Toledot- Generations

Toldot
Genesis 25:19-28:9

This Torah passage is covers a very well known Bible story.

It is the birth of Jacob and Esau, their relationship with their parents, their growing up, the taking of the birthright from Esau, and the blessing. In the end, Jacob runs off to the north and will get married while Esau marries a third wife the daughter of Ishmael.

Many messages have been written about these stories, and in fact they are worthy of a great deal of study, but I will center in on just a couple items of note; specifically the character of the two.

Esau-

These two are twins (as our story reveals). I have always held a fascination for me. The identical twin is God’s equal vent of a human photocopy produced at the same time. It was this concept of identical twins that inspired the medical possibility of cloning. Identical twins are born identical and are generally born into the same home, so they are raised in the same environment. These twins will often find different ways to differentiate each other. One might become successful in sports while the other in music. One might become and introvert while the other an extrovert. They often find ways to adjust their appearance so people recognise them from their sibling. Yet, their lives are walking experiments about how the same person (genetically) can live out two different lives.
The non-identical twins are also interesting. These non-identical twins are the same as siblings who would have grown up in different environments separated by years except that their birth happened at the same moment. My eldest son, grew up with a couple of parents in their twenties. It was just us 3. I was a grad school student living on a Seminary campus. We lived in a trailer, which was a very modest home for the three of us. Today, my wife is expecting with our 8th child. This child will enter a world with 5 brothers and 2 sisters. His father will be 39 before he/she is born. I am retired, and we live in a mortgage free home in a small town in Saskatchewan. Josh and baby 8 are raised in two very different worlds. This is understandable. Siblings separated by years don’t grow up in the same environment.
Now, back to our story. These people will be two separate nations. Jacob (Yisrael) and Esau (Edom). These nations will be antagonistic. These babies did not look alike.
When I first taught this story to my own family the first year we became Torah observant, I grabbed a couple of my children’s’ to act as my “babies”. The first one, I used Elmo (from Sesame Street) and that was my Esau. The second one was a plastic baby doll (they used to call these Kewpie dolls) that was Jacob. Now years later, I still see them that way and I think my children do as well.
Esau was the first born. He became a the big strong outdoorsmen. He was a hunter, and man’s man! No doubt, Isaac favoured Esau.
The sages also have something else to say about Esau:

Isaac loved Esau because [his] game was in his mouth (25:28)
Esau would deceive him with his mouth. He would inquire of him: "Father, how does one tithe salt? Father, how does one tithe straw?" And Isaac would muse: "This son of mine, how diligent he is in the fulfillment of the commandments!"
(Midrash Tanchuma; Rashi)

Now, I can’t confirm that this is actually the way Esau was, but this is the way he is cast among the ancient scholars.

His actions of throwing away his birthright for some food, choosing his own wives against the family custom, desiring to kill his brother after his father dies, paint a character of the basest quality. He is almost seen as a mass of selfishness. His is a victim of his own hypothalamus. He is the opposite of “self control”. He is the picture of self gratification. His is in stark contrast to the man who would become “Israel”.

Jacob-


Now Jacob is a different cut. He is a quiet (or innocent) man (depending on your translation), who lived among the tents. I have to admit when I first read this I didn’t admire him much for this. What, he’s some sort of wimp? (no, he really wasn’t, he’ll later wrestle with an angel). I actually sort of saw him the way people talk about their neighbours when they found out the neighbours are being arrested as an axe murder. “yes,” they would say, “nice fella, but definitely a quiet man pretty much kept to himself.” (not a pretty image)

Yet, my perspective on this changed a few years ago as I did some math.

Gen 21:5 And Abraham was a hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.

Gen 25:7 And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, a hundred threescore and fifteen years. (175 years)

Gen 24:1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age

Gen 25:26 And after that came forth his brother, and his hand had hold on Esau's
heel. And his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. (60 years)

From these last few passages you can see that Jacob, if he were the kind of man who “hung around the tents” would have had the chance to hear and learn from Abraham who would have still been alive until he was about 15.

Esau would not. He’s out in the forest doing manly things.
However, the story get better.

There is another character who is still alive as well.

The entire direct line of descent from Noah down to Abraham's father was still alive up until Abraham was 49 years old, and Noah did not die until Abraham was 60 years old. Abraham left Haran with Lot only 15 years after Noah died, and Shem was still alive when Abraham finally died 100 years after that. Shem did not die until Jacob (Israel) was 50 years old. Here we find a very important bit of information. Abraham may have received historical information directly from Noah while Jacob could have gathered historical facts directly from Shem. This leaves us with Jacob, the father of the nation of Israel, as having only third-hand knowledge, second-hand knowledge, first-hand knowledge or direct eyewitness knowledge of all the history of mankind from the creation through to his day

Where was Esau? Hmmmmm, I guess he must have been out in the fields. Too bad. That’s not a chance he’d ever get back the learning opportunity.

