A BRIEF HISTORY OF A NAME

The Jewish people were not always called by this name. In the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, three names appear that define our identity: Israel, Hebrew, and Yehudi, each with its own background.

Israel is the oldest patronymic. We are Bene Israel, the descendants of Yaacob, who received the name Israel after struggling with and defeating an angel. Why are we called by the name of Yaacob and not, for example, the people of Abraham or of Yitsjaq?
The simplest answer is that several nations came from Abraham, and the same from Yitschaq. But the children of Yaacob, despite having gone through very deep conflicts, ended up united. From them came the twelve tribes and one single people: Bene Israel.

“THE OTHER”

The second name is “Hebrew” (ivri), which means “the one who comes from the other side,” probably referring to the other side of the Euphrates, that is, Mesopotamia. This term, which also has a very deep cultural meaning, appears in reference to Abraham, Yosef, Moshe, and other descendants of the Jewish people.
The Egyptians called the Israelites “Hebrews.” Even in the El Amarna letters—Egyptian documents from the fourteenth century B.C.E., the oldest sources outside the Torah that mention our people—they are identified as habiru (“Hebrews” in ancient Egyptian).

The third name, the most universal today, is Yehudi, and it appears much later. After the death of King Shelomo, the kingdom of Israel split in two: the kingdom of Yehuda, with its capital in Jerusalem, and the kingdom of Israel, also known as the kingdom of “the ten tribes,” with its capital in Samaria or Shomeron. When the Assyrians invaded Samaria in the year 720 B.C.E., the ten tribes were destroyed and exiled. Only the kingdom of Yehuda survived, which in English and Spanish is called Judea. Since then, we became known as Yehudim, “Jews.”
Thus it appears in Megillat Esther: Mordechai is not called Hebrew nor Israelite, but Yehudi. The Greeks and Romans also called us yehudim, and the territory of Israel was always known as “Judea”.

THE ROOT OF YEHUDI

But there is something more in this name. Beyond its fascinating history, the name Yehudi has a very deep spiritual meaning. And it was born in an intimate and special moment described in this week’s parasha, Vayetse.

Yaacob arrives in Haran and marries Lea. Lea had already had three sons, which was, in a certain way, the expected number. Let us remember that Sara had one child and Rivka had two. For Lea, having three children was the “expected evolution” of the next matriarch. But, to her surprise and joy, Lea gives birth to a fourth son, and her happiness overflowed. At that moment, she expressed her feeling in words of gratitude to God. Lea declared:
“HaPaam ode et HaShem — This time I will thank God,”
and thus the name Yehuda emerged, which literally means: “I will thank God.”

This is the first recorded instance in the Torah in which someone verbally expresses gratitude to God. That emotion became sealed forever in the name of her fourth son. And every time Lea pronounced the name of her son, she repeated her desire and need to thank God for the great blessing she had received from Him.

What, then, does Yehudi mean, beyond historical considerations?

In a world where spirituality tends to “activate” only in moments of crisis or convenience, where we forget daily about the Creator even while enjoying His blessings, our own name YEHUDI must remind us that the most genuine connection with God must be a relationship of “thanks,” when there are no urgencies or anguish.

JEWISH IDENTITY

In the United States, Thanksgiving occurs once a year. In the Jewish people, gratitude is a daily act. From Lea, who named her son Yehuda in order to thank God, Jewish identity became organically linked to that gesture.  The root of Yehuda is yod–dalet–he, which is also the root of the modern Hebrew word toda, “thanks ” and of the Hebrew word mode, “I thank.. .”

This is why, every morning, when we open our eyes, the first word we pronounce is mode, “I thank You [God]”:
Mode ani lefanecha melekh chai vekayam — “I thank You, God, for being alive, for the opportunity of this new day that begins.”

The identity of a Yehudi is defined by this act: starting the day with a word of thanks to God.

ארבעה חייבים להודות: יורדי הים, הולכי מדבריות, ומי שהיה חולה ונתרפא, ומי שהיה חבוש בבית האסורים – ויצא.

                                                               (ברכות נד ע”ב)

Our Rabbis taught that there are four specific occasions when we must publicly express gratitude to HaShem for saving us from potentially dangerous situations. This obligation is derived from Tehillim (Psalm 107). During the times of the Bet-haMiqdash, this public expression of gratitude was fulfilled through the qorban todá, the offering of thanks. Today, until the Bet-haMiqdash is rebuilt בביא, we express our gratitude with a special blessing known as HaGomel. The text of this blessing is:

“Blessed are You, HaShem, our God, King of the universe, who performs favors for those in debt [to You], and You have granted me all that is good.”

Let us delve into the meaning of this Berakha. The phrase “Hagomel lachayabim tobot” (“Who grants favors to those in debt”) reflects our understanding of the balance between our debts and credits with our Creator. We recognize that we are constantly receiving innumerable blessings and favors from HaShem. Even if we may possess specific merits (zekhut) that could earn us “credit,” these are insignificant compared to the overwhelming kindness and blessings we owe HaShem. Furthermore, when we consider our transgressions and faults (‘aberot), which diminish our merit, we see even more clearly that HaShem’s saving us is an act of pure goodness (hesed) that we did not deserve.

