DailyHalacha.com

Rabbi Mansour 2011
Shabbat Morning Class

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Parashat Toldot is the sixth Parasha of the Torah. The number six is a very significant number, and it represents a special Berachah. When the Jews were in Egypt they were fruitful and multiplied. The Pasuk uses six terms of fruitfulness "???? ????? ??? ?????? ????? ?????? ???? ???". We also find that the woman in Egypt gave birth to six children at one time!

On Shabbat that the most coveted Aliyah is the sixth (????). We also find that the sixth Sefirah is the Sefirah of ????, and the Sadik associated with this Sefirah is ???? ?????. On the sixth night of Succot -which stands for ???? -the ???????? of the night is ???? ?????. Yosef represents ????. He was given the ????? (birthright), and was granted a double portion in the ???? ????? with his two sons Menashe and Ephraim. The ??? always represents blessing as we see the word ??? contains the same letters as the word ??? (bless). ??? is the root of the word ????.
The word ??? itself contains a sign of prosperity. All of its letters are double of its respective category. The ? (2) is double of one. The ? (20) is double 10 (the next category of digits), and the ? (200) is double of one hundred. Thus we find that the word ??? represents a doubling of something, and it is the same letters as ??? (firstborn), and it is the firstborn that receives a double portion of inheritance in the estate of a parent.

We also find something in this week’s Parasha that is unique amongst all the other Parashiot of the Torah. This Parasha contains a mention of blessing in every Aliyah, from the first through the last! This Shabbat of Parashat Toldot is an auspicious time of blessings and success, that B’h will permeate throughout the week.

This week’s Parasha contains the famous divine blessing that Yishak Avinu gave to Yaakov Avinu. "???? ?? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ????"-"May Hashem give you from the dew of the heavens and of the fatness of the earth".
This awesome Berachah represented the guarantee of prosperity and success for Yaakov. When Eisav realized that he missed this Berachah he was devastated!
This Berachah epitomizes divinely success, and it is written in the Sefer ??? ?? ????-??? ???? about the practice of the Ari Hakadosh that every Saturday night right after Havdalah he would recite the verses of the Berachah of Yishak beginning with "???? ??". The reason given is that the Ari wanted to begin the week immediately with these Pesukim in order to draw the blessings into the week. Many today as well have this custom of reciting ???? ?? immediately after Shabbat.

Let us analyze further the practice of the Arizal to read the Pesukim of ???? ?? on Saturday night and explain its significance even deeper.

It is written that every Friday night when a person arrives home from the synagogue he walks in with two angels, one is a "good" angel, and one is an "evil" angel. When they see the house set up nicely, the table set, the beds made, the candles lit, the good angel blesses the family and says; "may it be this way again next week", and the evil angel answers "Amen" against his will. If however the house is in disarray the evil angel says "may it be this way next week", and the good angel is forced to answer "Amen" against his will.

It is for this reason that we recite "Shalom Aleichem Malachei Hasharet" every Friday night. We are welcoming the angels into our home.
How long do these angels stay in our home? We have various proofs that show us that the angels remain in our home throughout the entire Shabbat!
One proof is from the ????? ???? who discusses the practice of reciting the verse of ?????? ????? on Friday night. ?????? ????? ("go in peace") sounds as if we are telling the angels to leave now. Is it proper to tell angels to leave?! Why is it that we would say ?????? ????? on Friday night?? The ????? ???? explains; that indeed it is proper to say ?????? ????? and by doing so, we are not actually telling the angels to leave now. The phrase ?????? ????? is actually telling the angels that- when they leave they should go in peace, and not that they must leave now. In actuality the angels stay in our homes throughout the entire Shabbat, and they leave right after Shabbat.
We find another proof that the angles stay from the Magen Avraham. The Magen Avraham says that one may throw the shells and refuse from the table onto the floor. He writes that one need not be worried about that what people say that by throwing it from the table to the floor we chase away the angels that are present. One may do so, and the angels will not go anywhere. Again, we see from this Magen Abraham, that the angels are found in our homes and do not leave on Friday night.

Who are these two angels that come to us every Shabbat?? The good angel’s name is ??????, and the evil angel is none other than the ?-?! The ?-? is the angel of Eisav as seen from the incident when Yaakob wrestled with the chief angel of Eisav- the ?- ?.
Why would the ?-? himself come to our homes every Friday night and stay the entire Shabbat?!
The answer to this question sheds light on the integral part that the Shabbat plays in the success of all our endeavors throughout the entire week.

To understand, we must go back to the pregnancy of Rivkah Imenu. Yaakob and Eisav were in the womb of Rivkah, and were fighting amongst themselves over the two worlds Olam Hazeh and Olam Haba. They ultimately came to an agreement in the womb, that Eisav will "take" this world and Yaakob will have the next world- Olam Haba.
This meant that the blessings and comforts of this world would go all to Eisav, and the bliss of the next world would go to Yaakov.
The ???? ???? says that once they were born, Yaakob realized that he had a problem. If he had no share in this material world, how would his nation be able to fulfill Misvot such as Oneg Shabbat without using this world? How would we be able to enjoy Shabbat with nice clothing, and fine food, and drink without having a share in this world?! Yaakob understood that he must have a small portion of this world, in order to properly honor the Shabbat. Therefore he presented Eisav with an offer in which he would "buy" from Eisav the physicality of at least one day of the week- the day of Shabbat.

