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Rosenblum, Rabbi Sender on |
How do we learn from the way Sarah's life is discussed her amazing worldview of seeing everything in her - the good and bad - as good? This first of our matriarch's had an absolutely flawless character, which only added to her beauty. How did Eliezer teach us that our own interests color our view, even when we are unaware of them?
The way Sarah's life is discussed stands out from the average person. Did she really die - or does she still live on in the truest sense? Why was it so important to that Yitzchak find a wife from Avraham's family - who were not the most savory of characters? And why was the death of Sarah juxtaposed with Akeidas Yitzchak?
There is an interesting connection between Yishamael at the end of last week's parsha and the beginning of this week's with a discussion of Yitzchak. What information about the end of days does it foretell? Why did Esav find it necessary to degrade his birthright after selling it, teaching us a strong lesson about guilt? How was Avimelech able to divine that Yitzchak and Rivkah were married?
How was Yitzchak, with all his divine inspiration and spiritual sensitivity, unable to realize the evilness of his son Esav? Wasn't it a lie for Yaakov, the man of truth, to claim that he was his older brother? And how did each of our three forefathers stand for the ways and reasons the Jews would be persecuted in exile?
The stones Yaakov gathered to support his head as he slept each stood for one of the three pillars we use to serve Hashem. But if we can only do one of them, which should we choose? How does this parsha show us that it is good for us even in this world to follow Hashem's will? And how does Yaakov prove that he really should have inherited all of Lavan's wealth?
Yaakov experienced a supernatural swiftness on his journey to find his mate, just as his grandfather's servant had when going to find a wife for Yitzchak. How does this give us great comfort in our struggle to find the right one to marry? Rabbi Rosenblum also gives a fascinating analysis of the forefathers lives and how they clearly portray the history of the Jewish people.
Yaakov's attempt to hide his beautiful daughter from his evil older brother boomeranged, causing her to be taken in a non-permissible way. Why did his logical course of action cause punishment? What comes first - changing external bad behaviors and then working on fixing negative traits, or vise versa? And where do wee see that the greatest strength comes not from fighting evil, but fleeing from it?
Yaakov's life was full of tribulation, and once his fateful meeting with Esav was behind him he hoped to finally see peace. Why did that desire bring the problems with Yosef upon him? And what difference would it make to Yosef if the Arabs who took him to Egypt were uncharacteristically carrying sweet smelling spices? Was that supposed to comfort his terrible anguish at being sold as a slave by his brothers?