This is why a minor child does not recite HaGomel. At their age, they are not yet fully accountable for their actions and transgressions. Hence, they cannot be classified as “chayabim” (debtors), which is central to the meaning of the Berakha (Rabbi Ovadia Yosef).

When is HaGomel recited?

We recite this Berakha when one has emerged unharmed from any of the four situations typically considered dangerous, as mentioned in Tehillim (Psalm 107):

a) Upon being released from prison (in ancient times, from a dungeon).

b) After traveling safely across the ocean.

c) Upon recovering from a serious illness.

d) After successfully crossing a desert.

In Hebrew, there is a mnemonic to remember these four situations: the word חיים (Hayyim, meaning “alive,” which here signifies being “unharmed”). It corresponds to the initials of חבוש (prison), ים (ocean), יסורין (suffering, referring to illness), and מדבר (desert).

The classic English translation in most Siddurim of the Hebrew words “Birkat haGomel is: “Blessing of Thanksgiving.”

Jacob leaves Beer-Sheba and heads to Haran, Syria. He is fleeing from his brother Esau, who sets out to kill him. He also goes to Haran with the intention of finding a wife in his mother’s hometown. Shortly after starting his long journey, Jacob had a beautiful dream when he arrived at Bethel: angels ascending and descending on a ladder. God promises Jacob His blessing and protection and guarantees that he and his descendants will inherit the land of Israel.

After several days, Jacob arrives in Haran and heads to the well of water. There, he meets a young woman who turns out to be his cousin, Rachel, and he falls in love with her. Rachel takes him to her home. Jacob is welcomed by his uncle Laban. They quickly reach an agreement: Jacob will work for Laban for seven years, and in return, Laban will allow him to marry his daughter. But when the wedding day arrives, Laban gives Jacob his daughter Leah instead of Rachel, something that Jacob only discovers the next day. How is it possible that Jacob did not recognize Leah? There are several explanations, but the simplest is that 1. Rachel and Leah were sisters, and they must have been very similar physically and in their voices. 2. Women in ancient times wore a very thick veil, like the burqa worn by women in Afghanistan. 3. Everything happened in the shadow of night. 4. Jacob did not expect it. Many commentators explain that Jacob was now a victim of a case of “identity theft” similar to what he had caused when he disguised himself as his brother Esau to receive his father Isaac’s blessing, who was blind. The similarities between these two episodes cannot be a mere coincidence.

Jacob had to work for another long period of time to marry Rachel. Before the giving of the Torah, there was no prohibition against marrying two sisters. Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah give birth to several sons for Jacob. Rachel was barren, but ultimately, she gave birth to a son named Joseph. Jacob now has eleven sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, and a daughter, Dinah. The birth of his twelfth son, Benjamin, will be mentioned only in next week’s Parasha. Each of his sons will establish one of the tribes of Israel. There is a very important difference between Ishmael’s sons and Jacob’s sons: we read a little earlier that Ishmael also had twelve sons, and each of those sons created a separate nation (shneim asar nesi’im le’umotam). Jacob, however, managed to have all his sons form 12 tribes of one people.

After working for Laban for many years, Jacob expresses his desire to return to the land of his fathers, Eretz Israel. But Laban convinces him to stay longer and offers to pay him with a portion of the flock so that Jacob can have his own inheritance. After a few years, Jacob’s flock miraculously increases, and our patriarch returns to his homeland without seeking Laban’s consent. He gathers his family and tells them that God revealed Himself to him in a dream, announcing that it was time to leave.

Jacob and his family practically flee without Laban’s knowledge. And when Laban finds out, he goes after Jacob with ill intentions. God reveals Himself to Laban and warns him not to harm Jacob. Laban reproaches Jacob for taking his daughters and grandchildren away. Jacob and Laban finally reconciled and made a peace treaty in Gal-ed. Jacob continues his journey, destined for the land of Canaan, and arrives in the city of Mahanaim. Jacob’s next challenge will be to confront his brother Esau, who had decided to kill him 20 years earlier.

I have never had any “extraterrestrial” experiences: I was not abducted by a UFO, I did not see strange lights in the sky, and I did not go through any unusual experience or alien abduction. Nor did I ever consciously believe or disbelieve in extraterrestrial life. I was simply curious about two very specific things. The first was to distinguish between evidence and imagination (or deception) in this subject. And the second was to find out whether the Torah, any contemporary rabbi, or any modern Jewish book seriously refers to the possibility of other forms of life beyond this world. To my surprise, I found very little — or almost nothing.

So I had to conduct my own research.

Let us begin with the basics: what is known about extraterrestrial life?

This weekend, a documentary will be released in the United States — and I believe also in the rest of the world — that will undoubtedly fuel the debate about extraterrestrial life and non-human intelligence. The documentary is called “The Age of Disclosure” and features testimonies from United States government officials, such as the current Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, Marco Rubio, military personnel; members of intelligence agencies; and high-level scientists, who for the first time in human history speak openly about the existence of “aliens,” non-human intelligences, and their possible interaction with human beings.

The use of the term NHI—non-human intelligence — more in use today than UFOs is not accidental. It is connected to the rise of quantum physics, which has increasingly demonstrated the primacy of “consciousness” — the observer — over the physical world. Over the past five to ten years, science has taken a radical and completely unexpected turn. It has moved away from the idea that the human mind is merely the product of chemical and electrical reactions in the brain, and toward the possibility — now far less disputed — that human consciousness is something much more primordial and profound than the physical universe itself.

