GEN1386 [One] disadvantage of money and wealth is that often keeps Jews from getting to or living in Israel.  This phenomenon, which has kept millions of Jews from leaving the Diaspora and settling in the State of Israel after 1948, is not new.   When Jacob crossed over the Yabok river on the night before meeting his brother Esau [this verse], Rashi says that the reason he went back was to get some jars that he did not want to leave behind.   According to many commentaries, this river was the border between Israel and the Diaspora.  Thus, for monetary reasons, Jacob left Israel and, consequently, met up with the angel that made him fight for his life.   [See also, Rashi on Exodus 15:22 and Numbers 32].   AMEMEI 188

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GEN1389 Each of the three Jewish patriarchs possessed one particular character trait and Jewish value that set him apart.   Abraham was known for his kindness, as he always invited strangers into his four-door tent open from all sides to beckon guests Sotah 10b.   Isaac’s special characteristic was his worship to God, as he himself was called the ultimate human sacrifice when God tested his father on Mount Moriah. Genesis 22:1-2.   … Jacob’s special characteristic was truth, as it attested to in Micah 7:20.  ... Why, then, did the angel, who was the symbol of the enemy of the Jewish people, wait and choose to fight only with Jacob, and not his father and grandfather?   … Only through the quality of truth can all the other qualities be tempered and used in their proper proportions to make them Jewish qualities.   It was for that reason that the angel waited until Jacob emerged, since the philosophical and symbolic threat to the enemies of the Jewish people was not a real danger until the quality of truth became a Jewish quality, symbolized by Jacob. And it is partially for that reason that the Jewish people could not become a nation until Jacob introduced this quality of truth to the people.  It is no accident that the Jewish nation is called the children of Israel, the new name given to Jacob by this angel after he was unable to win the battle with Jacob.   While Jacob struggled his entire life to find the essence of truth, it was only after this battle that he emerged a new person and his attitude to truth changed dramatically, a demonstrated by all his later actions.   AMEMEI 292

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GEN1392 What could be the problem or issue with Jews wrestling or Jews boxing [for sport?]   Unlike other sports, in wrestling and especially in boxing, the chances of inflicting damage and bodily harm on the opponent are very high, since essentially that is the goal of the activity in defeating an opponent.  [Deuteronomy 4:9, 4:15 require keeping the body healthy.]   … The Talmud clearly states that causing someone else bodily harm is forbidden, just as causing bodily harm to oneself, is forbidden. Baba Kama 91b.   … Maimonides … rules … the prohibition is only if it is done between two people so angry at each other that they come to blows.   Laws of Personal Injury [Chovel U’Mazik] 5:1.   … The Shulchan Aruch also rules that wrestling and boxing are indeed permitted and that any damage as a result of the match does not make an individual liable for damages.   Choshen Mishpat 421:5.  AMJV 331-2

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GEN1391 See [[GEN1135]] Genesis 22:5 stay BOROJMV 150-1

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GEN1387 Yose ben Y’ezer of Tz’redah and Yose’ ben Yohanan of Jerusalem received the tradition from them [the Sages mentioned above]. Yose ben Yo’ezer of Tz’redah said: Let your house be a meeting place for scholars; sit at their feet in the dust, and drink in their words thirstily.   Pirkei Avot I:4  … A second condition prerequisite for the acquisition of Torah is humility. We must not be ashamed to ask questions and consult those who know more than we do. This means placing yourself in the relationship of student to teacher, disciple to master, taker to giver. You must be ready to “wallow in the dust of their feet” (literal translation) As we already had occasion to mention, in the east the rabbi would sit on a rug on the floor, with the students grouped around. The advice “to wallow in the dust of their feet” implies, therefore, that one should be very close to the teacher. The good student, avid to hear every word and eager to engage in discussion, always sits. Closest. In the Torah we find the word vayye’avek used to mean, “and he wrestled.” [this verse].   The root of he word is avak, “dust.” Presumably, when on wrestles one raises dust clouds. Hence, we can perhaps interpret our text thus: Let your home be a gathering place for the learned, and in time, he-ve-mith’abbek: you will be able to “wrestle” with them intellectually. You will be able to debate the finer points, to question to argue and to disagree. Judaism as a religion does not require blind obedience. The Talmud is full of debates, discussions, subtle exchanges, and vigorous give and take. The Tosafists continually question the interpretations of Rashi and always engage in verbal duel and brilliant riposts. (The Tosafists were a school of French Talmudists that included Rashi’s grandchildren; they wrote glosses on the Talmud, often disagreeing with Rashi). SINAI1 52

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GEN1390 R. Yitzchak said: “From here it is to be derived that a Torah scholar should not go out alone at night” Chulllin 91a   TEMIMAH-GEN 140

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GEN1388 A man should take care to be generous according to his means, to be magnanimous where magnanimity is called for, and miserly and withholding where it is not called for, weighing all in the scales of Torah.   He should learn from our father Yaakov, who was unparalleled in his frugality, as it is written [this verse]: “And Yaakov remained alone,” concerning which our Rabbis of blessed memory have said that he had returned for some small jars that he had forgotten, from which we learn that the wealth of the righteous is more precious to them than their bodies, because they do not stretch forth their hands to steal Chullin 91a.   Observe the extreme frugality of a man as rich as our father Yaakov, may peace be upon him, in returning for small jars.   Yet in another place we find that he was unparalleled in his lavishness, as our Rabbis of blessed memory expounded: “In my grave which I have dug [karisi] for myself” Genesis 50:5 – this teaches us that Yaakov took all the silver and gold that he had taken from the house of Lavan, made a pile [keri], and said to Esav: “Take this for your share in the Machpelah cave’” Exodus Rabbah 31:17.   Can anyone be more lavish than this?   Therefore, from this one should learn not to squander even a perutah vainly and needlessly.   And in the event of a mitzvah, such as the giving of charity and other mitzvos involving expenditure, such as the acquisition of a teacher, a friend, and books, one should spend lavishly in order to achieve exalted levels to return one’s soul to its place of purity where it will be bound up in the bond of eternal life, as it is written Samuel 1 25:29: “And the soul of my master will be bound up in the bond of life.”   TZADIK 323

