Just thought this might be fun as a casual approach to the passage. A Torah portion comicbook. -Shabbot Tov
Thursday, December 3, 2009
New post from Rabbi Ya'acov Farber
Thanks again, Rabbi Farber, The grace of Ha Shem be with you and yours, -Bradley Avi
"קפיצה למסקנות"
"Jumping To Conclusions"
Parashat HaShavua VaYishlach / And He Sent
This Week's Reading List:
BeReshit / Genesis 32:3-36:43
Ovadyah / Obadiah 1:1-21
Mattityahu / Matthew 26:36-46
Bereshit {32:3} Ya'akov (Jacob) sent messengers in front of him to Esav (Esau), his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. ` {32:4} He commanded them, saying, "This is what you shall tell my lord, Esav: 'This is what your servant, Ya'akov, says. I have sojourned with Lavan (Laban), and stayed until now. {32:5} I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, men-servants, and maid-servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favour in your sight. '" {32:6} The messengers returned to Ya'akov, saying, "We came to your brother Esav. Not only that, but he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him." {32:7} Then Ya'akov was greatly afraid and was distressed: and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies; {32:8} and he said, "If Esav comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape."
When people ask if I physically exercise or workout at a gym I would tell them that the only exercise I get is ‘jumping to conclusions'. Of course I always mean it as a joke, but when you consider the passage I quoted above, taken from our Parasha this week, jumping to conclusions can be a very serious thing -- even a sin! Allow me to explain.
Many times when we talk with people we take what they say or how they respond to us in the wrong way and because of that we ‘jump to conclusions'. In fact in misunderstanding them we develop this “what if” scenario in our minds and we often come up with wrong, distorted conclusions; we ‘jump to conclusions'.
Esav and Ya'acov did not exactly part company on the best of terms twenty years earlier. So it understandable that when Ya'acov heard that his brother was coming to meet him and that his brother had with him four hundred men that he concluded the worst. However, the fact is that there is no indication in Scripture that Esav's intentions were anything less than honourable.
Esav, obviously by what we read in this Parasha, was a wealthy, self-made man. He had reached the level of wealth, influence and power that he had hoped to achieve through his father's blessing, yet he achieved this without it, he did it on his own. His birthright did not have any meaning to him twenty years ago, and now that he had what he wanted, financially and politically, it meant even less to him so why hold a grudge. Esav got it all, and he did it “his way” so there was no longer any need for hard feelings towards his brother, whom he thought cheated him out of his potential wealth, influence and power.
Ya'acov, on the other hand, did not fare so well these past twenty years. First he was cheated when it came to the woman he loved. Then he was cheated when it came to acquiring wealth. He laboured twenty years for practically nothing! When he finally left Lavan, his father-in law, he did so with his family and his wealth that he acquired by manipulation and by the grace of G-d. So is it any wonder that he was suspect of his brother? Manipulative people think that everyone else is manipulative. Ya'acov, because of the hard life he led these past twenty years, was still carrying the guilt of what he did to his brother and this guilt led him to ‘jump to conclusions'.
You see if you are untrustworthy, you will not trust; if you cheat, you will always be suspect of being cheated; if you are a deceiver, you will always suppose that you are being deceived. This was Ya'acov and it could be you as well!
Of course, when viewed in the spiritual, there was a huge difference between what happened to Esav and what happened to Ya'acov over the past twenty years. Ya'acov, despite all of his faults, had a true heart for G-d and because of it G-d was moulding and shaping him into the true man of G-d that He intended him to be, as chastisement and hardship build character. However, Ya'acov had not changed enough. There was still more of the old self lurking inside of him and this event of ‘jumping to conclusions' instead of trusting in G-d proved it to us, and I believe it proved it to Ya'acov as well.
On the other hand Esav was carnal and spiritually dead. Just as carnally dead as he was twenty years ago and perhaps even more so. Esav's godlessness manifested itself in his pride. I believe that is why he came to greet his brother with four hundred men on horseback. It was not for a show of strength, but it was, in my opinion, a show of, “I made it regardless of you Ya'acov, so now I am coming to rescue you from your homeless wanderings and bring you to live in my kingdom.”
I think the lesson to be learned here is that our own guilt, our own manipulative and suspicious tendencies deceive us. They are what cause us to be wary and ‘jump to conclusions'. Shaul (Paul) gave us the antidote for conclusion jumping.
Filifim {4:8} Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.
*********************
Baruch HaShem
Rabbi Ya'acov Farber
Hallelujah for our Lord, our Teacher,our Rabbi, "YESHUA" King Messiah for ever and ever!!!
Visit our Webpage @ www.cmy.on.ca / cmy@ca.inter.net
272 Ranee Ave Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6A-1N6, Tel: 416-785-7612
An ever changing Messianic Jewish website
till King Mashiach Yeshua comes back!!!
