Israel and The Sin of Expulsion

In previous years, this author wrote about Yosef’s being thrown in a bor (pit) seething with snakes and scorpions — yet emerging unscathed, his being sold, his ensuing journey to Mitzrayim and his slavery, his imprisonment and his liberation and ascendency to the position of Viceroy, second only to Pharoh. And this author wrote a vort based on Jay Shapiro’s book “Almost Midrash.”

The Encyclopedia of Biblical Personalities by Yishai Chasida (pages 97-98) cites Sofrim 21:9 which states that:

Dina was six years old when she bore Asenath (Asnat). The brothers sought to kill Asenath to avoid accusations of immorality in Yaakov’s tents. And so, as Chasida cites from Pirkei d’Rabbi Eleizer Perek 38, Yaakov wrote all that had transpired on metal foil, or on gold foil (as Chasida cites from Midrash Aggadah, Breish’t 41:45), placed it on Asnat as a necklace and sent her away. The Moloch Michael brought her down to Mitzrayim, to the house of Potiphar.

The Midrash Aggadah, Breish’t 41:45 relates how;

Potiphar found the child crying while out strolling with friends, read the foil and said; “This is the daughter of a great man. Take her to my house.”

There we learn that his wife (named Zelichah, according to Chasida’s citing of Sefer HaYashar on Vayeishev) in the Encyclopedia page 497, unable to give birth, raised the child, Asnat as her own.

And so, as cited in Pirkei d’Rabbi Eleizer Perek 38, Targum Yonatan and Da’at Zekenim by the Judaica Press Chumash, Parsha Mikeitz, page 523b, after Yosef was appointed Viceroy by Pharoh;

When Yosef traveled throughout Mitzrayim, every maiden who saw him cast a trinket or an item of Jewelry at his feet. Asnat, too, cast her amulet at Yosef’s feet. He ignored all of the jewelry cast before him, but when he saw the maulet bearing Hashem’s name, he examined it and determined that the maiden who had cast it… was of the seed of Yaakov.

The Judaica Press Chumash, Parsha Mikeitz also indicates that Pharoh called to Potiphar (Poti-phera denoting emasculation, i.e. that he was
bi-sexual and also had designs on Yosef — stuff of a different shmooze) to give his young daughter to Yosef for a wife;

The damsel was beautiful, a virgin, and no man had been intimate with her, and Yosef took her for a wife.

And so may the spirit of Yosef and Asnat, where their union came only after each of them were singularly committed to the same causes, hashkafic values and spiritual pages, inspire us all this Chanukah in the modern-day emulation of the Maccabees, to stand up against an evil regime, a regime set on self-destruction driven by their disdain for who and what they are.

Good Shabbos! Chanukah Same’ach!

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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Amidst the story of the brothers selling Yosef as a slave, his ending up in Mitzrayim in the home of Pontiphar, his subsequent imprisonment and eventual meteoric rise to the position of Viceroy — 2nd only to Pharoah, is the story, conveyed in thumbnail below, of Yehudah and Tamar.

Okay, having relayed the story in short-form, one might ask; Why the title? What does the story of Yehudah and Tamir have to do with Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman and his publicly proclaimed hope for Halachic, Torah law to be the law of modern-day Medinat Israel?

The answer is — Everything. Yehudah, in making his public admission, set a standard for leadership and justice in B’nai Yisrael – “‘Tzedek, Tzedek Teirdof — Justice, Justice you will pursue’” for all time.

Freilichen Chanukah!

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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Three years ago, just before Chanukah, a short article appeared on the INN website entitled; “Mortar Shells Filled With Chanukah Light” which told about the Menorah made from some of the spent Islamic mortal shells which were launched on Neve Dekalim over the years.

Therefore we can contrast the brothers’ actions regarding Yosef, according to their perceptions and understandings, as L’Shem Shemayim with modern-day Israel where regimes and major party political leaders act, totally clueless and diabolically opposed to L’Shem Shemayim, toward those who cleave to Torah and Eretz Yisrael as dire threats to themselves [their regimes and governance] in their defeatism and self-hatred of who and what they are and in their war against Torah and Yiddishkiet.

