"...and I will remember My covenant [with] Jacob, and also My covenant [with] Isaac, and also My covenant [with] Abraham I will remember." [Bechukotai 26:42]
Why are the forefathers listed in reverse order? asked R' Shmelke of Nikolsburg.
Chazal have taught us, answered the Rebbe, that "The world depends on three things - on Torah study, on the service of G-d, and on kind deeds [Pirkei Avot 1:2]
Each one of the forefathers was noted for a different character trait.
Yaakov embodied Torah study. He was "a wholesome man abiding in tents" [Bereishis 25:27] who studied Torah in the yeshivah of Shem and Ever.
Yitzchak, who had been bound to an altar, represented service of Hashem.
Avraham, the paradigm of hospitality, represented the trait of kindness.
The order in which the verse lists the forefathers - Yaakov, Yitzchak and Avraham - corresponds to the order utilitzed by Chazal to enumerate the three things upon which the world depends: first "Torah", then "service of G-d" and finally "kindness" [Torah, Tefilla, Tzedaka]
Source: Rabbi Yitzchak Bronstein
Remember Jacobs name was changed to Israel in genesis 32. Therefore there is only one place that Hashem made a covenant while he was still yaacov.
ReplyDeleteGenesis 28.13 And, behold, the LORD stood beside him, and said: 'I am the LORD, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. 14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.' 16
The state of Israel represents this remembrance.
Now a covenant is a promise between two parties. Hashem promises he will bring Israel back to the land. What was Jacobs part of the responsibility?
ReplyDeleteGenesis 28.16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said: 'Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.' 17 And he was afraid, and said: 'How full of awe is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.' 18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Beth-el, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying: 'If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then shall the LORD be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.'
Pay attention. This pillar which he set up shall be God's house. The pillar was in bet El not Jerusalem. Therefore this covenant has to do with establishing God's house at Bet El. Also known as Shiloh. The pillar can be found above rabbi Shimon bar yochais grave in Meron. Known as Elijah's chair.
https://he.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%91%D7%A5:Elijah%27s_Chair_in_Meron,_Israel.jpg
some disputes are not ‘public’ but halachic!
ReplyDeletegeorge is interpreting according to his belief system, which is, obviously, not the true system of our holy Torah!
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ReplyDeleteElkanah father of Samuel. Clearly from Ephraim lived in the land of Ephraim and yet is buried in the upper Galilee between Safed and meron. Does anybody have an explanation why he is buried so far away from the land of ephriam?
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