This contact with these people I believe shaped completely different characters.

Jacob, understood the work God was doing. He saw the importance of the “firstborn”, and he also knew History that biology is not the only criteria for this spiritual lineage. (Shem was the second born, and Isaac had at least one older brother). He could usurp his brother in this, and in fact, it was his duty an honour to be a part of the Godly lineage. It would be terrible to let the centuries of God’s work fall into someone who had no regard for it. (quoted from the electronic Biblical Commentary)

Now the taking of the birthright:

The ancient sages believe that there is something important about what Jacob was doing

Jacob cooked pottage (25:29)
That was the day on which Abraham died, and Jacob made a broth of lentils to comfort his father Isaac.
Why lentils? Just as the lentil has no mouth, so is the mourner speechless... Just as the lentil is round, so mourning comes round to all the inhabitants of this world.
(The Talmud)

It is uncertain how this bit of knowledge is arrived at but if it is true then it makes the event all the more dramatic.
Into this scene of kindness and sorrow for the death of the great patriarch walks the brash
Esau. Is he mourning? No, he’s hunting. He sees the lentils and broth (still popular in the Mideast) and asks for it. Jacob sees this as the opportunity to usurp his brother.

It is assumed that Esau knew what he was doing. The right of the firstborn would mean that he would receive a double portion of the inheritance at the death of his father. It would also mean that there would be a higher level of responsibility to care for surviving family members. The firstborn was seen as the “future leader” of the household (dynasty). Esau had no regard for this. In fact, he hated this whole situation. In fact, the Bible says, “…So Esau despised his birthright.”

Esau, says he’s no need for the birthright because he was dying. I have never read anywhere that anyone seems to believe this. Jacob asks him to swear to his loss of the birthright. The author of the passage makes it clear. Esau swears, not after he gets the meal, but before. He’s so quick to be rid of the birthright, but just so that you can see the contract is complete, Jacob gives him some bread and the lentils. Jacob has seen that he (who had much higher regard) for being a part of the lineage of God’s work, now was placed in that lineage. If he could take the blessing of the firstborn, that would make it complete.

The next chapter is really about Isaac’s adventures, but it does end with a section about Esau. He’s 40 years old now, apparently later then when he lost his birthright (I suggested 15 years old he lost the birthright).
Gen 26:34 And when Esau was forty years old he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

Just the wording of this verse, without the next sentence shows us that Esau is on his own path. He wants a wife. He takes one. He wants two, no problem. Supposedly, he knows the story of how his mother and father met. He knows that Abraham did not want his family to marry among the locals. Great effort was made to make sure Isaac didn’t marry one of those. Yet, Esau has a desire and he acts. Are his parents involved? Not according to this passage. Anyone who knows anything about ancient mid-Eastern culture knows that this is outside the norms. Even today, marriage is a family event.

Although, I am not completely sold on the modern Christian courtship concept, I have to acknowledge that is much more closely matches what we see among God’s people in marriage. Esau has no regard for this.

This concept is punctuated by the last verse of the passage.

Gen 26:35 And they were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

The Blessing of the Firstborn

Isaac is old. He doesn’t see well. He is roughly (within 5 years) of the age his mother was when she died. For some reason, he thinks this event could happen very soon, and he calls his favourite son to do a duty for him and then Isaac can bless him.

A question should be asked here. It’s pretty well established the character of Esau. Why would Isaac bless this base character who has so little regard to the things which are important to the family? Specifically, their God, their history, and their promise? Also, you see from the blessing given that it’s a dramatic blessing. It’s a good one. He is not obligated
To bless the oldest. In fact, he actually doesn’t bless the oldest. Why?

In truth, we really don’t know. Some have speculated that Isaac, was acting against God’s will. Isaac still saw Esau as his favourite, and was going to act regardless whether God was his choice of not. Some suggest, that Isaac may have found common ground in Esau’s pleasure seeking style. The word choice does almost suggest that. Perhaps, Isaac thought that a good blessing would put Esau back on the straight and narrow. We don’t have the information.

Rebecca, overhears this offer and is quick to help her son steal this blessing. She is so sincere in her desire for this that she is willing to accept a curse instead of Jacob just to be sure her son get’s this blessing. She gets Jacob to dress as Esau. She cooks the food. She disguises Jacob. She tells him what to do and calms his fears and protests. In no other passage is Rebecca seen as so intent to carry on the theft. Her life (and the future of the kingdom of God) so it would seem depends on her success.