Some of the most modern theories, known as “simulation theories,” view the physical universe — time and space — as an interface: a kind of screen or stage that allows consciousness to experience a “virtual reality,” an artificial reality created by a Higher Intelligence. This represents a 180-degree turn in the understanding of reality. Without exaggeration, it is a giant step by science toward a spiritual plane, in which reality is no longer defined by particles and atoms, but by “consciousness, perception, and meaning.” One might even say that, unintentionally, modern science is beginning to discover the dimension of the Divine.

Some of the most recognized scientists in the field of extraterrestrial life research, such as Jacques Vallée and Gary Nolan, insist that reducing everything to “spaceships” traveling from one planet to another is a very limited conceptual error. They argue that we are surrounded by non-human intelligences that can materialize in very diverse forms and that they do not necessarily come from other planets but from different levels of existence.

And this leads inevitably to my question: is there anything in the Jewish tradition that refers to this phenomenon?

Surprisingly, yes.

MAIMONIDES AND NON-HUMAN INTELLIGENCES

The great Sephardic rabbi, Moshe ben Maimon, or Maimonides, wrote nearly 900 years ago a text that, when read in contemporary language, is astonishingly relevant. In Chapter 2 of his monumental work Mishneh Tora — which contains exactly 1,000 chapters distributed across fourteen books — Maimonides describes the existence of what he calls “separate intellects” (tzurot nifradot): non-human intelligences or consciousnesses that have no physical body, do not occupy space, are not bound by time in the same way we are, and do not operate through physical senses.

For Maimonides, the existence of these non-human intelligences is an essential part of the Divine design of the universe. They are entities that exist on the highest planes of being, that can interact with our reality/simulation, but do not belong to our material dimension.

In Hebrew, this category of beings is called malakhim. I must note that translating malakhim as “angels” can be misleading, because those of us who grew up in a Western culture tend to automatically associate “angels” with chubby babies, curly hair, and rosy cheeks, as in the paintings of Goya or Botticelli. But for Maimonides and within Judaism, malakhim are forms of consciousness, bodiless intelligences, that can “descend” or temporarily materialize — as in the episodes of Abraham and Lot — in order to fulfill a specific function.

In other words, according to Jewish tradition, the universe is definitively multidimensional and is populated (or over-populated) by non-human entities that do not follow the biological rules of our species.

The idea of non-biological and non-physical intelligences has never been foreign to Jewish thought.

It is a concept so deeply integrated into Judaism that, although many people may not realize it, we mention it every morning in some of the most important parts of our daily prayer, when we refer to the different levels of the universe created by God.

It is difficult not to notice the conceptual affinity between what today is being discussed in scientific circles and what Judaism had already been articulating for centuries.

Perhaps it is time to reread what Maimonides and our Sages wrote with new eyes and once again marvel at how modern science is now beginning to discover what the Tora and Jewish thought declared so long ago.

MAIMONIDES

Mishne Tora, Yesode haTora, Chapter 2: 4-6

והמלאכים אין להם גוף וגוויה אלא צורה לבדה נפרדת זו מזו. ואינן שווים במעלתן, אלא אלו למעלה מאלה. כולן קיימים, ויודעים הבורא וגדולתו ביותר מדעת בני אדם ומן החכמים.

שמות המלאכים נחלקים לעשרה שמות לפי מדרגות מעלתן, והן:

חיות הקודש, אופנים, אראלים, חשמלים, שרפים, מלאכים, מלכים, אלהים, בני אלהים, כרובים.

וכל אחת ואחת ממדרגה יש לה מדרגות אחרות ומספרן אינו ידוע לאדם.

כל המלאכים הם בעלי צורה בלבד ואין להם גוף וגויה, ואינם תופסים מקום, ואינם מקבלים משקל ולא גבורה, ולא חולשה ולא שינוי, ולא יכולים לראות אותם אלא בנבואה בלבד.

Angels have no body or physical form, but only form (i.e., categories), which distinguishes one from another. They are not equal in their level; rather, some are above others. All of them know the Creator, and their perception of God is at a higher level than the knowledge of human beings and even of the wise.

Angels are divided according to ten names, corresponding to the level of their category, and they are:

Chayot HaKodesh, Ofanim, Arelim, Chashmalim, Serafim, Malakhim, Melakhim, Elo-him, Bene Elo-him, Kerubim.

Each one of these levels also has further subdivisions, and their number is not known to man.

All angels are purely entities of form, without body or physical substance. They do not occupy space, they have no weight, no strength or weakness, no decay, and no change of any kind, and they can only be perceived through prophecy.

Rabbi Yosef Bitton

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, z”l, was one of the only modern Rabbis who wrote on extraterrestrial life.

I copy here his article:

Extraterrestrial life
by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
[Article from Innernet]

Excerpted with permission from “THE ARYEH KAPLAN READER” Published by ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications Ltd., Brooklyn, NY

One of the unique aspects of Judaism is its far reaching universality. Not only does Judaism provide a lesson for every human being, its teachings extended to the very boundaries of the universe.

It is an axiom of Judaism that the entire universe was created for the sake of man. In one place, the Talmud reckons that there are some [10 to the 18th power] stars in the observable universe, and explicitly states that they were all created for the sake of man. It goes further to state that all the angels and spiritual worlds also only exist for this purpose.

