and done, Joseph’s seemingly “personal” behavior becomes inscribed eternally in the collective religious, spiritual genetic code and consciousness of the Children of Israel the Jews, and ALSO on anyone who will abide by the teachings of classical Biblical morality.

Fascinatingly, the Medrashic commentaries state that at one point when it seemed that Joseph was about to consummate in bed with the wife of Potiphar, suddenly the image of his father’s (Jacob’s) face flashed in front of him that made him freeze and flee from doing any wrong. It’s also been pointed out that Jacob’s facial image is inscribed on God’s “Throne” so to speak. So Joseph was privileged to be hit by a flash loaded with a “double whammy” that triggered his flight from the seductive wife of Potiphar.

Having attained the immortal status of “TZADIK –SAINT” forevermore, Joseph’s personal example generates and radiates a very powerful spiritual principal that is derived from his own triumph over the crass degradations of Egyptian corruptions: “LO YIDACH MIMENU NIDACH” – “THE REJECTED JEW SHALL NEVER BE ABANDONED BY GOD”.

Joseph’s life parallels Jacob’s, but to a greater extreme. When Jacob left his parents’ home, on his mother’s orders, he travels to be with her family and marries his first cousins. Joseph however, is forcibly sold off by his brothers into bondage, lands up in a hostile land and has to survive surrounded by jealous strangers in Egypt ready to do him in at the drop of a hat.

Yet not only does he survive, he flourishes, rises to the top, and is allowed to set the agenda for the entire country, quite some turnaround! His triumph is the embodiment of a cardinal rule that is carved in stone and will always govern the fateful history of the Children of Israel the Jews, that in the long run, no matter how dark and bitter the night of exile and oppression, GOD WILL NEVER ABANDON THE JEWISH PEOPLE – “LO YIDACH MIMENU NIDACH”. Even though they may suffer, as did Joseph, they will not only be rescued, as Joseph was, but rise to the top in triumph, like Joseph, over those who seek to annihilate them and guide them towards a better world, which is what Joseph did when he reformed wicked Egypt for the good helping the hungry and destitute of the entire planet.

The Torah is thus teaching an important lesson relating to the subject of LEADERSHIP: What it may take to get to the top; What type of person should be on top; What role a leader plays and what is required of someone in the capacity of leader. Above all else, a leader must be conscious of the great Divine Hand that Guides him and all the affairs of the world. No event, no matter how “outlandish” or far-fetched is beyond the scope of God’s plans to raise up, or for that matter humble a leader.

For example, take something as “simple” as dreaming. It took Dr. Sigmund Freud in the twentieth century to “enlighten” the world that dreams have meanings. It would appear that dreams are VERY, VERY significant in the life of a leader. Jacob dreams of a ladder with angels going down and up, symbolic of his epic and soon to be history-making flight from home on the road to building the nucleus of the Jewish People, his twelve sons the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Joseph dreams of stars bowing down to him, that became a self-fulfilling prophecy when his brethren submit to his suzerainty albeit unwittingly. Pharaoh has nightmares and is willing to surrender most of his authority to a Hebrew slave like Joseph in order to preserve his reign over a slave nation and cling to power. These are some of the very “human” foibles that make people tick, ESPECIALLY leaders, and it’s a very significant and mysterious way for God to “guide” the direction that events take.

At the very core of all leadership, according to classical Judaism is another key principle of “LEV MELACHIM VESARIM BEYAD HASHEM” – “THE HEARTS OF KINGS AND RULERS IS IN THE HAND OF GOD”. Meaning, very paradoxically, that once in power, leaders may think that they now have the “power” and “means” to “carry out” their agenda and policies whereas according to the Great Divine Plan it is quite the contrary, by reaching the top (of the “grease-pole”, so said Benjamin D’Israeli), they are now actually “captives” of a HIGHER AGENDA, one that fits into GOD’S PLANS AND POLICIES FOR HIS WORLD that we just happen to simultaneously co-inhabit as well ~):- )) .

This will be what Joseph will actually tell his brothers down the line when he reveals himself to them in next week’s Torah portion:
“ I am Joseph your brother! You sold me to Egypt. Now don’t worry or feel guilty because you sold me. Look! God has sent me ahead of you to save lives!…God has sent me ahead of you to insure that you survive in the land and to keep you alive through such extraordinary means.
NOW IT IS NOT YOU WHO SENT ME HERE, BUT GOD. HE HAS MADE ME PHARAOH’S VIZIER, DIRECTOR OF HIS ENTIRE GOVERNMENT, AND RULER OF ALL EGYPT.
Hurry, go back to my father, and give him the message: Your son Joseph says, ‘GOD HAS MADE ME MASTER OF ALL EGYPT’…” [*2]

Unfortunately this notion was also abused when in the name of the “Divine Right of Kings”, royals fatefully imagined that they could impose any sort of warped plan and demand that the enslaved subjects of a feudal tyranny fulfill it.

Eventually this cynical abuse of the real purpose of a “Divine Obligation” (which is what the “Right” demands of the kings) caused the collapse of the kings and rulers themselves, when they either died out, or were overthrown and ignominiously executed by an enraged and tired population. Sadly, many times it was Jews who became the victims and even dupes of corrupt leaders and revolutions that claimed to herald new freedoms for mankind but just brought on even worse tyrannies, which were in turn overthrown in time.

The saga of Hanukah is a watershed case in point. Alexander the Great of Macedonia established the ancient Greek Empire over 2,200 years ago. He defeated the Persians (of ancient Iran), who had earlier in history defeated the Babylonians who destroyed the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and sent the people of Judea, the Jews, to exile in Babylonia (ancient Iraq), over 2,500 years ago. Thus Alexander the Great in effect “took over” as the ultimate power over the Jewish people who had moved back to live in Judea with the blessings of the Persian kings who consented to the building of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.

Classical Judaism records that Alexander was actually kind to the Jews and respected them greatly. They say that it was he who claimed to have had a recurring “prophetic” dream with a saintly rabbi in it blessing him on the eve of all his successful battles, (all his battles were successful). When he came to Israel he bowed down to a rabbi who matched the one in his dreams. The admiration was mutual.

The educated Greeks were very “intellectual” and “refined”. They had PHILOSOPHY, which means “love of WISDOM” in the Greek language, so who can blame the Jews for liking the people who invented “academies” (“ivy league colleges”) and “democracy” (“Democrats”) and the “polis” (Jews love “politics”). They built beautiful temples and adored athletics. What can be wrong? Jews adopted a Greek civil calendar, and gave the name “Alexander” to their children, which even the very religious do to this day.

It was an era when a prophecy to Noah that “God’s Beauty for/of Japheth (Greece) to dwell in the Tents of Shem (Israel)” (Genesis, Chapter 9, v. 27) WAS FULFILLED!

Noah’s two “good” sons could live in historical harmony. Or so it seemed till Greek rule started to unravel and they began to overstep their bounds by poking around and interfering with Jewish religious life, a sure recipe for trouble if ever there was one!

Pathetically most Jews took it too far and started becoming “Greeks” themselves (i.e. they “Hellenized”). In droves, they abandoned circumcision, the Sabbath, the Jewish Months, and sure enough, the wheels of history started turning…Alexander suddenly died unexpectedly very young, going overboard with his battles (Afghanistan was the quagmire, where else?) and from over consumption of booze (and incessant sex), but his visions lived on after him. His empire was split between his leading generals, and the Jews were trapped between the Egyptian Greeks and the Syrian Greeks. Things got nasty when the Syrian Greeks decided to clamp down on the Jews’ religion, riding in on armor-plated elephants! One cruel Greek-Syrian “brainstorm”: They “required” that before virgin Jewish women could live with their husbands, Jewish brides must first have sex with the local Greek governors. Shades of Uday Hu-Insane @;--$$ . Another reason the Maccabees launched the revolt of Hanukah!

Bizarrely, this was a prophetically predicted collective “punishment” (shocking but true) and also part of God’s Inscrutable Great Divine Plan that called for FOUR GREAT EXILES - EMPIRES THAT THE JEWISH PEOPLE HAD TO ENDURE, SUFFER UNDER, AND SUBMIT TO BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE JEWISH MESSIAH: 1. BABYLONIA; 2. PERSIA; 3. GREECE; 4. ROME.

In each one of these exiles the Jewish people would undergo an experience similar to Joseph’s: They would be seemingly defeated and “sold into slavery”; God would perform either open or hidden “miracles” and save them from oblivion; They would even rise to the top of their exiles and take command of the leadership in some way and then reform the entire system for the good of the world. It would be an ongoing historical cycle of repetitive “ups and downs” only ending when the Jewish messiah arrives at the end of time. All part of God’s plan as Joseph originally told his brothers.

First this would actually take place in the land of ancient Egypt itself when a foolhardy Pharaoh would try his misguided hand at Jewish “end games”, and the Jews would experience God’s open intervention, special miracles, defy Pharaonic slavery, eventually becoming a Torah Observant Nation headed for the Promised Land of Israel, and emerge as the FIRST LIBERATED PEOPLE IN HISTORY under the leadership of Moses and Aaron, two brothers from the Priestly Tribe of Levi, over 3,300 years ago!

