Dvar Torah
Value of Mitzvot
(בראשית כה:לא) וַיֹּאמֶר יַעֲקֹב מִכְרָה כַיּוֹם אֶת בְּכֹרָתְךָ לִי:
In this week’s Parasha we find the story that tells us about the sale of the rights of the firstborn. There is a Halacha regarding sales called “Mekach Ta’os” - an erroneous (untrue) sale. This law is to protect both the buyer and seller from being cheated in a sale in the following manner. If the item is worth less then was thought by the buyer at the time of the sale, the sale is retroactively void. With this in mind, how could Yaakov have bought the rights to the first-born for only a bowl of lentils, we know that it is worth much more than that?
Someone once asked the Chofetz Chaim; We are told that each Mitzvah that we do is so valuable that we cannot even imagine. Why does Hashem not give us the reward for one Mitzvah in this world and then we would not have to work anymore and we can spend the rest of our life just serving Hashem?
The Chofetz Chaim explained that a Mitzvah that is done that we think that we can get a reward for is not worth anything. His proof to this is that the value of the right to the firstborn to Esav was not worth anything because he wanted the reward for it and therefore he was able to sell it to Yaakov for the value of a bowl of lentils. This was indeed what it was worth to Esav.
From here we see that every Mitzvah that we do should be done not for a reward in this world, but for the great reward that awaits us in the world to come.
Shabbat Shalom
Parsha Questions
1) Explain the redundancy of ואלה תולדת יצחק בן־אברהם אברהם הוליד את־יצחק?
(see רש"י בראשית כה:יט)
2) Why does the פסוקsay again that רבקה was בתואל’s daughter and לבן’s sister?
(see רש"י בראשית כה:כ)
3) How did רבקה and יצחק pray to Hashem? (see בראשית כה:כא andרש"י )
4) Whom did רבקה consult about her children? Why? (see רש"י בראשית כה:כב)
5) What answer did she get? All parts. (see בראשית כה:כג)
6) Why did they name the older son עשו? (see בראשית כה:כה)
7) Why did they name the younger son יעקב? (see בראשית כה:כו)
8) Why did יצחק love עשו? (see רש"י בראשית כה:כח)
9) Why did יעקב cook lentils? (see רש"י בראשית כה:כט)
10) What was the birthright that יעקב bought from עשו? (see רש"י בראשית כה:לא-לב)
11) Where did יצחק go during this hunger? (see רש"י בראשית כו:א)
12) What did Hashem promise יצחק about the land of ארץ כנען? (see בראשית כו:ג-ה)
13) What blessing was bestowed on the crops of יצחק that year? (see בראשית כו:יב)
14) Why was this? (see רש"י בראשית כו:יב)
15) Why did אבימלך tell יצחק to leave his land? (see בראשית כו:טז)
16) By what names did יצחק call the wells that he re-dug? (see בראשית כו:יח)
17) What מידה do we see from this? (Think about it!)
18) What did יצחק and the פלשתים fight about? (see בראשית כו:כ)
19) Why didn’t רבקה and יצחק likeעשו ’s wives? (see רש"י בראשית כו:לה)
20) Why couldn’t יצחק see well? (see רש"י בראשית כז:א)
21) What plan did רבקה have to procure the ברכות for יעקב? (see בראשית כז:ה-יג)
22) Did יעקב lie when he said אנכי עשו בכרך? Explain. (see רש"י בראשית כז:יט)
23) Why did יצחק say הקל קול יעקב והידים ידי עשו? (see רש"י בראשית כז:כב)
24) How did יצחק show that he didn’t regret blessing יעקב? (seeבראשית כז:ל-לג and רש"י פסוק לג)
25) Where did רבקה and יצחק send יעקב? Why? (see בראשית כז:מב-מו)
Classroom Check-in!
Questions about what we are learning in class
1) Who did Barak think was going to be the hero? Why? Who really was?
2) What happened to Sisra’s armies before Barak and his men attacked?
3) Where did Sisra go to hide from Barak?
4) Why did Sisra think this was a good place to hide?
5) How did Yael treat Sisra at first?
6) What did Yael do once Sisra was asleep?
7) How did Devorah so appreciation to Hashem for her years of being a Shofetet?
Torah Math
Rivka feels struggling in her womb, the Torah tells us that she went to see Shem (the son of Noach) to ask him what this was all about. Shem explained to her that there were two nations in her and would become two great world leaders. The Talmud (B’rachot 57b) teaches us that this is referring to Rabbi Yehuda the Nasi and Antinus the Emperor who were friends. Just look at the numeric value:
שני גוים = רבי יהודה ואנטונס
Go ahead check it!
TORAH TRIVIA!
Super Stumper Question:
This a question to ask others and discuss the answers.
Answer to last week’s Question:
Q What is the ONLY B’racha made on a B’racha???
A: The only B’racha made on a B’racha is the B’racha that the Kohanim make before saying Birchat Kohanim.
Question of the week:
Q: In Tana”kh, how many and which pieces of land in Eretz Yisroel were purchased? Which? By whom????
A: Coming soon!
Kollel Quiz
#1 Who Am I?
1. Dovid’s resemblance.
2. Made.
3. Gripped heel.
4. Hairy.
#2 Who Am I?
1. I defeat Esav.
2. “Rise up, please”.
3. I sound.
4. Davening and Learning.
FOOD Section!
Can you guess what this recipe connects to this week’s Parsha?
RP's Famous Chili
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef/Can be substituted with soy ground beef (available at Traders Joe’s)
1 large onion, chopped
1 green or red bell pepper, chopped
1 to 2 sliced jalapeno peppers
1 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons chili powder
1 large clove garlic, minced (or garlic powder)
1 can (8 ounces) tomatoes, diced, with juices
1 can (16 ounces) baked beans
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Sprinkle teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you do not like spicy, skip this one)
1/2 tablespoon curry powder
Salt to taste
Optionally you can add potatoes. Just cook for longer.
Preparation:
1) In a pot, Sauté onion and brown meat together. Keep mixing the meat so that it will not get stuck together.
2) Add bell peppers and jalapeno peppers into pot. Mix and sauté.
3) Mix in all seasonings and spices. Mix. Leave to simmer for 3-5 min.
4) Pour beans and tomatoes. Cover and bring to a boil.
5) Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 1/2 hours. stirring well, and cook until thoroughly heated. If need be, add water, or spices to taste.
6) Serve hot.
Enjoy!
Yashakoyach! Gut Shabbos
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