Parashat Toldot in english 5769
הרב דוד דניאל הכהן שליט״א
תקציר
The Rav retells the episode of Parashat Toldot in which Yitzhak asks Esav for game in order to bless him, and Yaakov receives the blessings in his place. He asks why Yitzhak wanted to bless only one son, and why he refused to take the blessings back when he understood what had happened. According to the Rav, Yitzhak knew who Esav was and saw in him a great hidden potential, and the request for game was a test meant to push him toward teshuva. The Rav explains Esav's flaw as a split between head and body, between what he thinks and what he does, and contrasts it with the Torah, which must be lived in action. He then links this to Hanukkah: in his view the struggle of the Hashmonaim was also against Jews who wanted to reshape the Torah to look like the nations, and Hashem wants the Torah kept without change.
רגעים מרכזיים
- 0:08 Yitzhak asks Esav for game; Rivka sends Yaakov in his place האבות
- 1:41 Esav learns of the blessings taken and Yitzhak refuses to undo them האבות
- 2:17 Why bless only one son, and why not take the blessings back אמונה האבות
- 4:10 Yitzhak knew exactly who Esav was אדום וישמעאל האבות
- 4:22 Esav's burial: his head in Ma'arat HaMachpela, his body elsewhere אדום וישמעאל האבות
- 6:13 Esav's flaw: head and body split, thought and action apart מידות מוסר
- 6:58 The great potential Yitzhak saw in Esav; Leah's tears זוגיות ומשפחה האבות
- 8:41 Yaakov takes Leah and becomes Israel זוגיות ומשפחה האבות
- 9:57 The blessing as a test pushing Esav toward teshuva האבות תשובה
- 11:17 The Hashmonaim against the Hellenizing Jews who wanted to change the Torah חנוכה גלות
- 13:31 Why the Sages waited a year to institute Hanukkah, and the meaning of the oil חנוכה הלכה
- 15:50 Keeping the Torah without change leads to the Mashiach חנוכה משיח