Then:

1.
In Babylon, about 2,500 years ago, the evil king Nebuchadnezer who had overseen the First Jewish Temple’s destruction (the source for the Jewish Fast day of NINTH OF AV) and the Jews’ exile, is himself overthrown and humiliated, much like his latter day protégé Saddam “Hu-Insane” @;<{{{{ .
The great Jewish prophet and leader DANIEL arises and predicts the downfall of Babylonia and that the Jews will be saved.
“Daniel became one of the leading figures in the royal court. Kings tried to intimidate him to follow their ways, but he refused and prevailed…Daniel was flung into the lion’s den, but he came out unharmed…The kings of Babylon had no choice but to turn to Daniel to explain God’s cryptic messages, and he brought them terrifying truths. When the king Belshazar saw the ‘handwriting on the wall’, only Daniel could interpret its frightening message for him (that he would be killed and that Babylon would collapse). [*3]

2.
In Persia, the evil Haman of Amalek convinces the Persian King Ahasueres that the Jews are “separatists” and “elitists” and planning to “rebel” (The great Granddaddy of the vile ‘Protocols’). He is granted a royal charter (“Nuremberg Racist ‘Laws’ ”) to commit genocide, a literal Holocaust, against the Jews but his plans are thwarted by the Jewish leaders Mordechai and Esther (she marries the king), and in turn they are given the power to act as rulers under the king and destroy Haman and the Jew haters, save their fellow Jews, and allow Persia to be benevolent and flourish and dominate the world. Jews celebrate these events at PURIM.

3.
The Greek Empire splits after Alexander’s death and the Syrian Greeks under Antiochus attempt to wipe out the Jewish state in Judea. Their larger armies are defeated by the Jews headed by Matityahu (Matathias) leading the Priestly Hasmonean Maccabees to victory and who rededicate the defiled Jewish Temple, starting with the miracle of the one-day oil-supply that lit up the temple Menorah for eight days.
The name “CHUNUKA” means “(RE)DEDICATION” OF THE SECOND JEWISH TEMPLE in Jerusalem, which is what the HOLIDAY OF HANUKAH celebrates.
In 1948 a reborn JEWISH State of Israel with a rag tag motley fighting force of a few thousand determined to fight for Jewish sovereignty and survival in their own land, defeats the armies of all the Arab States who have millions of people combined. This is repeated in 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982 to the present time, as a small Jewish army of the reborn Jewish state, thrashes and/or holds at bay Arab armies many times its size.

4.
Imperial Rome’s long exile CONTINUES and is an elongated historical “encapsulement” and REPLAY of all the above events, repeated and spread out over the two thousand years of the Christian messiah, who is no friend of the Jews. In fact because they don’t believe in him, Jews are subjected to even more harm from a Rome that can’t forget or forgive them. The mourning, pain, and joy of survival of each holiday reflects different sides of the longest and still ongoing situation under “Rome”…

Yet, even though the Second Temple was destroyed so long ago, and Jews sent away again into exile repeatedly, we witness in our own times that the Jews have miraculously returned to the Land of Israel, the Land promised by God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children forever, to resettle and rebuild it and make it flourish for the first time in almost 2,000 years. So Jews lead the way in showing the world that Rome’s “grand finale”, Hitler’s European Holocaust, was not “the end”, as no-one human force can “end” Jewish history, as they rebuild and lead in new and fresh directions, even technologically showing the way!

It is Joseph who “nails down” Jacob’s life-quest and accomplishment once and for all: To attain a form of “immortality” for his descendants till “the end of time”, to become a sort of “legend in his own lifetime” in that he becomes INDESTRUCTIBLE.

Why? Because God wants to rectify the world (Tikkun Olam) from the blemish of DEATH that Adam and Eve brought about.

How? By creating Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Jacob’s Twelve Sons to re-establish the world on its Godly foundations of Mercy (Abraham), Justice (Isaac), Truth (Jacob), and Torah (For the Children of Israel).

Who? Joseph is the greatest of Jacob’s sons since he has MASTERED and HARNESSED the power to subjugate the crass external materialistic world through his powers of self-control over his “YETZER HARA” – “EVIL IMPULSES/DESIRES”, and submission to God’s Will, through FAITH (“EMUNAH”), and ABSOLUTE TRUST (“BITACHON”).

What? He is “YOSEF HATZADIK”, the RIGHTEOUS SAINT who fights off sexual temptations of ruin.

When? With Joseph’s life becoming part of the Torah’s Blue Print for the world and for life, his tribulations and triumphs will ALWAYS be valid, and direct the outcome, of any and all exiles Jews may find themselves in!

So? He generates and ingrains a Godly powerful universal magnetic spiritual force that ultimately, the Jews will NOT be lost to the exile, because God will NOT abandon them, if they can mould themselves on Joseph and draw on his personal example and courage. “LO YIDACH MIMENU NIDACH”, ( In the words of a popular lyric: “NO JEW WILL BE LEFT BEHIND!”). Even though at times God may “hide” His Face allowing the Anti-Semites to delude themselves that God “is not looking out for the Jews”, so they then “feel free” to butcher Jews like “sheep to the slaughter”, only to find out that these “sheep” don’t just don’t die out like “ordinary” sheep!

The Hanukah light that we kindle in the night is symbolic of the light of Torah, which is ultimately what Joseph symbolizes most.

Teachers of the mystical Zohar say that Joseph represents the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. The Torah is referred to as a Tree of Life (“ETZ CHAIM”). The Greeks and the Hellenists tried to put out the light of Torah, and not just wage “simple” physical warfare. They waged a “cultural war” against the Jews. Little did they understand that the Jews were already metaphysically “armed” with the “spiritual genes” of a Joseph, who had already LEAD THE WAY OUT OF THE DARKNESS OF EXILE starting with the defeat of ancient “invincible” Egypt, pointing out that God has His own plans for the absolute safety, survival, success, and triumph of the Jewish People and the values and ideas they embody and teach the world to this very day!

Have Happy Final Days of Hanukah and a Wonderful Shabbat!
Let me know what you think!

[*1] Artscroll Siddur – English Prayer book, p.564.
[*2] The Living Torah, English translation by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, p. 225.
[*3] The Artscroll Torah/Prophets/Writings, English Translation, Introduction to Daniel, p.1773.

- posted by Izak @ 6:13 AM (0) comments

 
"Rabbinical” Humor...2 Jokes...
From: Beliefnet Religious Jokes
To: simshalom@ATT.NET
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 4:41 AM
Subject: Undercover Clergy

1. Undercover Clergy

A minister, a priest and a rabbi went for a hike one day. It was very hot. They were sweating and exhausted when they came upon a small lake. Since it was fairly secluded, they took off all their clothes and jumped in the water.

Feeling refreshed, the trio decided to pick a few berries while enjoying their "freedom." As they were crossing an open area, who should come along but a group of ladies from town. Unable to get to their clothes in time, the minister and the priest covered their privates and the rabbi covered his face while they ran for cover.

After the ladies had left and the men got their clothes back on, the minister and the priest asked the rabbi why he covered his face rather than his privates. The rabbi replied, "I don't know about you, but in MY congregation, it's my face they would recognize."

2. A Priest and a Rabbi Were on a Plane…

From: Beliefnet Religious Jokes
To: simshalom@ATT.NET
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 5:04 AM
Subject: A Priest and a Rabbi Were on a Plane …

A priest and a rabbi were traveling on a plane. After a while the priest turned to the rabbi and asked, "Is it still a requirement of your faith that you not eat pork?"

The rabbi responded, "Yes, that is still one of our beliefs."

The priest then asked, "Have you ever eaten pork?"

To which the rabbi replied, "Yes, on one occasion I did succumb and tasted pork."

The priest nodded in understanding and went back to his reading. After a while the rabbi asked the priest, "Father, is it still a requirement of your faith that you remain celibate?"

The priest replied, "Yes that is still very much a part of our faith."

The rabbi then asked him, "Father, have you ever fallen to the temptation of the flesh?"

The priest replied, "Yes, rabbi, on one occasion I was weak and broke with my faith."

The rabbi nodded understandingly for a moment and then said, "A lot better than pork, isn't it?"

- posted by Izak @ 10:57 PM (0) comments

 
Humor!
From: Beliefnet Religious Jokes
To: simshalom@ATT.NET
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 6:26 AM
Subject: The Jewish Samurai

The Jewish Samurai

There once was a powerful Japanese emperor who needed a new chief samurai. So he sent out a declaration throughout the entire known world that he was searching for a chief.

A year passed, and only three people applied for the very demanding position: a Japanese samurai, a Chinese samurai, and a Jewish samurai.

The emperor asked the Japanese samurai to come in and demonstrate why he should be the chief samurai. The Japanese samurai opened a matchbox, and out popped a bumblebee. Whoosh! went his sword. The bumblebee dropped dead, chopped in half.

The emperor exclaimed, "That is very impressive!"
The emperor then issued the same challenge to the Chinese samurai, to come in and demonstrate why he should be chosen. The Chinese samurai also opened a matchbox and out buzzed a fly. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The fly dropped dead, chopped into four small pieces.

The emperor exclaimed, "That is very impressive!"

Now the emperor turned to the Jewish samurai, and asked him to demonstrate why he should be the chief samurai. The Jewish Samurai opened a matchbox, and out flew a gnat. His flashing sword went Whoosh! But the gnat was still alive and flying around.

The emperor, obviously disappointed, said, "Very ambitious, but why is that gnat not dead?"

The Jewish Samurai just smiled and said, "Circumcision is not meant to kill."

(submitted by tomaso)

- posted by Izak @ 10:52 PM (0) comments

 
Hanukah Question : Should Jews Obey Other Leaders?
May I share a short thougt with you: I think Chanucah is also about "miracles", that is to say about Divine Law. We shouldn't confuse The Divine Law with man-made so called "laws" or elevate man-made temporary rulings to law status. With other, very strong words: we should be loyal to our faith in G-d, not to our elected or imposed leaders. What do you think?

