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I am very excited for the opportunity to share words of Torah with you. Each week, in this spot, I look to share an idea I've found that speaks to me and that I think will resonate with you as well. This week, I share with you an excerpt from an article by Rabbi Avraham Kovel entitled "Jacob and Esau: The Divine Partnership That Never Was" which provides a fascinatingly different perspective on the story of these two brothers.
 
Every family has its stories of rivalry and reconciliation, but none have generated as much theological discussion and debate as the tale of Jacob and Esau. In this foundational biblical narrative, we witness a sibling rivalry that starts in the womb, a father's unwavering faith in his wayward son, a mother's intervention, a traded birthright, and a stolen blessing. [...]

This narrative raises several troubling questions that have challenged readers for generations: [...] The Lubavitcher Rebbe [ZT"L] offers a single, revolutionary insight that unravels all these puzzling questions and transforms our understanding not just of this biblical narrative, but of our own life's mission. Let's go back to the womb. Remember how Esau tried to escape towards the houses of idolatry? Seemingly, he sought to worship idols, even as a fetus. But according to the Lubavitcher Rebbe's novel interpretation, Esau didn’t want to bow down to idols. He wanted to destroy them! Not only that, but destroying evil was Esau’s entire life’s mission! Esau's role was to pave the way for Jacob by eliminating physical and spiritual impediments, thereby allowing Jacob to fill the world with the wisdom and morality of God’s Torah. That's why Jacob was literally born on the heels of Esau. Their partnership would be the ideal fulfillment of God's prophecy to Rebecca: "The elder will serve the younger." Jacob and Esau were never meant to be mortal enemies. They were meant to be the ultimate tag-team!

Unfortunately, Esau, in his mission to purify the world, became consumed by it. This descent into physical enmeshment reached rock bottom when he traded his birthright—his destiny of divine service—for the immediate physical pleasure of red soup. Esau's negligence compelled Jacob to take his birthright and blessing and assume the role that Esau was meant to fulfill.

This understanding illuminates Isaac's unwavering faith in Esau. As a man of profound spiritual insight, Isaac saw his son's tremendous potential and believed the blessing could provide Esau with the necessary motivation and divine assistance to fulfill his role of eradicating evil. But Rebecca saw through Esau's character, recognizing that his sinful ways had gone too far. She dressed Jacob up as Esau, representing the union of the two complementary forces within one man, and sent him to receive the blessing from Isaac. [...]

The story of Jacob and Esau offers us a profound insight into the eternal struggle between physical and spiritual forces within each of us. Just as Esau was meant to serve Jacob, our physical drives are meant to serve our spiritual purpose. Where Esau failed, we must succeed. Every day presents us with Esau's choice: Will our physical activities become ends in themselves, or will they serve a higher purpose? Judaism teaches that even our most mundane activities can become vehicles for divine service—but only if we approach them with the right intention.

[...] May we all be blessed to learn the lessons of Esau and Jacob and use the physicality in our lives to serve our higher spiritual aims!

Hoping and praying for a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Davies
Rabbi@SOICherryHill.org

We are excited to be partnering with Mizrachi World Movement to provide their publication of HaMizrachi Parasha Weekly.

Website Update:
We are pleased to share that thanks to a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern New Jersey, SOI will be redesigning our website. As a ShulCloud-based site, updates take place in real time. This means that users will see updates to the design, navigation, and pages as they take place in all phases of the project, rather than only once the project is completed. It may take a few months for the website to display in its final form. We look forward to our site being easier to navigate for our members and better communicate what we offer to those seeking information about SOI. We appreciate your patience throughout this process! 

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with last week's Kiddush. 

Thank you to Eric Klein, Oze Henig, Neta Henig, Aviv Henig, Jeffrey Weiss, Jonathan Delman, Daniel Malamud, and Aharon Yeres, for helping with last weeks Seudah Shlishit. 

Thank you to The Mod Squad (Team 1: Debbie Pester, Jeff Liss, Shari Solomon, Chemmie Sokolic), Aharon Yeres, Steve Herzberg, Debbie Fineberg, Chani Wiesman Berliant, Steve Koloski, JFed Security Officer Bob Dugan and Sam Tilonsky for providing security on Shabbos.

Reminder
Please close your doors and lock your cars if you park at shul over Shabbos.  Thank you to a vigilant congregant who saw a car door open on this past Shabbos.  Upon investigation all of the doors were found to be unlocked.  The car owner was identified and notified after Shabbos of our findings.

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Congregation Sons of Iarael
720 Cooper Landing Road
Cherry Hill, New Jersey 08002