Of course, this immediately raises a question that many find quite difficult. How is it possible that man, living on a dust mote called planet Earth, should be the center of the universe? Our Sages realized the vast number of stars in the universe, and also realized that many of them were many orders of magnitude larger than the earth. (Maimonides – Foundations of Torah 3:8)

…It should be quite simple to understand that size and quantity alone are meaningless to an infinite God. There is absolutely no question that the human brain is vastly more complex than the greatest galaxy, and furthermore, that it contains more information than the entire observable inanimate universe. Beyond that, man is endowed with a divine soul that towers over even the highest angels.

Although the creation of such a vast universe for the sake of man does not defy logic, we still need to seek out a reason for its necessity. Some sources state that by contemplating the greatness of the universe, one can begin to comprehend that of God, and thereby fear Him all the more (Maimonides – Foundations of Torah 2:2).

However, if we speak of the possibility of extra terrestrial life, we must explore the question somewhat further.

THE FREE WILL QUESTION
One of the first to discuss the question of extraterrestrial life in general was Rabbi Chasdai Crescas (Or Hashem 4:2). After a lengthy discussion, he comes to the conclusion that there is nothing in Jewish theology to preclude the existence of life on other worlds.

As possible evidence for extraterrestrial life, he quotes the Talmudic teaching (Avoda Zara 3b) that “God flies through 18,000 worlds.” Since they require His providence, we may assume that they are inhabited.

Of course, this Talmudic quotation is by no means absolute proof, for it may be speaking of spiritual worlds, of which an infinite number were created.

One could also attempt to support this opinion from the verse (Psalms 145:13), “Your kingdom is a kingdom of all worlds.” However, here, too, this may be speaking of spiritual universes.

The exact opposite opinion is that of Rabbi Yosef Albo, author of the “Ikkarim.” He states that since the universe was created for the sake of man, no other creature can exist possessing free will. Since any extraterrestrial life would neither have free will nor be able to serve a creature having free will (as terrestrial animals and plants serve a terrestrial man), they would have no reason for existing and therefore be totally superfluous.

One could bring some support to the second opinion from the Talmudic teaching that every land where it was not decreed for man to live was never subsequently inhabited. However, here again, it is not absolute proof, since this may only refer to our planet.

THE STAR OF MEROZ
Between these two extremes, we find the opinion of the Sefer Habris who states that extraterrestrial life does exist, but that it does not possess free will. The latter is the exclusive possession of man, for whom the universe was created. The 18,000 worlds mentioned earlier, in his opinion, are inhabited physical worlds.

The proof that he brings for his thesis is most ingenious. In the song of Deborah, we find the verse, “Cursed is Meroz… cursed are its inhabitants” (Judges 5:23). In the Talmud, we find the opinion that Meroz is the name of a star. According to this opinion, the fact that Scripture states, “Cursed is Meroz… cursed are its inhabitants” is clear proof from the words of our Sages for extraterrestrial life.

Of course, even this proof is subject to refutation, for the Zohar also follows the opinion that Meroz is a star, yet states that “its inhabitants” refers to its “camp,” that is, most probably, to the planets surrounding it. Nevertheless, the simple meaning of the verse seems to support the opinion of the Sefer Habris.

The Sefer Habris goes on to say that we should not expect the creatures of another world to resemble earthly life, any more than sea creatures resemble those of land.

He further states that although extraterrestrial forms of life may possess intelligence, they certainly cannot have freedom of will. The latter is an exclusive attribute of man, to whom was given the Torah and its commandments. He proves the latter thesis on the basis of the above-mentioned Talmudic teaching that all the stars in the observable universe were created for the sake of man.

WINGS TO ESCAPE THE EARTH
…The basic premise of the existence of extraterrestrial life is strongly supported by the Zohar. The Midrash teaches us that there are seven earths. Although the Ibn Ezra tries to argue that these refer to the seven continents, the Zohar clearly states that the seven are separated by a firmament and are inhabited. Although they are not inhabited by man, they are the domain of intelligent creatures.

We therefore find the basic thesis of the Sefer Habris supported by a number of clear-cut statements by our Sages. There may even be other forms of intelligent life in the universe, but such life forms do not have free will, and therefore do not have moral responsibility.

Freedom of will, however, is not at all an observable quantity. Even its existence in man has been hotly debated by the secular philosophers. Indeed the main proof that man does indeed have free will comes from the fact that God has given him moral responsibility, namely the Torah. It is in this sublime, yet unobservable quality, that man is unique.

However, if we assume this to be true, we would return to the basic question of Rabbi Yosef Albo, mentioned earlier: If such creatures never have any utility for man, what is their reason for existence?

We find a most fascinating answer to this question in the Tikunei Zohar. Speaking of the verse (Song of Songs 6:8), “Worlds without number,” the Tikunei Zohar states: “The stars certainly are without number. But each star is called a separate world. These are the worlds without number.”

The Tikunei Zohar further states that every tzaddik (righteous person) will rule over a star, and therefore have a world unto himself. The 18,000 worlds mentioned above would therefore be that number of stars, presided over by the 18,000 tzaddikim that are alluded to in the verse (Ezekiel 48:35), “Around Him are 18,000.” However, these may only refer to those worlds visited daily by the divine presence, but there may be innumerable worlds for the lesser tzaddikim.

