Parsha Post: Nesivos Shalom

  These parshiot teach us the ways of life.  Toldot Yaakov Yosef: the Torah is eternal. Hinted to here is the war with the yetzer harah. Q Why Yaakov as the one with struggles? Even in the womb and then over bechorite and brachah, then 20 years with Lavan. 14 for women to marry, 6 over the sheep.  Wrestling w the man/malach, the worst angel/malach hamavet, etc. Why just for Yaakov to this extent throught life?  Q Vayishlach… el Eisav achiv, then the messengers say they came from your brother who is Eisav, later he prays save from my brother, from Eisav. He is bechir avot - we are his sons, Brei Yisrael.  A These portions teach us about his wrestling, his Torah - teaching us that our lives should be wrestling always with the negative.  He comes out better for it- his name changes to be about struggling and gaining from it. Our lives are struggles and fights through which we gain/benefit. We’re taught ways to wrestle. Realms to take on.  Lavan - brain fi...

The Torah teaches us the ways of the Avot. The Torah of their servants was great, how much more-so is the Torah of the Avot great. They were the start of the tikun: We inherited land of 7 of 10 nations. The 10 parallel the ten spheres. The seven shepherds corrected 7/10. The other 3 - chabad - will only be fixed in mashiach time. The Avot fixed midot, each with his own flow brought into the world. These pre-matan Torah parshiot present to us the way to be like the avot by elevating our midot. Avraham's stories teach us through his passing his tests to show how cherished he was to G-d. We're told of tests like the famine, but without every detail. We know that they did the will of G-d fully with their full being. Avraham's trait was love, and that's the key- that he accepted each test with love and didn't question G-d. Vayeitzei tells us how Yaakov entered this worldly world, fathering children, etc, all part of his/their Torah. The key here is his holines...

Why does it say both that Yitzchak was the father of Avraham and that Avraham birthed Ytzchak? The Slonim tradition is that this is telling us that they each influenced the other, Avraham's trait was chesed-kindness and Yitzchak's trait was gevurah - judgment. Each of these on their own is too much, boundless love or unmitigated strength, this is why they each had one child that was unbalanced midot- character wise. So Avraham and Yitzchak balanced each other out or at least tried to. This is the meaning of the verse that speaks of fathers influencing their children and also being influenced by their descendants, and the meaning of the Medrash that cites this verse here. But full balance only came with Yaakov whose trait is tiferet - balance. We see an example of this need for balance in the first two of the 10 Dibrot - Statements-Commandments. The first one alludes to and includes all positive mitzvot - commandments regarding loving G-d, and the second one includes all th...

  Wells, and then more wells. Then more. Avraham dug wells and named them with names that reminded people of G-d. The Philistines didn't want that reminder so they filled the wells. Yitzchak re-dug them, gave them the same names, to re-remind people of G-d. But then there are three more wells. One is dug and there's a fight over whose it is. A second one, same disagreement. And then a third one, and there's no fight over it. The Nesivos Shalom says that these three wells represent the three Avot and their corresponding midot. When it comes to chesed/love and gevurah/fear there is an issue with each one alone. Too much chesed can lead to weak boundaries, unholy loves, unhealthy relationships due to too much closeness. Too much gevurah can lead to negativity, being stifled, unhealthy relationships due to too much distance. So there were fights over these wells. Tiferet, the midah of Yaakov, is the balance. It is Torah. It is Emet. And thus there was no fight ov...