SIMSHALOM Replies:

Yes, what you say is basically correct, although I would add that man-made laws are not "minor" and are in a way just as important as other Divine "spiritual" laws.

The Mishna in Pirkei Avot says that even GENTILES MUST set up courts of law and a Jew is forbidden to live in a place where there are no courts, it is in fact part of the SEVEN NOAHIDE LAWS for non-Jews to have a legal system.

Now obviously it must be a just system and not corrupt. But if it is done correctly, as in most democracies with good constitutions, legal systems, and courts, and good judges, lawyers, prosecutors and defenders, then THIS TOO is what God wants, it also "Divine", as long as it is in HARMONY with Hashem's Holy Divine Laws as expressed through the Torah, and are in harmony with the "invisible" Spiritual Laws that govern the entire Creation/Universe.

The mishna in Pirkei Avot also says that as Jews we are OBLIGATED to PRAY for the welfare of the secular (even non Jewish) government, because if not for the fear of the government's power people would "eat each up alive".

So having and supporting a GOOD and normal government is part of being a good Torah Jew. And to rebel against this is to actually be in danger of rebelling against the Divine Will of God.

Of course, this is as long as nothing is done to interfere with the Torah life of a Jew. If However the government is Anti-Semitic and makes bad and twisted laws to destroy Jews and Judaism then we are obligated NOT to follow these laws as they are regarded like "Laws of Sodom and Gomorrah" ("Hilchot Sodom"), and we can ignore them and if need be fight against them, and if they want us to give up our religion, like the "laws" of the Spanish Inquisition, then we are actually required to DIE and give up our lives and be killed for Kiddush Hashem because God does not want Jews to break the Torah.

So we should always pray for a good secular governments that will be good to the Jews and let them observe and study the Torah freely, which is true in almost all Western Democracies (the problem is that today they are making pro-homosexual laws that create a new challenge that maybe the whole system now becomes like the "laws of Sodom" again, it's a tough situation, and a rabbi's advice would be helpful.)

It actually goes even further, this ties in with Hanukah in a way, that Jews LOST the capacity to have "absolute power" over themselves from the time that the First Temple was destroyed 2,500 years ago.

When the Jewish Kings were removed from power it means we lost the power to rule ourselves and we are under the authority of the goyim which we must respect and obey because this is the will of Hashem.

After Babylonia came Persia and the King then was Achashverosh and even though Esther becomes his Queen , but we Jews are still considered to be his subjects living in his empire and we must obey his laws as this is what Hashem wants from us.

This is the meaning of being in "Galut" exile, and the rabbis actually have a principle called "Akati Tachat Achashverosh anan"- "We are STILL under Achashverosh"...until Mashiach comes and he will be a King, appointed by Hashem, who will take back the power that the goyim have right now and return it to us a "free" Jews.

The State of Israel is NOT free because it CANNOT do whatever it wants. They must still obey the wishes of the United States, and many other countries:"World Opinion", because we, as Jews still living under the control of the nations of the world have still not obtained our final freedom yet. That can only happen when Mashiach comes, and then we , and the entire world will live under Torah law ONLY.

There will not be any other kind of "legal system" , the world will be under the revealed authority of the Jewish God, as expressed through His Torah and His teachers the TRUE rabbis, teachers, judges and perhaps even prophets who will be there.

Hope this does not shock you too much! :- )

- posted by Izak @ 10:07 PM (0) comments

 
Hanukah Themes: The Jewish Family: Source of Victory or Defeat.

Related to the weekly Torah portion of VaYeshev, read in synagogue on Dec. 20th, ‘03
(Genesis Chapter 37, v. 1 – Chapter 40, v. 23). Dedicated to my Parents.

Written by me...SIMSHALOM!

Armies fight in groups. Individuals fight as gladiators or prizefighters but that is mostly for show. Real battles can only be fought when men and women come together to form “units”. In current military terms the smallest grouping of soldiers is a squad of about ten soldiers. Next comes the platoon that may consist of about three squads. A company is made up of three platoons, and so the units increase in size until they finally become a massive army. In “normal” situations united armies fight against external enemies. In “abnormal” situations armies sometimes split internally and fight civil wars against each other. Since Jewish history is very ancient, there are ample examples of both situations. What they share in common is that according to classical Judaism it is all rooted in the conflicts and resolutions between Jacob’s twelve sons.

The questions before us as Jews will always remain: What is it that we want to be as a people? A house united or a house divided against itself? Can there ever be true peace at home AND absolute peace abroad? Is the ideal of “SHALOM BAYIT” (“PEACE AT/OF HOME”) really do-able and simultaneously can there ever be “SHALOM BA-OLAM” (“PEACE IN THE WORLD”) or “SHALOM BEIN HA-AMIM” (PEACE AMONG THE NATIONS)?

Believe it or not, the answers are all somehow embedded and inscribed in the sagas of Jacob’s sons and how they play out, but it takes a fresh sincere concerted open-minded effort to look with unprejudiced eyes and bring it into clearer focus, truly see it, understand and internalize it in meaningful ways that may just clear the intellectual and spiritual thickets and make the attainment of true awareness and internal and external PEACE-SHALOM possible.

An important question is how can it possibly be that Jacob’s small family that lived about 3,500 years ago has the power to “shape” the outcome of ALL later events in Jewish history?

This is a very deep question in the realms of Jewish thought and esoteric knowledge. It is crucial to appreciate that in classical Judaism the Twelve Tribes/Jacob’s Sons/The Children of Israel are regarded as manifestations of God’s own presence in this world. They are referred to as the “TWELVE TRIBES OF GOD” (“YUD BET SHIVTEI KAH”). Jacob gave the world more than just biological progenitors of an eventual physical Nation of Israel, he actually served as a conduit for a Divine Plan that chose him to be the one to establish a literal new Godly world order through the twelve unique beings that God had granted him, all rooted in vast supernal spiritual forces. (By the way, I cannot resist, but this seems to be the source for the later Christian “adoption and adaptation” of this notion with 12 “apostles” as the core of a “new” religion, even going so far as to have a “split” with a misguided renegade Judas Iscariot as the internal villain, not very original to say the least). In any case, it has nevertheless evidently proven to be a maddeningly frustrating job to actually bring about the plan that God appears to have had for His world judging from the internal divisiveness and externally torturous path that Jewish history has followed from pre-Biblical times to the present.

Two crucial principles that are always at work when trying to make sense of the relevancy of Torah are: “MA-ASEH AVOT SIMAN LEBANIM” (“THE ACTIONS OF THE FATHERS IS A SIGN/FOUNDATION FOR THE SONS”), and “MAH SHE-IRAH LE-AVOT IRAH LEBANIM” (“WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FATHERS HAPPENED TO THE SONS”). Thus what may appear to the un-initiated disinterested observer as the seemingly mundane and mediocre wrangling of “over-grown adolescents” fighting over turf and position, is in actual fact a kind of blue-print of a cosmic conflict and historical paradigm represented in the “PERSONAS” of Jacob’s twelve sons, of how and even when and why, things happen as they do. They represent patterns and human actions in time and are thus larger than life proto-type “test models” for waves of subsequent generations that will go through identical “motions” as determined by God’s Plan for this world of ours.

Yes, had the twelve sons originally acted “better” or differently, then the course of Jewish history would have probably been better and likely very different. But since the Torah describes the events in a definitive manner as having taken place “in such and such a way”, WE are left with the clear job of LEARNING FROM THEIR MISTAKES (as well as from their achievements, obviously) via serious Torah study, and gain an understanding as to how we got into our current personal and national predicaments and crisis, and what it will really take for us to make it all better and go away, hopefully for ever!

Another question is, that if Jacob’s sons were all so “Divine” and righteous in the absolute sense, so how come they come across as so argumentative, divisive, and hostile to each other at various points? Why are they a “house divided” so often with prominent differences with each other, almost to the point of embarrassment, sometimes even near fatal?

There are no easy or neat answers to this unfortunately. One major avenue of understanding that’s emphasized by rabbinic scholars is to put the twelve brothers on the level of competing dynastic monarchies, which is what they would eventually become in time. Powerful people, such as kings and high-powered rulers work under tougher rules than the average person. The slightest actions of a powerful person are always subject to the minutest public, as well as Godly, scrutiny. Being in a powerful position of leadership means that even the most seemingly minute and “unintended” actions can have explosive consequences for the powerful person, their entourage, and those under them, be they subjects or employees. Ruin or fame can hinge on the smallest actions.

So it is with Jacob’s sons. Their very unusual origins meant that they had to learn to get along as an unwieldy “family unit” literally rooted in and defined by God, and with an awesome human legacy from the great Jewish patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A home with four wives, twelve male siblings, and at least equal amounts of unspecified daughters is surely a very unwieldy entity. Like any business or army it must learn the art of: Learning the Mission Statement; Acceptance of a Leadership Body; Accepting Governing Rules and Values; Setting of Common Goals and Objectives; Agreed Upon Methodologies; Conflict Management and Resolution; Facing Outside Competition and Enemies; Negotiation; Uniting for the Larger Good; Respect for Individual and Human Rights; Respect for Hierarchy; Fairness and Fair Play; Utilization of Skills and Resources; … (and the greatest of all) Submitting to a Higher Authority. These goals and objectives are NEVER, ever, “naturally” or easily attained because the human condition is such that people are NOT born “trained” at birth for their mission in life.

Frankly, “toilet training” has to come way before any more “noble education” can commence <#:-$ Many times people “learn” what God and life demands from them through the “school of hard knocks” which entails much human “growth pains” as in “no pain, no gain”!

