Shalom Friends;
This year’s Parshiyot Toldot vort is being sponsored by Ben and Gina Fishman of Ramat Beit Shemesh dedicated to all those who help sustain the klal in times of need, including Israel’s soldiers and security forces, personnel who provide vital medical and support services, rabbanim and teachers, and irgunei chessed. And dedicated for the safety of the Chayalim and that we merit to see a quick release of the remaining hostages. To the Fishman family, many thanks for your sponsorship and for your continued kindnesses.
You can celebrate a Simcha — a birth, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShevua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShevua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
Skype: mark.burt3
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We open our vort on Parshat Toldot with excerpts from Rabbi Shmuel Goldin’s Parsha Summary in his sefer “Unlocking the Torah Text,” Sefer Breish’t (page 123) :
Faced with famine, Yitzchak and his family travel to the territory of the Philistines [the P’lishtim]. Hashem appears to Yitzchak and commands him not to descend to Egypt but to remain in the land of Canaan, wherein he will be blessed.
Friction develops between Yitzchak and the Philistines as the Patriarch becomes increasingly successful and wealthy. As a result, Avimelech, the king of the Philistines, exiles Yitzchak from his territory.
Yitzchak uncovers his father’s wells, which had been filled in by the Philistines. He then digs new wells, some which serve as the source of additional conflict with the Philistines,
Yitzchak travels to Be’er Sheva, where Hashem Blesses him.
Yitzchak and Avimelech contract an agreement.
Rabbi Goldin now provides context and commentary on the contention between Yitzchak and Avimelech and the Philistines and their eventual agreement (pages 132 – 135) :
In an episode strikingly similar to an earlier event in Avraham’s time, Yitzchak is approached by Avimelech… for the purpose of contracting a covenant of non-belligerence. After throwing a celebratory party, Yitzchak apparently agrees and the two camps part in peace. (Rabbi Goldin citing Sefer Breish’t, Perek 26, posukim 26 – 31)
The narrative indicates that Yitzchak settled in Gerar [territory of the Philistines] and Hashem blessed him. (Citing Sefer Breish’t. Perek 26, posukim 1-5) Torah now records:
“So Yitzchak settled in Gerar…. Yitzchak sowed in the land, and in that year he reaped a hundredfold; thus had Hashem blessed him. The man became great and kept becoming greater until he was very great. He had acquired flocks and herds and many enterprises; and the Philistines envied him. All of the wells that his father dug in the days of Avraham, his father, the Philistines stopped up and filled them with earth. And Avimelech said to Yitzchak, “Go away from us for you have become mightier than we!…. Yitzchak’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of fresh water. The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Yitzchak’s herdsmen saying, ‘The water is ours,’…. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also… He [Yitzchak] dug another well; they did not quarrel over it, so he called its name Rechovot, and said, ‘For now Hashem has granted us ample space, and we can be fruitful in the land.’ He went up from there to Beer-Sheva. Hashem appeared to him that night and said, ‘I am the G’d of your father Avraham: Fear not, for I am with you; I will bless you and increase your offspring because of Avraham My servant.’ He built an altar there, invoked Hashem by Name, and there he pitched his tent; there Yitzchak’s servants dug a well.” (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 26, posukim 6, 12 – 25 as rendered to English in the Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash)
“Avimelech went to him from Gerar with a group of his friends and Phicol, general of his legion. Yitzchak asked him, ‘Why did you come to me? You hate me and drove me away from you!’ And they said, ‘We have indeed seen that Hashem has been with you, so we said, ‘Let the oath between ourselves now be between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you: If you do evil with us…! Just as we have not molested you, and just as we have done with you only good, and sent you away in peace — Now, you, O blessed of Hashem!'” (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 26, posukim 26 – 29 as rendered to English in the Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash)
“He ]Yitzchak] made them a feast and they ate and drank. They awoke early in the morning and swore to one another; then Yitzchak saw them off and they departed from him in peace.” (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 26, posukim 30 – 31 as rendered to English in the Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash)
“And it was on that very day [the day when Yitzchak and his family and Avimelech contract an agreement and the two camps part peacefully] that Yitzchak’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, and they said to him, ‘We have found water!’ And he named it Shibah, therefore, the name of the city is Beer-Sheba until this very day.” (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 26, posukim 32 – 33 rendered to English in the Sapirstein Edition, The Torah With Rashi’s Commentary)
The Sapirstein Edition, The Torah With Rashi’s Commentary provides a note on posuk 33 citing Tanchuma, Yashan, Vayeitzei 9:
The word [“Shibah”] does not mean “seven” here as it usually does. It is related to the “Sh’vua- oath,” and refers to the oath by which Yitzchak and Avimelech affirmed their covenant.
Returning to Rabbi Goldin’s context and commentary on the contention between Yitzchak and Avimelech and the Philistines and their eventual agreement, questions are asked (ibid, pages 132 – 135) :
Why are the Rabbis openly critical of Avraham’s treaty with Avimelech, yet strangely silent when it comes to Yitzchak’s agreement with the same king? Is it possible that these two episodes, which seem so similar, actually differ in significant ways?
…A straightforward reading of the pashut pshat of the text… brings to light a subliminal dialogue between Yitzchak and Avimelech within this passage, a dialogue that explains Yitzchak’s seemingly strange behavior and carries tremendous relevance for our own times.
