Upon Me

"His mother said to him: My Son, let your curse be upon me" [Toldos 27:13]

Why, asked the Vilna Gaon, would Rivkah invite a curse upon herself? Why did she not simply say "He will not curse you, my son?"

Rivkah, answered the Gaon, was hinting to Yaakov that he would face three main forms of hardship in his life. These hardships are alluded to in the acronym of the word עָלַי [upon me] - Esav, Lavan and Yosef.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

Born Yesterday

HT: Yaak

A 30-year-old guy goes to Rav Chaim Kanievsky to receive a beracha [blessing] for a Shidduch [marriage partner]. Rav Chaim Shlit"a tells him, "Your Bashert [soul mate, intended partner] wasn't born yet. It should be with Beracha Vehatzlaha [blessing and success]"

The news hit the man hard and he left the house crying, asking himself why he has to wait so long for a Shidduch.

Two months later, he comes back to Rav Chaim Shlit"a and announces he's engaged to a Giyoret [female convert to Judaism] who had just converted a month earlier.

[Note: when a person converts to Judaism it is as if they are re-born.  They receive a new name , and even a new birthday - the day of the conversion]

Source: KikarHaShabat

Things to do today

Life is a Rollercoaster

The lower the descent, the higher the potential ascent.  Known in chassidus as: "Yerida l'tzorich Aliyah" - it is a descent purely for the purpose of ascent.

When your life takes a turn for the worse, know that this is the preparation for a future elevation.  It's the ricochet effect.  The harder you throw a ball down, the higher it will bounce back up.

People are tested all the time: know that is all it is:  a test.  Sometimes it may last for many years, sometimes just a few days.  The lower you have fallen, the higher you can potentially rise.  If you know this, then nothing should ever bother you again.

Deceptive Appearances

 

In Parshas Toldos we read about Eisav's deceptive acts towards his father, climaxing here at the end of the parsha, where he marries one of Yishmael's daughters in order to appear righteous in Yitzchak's eyes.

Rashi however comments that, in fact, "he added wickedness upon his wickedness, in that he did not divorce the first ones" [Toldos 28:9] i.e. just like he had married his first wives in an attempt to appear righteous, so too here "he added wickedness upon wickedness" marrying once again, this time to a member of Avraham's family in order to maintain his deceptive veil of righteousness.

In the following parsha, Vayeitzei, we read of another trickster, Lavan, who acted deceptively towards Yaakov. However, it could be argued that Eisav's deception towards his father represented a greater degree of moral corruption than the acts of Lavan, because Eisav actively promoted himself as a righteous person. Lavan, on the other hand, may have acted deceptively, but he did not scheme to find ways of proving his righteousness to others. He merely concealed his selfish and corrupt motives so Yaakov would not come to uncover his plans.

So, the Torah's description of Eisav here, at the end of parshas Toldos, comes to warn us of the moral corruption which was exemplified by Eisav. Here we are warned to steer clear of this lowly activity: promoting oneself as righteous while the truth is something very different indeed.

Based on Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe

Perfect Timing

COUSINS Maya Gray and Isaac Bushell timed their grand entry into this world perfectly, right down to the minute.

Both were born at 7.55am on Saturday, in Peninsula Private Hospital, weighing almost exactly the same.

Mums Stacey Bushell, 32, and Kylie Liddicoat, 27, who are sisters-in-law, were amazed by the coincidences.

Both were second children for the women, and both came early, with Maya weighing in at 3.52kg, while Isaac was close behind at 3.49kg.

Midwife Judith Lane said she had been running between their neighbouring rooms during the births.

"As soon as Maya was born I raced into the other room and Isaac was just being placed on his mother's chest," Mrs Lane said.

"Occasionally babies are born at the same time, but for it to happen with cousins is amazing, it blew us away, it's a bit freaky."

Source: Herald Sun

Naturally Inclined

 

How could Yitzchak, our righteous patriarch, have a son whose very nature even in the womb was inclined towards idol worship? [see Rashi - Toldos 25:22]

G-d can either make a person's disposition naturally good or naturally bad. But, even if a person has a natural inclination to evil, that does not mean that he is evil per se, for he is given free choice. Rather, the reason why he was given such an inclination was to rise to the challenge and overcome it. Thus Eisav was given a natural tendency to evil so that he could excel in the Divine service of "quashing" the evil inclination.

Even though he failed in his task, we can nevertheless learn from Eisav that if a person has strong desires to do something bad, it means that he has been given the special Divine mission of overcoming his inclinations.

Based on Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe

Rivkah's Candles

Art: Michoel Muchnik

In recent years the custom for girls to light Shabbos candles before they are married has re-emerged.  This is actually an ancient practice which is indicated by Rashi's comment to verse 67. 

Here we see that Rivkah lit candles before she was married, for only after Yitzchak had taken her into "the tent of Sarah his mother" and witnessed her Shabbos candles burning for the entire week, did he take her to be his wife.  In fact, it was primarily the observance of this mitzvah that proved to Yitzchak the suitability of Rivkah as a spouse, and a mother in Israel.

Based on Likutei Sichos Lubavicher Rebbe