Jacob arrives dressed so only a blind man could be fooled. Isaac senses this isn’t right. How could this happen so fast? Jacob answered in his best Esau attempt “Because Jehovah thy God sent me good speed.” Esau did not have this God as his, so Jacob attempts to talk that way. Of course, when Esau does arrive he never mentions this God. He’s married to a couple of idol worshippers. Isaac still seeks to confirm which son he really has. He feels and smells his son. The moment of truth. Isaac believes it is Esau.

The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau (27:22)

"The voice is the voice of Jacob" -- no prayer is effective unless the descendants of Jacob have a part in it. "The hands are the hands of Esau" -- no war is successful unless the descendants of Esau have a part in it.
(The Talmud)
The blessing:
See, the smell of my son Is as the smell of a field which Jehovah hath blessed.
Gen 27:28 And God give thee of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and new wine.
Gen 27:29 Let peoples serve thee, And nations bow down to thee. Be lord over thy brethren, And let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. Cursed be every one that curseth thee, And blessed be every one that blesseth thee.

So, what is the importance of a blessing? We live in a Western culture which doesn’t have the same regard for blessings and I think that is to our own shame. From my earliest days as a father, I have regularly tried to “bless” my children (and I have 7, very soon to be 8). I pray benefits into their lives. I ask God to shape and mold them into the people that he desires. At the start of every Sabbath, the children know that there will be a time of blessing for each of the children before each other and by name individually. In all honesty, I can’t tell you whether it does do anything. Time may tell that, but our Biblical fathers did it, and I think we miss an opportunity if we chose not to act in the same path. If God intended this to be a way of passing on eternal benefits, it would be a terrible shame to miss that opportunity and walk as practical atheists.

Jacob leaves and Esau arrives. The deception is revealed. Esau begs for some sort of blessing. Isaac offers some “weak blessing”. In fact, it’s almost a curse. This, by the way, would have been the only blessing he would have offered for Jacob. Isaac says his blessing to Jacob left no room for any benefit to the other son.

Esau decides that he’ll wait and then just kill Jacob. Rebecca again intercedes and has Isaac send him off to find a wife from the place where Rebecca (and Abraham) would be from. Isaac again blesses Jacob. This time knowing who he is blessing and you get the impression that he understands the “why” Jacob would pull this deception. In fact, the tone of this final departure shows no sign of anger. Jacob is God’s man. Esau is not. Isaac charges him and sends him away.

Esau, still not understanding the situation, but seeing his wife choice did not please his family he seeks his uncle and takes a 3rd wife. This one is Ishmael’s daughter. Still no sense that this pleased Isaac or Rebecca.

Toldot-generations

From Congregation Melech Yisrael- Toronto, Ontario




Parashat HaShavua Toldot / Generations

This Week's Reading List:
BeReshit / Genesis 25:19-28:9
Mal'achi / Malachi 1:1-2:7
Romim / Romans 9:6-13

Bereshit {25:27} The boys grew. Esav (Easu) was a skilful hunter, an ish (man) of the field. Ya'akov (Jacob) was a quiet man, living in tents. {25:28} Now Yitzchak (Issac) loved Esav, because he ate his venison. Rivkah (Rebekah) loved Ya'akov. {25:29} Ya'akov boiled stew. Esav came in from the field, and he was famished. {25:30} Esav said to Ya'akov, "Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am famished." Therefore his name was called Edom (Red) {25:31} Ya'akov said, "First, sell me your birthright." {25:32} Esav said, "Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?" {25:33} Ya'akov said, "Swear to me first." He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Ya'akov. {25:34} Ya'akov gave Esav bread and stew of lentils. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esav despised his birthright.

How hungry could Esav have been so as to be at the point of death? We are not told that he was brought in from his hunting trip on a stretcher by the paramedics. Rather we are told that he walked in from hunting under his own power. So how close to death could he have been? Yet Esav says to Ya'acov that he is so hungry that he was about to die.

Now, I do not know how long Esav went without food while out on his hunting trip, but I have been on a forty day fast and my wife, I have gone on many one, two and three week fasts and we have never come anywhere near the point of death. I could understand if Esav had gone without water for an extended period of time, because three days without water could have serious consequences, under normal circumstances, but food, Esav could have made it forty days with no problem.

There is no mistaking it, the passage I quoted above tells us that by exchanging his birthright for food in order to satisfy his hunger Esav despised his birthright; however, after he realized what he had done, after the reality of what it is that he sold hit him, he accuses his brother Ya'acov of scamming him.

