A Taste Of Shabbos- Parashat Toldot

SHABBOS begins and ends with light and wine- opening with Kiddush, and closing with Havdalah.  The traditional Havdalah wording is: ‘Blessed is the One who makes a distinction between the sacred and the mundane, between light and dark, between Israel and the nations, and between the seventh day and the six days of activity…’ Some people squirm at these superficially exclusive polarities, and this week’s parasha appears to support that outlook. However, let’s take a closer look at these distinctions.

The title Toldot means offspring, and begins with the birth of the two very dissimilar twins, Yacov and Esav. Immediately the Torah succinctly highlights their difference: Esav was ‘a man of the field, and Yacov was a tent dweller.’ We all know about the friction between them, extending into the future as the Torah elaborates at length. This Edomite/Jewish rift was not just a personal conflict; it had historical repercussions, similar to the conflict between Judaism and Islam.

 However, listen to the words of Rav Kook, as cited in Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his book on Genesis: ‘Noteworthy in this respect is the statement of Rabbi Eliyahu Gaon on the verse in Prophets, “But Esav I (G-d) hated.” This refers to the peripheral part of Esav, but the essential part of him, his head, was interred with the patriarchs.’ It is for this reason that Yacov said (later), ‘I have seen you and it is like seeing the face of G-d.’ His word should not go down a vain utterance. ‘THE BROTHERLY LOVE OF ESAV AND YACOV, OF YITZCHAK AND YISHMAEL, WILL ASSERT ITSELF ABOVE ALL THE CONFUSION THAT THE EVIL BROUGHT ON BY OUR BODILY NATURE HAS ENGENDERED. IT WILL OVERCOME THEM AND TRANSFORM THEM INTO ETERNAL LIGHT AND COMPASSION.’ Rabbi Sacks comments, ‘so will Judaism, Christianity, and Islam be in the future. They will not cease to be different, but they will learn to respect one another.’ Though not all the sages agree with this perspective, I site it here in connection with the way we commemorate the end of Shabbos, with the ritual of Havdalah, which literally means ‘separation.’

As suggested above, some people balk at this wording because they take it as meaning absolute and exclusive separation. But on closer reflection, this cannot be the essential meaning. Just look at the second pair- between light and dark. We know they are not opposites, but really complimentary and on a spectrum. Thus we have the means to light up the darkness, and conceal the light. So too the other pairs, as Shabbos and the weekdays, like Rav Kook’s perspective, are meant to interact with each other. Of course, Jewish law sets criterion regarding the interactions, but barring manifest threat, or danger to life, there is no solid wall to prevent lines of flow.  

In this parasha too, Yacov and Esav could have worked together to infuse the secular nature of this world with the Divine nature of the world to come, but at that time at least, Esav ‘refused to play.’ Therefore, Rivka, with the matriarchs’ higher degree of prophesy, sent, as Rabbi Soloveitchik put it, Yacov into ‘the field’ to elevate this world. In a similar manner, we extend Shabbos till three stars come out and on the beginning of Shabbos, we add time from the weekday to sanctify it. The process of infusing Shabbos into the weekday and vice versa is not just a technicality; it’s the way to show us that even though there are distinct categories in life, they are not mutually exclusive. To the extent that we can think and prepare for Shabbos during the week, we can then allow the sanctity of Shabbos to penetrate and elevate the mundane and temporal activities of the week, so that they become activities of eternal value. Especially this week of the tragic killing of a young dedicated Chabad emissary, may the lights that bring in Shabbos and the lights that escort Shabbos out, continue to increase and transform all the darkness in this world into the holy light of redemption and universal peace!