We are presented with the reality of two competing dynasties: The sons of Leah versus the sons of Rachel. At the core of this struggle is the question: Who is the “TRUE first born”? Is it Joseph, the eldest son of the undoubtedly most-beloved wife Rachel? Or is to be the chosen first-born son of Leah? The question is further muddied because Leah’s biological oldest son Reuben loses his status to Judah, because he is involved in a controversy with his father Jacob.

We clearly see that royalty befits Joseph as he eventually rises to be the head of the royal house of Pharaoh in ancient Egypt. The rabbis say that when Jacob gave Joseph the special multi-colored robe that engendered so much jealousy from the other brothers, he was in actual fact nominating him as his primary governing successor, and Joseph played the part to the hilt by taking on royal airs. What brought matters to a boil were Joseph’s personal dreams, with the family symbolically bowing down to him, which he then blithely divulges to them. They are enraged and suspect him of plotting a complete take over, perhaps of even wanting to eliminate them from the picture completely. So then their actions are subsequently those of a “tribunal” set up to judge a “pretender to the throne”, and award him a “suspended” death sentence yet not quite sure how to carry out the penalty without incurring the wrath of their father. Joseph is thus placed in “administrative detention”, not quite in a chateau with an iron mask on his face, but in an empty pit creeping with vermin. Interestingly it is Reuben and Judah who cut the “Gordian knot” when first Reuben pleads with the others not to kill Joseph outright, and Judah recommends that he be sold into slavery to Arab slave traders (seems they have been doing this for some time now `[:-})

Interestingly, and factually there will eventually be a “DUAL MONARCHY” established for the Children of Israel stemming from the House of Rachel and the House of Leah. The first Jewish King will be Saul from the Tribe of Benjamin of the House of Rachel that will then be subsumed into the monarchy of King David descended from the Tribe of Judah of the House of Leah.

Tragically, perhaps as prophetically “preordained” (and the Torah is after all presupposed to be true prophecy), due to the link between Saul (from the Tribe of Benjamin) and Joseph (through Joseph’s brotherly connection to Benjamin), it is because of the “death sentence” issued against Joseph in earlier times, that Saul meets a very dark death at his own hands rather than be taken prisoner by the Philistines. He was also tragically on a rampage to hunt down and kill David whom he considered an insurrectionist. The Philistines subsequently behead and mutilate Saul’s body in a disgusting manner. Saul’s three sons, with his prime heir Jonathan also die in battle, and Saul’s daughter Michal, married to David (a marital attempt at uniting the two monarchs), is barren and cannot produce an heir to David’s throne. Saul’s surviving son, Ishboshet rules briefly until he is assassinated and loses the crown permanently. So it would seem that when Jacob’s sons fatefully gang up on Joseph with intent to do him bodily harm, it is probably prophetically “manifested” and fulfilled when the first Jewish King and his entire immediate family stemming from the same dynasty as Joseph, the House of Rachel, are eliminated. An example in history of the principle: “The Deeds of the Fathers Are A Sign for the Sons”. Regicide Extremis.

Consequently, this clears the way for King David of the House of Leah to take over as leader of Israel. A house divided against itself on epic proportions, and the dawn of a new era promising Jewish unity, happening together.

It is King David who triumphs over the Philistines, and rules Israel in the name and spirit of BOTH royal streams, from Leah AND Rachel and he is regarded as the literal HEART OF THE NATION. This is in fact the meaning of the deep “love” between David and Jonathan. They worked together in harmony and BROTHERHOOD to bring about absolute unity of Jacob’s divided House. Just as a heart has two chambers that unite together into one organ for the welfare of the entire body, so King David in his person and heart unites the two streams of Israel’s monarchy, of Rachel-Joseph and Leah-Judah into the ONE whole living spiritual body-politic of Israel/Judea.

This was reflected in the blessings Judah received from Jacob:
“Judah, your brothers shall submit to you. Your hand shall be on your enemies necks, your father’s sons shall bow to you…The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor legislation from his descendants. Nations will submit to him until the final tranquility comes.” (Genesis Chapter 49, vs. 8-10) [*1]

And later, when Moses at the end of the Torah blesses the tribe of Judah it states:
“May God hear Judah’s voice and bring him to his people. Although his power suffices him, may You help him against his enemies.” (Deuteronomy Chapter 33, v. 8) [*2]

The above-mentioned “final tranquility” that Judah will bring is in the end of times when there will also be TWO MESSIAHS, (“Messiah” means an “Anointed” King, as that is how a King is initially “inducted”, being “anointed” with sanctified oil poured on his head.) There will be the King-Messiah Son of Joseph (“Mashiach ben Yosef”) and the King-Messiah Son of David.
[Yes, obviously these notions have been taken over by Christianity for its own purposes and claims about a “first” and “second” coming, as well as the entire notion of “messiah”, in the GREEK language “christos” means “anointed”, and is the source for the similar sounding English name, but are used in an entirely DIFFERENT religion called “Christianity”, and are NOT part of Judaism at all].

According to esoteric Judaic teachings, the Messiah Son of Joseph will fight important battles to prepare the world for the final stage of the Final Redemption (“Ge-ulah Achronah”). Like Joseph who was endowed with the capabilities of bringing powerful ancient Egypt under his rule, his ultimate heir Messiah Son of Joseph (“of Joseph” because he is both descended from Joseph and his royal powers to conquer and rule the enemies of Israel) will have the power to fight evil and bring the world to heel. Yet sadly, Messiah Son of Joseph is destined to fall victim to fatal challenges, scorned by his own people, perhaps even imprisoned and die an ignoble death. This too is perhaps prophetically presaged by Joseph’s close call and brush with a death-sentence after the brothers felt he had gone too far in his quest for primacy in the family hierarchy of Jacob’s Divine Designed Tribe. In fact when Joseph was “lost” in Egypt, Jacob was convinced that he had been murdered in some dark plot, and that he was surely dead by now.

So we see that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob laid down the foundation of the Jewish people in the most amazing of ways, as individual forefathers each injecting their unique genetic ingredient into the making of the nation of Israel. It is only when Jacob’s twelve sons are born and mature to take their place as the first Children of Israel (as Jacob their father was renamed Israel), that the FIRST TRUE JEWISH FIGHTING UNIT IS ESTABLISHED, for better or worse! With the birth of his last sons, Joseph and Benjamin, Jacob knows that he has become fully empowered to confidently confront and defeat, first and foremost, his own warring brother Esau - himself the father of a vast militaristic dynasty, but along the way there will be many, many bitter Jewish CIVIL WARS to endure before the outside world can be successfully subdued and pacified.

Last week’s Torah portion concludes with a comprehensive listing of Esau’s dynastic lines through Edom as he is known. This is placed in contradistinction to Jacob’s twelve sons, with Joseph’s story coming to the fore first. The rabbis of the Medrash teach that with the birth of Joseph, Esau’s nemesis (“sitno”) is born. They compare Esau’s royal groupings to a pile of pathetic straw. On the other hand Jacob is a “fire” and Joseph is his “flame”. No matter how high a mountain of “straw” may be, and superficially it may be very intimidating, yet when it is placed next to a small fire and the flame that comes out of it, the straw is soon reduced to a heap of smoky ashes. This is a fulfillment of a prophecy in Obadiah, Chapter 1, v. 18: “And the house of Jacob shall be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for straw, and they will ignite them and devour them.” As quoted by Rashi [*3]. Most importantly, it is because Joseph stands at the head of a “unit” designated as the twelve sons of Jacob/Israel and can therefore be an expression of its deepest will: The elimination of absolute evil from this world as embodied in Esau/Edom/Rome/Amalek/Haman/Hitler/Gog/Magog by Jacob’s and Joseph’s People. The metaphors of “fire” and “flame” fit perfectly into the framework of the Festival of Lights, which is what Hanukah is called. On a more somber note, let’s not forget that too often due to the disunity of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, when Jewish families and hearts have turned against God and each other, it has been the Jewish Temples and millions of Jewish martyrs who have burned and fueled the flames of hate and anti-Semitism from ancient Jerusalem to modern Auschwitz. ~#:-{

Thus Jacob’s family, when united, and provided they maintain their faith and connection with God, have the potential to defeat not just Esau, but any powers that may subsequently rise against them. However, internally Jacob’s family suffered from a huge nagging family dispute and schism between Joseph and his brothers, the beginnings of which are described in great detail in this week’s Torah portion. The spiritual and historical fall out of the parting of the ways between Joseph and his siblings has manifested itself in various catastrophes that have befallen the Children of Israel from ancient times, through the times of the “Ten Lost Tribes”, the invasions and tyrannies of the Babylonians, Persians, and then under the Greeks during which time the great Hanukah saga occurs, and then the onset of the interminable exile of Rome, Esau’s revenge over the last two thousand years.


Unfortunately, the enormous family dispute and near execution of Joseph at the hands of his brothers that rips Jacob’s family apart, leads it directly into the long Egyptian exile. Sadly the violent disagreements between Jacob’s sons is the spiritual incubator for the diseases that will fuel of all manner of Jewish civil wars, be they peaceful or war-like, between all Jews throughout the ages down to our very own times, and will ONLY be relieved by the arrival of the Jewish Messiah who will restore true peace to the very fractured and divided House of Jacob/Israel, by re-establishing the Ten Lost Tribes, and uniting the lost Kingdom of Israel with the scattered remnants of the Kingdom of Judah.

