Toldos: Hidden Brachos

There is nothing more entertaining than learning the news from your son in cheder. During the week of the fires in Haifa, my son would come back and report on “what’s going on.” We “knew” exactly when the largest “fire-truck plane” (got to love his translations into English) was going to be in Israel. And of course, some boys even saw an Arab, with a donkey and a horse (important pieces of information), trying to light a fire in the nearby valley. And thanks to some small nearby fires, the kids got a free airshow last Friday of a whole collection of different “fire-truck planes.”

It’s good to be a kid during times of national disaster (that don’t affect you, of course).

Okay, on to Torah!

Rav Avigdor Miller learns out a very important lesson from this week’s parsha and those of the next few weeks.

We have a lot to thank Eisav for. For without him, where would Bnei Yisroel be? Had Eisav behaved himself, there wouldn’t be a Jewish people. We would be davening to Elokei Avraham, Elokei Yitzchok, v’Elokei Eisav. However, Eisav’s hatred for Yaakov forced Yaakov to flee to Lavan, his uncle. Had he not fled, Yitzchok would have sent someone to Lavan to bring a wife back for Yaakov. Naturally, Lavan would have sent his oldest daughter Leah to marry him. However, Hashem had other plans. Because he had to flee himself, Yaakov ended up marrying both Leah and Rochel.

Who came from Rochel? Yosef. Yosef ended up being the king of the Jews and second-in-command of all of Egypt. “Rochel was a fiery girl who gave birth to a fiery son,” says Rav Miller. That son, who commanded more power and respect than Moshe himself, who set up the Jewish people to spiritually survive in Egypt for hundreds of years, was born because of Eisav.

“The deeds of the Avos (forefathers) are an indication of what will happen to their children in the future” (Ramban, Bereishis 12:6)

We have always been attacked by our enemies and always scolded. During those terrible times, there were hidden brachos: assimilation was practically nil, nobody intermarried, the Jewish community continued to flourish. As a friend pointed out, if you look at some of the major commentaries we have, many of them were written while “on the run.”

The opposite is also true. After the walls of the ghettos fell and we were given more rights, assimilation grew, intermarriage is at an all-time high . . . and it’s hard to know who is halachically Jewish!

“According to the difficulty is the reward” (Avos 5:26)

The harder the times, the more the reward. We must realize that when things are getting tough for the nation as a whole, and for individuals, there is always hidden brachos around. If the nation or individual approaches their trials and tribulations with this in mind, they can grow to newer heights.

Have a great Shabbos!

Michael Winner