Bereshit {27:34} When Esav heard the words of his abba (father), he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said to his abba, "Bless me, even me also, my abba." {27:35} He said, "Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing." {27:36} He said, "Is not he rightly named Ya'akov? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing." He said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"

But the question still is, “how hungry could Esav have been?” I think that Esav's statement of being at the point of death was a hyperbole. I am sure, like me, you have said these words in your life time, “I am starving to death.” You were not really at the point of death, but you used the words to express that you were extremely hungry. Esav, I believe, was expressing the same thing. It is amazing what one will do for food, what one will do so as to satisfy their hunger, if they are not disciplined. I know that when I fast it takes a lot of discipline, self control and an amazing amount of faith in G-d for me to make it through. Why faith in G-d; because I am always fasting for a specific purpose, either for a personal need, a prayer request or as intercession on behalf of someone else. Without the faith that what I am doing will move G-d to respond I would never be able to succeed in my fast, my appetite and flesh would always have the better of me.

Today when we think of a birthright we think of an inheritance, perhaps of cash or property, but G-d, although He cares for our financial wellbeing, is more interested and concerned with our spiritual wellbeing and our relationship with Him. Therefore, when the Bible speaks about a birthright, as it does in this week's Parasha, it is speaking about Esav's spiritual condition and his personal relationship with G-d. What Esav sold was his spiritual relationship with G-d. Ya'acov may have been a schemer, but at least he was spiritual and had a relationship with G-d, which is what Scripture means when it says that, “Ya'akov was a quiet man, living in tents.” Esav was G-dless and that was his problem.

A believer's inheritance is G-d, He is our birthright. When Esav rejected his birthright he rejected G-d, something that is very evident even to us today as we experience his descendants worshipping a false god. The writer of Ivrim (Hebrews) puts it well when he says:

Ivrim {12:15} See to it that no one comes short of the grace of G-d; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; {12:16} that there be no immoral or godless person like Esav, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

Ask yourself today, “how important is G-d to you, and what price it would take for you to sell Him out of your life!”

*********************
Baruch HaShem
Rabbi Ya'acov Farber

Chayei Sarah- The Life of Sarah

Chayei Sarah (Genesis 23:1-25:18)

I always find the start of this Torah portion ackward. It is the “life of Sarah”, and then the passage starts by telling us she is dead…Yes, that’s right, ladies and gentlemen, she will have no speaking parts in this Bible passage. She has left the building.
However, we do find one item of note in that. First, she is the only female who’s age is mentioned when she dies in the Bible. With men, this happens all the time, but only this one time for any women.
Next, we find the very first “invasion” of the promised land. Abraham actually owes a small piece of the promised land. Granted, it was a for a tomb, but it was still a piece of ownership. Amazingly enough, this place is still in existence. You can know a bit more about the Tomb of the Patriarchs by going to:

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/hebron-tombs-of-the-patriarchs.htm



A photo from the Cenotaph of Sarah. It’s really more of a monument, their actual bones are believed to be buried in a subterranean cavern under the complex.

Any rate, the section starts off with Sarah dying, which seems at first a bit silly that we start a section of the life of Sarah with her death, but then one has to think a moment. Generally, we don’t reflect significantly on one’s life until their death. We don’t read biographies on average people until we read them in their paper in a section called “obituary”. It is at that point in time that one’s life is complete. It is at that point that people are no longer keeping the same secrets. Generally, at that point a lot (but not always all) old sins and grievances are forgiven. We tend to put a positive twist on someone’s life, in part, I think because we hope others will look to us with the same kind of gracious posture when we are gone.
So, we have the life of Sarah, and the longer picture of her life is seen through the life of her son, Isaac.

The basic chronology of the passage is as follows:
1. Death of Sarah and the purchase of the field Ephron.
2. Abraham gets his elder servant to go find a wife from among his own people.
3. The servant’s adventure in finding Rebecca.
4. Isaac and Rebecca are married.
5. Concluding comments and the death of Abraham.

