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The Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection is the one-stop shop for the Torah inspiration shared by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe in one simple feed. The Jewish Inspiration Podcast, Parsha Review Podcast, Thinking Talmudist Podcast, Living Jewishly Podcast and Unboxing Judaism Podcast all in one convenient place. Enjoy!
00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Parsha Review Podcast.
00:10 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Welcome back to the Parsha Review Podcast. My dear friends, this week's Parsha is Parsha's Vayetze. What is Vayetze? Vayetze is Yaakov leaving and coming. He's coming, he's going.
00:23
Sages tell us that whenever a person leaves, there is a special presence of God, of spirituality, that departs with a person. With that comes risk, comes danger. People go, they're away from home, they're not in their steady schedule, they are in Vegas. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. So nobody knows. I can just do things that I maybe wouldn't do in other places, but nobody knows.
00:52
That's not the way righteous people operate. The way Yaakov operated is that wherever he went, he took the presence of God with him. He didn't leave. Well, back at home I'm observant, but then when I go here, then I'm not. That's not. You can't have two different existences. You have to have the same relationship you have with God here is the same relationship you have with God there. And, on the contrary, bring God with you. Okay, we know that Yaakov gets married. He marries two sisters. Now that's another halacha question. How is that possible for Jacob to marry two sisters?
01:32
Our sages teach us that anybody who got married into Abraham's family Abraham, isaac, jacob and the tribes anyway needed to convert, meaning they had to show that they were believing in a monotheistic God, that there's only one God, and therefore had to sort of convert. We know that when one converts, their family ties are all disrupted, they're all taken away, they're gone, no more, no father, no mother, no sister, no brother. Which is why the Torah gives a special requirement in the Torah to love the convert. Why? Because they're estranged from their entire family. Their father and mother are insulted, hurt. What do you mean? We raised you in a beautiful Catholic home. Now you're going Jewish. What's wrong with you? Why are you, their brothers and their sisters saying weirdo, they're calling them names. They're saying well, maybe we'll get together Thanksgiving, maybe not. We forgot to invite you. You know that kind of you know because you're estranged. So who's going to bring them closer? That's a requirement in the Torah. The Torah says to love, love the convert. You have to bring them in, you have to welcome them, you have to invite them. Very important. So Rachel and Leah are no longer sisters Once they convert. They're no longer sisters Halachically. Biologically they are, but halachically they're not.
03:05
Okay, now what happens? We know the story. Rachel was really the wife that Jacob wanted. And the father of Rachel and Leah says that's not the daughters under the chuppah. And what did Rachel do, rachel, to prevent her sister from being embarrassed? I mean, think about that. She's going up to the chuppah and they set up a code because Jacob anticipated such trickery. And Jacob gives Rachel a code. He says under the chuppah, I'm going to ask you for the code. You give me the code and then I'll know that it's you Because she's under a veil. Right, we know that the bride is under a veil, the groom can't see. So he says who are you? She gives him the code and behold, it is Leah. Why did Rachel give her the code? She didn't want her to be embarrassed.
04:14
Let's look now at a verse that will totally confuse you. The verse chapter 30, verse number 1. Chapter 30, verse number one Rachel saw that she had not born children to Jacob. Now, what happened later is that Jacob worked another seven years for the hand of Rachel in marriage, and then Jacob and Leah have four children Reuven, shimon, levi and Yehudah. And then this verse comes and Rachel saw that she had not born children to Jacob V'atikanei, rochel b'achosa. So Rachel became jealous, envious of her sister, v'atomer el Yaakov, and she said to Yaakov, hava Libanim, give me children and if not I am dead. So, rashi, we always turn to Rashi. What is Rashi, the great commentator? Rashi? He was jealous, really jealous. The real question that we need to ask is how is it possible? He was jealous, really jealous. The real question that we need to ask is how is it possible that Rachel, rachel, who gave her sister the coats so that she not be embarrassed the point we've said this midrash before the midrash asks who is the merit of our future redemption going to come In their honor, in their zichut, in their merit?
