| Vayishlach 5761 (December 15, 2000) |
Why Does Esau Hate Jacob?
Evil exists because it is so much more powerful than good. Is there a lover in the
world who loves with the intensity that a hater hates? Is there a light as
bright as darkness is black? Has there ever been an act of kindness unleashed
with the force and ferocity contained in an act of cruelty?
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Vayishlach
Torah Portion for week of December 10-16, 2000
Genesis 32:4-36:43
Jacob's confrontation with Esau, the rape of Dinah, Reuben's sin, the eight
primordial kings of Edom--and what it all means according to sages and mystics
from Moses to today.
The
Parshah in a NutshellFull Parshah
summary with commentary
More
on the Parshah from the Chassidic Masters
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A Man I Met in Shul
He had his tallit over his shoulder and was obviously preparing for prayer. I gave him little thought until three and a half hours later when I got ready to leave for home. He was standing in the same place with his tallit still over his shoulder. His eyes were closed and his face burned with a spiritual intensity that I had never before seen.
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The Splattered Gem
Rabbi Schneur Zalman saw these events as a reflection of what was transpiring
Above. He regarded his arrest as but the earthly echo of a Heavenly indictment against his revelation of the most intimate secrets of the Torah. And he saw his release
as signifying his exoneration in the Heavenly court.
The 19th of Kislev therefore marks the “birth”
of Chassidism: the point at which it was allowed to emerge from the womb of "mysticism" into the light of day, to grow and develop
as an integral part of Torah and Jewish life.
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More on the Chassidic festival of Kislev 19:
The Black Carriage
Is Anybody Home?
The Longer Shorter Way
A Story of Three Sisters
The Truth About the Baal Shem Tov
Winter
Spiritual Modality for Behavior Modification
According to Jewish tradition, we are animated and driven by two souls: an animal soul related to the blood and a divine soul related to the mind. These two souls struggle for control of the entire personality.
The natural method to change behavior is for thought to affect emotion, which affects action. The Torah method of behavior modification reverses this hierarchy: deed affects emotion, which affects thought. This system has been applied with great remedial success to Jewish prisoners and their families by the Aleph Institute in Miami.
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