Much has been written about Abraham and buying a field while grieving for his wife and how he paid way too much for this field. Even though I have been a financial advisor, I am going to avoid the temptation to write on this story.
I did receive an email this week from a rabbi talking about how this passage among others is a good argument for “not cremating” a body at death. This is not found in Scripture and “burning bodies” is generally only associated with idol worship.
There is also the passage (Gen 25:1) which I must confess has some personal importance to me. Abraham had another wife, that we know almost nothing about. He had several children that we know very little about. I ran across this passage years ago, and found it a bit amazing.
Although most people will know that I am not particularly emotional or led by charismatic visions, I have had a few. One of these was while I was in Bible college (actually Seminary). I was praying and felt distinctly that God was calling me a son of Abraham. As you can imagine, I was honoured with such a title. I had suspected this as a statement in the New Testament context when Jesus referred to a person who believed in him (having faith) as being a true son of Abraham. Just for the record, I didn’t think, nor do I think now that I am gifted with an unusual gift of Faith. I am like any other follower of the Messiah, stumbling around and wishing that God would speak more clearly, or that I would be able to understand more clearly what God is doing.
Any rate, I found this passage while studying for a Sunday School class I was teaching, and fell in love with it. There were children of Abraham who we know almost nothing about. We know about Ishmael (the father of the Muslim nations). We know about Isaac (or at least I thought I understood about Isaac), the founder of the Jewish nation (actually the father of the Children of Israel, but at the time I heard these two expressions as identical). I knew I wasn’t a Jew, now was I from Muslim stock. I was a paste white (sometimes called ghostly white) European. So, I knew that I was not genetically related to Abraham, until I saw these children.
I confided this to one brother (former Mennonite pastor) almost 9 years ago. I mentioned this communication from God and how that inspired me, and then how in Genesis, we find that there were other children of Abraham and maybe I really am one of them. He introduced me to an understanding of the “Two House” concept. That, among the kingdom of God there are many who are children of Abraham (Children of Israel) who have been scattered among the nations and the prophecy is that they would someday return. Supposed Gentiles, who will one day return to the faith of their “Fathers” (Abraham means Father). This was revolutionary to me, and sent me on a serious study path, and eventually to try to settle this question a DNA test, to find that, yes, we may very well be “Children of Abraham” in the spiritual sense and in the physical sense.

However, the part of this story that I really wanted to capture is the whole idea of setting a test for God to show His will. This is an awkward story. We have the Senior servant of Abraham with an amazing assignment. He’s going to go someplace where he knows no one (supposedly), and announce that Abraham (who people may or may not even remember) has had a son and needs a wife, and he’s going to convince her that she should leave everything for this “mysterious son”. The wedding is site unseen. She doesn’t even know if he’s a monster, but this young lady is going to trust someone she just met with one of the most important decisions of her life. Let us not forget as well, that the servant also has to use his “best judgement” to find a wife for his master’s son. How does he know he hasn’t bumped into a bridezilla?
To be honest, the task is really impossible. Can you imagine doing this in today’s age? How much more so in a world where women were not held in the same regard, where mobility (leaving a bad husband) would be almost impossible?
Yet, this is the servant’s task.
So, he arrives at the town, and of course, has no one to meet him. He goes to the well. I guess it would be a place you might bump into a young lady, and he seeks a sign from God.
The servant is there with multiple servants (Gen 24:23, and 54) we don’t know how many, but they are standing around the well, and the servant asks for someone who would give him a drink and offer to water all the camels as well. I don’t have a reference to how many camels were there. The Rabbis I have heard generally tell me 10. They always have an answer whether one can find it in the text or not.
There is also an interesting item about the water. Although the text in Hebrew says that she “drew it out for the camels”. It actually has a different phrase when she gets water the water for the servant. This is the way the KJV reads:

Gen 24:16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her. And she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

It is this phrase “and came up” which is a bit difficult to tag. In the Talmid, it is believed that it was not Rebecca that came up (as our English reads) but the water itself that came up. If this reading is more correct, then we have the servant watching a miracle as the water bubbles up to refresh the servant. She did have to draw the water up for the camels, but there is definitely different wording about the water for the men.

Gen 24:20 And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.

My Hebrew is not good enough to comment as to whether I agree with the Rabbis or not, but it is easy to see that different words are used.

Now back to the idea of seeking a “sign from God”. Most of the Christian community today is not fond of the idea. It is what Gideon did to know with certainty the will of God. The children of Israel used this during the temple age, it was called the Urim and Thummim. It is what the disciples did when they replaced the office that Judas held (Ac 1:26). Some may argue that this sort of decision making was something prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit. That would be true. Yet, the reason for this is when a decision had to be made. We need information from God and we want clarity. This action was taken.
What about today? Do we ever find ourselves in a position where we lack clarity. Is there ever a time when an action has to be taken (or not taken) and no one has a clear sense of God’s leading? Why not seek a sign? Why not cast lots, throw dice, draw straws, flip a coin, or whatever.
We do believe in God’s desire to communicate his will to us. We are his servants. We have gotten used to acting based on “I feel” God’s will is such and such. If this works out, then we can say, well obviously we were following the will of God. That may or may not be true. Following God’s will is not a matter of whether it worked out or not. Maybe God intended something which on the surface would look like a failure, but would teach some incredible truth. God has done things like that. Also, what if the decision doesn’t look like it works out. Many things in my life have not worked out. Does this mean we did not hear the will of God? Does this mean we are false prophets? Does this set a crisis of faith? In truth for many people it does exactly that. I have many pastors confide with me their struggle when they had convinced themselves that they had “God’s blessing” and in fact they were chasing their own vanity.
Not that I am proposing this for every decision, but I think there are times when we should pray for God to lead through a clear “sign”, make sure there is no room for misinterpretation, and then wait…get the sign… and then act (no questioning, no turning back). I sincerely believe there is a lot more Biblical basis for this then a democratic voting system that we have decided the will of God from in most of the churches I have attended.
A dear brother of mine (Dr. Carl Hinderager) was asked about the possibility of using this sort of “sign seeking” to know direction, and he paused a moment and looked thoughtful and then said, “if it was me, I would pray that the sign would be given from my parents. I would ask God to give direction from my parents. I would commit that to prayer and then when ready call them and ask the question you are struggling with. Whatever advice they say, you accept this as God’s will. The reason for this is two fold. First, you would be seeking a sign and getting the signal, but second, you would be obeying one of the commandments “Children obey your parent’s in the Lord for this is right.” I thought that was a fair counsel on the question.

