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Biography of Yehuda Katz | Archives | This Week's Parsha

VAYISHLOCH

.................Lotans sister was Timnah. (36:22)

At the end of Vayishloch,Esaus descendents are enumerated.

In Eliyahu Zuta (2:10)it states the following:"Even if a person doesnt know the Bible or Mishnah (Oral law),but sits and reads the verse ,"Lotans sister was Timnah."this person still has the merit of Torah study.........." People often wonder why certain verses are contained in the Bible that at first glance seem to be extraneous and seemingly unimportant................However ,these people are surely mistaken and myopic in how they perceive the Torah and its wonderous storehouse of Devine knowledge.....Perhapes this can be explained with the following original parable: A very wealthy man was once searching for the most precious diamond money can buy. A close personal friend of this wealthy person advised him to see a certain diamond merchant who was known for having a good reputation for quality diamonds and precious gems.However ,at this particular time , this diamond merchant only had raw,uncut and unpolished diamonds ,and was in the slow process of upgrading his merchandise .Although these gems and diamonds were very valuable indeed to the trained gems expert,their unprocessed appearance were seemingly dull and unflattering to a nonexpert. When the wealthy person saw these gems ,he was definately unimpressed and mocked their appearance. The same can be said about the many people who are short sighted in their appreciation of the true grandeur of the Torah.......We must all strive to see the great lessons inherently found in the very words of the Torah...........This takes much work and effort.....In Sandhedrin 99 b,it states that from Timnah we can learn the great esteem Abraham was considered in the eyes of the world at that time..... It seems that Timnah was a royal princess who wanted to be a part of Abrahams household.Thereupon ,she became a concubine of Eliphaz,the son of Esau. For Timnah had reasoned,"Its better to be a maidservant to this nation (Abrahams household) than to be a princess to any other nation!"(Please refer to Sandhedrin 99 b for further details) . Im afraid to say that we havent even touched upon the great mystical and spiritual storehouse of knowledge contained in this very verse.............Have a good shabbos

 


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