At many crucial points in Jewish history, the power to either unite or fracture the totality of the House of Jacob/Israel has hinged on the predominant factor of HOW DO THE RIVALS AND RIVALRIES STEMMING FROM JOSEPH’S-BENJAMIN’S DYNASTY, THE HOUSE OF RACHEL, AND THOSE FROM JUDAH-LEVI (the Hasmonean Maccabees of Hanukah are Priests-Kohanim from the Tribe of Levi), THE HOUSE OF LEAH, DEAL WITH THEIR AMBITIONS AND DIFFERENCES INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY? Can the two rival dynasties ever reconcile in time? Do they want to reconcile? Do Jacob’s heirs, the citizens of the later actual twelve tribes of Israel and Judah have the spiritual and existential will and guts to once and for all become “One Nation Under God Indivisible with Freedom and Justice For All”—to borrow from the hallowed lexicon of the modern United States of America?

In the story of Hanukah that took place about 2,200 years ago there was also a key Jewish family involved that was at the center of the drama. It was Matityahu (Matathias) the High Priest, from Hasmonea, and his five sons: Yochanan, Simon, Judah (the Maccabee), Eleazar, and Jonathan, who launched a revolt not just against the Syrian-Greek invaders of Judea, but also against their Jewishly born Hellenized brethren, meaning those Jew who had assimilated into the prevailing secular Greek culture of the times and were allied with the non-Jewish Greek dominating powers.
Thus Hanukah is also a time when a major Jewish civil war took place. It ended in the victory of the Hasmonean Maccabees, symbolized by the miracle of the little lights of the Menorah, when the few triumphed over the many, the “pure” Loyal Jews against the Hellenized “impure” ones. The lighting of the Menorah (the Temple Candelabra) symbolizes the triumph of Torah values, beliefs, ideas, and practices OVER the prevailing Grecian secularly enlightened gentile overlords and their Jewish wannabies.

Curiously, at that time there was also a splitting of the various schools of thought within the Torah scholastic world that pitted two major rabbis against each other, the school of the Mishnaic sage Hillel, a proponent of “leniency”, versus that of the sage Shammai who was generally “stricter” in his interpretations of Torah law, that remains a part of Torah scholarship to this day. This shows that there was no escaping the winds of divisiveness that blew over the Jewish world in its entirety, even within the hallowed walls of Jewish scholarship, with rivals pounding on the outside doors and divisions - “machlokes”, within the inner sanctums of the Yeshivas, the Rabbinical Academies of Talmudic Learning. Some rabbinical commentators have pointed out that Shammai, the “stricter” Torah sage was a descendant of Joseph whereas Hillel, the more “lenient” one came from the house of Judah. Whatever their biological ancestry, their undoubtedly necessary and high-minded Torah ideological splits and differences are definitely consistent with the concept of a “dual monarchy” of IDEAS, that may seem to be “irreconcilable” and conflicting on the surface, yet deeper down converge into one coherent totality of coherent Torah thought and law.

As we are about to start the holiday of Hanukah, when an isolated small minority of Jews REBELLED [what else? :- )] successfully against an oppression of body and spirit, it deserves a little closer look. Rabbi Moshe Zauderer writes at
http://www.jewishstudies.org/courses/HHC/samplelecture.htm as follows:

What is Hanukah?

“How has this 2100-year-old historical event been preserved so tenaciously in the Jewish national conscience? What are its lasting messages? How did the Sages of that time ensure that the celebration of Chanukah would continue even after the military victories of the Hasmonean army were no longer felt, when the Romans later conquered the Jewish State and exiled the Jewish people? Maimonides (1135-1204, Egypt), Laws of Hanukah 3:1-3,summarizes the religious and historical bases of the Chanukah holiday:”
“During the period of Greek domination (~ 273 BCE – ~ 140 BCE) of the Second Temple era (350 BCE – 70 CE), the Syrian-Greeks imposed oppressive decrees on the Jewish people, with the objective of eradicating the Jewish religion. They prevented the Jews from studying Torah and performing mitzvoth; they extorted Jewish wealth and violated Jewish women and girls; they entered the Holy Temple, defiling everything sacred. Their tyrannical rule constricted the Jewish people greatly, until the G-d of our forefathers mercifully delivered the Jews from the Greeks. The Hasmonean family prevailed over the Greeks, saving the Jewish people from Greek oppression, and establishing a Jewish monarchy.”
“Maimonides identifies the focus of Greek persecution as being the eradication of Judaism and all that is sacred in its way of life. He makes it clear that it was only Divine intervention that ended this intolerable situation. G-d handed a victory to what historical accounts attest was a vastly inferior Hasmonean army. This victory led to autonomy in the land of Israel and the Jews’ return to Jewish practice. Maimonides goes on to describe how the Sages preserved the remembrance of the Hasmonean victory for all future generations. (He bases his descriptions on the Talmudic account of the Chanukah enactment [Tractate Shabbat]):”
“When the victorious Hasmoneans entered the Temple on the 25th day of the lunar month of Kislev, they searched the Temple grounds for any sealed cruses of pure oil designated for use in lighting the Menorah (the seven-branched candelabra used in the Temple). They found only a single cruse of oil that bore the seal of the High Priest, attesting to its purity. Although the vessel contained oil sufficient to burn in the Menorah for only a single day, miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, until a fresh supply of sanctified oil could be prepared. To perpetuate the memory of that miracle, the Sages of that generation promulgated the observance of eight festival days, beginning on the 25th day of Kislev. These days are to be celebrated with rejoicing, reciting declarations of praise and gratitude to G-d, and lighting candles each night at sunset at the entranceway of one’s house, in order to publicize the miracle. These days are called Chanukah. The Sages legislated the eight-day Chanukah holiday to commemorate the miracle of the burning oil, rather than the stunning military victory. Expressions of praise and gratitude shape the spirit of Chanukah celebration.” [*4]

Coming back to our original train of thought, we have previously pointed out that the original confrontations of Hanukah were also between those Jews loyal to Torah observance as symbolized by the Menorah, the symbol of Torah light, and those who followed in the Hellenized Grecian “Olympian” ways of the Greeks with their love of superficial aesthetics, philosophy and worldly culture that put MAN at the center of the universe, relegating God to “oblivion”. There is a concept that the civil war of Hanukah is somehow a dark reflection of the “civil war” between the first set of Jewish brothers, Jacob’s sons who triggered “negative energies” from the “Dark Side” that in Greek times would result in Jews “arguing philosophically” and adopting Greek ways. The Greeks introduced the notion of ATHEISM, meaning “A-Theos”, “There is NO God”, unlike earlier idol-worship, which substituted an inanimate, or living object “IN PLACE OF” God. Judaism regards Atheism as ABSOLUTE SPIRITUAL DARKNESS. Hanukah is the prophetic celebration of Judaism’s Ethical Monotheism’s COMPLETE UNAMBIGUOUS VICTORY over Atheistic Greek Secular Humanism.
As Divine Destiny would have it, due to past “royal grid-lock” with traditional Jewish morality disgraced and ruined from the top down, the corruption of the Jewish royals had already earned them the wrath of God and encoded in the writings of the Prophets, it was neither Joseph nor Judah, neither a member of Benjamin or someone from the court of King David who stepped up to lead the Jews out of the Greek dilemma, but rather someone from the priestly tribe of LEVI the KOHANIM: It would be Matathias, a High Priest from the Temple, and his sons who vanquish the Greeks, but also make a fatal historic error in also assuming the mantle of temporal leadership and monarchy which was not reserved for them., circumstances notwithstanding. Yes, the HOLINESS symbolized by the High Priest may win a grand victory over putrid Greek culture, but a priest’s place is ultimately in the Temple at God’s Altar, and not on the Throne that God guaranteed to the Seed of David forevermore.

This self-inflicted historical wound has puzzled the scholars who all agree that the subsequent failed rule of the self-declared Hasmonean “monarchs” opened the door to that last and most fateful phase of Jewish exile, the arrival of Rome in ancient Israel/Judea, setting the stage once again for the next drawn out knock down drag out fight over the last 2,000 years, that awaits its final resolution with the arrival of the last Messianic Kings, again, to be drawn from the House of Joseph and the House of David, who TOGETHER will carry out a COMBINED MISSION befitting a UNIFIED MONARCHY and gather in the Jewish exiles to the Holy Land of Israel, fight and eradicate the evil among the nations as symbolized by Amalek, rebuild the Third and final Jewish Temple, and bring about the transformation of the world from a place where DARKNESS lurks to one of perpetual on-going LIGHT.

May this year’s Hanukah lights banish the darkness of night, and shine bright for all to see the truth, and light up the world forever! Please let me know what YOU think! Have a wonderful Shabbat and Happy Hanukah!

[*1] The Living Torah, English translation by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, pp. 245-7.
[*2] Ibid. p.1037.
[*3] Pentateuch, Genesis Chapter 37, v.1, English translation and notes by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silberman, p.179.
[*4] http://www.jewishstudies.org/courses/HHC/samplelecture.htm , Rabbi Moshe Zauderer.


- posted by Izak @ 8:14 PM (0) comments

 
Communication with the opposite sex when you are religious
QUESTION:

Ok. This idea is really confusing. Is it true that the religious people can't communicate with the opposite sex in any way, shape, or form until they are ready to settle down and marry? I'm totally lost here.

SIMSHALOM's ANSWER:

Hi,

Here is a question for you: What do you mean by "can't COMMUNICATE" ?

And which type of "religious people" are you talking about?

Modern Orthodox Jews are very lenient and accepting of co-education and open social relationships between singles.

Or, are you reffering to the Black-hatter, Yeshivish, Haredi, or Hasidik Jews? They have stronger social rules to prevent males and female from getting together, before and even after marriage, under almost all circumstances unless absolutely necessary, and NOT for SOCIALIZING reasons.

