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GENESIS — 32:17 distance

GEN1383 Where do we see an example in the sources where it is permitted to advertise a product and maximize its desirability?   The prime example comes from the Torah itself.   Before meeting his brother, Esau, Jacob wanted to avoid a confrontation by giving Esau cattle as a present. In instructing his servants to present the cattle, Jacob commanded them to pub distance between the cattle [this verse], in order to maximize their impact in Esau’s eyes.   Here is a case where Jacob put the gift in the best possible light, making it look as large as possible.   This kind of advertising is then permitted.  As long as a person does not misrepresent, a product may be shown in its best light to maximize its attractiveness.  It is true that if Esau had thought the herd was larger than it really was (and thus thought the present was greater than it actually was, causing undeserved goodwill), it would not have been proper.  Therefore, the fine line between showing a product in its best light and misrepresenting and getting undeserved goodwill is very subtle indeed and must be determined for each product.  Yet certain guidelines are clear.  The packaging may certainly be attractive and colorful, as this does not misrepresent.   A clever jingle or memorable catch phrase in an advertisement, causing the product to be better remembered by the public, is certainly legitimate and encourage.   It is only when the advertiser receives a reaction and benefit that is undeserved due to ta misperception that a problem arises.   AMEMEI 6.

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GENESIS — 32:25 wrestled

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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GENESIS — 32:25 wrestled

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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GENESIS — 32:29 Israel

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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GENESIS — 32:33 thigh

GEN1398 After fighting the angel and getting injured (a battle of morality, no matter whose interpretation is followed), Jacob is instructed not to eat the sciatic nerve as a remembrance of this battle.   This Jewish law continues until today, tying the prohibition of eating part of the animal to the spiritual battle between Jacob and the angel.   Many more examples can be cited from the Torah (such as eating the Paschal lamb, eating matzah, manna, and so forth), which would show the same principle of tying food in Judaism to morality.   AMEMEI 73

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GENESIS — 37:1 settled

GEN1436 There is no Jewish concept of retiring from Judaism. … The classic story about a Jew who wished to “retire” was Jacob in the Bible.   After experiencing all the turmoil of fighting with his brother, running away, working for twenty years, and having a family, the Torah says that Jacob dwelled in the land of his fathers [this verse].   Rashi comments [on Genesis 37:2] that Jacob wished to rest peacefully for the remainder of his life. God said that this is not the lot of the righteous [“When the righteous wish to live at ease, the Holy one, blessed be He), says to them: “Are not the righteous satisfied with what is stored up for them in the world to come that they wish to live at ease in this world too! Genesis Rabbah 84:3], and subsequently the entire episode of Joseph and the brothers transpired, causing great anguish for twenty-two years until the family was reunited after relocating to Egypt.   It seems that the Torah does not want Jacob or any other Jew to simply “retire,” whether it be from Judaism, from work, or from life itself.  AMEMEI 83

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GENESIS — 38:24 burned

GEN1488 The Jewish view for those who do not retain the dignity of another person is extremely severe.   When the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva (all great Torah scholars in their own right, as students of Rabbi Akiva) did not respect one another properly, they all died in a plague because of this sin. Yevamot 62b.  The Talmud Berachot 43b proves from the story of Tamar that it is better to die in a furnace than to embarrass someone.   Tamar was willing to die rather than reveal publicly that her father-in-law, Judah, had sexual relations with her.   (Of course, at the end, Tamar was able to convey to Judah who she was through a code, and he was thus not embarrassed.)   This concept was further demonstrated in a Talmudic story Ketubot 67b in which Mar Ukvah used to secretly supply food for a poor man.   One day, when the poor man sought to find out who was doing this great deed, rather than be “caught,” Mar Ukvah jumped into a furnace and burned his feet.  He later stated that it is preferable to be burned in a furnace than to embarrass anyone publicly.  AMEMEI 115

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GENESIS — 41:50 before

GEN1527 If and when conditions warrant worldwide action and other nations are complying in helping to reduce population, then there is a Jewish precedent for minimizing population growth.  The Talmud Taanit 11a states that a person should not have sexual relations (and children) in time of a famine, when food is unavailable.   This concept is derived from the placement of the verse in the Torah describing the birth of Joseph’s sons during the years of plenty, just prior to the famine in Egypt, when Joseph was aware that the years of famine were imminent [this verse].   Maimonides codifies this concept Laws of Fasting 3:8 by stating that a Jewish couple should not have children during a famine, but only if they have previously fulfilled the mitzvah of bearing the minimum of two children.   Therefore, by having only two children, the population would not increase, as the parents would be replenishing their own numbers, but not adding to the worldwide population.   AMEMEI 312

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GENESIS — 43:9 surety

GEN1536 The notion of caring for other Jews is extended further by the concept that every Jew is responsible for every other Jew.   Shevuot 39a.  This means that a Jew feels the pain of every other Jew.   More than just feeling an obligation to help, this idea signifies that a Jew feels another Jew’s pain and makes it his or her own pain.   Thus, the Midrash Leviticus Rabbah 4:6 says that Jews are compared to sheep because when any limb of a sheep hurts, the sheep’s entire body feels the pain … So, too, when any Jew is in pain, other Jews feel it.  Although Yehudi, Jew, originally meant from the tribe of Judah, it has come to mean the person who exhibited the quality of Judah, which was to stand up to his father and Pharaoh and offer himself in order to save his brother Benjamin.   Genesis Rabbah 98:6.   Every Jew feels the responsibility of caring for every other Jew.  AMEMEI 196

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GENESIS — 45:5 sent

GEN1562 Joseph gives two explanations for the sale in [this] one verse … This shows that the brothers were operating on one level of free choice, but that God, at the same time, operates on a different level, as He planned the arrival of Joseph in Egypt.  Nevertheless, free choice is not compromised at all.   … While we think we are in control, God operates on His level to make events happen.  Yet, free choice is never compromised.  ALEMEI 37

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