Parashah V’Yishlach (and he sent)

Torah portion: Gen 32:4-36:43

Face to face with God.

This portion, along with the Akeidah is one of the key turning points in our history, a life changing encounter with the living G-d of Israel. Ya’akov is about to meet the G-d of his Fathers face to face, an encounter with G-d that would leave him both physically and spiritually changed for the rest of his life. This will be the second of the three major encounters with G-d for him, but this one will mark him and us, as Israel, for life. Behind him lay all the cunning tactics, Machiavellian strategies and manipulations, the fears and anxieties of a desperately controlled life that just might go off the rails at any minute. Ask anyone who lives like this and they’ll tell you they fear losing control all the time, and eventually of course something happens and they do. But now it was time to face up to G-d, the One who had called Ya’akov and chosen him despite himself. Yes, despite himself, his issues and problems, some of which were still in the future and as yet unrecognised by Ya’akov, G-d had called him.

Parashah Vayetze Commentary.

Bereshit (Genesis) 28:10-32:3

HaMakom.

This week’s portion sees Ya’akov on the move. The plot to ensure that the Abrahamic blessing and promise would continue through him, and not Esav his brother, had been revealed. Rivkah now sends him away to avoid almost certain murder. Very few families have a clean sheet regarding their shared history, but if you are seeking family skeletons in the cupboard, then here is a family that has some! This is a family, it seems, at war with itself. Yet as Ya’akov leaves Ha’aretz, the calling and promises of G-d are as sure as ever, both for himself and for all of us as his descendants by birth or faith.

Parashah Toldot Commentary

Bereshit (Genesis) Gen 25:19-34

Making an Impact.

We live in a world dominated by catch phrases and sound bites; ask anyone who either works in this kind of environment where every breath is focussed on ‘outcome related variables’, or ‘objective focussed service trajectories’, or even if you study on one of the many courses that are more concerned with learning the jargon than actually knowing facts, and they’ll tell you how superficial and vague we’ve become as a society. One such phrase is the ‘Impact Statement’. Having written a few of these over the years I might even concede that they have a place. The essence is simple: events, actions and situations have a bearing on what happens and sets in motion things that inevitably follow on from that first event. We have such an ‘impact statement’ in the Torah today. In Gen 25:23 we read that  ‘2 nations are in you…’ and in Mal 1:2-3 we read that ‘Jacob I have loved and Esau I have hated’. The ‘impact’ of all this was to be felt for generations. What seemed to be a local event, a simple, if challenging birth, turns into a providential sovereign moment in time upon which history has balanced and continues to balance.

Parashah Chayei Sarah Commentary.

A woman of valour, who can find?

This week’s portion is a highly important one for the development of Israel and the purposes of God. It speaks of so many things that are historical patterns that have echoed throughout the ages since, the battle between Yitzchak and Ishmael, the choices made in the flesh rather than in the Spirit, and the lives and legacies of Sarah and Rivkah. Yet it’s named after the life of Sarah, the only Matriarch after whom a portion is named. It shows us so much of how the Lord sees women as integral to His plan, not as second class people whose existence and roles are merely predicated upon men’s wishes. We can see now how history has turned out negatively towards women and how so much of the Scriptures have been abused in that way, but Sarah is clearly an important person in herself to the Lord, not just as Avraham’s wife. This passage begins with her death, and in Judaism, the value of someone's life is measured then, not at birth. Not for us are lives measured by being born with a ‘silver spoon in the mouth’, not on what you inherited or even what you managed to accumulate during your brief span on this earth, but the real value of your life is what you bequeath to the next generation and beyond. What hallmarks of your life do people follow, copy and talk about? Consider for a moment what will be the things that the next generation will emulate you in.