The regime leaders glibbly proclaim, after their most recent anti-Torah edict, the 10 month building freeze in Yehudah and the Shomron, that “10 months eventually pass” and a prime minister pledges “read my lips, it will not be longer than 10 months” as the terrorist murderous Islamics take heart from an Israeli regime’s weakness with more brazen acts of violence against Jews. An example of this brazen violence was the terrorist who recently stabbed and attacked 2 in a Kiryat Arba gas station. When the husband of one of the victims allegedly retaliated against the terrorist by running him over again and again, the morally bankrupt Israeli justice system proceeds to put the husband under house-arrest under investigation for suspected attempted murder. It seems that Israeli justice prefers epitaphs for Jewish graves while prosecuting live Jews for having the chutzpah to defend themselves against Islamic terror.

In retrospect, if only the evil regime which is hard at work trying to give away the store and hijacking, subverting Jewish hearts, minds and neshamot away from Derech Hashem (just as the Greeks tried in that era of Jewish history), realized what they have abandoned and abrogated. If only they; Bibi, Barak as with Olmert, Livni, Ramon before them. were spiritually equipped to recognize the extent of the miraculousness of day-to-day life in what was the Jewish Yishuv of Gush Katif. If only they realized the monumental extent of the physical, economic and spiritual assets which they (the regime) frittered away, while hiding behind the bogus cloaks of “security,” “demographics,” “American pressure,” “blackmail for graft and corruption crimes”, etc., but in retrospect, out of the folly of mindless, blind, sinat chinom (causeless hatred) of Torah and derech Hashem.

But alas, successive elitist, protexia-class, hate-blinded hellinistic evil regimes will never own up and admit to the perilous danger which they have caused to the nation that they have solemnly sworn to defend and govern.

Good Shabbos, Freilichen Chanukah!

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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On Thursday, The Jerusalem Post’s first report regarding prime minister Netanyahu’s meeting with Yehuda and Shomron leaders carried these excerpts:

We are not enemies, and if there things that need to be amended - we will fix them, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was cited by Israel Radio as telling settler leaders, as the two-hour meeting in Tel Aviv on the building moratorium came to its end on Thursday afternoon.

Netanyahu also took great efforts to reassure the Judea and Samaria mayors that the building freeze would not surpass the designated time framework. Read my lips, it will not be longer than 10 months, the prime minister reportedly said.

“Read my lips”: Who out there in blogosphere can remember the last world leader to pledge using this phrase?

For those who don’t recall, it was former President George H. W. Bush who uttered this famous broken pledge:

“Read my lips: no new taxes”… at the 1988 Republican National Convention as he accepted the nomination…

So, this time Netanyahu — that serial pledge-breaker — sought to parrot a former US President in making a promise — renewed and increased Yesha construction after the 10 month freeze — that, like Bush regarding taxes in 1988, he [Netanyahu] has no intention of keeping.

One of the early talk-backs on the JPost report says it all:

“READ MY LIPS” -Oh Please

I want to believe Bibi but his record (Hebron, etc…) and this quote does not instill confidence. “Read my lips: no new taxes” is a now-famous phrase spoken by then presidential candidate George H. W. Bush. He then went on to win the election and subsequently raised the taxes…………. politicians

It should be noted that in subsequent versions of the JPost report on the meeting, the above-cited excerpts, including “Read my lips”, were deleted and replaced by:

Netanyahu reiterated to the settlement leaders, many of whom have expressed doubt over the last week whether he would renew building in the settlements at the end of the 10-month period, that this suspension was “one-time and temporary.”

“Nine months and three weeks remain to the end of this period,” Netanyahu said. “At the end of this period we will continue to build….”

Yeah, right! Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies… How much longer will Yosef Q. Israeli continue gullible to the serial lies of Israeli hack governance?

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It was reported by Reuters, as well as by Islamic media (thus the deceptive caption atop the video above) that a Jewish driver is being investigated and may be charged with car assault for allegedly “driving over a Palestinian who was lying wounded at a… gas station following an incident in which the settler’s [the driver’s] wife was stabbed.”