Shabbot Tov (or in English, Have a Good Sabbath “Saturday”)

Jewish Rabinical Torah Teaching

Now I know many of you won't necessarily be excited about this, but I did get a chance to listen to a few of these. I found them interesting and insightful to the passage espicially if I wanted to know what had been taught historically on a given passage. I thought I would share as well. It is "Virtual Torah Teaching"
http://www.naaleh.com/index.html

Va Yera

podcast, thought you might like to listen to. Not me, david Levine from Jacksonville FL.

http://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail?pid=5265

Va Yera

Va Yera:

2 Peter 2:6-9 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned
Them with an overthrow, having made them an example unto those that should live
ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, sore distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked
(for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his
righteous soul from day to day with their lawless deeds):
the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment;

The Prince of the Apostles. The great “Rock” Peter commented on this very Torah passage, and what is most amazing is that we still have those words today.
Peter was writing to the persecuted church. His words were intended to encourage them, about God’s ability to preserve and care for his people even in some of the toughest times. I thought this might be a nice place to start.
In this Torah passage, we have some key Bible stories from the Old Testament. Sometimes in the Torah portions we find places that we are very unfamiliar since they don’t get a lot of messages taught in traditional Sunday school classes or Sunday morning church services in which most of us have been familiar. This passage is different. Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac is very familiar. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah very familiar stories.
A personal comment here: When I read the story of Lot, I am a bit tempted to heap some abuse on the poor guy. He spent his days with Abraham. He was already an old man when the events of this passage happened. When he and Abraham parted company, it was he who got to choose which land to go to, and he chose what looked to be the more lush area leaving Abraham to the wilderness. Strangely enough, he doesn’t stay in the country. He finds himself in the city of Sodom, which he knew was a bad city. When the men of Sodom swarm his house…he offers both of his daughters to them?!? What kind of father would do such a thing?!? He doesn’t listen well to the angels. He too much of a wimp to even go to where the angels tell him to go, and it looks like his story ends stored away in some cave in the mountains. Sometimes, I sort of feel…well, his sad end of his days is likely his due.
Fortunately, you have an author like Peter, who helps us put things in perspective. One of the tools I learned in Seminary was “whenever possible in rendering a passage, it is always safest to have Scripture interpret Scripture.” The reason for this is simple. If we believe that God’s word is “God Breathed” (what we call inspired), you never run the risk of just tossing your own ideas into the mix.
Peter, in writing “God’s word” says that Lot was a Zadok. In fact, he is intentional about how troubling it was for him to live in that world. If you read that story again, you do see the men of Sodom have no difficulty heaping abuse on Lot. (Gen 19:9) In fact by their own words they would deal worse to him then with the travellers. He wasn’t just “one of the boys”.
Of course, like I said, with Peter’s understanding of the passage. Lot was a desperate man. A Zadok who was trying to do right and was “vexed” a good choice in English. The word is a lot more then troubled. It is the idea of being torn apart, tortured relentlessly by living among the “lawlessness” Greek word anomos (“a” means negation. “without” “law” the same word is the one which is translated often in the New Testament and in the LXX as “Torah”) The lived as people without God’s Word.
Lot offered his own daughter. I still don’t have to like this, but it is technically better from a standpoint of righteousness. I am willing to do as Peter did and give him the benefit of the doubt. He was a desperate man, who was likely to die anyway, who was likely to fail in the simplest rules of hospitality, and his daughters were likely to be taken as well. He could not fight off the crowd. His choice was terrible by my perspective, but if he was left to his own devices, what other choice did he have. He obviously tried reasoning with them.
The overall theme is that “God had no problem protecting Lot”. In fact, had there been just a few more people who were like Lot in the town, that city would stand.
It reminds me of what I read the other day with my children from the book of Matthew.