When do we find Yaakov making this deal with Eisav? The ???? ???? explains; when Yaakov bought the Bechora from Eisav, he was also actually buying from Eisav the "Gashmiyut" of the day of Shabbat. This is hinted in the Pasuk in which Yaakob told Eisav "???? ???? ?? ?????? ??"-"sell me like today your birthright". What does it mean ????-"like today"? Shouldn’t it be ???? (sell me today your birthright)? The ???? ???? explains; that the word ???? stands for what we read in the Amidah about Shabbat; "???? ????? ??????? ?????" all will be satisfied and enjoy from your goodness). This is a reference to our enjoying the Shabbat with physical enjoyment, and is hinting to the deal Yaakob was making with Eisav. He was buying a share of this world for the day of Shabbat.

We also find that Shabbat is the ??? of the week. How so? Just like the ??? is the oldest, and the leader, he receives a double portion and he distributes to and sustains the rest of the family, so too the Shabbat is the "leader" of the other days of the week, and it is the Shabbat that sustains the rest of the days of the week.
The Zohar asks a question, we know that when the Mann fell from Shamayim, it came down every day except for Shabbat. If Shabbat is the ???? ????? (source of blessing) asks the Zohar, why is it that on Shabbat nothing fell? This makes it seem that Shabbat contains less blessing than the other days of the week ?'??!
The Zohar explains that it is quite the contrary, it is the Shabbat that gives whatever it has out, and it is the Shabbat that gives sustenance to all the other days, much like someone that gives everything that it has out and doesn’t keep anything for himself.
Every day of the week corresponds to another ????? (Sunday stands for ???-kindness. Monday stands for ?????-strength - this is why we don’t start new projects on Monday or move into a new home etc.)
Shabbat is the day before Sunday, and what is the ????? that comes before ???? It is ????. In the Shamayim, ???? is the source of ??? and Parnasah.
We find an allusion to Shabbat’s connection to ???? in the Havdallah. The first Berachah of Havdallah is made on wine ???. The next Berachah is made on the ?????, the next Berachah is made on the candle ??, and the final Berachah is "?????? ??? ??? ????" (when the Ben Ish Chai was asked as a child; why is the Havdallah in this order? He simply pointed to his lips, then nose, then eyes, then brain and said;"you work your up". Meaning, first ??? that we drink, then Besamim that we smell, then candle that we look at, and finally the knowledge to differentiate between holy and unholy, which is found in the brain).
The first letters of the four Berachot are ???? (???, ?????, ??, ??????) and can be rearranged to spell ????, showing us Shabbat’s connection with ???? and its ability to give ??? to other days of the week.
There is however an important condition that must be met in order for Shabbat to distribute blessing into the week, and that is we must honor and respect the Shabbat. The ???? ???? says that the words ???? ??? stand for what is brought down from the Zohar; "?? ????? ?????? ????? ????? ?????? ?????"-"all the blessing from above and below are dependent on Shabbat".
Commensurate to our honor for Shabbat, is how much the Shabbat in return will shower us with blessing.

Honoring Shabbat means to properly observe its laws, and to utilize our time on Shabbat to fulfill the Misvot, primarily the Misvah of learning Torah. The more time we devote on Shabbat for these holy endeavors, the more we can expect to be blessed by Shabbat in return. Unfortunately, as the Shemirat Shabbat goes down, so does the Berachah of a person, group, or community. We must be vigilant to honor the Shabbat, and keep all of its laws. We must utilize our time on Shabbat with the study of Torah, and we will be blessed with success all week long.

When Yaakob Avinu bought the physicality of the day of Shabbat, he was actually taking the physicality of the entire week! As mentioned, the Shabbat sustains the entire week, so if we have Shabbat we have everything!! This is why Yishak blessed Yaakob "???? ?? ????? ??? ????? ?????? ????", - a Beracha which implies the blessing of this world.
When Eisav realizes the ramifications of the deal he made by selling the "Olam Hazeh" of the day of Shabbat he exclaimed; "?? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ??? ?????"-"he took my Bechorah and now he took my blessing"! He was saying; he took the Shabbat (as mentioned, Shabbat is the "Bechor" of the week, and it is what Eisav sold Yaakob) and as a result, he took my entire blessing! As a result of taking Shabbat, Yaakob received the Olam Hazeh of the entire week since Shabbat sustains the week!

Now, Yaakob’s entitlement to the Berachah of Yishak of ???? ?? is based upon the Shabbat Kodesh. If the Jewish people properly honor the Shabbat, they deserve the Bechorah and merit the Berachah of ???? ?? , if however ?'? they do not, then they lose this blessing.

With this concept we now understand why the angels stay with us throughout Shabbat, and why it is specifically the ?-? that comes to our home every Shabbat. The angel of Eisav- the ?-? is watching us carefully on Shabbat to see if we still deserve the blessing of ???? ??. If we properly honor Shabbat, then he must concede that we indeed still deserve the Berachah of Yishak, but if however we do not honor the Shabbat, then he is there to reclaim the Olam Hazeh that Yaakob obtained from Eisav!

It is because of this, that right after observing the Shabbat in all of holiness the Arizal would immediately recite ???? ?? after Shabbat. He was showing that we have earned this wonderful Berachah of Yishak, and we deserve to have Berachah infused into every day of the week!

May we always honor the Shabbat and utilize every moment of it to get closer to Hashem and we will thereby merit Berachah always! Amen.