Jacob's Journey

 
Moshe Kempinski ....
 
We read an unusual verse in Isaiah that says;

Therefore thus saith HaShem, who redeemed Abraham, because of the house of Yaacov: Yaacov shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale;( Isaiah 29:22)

The Midrash Tanchuma related to Parshat Toldot explains

Rav Shmuel son of Yitzchak says Abraham was saved from the fiery of furnace ( according to our tradition Nimrod threw Avraham into the furnace because he was afraid that his faith would deter his royal plans) . He was saved only on the merit of Yaacov. For the judgment came forth before Nimrod that Avraham be burned and it was known before HaShem that Yaacov was to be Avraham's descendant and G-d declared it was important that Avraham be saved on the merit of Yaacov  ;

We need to understand the meaning of this Midrash.

Is it saying that without Yaacov, Avraham should have been burned?

Were all of Avraham's deed, greatness and incredible faith and faithfulness all for naught?

The text " Yifat Toar" explains that Avraham's great faith and his faithfulness that led him in the past into the unknown would have led to Avraham desiring to sacrifice his own life in order to sanctify G-d's name and to make the ultimate sacrifice and declaration of faith . This was Avraham's way. The importance of Yaacov's birth kept him away from that option.

If so the next question that needs to be asked is :

What did Yaacov introduce into the world that could not have been realized through Avraham ?

Why did the creation of the Jewish people have to wait until Yaacov and did not start with Avraham?

The secret of the survivability of this people and their eternal destiny was fully revealed within the character of Yaacov a process only begun with Avraham.

HaRav Kook writes the following in his book " Midbar Shur"

There are two paths in worshiping HaShem. One is spontaneous revolutionary and radical.

Avraham that broke into pieces all that was his past. Avraham battled the kings in spontaneous response to an evil that was perpetrated .The man who accepted the command to do the Brit Mila and even went unto the ends of human ability when he undertook the task of the binding of Yitzchak .This was the way of Avraham

Yaacov on the other hand was a simple man who dwelled in the tents .Yaacov as his name hints is the man who moves forward ( OKEV )step after careful step climbing the ladder of Yaacov ,rung after every rung

According to the Mystics of Judaism the purpose of mankind and the goal of every soul is to reach higher and higher with deliberate effort and spiritual work. All this so that they would not have to be nourished by the NEHAMA KISUFA the bread of shame? This bread of shame is based on the shame
of :" receiving without giving" .... About receiving from the Divine source with no spiritual endeavors"

That is the deeper understanding of the verse

Therefore thus saith HaShem, who redeemed Abraham, because of the house of Yaacov: Yaacov shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale;( Isaiah 29:22)

This is the secret of the Jewish people ensconced within Yaacov . The secret that " The Eternal People Have No Fear of The Long Voyage"

 The journey that Avraham began with his "Lech Lecha ( go forth) " into the unknown, continued with Rivka the mother of Yaacov who told Eliezer, Avraham's servant " I will go" not knowing to where she was headed.

Yaacov forced to leave Israel wanders into the unknown and into his destiny.
 
Ruth the daughter of Moab who becomes Ruth the grandmother of King David when she declares to Naomi" wither you go I shall go"

The step by step journey into the unknown is the constant strength of Yaacov and of all his descendants.

I had the great merit recently of joining in the simcha celebrating the release of a young Jewish man from prison where he served a sentence for being involved in anti Disengagement activity that may have been illegal .Yet they were actions that  came out of a deep passion and love for the people and the land of Israel. He is soon to be married and by so doing they will place another brick in the building of Jewish destiny. Another step in the long road of Jacob's journey.

 As the world sinks deeper into the unknown and into confusion our people will continue to move forward and upward.

(from the Torah drasha at the Bar Mitzva of my son Baruch Eliyahu)





 

Walking in the Valley

 Moshe Kempinski......

As I was leaving the Western Wall recently, after evening prayers, I suddenly saw a group of young women students of one of the Ulpanot/ religious high schools burst unto the Kotel plaza. They were all wearing white sweatshirts and some were carrying Israeli flags , while others were draped with the flags. They exploded into singing and dancing. In essence they were whirling and jumping seemingly driven by some inner passion and joy. They seemed like starving wanderers who had finally reached an oasis filled with sparkling life giving waters. In fact that is exactly what they were. They had just returned from the wasteland of Europe, visiting the concentration camps and the historic Jewish communities that were no more. Nothing could contain their joy at that moment.