Mat 11:23 And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto Hades: for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day.

Remember, many people have noted, during Yeshua’s time, Capernaum was the northern home base, and yet, the great symbol of destruction for sin would have repented even if Capernaum seemed to have ignored Yeshua and the apostles.

Back to our story with Lot. The angels provide a temporary solution and buy lot some time. They pull him into the house and strike the men all blind. He’s commanded to get his whole family together and flee. His son-in-laws ignore him. (His girls were engaged, but not really married, according to Lot’s own words). He seems to have become shell shocked and the angels have to drag him out of the city. He begs to go to some tiny little town and the angels because he’s too weak to make it to the mountains. The angels allow it. He is told not to turn back, and obviously his wife does. She becomes a pillar of salt.



I always thought it strange that she dies for looking back. I remember thinking, maybe it was an accident. Maybe she wasn’t last in line and looked back to check on her daughters. It is amazing to find what efforts the mind will take to try to make God the bad guy in the story. The truth is she was told “don’t even look back”, and she did. She disobeyed. That was reason enough for her death. We also don’t know what her heart was like. Perhaps, there was longing for things that would be lost or pity for the city. She is not called “righteous”, only Lot. It never says she was troubled by living there, only Lot. It is an argument from silence, but she may very well have been a completely different cut then Lot. I think the strongest proof is that God’s judgement for her was the loss of her life. We do believe the judge of the world does what is right.
As they made it to the tiny town of Zoar. God destroyed Sodom. Just so you note, seeing the destruction did not necessarily bring punishment humanity. Abraham saw the destruction and he didn’t become a pillar of salt.
For some reason Lot feared living in Zoar and escaped to the mountains (like the angels had said) and after the incidents with his daughters, that is the last we hear of Lot. A very sad end to this “Righteous man”.
Back to the original theme. God doesn’t have problems taking care of his own.
As many of you know, on May 29, we lost our house in a complete fire. This was only a couple weeks after a dear brother and true prophet announced that “no fire would touch our home”. We had abuse heaped on us from the local fire department. Evidence was found that suggested the fire was deliberately set by someone who wanted to “kill us” (their own words. The fire investigators do not feel as if they want to look any further into what happened. In fact, they never did. The RCMP were told about the evidence of ill intent and have chosen to ignore it. “the case is closed”, they told us.
So, we have taken this as far as we can easily. For months we wandered not sure what was going to happen to us, but we began to see that our world was more complete then ever before. God promised protection of our ‘home’. The buildings and the stuff inside was just the house. It really didn’t matter that much. The home. The stuff that really matter were all perfectly safe. I had Julie, Josh, Sera, Sasha, Noah, Shamus, Shimone, Shemiel, and a new baby (due at the first part of January). None were lost. None were even damaged. (you might argue some emotional damage, but not physically). We lost stuff…but now we are starting to see that was a blessing. We pack lighter and live lighter. Praise God.
I remember, when we were part of the mission WEC (World Evangelization for Christ) we read of fellow missionaries, including the founder, who would pray for their basic needs, including food, and sometimes, there would not be enough. Those men and women would rejoice, and say…”that means that God says we just don’t need that right now.” The truth is, that much of what we have we don’t need. For years I surrounded myself with things that made me feel comfortable and safe. From our experience, I sincerely believe God helped us to see that much of that is unnecessary.
I couldn’t really say that this life and lifestyle is “for everyone”. Who am I to judge another man’s servant? But I thank God that he cared enough about us to destroy our house by fire and allow us to flee to a tiny community. I hope unlike Lot, this is not the final chapter in our story.

May the grace of God and the Peace of Yeshua be with you and yours, Bradley Avi

Va Yera

sent by e-mail from Rabbi Jack Farber: some good comments

"פרספקטיבה נכונה וחשיבותה"
"Proper Perspective Matters"


Parashat HaShavua VaYera / And He Appeared

This Week's Reading List:
BeReshit / Genesis 18:1-22:24
Melachim Bet / 2 Kings 4:1-37
Kefa Bet / 2nd Peter 2:4-11
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Bereshit {18:1} HaShem appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. {18:2} He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, {18:3} and said, "My L-RD, if now I have found favour in Your sight, please do not go away from Your servant. {18:4} Now let a little water be fetched, wash Your feet, and rest Yourselves under the tree. {18:5} I will get a morsel of bread so you can refresh Your heart. After that You may go Your way, now that You have come to Your servant." They said, "Very well, do as you have said."

There has been much controversy over this passage, and it is all because of where to place one nikkud (Hebrew vowel point). Christian and Messianic translators place the vowel point one way while Jewish translators place it another. This one vowel point, this one little slash by Messianics or dot by traditional Jews, changes the whole context of the passage that I just quoted above.