The last 1 1/2 lines of the above quote give hint as to the provocation which seems glossed over and which seemingly led the event depicted in this version of the video as shown on Israeli TV as well as in the above video.

Yeshiva World News reported, in 2 Updates on 26 November, that:

UPDATE 4:00PM IL: The terror attack occurred at the Paz gas station at the entrance to Kiryat Arba. Two females were stabbed…, listed in “light condition” according to Magen David Adom officials. The gunfire heard was directed at the terrorist, who according to unconfirmed reliable reports, has been eliminated.

UPDATE 5:18pm IL: Officials in Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital report the conditions of the two stabbing victims are listed as light. The victims are a 49-year-old male and a 52-year-old female. The terrorist was not killed, but is listed in serious condition.

In a subsequent update on the event on 2 December, Yeshiva World News notes that:

Shai police district officials have transferred the file of Dudi Mizrachi [the driver] to the prosecutor, indicating he is now being held under house arrest, suspected of attempted murder.

The update also notes that the wife of the driver, and the second victim “sustained light-to-moderate injuries in the stabbing attack. The terrorist was listed in serious condition upon arrival in the trauma unit of Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.”

Apparently, the morally bankrupt Israeli justice system, like distorted Western morality, still prefers epitaphs for Jewish graves while prosecuting live Jews for having the chutzpah to defend themselves against Islamic terror.

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Former Prime Minister Menecham Begin z’l never meant for Israeli governance to fall as it has in the years since he signed the Camp David accords with Egypt’s Anwar Sadat, and particularly in the ensuing years since the disastrous Oslo era began. In fact, there are numerous citings in Torah, as well as in the contemporary history of OUR times of righteous Jews who were niftar (who passed away) pre-dating tragic down-turns in Jewish history. Menachem Begin’s passing in March, 1992 is one of a number of such contemporary citings as the Oslo Accords were signed, with great fanfare in Washington D.C. by then-prime minister Rabin and Shimon Peres as they both shook the blood-stained, cantaminated hand of arch-terrorist and serial murderer of Jews Yassir Arafat on 13 September 1993.

And so, Menachem Begin must have turned in his grave a whole lot over these past 16 years, particularly over the recent vote by his son, now Minister-without-portfolio Benny Begin, in favor of the precedent-setting “10 month freeze” on construction on Divinely-Ordained Jewish land in Yehudah and the Shomron in Eretz Yisrael.

The “honorable” minister-without-portfolio lightly passed off his voting in favor of the freeze saying;

“Ten months eventually pass”

and adding;

That when construction is renewed in 10 months, “we will do it based on our basic and historic rights to this country, including Judea and Samaria, and return to building faster and in greater numbers than we did before.”

Need one remind minister-without-portfolio Begin and other Likud hacks and “old boys” of the message frozen construction on Jewish land has sent to the murderous Islamic enemy, as well as to the nations from the mouth of Israel’s prime minister, from the mouths of Israel’s institutions and governance? That message is one projecting Israel’s and Jewish existence as illegal, immoral and illegitimate. The construction freeze is yet another leftist-agendized blunder further legitimizing Islamic claims, in the eyes of the nations, not only to parts of Jewish land, but to ALL Jewish land.

And need one remind them of [this author’s recollection] Rabin’s rationalization of Oslo;

“If they’re bad boys, we’ll just go and take it back.”

They were/are bad boys, again and again infinitum and the government of Israel has basically done nothing except concede more and more and more.

We harken back to the lesson of how to boil a frog, or a lobster; gradually, a little at a time, allowing it to re-acclimate each time before the final time when the heat is turned on full and the frog or lobster DIES.

And in considering the above cooking lesson so, we must yet again re-learn a fundamental rule of human nature, which Bibi, Barak and Olmert and Sharon before them as well as the radical left have mastered, and which the masses have yet to understand and intuitively see through, regarding breaking of important news, the old adage; “Break it to me gently.”