Several weeks later I was walking by the ancient Cardo Street in the old city, I saw some students from another school sitting and singing spiritual songs amidst the ancient pillars. Suddenly another group wearing different colored sweatshirts came running through the narrow entrance into the Cardo plaza and the two groups merged together with shrieks and hugs. The same scene that I had witnessed so many times at the Kotel plaza with other groups of Yeshiva boys and Ulpana girls was recreated as they burst into song and dance as well

. Upon investigation I learned that the first group in the Cardo had been half the class that had decided to travel the length and breadth of the land of Israel. Their journey culminated in the old city of Jerusalem. The second group was the other half who had decided to make the trip to visit the destroyed synagogues and the death camps in Poland. They met together in the center of the world, in the Old city of Jerusalem.

In this world G-d speaks in images. One needs to learn how to listen with one's eyes. There was great comfort in the images I was seeing. In a world of uncertainty and confusion certain images and metaphors stand as an anchor in seas raging with concern and doubt.

My son recently led a group of students from Yeshivat HaKotel to a trip through Poland and Austria. As the group stood in front of the horrific memorial in the death camp of Maidanek he handed every one of the students a page with the prophecy of Ezekiel printed out on it. The memorial in Maidanek is a small mountain of ashes and bones culled from the crematoriums that attempted to burn and destroy the memory of the Jewish people. A mountain of pain and hopelessness.

Ezekiel says in chapter 37;

1 The hand of HaShem was upon me, and HaShem carried me out in a spirit, and set me down in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones; …… 5 Thus said HaShem G-D unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am HaShem.' …. ….. 11 Then He said unto me: 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say: Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. 12 Therefore prophesy, and say unto them: Thus said HaShem G-D: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And ye shall know that I am HaShem, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, O My people. 14 And I will put My spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land; and ye shall know that I HaShem have spoken, and performed it, said HaShem.'

My son then said to his students, these are the dry bones and you, the young people learning torah in Israel are the fulfillment of the end.

Interesting thoughts to ponder as we watch our frantic Prime Minister trying to promote a suicidal peace negotiation. This , being done either out of vengeance or out of desperation. These thoughts will be the anchor when other ministers in the government mount a hate campaign against young Jewish settlers and residents of the Biblical Heartland. It will bring some comfort when even in the nation that has proven to be a great friend of Israel in the past is experiencing new and dangerous changes.

The process of Destiny continues in spite of the small efforts of men to deter it

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The Sign on the Forehead

 

by Moshe Kempinski....

Israel is surrounded by enemies, but the greatest threat lies within.

The dark clouds in the skies of our world are quickly gathering and seem ever more menacing. The clarity that seems so prevalent when the sky is blue and the sun is blazing seems to be dissolving in a frightening pace. The world is in intent on continuing its spiral into chaos and confusion. Axioms and understandings that were once anchors in our human voyage have been uprooted. Evil has become a relative and amorphous word while the word Good seems to have become a limited definition of whatever it is that fills one's own individual needs.

Rav Nachman of Bratslav tells the story about a king and his servant. The servant tells the king that there was a terrible plague with the new crop of wheat . It was contaminated and anyone who would eat of it would go insane. There was nothing else for the people to eat .But the servant assured the king that he had set aside enough of last year's wheat for the two of them. They could eat the old wheat and not go insane.

The king refused to eat anything other than what his subjects were eating, explaining that if the world goes insane and the two of them remain sane, they would be viewed as the insane ones., "You and I will eat what everyone else eats. However, we will mark our foreheads with a symbol, so that when I look at you and you look at me, the two of us will know that we are insane!"

The world has been suffering from such contaminated crops of wheat for some time now. A plague that seems to have swept across the European continent has landed on the shores of the Untied States in time for their elections. This land of Israel was not spared and has been overrun since the failed Oslo Peace process with the Palestinian terrorists was begun.

What then is the sign on the foreheads that we need to look for in order to re-establish balance.

During the darkening months of Heshvan it may be hard to remember the comforting glow of Tishrei. It may be difficult at times to reconnect to that incredible feeling of safety and protection we all felt as we sat under the clouds of Glory in our Sukkoth. Yet the instructions for re-entering the world of the "crazy wheat" were given during the festival of Sukkoth as well. On the Shabbat of Chol Hamoed Sukkoth we read the following from the book of Exodus

“And HaShem said unto Moses: 'I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken, for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.' And he said: 'Show me, I pray Thee, Your glory.' And He said: 'I will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of HaShem before you ; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.' And He said: 'You cannot not see My face, for no man shall see Me and live.' And HaShem said: 'Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand upon the rock. And it shall come to pass, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you ( VeSakotee) with My hand until I have passed by. And I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.'(Exodus 33:17-23)

Though we may be finding ourselves alone in a cleft or crevice during the coming passing storms, we will hearken back to the memory of the covering of Sukkoth . It, like the covering of Hashem's hand ,"and will cover you ( VeSakotee) with My hand until I have passed by" will give us the stamina and vision to see all that needs to be seen and understand all that needs to be understood . Only after experiencing the passing of and sensing the impact of the ever developing hand of Divine destiny, will history ever achieve real meaning.