We therefore have a most fascinating reason why the stars were created, and why they contain intelligent life. Since an overcrowded Earth will not give the tzaddikim the breadth they require, each one will be given his own planet, with its entire population to enhance his spiritual growth.

Once we know that the stars and their planets were created as an abode for the tzaddikim, we might naturally wonder how they will be transported to them. However, the Talmud even provides an answer to this question. Discussing the passage (Isaiah 40:31), “They shall mount up with wings as eagles,” the Talmud states that in the future world, God will grant the tzaddikim wings to escape the earth. The Zohar goes a step further and states that “God will give them wings to fly through the entire universe.”

In a way, this teaching predicts the advent of space travel. But more than that, it provides us with at least one of the reasons why space flight would be inevitable as part of the prelude to the messianic age. This, of course, could bring us to us general discussion of the role of modern technology in Torah perspective, a lengthy subject in its own right.

HAVING A CHILD…. OR TWO…

Parashat Toledot tells us that our second patriarch, Isaac, prayed for his wife Ribka, who was barren, to conceive. God answers Isaac’s prayers, and Ribka conceives. She prophetically learns that she is pregnant with twins and that her children will become founders of two nations: “One will prevail over the other, and the older will serve the younger.” When she gives birth, the first baby to emerge is covered in hair. They called him Esau. The second is born clinging to his brother’s heel (‘eqeb), which is why they call him Ya’aqob.

LIVE THE DIFFERENCE!

The children become adults, and their lives follow different paths: Esav becomes a hunter, and Jacob “dwells in the tent,” spending more time in his house than in the field. The personalities of these twins were very different. These differences between Jacob and Esau remind us of an essential point in parenting: sometimes children have the same father, the same mother, the same genetic background, the same education, and yet they can have a completely different character – or sometimes opposite – one from the other. The Torah also tells us that Isaac loved Esav more, while Ribka loved Jacob.

PRESENT OR FUTURE?

One day, Esav returns from hunting and is exhausted. He finds Jacob making lentil stew and asks him to give it to him. Jacob offers it to him in exchange for Esau’s birthright. Esav accepts. Before he gives him his bowl of lentils, Jacob gives Esau bread. So that? So that once Esav was satisfied with the bread, he would have the opportunity to reconsider and not sell his birthright. But Esav didn’t care about tomorrow, and he was willing to sacrifice his future to enjoy the present a little more. Unlike Esav, Jacob represents the idea of making sacrifices in the present – studying, saving, and working hard – to ensure a better future.

ISAAC IN WAR

A famine strikes the land of Canaan, and Isaac moves his family to the land of Gerar, which was ruled by the Pelishtim king Abimelech. God gives Isaac strict instructions that he not go to the land of Egypt. Isaac is the only one of our patriarchs who never left the land of Israel. Isaac settles in Gerar. When the local men ask him about his beautiful wife, Ribqa Isaac tells them she is his sister. He did this out of fear that they would kill him to stay with his wife. Unlike what happened with Abraham, Abimelech discovers that Ribka is Isaac’s wife and criticizes Isaac for deceiving him. Once this issue is resolved, Isaac prospers financially in Gerar, but the Philistines envy his success, and Abimelech asks Isaac to leave. Isaac moves in and digs several wells nearby, finding water. The Pelishtim shepherds claim those wells and destroy them. Eventually, Isaac settles in Beer Sheba, and he and Abimelech make a non-aggression treaty.

TELL ME WHO YOU WILL MARRY, AND I WILL TELL YOU…. WHO WILL YOU BE…

We return to the children of Isaac and Ribka. Esau, going against everything his parents and grandparents wanted, marries two Hittite women, which would be the equivalent of marrying a non-Jewish woman in our day. His parents suffer greatly from Esav’s decision.

When Isaac was old, the time came to bless his children, which in those times was also the way of assigning who was going to be the spiritual leader to continue the path of Abraham. Isaac calls Esav and asks him to go hunting and prepare a meal for him so that Isaac can grant him this blessing and privilege before he dies. Ribka overhears this conversation and establishes a plan for Jacob to obtain this blessing: she will prepare the food, and Jacob brings it to Isaac and receives it in her place. Jacob dressed in Esav’s clothes and thus managed to prevent his father, Isaac, who was already blind, from being able to identify him. When Esav returns, he discovers that his brother has received his blessing, and he vows to kill him. Ribka makes a new plan to save Jacob: her son will move to her family’s home in Haran, Syria until Esav’s anger calms down.

Isaac bids farewell to Jacob, and, this time, consciously blesses him with the blessing of the land of Israel and the continuation of Abraham’s legacy.

ANOTHER SUMMARY

1. Isaac marries Rivka at age 40. The couple had to wait twenty years for HaShem to answer their prayers. Rivka conceives twins. Pregnancy is difficult. Because babies fight each other in her womb. God tells her that these 2 children in her womb are going to produce 2 nations. Esav is born first. And Jacob came out clinging to his heel. Over the years, Esav becomes “a skilled hunter, a man of the field”; while Jacob is “a man of his house”, a man of integrity. 

2. Isaac favors Esav; But Rivka loves Jacob. One day Esav returns exhausted and hungry from the field and exchanges his birthright for a plate of lentils. The Tora tells us that Esav did not care about the birthright. 