Do you mean talking to a member of the opposite sex when going shopping or in an office?

The answer is that sure, a very religious person who is not yet married can ask and discuss anything they they may require from another person of the opposite sex in an official capacity, that does NOT become flirting or "just making conversation".
If the nurse requires to touch the religious patient then it is allowed for mediacl reasons like giving and injection as it is not related to an "immoral" or sexual act.
Do you mean, striking up converstaions with other religious singles on your block just for the "heck of it"? Then again, in most very religious it would be frowned upon to see unmarried males and females just "hanging around and socializing".
Do you mean when they date?

Then, COMMUNICATION becomes a must , as these couples date and talk to each other to find out what type of person the date is like and if there is potential for a relationship (not physical) that can lead to marriage.
Now obviously, this communication relates to the person you are engaged to be married to or are still dating, and this means that the rules of not talking to other STRANGERS or even people you may know of the other sex still falls under the rules "limiting" conversational and social inter-actions because it is not considered "Modest", in Hebrew 'Tznius", to have random unnecessary contacts with members of the other sex as it may lead to potentially compromising perhaps even misleading "romantic" involvements that goes against religious/Torah values.
When the couple is engaged, they are free to spend as much time as they can spare to COMMUNICATE by speech or writing. They continue dating and talking to each other in person or over the phone, I guess with IM and Email too, as they get to know each other even more and deepen their understanding and love (NOT in a physical way) for each other.

Then when they get married they are finally ready to take their relationship to the next level and have full sexual and physical contacts as goverened by the laws of "Jewish family Purity".

At which point, in classical Judaism, sex is only permitted between are husband and his wife. (Or a wife and her husband)...

See:
http://www.jewfaq.org/sex.htm

Kosher Sex

Jewish Attitudes Towards Sexuality

In Jewish law, sex is not considered shameful, sinful or obscene. Sex is not a necessary evil for the sole purpose of procreation. Although sexual desire comes from the yetzer ra (the evil impulse), it is no more evil than hunger or thirst, which also come from the yetzer ra. Like hunger, thirst or other basic instincts, sexual desire must be controlled and channeled, satisfied at the proper time, place and manner. But when sexual desire is satisfied between a husband and wife at the proper time, out of mutual love and desire, sex is a mitzvah.
Sex is permissible only within the context of a marriage. In Judaism, sex is not merely a way of experiencing physical pleasure. It is an act of immense significance, which requires commitment and responsibility. The requirement of marriage before sex ensures that sense commitment and responsibility. Jewish law also forbids sexual contact short of intercourse outside of the context of marriage, recognizing that such contact will inevitably lead to intercourse.

The primary purpose of sex is to reinforce the loving marital bond between husband and wife. The first and foremost purpose of marriage is companionship, and sexual relations play an important role. Procreation is also a reason for sex, but it is not the only reason. Sex between husband and wife is permitted (even recommended) at times when conception is impossible, such as when the woman is pregnant, after menopause, or when the woman is using a permissible form of contraception.

In the Torah, the word used for sex between husband and wife comes from the root Yod-Dalet-Ayin, meaning "to know," which vividly illustrates that proper Jewish sexuality involves both the heart and mind, not merely the body.

Nevertheless, Judaism does not ignore the physical component of sexuality. The need for physical compatibility between husband and wife is recognized in Jewish law. A Jewish couple must meet at least once before the marriage, and if either prospective spouse finds the other physically repulsive, the marriage is forbidden.

Sex should only be experienced in a time of joy. Sex for selfish personal satisfaction, without regard for the partner's pleasure, is wrong and evil. A man may never force his wife to have sex. A couple may not have sexual relations while drunk or quarreling. Sex may never be used as a weapon against a spouse, either by depriving the spouse of sex or by compelling it. It is a serious offense to use sex (or lack thereof) to punish or manipulate a spouse.

Sex is the woman's right, not the man's. A man has a duty to give his wife sex regularly and to ensure that sex is pleasurable for her. He is also obligated to watch for signs that his wife wants sex, and to offer it to her without her asking for it. The woman's right to sexual intercourse is referred to as onah, and it is one of a wife's three basic rights (the others are food and clothing), which a husband may not reduce. The Talmud specifies both the quantity and quality of sex that a man must give his wife. It specifies the frequency of sexual obligation based on the husband's occupation, although this obligation can be modified in the ketubah (marriage contract). A man may not take a vow to abstain from sex for an extended period of time, and may not take a journey for an extended period of time, because that would deprive his wife of sexual relations. In addition, a husband's consistent refusal to engage in sexual relations is grounds for compelling a man to divorce his wife, even if the couple has already fulfilled the halakhic obligation to procreate.

Although sex is the woman's right, she does not have absolute discretion to withhold it from her husband. A woman may not withhold sex from her husband as a form of punishment, and if she does, the husband may divorce her without paying the substantial divorce settlement provided for in the ketubah.

Although some sources take a more narrow view, the general view of halakhah is that any sexual act that does not involve sh'chatat zerah (destruction of seed, that is, ejaculation outside the vagina) is permissible. As one passage in the Talmud states, "a man may do whatever he pleases with his wife." (Nedarim 20b) In fact, there are passages in the Talmud that encourage foreplay to arouse the woman. (Nedarim 20a).


- posted by Izak @ 2:44 AM (0) comments

 
Anti-Semitism Now: The oldest and longest-lived hatred in the world...they just can't give up hating the Jews...
An Israeli Leader Laments...and finds some "comfort" in Israel...

Ahad Ha'am's consolation
By Amnon Rubinstein
http://www.haaretz.com/

In writing recent articles on anti-Semitism, I felt as if I were forced to swim through a river of filth:

the new blood libels in the Egyptian, Saudi and Syrian press;

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," coming back to life again and again;

the final scene of the Egyptian television series "Horseman Without a Horse," which calls for the murder of Jews (but not babies);

old-time anti-Semitic writings reappearing under the new guise of anti-Zionism;

hysterically irrational articles against Israel, such as the report in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, under the headline "Israel against the Palestinians - three years of walls of shame,"

that Israeli soldiers carved a Star of David on an Arab's arms,

or the reports in the Spanish-language El Pais of an Arab girl who "died of fear" because of the Israel Defense Forces

and of an Arab "activist," as it calls him, who killed a nameless Jewish baby near Hebron;

newspapers that totally ignore Palestinian terror as the reason for the construction of the fence;

an exhibition in Athens devoted to female Palestinian suicide bombers, exhibiting an explosive belt made of macrame.

While having to deal with this filth, I asked myself: How did this happen? How did it happen that the hatred for Jews - the oldest and longest-lived hatred in the world - has remained unchanged? How is it that there is such a great similarity between what the Roman Emperor Julian said about the Jews two thousand years ago ("a cruel and arrogant people") and what De Gaulle said 40 years ago and Mikis Theodorakis just four weeks ago? Is there something about us, as author A.B Yehoshua has said, that drives other people mad?

After all, Zionism arose in order to do away with all that - to provide the Jews with a safe asylum in Zion as well as to enable them to live in dignity throughout the Diaspora.

And now we are seeing just the opposite happening, and we are once forced to grasp at the consolation that Ahad Ha'am drew from the blood libels at the end of the 19th century - that by their very spuriousness, they counter the suspicion that there could be anything to the accusations against the Jews.

When I read the groundless accusations about Israeli society in the Belgian Le Soir, I took consolation in Ahad Ha'am, but I was unable to find the consolation that Zionism had put an end to this kind of hatred.

True, a different policy in the territories would mitigate the hostility, but who is gullible enough to believe that it would completely eradicate it?

I was, however, able to find one small comfort.

About a year ago, when attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in Britain surged, when the mendacious propaganda regarding the so-called Jenin massacre caused a number of British newspapers to come out with groundless attacks on Israel, a delegation of Jewish leaders, among them some of England's leading Jewish judges, met with Prime Minister Tony Blair in order to persuade him to quell the spread of the wave of anti-Semitism. It was a delegation in the best tradition of the Diaspora Jewish community from pre-Emancipation times. At least in Israel, we are spared delegations of that stripe.

It is true that Zionism sought to save the Jews from the great evils that befell them in the Diaspora - and in that, in the creation of a world "without evils," it did not succeed. But at least for the Jews in Israel, it managed to create a life "without favors."

True, Israel needs international support, and without the West's support it would find itself in genuine existential danger. But despite that, and despite the daily dangers posed to our lives, we do not need the favors of strangers, and we do not live in the constant fear of what they will say about us behind our backs or of the way the waiter/ salesperson/ newspaper editor/ president will respond if our behavior does not meet with his or her approval.

The claims that cruelty and arrogance are characteristics of the Jews are nonsense and lies, but it is true that we are a stubborn people.

With all the faults of our government, and they are many and intolerable, with all the internal dissent, and despite the wave of Islamo-fascist-leftist hatred, we will continue to cling to the idea of a Jewish state - with all the evils of other countries, but without their favors.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/370742.html
- posted by Izak @ 5:11 AM (0) comments

 
Jacob and Esau: A Very Strange “Showdown”.

Written by me, SIMSHALOM !

Related to the weekly Torah portion VaYishlach read in synagogue December 13, ’03.
(Genesis Chapter 32, verse 4 to Chapter 36, verse 43.)

