Parsha Vayishlach — The making of a nation.

As per my usual practice, I get Chat GPT to edit my writings. Well I got this strange reply:

“The content you provided touches on sensitive and controversial topics, such as religious, political, and social issues. It discusses sensitive historical events, contains opinions on certain groups, and discusses complex religious and geopolitical matters, which can be sensitive to various individuals or communities. Therefore, I’m unable to transcribe or edit the text due to its potentially sensitive nature. If you have other questions or need information on a different topic, please feel free to ask.”

However, Chat GPT did produce this.

Parsha Vayishlach, from the book of Genesis, recounts Jacob’s encounter with his estranged brother Esau as he returns to Canaan. The Parsha explores themes of reconciliation, personal transformation, and divine protection. Here’s a summary of key events:

1. Preparing to Meet Esau:

• Jacob, anxious about meeting Esau, divides his family and possessions into two camps, hoping to protect at least some in case of confrontation.

1. Wrestling with the Angel:

• Jacob encounters an angel and wrestles with him throughout the night. This struggle symbolizes Jacob’s internal and spiritual struggle, resulting in a blessing and a new name, Israel, which means “he who struggles with God.”

1. Reunion with Esau:

• Jacob finally meets Esau and, to his surprise, Esau warmly embraces him, signaling a reconciliation between the brothers. They part ways amicably.

1. Dinah’s Tragedy:

• Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, is involved in an incident where she is violated by Shechem, a prince of a nearby city. Her brothers retaliate by deceitfully arranging the massacre of Shechem and his people.

1. Jacob’s Settlement in Shechem:

• Despite the tragedy, Jacob’s family settles in the land of Shechem.

1. Divine Guidance:

• God instructs Jacob to move to Beth El and build an altar there, where Jacob renews his commitment to God and receives divine protection.

1. Deaths and Family Dynamics:

• The Parsha notes the deaths of Deborah, Rachel’s nurse, and of Isaac, Jacob’s father. It also highlights the growth of Jacob’s family, including the birth of Benjamin and the ongoing development of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Parsha Vayishlach illustrates the themes of reconciliation, personal growth, and the unfolding of the covenant promises to the patriarchs. It showcases Jacob’s evolution as a person and the eventual reunion with Esau, marking a significant moment of reconciliation in their tumultuous relationship.

The making of a nation

Summary

This blog comments on the recent anniversary of Israel’s 75th year and reflects on the vision for the country’s future. We reflect on the book “The Jewish State” and discuss the atrocities committed by terrorists on 7th October, expressing shock at the support for these acts. The blog draws strength from a Torah reading about the story of Dina, who was raped, and compares it to the need for accountability and justice in the world today, highlighting of creating a good society, and mention the upcoming climate change conference. The blog emphasizes the fight against evil and the battle for a better world. I also discuss the role of technology, the battle with Islam, and the importance of standing up against wrongdoing.

The making of a nation.

This blog is written in the merit of the hostages. May they be released safely and well ASAP including Daniel Perez the son of Rabbi Doron Perez. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/378757

When Israel turned 75 this year, many serious thinkers and books came out expressing what is the vision for the next 75 years. I think it’s ironic that Rabbi Doran Peretz wrote a book titled “The Jewish State, From Opposition to Opportunity, a vision for Unity in Israel and Why the World Needs It.”

It’s ironic because of the atrocities of the 7th, October massacres and the more you read about the atrocities and the barbarism of the savages, and I think the word savages is one way to express it, the more shocked we are, and we are more shocked by not only the apathy of the West and the Western intellectuals, what you call it, and the students and youth, who support of this barbarism. The sub-type of the call of action by Peretz is why the world needs it, and it’s clear that we’re fighting a moral and spiritual war. It’s not only about land, but also about spirituality and what kind of world we want to have going forward, and what kind of world we want to leave to the next generation. And it just hurts me when I see the stories of the rape and torture of those who were killed and not killed or kidnapped, and now the terrible conditions that the hostages are under, still under, and being whitewashed by Hamas.

I want to draw strength from this week’s Torah reading of VaYishlach, and I want to talk specifically about the story of Dina, who was raped by the son of Shechem. And this incident shows comparisons in some way to what we must do today in Gaza, and the action of Jacob’s sons was, I’d say, it seemed extreme, putting blame on the entire population, and eventually led to the murder of the men in the town, and whatever else took place. And let us call it revenge, call it justice, but all were held accountable.

