Toldot Excerpts

תולדות

Shabbat Shalom

This  Shabbat, we speak about offspring. Many gardens are in the memory of grandparents. But when do we look to the future. Donate a garden to the youth. Donate a playground to the youth. i don't want to see Hymie on a swing...Offspring has nothing to do with water Michael...

You mess up the offspring because you treat the kids wrong in this congregation.

Yitzchak gives Yakov the blessing meant for Esav. Esav was sent to hunt and bring Yitzchak a meal, and Rivka intercedes and tells Yakov to bring a meal and to take the blessing. Esav comes in from his hunting with delicacies and Yitzchak is shocked.

(27:35-36) Yitzchak tells Esav that his brother came and took the blessing. Esav says, it is like his name to cleverly go around me and outwit me.

Hate is bred. Is Esav correct in his hate? that is not the point. The point is that Yitzchak, with his honesty, helps plant more seeds for hate. You don't tell your child that they can't have a fourth cookie, because Yardena ate 6. But you do that, and the whole shul has to listen to the Kinishkivey family yelling every Saturday morning. You come up with a different blessing, like a sour stick. Sour sticks are blessings.

You give them another blessing and take them to the Max & Maxine Simlowitz playground for non-old people...

Who gets blamed? Yakov. The brother. Yitzchak was a truthful man. A tzadik. His honesty cannot be blamed. Never blame the parents.

Between us, the parents in this congregation are not that great. It had to be said. 

When are you honest? That is the question. When working with somebody like Esav, you can't be honest sometimes. Rivka knew that. I wish more mothers in this shul wouldn't follow Rivka's lack of honesty...No. Telling your children they are the greatest is causing for a lot of annoyance around this community. Somebody has to tell the Tichtel kid that he can't play basketball. He is killing it for the rest of the team...Then root for the other players. Look at your little Tichtel like an Esav.

(27:38) Esav pleads again for one blessing, and Yitzchak gives in. Unlike the Tichtel family who never gives in, and whose children never shut up and stop crying.

(27:39-40) He gets the blessing from Yitzchak that he will have good dwelling and he shall live by the sword and if Yakov messes up, he will not have to be subservient to him.

Maybe the living by the sword blessing wasn't a good idea. It didn't help with the Crusades...

Rashi says because Yakov is not deserving of dominion when he transgresses the Torah. As we have seen in our history.

Oh. Little Shevy is perfect. No she is not. That's the problem, you lie to your kids like Rivka and the next thing you know, they start sinning and running the halls and thinking they can play basketball. Yakov knew he had a calling and lived up to the good....

Esav blames it on the outwitting. The outwitting in this shul is annoying. Petty. Oh, I'm going to tie up the guy's tassels on his tallis. Let's work on the wit and get away from the overuse of puns. Especially the dual language puns. 

(27:41-45) Esav hates Yakov and plans to kill him when Yitzchak dies. To which Rivka sends Yakov away. Maybe Esav didn't deserve the blessing. If he is going to react with such hatred...Would Yakov have reacted with the idea of killing his brother? No. But the Tichtel children would for a black and white cookie.

What we learned. Parents cause the problems.

Sometimes you have to be honest, even when you think your child is the best. You don't just send away, you instill a sense of requirement.

(27:46) Rivka expresses her disgust with the daughters of Chet. She asks Yitzchak 'why am I living' if Yakov marries one of those girls?

Guilt is brought into our world. A controlling mother, but for good reason. She gets involved. Look at who your children marry. 

Mike married Matalin, very loud.

Sharona married Moshe, learns in the Beit Medrash all day and still not a Talmid Chachum.

Kevin married Jill, no savings there.

Brit married Cornellius, no inheritance in that family.

(28:1-4) After Rivka's complaints, Yitzchak gets involved and tells Yakov to be careful with how you marry. Finally, Yitzchak and Rivka are on the same team. Kind of works better for the shul when the Tichtels are on the same page. We wouldn't have had the Max and Maxine Simlowitz garden...They weren't married to each other Bernie. It was Max and Francine. But little Simlowitzs are not on the same page.

He tells Yakov to not marry the women of Canaan. And then he goes into having the blessing of Avraham.
Yakav needed the helicopter mothering. Maybe Esav didn't...When we look at the marriages in this congregation, the intermarriage pops in our minds. There was a marriage between a Hitite and a Canaanite...You just don't do that.

As Rivka asks about Yakov marrying a Canaanite, if your offspring are worthless, what is your life worth? Which makes me real sad to look at the Feinberg family, whose in-laws give them no money, because their in-laws are poor. Brit's marriage was pointless. Should have married a Simlowitz. 

That is why we need a new slide put into the Simlowitz playground.

The blessings come based on who you marry, and how you act. We don't want Esav to be coming through this shul with a sword. Which is why nobody is dressing like an ancient guard this Purim. There will be no swords...I can care less if it is plastic. No plastic will be allowed in this shul.

If we can send away Shevy Tichtel...