When the brothers returned to Yaakov, there is a midrash which indicates that they were worried about how to break the news of Yosef to him, that the shock of the news might endanger Yaakov’s life. And so, they sent Asher’s daughter Serach, with her great spirituality and her special harp playing talent, to gently sing a melody to Yaakov; “My uncle Yosef is still alive; he is ruler over Egypt.” (The Midrash Says, Sefer Breish’t, page 426)

And so, we’ve watched the evolution of events over the last 16 years; Oslo, Oslo2, Wye, leaving South Lebanon to Hezbollah, “Roadmaps”, the expulsion from Gush Katif and the 4 Shomron Towns, the kidnapping of Jewish soldiers and lack of efforts to rescue them, the Lebanon conflict with its so-called “ceasefire” and bogus UN UNIFIL “peacekeepers”, Operation Cast Lead and yet another bogus
“ceasefire” in Gaza, the High Court’s continued demolition of the other branches of government, Olmert’s, and now Bibi’s continuing attempts to bring about “Convergence” — divesting Israelis of their Jewishness — this time by way of a “10 month construction freeze” and much much more. Every intelligent person knows about the above, that the past 16 years has seriously damaged Israel on ALL levels.

And what of the aftermath 10 months hence and Begin’s abovementioned promise?? Highly doubtful that there is any teeth behind Begin’s promise or that his comment: “Ten months eventually pass” will even be remembered by the Yosef Q. Israeli sheep other than by google searches.

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As our Parsha begins, Yaakov sent melachim (angels), some render a translation of messengers, “… ahead of him to Eisev to the land of Seir, to the field of Edom… Thus shall you say … to Eisev, so said your servant Yaakov: ‘Im-Lavan garti’ (I have sojourned with Lavan) …” (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 32, posukim 4 & 5).

There seems a message in the reunion between Yaakov and Eisev that seems both timely and crucial on the heels of Netanyahu’s now infamous 10 month construction freeze in Yehuda and the Shomron. And there seems also a message relating to the courageous newly-recruited soldiers of Kfir regiment, of Shimshon battalion and others who have recently begun making public displays of insubordination against possible future immoral orders to evict their their fellow Jews from outposts in Yehuda and the Shomron.

We learn that upon their reunion, Yaakov and Eisev, embraced, wept and that Eisev kissed Yaakov on the neck.

Shem Mishmuel (Shem Mishmuel, Rabbi Zvi Belovski, Parsha Vayishlach, pages 61 - 63) cites a Midrash (Breish’t Rabbah 78.9) where Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar comments on the phrase “and he kissed him”, represented by the word “vayishakeihu” written in the Torah with a dot above each letter.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar comments;

“Whenever there is more text than dots, one expounds on the text. Whenever there are more dots than text, one expounds on the dots. But here, there are an equal number of of letters and dots. From this we learn that at that moment Eisev’s mercy was aroused, and he kissed Yaakov with all of his heart.”

Shem Mishmuel writes on this kiss;

“Eisev wanted to inject his poisonous philosophy into Yaakov, to draw him toward the evil life which Eisev personified. At this moment, Yaakov’s neck miraculously turned into marble. Vessels made from stone (…marble is an example) are not subject to the laws of tumah and taharah (ritual purity and impurity). Given this, we can understand why the Midrash chose to use the symbolism of marble, rather than the more usual hard materials of iron or brass. Yaakov’s neck was unable to contract any impurity from Eisev’s malicious advances! He was completely impervious to Eisev’s designs, and marble, which is unable to receive tumah, is a perfect metaphor for this.”

Shem Mishmuel then suggests, and herein lies the message which seems to have been intellectualized and internalized by the courageous new soldiers mentioned above;

“That Yaakov was able to resist Eisev’s attack in the way described was purely because of his attitude toward the meeting. The very fact that he was more concerned for his spiritual rather than his physical well-being … protected him when the moment of truth arose. Indeed, we can be sure that Yaakov would rather have submitted to physical death rather than lose his integrity by associating with his vile brother.”