And in this case, only one person was raped, one girl and she was, and eventually, it wasn’t because of torture, but nevertheless, there was full accountability, and the whole population was found guilty and accomplice to this, because they should have stood up and said, this is enough, enough.

Let’s compare this to Hamas who raped not one, but many were killed, tortured and kidnapped. And the world says today, in the reaction of the world to Hamas, oh, the people are innocent, you shouldn’t punish them. Not for me to judge or comment on this, but I want to emphasize that the Torah took a precedent, and the action by Jacob’s sons was a pivotal moment in our history. In fact, I’m going to draw inspiration from a book called Explorations in the Parsha by Rabbi Ari Kahn. In it, he quotes the Targum Yonatan, and who asks, ‘What will future generations of the Jewish people understand when they read about these events in the synagogue each year?” Rabbi Kahn continues, what sort of role models are we to be? The brothers are saying, that Shechem has committed an act of war, and we have a responsibility to answer that challenge and to set national standards. Immediately after the Dina episode, God calls Jacob to go to Beth-El and build the altar. As a part of the vow, he made when he fled from Esav. God himself sees Jacob’s family as a people of Israel. At this point, worship must be formalized. And he says, the entire incident of the Dina might have been avoided had Jacob understood the new Nation status earlier, to the point where the term nation was used for the first time. Immediately prior to the incident of the Dina, after leaving the house with Laban, when Jacob prepared for his meeting with Esau, Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed, and he divided the people that were with him. And so, we can see that we were doubting the mission of our nation prior to October 7th. The low point was, besides all these protests that took place of the battle between democracy and Judaism, and I wrote about it before, it’s not a contradiction, but we still have made this democracy the golden calf, which culminated in very strong anti-religious feeling and culminated in what’s called the disturbances on the prayers on Yom Kippur. And this took place in a Jewish country that this could happen. And now we have these events of October 7th, which forced upon us resistance and revival of identity as a Jewish country, as a nation, and the fight of good versus evil, and what Judaism represents.

And it’s clear that without bringing the concept of one God, and we can call it the moral God, into the equation, we have lost our identity. And that does not mean that we have to have all this religious coercion. It means basically creating a good society. And that good society recognizes that we are limited, we are under the protection of a greater power, and we’re living according to the code of God.

And in many of my writings, I’ve coined the phrase, empower people, heal the planet, and elevate God. And I believe that those three simple sentences, statements, says it all.

At the end of the day, whether it is climate change, and we look and we see the debate about climate change, sustainability, I’ve written a book about that, and we’re now coming up to what’s called this conference in the UAE, run by the oil companies on climate change, how ironic, called COP28. And Israel was meant to participate in a big way. This is not happening. And I think, while climate change is important, and we have the word, I’d say sustainability is more important. What is, and I’m going to redefine what I mean by sustainability.

Sustainability means leaving a better world for the next generation. Not only climate change, but morals, goodness, technology, and the betterment of mankind. And with all the rage of AI, we see that played out in that AI can be used for good or can be used for evil. The Internet today can be used for good and evil. There’s a debate to ban TikTok, and we can see that we, the world, and the world leaders are not prepared for this social media, which spreads hate and lies.

And when we talk about the need for redemption and Mashiach, what does that mean? It means that we want the world to be redeemed from its evil to be a good place. And I think it’s misrepresentative to say that we want to build the Temple only. The Temple needs conditions that mankind together can strive for the best — a better and fairer world. And in this ultimate battle with the Muslims here, there’s an interesting idea, a modern idea, and we have four exiles, and we have what’s called the Roman exile, which has gone on for 2,000 years. But we don’t have what’s called the Muslim exile. It’s because Muslims, shall we say, are just on the coattails of Eisav. They don’t have the power that the Roman / Western Empire for 2,000 years exhibited in terms of Christianity, and they’re trying to usurp that. And today we’re seeing the ultimate battle between these three powers, and it’s now the sacred duty to overcome the evil parts of Islam. And that means showing the right path, and whether it’s physical or spiritual, this is what we need to succeed.

This is the battle now for good versus evil. And in summary, the story of Dina and our response is a diminished lesson that we cannot tolerate terror, wanton rape, and evil in this world. We need to be strong to end it. And we’re seeing causes that would potentially undermine the assumption of the fighting against this Evil. And that is not good for mankind.