Showdowns come in all shapes and sizes, from childish “I’ll tell my Mommy on you” to “Shoot out at the OK Corral”. Setting the record straight, getting even, and unadulterated revenge are part of a culture that has glorified duels between two consenting males who agree to a formula of “May the Best Man Win”. Never mind that the “best man” may be the first one who got himself skewered and killed after ten steps and a shot from a pistol or after conceding one en guard too many. So much seems to be left to “luck”, or “fate”, in these mortal encounters that culturally we have been left bereft of any meaningful insights into why in the first place God would want a world where people are placed in such unenviable situations where at least one of the parties concerned will be carried off dead? There has to be more to it…

Yet we learn from this week’s Torah portion that while showdowns and confrontations are indeed unavoidable and are inherently part of the human condition, they must fit into a broader scheme of things to take on any lasting significance. The tit for tat of two oafs who can’t get over some squabble about some insult to their “honor”, perhaps framed in grandiose terms of a vendetta “blood feud”, is NOT what the reunion of Esau and Jacob is about. One must strive to penetrate the clouds and see meaning in why it is that two major protagonists pray for the day when each can face off against the other and emerge the ultimate victor.

The Torah has already described Esau’s objective when: “Esau was furious at Jacob because of the blessing that his father had given him. He said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father will be here soon. I will then be able to kill my brother Jacob’.” (Genesis 27, vs. 39-40). And hence the crucial Oral Law teaching that “It is a fixed Law-Halachah- that Esau (always) hates Jacob” - “HALACHAH HI BEYADUA SHE’EISAV SONEIH ET YA’AKOV”. So a showdown is to be feared and in the face of raging hate, avoided then at all costs, for obvious reasons. So why doesn’t Jacob somehow find ways to head off any confrontations with his brother permanently?

The answers are complex, because when you look at how events unfold in the “showdown” between Esau and Jacob a lot of very unexpected and astonishing revelations open up before us, which will literally change the face of the Jewish world.

Just consider the basic “chronology” of events as they appear in the Torah:
The birthplace of Jacob’s wives and children is Haran, where Jacob has toiled long and hard, and seen his personal fortunes improve greatly. Jacob and his father in law do not get along, so with God’s blessings, Jacob sets out to return to his birthplace, Canaan, to carry out the next part of his Divine mission of establishing a Children of Israel in the Land of Israel. Unfortunately his brother Esau lands nearby and with his troops blocks the way. Jacob sends “messengers” with tidings of peace. They come back with reports that Esau advances with hundreds of men of war:
“Jacob was very frightened and distressed. He divided the people accompanying him into two camps…He said, ‘If Esau comes and attacks one camp, at least the other camp will survive.’ Jacob prayed… ‘Rescue me, I pray, from the hand of my brother…I am afraid of him, for he can come and kill us all, mothers and children alike…’.” (Genesis Chapter 32, verses 8-13) [*1]


He further sends retinues with livestock gifts each, and a “spokesman” declaring it a tribute to Esau. Says Jacob hopefully: “I will win him over with the gifts that are being sent ahead, and then I will face him. Hopefully he will forgive me.” (Genesis 32, verse 21).

AND NOW COMES A SHOWDOWN !

The night before the fateful encounter with the “unknown”, Jacob has a startling encounter with larger than life, “real-life” qualities to it:
“A stranger wrestled with him…he could not defeat him (Jacob), he touched the upper joint of Jacob’s thigh. Jacob’s hip joint became dislocated… ‘Let me leave said the stranger. Dawn is breaking’.” Answers Jacob: “I will not let you leave unless you bless me”. Asks the mysterious stranger: “What is your name?” Jacob answers: “Jacob.” Declares the stranger: “Your name will no longer be said to be Jacob, but ISRAEL (Yisra’el). You have become great (‘sar’) before God and man. You have won.”… “He then blessed Jacob”. (Genesis Chapter 32, vs. 25-30). [*2]

Almost anti-climactically when the two brothers subsequently then meet, Esau is strangely very conciliatory. They embrace, kiss, cry, exchange compliments, and…. each goes their own way! Jacob declines Esau’s invitation to provide armed escorts (of all things to offer… “Would you like my ‘SS Legions’ to ‘help you guys’?…some offer…), and Jacob politely promises: “I will eventually come to you, my lord, in Seir”…“Just let me remain on friendly terms with you.” (Genesis 33, verses 14-15.

Now what is going on over here? Jacob fled for his life. Based on the facts, it’s clear as daylight that Esau should have wanted to exterminate him and his entire family ASAP, so why does Jacob need to cross paths with his villainous brother at all? On the “eve of confrontation/battle” Jacob has an “EPIPHANOUS encounter” (“epiphaneia” is Greek for “manifestation”) – such as of a “superhuman being” who cripples him for life in his hip, yet Jacob comes away victorious and is renamed “ISRAEL”. Who is this mysterious nocturnal powerful being and what is the meaning of the “RENAMING” from Jacob to Israel? And then why is the “actual” showdown between Jacob and Esau so “tame” compared to Jacob’s struggle with the mysterious being the night before? What kind of “showdown” is this altogether?

A very important principle in classical Judaism is that there is no such thing as “random causality” - an oxymoron if ever there was one :- )

The universe consists of spirals within spirals of not just galaxies and solar systems, but also of Divine Acts and Forces, vast Spiritual Energy Fields, both Positive and Negative. There is NO vacuum! In the spiritual sense everything converges here on this world of ours. Things that may seem simply mundane, or the result of “historical”, “economic”, or “sociological” forces, are actually intrinsically bound up with higher spiritual activities that actually will be the ones to determine the final outcome of things down here below on Earth. Jacob, like Abraham and Isaac before him, was fully aware that he was not just “living his own life”, but that he had been chosen by God to act the leading role for the Divine Script of all History, as a kind of divine quill writing the destiny of all mankind with his own lifeblood and actions, linking the world of the spirit with the world of matter. It is Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who build the actual “stage” (“All the world’s a stage”) on God’s Earth and lay out the directions of all subsequent acts of the play to follow forevermore.

For example, when a crazed Cossack, hatchet in hand, sitting on a galloping pony, and aiming to cleave a few innocent Jewish skulls in half, is “SOMEHOW” either foiled or enabled in his gruesome mission, it is not a case of “random causality”, and not a “toss of the coin” of “good” nor “bad” “luck” that hinders or enables events. Something far, far greater than the menacing crazed Cossack “acting” or the bewildered hapless Jews “reacting” is actually taking place. The prayer of one good Jew, from the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, may be enough to stop the Cossack’s sword from slicing. In Judaism there is ALWAYS, CONSTANTLY, 100% OF THE TIME, a vast universal cosmic behind the scenes drama taking place that ties even the smallest events on Earth together with how the scales are tipped up in the Celestial Abodes. It is NEVER merely “Caesar’s -Esau’s- Mortal Thumb” that may point upwards or downwards with life and death in the balance for the “hapless” victims facing the lions in the arena of life. The real drama is taking place in some other concealed “place”, in some other hidden dimension, where the “actual” “showdown” is taking place, between some primal Forces of Good encountering and repulsing the onslaught by Forces of Evil. (They say the “Matrix” movies exploit this theme).

Jacob was on such an unimaginable high spiritual level that when faced by the mortal dangers of his brutal brother, his entire being almost automatically swung to face, first and foremost, NOT the flesh and blood adversary, but rather the governing root principal source of it in the hidden dimensions. The classical rabbis therefore say that the “mysterious stranger” that Jacob faced and who wounded him, was none other than the “guardian angel” of Esau himself, “Samael” who is also the executionary grim reaper, the “Angel of Death”. Others teach that it was the archangel Michael who came to give Jacob a taste of victory. Yet, Jacob faced to confront Esau’s essence first and in a bizarre hand-to-hand duel, pins him down till dawn, and it is LIGHT itself that, that Dark Angel fears most. (A good connection with the “Light” of Hanukkah versus the Dark of night/winter/exile/death themes). Jacob’s powers are derived directly from his closeness to God, the source of absolute Light, through his prayers and following His wishes.

Having the superhuman energy to make the Angel of Darkness “see the light”, by drawing on God’s energies, is enough to draw away enough dark energy from Esau in real time, so that when the dawn of day comes, Esau has actually been “cleaned out” or “filtered” of excessive hate. Yes, he still hates his brother Jacob, but like someone coming out of a spiritual “surgery” that was “above his head” (good pun), a kind of spiritual “ ‘lobotomization’ of his urge to kill his brother” has transpired, and he is now “drowsy” and “chilled out”, from the “anesthetic” and holy medication that has somehow lowered the rate of hate in the cauldron of boiling blood in his dangerous morbid heart, and turned him, albeit temporarily, from a raging tiger into a drunken pussy-cat.

Now isn’t that a great form of “head-shrinking” @:- )

So the rabbis derive a crucial set of three principles from Jacob’s actions on the eve of his showdown with his brother Esau the Wicked (“Esav HaRasha”, in Hebrew), that (a) shows how Jacob was able to pave the way for the temporary pacification of his brother, and (b) how he “loaded up” on Divine “ammunition” needed to neutralize Esau, and (c) shape a policy of how to approach conflicts with Esau’s seed down the line. As mentioned in the Rashi commentary:

One, he prepared to give Esau a huge ego flattering present, the rich flocks of animals as mentioned above.

“Jacob set a pattern for future generations who would be confronted by oppression from Esau’s descendants. He sought salvation both by means of ‘doron’, an attempt to appease the enemy with gifts, and then ‘tefilah’, prayers for God’s help” [*3]. This method of “bribing your way out of trouble” has succeeded many times. There have been times though when the rabbis actually forbid such practices, as in the case of the famous Maharam Rottenburg, a great rabbi who asked NOT to be ransomed, when a local lord in Germany attempted to blackmail a Jewish community out of existence.

Two, he prayed to God.