Returning to the Midrash stated above, Rabbi Yannai replied to Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar’s premise that Eisev kissed Yaakov with all of his heart, “If that’s the case, then why are there dots at all? (Shem Mishmuel footnote:

“The simple meaning of the text implies that the kiss is genuine. Rabbi Yannai notes that the dots must change the simple meaning of the text, not confirm it.) “Yaakov’s neck turned to marble, and the wicked one blunted his teeth on it. Indeed, that is the meaning of ‘they wept’ — Yaakov cried because of his neck; Eisev because of his teeth.”

May it be that those who stand steadfast and rock-solid for Torah, Am Yehudi, for their Jewish brethren and for Eretz Yisrael speedily achieve the upper hand over the current lame, corrupt, crony national leaders whose intellect, common-sense, wisdom, intuitiveness and sense of national security and well-being are clouded and obscured as they hide behind distorted Western morality and subserviance to cover up their deep-seeded, blind hatred of anything and everything Jewish. May these courageous soldiers and other Torah-true leaders gain the national leadership upper hand and reflect chessed, the wisdom and intuition of Avraham Avinu, of Rifka Emeinu and of Yaakov Avinu.

May we, the B’nai Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently settled and be made totally whole, that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard, captive Gilad Shalit and the other MIAs be liberated alive returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem and that we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nai Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Yom Hashem V’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bim hay v’yameinu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!

Good Shabbos!

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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In last week’s Parsha Toldos, we learned about Rivka, who rose above an evil environment while internalizing it’s insights and was thus well positioned to urge Yaakov to claim the Bracha, and about Yaakov, the “Ish Tam”. We learn that Yaakov was “totally honest, a man of great integrity” but was also master over the trait of being “tam”, a “‘plain man’, … without trickery. This means that Yaakov did not allow this “Ish Tam” character trait to dominate him. He knew when and where to act otherwise. We knew that from his demand for the birthright from Eisev in exchange for the lentil soup. These traits surely seemed inculcated to Yaakov as a result of Rivka Imeinu’s nurturing.

We later learn that Yaakov told Rachel:

“‘…that he was her father’s kinsman’, according to the Sages, ‘If he has come to be sly, I am his kinsman in being sly.’” (Rashi on Breish’t Perek 29, posuk 12)

The Hozeh of Lublin quotes the Sages saying;

“Whoever is compassionate where he should be cruel will eventually be cruel where should be compassionate.” He continued by saying that “a person needs to be master over all of his traits. If he fails to apply so-called negative traits in their proper times, he will end up applying them when it is wrong to do so.” “A person needs to know how to act in different circumstances, sometimes one way to further the will of Hashem and other times the exact opposite way for the same end.” (”Growth Through Torah” by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin on Parsha Toldos, pages 62-63, “Torah Gems” by Aharon Yaakov Greenberg, on Parsha Toldos, page 203)

And so today, again and again we see this Talmudic adage played out; “Whoever is compassionate where he should be cruel will eventually be cruel where should be compassionate.” One such example, amongst countless many which could be cited today; the government of Israel once called off a military action in Gaza a few years ago due to Hamas’ human shields while the children of Sderot cowered in fear, either with their heads beneath their hands in a fetal-like position on the floor or under their concrete desks, because Sderot’s lack of affluence makes them low-priority citizens vs their more upscale, affluent Kfar Saba and Petah Tikva counterparts.

It was after another example of mis-guided, distorted morality, defense minister Ehud Barak’s laughable on-again, off-again passage of supplies through Egypt/Gaza and Israel/Gaza checkpoints as well as the limited on-off switch for Israeli utilities in Gaza, to Israel’s Islamic adversaries, to the same terrorists who continued hiding behind human shields before, during and after last year’s Operation Castlead. These utility cut-off sanctions are thus calibrated so as to fall under the radar of state attorney general Mazuz who at one point ordered the sanctions suspended saying, “it may lead to the deaths of soldiers and civilians.” To this, The Rabbinical Council of Judea, Samaria and Gaza responded;

Jewish law allows for siege measures that would harm the population of the enemy entity in Gaza, “because, according to the definition used in Jewish law, the daily Kassam rocket barrages on the precious residents of the south constitute war in every respect.”