3. There is famine in the land of Canaan, Isaac heads south and reaches Gerar, the land of the Philistines. Isaac presents Rikva as his sister, fearing he will be killed by someone who lusts after her. Isaac works the land, rebuilds the wells dug by his father Abraham and reaps 100 times more than he planted. The Philistines envy him and destroy the water wells. But in the end Isaac enjoys some quiet years. 

4. Esav marries two Hittite women. Isaac is growing old and blind and everything indicates that he is in his last days. Isaac expresses his desire to bless Esav, that is, to declare him his heir, before dying. Esav goes hunting to prepare his father’s favorite food. In the meantime Rivka dresses Jacob in Esav’s clothing, covering him with skin so that Isaac would think that he is his brother and Jacob receives his father’s blessings: material abundance and dominion over his brother. When Esav returns and realizes the deception, he cries and declares that when his father dies, he will kill Jacob. 

5. Rivka fears for the life of Jacob and he flees from his parents’ house and goes to Haran with the purpose of finding a wife from the family of his mother Rivka, the extended family of Abraham. Esav marries a third wife to try ingratiating himself with his mother: Machalat, Ishmael’s daughter.

THE NEW GENERATION
In this week’s Parasha, we meet the second generation of the Jewish people: Isaac, Ribqa, and their children. At the center of this Parasha, we find the famous episode of the blessing that Isaac wanted to grant to Esav, but thanks to the intervention of Ribqa, he ended up giving to Yaaqob.

Let’s start from the beginning.
Isaac and Ribqa had two sons. Jacob and Esav. Jacob was a man of his house, docile, upright, and studious. Esav was the complete opposite. Pure adrenaline. A man of battle. A fighter. A great hunter.

When Isaac grows old, the time comes to choose his heir. It is not about who would inherit Isaac’s material wealth but about something much more important: Who would continue, lead, and promote the path and values of Abraham Abinu? Which of the two sons was the most suitable to be the future patriarch of the Jewish people? Isaac and Ribqa had different opinions. For Isaac, the undisputed candidate was Esav. But for Ribqa, the most suitable was Jacob.
We will try to understand why they thought this way in the following few lines.

THE CASE FOR ESAV
Isaac knew that Abraham’s faith would inevitably be attacked by idolatrous peoples, who would surely try to eradicate his descendants. Why? In the polytheistic world, each person had and served their local gods. They accepted that other civilizations had their gods, and they believed that the powers of those gods were true. The pagan gods could coexist with each other. Sometimes, people exchanged their gods or even forged alliances among them.
But Abraham’s faith, monotheism, is different. Monotheism “excludes” all other faiths. By affirming that there is only one “and only” God, monotheism expresses directly or indirectly that the other gods are fake. With this ideologically and politically revolutionary message, Isaac knew that for his descendants to remain firm in the faith of Abraham, they would have to fight and defend themselves against countless enemies, and he was not wrong!

Based on a famous Midrash that describes Esav’s hunting tactics, we realize that Isaac saw that Esav was an expert at identifying his adversaries’ weaknesses. He was a cunning warrior who knew the enemy’s language, a critical talent in warfare. Isaac knew that his son Esav possessed the ideal virtues to defend Abraham’s faith and that he could organize and lead an army. And Isaac was not wrong! In two weeks (Vayishlach) we will see Esav leading an army of 400 men. Isaac wants to choose Esav because he knows that Esav will be able to conquer the land of Israel and militarily defend his descendants from multiple enemies.

THE VISION OF A MOTHER
But for Ribqa, all the military qualities of Esav were incompatible with Abraham’s human values. Could Esav, a man dedicated to warfare, be as kind to foreigners as Abraham was? Could he be as diplomatic with his neighbors as Abraham was with the Hittites? Ribqa thought Abraham’s future successor had to be kind, sensitive, and generous like Abraham. Smart, rather than aggressive. Abraham’s successor had to differentiate himself from all other men by prioritizing study, not war! And these were the characteristics of Yaakob. According to Ribqa, Ya’aqob and not Esav should be chosen to lead Abraham’s nation.
In the end (no surprises here), the wife prevailed, and Yaaqob was Isaac’s successor.

However, we must recognize that, in theory, the ideal would have been an alliance of the two brothers: the spirituality of Jacob combined with the strength of Esav. For Ribqa, this alliance was impossible because, as the Tora mentions in the paragraph preceding this episode, Esav crossed a red line and distanced himself from his family by marrying two Hittite women.

JACOB, ESAV, AND MEDINAT ISRAEL
This interpretation, which I wrote a couple of years ago about the virtues that Isaac and Ribqa were looking for in the future leader of Israel, is very relevant today to understand our present.

After 2,000 years of persecution and being unable to defend ourselves by our own means, we have achieved today the perfect balance between the strength of Esav and the virtues of Jacob. I am referring to Medinat Israel’s people, spirit, and army.

Israel, on the one hand, is a spiritual paradise where millions of Jews pray and study Tora daily. The voice of Tora has never been heard as much as it is heard today in the State of Israel. Jews in Israel practice unlimited Chesed (kindness), generosity, and compassion at incredible levels. Israelis are also extremely intelligent and highly educated in all areas, with infinite intellectual creativity.

