| Is Lentil Soup Really Red? |
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SPONSORED BY SHARONA, JOSH, DOV, MOSHE & YEHUDA HALICKMAN IN HONOR OF ROSE FRANKEL'S BAT MITZVAH. MAZEL TOV TO DAVID, LYNN & SARAH.
Is Lentil Soup Really Red? In Parshat Toldot, Breisheet 25:30, Esav tells Yaakov “Haliteni na min ha’adom ha’adom hazeh ki ayef anochi”, “Give me “na” a swallow of this red stuff since I am exhausted”. Rashi says that the red stuff is soup made of red lentils. Anyone familiar with lentil soup knows that red lentils are no longer red once they are cooked (rather they turn brown). Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu Leib points out that in the book Mar Kashisha written by Baal Chut Yair, the word “na” refers to raw. Just as we are told that we are not allowed to eat the Korban Pesach (Lamb) raw (Shmot 12:9) “al tochlu mimenu na”, Esav says “na” in order to tell Yaakov that he will eat the soup even though it is still red (raw/not fully cooked). How do we know that when Esav says “na” he is not being mannerly and saying “Please give me...?” In 27:31, Esav says to Yitzchak his father: “Let my father rise up and eat of his son’s trapping”- no please mentioned there! While in 27:19 Yaakov says to Yitzchak “Rise if you please “na”, sit up and eat of my trapping so that your soul will bless me.” If Esav didn’t say please to his father it would not make sense for him to say please to his brother (and honor and respect him more than his father). W learn from here that Esav was so hungry and had such a desire for Yaakov’s cooking that he was willing to eat his soup raw and sell his birthright down the river without a thought as it says in 28:34: “Esav ate and drank, got up and left and Esav scorned the birthright”.
PSALMS AT THE WESTERN WALL FOR YOU OR A LOVED ONE CAN BE ARRANGED BY TORAT REVA YERUSHALAYIM
Torat Reva Yerushalayim is proud to give you the opportunity to have a learned person recite Psalms on your behalf on a weekly basis at the Kotel (Western Wall).
Jacob, our Forefather calls Jerusalem “The gate of heaven”. According to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan z”l, “Just as things can go in through a gate, so can they emerge. Thus, all spiritual sustenance and blessing come only through Jerusalem , as it is written, ‘God will bless you from Zion ’ (Psalms 128:5). It is taught in the Zohar that God first sends a blessing to Jerusalem , and from there it flows to the entire world. Today, when the Temple no longer stands, the source of this blessing is the Western Wall.”
Tehillim (Psalms) at the Western Wall can be recited on your behalf for the following:
With your monthly donation of $18 or more (or yearly donation of $180 or more) to Torat Reva Yerushalayim, you will be performing the important mitzvah of contributing toward the Torah education of the forgotten population of senior citizens in Jerusalem, while having your prayers recited by a learned person at the footsteps of Judaism’s holiest site.
Your contribution can be made by mailing a check to Torat Reva Yerushalayim, 75 Berkeley Avenue , Yonkers , NY 10705 or via Paypal, by clicking on the link below and scrolling down to the “Make A Donation” button.
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