A decision seems to have been made in Israel 's government to stoke the fires of hatred in the land. In the inner chambers of the crumbling and faltering cabinet it would seem that a decision was arrived at regarding the villifying of the settlers and their children. That would explain the sudden outpouring of “concern" and consternation regarding the remarks and actions of some teenagers on the windswept hilltops of Judea and Samaria .

Massive amounts of weapons are still being smuggled into the Gaza strip. Missiles are still being fired into Israel from the ruins of Jewish settlements in Gush Katif. Leftist Israelis, European anarchists and Palestinians are staging a weekly violent demonstration at Bilin, wounding soldiers and civilians. Several terrorist incidents in Jerusalem have recently been thwarted. Yet the Government held urgent discussions on “the recent bout of violence directed towards security forces in West Bank by Jewish extremists" All this coincidently timed to occur around the date of the commemoration of Yitzchak Rabin's murder.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak declared: "These riots and public disturbances are extremely grave, and their objective is to undermine the authority of the state and its ability to impose order on its citizens. There is an attempt here by a group of extremists to fracture the authority of the state and its representatives in the field, the IDF and the police, born of their pretension to dictate to the state the patterns of behavior seen in Judea and Samaria."

One needs to remember we are talking about a handful of teenage boys and girls who dared to resist the violent demolition of the Federman house near Kiryat Arba.

Vice Premier Ramon bellowed recently that "Several hundred unruly Jewish hooligans are running amuck in the Territories, beating IDF officers, breaking bones, (sic) and trying to assassinate Professor (Ze'ev) Sternhell( sic). And the government stands before them trembling and helpless, and all the law enforcement agencies explain why nothing can be done against them. I am convinced that if these were Palestinians, they would all be behind bars by now,"

One needs to remind Ramon that had they been Palestinians they would be immediately released from prison as a "goodwill gesture" as opposed to the young Jewish girls who sat in Jail with no recourse for months.

It may very well be that the orders to destroy the Federman house in the accompaniment of the violent Yassam thug unit may have been given to stir the pot and create the reactions and enhance the image of "violent settlers".

Why all this effort?

Our Prime Minister, Olmert, is being charged or suspected of common thievery. Our Minister of Defense, Barak , lost his position in a landslide vote after having been a failure as a Prime Minister. Our Vice Premier, Ramon, has been convicted of sexual misconduct. Their coalition government is in tatters and their only defense from the scrutiny of the Israeli public is an offense. Setting up the settlers as Public Enemy #1 and then "cracking down" on them, may be the antidote to help cover over their own failures and incompetence.

With the media completely backing them up in the effort, one might wonder how the nationalist camp expects to withstand the renewed attack from their fellow countrymen. The press, the judicial system, the political leadership and the world has already prejudged each and every resident of the biblical heartland. Resisting such an onslaught seem to be a feat more impossible that withstanding the terror attacks and missiles of those who are clearly identified as the enemy.

An interesting insight into the torah portion of Lech Lecha might give us some direction.

And, behold, the word of HaShem came unto him, saying: 'This man shall not be your heir; but he that shall come forth out of your own loins shall be your heir And He brought him forward , and said: 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if you are able to count them'; and He said unto him: 'Thus shall be your children .' And he believed inHaShem; and He counted it to him as righteousness.( Genesis 15:4-6)

G-d tells Abraham to go out and count the stars though He also tells him that that is an impossible task. Then G-d says "'Thus shall be your children ". The simple understanding of the verse explains that Abraham is told that his children would be as numerous as the stars. The deeper understanding says much more.

G-d tells Abraham to do an impossible task and then we see a pause. At the end of that pause G-d begins to speak again and says "'Thus shall be your children ".

What did Abraham do during that pause? Clearly he went out and started counting the stars just as G-d had asked him to do. At that point G-d tells him that it is that characteristic that will exemplify his children. They will endeavor to do even the impossible because that is what their beloved G-d asked them to do.

It is that passion and faith that is so infuriating people who have no passion except for themselves and no faith except in their own power. It is that vision and commitment that so angers people who have lost the ability to see.

These young people are being condemned by the press and the leadership as agents of hatred and discord. Yet the reality is so clearly different. It is these young people who have withstood the truncheons and horse at Amona and the fists and batons in Kiryat Arba that represent simple unconditional love.

Love for the land of Israel and love for the vision of what the people of Israel will yet grow to become. That is what will be the sign on the forehead, love for

the G-d of Israel, the people of Israel and the land of Israel