00:00:01 – 00:02:33

[Music] Hi everyone, hope you're all doing well and had a good week. I have to hang up the phone or else the calls just keep coming. I have to say, there’s a lot going on. [Music] After Shabbat, it’s always a moment to check in—how I’m feeling, if I’m better. I had a really tough week, mostly because of the antibiotics they gave me, and I was feeling pretty bad. I’m feeling better now, hopefully by Tuesday they’ll take out the stitches and we’ll see how things go from there.

00:01:29 – 00:04:35

There are some of my friends in the world, you know, who are suffering a lot, obviously in Israel and everywhere else. Honestly, we’re talking about generations. The Torah talks about "toot toot," which means generations, and every day young people die—the children of parents and grandparents who survived the Shoah. The first thing I saw today when I turned on my phone was a mother—a survivor—who lost her son. We’re talking about lineage. Who are we? Where do we come from?

00:03:25 – 00:06:17

What are we? Every day, another piece of our generations—past and future—is lost. I’m not saying, for any reason, that others don’t lose. Of course they do. And I believe that a mother losing a child, no matter where she’s from, is a horror. At least, that’s how I see it. Maybe others don’t feel it the way I do, and that’s okay. But with that, a very deep conversation begins, because we’re talking about the descendants of Isaac, who really was the first.

00:05:13 – 00:08:07

The Hebrew had him circumcised on the eighth day as Hashem commanded. So the first one got married when he was 40 years old, and at that point, Rivka was 3 years old. Even at 3, she already knew and was in control of her life, with Hashem’s help, deciding when to come and go and to marry Isaac. Of course, they had to wait until she was physically ready to marry, which took many, many years—20 years, actually. They had to wait while Isaac prayed for his wife, because he was the one praying for her.

00:06:46 – 00:09:37

She was sterile and finally got pregnant, but right from the start, there was such a strong battle going on in her womb that she said, “If this is how it’s going to be, why should I even go through this pain?” The suffering was so intense during her pregnancy that it was a total disaster. She went to the Yeshiva of Chem Ever to ask Shem, “What’s going on here?” And Shem answered, “There are two nations in your womb, two nations that are…”

00:08:19 – 00:10:49

Fighting—that’s where the story of combat begins. We’re in the summary here. I’m working with the Humash from Mamash, which honestly—I always say this—is the best one I’ve found for the Italian people. It’s from the Mamash publishing house, and I truly recommend it for anyone who wants to study seriously. I have nothing to do with Mamash, obviously, but their work is excellent. So here we are, summarizing: the descendants of Yitzhak, the barrenness of Rivka that we have…

00:09:37 – 00:12:23

Prayer spoken by Isaac and Rebekah to have children, and Rebekah becomes pregnant with twins who wrestle inside her womb. The womb symbolizes that she carries two nations within her. The twins are born—Esau comes out first, red and covered in red hair all over his body, obviously the firstborn, right before his brother. [Music] What's this thing called? [Music] Uh, on the foot—I forgot—not on the ankle but just below it, where it’s basically connected with a little band to his foot.

00:11:23 – 00:14:13

Brothers grow up, and obviously, you notice it almost right away—a parent sees it but might want to see it or not see it. There’s always this question of whether you want to look at things as they really are or if you want to imagine something else about the kid. So, it was pretty clear that Eaf becomes a great hunter. He also becomes a killer and ends up following the bad path, unlike his brother, who’s a scholar and studies a lot, really focused on what’s good and what’s right.

00:13:03 – 00:15:57

[Music] Learning the way of Hashem—then there’s this story about a famine, and Yac moves to Avile, which we already know, to the king of the Philistines. The reason is that Rebekah is very beautiful, and Yac is afraid the Philistines—like we said before—might just take any man's wife they want. So, he says she’s his sister, just like Abraham did with Sarah, if you remember the story. Meanwhile, this moment is one of high spirituality with Avim Melach and the Kabbalah.

00:14:31 – 00:17:05

He talks about how Abimelach "saw," in a way, that Rifka and the guys were together like husband and wife, not like brother and sister. He says, "How can you do something like that? You could have seriously hurt someone from my people and me. How dare you?" Then he says, "I was scared you were going to kill me." And he goes on saying, "No one touches this man, this man's wife. Leave them alone." He becomes rich and powerful, and out of jealousy, the others say, "You have to leave, you're more…"

00:15:52 – 00:18:25

Some of us close the well. Loano, the first wells he dug, spark different disputes until Iac leaves their land and digs other wells. Wells are a big deal because when one opens, another closes. Things are different. But in the end, one well for one person, and one well for the other. What does that mean? It means I have this, you want what I have, so you take it. Here we're talking about wells, in the world we're talking about other things—I don’t need to explain. So, after that, AVIM.