And on the other side, Israel has a very strong army, the IDF, which is showing the world that whoever messes with the Jews is going to pay a heavy price and that it will not be other nations that defend us, but ourselves. Our own army. Our new strong hands will pursue justice.

Medinat Israel represents the perfect balance that our patriarchs were looking for: the sweet voice of Yaaqob’s Tora that Ribqa wanted, combined with the strong hands of a warrior that Isaac was looking for. Which, when necessary, would dissuade, deter, and punish the enemy. All in one at the same entity: Yaaqob / Israel.

הַקֹּל קוֹל יַעֲקֹב וְהַיָּדַיִם יְדֵי עֵשָׂו
Jacob kept his spiritual voice, and he learned to use his hands.
“The voice is the voice of Jacob, and the hands are [like] the hands of Esav.”

EFFORT AND BLESSING
In this week’s Parsha, Genesis chapter 26, we read that Isaac had to leave his land due to famine and came to Gerar, a city between Gaza and Beer Sheba, the land of the Pelishtim (Philistines). Isaac temporarily settled there and began to work hard. v:12-14 “Isaac sowed in that land, and that year he reaped a hundredfold [a hundred times more than he had planted]: HaShem had blessed him! Isaac enjoyed prosperity and continued to grow until he became wealthy: he had sheep, cows, and many servants…

Although HaShem blessed him, Isaac’s wealth did not rain from heaven; Abraham’s son was a very hard worker. He had to work very hard to plant in that arid area, and as the Torah tells us a little later, he had to dig again and again – without laziness and without giving up – to obtain the most scarce and precious element in the Middle East: water.

But now, the same verse that mentions Isaac’s wealth describes the feeling and reaction of the Pelishtim to Isaac’s success.

וַיְקַנְא֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים
וְכׇל־הַבְּאֵרֹ֗ת אֲשֶׁ֤ר חָֽפְרוּ֙ עַבְדֵ֣י אָבִ֔יו בִּימֵ֖י א ַבְרָהָ֣ם אָבִ֑יו סִתְּמ֣וּם פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים וַיְמַלְא֖וּם עָפָֽר ׃
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֲבִימֶ֖לֶךְ אֶל־יִצְחָ֑ק לֵ֚ךְ מֵֽעִמָּ֔נוּ כִּֽי־ע ָצַ֥מְתָּ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ מְאֹֽד׃

The Pelishtim were envious of Isaac.
And all the wells [of water] that the servants of his father [Abraham] had dug… they made useless, filling them with earth.”

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JEALOUSY AND ENVY
The Pelishtim received a refugee, Isaac, weak and poor. And they sympathized with that Isaac. But once Isaac recovered, his success did not make them happy; quite the opposite: he bothered them. The Torah uses here for the first time in biblical history the word quin’a, which means: “envy” (ויקנאו אותו פלשתים “The Pelishtim were envious of Isaac.”

There are two possible reactions one can have to a successful person. The first, the best, is to learn from those who do things well and imitate them. The Pelishtim could have imitated Isaac’s efforts: working more, getting up earlier, getting drunk less, saving more, not spending as much, etc. But that didn’t happen! The reaction of the Pelishtim consisted of destructive envy that led them to do something inconceivable: covering with earth the water wells that Isaac had dug!

There is a big difference between the Hebrew words “jealousy” (jemda or ta’avá לא תתאוה), and “envy” (quin’a). “Jealousy” always refers to an object: I am jealous of what you have, and I would like to have it myself. I want to have your house, your money, your car. And in theory, once I have what you have, my jealousy disappears or should decrease. “Envy,” on the other hand, is a deep, toxic, and complicated feeling. It’s not about my desire to have what the other person has but about listening to the person who has it. When I envy you, I resent your success. I can not stand. I’m going to try to take away what you have. And if I can’t take it away from you, I will destroy it. Because what impresses me the most is that YOU don’t have it! Envy is destructive and, by nature, self-destructive. Envy/hatred led the Pelishtim to do the most irrational thing a Middle Easterner can do: destroy water wells in the desert. Which would hurt them, too.

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
Ramban, Nachmanides, says that the Tora goes out of its way to describe the details of this event to teach us that מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, “what happened to our ancestors is not just history,” but marks a pattern of behavior that will be repeated with their descendants. This story repeats itself in our days.

HaShem’s blessing and Israel’s success in the areas of education, innovation, technology, and economy arouse admiration in the world but also a lot of envy, resentment, and hatred, especially from Isarel’s neighbors, who aim to destroy the “water wells” that could benefit their citizens, to harm Israel.

Gaza’s history makes it clear.
On August 15, 2005, 8,000 Israeli Jews were displaced from their homes in Gush Qatif, Israel. That land, which had been conquered militarily by Israel in response to the war started by the Egyptians, was “gifted” to the Palestinians, who had democratic elections in 2006 in which the Hamas party was elected. The population of Palestine that elected Hamas knew—and knows perfectly well—the objectives of Hamas since they are explicit in its founding charter: in that charter, Hamas does not mention the desire to provide prosperity, human rights or social services to the inhabitants of Gaza to improve their lives. ALL THE LETTER SAYS IS THAT HAMAS WILL DEDICATE FULLY TO JIHAD, that is, to the armed struggle against the State of Israel until its destruction, and clarifies that it will reject all diplomatic negotiations and management. Just as the Pelishtim did with Isaac, Hamas is willing to impoverish its population and pursue self-destruction (immolate itself = jihad) to destroy Israel or, at least, to kill as many Jews as possible.

