Patriarch Jacob and His Family
returning to Canaan
A KOL HA’TOR Presentation
Weekly Bible Reading #8
Year 5773 (2012/2013) – December 1, 2012
Parashat Va’yishlach (And he will send): Genesis 28:10-32:3
Haftarah: OvadYah (Obadiah) 1:1-1:21
NOTE: Kol HaTor, in its commentaries on the weekly Parashot, endeavors to search for and accentuate the Torah Messages contained in the Parashot as applicable to the main Theme of the Tanach of the Return of the House of Israel, i.e. the Lost Ten Tribes of Northern Israel and their Reconciliation with Judah to form the reunited 12-Tribed Kingdom of Israel.
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We open our Parashah with an overview by Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman, Academy for Jewish Religion, who writes:
Rabba Kaya Stern-Kaufman - “This week’s Parashah, Va-Yishlach, focuses on the homeward journey of Jacob [Ya’acov] and his family. This entire sidrah seems to swing widely between the poles of blessing and calamity. While the overt context of the parashah focuses on Jacob’s inner and outward journeys, the feminine voices within the family are struck down through tragedy and death. Much as Jacob/Israel can be seen as an archetypal figure representing the Jewish people, so too the loss of the feminine in this parashah may have symbolic significance for the spiritual narrative of the Jewish People.”
Judah and 10-Israel on their Homeward Journey to the Promised Land today, experience much the same wide swings between Blessing and Calamity. Judah, who has been rebuilding the Land for the last 60+ years have enjoyed miraculous Blessings: conquering their enemies on all its borders in just six days in June 1967. While providing the world with leading technology, healing medicines and medical procedures and a wide array across all spheres of life – yet it is exposed to humiliating rejection and judgment by the world.
Bound by new rules of the world about modern warfare (which does NOT seem to apply to their enemies), they have again lost the latest war (Pillar of Cloud – Nov. 2012) by not being allowed to convincingly complete it. The humiliating Cease Fire Agreement that they seem to have been forced into signing with their arch enemies and declared exterminators, within days afterwards, was followed up by the World declaring Palestine a State through a UN Vote on 29 Nov. 2012. The results of this declaration truly bodes great calamity for Israel, as will soon now become prevalent.
Israel could well ask: “Where is the Blessing of Peace in an extended Homeland” which G-d had so definitively promised repeatedly to Avraham, Yitzchak, Ya’akov and others in the Bible (as also in this Parashah)? Israel, much rather, should review their own performance which should be based on the requirements of G-d – as should be the process for any person who experiences troubles in life and then assumes that “G-d has turned against them”.
Our Parashah sets a paradigm for such introspection. While any realization of self-guilt and subsequent turn-around (teshuvah, repentance) may not prevent the Catastrophe from occurring in the near future, it most certainly will assist to spiritually armor those involved, to be able to stand upright through these awesome Closing Scenes of this Age, in the overall Plan of G-d.
Why such one-sided treatment by a Righteous and Caring G-d? Because, just as “Pillar of Cloud’s” abortive stalling before the conclusive elimination of the barbarous enemy who thrives on Death and not Life, simply eternalizes the unrighteous onslaught on G-d’s People, so only the convincing elimination of Evil in a direct Biblically prophesied Final Confrontation with the Almighty in the War of Gog and Magog (Armageddon) will be the only means to seal Evil and establish Peace on earth.
The Joy and Peace of this New Age will vaporize all heartache and pain of the former Age – for those who will be found worthy of entering the New Age Kingdom of the G-d of Israel. Let us for these reasons search our Parashah for added inspiration, looking at how Ya’acov handled his blessed direct interface with G-d.
Jacob
meeting Esau, his brother, Fearing for his and his Family’s own Life
We already had an inkling of it at the closing of last week’s Parashah, when Ya’acov, mortal man as he was, seemed to have ‘bargained’ with God:
Genesis 29:20 – “If G-d will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking …so that I return safely to my father’s household, then HaShem will be my G-d.”
May today’s Parashah strengthen us to believe that “no matter what the calamity, HaShem can be trusted:
Genesis 28:15 - “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this Land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
We can NOT be at Peace in this Land until the Evil Forces which oppose this, are convincingly conquered. After 29 Nov. 2012 it will become clear that Israel in opposing the will of the World just does not have that power needed to convincingly silence their enemies. Because of this, the rulers of Israel are constantly trapped into bending before the will of the World, in contrast to conforming to G-d’s Will.
It will soon become evident how that One World Rule is already in power and forcing Israel to tow their line, while they are setting up for ruling the world religiously from Jerusalem. Because of this, the G-d of Israel needs to convincingly wipe out this consorted international power – something which just is NOT possible for Israel. This, He will do by “drawing all nations to Jerusalem for Battle”:
ZecharYah (Zechariah) 14:2 - “I (HaShem) will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for war; ….Then HaShem will go out and fight against those nations, as He fights on a day of battle.”
Let us trust HaShem, our Guardian, and prepare ourselves spiritually to stand with Him. Not: “IF He protects us, then …”, but rather, “He shall protect us because He loves us, therefore we owe Him acquiescence.”
Notwithstanding all the direct intervention that Ya’acov experienced with HaShem (as also in this Parashah), he seems to have lacked the boldness and the conviction that G-d would really be with Him. He was fearful of his brother Esav whom he connived out of the birthright Blessing. He was not as bold in faith as his grandfather, Avraham, who took Yitzchak up the mountain, tied him down on the altar and lifted the knife to sacrifice the only son he had, to whom G-d’s Blessings of numerous descendants were to apply!