Shalom Shalom
"קפיצה למסקנות"
"Jumping To Conclusions"
Parashat HaShavua VaYishlach / And He Sent
This Week's Reading List:
BeReshit / Genesis 32:3-36:43
Ovadyah / Obadiah 1:1-21
Mattityahu / Matthew 26:36-46
Bereshit {32:3} Ya'akov (Jacob) sent messengers in front of him to Esav (Esau), his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. ` {32:4} He commanded them, saying, "This is what you shall tell my lord, Esav: 'This is what your servant, Ya'akov, says. I have sojourned with Lavan (Laban), and stayed until now. {32:5} I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, men-servants, and maid-servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favour in your sight. '" {32:6} The messengers returned to Ya'akov, saying, "We came to your brother Esav. Not only that, but he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him." {32:7} Then Ya'akov was greatly afraid and was distressed: and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies; {32:8} and he said, "If Esav comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape."
When people ask if I physically exercise or workout at a gym I would tell them that the only exercise I get is ‘jumping to conclusions'. Of course I always mean it as a joke, but when you consider the passage I quoted above, taken from our Parasha this week, jumping to conclusions can be a very serious thing -- even a sin! Allow me to explain.
Many times when we talk with people we take what they say or how they respond to us in the wrong way and because of that we ‘jump to conclusions'. In fact in misunderstanding them we develop this “what if” scenario in our minds and we often come up with wrong, distorted conclusions; we ‘jump to conclusions'.
Esav and Ya'acov did not exactly part company on the best of terms twenty years earlier. So it understandable that when Ya'acov heard that his brother was coming to meet him and that his brother had with him four hundred men that he concluded the worst. However, the fact is that there is no indication in Scripture that Esav's intentions were anything less than honourable.
Esav, obviously by what we read in this Parasha, was a wealthy, self-made man. He had reached the level of wealth, influence and power that he had hoped to achieve through his father's blessing, yet he achieved this without it, he did it on his own. His birthright did not have any meaning to him twenty years ago, and now that he had what he wanted, financially and politically, it meant even less to him so why hold a grudge. Esav got it all, and he did it “his way” so there was no longer any need for hard feelings towards his brother, whom he thought cheated him out of his potential wealth, influence and power.
Ya'acov, on the other hand, did not fare so well these past twenty years. First he was cheated when it came to the woman he loved. Then he was cheated when it came to acquiring wealth. He laboured twenty years for practically nothing! When he finally left Lavan, his father-in law, he did so with his family and his wealth that he acquired by manipulation and by the grace of G-d. So is it any wonder that he was suspect of his brother? Manipulative people think that everyone else is manipulative. Ya'acov, because of the hard life he led these past twenty years, was still carrying the guilt of what he did to his brother and this guilt led him to ‘jump to conclusions'.
You see if you are untrustworthy, you will not trust; if you cheat, you will always be suspect of being cheated; if you are a deceiver, you will always suppose that you are being deceived. This was Ya'acov and it could be you as well!
Of course, when viewed in the spiritual, there was a huge difference between what happened to Esav and what happened to Ya'acov over the past twenty years. Ya'acov, despite all of his faults, had a true heart for G-d and because of it G-d was moulding and shaping him into the true man of G-d that He intended him to be, as chastisement and hardship build character. However, Ya'acov had not changed enough. There was still more of the old self lurking inside of him and this event of ‘jumping to conclusions' instead of trusting in G-d proved it to us, and I believe it proved it to Ya'acov as well.
On the other hand Esav was carnal and spiritually dead. Just as carnally dead as he was twenty years ago and perhaps even more so. Esav's godlessness manifested itself in his pride. I believe that is why he came to greet his brother with four hundred men on horseback. It was not for a show of strength, but it was, in my opinion, a show of, “I made it regardless of you Ya'acov, so now I am coming to rescue you from your homeless wanderings and bring you to live in my kingdom.”
I think the lesson to be learned here is that our own guilt, our own manipulative and suspicious tendencies deceive us. They are what cause us to be wary and ‘jump to conclusions'. Shaul (Paul) gave us the antidote for conclusion jumping.
Filifim {4:8} Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.
*********************
Baruch HaShem
Rabbi Ya'acov Farber
Hallelujah for our Lord, our Teacher,our Rabbi, "YESHUA" King Messiah for ever and ever!!!
Visit our Webpage @ www.cmy.on.ca / cmy@ca.inter.net
272 Ranee Ave Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6A-1N6, Tel: 416-785-7612
An ever changing Messianic Jewish website
till King Mashiach Yeshua comes back!!!
Shalom Shalom
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