Gaza does not engage in terror because they are poor; Gaza is poor because it chooses to engage in terror. This idea is so mind-blowing to normal people that they refuse to believe it. And in some ways, those with a Western mentality, even Israel, forcibly “overimpose” their own ideals and try to help Gaza out of its poverty. The Palestinians of Gaza have received more money than any other population in the entire world. From the European Union, United Nations, and the United States, hundreds of billions of dollars. All this money that should have been dedicated to building schools and hospitals and providing clean water to the population has been dedicated to building war tunnels, buying weapons, developing more weapons, and all to destroy Israel.

It is challenging for an ordinary person to understand that envy transformed into hatred makes human beings lose their desire for prosperity and self-preservation to dedicate themselves to eliminating those who work and prosper. But the Torah already warned about it in the story of Isaac with the Pelishtim. And today, we see more clearly than ever that there is nothing new under the sun of Gaza.

שמענו אדני נשיא אלקים אתה בתוכנו
In this week’s Parasha, Chaye Sara, we meet Abraham, our first patriarch, in a long conversation with the Hittites, one of the peoples who inhabited the land of Canaan in those days. Abraham wants to acquire a piece of land from them in Qiryat Arba, Hebron, to bury his recently deceased wife, Sara.
MONOTHEISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM
Abraham negotiates with the Hittites. And as the negotiation progressed, we saw that the Hittites leaders – men famous for their violent conquests – treated Abraham with great respect and addressed him as “nesí Eloqim”, “A representative of God among us.” This is a very uncommon gesture since pagans people did not have an open mind about other gods or cults. The mythological gods competed with each other to prove their supremacy. And Abraham not only practiced a different religion, but his religion was “monotheism,”: which means that while the idea of other cults implied that “Our gods are more powerful than your gods”, the religion of Abraham held that: ” Your gods are fake”. The Hittites should have considered Abraham’s beliefs a great challenge, a threat, and an insult to their belief system. And they surely knew that Abraham did not keep monotheism for himself: Abraham was an activist, an iconoclast (“a destroyer of idols”), and the Hittites were idol-worshippers. And yet they respected him superlatively.… In those days, there was no religious tolerance. We saw, for example, in the story of Yosef and his brothers, that the Egyptians did not even sit down to eat at the same table with a Hebrew because they considered our menu – in this case: meat – abominable, offensive to their beliefs. How was it then that Abraham, being so different from the Hittites, was respected by them as he was by other peoples of the region?
In my opinion, the Hittites respected and admired Abraham not because but rather despite his beliefs (which the Hittites probably never fully understood) because of Abraham’s extraordinary human virtues.
Here are a few examples.

GENEROSITY:
In the pagan world, “the representatives of the gods on earth” would make their livelihood from gifts and offerings from idol worshippers. When MalqiTsedeq, a priest, “blessed Abraham, Abraham gifted him generously. These offerings to pagan religious leaders (priests, wizards, witches, magicians) were prevalent at that time. But Abraham, whom everyone saw as an ambassador of God, far from expecting others to support him materially because of his “spiritual role”, devoted himself to materially assisting others out of his own pocket. Abraham had a literally “open house” to welcome any foreigner who needed shade, water, or food, and Abraham did not ask for or accept any compensation for that service. In light of the above-mentioned common practice, this behavior of Abraham must have inspired the respect and admiration of all those who knew him.
RESPECT:
God spoke to Abraham and promised that he and his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan. But Abraham never behaved arrogantly in front of other Canaanites. His unconditional faith in the Divine promise could have led him to say to the pagans who inhabited the earth: “This land will be mine. And therefore, I can take possession of it without your permission.” Abraham dealt with the Hittites with dignity and honor and paid a very high price for the burial place. Abraham represented the epitome of the nobility of those observant Yehudim who know very well that “the closer one is to God, the more he must respect and behave with integrity towards others”, and especially towards those who profess another religion or are less observant than them (Qiddush HaShem).
HUMILITY:
Abraham’s humility becomes much more evident when we compare him, as our Sages did, to Bil’am. Bil’am was a pagan prophet and a representative of God among gentiles. HaShem communicated with Bil’am, as he did with Abraham and Moshe. But this privilege, instead of making Bil’am more humble, caused Bil’am to look down at other people and deal with them with disdain. Bil’am said to himself:” If God speaks to me, no one can be compared to me!” Bil’am’s behave with arrogance and contempt. He was unwilling to help anyone unless he obtained a substantial material benefit and retribution “for the services rendered.” Bil’am represents those gentiles or Jews who “misrepresent” religion. Abraham was precisely the opposite of Bil’am.
FIRST INFLUENCER
Although Abraham held different theological beliefs, which “he” was aware were superior to the ideas of the pagans who lived around him, he behaved with generosity and respect. He was always willing to help anyone in need, even those who did not share his creed and values. In his boundless humanity, Abraham asked God to spare the lives of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, the most corrupt cities in history.
And this is why even though Abraham’s ideas were very different, Abraham never had enemies. He was never judged negatively on account of his “radical” beliefs. Why? Because of his integrity, his humbleness, and generosity toward other human beings. And this is why Abraham is the Father of most world religions: the most impactful INFLUENCER in human history.