00:17:12 – 00:20:15

Mel sees that Izhak has something more, so he wants to make a peace deal. He comes to Beva, and currently at Pereva, he appears to Aak, blesses him, and tells him not to be afraid because Abim Melach wants to negotiate peace. Izhak builds an altar. Abim Melach and his general Pichol go to Gak to seal a treaty of mutual respect—that means you don’t fight me, I don’t fight you. You handle your wells, I handle mine, and mine don’t cross into your territory.

00:18:48 – 00:21:53

Don’t bother your family and don’t go bothering mine, got it? This is just a little story within Ishak’s story, but the bigger story is about Jakov and Isaf. So, the day Avraham dies, Jako prepares a meal for his father, who, of course, is there. You know, we spend seven days pretty much sitting on the ground, crying, remembering, really trying to relive the life of the person who passed away to understand how great they were. And obviously, Avraham was larger than life, basically.

00:20:41 – 00:23:20

So, Jak obviously eats lentils—red lentils, to be exact—and he's in the kitchen cooking them for his dad. His dad comes back from a day of hunting; it’s the day he killed, um, Nimrod. Nimrod was wearing this costume that originally belonged to Adam, the one Hashem made for him, and Nimrod was known as the greatest hunter. So Jak cut off Nimrod’s head and took the costume for himself.

00:22:11 – 00:24:56

He came back home, didn’t really care about the whole "Abraham died" talk or the tears and condolences. Nope, all he wanted was food. "Give me something to eat," he says. He sees this and goes, "Alright, I’ll give you food if you sell me your birthright." This was definitely something Jacob thought through, because when you think about generations and what comes from the Jewish people through the firstborn, like Esau, it was a big deal. On the other hand, Esau was really, really loved by…

00:23:41 – 00:26:31

Izhak used to bring him food he liked, and honestly, he showed his dad respect. It made his dad think that he was really studying and asking thoughtful questions that showed how smart he was. Even though his dad lost his sight as he got older and became blind, he didn’t realize that EF [Music] was doing badly, and SAF had married two idolaters who caused a lot of harm to both Rif G and Isaac, obviously causing pain to their parents. So inside…

00:25:17 – 00:27:49

Jacob There were all these things, and then when the chance came, he said, "Sell me your birthright." But the whole idea of being the firstborn and the responsibility that came with it didn’t interest him at all. And he said, "Yeah, sure. Give me some food." Jacob said, "Swear to me, swear on your father’s life that you’re selling it to me." What did he say? "Yeah, give me some food, sure." And that’s how things went down—people say things, people do things. Honestly, he just didn’t care about the responsibility that came with it.

00:26:46 – 00:29:49

Ezekiel, the firstborn of the Jewish people, the future generations—he doesn’t care much, but there comes a time in everyone’s life when the choices we’ve made, the decisions, and the things we’ve said all come back to us. That moment comes when Isaac realizes he’s going to die and wants to give his blessing to his firstborn. He calls Esau and says, “Listen, go hunting and bring me the best things you’ve caught, the ones I love to eat, and I’ll give you the blessing of the firstborn.” Getting older, he feels the time has come to bless his son.

00:28:38 – 00:31:34

The firstborn calls Esaf and asks him to prepare a meal so he can bless it. Rifka overhears the conversation. Rifka understands what's going on and is sure she loves Jakob. She says, "Listen, this can’t be right. You have to take this blessing yourself. You go and bring me two animals. I’ll cook the food, you go give the food to your father." Jakob says, "But if my father finds out it’s not him, he’ll touch me and see I don’t have the skin and hair, and I don’t have the smell." His brother is a…

00:30:20 – 00:32:40

Hunter, I’m clean, she told him. Don’t worry, and he says, but the blessing might turn into a curse. She says, don’t worry. The curse will fall on me, you go. Do what I tell you: put the animal skins on your body, and we’ll put Isaac’s blessing on you. Your father will think you’re Esau and he’ll give you the firstborn’s blessing. So, with Rebekah’s help, Jacob tricks his brother and, in a way, steals the blessings meant for him. And here…

00:31:44 – 00:34:50

There’s something amazing going on here. We need to remember that Iak was blind. So, when he touches Jakov and feels his skin and smells the scent, it’s supposed to be a certain smell, but what he actually senses is the smell of the apple orchard—the orchard that God blessed. And right then, even though he doesn't say it out loud, he knows deep down that it’s the Shechinah, the divine presence, giving him this inner vision because he has no sight externally. So, this inner vision tells him the time has come to…

00:33:34 – 00:36:18

Bless those who have the smell of the field that God blessed, and He gives the firstborn’s blessing to whoever He wants, not to whoever wanted it, because Hashem guided him, gave him inner vision, knowledge, and wisdom. He is the one who must receive the blessing for the generations, and he receives a huge, huge, huge blessing—obviously, for everything, for the whole future of the People. So, I really have to read this carefully because one might also think about the SAF that comes.