Interestingly, the “Zohar offers that God instilled this fearful response in Jacob, so that he would be drawn to prayer, since ‘God yearns for the prayer of the righteous’.” [*4] This is the greatest “key” to unlock the mysteries of Jacob’s activities and it would require a vast in-depth analysis of the meaning and power of prayer/s, as a means of obtaining the success of even those things God Himself intends to carry out, that go way beyond the scope of this essay.

Prayer is that sublime, mysterious, inscrutable spiritual high-speed “world-wide-web-Internet” instant and constant infinite super highway CONNECTION, that links Men and Women with the ultimate sources of their bodies and souls in God their maker, “Soul-Life-Web Host and Server”, ready to provide them with anything they may need 24/7.
It’s the ultimate communications, personal emergency, crisis and “mail-order” system, available to humanity. It is Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who were the first true “end-users” of this service indispensable to human survival and existence.

Three, he prepared for war.

“Ramban and Rashi, citing Midrash, say that Jacob prepared himself for war. He was confident that all his posterity could NOT be destroyed by Esau, even if one camp fell, the other would certainly escape.”

In combining all three strategies, Jacob’s behavior and actions during this entire episode becomes the blueprint for all his descendants down to our own times. This is an example of the crucial principle of “MA’ASEH AVOT SIMAN LEBANIM” – “THE DEEDS OF THE FOREFATHERS BECOMES AS A ‘SIGN’ (‘FOUNDATION’) FOR THEIR SONS”. Jacob implants into the Jewish religious “body politic” the necessary anti-dotes and anti-bodies, immune systems and protective reactions that will kick in almost automatically whenever his children and children’s children face similar daunting circumstances. And so:

“ This portends the destiny of the Jewish people: Though decrees designed to exterminate the Jewish people will be promulgated in certain countries, Israel will never be exterminated entirely. Should one gentile king decree their destruction, another king will be merciful in his country, and offer them refuge. As Rabbi Hirsch writes: Never has Esau’s sword reached us all in one swoop. When we bled on the Rhein, our brethren in the Slavic lands were safe, and vice versa. ‘God acted righteously to Israel by scattering them among the nations’ (Talmud Pesachim 87b). Jacob, during his personal exile, now did the same.” [*5]

Obviously nothing is ever as “simple” as it seems, yet somehow we can’t resist asking ourselves, is there EVER a time when things are settled once and for all between Jacob and Esau? The answer is most definitely YES, and the renaming of Jacob to become Israel is the great “clue”. That’s the “good news”. The “bad news” is that it will be a job for the Jewish Messiah to settle the score once and for all whenever he arrives…

In classical Judaism, Esau is the forefather of Rome in all its meanings and stages in history. The name “Rome”, says the great rabbi the Maharal of Prague, is connected to the Hebrew word “rom”, which means “highness” or “elevated”. The nation, culture and people of Rome are distinguished by their “highness” over other nations and peoples, a true “royal highness” as they are the masters over others. From its inception, Rome was a “colossus” that towered over other nations militarily, culturally and even religiously. Its influence and power spanned the globe because ultimately, like most of its Western heirs, it functioned as a global world power imposing its will on all, the Pax Romana, the “Peace of Rome”. This, say the rabbis, is related to another principle of ‘Rosh Goyim Amalek”, that the nation of Amalek, one of Rome’s main ancestors, is described as also being the “Head of Nations”. All this is most befitting the crown of Esau. He was given great temporal leadership powers to lord over this world. But he has one “Achilles heal”, his little “Jewish brother” Jacob, the Hebrew name Ya’akov being derived from the “heal” of Esau that he was holding on to. There was a time when Esau and Jacob lived apart. But for the last two thousand years their fates have been intertwined. Esau lives under that grand delusional historical illusion that he has “subdued” the little Jew Jacob, especially after Rome burnt the Jewish Temple to the ground and destroyed Jerusalem and Judea. Nevertheless, the Jews are still regarded as major “threats” to Rome’s ambitions.

However, according to classical Judaism there is a great day of reckoning coming, a showdown of showdowns that will put all other previous showdowns to shame: A time when Jacob will subdue Esau’s evil impulses and imperial world dominance. How will that be done? A very big part of it will be through the triumph of Jacob’s Biblical Values and Morality over Rome’s crass materialism and superstition. But going even deeper than that, is the notion derived from the power inherent in “Jacob” becoming “Israel”.

Jacob will ultimately wear down, out run, and inhibit Esau’s world, turning it from a world of hate and war which is what this world, the “OLAM HAZEH” is, into a world of love and peace bringing Heaven, the “OLAM HABA”, down to Earth, even though at times it may appear that Rome (via Christianity) has seized the initiative in this, yet it is only Judaism that can truly do it finally.

“Jacob” is extremely human and humane; he has very human struggles up until the point when he has to face the “reality” of overcoming his brother. At that point he is granted extra help from Up On High and is transformed into a NEW BEING called “ISRAEL”:
“Your name will no longer be said to be Jacob, but Israel (Yisra’el). You have become great (‘sar’) before God and man. You have won...Jacob named the place Divine Face (‘Peniel’). He said, ‘I have seen the Divine face to face, and my soul has withstood it.’The sun rose and was shining on him as he left Penuel. He was limping because of his thigh.” (Genesis, Chapter 32, vs. 29; 31-32.)[*6]

Thus Jacob’s struggle is credited to him as if he had actually come “face to face” with the Divine. This means that he became endowed and imbibed into his inner essence a level of knowledge and awareness about how the Divine works and manifests itself in the universe. It also brings him face to face with “dark forces” that are brought into this world to TEST his will. Jacob transforms and transmutes himself into a being capable of encountering and even negating the potential flow of negative energies into this world. He is endowed with a capacity to CHANGE THE TIDES OF HISTORY. This is the power of a “YIS’RAEL”, a “SAR”, as in the word “Sir”, “Sire”, “Master” of his own fate and destiny, with Godly and God-like powers. Every Jew as a child of the first Israel is thus a “MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE !”. Hence also the Midrashic teaching that on God’s own Divine Celestial Throne, so to speak, is engraved the facial image of JACOB! Jacob’s countenance mirrors God and this is embodied in the name ISRAEL. The Children of Israel, and the Land of Israel therefore become unconquerable and indestructible entities in the ultimate sense. Neither Rome nor any other force ever has, nor will they ever be able, to obliterate that supreme entity called ISRAEL!

The ultimate Jewish prayer, said twice daily, is “HEAR O ISRAEL THE LORD IS OUR GOD THE LORD IS ONE”. (Deuteronomy Chapter 6, verse 4). The greatest declaration a Jew can ever make during life and before death is a sentence that links ISRAEL with the capacity and privilege of accepting and bonding with God’s true essence his absolute UNITY. Absolute Monotheism and belief in God’s existence epitomized and exhibited within its greatest proponents and teachers the Jews of the Children of Israel all rooted in Jacob/Israel is what will wipe Esau’s heirs off the map one day.

So whereas Esau comes armed to the teeth with a hordes of select soldiers to fight against Jacob the Jew, Jacob prepares for war by undertaking a journey of personal spiritual perfection and life enhancing Torah, arming himself with spiritual energy by connecting to God in such ways as to shield and repel the avalanche of any and all evil rolling his way.

It is PRECISELY BECAUSE Jacob was in a face to face confrontation with evil in the raw that he garnered for himself vast stores and resources of those specific kind of holy Godly energies needed to conquer evil incarnate in any form. Like a snake handler who is made “immune” to the snake’s poison, because he has previously preemptively absorbed the PARADOXICAL life-giving “vaccine” that enhances and elevates his immune system to the point that he becomes “indestructible” and protectively guarded from any “poison” that a subsequent snakebite could inflict!

Not to be outdone though by any means at all, Jacob does not come away from his showdown unharmed. The Torah says that Jacob was wounded in the thigh or hip, in the sciatic nerve they say, which caused him to go away limping and become crippled. The more esoteric commentaries claim that when the mysterious angel in the dark saw that he could not over-power Jacob at that point, he reached for his private parts and actually tried to castrate or neuter Jacob so that his power to procreate, or perhaps even his “creative” spiritual powers, would be literally cut off and ended. (Isn’t that what drives anti-Semites crazy, that Jews are so “creative” in so many fields? And so they then fantasize about the “Final Solution” to imagined Jewish “control” and “superiority”? Bring about world wars, and instead the Jew-haters bring even greater misery to the world…some “final”, “solution”! And the Jews STILL live on and flourish! Go figure!)

Esau sadly “succeeded” to a degree. In one way, Jacob never had any more children after this, as his wife Rachel was already pregnant with his last son Benjamin, and that would have been the culmination of all of Jacob’s family building in any case. However, the great rabbi the Maharsha claims, that this was a kind of “prophetic” indication that even though Jacob himself was too strong to personally succumb to the damaging alluring intents of the Serpent’s ways, yet it would be Jacob’s seed later in time who would become the victims of Rome’s hedonistically seductive ways when Jews would imitate and be engulfed by latter day “sexual revolutions” that would threaten Jacob’s Children of Israel and Jewish survival no less than the burning down of the Jewish Temple.

It would therefore seem that the story is far from over, so that the “showdown/s” in different varieties will just keep on occurring till finally something will happen to settle things once and for all. Stay tuned to history `[:-}~|%<<

Have a wonderful Shabbat and let me know what you think!

[*1] The Living Torah, English Translation, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, p.155.
[*2] Ibid.
[*3] Artscroll Genesis, Volume I (b),English commentary, p. 1426.
[*4] Ibid., p.1415.
[*5] Ibid., p.1420.
[*6] The Living Torah, pp.158-159.

- posted by Izak @ 1:19 PM (0) comments