05:56
So Abraham says to God God, the future redemption of the Jewish people should be in my honor. Why? What did you do, abraham, kidding? I was ready to be thrown into a fiery furnace. I didn't give up on my faith in you. I was ready to slaughter my son in the binding of Isaac. What commitment, what dedication. God says commitment, dedication doesn't do it for me. God says commitment, dedication doesn't do it for me. Isaac says God, the future redemption of the Jewish people, by the way, which is going to be in our generation? We are going to see the Mashiach, we are going to experience the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel. Isaac says do you know what I did? You know what devotion and dedication I had to you, hashem, when my father was about to slaughter me, I was pulling the knife on me ready to be slaughtered as an offering before you, hashem. I'm ready to give up my life for you, hashem. God says commitment and dedication is not enough, jacob.
07:03
Jacob goes through all of his stories of, you know, being by his father-in-law, his father-in-law cheating him the wells. You name the problems that Jacob had. They were stealing his sheep. They're stealing his land. Jacob says look how committed I was to you, to your Torah, to your teachings, to your morals, to your values, was to you, to your Torah, to your teachings, to your morals, to your values. And what God says, commitment and dedication, is not enough. And same. It goes through the list of our ancestors, each one saying it should be in my honor. And God says you know whose honor it's going to be? In the merit of Rachel.
07:58
Rachel was ready to give up her entire life so that her sister not be embarrassed, so that her sister not walk down the chuppah and be humiliated, that she is not chosen, that she is going. He's going to stand under the chuppah. Imagine they're standing under the chuppah and he says okay, what's the code Leah's like? What code Like? Okay, this is a fraud. Takes off the veil. Says you see, you try to trick me. What's going to happen? She's going to be humiliated. It's going to be embarrassing Her sister.
08:32
To save that embarrassment, was ready to give up. Did you think she knew who her father was? She knew that her father was a scoundrel. She knew that her father was going to make Jacob work another seven years for her and the marriage. Jacob won't do it. Why won't Jacob do it? You think Jacob wants to stick around such a miserable person, a miserable employer, for another seven years For all. Rachel knew this was the end of her life. She was giving up everything. Jacob's not going to work another seven years for my hand in marriage. Finished, okay. He got tricked. Now Leah, goodbye. He has his wife. He's going to move on with life. She's ready to give up everything for her sister.
09:25
God says in your merit, rachel, that you were willing to give up so that your sister not be embarrassed. In your merit, the Jewish people will be redeemed. Min I kolech, mi bechi ve'einayich be redeemed. You can stop crying, you can stop shedding tears Because there's going to be an unbelievable reward for your actions. My children will return to their borders, they'll come back to the land of Israel In your merit, rachel, that you are ready to give it up. Now you're telling me in this verse, right here, that Rachel was jealous, jealous. She's the most committed, dedicated sister on planet Earth and she's jealous. I don't think that's jealousy. She's saying I want children.
10:23
Sages tell us we have to be very, very careful. If you look at Rashi, rashi says she was jealous of her good deeds. Our sages tell us See, we know what does the Mishnah tell us. What does the Mishnah tell us about jealousy? It's one of the three worst traits. The Mishnah says that worst traits. Hakina, hatava v'hakavod, motzina sa'adam min olam. The Mishnah says that kina, jealousy, tava urges, uncontrolled desires, and kavod, the desire for honor, are the three worst traits. Motzina sa'adam min olam, they remove a person from this world. Total destruction, motsinas Adonai.
11:25
Although these traits are so terrible, there's also a positive side to these traits and the Yetzirah confuses us because we know oh, jealousy, jealousy is terrible. We all know we're not supposed to be jealous. We tell it to our children, we tell it to ourselves. We're not supposed to look at what our neighbor has. Don't be jealous. Don't be jealous of their vacation. Don't be jealous of their spouse. Don't be jealous of their car, don't be jealous of their house. We know jealousy is a terrible thing. The Yetzirah makes it, in our eyes, something so terrible that when it comes to something good, we don't want to be jealous. And the Mishnah tells us Kina, sofrim, tarbe chachma.