First, for those who do not understand the Hebrew language and how it is written, allow me to explain. Originally, Hebrew was written without any vowels, like our English vowels (a, e, i, o and u). Hebrew writing back then, as it is now, is written with consonants only. There are 22 consonants in the Hebrew language. The Torah, in its original form, did not have any nikkudot (plural for nikkud). This leaves room for mistranslations because, as I said above, one dot or dash improperly placed can change the whole meaning of a word. Now, before you start worrying about the accuracy of the Word of HaShem, remember that under the vast majority of the cases this would not be a problem, especially when you know the context and know the language. The nukkudot were not added until the early Middle Ages. This was done so as to facilitate the reading and thus the understanding of words and their sentences. The most widely used Hebrew vowel points that are used today were developed by the Masoretes of Tiberias, which is from where we get the Masorettic text of the Tanach (Hebrew Scriptures). However, as with anything man puts his hands to, the interpretation of the original text by the placing of the vowel points becomes subject to human error and personal prejudice. This is the case with our above text.

The original Hebrew word that is in question in this passage, the word that can change the whole context and understanding of the passage, is אדני. It can, by the placing of a different vowel point under the נ, change the reading of the word from “Adonai” (G-d or L-rd) to “adoni” (sir or lord). Needless to say this difference has been the subject of many debates over the ages. Was Avraham (Abraham) greeting G-d or was he just being respectful and addressing three mortals as sir or lord? Jewish translators, as I said, see it one way while Christian and Messianic translators see it another way; I suppose you can understand why. Was this encounter a theophany (a physical appearance of G-d) or was it not? The implications for either theology could be far reaching.

Let us take a closer look at our passage of Scripture and attempt to determine, by the context of the text, whom it was that Avraham was greeting, G-d or man?

Most Jewish commentators use this passage to say that Avraham was a hospitable man. After all, they say, he was sitting and relaxing at the door of his tent just waiting for passer-bys so that he could offer them rest and refreshment on their journey. This, they say, explains why he jumped up so abruptly and hastily greeted these three men as they were passing him by. Thus they imply the word אדני to mean “sirs or lords” . However, is this really the right interpretation of this passage? In jumping up to greet these three passer-bys Avraham runs, bows before them and says “...if now I have found favour in your sight...” If these so called “men” were perfect strangers who were just passing by then why would Avraham say such a thing? Why would Avraham refer to himself as “your (singular) servant?” Why did he not just ask them to rest with him a while and join him in a meal before continuing on their journey? “Finding favour” implies a relationship of some kind, which could imply that Avraham understood that he was greeting G-d. Rendering the passage this way also agrees with the other passages in this Parasha.

Bereshit {18:10} He said, "I will certainly return to you when the season comes round; behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.

In their conversations with Avraham, one of the men make this incredible prophecy, a prophecy that will change the events of the world; the birth of Yitzchak (Isaac).

Bereshit {18:22} The men turned from there, and went toward S'dom, but Avraham stood yet before HaShem. {18:23} Avraham drew near, and said, "Will you consume the tzaddik (righteous) with the wicked?

There is no mistaking this text, vowel points or not. It is clearly written that Avraham was speaking toיהוה (Yud Hay Vav Hay), HaShem, the G-d of Heaven and earth. As it happens HaShem was on His way to judge Sodom and Gomorrah. So the only other question that could cause a loophole in our conclusion is, “Did HaShem just all of a sudden appear or was He actually one of the three all along? Well the text does not seem to indicate the former so the latter must be true, He must have been apart of the original three.

Finally, but certainly not the least of our proofs that Avraham was greeting G-d in the flesh, is this passage.

Bereshit {18:16} The men rose up from there, and looked toward S'dom. Avraham went with them to see them on their way. {18:17} HaShem said, "Will I hide from Avraham what I do, {18:18} seeing that Avraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the goyim of the earth will be blessed in him? {18:19} For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of HaShem, to do tz'dakeh (righteousness) and justice; to the end that HaShem may bring on Avraham that which he has spoken of him."

Even though this passage comes before the one I quoted directly above I have placed it after because of the implication it presents. Again, in the Hebrew where we have translated it as HaShem it is written יהוה, which is explicitly G-d. There is no doubt, therefore, that one of the three so called “men” Avraham greeted was a physical manifestation of G-d (G-d in human form).

Do you see the implications here? Yeshua HaMashiach is G-d in human form, something Judaism denies and rejects. So is it any wonder that Jewish translators have manipulated the vowel points in this passage of Scripture that I quoted at the beginning of this drash (commentary)? They are protecting their anti-Messianic Jewish, anti-Yeshua theology