To repeat the quote from the Hozeh of Lublin; “Whoever is compassionate where he should be cruel will eventually be cruel where should be compassionate” and that “a person needs to be master over all of his traits… to know how to act in different circumstances, sometimes one way to further the will of Hashem and other times the exact opposite way for the same end.”

Where is the Jewish outcry to Shemayim at the regime’s Yassamnik and IDF wanton pogrom and destruction of the Federman-Tor Farm, the evictions of Jewish families from the Jewish-owned militarily-strategic Beit HaShalom between Hevron and Kiryat Arba and at the various small settlements and outposts on Jewish land trashed and destroyed by both the Olmert and Bibi-Barak regimes?

So, we learn about Lavan who ran to greet Yaakov, hugging and kissing him and bringing him to his house. We see that while Lavan appeared extremely loving and warm, he was not acting out of brotherly, familial love when embracing Yaakov. The fact was that the knivving Lavan, expecting a rerun of the gifts showered upon his family by Eliezer when he came to acquire Rifka as Yitzchak’s Shidduch, instead saw an empty-handed Yaakov and subjected him to a full-body grope searching for goodies. Maybe there was gold under them thare garments, or maybe Yaakov was hiding diamonds in his mouth.

Rav Pliskin in “Growth Through Torah” expresses the importance of judging people favorably. But he then goes on to quote Rabbi Yeruchem Levovitz who says that “if someone is an evil person we are obligated to judge him unfavorably. Some people may find this rather harsh, but that is the reality: with evil people assume the worst. (Rabbi Yeruchem Levovitz; Daas Torah: Breish’t, Pge. 192)”

Rav Pliskin continues that:

“We need to master the ability of seeing the good in the bad and the bad in the good. Then we need to know when to use each ability. Judging an evil person on the side of merit is not a virtue but a fault. Failure to be on guard to protect yourself from a deceitful person can cause you and others much damage and heartache. … The way of the Torah is to use wisdom to know when to assume negative motivations and when to judge others favorably.”

While Rav Pliskin says that it’s unfortunate “…that many people fail to judge others favorably when they really should”, he also says that the opposite, the tendency “…of believing everyone is considered … to be the attribute of a fool.” (Growth Through Torah, Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, Parsha Vayeitzei, pages 75-76)

And so, it seems that there is this attribute judging and distinguishing the “good in the bad” favorably and the “bad in the good” negatively. This attribute would seem to go hand-in-hand with applying one’s own positive and negative attributes at the appropriate times, i.e., compassion to the compassionate and cruelty to the evil.

Going hand in hand with the attribute of distinguishing good from evil, when to be compassionate and when cruelty is necessary, is to understand the impact of the message; compassion or cruelty. Therein lies the meaning of a credible deterrent capability on a national level.

We still await in our time, the “Ish Tam”, the “totally honest … man of great integrity”, the master over the trait of being “tam”, the “‘plain man’, … without trickery”, who “knew when and where to act otherwise” but who did not allow this “Ish Tam” character trait to dominate him. Is he around the corner? Do we know him? Will he come in our lifetime?

Good Shabbos!

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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In considering Avraham Aveinu’s passing and his son Yitzchak’s aveilut (mourning) of his Father’s passing, there seem to be a number of burning questions which beg to be asked concerning the relationship between Yitzchak and Eisev.

Good Shabbos!

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of the Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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There are two intriguing commentaries, each relating to a different posuk of Parsha Chaye Sarah, regarding the dialogue leading up to Avraham Aveinu’s acquisition of the Ma’arat HaMachpela for 400 shekels of silver from Efron the Hittite.