12:13
When it comes to good things, you should be jealous. You should be jealous of how your neighbor prays, about how they learn, about how they are spiritually, about how connected they are to the Almighty. That's something you should be jealous of, meaning that every trait could be used in a positive and in a negative and we could be confused. We could say, oh terrible. Never be jealous. No, that's not true. Be jealous of their good actions. Be jealous of their good deeds.
12:49
What did Rachel get jealous of? And the verse actually states she was jealous of? And the verse actually states she was jealous of her sister Because she saw her good deeds. She saw her good deeds. She says I want to have good deeds like her, I want to be like my sister and perfect my ways, to have good mitos, to have good traits and maybe that'll be the merit through which I have children. Maybe the reason I don't have children is because I don't have good deeds. If I improve my ways and I show that I'm worthy of having children, that I'll be a good mother, then God will give me children, because if not, I'm dead. What does that mean? I'm like dead. Or it says someone who doesn't have children it's as if they're not living. Because you don't have what to give to. A person needs to be able to give, and without having a child, you don't have what to give to. She's considering herself meaning I want to elevate my spirituality, I want to elevate my status in my relationship with God, like my sister, so I'd be worthy of having children, so that I'd be worthy of being granted this amazing gift. Granted this amazing gift. That's why she was jealous. She was jealous.
14:34
So let me just for a second. We know we're not supposed to be jealous of our neighbors, of our friends, of our relatives when they have more money than us. Someone goes on better vacations than us, someone is able to do this and that they have a better relationship with vacations than us. Someone is able to do this and that they have a better relationship with their spouse than us, say. Just tell us jealousy is a terrible thing unless it's for good things, meaning, if someone says I want more money so that I can buy things, that's not good per se. But if someone says I want more money so that I can buy things, that's not good per se. But if someone says I want more money so that I can give charity, oh that's a totally different thing. I'm jealous that they're able to give so much. I want to also be able to give so much. I'm jealous of someone else because they commit so much of their time to Torah study. Oh, that's a very good thing to be jealous of. That means we have to learn to be jealous of good things.
15:40
Yes, jealousy is a dangerous trait, very dangerous trait. But along with that dangerous trait comes a tremendous, tremendous power. A tremendous, tremendous power. We can take our entire world and transform it. Our entire world and transform it by desiring to do better, looking around and saying, oh, every person has something. That's a virtue, that's a quality. I want to aspire to be like that. I want to aspire to grow and to connect on a higher level. This is something which is a great, great virtue To not be afraid, to not be afraid to use something which typically is a negative trait.
16:46
Use it for good is a negative trait. Use it for good. There's so much opportunity in our world for us to desire. We're in a world as we'll see soon in our prayer podcast, our next prayer episode there's a world of materialism. There's a world of constant wanting more physical and physical and physical that could be used for really bad and that could be used for really good. And while the same trait of jealousy could be used for really bad, it could be used for really good.
17:34
By the way, the trait of kindness. Kindness is any negative in kindness. Kindness is a great, great, great trait. But everything has a balance. Everything is on a scale. If you give away your children's dinner, that might not be a good thing. If you give away everything that you have to the point where you don't have, it might be an imbalance of that kindness.
18:10
Talmud warns of this. A person shouldn't give more than a third to charity. Not more than a third. It's a little reckless. 10%, we know we're obligated. That's maasere. That doesn't belong to us. 20%, you're guaranteed great wealth. More than 30% is reckless. Give, give. There's a balance of how much is good and how much is not good anymore. With every positive trait there is a negative, there's a negative side to it, and with every negative trait there's a positive side to it, and we need to find that balance. We need to ensure that we do not sell ourselves cheap and that we do what is necessary to bring in all of the virtues of this world, even if it's jealousy, in the most positive way. My dear friends have an amazing Shabbos, thank you.
19:20 - Intro (Announcement)
You've been listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe on a podcast produced by TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston will be on a podcast produced by Torch, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. Please help sponsor an episode so we can continue to produce more quality Jewish content for our listeners around the globe. Please visit torchweb.org to donate and partner with us on this incredible endeavor.