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GEN1393 Midrashic sources show that individuality is at the very essence of being a Jew.  There are three classical names in the Scripture for the person who today is called a Jew: Hebrew, Israelite, and Jew.   The first Jew, Abraham, was called a Hebrew Genesis 14:13 because, according to Genesis Rabbah 42:13, the terms means that, regarding belief and action, the entire world was on one side while Abraham was on the other side (Ever).  Abraham’s actions and belief separated him from all others. The name Israel was given to Jacob after he fought the Angel of God [this verse].   Through this name change, he was thus transformed from Jacob, which means “following on the heels of another,” to Israel, which means “wrestled with God.” This transformation might be understood as a change within Jacob from a follower, a conformist, into a leader, an individualist. Finally, the most common name used today, Jew, was first sued in its present context with reference to Mordechai in the Purim story. Until that time, the term “Jew” (Yehudi) was a description of a person from the tribe of Judah. When Megillat Esther 2:5 described Mordechai, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, as a Yehudi, Esther Rabbah 6 naturally asks what is the meaning of this terms. Among the answers given, Mordechai was thus described because he was an individualist, refusing to follow the norms of the Persians and to bow down to Haman. The term Yehudi, says the Midrash, comes from the Hebrew Yechidi, an individualist. Therefore, it can be seen that all three biblical names for the term Jew describe, in some fashion, the characteristics of individuality. AMEMEI 122

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GEN1394 Alone among God’s creatures, we humans underline our individuality by naming each other and ourselves. Each of us has a multitude of names. Some change with our age and status, so we started out as “baby” or “little one;” progress to “sissy” or “bro;” then answer to “sweetheart,” “darling,” “mommy,” “auntie,” or “dada;” and if we are truly blessed, make it to “Nana” or “Grandpa.” But we bristle if we hear the cruel “Uncle Tom” or “kike”—for these names foster an evil stereotyping, perpetuating ignorance and hatred, defaming the speaker as much as the person at whom they are hurled. More than 200 years ago, Jews living in Europe’s sprawling Hapsburg Empire were forced to take surnames by governmental fiat. Obviously the easiest thing to do was to maintain the Jewish custom of being known by the name of one’s father, so Isaac Ben Abraham became Isaac Abrahamson or Abramson. Jews could also take names that are common descriptives, which is why so many of us are named for the German words for black (“Schwartz”), white (“Weiss”), small (“Klein”), or large (“Gross”).   Or our great-great-great-great-grandfathers took their craft as their last name-hence “Silver,” “Gold,”   or “Diamond;” or more humbly “Schneider” (tailor), “Shuster” (shoemaker), or “Schachter” (shohet-ritual slaughter). Or they simply adapted to the name of the town that they lived in, so many of us answer to “Frankfurther” or “Warshow.” All these names tell us little about the character of those who hold them. A name becomes a “good name,” a shem tov, in the Jewish community when good deeds accompany it. Thus our first names or our Hebrew names may honor the memory of a well-loved relation, conveying the hope that we, as namesakes, will similarly live honorably. Jews by choice often take “Abraham” or “Sarah” as their Hebrew name, understanding that our first patriarch and matriarch where the first persons to heed God’s calling. Because of this, they became the ancestral fathers and mothers of all Jews.   Many Hebrew proper names recall an event. For example, the Torah tells us that “Israel” means “wrestling with God” and was the new name Jacob won from the angel he fought all night [this verse]. But it is our deeds that ultimately “name” us, for good or for ill. As R. Yose b. Hanina noted: People’s names fall into four classifications: some have fair names but have done foul deeds; others have ugly names but have done good deeds; some have ugly names to which their deeds correspond; and others have a good deeds to match their lovely names” Genesis Rabbah 71.3.   BOROJMV 228-9

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GEN1395 “What happened to their ancestors,” says a Midrash, “will also happen to their descendants.”  Just as Jacob, at Peniel, wrested a blessing from his unknown assailant after prevailing over him, [this verse], so did his descendants emerge from their chequered history ennobled and hopeful, without the iron of cruelty having entered their own attitude towards life.   Tirelessly, did Jewish ethical precepts inculcate gentleness and humility, a love of peace and a passion for justice, so that the temporary resentment on the part of the Jew towards those who hated and baited him gave way to a co-operative relationship at the slightest display of tolerance towards him.   He was obedient to his codes of honour, because these bore the impress of divinity on their surface and in their content, and because these were regarded as the direct communications of a heavenly Father to His children on earth. To be disobedient to them, would be interpreted as an insult to Him who had declared that the sole purpose of human existence is to hallow every aspect of life.   It is this sanctification of life, this consciousness that goodness in thought and deed links man with heaven and is worthy of sacrifice, great and small, that made the ideal Jewish ethical life the summum bonum, the target, of Judaism.  The ideal Jew became “a partner with God in the work of Creation,” Shabbat 9b, by implementing his beliefs in the world of action.   LEHRMAN 12-13

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