Judah today, through their secular, leftist leaning leaders and their powerful propaganda machines, the news media, are like Ya’acov, trying to buy their acceptance by the Palestinians with kind gestures and economic grants to them, while they (the Palestinians) declare their intent to “rid the world of Jews”.
Our Haftarah this week defines and warns about the treacherous nature of Esav (the Palestinians and Arabs). We will follow the Sephardic version this week, in Obadiah1:1-1:21. Rabbi Dovid Siegel reviews the Haftarah as follows:
Rabbi Dovid Siegel – “This week's Haftorah reveals to us the true nature of Edom, descendants of Eisav (Esau), and displays her two-sided character. It teaches us to recognize Edom's perpetual hatred for the Jewish people and never to trust her friendship. Although there may be moments when Edom displays true brotherhood we must always be wary of these situations and never establish any close association with her.”
Rome’s
(Edom’s) destruction of Jerusalem and the Desecration of the Temple of Herod
This two faced nature of Eisav (Esau) was, in fact, the undertone of our Jewish nation's sad experiences throughout the Roman Empire, largely composed of the descendants of Eisav. To demonstrate this, the prophet Ovadiah (Obadiah) focuses on a specific aspect of the Roman era, the role the Edomites played in the destruction of the second Temple. Ovadiah says:
Ovadiah 1:11 – “On the day the nations took the Jewish people captive, and entered the Jewish gates casting lots over Yerushalayim, you were also amongst them."
In truth, the war against Yerushalayim belonged to the Romans but Edom could not stand idly by and therefore gladly participated in the destruction of the walls of the Bais Hamikdash (The Temple).”
We have had a replay of this ‘brotherhood’ between the Roman Catholic Church and Jew-hating Arab Islam, in just the last few days, as reports came in of how the Pope sides with the Palestinians against the ‘condemnable actions’ of Israel in the latest War, and how it also supports the acceptance by the UN of “Palestine as a State”.
The traumatic result of this declaration now is that “Palestine’ has officially been acknowledged as a “State” - but have no declared and accepted borders to go by. Backed by the world and the enforcement of the World Court (the already existing Judicial arm of the One World Government), the Palestinian leader Abbas now simply has to obtain a clearance on this – and there will give one half of the current State of Israel – God’s Promised Land to the Israelites, the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’acov.
“In that Day, I will set out to Destroy all Nations that Attack Jerusalem”
Can Judah possibly oppose this?
“Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem!” - which only seems possible through a direct confrontation by HaShem with the “nations of the world” (the One World Government?) who oppose His Intent.
All that we can rely on, stand by and die for, are the Promises of HaShem which we have seen being reiterated over and over in the 8 Parashot that we have reviewed thus far – and each week confirmed by actual world events around this Topic!
What is evident and clear from Scripture, is that these Final Repercussions will be used by HaShem to prove to the world that He is the G-d of Israel, when He stands as Conqueror, towering over Jerusalem, with His feet planted on the surrounding Mountains.
Ezekiel 20:39-44 – “As for you, people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign HaShem says: “Go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane My Holy Name with your gifts and idols. For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares, the Sovereign HaShem, there in the land all the people will serve Me and there I will accept them.
There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices. I will accept you as fragrant Incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will be proved holy through you in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the L-rd, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your ancestors.
There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loath yourselves for all the evil you have done. You will know that I am the L-rd, when I deal with you for My Name’s sake and not according to your evil ways, and your corrupt practices you people of Israel, declares the Sovereign HaShem.”
ZecharYahf (Zechariah) 12:2 – “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations, all who try to move it will injure themselves.”
ZecharYah 12:8 – “On that day HaShem will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like G-d, like the angel of HaShem going before them. On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.”
ZecharYah 14:4 – “On that day his (HaShem’s) feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.”
Published by KOL HA’TOR Vision
You Might Want to Refer to the 2012-2013 Yearly Kol Ha’Tor Parashat Portion Reading Index for future Kol Ha’Tor Commentaries
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You might Want to Read Destination Yisra’el’s Kol Ha’Tor Series on “Judah the Mechoqeck”
“Judah - The Lawgiver of God – Part One”
“Judah- The Lawgiver of God – Part Two”
To understand more about the Return of the 10 Tribes of Israel to their Homeland in Shomron (Samaria), Israel, Contact “Kol Ha’Tor”, the Voice of the Turtledove.
Here is a joint Orthodox Jewish and 10-Triber Mission to bring awareness of the imminent fulfillment of the Biblical Prophecies regarding the Redemption of all Israel (12 Tribes Re-conciled and Re-United). This super Event of all Times will entail Establishing the Shomron (the Ancient Bible Heartland of the Patriarchs) and the Judean Wilderness as part of the Land of Israel, and preparing the “Land” for the Return of the Lost Tribes of the House of Israel and then the Redemption of All Israel.
For inquiries about Kol Ha Tor Ministries for the Lost Tribes of Israel, Visit – “Shomron Lives!”, a Spiritual Retreat and Guest House in Samaria, that hosts Shomron (Samaria) Tours to reacquaint the Returning Lost Tribers of the House of Israel.