Weekly Parsha

Refuah Sheimah: "May it be Your will, LORD my G-d, and the G-d of my forefathers, that You quickly send refuah sh'lemah (complete healing) from heaven, spiritual healing and physical healing to Ben Waistein (Benyiamin ben Elisheva) from Israel.

Continue praying for : Stuart Holtzclaw and Randy Shute from Syracuse, NY, Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Toldot

Genesis 25:19 - 28: 9

Toledot, Toldot, Toldos, or Toldoth (תּוֹלְדֹת‎—Hebrew for "generations" or "descendants," the second word and the first distinctive word in the parashah) is the sixth weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה‎, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading.

Rivka (Rebecca) gives birth to Esav (Esau) and Ya'akov (Jacob). Esav sells the birthright to Ya'akov for a bowl of lentil soup. Yitzchak (Isaac) lives in Gerar with Avimelech (Avimelech), king of the Philistines. Esav marries two Hittite women who cause his parents great pain (because they were not one of us).

Ya'akov impersonates Esav on the advice of his mother to receive the blessing for his blind father's eldest son, Isaac. Esav, angered by his brother's deception that caused him to lose the firstborn's blessings, plans to kill Ya'akov, so Ya'akov flees with his uncle Lavan (Laban) in Padan Aram - on the advice of his parents. They also advise him to marry Lavan's daughter.

Esav understands that his Canaanite wives do not like his parents, so he marries a third wife, Machlath, Ishmael's daughter.

Every healthy home is a macrocosm of the entire universe, helping to make the entire world a home for G-d. Harmony at home, within a family, translates into harmony between families and communities and nations. When there is no harmony between people who are related by blood, how can we hope to create harmony between strangers?

After many centuries of exhausting travel, it is time for all of us to return home, to ourselves, to our families, to G-d. After thousands of years of civilization in this world, after millions of spiritual seeds that human beings have planted through acts of kindness, the time has come for this world to sprout up like a garden: the garden of G-d, a universe full of goodness and goodness. knowledge.

"And the servants of Isaac (Isaac) dug in the valley and found there a well of fresh water" (Genesis 16:19).

Why does the Torah delve into the wells that Isaac found?

This teaches us that we shouldn't give up in frustration when we start something and run into difficulties. Do not despair. When Yitzchak dug and found no water, he kept digging elsewhere until he finally found what he was looking for. When others quarreled with him and took over his wells, he still was not discouraged. He continued digging until he finally found a well with water that he could use in peace and called the Rechovot area.

This is a practical lesson for all areas of our life. This applies to spiritual and material matters; to Torah studies and business. Be persistent when things don't turn out your way at first. Especially when starting to study Torah, don't give up if you find it difficult at first. People often fail because they give up too soon.

There are three rules to be successful in life: 1) Initiative: you have to try; 2) Perseverance - you have to keep trying; 3) The Almighty smiles at your efforts. Keep trying and, G-d willing, you will succeed.

I never tried to quit and I never stopped trying. Great people acknowledge their mistake and apologize. Common people find excuses. You have to choose happiness, it doesn't choose you!

Shabat shalom!

R. Ovadiah Tank

Online Learning

Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College in New York, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation in the United States and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.