00:35:08 – 00:38:23

So then, of course, he starts talking, brings the food, Dad brings the food, and Dad says, "What is this? I've already given the blessing." Then, what happens when Eaf comes in with the food? How did Jakov come in with the food? Oh, I watched it—they immediately used the apple field that God had blessed. But when Eaf arrived, a fear, a trembling ran through Diak's body, and he sees Gom. He feels Ginon inside, like a sense of Gom for Gorio, and at that moment, obviously, he…

00:36:51 – 00:39:38

He understood, he realized something that he hadn’t seen months or even years before—that the whole thing wasn’t just about Esau. It was actually about Hashem’s plan and will. Obviously, it was about Jacob. How can I explain this? Your brother came tricking you and stole your blessing. Maybe it’s because he was named Jacob, meaning he tricked me twice—the first time he took my birthright, and the second time he took my blessing. Now, the father obviously understood his own feelings too.

00:38:27 – 00:41:26

Inside, he also realized that Esau had sold the birthright, and because of that, the blessing had to go to Jacob. Isaac answered and said to Esau, "I made you master over your brothers; I have provided you with grain and wine. So, what can I do for you, my son?" Esau said to his father, "You only have one blessing—please bless me too, my father." Isaac raised his voice and wept. Then he said, "Look, the best parts of the land will be yours, your rightful place will be there…"

00:40:00 – 00:42:51

Heaven’s dew from above, with your sword you’ll live and serve your brother. But when you realize it, you’ll shake off the yoke from your neck. Esau hated Jacob over the blessing their father gave him, and in his heart he said, "The day will come when my father mourns, I’ll kill my brother." Jacob was hurt by Esau’s words. His older son sent for Jacob and said, "You have to leave, you can’t stay here. He’s going to kill you. You need to go to my brother Laban. You gotta find yourself a…"

00:41:27 – 00:44:20

You’ve got to stay there until your brother’s anger cools down. And Rifka said, “Ugh, I feel terrible that my son has married two wives.” Then she said, “Yeah, but we’re really suffering because of this. Yakov shouldn't take a wife from the Cana’anites.” So she told him, “Go to Padan Aram, to Betuel’s house—your mother’s father—and marry a daughter of Laban, your mother’s brother. And may God Almighty bless you, make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you become a great nation.”

00:43:07 – 00:46:04

May the people bless you with Abraham's blessing, you and your descendants together, giving you the land where God's foot stepped, the land He gave to Abraham. He wants to show his father that he's good too, so he takes another wife, a daughter of Ishmael—we’re all family here. Meanwhile, the story is really complicated because, how can I explain this, when a parent has to make a choice, it’s super tough since a parent loves their kids—or at least they should.

00:44:50 – 00:47:25

There are times in life when things are obvious, and you just can’t ignore this feeling inside that something’s off. You try to deal with it, to show it, to both see it and not see it at the same time. And then this happens, and that happens. For sure, Isak saw some things Eaf did, but then there were other things. Rifka saw what Eaf did, and what Jakov did too. There’s a balance to be found, and parents notice because, in the end, we’re all human beings.

00:46:12 – 00:49:11

People see good as bad and bad as good, and in this case, obviously, Rivka wants to save Jacob’s life, the blessing from Isaac, and help the people grow. Gak didn’t know there would be a people—Hashem said so and gave the blessing. So, Jacob has to be the perfect one, the best of the patriarchs, the best of Abram, Abraham, the best of Isaac, and what Hashem gave him to become the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. Isaac saw it, Hashem showed it—the sensitivity of a relative…

00:47:52 – 00:50:44

A father and a mother—that’s something truly, truly, truly divine [Music]. Maybe today we don’t pay that much attention to it, but maybe we should, because generations keep moving forward, and what we put in is what comes out. The blessings Abraham gave to Isaac, Isaac gave to Jacob, Jacob gave to his sons—they’re still here and going strong. What we pass on to our kids will keep going too. We pray that God gives us the awareness, understanding, and wisdom to truly get it.

00:49:28 – 00:52:05

…that gives us inner and outer vision to see and understand what’s right and what’s wrong, so we can guide our kids and our generation in the best way possible. I wish you all a great week, blessings to everyone, and thanks for your kindness. [Music] Let’s hope every day, every moment, for peace—the peace of the people of Israel and peace in the world—because one is so deeply connected to the other, just like we, as human beings, are connected to each other. All the best.

00:51:01 – 00:51:12

week [Music] Shalom