How Come Esav Didn’t Do Teshuvah? Ya’akov Avinu had finally extricated himself from Lavan’s control. He had crossed the Yarden, entered Eretz Cana’an and was preparing to meet his brother Esav. He sent messengers ahead of himself, whom Rashi tells us, based on Bereshit Rabbah 75:4, were מַלְאָכִים מַמָּשׁ (literally ‘angels’), instructing them with these…
The Secret of Eiver Min ha-Chai We know the story. Yitzchak Avinu called for his eldest son to come to him (Bereshit 27:1). After he arrived, Yitzchak told Esav that he was approaching the day of his death (27:2), although he didn’t know exactly when it would come, and that he wanted him to go…
Avraham’s Little-Kown Role in Helping His Son Do Teshuvah You may already know that Yishmael did teshuvah during the lifetime of his father and that he lived out the rest of his days as a righteous man. But do you know the circumstances that led to his decision to turn his life around and return…
Rosh Hashanah and Breaking the Power of Imagination Good things come in threes: three patriarchs (Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov), three mochin [spiritual brains] (chochmah, binah and da’at), three kinds of seichel [intellect] (potential, actualized and acquired), three lower aspects of the Jewish soul (nefesh, ruach and neshamah), three ‘garments’, i.e. manifestations, of the soul (machshavah…
The Deep Purpose for Suffering Why is it that when someone begins to do teshuvah and starts walking in Hashem’s ways, he frequently encounters difficulties and experiences suffering? If the purpose of suffering is to motivate a person to do teshuvah, why should he have to suffer at all? After all, he’s already doing teshuvah….
The Secret of the Erev Rav (Part 2) In last week’s article, The Erev Rav Also Went Up With Them, we learned a number of important points related to the Erev Rav and their relationship to B’nei Yisrael. First, the worship of the golden calf was instigated by a group of converts from Egypt known…
Building the Mishkan: from Descent to Ascent In the beginning of Parashat Terumah, Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu to instruct B’nei Yisrael to bring donations of various materials in order to construct a sanctuary for Him to dwell in (Shemot 25:8): וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם (And they shall make for Me a Mishkan, and I…
Yaakov’s Encounter with the Ministering Angel of Esav After Yaakov Avinu conducted his family and possessions across the river when returning to what would eventually become known as Eretz Yisrael, we read the following in the Torah (Bereshit 32:25): וַיִּוָּתֵר יַעֲקֹב לְבַדּוֹ וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ עַד עֲלוֹת הַשָּׁחַר (And Yaakov was left alone, and a…
The Essence of Kedushah and Swords of Iron In the past few articles, we explained the fundamental distinction between good and bad and the importance of having emunah. We also learned that we have the power to create angels by learning Torah, observing mitzvot and doing acts of kindness. These angels are our allies. They…
We are now in the final countdown to Rosh Hashanah 5784, and thoughts of teshuvah should be constantly in our minds. The question is, what is the essence of teshuvah that we need to be working on and how does it relate to the theme of Rosh Hashanah? Let’s begin with Rosh Hashanah. As is…
R’ Abahu said (Berachot 34b): מָקוֹם שֶׁבַּעֲלֵי תְשׁוּבָה עוֹמְדִין צַדִּיקִים גְּמוּרִים אֵינָם עוֹמְדִין שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר שָׁלוֹם שָׁלוֹם לָרָחוֹק וְלַקָּרוֹב לָרָחוֹק בְּרֵישָׁא וַהֲדַר לַקָּרוֹב (In the place ba’alei teshuvah stand, complete tzaddikim cannot stand, as it says [Yeshayah 57:19], ‘Shalom, shalom to him who is far away and to him who is near’, ‘to him who is…
When you hear the word teshuvah, what do you think about? Perhaps the first ideas to come to mind are that it means to repent or to return to Hashem and His ways. We could add the notion of moving from being far away to being closer to Hashem. Maybe it is associated with becoming…