Toldos-2015

· Yaakov intended to give Esav and Yakov two different and separate brochas

· The Brocha intended for Esav (but tricked into giving to Yaakov) – 27:28

o “May Hashem give you… an abundance of grain and wine.  Peoples will serve you and nations bow to you.”

o This is the Physical brocha of dominance in a flourishing economy

· The Brocha Yaakov gave to Yaakov, that he always intended to give to Yaakov – 28:4:

o “May Hashem give you the blessing of Avraham, and may you inherit the land”

o This is the Spiritual brocha of being a holy people in the holy land of Eretz Yiroel.

· It makes sense that Yitzchak intended to give the Physical brocha to Esav and the Spiritual brocha to Yitschak.  

· Esav was a skilled trapper, a man of the field – he had the orientation to handle the affairs of the economy and the government.

· Yaakov was an Ish Tam living in tents, the Bais Medresh was appropriate for him.

· Rabbi Samson Raphel Hirsch: Esav represented material power;  Yakov represented spiritual power

· The plan was that Esav would keep the economy humming, and protect Yaakov from threats from the outside world.

· While Yaakov would develop the spiritual aspect of society, and help Ruchnius to flourish.

· It’s similar to a football halfback running interference for the quarterback.

· Pirkei Avos says Ayn Kemach, Ayn Torah – without food there can’t be Torah

· Theoretically, this separation of powers was an excellent idea.

· Pirkei Avos 4:17 – Rabbi Shimon (Bar Yochai) said: There are three crowns:

o the crown of Torah

o the crown of Kehuna (Priesthood)

o the crown of Malchus (kingship).

· The crown of Torah is worn by the Sanhendrin and the Chachamim of the generation.

· The crown of Avodah is worn by the Kohane Godol, overseeing the Bais Hamikdosh, and  beseeching forgiveness for the Jewish people

· The crown of Malchus is worn by the king, guiding the ship of state – its economy, politics, foreign policy, and war.

· There are different crowns, different strengths, different orientations.

· History shows us that having too much of a concentration of power leads to tyranny.

· Lord Acton said in 1887 - "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

· This happened, for example, with Caligula, King Louis the XIV, and Stalin.

· The founding fathers of the United States created a Constitution with the three branches of government – the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary

· This is called checks and balances, each branch limiting the power of the other branches.

· When the Chasmonayim combined Malchus and Kehuna, it was a terrible avera that led to their downfall.

· Kiddushin 66a – When Yannai Hamelech put the Tzitz on his head, Yehuda ben Gedidyah said, “Yannai Hamelech! Be satisfied with the crown of Malchus, leave the crown of Kehunah for the descendants of Aaron”

· He did not like being told this, and killed out the Chachamim., indicating that he already had too much power.

· Medresh on Toldos: Hashem sent Shmuel HaNavi to anoint David as King. He saw that David had a red complexion, like Esav,  Shmuel was afraid he would have a disposition to kill. Hashem told Shmuel that David would always consult and follow the ruling of the Sanhendrin, the crown of Torah.  Hashem assured Shmuel him that the crown of Malchus and crown of Torah would be separate.

· We have two eyes to give us perspective

· A message of the parable of the blind men and the elephant is that we all see different aspects of reality, and we benefit from each other’s powers and perspectives.

· Each person should know what he can contribute to the whole.

· People with different powers should work together towards a common goal, and respect each other’s differences.

· In addition, we should respect the different powers within ourselves.

· The planets have 2 different forces – centripetal and centrifugal – one pulling them to crash into the sun, and the other to fly off into space – and the result balances out to keep in a steady orbit.

· One of the keys to marriage is to realize the ezer kenegdo aspect of it – the husband and wife have different viewpoints, different strengths, different orientations

· Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch – “The main principle of education is Chanoch Lenar al pi darco, to teach each child in accordance with his own orientation.  Each child should be guided in… the path that suits the qualities and tendencies latent in the depths of his personality. [The problem was educating] Yakov and an Esav together in the same classroom, in the same routines and in the same manner, … Esav could hardly wait for the day when he could throw away the old books and, together with them, a great life-mission of which he was taught in a one-sided manner, totally unappealing to his nature.  Precisely because he had been forced to remain glued to the school bench, he now rejected everything.”

· Yitzchak’s plan was to give Esav the physical Brocha, and to give Yaakov the spiritual Brocha.

· This was a good plan in theory. 

· But the flaw was that Esav was a Rasha

· When Esav came back exhausted and wanted to eat the bean stew, Rashi says he came back from murdering someone

· Rivka recognized Esav for what he was, because she grew up with Lavan – she could recognize a charlatan.

· She knew that the partnership won’t work if the Melech is a Rasha.

· Yitzchak always planned to give to Yaakov the Spiritual brocha, the crown of Torah.

· Yaakov acquired the crown of Avodah when he got the Bechor from Esav

· Rashi 25:31,32 says that Esav didn’t want the burden of Avodah

· Because Rivka saw that Esav was a Rasha, she devised and succeeded in the plan for Yaakov to also get the physical brocha, the crown of Malchus.

· So Yaakov got all three crowns.

· Within one generation, Hashem saw to it that the crowns were separated again, among the sons of Yaakov

· Malchus was given to Yehuda and his descendants

· The Kehuna was given to Aharon and his descendants.

· The Torah was given to Moshe and Moshe transmitted it to the Chachamim.

· Pirkei Avos: Moshe received the Torah from Sinai, and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, and Prophets transmitted it to the Men of the Great Assembly.

· Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch – When the sons of Yakov gathered to hear their father’s blessing… he saw the tribe of Leviim, the tribe of kingship, the tribe of merchants, the tribe of farmers, the tribe of warriors. .. and he blessed all of them, each according to his own special qualities

· We should work together on worthwhile goals with people who are different from us, each contributing different strengths and abilities, respecting our differences, benefitting from our complementary strengths.