The first of the two posukim is spoken by Avraham and says, in part:

“I will have given the money for the field; take it of me …” (Breish’it, Perek 23, posuk 13)

“…That a man may marry a woman by using money to effect the marriage is deduced in the Talmud (Kiddushin 2) by drawing a parallel from this verse. But the parallel goes beyond merely the acquisition of the land of the Efronite and the acquisition of a wife. Just as in a marriage the act of acquisition is only the beginning and not the end, because that is when all one’s obligations begin — food, clothing, etc. — the same is true in our dealings with the Efronites. Nothing ends with written contracts and agreements. We pay, pay and pay again, and yet they keep demanding more from us.” (Torah Gems on Chaye Sarah, page 182 quoting Rabbi A.M. Amiel)

Somehow these last sentences, “Nothing ends with written contracts and agreements. We pay, pay and pay again, and yet they keep demanding more from us” seem to ring true in our ongoing struggle to maintain our Jewish presence in Eretz Yisrael against the avowed goal of the Arabs, the Moslems, to destroy and eradicate the Jews, to cast us from our land into the sea.

And even worse, a so-called Jewish government, successive Jewish Prime Ministers, whether it was Sharon or Olmert (both straight-facedly complicit with the enemy in betrayal of his Jewish brothers, the nation they lead, by endeavoring to attempt evasion of prosecution for alledged corruption and attempting to personally profit from the betrayals on the backs of the Jews), or those who came before them, or now Bibi Netanyahu in his second term in office — they have all schemed the separation, divorce and eradication of any and all things Jewish from the mindset, intellect and consciousness of Israelis even in blind and distorted disregard for national security and well-being.

Then, three posukim below our first posuk:

“And Avraham heard Efron … and … weighed for Efron the silver which he [Efron] spoke about in the ears of the B’nai Chais, four hundred shekels of silver that merchants used.” (Breish’it, Perek 23, posuk 16)

On the words, “And Avraham heard”, the Rashbam commented:

“A hint is sufficient for a wise man.” Efron spoke as if he were a man of generosity. He spoke to Avraham with great respect and ostensibly offered him the burial site free of charge. However, Efron mentioned in passing, “The four hundred shekels … is nothing between friends. Your friendship is more precious than money. Bury your dead.” (Breish’it, Perek 23, posuk 15)(Rashi and Rashbam on posuk 15)

But Avraham was perceptive, with his finely-honed intuition, and understood Efron’s real intentions; he didn’t really want to give the land away for nothing. Avraham responded to Efron’s real inner wishes, not to the outer, simple meaning of his [Efron’s] words. (Growth Through Torah, Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, on Parsha Chaye Sarah, pages 57 - 58).

Rabbi Pliskin speaks of understanding the true meaning of what others say in a context of correcting and refining one’s midos. He writes that “this ability to differentiate between what someone says and what he means is an attribute that we must develop. For many areas of spiritual growth it is essential.” (Growth Through Torah, Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, on Parsha Chaye Sarah, page 58)

However Rabbi Pliskin’s discussion of refining one’s perceptiveness and intuition extend beyond the striving for perfection of midos in Everyman. Avraham Aveinu who, in his time, was THE pre-eminent leader of mankind as well as builder and proponent of a then revolutionary concept; belief in an infinite being who controls every aspect of the world’s existence, correctly read the reality of his relationship with the other peoples. He read the reality of his relationship with Efron and, with an eye to both Hashem’s promise to create a people from him [Avraham] and to all of future history, he acted accordingly in paying Efron the four hundred shekels of silver.

And so, it is not mere irony that the very Israeli leaders who employ their euphemisms for expulsions and evictions of their fellow Jews from Jewish land are confronted with a Goldstone Report, increasing fear of travelling abroad and risking possible arrest for war crimes and dangers to national security arising from massive smuggling of weapons by Iran to Gaza, Syria and Lebanon such as the the massive advanced arms cache, including thousands of rockets and ammo found by the Israeli Navy on a ship headed to Syria this past Thursday.

Undoubtedly, there’ll be more anti-Israel resolutions in the UN and Israel will be accused of Piracy on the high seas — Israeli leaders have brought it all upon themselves by subverting Avrahamic wisdom and intuition to the embrace of distorted Sodomized Western morality in their blind expedience in attempting eradication of Jewishness from Israeli consciousness.

May we, the B’nai Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently settled and be made totally whole, that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard, captive Gilad Shalit and the other MIAs be liberated alive returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem and that we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nai Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Yom Hashem V’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bim hay v’yameinu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!

Good Shabbos!

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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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