Parshas Vayera
Newer Than News
By Rabbi Label Lam
The children agitated within her, and she said, “If so why am I thus?” And
she went to inquire of HASHEM. And HASHEM said to her, “Two nations are
in your womb; two regimes from within your insides shall be separated; The
might shall pass from one regime to the other, and the elder shall serve
the younger.” (Berishis: 25:22-23)
Rivka was experiencing difficulty with her pregnancy so she went for a
supernal sonogram and gained a prophetic report about her twin boys. A
superficial reading may lead us to believe that this is just some ancient
soap opera from 3600 years ago. Although there are lessons for all time
about relationships there’s a much bigger play in the making here.
Besides being born ruddy Aisov murders and slurps “red- red” soup and
earns a new title. “Therefore his name is called Edom-Red” (Breishis
25:30). Edom becomes Rome, the capital of Western Civilization, where
fifteen centuries later Christianity would take root before spreading all
over the world. The Romans destroyed the 2nd Temple and drove us into a
more than 2000 year exile. Aisov is given for all time the task of being a
watchdog to ensure that Yaakov remains worthy of the blessings, as it
says, “And By your sword you shall live and your brother you should serve
and if you should become bereaved (when Israel will violate the Torah and
you should have cause to complain about the blessing he took…–Rashi) and
you can throw off his yoke. (Breishis 27:40)
Yishmael turns out to be the father of the Arab/Islamic world. The Zohar
tells us that because he made a circumcision at the age of 13, as his
descendants do so today, he was given guardianship of the land until it is
time for Israel
to return. The Zohar states “they will prevent the
Children of Israel from returning to their place until the merit of the
Children of Yishmael is depleted. And in the future the Children of
Yishmael will arouse a great war in the world and the Children of Edom
will gather against them and awaken a war against them…”
It’s interesting to note that the Arab world keeps Friday as their day off
while the Christian’s occupy Sunday. The Jewish people rest on Shabbos-
Saturday. There is no dispute about which day is actually Shabbos.
Everyone agrees Shabbos is Shabbos! The Islamic world abides by a Lunar
Calendar which is 354 days and the Christian world adheres to the Solar
Calendar which is 365 and ¼ days long. The Jewish universe is managed by a
Lunar Calendar that adjusts to the Solar Calendar so Pesach should be in
the Spring Season.
The source of Yishmael’s name in Hebrew is the word “Shema” – hear.
Aisov’s name was picked because he came into the world complete-done. His
name implies action- “asu”. Yishmaelites are notorious nowadays for their
willingness to obliterate themselves and others in this world in order to
gain an imagined reward for doing so in the next world. Aisov’s
descendants are credited with filling out the paradigm of building and
developing this world materially. When the Jewish People accepted the
Torah on Mount Sinai 3320 years ago there was a unanimous agreement at the
time “we shall do and hear (learn)” – “nasa v’ nishma”. What we do in the
world will be understood completely in the next.
Who today would be so bold that they can tell us which persons or family
will be prominent 100 years now and it will have turned out to be true.
The Torah foretold this history 3320 years ago. It’s more informative than
today’s paper and newer than news.
DvarTorah, Copyright © 2007 by Rabbi Label Lam and Torah.org.