As soon as Yitzchak sees Avimelech and his entourage approach, he raises the following objection: “Why have you come to me? [It is obvious that] you hate me and exiled me away from among you!” (Rabbi Goldin’s translation of Sefer Breish’t, Perek 26, posuk 27) Avimelech responds by insisting that he has come to contract a covenant with Yitzchak: “That you shall not [note below] do evil to us, just as we did not harm you, and as we did only good to you, for we sent you away in peace.” (Rabbi Goldin’s translation of Sefer Breish’t, Perek 26, posuk 29 — please note that in both the Artscroll Stone Chumash and the Sapirstein Edition, The Torah With Rashi’s Commentary translation the first “not” does not exist)
They both acknowledge that during their past interaction Yitzchak was exiled from the territory of the Philistines. What they disagree about is, in fact, a much deeper issue. They are arguing about the definition of “peace.”
To paraphrase [noun: the act or process of restating or rewording] the subliminal [adjective: existing or operating below the threshold of consciousness] dialogue taking place between Yitzchak and Avimelech:
Yitzchak opens the conversation: How can you possibly suggest that we enact a peace treaty? Your intentions until now have been anything but peaceful. Did you not revile [verb (used with object) address or speak of abusively] me and exile me from your land?
Avimelech responds: How can you say that we hate you? If we hated you, we would have killed you. Our intentions are obviously peaceful because all we did was send you away.
Avimelech defines “peace” as the absence of war and physical violence. As long as the two parties are not killing each other, in the king’s eyes, they are living in peace.
To Yitzchak, however, “peace” means much more. For true peace to exist there must be both an absence of hostility and an effort towards cooperation. Anything less might be defined as mutual coexistence but cannot be considered true peace.
Yitzchak, therefore ends the conversation. As a smokescreen, he throws a celebratory party which lasts through the night. Upon awaking the next morning, Yitzchak and Avimelech exchange promises to each other. The text [Sefer Breish’t, Perek 26, posuk 30], however, conspicuously fails to mention a brit, “covenant.” Unlike his father, Avraham, Yitzchak does not contract a full treaty with the Philistines. He recognizes that temporary agreements with Avimelech are possible, but a lasting covenant cannot be drawn.
Then, finally, Yitzchak executes the coup de grace. With brilliant irony, the text states: [as Rabbi Goldin renders Sefer Breish’t, Perek 26, posuk 31] “He [Yitzchak] sent them away; and they went from him in peace.”
Yitzchak turns the tables on Avimelech. In effect he says: I will operate with you according to your definition of peace, just as you sent me away “in peace,” I now send you away from me “in peace.”
Yitzchak learns from his father’s mistakes. Avraham was comfortable contracting a full covenant with Avimelech and continued to live in the territory of the Philistines “for many days [Rabbi Goldin citing Sefer Breish’t, Perek 31, posuk 34],” Yitzchak understands the danger of such an agreement and insists on physical separation. He recognizes that the Philistines can only be trusted in minimal fashion and, even then, only from afar. The Rabbis are, therefore, silent concerning Yitzchak’s agreement with Avimelech although they had been critical of a similar agreement contracted by Avraham. Their silence reflects acknowledgement of the lessons well learned by Yitzchak.
Rabbi Goldin concludes (ibid, page 135) :
True peace cannot take root in countries where children are raised to hate and where the daily rhetoric lauds murderers and spews venom upon the Jewish nation. Even those Arab countries that have treaties with Israel, such as Egypt, Jordan, fall frighteningly short in their definition of what those agreements should mean. Like Avimelech, they maintain that peace is defined by the current absence of war. Cooperation, support and mutual understanding remain far from their reality.
This author might add that there remains suspicion regarding more recent agreements made with entities such as the United Arab Emirates, even with the beginnings of the existence of communities of Jews living there. Further, the possible existence of future “ceasefires” with Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the other terrorist entities in Gaza or with Hezbollah in Lebanon would be but very temporary cessations of hostile attacks upon Israel’s sovereignty. Israel must eradicate them all, as well as take the necessary military steps against their sponsor, Iran in order to neuter its military capabilities and bring about a successful uprising of the Iranian people, the overthrowing of Islamic Mullahs and restoration of the previous ties between Persians and Israel.
May it be that our Chayalim, regardless of the machinations of their high command, emerge totally victorious — eradicating from the face of the earth Hamas, their terrorist buddies and the so-called “innocent civilians” of Gaza who joined with Hamas in their murderous deeds, that the Chayalim return home whole — physically, mentally and spiritually and that the Chayalim Liberate and bring home all remaining hostages. And may we see the restoration of true unity within Am Yisrael.
May we, the B’nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently re-settled in Gush Katif, once the IDF, by the Yad Hashem, destructs and eradicates the wild beasts of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, all other terror entities, and if necessary Iran, and that our brethren be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them, that the thrice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes and the oft-destroyed Yeshiva buildings in Homesh be rebuilt, as well as the buildings of Yishuv Elchanan, all at total government expense. May our Chayalim return from battle unharmed — physically, mentally and spiritually and may all of the remaining hostages brutally taken by the wild beasts of Hamas be liberated and brought home to their families. Baruch Hashem that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard is now in his fourth year at home in Eretz Yisrael and continues in a new chapter in his life. May Esther Yocheved bat Yechiel Avraham have an aliyah in Shemayim and may her spirit and memory continue to lift Jonathan to at least 120 years. May the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem — as with the return in April, 2019, via Russia, of the remains of Zachariah Baumel, as should the remains of the two chayalim from the Gaza War of ten years ago. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V’Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. May we see, in 5785, the REAL Jews from the Ukraine and Russia as well as the US and Canada, the real Jews via matrilineal descent, make Aliyah enmass — via thorough review by Misrad HaPanim. And may we soon and finally see the total end to the Communist Chinese Wuhan Lab corona virus pandemic and all like viruses and variants. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nei 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; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem Al’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b’yamainu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
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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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