ב"ה
Imagine that you knew everything.Imagine that you knew exactly when and exactly how you will die. That you knew, in advance, the cause of every quarrel and the timing of every reconciliation in your marriage. Imagine that all the actions you will take in the course of your lifetime were listed like entries in a giant captain's log, with the results of each action noted at its side. Would you feel that you were in control of your life?
Jacob's 147 years can be divided into three general periods, defined by three geographical locations and three degrees of mastery over his environment: a) the years he spent in "the tents of study" in the Holy Land; b) his Charan years in the employ of Laban; c) the 17 years he lived in Egypt.In our own lives, we each experience these three states of being: sovereignty, struggle, and subjugation.
The host was beside himself with indignation. "You have some nerve!" he shouted. "You slept in my house, you ate at my table, and now you dare to hurl at me these false accusations!" Rabbi Chaim turned to the guest. "Perhaps there was a witness at the time you say you handed your money to him?" The dejected man now felt even worse. "No, there was no witness there. Just before Shabbat we sat under a tree. That is when I removed my pouch and gave it to him to hold for me until Saturday night."
I am writing these words from a different time. The year is the same, the days are the same, but the months are different.The time in which I exist today is neither solar nor truly lunar. It is a time quite individual-created by G-d, especially for me. Today is one cyclical month since my first immersion in the mikvah.
Despite the many diverse conceptualizations of G-d, underneath it all, He looks disconcertingly familiar. In fact, He looks, more or less, like us. It seems that even the recognition of a purposeful and intelligent Creator is not enough to overcome the seemingly inescapable gravitational attraction of the "Something From Something" doctrine.
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Genesis 47:28-50:26 Week of December 19-25, 1999 THE PARSHAH IN A NUTSHELL FULL PARSHAH SUMMARY WITH COMMENTARY
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